Will defeat the ‘casteist’ in 2019, asserts Cong chief ... the sharing of Cauvery river water as it declined its plea for deferring the issue by three ... their 1984 anti-Sikh

SC PULLS UP CENTREON CAUVERY VERDICTNew Delhi: The Supreme Courton Monday pulled up the Centrefor not framing a scheme for theimplementation of its verdict onthe sharing of Cauvery riverwater as it declined its plea fordeferring the issue by threemonths.

2 SECURITY PERSONNELKILLED IN MAOIST ATTACKNew Delhi: Two securitypersonnel were killed and fiveothers injured in an exchange offire between Maoists and theCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF) personnel inChhattisgarh’s Bijapur onMonday.

USERS WILL KNOW IF DATAWAS SHARED WITH CA: FBNew York: Under fire globally forallowing data breach, socialmedia giant Facebook will onMonday start alerting the 87million users, including 5,62,455in India, whose data may havebeen compromised as the UK-based Cambridge Analyticapilfered them through an app.

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

Untimely rain and thun-dershowers since Saturday

night have caused extensivedamage to the standing Rabicrops especially wheat, mus-tard and gram in several partsof the country, including UttarPradesh, Bihar, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra, WestBengal, Rajasthan, Punjab andHaryana.

As per the reports, cropssuch as wheat, bengal gram,jowar, orange, grapes, mango,papaya, pomegranate, onionand other vegetables have alsosuffered huge damage.Meanwhile, Met Departmenthas predicted that light tomoderate rain and thunder-showers will continue overmany parts till April 11.

According to Skymet

Weather, these rain and thun-dershowers could be attrib-uted to the western distur-bance that can be seen overNorth Pakistan and adjoiningJammu & Kashmir. In associ-ation to this weather system,there is an induced cyclonic cir-culation, which is over east cen-tral Pakistan and adjoiningnorthwest Rajasthan andHaryana.

According to MetDepartment, Gulmarg record-ed 28 mm of rain, Shimla 27mm, Qazigund 18 mm, Una 14mm, Jammu 8 mm, Mandi 6mm, Dharamsala 5 mm,Bhuntar 3 mm, and Manali 2

mm. Traces of rain were alsoseen over MukteshwarKumaon, Dehradun, Tehri, andPantnagar during the last 24hours. “Higher reaches ofKashmir and Himachal mayalso witness isolated snowfall.Areas of Gulmarg, Keylong,Leh, Rohtang Pass may witnesssnowfall activity,” the Skymetweather said.

The unseasonal rain overthe Madhya Pradesh andMaharashtra, especially hail-storm, has earlier resulted insevere crop damage inFebruary and March this year.

So far, damage to rabicrops like wheat and mustard

and chickpea has been report-ed from Punjab, Bihar, UP,Haryana, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh, Madhya Pradesh andMaharashtra in the past twothree days. It could end upbeing a double whammy forfarmers, given the additionalburden of falling prices.Usually, the wheat harvest in

northern India begins fromApril 1 while in MadhyaPradesh, farmers commencesharvesting from middle ofMarch. It is estimated thatfarmers are expected to bearoutput loss of 20-40 per cent inthe wake of this unseasonalrain and thundershowers.

Continued on Page 6

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE nNEW DELHI

Leading a nationwide fast inprotest by his party against

alleged communalism andcasteism, Congress chief RahulGandhi on Monday assertedthat the grand old party willdefeat the BJP-led NDA in the2019 general election.

Amid expose that some ofthe leaders feasted before sittingon a fast, Rahul accused PrimeMinister Narendra Modi ofbeing “casteist” and “anti-Dalit”,and said his party will alwaysstand against the BJP’s “oppres-sive” ideology.

The BJP hit back at theCongress, accusing it of play-ing a “joke” on Dalits with its“farce of a fast” and mocked theOpposition party, saying itsleaders claim of bringing achange but cannot abstain fromone meal and their presidentRahul cannot wake up inmorning even for a day as theyare used to “politics of luxury”.

“The entire country knowsthat PM Modi is anti-Dalit, itis not a secret...The BJP follows

ideology of oppressing Dalits,tribals, minorities. We willstand against and defeat it in2019 general polls,” Rahul toldthe media at Rajghat.

Rahul’s day-long fast alsofocused on non-functioningof Parliament, for which itblamed the ruling BJP. The BJPMPs too will observe a fast onApril 12 to protest the impassein Parliament.

While some Congressleaders, including DelhiCongress chief Ajay Maken,landed in a soup over beingtraced having a breakfast in arestaurant, senior leaders likeSajjan Kumar and JagdishTytler were asked to stay awayfrom the main event to avoidtheir 1984 anti-Sikh riots shad-ow. The party’s units across thecountry held similar fasts.

Senior leaders, includingKamal Nath, MallikarjunKharge, Sheila Dikshit, AshokGehlot and the party’s com-munications in-chargeRandeep Surjewala, took partin the fast.

After the picture of Delhi

Congress leaders having a mealat a restaurant went viral, BJPlatched onto it to claim that theOpposition party’s “double stan-dards” were exposed and that ithad ridiculed MahatmaGandhi’s principles of ‘satyagrah’.

BJP Spokesman Sambit

Patra also attacked RahulGandhi for calling Modi anti-Dalit, saying the Congressdenied Dalits financial inclu-sion during its long rule and itsleaders cannot escape one mealfor them.

Continued on Page 6

PTI n BEIJING

The chances of the arrest ofNirav Modi in Hong Kong

brightened on Monday afterChina said the special admin-istrative region which func-tioned under its effective con-trol can take a decision over theissue based on its laws and judi-cial assistance agreements. Indiahas reportedly sought Nirav’sarrest under the “Surrender ofFugitive Offenders Agreement”with Hong Kong.

Minister of State forExternal Affairs VK Singh toldParliament last week that hisMinistry had sought the pro-visional arrest of Nirav by theHong Kong SpecialAdministrative Region.

Asked about India’srequest, Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesman GengShuang told a media briefingthat “according to the onecountry two systems and basic

law of HKSAR, under the assis-tance and authorisation of theCentral Government, theHKSAR can make properarrangement on judicial mutu-al assistance with other coun-tries”. “If India make relevantrequest to the HKSAR, webelieve HKSAR will follow thebasic law and relevant laws andunder relevant judicial agree-ments with India with the rel-evant issue,” he said.

Now that China said HongKong could act based on judi-cial agreements, officials say the“Surrender of FugitiveOffenders Agreement” betweenHong Kong and India couldcome into play.

Continued on Page 6

PNS n LUCKNOW

The father of an 18-year-oldgirl, who had alleged rape

by BJP MLA Kuldeep SinghSengar and his brothers, died injudicial custody in Unnao inthe early hours of Monday, trig-gering a political slugfest inUttar Pradesh. The girl hasalleged, “We were gettingthreats and they killed myfather at the behest of the BJPMLA.” However, a defiantSengar, rejected the charge asa conspiracy by his opponentsand said the complainantbelonged to a “low class”.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has summoned adetailed report in the matterand assured that “whosoever isguilty will not be spared”. Hesaid, “The incident is unfortu-nate. ADG, Lucknow, has beenasked to probe the matter andsubmit a report and if anypoliceman is found guilty,action will be taken.”

The girl’s father, SurendraSingh, alias Pappu, aged around50, was rushed to hospitalfrom the district jail on Sunday night and died duringtreatment early on Monday,officials said.

Pappu was arrested underthe Arms Act after being beat-en up by the MLA’s brother AnilSingh on April 5. The family ofthe girl alleged that the BJPMLA, his brother and theirgoons beat up Pappu when they

refused to withdraw the gan-grape case against them. “Pappuwas seriously injured in theattack despite that he was arrest-ed in an old case. Afraid ofthreat to her father’s life, the girlhad on Sunday rushed toLucknow from Unnao to meetthe CM and plead him to inter-vene in the matter and save herfather’s life,” the family said.

Significantly, a case hadbeen registered against fourpersons a few days back on acomplaint by the deceased’swife that Pappu was beaten up.“The four accused — Sonu,Baua, Vinit and Shailu —named in the FIR registered onApril 4, 2018, for beating up thedeceased have been arrested,”said Unnao Superintendent ofPolice Pushpanjali Devi.

The girl had tried to immo-late herself in front of the CM’sresidence on Sunday. However,security forces deployed therefoiled her attempt.

PTI n SHIMLA/NURPUR

Twenty seven children wereamong 30 killed when a

school bus ferrying them backhome plunged into a deepgorge near village Gurchal onthe Nurpur-Chamba highway,about 100 km from the districtheadquarters at Dharamsalaon Monday. The deceased chil-dren were students of RamSingh Pathania MemorialSchool, police said.

School bus driver, 67-year-old Madan Lal, and twowomen teachers too died in theaccident, Kangra SP SantoshPatial said.

Local BJP MLA RakeshPathania, who was on the spot,said 27 bodies were recoveredwhile two more had been spot-ted. At least 13 seriously injuredpersons were rushed to hospi-tal in Pathankot where one ofthem succumbed to injuries, anofficial said. The condition ofother injured persons was also

critical, he said.The bus was carrying 40-

45 people and most of those killed were students ofelementary classes, aged below ten.

Chief Minister Jai RamThakur announced an imme-diate relief of `5 lakh to the

next of kin of each deceased.A magisterial probe was

ordered and preliminaryenquiries suggested the acci-dent occurred as the driver lostcontrol over the bus whichveered off the road and fell intoa deep gorge, an official said.

Continued on Page 6

Indian men’s Table Tennis team, badmintonteam and shooter Jitu Rai pose for photosafter clinching gold medals atCommonwealth Games on Monday(Report on P16) PTI/AP/Twitter

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has placed theSupreme Court Collegium

in the dock over recommend-ing the name of a districtjudge for elevation to theKarnataka High Court withoutcarrying out a transparentenquiry into the allegations ofsexual harassment against him.

After the senior mostjudge of the Supreme CourtCollegium Justice JastiChelameswar complained tothe Chief Justice of India (CJI)about the manner in whichUnion Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad recently wroteto the Karnataka High CourtChief Justice to initiate enquiryagainst district judge P KrishnaBhatt, the Law Minister hasjustified the reason for ques-tioning the Collegium’s rec-ommendation.

Bhatt, facing sexual harass-ment charges by a woman lawofficer, was recently cleared bythe Collegium for a promotionfollowing an enquiry byKarnataka High Court ChiefJustice. However, in a letter toChief justice of India DipakMishra, Prasad raised con-cerns over the way “discreetenquiry” was conducted by theKarnataka CJ on the complaintagainst Bhatt and the fact thathe was given a clean chit with-out calling the complainantwoman officer for enquiry.

Justice Chelameswar had

recently written a letter to theCJI taking exception to theUnion Law Ministry writing tothe Karnataka High CourtChief Justice seeking anenquiry into allegations againsta judge whose name wascleared twice by the SupremeCourt Collegium for appoint-ment as High Court judge.

Continued on Page 6

CAPSULE

Rahul, BJP slug it out on Dalit love

Will defeat the ‘casteist’ in 2019, asserts Cong chief; Cong playing joke on community, alleges BJP

Decision to elevate

K’taka judge facing

sexual harassment

charges faces flak

m District judge P KrishnaBhatt, facing sexualharassment charges by awoman law officer, wasrecently cleared by theCollegium for a promotionfollowing an enquiry byKarnataka High Court Chief

m However, in a letter to ChiefJustice of India Dipak Mishra,Union Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad raisedconcerns over the way“discreet enquiry” wasconducted by the KarnatakaCJ on the complaint againstBhatt and the fact that he wasgiven a clean chit withoutcalling the complainantwoman officer for enquiry

Rape victim’s father

dies in jail custody,

girl accuses MLA

27 students among 30 killed as

HP school bus falls into gorge

Ill-timed downpour rains on Rabi’s paradeExtensive damage to the standing crops, especially wheat,mustard and gram, was reported in several parts of thecountry, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana

Min questionsjudgement ofSC Collegium

China leaves it to HongKong to arrest Nirav

Rescue operation being carried out after a school bus fell into a gorge near Nurpurin Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh on Monday evening PTI

Upholding JUDICIAL SANCTITYCongress leaders have a breakfast before going to fast Twitter

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with party leaders during, a nationwide day-long fast at Rajghat in New Delhi on Monday Ranjan Dimri | Pioneer

India continues to bag yellow

metal at CWG!

Yogi orders probe,promises guiltywon’t be spared

BJP MLA from Unnao Kuldip SinghSengar speaks to the media outsideChief Minister’s office in Lucknow onMonday PTI

SC judge Justice Jasti Chelameswar

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PNS n LUCKNOW

Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh on Monday

asked district officials to reviewdevelopment schemes on pri-ority so that their benefitsreached the masses in a time-bound manner.

Singh issued this directivewhile reviewing developmentin eight districts along withChief Minister Yogi Adityanathwith officials in Lucknow onMonday.

“Prime Minister NarendraModi has a vision of develop-ment of India. The country can

achieve development only ifUttar Pradesh is developed.

The government has, therefore,identified eight most back-

ward districts of the state wheredevelopment has sloweddown,” the Union ministersaid. The eight districts whichwere identified to speed updevelopment are Shrawasti,Bahraich, Siddharthnagar,Balrampur, Chandauli,Fatehpur, Sonebhadra andChitrakoot.

Singh pointed out that thesocio-economic indicators ofthese eight districts were verypoor. “The government shouldwork in tandem with districtofficials to identify what exact-ly is the problem and then look

Continued on Page 6

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and CM Yogi Adityanath speak during a meeting toreview district action plan in Yojna Bhawan in Lucknow on Monday Pioneer

Rajnath asks officials to review dev schemes

city 02LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)jawans manning the Indo-

Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh,Bihar and West Bengal, inter-cepted four members of a gangengaged in human traffickingand rescued 18 Nepalese chil-dren from their custody late onSunday night.

The victims were laterhanded over to a local non-gov-ernmental organisation inBahraich. It will ensure theirreturn to their families in Nepal.

The accused were handedover to Rupaideeha police forinterrogation to extract infor-mation about other childrenwho might have been alreadytrafficked to different parts ofthe country.

Giving details of the break-through to mediapersons inBahraich on Monday, DeputyCommandant of SSB, JaiPrakash, revealed that a teamwas patrolling the Indo-Nepalborder on Sunday night whenit learnt about some childrenbeing trafficked to India fromNepal by a gang.

An alert was soon sound-ed along Indo-Nepal border inRupaideeha and the SSB team

spotted four suspicious personsalong with 18 children betweenthe age of 12 and 14 years,entering into Indian territory.All four accused were immedi-ately taken into custody.

The SSB official said thatthe accused were taken to apolice station where they iden-tified themselves as KamalGautam, Surat Singh, SantBahadur and Ahmad Hussain.

During sustained interro-gation, the accused confessedto trafficking children fromNepal. They also revealed thatthey were taking a dozen chil-dren to Shimla while theremaining six were to be takento Mumbai.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-oldyouth was stabbed on Mondayduring a clash with some per-sons at Thakurain Ka Purwavillage under Mohanganj policestation limits in Amethi dis-trict.

Ranjit (20), a resident ofThakurain Ka Purwa, wasstabbed after a clash with threepersons of the same village. Hewas admitted to the communi-ty health centre in Tiloi.

In a separate incident,police arrested seven membersof a gang of two-wheeler lifters

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh Congressleaders on Monday sat on

a day-long fast to protestagainst the Bharatiya JanataParty’s “anti-dalit” stance andthe growing cases of caste andcommunal conflicts in thecountry.

In Lucknow, the fast washeld at UP Congress headquar-ters at Mall Avenue and was ledby party’s state president RajBabbar. Several other seniorleaders, including former MPPramod Tiwari, legislatorsAradhana Mishra and DeepakSingh along with others joinedthe fast which ended at 5 pm.

The fast was, however, dis-rupted for some time in mid-afternoon due to the suddenhailstorm that lashed differentparts of the state.

Addressing party workers,Babbar alleged that the BJP wasworking against the interests ofDalits and was trying to with-draw reservation. “Atrocitiesagainst Dalits have increasedmanifold during the Narendra

Modi regime and now they aretrying to snatch the rightsgiven to the community in theConstitution,” he said.

The Rajya Sabha MPalleged that in Uttar Pradeshalso, the condition of Dalits wasvery bad and they were beingregularly harassed by the policeand government officials.

Babbar said that theircharges had been vindicated

when almost all Dalit MPs ofthe BJP endorsed the chargesmade by the opposition againsttheir government.

Meanwhile, UP Congressspokesperson AmarnathAgarwal said that the day-longfast by party leaders an work-ers was successful and similarprogrammes were organised atall district headquarters acrossthe state.

Lucknow: Samajwadi Partypresident Akhilesh Yadav hasdemanded the resignation ofChief Minister Yogi Adityanathfor the suspicious death of agang-rape victim’s father in judi-cial custody in Unnao onMonday. He also demanded ahigh level probe into the custo-dial death and asked the ChiefMinister to own moral respon-sibility and step down from hisoffice. On Monday, the rape vic-tim’s father, Pappu, who wasarrested on April 5, died in judi-cial custody. The girl’s familyalleged that Pappu was mur-dered in judicial custody byBharatiya Janata Party MLAKuldeep Singh Sengar and hisgoons, named as accused by thevictim. PNS

PNS n LUCKNOW

At a time when the BharatiyaJanata Party is facing heat

over Dalit agitation and manyof its leaders are threatening toquit the party, it got a shot inthe arm when two former par-liamentarians, two ex-legisla-tors and dozens of senior lead-ers of both Bahujan SamajParty and Samajwadi Partyjoined the ruling party.

“Such a huge number ofleaders joining the BJP showsthat people have faith in thepolicies of the Narendra Modiand Yogi Adityanath govern-ments as both are committedto helping the poor and the

downtrodden,” BJP state pres-ident Mahendra Nath Pandeysaid here on Monday.

