16
S howing an upward trend in economy, Index of Industrial Production (IIP) grew 7.1 per cent in February this year, mainly driven by robust per- formance of the manufacturing sector coupled with higher off- take of capital goods and con- sumer durables. Similarly, the annual retail inflation eased for the third straight month in March to 4.28 per cent due to cooling down of food as well as vegetable prices. While on month-on- month basis, the factory output declined from 7.4 per cent in January to 7.1 per cent in February, the current figure showed a positive trend on annual basis. The IIP stood at a mere 1.2 per cent same peri- od last year. As per data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Thursday, retail inflation eased to a five-month low in March, but remained above medium-term target of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), support- ing views that monetary poli- cy is likely to remain unchanged at the next review in early June. It was 4.44 per cent in February 2018. Last week, RBI lowered its April- September retail inflation pro- jection to 4.7 per cent to 5.1 per cent, from a previous range of 5.1 per cent to 5.6 per cent released in February. As far as industry output is concerned, the Government’s revised data showed that IIP recorded a growth of 8.54 per cent in November, 7.1 per cent in December and 7.4 per cent in January. “During April-February, IIP growth has slowed to 4.3 per cent from 4.7 per cent in the same period last fiscal,” it said. However, experts believe that this growth trend gives confidence that the industrial recovery is broadening. “Higher growth was boosted by the low base affect. Nonetheless, this is the first instance of four consecutive months of IIP growth of more than 7.1 per cent in the 2011- 12 base data. The recovery was led by manufacturing, up 8.7 per cent in February 2018, once again four consecutive months of over 8.5 per cent increase in the manufacturing IIP in the new base data,” said Dr Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief Economist and Dr Sunil Sinha, Principal Economist, India Ratings and Research. The data further said man- ufacturing sector, which con- stitutes over 77 per cent of the index, grew at 8.7 per cent in February as compared to almost flat growth of 0.7 per cent in the same month a year ago. “Similarly, capital goods output rose by a robust 20 per cent in the month under review as against a contraction of 2.4 per cent earlier,” it added. Also, consumer durables too grew at 7.9 per cent as against a contraction of 4.6 per cent in February 2017. Electricity generation also grew by 4.5 per cent compared to 1.2 per cent. However, mining out- put declined by 0.3 per cent against a growth 4.6 per cent earlier, it added. As far as retail inflation is concerned, it slowed to 4.28 per cent in March, giving a positive boost to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg- etables segment cooled to 11.7 per cent in March from 17.57 per cent in the previous month. “The rate of price rise in the protein rich items like eggs, milk and other products too moderated in March as against the previous month. However, inflation in fruits basket was higher,” it said. Overall, it added, inflation in the food basket was 2.81 per cent, lower than 3.26 per cent in February. The data further revealed that inflation in the fuel and light segment also came in lower at 5.73 per cent month-on-month basis. T he Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday that its recent judgement inserting safe- guards in the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has “diluted” the law as no police officer will now take cognisance of any complaint filed by a member of SC/ST community. The Centre in its written submissions filed in court sought the recall of the March 20 judgement and said that by legislating upon such a “sensi- tive” issue, the court had trans- gressed into Parliament’s domain. The Centre also said the prevailing anger and unease among SC/ST community had created a sense of disharmony and commotion in the country. “The case dealing with an issue of very sensitive nature has caused a lot of commotion in the country and is also creating anger, unease and a sense of disharmony,” the Centre said. The statements formed part of the written submissions filed by Attorney General KK Venugopal ahead of the hear- ing of the Centre’s review peti- tion. On the earlier date, the Bench of Justices Adarsh K Goel and UU Lalit had refused to stay its judgement but allowed the Centre to file its submissions. In a hard-hitting criticism of the SC order, the A-G said that the verdict in essence compelled the authorities to act contrary to the provisions of the Atrocities Act and the Criminal Procedure Code. Attacking the logic given by the two-judge Bench that the courts can legislate where no law exists, the Centre’s sub- missions said that such a bland statement was wholly falla- cious as the executive, judicia- ry and legislature live under a written Constitution where separation of powers forms part of its basic structure which is inviolable. Referring to the judge- ment that required police offi- cers to seek sanction from appointing authority or SSP before arresting a public ser- vant or non-public servant as the case may be, the Centre said that on the pretext of filling gaps in law for protecting inno- cent persons against frivolous cases, the court through judi- cial legislation amended the Atrocities Act and CrPC there- by defeating the salutary pro- visions of the Act. D escribing the erstwhile Chief Minister Manik Sarkar as ‘Dhritarashtra’ and other CPM leaders as ‘Dushasan’, Tripura’s first BJP Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said he is asking the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe Chit fund scam as also other crimes of rape and murders committed during the CPM regime. Alleging that the CPM cadres fixed the posting and promotions of all the State officials, the Chief Minister said within 45 days a new pol- icy would be in place for trans- parent transfer and posting. Deb pointed out that he had already effected transfers of 63 officials “without consulting anyone, including deputy-Chief Minister, Ministers or any other BJP leader. Settled in office after replacing a well-entrenched 25-year Left rule, the CM told The Pioneer that he had to deal with a bureaucracy which was steeped in ‘Red’. There are officials who enjoyed CPM patronage and would never get transferred from their comfort zones, he said. “I have transferred 63 offi- cials on the basis of intelligence reports without consulting deputy-CM, Ministers or any party leaders, said the youthful CM. He said under the pro- posed policy, transfer would be automatic after a fix period “Under previous Government CPM-backed offi- cials would carry on until their death,” he quipped. Accusing the Manik Sarkar regime of ideological high- handedness, Deb said as a State BJP president his securi- ty was removed and cadres did not allow BJP leaders to enter tribal areas. “I asked Rajnathji and got CRPF escorts that facilitated interaction with people in vil- lages and thereafter 56 Central Ministers travelled to villages and liberated people from the fear of the Left cadres and they voted us,” he said. “There are 47,000 ‘Panna Pramukhs’ (voter list in-charge in polling stations) of BJP in Tripura and all of them have now identity cards”, said the Chief Minister showing BJP’s preparedness against the alleged ‘Kauravsena’ of Sarkar during the election campaign. Charging the previous Manik Sarkar Government with seeing everything from the prism of the Left ideology, Deb said under the CPM regime children from Class 9th to 12th standards did not study emperor Ashoka, Mahatma Gandhi or Indian History in Tripura as NCRT syllabus was removed. “Children studied leader of former Soviet Union V I Lenin. Now we would introduce NCRT history,” he said. He scoffed at CMP gener- al secretary Sitaram Yechuri who, he said, accused BJP of ‘saffronisation’ and asked “What they themselves did in Tripura?” “We established National flag in Chief Minister’s room, it was not there during Manik Sarkar’s regime”, the Chief Minister said. Asked why not one protested, the Chief Minister said “none dared as he was a dictator”. Asked whether the statute of Lenin’s pulled down last month after BJP’s victory in the polls will be restored, Deb said, “ Main koi shilpkar nahin hoon, main tab sarkar main nahintha...” On another question whether former Chief Minister Sarkar faced corruption charges on personal count, he replied in negative. On creating jobs and employment, he said 1,16,333 skilled work-force would be prepared by 2020 out of which 37,000 will be trained within Tripura and thereafter be given employment. Deb said he would encour- age self-employment with bank offering loan from 1 lakh to 1 crore without guarantee if banks are ensured of debt ser- vicing. “Government job is no indication of wellness of econ- omy”, he said. Tourism would be one of the top priorities with Government encouraging reli- gious tourism by building roads leading to famous temples and tourist spots. The two-lane roads on way to Mata Tripura Sundari Mandir is being con- verted into four-lanes. The Government would showcase tribal bamboo hand- icraft, products of agriculture and horticulture on both sides of the road and encourage economy of 20 tribal commu- nities endowed with enormous talent, Deb said. He said in his State Hindu, Muslim and Christians all visit Mata Tripurari temple. The Government would encourage religious and spiri- tual tourism in the State by cre- ating high-class roads and infrastructure around them, he said. I n a nation-wide protest fast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday led the party leaders and workers in registering their anger against what they called Congress party’s attempt at killing democracy and creating hur- dles in the way of country’s progress by derailing the Budget Session of the Parliament session. The Prime Minister held the day-long fast while attend- ing his official function includ- ing a visit to Tamil Nadu to open the Defence Expo at Kanchipuram near Chennai. Shah staged a sit-in protest at Hubli in Karnataka and blamed Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his party for indulging in the politics of negativity and conspiracy. Shah and BJP Ministers, MPs, and workers in all the States held protest ‘Loktantra Bachao Upvaas-Dharna’ that begun from 10 am and ended at 5 pm at different venues across the country. The Congress and the BJP have traded charges against each other for turning the sec- ond part of the Budget Session a washout. While the BJP accused the Congress of bringing politics to a new low by crippling the Parliament proceedings, the Congress countered saying it was the ruling party which did not want to face the tough questions posed by the Opposition. T he Delhi Police Crime Branch on Thursday claimed to have unearthed the conspiracy behind the leak of Class X Maths paper conduct- ed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) with the arrest of three people, including a woman based in Punjab’s Ferozepur district. “The arrested accused in the Class X Maths paper leak have been identified as Sheru Ram (35), the Branch Manager and Om Prakash (58), the head cashier. The woman is Manju Bala (name changed),” said Alok Kumar, Joint CP (Crime) of the Delhi Police. T he senior most judge of Supreme Court Justice J Chelameswar on Thursday refused to list a matter filed by former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan that questioned the Chief Justice of India’s s power to allocate matters as the mas- ter of roster. Recalling how on an earli- er occasion his order to list a petition questioning the role of the CJI in a medical college scam was reversed within 24 hours by a Constitution Bench formed by the CJI, Justice Chelameswar told advocate Prashant Bhushan, “Please understand my diffi- culty…I don’t want one more reversal of my order in the next 24 hours.” With almost two months to go before retirement, Justice Chelameswar candidly told Bhushan that any move by him will unnecessarily create doubts as “there seems to be a relentless campaign going on that I want to grab power.” While mentioning his mat- ter before Justice Chelameswar, Bhushan apprehended that his case was deliberately not being listed as he had named Chief Justice of India and asked the SC Registry not to list the case before the CJI. Just a day ago, Bhushan submitted, a Bench headed by the CJI had dismissed a simi- lar petition filed by a lawyer asserting yet again that the CJI alone has the power to allocate matters and constitute Benches. Though Justice Chelameswar refused, he urged Bhushan to approach the CJI. I n a major initiative to boost Indian air defence, the Indian military aviation giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has announced a tie-up with Boeing and Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS) for manufacturing the F/A-18 Super Hornet in India and pursuing the joint development of future tech- nologies. Boeing India President Pratyush Kumar, HAL Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju and Mahindra Defence Systems Chairman SP Shukla exchanged a ‘Memorandum of Agreement for ‘Make in India fighter’ at the ongoing ‘DefExpo’ near here. In a Press statement, the HAL said ‘the partnership will transform India’s aerospace and defence ecosystem, further building on its ‘Make in India’ successes. “HAL has always been at the forefront of development in India’s aerospace sector. This partnership with Boeing and Mahindra Defence Systems will create an oppor- tunity to develop capabilities of the aerospace industry and strengthen indigenous plat- forms in India thereby con- tributing to the Make-in-India activities”, said T. Suvarna Raju. “Boeing is happy to team up with HAL, India’s leading company that manufactures combat fighters along with India’s company that manu- factures small commercial air- planes, Mahindra. This partnership brings the best of Indian public and private enterprises together with the world’s largest aero- space company, Boeing, to accelerate a contemporary 21st century ecosystem for aerospace & defense manufac- turing in India,” said Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India. A s the controversial movie, Nanak Shah Fakir, man- aged to clear all legal hurdles for all-India release, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) is all set to launch a massive protest on the day of movie release. Besides, the Akal Takht — Sikhs’ highest temporal seat — on Thursday excommunicated the makers of the movie from the Sikh community. The Shiromani Akali Dal- led SGPC and also the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) had moved the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court respec- tively to stall the release of the movie which is set to hit the- atres across the nation, except Punjab, on Friday. However, the plea of urgent hearing of the case by the Sikh bodies was rejected by the respective courts, but listed the matter for the next week. SGPC, as a mark of protest, decided to close down all its institutions on April 13. “All institutions, being run by the SGPC, will remain closed on April 13 as a mark of protest against the release of contro- versial movie Nanak Shah Fakir,” announced the SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal. He said that the SGPC was duty bound to comply with the directive of the Sikh clergy on the issue while appealing the Sikhs to observe a peaceful protest against the movie. Besides, the SGPC has also asked all the Sikhs to wear black turbans on April 13 as a mark of protest. Meanwhile, the five high priests at Akal Takht Secretariat has decided to excommunicate the film director Harinder Singh Sikka. Pronouncing the decision, Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said that despite repeated warnings, Sikka was adamant to release the movie that has caused widespread outrage, and thus, it was decided to boycott Sikka socially from all spheres. He appealed to the Sikh community to stage protest if the film is released, “but in a peaceful manner”. Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh also issued a cautionary note for the cinema hall own- ers that they would be only responsible for any loss to their property. The clergy has also decid- ed that the members of SGPC's earlier sub-committee, which had endorsed the film in 2016, too would be summoned at the Akal Takht. SGPC chief secretary Dr Roop Singh has also tendered an apology through social media for granting permis- sion to the film maintaining that it was a blunder on his part to issue such a letter and was apologetic to the Sikh com- munity for this.

2 # .3245./6 .0 4 - dailypioneer.com to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7

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Page 1: 2 # .3245./6 .0 4 - dailypioneer.com to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7

����� ��������

Showing an upward trend ineconomy, Index of Industrial

Production (IIP) grew 7.1 percent in February this year,mainly driven by robust per-formance of the manufacturingsector coupled with higher off-take of capital goods and con-sumer durables. Similarly, theannual retail inflation eased forthe third straight month inMarch to 4.28 per cent due tocooling down of food as well asvegetable prices.

While on month-on-month basis, the factory outputdeclined from 7.4 per cent inJanuary to 7.1 per cent inFebruary, the current figureshowed a positive trend onannual basis. The IIP stood ata mere 1.2 per cent same peri-od last year.

As per data released by theCentral Statistics Office (CSO)on Thursday, retail inflationeased to a five-month low in

March, but remained abovemedium-term target of ReserveBank of India (RBI), support-ing views that monetary poli-cy is likely to remainunchanged at the next reviewin early June. It was 4.44 percent in February 2018. Lastweek, RBI lowered its April-September retail inflation pro-jection to 4.7 per cent to 5.1 percent, from a previous range of5.1 per cent to 5.6 per centreleased in February.

As far as industry output isconcerned, the Government’srevised data showed that IIPrecorded a growth of 8.54 percent in November, 7.1 per centin December and 7.4 per centin January.

“During April-February,IIP growth has slowed to 4.3per cent from 4.7 per cent inthe same period last fiscal,” itsaid.

However, experts believethat this growth trend givesconfidence that the industrial

recovery is broadening.“Higher growth was boosted bythe low base affect.Nonetheless, this is the firstinstance of four consecutivemonths of IIP growth of morethan 7.1 per cent in the 2011-12 base data.

The recovery was led bymanufacturing, up 8.7 per centin February 2018, once againfour consecutive months ofover 8.5 per cent increase in themanufacturing IIP in the newbase data,” said Dr DevendraKumar Pant, Chief Economist

and Dr Sunil Sinha, PrincipalEconomist, India Ratings andResearch.

The data further said man-ufacturing sector, which con-stitutes over 77 per cent of theindex, grew at 8.7 per cent inFebruary as compared toalmost flat growth of 0.7 percent in the same month a yearago. “Similarly, capital goodsoutput rose by a robust 20 percent in the month under reviewas against a contraction of 2.4per cent earlier,” it added.

Also, consumer durables

too grew at 7.9 per cent asagainst a contraction of 4.6 percent in February 2017.Electricity generation also grewby 4.5 per cent compared to 1.2per cent. However, mining out-put declined by 0.3 per centagainst a growth 4.6 per centearlier, it added.

As far as retail inflation isconcerned, it slowed to 4.28 percent in March, giving a positiveboost to common man as itshowed easing of food pricesincluding vegetables. As per theCSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7per cent in March from 17.57per cent in the previous month.“The rate of price rise in theprotein rich items like eggs,milk and other products toomoderated in March as againstthe previous month. However,inflation in fruits basket washigher,” it said.

Overall, it added, inflationin the food basket was 2.81 percent, lower than 3.26 per centin February. The data furtherrevealed that inflation in thefuel and light segment alsocame in lower at 5.73 per centmonth-on-month basis.

������������� ����������������

��������������������

The Centre told the SupremeCourt on Thursday that its

recent judgement inserting safe-guards in the SC/ST (Preventionof Atrocities) Act has “diluted”the law as no police officer willnow take cognisance of anycomplaint filed by a member ofSC/ST community.

The Centre in its writtensubmissions filed in courtsought the recall of the March20 judgement and said that bylegislating upon such a “sensi-tive” issue, the court had trans-gressed into Parliament’sdomain. The Centre also saidthe prevailing anger and unease

among SC/ST community hadcreated a sense of disharmonyand commotion in the country.

“The case dealing with anissue of very sensitive nature hascaused a lot of commotion inthe country and is also creatinganger, unease and a sense ofdisharmony,” the Centre said.

The statements formedpart of the written submissionsfiled by Attorney General KKVenugopal ahead of the hear-ing of the Centre’s review peti-tion. On the earlier date, theBench of Justices Adarsh KGoel and UU Lalit had refusedto stay its judgement butallowed the Centre to file itssubmissions.

In a hard-hitting criticismof the SC order, the A-G saidthat the verdict in essencecompelled the authorities to actcontrary to the provisions ofthe Atrocities Act and theCriminal Procedure Code.

Attacking the logic givenby the two-judge Bench thatthe courts can legislate whereno law exists, the Centre’s sub-

missions said that such a blandstatement was wholly falla-cious as the executive, judicia-ry and legislature live under awritten Constitution whereseparation of powers formspart of its basic structure whichis inviolable.

Referring to the judge-ment that required police offi-cers to seek sanction fromappointing authority or SSPbefore arresting a public ser-vant or non-public servant asthe case may be, the Centre saidthat on the pretext of fillinggaps in law for protecting inno-cent persons against frivolouscases, the court through judi-cial legislation amended theAtrocities Act and CrPC there-by defeating the salutary pro-visions of the Act.

���������������� �� ��

Describing the erstwhileChief Minister Manik

Sarkar as ‘Dhritarashtra’ andother CPM leaders as‘Dushasan’, Tripura’s first BJPChief Minister Biplab KumarDeb said he is asking theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) to probe Chit fund scamas also other crimes of rape andmurders committed during theCPM regime.

Alleging that the CPMcadres fixed the posting andpromotions of all the Stateofficials, the Chief Ministersaid within 45 days a new pol-icy would be in place for trans-parent transfer and posting.Deb pointed out that he hadalready effected transfers of 63officials “without consultinganyone, including deputy-ChiefMinister, Ministers or any otherBJP leader.

Settled in office after

replacing a well-entrenched25-year Left rule, the CM toldThe Pioneer that he had to dealwith a bureaucracy which wassteeped in ‘Red’.

There are officials whoenjoyed CPM patronage andwould never get transferredfrom their comfort zones, hesaid.

“I have transferred 63 offi-cials on the basis of intelligencereports without consultingdeputy-CM, Ministers or anyparty leaders, said the youthfulCM. He said under the pro-posed policy, transfer would beautomatic after a fix period

“Under previousGovernment CPM-backed offi-cials would carry on until theirdeath,” he quipped.

Accusing the Manik Sarkarregime of ideological high-handedness, Deb said as aState BJP president his securi-ty was removed and cadres didnot allow BJP leaders to enter

tribal areas. “I asked Rajnathji and got

CRPF escorts that facilitatedinteraction with people in vil-lages and thereafter 56 Central

Ministers travelled to villagesand liberated people from thefear of the Left cadres and theyvoted us,” he said.

“There are 47,000 ‘PannaPramukhs’ (voter list in-chargein polling stations) of BJP inTripura and all of them havenow identity cards”, said theChief Minister showing BJP’spreparedness against thealleged ‘Kauravsena’ of Sarkarduring the election campaign.

Charging the previousManik Sarkar Governmentwith seeing everything fromthe prism of the Left ideology,

Deb said under the CPMregime children from Class9th to 12th standards did notstudy emperor Ashoka,Mahatma Gandhi or IndianHistory in Tripura as NCRTsyllabus was removed.

“Children studied leader offormer Soviet Union V I Lenin.Now we would introduceNCRT history,” he said.

He scoffed at CMP gener-al secretary Sitaram Yechuriwho, he said, accused BJP of‘saffronisation’ and asked“What they themselves did inTripura?”

“We established Nationalflag in Chief Minister’s room,it was not there during ManikSarkar’s regime”, the ChiefMinister said. Asked why notone protested, the ChiefMinister said “none dared as hewas a dictator”.

Asked whether the statuteof Lenin’s pulled down lastmonth after BJP’s victory in the

polls will be restored, Debsaid, “ Main koi shilpkar nahinhoon, main tab sarkar mainnahintha...”

On another questionwhether former Chief MinisterSarkar faced corruption chargeson personal count, he repliedin negative.

On creating jobs andemployment, he said 1,16,333

skilled work-force would beprepared by 2020 out of which37,000 will be trained withinTripura and thereafter be givenemployment.

Deb said he would encour-age self-employment with bankoffering loan from �1 lakh to�1 crore without guarantee ifbanks are ensured of debt ser-vicing. “Government job is no

indication of wellness of econ-omy”, he said.

Tourism would be one ofthe top priorities withGovernment encouraging reli-gious tourism by building roadsleading to famous temples andtourist spots. The two-laneroads on way to Mata TripuraSundari Mandir is being con-verted into four-lanes.

The Government wouldshowcase tribal bamboo hand-icraft, products of agricultureand horticulture on both sidesof the road and encourageeconomy of 20 tribal commu-nities endowed with enormoustalent, Deb said.

