16
I n a move to start the dialogue process with all groups, including separatists, the Centre on Monday appointed former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as the Special Representative of the Government of India to “initi- ate and carry forward” the peace mission in Kashmir. The move is seen as a major change of stance by the Centre, which had all along taken a very tough stand against the separatists. “Sharma has been appoint- ed at the rank of Cabinet Secretary and would have full freedom to decide to engage in talks with all and there is no time limit specified as the issue is sensitive,” said Home Minister Rajnath Singh. To a volley of questions on talks with Hurriyat leaders, the Home Minister reiterated that Sharma would have com- plete independence in deciding who to hold talks with. “The Centre has shown conviction and consistency on the Kashmir issue and carrying for- ward this policy, we have decid- ed to begin a sustained dia- logue policy for Jammu and Kashmir. And for this, we have decided to appoint Dineshwar Sharma as Special Representative of the Government of India,” Singh told reporters. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address, that problems in the State could be solved neither by bul- let, nor by abuses, but by embracing the people, Singh said the Government was sen- sitive to issues related to J&K. Singh said the Prime Minister had held a series of meetings with political repre- sentatives on the Kashmir issue. “All of them were clear that the process of dialogue should begin in the Valley,” he said. Asked about the failure of sim- ilar initiatives undertaken ear- lier, Singh said, “Please take it from me, that whatever we do, we will do with good intentions and clear policy.” On a question on the fact that past reports of interlocu- tors were gathering dust in the Home Ministry, he said, “You cannot pre-judge that this ini- tiative will not be successful. Our announcement shows how serious we are about initiating a dialogue.” Singh said Sharma would initiate sustained interactions and dialogue to understand the legitimate aspirations of the people, especially the youth, and try to fulfil them. Sharma, a 1979-batch (retired) officer of the Indian Police Service, served as Director of the Intelligence Bureau from December 2014 to 2016. Asked whether a police officer was capable of holding talks on such a sensitive issue, Singh shot back, “What’s wrong in that? He is an apolitical per- son having no political affilia- tion, which is his greatest advantage. Besides, he is well aware of the internal security situation of the country.” Sharma is the fourth inter- locutor appointed by the Centre since 2002. The first one was former Union Minister KC Pant, the second NN Vohra, the present Governor of the State, and the last was a three-member panel compris- ing former bureaucrat MM Ansari, academician Radha Kumar and late journalist Dileep Padgaonkar. Meanwhile, in Srinagar, the appointment of Sharma as the Center’s interlocutor has not received a response from the separatists, even as the mainstream political leaders including Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Opposition National Conference leader Omar Abdullah welcomed it. Continued on Page 2 T he Centre may have gone ahead and promoted CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthana as Special Director despite the objection by agency’s director and red-flag- ging by the CVC Selection Committee, but the issue is far from settled. Noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Monday said he would challenge the promotion order in the Supreme Court cit- ing gross violation of the CVC Act and various SC judgement guiding CBI appointments. The Pioneer has learnt that CBI Director Alok Verma objected to the move to pro- mote Asthana in the Saturday’s CVC Selection Committee meeting. In a two-page note, Verma referred to the fact that Asthana’s name has figured in an ongoing corruption probe by the agency. The CVC Selection Meeting was chaired by CVC KV Chowdary and included two Vigilance Commissioners as well as secretaries of Home and DoPT besides the , CBI Director. The meeting had only two agendas. Apart from Asthana’s promotion, the other item was the posting of five Joint Directors in the CBI. After the CBI Director put on record his objection and pro- vided a sealed cover on the sta- tus of ongoing probe involving Asthana, the meeting did not consider the second agenda. According to highly placed sources, some members of the meeting also objected to the fact that the meeting was called on a few hours notice on such a sensitive appointment. While the CVC officials had told the media that the meeting would resume on Monday, but it was shelved as the CBI Director is reported to have expressed his displeasure that the names of these five Joint Directors did not origi- nate from the organisation. As per the CVC Act and landmark Vineet Narain Judgment, the CVC Selection Committee is mandated to consider the CBI Director’s observations. Promotion, transfer and repatriation and dismissal of every officer from Superintend and above in CBI and ED have to be decided by the Selection Committee as per CVC Act. Continued on Page 2 B racing for spike in air pol- lution in the national Capital in winter, the Aam Aadmi Party Government on Monday urged the Centre to provide helicopters/aircraft for aerial sprinkling of water across Delhi to settle pollutants. Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain wrote a letter to Union Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan seeking his cooperation on the plan. Saying the Delhi Government is ready to bear the cost of aerial sprinkling of water across the city, Hussain, in his letter, urged the Union Environment Minister to take up the matter with the Civil Aviation Ministry for use of choppers/aircraft for the job. “In view of the continuous poor air quality in Delhi, it is requested that your good office may kindly propose to Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, to carry out an exercise to sprinkle water aerially through heli- copter/aircraft to settle partic- ulate matters in Delhi,” Hussain said in his letter. “I hope innovative positive responses by Government of India and Delhi Government (GDCTD) can definitely help in protecting the health of res- idents,” he added. In the last winter, air qual- ity in Delhi and National Capital Region had hit a new low, forcing the city Government to reintroduce car rationing formula to bring down the pollution. Millions of residents had struggled with hacking coughs and burning eyes, many schools across the city had either shut down or ended all outdoor activities. Hussain also reviewed the ambient air quality in Delhi in a meeting with the officials of the Environment Department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). In a review meeting, DPCC officials informed that ambient air quality this year is relative- ly better than 2016 for the same period with special reference to particulate matters. Continued on Page 2 I n a major departure from its order mandating cinema halls to play the national anthem before screening of any movie, the Supreme Court on Monday said such a direc- tion, if at all, has to come from the Government. The SC also said the courts, at best, can only make it optional, leaving it to the choice of citizens. The Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, was initially inclined to modify its November 30, 2016, order replacing the word “shall” with “may”. On this, the court wished to know the stand of the Centre on this issue. Attorney General KK Venugopal resist- ed any modification as in his opinion the direction of the Court was a “unifying” factor in a country with vast diversi- ty of religion, culture, lan- guage, region, and this fostered a sense of respect for national anthem as envisaged under Article 51A of Constitution in the minds of citizens who come out of cinema theatres. The Bench, also compris- ing of Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud failed to appreciate Centre’s submission. It said, “As the Central Government, you have vast powers to amend the Flag Code which has no bar on defining the places where national anthem must be sung.” It pointed out to two State legislations passed by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, prior to apex court’s order, which provides for national anthem to be played in cinema halls. Continued on Page 2 C ongress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday mounted a scathing attack on the Modi Government by terming the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’ that has hit hard the country already nursing the wounds of demonetization. “This GST is a burden on the common man... It is not GST, it is Gabbar Singh Tax,” Rahul asserted at a massive Other Backward Class rally at Ramkatha Ground in Gujarat’s capital Gandhinagar, where OBC leader Alpesh Thakore joined the Congress. The Congress leader said that GST had ruined small businesses across the nation and rendered lakhs of young people unemployed. Rahul, who is all set to take over the reins of the Congress in days to come, criticized the Central Government saying that GST will have to change, else the nation will suffer. “GST was the idea of the Congress. We first brought it. We wanted to implement it with the highest tax slab of 18 per cent. However, the current Government at the Centre nei- ther, heard us, nor the small traders and made the highest slab 28 per cent. There was a lot of thinking behind GST, that there should be one tax in the entire country. And that tax shall be capped at 18 per cent and the least number of forms would have to be filled. But Arun Jaitley ji and Modi ji said ‘no, we will not listen to the Congress’,” he said. “’If (Congress) said it shall be simple, we shall not make it simple. If you said tax cap shall be 18 per cent, then it shall not be capped at 18 per cent. If you said there shall be one tax, then we will make it five’,” he added, referring to the stand of the Government. Continued on Page 2 Jaipur: The Rajasthan Government on Monday tabled a controversial Bill that seeks to protect public servants and judges from prosecution and bar the media from reporting on allegations against them without its prior sanction sparking a legal challenge and protests inside and outside the Assembly. The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced in the Assembly by Home Minister Gulabchand Kataria to replace an ordinance promulgated on September 7. It seeks to shield both serving and former judges, magistrates and public servants in the BJP-ruled State from being investigated for on-duty action without the Government’s approval. Monday was the first day of the 9th Session of the Assembly. As the move by the Vasundhara Raje Government drew widespread criticism from various quarters, a BJP rebel MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari opposed the Bill. “This is a kala kanoon and I am against it,” Tiwari said. “It is undemocra- tic and unconstitutional.” The Centre defended the Bill and Union Minister for Law and Justice PP Chaudhury said it was a “balanced” measure keeping interests of everyone in mind. Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot and several party leaders were briefly detained by the police in Jaipur soon after they took out a march against the legislative measure. Continued on Page 2 T he promoters of real estate companies — Unitech and Jaypee — faced a tough time in the Supreme Court on Monday. While the court refused bail to Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra until he deposited Rs 1,000 crore in the court, Jaiprakash Associates, the hold- ing company of Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL), faced stiff resistance from home buy- ers and IDBI Bank over its pro- posal to mortgage toll collec- tion of the Yamuna Expressway. Chandra sought a four- week bail, promising he will meet each demand of the over 9,700 buyers, who are seeking refund of money or possession of flats. Amicus curiae Pawan Shree Agarwal presented a chart to the court showing 4,482 home buyers desiring refund and 4,356 seeking possession. Chandra roped in former Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar to press for his bail and argued that once he was out of jail, he could be subjected to any con- dition until he met the demands of each homebuyer. Kumar said both his Managing Director and Executive Director are in jail and this has made it difficult for the com- pany to negotiate deals to sell properties and obtain money. The Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud remained firm that his bail can only be con- sidered if he proved his bonafide by making a deposit of Rs 1,000 crore with the Court Registry. Kumar said for this he requires to come out. The Bench further proposed that where homebuyers seek only the refund with compen- sation, those flats could be auctioned and the money used to pay them the refund. According to amicus Agarwal, the total quantum of refund to be made is to the tune of Rs 1,865 crore. Kumar sought time till Monday for seeking instructions. Continued on Page 2 C ountry's top denim manu- facturer Arvind Mills will invest and set up manufactur- ing unit in Jharkhand. Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Monday said after meeting with Arvind Mills Promoter Kulin Lalbhai that the denim manufacturer will invest Rs 400 crore in State for setting up manufacturing unit. He said the unit for which land is being provided will be started on November 30 this year itself and it will employ approximately 10,000 youths, primarily women, from weak- er sections of society. Das said that the government looked forward to create 2 lakh new jobs in the State. Lalbhai said that youths will be trained and given jobs by the largest fabric maker mill of the nation. He also appreciated the Government's policy on textile and industry. The CM said that women need not go out of the State for work as they will be employed in tex- tile industry after training. He added that the Government will initiate this in tasar silk production soon. "Intermediate passed students from Kasturba will be given jobs in such mills," said the CM. Notably, Arvind Mills is another textile major eyeing big from the State after Orient Craft Limited (OCL) signed Memorandum of Understan- ding (MoU) with the State Government to set up a textile park in the State. The company, which has already started a unit in Irba (Ormanjhi), is in process of on setting up a tex- tile park to be spread in 25 acres of land at Hotwar at an invest- ment of Rs 200 crore, which would create 15,000 direct jobs. Arvind Mills sells some of the most trusted brands like GAP Inc, Tommy Hilfiger, Flying Machine, Arrow and many others and also supplies its denim fabric to many brands in India and in the world. It has signed an agreement with Khadi to buy 10 Lakh meters of fabric this year. Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma, Industries Secretary Sunil Barnwal and Director K Ravi Kumar, Arvind Mills CEO Tapan Raj Vanshi, CEO (Denim Fabrics) Amir Akhtar, Nitin Seth and others were also present on the occasion.

˘ 9ˆ! ( ˆ 5ˇ9543>? 3= 2 ˚˜ !˜#$ˆˇ - The Pioneer Pant, the second NN Vohra, ... meeting would resume on Monday, ... Unitech promoter Sanjay Chandra until he deposited

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In a move to start the dialogueprocess with all groups,

including separatists, the Centreon Monday appointed formerIntelligence Bureau chiefDineshwar Sharma as theSpecial Representative of theGovernment of India to “initi-ate and carry forward” thepeace mission in Kashmir. Themove is seen as a major changeof stance by the Centre, whichhad all along taken a very toughstand against the separatists.

“Sharma has been appoint-ed at the rank of CabinetSecretary and would have fullfreedom to decide to engage intalks with all and there is notime limit specified as the issueis sensitive,” said HomeMinister Rajnath Singh.

To a volley of questions on

talks with Hurriyat leaders,the Home Minister reiteratedthat Sharma would have com-plete independence in decidingwho to hold talks with. “TheCentre has shown convictionand consistency on theKashmir issue and carrying for-

ward this policy, we have decid-ed to begin a sustained dia-logue policy for Jammu andKashmir. And for this, we havedecided to appoint DineshwarSharma as SpecialRepresentative of theGovernment of India,” Singh

told reporters.Referring to Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’sIndependence Day address,that problems in the Statecould be solved neither by bul-let, nor by abuses, but byembracing the people, Singh

said the Government was sen-sitive to issues related to J&K.

Singh said the PrimeMinister had held a series ofmeetings with political repre-sentatives on the Kashmir issue.“All of them were clear that theprocess of dialogue shouldbegin in the Valley,” he said.Asked about the failure of sim-ilar initiatives undertaken ear-lier, Singh said, “Please take itfrom me, that whatever we do,we will do with good intentionsand clear policy.”

On a question on the factthat past reports of interlocu-tors were gathering dust in theHome Ministry, he said, “Youcannot pre-judge that this ini-tiative will not be successful.Our announcement shows howserious we are about initiatinga dialogue.”

Singh said Sharma wouldinitiate sustained interactionsand dialogue to understand thelegitimate aspirations of thepeople, especially the youth,and try to fulfil them.

Sharma, a 1979-batch(retired) officer of the IndianPolice Service, served asDirector of the IntelligenceBureau from December 2014 to

2016.Asked whether a police

officer was capable of holdingtalks on such a sensitive issue,Singh shot back, “What’s wrongin that? He is an apolitical per-son having no political affilia-tion, which is his greatestadvantage. Besides, he is wellaware of the internal securitysituation of the country.”

Sharma is the fourth inter-locutor appointed by theCentre since 2002. The first onewas former Union MinisterKC Pant, the second NNVohra, the present Governor ofthe State, and the last was athree-member panel compris-ing former bureaucrat MMAnsari, academician RadhaKumar and late journalistDileep Padgaonkar.

Meanwhile, in Srinagar,the appointment of Sharma asthe Center’s interlocutor hasnot received a response from the separatists, even as themainstream political leadersincluding Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti andOpposition NationalConference leader OmarAbdullah welcomed it.

Continued on Page 2

��� ��������� ��,�)�"-$

The Centre may have goneahead and promoted CBI

Additional Director RakeshAsthana as Special Directordespite the objection byagency’s director and red-flag-ging by the CVC SelectionCommittee, but the issue is farfrom settled.

Noted lawyer PrashantBhushan on Monday said hewould challenge the promotionorder in the Supreme Court cit-ing gross violation of the CVCAct and various SC judgementguiding CBI appointments.

The Pioneer has learnt thatCBI Director Alok Vermaobjected to the move to pro-mote Asthana in the Saturday’sCVC Selection Committeemeeting. In a two-page note,Verma referred to the fact thatAsthana’s name has figured inan ongoing corruption probeby the agency.

The CVC SelectionMeeting was chaired by CVCKV Chowdary and includedtwo Vigilance Commissionersas well as secretaries of Homeand DoPT besides the , CBIDirector. The meeting hadonly two agendas. Apart fromAsthana’s promotion, the otheritem was the posting of fiveJoint Directors in the CBI.After the CBI Director put onrecord his objection and pro-vided a sealed cover on the sta-

tus of ongoing probe involvingAsthana, the meeting did notconsider the second agenda.

According to highly placedsources, some members of themeeting also objected to thefact that the meeting was calledon a few hours notice on sucha sensitive appointment.

While the CVC officialshad told the media that themeeting would resume onMonday, but it was shelved asthe CBI Director is reported tohave expressed his displeasurethat the names of these fiveJoint Directors did not origi-nate from the organisation.

As per the CVC Act andlandmark Vineet NarainJudgment, the CVC SelectionCommittee is mandated toconsider the CBI Director’sobservations. Promotion,transfer and repatriation anddismissal of every officer fromSuperintend and above in CBIand ED have to be decided bythe Selection Committee asper CVC Act.

Continued on Page 2

� ������� ��,�)�"-$�

Bracing for spike in air pol-lution in the national

Capital in winter, the AamAadmi Party Government onMonday urged the Centre toprovide helicopters/aircraft foraerial sprinkling of water acrossDelhi to settle pollutants. DelhiEnvironment Minister ImranHussain wrote a letter to UnionEnvironment Minister DrHarsh Vardhan seeking hiscooperation on the plan.

Saying the DelhiGovernment is ready to bearthe cost of aerial sprinkling ofwater across the city, Hussain, in his letter, urged theUnion Environment Ministerto take up the matter with the

Civil Aviation Ministry for use of choppers/aircraftfor the job.

“In view of the continuouspoor air quality in Delhi, it isrequested that your good officemay kindly propose to Ministry of Civil Aviation,Government of India, to carryout an exercise to sprinklewater aerially through heli-copter/aircraft to settle partic-ulate matters in Delhi,” Hussainsaid in his letter.

“I hope innovative positiveresponses by Government ofIndia and Delhi Government(GDCTD) can definitely helpin protecting the health of res-idents,” he added.

In the last winter, air qual-ity in Delhi and National

Capital Region had hit a newlow, forcing the cityGovernment to reintroducecar rationing formula to bringdown the pollution.

Millions of residents hadstruggled with hacking coughsand burning eyes, many

schools across the city hadeither shut down or ended alloutdoor activities.

Hussain also reviewed theambient air quality in Delhi ina meeting with the officials ofthe Environment Departmentand the Delhi Pollution Control

Committee (DPCC). In a review meeting, DPCC

officials informed that ambientair quality this year is relative-ly better than 2016 for the sameperiod with special reference toparticulate matters.

Continued on Page 2

���������������,�)�"-$

In a major departure from itsorder mandating cinema

halls to play the nationalanthem before screening ofany movie, the Supreme Courton Monday said such a direc-tion, if at all, has to come fromthe Government. The SC alsosaid the courts, at best, can onlymake it optional, leaving it tothe choice of citizens.

The Bench headed byChief Justice Dipak Misra, was

initially inclined to modify itsNovember 30, 2016, orderreplacing the word “shall” with“may”. On this, the courtwished to know the stand of theCentre on this issue. AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal resist-ed any modification as in hisopinion the direction of theCourt was a “unifying” factorin a country with vast diversi-ty of religion, culture, lan-guage, region, and this fostered

a sense of respect for nationalanthem as envisaged underArticle 51A of Constitution inthe minds of citizens whocome out of cinema theatres.

The Bench, also compris-ing of Justices AM Khanwilkarand DY Chandrachud failed toappreciate Centre’s submission.It said, “As the CentralGovernment, you have vastpowers to amend the FlagCode which has no bar ondefining the places wherenational anthem must be sung.”

It pointed out to two State legislations passed by Maharashtra andChhattisgarh, prior to apexcourt’s order, which providesfor national anthem to beplayed in cinema halls.

Continued on Page 2

��(����)�� �.�)-$�.�./

Congress vice-presidentRahul Gandhi on Monday

mounted a scathing attack onthe Modi Government byterming the Goods andServices Tax (GST) as ‘GabbarSingh Tax’ that has hit hard thecountry already nursing thewounds of demonetization.

“This GST is a burden onthe common man... It is notGST, it is Gabbar Singh Tax,”Rahul asserted at a massiveOther Backward Class rally atRamkatha Ground in Gujarat’scapital Gandhinagar, whereOBC leader Alpesh Thakorejoined the Congress.

The Congress leader saidthat GST had ruined smallbusinesses across the nationand rendered lakhs of youngpeople unemployed.

Rahul, who is all set to takeover the reins of the Congressin days to come, criticized the

Central Government sayingthat GST will have to change,else the nation will suffer.

“GST was the idea of theCongress. We first brought it.We wanted to implement itwith the highest tax slab of 18per cent. However, the currentGovernment at the Centre nei-ther, heard us, nor the smalltraders and made the highestslab 28 per cent. There was a lotof thinking behind GST, thatthere should be one tax in theentire country. And that taxshall be capped at 18 per centand the least number of formswould have to be filled. ButArun Jaitley ji and Modi ji said‘no, we will not listen to theCongress’,” he said.

“’If (Congress) said it shallbe simple, we shall not make itsimple. If you said tax cap shallbe 18 per cent, then it shall notbe capped at 18 per cent. If yousaid there shall be one tax, thenwe will make it five’,” he added,referring to the stand of theGovernment.

Continued on Page 2

Jaipur: The RajasthanGovernment on Monday tableda controversial Bill that seeks toprotect public servants andjudges from prosecution andbar the media from reporting onallegations against them withoutits prior sanction sparking alegal challenge and protestsinside and outside the Assembly.

The Criminal Laws(Rajasthan Amendment) Bill,2017 was introduced in theAssembly by Home MinisterGulabchand Kataria to replacean ordinance promulgated onSeptember 7. It seeks to shieldboth serving and formerjudges, magistrates and publicservants in the BJP-ruled Statefrom being investigated foron-duty action without theGovernment’s approval.

Monday was the first day of the9th Session of the Assembly.

As the move by theVasundhara Raje Governmentdrew widespread criticismfrom various quarters, a BJPrebel MLA Ghanshyam Tiwariopposed the Bill. “This is a kalakanoon and I am against it,”Tiwari said. “It is undemocra-tic and unconstitutional.”

The Centre defended theBill and Union Minister for Lawand Justice PP Chaudhury saidit was a “balanced” measurekeeping interests of everyone inmind. Rajasthan Congress chiefSachin Pilot and several partyleaders were briefly detained bythe police in Jaipur soon afterthey took out a march againstthe legislative measure.

Continued on Page 2

�� ��,�)�"-$

The promoters of real estatecompanies — Unitech and

Jaypee — faced a tough time inthe Supreme Court on Monday.While the court refused bail toUnitech promoter SanjayChandra until he depositedRs 1,000 crore in the court,Jaiprakash Associates, the hold-ing company of JaypeeInfratech Limited (JIL), facedstiff resistance from home buy-ers and IDBI Bank over its pro-posal to mortgage toll collec-tion of the Yamuna Expressway.

Chandra sought a four-

week bail, promising he willmeet each demand of the over9,700 buyers, who are seekingrefund of money or possessionof flats. Amicus curiae PawanShree Agarwal presented a chartto the court showing 4,482home buyers desiring refundand 4,356 seeking possession.

Chandra roped in formerSolicitor General Ranjit Kumar

to press for his bail and arguedthat once he was out of jail, hecould be subjected to any con-dition until he met thedemands of each homebuyer.Kumar said both his ManagingDirector and ExecutiveDirector are in jail and this hasmade it difficult for the com-pany to negotiate deals to sellproperties and obtain money.

The Bench of Chief JusticeDipak Misra, Justices AMKhanwilkar and DYChandrachud remained firmthat his bail can only be con-sidered if he proved hisbonafide by making a depositof Rs 1,000 crore with theCourt Registry. Kumar saidfor this he requires to come out.The Bench further proposedthat where homebuyers seekonly the refund with compen-sation, those flats could beauctioned and the money usedto pay them the refund.According to amicus Agarwal,the total quantum of refund tobe made is to the tune of Rs1,865 crore. Kumar soughttime till Monday for seekinginstructions.

Continued on Page 2

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Country's top denim manu-facturer Arvind Mills will

invest and set up manufactur-ing unit in Jharkhand. ChiefMinister Raghubar Das onMonday said after meetingwith Arvind Mills PromoterKulin Lalbhai that the denimmanufacturer will invest Rs400 crore in State for setting upmanufacturing unit.

He said the unit for whichland is being provided will bestarted on November 30 thisyear itself and it will employapproximately 10,000 youths,primarily women, from weak-er sections of society. Das saidthat the government lookedforward to create 2 lakh newjobs in the State.

Lalbhai said that youthswill be trained and given jobsby the largest fabric makermill of the nation. He alsoappreciated the Government'spolicy on textile and industry.The CM said that women neednot go out of the State for workas they will be employed in tex-

tile industry after training. Headded that the Governmentwill initiate this in tasar silkproduction soon. "Intermediatepassed students from Kasturbawill be given jobs in suchmills," said the CM.

Notably, Arvind Mills isanother textile major eyeing bigfrom the State after OrientCraft Limited (OCL) signedMemorandum of Understan-ding (MoU) with the StateGovernment to set up a textilepark in the State. The company,which has already started aunit in Irba (Ormanjhi), is inprocess of on setting up a tex-tile park to be spread in 25 acresof land at Hotwar at an invest-ment of Rs 200 crore, whichwould create 15,000 direct jobs.

Arvind Mills sells some ofthe most trusted brands likeGAP Inc, Tommy Hilfiger,Flying Machine, Arrow andmany others and also suppliesits denim fabric to many brandsin India and in the world. It hassigned an agreement withKhadi to buy 10 Lakh meters offabric this year.

Chief Secretary RajbalaVerma, Industries SecretarySunil Barnwal and Director KRavi Kumar, Arvind Mills CEOTapan Raj Vanshi, CEO(Denim Fabrics) Amir Akhtar,Nitin Seth and others were alsopresent on the occasion.

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The Congress on Mondayorganised a dharna against

series of deaths taken placerecently in different parts of theState allegedly due to starvationand demanded resignation ofFood and Civil SuppliesMinister Saryu Roy.

The dharna organised atBirsa Chowk here on Mondayon the instructions of PradeshCongress Committee presi-dent Sukhdeo Bhagat sawsenior leaders and office bear-ers of the PCC taking part. Theleaders were outrageous againstdeaths of Santoshi Kumari ofSimdega and BaidhayanathDas of Jharia out of hunger,said to have taken place out ofhunger.

