SETBACK FOR RLSP AS ITSMP FLOATS OWN FACTION Patna: The Rashtriya LokSamata Party, a constituent ofOpposition “Mahagathbandhan”in Bihar, suffered yet anothersetback on Monday with itssitting MP Ram Kumar Sharmafloating his own faction andlambasting the party’s founderUpendra Kushwaha for allegedlyignoring committed workerswhile distributing tickets.

I-T RAIDS CONTINUEAGAINST KAMAL’S AIDES New Delhi/Bhopal: The Income-Tax Department raids againstclose aides of Madhya PradeshChief Minister Kamal Nath andothers continued on Mondaywith search teams makingseizures of cash.

AMIT SHAH MEETS PARTYVETERANS JOSHI, ADVANINew Delhi: BJP president AmitShah met party veterans MurliManohar Joshi and LK Advanion Monday, hours after launch of party poll manifesto.Shah’s meeting with the twoleaders came days after theywere not given poll tickets.

PERIYAR STATUE FOUNDVANDALISED IN TNPudukottai: A life-size statue ofrationalist leader EV Ramasamy,popularly known as Periyar, wasfound vandalised at Aranthangiin the district on Monday.

CAPSULE

DEEPAK K UPRETI n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday pegged

BJP’s manifesto on the themesof “Rashtravad”, “Antodaya”and “Sushasan” even as theparty declared it would provide`1 lakh interest-free loan tofarmers for five years andspend `25 lakh crore for thedevelopment of villages duringthe same period.

The party also resolved tohave zero tolerance approachtowards terrorism and achieveself-reliance in Defence sector.

The BJP reiterated its com-mitment to repeal Article 370,which gives Jammu & Kashmira special status, and Article35A, which allows the State’slegislature to define permanentresidents, and pledged in itsmanifesto to work towardsensuring return of KashmiriPandits to the valley.

It was for the first timesince the foundation of the BJPin 1980 that the manifesto wasreleased in the absence of itsveteran leaders LK Advani andMurli Manohar Joshi. In fact,Joshi headed the 2014 mani-festo drafting committee ofthe BJP.

While repeating the oldthemes of the construction ofRam temple at the earliest andimplementing Uniform CivilCode, the BJP manifestostretched the party’s vision andgoal-posts further to 2022when the county would achieve75 years of Independence andto 2047 when it would com-

plete a century. Prime Minister Narendra

Modi — who released theparty’s manifesto titled“Sankalp Patra: SankalpitBharat Sashakt Bharat”, alongwith BJP president Amit Shahin the presence of senior lead-ers Rajanth Singh, SushmaSwaraj, Arun Jaitley, ThawarChand Ghelot and Ram Lal —said his Government have laidsolid foundations from 2014-19for a “New India” in 2022 bywhich time country wouldhave achieved 75 goals.

The 75-targets includeddoubling farmers income, pen-sion schemes for small andmarginal farmers of 60 years ofage and shopkeepers, ensuring“pucca” house to every family,availability of banking serviceswithin 5 kms to all individuals,LPG connection to all ruralhouseholds and electrificationof all households.

Modi said by the timecountry achieves 100 years ofIndependence by 2047 “wewill be a developed country”.He said the BJP Governmentwould address and work for“aspirational India with vikas tobe made a people’s movement”.

He said the BJPGovernment has unrolled last-mile delivery to the common

man and continues to work onthe themes of “Rashtravad,Antodaya and Sushashan”.

Focussing on water con-servation and availability ofdrinking water, the PM said hisGovernment would, for thefirst time, set up a Jal SakhtiMantralaya. He said a separateMinistry would be formed forfishermen also. Modi said hewould work out how to max-imise utilisation of river watersand facilitate “Nal se jal”(potable tap water) to all house-hold by 2024.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n LONDON

AUK High Court has reject-ed Vijay Mallya’s applica-

tion to appeal against his extra-dition, a move that bringsIndia closer in getting back theembattled liquor tycoon want-ed in alleged fraud and moneylaundering charges amount-ing to `9,000 crores.

The 63-year-old formerKingfisher Airlines boss hadfiled the application seeking“leave to appeal”in the HC onFebruary 14against his extra-dition order,which was signedby UK HomeSecretary SajidJavid.

“The applica-tion for permis-sion to appeal was refused byMr Justice William Davis on05/04/2019,” said a spokesper-son for the UK Judiciary.

“The appellant (Mallya)has five business days to applyfor oral consideration. If arenewal application is made, itwill be listed before a HighCourt judge and dealt with ata hearing,” the spokespersonadded.

Mallya’s “leave to appeal”application had been put beforeJustice Davis, who was to makea decision on the basis ofpapers submitted as part of theappeals process. Now that the“judge on papers” application

has been rejected by JusticeDavis, Mallya has the option to“renew his application for per-mission to appeal” by thisFriday.

“If he (Mallya) does so(applies for renewal), therewill be an oral hearing at whichthe Administrative Court(High Court) will considerwhether or not to grant per-mission to appeal,” a CPSspokesperson said.

During the oral hearing,Mallya’s legal teamand the CrownProsecution Service(CPS) — on behalfof the IndianGovernment — willrenew their respec-tive claims for andagainst an appealfor a judge to deter-mine if it can pro-

ceed to a full hearing.While the rejection by the

HC on Friday doesn’t meanthat the appeal process in thecase has come to an end, thelatest decision does move thecase one step further in favourof India in bringing backMallya, who fled India in 2016.

The latest ruling marks afresh legal setback for Mallyawho last week offered to cur-tail his “lavish” lifestyle after abid by the banks to recoupsome of the 1.145 billionpounds he owed as a result ofthe now-defunct KingfisherAirlines’ unpaid loans.

Continued on Page 7

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

The Election Commission(EC) will randomly match

voter-verifiable paper audittrail (VVPAT) slips withElectronic Voting Machine(EVM) results of five pollingstations in each Assembly seg-ment in a Lok Sabha con-stituency.

The decision came follow-ing the Supreme Court’s direc-tions on a plea by leaders of 21Opposition parties who want-ed voter-verified paper audittrail (VVPAT) to be hiked to 50per cent of the EVMs perAssembly segment.

According to EC officials,the exercise will not have muchbearing on official declarationof results. “Though candidatescome to know of the resultsafter the EVM results arecounted, the official declarationwill be delayed by three to fourhours,” EC officials explained.Such checks will, however, helpdetermine whether votes havebeen recorded accurately.

Following the 13-pagecourt order, the EC will have tocount the VVPAT slips of fivetimes as many machines ineach constituency, or that of

20,625 EVMs. At present, thepoll panel matches VVPATpaper slips of 4,125 EVMsunder the “one EVM perAssembly” segment guidelines.

The SC order is a majorsetback for the Oppositionparties as the court has mere-ly increased the quantum ofEVM verification using papertrail by 1.99 per cent, that is, outof total 10.35 lakh EVMs.

Reacting to the court’sdirection, EC’s spokespersonsaid, “The ECI shall make all-out efforts to operationalise andimplement the directions of theSupreme Court with immedi-ate effect.”

“It takes about an hour forelection officers to matchVVPAT slips with EVM count

in one polling station at pre-sent. After votes are cast, thepolling station where VVPATslips are matched with votemachine, the result is decidedby a draw of lots in the presenceof candidates,” said EC officials.VVPAT slip counting can onlybegin after EVM votes for theconcerned polling station havebeen tabulated.

VVPAT is a device whichdispenses a slip with the sym-bol of the party for which a per-son has voted for. The slipappears on a small window forseven seconds and then dropsin a box. The voter cannot takeit home. VVPATs are used in allpolling stations.

The EC had earlier askedthe Indian Statistical Instituteregarding a reasonable samplesize for matching VVPAT slipsto verify the EVM results. Theinstitute had said a sample of479 EVMs would generate99.99 per cent accuracy.

Meanwhile, the Congressurged the SC to review itsdecision on matching ofVVPAT slips with EVMs, say-ing it is not satisfied with therandom check in five booths ineach Assembly segment.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

Vice Admiral Bimal Vermahas approached the Armed

Forces Tribunal (AFT) seekingto know the reason for beingsuperseded for the post of theNavy chief even though he wasthe senior most in the succes-sion line.

His plea to the AFT comesafter the Government onMarch 23 named Vice AdmiralKarambir Singh as the nextNavy chief, who will take overwhen incumbent AdmiralSunil Lanba retires on May 3.

With his selection, the pre-sent Government for the sec-ond time bypassed the traditionof picking the senior mostofficer for the Navy chief ’spost. The first instance was in2016 when Bipin Rawat super-seded senior most officer LtGeneral Pravin Bakshi for theArmy chief ’s post.

Giving possible reason forsuperseding Verma, youngerbrother of former Navy chiefNirmal Verma, sources said hehad not commanded as chief ofoperationally important

Western and EasternCommands and these tenuresare considered very importantfor being in the reckoning forthe post of the Navy chief.

Verma was reportedlyoverlooked for these postingsas he was the principal direc-tor of naval operations duringthe 2005 Naval War Roomleak in New Delhi. Severalcritical commercial and someoperational documents wereleaked. Verma came underscrutiny but was cleared with a“severe displeasure” note. Helater served as India’s navalattaché in Iran and also com-manded a ship.

It is a rare that a senior offi-cer has moved the AFT to seekthe cause of being sidelined forthe Navy chief post.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

The IAF on Monday reiter-ated that it had shot down

a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 on February 27 during anaerial duel in Naushera Sectorand said it has more credibleradar evidence that is clearlyindicative of the fact thatPakistan had lost one F-16that day. “However, due tosecurity and confidentialityconcerns, we are restricting theinformation being shared in thepublic domain,” the IAF said.

This assertion here by AirVice Marshal RG Kapoor, assis-tant chief of operations andspace, came three days after theIAF held an off-the-camerabriefing to negate some USreports claiming all the F-16sof Pakistan were accountedfor and the Indian version ofshooting down a F-16 was notcorrect.

Sharing some slides andmaps for reference, Kapoorsaid the PAF aircraft had firedmultiple AMRAAM missilesand the IAF had used countermeasures and tactical manoeu-vres. In the aerial combat that

ensued, Varthaman flying Mig-21 shot down F-16. As shownin the radar images, the F-16crashed and fell across theLine of Control (LoC) inPakistan Occupied Kashmir(POK), he said.

“There is no doubt that twoaircraft went down in the aer-ial engagement on February 27,one was the Bison (MiG 21) ofthe IAF and the other was a F-16 of PAF, conclusively identi-fied by its electronic signatureand radio transcripts,” said theAir Vice Marshal.

Detailed report on P5

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT) Madras

has topped the national rank-ing of higher institutes releasedby the HRD Ministry onMonday. Delhi University’sMiranda House has beenranked the best among collegesacross the country and theprestigious St Stephen’s Collegeranked fourth.

The fourth edition of theIndian rankings based on theNational Institutional RankingFramework (NIRF) 2019 wasannounced by President RamNath Kovind on Monday.

Of the top 10 institutes,seven are IITs. Among the top10 colleges, six are from DelhiUniversity which includesHindu (2nd), Lady Shri RamCollege (5), SRCC (7) andHansraj College (9). Others inthe list are Presidency College

and Madras Christian College.The HRD Ministry has beenpublishing the NationalInstitutional RankingFramework (NIRF) since 2016.

Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU) and theBanaras Hindu Universityranked have been ranked sev-enth and 10th respectively.The Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bangalore, and IIT-Delhi came at second and thirdin the list, respectively. AIIMSis the top-ranking institution inmedical sciences.

Speaking on the occasion,the President said recentexpansion of higher educationin India has widened accessand improved equity. “Even so,quality remains a concern.While there are islands ofexcellence, both in the publicand private sectors, overallstandards are uneven. As ourhigher education infrastructure

continues to grow and enrol-ment rises, it is important toraise the bar. A nuanced

approach is essential to ensurethat higher education not onlyfulfils individual aspirations,

but also achieves national goalsand priorities,” he said at theaward function.

A total of 3,127 institutionsparticipated in the rankingprocess under overall rankings,category-specific and domainspecific ranking. In all, 4,867applications for rankings weremade by the 3,127 applicantinstitutions under various cat-egories and domains.

A closer look at the insti-tutions ranked in overall cate-gory reveal that although theCentral Government fundedinstitutions continue to dowell, some of the deemed-to-beuniversities, State-funded andprivate universities too appearprominently.

Science, engineering andtechnological institutes domi-nate the ranking in overallcategory with as many as 23institutes in the list. IIMKolkata is the only manage-ment institute that could finda place in the first 50 in theoverall category. IISER Pune

and HBNI, Mumbai are a fewnew institutions which couldclaim a slot in top 50 in theoverall category.

Among the managementcolleges, top six ranks havebeen retained by IndianInstitutes of Management(IIMs), led by Bengaluru. IIT-Delhi, Mumbai and Roorkeeare also among the top 10 in thecategory. Jamia Hamdard hasbeen announced as the top var-sity for pharmacy, whileNational Law School of IndiaUniversity, Bengaluru, has beenadjudged as the best law school.

The ranking frameworkinstituted in 2016 evaluatesinstitutions on five broadgeneric groups of parameters,including Teaching, Learningand Resources (TLR), Researchand Professional Practice (RP),Graduation Outcomes (GO),Outreach and Inclusivity (OI)and Perception (PR).

Sashakt Bharat, BJP’s Sankalp

Manifesto pledges New India with farm relief, houses for all, NRC, repeal of Art 370There will be no

option with the Govtother than abolishingArticles 370 and 35A

related to specialstatus to J&K in the

Constitution if there isa demand for a

separate PM for theterrorism-affected

State

Mallya extraditiona step closer, UKHC snubs his plea

Jhansa patra, mocks CongPNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Mondaytermed the BJP’s “Sankalp

Patra” as “jhansa patra” (adeluded manifesto), and saidthe document failed to mentionjobs, notebandi (demonetisa-tion), GST and black money.

The mention of RamMandir in the manifesto caughtthe attention of other politicalparties, including Left, andTrinamool, who termed themention “as no surprise”.CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechurysaid the saffron party has beenusing it for the last 30 years ina bid to “sharpen communalpolarisation.”

National Conference (NC)and BJP ally Janata Dal(United) too hit out at the rul-ing dispensation for its stand

on Article 370 that grants spe-cial status to Jammu & Kashmirand Article 35A.

Continued on Page 7

Superseded as Navy

chief, Vice Admiral

Verma moves AFT

SC hikes VVPAT slips’ checkto five per Assembly segment

DEEPAK KUMAR JHA n NEW DELHI

Ending speculation aboutthe fate of BJP turncoat

Kirti Azad, the Congress onMonday fielded the formertest cricketer from theDhanbad Lok Sabha con-stituency in Jharkhand. Azad,an MP from Dharbhanga, hadto shift to Jharkhand after theCongress agreed to give the seatto the RJD as part of the seat-sharing arrangement for thegrand alliance in Bihar.

Azad, who was suspendedby the BJP for anti-party activ-ities, had joined the Congressin February.

The party also fieldedKalicharan Munda fromKhunti ST seat in Jharkhandafter changing the earlierannounced candidature of for-mer Jharkhand Congress chiefPradeep Balmuchu.

Continued on Page 7

Cong fields Kirti

from Dhanbad

Radar images ‘irrefutableproof’ of shooting downof Pakistan’s F-16: IAF

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Union Home Minister RajnathSingh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj release BJP manifesto (Sankalp Patra) for Lok Sabha elections 2019, inNew Delhi on Monday Ranjan Dimri | Pioneer

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala with Ahmad Patel address the media on BJPmanifesto at party office in Delhi on Monday PTI

Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapooraddresses a Press conference at SouthBlock in New Delhi on Monday PTI

IIT(M) best varsity, Miranda House tops college listNational Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2019

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

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US DESIGNATES IRANIAN GUARD CORPS A FOREIGN TERROR GROUP

OPINION 8

MAKING FALSEPROMISES

SPORT 16

CSK TO FACE KKR IN IPL CLASH

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Late City Vol. 155 Issue 95 *Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI RAIPUR CHANDIGARH DEHRADUN HYDERABAD VIJAYWADA

Established 1864

RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2019-21

LUCKNOW, TUESDAY APRIL 9, 2019; PAGES 16 `3

SAROJ IS ALL

GRACE, SAYS

MADHURI

14 VIVACITY

}

city 02LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

PNS n LUCKNOW

Seeking to drive a wedgeinto the anti-BJP alliance,Uttar Pradesh Deputy

Chief Minister Keshav PrasadMaurya said that BSP presidentMayawati would be ‘ditched’ bySP chief Akhilesh Yadav afterthe Lok Sabha poll results wereannounced on May 23.

“The Samajwadi Party hasnever given due honour toDalits. In 1995, when Mayawatiwas attacked by SP leaders onMulayam Singh Yadav’s direc-tion at the State Guest House inLucknow, it was the BJP whichsaved her. Now, his (Mulayam’s)son Akhilesh will dump herafter May 23 and it wouldonce again be left to the BJP tosupport her,” Maurya said inLucknow on Monday.

“Whenever Mayawati is incrisis, the BJP supports her andwill continue to do so in thefuture also,” he said.

Asserting that theBharatiya Janata Part was pro-

Dalit, Maurya said, “At KumbhMela, Prime Minister NarendraModi washed the feet of sani-tary workers to honour them.Our party leaders have alwaysbeen there for Dalits.”

On the Congress’ prospectsin the general elections, theDeputy Chief Minister saidthat irrespective of the tallclaims of opposition parties, itsstrength would be reduced fur-ther after the polls,

“The BJP is going to formthe government under the lead-ership of Narendra Modiagain, with UP giving the party74 plus seats,” he said.

Maurya’s statement came aday after he targeted BahujanSamaj Party chief Mayawati onher remark at a Deoband rally,where she asked Muslim votersnot to split their votes.

“Her statement clearlyindicates that she has onlyused Dalits as a vote bank andhas not respected them. She hasstarted hating them after theirtilt towards the BJP as we

empowered them. She has nowappealed to Muslims to vote forher but the community knowsthe reality of the SP-BSP-RLDalliance,” Maurya said.

Asked about the SP’s pollpromises, Maurya said, “SPchief Akhilesh Yadav has notbeen loyal to his fatherMulayam (Singh Yadav) anduncle Shivpal (Singh Yadav).How can he be loyal toMayawatiji, whom he calls

‘bua’? He should not be trust-ed by Mayawati. He was taughta lesson in 2017 UP Assemblypolls by the people and onceagain, his party will meet thesame fate.”

Maurya added, “The SP-BSP-RLD pre-poll alliance ispurely opportunistic and will endautomatically in the near futuredue to conflict of interests.”

On the achievements of theBJP government in UP in thelast two years, Maurya claimedthat law and order situation hadimproved due to which thestate was attracting invest-ments and people could goanywhere without ‘fear’.

“The ‘jungle raj’ of theprevious SP regime endedimmediately after the BJP cameto power. Criminals, who wereruling the roost, are nowbehind bars or have left thestate for good,” Maurya said,exuding confidence that thestate would once again give themaximum number of seats tothe BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

PNS n LUCKNOW

In a sensational daylight rob-bery in Mau, three uniden-

tified persons riding a motor-cycle shot at a petrol pumpowner and deprived him of`19.80 lakh on Monday.

Surprisingly, the robbersstruck right in front of a policeoutpost and later sped off ontheir motorcycle with the cashwithout being challenged bythe cops.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Campaigning by majorstakeholders intensified in

western Uttar Pradesh whereeight Lok Sabha constituencieswill go to polls in the firstphase of general election onApril 11.

While the second phase ofpolling in western UP will beheld on April 18, the region isset to play a crucial role bydeciding the electoral fate ofmajor political parties in thestate.

With the sun playing hideand seek and rains accompa-nied by hailstorm lashing theregion in the past 48 hours, themercury plummeted, providingthe much needed relief to politi-cians and the electorate.

Prime Minister NarendraModi sounded the poll bugle inthe region by addressing a rallyin Meerut on March 28 and fol-lowed it up by rallies in Amroha

and Saharanpur on April 5. Bharatiya Janata Party pres-

ident Amit Shah has alsoaddressed two rallies — inNagina and Bijnor.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has been criss-cross-ing the state and holding sever-al rallies every day along withother senior BJP leaders. Yogiaddressed four poll meetings, inMuzaffarnagar, Baghpat,Kairana and Bijnor on Monday.

In a massive show of unity,the alliance comprising BahujanSamaj Party, Samajwadi Partyand Rashtriya Lok Dal organ-ised a joint rally at Deoband inSaharanpur on Sunday tolaunch their poll campaign.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav,BSP supremo Mayawati andRLD president Ajit Singh havejoined hands in UP to contestthe Lok Sabha polls together.

Former Chief MinisterMayawati addressed poll meet-ings in Meerut and Gautam

Buddha Nagar (Noida) while SPchief Akhilesh campaigned inGhaziabad and Baghpat onMonday.

The rally of Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi andPriyanka Gandhi Vadra inSaharanpur on Monday was,however, cancelled due toinclement weather.

Priyanka has already held aroadshow in Ghaziabad whileAICC general secretaryJyotiraditya Scindia hasaddressed a couple of meetingsin western UP.

Campaigning for the firstphase election will end onTuesday evening.

In the first phase, the eightconstituencies of UP are goingto polls on April 11. They areGhaziabad, Gautam BuddhaNagar, Baghpat, Saharanpur,Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnorand Kairana. The BJP present-ly holds all these seats, barringKairana, which it lost to SP-RLD

candidate supported by the BSPin the bypoll in May last year.

Most of the constituenciesof the region are witnessing adirect fight between SP-BSP-RLD alliance and the BJP, butthe presence of Congress insome constituencies has madethe contest triangular, givingsome benefit to the BJP.

In the first phase there are96 candidates in the fray. Ofthese, 17 have heinous crimesregistered against them while 39are crorepatis.

In this phase of election,three Union ministers —Mahesh Sharma ( GB Nagar),General (Retired) VK Singh(Ghaziabad) and Satyapal Singh(Baghpat) — will be tryingtheir luck. The highest numbersof 13 candidates are in fray fromGautam Buddha Nagar,Kairana, Baghpat and Bijnor, 12in Ghaziabad, 11 in Meerut andSaharanpur and 10 inMuzaffarnagar.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Weather played spoilsportin Congress’ poll cam-

paign in western UttarPradesh, forcing the cancella-tion all three rallies to beaddressed by party chief RahulGandhi and senior leadersPriyanka Gandhi Vadra andJyotiraditya Scindia onMonday.

Rallies and roadshows ofthe three Congress leaderswere scheduled at Shamli inKairana Lok Sabha constituen-cy, Bijnor and Saharanpur onMonday. However, they had tobe cancelled due to hailstormand high winds that lashed theregion on Monday.

Interestingly, campaign-ing in the region, which goesto poll on April 11, will cometo an end on Tuesday evening.

In Saharanpur constituen-

cy, the announcement of can-cellation of the rally was madeby Congress candidate ImranMasood, leaving a large num-ber of supporters who hadconverged on Gandhi Parkbraving inclement weather,disappointed.

Congress leaders claimedthat they would try to see thattheir star campaigners visit thearea on Tuesday before thecampaigning ends.

Meanwhile, Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi willfile his nomination papers forAmethi Lok Sabha seat onWednesday.

Rahul has already filed hisnomination papers fromWayanad parliamentary con-stituency of Kerala.

The Congress chief will beaccompanied by his motherand United ProgressiveAlliance chairperson Sonia

Gandhi and sister andCongress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra, as pera letter of Special ProtectionGroup handed over to AmethiDistrict Magistrate.

Sonia Gandhi will alsofile her nomination from RaeBareli the next day (Thursday).

“Rahul Gandhi will alsohold a roadshow fromGauriganj town to Amethicollectorate, where he will filehis papers,” said CongressMLC and Rahul’s campaignin-charge Deepak Singh.

Singh, who hails fromAmethi constituencyexpressed confidence thatRahul would easily defeatBharatiya Janata Party candi-date Smriti Irani. In 2014,Rahul had defeated Irani byover one lakh votes. Amethigoes to polls in the fifth phaseof the elections on May 6.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Opposition parties in UttarPradesh trashed the

Bharatiya Janata Party mani-festo — Sankalp Patra — forthe Lok Sabha election, sayingit was a `bundle of lies’.

The Sankalp Patra wasreleased in Delhi on Monday.

Leaders of SamajwadiParty, Bahujan Samaj Party,Congress and other partiessaid the Narendra Modi gov-ernment at the Centre had sin-gularly failed to deliver thepromises that the BJP madeahead of the 2014 Lok Sabhaelection . They said that withyet another manifesto, the BJPwas trying to take the peoplefor a ride again.

The BJP, however, contra-dicted the opposition criti-cism. BJP state general secre-tary Vijay Bahadur Pathaksaid in Lucknow on Mondaythat the party’s manifesto wasindicative of the commitmentof the Modi government forsustainable development ofthe country and projectionsfor the future.

“We have promised pen-sion to farmers and tradersabove the age of 60 years andhave committed to double

farmers’ income. Besides, theparty has focused its attentionon all important sectors of theeconomy,” Pathak said.

On the other hand, SPspokesperson RajendraChaudhary said that the BJPmanifesto was a bundle of liesand the party had again triedto befool the people like theydid in the run-up to the 2014general elections by promising`15 lakh each to the voters andthe mythical ‘achhe din’.

In a statement released onMonday, the BSP termed theBJP manifesto as an effort todivert public attention fromthe government’s failures.

“People cannot believethem and they should tenderan apology to the people asthey have only worked for thecapitalists,” BSP presidentMayawati said in the state-ment.

She added that the BJPand the Narendra Modi gov-ernment “should have issuedan action-taken report insteadof the new manifesto, but theydo not have the courage to do so.”

“Barring a handful of cap-italists, the 130 crore people (ofIndia) are still waiting for thepromised ‘achhe din’ and `15

lakh in their bank accounts,”the BSP chief said and askedhow such an “anti-poor, irre-sponsible and jumlebaaz” government could be trulypatriotic.

“The promises beingmade to the people this timewill once again meet the samefate like the promises made in2014 as during the last fiveyears, not a single promise hasbeen fulfilled,” she said.

Congress Lok Sabhaobserver and party chief whipin Rajya Sabha, MA Khan, saidthe BJP had again promisedRam temple at Ayodhya, andthis promise was a farce.

“The BJP is now knownfor dishing out false promisesand the people of the countrywill teach them a lesson in theelection,” he said.

Reacting to the SankalpPatra, Rashtriya Lok Dalnational spokesman AnilDubey said it was a bundle oflies with which the BJP hadtried to trick voter again. “It islike old wine in new bottle.There is nothing new in it,” hesaid.

Aaam Aadmi Party’s UPin-charge Sanjay Singh saidthe BJP manifesto was a newversion of old lies.

Lucknow (PTI): Back inRampur after a long hiatus, thistime as a BJP candidate, actor-turned-politician Jaya Pradasays she’s fighting election torestore the pride of womenand free the constituency fromthe “illegal grip” of her formerSP colleague Azam Khan.

The actor, who is seeking athird term from the RampurLok Sabha seat, said thingshave become much easier forher this time with BJP cadres

around her. The formerSamajwadi Party leader wonfrom Rampur in 2004 and 2009but lost from Bijnor in 2014when she contested on aRashtriya Lok Dal ticket.

“I have an emotional attach-ment with the people ofRampur. I am here to work forthem and make Narendra Modiour prime minister once againwhile Azam is fighting electionto legalise his acts,” Prada toldPTI in an interview. “I also want

to ensure development of theconstituency,” she added.

In 2004, Prada had won theRampur seat for the first timefor the SP by defeating sittingCongress MP Begum NoorBano by 85,000 votes. And nowshe is back to familiar territory,but as a BJP candidate. “Withthe BJP cadres with me, thingshave become much easier. I hadto manage things earlier on myown but with the cadre supportthis time, it is quite easy to man-

age them.”The actor, who made a

mark in southern cinema as wellas in Bollywood, hit out atKhan for his derogatory state-ments. “He can say anything. Hedoes not have any respect forwomen. It’s his habit to makesuch statements but the peopleof Rampur know him very well.They dislike what he says andwill reply to him with theirvotes,” she said.

“In 2004, when I was in

Mumbai (acting in Bollywood)and contested from here, hecampaigned for me. Didn’t heknow me then? He now calls me‘amrapali’ (dancer), ‘nachnewali’ etc. It’s his habit, he can sayanything to any women. He isa performer himself.”

About the response she isgetting from the people ofRampur, Prada said the Jatavsand the Dalits were unhappywith the SP and were backingthe BJP.

Bijnor (PTI): UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Mondayattacked the Congress, sayingif the party was not “taught alesson timely” it would startgiving “allowance to stonepelters” in Kashmir.

Addressing an electionrally here, Yogi also slammedBahujan Samaj Party SP chiefMayawati, saying her partywould get zero seats in thisLok Sabha polls like in 2014.

“It is important to teacha timely lesson to Congressotherwise it will start givingallowance to stone pelters inKashmir as it sympathises with them,” Yogi Adityanath said.

Taking a dig at Mayawati, he said, “Those contesting on 38seats were dreaming of becoming the prime minister.”

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP) andRashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) have forged an alliance to take on theBJP in the Lok Sabha elections in the UP

As per the seat-sharing agreement, SP is contesting 37 seatsand BSP 38. Three seats have been given to the RLD while twoseats, Amethi and Rae Bareli, have been left for the Congress byhe alliance.

Shahjahanpur (PTI): Hewore a sherwani, donned a turbantypical of a bridegroom and rodea horse surrounded by peopledancing to a popular Bollywoodtune being played by a band.What appeared to be a marriageprocession, surprised people whenthey found out that he was SanyuktVikas Party’s Lok Sabha candidateVaidh Raj Kishan, on his way to filethe nomination papers. “Mai rajni-ti ka damad hun (I am son-in-lawof politics),” was his prompt replywhen asked about the attire andprocession. “Today is my marriageanniversary, that is why I havebecome bridegroom. I have comehere to file nomination as damadof politics,” he added.

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Notice is hereby given by the undersigned for andon behalf of LlC Housing Finance Ltd. Area Office,Shahnazaf road, Lucknow pursuant to Circular No.422/Annexure-E of LIC HFL that the Original Saledeed dated 29-03-2010 executed by ReliableSehkari Awas Samiti Ltd. Lucknow in favour ofZaheerul Hasan S/o-Hasan Ahamad The said saledeed is registered in the office of Sub Registrar-Vth Lucknow in Book No.1, Volume 5652 onpages 157/184 Serial No. 3600 in respect to PlotNo. 2C Khasra No. 340 area 1670 sq.ft. Sitautedat Baraura Husainbari, Ward-Kanhaiyamadavpur, Lucknow has been lost byits present owner Usman Ali S/o-Late ShahzadeThat Abdus Salam S/o- Rahmatullah has appliedfor housing loan for which has proposed the saidproperty to be mortaged by depositing aforesaidOriginal sale deed dated 29.03.2010 with LIC HFLand as such any person claiming to be the saidproperty covered by the said document may fileclaim before me within 15 days from the date ofpublication of notice failing which it will be presumedthat the property in question is free from any encum-brance and any claim in respect thereof against theapplicant as mortgagee shall be void and ineffec-tive after the lapse of 15 days of publication of thenotice.

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NOTICE

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NOTICE

Be it known to all that in my ser-vice record date of birth of my sonMilan Khimding is wrongly men-tioned as 02.06.1999, but his cor-rect D.O.B. is 04.04.1999. His cor-rect D.O.B. 04.04.1999 should bementioned in service record. No. JC635260 F Rank Sub. - Sub KhemBahadur Khimding Unit 2/11, GR,Lucknow.

Akhilesh will ditch Maya

after May 23: Dy CM

Apna Dal (S) fields Kol fromRobertsganj

PNS n LUCKNOW

Apna Dal (Sonelal) led byUnion minister Anupriya

Patel announced Pakauri LalKol as the party candidatefrom Robertsganj (Reserved)Lok Sabha seat.

Kol is a former MP fromthe same seat and this time heis the joint candidate of theNational Democratic Alliancefrom Robertsganj.

The seat was withBharatiya Janata Party, whosesitting member Chhote LalKharwar was denied ticket thistime and the seat was given toApna Dal (S) in the electoralpact.

Pakauri Lal Kol had wonthe Robertsganj seat onSamajwadi Party ticket in 2009.

Apna Dal (S) founderAnupriya Patel is contesting theelection from Mirzapur LokSabha seat. Robertsganj andMirzapur seats will go to pollsin the last phase on May 19 forwhich nominations will com-mence on April 22.

Oppn trashes BJP Sankalp Patra

Campaigning intensifies for

1st phase of polls in west UP

‘If not taught lesson timely, Congwould give allowance to stonepelters in Kashmir’: Yogi

Weather plays spoilsport

in Congress campaign

RAGA, PGV ROADSHOWS, RALLIES CANCELLED

Petrol pump owner shot at, robbed of `19.80L in MauThe injured petrol pump

owner was rushed to Mau dis-trict hospital from where hewas referred to the medical col-lege in Varanasi as his condi-tion became ‘critical’.

Agitated over the incident,hundreds of local traders cameon the streets and staged aprotest against the police,accusing them of colludingwith the robbers by remainingmute spectators and doingnothing to curb sensationalcrimes. The mob also demand-ed stringent action against thepolicemen.

Senior police officers laterreached the spot and super-vised investigation. They some-how pacified the protestersand assured them of workingout the case at the earliest.

As per reports, owner of apetrol pump in Dohrighat areaof Mau, Umesh Gupta, went todeposit cash in the local branchof Union Bank of India onMonday morning. Gupta wascarrying `19.80 lakh collectedthrough sales since Saturdayevening. As he neared theDohrighat railway crossing,

three persons on a motorcyclecame near his two-wheelerand before the trader couldsense of foul play, a pillion riderwhipped out a pistol andopened fire. On being hit by abullet, Gupta crashed to theground.

The assailant snatched thecash bag from Gupta and againfired two shots in the air tokeep locals at bay before speed-ing off towards Ghazipur road.

Witnesses claimed that aconstable was present at thelocal police outpost, a fewmetres away from the scene ofcrime but he did not respond.It was only when passers-byshifted the victim to a hospitalthat the police reached there tocarry out legal formalities.

A case was registered butthe police failed to make anybreakthrough till Mondaynight.

Meanwhile, an eight-year-old girl was killed after shejumped into a lake along withher mother and younger sisterin a bid to commit suicide inMuzaffarnagar.

Police said due to problems

in her family, a woman and hertwo children tried to commitsuicide by jumping into MotiJheel on Sunday. As soon asthey jumped, some passers-bysaw them and rescued thewoman and one of her daugh-ters but the other daughterdrowned.

In another incident, a 45-year-old employee of nagarpanchayat committed suicideby hanging himself in Budhanatown on Sunday.

In another incident report-ed from Muzaffarnagar, anundertrial prisoner died at thedistrict jail due to illness follow-ing which a judicial probe wasrecommended into the inci-dent.

Gulfam, a tuberculosispatient, was arrested in 2012and was facing murder charges,jail superintendent AK Saxenasaid.

After his health deteriorat-ed on Sunday, he was rushed toa hospital where doctors pro-nounced him dead, the officersaid.

The body was been sent forpost-mortem.

Candidate rides

horse in groom’s

attire to file papers

Fighting poll to free Rampur from Azam’s ‘illegal grip’: Jaya Prada

city 03LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

In an innovative activityunder Systematic Voters'Education and Electoral

Participation (SVEEP) toencourage voters to exercisetheir franchise, the districtadministration organised anevent at Smriti Upvan in whichover 23,050 students from dif-ferent schools of the city assem-bled to make the formation of‘Lucknow Votes 6 May’ alongwith the national flags. Theexercise carried out earlyMonday morning witnessedenthusiastic participation bythe students.

Arunima Singh, the differ-ently-abled mountaineer,encouraged the children withher words. “You are our future,so please ask your elders to goout and vote on the polling dayso that the voter turnout can behigh,” she told the children.

