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The international terrorfinancing watchdog

Financial Action Task Force(FATF) on Friday condemnedthe Pulwama terror attack thatmartyred 44 CRPF jawans anddecided to continue the ‘Grey’listing of Pakistan for its failureto stop funding of terroristgroups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jamat-ul-Dawa.

The Paris headquarteredFATF observed that Pakistan isnot properly understandingthe risks of terror financing andthere are many deficiencies inmaintaining proper actions tocurb terror financing.

In a statement, the FATFsaid Pakistan should continueto work on implementing itsaction plan to address its strate-gic deficiencies, including byadequately demonstrating itsproper understanding of theterror financing risks posed bythe terrorist groups and con-ducting supervision on a risk-sensitive basis.

“The FATF notes withgrave concern and condemnsthe terrorist attack last weekthat killed at least 44 Indiansecurity forces in Pulwama,” itsaid after the week-long FATFplenary held in Paris.

“Pakistan has revised itsterror financing risk assess-ment. However, it does notdemonstrate a proper under-standing of the TF risks posedby Da’esh (ISIS), Al-Qaida,JuD, FIF (Falah-e-InsaniatFoundation), LeT, JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammad), HQN(Haqqani Network) and per-sons affiliated with the Taliban,”the statement said.

Given the limited progresson action plan items due inJanuary 2019, the FATF urgedPakistan to swiftly complete itsaction plan, particularly thosewith timelines of May 2019.An Indian official, who attend-ed the FATF plenary, explainedthat placement in compliancedocument means putting thecountry in ‘Grey’ list and it willbe reviewed again in June 2019.

In June 2018, Pakistan was

placed in the ‘Grey’ list andgiven a 27-point action plan bythe FATF. This plan wasreviewed as the last Plenary inOctober 2018 and for the sec-ond time in this week-longmeeting. The decision has beentaken after several rounds ofdeliberations during the ple-

nary where India submittednew information aboutPakistan-based terroristgroups, including Jaish-e-Mohammad, responsible forthe Pulwama attack.

The FATF continuingPakistan with the ‘Grey’ listingmeans downgrading of thecountry by multilateral lenderslike IMF, World Bank, ADB,EU and also a reduction in riskrating by Moody’s, S&P andFitch, a security official said.Pakistan was nominated for adetailed review of its “seriousdeficiencies” in countering ter-ror financing in February 2018.This nomination was support-ed by the US, the UnitedKingdom, France, Germanyand India, the official said.

At the end of this plenary,the FATF has observed thatseveral deficiencies remain inPakistan’s legal regime in deal-ing with terror financing.

Since June 2018, Pakistanhas made a high-level politicalcommitment (statement by itsMinister of Finance) to workwith and address its strategic

counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies.

At the start of its delibera-tions, all FATF membersobserved a minute of silence forthe 44 CRPF jawans who weremartyred. The President ofFATF expressed sincere con-dolences to the people and theGovernment of India. TheFATF currently has 35 mem-bers and two regional organi-sations — EuropeanCommission and GulfCooperation Council.

The FATF also saidPakistan should continue towork on implementing itsaction plan to address its strate-gic deficiencies, including byadequately demonstrating itsproper understanding of theterror financing risks posed bythe terrorist groups and con-ducting supervision on a risk-sensitive basis, demonstrating

that remedial actions and sanc-tions are applied in cases ofAnti-Money Laundering(AML) and CombatingFinancing of Terrorism (CFT)violations and that theseactions have an effect onAML/CFT compliance byfinancial institutions.

Pakistan should demon-strate that competent authori-ties are cooperating and takingaction to identify and takeenforcement action against ille-gal money or value transfer ser-vices (MVTS), demonstratingthat authorities are identifyingcash couriers and enforcingcontrols on illicit movement ofcurrency and understandingthe risk of cash couriers beingused for TF, improving inter-agency coordination includingbetween provincial and feder-al authorities on combating TFrisks besides others.

�� 678�*79�:

The UN Security Council(UNSC) statement on

Pulwama attack was delayednearly by one week due toChina’s opposition. The con-demnation by the UN’s mostpowerful 15-nation bodynamed the Pakistan-based ter-ror group Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM).

A day after it emerged thatChina, an all weather ally ofPakistan, did not want a refer-ence to JeM in the UNSCstatement which strongly con-demned the Pulwama terrorattack, Beijing has tried todownplay the resolution andsaid the mention of thePakistan-based terror groupdoes not represent a judgementand was only in “general terms.”

The UN condemnationcame a day after Pakistan’sPermanent Representative tothe UN Maleeha Lodhi met topUN leaders, including withSecretary-General AntonioGuterres to brief them aboutthe escalating tensions in theregion in the wake of thePulwama attack but her effortsdid not bear any fruit.

Even after UNSC con-

demned the Pulwama strike as“terrorism” China continued tooppose any mention of terror-ism in the statement, said a per-son familiar with the diplo-matic parleys on the issue at theUN headquarters.

China, a permanent mem-ber of the UN Security Council,has over the years used its vetopower to scuttle a move byIndia at the UN to put Jaish-e-Mohammed founder MasoodAzhar on a global terror list.

The UNSC comprising 15permanent and non-perma-nent members, includingChina on Thursday con-demned in the “strongestterms” the “heinous and cow-ardly” terror attack perpetrat-ed by Pakistan-based terrorgroup Jaish-e-Mohammed(JeM), in a show of solidarityand support to India.

�� 678�*79�:

Removal of Pakistan fromthe Most Favoured Nation

(MFN) status is not a knee-jerkreaction post-Pulwama terrorattack but a well-calibratedand calculated tactical decisionaimed at squeezing Pakistannot only economically but alsoto increase its dependence onthird country ports for importof consumer items like fruits,vegetables and wheat flourbesides medicines and rawmaterials for the textile indus-try among others which inturn will lead to cost escalationin the Pakistani market.

Dependence on ports ofother countries will lead to costescalation of consumer itemsespecially daily consumergoods like vegetables andgrains leading to scarcity andsubsequently unrest. Before,the removal of Pakistan fromthe MFN status, the goodswere sent from India via landports and transport cost wasnegligible with a nominal taxby Islamabad on imports fromIndia, making such productscheaper for the Pakistanis.

Due to MFN, Pakistaniexports to India were duty freebut now India has slapped aduty of 200 per cent, dissuad-ing the importers here frompicking up the goods. Thiswill also adversely hit thePakistani exporters negatively

as they will be deprived of asizeable consumer base here.

While India had unilater-ally extended the MFN statustreating Pakistan as a SAARCmember, Islamabad had notreciprocated.

Assessments here suggest,the imports will be limited tothe supplies for the companiesowned by Pakistan army amidsoaring prices and the generalpeople will be bound to sufferdue to unavailability of dailyneed consumables.

When unrest will increaseon the issue of scarcity of theconsumer items, the Pakistan-based insurgent groups and themiffed locals may start hittingthe logistics chain for suchimports, sources here said.

As much as 85 per cent ofthe medicine market inPakistan was dependent onIndian exports and the textileindustry was dependent centper cent on raw material

imports from India. After theremoval from the MFN list,goods will be exported to Iranand then re-exported toPakistan and in the process theitems will be costlier.

Counter-terrorism expertDr Rituraj Mate said, “UAEports may not be viable due tohigh tariff for sending con-signments to Gwadar port.The tariffs at ports of UAE arehigher as they have been inexistence for significant period.This will lead to dependence ofPakistan on the Chabahar portof Iran which being new has alower tariff base. Same is thecase for Gwadar.”

With a sizeable investmentin development of Chabaharport, India will gain by gettingtariffs on the goods exported toPakistan. Once this tradecourse takes shape, theChinese, who own the Gwadarport will also ultimately bene-fit by handling such cargo

from the Iranian port.With an increasing cargo

receipts by the Gwadar port,the Baloch groups may alsodemand royalty on suchimports for exploiting the portinfrastructure. In such a situ-ation, Al Qaeda affiliates JeMand LeT will also start target-ing the logistics chain as theirfunding will be hit amid a neg-ative economic environment.

Increased trade viaChabahar-Gwadar ports willcreate a win-win situation forboth India and China to thedetriment of Pakistan, sourcessaid.

In the backdrop of eco-nomic measures against terrorsponsor Pakistan, Indian con-sumers have turned deadagainst Pakistan. If this mind-set, especially in the aftermathof Pulwana suicide on February14, continues, the sentiment will subsequentlyturn against all such countriesthat support Pakistan finan-cially or carry on businessrelations with it.

Given the continuousbacking both in terms of fund-ing and military hardware byUS to Pakistan besides inactionagainst even sanctioned ter-rorists like LeT chief HafizSayeed and his deputy AbdulRahman Makki and others,the anti-US sentiment is alsolikely hit American companiesas well.

�� 9+$.658�

Apna Dal (Sonelal), a keyBJP ally in Uttar Pradesh,

has convened a meeting of itsleaders on February 28 to takea final call on continuingalliance with the BJP for thecoming Lok Sabha polls.

Party founder and UnionMinister of State for HealthAnupriya Patel, along with herhusband and MLC AshishPatel, met Congress generalsecretary Priyanka GandhiVadra and her colleagueJyotriditya Scindia in NewDelhi on Thursday and had along talk to explore the possi-bility of a pre-poll tie-up.

The NDA ally had con-tested and won two seats in the2014 Lok Sabha elections in UP.It has a support base in theOBC Kurmi community in

districts around Allahabad,Mirzapur, Sonebhadra andVaranasi. The Apna Dal alsocontested the 2017 Assemblypolls and won nine seats.

“Some differences croppedup and we gave them time toanswer our questions tillFebruary 20. But they did nothave any answers. So it appearsthat the BJP is not interested inlistening to or replying to ourcomplaints,” Anupriya said inBareilly on Thursday.

“Now Apna Dal is inde-pendent to take its own deci-sion. We have called a partymeeting and we will do what isdecided. Whatever will bedecided in the meeting, youwill be informed,” she said, clar-ifying that there was no conflictwith the BJP over seat-sharing.

In an effort to keep theflock together, BJP chief AmitShah reached out to anotherNDA ally from UP, OmPrakash Rajbhar. Rajbhar’sSuheldev Bharatiya Samaj Partyhas influence in eastern UP dis-tricts bordering Bihar.

The smaller NDA allieshave upped the ante after theBJP in the last two months con-ceded a considerable space toits partners in Bihar andMaharashtra for stitching alarger coalition for the gener-al elections. The party hasagreed to contest only 17 seatsin Bihar, five less than it wonin 2014, in order to bringNitish Kumar’s Janata Dal(United) on board.

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Delhi Lieutenant Governor(L-G) Anil Baijal on

Friday announced the achieve-ments of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) Government in Delhiand said its actions have addedimpetus to the developmentprocess in the national Capital.In 2018-19, the Gross StateDomestic Product (GSDP) isestimated to be �7,79,652crore, registering a growth of12.98 per cent, he said.

Delivering his speech at thebeginning of Delhi Assembly’s Budget session, the LG saidthe per capita income of Delhiin 2018-19 is estimated at�3,65,529 as compared to�3,28,985 in 2017-18, indicat-ing a growth of 11.11 per cent.

“While the economy of the

State has flourished, it is imper-ative that all sections of the pop-ulation become beneficiary ofthis growth. The growth has tobe inclusive to uplift the con-ditions of the weaker sectionsof the population,” Baijal said.He said for the welfare of thesenior citizens, the Governmenthas also launched the‘Mukhyamantri Tirth YatraYojana’ on December 5 last year.

�� 678�*79�:

Conservationists are thrilledat the discovery of a species

of giant tortoise — believed tohave been extinct for more than100 years — from the remotevolcanic island of Galapagos inEcuador.

In celebration of this his-toric discovery, the TurtleConservancy and the GlobalWildlife Conservation arepledging a $1,00,000 to furtherconservation efforts of theFernandina Giant Tortoise.

Fernandina Giant Tortoise lastsighted in 1906. The rediscov-ery has raised hopes to breed-ing the species which is listedby the International Union forConservation of Nature(IUCN) as “critically endan-gered and possibly extinct.”

Forrest Galante, biologistand host of Animal Planet’s“Extinct or Alive”, who hadstumbled upon the adult femaletortoise, said it to be around100 years old.

Galante’s team, includingGalapagos national park ranger,Jeffery Malaga and the directorof the Galapagos Conservancy,Washington Tapia, crossed athree-mile stretch of hardenedlava flow to arrive at an areaidentified the previous day aspotential habitat that couldsupport a population ofFernandina tortoise, according

to a statement here by AnimalPlanet’s, an American cablechannel owned by DiscoveryInc and devoted to series anddocumentaries about wild ani-mals and domestic pets.

Having positively identifiedtortoise scat in the field, theteam led by Galante success-fully located an active beddingsite before finding the animalnearby. The tortoise was foundsheltering from the equatorialsun, buried deep under a pileof brush.

A team of internationalturtle biologists at the TurtleConservancy studied photosand video of the tortoise andconfirmed it is likely to beChelonoidis phantasticus.

“Since only one other spec-imen of this species has everbeen found (a deceased malecollected in 1906), we have

never seen a female of thespecies,” said Anders Rhodin ofthe Turtle Conservancy andIUCN specialist group.

The female tortoise is ingood health but underweight,unsurprising considering thesparse vegetation in the areashe lived in on the volcano. Shehas been taken to the FaustoLlerena Tortoise BreedingCenter, a national park facilityin Isla Santa Cruz.

“This facility will ensureher ongoing survival, a healthydiet and perhaps, if spermretention has occurred, fertileeggs and offspring. The hope isthat her discovery will promptnew searches and ongoingfunding for the location of asuitable mate with the ultimategoal of re-releasing manyhealthy animals back onto theisland.

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Chhattisgarh Governmentin a bid to provide relief to

people who lost their hard-earned money to the PACLchit fund company, has direct-ed officials to assist the victims.

The officials have been

asked to help victims fileonline forms provided by theJustice Lodha Committee. Thecommittee is formed at thebehest of the Supreme Courtfor selling properties of thePACL Ltd and using the saleproceeds to refund theinvestors, who have invested

their money in the chit fundcompany.

According to official infor-mation, Chief Secretary SunilKujur has written a letter to alldistrict collectors and com-missioners directing them toassist the investors in recover-ing their money.

Meanwhile, director insti-tutional finance informed thatas per the directives of thechief secretary in all the 146Janpad Panchayats acrossstate, free online applicationservices for the investors ofPACL limited will begin fromMarch 1, 2019. The last date

of application is April 30,2019.

The documents requiredfor application includes-PACL certificate or receipt,PACL registration number,PAN Card, Cancelled Chequeor attested letter, photo,mobile number, bank details

of investment that includesIFSC Code, bank name, bankaccount number, type of account and bank verifica-tion letter.

Justice (Retd.) R.M. LodhaCommittee is constituted bythe Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (“SEBI”) fol-

lowing the orders of the apexcourt.

It may be mentioned thatmoney recovery from chitfund companies was anothermajor poll promises made bythe ruling Congress during the2018 assembly election campaign.

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At least 25 persons, includ-ing 15 women, have died

and over 40 others have takenill after consuming spuriousliquor at a tea garden inAssam’s Golaghat district, thepolice said on Friday.

The incident took place onThursday night at the Salmoratea estate in Golaghat, 300 kmfrom here.

“The death toll so far is 25,which includes 15 women and10 men. While 18 people diedat the Golaghat Civil Hospital,the rest breathed their last atthe Jorhat Medical College andHospital,” said Rathin Bordoloi,Joint Director of Health,Golaghat district.

He said the people werebrought to the hospitals withcomplaints of severe vomitingand chest pain. “We tried ourbest, but it was too late,” he said.

“A total of 55 people havebeen referred to the JorhatMedical College and Hospitalfor treatment. Seven of themhave died while 48 others werestill undergoing treatment,”said the doctors at the Jorhathospital.

The locals said several peo-

ple consumed liquor in the teaestate on Thursday night afterprocuring the stock from a par-ticular seller.

Several of them took illimmediately and many werenot even taken to the hospital.

They also complainedabout a nexus between thepolice and the illegal liquor sell-ers. Assam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal con-demned the incident and senta team to the district to takestock of the situation.

State Excise MinisterParimal Shuklabaidya hasordered a probe into the mat-ter. “The State Government hassuspended two excise officialsafter holding them responsiblefor the tragedy. We have alsoasked a four-member team, ledby Additional Commissioner ofExcise Department SanjibMedhi, to probe the incident,”said Shuklabaidya, adding thatthe probe committee has beenasked to submit its report to the government within three days.

“Based on the inquiryreport, stern measures will betaken across the state to plugthe loopholes,” Shuklabaidyasaid.

�� 678�*79�:

We in CRPF identify our-selves as Indians...Caste

and religion does not exist,” theworld’s largest paramilitaryforce said through its chiefspokesman’s Twitter handle onFriday.