He said two former parlia-mentarians from BSP and SP and two former legislatorswere among the 28 leadersand their supporters who joined the BJP onMonday.

Those who joined the BJPinclude former MPs AshokRawat (Mishrikh) and JaiPrakash Rawat (Hardoi), ex-MLA Prem Prakash alias JippyTiwari, former MLC HeeraThakur, former spokesmanof Samajwadi Party, SanjivMishra, and many block pramukhs.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Even as major political par-ties are grappling to decide

their candidates for the bienni-al polls to 13 seats of UPLegislative Council, theElection Commission onMonday issued notification forthese elections, kicking off thenomination process.

As in the Rajya Sabha polls,the ruling Bharatiya Janata Partywill be the major gainer in theCouncil elections as it will winat least 11 of the 13 seats goingto polls.

The united opposition canwalk away with only two seats.

After the hectic Rajya Sabhapolls last month, the Councilpolls are set to be another roundof political battle between theBJP and the united opposition— Samajwadi Party-BahujanSamaj Party and Congress.

The term of 13 memberswill end on May 5 and pollingwill be held on April 26.

Outgoing member andSamajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav could seek re-election tothe Council. For the second seat,there is likely to be a jointopposition candidate of BSPsupported by the SP andCongress.

The BJP is likely to finalise

its candidates during the pro-posed visit of party chief AmitShah to Lucknow this week.

The terms of two UP min-isters — Mahendra KumarSingh and Mohsin Raza — willend on May 5 and they could bere-nominated.

Election Commissionsources here said on Mondaythat the last date of nominationis April 16 while the nomina-tions will be scrutinised April 17.The last date of withdrawal ofnomination is April 19. Pollingwill be held, if required, on April26 from 9 am to 4 pm andcounting of votes will be takenup from 5 pm the same day.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh GovernorRam Naik on Mondaypromulgated the Uttar

Pradesh Self-Financed Schools(Fee Fixation) Ordinance, 2018.

The Yogi AdityanathCabinet had approved the draftof the ordinance on April 3.

The government had tobring the ordinance as the statelegislature is not in session.

All minority educationalinstitutions will also be coveredby the ordinance.

Under the ordinance, a feeregulatory committee will beformed in every division withspecial powers to resolve casesrelating to fee hike.

As per the ordinance, pri-vate schools, including thoserun by minority communities,that charge at least Rs 20,000 as

annual fee and hold classesfrom standard I to the sec-ondary level, will come underits ambit.

The objective of the ordi-nance is to improve academicquality and provide relief to theparents from additional finan-cial burden.

The ordinance will coverschools affiliated to CBSE,ICSE as well as UP Board ofSecondary Education.

The schools, as per theordinance, will be required toupload their fee structure atleast 60 days before the start ofthe academic session and willnot be allowed to charge admis-sion fee every year from thesame student.

Schools will also not beallowed to change uniforms forat least five years and in casethey wish to, they will have to

appeal before the divisionalcommittee headed by the divi-sional commissioner. The com-mittee will also include repre-sentatives of parents andguardians.

Further, schools will berequired to show their incomefrom commercial activitieswithin the premises, and willhave to raise the salaries ofteachers accordingly withoutincreasing the fee.

The ordinance providesfor Rs 1 lakh fine for first vio-lation, Rs 5 lakh fine for arepeat offence and a recom-mendation for de-recognitionfor a third violation.

The ‘optional fee’ will beapplicable to only those whoavail optional facilities. Theordinance will not includeschools which run only class-es I to V.

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PTI n LAKHIMPUR KHERI

Thirty-four years after thesuccessful rehabilitation of

one-horned Indian rhinocerosin Dudhwa National Park, thepark is ready to populateanother rhino rehabilitationarea (RRA) on Tuesday.

Incidentally, the first rhinorehabilitation programme inthe park, located in the Terairegion of Uttar Pradesh’sLakhimpur Kheri district, wasinitiated 33 years ago in April1984, and the second is alsotaking place in the samemonth, forest officials said.

The only difference: thefirst rehabilitation was carriedout with five rhinos fromAssam, while the current oneis being done on its own.

“Four rhinos from theexisting 33-member Dudhwarhino family in Sonaripur rangewill be shifted to Bhadi Tal area

on Tuesday and on Wednesdayin two phases,” Dudhwa deputydirector Mahavir Kaujlagi said.

It would be done undersupervision by rhino expertsfrom Assam led by KK Sharma,Assam Veterinary College headof department; Dudhwa direc-tor Sunil Chaudhary and MuditGupta, the in-charge of WorldWildlife Fund (WWF), TeraiArc landscape, said Kaujlagi,who is also among the super-vising team. Sharma’s teamand former chief wildlife war-den Bishan Singh Bonal hasarrived in Dudhwa to monitorthe shifting of rhinos, which isa very delicate process, thedeputy director informed.

On Monday, the teamwould train the field officialsengaged in the relocation pro-gramme. The shifting wouldtake place from Tuesday,Kaujlagi said, adding that tran-quilising drug Etorphine had

been procured from SouthAfrica. Need for an alternatehome for Dudhwa rhinos was

felt long ago, when the rhinofamily grew to nearly threedozen in the specially-fenced

area of 27 square kilometres inSonaripur range, Dudhwa.

The chief reason behindthe alternate rhino area was toaccommodate the growingrhino population, which oftenresulted in infighting amongthe inmates. The park officials’search ended on Bhadi Talarea, which was identical toSonaripur RRA in terms ofrhino habitat with adequategrassland, water bodies andenvironment.

Park authorities developedthe 13.5 sq. km area, fenced itand arranged proper infra-structure. The area was readyto receive its new entrants a fewyears back. However, owing tosome reason, the programmehad to be postponed. Majorhindrance was lack of tranquil-ising drug, which was unavail-able in India and its procure-ment from South Africa was along process.

Dudhwa rhinos to get a second home in park

Ordinance regulating

school fee issued

Ex-lawmakers among

several SP, BSP

leaders join BJP

Council poll process

set in motion

Akhilesh demandsCM’s resignationover Unnaocustodial death

Congress protests growing

caste, communal conflicts

UPCC president Raj Babbar (right) and Congress leaders paying tributes toMahatma Gandhi before sitting on fast at party office in Mall Avenue in Lucknowon Monday Pioneer

SSB arrests four human traffickers near Pitambar Pandey KaPurwa village on Tikarmafi-Bhadar road underSangrampur police station andrecovered 12 stolen motorcy-cles recovered from their pos-session on Sunday night.

The kingpin of the gang isstill absconding.

In Jaunpur, three membersof a family were killed when themotorcycle they were travellingon was hit by a truck in MachliShahar area on Monday.

Ramdhari Pal (65) wasgoing on his bike with sonNarendra Pal (42) and grand-son Shashi Kant (20) when atruck coming from oppositedirection hit them, killing thetrio on the spot, police said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has directed

officials to ensure that peopleget drinking water during thesummer in the ruggedBundelkhand region.

The directive was issuedduring a review meeting heldhere on Monday. “Officersshould tour villages to evaluate

the water crisis and ensurethat the people get water fordrinking and other purposes,”he said and asked officials toensure that water reached thepeople in Bundelkhandthrough tankers or othermodes.

In another meeting, theChief Minister saw a presenta-tion of pharma companies andlooked for investment oppor-

tunity for these companies inUttar Pradesh. “The govern-ment is ready for supportinginvestment in this sector. Wehave a policy in place. We needsupport from you and we arehere only for this,” the CM said.

Under the pharma policy,the government will provide allfacilities to private companieswhich are interested in market-ing and research.

Ensure water in Bundelkhandduring summer: CM to officers

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath presiding over a review meeting in Lucknow on Monday

BSP delegation

meets Yogi

PNS n LUCKNOW

ABahujan Samaj Party dele-gation led by its general

secretary Satish ChandraMishra met Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath here onMonday to protest undueharassment of party cadre andDalits in the name of actionagainst those involved in vio-lence during Bharat Bandh onApril 2.

Mishra, along with BSPLegislature Party leader LaljiVerma and party state chiefRam Achal Rajbhar met Yogiand handed over a memoran-dum in this regard.

They claimed that thebandh was called to protestagainst weakening of lawsagainst harassment of Dalitsand on seeing its success,some anti-social elementsindulged in violence todefame the community and

create caste conflict. They claimed that

Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati had condemnedthose who engaged in violenceand advocated stern actionagainst the guilty the sameevening.

Mishra said that in thename of action against trou-blemakers, the governmentmachinery was not onlyarresting Bahujan Samaj Partyworkers and leaders, accusingthem of instigating violence,but was also orchestratingmurders of Bahujan SamajParty leaders and ransackingtheir houses and establish-ments.

The Bahujan Samaj Partydelegation appealed to theChief Minister to interveneand ensure that the innocentpeople were not punished andthose arrested were freed onbail.


PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Aduststorm and rainswhich followed onMonday afternoon

made the weather pleasantafter a hot spell. The skyturned grey and cool windsmade the weather pleasantbefore heavens opened up,albeit for a while. The weath-erman has forecast thunder-showers with intermittentcloudy weather for the next 2-3 days in the state capital andacross the state.

Met director JP Gupta,said that the thunderstormswere caused by a cyclonic cir-culation over southern UttarPradesh and a western distur-bance over Pakistan andJammu & Kashmir. “We hadearlier made a forecast thatthunderstorms were likely forfive days,” said Gupta.

The cool breeze broughtrelief to people who were reel-ing under the sweltering heat.The thunderstorm which waspretty strong for half-an-hoursubsided but the weather car-ried the ambience of monsoonwith trees flashing a washedlook after brief showers.

The velocity of the windwas about 25-30 kilometresper hour. Commuters facedproblems due to the strongwinds and some of them had totake shelter. Lucknow recordeda maximum temperature of

35.8 degrees Celsius, whichwas a notch below normal.The minimum temperature set-tled at 22.7 degrees Celsius,

which was three degrees above normal. Meanwhile, LucknowElectricity SupplyAdministration (LESA) chief

engineer, trans-Gomti, PradeepKakker said there was no majorbreakdown but the power sup-ply was switched off for anhour-and-a-half as a precau-tionary measure. “Power supplywas shut only in some areassuch as Vibhuti Khand, VivekKhand and HAL primarily as aprecautionary measure.Otherwise, we did not face anymajor breakdown,” he said.

He added that since therewas a forecast for thunder-storm in the coming days, theywould remain alert. LESA chiefengineer (cis-Gomti) AK Singhsaid they had received informa-tion about a breakdown inrural areas under his jurisdic-tion. Airport officials saidflights were diverted due to thethunderstorm. A senior airportofficial said that the divertedflights included 6E 943 fromDelhi to Lucknow. It was divert-ed back to Delhi from en routedue to strong winds at 2:50 pm.9W 857 ATR from Delhi toLucknow was held up over-head for 25 minutes overLucknow airport and it land-ed at 2:55 pm. Meanwhile,noted mango orchardist HajiKalimullah said that the dust-storm at this time had notharmed the mango cropsbecause the fruit was justbead-sized. However, suchduststorms in future couldcause immense harm, headded.

Duststorm, rains spell relief

PNS n LUCKNOW

Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh said that

the proposed outer ringroad and Kukrail flyoverprojects would be com-pleted on time and addedthere would be no compro-mise on the quality of work.Singh, accompanied byDeputy Chief MinisterKeshav Prasad Maurya,inspected the proposedsites on Monday.

Singh said that the

Narendra Modi governmentwas committed to ensuringwelfare of farmers and thedowntrodden and it wouldgo all the way to make themself-sufficient so that theycould live with dignity.Maurya said that UP SetuNigam was awarded thecontract to build four-lanerail bridge on Lucknow-Barabanki highway at theestimated cost of Rs 132.50crore. He said that work on996.13 metres six-laneKukrail nullah, stretching

from Gomti barrage to RingRoad in Khurramnagar, hadstarted and was expected to

be functional by Novemberthis year. It is to be recalledthat the work was stopped in

2011 due to a disputebetween the Public WorksDepartment (PWD) andarmy authorities. The dis-pute was sorted last monthfollowing the intervention ofthe Union Home Ministerwho was keen to start thework at the earliest.Additional Chief SecretarySanjay Agarwal, engineerin-chief VK Singh, manag-ing director of UP SetuNigam Rajan Mittal were present during theinspection.

Projects will be completed on time, says Rajnath

Lucknow (PNS): A passenger was offloadedfrom a plane for unruly behaviour towards thecabin crew at Chaudhary Charan Singh Airporton Monday morning. The ruckus created by thepassenger delayed the flight. As per thespokesperson of IndiGo Airlines, Saurabh Rai wasoffloaded from Bengaluru-bound flight (6E-541)on Monday morning for unruly behaviour.

“Prior to take-off, Saurabh Rai expressed con-cern regarding mosquitoes on board. However,before the cabin crew could address his concern,he aggressively expressed his annoyance andstarted threatening them. As the matter escalat-ed after the closure of aircraft doors, Saurabh Raiattempted to instigate other passengers on boardto damage the aircraft and used words such as‘hijack’,” the spokesperson claimed.

“Such actions are unacceptable and there iszero tolerance for such threatening language onboard an aircraft. Keeping in mind applicablesafety protocols, the crew apprised the pilot-in-command, who decided to offload Saurabh Rai,”he added. Though the airlines officials stated thatcustomer satisfaction was core to their business,safety and security of passengers as well as col-leagues was of primary concern.

“Therefore, any conduct of this nature is ofserious concern to us and as a responsible cor-porate citizen, we will take all necessary actionto address this violation,” he added.

Passenger offloaded for unruly behaviour

Lucknow (PNS): LucknowUniversity will be conductingBEd joint entrance exam (JEE)on April 11. State coordinatorof BEd-JEE, LucknowUniversity, Naveen Khare said2,33,913 candidates had regis-tered for the examinations.There are 469 centres acrossUttar Pradesh with 47 inLucknow and 75 in Meerut.

The exam will be conduct-ed in two shifts — from 8 amto 11 am and from 1 pm to 4pm. “There are a total of1,80,000 seats in 2,400 collegesacross the state which will be

filled through these examina-tions,” Khare said. The ChiefSecretary has directed all thedistrict magistrates to appointone centre representative at 2centres. Khare said that theDMs would impose section144 on April 11 and all photo-copying shops within a radiusof 100 metres from exam cen-tres would remain closed.

The results will be declaredon May 10 and counselling willbe held in June. The coun-selling will be carried outonline to help in preventing anymisappropriation.

BEd-JEE to be held tomorrow


Thieves struck four houses inGudamba and decamped with

cash and jewellery on Sunday night.Police claimed that the theft took place at only one house owned byAwadh Ram and added they wereinvestigating the case.

Awadh Ram of Goyatipurwa vil-lage of the locality, in his complaint,said that he and his family were fastasleep on the roof of the house whenthieves struck his house around 2 amon Monday. He stated that the miscre-ants decamped with Rs 52,000 incash and jewellery worth several lakh.Awadh Ram is a milk vendor and heclaimed that the thieves also tried tosteal his buffaloes.

His brother Raju claimed thatthieves made off with Rs 55,000 andjewellery from his house but thepolice did not entertain his com-plaint. Like him, Jagdeep Yadav andRajendra claimed that thieves struckat their houses which were adjacent toAwadh Ram’s house. The policespokesman said the theft took place atAwadh Ram’s house only. “The policeare probing into the claims made byother villagers,” he said. The villagersflew in rage when the cops reached thevillage hours after they were informedabout the incident and tried to hinderthe police probe. However, the copssucceeded in mollifying irate villagers.During probe, the cops recoveredempty suitcases and boxes from a fieldon the outskirts of the village.

AILING GIRL COMMITS SUICIDESuffering from renal disease, a 17-

year-old girl ended her life inGosainganj on Sunday evening. Shewas found hanging from an iron barwith a dupatta tied around her neck atan abandoned house behind the houseshe was living. Her family claimed thatshe ended her life due to depression fol-lowing the illness. The girl identifiedas Kalpana of Mirzapur village was allalone after her parents Ram LakhanRawat and Vidya Devi left for fieldswhile her brothers and sisters-in-lawleft for another field for reaping har-vest. Around 3 pm on Sunday, she wentto the field to serve food to her parentsand returned home. By evening, whenthe family returned, they did not findKalpana present at the house andstarted searching her. A little later, theyfound her hanging. They brought herdown from the noose and rushed herto a hospital where she was declared“brought dead upon arrival”.

The Gosainganj police said a sui-cide note was recovered from thehouse where Kalpana was found hang-ing. “She stated that she did not wantto live any more because of the diseaseand was ending her life on her own. Shepleaded the police not to initiate anyaction against her family,” the SHO,Gosainganj, said. He said the familywas not willing to get the autopsy con-ducted. “But we followed all therequired process. The body was sent forautopsy and the doctors ascertainedhanging as cause of death,” heexplained.

Thieves have a field day,

target four houses

Home Minister Rajnath Singh during inspection of outer ring road onMonday. Also seen in Deputy CM KP Maurya Pioneer

(Top) People caught off-guard by the sudden duststorm on Monday. (Above) Awhite peacock seem to be relishing the pleasant weather Pioneer



Wildlife SOS and UP Forestdepartment rescued an

11-foot mugger crocodile fromBichpuria village inShahjahanpur. The crocodile,which had attacked a local res-ident, was relocated andreleased into the Ganga river.

Residents of Bichpuria vil-lage located in Allahganj(Shahjahanpur) were fearing fortheir lives after the crocodileattacked a man earlier thismonth. The reptile made itsway through a canal leading upto village pond from the Gangariver. The incident was report-ed to local authorities andForest department. Agra-basedWildlife SOS was contacted ontheir 24-hour rescue helpline(+91-9917109666).

A four-member team,accompanied by four forestofficers, was immediatelydespatched to Bichpuria, almost300 kms from Agra. The croc-

odile emerged from the pondon Sunday and was lure into atrap cage. The decision torelease the crocodile into theGanga river was taken with thepermission of the chief wildlifewarden.