“To do something, youneed to have some sort ofjunoon which is essential.When I decided to climb theMount Everest, most of thepeople told me I was mad, butI still followed my dream andgave it my 100 per cent. If youhave the excitement and youcan give it your hundred percent, you can create history. Icannot express my feelingswhen on the top of the Everest,I hoisted the flag. This is thesame feeling which you shouldhave when you create a flag onthe grounds,” she said.

Chief electoral officer TVenkateshwarlu said it was

important to vote and get thebetter voters’ participation inchoosing the best candidates.

“When a standard was beingchosen for elections years ago,it was decided that maximum

citizens should participate inthe exercise,” he said. He addedthat SVEEP activities were

meant for the best and ethicalparticipation of voters.

District Magistrate KaushalRaj Sharma said as Lucknowwould go to polls on May 6,children need to encouragetheir respective families toexercise their franchise.

About their experiences,the children said they under-stood the importance of voting.Abhijit Verma from LucknowPublic School South City thathe enjoyed being a part of theexercise.

Atharva Kambhoj from theLucknow Public School (SectorD) echoed the same views.Vaishali Mishra from NewPublic School (Ashiyana) saidit was important to vote andevery voter must exercise theirfranchise.

Lucknow (PNS): The Trafficdepartment announced diver-sions in view of the nominationswhich will be filed at Collectoratefrom April 10 to 18. Vehicularmovement will be completelyrestricted between TelephoneExchange crossing and Chakbastcrossing.

The vehicles going fromAminabad to IT College andNishtaganj will be diverted fromQaiserbagh bus stand crossingtowards Qaiserbagh Kotwali andthen towards Subhash crossing.The traffic moving fromNishatganj and IT Collegetowards Aminabad will movefrom Subhash crossing andParivartan crossing towardsAshok Latt. Roadways buseswill move right from Qaiserbaghbus stand and then in front ofCentennial School after whichthey will be made to come downthe Balrampur Hospital rampand turn left from ShaheedSmarak and then move towardsDaliganj Pul. Roadways busescoming from Hardoi and Sitapurwill move through Daliganj Pultowards Shaheed Smarak, CDRI,Subhash crossing, Parvartancrossing, Ashok Latt and then

towards Qaiserbagh bus stand.Buses coming from Faizabadroad and Gomti Nagar willmove towards Samta Moolakcrossing, Sankalp Vatika,Chiraiyya Jheel, Clarks Awadhcrossing and then turn lefttowards Subhash crossing,Parvartan Chowk. They willthen be diverted towardsQaiserbagh bus stand after turn-ing right from Ashok Latt.

The vehicles moving fromQaiserbagh towards Chakbastcrossing will turn left fromChakbast crossing and thenmove right. Traffic moving fromHazratganj crossing towardsSubhash crossing will be divert-ed from the petrol pump nearthe DM residence towards KDSingh ‘Babu’ Stadium trisectionand then right towards ChiraiyyaJheel. Vehicles of the officials andemployees will be parked behindthe DM office on Nari Niketanroad. The vehicles of peopleaccompanying the candidateswill be parked betweenParvartan Chowk and Maqbararoad, Rai Umanath Bali road andnear Begum Hazrat Mahal Park.Bigger vehicles will be parkedbehind Clarks Awadh.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The police nabbed fivespoiled brats in connection

with the Indira Nagar shoot-ing incident on Sunday night.Police claimed that the miscre-ants shot at bartender MohanKashyap after the latter tried topacify the group indulging inbrawl with their rival group.

Those arrested were iden-tified as Aman Tiwari, AnkurSrivastava, Sandeep Yadav,Govind and Yogesh. “Theyhave been sent to jail for thecrime. We also recovered theirSUVs,” CO Deepak Singh said.

The Indira Nagar SHOreiterated his claim thatMohan suffered injuries bysome pointed object and notin the firing. “The miscreantsopened fire during the brawlbut the bullet did not hitMohan,” he claimed. The SHOsaid Mohan probably waspushed by the attackers duringthe brawl and suffered injuriesin the process. He deniedreports that Mohan was

attacked as he refused to takeorder from the belligerentgroup of youths. The SHO saidthe youths arrested belongedto different places in easternUttar Pradesh and lived inIndira Nagar and Gomti Nagarlocalities. The utter show oflawlessness by the trigger-happy group was displayedoutside a model shop in IndiraNagar on Sunday night. As thetop cops took a serious note ofthe incident, the police workedon a warfooting and trackeddown the miscreants.

“The Dutch courage ofthe miscreants vanished afterthe cops roughed them up in

the custody making them tosing like a canary. In fact, thelocal cops were pulled up bytheir seniors and they ventedtheir ire on the miscreants,” thesources said. They said thepolice obtained the CCTVfootages and interrogatedmore than a dozen persons toget a clue about the law-break-ers. “Some of those quizzedidentified one of the accused,identified as Aman, and laterthe cops solved the case,” thesources said. The incidentoccurred at a model shoplocated at Vijay Kunj crossingin Munshi puliya locality atnight.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Even as the police succeed-ed in ascertaining the iden-

tity of the woman, whose dis-membered body parts sanstorso were recovered inKrishna Nagar and her torsowas recovered from a vacantplot in Para on March 23 andMarch 24 respectively, the huntfor the killer is no less than aGordian’s knot for the police.The cops are also anxiouslywaiting for the DNA reportwhich is pending. The DNAreport will confirm if the torsowas of same woman whosebody parts were recovered inKrishna Nagar case.

On Sunday night, thepolice succeeded in ascertain-ing the identity of the womanas Bharti Pandey of WestBengal. As per police, Bhartimarried Sunil Kanaujia afterdeserting her first husbandand children in Gonda. She wasstaying at a house in newKanshi Ram Colony in Para.

The police got the successjust by fluke as the brother ofSunil Kanaujia contacted thePara police informing themabout of his brother goingmissing. “In the meantime,some of the residents of NewKanshi Ram colony tipped offpolice about the mysteriousmissing of Sunil’s wife too.The cops conducted a raid atthe house where Bharti andSunil were living and found itlocked. The cops got somephotos and the identity of thewoman was confirmed,” thepolice sources said.

They said the police sus-pected that the murder tookplace in the one room house.“The forensic experts who con-ducted checking late at night onSunday found enough hint ofblood clots inside the room,though it was yet to be crosschecked with the reports of theautopsy of the woman whosedismembered body parts wererecovered in Krishna Nagarand Para,” the sources said.

They said the major chal-lenge before the police was totrack down Sunil who thepolice suspected as killer in thecase. “Sunil worked as a fabri-cator fitting aluminium grills athouses. He met Bharti sometime back and was not ongood terms with her for thepast few months as he suspect-ed her loyalty,” the sourcessaid. As per sources, the policesuspected that Sunil had usedsome electric cutter to dismem-ber the body of the victim andlater dumped it at differentplaces.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The mysterious death of afabricator on Sunday trig-

gered stiff protest from kin andsupporters who blocked theroad after putting the corpseon the road in Gomti Nagar onMonday morning. The protestcame as a tough challenge forthe police on the law andorder front. The protesters gota shot in the arm when formerMLA Ravidas Mehrotra andsome other leaders reached thescene to support them.

The police allegedly optedmild cane-charging to dis-perse the mob and that furtheraggravated the situation forc-ing senior cops to send addi-tional force at the scene. Themob pacified after the policeregistered a case and assured them help in gettingcompensation.

As pr reports, DineshYadav of Digdiga village (neara prominent school) of GomtiNagar was hired on Sunday bycontractor Jogesh Yadav of thesame locality.

“Around 10 am on Sunday,Dinesh left for the constructionsite, located in Vishesh Khandunder Vibhuti Khand localityand owned by Yash Garg.Around 1 pm, Jogesh’s broth-er reached our house to tell usabout the death of Dinesh. Wereached Ram Manohar LohiaHospital where Dinesh waslying dead. After this, wereached the construction siteand found it locked. We came

School kids to encourage voters

Traffic curbs for filing

of nomination papers

Five persons nabbed for killing bartender

Husband prime suspectin woman’s murder

to know that Jogesh and hispartner had removed theCCTV which was installed atthe construction site,”deceased’s wife Mishali said.She was weeping inconsolablyand was demanding a thread-bare probe into the incident.Her kin were demanding com-pensation to the family andalleged that Jogesh and hispartner killed Dinesh and

destroyed the CCTV to hidetheir crime. The deceased’swife added she was told that arack made of ply fell overDinesh and he suffered criticalinjuries. “Dinesh had headinjuries. How a ply rack fellover him if he was hired forfabrication work at the con-struction site,? she questioned.

Police apathy surfaced inthe case. On Sunday, the policedid not accept the complaintgiven by victim’s family whichforced them to stage a protestto get their voice heard. OnMonday, the police registereda case under section 304 IPCfor causing death due to neg-ligence and under section 201IPC for destroying evidence.

The police spokesman saidthe police were investigatingthe case. “The police had beenasked to trace the CCTV andretrieve the footages from it.The teams are hunting fornamed persons,” he said.

Fabricator’s mysterious

death triggers protest

THE PROTEST CAME AS

A TOUGH CHALLENGE

FOR THE POLICE. THE

PROTESTERS GOT A

SHOT IN THE ARM

WHEN FORMER MLA

RAVIDAS MEHROTRA

AND OTHER LEADERS

REACHED THE SCENE

TO SUPPORT THEM

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Lucknow Electricity SupplyAdministration (LESA) has

pulled up socks in terms ofarrangements for the summerseason. A senior LESA officialsaid that the current load inLucknow was 700 megawattbut they had enough power tosupply.

“We can easily handle thedemand even if it goes up to2000 megawatt. Currently, it isthe lean period but the load willincrease in the coming days,” hesaid, adding that the demandwas likely to go up to 1500megawatt.

He said they had madelong-term preparations andkept on improving each day asfar as capacity building wasconcerned. “We have alreadybuilt up a capacity to transmit

and distribute 1800 megawattpower,” he pointed out.

The official said they wereincreasing the capacity to trans-mit power at the points wherethey were getting the maximumtransmission. “We are gettingpower to transmit from UPPT-CL. There are points where wereceive less electricity and thereare points at which we receivemore. We make our capacitystronger at points where wereceive more power,” heexplained.

Asked about the power cutscenario in the district, he saidthere was no rostering as ofnow. “Power cut happens whenpeople are getting pipes laiddown in their homes and one ofthe lines gets snapped. It alsohappens when any tree fallsdown and the wires snap,” headded.

LESA gears up to

meet increased

summer demand

However, the IndiraNagar SHOreiterated his claim that thebartender sufferedinjuries by somepointed object andnot in the firing

city 04LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Adrunken youth and hisrelative attacked an e-rick-

shaw driver allegedly for ‘star-ing’ at them in Madiaon onSunday night. Reports said thevictim, identified as Neeraj, wasstanding at a shop while his e-rickshaw was parked on theroadside when the attackers,identified as Rajesh Kashyapand his relative Rajpal Kashyap,passed near the scene. “Bothwere in a drunken state andwere unable to walk properly.As I saw them, Rajesh allegedthat I was staring at them. Itried to prove my point butthey began to abuse me andattacked me when I resisted.Rajesh then bit my ear and Ibegan to bleed. I got nervousand sat down on the ground.Sensing trouble for them instore, both fled the scene,”Neeraj claimed. Police areinvestigating the case.

DEFRAUDED Cyber thugs duped two

persons by withdrawing a cashover Rs 1 lakh form their bankaccounts in Jankipuram.Reports said complainantSatish Kumar of Jankipuramgot a message of withdrawal ofRs 64,000 from his bankaccounts on different datesbetween March 31 and April 4.In another incident, PreetiSrivastava of Jankipuraminformed the police thatunidentified miscreants with-drew Rs 12,000 from her bankaccount. In both the cases, themiscreants did the cash with-drawal when the ATM cardswere with the victims. Policeare investigating the case.

(CPAP) on Monday. SGPGIdirector Dr Rakesh Kapooremphasised the necessity oflearning of skills and encour-aged all the delegates to peri-odically and actively acquire subject knowledge andskill from the Neonatologydepartment.

Chief medical superinten-dent Dr Amit Agarwal spokeabout how the Neonatologydepartment was making rapidstrides in newborn care andwas ready to act as a nodal hubfor the state.

President of LucknowNeonatology Foundation(LNF) Dr Sanjay Niranjanemphasised the necessity ofmore such workshops to beconducted by the Neonatologydepartment and said it wouldbe nice if a calendar could beprepared to have a continuousobserver-ship programme forpractising doctors of the cityand state which would go along way to improve the healthof newborns in the state.

Dr Girish Gupta said if the

newborns were to be salvaged,early use of CPAP should bethe forte of all neonatologists.He said this year itself, thedepartment had alreadytrained more than 150 doctorson important intensive careprocedures like basics ofmechanical ventilation andCPAP.

He added that the rest oftraining calendar was full ofsimilar workshops addressingdifferent and importantaspects of neonatology. Asthis workshop was webcastlive, he said that in future, heintended to use telemedicinefacility more effectively formore widespread learningbenefits at various medicalcolleges of the state.

“Soon, the department isgoing to have many advances,including starting of DM(Neonatology) course, devel-opment of Advanced NeonatalSimulation Training andResearch Centre and the ini-tiatives would chalk out aneffective path of reduction of

neonatal death rate in thestate. Doctors said one of thecommonest systems affected innewborns was the respiratorysystem. “Multiple factors areresponsible for this affectionsuch as prematurity, infec-tions, congenital defects, andmetabolic disorders to name afew. For respiratory distress,neonates require oxygen andventilatory support. CPAP isan intervention which, ifadministered timely, will avoidor minimise the need of ven-tilation,” a doctor said.

A senior doctor said it wasthe need of the hour for new-born care providers to be wellversed with non-invasivemethod of CPAP administra-tion. The aim of this workshopis to provide comprehensiveknowledge and skill trainingon CPAP as well as on animportant drug used in respi-ratory distress, surfactant. Theworkshop was attended by 54delegates from medical col-leges and other neonatal set-ups from UP and Delhi.

TRIALS CONCLUDEFerit Cricket Bash (FCB),

India’s first independent crick-et league for amateur players,concluded its preliminary tri-als for UP and Delhi. TheLucknow trials were conduct-ed from April 5 to 7 at PaarthRepublic, Lucknow-KanpurHighway, Darogha Kheda. TheNoida trials held at JBM GlobalSchool from April 5 to 7. SunilShetty was present there toencourage the participants.FCB provided cricket kits tothe participants who wereunable to bring their owncricket gear. The participantswere judged by a jury compris-ing renowned Ranji playersand certified coaches. Theselected players will get anopportunity to compete in thenext round from which theshortlisted players will securetheir place in respective statebadge cricket teams.

BIRTH ANNIVERSARYTo mark the 125th birth

anniversary of Prof MeghnadSaha, an internationallyrenowned astrophysicist, par-liamentarian and the founder-president of National Academyof Sciences, the Lucknow chap-ter, will organise a lecture on‘Professor Meghnad Saha: Abrief account of his remarkablecontributions’ by Prof AjoyGhatak, MN Saha distin-

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Actor Dev Joshi, betterknown for his roles in

shows such as ‘Baal Veer’ and‘Chandrashekhar’, said he lovedto visit Lucknow. The actor wasin the city as celebrity guest atthe International Children’sFilm Fest organised by CityMontessori School.

“This is my fourth visit tothe ICCF and CMS is like afamily. I see my own grandfa-ther in Jagdish Gandhi and Ilove to meet him,” he said.Asked whether children’s filmfestival made a difference, henodded in the affirmative.

“Such events play a veryimportant role because theyform a part of the visual media.

Children these days are most-ly hooked on to smartphonesand YouTube is a perfect medi-um for short films. When wehave film festivals, childrenget to watch informativemovies and also learn some-thing new,” he said.

Dev said he had beensearching for some good pro-jects after the shows he hasalready done. “I have done‘Baal Veer’ andChandrashekhar and now I amlooking forward to some goodprojects to act in,” he said.

Dev is currently a secondyear student of BA in Gujaratwith Political Science as themain subject. About the awardthat he received from PresidentRam Nath Kovind on January

26 last for exemplary work inart and culture, he said it wasbecause he had been actingsince he was three. “I hadworked in over 170 plays whenI was seven. Since then, I havedone a lot of Gujarati moviesand theatre and finally movedto Mumbai when I was offereda role in ‘Baal Veer’,” he said.

Earlier, ICFF witnessed thepresence of actors such asShahbaz Khan and AbhishekDuhan on the fifth day. The fes-tival was inaugurated byDivisional Commissioner AnilGarg while IG, LucknowRange, SK Bhagat the specialguest of honour. Students ofseveral schools came to theCMS Kanpur Road auditoriumto watch educational films.

Lucknow (PNS): Theregional centre of IndiraGandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU) is provid-ing skill-based and employ-ment-oriented education at thedoorsteps of Tharu tribes liv-ing in forest areas ofPachpedwa Block, Balrampur.

Assistant director, IGNOU,Kirti Vikram said the activitieswere carried out under theguidance of regional directorManorama Singh. “Tharu isone of the primitive tribes ofUttar Pradesh living in theforest areas of Indo-Nepal bor-ders in Pilibhit, LakhimpurKheri, Bahraich, Shrawasti,Balrampur, Siddharth Nagarand Gorakhpur. In terms oftribal population, Balrampur isthe second most populated

district in UP,” Vikram point-ed out. He said they had con-ducted several awarenesscamps in the region wheretribal population is living inorder to inform them about theimportance of higher educa-tion. “To provide quality edu-cation at the doorsteps of learn-ers, a regular study centre ded-icated for the educational

upliftment of Tharus was estab-lished at Deen Dayal ResearchInstitute, Imiliya Kodar,Balrampur. In July 2018 ses-sion, 42 tribal girls took admis-sion in various programmes atthe study centre,” he said.

Recently, a skill develop-ment camp was organised forthe tribal girls. “In that camp,the tribal girls were taughtself-defence techniques. Theywere also imparted computerliteracy training and theirknowledge regarding healthand hygiene was also updated.

The tribal girls wholearned self-defence techniquesparticipated in a specialiseddemonstration organised onthe occasion of Republic Dayearlier this year in front ofVidhan Bhawan in Lucknow.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Anew housing schemeknown as `light house`

scheme meant for personswhose annual income is notmore than Rs 3 lakh will be ini-tiated in June this year. TheUrban Development Ministryhas directed LucknowDevelopment Authority (LDA)to be ready to accept the bigchallenge and also provide asuitable land space for theproposed project.

The LDA administrationclaimed that it had acceptedthe challenge and waiting forfurther instructions in thatregard. LDA Vice-ChairmanPN Singh was confident that

the LDA administration wouldfollow the instructions sin-cerely yielding excellent results.

The State UrbanDevelopment Agency (SUDA)will supervise its progress andrelease the funds according tothe work done. It is said thetarget given is to build 1,000housing units within a year.

The proposed site isexpected to be located atVrindavan housing scheme,Sultanpur Road and SitapurRoad housing schemes. Therewill be six-storeyed four tow-ers built with fly ash and withsteel structures to make themdurable and safe for the resi-dents. It is said an individualshelter will have toilet, wash-

room and a room with veran-dah in the front.

The global tenders havealready been floated to selectdeserving private developers(the Indian developers willnot be allowed for bidding) forthe job. It is said that thename of the proposed projectwas given as shelters would belight in structure but durableand can face rough weatherwithout harming occupantsand will also be pollution-free. Chief engineer IS Singhclaimed those structures wouldbe safe and durable but failedto state the price of an individ-ual shelter due restrictionsimposed by the ElectionCommission.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The department ofNeonatology at Sanjay

Gandhi Post-Graduate Instituteof Medical Sciences organised aneonatal continuous positiveairway pressure workshop

Neonatology dept ready to act asa nodal hub for state: Dr Kapoor

CITYBRIEFS

Police conducting a vehicle checking drive in view of the model code of conduct, at Naka Hindola in Lucknow on Monday

guished chair professor ofNASI at IIT-Delhi, at BiotechPark in Jankipuram onTuesday.

SYMPOSIUMA symposium and exhibi-

tion focusing on the core ele-ments of universal health wasorganised at Nursing College,Command Hospital, CentralCommand, on Monday tocommemorate World HealthDay and to create awarenessamongst soldiers, familymembers, trainee officers andnursing cadets of the hospital.The programme commencedwith a symposium followed byan exhibition focusing on coreelements of universal healthcoverage and a nutrifest‘Zaiqa’. Various other eventslike an interactive session onvarious health schemes beingundertaken by theGovernment of India, a pup-pet show on women empow-erment, women-related healthschemes, ill-effects of drugand alcohol abuse were alsoorganised. World Health Dayis celebrated on April 7 everyyear. The event was inaugurat-

ed by Major General Vivek

Sharma, Commandant,Command Hospital.

TRAINING PROGRAMMEHuman Resource

Development Centre, IntegralUniversity, under the aegis ofUGC-HRDC, AligarhMuslim University, inaugurat-ed a training programme onacademics under the bannerof Centre for AcademicLeadership and EducationManagement (CALEM),Union Ministry of HumanResource Development.Director of HRDC, IntegralUniversity, Syed AqeelAhmad welcomed the partic-ipants and also wished themall the best. He encouragedthe participants to attend allthe sessions of the pro-gramme regularly. Herequested the participants tobe serious about campus sus-tainability for better sustain-able future of nation. Head ofthe department ofEnvironmental Studies andDSW (Integral University)MA Khalid was the guest ofhonour.

Drunken youth,

relative attack

e-rick driver

New housing project tobe launched in June

IGNOU bid to educate Tharus

Love visiting Lucknow: Dev

Children with actor Abhishek Duhan

Puja Pal to

file revised

nomination

Allahabad (PNS): Two-time BSP MLA from AllahabadCity West Puja Pal, who hadbeen fielded by the SamajwadiParty this time from Unnao,said that she would file a revisednomination on Tuesday. It islearnt that somebody has chal-lenged her nomination fromUnnao pointing out that shehad recently entered into amatrimonial alliance, but in thecolumn of husband she men-tioned the name of the late RajuPal. Sources said that theSamajwadi Party workers werenot happy with the nominationof Puja Pal from Unnao andthey had kept themselves awayfrom the election activities.The alleged mistake in thenomination paper columns hadprovided a chance to the topleadership of the party of tak-ing a decision regarding candi-dature once again, sourcesadded. Though Puja Pal saidthat she would file a revisednomination on Tuesday sourcessaid that Arun Shankar Shuklaalias Anna was likely to replaceher from Unnao as the officialcandidate of the SP-BSPalliance. Puja Pal had becomeMLA for the first time when herhusband and sitting BSP MLARaju Pal had been murderedbrutally allegedly by the Atiquegang because he had defeatedAshraf, the younger brother ofAtique Ahmad.

No headway in

Satyendra Pal

murder case

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

The police had failed tomake any headway in the

brutal murder case of a youthwhich took place at Mau Aimaon the night between April 3and 4. The dacoits after killinghim looted cash and orna-ments worth lakhs of rupees.The police said that a hunt forthe miscreants was on.

According to a reportreceived here, the victim,Satyendra Pal (25) was sleepingin his house when the dacoitsbarged into it the house andcommitted loot there. WhenSatyendra offered resistancethe dacoits attacked him withsharp-edged weapons andkilled him. Satyendra wasworking at the primary healthcentre (PHC) situated in MauAima. The police said thatSatyendra’s father, Indra Raj Palwas a ward boy in the prima-ry health centre and had retiredOn the fateful night, Indra RajPal was not at home as he hadgone to his relative’s place toattend the birthday party.Satyendra and womenfolk werethere when the dacoits com-mitted the loot there.

An awareness programme on PISA and ‘Back to basics’, organised by KendriyaVidyalaya Sangathan

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019 nation 05

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE nNEW DELHI

The IAF on Monday reiter-ated that it had shot down

a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 on February 27 during anaerial duel in Naushera sectorand said it has more credibleevidence that is clearly indica-tive of the fact that Pakistanhad lost one F-16 that day.“However, due to security andconfidentiality concerns, weare restricting the informationbeing shared in the publicdomain,” the IAF said.

This assertion here by AirVice Marshal RG Kapoor, assis-tant chief of operations andspace, came three days after theIAF held an off-the-camerabriefing to negate some USreports claiming all the F-16s ofPakistan were accounted for andthe Indian version of shootingdown a F-16 was not correct.

While briefing mediaper-sons on record for the first time,Kapoor said not only the IAFhas irrefutable evidence that F-16 was used by PAF on Feb 27but also the MiG-21 Bisonpiloted by Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman shot

down a PAF F-16.“There is no doubt that two

aircraft went down in the aer-ial engagement on February 27,one was the Bison (MiG 21) ofthe IAF and the other was a F-16 of PAF, conclusively identi-fied by its electronic signatureand radio transcripts,” he said.The senior officers, however,did not take any questionsfrom the media.

In an effort to back theassertion of shooting downthe F-16, the IAF also shared itsradar images about the aerialduel between Varthaman andthe F-16 that day with print andelectronic media for the firsttime. The radar images alsoshowed Varthaman locking inon the F-16 and seconds later the F-16 signature disap-pears from the radar screen

indicating it was hit, Kapooradded.

Sharing some slides andmaps for reference, Kapoorsaid the PAF aircraft had firedmultiple AMRAAM missilesand the IAF had used countermeasures and tactical manoeu-vres. In the aerial combat thatensued Varthaman flying Mig-21 shot down F-16. As shownin the radar images, the F-16crashed and fell across theLine of Control (LoC) inPakistan OccupiedKashmir(POK), he said.

The IAF lost one MIG-21and pilot Varthaman ejectedsafely but his parachute drift-ed into POK where he wastaken into custody by thePakistan Army, he said.Incidentally, the F-16 wasdowned at least seven to eight

kms inside POK in Sabzkotarea there.

The IAF briefings in quicksuccession over last three dayscame after a fresh controversybroke out when US magazineForeign Policy in an article lastweek claimed no F-16 jet wasshot down during the aerialcombat. A report published inthe US publication onThursday last said, “Two seniorUS defence officials with directknowledge of the situation toldForeign Policy that US per-sonnel recently countedIslamabad’s F-16s and foundnone missing.” However, thenames of the officials were notdisclosed in the report.

Rejecting the report, theIAF had then asserted that it hadshot down an F-16 aircraft of thePAF. Briefing media on Friday

last, the IAF sources had also saidradio communication of PAFintercepted by the IAF con-firmed that one of the F-16s thatattacked India on February 27 inretaliation against IAF air strikesin Balakot a day earlier did notreturn to its base in Pakistan.

In a statement last week,the IAF said after its attack onthe terrorist camp in Balakot onFebruary 26, PAF attempted ariposte on February 27, 2019.A large force of PAF F-16s, JF-17s and Mirage III/V aircraftwere picked up by IAF radars.They were intercepted by IAFSu-30MKI, Mirage-2000 andMig-21 Bison fighters guidedby ground radars and AWACS.

All attempts of PAF to attackany military targets were thwart-ed by the IAF. Kapoor said theIndian forces confirmed sighting

ejections at two different placeson that day. The two sightingswere at places separated by atleast 8-10 km. One was an IAFMig-21 Bison and the other aPAF aircraft. Electronic signa-tures gathered by us indicate thatPAF aircraft was an F-16.

The magazine report alsosaid, “A US count of Pakistan’sF-16 fleet has found that all thejets are present and accountedfor, a direct contradiction toIndia’s claim that it shot downone of the fighter jets during aFebruary clash.”

IAF radar images show F-16 shot down

AIR VICE MARSHAL RG KAPOOR SAYS OUR PROOF INDISPUTABLE

Air Vice Marshal RG Kapoor during a Press conference at South Block in NewDelhi on Monday PTI

New Delhi: The Supreme Courton Monday refused urgent list-ing of a plea challenging therecent Madras High Courtorder directing the Centre toban the TikTok app over con-cerns about access to porno-graphic contentthrough it.

A Bench of ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoiand Justices DeepakGupta and SanjivKhanna said the pleawill come up for hear-ing in due course of time.Senior advocate A M Singhvi,appearing for Chinese compa-ny ByteDance, said that thereare over billion download of theapp and the Madurai Bsench ofMadras High Court has passedan ex-parte order.

“No urgent listing. Thematter will come up in duecourse of time,” the Benchsaid. The Madurai Bench of

Madras High Court on April 3,had directed the Centre to banmobile application TikTok as itvoiced concern over the“pornographic and inappro-priate contents” being madeavailable through such apps.

It directed the medianot to telecast video clipsmade with TikTok. Theapp allows users to createshort videos and thenshare them. It had askedthe Government if itwould enact a statute on

the line of the Children’s OnlinePrivacy Protection Act in theUS and posted the matter forfurther hearing on April 16.

The High Court hadpassed the interim orderWednesday on a PIL petitionwhich sought to ban Tik Tokapp on ground that it alleged-ly contained contents that“degraded culture and encour-aged pornography”. PTI

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday said it can-not pass an order at this stageon a plea seeking stay on therelease of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s biopic as thecensor board is yet to certifythe film.

The apex court said it willhear the matter on Tuesday andcould possibly pass an order ifthe petitioner brings on recordwhat the film depicts is “high-ly objectionable”.

“Any kind of order fromthe court will be possible if thepetitioner states and pleadswhat the film is seeking todepict and his objections onthis count,” said the order by abench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi. The Bench alsorefused the plea of the peti-tioner, Congress activist AmanPanwar, that the copy of thefilm should be given to him.

“Why should we directthat individual be given a copyof the film,” said the Bench, alsocomprising Justices Deepak

Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna.“On behalf of the peti-

tioner, a prayer has been madethat directions should be issuedfor furnishing a copy of the filmto enable the petitioner to actin terms of the order. We fail tosee how such a direction can beissued by the court,” it said.

At the outset, the ChiefJustice of India (CJI) said thefilm is not yet certified andreferred to April 4 statement byCentral Board of FilmCertification (CBFC) chair-person Prasoon Joshi given toPTI about it.

Joshi had told PTI that thefilm was undergoing due

process of examination andcertification. “Since there are alot of queries around the cer-tification of the film, (I) wouldlike to give a clear picture: thefilm is going through the dueprocess of examination andcertification according to therequisite guidelines and is yetto be certified as the processis not complete at this point,”Joshi had said.

Senior advocate AMSinghvi, appearing for theCongress activist, said pro-ducer Sandip Singh had comeout with a statement that thebiopic would be released onApril 11. PTI

New Delhi: Former Congressleader Sajjan Kumar was the“kingpin” of gruesome offencein which Sikhs were “massa-cred” in Delhi during the 1984anti-Sikhs riots, CBI told theSupreme Court on Mondaywhile opposing his plea seekingbail. Kumar has challenged inthe apex court the Delhi HighCourt verdict of December 17last year that awarded him lifeimprisonment for the “remain-der of his natural life” in a 1984anti-Sikh riots case.

Kumar, 73, who is lodged injail, has also filed an applicationseeking bail. His bail applicationcame up for hearing on Mondaybefore a Bench of Justices SABobde and SA Nazeer. SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta, appear-ing for the CBI, opposed his pleasaying it would be a “travesty ofjustice” if Kumar was grantedbail as he is facing trial inanother 1984 anti-Sikh riotscase at Patiala House districtcourt here.

“This is a gruesome offenceof massacre of Sikhs. He(Kumar) was the leader and hewas the kingpin of this,” Mehtatold the Bench.

The case in which Kumarwas convicted and sentencedrelates to the killing of fiveSikhs in Delhi Cantonment’sRaj Nagar Part-I area of south-west Delhi on November 1 and2, 1984, and burning down ofa Gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II. Anti-Sikh riots had brokenout after the assassination ofthen Prime Minister IndiraGandhi on October 31, 1984,by her two Sikh bodyguards.

During the arguments, thecounsel representing Kumartold the Bench that a key wit-ness in the case had earliergiven four statements in whichshe had not named Kumar but

later, she named the formerCongress leader in her statement.

“How long he (Kumar) hasbeen in jail?” the Bench asked.To this, the counsel said Kumaris in jail for past over threemonths and during the adju-dication of the trial, he was outon anticipatory bail and nevermisused the liberty.

Mehta, however, told theBench about the circumstancesin which Kumar was grantedanticipatory bail and arguedthat a violent mob had gatheredat Kumar’s residence when CBIteam had gone there duringprobe into the case. The Benchwas also told by one of theadvocates that Kumar was a sit-ting MP in 1984 and severalSikhs were killed during theriots in his constituency.

When Kumar’s counselreferred to the merits of thecase, the Bench said, “We donot know why you are invitingour attention to the facts of thecase. “Today, you (Kumar) areconvicted by the high court. Itis not a charge by police. Wecannot treat it lightly.”

During the hearing, whenMehta referred to the ongoingtrial against Kumar in a caserelated to 1984 anti-Sikh riots,the bench asked, “How manywitnesses are yet to be exam-ined?” PTI

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday sought theresponse of former KolkataPolice Commissioner RajeevKumar on CBI’s plea seekinghis arrest in the multi-crorerupee Saradha chit fund scam.

The apex court, onFebruary 5, granted protectionfrom arrest to Kumar whiledirecting him to appear beforethe CBI and “faithfully” coop-erating into the investigation ofcases arising out of the scam.

The Central probe agencyhas sought vacation of theorder so that it can arrest andinterrogate Kumar.

“This is the interim appli-cation (IA) of the CBI seekingcustodial interrogation of

Rajeev Kumar. Issue notice. Letthe matter be listed for hearingon April 15,” said a Bench ofChief Justice Ranjan Gogoiand Justices Deepak Guptaand Sanjiv Khanna.

The Bench also allowedCBI to file a fresh affidavitregarding its allegations thattelecom operators — Vodafoneand Airtel — were not coop-erating with it in the probe.

Senior advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for Vodafone,said it has provided the details,including the Call Data Records(CDRs) to the CBI and soughtthe hearing after three weeks.The Bench has now posted thisaspect after two weeks.

At the outset, senior advo-

cate AM Singhvi, appearing forthe former Kolkata police chief,said that CBI’s plea in this casemust be settled or approved bythe CBI Director as he has nofaith in M Nageswara Rao,former interim CBI Director,whose wife is being probed bythe West Bengal police in a2017 case.

“Let us not digress from thereal issue. You are taking excus-

es. The CBI is seeking yourarrest. Don’t go here and there,”the Bench said.

Singhvi then said he wasnot aware of listing of CBI’splea, seeking arrest of Kumar,on Monday. “This (CBI’s IA) isvery much there. It is listedtoday. If you do not know this,what can I do,” the bench saidand it prompted Singhvi to ten-der an apology.

In its plea to the apexcourt, the agency has said therecall of the order grantingKumar an interim protectionfrom the arrest was necessary“to unravel the entire gamut ofthe larger conspiracy in theponzi scam cases”.

The CBI also sought the

court’s directions to the WestBengal authorities to complywith the court’s earlier orders“in letter and spirit” and not tocreate any hurdle in the CBIprobe or try to “intimidate,harass and scare the agencyofficials” probing the cases.

“Recall the interim protec-tion granted to Rajeev Kumarfor no coercive steps, includingarrest, granted by this court byorder dated February 5, 2019,to enable the CBI to subjecthim to interrogation in accor-dance with the law to unravelthe entire gamut of larger con-spiracy in these ponzi scamcases and its subsequent inves-tigation,” the CBI’s applicationsaid. PTI

PNS n NEW DELHI

With healthcare costsbecoming a major issue

among voters in elections 2019,main political parties like theBJP and the Congress are tryingto woo them by promising toimprove the situation of healthsystem in the country. While theBJP has promised to take its flag-ship Ayushman Bharat Yojana(ABY) further by strengtheningit in the next five years if it comesto power, the Congress’ ‘Nyay’manifesto has promised to makefull healthcare as the right ofevery citizen — child, adult andsenior citizen.

The Congress has also con-tested the insurance model ofthe ABY and promised to dou-ble up the health budget to 3per cent of the GDP coupledwith free healthcare services.