Peeved at a news report ina magazine that gave the castebreak-up of the 44 personnelkilled in the Pulwama attack,CRPF’s chief spokesman andDeputy Inspector General(DIG) M Dhinakaran tweeted,“We in CRPF identify ourself asIndians. Not more, not less.This pathetic divisiveness ofcaste, colour, and religion does-

n’t exist in our blood.”He also tagged the news

report saying it “should strict-ly refrain from insulting all themartyrs as they are not statis-tics for your demeaning andmeaningless write-up”.

The force had earlier issuedadvisories cautioning peopleagainst “fake pictures” beingcirculated online of body partsof the slain men and bogusmessages being shared in thebackdrop of harassment ofKashmiri students in variousplaces in the country after theterror attack.

The over 3 lakh personnelforce is the country’s lead forcefor internal security duties.�� !��"��#�� $��

�� 6181*1D�1(61

Union Minister GirirajSingh on Friday said India

should not play cricket match-es with Pakistan in the after-math of the Pulwama terrorattack which killed 40 CRPFpersonnel.

He advocated halting alltypes of exchanges with theneighbouring country, includingsports, culture and trade. RJD’s

Tejashwi Yadav, the leader ofopposition in the Bihar assem-bly, however, said the dastardli-ness of the attack notwith-standing, scrapping of sportingties and cultural exchangeswould prove to be futile.

“There should be no crick-et with Pakistan. We engage inno sports events with the coun-try till it continues to aid andabet terror. Even families do notdine with each other when they

have a feud. So let us have nolinks with Pakistan, sporting,cultural or economic,” Singh, aBJP hardliner, said in his LokSabha constituency of Nawada.

He also lauded Union min-ister Nitin Gadkari, who holdsthe Water Resources portfolio,for deciding to stop the flow ofIndia’s share of water toPakistan from rivers under theIndus Waters Treaty. Demandshave arisen for boycotting

Pakistan in international sportsevents, especially the cricketworld cup scheduled to beginin May this year.

Sections of Bollywood havealso expressed outrage. The AllIndia Cine WorkersAssociation has sought a totalban on Pakistani actors andartistes, and cancellation oftheir work visas, while actorAjay Devgn had decided thathis latest flick Total Dhamaal

will not be released in theneighbouring nation.

When asked about thegrowing clamour for discon-tinuance of such exchanges,Tejashwi Yadav said in Patna,“This should not happen. It isnot going to achieve anything.”

“The Pulwama terror attackdeserves condemnation in thestrongest possible words and thegovernment must take whatev-er steps it deems proper on the

security front. But sports andculture must not be dragged intothese issues,” he said.

The younger son of RJDchief Lalu Prasad, who fancieda career in cricket before takea plunge into politics threeyears ago, said, “Playersembody sportsman spirit. Andhence sportspersons must beallowed to engage in theiractivity and bring happiness tothe people.”

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The European Union (EU)has affirmed that it is

strongly beside India on com-bating terrorism and therewere no differences betweenthem on the issue, it’s envoysaid here on Friday.

Referring to the February14 terror attack by the Jaish-e-Mohammed at Pulwama thatleft 40 CRPF jawans dead, EUAmbassador TomaszKozlowski said its membershad strongly condemned theincident and “and as a partnerof India, we reaffirm our soli-darity”.

He said the EU stood byIndia in fighting terrorism andagainst any terror act regardlessof the motivation.

Kozlowski told reportersthat the Jaish-e-Mohammedhad been listed by the EU as aterror outfit along withLashkar-e-Tayeeba and sever-al others.

“EU has an autonomousterrorist list. We have our ownprocedures independent of theUN,” he said.

The UN Security Councilhad on Thursday condemnedin the “strongest terms” the“heinous and cowardly” terrorattack perpetrated by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed inPulwama.

Kozlowski said India andthe EU would strengthen coop-eration in combating terrorism.

�� )75+9

Making a veiled attack onPakistan’s continued sup-

port to cross-border terrorism,Prime Minister Narendra ModiFriday said the time has comefor the global community to“unite and act” to completelyeradicate terror networks andtheir financing supply channels.

Asserting that India hassuffered the pain of cross-bor-der terrorism for over 40 years,Modi said the country’sendeavour towards peacefuldevelopments has only toooften been derailed by thismenace.

Modi, who is in Seoul on atwo-day visit to South Korea,expressed his gratitude for thehost country’s support to Indiaafter the attack by a suicidebomber of Pakistan-based ter-ror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) that killed40 CRPF soldiers in Jammuand Kashmir’s Pulwama districton February 14.

Addressing the media afterhis talks with President Moon

Jae-in, Modi said that the timehas come when the world,going beyond talks, should“unite and act” against terror-ism. Later, speaking at an eventafter receiving the prestigiousSeoul Peace Prize for 2018,

Modi said that while India hasbeen the victim of cross-borderterrorism for over 40 years, allnations today face this gravethreat which respects no bor-ders.

“Our endeavour towards

peaceful developments has onlytoo often been derailed bycross-border terrorism,” he saidin an apparent reference toPakistan, which is accused ofproviding safe havens to severalterror groups.

�� 678�*79�:

The Supreme Court will hearon February 26 the two

petitions seeking review of itsDecember 14 verdict that haddismissed pleas challengingthe deal between India andFrance for procurement of 36Rafale fighter jets.

The review petition hasbeen filed by former Unionministers Yashwant Sinha andArun Shourie as also activistlawyer Prashant Bhushan.

The hearing of the pleaswill be conducted in chambersand not in open court.

The trio said the top courthad relied upon “patentlyincorrect” claims made by thegovernment in an unsignednote given in a sealed cover inthe court.

Sinha, Shourie andBhushan have claimed that thejudgement was based on“errors apparent on the face ofthe record” and non-consider-ation of subsequent informa-tion which has come to lightwould cause a grave miscar-riage of justice.

Besides seeking review ofthe judgement, they have alsosought hearing of the plea in anopen court.

The top court will alsohear the petition filed by AAP’sRajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singhthrough advocate DheerajSingh seeking review of theDecember 14 verdict.

On December 14, 2018, theapex court had dismissed var-ious pleas challenging the dealbetween India and France forprocurement of 36 Rafale jetssaying there was no occasion to

“really doubt the decision mak-ing process” warranting settingaside of the contract.

It had rejected the pleasseeking lodging of an FIR andthe court-monitored probealleging irregularities in the Rs58,000 crore deal, in whichboth the countries have enteredinto an inter-governmentalagreement (IGA).

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi had dealtwith “three broad areas of con-cern” raised in the petitions —the decision-making process,pricing and the choice ofIndian offset partners (IOP) —and said there was no reasonfor intervention by the court onthe “sensitive issue” of purchaseof 36 jets.

It had said the Indian AirForce (IAF) needs advancedfighter jets as the country can-not afford to be “unprepared”or “under prepared” in a situ-ation where adversaries haveacquired fourth and fifth gen-eration fighter aircraft, “of

which, we have none”. The apex court had said

Thursday that it would consid-er hearing pleas seeking reviewof its December 14 verdict. Ithad considered the submis-sion of Bhushan that his reviewplea and a separate application,seeking perjury prosecution ofsome government officials for“misleading” the court be list-ed urgently.

“We believe there are fourpetitions in the matter. One byUnion of India... Some peti-tions (having defects) are lyingwith the registry,” the benchsaid.

“The combination (of thejudges) of bench will have to bechanged. It is very difficult. Wewill do something for it,” thebench had said.

The December verdict wasdelivered by the bench com-prising the CJI and Justices S KKaul and K M Joseph.

The two Justices are cur-rently part of different benchcombinations.

�� 678�*79�:

Robert Vadra, brother-in-law of Congress President

Rahul Gandhi, Friday appearedbefore the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) for the fifthtime in connection with amoney-laundering case relatedto purchase of alleged illegalassets abroad, officials said.

Vadra reached the agency’soffice at Jamnagar House incentral Delhi shortly before 11am, they said.

He has been grilled in thiscase four times in the past, thelast being February 20.

Officials said the agency isconfronting Vadra with docu-ments and statements of otheraccused being investigated inthe case and his statement isbeing recorded section 50(powers of authorities regard-ing summons, production ofdocuments and to give evi-dence) of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA).

During the last session,the businessman had told theinvestigating officer (IO) ofthe case that he was not welland hence, the recording of hisstatement was discontinued,the officials had said.

Vadra’s appearance beforethe ED is related to a criminalcomplaint related to allega-tions of money laundering topurchase assets abroad, in analleged illegal manner.

He has been questioned bythe ED sleuths in this case forabout 26 hours over four daysof deposition earlier thismonth.

He has been asked by aDelhi court to cooperate in theprobe being conducted by thecentral probe agency.

The ED case against Vadrarelates to allegations of moneylaundering in the purchase ofa London-based property,located at 12, Bryanston Squareand worth 1.9 million pounds,which is allegedly owned by thebusinessman in a “benami”way. The agency had told thecourt that it had received infor-mation about various newproperties in London thatbelonged to Vadra. Theseinclude two houses — oneworth 5 million pounds and

the other valued at 4 millionpounds -- six flats and otherassets.

Vadra has denied the alle-gation of possessing illegal for-eign assets and termed it apolitical witch-hunt againsthim. He has said he is being“hounded and harassed” tosubserve political ends.

His first appearance beforethe ED earlier this monthacquired political overtonesafter his wife Priyanka GandhiVadra, recently appointed

Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern UttarPradesh, accompanied him tothe investigating agency’s officeand picked him up after ques-tioning another time.

Vadra had also deposedbefore the ED twice in Jaipur inconnection with anothermoney-laundering case relatedto an alleged land scam inBikaner. His mother Maureentoo was questioned by theagency once during the samedeposition.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi was conferred the

prestigious Seoul Peace Prizefor 2018 on Friday for his con-tribution to international coop-eration and fostering globaleconomic growth.

The award was presentedto him by the Seoul PeacePrize Foundation at a grandceremony here. A short film onthe life and achievements ofPrime Minister Modi was alsoscreened at the event.

Modi expressed his grati-tude for the prestigious honourand said, “this award belongsnot to me personally, but to thepeople of India.”

“The success that Indiahas achieved in the last fiveyears is due to aspirations,inspiration and efforts of thepeople of India. On theirbehalf, I accept the award andexpress my gratitude,” he said.

He said he was honouredthat the award is being con-ferred on him in the year thatIndia celebrates the 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi. He dedicated the USD200,000 prize money to

‘Namami Gange Programme’,which is flagship programme ofhis government to accomplishthe twin objectives of effectiveabatement of pollution, con-servation and rejuvenation ofRiver Ganga.

Modi is the 14th recepientof the award and the past lau-reates included former UNSecretary General Kofi Annan,German Chancellor AngelaMerkel and renowned inter-national relief organizations

like Doctors Without Bordersand Oxfam.

The Seoul Peace Prize wasestablished in 1990 to com-memorate the success of the24th Olympic Games held inSeoul. The award was estab-lished to crystalise Korean peo-ple’s yearning for peace on theKorean peninsula and in therest of the world.

Speaking at the event,Prime Minister Modi expressedconcern over the growing men-

ace of terrorism and recalledthat a few weeks before theSeoul Olympics in 1988, anorganisation called Al-Qaedawas formed.

“Today, radicalisation andterrorism have become globaland are the biggest threats toworld peace and security,” hesaid. He said that like Korea,India has also suffered thepain of cross-border strife.“Our endeavour towardspeaceful developments has onlytoo often been derailed bycross-border terrorism. WhileIndia has been the victim ofcross-border terrorism for over40 years, all nations today facethis grave threat which respectsno borders,” he said in anapparent reference to Pakistan.

“The time has come for allthose who believe in humani-ty to join hands, to complete-ly eradicate terrorist networks,and their financing supplychannels and counter-terroristideology and propaganda. Onlyby doing so, can we replace hatewith harmony, destruction withdevelopment, and transformthe landscape of violence andvendetta into a postcard ofpeace,” he added.

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chhattisgarh 03RAIPUR | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 23, 2019

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel pays tributes to Khubchand Baghel, a noted freedom

fighter and visionary personality of Chhattisgarh, on Friday in Raipur on his death anniversary.

Chhattisgarh Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu visited a private

hospital on Friday in Raipur and inquired about the health of a

para-military trooper who sustained injury this week in a gunfight

with Maoists in Sukma district. Girdhari Nayak, the newly

appointed Director General (Naxal Operation) is also seen in the

picture with the minister.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL)was conferred the FICCI

Corporate Social ResponsibilityAwards for WomenEmpowerment at the 17th editionof the Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce andIndustry (FICCI) CSR summitand awards held at New DelhiThursday.

The JSPL won this prestigiousaward for its innovative and highimpact women empowermentprogrammes, implemented by theCompany’s CSR Arm JSPLFoundation, across its operationalareas in India.

JSPL director and the co-chairperson of the JSPLFoundation, Shallu Jindal receivedthe award from Union Minister ofCommerce and Industry and CivilAviation Suresh Prabhu.

Upon receiving the Award

Shallu Jindal, said “The JSPLFoundation strongly believes thatWomen are the fulcrum of holisticimprovement in the lives of fami-lies and the prime mover of devel-opment of the nation. Our multi-dimensional women empower-ment programmes are beingimplemented across the country,covering more than 6 lakh womenenhancing their quality of life anddecision making power.”

The JSPL Foundation has beenexecuting multidimensional devel-opment programmes in the areas ofhealth, education, skill building,livelihood promotion and sports,enhancing the quality of life ofmore than 6.4 lakh women on sus-tainable basis in Angul, Keonjharand Sundergarh districts of Odisha,Ramgarh and West Singhbhumdistricts of Jharkhand and Raigarhdistrict of Chhattisgarh and otherparts of India.

JSPL bags FICCI CSR Awardfor Women Empowerment


Hinting that the Congressgovernment will oppose the

entry of private sector companiesin Bastar, ChhattisgarhIndustries Minister KawasiLakhma told assembly on Fridaythat they would oppose disin-vestment of PSUs and privatisa-tion of mineral deposits to pro-tect interest of poor tribal peopleof the area.

Taking part in the debate ondemands for grants of hisdepartment, the minister saidCongress government was notagainst industrialisation anddevelopment of Bastar but theywould oppose the disinvest-ment of PSUs such as the

Nagarnar Steel Plant and pri-vatisation of iron ore deposit inBailadila.

“We will not allow privatisa-

tion of Bastar as it will havenegative effect on the interest ofpoor tribals of the area”, he said.

Ascertaining that the inter-

est of Bastar people would beensured, the minister said thatdevelopment of the area wouldbe done as per aspirations of

people residing there.During discussion, the min-

ister said it was contribution ofCongress that a PSU like theNagarnar Plant was establishedin Bastar. It was astonishing thatthe union government was nowtrying to disinvest it and entireBastar oppose this move, hesaid. “Similarly, mining inBailadila was initiated duringthe regime of Late PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi and thegovernment of India had nowassigned one of the iron oremines to a subsidiary of theAdani group. We are going tooppose this move vehementlyand will not let Adani group domining there,” he added.

Congress govt against entryof private sectors in Bastar


Opposition BJP on Friday stageda walkout in the state assembly

protesting against delay in paymentof surplus amount to the farmerswho had sold paddy to the govern-ment in the old minimum-sup-port-price rate.

The minimum support price(MSP) for paddy was hiked to Rs2500 per quintal by the Congressgovernment after assuming powerin the state early this year.

But the farmers who had soldpaddy in between November 1,2018 to January 21, 2019 were paidas per the old MSP, despite theybeing entitled for the new rate.

During question hours, leaderof the opposition DharamlalKaushik wanted to know from theminister, how many farmersreceived the balance amount.

Replying to the query, the min-ister for Cooperatives PremsaiSingh informed the House thatduring the period under question,paddy from a total of 15 Lakh 71

thousand farmers was procured. Ofthem, payment of 1 lakh 80 thou-sand farmers was pending, heinformed.

When Kaushik demanded spe-cific time limit for the payment, theminister said they would pay thebalance amount as soon as possiblebut a time limit could not bespecified.

Demanding explanation aboutthe delay in nonpayment of balancepayment, BJP member ShivratanSharma asked whether there wasshortage of fund. Meanwhile, dis-satisfied with the answer of theminister, the BJP members laterwalked out from the assembly.


The Bharatiya Janata YuvaMorcha (BJYM) held a meet-

ing with a slogan ‘LakshyaHamara Modi Dobara’ here onThursday as political parties andits frontal organisations are gear-ing up their electioneering activ-ities.

The State BJP president,among others, graced the meet-ing which was presided over bythe organizations’ state presidentVijay Sharma. Similar meetingswere earlier held in Lok Sabhaconstituencies of BastarRajnandgaon and Durg. The

series will end with the concludingmeeting at Bilaspur Lok Sabha onFebruary 28.