He said in his State Hindu,Muslim and Christians all visitMata Tripurari temple. TheGovernment would encourage religious and spiri-tual tourism in the State by cre-ating high-class roads andinfrastructure around them,he said.

����� ���������

In a nation-wide protest fast,Prime Minister Narendra

Modi and BJP president AmitShah on Thursday led the party leaders and workers inregistering their anger againstwhat they called Congressparty’s attempt at killingdemocracy and creating hur-dles in the way of country’sprogress by derailing theBudget Session of theParliament session.

The Prime Minister heldthe day-long fast while attend-ing his official function includ-ing a visit to Tamil Nadu toopen the Defence Expo atKanchipuram near Chennai.Shah staged a sit-in protest atHubli in Karnataka and blamedCongress president Rahul

Gandhi and his party forindulging in the politics ofnegativity and conspiracy.

Shah and BJP Ministers,MPs, and workers in all theStates held protest ‘LoktantraBachao Upvaas-Dharna’ thatbegun from 10 am and endedat 5 pm at different venuesacross the country.

The Congress and the BJPhave traded charges againsteach other for turning the sec-ond part of the Budget Sessiona washout.

While the BJP accused theCongress of bringing politics toa new low by crippling theParliament proceedings, theCongress countered saying itwas the ruling party which didnot want to face the toughquestions posed by theOpposition.

������������ ��������

The Delhi Police CrimeBranch on Thursday

claimed to have unearthed theconspiracy behind the leak ofClass X Maths paper conduct-ed by the Central Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE)with the arrest of three people,including a woman based inPunjab’s Ferozepur district.

“The arrested accused inthe Class X Maths paper leak have been identified asSheru Ram (35), the Branch Manager and OmPrakash (58), the head cashier.The woman is Manju Bala(name changed),” said AlokKumar, Joint CP (Crime) of theDelhi Police.

����� ��������

The senior most judge ofSupreme Court Justice J

Chelameswar on Thursdayrefused to list a matter filed byformer Law Minister ShantiBhushan that questioned theChief Justice of India’s s powerto allocate matters as the mas-ter of roster.

Recalling how on an earli-er occasion his order to list apetition questioning the role ofthe CJI in a medical collegescam was reversed within 24hours by a Constitution Bench formed by the CJI,Justice Chelameswar told advocate Prashant Bhushan,“Please understand my diffi-culty…I don’t want one morereversal of my order in the next24 hours.”

With almost two months togo before retirement, JusticeChelameswar candidly toldBhushan that any move byhim will unnecessarily createdoubts as “there seems to be arelentless campaign going onthat I want to grab power.”

While mentioning his mat-ter before Justice Chelameswar,Bhushan apprehended that hiscase was deliberately not beinglisted as he had named ChiefJustice of India and asked theSC Registry not to list the casebefore the CJI.

Just a day ago, Bhushansubmitted, a Bench headed bythe CJI had dismissed a simi-lar petition filed by a lawyerasserting yet again that the CJIalone has the power to allocatematters and constitute Benches.Though Justice Chelameswarrefused, he urged Bhushan toapproach the CJI.

��������������� ������ �

In a major initiative to boostIndian air defence, the Indian

military aviation giantHindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL) has announceda tie-up with Boeing andMahindra Defence Systems(MDS) for manufacturing theF/A-18 Super Hornet in India and pursuing the jointdevelopment of future tech-nologies.

Boeing India PresidentPratyush Kumar, HALChairman and ManagingDirector T Suvarna Raju andMahindra Defence SystemsChairman SP Shukla

exchanged a ‘Memorandum ofAgreement for ‘Make in Indiafighter’ at the ongoing‘DefExpo’ near here.

In a Press statement, theHAL said ‘the partnership willtransform India’s aerospaceand defence ecosystem, furtherbuilding on its ‘Make in India’successes.

“HAL has always been atthe forefront of development inIndia’s aerospace sector. This partnership with Boeingand Mahindra DefenceSystems will create an oppor-tunity to develop capabilities ofthe aerospace industry andstrengthen indigenous plat-forms in India thereby con-

tributing to the Make-in-Indiaactivities”, said T. Suvarna Raju.

“Boeing is happy to teamup with HAL, India’s leadingcompany that manufacturescombat fighters along withIndia’s company that manu-factures small commercial air-planes, Mahindra.

This partnership bringsthe best of Indian public andprivate enterprises togetherwith the world’s largest aero-space company, Boeing, toaccelerate a contemporary 21stcentury ecosystem for aerospace & defense manufac-turing in India,” said PratyushKumar, President, BoeingIndia.

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As the controversial movie,Nanak Shah Fakir, man-

aged to clear all legal hurdlesfor all-India release, theShiromani GurdwaraParbandhak Committee(SGPC) is all set to launch amassive protest on the day ofmovie release.

Besides, the Akal Takht —Sikhs’ highest temporal seat —on Thursday excommunicatedthe makers of the movie fromthe Sikh community.

The Shiromani Akali Dal-led SGPC and also the DelhiSikh Gurudwara ManagementCommittee (DSGMC) hadmoved the Supreme Court andthe Delhi High Court respec-tively to stall the release of themovie which is set to hit the-atres across the nation, exceptPunjab, on Friday. However,the plea of urgent hearing of the

case by the Sikh bodies wasrejected by the respectivecourts, but listed the matter forthe next week.

SGPC, as a mark of protest,decided to close down all itsinstitutions on April 13. “Allinstitutions, being run by theSGPC, will remain closed onApril 13 as a mark of protestagainst the release of contro-versial movie Nanak ShahFakir,” announced the SGPCchief Gobind Singh Longowal.

He said that the SGPC wasduty bound to comply with thedirective of the Sikh clergy onthe issue while appealing theSikhs to observe a peacefulprotest against the movie.

Besides, the SGPC has alsoasked all the Sikhs to wearblack turbans on April 13 as amark of protest.

Meanwhile, the five highpriests at Akal Takht Secretariathas decided to excommunicate

the film director HarinderSingh Sikka.

Pronouncing the decision,Akal Takht Jathedar GianiGurbachan Singh said thatdespite repeated warnings,Sikka was adamant to releasethe movie that has causedwidespread outrage, and thus,it was decided to boycott Sikkasocially from all spheres.

He appealed to the Sikh

community to stage protest ifthe film is released, “but in apeaceful manner”.

Jathedar Giani GurbachanSingh also issued a cautionarynote for the cinema hall own-ers that they would be onlyresponsible for any loss to theirproperty.

The clergy has also decid-ed that the members of SGPC'searlier sub-committee, which

had endorsed the film in 2016,too would be summoned at theAkal Takht.

SGPC chief secretary DrRoop Singh has also tenderedan apology through socialmedia for granting permis-sion to the film maintainingthat it was a blunder on his partto issue such a letter and wasapologetic to the Sikh com-munity for this.

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In the backdrop of death of 27people, including 23 chil-

dren, in a bus accident earlierthis week in Nurpur in the thestate, Himachal Chief MinisterJai Ram Thakur on Fridayissued a series of instructionsto officials for safety of schoolchildren.

"Every vehicle being usedto carry school children mustbe driven by a driver having aminimum experience of fiveyears in driving such cate-gories of vehicles and must nothave any record of trafficoffences. In addition, all thesafety related provisions for thesafe plying of students to schooland back home must be effi-ciently implemented," Thakursaid, while presiding over themeeting of senior officers of thestate government here ontransportation safety issuespertaining to private schools.

Terming the school busaccident in Nurpur as tragic,Thakur said effective steps

should be taken so that suchtypes of incidents were notrepeated in the future.

The Chief Minister saidthat the main focus should beon strengthening and regula-tion of existing laws and guide-lines applicable for buses andtaxis and other means of trans-port for transportation of stu-dents by the private schools. Hesaid that any violation in dri-ving must be dealt strictly.

Thakur said that the highlevel committee constitutedunder the chairmanship of theChief Secretary to regulatetraffic safety issues pertainingto private schools in the statemust give its report withinfour days so that the recom-mendations could be finalizedand effectively enforced forthe safety of students.

He said all guidelinesissued by the CBSE, SupremeCourt and the NationalDisaster ManagementAuthority would be effectivelyimplemented. "All school busesshould be first hand, in good

condition and as per the spec-ification laid down by the com-petent authorities. Effectivefeedback mechanism must beevolved to check and improveimplementation of existinglaws," the chief minister said.

Similarly, all the busesowned by the private schoolsmust be painted yellow andthose owned by HRTC beingused as school buses musthave a boldly written 'Schoolbus' on the front and rear of thebuses.

The Chief Minister saidthat the strict action should betaken against the vehicle car-rying excess of its permitted sit-ting capacity. The buses plyingstudents should have all therequired equipments such asfirst aid box, fire extinguisheretc. He directed the officers toeffectively enforce all the lawsenacted for the safety of thechildren.

He said the committeeshould also recommend stepsto be taken by private schoolsto involve parents and local

community for safe trans-portation of students.

Chief Secretary VineetChawdhary who is theChairman of the committeeassured the Chief Minister thatthe committee will submit itssuggestions within the stipu-lated time period.

It was decided in the meet-ing to launch an extensivedrive in the state during nextten days in which RegionalTransport Officers and SubDivisional Magistrates wouldcheck the buses or vehiclesbeing used by the schools.These checks would be repeat-ed after a period of threemonths and government wouldalso consider making the rulesfor passing of the vehiclesmore stringent. It was alsodecided to conduct medicalcheck-up of the drivers of theschool buses.

Education Minister SureshBhardwaj, Advocate GeneralAshok Sharma, were amongstsenior civil and police officerspresent in the meeting.

����� 7���������

To generate awareness aboutsanitation, Haryana

Government has decided tolaunch ‘Shahari Swaraj Abhiyan’from April 18 to May 5 acrossthe state.

The decision in this regardwas taken in a meeting ofUrban Local Bodies

Department held under thechairmanship of Urban LocalBodies Ministers Kavita Jainhere on Thursday.

Jain directed the officers topromote social harmony, reachout to poor urban households,obtain feedback on ongoingprogrammes, enroll in new ini-tiative, focus on enhancing theincome urban poor and re-

emphasize national prioritiessuch as cleanliness and strength-en urban local bodies institu-tions during the campaign.

She said that the ShahariSwaraj Abhiyan would belaunched by Ministers, MPs,MLAs, Mayors, DeputyCommissioners and prominentpersonalities on April 18 in alldistricts of the state.

Special Ward Sabha wouldalso be conducted on thesame day in all the wards ofurban local bodies of the state.Besides, sensitization driveswould be carried out in parks,schools, colleges andResidents WelfareAssociations (RWAs) on seg-regation of waste and signifi-cance in waste management.

����� 7���������

Haryana State Industrialand Infrastructure

Development Corporation(HSIIDC) has decided to ven-ture into a joint developmentof integrated Industrial ModelTownship (IMT), Sohnaunder the Public PrivatePartnership (PPP).

“HSIIDC is exploring thepossibility of partnering withthe world’s best in the field ofdevelopment of state of the artindustrial infrastructure thatwould usher in a new era ofrapid development, invest-ment and employment oppor-tunities in the region, there-by uplifting the standard ofliving of the people in thearea. A pre-bid meeting isscheduled to be held on April,30,” said a spokesman of theCorporation.

He said that theCorporation has proposed todevelop IMT spread across1292 acres of land throughPPP mode. The proposedIMT will span around to thenorth of Kundli ManesarPalwal (KMP) Expressway indistrict Nuh.

The site has immenselocational advantage. It islocated at the intersection ofNH248A and KMPExpressway about 36 kmsouth of the Sohna Chowk,Gurugram. The StateGovernment’s recentannouncement of setting upof a five km long elevated cor-ridor from Subash Chowk toSohna Road after Badshapurvillage would further reducethe travel time to millenniumcity, Gurugram. It forms partof the National Capital Regionand is located at approxi-mately 50 km from the IndiraGandhi International Airport,said the spokesman.

He further said that theproposed IMT is envisaged

for development of this indus-trially backward region ofMewat through a JointDevelopment Model whereinexpertise, efficiency andfinancial resources of privateplayer would help in settingup of world class IndustrialTownship thus, unveiling theuntapped Industrial Potentialof the region. In view of this,potential developers andoperators who specialize inthe development and man-agement of large scale inte-grated industrial townshipsare being invited to join, saidhe.

HSIIDC has already invit-ed expression of interest(EOI) for development ofIMT. HSIIDC, the HaryanaGovernment's nodal agencyfor development of industri-al infrastructure in the state,has already developed sixIMTs, including at Manesar,Bawal, Rohtak and Nuh, headded.

The spokesman said thatthe private participation willbe sought through fair andtransparent mechanism ofInternational competitive bid-ding (ICB) by way of e-Auction. Buoyant by the hugesuccess of e-auction of itscommercial site at Gurugram,HSIIDC expects this site toattract leading developers.

The bid process is divid-ed into two stages with stageI-Technical QualificationStage and stage II- e- Auction.In order to be eligible to par-ticipate in stage II (auction),the bidders shall have thefinancial capability i.e. anaggregate networth and annu-al turnover of Rs 1000 croresand 500 crores respectively incase of single bidder and Rs1000 crores each in case ofconsortium apart from tech-nical expertise as set forth inRFP to undertake project ofsuch magnitude, he added.

����� 7���������

Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Thursday

said that the Gurugram city hasbeen divided into four zones forundertaking developmentalworks in a phased manner.

The Chief Minister was pre-siding over the meeting ofIndustrialists and Real EstateDevelopers at Gurugram. Asmany as 61 complaints related toreal estate were taken up in themeeting of which maximum were resolved on the spot.

He said that the constitutionof Gurugram MetropolitanDevelopment Authority was abig decision to ensure all rounddevelopment of the city.

Such a provision would bemade applicable in Faridabadalso only if residents of Faridabaddemand so, he added.

The Chief Minister said thatthe zoning system has benefitedthe Gurugram city.

There was a total collapse ofsystem in Gurugram during thetenure of previous government.Now, the same has beenimproved by the present StateGovernment by introducing thiszoning system, said he.

Manohar Lal said that thenumber of changes has beenmade in policies and rules dur-ing last three years. Various pro-jects which were lying halted fora long period had been restart-ed by the present StateGovernment and these are underthe final stages of completion, hesaid.

Giving example of Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP)Expressway, the Chief Ministersaid that the matter was lyingpending with the SupremeCourt. After the StateGovernment followed the mat-ter with the court, the construc-tion work resumed.

The Prime Minister

Narendra Modi would inaugu-rate KMP after its completion innext one-and-a-half month.Similarly, the difficulties beingfaced in the construction ofDwarka Expressway were alsoresolved, he said.

He said that a separateauthority was being constitutedfor Kundli-Manesar-Palwal

Expressway. While addressing the repre-

sentatives of real estate industry,the Chief Minister said thatsuch meetings would be organ-ised from time to time to redress the grievances ofindustrialists.

He said that the StateGovernment is of the view thatlarge number of industries wouldcome to Gurugram bringinghuge investment and thus creat-ing number of employmentopportunities for all.

Talking about ease of doingbusiness, Manohar Lal said thatHaryana has now become num-ber one state in terms of ease ofdoing business and now thesecond step would be investorfeedback.

Among those present on thisoccasion included MLAs UmeshAggarwal, Tejpal Tanwar, ChiefSecretary, DS Dhesi and othersenior officers.

����� ,�(��

Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Thursday

talked to the three youths ofHimachal Pradesh throughIndian High Commissioner inNigeria, who were kidnappedby the Nigerian pirates fewmonths back.

The three youths fromKangra district — SushilKumar, Pankaj Kumar andAjay Kumar, who had beenfreed from the captivity of thepirates told the Chief Ministerthat they were highly thankfulto the government of India formaking all out efforts for theirsafe release.

����� 7�����������

The annual Governors' con-ference will be held at

Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi onJune 4 and 5, instead ofChandigarh which was sup-posed to host the event on May19 and 20.

A communication fromthe Rashtrapati Bhavan wasreceived by the Union TerritorySecretariat here, informingabout the change in venue forthe conference.

The communication sentto UT Adviser Parimal Rai byBharat Lal, Joint Secretary tothe President, read, "Pleaserefer to my letter dated March22, 2018, indicating to hold thenext Conference of Governorson May 19-20, 2018, at

Chandigarh. Further, it wasrequested to arrange the logis-tics and infrastructure atChandigarh for the above con-ference."

"However, it is informedthat the Conference ofGovernors would now be heldon June 4-5, 2018, atRasthrapati Bhavan, NewDelhi, instead of Chandigarh,"it said.

While, senior officials ofthe ChandigarhAdministration remained tight-lipped over the reason that ledto cancellation of the eventhere, official sources said thatissue of closure of theChandigarh InternationalAirport during the period ledto the development.

The conference here was to

be attended by 27 governors ofstates and three Lt Governorsof Union Territories. PresidentRam Nath Kovind, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu,Prime Minister NarendraModi, Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh and other min-isters were also to take part inthe two-day event here.

Notably, no flight will oper-ate from the ChandigarhInternational Airport herebetween May 12 and 31 as sec-ond phase of the runwayrepairs will be undertakenthen.

The first phase of of therunway repair at the airportwas carried out from February12 to 26 during which the air-port had remained shut for allflights.

����� 7��������

Ajoint delegation of the SAD-BJP on Thursday submitted

a complaint to the NationalCommission for ScheduledCastes demanding registration ofa criminal case under the provi-sions of the SC/ST Prevention ofAtrocities Amendment Act,2015, against the Congress leaderJaijeet Singh Johal alias Jojo aswell as other Congress leaders forallegedly making casteist andderogatory remarks against thedalit community at a dharna inBathinda two days back.

National Commission for

SCs Director Raj KumarChhanena, after giving a patienthearing to the delegation, issuednotice to Bathinda SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP) toregister an FIR against all the per-petrators on the basis of video-graphic evidence as per the lawwithin three days.

The delegation, comprisingsenior SAD leaders Gulzar SinghRanike, Charanjit Singh Atwal,Pawan Kumar Tinu and BJP’sAvtar Singh Sikri and JasbirSingh Mehta besides others,submitted a written complaint tothe National Commission forSCs director Raj Kumar

Chhanena along with video-graphic proof.

It was informed that atroc-ities were committed at thedharna purportedly held for thewelfare of the weaker sections atthe instance of Punjab FinanceMinister Manpreet Singh Badal.

“As per the video of theentire incident which had goneviral, Jojo was seen smirking andlaughing on the issue of discus-sion about the dalit community.Jojo did not stop there and wenton to make offensive remarksabout the skin colour and com-plexion of members of the SCcommunity,” said the leaders.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Thursday

said that the State Governmentis contemplating to involve thepass-out students of collegesand universities in various gov-ernment activities according totheir stream so as to utilise theircapabilities and provide thema job experience.

This was informed by theChief Minister while speakingat the Vice-Chancellor’s con-ference on higher education forethical values and enhancedemployability jointly organ-ised by Haryana State HigherEducation Council (HSHEC)

and Haryana VishwakarmaSkill University (HVSU) here.

Education Minister RamBilas Sharma was also presenton this occasion. About 30Vice-Chancellors and educa-tionists from 50 Universitiesparticipated in the conference.

During the conference, theChief Minister directed them toprepare a list of their alumni oflast five years and help theunemployed in getting jobs byproviding them requisite train-ing.

He said that the StateGovernment is workingtowards channelizing the youthenergy in right direction andthe students after completing

their studies would be engagedin various activities like survey,preparation of estimates ofvarious development worksand detailed project report(DPR) of the departmentsaccording to their stream.

Giving example of activitiesthey will be involved into,Manohar Lal said that the StateGovernment has constitutedPond Management Authorityfor the rejuvenation of all about14,000 ponds in the state andmassive survey work of theseponds would be entrusted tothe civil and mechanical engi-neers. Under this scheme,excess water flowing in theponds would be tapped andused for irrigation purposesthrough solar pump setswhereas water treated by PublicHealth EngineeringDepartment would be utilizedfor drinking, he added.

While emphasizing the

urgent need of making thestudents employable after theireducation, he said that besideseducation, the final year stu-dents should be provided train-ing in skill development.

It is the collective respon-sibility of the State Governmentand the Universities to ensurethat the pass-out students getemployment in any field, saidhe.

The Chief Minister saidthat today, the governmentinstitutes of higher educationare more in demand as com-pared to the private educationinstitutes. The private educa-tion institutions should reducethe cost of education if theywant to compete with the gov-ernment institutions, he said.

He further said that hisgovernment has given duehonour to the educators.Earlier, there used to be asense of fear among the teach-

ers about their transfers. Butnow, the government hasimplemented the transparentonline teacher’s transfer policyunder which 93 per cent teach-ers got stations as per theirfirst, second and third choice,he added.

Manohar Lal said that theState Government has alsotaken various steps for provid-ing employment to the pass-outstudents. Saksham YuvaScheme has been implement-ed under which the educatedunemployed youth are pro-vided Rs 9,000 per month,including Rs 3,000 as unem-ployment allowance, in lieu of100 hours of work done bythem.

While emphasizing theneed of generating more aware-ness in the society regardingeducation, the Chief Ministersaid that though every educa-tional institute has its own set

of agendas yet the ethical val-ues in higher education andenhanced employability shouldbe their ultimate aim.

Earlier, speaking on thisoccasion, Principal Secretary,Skill Development andIndustrial Training andEmployment, TC Gupta saidthat a separate Saksham Cellhas been set up in the ChiefMinister’s office.

Additional Chief Secretary,Higher Education, Jyoti Arorasaid that as many as 5000 stu-dents have been providedplacement in different indus-tries with the assistance ofHaryana Vishwakarma SkillUniversity. This year, a targethas been fixed to provide hun-dred per cent placement to thestudents. For this,Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) hasbeen signed with 150 indus-tries, she added.

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Punjab Government’s farm debt waiver schemetook another leap on Thursday, with 73,748 farm-

ers from six districts getting debt relief certificatesworth Rs 485.69 crore with the Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh conspicuous by his absence.

On behalf of the Chief Minister, who missed theevent due to a last-minute glitch in his chopper tocover over 130 kms which may take two-hours byroad, the state Finance Minister Manpreet Badalhanded over debt waiver certificates to 14 farmers,as a token gesture.