On the other hand, the BJPin its manifesto the ‘SankalpPatra’ said it will ensure health-

care for all and control pricesof medicines.

While asserting that annu-al health cover of Rs 5 lakh to10.74 crore poor families underthe Pradhan Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana under AyushmanBharat is being doled out whileat least 17,150 Health andWellness Centres have becomefunctional. By 2022, at least1,50,000 Health and WellnessCentres (HWCs) have beenproposed to be set up.

These will have telemedicineand diagnostic laboratory facil-ities at the HWCs by 2022 toensure quality primary medicalcare to the poor at his doorstep,the BJP manifesto said.

To create an essentialdevices list and a separate pric-ing policy for medical devices,set up one medical college orPost Graduate medical collegein every district by 2024, accel-erate the pace of reforms inmedical education sector and

improve doctor: popu-lation ratio by dou-bling the number ofMBBS and Specialistdoctors in the coun-try by 2024 and

reform para-medicaleducationsector.

Saf f ronparty has also

promised toimprove immunisation

and nutrition programmesby strengthening NationalNutrition Mission’s infrastruc-ture and capacity in allAnganwadis and full immu-nization coverage for all the chil-dren and pregnant women by2022. On eliminatingTuberculosis, the BJP said it willroll out Special Mission to elim-inate TB from India by 2025.

BJP has also promised to setup one medical college or postgraduate medical college inevery district, through public or

private participation, by 2024. Tostart with 75 such medical insti-tutes will be set up by 2022.

Asserting that full health-care is the right of every citizen- child, adult and senior citizen,the Congress, in its manifesto,has promised that the total gov-ernment expenditure onhealthcare will be doubled to 3per cent of GDP from current1 per cent by 2023-24.

Challenging BJP’s AB-PMJAY, the Congress said, “Weare of the firm belief that theinsurance-based model cannotbe the preferred model to pro-vide universal healthcare in ourcountry. Congress promises tovigorously promote and imple-ment the free public hospitals-model to provide universalhealthcare.

“Congress promises toenact the Right to HealthcareAct that will guarantee to everycitizen the right to healthcareservices, including free diag-

nostics, out-patient care, med-icines and hospitalisationthrough a network of publichospitals and enlisted privatehospitals,” it stated.

Apart from promising toimplement the ClinicalEstablishments Act, 2010, tobring accountability to thefunctioning of private and pub-lic clinical establishments, theCongress has also promised topromote, and eventually man-date, the digitisation of medicalrecords on the foundation of arobust ICT infrastructure withsuitable provisions for privacy,mobility and interoperability.

The Congress alsopromised to implement theNational Mental Health Policy,2014 and the Mental HealthCare Act, 2017 by ensuring thatmental healthcare profession-als are appointed in all publicdistrict hospitals and that men-tal healthcare services are pro-vided in such hospitals.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Continuing with his pollpromises, Congress chief

Rahul Gandhi on Monday saidif his party was voted to powerin theupcomingLok Sabhapolls, theapplicationf e e s f o rexamina-tions forGovernment posts would bedone away with. “The CongressGovernment will do away withthe application fee imposed onthe examinations forGovernment posts,” he said ina Facebook post.

o The radar imagesalso showedVarthaman lockingin on F-16 andseconds later F-16signature disappearsfrom the radarscreen indicatingthat it was hit

o Sharing some slidesand maps forreference, RG Kapoorsaid PAF aircraft hadfired multipleAMRAAM missilesand IAF had usedcounter measures andtactical manoeuvres

o The IAF briefings in quicksuccession over last threedays came after a freshcontroversy broke outwhen US magazineForeign Policy in an articlelast week claimed no F-16jet was shot down duringthe aerial combat

o As shown in the radarimages, the F-16crashed and fell acrossthe Line of Control(LoC) in PakistanOccupiedKashmir(POK), hesaid. The IAF lost oneMIG-21

Parties promise to nurse voters back to health� While the BJP has promised to take its flagship

Ayushman Bharat Yojana (ABY) further bystrengthening it in the next five years if it comes topower, the Congress’ ‘Nyay’ manifesto has promisedto make full healthcare as the right of every citizen —child, adult and senior citizen

� The Congress has also contested the insurance model ofthe ABY and promised to double up the health budget to3% of the GDP coupled with free healthcare services

� On the other hand, the BJP in its manifesto the‘Sankalp Patra’ said it will ensure healthcarefor all and control prices ofmedicines

If voted to power, willcancel application feesfor Govt exams: RaGa

INSHORTRLYS GET EC’S NOD FORFLOATING TENDERS

New Delhi: The ElectionCommission has given therailways a “no objection” forinviting tenders related to trainoperations, execution of safetywork and day-to-daymaintenance of infrastructure,with a condition that no publicitywould be made over it by anypolitician. The railways hadearlier sought an exemptionfrom a section of the model codeof conduct (MCC), which barsfloating of tenders when the pollcode is in place without priorpermission of the ElectionCommission. The nationaltransporter stated that thiswould affect the day-to-dayfunctioning.

SC TO HEAR BAIL PLEAOF SANJIV BHATTNew Delhi: The Supreme Courton Monday agreed to hear a bailplea of former IPS officer SanjivBhatt in connection with a two-decade-old drug seizure case. Abench of Chief Justice RanjanGogoi and Justices DeepakGupta and Sanjiv Khanna issuednotice on the bail plea andsought response from Gujaratpolice. Senior advocate KapilSibal, appearing for Bhatt, saidthe high court has dismissed theplea in the case.

10% EWS QUOTA: SC TOHEAR PLEA ON MAY 2New Delhi: The Supreme Courton Monday said it will hear onMay 2 the pleas challenging theCentre’s decision to grant 10 percent reservation in jobs andadmission for candidates ofeconomically weaker sectionsacross all classes. A Bench ofJustices SA Bobde and SANazeer was told that theRailways has already advertisedfor jobs based on theGovernment’s decision to grant10 per cent reservation.

SC asks ex-Kolkata top cop to respond to CBI’s plea for his arrest CBI tells SC: Sajjan

was ‘kingpin’ of

1984 anti-Sikh riots

SC refuses urgentlisting of plea toban TikTok app

Can’t pass order at this stage

seeking stay on Modi biopic: SC

The apex courtsaid it will hear thematter on Tuesdayand could possiblypass an order if the

petitioner bringson record what the

film depicts is‘highly

objectionable’

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019 nation 06

MOHIT KANDHARI n

SUCHETGARH, RSPURA

Adding teeth to the BJP’saggressive campaign in

Jammu, Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh on Monday saidthere will be no option with theGovernment but to abolishArticles 370 and 35A related tospecial status to Jammu &Kashmir in the Constitution if“someone” talks about havinga separate Prime Minister forthe terrorism-affected State.

Addressing an electionrally in the border area ofSuchetgarh in RS Pura sectorlate on Monday evening,Rajanth Singh said, "Thosewho occupied the chair ofChief Minister in the State arenow talking about having aseparate Prime Minister forJammu & Kashmir.” He said, "Ifsomeone talks like that, we willhave no option other thanabolishing Article 370 andArticle 35A.”

On the occasion, Rajnathasked the Congress and leadersof all other parties to comeclean and clarify their standwhether or not they supportsuch demands.

Earlier in the day, BJP reit-erated its old demand to abro-gate Article 370 of theConstitution while releasingparty's 'Sankalp Patra' in NewDelhi.

The BJP manifesto alsopromised to annul Article 35A"as the provision is discrimi-natory against non-permanentresidents and women of Jammu& Kashmir".

Addressing an electionrally in support of BJP candi-

date, Jugal Kishore Sharma,ahead of the last day of thecampaigning for the first phaseof polls on April 11, Singh said,"as Union Home Minister, I vis-ited Kashmir valley on numberof occasions and invited all thestakeholders to join the dia-logue process".

He said, I even invitedseparatists, who claim to be'messiah' of Kashmiri people tojoin the dialogue process withopen arms. He said, "I had evenrequested the Chief Minister ofthe State to extend an invitation

on her behalf to come on thedialogue table. He said, theyrefused. They were not ready tohold parleys.

Referring to the dastardlyPulwama terror attack, Singhsaid, "Jammu & Kashmir ishogging the headlines thesedays. 40 CRPF jawans weremartyred in a terror attack inPulwama. After that attack,we gave a befitting reply toPakistan."

He said the country is nowin the "strong hands" of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

SEPARATE PM FOR J&K DEMAND

No option but to repeal Art 370, 35A: Rajnath

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh during an election rally ahead of the LokSabha polls at Suchetgarh, Jammu on Monday PTI

Patna: The Rashtriya LokSamata Party, a constituent ofOpposition "Mahagathba-ndhan" in Bihar, suffered yetanother setback on Mondaywith its sitting MP Ram KumarSharma floating his own fac-tion and lambasting the party'sfounder Upendra Kushwahafor allegedly ignoring com-mitted workers while distrib-uting tickets.

The Sitamarhi MP, whohas been the party's "chief whip"in the Lok Sabha and the chair-man of the parliamentary board,made the announcement at anews conference here, saying, "Iam going to write to the ElectionCommission to recognise RLSP(Ram Kumar Sharma) as a sep-arate group".

"Like a feudal oligarch,Kushwaha decided on the can-didates for all five seats he wasallotted in Mahagathbandhan,without consulting me. Jitteryover his prospects in his sittingseat of Karakat, he is contest-ing from Ujiyarpur as well,"Sharma alleged.

The disgruntled leader, theonly sitting MP in the RLSPother than Kushwaha, also saidthat the party's founder hadfalsely accused Chief MinisterNitish Kumar of using foul lan-guage against him.

"He denied me a ticketbecause I tried to stop himwhenever he took suicidal deci-sions like falling into the trapof the Congress and SharadYadav and quitting the NDA.He falsely accused Bihar ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar of usingfoul language against him,"Sharma claimed."The mostbrazen example of his shenani-gans was on display in Motihari(Purvi Champaran). He tookmoney for the seat from formergeneral secretary PradeepMishra and reneged on hispromise when he got a biggerprice from Madhaw Anand.

"In the end, he sold the tick-et to Akash Prasad Singh whoturned out to be the highest bid-der. Singh was not even a partymember before his candidaturewas announced," he said.

Singh is the son of formerUnion Minister AkhileshPrasad Singh, who won PurviChamparan seat — earlierknown as Motihari — in 2004and was the runner up in 2009as a Congress nominee. Theformer Minister currentlyheads the campaign committeeof the Bihar Congress.

Sharma also alleged "thecandidate for Pashchim

Champaran, too, has beenimported from the JD(U) for aprice. Brajesh Kushwaha's can-didature left us all wonderingwhen he acquired the primarymembership".

"All through, Kushwahahas functioned in an undemo-cratic manner. He made right-eous noises about the need forrepresentation of lower castesin the judiciary and used themetaphor of kheer (rice pud-ding) to hoodwink the peoplewith the claim that he wantedto take all sections along.

"Whenever somebodyraised objections about thenear absence of non-KushwahaOBCs, he was eased out,"Sharma alleged.

All RLSP members in thebicameral state legislature hadturned their backs on himwhen he walked out of theNDA, the sitting MP claimed.

"He stands isolated today,even though he may be feelinghigh over getting five out of the40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.Our Jehanabad MP ArunKumar had parted ways longback. Now our group will workto ensure that he loses all thefive seats," Sharma asserted.

A former JD(U) leader,Kushwaha floated his own partyin 2013 after having voted infavor of the bill for introducingFDI in retail brought by the thenCongress-led UPA government,defying the party whip.

When Nitish Kumar, the defacto leader of the JD(U),pulled out of the NDA,Kushwaha cosied up to the BJP.His fledgling party won all thethree seats it contested — rid-ing the Modi wave.

The BJP — which neededan OBC face to compensate forthe exit of Kumar — prompt-ly rewarded him with a minis-terial berth at the Centre.

Kushwaha, however, grewuneasy following Kumar'sreturn to the NDA in 2017. TheBJP insisted that all NDA part-ners make sacrifices in order toaccommodate the new ally andasked him to settle for twoseats. He ultimately walkedout of the NDA in Decemberlast year. PTI

Srinagar: The BJP should notplay with fire when it comes tothe special status of Jammu &Kashmir, PDP presidentMehbooba Mufti said onMonday and warned that abro-gating Article 370 would leadto freedom for the state fromIndia.

"If you free Jammu &Kashmir from Article 370, youwill free the state from countryas well. I have said many timesthat Article 370 links J&K withthe country. When you breakthis bridge, India loses its legit-imacy over the state. It becomesan occupational force," Muftisaid.

The former Chief Ministerwas reacting to the BharatiyaJanata Party's manifesto, in

which the party has reiteratedits commitment to abrogateArticle 370 and annul Article35A of the Constitution.

"The BJP has failed onfronts, be it unemployment,farmer issues or it price rise.Now they are looking for issueswhich they can use to garnervotes," Mufti said.

The Peoples DemocraticParty leader warned that theBJP should desist from playingwith fire, saying any change inthe special status of the statecould endanger the entireSouth-Asian region.

"J&K is already on a heapof explosives and we saw aglimpse of it in Pulwama. If theBJP does not stop making suchstatements and give up such

intentions (about Article 370),it will not only burn J&K butthe entire region.

"So my warning to the BJPis to stop playing with fire.There is explosives in Jammu& Kashmir. If you will light aspark, everything will go up inflames... There will be noJammu & Kashmir or Indialeft," she added.

Earlier, Mufti said theIndian constitution would notbe applicable to the State ifArticle 370 was abrogated.

"Why waste time in court.Wait for BJP to scrap Article370. It will automatically debarus from fighting elections sinceIndian constitution won't beapplicable to J&K anymore,"she said in a tweet.

Mufti was responding toreports that a PIL has been filedin the Delhi High Court, seek-ing a ban on the PDP presidentand National Conference chiefFarooq Abdullah from con-testing the Lok Sabha election.

While Mehbooba is con-testing from Anantnag,Abdullah is the candidate fromSrinagar constituency.

Mehbooba, in her tweet,quoted a famous couplet ofUrdu poet Allama Iqbal whichreads: "'Na samjho gay tou mitjaouge aye Hindustan walo.Tumhari dastaan tak bhi nahogi dastaano main' (O youpeople of Hindustan, if youdon't understand, you will per-ish, your story will be erasedfrom history)". PTI

Srinagar: National Conferencepresident Farooq Abdullah onMonday said abrogatingArticle 370 of the Constitutionwill pave the way for "freedom"for people of Jammu &Kashmir and asked the BJP totry joining the hearts and notbreaking them.

Abdullah's remarks comeon the day BJP released itsmanifesto for the Lok Sabhapolls in which the party reit-erated its commitment to scrapArticle 370, which grants spe-cial status to Jammu &Kashmir.

The party also resolved toannul Article 35A of theConstitution, which bars peo-ple from outside to own prop-erty in Jammu & Kashmir.

"They talk of abrogatingArticle 370. If you do that, theaccession will also not stand. Iswear by Allah, I think this isthe wish of Almighty, we willget freedom from them,"Abdullah, who is contestingthe Lok Sabha polls fromSrinagar constituency, said atan election rally here.

The former Chief Ministersaid there would not be anyoneto hoist the national flag inKashmir if Article 370 is abro-gated.

"Let them do it, we will see.I will see who is ready to hoisttheir flag here. So don't do suchthings that break our hearts.

Try joining the hearts, notbreaking them," he said.

Launching a scathingattack on the BJP leadership,including Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Abdullah said,"When you do an electionrally do speak a few words oflove for Jammu & Kashmir."

"Yes, we are a Muslimmajority state and there is nodoubt about that. Try as muchas you want but you can'tchange it. You think by remov-ing Article 35A, you will usurpour rights. Will we take thislying down? We will fight it,"he added.

The NC president said thespecial residency laws werebrought in by then Maharaja ofJammu & Kashmir, Hari Singh,in 1927 as a safeguard for

Dogras so that their numberswere not diluted by influx ofpopulation from other parts ofIndia.

"Do you know what isArticle 35A? It gives you (peo-ple of State) the right to thisplace. Nobody from outsidecan buy land here or apply forjobs. This was kept byMaharaja Hari Singh in 1927so that the population ofDogras does not fall. It was notas much for us as much forthem (Dogras). What do theywant? Will they bring peoplefrom outside and settle themhere to dilute our numbers?" heasked.

NC vice president OmarAbdullah used the BJP mani-festo to hit out at GovernorSatya Pal Malik. PTI

Scrapping special status will pave wayfor freedom for people of J&K: Farooq

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah addresses his supporters during anelection rally ahead of the upcoming elections in Srinagar on Monday AP

Don't play with fire: Mehbooba warns BJPJammu: Panun Kashmir, anorganisation representingKashmiri pandit migrants, onMonday appealed to theElection Commission to bancandidates of the NC and thePDP from contesting the LokSabha polls as they were run-ning a "seditious and seces-sionist" campaign in the valley.

The campaign launchedby the National Conferenceand the Peoples DemocraticParty that accession of Jammu& Kashmir with India wasconditional and abrogationof Article 370 will lead to sep-aration of the State from Indiais preposterous and has sedi-tious connotation, the organ-isation said.

"NC andPDP haveembarked upona brazenly sedi-tious and seces-sionist cam-paign. They are virtually act-ing as over ground flanks ofPakistan and the separatistestablishment in Jammu &Kashmir," Convenor of PanunKashmir Agnishakher said.

"We appeal to the EC totake notice of the seditiousnature of the election cam-paign launched by NC andPDP in Jammu & Kashmirand ban their candidates fromcontesting the forth comingParliamentary elections in theState," he said. PTI

Pandit body seeks ban on NC,PDP over stand on Article 370

Crack in Kushwaha’s party:MP floats new faction afterdenied ticket in Bihar

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

The Madras High Court onMonday quashed the land

acquisition proceedings initi-ated by the Centre and TamilNadu Government for the`10,000 crore Chennai –Salemeight lane Greenfield express-way project.

The Division Bench ofJustices T S Sivagnanam and VBhavani Subbaroyan asked theconcerned agencies to stop allwork of the proposed 277 kmstretch of the state-of-the-arthighway which was to be builtthrough agricultural lands andreserve forest.

The judges were of theview that the project reportsubmitted by the consultant

was not satisfactory. They alsoaccepted the argument byactivists and local residentsthat environmental clearancewas mandatory since the pro-ject would have an adverseimpact on the environment,including waterbodies.

Anbumani Ramadoss, thePMK leader and Lok Sabhacandidate from Dharmapuriwas one of the petitioners whohad challenged the project inthe Madras High Court. ThePMK led by Ramadoss is oneof the constituents of theAIADMK-led mega alliancecontesting the April 18 election.Barring the AIADMK nd theBJP, most of the political out-fits in the State are against thedream project. The DMK hasdeclared that it would quash

the project if returned to power.Rohini Bhajibhakare,

Salem district collector hadtold that only a minuscule per-centage of farmers was oppos-ing the project that has other-wise elicited overwhelmingsupport. “About 90 per cent ofpatta (title) holders extendedfull support for th land survey.Only ten per cent hadapproached the higher author-ities for enhanced compensa-tion,” Bhajibhakare had told themedia in June 2018.

The court order is seen asa set back to the proposedDefence Hub to be sety up onSalem as well as the manyindustrial ancillary units com-ing up along the Salem-Chennai stretch, pointed outentrepreneurs. PTI

Madras HC quashesland acquisition process

CHENNAI-SALEM GREENFIELD CORRIDOR

Chennai: Opposition DMK onMonday welcomed the MadrasHigh Court order quashingthe land acquisition process forthe Salem-Chennai green cor-ridor project, saying it has dealta 'death blow' to the KPalaniswami Government inTamil Nadu.

PMK leader AnbumaniRamadoss, one of the petition-ers who challenged the ̀ 10,000crore worth project, hailed thecourt order and said the out-come was a 'victory' to hisparty and farmers.

DMK president and Leaderof Opposition in the StateAssembly M K Stalin said theGovernment should not preferan appeal against the courtruling and demanded that theChief Minister apologise tofarmers for acquiring theirland.

"The court has dealt a deathblow to the PalaniswamiGovernment which does notrespect people's sentiments,"

Stalin alleged in a statementhere.

Earlier in the day, a specialbench of the high courtquashed the land acquisitionprocess for the project, holdingit required a mega realignmentas the proposed route wouldhave an adverse effect on theenvironment.

The bench of Justice T SSivagnanam and JusticeBhavani Subbarayan passed theorder allowing a batch of peti-tions of 35 landowners andRamadoss, whose party is nowa constituent of the AIADMK-led NDA.

Stalin claimed the govern-ment paid no heed to the viewsof the farmers who did not wantto part with their land and waskeen on implementing the pro-ject with the help of the police.He also took a swipe atRamadoss, saying "he hasstopped talking" about the pro-ject after entering into an alliancewith the AIADMK. PTI

Stalin hails HC ruling

An election official arranges voting materials in an electronic voting machines and voter verified paper audit trial (VVPAT)distributing centre ahead of Lok Sabha election in Jorhat, Assam on Monday AP

Itanagar: The number ofwomen contestants inArunachal Pradesh has gone upto 11 in the current election forthe 60-member Assembly,against seven in the 2014 polls.

One of the two Lok Sabhaseats in the State also has awoman candidate who is agreenhorn.

With nine first time con-testants in both assembly andLok Sabha, this is the highestnumber of women candidates inthe state till date. There wereseven women contestants in2014 elections and one of themwon.

Simultaneous Lok Sabhaand Assembly elections will be

held in the Northeastern state onApril 11.

Of the 11 assembly poll con-testants, the Congress has field-ed five women candidates, the

ruling BJP nominated three,while the People's Party ofArunachal (PPA) and the (JDU)selected one each.

It is encouraging to see a

large participation of women inelections this time, but morewomen need to come forwardand participate in nation-build-ing exercise, Arunachal PradeshState Commission for Women(APSCW) Chairperson RadhilaChai Techi said.

"We are committed to cre-ate a political space for womenin the state," Techi added.

Of the three candidates notnew to electoral politics,Dasanglu Pul and Gum Tayengof the BJP are seeking re-electionfrom their seats while formerminister Komoli Mosang is con-testing the poll as a Congresscandidate.

Several of these 12 candi-

dates are focusing on empow-erment of women to give theirdues in the tribal society of thestate.

"My focus will be on peace,development, transparency andjustice to women. I will fight fortheir rights in the society,"Komoli, Congress nominee forNampong assembly constituen-cy, said.

"Women empowerment willbe my main agenda," anotherCongress candidate YamanTatak Bagra who is contestingfrom Along West seat, said.

BJP nominee Dasanglu Pul,wife of former chief ministerKalikho Pul, said "I believe thework I have done for the con-

stituency in a short periodwould Reflect on theoutcome ofthe election. Many who doubt-ed my ability as a woman havechanged their minds."

Kalikho Pul had committedsuicide on August 9, 2016. Aftermonths of intense politicaldevelopments, Pul had takenover the reins of the state onFebruary 19, 2016 but had torelinquish the job following aSupreme Court order in July.

Dasanglu Pul had won theby-election from Hayuliangassembly seat as a BJP candidate.

Gum Tayeng was electedunopposed as a Congress nom-inee from Dambuk in a by-elec-tion in 2013 following the death

of her husband — then sittingMLA Jomin Tayeng. She alsoretained the seat in 2014Assembly polls.

JD(U)'s Jarjum Ete, formerAPSCW chairperson, is con-testing the poll from ArunachalWest Lok Sabha seat.

Dipti Bengia, president of awomen's organisations ofArunachal, said the women inthe state have realised they arecapable enough in all fieldsincluding politics.

"They (women) have vol-unteered to contest the electionwhich is a good sign in a male-dominated society of the state.The women can manage theirfamilies and they can also shine

in politics. The society shouldsupport and encourage them toprove their mettle," said Bengia,president of the ArunachalPradesh Women WelfareSociety.

Arunachal Pradesh votedseveral women representatives tothe state assembly in the past.

Sibo Kai was the firstwoman legislator after she wasnominated to the assembly in1978 when the state was a unionterritory.

Nyari Welly was the firstelected woman MLA of thestate when she won on a PPAticket in 1980. She was re-elect-ed in 1984 as a Congress candi-date. PTI

Number of women contestants up in 60-member Arunachal House

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019 nation 07

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Two autocrats in form ofDuryodhan and Dushasan

had been impeding the Indiandemocracy and it seems if theduo return to power after thegeneral elections, the same“fall” of democracy will occur.This was stated by BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee on Monday withoutnaming Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and BJP pres-ident Amit Shah.

“There is a person (readModi) who sends out 560 liesbaring his 56 inches’ chest.This person is as spurious asRavana. But then even Ravanahad his end,” Banerjee told ahuge rally at Coochbehar won-dering how instead of placingthe account his own perfor-mance, the Prime Ministerwas asking her to explain herdeeds. “Look at his audacity.Instead of seeking votes on hisperformance of the past fiveyears, he is asking me to explainmy conduct,” Banerjee said.

It was like “vinash kaaleyviprit buddhi (destruction darkcontrast wit)” for the PrimeMinister who was running a“Hitler-like fascistGovernment.” The PrimeMinister was “arrogant, auto-cratic, dictatorial with noregard for democratic princi-ples,” Banerjee said alleginghow the PMO and the centralagencies were acting at hisdirections by victimising theopposition leaders.

“They are sending centralagencies like ED, CBI andIncome Tax to raid the housesof those raise their voicesagainst them. But I am a dif-ferent mettle. I will not cowdown in the face of such mea-sures. I will continue to fight,”she said comparing the Modiand BJP president Amit Shahwith Duryodhan andDushyashan — the two evilspersonified in grand epic ofMahabharata. “These twoDuryodhan and Dushasan aredestroying Indian democra-cy,” she said asking “where isthe 2 crore job you hadpromised Modi Babu?” Insteadof creating 2 crore jobs “youhave snatched 2 crore employ-ments from the people. Did thepeople vote for you for this?”

Mamata likens

Modi, Shah to

Dushasan,

Duryodhan

PNS n NEW DELHI

After evading two summons,moderate separatist leader

and Hurriyat Conference chair-man Mirwaiz Umar Farooqfinally appeared before theNational Investigation Agency(NIA) on Monday in connec-tion with the probe in a terrorfunding case.

The Mirwaiz, who was pro-vided security upon his arrivalat the Indira Gandhi Airport,was accompanied by other sep-aratist leaders, including AbdulGani Bhat, Bilal Lone andMaulana Abbas Ansari.

The Mirwaiz was asked toappear before the NIA onMarch 11 and March 18 but heexpressed his inability to join theprobe in the national Capital cit-ing security concerns. In itsthird summons, issued lastweek, the NIA assured himsecurity during his visit here forquestioning in the case.

The NIA case relates to ter-ror funding from Pakistan forterrorist activities, stone peltingon security forces, burningdown of schools and damagingpublic property. The agency isseeking to identify the chain ofplayers behind the terror financ-ing by Pakistan for fuellingjehadi activities in the Valley.

The NIA has namedPakistan-based terror groupJamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD), HafizSaeed as an accused in the case.JuD is the front for the bannedLashkar-e-Tayyeba. The casehas also named outfits like theHurriyat Conference factionsled by Syed Ali Shah Geelaniand the Mirwaiz, anotherPakistan-based terror groupHizbul Mujahideen and theDukhtaran-e-Millat.

Ahead of Mirwaiz’s appear-

ance before the NIA, theHurriyat Conference held anexecutive meeting on Sundaynight and had the audacity tocondemn the move to summonhim to the national capital. TheHurriyat claimed its chairmanwas “being deliberatelyharassed and there was aneffort to criminalise leadershipfor their political stand”.

The NIA had on February26 carried out searches at thepremises of several leaders ofthe outfits named in the FIR,including the Mirwaiz.

The probe agency ques-tioned two maternal uncles ofthe Mirwaiz, Maulvi Manzoorand Maulvi Shafat, and hisclose aides last year. BothManzoor and Shafat are retiredsenior Government officers.

According to inputs withthe security agencies, the out-fits and the leaders named inthe FIR in league with thePakistan Army-ISI combineand its terror affiliates like LeTand JeM and are suspected toactively involved in radicalizingthe youth in the Valley for fur-thering the nefarious agenda ofPakistan in the State. At thesame time the children of thesedubious leaders have obtainededucation in prestigious con-vent schools in the Valley andsome of them have pursuedhigher education in Westerncountries, sources said.

New Delhi: BJP president AmitShah has met party veteransMurli Manohar Joshi and LKAdvani on Monday, hours afterlaunch of party poll manifesto.

Shah’s meeting with thetwo leaders came days afterthey were not given poll tick-ets. The BJP has fielded Shahfrom Gujarat’s Gandhinagar, aseat represented by Advani formany years, while Joshi hasbeen replaced by SatyadevPachauri in Kanpur.

After being denied ticket,Joshi had issued a statementsaying the BJP told him that he

would not be nominated by theparty in Kanpur. While Advanihas not said anything aboutbeing dropped from the party’s

list of Lok Sabha candidates, hewrote a blog asserting his partynever regarded those who dis-agreed with it politically as

“anti-national”.More or less, both Advani

and Joshi were sidelined in theparty after 2014 general elec-tions, in which the BJP got clearmajority under the leadershipof Narendra Modi.

After easing them out ofkey organisational positions,the party leadership brought thecurtains down on their electoralinnings by not giving them tick-ets to contest the Lok Sabhapolls this time. The BJP had ear-lier announced that it will notgive tickets to those above 75years of age. PTI

PTI n NEW DELHI/BHOPAL

The Income-Tax Departmenton Monday said it has

detected a “widespread andwell-organised” racket of col-lection of unaccounted cash ofabout Rs 281 crore during raidsagainst close aides of MadhyaPradesh Chief Minister KamalNath and others.

It said the sleuths haverecovered Rs 14.6 crore of“unaccounted” cash and seizeddiaries and computer files ofsuspect payments madebetween Madhya Pradesh andDelhi. The Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT) said thedepartment has also detected atrail of Rs 20 crore suspect cashallegedly being moved to the“headquarters of a major polit-ical party in Delhi” from thehouse of an important personwho lives on Tughlaq Road,home to many VIPs.

“Rs 14.6 crore of unac-counted cash has been found sofar, besides 252 bottles of liquor,few arms and tiger hide-skins,”the CBDT said in a statementissued late night. The CBDTframes policy for the I-TDepartment. “Searches inMadhya Pradesh have detect-ed widespread and well-organ-ised racket of collection ofunaccounted cash of about Rs281 crore through various per-sons in different walks of life,including business, politics andpublic service.

“A part of the cash was alsotransferred to the headquarter

of a major political party inDelhi, including about Rs 20crore, which was movedthrough hawala recently to theheadquarter of the politicalparty from the residence of asenior functionary at TughlakRoad, New Delhi,” the CBDTsaid. It, however, neither iden-tified the political party nor thesenior functionary. The state-ment added that records of col-lection and disbursement ofcash “in the form of hand- writ-ten diaries, computer files andexcel sheets were found andseized and it corroborates theabove findings”.

It added that the searches inDelhi in the group of a close rel-ative of the senior functionaryhave further led to the seizureof “incriminating evidence,including cash book recordingunaccounted transactions of

Rs 230 crore, siphoning offmoney through bogus billing ofmore than Rs 242 crore and evi-dence of more than 80 compa-nies in tax havens.”

The CBDT said severalunaccounted/benami proper-ties at posh locations in Delhihave also been detected. It saidthese “instances of violations ofthe model code of conduct arebeing brought to the notice ofthe Election Commission”.

The searches, on charges ofalleged tax evasion and hawalatransactions during the ongoingpoll season, continued Mondayat various premises in Bhopal,Indore, Goa, Delhi and theNational Capital Region. Thedepartment had on Sundaylaunched pre-dawn raids at 52locations of people and associ-ates linked to Nath by involvingabout 300 tax sleuths.

New Delhi: The EC on Mondayreceived a factual report fromthe Uttar Pradesh ChiefElectoral Officer LakkuVenkateshwarlu on the remarksmade by BSP supremoMayawati appealing to Muslimsto vote for the SP-BSP alliancein the upcoming Lok Sabhaelection and not to allow theCongress to split their votes.Venkateshwarlu had asked theSharanpur district magistrateon Sunday to send him a fac-tual report on Mayawati’sremarks in order to allow thepoll panel to ascertain whetherthe comments were violative ofthe Model Code of Conduct, inforce since March 10. In herspeech at Deoband on April 7,BSP chief Mayawati had calledupon Muslims to vote for SP-BSP alliance, and not for theCongress. Mayawati’s openappeal to the minority com-munity came at the first joint

rally her party held with theSamajwadi Party at Deoband inthe last two decades.Samajwadi Party (SP) presidentand former Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav was also pre-sent in the rally. Sources in theEC said that the report of theSaharanpur district magistratewas forwarded to the EC anda decision on whether theremarks violated the poll codewas expected in the next twodays. The model code states:“There shall be no appeal tocaste or communal feelingsfor securing votes.”

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

After a gap of nearly 28months, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi and Shiv Senapresident Uddhav Thackeraywill share the stage at an elec-tion rally to be held at Ausa inLatur district of Maharashtraon Tuesday.

Tuesday’s election is signif-icant in the context of the frostyrelations between the BJP andShiv Sena for the past four anda half years and the fact thatUddhav had never lost an oppor-tunity to criticise the BJP gov-ernment in the state and at theCentre and also take vicious digsat Modi at various public rallies.

So much so that at a publicrally held at the temple town ofPandharpur in westernMaharashtra on December 24,2018, Uddhav had indirectlycalled Modi Chowkidar Chorhain”, At that rally, Uddhav hadsaid: “Halli paharekarich choryakaraylaa laagale aahet” ( Thesedays, security persons are turn-ing into thieves”. ‘Paharekari’ inMarathi is an equivalent of‘chowkidar’ in Hindi.

Uddhav had made an indi-rect passing reference to“Chowkidar Chor hain”, whenhe spoke about the severedrought prevailing inMaharashtra. “I had recentlygone to a village in Beed districtwhere I saw a tree eaten awayby insects. I could not evenrecognise it was a lemon tree,till an old farmer told meabout it. This was the first timeI was seeing such a sick lemontree. The old man told me thatthere was a time we would uselemon juice to insects but thesame lemon tree has beeneaten away by insects. Suchthings do happen in countrywhere these chowkidars haveturned thieves in these strange days”.

I-T detects `281 crore

racket of slush funds

CRPF jawans guard as Income Tax officials recover cash after raids on thepremises of lobbyist Ashwini Sharma, in Bhopal, on Monday PTI

Superseded as...

From Page 1Currently, Verma is head-

ing the strategically tri-serviceAndaman and NicobarCommand is due to retire inNovember this year.

In 2014, then senior mostNavy officer Shekhar Sinhawas also overlooked for theNavy chief ’s post and RDhowan was selected for thecoveted job. Sinha, however,did not contest the selectionand retired after his tenure.

While announcingKarambir Singh’s name for thetop post, the Government hadsaid the selection was made fol-lowing a merit-based approach.Verma’s petition is likely to betaken up Tuesday, sources said.

Besides Verma, the othercontenders for the Navy Chiefpost included

Vice Chief of Naval StaffVice Admiral G Ashok Kumar,chief of Western NavalCommand Vice Admiral AjitKumar and SouthernCommand chief Vice AdmiralAnil Kumar Chawla, sourcessaid. Karambir Singh is nowheading the EasternCommand. Incidentally, he isthe first helicopter pilot tobecome the Navy chief.

Mallya extradition astep closer, UK HCsnubs his plea

From Page 1Mallya is required by the

UK court order to live withinan “ordinary living expensesallowance” of a maximum of18,325.31 pounds a week,which he offered to cut downto around 29,500 pounds amonth during a separate courthearing last week.

However, a consortium of13 Indian banks led by StateBank of India (SBI) did notagree to his offer as they seekaccess to nearly 260,000pounds in an ICICI Bank cur-rent account in his name inLondon. The judge in thatcase, Master David Cook, hasreserved his judgment on aninterim court order and isexpected to pronounce his finalruling in the coming weeks.