A resolution was also taken inthe meeting to elect once gainModi at the Centre in the upcom-ing polls.

Sharma in statement said thatthey are contacting the youth inthe state with the help of boothlevel workers and are convincingthem that there is an urgent needto elect Modi once again.

“In previous general electionsBJP bagged 10 out of 11 Lok Sabhaseats and this time we have set atarget of all 11 seats”, he said.

BJYM meet ‘Lakshya HamaraModi Dobara’ held in Raipur


State health minister T.S.Singhdeo on Friday

announced in the state assem-bly that a combat team wouldbe constituted and a specialvaccination drive would belaunched in order to check thedeadly swine flu disease in thestate.

He was answering to thecall attention motion moved byCongress legislator KunwarNishad and BJP legislatorsShivratan Sharma and AjayChandrakar.

The minister alsoannounced in the state assem-

bly of taking help of womenhealth workers ‘Mitanins’ in

combating swine flu, which hasspread its tentacles in certainparts of the state.

In the assembly the minis-ter also confirmed that seven ofthe patients in the state died ofswine flu, which includes JointDirector Health MahendraJanghel.

On a question raised byformer chief minister and JCC(J) legislator Ajit Jogi, he fur-ther informed that 3322 vac-cines of swine flu were availablein the state which would beadministered to the legislatorstoo as they come in contact ofso many people.


The final electoral roll afterthe special electoral revision

drive ahead of 2019 Lok Sabhaelections was published onFriday.

According to officialsources in Chief ElectoralOfficer’s office there are a totalof 1,89,16,285 voters in the stateas per the final electoral role.This include 94,38,463 femaleand 709 third gender.

During the drive, newnames were added, deleted,names rectified and othersissues were resolved. After thefinal publication, those electorswho have registered theirnames can now view theirnames in the electoral roll.

Names of those who haveattained the age of 18 years onJanuary 1, 2019 have beenadded to the electoral roll.

Those left out have a chance toregister their names in the spec-ified registration processthrough online application inthe portal https://www.nvsp.in/.

Office of the ChhattisgarhChief Electoral Officerinformed that ElectionCommission has been organis-ing different activities to create

awareness among the electorsand link them to election activ-ities. Elector certification andinformation programme, under‘Voter Verification andInformation Programme(VVIP) is being organised forthe whole country, it said.

Under this programme, theelectorates can also registertheir names in the electoral roll

or make necessary correctionsfrom the comfort of theirhomes. Call centre facility hasalso been provided in all thedistrict headquarters of thecountry.

‘Voter Helpline’ androidapplication has also beenlaunched where one can down-load it by going to Google playstore, which is free of cost.

Through the application theelector can see personal infor-mation or electoral identifica-tion card. Even short messageservice (SMS) facilities are alsobeing provided. All these serv-ices are free of cost. CEO SubratSahoo has made an appeal to allthe electors to check their namethrough website and if theirname is not registered, thenimmediately they can applyonline through,https://www.nvsp.in/.

BJP stages walkout over

paddy difference price

ECI publishes final electoralroll ahead of LS elections

Govt to form combatteam, launch vaccinationdrive to check swine flu

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In the centenary year of theJallianwala Bagh Massacre

and to commemorate thetragic event, PunjabGovernment on Friday decid-ed to build a memorial inAmritsar with soil from all the13,000 villages of the state toeulogise the immense contri-bution of Punjabis in thenational freedom struggle.

The decision got the go-ahead from the Chief Ministerduring a meeting the StateLevel ImplementationCommittee regardingCentenary Commemoration ofJallianwala Bagh Massacre here.

The Rural Developmentand Panchayats has beendesigned the nodal depart-ment to coordinate with thePanchayats of the nearly13,000 villages across theState for this cause. The ChiefMinister has also asked theDeputy CommissionerAmritsar to identify a strate-gic spot in the city, where asuitable memorial would beerected with the soil broughtfrom these villages.

Capt Amarinder hasdirected the Cultural Affairsand Tourism Department toengage with the Arts andCultural Heritage Trust,which had created thePartition Museum at TownHall, Amritsar, to conceptu-alise and plan the Jallianwalamemorial.

The Chief Minister hasasked the Principal SecretaryCultural Affairs to coordinatewith all the concerned depart-ments to ensure a grand func-tion at Amritsar on April 13,this year.

The Chief Ministerdirected the Cultural Affairsdepartment to organise com-memorative functions at his-toric places l ike SunamUdham Singh Wala, KhatkarKalan, Jagraon, Malerkotlaetc associated with freedomfighters and martyrs of the

national independence strug-gle.

Capt Amarinder suggest-ed that the Department ofSchool Education shouldinclude a chapter in its cur-riculum on the JallianwalaBagh carnage to imbibe thespirit of patriotism andnationalism amongst the stu-dents.

Apprising the ChiefMinister about the decisionstaken by the State LevelImplementation Committee,Tourism and Cultural Affairs

Minister Navjot Singh Sidhusaid that with a special focuson the Jallianwala Bagh mas-sacre, the Art and CultureHeritage Trust would organ-ise a Heritage Walk in the oldAmritsar town, in addition toan exhibition depicting someknown and unknown factsabout the massacre. Apartfrom these, an exhibitionwould also be held in 10cities of the state to highlightthe saga of the Indian free-dom struggle.

It was also informed in

the meeting by the PrincipalSecretary Cultural Affairs thata cof fee table book onJallianwala Bagh was beingprepared with the help andguidance of Punjab Lalit KalaAcademy.

A two-day JallianwalaBagh centenar y Lit-Festwould be organised in GNDUAmritsar and dramas inHindi and Punjabi would beorganised by North ZoneCultural Centre in associationwith National School ofDrama.

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With an eye on ensuing LokSabha polls, Haryana

Chief Minister Manohar Lal onFriday listed out the ruling BJP’svictories in panchayats polls,direct mayoral elections in fivecities, municipal corporationelections to Gurugram-Faridabad, students union andJind bye-election while assertingthat people of the State haveextended their support to hisGovernment in the last four-and-a half year.

“Now, Lok Sabha electionswill be held and later, HaryanaVidhan Sabha elections will beheld on time,” the Chief Ministersaid during his reply on thedebate on Governor’s address onthe third day of ongoing Budgetsession.

In an election year, the ChiefMinister said, “Legislators inthe Opposition have appreciat-ed various schemes of the presentState Government. We canlearn the good things from peo-ple sitting in opposition, and bylearning from their shortcom-ings, we can improve.”

On the issue of constructionof Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL)canal, Manohar Lal said that theSYL canal has become more ofpolitical issue now, the matter iswith the Supreme Court todecide. If the water share of India,which is flowing into Pakistan,is flowed into India, this wouldprovide big relief to farmers, hesaid.

While taking a dig at the for-mer Chief Minister BhupinderSingh Hooda, Manohar Lal said

that for Hooda, it is easy todream but it is difficult to fulfillthe dream.

Referring to the KundliManesar Palwal Expressway andNational Cancer Institute, he saidthat these are projects which havebeen completed by the presentState Government but not theprevious one.

Responding to the queries ofopposition regarding farmers’woes, the Chief Minister said thathis government has been mak-ing concerted efforts towardsdoubling the income of farmersby 2022.

Under the ‘Pradhan MantriKisan Samman Nidhi Yojana’(PMKSN), the HaryanaAgriculture and Farmers’ WelfareDepartment has uploaded dataof eight lakh farmers to whomthe first instalment of paymentwould be released by the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on

February 24. Haryana could befirst state to work effectively onthe ‘PMKSN’ Scheme, he said.

He added that in case ofdamage caused to crops due tonatural calamities, the CentralGovernment gives compensationat the rate of �5,400 per acrewhereas the State Governmentgives compensation at the rate of�12,000 per acre.

Speaking on drug abuse,Manohar Lal said, “We all willfind a solution to this and it is ourduty to bring youth on righttrack”.

He said that there are about25,000 persons registered in 61Anti-Addiction Centres in the State. About the ongoingstrike by NHM employees, theChief Minister said that there isno provision to regularize thecontractual employees workingunder Central Government’sproject.

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Jobs to dependent: Chief Minister Manohar Lalannounced that in case of death of government employ-

ee before he attains the age of 48 years, the dependent ofthe deceased might opt for a government job or full salarytill 58 years. In case of the tragic death of employee afterattaining the age of 48, his family would get full salary ben-efit upto 58. The dependent family member of thedeceased employee could be given government job in anygovernment department. In the ex-gratia policy of 2006,five per cent posts were kept reserved for such cases butnow it has been decided to extend this benefit to all casesof ex-gratia, he added Collector rate: Manohar Lal announced to change the nameof collector Rate to fair value rate. He said that the name“collector rate” is in practice from the time of Britishers butnow it has been decided to change it to fair value rate.

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As the Manohar Lal KhattarGovernment is patting its

back for ensuing transparency inrecruitments to governmentjobs, the opposition—IndianNational Lok Dal and Congress-- on Friday escalated their attackon the State Government over“job crisis” while pointing outhow a large number of over-qualified youth are being select-ed for the posts of peons andgardeners in Haryana.

During the discussion onGovernor's address on the thirdday of ongoing budget sessionof Haryana Assembly, the BJPled State Government founditself enmeshed in a war ofwords over the recruitments ofover-qualified youth for theposts of peons and gardenerseven as the eligible youth, whofulfill the criteria of minimumeducational qualificationremains jobless.

Slamming the StateGovernment, Leader of oppo-sition and INLD's senior leaderAbhay Singh Chautala said,“These days, over-qualifiedyouth with degrees like M.Sc.and double degrees are turningup for the posts of gardeners andpeons."

“There is no point of pos-sessing a master's degree if youwill end up becoming a peonand gardener. Such jobs do notrequire such high qualifica-tions,” said Chautala whilespeaking during the discussionon Governor's address.

“You claim of providingjobs on merit basis but M.Sc.qualified youth are doing the jobof gardeners in Haryana,"Chautala told the Chief MinisterManohar Lal while citing theexample of his own gardener,who he claimed has a M.Sc.degree.

Stating that eligibility crite-ria should be taken into con-sideration for selection of can-didates in class IV jobs, Chautalasaid, “The over-qualified youthshould not be insulted with suchjobs.”

Upping the ante against thegovernment over the same issue,independent MLA Jai Parkashsaid, “Jobs should be given as perqualification. Due to over-qual-ified youth applying for theclass IV jobs like peon, garden-ers etc, people from rural areasand youth who are not very edu-cated but have minimum qual-ification for these jobs, are beingignored.”

“People with qualificationlike M.Sc., M.A., Ph.D are apply-ing for class IV jobs, he saidwhile asking the government toensure that people who requiresuch jobs and fulfill minimumqualification criteria for thesejobs should be given employ-ment.

Congress’ Karan Dalal alsoattacked the State Governmentover the issue of unemploymentand accused the government ofallowing the opening of recruit-

ment agencies, which are loot-ing the youth in the name ofproviding jobs.

Notably, highly qualifiedcandidates, including postgrad-uates (PGs), graduates, diplomaholders and candidates withvocational education, hadapplied for Class IV posts, forwhich the examination washeld in November last year inHaryana. 18 lakh educatedapplicants had opted for 18,218Group D posts (Class IV) ofpeon, gardener and beldar.

As per government’s data,1,001 PGs, 5,346 graduates, 276with vocational education, 569diploma holders, 6,756 seniorsecondary pass candidates werelisted in the final selection forthe Group D posts.

Countering the picture pro-jected by opposition of risingunemployment in the state,Chief Minister Manohar Lal saidthat more than 18000 jobs inclass IV posts (Group D) havebeen provided and more recruit-ments’ will be done in next sixmonths.

On the issue of highly-qualified applying for class IVjobs, he said, “As per the gov-ernment’s data, the percentageof unemployed highly qualifiedyouth is more in the country.”

Quoting the All-Indiaunemployment rate, ManoharLal said, “The overall unem-ployment rate among thoseyouth with secondary educationis just 3.2 percent, those withpost-graduate degree is 8.5 per-cent and with graduate-leveltechnical education is 11per-cent.”

“We cannot put a cap onhighest education qualificationin government jobs. As highlyqualified people are more in per-centage of unemployed youth,they are availing whateveropportunity they are getting ingovernment jobs,” he said.

Referring to the recruit-ment of more than 18000 peo-ple to Group D posts, the ChiefMinister claimed that morethan 10000 candidates had qual-ification of only 10th and 12th.Out of total recruitments,around 15000 belonged to ruralareas, he added.

The State Government,through Governor’s address,had conveyed that it providedgovernment jobs to 56000young men and women and therecruitment process for close to17000 posts is in the final phase.

The Governor’s speech hadalso mentioned that more than7.73 lakh job seekers have beenregistered with the EmploymentExchange as on November 2018.16332 unemployment youthhave been employed as cab dri-vers under MoU with OLAand UBER and 466 employedas security guards underSaksham Haryana campaign.Apart from this, 26537 job seek-ers have been placed by variousprivate organizations throughjob fairs till December 2018, itstated.

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Facing trial in corruptioncharges, former Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda onFriday challenged the ChiefMinister Manohar Lal to puthim in jail.

“As you have been claimingamong people of the state thatI will go to jail, it seems you havebecome the advocate and judgeas well. I challenge you to put mein jail,” Hooda told Manohar Lalwhile speaking during the ZeroHour.

“I challenge you to get allinquiries done against me. Wewill see what happens then…There are cases against me andinquires are ongoing but I havedone nothing wrong,” the two-time former Chief Ministersaid.

Responding to him, FinanceMinister said, “The former CMshould have faith in the judicialsystem. Let the Court decide ifyou will go to jail or not.”

Hooda is facing CBI probesin three cases including Manesarland acquisition and allotmentof an institutional plot toAssociated Journals Ltd (AJL),the publisher of NationalHerald, in Panchkula. In thesecases, charge sheets have beenfiled in the Court.

The CBI last month regis-tered the third case againstHooda and several others inconnection with the allegedirregularities in allotting over1,417 acres of land during2009-12 in Gurugram. Thecase against Hooda and otherswas registered on the direc-tions of the Supreme Court onNovember 1, 2017 when theCBI was entrusted with theprobe into alleged irregulari-ties in the process of acquisi-tion of 1,417.07 acres of landbetween 2009 and 2012 forsector 58 to 63 and 65 to 67 inGurugram.

Hooda, while talking tothe mediapersons later said, “Ihave done nothing wrong.They (BJP) claim that the landwas provided to Robert Vadra(Congress President RahulGandhi’s brother-in-law) inan illegal manner but all suchclaims are wrong.”

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A day after the Chautalafamily feud echoed in HaryanaAssembly and demand of vot-ing to decide the status ofLeader of opposition was raised,Jannayak Janta Party leaderNaina Chautala on Friday saidthat it is upto the SpeakerKanwar Pal Gujjar to decideover the issue.

MLA Naina Chautala, whois wife of JJP patron AjayChautala, while talking to themediapersons said that we haveaccepted on the floor of theHouse that the INLD has splitand JJP is formed.

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US President Donald Trumpand North Korean leader

Kim Jong-un will meet one-on-one and spend substantialamount of time together next week when the two lead-ers meet in Hanoi, Vietnam,the White House said onThursday.

Trump and Kim are meet-ing for their second summit onFebruary 27 and 28. The firstone was on June 12 inSingapore, which was part ofthe president’s effort to improvehis country’s relationship withNorth Korea and ultimatelyhave a denuclearised state.

“There will be opportuni-ties for the two leaders to seeone another one-on-one, toshare a meal and indeed forexpanded meetings of their respective delegations inlaying out the objectives(which) is ultimately aboutdenuclearisation of NorthKorea,” a senior administrationofficial told reporters during aconference call.

“That is what was agreed

already between the two sidesand that is the overriding goalthat President Trump is seek-ing to achieve with this sum-mit,” the official said, whospoke with reporters on con-dition of anonymity.

This is an important steptowards that ultimate goal, theofficial noted. “Afterbreaking the ice with Kim insome aspects in June, Trump isalso looking to talk in depthabout the kind of future that

North Korea could enjoy if itfollows through on its com-mitment to the final and full ofdenuclearisation,” the officialsaid.

Trump would be accom-panied by his Secretary of StateMike Pompeo, and several ofhis top aides for the secondsummit meeting with theNorth Korean leader.Hundreds of reporters are trav-elling to Hanoi to cover themuch-anticipated summit.

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Russia on Friday accusedthe United States of using

aid deliveries to Venezuela as aploy to carry out militaryaction against President NicolasMaduro’s Government.

“A dangerous provocation,instigated and led byWashington, is planned forFebruary 23,” foreign ministryspokeswoman MariaZakharova said, pointing toefforts by opposition leaderJuan Guaido to pick up US aidbeing stockpiled on theColombian border.

