15
R SS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday called for building a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya at the earliest and disapproved of lynching in the name of cow vigilantism. He also called for mainitaining demographic balance and sup- ported growing acceptance of inter-caste marriage in society. Speaking at the third and final day of the RSS mega con- clave, “Bhavishya Ka Bharat — An RSS Perspective”, Bhagwat made a strong pitch for the construction of the Ram Temple, which has remained the Sangh’s most favored agen- da for years. “It should have happened by now (the con- struction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya). If this happens it would resolve many issues, including differences between Hindus and Muslims. It is the question of faith of crores of Hindus,” he said. “As a Sangh worker, head of the sangh and as a part of Ram Janambhoomi andaloan, I want that a grand Ram temple should be constructed at the earliest at the birthplace of Lord Ram,” he said. Bhagwat did not approve of those involved in lynching in the name of protecting cows saying Muslims are also among those who run gaushalas. Gaushala acchhi chalane wale Musalman bhi hain”, Bhagwat said. Stating that cow could be the mainstay of the economy of small farmers, the RSS head said anyone believing that exis- tence of cow is for the benefit of society would not indulge in the act of lynching. At the same time, he assert- ed that cow smugglers should also be condemned and talked about. “The double-faced dia- logue cannot be allowed,” he affirmed. The RSS chief said service to cow leads to a definite dilu- tion in criminal instincts. Touching on variety of topics during the question- answer session, he called for continuing with reservations for the SC/ST as provided in the Constitution and sought a population control policy which should be applicable for all the communities. Supporting inter-caste marriages, Bhagwat claimed that maximum examples of such marriages could be found in the Nagpur organisation. He did not approve of reli- gious conversions by allure- ment but had no objection to the conversion on one’s own will. In this regard, he gave an example of a Chitpawan Brahmin in Maharashtra who turned a devotee of Jesus. On the SC/ST atrocities (Prevention) Act as passed by Parliament, he said it should not be misused against any one and none should be subjected to injustice. Bhagwat said the RSS was ready to offer its “swayamse- vaks” to any other political party other than the BJP if so asked for. Replying to the written questions, he said the BJP was given general secretary (organ- ised) since it approached the RSS and identified with “our ideology”. Jo mangata hai to dete hain, mange ge to denge”, he said adding BJP supported Ram Mandir and so in return received the RSS backing. The RSS leader said during Emergency, dissident Congress leader Jagjivan Ram and even Marxists got support from the Sangh. On another question as why second RSS chief Guru Golwarkar’s “Bunch of Thoughts” sees Muslims as an enemy, Bhagwat said certain thing are time and context specific and hasten to add that his other works should be read. He said Muslims are as much part of the country as anybody else and maintained that his organisation didn’t consider any community as minority. Asked why in politics terms like “Shamshan and Kabristan” are thrown around in poll campaigns, the Sangh head said this happens when politics becomes an instru- ment to grab power and not public service. The question- naire was apparently referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech during Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in 2016. The RSS chief sought a population control policy that also takes care of the demo- graphic balance. The RSS leader said it should be applic- able to all communities. Bhagwat did not favour use of NOTA by voters that, he said, only helps in the selection of the most unsuitable candidate. T he CBI on Wednesday said it has not received any information from the UAE authorities on the extradition of Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the AgustaWestland helicopter scam, even as the controversial British national has reported- ly gone into “hiding”. CBI sources said the agency was awaiting confir- mation from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on reports about the extradition of the middleman following an order from a Dubai court on September 2. The CBI was in touch with the MEA but the latter is yet to receive an official communi- cation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Michel’s lawyer Amal Alsubei told an Indian televi- sion news channel that he could not be found. “He will be arrested if found. He is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court,” Alsubei told NDTV channel, adding Michel can file his appeal till October 2. Sources said the UAE authorities on August 26 asked a Dubai court on the possibil- ity of extraditing a British national to a third country. On September 2, the court gave its opinion stating that extradition is possible depending upon the severity of crime. The court is said to have decreed that Michel can be extradited to India. It remains unclear if the Dubai court issued an extradi- tion order against the European middleman in the absence of confirmation from the CBI. Continued on Page 4 T he Centre on Wednesday came out with an Ordinance to ban instant triple talaq, the related legislation of which was blocked by the Opposition parties in its pre- sent form in the Rajya Sabha. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Ordinance, which is in tune with the pend- ing Bill banning triple talaq and carries punitive provisions like making it a “non-bailable” offence carrying a three-year imprisonment, but has some safeguards like option for the withdrawal of the case and compromise creating mecha- nism in front of a magistrate, besides bail before the start of the trial. Briefing the media, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said this Ordinance was “compelling necessity” to protect the rights of Muslim women. Under the proposed Ordinance, giving instant triple talaq will be illegal and void and will attract a jail term of three years for the husband. Seeking to allay fears that the proposed law could be mis- used, the Government has included safeguards such as adding a provision of bail for the accused before trial. “There was an overpower- ing urgency and a compelling necessity to bring the Ordinance as the practice con- tinued unabated despite the SC order last year,” Prasad told a Press conference. The Law Minister came down heavily on the Congress, saying it is not supporting the Bill pending in the Rajya Sabha under “vote bank pressures”. “It is my serious charge that Sonia Gandhiji has maintained silence on the issue. She is silent...It has nothing to do with politics but gender justice and dignity,” he said. Prasad urged UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, BSP supremo Mayawati and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee to support the Bill in the next session of Parliament for the sake of “gen- der justice, gender equality and gender dignity”. While the proposed law makes it a “non-bailable” offence, an accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail. In a non-bailable offence, bail can- not be granted by police at the police station itself. Prasad said a provision has been added to allow the magistrate to grant bail “after hearing the wife”. Officials later said the mag- istrate would ensure that bail is granted only after the husband agrees to grant compensation to the wife as provided in the Bill. The quantum of compen- sation will be decided by the magistrate, as per the Bill. Police would lodge an FIR only if approached by the vic- tim (wife), her blood relations or people who become her rel- atives by virtue of her marriage. Neighbours and others cannot lodge a complaint under the proposed law. Now a magistrate can use his powers to settle the dispute between a husband and his wife if the wife approaches the court. Continued on Page 4 T he brutal killing of a BSF jawan and mutilation of his body by the Pakistan Rangers has sparked off fresh tensions along the International Border ahead of the second anniver- sary of “surgical” strikes. BSF jawans recovered the badly mutilated body of the missing jawan along the fenc- ing in Ramgarh sector of Samba on Tuesday evening. According to official sources, the eyes of BSF head constable, identified as Narendra Kumar, were gouged out, neck was partially slit and the whole body had marks of burn injuries, including on chest and arms. Three bullet injury marks were found on the body of the martyred jawan. It is for the first time the Border Action Team (BAT) of the Pakistan Rangers targeted BSF jawans along the International Border in the recent years. Vulnerable patches along the International Border have been spruced up to prevent fresh attacks by the BAT. According to BSF state- ment, “An area domination patrol of the BSF was targeted by the Pakistan Rangers in Ramgarh sector around 10.40 am on Tuesday morning. The BSF jawans were engaged in the task of clearing wild grass to ensure clear vision. It is sus- pected the BAT team of the Pakistan Rangers ambushed the BSF patrolling party after which one of the jawans went missing. The body of the BSF jawan, injured in the unpro- voked firing, was found after massive search operations in the forward area late on Tuesday evening”. The search operation was delayed due to tough posturing by the Pakistan Rangers after they refused to participate in the joint patrol to locate the missing BSF jawan. Continued on Page 4 O usted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law were released from prison on Wednesday, hours after a top court suspended their sen- tences in a major corruption case that jeopardised their political career. In a relief to the still-griev- ing Sharif family, a two-judge Bench of the Islamabad High Court suspended the jail sen- tences of the embattled former Prime Minister Sharif, his daughter Maryam and son-in- law Muhammad Safdar in the Avenfield corruption case and ordered their release. Sharif ’s younger brother and president of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML- N) Shehbaz Sharif and other party leaders meet the former premier at the high-security Adiala Prison before he was released, Geo News reported. Shehbaz, along with party leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 A t a time when Naxals’ influence has been con- fined to a few pockets in the bordering areas of Jharkhand, police officers deployed in these areas are still finding it difficult to wean villagers from Naxal ideologies, but Government’s developmental policies have instilled hopes into villagers. The case in point is Sarju, a village situated 130.5 km from Ranchi, which houses hundreds of villagers who were once victims of Naxal attacks. As Naxalism continues to haunt these villagers, they are struggling to come out of trau- ma of extortion and torture, meted out to them by the ram- paging Maoists. However, development in these villages, like connecting roads to cities are encouraging villagers to apply for jobs. But there are still fear among some villagers about the influence of Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ- ment opportunities in our vil- lage. If Government creates such options here, our youth will not get influence with Naxalism,” said a young jobless but educated villager. Sarju village panchayat head Taramani Devi said with the fulfillment of basic needs — cooking gas, education to their wards, electricity connections — are some of the reasons for locals lending support to the State Government, however, still lots need to be done for the development. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar said the Government has worked on broad contours of strategy for tackling naxal- ism. “We have set up new police stations to coordinate with Central forces. We have made the surrender policy attractive; we are not just secur- ing future of surrender people, but, we also provide reward amount to them so that they can invest money. Besides, we have integrated security and development plans,” he said. Continued on Page 4 T he India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the southwest monsoon will remain here till October 1. There is no chance of start of withdrawal of mon- soon till October 1 due to the passage of western disturbance and the formation of a poten- tial depression and low pres- sure area in Bay of Bengal caused by the erstwhile Pacific super typhoon Mangkhut. Both the systems are likely to infuse a fresh surge of monsoon. The official date for the commencement of withdraw- al of southwest monsoon is September 1. The prolonged stay of monsoon season may sound as good news, but it comes with some repercussions. “The delay in the withdrawal of monsoon will further delay the onset of the next season. The delay will also push forward the onset of winter. And with El Nino all set to make appearance by the end of the year, it may impact the upcoming season, which turn mild due to all these factors,” IMD officials said. Private weather forecaster Skymet too predicted that southwest monsoon will pro- long its stay at least till September end. Due to this, low pressure and depression over the Bay of Bengal from east to northwest India are likely to record mod- erate to heavy showers. A few areas might see some heavy downpour. Besides this, mon- soon will also revive along the West Coast and Mumbai, which has been dry for last many days. Officials said southwest monsoon is primarily gov- erned by low pressure and depression. The IMD said a prepara- tory cyclonic circulation sent in from the West Pacific lies over the central Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood. As a result, rain will start lashing coastal parts of Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and adjoining Andhra Pradesh by September 20 and 21; Chhattisgarh & Telangana on September 20 and 21; over Madhya Pradesh on September 21 and 22, and over parts of northwest India on September 22 and 23. East Rajasthan and north India will receive rainfall on September 23 and 24. Continued on Page 4

daughter Maryam and son-in- ... leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 ... Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ-

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Page 1: daughter Maryam and son-in- ... leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 ... Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ-

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RSS chief Mohan Bhagwaton Wednesday called for

building a grand Ram Templeat Ayodhya at the earliest anddisapproved of lynching in thename of cow vigilantism. Healso called for mainitainingdemographic balance and sup-ported growing acceptance ofinter-caste marriage in society.

Speaking at the third andfinal day of the RSS mega con-clave, “Bhavishya Ka Bharat —An RSS Perspective”, Bhagwatmade a strong pitch for theconstruction of the RamTemple, which has remainedthe Sangh’s most favored agen-da for years. “It should havehappened by now (the con-struction of Ram Temple atAyodhya). If this happens itwould resolve many issues,including differences betweenHindus and Muslims. It is thequestion of faith of crores ofHindus,” he said.

“As a Sangh worker, head ofthe sangh and as a part of RamJanambhoomi andaloan, I wantthat a grand Ram templeshould be constructed at theearliest at the birthplace ofLord Ram,” he said.

Bhagwat did not approve ofthose involved in lynching inthe name of protecting cowssaying Muslims are also amongthose who run gaushalas.

“Gaushala acchhi chalanewale Musalman bhi hain”,Bhagwat said.

Stating that cow could bethe mainstay of the economy of

small farmers, the RSS headsaid anyone believing that exis-tence of cow is for the benefitof society would not indulge inthe act of lynching.

At the same time, he assert-ed that cow smugglers shouldalso be condemned and talkedabout. “The double-faced dia-logue cannot be allowed,” heaffirmed.

The RSS chief said serviceto cow leads to a definite dilu-tion in criminal instincts.

Touching on variety oftopics during the question-answer session, he called forcontinuing with reservationsfor the SC/ST as provided inthe Constitution and sought apopulation control policywhich should be applicable forall the communities.

Supporting inter-castemarriages, Bhagwat claimedthat maximum examples ofsuch marriages could be foundin the Nagpur organisation.

He did not approve of reli-gious conversions by allure-ment but had no objection tothe conversion on one’s ownwill. In this regard, he gave anexample of a ChitpawanBrahmin in Maharashtra whoturned a devotee of Jesus.

On the SC/ST atrocities(Prevention) Act as passed byParliament, he said it shouldnot be misused against any oneand none should be subjectedto injustice.

Bhagwat said the RSS wasready to offer its “swayamse-vaks” to any other politicalparty other than the BJP if so

asked for.Replying to the written

questions, he said the BJP wasgiven general secretary (organ-ised) since it approached theRSS and identified with “ourideology”.

“Jo mangata hai to detehain, mange ge to denge”, hesaid adding BJP supportedRam Mandir and so in returnreceived the RSS backing.

The RSS leader said duringEmergency, dissident Congressleader Jagjivan Ram and evenMarxists got support from theSangh.

On another question as

why second RSS chief GuruGolwarkar’s “Bunch ofThoughts” sees Muslims as anenemy, Bhagwat said certainthing are time and contextspecific and hasten to add thathis other works should be read.He said Muslims are as muchpart of the country as anybodyelse and maintained that hisorganisation didn’t considerany community as minority.

Asked why in politicsterms like “Shamshan andKabristan” are thrown aroundin poll campaigns, the Sanghhead said this happens whenpolitics becomes an instru-

ment to grab power and notpublic service. The question-naire was apparently referringto Prime Minister NarendraModi’s speech during UttarPradesh Assembly polls in2016.

The RSS chief sought apopulation control policy thatalso takes care of the demo-graphic balance. The RSSleader said it should be applic-able to all communities.

Bhagwat did not favour useof NOTA by voters that, hesaid, only helps in the selectionof the most unsuitable candidate.

���� /;��1;<"0

The CBI on Wednesday saidit has not received any

information from the UAEauthorities on the extradition ofChristian Michel, the allegedmiddleman in theAgustaWestland helicopterscam, even as the controversialBritish national has reported-ly gone into “hiding”.

CBI sources said theagency was awaiting confir-mation from the Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA) onreports about the extradition ofthe middleman following anorder from a Dubai court onSeptember 2.

The CBI was in touch withthe MEA but the latter is yet toreceive an official communi-

cation from the United ArabEmirates (UAE).

Michel’s lawyer AmalAlsubei told an Indian televi-sion news channel that hecould not be found.

“He will be arrested iffound. He is likely to appeal tothe Supreme Court,” Alsubeitold NDTV channel, addingMichel can file his appeal tillOctober 2.

Sources said the UAEauthorities on August 26 askeda Dubai court on the possibil-ity of extraditing a Britishnational to a third country. OnSeptember 2, the court gave itsopinion stating that extraditionis possible depending uponthe severity of crime. The courtis said to have decreed thatMichel can be extradited toIndia. It remains unclear if theDubai court issued an extradi-tion order against the Europeanmiddleman in the absence ofconfirmation from the CBI.

Continued on Page 4

���� /;��1;<"0�

The Centre on Wednesdaycame out with an

Ordinance to ban instant tripletalaq, the related legislation ofwhich was blocked by theOpposition parties in its pre-sent form in the Rajya Sabha.

The Union Cabinet chairedby Prime Minister NarendraModi approved the Ordinance,which is in tune with the pend-ing Bill banning triple talaq andcarries punitive provisions likemaking it a “non-bailable”offence carrying a three-yearimprisonment, but has somesafeguards like option for thewithdrawal of the case andcompromise creating mecha-nism in front of a magistrate,besides bail before the start ofthe trial.

Briefing the media, UnionLaw Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said this Ordinancewas “compelling necessity” to

protect the rights of Muslimwomen. Under the proposedOrdinance, giving instant tripletalaq will be illegal and voidand will attract a jail term ofthree years for the husband.Seeking to allay fears that theproposed law could be mis-used, the Government hasincluded safeguards such asadding a provision of bail forthe accused before trial.

“There was an overpower-ing urgency and a compellingnecessity to bring theOrdinance as the practice con-tinued unabated despite the SC

order last year,” Prasad told aPress conference.

The Law Minister camedown heavily on the Congress,saying it is not supporting theBill pending in the Rajya Sabhaunder “vote bank pressures”.

“It is my serious charge thatSonia Gandhiji has maintainedsilence on the issue. She issilent...It has nothing to do withpolitics but gender justice anddignity,” he said. Prasad urgedUPA chairperson SoniaGandhi, BSP supremoMayawati and TMC chiefMamata Banerjee to support

the Bill in the next session ofParliament for the sake of “gen-der justice, gender equalityand gender dignity”.

While the proposed lawmakes it a “non-bailable”offence, an accused canapproach a magistrate evenbefore trial to seek bail. In anon-bailable offence, bail can-not be granted by police at thepolice station itself. Prasadsaid a provision has been addedto allow the magistrate to grantbail “after hearing the wife”.

Officials later said the mag-istrate would ensure that bail isgranted only after the husbandagrees to grant compensationto the wife as provided in theBill. The quantum of compen-sation will be decided by themagistrate, as per the Bill.Police would lodge an FIRonly if approached by the vic-tim (wife), her blood relationsor people who become her rel-atives by virtue of her marriage.Neighbours and others cannotlodge a complaint under theproposed law.

Now a magistrate can usehis powers to settle the disputebetween a husband and his wifeif the wife approaches thecourt.

Continued on Page 4

������"����� =*��

The brutal killing of a BSFjawan and mutilation of his

body by the Pakistan Rangershas sparked off fresh tensionsalong the International Borderahead of the second anniver-sary of “surgical” strikes.

BSF jawans recovered thebadly mutilated body of themissing jawan along the fenc-ing in Ramgarh sector ofSamba on Tuesday evening.

According to officialsources, the eyes of BSF headconstable, identified asNarendra Kumar, were gougedout, neck was partially slit andthe whole body had marks ofburn injuries, including onchest and arms. Three bulletinjury marks were found on thebody of the martyred jawan.

It is for the first time theBorder Action Team (BAT) ofthe Pakistan Rangers targetedBSF jawans along theInternational Border in therecent years.

Vulnerable patches alongthe International Border havebeen spruced up to preventfresh attacks by the BAT.

According to BSF state-ment, “An area dominationpatrol of the BSF was targetedby the Pakistan Rangers inRamgarh sector around 10.40am on Tuesday morning. TheBSF jawans were engaged in thetask of clearing wild grass toensure clear vision. It is sus-pected the BAT team of thePakistan Rangers ambushedthe BSF patrolling party afterwhich one of the jawans wentmissing. The body of the BSFjawan, injured in the unpro-voked firing, was found aftermassive search operations inthe forward area late onTuesday evening”.

The search operation wasdelayed due to tough posturingby the Pakistan Rangers afterthey refused to participate inthe joint patrol to locate themissing BSF jawan.

Continued on Page 4

���� 0!<*�*,*1

Ousted Pakistan PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif, his

daughter and son-in-law werereleased from prison onWednesday, hours after a topcourt suspended their sen-tences in a major corruptioncase that jeopardised theirpolitical career.

In a relief to the still-griev-ing Sharif family, a two-judgeBench of the Islamabad HighCourt suspended the jail sen-tences of the embattled formerPrime Minister Sharif, hisdaughter Maryam and son-in-law Muhammad Safdar in theAvenfield corruption case andordered their release.

Sharif ’s younger brotherand president of his PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif and otherparty leaders meet the formerpremier at the high-securityAdiala Prison before he wasreleased, Geo News reported.

Shehbaz, along with partyleaders, met Nawaz in theoffice of the jail superintendent.

Detailed report on P12

���������� 6*/4"0

At a time when Naxals’influence has been con-

fined to a few pockets in thebordering areas of Jharkhand,police officers deployed inthese areas are still finding itdifficult to wean villagers fromNaxal ideologies, butGovernment’s developmentalpolicies have instilled hopesinto villagers.

The case in point is Sarju,a village situated 130.5 kmfrom Ranchi, which houseshundreds of villagers who wereonce victims of Naxal attacks.

As Naxalism continues tohaunt these villagers, they arestruggling to come out of trau-ma of extortion and torture,meted out to them by the ram-paging Maoists.

However, development in

these villages, like connectingroads to cities are encouragingvillagers to apply for jobs. Butthere are still fear among somevillagers about the influence ofNaxalism on their childrenand youths. “We want employ-ment opportunities in our vil-lage. If Government createssuch options here, our youthwill not get influence withNaxalism,” said a young joblessbut educated villager.

Sarju village panchayat

head Taramani Devi said withthe fulfillment of basic needs —cooking gas, education to theirwards, electricity connections— are some of the reasons forlocals lending support to theState Government, however,still lots need to be done for thedevelopment.

Jharkhand Chief MinisterRaghubar said the Governmenthas worked on broad contoursof strategy for tackling naxal-ism. “We have set up newpolice stations to coordinatewith Central forces. We havemade the surrender policyattractive; we are not just secur-ing future of surrender people,but, we also provide rewardamount to them so that theycan invest money. Besides, wehave integrated security anddevelopment plans,” he said.

Continued on Page 4

��������� ���� /;��1;<"0

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) has

predicted that the southwestmonsoon will remain here tillOctober 1. There is no chanceof start of withdrawal of mon-soon till October 1 due to thepassage of western disturbanceand the formation of a poten-tial depression and low pres-sure area in Bay of Bengalcaused by the erstwhile Pacificsuper typhoon Mangkhut. Boththe systems are likely to infusea fresh surge of monsoon.

The official date for thecommencement of withdraw-al of southwest monsoon isSeptember 1.

The prolonged stay ofmonsoon season may sound asgood news, but it comes withsome repercussions. “The delayin the withdrawal of monsoonwill further delay the onset ofthe next season. The delay willalso push forward the onset of

winter. And with El Nino all setto make appearance by the endof the year, it may impact theupcoming season, which turnmild due to all these factors,”IMD officials said.

Private weather forecasterSkymet too predicted thatsouthwest monsoon will pro-long its stay at least tillSeptember end.

Due to this, low pressureand depression over the Bay ofBengal from east to northwestIndia are likely to record mod-erate to heavy showers. A fewareas might see some heavydownpour. Besides this, mon-soon will also revive along theWest Coast and Mumbai,which has been dry for lastmany days.

Officials said southwestmonsoon is primarily gov-erned by low pressure anddepression.

The IMD said a prepara-tory cyclonic circulation sent infrom the West Pacific lies over

the central Bay of Bengal andneighbourhood. As a result,rain will start lashing coastalparts of Odisha, MadhyaPradesh and adjoining Andhra

Pradesh by September 20 and21; Chhattisgarh & Telanganaon September 20 and 21; overMadhya Pradesh on September21 and 22, and over parts of

northwest India on September22 and 23. East Rajasthan andnorth India will receive rainfallon September 23 and 24.

Continued on Page 4

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In order to provide the holistic treat-ment through Ayurveda, Yoga,

Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha andHomoeopathy (AYUSH) to the patients,the New Delhi Municipal Council(NDMC) has decided to set up a sep-arate 'Directorate of AYUSH'.

A decision to this effect was takenin the meeting of the council chaired byMember of Parliament MeenakashiLekhi on Wednesday.

A senior NDMC official said underAYUSH system of medicine it providesprimary care through its 13 homeo-pathic dispensaries, 12 Ayurvedic dis-pensaries, two Unani dispensaries, twoYoga and naturopathy centre besidesother.

He also said this system of holistic

treatment has no side effects. It hadbeen originated and dedicated to themankind of the entire universe by ourgreat seers and saints thousands of yearsago for the wellness of the human being,he said.

In the meeting, the council has alsogiven its nod for setting up of the 'Centreof Excellence' in community wellness atTughlak Crescent in New Delhi.

“It would provide technology solu-tion and innovation, training and insti-tutional strengthening, behavior andsocial norms and to strengthen the part-nerships with government, civil society,academia and private sector,” he said.

He further said that the thrustwould also be given to scientific meth-ods of door to door collection of wasteand transport it to 'Waste TreatmentPlants'.

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The Central Board ofSecondary Education

(CBSE) might introduce signlanguage as a subject, computer-based tests, attendance waiversand flexible subject selectionoptions for students with specialneeds. The board is mulling onthe plan for bringing in thesereforms keeping in view theneeds of special students.

The board which is in theprocess of formulating com-prehensive guidelines for stu-dents with special needs has pro-posed that such children mayalso be given exemptions fromthe already existing criteria oftwo or one compulsory lan-

guages in board examinations.“It has been proposed that

Indian sign language or brailleshould be treated as a languageto satisfy the formula pre-scribed by the board,” said asenior official.

“For students with mobil-ity issues, the CBSE has rec-ommended creation of onlineclass content for children.Attendance requirements incases of children with severedisabilities can be waived,” theofficial added.

The board has written tostates and stakeholders invitingtheir feedback on the policydraft which has been preparedafter widespread consultationswith various quarters.