Capt Amarinder tweeted his regrets for not beingable to personally present on the occasion, and reit-erated his personal commitment to upholding theinterests of the farming community.

Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, besidesCabinet Ministers — Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa,Razia Sultana and Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, formerUnion Minister Preneet Kaur and former ChiefMinister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal were present at theevent. Farmers from the districts of Sangrur,Barnala, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, SAS Nagar andRupnagar were the beneficiaries in this phase of theimplementation of the farm debt waiver scheme.

����� 7��������

Hisar MP and Indian National Lok Dalleader Dushyant Chautala has sent a

legal notice to Haryana Minister Anil Vijasking him to tender unconditional apolo-gy or face defamation case for his drugaddict remarks against the former.

“I have sent a legal notice to HealthMinister Anil Vij asking him to tenderunconditional apology for maligning myreputation. If not satisfied with his reply, Iwill file a defamation case against theMinister,” said Dushyant Chautala onThursday.

The INLD leader said that he hadexposed a scam worth Rs 300 crore in theHealth Department but instead of con-ducting an inquiry into the matter, the con-cerned Minister indulged in blatant lies with

mala-fide intention to mislead the public andmalign my reputation.

Notably, Chautala had last monthalleged that norms have been violated in thepurchases made at the district level by theconcerned officials over the past threeyears in Haryana. Chautala had claimed thatthis is a scam of Rs 300 crore in Haryana andalso, demanded a probe by Central Bureauof Investigation in the matter.

Responding to the allegations, HealthMinister Anil Vij had said that Dushyant istaking drugs and he should go to some reha-bilitation centre.

The Minister, who is also holding theportfolios of Sports & Youth AffairsDepartment, had also said that the area fromwhere Dushyant comes, is known for drugaddicts, and possibly Dushyant too may havebecome an addict.

����� 7��������

In a decision which would goa long way in promoting anti

tobacco campaign, HaryanaGovernment on Thursday decid-ed that every health institutionin the state would nowhave a transparentdrop box at theentrance gate to enablethe staff and visitors topark their tobacco andrelated productsbefore entering the premises.

The tobacco product wouldhave to be dropped in boxinstalled at the entrance and canbe taken back while leaving.

Besides, drivers and con-ductors of Haryana Roadwaysbuses would be imparted train-ing and made conscious of the

need to stop and check smokingin buses.

A decision to this effect wastaken at the State LevelCoordination Meeting andOrientation Workshop underthe National Tobacco Control

Programme (NTCP)chaired by theAdditional ChiefSecretary, HealthDepartment, Amit Jha,here.

It was also decidedthat sign boards would be put upat public places and in roadwaysbuses telling people that smok-ing is prohibited.

These sign boards wouldcarry number and address of theauthorities concerned so thatany complaint could be lodgedwith them.

����� 7��������

Punjab’s saffron brigade on Thursdayobserved a day-long fast across the state

as a part of party’s nationwide protest againstthe Congress’ “divisive politics”.

Punjab BJP president Shwait Malik ledthe party at Amritsar, along with the UnionMinister of State for Housing and UrbanAffairs Hardeep Singh Puri and party’ssenior leadership besides hundreds of sup-porters, by sitting on fast at Bhandri bridgefrom 11 am to 5 pm.

The fast was observed as a symbolicprotest to "expose the height of cheap poli-tics" by the Congress for political gains.

“Congress, by hijacking the recently con-cluded budget session, has projected a newlow of Indian politics to the world. For theircheap political gains, they want to tarnish theimage of world’s largest democracy,” saidMalik. He said that BJP has launched nation-wide protest to expose Congress’ divisive andnegativity for not letting both the Housesfunction during recent budget session of theParliament.

����� 7���������

Haryana Government hasapproved the slum-in-situ

rehabilitation policy underHousing for All-2018 so as toprovide housing facility to theslum dwellers without relo-cating them to other areas.

Under the policy, a total ofRs 1.67 lakh per dwelling unitwill be provided to developerfor construction of houses forthe slum dwellers, said an offi-cial spokesman.

He said that the CentralGovernment will providefinancial assistance of Rs onelakh per dwelling unit and theState Government will pro-vide assistance of Rs 67,000 perdwelling unit. The carpet areaprescription of 30 square metrewill be substituted with 50square metre.

The slums which arespread horizontally on the gov-ernment land will be accumu-

lated partially by means ofgroup housing or flats and thearea left after providing hous-ing accommodation to theslum dwellers will be given asfree sale component to crosssubsidise the developers.Therefore, apart from provid-ing houses to the dwellers, theland left thereafter can be usedfor other purposes thus check-ing encroachment, said thespokesman.

The allotment of units shallbe done under the supervisionof Commissioner, MunicipalCorporation in case ofMunicipal Corporation andDeputy Commissioner in caseof Municipal Council andCommittee, he said.

The lock-in period of allot-ted flat or dwelling unit underthe scheme will be for 10 years.The policy has been approvedby the State Cabinet onWednesday evening, he added.

����� �D�������H7���������

Gaining the first-hand knowl-edge about every aspect of

mining in Telanagana alongwith his team of officials, PunjabCabinet Minister Navjot SinghSidhu on Thursday said that thestate’s proposed mining policywould ensure availability of sandto the people of Punjab on rea-sonable prices

Sidhu said that the state hasan immense potential withregard to the mining sector and“the implementation of a com-prehensive and effective miningpolicy can act as the gamechanger for the state’s economybesides ensuring the availabilityof sand at reasonable prices to thepeople of state”.

Heading the Cabinet sub-committee on mining, the LocalGovernment Minister Sidhu ison three-day visit to Telanganaand Andhra Pradesh to have

complete knowledge of theirsuccessful mining model.

The delegation visited themining spots witnessing themining being done at Puskupallivillage in JaiyashankarBhupalpalli district at the banksof Godavari river which isaround 200 km from Hyderabad.

The delegation also saw thetransportation of sand, blockadeto prevent illegal mining, check-ing system of unregistered vehi-cles, authorized spots where thevehicles carrying sand areweighed, place where the sandtaken out from the mining nearthe river is stored and the processof carrying sand to the con-sumers through commercialvehicles.

The delegation also had alook at the coding system doneon the receipt issued throughcomputerized system from thestorage place.

“After having a look atTelangana model and given the

more number of rivers in Punjabvis-à-vis Telangana, I havebecome supremely confidentthat the aspect of mining whichis the weakest spot of Punjab canbecome its strongest supportpillar,” he said.

Sidhu said that Telanganahas transformed the sand quar-ries into goldmines by the dintof its effective and compre-hensive policy. “This proposedmining policy for Punjab canact as a boon for the state andmy hopes have been buoyed bythis visit which has cleared allthe misconceptions arising inthe sub committee meetings,”he added.

He added that Telanganahas sand prices under controlto a large extent. Telanganaearned Rs 10.5 crore in 2014-15 from mining and incomehas increased to Rs 368.33crore in 2015-16, Rs 456.45crore in 2016-17 and Rs 678.35crore in 2017-18.

����� 7��������

Punjab Skill Development Mission,in collaboration with District

Bureaus of Employment andEnterprises (DBEE) and RegionalInstitute of English (RIE), has initiateda district level project for the devel-opment of soft skills amongst thestate’s youth to enable them for thecompetition in the job market.

A special course content of 120hours has been developed by profes-sionally qualified RIE teachers for thisproject.

“This project has been imple-mented in all 22 districts of Punjaband admissions are open with flexi-ble timings for this course,” said anofficial spokesperson of PunjabGovernment.

����� 7��������

Olympic gold medalistsfrom Haryana will now be

entitled for appointment toHaryana Civil Services (HCS)or Haryana Police Services(HPS) with seniority of eightyears.

The new sports policyannounced by the Manohar LalKhattar Government inHaryana, aims at promotingcompetitive sports in the stateand provides secure employ-ment to outstanding sportsper-sons. The sportspersons ofpara, blind, deaf and specialOlympic Sports will also beentitled for government jobs.

Giving details about thepolicy, the Sports and YouthAffairs Minister, Anil Vij onThursday said that the initialappointments, whether in HCSor HPS or any other group A,B or C posts will be with“Sports” in parenthesis thatwould be dropped upon suc-cessful completion of the pre-scribed training and courses inthe probation period.

Vij said that the Olympicssilver medal winner will beentitled for appointment toHCS or HPS with four yearsseniority, the bronze medalwinner for HCS or HPS, par-ticipants of quarter finals orabove to Group A post and par-ticipants of below quarter finallevel in Olympics to Group Bpost.

The policy has beenapproved by the state cabinet

and the Department has beendirected to prepare the com-plete data of sportspersons.This is the first-of-its-kindbenefit for sports person in thecountry, he added.

The government has alsoclarified that such appoint-ments would be on an hon-orary basis to the HCS or HPS,and only those qualifying cer-tain examinations, prescribedby Haryana Institute of PublicAdministration (HIPA) or theState Government, would begiven administrative responsi-bilities.

The gold, silver and bronzemedal winner of 4-year worldChampionship (restricted toOlympic Games) will be enti-tled for appointment to HCS orHPS (with four years seniori-ty), HCS or HPS and Group A(other than HCS or HPS),respectively. Similarly, the par-ticipants in the quarter finals orabove and below quarter finallevel of this world champi-onship will be entitled for

Group A and Group B postsrespectively, Vij said.

The winners of gold, silverand bronze medal in AsianGames would be entitled toHCS or HPS, Group A (otherthan HCS or HPS) and GroupB posts respectively. The par-ticipants of quarter finals orabove will be entitled for GroupC post.

The Minister said that thewinners of gold, silver andbronze medal inCommonwealth Games orOther World or InternationalChampionship (restricted toOlympic Games) would be enti-tled to Group A (other thanHCS or HPS), Group B andGroup C posts respectively.

The winners of gold medalin World/InternationalChampionship (non-OlympicGames) would be entitled forGroup B posts. The silver andbronze medal winners of thistournament would be entitledfor Group C posts, he added.

Under the policy, the

medal winners of team events,having five or more players, willalso be entitled for appoint-ment in various levels of gov-ernment jobs.

The Minister added that forpara, blind, deaf and specialOlympic Sports, the appoint-ments will be made againstvacancies reserved for personswith disabilities. However, ifadequate vacancies insportspersons quota are notavailable, the appointment willbe made against other vacanciesin the appropriate category.

The State Government hasalso decided that land will beprovided by the government tothe sportsperson, who are eli-gible for out of turn appoint-ment and has not taken thebenefit of appointment, to opena Sports Academy in the gamein which the sportsperson hasachieved an Olympic medal,provided there is no otherworld class Sports Academy inthat sports discipline in thestate.

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Chandigarh: Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal hascongratulated Sushil Kumar,Babita Kumari and Kiran forwinning gold, silver andbronze respectively, inwrestling at theCommonwealth Games onThursday.

While Sushil Kumar won

gold—his third consecutive inCWG--in 74kg men’s freestylewrestling, Babita Kumari wonsilver in 53-kg women’s cate-gory and Kiran won bronze inwomen’s 76-kg category.

In a message, the ChiefMinister said, “The threewrestlers from Haryana havedone the state and the coun-

try proud. I congratulate themand wish other wrestlers bestof the mat and best of luck.”

Shooter Manu Bhakerfrom Haryana had also recent-ly won a gold medal in theCommonwealth Games whileweightlifter Deepak Latherhad clinched a bronze in themen’s 69kg category. PNS

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The Ministry of ExternalAffairs on Thursday said

India has raised all issues ofconcerns with China duringthe ongoing official level talksbetween the two countries overits Nuclear Supplier's Group(NSG) membership.

The two countries onTuesday held the fifth round ofthe India-China Disarmamentand Non-ProliferationDialogue in Beijing. The dia-logue was established to workout a mechanism for consensusover the issue of new NSGmembership for countries likeIndia that are not signatory toNon-Proliferation Treaty(NPT). China has been block-ing India's membership on thegrounds that India has notsigned NPT which is an essen-tial requirement for NSG mem-bership.

The meeting on Tuesdaysaw two sides “exchangingviews on various topics ofmutual interest, including,developments related to disar-mament and non-proliferationat multilateral forums, nuclearissues, role of science and tech-nology in the context of inter-national security and disarma-ment as well as outer space.Both sides underlined the

importance of the bilateral dia-logue as an important mecha-nism between the two coun-tries for consultations onimportant issues,” the Indianembassy in Beijing said in astatement.

Foreign Affairs ministerSushma Swaraj is expected toraise this raise again with hercounterpart when she visitsChina for the FM meeting ofthe Shanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) from April21-24. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will be travel-ling to Chinese Qingdao inJune for the SCO summit.Swaraj's visit also comes in thebackdrop of efforts being madeby India and China to moveforward after last year's militarystand-off in Doklam, which stillremains an area of monitoringand strategic significance forNew Delhi amidst China build-ing infrastructure for its troopsthere.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will be on a two-

nation tour to Sweden andUnited Kingdom from April16-21 during which apart frombilateral talks with his coun-terparts, he will also participatein the first India-Nordic coun-tries summit in Stockholm(April 16-17) and theCommonwealth Heads ofGovernment Meeting(CHOGM) in London (April19-20).

In Sweden, the PM has anumber of meetings lined up,including an audience withKing Carl XVI Gustaf, King ofSweden and consultations withPrime Minister Stefan Lofven.Modi will also address a gath-ering of select Swedish businessleaders and meet the Indiancommunity in Stockholm.

Sweden is India's impor-tant partner in trade, technol-ogy and investment. Over 170Swedish companies haveinvested $1.4 billion in Indiasince 2000 while about 70Indian companies have invest-ed in Sweden. India-Swedenannual bilateral trade stands ataround $1.8 billion.

India and Sweden will co-host the India-Nordic Summitin Stockholm on April 17. TheIndia-Nordic Summit will seeparticipation of the Prime

Ministers of India and of all theNordic countries — Denmark,Finland, Iceland, Norway andSweden.

India's trade with theNordic countries totalledaround $5.3 billion in 2016-17,with Cumulative ForeignDirect Investment (FDI) toIndia at $2.5 billion. “TheNordic countries have global-ly recognized strengths in cleantechnologies, environmentalsolutions, port modernization,food processing, health, agri-culture infrastructure, skilldevelopment and innovationwhich are also the focus areasof India's development. Thesecomplementarities and theunique strengths of India andthe Nordic countries hold thepotential to further boost tradeand investment from both

sides,” said SubrataBhattacharjee, Joint SecretaryCentral Europe Division inMinistry of External Affairs.On the sidelines of the India-Nordic Summit, Modi will alsohave separate bilateral meetingswith his counterparts fromDenmark, Finland, Iceland andNorway.

Modi will reach UnitedKingdom on April 17 for abilateral visit and CHOGM.“The forthcoming visit of thePM to the UK will focus onenhancing India-UK tech part-nership. The visit will see anumber of deliverables in thearea of skill development,healthcare, cyber security,innovation, traditional medi-cine, and education. The India-UK CEOs Forum will alsotake place during this visit. UK

will formally convey theirreadiness to join theInternational Solar Alliance,”the MEA officials said.

“India and the UK share amodern partnership bound bystrong historical ties,” theyadded

In 2004, the bilateral rela-tionship was upgraded to astrategic partnership. UK isamong India's major tradingpartners. The merchandisetrade between the two coun-tries in 2017 reached $13 bil-lion, and trade in services is

around $7.2 billion. India con-tinued to be the third largestinvestor in the UK andemerged as the second largestinternational job creator withIndian companies having cre-ated over 110,000 jobs in theUK.

Modi will attend theCHOGM in London fromApril 19-20. The Meetings ofthe Commonwealth Heads ofGovernment usually take placeevery two years and serve toshape the organisation's agen-da for the next two years.

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The Government onThursday said it is still

awaiting a response from HongKong with regard to handingover of diamond trader NiravModi. According to Ministry ofExternal Affairs spokespersonRaveesh Kumar, authorities inHong Kong have informedIndia that India's request isunder their consideration.

“Minister of State, VKSingh has already submitted awritten reply to this question inParliament. At this stage I canonly share that we haverequested the Hong Kongauthorities to surrender NiravModi based on the agreementfor the surrender of fugitiveoffenders signed between Indiaand Hong Kong in 1997. OurMission in Hong Kong hasinformed that the Departmentof Justice of Hong Kong are stillexamining our request forProvisional Order of Arrest ofNirav Modi. We are awaiting

response from the Hong Kongauthorities,” Raveesh said.

Fugitive in the multi-crorePNB Scam, Modi is believed tobe hiding in Hong Kong.Earlier this week, China saidthat it was up to Hong Kong'slocal administration to take acall on India's request forModi's repatriation.

Asked whether the MEAhas taken up the case of MehulChoksi with the US, also want-ed in the PNB fraud case along

with Modi, Raveesh said theMEA comes into the pictureonly after the location of anyfugitive is ascertained.

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India on Thursday stronglyopposed the use of chemical

weapons in Syria saying such aconduct is unacceptable andperpetrators of such abhor-rent acts must be held account-able.

“We have seen reportsabout the alleged use of chem-ical weapons in Douma, SyrianArab Republic. Any use ofchemical weapons anywhere, atany time, by anybody, underany circumstances is in com-plete disregard of humanity,and is reprehensible and con-trary to the provisions of theChemical WeaponsConvention as well as accept-ed international norms. Theperpetrators of such abhor-rent acts must be held account-able,” Ministry of ExternalAffairs spokesperson RaveeshKumar said.

According to mediareports, several people includ-ing children, died during acleansing up operation by the

Syrian Government which usedaircrafts to drop bombs filledwith toxic chemicals on Doumaon Saturday. The city was ear-lier held by rebels. However,Syrian government, that hasmilitary support from Russia,has denied any chemical attack.

On the recent diplomaticspat between United Kingdomand Russia over the chemical

poisoning of a former Russianspy Sergei Skripal and his

daughter in Salisbury, UK, theMEA said India is awaiting theconclusion of investigations.

“India is against the use ofchemical weapons anywhere, atany time, by anybody, underany circumstances. We hopethat this issue is resolved inaccordance with the provisionsof the Chemical WeaponsConvention so as to reach evi-dence based conclusions. India,as all other countries, awaits theoutcome of the investigation,”Raveesh said.

On Thursday, internation-al watchdog - Organisation forthe Prohibition of ChemicalWeapons confirmed thatSkripal and his daughter Yuliawere poisoned with a “highpurity” nerve agent, Novichok.The findings provide a supportto British Prime MinisterTheresa May's claim of Russiabeing directly responsible forthe attack. UK Secretary ofState Boris Johnson claimedthat only Russia has the“means, motive and record” tohave carried out the attack.

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The Congress on Thursdayattacked Prime Minister

Narendra Modi for his allegedsilence over the Unnao rapecase and questioned why theaccused BJP MLA is yet to bearrested. The party also dubbedas “farcical,” the ongoing fast bythe Prime Minister against thenon-functioning of Parliament.

Congress leader Kapil Sibalalso alleged that Modi was“not serious” about the crimeagainst women across thecountry. Sibal also asked thePrime Minister to observe fastover rape incidents and regis-ter his protest against UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath over the Unnaorape case.

Sibal, referring to NationalCrime Record Bureau (NCRB)report for 2016, also said thatthe BJP-ruled States have thehighest crime rate againstwomen.

“The victim did not namehim (the MLA) because shewas afraid. Why then was henot arrested? We charge hewould never be arrested,” saidSibal.

The former UnionMinister added that once thecase is transferred to the CBI,the investigation agency wouldtake its own time to conductthe probe and the MLA con-cerned would go “abscond-ing” meanwhile.

“After some months, theCBI would give a report that hehad no role. Some peoplewould again threaten the fam-ily (of the victim). We are see-

ing what's happening in thecountry,” he said.

Sibal also referred to thereports on the AdityanathGovernment's decision to with-draw a rape and kidnappingcase against former Unionminister SwamiChinmayananda.

“The Chief Minister wantsto withdraw a case against arape accused former Minister,this is their mindset, the PrimeMinister is silent,” Sibal saidwithout namingChinmayanand.

Alleging Modi to be “notserious” over such incidents,Sibal cited NCRB statistics tosuggest that the BJP-ruledMaharashtra, Madhya Pradeshand Uttar Pradesh reportedhighest crime against womenin 2016.

On the issue of fast by BP,Congress spokesman RandeepSurjewala asked when wouldthe Prime Minister talk of “JanKi Baat” (people's talk), insteadof “jumlas and rhetoric” man-aging headlies. “Post rhetoric,jumlas, diversions, headlinemanagement, TV studio war-fare; Will PM/BJP answer whenwill they start 'Jan Ki Baat'?,” hesaid on Twitter.

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The PunjabG o v e r n m e n t

struck a huge blow toits own Minister andnoted cricketer NavjotSingh Sidhu by seekinghis conviction and sen-tencing in a 30-year-oldroad rage case which resultedin the death of a Patiala resi-dent. The stand of the PunjabGovernment has also exposedthe deep fissures within theparty over the inclusion ofSidhu into the Congress fold.Sidhu had quit the BharatiyaJanata Party to join theCongress just before the Statewent to polls.

Appearing before theSupreme Court, the PunjabGovernment opened its argu-ments on Thursday contestingthe appeal filed by Sidhu andhis co-accused Rupinder SinghSandhu challenging the orderpassed by the Punjab andHaryana High Court whichconvicted them both and sen-tenced them to undergo threeyears in prison.

Supporting the victim, thecounsel for Punjab told abench of Justices JChelameswar and SanjayKishan Kaul that the Punjaband Haryana High Court wasright in convicting its MinisterNavjot Singh Sidhu and hedeserved to suffer the three-year imprisonment for thecrime. The counsel agreedwith the finding of the High

Court that the victimGurnam Singh died

due to the impactof the fist blowby Sidhu. Theincident was ofDecember 27,1988 and fol-

lowing the inci-dent, a trial court

had acquitted Sidhuand his friend finding no

evidence against them.

Contrary to the trial courtconclusion, the StateGovernment argued that it waswrong to suggest that the vic-tim died due to cardiac arrestand not due to brain hemor-rhage due to the impact of theblow.