Guaido’s plans to try tobring the aid across the borderare aimed at provoking clash-es, she said, to provide “a con-venient pretext for conductingmilitary action”.

Russia is a key supporter ofMaduro’s government and hasrepeatedly accused Washingtonof trying to carry out a coup inVenezuela.

On Thursday, Guaido setout in a convoy to collect US-supplied food and medicine

stockpiled in Colombia, vow-ing to bring in the aid bySaturday.

Maduro has closed the border with Brazil to prevent the entry of aid and the military has beefed up security at the Colombianborder.

Zakharova alleged that theUS had moved special forcesand military equipment “clos-er to Venezuelan territory”and was considering large-scale weapons purchases toarm the opposition.

Noting that it had been fiveyears since the Ukrainian rev-olution that ousted a Russian-backed leader — whichMoscow has accused the US oforchestrating — Zakharovasaid Washington was preparingfor more regime change inVenezuela.

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British Prime Minister TheresaMay on Friday warned of a

new revolt brewing within her oth-erwise loyal group of party Parliamentarians over fearsthat a chaotic no-deal Brexit is not being ruled out in time for the March 29 deadline for Britain’s exit from the EuropeanUnion (EU).

The Brexit Delivery Group,which comprises both pro and anti-Brexit Conservative Party MPs,

has warned that they are preparingto back alternatives if May’sreworked withdrawal agreementcannot command a House ofCommons majority.

Co-chairs Andrew Percy andSimon Hart said their group wantsthe Government to take no-deal offthe table or they would consider vot-ing against the Government and infavour of an amendment to giveParliament the opportunity to delayBrexit and prevent a no-deal situa-tion if there is no agreement with theEU by the middle of March.

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The United Nations says North Korea’s

Government has asked for helpfrom international humanitar-ian groups to combat foodshortages.

UN Spokesman StephaneDujarric said Thursday thatfood production figures provided by North Korea show “there is a food gap ofabout 1.4 million tons expect-ed for 2019, and that’s cropsincluding rice, wheat, potatoand soybeans.”

Dujarric says the UN has “expressed and will con-tinue to express our concernabout the deteriorating foodsecurity situation” in NorthKorea.

He says the UN “at various levels” is consultingwith the North KoreanGovernment “to further under-stand the impact of food secu-rity on the most vulnerablepeople, in order to take earlyaction to address the humani-tarian needs.”

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The family of a UK girl ofBangladeshi descent, who

fled to join Islamic State (ISIS)in 2015, has appealed to theGovernment to allow her newborn baby to be rescued fromthe Syrian refugee camp andraised in Britain.

Sister of Shamima Begum,Renu, has written to UK homesecretary Sajid Javid urging forhis assistance and also informedhim of the family's plan to helpher 19-year-old sister mount alegal challenge against his deci-sion to revoke her British citi-zenship. "We were pleased tolearn from your comments inthe Commons that you recog-nise my nephew, Shamima'sson, as a British citizen," RenuBegum said in a letter to the UKHome Secretary.

"As a family, we ask now howwe can assist you in bringing mynephew home to us. In all of thisdebacle, he is the one true inno-cent and should not lose the priv-ilege of being raised in the safe-ty of this country," it notes.

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad-bin Salman (MbS) is touring thethree most important capitalsbeyond Washington, DC, in hispost-Khashoggi phase. The

Western capitals were ultimately notamused by MbS’ ingrained feudalinstincts in carrying out the rash inter-nal purge, l’affaire Khashoggi and otherunwarranted military interventions, afterthe initial hoopla surrounding the osten-sible modernisation drive by the “realpower behind the throne.” His initiallyfeted socio-economic promises of “Vision2030” and steps to liberalise and reformthe society were soon undone by reportsof increased human rights violationsand clumsy interventions in Syria, Yemenand Qatar as also a purported kidnappingof the Lebanese Prime Minister!

However, the crude and brutal assas-sination of Saudi dissenter JamalKhashoggi, attributed directly to therecklessness of the young Prince himself,was the last straw for the Western nationsin condemning MbS openly. His style ofmanagement by intimidation, coercionand “buying out” became obvious asindeed his deep-rooted insecurities andambition that saw him systematically“neutralise” all opposition.

Recent international opprobrium hasled to heightened insecurities and theSaudis have, therefore, made a deliberateoutreach towards the alternative globalplatform of the East as they hope toenhance their economic and geo-politicalstability with two of their top three exportmarkets, namely China, the biggest, andIndia, the third biggest revenue generator.However, his pit-stop at Islamabad was,perhaps, the most significant for itaddressed the perennial and foremostfear in the minds of the Saudi Royal fam-ily — regime change.

Historically, Saudi Arabia’s closestMuslim ally, Pakistan has been the trust-ed go-to nation for managing all internaland external threats to the vulnerableHouse of Saud. The role of the PakistanArmy’s Special Services Group (SSG) inovercoming the seizure of the GrandMosque at Mecca in 1979 typified both thesort of domestic challenges that beset therule of the Saud family as indeed the faithreposed on Pakistani soldiers.

In the 1970s and 1980s, up to 20,000Pakistani soldiers were said to be deployedwithin Saudi Arabia to protect its sensitivespots. With the sixth largest military in theworld, reasonable combat-exposure andeven nuclear capabilities on Pakistan’sside, the Saudi-Pakistan relationshipbecame more symbiotic, logical and mutu-ally-gratifying.

Custodianship of the two holiestmosques and as the ready ‘investor’ in alldomestic urgencies of Pakistan led a for-mer Pakistani Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

to famously state that the secu-rity of Saudi Arabia was a“personal matter.” It is oftenclaimed that the Saudis hadeven secretly funded thePakistani nuclear programmeas it allowed them the plausi-ble option of deniability as alsoensured the requisite protec-tion via Pakistan in the face ofgrowing threats from its sectar-ian-nemesis, Iran and alsostates like Saddam’s Iraq andIsrael.

The Saudi funding of thePakistan-controlled Afghanmujahideen in the 1980s and1990s is a matter of recordedfact. Today, a leaner Pakistanicontingent in the form of “advi-sors,” trainers and even combatsoldiers, ensures the continuityof this crucial comfort-factorfor both nations. Deterioratingrelationship with the US andparallel growing proximity ofboth nations with the alternatepower centre of China is yetanother matter of strategicoption and convergence.

The influence that theSaudis can wield on thePakistani state and also itspowerful military was in fulldisplay when the Saudi bro-kered release and exit for the

deposed Prime Minister NawazSharif in the 1999 militarycoup by the then PakistaniGeneral, Pervez Musharraf.

Later, the Saudis were ableto rope in the just-retiredPakistani Chief of Army,General Raheel Sharif, to headthe controversial 41-nationIslamic Military CounterTerrorism Alliance (IMCTA),based out of Riyadh — withoutGeneral Raheel Sharif complet-ing the mandatory two-year“cool-off ” period requiredbefore accepting any interna-tional assignment.

There was a minor bumpin the relationship withPakistan shying away fromcommitting its military forcesin Saudi Arabia’s misguidedwar in Yemen, owing to sectar-ian implications within thetinderbox of Pakistan itself.Soon, security desperation forthe Saudis and the dire eco-nomic desperation forPakistanis ensured that thetwo nations perpetuate andstrengthen the umbilical cordof quid pro quo.

Expectedly, Pakistan pulledout all stops to roll out the redcarpet for MbS and he did notdisappoint his hosts with a slew

of $20 billion investments forcash-strapped Pakistanis. Morepertinently, the loaded state-ment, suggesting the dissuasionof “politicising the UN listingregime,” when India was in themidst of making internationalefforts to name and shameJaish-e-Mohammad’s MasoodAzhar, did not go unnoticed inNew Delhi. Maturity, gravitasand nuanced diplomacy is nota known MbS strength, and par-ticularly at this moment of vul-nerability for himself, he wouldbe driven by the urge to buy outPakistani guarantees for secur-ing the Kingdom’s worst night-mare — regime change.

No other country of the 41nation IMCTA grouping haseither the quantity or quality ofreadily-deployable military oris as deeply indebted to SaudiArabia for its own economicsurvival (2.5 million Pakistaniwork in Saudi Arabia) as thePakistanis — affording a win-win solution for both by deep-ening ties. Imran Khan’s charmoffensives elicited a candidand spontaneous, “Considerme Pakistan’s Ambassador toSaudi Arabia,” from MbS.

Therefore, given SaudiArabia’s own priorities and

strategic roadmap imperatives,Pakistan will remain a pre-ferred ally that will always ben-efit from a deliberate overlookfor any of its misdemeanours aslong as they do not harm SaudiArabian interests directly.

India shares commonground with Saudi Arabia onreligious extremism (finally)and on organisations like theIslamic State (IS) or Al Qaeda —though a similar aversion andclamp-down on the subconti-nental extremist bodies like theJaish-e-Mohammad or even thePakistan-sponsored Taliban,may not be as forthcoming.

On the contrary, equitywith the likes of the AfghanTaliban may actually give SaudiArabia counter-leverage againstthe US in its battle of wits.Diminishing the Pakistaniestablishment, especially itsmilitary, would be perceived tobe extremely counter-produc-tive to Saudi interests, as it risksportents of regime-change inSaudi Arabia — a nightmarethat Pakistan willy-nilly guar-antees against.

(The writer is former LtGovernor of Andaman &Nicobar Islands andPuducherry)

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Sir — Jealousy is a special form ofemotional anxiety that occursdue to the lack of a sense of secu-rity in relation to the one who isloved. It is an emotion that has thecomponents of both anger andfear and is most common amongchildren. There is a subtle differ-ence between ‘envy’ and ‘jealousy’.In the case of the former, the needfor a loved one is not essential. Itis a desire for things that belongto the competitor. Jealousy aris-es apprehending loss of affection.Apprehension of losing it leads toan attitude of resentment. A childfeels insecure and never wishes tolose that person’s affection.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “No gods in Tamil Nadu”(February 22). Though it wasalleged that the Pattali MakkalKatchi (PMK) was in discus-sions with the Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (DMK) to contest theforthcoming Lok Sabha electionstogether, it is a blessing in disguise

for the latter that the former is nota part of the alliance now. It’sunderstandable that most cadresin the All India Anna DravidaMunnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)are against its unholy alliancewith the PMK and the BJP.

Having conceded 10 LokSabha seats to the Congress,DMK president MK Stalinshould now be pro-active andshow deserving generosity in

accommodating the party’s otheral l iance partners withoutexhibiting a big brother attitudetowards them.

Stalin has his task cut out andhe should use all his wit to stitcha coherent and winning team thatwould work in tandem if hewants his alliance to defeat hisrivals in the hustings.

Shalini GeraldChennai

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“A modern-day Faust” (February22). We all know how Imran Khanbecame the Prime Minister ofPakistan. Without visible helpfrom its Army, it would not havebeen an easy ride for him. Khan’sdemand for proof from India forPakistan’s involvement in the

Pulwama terror attack despiteJaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claim-ing responsibility for the same isnothing but a joke. India has pro-vided sufficient proof in the pastbut nothing moved even then.

So Khan’s credibility is doubt-ful. Yes, we should not expect any-thing positive from him for he hasdecided to sleep with the devil likethe JeM. Khan is walking on thinice and will pay a huge price forsiding with the JeM and other ter-rorists outfits.

Bal GovindNoida

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“A modern-day Faust” (February22). Breaking his silence after thePulwama attack, Pakistan PrimeMinister’s statements were onlyshocking. It’s ironical that Pakistanneeds more proof. It is amusingthat the Pakistan Government,which is unable to control terroractivities on its soil, is now talk-ing about retaliation.

ShubhamVia email

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Well, Tamil Nadu is ready for the quin-quennial Lok Sabha election whichmay take place in the month of April.

With the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)and the Congress announcing the formalisationof their alliance to fight the Lok Sabha electiontogether, the line-up in the State is ready. Themahagathbandhan in the Dravidian land wouldbe led by MK Stalin with the Congress, the Left,the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(MDMK), the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi(VCK) and the Islamist parties riding piggybackon the shoulders of the DMK. Meanwhile, the rul-ing All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(AIADMK) has announced the mega alliance thatfeatures the Vanniyar-dominated Pattali MakkalKatchi (PMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). The AIADMK is in talks with the DesiyaMurpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), led byformer film star Vijayakanth and the TamilMaanila Congress of GK Vasan, son of formerCongress strongman, GK Moopnar.

Since all constituents in the DMK-led frontare themselves struggling to stay afloat, theywould be happy with whatever the DMK throwsat them. The VCK, a fringe outfit led by TholThirumavalavan, has been out in the politicalwilderness since 2009. It has no representationin the Tamil Nadu Assembly since 2011 and itsleaders have been losing successively since 2009.The communists are also facing uncertainty inthe State after they failed to win at least a singleseat either in the Lok Sabha or in the Assemblysince 2014. But they claim that they are the oneswho determine the future of Tamil Nadu.

Till the AIADMK succeeded in making dealswith the PMK and the BJP, by allocating seven andfive seats to them respectively, it was widely believedthat the DMK was in for a big win in the Lok Sabhaelection. The AIADMK has been fretting and floun-dering since the passing away of party supremo, JJayalalithaa, in December 2016. The group led bySasikala (former aide of Jayalalithaa), popularlyknown as the ‘Mannargudi Mafia’, had walked awaywith one faction of the party while the official fac-tion led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamilooked vulnerable, fragile and weak. While Sasikalahad to surrender to the Parappana Agrahara CentralPrison in Bengaluru in February 2017, followinga Supreme Court order which quashed theKarnataka High Court’s verdict that had acquittedJayalalithaa, Ilavarasi and VN Sudhakaran in thedisproportionate asset case, TTV Dinakaran,Sasikala’s nephew, emerged as the de facto leaderof the AIADMK, much to the anguish of the cadre.

But within months, the Mannargudi clan waseased out of the AIADMK and Chief MinisterPalaniswami slowly but steadily started takingcontrol of the party and the Government.Though he is yet to emerge as a charismaticleader who could match the prowess of Amma(as Jayalalithaa is addressed by the cadre),Palaniswami has proved that he is not apushover. As he completed two years in officeon February 17, the small-time politician fromthe Edappadi village in Salem has tightened hisgrip over the party and Government apparatus.

Since day one of his swearing in as the ChiefMinister, Palaniswami was under attack by Stalin,the Leader of the Opposition. The Income Tax and

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids on theoffices and residences of Health Minister CVijaya Baskar and his department heads, the gutkhascam, which led to CBI raids in the houses of toppolice officers in the State and the vigilance probeinto the civil contracts given by the AIADMKGovernment to a cartel of contractors, successive-ly added to the worries of the Chief Minister. Stalinhad been claiming that the Government would notlast for more than a month.

The DMK chief ’s agony can be understood.The party has been out of the corridors of powerin Chennai since 2011 and out of the Delhi powercircle since 2013. It is a struggle for survival forhim and his party. The 2014 Lok Sabha electionsaw a political tsunami with Jayalalithaa devas-tating the DMK in all 39 constituencies in TamilNadu. Interestingly, the Congress and the DMKfought the election separately with the latter for-feiting its security deposits in all constituenciesexcept Kanyakumari, where the party finished sec-ond to the BJP. The DMK is facing a series of dis-advantages from within as well as outside. Themajor issue hanging like a sword of Damocles overStalin’s head is his own elder brother, MK Alagiri.Though Alagiri has been expelled from the DMKfollowing the machinations of Stalin, the Madurai-based son of late M Karunanidhi is a force to reck-on with in many pockets of Tamil Nadu. Themedia in the State has never been a fan of theblunt-talking Alagiri. If one has to know the influ-ence wielded by Alagiri, all one has to do is tocheck the results of the 2001 Assembly election,which the DMK was widely believed to have woneasily. Alagiri is a veteran expert in tilting the scalesof electoral battles. Dayanidhi Maran and KalanithiMaran, the grand nephews of late Karunanidhi,are running from court to court to derail the trialin the illegal telephone exchange case in whichthe brothers are the prime accused.

Then there are inherent problems. The DMKitself is a secessionist party as Stalin had declaredin March 2018 that the idea of a separate Dravidanation was still alive in the constitution of the party.

The presence of the Congress in the DMK campitself is a contradiction because the latter is for theimmediate release of all the seven assassins under-going life imprisonment in the 1991 assassinationof former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The otherconstituents in the DMK front have made it knownthat they would fight for the release of the sevenassassins, leaving the Congress flabbergasted.

The AIADMK front, too, has contradictionsand weaknesses. The PMK is in the forefront, fight-ing for exempting Tamil Nadu from NEET. MThambi Durai of the AIADMK, who is thedeputy speaker of the Lok Sabha, was against anykind of alliance with the BJP, which he describesas a communal party. Anwhar Raajhaa, theMuslim face of the AIADMK, has declared that hewould fight against the triple talaq Bill till his lastbreath. It may sound interesting but the truthremains that Anbumani Ramadoss, the chief min-isterial candidate of the PMK, had submitted a mas-sive memorandum to Governor Banwarilal Purohit,listing nearly 30 corruption charges against theAIADMK Government. But the PMK and theAIADMK are strong alliance partners now.