“It is unfortunate that peo-

ple are dying out of starvationin this 21st century and theGovernment instead of findingsolutions is looking for excus-es. Just passing fresh instruc-tions would not save MinisterSaryu Roy from his responsi-bilities. The Raghubar DasGovernment is providing fullprotection to the ration mafiasand dealers which have are col-lectively led to this situation,”said PCC general secretaryAlok Kumar Dubey.

The party also cited deathsof children taken place in thewant of medicines in the pastand hooch killing poor on dif-ferent occasions. “The ChiefMinister alleges the Congressfor doing politics over theseissues. We want to ask from theCM what should a party likeCongress do in such a situa-

tion? Can we keep mum andallow the Government to runamok in this fashion,” asked theleader.

The party also decided totake the fight forward in thedays to come. AICC generalsecretary and in-charge of theparty affairs in Jharkhand RPNSingh would also join the agi-tation on Tuesday along withSukhdeo Bhagat.

“The Congress is not goingto rest here and the agitationwould grow in different parts ofthe State. The Governmentshould be ashamed of itself fororganising celebrations andspending crores without anyreasons while poor people areleft to their own fate. We wouldorganise protests as per thedirections of the high commandall over the State,” added Dubey.

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AClass V student, whoentered into teachers’ room

of BK Major Public School sit-uated at Mustafabad in Loni onMonday during zero hour, waskicked so hard by a teacher thathe lost his consciousness andtill the paper was going to thepress doctors were workinghard to revive him.

What followed next washeight of cruelty as heartlessteachers summoned other stu-dents and asked them to throw9-year-old Samir in the openfield opposite the school wherehe was left for more than halfan hour until some studentsgathered enough courage torush him to a nearby GlobalNursing Home hospital, saidsources on the condition ofanonymity.

Preliminary probe hasrevealed that Samir, who sus-tained life-threatening injuriesin the attack, had enteredteachers’ room without seekingprior permission from them.“At that time teachers were tak-ing rest and gossiping in theroom. One of the teacherstook umbrage to Samir’s behav-ior and flew into a rage and hitSamir on his private parts.The impact of the teacher’s kickwas so severe that the poor boycollapsed and lost conscious-ness,” said sources, adding thatlater on some students

informed the Ghaziabad Policebut they did not respond.

The doctors treating thestudent told Samir’s fatherNoor Mohammad that as hesustained grievous injuries heis critical. “There is contusionin his private parts and has hithis nervous system. Efforts areon to revive the boy,” said afamily source.

Noor alleged that theteachers are violent by naturein this particular school andthat his elder son was also beat-en by the teachers in the past.

His complaints had fallenon deaf ears.

Meanwhile, the DistrictInspector of Schools ( DIOS)told The Pioneer that the schooldoes not figure in the list ofrecognised schools. However,they are examining this caseand suitable action will follow.

When asked for his com-ments, the manager of theschool, Babu Haji said theschool is recognised by theMadarsa Board and as the stu-dent was not in school uniformhe could have been punishedby the teacher.

Circle Officer of Loni sub-division Durgesh Kumar said,“I am aware of this incidentand have asked the StationHouse Office (SHO) Loni toregister an FIR under relevantsections and fix the responsi-bilty.”

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From Page 1The CBI’s recent FIR

against the three PrincipalCommissioners of Income Taxand Gujarat-based SterlingBiotech and Sandesara Groupof companies has come asmajor embarrassment forAsthana.

The FIR talked of a “Diary 2011”, which was seizedfrom the companies withnumerous entries of pay outsmade to senior Income Tax,Police officers, bureaucrats andpoliticians.

The CBI Director said thediary also includes the nameof Asthana in connection withcertain payments from thecompanies.

“The dairy shows thatAsthana received crores ofrupees as bribes in cash fromSterling Biotech. At that time,

Asthana was Commissioner ofPolice in Surat,” said Bhushan,blaming the Prime Minister forlate night decision to promoteAsthana.

The ACC Order on Sundaywas a general Order to elevateeight 1984 batch officers in var-ious organisations includingAsthana. The ACC(Appointments Committee ofCabinet) comprises only twomembers - Prime Minister andHome Minister.

Earlier in a similar situa-tion, the UPA Government inearly 2014, appointed ArchanaRamasundaram as AdditionalDirector in the CBI, ignoringthe objections by the CVC.Within days activist VineetNarain approached theSupreme Court, whichannulled the order andremoved her from the CBI.

From Page 1According to the Delhi

Government press report,assessment of Ambient AirQuality has been undertaken at16 locations, RK Puram,Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh,Civil Lines, Anand Vihar,Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium,Major Dhyanchand NationalStadium, Dr Karni SinghShooting Range, PGDAVCollege (Sriniwaspuri), DITEOkhla, Mother Dairy(Patparganj), ITI Vivek Vihar,ITI Jahangirpuri, DITEWazirpur, Satyawati college(Ashok Vihar) and ShaheedSukhdev Business college(Rohini).

From Page 1“What stops you from

exercising your power. Why doyou have to throw the burdenon the court? If we makenational anthem mandatoryin cinema halls, next step willbe that somebody can sayshould people be wearingshorts while national anthem issung. Where then can we drawthe line on moral policing,” saidJustice Chandrachud, who wasmost vocal in demandingGovernment to respond.

From Page 1They were later released.“We will not let the

Government pass the Bill. Weare strongly opposing it,” Pilottold reporters after beingreleased. In the 200-memberRajasthan Assembly, the BJPhas 160 MLAs while theCongress has 24 members.

The State Governmentwhile defending the Bill said themeasure was required to put anend to what it called an end tofrivolous litigations against pub-lic servants.

The only aim of the ordi-nance is that people do not mis-use Section 156(3) CrPC to tar-nish the image of honest offi-cers by levelling baseless alle-gations, according to Kataria.From 2013 to 2017, 73 per centof the people who were probedunder Section 156(3) CrPCfaced mental harassmentalthough they were not guilty,he said.

The Editors Guild of Indiaurged the RajasthanGovernment to withdraw theOrdinance calling it “harmful”.The Ordinance is a “perni-cious instrument” to harassthe media, the Guild said whilereacting to the ordinance thatalso bars the media from nam-ing the public servant till theGovernment allows the case tobe investigated.

Activist Bhagwat Gour fileda petition in the Jaipur Benchof the High Court challengingthe Ordinance, calling it “arbi-trary and mala fide”.

The petition contends thatthe Criminal Laws (RajasthanAmendment) Ordinance, 2017,was “in contravention of fun-damental rights as enshrined

under Part-III of theConstitution of India”, saidGour’s counsel AK Jain.

According to the counsel,the Ordinance amends the pro-visions of Sections 156 and 190of the Code of CriminalProcedure (CrPC) and insertsSection 228-B in the IndianPenal Code (IPC).

While Section 156 givespolice officers the power toinvestigate a “cognisable case”,Section 190 deals with cogni-sance of offences by magistrates.

He claimed that by insertingCrPC Sections 156(3) and190(1), protection from investi-gation for on-duty action hasbeen extended to each and everypublic servant defined under anylaw -- panches, sarpanches,members or office-bearers ofcooperative society, MPs, MLAs,members of cooperation andemployees of universities.

He said the Ordinance isviolative of Article 14 (equali-ty before law), Article 19(Freedom of Speech) andArticle 21 (protection of life andpersonal liberty) of theConstitution).

In the Assembly, theOpposition Congress stronglyopposed the Bill and staged awalkout. BJP MLA GhanshaymTiwari, who had expressedOpposition to the Ordinance,walked out of the Assemblytwice when he was not allowedby the Speaker to raise a pointof order.

Wearing black strips ontheir mouth, Congress MLAsled by the Leader of OppositionRameshwar Dudi took out aprotest march from the MLAquarters to the Assembly build-ing.

From Page 1As regards homebuyers of

Jaypee housing projects, theholding company JaiprakashAssociates Limited (JAL) foundit hard to push through its pro-posal of mortgaging the annu-al toll collection from YamunaExpressway for a specifiednumber of years in to raise Rs2,500 crore committed by anundisclosed creditor. Both thecounsel for homebuyers andIDBI Bank (that initiated insol-vency proceedings against JIL)pointed out that the YamunaExpressway is an asset of JILwhich is under liquidation andpresently an asset belonging to

Interim ResolutionProfessionals (IRP) appointedto draw out an Action Plan.Also, the court was informedthat on September 11, the JALwas required to make a depositof Rs 2,000 crore with thecourt, the last date of which isOctober 27. This, according tothem, was a ploy to defeat thecourt’s order.

The Bench directedAttorney General KK Venugopalappearing for the Centre, senioradvocates Parag Tripathi forIRP, and ASG Tushar Mehta forInsolvency Board to respond toJAL’s application by October25, the next date of hearing.

From Page 1All separatist leaders in

Srinagar who were approachedby reporters, refused to offertheir comments. The JointResistance Leadership com-prising Syed Ali Geelani,Mirwaiz Umar Farooq andYasin Malik is likely to respondto the development on Tuesday.

Mehbooba Mufti said thepolitical process on Kashmirwas necessary at this time andhoped that the stakeholders inKashmir would take the oppor-tunity and enter into the dia-logue process.

Expressing happiness overthe development, she conced-ed the situation in Kashmir wasnot good and people were fedup with the violence. “It is theright time to announce the dia-logue process. If the Centre hastaken a step, we, includingother stakeholders, should alsomove a step ahead in cashingin on the opportunity and

enter into the dialogue process,”Mehbooba said after a StateCabinet meeting.

Former Chief MinisterOmar Abdullah vaguelyresponded to the developmentbut his MP father FarooqAbdullah described it as “wasteof time”.

“Will keep an open mind &wait to see results of the dia-logue process,” Omar Abdullahtweeted. However, FarooqAbdullah said that the Centrefailed in all its measures to dealwith Kashmir issue and hadnow announced a dialoguewhich is “waste of time”.

He said the Centre shouldpresent the reports of all formerinterlocutors on Kashmir inParliament.

“What is the need toappoint another person asinterlocutor? Did notPadgoankar hold sustained dia-logue for two years? What is itsbasis? (Ajit) Doval’s doctrine of

suppressing Kashmiris hasfailed. Kashmiri’s showed thatthe more they are suppressedthe more they rise,” he saidwhile talking to reporters here.

“They thought demoneti-sation will end this here, but itdid not. So their policies failedand now they came up withthis announcement to start adialogue process here,” he said.

He said that BJP came upwith many stands and all thesestands proved futile.

“This announcement ofdialogue is another ploy onKashmir and waste of time,” hesaid, adding that the NC hasreiterated that Kashmir is apolitical issue which needs apolitical solution.

Former Union MinisterSaifuddin Soz welcomed thedialogue said that all stake-holders including HurriyatConference should be includ-ed into the dialogue process fora meaningful outcome.

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From Page 1Rahul said the Congress

had warned the Governmentabout the adverse impact of theGST in its present form, but theGovernment decided to goagainst their suggestions.

On the demonetizationmove of the Modi Government,Rahul said that demonetizationparalysed the Indian economy.

“Don’t know what hap-pened. On November 8, Modiji says that ‘these Rs 500, Rs1,000 notes, I did not like, sofrom 12 at night, I am going toscrap it’. He hit the axe, and forthe first two-three days hecould not understand whathappened,” he said adding thatModi realised his mistake aweek later.

“Narendra Modi ji ruinedthe economy of the entire coun-try,” Rahul said.

Raising the issue of

unprecedented growth of acompany belonging to BJPpresident Amit Shah’s son Jay,he claimed that the BJP-ledNDA Government’s ‘Make-in-India’ failed and Start-up ini-tiatives failed, but only onecompany made Rs 80 crorefrom a petty investment of Rs50,000 in a short span. “This isthe reality of Gujarat.”

Not one person or a com-munity, but everybody is on thestreets agitating, he said, addingthat a strange situation is pre-vailing in Gujarat where theentire State is agitating.

For the last 22 years, peo-ple were harassed and youngmen like Alpesh, Hardik andJignesh started raising theirvoices against the Governmentwhich wouldn’t be silenced andplacated, not even by moneypower, said the Congress vice-president.

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The otherwise toothless anddefunct for last two years,

Ranchi Regional DevelopmentAuthority (RRDA), is finallyexpected to come out of inter-nal issues and confront with itslarger responsibilities afterChief Minister Raghubar Dason Monday asked the organi-sation to become professionaland execute plans on grounds.

Das suggested RanchiRegional DevelopmentAuthority (RRDA) to appearprofessional as soon as possi-ble so that it could stand on theexpectations it was set up. TheCM assured its officials offinancial support for progres-sive projects in future anddirected the Authority to speedup projects of public interestsin rural areas of district onPublic Private Partnership(PPP) mode.

Das asked RRDA officials toprovide improvised civic facil-ities like parks, road trans-portation, water supply andother amenities. He also sug-gested the Authority to acquirelands, develop them accordinglyand allot to the local people fortheir possession and furtheroperation which could not onlyopen up new avenues of finan-cial support to the beleagueredAuthority in return, but wouldalso help it regain its lost name.

“RRDA should be developedprofessionally to fulfill socialresponsibility. Transportation,drainage system and socialamenities in rural areas of Ranchishould be considered and devel-oped seriously. Land should beacquired, social amenities devel-oped and allotted to the people.Small parks should be developedin villages and handed over to the

people to run them,” said Daswhere Urban DevelopmentMinister CP Singh, RRDAChairman Parma Singh,Principal Secretary to the CMSanjay Kumar, UrbanDevelopment DepartmentPrincipal Secretary Arun Singh,Secretary to the CM SunilKumar Barnwal and RRDA offi-cials were present.

The CM asked to installsolar lights in the villages andadvertisers should be charged asper the advertising rule. He sug-gested selection of agency tomake travelers’ shed and to gar-ner more revenue for cashstarved authority by placingadvertisements around them.Apart from construction ofhouses, parks at Sithiyo andNachiyatu, master plan of 170villages were also discussed.

Parama Singh said after themeeting that he put develop-ments made during his tenureof little over a year andexpressed utter readiness intaking the development worksahead provided that the organ-isation was backed by financialsupport. “The CM acknowl-edged our efforts of turning theorganisation profitable duringlast financial year and assuredof reasonable financial supportin future. We require �93 Croresfor Amusement Park in Sithiyoand �75 Crores for housing pro-ject which will have 5,000 flats.The CM has asked us to goahead in PPP mode,” said Singh.

Remarkably, appointmentof new members in RRDAalso remained one of theimportant areas of discussionduring review meeting on theday. “We have come to the con-clusion that MLAs comingfrom RRDA area should beinducted as members otherthan one female representativefrom Scheduled Tribes com-munity. We will be sending ourproposal for new members tothe CM on Tuesday itself,”said Singh.

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Looking at the pitiable con-dition of alleged starvation

death victim in Simdega, theJharkhand State Commissionfor Protection of Child Rights(JSCPCR) would recommendthe district administration toprovide the family a houseunder the Pradhan MantriAwaas Yojana (PMAY) andput in efforts to admit thedeceased kid’s siblings in dif-ferent schools.

Chairperson of JSCPCRAarti Kujur lead a team todeceased Santoshi Kumari’shouse at Karamti village inSimdega on Monday. And, afterinteracting with the family, she

said that the family economiccondition is very bad that needsimmediate attention. Kujur saidthat she will write to SimdegaDC to grant affordable housingto the family under PMAY,while both her siblings will beadmitted in different schools.

“After getting first handinputs from her family mem-bers, we are focusing uponSantoshi’s siblings whose livesare in dark at the moment. Theyounger sister of the deceasedin studying in class IV, theSCPCR will ensure that aftercompleting her studies till classV at her native place, she getsadmission at Kasturba GandhiBalika Vidyalaya (KGBV),” saidKujur.

Also, Kujur accepted thatdue to the family’s presentsocio-economic condition, theyare not in a position to feed thekids properly. Besides, theChairperson said that the fam-ily is wholly dependent uponthe daily wage income or elseneed the assistance of someone

to manage their day to day liv-ing.

“The standard of living ofthe family is below our imagi-nation. Even the youngest childof the family (Santoshi’s broth-er) is malnourished. We haveadvised the local officials toprovide instant medical care to

the family and keep a record ofit. After much hue and cry, thefamily members have got theration card. Other basic ameni-ties are being arranged by thedistrict administration teamthere,” Kujur said.

The JSCPCR Chairpersonstated that after enquiring about

the condition of Santoshi’s par-ent from neighbours, it is clearthat, the entire family is addict-ed to alcohol and have this habitof drinking regularly. Kujuralso mentioned that as there isno regular source of income inthe family, even Santoshi attimes was compelled to workleaving her studies to add on tothe family income.

Kujur further added thatdue to Santoshi’s irregular pres-ence in school, the girl was leftwith no other option otherthan to either be dependent onsomeone else for food or tostarve. “The villagers informedus that in return of work,Santoshi used to get food fromdifferent families. Also, as perthe medical report of Santoshi,she was suffering from Malaria.However, even after gettingsuggestion from the villagedwellers to admit the child inthe hospital for preliminarycare, the family did not payheed to the advice of the villagedwellers,” she added.

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Opposition parties inJharkhand may not be

able to bring their own topbrasses together on a singledais—united front, their effortsto grow the clamour has man-aged some considerable lis-tening nonetheless.

Leaders representing par-ties such as Congress, JMM,JVM, RJD, Samajwadi Party,CPI and CPM, besides manyfrom social organizations, con-verged on Monday to raiseidentical but ‘burning’ issueslike land acquisition, domicilepolicy, anti-religious conver-sion law including the CNT-SPT changes that were recalledlater by the government.

Through barring JVM, no

other formidable party inJharkhand was presented by itstop leaders on the occasionwhen strategy, programme andcoordination committees weregetting formed ahead of a‘united struggle’ set to beginacross the State very soon.

Their aspirations and hes-itation in sharing the space withothers came to fore when JMMgeneral secretary SupriyoBhattacharya clarified duringthe mid-way called press con-ference that the party was freeto conduct itself in public.

“We had discussed theissues relating to people of theState in June and also aboutformation of joint forum withOpposition unity. JMM is ofthe view that the movementagainst the government policiesmay be joint but parties wouldcontinue with their own pro-grammes and activities inde-pendently,” he said in his briefinteraction with the media.

On being asked about dis-

tance existed historicallybetween JVM and JMM in theState on poll fronts, organiserof the summit Subodh KantSahay hurriedly brushed thataside indicating towardsBabulal Marandi, PradeepYadav and SupriyoBhattacharya present on thesame platform.

However, despite his bestefforts, Sahay could not man-age his own party to jostle for

the cause which was clearlyaimed for 2019 battles comingin the form of Lok Sabha andAssembly elections. NeitherPradesh Congress Committeechief Sukhdeo Bhagat or anymajor PCC office bearer norany of the party MLA turnedup there where a pledge touproot the ruling BJP wastaken. Moreover, the forumdecided focusing on protestsagainst land acquisition, dis-

placement, Sarna Code and‘anti-tribal’ policies beingadopted by the Government.

“We have decided to forma coordination committeeagainst the atrocities conduct-ed by the Government target-ing those who raised theirvoice. Cases have been slappedagainst numerous persons forprotesting against CNT-SPTamendments being brought.They brought another legisla-

tion amending the LandAcquisition Act, 2013 and hasremoved social-impact assess-ment clause. Later the religiousconversion Bill was brought asdiversionary tactic. All thesehave brought us together. Wewill decide how to take the fightforward, organise styagrahaand protests in the days tocome,” said Marandi.

Gautam Sagar Rana ofRJD, Bhuneshwar Mehta ofCPI, Furkan Ansari were someother known political facespresent there and unanimousabout venting the ‘sense ofoutrage existing among mass-es against the policies anddeeds’ of the Government andalso to voice the concernstogether with numerous socio-religious groups working atgrass roots. Tribal activitiesDayamani Barla, KarmaOraon, Premsahi Munda,Benjamin Lakra were presenton the occasion supportingthe call.

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Terming both ruling andOpposition parties as

exploiters, involved in loot oftribal land, convener of AdivasiSengal Abhiyaan (ASA) andformer MP Salkhan Murmugave third option to the peopleof Jharkhand on the lines ofAam Admi Party in Delhi as apermanent solution to theirproblems. Addressing a gath-ering of more than 5000 peo-ple coming from various partsof State at Morhabadi in Ranchiduring Adivasi SengalMaharally, Murmu alsodeclared that ASA will contestthe coming elections and willalso form government in 2019with its own Chief Minister.

“Jharkhand is suffering forlast 16 years due to anti-peoplepolicies of both ruling andopposition parties, therefore, Ihave decided to mobilize thepeople and the deprived com-munities along with backwardcastes and Muslims and put anew option before the Statewith a target of forming thenext government in 2019,” saidMurmu. Something must bedone, if one wants to bringprosperity to the people ofthis State, he added.

“ASA will contest elections

as it has the support of bothsociety and people of this State,”said Murmu. Keeping hisoptions open for post pollalliance with any party, he fur-ther added that governmentwas not run by majority orminority, but it was a matter ofpolitical will as being shown byChief Minister Nitish Kumar inBihar, he added.

Revealing his plans to giverepresentation to everyone,Murmu declared that out of 81seats, 30 seats will be given tothe Scheduled Tribes, 10 toScheduled Cates, 15 to Muslimsand rest will be distributedamong backward castes.

“If we want some change inthe State, we will have tochange the system here,” saidthe Convener of ASA. He saidthat both BJP and Congresswere two sides of the samecoin, and were involved inloot of tribal land sinceJharkhand has been carvedout of Bihar in the year 2000.

“Though the CNT SPTBill was passed during theregime of Raghubar Das, it wasactually prepared during thetenure of Hemant Soren, hence,both are equally responsible forit,” said the National Presidentof ASA. He also blamed themfor the large number of gov-

ernment jobs going into thehands of outsiders due to theiranti-state policies.

Murmu promised to meetagain at Morhabadi Maidaanon March 18 next year duringwhich he will visit every blockof all the districts in the Stateto mobilize the people, beforewhich a review of the ASA willalso be done on November 1 inRanchi.

National President of BAM-CEF and BMM VamanMeshram also the Chief Guestfor the Rally, burnt the copy ofLang Acquisition Act termedDas as nominated Chief Ministerand demanded that the postmust be reserved in Jharkhandonly for tribals as they have sac-rificed their lives for it.

“The Religious FreedomBill is not applicable to the trib-al population as SupremeCourt has said that personbelonging to Scheduled Casteis not a Hindu,” said Meshram.He also appealed people toburn the copy of LandAcquisition Bill at their placesso that the Government getsshaken with it.

The rally was alsoaddressed by Spokesperson ofAll India Muslim PersonalBoard Sajjad Nomani and for-mer IPS Arun Oraon.

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The much-awaited escalatorresumed operation at the

Tatanagar railway station onMonday, bringing much welcomedrelief to the passengers, especial-ly senior citizens.

The moving stairs platformno. 3 had stopped functioning onSeptember 6 after a mishap inwhich a woman passenger wasinjured. Railway sources said ateam of officials from GardenReach, headquarters of SouthEastern Railway had inspected theescalator project on October 21before giving green signal forresuming operation.

Senior divisional commercialmanager of Chakradharpur divi-sion,

Bhaskar, who is also the rail-way spokesperson said, " Afterthorough inspection, we have

allowed the escalator on platformno. 3 to resume operation from 11am. The other escalator on plat-form no. 1 would start operationin the first week of November."

According to the railwayspokesperson, Garden Reach hadcertified the technical aspects ofthe escalator. "More than 30equipment of the escalator wereexamined during inspection. Theteam certified the equipment andgave a go ahead nod for resumingthe escalator service on platformno. 3," he said. The passenger-friendly project, which would helpelderly, had missed three deadlinesin the past. The installation work

of the escalator began in July lastyear and was expected to completein December that year. The esca-lators have been imported fromChina. The escalator project atTatanagar railway station is esti-mated to cost over �1.5 crore.

”We were trying to completethe project but it has got delayeddue to some reasons. We have seta new deadline of November firstweek as it was impossible to com-plete the work before that. We areconfident to make the entire pro-jects functional by then,” said anofficial.

Platform No. 1 will beequipped with an escalator ( ormoving stairways , a lift and aramp. Platform Nos. 2 and 3 willhave ramps while the rest two plat-forms -4 and 5 will have the facil-ity of a lift and a staircase. The totalproject is estimated to cost over �2crore. Tatanagar, the second busieststation of South Eastern Railway,will be the second to boast theescalator facility. Howrah stationin Bengal, the busiest on theSouth Eastern Railway network,has escalators connecting its oldand new complexes. The facilitywas introduced in 2011.

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Agang of 10 youths lyncheda 27-year-old man under

Sonari police station area lateon Sunday night. The victimwas identified as MansaMahali. The assailants carriedthe body and dumped it intobushes on the campus ofJamshedpur Co-operativeCollege under Bistupur policestation area.

The murder took place atBalram Bhatta along the marinedrive in Sonari. Police recoveredthe body and sent it to theMGM Medical College mortu-ary for post-mortem havingtaken a statement fromLakhinder Mahali, elder broth-er of the murder victim.

Mansa was a poultry deal-er in Tillu Bhatta area in Sonari.On Sunday evening, after fin-ishing his work, he had gone tohis friend's house in near-byBalram Bhatta.

Samir Sardar (25) who isMansa's cousin brother camealong with 10-11 youths andbrought Mansa from his friend'shouse. All those who hadaccompanied Samir startedbeating Mansa as a result ofwhich he lost his sense. Withinfew minutes, he succumbed tohis injuries. As he died, Samirwho has a criminal record alongwith the other assailants carriedthe victim on their shoulder anddumped the body in a bush onthe campus of Jamshedpur Co-operative College.

Senior SP, Anoop TMathew and police officialsfrom Sonari and Kadma policestation along with other seniorcops reached the spot and pre-vented the situation from tak-ing an ugly turn.

Today, the police registereda case of murder against Samirand nine others on the state-ment of Lakhinder Mahali.Mansha's younger brother

Raja Mahali said that hisbrother had assaulted Samirthree months ago over somedispute and ever since he wasplanning to avenge the assault.

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Chief minister RaghubarDas on Sunday organised a

meeting with members of theSurya Mandir Committee andtook stock of Chhath prepara-tions which is slated on Oct 26and 27.