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder & CEO, Wildlife SOS,

said: “With increasing urbani-sation, deforestation, construc-tion and shrinking habitats,there has been an increase inthe incidents of man-animalconflicts which have violent andbrutal consequences for bothhumans and wildlife. Thismakes it even more crucial

that we spread awarenessamong people on issues of con-flict mitigation in order tomake people become more tol-erant to wild animals,” Baiju RajMV, director conservation pro-jects, Wildlife SOS, said.

Mugger crocodiles arefound in fresh water habitatsincluding ponds, rivers, lakesand marshes. They can migrateconsiderable distances over landin search of a more suitablehabitat. India is home to threecrocodilian species — muggercrocodile, gharial and saltwatercrocodile. There are significantbreeding populations of all threespecies inhabiting the Gangabasin. The mugger crocodile(Crocodyluspalustris), alsocalled the Indian or marshcrocodile, is found through-out the Indian subcontinent.This species is listed as ‘vulner-able’ on the IUCN Red List andis protected under Schedule I ofthe Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

RAISING DAYArmy Ordnance Corps

(AOC) celebrated its 243rdRaising Day on Sunday. ArmyCommander, CentralCommand, Lt Gen BalwantSingh Negi facilitated all ranksof the Corps and their families.

As part of the celebrations, awreath was laid at ‘SMRITIKA’war memorial by Maj GenRajan Kochhar in the memo-ry of war heroes and soldierswho sacrificed their lives forthe nation during various warsand operations. AOC has a

glorious history and rich lega-cy spanning over two cen-turies. It manages the entireinventory of over 4.5 lakhitems of Indian Army rangingfrom ammunition, armament,technical stores, clothing andgeneral stores.


The Tourism departmenthas sought permission

from the Archaeological Surveyof India (ASI) for conductingthe light and sound show in theResidency. Regional touristofficer RP Yadav, while talkingto The Pioneer, said that thewhole process of securing per-mission was likely to takeanother six months.

“The permission wassought in one of the meetingswhich the tourism officialshad with the ArchaeologicalSurvey of India. The Tourismdepartment has given a sum ofRs 5 crore to the RajkiyaNirman Nigam for conductingthe show at the monument,” hesaid. Tourism officials also saidin the past that the light-and-sound show would primarilyshowcase the 1857 War ofIndependence in keeping withthe ambience of the monument.

It may be pointed out herethat the light-and-sound showwas organised in the past at theResidency as an attraction forthe tourists but it was laterstopped. The revival of the pro-ject is being carried out toattract the tourists to the mon-ument. Incidentally Residencyforms a part of the must-see

portal of the ArchaeologicalSurvey of India. This list fea-tures outstanding Indian mon-uments and archaeological sitesunder the protection of theArchaeological Survey of India,including those which featureon UNESCO’s World HeritageList. Such monuments andsites display exceptionality interms of arts and architectureand planning and design andare a unique testimony to thecivilisation in the past and areoutstanding types of buildingsshowing exemplary engineer-ing skills.

Meanwhile, he said that theTourism department hadapproved the proposal for thebeautification of the aarti sthalof Mankameshwar Ghat. “Themoney for this which is over Rs

87 lakh has been released andthe work will begin after the e-tenders are floated. The beau-tification will be carried out forincreasing the flow of touriststo this area,” he said.

Among the other beautifi-cation works which will be car-ried out in the city in the statecapital are the addition oftourist facilities at the ShivaTemple in Bakshi-Ka-Talab.“This temple attracts severaltourists and hence the ameni-ties will be developed for it.”Lucknow as the state capital hasseveral attractions for thetourists which include its mag-nificent monuments, its cuisineand its temples and theTourism department is focus-ing on them for increasing theflow of tourists.


Engineers and doctorsshould come together on a

single platform, Vice-Chancellor of King George’sMedical University (KGMU)Dr MLB Bhatt said at the inau-gural function of Dr AbdulKalam Technical, Literary andManagement Fest (Abhigyan).

Dr Bhatt laid stress onmodern technological advance-ments incorporated for thebetterment of existing medicalfacilities. He urged the engi-neering graduates of AKTU towork collectively with medicalprofessionals for the bettermentof mankind. The fest was inau-gurated by Dr Bhatt and DrAnand Mishra of KGMU’sEndocrinology department andothers. The event was presidedover by AKTU Vice-Chancellor Vinay KumarPathak. He motivated studentsto bring forth their innovativeideas and said that the techni-cal university would give themmonetary assistance for gettingtheir patents registered.

“This was a part of innova-tion prototype appraisal andadditionally the AKTU V-Chas proposed a target of 500patent registrations in the com-ing year, which if realised willalso be a world record. Thisgoes down as a testimony to the

fact that the university believesin fresher ideas and practicalapplications,” he said.

Next came the Bridge Kriti,which saw the contestantspreparing miniature modelsof bridges which could with-stand the forces of nature. Thiswas judged by the retired MD,UPPWD, Dr RK Srivastavaand Kailash Narayan.

Next in line was technicalposter making where the teamsprepared a futuristic designwith their graphics ability andit was judged by Dr Rajeev Gyaland Dr SP Tripathi.

Frugal engineering, a

process of making innovativeobjects from garbage, saw thecreativity in students on a highand was judged by DrDhananjay and Dr ArunimaVerma of IET.

Also touching the literaryside were JAM and Englishdebate which were evaluated byProf VP Singh and Dr RajGaurav, from the Departmentof English, Lucknow University.

But the main highlight ofAbhigyan remains the roboticsevents, Robo War andRoboRace where self-maderobots by the eight teams wereup for a fight.

CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL

Minister for WomenWelfare Rita Bahuguna Joshiinaugurated the fifth day of theInternational Children’s FilmFestival at CMS Kanpur roadbranch. Actors Anup Soni &Smita Mohla and film directorSuhail Tatari were also presenton the occasion. Addressing thegathering, Joshi appreciatedthe concept and stressed thatpractical, social and moralteachings were also necessaryalong with academic education.Several children’s films werescreened at the main auditori-um. Several students joined infrom other schools including StFrancis College, RainbowSchool, All Saint’s College,Jupiter Academy, Sacred Heart

Senior Secondary School, LalBagh Girls’ Inter College, BNLal Vocational Inter Collegeetc. Meanwhile, addressingmediapersons, Anup Soni andSmita Mohla said good, simpleand educative films screened atthe festival would have a pos-itive effect on the minds of chil-

dren and youth and help thembecome more imaginative andinnovative.

WOMEN AWARDEDVice-President Venkaiah

Naidu presented three grass-roots women leaders with ‘CIIFoundation Woman ExemplarAwards-2018’ for their extraor-dinary contribution in trans-forming the excluded and dis-advantaged communities inIndia. Munni Begam, Ashaand Vechulou Kanuo wereawarded in the fields of educa-tion, health and micro-enter-prise respectively at the CIIExclusive Award Session heldin New Delhi. Born into a fam-ily of farm labourers, marriedat the age of 12, home-schooledherself by writing with coal onwaste papers, Munni Begam’sjourney is a tale replete withchallenges at every step. Despite

all odds, Munni is a leadingadvocate for women’s func-tional literacy, campaigner forwomen’s education and advisorto the Gram Panchayat. She hastransformed the lives of 5,770illiterate rural women throughfunctional literacy classes andadvocacy for access to govern-ment schemes and entitlementsin Jaunpur and Pratapgarh. Inaddition to a cash reward of Rs3,00,000 each, the three win-ners and 12 finalists of ‘WEP2018’ will be part of the CIIFoundation leadership trainingand mentoring programme.

CAMPRajkiya Inter College,

Nishatganj, turns co-ed fromthis academic session. Takinga novel initiative to attractDalit and slum children, thecollege organised a camp infront of Laxman Mela Park andvisited Nishatganj lanes.Through their camp, theyinformed people residing inslums to send their children tothe college.”This is surprisingthat around 300 children resid-ing in the area do not go toschools,” stated Rajkiya InterCollege principal BrijendraNarain Khare. The parents ofthe children were informedabout free provisions like mid-day meal, school uniforms andbooks.


Nearly 1,75,550 candidates have registeredfor the examinations for admission to 14

courses. UPSEE coordinator AK Katiyar saidon Monday that registration for the examina-tions were open till March 30 and the examswould be held on April 29 in UP besides Delhi,Jaipur, Kolkata and Dehradun.

The exams are conducted by Dr APJAbdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) forentrance to over 500 engineering collegesacross the state. Katiyar said the number of reg-

istrations was almost the same as that last year.The entrance exam for BTech will take place inone shift — from 10 am to 1 am.

“There will be 50 questions each in maths,physics and chemistry sections and no nega-tive marking,” he said, adding that the biomet-ric attendance of students would be carried outduring the examination. For BArch, the exam-ination will be held in the second shift. Askedas to what measures were being taken to ensurethat there was no paper leak, Katiyar said thatpapers had been sent through the Postaldepartment.


The UP HousingDevelopment Board is all

set to launch a prestigiousproject worth Rs 500 crorenear Polytechnic crossing inIndira Nagar area. It will con-sist of a shopping mall anddouble-storeyed parking sloton a land measuring 1.25bighas. The board authoritieshad got the land freed fromgrabbers in February. The landwas transferred to Board bythen Lucknow ImprovementTrust in early seventies.

The board authorities

came to know about the statusof the land after a survey was conducted in December last year.

The anti-encroachmentsquad, led by executive engi-neer SK Chowdhary, was ableto drive away grabbers anddemolished unauthorisedstructures in February. Themarket price is stated to be Rs60 crore. The executive engi-neer said that all legal formal-ities were over and it wasexpected the project would belaunched within three monthsand would be finished on itsscheduled time.


Five miscreants were arrested for thrashing a man and hisbrother and throwing acid on them during a brawl report-

ed in Cantonment police station area on Sunday night.Those arrested were identified as Mohan, Raju, Hari,

Chunnu and Vishal, all of Baniya Mohal of Cantonment. Itwas alleged that the victims, identified as Achin and his broth-er Raja, opposed prime accused Mohan for littering outsidetheir house and that led to the brawl. Sub-inspector AshokKumar Gaur said Mohan used to put his cattle stock nearAchin’s house and that caused a great inconvenience to thevictim. “On Sunday night, Achin asked Mohan not to put thecattle there and a verbal spat ensued. Later, Mohan and otheraccused thrashed Achin and his brother Raja who came in tosave his brother. Mohan later threw acid (toilet cleaner) onRaja who suffered burns and was admitted to a hospital,” he said.


Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority on Monday

decided to give rebate onproperties lying vacant andunsold in different locationsin the state capital. The objec-tive of initiating such a step istheir prompt disposal.

Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority Vice-ChairmanPN Singh said that no buyerwould come forward to buyunsold properties which wereat least eight to 10 years oldand were in a bad shape. Hesaid that 5 per cent rebate would be given to buyers.

It is said the buyers wouldbe given 7 per cent rebate inthe festival offers. This offerwill be given on Holi andDiwali festivals and as well ason January 26 and August 15.The duration of these festivaloffers will be between oneweek and a month. The 10 percent rebate will be given to thebuyer who has paid totalamount within a month oftaking possession of the prop-erties. It is expected this offerwill attract buyers.

Tourism dept seeks ASI nod

for light-and-sound show

CITYBRIEFS

CANTTWATCH

Engineers, docs told to work for people’s welfare

UPHDB to launch

`500-cr project

5 arrested for assault

LDA offers

rebate

on properties

Minister for Forest and Environment Dara Singh Chauhan inaugurated the butterfly park at Lucknow zoo on Monday. The parkboats of 40 butterfly species. Entry ticket to the park will cost Rs 20

1.75L candidates register for UPSEE

Croc rescued, released into river

Dignitaries from 195 countries to attend KumbhPIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

Dignitaries and representatives fromaround 195 countries are expected to

attend the world’s largest gathering,Kumbh, scheduled to be held in 2019.

The Kumbh Mela administrationhas started making elaborate preparationsfor it. This was said by DivisionalCommissioner Ashish Kumar Goel dur-ing a meeting held at Sangam Sabhagar.He added that the administration wasexpecting about 12 lakh foreign touristsin addition to the 12 crore pilgrims tovisit Kumbh this time. It was being esti-mated that around three crore devotees

would take a holy dip in Sangam and itsadjoining ghats on the auspicious occa-sion of Mauni Amavasya.

The Divisional Commissioner saidin order to accommodate such a largenumber of pilgrims and Kalpvasis over2,500 hectares of mela area had beendivided into 20 sectors. Each of them willhave proper water, electricity, parking,security and accommodation facilities.The surveillance of Allahabad would bedone through more than 1,000 CCTVcameras, drones and vehicle-mountedmobile cameras, he pointed out.According to the officer, the mela areawill be illuminated with the help of over

40,000 LEDs. All the camps in the melaarea would be getting round-the-clockelectricity and for this a 135-km -longhigh-tension line would be laid. Asmany as 133 power sub-stations wouldalso be set up, he said.

The Commissioner also said thatplans were afoot to set up 100 parkingslots to facilitate the pilgrims in reach-ing the mela area. All the roads in themela area would be six-lane. For this the145-km-long chequered plate would belaid, he added. In addition 1,000 life-guards and over 12,000 policemen wouldbe deployed in and around the mela area,he pointed out.

Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu doing the honours

Schoolchildren in queue to watch movies at CMS film fest

nation 05LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n

NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onMonday refused to tinker

with the West Bengal pan-chayat election process butallowed the political parties orcandidates prevented from fil-ing nominations to approachthe State Election Commissionwith their complaints.

A Bench of Justices RKAgarwal and Abhay ManoharSapre was not inclined to inter-fere with the election processciting a previous SC decisionwhich held that once the elec-tion process has beenannounced, Courts must notinterfere. All grievances mustbe addressed to the concernedState Election Commission.

However, the court did

not lose sight of the fact thatacts of violence was coming inthe way of several candidatesbeing prevented from filingtheir nominations. This was thecomplaint by the West BengalBhartiya Janata Party (BJP)that approached the Court.The Court gathered truth inthis grievance from a notifica-tion issued by West BengalElection Commission on April5 allowing an additional venuefor filing of nominations.

The Bench while allowingaggrieved candidates toapproach the State poll panel,said, “If any such grievances aremade by any political parties orany candidate in writing thenneedless to say, the StateElection Commissioner wouldensure disposal of any suchgrievance forthwith.”

INSHORT

GORAKHPUR TRAGEDY:BAIL TO OXYGEN FIRMNew Delhi: The Supreme Courton Monday granted bail to theproprietor of a firm whichsupplied oxygen to a Governmenthospital in Gorakhpur wherescores of children had died lastyear, noting that he had spentseven months in jail for an offencewhich entailed maximumpunishment of three yearsimprisonment and a charge sheethad already been filed in the case.Manish Bhandari had moved thetop court against the Allahabad HighCourt order rejecting his bail plea.

TEJPAL CASE: SC ASKS GOA

COURT TO COMPLETE TRIAL

New Delhi: The Supreme Courton Monday directed a Goa courtto complete the trial againstTehelka magazine’s founder TarunTejpal in a case of alleged rapelodged by a former womancolleague, within a year. The topcourt asked Tejpal to serve a copyof his petition challenging theBombay High Court’s December20, 2017 order dismissing hisplea for quashing of rape chargesto Goa Government.

TEESTA GETS RELIEFFROM ARRESTNew Delhi: Activist Teesta Setalvadon Tuesday got temporary relief ina case of fund embezzlement withthe Supreme Court extending theinterim protection from arrest andtransit anticipatory bail from May 2to May 31, granted to her and herhusband by the Bombay HighCourt.

PTI n NEW DELHI/AHMEDABAD

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Monday conducted multiplesearches in connection with amoney laundering case againsta Vadodara-based companyfor allegedly cheating variousbanks to the tune of `2,654crore.

Officials said the raids werebeing carried out at sevenplaces in Vadodara district andthe premises of the firm--Diamond Power InfrastructureLtd (DPIL).

The corporate office of thecompany in Gorwa area of thecity, factories in Vadadala andRanoli and residential premis-es of its executives inNizampura and New Alkapuriwere being raided, they said.

The agency carried out thesearches after it filed a crimi-nal complaint under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA)against the company, based ona recent CBI FIR.

The CBI had conductedraids in the case last week.

The ED is probing if thealleged defaulted loans werelaundered to create illegal assetsand black money by theaccused.

The CBI had alleged thatDPIL, which manufactureselectric cables and equipment,is promoted by S N Bhatnagarand his sons Amit Bhatnagarand Sumit Bhatnagar, whowere also the executives of thefirm.

It is alleged that DPIL,through its management, hadfraudulently availed credit facil-ities from a consortium of 11banks (both public and private)since 2008, leaving behind anoutstanding debit of ̀ 2,654.40crore as on June 29, 2016, theCBI said.

The loan amount of `2,654crore, it said, was declared a non-performing asset in 2016-17.

The company and its direc-tors managed to get the termloans and credit facilities, inspite of the fact that they werenamed in the Reserve Bank’sdefaulters list and ECGC(Export Credit GuaranteeCorporation) caution list atthe time of the initial sanctionof credit limits by the consor-tium, the agency had alleged.

At the time of formation ofconsortium in 2008, Axis Bankwas the lead bank for the termloan and Bank of India was thelead bank for cash credit lim-its. It is alleged that the firm,with active connivance of offi-cials from various banks, man-aged to get enhanced creditfacilities.

According to the CBI, thecompany had been allegedlysubmitting false stock state-ments to the lead bank bytreating receivables more than180 days (non-current asset) asless than 180 days (currentasset) to get more drawingpower in their cash creditaccounts.