“There is no evidence thatsuggests that the cause of deathwas cardiac arrest and notbrain hemorrhage. The trialcourt verdict was rightly setaside by the High Court.Accused (Sidhu) had givenfeisty blow to deceasedGurnam Singh leading to hisdeath due to brain hemor-rhage,” argued the State.

The HC had pronouncedSidhu guilty under culpablehomicide not amounting tomurder IPC Section 304 Part IIIPC after taking an opinionfrom a Board of Doctors whoheld the cause of death to bebrain hemorrhage.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi may have been all

praise for their role in boost-ing his pet project 'SwachchBharat Mission' (SBM) at agrand event here on Tuesdaybut the Swachchagrahis(ambassadors of cleanliness) invarious States are runningfrom pillar to post —many ofthem for the last two years toget their wages for the task.

To draw attention of thePrime Minister to theirdemands, a section of swach-hagrahis which had come toattend the concluding cere-mony of ChamparanSatyagraha centenary celebra-tions here created ruckus dur-ing Modi's speech. Many ruedthat they were not paid stipendfor working under the Chalo

Champaran Campaign, a partof the Swachh Bharat Missionof the Centre while otherssaid that they are still waitingfor payment for their worksince they joined the schemelaunched in 2016.

Swachhagrahis is a dedi-cated, trained and properlyincentivized sanitation work-force at the village level com-prising 'foot soldiers' or'Swachhata Doots' engaged insensitizing the villagers aboutthe importance of cleanlinessand hazards of poor hygiene.

They said that while theyhad been doing their job seri-ously, going door to door tosensitise people about thecleanliness, the officials havebeen just making fall promis-es regarding payment.

Hailing from States likeBihar, Madhya Pradesh, UttarPradesh and Maharashtra

besides Tamil Nadu, they saidthat they were unemployedhence had took up the job ofswachchagrahis in the hopethat they will get some liveli-hood to feed their families.

When asked, UnionWater and SanitationMinistr y Secretar yParameswaran Iyer said thatit is an incentive that theStates have to pay. “If they arenot being paid, we will soonissue a circular to all theStates, asking them to maketimely and adequate paymentto the Swachchagrahis as theyplay an important role in oursanitation drive,” he said.

At the event, Modi hadappreciated the role of theSwachchh Bharat Mission vol-unteers and said that as manyas 350 districts across thecountry are now open defeca-tion free (ODF).

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The Election Commission(EC), in an affidavit to the

Supreme Court, has asked foran amendment in theConstitution seeking protectionfor the ElectionCommissioners from removalat the behest of the ChiefElection Commissioner andrule-making powers to “remaininsulated from political pres-sure”.

The EC also made it clearthat it has been sending theproposal to the Centre foramendments to this effect since1998 and seeking that the rule-making power, which as pre-sent rests with the Centre, begiven to it. The Commissionhas responded to the SupremeCourt in a PIL filed by AshwiniKumar Upadhyay for moreautonomy and independence

to the EC.EC stated that it had been

pressing for the rule-makingauthority to be conferred onitself on the lines of the SC toempower it to make election-related rules as well as the codeof conduct.

“The presentConstitutional guarantee isinadequate and requires anamendment to provide thesame protection and safeguardin the matter of removability ofElection Commissioners as isavailable to the Chief ElectionCommissioner,” reads the ECaffidavit.

“According to Article324(5), the CEC enjoys thesame protection as an SC judgewho can be removed after amotion is passed in either ofthe two Houses of theParliament and is subject to thePresidential assent,” it said.

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Page 6: 2 # .3245./6 .0 4 - dailypioneer.com to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) has intensified

its efforts to prevent the propa-gation over the social media ofmessages aimed at wooingKeralites into the global terrorforce, Islamic State (ISIS).

As part of the crackdown,the investigation agency hasreportedly instructed the author-ities of the social media platform‘Telegram’ to remove groupsthat are specialising in propaga-tion of Islamic State ideology.The agency’s efforts were trig-gered allegedly by the appearancein a section of the media somevoice messages about the recruit-ment of youths into the ISIS.

The NIA has learned thatmessages are being circulatedextensively over the social mediawith the objective of recruitingmore youths into the ISIS fromKerala, which had become animportant centre for sourcingmanpower for the terror groupa long time back. Telegram isperhaps the most preferred plat-

form for propagating such mes-sages, according to sleuths.

As per reports, the NIA hadsucceeded in getting at leastthree such Telegram App groupsspecialising in propagatingIslamic State ideology taken offthe cyberspace last year. The NIAturned its attention to the mat-ter now as such messages hadstarted coming out of ISIS cen-ters abroad recently after a longlull.

However, the Telegram mes-sages that had reached Keralarecently had not containedexplosively provocative contents

but the NIA has brought thegroups under surveillance espe-cially because the messages con-tained matters pertaining toISIS-related cases that cameunder the agency’s ongoinginvestigations, a Kerala TV chan-nel quoted a top NIA official assaying.

The most important terrorcase the NIA is looking intoKerala is the one related to thedisappearance of 22 personsincluding women and childrenfrom Kasaragod and Palakkaddistricts in May-June, 2016, whohad allegedly joined the ISIS in

Afghanistan. The case was reg-istered by the Kerala Police andthe NIA took over the probelater. A Special NIA Court hadon March 24 sentenced YasmeenMohammed Zahid, a 30-year-old woman of Bihar origin, toseven years’ rigorous imprison-ment in the case relating to therecruitment of 15 personsincluding Abdul RashidAbdullah from Padanna,Kasaragod, allegedly the group’scoordinator and second husbandof the woman.

“It is almost impossible foragencies to lay their hands on theroots of such social media col-lectives as the people behindthem are based in places that areentirely out of reach for them. Allthat the agencies can do is to takedown the particular pages butthey can come up with anothercollective,” said a former KeralaPolice official who was with itscyber wing.

This is not the first timeefforts by the ISIS to lure Keralayouths into it with campaignsthrough social media platforms

had caught the attention of theinvestigating and Intelligenceagencies. They had in July lastyear found out that some of thepeople belonging to the group of22 were managing a WhatsAppcollective intended at spreadingthe ideology of Jihad.

The admin of one of theWhatsApp groups the agencieshad identified then, “Message toKerala”, was one Abu Isa, pre-sumably the same Isa fromYakkara, Palakkad, a Christianyouth who converted to Islamwho had gone to Afghanistanwith his wife Fatima, a Hindugirl who had embraced Islam.

Investigators had learnedas back as in October, 2016 thatAnsarul Khilafa-Kerala, a mod-ule of the ISIS, had been runninga Facebook page with similarobjective. They had also learnedthat the page was being main-tained by Manseed ofThalassery, who was arrested onOctober 2, 2016 along withfour others from Kanakamala,Kannur while they were holdinga secret meeting.

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BJP president Amit Shah,who is on a two-day visit to

poll bound Karnataka, hasprotested in front of DC’s officeat Dharwad in North Karnatakaon Thursday and blastedCongress and its presidentRahul Gandhi for playing divi-sive politics. BJP chief blamedCongress for the washout of thesecond half of the BudgetSession of Parliament, and saidparty which lacks "internaldemocracy" cannot protectdemocracy in the country.

Accusing the Congress andits president Rahul Gandhi ofpromoting "divisive politics"in the name of caste and reli-gion, he said the people ofKarnataka will see throughtheir tactics and give them abefitting reply in the upcomingpolls.

"The Congress does notbelieve in democracy. Rahulbaba, don't preach us ondemocracy. You have forgottenthat your grandmother (IndiraGandhi) imposed Emergencyand muzzled people's voices”. "Itis you who put democracy inshackles at your home. Nehruji,Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi,Sonia Gandhi and now RahulGandhi... I don't know who willbe the next Gandhi”... He saidcharging the Congress.

The BJP chief also accusedthe Congress of promoting

divisive politics in their lust forpower. "It has been theCongress nature to promotedivisive politics in the name ofcaste and religion. The peopleof this country understand allthese tactics.

Amit Shah joined thenationwide protest call given byPrime Minister Modi againstdisruption of Parliament bythe Congress. He said,“Congress knew very well thatthey cannot debate in any of theHouse so they did not let theParliament function.”

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With a view to strengthenorganisational structure

of the party Gujarat Congresson Thursday kick-start 45-daylong ‘Samvad Yatra’ (DialogueTour) from the pilgrimageAmbaji in North Gujarat. TheYatra will cover 33 districts andeight biggest cities –Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat,Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagarand Junagadh during the peri-od.

The newly appointedGujarat Congress presidentAmit Chavda and Leader ofOpposition Paresh Dhananiflagged off Samvad Yatra andcovered Banaskantha and Patandistricts in North Gujarat.

Apart from meeting local partyworkers, the top Congress lead-ers in the State would also high-light problems being faced bythe people under the BJP ruledGovernment that include burn-ing problem of drinking waterscarcity. They would also meetpeople and give assurance toraise their issues with the StateGovernment.

In lines with their topleader Rahul Gandhi, theGujarat Congress leadershipwould kick-start all phases of‘Samvad Yatra’ from a pilgrim-age or a temple. According toa Congress leader ‘SoftHindutva’ paid rich dividend inthe 2017 Assembly polls as theparty improved its tally from 60seats to 77 out of 182 total seats.

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Telangana Congress party, inthe dog-house since its

defeat in 2014, was finally get-ting its act together and hasadopted an offensive posture totake on the ruling TelanganaRashtra Samiti in the nextyear’s Assembly elections.

The State CongressCommittee president N UttamKumar Reddy, bolstered by thesuccess of his ongoing BusYatra has come up with a newstrategy to corner the rulingparty.

The plan, apart from field-ing strong and winnable can-didates in the strongholds of theTRS including the constituen-cies of the Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao and his sonK Taraka Rama Rao, includesexploring the possibility oftying up with Telugu Desamparty, an unthinkable proposi-tion for both the parties till therecent past.

When asked about the pos-sibility, Uttam Kumar Reddysaid, “There is no hard and fastrule that the Congress party cannot forge an alliance with theTDP? We are not averse to joinhands with the TDP in the nextelections”. Thoug the Congressand Telugu Desam have alwaysbeen a bitter opponent andanti-Congressism was the raisond’etre of TDP since its formationin 1982, both the parties were indesperate situation since the for-mation of Telangana state andlooking for a desperate solution.

While Congress was in afight back mode to reclaim itsprime position, the TDP was ina still bad shape reduced to onlytwo members in the stateassembly. However in terms ofmass base, the party still has asignificant vote share of nearly20% and the Congress realisesthat if it joins hands with theTDP it can give a tough chal-lenge to the TRS. Congress hadpolled 25% votes against TRS’35% in 2014.

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The Asom Gana Parishad(AGP) on Thursday said the

party is not going to accept theCentral Government’s move topass the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill, 2016 andthat the regional party will notaccept any move to grant citi-zenship to Hindu Bangladeshisin Assam.

AGP president Atul Borasaid this on Friday while inter-acting with the newsmen andadded that the regional party,which is a partner of the rulingBJP led alliance Government inAssam, had already informedthe party’s stand to the CentralGovernment.

“There cannot be any com-promise on the issue ofCitizenship (Amendment) Bill2016. We are not going toaccept any move to grant citi-zenship to any individual whohas entered Assam after March24, 1971. The historical AssamAccord signed in 1985 hasmade it clear and the spirit of

the Accord must be respected atany cost,” said Bora, who is alsothe state Agriculture Minister.

“Under no circumstancewe are going to acceptBangladeshi citizens, who hadentered Assam after March 24,1971,” said Bora terming theAmendment bill as un-consti-tutional. He reiterated that theparty will oppose the Bill toothand nail.

It may be mentioned herethat the AGP, Bodoland Peoples’Front (BPF) and the BJP formedan alliance before the Assamelections in 2016. Two yearsafter the alliance, the AGP andBJP are, however, set to fight theforthcoming panchayat pollsin the state separately.

Asked about the party’salliance with the BJP in nextyear’s Lok Sabha polls, the AGPpresident only said that theAGP is a partner of the BJP ledNDA Government at the Centreand the BJP led Government inAssam and that the party is notgoing to be a part of any thirdfront.

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The ruling Shiv Sena onThursday opened a new

front against the ruling BJP, asit vehemently opposed India'slargest oil refinery and petro-leum products complex atNanar in Ratnagiri district incoastal Konkan region, a pro-ject that threatens to be anissue in the 2019 Lok Sabhapolls.

The Sena’s opposition tothe Nanar refinery projectcame a day after an Indian con-sortium comprising Indian OilCorporation (IOC), BharatPetroleum Corporation Ltd(BPCL) and HindustanPetroleum Corporation Ltd(BPCL) signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withSaudi Arabian Oil Co (SaudiAramco) for setting an oilrefinery and petroleum prod-ucts complex at Nanar inRajapur taluka of Ratnagiri dis-trict.

“Despite the assurance byChief Minister DevendraFadnavis that the Nanar pro-

ject would not be thrust on thepeople of Ratnagiri district,the Centre has precisely donethat. Come what may, we willnot let the oil refinery projectto come up at Nanar,” ShivSena president UddhavThackeray said in a statementissued here.

In his elaboration, Uddhavrecalled that Fadnavis had cat-egorically said that if there wasopposition to the “environ-mentally hazardous” oil refin-ery project from the local peo-ple, the project would not beset up at Nanar.

“Through its decision tolocate the refinery project atNanar in Ratnagiri district,the Modi Government hasbetrayed the confidence of thelocal people who have beenopposing the project for quitesome time. That only goes toprove that the chief minister’sassurance to people has novalue at all. If the Centrechooses to go ahead with theproject by ignoring theOpposition from the local peo-ple, we will not let project tofructify at any time in future,”

Uddhav said.“The Shiv Sena’s stand has

been: Don’t destroy ecologi-cally-sensitive Konkan regionin general and in particularMangoes and bamboos grownthere, all in the name of devel-opment. We have broachedthis issue with the chief min-ister. He has accepted ourpoint of view,” the Sena presi-dent said.

“In fact, Fadnavis shouldhave told the Centre in clearcut terms that Nanar refinerywas an anti-people project andit should not be set up atNanar. The chief minister mayhave now changed his earlier,but we are sticking to ourstand: we will not allow therefinery project to come up atNanar,” Uddhav said.

When completed the Rs 3-trillion Nanar refinery will bethe largest single location refin-ery complex in the world witha capacity of 60 million tonnes.

In fact, the Nanar refineryproject is the second majorproject that the Shiv Sena hasopposed the coastal Konkanregion.

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Efforts by the DMK-ledOpposition parties to play

spoilsport during the whirl-wind tour of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to Chennai onThursday to show their resent-ment over the failure of theCentre to constitute the CauveryManagement Board did notcreate much impact because ofthe security blanket thrownover the city by the Tamil NaduPolice and central intelligenceagencies. Nearly 3,000 activistsbelonging to various outfitshave been taken into preventivecustody by the State Police tomake the Prime Minister's visita hassle-free event.

The DMK had threatenedto wave black flags at the PrimeMinister during his visit toChennai to inaugurate theDefence Expo 2018 whichbegan in a city suburb onWednesday.

Prime Minister Modi wholanded at Chennai InternationalAirport by a special aircraft onThursday morning took off by

an IAF helicopter to the venueof the Defence Expo 2018 beingheld at the East Coast Road. TheDMK had hoisted black flagsatop the residence of partypresident M Karunanidhi atGopalapuram, the party head-quarters at Teynampet and theimposing residence of partyworking president M K Stalin.

Karunanidhi, who is ailingfor the last two years, was madeto wear a black shirt for the dayby his third wife Rajathi Ammaland the video was circulatedamong the TV channels.Likewise Stalin who is under-taking a walkathon in theCauvery Delta districtsdemanding the constitution ofthe Cauvery ManagementBoard, staged a demonstrationwearing black shirts andtrousers.

Some of the public places inChennai had been “decorated”with black flags. It is doubtfulwhether these incidents caughtthe attention of the PrimeMinister. There are reports thatthe Tamil chauvinist groupshad the tacit support of theAIADMK government to stage

black flag demonstration againstthe Prime Minister. “ChiefMinister EdappadyPalaniswamy did not want theDMK to get the full credit forthe protests against the Centreover the delay in constituting theCMB. It is to be noted thatPalaniswamy submitted amemorandum to the PrimeMinister on Thursday pleadingfor the early constitution of theCMB,’ said an intelligence offi-cial.

Prime Minister Modi, afterthe inauguration of the DefenceExpo, watched the demonstra-tion by some of the state-of-the-art battle tanks, armoured per-sonnel carriers, air crafts andnaval vessels. Later he arrived inthe specially built helipad in theIIT Madras campus and attend-ed a function held at AdyarCancer Centre.

Some of the Tamil chau-vinist activists tried innovativeways to bring to the attention ofthe Prime Minister the “BlackWelcome” they had planned forhim. One of the groups evenflew hydrogen filled balloons inthe city skylines.

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Page 7: 2 # .3245./6 .0 4 - dailypioneer.com to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7

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Suspected terrorists hurled agrenade towards a police sta-

tion in south Kashmir’s Pulwamatown as normal life came to ahalt in Kashmir valley onThursday in protest against thekilling of four unarmed protest-ers during a gunfight betweensecurity forces and terrorists insouth Kashmir’s Kulgam districta day ago. A soldier died and twoothers were wounded in the gun-fight with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)militants who fled away whenthe encounter site was stormedby protesters.

Police sources said that twopolicemen were injured in agrenade attack by unidentifiedterrorists on police station inPulwama. The grenade explod-ed outside the police stationpremises. They said the law andorder situation remained undercontrol and there were noattempts to breach the pro-hibitory orders.

The shutdown call wasgiven by Joint ResistanceLeadership (JRL) comprisingprominent separatist leadersSyed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz UmerFarooq and Muhammad YasinMalik whose movement hasbeen barred by the authorities.

Four civilians were killed in

‘crossfire’ between security forcesand terrorists in Khudwani vil-lage near Wanpoh in Kulgamdistrict during a counterinsur-gency operation launched bysecurity forces on the basis ofspecific input regarding presenceof terrorists in a residentialhouse. The locals alleged that thecivilians were killed to avengethe killing of a soldier by ter-rorists who managed to fleefrom the encounter site. Peoplein large numbers stormed theencounter site after announce-ments were made from localmosques to help terroristsescape.

All shops, business estab-lishments, educational institu-

tions, banks and post officesremained closed and publictransport was off the roads.Prohibitory restrictions wereimposed in areas under sevenpolice stations in Srinagar cityand various sensitive areas inKulgam.

Heavy contingents of policeand the Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) were deployedacross the Kashmir Valley.Concertina wires and barri-cades have been placed at allentry and exit points in Srinagarcity.

Despite shutdown, a largenumber of tourists were seen vis-iting Mughal gardens acrossthe Boulevard Road in Srinagar.

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In a development unprece-dented in the electoral his-

tory of India and stridentlyrepresentative of MamataBanerjee Government’s inabil-ity to even hold a peacefulpanchayat election, theCalcutta High Court onThursday intervened in thepoll process and stalled thepanchayat election proceduretill April 16 when the StateElection Commission largelydismissed by the Oppositionas a tool in the hands of adespotic Chief Minister will berequired to submit an action-taken-report against electoralmalpractices.

The import of the termelectoral malpractices herewould also include, the num-ber of candidates who couldnot file their nominations onaccount a sudden withdrawalby the Commission of its cir-cular extending the nomina-tion date by a day in responseto a Supreme Court orderdwelling on a petition filed bythe BJP against large-scaleviolence by Trinamool cadresstopping Opposition partiesfrom filing nominations,experts said.

Though the Apex Courtand the High Court had whileadjudicating on earlier peti-tions — seeking judicial inter-vention to prevent violence-induced rigging at the nomi-

nation stage and deploymentof central force — haddeclined to interfere in the pollprocess directing the pollpanel to take adequate mea-sures, on Thursday a lividhigher judiciary apparentlytook cognizance of the flip-flop by the Commission anddirected stalling of the processtill Monday and asked it to filea detailed report on actions ithad taken to ensure free andfare elections.

While the immediateimplication of the order whichTrinamool Congress MP andsenior counsel KalyanBanerjee said would be chal-lenged in a Division Benchwould entail instant restrictionon the process of scrutiny andwithdrawal of nomination itsfar reaching impact couldmean the postponement of theelection process: putting there-by question mark on bothElection CommissionerAmrendra Kumar Singh andthe State Government’s abili-ties to ensure democratic envi-ronment by conducting freeand fare elections, expertssaid.

The Opposition partieslike the BJP and CPI(M) hadon Wednesday moved theHigh Court seeking its inter-vention after the SEC onTuesday morning withdrewits 10-hour-old circular passedon Monday extending thedeadline for filing of nomina-

tion by a day following large-scale complaints of violenceduring and hindrance in filingof nominations by opposition

candidates. “The order onlyvindicates our stance thatdemocratic is under siege inBengal where the Government

and the ruling party does noteven allow to hold thepanchyayat elections,” saidMukul Roy BJP leader.

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As he joined the BJP’s day-long fast against the

“washout” of the Parliamentproceedings during the recentBudget session, MaharashtraChief Minister DevendraFadnavis on Thursdaycharged that the Oppositionhad “ insulted” theConstitution by not makinguse of Parliament to addressthe issues of common man.

After participating in theday-long fast organised atBJP’s Vile Parle office innorth-west Mumbai, Fadnavistweeted: “Ye public hai,sabjanti hai! Frustrated@INCIndia has to accept thatpeople of India have rejectedthem & brought worst lossever! Taking out your frus-trations & anger on people bystalling the Parliament func-

tioning is ABSOLUTELYUNACCEPTABLE!”

“When the Governmentis ready for discussion onever y single issue andParliament is the place wherewe need to address issues ofcommon man, why isOpposition today is justhappy with insulting oursupreme constitution?,” theChief Minister asked.

“We are working hard tobring last man of the society

into mainstream. While goingon fast, Opposition mustexplain what have they donewith Bharat Ratna DrBabasaheb Ambedkar ? Andfor so many years in powerwhat have they done for up-liftment of the poor & thedeprived?,” Fadnavis asked.