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The Delhi Police has launchedthe third edition of the 'School

Road Safety Awareness Campaign'and has also decided to keep thecity clean. Commissioner of Police(CP) Amulya Patnaik onWednesday said the Road safetycampaign this year is coincidingwith 'Swachchhta Mission' ofCentral Government to make thecity roads clean as well as safe forthe commuters.

“This is a special occasion asour Road Safety Campaign thisyear is coinciding with SwachchhtaMission of Government of Indiaand both these habits should beour prime responsibility as evenafter being the Capital, Delhi is stillfar from achieving the ideal tag.Good habits get inculcated at ayoung age and in due coursebecome persistent habits.Awareness on road safety and

cleanliness are intricately inter-connected and these two need tobe inculcated and cultivated at avery young age and should beimparted as a part of our academiccurriculum as well as in upbring-

ing, as a step towards preparinggood citizens in nation building,'Patnaik, while addressing hun-dreds of school children.

The police chief further urgedall the principals present at the

event to teach important roadskills to the students teachings indaily morning assembly.

The campaign saw the pres-ence of senior police personnelincluding Amulya Patnaik,

Commissioner of Police, TajHassan, Special CP (Traffic) andJoint CP (Traffic) Alok Kumar.

“Around 12 lakh students from1100 schools were imparted roadsafety training last year. This yearDTP will be targeting 15 lakh stu-dents from around 1500 schools.It is very important to learn thebasic road safety rules and regu-lations in this age because kidslearn fast and impart the knowl-edge to other even the elders,” saidTaj Hassan, Special CP (Traffic).

Delhi Traffic Police in associ-ation with Swachchhta BharatMission will conduct creativity andcompetition such painting, quiz,essay writing and nukkad natakcompetitions at school, district,range and state level to inculcategood civic habits in children. Thewinning students/teams partici-pating in each competition at eachlevel will be awarded with attrac-tive prizes, Hassan said.

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ABorder Security Force (BSF)constable was arrested on

Wednesday in Noida for passing“secret and sensitive” informa-tion to Pakistan's Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI) agency, officialssaid. The arrest was made by theAnti Terrorist Squad (ATS) ofUttar Pradesh Police.

The trooper has been iden-tified as Acchutanand Mishraand officials said he was “hon-eytrapped” by “a person whoused a fake ID of a woman” insocial networking siteFacebook. He was befriendedby a woman ISI agent.

Briefing the media,Director General of Police(DGP) OP Singh said Mishrawas arrested from Sector 18 inNoida, adjoining Delhi.

Hailing from Reva inMadhya Pradesh, Mishra hadbeen passing off secret and sen-sitive information to thePakistani intelligence agency,Singh said. DGP said that dur-ing interrogation, Mishraadmitted to sharing detailspertaining to vital installationsand locations of the BSF andIndian Army training camps.Many other details were alsoleaked.

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The Chief JudicialMagistrate (CJM) of

Ghaziabad has ordered re-investigation in a case of analleged suicide by an electri-cian. Principal of LR DegreeCollege in Sahibabad has beennamed in it.

The case pertains to“abetment to suicide” againstcollege principal Dr SanjayDutt Kaushik and head clerkBhudeo Sharma. Ranjit Jhathe col lege e lectr ic ianallegedly committed suicideon April 2016. On the basis of'suicide note' which wasfound in the pocket ofdeceased a criminal caseunder section 306 of IPCwas registered against theprincipal and head clerk.

Lawyer Raveesh Sharmatold that the CJM ordered the

reinvestigation in the case inwhich final report was alreadysubmitted by the InvestigatingOfficer (IO). He said thatCJM Ravendra Gupta tookaction when Geeta Jha ,deceased widow objected tothe submission of final reportand stat ing that theInvestigating Officer (IO)Vijay Kumar Yadav under theinfluence of college principalconspired and fetch the affi-davits from the relatives ofdeceased who were the employees in the college.

The lawyer alleged thatthe principal and the headclerk have abused their posi-tions and have influenced therelatives and the IO.

The court of CJM dis-missed the final report sub-mitted by the IO and orderedfresh investigation into the

case. The court ordered theSenior Superintendent ofPolice (SSP) Ghaziabad tosubmit the report before thecourt before or on October 8.

The widow of thedeceased, Geeta Jha hasrequested the GhaziabadPolice chief that the caseshould be investigated byCrime Branch instead of localSahibabad police. She assert-ed that the Sahibabad policewould work under the influ-ence of college authority aseven in the past the IOallegedly filed closure underinfluence.

The Senior Superintendentof Police (SSP) VaibhavKrishna is believed to haveagreed to her request and hasissued relevant orders, thelawyer added.

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The Congress party studentwing National Students'

Union of India (NSUI) hasgone hammer and tongs to cor-ner its arch rival RSS-affiliatedABVP over the alleged fakedegree of newly appointedDelhi University Students'Union (DUSU) presidentAnkiv Baisoya. NSUI held amassive protest at arts facultynorth campus against varsityadministration demandingproper legal action in case ofalleged Baisoya's “fake” degreerow.

NSUI had alleged that theDUSU president has furnisheda fake degree of ThiruvalluvarUniversity of Tamil Nadu toenable him to secure admissionin MA Buddhist studies course

in the Delhi University. NSUIclaims that its unit in TamilNadu wrote a letter of enquiryto the University and receivedan affirmation that the degreeof the DUSU President is “fake”.ABVP has categorically deniedthe allegation.

“The way ABVP has triedto capture DUSU by tamperingthe EVM, the way administra-tion and BJP government hasinterfered in students democ-racy is Condemnable.According to the guidelines ofLyngdoh Committee NSUIdemands Re-elections in DUwith Ballot Paper. We alsodemands announcement of newelection date and also immedi-ate removal of the ABVP pres-idential candidate from DUSU”,said NSUI National PresidentFairoz Khan.

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Dwarka District's CyberCrime Cell employees

have arrested a couple, aNigerian national and his wifefrom Assam, who duped peo-ple by befriending themthrough social networking sitesand pretending to send themexpensive gifts. The accusedIfeanyi Joachin Nwafor's wifewould then call the victimsimpersonating Custom andIncome tax officials and ask forclearance fees. Police recoveredaround �6,69,000 from theaccused persons.

“A complaint was receivedfrom a female social workerwho alleged that she was dupedof �1,22,600.The complainantalleged that some months ago,one United Kingdom-basedGeorge Moor became herFacebook friend. He requestedher to accept few gifts for poorpeople in India,” DeputyCommissioner of Police(Dwarka District) AntoAlphonse stated.

The complainant revealedthat she paid �1,22,600 in twoinstallments on July 10 and July11 as clearance fees for the gift,to a woman who claimed to befrom Custom Office in

Mumbai and Income Taxdepartment. On subsequentcash demands she found itsuspicious and filed a com-plaint, the DCP added.

“During investigation,police team obtained mobilenumbers of accused personsand analysed their call detailrecord, International MobileEquipment Identity (IMEI)and noticed that the accusedfrequently visited Assam. Thepassenger list was obtainedand on the basis of technicalsurveillance and local intelli-gence, accused Nwafor fromNigeria and his wife a resi-dent of Assam, were arrestedfrom Chanakya Place1,Dabri, New Delhi,” the DCPrevealed.

“On sustained interroga-tion, both accused disclosedthat they approached peoplethrough Facebook, WhatsAppand other online social mediasites. The accused had sever-al fake accounts throughwhich he tricked people intobelieving that he was sendingthem expensive gifts. Theaccused's wife would imper-sonate a Custom Official andask them for convenience fee,”DCP said.

Cash �6,69,000 cheatedfrom different persons wererecovered by the police staff.Mobile phones, jewellery, lap-top, dongles, ATM cards, trans-action slips and more were alsorecovered from the accusedpersons, the DCP added.

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Acouple in their twenties involved innine cases of snatching were arrest-

ed by the Delhi Police while they were try-ing to flee on a stolen bike after snatch-ing a mobile phone in Kalkaji area of thenational Capital.

“They accused are identified asVikram (24) and Sonia (20) resident ofNavjeevan camp in Govindpuri. OnTuesday at about 9: 30 am, the victim wasgoing to his office while talking on hismobile phone when the couple riding ona stolen bike snatched his mobile phone.The victim raised alarm and nearbypatrolling beat staff intercepted the bikeof accused and apprehended them,” said

Chinmoy Biswal, Deputy Commissionerof Police (DCP), south east district.

“During the interrogation, theaccused Vikram disclosed that he becameaddicted to liquor and ganja and in orderto meet his needs he started theft andsnatching. He was previously arrested in9 cases of snatching and theft. In orderto earn quick money his wife also joinedhim in his criminal activities,” said theDCP.

“To not come under the scannerof police he used to ride bike with hiswife and both used to snatch themobile phones of the victims. Accusedused to dispose the stolen bikes andsnatched phones to receivers and evenpassersby,” said the DCP.

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Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityStudents' Union (JNUSU)

president N Sai Balaji metDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Wednesday andhad discussion on several issuesrelated to the university.Kejriwal congratulated thenewly-elected JNUSU presi-dent and other varsity stu-dents for defeating the rightwing ABVP in the recent elec-tions.

The newly elected JNUSUpresident said he apprisedthe Chief Minister of the vio-lence in JNU campus andthe conduct of the AkhilBharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP). Kejriwal is learnt tohave accused the ModiGovernment of “dictatorship”when he said the currentregime at the Centre is draw-ing inspiration from the infa-mous leader of Nazi GermanyAdolf Hitler.

“ABVP's rising terror andviolence on students in theJNU campus and inaction of

JNU V-C against these ABVPstudents involved in campusviolence shows how they arebeing shielded away”, saidBalaji.

According to the state-ment issued by JNUSU, theChief Minister has asked stu-dents to be united. “He saidthe present regime is takinginspiration from Hitler andtrying to muzzle and annihi-

late democracy. He feltinspired when I told him howwe are resisting this regime,violence...through massiveunity, night vigils, protests,peace marches and non-coop-eration,” said Balaji, addingthat the Delhi Chief Ministerasked the JNU students tokeep their “fight on and beunited”.

“Met him and discussed in

detail how we are beingattacked and so on. How threatswere given in police station,how lynch mobs were baitingfor blood and how an environ-ment of fear is being perpetu-ated,” alleged Balaji.

In the recent JNUSU poll,a united front of Left studentgroups won all four centralpanel seats defeating the ABVPby huge margins.

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Ahead of General Elections-2019, THE Bharatiya

Janata Party's Delhi unit hasstarted to pull up its socks asthe State unit will have toanswer hordes of questionspertaining to the ongoing“sealing drive' across thenational Capital.

According to senior Stateleaders, the party will bringpolitical resolution on theburning issues of sealing, vic-tory of Akhial BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) inDelhi University StudentsUnion (DUSU) polls deaths ofpoor sanitation workers due tomanual scavenging.

Delhi BJP on Wednesdayannounced its upcomingexecutive meeting a weekafter the National executivemeet.

BJP General SecretaryKuljeet Singh Chahalannounced the date of execu-tive meeting. “Pradesh

Executive Committee of DelhiBJP will meet on 21st and22nd September, 2018,” Chahalsaid.

Explaining about theagendas of meeting, RajeshBhatia, a senior Delhi BJPworker and General Secretarysaid , “In the presence ofUnion leaders, Delhi BJP willpass resolutions on variousserious issue capital is facing,adding , “Sealing and deaths ofmanual scavengers are on thetop,” Bhatia said speaking toThe Pioneer.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that Delhi is facing polit-ical failure on sealing issuesas thousands of small busi-ness men have lost their earn-ing because of sealing driveby Supreme CourtMonitor ing authority -Environment ProtectionControl Agency (EPCA)chaired by Bhure Lal andother Army Veteran officerson the ground to combatpollution, traffic and con-

gestion related issues. “In this important meeting

of the Pradesh ExecutiveCommittee Union Ministersand other senior leaders willaddress the meeting and guidethe office bearers and workersto energise the Delhi Unit forthe forthcoming elections in2019,” Delhi BJP spokespersonsaid.

Pertinently, Delhi BJP willalso discuss outcome of studentelections of both DelhiUniversity and JawaharlalNehru University (JNU).“Students in DU performedwell in elections” said Bhatia.The meeting will held at DrAmbedkar International Centre.

Senior leaders includingPradesh Incharge Shyam Jajuwill attend the meeting anddiscuss the contemporarypolitical issues and thoseaffecting the lives of the peo-ple alongwith encouraginggreater participation in theorganisational works,” said aBJP leader.

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War of words betweenpolitical parties over

the issue of sealing in thenational Capital intensified onWednesday, with theCongress and the AAP slam-ming Delhi BJP chief ManojTiwari for breaking the lockof a house sealed by the EastDelhi Municipal Corporation.

The Supreme Court hasissued a contempt noticeagainst Tiwari for breaking theseal of the premises which wasbeing run in violation of theDelhi Master Plan, and direct-ed him to appear before it onSeptember 25.

The ruling AAP termedTiwari's action “childish” while

the Congress asked how break-ing of one seal will solve thesealing problem being faced bypeople across the city.

Both the parties challengedthe Delhi BJP chief to ask hisparty's government at the cen-tre to come out with an ordi-nance to solve the issue, insteadof indulging in “drama” overthe “serious” issue.

The Delhi BJP chief hashowever said that he will be“lucky” to appear before theapex court to “expose corruptofficials” who played “havock”in the city in the name of seal-ing drive.

Senior AAP leader DilipPandey said, “The seal brokenby Tiwari in Gokalpur waslater replaced by the municipalcorporation and now heshould tell the people what heachieved through his childishact.”

He claimed that peoplewere “angry” with the BJP and

were looking for a chance toteach the party a lesson.

“The antics of Tiwari arenot enough to save the BJP inthe next Lok Sabha electionsas his party at the Centre isnot bringing an ordinance tosave people from the sealingdrive,” Pandey told reporters.

Senior Delhi Congressleader and the convener of'Nyay Yudh' campaign against“illegal” sealing, MukeshSharma, claimed that the BJPand Tiwari were “rattled” by theagitation that was gainingground and “wide” support ofpeople for it.

The party has announcedto hold a 'Mahapanchayat -Hukke Par Charcha' of 365 vil-lages, at Rangpuri in SouthDelhi to decide its next courseof action against “illegal” seal-ing. The Central governmentshould bring an ordinance togive relief to people from ille-gal sealing, Sharma said.

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About one fifth of fleet of theCentral Accident and Trauma

Service (CATS) ambulances areout of order due to “ill mainte-nance” or over-age vehicles puttinga question mark over the efficacyof critical emergency response ser-vices. The Delhi Government offi-cials asserted that in order to bol-ster the services the aged vehiclesshould be systematically doneaway with over a period of timewhile replacing it with new ones.

The Delhi Government'sCATS ambulance, a critical emer-gency response service is strug-gling with delays, lack of equip-ment and poor maintenance, forc-ing nearly 50 of its 265-strong fleetto go off the roads.

The crisis is affecting medicalservices for people, promptingthe National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) to issue anotice to the Delhi government.

The notice sent through the

chief secretary has sought adetailed report, within four weeks,on the depleting fleet of CATSambulances and the steps taken inthis regard by the government tomake the services accessible to thecommon citizens by ensuring fulloperation of the entire fleet.

“The difference, if any,between the government and thecompany in question, who isresponsible to run the CATSambulances may be addressed atthe earliest to ease the services ofCATS ambulances to the citizensof the national capital, keeping inmind emergency services of suchvehicles,” the rights panel stated onTuesday.

In 2016, the city governmenthad partnered with the BVGUKSAS EMS Pvt Ltd to run thefleet. Of the 265 ambulances intotal, 31 were acquired during theCommonwealth Games in 2010, asenior CATS official said.

Nivedita Patnaik, the head ofoperations of the BVG UKSAS

EMS Pvt Ltd, claimed that the badstate of affairs was due to non-payment and fund crunch, addingthat Rs 40 crore was due to it fromthe government.

The senior CATS official,however, claimed that “all pay-ments have been done to thecompany as per the norms of thetender” under which the firmwas selected.

“We do not have funds, somaintenance will suffer. But, weare still trying to run the servicein constrained conditions. Of the265 ambulances, 31 were pur-chased in 2010, about 110 last yearand rest during the interveningperiod,” Patnaik said.

“Before running an ambu-lance, its road-worthiness has to beensured, and these 31 vehicles haveaged and need to be replaced. Also,265 vehicles are not sufficient fora city like Delhi, more so, whenmany of these vehicles aredeployed during public rallies andevents,” she said.

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The AAP Government on Wednesday told the DelhiHigh Court that it has notified the rules for regu-

lating the standards for de-addiction centres operat-ing in the national Capital. The submission was madebefore Bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goelwhich asked the central government to formulate thenorms with regard to obtaining consent from thepatient to be admitted in such a centre.

The Delhi Government told the court that the ruleswere notified on Tuesday.

Taking note of the submission, the bench disposedof the pleas before it regarding the functioning of de-addiction centres in the city. The bench had on August23 directed that the rules be notified by September 19.

The High Court had been looking into the issue aftera habeas corpus petition was filed by the father and broth-er of a man, who was allegedly illegally detained at a de-addiction centre in the city, where he was admitted byhis wife and children on the pretext that he was an alco-holic.

It had earlier said de-addiction centres should notbe used to detain someone without his or her consentunder the guise of rehabilitation.

The court had, in November last year, ordered thatsuch centres running illegally in the national capitalbe immediately shut down. It had also noted that“unwanted elders are dumped” at places that operatein the guise of old-age homes.

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Power discom BSES hasbrought over 1,000 con-

sumers including the LotusTemple and Maulana AzadMedical College in the list ofrooftop solar connections inthe city, a company spokesper-son said.

The total load of over 40MW has been energised so farwith 1,000 rooftop connec-tions, he said. The number ofrooftop solar connections bythe end of the year is likely tocross the 2,000 mark, thespokesperson said.

“BSES is amongst veryfew utilities in India, whichare engaged in actively prop-agating the roof top solarinstallations through directmarketing ef forts,” thespokesperson said

Rooftop solar connectionsallow consumers to generateelectricity for self consumptionand sell surplus, if any, to thediscom.

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Page 4: daughter Maryam and son-in- ... leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 ... Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ-

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The NIA has arrestedNashidul Hamzafar, a

native of Kerala accused inISIS Kasargod case, after theaccused was deported tothe national Capital fromKabul, Afghanistan.

Nashidul was detainedby Afghan SecurityAgencies last year for ille-gally entering the countryto join his associates inproscribed terrorist orga-nization ISIS/Daish. TheNIA arrested Hamzafar, 26,native of Kalpetta, Wayanaddistrict, Kerala as soon as hearrived here late last nightupon deportation byAfghanistan.

The case relates to thecriminal conspiracyhatched by the accusedpersons from Kasaragoddistrict of Kerala and theirassociates since Ramadan,2015 with the intention ofjoining and furthering theobjectives of banned inter-national terror group

ISIS/Daish. Pursuant to the con-

spiracy, 14 accused per-sons from Kasaragod dis-trict had left India or theirwork places in Middle Eastbetween mid-May andearly July, 2016 before trav-elling to Afghanistan, wherethey joined ISIS/Daish.

Hamzafar allegedlyparticipated in the con-spiracy through encryptedsocial media platforms,with the other abscondingaccused persons in thiscase including AbdulRashid Abdulla and AshfakMajeed who were known tohim through his college-mates Shihas, Firoz Khanand Bestin Vincent.

As part of the criminal

conspiracy hatched withfugitive ISIS/ Daish activistAbdul Rashid Abdullabesides Ashfak Majeed andothers, Hamzafar left Indiaon October 3, 2017 andtravelled to Muscat, Omanbefore travelling to Iranand further reaching Kabul,Afghanistan, where he wasdetained by the authoritiesthere.

The arrested accusedwas produced before thedesignated NIA court onWednesday. He will now betaken to Kochi on transitremand for producing himbefore the Special NIACourt, Ernakulam that hadissued non-bailable war-rant (NBW) against him,NIA spokesperson said.

New Delhi: Congress presidentRahul Gandhi on Wednesdayappointed A Revanth Reddyand Ponnam Prabhakar asworking presidents of theTelangana unit of the party.

He also set up a 15-membercore committee comprising alltop party leaders in Telangana.The panel will take all key deci-sions ahead of the Assemblyelection slated for later thisear.

The assembly election in thesouthern state has been neces-sitated after Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao dissolvedthe assembly ahead of its tenurewhich was till May 2019.

Gandhi also appointed R CKhuntia, AICC in-charge ofTelangana, as chairman of thecoordination committee for theTelangana unit, with PCC pres-ident N Uttam Kumar Reddy asits convener, a statement fromAICC general secretary AshokGehlot said. The panel com-prises 52 leaders from the State.

The party’s 17-membercampaign committee will haveMallu Bhatti Vkramarka Mallu,MLA, as its chairman, D KAruna as its co-chairman andSravan Dasoju as convener.

The Congress president alsoset up a 41-member pradesh

election committee with allsenior leaders of the party inthe State. It also has chiefs ofvarious frontal organisationsand departments as its specialinvitees, a party statementsaid. The 35-member mani-festo committee for TelanganaCongress will have DamodarC Rajanarasimha as chair-man, K Venkat Reddy as co-chairperson and BommaMahesh Kumar Goud as itsconvener. The 20-memberstrategy and planning com-mittee for the State Congresswill be chaired by VHanumantha Rao and co-chaired by party leaders SarveySatyanarayana, Madhu YakshiGoud and Sridhar Babu, whileP Sudhakar Reddy will be itsconvener, Gehlot said. PTI

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The Supreme Court onWednesday opened the fil-

ing of claims and objections forinclusion and exclusion ofnames in the final draft of theNational Register of Citizens(NRC) of Assam, in whicharound 40 lakh people havebeen left out.

A bench headed by CJI-designate Ranjan Gogoi madeit clear that second opportuni-ty was being given to those leftout of the NRC, keeping inmind the "enormous magni-tude" of the issue.

It said the claims and

objections can be filed for 60days starting September 25.

"We are of the view that all that which we are required to do at this stage is toopen the filing of claims andobjections with regard to inclusion in the draft NRC published in July thisyear," the bench, which alsocomprised Justice R FNariman, said.

"Usually a person cannothave the opportunity to proveit in a second chance. Butkeeping in mind the magnitudeof the issue, we are permittingthe second chance to prove theclaim," it said.

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Acase has been registered about agirl, hailing from Pauri Garhwal,

being allegedly sold off and marriedto a person from Haryana. As per theallegation, the girl was sexuallyexploited by some persons known toher husband. She somehow escapedfrom their clutches and registered acomplaint against six persons,including two women, at SIIDCULpolice station on Wednesday.

According to the SIIDCULpolice, the 20-year-old girl was soldfor �1.50 lakh and later married offto a person in Haryana over amonth ago. Police sources said thatas she had been staying with herelder sister who is working in a fac-tory in the SIIDCUL industrial area,her sister had come into contact withone Sudha and her husband Sunil

who had suggested a suitable matchfor the girl. Later, she had got mar-ried to a person from Karnal inHaryana Tejveer Singh. The media-tor Sudha had allegedly taken theamount.

Speaking to The Pioneer, SP cityMamta Vohra said, “Not just the girl’shusband but his relatives tortured thegirl. The brother-in-law of the girlalso allegedly raped her.

When the girl resisted, she wastold about her being sold off for �1.50lakh. The girl was allegedly thrashed.They even threatened to kill her. Acase has been registered.Interrogation is on.”

Police, further, said that the girlhad managed to escape from her in-laws with the assistance of her rela-tives and come to Haridwar whereshe had narrated her ordeal to hersister.

Following the complaint beinglodged, a case has been registeredunder different sections of 373 and376 of Indian Penal Code, policeadded.

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The girl gang-raped in a lead-ing school on the outskirts

of the city and her father onWednesday recorded theirstatements before a local courtwhile her medical report con-firmed sexual assault, policesaid.

A check by the state educa-tion department found theschool had violated several safe-ty norms and it could soon loseits license, an official said.

The victim and her fatherrecorded their statements beforethe court of Additional DistrictJudge (Civil) Manju Singh,Investigating Officer NareshRathore said.

The medical report has alsoarrived confirming the victimwas sexually assaulted, Rathoresaid.

Nine persons, including thestudents accused of the crime,school officials and employees

have been arrested in connec-tion with the case.

While three minors boyshave been sent to a correction-al home in Haridwar by theJuvenile Justice Board, theiradult accomplice and five schoolemployees including its directorand principal were sent to thedistrict jail in Dehradun on judi-cial remand, he said.

The school employees werearrested as they kept the heinouscrime committed within thepremises under wraps for amonth, the police officer said.

The crime took place onAugust 14 and came to light onSeptember 16 despite the schoolauthorities already knowingabout it, Rathore said.

The victim shared herordeal first with her elder sisterwho studied at the same school.She informed the school author-ities who instead of approach-ing the police tried to hush it upby threatening to throw the sis-

ters out of school if they dis-closed it to anyone, an officialsaid.

However, after sometimethe elder sister of the survivorconfided it to a relative whoapproached the police.

Meanwhile, the state edu-cation department announcedit will cancel the licence and noobjection certificate issued tothe school.

Chief Education Officer SBJoshi who visited the school saidit had violated several normsincluding installing no CCTVson campus and not deployingsecurity guards for the safety ofstudents.

CBSE regional officerRanvir Singh said he had rec-ommended to the head officecancellation of the school's affil-iation.