“Dr Mallya continues to doall he can to support a courtprocess in India, which shouldsee creditors paid off in full,”said Jonathan Isaacs, partner atDWF Law LLP – the firm rep-resenting Mallya in the caseagainst the Indian banks relat-ed to a worldwide freezingorder. Mallya has been based inthe UK since March 2016 andremains on bail on an extradi-tion warrant executed byScotland Yard in April 2017.

At the end of a year-longextradition trial at Westminster

Magistrates’ Court in Londonlast December, Judge EmmaArbuthnot had ruled that the“flashy” billionaire had a “caseto answer” in the Indian courts.

The judge found there was“clear evidence of dispersal andmisapplication of the loanfunds” and accepted a primafacie case of fraud and a con-spiracy to launder moneyagainst Mallya, as presented bythe CPS on behalf of the Indianauthorities. The court had alsodismissed any bars to extradi-tion on the grounds of theprison conditions under whichthe businessman would be held,as the judge accepted the Indiangovernment’s assurances that hewould receive all necessarymedical care at Barrack 12 inMumbai’s Arthur Road Jail.

Incidentally, the jail wasback in reference in the UKcourts in another high-profileextradition case recently as thelikely holding cell for fugitivediamantaire Nirav Modi,whose case is also beingpresided over by JudgeArbuthnot at WestminsterMagistrates’ Court.

India and the UK have anExtradition Treaty signed in1992 and in force sinceNovember 1993. So far onlyone successful extradition hastaken place from the UK toIndia under the treaty - that ofSamirbhai Vinubhai Patel, whowas sent back to India in 2016to face trial in connection withhis involvement in the post-Godhra riots of 2002.

From Page 1Party chief spokesperson

Randeep Surjewala said as a cit-izen of India he was concerned why `18,000 crorewere spent on VVPATs if they were not to be used inelections.

“No, we are not satisfiedwith counting only fiveVVPATs. As a citizen, I feel ifI am going to pay for Rs 18,000crore for VVPATs, the democ-racy enjoins upon every con-stitutional authority, everyGovernment to ensure thatelection is free, fair, proper and without an iota of doubtregarding exercise of franchiseby every individual,” Surjewala said.

A Bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi also didnot agree with the demand of21 Opposition parties thatmatching of EVM-VVPATresults be done in 50 per centcases saying it will requirehuge manpower and will not befeasible in view of infrastruc-tural difficulties.

The Bench interacted withthe Deputy ElectionCommissioner Sudeep Jainwho said presently the poll

panel matches VVPAT paperslips of 4,125 EVMs.

Jain told the court that atpresent three election officials,one returning officer and oneobserver, who happens to be asenior civil servant, aredeployed to undertake the ran-dom checking of VVPAT slipswith one EVM and increasingthe sample size would requiremore workforce.

Senior advocate CASundaram, appearing for theEC, said it is the constitution-al duty of the poll panel toensure free and fair election inthe country and it has put forththe difficulties posed inincreasing the sample size inview of the allegations of lead-ers of different political partieswhich was only based on theirperception.

Senior advocate AMSinghvi, appearing forOpposition leaders, said thedelay of 5.2 days, as the ECclaims, will occur only if theCommission choose to notincrease its present workforcefrom one person but the delaywould be substantially reducedif the workforce is increase byeven one person.

SC hikes VVPATslips’ check to five perAssembly segment

Mirwaiz Umar appears beforeNIA in terror funding case

Sashakt Bharat,

BJP’s Sankalp

From Page 1Rajnath, chairman of Manifesto

Committee, highlighted “main points” ofthe manifesto saying it is committed to‘Rashtravad’, zero tolerance to terrorismand complete check on illegal infiltrationacross the borders.

The manifesto commits itself to passthe Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016,that seeks to amend the Citizenship Act,1955 to provide citizenship to prosecutedminority migrants, from Afghanistan,Bangladesh and Pakistan, who are ofHindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi orChristian.

The Act doesn’t have a provision forMuslim sects like Shias and Ahmediyaswho also face persecution in Pakistan. Thebill has invited protests in Assam and partsof North-East as they don’t want them tobe rehabilitated there apprehending changein profile.

Rajnath said while passing the bill, itwould be endured that regional identitywould be protected.

Manifesto, he said provides for Rs onelakh debt to farmers for five years on zeroper cent interest. It also allocates Rs twen-ty lakh crore to be spent in next five-yearsand the benefit of Rs 6000 yearly to farm-ers having two acre would now be extend-ed to all the farmers irrespective of theirland-holding.

As per BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’, small andmarginal farmers and small shopkeepersare to get pension. The BJP Governmentwould set up ‘Rashtriya Vyapar Ayog’ fortraders.

The party would see that simultane-ous one time election be held to cut downmassive poll expenditure.

Rajnath said the theme of good gov-ernance would continue saying the DirectBank Transfer system had saved Rs onelakh ten thousand crore for the country inlast five years.

As for health sector, the party said theGovernment initiated a programme to set up 1,50,000 health and wellness cen-tres by 2022.

“Till date 17, 150 health centres havebecome functional. We will take the pro-gramme to next level and target provi-sioning of telemedicine and diagnostic lab-oratory facilities at these centres by 2022 to ensure quality primary medicalcare to the poor at their door steps,” the

manifesto said.On higher education, it said the BJP

would ensure increase in the number ofseats in central law, engineering, scienceand management institutes by at least 50per cent in the next five years.

“We will also motivate states to accord-ingly increase the number of seats in stateinstitutions,” it said.

On national security, the manifestosaid the Government would speed up pur-chases of outstanding defence relatedequipments and weapons and strengthenstrike capability of the armed forces. Self-reliance in defence sector would beensured, said the BJP pointing that themost modern AK-203 automatic rifleswere being manufactured at Amethi under‘Make in India in Defence’ initiative.

The BJP said while social security netfor the poor and farmers will be expand-ed, it will take up capital investment in thecountry to a new height. “By 2024, we willmake capital investment of Rs 100 lakhcrore in the infrastructure sector”.

By 2022, the BJP said it would alsoaccomplish- conversion of all viable rail tracks to broad gauge, electri-fication of railway tracks, completion ofdedicated freight corridor project andequip all main railway stations with Wi-Fi facility by 2022.

Jhansa patra,mocks Cong

From Page 1Senior Congress leader

Ahmed Patel said the BJP’smanifesto talks about just oneman, an apparent dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi. “Thedifference between BJP mani-festo and Congress manifestocan be seen firstly from thecover page. Ours has a crowdof people, and BJP manifestohas face of just one man,” saidPatel.

NC leader Omar Abdullah blasted the BJP for itspoll promises on Article 370and 35A.

“Recently J&K Governorclaimed there was no threat toArt 370 and 35-A and that par-ties like mine were only usingthem to drum up fear in theelections. I hope his colleaguesin the BJP send him a copy oftheir manifesto,” he tweeted.

Slamming the BJP’s mani-festo for upcoming polls, theCongress’ chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala said what ismissing from the documentwas any mention of jobs, note-bandi (demonetisation), GSTand black money. Surjewalasaid the BJP Government at theCentre had failed to mentionanything about “employmentand jobs” in its manifesto.Surjewala said jobs didn’t findany mention in the BJP mani-

festo”.Calling the BJP’s Sankalp

Patra a “lie”, Surjewala said theBJP promised “One Nation,One Tax” but changed it “900times”.

“Despite that, there hasbeen a shortfall of Rs 1 crore inrevenue collection, said theCongress leader, adding thatAngel Tax caused over 70 percent start-up issues,” he said.

The Congress leader said,“The country remembers whatthe BJP promised -- Rs 15 lakhto every citizen, employment toover 2 crore people, doublingof the farmers’ income andwomen security. The BJPGovernment has failed on allthese promises. The people ofthe country won’t forgive you(BJP Government)”.

The Congress also pulledup the BJP on the issue of cor-ruption.

“The BJP had promised toeliminate corruption. But ithas not appointed Lokpal infive years. Over 14.5 lakh RTIrequests are pending. Around40 per cent RTIs were rejectedin 2018 alone,” said the party.“In 2014, they promised‘chowkidar’, in 5 years, theydelivered ‘chor’,” it said.

During the media interac-tion, the Congress leaders laterreleased document called ‘125broken promises of BJP’, listingthe many tall promises theparty made in the 2014 electionmanifesto.

While Yechury said the

BJP’s only target is to consoli-date the Hindutva communalvote bank, West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeesharpened her attack againstModi calling him a “dacoitand liar chowkidar” who loot-ed public money duringdemonetisation.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwalon Monday termed BJP’s man-ifesto as a “fresh set of jumlas”and said Modi and party chiefAmit Shah did not have thecourage to say why demoneti-sation was done and farmerswere pushed towards destruc-tion.

Reminding the PrimeMinister of his party’s 2014promise of granting fullStatehood to Delhi, Kejriwalsaid the present manifesto doesnot have any mention of itwhich meant that Modi is lyingand in turn making it evenmore difficult for people tobelieve in him.

Madhya Pradesh

RAIDS

Cong fields

Kirti from

Dhanbad

From Page 1Former Union Minister

Subodh Kant Sahay has beenfielded from Ranchi while for-mer Jharkhand PradeshCongress chief Sukhdeo Bhagatwill contest from Lohardagaseat. Further, the JMM-Congress-JVM-RJD grandalliance is faced with problemsdue to numerous claimantsfor the Hazaribagh seats. TheCongress is weighing theoption of fielding former MPBhuvneshwar Prasad Mehta, aCPI member, as Left candidatefrom here.

AICC sources said in casethe party decides not to field aLeft candidate as adjustments,then the front runner is ShivlalMahto, a Kurmi leader. Theconstituency has a sizeablenumber of this caste.

Hazaribagh, currently rep-resented by Union MinisterJayant Sinha, has two strongclaimants from the Congress --- liquor mafia Gopal Sahu andsocial worker Shivlal Mahto.Eighty-plus Gopal Sahu iselder brother of three timeCongress Rajya Sabha memberDhiraj Sahu.

AICC top sources saidparty chief Rahul Gandhi isunderstood to have soughtmore details on Shivlal, whowas instrumental in organisingthe rally of Hardik Patel inJharkhand early this year andPatel is said to have pressed forhis candidature.

“Shivlal Mahto is a promi-nent Kurmi leader and giventhe caste equation inHazaribagh and the differ-ences between Jayant Sinhaand his father Yashwant Sinhacould make him a formidablewinner from here,” said theAICC source.

Uddhav, Modi

to share dais

after 28 months

Mayawati's appeal to Muslims: EC

gets report from UP poll authorities

Uproar after ‘gangster’joins Cong; will beremoved, says partyPNS n CHANDIGARH

As the Akali Dal on Mondaytook on the Congress for

inducting a “gangster” in itsparty to win the ensuing elec-tions by hook or by crook,Punjab’s ruling party said thatit was difficult to vet every indi-vidual when hundreds of peo-ple are joining the party.

Maintaining that the join-ing of gangster was neitherdeliberate nor condonable,Congress candidate fromPatiala and former UnionMinister Preneet Kaur — inwhose presence the allegedgangster Randeep SinghKharoud joined the Congresspast week — made it clear thathe would not be allowed toremain a member of theCongress at any cost.

She added that the partyhad zero tolerance to criminalsgetting into politics throughnefarious ways.

An alleged gangsterRandeep, hailing from Baran inSanaur and facing attempt tomurder, arms and robberycases, had joined the Congresslast week. Notably, he had beendesperate to join politics for thepast three years, and had earli-er made an attempt to join theAam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Shah meets Advani, Joshi

The Congress recently released itsmanifesto. As it is India’s oldestparty with presence in every partof the country, however nomi-nal and depleted it may be

today in many States, its statement of intent,should it come to power, must be read withutmost seriousness. However, while doingso, one must test its assertions, claims andpromises on the anvil of truth. The firstimpression one gets from reading this doc-ument is that the party would like us tobelieve that the history of democratic Indiabegan in 2014! The entire narrative ispinned on this premise because if it wereto go back, it would have to account for itspast sins. In other words, while it makesthe most noble declarations about demo-cratic values, the Constitution, its commit-ment to federalism and to fight corruption,it would like the nation to forget its owndreadful track record when it imposed adictatorship on India in 1975-77; when itcrushed non-Congress Governments timeand again over several decades using pli-able Governors; when it brought a viciousdefamation Bill to curb the media duringRajiv Gandhi’s prime ministership and, ofcourse, when it was caught in the Boforsbribery scandal.

The manifesto is hoping for sympathet-ic amnesia on the part of the electorate byjust talking about governance and politicspost 2014 and hoping that the people willforget its pathetic record when it governedthis country for close to 60 years. It is, there-fore, time to tickle public memory and leaveit to their wisdom to remember or forget thedisturbing events of the past.

The manifesto begins with a forewordby Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, whobegan with a rhetorical question: “Will Indiabe a free democratic country and willIndian people be free from fear?...Or willIndia be governed by a pernicious ideologythat will trample upon peoples’ rights, insti-tutions, conventions?...”. This is exactly thequestion that was on the top of every Indian’smind when the Congress imposed a fascistregime on the nation during the Emergency.

Further, he claimed that his party standscommitted to “truth, freedom, dignity, self-respect and prosperity of our people.” Thisstatement must be tested on the anvil oftruth. The manifesto loftily proclaims that“Freedom is the hallmark of our open anddemocratic Republic. The purpose of law isregulation in order to strengthen freedom.Laws must be just and reasonable and reflectour constitutional values.”

The question we need to ask ourselvesis whether the Congress has the moral rightto even discuss these core democratic prin-ciples. If freedom is the hallmark of ourRepublic, why did the party impose anEmergency and snatch away all the funda-mental rights of citizens? If laws must be justand reasonable and reflect Constitutional val-ues, why was the dreaded Maintenance of

Internal Security Act (MISA)enforced ruthlessly in 1975-77and why were all leaders of theOpposition incarcerated? Whywas the 39th Amendment intro-duced to put Indira Gandhiabove all other citizens and barthe Supreme Court from hear-ing her petition? Why were theessential features of a democra-tic Constitution like equalitybefore law and right to life andpersonal liberty done away with?

Let us turn to the media,institutions and the judiciary.About the media, the manifestosays the party firmly believesthat “the media must be free andself-regulated.” It says it will“uphold editorial independenceand guard against Governmentinterference.” Really? This isthe same party which cut offelectricity to newspaper officesin New Delhi on June 25, 1975,jailed 253 independent journal-ists, banned many foreign cor-respondents, imposed censor-ship on the media and evenappointed an Inspector-Generalof Police as Chief Censor inKarnataka. This is also the sameparty which classified newspa-pers as “friendly”, “neutral” and“hostile” during Indira Gandhi’stime and brought a draconiandefamation law to curb Pressfreedom when Rajiv Gandhi wasthe Prime Minister. Can we trustthis party when it comes tomedia freedom?

The Congress’ manifestopromises that it will restore“the dignity, authority and

autonomy” of institutions likethe Election Commission ofIndia. Is this believable, given theconduct of this party in the past?When the Shah Commissionprobed the excesses during theEmergency, the Superintendentof Tihar Jail told theCommission that NavinChawla, who was close to theNehru-Gandhis, asked him tothrow political prisoners inasbestos cells and “bake” themor to dump them in the lunaticscell. Referring to Navin Chawla,the Shah Commission said,“tyrants sprouted at all levelsovernight...”. It said Chawla con-ducted himself in an “authoritar-ian and callous” manner andrendered himself “unfit to holdany public office...”.

Is it not amazing that theparty, which appointed NavinChawla as an ElectionCommissioner in 2005 whenSonia Gandhi was the de factoPrime Minister, is now claimingthat it will “restore the dignity,authority and autonomy” of theElection Commission and otherinstitutions? Even more amaz-ing is its promise that appoint-ment to these bodies will betransparent and institutionalintegrity will be protected.

As regards the judiciary,the Congress has a terriblerecord. In the 1970s, it super-seded three Supreme Courtjudges, clamoured for a “com-mitted judiciary” and hurledabuses and threats on judges onthe floor of Parliament. In fact,

in November 1976, in the LokSabha, one Congress MP askedthe Supreme Court judges ifthey had “the temerity” to goagainst the Government andwent on to say that the party hadits “methods and machinery” todeal with such judges. Now inmanifesto 2019, the Congresshas promised that “the indepen-dence and integrity of the judi-ciary will be maintained.” Giventhe party’s discomfort with anindependent judiciary, thispromise must be taken with abag of salt.

Finally, a word about cor-ruption. The manifesto claimsthat the party will take “deter-mined steps” to bring backscamsters. This is the very partywhich ensured the exit of Italianbusinessman and SoniaGandhi’s friend OttavioQuattrocchi, who pocketed acommission of $7.3 millionwhen we bought field guns forour Army from Bofors and gotthe UK Government to unfreezehis bank account so that hecould walk away with the loot.

Somewhere in the begin-ning of the document, the partytalks about its commitment tothe Constitution and says, “Ourrecord speaks for itself...Wehave done it before. We will doit again!”

Given the party’s trackrecord, does this not soundominous?

(The writer is an author spe-cialising in democracy studies.Views expressed are personal.)

Voter must act wisely

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Advani’s last stand” (April 6).In a sort of farewell blog, BJP vet-eran LK Advani has said, “thosewho disagree with us are not ourenemies.” For the BJP, a stridentdenigration of opponents andself-praise of populism are twosides of the same coin that it putin circulation ever since it beganfacing flak for its failures on thesocio-economic front. The party,led by the Prime Minister, mountssevere and personal attacks onrival leaders even as theOpposition (for example, theCongress’ leaders) says it hasquarrels with policies and notpeople. The BJP built up a narra-tive on a “corrupt Opposition”that has since been undone byRafale as the game of perceptioncan be played by others too.

It is strange that the BJP, hav-ing come to power solely on thedevelopment plank, should nowrely largely on rabble-rousing totake on the Congress on an inclu-sive manifesto. In 2019, theIndian voter must still rely on hisinstincts to seek his destiny.

R NarayanaNavi Mumbai

An able leader

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Advani’s last stand” (April6). In my view, it would bewrong to interpret LK Advani’sremarks as an attack on the topleadership of the BJP, includingPrime Minister Narendra Modiand his senior colleagues. In ahuge party like the BJP, there

may be some hot-heads, who seestatements of some Oppositionleaders questioning the ModiGovernment’s post-Pulwamaactions, including Balakot, asvery provocative and anti-Indian. However, PrimeMinister Modi has promptlywelcomed Advani’s “guidingmantra” of “nation first, partynext and self last.”

LK Advani’s commitment

to nationalism began with hisentr y into the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) whenhe was a teen. Over the years, itgrew with his pioneering workas he set up the Jan Sangh andlater the BJP. He is still regard-ed as the main margdarshak —a guiding and inspiring soul ofthe party he founded.

M Ratan Via email

Truth should prevail

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “The F-16 mystery” (April 8).A US-based magazine has citedAmerican personnel as havingcounted the number of F-16fighter aircraft with the PakistanAir Force and found none to bemissing. This report has confusedmany of us who were led tobelieve that India shot down anF-16. Meanwhile, ourGovernment has stuck to itsstand, saying that it has conclu-sive evidence that the aircraft wasshot down. We need to know thetruth. Is it so difficult to verify?

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

Stringent law

Sir — Doing away with the sedi-tion law will cost the nationdearly. Secessionists have alreadytrained their guns against theState. The Congress should re-think on this.

ShivaliVia email

op nion 08

Making false promises

A SURYA PRAKASH

The Congress manifesto hopes for sympathetic amnesia by talking just about governance

and politics post 2014. It’s hard for the people to forget the disturbing Emergency

Sankalp Patra is amulti-layer and multi-dimensional documentthat addresses theexpectations and aspi-rations of society.

Prime Minister—Narendra Modi

If Congress presidentRahul Gandhi thinks he will come to power by supporting traitors,we will not let that hap-pen

Shiv Sena chief—Uddhav Thackeray

The government negotiateda deal with the EU, and mypreference was for that dealto be passed by Parliament,and we could leave the EUon that basis.

British Prime Minister—Theresa May

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

This refers to the editorial, “Advani’s last stand” (April6). Wisdom dawned on LK Advani when he was deniedthe party ticket to contest the Lok Sabha election.

Depending on their political inclinations and loyalties, somesay that the denial of ticket to him is an act of humiliationand betrayal while others say it is time the octogenarianretires. It is a bit doleful that he was sent to political obliv-ion by someone who grew up under his tutelage. Advanimentored Narendra Modi as his protégé and saved himfrom being shown the door by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in thewake of the Gujarat pogrom. For his critics, it is poetic jus-tice of sorts for his role in mainstreaming communal pol-itics. How his rath yatra culminated in the demolition ofthe Babri Masjid and resultant bloodshed is not easily for-gotten. As he is still hale and hearty, age cannot be citedagainst the veteran when it comes to be a candidate.

Perhaps what he wrote in the blog is his way of dis-approving of the party branding anyone and everyone crit-ical of it and the Government as anti-nationals. But when

the defenders of human rights and social activists weredenounced as anti-nationals, he did not rebuke the BJPor the Government for doing it. No matter what Advanisays now, it was he who sowed the seeds for the party’spresent leadership. It is difficult to undo the damage hedid to the Indian polity.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

SOMEWHERE IN THEBEGINNING OF THE

DOCUMENT, THEPARTY TALKS

ABOUT ITSCOMMITMENT TO

THE CONSTITUTIONAND SAYS, ‘OUR

RECORD SPEAKSFOR ITSELF...WE

HAVE DONE ITBEFORE. WE WILL

DO IT AGAIN!’ GIVENTHE PARTY’S TRACKRECORD, DOES THIS

NOT SOUNDOMINOUS?

Send your feedback to:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

I watched a lot of old filmslike Mughal-E-Azam andUmrao Jaan to get an under-standing of grace and bodylanguage. I had to clean myHindi as I am speaking Urdu.

Actor—Alia Bhatt

Yesterday in the Maldives, former

President Mohamed Nasheed won the

parliamentary elections following the suc-

cess of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in ousting

Yameen Abdul Gayoom for the Presidency. The

victory of the Maldivian Democratic Party is

very positive for India because Solih highlight-

ed how the Maldives became a victim of

China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),

leaving the island archipelago with massive

debts towards our eastern neighbour. The BRI,

which is a principal pillar of Chinese President

Xi Jinping’s foreign policy, has, despite assurances from China, been seen as

an enormous debt trap by more and more countries given the examples of the

Maldives and the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka. Several major infrastructure pro-

jects funded by the BRI are being cancelled like in Malaysia and questioned else-

where. Even in Pakistan, where the Chinese tap of money keeps flowing, there

are fears that the country will become an economic colony of China.

And as India, the original dissenter to the policy, keeps watching events, all

this seems to confirm the Ministry of External Affairs’ suspicions on the pro-

ject, that the BRI is nothing more than a cynical ploy by the Chinese to effec-

tively colonise smaller countries in the name of providing infrastructure. Just as

consumers should be wary before any purchase, the Latin term caveat emp-

tor, which basically means that the buyer should be aware, applies to nations

too.They should have been warier of China’s promises of brand new infrastruc-

ture with long-term loans built by Chinese firms with huge expertise. What coun-

tries appear to be getting are several thousand Chinese workers working for Chinese

companies building the infrastructure, which is often, like in the case of Hambantota,

several times the needed amount. As happened in Sri Lanka, the country was

unable to service the bill, a Chinese company stepped in to fill the void and just

like that, it acquired a huge asset in Sri Lanka. This project will likely be worked

by thousands of Chinese workers with few benefits to the local economy and

possibly even become a future Chinese naval base. As for Sri Lanka, caught in

a debt trap, it will be left with the distinct chance of losing its sovereignty on its

southern tip. India has been right to warn other nations about the imperialist risks

of the project and they are listening, with fewer and fewer countries wanting to

take part officially in the BRI. But despite our objections, India itself runs the risk

of being overwhelmed by Chinese products, with our trade deficit with the Asian

giant linked to our buying everything from smartphones and televisions to plas-

tic containers and car parts. This is indirectly fuelling the funds that China is divert-

ing to BRI projects. So should India put its money where its mouth is and start

acting tough on Chinese imports?

It was a historic reunion, the coming

together of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

supremo Mayawati with Samajwadi Party

(SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav at a joint election

rally with a clarion call to voters to seize their

day by giving them the verdict for Uttar Pradesh

(UP), one that could take on the ruling Bharatiya

Janata Party (BJP) in a game of numbers.

History has undoubtedly shown the possibil-

ities of an avenging caste phalanx when BSP

and SP founders Kanshi Ram and Mulayam

Singh Yadav had held back the BJP’s temple

surge almost 26 years ago with slogans of “Mile Kanshi Mulayam, hawa mein

udd gaye Sri Ram.” With the combined support of SP’s Muslim-Yadav votebase

and the BSP’s consolidated Dalit support, the alliance won the Assembly elec-

tions of 1993, arresting the tide of the BJP and weakening the Congress, which

was at the receiving end for failing to stop the Babri demolition. But that dynam-

ic is a lot more complex today. The temple is no longer the issue as the BJP is

going all-out with an aggressive thrust on nationalism that has supplanted it. And

the Congress is on a resurgence courtesy its young leadership and is now seen

as a protector of minorities. Besides, Mayawati herself is facing a votepie slide.

Still the SP and BSP, propped up in so small measure by the Jat heft of the Rashtriya

Lok Dal (RLD), have the numerical strength to take on the BJP and corner the

“other” vote. But with the Congress bent on reviving its own fortunes rather than

being part of the mahagathbandhan and with its charismatic general secretary

Priyanka Gandhi appealing to both backwards and Muslims, the new alliance

fears the BJP could benefit from a three-way split. It had hoped the Congress’

upper caste social base would damage the BJP more but its umbrella approach

could dent it too. That explains Mayawati’s call to Muslims to ensure there is no

split of community votes between the gathbandhan and the Congress, saying

the national party was no different from the BJP and only a counter-polarised

verdict could change things. Alliance leaders are genuinely worried about trian-

gular fights in minority-dominated Saharanpur and Moradabad for instance, where

the Congress candidates could play spoiler. But Muslims also realise the strate-

gic value of their vote and are factoring in candidate winnability. Besides, even

if they choose the Congress, the impact would just be felt in about eight seats.

In the past, the Dalit-minority (DM) consolidation has worked almost as effec-

tively as the Muslim-Yadav combination (MY) in the State. The DM coalition has

been most effective in western UP where they are above 40 per cent in half the

seats and almost 50 per cent in some, a chunk that can swing the verdict sig-

nificantly. Mayawati is simply going by past experience of her wins, in 2007 to

be precise, when she was successful in getting 28 Muslims elected, ensuring

representation in the Assembly. But for the Lok Sabha polls that followed, the

minority vote shifted to the Congress. Thereafter, the BSP lost its own hold on

the M factor despite fielding many faces, to a lesser degree to the Congress and

mostly to the SP. The BSP’s dalliance with the BJP to keep power further pushed

the Muslims away from it. So though the SP is surer about their support, Mayawati

fears if her inclusion in a front would push some again to the Congress. Sure

the Congress has made a tiny adjustment in seven seats, more as a quid pro

quo to the alliance leaders’ scions, and announced a post-poll arrangement in

case of a hung Lok Sabha, but that might be too late for Mayawati to re-estab-

lish her relevance in the State, leave alone nationally. Hence the desperate call

for consolidation. The SP, too, has reason to worry about a drift from its pool as

the Congress is increasingly positioning itself for a national challenge to the BJP

than a state-level battle, demonstrably borne out by its Assembly wins in the

heartland states. The SP-BSP have State bypoll victories to show as a dipstick.

And in the Lok Sabha, the voter seems to be guided by the overall perspective

though the SP-BSP is harping that with 80 seats, UP matters in the way India

decides. The tussle within will be more interesting than the tussle without.

Alliance fears in UP

BSP supremo Mayawati’s appeal to Muslims to stay unitedis an attempt to avoid a three-way vote split in the State

India continues to boycott China’s flagship globalproject but opposition seems to be building elsewhere

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

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LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

What Belt and Road?

A question about Advani’s role in polity

A comedy of errors in TN

OUR'S HAS A CROWD OF PEOPLE AND THE BJP

MANIFESTO HAS THE FACE OF JUST ONE MAN. BJP

SHOULD HAVE COME OUT WITH A MAAFINAMA.

—SENIOR CONGRESS LEADER

AHMED PATEL

THE SAFFRON PARTY WAS THE ONLY ONE TO COME

UP WITH A SANKALP PATRA WHILE OTHERS CAME

UP WITH A GHOSHNA PATRA.

— BJP LEADER

SUSHMA SWARAJ

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Beejankuram, meaning embryo, is the name ofa Malayalam short story written way back inthe 1970s by Vadakke Koottala

Narayanankutty Nair (popularly known as VKN),the czar of laughter. The protagonist, Payyan, a mem-ber of the All India Anna Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (AIADMK), goes to a theatre in the vil-lage to watch a movie starring MG Ramachandran(MGR). A sword fight was on between MGR andthe villain. Payyan, who became tense, lit a beedi andstarted smoking. In the process, he could not con-trol himself and coughed once. MGR, who lost con-centration, turned towards Payyan and asked himto get out of the theatre. The latter, who felt humil-iated, came out of the theatre and went back to theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

Readers must be wondering what this story hasto do with present-day politics in Tamil Nadu. Thetruth is that politics in this State did not emerge outof the scenario as portrayed by VKN through thisshort story. Ever since the AIADMK released its listof candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections onApril 18, four leaders crossed over to the DMK. Thereason behind this was that they were denied tick-ets and hence, they decided to punish the parentby joining hands with the rival.

During the 2016 Assembly election, there werefour fronts who were running for power. First, theAIADMK-led front, which included some fringe andletterhead organisations. Second, the DMK-led UPA,which included the Congress and some caste-basedparties. Third, the BJP-led NDA. And fourth, theDesiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK),which included the Left, the Viduthalai ChiruthaigalKatchi, Vaiko’s Marumalarchi Dravida MunnetraKazhagam and the Tamil Maanila Congress.Anbumani Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchiwas fighting it alone and he himself became the chiefministerial candidate. The fourth front’s chiefministerial candidate was Vijayakanth.

It is known that traditionally the AIADMK andthe DMK have been rivals. Politics in Tamil Nadurevolves around enmity between these twoDravidian parties. During the 2016 Assembly elec-tion, the DMDK-led front was campaigning, tar-geting the DMK as well as the AIADMK.Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa and their political outfitswere corrupt and communal, shouted Vaiko and allthe leaders of the front. Vijayakanth was the embod-iment of all that was good and divine. M K Stalin,too, came under attack.

Well by 2019, the political landscape in TamilNadu underwent a major change as AIADMKleader J Jayalalithaa and DMK patriarch MKarunanidhi left the scene in quick succession. PostJayalalithaa’s death, the AIADMK suffered a splitwith TTV Dhinakaran, the nephew of Jayalalithaa’sclose confidante Sasikala, breaking away and form-ing a new party, the Amma Makkal MunnetraKazhagam (AMMK). But with the passing away ofKarunanidhi, the DMK and its chosen heir MKStalin (Karunanidhi’s second son by his second wifeDayalu) turned out to be “a saviour of democracyand pluralism”, claimed Vaiko. The latter also tookan oath in public that his mission was to anoint Stalinas the Chief Minister of the State.

Meanwhile, Dhinakaran, with help from hisMannargudi clan, began the process of hijacking theAIADMK. He was nowhere in the picture whenJayalalithaa was hale and hearty. It was only after

her demise on December 5, 2016, thatDhinakaran appeared from nowhere andthe media in Tamil Nadu started singing“Amen” to him. Dhinakaran was the“man in a hurry” and dreamt of becom-ing the Chief Minister. He filed the nom-ination from RK Nagar Assembly con-stituency, which was represented byJayalalithaa till her death.

The bypoll scheduled in April 2017had to be called off in the eleventh hourfollowing the seizure of a large amountof unaccounted cash from Vijay Bhaskar,Tamil Nadu Minister for Health. TheIncome Tax department alleged that thismoney was meant for distribution amongthe voters in RK Nagar. Though Stalinhad claimed that the DMK would defeatthe AIADMK in the byelection, the can-didate he fielded against Dhinakaran wasa political lightweight. ShimlaMuthuchozhanm — the DMK candidatefrom TK Nagar in the 2016 Assemblyelection, who gave a scare to the thenChief Minister Jayalalithaa by bringingthe latter’s margin of victory to almosthalf of what she received in the 2015byelection — was nowhere to be seen forthe 2017 bypoll.

By the time the ElectionCommission scheduled the rescindedbyelection, AIADMK had eased outDhinakaran from the party and OPanneerselvan and EdappadyPalaniswamy, the current ChiefMinister, buried the hatchet and stoodunited. Though Dhinakaran won thebyelection, what surprised all was theDMK forfeiting its security deposit.While Shimla had polled 57, 673 votesin the 2016 Assembly election againstJayalalithaa, the new candidate of theDMK, Maruthu Ganesh, could poll just24, 651 votes in the bypoll. Where didthe remaining 33,000 votes of the

DMK, a cadre party whose votes are likea safe deposit, go?

The DMK wanted to hasten the dis-integration of the AIADMK and it suc-ceeded in this strategy. ThoughDhinakaran is being projected as thenew star of Tamil Nadu politics, wemust wait for the 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tion and the subsequent bypolls toknow the capability and acceptability ofSasikala’s nephew. He is being project-ed by a section of the media as the right-ful heir of Jayalalithaa. But till now, hehas not impressed anybody with hisorganisational skills or oratoricalprowess. Moreover, he is listed as anaccused by the Enforcement Directorateand the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) in cases of money launderingand violation of FERA.

While the AIADMK and the BJPhave joined hands, they hold differencesof opinion. The former is totally againsta Uniform Civil Code as well as tripletalaq. It is also against the NEET and theUnion Government’s decision to enact alegislation to introduce the CommonEntrance Examination across the coun-try for engineering college admissions.The party also wants the Centre toretrieve the Katchatheevu islet, which wasceded to Sri Lanka by the then PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi in 1975. It is cer-tain that the BJP Government would notbudge an inch from its stance on all theseissues.

The same is the case with the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA). Itmay sound strange that SPA means a placewhere people go in order to becomehealthier through exercises, eating specialfood and other such activities. But this isthe dictionary meaning of SPA. The con-stituents of the SPA in Tamil Nadu arebadly in need of a “spa” service if their pre-

sent situation is any indication. None ofthem has representation in the LokSabha. All of them are fighting for polit-ical survival. The VCK, a Dalit militantoutfit, has no representation in the LokSabha or Assembly. The Leftists, too, areout of work since 2014. For them it is afight for survival.

The DMK wants the Centre torelease the seven accused, who are serv-ing life-term in jail in connection with theassassination of Rajiv Gandhi. The DMK’sargument is that since the accused haveserved more than 20 years in jail, theyshould be set free. But there are no suchrules in India, according to legal experts.A life-term sentence means imprisonmentfor the entire life and there can never beany different opinion over it.

In its 2014 election manifesto, theCongress had declared that it would banJallikkattu, the taming of bull sport heldin connection with the Pongal festivi-ties, but was in the forefront, demand-ing the lifting of a ban on it imposedby the Supreme Court. Everythingassociated with Tamil Nadu politics iscontradictory. Politicians, who till theother day were at each other’s throats,were hugging each other the momentthe Election Commission declared thepoll schedule. A political party, whichwas in serious seat-sharing discussionwith the AIADMK, was also in simul-taneous negotiations with the DMK!With a section of the media, too, join-ing the race in the electoral battle,democracy has lost its remaining sem-blance of civility. Yes, politics in TamilNadu has turned out to be a comedy oferrors. A comedy, which will make youonly laugh. So, the original play retainsits charm and spirit.