NEW DELHI

Jammu and Kashmir ChiefMinister Mehbooba Mufti

on Monday called on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andapprised him of the overall sit-uation in the State, stressing onthe need to end the cycle of vio-lence by addressing alienationamong the youth. Mehbooba’smeeting with the PrimeMinister comes three days aftershe appealed to the country’sleadership to listen to the voic-es of pain from the State.Mehbooba later also metDefence Minister NirmalaSitharaman.

“Chief Minister MehboobaMufti called on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi today andapprised him about the overallsituation in Jammu andKashmir,” an officialspokesman said. He said theChief Minister stressed on“finding ways and means toend the cycle of violence in theState by addressing the element

of alienation among the youth”.She said the people of the

state, having suffered immense-ly during the turmoil of the pastthree decades, were looking upto the country’s political lead-ership to support them in get-ting out of the cycle of uncer-tainty and deaths. Reiteratingher demand for peacefulengagement with all stakehold-ers in this regard, Mehboobasought more frequent meetingsat the highest levels betweenIndia and Pakistan.

“She also favoured the ideathat the two Army commandsbe in touch to minimise ten-

sions across theborders in thestate which hasaffected peopleliving in theseareas,” thespokesman said.Mehbooba alsoasked for takingthe cross-Line ofControl move-ment to the nextlevel by working

on opening more historicroutes across the LoC andmovement of more people tobuild public confidence inpeaceful engagements.

She called for develop-ment of Sharda Peth, anancient seat of learning acrossthe LoC, like Nalanda andTakshila. “Implementation ofthe Agenda of Alliance(between the PDP and theBJP), execution of the PrimeMinister’s Development Plan(PMDP) and other megadevelopmental projects in thestate came up for discussionduring the meeting,” he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Centre has kickstartedprocurement of new wheat

crop from farmers and has pur-chased 19.31 lakh tonnes of thegrain in the current marketingyear so far. The Governmenthas fixed wheat procurementtarget at 320 lakh tonnes for2018-19 marketing year, asagainst 308 lakh tonnes pur-chased by State-owned FCIlast year.

Although wheat market-ing year runs from April-March, the bulk of procure-ment is done in the first threemonths. FCI and State agenciesundertake purchase at the min-imum support price (MSP) on

behalf of the Government.Food Corporation of India

(FCI) has bought 19.31 lakhtonnes of wheat so far this year,slightly lower than 20.79 lakhtonnes in the year-ago period,the ministry’s of food and con-sumer affairs data showed.

Much of the procurementis happening in MadhyaPradesh, Haryana and UttarPradesh at present, as arrival offresh wheat is in full swing inthese states. The procurementis expected to pick up in Punjabin the coming months.

From Punjab, theGovernment aims to buy 119lakh tonnes. The FCI has pur-chased 14,183 tonnes so far thisyear as against 10,644 tonnes in

the year-ago period, the datashowed.

In Madhya Pradesh, FCIand state agencies have procured13.49 lakh tonnes so far this year,lower than 16.5 lakh tonnes inthe year-ago. In Haryana too,wheat procurement remainedlower at 4.27 lakh tonnes whencompared with 3.92 lakh tonnesin the said period.

FCI purchased 69,122tonnes of wheat from Haryanain 2018-19 marketing year so far,significantly higher than 3,178tonnes in the year-ago period.Wheat buying in Rajasthanincreased to 60,678 tonnes from16,248 tonnes, while that inGujarat to 10,944 tonnes from1,145 tonnes in the said period.


NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onMonday directed the

Centre to submit a draftCauvery Management schemeby May 3 defeating theGovernment’s plan to stall it tillthe elections in Karnatakascheduled for May 12.

With the two StatesKarnataka and Tamil Nadulocked a in a major water dis-pute sharing battle on Cauvery,the Supreme Court onFebruary 16 this year judicial-ly resolved the matter by giv-ing Centre time till March 30to prepare a draft scheme set-ting up Cauvery Managementauthority for allocation of waterto the two States, besides Keralaand Puducherry.

With the deadline overand no scheme yet in place,Tamil Nadu approached theapex court with a contemptpetition alleging non-compli-ance of Court order by Centre.The state even complained thatKarnataka did not comply withthe monthly releases fixed bythe Court in its judgment.

Senior advocate ShekharNaphade who appeared forTamil Nadu said that it is trulysaid about Indian legal system,that the trouble for litigantstarts after a decree is passed bythe Court. He was dismayed tosee an application by Centreseeking three-month exten-sion on account of Karnatakaelections.

The bench of Chief JusticeDipak Misra, Justices AMKhanwilkar and DYChandrachud told all parties tothe case that its judgment mustbe respected. Giving Centretime till May 3 to frame a draftscheme, the CJI told AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal, “Nowthe Centre must show itsbonafides. You must file a draftscheme by May 3. We will askall counsels for their responsebefore putting our stamp ofapproval that will make it final.”Meanwhile, the Court directedboth states (TN and Karnataka)to urge their people to coop-erate and maintain peace.

Venugopal informed thebench that it was in the processof inviting responses from thethree states and one union ter-

ritory prior to framing ofscheme. The bench said, “Thatstage is over. Following ourdecree, the earlier CauveryWater Tribunal Award has gotmerged. Now you (Centre)must frame a holistic schemeand submit to us. We want ourdecree to be implemented.”

The Court on February 16raised the 270 tmcft share ofCauvery water for Karnatakaby 14.75 tmcft and fixed theannual entitlement of TamilNadu, Karnataka, Kerala andUnion Territory of Puducherryat 404.25 tmcft, 284.75 tmcft,30 tmcft and 7 tmcft ofCauvery water respectively.

West Bengal localelections: Petitionby BJP rejected

Centre kickstarts procurementof new wheat crop from farmers

Mehbooba meets Modi, stresseson need to end cycle of violence

Ashok Gehlot appointed member ofCong’s central election committee

ED conducts multiplesearches in moneylaundering case


NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onMonday asked Centre to

file a comprehensive report byMay 6 on the basic facilitiesavailable to Rohingya refugeesat their camps situated inFaridabad, Mewat, and Delhiafter refugees complainedabsence of drinking water, toi-lets, and electricity.

The Bench of Chief JusticeDipak Misra, Justices AMKhanwilkar and DYChandrachud said, “Let us firsttry to solve the human prob-lem.” Additional SolicitorGeneral (ASG) Tushar Mehtaagreed to file a comprehensivereport based on the allegationsmade by the petitioners whoare Rohingya refugees. The

matter will be heard next onMay 9.

Senior advocate CU Singh,appearing for one of the peti-tioners alleged that basicamenities like drinking waterand toilets were not providedat the Rohingya refugee campsdue to which they were affect-ed by several diseases includ-ing diarrohoea.

Senior advocate RajeevDhavan said that Rohingyaswere the worst sufferers as theycannot work due to absence ofwork permit nor are they beinggiven identity proofs availableto similarly placed illegalmigrants from Bangladesh.

ASG pointed out that theproblem has prevailed for thepast decade but the petitionershave suddenly woken up to theissue.


NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onMonday initiated proceed-

ings for public auction ofUnitech properties by allowingthe amicus curiae assisting it toissue public notice in leadingnewspapers inviting objectionsto the unencumbered proper-ties supplied by the company inCourt.

The company’s jailedManaging Director SanjayChandra was also given a rayof hope as the Court indicatedthat if he is able to bring `180crore by way of sale of assets,the Court will consider grant-ing him custodial parole.

Chandra’s lawyers havebeen facing a tall order to gettheir client out on bail after theCourt placed a condition ask-ing for a deposit of `750 crorefor permitting his release.

The bench of Chief JusticeDipak Misra and Justices AMKhanwilkar and DYChandrachud, was guided bythe sole purpose of providingimmediate succor to the lakhsof homebuyers who had noplace to go after Unitech failedto deliver neither flats noragreed to make refund.

On the direction by theCourt, Unitech had supplied alist of all unencumbered prop-erties held by it and its sub-sidiaries in a sealed cover.

On Monday, the Courtallowed amicus curiaePawanshree Agarwal to openthe seal and issue a publicnotice in all leading nationaland local dailies inviting objec-tions for their sale. These prop-erties are spread across thecountry and account to about99 acres and 46 hectares. Thiswould be the first step towardspublic auction of the proper-ties. The amicus indicated thatissuance of public notice willverify the company’s claim ofthe property being unencum-bered.

Unitech’s counsel senioradvocate Ranjit Kumarinformed the bench that anoth-er sum of ̀ 150 crore was com-ing upfront as the process to sell

two plots of land belonging toUnitech and its subsidiaries inBengaluru was in the finalstages. One property belongs toUnitech Power TransmissionLimited which is due for pur-chase by Shapoorji PallonjiGroup for an estimated sum of` 110 crore. The other proper-ty is a 36 acre plot of which 11acres will be sold initially for asum of ` 40 crore.

In addition, SC issuednotice on an application

moved by Unitech seekingpayment of ` 400 crore fromTelangana Government andfurther restrained theNational ConsumerCommission in a separateproceeding from disbursingan amount of `36 crore thatwas due for refunding aggriev-ed homebuyers.

Unitech suggested that thisamount too be brought withinthe corpus collected by theCourt to refund homebuyers.


NEW DELHI

The Union Home Ministryon Monday advised all

States to beef up security andprevent violence during thepurported Bharat Bandh calledby some groups on Tuesdayreportedly against caste-basedreservations in jobs and edu-cation, an official said. TheMinistry of Home Affairs alsosaid the districts magistratesand SPs will be personally heldresponsible for any violence intheir area of jurisdiction.

The advisory came a weekafter a similar protest saw mas-sive violence in different partsof the country leading to thedeath of about a dozen people.An official of the MHA said theministry has issued an adviso-ry to all States to take necessaryprecautionary measures in viewof the calls on social media forBharat Bandh on April 10 bysome groups.

“The MHA has advisedthe states to beef up securityand make appropriate arrange-ments to prevent any untoward

incident, including issue ofprohibitory orders, if neces-sary,” the official said. Thestates have been asked to inten-sify patrolling in all sensitivelocations so as to prevent anyloss of life or damage to prop-erty.

“The advisory stressed thatdistrict magistrates and super-intendents of police be madepersonally responsible forensuring that law and order sit-uation remains firmly undercontrol in the areas of theirjurisdiction,” the official said.

While the April 2 BharatBandh was called by groupsopposing the alleged dilution ofSC/ST (prevention of of atroc-ities) Act by a Supreme Courtorder, tomorrows protest isbeing reportedly called by peo-ple opposed to caste-basedreservations in jobs and edu-cation.

Proceedings for auction ofUnitech properties initiated

‘File report by May 6on facilities availableto Rohingya refugees’

Members of Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Association being detained by police following their protest demanding the formation ofCauvery Management Board in front of Shastri Bhavan in Chennai on Monday PTI

* The company’s jailed ManagingDirector Sanjay Chandra was alsogiven a ray of hope as the Courtindicated that if he is able to bring`180 crore by way of sale of assets,the Court will consider granting himcustodial parole

* Chandra’s lawyers have beenfacing a tall order to get their clientout on bail after the Court placed acondition asking for a deposit of `750 crore for permitting his release

* On the direction by the Court, Unitech had supplied a list of allunencumbered properties held by it and its subsidiaries in a sealed cover

* Unitech’s counsel senior advocate Ranjit Kumar informed the benchthat another sum of ` 150 crore was coming upfront as the process tosell two plots of land belonging to Unitech and its subsidiaries inBengaluru was in the final stages. One property belongs to UnitechPower Transmission Limited which is due for purchase by ShapoorjiPallonji Group for an estimated sum of ` 110 crore. The other property isa 36 acre plot of which 11 acres will be sold initially for a sum of ` 40crore

With the deadlineover and no

scheme yet inplace, Tamil Naduapproached the

apex court with acontempt petition

alleging non-compliance of Court order by

Centre

PNS n NEW DELHI

AICC general secretaryAshok Gehlot has been

appointed a member of theparty’s central election com-mittee, the apex body for selec-tion of candidates during elec-tions. Party sources said thatGehlot would become a mem-ber of the key committee

chaired by Congress presidentRahul Gandhi with immediateeffect.

Gehlot, a former ChiefMinister of Rajasthan, wasrecently appointed the AICCgeneral secretary in charge oforganisation and training ofparty cadres. A meeting of thecentral election committee islikely to be held tomorrow to

discuss party candidates for theupcoming assembly polls inKarnataka.

The Congress is seeking toremain in power in the south-ern state under the leadershipof Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah. Karnatakaassembly election will be heldon May 12 and the counting ofvotes will be held on May 15.

The corporate

office of the

company in Gorwa

area of the city,

factories in

Vadadala and

Ranoli and

residential

premises of its

executives in

Nizampura and

New Alkapuri were

being raided

BHARAT BANDH

States advised tostep up securityarrangements

Submit Cauvery draft

by May 3, Centre told

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From Page 1A pall of gloom descended in thearea as wailing parents rushed tothe spot on hearing the news. Foodand Supplies minister KrishanKapoor was among the senior statefunctionaries at the accident site tosupervise rescue operations. Thebodies were extricated from therubble with the assistance of localyouth. Governor Acharya Devvrat,Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur,Union Minister JP Nadda,Transport Minister Thakur, wereamong those who expressed deepshock over the tragedy.

From Page 1While Hong Kong could

act on India’s request, it is notyet clear whether Nirav stayedput in the former British colonywhere he has a diamond storebesides the one in Beijing.

Modi, who is wanted inconnection with the Rs 12,700-crore scam at the PunjabNational Bank, is reportedly inHong Kong which is a SpecialAdministrative Region ofChina. Hong Kong was for-merly a colony of the BritishEmpire after the perpetual ces-sion of Hong Kong Island fromQing China in 1842. Chinaresumed sovereignty over theformer British colony in 1997.As a Special AdministrativeRegion, Hong Kong maintainsa separate political and eco-nomic system apart from main-land China.

From Page 1“The extent of damage can-

not be ascertained as the StateGovernments are yet to collectdata on crop loss. The districtadministrations will soon con-duct a survey to gauge cropdamage and loss suffered byfarmers in their respective areas.The report will be sent to theAgriculture Ministry,” an officialwith the agriculture ministrysaid, requesting anonymity.

As per reports, severaltonnes of wheat destroyed atKarnal’s Nissing Mandi due tountimely rain since Saturdaynight in Haryana. There arereports from West Bengal thatgram and potato have hit hard.“The unseasonal rain during thepast one week damaged thecrops, in Wanaparthy, Gadwal,Nagarkurnool andMahbubnagar districts inTelangana. The districts ofWanaparthy and Mahbubnagarmango farmers suffered huge

crop loss. The mango planta-tions in Mahbubnagar havebeen hit hard,” it said.

On the other hand, theNortheastern States have beenrecording on and off pre-Monsoon rain for the last manydays. These pre-Monsoonshowers were accompanied withsqually winds and lightningstrikes in parts. As per SkymetWeather, a trough from WestRajasthan is extending up toWest Assam across UttarPradesh, Bihar, and WestBengal. Moreover, a cycloniccirculation is also seen overWest Bengal and adjoiningBangladesh. In fact, light tomoderate rain and thunder-showers with squally winds areexpected at isolated parts overDimapur, Kohima, Longleng,Mokokchung, Peren, Mon,Wokha, Zunheboto, Kiphire,Phek, and Tuensang districts ofNagaland during the next fourdays as well.

From Page 1“I am writing to you to

bring some very importantissues related to the case toyour kind notice for appropri-ate redressal and action. Thisissue has assumed criticalimportance and relevanceagain in view of the letterreportedly written by Justice JChelameswar, senior mostjudge of the Supreme Court,released in the media that theexecutive is deliberately block-ing the appointment of Shri PKrishna Bhat, and seeking toundermine the authority ofjudiciary,” Prasad wrote.

“You will appreciate that acomplaint of such a seriousnature against a recommendeefor the exalted and high posi-tion of High Court Judgerequired handling in a mannerto inspire confidence in all thesides, particularly the womancomplainant, and therebyestablish the innocence of theofficer complained against.Such a summary enquiry in acomplaint involving allega-tions of sexual harassment ofa subordinate judicial officer byher superior raises very serious

questions,” Prasad said in hisletter.

“It is incumbent upon boththe high judiciary and execu-tive to apply the highest stan-dards of transparency andjudiciousness in making suchrecommendations andappointments,” Prasad wrote.He maintained that theSupreme Court has alluded tothese high precepts and pro-fessional standards to be keptin mind while making appoint-ments as judges of high courtsin NJAC Case and the caserelating to Justice Karnan. “Itis, therefore, our bounden dutyand responsibility towards thecitizens of our country that wejointly uphold these sacredand noble values,” the Ministersaid.

He added that unsatisfiedwith the “discreet” probe thewoman officer in a fresh rep-resentation in December 2017to the President of India andthe Prime Minister has reiter-ated her request for a fair andjust enquiry and has men-tioned that she has not beencalled upon even once beforeany enquiry committee to pre-

sent her side of the story. The Law Minister also

raised two specific issues forthe CJI and the Supreme CourtCollegium “in the fervent hopethat these would be addressedappropriately before we movefurther in the case of appoint-ment of Shri P Krishna Bhat asjudge of Karnataka HighCourt”.

The f irst issue waswhether a discreet enquiry,even by a HC CJ, could ever beconsidered as a fair, sufficientand conclusive enquiry in amatter so sensitive of sexualharassment without adheringto the manner, procedure andgender of the enquiry officerin accordance with the high-est standards of fairness andnatural justice, as was laiddown by the top court inVishaka’s case.

“This assumes significancein view of the fact that theavailable records do not showthat the complainant, a judicialofficer subordinate to the offi-cer complained against, wasprovided a judicious and fairopportunity to defend her alle-gations and place evidence in

her support as also a chance tothe officer complained againstto present his side of the case?”the Minister said.

His second point was thatwhether pending the conclu-sion of a fair and properinquiry by a woman judge ora senior woman judicial officer,which would prove the inno-cence of the recommendedofficer, the SC Collegiumshould not withhold its rec-ommendation to appoint himto a constitutional office ashigh as high Court judge?