The response to a showcause notice issued to the schoolto explain its actions was notfound satisfactory, he said.

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From Page 1Das said, “The mineral

rich State is lagging behind dueto Naxal activities. OurGovernment’s main aim is toeliminate naxalism. PreviousGovernments didn’t give focusto development issues; howev-er, in coordination with theCentral Government, the BJPGovernment has made policiesfavouring tribals and Naxals.”

Explaining about situationof naxalism in nearby areas ofBurha Pahar, Latehar andadjoining areas of Sarju village,the Central Armed ForcesPolice (CAPF) officials saidthese naxal groups move ingroup of 40 -50 Dasta (troop)members and the area of move-ment is Chandwa, Balumath ,Herhanj, Latehar, Chatra andLohardaga border.

Pertinently, seven CRPFjawans were killed in actioncountering naxals in Latehardistrict recently.

Enlightening on naxal sit-uation in Jahrakhad, a specialteam comprising, R K Mallick, Additional Director Generalof Police (Operation and Law& Order), Saket Kumar Singh,DIG , Special Task Force (STF)and Prashant Anand ,Superintendent of Police, Sarju

range, said the scenario ischanging.

“With the coordination ofCentral Government, we areable to counter this problemstrategically, operations, killingsare not tough yet. The chal-lenge we are facing is to breakideology,” said ADGP Mallick.

The Pioneer interactedwith surrendered people whoonce were influenced and cadreof Maoist.

Ganju (name changed), agraduate, shared an incidentwhich turned his life entirely.

“I was politically activeand associated with someChatra Sangathan since mycollege days in 90s. Our areawas deprived and there were nodoctors in my village. No waterconnections were given to us bythe Government,” said Ganju,who stays in open jail now withhis family.

He said, “I was misguidedby Maoist Communist Centre(MCC) party members in col-lege days. They (party people)had told me they are workingfor our people. “We will createpipeline system to supply waterin villages. I treated many peo-ple suffering from dengue,chikungunya, and diarrhoeawhen I was with the MCC.”

“But, later these peopleused to meet in groups,planned ambush operationsand started targeting inno-cents to rob money andweapons… I decided to leavethe party,” he said.

The MCC gave us lectureabout Bhagat Singh andChandrashekhar Azad, saidGanju. “I took risk with my lifebut I was determined to leavethat practices and was ready tosurrender.., I was not muchaware about Government poli-cies although, hence I did notask anyone in my group tocome for surrender becausethis can be a threat for them,”he said.

“And, one day withoutinforming them, I left theirgroup and surrendered. Sincethen they are searching me,”said Ganju.

His name was in top list ofsearch warrant list of theJharkhand Police which hadannounced a reward amount ofRs 25 lakh for his arrest.

“The JharkhandGovernment has provided mejob, and is paying me Rs 6,000per month now,” said Ganju.

Meanwhile, STF officials,Jharkhand Jaguar, CAPF saidthe challenge before them is to

crush “Maoist” ideology.“Circumstances have been

changed now, Naxal causalitieshave been decreases and sur-renders are increasing,” saidAshish Batra, IG, Special TaskForce (STF). “There are newformations of new police sta-tions. We do intelligence basedanti-naxal operations with theco-ordination between Centralforces and State police. Thereare surrender and reward poli-cies and we are also working onintegrated Security andDevelopment Action Plans andmost importantly in our seizureof properties under UAPA,these naxals are surrendering,”said Batra.

“Challenges we are facing

beside, ideology break are :splinter groups, indulging intocriminal activity by Maoists,co-operation from the adjoin-ing states of Bihar, Orissa,Chhattisgarh and West Bengal,Prosecution and no recycle,”the officer added.

“Efforts are being made tospeed up the prosecutionprocess for the under trials helpto stop naxals from re-joiningtheir cadre when released onbail,” IG Batra added.

According to the StateGovernment database aboutNaxals, in Jharkhand 21 out of24 districts are naxal hit.

Presently out of 30 worstLWE affected districts in thecountry, 13 are in Jharkhand

which include Hazaribargh,Lohardaga, Palamu, Chatra,Garhwa, Ranchi, Gumla,Simdega, Latehar, Giridih,Bokaro, West Singhbhum,Khunti. Saraikela, Kharsawa,East Singhbhum, Dhanbad,Koderma and Ramgarh.

Remarkably, as per naxaldatabase prepared byJharkhand police, in the sevenmonths of current year (tillAugust), forty encounters takeplace to deter the naxalite.Interestingly, out of these 40encounters, 24 naxals wereneutralised, including fiverewarded naxals while fourothers rewarded naxals sur-rendered. Moreover, 38 arrestswere made of different ranks.

From Page 1It is suspected that the

BAT members had draggedinjured BSF jawan insidePakistan territory.

Meanwhile, the BSF raisedthe issue of killing of its jawanwith the Pakistan Rangers atthe sector level to registertheir strong protest againstthe provocative killing.

The issue also came upduring the Directorate Generalof Military Operations(DGMO) talks between Indiaand Pakistan on Tuesdayevening. “India lodged strongprotest over the killing of theBSF soldier during the Colonellevel talks between the twosides on the hotline,” sourcessaid in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the BSFjawans have been kept in astate of ‘high alert’ to respondto any extreme provocationfrom the Pakistan side. Severalvillagers in the forward areashave been alerted to stay safein the event of exchange of fir-ing along the InternationalBorder.

After the recovery of thebody, the BSF authorities inJammu frontier had escortedteam of doctors from Samba tothe forward Kandral borderoutpost to conduct post-mortem late on Tuesday night.

After completing the nec-essary formalities, the body ofthe jawan was dispatched to hisnative place Sonepat inHaryana.

From Page 1Under a compoundable offence, both parties have

the liberty of withdrawing the case. The proposed lawwould only be applicable on instant triple talaq or‘talaq-e-biddat’ and it would give power to the vic-tim to approach a magistrate seeking “subsistenceallowance” for herself and minor children.

A woman can also seek the custody of her minorchildren from the magistrate who will take a final callon the issue. Citing details of instant triple talaq cases,the Minister said till now 430 incidents of triple talaqhave come to the notice of the Government throughthe media. Of these, he said, 229 were reported beforethe Supreme Court judgment, while another 201came to the notice after it. These cases were report-ed between the period of January 2017 to September13, 2018, he said.

“What is important is that the practice of tripletalaq continues in spite of the Supreme Court hav-ing annulled it and the Lok Sabha having passed aBill which is pending in the Rajya Sabha. We haveall the evidence and a series of papers in this regard,”he told reporters.

Prasad said he has tried to take the cooperationof the Congress party along with other parties, andhad met its senior leader Anand Sharma who saidhe would get back after talking to the party leader-ship.

“I had met him five to six times...We had soughtcooperation,” he said, adding that there was noresponse from the main Opposition party.

From Page 1When contacted by the CBI, the

Interpol has also told the agency there isno further development in the case,according to sources.

The CBI had filed chargesheet in thecase in September last year, naming for-mer IAF chief SP Tyagi, retired AirMarshal JS Gujral along with eight oth-ers, including five foreign nationals.Michel is one of the chargesheetedaccused in the case.

In the chargesheet, the CBI hasalleged that there was an estimated lossof Euro 398.21 million (approximately Rs2,666 crore) to the exchequer in the dealthat was signed on February 8, 2010 forthe supply of 12 VVIP copters worth Euro556.262 million.

The CBI probe has revealed that dur-ing Tyagi’s tenure as IAF chief, the airforce agreed to reduce the mandated ser-vice ceiling for VVIP helicopters from6,000 metres to 4,500 metres. Service ceil-ing is the maximum height at which ahelicopter can operate. Reduction of ser-vice ceiling led to the AgustaWestland’sparticipation in the tendering process asits copters did not have the capability to

fly beyond 4,500 metres. The Enforcement Directorate (ED)

that probed the money laundering anglein the VVIP helicopter scam alleged in itschargesheet filed in June 2016 that Michelhad received Euro 30 million (nearly Rs225 crore). He is wanted in India to facetrial in the case.

Union Law Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad termed the order of a Dubai courtto extradite British national ChristianMichel as a positive development and saidthe news has created a “sense of unease”in some leaders here.

Responding to a question on theDubai court order, Prasad said, “It is agood development. But I must point outthat I notice a profound sense of uneasein some leaders.”

Prasad was apparently referring to theCongress party when stressing that therewas a sense of unease in some leaders.

Michel is facing a non-bailable war-rant from designated Indian courts forCBI and ED besides a Red Corner Noticefrom the Interpol.

Following allegations of corruption inthe VVIP copter scam, the contract wasscrapped by the Government in 2014.

From Page 1The US National Weather

Services agency said depression would erupt in intense-ly heavy precipitation over North-West India: SouthRajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh, East and NorthGujarat, Delhi and West UP. This is likely to pan out overthe next 12 to 15 days.

As per IMD data, monsoon withdrawal was mostdelayed in 2017 and had begun on September 27. In 2016,monsoon withdrew on September 15. Monsoon withdrewon September 4 in 2015 while in 2014 it withdrew onSeptember 23. Monsoon withdrawal saw on September9 in 2013 while it had withdrew on September 24 on 2012.Prevalence of dry weather for five straight days and reduc-tion in moisture content are among the main factors con-sidered for announcing monsoon’s withdrawal. Anothercondition is the setting of anti-cyclonic circulation overwestern Rajasthan.

Agriculturists said the late retreat is not a cause forworry as rains aren’t heavy now and hence would helppaddy, cotton and coarse cereals, though crops ready forharvesting may face some damage.

Presently, rainfall deficiency is over 10 per cent tillSeptember 19. The monthly deficit has increased from 5per cent in June, to 5.8 in July and 7.6 in August. The coun-try witnessed 750.5 mm rainfall as against the normal of834.5 mm till date.

Out of total 36 sub-divisions, as many as 26 have wit-nessed normal rains, while nine continue to remain rain-deficient and only Kerala has recorded excess rain. Despitedeficiency the sowing of paddy has been carried out overan area of 1,053 lakh hectare (lh) as against 1,046 lakhhectare covered in the corresponding week last year. Rice,oilseeds and sugarcane have reported a jump in acreage,while the planting of pulses and cotton is marginally lower.At 383 lakh hectare, rice planting is 2.28 per cent higherthan that reported in the same week last year.

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At least five juvenile pris-oners escaped from a

remand home here onWednesday after killing thecaretaker and a fellow inmate,police said.

The caretaker, VijendraKumar, and an inmate SarojKumar were shot dead whiletwo other juvenile prisoners,Gaurav Sahni and RohitKumar, were injured as gun-shots were fired by a group ofboys lodged inside the remand

home who opened the gate andfled the spot after the attack,Superintedent of Police VishalSharma said.

According to remandhome's guard Suraj Kumar thegroup of five juvenile prison-ers escaped from the remandhome soon after the incident.

It was being investigated asto how the inmates got accessto a firearm, the SP said,adding that efforts were on totrace them.

The injured inmates havebeen admitted to hospital.

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Page 5: daughter Maryam and son-in- ... leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 ... Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ-

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Continuing with its attack onthe Modi Government, the

Congress on Wednesday sub-mitted a memorandum to theComptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) over allegedirregularities in the Rafalefighter jet deal and maintainedthat the auditor watchdog com-mitted to take a look into thematter.

The Congress has steppedup the attack on theGovernment over the Rafaledeal and is seeking to make ita major poll issue ahead ofAssembly elections in some keystates later this year and theparliamentary election in 2019.

A delegation of party lead-ers led by senior party memberGhulam Nabi Azad called onCAG chief Rajiv Mehrishi andhanded over a memorandum,accusing the Government ofcausing loss to the publicexchequer and endangeringnational security by bypassingstate-run HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL) infavour of some businessman“friends” for offset contract.

The delegation also includ-ed Ahmed Patel, Ghulam NabiAzad, Anand Sharma, JairamRamesh, Randeep Surjewalaand Mukul Wasnik.

Sharma said the party hasgiven a detailed memoran-

dum, along with enclosures on“irregularities” and “acts ofomission and commission” bythe Government in the fighterjet deal. “We expect the CAGwill prepare a report soon andpresent it before Parliament,” hesaid.

Congress alleged that thefresh deal for Rafale fighter jetswas inked by the NarendraModi dispensation at a costmuch higher than what wasnegotiated by the previousGovernment led by it.

“The CAG pointed out thatit is his constitutional and fun-damental duty to audit all suchpurchases, procedures, award ofcontract and the CAG saidthat they are already examiningthe entire Rafale deal. They are

examining the papers, they areexamining the payments made,and they are examining theprocedure and its violation.They assured that they will lookat all the documents that wehave brought in public domainand that they will very soon besubmitting a report toParliament after examining allthe contentions raised by theCongress party,” Congress chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala told reporters.

“The Government isbound to disclose the price of36 aircraft to scrutiny by theCAG, in accordance with lawand there has to be a similardisclosure to the PublicAccounts Committee (PAC),Chief Vigilance Commission

(CVC), and ParliamentaryStanding Committee onDefence,” he said.

In its memorandum, theCongress alleged violation ofthe mandatory provisions of theDefence ProcurementProcedure in the “unilateral”purchase of 36 Rafale jets fromDassault Aviation and that pub-lic exchequer lost �41,000 croredue to the purchase. The partysaid while the previous UPAGovernment was buying Rafalejets for �526 crore a piece, therate fixed by the Modi dispen-sation was �1,670 crore.

“We request the CAG toundertake its constitutionalduty by conducting a timebound special and forensicaudit by examining the recordthreadbare, so that the truth istold to the people of India in acomprehensive and transparentmanner affixing the responsi-bility of the ModiGovernment,” the Congressmemorandum said.

The party earlier demand-ed a probe by a joint parlia-mentary committee (JPC) intothe alleged irregularities in thedeal. The Government hasrejected any kind of JPC orCAG probe into the deal, saying an inquiry cannot be setup only to satisfy the ego of an“ill-informed” leader of the Opposition party who“repeats lies”.

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The Government onWednesday not only reject-

ed the Congress’ demand for aprobe into the Rafale fighter jetdeal, saying an enquiry cannot beset up only to satisfy the ego ofan “ill-informed” leader of theOpposition party who “repeatslies”, but also targeted formerDefence Minister AK Antony.

“I don’t think JPC or CAGenquiry is set up to satisfy the egoof an ill-informed leader whorepeats lies with alarming regu-larity,” Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad told reporters, inan apparent attack on Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi.

Prasad said that Antony hasa lot to answer for keeping thepublic-sector HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL),which was to be offset partner ofthe French maker of Rafale jets,in the lurch despite being inoffice for eight years.

His response came afterCongress leaders met theComptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) seeking a probeinto alleged irregularities in the

Rafale fighter jet deal and forleaving HAL out of the offsetcontract and transfer of tech-nology. The Congress has alsobeen demanding a joint parlia-mentary committee (JPC) probeinto the matter.

Prasad said Antony was theDefence Minister when the off-set rule was framed, as incum-bent Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman has already articu-lated.

Under India’s offset policy,foreign defence entities are man-dated to spend at least 30 per centof the total contract value inIndia through procurement ofcomponents or setting up ofresearch and development facil-

ities. “He was the Minister wholeft HAL in lurch, as far as thejoint operations is concerned. MrAntony has a lot to answer,” hesaid.

“What has struck me moreis that Mr Antony, who wasDefence Minister for eight yearsduring which nothing could bedone for modernisation andempowerment of Indian forces,(making statement on the issue),”he said.

Prasad also said that IndianAir Force badly needs planes asthe old planes are causing repeat-ed accidents. “Should theCongress at least rise to the occa-sion for the sake of country’s safe-ty and security,” he said.

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The BJP and Congressengaged in a political spat

soon after the Centre cleared anOrdinance making the practiceof triple talaq a punishableoffence. While BJP presidentAmit Shah termed it a historicmoment and said it is also a mat-ter of introspection and guilt forpolitical parties which forcedMuslim women to suffer due tovote bank politics, the Congressaccused the Modi Governmentof treating the issue of instanttriple talaq “more as a politicalfootball than a matter of justiceto Muslim women”.

Hailing Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for theCabinet’s nod to the ordi-nance, Shah said in tweetsthat the decision will allowMuslim women to live withdignity in society. Targetingopposition parties such as theCongress, he said, “This ordi-nance is also a matter of guilt

and introspection for them asthey forced Muslims women tosuffer from this bad practicefor decades due to their votebank politics.”

Congress’ chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala said theGovernment has not accededto the Congress request formaking a provision for attach-ing the property of those notproviding compensation to theaffected women and childrenafter giving them divorce.

Surjewala said instant tripletalaq was “an illegal, unconsti-

tutional and inhuman practice”that was quashed by theSupreme Court. After theSupreme Court quashed thepractice, it has become a law.

“For us, triple talaq hasalways been a human issuerelated to women rights andextending justice to them,” hesaid, adding that this is the rea-son why Congress leaders andlawyers such as SalmanKhurshid and Manish Tiwarirepresented the affectedwomen before the SupremeCourt in the case. However, the

Modi Government is treatingthe issue more as a politicalfootball than a matter of justiceto Muslim women,” he alleged.

“When triple talaq has beenquashed, the next issue now isof providing justice to Muslimwomen. They should have theright to allowance from theproperty of their husband tolook after themselves and theirchildren. The property of thosemen who are unable to providethis compensation, should beattached. But the Modi gov-ernment is avoiding this.

“They do not want justicebe given to Muslim women,Modiji does not want thatMuslim women get allowanceand our amendment that prop-erty should be attached was notaccepted by the government,”Surjewala said at AICC briefing.

Surjewala said theCongress had objected that if aman is jailed, how will womenget allowance and how can carebe ensured to their children.

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India accounted for 27 per centof the 10 million people who

developed tuberculosis in 2017,the highest among the top 30 highTB burden countries in the world,according to the latest report bythe World Health Organisation.Globally, the report said, the bestestimate is that 10 million peopledeveloped TB disease in 2017. Ofthese, 5.8 million are men, 3.2 mil-lion women and one million chil-dren.

What’s worst for India wasthat it was home to almost half ofthe world’s cases which were resis-tant to TB drugs at 24 percent fol-lowed by China (13 percent), andRussia (10 percent), as per the2018 edition of the GlobalTuberculosis Report, released hererecently.

The report, which provides acomprehensive and up-to-date

assessment of the TB epidemicand progress in the response atglobal, regional and country lev-els, however, noted that estimatesof TB incidence and mortality forIndia are interim, pending resultsfrom the national TB prevalencesurvey planned for 2019/2020.

The Worldwide contractedTB that was resistant to rifampicin,“the most effective first-line drug.”Of this number, 82 percent hadmultidrug-resistant TB. And of theMDR-TB cases, 8.5 percent wereextensively drug resistant, or unre-sponsive to four anti-TB drugsnamely Rifampicin, isoniazid, anyof the fluoroquinolone antibi-otics, and at least one of the threeinjectable second-line drugs.

There were cases in all coun-tries and age groups, but overall90 per cent were adults, and nineper cent were people living withHIV.

Of the global total, two-thirds

were in eight countries alone —India 27 per cent; China nine percent; Indonesia eight per cent; thePhilippines six per cent; Pakistanfive per cent; Nigeria four per cent;Bangladesh four per cent andSouth Africa three per cent.

The TB number has beenincreasing since 2013, mainly dueto increased reporting of detect-ed cases by the private sector inIndia, following the introductionof a national policy of mandato-ry notification in 2012 and therollout of a nationwide web-basedand case-based reporting system(called ‘Nikshay’) that facilitatesreporting of detected cases by careproviders in the public and privatesectors.

India accounted for 32 percent of global TB deaths amongHIV-negative people, and for 27per cent of the combined total TBdeaths in HIV-negative and HIV-positive people.

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Eight years after it wasfirst conceived, the work

on the mega exhibition andconvention centre — IndiaInternational Convention &Expo Centre (IICC) — willfinally commence fromThursday. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will lay thefoundation stone of thestate-of-the-art conventioncentre in Dwarka on thelines of the ones inShanghai, Hong Kong andSingapore for hosting exhi-bitions, trade fairs and sum-mits of international stan-dards.

The project is plannedover an area of 221.37 acres(over 90 hectares or 10.7lakh square km) in Sector25, Dwarka, at an estimatedcost of Rs.25,703 crores. It isconnected through DwarkaExpressway and Urban

Extension Road II and isabout 11 kms from the DelhiInternational Airport. Theproject was first mooted in2010 but was stuck due todelay in transfer of landfrom DDA.

IICC at Dwarka will bean integrated complex withfacilities like exhibition halls,convention centre, openexhibition spaces, mixed usecommercial spaces like starhotels (5, 4 and 3 star),

retail services and high-endoffices. The convention cen-tre can accommodate 11,000persons, 5 exhibition halls,1-kilometre long foyer,multi-purpose arena withretractable roof.

It will be developed intwo phases. Phase-I and IIwil l be completed byDecember 2019 andDecember 2024, respective-ly. Officials associated withthe project said the firstphase, comprising conven-tion centre with a seatingcapacity of 10,000 guests,two exhibition halls spreadover 80,000 square metrearea and a foyer, would beready by October 2019 andwill be constructed as non-public-private partnership(PPP) component. The sec-ond phase, comprising theremaining exhibition areawill be ready by 2025 andfacilities such as hotels, retail

space and offices will becompleted on a public-pri-vate partnership (PPP)mode, it said.

The driving factorbehind the project is also topromote schemes like Makein India, tourism, trade andcommerce, exports, busi-ness tourism etc. Accordingto estimations, the govern-ment expects IICC Dwarkawill generate an annualdemand for at least 100large international anddomestic events. It expectsto receive around 10 millionannual visitors by 2019-20and 23 million after the sec-ond phase in 2025.

According to officials,the country boasts of a fewbig convention centres suchas the one in Pragati Maidanand the Bombay Conventionand Exhibition Centre, buta world-class centre is lack-ing. The IICC Dwarka will

be looking to fill in thisspace.

The construction willbe in line with green build-ing principles and IndianGreen Building Council(IGBC) Platinum ratingstandards.

IICC complex will havea dedicated undergroundMetro station which will bean extension of the airporthigh speed metro corridorand is being constructed byDelhi Metro.

The Airport Express lineof the Delhi Metro RailCorporation is being con-sidered for extension fromDwarka Sector 21 to theECC complex. It is pro-posed that the complex willhave a dedicated stationalong with three entry/exitpoints within the complexand the line’s constructioncould be completed by assoon as December 2019.

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Keeping an eye on the forth-coming Assembly polls in

Madhya Pradesh, the CabinetCommittee on Economic Affairs(CCEA) on Wednesday approved a205.5-km new line connectingBudni to Indore (Mangaliyagaon) inthe State. The total estimated costof the project is �3,261 crore whichwill provide connectivity to varioustowns and villages like Nasrullganj,Khategoan and Kannod where thereis no rail connectivity at present.

“The main purpose of this pro-ject is development of backwardarea and reduction in travel timefrom Indore to Jabalpur as well asfrom Indore to Mumbai andtowards southern side also, as thiswill reduce distance by 68 km com-pared to the present available route

via Bhopal,” railway ministry said ina statement.

“It will provide better transportfacilities for public and industries inthis area. It will also help to pro-vide/generate employment oppor-tunities in the project area. The pro-ject will generate direct employmentduring construction for about 49.32lakh man-days,” the statement said.

The proposed line will take offfrom the existing yard of Budni andwill connect at Mangaliyagaon, theexisting station of Western Railwaynear Indore. Ten new crossing sta-tions and seven new halt stations areproposed to be constructed enroute.

The new line will serve Sehore,Dewas and Indore districts andwill provide direct link from Budnito Indore bypassing the congestedroute of Bhopal-Itarsi including

Ghat sect ion from Budni toBerkheda. It will also be beneficialfor the defence forces which hasthree premier institutes in Indore.

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New Delhi: The CabinetCommittee on Economic Affairson Wednesday approved therevised cost estimate of a projectto improve the safety of 198 damsacross the country. The revisedcost has now been pegged at�3,466 crore. Originally, the totalcost of the project was �2,100crore with State component of�1,968 crore and central compo-nent of �132 crore.

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New Delhi: Afghan PresidentAshraf Ghani on Wednesdayassured Prime MinisterNarendra Modi that hisGovernment would do every-thing possible to secure therelease of seven engineersabducted by Taliban in therestive northern Baghlanprovince in May, officialsources said.

During extensive talks withModi, Ghani also conveyed tohim that the AfghanGovernment is enhancingsecurity for Sikhs inAfghanistan in the wake ofkilling of 13 people of thecommunity in a suicide bomb-ing in July, the sources said.

They said Ghani’s responseon both the issues came afterModi raised them.

Seven Indian engineerswere kidnapped in Baghlanprovince on May 6, and Modi,in the talks, conveyed his con-cerns over them to Ghani.

In the talks, the decision by

India and China to initiatejoint projects in Afghanistanwas also deliberated upon.

The sources said a Sino-India integrated training pro-gramme for Afghan diplomatswill kickstart next month inDelhi. The diplomats will firsttrain in Delhi and then willleave for Beijing.

Ghani was here on a day-long working visit.

Giving an overview of thesecurity scenario inAfghanistan, Ghani alsoapprised Modi about Talibanattack on southeastern city of

Ghazni and increasing pres-ence of ISIS in the country. Onthe Ghazni attack, he saidinvolvement of Pakistaninational has emerged, thesources said. PTI

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An inter-Ministerial team, head-ed by a special secretary of the

Home Ministry, will visit Kerala forfive days beginning Thursday toassess the damage caused by therecent devastating floods.