(The writer is Special Correspondent,The Pioneer)

Post the deaths of Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi and the resultant leadership vacuum, democracy has lost its remaining semblance of civility

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

The problem

of plenty

RAJESH AGGARWAL

Bumper productions are good news but withoutadequate infrastructure in place for the movementof crops, a solution to farm distress can’t be found

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN

POLITICIANS,WHO TILL THE

OTHER DAYWERE AT EACH

OTHER’STHROATS, WEREHUGGING EACH

OTHER THEMOMENT THE

ELECTIONCOMMISSION

DECLARED THEPOLL SCHEDULE.

A POLITICALPARTY, WHICH

WAS IN SERIOUSSEAT-SHARING

DISCUSSIONWITH THE

AIADMK, WASALSO IN

SIMULTANEOUSTALKS WITH

THE DMK

Abumper crop production year after year seems to be India’s

strength. Advance estimates released by the Agriculture

Ministry predict that the total horticultural production, includ-

ing fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers, until July this year

will be 314.67 metric tonnes, as against 311.71 metric tonnes

last year. Yet, we hear a lot of news about subsidised irrigation

water, power, seeds and fertiliser to grow crops that often give

surplus yield. Why do our farmers still need subsidies when their

counterparts in other countries, despite producing only a part

of the “bumper production”, are more self-reliant? We are cir-

cumspect whether it will augur well for the farmers or be yet

another year of a struggle for right prices. In my interactions

with the farmers, I came to know that a few issues and aspects

of mobilisation of crops come up year after year. Discussing

them in brief will give an idea of where we are lacking.

Need more and better warehouses: Typically, the demand-

supply dynamics that rule the market ensure that prices plum-

met during harvest and surge during the lean period. This means

that the farmer effectively gets less for the produce despite more

than usual harvest. One of the most effective ways to address

this irony is to create an ecosystem of well-positioned and well-

equipped warehouses across the country. This will help farm-

ers save the crops to deal with times when there is no harvest

in spite of the demand. In fact, one of the reasons why farm-

ers in other nations have a better earning despite lesser yield

is that they have been able to monetise their limited harvest in

the best possible manner. Apart from enabling profitable access

to the market, these storage centres can play an important role

in facilitating access of crops to food processing and packag-

ing units. To be able to reach these units will be a more com-

mercially-viable option for the farmers and a good way to utilise

the surplus crop.

Improve access to roads and vehicles: In continuation with

the earlier topic comes the question, where do we build these

storage centres? Highways, one of the main routes to transport

agri-produce from one part to the other, can be a rather oppor-

tune site. Most farmers choose roadways over any other means

of transport. However, few can afford an air-conditioned trans-

port that would save the produce from the heat, moisture or cold.

As a result, a part of the harvest is lost in transit. Locating ware-

houses on the highway can ensure that the farmers are able to

save their crops until a more favourable time to sell them.

However, access to these will depend on the condition of roads

and availability of vehicles. While most roads in the interiors of

India have potholes and ditches peppered on them, getting the

vehicle can be challenge for the farmers. Such poor connectiv-

ity issue is one of the major reasons that agri-produces strug-

gle to find a way to the markets. India’s road network, too, is

far from adequate. According to available figures from the

Statistical Year Book India 2017, out of a total highway (State

and national) length of 265,100 km, 263,263 km are surfaced

while out of a total of Panchayati Raj and Rural Roads of

1,831,043 km and 2,437,255 km, respectively, only 986,075

km and 1,486,069 km have been surfaced or concretised. These

roads are key to ensuring that farmers growing crops in the inte-

riors of the country can sell their produce, either through phys-

ical access to the markets or through e-NAM (electronic National

Agriculture Market).

Digital literacy to leverage e-NAMs is lacking: In a coun-

try where general literacy covers a sizeable population and access

to the internet has enabled an enviable smartphone penetration,

digital coverage among farmers remains questionable. These

people still depend on age-old practices that are often unpro-

ductive, if not counter-productive. As a result, the Government’s

move to e-NAMs (National Agricultural Markets) bore limited fruit.

Physical access to mandis is a task for many farmers, espe-

cially small and marginal ones. Only around 600 mandis are

enrolled in the e-NAM system. There is an urgent need to improve

their performance to encourage sponsors to raise their bids and

compete to enroll farmers to secure input supplies. Farmers are

yet to take advantage as many of them are not digitally adept.

Historically, bumper productions are good news to statis-

ticians, who can play around with the figures to show how

increase in production pushed down the wholesale price index

(WPI) and consumer price index (CPI), and thereby kept the dread-

ed inflation under check. Meanwhile, retail customers would be

flooded with choice, though we may doubt how useful that ulti-

mately proves to be. Farmers are the last ones to reap the

benefit.The time to change it is here.

(The writer is MD of an insecticides company.)

The 17th Lok Sabha elections,scheduled for April 11 inUttarakhand, seem to be a

lacklustre affair. Unlike previouspolls, this time there is no excite-ment either in the public or in thepropaganda machinery of the polit-ical parties. This is indeed unique aspeople of this State, particularly inthe hill areas, are not only political-ly active but also divided along partylines — mainly BJP and Congress.It is the lack of issues, star leadersand aggressive campaigning that hascreated doubts among the voters.

Although Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s recent electionrally in Dehradun pulled a massivecrowd, Congress chief Rahul

Gandhi’s rally at Srinagar alsobecame the talk of town.Nevertheless, a perceptible lull wasvisible in both camps.

Such lukewarm response is dueto three reasons: First, in its very firstphase, the election has deprived thecandidates an opportunity to gearup their machinery. Second, thestrictness of the ElectionCommission has deprived them ofthe luxury of spending recklessly onposters, loudspeakers and rallies.Third, the candidates fielded by thepolitical parties lack a strong pres-ence among the electorate, partic-ularly in the hilly areas.

The fielding of ManishKhanduri, former UttarakhandChief Minister BC Khanduri’s son,by the Congress has not really gonedown well with the voters despiteKhanduri’s claim that his father’sblessings are with him. It has, in fact,created a peculiar situation for BCKhanduri and his daughter RituKhanduri, a BJP MLA fromYumkeshwar Assembly constituen-cy of the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabhaseat. The claim of both canvassing

in favour of the BJP candidateTirath Singh Rawat for the PauriGarhwal Lok Sabha seat is also beingdoubted due to bloodline politics.

What could be the best exam-ple of political ambition — that seesno boundary or ideology — thanthis? The father was provided every-thing by the BJP. Even the 2012Assembly election was contested bythe party on the slogan, “Khandurihai jaroori”, but the fear of not get-ting an opportunity to hold hisfather’s place in the BJP and lust forpower allowed the son to trudge toanother territory. Pauri Garhwal isalso an area dominated by ex-Armymen. Therefore, this can alsocreate confusion among them.

The BJP has fielded three sittingMPs — Mala Raj Laxmi from TehriGarhwal parliamentary constituen-cy, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank fromHaridwar and Minister of State forTextile Ajay Tamta from Almoraparliamentary constituency. On theother hand, the Congress has field-ed Pritam Singh, Ambrish Kumarand Pradeep Tamta respectivelyfrom these three constituencies.

Pritam Singh is a sitting MLA fromChakrata Assembly constituencyand also the president of theUttarakhand Pradesh CongressCommittee; Ambrish Kumar is aformer MLA; and Pradeep Tamta isa member of the Rajya Sabha.Further, Mala Raj Laxmi, Nishankand Ajay Tamta enjoy good rapportwith voters in their area. Therefore,the contest in these seats couldweigh in the BJP’s favour.

However, Harish Rawat’s pref-erence for Nainital in place of theHaridwar Lok Sabha seat is interest-ing as he had contested from therein the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and hadwon it, too. He had been contestingfrom the Almora Lok Sabha seatsince 1980 and won and lost fromhere a couple of times before shift-ing to the Haridwar parliamentaryconstituency in 2009 after Almorabecame a reserved seat. However, in2014, his wife replaced him and con-tested from Haridwar seat but lostto BJP’s Nishank. This time, Rawatwill be contesting for the first timefrom Nainital parliamentary con-stituency against the BJP candidate

Ajay Bhatt, who is also State presi-dent of the party and is contestingthe Lok Sabha election for the first time.

Both Rawat and Bhatt shareinteresting political backgrounds.The former, who is a has-beenChief Minister of Uttarakhand,faced a political revolt in the Statein March 2016 when nine CongressMLAs defected to the BJP and con-verted him into a leader of a minor-ity Government. The Congress lostthe 2017 Assembly election underRawat’s leadership, who himselfwas defeated from two Assemblyseats — one in Garhwal and theother in Kumaun: Haridwar ruraland Kicha respectively.

On the other hand, Ajay Bhatt,despite holding the charge of theBJP’s State president, lost fromRanikhet in the 2017 Assemblyelection. Both leaders, who losttheir Assembly seats in 2017, areconfronting each other in the 2019Lok Sabha election. It would,therefore, be interesting to see acontest between the two first-timers seeking legitimacy in the

Lok Sabha. This would be stimu-lating as Modi’s developmentalagenda, the Balakot airstrikes, thereservation to economically weak-er sections and the Prime MinisterKisan loan scheme are likely toimpact voters in these parts.

The fast pace of the ChardhamRoad project is somewhat tiltingthe mood in favour of the BJP butthe lack of employment for localyouth can dim its prospects.Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’sNYAY scheme is also being talkedabout but people are not convincedabout its outcome as questionsabout its fiscal viability and imple-mentation module remain.

In Uttarakhand particularly,people’s awareness about local andnational issues, their dissatisfactionwith non-performing parties andGovernments are reflected throughvarious election results. The firstBJP-led Government inUttarakhand was voted out of powerin the first Assembly elections of2002. But it was interesting to seethat the people, who voted for theCongress in the Assembly elec-

tions, voted for the BJP, which cap-tured three out of five Lok Sabhaseats in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.

Similarly, in the Assembly elec-tions held in 2007, though theCongress got the vote of 46.3 percent people and BJP of 38.2 percent, the latter was able to form theGovernment with support of theUKD (Uttarakhand Kranti Dal)and Independents. However, in the2009 Lok Sabha elections, theCongress won all the five LokSabha seats.

Interestingly, the BJP lost the2012 Assembly election despiteKhanduri leading the poll but cap-tured all the five Lok Sabha seats in2014 with a 55 per cent voteshare.Such electoral volatility, besidesrevealing people’s discomfort withnon-performing leaders and parties,also reflects their helplessness. Asthere is no effective presence of anythird winnable party, the electoralcontest in Uttarakhand will largelyremain bipolar.

(The writer is professor of polit-ical science, HNB GarhwalUniversity, Uttarakhand)

The bipolar syndrome in UttarakhandBoth the Congress and BJP are going to face a tough battle due to the absence of significant issues and firebrand leaders.

Electoral volatility, besides revealing people’s discomfort with non-performing leaders and parties, also reflects their helplessness

ANNNPURNA NAUTIYAL

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

DOCYARDDR JYOTI BALI

Gynaecologist &Obstetrician

SECRETARY DELHI ISAR & DELHI

GYNAECOLOGY FORUM

Lead a healthy

lifestyle

Reproduction inability has become a common problemaround the globe. On an average one in every seven couples

are found to be physically unfit for reproduction. According tomedical experts, the unhealthy eating habits, sedentary lifestyleare the major contributing factors for the increasing rates of repro-duction inability.

It is advised to follow certain lifestyle modifications to avoidreproduction inability. For both women and men, the key fac-tors to boost their reproductive health include maintaining ahealthy diet, weight, exercise that helps to achieve desired resultin conception and end up with healthy pregnancy and eventu-ally delivering a healthy child as well.nHealthy eating can optimise reproductive ability: To avoidthe inability the diet should consist of fresh, home-made mealscontaining a variety of vegetable and fruits, organic foods arealways advisable, since they have a higher mineral content to avoidtoxins and hormones used in commercial rearing.

nConsume protein from meat and vegetables. nEat more fibre and dark leafy greens to improve ovulation,

and make healthy sperm.nAvoid trans fats which are associated with a high risk of

reproduction inability.nAvoid highly processed foods and hydrogenated oils.nEat healthy fats: The first and most important dietary fat-

related recommendation is toavoid trans fats. Eating transfats typically leads to higherblood sugar and insulin levels,as trans fats hurt your abilityto clear sugar from your blood-stream after a meal. And high-er blood sugar and insulin lev-els lead to reduced reproduc-tion ability.

nIncrease your Vitaminand mineral intake: Vitaminsand minerals nutrient intake isvery essential for both menand women when workingtowards conception. AsVitamins and minerals defi-ciencies can cause a variety of

problems in the body, reproduction inability being one of them.Thus, it is advised to take a good quality multi-vitamin and min-eral. Some of the most important nutrients are B-vitamins, sele-nium, iron and Vitamin E.

nTake an iron supplement: Women who regularly take aniron supplement are 40 per cent less likely to have difficulty inreproduction.nModerate exercise: Moderate exercise of up to one hour helpsto avoid the risk of reproduction inability and improve spermquality in men and ovulation in women. Moderate physical activ-ity, like taking a walk early morning or with your partner afterdinner, can do wonders for your health. nPrevention: Maintain following habits to prevent the repro-duction inability condition:

nMinimise the exposure to toxic chemicalsnAim to eat an optimal healthy dietnHave an STD checknAvoid coffee, smoking and alcoholnBreakfast, lunch and dinner intake on right timenIncrease the intake of fresh Juices and fruits. nA simple self-slogan “Quit Smoking”nExercise, a key to be fit and lead a stress free healthy life. nLeave work pressure in office, avoid late night party and

TV, take sufficient sleepnLast but not the least “Early to bed and early to rise” is all

what it takes.

Women whoregularly take

an ironsupplement are

40 per centless likely to

have difficultyin reproduction

pioneer THE PIONEER LUCKNOWLUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019 10

Suffering from sleep disorder? Blamegenetics. Among the genomic

regions discovered is a gene calledPDE11A. Researchers found that an

uncommon variant of this geneaffects not only how long one sleeps

but also the quality of sleep

BlameGenes

COCONUT: Coconuts are known for their versatility ofuses, ranging from food to cosmetics. Fresh coconuts can

be either young or mature. Young coconuts either have agreen shell or a white husk. Young coconuts are the mosthealth enhancing of the two. The water in the youngcoconut is one of the highest sources of electrolytes.Electrolytes are responsible for keepingthe body properly hydrated so themuscles and nerves can functionappropriately. Therefore, it ismore beneficial to drink thewater from a youngcoconut after an intenseworkout rather than thecommercial sports drinks.

Coconuts are highlynutritious, rich in fiber, andpacked with essential vitamins and minerals. The coconut milkis also good for health. It supports weight loss and improvesheart health.

Coconuts also contain a lipid called lauric acid, and manyresearchers believe that lauric acid can support the immunesystem.

S U M M E R C O O L E R S

Her head is not held high, yet sheis confident and stubborn. Sherefuses to change her response

even though her voice wavers. She isa little too tired, a little too upset. Theturmoil inside this young adult neverseems to rest; too hopeful or too hope-less? The 19-year-old has repeatedlyasked a question — Can I defeat thisproblem before it defeats me?Resounding yes is the answer.

Muskan Rastogi is everything hername demands her to be; empathetic,bubbly and always smiling. Eventhough she is now embracing adult-hood, the young woman still reflectsthe energy of a happy child. “I absolute-ly love children, their eyes are alwaystwinkling with wonder and they areever-curious. A child is so pure and sooblivious to the greys of this world, sofree from mindless worries. Maybe weshould learn a thing or two from theselittle ones,” she shares as her eyes soft-en with a fond look.

One ponders on how she smilesall the time. “It is the rule of the smile,to not crumble and to not twist,’Rastogi says who at the age of 16 wasdiagnosed with Polycystic OvarianSyndrome or PCOS, a hormonal dis-ease which risks the fertility in women.

Poly translates to many and cystsare membranous sacs which containfluids. This disorder, seen in females,causes multiple, small pearl-sized cyststo appear on the ovaries, which arefluid filled and contain immatureeggs. They hinder the 21-day-cycle ofperiods due to interference in the fer-tility process, owing to the poly cysts.The tell-tale signs of the disorder canbe seen through abnormal change inweight — which is mostly a drasticincrease, abnormal growth of facialhair, thicker hair on the belly and thighs— owing to the increased level of malehormones like testosterone, in the bodyand acne breakouts. The biggest symp-tom, however, is irregular, heavy or lackof menstruation.

More than 9.13 per cent of womenin India have this hormonal disorder.

The result — if not corrected can turninto a disease — Polycystic OvarianDisease or PCOD. About 2.2 per centto 26 per cent women worldwidehave to deal with PCOD or a prolongedcase of the syndrome.

“If you observe her when shespeaks of children, my daughter’s facebrightens and her eyes twinkle withexcitement and awe. She does not shareher fears often, but I remember the daywhen she had asked me what seemedto be a thought that had nagged her:‘Ma’, she had said: ‘I will be able to havechildren of my own, won’t I?’ It wouldseem foolish to any mother if theirteenage daughter asked them such athing, but I knew what was going onin her head, and for the first time inthe six months after she had been diag-nosed with PCOS, my child wasscared,” confides Muskan’s motherPriya Rastogi.

Dr Geeta Dwivedi, obstetrician-gynaecologist explains: “It is under-standable that PCOS has become abother for today’s generation. Whatmust be realised is that even though thecure isn’t a piece of cake, the reason ithappens may be analysed and simpli-fied. PCOS is simply a lifestyle prob-lem. Correct your lifestyle, balance outyour insulin and exercise regularly, itwill make it easier to go away. We mustdo away with the couch potato attitudethat the generation has adopted.”

There are multiple treatments tothis hormonal disorder but the mostfrequent one is observed to be one sug-gested by fertility doctors, otherwiseknown as reproductive endocrinolo-gists.

“The first and best medicine toprescribe to patients having PCOS isDiane 35 tablets. It covers all aspectsthat need to be tended to,” Das sayswho specialises in treating menstrual-related problems.

“The medicines helped me get mymonthly bleed, but they weren’t help-ing my condition. Missing a single doseof Diane 35 meant risking not gettingmy periods. I started having regular

headaches, mood swings, occasionalindigestion, and suffered from unsta-ble weight. Of all these, the moodswings were the worst. I’ve had depres-sion in the past but I hit a new lowbecause of the medicine; it fed my inse-curities, gave me anxiety and left mementally baffled. The other medicinesI was taking only compounded theproblem,” Muskan recalls.

It turned out, that the problemswere in fact the side-effects of the hor-monal pill: Nausea, stomach pain,changes in weight, headaches ormigraine, mood swings and evendepression.

Frustrated with the lack of results,she decided to look for an alternativecure. “I knew there was another way.These medicines were suppressingthe symptoms rather than curing theailment. So, I used the most accessibleand insightful tool of our times,”Muskan tells you.

Here mother stood by her all theway. Priya guided her daughter througha detoxifying therapy involving exer-cise, yoga, natural foods and drinks. “Ihad had enough of the medicines. Now,I was all in for treating this the natur-al way,” Muskan says. Her motherintroduced her to the concept of inter-mittent fasting, which would not onlycure her body internally — healing herinsulin intolerance and ovaries — butalso help her become fit and natural-ly healthy.

Dr Gin Stephens, in her bookDelay, Don’t Deny, talks about theimportance of insulin for one’s metab-olism. “To oversimplify for the sake ofbasic understanding, every time you eator drink certain things, your bodyreleases insulin in response. When you

have a lot of insulin circulatingthroughout your body, your body is notgoing to be able to easily access yourstored fat. It is a fat storing hormone,after all,” her book says.

Gin explains how excess insulin inthe body leads to efficient fat storageand minimal fat burning. “In order tolose weight successfully, you need tofigure out how to lower your insulinlevels so that your body can access yourstored fat effectively. We need toaccess our stored fat and keep ourmetabolism working at high speed sothat we can maintain our weight losspermanently. So how do we do that?Intermittent fasting!” the books says.

In The Complete Guide to Fasting,Dr Jason Fung, the world-leadingexpert on Intermittent Fasting or IF,explains what it is. “The term intermit-tent fasting simply means that periodsof fasting occur regularly between peri-ods of normal eating,” says Dr Fung inthe book.

Gin has taken her fasting beliefs tosocial platforms, forming a world-widecommunity of IFs, with over 74,000active members. The Facebook page ofthis support group not only has suc-cess stories of IF followers, but alsoshares the stories of many women withPCOS or PCOD and of how they arecuring themselves. Gin makes thesupport group more accessible and theideology more believable.

Muskan, who now follows IF reli-giously with the support of her fami-ly, has also engaged herself in exerciseand other natural, herbal medicines.She shares that after over two years, sheis finally hopeful that she will recover.“I finally got my first natural month-ly bleed after over two years, sans med-ication! I am losing weight, I nolonger feel constantly hungry, and myhealth is much better overall. I am notdenying that it is still tough; there aretimes when I have panic attacks or hitsudden lows, times when I just have toeat, eat and eat. Tears are not foreign,but I am learning to embrace myself.I will endure and I will win,” she says.

An ayurvedic doctor, Dr ManojMishra who has completed his

education from Banaras HinduUniversity commented on this lifestyledisease said that PCOD is not perma-nent with the right exercise. With theright Ayurvedic medicine PCOD canbe cured. “Ayurveda has a 100 per centcure for this disease , I have in 15 yearsof my medicine have cured manywomen of this. They have easily givenbirth to healthy children without thehelp of any fertility treatment ormedications.” He also commentedon whether Ayurveda is better or allo-pathicbetter , he said , “I cannot com-ment on this whether which is betterbut in allopathy there is no cure butin Ayurveda there is cure. In allopa-thy it can be controlled not eradicat-ed,” Mishra says.

Shambhavi Singh , 21 year oldwhose problem of PCOD got curedwith Ayurveda tells you how she hadbeen suffering from PCOD fromClass XI. “From Class XI I started hav-ing irregular periods when I got test-ed, the result showed small cysts in myuterus the doctor recommended meto strongly loose at least 7 kg for myperiods to get regular but due to stud-ies and I being a medical student

couldn’t really get enough time to joina gym or for that matter do any exer-cises my mother believed not to putme on allopathic medicine due to theirside-effects and took me to anayurvedic doctor who gave me acourse of 15 days about after 25 daysI got periods and since then havingthem regularly I have stop taking themedication yet get my periods regu-larly they have had no side effects onmy body and I am still a bit overweightin fact those medications helped meloosed 10 kgs. I strongly recommendall those suffering from PCOD to getthemselves treated with ayurvedicmedicines,” Singh shares.

Polycystic ovary syndrome also known asPCOD or PCOS is a prevalent condition

found in 6-10 per cent of the women in devel-oped countries. It is a familial polygenic condi-tion thought to be attributed to both genetic andenvironmental factors . There has been muchdebate about the origin and pathological causeof PCOS in the past decade. Many studies indi-cate that a defect in insulin action may be the pri-mary cause of PCOS .

Environmental factors have been shown toplay a role in the pathogenesis of PCOS. Therehave been several studies observing the role ofsocio-economic status (SES) and unhealthybehaviour, including smoking, poor diet, and lackof exercise. One of the most common associa-tions with low SES is obesity, which also has ahigh rate of co-morbidity in PCOS.

Dr Bandana Sodhi an Obstetrician-gynaecol-ogist said: “PCOS has become a very commonlifestyle disease among women in India five outof 10 women are affected with this lifestyle dis-ease. There is as such no cure for this disease theinfertility can be treated with infertility drugs butthis can cause an early miscarriage some com-mon reason for this disease is obesity, high levelof insulin and in some cases genetics also play arole in this disease. This with even modernisedtechnology and new medicine cannot be fullytreated but can be prevented with bringingchanges in the lifestyle and taking timely med-icine for regular mensuration.”

Genetics also play amomentous role in the

origin of this disease. PCOS isthought to be an ancient dis-order, which is most likelypassed down between fertilecarrier males and sub-fertilefemales.

Purvee Singh a 35 year oldmother who is affected withPCOD says; “I was 17 when Iwas diagnosed with PCOD. Ihave been fit all through myteenage life. I took part insports, I was also a nationallevel basketball player. Whendoctors diagnosed me theyalso took the privilege to diag-nose my mother and it cameout to be a surprise to us thatit is genetic in the women ofour family. I had to take a lotof medicines to keep myPCOD under control. When itcame to bearing a child it wasdifficult due to my condition Ihad to take a new set of med-icines and had to bare a total-ly different set of side effects.When I was carrying my sonthere was a 50 per cent chancethat I will miscarry the child orhe will suffer from birth defectsmostly spina bifida which is a

spine defect at birth. Butbecause I exercised and atehealthy my son did not sufferfrom any birth defects and meand my son were healthy.”

PCOD cannot be eradicat-ed completely but can be con-trolled with taking the rightmedicines, exercising and mostimportantly taking the rightdiet. The infertility cause byPCOD can also treated withmedicines. Although everymedicine as we are aware hasside effects the medicines to getPCOD under control also hasrisks. PCOD is not a fatal dis-ease but can cause a lot of hor-monal imbalance is a women’sbody. She could get acne, hairfall and other problems.

ENVIRONMENTHAS EFFECT

More than 9 per cent women suffer from PCOS. The disorder can be cured with early detection and lifestylechanges, say DEVYANI VERMA and JAHANVI MANCHANDA

FIGHTING

THE DISORDER

FIGHTING

THE DISORDER

According to the US National Institutes of Health Office of Disease Prevention,there is a need to improve public awareness of the syndrome among health careproviders and the public. Women's magazines are a type of "edutainment" thatpublish health content in addition to beauty, fashion, and entertainment content.These media have the potential to expose primarily female readers to content onPCOS and influence readers' beliefs and attitudes about women with PCOS.

THERE AREMULTIPLE

TREATMENTS TOTHIS HORMONAL

DISORDER BUT THEMOST FREQUENTONE IS OBSERVED

TO BE ONESUGGESTED BY

FERTILITY DOCTORS,OTHERWISE KNOWNAS REPRODUCTIVE

ENDOCRINOLOGISTS

GENETIC IMPACTAYURVEDA

SHOWS THE WAY

money 11LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

BUSINESS TAKES

BMW LAUNCHES NEW Z4 ROADSTER IN INDIA, PRICE STARTS AT ` 64.9 LAKH

New Delhi: Germanluxury carmaker BMWMonday launched a newversion of Z4 Roadster inIndia, priced at `64.9lakh (ex-showroom). Themodel comes in twoengine variants — theBMW Z4 sDrive20i andthe BMW MPerformance model, theBMW Z4 M40i, the com-pany said in a statement. The Z4 sDrive20i variant is priced at Rs 64.9 lakh, whilethe Z4 M40i trim is tagged at `78.9 lakh. “The all-new BMW Z4 Roadster is ourbrand-new addition to the company’s long history of engrossing roadsters. Withdynamic proportions, emotional design and thrilling sportiness, this open-toptwo-seater takes the classic roadster into the world of tomorrow,” BMW GroupIndia President Hans-Christian Baertels said.

TATA MOTORS LAUNCHES INITIATIVE FOR DRIVERSNew Delhi: Tata Motors on Monday launched an initiative to promote dri-

ving profession in the trucking space. Under the Tata Motors Samarth initiative,the company plans to address four critical areas — health and wellness, insur-ance, education and financial planning for the drivers’ well-being. The auto majoraims to reach to five lakh drivers every year under the programme. “We at TataMotors are driving our efforts towards driver empowerment and welfare. Ourprogramme ‘SAMARTH’ is tailored to make the entire trucking profession dig-nified,” Tata Motors President (Commercial Vehicle Business Unit) Girish Waghsaid in a statement. The company intends to cement its long-lasting relationshipwith customers and their drivers to safeguard their health, ensuring overall well-being of their families and, in the process, uplift the quality of life for them, headded. In association with Tata AIG General Insurance Company, the auto majorhas launched Swasthya Samarth which aims to provide health insurance prod-ucts including `50,000 hospitalisation coverage. The programme will be linkedto new vehicle sales and the policy will be issued by Tata AIG. TATA AIG willalso set up free medical camps at Tata Motors-defined locations. Tata Motors saidit also plans to encourage investment habits among drivers through itsSystematic Investment Plan (SIP) offering by ICICI Prudential and TATA MutualFunds, with a lock-in period of 3 years, as well as conduct financial literacy campsfor drivers and owner drivers across the country. Besides, the auto major has joinedhands with Toppr, a learning app for classes V to XII that helps students preparefor every board, competitive and scholastic exams.

Sensex, Nifty end lower

in volatile trade

PTI n MUMBAI

Equity benchmarks Sensexand Nifty Monday faced

high volatility and closed withlosses as investors turned cau-tious ahead of the start of cor-porate earnings season andpolling for the general elec-tions.

The BSE gauge Sensexended lower by 161.70 pointsat 38,700.53, while the NSENifty lost 61.45 points to settlethe day at 11,604.50.

Losses mainly in finan-cial, metal and energy stocksdragged the Sensex into thered.

Oil stocks came underpressure due to constant rise inglobal crude oil prices.

International benchmarkBrent was trading at 70.81 perbarrel, up 0.67 per cent.

Among the Sensex con-stituents, Yes Bank emerged asthe biggest laggard with 2.66per cent drop in share price.Other top losers were BajajFinance, Vedanta, Tata Motors,Reliance Industries and SBI —dropping as much as 2.57 percent.

On the other hand, Infosys,Mahindra and Mahindra,ONGC, TCS, PowerGrid andNTPC closed with significantgains on the Sensex chart.

Of the 30 Sensex shares, 20witnessed losses and 10 saw

gains.The 30-share gauge opened

higher at 38,993.60 against theprevious close of 38,862.23.Intra-day, it hit a high of39,041.25 and a low of38,520.96, swinging over 520points. The BSE benchmarkfinally settled at 38,700.53, los-ing 161.70 points or 0.42 percent.

Similarly, the 50-share NSENifty started off on a positivenote at 11,704.35 against theFriday’s close of 11,665.95. Theindex traded in the range of11,549.10 and 11,710.30 duringthe day. It swung over 161points during the session. TheNSE barometer finally closed at11,604.50, up 61.45 points or0.53 per cent.

The market breadth wastilted in favour of sellers as1,534 shares fell and 987advanced on the BSE.

In line with Sensex, thebroader indices also saw heftylosses. Large cap index tum-bled 0.79 per cent, midcap 0.87per cent and smallcap 0.57 percent. Sectorally, among theworst performers were realty,losing 2.67 per cent, followedby energy 1.67 per cent, oil andgas 1.47 per cent and finance0.8 per cent. Bucking the over-all trend, BSE IT rose 0.8 percent and Teck gained 0.6 percent.

Of the 19 sectoral indices,

15 ended in the red and 4closed in the green.

In broader market, small-cap and midcap indices haveoutperformed the benchmarkSensex. BSE smallcap gained 1per cent, midcap climbed 1.5per cent and largecap advanced1 per cent.

“Domestic markets startedthis week on a weak notegiven global cues on account ofdrag in US-China trade dealand Brexit delays. Investorshave turned cautious givenrise in oil prices and sharp rallyin the last couple of monthsleading to premium valuationof key indices. Additionally,general elections and start ofQ4 earnings season is addingto the cautiousness, we may seesome profit booking in thenear-term given sharp run-upin markets,” Vinod Nair, Headof Research, Geojit FinancialServices, said. The country’stop two software exportersTCS and Infosys will announcetheir quarterly earnings onFriday. Lok Sabha elections willbegin on April 11 and will beheld over seven phases fol-lowed by counting of votes onMay 23. On Friday, the BSESensex had logged 177.51points or 0.49 per cent gains toclose at 38,862.23; while thebroader NSE Nifty rose 67.95points, or 0.59 per cent, to11,665.95.

Taxmen to scrutinise mismatchbetween ITR, service tax returnsPTI n NEW DELHI

The revenue department has askedtax officials to scrutinise the mis-

match in services turnover numbersprovided by businesses in income taxreturns and service tax returns for2015-16 and 2016-17 fiscals.

Central Board of Indirect Taxesand Customs (CBIC) Chairman P KDas in a letter to field formation stat-ed that there was a considerable gapof `12 lakh crore between theturnover on account of services as perthe ITR/TDS (tax deducted at source)data and the value of services declaredin the corresponding service taxreturns for fiscal 2015-16.

Mismatches were also noticed forthe financial year 2016-17, for whichdata is being shared with the fieldoffices. “... the sheer magnitude of themismatch is a pointer to the possibilityof revenue leakage which cannot be

ignored,” Das said, asking the tax offi-cers to quickly verify the data andreport it to the CBIC.

The mismatch in ITR and servicetax returns has come to notice inrespect of permanent account num-bers (PANs) that are either not at allregistered under service tax or PANswhich are registered but did not filethe service tax returns.

In some cases, there is a valuemismatch between the turnoverdeclared in ITR or TDS and the ser-vice tax returns.

Service tax was subsumed intothe goods and services tax (GST) witheffect from July 1, 2017, and the peri-od under scrutiny is the last two finan-cial years before the new indirect taxregime was rolled out.

Net service tax collections dur-ing 2016-17 stood at `2.54 lakh croreas compared with ̀ 2.11 lakh crore in2015-16.

Adani Power secures LoI to acquire Korba West Power Company

New Delhi: Adani Power Mondaysaid it has been awarded a letter ofintent to acquire debt-laden KorbaWest Power Company.