“Today Central and StateGovernments are workingwith many schemes and ini-tiatives for providing hugeemployment and entrepre-neurship opportunities andalso for development of ruralroads, providing cooking gasconnections and lot more !, “the chief minister said.

Apart from Fadnavis, BJPMPs Poonam Mahajan,Paresh Rawal, city BJP presi-dent Ashish Shelar and otherparty leaders partifcipated inthe fast organised at the BJP’sVile Parle Unit.

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Three days after photos ofDelhi Congress leaders hav-

ing ‘Chhole Bhature’ duringtheir fast, the ruling BJP founditself in an embarrassing situa-tion on Thursday, as two of itsMLAs from Pune were caughton camera eating snacks whentheir entire party was in themidst of a day-long fast led byPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two fasting BJP MLAs—identified as Bhimrao Tapkirfrom Khadakwasla constituen-cy and Sanjay Bhegade alias Balafrom Maval constituency —were seen eating sandwiches —during an official meeting calledby Guaradian Minister to reviewthe review of StateGovernment's 'Jalyukt Shivar'scheme and the preparations forthe Kharif season, at Pune’s oldCouncil Hall.

A video of the meeting,which was recorded at 1 pm,showed Tapkir and Bhegade sit-ting next to each other and eat-ing sandwiches from the platesserved to them.. Before long, thevideo went viral on televisionchannel and social media.

When contacted, the twoMLAs admitted that they hadinadvertently eaten a bit ofsnacks served to them as part ofthe protocol for the electedrepresentatives and officialsattending the meeting.

Quickly latching onto theissue served to his party on aplatter by the BJP, MaharashtraCongress President AshokChavan said that the “drama offasting will not work anymore”as the people were no longerbelieved the “false promises” bythe Narendra ModiGovernment.

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Upping the ante on dis-tressed farmer Shankar

Bhaurao Chayare’s suicide atYavatmal in Vidarbha region,the Opposition Congress onThursday demanded that acriminal case be registeredagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavisfor abetting the suicide byChayare.

On a day when Chayare’sfamily members finally relent-ed, took his body from theYavatmal Government hospi-tal and performed the finalrites in their native village ofRajurwadi, former ChiefMinister and MaharashtraPradesh Congress Committee

(MPCC) president AshokChavan said: “Chayare’s fam-ily has demanded that a crim-inal case be registered againstPrime Minister Modi. Wesupport the stand taken byChayare’s family. We wouldalso want the police register acriminal case against bothModi and Chief MinisterFadnavis for abettingChayare’s suicide”.

Chayare’s elder daughterJaishri had gone to a localpolice station on Tuesday andmade an application seekingregistration of a case againstPrime Minister Modi on theground that her father had inhis suicide note squarely heldthe Modi Governmentresponsible for her father’sdeath.

Slamming the ChiefMinister for not visitingChayare’s family, Chavansaid: “ The Chief Minister hasnot visited the family. Nor hasthe Yavatmal GuardianMinister has bothered to visitthe affected family for the pasttwo days. Instead, the StateGovernment has chosen todepute local social activistsKishore Tiwari to visit thefamily and hand over a cashcompensation to the family”.On Wednesday, Chayare’sfamily members rejected acompensation of �100,000offered to them on behalf ofthe Maharashtra Governmentby Vasantrao Naik ShetiSwavalamban (VNSM)Mission Chairman KishoreTiwari.

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(MILITARY ENGINEER SERVICES)NOTICE INVITING e-TENDER

Garrison Engineer Chandimandir-134107 on behalf of President of India online item rates bids on Single Stage TwoCover Bid system for the following works:-Sr Name of work Estimated cost Completion Tender IDNo of Work (in Lakhs) Period1 2 3 4 51 REPAIRS AND MAINT OF BLDGS OF ASC 30.00 06 (Six)

SUP DEPOT, ESM, AFT, TANK TCP, MES MonthsOFFRS MESS, LADHAK SCOUNTS UNDER AGE B&R-II AT CHM

' For Further details refer web site eprocuremes.gov.in / eproucre.gov.inNOTE:-1. Notice Inviting Bid as published in news papers shall not form part Notice ofTender/ Bid document.T. Type of tender (lump sum / item rate etc) shall be as applicable and bid system shall be specifically mentioned as

decided by Accepting Officer.Sd/-

(Nirmal Singh)AE (QS&C)

AGE (Contracts) davp/10102/11/0045/1819 for Garrison Engineer

Page 8: 2 # .3245./6 .0 4 - dailypioneer.com to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7

Freedom of the Press has not beenexplicitly provided for in theConstitution of India. Instead, the

freedom of the Press is derived from thefreedom of speech and expression whichhas been enshrined in Article 19 of ourConstitution. Under this Article, each andevery citizen has been guaranteed theright to exercise his/her right to freespeech, subject to certain reasonablerestrictions that have been prescribedunder the Constitution.

In this week’s column, I will attemptto look back on how this Government wentabout in an ill-advised and hurried man-ner to tackle the issue of fake news and inreality ended up attacking the right to free-dom of speech and expression. I will alsotry to examine how such moves are char-acteristic of an insincere Government andlastly examine how this Government ispart of the problem of fake news.

How not to solve a problem: As stat-ed above, free speech is a fundamentalright that has been provided by ourConstitution. Typically this right can onlybe curtailed in certain prescribed situa-tions, including, inter alia measures toensure public order and maintaining thesovereignty and integrity of India. It mustbe remembered, however, that the curtail-ment of this right to free speech can andshould only be taken with great care anddeliberation. In the case of tackling ‘fakenews’, it is clear that the problem of shar-ing of mass misinformation either inten-tionally or recklessly must be curtailed.

While this problem of ‘fake news’ isa significant and complicated problemthat requires a deft touch and thoroughdeliberations, the manner in which SmritiIrani and the Ministry of Information andBroadcasting (MIB) has gone aboutattempting to tackle it would be laughableif it were not so terrifying. The notifica-tion issued by the MIB provided no def-inition of what would be considered asfake news and alarmingly mandated thatthe accreditations of a journalist be sus-pended as soon as an accusation is madeagainst the him/her. Therefore, instead ofacting with great care and deliberation,the Government adopted all the deftnessof a sledgehammer.

While tackling the problem of ‘fakenews’, the priority of any responsibleGovernment must be to first ensure thatfreedom of speech is not undulyrestrained. The notification passed by theMIB seemed to go out of its way to ensurethe opposite. The obvious fear behindsuch a move is that it could work to sup-press free speech by characterising anypiece of news that is not in favour of theparty at power to be fake news.

This Government has always foundcriticism of its policies and its rhetoric

difficult. This was another example of its‘touchiness’ towards bad news. The movewas so ill-conceived that the only surprisewas how long it took to roll back thishowler by the Government. Mild criticsof this notification have said that it misses the forest for the trees but in reality, the Government missed the for-est because it was too busy cutting downthe trees.

An insincere Government: The deci-sion of the Government to roll back theMIB’s proposed move has been taken bysome as another indicator of an indeci-sive Government. However, in reality, itis similar to its moves in the past thatlends credence to the argument that it is,in fact, another indicator of an insincereGovernment.

I had stated in my previous columnsabout the various jumlas of thisGovernment, including its attempts tomodernise India through the ‘SmartCities Initiative’ or to help tackle the issuesrelated to waste management and ourdirty cities through the Swachh BharatAbhiyan. In relation to both, while theclaims are tall and lofty, the actual factsmake for grim reading.

This attempt to ‘tackle’ fake news isanother such empty initiative. The reasonthat I doubt this Government’s resolve totackle the problem is because it is aston-ishing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)can claim to tackle the issue of fake newswhile also supporting a proponent of it.

In the case of Postcard News, thepolice in Bengaluru arrested its co-

founder Mahesh Vikram Hegde forallegedly spreading false informationthrough a social media post. It wasreported that Hegde claimed that a youngMuslim had assaulted a Jain monk. Inreality, the police state that the monk hadbeen injured in a road accident.

In fact, Postcard News has a history ofmaking dubious claims and one wouldthink that this kind of false, maliciousrumour is the exact kind of misinforma-tion that the Government should target.

One would expect the BJP to distanceitself from such outlets, instead, howev-er, a number of BJP leaders came out insupport of Mahesh Hegde, includingUnion Minister Anant kumar Hegdewho tweeted his support for him.Therefore, you can understand my scep-ticism about this Government’s intentionswhen it states that it aims to tackle theproblem of ‘fake news’.

Practise what you preach: PrimeMinister Narendra Modi recently claimedat a rally in Motihari, Bihar, that the Statehad build 8,50,000 toilets in a week inApril and congratulated the StateGovernment on this achievement. Thisimplies that 84 toilets were built every 61.5seconds. It is this kind of information thatis part of the problem of fake news. ThisGovernment is known to be fast and loosewith facts, figures and statistics.

I have previously written about thevarious jumlas of the Modi Governmentwhere the primary motive seems to dis-tract us with glittering statistics andmarketing campaigns about various

schemes and programmes that seem toogood to be true. It is only when you spendfive minutes looking into the claim thatyou realise it indeed is too good to be true.

It is this kind of Olympian-level ofgymnastic flexibility with the truth thatseems to be a hallmark of the BJP and theGovernment. There is so much informa-tion that is being peddled by the BJP andthe Government either directly or throughits support of proponents of fake news.The fact is that there has always been someamount of misinformation that has exist-ed. However, with the advent of socialmedia channels and free messaging appli-cations like Whatsapp, this misinforma-tion is being spread at a viral rate.

The obligation of any responsibleGovernment is then to first look inwardand ensure that it is not part of the prob-lem. This can be done by minimising mis-information and lack of transparencywithin its ranks.

Instead, what we have is aGovernment that made an ill-advisedattempt to target journalists who arerequired to keep the Government inpower, in check.

One would hope that in the comingdays, weeks and months, the BJPGovernment takes a serious look withinrather than without to tackle the spreadof any misinformation. However, I ammore inclined to believe that any suchannouncement is likely to be fake news.

(The writer, Jharkhand PCC president,is a former MP and IPS officer. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Dream of a sustainable India”(April 12) by VK Bahuguna. Kudosto the writer who has put forth somedoable solutions to the vital issuesthat the country is faced with. Indiatoday faces serious issues of land andsoil degradation, pollution, water cri-sis, droughts and floods, loss of bio-diversity, climate change and glob-al warming — all of these stemmingfrom an environmental degradation.A majority of these problems havetheir roots in the incessant removalof our green cover.

Unchecked growth of popula-tion, enormous infrastructure andagricultural development and build-ing of hydroelectric projects, com-pletely unconcerned with the con-sequences have led to the removalof forests with impunity.Unfortunately, our leaders and peo-ple at large are unaware of the sce-nario this country is going to face innot too distant future.

How otherwise do we explainour misplaced priorities, unduedelays in critical decision-makingand unspent budgetary allocationsin urgent executions in the country?At the end of the day, it is up to thepolitical leadership of the country tomake India sustainable. It is time wesave environmental decay frombecoming an existential emergency.

Prakash C DixitRishikesh

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Sir — It is an irony that politiciansacross party lines have colouredthemselves in particular colours,with the Bahujan Samaj Party

(BSP) choosing blue and reserv-ing saffron for the BJP.

The BSP, being guilty ofcolouring the complete State ofUttar Pradesh in blue during itsregime, is amongst the opposi-tion parties who are accusing theBJP Government to paint theState in saffron.

Such colouring of institu-tions and buildings according tothe taste of ruling political par-ties is unnecessary burden on theState exchequers funded by hard-earned money of taxpayers. Itwill be better if some specificcolours are selected for big citieswith consensus of the rulingand the opposition parties.

Madhu Agrawal Delhi

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Hubris is the opponent”(April 11). There is no safety forour girls/women under thedemocratic Government in ourcountry. So many cases of rapesare reported everyday and theculprits are freed after theirarrests because our politicianshave failed to introduce stringi-est laws to handle and punishthe rapists. Leaders might beafraid of introducing stringiestlaw of ‘death sentence to therapist’ because most of therapes are committed by theirnear and dear ones who takeadvantage of theirposition/power.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

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Page 9: 2 # .3245./6 .0 4 - dailypioneer.com to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7

This article is a continuation ofthe previous column,“Welcome, China’s President

for life” (April 2) exploring theIndia-China relationship under thechanged conditions of engagement.From the point of view of India, thisis an extremely favourable situation.

This is so not only because of themere practical fact of political stabil-ity that Chinese President Xi Jinping’sleadership will usher in the years tocome, but also because China’srenewed focus on cultural revivalmakes it look towards India as its nat-ural ally in the new transformationthat is taking place the world overand in which Asiatic resurgence, ledby the restoration of close-knit cul-tural and political cooperation, is the

vision that dominates China’s inter-nal apolitical circles.

This puts in perspective theChinese Foreign Minister, WangYi’s, recent comment: “The Chinesedragon and Indian elephant mustnot fight each other but dancewith each other. If China and Indiaare united, one plus one is not equalto two but eleven. Despite sometests and difficulties, China-Indiarelationship continues to grow.”

This was further confirmed byChinese Foreign AffairsSpokesperson, Lu Kang’s statementthat Wang Yi’s comments represent-ed China’s “basic position” on itsrelationship with India.

It is unfortunate that only theIndian Government welcomedChina’s comments, while a major-ity of public ‘analysts’ either dis-missed them or treated them withsuspicion, as usual.

For how long can India contin-ue to harbour a selfish, Western-inspired foreign policy of ‘balanceof powers’ by striking utilitarianrelationships with nations to bal-

ance out competing interests andcontain rivals?

It is commendable that China isnot even reacting to India’s plans to‘contain’ it in the Indian Ocean byallying with Japan, the US andAustralia, or trying to forge a Beltand Road Initiative (BRI) replicathrough the Asia-Africa EconomicCorridor or the trade route withIran and Afghanistan — all beingdone, like Doklam, to ostensibly putChina in its place.

Despite these irritants spawnedby a seemingly inconsistent Indianpolicy on China, the latter, on itspart, is trying not to leave any stoneunturned to accommodate India.From offering to rename the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor toagreeing to grey-list Pakistan in theterror-funding list, China is tryingits best to accommodate Indiawhile ensuring that its businessinterests in Pakistan are not disturbed.

India has not yet fully graspedthe positive role China’s interven-tion in Pakistan will play in the

near future. China’s foreign economic pol-

icy seemingly entails making poor-er nations indebted to itself without being a brutal creditor, likethe World Bank or the InternationalMonetary Fund — this enablesChina to control these countries aswell as achieve its purposes of positive cultural indoctrination inthem.

Pakistan is nothing more thanone such country. What China didin Sri Lanka and Africa, it is doingin Pakistan. Recent reports, inSwarajya magazine claim thatChina has been secretly holdingtalks with the Baloch separatistswithout involving Pakistan in orderto protect its business interests inthe region — this shows how muchof an ‘equal’ ally Pakistan really is.

Leaked documents of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor alsoshow that China has been interest-ed in controlling the Pakistanimedia and other cultural centresand conduct sur vei l lance inPakistani cities — obviously, de-

radicalising Pakistan would serve tocounter the Muslim separatist threatfaced by China in its XinjiangProvince.

Despite China treating Pakistanas nothing more than a convenientstrategic ground, India cannot seemto grasp this. It continues to wantChina to treat Pakistan and Indiaequally — what a travesty of equal-ity that would be!

Despite India’s insistence, thefact that China treats India withutmost respect and as its own equalin power and cultural history, hasbeen India’s luck for decades. ButIndia wants to be treated likePakistan — a classic instance of howforeign policy stumbles.

The reason why China holdsIndia in high regard despite constantpolitical tensions between the twocountries is mainly because of India’sstatus as a cultural powerhouse andits ancient lineage. This is set to accel-erate under Xi’s leadership.

If Xi Jinping remains around fora long time and if India-China rela-tions get back to their true spirit, the

vision of Asiatic political resurgencemay not seem that distant a dream.On its part, India needs to work outthat textbook implementation oftheories like the ‘balance of power’— spawned by a West-dominateddiscipline of international relations— by forging unfruitful allianceslike the Quad, simply egg on Chinawithout doing much to actuallycontain it.

Perhaps, we should take a leafout of China’s book and attempt toevolve a foreign policy informedmore by our own historical and cul-tural traditions and visionary innature, based on political states-manship and not mechanicalbureaucratic wisdom.

While the Narendra ModiGovernment has widened the over-all foreign policy, a selfish, narrow,academical and West-dominatedapproach seems to be restricting theplay of the full potential of India-China partnership.

(The writer is with the Institutefor Peace and Conflict Studies andwrites for The Resurgent India Trust)

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The recently concludedAustralia-South AfricaTest series was, even if youleave out the hopelesslyone-sided fourth Test, not

only one of the most controversial inrecent memory but also one of themost competitive. A strong androbust South African team at homewere taking on an Australian sideblessed with their innate never-say-die approach and it sure made forsome enthralling cricket.

The high standards maintainedby both sides, at least for the firstthree games, definitely offered apolite reminder to those who believeTest cricket is dying. It’s very muchalive and the sheer competitivenesson display was a fair enough reflection of that.

This Australia-South Africaseries was being played a year afteranother enthralling four-Test seriescloser to home between India andAustralia. Despite the Aussies bat-tling gallantly, the Indians at homeproved to be far too strong after los-ing the opening Test match.

It isn’t just the competitive spir-it that binds both these series togeth-

er, there is another common factor.As many as three players KagisoRabada, Patrick Cummins andMitchell Starc, all fast bowlers, wereruled out through injury from theongoing Indian Premier League(IPL) that started a few days post thecompletion of the Australia-SouthAfrica series. This is in addition toSteve Smith and David Warner whoare not playing this season’s IPL afterbeing handed a one-year ban byCricket Australia, for their role in theball-tampering scandal that tookplace during the third Test match inCape Town.

This is not the first time thoughthat we are seeing players puttingtheir bodies on the line to play Testcricket even if it means aggravatingan injury that could rule them out ofthe cash-rich IPL. Last year saw threepremier Indian cricketers KL Rahul,Ravichandran Ashwin and MuraliVijay miss the entire IPL season, arare occurrence in the tournament’sdecade-long history as Indian play-ers are always the major draw.

More than just the physical tollthat such heavy schedules involvingTest cricket can take on one’s bodyis also the mental side of things. Starcand Cummins were both involved inthe Ashes, a special series for anyAustralian cricketer, a couple ofmonths prior to their duel againstSouth Africa. Rabada, on the otherhand, was involved in a highly com-petitive series against India right

through January. With such lucrative contracts on

offer, the players could easily havetried to preserve their bodies for theIPL. Starc was bought by KolkataKnight Riders for �9.4 crore, one ofthe highest for an overseas player.Cummins too was on a handsomecontract of �5.4 crore with theMumbai Indians and Rabada wasbought for �4.2 crore by DelhiDaredevils.

Yet with so much riding ontheir performances, and the seriesattracting interest even from outsidetheir own countries, it would havebeen silly to imagine these cricketerssaving themselves. Given their work-loads and also the fact that they arefast bowlers, it was only inevitablethat something had to give.

It was effectively a repeat of lastyear when the three Indians, whohad played non-stop fromSeptember, had to pull out throughinjury from the IPL. In one of thecases, Murali Vijay had played theTest series against Australia with awrist injury, probably in the knowl-edge that the IPL would have to besacrificed as a result.

While injuries to anyone, letalone sportspeople are terribly unfor-tunate, for a format that manybelieve is losing out to the riches ofTwenty20, it is heartening to seemany top cricketers giving their alland keeping the value of Test crick-et alive. The problem does arise of

course in the scenario where someof the world’s best Test cricketers arealso premier Twenty20 cricketers.

The best example of this is thegreat AB de Villiers or even ViratKohli, but even amongst the namesmentioned above, Mitchell Starc is aquality T20 bowler while KL Rahulhas shown the ability to combine thedifferent needs and requirements ofbeing a good Test cricketer and atop-drawer T20 player, one of thereasons why he attracted a bid of �11crores at the recent IPL auction.

Despite some well-contestedseries’ in the recent past, is it fair tosay that Test cricket isn’t really in thepink of health? Well the trend has-n’t hit Indian shores as yet, butEngland, Australia and New Zealandare all seeing the rise of players whoare giving up their first-class careersso as to focus on 50-over and T20cricket.

In the West Indies, many of theirpremier cricketers do not play Testcricket and were recently left out ofthe squad that played the 2019 ODIWorld Cup qualifiers, and insteadplayed in Pakistan’s Twenty20 com-petition. It’s an unfortunate sce-nario but perhaps the reality oftoday’s cricket world has to beembraced. One does genuinely hopethat the balancing act between Testcricket and cash-rich Twenty20leagues can be found.

(The writer is a sports manage-ment professional)

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In a setting of volatile environ-ment, it is pertinent for theinvestors to keep in mind fivebasic investing guidelines beforethey put in hard-earned moneyin multiple asset classes, writesNimesh Shah

Indian equity markets off latehave seen some volatile times

owing to various developmentson the global as well as localfront and it is likely to contin-ue to remain volatile this yeartoo. This is stark contrast to thestead rally that the markets hadwitnessed over the last twoyears. Therefore, for manyinvestors who have enteredthe equity space in the saidtimeframe, this volatility can bequite unnerving.

Asset Allocation: It is aknown fact that one of the keypointers for long-term wealthcreation is following asset allo-cation. It is seen that investorsbased on their personal basis

very often tend to go overboardon a certain asset class. Basedon one’s risk appetite and underthe guidance of a financialadvisor one should determinean asset allocation plan andadhered to it.