Das also took stock ofpreparations for culture soireeto be organised at SidhgoraSurya Mandir where popularplayback singer Monali Thakurwill made the evening ofChhath more colourful for thedevotees with her ensemble ofreligious songs to rev up theChhath spirit.

Das, who is also patron ofSurya Mandir committee, saidthat this evening is beingorganised from several years tomark Chhath celebrations.

According to Das, the pur-pose of the programme was topromote peace and harmony.“People of all faiths have been

invited for the grand show,” saidDas, adding that preparationsare in full swing. He added thatpeople from all walks of life,and other dignitaries would bea part of the audience.

Sadhna Sinha, Devi,Anuradha Pondwal, Malini

Awasthi and Tripti Sakya thegreat artists have performed atart Chhath puja. Almost fivethousand devotees will worshipthe sun god and 20 thousandpeople will visit the mandir theoccasion. The temple commit-tee will ensure free milk and

twigs. Das directed the members

to ensure a clean Chhath withsafety measures with 32CCTVs and a drone camera.Surya Mandir, which is cele-brating Chhath since 2000, hasinvited well-known Bollywood

playback singer MonaliThakur to perform at a cul-tural programme on the tem-ple premises in the evening ofOct 26.

"The prime concern iscleanliness and safety which thecommittee will take care. Eachand every duty has been divid-ed so that the celebrations aresmooth. The chief ministerspoke to us for more than anhour at the Surya Mandir," saidKulwant Singh Bunty, themedia incharge of the Chhathcelebrations by Surya MandirCommittee.

There are nearly 20 majorghats in and aroundJamshedpur, drawing thou-sands of devotees every year. InSurya Mandir, the membersexpect a footfall of 4000 thisyear. The musical evening willhave a crowd of 6000 as expect-ed by the organisers.

The organising committeewill depute both female andmale volunteers to guide thevratis. The committee also dis-tributed puja paraphernaliacoupons so that devotees canbuy their requirements at acheaper price from the market.

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Palamu police crushed a new ‘naxal’ out-fit TPC 2. It was of 12 to 13 people hav-

ing dubious past and role in the society, saidpolice. This new born outfit had three olivegreen battle fatigue, which was worn by itsmembers in turn in order to create an impres-sion that they were of extremist outfit.

A press release issued from SP Palamuread that this outfit tried to extort moneyfrom the contractor of the governmentpolytechnic college under construction onState highway in Lesliganj police station’sBasoura village.

Officer in charge of Lesliganj police sta-tion Rana Jung Bahadur Singh said this out-fit on October 14 reached this constructionsite , assaulted a few workers there and loot-ed one cell phone of the worker giving orderto ask the contractor to speak to this outfit.

OC Singh said here the outfit erred greatand it helped us most . Calls were made fromthe same looted cell phone . Police put thatcell phone number and other details on itsTechnical Cell and finally succeeded inintercepting their conversation.

Police got the location of the tower of thecell phone and then picked up firstDharmender Singh who spilled all the beansand on his confession two others Jubair Alamand Chattu Bhuiyan too were nabbed. These

three were sent to central jail late in theevening of Saturday October 22. A criminalcase under various sections of IPC, CLA Actand Arms Act has been slapped against thethree.

Police seized the three olive green uni-form too along with a few cartridges.

Sources said as the big CPI Maoist is soonbecoming a referential extremism in Palamusmaller groups or new born outfits like thisTPC 2 are trying to call shots with all like bat-tle green uniform, country made weapon,cartridge, fearsome name etc.

Sources said construction work on thispolytechnic college is with gap for which OCSingh said as it is time for Chhath festivallabour are not reporting. Police officerdenied any fear of this outfit at this site forconstruction work not going on regularly.

The mastermind of this outfit is statedto be Sanjay Bhuiyan who is at large.

Sources said CPI Maoists have becomeso weak here in Palamu that it is not even inany position to contain or curb such outfitsas some 10 or 15 years back Maoists used topublicly punish such people who used tomasquerade as naxal here in this district.

Any government construction barring�12,000 worth shouchalaya in Palamu istaxed by the splinter group of naxals said asource close to JJMP another splinter outfitof extremists.

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Ajoint meeting of PrimeMinister Aawas Yozna and

Cleanliness campaign wascalled by the DC Binod Kumar.

In the meeting Kumardirected, “The goal of PrimeMinister Aawas Yozna must becompleted by November 14.The beneficiaries must be pro-vided the homes between 14th

to 20th Nov.”The officers and employees

would be taken to task in caseof adopting lethargic attitude inthe implementation of plans,directed the DC to the officials.The Cleanliness departmentwas said to affirm the ODF plusplan. In rural areas, the villagersmust be inspired to use toilets,then only the goal of ODF pluswould be achieved, told Kumar.

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The most affected naxalarea of Hazaribagh district

Bhaghar panchayat ofChouparan block is once againin limelight. On October 22late evening at about 8 PM,some unidentified criminalsentered the village on bikesand attacked the house ofRambali Yadav. The crimi-nals fired some shots in the airand threatened the familymembers of Rambali Yadavthat if they will not follow theirinstruction, then they willlose their lives.

The sudden arrival of fourcriminals on two bikes andmaking some shots in air firstcreated panic in the village but

soon, the villagers becameunited and moved towardsthe house of Rambali Yadav.When the criminals saw vil-lagers coming towards them,they first tried to threatenthem all but the united vil-lagers instead of going back,started going ahead step bystep.

When the criminals sawthat their tactic is not working,then they suddenly startedrunning away from the villageleaving their bikes and firearms behind. The villagerschased them to some distancebut the criminals succeeded inescaping, taking advantage ofthe darkness of the night.

Two days ago, Bhagharwas in the news as in politicalrivalry, their mukhiya Lupung

Munda was brutally murdered.The Bhaghar panchayat ofChouparan block is known asa safe zone for inter-statecriminals. Our sources saythat in this panchayat there isa good number of illegal firearms. About a month ago, thevillagers had captured a manwith illegal fire arms and hadhanded him over toChouparan police. This timethe criminals succeeded inescaping but the villagersseized their bikes and armsand handed it over toChouparan police. The localvillagers and village local bodymembers have once againdemanded establishment of apolice picket in the village tocheck the activities of anti-social elements.

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Keredari police have arrest-ed a hardcore naxal in the

loot case at Saha Fuel Station,Patrakala More. Two days ago,some masked criminals hadlooted about �3 lakhs from thepetrol pump and had wound-ed the owner and manager ofthe pump.

During investigation thepolice team headed by ASPKuldeep Kumar got someimportant clues after goingthrough the footage of CCTVcamera. In CCTV camera it isclearly visible that the maskedcriminals are talking with

someone at the entry point ofthe petrol pump just beforetheir entry into the pump. Thepicture of that person is notmuch clear but police team istaking help of experts to clearthe picture so that the link canbe identified.

Sources informed that dur-ing raids the police team hadtaken the naxal in their custodywho is said to be no. 2 in hisorganisation. However, hisidentity has yet not been dis-closed by the police but it isexpected that soon the policewill nab the culprits as thishardcore has played a key rolein the loot.

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Gearing up to meet theincreased demand of milk

during the coming Chhath Puja,dairy companies have startedmaking arrangements for it byensuring additional tankers fromadjoining States and also bychecking the supplies to otherStates to meet the requirement inthe State. According to the esti-mate of the dairy companieslocated in Jharkhand, more thantwice milk than the normal dayswill be required to meet thedemand on Wednesday a dayahead of Chhath.

“With a target of produc-ing 1.5 liters of milk, we havedecided to increase the pro-curement from the adjoiningstates like West Bengal, Odishaand also from Maharashtra tomeet the requirements onWednesday,” said Director Salesof Osam Dairy Harsh Thakkar.

The milk is transported fromother States in insulated tankerswith quality check at variouslevels to ensure purity to theconsumers, he added.

Thakkar added around60,000 liters of milk is producedfrom the plant is done on dailybasis, but special arrangementswere being done for Chhaththough stock building and addi-tional procurement from otherstates with a target to increaseproduction by 2.5 times.

“Even though the produc-tion is increased, we always fallshort before the heavy demandof milk on Chhath,” said theDirector. Medha Dairy on theother hand, will discontinue thesupply of milk to the other states2-3 days ahead of Chhath Pujato ensure that the productiongets increased by Chhath Puja.

“Last year a total of 1.18 lakhliters of milk were consumed onChhath Puja, and this time we

are expecting an increase of 30per cent this year,” said GeneralManager of Jharkhand DairyMilk Federation NarendraSharma. Extra milk produced onMonday and Tuesday will bekept aside for Wednesday tomeet the increased demand, headded.

“As we have a total capaci-ty of 1 lakh liter per day whiledispatch of only 70,000 liter ismade every day. The remaining30,000 liter will be kept aside forWednesday making an extrastock of 60,000 litres onWednesday,” said Sharma..

Sharma said that no com-promise with the quality ofmilk will be made as it passesthough quality check from atleast four stages right from thevillage level to just before deliv-er in the market. Retailers inRanchi were also of the viewthat the sale of milk will getincreased by 30% on Chhath.

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The harvest-ready kharifcrops of this year are in

good condition and have notbeen affected by recent heavyrains in some parts of thecountry. The minor losses dueto rains in the isolated pocketswas factored in during the firstprojection made last monthwith respect to total kharif(summer) foodgrains outputfor the 2017-18 crop year (July-June).

As per the first estimate,kharif foodgrains output islikely to be lower at 134.67 mil-lion tonnes in 2017-18 from138.52 MT in the year-agoperiod. “The recent rains havenot impacted the 2017-18kharif output. The crops con-dition is very good in theentire country,” said UnionAgriculture SecretaryShobhana K Pattanayak onMonday.

The southwest monsoonhas nearly gotten over. Duringthe monsoon withdrawalphase, there were rains in iso-lated pockets but that has notimpacted the harvest-readycrops, he said.

Harvesting of most kharifcrops is underway. More than

10 MT of paddy has been har-vested and brought to mandisin Haryana, Punjab and UttarPradesh so far, as per the offi-cial data. Farmers, who haveharvested their crop, have start-ed preparing fields for sowingof rabi (winter) crops.Specifically, planted acreagefor coarse grains ( maize) andpulses (tur/arhar) has fallenbelow last year’s level. Tur/arharacreage is down by 9-lakhhectares from last year’s record52.2-lakh ha.

Asked about rabi sowing,Pattanayak said: “It will startthis week. Rabi crop prospectsare really good.” The agricul-ture ministry has kept food-grains production target of137.55 million tonnes for rabiseason of this year. Wheat is themain crop besides pulses.

On the sale of unapprovedand fake cotton seeds has beenreported from cotton growingstates like Telangana, AndhraPradesh, Karnataka andMaharashtra, Pattanayak saidthat the Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR)is looking into the matter ofsale of spurious cotton seedsand action will be taken basedon its report. Expressing con-cern over sale of such seeds, he

said the Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR)has been asked to prepare areport and study the extent ofpenetration of spurious cottonseeds in the market. “It is a mat-ter of concern. We expect theICAR to submit the reportsoon. After assessing the situ-ation, the Government of Indiawill take an appropriate action,”Pattanayak said.

Meanwhile FCI said that

rice procurement has risen to69.89 lakh tonnes (LT) so far inthe 2017- 18 marketing yearthat started this month, com-pared to 69.31 LT in the year-ago. Food Corporation of India(FCI), the nodal agency forprocurement and distribution,had procured 381 LT in the2016 -17 marketing season(October-September).

According to FCI officials,for the current year, the gov-

ernment has fixed a higher riceprocurement target at 375 LTon hopes of good production.“The arrival of paddy is pick-ing up in mandis. Till lastweek, about 111 LT of paddyhad arrived in Haryana, Punjaband Uttar Pradesh,” officialssaid. FCI and state agencies,which normally buy in riceformat, have procured 41.33 LTof the grain in Punjab and28.56 LT in Haryana so far.

The procurement in UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand hasjust begun and will pick uppace in the coming days, theofficial said adding that a littleover 22,000 tonnes have beenprocured from Uttar Pradeshso far. The procurement isbeing done at minimum sup-port prices (MSP). For 2017-18,paddy MSP of ‘common’ gradevariety has been fixed at Rs1,550 per quintal, while that of‘A’ grade variety at Rs 1,590 perquintal. Rice output is peggedat 94.48 million tonnes in thekharif 2017-18 season, slight-ly lower than 96.39 milliontonnes in the year-ago, as perthe Agriculture Ministry’sfirstestimate. A small quantityof rice come from rabi seasonalso, sowing of which willbegin soon.

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The Supreme Court onMonday asked the Gujarat

Government to explainwhether the five policemenconvicted for tampering withevidence in the 2002 BilkisBano gangrape incident hadbeen reinstated. The Courtgave the State four weeks tosuggest whether it intended toinitiate disciplinary proceed-ings against the erring copswho were found guilty in thecase by the Bombay HighCourt in May this year.

The victim, Bilkis hadapproached the apex court withthe plea to initiate disciplinaryproceedings against the fivecops. Her counsel Shobhainformed a bench headed byChief Justice Dipak Misra thatas per the information received,all the five police personnel hadreturned to work.

A surprised bench, alsocomprising Justices AMKhanwilkar and DYChandrachud, remarked, “Howcan they return to work?” TheCourt posed its query to

Gujarat Government counselHemantika Wahi who said thatthe policemen had completedtheir sentence.

Shobha urged the Court toconsider her petition for initi-ating disciplinary proceedingsand also her prayer for grant ofcompensation. The bench kepther first request pending withit while on the second prayer,asked her to file a fresh appealagainst the Bombay HC orderfor grant of compensation. TheHC had directed the sevenaccused to pay a meagre sumof �2000 each to the victim.

The Bilkis Bano incidentoccurred on March 3, 2002when she was 19 years old andfive months pregnant. In theaftermath of the Godhra train

burning incident, her familydecided to leave Randhikpurvillage near Ahmedabad whena mob attacked them. 18 mem-bers of her family were killedwhile she was brutally gan-graped. On January 21, 2008 thetrial court found 11 personsguilty of the crime while sevenpersons including five copsand two doctors were acquitted.

The CBI filed appeals inthe Bombay HC demandingdeath penalty for three of themain culprits. In its order ofMay 4 this year, the HC upheldthe life sentence of the 11accused and even convicted thefive cops and two doctors oncharges under IPC Section 218(not performing their duties)and Section 201 (tamperingwith evidence).

The convicted policemenand doctors are Narpat Singh,Idris Abdul Saiyed, BikabhaiPatel, Ramsingh Bhabhor,Sombhai Gori, Arun KumarPrasad (doctor) and SangeetaKumar Prasad (doctor). Theaccused had approached theapex court which too refused tostay the order of the Bombay HC.

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Prices of most vegetableshave shot up sharply in the

last ten days, making it difficultfor the middle class families tomanage their household bud-get in the national Capital.

Prices of common vegeta-bles like green peas, onion,pumpkin (kaddu) FenugreekLeaves (Methi Patta/Methi kasaag), Green Mustard (Sarsonka saag), Chenopodium(bathua), Spinach (palak),Ridge Gourd (tori) tomato,cabbage, lady finger and brin-jal, have gone up manifold inthe last ten days.

A survey of the local veg-etable market shows most veg-etables are out of bounds forpeople. Coriander leaves (haradhania) is being sold at �150 akg, pumpkin at �70 a kg whileSpinach (Palak) between �60to 70 a kg. Similarly, the retailprice of Green Mustard(Sarson ka saag) has alsoincreased to �70 a kg.Fenugreek leaves (Methi patta)is being sold at �65 a kg.Bathua (Chenopodium) is alsobeing sold at � 60 a kg.

Both onion and tomatoare being sold between �50 and�60 a kg depending on theareas. Green peas also cost�75 a kg. Broccoli cost in theretail market is �150 a kg whileyellow capsicum cost �120 perkilo. Lady finger, cabbage andridge gourd is being sold at �40a kg. This is the first time thatprices of vegetables have regis-tered on the higher side duringthe months of October andNovember. According to veg-etable traders, Potato is beingsold at �10 a kg and this is theonly vegetable which is cheap-er this time.

Interestingly, Fenugreek

Leaves will cost �200 per kgwhile the green peas cost �75a kg at Big Basket online shop-ping. Similarly, Celery is beingsold �120 a kg. Lemon Grass isbeing sold at �130 a kg.Chinese cabbage also costs �99a kg while Oak Red (organi-cally grown) will cost �120 a kg.

Rajendra Sharma, formerchairman of Azadpur Manditold The Pioneer that prices ofleafy vegetables are expected tobe decreased by the secondweek of November when newcrops come to the market.The most of the vegetablescome to Delhi from neigh-bouring states Haryana,Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,Western Uttar Pradesh.

The new crops are yet toarrive at the market that wasthe reason prices of leafy veg-etables are high.

According to Sharma, thepumpkin was sold at �10 a kg

while spinach was sold at �20a kg during the same periodlast year. Similarly, the rate ofgreen mustard, fenugreekleaves, Chenopodium wasbetween �25 and �30 a kg lastyear.

The rate of lady finger,cabbage, Shimla Mirch (cap-sicum) also high this year ascompared to last year.Presently, these vegetables arebeing sold at �40 a kg. Last yearthe rates were between �20 and�25 per kg. Sharma furtherstated that rate of CorianderLeaves will come down byDecember first week.

Another reason for therise in the prices, as pointedout by a vendor, was thatmany traders — includingwholesalers, retailers and ven-dors — have started stockingup to earn higher profits.“Knowing full well that thevegetable prices are on the

ascendancy, the traders arekeeping their stocks and onlyreleasing small quantities. Thisis leading to an artificial scarci-ty which is further pushing upthe prices,” said a vendor.

Ramu Prasad, a vegetablevendor said the prices of leafyvegetables such as FenugreekLeaves, pumpkin, GreenMustard, Chenopodium,Spinach, Ridge Gourd are highthis year due to short supply.

During October andNovember, the prices of leafyvegetables come down due tonew crops and higher supply.People expect fall of vegetableprices after Diwali. This year,Diwali was in October, other-wise, it falls in November.Sunita, a housewife, whoresides in Malviya Nagar, SouthDelhi said that the budget ofmiddle-class families has beendisturbed as they are com-monly consumed vegetables.

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Raising serious questions onthe quality of medicine

being provided to the personswith hemophilia, theHemophilia Federation (India),on Monday urged the UnionHealth Ministry to look into thequality of medicines being sup-plied to the community acrossthe country. Hemophilia is a lifethreatening genetic disorder inwhich the blood of the patientdoesn’t coagulate on its own.

To corroborate its allega-tions, the HFI, an apex body forthe sector in the country hasalso attached related photos of‘defective’ drug (AntiHemophilic Factor- Factor VIIIconcentrate) supposed to beinfused in patients. It allegedthat it was in frozen form and

not in powder form as med-ically required.

“The concerns are based ona query raised by one of thepatients of our HyedrabadChapter while he was beingtreated with FVIII concentrate fora bleeding episode at GandhiHospital in Telangana last week.We are very much worried aboutthe quality of the medicine,which is the life line for these hap-less patients. Such negligence isfatal to the patients,” said VikashGoyal, President of the HFI.

He said that the HFI’sHyderabad Chapter GeneralSecretary Venigalla Ramaraohas already had a meeting withthe officials from the GandhiHospital and it was found thatthe medicines (Factor VII) keptfor the patients were defective.“Actually they are supposed to

be freeze dried and in the pow-der form. In fact, the contentsin vials of Factor IX stocked inthe same store of the hospitalwere in dried and powder formand are in good condition.

“Hence, we suspect that thecontents of Factor VIII are notas per the specifications andrequirements and our patientsare afraid that it is not safe toinfuse the medicine.

“Also, if moisture is presentin the bottle, bacteria and fun-gus may develop in them whilein storage and can lead to severe

complications in the patients ifadministered intravenously,theroute of administration of AntiHemophilic Factor - Factor VIII,”said the letter written to theTelangana State Medical Services& Infrastructure DevelopmentCorporation (TSMSIDC)

Goyal minced no words ashe said that it was unfortunatethat not only there have beeninadequate facilities and short-age of factors, some state gov-ernments are also underminingthe quality of the drugs.

“This is just one of thecases of callous attitude ofhealth authorities towards theHemophilia Community inStates, leaving them bed-riddenand disabled,” said Goyal as hecalled for the Drug ControllerGeneral of India (DCGI) probealso.

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To assess the quality of milkand focus on hotspots

where adulteration is mostdeep-rooted, the Governmentis all set to launch one of themost extensive surveys withthe sample size of about 8,000from across 36 States/UTscovering 717 districts.

At least 13 common adul-terants will be tested by theFood Safety and StandardAuthority of India (FSSAI).These are adulterants like veg-etable oil/fat, detergents/causticsoda, hydrogen peroxide, sugar,glucose, urea, starch, mal-todextrin, boric acid, ammoni-um sulphate, nitrates, cellulosealong with pesticides and antibi-otic residues covering each andevery district of the country.

A senior official from theAuthority said that however,sampling would be based onthe result of the previous sur-vey, the finding of whichwould be shared with the suc-cessful bidders.

In case the results of analy-sis of milk samples come out tobe non standard but unsafe ina particular area in the previ-

ous as well as proposed survey,then more extensive analysiswould be carried out in thatparticular areas to find out rootcause of unsafe milk.

“Thus, the proposed milksurvey is an extension of theprevious milk survey in termsof number of samples, types oftests to be conducted andgeographical area to be cov-ered. The proposed surveyalso includes designing andoperation of a framework forcontinuous monitoring of

milk quality in the hotspotareas. This would lead toextensive and intensive analy-sis of milk,” said the official.

Maximum samples will bepicked from Uttar Pradesh(750), Madhya Pradesh (600),Bihar (450) while 350 eachsamples from Tamil Nadu,Assam, Telangana, Rajasthanand Karnataka.

In fact, a few months back,the FSSAI had conducted asurvey in which it was foundthat in general milk adulter-ation was low in southernIndia, more in north India. Asurvey with a sample size ofabout 2,500 was conducted inwhich some states had report-ed no adulteration at all.

On June 5, the MadrasHigh Court had observed thatadulteration in milk was aserious matter and directedthe government to file a sta-tus report on the action takenon such complaints.

The direction was given byChief Justice Indira Banerjeeand Justice M Sundar whilehearing a PIL seeking a CBIprobe into the reports of adul-teration in milk by variousprivate producers.

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Describing Congress as aparty of ‘dramebaaz’ (the-

atrics), the BJP on Mondayasked Congress Vice-Presidentto engage in ‘substantive andserious politics’ saying that, sofar, his party has been doingpolitics of ‘lie, corruption andneglect of development’.

In the backdrop of OBCleader Alpesh Thakor joiningthe Congress and Rahul (at arally in Gandhinagar, Gujarat),attacking Goods and ServicesTax as ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’,senior BJP leader RavishankarPrasad lashed out at the partyan claimed that a desperateCongress, out of power for 22years, was indulging in ‘polit-ical gimmicks’.

“Since when Thakor wasout of the Congress. He was amember of NSUI, contestedfrom Mehsana and lost electionand his father was alreadyCongress Zila President...”, saidPrasad dismissing theCongress assertion that theOBC leader had crossed-over

to it in the poll-bound Gujarat.“Rahul, your script writer

is some one else but he had nothis home work..”, said the BJPleader adding that ‘drama’-would not have been enactedif adequate ‘home work’ hadgone into Thakore’s back-ground ‘as a Congress man’.

Taking a swipe at Rahul’stwitter ‘popularity’ and Bot con-troversy , Prasad said he may be‘trending’ in Kazakhstan,Indonesia and Russia ‘but we willbe happy, if you trend in India’.In the same vein , he said Indianpolitics was a serious businessand the Congress leader does notrelate to it. Recalling comedyfilms like ‘Jodi number one’, he

quipped and sought to ask whathappened to Omar Abdullah-Rahul ‘Jodi’ in J& K, Akhilesh-Rahul ‘jodi’ in UP and CPM-Congress ‘Jodi’ in West Bengal.”

Prasad said Rahul whonever engaged in "politics ofviakas’ need to come forwardwith ‘politics of conviction andsubstance’.

On the charge leveled byone of the Patidar leader inGujarat that he was offered Rsone crore by the BJP to join theparty, the BJP leader saidCongress has history of ‘lie,corruption and neglect ofdevelopment’ and recalled cashfor vote scandal which alleged-ly implicated Congress.

Asked about the ordinanceby the Vasundhara RajeGovernment that bars courtsfrom taking up private com-plaints against public servants— ministers, lawmakers andofficials — without its clear-ance, Prasad that he need tostudy it . He said the ordinancewas against ‘motivated com-plaints’ with 73 per cent ofthem being not true.

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The fight over the ‘TwoLeaves’ symbol between

rival factions of the AIADMKcontinued in the ElectionCommission on Monday withthe TTV Dinakaran factionsecuring a further adjourn-ment till October 30 (nextMonday).

Lawyers arguing for theDinakaran faction sought per-mission from the Commissionfor cross examination of somepersons who they contendedhad given ‘fake’ documentsswearing allegiance to the fac-tion headed by OPanneerselvam, ThangatamilSelvan, a disqualified MLAand a supporter of Dinakaran,told reporters outside theCommission.

He said the Commissionhas adjourned hearing in thecase till October 30, a daybefore the deadline for decid-ing the symbol case set by theMadurai bench of the MadrasHigh Court expires.

KP Munusamy, a seniorleader of the ruling AIADMK

faction, said their side hasgiven statements of over 1,000functionaries includingGeneral Council members,MPs and MLAs, supporting thehanding of the symbol to thefaction headed by OPanneerselvam and EdappadiK Palanisamy.

He said since the rival sidedid not have such numbers intheir support they were frus-trated and indulging inattempts to delay the hearing inthe case. “We hope a decisionwould be finalised by the nexthearing,” he said.

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Former Railway MinisterMukul Roy’s induction in

the BJP is a matter of time now.The former TrinamoolCongress number two couldjoin his new outfit in a fort-night’s time, according tosources in the State BJP. Theyalso claim his induction in theparty would “definitely boosttheir organisational prowess ashe knows the constituencies likethe back of his hand.”