“The company has been award-ed the letter of intent (LOI) for KorbaWest Power Company Ltd (KWPCL).The Committee of Creditors ofKWPCL, a company undergoinginsolvency resolution process underthe Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,

2016, has approved the resolution plansubmitted by Adani Power,” AdaniPower said in a BSE filing. The closureof the transaction shall be subject toobtaining the necessary approval fromthe NCLT, Ahmedabad, and satisfac-tion of the conditions precedent underthe resolution plan, the companyadded. KWPCL owns and operates a600 mega watt (MW) thermal powerplant in Raigarh. PTI

Script Open High Low LTPSUZLON 6.70 6.92 6.56 6.67SOUTHBANK 18.25 18.55 17.20 17.40JPASSOCIAT 6.04 6.19 5.75 5.85IDEA 16.80 17.40 16.55 17.20DLF 201.80 202.70 183.60 184.65IBULHSGFIN 887.00 916.30 853.10 858.90DHFL 166.95 169.90 157.75 161.05JETAIRWAYS 254.90 269.85 251.80 264.10IBREALEST 91.10 103.00 90.95 96.50RELIANCE 1354.60 1356.10 1324.00 1329.40JAICORPLTD 111.75 126.80 111.65 124.55YESBANK 267.20 268.00 258.25 260.00PCJEWELLER 88.00 92.40 85.65 91.20TATAMOTORS 206.50 207.10 198.50 200.65IBVENTURES 349.90 362.00 337.25 342.75TATASTEEL 552.75 557.45 546.60 549.05INFY* 762.30 769.95 755.95 767.15BHEL 71.90 73.80 71.90 72.45RELCAPITAL 189.20 196.15 185.80 187.40SBIN 318.80 319.30 311.25 312.80NCC 105.90 109.10 103.95 105.00VEDL 193.80 195.00 185.35 186.80RELINFRA 133.85 138.20 131.40 132.20TCS 2060.00 2078.00 2033.55 2069.75IOC 155.00 157.30 151.30 152.05HEXAWARE 364.50 365.45 347.45 351.20GODREJPROP 976.00 983.00 919.00 926.20BANKBARODA 131.50 134.20 129.30 129.95RPOWER 10.65 10.65 10.10 10.21PNB 93.90 95.05 92.35 93.10ZEEL 412.35 418.90 403.25 404.65SPICEJET 97.00 97.80 96.00 96.70SAIL 59.55 60.10 57.75 58.95FORCEMOT 1785.00 1849.00 1775.00 1804.10BAJFINANCE 3120.00 3131.90 3022.80 3028.80HINDPETRO 261.00 261.75 251.50 253.00MARUTI 7107.00 7139.00 7050.10 7119.85GUJGAS 153.40 167.75 153.35 156.50INDUSINDBK 1768.00 1797.50 1746.50 1751.75PERSISTENT* 632.70 632.70 623.00 627.70WOCKPHARMA 448.00 460.00 439.35 442.30NBCC 62.10 64.85 62.05 62.60ASHOKLEY 88.20 88.85 86.70 87.20NIITTECH 1354.80 1354.80 1295.35 1301.05JUSTDIAL 608.00 608.45 585.80 590.15M&M 663.50 668.00 658.80 665.10AXISBANK 764.95 767.40 749.05 754.30IGL 308.00 318.10 304.70 314.00TATAPOWER 73.30 73.35 70.65 71.90KOTAKBANK 1338.15 1346.80 1332.35 1342.45DELTACORP 270.20 271.90 261.00 263.70JINDALSTEL 187.70 189.75 182.40 183.90IDFCFIRSTB 54.50 55.30 53.75 54.05ITC 293.50 295.00 291.70 292.55RCOM 3.24 3.29 3.11 3.11ICICIBANK 392.00 392.00 385.10 387.15LT 1375.10 1386.65 1366.35 1372.75BOMDYEING 140.05 142.80 135.45 137.30ONGC 157.40 160.15 156.55 158.10ICICIGI 1036.00 1062.00 1016.15 1048.80LUPIN 782.10 801.95 782.10 792.40BANKINDIA 100.70 103.20 98.00 98.55DMART 1446.30 1487.00 1435.00 1477.60PRESTIGE 253.00 265.30 252.00 258.80GRAPHITE 459.00 462.50 448.00 451.10FEDERALBNK 99.25 99.55 96.20 97.10DISHTV 39.60 39.60 37.20 38.05SHANKARA 463.50 502.75 461.25 482.40JSWSTEEL 295.55 298.75 289.25 290.65SBILIFE 611.00 627.60 609.70 618.90ADANIPOWER 50.10 50.90 49.30 50.15SUNPHARMA 469.90 469.90 460.35 462.10UNIONBANK 93.30 95.35 91.65 92.35HDFC 2065.15 2070.60 2027.00 2053.65CANBK 280.15 284.55 272.40 274.15BEML 991.60 994.50 957.70 961.95HEROMOTOCO 2620.05 2643.80 2580.05 2587.10L&TFH 152.55 153.10 147.65 148.70BEL 96.90 97.40 94.60 95.15PIIND 1058.00 1065.00 1020.05 1027.20ESCORTS 769.95 773.75 752.75 760.05BHARTIARTL 359.90 363.95 352.05 354.30SUNTV 628.40 643.70 623.80 627.65HEG 2090.00 2107.55 2051.00 2062.05HINDUNILVR 1671.00 1680.00 1655.10 1665.05SUVEN 263.15 275.40 263.15 267.45IDFC 46.60 47.20 45.95 46.30CENTURYPLY 214.10 222.35 202.25 204.30PEL 2615.00 2655.60 2602.05 2649.05EDELWEISS 191.00 194.30 186.30 190.65HDFCBANK 2315.00 2322.95 2279.60 2288.90TITAN 1065.60 1116.15 1065.60 1103.90SUNTECK 479.45 494.65 476.70 485.40BPCL 357.70 357.70 349.50 351.20ABB 1375.00 1416.00 1370.00 1398.20ULTRACEMCO 4206.00 4229.25 4140.00 4158.95WIPRO 263.00 265.20 260.60 263.65IDBI 45.50 45.55 43.85 44.10KTKBANK 138.10 141.15 134.00 135.20CGPOWER 38.70 40.00 38.40 38.70RAIN 101.40 105.25 100.00 103.65RCF 58.95 61.15 58.80 60.80ABCAPITAL 100.05 100.50 97.55 97.95TV18BRDCST 35.40 36.05 34.80 35.05JISLJALEQS 57.15 58.50 55.20 55.55JUBILANT 708.60 719.55 693.00 696.50TECHM 779.00 791.00 774.85 787.10LTI 1653.35 1659.90 1626.05 1646.80

CIPLA 535.00 536.00 523.20 525.60TATAMTRDVR 98.50 98.95 95.60 96.15HINDCOPPER 50.20 51.35 49.30 50.10INDIANB 276.30 283.90 268.20 269.75INDIACEM 112.00 112.55 107.70 108.45ALBK 53.80 55.20 52.15 52.35RECLTD 154.00 155.20 149.15 150.35GNFC 329.60 334.65 323.40 326.30MOTILALOFS 642.00 690.05 641.00 687.40POWERGRID 196.35 200.20 195.65 197.75RBLBANK 680.00 680.00 652.40 657.15PFC 121.70 123.15 118.65 119.20MGL 1005.75 1027.85 1000.55 1011.10SYNDIBANK 42.25 43.40 41.20 41.80BIOCON 613.20 616.00 606.00 606.95INDIGO 1419.00 1426.35 1392.55 1411.30INOXLEISUR 321.50 332.25 318.90 322.45DABUR 402.00 405.20 401.05 401.95ADVENZYMES 191.60 200.75 191.50 195.60HDFCLIFE 387.95 389.95 381.85 385.70STRTECH 220.95 220.95 215.15 215.95NTPC 135.00 136.75 134.70 135.45UPL 945.10 951.00 930.00 944.85ASIANPAINT 1519.90 1519.90 1486.95 1496.40BAJAJFINSV 7420.00 7440.00 7313.00 7359.25BANDHANBNK 550.00 550.55 529.35 544.15NATIONALUM 56.95 56.95 55.40 55.85WESTLIFE 421.00 428.55 417.30 419.90ICICIPRULI 373.00 373.00 361.60 363.25VOLTAS 613.40 624.70 608.00 611.20PVR 1677.05 1695.00 1670.00 1680.25SCI 36.00 36.30 34.50 34.80NAUKRI 1826.40 1858.90 1777.85 1849.10CANFINHOME 361.00 368.35 359.60 360.95AMARAJABAT 679.00 685.60 673.00 680.10AEGISLOG 216.50 220.75 202.90 206.25AUROPHARMA 784.00 796.15 774.00 781.40BRITANNIA 2994.50 3014.35 2965.00 2972.90SOBHA 496.25 506.00 494.00 498.95EICHERMOT 21050.00 21150.00 20408.70 20623.10TATACHEM 605.00 616.00 602.55 612.20CUMMINSIND 716.80 730.85 708.40 710.75

CONCOR 531.60 532.95 515.00 516.95EXIDEIND 218.30 220.25 215.00 217.05CORPBANK 28.70 28.95 28.20 28.40AMBUJACEM 226.80 228.90 224.40 225.50GODREJCP 675.10 675.10 660.85 663.55SPARC 185.35 186.90 181.40 183.20IPCALAB 951.00 959.00 915.00 935.15HINDALCO 216.05 217.70 213.05 214.25LICHSGFIN 548.00 551.00 545.40 549.50MOTHERSUMI 152.30 153.40 148.85 150.20ITI 101.25 101.35 96.65 97.90ORIENTBANK 112.50 113.60 108.30 109.25SUDARSCHEM 369.80 387.05 369.80 372.30GMRINFRA 18.90 19.05 18.05 18.30UJJIVAN 333.00 333.00 318.60 322.60GRASIM 849.00 857.90 838.00 841.05TATAELXSI 974.00 975.20 958.50 962.95FINCABLES 480.00 495.00 478.00 492.95CYIENT* 598.00 604.60 597.85 601.60SHK 155.50 161.80 155.00 159.20PHILIPCARB 173.00 173.00 167.60 169.70FSL 48.05 49.20 47.90 48.55PARAGMILK 248.00 248.00 241.15 245.50MUTHOOTFIN 626.00 629.90 610.35 613.80VIPIND 476.55 479.60 461.00 465.80MANAPPURAM 121.25 122.45 117.40 118.30ADANIPORTS 389.90 389.90 375.50 379.40STAR 496.00 499.25 489.00 492.30SRTRANSFIN 1229.90 1246.90 1209.45 1238.40COALINDIA 235.00 236.10 232.00 233.30PNBHOUSING 933.00 941.85 902.20 907.15TATAGLOBAL 211.00 214.50 210.40 211.80AUBANK 600.00 604.40 577.00 583.30MARICO 357.50 363.80 356.00 359.10INFIBEAM 42.60 42.60 40.90 41.15GSFC 104.70 105.75 101.10 103.15NMDC 105.85 107.45 104.45 105.65ACC 1666.05 1675.50 1635.40 1640.50JUBLFOOD 1431.00 1438.15 1415.00 1428.20IRB 145.05 146.85 140.60 141.20PETRONET 238.40 239.90 235.70 237.55M&MFIN 424.95 424.95 409.30 412.25TORNTPHARM 1844.00 1852.40 1786.00 1793.50CEATLTD 1134.05 1134.05 1098.00 1107.25CENTURYTEX 930.00 933.40 893.00 903.15RNAM 197.65 202.00 197.40 199.70

J&KBANK 59.35 60.30 57.85 59.20ISGEC 565.00 577.90 542.60 570.35COLPAL 1230.00 1241.10 1214.00 1219.90REPCOHOME 439.95 457.00 439.95 450.35EQUITAS 135.00 135.35 131.00 132.50IFCI 13.10 13.20 12.85 12.94BHARATFORG 512.55 515.00 501.45 503.70OBEROIRLTY 544.00 549.70 526.00 537.25AVANTI 400.05 404.75 394.00 394.95OMAXE 212.95 213.45 211.75 212.10MFSL 435.25 442.55 422.65 425.70SRF 2480.10 2512.80 2465.95 2475.55FCONSUMER 45.45 46.10 44.75 45.05GAIL 349.75 350.50 340.20 341.70WELCORP 146.80 147.80 143.50 144.05THERMAX 951.50 988.00 947.00 975.50HCLTECH 1084.00 1102.50 1082.00 1098.80ABFRL 220.00 220.00 214.60 215.60KEI 411.45 419.00 402.00 409.60INTELLECT 228.00 228.65 220.75 222.25MANPASAND 115.10 121.00 115.10 116.10WELSPUNIND 57.10 58.80 57.05 57.75AARTIIND 1620.75 1660.00 1620.55 1650.00BATAINDIA 1415.35 1418.65 1389.05 1396.95MCX 784.00 787.20 766.05 771.30DCBBANK 204.55 205.55 197.10 197.95RADICO 392.15 396.85 385.00 389.20INDOSTAR 425.00 429.75 409.65 413.35JSLHISAR 94.15 94.85 89.45 91.15DBL 633.00 636.50 608.00 619.05VENKYS 2208.00 2210.25 2140.20 2150.10LTTS 1592.10 1605.55 1577.85 1594.85ENGINERSIN 119.80 120.40 117.70 118.65GREAVESCOT 146.00 147.00 144.30 145.55VGUARD 223.15 224.75 219.45 220.60CASTROLIND 171.95 171.95 168.25 169.60CROMPTON 231.00 231.55 224.25 225.90MINDTREE 960.95 964.00 950.00 957.60HAVELLS 759.95 765.10 755.85 763.05TVSMOTOR 486.80 488.55 478.70 481.90GRUH 287.05 289.05 282.55 286.35JYOTHYLAB 195.10 199.85 191.00 193.70ASHOKA 135.00 136.40 132.00 133.15MEGH 61.95 62.45 61.00 61.40BAJAJ-AUTO 2863.00 2871.95 2845.00 2852.50APOLLOTYRE 224.95 225.05 219.40 220.20PIDILITIND 1286.50 1288.50 1273.25 1281.95KEC 294.00 294.00 284.55 287.95HFCL 22.05 22.40 21.85 22.00FRETAIL 457.65 457.65 436.80 438.00MPHASIS 974.60 978.85 965.00 973.65GLENMARK 644.00 650.40 640.00 644.50NOCIL 141.25 144.20 140.50 143.55ANDHRABANK 30.40 30.80 29.40 29.80CHENNPETRO 264.00 264.70 251.35 252.30HUDCO 45.00 46.15 44.75 44.80BLISSGVS 175.50 178.00 174.65 175.40RAYMOND 809.10 811.50 793.00 796.25GODREJAGRO 519.95 528.00 511.95 517.25RAJESHEXPO 682.00 682.00 665.10 668.25CADILAHC 347.00 350.05 341.05 342.80NESTLEIND 11010.00 11021.00 10840.20 10880.05BALKRISIND 989.75 989.75 969.20 976.40SIEMENS 1148.10 1163.00 1140.10 1143.90SYNGENE 583.00 596.85 578.15 579.10GREENPLY 171.00 171.55 167.30 170.10DIVISLAB 1715.00 1717.00 1677.40 1684.70JINDALSAW 84.80 85.80 82.50 83.30GDL 130.00 142.00 130.00 138.10HINDZINC 288.70 291.80 283.00 283.80FORBESCO 2469.00 2550.00 2387.00 2406.30BAJAJELEC 540.00 547.50 528.25 532.50TORNTPOWER 263.40 264.00 258.10 259.60NAVKARCORP 39.10 39.10 37.45 37.75MAGMA 124.00 124.00 120.75 122.65OIL 180.55 180.90 178.25 178.90NATCOPHARM* 564.90 569.80 562.10 566.40GRANULES 111.00 112.30 109.65 111.55TAKE 147.15 147.15 140.15 142.85ZENSARTECH 229.90 235.90 229.90 230.45SOMANYCERA 419.00 472.00 415.00 449.65BBTC 1284.00 1305.00 1271.55 1283.10BAJAJCON 327.00 330.00 317.50 320.70DEEPAKNI 281.20 283.90 270.05 272.10BERGEPAINT 334.95 335.00 326.00 328.90ORIENTCEM 95.90 98.00 93.00 95.95INDHOTEL 155.55 160.00 155.00 157.00TRENT 352.10 352.75 340.50 344.35RAMCOCEM 764.50 767.85 754.25 758.60JKTYRE 93.00 93.50 91.50 92.70VMART 2679.50 2679.50 2553.60 2571.20VINATIORGA 1710.00 1753.00 1704.50 1721.50KAJARIACER 624.00 627.30 606.05 609.00MMTC 28.45 28.50 27.90 28.30BDL 298.90 298.90 289.05 294.70GPPL 94.85 97.85 94.45 96.75QUESS 705.00 732.40 672.00 724.40JSWENERGY 73.90 73.90 70.55 71.45CHOLAFIN 1486.05 1497.10 1461.00 1471.10KALPATPOWR 460.25 480.00 460.25 477.55REDINGTON 97.00 100.90 97.00 98.25IBULISL 362.50 366.55 354.00 364.00JMFINANCIL 88.35 90.80 88.35 88.60MERCK 3870.00 3870.00 3789.25 3808.35GODFRYPHLP 1124.50 1139.00 1109.10 1116.50TEJASNET 172.00 176.25 171.00 174.85DRREDDY 2775.00 2779.45 2747.05 2766.30INFRATEL 319.95 319.95 313.35 315.75KSCL 473.10 484.20 471.30 475.55

WABAG 310.40 317.85 309.60 313.90GODREJIND 533.35 538.20 526.55 531.50ADANIGREEN 37.45 37.45 36.00 36.30JAMNAAUTO 60.45 61.05 58.95 59.20PAGEIND 24198.00 24283.65 23865.45 23972.05TATACOMM 607.80 610.70 588.45 590.75KANSAINER 463.00 464.25 457.35 458.65GICHSGFIN 271.00 272.25 264.10 264.45SWANENERGY 113.10 114.00 111.25 111.80ASTERDM 152.15 157.45 152.15 155.80ISEC 237.45 237.45 230.90 231.85APOLLOHOSP 1246.25 1258.15 1231.50 1237.10TRIDENT 68.10 68.50 67.30 67.50TATACOFFEE 92.00 92.35 90.60 91.25GSPL 177.00 180.95 177.00 177.95NILKAMAL 1390.00 1419.00 1379.05 1401.55LINDEINDIA 460.00 474.90 451.00 472.30AJANTPHARM 1034.85 1037.00 1012.00 1019.00EVEREADY 190.65 190.90 184.15 186.70NIACL 187.85 190.90 185.00 189.80UBL 1419.75 1434.30 1406.25 1411.95COCHINSHIP 396.90 396.90 390.25 392.95CENTRALBK 34.80 35.45 34.45 34.60NETWORK18 34.65 35.80 34.65 34.80GICRE 255.20 256.25 252.50 253.55MAHINDCIE 225.40 227.50 221.50 222.75BHARATFIN 1115.10 1133.20 1098.25 1101.70ENDURANCE 1168.95 1173.45 1165.00 1168.30CENTRUM 33.60 34.30 33.40 34.20HSCL 116.95 117.00 115.00 115.70CUB 203.00 204.00 199.00 199.50HEIDELBERG 182.05 182.30 179.15 179.85HSIL 281.00 284.00 275.10 278.45INOXWIND 70.30 71.40 67.90 68.35LAURUSLABS 388.00 400.00 388.00 399.60LEMONTREE 80.00 80.20 78.05 78.50CARBORUNIV 387.55 393.00 382.70 388.40HIMATSEIDE 218.75 222.85 215.40 218.35MOIL 160.75 161.45 160.05 160.65DEEPAKFERT 133.25 133.45 131.05 131.70RALLIS 161.75 162.40 159.80 160.45MRF 60499.90 60499.90 58650.00 59007.15SONATSOFTW 348.90 349.25 343.50 346.80GLAXO 1311.00 1311.00 1275.00 1294.70PNCINFRA 151.05 159.00 148.70 152.25NAVINFLUOR 737.00 745.60 726.90 729.40NHPC 24.30 24.50 24.25 24.40UFLEX 235.90 240.60 235.20 237.50EMAMILTD 411.00 411.95 407.95 408.85MAHABANK 14.10 14.59 14.08 14.24MAHLIFE 384.95 384.95 370.10 377.65ADANITRANS 221.00 221.60 216.90 217.85DCAL 233.00 235.00 227.40 229.25ECLERX 1138.00 1138.00 1127.20 1128.70TIMKEN 578.00 625.00 576.70 579.05SHOPERSTOP 451.55 453.45 443.00 444.15EIDPARRY 208.95 209.70 205.40 207.35GUJFLUORO 1069.00 1072.00 1048.00 1057.55THOMASCOOK 250.00 250.50 247.20 249.55EIHOTEL 198.70 199.15 194.70 195.30NBVENTURES 104.35 105.25 102.30 103.05TNPL 209.70 215.85 209.60 210.60FINOLEXIND 487.00 496.40 482.20 491.30MRPL 71.15 72.00 70.50 70.70NAVNETEDUL 110.10 110.40 108.35 109.85PTC 76.05 76.20 74.95 75.15COROMANDEL 463.00 465.20 453.70 456.25SIS 865.00 865.00 841.70 851.00APLLTD 547.05 547.05 534.00 539.65MONSANTO 2560.00 2574.00 2500.00 2547.45DCMSHRIRAM 407.95 409.00 402.15 403.70JSL 43.50 43.50 40.70 41.00OFSS 3560.40 3587.00 3538.50 3568.25BIRLACORPN 508.10 523.05 508.10 514.45TATAMETALI 655.25 657.75 650.00 655.85IOB 15.50 15.50 14.95 14.96SYMPHONY 1386.45 1386.45 1350.00 1359.05BLUESTARCO 705.05 705.05 685.85 691.70PRSMJOHNSN 96.90 96.90 93.80 94.40LUXIND 1350.10 1370.00 1335.00 1346.50BAYERCROP 4276.35 4285.00 4250.05 4266.45FORTIS 137.00 137.00 134.90 135.45BAJAJHLDNG 3373.00 3378.80 3292.50 3315.25ALLCARGO 110.00 112.00 109.00 109.55FLFL 470.00 488.50 468.95 475.55TIMETECHNO 101.00 101.80 94.75 96.55ASTRAL 1185.75 1197.35 1162.95 1190.60TATAINVEST 855.00 869.70 855.00 861.50DBCORP 199.90 199.90 194.00 196.60UCOBANK 19.10 19.15 18.80 18.85WHIRLPOOL 1462.60 1475.00 1452.80 1464.35IEX 164.05 166.65 161.55 162.10ATUL 3520.65 3550.00 3484.40 3518.10SUPPETRO 220.30 222.00 217.20 220.90SADBHAV 242.65 245.60 240.00 244.55SUNDRMFAST 583.00 586.00 571.00 577.05GILLETTE 6784.80 6872.00 6766.55 6847.15CAPPL 388.40 399.00 384.65 386.55BASF 1404.25 1409.50 1376.10 1383.60HAL 710.00 714.50 706.00 710.30GMDCLTD 79.60 80.65 78.90 79.40GHCL 245.00 245.95 241.30 242.90GULFOILLUB 884.00 889.25 865.75 870.80COFFEEDAY 278.50 278.50 274.70 276.15KRBL 337.45 338.70 331.10 332.40ITDCEM 127.35 129.50 124.00 124.75CHAMBLFERT 162.95 164.60 162.00 163.10SREINFRA 29.50 29.50 28.55 28.80JKLAKSHMI 369.00 369.00 347.00 349.20

MINDAIND 343.85 346.75 340.00 344.85LALPATHLAB 1011.00 1037.85 1011.00 1026.30RELAXO 840.00 851.25 833.65 845.15JBCHEPHARM 350.45 352.00 343.25 345.45STARCEMENT 104.00 104.00 97.00 97.20KNRCON 252.45 258.45 252.15 256.45CRISIL 1461.60 1469.00 1453.20 1463.20GUJALKALI 491.15 494.55 488.95 490.05LAXMIMACH 6200.00 6200.00 6007.70 6037.35NLCINDIA 68.00 68.60 67.65 68.10VBL 860.40 884.00 860.40 871.65BOSCHLTD 18235.55 18235.55 17928.85 17999.80GEPIL 825.00 852.85 825.00 836.00HERITGFOOD 539.00 543.95 526.05 532.40JAGRAN 122.50 123.25 120.15 121.80SCHNEIDER 105.55 106.00 103.70 104.20BALMLAWRIE 186.25 187.45 183.45 184.00CCL 282.00 285.80 280.00 280.40APLAPOLLO 1496.30 1500.20 1477.75 1484.05GSKCONS 6905.65 7072.50 6905.65 7013.10PFIZER 3319.65 3321.00 3262.90 3296.40SUNCLAYLTD 2851.00 2853.00 2800.00 2812.90GESHIP 290.15 292.45 287.00 287.50SHREECEM 19220.35 19220.35 18750.05 18846.60UNITEDBNK 10.92 11.27 10.92 10.96TIINDIA 397.00 399.00 388.00 391.95SKFINDIA 2067.00 2075.70 2030.80 2053.95AKZOINDIA 1840.00 1850.00 1820.70 1829.40MAHSCOOTER 3715.00 3730.00 3607.00 3637.40SUPREMEIND 1144.00 1145.90 1127.00 1133.40SFL 1390.00 1395.00 1355.00 1367.10IFBIND 912.00 918.20 878.00 880.35PGHH 10600.00 10789.90 10600.00 10726.35MHRIL 242.40 242.40 237.00 238.45GRINDWELL 575.85 577.00 566.50 574.75TEAMLEASE 3007.00 3036.15 2971.20 2988.05SJVN 24.20 24.20 24.00 24.10TTKPRESTIG 8530.00 8544.60 8466.30 8493.80GET&D 276.15 278.00 272.25 273.80JKCEMENT 872.00 873.10 859.50 865.10ASTRAZEN 1993.00 2007.25 1972.00 1974.65ALKEM 1738.20 1760.00 1705.15 1747.80CERA 2790.00 2908.55 2790.00 2895.60WABCOINDIA 6251.00 6377.00 6251.00 6314.25ZYDUSWELL 1314.80 1318.80 1293.00 1302.50CARERATING 1007.00 1007.00 984.10 988.30ITDC 279.00 282.00 275.95 276.15SHILPAMED 335.00 335.85 330.50 331.80MAHLOG 518.40 519.95 513.00 513.85TRITURBINE 110.00 112.15 108.85 109.25THYROCARE 545.00 545.00 527.15 528.35ESSELPRO 120.00 122.50 117.65 118.50HATSUN 753.65 758.35 752.00 757.00LAOPALA 204.00 205.55 203.10 204.10GALAXYSURF 998.25 1024.20 995.00 995.85KIOCL 144.30 144.30 138.00 139.35LAKSHVILAS 97.35 97.35 97.35 97.35AIAENG 1661.55 1710.00 1661.55 1692.85MAXINDIA 70.25 70.30 69.70 70.10NESCO 482.00 484.25 475.50 478.20GAYAPROJ 164.50 171.00 164.30 168.05ASAHIINDIA 245.80 246.05 240.65 242.30ERIS 631.00 638.00 619.25 632.25ABBOTINDIA 7300.00 7349.95 7274.80 7302.553MINDIA 23875.05 24106.00 23783.10 23843.05NH 216.85 217.95 212.95 217.00SHARDACROP 386.40 388.40 380.05 387.30MINDACORP 134.85 134.85 132.40 132.80PHOENIXLTD 651.05 651.05 644.30 645.70HONAUT 23282.00 23431.00 23100.00 23312.50TVSSRICHAK 2218.50 2218.50 2180.00 2190.75SUPRAJIT 236.90 238.00 235.75 236.30TIFHL 493.50 500.35 490.00 491.00DHANUKA 390.60 395.65 387.15 394.55BLUEDART 3305.00 3358.50 3305.00 3350.20KPRMILL 573.00 575.00 566.95 568.60SOLARINDS 1075.70 1075.70 1058.00 1061.65FDC 169.45 169.95 167.60 168.15SANOFI 5902.40 5910.00 5853.95 5868.55JCHAC 2069.95 2069.95 2006.25 2023.45SCHAEFFLER 5480.00 5510.00 5404.90 5416.90TVTODAY 312.50 313.95 310.90 311.10SHRIRAMCIT 1790.15 1791.25 1751.75 1756.75ELGIEQUIP 250.00 250.00 248.00 249.50RATNAMANI 895.05 900.00 895.05 899.95APARINDS 681.00 681.00 680.00 680.00

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11704.35 11710.30 11549.10 11604.50 -61.45TECHM 779.70 790.00 773.40 788.50 11.25INFY 763.05 770.00 755.40 769.15 9.85M&M 660.40 668.35 658.30 666.65 8.45TCS 2059.00 2075.00 2032.70 2073.60 25.30POWERGRID 198.00 200.30 195.55 197.90 1.60ONGC 157.80 160.25 156.55 157.80 1.25WIPRO 263.70 265.50 260.75 263.60 1.50NTPC 134.90 136.80 134.55 135.25 0.45HCLTECH 1095.00 1101.00 1080.95 1096.40 3.60UPL 938.00 950.90 933.65 944.05 3.05KOTAKBANK 1341.00 1347.50 1333.20 1339.80 3.85MARUTI 7107.00 7150.00 7044.70 7127.00 19.30DRREDDY 2760.00 2780.00 2745.50 2761.00 6.65HINDUNILVR 1664.90 1679.75 1656.90 1661.50 2.40INFRATEL 317.95 318.70 313.70 317.20 0.40LT 1379.70 1386.80 1365.45 1375.00 1.20BAJAJ-AUTO 2876.00 2876.00 2842.00 2859.00 -2.65TITAN 1109.00 1115.00 1092.00 1104.45 -1.95TATASTEEL 553.20 557.00 545.80 548.00 -1.30BHARTIARTL 358.40 363.80 352.55 355.50 -1.15HDFC 2068.00 2072.50 2029.25 2052.00 -7.20SUNPHARMA 464.60 467.20 460.45 461.10 -2.05BRITANNIA 3000.00 3013.95 2964.50 2973.00 -21.05HDFCBANK 2319.00 2322.95 2280.10 2289.20 -16.40COALINDIA 235.00 236.20 231.60 233.00 -1.70ITC 294.65 295.00 291.70 292.30 -2.25HINDALCO 216.70 217.80 213.05 213.65 -1.75INDUSINDBK 1768.90 1798.60 1746.05 1753.20 -14.75ULTRACEMCO 4224.00 4235.45 4136.00 4154.00 -36.40ICICIBANK 391.45 391.45 385.00 387.15 -3.40AXISBANK 764.30 768.00 748.55 755.00 -7.20BAJAJFINSV 7438.80 7440.00 7310.00 7321.30 -76.50HEROMOTOCO 2628.00 2643.95 2581.00 2590.00 -28.40CIPLA 536.50 536.90 522.70 526.25 -5.85JSWSTEEL 297.00 298.65 289.00 290.60 -3.65SBIN 318.25 319.25 311.10 312.75 -4.30GRASIM 855.00 858.20 837.00 837.00 -11.95ASIANPAINT 1514.00 1514.00 1486.00 1492.10 -22.35TATAMOTORS 206.00 207.40 198.80 201.90 -3.25ZEEL 414.70 418.90 403.00 404.95 -6.55EICHERMOT 21124.00 21189.00 20543.60 20585.05 -395.25RELIANCE 1356.00 1357.50 1323.70 1328.00 -25.90GAIL 350.00 350.65 340.10 342.05 -6.75ADANIPORTS 388.30 388.30 375.15 378.90 -8.25BPCL 354.85 354.85 349.00 350.30 -7.80YESBANK 267.10 268.10 258.25 260.70 -6.15VEDL 194.10 195.10 185.20 186.55 -5.15BAJFINANCE 3123.00 3130.00 3018.00 3021.00 -93.20IOC 157.40 157.40 151.70 152.10 -6.35IBULHSGFIN 880.00 916.55 853.10 860.10 -42.95

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

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world 12LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

US to designate Iranian Guard

Corps a foreign terror group

AP n WASHINGTON

In an unprecedented step toramp up pressure on

Tehran, the Trump adminis-tration is planning to desig-nate Iran’s RevolutionaryGuard a “foreign terroristorganisation.” The move isexpected to further isolateIran and could have wide-spread implications for U.S.personnel and policy in theMiddle E ast and e l se-where.The Trump adminis-tration has escalated rhetoricagainst Iran for months, butthis will mark the first suchdesignation by any Americanadministration of an entireforeign government entity.

Portions of the Guard,notably its elite Quds Force,have been targeted previ-ously by the United States.Officials informed of thestep said an announcementwas expected as early asMonday. Two US officialsand a congressional aideconf irmed the plannedmove. They were not autho-rized to discuss the matterpublicly and spoke on con-dition of anonymity. Iran’sfore ign minis ter,Mohammad Javad Zarif,seemed to anticipate the des-ignation, saying in a tweetSunday aimed at PresidentDonald Trump that Trump“should know better than tobe conned into another USdisaster.”

This would be just thelatest move by the Trumpadministration to isolateIran. Trump withdrew fromthe Obama administration’slandmark nuclear deal withIran in May 2018 and, in themonths that followed, reim-posed punishing sanctionsincluding those targetingIran’s oil, shipping and bank-ing sectors.

The Revolut ionar yGuard designation, planningfor which was first reportedby The Wall Street Journal,comes with sanct ions ,including freezes on assets

the Guard may have in U.S.jurisdictions and a ban onAmericans doing businesswith it or providing materi-al support for its activities.Although the Guard hasbroad control and influenceover the Iranian economy,such penalties from the U.S.may have limited impact.The designation, however,could significantly compli-cate U.S. military and diplo-matic work, notably in Iraq,where many Shiite militiasand Iraqi political partieshave close ties to the Guard.And in Lebanon, where theGuard has close t ies toHezbollah, which is part ofthe Lebanese government.

Without exclusions orwaivers to the designation,U.S. troops and diplomatscould be barred from contactwith Iraqi or L ebaneseauthorities who interact withGuard officials or surro-gates.

The Pentagon and U.S.intelligence agencies haveraised concerns about theimpact of the designation ifthe move does not allowcontact with foreign offi-cials who may have met withor communicated withGuard personnel. Those con-cerns have in part dissuadedprevious administrationsfrom taking the step, whichhas been considered formore than a decade. It wasnot immediate ly c learwhether the designationwould include such carve-

outs.In addition to thosecomplications, Americancommanders are concernedthat the designation mayprompt Iran to retaliateagainst U.S. forces in theregion, and those comman-ders plan to warn U.S. troopsremaining in Iraq, Syria andelsewhere of that possibility,according to a third U.S.official.

This official was notauthorized to discuss thematter publicly and spoke oncondition of anonymity.

Aside from Iraq, wheresome 5,200 American troopsare stationed, and Syria,where some U.S . 2 ,000troops remain, the U.S. 5thFleet, which operates in thePersian Gulf from its base inBahrain, and the Al UdeidAir Base in Qatar, are poten-tially at risk.

A similar warning is alsoexpected from the StateDepartment of possibleIranian retaliation againstAmerican interests, includ-ing embassies and con-sulates, and anti-Americanprotests, the first two U.S.officials said.

Similar alerts were issuedat the start of the Iraq War in2003 and more recentlywhen the Trump adminis-tration announced it wouldrecognize Jer usa lem asIsrael’s capital.

Despite the risks, Iranhard-liners on Capitol Hill,such as Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas,

and elsewhere have longadvocated for the designa-tion. They say it will send animportant message to Iran aswell as deal it a further blowafter Trump pulled out of the2015 nuclear deal and reim-posed economic sanctions.

Secretary of State MikePompeo and national secu-rity adviser John Bolton havetaken up the call and have inrecent months spoken stri-dently about Iran and its“malign activities” in theregion.

Pompeo has made clearin public comments thatpressure on Tehran will onlyincrease until it changes itsbehavior. Just last week,Pompeo’s special represen-tative for Iran, Brian Hook,accused Iran and its proxiesof being responsible for thedeath of 608 U.S. troops inIraq between 2003 and 2011.

He cited newly declassi-fied Defense Departmentinformation for the claim,which is expected to be usedin the justification for theGuard designation.

“Secretary Pompeo willcontinue to use all the toolsat our disposal to press theregime to change its destruc-tive policies for the benefit ofpeace in the region and forthe sake of its own people,who are the longest-sufferingvictims of this regime,” Hooksaid, in an indication thatnew action is coming.

The department cur-rently designates 60 groups,such as al-Qaida and theIslamic State and their vari-ous affiliates, Hezbollah andnumerous mi l i tantPalestinian factions, as “for-eign terrorist organizations.”But none of them is a state-run military.

Once a designation isannounced by the secretaryof state in coordination withthe Treasur y secretar y,Congress has seven days toreview it.

If there are no objec-tions, it then will take effect.

US Homeland Security chief out as border crossings surgeAFP n WASHINGTON

US President DonaldTrump on Sunday

announced the departure ofHomeland Secretary KirstjenNielsen, underscoring hisintent to toughen immigrationpolicy amid a surge in illegalcrossings along the southernborder.

Nielsen’s exit marks theend of a difficult relationshipwith her boss, who was said tobe unhappy with her perfor-mance despite her unswervingloyalty and full-throateddefense of the president’s mostcontroversial policies.

During her 18 months atthe helm of the powerfulagency, the 46-year-oldbecame synonymous with thecontroversial practice of sep-arating children from theirparents, making her a frequenttarget of progressive groupsand the Democratic opposi-tion who repeatedly calledon her to resign. None of this,however, seems to have beenenough for Trump.

“Secretary of HomelandSecurity Kirstjen Nielsen willbe leaving her position, and Iwould like to thank her for herservice,” Trump tweetedSunday. He added USCustoms and BorderProtection CommissionerKevin McAleenan wouldbecome acting secretary.

“Despite our progress inreforming homeland securityfor a new age, I have deter-mined that it is the right timefor me to step aside,” Nielsensaid in a resignation letter shelater shared on Twitter.

The move came just twodays after she and Trump vis-ited the Mexican border inCalifornia together, with thepresident delivering a sternmessage to would-be illegalimmigrants and asylum seek-ers: “Our country is full.”Despite warnings of dire eco-nomic consequences, includ-ing by top Republicans,Trump has repeatedly threat-ened to close the US-Mexico

border, demanding thatCongress and CentralAmerican governments actto stem a flow of migrants thatsaw Nielsen last week order an“emergency surge” of person-nel to handle the situation.