“These questions alsoassume significance as theirsatisfactory resolution will infuture illuminate and informour approach in dealing withsuch cases and help us ineffective appointment of per-sons who can stand up to thehighest standards of conductand probity that the FoundingFathers of our great nation andmakers of Indian Constitutionconsidered as important andplaced the responsibility on usto adhere to, and follow them,in making appointments tohigher judiciary,” said Prasad,concluding his letter.

From Page 1“It is the Congress which is anti-

Dalit not Modi who economically andsocially empowered them with schemeslike Jan Dhan and Mudra,” he said.Referring to the presence of SajjanKumar and Jagdish Tytler, accused ofinvolvement in anti-Sikh riots, atRajghat, Patra said that the Congressleaders’ decision to keep them awayfrom dais was an admission of guilt. “Itwas not ‘upwaas’ (fast) but ‘uphaas’(mockery),” he said.

Rahul alleged that the atmospherecreated in the country was because ofthe BJP’s ideology “to divide the coun-try and crush Dalits, crush tribals andminorities”. “A few days ago, a BJP leadersaid opposition leaders are animals. Thetruth is that today every person in Indiais standing against the government,whose approach is against the Dalits,tribals, minorities and farmers,” Rahulsaid, a reference to BJP president AmitShah’s recent speech equating opposi-tion parties to various animals, includ-ing mongoose and snakes. Party lead-ers said the fast for harmony is alsoagainst the communal politics of theBJP and non-functioning of Parliament,where the Congress wanted to debateissues such as the PNB bank scam,CBSE paper leak, alleged dilution ofSC/ST Act, special status to AndhraPradesh and setting up of the Cauverywater management board.

Rahul, BJP slug...

China leaves it

to Hong Kong

to arrest Nirav

Min questions judgement of SC...

27 students...

Ill-timed downpour rains...

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n CHENNAI

The series of agitations beingheld across Tamil Nadu

and the frequent hartal’s in thename of Cauvery and SterliteCopper could hamper theprospects of the State’s indus-trialisation and economicdevelopments, warned a for-mer judge of the High Courtand many business barons.

Chennai is all set to hostthe Defence Expo 2018 whichbegins on April 11. The four-day event to be inaugurated byPrime Minister Narendra Modion Thursday has attractedglobal armament giants likeBoeing, Lockheed Martin, Saaband Dassault Aviation whichare looking for setting up shopsin India. The event is a pre-cursor to the proposed DefenceCorridor, a cluster of manu-facturing units providing thou-sands of jobs to the people in

Tamil Nadu. The DefenceCorridor is an attempt by theCentre to elevate Tamil Naduas India’s leading defence hubs.

The State is on the boil sincelast month with all major polit-ical outfits agitating for the set-ting up of the CauveryManagement Board. “The tim-ing of the agitation itself isdubious. The Defence Expo isthe answer the country is look-ing for to resolve the armamentshortage faced by the defenceforces. But investors from for-eign countries coming toChennai would not behumoured by what they see asagitations and demonstrations,”said the High Court judge whodoes not want his name to bequoted for obvious reasons.

“I have my own doubtsabout this agitation. It could bepart of a deep rooted conspira-cy which has the potential tosubvert India’s defence pro-

curement and Made In Indiaplans,” he added.

Kattumannarkoil Kannan,faremer leader and vice-presi-dent of Cauvery Delta Farmers’Welfare Association said that hewas against blaming the presentruling dispensation at the Centrefor not constituting the CMB.“The Cauvery Water DisputeTribunal had ordered the con-stitution of the CMB in February2007 itself. But the UPAGovernment did not follow theverdict and the CMB was notconstituted during its tenurewhich lasted upto 2014,” saidKannan. Meanwhile, unprece-dented security has been pro-vided in ad around the Chepaukstadium where the IPL match-es are scheduled. Police sourceshave got wind of the efforts bysome of the leading Tamil chau-vinist outfits to stage black flagdemonstrations during thematch in the stadium itself.

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

In an effort to tide over thesevere agrarian crisis pre-

vailing in Maharashtra, theBJP-led alliance Governmenthas together with theGovernment of India hassigned an agreement with theWorld Bank to undertake theMaharashtra Project forClimate Resilient Agriculture,costing $420 million to helpsmall and marginal farmers inthe Marathwada and Vidarbharegions of the State.

The agreement for theMaharashtra Project forClimate Resilient Agriculturewas signed by Sameer KumarKhare, Joint Secretary,Department of EconomicAffairs, Ministry of Finance, onbehalf of the Government ofIndia; Bijay Kumar, AdditionalChief Secretary, AgricultureDepartment on behalf of theGovernment of Maharashtra;and Junaid Ahmad, CountryDirector, World Bank, India onbehalf of the World Bank.

The International Bank forReconstruction andDevelopment (IBRD) will belending $420 million loan forthe implantation of the project.The loan has a 6-year graceperiod and a maturity of 24years.

According to an officialnote, the Maharashtra Project

for Climate ResilientAgriculture will be imple-mented in rural areas largelydependent upon rain-fed agri-culture. the project will involvetaking up a series of activitiesat the farm and watershedlevel.

The project is expected tobenefit over 7 million people.It would cover 5,142 villagesacross 15 most climate vulner-able districts of the region.

The importance of thisproject should be viewed in thecontext of the fact that severedrought in the past has crippledthe agriculture performanceof Maharashtra, particularlyin Vidarbha and Marathwadaregions.

The project will help scaleup climate-resilient technolo-gies such as micro irrigationsystems, expand surface waterstorage, and facilitate aquiferrecharge, which is expected todirectly contribute to a more

efficient use of scarce waterresources. By adopting cli-mate-resilient seed varietieswhich have short maturity, aredrought and heat resistant, andsalt tolerant, the project willhelp reduce risks of climate-related crop failure, and helpenhance farmer’s income.

In recent years, climatevariability has affected agri-culture in Maharashtra, wherefarming is largely dominated bysmall and marginal farmers.Farmers have low crop pro-ductivity and a high depen-dence on rainfall. Severedrought in the past has affect-ed the State’s agriculture per-formance.

At the watershed level, pro-ject activities include buildingdrainage lines and preparingcatchment area treatment plansthat promote a more efficientuse of surface water for agri-culture, complemented with amore sustainable use ofgroundwater, which will ulti-mately improve the availabili-ty and quality of water at thefarm level.

In an effort to strengthenemerging value chains for cli-mate-resilient agriculturalcommodities, the project willimprove the capacity of FarmerProducers Organisations tooperate as sustainable, market-oriented, agri-enterprises. Itwill help mainstream the cli-mate resilient agriculture agen-da in various local institutionsthat deliver agricultural servicesto the farming community.

To help small and marginal farmers in

Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maha

India inks $420 m farmer

project with World Bank

Hartal cloud looms large over

Defence Expo in Chennai

ANUP SHARMA n GUWAHATI

Assam Police has got intouch with their Jammu &

Kashmit counterparts afterreports that a youth of the Statehas joined J&K based terrorgroup Hizbul Mujahidin.

Assam police has started aninvestigation after photographsof Qumer Uz Zaman, a residentof Jamunamukh in Assam’sHijai district, went viral onsocial media that claimed himto be a member of HizbulMujahidin. His family mem-bers also identified him in thephotographs. He was seenholding a gun in the photo-graph.

“We have received an intel-ligence suggesting that oneQumer Uz Zaman has joinedthe J & K based terror group.We have got in touch with thepolice in the state seeking moredetails about him and hiswherebouts,” said Assam’sAdditional Director General ofPolice Pallab Bhattacharyya.

“It is difficult to confirmthe reports at this moment.However, we have taken not ofthe intelligence reports at start-ed the investigation,”Bhattacharyya said.

It may be mentioned herethat hailing from Jamunamukh,Qumer had gone to USA forjob several years back andstayed there for four years. Hereturned to Assam in 2006 butshifted his base to Jammu &Kashmir to start garment busi-ness.

“We have not been able tocontact him since July lastyear. His mobile remainedswitched off since then.Following this, we have alsolodged a missing complaintswith the police,” said Qumer’smother, Shahira Khatun today.

She expressed shock tolearn that her son has joinedterror outfit and said that thegovernment should kill him ifhe has really joined a terroroutfit. “I would not have anyremorse over it if he has joinedanti-national activities,” shesaid while sobbing.

If confirmed, this will bethe first case of a State youthjoining the J&K based terroroutfit. Although Assam has ahistory of Jihadi terror groupsoperating in the State and thepolice had arrested severaloperatives of Bangladesh basedterror outfit Jamat-ulMujahidin, there is no report ofanyone joining the HizbulMujahidin so far.

Police probe report of

Assam youth joining

Valley-based Hizbul

ASSAM HAS AHISTORY OF

JIHADITERRORGROUPS

OPERATING INTHE STATE

New Delhi (PTI): The SupremeCourt on Monday granted bail to theproprietor of a firm which suppliedoxygen to a government hospital inGorakhpur where scores of children haddied last year, noting that he had spentseven months in jail for an offence whichentailed maximum punishment of threeyears imprisonment and a charge sheethad already been filed in the case.

Manish Bhandari had moved the topcourt against the Allahabad High Courtorder rejecting his bail plea. “Keeping inview the period of custody undergone bythe appellant i.e. approximately sevenmonths and also that the maximumsentence prescribed for the offencepunishable under Section 406 (criminalbreach of trust) of the IPC is three years

and further the fact that charge sheet hasbeen filed, we direct that the appellantshall be enlarged on bail, subject to suchterms and conditions to be imposed bythe trial judge,” a bench headed by ChiefJustice Dipak Misra said. The bench, alsocomprising justices AM Khanwilkar andDY Chandrachud, considered thesubmission of senior advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for Bhandari, that theaccused has been in jail for last sevenmonths for an offence which entailsmaximum three years jail term. Rohatgisaid that it was an admitted position thatthe children died of Japanese Encephalitisand not due to short supply of oxygen. Healso referred to the stand of the stategovernment and added that the accusedhas been suffering due to media trial.

Deaths in Gorakhpur Hosp: SCgrants bail to oxygen supplier

225 flights cancelled in Mumbai

PNS n KOLKATA/NEW DELHI

Six policemen were injured onMonday when the Trinamool

Congress men clashed with BJPworkers at Usti in South 24Parganas district in a bid to pre-vent them from filling nominationpapers for the next month’s pan-chayat elections in West Bengal,police said. Earlier on Monday, theSupreme Court refused the plea ofthe BJP to extend the last date ofthe filing of nominations for therural polls, saying it could notinterfere with the election process.

The BJP had on Thursdaymoved the Supreme Court alleg-ing that party candidates were notbeing allowed to file nominationpapers for the upcoming pan-chayat polls and had sought thecourt’s help in the matter.

The top court, however, grant-ed liberty to all candidates toapproach the West Bengal StateElection Commission for appro-priate relief.

Late at night, ANI reportedthat the State Election Officeextended the last date for filingnominations till April 10. Earlierthe last date to file nominationwas April 9. Earlier, BJP Statepresident Dilip Ghosh said, “If theTMC tries to unleash violence onthe days of the polls, it will be paidback in the same coin. If theyattack us with bombs and pistols,we won’t greet them with a plateof sweets.” The BJP, the CPI(M)and the Congress alleged that theircandidates were attacked by TMCactivists also at Baruipur,Diamond Harbour and Bhangar

— all in South 24 Parganas dis-trict. In Baruipur, a woman can-didate was beaten up while tryingto file nomination for the ruralpolls. ADGP (law and order)Anuj Sharma told reporters inKolkata that five people werearrested for the assault on thewoman, and seven others weredetained in connection with theincident at Usti. District policesources said six police personnelwere injured while trying to stopthe clash between workers of theTMC and the BJP, and one police-man suffered bullet injury in hisleft hand. The BJP alleged thattheir party workers were attackedby “armed goons” of theTrinamool when they were goingto file nominations.

Earlier, the TMC was consid-ered to have won Birbhum districtZilla Parishad, with 41 seats out of42 uncontested, as BJP could filepapers from Rajnagar seat. “Wehave no faith on the state police.Even our women candidates werebeaten up and hundreds of ourparty workers were arrested,” hesaid. Denying the BJP’s charges,TMC secretary general ParthaChatterjee said the Oppositionparties did not have the organi-sation to fight the rural poll.

“Wherever they don’t havepeople to contest the election, theyare blaming the TMC for the vio-lence,” he said.

Chatterjee, also a StateMinister, accused the Oppositionparties of trying to destabilise theState and alleged that the BJP wastrying to divide the people oncommunal line.

Violence in WB: TMC stops manyBJP nominees from filing papers

Mumbai (PNS): In what caused major inconvenience to airpassengers flying in and out of the country’s commercial Capital,as many as 225 flights of different airlines were cancelled on thefirst day of two-day closure of the Mumbai International Airportrunway from 11 am to 5 pm on Monday. An official of theMumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) attributed the clo-sure of the Airport runway from 11 am to 5 pm to the “pre-planned maintenance activities before the monsoon season”. Theairport runway will remain closed between 11 am and 5 pm onTuesday as well. Ahead of the impending closure of the airportrunway, the MIAL had requested passengers planning their trav-el during this period “to allow for sufficient time, in case of delays,while making their bookings”. Notwithstanding the priorannouncement by the MIAL about the impending closure of theairport runway, the flight plans of thousands of passengers werebadly affected on Monday.

Rajnath asks...From Page 1

for the cure. Four out ofeight districts share borderswith Nepal and they have spe-cial needs and should beaddressed accordingly,” theUnion Home Minister said.

“The NITI Aayog hasintroduced competition inimplementation of governmentschemes. The district magis-trates of these districts shouldensure that works are actuallydone at the ground level. Thosedoing commendable workshould be honoured,” Singh

said, adding that the rank of fourdistricts in implementation ofJan Dhan Yojana and SwachhBharat Abhiyan had been poorand needed special focus. In hisaddress, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that districtmagistrates should reviewprogress of identified schemesregularly. “The government isopening a medical college inBahraich and soon similar col-leges will be opened inSiddharthnagar and Fatehpur,”he said. “People’s participationis a must in effective imple-mentation of governmentschemes. The district magis-

trates should celebrate DrBhimrao Ambedkar’s birthanniversary in each block onApril 14 to educate peopleabout the development schemeslaunched by the government,”Yogi said. UnionCommunication MinisterManoj Sinha declared that bythe end of 2019, all villageswould be linked with tele-com-munication services. “Till 2011,over 53,000 villages were out ofmobile network but we havebrought 20,000 such villagesunder our network. Bankingfacilities will also be intensified,”Sinha said.

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018 nation 07

VR JAYARAJ n KOCHI

The State-wide 12-hour shut-down called by various

Dalit outfits to protest againstthe alleged dilution of theScheduled Caste and ScheduledTribe (Prevention of Atrocities)Act was near total in severaldistricts of Kerala on Mondayprompting Dalit organisationsthat had given the call for thehartal to term it as a successpolitically.

Police arrested several Dalitleaders, activists and sympa-thizers from different parts ofthe State on charges like dis-

rupting traffic with road blocks.Some incidents of stone-throw-ing at buses and attacks on pri-vate vehicles in which a fewpersons suffered injuries werereported but there were no seri-ous incidents of violence.

Among the prominentDalit functionaries arrested bypolice was M Geethanandan,convener of the Dalit ActionCouncil and leader of AdivasiGothra Mahasabha, a leadingorganisation of tribes people.The police had taken him and17 other Dalit leaders andactivists into custody onMonday morning from Kochion the charge of blocking vehi-cles.

Denying the charge,Geethanandan, who had ledthe Muthanga Adivasi agitationof February, 2013 in Wayanaddistrict, said at the ErnakulamCentral Police Station in Kochi,“That is not true. In fact, they

have not specified any chargeagainst us. This is just anotherracist act of the ruling class... Iwould also say that the shut-down is a success.”

The dawn-to-dusk shut-down was observed by nearly30 Dalit organisations toprotest against the alleged dilu-tion of the SC/ST (Preventionof Atrocities) Act through arecent Supreme Court verdictand demanding restoration offull legal protection for Dalitsections, justice for those killedduring last week’s nation-wideprotests and a judicial probeinto the killings.

In an extraordinary movethat looked like a deliberate andallegedly racist attempt todefeat the Dalit protest, theState’s bus operators haddeclared that their serviceswould operate normally andthe State’s largest traders’ body,Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana

Samithi, had announced thatshops would remain open onMonday.

Also, State-owned KeralaState Road TransportCorporation, which had keptall its buses off the roads dur-ing the general strike of April2, had announced that it wouldrun its services on Mondayunder police security. “Thatshows the Leftist Government’santi-Dalit attitude. But we don’texpect anything more from aparty like the CPI(M),” said aDalit leader.

However, the YouthCongress, Muslim YouthLeague and the MuslimStudents’ Federation haddeclared solidarity with theprotesting Dalit outfits. Socialand cultural leaders and severalvoluntary organisations hadin the recent days been runninga sustained campaign in sup-port of the Dalit shutdown

through social media plat-forms like Facebook.

Though traders hadopened shops in many placeson Monday morning, theywere forced to down shutters afew hours later under pressurefrom protestors. “This is thesecond shutdown in eight days.This strike has come just whenthe market is getting lively dueto Vishu festival. But I won’tfault the Dalit people becausetheir cause is justifiable,” said atrader in Kochi.

Commuters who had lefthomes relying on the promiseof the KSRTC and private busoperators to run services had atough time almost all overKerala as the private bus own-ers kept their vehicles off theroads from the morning itselfwhile the former was forced tosuspend services in severalplaces due to protests by Dalitorganisations.

Apart from the 18 protes-tors in Kochi, 13 Dalit activistswere arrested in Alappuzhaallegedly for trying to disrupttraffic and the police took intocustody about 70 persons inPalakkad. Police personnel hadbeen deployed in large num-bers at places with concentra-tion of Dalit population acrossthe State.