The move comes after theKerala Government sent a detailedmemorandum seeking �4,700-croreas compensation for the damageoccurred due to rains and floods,considered to be worst in a centu-ry.

The inter-ministerial team,headed by Special Secretary B RSharma, will visit Kerala fromSeptember 20 to 24, a HomeMinistry official said.

At least 488 people have died inKerala due to the rains and floodsthis monsoon, which hit 14 districtsof the State. The Kerala

Government memorandum com-prises details about the loss ofhuman life, properties, infrastruc-ture and crops.

In case of any natural calamitybeyond the coping capacity of astate, the state Government submitsa detailed memorandum indicatingsector-wise details of damage andrequirement of funds for reliefoperations of immediate nature.Accordingly, the KeralaGovernment sent the memoran-dum, the official said.

According to the existing guide-lines, the Inter-Ministerial CentralTeam (IMCT) will visit the state foron-the-spot assessment of damageand additional requirement offunds.

The IMCT report will be con-sidered by the sub-committee ofnational executive committee (SC-NEC) headed by the Union home

secretary in conformity with thenorms and then by a high-levelcommittee, chaired by the HomeMinister for approving the quantumof additional assistance from theNational Disaster Relief Fund(NDRF), another official said.

The financial mechanism tomeet the rescue and relief expendi-ture during any notified disasterevent is governed by guidelines onthe State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF)and the NDRF, the official said.

On August 21, the CentralGovernment had released �600crore to f lood-hit Kerala aspromised by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi (�500 crore) andHome Minister Rajnath Singh(�100 crore) during their visits tothe State. This was in addition to�562.45 crore already made avail-able in the State Disaster ReliefFund of Kerala.

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Page 6: daughter Maryam and son-in- ... leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 ... Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ-

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Expecting reverses in theHindi belt which account-

ed for about 160 out of 190seats in 2014 the BJP is takingBengal “very seriously” interms of 2019 general elections.Consequently party presidentAmit Shah has decided to per-sonally navigate the poll vesselin the run up to the 2019 LokSabha elections, insiders say.

Accordingly Shah hasplanned 42 “war rooms” for allthe 42 parliamentary con-stituencies led by seasoned“trans-Bengal” party organis-ers. The “war room” is also like-ly to be enriched by somemanagement experts whowould in tandem with the sea-soned ‘imported’ organiserstrain the general workers to goabout election campaigning,sources said.

Says BN Chakrabarty asephologist: “The waning LeftFront which got 15 percentvotes in the Panchayat polls isnot likely to improve its tallybeyond 18 percent in the gen-eral elections. Add to itCongress’ committed 8-10 per-cent vote.

“The Trinamool Congresson the other hand is likely toget solid 28-30 percent Muslimvotes. Besides it has its own 15percent general votes includingthe standard 5-7 percent votegained through rigging. Takinginto account 2 percent vote forthe Independents and smallergroups the BJP is unlikely topoll more than 30-32 percentvotes which will not win themthe elections.”

Suman Mukherjee a polit-ical analyst backs this view say-ing “even in its worst day theLeft will poll 17 percent vote.If the BJP cannot pull it downto 7-8 percent it has no chanceof winning Bengal.”

Though Shah has fixed atarget of 22 seats for the BengalBJP, Mukherjee is unwilling tobet even on its two sittingMPs Babul Supriyo and SSAhluwalia. “The situation issuch that they also might losetheir seats,” he says adding, theBJP has to do something extra-ordinary to win this elections.

“In any case till Amit Shahis there you do not know whatis going to happen because hedoes something more thanpolitics to win votes. This time

round Bengal will have toremain on high alert aboutsome extra-political things likeriots etc that can polarize votesin one go,” said another expert.

According to sources thewar room strategists will reportdirectly to Shah in Delhi andnot the State leaders to ensurethat there is no sabotage.“Plainly speaking the State BJPleaders will have no say in theelectoral strategy. They willonly give their advice to theparty top brass.”

The war-room strategists:making a lethal blend of someexpert RSS veterans and man-agement experts will send theirreports to Shah and ArvindMenon who would after mon-itoring and scrutinizing reportswill make out the final strategy.

Apart from a dedicated“war-room” tactic the BJP isalso planning to host a meet-ing of the minority leaders “inorder to alleviate the false fearin their mind.” Such meetingsis planned not to garnerMuslim votes to BJP side but todrive a wedge in that so thatsome of them are retained bythe Left and the Congress,insiders said.

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The Bombay High Court onWednesday issued notices

to the Election Commission ofIndia (EC), Maharashtra StateElection Commission (SEC)and two public sectorElectronic Voting Machine(EVM) manufacturing com-panies and others in a publicinterest litigation seeking inves-tigations into the supply anduse of EVMs manufactured bythe two State-run companiesand a stay on the use of themachines pending the probe.

A HC bench of Justice S.S.Kemkar and Justice S.V. Kotwalordered issuance of notices tothe EC, SEC, ElectronicsCorporation of India Ltd(ECIL) and Bharat ElectronicsLtd (BEL) and others to filetheir say, while hearing a pub-lic interest litigation filed RTIactivist by Manoranjan S Roy.

The others who wereserved notices are the UnionHome Ministry, ITDepartment and MaharashtraGovernment.

The HC bench directed theAdditional Solicitor-Generalof India and state Advocate-General to appear at the nexthearing to be held after twoweeks.

In a petition filed on behalfof Roy in March this year,counsels SP Chaudhari P Pawar

and Santosh Saroj has urged thehigh court for setting up of aSpecial Investigation Team(SIT) into the supply of EVMsby the two companies. He hasalso rooted for a stay on the useof EVMs pending the comple-tion of the investigations.

Among other things, thepetitioners urged the high courtto order seizure of all theEVMs in circulation acrossthe country and take theminto its possession, pending theinvestigations.

In his petition, Roybrought to the attention of thecourt about the manner inwhich a large number of EVMsand Voter Verified Paper AuditTrail (VVPATs) were being

ordered by the EC and variousSECs and that there were hugecontradictions in the figures oforders and supplies made bythe two manufacturers.

Roy has based his petition based on the infor-mation he received from theparties concerned under theRTI Act.

Roy told the court thataccording to informationreceived by him under RTI Act,the Bengaluru-based BEL haddespatched large quantities ofelectronic voting machines by‘hand-delivery’ and ‘by post’ tovarious unidentified recipients.

Quoting the RTI replies,Roy stated that BEL hadinformed him that it had

despatched 820 balloting units(BUs) of the machines in bulkpackaging, and on two occa-sions in April (2017) it sent 245(VVPAT) machines ‘By Hand’,to certain recipients and desti-nations.

Roy said that on both theoccasions, BEL did not state towhom the consignments ofBUs were ‘posted’ or fromwhere the entire lot of the‘hand-delivered’ VVPATs orig-inated and whether they werereceived safely by the intendedrecipients.

Roy said that for the entirelot of 820 BUs sent throughIndia Posts, there were onlynine Docket Nos. assigned forthe total consignment, whichcomprises two boxes with 50BUs each and one box eachwith 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 and210 BUs.

“This is misleading as eachbox has a specific size depend-ing on the dimensions of theBUs. The BEL’s reply shows theentire consignment was post-ed in only nine boxes, thoughthe Indian Posts does notaccept — nor is equipped tohandle — such huge parcels,”the petitioner said.

Roy said that BEL had toldhim that on April 6 and April10, 2017, that it deliveredVVPATs in three parcels — 65,70 and 110, respectively — ‘ByHand’ and ‘urgent delivery’ to

avoid the regular logistics route.Alluding to several dis-

crepancies that he had noticedin the “indiscriminate” ordersand deliveries of EVMs madeby the two state-run compa-nies, Roy said that between1989-1990 to 2015-2016, BELhad supplied 125,149 EVMs toKarnataka, 169,975 to Bihar,159,900 to Uttar Pradesh,140,500 to Tamil Nadu, 87,325to Andhra Pradesh, 50,850 toGujarat, 50,050 to Rajasthan,23,000 to Jharkhand, 10,000 toDelhi, 3,000 to Manipur and2,000 to Sikkim.

Surprisingly, BEL also sup-plied 500 EVMs toChandigarh, which is the onlycity to get its own machines.Normally, the EVMs go to therespective states from wherethey are distributed.

In his petition, Roydemanded that as to why theBEL and the ElectionCommission of India had useddifferent yardstick in the sup-ply of EVMs to Chandigarh.

Alluding to the supply ofVVPATs to various states, thepetitioner said that he hadreceived information statingthat BEL had during 2013-14supplied the highest number ofVVPATs — 2,455 — toKarnataka, followed by 2,275 toBihar, 2,140 to Gujarat, 1,500 toMizoram, 1,475 to Tamil Nadu,130 to Delhi and 25 to EC.

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Ace Hyderabadi Tennis starSania Mirza, who is often

targeted by the right wing trollsonline for her marriage toPakistani cricketer Shoaib Malikhas signed out of social mediafor a few days in view of themuch awaited and high tensionIndia-Pakistan clash in AsiaCup being played in Dubai.

In a clear indication that shewanted to avoid getting suckedinto any fresh online contro-versy or become a target oftrolling Sania Mirza tweetedthat she was signing out for afew days. Sania is an advancestage of pregnancy.

She wrote on her twitter han-dle @MirzaSania, ‘soo less than24 hrs to go for this match, safeto sign out of social media for afew days since the amount ofnonsense thts gonna b said herecan make a ‘regular’ person sick,let alone a pregnant one Laterguys! Knock yourselves out! Butremember – ITS ONLY ACRICKET MATCH! Toodles!”.

Many times in the past theright wing trolls including theleaders of the ruling BJP hadquestioned her patriotism andloyalty to India citing her mar-riage to Shoaib Malik.

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Controversies created by itsown leaders have marred

the prospects of the BJP mak-ing any impact in Tamil Nadupolitics, which has been leftrudderless by the demises ofAIADMK supremo Jayalalithaaand chief of the DMK, MKarunanidhi.

H Raja, the national secre-tary of the BJP, faces series oflitigations in the Madras HighCourt for his reported out-bursts against the police andthe judiciary, made during lastweek’s Vinayaka Chathurthifestival.

Tamil Nadu advocate gen-eral Vijay Narayan on Tuesdayissued a show cause notice toRaja asking why statutory con-sent should not be granted toa lawyer to initiate criminalcontempt of court proceedingsfor his recent “scandalous”comments against judiciary.

Raja has been a keenlymonitored “object” in theradar of the non-BJP parties inTamil Nadu. The BJP leaderkept them in good humourwith his “foot in the mouth”statements. There was a furoramong the Dravidians in theState last year when Rajaexhorted the BJP cadre to pulldown all statues of E VRamasamy Naicker, founder ofthe Dravida Kazhakam. The

DMK chief Stalin had demand-ed Raja’s arrest under theNational Security Act for thisstatement.

This time Raja has com-pany in the form of TamilissaiSounderarajan, the president ofthe Tamil Nadu BJP. Politicalcommentators as well as hercolleagues in the party areunanimous in their view thatthe lady has become a liabilityfor the party having failed tomake any inroads in TamilNadu despite a number offavourable factors. “She is atotal failure ,” said a seniorleader in Tamil Nadu BJP.

On Monday ,Sounderarajan and a tiff withan auto rickshaw driver whenthe latter challenged her overthe ever increasing fuel prices.Taken aback by media reportsabout the spar, she called on theauto driver Kathir and made ita media event. Kathir whospoke to media on Wednesdaysaid that his opinion about theBJP remained unchanged. “Hervisit caused a dent on mypocket as I could not go towork,” Kathir told reporters.

“Though there is enoughspace in Tamil Nadu’s politicallandscape for another partyand leader, the BJP is not goingto make an impact because ofpoor leadership,” said a nation-al level activist of the party.“Show me one person from theState leadership who is capable

of inspiring the cadre,” said thisleader who did not want hisname to be quoted. He alsopointed out that party cadrewere disappointed over intensefactionalism in the State unit.

“The BJP in Tamil Nadu isin Intensive Care Unit andsurvives on the life support sys-tem provided by the Centre.There is no possibility of theparty winning a single seat inthe upcoming Lok Sabha elec-tions,” said GovindarajanSatyamurthy, veteran scribeapolitical commentator.

There are reports ion ver-nacular media that the nation-al leadership of the BJP is pin-ning their hopes on Rajnikanth,the superstar of Tamil films toturn around the fortunes of theparty. Rajnikanth (68) haddeclared on the new year evethat he would launch a politi-cal outfit and fight the elec-tions. But even after ninemonths, there is no sign of thesuperstar’s political party com-ing alive.

The question being askedis whether it is possible forRajnikanth to launch a party,appoint grass root level lead-ers and cadre to monitor allpolling booths in the State andfind out 39 candidates to befielded from the State. The elec-tion is just seven months awayand there has been no wordfrom Rajnikanth during the lastthree months.

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With the aim to timelyredress people’s

grievances, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has asked officials to strengthen the Janhit Guarantee Adhiniyam(citizens’ charter) so that the complaints are resolvedwithin the prescribed timeframe.

In a communication toadditional chief secretaries,principal secretaries and sec-retaries, the CM said onWednesday that a time-bounddashboard be created in eachdepartment to monitor theredressal of complaints.

“These dashboards should have details about totalcomplaints received, how manyof them have been resolved,and in what time.

They should also markdefaulters after the lapse of stip-ulated time. These depart-mental dashboards should beintegrated with the dashboard at the ChiefMinister’s secretariat so that theprogress can be monitored atthe CM’s office too,” Yogi saidin his order.

He also asked the officersto give publicity to the Jan SewaKendras, e-district, Nivesh por-tals so that people may lodgetheir complaints and inquireabout them online.

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Rolling out strict austerity mea-sures, the Uttar Pradesh

Government has asked its officersto curtail expenses on foreign vis-its, fly in economy class and avoidholding lunch or dinner meetingsin five-star hotels.

An 18-point order to thiseffect was issued by Chief SecretaryAnup Chandra Pandey. The orderdirects officials to slash expenseson office stationery, furniture andupholstery.

It says that just because an offi-cial concerned has been replaced,it does not mean there should benew furniture or upholstery for the

new officer. The order specifically men-

tions that official visits should bekept to a minimum unless theseare important and essential.

Besides, the order says, babusshould travel in economy class ifthey have to take flights for officialvisits.

Official lunch and dinnershould not be held in five-starhotels. In exceptional cases, per-mission of the Chief Secretaryshould be obtained.

The five-page order says it isimportant to cut down adminis-trative expenses to make optimumuse of Government funds andresources for development work.

It may be noted that during thelast decade, the work culture haschanged considerably in view ofcomputerisation and even work-load has come down in certain sec-tors. Many posts have becomeredundant and employees on thoseposts are being utilised in otherareas in the best possible manner,the order points out.

The order clearly mentionsthat no new posts should be sanc-tioned except in medical and policedepartments. In cases of emer-gency, the tasks may be outsourcedand done on contract basis, itadded. The order also says that incase of vacancies in class four andsimilar posts of drivers, gardeners,

plumbers, electricians and lift-men, there should be no regularappointment. These tasks shouldbe outsourced with the approval ofthe Finance department.

The order states that no postsshould be created to assist thoseholding temporary posts of advi-sor or chairman of any depart-ment. These posts may be out-sourced.

Various schemes run by thegovernment should be reviewed atregular intervals and those foundno longer useful, should bescrapped. Besides, travellingallowance, dearness allowance,house rent allowance, city com-pensatory allowance, leave travel

allowance and medical reim-bursement should be paid to thestaff of Central or state govern-ment funded projects at sanc-tioned rates only.

The order says no new officebuilding or residential complexshould be constructed

except in newly-created divi-sions or districts. It adds that bar-ring security-related requirements,no new vehicle should be pur-chased and in case the existingvehicles are unfit for use, taxisshould be hired for administrativework with the permission of theFinance department alone andonly registered taxis be hired andnot private vehicles.

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Clearing the decks for theconstruction of the inter-

national greenfield airport atJewar, farmers of the GreaterNoida and adjoining areas metChief Minister Yogi Adityanathand handed him agreement let-ters, allowing the Governmentto acquire the land for the air-port.

A delegation of the farm-ers from Greater Noida met theCM at his official residence onWednesday and said thatmajority of them were ready toallow the Government toacquire land after paying therequired compensation.

The CM told the delega-tion that the farmers hadalways played a key role in thedevelopment of the state andtheir contribution in the con-struction of the internationalgreenfield airport at Jewarwould be written in golden let-ters.

“On the part of the gov-ernment, we will ensure thatthe farmers get the compensa-tion as agreed and in casethere is rehabilitation, the farm-ers will also get the rehabilita-tion package,” Yogi said.

The farmers’ delegationwas led by ruling party law-maker from Jewar, DhirendraSingh Rohi. This meeting will

be a shot in the arm of the gov-ernment as a section of farm-ers had staged protests, sayingthey would not give their landto the Government for con-struction of Jewar airportbecause they were not gettingcompensation.

The Opposition partieshad tried to make it a big issue,saying the Government was notserious in the construction ofairport at Jewar.

The protests had startedafter the detailed project report(DPR) and techno-economicsfeasibility report (TEFR) ofthis project was prepared. Thesaid report was prepared byPricewaterhouseCoopers.

As per this report, 1,441hectare land spread over eightvillages will be acquired. Theproposed airport will be builton PPP (public-private part-nership) model at a cost of�15,754 crore. The Gover-nment has already earmarked�130 crore for land acquisition.

The proposed airport willhave two runways and willhave a capacity to handle 70million passengers annually.

Yamuna ExpresswayIndustrial DevelopmentAuthority Chairman PrabhatKumar and SP Goyal, thePrincipal Secretary to ChiefMinister, were present on thisoccasion.

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The Uttar PradeshGovernment has again

announced to launch a drivefor making the roads pothole-free.

By October 15 next, all thepotholes will be repaired, byNovember 30 all roads dam-aged during the monsoon sea-son will be repaired andrestored and all pending roadprojects will be completed byDecember 31.

The Yogi AdityanathGovernment had launched asimilar drive in March 2017soon after the

Bharatiya Janata Partycame to power, under which allroads, including national high-way, were targeted to be madepothole-free by the end of June15. The deadline was extendedseveral times but the drivemet with limited success due toresource constraints.

The total length of roadsconstructed and maintainedby different agencies of the stategovernment is 71,454 km. Theagencies are Public WorksDepartment, National HighwayDivision of PWD, UP RajyaKrishi Utpadan MandiParishad, Rural DevelopmentDepartment, Cane Departmentand Irrigation Department.

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The controversial decision ofthe Jammu & Kashmir

Government to hold municipaland panchayat polls took aninteresting twist on Tuesdaywith the Congress party’s reluc-tant decision to plunge into thefray. While the two regionalmainstream parties — theNational Conference (NC) andPeople’s Democratic Party(PDP) — have decided to stayaway from the polls, theCongress decision to partici-pate has changed the groundsituation though the securityconcerns remain a major issuefor the smooth conduct of theelections.

The Congress was delayingto reveal its cards and a sectionof its leadership was convincedthat the polls would not be helddue to security situation inKashmir Valley, especially inthe southern decisions.However, after the StateElection Commission (SEC)decided to hold the polls, the

Congress said that it wouldcontest to keep the “communalforces” away.

Addressing a PressConference here, Jammu andKashmir Pradesh Congresschief Gulam Ahmad Mir saidthe party will not stay awayfrom the elections to “keep theground open for the commu-nal forces but we will fight withfull might.”

Mir urged GovernorAdministration to providesecurity to contesting candi-dates and peaceful atmosphereneeded to be created for thesmooth conduct of polls.

The NC and PDP havedecided to boycott the electionsas they have asked the CentralGovernment to clear its standon the issue of Article 35-A andtake steps for its protection.

Mir said that Congressbeing a responsible secularforce will not give safe passageto BJP. “In case we do notcounter BJP-RSS, we wouldalso be perceived as dual andopportunistic,” Mir said adding

the Congress wants the elec-tions to be free and fair. “If atsome point of time, the partyfeels that elections are notbeing conducted in a fair man-ner, then the party after assess-ing the situation will have nohesitation to take a call.”

The mainstream regionalparties who announced to boy-cott the upcoming Municipaland Panchayat polls in thestate, Wednesday said that theparticipation of Congress in theelections won’t harm their partyat the gross root level.

On Monday, the

Communist Party of India(CPI) also decided against par-ticipating in view the prevail-ing situation in the valley. StateSecretary CPI(M) GhulamNabi Malik said that despite themajority of mainstream polit-ical parties in Jammu andKashmir deciding not to par-ticipate in these polls, theannouncement of the electionschedule shows the “arroganceof the BJP-led CentralGovernment”.

The PDP and NC havedescribed the Congress deci-sion as the party’s own that

would have no bearing ontheir decision to stay awa

The PDP chief spokesper-son Rafi Ahmad Mir said theirparty has thoughtfully decidedto stay away from the polls.

“The decision to stay awayfrom the polls was aimed atrespecting the sentiments ofpeople, therefore the partici-pation of Congress and BJP inthe polls won’t harm PDP at thegross root level,” Ahmad said.

The NC General Secretaryand legislator Ali MuhammadSagar said that his party hasnothing to do with other par-ties but the party is stayingaway from the polls to securethe rights and special status ofpeople living in the state.

Meanwhile, the securityagencies are chalking out aproper roadmap for security inthe upcoming Municipal andPanchayat polls in Kashmir.

A day after Panchayat pollswere announced severalattempts were made to setablaze Panchayat Ghars at fivedifferent places in south

Kashmir’s Pulwama andShopian district since Monday.

The Joint ResistanceLeadership (JRL) of separatistSyed Ali Geelani, MirwaizUmar Farooq and Yasin Malikwhile rejecting any electoralprocess “as a substitute to rightto self-determination” reiterat-ed its appeal to the people ofKashmir to observe a completeelection boycott to the upcom-ing municipal and local bodies’elections in the Jammu andKashmir. A prominent militantorganization HizbulMujahideen has already issueda threat warning to use sul-phuric and hydrochloric acidagainst all contestants and thevoters.

State Election Commissionon Sunday announced ninephase Panchayat elections inover 35 thousand Panchayatconstituencies beginningNovember 17 in the State.Similarly, the four phaseMunicipal polls have beenscheduled next month begin-ning October 8.

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The triple talaq Ordinanceapproved by the Union

Cabinet on Wednesday evokedmixed response from theMuslim organisations, with theBharatiya Muslim MahilaAndolan (BMMA) welcomingthe legislation as a “much-awaited” decision and twoother Muslim organisations —All India Sunni Jamiatul Ulemaand Raza Academy — termingit as against “all constitutionalnorms and the orders of theSupreme Court”.

Describing the triple talaqordinance making the practiceof instant divorce a punishableoffence as “a much-awaitedand a much-wanted legislation”,the BMMA said: “We arethankful to the central gov-ernment for heeding to thevoice of Muslim women whodemanded the above amend-ments.”

“We urge all political par-ties to recognise, acknowledgeand extend their support to thedemands of Muslim women.For too long they have beendiscriminated against and facedinsecurity and fear in their life,fear of instant divorce,polygamy, underage marriageand deprivation of inheritancerights,” the BMMA said, in astatement issued here.

Maintaining that it waspertinent now for all politicalparties to realise that Muslimwomen had the knowledge of

their constitutional rights aswell as of their rights in theQuran, the BMMA stated:“This ordinance is the firstimportant legislation andBMMA is going to continue topush for a comprehensive cod-ification of Muslim family lawwhere gender-just provisionspertaining to age of marriage,mehr, consent, polygamy,halala, muta, maintenance andinheritance are also legislatedupon”.

“The Hindu Code Billcame in 1955 and as the largestminority we are lagging behinda good 60 years. It is time thata Muslim Code Bill or aMuslim Family Law is passedso that all other issues comewithin the ambit of law,” theBMMA added.

However, in a joint state-ment issued here, All IndiaSunni Jamiatul Ulema (AISJU)and Raza Academy describedthe triple talaq ban ordinanceas “illegal”. “The BJP Govern-ment’s ordinance to ban tripletalaq is against all constitutionalnorms and against the orders ofthe Supreme Court The tripletalaq ordinance amounts toContempt of Court,” the twoorganisations said.

“This bill was passed inLok sabha since the NDA hada majority and then was placedbefore Rajya sabha. But theGovernment couldn’t get thebill passed here and it was twicerejected in Rajya Sabha, “thetwo Muslim organisations said.

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Irrespective of partyline,Gujarat lawmakers on

Wednesday unanimouslypassed a Bill proposing hike ofalmost 65 per cent in their ownsalaries.

The 182 legislators includ-ing that of Ministers, Speakerand Deputy Speaker of theState Assembly would get at

least �45,000 hike per monthwith effect from December 22,2017.

With approval to TheGujarat Salaries andAllowances of Members,Speaker and Dy Speaker ofGujarat Assembly, Ministersand Leader of Opposition Laws(amendment) Bill, 2018, themonthly salary of MLAs will goup from �70727 to �1.16 Lakh.

In the case of Ministers,Speaker, My Speaker andLeader of Opposition, salarywill increase from �86000 to�1.32 Lakh.

The Bill was introducedin the House by Minister ofState for ParliamentaryAffairs Pradipsinh Jadeja onthe second and last day ofmonsoon session. Instantlywithout any opposition itwas passed by all the MLAspresent in the House.

With this �six crore areaswill be given to MLAs withretrospective effect.