“System has been brokenfor many years. Democrats inCongress must agree to fixloopholes - No Open Borders(Crimes & Drugs). Will CloseSouthern Border If neces-sary...” he tweeted Sundayevening.

On Friday, US mediareported that Trump alsopulled his nominee to lead theImmigration and CustomsEnforcement department —saying he wanted someone“tougher” at the helm of theHomeland Security sub-agency.

Together, the shake-upswere seen by observers as asign the president wants totack an even harderline.Border Patrol estimatesput the number of migrantspassing through Mexico atover 100,000 in March, mostfrom El Salvador, Hondurasand Guatemala. Trump cut aidto the three countries lastmonth in response to the

surge.“When even the most rad-

ical voices in the administra-tion aren’t radical enough forPresident Trump, you knowhe’s completely lost touch withthe American people,” SenateMinority Leader ChuckSchumer said Sunday.

House Speaker NancyPelosi added it was “deeplyalarming that the TrumpAdministration official whoput children in cages is report-edly resigning because she isnot extreme enough for theWhite House’s liking.” Nielsen initially joined theTrump administration inJanuary 2017 as an assistant toTrump’s first DHS secretary,John Kelly.

When Kelly moved to theWhite House as Trump’s chiefof staff in July 2017, Nielsenwent with him as his deputy.But by October of that yearshe was back at DHS, this timeas secretary. Disaster relief,cyber security, transportationsecurity, the Coast Guard,customs and policing the bor-ders all fall under the depart-ment’s purview.She will beremembered most, however,as the face of the Trump

administration’s fierce anti-immigration policy, includingthe widely condemned prac-tice — since revoked — ofseparating migrant childrenfrom their parents as part ofa “zero tolerance” policy ofprosecuting all illegal bordercrossers.

Images of sobbing chil-dren being taken from theirparents last year fuelled anational outcry as condem-nation poured in from theUnited Nations, human rightsgroups, and four former firstladies — all mothers — whocalled the policy “cruel” and“immoral.”

Nielsen, though, bristledat suggestions the childrenwere being mistreated, orplaced into what appeared tobe “cages.” And in any case thechildren taken from their par-ents after crossing the borderwere “well taken care of,” sheinsisted.

“@SecNielsen’s legacy oftearing innocent families apartwill follow her for the rest ofher life-and she should beashamed of the role sheplayed,” Democratic senatorand 2020 hopeful ElizabethWarren tweeted of Nielsen’sexit On the other side,Republican Senator LindseyGraham said Nielsen “did herbest to deal with a brokenimmigration system and bro-ken Congress.”

Despite reports Trumpcomplained constantly aboutNielsen performance — andthat he believed she was notharsh enough — she remaineda loyalist. When participantsin a January 2018 WhiteHouse session on immigrationquoted Trump as referring toAfrican nations as “shithole”countries, Nielsen came tothe president’s defense.“I didnot hear that word used,” shetold a congressional hear-ing.Last month, she defendedthe president’s declaration ofa national emergency tosecure funding for his petproject: a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Globe TrottingKylie Jenner, Scott are stronger and better

than ever’ after those cheating rumors

Los Angeles: A source shares that Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott are doing "better than ever"after their family vacation. S few weeks ago there were rumors that Travischeated on Kylie and that the two were having trust issues—so this updateis good news! Let's take a break from talking about Khloé Kardashian'slove life (she's enjoying being single at the moment, FYI) to talk aboutwhat's going on with Kylie Jenner and boyfriend/baby daddy TravisScott.Kylie and Travis' relationship hit a rough patch in Februarywhen rumors spread that he maybe cheated on her. Kylie report-edly found something that she didn't like on his phone, and eversince Travis has been trying to make it up to her by flyingto visit the fam in the middle of the night, deleting his entireInstagram, and going on a vacation with Kylie and Stormiearlier this week.And it looks like the relaxing family vacayworked wonders for the couple because a source tells ETthat Kylie and Travis are now "stronger and better thanever."The source shares, "obviously the couple had someup and downs because they are both so busy, but at theend of the day, their bond is extremely strong. Travis,Kylie and Stormi spent some time together on vacationas Travis had a break from some shows. It was a real-ly great vacation." It seems like one of Kylie and Travis'biggest challenges is finding time to be together:Travis has been on tour and Kylie is busy running a billion-dollar cosmetics empire. The source adds, "It's hard for thecouple because they are both at the height of their careers,but they are learning to make it all work."Travis is about tokick off a residency in Las Vegas, but afterward, "Travis hasabout a month off and the couple plans to spend a lot of timetogether alone and with Stormi," says the source. And if thatmonth off gives us more adorable Webster/Jenner familyInstagrams like the one below, then I can't wait!

File photo of Donald Trump with Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen

Nissan shareholders sack ex-chief GhosnAFP n TOKYO

Nissan shareholders votedMonday to eject Carlos

Ghosn from the board, as thedetained former chairmanfights multiple financial mis-conduct charges that have land-ed him in custody. The extra-ordinary shareholders’ meetingat a Tokyo hotel was the firstsuch gathering since the stun-ning arrest of the 65-year-old autosector titan onNovember 19.And its voteto removeGhosn bringsan end to theauto tycoon’sstoried tenureat the firm,which he wasonce cred-i t e dwith

having rescued.The meeting also saw

shareholders vote to removeGreg Kelly, a US executive whoserved as Ghosn’s right-handman and who also faces chargesin Japan, and approve a motionto replace Ghosn with Renaultchairman Jean-DominiqueSenard. Nissan sacked Ghosn aschairman almost immediatelyafter his initial arrest but anextraordinary meeting of share-holders was required to removehim from the board.

Nissan CEO HirotoSaikawa and other top exec-utives opened the meeting byoffering a deep bow to thou-sands of

shareholders.Saikawa outlinedthe allegations against his for-

mer mentor, accusing him ofmisusing funds and seek-

ing to conceal hisc o mp e n s a -

tion.“Nissan

expresses its

deepest regret for any concerncaused by the misconduct toour shareholders,” he said.“Wehave to admit that there was asignificant problem with ourcorporate governance,” headded, saying he had been“extremely shocked” when helearned of the misconduct.

Nearly 4,200 shareholdersattended the meeting, withmany taking the chance of aquestion-and-answer sessionto slam Ghosn but also raiseconcerns about how the scan-dal was allowed to occur.“Nissan’s governance isn’t work-ing well. I really regret that,” 77-year-old shareholder IsamuBeppu told AFP before themeeting.“If there is no rebuild-ing of its governance, there willbe no revival,” he added.Ghosnfaces three separate charges.The first two relate to thealleged deferring of around$80 million in income andconcealing this in official doc-uments to shareholders.

The third, more complex,charge is that he attempted totransfer personal losses toNissan and paid a Saudi contactwho provided collateral fromcompany funds.

Last week, prosecutorsrearrested Ghosn, who was outon bail, over an additional alle-gation that he transferredNissan money to a dealership inOman but siphoned off millionsfor personal expenses —including the purchase of a lux-ury yacht. Prosecutors believeGhosn moved Nissan fundstotalling $15 million betweenlate 2015 and the middle of2018 and used $5 million of thatfor his own ends.

On Friday, the TokyoDistrict Court ruled that pros-ecutors could have until at leastApril 14 to interrogate Ghosn,who denies any wrongdoing.This period can be extended fora further 10 days if the courtallows, meaning Ghosn isunlikely to be released any

time soon. And prosecutorscould still announce addition-al allegations.

Ghosn’s wife Carole, whohad been living with him inTokyo while he was out on bail,told a newspaper on the week-end that she had fled Japan withthe help of the French ambas-sador because she “felt in dan-ger” after her husband’s rearrest.Japanese prosecutors reported-ly wanted to question her on avoluntary basis and are lookinginto claims that Ghosn routedsuspicious funds transfersthrough a business run by hiswife.

Ghosn’s rearrest onThursday came less than amonth after he dramaticallywon bail, paying around $9 mil-lion to secure his release. Hehad kept tight-lipped during hisbail period and was subject torestrictions on his contactswith others connected with thecase, and his online communi-cations.

AFP n TRIPOLI

Libyan military strongmanKhalifa Haftar pushed on

with his assault on TripoliMonday, defying internation-al calls for a ceasefire days intoa battle that has left dozensdead. At least 35 people havebeen killed in fighting sinceHaftar’s forces launched theirassault Thursday, Libya’s unitygovernment said, while theUN says thousands have beendisplaced. Oil-rich Libya hasbeen rocked by violent powerstruggles between an array ofarmed groups since theNATO-backed overthrow ofdictator Moamer Kadhafi in2011.

Haftar, a former Kadhafimilitary chief, has emerged asa major player, his self-styledLibyan National Army backingan administration in the coun-

try’s east in opposition to theUN-backed unity governmentbased in Tripoli.

Having seized control ofmuch of eastern Libya andbuoyed by a series of victoriesin the desert south, Haftarturned his sights on Tripoli thismonth, vowing to “cleanse” itof “terrorists and mercenaries”.

After a pause overnight,fighting resumed Mondaymorning around the capital’sdestroyed airport, some 30

kilometres south of Tripoli,and the rural area of Wadi Rabifurther east. World powershave expressed alarm at theviolence, saying it threatens tofurther destabilise Libya andderail UN-led efforts to find apolitical solution to the coun-try’s woes.The US has appealedfor an “immediate halt” tocombat operations and theUN Security Council has calledon Haftar’s forces to halt theiradvance.

Libya clashes resume with 35 dead, thousands displaced

‘Sugar rush’ may be a mythPTI n LONDON

The idea of ‘sugar rush’ —a state of hyperactivity

after consuming too manysweets — is a myth, claim sci-entists who found that sugarmakes people less alert andmore tired. Researchers fromUniversity of Warwick andLancaster University in theUK set out to examinewhether sugar really boostpeople’s mood.

Using data collected from31 published studies involvingalmost 1,300 adults, the teaminvestigated the effect of sugaron various aspects of mood,including anger, alertness,depression, and fatigue.

They also consideredhow factors such as the quan-tity and type of sugar con-sumed might affect mood,and whether engaging indemanding mental and phys-ical activities made any dif-ference.

The researchers foundthat sugar consumption hasvirtually no effect on mood,regardless of how much sugaris consumed or whether peo-ple engage in demanding

activities after taking it. They found that people

who consumed sugar feltmore tired and less alert thanthose who had not. The studyshows that the idea of a ‘sugarrush’ is a myth without anytruth behind it.

“We hope that our find-ings will go a long way to dis-pel the myth of the ‘sugarrush’ and inform public healthpolicies to decrease sugarconsumption,” said ElizabethMaylor, from the Universityof Warwick. “The idea that

sugar can improve mood hasbeen widely influential inpopular culture, so much sothat people all over the worldconsume sugary drinks tobecome more alert or combatfatigue,” said KonstantinosMantantzis, from HumboldtUniversity of Berlin, who ledthe study.

“Our findings very clear-ly indicate that such claimsare not substantiated — ifanything, sugar will probablymake you feel worse,” saidMantantzis.

Indonesia rejects appealof woman jailed overmosque noise complaint Jakarta (AFP): Indonesia’sSupreme Court on Mondayrejected an appeal by a womansentenced to 18 months in jailunder the country’s controversialblasphemy law for complainingabout the volume of a mosque’scall to prayer.

Meiliana, 44, an ethnicChinese Buddhist, was foundguilty of insulting Islam for ask-ing her neighbourhood mosquein Medan, on Sumatra island, tolower its sound system becauseit was too loud and “hurt” herears.In a decision posted to itswebsite Monday, the SupremeCourt said that it had rejected herappeal, but did not elaborate fur-ther.

Indonesia, which has theworld’s biggest Muslim popula-tion, is officially pluralist with sixmajor religions recognised,including Hinduism, Christianityand Buddhism. Freedomof expression is supposed to beguaranteed by law.But criticisingreligion - particularly Islam,which is followed by nearly 90percent of Indonesia’s 260 million

citizens - can land offenders injail.

Meiliana’s comments morethan two years ago triggered riotsthat saw angry Muslim mobsransack Buddhist temples.Someethnic Chinese in the area fled infear. The case fuelled fears thatIndonesia’s moderate brand ofIslam is coming under threatfrom increasingly influential rad-icals.Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),Indonesia’s largest Muslim group,said the woman’s commentsshould not have been consideredblasphemous.

Rights groups have longcampaigned against the nation’sblasphemy laws, which they sayare frequently misused to targetminorities.Last year Jakarta’s for-mer governor - the city’s firstChristian leader of Chinesedescent - was sentenced to twoyears in jail for blasphemy. Thereare hundreds of thousands ofmosques across the SoutheastAsian archipelago nation, withthe five-times-a-day call to prayerheard everywhere in the biggestcities and smallest towns.

world 13LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

CPEC did not intensify

Pak’s eco risks: China

PTI n BEIJING

China on Monday refutedcriticism that the USD 60

billion CPEC has intensifiedPakistan’s economic risks, say-ing that less than 20 per centof the current projects underthe initiative are using Chineseloans.

The China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC),which connects Gwadar Portin Balochistan with China’sXinjiang province, is the flag-ship project of ChinesePresident Xi Jinping’s ambi-tious Belt and Road Initiative(BRI).

As China pressed aheadwith the BRI, it drew strongcriticism that Chinese pro-jects are being built with heavyinterest rates and without duediligence studies about theirviability, leaving the smallercountries in heavy debt. Indiahas also protested to Chinaover the CPEC as it traversesthrough Pakistan-occupiedKashmir.

Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Lu Kang told themedia here on Monday that

the CPEC is a symbol ofChina-Pakistan cooperationin the new era and also animportant pilot programmeof the BRI. Defending themassive infusion of Chinesemoney into Pakistan, which isa close ally of Beijing, Lu saidcarrying out major projectswith international financing isa global practice. It is also aneffective approach for devel-oping countries to handle thefinancial bottlenecks and fos-ter growth, he said. “Only lessthan 20 per cent of the current

CPEC projects are usingChinese loans and more than80 per cent of them are direct-ly invested by China or usingChinese grants,” he said.

“So, these CPEC projectsdidn’t further increasePakistan’s burden. On the con-trary, it is strengtheningPakistan’s economy,” he said.“It has greatly improvedPakistan’s infrastructure andpower supply and of course itis welcomed by Pakistan gov-ernment and its people,” hesaid.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang

Netanyahu, Gantz make final pitches before vote

China lowers tariffson computers, bikesAFP n BEIJING

China on Mondayannounced it will lower

tariffs on some consumergoods ranging from comput-ers to furniture and bicycles asBeijing faces worldwide scruti-ny over its trade practices.Beijing and Washington haveslapped tariffs on more than$360 billion in two-way trade in theirsimmering tradespat whileEurope hasrecently indi-cated it willtake China totask for allegedunfair tradepolicies. China’stariff rate onimported goods likebooks, computers, food,furniture and medicines willdrop to 13 percent startingTuesday, the State Council’stariff commission announced.

The goods had been taxedat a 15 percent rate, official

news agency Xinhua reported.The border tax slapped onother imported goods likesporting goods, fishing sup-plies, textiles, electronic appli-ances and bicycles will also belowered to 20 percent from 25percent, according to Xinhua.

Top EU leaders will meetChinese Premier Li Keqiangthis week at a summit inBrussels, but their hopes of

winning solid commitmentson trade look set for dis-

appointment.President Donald

Trump on Fridaysaid talks withBeijing were mak-ing progress towardending the trade war

between the world’stwo top economies,

but he again stoppedshort of predicting suc-

cess.US Trade RepresentativeRobert Lighthizer andTreasury Secretary StevenMnuchin engaged in tradetalks with a Chinese delegationled by Vice Premier Liu Hefrom April 3-5 in Washington.

AFP n JERUSALEM

Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu sought

to energise supporters on theeve of Tuesday’s elections withwarnings and controversialpromises, while his centristchallenger urged voters to tellthe premier the country hashad enough.

The general election inwhich Netanyahu is seeking toextend his already 13 years inoffice despite corruption alle-gations against him is expect-ed to be close, with ex-militarychief Benny Gantz posing aserious threat. They spent thecampaign’s final hours exhort-ing voters with two differentstrategies: Netanyahu repeat-edly warned that his Likud wasat risk of losing, while Gantzmade the case that Israel wason the verge of historic change.

The truth was more com-plicated, with opinion pollsgiving Netanyahu’s Likud andGantz’s Blue and White a sim-ilar number of seats in the 120-seat parliament.

Under those polls, bothwould fall far short of an out-right majority and would needto pull together a coalition.Ifpolling trends hold, Netanyahuwould be best placed to do sothanks to smaller right-wingparties allied to him. There

have however been repeatedwarnings of the unreliability ofpolls in the past and the factthat many voters say theyremain undecided.

Netanyahu’s claims thatLikud may lose were widelyseen as a way to ensure his baseof supporters turn out to vote.Netanyahu has made last-minute appeals to the right,issuing a deeply controversialpledge to annex settlements in

the occupied West Bank.If done on a large-scale,

applying Israeli sovereigntythere could end any remaininghopes for a two-state solutionwith the Palestinians.

In an interview on Sunday,Netanyahu said US PresidentDonald Trump, who is expect-ed to release his long-awaiteddeal for Israeli-Palestinianpeace sometime after the elec-tion, was aware of his plans to

do so. He said he planned toapply sovereignty gradually,and that he did not differenti-ate between Israel’s large WestBank settlement blocs and theisolated ones located deep inthe territory on land thePalestinians see as part of afuture state.

“Who else can do this?Who can do this? Come on.Honestly,” Netanyahu said,making the case as he has

throughout the campaign thathe is Israel’s essential statesman.“Who can stand in front of theworld? Who can stand in frontof the American Congress?Who can move public opinionin that direction?” Gantz hascalled Netanyahu’s pledge an“irresponsible” bid for right-wing votes.

He says he favours a “glob-ally backed peace agreement”that sees Israel hold on to thelarge settlement blocs in theWest Bank and maintain secu-rity control over the territory.

Gantz has also highlightedhis security credentials whilesaying he will heal divisions heaccuses Netanyahu of exacer-bating.

“There’s a need for changeand an opportunity for change,”Gantz told Israel’s army radioon Monday.

“Israel needs to choose adirection of unification, con-nection and hope — or ofextremity.” The two were alsoengaging in typical pre-electioncampaigning, including Gantzriding a motorcycle to his rallyon Sunday and Netanyahu vis-iting Jerusalem’s main marketon Monday.

Netanyahu will be on trackto surpass founding fatherDavid Ben-Gurion as Israel’slongest-serving prime ministershould he win on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, escorted by bodyguards walks during a visit to the market on the eve of Israel'sgeneral elections in Jerusalem, Monday. AP

May to meet Merkel, Macron ahead of crucial Brexit summitAFP n LONDON

British Prime MinisterTheresa May will meet

with German and Frenchleaders Angela Merkel andEmmanuel Macron as shescrambles to find a Brexitbreakthrough ahead ofWednesday’s crucial EU sum-mit. May will meet the twoleaders on Tuesday, theiroff ices announced onMonday, the day before thesummit where she is expect-ed to ask the bloc for anoth-er delay to Brexit.Britain willfall out of the European Unionwithout a deal on Friday if nodelay agreement isreached.“The chancellor andthe British prime ministerwill have an exchange of viewson Britain’s exit from the EUas well as on Wednesday’s spe-cial summit of the EuropeanCouncil ,” said Merkel’sspokesman Steffen Seibert.

May was on Monday topress ahead with her bid tofind a “compromise” with theopposition Labour Partydespite a backlash from herown Conservatives. “Ourintention is to engage further

with the opposition today ...and we hope that will lead toformal face-to-face discus-sions” later Monday, aDowning Street spokeswomansaid. Having failed three timesto get her withdrawal dealthrough parliament, May hasbeen locked in talks withLabour to find a modifiedplan that could command amajority.

“It’ll mean compromiseon both sides but I believe thatdelivering Brexit is the mostimportant thing for us,” shesaid in a video messagereleased on Sunday.

“The longer this takes,the greater the risk of the UKnever leaving at all. It wouldmean letting the Brexit theBritish people voted for slipthrough our fingers.”

Labour wants a customsunion with Brussels, some-thing May consistently ruledout as it would prevent Britainstriking trade deals with therest of the world.

The talks broke down lastweek, with Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn saying, “I’mwaiting to see the red linesmove”. Labour is also facing

internal division, with 80 MPswriting to Corbyn urging himto secure a guarantee of a sec-ond referendum in any deal.Leading Brexit supporterBoris Johnson, the favourite totake over once May leaves,said the prime minister’s talkswith veteran leftist Corbynwere “so disheartening thatyou can scarcely believe it”.

“It seems utterly incredi-ble that he has now beeninvited into Downing Street tonegotiate a Brexit deal,” hewrote in his Daily Telegraphcolumn.“

And it is doubly incredi-ble that the government is —so we are told — willing toaccede to his terms.”

May’s deal includes thelegally binding terms ofBritain’s withdrawal, and alsoa political declaration outlin-ing the principles of a futurerelationship. She has toldrestive Conservative MPs shewill resign before negotia-tions on future trade tiesbegin. Labour could seek tolock the agreement into law,making it much more difficultfor May’s successor to changestrategy.

A pro EU protestor shows a poster with artwork depicting Prime Minister TheresaMay, left, and main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, opposite theHouses of Parliament in London, Monday. AP

Pak minoritygroups holdrally at WHW a s h i n g t o n :Representatives from variousethnic and religious minori-ties of Pakistan have held apeaceful demonstration infront of the White Househere against what theydescribed as “the worst kindof genocide” they are facingin Pakistan and asked theinternational community tohelp them exercise the rightto self-determination.

The ruling Pakistaniestablishment is driving eth-nic identities towards erad-ication, they alleged. “It isnow incumb ent thatInternational Communitymust understand our plight,and help us achieve the Rightof Self Determination,”” saidRehan Ibadat, central orga-nizer, the Muttahida QaumiMovement (MQM) USA.

“As a collective effort wehave gathered today to rep-resent all the oppressed eth-nic groups residing in thecurrent geographical bound-ar ies of Pakis tan . WeMohajir, Baloch, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pashtun, and otherreligious minorities demandsseparate land by exercisingour right to self determina-tion,” participants of theprotest said in a joint state-ment.

Scores of representativesfrom the Mohajir, Baloch,Gilgit-Baltistan, Pashtun,and other religious minori-ties arrived in front of theWhite House in the form ofa rally from the DupontCircle. They were carryingposters and banners dis-playing the atrocities againstthe ethnic and religiousminorities of Pakistan. “We,ethnic minorities are facingworst form of genocideagainst the mankind. Theongoing enforced disap-pearances, extra-judicialkillings, and denial of basichuman rights by this fero-cious law enforcement agen-cies of Pakistan, particular-ly Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) are the primary factors,”they said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shake hands during their meeting in theKremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, April 8, 2019. The talks are expected to focus on the situation in Syria, where the twocountries have closely coordinated their steps.

Erdogan sees ‘theft’ in Istanbul vote resultsIstanbul (AFP): Turkish

President Recep TayyipErdogan on Monday cast doubton results showing his rulingparty’s candidate narrowly lostthe election for Istanbul mayor,saying there had been “theft atthe ballot box”. Erdogan’sJustice and Development Party(AKP) demanded a recount inAnkara and Istanbul citingirregularities after talliesshowed the party was defeatedin both cities last week — inwhat would be a major setbackin a decade and a half inpower.

Erdogan’s remarksappeared to signal more AKPchallenges over Istanbul, thecountry’s economic hub andlargest city, echoing commen-tary in pro-government medialast week denouncing a “ballotbox putsch” during the March31 election . “We are seeing that

some organised crimes havebeen carried out,” Erdogansaid at a press conferencebefore a trip to Russia, withoutgiving details. “There is anelement of robbery in all of this.There was some theft at the bal-lot box.”

Erdogan said the marginbetween the two Istanbul can-didates was too small for any-one to claim victory, suggestingwhen there was a problemwith a percentage of votes inother countries, appeals andeven new elections were notunusual. “No one has the rightto declare themselves victoriouswith a difference of around13,000-14,000 votes,” Erdogansaid of the Istanbul results.

In the capital Ankara, theSupreme Electoral Council onMonday officially handedopposition CHP party candi-date Mansur Yavas his man-

date. Erdogan’s AKP won mostvotes nationwide in the elec-tion, but voters appeared topunish the party in the two bigcities with Turkey’s economy inrecession and inflation in dou-ble digits after a currency cri-sis last year.

Defeat in Istanbul would beespecially sensitive for Erdoganwho grew up in one of its work-ing-class districts and began hispolitical career as mayor of thecity. AKP’s candidate forIstanbul former premier BinaliYildirim and opposition CHP’sEkrem Imamoglu bothdeclared victory soon after theIstanbul race when initialresults showed a dead heat.

Electoral authorities latersaid Imamoglu was winning byaround 20,000 ballots, but thatgap has narrowed during aweek of recounting. The dif-ference is now less than 16,000

ballots. The two candidateseach received more than 4million votes. “The AKP isbroadening its appeal inIstanbul everyday. The nextstep could be asking to redo theelection,” pro-governmentcolumnist Abdulkadir Selviwrote in Monday’s Hurriyetnewspaper, though he added hedid not think the electionwould be cancelled.Imamoglu,a former mayor of one of thecity’s local districts, has alreadydeclared himself Istanbulmayor and called on the AKPto accept the result. The oppo-sition appealed on Mondayfor electoral authorities to stayimpartial. “I appeal to thejurists at the Supreme ElectoralCouncil: your independenceand your objectivity are veryimportant,” CHP party chiefKemal Kilicdaroglu said duringa press conference.

Spicy compound from chili peppers

may slow lung cancer spread

PTI n WASHIGTON

Acompound that makeschili peppers spicy may

help curb lung cancer spread,according to a study that may

pave the way for an o v e ltreatmentagainst thedeadly disease.Most cancer-related deaths occurwhen cancer spreadsto distant sites, aprocess called metasta-sis. “Lung cancer andother cancers commonlymetastasize to secondarylocations like the brain, liveror bone, making them difficultto treat,” said Jamie Friedman,a doctoral candidate who per-formed the research at

Marshall University in the US.“Our study suggests that thenatural compound capsaicinfrom chili peppers could rep-resent a novel therapy to com-bat metastasis in lung cancerpatients,” Friedman said in astatement.

In experimentsinvolving threelines of cultured

hu m an

n o n -small cell

lung cancer cells, theresearchers observed that cap-saicin inhibited invasion, thefirst step of the metastaticprocess.

They also found that micewith metastatic cancer thatconsumed capsaicin showed

smaller areasof metastatic

cancer cells inthe lung com-

pared to mice notreceiving the treat-

ment.Additional experiments

revealed that capsaicin sup-presses lung cancer

metastasis byinhibiting activa-tion of the pro-

tein Src. Thisp r o t e i nplays a role

in the signaling that controlscellular processes such as pro-liferation, differentiation,motility and adhesion.

“We hope that one daycapsaicin can be used in com-bination with otherchemotherapeutics to treat avariety of lung cancers,” saidFriedman.

“However, using capsaicinclinically will require over-coming its unpleasant sideeffects, which include gas-trointestinal irritation, stom-ach cramps and a burning sen-sation,” he said.

The researchers are work-ing to identify capsaicin ana-logues that will be non-pun-gent while retaining the anti-tumour activity of capsaicin.They are also trying to iden-tify natural non-pungent cap-

AFP n KUALALUMPUR

Forty-one Rohingya werefound on a Malaysian beach

Monday, police said, the secondgroup of the Muslim minority toarrive in the country withinweeks, stoking fears of a loom-ing exodus. Many Rohingyahave been seeking in recentweeks to leave by sea fromBangladesh, where they live insqualid refugee camps after flee-ing their mostly Buddhist home-land Myanmar, before the mon-soon season starts in earnest.

Security forces have pre-vented hundreds from departingfor Malaysia with people smug-glers on fishing boats. But lastmonth 34 Rohingya arrived inthe northern Malaysian state ofPerlis, the first group believed to

have landed in the country inalmost year. The latest batch,which consisted entirely of men,were found Monday on thesame beach as the previousboatload, local police chief NoorMushar Mohamad toldAFP.“This is definitely the work

of human smuggling syndicatesworking with local syndicates,”he said.

“I fear there could be moreRohingya arrivals unless mar-itime enforcement agencies stepup patrols urgently.”

Noor Mushar said initial

investigations indicated theycould have travelled in a largeboat before being transferred tosmaller craft by local criminalgangs and ferried ashore. Theyhave been handed over to immi-gration authorities, he said.

It was not clear whether theyhad departed from Bangladeshor Myanmar, or when they hadarrived. About 740,000 Rohingyafled Myanmar for Bangladeshfollowing a brutal military clam-pdown in their home country inAugust 2017, joining hundredsof thousands already living incrowded camps.The traditionalroute to Malaysia is by boat fromMyanmar or Bangladesh.Refugees arrive either inThailand and head overland toMalaysia, or arrive directly inMalaysia.

Second group of Rohingya arrivein Malaysia within weeks

The Indian film industry nevershies away from amping upthe glamour quotient. Andwhen there is a historical set-up that is all set to light

up the large canvas, the film makers givein to opulence. Whether it was JodhaAkbar, Manikarnika, Bajirao Mastani,this was all too evident. And joining thislist is the multistarrer, Kalank, which isa saga set in the colonial era and divesdeep into the pages of the history thatwere lit up by the era of kings and thequeens. TBZ — The Original has curat-ed the jewellery collection, titledCollection K, worn by actresses AliaBhatt, Madhuri Dixit Nene andSonakshi Sinha in the film. The designs,they say, “are an ode to the unforgettableera of the Nizams and Begums ofHyderabad in the pre-independenceera.”

B i n a i s h aZaveri, directorof the jewellerybrand, says,“We wanted tocreate an exquis-ite collection thatlooked flawlessagainst the back-drop and exudedmagnificence.W eresearchedour designa r c h i v e sthat dateback to 1864to craft and launchthe collection that pays homage to our

treasured Indian heritage by blend-ing age-old art forms.”

Crafted by a team of sevendesigners, she says, it took “eightmonths to finally bring each mas-terpiece in the collection to life.Around 50 craftsmen devotedtheir time by infusing the cutting-edge technology with indigenousart forms.”

She adds, “The designing teamhas pushed the boundaries of forthis collection, curating it to per-fection and making it synony-mous with finesse.”

The ensemble of ornamentsinclude the opulent 5 Lehra Haarin a collection of rich kundan andpearl carving, vintage choker setswith pearls and rubies embedded,Haathphools, Naths (nose rings)and Passas , hand-engraved

Navratna , ornate Chandbalis ,Bikaneri Meena and Kundan withpearl carvings. She says that themost “exotic and mesmerizing range”included the Polki and Jadau neck-laces, bangles, chokers, maathapattis,borlas and armlets, which have been“intricately carved with gold and gemstones. Their price range starts from`45,000.”

Since the background datesback to the princely traditions,how have the designers kept themodernity of these designs intact?Zaveri says, “To make each char-acter’s look distinct from eachother and keep the contempo-rary as well as the traditional

elements in place, we revived indige-

nous art forms in our jewellery designedfor the three actresses. Our goal was tocreate jewellery that gives the look-and-feel of a bygone era.”

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

MADHURI DIXIT NENE, who hasjoined creative forces with veteranchoreographer Saroj Khan for adance number Tabha ho gaye inKalank, says the dance directorknows how to makewomen look gracefulon-screen.“Saroj ji is one of thechoreographers whogoes beyond thesurface of lyrics ofa song. In cinema,we tend to createsteps keepingthe cameraangle in mind.But Saroj jidoesn't limitthe dance inphysical move-ments. She finds aspiritual aspect andworks on expres-sions. Perhaps that iswhy every song wedid together, holds arecall value eventoday,” Madhuri said.

He drinks, he smokes, heswears. ActorSHAHID KAPOORteased his “rebelwith a cause”avatar in KabirSingh, aBollywoodremake of Telugufilm Arjun Reddy. “I'm not a rebel without a cause.This is me. Kabir Singh,” Shahidwrote on social media with a linkto the power-packed teaser.Directed by Sandeep ReddyVanga, who directed the originalmovie, The film is produced byBhushan Kumar, Murad Khetani,Krishan Kumar and AshwinVarde. It is releasing on June 21.

Actor JOEL KINNAMAN says thereis no value in digging up an oldtweet or finding a bad joke writtenby someone ten years ago.Kinnaman feels people shouldrefrain from jumping to judg-ments, and look for the intention

behind the words some-times.“There is a negative side ofthis movement and it is

something that I reallydislike. That is thecall-out culturewhere people areoffended by things.What is reallyimportant is thatpeople go to the bot-

tom of the intent ofwhat is being said andnot dig up an oldtweet (in which)someone has said(something) orsomeone had writ-ten a bad joke tenyears ago. I don'tthink there is value

in that,” he said.

‘How do Idescribewhat theHimalayasmake mefeel? I justcan't,because words fallshort. Theirmagnificence andspirituality issomething Iconstantly keepgoing to, because itmakes my soulbetter. Amongst allmy travels in thisworld, I rate my timein the Himalayas thehighest, and amongstall the things I loveabout India, I feelproudest that wehave the Himalayas.’—Ayan Mukerji

Don’t dig up oldtweets: Kinnaman

vivacity 14

Whenever one talks aboutthe quest of the secrets ofPharaohs, Egyptian

archaeologist Zahi Hawass’ nameis sure to come to mind. TheEgyptologist and former Ministerof State for Antiquities Affairs, whoserved as a director of excavationsat Giza, Saqqara and the BahariyaOasis, has taken the the pyramidsinto the houses of common menand made archaeology accessibleand hip. He has also worked atarchaeological sites in the NileDelta, the Western Desert and theUpper Nile Valley and has mademany recent discoveries, includingthe tombs of the pyramid buildersat Giza and the Valley of theGolden Mummies at Bahariya. AtGiza, he also uncovered the satel-lite pyramid of Khufu. In 2005, heled a team that carried out a CTscan of the mummy of KingTutankhamun to learn more aboutpatterns of disease, health and mor-tality in ancient Egypt. This pro-

ject continues and now includesmummies which are both royal

and private in the hope of solvingsome of the mysteries surroundingthe lives and deaths figures likeHatshepsut and Nefertiti.

Hawass has written and co-written many books relating toEgyptology, including The Curse ofthe Pharaohs: My Adventures withMummies and King Tutankhamun:The Treasures from the Tomb. Heis a columnist in Egypt Today mag-azine, and the online historicalcommunity, Heritage Key.

He has collaborated withDiscovery for ExpeditionUnknown: Egypt Live, which airedyesterday. As part of this project,he went in search of ancient arti-facts and opened an Egyptian sar-cophagus for the very first time onair. The live two-hour multi-plat-form event was hosted by adven-turer and avid explorer Josh Gates.

Opening the sarcophagus anddoing it live. Why did you decidethat?

I believe that it’s time to edu-cate people about the thrill ofarchaeology. Also, we need to givea message to the world that Egyptis safe. The country needs touriststo come back because the arrivalof tourists in the country is impor-tant for the conservation andrestoration of its monuments, eco-nomically speaking and also interms of the living interest in ourculture. As Egyptians, we believethis wonderful civilisation belongsto every single person of the world.Also, as archaeologists we have theright to excavate and write aboutthe discoveries, we believe thatsince everyone in the world isimpressed by the pharaohs, theyalso have the right to be shownimportant discoveries like theopening of the sarcophagi live.

What is the kind of preparationthat goes before opening oneand what happens after?

We already did the research ofthe tombs and the sarcophagus, but

to open it, we will do so carefullyat the hands of expert workmen.These workmen have been trainedextremely well and have a lot ofexperience. Afterwards, the arti-facts will be collected, pho-tographed, published and put inthe magazine storage. As for themummy, we can have it go underthe CT scan machine to discoverits sex, age and other basic infor-mation.

How would this opening advancethe study of ancient Egypt?