Go For BalancedAdvantage Category ofSchemes: Since the uncertain-ty in the market is high, it isadvisable to opt for schemeswhich spread investmentsacross multiple asset classes –namely debt and equity. Andone of the easiest ways toachieve such an allocation is toinvest in balanced advantagecategory of schemes. In such ascheme, the fund managerbased on market valuationallocates funds between the twoasset classes. In effect, suchfunds invest in equities whenmarkets are declining and bookprofits when markets are rising.And, in case of a market cor-rection, the debt componentrenders a cushion effect to the

portfolio.Large Caps Over Mid &

Small Caps: For those investorswho are looking for investinginto pure equity funds; wewould recommend them toconsider large-cap funds. Thisis because even after the cor-rection seen on the Sensexfrom its 52-week high of 36,444(Jan 29, 2018) to 33,597 (Apr 5,2018), mid and small-cappockets continues to be an

expensive one while large-capsare reasonable priced. Theother aspect being that as themarket moves into the lastphase of the bull-run, histori-cally, large-caps tend to per-form better.

Include Debt Funds ToYour Portfolio: Last year,investors had started ques-tioning the returns from theirdebt portfolios as equity mar-kets continued to deliver size-

able gains even in the shortterm and many times, thesewere equivalent to what debtinvestments were generatingover a year’s time. However, itis still an important asset classto have in one’s investmentportfolio. For those investorslooking to make fresh invest-ments, one can consider ultrashort-term fund, short-termfund, credit risk fund ordynamically managed bondfund.

And Finally, Stay Put:Many-a-times, during marketvolatility, investors tend to stoptheir monthly SIPs. In haste,investors tend to forget theseinvestments made are for thelong-term and short-termvolatility should not deter themfrom their long-term invest-ments. Continue with one’sSIP and stay invested.

(The writer is MD & CEO,ICICI Prudential AssetManagement Company Ltd)

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Oil Minister DharmendraPradhan on Thursday said

the government has not askedstate-owned oil firms to deferraising the retail price of petroland diesel ahead of elections inKarnataka.

Incidentally, oil firms afterkeeping rates unchanged for aday, today cut petrol price by 4paisa per litre and by 3 paisa incase of diesel despite firminginternational oil rates.

The prices at petrol pumpsof state-owned fuel retailerslike Indian Oil Corp (IOC)were cut by 1-3 paisa every dayin the first fortnight ofDecember last year and ratesstarted moving up immediate-ly after polling for assembly elec-tions in Gujarat concluded on

December 14, leading to spec-ulation that government mayhave asked oil companies tohold on to the prices.

“There is no such direction(to hold price hike),” Pradhantold reporters here.

He said government hasfreed fuel pricing in a bid tobring competition and there isno going back on it.

“It is well planned strategyof government that oil compa-nies are fixing the fuel prices onthe basis of international oilprices. If we dont bring com-petitor in the long term, thenthere would be no solution.Government has given free-dom to oil companies,” he said.

Pradhan said oil companiesheads had on Wednesday stat-ed that they have not got anydirection from the government.

“There are no directions fromgovernment to them,” he said.The government reportedly hadinformally directed state-ownedfuel retailers not to raise petroland diesel prices in the run-upto the December 2017 assemblyelections in Gujarat. By someaccounts, as much as 45 paisaincrease warranted in petrol anddiesel rates was not passed on.

This time around IOC,Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd(HPCL) and Bharat PetroleumCorp Ltd (BPCL) have report-edly been asked to absorb up toRe 1 a litre hike.

“No, we haven’t heard fromthe government anything (ondropping daily price revision),”IOC Chairman Sanjiv Singh hadstated yesterday.

HPCL Chairman andManaging Director M K Surana

too said the company is notaware of any directive to oilcompanies not to pass on therise in international oil prices.

The government had inJune 2010 freed petrol pricefrom its control and the dieselrates were deregulated inOctober 2014. Prices have sincethen moved more or less in tan-dem with international ratesbarring a few exceptions like theperiod before a crucial election.

State-owned oil companiesin June last year dumped the 15-year old practice of revising rateson 1st and 16th of every monthand instead adopted a dynam-ic daily price revision to instant-ly reflect changes in cost.

Incidentally, oil companiesdid not change rates at theirpumps yesterday. Today, petrolprice was cut by 4 paisa to Rs

73.94 a litre, while diesel ratewas cut by 3 paisa to Rs 64.93.

After hitting a low of USD27.1 per barrel in 2016, Brentcrude is currently tradingaround USD 70 level.

Finance SecretaryHasmukh Adhia had last weekruled out any immediate reduction in excise duty tocushion the increases war-ranted from rise in interna-tional oil price.

The BJP-led governmenthad raised excise duty ninetimes between November 2014and January 2016 to shore upfinances as global oil pricesfell, but then cut the tax justonce in October last year by Rs2 a litre.

The government hadbetween November 2014 andJanuary 2016 raised excise duty,

taking away gains arising fromplummeting global oil prices.

In all, duty on petrol ratewas hiked by Rs 11.77 per litreand that on diesel by 13.47 a litrein those 15 months that helpedgovernment’s excise mop upmore than double to Rs 2,42,000crore in 2016-17 from Rs 99,000crore in 2014-15.

The central governmenthad cut excise duty by Rs 2 perlitre in October 2017, whenpetrol price reached Rs 70.88per litre in Delhi and diesel Rs59.14. Because of the reductionin excise duty, diesel prices hadon October 4, 2017 come downto Rs 56.89 per litre and petrolto Rs 68.38 per litre.

However, a global rally incrude prices pushed domesticfuel prices far higher than thoselevels.

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Government needs to re-lookcertain provisions of the

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC) as a situation might emergewhere there is only one buyer fora stressed asset, Kotak MahindraBank Vice Chairman and MDUday Kotak said on Thursday.

The president-designate ofCII also said that one of thebiggest challenges facing theIndian industry relates to ethics,values and governance.

Addressing the media, hesaid that “quite a few areas needto be looked at” with regard toIBC. Referring to Section 29A ofthe IBC which prohibits pro-moters from buying back theirown stressed assets, Kotak said:“The challenge is not at this stagebut as we go into the future, as wego into smaller companies whereyou may not get even one bid.How are we going to handle thatsituation. “Are we going to forcethose companies into liquidationwhere probably in some of thosesituations the only buyer may bethe promoter at some price.”

The choice is between thecost of liquidation versus whethera promoter of a smaller compa-ny should be allowed to bid forthe stressed asset, he said. “I thinkthat is one area which down theroad will be an issue which willneed to be addressed”.

Kotak said the rules of bid-ding should be like a prospectuswhere it should be clearly statedwhat is the basis on which thebids will be evaluated.

“There are a lot of thesethings, there is grapevine, thereare rumours and all that. So weneed to put a very rigorousprocess in place of how bids willbe evaluated. Will it be a standardprocess for all or for each of thecompanies the resolution pro-fessional puts down the rules ofbidding clearly,” he said.

On the 270-day moratoriumfor restructuring a company afterits case is admitted by theNational Company Law Tribunal(NCLT), Kotak said many com-panies are now close to 270 daysin April. “Will the courts allowmore than 270 days. In that caseis it a valid approach by the courtsor will it be challenged in theSupreme Court, that is anotherbig test which will happen by theend of April/early May. This 270days in the first round is going tobe tested for some of the com-panies,” he added.

Against the backdrop of aspate of scams which have cometo light recently in the bankingsector, Kotak said he is a firmbeliever that corporate gover-nance is in place across all sectorsincluding the financial sector andis undergoing a process of evo-lution

“We will navigate throughthis and hopefully down theline we will see significantlyimproved standards of gover-nance as we go forward. Yes, weare running through challengescurrently but I am pretty clearthat they will get better,” he said.

On the ICICI Bank contro-versy involving its CEO ChandaKochhar in the over Rs 3,000crore loan to Videocon, Kotaksaid the Board, regulator and theshareholders will be in a betterposition to comment.

Asked about the role of RBI,he said: “I think essentially thefunction of a regulator, is broad-ly three categories: regulation,supervision and enforcementand as long as the regulatorlooks at these three both indi-vidually and holistically, I thinkthat is how they should be look-ing at.” He said as far as enforce-ment is concerned the regulator(RBI) has raised issues about thepower of the regulator versus thesignificant shareholder if it hap-pens to be the state (Indian gov-

ernment) terming it a matter ofdebate.

However, Kotak said: “Wehave regulators which have beenworking very efficiently, in cap-ital markets, in securities markets,and the insurance sector.”

He highlighted that one ofthe biggest challenges at presentis ethics, values and governance.“This is something which is at apremium. We need to move theIndian society to a much betterlevel of governance as we go intothe future.” Kotak observed thatthe MSME sector is one areawhich has seen the pain of someof the bold reforms, and needs tobe hand-holded.

CII President Rakesh Bhartisaid arbitration was “very veryfrustrating” and the industrybody was engaging with the rel-evant ministries on this issue.

“The fear probably bureau-crats have is that if they don’tappeal, they may be hauled uptomorrow for not having donethat... I believe that once arbitra-tion has happened because bothparties agreed to, then that awardneeds to be implemented and thisis something where the courtsalso need to take a very judiciousand a positive view.

He said it needs to beensured that the arbitrationmechanism becomes morerobust, transparent and imple-mented efficiently and effective-ly, adding that all foreign com-panies coming in will have faithin such a fair mechanism.

Mittal also stressed thatIndian industry needs to ensurethat they abide by the law.

He also called for broad-bas-ing of GST by bringing alcohol,petroleum, electricity and realestate under its ambit.

Besides, he said the corporatetax rate needs to be reduced fur-ther to 18 per cent from 25 percent at present which covers 99per cent of the companies.

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Aparliamentary panel willgrill finance ministry offi-

cials on April 17 amid risingNPAs, incidents of fraud andgovernance lapses in the bank-ing sector.

The Standing Committeeon Finance, chaired by seniorCongress leader M VeerappaMoily, had last met on March9 in the aftermath of the overRs 13,000 crore fraud in PunjabNational Bank.

It had then asked the min-istry to institute a comprehen-sive enquiry encompassing sys-temic elements in the case andsubmit its report within amonth.

“The Standing Committeeis scheduled to meet financeministry officials on April 17

and challenges in the bankingsector, including NPAs andstressed assets, would be dis-cussed,” an official said.

As per RBI’s FinancialStability Report, gross non-per-forming asset (NPA) ratio ofpublic sector banks was at 13.5per cent at the end ofSeptember, 2017, 1 percentagepoints higher than six monthsago.

The government had inFebruary announced a Rs 2.11lakh crore recapitalisation planfor PSU banks to revive thebanking sector.

The meeting assumes sig-nificance since the sector isdealing with governance issuesalso at two private sector banks— ICICI and Axis.

S&P Global Ratings hadearlier in the day said that the

recent issues in private sectorbanks reiterate the need toimprove risk management, andmaintain strong governancepractices.

Chanda Kochhar, the man-aging director and CEO of thecountry’s leading private sectorlender ICICI Bank, is current-ly under investigation for analleged conflict of interest asso-ciated with the bank’s loan tothe Videocon group in 2012.

Recently, the board of pri-vate sector lender Axis Bankhas sought RBI nod for thereappointment of managingdirector and CEO ShikhaSharma for six months endingDecember 31, 2018. This isafter the central bank declinedan earlier proposal to give hera three-year term ending June30, 2021.

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Swedish home furnishings chain IKEA on said it has signed amemorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat gov-

ernment to set up its stores in the state with an expected invest-ment of up to Rs 3,000 crore in the long term.

IKEA, which received government approval in 2013 for itsRs 10,500-crore proposal to open retail stores under 100 per centFDI, has earlier signed MoUs with Karnataka, Telangana,Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to open retail stores.

The company plans to open 25 stores by 2025 in nine Indiancities.

The MoU with Gujarat government stands for mutual com-mitment from both parties and intends to provide clarity on work-ing methods and ensure a legally and ethically compliant, cor-ruption free business environment, IKEA said in a statement.

“Gujarat is a prioritised state for IKEA due to its open pro-gressive policies and positive investment climate,” IKEA IndiaCountry Property & Expansion Manager David McCausland said.

IKEA will soon set up its retail stores and other touch pointsin Gujarat to bring good quality and affordable home furnish-ings for the many people in Gujarat, he added.

Ahmedabad and Surat are the priority cities for now andIKEA has started scouting for suitable real estate, the companysaid.

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Crisis-hit Jaiprakash Associateshas deposited Rs 100 crore as

per the direction of the SupremeCourt in the case related todelays in delivery of flats by itssubsidiary, according to sources.On March 21, the apex court hadasked the company to deposit Rs200 crore in two instalments. Theflagship company of the Jaypeegroup has now deposited a totalof Rs 650 crore in the registry ofthe Supreme Court.

The bench headed by ChiefJustice Deepak Misra had direct-ed the company to deposit Rs 100crore by April 16 and the rest byMay 10. The Supreme Court hadasked it to submit a project-wisechart of home buyers seekingrefund so that the amount can bedispersed on pro-rata basis.

“At present we are concernedwith the refund and will take later

the issue raised by home buyerswho want delivery of flats,” thetop court had said.

Jaiprakash Associates hadinformed that only 8 per cent of31,000 home buyers have optedfor refund and rest want the pos-session of flats. JaiprakashAssociates subsidiary companyJaypee Infratech is developingvarious projects in Noida andGreater Noida.

Thousands of home buyersare stuck after the NationalCompany Law Tribunal (NCLT)had last year admitted the IDBI’sbank plea to initiate insolvencyproceedings against the debt rid-den Jaypee Infratech.

Jaypee Group is targeting tocomplete the construction ofpending 24,000 flats in Noida by2020 at a cost of about Rs 8,000crore and deliver it to home buy-ers.

Of the Rs 8,000 crore need-

ed to complete the flats, Rs 6,000crore would come from homebuyers while another Rs 2,000-2,500 crore needs to be infused,Jaypee adviser Ajit Kumar hadsaid earlier this year.

In 2007, Jaypee group start-ed the development of 32,000flats and plots in its townshipWish Town at Noida, of whichnearly 8,000 units have beendelivered so far.

Of the total flats/plots, JaypeeInfratech, which has alreadygone into insolvency, began workon 28,000 units while the remain-ing 4,000 units were withJaiprakash Associates.

The group is facing hugeprotest from home buyers due todelays in delivery of real estateprojects. Jaypee Infratech, whichis into road construction and realestate business, has constructedthe Yamuna Expressway, con-necting Delhi and Agra.

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India, China, Japan and Koreahave agreed to boost coop-

eration in the energy sector inview of their consumption ofhydrocarbons, primarily inbusiness to business segment,Oil Minister DharmendraPradhan said on Thursday.

Speaking at the concludingconference of InternationalEnergy Forum (IEF) he said,cooperation among oil-con-suming nations is warranted inview of oil-producing countriescharging Asian premium fromIndia, China and others forsupplying petroleum.

When asked about Indiajoining hands with China toresolve the Asian premiumissue he said: “We haveassigned this responsibility toIOC Chairman Sanjiv Singhand from their side Chairmanof China National PetroleumCorporation will work on theissue. More cooperation isexpected.”

“In some areas both of us(India and China) are workingtogether. In some parts ofAfrica, CNPC and OVL(ONGC Videsh Ltd) are naturalpartners,” he said.

Li Fanrong, DeputyAdministrator, National EnergyAdministration, China said thetwo nations can work togeth-er in energy sector as consumeras well as energy producer. Thenext IEF will be held in China.

About reported govern-ment direction to oil market-ing companies for not hikingfuel prices, Pradhan said, thereis no such direction.

On Wednesday, SaudiAramco, the world’s largest oil

producer entered into an agree-ment to pick up 50 per centstake in a planned USD 44-bil-lion refinery-cum-petrochem-ical project in Maharashtra.

On Shiv Sena’s oppositionto the deal, the minister saidsaid the deal is in the favour ofthe people of Maharashtra asthe investment will boost state’seconomy, job creation andindustrialisation.

Pradhan informed thatmore than 1,300 representativesparticipated in the IEF. Asmany as 53 representativesfrom different countries attend-ed the forum and 38 ministersmarked their presence.

On the occasion, ForeignMinister Sushma Swaraj saidIndia has deployed USD 8 bil-lion on gas infrastructureacross the country and share ofnatural gas in the energy mixwill increase from 6.5 per centnow to 15 per cent by 2020.

She also said LPG pene-tration in the country hasincreased from 66 per cent in2014 to 80 per cent in 2018, butIndia would be a responsibleconsumer despite the fact thatits per capita consumption isabout one tenth of the devel-oping nations.

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Page 11: 2 # .3245./6 .0 4 - dailypioneer.com to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7

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Benchmark Sensex tickedhigher for the sixthstraight session to close

above 34,000-mark onThursday, fuelled by a robustrally in IT shares, even as glob-al markets remained skittish ongeopolitical concerns.

The BSE IT index was thestar performer on Thursday,spurting 3.18 per cent, as a weakrupee boosted the appeal of soft-ware exporters. Index heavy-weights TCS, Infosys as well asWipro ended with smart gains.

The 30-share BSE Sensexadvanced 160 points to end at34,101.13, while the broaderNSE Nifty rose 41.50 points to10,458.65.

Globally, investor sentimentwas tense on concerns of the USand Russia heading for a show-down in Syria.

However, domestic mar-kets brushed off the negativecues on the back of fresh capi-tal inflows by foreign fundsand unabated buying by domes-tic institutional investors (DIIs),while quiet optimism prevailedahead of the earnings season,brokers said.

The 30-share Sensexresumed higher and advanced to34,177.44, but soon slipped onprofit-taking to touch a low of33,924.28. It finally ended 160.69points, or 0.47 per cent, higherat 34,101.13.

This is its highest closingsince February 28, when it had

closed at 34,184.04.The gauge has now gained

1,082.06 points in six sessions.The NSE 50-share index,

after moving between 10,469.90and 10,395.25, finally conclud-ed at 10,458.65, up 41.50 points,or 0.40 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) bought shares worth�362.30 crore on net basis, whiledomestic institutional investors(DIIs) bought equities to thetune of �111.82 crore onWednesday, provisional datashowed.

“The market gained somemomentum led by rally in ITstocks ahead of Q4 earningsexpectation. Global market istrading in a negative bias due togeopolitical tensions in MiddleEast. March CPI inflation wasexpected to decline further to 4.2per cent. However, rise in oilprice and weakening rupee maycast cloud over the inflation tra-jectory and market sentiment,”said Vinod Nair, head ofresearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

Meanwhile, Moody’sInvestors Service on Thursdaysaid the pick-up in economicgrowth in India was positive forasset-backed securities (ABS), asit supported the ability of bor-rowers to earn income andrepay their loans.

Moody’s expects that theIndian economy to grow at 7.6per cent in 2018 compared to 6.2per cent in 2017.

TCS was the biggest gainer

in the Sensex pack, surging 4.04per cent, followed by Infosys at3.41 per cent. Other IT counterslike Wipro, HCL Technology andTech Mahindra gained up to 4.47per cent.

Other Sensex gainers wereAxis Bank 1.63 per cent, ICICIBank 0.83 per cent, Tata Motors0.77 per cent, Asian Paints 0.75per cent, HDFC 0.68 per cent,HUL 0.57 per cent, NTPC 0.50per cent, L&T 0.46 per cent,HDFC Bank 0.46 per cent,Kotak Bank 0.38 per cent, BajajAuto 0.32 per cent, HeroMotoCorp 0.22 per cent andM&M 0.16 per cent.

However, broader marketsdeclined. The BSE small-capindex fell 0.27 per cent and mid-cap shed 0.13 per cent on prof-it booking. Losers included DrReddy’s 1.97 per cent, Tata Steel1.51 per cent, SBI 1.17 per cent,Sun Pharma 1.12 per cent,Adani Ports 1.11 per cent andMaruti Suzuki 1.07 per cent.

Sector-wise, IT rose 3.18 percent, Teck 2.49 per cent, Bankex0.35 per cent and Capital Goods0.19 per cent.

Realty, Metal, Healthcare,Power and PSU ended in thenegative zone, falling up to 1.82per cent.

IDBI Bank shares fell 1.04per cent after the Reserve Bankimposed a penalty of �3 crore onthe lender for flouting NPAreporting norms.

Oil markets remained tenseon concerns of a military esca-lation in Syria, but prices were

some way off Wednesday’s 2014highs as bulging American sup-plies weighed.

Brent crude futures were atUSD 72.42 per barrel, up 0.50per cent from their last close andUS WTI crude futures were atUSD 67.20 a barrel, up 0.57 percent.

Both Brent and WTI crudehit 2014 highs of USD 73.09 andUSD 67.45 per barrel onWednesday, respectively, afterSaudi Arabia said it interceptedmissiles over Riyadh and USPresident Donald Trumpwarned Russia of imminentmilitary action in Syria.

Oil stocks ended in the red,with Oil India falling 1.34 percent, IGL 1.31 per cent, CastrolInd 1.10 per cent, Gail 0.34 percent, ONGC 0.17 per cent andRIL 0.16 per cent.

Asian and European mar-kets declined after Syria tensionsand hawkish statements fromthe US Federal Reserve dentedinvestors’ sentiment.

US stocks declinedovernight, as worries aboutgeopolitical developmentsdeflated the buying mood onWall Street.

In the Asian region, HongKong’s Hang Seng fell 0.21 percent, Shanghai Composite Indexdeclined 0.87 per cent andJapan’s Nikkei ended 0.12 percent lower.

In Europe, Paris CAC fell0.03 per cent, while Frankfurt’sDAX traded flat. London’s FTSEtoo shed 0.02 per cent.

New Delhi (PTI): Promoter group enti-ties of Dish TV have made an offer to buyan additional 26 per cent equity stake frompublic shareholders of the direct-to-home(DTH) player for �3,701 crore.

In a public announcement made to theshareholders, Dish TV promoter entitiesWorld Crest Advisors LLP, together withVeena Investments Pvt Ltd and DirectMedia Distribution Venture Pvt Ltd,announced an offer to acquire shares ofDish TV at a price of �74 per share.

The offer is being made to all the share-holders of Dish TV to acquire up to 50.01crore (50,01,87,979) shares of the compa-ny that form 26 per cent of the emergingshare capital, payable in cash.

The open offer price is about 3 per centlower than the current price of Dish TV at�76 on the BSE.

Last month, after over a year of snag,the merger of direct-to-home operatorsDish TV India and Videocon d2h was concluded.

New Delhi (PTI): JSW Steel ledconsortium has won the bid to acquirebankrupt Monnet Ispat and EnergyLtd (MIEL) in an insolvency auction.