Then there are issues like education. TamilNadu is the only State in the country which doesnot have a single Navodaya Vidyalaya, a publicschool concept introduced by the Rajiv GandhiGovernment in 1986. Reason? Dravidian par-ties are against teaching of Hindi and Sanskritin schools. What has happened is that studentsin Tamil Nadu have fallen behind in the stan-dard of education because the State-level schoolsyllabus is poor, compared to the quality of edu-cation in other standards. The children of Tamilchauvinist politicians learn Hindi and Englishin high-end schools. The non-teaching ofHindi in the State has created a sense of alien-ation in the minds of the people.

The split in the party and the absence of a pow-erful leader like Jayalalithaa has made the AIADMKvulnerable. TTV Dinakaran hopes that the Thevarcommunity would vote for him, which would fur-ther weaken the AIADMK. But Palaniswami, who

hails from the Vellala Gounder community, is con-fident that his brethren in south and south-westTamil Nadu would stand with him because he isthe first Chief Minister from this community. Theinclusion of PMK was also not without reason. TheVanniyars are an influential lot in the districts —ranging from Tiruvallur to Kanchipuram, Velloorto Tiruvannamalai and from Viluppuram toCuddalore. Though the PMK and the DMDK failedto win at least a single seat in the 2016 Assemblyelection, results show that they retained their votepercentage in the State, which fluctuates betweenfive per cent to six per cent. The caste factor playsan important role in Tamil Nadu despite claimsmade by the Dravidians that theirs is a casteless soci-ety. The AIADMK was staging a ‘coup’ when itsigned the deal with the PMK.

The DMK front looks formidable on paper, likethe Brazilian team for the 2018 World CupFootball Championship. Stalin reminds one ofNeymar, a paper tiger. The DMK president is a paleshadow of his late father Karunanidhi. Add to thisthe Periarites and Dravidian intelligentsia ofChennai, which has spread the ‘news’ that the DMKfront would win all the 39 seats from the State. Theyalso spread the news that the BJP high commandwas threatening the AIADMK for 20 seats. The allo-cation of five seats by the AIADMK, which wasaccepted by the BJP, demolishes a part of the false-hood spread by media and intelligentsia.

It is true that the AIADMK has failed in coun-tering the propaganda by Dravidians. But byTuesday, when the AIADMK-BJP-PMK alliancewas announced, it had become clear that the DMKwould not have a smooth sailing in the bout. TheAIADMK looked like a party which would be out-played by the DMK with a tennis score (40-0). Butnot any more. There is some interesting action instore as the AIADMK, the DMK and Dinakarantake to the field. To add to the glamour, there isKamal Haasan, who thinks he is the greatest of allpoliticians. Let the game begin!

(The writer is Special Correspondent, The Pioneer)

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Eleventh February, 2019,marked the 40th anniversary ofthe Iranian Revolution, which

is also remembered as an “Islamicrevolution” by some historians. Butwas it? Not according to celebratedAmerican journalist and authorMark Bowden. In a November 18,2009 piece for the Wall Street Journal,Bowden wrote that “the movementwhich ousted the Shah dictatorshipwas primarily a nationalist one.” Headded that many of those, who tookpart in the commotion, “were notmotivated by the desire to establisha theocracy, but a desire to cast offauthoritarianism.”

Bowden is not the only promi-nent writer to hold this view. Thisassessment first emerged in 1982 inthe book, Iran Since the Revolution,

written by the late professor of pol-itics Sepehr Zabih. Writing just threeyears after the revolution, Zabihsaid that the revolution was drivenby a wide coalition of anti-Shahforces, which included democrats,liberals, secular-nationalists, commu-nists, socialists and “Islamists.”According to Zabih, after the Shahdictatorship collapsed in January1979, there was a “power grab”among various groups that workedin unison during the revolution.

However, some historians contin-ued to explain the revolution as“Islamic”. While dealing with theimmediate pre-revolution scenario,however, even they agree that multi-ple forces, advocating a diverse rangeof ideologies, were involved duringthe upheaval. They agree upon thepoint that Iran’s senior religiousleader Ayatollah Khomeini was themost widely accepted figure ofauthority during the revolution —even by those who hold the claim thatthe clergy hijacked the revolution.

But foreign affairs expert RobinWright in her book The Last GreatRevolution wrote that even thoughmany secular, liberal and even someLeftist forces agreed to accept

Khomeini as the revolution’s centralfigure, they did so to keep the move-ment intact and, more so, becausethey believed Khomeini did not haveany overt political ambitions.

Just before leaving for Tehranfrom Paris (where he had been inexile) Khomeini told the Frenchdaily, Le Monde, that it was not hisintent to make religious leaders runthe Government. What’s more, asBowden notes in his 2006 book,Guests of the Ayatollah, on hisreturn to Iran after the Shah’s fall, theAyatollah retired to his home inQom after agreeing to form an inter-im set-up of “secular technocrats”led by the anti-Shah “liberal-demo-crat” Mehdi Bazargan.

According to Wright, just a yearafter the revolution, Khomeinidecreed that no cleric was allowed torun in Iran’s first post-revolution elec-tions in 1980, even though he hadalready declared Iran to be an Islamicrepublic. A centre-right liberal, SyedBanisadar, won the election, attract-ing 75.6 per cent of the popular vote.

The candidate of the IslamicRepublican Party, which was pushingfor an entirely theocratic set-up,bagged just 3.35 per cent. But by 1981,

Khomeini was being hassled by theclerics to dismiss Banisadar “becausehe was acting against the clergy.” InJune 1981, after realising that he hadlost Khomeini’s backing, Banisadarmanaged to escape abroad.

Political scientist John Limbert,in his book, Iran: At War WithHistory, wrote that Iran was ravagedby violence between various groupsthat had taken part in the revolution.After Banisadar’s escape, the nation-alist and liberal groups were system-atically eliminated by pro-KhomeiniIslamic militias. The Leftist outfitspicked up arms to push back theinfluence of the clerics. But afterordering a purge in Iran’s universi-ties, which had been hotbeds ofLeftist student agitation during therevolution, the emerging Islamicregime went all out against theLeftists. By December 1983, the pro-Khomeini Islamic Republican Partyhad managed to grab absolute powerand turn Iran into a theocracy. Theirony of it all is that many clericswere some of the last to join themovement against the Shah.

One important commentator ofthe revolution who called it Islamicwas the famous post-modernist

French philosopher Michel Foucault.But in the book, Foucault and the IranRevolution, Jennet Afary and KBAnderson wrote that, in his “post-modernist” pursuit of challenging theidea of “materialistic” rationale,Foucault fell for “the seductions ofmilitant Islam.” They wrote that in hissearch for “political spirituality”, heended up romanticising an ideawhich was totalitarian in nature.

It was Foucault’s romanticisedreading of the Iranian revolutionwhich made most post-modernistsclaim that Iran’s revolution was“unique” in the context of 20th cen-tury revolutions because it was reli-gious in character. But since post-modernism often gets caught up inattacking grand narratives as an endproduct alone, it often fails to inves-tigate the more complex historicity ofevents and forces which are presentbeneath the meta-narratives.

For example, to Foucault, in anera of communist revolutions, theIranian revolution was uniquebecause it was driven by “politicalspirituality.” This was a naïveaccount. The Iranian Revolutionactually unfolded like most 20th-century revolutions did — different

forces holding differing (even oppos-ing) ideologies coming together touproot a common enemy and thencompeting with each other in a grabfor power. Had the post-modernistsbothered to look beneath the meta-narratives of 20th century revolu-tions, they would not have ignoredthe following facts: The October1917 “Bolshevik/communist revolu-tion” in Russia was the outcome ofa more broad-based revolution inFebruary 1917 in which revolu-tionary and democratic groups ofvarious shades of left Russian nation-alists and urban middle-class groupscollaborated to overthrow the Tsar.

The ‘hard-left’ group (theBolsheviks) led by Marxist ideo-logue Vladimir Lenin, grabbedpower in late 1917 through a coupd’etat. Lenin wasn’t even presentduring the February revolution.He returned to Russia from exile inSwitzerland in April 1917.

The 1949 Communist revolutionin China emerged during a tusslebetween Mao Tse Tung’s communistsand Chinese nationalists. Both hadcollaborated to oust the occupyingJapanese forces during World War II.But in the post-War conflict for

power between the two, the commu-nists managed to grab power.

The ‘Islamist’ MuslimBrotherhood collaborated with sec-ular Egyptian nationalists duringthe 1952 uprising in Egypt whichoverthrew the Egyptian monarchy. Inthe post-1952 tussle between the two,the nationalists managed to oust theBrotherhood from the equation.

The 1959 Cuban revolution wasa nationalist uprising. It wasn’t untiltwo years later, in 1961, that FidelCastro — after consolidating hispower — declared that his was a com-munist regime. During the 1979Nicaraguan revolution, the commu-nist ‘Sandinistas’ were overtly support-ed by that country’s Catholic priests.

The post-modernists in theirhaste to declare the IranianRevolution unique not only ignoredthe uniform patterns of 20th-centu-ry revolutions, but they also missedthe ‘political spirituality’ present in theNicaraguan revolution and the 1952Egyptian uprising. What’s more, tochallenge the whole idea of the meta-narrative, they eventually createdtheir own meta-narrative, by declar-ing the revolution in Iran as ‘Islamic.’

(Courtesy: The Dawn)

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Notwithstanding denial,Pakistan continues to be

the epicentre of terrorism withas many as 69 outlawed outfitsmany of which continue withtheir activities despite the ban.Half of India’s total 41 bannedterrorist groups are either basedin Pakistan or their leadershipare based in the neighbouringcountry or the organisationsare sponsored by Pakistan gov-ernment-military combine.

Pakistan’s NationalCounter Terrorism Authority(NCTA) has so far declared 69terrorist organisations asbanned, most of which areactive despite the proscription.

Pakistan has especiallyturned a blind eye to major ter-rorists groups such as the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Al Badroperating in Jammu &Kashmir, sources said.

Amid the escalating pres-sure on Pakistan from theinternational community over

Jaish-e-Mohammad’s role inPulwama attack, Islamabad onThursday banned the 2008Mumbai attack mastermindHafiz Saeed-led Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its charitywing Falah-e-InsaniatFoundation, Apparently, thiswas a ploy to seek grey-listingby the Financial Action TaskForce (FATF). As many as 40CRPF men were killed in thesuicide bombing on a para-military convoy by the JeM onFebruary 14.

The JuD’s network includes300 seminaries and schools,hospitals, a publishing houseand ambulance service. Thetwo groups have about 50,000volunteers and hundreds ofother paid workers who recruitgullible youth for terrorism inthe garb of charity, sources said.

According to the NCTA, asizeable number of the organ-isations, declared as outlawedby Pakistan, are based inBalochistan, Gilgit-Baltistanand the Federally AdministeredTribal Areas (FATA). They

have been banned to quell anymovement against suppressionby the Pakistan military,sources said.

According to inputs withthe Union Home Ministry,almost half of India’s total 41banned terrorist groups areeither based in Pakistan or theirleadership are based in theneighbouring country or theorganisations are sponsoredby the government-military

complex in Islamabad. The Pakistan-sponsored

groups include the Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-E-Tayyeba, Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen,Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen, AlBadr, Dukhtaran-E-Millat,Babbar Khalsa International,Khalistan Commando Forceand International Sikh YouthFederation.

The NCTA started declar-ing organisations as proscribed

in 2001, by banning Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). The LeJ isbased in Pakistan with limitedoperations in Afghanistan.

The Tehrik-e-TalibanPakistan (Afghanistan),Balochistan Republican Army,Balochistan Liberation Front,L a s h k a r- e - B a l o c h i s t a n ,Balochistan Liberation UnitedFront, Tanzeem Naujawana-e-Ahle Sunnat, Gilgit, Anjuman-e- Imamia Gilgit Baltistan andMuslim Students Organization(MSO) Gilgit are among thebanned organisations, as per theNCTA documents.

Others in the NCTA list arethe Abdullah Azam Brigade(Lebanon, Syria and ArabianPeninsula), East TurkemenistanIslamic Movement (Turkey,Afghanistan), Islamic Movementof Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan) andIslamic Jihad Union (Uzbekistan,Afghanistan, Germany).

Two groups — theGhulaman-e-Sahaba and theMaymar Trust — have beenunder the scanner of thePakistan government while

another, Al-Akhtar Trust, hasbeen declared a proscribedorganisation under a UNSecurity Council resolution.

The Hafiz Saeed-led JuDis a front organization for theLashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT)which is responsible for carry-ing out the Mumbai attackthat killed 166 people.

It was declared as a foreignterrorist organisation by the USin June 2014.

Even though JeM, respon-sible for the Pulwama terrorattack, and LeT, responsible forthe 26/11 attack, were bannedby Pakistan, founders of boththe terrorist groups — MasoodAzhar and Hafiz Saeed respec-tively — are roaming freely inPakistan and are patronised bythe Pakistan government aswell as military. Azhar is under-going treatment for renal fail-ure at the army base hospital inBahawalpur. The PakistanGovernment has re-brandedHafiz Sayeed as a democrat byfielding him in the last gener-al elections.

�� 678�*79�:

Twitter Chief Eexecutive OfficerJack Dorsey will not appear

before the Parliamentary panel on ITon February 25, and instead the com-pany is sending its Head of PublicPolicy Colin Crowell. TheParliamentary panel on InformationTechnology had summoned Twitterhead Jack Dorsey to appear before iton February 25, and had refused tomeet “junior officials” of themicroblogging site during its meet-ing on February 11.

The meeting had been calledagainst the backdrop of growing con-cerns about safeguarding citizens’data privacy and the possibility ofsocial media platforms being used tointerfere in the upcoming elections.After this meeting, the panel isexpected to summon top exec-utives of Facebook andWhatsApp on March 5 to dis-cuss similar issues.

Sources in the Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology (MeitY), however, saidefforts were still on to have Dorseyattend the meeting. On February 11,the committee had refused to meetjunior officials from Twitter’s Indiaoffice who were present at the meet-ing venue. During the meeting withTwitter, the panel wants to examineissues such as data privacy. It is alsoseeking to better understand the

company’s business structure, includ-ing whether it is a technology com-pany or a media house.

The panel passed an unanimousresolution that the micro-bloggingwebsite’s CEO should make himselfavailable to show the company’sseriousness in safeguarding rights ofIndian citizens online, they added.

As per the resolution, the panelwould hear only the Twitter CEO orsenior member of its global team“who has decision making authori-ty regarding Twitter’s operations inIndia,” one of the sources had said,according to news agency PressTrust of India.

Even as it faces heat over allega-tions of political bias in the country,Twitter has maintained that it is com-mitted to remain unbiased and thatits product as well as policies is never

based on political ideology.The Government has been

taking a strong view of misuseof social media platforms andis also proposing to amend ITrules to curb fake news and

increase accountability of suchapps.

Over the last few weeks,Facebook, Twitter and Google havepromised to infuse more trans-parency into political advertise-ments on their platform, andannounced a slew of measures as partof their election integrity efforts.

On Thursday, Twitter said it has

formed an internal, cross-function-al group to lead “electoral integritywork” in India that will proactivelysupport partner escalations, andidentify potential threats from mali-cious actors.

�� 678�*79�:

In a scathing attack on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,

Congress president RahulGandhi on Friday said the“prime time minister” continued shooting for a filmtill even three hours after newsof the Pulwama terror strikecame in.

There was an ocean ofpain in the country’s hearts andin the homes of martyrs and hewas smiling and doing a photoshoot in the waters, Rahul saidon Twitter with#’PhotoShootSarkar’.

Adding to the controversysurrounding PM Modi’s where-abouts after the Pulwamaattack, Rahul tweeted four pho-tographs of the Prime Ministerin Jim Corbett Park.

Accompanying the pho-tographs, Rahul wrote, “Eventhree hours after the martyr-dom of 40 soldiers in Pulwama,

‘prime time minister’ wasshooting for a film.”

“There was a sea of grief inthe hearts of Indians andhomes of the soldiers, and hewas smiling in his photoshootat a lake,” Rahul tweeted inHindi.

Rahul went on to say, “Ariver of mourning in the heartsof the nation and the homes ofthe martyrs and he [PM Modi] was laughing and getting a photo shoot done nextto a river.”

This was a reference tophotos that show the primeminister in a motorboat in theJim Corbett national park.

Congress’ chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala,addressing a Press conference,also claimed that the PrimeMinister continued to “have teaand samosas at seven o’clock ina PWD guest house whenevery single Indian householddidn’t eat food (that day)”.