“He is a good organiser,”State BJP president DilipGhosh recently said about Roywhile another senior leadersaid, “the national leadership isparticularly impressed by hisorganisational abilities.”

Assuming that Roy’s induc-tion in the party is a “matter oftime” the “Chanakya” of Bengalpolitics has been invited at thebirthday celebrations of formerState president and party

national secretary Rahul Sinhawhich will be held at theKolkata Port Trust guest houseon October 25.

Though sources close toSinha would maintain a stud-ied silence on the programmesaying Sinha himself had noth-ing to do with the celebrationsas “his followers mainly organ-ise it every year,” a leader saidRoy’s presence on the occasionwould certainly clear the hazeabout his future plans.

The former Trinamool aceorganiser still enjoys consider-able clout in the party grassrootknowing party men who mat-ter personally in all the 77,000booths. His induction maycome in handy to implementBJP national president AmitShah’s plans to boost party’sstrength in the booth level,sources said.

In fact such is the appre-hension in the Trinamool cir-cles about Roy’s “secret, surprise

moves” that Chief Minister hasinducted her own nephewAbhishek Banerjee andMinister-cum-East Midnaporestrongman Suvendu Adhikarya former MP to “take care ofRoy loyalists” by disengagingthem from his influence.

The two leaders will hencetour districts where Roy stillenjoyed loyalty on account ofpersonal favours he extended tothe subaltern leaders over thepast several years.

“As these leaders cannotoppose the Chief Minister pub-

licly for the fear of being vic-timised they also cannot go outagainst Roy openly. The situa-tion is like their heart is withMukul dada and their body iswith Mamata didi whose dom-ineering ways and public repri-mand they often cannot digest,”conceded a senior Trinamoolleader and an MLA “hopingthese lesser leaders do not playthe catalyst during the elections.”

In fact Adhikary a onetimeblue-eyed boy of the ChiefMinister and her pointsmanduring Nandigram movement

is also “not a completelydependable person,” the MLAsaid, adding Banerjee hadbrought Adhikary a formerMP back to State politics lastyear from Delhi in order tokeep an eye on him and to dis-sociate him from Roy.

Incidentally Adhikary andhis father Sisir Adhikary andMP are the only two leaders inTrinamool Congress who havewon their elections on theirown accord and sans ChiefMinister’s charisma.

Besides knowing the

Trinamool’s war strategiescomprehensively, Roy will beable to block the ruling outfit’srigging techniques in an effective manner, BJP leader-ship believe.

Meanwhile in an unrelateddevelopment hundreds of BJPworkers in Kolkata broke thebarricade and demonstratedin front of the SwasthyaBhawan against the StateGovernment’s apathy towardsspreading dengue cases.

After the scuffle betweenthe BJP workers and policeState BJP leader LocketChatterjee said “The StateGovernment should bring outa white paper on dengue relat-ed deaths in the State wheremany people have died and 20-25,000 people are sufferingfrom the dreaded disease.”

Districts like North 24Parganas, Howrah and evenparts of Kolkata have beenbadly hit by dengue.

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A15-year-old girl who hadjumped off the third floor of

her school building in Kollam,Kerala on Friday followingalleged harassment by teachersdied at a private hospital inThiruvananthapuram onMonday. Tension prevailed infront of the school on Mondayafter protests by students’ outfitsturned violent.

Gouri of Ramankulangara,Kollam, a Class X student ofTrinity Lyceum, a self-financingschool in Kollam, took theextreme step after two womanteachers of her school allegedlyharassed her at the staff room forobjecting to the punishmentgiven to her younger sister, a

Class VIII student in the sameschool, for talking to other stu-dents during class hours.

Gouri had jumped off thethird floor of the school build-ing at about 1.15 pm on Fridayand was taken to a private hos-pital run by the school manage-ment itself but the authoritiesthere said she had suffered onlya skull fracture and could betreated there. However, the girl’scondition worsened and shewas shifted to the Thiruvanant-hapuram hospital in the evening.

The doctors at theThiruvananthapuram hospitalfound that the girl had sufferedfractures in the backbone andribs apart from the skull fractureand were not confident aboutsaving her life. Also, a broken ribhad ruptured her lungs. Gouridied of internal bleeding and aheart attack at about 2.00 amMonday, according to doctors.

According to the relatives ofthe girl, the school authoritieshad hidden from them the factthat she had jumped off the

building. “First they said she hadslipped off the staircase. Thenthey said she had fallen from thefirst floor. The hospital peoplelied about her condition. She wasable to speak immediately afterthe fall but they did not let herspeak to us,” said a relative.

Teachers at the school hadmade Gouri’s younger sit amongthe boys as a punishment fortalking to other students duringclass time almost a week ago.The girl had questioned this andtheir mother met the schoolauthorities and threatened to file

a complaint against the teachersbut they assured her that thiswould not happen again.

However, Gouri was calledto the staff room by the teach-ers on Friday afternoon and wasallegedly harassed over this.According to other students atthe school, she was called to thestaff room while she was havingher lunch. It was after this thatshe had jumped off the thirdfloor of the building.

The police have registered acriminal case against two ladyteachers – Gouri’s class teacherCrescenta and her sister’s classteacher Sindhu – of the schoolon the basis of a complaint fromthe girl’s father that she hadtaken the extreme step due to themental torture inflicted by them.The two teachers have report-edly gone into hiding.

“The school managementand the hospital authorities didnot want us or the police to knowwhat had happened to our child.It is certain that they had delayedtreatment deliberately. The doc-

tors at the Thiruvananthapuramhospital said her life could havebeen saved if she had beenbrought there a little while ear-lier,” said the girl’s relative.

Various students’ and youthoutfits took out protest march-es to the school following theincident triggering tension in thearea. Activists of pro-CPI(M)student outfit SFI pelted stonesat the police who blocked theirmarch with barricades. Thepolice had to lathi-charge the stu-dents and explode tear gas shells.Several students, policemen andmediamen were injured in theincident.

Apart from the SFI,Congress student outfit KSU,pro-CPI AISF, ABVP, etc alsotook out protest marches to theschool on Monday. Student lead-ers said they would not let theschool function till those respon-sible for the girl’s death werearrested while the KSU called foran Education Bandh in Kollamdistrict on Tuesday to protest thepolice action on protesters.

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Centre’s interlocutor for Nagatalks RN Ravi on Monday

held talks with the workingcommittee of six Naga NationalPolitical Groups (NNPGs) anddifferent civil society groups atChumukedima near Nagaland’scommercial hub Dimapur andappealed for everyone’s partic-ipation in the Naga talks.

The meeting assumes his-toric importance for Nagalandas talks are being held afteralmost three decades — the firstbeing the talks with NSCN(IM) held in New Delhi in 1997.Although the Central govern-ment had been holding talkswith the NSCN (IM) yet severalcivil society groups had beendemanding to include the otherunderground groups includingthe NSCN (K) in the talks.

“I would like to appeal allthe factions for unity. The gov-

ernment of India is going tohave one peace agreement withthe Nagas and I still want theNSCN (K) to join the peaceprocess,” Ravi said while appre-ciating the efforts of Nagasocial organizations who hadtaken a bold step to unite all thefactions and groups over thetalk process.

The talk today alsoassumes significance consid-ering the fact that earlier mostof the talks are being held inNew Delhi and this is for thefirst time that the talks are heldin Nagaland.

It may be mentioned herethat NSCN (K) had in 2015abrogated from the ceasefireagreement signed with the gov-ernment of India and intensi-fied its attack on security forcesin Assam Arunachal Pradeshand in Nagaland areas.

“For the first time talkslooks inclusive, we are happy.We are committed to it. We willmeet for next round of discus-sion,” said Wanting Naga, Co-convenor of NNPGs afteremerging out of the meetingand expressing his happiness.

“We have always insistedon talks being inclusive. Wewant unity of talks. We are try-ing to bring all factions to peacetalks again. Channels of com-munication are opened withnew chairman of the NSCN(K), Khango Konyak,” saidPresident of Eastern NagalandPeoples Organisation (ENPO)Khoiwang Konyak.

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RJD will hold rallies acrossBihar on November 8 was

announced a year ago, tohighlight the alleged failuresof the step taken by theNarendra Modi Governmentat the Centre, party supremo Lalu Prasad said onMonday.

A few days ago Prasadhad declared his intent tohold a grand rally against theNDA Governments at theCentre and in Bihar, where hisformer al ly Nit ish Kumar is now heading aGovernment in alliance withthe BJP.

“At our November eightrallies we will ask the BJPwhat the common people gai-ned by the arbitrary step ofinvalidating �500 and �1,000currency notes”, he toldreporters.

“The note ban wreakedhavoc on small traders.Millions of people were forcedto stand for hours in queuesoutside banks to get their oldnotes exchanged. The coun-try’s economy is in tatters asa result of this decision,” headded.

Prasad and his familymembers are facing probesand frequent interrogationsby the CBI and theEnforcement Directorate inconnection with corruptioncharges.

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The Telangana Governmenton Monday decided to pro-

vide financial assistance of upto �2.5 lakh for the self-employ-ment of youth from minoritycommunities on a full subsidybasis without any bank linkage.

The Government alsodecided to “develop an exclu-sive industrial estate and ITcorridor for Muslims”, said arelease issued by the office ofChief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao.

“For the self-employmentof the minority youth withouthaving any link to the bank,cent per cent subsidy should begiven to the units having worthabout �1 lakh to �2.5 lakh andthe district collectors shouldmonitor this,” it said.

Rao, who held a meetingon welfare of minorities withministers and officials, decid-ed on “developing an exclusiveindustrial estate and IT corri-dor for Muslims”, it said.

He asked the officials todevelop “Charminar and itssurrounding areas like theGolden Temple in Amritsar,”the release said.

The 42-km stretch alongthe Musi river here should bedeveloped like the Sabarmatiriverfront in Gujarat, Rao said.

“Make arrangements for

plying metro and nano railalong the Musi river bank...Develop shopping complexes,parks as well as double bed roomhouses for the poor,” he said.

He told the officials toconstruct HyderabadInternational Islamic CulturalConvention Centre on a 10-acre area at Kokapet here at parwith international standards.

“Action should be taken toensure that minorities get 10per cent quota in the doublebed room” scheme of the stateGovernment, Rao said.

It was also decided in themeeting to release Rs 40 crorefrom the Special DevelopmentFund (SDF) (of the state gov-ernment) to take up severalemergency works under theHyderabad parliamentary con-stituency, the release said.

Deputy Chief Minister MdMahmood Ali, several ministers,Hyderabad MP and MIM pres-ident Asaduddin Owaisi andothers attended the meeting.

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State Archives and ArchaeologyMinister Vijai Sardesai on Monday

said the Goa Government wouldconsult the Church to get their feed-back on better preservation of worldheritage monuments at Old Goa.

Old Goa which is located ninekms from here has World HeritageMonuments which are protected byArchaeological Survey of India (ASI).

The monuments are attractionfor the visitors who come here fromworld over.

“We will be drafting a masterplan for the World HeritageMonuments at Old Goa and will takeinto confidence Archbishop of Goa

for that,” Sardesai told reporters hereon Monday.

He said that the preservation ofWorld Heritage Monuments hasbeen a priority for the state govern-ment.

The Minister said that the statewill ban all kind of illegal construc-tions around these monuments.

In yet another assurance,Sardesai said the state-of-the-artfacility will be built to house recordsincluding birth and death certifi-cates which are dating back as oldas 15th century.

He said that the digitisation ofthese records is also taken up by thestate government to preserve themfor posterity.

Patna: A top official from the University of Tokyohas invited more students from MathematicianAnand Kumar’s Super 30 to come to the varsity forhigher studies.

Two students of Super 30 are already pursuinghigher education at the Japanese university.

“Today, it is the research and innovation thatis guiding the world. They make lives easier andmake science relevant to modern times,” HiroshiYoshino, head of India operation of Universityof Tokyo said, addressing students of Super 30.

Yoshino said Super 30 is quite popular in Japandue to its pioneering work in the field of education,especially for the bright students from underpriv-ileged sections of the society.

In 2016, Super 30 had sent five secondary andhigher secondary students from Bihar to Japanto get a feel of the research work undertaken there,and the way school education is run. PTI

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Srinagar: Jammu & KashmirChief Minister Mehbooba Muftion Monday welcomed theCentre’s announcement of initi-ating a sustained dialogue to finda solution to the Kashmir issue,saying it is the only way forward.

Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh this afternoonsaid former director of theIntelligence Bureau Dineshwar

Sharma would be the CentralGovernment’s representative toinitiate dialogue with all stake-holders in Jammu & Kashmir.

“Welcome the initiative ofUnion Government, appoint-ing an interlocutor for leading asustained dialogue with stakeho-lders in Jammu & Kashmir(sic),” Mehbooba said in a seriesof tweets. PTI

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7�����������������������CD����� �������������������2B+8Jammu: In Kashmir, therewere 72 cases of people beatingup innocents on the suspicionof them being braid-choppersand cases would be registeredagainst all those who took lawinto their own hands, DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) Dr SPVaid said on Monday.

He also said if needed,those accused of beating up theinnocent would be slappedwith Public Safety Act (PSA),but no innocent person beingbranded as braid-chopper bythe public on suspicion wouldbe booked.

“In 72 cases (of braidchopping), people took lawinto their own hands andbeat up the innocent (inKashmir Valley)”, Vaid said onMonday.

Asserting that FIRs wouldbe lodged in all the 72 cases, hesaid, “The police will deal withmiscreants sternly”.

The DGP said policewould not book any innocentperson and in cases where aninnocent person have beenhanded over to the police bythe public on the suspicion ofbeing a braid-chopper, policeauthorities should tell the factsto the media clearly.

Vaid said all districts nowhave Special InvestigationTeams (SITs) and officialsfrom Social Welfare andHealth department have been involved in it.

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Vishal, one of the leadinglights of the Tamil movies,

came under the scanner of theIncome Tax department onMonday. Officials of theDepartment’s TDS wing visitedthe residence of the actor onMonday to verify non-depositsof TDS to the tune of �51 lakhwhich his production companyhad collected by deduction buthas so far not deposited in theGovernment account.

Neither Vishal nor theaccount books were available atthe residence. Sources inIncome Tax department saidthey served a summons to theactor to be present in the I-Toffice on Friday for questioningabout the issue.

There were reports that theteam of officials which called onthe residence of Vishal was fromthe Goods and Service TaxIntelligence Department. But bylate evening, a statement issuedby PV K Rajasekhar, joint direc-tor, GST Intelligence Chennai

Central Unit, said that no suchraids were held by his officials inthe residence of Vishal.

“Certain news channels arecirculating news that the officersof the DG STI Chennai ZonalUnit have searched the premis-es of Vishal who is the presidentof Tamil Nadu Film ProducersCouncil. It is to clarify that theofficers of the DGSTI have notconducted any search operationsand news which is being circu-lated is factually incorrect andfalse,” said release by Rajasekhar.

Political grapevine in TamilNadu got into full swing withinminutes and claimed that theraid was a fall out of Vishal crit-icising the BJP leadership for“attacking” the movie Mersalstarring Joseph Vijay, one of the

reigning superstars of Tamil filmindustry. The BJP leaders inTamil Nadu had blamed the act-or and director Atlee for makinguse of the media of film to crit-icise GST and demonetisation.

By Monday, the wordy duelassumed a communal colourwith all secular and Tamil Nati-onalist parties coming togetherin support of Vijay. Even Rajn-ikant, reportedly close to theBJP’s central leadership con-gratulated Vijay for the way hehas portrayed the topical issuesin the movie.

Chandrasekhar, father ofVijay, lambasted those who ques-tioned the motives behind themovie. “They are afraid of thepopularity enjoyed by my son.What is wrong in him aspiringto be the Chief Minister ofTamil Nadu? What he has donein the movie was to portray whatRajnikaant and Kamal Haasanhas been saying all these months.Why these politicians were silentwhen Rajnikant and KamalHaasan blamed the system asrotten?” asked Chandrasekhar.

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Geological Survey ofIndia(GSI) is planning

blood tests of the city’s denizensafter one of its studies revealedthat raw food items sold in dif-ferent markets of Kolkata havealarming levels of lead in them.

The blood tests will be con-ducted to estimate how manyhave been affected by the con-centration of the heavy metaland to conduct a detailed studyon the pattern of contaminationin those who have been con-suming the food items fromthese markets, a senior scientistfrom the GSI said on Monday.

“It’s well known that peo-ple have lead in their blood butwhat we need to find out is themagnitude of its concentration.For that we are planning to col-lect blood samples from thepeople in the city to conductthe tests,” he said.

The blood-collectionprocess for the test is likely tobe started from April nextyear, said the scientist, who islinked to the study thatrevealed the high level of leadcontent in raw food items soldin the city markets.

A recent study by GSI sci-entists said samples of rawfood items like polished rice,

red lentil (masoor dal), redspinach, chicken, fish (withoutscales), biscuits, spice (cuminseeds) and even tulsi, a com-mon medicinal herb, collectedfrom 12 markets in the cityshowed a mean lead concen-tration between 3.78 and 43.35mg/kg (average 23.56 mg/kg).

The study also found thatabout 75 per cent of the leadcontamination in the fooditems sold in Kolkata marketswere contributed by atmos-pheric lead, mainly produced

by the combustion of diesel.As per the American and

European standards, the currentreference range for acceptableblood lead concentration in ahealthy adult who does not haveexcessive exposure to environ-mental sources of the element isless than 0.25 mg/L. For childrenit is less than 0.05 mg/L.

Prolonged exposure oflead, which is highly toxic,can cause permanent damageto the kidneys, liver andhaematologic systems.

Children are more at riskbecause lead exposure canreverse their brain growth andcause irreversible damage totheir overall well being.

The scientist said GSI hasalready collected eight bloodsamples from in and the surrou-nding areas of Korba coal fieldareas in Chhatisgarh to ascertainthe heavy metal concentrationamong people staying there.

“We are trying to under-stand the heavy metal concen-tration among the people livingin Korba coal field areas. We willanalyse the blood samples tofind out the magnitude,” he said.

GSI has also collected flyash, soil and other sources ofheavy metal which ultimatelyaffect people, mainly the chil-dren, he added.

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Uttar Chief Minister YogiAdityanath reiterated that

the BJP Government will solvewater crisis in the ruggedBundelkhand region at theearliest as it was committed tomaking this region prosperousso that youth were not forcedto go out in search of jobs.

“I know the problem thepeople of this region are facing.We have chalked out a plan tomitigate people’s sufferings.Once the plan is implemented,water crisis of the region will besolved to a larger extent,” Yogisaid while addressing a rally inChitrakoot on Monday.

The Chief Minister saidthat the region was laggingbehind because of large scaleexodus. People, particularlyyouth, are forced to move outbecause of lack of developmentin the region. The area also lagsbehind in development due towater scarcity which affectedagricultural production.

“It is my Government’scommitment to provide waterto Bundelkhand. We are work-ing in the direction and hopethat we will start getting resultsvery soon,” Yogi said but didnot elaborate on the plan orwhen it will be implemented.

“We will not allow peopleto crave for water any more. Mygovernment is ready to pumpin money. No project ofBundelkhand will stop becauseof lack of funds. I want to bringBundelkhand at par with otherregions of the state includingwestern UP,” he said.

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Samajwadi Party said that itwould contest five Assembly

seats in the Gujarat assemblypolls later this year and supportthe Congress in rest of the seats.The Gujarat Assembly has atotal of 182 seats.

Addressing mediapersonson Monday, SP chief AkhileshYadav said, “We do not wantto weaken the Congress

against the BJP in Gujarat.Hence we will contest only inf ive Assembly seats where the SP has sizeablesupport base.”

“I will certainly go toGujarat for campaigning insupport of SP candidates. If theCongress wants then I couldalso address some public meet-ings for their candidates too,”said the former UP ChiefMinister.

Gandhinagar: Ahead of theassembly polls, Vijay Rupanigovernment in Gujaratappointed 57 directors includ-ing chairmen in 18 differentState owned board and corpo-rations on Monday. Sourcesclose to the development saidthat caste and regional balancewas made to appoint newdirectors. The most important appoint-ment was Balawantsinh Rajput,who fought the keenly con-tested Rajya Sabha elections inAugust this year and lost by avote against Congress leaderAhmed Patel. Rajput had left Congress partyand joined BJP few days aheadof the Rajya Sabha polls. He isalso relative of former GujaratChief Minister ShankersinhVaghela who is trying hard toform third front in the pollbound State. PNS

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The Uttar PradeshGovernment on dismissed

senior PCS officer RandhirSingh from service on Monday,for his involvement in a landscam. Former AdditionalDistrict Magistrate ofGhaziabad and presently ADMof Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida),Ghanshyam Singh was also sus-pended by the Government.

Both officers have beenpenalised for their allegedinvolvement in a scam in acqui-sition of land for Meerut -DelhiExpressway project. The gov-ernment had ordered a probeinto the scam which was doneby Divisional Commissioner ofMeerut which was submitted tothe government on October 4.

The Commissioner probedthe alleged irregularities inland acquisition for 74-kilo-metre long Meerut-DelhiExpressway and EasternPeripheral Expressway andsubmitted a 15-page probereport to the Chief Secretary.

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Aspecial CBI court onMonday rejected YSR

Congress president YS JaganMohan Reddy’s application seek-ing temporary exemption fromappearance during the hearing ofa corruption case against him.

Jagan Mohan Reddy, theprime accused in the case, hadapplied for exemption fromappearance for six months,saying that he was going toundertake a ‘pad-yatra’ (footmarch) from November 2 tohighlight, what he called, the“failures” of the TDP-led gov-ernment in Andhra Pradesh.

The 44-year-old opposi-tion leader had announcedrecentlythat he will start themarch from his family estate atIdupulapaya in Kadapa district.

Reddy said in his plea beforethe court here said that heneed-ed to undertake the march todischarge his duty as the presi-dent of a political party and apublic representative and tounderstand people’s problems.

The CBI and theEnforcement Directorate hadopposed his plea. The caseagainst Reddy is related toinvestments made by variouscompanies in his firms alleged-ly as a quid quo pro for variousgovernment favours (such aslicences or approvals) obtainedby them when his late father, YSRajasekhara Reddy, was chiefminister between 2004 and 2009.

Ahemedabad: A leader of theinfluential Patidar community inGujarat, which is due forAssembly election in December,carried wads of currency notesto a Press conference andclaimed the ruling BJP offeredhim �1 crore to join the party.

Narendra Patel spoke to thepress within hours of “joining”the BJP, which denied the alle-gations.

“Narendra Patel’s U-turnwas a pre-planned drama...The Congress cannot sway thepeople of Gujarat with thiskind of drama,” NDTV?quotedBJP spokesperson BharatPandya as saying.

Despite the statement, anoth-er Patidar leader, Nikhil Sawani,on Monday morning said he wasleaving the BJP, “upset over the �1crore offered to Patel”.

The Patidar community,once a staunch supporter, is atwar with the BJP over its demandfor reservation in education andGovernment jobs.

The Patels account for 12-13% of the State’s population andcan influence the outcome inaround 50 of the state’s 182

seats.The BJP had on Saturday

managed to wean away twoclose aides of Hardik Patel, the24-year-old leading the quota stirunder the banner of the PatidarAnamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS),as the Congress, out of power inthe western state for 22 years,reaches out to disgruntled groupsfor an anti-BJP front.

Narendra Patel, the PAASconvenor for north Gujarat, saidVarun Patel, who joined theBJP a day earlier, took him for ameeting with state BJP chiefJitubhai Vaghani and some min-isters on Sunday.

“He then took me to a roomand handed over a bag of Rs 10lakh cash as token (money) andpromised to pay me Rs 90 lakhtomorrow after a party functionwhich I was required to attend,”Patel told a crowded a press con-ference late on Sunday.

Patel, who presented a scarfand inducted into the BJP infront of the media, said, “It allhappened in such a hurry, theyimmediately called the media topresent me and I had to makethat show.” Agencies

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Two public interest petitionsfiled before the Supreme Courtare seeking strong penal actionagainst MPs and MLAs whoare dishonest in their aver-

ments about their assets and liabilities ortheir criminal record in the affidavits theysubmit while contesting elections orhave amassed wealth disproportionate tothe sources of income disclosed by them.

In the first of these cases filed by LokPrahari, an NGO, the petitioner saysmere declaration of assets while filing thenomination papers is not enough. Every candidate must also disclose thesources of income because the assets ofseveral MPs and MLAs had seen a phenomenal jump between two elections.It told the court that the assets of 320 MPswho were re-elected to the Lok Sabha in2014 had increased by 100 per cent. The assets of six MPs had jumped by over a whopping 1,000 per cent and thatof 26 MPs by 500 per cent. A large num-ber of MLAs also had reported a steeprise in wealth.

The Income-Tax authorities, afterexamining these cases, told the court thatin respect of seven MPs and 98 MLAs,they had found proof that the assetsdeclared in election affidavits werebeyond known sources of income. Thecourt asked the Union Government to setup special courts to fast track cases of cor-ruption and disproportionate assets relat-ing to MPs and MLAs.

In the second case, the petitioner hassaid that while the apex court hasensured that candidates file affidavits inregard to their assets and liabilities,educational qualifications and criminalrecord, there is no mechanism to verifythe authenticity of the claims made. Noris there a mechanism to punish thosewho file false affidavits.

The petitioner said that although theapex court had done much to bring abouttransparency in the process of electionand made it mandatory for candidates todisclose information on various counts,there was no mechanism to verify theauthenticity of the affidavit submitted bycandidates. There was need to ensure this.The court has asked the UnionGovernment and the ElectionCommission to respond to this submission.

The outcome in these two cases willdetermine how far we will advance inensuring the accountability of electedrepresentatives to the laws in force andto the people who elect them. But, it hasnot been easy to get the country’s politicians to be transparent in respect of all these matters. It has been a longdrawn battle.

The Law Commission made the first

move in this regard when it said in its 170Report on Electoral Reform in 1999 thatthe Representation of the People Act,1951 must be amended to make the fil-ing of an affidavit regarding assets andliabilities and criminal record of the can-didate mandatory.