Moreover, the new salary struc-ture will put an extra burden of�10 crore annually on the stateexchequer.

“Since 2005 salaries ofGujarat MLAs were notrevised. In most of the otherStates salaries of lawmakersrevised time to time,” saidjadeja’s adding that even afterthis hike salaries of GujaratMLAs would remain muchlower than states likeUttarakhand, Jharkhand andMaharashtra where lawmakersare getting monthly remuner-ation of �2.50 Lakh, 2.13 Lakhand �2.25 Lakh respectively.

Accordingly to him MLAsof West Bengal, Odisha andTamilnadu are taking lessersalaries compared to revisedsalaries of Gujarat lawmakers.

In the 182-membersGujarat Assembly there are 99members of ruling BJP, 77 ofmain Opposition Congressparty, one NCP MLA and threeindependent MLAs.

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Aprominent Muslim leaderin India has termed the

fresh Ordinance criminalisingtriple or instant talaq a “viola-tion of the right to equalityenshrined in the Constitution”and an attempt by theNarendra Modi Government totorture the Muslims in India.

M a j l i s - e - I t t e h a d u lMuslimeen president and MPAsaduddin Owaisi reacting tothe Ordinance issued onWednesday told a media con-ference in Hyderabad that theOrdinance will not do justice toMuslim women but furtheraggravate their condition.

“In Islam marriage is a civilcontract. It is wrong to applypenal provisions on it. This isbad in law and bad inConstitution”, he said.

He appealed to the Muslim Personal Law Board tochallenge it in the SupremeCourt. “I am sure that it will be challenged as there arestrong legal grounds to do so”,he said.

Pointing out the glaringdiscrepancy and discriminationin the ordinance he said that ifa Muslim man give instantdivorce to his wife the ordi-nance provides for three yearsimprisonment but in case of aman from any other commu-nity for the same act he will bepunished with only one yearimprisonment under anotherlaw. “This is against the rightto equality under the funda-mental rights guaranteed in theConstitution”, he said.

Moreover if rash driving

results in death the punishmentwas only for two years and herethe imprisonment was threeyears, he said.

Owaisi contended that theSupreme Court had neverasked the Government to bringa penal provision against theinstant Talaq but had declaredit invalid saying that even anybody pronounces the tripletalaq the marriage will remainun-dissolved.

Pointing out that under theordinance a man who pro-nounces instant Talaq will haveto undergo imprisonment aswell as pay the maintenance tothe woman. “Why I am sayingis that this is even bigger injustice to woman is thatwhile he remains in jail forthree years the woman willremain stuck in the marriage.Do you think even after theman comes out of prison theycan live together peacefully”,Owaisi asked.

The MP from Hyderabadexpressed apprehensions thatthe Ordinance will be misusedto arrest Muslim men andimprisonment.

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The Nashik police onWednesday arrested two

teachers from a leading localcollege for allegedly demand-ing sexual favours to give goodmarks to a girl student. Actingon a complaint lodged by afemale HSC student from LVHiray College at Nashik, thepolice arrested two teachersPravin D Suryawanshi andSachin N Sonawane, who hadbeen working at the college forseveral years.

In her complaint, the vic-tim stated that two teachershad demanded sex from her forgiving her marks enough topass the 12th standard exami-nation in which she had failed.She also alleged that two teach-ers, apart from molesting her,had been harassing for morethan three years from January1 2015 to September 18, 2018.

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Even as Nalgonda districtpolice have cracked the so

called “honour killing” case andarrested seven people includinga hired killer from BiharSubhash Kumar alias Sharma,father of the victim has saidthat he and other family mem-bers were facing threat to theirlives from the powerful peoplebehind the killing of his son.

Nalgonda district superin-tendent of police AV Ranganathtold a Press conference that thepolice have arrested SubhashSharma from Jagatsinghpur inBihar where he was hidingafter committing the day lightmurder of Pranay Kumar.

It may be recalled that 24year old Pranay, a Dalit youth,who had married an uppercaste girl Amruthavarishini washacked to death in Miryalagudatown on Friday last.

Others who were arrestedinclude Amrutha’s father TMaruti Rao, his brother SravanKumar, his driver Samudrala

Siva, friend Abdul Kareem andtwo other notorious criminalsAsghar Ali and Abdul Bari.

Ranganath said that thefather had given a contract toAsghar Ali and Abdul Bari tokill Pranay to avenge “humili-ation” caused by him marryinghis daughter.

Both Asghar Ali and AbdulBari were accused in the mur-der of former Gujrat HomeMinister Haren Pandya but werelater acquitted. They also hadrecord of many other criminalcases and served terms in prison.During one such imprisonmentAbdul Bari had met SantoshSharma of Bihar who was serv-ing jail term in a case of dacoityand the two struck friendship.

Maruti Rao, a rich busi-nessman who was also in landgrabbing and settlement ofdisputes, had also come intouch with Abdul Bari whenthe latter had kidnapped him ina land dispute case. The twohad later turned friends.

According to the policeinvestigation when Maruti Rao

offered them a huge contract inJune last to kill Pranay Bari andAsghar Ali tried to get it donethrough a Hyderabad basedgang. However the attemptwas aborted when the gangmembers turned up in a drunkcondition. Later Bari thought ofSantosh and hired his services.

The SP said that after tak-ing up the assignment Santoshmade many trips to Hyderabadand Miryalaguda and it was infifth attempt that he managedto kill Pranay.

Police said that whenMaruti Rao came to knowfrom his wife that Pranay andhis pregnant wife will be visit-ing a private hospital inMiryalaguda on September 14for checkup he alerted thegang. While Santosh waitedoutside the hospital, Bari keptan eye from a distance. WhenPranay came out at 130 pmwith his wife and mother, Baripointed towards him andSantosh attacked him frombehind with a matchet killinghim on the spot.

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Thirty minutes in Salisbury and two Russians������������� ���

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Salisbury is a nice old English town witha fine cathedral, only an hour and a halffrom London by train, but it doesn’t seemany Russian tourists in wintertime. It’snot as cold as Moscow, but Russians

tend to prefer Mediterranean destinations forholiday breaks in early March — unless, ofcourse, they are planning to kill somebody.

The person of interest in Salisbury wasSergei Skripal, a former member of theRussian military intelligence service, whostarted selling information to the British inthe mid-1990s and was caught and jailed bythe Russians in 2004. He was pardoned andallowed to go to Britain as part of a spy swapbetween Western countries and Russia in2010, and he settled in Salisbury.

On March 4 this year, Skripal and his daugh-ter, who were visiting from Moscow, were foundsemi-conscious on a bench in the street in

Salisbury and taken to a hospital. They spendweeks in intensive care, and it was determinedthat they had been poisoned by novichok, aSoviet-era nerve agent that falls into the cate-gory of banned chemical weapons.

A policeman who went to Skripal’s housewas also struck down by the poison, which hadbeen sprayed on the handle of the front door,but he also recovered eventually. Threemonths later a Nina Ricci perfume bottle thatcontained leftover, novichok was found in acharity bin in Salisbury, and a woman whosprayed it on her wrists died.

Britain accused Russia of sending assassinsto kill Skripal and of using a banned weapon.It had no hard proof beyond the novichok, butSkripal was still helping Western intelligenceagencies to understand Russian training andtechniques, so Moscow had a motive.

Many people pointed out that it wouldhave been foolish for Moscow to choose sucha complicated method and risk exposure. Whywouldn’t it just hire a non-Russian hitman todo the job? But Moscow has done this sort ofthing before: Russian agents, exotic sub-stances, the lot.

Alexander Litvinenko, a member of theFederal Security Service, got into trouble afterhis investigation into links between Russianmafia groups and his own organisation madehim unpopular with Vladimir Putin, the FSB’s

head. Litvinenko fled Russia for Britain afterPutin took over the presidency in 2000.

Litvinenko remained a harsh critic ofPutin, and in 2006, Dmitry Kovtun and AndreiLugovoy, both former FSB agents, were sent toLondon to kill him. CCTV images showed thekillers with Litvinenko at a London hotelwhere they dosed his tea with a tiny amount ofpolonium-210, a highly toxic radioactive sub-stance that would not normally be spottedbecause it does not emit gamma rays.

That was a reasonably competent operation,exposed only by bad luck. The 2018 operationwas different. CCTV images, released only lastweek, showed Ruslan Boshirov and AlexanderPetrov, two 30-something Russian ‘fitness train-ers’, making a brief trip to Salisbury on March3, presumably to do a reconnaissance, and backto the town on the 4th to do the dirty deed.

But then it got weird. Putin publicly urgedthe two men to go on TV, and last week theyappeared on RT, a Russian international newschannel, to explain their brief trip (which gavethem only 54 hours in England).

“Our friends had been suggesting for a longtime that we visit this wonderful town,” saidPetrov. They especially wanted to see SalisburyCathedral, said Boshirov: “It’s famous for its 123-metre spire, it’s famous for its clock....” But theylooked like heavies from Central Casting, andnot at all like clock-tower enthusiasts.

‘Nekulturny’ (uncultured), as the Russians say.Why did they only spend 30 minutes in

Salisbury the first time? “It was cold.” (It was 10degrees C warmer than Moscow.) Why did theytake another train down to Salisbury the nextday? “We really wanted to see Old Sarum andthe cathedral.” (Old Sarum is an Iron-Age hillfort near Salisbury that was closed on March 4).

And on March 4 one of the CCTV cameraspicked them up close to Skripal’s house and farfrom the cathedral or any other tourist attrac-tions. Is Russia deliberately trolling the BritishGovernment to show its contempt? Probablynot, because it has tried very hard to distanceitself from the crime in other internationalvenues. Did Putin’s regime put those two high-ly implausible ‘tourists’ on RT because it forgotthat different standards of truth prevail else-where? Maybe.

But the likeliest answer is that these clum-sy and self-defeating actions are indicators ofhow far the rot in the regime has gone.Elements of the system, like the Armed Forces(which have performed well in Syria), retaintheir efficiency and discipline, but corruptionand incompetence rule elsewhere. TheSalisbury debacle would not have happened18 years ago, when Putin’s reign was new. Itsuggests that the regime is a lot closer to itsend than its beginning.

(The writer is an independent journalist)

������������ ������Sir — After cricketer-turned-politi-cian Imran Khan took over as thePrime Minister of Pakistan, one hadhoped that India and Pakistan will seea swift change in their bilateral rela-tionships. However, Pakistan is in agrip of financial difficulties and withPrime Minister Narendra Modi near-ing the end of his term next year, itappears that both India and Pakistanare finding it difficult to upgrade theirrelationships.

For relations to improve betweenthe two countries, both sides should

take a solid stand instead of accusingone another. There is still enoughroom for both the countries to strivefor an economic partnership that isbeneficial to both.

Devendra Khurana Bhopal

��������������Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Swachch life please!” (September 19).Five men lost their lives from toxicfumes while cleaning a septic tank inNew Delhi. The tragedy received scantspace in the media. May be becausepeople have become desensitised to

what happens to the unfortunates.Similar tragedies take place on a dailybasis across the country. A few days agofive manual scavengers died in Odisha.

This week, another death of amanual scavenger was reported fromNew Delhi. Clearly, the sanitationcampaign hyped up as a game-chang-er has not changed the ground realitiesand has not prevented the occurrenceof such tragedies in the NationalCapital and elsewhere. The law againstemploying people for cleaning sewersand septic tanks is more honoured inthe breach than in the observance.

Much of the cleaning is still done

manually. The introduction of mech-anised cleaning has not yet happened.Clearly, the Swachch Bharat Abhiyanhas not achieved any significant levelof success. As more and more toilets areconstructed without proper disposalsystems, the problem is bound to getworse. The lack of political will is attrib-uted to the fact that the scavengers hailfrom the lower orders.

The abomination of manual scav-enging persists in our land because itis considered okay for the lower castesto do it as a ‘sacred duty’. India’stragedy is that it throws up leaders whobelieve that manual scavenging is a

‘spiritual activity’ and not a liveli-hood. For a change, why shouldn’t theupper castes try to do it? The caste angleis for real, or else, it would not havebeen peculiar to India.

The saddest part is that the polit-ical elites accept that the lives of Dalitsare expendable. The emergence ofNew India is not possible withouteliminating manual scavenging in itsentirety.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

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We have given a detailed memorandum. We hopethe CAG will look into the matter and speed upthe investigation process into the Rafale deal.

—Congress leaderANAND SHARMA

I don’t think JPC or CAG inquiry is set up just tosatisfy the ego of an ill-informed leader of an

Opposition party who repeats lies. —Union Minister

RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD

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on August 31, the StateAdministrative Council(SAC), led by newly-appointed Jammu &Kashmir Governor Satya

Pal Malik announced that elec-tions to urban local bodies (ULB)will be held in four phases in thefirst week of October, whilePanchayat elections would be con-ducted in eight phases — fromNovember 8 to December 4, 2018.The SAC requested the chief elec-toral officer to fine-tune the datesaccordingly in view of the terror-ist threats to the State.

The SAC also announced agrant of one month extra salaryand insurance to polling officers,considering threats from terroristoutf its . Simultaneously, theGovernment will also educate thevoters about the significance oflocal body (LB) elections as sev-eral important decisions can betaken by them instead of waitingfor the State Government. Thelocal bodies can also utilise fundssanctioned by Central and StateGovernments.

The last ULB elections wereheld in 2005 after 23 years, whilePanchayat elections were con-ducted in 2011. The Panchayatelections could not be held in 2016due to security reasons as the sit-uation became tense after thekilling of Hizbul Mujahideen com-mander Burhan Wani.

In the 2011 Panchayat polls,more than 4,145 sarpanches and29,000 panches were elected andthe polling was more than 80 percent. In the current elections,there are 78 municipal corpora-tions, councils and committeesand 4,490 panchayats and 35,096panch wards.

Analysts feel that the firstelections should be held in peace-ful areas like Leh, Ladakh, Jammuand the areas abutting Kashmir,then in central Kashmir, and last-ly, it should be held in southKashmir, which is the strongholdof terrorists.

Security personnel mentionthat residents of south Kashmir are

averse to elections and have anti-Government sentiments. Hence, itis expected that there will bemore violence in south Kashmirand voter turnout will be less.

It was decided that electronicvoting machines (EVMs) would beused in ULB elections, while thePanchayat elections would be con-ducted through ballot papers.Initially, the panches were electingthe sarpanches, but this time,sarpaches too would be electeddirectly. Each voter will cast twovotes — one for the panch and theother for the sarpanch.

The three foremost terroristorganisations, including theLashkar-e-Tayyeba, HizbulMujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed, jointly warned thecandidates, leaders of politicalparties and the masses not to par-ticipate in the elections. These ter-rorist outfits have different areasof operations and have numerousdifferences. But as the InterServices Intelligence (ISI) is deter-mined to sabotage the polls, itinstructed these outfits to workjointly to disrupt the forthcomingelections. Posters threatening thevillagers of dire consequences ifthey participate in the electionsalso appeared in the villages.

Riyaz Naikoo, present ChiefCommander of HizbulMujahideen, cautioned through an11-minute audio that “people whowant to participate in polls shouldkeep their shroud ready.” He alsowarned: “We have already storedhydrochloride acid and sulphuricacid. They should be ready forconsequences.” The intelligenceagencies have also cautioned thatPakistan-sponsored terrorist out-fits will leave no stone unturnedto disrupt the polls.

Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chair-man of the Hurriyat Conference,also appealed to the people to boy-cott the impending local bodyelections. Mainstream politicalparties, except the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP), have also stated thatit is not the right time for elec-tions. President of NationalConference, Farooq Abdullah andPeople’s Democratic Party chiefMehbooba Mufti, also announcedto boycott the forthcomingPanchayat and ULB elections untilCentral and State Governmentsensure continuation of Article35A in the State.

Leaders of political parties

mentioned that candidates for theelections would be like “sittingducks”, and in disturbed areas, itwould be difficult to find candi-dates who would be willing to con-test elections. In the last fouryears, 16 sarpanches and pancheswere killed by terrorists. Hence,several leaders may also avoid con-testing the elections.

Union Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman and ArmyChief General Bipin Rawat metGovernor Malik in Srinagar onSeptember 2 and discussed inter-nal as well as external situation,which included infiltration byPakistani terrorists and securitysituation in view of the forthcom-ing local body elections. They alsodiscussed matters about road con-nectivity, which is important forthe elections.

Security forces are aware of theground situation and are makinga comprehensive arrangement forthe conduct of peaceful elections.Also, 237 companies of the CentralArmed Police Force (CAPF),deployed for Amarnath Yatra,were instructed to remain in theProvince till the local body polls

are over. Various Government agen-

cies are also contacting severalNGOs and prominent public fig-ures to convince the masses to par-ticipate in forthcoming elections.

Security agencies mention thatthere will be enough security per-sonnel in the State, especially introubled areas, but it is not feasi-ble to provide security to all thecandidates.

Meanwhile, terrorists haveintensified attacks on securitypersonnel, especially police per-sonnel. Recently, outlaws killedthree off-duty police personnel onEid. In an unprecedented move,the terrorists kidnapped familymembers of police personnel whowere later released.

For the terrorists, family mem-bers of police personnel are easytargets. Terrorists suspect that thelocal police are providing pinpointintelligence to the security forcesand, hence, they are able to exter-minate more terrorists now.

The security forces annihilat-ed over 200 terrorists in 2017 and142 terrorists in last eight months.According to Director General

Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar,although more local Kashmiris arejoining terrorist organisations,the shelf-life of terrorists has con-siderably reduced — the numberof terrorists is also reducing.

Besides tightening of security,the Government, good-intentionedNGOs and political leaders shouldalso try to make a conduciveatmosphere for successfull polling.They should try to win confidenceof the masses. besides, there areseveral incomplete projects in theState that needs to be completed.Due attention must be given toother parts as well, particularlyJammu, Leh and Ladakh areas.

The National IntelligenceAgency (NIA) recently arrestedSyed Shakeel Yousuf, son of HizbulMujahideen chief SyedSalahuddin, in connection of ter-ror funding. The security agenciesshould expose separatist leaders asthey instigate the youth to partic-ipate in stone-pelting and terror-ist activities.

Intelligence reports suggestthat the ISI is trying hard to infil-trate terrorists as security forceshave successfully exterminated alarge number of terrorists. ThePakistan Army may increasecross-border violations and mayalso instruct the Border ActionTeam (BAT) to take action againstIndian security forces. UntrainedKashmiri youth are easily killedand their families become hostileto the terrorists. As the NIA istightening its grip on terrorfinancing, terrorists are compelledto loot banks and snatch weaponsfrom security forces.

Analysts claim that extra secu-rity precautions should be takenbecause if local body elections areconducted successfully, it will beconstrued as a defeat of terroristorganisations, secessionist elements and political parties.Voter turnout is most crucial as itwill also pave way for the forth-coming 2019 General Election.Security forces must be vigilantand try to conduct local body elec-tions peacefully. If executed with-out any disturbance, it will be a bigvictory of democracy and defeat ofterrorist and separatist elements.

(The writer is a member ofUnited Services Institute of Indiaand Institute for Defence Studiesand Analysis. Views expressed arepersonal)

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From mangrove forests to coral reefs onthe coast to peatlands to floodplainsinland, wetlands play a crucial role in

the fight against climate change and helpmake urban areas more sustainable. As coun-tries are increasingly working hard toimplement the Paris Agreement, to keepglobal temperatures well below two degreeCelsius and as close as possible to 1.5°C, wet-lands are quickly emerging as the only robustmechanism, especially in urban and coastalareas to not only reliably store carbon, butalso act as an effective barrier to theunavoidable impacts of climate change.

However, wetlands across the world aregetting diminished mainly due to policyparalysis and subversion of land use and thisdoes not bode well for the fight against cli-mate change. Currently, more than 64 percent of the world’s wetlands have been lostsince 1990, and as wetlands are destroyed,more carbon is released into the atmosphere,thereby contributing to a global tempera-ture rise. With half of the world’s popula-tion now living in urban areas, with thisnumber set to increase to 66 per cent by2050, there is an increasing tendency toencroach on wetlands to build and devel-op infrastructure.

As humanity progresses and prospers,we seem to be intent on scoring self-goalsas far as environment is concerned. Nothingelse can explain the undermining of thehealthy wetland system that has multiplebenefits. Intact wetlands are the first line ofdefence against flooding in urban areas, act-ing as large sponges that absorb floodwa-ters. Coastal cities, mangroves and salt-marshes work as the best natural defenceagainst storm surges and restoring the samecan contribute effectively towards theremoval of carbon from atmosphere.

According to a study published in thejournal, ‘Frontiers in Ecology and theEnvironment’, compared to the carbonsequestration potential of marine ecosys-tems of coral reefs and kelp beds, man-

groves, salt marshes and sea grass meadowshave the greatest impact in meaningfullyslowing down the process of climate change.The study concludes by terming coastal wet-lands as the best of the marine ecosystemsto fight climate change. But these very assetsto fight climate change are on the declineand are in urgent need of restoration, thiswould surely have stemming impact ondeteriorating environment by firstly curb-ing the emissions and secondly conservingthe ecological biodiversity of the region.

Coastal wetlands take in carbon quick-ly and hold it for a long time, but if they arenot protected, ecosystems could release hugeamounts of greenhouse gases into theatmosphere, potentially jeopardising theability of the urban hinterland to handle ris-ing emissions and pollution levels. One rea-son coastal wetlands are such a good toolto cut emissions is because they’re fairly easyto manage and conserve and in-turn pro-vide the best climate change mitigating ser-vices, as compared to other natural options,such as marine systems, like phytoplankton.Phytoplankton are dependable and long-term carbon sinks, but it is incredibly chal-lenging to create a policy that manages bil-lions of microscopic photosynthesisingcreatures found all over the ocean.Compared to options such as these, it'smuch easier to oversee coastal wetlands.

India, with its growing pollution prob-lems, can find the best solution in wetlandsto fight the dismal environment conditions.Moreover, with a 7,517 km coastline, we candevelop, restore and encourage wetlandsalong the coast that can effectively battle cli-mate change. However, authorities seem tosee the real estate potential of the wetlandsand not the climate change mitigationpotential. In 2017, the Ministry ofEnvironment, Forests and Climate Changepublished the new wetlands rules under theWetlands (Conservation & Management)Rules-2017.These replaced earlier rulesdating back to 2010 and in the process alsodid away with the National WetlandsAuthority created under the 2010 rules andconferred all regulatory powers on the StateGovernments. These rules attracted muchcriticism from environmentalists and citi-zens alike at that time.

While the BJP-led Government ensuredthat critical aspects, such as commercial taxcollection, were being centralised in orderto improve tax collection and control eva-sion, wetlands management was handedover to respective State Governments withblurred definitions of what constitutes a wet-land. This has enabled the StateGovernments to quickly label these aswaste lands that could be developed as land-fills or auctioned off for revenue to real estatedevelopers. No other cultured and educat-ed country in the world could possiblyoutdo what India did to its wetlands; it isthe proverbial self goal we always do on mat-ters pertaining to environment.

For a country battling droughts andfloods caused by destructive land-usechange — say, by changing agricultural landsto industrial use — and climate change, thefeeble wetland regulations can have disas-trous consequences, especially since onlybad environmental laws are diligentlyenforced. The National Green Tribunal inconjunction with the efforts of the SupremeCourt and assistance from the Governmentmust come forward with a unified strategythat includes effective implementation ofstrict rules to safeguard wetlands. Only amulti agency effort such as these can havethe desired results and prevent wetlandsfrom being misappropriated and leading totheir eventual extinction.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

Need for wetland restoration

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Polls undeterred by terrorist threatsAs Jammu & Kashmir gears up for the panchayat and local body elections, all efforts must be made for peaceful conduct

of the polls. A breakthrough will mean a big victory for democracy and defeat of terrorists and separatist elements

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The Kerala Government’s campaign, making it mandatoryfor its employees to donate towards flood rehabilitation mea-sures, even though noble, smacks of the paternalistic, daddy-knows-best, statist attitude communists are known for. Thevoluntary efforts of individuals and organisations, however,have been laudable. The administration needs to find therevenue to do what it wants to in other ways.

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COMMENT & ANALYSIS

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The rupee on Wednesdayrebounded by 61 paise,

notching up its best single-daygain since March 2017 to closeat 72.37 against the US cur-rency supported by heavy dol-lar selling by banks and weak-ness in the greenback in glob-al markets.

Snapping its two-daydecline, the rupee opened high-er at 72.71 against its recordclosing low of 72.98 on Tuesdayand touched a session high of72.34 in day trade as crude oilprices eased globally.

The rupee closed at 72.37,up by 61 paise or 0.84 per cent— its best single-day gain sinceMarch 14, 2017.

Heavy dollar selling byexporters along with state-runbanks likely on the behalf of theRBI, too boosted the rupee sen-timent, restricting the local unitfrom breaching the 73 level.

The rupee had collapsed toa historic intra-day trading lowof 72.99 on Tuesday beforeclosing at a lifetime low of72.98.

Forex market witnessed asudden revival in sentimenttowards the mid-session aidedby soft global crude prices.Global markets were alsoupbeat after lighter than feared

retaliatory tariffs by China onthe US goods, raising hopesthat the two major economiesare likely to avoid a trade war.China announced a lighter 5-10 per cent tariffs on $60 bil-lion of US products whichanalysts termed as not aspainful as they feared.

The US dollar slipped tonear seven-week low against abasket of currencies. The dol-lar index declined to a low of94.31, just above the two-month low level of 94.30.