�� 678�*79�:�

While asserting that “lies”need not to be responded

to, the BJP on Friday dismissedCongress president RahulGandhi’s claim that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi attend-ed a photo shoot allegedly hoursafter the Pulwama attack onFebruary 14 as “fake news” andmaintained that photographsdisplayed by the Oppositionparty were clicked in the morn-ing ahead of the terror strikes.

“Rahul Ji, India is tired ofyour fake news. Stop sharingphotos from that morning toshamelessly mislead the nation.Maybe you knew in advance ofthe attack but people of Indiagot to know in the evening. Trya better stunt next time, wheresacrifice of soldiers isn’tinvolved,” the BJP tweeted.

The BJP hit back after theCongress president called Modi“prime time minister” and saidhe continued shooting for afilm in Uttarakhand even threehours after news of thePulwama terror strike came in.

He also attached pho-tographs of Modi attendingthe photo-shoot and taking aboat ride. BJP spokespersonSambit Patra dismissed as liesthe Congress’s claim that PrimeMinister was “completelyoblivious” to the terror strike or“insensitive” as he “continued”with his prior engagements

after the attack, and assertedthat such lies need not beresponded to.

Patra also attacked WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee and some other oppo-sition leaders, claiming thatthey have spoken on the samelines as Pakistan has by ques-tioning the timing of the attack.The neighbouring country hastried to link the attack with theupcoming Lok Sabha polls inIndia, he said, accusing theTrinamool Congress presidentof making similar comments.

He referred to the UNSecurity Council’s strong con-demnation of the terror attackand naming of Pakistan-basedterror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammadby the global body to under-score the Modi Government’sefforts to isolate Pakistan.

“On the one hand all coun-tries are standing with India...Humanity is standing with us,some political parties for theirpetty politics are not standingwith the country,” Patra said,attacking the Congress.

Condemning media reportsthat had done a caste-wiseanalysis of the 40 CRPF per-sonnel who were killed in theattack, Patra alleged that theCongress was behind it. “Whatkind of articles the Congress isgetting printed,” he asked, say-ing that Pakistan sees “casteism”and “Hindu-Muslim” issues as“faultlines” to weaken India.

�� 678�*79�:

The Centre decided on Friday to keep inabeyance the special powers given to the

Assam Rifles to arrest anyone and search a placewithout warrant in northeastern States ofAssam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagalandand Mizoram, officials said. The HomeMinistry will now revisit the issue with the con-cerned state governments, which apparentlyopposed the move to give sweeping powers tothe paramilitary force.

It has been decided that the enabling noti-fications issued on February 19, giving powersto Assam Rifles be kept in abeyance and theentire matter be revisited in consultation withthe state governments concerned, a HomeMinistry official said.

While giving the powers to the Assam Rifles,a Home Ministry notification had said, “An offi-cer of the rank corresponding to that of the low-est rank of members of the Assam Rifles” hasbeen given these powers under the Code ofCriminal Procedure. Assam Rifles personnel willexercise these powers and discharge theirduties “under sub-section(1) of section 41, sec-tions 47, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 149, 150, 151 and152 of the CrPC within the local limits of thearea comprised within the border districts ofAssam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagalandand Mizoram”, the notification had said.

Officials said on Friday that powers underCrPC were available to the Assam Rifles underthe Assam Rifles Act, 1941. However, after com-ing into operation of the new Assam Rifles Act2006, the issue of re-conferring these powers hasremained under consideration since then.

Recently, the issue has acquired urgency foreffective enforcement of Free Movement Regimeon the Indo-Myanmar border (on the 16 km belton either side).

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New Delhi: People can now file acomplaint with the Department ofTelecom (DoT) against offensivemessages received on WhatsApp. Thevictim just needs to furnish a screen-shot of the message along with themobile number and e-mail it [email protected].

“If anyone is receiving abu-sive/offensive/death threats/ vulgarwhatsapp messages ,please sendscreen shots of the message alongwith the mobile numbers at [email protected] “We will take it up withthe telecom operators and policeheads for necessary action,” DoTController Communications AshishJoshi tweeted.

The move comes following manypublic figures, including journalists,complaining of receiving abusiveand threatening messages.

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In a second unsavoury inci-dent of backlash after last

week’s Pulwama terror attack,a journalist from Kashmir wasbeaten up by some unknownpersons in Pune, even as threeYuv Sena office bearers were arrested by the localpolice at Yavatmal in easternMaharashtra on Friday in connection withWednesday’s assault on fiveKashmiri students.

Zibran Nazeer, a copy edi-tor working with a nationalEnglish newspaper publishedfrom Pune, was roughed up bysome unidentified persons.The Pune police have not yetidentified the culprits behindthe incident.

The Yavatmal police,meanwhile, arrested three YuvSena office bearers, includingthe one Ajinkya Motke, forallegedly beating up fourKashmiri students inWaghapur Road area of theeastern Maharashtra town.

On its part, the Shiv Senahas expelled from the party theYuva Sena’s office-bearsinvolved in the assault incident.In tweets put out on Friday,Yuva Sena president AdityaThackeray said, “There was anunfortunate incident yest inYavatmal, with some studentsof Jammu & Kashmir. The@ShivSena had issued a pressnote yesterday itself which has-n’t been printed today, may beto further sensationalise theissue or defame us, while ignor-ing our disciplinary action”

“As of last evening, theParty has sacked those involvedin the act. J&K is a part of Indiaand no Indian, or for thatmatter, nobody should facethe brunt of anger that istowards terrorism. We under-stand the angst but it must beagainst terror, not innocentpeople,” Aditya added.

In all five Kashmiri students— identified as Umar NazeerGanai, Umar Rashid Dar,Tajimullah Ali, Owas Mushtaqand Amir Mulad — humiliated,beaten up and forced by YuvSena activists to raise sloganslike “Vande Mataram”,“Hindustan zindabad” and“Bharatmata ki Jai” at Yavatmalon Wednesday night.

The victim students werefrom Dayabhai Patel College ofPhysical Education. The YuvSena activists accosted themnear their rented homes inWaghapur Road area of thetown and physically harassedthem as a mark of “protest”against the Pulwama terror strikein which 44 CRPF jawans werekilled. Two of the jawans fromthe neighbouring Buldhana dis-trict were among those killed inthe Pulwama attack.

A clip of video footageshot by the Yuv Sena activiststhemselves went viral on socialmedia on Thursday. Thefootage showed a local YuvSena leader beating theKashmiri students and askingthem questions like to fromwhere they were, as to why theyhad come to Yavatmal andwhether were they linked withterrorists. “What is your name?Why have you come here? Youshould not come here.... Whatconnection do you with the ter-rorists there?... You relatives arekilling our jawans there. Whyhave you come here? Howmany students are here like youin Yavatmal”.

The replies from a studentlike “I have to come to studyhere... I am the son of a doctor.I have not been to Kashmir forthe last one and a halfyears...There are 15 to 20Kashmiri students in Yavatmal (the Yuv Sena leader tells the stu-dent: Tell them not to be here),”would not satisfy the Yuv Senaleader who continued to beathim and other students up.

��$�7661:

Vijayakanth, convalescingat his house in Chennai

suburb has become the mostsought after person in TamilNadu politics. MK Stalin, pres-ident of the DMK and Tamilfilm’s all time great Rajnikanthcalled on the ailing actor at hisresidence on Friday as politicalalliance formation in the Statefor the Lok Sabha electionreached a feverish pitch.

Vijayakanth, founder of theDMDK has not opened hismind to the media. But newstrickling out of hisVirugambakkam residencethrough emissaries of theAIADMK, the DMK and theBJP who met him to court himto their fronts said that the actoris adamant that he should get atleast seven seats and a RajyaSabha seat from the AIADMK.This is what the AIADMKallocated to the PMK onTuesday to ensure the Vanniyardominated party stays with thefront led by the ruling dispen-sation in Tamil Nadu.

Stalin who called on

Vijayakanth told reporters thatthere was no politics in his visitto the actor’s residence. “We aregood friends for the last 35years and imy visit was toenquire about the health ofVijayakanth,” said Stalin afterthe meet.

As usual grapevines inChennai worked overtime andcame out with stories claimingthat Rajnikanth’s visit was as anemissary of the BJP and he hadrequested Vijayakanth to jointhe AIADMK-led front.

“There is not a drop of pol-itics in my visit to Vijayakanth’shouse,” said Rajnikanth.Sources close to the the DMDKfirst family (which includePremalaltha Vijayakanth andher brother T S Sudhhes) saidthat the actor has demandedseven Lok Sabha seats andwould not settle for anythingless. “He may come round andjoin the front which pays himthe pound of flesh he demands.This could be Lok Sabha seatsor in kind” said the source.

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee once

again blamed the NarendraModi Government for allowingthe Pulwama attack to takeplace and attacked the BJP fortrying to divide the electorateby spreading hatred.

The Chief Minister whowas speaking at a mass gather-ing at Tarakeshwar in Hooghlydistrict on Friday accused theCentre of neglecting the secu-rity issue that allowed the ter-rorists to launch one of themost dreaded attacks on theIndian security forces in thehistory of free India.

Wondering as to “what theGovernment was doing beforethe attack” and “why they didnot take adequate measures”despite having prior reportsBanerjee said “they were alldoing politics and nothing elseover the issue.”

Accusing the BJP and theRSS of fomenting communaltension in Bengal by spreadingrumors Banerjee said, “I will doeverything for the people but Iwill never allow riots to takeplace in our State,” adding,how a band of half-literatepeople were feigning as cham-pions of Hindu religion in thegarb of saffron clothes.

“They have no sense of theHindu ethos, no knowledge ofthe true Hindu scriptures. They

only know how to fan riots byspreading rumors. But I will notallow them to do so in Bengal,”she said complaining how theagents of the RSS and BJP werespreading rumor of child-liftersin parts of the State.

“As the Chief Minister Ihave specific information thatthey have let loose burqa-cladpeople in the market to pass offas child-lifters. Then they arespreading rumors about thesechild-lifters so as to incite peo-ple and create a communaldisharmony,” Banerjee saidreferring to the recent spate ofmass thrashing of alleged child-lifters in parts of Bengal.

Attacking the BJPGovernment for creating a masshysteria to turn the public atten-tion from its failed promises

Banerjee asked, “What hap-pened to the promise that you(Modi) made to the people ofbringing back black moneyfrom abroad and depositing Rs15 lakh in each account.”

The Hindu ethos wasagainst violence she said askingpeople to remain alert againsthate-rumors. “Even I am aHindu. Even we have seenpujas in our houses since wewere children but our parentsnever taught to hate other reli-gions,” she said asking “who arethese people to dictate foodhabits among others.”

Even the “monks ofRamakrishna Mission andBharat Sevashram Sangha wearsaffron attire but they neverattack others’ religions becausethey like true Hindus believe inthe unity of religions,” she said.

In the eight years of TMCrule “not a single temple,mosque or church was touchedin Bengal,” she said remindinghow her government helped inrenovating temples in the State,”unlike the BJP which was pre-occupied with religious divide.

Accusing the Centre of play-ing political game with partial-ly State-funded health schemeslike Ayushman Bharat Banerjeesaid, “We don’t need Centre’sdole … Ayushman Bharat letterswhich come with pictures (ofpolitical parties) will not run inBengal,” reminding half of thecentral health scheme was fund-ed by the State Government.

�� .59.1(1

In a revolutionary first stepthat could go a distance in

restoring women’s pride in theIndian family system, Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Friday unfolded afamily health scheme thatwould primarily revolvearound the main woman of thefamily.

In what she called a cardissued in the name of the“woman head of the family” thenewly devised smart healthcard would take care of healthexpenses of up to Rs 5 lakh ina given family. The card issuedto the woman would take carenot only of her marital familybut also of her biological par-ents, she said.

“This is a great step for-ward towards women’s empow-erment,” Banerjee said, addingthe person who would beissued the card would be con-sidered as the head of the fam-ily and “it would not only takecare of her marital family butalso of her parents as often suchparents become helpless intheir old age.”

Listing how herGovernment’s achievementshave been acknowledged inter-nationally Banerjee said theUtkarsh Bangla scheme like theearlier Kanyashree plan hadwon UN awards. On social wel-fare she said how “about 8 crorepeople of the State get Rs 2 perkg rice” and her Governmenthad waived the taxes on farmland.

�� 9+$.658

Two suspects with alleged links with terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad were arrested from Deoband, in

Saharanpur in a swoop by an Anti-Terrorist Squad led byIG Aseem Arun in the intervening night of Thursday-Friday. Posing as students without taking admission any-where, the duo were staying in Deoband and were engagedin recruiting new faces for their organisation.

Chats linked to jehad, videos, pictures linked with JeMand two 30 calibre pistols and 30 cartridges were also recov-ered from their possession.

DGP OP Singh told the media in Lucknow on Fridaythat the UP ATS had arrested Shahnawaz Ahmad Teli ofKulgam district and Aquib Ahmad Malik from Pulwamadistrict of Jammu and Kashmir and they were agedbetween 20 and 25 years.

Singh said the Jammu and Kashmir Police was beingcontacted to get more inputs about the arrested duo. Healso said that information about their period of stay inDeoband was also being collected.

“The ATS got a tip-off about the two from an alertstudent after which a probe was initiated. IG (ATS) AseemArun reached Saharanpur to verify the credentials of theyouths, who posed as students. After days of surveillance,both were arrested.

Asked whether the two were involved in the recentPulwama terror attack, the DGP said, “It is difficult to tellwhether they came here before the terror attack or afterthat. A probe is on to ascertain that.”

“Both are being grilled about their arrival in the statefrom Kashmir, how many other members are involved, wasanyone recruited by them for JeM, where did the fund-ing come from, what was its quantum and what was theirtarget after recruitment,” the DGP said.

�� 9+$.658

Congress general secretary incharge of UP east, Priyanka

Gandhi Vadra, has rejected a proposalto replace UPCC chief Raj Babbar,saying he will continue till the LokSabha polls are over.

Sources in the party said thatPriyanka also shot down a proposalfor appointing another party chief tooversee east UP.

At a meeting convened to discussLok Sabha elections at Congress WarRoom at 15, Gurudwara Rakabganj Road in New Delhi onThursday, Priyanka along withCongress general secretary in chargeof UP west, Jyotiraditya Scindia, andUP Congress chief Raj Babbar satdown to thrash out strategies for theupcoming polls.

After hectic deliberations, themeeting ended around Thursdaymidnight.

The discussion also veeredaround a possible replacement ofBabbar, but it was set aside as littletime was left for the general elections.

The idea of having two statechiefs for Uttar Pradesh was alsobrushed aside.

The sources said that Congressworkers, during their discussionswith Priyanka, had appreciatedBabbar’s role as an influential cam-paigner but were critical of his abil-ity to manage the organisation.

�� 9+$.658

Realising that Uttar Pradeshis crucial for the party,

senior leaders of BharatiyaJanata Party, including PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andparty president Amit Shah,will criss-cross the state in thenext few days, holding ralliesand launching the ambitiousPM Kisan Samman NidhiScheme.

PM Modi will be visitingthe State twice. On February 24,he will be visiting Gorakhpur tolaunch the PM Kisan SammanNidhi Yojana on the concludingday of BJP’s Kisan Morcha con-vention and later he will visitKumbh Mela in Prayagraj.

Four days later, onFebruary 28, the PrimeMinister will interact withyouths of Uttar Pradeshthrough video conferencingfrom New Delhi and on March3, Modi will address a publicmeeting in Amethi, the parlia-mentary constituency ofCongress president RahulGandhi.

On the other hand, AmitShah will be visiting UP twicethis month — on Saturdayand on February 26. OnSaturday morning, Shah willattend a function of Co-oper-ative Bank in Lucknow andlater visit Gorakhpur the sameevening. On February 26, Shahis scheduled to visit Ghazipur.

In Gorakhpur, Shah willinaugurate the national con-vention of Kisan Morcha whilein Ghazipur, the BJP presidentwill attend Kamal Jyoti pro-gramme.

Meanwhile, Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh willalso be visiting his parliamen-tary constituency Lucknow fortwo days from Sunday. He willinaugurate many developmentprojects and address a BJPworkers’ meet of Awadh region.He will leave for New Delhi onMonday evening.(�� )��6��#�� 7��*�� %

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Aconsortium of banksis considering an

interim funding of �500crore for debt-laden JetAirways but a final deci-sion is yet to be taken,Punjab National BankManaging Director SunilMehta said on Friday.

PNB is part of thelenders’ consortium, ledby State Bank of India(SBI), that has extendedloans to the airline.

The full service carri-er is looking to raise fundsand restructure its debt.

Regarding JetAirways, Mehta said theconsortium is looking atthe entire process and some-thing is being worked out.