However, elected representativesremained cool to the idea because anyreform that brings in transparency andaccountability in the electoral arena hasnever been popular with MPs and MLAs.Eventually, the political class was forcedto accept these proposals after theSupreme Court stepped in and virtuallylaid down the law in this regard in 2002.The apex court directed the ElectionCommission to assist on the filing of affi-davits giving all these details, includingcriminal background, if any.

Giving in to pressure from all sides,Parliament sought to partially overturnthe Supreme Court’s judgement when itamended the Act to say that candidatesmust file affidavits giving details ofcriminal charges framed by a court, butnothing more. It said there was no needto provide any information about assets,liabilities and educational qualificationsand any other information sought by theelection authorities.

These provisions were challenged inyet another case and the Supreme Courthad to step in once again and hold theamendment that sought to nullify its earlier order, as unconstitutional.Eventually, following this judgement of the apex court, it became mandatory

for all candidates to file affidavits on all these aspects.

Now, the law requires candidates toparliament and state assembly electionsto furnish an affidavit and provide infor-mation of their assets, liabilities and crim-inal record, if any. The affidavit must con-tain information regarding the candidate’sPAN number, income tax returns of thecandidate, spouse and all dependents,details about the moveable and immov-able assets owned by the candidate,spouse and all dependents and the liabil-ities of the candidate vis a vis Governmentand public financial institutions. The can-didate is also required to provide infor-mation regarding profession, occupa-tion and educational qualifications.

This judgement of the SupremeCourt in 2002 brought about a majorimprovement in regard to transparencyin the electoral arena. Until the filing ofsuch an affidavit became compulsory, theelectorate had little or no informationabout the candidate – no one knew if thecandidate was educated or not; whetherthe candidate was rich or poor; orwhether the candidate had a criminalrecord. The people were making electoralchoices without any information aboutthe candidates in the fray. All that theywould get to know by word of mouth wasprobably the caste of the candidate andthe party ticket on which he was contest-ing the election.

After the filing of affidavits becamemandatory, the electorate is armed withinformation because the local media in

every constituency publishes details of theaff idavits f i led by candidates. This has also enabled local media tocheck the information filed by candidatesin successive elections and make a comparative study of a candidate’s assetsand liabilities, criminal record and educational qualifications. This has certainly brought about much neededtransparency, but as the two petitionsbefore the Supreme Court tell us, muchmore is needed.

As the evidence gathered by LokPrahari shows, many MPs and MLAshave reported a 500 per cent jump intheir assets over a five year period. This is certainly a matter worthy of investigation by the Income-Tax department as also agencies which probecases of corruption. Further, both petitions point to the fact that there ispaucity of information in regard to thesources of income.

As the second petition insists, thereis no mechanism in place to check theveracity of averments made in the affidavits. Also, there was no law requir-ing the candidate to submit documentsto substantiate the claims made. The outcomes in these two petitions need tobe keenly watched. It could mean anoth-er big step towards cleansing electoralpolitics. Hopefully, we will also be wiseron how, for some politicians, electoralsuccess and wealth accumulation gohand in hand.

(The writer is Chairman, PrasarBharati. Views expressed here are personal.)$

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Sir — This has reference to theLetter to the Editor, "Kedarnathreconstruction: Truth must prevail" by KV Seetharamaiah(October 23). Is it not true that in2013 the UPA Government at theCentre pressurised theUttarakhand Government todecline the request of the Gujarat Government for reconstruction of the Temple?

If a fact has been stated by thePrime Minister, is it not proper for those who choose not to believehim to prove that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has said something which is not true? Or will they just shoot and scoot again? The truth really must prevail.

Sushil KumarVia Mail

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Sir— Apropos Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's assertion in Gujarat this past Sunday thatthe Opposition parties have no authority to question the Election Commission of India(ECI) over announcement of the poll schedule, this writer-advocate, as a citizen of India,would like to humbly dissentfrom his point of view.

Not only the Opposition parties, but rather every Indian citizen can validly question any act of commission or omission of the EC if it seems to be ques-tionable.

When, contrary to expecta-tion regarding a collectiveannouncement of schedule forelections to State Assemblies of

Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh,the ECI on October 12 announced the poll schedule forHP only it was obvious that eyebrows would be raised.Everyone is wondering what really prevented the ECI fromannouncing the poll dates for theGujarat election along with HP'selection schedule. It may have hadvalid reasons for doing so but thenthose must be shared with thepublic.

The term of currentAssemblies for the States of HPand Gujarat are expiring in thesame month with the former onJanuary 7, 2018 and latter onJanuary 22, 2018.

So merely a time gap of 15 days by no means warrants anysort of delay, prima facie, between the announcements ofthe election schedule for the twopoll-bound States more particular-ly as the ECI itself reportedlyasserted that the poll for Gujaratwould also be held beforeDecember 18.

In the absence of any state-ment from the ElectionCommission, there is a growingperception in civil society that per-haps the ECI withheld itsannouncement for Gujarat polldates till the conclusion of all ofPrime Minister Modi's officialvisits to the State.I sincerely hope that the ElectionCommission would never allowthe ruling elite at the Centreregardless of which party is rulingto dictate terms to a Constitutionalbody.

Hemant KumarChandigarh

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We have always noticed newsregarding rivers especiallywhen a flood or drought

takes place. But this time rivers arein the news because their existenceon earth is threatened.

India is facing severe water cri-sis. Around 54 per cent of the coun-try has turned into water-stresseddust bowl with many rivers rapidlydrying up. The founder of Isha foun-dation, Padma Vibhushan Sadguruhas launched a campaign “Rally forRivers” to save the dying rivers ofIndia. Though rivers are an integralparts of human civilisation, ourrecord in managing these essentialresources particularly over the pasthundred years has been riddled withshort-sightedness.

Progress of civilisation, growingurbanisation and apparent decline indirect dependence of human being onriver systems has contributed tochanging the perspective of use of riverresources. Interfering within river’sdomain has a long history, perhaps asold as human civilisation itself. Today,many of the rivers and catchments aredegraded due to severe humanimpacts including damming, diver-sions, storages, clearing of vegetationand habitat removal and pollution.

In urban dominated areas, medi-ums like municipal drainage, industri-al effluents, sewage discharge, wastewater flow, increased impervious sur-faces and infrastructural constraints onriver channels have led to the injectionof chemical pollutants, river flowmodification and system instability.Besides, there are excessive sand min-ing from river bed and increasing with-drawl of water for various purposes. Allthese actions together caused irrepara-ble damage to the riverine ecosystem.

Climate change is expected tointensify the situation by altering theweather pattern and water cycles

around the world, causing drought insome areas and flood in others. Thedamaging effects to aquatic ecosys-tems through these changes have longbeen known and demonstrated andit is now globally well recognised thatthe rivers are under stress. Now thesituation has been so alarming thatriver restoration is considered as animportant task to be accomplishedurgently with due care.

India is blessed with 100 largeand small rivers which is spreadacross the country. Various rivers ofthe country are always in the newsfor the never ending disputes for the

sharing of water between differentstates. The three Himalayan riverbasins falling within India in partsare Brahmaputra, Ganges, and theIndus. They account for 1,183 BCMout of the total annual surface waterpotential of India which stands at1869 Billion cubic meters (BCM).These three rivers have an annualutilisable flow of 553 BCM whencompared with India’s total annualutilisable flow of 1122 BCM.

Thus, the Himalayan Rivers pro-vide about 50 per cent of the totalutilisable flow and carry about 72 percent of the annual surface water

potential of India. Thus, in meetingany future requirements of water inIndia, the Himalayan Rivers have agreat importance. The water of theHimalayan Rivers has supportedseveral great civilisations of India.

A more recent but widespreadhuman intervention in theHimalayan rivers of India has comein the form of hundreds ofhydropower plants which are eitherfunctioning or at under-constructionstage or at the planning stage.

The hydropower potential ofthe Ganges basin is officially project-ed at 20,711 MW, while installed andunder construction plant capacity isabout 6100 MW. The rapid expan-sion of dam construction, especial-ly on the Himalayan Rivers of Gangesand Brahmaputra, brought in animportant dimension to the debate.

The issue of environmental sus-tainability and flows of the riverbecame a significant element in thedebate. Thus, the awareness of envi-ronmental flows in India was more aresult of the discontent over risks asso-ciated with large dam projects on the

Himalayan Rivers, as opposed to thequestion of pollution in these rivers.

Under the river linking project,there should be inclusion of environ-mental management part in terms ofenvironment or social impact assess-ment and landscape management.Thus, there is a need for taking aholistic view on the assessment ofenvironmental flows of the Gangesand other riverine system. Ministryof Water Resources, RiverDevelopment & Ganga Rejuvenationhas sanctioned 12500 crore rupeesunder Namami Gange mission torejuvenate the Ganga river.

The Government is pushing morefunds, more infrastructures and moretechnology following the trends of thepast three decades, but there is noimprovement in the status of Ganga.An inclusive effort is necessary fromall the sections which include policymakers, administrator, social activists,academicians and common masses tosave this precious commodity.

(The author is a research schol-ar in the School of Environmentalsciences, JNU)

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While small islandcountries are busypromoting theirtourism industryinternationally and

simultaneously working to developtheir tourist attractions, India seemsto be not yet ready to compete withthe best in the world.

Ambassador programme

Yes! Create an ambassador pro-gramme involving bus and taxi driversand create some inspiration and aspi-rational value for them by not beingjust mere ‘drivers’. They can double upas guides while piloting the wholejourney. Train them bit of history, cul-ture, customs and heritage of the placeand brush up their conversationalskills. Age doesn’t matter. Pick thosewho have knack for showman-ship.Ultimately, this writer learnt moreabout New Zealand intimatelythrough the eyes of the smart and con-versation savvy bus drivers than froma tourist guide book.

Marketing plan

Have a vision for the tourismindustry is one thing and executingthem in a time bound manner, inselect geographies with clear achiev-able short and long term objectives forbuilding sustained organic traffic lev-els from both with in India andabroad, is another thing. Incentivisingtourist operators not just on the turnover basis but also for promoting sus-tainable tourism and environmentfriendly practices, is required.

Interactive website

This is your window to the world.Have a contemporary visual design,which is visually rich, designed intu-itively, offering actionable informationin a user-friendly language, withmultiple language options to select. Itwill reap rich dividends by convertinga casual visitor into a potentialprospect and eventually a tourist. Theinformation dissemination throughdigital mediums is cost effective andhave a wider footprint and can beinstantly reached to the global audi-ence. A professional and contempo-rary website, is the starting point toresurrect our shabby professionalimage.

Seamless connectivity

No brainer right! Yet this is onekey area in dire neglect.The more wedo, will seem to be less with the pas-sage of time.

Circuits created should be easilyaccessible within the travel distance of3-6 hours from point to point. These

nodes on the periphery should bewell-connected to a core tourist hubpoint much like the hub and spokemodel as in transportation sector.Tourist can travel short haul pointsand comfortably travel back to the hublocation or continue onward furtherupstream.

Seamless connectivity and inter-connectivity are both vital and goodfrequency of transportation optionsincluding rail, road, air and water willprovide further fill-up in increasingthe tourist traffic. Air travel supple-mented with a good convenient, com-fortable and cost-effective and reliableroad transportation can rev up the sec-tor's fortunes. A lot more needs to bedone to address this issue.

Efficient airports

Airport experience can be quite asour or sugary one with a hangoverthat outlasts the actual trip.

Small and efficient airports wherecost of running the business is low andwhere passengers can avail basicfacilities and amenities without vari-ous fees levied on them will enhancethe attractiveness and reach of thetourism. It will also cascade down thebenefits and evenly spread the tourismpie to not just the metros and townsbut also the hinterland, uplifting thelocal economy and creating jobs. Thecurrent focus on encouraging domes-tic tourists is a welcome step.

Immigration and Customs still areareas where professionalism and cour-tesy is on short supply and can beimproved upon. Already we haveexperienced at various internationalairport the processes are over in ablink of the eye with least hassle to thetraveler. Why not emulate similar

steps to make the airport experiencein our country virtually somethingthat you end-up noticing more due toits absence, above all else!

Public spaces

We seem to have a knack of con-verting even the best Tourist destina-tions in our country to utterly un-tourist spots. Let us admit — we dohave a hygiene issue at a fundamen-tal level. Else, why would we behaveso irresponsibly in public places. Whypublic spaces are our trash bins? It isa pain to see monument after monu-ment being vandalised. Why do wehave such lack of disrespect for ourheritage and history. This is our col-lective failing and unfortunately, thisis the social identity we end up show-ing to visitors coming from abroad.

The contempt with which welook at our history and the past is attimes astounding.

How can we start to shape-upthese behaviours? For a start, if needbe let’s declare monuments, museums,religious places, etc. as (Quiet Zones)with strictures on how to behave atthese places. Any body found flouting rules should end-up payinghefty fine.

Appoint ambassadors from with-in the community. It could be young,old, male or female. The point is tohave someone with in the communi-ty who can act as responsible custo-dian and a moral guardian of the placeand intimately showcase the visitorsthe heritage of that place.

This would involve the local com-munity to get involved with their ownheritage and reinforce a sense ofbelonging and reiterate the need to thevictors to act responsibly and with

sensitivity. I’m reminded of my visit to

“Glow worm caves” in Waitomo inNew Zealand. The world-famouscaves are taken care by a family within the “community”. Visitors werestrictly instructed to remain silentthroughout the boat ride inside thecaves -to not disturb the ‘glow worms’by our talk and chatter. I realised that day, how far reaching that gesturewould be in shaping the behavior of the public at large and appreciatingthe sense of place. It is a gesture worth emulating.

Media blitz on “Athithi devobhava” didn't seem to have made anydent in the overall public behavior.Therefore, Tourism police is a greatidea. It should be ensured that theythemselves are well trained in softskills and more importantly dish outfines for any violation.

Lastly,our history books singular-ly fail to catch the imagination of ouryounger generation. As such historyas a subject is treated quite dismissively. It starts with educationand schools need to ensure historydoesn't end up being taught as a deadsubject, but a vibrant and lively nar-rative still alive amidst us,and helpshowcasing the younger generation ofthe glorious past and our collectiveresponsibility of conserving and pre-serving them for posterity.

We in India have vast culturalriches. It is only a matter of how werestore our past, preserve our presentand reverse our social idiosyncrasiesand behaviors. India has the scale andvast potential to achieve a pole position on the global tourism map.Let us not waste the opportunity infront of us.

(Concluded.)

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The National Institute ofOpen Schooling (NIOS) has

achieved yet another milestoneby signing a MoU with theArmy Welfare Education Society(AWES). The AWES headed bythe wife of the Chief of the Armyruns a network of Army PublicSchools across country. Theseschools are mostly in smalltowns and cities primarily toserve the army personnel andtheir dependents. The AWEShas nearly 130 schools.

The MoU was signedbetween Professor CB SharmaChairman of the NIOS and MajGen (Dr) Sunil Chandra,Managing Director AWESrecently, at the AWESHeadquarters in Delhi. As perthe MoU the NIOS will providethe courses specially preparedfor the army personnel andother courses to the depen-dents of the army personnel.

The AWES had requestedthat the dependents of the armypersonnel who do not haveaccess to any school in thenearby vicinity may also be

provide an opportunity to pur-sue studies and obtain Xth orXIIth certificate. This is seen asa great opportunity for thedependents as they are mostlyadults who cannot pursue stud-ies from a regular school andprovision for non-formal edu-cation is not available inapproachable distance.

A major feature of the pro-gram is that the learners cancombine academic courses withvocational courses. It is expect-ed that the learners would beable to get Secondary or SeniorSecondary certificate and alsoget vocational skill which willhelp them start their own small

business and earn livelihood.NIOS is the only Board whichhas provided this flexibility incurriculum.

The assessment process isalso flexible as the learners wouldnot be required to appear for allsubjects in one go. They can writethe exam for one or more cours-es but will be required to pass allthe papers in a period of 5 years.They can accumulate creditsover a period of 5 years andthey will be issued the certifi-cate once they have passes allthe five papers. The dependentwomen and members of theSC/ST community will also begiven concession in fees.

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In a bid to provide high-notch quality education,

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd(BSNL) and ExtramarksEducation India Pvt Ltd(Extramarks), India’s lead-ing digital education com-pany, on Monday joinedhands in view of taking thequality education to a newhigh across the country.

The two companies willoffer Extramarks’ interna-tionally acclaimed educationcontent and scientificallydeveloped learning toolsthrough BSNL’s state-of-the-

art telecom network. This willhelp in achieving theGovernment’s Digital Indiagoals. Providing e-education isthe top priority of the DigitalIndia programme.

“We are committed toimplement the Government’sdigital India programme,” saidAnupam Srivastava, Chairmanand Managing Director ofBSNL. “Through our agree-ment with Extramarks, wewill provide digital educationusing our high quality telecomnetwork comprising fixedlines, leased lines, mobile andWiFi.” “More than 9,000schools are already getting

benefited by our scientifi-cally developed and mediarich learning tools. We areexcited about this partnershipas this will allow us to deliv-er quality education solu-tions across India, especiallyin small towns and ruralareas with ease and at anaffordable price to everyone,”said Atul Kulshrestha,Chairman and ManagingDirector of Extramarks.

Both the firms will providedigital education under variousprograms where BSNL is amajor player such as Bharatnetand Smart Cities, besides offer-ing it to BSNL's over 100 mil-

lion subscribers of Fixedlineand mobile telephone services.

Extramarks is focusedon school education. Its1 5 0 0 - s t r o n g t e a m o fres e archers , educat ion-ists and developers hasd e v e l o p e d m u l t i m e d i acontent and online learn-i n g p l a t f o r m t h a tenhances learning capa-bilit ies of the students. Itgives f lexibi l ity to teach-ers and students as theycan access lessons af terschool-hours. Its peda-gogical approach of learn,practice and test providestota l learning solut ions.

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The benchmark BSE Sensexended its three-day losing

run to close higher by nearly 117points or 0.36 per cent after avolatile trade on the back of gainsin telecom, energy, oil & gas, bank-ing and auto stocks. The 30-shareindex settled higher by 116.76points or 0.36 per cent, at32,506.72, driven by gains inReliance Industries, Bharti Airtel,ICICI, HDFC Bank and Infosys.

The broader Nifty of NationalStock Exchange scaled the 10,200mark intra day before closing at10,184.85, showing a sizeablegain of 38.30 points, or 0.38 percent. It shuttled between a high10,224.15 and low of 10,124.50 inday trade. The Nifty managed toend on a positive note, courtesyto smart buying in the latter halfof the day, Sameet Chavan, ChiefAnalyst-Technical andDerivatives, Angel Broking, said.

“Market regained after a weakstart due to expectation of earn-ings growth and positive globalgrowth. Telecom sector outper-formed on value buying in expec-tation of normalisation of tariffs,consolidation in the industry,and better outlook on data usage,”said Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch, Geojit Financial ServicesLtd. Covering-up by speculators,

who had been creating shortpositions, gave equities a push, abroker said. Sentiment also got alift after Revenue SecretaryHasmukh Adhia suggested somerejig in GST rate structure toreduce the burden on small andmedium businesses, brokers said.

Besides, positive cues fromAsian markets with the Japan'sNikkei posting the longest win-ning-streak of 15 days in itsnearly 70-year history as marketscheered the weekend electionvictory of pro-business primeminister Shinzo Abe, had a pos-itive impact, they said. After along Diwali break, market com-

menced higher at 32,411.86points, tracking a firm trend atAsian markets. But stocks quick-ly slipped into negative terrainto hit a low of 32,312.74 as par-ticipants booked profits atimproved levels.

However, revival of buyingtowards the middle of the ses-sion helped the index wipe outlosses and touch a high of32,614.89 before settling 0.36

per cent higher. Overall, in thelast three straight sessions, the30- share barometer had lost243.68, including 194.39 pointson the first day of Samvat 2074in one-hour special ‘Muhurat’session on Thursday on sus-tained foreign fund outflows.Buying activity was so strongthat sectoral indices, led bytelecom, energy, realty and oiland gas, ended in the green.

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NEW DELHI: Shares of IndianEnergy Exchange (IEX) made aweak debut on the bourses onMonday and ended over 1 percent lower against the issue priceof �1,650. The stock listed at�1,500, down 9 per cent from theissue price on BSE. It finallyclosed the trading session at�1,626.45, a loss of 1.42 per cent.

On NSE, it settled at�1,629.15, down 1.26 per centfrom the issue price. In terms ofequity volume, 6.05 lakh sharesof the company were traded on

BSE and over 33 lakh shareschanged hands at NSE duringthe day. The company's marketvaluation stood at �4,932.80crore. The �1,001-crore initialpublic offer of IEX was over- sub-scribed 2.23 times duringOctober 9-11. The price bandfor the offer was fixed at �1,645-1,650 per share. The IPO was thefirst by a power exchange in thecountry. Axis Capital, KotakMahindra Capital Company andIIFL Holdings managed thecompany's public issue. PTI

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India Post Payments Bank (IPPB)on Monday said it has appointed

Suresh Sethi, former Vodafone M-Pesa Managing Director, as thebank’s MD andCEO. Sethi takesover from APSingh who hadbeen the interimMD and CEO ofIPPB since January2017. The IPPB hadtargeted to set-up 650 branchesacross country by September thisyear but it now aims to complete theroll out of these branches by earlynext year. “India Post PaymentsBank (IPPB) has appointedSuresh Sethi, the former MD ofVodafone M-Pesa Ltd as itsManaging Director & ChiefExecutive Officer,” an officialstatement said.

IPPB said that Sethi hadbeen selected by the Banks

Board Bureau from amongst topcontenders for the post, fromboth public and private sectorbanking and financial tech-nologies tech professionals. Sethihas broad international experience ofover 27 years in the Banking andFinancial Services industry withCitigroup, YES Bank and VodafoneM-Pesa across India, Kenya, UK,Argentina and the US. He has exten-sively worked in the FinancialInclusion space leveraging Fintechand digital led innovation. PTI

NEW DELHI: As many as 331infrastructure projects, eachworth �150 crore or above, haveseen a cost overrun of �1.72 lakhcrore because of various reasonsincluding delays, according to agovernment report. Ministry ofStatistics and ProgrammeImplementation monitors infra-structure projects worth �150crore and above.

The total original cost ofimplementing 1,257 projectswas �15,76,903.56 crore andtheir anticipated completioncost is likely to be �17,49,274.62crore, cost overrun of�1,72,371.06 crore (10.93 percent of the original), the min-istry's flash report for July thisyear has stated. The expenditureincurred on these projects tillJuly is �6,80,016.96 crore, whichis 38.87 per cent of the total

anticipated cost. The 1,257 pro-jects in question include 331that reported cost overrun and274 time escalation.

“Out of a total of 1,257 pro-jects, 2 projects have reportedcompletion and 10 new pro-jects have been initiated on themonitor of this ministry dur-ing the current month (July).Of these, 11 projects are aheadof schedule, 304 are on sched-ule and 274 are delayed, 331projects are showing cost over-run and 92 projects are show-ing both time and cost overrunwith respect to original imple-mentation schedules.”

However, the report saidthat the number of delayed pro-jects decreases to 215 if delay iscalculated with reference tolatest revised schedules of com-pletion. The report also high-

lights that for 668 projects, theoriginal/anticipated commis-sioning dates were not report-ed by the authorities concerned.

It further said that out of274 delayed projects, 47 haveoverall delay in the range of 1to 12 months, 59 have delay inthe range of 13 to 24 months,101 have delay in the range of25 to 60 months and 67 havedelay of 61 months and above.Of the 1,257 projects, 372 aremega projects worth �1,000crore and above. The totaloriginal cost of implementa-tion of these 372 projects was�12,17,096.27 crore and theiranticipated completion cost islikely to be �13,60,528.92crore, which reflects overallcost overruns of �1,43,432.65crore (11.78 per cent of theoriginal cost). PNS

==;��������>����������������������;+?/@�����NEW DELHI: The Department of

Telecom (DoT) has cleared the merg-er of Sistema Shyam Teleservices withReliance Communications, a deal thatwill reduce the number of mobileoperators in the country to ten.“RCOM has received the DoTapproval for the demerger of the wire-less business of Sistema ShyamTeleservices Limited (SSTL) intoRCom,” the Anil-Ambani led tele-com firm said in a statement.

According to a source, thedeal was cleared by the DoT onOctober 20. Under the deal, allwireless business assets of SSTLwill come under RCom. However,brand MTS will continue to oper-ate. STL will gets 10 per cent stakein RCom as per the terms of thedeal. “With this, Rcom will acquireapproximately 2 million cus-tomers and additional annualrevenues of around �700 crore. Inaddition, RCom will acquire 30

MHz of the most valuable andsuperior 800/850 MHz bandspectrum, ideally suited for 4GLTE services, to complement itsown unique nationwide foot-print,” the statement said. PNS

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British banking major HSBC onMonday said its head of strat-

egy for the Asia-Pacific region,Jayant Rikhye, will be taking overas the India chief executive fromthe incumbent Stuart Milne. Milneserved as the country head for fiveyears, during which the banktook decisions like nearly halvingits retail branch presence and alsoexited several businesses like pri-vate banking and retail broking,leading to some job losses. In 2016,India was thethird biggestcontributor tothe group’s prof-its. Rikhye joinedthe bank in 1989,in the India oper-ations itself, and his last assignmentalso included being head of inter-national for Asia-Pacific.

“Jayant brings with him a vastexperience of leading interna-tional banking operations inAsia. I am confident he will beable to take the bank’s Indiaoperations to the next level ofdevelopment,” said HSBC deputychairman and chief executivePeter Wong in a statement. Rikhyewill take over the new role onDecember 1. Milne is going on asabbatical for three months andhis new role will be announcedlater, the bank said. The bank saidIndia has the second largest work-force for it globally. PTI

NEW DELHI: Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group's assetmanagement arm (AMC) isexpected to see a huge demandof over �15,000 crore fromanchor investors against theearmarked book size of �462crore for them under its forth-coming IPO, merchant bank-ing sources said. The firmhas fixed a price band of �247-252 per equity share. At theupper end of the price band,the share sale would garner�1,542.42 crore.