The committee of creditors (CoC)of Monnet Ispat and Energy, which isundergoing insolvency proceedings,had on Tuesday approved the resolu-tion plan submitted by the only bid-der Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Steel along withAION Capital.

“The consortium has beendeclared as the successful resolutionapplicant by the Committee ofCreditors of MIEL on April 10, 2018,and has received a Letter of Intent(LoI) dated April 12, 2018,” JSW Steelsaid in a statement.

JSW Steel Limited and AIONInvestments Private II Limited (AION)had submitted a bid for MIEL underthe corporate insolvency resolutionprocess of the Insolvency andBankruptcy Code 2016.

“The consortium has accepted theterms of the LoI. The closure of thetransaction shall be subject to obtain-ing necessary regulatory approvals,including from the National CompanyLaw Tribunal and the CompetitionCommission of India,” JSW Steel said.

JSW Steel is a part of the diversi-fied USD 12 billion JSW Group,which has presence in steel, energy,infrastructure, cement, ventures andsports.

JSW Steel is the leading integrat-ed steel company in India with aninstalled steel-making capacity of 18MTPA. JSW Steel’s plant at Vijayanagarin Karnataka is the largest single loca-tion steel producing facility in thecountry with a capacity of 12 MTPA.

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US-based retail giant Walmart is in dis-cussion with Flipkart to buy stake in the

e-commerce company, a deal that is expect-ed to value the Indian firm at about USD20 billion, sources close to the developmentsaid.

According to the sources, Walmart is intalks to buy shares from Flipkart and itsinvestors. The contours of the deal, whichis yet to reach a conclusive stage, are stillbeing worked out.

The sources declined to be identifiedas the matters are private.

The deal, which is likely to be carriedout in tranches, will include purchase of pri-mary and secondary shares, one of thesources said.

Another person said early investors likeTiger Global could look at a complete exitfrom the e-commerce company post thetransaction. Flipkart declined to comment,while a response could not be elicited fromTiger Global.

Last year, SoftBank Vision Fund hadpumped in an estimated USD 2.5 billionin Flipkart. The Bengaluru-based firm hadalso raised funds from eBay, TencentHoldings and Microsoft Corp last year. The deal, if it goes through, wouldunlock the booming Indian e-commercemarket for the world’s largest offline retail-er. For Flipkart, it would provide more arse-nal to go up against rival, Amazon in theIndian market.

Amazon and Flipkart are locked in anintense battle for leadership in the Indianmarket and have pumped in billions of dol-lars towards marketing and setting upinfrastructure in the country.

There have been reports of Flipkartbeing in discussion with the rival for a pos-sible acquisition, though there has been noformal announcement on that.

Industry watchers said a deal betweenWalmart and Flipkart was more likely sinceFlipkart-Amazon joining forces would facescrutiny by the competition watchdog, CCIin India.

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Page 12: 2 # .3245./6 .0 4 - dailypioneer.com to common man as it showed easing of food prices including vegetables. As per the CSO data, inflation in the veg-etables segment cooled to 11.7

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Britain’s leading spy chiefon Thursday revealed that

the UK’s first major cyberattackwas against the dreaded IslamicState which hindered the ter-rorist group’s ability to coordi-nate attacks and suppressedtheir propaganda.

Jeremy Fleming, director-general of the UK’sGovernment CommunicationsHeadquarters (GCHQ), told aconference in Manchester thatthe surveillance agency hadconducted a “major offensivecyber-campaign” last yearagainst the ISIS.

“In 2017, there were timeswhen (ISIS) found it almostimpossible to spread their hateonline, to use their normalchannels to spread theirrhetoric, or trust their publi-cations,” Fleming said duringthe CyberUK event organisedby the UK’s National CyberSecurity Centre.

“This is the first time theUK has systematically and per-sistently degraded an adver-sary’s online efforts as part ofa wider military campaign.Did it work? I think it did…This campaign shows how tar-geted and effective offensivecyber can be,” he said.

In his first public speechsince taking charge of GCHQin March 2017, the formerMI5 agent also attacked Russiaover “unacceptable cyber-behaviour” and warned that thedeadly nerve agent attack onformer Russian spy SergeiSkripal and his daughter Yulialast month demonstrates reck-lessness on the part of theRussian State.

“It demonstrates how reck-less Russia is prepared to be,how little the Kremlin cares ofthe rules-based order, howcomfortable they are at puttingordinary lives at risk… They’reblurring the boundaries

between criminal and stateactivity,” he said.

“The robust response fromthe UK and from the interna-tional community shows theKremlin that illegal acts haveconsequences. And it lookslike our expertise on Russia willbe in increasing demand,” headded.

Under his leadership,GCHQ, often referred to as theUK’s listening post, has alsoannounced plans to open a newfacility in Manchester nextyear as part of wider measuresto expand its network of sitesto combat threats that thecountry faces in a digital age.

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Taliban militants launched apre-dawn raid on a district

Government compound inAfghanistan on Thursday, killingat least seven people includingthe local Governor, officialssaid. Six policemen also diedand 10 intelligence officerswere wounded in the attack onthe Khwaja Omari districtheadquarters in the southeast-ern province of Ghazni, theprovincial Governor’s spok-esman Aref Noori told AFP.

The militants used a ladderto climb into the compound inthe early hours of Thursday,deputy provincial police chiefRamazan Ali Mohsini told AFP.

Mohsini put the death tollat 13, including the Governor,

police and intelligence offi-cers, adding scores of Talibanfighters were also killed but thatcould not be immediately con-firmed.

Afghan officials often giveconflicting casualty figuresimmediately after an attack.

“The attack is over and thedistrict is under the control ofAfghan security forces afterreinforcement forces rushedto the scene following theTaliban attack,” Mohsini added.

The Taliban claimedresponsibility for the raid in aWhatsApp message to jour-nalists, saying “more than 20policemen” were killed andseveral others wounded. “Ourmujahideen have confiscatedweapons and ammunition,”

Taliban spokesman

Zabihullah Mujahid said.“In the attack three

mujahideen were martyred andfour others were wounded.”The attack was one of thedeadliest by the Taliban in

several weeks and comes as themilitants prepare to launchtheir annual spring offensive,which marks the beginning of the traditional fighting season.

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French President EmmanuelMacron said on Thursday

that he would respond to“proof” that the regime of SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assad hadused chemical weapons, “at atime of our choosing.”

“We have proof that chem-ical weapons were used last

week, at least chlorine, and thatthey were used by the regimeof Bashar al-Assad,” Macronsaid during an interview onFrance’s TF1 television.

Macron added that he wasin daily contact with USPresident Donald Trump andthat they would decide ontheir response “at a time of ourchoosing, when we judge it to

be the most useful and themost effective.” The Frenchleader, who had made the useof chemical weapons in Syria a“red line”, said one of his aimsin Syria was to “remove theregime’s chemical attack capa-bilities”.

But he repeated that hewanted to also avoid “an esca-lation”.

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Police say a woman and herchild have died after being

stabbed by her ex-husband ata busy subway station in cen-tral Hamburg.

The knife attack happenedon Thursday morning at theJungfernstieg station inGermany’s second-biggest city.Parts of the train lines weretemporarily shut down aspolice responded.

The assailant, who was thechild’s father, was arrested.None of those involved wasidentified, and it wasn’t clearwhat triggered the attack.

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An American militaryattache at the US embassy

in Islamabad, who is chargedwith causing the death of aPakistani national and injuringanother in a road accident,enjoys diplomatic immunityand cannot be arrested ordetained, the US said today.

“The individual involved isan accredited diplomat,” a USState Department spokespersonsaid, responding to a questionon defence air attache Col

Joseph Emanuel Hall who wasdriving a US embassy LandCruiser that hit a motorcycle inIslamabad on Saturday, killingthe motorcyclist on the spot andinjuring the pillion rider.

The US official was notarrested owing to their diplo-matic immunity, however, thepolice took custody of thevehicle. Islamabad Police hasurged Pakistan’s interior min-istry not to allow Hall to leavethe country.

“In accordance with theVienna Convention onDiplomatic Relations, the indi-vidual, like all diplomats, isimmune from the criminal,civil and administrative juris-diction of Pakistan and cannotbe arrested, detained, or bannedfrom leaving the country,” thespokesperson said. “For thesafety and security of thoseinvolved, we cannot disclosethe diplomat’s current location.We are in close contact with the

appropriate Pakistani officials,”the spokesperson said, addingthat the US embassy is cooper-ating with the investigation.

Meanwhile, Voice ofAmerica reported that the UShas not imposed any restrictionon the travel of Pakistani diplo-mats in the country. The StateDepartment has confirmed viaemail that there are “no restric-tions on travel for Pakistanidiplomats in the United States”,despite reports that they willsoon be subjected to new trav-el restrictions, VOA reported.

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The Cambridge Analyticascandal in which personal

data of over 87 millionFacebook users, including500,000 Indians, was compro-mised, has not hit the socialmedia platform in a significantway in terms of people deacti-vating their accounts, companyCEO Mark Zuckerberg has said.

Zuckerberg, 33, also the

founder of Facebook, acknowl-edged this during a Cong-res-sional hearing on Wednesday, hissecond in two days, on issuesrelated on data privacy andsecurity in the aftermath of theCambridge Analytica scandal.

“Yes,” Zuckerberg saidwhen Congresswoman DanaLouise DeGette asked whetherFacebook has witnessed nosignificant increase in usersdeactivating their accounts.

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Dwayne Johnson headlines theaction adventure Rampage as

a primatologist who keeps peopleat a distance but shares anunshakeable bond with George,the extraordinarily intelligent,incredibly rare albino silverbackgorilla who has been in his caresince he rescued the youngorphan from poachers. But arogue genetic experiment goneawry mutates this gentle ape intoa raging creature of enormoussize. To make matters worse, it’ssoon discovered there are othersimilarly altered animals. As thesenewly created alpha predatorstear across North America,destroying everything in theirpath, Davis teams up with dis-credited geneticist Kate Caldwell(Naomi Harris) to secure an anti-dote, fighting his way through anever-changing battlefield, not onlyto halt a global catastrophe but tosave the fearsome creature thatwas once his friend. The film,which will be shown in English,Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, is set tohit theatres today.

�How does “big meets bigger”define this movie?

Rampage is a big movie — bigin scale, big in action and big inheart. It’s epic in every way. Wehave not only a gigantic andamazing albino gorilla, we alsohave a super-sized mutated greywolf and a massive crocodile. Wedestroy a major city. So what fanscan count on is big, intense actionthat really pushes the envelopeand creates a non-stop ride of fun

and chaos.

� I heard that your dog, Hobbs,was an inspiration for the emo-tional connection your charac-ter Davis makes with George.How did that come into play?

One of the anchors in themovie, amid all the action anddestruction, is the bond betweenDavis and George. I based a lot ofthat on the relationship I havewith my little Frenchie bulldog,Hobbs, aka Bruce Wee. I’ve beenan animal lover since childhood,and have had pets since I canremember, but my connectionwith Hobbs is special. It’ veryrough and tumble, and we have agreat time together — like Davishas with George.

It’s important to me to balancethe film’s action with heart. WithSan Andreas, the heart came frommy character protecting his fam-ily. In Rampage, it’s about Davissaving his best friend, George.That emotional connection makesthe film more special.

�This is your third collabora-tion with director Brad Peyton.How has your working rela-tionship evolved over the years?

I really enjoy working withBrad. He’s a real guy from asmall, working class town inCanada, and he’s all about thework and making sure it’s asgood as it can be. We don’t leaveuntil we get the shot he needs. OnRampage, our motto was, “How is

this going to be different?” Andhe always figured out a way tomake a scene or moment differ-ent from anything we’ve donebefore.

Brad loves movies, especial-ly big movies like Jurassic Parkand the Indiana Jones films, andthose inform his sensibilities. Heprepares like a champion athlet-ic coach. Everything is painstak-ingly detailed. The devil lies in thedetails and so does success.

�When we visited the set ofRampage, you were inside ahuge C-17 transport plane, andgigantic machines that created ahundred miles per hour winds.What was it like to film thosescenes?

In the sequence, the C-17 isgoing down. To simulate that, theC-17 was put on a gimbal, whichhad to simulate a plane on fire andgoing down. Much of the time Iwas in a harness and attached towires and was hanging upsidedown. Those scenes were verycomplicated and intensebecause they required a lotof movements from many

different directions and frommany different department heads.So, the days were very long butwhen you’re making a movie likeRampage, you better strap in and

pack your lunch, because it’sgoing to be a day-long adven-ture.

�Humour also plays a keyrole in the film. Why wasthat important?

Humour is a criticalelement in Rampage. TheRampage video game had avery simple storyline: threemonsters destroy a city. But

at the same time, the mon-sters would do things that

would make the gamers laugh.For example, somebody would

be taking a shower, and a mon-ster would reach in the building,pull the naked victim out of theshower and eat him or her. Wedon’t have “naked eating” inRampage, because that would bea whole different movie that oneday we may make, but not today.We do have fun moments wherethe audience can take a momentto breathe and laugh. It’s impor-tant to bring the audiences alongon an epic, action-packed journeybut sometimes you also have to letthem have some fun. There’s thatold saying, and it’s very true, thattoday’s headlines are going to betomorrow’s punchlines. There’s alot of destruction of all kinds ofthings going on out there but it’sstill important to find just a littlebit of humour in the crazy stuffthat life hands us.

Can you reinterpret amaster? Going by con-temporary artist Vivan

Sundaram, you can. Evenadorn the classic with a con-temporary liveability. In onefluid stroke, Sundaram, alongwith theatre practitioners,writers and artists, decided toreinterpret the works of leg-endary sculptor-painterRamkinkar Baij, using differ-ent media, installations andartforms.

Breaking the purist walls,Sundaram conceived this pro-ject, called 409 Ramkinkars,as his take on the life andworks of Baij. The process ofreinterpretation was capturedby documentary filmmakerRV Ramani in a short filmcalled From Santhal Family toMill Re-call, a spin on Baij’sbest known works, SanthalFamily and Mill Call. The1938 Santhal Family featuresa tribal family — parents, achild, their dog and theirworldly possessions. Mill Call,created in 1956, depicts thecore of an industrial urban-scape, showcasing a familysetting out for work.Sundaram captures this spanof the dispossessed, as depict-ed by Baij, through both per-formance and static arts. Asthe film opens, the wail of awoman signifies the gush ofsuppressed voices who con-form for survival in society.

Theatre directorsAnuradha Kapur, SantanuBose, Aditee Biswas andDeepan Sivaraman conceptu-alised a promenade theatrewith skits inspired by Baij’sworks — sculptures andpaintings — particularly fig-ures. They involved 30 profes-sional actors, associates andtechnicians. Belinder Dhanoawrote the script. Vivan guid-ed the actors. The journeybegins with the audiencelooking at the artworks whichcome to life as the actorsenact their scenes and con-texts. There is a freefall ofemotions — despair, free-dom, sadness and power —each embodied by a charac-ter who bounces off the other,depicting a chaos called life.A sudden blackout afterepisodes and fragments keepsyou on the edge of your seat,a space that Sundaram feltwas required for audienceimagination to fill out thespaces outlined by Baij’s fig-ures.

A filmmaker with aunique style, who createsindependent, impressionis-tic documentaries, Ramaniwas a photo journalist. Whenthe director saw one of theartists perform the characterof Radha Rani for the firsttime, he had never imaginedthe intensity of the voiceartist could enliven the char-acter and bring her closer toour understanding of the

original sketch. This is one ofthe reasons why he was excit-ed by the rehearsals than afinale act. “I wanted to diveinto the process of character-isation and create a cinemat-ic experience,” he told us.According to the filmmaker,Sundaram brought out thevarious dimensions of Baijbeyond just the linear inter-pretations. Editing andadding the subtitles was themost challenging part.

Since the documentary ofthis nature was a nouvelleexperiment, Ramani never

expected it to be selected at afestival. What came as a big-ger surprise was winning anaward for the same. “I neverexpected either of the two butit is always nice to have ascreening at festivals. Even iften people come to watch thefilm, I am happy.”

As a director, he is fasci-nated by the sense of connec-tion. “The idea of expressionis quite interesting. It can existin any context. I feel connect-ed when films are trying todiscover ways to say some-thing, break codes or strug-gle to walk a new path. I feelartists consciously do thesethings and I love to be in thatatmosphere. So I take a lot ofexpressions from them andtry to incorporate it while Iam making my films.”

The film had varioustransitional scenes fromrehearsals to the final perfor-mance where the actors arepreparing for their roles anddiscovering various nuancesto improve their portrayal.“The off-stage and on-stagemoments lent vibrancy. Ibelieve the characters are dis-closing their layers at every

moment and I eagerly lookfor it.”

Essentially, Ramaniworks from the zone of a cin-ematographer and hence,documentaries come natural-ly to him. “I do not like todepend on too many people.Mostly, I am a one-man armythough sometimes, I do takethe help of two or three indi-viduals. I love to shoot andfilm before I develop my nar-rative,” he said.

Asked if he prefers doc-umentaries over fiction, hewas of the opinion that “nat-ural situations are moretempting for me. In fiction,everything is staged and well-planned, which gets boringfor me.”

Ramani visitedShantiniketan where Baijlived a greater part of his lifeand which is a treasure troveof his sculptures. He thenfamiliarised himself withSundaram’s works. The film,in his words, is about “oneartist looking at another artist,and me looking at both andconsciously reinterpretingboth with my cinematogra-phy. It is an artistic process.”

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Audi’s new A5 is possibly the best-looking Audi that isn’t called the R8.

As the rest of the Volkswagen groupmoves towards straight lines, the A5 isvisible proof that Audi is moving awayfrom them. But as good-looking as theA5 Sportback is, the three-door A5 issexier. When the engineers in Germanychopped the roof off, my god, this caris amazing to look at. I might not be con-vinced by the need for a convertible ofany sort in India but I could actually stareat this car for a long, long time.

But other than the roof not beingaround, the A5 Cabriolet is mechanical-ly the same as the standard A5. If youwant an Audi on steroids, you have togo the slightly manic S5 and full-oninsane RS5 that just dropped at a mere�1.1 crore, which weirdly is not bad valuefor a 444 horsepower car. The A5

Cabriolet is a much more reasonable�67.5 lakh but that is a princely summore than the standard Sportback at �54lakh. That said, what a car to look at. But,you just wish Audi had given this thetwo-litre petrol in the group’s stable.

The problem with any Cabriolet, nomatter how good-looking, is that Indianweather conditions are pretty woeful forputting the roof down. Sure, in Delhiwinters, the temperatures in the day areperfect but with the dust around, youshould have frequent user card at yoursalon, because you will need a shampoo,and if you’re a guy taking your girlfriendout, remember shampoos and blow-driesaren’t cheap.

Don’t get me wrong, I think the AudiA5 is a great buy as a mid-sized luxurycar because of its looks. This is arefreshing smart look for Audis. I alsoget the attractiveness of driving with theroof down. On a bright, clear day it canbe great fun. But these are designed fornice days in Southern Europe and theUnited States. The weird thing thoughis, as a proportion of sales, the UnitedKingdom with its notorious strangeweather leads in sales. However, one candoubt that will ever be the case in India.But as a statement car, you really can’tgo wrong.

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Artistic director Thierry Fremaux saysthe Cannes Film Festival will never be

the same after Hollywood’s sexual scan-dal following the exposure of producerHarvey Weinstein. Fremaux on Thursdaydiscussed his first Cannes Film Festivalwithout Weinstein, describing it as an“earthquake” moment for the industry.

“The world will never be the sameagain, the Cannes Film Festival will neverbe the same again,” Fremaux said, addingthat the movement sparked by the allega-tions against Weinstein had also causedan internal evaluation by the festival itself.

“We will discuss our own practiceswith the festival team. We will discussequality of salary, we want to question ourown process about the parity of thejuries,” he added.

At a press conference following theannouncement of the film festival’s offi-cial selection, Fremaux answered ques-tions about the lack of women in the line-up, offering his usual reply that the festi-val has to deal with the titles that are beingsubmitted.

“But there are three female moviemakers in competition,” he said, point-ing to Nadine Labaki, Alice Rohrwacherand Eva Husson, but adding that there“may be four” following late additionsthat are expected. Fremaux also com-pared Husson’s film Girls of the Sun,about a battalion of female Kurdishtroops and starring Golshifteh Farahaniand Julie Delpy, to Black Panther inbreaking new cultural ground.

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Cricketers are demi gods in India and theyoften have to bear the brunt of their popu-larity, becoming the subject of funky recipes

and cocktails. It is the only sport where all agegroups, from a child of five to grandfathers, areglued to the television screens with their hearts intheir mouths and chanting prayers for glory. A tour-nament that began in 2008 with eight teams, theIPL season has begun its 11th innings and with it,restaurants and cafes have come up with out-of-the-box ideas to bring in fans. There are offers on beer,food menu named after various teams like KolkataMacher chop, Delhi butter chicken samosa alongwith Run Machine Kohli and Dhoni Mr Kool cock-tails. It is creating a pattern similar to football inWestern countries where friends get together andenjoy the match on LED screens in sports bars, pubsand restaurants. It is a trend that is catching upamong Indians as well and the food industry is tap-ping into this gold mine.

Monkey Bar has designed a special IPL menuat its outlets in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata andBengaluru. The menu celebrates diverse flavours ofIndia in the true spirit of T20 cricket. From KolkataMacher chop to Hyderabad Nagarjuna chilli chick-en roll to Delhi butter chicken samosa to Rajasthandahi ke pithore and Punjab’s sarson di shammi —dig in to a special T20 tournament-inspired smallplates menu. Chef Manu Chandra, who has con-ceived the spread, said, “Our full toss menu cele-brates the versatility of India in the true spirit ofT20 cricket which is a coming together of cricketteams from across the country. Rethinking pub foodwith an Indian influence and our own twist to it iswhat we’ve always been known for. This menubrings together reimagined local favourites fromaround the country and some surprises with dish-es inspired by the regional offerings from each crick-eting team. So we are offering Mumbai Malvanichicken tacos (multigrain flour thali peeth tacos withMalvani style chicken sukka and coconut chutney),takes on Chennai-pulled pork paniyaram (pulledpork served on a base of fried vellai paniyaram) and

Bengaluru prawns chilli, butter garlic (Bengalurustyle butter garlic sauce tossed prawns served withcrispy chips).”