International oil pricessteadied as the OPEC andother producers includingRussia meet in Algeria thisweekend to discuss how to allo-cate supply increases withintheir quota framework to off-set the loss of Iranian supply.

Benchmark Brent crudefutures were at $78.93 a barrelin early Asian trading.

Most emerging-marketcurrencies also got some senti-mental relief after China said itwould not retaliate with com-petitive currency devaluations.

The forex and money mar-ket are closed tomorrow onaccount of ‘Muharram’.

The Financial BenchmarksIndia private limited (FBIL)fixed the reference rate for thedollar at 72.6781 and for theeuro at 84.9050.

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As the market rout contin-ued for the third straight

session on Wednesday, investorwealth eroded by �3.62 lakhcrore in three trading days.

Market benchmark BSESensex fell further by 169.45points to end at a near two-month low of 37,121.22, extend-ing losses for the third straightsession Wednesday. The indextanked 970 points or more than2.5 per cent since Monday,largely hit by rupee woes andescalating trade tensionsbetween the US and China.

Led by losses in stocks, themarket capitalisation of BSElisted companies eroded by�3,62,357.15 crore to�1,52,73,265 crore since Friday.

Market analysts said thattrade war escalation issuesbetween US and China, increas-ing crude oil prices and depre-ciating rupee against the dollarhave dampened sentiments.

“Despite favourable globalcues and recovery in rupee, the

domestic market continued towitness selling pressure due tohigher oil price and yield,” saidVinod Nair, Head of Research,Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

From the 30-share basket,16 stocks fell, while 14 endedwith gains. Indusind Bank,Maruti Suzuki India, HDFCBank,YES Bank and HDFCwere the worst performers.

Coal India Ltd, ONGC,Tata Steel and Hero MotoCorpled the gainers pack.

At the BSE, 1,704 stocksdeclined, while 968 advancedand 173 remained unchanged.As many as 180 stocks hittheir 52-week low levels on BSEon Wednesday.

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Leading stock exchanges BSEand NSE have received mar-

kets regulator Sebi’s approval tolaunch commodity derivativessegment from October 1.

BSE will enter the seg-ment with non-agriculturecommodities like metals ini-tially followed by agri com-modities subsequently.

The Securities andExchange Board of India (Sebi)last December, announced thatfrom October 2018, the countrywould have a unified exchangeregime wherein stock exchangeswould be allowed to offer trad-ing in commodities derivatives.

In a statement, BSE said ithas received “another feather inits hat by getting Sebi’s approvalto launch commodity deriva-

tives segment from October 1,2018”.

“BSE will begin trading incommodity derivatives withnon-agriculture commoditieslike metals initially, followed byagri commodities subsequent-ly,” it added.

According to the exchange,its commodity derivatives plat-form will help in efficient pricediscovery, reduction in timelines,cost effective, user-friendly,robust risk management systemand wider market penetration.

In a separate circular, NSEtoo informed that it has gotSebi’s clearance for introducingthe commodity derivatives seg-ment from October 1.

Further, NSCCL has alsoreceived clearance from theregulator for carrying out clear-ing and settlement of tradesexecuted in the commodityderivatives segment on NSE.

At present, the exchangesoffer trading in equities, equi-ty derivatives as well as cur-rency derivatives.

Besides, BSE will conductmock trading in live environ-ment for the segment onSaturday. Larger rival NSE hadconducted a similar session onSeptember 1.

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Shriram Life InsuranceCompany has bagged the

3rd Edition of India’s greatestbrands and Leaders for the year2017-18 in recognition of thecontribution of distribution oflife insurance in non-urbanmarkets in India. On behalf ofShriram Life, the awards werereceived by Manoj Jain,Managing Director and ArvindShivhare Executive Director-Direct Channel & RRadhakrishnan, ChiefMarketing Officer, ShriramLife Insurance in an awardsceremony held recently atMumbai in the Pride of theNation Series Awards organ-ised by URS-Asia One maga-zine and URS MediaConsulting – process reviewersPricewaterhouse Coopers PL.

Shriram Life Insurancefocuses on the common cus-tomer segment with over 50% ofits policies sourced from the ruralarea and a significant chunkfrom the tier II and III towns.The company has been engagedspreading the protection net tothe masses, with special focus onfinancial inclusion for the seg-ment that is generally ignored bythe mainstream players.

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State-ownedN B C C

(India) Ltd hassigned an agree-ment withC onstruct ionS k i l lDe velopmentCouncil to train 20,000 youthin the next six months to pro-mote skill development.

“Construction sector is thesecond largest industry interms of manpower employ-ment and the workforcerequirement is around 4 mil-lion people per year to sustainthe current growth rate. Thereis a requirement for continuousskill up gradation and certifi-cation,” NBCC CMD AnoopKumar Mittal said in a state-

ment.Through the association,

NBCC and Construction SkillDevelopment Council of Indiawill work towards empoweringthe youth with relevant skills invarious construction trades tomake them employable as partof the Recognition of PriorLearning (RPL) programme.

The Recognition of PriorLearning will benefit workerslike masons, carpenters,plumbers, electricians, etc.

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Jivi Mobiles on Wednesday entered into Smartphone segmentby launching full view smartphone series. Jivi Mobiles has

launched XTREME Series which will have a full view (18:9) dis-play, Fingerprint sensor and Dual rear camera among the spe-cial features. Xtreme series comes with the tagline ‘Get more thanyou Xpect’ which Jivi mobiles has judiciously justified and haveloaded all those features such as Dual Camera, Face unlock andFinger Print sensor etc. into their phones that are not availableat this range.

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Max Life Insurance Co.Ltd, announced that the

company has paid 10,152 indi-vidual death claims amount-ing to �353 crores, thusachieving claims paid ratio of98.26% in FY 17-18. This is afurther increase over FY 16-17, when the company paid97.81% of the total individualdeath claims received. In FY17-18, only 178 death claimswere rejected and at the endof the financial year only 2cases were pending for clo-sure.

As per IRDAI annualreport for FY 2016-17 releasedin Jan’18, Max Life Insurancehas superior individual deathclaims paid ratio during thesaid fiscal year

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Bajaj Finserv, through withlending arm Bajaj Finance

Ltd., has announced collabo-ration with Wochit- a US-Israel based video automationcompany — to meet its ambi-tious goal of making video asthe primary format of stimu-lation across its stakeholdersets. With Wochit’s predictivevideo creation platform anddistribution channels, BajajFinserv will bring stories to life,at scale and speed, cuttingdown video turn-around timeto less than 30 minutes and at1/10th the cost.

Video consumption inIndia has increased 5X between2016 and 2017, with smallercities registering up to 22Xgrowth. In the first-of-its-kindinitiative, Bajaj Finserv willtake its first step towards lever-aging the remarkable growth inonline video consumption.

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The Union Cabinet didnot consider onWednesday the �4,500

crore plan to more than dou-ble the production assistancepaid to sugarcane farmers andtransport subsidy to sugarexporting mills, sources said.

The Cabinet Committeeon Economic Affairs (CCEA)may take up the FoodMinistry’s proposal next week,they added.

The ministry has proposedsharp increase in productionassistance to farmers to �13.88per quintal for 2018-19 mar-keting year (October-September) from �5.5 at present.

The proposal to raise pro-duction assistance and trans-port subsidy of up to �3,000 pertonne to mills for exports offive million tonnes of surplussugar is part of the governmentplan to clear more than �13,500crore dues sugar mills havetowards farmers.

On Tuesday, sources hadsaid the government wouldhave to bear about �4,500 croreon account of these measuresto help sugar mills and canefarmers.

These steps will enablemills to boost sugar export andclear cane arrears, which cur-rently stand at �13,567 crore.Mills in Uttar Pradesh owe themaximum at �9,817 crore to

cane farmers.India’s sugar output is set to

increase further to 35 milliontonnes in the next marketingyear from 32 million tonnes inthis year. The annual domesticdemand stand at 26 milliontonnes. The opening stock ofsugar is estimated at 10 milliontonnes on October 1.

The government has takena slew of measures to bail outcash-starved sugar mills aswell as cane farmers in the lastone year.

First, it doubled the importduty on sugar to 100 per centand then scrapped the exportduty on it. It also made it com-pulsory for millers to export twomillion tonnes of sugar even asthe global prices were low.

In June, the governmenthad announced �8,500 crorepackage for the cash-starvedindustry, which is facing a glut-like situation because of record32 million tonnes of sugar pro-duction in the current 2017-18marketing year ending thismonth. The package includessoft loans of �4,440 crore tomills for creating ethanol capac-ity. It will bear an interest sub-vention of �1,332 crore for this.

The Centre had alsoannounced an assistance of�5.50 per quintal of canecrushed, amounting to �1,540crore, to mills. Around �1,200crore was allocated for the cre-ation of 3 million tonnes buffer

stock of sugar. The minimumselling price of the sweetenerhas been fixed at �29 per kg.

Last week, the governmentapproved an over 25 per centhike in the price of ethanol pro-duced directly from sugarcanejuice for blending in petrol ina bid to cut surplus sugar pro-duction and reduce oil imports.

The CCEA raised the pro-curement price of ethanolderived from 100 per cent sug-arcane juice to �59.13 per litrefrom the current rate of �47.13.

The price for ethanol pro-duced from B-heavy molasses(also called as intermediarymolasses) was hiked to �52.43a litre from the current �47.13but that for ethanol producedfrom C-heavy molasses wasreduced marginally to �43.46from �43.70.

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Meanwhile, the govern-ment on Wednesday approvedan equity infusion of �1,033.54crore by state-owned RCF in afertiliser project at Talcher,Odisha.

This plant is being revivedat a project cost of over �11,500crore by Talcher Fertiliser Ltd,a joint venture firm of GAIL,CIL, RCF and FertiliserCorporation of India Ltd(FCIL). The move will boostdomestic production of urea

and cut import dependence.“The CCEA, chaired by

Prime Minister NarendraModi, has approved the pro-posal of the Department ofFertilisers for equity investmentof �1033.54 crore (+ ) @ 29.67per cent of the total project costfor setting up a coal gasificationbased fertiliser project inTalcher Fertilizer Ltd (TFL) byRashtriya Chemicals &Fertilizers Limited (RCF),” anofficial statement said.

The revival of the Talcherproject will ensure huge invest-ment in the fertiliser sectorfrom the government throughPSUs. This will create jobopportunities and also boostthe economy of the state andthe eastern region. The TFLwas incorporated in November,2015 with shareholding of29.67 per cent of GAIL, RCFand CIL each and 10.99 percent of FCIL to revive theTalcher fertiliser plant.

The JV was formed to setup a coal gasification based fer-tiliser project at Talcher,District Angul, Odisha.

The share of GAIL, CILand RCF in the equity of TFLwill be �1033.54 crore (+ 15 percent) based on the capex of�11,611.48 crore (+ 15 percent) for the coal gasificationbased fertiliser plant. GAILand CIL are both Maharatnapublic sector enterprises andtheir Board is competent toapprove their equity investmentin the joint venture companyTFL, a miniratna company.

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Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) continued itshold on the Indian passenger vehicles

market with its models occupying the firstsix positions in the top ten best selling listin August.

According to data from Society ofIndian Automobile Manufacturers, thecompany’s entry level car Alto topped the list,selling 22,237 units in August. In the samemonth last year, the model was at secondposition selling 21,521 units.

MSI’s compact sedan DZIRE sold 21,990units last month moving down to the sec-ond spot. It had occupied the first positionin the year-ago month with 30,934 units.

At the third position, premium hatch-back Swift from the MSI stable sold 19,115units last month. It was at sixth position inAugust 2017 selling 12,631 units. Coming atfourth position in August this year wasBaleno with 17,713 units, moving down aslot from last year when it sold 17,190 units.

Another hatchback from MSI, Wagon Rretained its fifth position with 13,658 unitsin August. It had sold 13,907 units in thesame month last year. The company’s com-pact SUV Vitara Brezza stood at sixth posi-tion with 13,271 units down from fourthposition last year.

Rival Hyundai’s compact hatchbackGrand i10 occupied the seventh positionwith sale of 11,489 units. The company’s pre-mium hatchback Elite i20 stood at eighthposition with 11,475 units.

Another model from Hyundai stable,Creta occupied the ninth position with saleof 10,394 units. Honda’s compact sedanAmaze stood at tenth position with sales of9,644 units.

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New Delhi (PTI): The governmentwill soon announce import curbs on sev-eral non-essential items, a top FinanceMinistry official said Wednesday whileterming “the 10 per cent depreciation” inthe rupee in the last few weeks as a “tem-porary phenomenon”.

“There are always implications of thedollar and rupee exchange rates ... this 10per cent depreciation in last few weeks thatis a temporary phenomenon,” he said atan event organised by PHD Chamber ofCommerce here.

To a question about when the govern-ment intends to impose import curb onnon-essential goods, he replied, “verysoon.” He, however, did not give any time-frame. Last week, Finance Minister ArunJaitley had announced the government’sdecision to relax norms for raising over-seas borrowing and impose restrictions onthe non-essential imports as part ofefforts to check rising current accountdeficit (CAD) and a falling rupee.

India’s current account deficit deteri-orated to 1.9 per cent of GDP in 2017-18from 0.6 per cent in the previous year andis forecast to rise to around 2.8 per cent inthe current year. The trade deficit expand-ed to USD 80.4 billion in the first fivemonths of the current fiscal year from USD67.3 billion in the year-earlier period. Therupee has logged year-to-date losses of

more than 13 per cent against the strength-ening US dollar after trade concerns andfirming up crude oil prices. It has droppedclose to 6 per cent since August.

Garg exuded confidence that the fis-cal deficit would be maintained as per theBudget announcement despite pressures.“Come what may, oil situation, rupee orwhatever the fiscal deficit will not beallowed to slip from 3.3 per cent, or bet-ter as we go along. I think all the painpoints, all the issues which were earlierthought of as something unknown,whether it’s the MSP (minimum supportprice), all these have now been factoredinto,” he said.

On the price rise, Garg said, 4 per centinflation for a developing economy washealthy, it was not something unhealthyor detrimental for the economy.

The Economic Affairs Secretary alsoexplained that since the dependence of 50per cent of India’s populace is on agri-culture, it needs a transition and therefore,required policy steps.

The government had announced var-ious schemes including Ujjwala Yojana,health protection and rural electrificationwith the intention to bring change in ruralIndia, he said, adding that the governmenthad drawn up a programme for increas-ing the export of agri products from USD30 billion to USD 100 billion.

"<"����������������������������4:�� ���New Delhi (PTI): Hospitality firm

OYO on Wednesday said it had forayedinto the United Kingdom and intended toinvest GBP 40 million (approximately�382.93 crore) for its expansion in thecountry. This is the company’s first mar-

ket beyond Asia, OYO said in a statement.The company plans to invest GBP 40

million into the UK market and looks tolaunch in 10 cities in UK includingManchester, Birmingham, Glasgow andEdinburgh by 2020, it added.

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Page 11: daughter Maryam and son-in- ... leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 ... Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ-

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In a relief to the still-grievingSharif family, a top Pakistani

court suspended onWednesday the jail sentences ofthe embattled former PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif, hisdaughter and son-in-law in acorruption case and orderedtheir release.

A large number of PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, including Sharif ’sbrother, Shehbaz Sharif werepresent in the courtroom andcheered as the judgment wasannounced.

A two-judge bench of theIslamabad High Court heardthe petitions filed by Sharif, 68,his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Capt (retd) MuhammadSafdar challenging their con-viction related to the purchaseof four luxury flats in Londonthrough corrupt practices.

“The instant writ petitionis allowed and sentence award-ed to the petitioners by theaccountability court shallremain suspended till the finaladjudication of the appeal filedby the petitioner,” reads thejudgment.

The accountability courtjudge Mohammad Bashir had

sentenced the trio on July 6. Sharif, 68, Maryam, 44,

and Safdar, 54, were sentencedto 10 years, seven years and oneyear, respectively, in prisonand fined in the Avenfieldproperties case.

The accused were also dis-qualified to contest elections orto hold public office for a peri-od of 10 years after release.

The ruling comes just aweek after Sharif ’s wife,Kulsoom Nawaz, died fromcancer in London.

The trio were brieflyallowed out of the high-secu-rity Adiala Jail on parole toattend her funeral. Theyreturned to jail on Monday.

The two-judge bench alsoordered the release of the for-mer premier, his daughter andson-in-law from the Adialajail in Rawalpindi.

Sharif, Maryam and Safdarwere also directed to submitbail bonds worth Rs 5,00,000.

Pakistani media reportedthat the verdict would remaina temporary relief for the for-mer prime minister and hisfamily members until the courtgives the final decision ontheir application seeking sus-pension of their conviction inthe Avenfield case.

The Sharif family is nowfacing two more corruptioncases in the accountabilitycourt — Al-Azizia Steel Millsand Flagship Investments — inwhich they are accused ofmoney laundering, tax eva-sion and hiding offshore assets.

The cases against the fam-ily stemmed from PanamaPapers case in April 2016.

In a blow to Pakistan’santi-corruption watchdog, theIslamabad High Court alsodismissed the NationalAccountability Bureau’s requestto first announce a judgmenton the maintainability of thepleas. The bench also imposeda fine on the NAB lawyers ear-lier for using delaying tactics.

The NAB was also pulledup by the Supreme Court onMonday when it rejected itspetition challenging the IHC’sdecision to hear Sharifs’ peti-tions against the Avenfield verdict.

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Washington: President DonaldTrump is flexing his executivepower to declassify secret doc-uments in the Russia investi-gation, an extraordinary movehe says will ensure that “reallybad things” at the FBI areexposed.

But the decision, madeagainst the backdrop ofTrump’s spiraling outrage at thespecial counsel’s Russia inves-tigation, may expose sensitivesources and methods andbrush up against privacy lawprotections, experts say.

The order is likely to fur-ther divide the president fromthe intelligence agencies heoversees and raises new con-cerns that Trump is disclosinggovernment secrets for his ownpolitical gain. Critics of themove say the president has aclear conflict by trying to dis-credit an investigation in whichhe himself is a subject.

“This radical policy choiceis not being made on tradi-tional policy grounds. It’s beingmade on conflicted grounds,”said David Kris, a formerJustice Department nationalsecurity division head. “That’sproblematic.”

The Justice Departmentsays it’s begun complying withthe order, though it’s not clearwhen the documents might be

released. It’s also unclear if themulti-agency review nowunderway might find ways totry to withhold certain infor-mation or limit whatever dam-age, such as outing sources orscaring off would-be ones, thatmay arise from the release.

Trump and Republicansupporters want the records outin hopes they’ll reveal lawenforcement bias in the earlystage of the Russia investigationand prove the probe wasopened without good reason.

Democrats say the mater-ial is too secret for disclosureand object to any meddling inan ongoing investigation.

In a letter Tuesday toDirector of NationalIntelligence Daniel Coats,Deputy Attorney General RodRosenstein and FBI DirectorChristopher Wray, four topDemocrats called Trump’saction “a brazen abuse ofpower.” AP

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North Korea’s Kim Jong Unagreed to make a historic

visit to Seoul soon and close amissile testing site in front ofinternational inspectors at asummit with the South’sPresident Moon Jae-in inPyongyang on Wednesday.

Progress on the key issue ofthe North’s nuclear arsenal waslimited, but the two signed adocument to strengthen tiesbetween the two halves of thedivided peninsula.

Building on a growing rap-prochement, they agreed to

create a facility to hold familyreunions at any time, worktowards joining up road andrail links, and mount a com-bined bid for the 2032Olympics.

The agreement “carries thepeople’s fresh hope and thepeople’s strong, flaming desirefor reunification”, Kim said.

His trip to Seoul would bethe first by a Northern leadersince the end of the 1950-53Korean War, when hostilitiesceased with an armistice ratherthan a peace treaty, leavingthem technically in a state ofwar.

Baghdad: An Iraqi court onWednesday sentenced a promi-nent jihadist described as adeputy of Islamic State groupleader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi todeath on terrorism charges.

“The Karkh criminal courtin Baghdad sentenced to deathby hanging one of the mostprominent leaders of IS, whoserved as a deputy ofBaghdadi,” judicial spokesmanAbdel Sattar Bayraqdar said.

AFP

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Malaysia’s toppled leaderNajib Razak was arrested

Wednesday and will be chargedover allegations that $628 mil-lion linked to state investmentfund 1MDB ended up in hispersonal bank accounts, offi-cials said.

Allegations that Najib andhis cronies looted huge sumsfrom the investment vehiclewere a major factor in theshock defeat of his long-rulingcoalition in elections in May, at

the hands of a reformist allianceheaded by Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir, 93, in his secondstint as premier after comingout of retirement to take on hisex-protege Najib, has reopenedprobes into 1MDB that wereshut down by the former gov-ernment, and vowed to bringNajib to justice.

Since losing power, Najibhas already been arrested andhit with seven charges relatedto claims he pocketed some $10million from a former unit of1MDB.

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Aformer columnist for statemedia has been jailed for

seven years for “abusive”Facebook posts about Myanmarleader Aung San Suu Kyi, a courtofficial said on Wednesday, thelatest case threatening freeexpression in the country.

Ngar Min Swe was sen-tenced for sedition on Tuesday,Yangon’s Western District Courtspokesman Htay Aung toldAFP.

“He was convicted... Forwriting abusive posts onFacebook against StateCounsellor Aung San Suu Kyi,making people get the wrongimpression of her,” Htay Aungsaid.

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Christine Blasey Ford, theCalifornia professor claim-

ing that US President DonaldTrump’s Supreme Court nom-inee Brett Kavanaugh sexuallyassaulted her nearly 36 yearsago, on Wednesday demandeda “full investigation” by the FBIbefore she attends anyCongressional hearing or“interrogation” into her accu-sations.

Kavanaugh’s nominationplunged into chaos after Ford,51, told ‘The Washington Post’that she was subjected to a sex-ual assault by Kavanaugh, 53,

in high school in the early1980s.

The Supreme Court nom-inee has rejected as “com-pletely false” the sexual assaultallegation, saying he was readyto testify before a Senate com-mittee to “defend my integrity”.

The new developmentappeared to have put in jeop-ardy the September 24Congressional hearing whenboth Ford, clinical psychologyprofessor at Palo AltoUniversity, and JudgeKavanaugh are scheduled totestify before the SenateJudiciary Committee.

A� �����0��������������� ������0"������ %��!����� �� ���Los Angeles: An orthopedicsurgeon in California who onceappeared on a dating realityshow and his girlfriend havebeen charged with drugging andsexually assaulting two women,in a case prosecutors suspectmight involve hundreds of othervictims.

Authorities told AFP onTuesday they had receiveddozens of leads in the probe, justhours after a press conferenceheld to try to encourage otherwomen to come forward.

“I am being told by inves-tigators that their phones havebeen very active this after-noon,” said Michelle Van DerLinden, a spokeswoman forOrange County prosecutors.

“People are calling with

additional information and wewill be busy tracking down allthe additional leads.” The sur-geon, Grant WilliamRobicheaux, and his girlfriend,Cerissa Laura Riley, werecharged on Sept 11 with rape aswell as drug and weapons-related offenses in connectionwith two alleged assaults.

Robicheaux — who onceappeared on the Bravo televisionshow “Online Dating Rituals ofthe American Male” — andRiley are due to be arraigned onOctober 25.

Investigators found hun-dreds of videos on Robicheaux’sphone after he was arrested, “invarious states of undress, con-sciousness and being assaulted,”Van Der Linden said. AFP

The Executive Engineer, BuildingDivision South-East (M-421), PWD(GNCTD), Police Colony, Hauz Khas,New Delhi invites on behalf of thePresident of India percentage/ itemrate tender in two bid condition for fol-lowing work(s):-

1. NIT No. 52/South-East(B)M/ NewDelhi/2018-19 (Recall), Name ofWork: A/R & M/O Non ResidentialBuilding under service centre G.B.Pant & Nehru Place, New Delhi dur-ing 2018-19 (SH: Providing labour forday to day maintenance works),Estimated Cost: Rs. 11,10,000/,Earnest Money: Rs. 22,200/- drawnin favour of EE, CBMD M-421, PWD,New Delhi, time of completion of work12 Months, The Last date & time forreceipt of Tenders through e-pro-curement is 27.09.2018 upto 15.00Hours & Tender ID No 2018_PWD_158537_1.

2. NIT No. 64/South-East(B)M/ NewDelhi/2018-19, Name of Work: A/R& M/O Non Residential Building atMeera Bai Institute of Technology,Maharani Bagh, New Delhi during2018-19. (SH: Misc. repairing and ren-ovation work in MBIT, MaharaniBagh, New Delhi), Estimated Cost:Rs. 14,85,866/-, Earnest Money: Rs.29,717/-drawn in favour of EE, CBMDM-421, PWD, New Delhi, time of com-pletion of work 06 Months, The Lastdate & time for receipt of Tendersthrough e- procurement is 27.09.2018upto 15.00 Hours & Tender ID No2018_PWD_158538_1.

Further details of the tender can be had from :http://govtproeurement.delhi.gov.in/nicgep/app

DIP/Shabdarth/1747/18-19

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTNotice Inviting e-Tender

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENTNOTICE INVITING E-TENDERS

The Executive Engineer, East Road(M-212), PWD, Ramesh Park, Delhi-92 invites on behalf of President ofIndia percentage rate tenders throughe-tendering from (i) approved & eligi-ble contractors of appropriatecivil/composite category of CPWD (ii)Non CPWD contractors such MES,BSNL and other State Govt, depart-ment dealing with buildings and roadand other experienced contractors forthe following works through E-pro-curement solution:-1. (Tender Reference No) NIT No.