It will be the first initialshare sale by a major assetmanagement company (AMC)in India though smaller rivalUTI Mutual Fund's IPO planshave been in the works for a

long time. It will also be thefirst initial public offer (IPO)from the Reliance Group afterReliance Power in 2008. Otherlisted firms of the groupincluded Reliance Capital,Reliance Home Finance,RCOM, Reliance Infra andReliance Naval & Engineering.

According to merchantbanking sources, RelianceNippon Life Asset ManagementCompany (RNAM) hasreceived great response frominvestors for its initial sharesale during the recent road-shows. The company is expect-ed to see demand worth morethan �15,000 crore for theshares on offer for anchorinvestors, they added. PTI

NEW DELHI: Several issuesaround the GSTN portal havebeen addressed and efforts areon to make the filing smooth,the network's chairman AjayBhushan Pandey said. In aninterview to PTI, Pandey saida group of ministers (GoM)headed by Bihar Deputy ChiefMinister Sushil Kumar Modireviews the functioning ofthe GST Network (GSTN)every fortnight to ensure thatit is working smoothly. TheGoM will meet next onOctober 28 to review theactions taken to make the fil-ing of GST process smooth.This will be the third meetingof the GoM since it was con-stituted in September. PTI

NEW DELHI: MahindraLogistics Ltd (MLL), part of diver-sified Mahindra Group, has fixeda price band of �425 to 429 pershare for its initial public offer,according to a regulatory filing. Atthe upper end of the price, theshare sale would fetch little over�829 crore. “The price band for theoffer has been fixed at �425 to �429per share of �10 each of MLL withan employee discount of �42 thatwill be offered to eligible employ-ees,” Mahindra & Mahindra saidin a regulatory filing. PTI

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Did you know it takes 1,000 mgcalcium a day to keep all theosteoporosis issues away, a

condition which makes bones weakand brittle? But are we fulfilling thisdaily requirement? According to arecent study of the global calcium mapthat appeared in the journalOsteoporosis International releasedthis month, people in India, like someother countries in Asia-Pacific region,including China, Indonesia andVietnam, have very low calcium intake— less than 400 mg a day, raising therisk of fractures and osteoporosis.

“Osteoporosis is about the degen-eration of bone mineral density likecalcium, phosphorus and Vitamin Dwhich makes the bone very fragile andincreases the risk of fracture in spine,wrist and hip,” Dr Mukesh Garg,consultant and orthopedic surgeon atSarvodaya Hospital, says.

To meet the daily calcium require-ment, all it takes is eat calcium richfood. “Foods like green vegetables thatare good source of calcium and egg,dairy products that are low in fat,salmon and tuna should be con-sumed daily and in good quantity.The calcium requirement should be atleast 1,000 mg per day. If this is not get-ting fulfilled, then the individual mayrequire dietary supplement. Too muchof tea and coffee should be avoided.Aerated drinks should be a completeno no as it decreases the absorption ofcalcium. Eating too much of junk foodalso decrease in calcium intake in bonedensity. Smoking and drinking alco-hol should be avoided,” Garg advises.

Apart from calcium, anotherimportant nutrient that makes ourbone stronger is Vitamin D and its bestsource is sunlight. But due to the fearof sun tanning, not many people go forsunbathing. Those who are exposingthemself to the sunlight apply anti-sun-tan lotion to prevent the tan. Whatoptions do we have then?

“There are very limited naturalsource of Vitamin D that you can gofor. You can substitute sunbathing withcod-liver oil, salmon fish, etc. There isno vegetarian diet resource except sun-light and dietary supplements,” Gargexplains.

The deficiency of Vitamin D,which was quite common in womenafter menopause, is now affecting mentoo at large. Another health surveyrevealed that not just women, men inIndia have also reported high inci-

dence of osteoporosis. The surveyclaimed to have screened close to 73lakh men out of which 80 per centwere found to have alarmingly low lev-els of Vitamin D in their blood.

Experts cite the reason to seden-tary lifestyle that lacks fitness activi-ties. “Due of increase in sedentarylifestyle, Osteoporosis is on a rise thesedays and has affected younger agegroup and men as well. Lack of fitnessexercise and sports activities are themajor causes. Everybody should briskwalk for half an hour minimum andgo for jogging, swimming and cyclingas it helps in strengthening the bone.

A lot of young people are gettingaffected by Osteoporosis raising analarming health issue that is on arampant worldwide.

“It is no more an age-ing health aliment. Ourbone density startsdecreasing startsdeveloping sinceour childhood andthat is why is itsaid that the initialphase of child’s healthis crucial as it determinestheir mental and physical develop-ment. Moreover, till the age of 30-35years, the peak bone mass which is thebone mineral density remains normalto average. After that bone generallystarts decreasing depending upon

lifestyle or each individual. In female,after menopause, they start losing bonedensity quite fast due to hormonalchanges,” Garg tells you.

It is the early signs that showwhether a person is prone to osteo-porosis or not. And the best way toprevent from getting it is to follow pre-ventive care.

“People start getting body andjoint pain which might increase whileexertion and walking. They can alsoexperience the thinning of the boneand fracture in spine and neck or wrist.In this case, prevention is the best treat-ment. If you take care in the early stageand have a healthy lifestyle sincechildhood days, then you will never getlow peak bone mass. The chances ofosteoporosis will be almost negligible,”Garg tells you.

If the patient is having body andmuscle pain, he or she should go fordexa scan which tests the bone den-sity. “The scan detects the amount ofmineral in the bone. This shows if thepatient is having normal bone orosteoporosis bone and what are thechances of getting osteoporotic frac-ture. Patient might require some sup-plement along with diet and exercise,”Garg explains.

Talking about the top three casesof osteoporosis that are on a rise inIndia, Garg says: “Spine Osteoporosis

Fracture is very common. Inthis case, the vertebra of thespine collapses. Graduallywith age and especially infemale, because of the

excessive deficiency, thepatients lose the normalbone formation and frag-ile bone collapses by thehip. Their height alsodecreases. It is important

for them to take supple-ment. Depending upon the

patient, medicine and surgi-cal procedure like balloonkyphoplasty or screw fixation

are advised. Another case ona rise is wrist fracture that is

very common in old age peo-ple. The wrist loses its balanc-

ing power and strength to holdheavy things. After trivial fall,patient used to have that fracture.We use plaster cast and surgery K-wire-stabilisation or plating. Itis always advisable to not keepthe floor wet for the risk ofslipping,” Garg says.

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Despite there being a ban on crack-ers in Delhi this time around, the air

quality is still appalling. Delhi has per-sistently ranked in the list of some of theworld’s worst places in terms of air qual-ity. While the Government is trying tosort out this mess, it is pertinent that anaverage common man is aware abouthow to protect himself from this alarm-ing pollution that has left the capitalgasping. Here are a few tips:

�Trying to stay indoors as much aspossible: For many, it isn’t a feasibleoption. A daily labourer or a deliveryman doesn’t have a choice to sit in a nicecosy office and avoid breathing in thepolluted air. But for those who do havethis choice, take it. Try not to spend toomuch time outside, breathing in theharmful pollutants and gases. Childrenand elder people especially must stayaway from the polluted air.�Avoid going outside during earlymornings and evenings: Pollutants aremore concentrated during these timesas there is no sun. Avoid going outsideduring these time. You may have toadjust your fitness regime accordingly,but it is the lesser of the two evils.�Wear a mask: Being outside thecomfort of home or office can’t be avoid-ed all the time. In this situation, wear aprotective mask of good quality whichcan reduce the number of pollutants youend up inhaling. A wet cloth can alsobe used as a mask for the same purpose. �Keep an inhaler ready: For peoplewith weak lungs or diseases like asth-ma, it is essential that they keep supplieslike inhaler and their general medica-tion handy. Air pollutants tend to wors-en these diseases. If despite using yourmedication you have trouble breathing,contact your doctor immediately. �Buy an air-purifier: While stayingindoors is safer than being outside, theonly way to ensure maximum precau-tion is to buy and install an air-purifi-er in your home (and your work placeif needed). While it is not a fail-safeagainst the air pollution, it does signif-icantly help in reducing the number ofpollutants you would otherwise end upbreathing in. �Consume a healthy diet: It helps yourbody fight against the pollutants, but eat-ing healthy for a day or two will notshow miraculous effects. A healthydiet and lifestyle must be a constant partof one’s life. ���%����������������������� ����������������

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Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), amavata in Ayurveda, is an autoim-mune disease causing chronic inflammation of the joints and

tissues around the joints, and in other organs. Auto-immune dis-eases are illnesses that occur when the body’s tissues are mis-takenly attacked by their own immune system. Because it canaffect multiple other organs of the body, RA is referred to as asystemic illness. The 2016 market research report classifies RAunder inflammatory arthritis. About one of every five people whosuffer from rheumatoid arthritis get lumps on their skin calledrheumatoid nodules. This occurs in four stages and can be diag-nosed with blood tests, medical history and imaging. There isno cure for rheumatoid arthritis, but there are treatments avail-able to reduce the pain like drugs, physical exercise or surgery.

�( ������������� Inflammatory arthritis: Damages affected joints, resulting inpain, stiffness and swelling.�Degenerative or mechanical arthritis: A group of conditionsdamaging the cartilage that covers the bones. � Soft tissue musculoskeletal pain: Pain in tissues other thanthe joints and bones. This often affects a part of the body fol-lowing injury or over-use, such as tennis elbow, and originatesin the muscles or soft tissues supporting the joints.�Back pain: Back pain may have a specific cause, such asosteoarthritis — often called spondylosis when it occurs in thespine. A ‘slipped’ disc is another cause of back pain, as is osteo-porosis (thinning of the bones).

��!�Most people affected by

arthritis don’t even seek helpfrom a healthcare profession-al and instead manage painwith pain-killers. Increasedintake of indigestible, heavyand incompatible foods, hav-ing food at improper times,indigestion, intake of milkand milk products, especiallyyogurt, intake of meat ofaquatic animals, lack of phys-ical activity or doing exerciseafter having fatty foods aresome of the common causes ofRA.

(� ���Thirst, swelling, indigestion, lethargy, pain and stiffness in

the body, heaviness in the body, lack of appetite and pain andstiffness in the joints of the hands.

�(!�)����)��'The ayurvedic treatment is focused on uprooting the disease

in its entirety and providing a long-term solution, unlike mod-ern medicine, which only suppresses the symptoms. In ayurve-da, every patient is recommended a personalised treatment plan,which consists of herbal medicines, diet and lifestyle advice.

Improper food habits and sedentary lifestyle lead to impair-ment of digestive fire, formation of ama (toxin) and vitiation ofvata (air). When a person indulges in vata-aggravating diet andlifestyle, then this aggravated vata circulates ama in the chan-nels of the body and deposits it in the joints, causing Amavata.

Ayurvedic treatment of RA starts with pacification of vataand elimination of toxins from the body. Herbal medicines areadministered to improve the digestive fire and prevent furtherformation of ama. Panchakarma massage therapies are useful.

����������(��� Increase intake of barley flour, horse gram, split green gram,honey, celery seeds, cumin seeds, dried ginger root powder, gar-lic, bitter gourd and castor oil.�Avoid fish & milk together & milk & jaggery together.�Avoid incompatible, heavy and oily foods.�Avoid an improper diet and lifestyle, such as waking up latein the night, suppressing natural urges of the body, and gettingdirect exposure to cold winds.

�����������Go for fasting or rely on a liquid or semi-solid diet for an

entire day, depending on your strength. You can follow this withhot fomentation. This can be done by soaking cloth in warm waterand giving a compress over the affected parts or steam bath ortaking a bath with lukewarm water. The right approach for thetreatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis will determine the relief youget. Ayurvedic treatment slows down degeneration.

FRESH AIRFOR BETTER HEALTH

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Vaping may not only be as harmfulas smoking regular cigarettes, butcan also trigger unique immune

responses in lungs, causing deadly inflam-matory diseases, a study warns.

Immune responses are the biologicalreactions of cells and fluids to an outsidesubstance the body does not recognise asits own. Such immune responses play rolesin disease, including lung disease spurredon by cigarette use. The study, publishedin the American journal of Respiratory andCritical Care Medicine, looked at possible

biomarkers of harm in the lungs and foundthat in some ways using e-cigarettescould be just as bad as smoking cigarettes.

Researchers from University NorthCarolina in the US compared sputum sam-ples from 15 e-cigarette users, 14 cigarettesmokers and 15 non-smokers. They founde-cigarette users uniquely exhibited signif-icant increases in: Neutrophil granulocyte-and neutrophil-extracellular-trap-(NET)related proteins in airways. E-cigaretteusers also showed significant increases inNETs outside the lung, researchers said.

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Anew study suggests that post-operative shivering can bereduced by acetaminophen.

Acetaminophen, like Tylenol which is apain reliever and a fever reducer,its intake during surgery mayreduce the incidence of postop-erative shivering. It is a com-mon side effect that a patienthappens to suffer chills andshivering while regaining con-sciousness after surgery. Shiveringcan occur in up to half of patients.While the exact cause is unknown, sci-entists believe it may be related to thebody cooling down.

Lead study author, TakahiroTadokoro, a physician anesthesiologist atthe University of the Ryukyus inOkinawa, Japan, said: “Postoperativeshivering is a frequent complication in

patients recovering from general anes-thesia. It causes significant pain and dis-comfort. Post-operative shivering canalso put a strain on the cardiovascular

system, therefore we need to pre-vent it, especially in patientswith cardiopulmonary risk,”Tadokoro said. She also notedthat acetaminophen is beingused more and more pre-and

postoperatively in an effort tocontrol pain and to minimise opi-

oids. However, until now, few studieshave evaluated the ability of aceta-minophen to prevent postoperativeshivering. “We believe our findings canbe widely applicable, as acetaminophenis a relatively safe drug and commonlyused,” Tadokoro stated. The study waspublished in the journal of AmericanSociety of Anesthesiologists.

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Winters come with itsshare of ups anddowns. After the

intense summer months, a nipin the air is a welcomechange. But our skindoesn’t think so.The dryness, theitchiness andlack of moisturein the skinmakes it lookdull. Here aresome easy homeremedies.

�One of the eas-iest ways to tackle drynessis using glycerine. Wash yourface and leave it slightly damp.Use a cotton ball to apply glyc-erin on the face. Avoid the eyesand the lips. Leave it on.Benefits: It is a natural mois-turiser and helps to restorehydration of the skin, makingit soft.

�Using half a mashed avo-

cado with two tablespoons ofhoney will help cure dry skinproblems. Apply the mixture onthe face and neck and leave it

on for 10-15 minutes andwash with water.

Benefits: Avocadocontains healthyfats, vitamins Eand C, andc a r o t e n o i d s .They protect theskin from free

radical damageand keep it hydrated

and the antioxidants inhoney keep the skin young

looking.Using pure coconut oil is

yet another easy way to treatdry skin. Dab coconut oil on theaffected area and massage untilit gets absorbed into the skin.Do not wash off.

Benefit: Coconut oil makesthe skin softer and providesmoisture to the skin naturally.

����������Though the chill is yet to set in,

some people are already facing theproblem of dry skin. While growing

up, our elders had some simplehome remedies that very extremely

effective, says ROSHANI DEVI

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President Donald Trumpstruggled to remember the

name of the US soldier killedin an ambush in Niger when hecalled the man’s widow forcondolences, the woman toldABC on Monday.

“Yes, the President said thathe knew what he signed up forbut it hurts anyways and I was— it made me cry because I wasvery angry at the tone of hisvoice and how he said it,”Myeshia Johnson, the widow of

the late Sergeant La DavidJohnson, said on Good MorningAmerica TV programme.

Trump “couldn’t remembermy husband’s name,” she said.“The only way he rememberedmy husband’s name because hetold me he had my husbandreport in front of him and that’swhen he actually said LaDavid.”

Trump responded quicklyvia Twitter. “I had a veryrespectful conversation withthe widow of Sgt La DavidJohnson, and spoke his namefrom beginning, without hesi-tation!” he said.

The widow, who is preg-nant with the couple’s thirdchild, said that she “heard himstumbling on trying to remem-

ber my husband name and thathurt me the most because if myhusband is out here fighting forour country and he risks his lifefor our country, why can’t youremember his name?”

That, she said, “made meupset and cry even morebecause my husband was anawesome soldier.” Johnson wasamong four US soldiers killed ina jihadist ambush October 4 inNiger, where Islamic State fight-ers have established a presence.The Miami native’s body wasreturned home on October 17.

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President Donald Trumpbelieves that the United

States is course on for the“biggest tax cuts” in its histo-ry with the current indicationsthat the Republicans inCongress will not throw aspanner in the works, but joinhands to pass the proposed taxreform legislation before theend of the year.

“It’ll be the biggest cutsever, in the history of thiscountry,” Trump told FoxBusiness News, adding therewas “tremendous appetite” and“tremendous spirit” for themeasure. Trump’s optimism ofan early conclusion of taxreforms follows the Senate’spassage of the 2018 budgetblueprint that is seen to clearthe decks for introduction ofthe tax reform legislation.

While Democrats havederided his package as “tax cutsfor the rich”, Trump projectedthat it would prove to be a bigwin for the middle class.

“It’s time to igniteAmerica’s middle class miracleonce again,” Trump wrote in anOp-Ed piece in USA Today onSunday, which also happenedto be the anniversary of formerpresident Ronald Reagan sign-ing the last major tax reformlegislation in 1986.

Stating that America is inacute need of a similar push tousher in a new economic boomand create jobs in a big way,Trump wrote: “While our eco-nomic competitors slashed theirtaxes in hopes of replicatingAmerica’s success, our leadersremained complacent or, insome cases, reversed course.”

“We are now among thehighest taxed nations in thedeveloped world. Our tax codeand laws have nearly tripled inlength since the 1986 reforms.They now span 2,650 pages,with another 70,000 pages offorms, instructions, court deci-sions, and other guidance.”

Asserting that the “era ofeconomic surrender is nowover”, Trump held forth on thevirtues of his initiative which,he said, will cut taxes for hard-working, middle-class fami-lies, doubling the standarddeduction and expanding thechild tax credit.

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Texas police on Sunday dis-covered the body of a child

in the course of their search foran adopted Indian-Americangirl who went missing in theearly hours of October 7 whenher foster father reportedlyleft her outside their home aspunishment for refusing todrink milk.

While the identificationprocess was still on, police offi-cers of Richardson in suburbanDallas said the body was “mostlikely” that of three-year-oldSherin Mathews, who wasadopted by Wesley Mathews

from an orphanage in Bihar twoyears ago. The cause of deathwas still to be determined.

The foster father, a 37-year-old Indian-American, wasarrested late on October 7 oncharges of abandoning orendangering the child. He wasreleased a day later after post-ing a $250,000 bond.

Police told reporters thatthey discovered the body of asmall child in a culvert that wasless than a mile from the homeof Mathews in suburban Dallas.

“Worst news finding child’sbody,” Richardson Police ChiefJimmy Spivey tweeted andvowed to bring those respon-

sible for the death to justice.Police are reported to havetaken DNA swabs, receipts,grass and other debris fromthree vehicles belonging to theMathews family. SpokesmanSgt Kevin Perlich said thatwhile a medical examiner wasstill to see the child’s body andmake a positive identification,“it’s most likely” SherinMathews. Her adoptive parentswere notified of the discovery.

Media reports quotedPerlich as saying that investi-gators have no reason to believethat the body belonged to someother missing child. Furtheraction for positive identifica-

tion and autopsy to determinethe cause of death is under way.

Multiple law enforcementagencies, including the FBI, USMarshals and the NationalCenter for Missing andExploited Children, partici-pated in the fortnight-longsearch for Sherin. Investigatorscombed Sherin’s neighborhoodand surrounding area with K-9 teams and helicopters andexecuted a search warrant atthe Mathews’ home on October10, CNN reported.

It was at the unearthlyhour of 3 am on October 7 thatWesley Thomas left his daugh-ter outside their Richardsonhome as punishment “becauseshe wouldn’t drink her milk”.He reportedly told her to standnear a tree some 100 feet awayfrom the home, across an alley.He told the police that around

3.15 am, he went out to retrievethe child, but she was not to befound there. Mathews, howev-er, did not contact police forfive hours after finding that thechild was missing. Later thatevening, Mathews was arrest-ed and charged with abandon-ing or endangering a child.

The Richardson PoliceDepartment, according toCNN, said on October 12 thata vehicle belonging to Mathewshad left the residence themorning Sherin went missing,between 4 and 5 am.

As for feeding the child atthe odd hour, Mathews toldpolice Sherin was malnour-ished and had to be on a spe-cial diet to gain weight, so shehad to be fed whenever she wasawake. Mathews reportedlyspoke of his frustration whenSherin was not cooperation as

he tried to feed her. “We’reworking to verify all that,”police spokesman Perlich said.

Local media reports saidthat Mathews has stoppedcooperating with the police. Sohas been the case with his wifeSini, who has not faced anycharges so far as she wasreportedly asleep and unaware

of what her husband was doingwhile dealing with Sherin onthe fateful day.

Mathews, according to theDallas Morning News, wasrequired as part of his bail con-dition to surrender his passportand wear an electronic moni-toring bracelet to enable author-ities to track him at all times.

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Clark: A five-month battleagainst ISIS supporters in thesouthern Philippines thatclaimed more than 1,000 liveshas ended, the nation’s DefenceSecretary said on Monday.

“We now announce thetermination of all combat oper-ations in Marawi,” DefenceSecretary Delfin Lorenzanatold reporters on the sidelinesof a regional security meetingin Clark, a northern Philippinecity. Lorenzana said there wereno more terrorists, knownlocally as coming from theMaute group, providing resis-tance following an intense finalbattle after which 42 bodieswere recovered.

“Those are the last group ofstragglers of Mautes and theywere caught in one buildingand so there was a firefight sothey were finished,” he said

“All terrorists, fightingtroops. All hostages have beenrecovered.” Hundreds of gun-men who had pledged alle-giance to ISIS rampaged throughMarawi, the Islamic capital ofmainly Catholic Philippine tookover parts of the city.

Beirut: The ISIS killed 116people it suspected of collabo-rating with the Syrian regimein Al-Qaryatain this monthbefore losing the desert downto Government forces, a mon-itor said on Monday.

“ISIS has over a period of 20days executed at least 116 civil-ians in reprisal killings, accus-ing them of collaboration withregime forces,” said Rami Abdel

Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights monitor.

Regime forces retook Al-Qaryatain, which lies in thecentral Homs province, onSaturday, three weeks after thejehadists seized control of it.

ISIS had first occupied thetown in 2015 and lost it to aRussian-backed Syria forceslast year.

Dhaka: Bangladesh onMonday sent a high-level del-egation to Myanmar for talkson the deepening Rohingya cri-

sis as Dhaka sought to increasepressure on Naypyidaw to takeback 6,00,000 members of theminority Muslim community

who have fled Rakhine state toescape persecution.

Home MinisterAsaduzzaman Khan is leadingthe 12-member delegationcomprising chiefs of paramil-itary Border Guard Bangladesh(BGB), coastguard, police andseveral senior officials.

Khan did not speak to themedia before the departurebut a home ministryspokesman told PTI that thedelegation left for Myanmarthis afternoon.

Barcelona: A far-left Catalanparty on Monday threatened“massive civil disobedience” ifSpain dismisses the region’sGovernment to stave off itsthreat to declare independence.

The Popular UnityCandidacy (CUP) partydenounced Madrid’s plans asthe “biggest aggression” againstthe Catalan people since theFranco dictatorship.

“This aggression willreceive a response in the formof massive civil disobedience,”

said the party, a key regionalpower broker, in a statement.

The CUP’s threat upped thestakes in the standoff overCatalan independence, whichhas raised fears of unrest inSpain’s deepest political crisis indecades. Half a million angryseparatists took to the streets ofBarcelona on Saturday afterSpanish Prime MinisterMariano Rajoy announced hewould remove Catalan leaderCarles Puigdemont and hisexecutive.

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Geneva: Governments and international donors pledged $234million on Monday to help over 6,00,000 Rohingya people whohave fled violence in Myanmar into neighboring Bangladesh overthe last two months. The head of the UN’s aid coordination agencysaid a one-day conference co-hosted by the European Union andKuwait’s government had taken important strides in meeting arecent UN target for $434 million in aid for Rohingya refugeesthrough February. At the start of the conference $116 millionhad been committed already.

Beijing: President Xi Jinping’spolitical ideology will soon beincorporated into the curriculumacross China, a move analystsbelieve will solidify his image astransformative leader and help inrise of nationalism among theyouth. Education Minister ChenBaosheng said, “We will design specific teaching methodsthat combine texts...Of variousgrades and subjects.”

Clark (Philippines): Japan’s Defence Minister asserted on Mondaythat North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities havegrown to an “unprecedented, critical and imminent” level. TheMinister, Itsunori Odonera, said this rising threat means his coun-try, along with South Korea and the United States, have to col-lectively take what he called “different responses.”

His comments, made through an interpreter, came at the out-set of a meeting in the Philippines with US Defence SecretaryJim Mattis and South Korea’s defense minister, Song Young-moo.

Onodera noted that North Korea has recently launched bal-listic missiles that have overflown Japanese territory and said itcannot be ruled out that a recent underground nuclear test byNorth Korea was a hydrogen bomb.

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Bollywood is not playingcoy — not any more.Confessions galore, not

just in off-the-cuff remarks butfinding their way in full-fledged tell-all memoirs,seems to be the name of thegame. From alcoholism, tolusty, hormonal pursuits andone night stands, nothing istaboo.

Actor-director PoojaBhatt will soon be launchingher own book on coming outof alcoholism. Ever since shehad confessesed about herbattle with the bottle to aMumbai tabloid, it got anoverwhelming response as ittakes a lot of courage for anywoman to open up to the factthat she had a problem withalcohol. Women across thecountry had reached out toher and shared their struggleswith an issue that continues toremain a social stigma, ataboo. Bhatt had then said,“Women particularly are dis-couraged from seeking helpbecause it’s a matter of shamefor the family. .” Such was thetalking point that Bhattthought of catapulting herselfat the forefront of a crusade ofsorts. It was the genesis of aone-of-its-kind book that sheis co-authoring with RoshmilaBhattacharya and which willbe out in 2018.