First of all, I am confident thatthis event will capture hearts ofpeople all over the world since ithasn’t been opened in 2,500 years.Opening it live will increase peo-ple’s love and fascination forancient Egypt which is always agood thing. Scientifically speaking,the cemetery is new and wasuncovered by accident in thedesert, near the city that thefamous queen Nefertiti left; thereis also the temple of Thoth, god ofwisdom, in the vicinity. So, youmust understand that this area isof extreme scientific interest.Besides, these are the burial placesof the priests of the god Thoth, sothis work will complement thearchaeological work, namely inacquiring knowledge about the26th dynasty priesthood.

Whose sarcophagus is this?We don’t know — we are

opening three new ones. One hasno name but we have of the secondone that has no inscription but hisname is known through a canopic

jar — he was a singer of the god,Thoth.

Would it be of interest to peoplewho are not perhaps as scholar-ly inclined?

Yes, of course. Not many peo-ple get the chance to witness theopening of a sarcophagus in frontof their very eyes. I believe this isa monumental occasion for schol-ars and mass audiences alike.

There have been tales that itoften brings death and destruc-tion, what do you have to say tothat?

No, this idea of the curse is anancient one.People thinkthat ifyou are

opening a tomb for the first time,there is a mummy that has bacte-ria and toxic chemicals that comesout of it but we bear this into mindby providing the right work con-

ditions: there will be fresh airinside so the area can be quicklyventilated. This idea of death anddestruction is mythical, it first aroseafter the discovery of the tomb ofTutankhamen as Lord Carnvarondied five months later.

Are there differences betweenNile Delta, the Western Desert,and the Upper Nile Valley or doesit have to do more with thechronological order that thesewere made?

Different periods had differentpolitical developments across time,so the capitals of ancient Egyptchanged. Also, each nome or “gov-ernorate” in ancient Egypt wasfocused on particular deities.Excavating in these areas is also acompletely different experience asthe environmental conditions vary.

You’ve worked at excavation sitesacross Egypt, what have beensome of your more memorableexperiences?

For me, I think the mostimportant was finding the tombs ofthe pyramid builders. This wasbecause the discovery was made ata very crucial time when peoplebelieved that the pyramids werebuilt by lost civilisations or aliens.I was pleased as this discoveryproved that the pyramids were builtby Egyptian workers and not slaves.Another important moment for mewas when I sent the robot in thegreat pyramid and saw mysteriousdoors with copper handles. I alsoloved the moments when I discov-ered the mummy of Hatshepsutand when I met the mummy ofTutankhamun face to face.

What is the satellite pyramid ofKhufu? What makes it special?

It was found after many yearsthat too by accident. When we wereremoving the paved road on whichtourists buses used to move on.This road was above funerary tem-ple of the great pyramid and also,underneath it, was the satellitepyramid. It’s basically an L-shapedstructure composed of a burialchamber with an entrance; it hasthe oldest complete capstone (pyra-midion) ever found in Egypt. Ithink, that was important in termsof the function of the pyramid’s cult.Most likely, when the king finishedbuilding the pyramid, he wentinto the burial chamber, left hisrobes and crowns; he adornedhimself in a kilt and held the flailto perform a celebratory dancegoing out of the pyramid. This cel-ebration indicated that the ruler hadmet and finished all the require-ments that the gods of Egypt askedof him and now he was ready tojoin the rank of the gods.

What have the CT scans of manymummies, including that ofTutankhamen, revealed?

It revealed that Tutankhamunwas not murdered, as some con-

spiracy theories indicate. Hehad malaria. We found a

fracture in his left leg so

most likely two hours before hedied, he had an accident while rid-ing a chariot and fell; this caused hisdeath at the age of 19. We also knowthat he had a flatfoot, so the blooddid not reach his toes; this wouldexplain the amount of canes orwalking sticks in his tomb.

On one hand, the discoveries areimportant but on the other handthey also boost tourism. But withthe increase in footfalls inside thepyramids, it alters the climaticconditions which can lead todegradation. How do you balanceconservation and tourism?

It is very important to find abalance between the need fortourism and the need to conserveantiquities. Every year, we alternatebetween the opened tombs to thepublic as others are closed. We alsomake sure to establish site manage-ment programmes for every site togive access to tourists so that wehave an idea on how to protectthem from damage. There arestrict rules to adhere to, like notallowing tourists to enter tombswith bags and use of flash photog-raphy. There are many importantactions and preventative steps thatshould happen because we needtourism for the preservation of hishistory and we need to preserveantiquities really well. Last, theMinistry of Antiquities alwaysworks to conserve and restorethese historical antiquities sites, likethe Nefetari and Tutankhamuntombs, sometimes with the help ofinternational experts, such as GettyInstitute for Conservation.

Beyond the glamour, what does ittake to be an archaeologist and aceleb Egyptologist?

It takes passion, hard work,focus, continuous studies andworking with scientific teams.

You are a celebrity of sorts and areassociated with the cause of can-cer. How did you get interested init?

Due to popular demand for myfamous hat, a company started sell-ing copies of it; the profits current-ly go to support the children can-cer hospital in Cairo. Prior to that,the sales of the hats went to the con-struction of the children museumalso in Cairo; that museum is nowopen to the public.

How did you get interested inarchaeology?

I did not expect to have a careerin archaeology or Egyptology butI studied it when I was at the uni-versity of Alexandria. I was work-ing at an excavation when theworkers called me to let me knowthey had found a beautiful femalestatue — as soon as I saw it, I feltthat I had found my love: archae-ology. It is important to have pas-sion in this field of work, this is themain key for success as passiongives one the patience and theendurance to not only persevere butto give all the efforts in the projectswe are involved in.

Crypt tales Egyptian archaeologist ZAHI HAWASS has extended the idea ofuncovering secrets of mummies from being just a scholarlypursuit to something more glamorous, says SAIMI SATTAR

The

touch DocuBay, a new, global, subscrip-tion-based streaming service and

video-on-demand platform featuringinternational documentaries, willlaunch this summer and will includeIndia in its first phase.

It will be available in India with adistinctive global catalogue for Indianaudiences, and several titles exclusiveto the country.

IN10 Media showcased a first lookof DocuBay at the MIPDoc event inCannes to a select international com-munity of documentary creators anddistributors, said a statement.

At the event, DocuBay also pre-sented The Pitch, a documentarypitching session. The judges for thepitches included Chris Hoelzl fromSmithsonian Channel, Axel Arno fromSVT, Bernadette McDaid fromNational Geographic and AkulTripathi, COO, DocuBay.

“Humankind, as a race, has alwayshad the uncontrollable desire to telltheir tale. To save it for posterity. Etchedin stone, sketched on rock, sungthrough the ages, engraved, embossed,stitched, typed, recorded, photographedand now filmed — documentaries arejust the latest in a long series of the pre-ferred repository of human experience.These cumulative/many experiencesunite us as one tribe, which is at thecore of DocuBay philosophy,” saidTripathi.

The platform will make discoveryeasy through affinity-based categorieslike Nature, Action, Travel, Culture, andScience. It intends to further refine its‘bays’ by analysing watch habits andconsumer surveys of the early adopters.

Aditya Pittie, managing director,IN10 Media, said, “With consumersworldwide having more content choic-es than ever, DocuBay’s constantlyexpanding library of international doc-umentary films will create its own nichethrough its focus on discovery and dis-tribution.”

—IANS

Streaming

platform for

documentaries

set for launch

A team of seven designers took eight months tocurate each piece of the handcrafted and gold-studded jewellery worn by the three actresses in Kalank. By TEAM VIVA

Nizami

‘Not many peopleget the chance towitness theopening of asarcophagus infront of their veryeyes. I believe thisis a monumentaloccasion forscholars andmasses alike’

‘Saroj makeswomen graceful’

sport 15LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

AFP n PARIS

Paris Saint-Germain squan-dered the chance to clinch

the Ligue 1 title in record-equalling time on Sunday aftera 2-2 draw at home toStrasbourg, with Eric MaximChoupo-Moting's incrediblemiss from on the goal-line cost-ing his team dear.

PSG were handed theopportunity to win their sixthFrench crown in seven seasonsafter second-placed Lille drew 1-1 at Reims earlier.

That left Thomas Tuchel'sside knowing that three pointsat the Parc des Princes would seethem retain the title and wrap itup with eight games to spare,matching the speed with whichLaurent Blanc's team becamechampions in 2016.

Choupo-Moting gave theman early lead with his third Ligue1 goal, but later in the first halfhe somehow succeeded in turn-ing a net-bound ChristopherNkunku shot onto the postwhile standing on the line.

"I wondered if I was offsideand it all happened very fast. Itouched the ball, it hit the post

and, well, it's a real shamebecause the ball was going in,"Choupo-Moting told Canal+.

"Sorry about that."Fresh from winning the

League Cup last weekend,Strasbourg had equalised priorto Choupo-Moting's howlerwhen Nuno Da Costa turned ina Lionel Carole cross, and theyfound themselves 2-1 up in the38th minute when AnthonyGoncalves lashed home from 22yards.

Kylian Mbappe came off thebench on the hour mark but it

was another PSG substitutewho made it 2-2 with eight min-utes remaining. Julian Draxlersent in a corner from the rightand Germany defender ThiloKehrer headed home.

However, having drawn athome to PSG back in December,mid-table Strasbourg then heldon for a point. Cameroon inter-national Choupo-Moting start-ed with Mbappe rested andNeymar, Angel Di Maria andEdinson Cavani all unfit — thelatter watched from the standssporting a beret.

AFP n MILAN

Napoli drew 1-1 with ten-man Genoa on Sunday to

ensure that Juventus will haveto wait another week toseal an eighth consecutiveSerie A title.

The champions have a20-point advantage onsecond-placed Napoli,who they have beaten inboth their head-to-head clash-es, with seven games to go.

Juventus, who beat ACMilan 2-1 on Saturday, need-ed Napoli to lose to win theScudetto for the 35th time,ahead of their ChampionsLeague quarter-final first legagainst Ajax next week.

A draw next weekend atlowly SPAL would be enoughfor Massimiliano Allegri's sideto win the title which would bethe first in Italy for CristianoRonaldo.

Despite their numericaladvantage, Napoli struggledto contain the visitors whoinflicted the only league defeatthis season on Juventus lastmonth.

Genoa went a man downwhen Stefano Sturaro was sentoff on 28 minutes following aVAR review for a diving studs-up tackle on Allan.

Dries Mertens blasted inthe opener on 34 minutes, butDarko Lazovic pulled Genoalevel just before the break.

Genoa goalkeeper IonutRadu ensured his 14th-placed

side went away with a pointwith a string of fine savesincluding two late on Mertensand Kalidou Koulibaly.

"It was an unexpected per-formance that makes analarm bell ring, if we playlike this in London, thenwe're in trouble," saidNapoli coach CarloAncelotti ahead of nextweek's Europa League

game against Arsenal."We absolutely must wake

up, demonstrate the value andpotential that this group hasand find our true identity.

"Luckily we have four daysto fix things."

MISSED CHANCES Atalanta missed the chance

to move fourth and into theChampions League berths atthe expense of AC Milan witha 0-0 draw against Inter Milanat the San Siro.

The side from Bergamowere without suspendedColombian striker DuvanZapata, who has scored 20Serie A goals this season, andhad to settle for a point as Interconsolidated third position.

Inter are five points aheadof city rivals Milan who areahead of Atalanta on goal dif-ference.

Mauro Icardi returned tothe San Siro for the first timesince a defeat by Bologna onFebruary 3, and was greetedwith a mixture of whistles andcheers from the home crowd.

PTI n MANDALAY

Indian women's footballteam will have to come

out all guns blazing againsta formidable Myanmar sidein a must-win final round-robin game of the 2020Olympic Qualifying tour-nament, here on Tuesday.

India will need to winthe encounter in order toproceed to the next roundwhile a draw will be enoughfor the hosts to qualifywith better goal difference.

Currently, both Indiaand Myanmar are on sixpoints from two games butMyanmar enjoy a bettergoal difference of (+8)compared to India (+4).India beat Indonesia 2-0 inthe opening game followedby 3-1 win against Nepal.

However India willmiss the services of theirdependable first goalkeep-er Aditi Chauhan, who isout with injury.

"When I was appoint-ed the head coach of thesenior team, I knew thechallenges we faced. I knew

things needed to bechanged and the firstchange was to bring downthe average age of team.That could only have beendone by focusing on theyouth, aiming to create asquad for the future whichcan be the mainstay of theNational Team for years to

come," Maymol Rocky saidon the eve of the match.

Rocky is happy thather young team has peakedat the right time and has theability to beat Myanmar intheir own den.

"In the 14 Internationalmatches that these girlshave played in the span of

3 months, each one of themhas displayed that they arecapable of greatness. Wewon the SAFFChampionship in Nepalagainst Nepal in the finalsin an intimidating environ-ment where the crowd wasbooing us with every touchof the ball we had."

PTI n SINGAPORE

Olympic Silver medallist P V Sindhuwill look to shrug off the disappoint-

ment of her recent early exits when shespearheads Indian challenge at the$355,000 Singapore Open, starting hereon Tuesday.

Sindhu, who had claimed the BWFWorld Tour Finals in December last year,has looked off colour in the last few weeks.

She made a first round exit at the AllEngland Championship and lost in thesecond round of Malaysia Open, losingto Korea's Sung Ji Hyun on both occasion.

She had entered the semifinals atIndia Open but went down to He Bingjiaoof China despite holding advantage in thefirst game.

With hardly any time to makechanges on the game or work on weak-nesses considering the back-to-backtournaments in the BWF calender, it willbe a challenge for fourth seed Sindhu toget to her best. She begins her campaignagainst Indonesia's Lyanny AlessandraMainaky.

Saina Nehwal is the only Indian toclaim a title this season with the 29-year-old from Hyderabad securing the crown

at the Indonesia Masters following theinjury of Carolina Marin of Spain in thefinals.

She also entered the quarterfinals atthe All England Championship afterbattling through a pancreas infection.However, the Indian needed hospitalisa-tion to treat the problem and had to skipthe Swiss Open and India Open to giveherself time to recover.

She returned to Malaysia Open butwent down in the first round after a three-game battle with Thailand's PornpaweeChochuwong.

The sixth seeded Indian will nowhave to be careful when she plays a fast-rising Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt ofDenmark in the opening round here.

Last week, Kidambi Srikanth was thebest-placed Indian at Kuala Lumpur as hefinished at the quarterfinals after losingto Olympic champion Chen Long. The26-year-old from Guntur had broken a 17month drought by reaching the finals ofa BWF event at India Open.

This week, sixth seed Srikanth willcontinue his quest to break his title jinxwhen he begins his campaign against aqualifier at BWF World Tour Super 500event.

IANS n NEW DELHI

Hockey India has named GrahamReid as the new chief coach of the

Indian men's hockey team. The 54-year-old will join the team in Bengalurushortly for the ongoing national camp atthe Sports Authority of India.

Reid has a decorated playing careeras the defender/midfielder for theAustralian national team and was part ofthe silver medal winning team at the 1992Barcelona Olympics. He was also part ofthe Australian squad that won back-to-back Champions Trophy titles in 1984,1985 and 1989, 1990.

With 130 international caps, Reidtook to coaching a national team whenhe was appointed assistant coach in 2009for Australia.

During this tenure, he was elevatedto the head coach position and he guid-ed the Australian team to their fifth con-secutive Champions Trophy title in 2012.

In his recent stint, he worked as theassistant coach for the Netherlands teamwhich won the Silver medal at the 2018

men's World Cup. "Graham Reid is backed by a success-

ful career as a player and also comes withstrong coaching experience, having

worked with the Australian and theNetherlands national teams. We arehopeful his experience and expertise willhelp the Indian men's hockey teamachieve desirable results leading up toand at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics," stat-ed Hockey India President MohdMushtaque Ahmad.

Expressing his delight over taking ona new assignment, Reid said: "It's an hon-our and a privilege to be appointed aschief coach of the Indian men's hockeyteam. No other country has a history inthis sport that can compare to India. Asan opposition coach I have enjoyedwatching first hand, the steady rise of theIndian team to one of the most excitingand threatening teams in world hockey.

"I have a passion for the fast andattacking brand of hockey that Indiaplays which marries closely with theAustralian style. I am looking forward toworking with Hockey India, SAI, MYAS,team support staff and players with thecontinuation of positive development ofthe team in the lead up to the TokyoOlympics."

PTI n NEW DELHI

All India Football Federation presidentPraful Patel may consider appointing a big

name as national team coach only if the can-didate fits their criteria, saying the appoint-ment will be done at the earliest.

The AIFF has received more than 250applications for the top job, post of which wasleft vacant after Stephen Constantine resignedfollowing the Indian team's failure to make theknockouts of the AFC Asian Cup after com-ing close.

Among the 250-odd applicants, sourcesclose to the federation said 35 of them are well-known names from Europe and elsewhere.

"If the candidate fulfils the criteria, whatwe are looking at, and if he is well-qualified,then we can think of that (appointing a bigname)," the AIFF chief told PTI.

"The appointment will be made as soonas possible, maybe by the end of this month,"he added.

Patel was Saturday elected as a FIFACouncil member, becoming the first Indianto enter the prestigious panel in a landmarkdevelopment.

AFP n LIVERPOOL

Sadio Mane has grown used toplaying second fiddle toMohamed Salah in the two sea-

sons since the latter joined theSenegalese at Liverpool.

However, the fact Jurgen Klopp'smen top the Premier League in theirquest to end a 29-year wait to win thetitle and face Porto in the first leg ofa Champions League quarter-final atAnfield on Tuesday, is largely thanksto Mane.

As Salah's goals dried up in aneight-game drought prior to Friday's3-1 win at Southampton, Maneassumed the mantle as chief goal get-ter with 11 in his last 13 Liverpoolappearances taking his tally for the sea-son to 20.

That run included a double awayto Bayern Munich last month thateased the five-time European cham-pions past the German giants and eye-ing another shot at Champions Leagueglory.

Mane controlled a raking longpass from Virgil van Dijk, roundedManuel Neuer and then dinked theball into an unguarded net.

Porto are already very aware of thethreat Mane poses.

When the sides met inthe last of the ChampionsLeague last season, hescored a hat-trick in a 5-0first leg rout in northernPortugal that killed the tieas a contest even before it evenreturned to fortress Anfield.

This time round, Liverpool will bekeen to get the job done in the first legon home soil.

Klopp's men have not made lifeeasy for themselves in recent weeks onleague duty, requiring late goals to seeoff Fulham, Tottenham and

Southampton to keep their title dreamsalive.

However, just by keeping pacewith quadruple chasing Manchester

City all season, they have shown amaturity and mental strength that hasevolved from the kamikaze matchesthat carried them to last season's final.

"The boys are mentality monsters- I love that," said Klopp after victoryat Southampton.

Moreover, unlike when SergioRamos's takedown of Salah seemed tosuck belief from Liverpool againstMadrid almost a year ago, they nowhave a cast of characters capable ofstepping up.

Goalkeeper Alisson Becker andtalismanic centre-back Van Dijk havestrengthened the defence.

And, at the other end, Mane hasshown he can be counted on at thebusiness end of the season.

SPURS TO FACE CITYTottenham Hotspur are hoping for

a lift from their new stadium as theyprepare for the daunting task of play-ing quadruple-chasing ManchesterCity in the Champions League quar-ter-finals on Tuesday.

Spurs won last week in their firstmatch at their new home, beatingCrystal Palace 2-0 to move back intothird in the Premier League after a dis-appointing run of results.

City midfielder Kevin De Bruyneclaims Tottenham's new ground willnot be a significant factor in the firstleg of the tie but South Korean forwardSon Heung-min said the atmospherecould help his team, who had beenbased at Wembley since the start of the2017/18 season.

Son, who scored the first leaguegoal in the new stadium, said theopening match there was a specialoccasion.

Tottenham boss MauricioPochettino said the game against thedefending Premier League champions,who are aiming for a clean sweep oftrophies, would be one of the mostimportant of his coaching career butvowed to attack.

And he said the stadium could bea factor that works in his side's favour.

"Of course we hope and wishthat... (it) is going to be amazing andgoing to be tough for our opponentand can help us to perform in the waywe want," he added.

ENGLISH FLAVOUR

IN EUROPEAN NIGHT

Last year’s finalist face Liverpool face Porto in last 8 as City, Spurs battle in all English quarter final clash

Klopp's men have not made life easy for

themselves in recent weeks on league

duty, requiring late goals to see off

Fulham, Tottenham and Southampton to

keep their title dreams alive

Napoli draw put Juventuscoronation on hold

PSG miss chance to wrap up French titleIndian Eves ready for Myanmar test

‘National football

coach will be

appointed at the

earliest’

GRAHAM REID APPOINTEDMEN’S HOCKEY COACH

Sindhu hopes to find form at Singapore Open

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 9, 2019

16

}RUNS 279 David Warner (SRH)

WICKETS 11 Kagiso Rabada (DC)

6S 258

4S 623{LEADERBOARD

I THINK IT STARTED OFF WHEN WEDROPPED POLLARD, HE SCORED 25-30 RUNS - IT IS A HUGE MARGIN— BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR

PTI n MOHALI

KL Rahul and MayankAgarwal struck fluenthalf-centuries to guide

Kings XI Punjab to a six-wick-et win over SunrisersHyderabad in a nail-bittingIndian Premier League matchhere Monday.

Opting to bat, Kings XIfirst restricted Sunrisers to 150for four and then rode onRahul and Agarwal’s knocks tochased down the target in 19.5overs.

Rahul (71 not out) andAgarwal (55) stitched 114 runsoff 84 balls for the second wick-et to take Kings XI close to thetarget.

Chasing 151 for a win,Kings XI lost dangerous ChrisGayle (16) in the fourth overwith their scoreboard reading18.

Gayle struck a four and asix each before Deepak Hoodatook a brilliant catch at long-onboundary off Rashid Khan’s(1/20) bowling to sent packingthe West Indian.

Rahul and Agarwal thencomplemented each other bril-liantly as the duo mixed cau-tion with aggression to literal-ly take the game away fromSunrisers.

While Rahul was theenforcer, Agarwal matched hisKarnataka teammate with histiming and on the rise shotsthat included a delectableboundary through covers anda lofted six over the long-offboundary.

Rahul reached his half cen-tury off 34 balls with a bound-ary off Mohammad Nabithrough the wide long-onregion.

Desperate to break thepartnership, skipperBhuvneshwar Kumar broughthim back into the attack in the16th over and nearly achievedhis goal, only for Yusuf Pathanto drop a sitter.

A short delivery outsidethe off stump enticed Agarwal

to go for an upper cut, whichdidn’t yield the desired connec-tion and elevation but Pathandropped a sitter at sweepercover.

But Sandeep Sharma(2/21) picked up two wickets —Agarwal and David Miller — inthe 18th over to change thecomplexion of the match.

Agarwal departed soonafter reaching his fifty whilegoing for a big shot, caught byVijay Shankar at deep mid-wicket off Sandeep Sharma

and four balls later Miller towas dismissed by the pacer asthe left-hander went for anexpansive shot.

It was stroll in the park forKings XI when Rahul andAgarwal were going great gunsbut the scenario changed com-pletely, courtesy the two quickwickets.

Kings XI needed 16 runsoff the last two overs and thepressure got the better of newman Mandeep Singh, caught byHooda off Siddharth Kaul’s

brilliant penultimate over thatyielded just five runs.

The pressure shifted toKings XI in no time as theyneeded 11 runs off the last overoff Nabi but Sam Curran (5 notout) and Rahul played sensiblywithout committing anyharakiri to reach home with aball to spare.

Earlier, David Warnerstruck his fourth fifty of theseason before Hooda played acameo in the final over to liftSunrisers to a challenging 150

for four. Opening the batting,

Warner carried on his bat foran uncharacteristic 70 not outoff 62 balls to anchor Sunrisers’innings but it was Hooda’sunbeaten 14 off three deliver-ies that provided the late thrustto the visitors’ innings.

Warner struck six bound-aries and one six during hisknock, but it was Hooda whostole the limelight, smashingMohammed Shami for twofours and one hit over the fenceto pick up vital 15 runs off thelast over.

Sunrisers suffered an earlyblow in the form of JonnyBairstow (1) after being sentinto bat.

Bairstow failed to control aflick off Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s(1/34) bowling as Kings XIskipper Ravichandran Ashwintook a smart catch at shortmidwicket in the second over.

The early dismissal, togeth-er with some disciplined bowl-ing from Kings XI, made lifedifficult for Sunrisers batsmenas Warner and new man inShankar (26) found the goingtough.

The duo failed to strike bigand stitched 49 runs for thesecond wicket off 57 balls tostabilise the Sunrisers innings.

But just when it was timeto cut loose after a slow start,Shankar edged a Ashwin (1/30)delivery to Rahul behind thestumps as Sunrisers slumped to56 for two after 10.4 overs.

Promoted up the order,Nabi (12) fell victim to anunfortunate run out afteradding just 24 runs withWarner. Warner was not hiselements Monday as he strug-gled to his fifty off 49 balls withthe help of four boundaries andone six.

Warner and ManishPandey (19) then added 55runs for the fourth wicket totake Sunrisers forward beforeHooda finished off the inningsin style to give Sunrisers’bowlers a total to defend.

Up Next

PTI n CHENNAI

Defending championsChennai Super Kings will

be focussing on containing thebig-hitting batsman AndreRussell when they take onKolkata Knight Riders in an IPLmatch here on Tuesday.

In a clash between twoteams with a battery of qualityspinners, a batsman of Russell'scalibre may just prove to be thedifference between the twosides.

Both the teams have fourwins each and have been inpretty impressive form. Bothwill be eyeing victory to go atthe top of the points table.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK, which beat Kings XIPunjab here on Saturday ratherconvincingly, will be wary of theDinesh Karthik's KKR.

The Knight Riders are alsocoming off an all-round clini-cal win over Rajasthan Royalson Sunday night.

With two teams having anarray of top-notch spinners,the onus would be on the bats-men to counter them, given thenature of the pitch at MAChidambaram stadium.

While Harbhajan Singh,Imran Tahir and Ravindra

Jadeja stifled the Kings XI bats-men to set up the win, KuldeepYadav, Sunil Narine and PiyushChawla didn't allow the attack-

ing Jos Buttler to get going ona slowish Jaipur track, thusrestricting the Royals to a belowpar total of 139/3 in 20 overs.

That the tweakers in bothteams will be keen to have abowl at Chepauk would be anunderstatement. It will be fas-cinating to see which of thebowling units shines.

All eyes will be on the bat-ting line-ups and how they goabout neutralising the spinthreat. How the Super Kingshandle the in-form Russellthreat will be watched withkeen interest.

The flamboyant Jamaicanhas been in awe-inspiring formwith the bat and how he goesabout his business at CSK'sden against Harbhajan & Co.Will be worth watching.

CSK, on their part, broughtin Faf du Plessis in place of theinjured Dwayne Bravo and hemade an immediate impactwith a quality knock (54 off 38balls). His contribution at thetop will be crucial again.

Dhoni has been providingthe thrust in the end overs insome style.

The home crowd will behoping that their 'Captain Cool'will once again be leading fromthe front.

PTI n CHENNAI

Chennai Super Kings headcoach Stephen Fleming

Monday said focusing too muchon the big-hitting Andre Russellcould backfire as Kolkata KnightRiders also have other qualitybatsmen in their line-up.

"Possibly, there are a coupleof challenges. One is you ignorethe other six (batsmen). And ina team that has (Chris) Lynn,(Dinesh) Karthik and (Robin)Uthappa you do that at your ownperil. We've got to be careful wedon't focus overtly on Russell,"he said at the press conferenceahead the IPL match againstKKR.

"Even though he has been sodynamic, there's still good workdone by the other players. So,again, I stress it doesn't changeour preparation to focus on oneor two players, but we're acutelyaware of how dangerous these

players are so, it's business asusual for us," Fleming said.

With the f lamboyant

Jamaican being in red-hot form,Fleming whether it is spin orseam, one had to be accurate

against hitters like Russell."You've got to put context

around that as well - differentstages of the game. Look atanalysis and match up with whatyou have, it's no secret that we'respin-heavy anyway. So, if there'san opportunity to change-up toRussell, we will certainly look atit.

"Whether it's spin or seam atthe end you've to be accurateagainst hitters like Russell, Dhoni,Pollard and Pandya. It's no dif-ferent really, the pressure isalways on in the last few overs."

About the possibility of CSKusing spinners at the death,Fleming said things couldn't beover planned.

"Possibly. But, again, if it'sdewy. Mitch Santner who is oneof the best spinners aroundstruggled to hold the ball...So,you can't overplan...We have tohave a free mind and be smartenough to assess conditions."

PTI n NEW DELHI

It's time that India skipper Virat Kohli, endur-ing a win-less streak in the ongoing IPL, is rest-

ed till the World Cup says former England skip-per Michael Vaughan.

Royal ChallengersBangalore is the onlyteam to not have wona single contest thisseason. They have lostsix straight matchesand need a miracle tomake it to the knock-out stage.

Vaughan feels giv-ing Kohli some timeoff before the big eventwill be a good decision.

"If India are smartthey rest @imVkohlinow for the World Cup… Give him some timeoff before the big event… #IPL2019," Vaughan wrote on his twitter han-dle.

RCB needs to win all their remaining eightmatches to salvage any hope of making it to thePlay-offs.

India will open their World Cup campaignagainst South Africa on June 5.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Their campaign back on track after thewin over Royal Challengers Bangalore,

Delhi Capitals are ready to upset table top-pers Kolkata Knight Riders in their ownden, said the team's all-rounder ChrisMorris.

By virtue of the four-wicket win overstruggling RCB in Bengaluru on Sunday,Delhi Capitals have moved up to the fifthposition in the eight-team standings withsix points from as many games.

KKR are currently leading the chartwith eight points out of four wins from fivematches.

Asked Morris about their next match,the South African said playing at the icon-ic Eden Gardens against the hosts wouldbe a tough challenge. "KKR are playingsome amazing cricket at the moment. Theyhave some great match winners in theirteam, players with X-factor. We've got a fewdays in between to rest and recover, and

to get our bodies strong and fresh," he said."Eden Gardens is a tough place to play

for the visiting side, but as a team and asa unit, we look forward to the challenge andhopefully we can pull off a win on Friday."

But it would be easier said than doneas in their last outing against KKR at theFeroze Shah Kotla here, Delhi huffed andpuffed to register victory in the Super Over.

Morris was happy with Delhi Capitals'performance against RCB and said the vic-tory on Sunday instilled confidence amongthe players.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Indian squad for the ICC WorldCup will be selected on April 15 in

Mumbai, the CoA decided on Mondayapart from giving a one-week deadlineto TNCA to get required clearances forkeeping the IPL final in Chennai.

The Committee of Administrators(CoA) along with three BCCI officebearers met in the Capital to discussvarious issues related to IPL andCricket Operations.

The last date for announcing theWorld Cup squads is April 23 butBCCI has decided to announce it eightdays prior to the scheduled date. TheWorld Cup will begin on May 30 in theUnited Kingdom.

The decision was informally takenat an earlier date but was announcedon Monday.

While Indian team's World Cuppreparations are on right track withonly a couple of slots up for grabs, theformidable Chennai Super Kings teammight feel a bit uncomfortable afterBCCI zeroed in on Hyderabad as the

stand by venue for the May 12 final.The issue of the three empty

stands — I, J and K — at the Chepaukhas been an issue since 2012 and when-ever Tamil Nadu Cricket Association(TNCA) has organised matches (IPLor international), the three standshave remained out of bounds for thespectators as the local municipal cor-poration has not provided a fit certifi-cate. The only exception was an ODImatch in December 2012, when anexception was made as India was play-ing Pakistan. The issue many believeis more political between the state gov-ernment and the TNCA.

"Three stands constitute 12,000spectators. It looks really odd on TVwhenever one finds completely emptystands. We don't want CSK to lose outon home advantage if they qualify forthe Play-Offs," a senior BCCI officialtold PTI on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the CoA also decidedon the format of the mini Women's IPLwhich will be played with three teams.There will be four games instead of theodd-exhibition match played last year.

PNS n MUMBAI

After impressing with hissuperb raiding skills in

the maiden season, SiddharthSirish Desai grabs the head-lines on Monday again bybecoming the second mostexpensive player in the ProKabaddi League history.

The 26-year old starraider’s sensational form inthe sixth edition of the leaguepaid him well, as he wasgrabbed by Telugu Titans fora huge amount of rs 1.45crores in the first day of 2019players auction, making himthe top pick of this year’stournament.

In his first season, Desaiwas the standout performerfor the Mumbai side, wherethe Maharashtrian youngstersecured 221 points in 21games.

And after Mumbai decid-ed to let him go in the auc-tion, it was understood thathe will be in the priority listof many of the team owners.

And it happened also likethe way it was expected.

As soon as his name wasannounced to go under thehammer, Tamil Thalaivas

made a direct bid of `1crore. Which was way more

than his base price of `30lakhs.

However, despite thatmassive early bid Tamil sidefailed to secure his servicesand lose him to Telugu Titansafter an intense battle.

His rs 1.45 crores bid isonly second to Monu Goyat’sall-time record of rs 1.51crores. Monu was picked byHaryana Steelers for therecord amount in 2018 auc-tion.

Apart from Desai, NitinTomar also gets more than acrore rupee contract. TamilThalaivas sealed Nitin’s ser-vices for rs 1.20 crores beforehis former franchise PuneriPaltan played a Mastercard byretaining him via Final BidMatch (FBM).

And it was not just thecase of Nitin Tomar whereFBM changed the completescenario in the end butinstead more than a dozenplayers were retained by theirformer franchises using thismethod.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Prithvi Shaw's phenomenal talenthas been much talked-about

and the latest to join the bandwag-on is none other than Brian Lara,who has found shades of "VirenderSehwag" in Mumbai youngster'sbatting style.

Just like Sehwag, Prithvi is alsoa fierce cutter of the ball and hisshort-arm pull at times is a carboncopy of the 'Nawab of Najafgarh'.

One of the greatest batsman tohave ever graced the game, Lara wasall praise for young Shaw'sapproach.

"I see more of Virender Sehwagin Prithvi Shaw's style of batting andthink his maturity is amazing,"Lara told Star Sports Select Dugout.

Lara was impressed watchingPrithvi score a hundred on his Testdebut in Rajkot last year.

"I saw him play against the WestIndies last October and he scored alot of runs. It's wonderful to see ayoung player on Indian soil doingso well. He travelled to Australia butunfortunately could not play,because of an injury," he said.

He is only 19 years but with twoseasons of IPL, he is already a"senior player", reckons Lara.

"I think he has been in the IPLfor a couple of years and is a seniorplayer already. A lot is expected ofhim, he is in a big man's game nowand has got to do what is necessary

CSK gear up for KKR clashRAHUL GUIDES KINGS XI HOME

LAST YEAR’S MATCHES

* Kolkata Knight Ridersdefeated Chennai Super Kingsby six wickets at Kolkata

*Chennai Super Kings beatKolkata Knight Riders by 5wickets at Chennai

FOR THE RECORD

* Suresh Raina who scored5103 runs at 34.02 in 177innings of 181 matches, needs49 runs to become he highestrun-getter in IPL.

* Andre Russell whoclaimed 49 wickets at 27.51 in53 innings of 54 matches forDelhi Daredevils and KolkataKnight Riders, needs just onewicket to become 46th bowlerto complete a half century ofwickets in IPL..

FAISEL FEATURES

Live on Star Sports 1& 2

CHENNAI

CSK vs KKR

TUESDAY | 8:00 PM

HEADTO

HEADM 18

CSK 11

KKR 7

We hope to beat KKR

at their own den: Morris

Can't focus too much on Russell: Fleming

‘Give Kohli sometime off before WC’

WC squad selection onApril 15, IPL final may beshifted to Hyderabad

Desai hits jackpot in PKL auctions

There are shades ofSehwag in Prithvi'sbatting: Brian Lara

Andre Russel reacts after hitting a six IPL

Siddharth Desai in a file picture

Chase down SRH’s 150 with a ball to spare