“Of course, (the) consor-tium is in favour (of interimfunding). It is a going concernand we would like to preserveits (airline’s) value,” he said.

About interim funding forthe carrier, Mehta said, “it is toopremature to tell you about thatplan” and the bankers arealready working on it.

The SBI has taken a lead onit, and let the entire plan be

worked out, he said, addingthat it would be too early toannounce the timings.

“�500 crore that you aretalking about is the interimfunding but banks are lookingat the long term resolution ofthe issues for which the plan isalready in place for discus-sions,” he noted.

He was responding to aquery about the banks’ extend-ing interim funding to JetAirways.

On February 14, the boardof Jet Airways approved aBank-Led ProvisionalResolution Plan (BLPRP),whereby lenders would becomethe largest shareholders in theairline.

Lenders are to convertpart of the airline’s debt into11.4 crore shares at a consid-eration of �1 apiece as per RBInorms.

Later, appropriate interimcredit facilities by domestic

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lenders would be sanctionedto the airline, as per a regula-tory f i l ing made on February 14.

The extraordinary meetingof Jet Airways shareholderswas held on February 21 wherevarious proposals were dis-cussed. The results of the vot-ing on the proposals would bereleased on Saturday.

De l h i ’sl a t e s ttourist

a t t r a c t i o n ,c ompr i s i ngthe replicas ofthe Taj Mahal,the GreatPyramid ofGiza, Eif felT o w e r ,L e a n i n gTower of Pisa,Christ theR e d e e m e rstatue of Riode Janeiro,R o m e ’ sC o l o s s e u mand Statute ofLiberty is nowopened to thepublic.

Lauding the efforts of theSouth delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC), theUnion Home Minister saidthat the development of thispark will provide a boost tothe ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’.He said that it is time tomove forward towards wasteto wealth. “The SDMC has notonly utilised waste piled up atlandfill sites but has con-tributed substantially in con-taining air pollution,” he said.

The Lieutenant Governorof Delhi, Anil Baijal saidthat this park is itself a won-der. He appreciated thedevelopment of waste to

wonder park and underlinedthe need for putting in placea proper mechanism ofmaintenance.

A senior SDMC officialsaid that the seven replicas aremade of 150 tonnes of scrapsof automobile parts and othermetal waste like fans, rods,iron sheets, nut-bolts, bicycleand bike parts and age-oldappliances. “The replicas havebeen fabricated artisticallyand the park has been com-missioned in six months,” hesaid.

To avoid the rush of vis-itors, the civic body hasdecided to charge �50 foradults and �25 for children

(3-12 years) as an entry fee.However, senior citizens andchildren of corporation-runschools will not be chargedany amount.

In order to light the park,the SDMC has installed solartrees and rooftop panels thatwill generate 50 KW powers.The surplus power will be soldto the power distributioncompanies to earn revenue,the official said.

Highlighting the stepstaken to manage solid waste,SDMC Commissioner, DrPuneet Kumar Goel said thatthe SDMC will achieve 100per cent target of waste pro-cessing in the next year.

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Niti Aayog vice chairmanRajiv Kumar on Friday

made a strong case for settingup of an independent debtmanagement office outside thepurview of Reserve Bank ofIndia, saying it was “an ideawhose time has come”.

The idea of a Public DebtManagement Agency (PDMA)was proposed by FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley in hisFebruary 2015 Budget speech,though it has not yet beenimplemented.

“...It is important for thisparticular office be separate,because then you can pay

much more attention onpublic debt management.That will help the govern-ment in bring down cost ofits debt,” Kumar said at anevent organised by NitiAayog here.

At present, the govern-ment debt, including marketborrowing, is managed bythe Reserve Bank of India(RBI).

The Government has todecide how to segregate dif-ferent functions of the RBI,Kumar said adding that gov-ernment been very courageousto give the central bank thestatutory authority for the infla-tion targeting.

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The rupee on Friday gained 10 paise to closeat 71.14 against the US dollar on heavy for-

eign capital inflows after growing expectationsthat the Federal Reserve would keep interest rateon hold this year.

A strengthening dollar ahead of the US-China trade talks and surging crude oil prices,however, restricted the rupee gains.

Foreign portfolio investors pumped in a huge�6,311.01 crore into capital markets Friday, pro-visional exchange data showed.

Analysts said that weak US economic datapropped up expectations that theUS Fed would keep the ratesteady this year. The Fed minutesthis week had also called forpatience over tightening of ratesin view of slowing global eco-nomic growth.

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Left-arm spinner Ekta Bishtsnared four wickets as

Indian bowlers dished out aclinical effort to beat Englandby 66 runs in the first ODI ofthe ICC Women'sChampionship here onFriday.

Bisht returned withimpressive figures of four for25 to help Indian womendefend a modest a 203-runtarget by bundling outEngland women for a paltry136 in 41 overs to take a 1-0lead in the three-match series.

Bisht was ably supportedby pacer Shikha Pandey(2/21), Deepti Sharma (2/33)and veteran Jhulan Goswami(1/19) as India comfortablygrabbed two points in theICC Women'sChampionship.

For the visitors, NatalieSciver top-scored with a 66-ball 44, while skipper HeatherKnight remained unbeatenon 39.

Chasing the modest tar-get, England, in fact, were ina comfortable position at 111for three by the end of the30th over before the visitorscrumbled like a pack of cards,losing their last sevenbatswomen for just 24 runs tosurrender the match.

Bisht wrecked Englandwomen by taking three wick-ets in a span of five balls in the41st over to register the com-fortable win for her side.

Earlier, young JemimahRodrigues top-scored forIndian women, scoring 48 off

58 balls while skipper MithaliRaj made 44 off 77 deliveries.

Asked to bat, openersSmriti Mandhana (24) andRodrigues (48) gave a steadystart to India's innings shar-ing 69 runs for the openingwicket.

But just after the drinksbreak, Mandhana played ona Georgia Elwiss delivery

while going for a pull.India then lost Deepti

Sharma (7), who wasstumped by Sarah Taylor offSophie Ecclestone.

Ecclestone, stuck in hervery next over, removing awell-set Jemimah as Indiaslumped to 92 for 3.

Then Sciver struck twicein the 22nd over -- first

removing debutant HarleenDeol (2) and then MonaMeshram (0) as India lookedin a spot of bother.

But Raj and wicket-keep-er Bhatia then joined handsand steadied the ship with a54-run stand off 94 balls forthe sixth wicket.

Raj, who struck fourboundaries, was poised for

another fifty before she wastrapped in front of the wick-et by Elwiss in the 42nd over.

After Raj's dismissal,wickets kept tumbling at theother end before Goswamichipped in with a handy 30-run knock off 37 balls, whichincluded three fours and a six,to take the hosts past the 200-run mark.

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Left-arm orthodox bowlerEkta Bisht, who starred

in India women's 66-runwin over England women inthe opening ODI here onFriday, said this was the firsttime she had scalped threewickets in an over in thefifty over format althoughshe has a hat-trick in T20cricket.

The 33-year-old left armspinner from Uttar Pradesh,who finished with fine fig-ures of four for 25 againstthe current world champi-ons, also credited newly-appointed coach W VRaman, for her success.

"I have taken a hat-trickin T20, but this is the firsttime in ODIs that I havetaken three wickets in anover. But, I have figures of 10overs, 8 runs and 5 wicketsagainst Pakistan," theAlmora-born Bisht told

reporters at the post matchmedia conference.

Bisht took three wicketsin the 41st over to sealIndia's win and help thehosts take a 1-0 lead in thethree-match series, andmore importantly, grab twopoints in the ICC Women'sChampionship.

"Whenever Raman sir

finds any fault, he makes ita point to come and rectifythose errors. He stresses onlittle points and that helpsus. Earlier, I was bowlingsideways, but he told me tochange that action a bit andthat helped," said Bisht,crediting Raman, who start-ed his career as a left-armspinner.

Bisht also said that theyexpected the pitch to helpthe spinners later in theday.

"In the morning itlooked the ball would skid.But later, when I spoke toPoonam (Yadav) and otherspinners, we figured outthat we will reap benefits inthe second innings. With

time, it will turn and it hap-pened that way. Even otherbowlers got help," sheadded.

She also praised pacersJhulan Goswami and ShikhaPandey for bowling well upfront.

"When they were threedown for 114, we decidednot to give up. We fieldedwell and bowlers like Jhulandi and Shikha backed uswell. Shikha bowled verywell," Bisht said.

"Jhulan di and Shikhagave breakthroughs andtook key wickets. When Icame in the 11th over, mytarget was to keep up thepressure. I did not go forwickets. The idea was torestrict runs. Initially Ibowled slow, but in the sec-ond spell the wicket haddried up. Then, I bowled mynormal deliveries and didnot try too many varia-tions."

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Undeterred by the 66-run loss inthe opening women's ODI

international against India, Englandskipper Heather Knight on Fridaysaid the World Cup holders arecapable of bouncing back in thethree-match series.

"The total was perfectlychaseable. We lost the first game inthe World Cup. We have lost gamesearlier in the series and come backas well. We are taking one game ata time. We need to build partner-ships," Knight said at the post-matchconference.

"We bowled well, but wereunlucky not to take more wickets upfront. But we were more than happywith 200 (plus) to chase," insistedHeather, who remained unbeatenon 39 in 66 balls.

Conceding that the team wereunable to play spin well on Friday,Heather said the key was to play acouple of overs to gauge the turnand bounce.

"I don't think we played it

(spin) particularly well today. Thepitch started to turn and deteriorat-ed too. There was inconsistent spinas well which makes it harder. It was

sticky, it turned but once you got toplay 15-20 balls it became easier toplay shots. The first 10-15 balls werethe key," she said.

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Sarfaraz Ahmed is "disap-pointed" that cricket is

being targeted after thePulwama terror attack andsaid the high-profile India-Pakistan World Cup gameshould go ahead as planneddespite calls for the match'sboycott from several quartersof the neighbouring country.

The Pakistan captaininsisted that sports shouldnever be mixed with politicsand said in the interest of thecricket crazy fans of both thecountries, the match should beplayed.

"The India and Pakistanmatch should be played as perschedule as there are millionsof people who want to watchthis game. I just don't thinkcricket should be targeted forpolitical gains," Sarfaraz toldthe CricketPakistan.Com.Pkwebsite.

"It is disappointing to seecricket being targeted afterthe Pulwama incident. I don'trecall Pakistan ever mixingsports with politics," he said.

The fate of the much-anticipated World Cup matchto be held on June 16 at theOld Trafford lies in limboafter several former Indiancricketers called for its boycottin the aftermath of the ghast-ly terror attack.

"Sports should just be

taken as sports," Sarfarazadded.

The call to boycott thematch has come from someprominent names in Indiancricket such as senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh andformer captain MohammedAzharuddin.

But offering a differentview, batting great SunilGavaskar and SachinTendulkar have stated thatIndia should not hand overpoints to Pakistan by boy-cotting the game. They, how-ever, advocated continuedshunning of bilateral cricketties.

Former Pakistan captainand batting great JavedMiandad too was of the viewthat the game shouldn't be tar-geted.

"I felt bad after hearingabout our pictures beingremoved from their (Indian)stadiums. Now this talk ofboycotting the World Cup. Ithink India need to understandthey can face consequences ofsuch an action," Miandad said.

"I don't understand themindset. Do they really thinkthey (India) can get away with-out playing the World Cupmatch?" he asked.

He said India need tochange its policy of mixingsports with politics.

"I just hope better senseprevails."

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The National Olympic Association ofPakistan (POA) on Friday support-

ed its parent body IOC for removingOlympic quotas in the men's 25mrapid fire pistol event of the ongoingISSF World Cup in Delhi, where itscountry's shooters could not competedue to visa issues.

POA President, General (retd) ArifHasan, said it was disappointing thattwo Pakistani shooters were not allowedto participate in the ISSF event in Delhi.

The Indian High Commission did-n't issue visa to the two shooters andteam manager after the Indian Shootingbody, NRAI, had assured theInternational Shooting Federation(ISSF) that it had got clearance from thehost country's home ministry for thevisa.

"We were very disappointed onceour athletes were not allowed to partic-ipate for an event for which they hadbeen preparing for a very long time. Wehave always been of the view thatsports must be used as a means to buildbridges between communities andcountries," Arif Hasan said in a state-ment.

"Greatly disappointed we had nooption left but to refer the matter to theIOC. As a consequence, the IOCExecutive Board took a very prudentand balanced decision," he said. We arevery grateful to the IOC for this verywell considered decision whereby theright of athletes to participate withoutany let or hindrance has been upheld."

Pakistan had nominated GhulamMustafa Bashir and Muhammad KhalilAkhtar, to contest in the 25m rapid firepistol event.

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The Committee ofAdministrators (CoA) run-

ning Indian cricket on Fridaydecided against taking anystand on the World Cup clashagainst Pakistan but urged theICC and other nations to "severties" with countries from where"terrorism emanates".

There has been a call toboycott the June 16 World Cupface-off against Pakistan at theOld Trafford in the aftermathof the Pulwama terror attack,which killed more than 40CRPF personnel.

In a meeting to address thespiralling speculation aroundthe match, the CoA deliberat-ed on the matter but did nottake any position for now.

"The 16th of June is very faraway. We will take a call on thatmuch later and in consultationwith the government," CoAchief Vinod Rai said after themeeting.

Asked if players havebeen consulted on theissue, Rai replied in thenegative.

"In an e-mail to theICC, we have expressedour concerns about theterrorist attack that hastaken place. We aretelling them that securityof players and match offi-cials should be appropriatelytaken care of," Rai said.

"And number two, we mustsever ties with nations fromwhich such terrorismemanates. We will express ourconcern on an appropriateforum," Rai said indicatingthat the matter will be raised atthe ICC quarterly Board meet-ing in Dubai.

The ICC meeting is sched-uled to be held from

February 26 to March 2.In the mail sent to

the world body, BCCIsaid it is concerned

about the security ofIndian players headinginto the World Cup.

"BCCI fears for thesafety and security ofplayers and match offi-cials participating in

upcoming ICC eventsincluding the ICC Cricket

World Cup 2019. Most coun-tries from which the membersof the ICC hail (includingUnited Kingdom) have strong-ly condemned this terroristattack and expressed solidari-ty with India," the letter stated.

"The BCCI trusts that theICC and ECB will ensure thatthe most robust security is

provided to players, matchofficials and fans of Indiancricket for the upcoming WorldCup," it said.

It was a foregone conclu-sion that CoA would not takeany decision on the matter asthe ICC can't ban Pakistan asper rules.

"We can never win a floorTest if we try and pass a reso-lution to ban Pakistan from theWorld Cup. We currently don'thave majority in ICC. In fact,ICC chairman ShashankManohar, in his individualcapacity, has more votes thanBCCI at the present moment,"a senior BCCI official said.

It is understood that BCCIofficials are also concernedthat such a stand might costthem the hosting rights of the2021 Champions Trophy andthe 2023 World Cup.

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The denial of visas to Pakistani shoot-ers in the Delhi World Cup has jeop-

ardised India's chances of hosting theOlympics or any global event with theInternational Olympic Committee(IOC) suspending all such discussionswith the country and recommendingthat no big tournament be awarded toit.

India denied visas to Pakistanishooters for the World Cupthat starts on Saturday inthe wake of the Pulwamaterror attack. As a result,the IOC revoked the twoOlympic quotas on offer in themen's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol com-petition of the event.

However, the bigger repercussionwas the world body's declaration that itwould not engage with India on discus-sions to host major events. The coun-try aspires to host the 2026 YouthOlympics, the 2032 Summer Olympicsand the 2030 Asian Games.

The Indian Olympic Association(IOA) has already sent an expression ofinterest to the IOC for the 2032 Gamesand the bidding process for the 2026showpiece is expected to start next year.

The IOC said its stand against thecountry will remain until clear "writtenguarantees are obtained from the Indiangovernment to ensure the entry of allparticipants in such events in full com-pliance with the rules of the Olympiccharter."

"This situation (at the ISSF WorldCup) goes against the fundamentalprinciples of the Olympic charter, in par-ticular the principles of non-discrimi-nation...," the IOC stated after a meet-ing of its executive board in Lausanneon Thursday evening.

"As a result, the IOC executiveboard also decided to suspend all dis-cussions with the Indian NOC and gov-ernment regarding the potential appli-

cations for hosting future sports andOlympic-related events in India...," itadded.

The world body also urged theinternational federations to neitheraward nor hold sports events in Indiauntil the "guarantees are obtained."

The Indian Olympic Associationexpressed helplessness but did say thatthe current situation does not look goodfor the country's sporting future.

"We have tried our best but ulti-mately it is the government (which hasto grant visas). It is a dangerous situa-tion for all sport in the country," IOASecretary General Rajeev Mehta said in

Delhi."In addition to not being able to host

events in India, there may be problemsfor our athletes to take part in interna-tional events. We will approach the gov-ernment again so that the situation doesnot reach that far.