The hartal was an absolutesuccess in Wayanad district.While the Dalit outfits suc-ceeded in making the shut-down total in Kollam,Kottayam, Idukki, Palakkadand Alappuzha districts, it wasonly partially successful in thedistricts ofT h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a m ,Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam,Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannurand Kasaragod. The hartal didnot affect normal life in theMuslim-majority Malappuramdistrict.

Kerala bandh against SC/ST Act dilution over

Dalit leader M

Geethanandan

arrested

Rupani inauguratesJain InternationalOrganisationPNS n GANDHINAGAR

Gujarat Chief MinisterVijaybhai Rupani on

Monday inaugurated theAhmedabad chapters of JainInternational Organisation(JI0) and Jain InternationalWomen Organisation (JIWO)at a grand function here onMonday.

Speaking on the occasion,he reiterated GujaratGovernment’s commitment topolicy of sarva dharma samabhav with justice to alland appeasement to none.

He appealed to all to workfor the uplift of the needy, thelast man in the last mile. Morevoluntary organizations shouldcome forward to repay theirdebt to the society.

He said the governmenthas undertaken pilot project ofRs.250-crore pedway connecting Palitana andVallabhipur for pilgrims going

on foot. It ensured 24x7 cleanliness

at pilgrims centres like Palitanaand Shetrunjay, and develop-ing the Buddhist tourists’ cir-cuit.

Prime Minister NarendraModi has reviewed the TarangaHill Project.

Rupani said that Gujarat isNumber One in infrastructurein the country.

It not only believed in the-ory of live and let live, but alsoin compassion, saving the livesof birds during kite festival, checking cow slaugh-ter, saving the lives of youthgoing astray in hookah barsand drinking.

Ahmedabad MayorGautam Shah said that santsperform a yeoman’s job ofbringing out the latent and hid-den talent of the people.

Every time a sant visits thecity, the city lights up to receivethe spiritual leader.

NAYAN DAVE n GANDHINAGAR

With youngsters are beinggiven prominence in the

Gujarat Pradesh CongressCommittee (GPCC) post RahulGandhi’s coronation as AllIndia Congress Committee(AICC), apparently seniorCongress leaders in GujaratCongress have started feelingthe pinch.

Hardik Patel’s pro-quotaPatidar agitation, OBC leaderAlpesh Thakor’s movementover in-effective implementa-tion of prohibition law andJignesh Mevani’s Dalit right stirhelped the oldest political partyto improve its tally in 2017Gujarat Assembly polls frommere 60 seats to 77 comparedto previous 2012 Assemblyelections. Acceptance of thesethree youngsters in their com-munities encouraged Congressleadership to take forward thesame political strategy for theupcoming 2019 Lok Sabhapolls by encouraging youthwithin the party’s Gujarat unit.

With a view to snatch awaytraditional Patidar vote bank ofBJP, Congress promoted 41-year-old Amreli MLA PareshDhanani as Leader ofOpposition surpassing seniorCongress MLA Kuvarji Bavalia.The Congress think tank alsoreplaced Bharatsinh Solankiby appointing 40-year-oldAnklav MLA Amit Chavda asGPCC president last month.

Moreover formerRajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot replaced by 43-year-old Rajiv Satav as GujaratCongress in-charge on March30, 2018. Satav is Member ofParliament from Hingoli Lok

Sabha constituency inMaharashtra.

Bavalia, Solanki andGehlot are in their late sixtieswhile the new incumbents havejust crossed forties. Not onlythese three leaders but manyothers including JagdishThakor, Siddharth Patel, VirjiThummer, Shailesh Parmar,former Union Minister andtribal leader Tushar Chaudhary,Madhusudan Mistry to namefew would have very little roleto play in GPCC’s affairs.

Recently former GujaratMinister and senior Congressleader Shanktisinh Gohil toowas shifted from Gujarat andappointed as in-charge forBihar Congress.

Already the most seniorCongress leader from Gujaratand Rajya Sabha memberAhmed Patel is concentratingon AICC and national politics.

If sources in GPCC have tobe believed as the Lok Sabhaelections would come nearerYoung Turks like AlpeshThakor will get prominence.With Mevani and Hardik open-ly supported Congress in thelast Assembly polls, they toowill play important role in theOpposition Party’s poll strate-gy for the upcoming 2019 LokSabha elections.

In the 2014 Lok Sabhapolls Congress couldn’t open itsaccount in Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s home-stateGujarat and lost all 26 seats.According to a senior Congressleader the grand old partywouldn’t leave a single stoneunturn to win maximum num-ber of seats from the State evenif it would have to resort oncaste based politics.

Fresh bloodin Guj Cong,seniors feel the pinch

KCR’s Federal Frontplan takes backseat

OMER FAROOQ n HYDERABAD

The dream of TelanganaChief Minister and TRS

President K ChandrasekharRao to play an active role inthe national politics seems tohave dashed at least for thepresent as he has decided tokeep the idea on the back-burner for the time being,party sources said.

According to the partyleaders many factors haveinfluenced KCR and prompt-ed him to change his plansone of them being the lack ofenthusiastic response fromthe other regional parties tohis non-BJP, non-CongressFederal Front.

The other factor was theincreasing traction to the BusYatra of the State Congresspresident Uttam KumarReddy and other party lead-

ers who havea t t r a c t e di m p r e s s i v ecrowds at dif-ferent placesin the State.

Moreovera larm bel lswere also setringing in theruling party

over the growing differenceswith in the party in severaldistricts affecting the chancesof success of the party in thenext elections.

Original ly KCR hadplanned to invite the topleaders of other regional andsmaller parties to the publicmeeting as part of the TRSPlenary on October 27 mark-ing the launching of the pro-posed Federal Front. But nowthe plan has been dropped.TRS Plenary in Hyderabadwill only have delegates ses-sion and public meeting willbe held in October orNovember this year to whichthe leaders of other partieswill be invited.

“Our party’s plans tobring a qualitative change innt ional pol it ics wi l l beunveiled in the public meet-ing”, the party general secre-

tary P Rajeshwara Reddysaid.

KCR, who had visitedKolkata last month to discussthe proposed front with WestB engal Chief MinisterMamata Bannerji has nowalso postponed his visit toother States. Sources saidthat he was not satisfied withthe response of other leadersas most of the parties haveindicated that they wouldprefer to be part of aCongress led coalition againstthe BJP led NDA. “The ideaof a non BJP, non CongressFront is not finding manytakers”, a senior TRS leaderconfided.

Party hope that the situ-ation will become more clearby the end of this year as thenext election will be close andother part ies wi l l a lsofainalise their own strategies

With the Congress pres-sure mounting and murmursof dissent increasing withinthe party many TRS leaderswere also of the view that thetime was not ripe for KCR toplunge in national politicsand he should put more focuson the state politics to ensureparty’s victory in the stateassembly elections.

After local

Cong leaders

get active

in Telangana

New Delhi (PTI): The UIDAIhas brought in secure digitally-signed QR Code on e-Aadhaarthat will now contain photo-graph of the Aadhaar holdertoo, in addition to demograph-ic details, to facilitate betteroffline verification of an indi-vidual. “The UIDAI (UniqueIdentification Authority ofIndia) has recently replacedexisting QR code on e-Aadhaarhaving resident’s demographicdetails now with a secured dig-itally-signed QR Code whichcontains demographics alongwith photograph of the Aadhaarholder,” a UIDAI source said.

A QR code is a form of bar-code label which containsmachine-readable information,while e-Aadhaar is the elec-tronic version of Aadhaar thatcan be downloaded fromUIDAI website.

The new feature, the digi-tally-signed QR code, will con-tain photo of the Aadhaar hold-er in addition to existing facil-

ity of demographic details, inturn allowing various user agen-cies like banks to verify authen-ticity of Aadhaar card offline.When contacted UIDAI CEOAjay Bhushan Pandey said,“This is a simple offline mech-anism to quickly verify thegenuineness of the Aadhaarcard.”

However, to ensure that aperson is a bona fide owner ofthe Aadhaar card, there has tobe a manual check of photo withthe individual’s face or thoughuse of agency specific authenti-cation scheme, he noted.

The UIDAI’s e-Aadhaar QRCode reader software has beenmade available on the nodalbody’s website from 27 March2018.

Offline verification facilitywould add yet another option tothe exception-handling mech-anism at the ground level forensuring that no denials onAadhaar-based services takeplace, the source added.

UIDAI brings digitally-signed QR

code with photo for eAadhaar

After five decades, some recklessand irresponsible voices calling forsecession are once again being

heard in the south. While some south-ern political leaders have called for a sep-arate ‘Dravida Nadu’ comprising all fivesouthern States but within the IndianUnion, some others have said that thesefive States must breakway from theIndian Union because they are getting araw deal from the north.

The debate was initially triggered byKamal Haasan, film star-turned politi-cian, when he said that if all the south-ern States imbibed the “Dravidian iden-tity”, discrimination that they talk ofwould vanish and “our voices wouldbecome a loud chorus...”. Leader of theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)MK Stalin, joined the chorus and saidthat he would welcome it if the southernStates were to come together and makea demand for a Dravida Nadu.

Pawan Kalyan, Telugu film star andleader of the Jana Sena Party, has alsowarned of a north-south divide. Pawan Kalyan is seen endorsing the ideaof a “United States of southern India” inthe hope of getting a better deal fromNew Delhi.

However, Murali Mohan, anotherTelugu film star-turned MP of the TeluguDesam Party (TDP) has taken this debateto a totally acceptable level by talking ofsecession. He has said that the south feltdiscriminated and that if this continued,the five southern States would declarethemselves as a “separate country”.

The reason for the current discontentappears to be the approach of the 15thFinance Commission to a devolution offunds to the States. The southern Statescertainly have a right to demand fair dis-tribution of funds from the central poolfair share of national resources. Whilethese are all issues to be discussed anddebated, they cannot become the reasonfor the breakup of India.

Demands for a separate identity forthe south are indeed surprising becauseone believed that the nation had takengiant strides towards integration over thelast 70 years and effectively smotheredvoices that preached disintegration. AfterIndependence, the first time that thenation heard the demand for secession ata formal gathering was during the maid-en speech of CN Annadurai in the RajyaSabha on May 1, 1962, when JawaharlalNehru was Prime Minister.

The DMK leader took the first oppor-tunity that came his way to talk about themost controversial demand of his party— secession of Tamil Nadu (then calledMadras). Much to the shock of manymembers, who were listening to him,Annadurai said, “Let us have a rethink-

ing. We have a Constitution, ofcourse…but the time has come for arethinking, for a reappraisal, for a reval-uation and for a reinterpretation of theword ‘nation’”. And what is that reap-praisal?

Annadurai elaborated: “I claim tocome from a country…which I think isof a different stock...I belong to theDravidian stock. I am proud to call myselfa Dravidian…Dravidians have got some-thing distinct, something different, tooffer to the nation at large. Therefore, itis that we want self-determination”.Further, he said if the south were to sep-arate, it would not cause hardships likethe Partition of India because it was onegeographical unit — the peninsula.Therefore, there would be no migrationor refugee problem. Therefore, he said,the House should consider the demandsympathetically.

Annadurai referred to a speech ofPrime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inKapurthala during the days of Partitionin which he said that the Congresswould try to keep all units together butif any Indian unit decided to secede, theCongress would give its consent. “Thus,the Congress has recognised the princi-ple of self-determination…why not giveself-determination to peninsular India.”

Annadurai said India should become“a comity of nations instead of being amedley of disgruntled units here andthere”. Dravida Nad would become “a

small nation, compact, homogeneous andunited…”. In other words, Annaduraibegan with a demand for a separate Tamilstate and then widened the demand fora separate Dravida Nad comprising theentire south.

Among those who took strong excep-tion to Annadurai’s observations was for-mer Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.Speaking in the Rajya Sabha a day afterAnnadurai’s speech, he said the Househad heard a ‘warning bell’ the previousday — a demand was being made for thedivision of India once again. The demandfor division signals disaster for India.“The reason given for separating fromIndia…is that justice is not being doneto Madras. We can go to any State, we willhear the same complaint”.

He said such complaints of discrim-ination could be heard even withinStates with one region complainingagainst another. “There can be some truthin these complaints, but these com-plaints cannot prompt us to challenge theexistence of the nation…and demand thebalkanisation of India”.

Vajpayee said, “I feel saddened thatthis voice is raised in the garb of self-determination. There is an attempt to giveit an ideological stance and demand forseparatism is placed at a higher pedestaland it was said that India is not a nationbut a group of nations and the south canget separated from the north. I do notthink any nation can negotiate with this

kind of thinking. The Muslim Leagueraised the issue of two nations and wefought against it. We never agreed to thetheory of two nations”.

Vajpayee’s views were backed by allsections of the House, including manyMPs from the south.

A year later and following theChinese aggression when national unitybecame the first priority, the DMK with-drew the demand for secession, becamepart of the mainstream political and elec-toral system and even came to power in1967 in Madras State. With this, one pre-sumed that the forces of integration hadgained the upper hand.

Fifty six years after this debate in theRajya Sabha, we are once again hearingdiscordant voices and even talk of seces-sion. It is thoughtless to even suggest this.The unity and integrity of India is non-negotiable. Three generations of Indianshave toiled over the last seven decades tobind this nation together.

No other society in the world is asdiverse and democratic as ours and wecannot allow a few hot-headed delin-quents to disrupt this glorious journey ofunity in diversity. Every word of whatVajpayee said in 1962 in Parliament holdsgood even today. We must remind our-selves of his stirring call for unity and nipin the bud the current challenge toIndia’s unity and integrity.

(The writer is Chairman, PrasarBharati)

How much information did banks and its officials have of the gigantic scam pulledoff by diamentere Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi? According to newsreports coming from the Central Vigilance Commission, red flags had been raised

of the large amounts of loans given to Modi, Choksi and Jatin Mehta’s WinsomeDiamonds. Indeed, now that the scam has been exposed, there were rumours float-ing in the market of massive frauds being undertaken. So the obvious question is:Why was action taken so late and how can the system be improved so that actioncan be taken faster in the future?

Oddly enough, one of the ways to improve the system is to quash it of criminaldefamation that is prevalent in India. This is used by promoters of companies indulgingin fraud to bully news organisations into dropping stories. Of course, while respon-dents should have a method to go after cases of genuine defamation, threats of jailterms must end. Stories that expose fraudulent practices by the media should be encour-

aged. Several newspapers and maga-zines, including columns in this newspa-per, had highlighted how WinsomeDiamonds was a problem waiting tooccur. There is also the need to strength-en investigative bodies and institutionalisethe investigation of white-collar corpo-rate fraud. Far too often in India, greedypromoters, who have indulged in fraud,have gotten away because of late detec-tion and while officers in the CBI and EDdo a superb job under trying circum-stances, most investigations in thecountry are reactive rather than proac-tive. On this front, while India did estab-lish the Serious Fraud Investigation

Office on the lines of the Serious Fraud Office in the UK, we have much to learn fromthe way Western nations go after white-collar fraud. Far too few people in India areworking on far too many cases. Fraud cases, large and small, need to be investigat-ed and when red flags are raised, they should not be ignored, which is what hap-pened in this case. The problem in India is that there is no fear of punishment amongofficers who deliberately ignore or go slow on cases. The problem with the justicesystem has been exploited by scamsters well before Modi to loot public funds andbe far away from the arms of Indian law by the time the scam is caught. Undoubtedly,such fraudsters had inside information of the investigations and planned their flightwhen they knew the noose was tightening. While the media has a role to play in expos-ing such frauds, the way the news spreads can also compromise informations andgive criminals an opportunity to escape like what happened with Vijay Mallya, whoseflight seemed to happen in slow motion. If public confidence is to be restored in theGovernment and Indian investigative agencies, this cannot continue to happen.

That Indian women have been outperforming men at all international sporting eventsis an established fact, and the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Australia areno exception. To remember a recent victory, it was the Indian women who stole

the show at the 2016 Rio Olympics. For that matter, women have been the stars inalmost all events — be it tennis, wrestling, shooting, hockey, boxing or weightlifting(and even cricket though the men's team grabs all the attention). Our eves have reg-istered consistent performances and have managed to increase the pool of medalsfor India at Olympics and Asian Games. To that extent, their performances in the open-ing days of the Gold Coast CWG are not unsurprising. Entering the sixth day, one ofthe bright spots for India has been the victories of Indian women athletes who havemade the country proud by opening the medal chest. The total gold medal tally isalready up to eight and the overall medal tally is at 17 including four silver and fivebronze at the time of writing.

Women's table tennis got a major boost thanks to the excellent show by ManikaBatra in the team event as her stunning singles led to the gold medal for the women'steam and made her our youngest gold medal winner at the tender age of 16. In a

first, the women's tennis team, whichmade it to the finals just for the second time(the first being at the Delhi 2010 CWG) pro-duced a major upset by besting Singaporewhich had an enviable record of winning goldin the event ever since the discipline wasinducted into the CWG series in 2002. Butthe string of heroic performances includingthose by our male athletes, was kicked offby our women weightlifters Punam Yadav,who won gold in the women’s 69kg event,Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu and SanjitaChanu who between them have got us twogolds more. Shooting ace Manu Bhaker pro-vided the icing on the cake by winning thewomen’s 10m air pistol event.