32/EE/PWD/East Road (M-212)/2018-19 (Recall), Name of Work:A/R 8s M/O Various Roads Sub-Division East Road-I under PWDDivision East Roads/ (M-212), Delhiduring 2018-19. SH: Providing &Laying RCC pipe for drainage, mak-ing and connecting bell mouth to manhole on Patparganj Road. EstimatedCost: � 18,84,564/-, Earnest Money: � 37,691/-, Period of Completion :30 Days, Tender ID : 2018_PWD_158461_ 1

2. (Tender Reference No) NIT No.45/EE/PWD/East Road (M-212)/2018-19, Name of Work: A/R andM/O to various roads Sub. DivisionEast Road-III under PWD DivisionEast Road /(M-212) during 2018-19.SH:- Repair of Footpath, Protectionwall and drains. Estimated Cost: �27,33,570/-, Earnest Money : �54,671/-, Period of Completion : 45Days, Tender ID :2018_PWD_158464_1

3. (Tender Reference No) NIT No.47/EE/PWD/East Road (M-212)/2018-19, Name of Work: A/R andM/O to various roads Sub. DivisionEast Road-IU under PWD DivisionEast Road /(M-212) during 2018-19.SH:-Removal of FloatingMaterial. Estimated Cost: �25,72,074/-, Earnest Money : �51,441/-, Period of Completion : 180Days, Tender ID :2018_PWD_158465_1

4. (Tender Reference No) NIT No.49 /EE/PWD/East Road (M-212)/2018-19, Name of Work: A/R andM/O to various roads Sub. DivisionEast Road-lI under PWD DivisionEast Road /(M-212) during 2018-19.SH:- Repair of drain, culvert etc. atRoad No. 102, 108, 109, Live StockRoad 8s Kondli Gharoli Road.Estimated Cost: �� � �6,53,055/-,Earnest Money : � 73,061/-, Periodof Completion : 60 Days, Tender ID: 2018_PWD�158467_1

5. (Tender Reference No) NIT No.50/EE/PWD/East Road (M-212)/2018-19, Name of Work: A/R andM/O to various roads Sub. DivisionEast Road-II under PWD DivisionEast Road /(M-212) during 2018-19.SH:- Providing Maintenance Vanwith required labour and T 85 P underSection-I 8s II. Estimated Cost: �27,24,318/-, Earnest Money : �54,486/-, Period of Completion : 365Days, Tender ID :2018_PWD_158471_1

Last Date and Time of submissionof tender is: 24.09.2018 (Upto 3.00PM)Tender forms and other details can beobtained from the website: https:/govt-procurement .delhi.gov.in

DIP/Shabdarth/1742/18-19

Page 12: daughter Maryam and son-in- ... leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 ... Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ-

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The Bangarra dance troupe, Australia’smost prominent orchestra band will be

there and so will the MelbourneInternational Comedy Roadshow withmany more internationally-acclaimed per-formers, artists, comedy lovers, dancers,musicians and all kinds of troupes. TheAustralia Fest 2018 will give a glimpse ofthe country’s culture and arts as it pans outacross 20 Indian cities for 203 days with 75events and 26 projects, from September2018 to March 2019.

The Australian High Commissioner toIndia, Harinder Sidhu, while unveiling thesix-month long festival said, “Children toparents, families and friends — there’ssomething for everyone in this fest.Australia’s culture, creativity and dynamismwill be on display and will feature food, film,art, dance, music, literature, theatre, sportsand much more.”

Sidhu added, “Even though there aremore than 60,000 Indian students studyingin Australia, we still can’t showcase thecountry’s culture to all of them. So if we can’tbring India to Australia, why not bringAustralia to India? And this is what we aredoing—merging nations and developing tiesbetween both the countries, if not political-ly, but culturally.”

Sidhu disclosed that the plan tohave such a large-scale festival “was to

be executed in 2017,” as they had decid-ed that there should be a span of five years

between the festivals and the first was heldin 2012. And there were reasons. While theydid manage to get many of the prominentartists on board, getting them to performwas a long process. As Sidhu revealed,“Bookings for certain performers couldn’tbe made in time. Even for their show thisyear, we had already made the bookingsthree years ago, especially with the Bangarradancers, who follow really strict schedules.”The dancers will be the centrepiece of thefest who will be performing in Bengaluru,Delhi and Mumbai.

MasterChef Australia Gary Mehigan,who will be travelling to the country to cre-ate a fusion of food from the two countries.“Across the world, only Indians are so pas-sionate about food and flavours,” saidMehigan who is also the Ambassador ofAustralia Fest.”

He explained how he has exploredIndian flavours and married them withAustralian food to give it a desi as well asa slightly spicy touch. He said, “When itcomes to cooking and playing with flavours,it is not just north Indian or Punjabi flavoursbut all kinds of Indian spices and innumer-able textures that I like to use. Whether itis vegetables or the breads, the Indian mealshave a lot of variety and tastes. Blendingsuch multiple ingredients could be crazy, butit’s just so delicious and comes togetherbeautifully.”

The launch session was also attendedby renowned Australian author, JohnZubrzycki, whose latest book Jadoowallahs,Jugglers and Jinns: A Magical History of Indiais a cultural, social and political history ofthe streets and stage magic in the country.He said, “I’m particularly excited in beinginvolved in this year’s event with my bookthat examines the influence of India’svibrant magical traditions on popular cul-ture globally.”

Among other great attractions are thefood talks and sessions with MasterChefAustralia judge Gary Mehigan, fusion ofmodern Australian jazz with West Bengalifolk music by The Three Seas, a showcaseof collections by Australian fashion design-ers using Indian handloom textiles atAmazon India Fashion Week, theMelbourne International Comedy FestivalRoadshow featuring some of Australia’s wit-tiest comedians, the best of Australian cin-ema at various film festivals across India,the launch of the Australian OpenInternational BallKids programme in India,and much more.

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Speaking at a promotional event inDelhi, Nawazuddin says, “My char-acter is of a personality who has

been daring and courageous to bring thereality to the fore. While shooting andplaying the character, I felt that eventhough there are certain methods andcraft to portray and bring alive a char-acter, playing a character like Manto isvery difficult. I have tried really hardand you can see through the film thathow honestly his character has beenshowcased.”

Nawazuddin believes that the storyof Manto is very much relevant today.“The stories he wrote in 1940, and theway he looked at the world... Nothingmuch has changed since then as far associety is concerned. His stories are verymuch relevant today. In fact, we wereshocked to see that we haven’t changedmuch, and to see that there hasn’t beenmuch growth as an individual and asociety.”

Manto, co-produced by HP Studios,Fi lmstoc and Viacom18 MotionPictures, which gives a glimpse into thewriter’s life during the tumultuousPartition of the sub continent.

Talking about Partition Nawaz said,“We can’t imagine the agony that mil-lions of people endured during partition.Imagine a person having to leave behind

his home of the past 40-50 years and set-tling down in a new country. We can’teven think the magnitude of thetragedy.”

Since the two countries have somuch in common, Nawazuddin doesn’tagree putting even a temporary ban on

Pakistani talent working in the Hindifilm industry. “Artistes and art has noboundaries,” he asserted.

Manto, who died in 1955 at the ageof 43 in Pakistan, the country to whichhe decided to migrate from his belovedMumbai, penned an impressive body ofwork which touched on genres likewomen, Partition. He churned outabout 22 collections of stories compris-ing a novel, essays, personal sketchesand movie scripts. His work also gainedattention for weaving stories around theordeal of Partition, freedom of expres-sion as well as sexuality. His straightfor-ward writing got him in trouble as hewas charged with obscenity six times forhis short stories, thrice before 1947 andthrice after.

“The film is very personal. It willhaunt people. You will feel a connectwith the story. And the reason behindthat is that every one wants to tell thetruth, but there are many factors andpressures of the society stopping themfrom saying the truth.”

The actor is “proud of this project”.However, in the troubled times that welive in, he is a little unsure of the audi-ence reaction to it.

Since Manto’s writings frequentlytalked about women, the author dis-cussed the issues of pay parity, womenempowerment and #MeToo movement,Nawazuddin hopes for a similar effectin India.

The actor says it is time to givewomen the respect they deserve. “Weneed to introspect about the way wehave treated women for centuries. It istime to change. It is time to look at themfrom a different perspective. We need tounderstand their thoughts, desires andfeelings, and respect them,” said theactor.

The actor, who has made his markin films like Gangs of Wasseypur, TheLunchbox, Liar’s Dice, Badlapur andManjhi: The Mountain Man, will soonbe seen bringing the life of writerSaadat Hasan Manto alive on the bigscreen with Manto, directed by NanditaDas.

The film releases on Friday.

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Love at first sight. How many times has one heard the phrase in pop-ular culture as well as in real life? While the concept dates back to

time immemorial, today, when technology plays such a big role in everypart of our lives, has this idea evolved over time? One has seen the tropeplay out so many times in films where two people walking down the streetbump into each other, their eyes meet, sparks fly, and Cupid strikes.Cut to the present, when image after image, glance after glance andpout after pout flood your choices. And display pictures rob the magicof a chance encounter.

So to turn the idea on its head, is falling in love possible when youhaven’t even seen the other person? And it is here that a virtual blinddating series Hear Me, Love Me hosted by actor Shilpa Shetty Kundrareflects exactly what’s on every young Indian mind: Relationships.

A keen fitness enthusiast and now a love guru-cum-life coach of sorts,Shilpa says, “The show really gives women an upper hand because theyare given the choice of three boys, the twist being that they get to seetheir world, hear and know them via this show in just 12 hours. Thenthe girl has to pick one boy without seeing him to go on a date with. It’smore insightful than sightful. I think as ashow it works because who doesn’t lovereality-oriented shows today?”

Love grows over time, believes Shilpa.“People have evolved, mindsets havechanged and so have films and content.The only thing that is constant is changewhich is a welcome development. Love isnot quite an emotion that can be felt auto-matically.”

While Shilpa is ready to be a part offilms again after almost a decade now, tele-vision remains her preference. She wouldonly take on a film if it is very differentfrom mainstream scripts. “If I have to playa character it would have to be age-appro-priate. I don’t want a female-orientedscript, I’m very clear about that. I’m notsomebody who wants to play a college-going character and as everyone knowsfilms are changing now, content is evolv-ing and I want to do something that wouldcater to today’s palate. I’m an avid film watch-er and I want to sign up for something that I would enjoy reacting to.To choose a script now would be a tough nut because I have already playedvarious characters and the only prerequisite is that it would have to bedifferent from what i have done before.”

She added, “I have always steered towards doing things that were trendsetting. Till I don’t get to chew on something that has a different taste, Idon’t enjoy it. It gets very mundane for me. I think I lasted in the indus-try because of this and the fact that I dabbled in different platforms. Asfor now, my preference is television as the onus of giving a superhit filmis not on my shoulders.”

She says that there are many choices but one has to choose the pathyou want to tread on wisely. She says, “If a film doesn’t work where doesthat leave me? I don’t want people to judge me on the basis of my lastfilm, I want people to judge me on the choices that I have made. There’sno excuse for mediocrity for me. If I’m doing something in the healthand wellness sector, I will do it to the best of my ability and it comes outof passion not out of money. I want to be a front runner there and I’mwilling to be judged on whatever I’m doing today so the challenge is tomake right choices.”

Hear Me, Love Me is slated to stream on Amazon Prime Video fromSeptember 28.

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Page 13: daughter Maryam and son-in- ... leaders, met Nawaz in the office of the jail superintendent. Detailed report on P12 ... Naxalism on their children and youths. “We want employ-

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A5+42�!-".�-���0-*�.!0#"�<�Despite his short tenure of 19 months as

India's second prime minister, LalBahadur Shastri's towering personali-

ty is firmly etched in the memory of the nationeven after half a decade of his untimelydemise. He earned the nation's respect with histough decisions taken during the Indo-Pak warin 1965. His teachings and ideas about highereducation are being carried forward by his sonand the former Union Minister Anil Shastri,who is the Chairman of Lal Bahadur ShastriInstitute of Management, Delhi. Excerpts:

�Please share some of your memories aboutyour father. How was he like?

Shastriji was affectionately called ‘nanhe’when he was young. I remember a story abouthim when he was once canned by his teacherfor not bringing an english reader to class. Sharpin studies, he had copied the textbook after bor-rowing it from a friend since he could not affordit. Shastriji’s education was financially support-ed by one of his mentors, NishkameshwarPrasad Mishra. A man of principles, Shastrijidid not accept this help for free and as com-pensation, tutored Mishraji’s children. Heenrolled in Kashi Vidyapith, Varanasi and grad-uated with a degree in philosophy and ethics.He was an eminent scholar and could speak,read and write in Hindi, English, Sanskrit,Persian and Urdu. Inspired by MahatmaGandhi, he joined the freedom struggle move-ment. Though he went through a lot of diffi-culties and was jailed on several occasions, henever spoke to us about his hardships and nevercomplained. He believed that the past hasalready taught its lessons and there is no pointbrooding over it.

He taught us to be honest and morallyresponsible for our actions. Lala Lajpat Rai, aprominent leader of the Congress party hadformed the Servants of the People Society,which provided financial aid to the poor free-dom fighters. Shastriji used to get �50 as amonthly allowance. Once he asked my moth-er if she was receiving the money on time, towhich my mother responded in the affirmativeand added that she was able to manage thehousehold expenses within �40. Shahstriji wroteto the society asking them to reduce hisallowance to �40 and give the balance to someother needy person. This allowance was a char-ity and not earned by him and thus he never

kept the money with him. These inci-dences have defined his char-

acter and many have learntfrom him over the years.

�What aspects ofyour father inspireyou the most?

Of the manythings about

Shastriji, there arethree prominent

characteristicsthat have

inspired me and I believe that the youth todaycan learn from him. His simplicity was animportant part of his personality. He was neverattracted to the worldly items and materialis-tic things and remained a common man, root-ed to the ground. When he became the PrimeMinister, he continued to wear his simpleclothes and would walk to his office rather thanuse cars. After he joined the office as the PM,he got a good house to live in and I asked himto get the bedroom carpeted. He refused to therequest and retorted, saying, “I am a PrimeMinister of a country where many don't evenhave a roof over their heads.”

His integrity and honesty is rememberedby many. He bought a car for the family by tak-ing a loan of �5000 from the Punjab NationalBank, which was later repaid by my motherfrom her pension after his demise. Despite his

short stature, Shastriji was a man of determi-nation and grit. He felt no inferiority and dealtwith complex issues with a firm hand. It isimportant for a good leader to have a high-risktaking ability and Shastriji took tough decisionsduring his role in the Indo-Pak war which hasearned him respect over the years.

�What were Shastriji's ideas on education andhow has the spectrum changed today?

Shastriji’s concept of education was veryclear. He felt that every student must have thebasic knowledge of science and laid emphasison the importance of higher education. Thiscan be related to today’s need of modern tech-nology. He also felt that parents should onlyguide their children towards possible profes-sional pursuits and not force their line ofthought on them. He also advocated that sincejobs were limited in proportion to the popu-lation of the country, it is important that stu-dents are trained in accordance with employ-ability. Shastriji also emphasised that the gov-ernment should not be the only responsibleparty to impart education. He encouraged theprivate players in education to reach a largernumber of young people and reduce the bur-den on the government education institutes. Hegave the example of the Harvard Universitywhich though was a private player, but rankedthe best in the world. It is unfortunate that todayeducation has become a commercial arm. My

appeal to all such institutes is that edu-cation is a philanthropic work

and institutions shouldrestrict themselves to pro-

moting higher educa-tion. A suggestion tothe government is tomake a percent of theincome of the institutetaxable and allow the

stakeholders to sharethe dividend.

�How is the Lal bahadur Shastri Institute ofManagement in Delhi different from the rest?

We have not deviated from the practices ofShastriji. We are grounded in ethics and do notcompromise on the teaching or the quality ofcourses. We have surrendered managementquota since we do not believe in making moneyfrom education. Today, many institutes aresiphoning off money from government grants,earning money through admissions which Ibelieve is against the philanthropic nature ofeducational institutes. I feel that the moneyreceived by the institute should be ploughedback into the betterment of its facilities. In termsof quality, every faculty needs to be a Ph.D toteach at the Delhi institute. We are alwaysupdated with the latest trends in the corporateworld and revise the syllabus every year toaccommodate new learning modules in accor-dance with the needs of the industry. We alsointroduce new courses as per the requirementof the market. The institute emphasises onimparting entrepreneurial skills. Students whodo not want to relocate to cities according tojobs or have family business are trained to setup their own ventures. Apart from the man-agement education, we run the Lal BahadurShastri Polytechnic institute in Manda, asmall village in Allahabad. This is a very dif-ferent concept and not a ‘me too’ product as itaims to offer higher education in the remotestarea. We have made sure that the students areprovided with state-of-the-art infrastructureand modern facilities.

�There is an increasing sense of cynicism inthe country and instances of intolerance havelately turned violent. How do you respond tothat?

Violent activities are on the rise all acrossthe world and it is important to understand thatregional aspirations are increasing globally. Ourhistory is testimony to the fact that despitemany invasions, India has retained its identi-ty. This is because we have been a civilised soci-ety for centuries. We had structured living, gov-ernance, currency, defense protocols in variousforms and thus have retained our essence.However, the governing bodies over the yearshave not been sensitive or have failed to com-prehend the regional aspirations of the people.The cynicism is a knee-jerk reaction now.Political parties unfortunately tried to under-stand the people of this country while sittingin AC rooms through feedback from special-ists and data collected from remote assets. Thishad led to a disconnect between the govern-ment and the people whereas earlier times theleaders were born from the grassroots and theyunderstood the pulse of the nation. The lead-ers have to empathise with the difficulties ofthe people to gauge the gravity of the situation

�What is your idea of nationalism? How doyou think it can be promoted?

It is important to note that the increasingregional aspirations are not clashing with theintegrity of India as a nation. Different regionsmay demand separate states, but they are proudto be Indian. Nationalism has to be understoodin the right perspective. It is a concept whereone is dedicated and devoted to the cause ofthe nation. Small, day-to-day activities likedirtying the roads or surroundings are againstthe well-being of the country. I believe thatsomeone who is singing the national anthemand unfurling the national flag, but is alsosiphoning off money, is not a nationalist. I feelnationalism is practiced everyday.

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The Union Minister for Railways and Coal Piyush Goyal,believes that unless the infrastructure and fundamentals are

set up, India cannot come up as a sought-after tourist destina-tion. “The present government has been developing facilitieslike ensuring 24 hour power supply, promoting renewable ener-gy forms and improving connectivity by effectively connectingthe remotest destinations. The most important element that willhelp promote tourism in a complete way is the government’scleanliness drive—Swachhta Abhiyan, which will ensure thatIndia becomes a preferred destination for all internationaltourists.” He was speaking at the inauguration of the maidenedition of the India Tourism Mart (ITM 2018) organised betweenSeptember 16 and 18 in Delhi.

Goyal elaborated that no country can attract internation-al tourists until the visitors feel the country is safe and clean.“The efforts we have undertaken in the last four years to bringabout cleanliness is certainly going to be one of the definingfeatures to promote tourism in the nation in a big way,” he said.

He further informed that the government has fast-trackedthe country’s connectivity mission and the effort to connect theremotest parts of India with efficient modes of transport is ongo-

ing. Sharing details about initiatives taken by the Indian rail-ways towards facilitating tourism, Goyal said, “Very recently,we have significantly reduced the pricing of the luxury trainsto encourage more and more tourists to travel in these trainsto see and explore the beauty of our nation. I would like to urgeall to crowd-source ideas and help us with newer initiatives tohelp us to meet the ambitious targets we have set for the tourismindustry.”

The Railway Minister also acknowledged the income mul-tiplier effect in the tourism sector and pointed out that this sec-tor generates a number of employment opportunities in the for-mal and informal sectors and can change the destiny of the coun-try. He commented that the youth of the country can be entre-preneurs, service providers, interpreters and so on in the tourismsector and ascertained that India with its varied features hastremendous potential and India just needs to leverage from it.

�How has tourism fared in the stateso far?

We have recorded a year-on-yeargrowth of 17 per cent in touristarrivals to Gujarat. Last year, werecorded a total of 5.2 crore touristsout of which 10 lakh were interna-tional. Though this amounts to twoper cent of the total tourist numbersand the figures are growing everyyear, we are not happy with the num-bers and are working hard to tap intothe potential of unexplored destina-tions in the state.

�Which tourism circuits is the statepromoting? Are there any upcom-ing projects?

The Statue of Unity, the iconic182 meter landmark dedicated toSardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is our keyconcentration area. The PrimeMinister and the Chief Minister havetaken keen interest to develop theentire area around the statue intoan attraction for tourists. In linewith the 150th birth anniversarycelebrations of Mahatma Gandhi,we are popularising the Gandhicircuit and the Dandi March cir-cuit. For the inbound tourism seg-ment we are focusing on showcas-ing our world heritage cities likeAhmedabad. The city is very well-connected from major airportsand can be added as an extensionto the Golden Triangle circuit.Depending on the interests of thetourists, Gujarat offers nature,culture, heritage, pilgrimage,wildlife, festivals and nichetourism products among others.Experiential tours are in demandand we are creating new itinerariesto cater to this segment. TheRann of Kutch, the white sanddessert, is a unique experience fortourists and many activities areoffered here. There are manyBuddhist sites in Gujarat which arebeing developed for tourists fromEast Asia.

�What is the state doing to improvetourist infrastructure?

Under several schemes of theCentre and the state government, weare focusing on enhancing the way-side amenities, creating facilitationcenters and making sites of touristinterest into smart destinations. We

have also undertaken a cleanlinessdrive across 54 destinations in 33 dis-tricts of the state.

We have a good budget fortourism, almost �450 crore which isbeing judiciously used. Under theState Tourism Policy 2015-20, wehave received applications from

nearly 300 units out of which 120have already been commissioned.Over the last few years, tourism andhospitality sector has attractedinvestments worth �11,000 crore. Weplan to develop basic tourist infra-structure at some unexplored desti-nations in the state to increase itsattractiveness.

�What is the state’s marketingstrategy for tourism?

The demands of the domesticand international tourists are quitedifferent and we are trying to under-stand them. We will focus on mar-ket-specific promotions. Keepingin mind the duration of stay oftourists and their spending capaci-ty, we will offer specific products atinternational tourism marts andother fairs. For the domestic marketthe Tier-II and Tier-III cities are ourmajor focus areas.

�Are there any niche tourismproducts of offer in the state?

We are promoting Gujaratthrough its cuisine, handicrafts andfestivals. We have created videos toacquaint the tourists with the state’svibrant culture. We are also offeringgolf tourism. There are eight golfcourses near Ahmedabad andBaroda. Those who host conferencesand meetings in the state, can spendtheir leisure time at these golf cours-es which also have good accommo-dation facilities.

�How fruitful was your participa-tion at IMT 2018?

Our participation at the IndiaTravel Mart gave us an opportunityto interact with the foreign tour oper-ators directly to understand theirdemands and requirements. Wehave a lot to offer to the inboundtourists. Many countries have showninterest including the US, UK, Israel,Lithuania and Ukraine among oth-ers.

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Liverpool left it late but showedParis Saint-Germain have plen-ty of work to do if they are to

challenge for a first-ever ChampionsLeague title as Roberto Firminostruck a stoppage time winner in a3-2 victory at Anfield on Tuesday.

Despite the late drama, victorywas well deserved for last season'sfinalists who dominated throughoutand bounced back from blowing a 2-0 first-half lead to take the earlyadvantage in Group C.

Daniel Sturridge and a JamesMilner penalty put the hosts incommand before Thomas Meunierreduced PSG's arrears.

Having kept Kylian Mbappe andthe world's most expensive playerNeymar quiet for almost the entirematch, Liverpool seemed set to paya heavy price for one poor pass byMohamed Salah as Mbappe swepthome seven minutes from time infront of a stunned Klopp.

But Firmino, who started on thebench due to an eye injury sufferedagainst Tottenham on Saturday, hadthe final say as he twisted andturned before firing into the far cor-ner to stretch Liverpool's perfect startto the season to six games.

"You can bring Bobby Firminoon and that helps a lot," said Kloppafter the Brazilian celebrated bycovering his injured left eye. "I lovedhis goal celebration."

PSG crumbled on theirChampions League travels toBarcelona, Bayern Munich and RealMadrid in the past two seasons andtheir ability to challenge for the com-petition under new boss ThomasTuchel was again questioned as theystruggled to contain Liverpool'sgreater speed and power in midfield.

"Never at any point did we loseour confidence. We played withbravery and strength," insistedTuchel.

"But this is Anfield. This is whatLiverpool do and when they pressyou it is difficult."

�����"�������Up front, Firmino's absence

opened the door for Sturridge tomake his first Champions Leaguestart for the club.

"It is great to contribute to theteam today," said Sturridge. "It is ateam here and everybody is going toadd to the wealth of the club."

The Englishman has been doggedby injury and lack of form duringKlopp's nearly three years in charge,but took his chance on the big stageby powering home a pinpoint curlingcross from Andy Robertson to openthe scoring on the half-hour mark.

"I told him this is the best shape

(you are in) since I know you physi-cally, and you have to use that," saidKlopp. "He played a super game,(scored a) super goal."

Six minutes later, PSG's deficitwas doubled when Juan Bernattripped Georginio Wijnaldum insidethe area and Milner slammed theresulting penalty into the bottom cor-ner.