Pointed out Bhatt, “Iwould like to emphasise thatit is not an autobiography. At45, I am too young to write mymemoirs. As they say in filmiterms, Picture abhi baki hai,mere dost. But I can help oth-ers like me deal with theirproblem by talking about myjourney.”

She points out that it hasbeen exactly 10 months sinceshe has touched liquor. “It has-n’t been easy but it hasn’t beentoo difficult either. A series ofchapters in a book called life,”she asserts.

Swati Chopra, commis-sioning editor, PenguinRandom House India, is excit-

ed about the project. “PoojaBhatt’s forthcoming book isan incredibly brave one,

about a topic that most peo-ple, especially women, wouldbe hesitant to talk about inIndia. Pooja writes about over-coming alcoholism withcourage and honesty that israre, especially in image-con-scious Bollywood, makingthis a truly groundbreakingbook. And this will definitelynot be a run-of-the-millcelebrity memoir.”

Following Bhatt’s candouris actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui,who has decided to speak indetail about his love life in hisautobiography, admitting thathe was selfish about his rela-tionships with women and notshy of confessing that he gavein to his carnal needs manytimes.

Siddiqui had a passionateaffair with his Miss Lovely co-star Niharika Singh. And inthe book he gives the details.“One day, while we were

shooting a dance scene, some-thing happened to my co-starNiharika Singh. When thedirector said, ‘Cut!’, she quiet-ly rushed to her vanity van andstayed there. Somethingseemed to have happened toher. She was suddenly cold,went out of her way to main-tain a distance from me andbegan to keep mum. I waspuzzled. What was wrongwith her? What had hap-pened? She used to be friend-ly, social and talk quite a bit.I thought it was best to ask herwhat had happened and so Idid, not once, not twice, butseveral times, for several days.She responded that nothinghad happened. I silenced mycuriosity. I simply urged her totalk, be more social, that it wasnot healthy to be so quiet.After some days she began. Iinvited her over for a home-cooked meal, a mutton dishwhich was my speciality. Shepolitely agreed and came over.The dish I had made for herturned out to be absolutely ter-rible. But she was too well-mannered to say so. Not onlydid she eat everything that wason her plate but she praised itas well. ‘Now you come to myhouse, Nawaz. I will cookmutton for you,’ she saidwarmly.

“For the very first time Iwent to Niharika’s house. Irang the doorbell, slightlynervous. When she openedthe door, revealing a glimpseof the house, I was speechlesswith amazement. A hundred,or so it seemed, little candlesflickered beautifully. She woresoft faux fur, looking devastat-ingly gorgeous, her beautyilluminated even more in thecandlelight. And I, being thelusty village bumpkin that Iam, scooped her up in myarms and headed straightfor the bedroom.” That wasthe beginning of a one-and-a-half-year affair which sheended because he stayedaway from emotional entan-glements.

Siddiqui had oncethought of marrying aJewish girl called Suzanne.“We met in New York Cityand hit it off. She came toMumbai and began to live

with me. By then, Shamas(younger brother) and I hadmoved to Yari Road. Every fewmonths, she kept extendingher visa. It was a very sweetrelationship. She was so love-ly that the idea of marriagehad begun to cross my mind,first in fleeting thoughts, andthen slowly they turned intoa decision. At the very lastminute when I was about topropose, as if reading mymind, Suzanne said, ‘In mycountry it is divorce seasonright now.’ It was winter,famous for festivals and infa-mous for breakups in theWest. Her brother had justgotten a divorce. Perhaps thatwas why she was afraid ofmarriage. ‘Let’s wait and watchwhat we want to do. Let’s seeif we want to live together ornot after a year,’ she said qui-etly. I was bewildered. Withouttelling her, I dropped the ideaof marriage altogether. Theshooting of Miss Lovely com-menced. Suzanne used toaccompany me there. Thencame the day when her visaexpired and she needed toreturn to New York to sort itout. She was gone for manymonths.”

It was the relationshipwith Suzanne that speededthe demise of his relation-ship with Niharika Singh asshe caught him two timingwith the former.

“Anyway, coming backto the story, in the mean-time, emails from Suzannestarted coming. ‘Why areyou not mailing me, Nawaz?What’s wrong?’ I did notrespond, I did not have thecourage to. I trusted mysilence would convey whatneeded to be conveyed.

When I was checking myinbox one day, Niharika hap-pened to see one of heremails. ‘Who is this?’ sheinquired. ‘You know verywell who it is,’ I said. ‘It’sSuzanne.’ ‘Wo-ow! It’s stillgoing on between you two!Amazing!’Niharika thun-dered in anger. ‘It is wrong.I hope you know that.’ ‘No,Niharika, nothing is going onbetween us. Sometimes heremails come, that’s all. Slowlyshe will realise that Nawaz isnot interested and she willstop emailing,’ I explainedsoftly.

‘No, Nawaz! You mustmaintain clarity,’ she said. ‘Allright! I will email her clear-ly then,’ I said. ‘No, youwon’t. So I will email her,’ shesaid sternly. From that day,Niharika began to sendemails to Suzanne from myemail address. She wouldtype, ‘I cannot continue withyou . . .’ and sign off as me.Imagine the shock forSuzanne. She would sendheartbreaking replies like:‘What happened, Nawaz?Please tell me,Nawaz! . . . Iam crying, Nawaz! Tell me,please.’ It was absolutelyawful. I simply could notendure it! It was as if she wasscreaming, crying out aloudhelplessly in unbearable pain.It was apparent that theemails had some sort of amultiple personality disorder.After a few of these emailexchanges, Suzanne figuredthat this was not my voice atall. ‘Who is this writing,Nawaz? I know this is notyou. Somebody else is withyou,’ she wrote back.Imagine her plight—help-lessly trying to solve a mys-tery from another continent

and her only clues werethose few emails. ‘Somebodyelse is making you writethese emails. Tell me who isthis person?’ she wrote.

‘Who is she? Who is thisb***h?’ ‘B***h!’ That wordinfuriated Niharika so muchthat she made me end allcorrespondence withSuzanne forever, then andthere. I was very sad. ThenI thought, so be it, it’s allright, I am with Niharika.My melancholy evaporatedquickly.”

While the relationshipwith Singh lasted long,Siddiqui had a one nightstand with a waitress inNew York City. He says inthe book, “Strangely, theWest was kinder to me first,both in terms of love andwork. I gained recognitionthere through my filmswhich travelled to most fes-tivals. I was at a cafe oncewith my friend in New YorkCity’s Soho area. The stun-ning waitress kept staring atme. ‘Boss, you’re all set!’ Myfriend chuckled. I was notused to such attention, espe-cially from the female kind.‘You? You are an actor?’ sheasked a rhetorical question.‘Yes!’ I replied. ‘Which filmof mine did you see? Gangsof Wasseypur?’ She squinted,trying to remember, ‘No,no,’ she said. ‘Another film!’After a few moments, sheresponded: ‘Lunchbox!’ Wegot talking and let’s just saywhat happens in New Yorkstays in New York, at least inmy case. As you can proba-bly guess from the titles ofthe films, this is a memorythat happened way down theline when I had tasted thesweet nectar of success.”

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The sloping vineyards of New York’s Finger Lakesregion known for producing golden-hued Rieslings

and Chardonnays also are offering a splash of orangewine.

The colour comes not from citrus fruit, but by fer-menting white wine grapes with their skins on beforepressing — a practice that mirrors the way red winesare made. Lighter than reds and earthier than whites,orange wines have created a buzz in trendier quarters.And winemakers reviving the ancient practice like howthe “skin-fermented” wines introduce more complexflavours to the bottle.

“Pretty outgoing characteristics. Very spicy, peppery.A lot of tea flavours, too, come through,” winemakerVinny Aliperti said, taking a break from harvest dutiesat Atwater Estate Vineyards on Seneca Lake. “They’remore thoughtful wines. They’re more meditative.”

Atwater is among a few wineries encircling theseglacier-carved lakes that have added orange to their mixof whites and reds. The practice dates back thousandsof years, when winemakers in the Caucasus, a regionlocated at the border of Europe and Asia, would fermentwine in buried clay jars. It has been revitalised in recentdecades by vintners in Italy, California and elsewherelooking to connect wine to its roots or to conjure newtastes from the grapes. Or both. Clay jars are option-al.

Aliperti has been experimenting with skin ferment-ing for years, first by blending a bit into traditionalchardonnays to change up the flavour and more recent-ly with full-on orange wines. This fall, he fermentedVignoles grapes with their skins in a stainless steel vat

for a couple of weeks beforepressing and then aging

them in oak barrels.Orange wines

account for “far lessthan 1 per cent” ofwhat is handled bySouthern Glazer’sWine and Spirits,the nation’s largestdistributor with

about a quarter ofthe market, according

to Eric Hemer, seniorvice president and corporate

director of wine education.Hemer expects orange wines to remain a niche vari-

ety due to small-scale production, higher retail prices— up to $200 for a premium bottle — and the natureof the wine.

“It’s not a wine that’s going to appeal to the noviceconsumer or the mainstream wine drinker,” Hemer said.“It really takes a little bit more of, I think, a sophisti-cated palate.”

The wines have caught on in recent years amongconnoisseurs who like the depth of flavours, somme-liers who can regale customers with tales of ancient tech-niques and drinkers looking for something different.Christopher Nicolson, managing winemaker at Red HookWinery in Brooklyn, said the wines hit their “crest of hip-ness” a couple of years ago, though they remain popular.

“I think they’re viewed by these younger drinkers as,‘Oh, this is something new and fresh. And they’re break-ing the rules of these Van Dyke-wearing, monocled...fustyold wine appreciators,’” Nicolson said.

It’s not for everyone. The rich flavours can come atthe expense of the light, fruity feel that some white winedrinkers crave. And first-time drinkers can be thrown byseeing an orange chardonnay in their glasses.

“Actually I wasn’t sure because of the colour, but ithas a really nice flavour,” said Debbie Morris, of Chandler,Arizona, who tried a sip recently at Atwater’s tasting room.“I’m not a chardonnay person normally, but I would drinkthis.” —AP

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If you hear the clang of steel pots andpans from the innards of Jaipur’s

Nahargarh fort or chance upon thestory of grain and bread as connectingall civilisations, don’t be spooked.Chances are that artistes Subodh Guptaor Thukral and Tagra are inside withtheir wares that have won acclaim fromNew York to Dubai.

The Nahargarh fort, which has livedin the shadow of a vibrant Amer allalong, is being resurrected with culturalpride. It is an expansive spread whichoverlooks the Aravallis and gives a spec-tacular view of the Pink City along withits architecture and art in the most hid-den cornices and recesses. But the ram-parts, which have been nestling inserene solitude, will echo again as thefort plays host to a multitude of art-works from across the globe andbecomes one of the world’s largest openair galleries.

The Rajasthan government, in col-laboration with Saat Saath Arts, willunveil The Sculpture Park here onDecember 10, featuring five interna-tional and 15 Indian curators. AparajitaJain, founder and director, Saat SaathArts, tells us, “Rajasthan, being a cultur-ally rich state and home to numerouspieces of art and architecture, intriguedme along with Peter Nagy, the curator.We came up with the idea to give amodern reference point to this aesthet-

ically designed fort palace andapproached the state government.” Tobe showcased both indoor and outdoor,the art installations will include theworks of Arman, Huma Bhabha, AsthaButail, James Brown, Vibha Galhotra,Subodh Gupta, Evan Holloway, JitishKallat, Reena Kallat, Bharti Kher,Mrinalini Mukherjee, Manish Nai,Gyan Panchal, Prashant Pandey,Benitha Perciyal, Thukral and Tagra,LN Tallur, Ravinder Reddy, AsimWaqif, Arlene Shechet and many more.

“We got financial support from cor-porates, thus making it a cost-efficientassignment. However our only chal-lenge was to conceptualise a uniqueavant-garde project which defines bestpractices of the industry alongside asuccessful business module. And theintriguing element was to come up withan unconventional approach in art,keeping the cultural sensitivity intactalong with the contribution of severalother individuals involved in this pro-ject,” asserts Jain.

Peter Nagy, project curator anddirector of Nature Morte Art Limited,

mentions that he was keen on refur-bishing the existing concept into anunusual and contemporary piece of art.“This project is an interface between therich historic aspect of the city and con-temporary artwork which is slowlypicking its pace in India,” he shares.

Setting up The Sculpture Park wasnot a cakewalk as the curators had towork under limitations in a span of sixmonths that included no use of nails toput up a wall panel that could distortthe facades. Installing large mantel-

pieces was another challenge asthe fort had sharp meanders allacross the property. “Since wewere bound to use limited art-works, we decided on settingup sculptures that couldindependently stand outwithout any additional sup-port,” says Nagy. Accordingto him, Indian art has wit-nessed an exceptional shifttowards contemporarygrammar that includes theuse of textiles, motifs andapplied art in the last 30years in comparison to theinitial stages.

Malvika Singh, fulltimemember, Chief Minister’sAdvisory Council (CMAC),Government of Rajasthan,informs that the govern-ment was keen on taking upthis assignment and sug-gested the curators toinvolve private stakeholders.“The aim was to establishthis project and give cre-ative ownership to the cura-tors who have largely put inefforts to add a new face tothe Nahargarh fort.

The art galleria installed at thefort’s Madhavendra Palace willfeature exceptional pieces that

can take the Jaipur experience tothe next level and entice more

travellers,” she asserts.Singh further informs

that the public-private asso-ciation will encourageIndian art enthusiasts tocurate standout artworksand sculptures besidesadding a new experiential tothe bouquet of tourist must-dos. The tourism depart-ment of Rajasthan hasalready worked on freshconcepts like MagneticFields, a contemporary artsand music festival, at Alsisar,the Sacred Music festival, acoming together of yoga,music and meditation inPushkar and Jaipur Photo,an open air exhibition oftravel photography. It hasfurther roped in local artiststo beautify the walls at rail-way stations. More creativecomponents will be addedto UNESCO listed heritage

sites in the state in thefollowing months. Theprice for viewing art?Just �20 each.

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The four-feet portrait of PrinceAgha Khan took artist Brijinder

Kaushal a good two months tocomplete. “The size of the portraitwas itself a challenge because nor-mally I like to work in tighterframes to maintain uniformity ofthe most delicate lines and expres-sions. It took me two attempts tofinally pull this one off. I wouldwork on different facial parts in dif-ferent weeks as the oil took its timeto dry,” shares the 60-year-old artist,who will be debuting on Delhi’s artfraternity by exhibiting 35 por-traits that he has done over the lasttwo years at Shriram Bhartiya KalaKendra.

Aks literally means “reflection”and the prime objective of a portraitis to depict a subject exactly as hewould come across in flesh andblood while ensuring it is imbuedwith his essence and personality.Kaushal, who grew up in an artis-tically-inclined family in Shimla,came to Delhi at age 24 with the pre-dictable rush to earn a living. “As a24-year-old in Delhi, without anyhelp or support from family andsurviving on just �500, the artist inme took a backseat. I had a mundane job and a humdrum exis-tence but it was my passion formusic and painting that made mesail through.”

The 60-year-old artist willexhibit the portraits of iconic per-sonalities like Ustad Ghulam Ali,Vyjayanthimala, Nutan and PrinceAga Khan. Talking about his inspi-ration, he says, “When I startedpainting two years ago after myactive career was over, it was pureindulgence of my creative spirit anda hobby. One can say that all myportraits initially were for my per-sonal satisfaction as I picked upfaces from everyday life. I soon

started getting a very positiveresponse from people around mebut the biggest challenge was howwould a third person get to knowthat I had successfully matched thefeatures or accomplished my taskwith perfection?” It was to overcomethis doubt that he chose public fig-ures so that anyone could relate tothem easily and judge his capabili-ty. “Simply explained, a portrait hastwo pre-dominant essentials. One is

the prime focus on the face of thesubject and direct eye-eye contact.Combined together, these attribut-es go a long way in capturing thepersonality, mood and emotions ofa subject and that exactly is theintention of the artist,” he adds.

Kaushal also believes in creatingeverything from scratch. “I haveused heavy body acrylic (water-based) paint on back-stapled, stan-dard stretched canvas. However, I

make sure that I do not rely on com-puter software at any stage. I just usephotos provided by clients for ref-erence. Good quality photos willresult in the best paintings as I cancapture more detail. All portraitpaintings are done in the order Ireceive them. After the clients sug-gest their desired medium, I startpencilling the subject. Reasonablealterations can be requested forthe painting until you are 100 per

cent satisfied. The turnaround timedepends on how many portraits Iam currently working on, but I cantypically complete a painting in 20to 25 days. Colour palette dependson the client choice and the refer-ence picture.”

Over the years, he has paintednumerous portraits but it is still hisfather’s portrait in oil which was hisfirst attempt and his most cherished.“The photograph that I selected asa reference for this portrait was veryclose to his personality. Therefore,it helped me lay the foundation witha great deal of accuracy. You cannotice that the portrait captureseven minute details contained in thephotograph, like wrinkles and thebifocal lenses.”

He chose to paint his father firstbecause of a sense of guilt that hedidn’t spend enough time with himor couldn’t say the final goodbye.“So one day, I decided to pick up acanvas, some oil colours and start-ed his portrait. I wanted to relive mymemories with him, his wrinkles,his smile and his eyes. I was scaredof forgetting all of this and soon myfather’s oil portrait was ready. Irealised this was the window ofopportunity to delve into somethingmore creative and challenging. Youwould appreciate that making por-traits requires tremendous skill,patience and acumen.”

Kaushal’s obsession with por-trait-painting in a world of digitalexcesses is to preserve memorythrough emotion and felt experi-ences rather than keeping a timelineof photo files. Kaushal believes thatall five forms of fine arts are veryclosely knit. If one understandsany one form — be it dance, music,poetry, architecture and sculpture —one is bound to appreciate andunderstand the other four forms.

Delhi-based singer andlyricist ChinmayiTripathi has found a

unique way of bringing theromance of poetry back amongyoung people. She has compiledan album called The Musicand Poetry Project, which hasbeen conceptualised to popu-larise Hindi poetry throughcontemporary music.

Some of the greatest leg-ends of Indian literature —Mahadevi Verma, Nirala,Shivmangal Singh Suman,Dharamvir Bharti and Dinkar— have been resurrected in thealbum, either through songsbased on their timeless works orrecitations of relevant stanzas.“A couple of poems have beenrecited by the great actor-singerPiyush Mishra. Some phe-nomenal artists have con-tributed to the album such asMadhu Mukherjee — the greatproducer, composer andteacher. Also Tapas Roy hasadded magic through hisstrings while Joell Mukherjii hasgiven life to the songs with hissoul-stirring arrangement. Thealbum also includes a song byBaiju Dharmajan, one of thefinest and most respected inde-pendent artists of our time. Wehave just released the first songKhushgappiyan. Thereafter wewill be releasing a new songevery month,” said ChinmayiTripathi.

It all happened last summerwhen Tripathi was hanging outwith her friends at Cyber Huband the discussion veeredaround contemporary arts.“Someone mentioned Kabir inthe context of sufiayana andhow no other Indian sage hashad such a massive appeal incontemporary music. Thensomebody mentioned Niralaand one of my friends asked,‘Who is that?’ We all laughedthen but it got me thinking howas a generation we had movedaway from poetry. Also, our

popular music, barring a fewexceptions, is devoid of mean-ingful lyrics.” Another factorthat worried her was how mostyoungsters only read over theinternet and had lost the inter-est and patience to read books,especially literature, in theirphysical form. “I thought aboutcomposing songs based onpoems I liked. Then I startedreading poetry all over from amusical point of view and gotreally excited that I could trans-form quite a number of poemsinto songs. That’s when I decid-ed to do an album based ontimeless poetry of some of thegreat poets of Hindi literature —Nirala, Bachchan, MahadeviVerma and Dharamvir Bharti.”

She was apprehensive abouttheir critical reception andpurist reactions. “However, Ijust tried to be as honest as Icould while composing thesongs to ensure that theiressence remains as it is,” Tripathitold us.

Born and brought up inSagar, a small town in MadhyaPradesh, the singer-lyricist hasalways been rooted to tradition.“Both my parents taught liter-ature. My father has been aSanskrit scholar and my moth-er a specialist in Hindi literature.I was always surrounded bybooks. Soon my parents noticedthat I had a voice and theyencouraged me to learn music.I was trained in Hindustaniclassical (vocals) when I wasabout seven,” she said.

Everything developed grad-ually for Tripathi. “I was neverreally interested in singing coverversions from the beginning. Iwas keen to work on my ownmusic. So I started writing andcomposing original songs.Simultaneously, I carried onwith my academics as well.Around 2014, I formed a fusionband called Spice Route. Wemostly worked on our ownoriginal compositions and few

covers. We started doing gigs inand around Delhi. I remembermy first gig was at Hard RockCafé, Delhi. We were a bitsceptical if the crowd out therewould appreciate our kind ofmusic but it was a pleasant sur-prise. A lot of people really likedwhat we did. Encouraged, westarted touring other cities aswell.”

The first song she wrotewas Aali (A friend), an intro-spective number about lookingwithin and find that your best

friend is yourself. “I recorded it,released it digitally and gotsome really interesting com-ments and responses. Thatmotivated me to write moremusic. Then one thing led toanother and I went on andreleased more music. Alongwith that I started performinglive with my band and as a soloartiste,” said Tripathi.

Talking about her style ofwriting songs, she shared, “Itake inspiration from everydaylife. A lot of times the most ran-

dom thoughts become songs.So it’s a spontaneous process asfar as conceiving a song is con-cerned. But when I develop itfurther, I make sure that thelyrics are meaningful and thecomposition is in line in termsof mood and sentiment. WhenI was composing the songKhushgappiyan by Anamika —the idea was to take the listen-er down the memory lane totheir own town and relive thejourney.”

Now Tripathi is popularis-

ing her album through gigs inschools. “I have picked uppoems that are relevant forkids too. They loved the songsand joined in though they werelistening to them for the firsttime,” she added.

When not promoting thealbum, she gets working onshowcasing new talent on herindie platform Songdew.com.“I was familiar with what inde-pendent musicians in Indianeed and what all should bedone as I was going through thesame path as a musician. So Itried to bridge the gap throughmy perspective. After threeyears of inception,Songdew.com is one of thevery few platforms that is doingconcrete work to promote inde-pendent music, whether it isabout building publishing andlicensing opportunities or aboutgiving media exposure. It is aone-stop shop for emergingartistes. That’s the reason whyso many musicians have con-nected to it in such a short peri-od of time,” she told us.

Writing in Hindi is notconsidered aspirational enough,especially among the youngergeneration. But Tripathi is try-ing to change that. “It feels greatwhen, after some of my liveperformances, listeners writeback saying how I had inspiredthem to read more of poems byMahadevi Verma or Bachchan,and that it has rekindled theirinterest in poetry in general. Ifeel glad even if one personthinks so. There are a lot ofchallenges in independentmusic. Record labels ignore itand there aren’t enough livevenues. But ticketed eventsand fests are on the rise andcourtesy the digital platform,the world can become youraudience at the click of a but-ton. So there is a lot of oppor-tunity out there but we need aninnovative approach,” she said,rounding off.

While the market is flood-ed with Ayurvedic prod-

ucts, little do we know abouttheir botanical history andtheir diverse application.According to AshtangaHridaya (ancient Indianayurvedic text book), “there isnothing in the universe whichis non-medicinal.” It is clearthat there are no plants on theearth without any medicinalvalue. While some plants areused as single remedies, oth-ers are used in combinations.

It is to showcase this bio-wealth that the BotanicalSurvey of India (BSI), in asso-ciation with the Royal BotanicGardens, Kew at London andCentre for WorldEnvironmental Histor y(CWEH), University of Sussex,will be hosting an exhibitiontitled The Botanical Heritage ofIndia on October 26, at IndiaInternational Centre. Theexhibition will showcase spec-imens and literature thatdepict some of the most cru-cial chapters of botanical his-tory of India and the worldduring which the order of themodern natural world wasshaped.

Indian Natural HistoryCollections in Botany andMeteorology is the theme of theexhibition, which aims tohelp people assemble, recon-sider and debate about thebotanical and meteorologicalhistories of the Indian oceanregion from c.1500 to c.2000.On view will be the copies ofpaintings and drawings bybotanical artists of species dis-covered by Sir Joseph DaltonHooker at the Royal BotanicalGardens in Kew and corre-sponding artefacts from thearchives of Botanical Survey ofIndia; a collection of theBengali manuscripts known asPuthi, one of the earliestrecords of indigenous knowl-edge of plants and their med-icinal values. The exhibitionwill also celebrate the life andwork of Indian botanist, JanakiAmmal Edavaleth Kakkat,placing her in the rightfulplace in the pantheon ofbotanical heritage of India.

In India alone there areabout 8,000 (out of 17,564)species of plants, out of which4,635 species are being used bythe ethnic communities —2,000 in Unani, Tibetan andSiddha, 1,800 in Ayurvedicsystem, 500 in homoeopathyand 4,700 by various commu-nities. Also, Bengal possessesmore than 700 species, fromaromatic plants, spices toherbal vegetables of whichabout 75 are known to beoperated commercially, eithercollected from nature or cul-tivated. Thus, Puthi will be animportant pointer to the exis-tence of indigenous knowledgeof plants and their medicinalvalues. These manuscriptsdepict combinations of differ-ent parts of medicinal plants inproviding antidote to snake

bite and treating diseases likeailments of skin, leprosy, jaun-dice, inflammation of eyes,bilious fever, cough and cold,rheumatoid fever, urinaryinfection, stomach distension,dysentery, ailments of gallbladder, headache and insom-nia.

Infographs prepared byBotanical Survey of India andCentral National Herbariumalso form an important com-ponent of the exhibition. Theyhave been prepared, keeping awider audience in mind. Theseposters will provide a histori-cal background of the disci-pline of botany through thework of William Roxburghand Nathaniel Wallich.

Adding to the collectionare the infographs prepared byBotanical Survey of Indiausing a combination of textand visual material depictsthe natural world as classifiedthrough the discipline ofbotany such as Algae, Fungi,Bryophytes, Pteridophytes andAngiosperms.