"It is a violation of Olympic Charterand the country's image has been low-ered. If the Indian government does notgive guarantees within 15 to 20 days,another letter may come from IOC," headded. Besides their aspiration to hostthe Olympics, India already have thehosting rights of the 2021 men's worldboxing championships.

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The IPL will not have anopening ceremony this

year after the Committee ofAdministrators (CoA) run-ning Indian cricket on Fridaydecided to allocate the moneyset aside for it to the familiesof the CRPF personnel killedin the Pulwama terror attack.

The opening ceremoniesof the cash-rich T20 league area heady mix glitz and glamourwith performances byBollywood stars being thehighlight.

However, as a mark of

respect to the slain CRPFmen, it has been decided toscrap the ceremony for theevent's 12th edition begin-ning March 23.

"We will not have anyinaugural function for the IPLand the money budgeted forthat goes to the martyrs' fam-ilies," said Committee ofAdministrators chairmanVinod Rai.

It was BCCI acting presi-dent CK Khanna, who hadofficially made the proposal todonate at least �5 crore for themartyr's families.

It is learnt that 2018 IPLopening ceremony's budgetwas in the tune of �15 croreand something similar to thatamount will be donated.

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Anjum Moudgil, Apur viChandela and Elavenil

Valaraivan will lead India'scharge in women's 10m air rifleevent on the first day of compe-tition at the season-opening ISSFshooting World Cup on Saturday.

The immenselytalented MehuliGhosh will shoot inM i n i m u mQualification Score(MQS) at the DrKarni Singh Range.

They are among102 competitors from 44 nationsin the fray in the women's 10mevent. India have secured boththeir Olympic quotas in theevent through Moudgil andChandela at the WorldChampionships last September.

Besides the men's 25m rapidfire pistol and the two 10mmixed team air rifle and air pis-tol events, the rest of the sevenevents in the five-day competi-tion will distribute two Olympicquotas each.

India will compete for 12quotas in six events, besides try-ing to win medals.

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The International OlympicCommittee (IOC) decided against

withdrawing all the Olympic quotasfrom the shooting World Cup hereand revoked just two after visas weredenied to Pakistani shooters in theaftermath of the Pulwama terror

attack.Within hours of

International ShootingFederation (ISSF) President

Vladimir Lisin's declarationthat all the 16 quotas have been

revoked due to the situation withPakistan, the IOC said the Olympicqualification status has been with-drawn from only the men's 25m RapidFire Pistol event. This event had twospots on offer.

"The IOC restricted the with-drawal of recognition as an Olympicqualification event to the 25m rapidfire pistol competition in which thetwo Pakistani athletes were supposedto participate," the IOC said in a state-ment after its executive board meet-ing in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"This happened in the interest ofthe other 500 athletes from 61 coun-tries participating in the other eventswho are already in India for their com-petition," it added.

The National Rifles Association ofIndia (NRAI) heaved a sigh of reliefa day before the start of the competi-tion.

"The Organising Committee ofthe New Delhi World Cup wishes tounequivocally thank the ISSFPresident Vladimir Lisin, the ISSFSecretary General Alexander Ratner,the IOA President Dr Narinder Batra,and the Minister for Youth Affairs andSports Col (Retd) RVS Rathore forensuring the best possible outcome toa vexed and complexed scenario,"NRAI President Raninder Singh said.

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Arsenal and Chelsea reached thelast 16 of the Europa League onThursday after the Gunners

comfortably saw off BATE Borisov 3-0 and Maurizio Sarri's troubled siderelieved some of the pressure on himwith the same scoreline againstmediocre Malmo.

After falling 1-0 in Belarus, Arsenalwas level on aggregate after just threeminutes when Zakhar Volkov slicedAubameyang's low cross past DenisScherbitski in his own goal.

Unai Emery's side deservedly wentthrough thanks to two thumping head-ers from Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratiseither side of the break which putthem into Friday's draw.

Ahead 2-1 from the first legin Sweden, Chelsea had to waituntil 10 minutes after the breakfor the first sign of excitement,Olivier Giroud tapping in thedecisive goal of a humdrumencounter at Stamford Bridge.

Ross Barkley made sure of the winwith a super free-kick in the 74thminute, just after Malmo's RasmusBengtsson was sent off for his secondbookable offence, before 18-year-oldHudson-Odoi made the most of a rarestart by crashing home the third.

Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli breezed toa 2-0 win over FC Zurich that saw themwin 5-1 on aggregate, while InterMilan went through 5-0 after sweep-ing four goals past Rapid Vienna with-out reply at the San Siro.

��7French side Rennes are into the last

16 of a major European tournament forthe first time after winning possibly themost entertaining tie of the round 6-4on aggregate following a barnstorming3-1 win at Real Betis.

Goals from Ramy Bensebaini andAdrien Hunou fired Rennes into a two-goal lead within the opening half-hourbut the tie was put back in the balancewhen Giovani Lo Celso pulled one backfour minutes before half-time.

With Betis pushing to equalise andgo through on away goals, M'BayeNiang finished off an injury timebreak to see the mid-table Ligue 1 sidethrough.

RB Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb andZenit Saint Petersburg all overturned

first-leg deficits, with AustriansSalzburg hammering Club Brugge 4-0to go through 5-2 and Croatian cham-pions Dinamo 4-2 winners on aggre-gate after a storming 3-0 victory overViktoria Plzen.

Zenit overcame Fenerbahce 3-1 inRussia, Magomed Ozdoev and SardarAzmoun giving the hosts an aggregatelead before Mehmet Topal put theTurks ahead on away goals just beforethe break.

Pablo Fornals snuck Villarrealpast Sporting Lisbon with a fine curl-ing strike that gave the La Liga side a1-1 draw on the night and a 2-1 winoverall, while Benfica eased pastGalatasaray 2-1 after a goalless draw inPortugal.

Krasnodar shocked Bundesligaoutfit Bayer Leverkusen with a 1-1draw that saw them through on awaygoals.

Eintracht Frankfurt saved

Germany's blushes by sweeping pastShakhtar Donetsk with a pulsating 4-1 win that gave them side a 6-3 aggre-gate victory.

Scotland's participation in Europeended after 10-man Celtic fell 1-0 atValencia, already 2-0 up from the firstleg in Glasgow and winners in Spainthanks to Kevin Gameiro's 70th-minute strike.

�� 678�*79�:

Hanuma Vihari has been punching above his weight eversince he made his India debut and that's why he is ready

to deal with "low expectations" in a bid to change the pop-ular perception of not being good enough for the T20 for-mat in the upcoming IPL.

Vihari is back in the IPL, which starts March 23, withthe Delhi Capitals after going unsold at the auction for threeyears primarily due to an unimpressive strike rate of sub100.

"I think because of the slow strike-rate of the past, peo-ple won't have expectations from me, which can be a greatthing. I take it positively, because now I have a chance toprove them all wrong," Vihari said.

The Delhi Capitals have a star-studded top order withShikhar Dhawan, PrithviShaw, skipper Shreyas Iyerand the indomitableRishabh Pant in the ranks.

Vihari knows it will bea fight to get into the play-ing XI but he is ready todon the role of a finisherthe same way he agreed toopen in unfamiliar condi-tions in Melbourne.

"Honestly, given that Iam playing the IPL after athree-year gap, I am readyto go out there and bat any-where the managementasks me to, whether it's atthe top of the order, or inthe role of a finisher.

"On my part, I am really in a great mental space anda great position as far as my game is concerned. I am real-ly well-prepared for everything right now," the 25-year-oldAndhra batsman said.

He was a part of Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013 but alot has changed since then. He has scored loads of runsfor India A and also struck a fifty against England on hisTest debut.

"I am excited, and fully ready for the season ahead withDelhi Capitals. Mainly because in these three years, I havedeveloped so much as a player.

"I am much more confident of performing now. Also,we have a great mix of Indian and foreign players. I amreally looking forward to playing under Shreyas and Ricky's(Ricky Ponting) leadership," Vihari said.

Vihari feels his India stint will make a difference asit has upped his confidence so necessary in a slam-bangtournament. "It gives me a huge boost for sure. I think thingshave worked out quite timely for me. The IPL opportuni-ty could not have come to me at a better time."

He is most comfortable in the middle order but won'tmind facing the red cherry at the start of an innings if askedto do so once again.

"Yes, I will do whatever is needed for the team. Theseare situations you face as a sportsman, and you have gotto learn to accept it. I don't want to be tagged as the guywho is not a team man," Vihari said with conviction.

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Dashing Australian bats-man D'Arcy Short is

working on his left-arm spinbowling with former Indiatweaker Sridharan Sriram toenhance selection in theteam for the limited overseries starting with the firstT20I in Vizag on Sunday.

"I did a lot of work withhim (Sriram) in the A tourin August and September.That was good then and I'vedone a bit of work with himyesterday and today, justrefining things and getting alittle bit better," he was quot-ed as saying bycricket.Com.Au.

"If I can give two orthree overs or even four orfive in one-day cricket thenit's always going to help myselection in the end andhopefully it goes in my favour," addedShort, who is in the 15-man squad ascover for Shaun Marsh.

The 28-year-old has claimed 10wickets in 15 games for Hobart

Hurricanes this seasonbesides amassing 637runs at 53.08 and astrike rate of 140.61.

Sriram said Shortcan offer a lot to theteam with his spinbowling.

"We've seen in theBig Bash, he's bowled alot more than the pre-vious years which Ithink is a very goodsign for our cricketteam going forward,"he said.

"He's come a longway. One of the mainthings we talked aboutwas aligning his tech-nique and then consis-tency of length.

"If he can do thatand spin the ball bothways, which he does,when he's bowling at

his best I think he offers a lot to the teamalong with his batting."

Australia will play second T20I onFebruary 27 at Bangalore, before compet-ing in the five-ODI series next month.

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Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkaron Friday said he would "hate" to

see India concede two points toPakistan by not playing them in theupcoming World Cup as such a movewould only help the arch-rivals in themega-event.

Tendulkar endorsed SunilGavaskar's view that India would bebetter off beating Pakistan in theWorld Cup than forfeiting the June16 tie in the wake of the Pulwamaterror attack.

"India has always come uptrumps against Pakistan in the WorldCup. Time to beat them once again.Would personally hate to give themtwo points and help them in thetournament," said Tendulkar.

"Having said that, for me Indiaalways comes first, so whatever mycountry decides, I will back that deci-sion with all my heart," the legendarybatsman added.

While the likes of HarbhajanSingh and Yuzvendra Chahal havecalled for complete cricketing boy-cott of Pakistan, Gavaskar onThursday said India will be theloser if they decide to not playagainst Pakistan on June 16.

"Who wins if India decideagainst playing Pakistan in the WorldCup? And I am not even talkingabout the semis and the finals. Whowins? Pakistan win because they gettwo points," Gavaskar had told 'IndiaToday'.

"India have so far beatenPakistan every time in a World Cup,so we are actually conceding twopoints when by beating Pakistan, wecould make sure that they don'tadvance in the competition," he hadsaid.

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Led by pacer Dhawal Kulkarni,Mumbai defended a modest 156-run

target as they defeated Punjab by 35 runsin their Group C match, registering theirsecond successive win.

In another Group C game, Test spe-cialist Cheteshwar Pujara, who had hitan unbeaten 100 in 61 balls against

Railways, continued his goodform as he scored 68 to helpSaurashtra defeat MadhyaPradesh by 6 wickets.

This was Saurashtra's firstwin in the tournament.

On Thursday, Mumbai had kicked-off their campaign on a winning note,thrashing minnows Sikkim by a stagger-ing 154 runs.

Asked to bat first, Punjab bowlersled by Baltej Singh (3-30) and left-armseamer Barinder Sran (3-34) dished outa clinical performance as they bundledout a formidable Mumbai for a modest155 in their 20 overs Friday.

Surya Kumar Yadav was Mumbai'stop-scorer as he hit a quick-fire 80 in just49 balls and stitched a crucial 126- runstand for the third wicket with in-formShreyas Iyer (46).

After Iyer's dismissal, `crisis man'Siddhesh Lad went for a duck and thenMumbai lost wickets in a heap and even-tually folded up for 155.

Unheralded 18-year-old Punjabopener Prabhsimran Singh, who hasbeen picked by Mumbai Indians, gaveMumbai a scare with a blazing 54 in just20 balls, an innings studded with sixboundaries and four sixes.

But he lacked support from otherend. All other Punjab batsmen, includ-ing Yuvraj Singh, had an off-day in officeas their innings folded up at 120.

Kulkarni (4-22) was ably support-ed by Shubham Ranjane (2-14), whileShams Mulani , Shardul Thakur pickeda wicket each.

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Skipper Ishan Kishan blasted a 55-ball 100 (8X4, 7X6) to power

Jharkhand to a facile nine-wicket winover Jammu and Kashmir in a Group'A' match on Friday.

In other matches, Delhi routedManipur by 10 wickets while AndhraPradesh thrashed Nagaland by 179runs to notch up four points.

Sent into bat by Jharkhand, J&Kmade 168 for 9 in 20 overs with JatinWadhwan making the top-score of 47while Rahul Shukla took five wickets.

The talented Kishan took the J&Kattack by the scruff of the neck, ham-mering boundaries and sixers at will.He lashed shots to all parts of theground, taking the team home in the17th over, for its second straight win.

Meanwhile, Delhi bounced backafter losing to Jharkhand on Thursday,by racing to the target of 119 in just11.4 overs after Manipur was restrict-ed to 113 for 6 in 20 overs.

Ricky Bhui hammered a 42-ball108 to power Andhra to 244 for 4 inthe quota of 20 overs before Nagalandwas shot out for 65 in 13.1 overs.

��Young Rohan Kadam struckan unbeaten 81 as Karnataka canteredto a nine-wicket win over Bengal to reg-ister their second successive Group Dwin.

The 24-year-old, who made hisdebut against Assam on Thursday,smashed two sixes and 10 fours duringhis 55-ball knock as Karnataka chaseddown the modest target of 132 in 15.5overs.

Giving him company was wicket-keeper-batsman BR Sharath, who gotout after completing his 50 off 37 ballswith. The duo laid down a solidopening partnership of 117 runsin 14.3 overs for Karnataka.

Opting to bat, Bengal bats-men faltered to be bundled outfor 131 inside 19.4 overs withopener Shreevats Goswami top-scoringwith a 29-ball 40 (6x4s, 1x6).

Earlier at the same venue,Chhattisgarh toyed Arunachal Pradeshattack to notch up a massive 215 forthree en route to a 96-run win for theirback-to-back victories.

Rishabh Tiwary top-scored forChhattisgarh with a 52-ball 81, whileAmandeep Khare was at his explosivebest in a 23-ball unbeaten 61.

In reply Arunachal Pradesh wererestricted to 118 for eight. VishalKushwah starred with the ball foprChhatisgarh with fine figures of 4 for 16.

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Arsenal will face Frenchside Rennes in the last

16 of the Europa League,while Chelsea were pairedwith Dynamo Kiev inFriday's draw.

Both Premier Leagueclubs will be at home in thefirst leg on Thursday, March7, with the return matchesscheduled for March 14.

Arsenal's draw meansthat their veteran goalkeep-er Petr Cech will return toface the club he representedfor two seasons before join-ing Chelsea in 2004.

The Brittany club fin-ished fifth in Ligue 1 last sea-son and are currently inmid-table, but haveimpressed since the 38-year-old Julien Stephan wasappointed as coach inDecember.

Arsenal manager UnaiEmery — who won theEuropa League three yearsrunning as coach of Sevilla— is familiar with Rennesfrom his two seasons incharge of Paris Saint-Germain.

London rivals Chelsea,the other Premier Leagueclub still in the competition,might also view winningthe Europa League as theirmost likely route intonext season'sChampions League.

After beatingSwedish sideMalmo, they mightfind the goingtougher againstUkrainian giantsDynamo.

The clubs metin the group stage ofthe ChampionsLeague in 2015-16,

drawing 0-0 in Kiev beforeChelsea won 2-1 at StamfordBridge.

Elsewhere, Sevilla, whohave won the trophy fivetimes including twice in itsformer guise as the UEFACup, will face Slavia Prague.

Widely-fancied Napoliwill take on the Austrianchampions Salzburg, whoreached the semi-finals lastseason.

Former European Cupfinalists and UEFA Cup win-ners Eintracht Frankfurtwere drawn against InterMilan, who won the UEFACup three times in the 1990s.

Benfica face DinamoZagreb, while Valencia'sreward for knocking outCeltic is a tie against FCKrasnodar of Russia.

That is one of two tiesbetween Russian andSpanish sides, with ZenitSaint Petersburg drawnagainst Villarreal.

The final of this season'sEuropa League will beplayed in Baku, the capital of

Azerbaijan,on May29.

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