However, the visitors were hand-ed a lifeline through right-backMeunier, rather than one of theirfamed front three, as the Belgian skil-fully readjusted to volley homeRobertson's miscued clearance.

And then Seven minutes fromtime, Salah's slack pass was inter-cepted and quickly fed into Neymar,

with Van Dijk's tackle on the Brazilianonly rebounding into the path ofMbappe to fire home.

Klopp responded by replacingSalah with Xherdan Shaqiri asLiverpool instantly went in search ofa winner.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's deflect-ed free-kick came back off the wood-work before they finally got theirreward when Firmino powered home.

��"���������������������������"��� Former European Cupwinners Red Star Belgrade heldCarlo Ancelotti's Napoli to a cred-itable 0-0 draw Tuesday as theSerbian club made their debut in theChampions League group stage.

Lorenzo Insigne rattled thecrossbar in the first half for Napoli,while Red Star defender Milan Rodicmade a vital goal-line clearance todeny Jose Callejon in the Group Cencounter.

Home goalkeeper Milan Borjanalso produced a sharp stop to keepout an effort from Poland interna-tional Arkadiusz Milik, as Red Starwere restricted to a late attempt fromRichmond Boakye.

"We didn't do much wrong, wecontrolled the game but the finish-ing was lacking," said Ancelotti,who took over at Napoli in the sum-mer.

"It's difficult to play against adefence like that of Red Star. Our for-wards were alone in front of the goal-keeper several times but we didn'thave that bit of luck. I think we couldhave won."

�����*���"�� ��*� ��*���Atletico Madrid came frombehind to beat Monaco 2-1 in theirChampions League Group A open-er on Tuesday with star strikersDiego Costa and Antoine Griezmanndetonating the fightback.

The visitors had fallen behindagainst the run of play in the 18thminute when winger SamuelGrandsir forced the ball home in agoalmouth scramble after good workfrom Radamel Falcao.

But Costa then ran onto a won-derful flick-on from Griezmann tofire a snap-shot low and hard pastMonaco's onrushing Swiss stopperDiego Benaglio to level the scores onthe half-hour.

Jose Maria Gimenez —remembered for crying onthe pitch when France beatUruguay 2-0 in the World Cupquarter-finals in Russia —then headed home a corner in first-half stoppage-time to take the windout of Monaco's sails at a keymoment.

"It's always difficult to win thefirst match of the Champions Leagueaway from home," said Atleticocoach Diego Simeone.

"Griezmann is growing everygame. He's a decisive player. He didwell in the right moments and hislink-up with Costa was good."

����*��������������������������Christian Pulisic celebratedhis 20th birthday in style on Tuesdaywith a lucky late goal as BorussiaDortmund won 1-0 at Club Bruggein the Champions League.

The US international claimed thewinner in fortuitous fashion bycharging down a clearance fromBrugge defender Matej Mitrovicwhich looped over the goalkeeper on85 minutes.

It was a huge slice of good for-tune but one that ended Dortmund's10-match winless streak in theChampions League.

"In the end we won, but there isdefinitely room for improvement,"admitted Dortmund captain MarcoReus. We have to keep workinghard to play better.”

"Currently, we are not playing thekind of football we want to, but weare winning and we'll take that."

While Pulisic spared Dortmund'sblushes in Belgium on his 100thappearance for the club, it was a badnight for Mario Goetze.

����� ,*64;<3/*

Lionel Messi pictures the Champions League ending with himhoisting the trophy and it began with him scoring a hat-trick

on Tuesday as Barcelona put four goals past PSV Eindhoven.An early kick-off at Camp Nou meant that before most of the

tournament's teams had even named their line-ups, Messi was upand running, his sumptuous free-kick from the edge of the areanestling in the top corner, exactly where it was intended.

Messi would have his second and third before the end, and arecord eighth Champions League treble, but the game wasup by then thanks to a superb strike from the excellentOusmane Dembele.

Only when Barca were three ahead was Samuel Umtitisent off for a second yellow card, meaning he will miss the

trip to Wembley to face Tottenham next month. Even with 10 men,Messi completed his set for a 4-0 win.

Dembele's goal was worthy of deciding any match but this wasMessi's night. After a miserable World Cup trying to retrieve theirretrievable Argentina, Barcelona's now-captain proved his qual-ity again to any doubters that are left.

Four goals already in La Liga, seven overall, neither age norCristiano Ronaldo's exit from Spain appear to have taken the edgeoff.

"Normally if you score a hat-trick you frame it," said Barca coachErnesto Valverde. "But hemakes the extraordinaryroutine."

Even if Messi remainsas good as ever, his teamwill need others to step up.Philippe Coutinho wasimpressive here and, aftera difficult debut campaign,Dembele is finding hisrhythm, and his place.

"Just as there is room for players that pass, there must be oth-ers that can make things happen," Valverde said.

*��"�����������G��*� ���*�� ����A stunning Mauro Icardi volley sparked a thrilling late InterMilan comeback as the Italian side beat Tottenham 2-1 on theirreturn to the Champions League after a seven-year absence onTuesday.

Christian Eriksen's deflected strike gave Spurs a 53rd-minutelead at the San Siro, and the visitors looked comfortable for muchof the second half.

But Argentinian striker Icardi hammered home a magnificentvolley in the 86th minute to draw Inter level, and Matias Vecinotook advantage of some slack Tottenham defending at a corner tonod in a dramatic injury-time winner.

"It was a spectacular evening, we did what we needed to do,"said Icardi after his first goal of the season on his CL debut.

"This is exactly what the fans want to see," said Inter coachLuciano Spalletti. Icardi scored a magnificent goal. The team hada great game and really went for it in the end."

���� /;��1;<"0

Indian football team produced animpressive performance to beat

Pakistan 4-0 in an AFC U-16Women's Championship Qualifiermatch in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, onWednesday.

Avika Singh (22nd minute)opened the scoring for India before thePakistani goalie Ayesha (43rd) con-ceded an own goal just before halftime.

Sunita Munda (82nd) added onewhile skipper Shilky Devi (88th) alsoentered her named in the score sheet.

Following the win, the Indianteam is firmly seated at the top of theGroup B with six points from twomatches.

Sunita, Shilky and Avika com-bined well to wreak havoc in the oppo-sition defence but the Pakistanidefenders soaked the pressure until the22nd minute when Avika notched upthe opening goal for India.

Sunita breezed past the left-backto deliver a low cross for Avika whosewell-timed tap-in earned India thelead.

Pakistan were happy to sit back intheir own half and defend. GoalkeeperAyesha made some fine saves but sheended up conceding a goal in the 43rdminute to hand India a 2-0 lead.

The third goal came in the 82ndminute when Sunita, the architect ofAvika's goal, got her name on the scoresheet. Six minutes later, skipper Shilkylatched on another attack from themiddle and kept her calm to score thefourth goal of the game.

India next play hosts Mongolia onSeptember 21.

����� �3:F3

Japan's Naomi Osaka pulverisedSlovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-

1 to reach the Pan Pacific Open quar-ter-finals on Wednesday in her firstmatch since her historic US Open tri-umph.

The 20-year-old, who stunnedSerena Williams to become Japan'sfirst grand slam singles championearlier this month, fired down 10 acesin a fearsome display of wham-bamtennis in Tokyo.

Osaka came out firing andripped a fizzing forehand down theline on the first point, the third seedpowering away to close out the first

set with a pair of thundering aces.A dazed Cibulkova had no

answer to Osaka's firepower as theworld number seven wrapped up acomfortable victory with a ferociouscross-court backhand after just 59minutes.

"I didn't really feel any pressure.It was really difficult because she'ssuch a great player but I just thoughtit was more fun,” she said.

"My serve was really good,"added Japan's latest sporting celebri-ty. I'm just grateful to be able to playhere again."

Earlier, sixth seed GarbineMuguruza was upset by Americanqualifier Alison Riske 6-1, 6-2 in an

abject performance from the Spanishformer world number one, wholooked a shadow of the player whocaptured the 2016 French Openand 2017 Wimbledon titles.

Riske advances to face fourthseed Karolina Pliskova, another play-er to have previously held thewomen's top ranking.

The Czech recovered from a setdown to beat Australia's DariaGavrilova 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 and avengeher opponent's defeat of twin sisterKristyna earlier this week.

But she made hard work of it,trashing a racquet in frustration asshe slipped behind 4-1 in the decid-ing set before clawing her way back.

"The first set was in my handsbut I made some stupid mistakes,"said Pliskova, who ended Gavrilova'sresistance with a clever drop volleyafter two hours and 21 minutes.

"I tried to stay positive and eventhough I broke my racquet I tried tokeep fighting because you alwayshave a chance."

Second seed Caroline Garciaflirted with an early exit as theFrenchwoman overcame Russia'sAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6,7-5 to reach the last eight of the pres-tigious Tokyo event, whose list of for-mer champions includes MartinaNavratilova, Steffi Graf, KimikoDate and Martina Hingis.

���� 4"*/2G"3

Indian mixed doubles pairing ofSatwiksairaj Rankireddy and

Ashwini Ponnappa on Wednesdayshocked Commonwealth GamesSilver medallists England's MarcusEllis and Lauren Smith to enter thepre-quarterfinals of the $ 1 millionChina Open here.

World No 25 Satwiksairaj andAshwini, who had lost twice to theEnglish combination in the past, exe-cuted their plan well to notch up a 21-13, 20-22, 21-17 win in a match thatlasted an hour and three minutes.

"It was a good match. We werepretty confident today at crucialmoments. We struck to our plans soit became a little easy in the end,"Satwik said.

Seventh seed K Srikanth, whohad reached the quarterfinals lastweek at Japan Open, too was throughto the pre-quarterfinals after beatingDenmark's Rasmus Gemke 21-9,21-19 to set up a meeting withThailand's Suppanyu Avihingsanon.

However, H S Prannoy lost hisfirst round match against eighthseed Ng Ka Long Angus of HongKong 16-21, 12-21 to make an earlyexit from the tournament.

The men's doubles pair of Satwik

and Chirag Shetty, who had won aSilver at the Commonwealth Games,also lost 19-21, 20-22 to Goh V Shemand Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia.

CWG Bronze medallistsPonnappa and N Sikki Reddy alsowent down 10-21, 18-21 to Koreancombination of Kim So Yeong andKong Hee Yong in women's doubles.

The mixed doubles match turnedout to be a hard-fought battle rightfrom the start as the Indian andEnglish pair moved together till 4-4.Satwik and Ashwini then reeled offfour points to open up a 8-4 lead.From there on, the duo kept its dis-tance to grab the opening game with-out much ado.

In the second game, Marcus andLauren jumped to a 6-1 lead beforegrabbing a 6 advantage at the break.The Indian pair however slowlyfought its way to level at 20-20 but theEnglish combination produced therequired two points to stay in the con-test.

In the decider, Satwik andAshwin stepped up and surged to a7-1 advantage. The duo led 11-5 atthe breather. After the break, Marcusand Lauren managed to narrow thegap to 13-15 but the Indian duomarched ahead to 18-13 and even-tually sealed the match.

���� /;��1;<"0

The New Kabaddi Federation ofIndia (NKFI) on Wednesday

launched the Indo InternationalPremier Kabaddi League begin-ning on January 26.

With a winner's cheque of 1.25crore, the league will see over 1000players, both domestic andInternational players, competingas part of eight franchises.

There is a pool of 823 Indianplayers, that includes 271 statelevel players, 137 national andInternational level, 84International registered playerswith NKF. The player draft willtake place on January 5.

The league will feature eightteams in the inaugural editionwith each franchise allowed tohave 2 to 3 Int’l players. The for-mat is one of double round robin,the league stage will consist of 62matches over a period of one anda half months, the top 4 teams willqualify for the playoffs.

Interestingly, the federationalso decided to distribute 20 per-cent of the annual profits from theleague to the participating players.

"We are overwhelmed tolaunch the Indo InternationalPremier Kabaddi League in India.This will be the first league fea-turing the best of Indian andInternational players from acrossthe world," General Secretary,NKF, MV Prasad Babu said.

"The purpose of the league isto give a fair chance to all players,to encourage competition whichwill benefit federations and play-ers. We are providing 20 per centof the profit to players and 50 per-cent to the state federation for thedevelopment of the game."

The selection trial will startfrom October 6 across the coun-try for two months.

The league is a big step for TheNew Kabaddi Federation (NKFI),which was formed in May lastyear. The body is yet to be recog-nised by the International KabaddiFederation, which is under theaegis of Olympic Council of Asia.

At loggers head with AmateurKabaddi Federation of India(AKFI), NKFI had alleged ram-pant malpractices in the selectionprocess of the Indian teams forAsian Games.

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India ticked all boxes as they clin-ically decimated Pakistan by eightwickets in a lopsided Asia Cup

group league encounter onWednesday.

It was a superlative effort fromthe bowling unit that saw them shotout Pakistan for a paltry 162 in 43.1overs before Rohit Sharma (52 off 39balls) and Shikhat Dhawan (46 off 54balls) added 86 for the opening wick-et to ensure a smooth chase for the'Men In Blue' in only 29 overs.

This was India's most compre-hensive victory in terms of ballsremaining (126).

After a wake-up call againstHong Kong, the Pakistan match wasa near perfect performance for Indiaas Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/15 in 7overs) and Kedar Jadhav (3/23 in 9overs) were perfectly complement-ed by Jasprit Bumrah (2/23 in 7.1overs) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/37 in8 overs).

If Kuldeep's googly to snuff outBabar Azam was the turning point,Kedar Jadhav's unconventional side-arm off-breaks broke the lower mid-dle-order as Pakistan never recoveredfrom the batting collapse.

With the pressure of scoreboardvirtually non-existent, Rohit andDhawan showed why they are one ofthe most formidable opening pair inwhite ball cricket.

The eighth over from UsmanKhan enabled India cut loose asRohit first hooked him for a six usingthe pace of the delivery and followedit with a 'Nataraja' pull shot forboundary and then short arm pull in-front of the square for another six.With 19 runs coming off that over,there was no looking back for India.

Rohit's third six was a anotherhook shot off Hasan Ali followed bya drive through mid-off to completehis 35th half century in ODIs. He wasfooled by a googly from ShadabKhan but by then India were oncourse for a comprehensive victory.Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthikboth contributed 31 to take India pastfinish line with consummate ease.

The two teams will now meet inSuper Four on September 23.

Earlier Jadhav produced a laud-able performance as he did the jobof a frontline spinner after HardikPandya (0/24 in 4.5 overs) wasstretchered off the field due to anacute lower back injury.

This was after young BabarAzam (47) and veteran Shoaib Malik(43) added 82 runs for the third wick-et and looked like taking control ofthe proceedings.

However, Pakistan suffered abatting collapse losing five wickets for36 runs before Faheem Ashraf (21)and Mohammed Aamir (16) addedan invaluable 37 runs for the eighthwicket to take the total past 150-runmark.

Put into bat, Pakistan were introuble straight away asBhuvneshwar dealt a twin blowremoving the in-form duo of Imamul Haq (2) and Fakhar Zaman (0) toreduce them to 2 for 3.

Imam charged to a short oflength delivery that climbed on himand the thickish outside edge was

taken by Dhoni. Zaman, India's tor-mentor in the Champions Trophy,mistimed a pull-shot and YuzvendraChahal took a well-judged catch.

Babar and Malik then resur-rected the innings with a fine part-nership. The half-volleys on bothsides of the wicket were driven withferocity.

Malik, who is a good player ofspin bowling, gave Kuldeep Yadav thecharge to hit him for a six and rotat-ed the strike well.

In fact, Malik was dropped offPandya's bowling, whose agoniesincreased when he had to leave thefield.

Babar failed to read Kuldeep'sgoogly as it clipped his off-bail. From85 for 2, it soon became 100 for five

as Pakistan lost wickets in a heap.Sarfraz Ahmed (6) was dis-

missed by Jadhav as substitute field-er Manish Pandey took a blinder atlong-on.

The Pakistani batsmen found itextremely difficult to read Jadhav'sround arm action as he bowledstraight and wide. Asif Ali wascaught behind and then Malik wasrun-out by a direct throw fromAmbati Rayudu.

Shadab Khan (8) was stumpedby Dhoni as he bacame Yadav's thirdvictim of the match.

Faheem and Aamir did try theirbit as Pakistan crossed the 150-runmark before Bhuvneshwar andBumrah wrapped up the tail in the44th over.

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Runs weren't exactly flowingfrom his bat before the hun-

dred in the Asia Cup openeragainst Hong Kong, but Indianbatsman Shikhar Dhawan claimsthat he was never out of form.

Dhawan scored 127 againstHong Kong on Tuesday night asIndia won by 26 runs to make awinning start in the tournament.

"It wasn't a question ofform, I was batting well but was-n't getting runs. Great to getruns also," the opener said afternotching up his 14th ODI hun-dred.

Dhawan did not get a sin-gle half century in his last eightinnings, during the Test seriesagainst England. His recentODI form was also all aboutgood starts which he failed toconvert into big knocks.

The win over Hong Kongwas a rather hard-fought win forone of the tournamentfavourites and once again ques-tions were raised about theIndian middle-order's frailties,

which were thoroughly exposedin the recent tour of England aswell.

Dhawan defended his team-mates.

"We have won so manyseries in the last four years andwe have also lost some. We arehumans. The concern shouldnot be such that everythingelse, all the good results are for-gotten," he said.

"Some failures should not

overshadow all the wins. Justlook at (Ambati) Rayudu, he wasso good, and he was playing aftersuch a long time. So, it's good,"he added referring to Rayudu's60-run knock in India's total of285/7.

What Dhawan could notexplain was India letting HongKong put on an opening part-nership of 174 with NizakatKhan (92) and rival skipperAnshuman Rath (73) managing

to frustrate the more fanciedteam.

"We didn't expect for themto score 170-run partnership butthey played well. We could havebeen more consistent in ourbowling but we have to givecredit to their batsmen, theopeners played well. They werecalculative, have to appreciatethat," he said.

"There wasn't much swingor seam in the wicket and ourbowlers were coming after abreak. It takes time to get intothe rhythm as well. Bhuvi(Bhuvneshwar Kumar) wascoming back after a break andShardul (Thakur) hadn't playedmuch in England," he reasoned.

On whether the possibilityof an embarrassing loss everstruck the team management onTuesday, Dhawan said that wasnever the case.

"...We knew that once we getthe top-order, we can comeback into the game. They gavea decent fight. It's always goodto learn from every match," hesaid.

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Ben Stokes and Alex Haleswere named in England's

one-day squad to tour Sri Lankaon Wednesday despite beingcharged with bringing cricketinto disrepute.

The pair face a disciplinarypanel hearing in London inDecember following a brawloutside a nightclub in the south-western city of Bristol inSeptember 2017.

Stokes, 27, was last monthcleared of affray following aseven-day trial related to theincident. Hales, 29, was with hisEngland teammate during thealtercation but was not charged.

Warwickshire fast bowlerOlly Stone, 24, has been calledinto the 16-man squad for thefirst time as a replacement forYorkshire's Liam Plunkett.

Plunkett, who is gettingmarried, will be available againfor the last two ODIs of the five-

match series. Stone, who hasstruggled with injury problemsin recent years, has impressedselectors with his consistentperformances this season.

The first ODI takes place inDambulla on October 10.

����"��B��"Eoin Morgan (capt), MoeenAli, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler(wkt), Sam Curran, TomCurran, Liam Dawson, AlexHales, Liam Plunkett, AdilRashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy,Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, ChrisWoakes, Mark Wood.

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Agame-changer in his hey-days,South African all-rounder Lance

Klusener foresees India's HardikPandya closing in on someone likeBen Stokes if the team managementcan be "patient" with him for the nexttwo years at least.

"Among current all-rounders inworld cricket, Ben Stokes is right upthere. There are a few who have comeand gone in recent times as well butcertainly, a guy like Pandya, give hima year or two at this level, there is noreason why he can't be one of the bestall-rounders out there," Klusenersaid.

Klusener, who is in the city assenior Delhi team's consultant coachfor the Vijay Hazare Trophy, spokeabout Pandya's all-round abilitieswhich have come under the scannerafter his largely disappointing showin England.

"I think we must be carefulwhile making comparisons.Everybody wants to compare Hardikto the great Kapil Dev. Hardik is hisown cricketer. Of course, he has gotsome learning to do. I guess Hardik'ssuccess will be based on how muchhe is able to learn," Klusener said.

The 1999 World Cup player ofthe tournament said Pandya has afine support system to hone him.

"I think he is in great hands inthat Indian set-up. I think people justneed to be a bit patient more patientwith him. I hope he is allowed togrow and develop," said Klusener.

For someone, who boasts of ahighest score of 174 and bowling fig-ures of 8/64 in Test cricket, Klusenerfeels that it's a seam bowling all-rounder, who makes the difference in

a good team."For me, the glue for any team is

the seam bowling all-rounderbecause it gives you a lot moreoptions. I think India have got theright man. It's just that how hegrows and develops himself. It's easyto criticise but international cricketis tough out there.

"I think Hardik should be givenspace and allowed to grow. He isgoing to be that glue for India for along time," the 47-year-old said.

Klusener is confident that inanother two years, Pandya will beready in the next two years if he canwork on his weaknesses.

Pandya scored 164 runs in eightinnings in England and critics feltthat at times he trusted his defensivetechnique too much.

Klusener thinks that someonewith natural ability to hit the ballshould always try and play his nat-ural game unless he batting withsomeone of Virat Kohli's calibre at theother end.

"His defensive technique needs alittle bit of work but he is a naturalstriker of the ball. That needs to beencouraged. We have seen fasterscoring by Stokes at the bottom of theline-up. That makes a big difference.

"Maybe Hardik needs to have thetechnique to defend when someonelike Virat Kohli is batting at the otherend. I am sure the Indian supportstaff have identified that weakness.The longer he plays, the longer he willbe in that set-up and realise what agreat talent he is," Klusener said.

"And you can only take advan-tage of that great talent, if you giveyourself opportunity to get in (getset). That's one area he needs to paya little bit of attention."

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Jemimah Rodrigues and PoonamYadav produced special perfor-

mances to fire India to a 13-run winover Sri Lanka in the first T20International of the five-match serieshere Wednesday.

Teenager Rodrigues smashed 36off 15 balls in a whirlwind inningsthat saw her becoming the firstIndian woman to hit three sixes in anover.

The 18-year-old alongside wick-etkeeper Taniya Bhatia (46 off 35) andAnuja Patil (36 off 29) powered Indiato 168 for eight in 20 overs.

Sri Lanka made a flying start inthe chase through Yasoda Mendis (32off 12) and Chamari Atapattu (27 off22), racing to 39 in 2.5 overs beforethe former was dismissed byArundhati Reddy.

Sri Lanka remained in the huntuntil leg-spinner Yadav's consistentbreakthroughs took the game awayfrom them as they were 155 all outin 19.3 overs. The 27-year-old fromAgra ended with figures of four for

26 in four overs.Radha Yadav and Harmanpreet

Kaur too chipped in with the ball, tak-ing two wickets each. EshaniLokusuriyage top-scored for SriLanka with 45 off 31 balls but herspirited effort did not prove to beenough in the end.

The second T20 will be played inColombo on Friday.

������*����India: 168/8 in 20 overs (TanyaBhatia 46, Jemimah Rodrigues 36)Sri Lanka: 155/10 (Poonam Yadav4/26)

���� *< 6

Prithvi Shaw, skipper AjinkyaRahane and Shreyas Iyer struck

timely half centuries as Mumbaithrashed Baroda by nine wicketsin both the teams' opening gameof Vijay Hazare Trophy here onWednesday.

The two teams are placed inElite Group A for the National OneDay Championships that kickedoff at multiple venues.

Opting to bat, Baroda werebundled out for a modest 238 in49.5 overs with all-rounder KrunalPandya top-scoring with 85 (8fours and 2 sixes).

Such was the dominance ofMumbai's top order that theychased the target without muchfuss in just 41.3 overs.

Shaw (98), who missed adeserving hundred by a whisker,and Rahane (79 not out) conjureda 137-run first wicket stand.

Rahane, who was struggling inthe Test series in England, wasback among runs.

After Shaw departed, the IndiaTest vice-captain in the companyof Shreyas Iyer (56 not out) madeopposition bowlers toil as the twotook their side home.

While Rahane struck sixboundaries and a six, Shaw lacedhis innings with 12 boundaries and

five sixes.Iyer, who was ignored for the

ongoing Asia Cup, smashed fivefours and two hits over the fence.

Earlier, experienced Mumbaipacer Dhawal Kulkarni returnedwith figures of 4-39 and was ablyaided by Vijay Gohil (2-20).

�/G�����!��*���/�Sheldon Jackson struck his

sixth List A hundred, overshad-owing Shivam Mavi's hat-trick onhis Uttar Pradesh debut to guideSaurashtra to a 25-run win in aGroup B match of the Vijay HazareTrophy on Wednesday.

Jackson (107 off 108 balls) andRobin Uthappa (97 off 110) put upa mammoth 194-run openingstand to set the foundation forSaurashtra's 303 for nine in 50overs.

Test specialists CheteshwarPujara (31) and Ravindra Jadeja(14) didn't score too many runs.

Mavi, who ended up leaking73 runs in 10 overs, fought backtowards the end of the innings toremove Chirag Jani, ArpitVasavada and Jaydev Unadkat inthree balls to mark a memorableList A debut.

In the end, Mavi's five-wickethaul was not enough as UttarPradesh fell short of the target toend at 278 all in 49.1 overs.

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