The exhibition will be opento the public from October 27to November 7.

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Propelled with a fan support as mas-sive as 66,613 at the Yuba BharatiKrirangan stadium here (a record in

this FIFA-17 World Cup) on Sunday,Brazil rallied from behind to beatGermany 2-1 in the last quarterfinalmatch. Getting a home-team like lovefrom the crowd, made them a better side,says match-winner Paulinho.

"We never played a game like this withsuch a huge crowd backing us," said theBrazilian winger. "We were really happyto get such a big support. This is some-thing that really makes us strong. Thecrowd as big as 60,000 supporting us, itwas first time experience in our life. Wewant to come back here again."

His compatriot Alan Souza sharedsimilar views as he said it "felt likehome" to play in front of a crowd that wasdouble than their previous game.

"I am really happy to play in front ofthis crowd," said the number 10. "In Kochiit was 30,000 and here 60,000 that reallymade it a great experience for us. It feltlike we were playing in front of our homecrowd."

Despite having a boisterous crowdbehind them right from the kick-off,Samba Boys had tough time finding theirfeet in the game. Paulinho described howGermans took them out of the comfortzone.

"We started the match little bit lost,we were a bit confused and nervous," hesaid. "They (Germany) were playing longballs and long shots and making thingstough for our defence. We were gettingthe ball back too slow and when we hadthe ball we were not playing our football."

Midfielder Alan, who assisted the firstgoal, felt he made a mistake by not beinghimself in the first half as they were play-

ing a very tough opponent and said peptalk from coach Carlos Amadeu helpedhim get back to his usual self.

"I think in the first half I wasn't mov-ing like the way I like to do and it was amistake against such a big team," saidAlan. "During half time, coach had a talkwith me, he asked me to move aroundmore and play my game. That really

helped me to change the game and playin my comfort zone.

Finding it hard to find a loophole inGerman defence, the Brazilians finallyfound the ball through when Alan foundsubstitute Weverson free on left flank. Thewinger was filled with emotions afterscoring the equaliser.

"I was concentrated from the begin-

ning of the match and I did had the feel-ing that if I get the chance to play I couldscore," he said. "But we have 21 playersin the team and everyone is good to playin the first XI, so when the coach calledme over as a substitute, I went with thepurpose to enjoy my game and I reallyhad fun. Once I scored the goal it was allemotion because it was just what we need-

ed." After the goal, the German defence

started to crumble as wave of Brazilattacks kept on barging the opponent'sgoal post and eventually Paulinho foundthe winner six minutes after the equalis-er. The Vasco da Gama winger said stick-ing to their identity helped them achievethe win.

"It was a great goal as we knew fromthe beginning that it is going to be a dif-ficult match," said Paulinho. "But we knewif we be ourselves and remain focus onthe game we could win the match. I amreally happy that I scored a match-win-ning goal like this for my country whenit mattered."

Despite assumption in media that thememory of 7-1 humiliating loss toGermany in the 2014 FIFA World Cupsemifinal will give players extra motiva-tion, Alan said revenge was not in theirmind before the match.

"7-1 is something that is for us. Evenwhen we won other trophies, the WorldCup exit like that really hurts," said Alan."But we were not thinking about revengein tonight's match as we were out thereto only win this match and reach thesemifinals."

The winger is also linked to Spanishclub Real Madrid after his performanceat club level and at the World Cup. Alandismissed the rumour saying he has heardnothing about it and he is only focusedon the next game. "I know that there aresome news in Spain about me moving toReal Madrid but I am not aware of anysuch agreement with the club. My mindis here, I am completely focused on theWorld Cup. This is all what matters at themoment. We have enjoyed the victory, didthe celebration we deserved and now weneed to start preparing for the Englandmatch," said Alan.

Paulinho too expects nothing lessthan a war when they face England in thesemifinal, which was recently rescheduledfrom Guwahati to the ground they pre-ferred — YBK stadium, Kolkata.

"Now we have to be really focusing forthe next match which is going to beanother war like the one we had today,"concluded Paulinho.

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Marco Asensio scored andhelped force an own-goal

to lead Real Madrid to a 3-0 winat home over Eibar in theSpanish league on Sunday.

The 21-year-old forwardgot Madrid going in the 18thminute when his well-placedcross meant for Sergio Ramoswas headed into the net by Eibardefender Paulo Oliveira.

Asensio put the resultbeyond doubt 10 minutes laterat the Santiago Bernabeu whenhe drove Francisco "Isco"Alarcon's cross under goal-keeper Marco Dmitrovic.

Marcelo rounded off thevictory in the 82nd after substi-tute Karim Benzema set him up.

Following a rocky start withonly two wins in the first fiverounds, Zinedine Zidane's teamhas now won four straight in theleague as it remained in thirdplace. Barcelona leads by fourpoints over Valencia, withMadrid another point behind.

"Not everything went per-fectly, but we are happy for thewin," Zidane said. "It was impor-tant to get the three points andto score that many goals."

The goal was Asensio's fifthof the season, and his third inthe league to go with two fromthe Spanish Super Cup.

Dmitrovic could have donemore to keep out Asensio'sgoal, but the Eibar 'keeper alsodenied Isco and CristianoRonaldo their chances to add tothe lead.

������������!� Atletico Madrid broke a

four-game winless streak acrossall competitions after eking

out a 1-0 win at Celta Vigo.Diego Simeone's side is fourth- a point behind Real Madrid.

Striker Kevin Gameiroscored his first goal of the sea-son in the 28th when he swepthome a poor clearance of a cor-ner kick by Celta's SergiGomez.

The much-needed victorycame after back-to-back drawsin the league along with a 2-1loss to Chelsea and a 0-0 drawat Qarabag in Azerbaijan in theChampions League.

Atletico did little morethan cling to the advantage asCelta tried to equalize.

"They made us wait a long

time to get this win, and thatwas why we worked as hard aswe did today," Simeone said."The team showed that it candig in, and that it doesn't mindholding up in its area if it hasto protect a result."

Celta played with a largesection of its Balaidos Stadiumclosed due to safety concernsregarding the structure of thestands. Club president CarlosMourino said that Celta willrefund the cost of the tickets forthe seats that had to be leftempty.

���!)!����!�(Claudio Beauvue's superb

solo goal gave Leganes a 1-0win at home over AthleticBilbao.

The French forward led acounterattack from near mid-field, dodged one tackle,changed feet to avoid a secondchallenge, and rifled the ballover goalkeeper KepaArrizabalaga for the 54th-minute goal.

Leganes, a small club fromMadrid, is the surprise of theseason in Spain. It has fivewins and just two losses andhas risen into fifth place aheadof Villarreal and Sevilla.

)�����������!�Villarreal increased its

winning streak in the leagueto three matches after beatingLas Palmas 4-0 at home.

Cedric Bakambu, MarioGaspar and Nicola Sansone allscored for Villarreal, alongwith Ximo Navarro's own-goal.

The fifth straight loss leftLas Palmas in the relegation zone.

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Playing her first match as the top-rankedplayer, Simona Halep beat Caroline Garcia

6-4, 6-2 Monday at the WTA Finals."I am really happy I can win the first

match (as No. 1)," said Halep, the firstRomanian woman to be top-ranked. "It takesthe pressure off."

Halep was broken once in the six breakpoints she faced on serve. She surrendered herserve when she double-faulted in the sixth

game.Garcia, making her WTA Finals debut,

was broken twice in each set.Halep, making her fourth consecutive

appearance in the WTA Finals, was a final-ist here in 2014. She lost to No. 1 SerenaWilliams on that occasion, which marks thelast time the top-ranked player won the sea-son-ending event.

Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and CarolineWozniacki of Denmark were set to play thelate match on Monday.

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Third-seeded Karolina Pliskova cruisedto a 6-2, 6-2 win over fifth-seeded

Venus Williams at the WTA Finals onSunday.

"I felt really good," Pliskova said. "Ithink everything was fine with my gametoday. I think I was just a little bit better,even from the baseline, even on my ser-vice games, so there was no need to panicwith anything in my game."

In Sunday's other match, second-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain

posted a 6-3, 6-4 win over seventh-seed-ed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.

Pliskova raced to a 3-0 lead in the firstset, but Williams regained her composureto break back in the fifth game.

Pliskova broke the Williams serveagain in the sixth and eighth games tosecure the first set. Williams double-fault-ed to 30-40 and then sailed a backhandlong on the final two points of the set.

In the second, Pliskova saved twobreak points in the third game, and theCzech then broke the Williams serve inthe fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. She

broke Williams again in the final gameof the match. "I definitely was playing bet-ter in the second set but she just seemedto have all the answers," Williams said."Some days that's how it is. Hopefully, Iwill have more luck in the next ones."

Pliskova, making her second con-secutive appearance in the WTA Finals,and Muguruza are now 1-0 in round-robin action in the White Group.

Williams, the only player of the eightin the WTA Finals not to win a title thisyear, and Ostapenko fall to 0-1 in the group.

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After Neymar was sent off,Edinson Cavani stepped up

for league leader Paris Saint-Germain with an injury-timefree kick to salvage a 2-2 drawSunday at rival Marseille.

Cavani won the foul afterbeing knocked over by forwardBouna Sarr, and curled the ballin off the underside of thecrossbar with goalkeeper SteveMandanda slightly slow to cover.

"It's an important goal,"Cavani said of his ninth goal ofthe season. "It was difficult toplay here in a tough atmos-phere."

Cavani took the free kickbecause Neymar, the world'smost expensive player when hejoined from Barcelona for 222million euros ($260 million),picked up a second yellow cardin the 87th minute. Neymar willbe suspended for Friday's homematch against Nice.

The Brazil striker reactedangrily to a challenge from

behind from Lucas Ocampos,and sent the Argentine wingertumbling to the ground at StadeVelodrome in retribution.

!� ���Nice is the surprise team of

the French league once again,this time for the wrong reasons.

Having finished third lastseason, losing only four games,Nice slumped to its sixth defeatof the campaign with a 2-1home loss to Strasbourg.

Cape Verde striker NunoDa Costa scored in each half forStrasbourg.

�� �(���(Memphis Depay sealed his

hat trick with a Panenka-stylepenalty, sending the goalkeep-er the wrong way as Lyoncruised to a 5-0 win at Troyes.

The Netherlands forwardearned the penalty in the 70th.Depay first scored with a neatfinish four minutes into the sec-ond half and netted his secondmidway through it.

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At a time when the world football is divid-ed over the use of controversial video tech-

nology for the 2018 World Cup, FIFA's Headof Refereeing Massimo Busacca on Mondaysaid relying fully on technology can "kill" thegame.

"Technology like microphone, cameracannot substitute your skills. Technology canonly be a help for us but cannot be a substi-tute to human decisions.

“The day we think that technology willsubstitute human decisions, we kill football.

"We kill referee, we kill everything,"Busacca told reporters on the sidelines of anopen training session of referees at the SAIEastern Centre.

The FIFA president Gianni Infantino iskeen on bringing video assistant referees(VAR) in Russia 2018 to rectify game-chang-ing mistakes.

But following a slew of dubious decisionsat the Confederations Cup in June this year,critics feel it's not fool proof and argue thatInfantino is rushing into technology prema-turely.

The 48-year-old however did not rejectVAR outright and without specifying anythinghe said technology could be a big help.

"We're at the beginning. We did some tri-als in 75 games.

“We're looking in Italy, Germany and othermember associations.

"I have to be honest. “There are somethings very difficult for the

referees to see. “And there could be situations at the World

Cup that can destroy a game and the tourna-ment.

“On the other hand, we have to continueto teach referees to develop their standards onthe pitch," said Busacca.

"We still think technology can play a bigrole in eliminating a big scandal in a game andI am really positive about it.

“We still remember a scandal or a terribledecision happened long ago," he said withoutspecifying the infamous football scandal —

'hand of God'.Stressing on the need for the referees to

train and improve their physical as well asmental skill while officiating a match, Busaccasaid, "Referees have to be fit.

“The competition is very fast these days,even the hot and humidity factors play a role.

“A referee has to be always ready for everysituation."

The Swiss said it was important to antic-ipate a game and run, so that they would notend up being like the fictional character ofForrest Gump.

"It's about teaching the referees how toprepare in a tactical way and to be there at theright place at the right moment.

“It's about understanding the teams, theirapproach and what could happen in a topgame.

“Think where the ball is going and run andnot like Forrest Gump!

"Some has the natural ability, they wake upand they know it, while others need sometraining sessions to get themselves prepared.So the training is needed," he said.

The FIFA Under-17 World Cup saw theunfolding of a new chapter when Esther Stabulibecame the first woman official in 16 years ata FIFA male competition by refereeing theJapan-New Caledonia fixture here on October14.

"We have to work together, the door isopen for us.

“The level of women's referee today is quitegood and some of them are officiating at thetop level in their respective associations.

“It's not easy at physical level but they willunderstand this. We have to go step by step."

/�����"���� ��������� �� �1��+�=>;�� ���������������� ����>��?� ����������������������%�����;��@�����������������&������������

��������Due to unplayable conditionsat the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadiumin Guwahati because of torrential rainin the region for the past few days, FIFAhas decided to shift the venue of the firstsemifinal to Kolkata on Monday.Following a thorough assessment of thepitch conditions, FIFA has decided tomove the venue of the semi-finalbetween Brazil and England, due to beplayed on 25 October 2017, to Kolkata'sVivekananda Yuba Bharati Kriranganstadium, where the match will kick offat 17:00 local time, a FIFA statementread.

However, Brazil left for Guwahati onMonday morning after their win onSunday. On the other hand, Englandreached that venue on Sunday.

FIFA has promised to refund themoney of the fans, who possessed validtickets of the Guwahati semi-final, andwill also be allowed to get tickets for therescheduled match before others.

"The second semi-final on thatday, between Mali and Spain, will stillkick off as planned at 20:00 local timeat the Dr DY Patil Stadium in NaviMumbai," confirmed FIFA. PNS

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Skipper Virat Kohli got no immediate break,while rookie pacer Mohammed Siraj andprolific batsman Shreyas Iyer made their

way into a 16-strong Indian T20 squad for thethree-match series against New Zealand, start-ing November 1.

Despite speculation, Kohli was not restedfrom the New Zealand series and was alsopicked for the first two Tests against Sri Lanka,starting November 16. The matches against theislanders are to be held in Kolkata and Nagpur.

However, chairman of selectors MSKPrasad indicated that a "rotation policy will beapplicable" for the captain as well.

It is expected that Kohli will be rested forthe final Test and the limited-overs series againstSri Lanka, which is slated in December as hewould be required fresh and re-energised beforethe tough tour of South Africa.

"With regards to Virat Kohli, there weresome speculations that he is going to be rest-ed for the whole of Sri Lankan series, it is notright. As far as the Test series is concerned, heis going to play and at some point of time, therotation policy that we are following will applyto the captain," Prasad made it clear during amedia conference.

Prasad said Kohli's workload is being mon-itored.

"We are also monitoring his workload. Hehas been playing continuously right from IPLtill today, we need to give him a break whichwe will consider after the Test series," he added.

There are no surprises in the Test squadwith Abhinav Mukund making way for a fit-again first-choice opener Murali Vijay. Vijay didnot take part in the last Test series against SriLanka due to a hand injury and some other fit-ness related issues.

Predictably, Ravichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja made a comeback in the longerversion with Kuldeep Yadav being the third spe-cialist spinner in the 16-member squad.

Senior speedsters Umesh Yadav,Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharmaare back in the mix for the five-day for-mat along with Test specialistsCheteshwar Pujara and WriddhimanSaha.

In the T20 squad, the 23-year-oldSiraj, who first came into prominencefor Sunrisers Hyderabad, has beenrewarded for his impressive perfor-mances for India A during a recent tourof South Africa and matches against

New Zealand.The 22-year-old Iyer has been a

consistent performer for his home stateMumbai and India A during the pastone year.

He scored a double hundred ear-lier this year in a warm-up game againstAustralia along with a match-winninghundred against South Africa A in thesummit clash of an away tri-series.

His call-up is on expected lines ashe has had some good knocks for theDelhi Daredevils in the 2016 edition ofthe Indian Premier League.

"Shreyas Iyer has been prolific inall forms of the game, be it Tests, ODIsor T20s or IPL -- name anything, he isperforming. If we pick a player, we willgive him an extended run and we willcontinue with him for some point andnurture him and see that he goes on tobecome successful.

"With Siraj, he is doing well and hasbeen duly rewarded," said Prasad.

Ashish Nehra, who will retireafter the first T20 game against NewZealand on November 1, has beenpicked for only that game scheduled inhis home ground of Delhi.

Prasad made it clear that the 38-year-old's inclusion in the playing XIwill be the team management's decision."Whether he (Nehra) is going to playor not, is clearly the decision of the teammanagement. There are no assurancesfrom our side (selectors), whether heis going to play or not. It will purely bedecided by the team management."

However, Prasad made it clear thatthere has been clear communicationwith Nehra with regards to how theyare looking at the future.

"There are lot of apprehensions

going on about Ashish Nehra. I willmake it very clear and candid -- we haveclearly communicated to the player, thatis Ashish Nehra and the team man-agement, that we are only looking athim till the New Zealand series," hesaid.

The other reason is the 'A' teambowlers, who are supposed to be thesupply line for the senior team, need tobe blooded at the top level.

"If you see the pattern with whichwe have selected India A players, thesame bowlers have been continuing forthe past one and half years in all the Atours. That means they are very muchin line (for selection), and they havereally done well in South Africa (A tour)and also at home against New Zealand."

Prasad said that Nehra has beentold about selectors' logic.

!������54�����Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar

Dhawan, Rohit Sharma (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey,Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, MSDhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, AxarPatel, Yuzvendra Chahal, KuldeepYadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, JaspritBumrah, Ashish Nehra, MohammedSiraj.

!��������)�������Virat Kohli (Captain), KL Rahul,

Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan,Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane(Vice-Captain), Rohit Sharma,Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin,Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav,Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami,Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar,Ishant Sharma.

����1�;.$

India batsman Dinesh Karthikfeels the kind of challenge

that young wrist spinnersKuldeep Yadav and YuzvendraChahal faced against NewZealand in the first ODI willmake them "mentally tougher"for future games.

Tom Latham (103) andRoss Taylor (95) added 200runs in New Zealand's suc-cessful 281-run chase duringwhich the spin twins hardly

troubled the duo. "These are thekind of games which makesyou mentally tougher as abowler. These are the kind ofgames which are going to helpthem to stand up to pressureand learn how to handle pres-sure when the wicket is not somuch helping them," Karthiksaid at the post-match mediaconference.

Kuldeep and Chahal havebeen instrumental in India'ssuccess and Karthik feels thattheir self belief gives team

management the confidenceand one off day will not mat-ter much in the longer run."The team management backedthem a lot and they believe inthemselves. They are two youngguys and they have producedsome fantastic spells in the lastseries and I am sure their con-fidence is sky high. One gamehere and there, doesn't notmake you a bad bowler," saidKarthik.

Like his skipper ViratKohli, the Tamil Nadu batsman

was full of praise for Taylor andLatham, who stood out in test-ing conditions scripting a nearflawless run-chase. "Credit toTom Latham and Ross Taylor.They batted really well. Theymade use of the conditions andplayed some good shots. Theyused the sweep to some goodeffect," Karthik observed.

Karthik, who looked goodduring his knock of 37 off 47deliveries admitted that heshould have converted the start.

"There are two ways to look

at it. It was a decent start.Having said that, a player likeme should have tried and bat-ted a little longer. And that issomething, I am disappointedabout. I could have batted a lit-tle more and we would haveprobably ended up getting 15-20 runs more towards the end.May be, I got out at a criticaltime in the game. So pretty dis-appointed with that aspect butit was decent start and good tohave that partnership withVirat," Karthik added.

�� � .1% $�

Lewis Hamilton moved a stepcloser to his fourth world cham-

pionship on Sunday when he wonthe United States Grand Prix,coming home ahead of his nearesttitle rival Sebastian Vettel.

The 32-year-old Briton, whostarted from a record 72nd poleposition, recovered after losing hisadvantage at the start to regain thelead and steer his Mercedes to hisninth win this year, his fifth inTexas and the 62nd of his career.

Four-time champion GermanVettel came home second forFerrari and with three racesremaining trails Hamilton by 66points in the drivers' title race.

If Hamilton wins, or finishesanywhere in the top five, in MexicoCity next weekend, he will bechampion.

Hamilton's victory, withMercedes team-mate ValtteriBottas finishing fifth, confirmedthe team as constructors champi-ons for 2017 and for the fourthconsecutive season.

"What a beautiful day," saidHamilton, interviewed on thepodium by multiple Olympicsprint champion Usain Bolt.

"I love this track and I think itis now my favourite."

Vettel said: "It was lookinggood at the start, but we had torealize we couldn't go at that pace-- we were in no- man's land andthere was no secret to it. It's notstrategy. They were quicker than us-- so congratulations to Lewis."

Dutchman Max Verstappencrossed the line in third place aftera controversial final corner passingmove that saw his Red Bull car runoff track as he swept beyond Kimi

Raikkonen in the second Ferrari.The move was investigated

immediately by the stewards whogave Verstappen, who had alreadygone to the podium ceremonywaiting room, a five seconds penal-ty that cost him third and liftedRaikkonen back to third forFerrari.

All this meant that Verstappenfinished fourth ahead of Bottas,Frenchman Esteban Ocon of ForceIndia and Spaniard Carlos Sainzwho finished seventh on his debutwith Renault following his movefrom Toro Rosso.

Brazilian Felipe Massa fin-ished ninth for Williams andRussian Daniil Kvyat 10th in thesecond Toro Rosso.

After a savage overnight rain-storm, the race began in dry andwarm conditions with an air tem-perature of 24 degrees Celsiusand the track at 33, near perfect fora big crowd that included former

American president Bill Clinton.When the lights went out, it

was Vettel who had the best get-away and he held off Hamilton,who had been on pole, as he triedto respond into Turn One.

The Ferrari soon pulled clearto lead by 0.8 seconds andincreased it to a second by the endof lap two with Bottas scrappinghard to resist a determined DanielRicciardo to retain third.

After a few laps reassessing hisposition, Hamilton picked up hispace and clocked fastest laps beforeregaining the lead on lap six witha move that appeared to catchVettel by surprise.

He surged into positionand then with the aid of hisDrag Reduction System(DRS) outpaced him at theend of the back straight.

Further back in thefield, Verstappen, who start-ed 16th, rose to eighth andwas carving through the traf-fic, soon reaching sixth place by lapten.

Red Bull teammate Ricciardosuffered an engine failure whichended his race after 16 laps.

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Newly-crowned Denmark Open championKidambi Srikanth will look to carry on his

fine form into the French Open this week whenhe spearheads the Indian challenge at the SuperSeries tournament, starting here on Tuesday.

25-year-old Srikanth has been in sensation-al form this season as he became the first Indianshuttler to reach four Super Series finals in a year,clinching three titles to surpass Saina Nehwal, whohad claimed three crowns in 2010.

Badminton Association of India president DrHimanta Biswa Sarma announced a cash rewardof �5 lakh for Kidambi Srikanth for his stupen-dous victory in the Denmark Open Super Series.

Srikanth will open his campaign againstEngland's Rajiv Ouseph.

Olympic and World Championship silvermedallist P V Sindhu, who had bowed out in the

opening round of Denmark Open lastweek after losing to World No 10

Chen Yufei, willsquare offagainst Spain'sB e a t r i z

Corrales in theopening round.

The Indianmight face off

again with Chen inthe quarters.

Saina, who haddefeated Olympic

champion CarolinaMarin in the openinground at Denmark,

will face a tough testwhen she takes onKristy Gilmour ofScotland, whomthe Indian hadbeaten in the World

Championship.

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Senior New Zealand batsmanRoss Taylor is happy that cen-

turion Tom Latham paid heed tohis advice to play the sweep andreverse sweep which disturbedthe length of Indian spinnersKuldeep Yadav and YuzvendraChahal.

Taylor scored 95 and added200 runs with Latham, whostruck an unbeaten 103 in NewZealand's successful chase of 281in the first ODI against India.

Kuldeep and Chahal bowled20 overs among themselves giv-ing away 125 runs with only awicket in return.

"With the sweep shot, wewere able to put pressure on thespinners and forced them toadjust theirlengths. Ithought he(Latham) didthat out-s t anding lywell. I toldhim to reversesweep and hedid it, and hekept doing it,"Taylor said atthe post-matchpress conference.

Taylor said thatafter fielding for threeand half hours insearing heat andunbearable humid-ity, they needed agood start whichMartin Guptill andColin Munro pro-vided them.

"Having tofield outthere for overthree and ahalf hours, weknew we hadto get off to agood start andtry and negatetheir spinners.Traditionally,New Zealand come here andstruggle up-front in our innings.

"Being able to rotate thestrike in the right-left combina-tion with Tom, I think you havegot to give credit to Gup (Guptill)and Munners (Munro). They setthe platform for us and we wereable to rotate the strike and takeit deep and then we knew we

were in a good position in thegame," Taylor gave an insight totheir run-chase.

Numerous tours to India fornational team and stints with IPLfranchise certainly came in handyfor the 33-year-old.

"I have come here many atimes before whether it's inter-national cricket or IPL. I am notgetting any younger and justwanted a bit of a push and justhad a bit more intent I think.

"Through those middlestages in the past,you take up a fartoo many dotballs so made aconscious effortof being a bitmore busier atthe crease, workon a few shotsand open up theoff side. Tom andI got some runsin the warm-upgame and it was

nice to bring thatform intoWa n k h e d e , "Taylor said refer-

ring to their respec-tive hundreds in the

second warm-upagainst Board

President's XI.Taylor is

expecting Indiato come hard atthem in thesecond game atPune, which isexpected to be a

batting belter."As long as

you win, it does-n't matter whosteps up. Today it

was Tom andmyself. You have got

to give credit to thebowlers as well, it was

pretty warm out there."Boulty (Trent

Boult) bowled out-standingly well but still a

long way to go," Taylorquipped.

"We know India are going tocome at us hard and now it's onemore victory to take the series forus. But we know Pune is going tobe a tough wicket to play on andwe have to start again and notdwell on this too much," he added.

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