Common to these victories, however, isthe sobering fact that while their successes have made the country proud, it has notbeen a cakewalk for these young women. In a deeply misogynist society with anentrenched patriarchal culture extant, all of them have had to fight their battles to leadlives on their own terms though the nature of their struggle may have differed. Whatmakes these string of victories truly worth celebrating, and not just as sporting achieve-ments, is the fact that they have been registered at a huge cost. The women athleteshave battled and overcome both institutional and social barriers. There is hardly a girlin India across the class, caste, community and urban-rural divides who has not facedsporting apartheid from the school-level itself where certain sports are still talked ofopenly as “boy's sports” — cricket, football, wrestling, hockey, boxing and weightlift-ing. The role played by trailblazers such as Mary Kom (boxing), Geeta Phogat (wrestling)and K Malleswari (weightlifting) among others cannot be underestimated. To havesuccessfully defied gender stereotyping and becoming inspiring role models for othergirls has been their immense contribution to the development of a sporting culturein India. But even when women athletes are able to convince their families about afuture in sports, shabby, second-hand treatment usually awaits them by the mainlymale sporting federation officials. That needs to end and Government intervention isvital to ensure a level playing field as well as greater sensitivity to women athletes'specific needs. On purely sporting grounds, though, we must keep in mind that theCWG is not in the top tier of international sporting events; after all, the big sportingpowers such as China, US, Japan and Germany are not a part of the Games. But it'sa good start and from here, momentum must be maintained clinch those elusive goldmedals at the Olympics and world championships.

Iron women

Indian athletes, especially women weightlifters,

have done India proud at CWG 2018

opinion 08LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018

India's unity is non-negotiable

Public trust and scams

How much did we know about the Nirav Modi

and Mehul Choksi scam? Answers are needed

Immature leaders

Sir — This refers to the report, “Parladjourned sine die: Opp doesn’tallow LS, RS to transact business”(April 7). It is unfortunate that dis-rupting the Parliament on one or theother pretext has become a routineaffair for the Opposition. At times,an entire session has been washedout without transacting any legisla-tive business. Parliament is thesupreme Constitutional institutionof our democracy and a dysfunc-tional Parliament is a matter of graveconcern.

One hundred and twenty sevenhours of the Lok Sabha, 120 hoursof the Rajya Sabha and more than`190 crore of taxpayer’s moneywere wasted in the completelywashed out Budget session of theParliament which ended on April 6.Crucial issues of public interestand important pending legislationcould not be debated due to disrup-tions. Even the Budget was passedwithout any discussion.

Those stalling the Parliamentachieved nothing except losing theopportunity for debate on theirissues. Instances of parliamentariansmaking the Parliament dysfunction-al are unheard of in matured democ-racies. We are the largest democra-cy in the world but after 68 years ofexistence, our parliamentarians aretoo far from being mature.

MC JoshiLucknow

Unwarranted attention

Sir — Another season of the IndianPremier League (IPL) has begun.Players from around the world arebeing offered substantial sums of

money to the tune of several croresof rupees for a 20-over cricket cir-cus that would last nearly 50 days.

Players from several countriesare playing in spite of hectic crick-et schedule just for money. One failsto understand as to why the Boardof Control for Cricket in Indiadoes not understand that the play-ers deserve rest as much as theydeserve money. Secondly, 20-overcricket leagues are not labelled asinternational cricket. So, one fails tounderstand as to why IPL gets somuch attention all the time.

Devendra Khurana Bhopal

Jobless growth

Sir — This refers to the article,“India: Nation of the most unem-ployed in the world” (April 8) byJaved Anis. The “walk a mile in myshoes” phrase holds true for stu-dents who complain about lack ofjob opportunities in our country.Every year, thousands of studentsgraduate from both public and pri-vate universities. They often facedisappointments when they eitherdo not get a job or get one whichis entirely different from theirchosen field. This stress is one ofthe main reasons why young peo-ple commit suicide.

Living in a highly competitiveworld without a job is virtuallyimpossible. The prices of almostevery essential item have increased.Students in India have a great dealof potential. The Government needsto create job opportunities for them.

Md Rustam Parwez Hyderabad

www.dailypioneer.com

p a p e r w i t h p a s s i o n

Send your feedback to: [email protected]

SOUNDBITE

The BJP is well set to get

a majority in the 2019

general election and will

eliminate any remnants of

corruption in its second

term. We want to build a

strong and united India.

BJP leader

—Subramanian

Swamy

A SURYAPRAKASH

Fifty-six years later, demands for a separate identity for the South are once again being heard. Wemust remind ourselves of Vajpayee’s call for unity and nip the current challenge in the bud

The India-China boundary

issue should not be hyped

up. The two sides must

abide by the agreements to

maintain peace and tran-

quillity along the

border areas.

Chinese Foreign

Ministry spokesman

—Geng Shuang

Law is above all, none

can escape from it

This refers to the editorial, “Not being so human” (April 7). That Bollywoodsensation Salman Khan has been sentenced to five years of imprison-ment in the black buck poaching case by a Jodhpur court is not dis-

turbing at all at least to a common law-abiding Indian citizen, albeit it mighthave come as a shock to his admirers. The superstar is a serial offenderand the Jodhpur jail is his second home — he has made it a favourite ren-dezvous four times earlier also. The editorial has rightly said that being asuperstar having millions of fans, Salman ought not to have done thisdetestable act which gives a wrong signal to the society in general and hisadmirers in particular.

The proponent of this theory that the star should not have been jailedbut bailed out or reprimanded instead, are of the opinion that earlier alsohe had not been sentenced and on the same logic, the star should have beenfreed. But unlike the previous hit-and-run and chinkara killing cases wherethe witnesses had turned hostile, in the present case, the Bishnoi caste hasbeen the cardinal witnesses and none has turned uncongenial. Thus, the sen-tence was pronounced. It is true that Salman Khan runs a charitable foun-dation ‘Being Human’ and he is the most benevolent, altruistic, magnani-mous, philanthropic and munificent of all his Bollywood fraternity, but thatdoes not mean that he is free to do whatever he likes, sans any fear of thelaw. The judgement has shown that however high you may be, you are notabove the law.

Sagar SinghNew Delhi

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

I think that the unravel-

ling of the BJP has

begun and frankly I

wouldn’t be complacent

but I think they

have a very, very, very

tough 2019.

Senior Congress

leader

—Salman Khurshid

Walk shoulder to shoulder

with our brothers and sis-

ters in villages to contribute

to their upliftment. When

you return home, you will

realise that the village has

helped you.

Actor

—Aamir Khan

It’s the ultimate political gamebeen played with variations since4th century BC when Chanakya

jerked the rug under the Nandadynasty and installed Chandraguptaas the ruler.

It’s just brand new for Malaysia.There are scams. And there arescams which create scams. Anypolitician with access to publicfunds can do the former. It takes areal sea-soned hand to do the latter.The script is by now familiar withIndian politics.

Midway through aGovernment’s term, a high rankingminister, usually the No 2, sudden-ly gets infected with righteousnessand accuses the Prime Minister ofhigh-level corruption. In an impas-

sioned plea to the Prime Minister,he urges him to come clean for thesake of democracy. TheGovernment goes into extendedparalysis for the next two years andall sorts of worms emerge from thewoodwork. Accusations fly and theswords are out. The No 2 resignsand joins the Opposition. Electionsare held. The ruling party getswiped out and No 2 emerges as thenew Prime Minister.

VP Singh in India pulled it offquite successfully using the Boforsscandal. 40 years on, nobody stillknows the truth of what exactly hap-pened during Bofors. Its sole pur-pose seemed to be just the unseat-ing of a Government. Cut to 2014.The 2G scam too had all the mak-ings of a scam. Not the real 2G scam,whatever that is. But the scam of cre-ating the 2G scam. The moment theComptroller and Auditor General(CAG) dropped the 1,76,000 crorefigure, the media trial was over. Theruling party collapsed a couple ofyears later, and three years after that,a special court acquitted all the

accused in the 2G scam and setthem scot free. Nobody talks muchof the 2G scam anymore. However,there is a caveat namely DrSubramanium Swamy. Its sole pur-pose also seemed to be the unseat-ing of a Government.

Now to Malaysia, so far inno-cent in the fine art of creating a scamthat creates a scam. Is Dr MahathirMohamad, 92-year-old challengerand former Prime Minister follow-ing the Indian political script of1989 and 2014? To seasoned polit-ical analysts, the pattern of events inMa-laysia since 2015 seems to sug-gest some mischief is afoot.

Here is a brief chronology ofevents:

i) 2003: Dr MahathirMohammed retires from politics asthe longest serving Prime Ministerof Malaysia. He puts his feet up onhis farm at Langkawi with cows andhorses and looks forward to groom-ing his son Mukhriz Mahathir inpolitics.

ii) 2008-2013: Mukhriz serves asa Deputy Minister of International

Trade. Papa feels it’s time he doessomething bigger.

iii) November 2013: Mukhrizgets defeated in the elections of vicepresident of Umno, the leadingcoalition partner of the ruling party.This shocking defeat is ascribed toback channel strategy by PrimeMinister Najib Razak.

iv) 2014: Mahathir announceshe has lost confidence in Najib.

v) July 2015: Mahathir’s lieu-tenant and Attorney-General AbdulGani Patail publicly pronouncesNajib Razak guilty of accepting$681 million in the 1MDB scandal— the same day leaked documentswere published in the Wall StreetJournal.

Najib Razak reels with themedia onslaught and internationaloutrage. With his own Attorney-General calling him guilty, the trialby media concludes — he is guiltyas charged. In the hullabaloo, manyfacts go unnoticed.

The Saudi Foreign Ministergives a press conference statingthat the money was sent by the

Royal family to Prime MinisterNajib in order to help him fightIslamic terrorists and that most ofthe money had been returned byNajib. BBC correspondent FrankGardner, with extensive connectionsto the Saudis confirms that this isindeed true. Nobody is prepared tobelieve this. Najib’s guilt seems to befirmly established. In a near fatalsecond blow, Najib’s deputy PrimeMinister Muhyiddin Yassin speaksout against his superior, telling himto come clean.

Many facts surface in the 1MDBscam, some linked to Najib’s stepson.US Department of Justice started anenquiry. Media takes this as furtherrock solid proof of Najib’s guilt eventhough he was not the target of anenquiry by US Department ofJustice or any other investigatingagency worldwide.

Najib fights back. He asks thePublic Accounts Committee (PAC)consisting of both ruling partymembers and opposition leaders toinvestigate. The committee deliber-ates and gives Najib a clean chit in

2016. Then former deputy PrimeMinister Yassin quietly joinedMahathir Mohammed’s camp andthe two started off a new politicalparty ‘Parti Pribumi BersatuMalaysia’ (PPBM), whose sole pur-pose is to cleanse the nation of Najiband of course, come to power. It’stime for the final death blow toNajib and the knives are alreadysharpened and ready.

Najib might still win, given hispopularity and support of theMalaysian voters who seem to begetting tired of Mahathir’s dailywhining. Even after all this,Mahathir is hoping the momentumof the 1MDB scandal and theMalaysian peoples’ inability tounderstand political strategy willwork in his favour.

To political analysts all over theworld who are keenly watchingthis is the ultimate prize fight. Forthe next month or so, all eyes are onMalaysia.

(The writer is Far East countriesexpert. Views expressed are personal)

Ram and our concomitant identity

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018

We want to caution the people about the BJP's

designs. They first divided Hindus and Muslims

and are now trying to divide Dalits.

—Congress leader

RANDEEP SURJEWALA

The Congress has been doing politics of

appeasement of the Dalits till date. They are

doing a drama to launch party president now.

—BJP spokesperson

SAMBIT PATRA

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Once again, the cultural ethosof a nation is to stand the testof judicial interrogation when

Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjidcase is next up for hearing in theSupreme Court.

The outcome of the case may nothave any bearing on the people’s pre-disposition to Ram as an idol ofmoral courage.

Whether it is theutopian desireto achieve ‘Ram Rajya’ or remember-ing Ram in daily pleasantriesexchanged among the masses, Ramis synonymous with the social ethosof our nation. However, the outcomeof the case may have a bearing on thepolity of the country and will defi-nitely have a bearing on our convic-tionfor ‘Dharma’ of this land.

The essence of our civilizationincorporates the righteous path, alegal system which iterates duty andpropagates ethics which are benefi-cial to the well-being of the State andits citizens.

A piece of land under two acreshas, in some ways, been holding us

collectively as a nation in limbo. Isthe Ram Temple really only aboutacquiring a piece of land?

No, it is about justice and vindi-cation of our heritage. As the descen-dants of the world’s oldest civilisa-tion, it is our Dharma or the perfor-mance of duty to preserveand nur-ture not only the teachings of theRamayana but also the remnants ofits historical presence.

An Austrian priest JosephTiefenthaler who visited India dur-ing 1785 wrote in his book, Historyand Geography of India, that Hinduswho refused to give up the place inAyodhya believed it to be the birth-place of Lord Ram and they contin-ue to come to the place despiteMughal administration efforts toprevent them from doing so.

He wrote that the Hindu com-munity had constructed a platformknown as Ram Chabutra in thecompound of the Masjid and under-took three circumambulations of itand then prostrate themselves flat onthe ground before it.

The facts of the existence of atemple at the site have been submit-ted by the Archaeological Survey ofIndia (ASI) and acknowledged by thecourts long ago. According to the2011 census, the demography ofAyodhya town shows 93.3 per centHindu population and 6.93 per centMuslim among nearly 56,000 resi-dents.

It is a town which has nearly a

thousand temples and less than 20mosques (eight of which have beentaken over by ASI as no one offersprayers in them).

One is hard-pressed to discernany significant role of the disputedBabri Masjid land in the lives of localMuslims when there are no takers forother mosques in town.

In the meanwhile, a strangeappropriation has been attempted bypseudo liberals in creating a distinc-tion between ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hindutva’where Hindutva is projected as the‘bad boy’ of the faith.

Hindutva could simply be theadjective of Hindu, drawing energyfrom the philosophy of ‘one truth’,inclusive of culture, polytheism andputting it to practice.

Hindu and Hindutva have asynergy. Pitting the yearning of themasses for a Ram Temple at Ayodhyaas ‘Hindutva’ against giving away theland for asocial cause like establish-ing a hospital as being ‘Hindu’, thepseudo-brigade vehemently tries tobuild a narrative which inflicts asense of guilt on those who aspire tosee a Ram Temple at Ayodhya andtakes away the sense of pride fromthe majority community in India.

Charity is integral to Indic faithsand that is the reason people areurged to keep aside a portion of theirwealth for donation or practice gooddeeds such as constructing‘dharamshalas’ as a part of followingtheir Dharma of generosity and giv-

ing back to society. But how can acommunity donate its sense of iden-tity, pride and faith? How does onegive away the devotion and spiritu-al fidelity one has to one’s heritage?

Some public figures who areostensibly on a path of rediscoveryof faith and are defining why they areHindus allege that an identifiableGod like Ram makes the faith semit-ic. That is a highly limited under-standing of the faith.

C Rajagopalachari, one of thefirst recipients of Bharat Ratna whoserved as the last Governor-Generalbefore India became a Republic in1950, wrote that one cannot under-stand Hindu Dharma unless oneknows Ram and Sita, Bharat,Laxman, Ravana and Hanuman.

He said that it is the Ramayanaand Mahabharat that bind our vastnumbers together as one people,despite caste, social practices andlanguage which seemingly dividethem. Mahatma Gandhi said anation’s culture resides in the heartand the soul of its people.

While pseudo liberals down-play the pride people take in Ram,the eternal cultural icon of thenation is on a perpetual journey, tra-versing along with the social-cultur-al transitions of our land as a benignand edifying influence.

(The writer is an AssociateProfessor at the University of Delhiand a Member of its AcademicCouncil)

Malaysia elections: Old whine in new battle?thinknowP

olitics, especially

in our country, is

like a mountain

stream which

suddenly overflows

and soon recedes,

while educational

work flows not only

during monsoon but

also in the summer

by melting the hearts

of mountains. Politics

is concerned with the

strengthening of

national existence

and is impatient by

nature, education is

dedicated to social

ideals. That’s why

education is the

master and politics

its servant.

—Dr Zakir Hussain

Indian educationist

Disintegration of

morality, conduct

As the descendants of the world's oldest civilisation, it is our Dharma or the performance of duty topreserve not only the teachings of the Ramayana but also the remnants of its historical presence

Najib is expected to retain power due to a deep rift in opposition ranks between Mahathir's bloc and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic

Party, but analysts predict a tough fight from Mahathir. This will by far be the most unpredictable general election in Malaysia

GEETA BHATT

SUDHEER MOPPERTHY

In transitional economies where socialisingagents like family and religion are losing their

relevance, a moral void is what we are left with

WHILE PSEUDOLIBERALS

DOWNPLAY THEPRIDE PEOPLETAKE IN RAM, THE ETERNAL

CULTURAL ICONOF THE NATION ISON A PERPETUAL

JOURNEY,TRAVERSING

ALONG WITH THESOCIAL-CULTURALTRANSITIONS OFOUR LAND AS A

BENIGN ANDEDIFYING

INFLUENCE

Development is beingtracked now by agencieslike the UNDP on the ba-

sis of conventional indices in-cluding per capita income andlife expectancy and also bycountries' performance on en-vironment and governance pa-rameters and even subjectivemeasures like citizens' reported happiness. Unfortunately, another conc-ern which ought to be seen as the crown of human progress and with-out which advancements in technological and economic realms appearhollow remains marginal in development discourses. This criticalresource is ‘basic morality' or adherence to universally valid ideals andnorms that should guide people's conduct even in the absence of anycarrot or stick from above. Needless to add that such cultural ‘capi-tal' is extremely crucial in maintaining interpersonal trust as well asthe smooth functioning of institutes in every collective. No doubt, moralsare difficult to track or even list consensually. Conflicting views aboutwomen's dress and individuals' rights illustrate well the challenges intracking morals across cultures. Yet, a core of human values like respectfor the environment and human life, care for poor and vulnerable, anda value placed on hard work, integrity and civility can be seen as anagreeable base common to most, if not all, moral universes.