The Junkyard Cafe has introduced mocktailsand cocktails with funky titles like Beware of IndianPlayers, Sixer Pack and Power Punch. One can alsoavail offers like shot on shot, a complimentary drinkon centuries. Umang Tewari, owner, The JunkyardCafe, said IPL “stands for unity when Indian play-ers pool their talent with peers from different coun-tries. It creates a lot of fun moments. We are all init to support and cheer for the teams. Along withthe expansive lineup of mocktails and cocktails, peo-ple can enjoy special dishes including Calmer Rainazucchini, Healthy Pitch, Loaded Pitch and Virat spe-cials. The response to special meal deals is alwaysbrilliant which motivates us to keep on doing some-thing new for customers. The hospitality economy

flourishes during the IPL.”Cafe Out of The Box has dishes from across the

world. Udit Bagga, Director, said, “This is a seasonof high demand. Thus, we have specially curatedmenus that comprise more finger foods to go withbeer. As it is summer, the menu also has coolers andmango-based dishes and drinks. With internation-al customers coming in to watch their favourite teamsand players, we offer a fusion of national and inter-national dishes. In terms of alcohol, beer is the mostpreferred drink while watching matches. Hence wehave special offers on beer buckets and starters to gowith it.” Bagga added, “Over the years there has beena growing interest among customers who come inhuge numbers to watch matches of their favouriteplayers at restaurants and cafes. They prefer this out-ing instead of sitting at home and watching the match-es because we have a giant screen at all our outlets

which make it a one of its kind experience, it isalmost like a mini theatre. We have also put in theflags of all the teams at our outlets and the staffwears a special uniform rather than their regularones to enhance the overall appeal.” He felt that inthe past two years, the business has drastically goneup. There is more demand and supply of food andbeer. Earlier December used to be the most prof-itable and highly selling month but due to IPL, themonth of May is giving a tough competition. KarmaKismet is offering their customers the art of cock-tail fixing apart from live screening of matches.There’s an occasion of merriment for beer lovers as

well as cafes are offering interesting offers which arehard to say no to.

Priya Vasudev, marketing head, The Beer Cafe,said “Cricket is India’s most beloved sport and the IPLseason has brought the excitement of cricket enthu-siasts to a fever pitch. In previous years, the loud andcheerful sports fans thronged our outlets andcheered for their favourite teams and players, creat-ing a loud and cheerful vibe that enhanced the ambi-ence for all our patrons. Therefore, in anticipation ofthis year’s cricketing extravaganza, we have decidedto surprise our patrons with amazing offers to adda thrill to IPL screenings. Customers can receive apitcher, a tower, a bucket, or a pint of beer, and what’son offer will keep changing during the course of theday, inspired by the dynamic action on the pitch.”

Mealodrama has launched a cricket-drama mealfor the semi finals. The game-inspired menu includesdishes like Bring It On India pizza, Cricket PitchPlatter, Raina Calmer Shots, Arancini Balls Platter andmore. Owner of the bistro Rahul Sawhney concluded,“It is always great to see India winning and duringIPL it’s India’s win either ways which ever team wins.We have launched the special menu to celebrate thisunconditional win. Economy and market definitelyboom as the game generates a lot of viewership amongpeople. It is the kind of sport which people enjoy ingroups while cheering for their respective teams. Thiscommunity feeling is our great catchment area.”

Tarun Hasija, owner, Friction The Drinkerysaid, “We have created a cricket Pitch platter thathas a pitch of green cabbage, fish fingers as wick-ets and Arancini balls. People get to choose fromMumbai Indian straight driver, Kohli shooters, Runmachine Kohli, Dhoni Mr Kool, Hardik googly,Dhobi helicopter. And dishes like Caught Out (beerbattered fish finger with jalapeno tartar sauce),Spinner (homemade battered chicken fried stripswith spicy mayo dip), Batting Order (chicken sataywith peanut butter sauce), Sixer (marinated chick-en morsels), Googly (cheese stuffed mushroomcaps), Bouncer, No Ball (salt and pepper veggies),Stumps (vegetable rolls) et al.”

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Royal Challengers Bengaluruare hoping to get their cam-

paign back on track after an open-ing game defeat, as they lockhorns with Kings XI Punjab in theIndian Premier League (IPL) hereon Friday.

Royal Challenger Bengalurufinished second best in a cliffhang-er to Kolkata Knight Riders afterSunil Narine snatched victorywith a 17-ball fifty.

RCB will be expecting somefireworks from BrendonMcCullum and AB de Villiers,who blasted a 27-ball 43 and a 23-ball 44, respectively, in the firstgame.

McCullum's confidence will behigh as he has completed 9,000T20 runs in the last match.

Skipper Virat Kohli, surpris-ingly, played second fiddle byscoring 31 off 33 balls, and hewould like to have a better outingagainst Kings XI Punjab.

Other top-notch batsmen likeQuinton de Kock, Sarfaraz Khanand Chris Woakes, who did not getmany runs under their belts,would be keen to contribute.

Assisted by India's 2011 WorldCup winning duo of Gary Kirstenand Ashish Nehra as batting andbowling coaches, Kohli couldthink of letting Corey Andersonhave a go at the bowling, given thesmall size of Chinnaswamy sta-dium.

In the bowling depart-ment, Umesh Yadav andWoakes would like to contin-ue their form as they sharedfive wickets between them.

Much was expect-ed from the spin duoof YuzvendraChahal andW a s h i n g t o nSundar but theydid not weave anymagic, claimingjust one wicketfor 77 runs in56 balls.

The in-form NewZ e a l a n dq u i c k i eT i mS o u t h e emight get achance tos w i n g

his arms, considering his reputa-tion as one of the best new-ballbowlers in international cricket.

Kings XI Punjab are cominginto the match with their tails up,having started the season on aresounding note, beating DelhiDaredevils by six wickets.

Local player KL Rahul, whoscripted victory with the fastest-ever fifty in the Indian PremierLeague, will be seeking to repeathis show, and he is playing athome.

Rahul had smashed six bound-aries and four sixes in his 16-ball-51.

Karun Nair, who scored a 33-ball fifty, also would be keen tocontinue the good work.

Yuvraj Singh, who looked apale shadow of his old self in thelast match where he got 12 off 22balls, would be keen to regain histouch.

David Miller and MarcusStoinis would also like to contin-ue steering the team to victory indeath overs, as they did in the lastmatch by scoring an unbeaten 24

and 23, respectively.Chris Gayle could

open the innings as heknows the conditionswell here, the venuewhere he smashed an

incredible 175 in the 2013edition.

Aaron Finch,who was unavail-able for the lastmatch, also mayget a chance.

Kings XIPunjab's bowlersdid a fine job by

restricting DelhiDaredevils with 17-year-old spinnerMujeeb-ur-Rahmanmaking his InidanPremier League debutwith a bang. TheBangladesh teenagerpicked up two wicketsalong with MohitSharma.

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Delhi Daredevils captain GautamGambhir says the revised target dur-

ing the rain-hit Indian Premier League(IPL) match against Rajasthan Royals wasa difficult one to chase.

Chasing 70 runs in six overs via theDuckworth-Lewis Method in a rain-trun-cated clash last night, Delhi Daredevils suf-fered a 10-run defeat against their hosts,Rajasthan Royals.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals rode AjinkyaRahane's 45 to score 153/5 when the skiesopened up in the 17th over.

"We were very much in the game. Itwas a beautiful wicket to bat on, then 150-odd for 5 in 18 overs, we thought we couldcontain them to 170 and it was chaseable,especially with dew coming in later on,"Gambhir said after the match.

"We were very much happy with the

first innings. But then in six overs, 71 wastough.

“We had to go from ball one. Obviouslywith these sort of games, things could goeither way. Just two overs of Powerplay, it'svery difficult," the southpaw added.

"If it was a 20-over game, it would'vebeen much easier to chase."

Sanju Samson, who was adjudgedMan of the Match for for his quick 22-ball37, expressed pleasure on his team's firstwin in the tournament.

"Feels really amazing. We wanted a winbadly at our home ground and it feels goodto get our first win of the season," the 23-year-old said.

"I think it's about the preparation, wehad about four camps before the IndianPremier League had started and an excel-lent support staff who have given us a lotof freedom," Samson said in a post matchinterview.

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Just when it looked like Juventuswould pull off another stunning

Champions League comeback,Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up onceagain.

Ronaldo converted a penaltykick deep into injury time to sendReal Madrid through to the semi-finals for the eighth straight seasondespite a 3-1 home loss to Juventuson Wednesday. The goal wasenough to give the two-timedefending champions a 4-3 aggre-gate win and avoid nerve-rackingextra time after the Italian side haderased a seemingly insurmountabledeficit from the first leg.

"It was a match in which wesuffered," Ronaldo said. "It showsthat nothing is a given in football,you have to fight until the end. Wedidn't play well, we have to admit.But in the end we deserved toadvance."

A day after seeing Spanishrival Barcelona blow a three-goaladvantage against Roma in Italy,Madrid nearly did the same. ButJuventus' heroics came up justshort after substitute LucasVazquez appeared to be pushedfrom behind inside the area in thethird and final minute of stoppagetime.

Veteran Juventus goalkeeperGianluigi Buffon, in what waslikely his last Champions Leaguegame, was then sent off for furi-ously complaining after the penal-ty decision.

"Life goes on," Buffon said. "I'mhappy and proud of how we played,we made the impossible possible.It's a shame it ends like this."

Madrid won the first leg 3-0 inTurin last week, when Ronaldoscored with a spectacular bicyclekick for his second goal of thematch.

That deficit made Wednesday'sreturn leg seem like an impossibletask for Juventus but they got offto the perfect start when Mario

Mandzukic opened the scoring witha header two minutes into thematch. He added to the lead withanother header before halftime, andBlaise Matuidi scored the third earlyin the second half after a blunder byMadrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas.

But Ronaldo, in his 150thChampions League appearance, thennetted his 120th goal in the compe-tition by converting the penaltywith a firm shot into the top corner.He celebrated by taking off his shirtand running toward the euphoricMadrid crowd.

Ronaldo has scored 21 goals inhis last 11 matches in all competi-tions, and has netted in 11 straightChampions League matches.

The penalty came as Vazquezwas in position to score in front ofthe goal after Ronaldo headed downa cross into the area. Juventus play-ers stormed toward English refereeMichael Oliver, who apparently hadhelp from his behind-the-goal assis-tant to make the call.

The penalty was taken eightminutes into stoppage time as it tooka while for Oliver to clear theJuventus players who were protest-ing against the decision.

Juventus coach MassimilianoAllegri said he had a brief encounterin the tunnel with Madrid captainSergio Ramos, who didn't playbecause of a suspension.

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Skipper Mithali Raj led fromthe front with an unbeaten

74 as India Women outclassedEngland by eight wickets in thethird and f inal One DayInternational here and clinchedthe series 2-1.

After India spinnersrestricted England to a modest201/9, opener SmritiMandhana (53 retired hurt),Mithali and Deepti Sharma (54not out) ensured that the hostscrossed the line with 4.4 oversto spare.

India had won the firstmatch by one wicket whileEngland had levelled the seriesafter they defeated the hosts byeight wickets in the secondgame.

But India eves today dishedout a clinical performance withboth the bat and ball.

For England, wicket-keep-

er Amy Jones (94) top scoredbut she failed to find partners.Indian spinners wreaked havocon English batters, as theyshared six wickets, while vet-eran pacer Jhulan Goswami

(2-39) too chipped in.Off-spinner Deepti Sharma

(2-35), left-arm orthodoxbowler Rajeshwari Gayakwad(2-32) and leg spinner PoonamYadav (2-47) were among the

wickets.Skipper Heather Knight

chipped in with 36 runs, but itwas Jones, with seven fours anda six in her knock, who ensuredthat England went beyond the200-run mark.

While chasing, Mandhanagave a brisk start and comple-mented Raj. After the left-handed Mandhana was retiredhurt, Deepti Sharma joinedthe captain and the two tookIndia home.

But Mithali was the cyno-sure of eyes at the VidarbhaCricket Association Stadiumhere as she punished Englishbowlers, hitting nine bound-aries.

After losing the T20 tri-series, which also involvedAustralia apart from England,and the ODI series to theSouthern Stars, India finallyfound the winning momen-tum against England.

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Sunrisers Hyderabad's bowlers onceagain put up a stellar show as theyrestricted a star-studded Mumbai

Indians to 147 for 8 in their Indian PremierLeague encounter at the Rajiv GandhiInternational Cricket Stadium here onThursday.

The much-vaunted Mumbai Indiansbatting line-up flattered to deceive as thelikes of Evin Lewis (29), Suryakumar Yadav(28) and Kieron Pollard (28) got out aftergetting set which put brakes on their scor-ing rate.

The lower middle-order caved in badlyas hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad looked aspotent an attack even without their premierIndia bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Such was the dominance of theHyderabad bowlers that the back 10 of theMumbai Indian innings fetched them only69 runs with. Only 36 of those came off inthe last five overs.

Sandeep Sharma (2/25 in 4 overs)

proved to be a like-for-like replacement withhis incisive swing bowling while SiddarthKaul (2/29 in 4 overs) was once againimpressive.

A lot of credit will got to Rashid Khan,who stifled the scoring during the middleovers with brilliant figures of 1 for 13 in 4overs.

The 19-year-old Afghan teenagerbowled flat and fast with a mix of googliesand flippers. He bowled as many as 18 dotballs.

Skipper Rohit Sharma (11) was out try-

ing to whip a delivery from Billy Stanlake(2/42) that grew big on him and the catchwas taken at square leg by Shakib AlHasan.

Ishan Kishan (9)'s maverick approachdidn't pay dividends as he failed to makemost of a dropped catch by SandeepSharma as Siddharth Kaul had him caughtat third man.

The normally dangerous Evin Lewis (29,17 balls) started off well but tried to hit Kaulacross the line only to find the off-stumpknocked back.

The normally dependable KrunalPandya closed his face to a Shakib Al Hasan(1/34 in 4 overs) delivery to offer a simplecatch to Kane Williamson.

Billy Stanlake hurried Kieron Pollardinto ballooning one to Shikhar Dhawan atsweeper cover.

Sandeep Sharma then dismissed firstSuryakumar Yadav and then PradeepSangwan off successive balls to ensure thatvisitors Mumbai Indians don't cross the 150-run mark.

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Discus throwers Seema Puniaand Navjeet Kaur Dhillon on

Thursday opened India's medalaccount in athletics at the 21stCommonwealth Games, clinching aSilver and Bronze respectively here.

Punia came up with a besteffort of 60.41m, which she did inher opening attempt to win herfourth successive CWG medal whileDhillon clinched her maiden medalwith her final throw of 57.43m.

The 34-year-old Punia had59.57m in her second throw andfouled her third and fifth attemptswhile coming up with a 58.54m inbetween. She had a final throw of58.90m. The 23-year-old Dhillon, aformer World Junior

Championships bronze medallist,was at fourth place after the penul-timate round behind SositinaHakeai of New Zealand but her finalround throw gave her a Bronze inher maiden CWG appearance.

Punia, who was possibly com-peting in her final CWG, was,though, well below her best. She hasa season's best of 61.05m which shedid while winning the gold in theFederation Cup NationalChampionships last month. Shehas a personal best of 64.84m whichshe achieved long time back in 2004.

"We were training without acoach, what else could we do. But Ithink I could have thrown three tofour metre farther. I am not veryhappy because I was ready for agood throw but could not do it. I

could have gone for64-65m," Punia said .

Former worldchampion AustralianDani Stevens won theGold with a Games

record best throw of 68.26m whichshe came up in her fourth attempt.

Earlier, Arpinder Singh and AV Rakesh Babu made the men'striple jump final while NayanaJames and Neena Varakil came upwith disappointing performances tofinish at the bottom of the heap inthe women's long jump finals.

Arpinder, a bronze-medallistfrom the 2014 CommonwealthGames, topped his group and fin-ished second overall in the qualify-ing round with an effort of 16.39m.He has a personal best of 17.17m.

The Indian finished behindDominica's Yordanys Garcia whowas the only one to enter the finalafter achieving the automatic quali-fying mark of 16.75m. The otherIndian in fray, Rakesh Babu qualified12th with an effort of 15.98m. Thefinal round will be held on April 14.

In women's long jump final,Neena and Nayana finished 10thand last in a 12-woman field withdisappointing performances. Neenahad a best effort of 6.19m whileNayana came up with a 6.14m.

Neena has a personal best of6.66m while Nayana's personal bestis 6.55m. Meanwhile, heptathletePurnima Hembram was lying at sev-enth with 2565 points after threeevents of 100m hurdles, high jumpand shot put.

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Their quest for Gold didn’t takeoff as planned when the

Indian men’s hockey team drew2-2 against arch-rivals Pakistan intheir opening Pool B match lastweek. Despite a 4-3 win againstWales and 2-1 win againstMalaysia in the following match-es, the team didn’t look danger-ous enough to be considered asGold medal contenders. However,they managed to turn tables intheir encounter against England,where India scored two successivegoals in the final 1.36 minutesthrough Varun Kumar’s 3-3equalizer and Mandeep Singh’s 4-3 winner in the 60th minutewhich was brilliantly set up byskipper Manpreet Singh.

It was their ‘winning men-tality’ that saw the team through.

It is this winning attitude that

the team wants tocarry into theirsemifinal matchagainst NewZealand, who hada good outing inPool A with big wins againstCanada (6-2), South Africa (6-0),Scotland (5-2) and a narrow 1-2loss against Australia. “AgainstNew Zealand too, we don’t wantto focus too much on what theybring to the table, but we want tofocus on our own strengths andensure we fight till the last whis-tle,” asserted Manpreet.

���������Indian women's team failed

to capitalise on two goal-scoringchances in the dying minutes tolose the semifinal 0-1 to tripledefending champions Australia.India will now clash with Englandfor a Bronze medal on Saturday.

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Indian badminton star KidambiSrikanth on Thursday became

World No 1 in the BadmintonWorld Federation (BWF) rank-ings, replacing Denmark's ViktorAxelsen. Srikanth moved to thetop of rankings with 76,895 pointsin men's singles category to dis-place current world championAxelsen, who lost at least 1,660points because he could notdefend his Malaysian Open title.

The Malaysian Open washeld from April 4-9 last year buthas now been moved to June 26to July 1 on account of the ongo-ing Commonwealth Games. The25-year-old Srikanth bagged the

mixed team gold in the ongoingGold Coast Games and continuesto feature in the men's singles for-mat in that event.

Srikanth becomes only thesecond Indian after Saina Nehwal,

who achieved thefeat in 2015, to topthe rankings andthe first Indianmale to do so.

"This is a hugeachievement for Srikanth as wellas for Indian badminton,"Gopichand told media inAustralia.

"There has been a lot of talkabout our women doing well, butnow we will have a men's No 1.This will help Srikanth become

more relaxed. Whatever happensfrom here, he will always knowthat he was ranked as the best inthe world — that he has accom-plished that goal. It will help himfocus more on winning tourna-ments."

Srikanth, who burst onto thescene with victory in the ThailandOpen in 2013, secured the WorldNo 2 ranking in November lastyear but missed out on the chanceto claim the top spot after suffer-ing an injury.

The Indian shuttler won fourSuper Series titles — Indonesia,Australia, Denmark, and France— last year, becoming only thefourth in the world to achieve thefeat.

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The seasoned TejaswiniSawant brought her years of

experience into play en route toclaiming the Silver medal in thewomen's 50m rifle prone eventof the 21st CommonwealthGames here on Thursday.

Tejaswini shot 102.1, 102.4,103.3, 102.8, 103.7, 104.6 for acumulative score of 618.9 over

six series toclaim her sixCWG medal.Young AnjumMoudgil, theother Indian

shooter in the fray, finished alowly 16th with 602.2.

Singapore's rifle ace MartinaLindsay Veloso won the Goldmedal, while Seonaid Mcintoshof Scotland bagged the Bronze.

She maintained her posi-tion at the end of the fifth seriesand managed a final-seriesscore of 104.6.

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Double Olympic-medallistSushil Kumar (74kg) andRahul Aware claimed

contrasting Gold medals even asdefending champion BabitaPhogat (53kg) settled for a silveron the opening day of the 21stCommonwealth Games’wrestling competition here onThursday.

Sushil took a minute and 20seconds to defeat Johannes Bothaof South Africa on technicalsuperiority to claim his third suc-cessive CWG Gold medal.

Aware, on the other hand,prevailed 15-7 over Canada'sSteven Takahashi in an excitingcontest during which the Indianwas troubled by a groin niggle butchose to carry on with more thana minute left on the clock.

Aware's triumph openedIndia's Gold medal account in thethree-day wrestling competitionat the Games.

“I have been waiting for thismedal for 10 years. I can'tdescribe how it feels to claim it.I missed out on 2010, even in2014, the team was sent withouttrials. So, I am very happy that Icould finally fulfil this dream,”said the 26-year-old Aware, who

is also the reigningCommonwealth championshipsGold-medallist. “I dedicate this tomy guru who passed away in2012, I am happy that all theefforts I put in got the result Iwanted,” he added.

However, Babita settled forsilver after being outmaneouvredby Canada’s Diana Weicker in thesummit clash. Babita, whoclaimed a silver in the 2010 edi-tion before a gold in Glasgow,

failed to breakthrough her rival'sdefences, goingdown 2-5 in thecontest. “I thinkmy weakness

today was my attack, I shouldhave been more aggressive but Igave my 100 per cent. I am sat-isfied with the intensity I put inbut obviously I could not get theresult I wanted,” she said. “I hada bit of a problem in my knees toobut injuries are a wrestler's orna-ments. We live niggles, there isnothing there,” she added.

While Babita's bout lackedspark, Aware’s showdown withTakahashi was thoroughly engag-ing. The Indian trailed 6-7 at onestage but claimed points on take-down to recover and keep imselfahead.

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