The present rot: Unfortunately, in transitional economies wheresocialising factors like family, religion and neighbourhoods are losinginfluence and alternatives like watchful professional associations andan efficient legal process have not evolved, a moral void is all too com-mon. In our country, reports of rampant corruption and horrendouscrimes are figuring daily in public media along with worrying signalsof general demoralisation and indifference to injustices. Videos ofpassersby snatching possessions from accident victims, abandonmentof women and girls in exploitative ashrams by their own families andmass voting for convicted politicians also in lieu of cash, liquor andfreebies, and daytime crimes by teenagers too are alarming indicationsof this void. It is possible that reporting of such callous acts may haveincreased of late and not their actual incidence. Irrespective of suchdistinctions, the very extent and nature of brutalisation growing aroundus call for urgent correctives. But can we inculcate civic values andnorms easily in a society in which the principal ladder for upward mobil-ity is crime and youngsters imbibing rule breaking right from schoolsby witnessing mass copying, use of fake degrees, sale of coveted post-ings, stealing of poor patients' organs in hospitals and easy bail forinfluential criminals? Fortunately, all is not lost and examples of har-mony and high standards of civility not only in advanced countries likeJapan and Singapore but also, in our villages like Ralegaon Sidhi andHirvey Bazar and in poor neighbours like Bhutan show that honestyand care are not incongruous with modern life even though percep-tions of family bonds and sexual norms may differ across countries.Following these instances, a multi-pronged strategy for retrieving pub-lic morality from further slide can be surely attempted.

Corrections: The first step in this journey would be a modifica-tion in our school and college curricula. Thus, the need for a reduc-tion in textual load on pupils and incorporation of more skills trainingin the graded curriculum has to be acknowledged across classes.However, ‘skills' should encompass vocational training and ‘life-skills'including first-aid and disaster response capacity and community ser-vice and other social skills. At the same time, it needs to be admittedthat values are not to be disseminated by preaching or through ser-mons but by inculcating an “aesthetic of ethics' i.e., a high sense ofpersonal dignity in place of hedonist interests or craving for externalrecognition among youngsters. Such a sensibility also needs to beimparted through inspiring literature, exposure to the world of biogra-phies and documentaries, soulful music and movies and, of course,by teachers' principled conduct. In this light, appointments to all pres-tigious posts, especially in schools and colleges, should give weigh-tage to candidates' character and moral record too. However, to avoidindoctrination in the aesthetic sphere, students must be allowed to writeannual essays on independent ideas freely chosen by them (from alarge global list presented by appropriate committees while avoidingcontroversial political figures dexterously).

Unfortunately, neither our state nor educationists seem particu-larly seized of these possibilities presently; consequently, barren mem-orising for written exams continues to be accorded maximum weigh-tage right until exams for prestigious postings and higher courses. Evenin schooling, modern pedagogy gives little recognition to ethical learn-ing beyond the school prayer and occasional speeches. This is a lapsethat can be easily corrected. However, the present moral slide is alsoa result of our crony-capitalist and crony-socialist power structure inwhich upward mobility comes mainly from breaking norms while mediachannels and the cutthroat economy also glorify personal gain at thecost of societal norms. Among the more challenging correctives thatwould contribute to a moral renaissance, a reset in the lower judicia-ry (making adjournments as well as bail and confinement immune topressures of money and power); some checks on glorification of crimesin entertainment channels (without curbing artistic freedoms); and thecreation of a democratic body outside Government to coordinate mea-sures for genuine ‘human resource development' (but desisting fromany Orwellian indoctrination) are debatable. Such a multi-pronged strat-egy may also not alter behaviour and sentiments quickly. Yet, there isno alibi for not taking up at least those measures that are feasible andhold out a ray of hope in a grim backdrop.

(The writer is ICSSR Fellow, Centre for the Study of DevelopingSocieties)

DEVESH VIJAY

3rdeye 09

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018 money 10

“The Future Business Group’saim is to groom and developcompanies that not only createwealth for the nation but also,generate jobs and opportunitieswith a multiplier effect, which iscritical for India,”– Chairman, Axilor VenturesKris Gopalakrishnan

“The CII – Tata CommunicationsCentre for Digital Transformationwould help Indian corporatestowards adopting digitaltechnologies to enhance theircompetitiveness,” –– CII Director General ChandrajitBanerjee

GOVT/CORP

FROM

BUZZ

India, B’desh sign pact on oil pipeline,discuss Teesta water issuePTI n DHAKA

India and Bangladesh onMonday signed six MoUs,

including one for the con-struction of a 129.5 km-long oilpipeline between Siliguri andParbatipur, and discussed theTeesta water sharing issue aswell as the Rohingya refugeecrisis.

Indian Foreign SecretaryVijay Gokhale and hisBangladeshi counterpart MdShahidul Haque discussedmany bilateral and interna-tional issues during delega-tion-level talks.

“Six MoUs including India-Bangladesh Friendship pipelinebetween Siliguri & Parbatipur,agreement betweenDepartment of Atomic Energy,India and Bangladesh AtomicEnergy Commission, weresigned during the visit,” theIndian High Commission inDhaka tweeted.

“This is part of our endeav-our to undertake projects inBangladesh in various socio-economic sectors, includingeducation, culture, health, com-munity welfare, road infra-structure etc, for which we areproviding 1,600 crore takaunder grant financing,” theIndian foreign secretary said.

The MoU on oil pipeline isaimed at pumping diesel fromIndia to Bangladesh with acapacity of 1 million tonnes perannum.

“The MoU focuses ondeepening bilateral cooperation

in the hydrocarbon sector andthe mutual benefits for bothsides that would accrue fromthe proposed construction ofapproximate 129.5 km longoil pipeline from the SiliguriMarketing Terminal of theNumaligarah Refinery Ltd(NRL) in India to theParbaripur depot of theBangladesh PetroleumCorporation (BPC),” the briefdescription of the MoU read.

The other MoUs are oncooperation between PrasarBharati and Bangladesh Betar,installation of an IndianCouncil for Cultural Relations(ICCR) Urdu Chair in DhakaUniversity, Addendum to theGCNEP-BAEC InteragencyAgreement, grant projects toset up language labs in 500schools in Bangladesh andupgrade different roads inRangpur city.

An addendum was signedrelating to Inter-Agency agree-ment between Global Centrefor Nuclear Energy Partnership(GCNEP) of India’s atomicenergy department andBangladesh’s atomic energycommission. Gokhale saidDelhi remained a “committeddevelopment partner” ofDhaka and has extended linesof credit of over USD 8 billionto Bangladesh in the last sevenyears.

“This is the largest amountof credit India has ever com-mitted to any single country....We are confident that thiscredit will be useful to

Bangladesh as it pursues itsdevelopmental priorities,” hesaid.

Gokhale also cited PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sremarks that Bangladesh andIndia are not just “pass pass”(close to each other) but also“saath saath” (together).

India also extended fullsupport to Bangladesh’s effortsfor resolving the Rohingya cri-sis, including the early repatri-ation of the displaced people toMyanmar.

“India has been fully sup-portive of the efforts beingmade to resolve the crisis,including early repatriation ofthe displaced people,” Gokhalesaid in a statement following ameeting with his Bangladeshcounterpart M Shahidul Haqueon the second day of his three-day Dhaka tour.

Gokhale said India sentrelief materials for 300,000Rohingyas in September lastyear under ‘OperationInsaniyat’ to supportBangladesh in its humanitari-an efforts. He also announcedNew Delhi’s plans for the sec-ond phase of such assistance.

He said the assistanceincluded field hospitals with allfacilities to extend women andchild healthcare while the reliefsupplies planned for the secondphase included milk powder,baby food, dried fish, cookingstoves and cooking fuel, rain-coats and gumboots.

“On the Myanmar side,we are providing socio-eco-

nomic support under ourRakhine State DevelopmentProgramme including con-struction of pre-fabricatedhousing in order to meet theneeds of the returning people,”he added.

Bangladesh appreciated theIndian gesture on the issue.

“We are very happy theway our friend from India islooking at this [Rohingya]issue, looking to peacefullyresolve the issue,” Haque said.

Prime Minister SheikhHasina had recently askedIndia to put pressures onMyanmar for repatriation ofover a million of Rohingyasfearing their prolonged stay inBangladesh could create mili-tancy related security risks.

Haque said the two dis-cussed all aspects of the rela-tions between the two nations,including the pending Teestawater sharing issue, and was“delighted” regarding the out-come. Gokhale praised theprogress in bilateral relationsand said: “We assure you we areworking hard internally toresolve the issue”, B D Newsreported.

He said Delhi is “aware” ofthe few outstanding issues inthe relations.

The Indian foreign secre-tary arrived in Dhaka yesterday,his first visit after assuming theoffice on January 29.

Before the bilateral meetingwith his counerpart, Gokhalecalled on Foreign Minister AHMahmood Ali.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Punjab National Bank(PNB)will take care ofproblems emanating from

Rs 13,000-crore fraud perpe-trated by billionaire jewellerNirav Modi on its own and willnot seek any government’s assis-tance, its managing directorSunil Mehta said.

The bank has enoughresources and capability to meetthe challenges posed by thefraud of this nature, he said.

“We said this is problem ofthe bank and we will solve it our-self. We are not seeking gov-ernment’s help by way of capi-talisation,” he said, when askedif the bank has sought help fromthe majority shareholder to tideover the problem of fraud.

“Government whatsoeverthey have given in the normalprocess of the recapitalisationplan. We have not asked for anyadditional support because wethink PNB has capacity andcapability to mobilise resourcesin-house,” he told PTI in aninterview. Giving details, hesaid, PNB has mobilised rough-ly Rs 12,000 crore postSeptember last financial year.

“We have mobilised Rs5,000 crore through QIP (qual-ified institutional placement), Rs1,300 crore by selling stake inPNB Housing Finance and Rs5,400 crore through govern-ment infusion. We are ade-quately capitalised to carry for-ward our business of credit,” hesaid.

“These mobilised fundsbesides Rs 1,100 crore of myprofit which the bank earned inthree quarters (FY2017-18).That is also providing me cush-ion. So that profit coupled withthis capital will provide me ade-quate cushion to take care of lossand still continue to grow,” hesaid.

Nirav Modi and his uncleMehul Choksi, in connivancewith certain bank officials,allegedly cheated PNB of over Rs13,000 crore through fraudulentLetters of Undertaking (LoUs).

A Mumbai branch of PNBhad fraudulently issued LoUs forthe group of companies belong-ing to Nirav Modi since March2011. Different investigatingagencies, including CBI, I-Tand Enforcement Directorate,are probing the fraud, dubbed asthe biggest banking scam in thecountry.

PNB had issued as many as1,590 LoUs to Nirav Modi,Mehul Choksi and their associ-ates.

The total number of LoUs

issued to the companies of NiravModi, his relatives and the NiravModi Group are 1,213, and toMehul Choksi, his relatives andthe Gitanjali Group are 377.

Emphasising the long lega-cy and strength of the bank,Mehta said, “It is a 123-year oldinstitution which was foundedduring Swadeshi movement byLala Lajpat Rai. This institutionhas 7,000 branches spreadthrough length and breadth ofthe country with business ofmore than Rs 10 lakh crore inthe domestic market. So fraud ofthis nature could not shakeconfidence of our customersduring this period.”

Even during trying times,the bank’s business has grownbetter than the industry, hesaid, adding that credit has wit-nessed a growth rate of about 10per cent, in line with the guid-ance that was shared withinvestors.

With regard to deposits,the bank has recorded a growthof 6.2 per cent, he said.

“So, we have grown in linewith industry and even duringdifficult days it was business asusual. With all this negativitywhich was created in the envi-ronment, the customers’ confi-dence was not lost and thecredit goes to 70,000 employeeswho stood with me in difficulttime. “They have gone the extramile, they have done extra hardwork to see that every customeris attended to properly. Now, weare in the bounce back mode,”he said.

PNB MD Sunil Mehta

Nirav fraud is bank’s issue; will not seek govt support: PNB MD

PTI n NEW DELHI

Amid allegations that e-commerce players are

influencing prices throughdeep discounts, leading retailchain Future Retail on Mondaysaid such practices are puttinga question mark on the marketdecorum.

Stating that there is a level-playing field imbalance hap-pening due to improper dis-counts, Future Retail JointManaging Director RakeshBiyani said the governmentpolicy states that e-commerceplayers should not be allowedto participate in pricing andshould not invest money in dis-counting.

“If one particular channel

is misusing its money power todiscount the product at a fasterrate and the other channel isunable to match the price, itshrinks the market,” he toldPTI.

His comments came a dayafter the Retailers Associationof India (RAI) raised concernsover the discounting model ofe-commerce firms and wrote toCommerce and IndustryMinister Suresh Prabhu alleg-ing non-compliance of FDIguidelines on e-commerce.

“The FDI policy forbidsmarketplaces from participat-ing in pricing directly or indi-rectly, but these companies arenot only influencing sellingprice but also selling ownbrands/private labels through

website,” the letter read.The brands have com-

plained this time, Biyani saidadding that in a scenario whenthe market decorum getsspoiled or where operatingprinciples are not adhered to,it is something which is notgood for the market in the longrun. He however, did not namethe brands that have com-plained against e-commercecompanies.

Biyani further said evenIndian Cellular Association,which represents handset mak-ers such as Apple, Nokia andLenovo, among others, haswritten to the minister to takeaction against online retailers.

The Confederation of AllIndia Traders (CAIT) last week

had also alleged that e-com-merce platforms wereindulging in “deep discountingand loss funding thereby vio-lating FDI Policy 2016 of theUnion Government”.

The RAI in its letter said e-commerce players have anunrestricted and uncondition-al access to FDI, which is beingmisused to fund abnormal dis-counts to attract a huge cus-tomer base.

“This ultimately results inmulti-fold increase in valuationof such companies, despitethem making losses. The aimof accepting of FDI is not toavert losses, but to increase val-uation so that a few share-holders are able to achieve themaximum benefit,” it added.

Discounts by e-commerce cos spoil

market decorum: Future Group

Finmin may seek relaxation for

PSUs in public float norms

PTI n NEW DELHI

The finance ministry isconsidering writing to

markets regulator Sebi seek-ing relaxation for certainstate-owned f irms f rom meeting the minimum 25per cent public shareholdingnorm.

There are over a dozenpublic sector units (PSUs),including those up for strate-gic sale, which are yet to meetthe minimum public holdingnorm — the deadline forwhich ends in August.

“The ministry is mullingwriting to Sebi outliningthose PSUs which need relax-ation since they are candidatefor strategic sale or are beingconsidered for merger withsimilarly placed PSUs,” anofficial told PTI.

Listed PSUs have alreadybeen provided one yearextension, till August 21, tocomply with the norms.

Currently, several meth-ods are available to listedcompanies to comply withthe requirements. Theseinclude issuance of shares topublic; offer for sale; sale ofshares held by promotersthrough secondary market

institutional placement pro-gramme; rights issue to public shareholders; andbonus shares to public share-holders.

Also Qual i f iedInstitutional Placement (QIP)and sale of shares up to 2 percent held by promoters orpromoter groups in the openmarket through block andbulk deal can be done toachieve the minimum 25 percent public float.

While Government holds78.55 per cent in Coal India,in MRPL it holds 88.58 percent and 76.05 per cent inHindustan Copper.

It holds 89.93 per cent inMMTC, 90 per cent in STC,89.73 per cent in SJVNLand 84.04 per cent in NLCIndia.

In Andrew Yule & Cogovernment holds 89.25 percent, in Scooters India (93.74pc), KIOCL Ltd (99 pc),ITDC (87.03 pc), MadrasFertilisers Ltd (85.27 pc). InHindustan Photo Films andFert i l isers & ChemicalsTravancore Ltd the Centreholds 90 per cent each.

With regard to ITI Ltd, inwhich the government holds92.63 per cent, the Cabinet

last month cleared a follow onpublic offer (FPO) to help thetelecom PSU meet the publicshareholding norm.

Centrum Broking SeniorVP and Head of Research(Wealth) JagannadhamThunuguntla said “of the list,Coal India disinvestment canbe quite important to watchin terms of both strategicimportance and quantum ofdis investment proceedsinvolved”.

To promote a widerinvestor base in listed state-run companies and provide aboost to the government planto raise funds from disin-vestment programme, theSebi board had in June 2014asked listed companies tooffer at least 25 per cent oftheir equity to non-promot-er shareholders.

Accordingly, the ruleswere notified for PSUs toachieve the minimum 25 percent public shareholding byAugust 21, 2017, later extend-ed by a year.

In the current fiscal thegovernment aims to mop upRs 80,000 crore through PSUdisinvestment, against Rs 1lakh crore collected last fiscalwhich ended on March 31.

‘India canbenefit fromglobal tradechallenges’PTI n NEW DELHI

India can benefit from theongoing challenges in glob-

al trade provided it plays itscards well, Commerce andI n d u s t r yM i n i s t e rS u r e s hPrabhu onM o n d a ysaid.

He saidthat somecountries aretaking stepswhich aretesting theentire globaltrading sys-tem.

“We arepassing through a challengingbut an opportune time. If weplay our cards properly, andthat is what we are trying todo... we can actually benefitfrom it by creating an oppor-tunity around the issues thatare happening globally. Wehave no choice but to respondin a positive manner,” he said.

The minister was speak-ing at the CII annual generalmeeting here.

The decision of the US toimpose duties on certain steeland aluminium productsbesides hiking tariffs againstChinese goods has triggered aglobal trade war, with Chinaretaliating to the move.

Trade experts worldwidehave raised concerns overthese measures.

“In this context, we mustbe ready to not only to face thechallenge but also make thatinto an opportunity,” headded.

The minister said that thegovernment is taking steps toboost exports, industrialgrowth and manufacturingactivities.

Indian economy wouldreach USD 5 trillion in thecoming years; and despite theglobal situation, it is growingat a faster pace, he said.

We are looking at a strat-egy to work multi-laterally aswell as bilaterally to get greatermarket access of domesticproducts and services andboost India’s exports, Prabhusaid.

He said that India hasproposed a mutually benefi-cial free-trade agreement withAfrica and is working toresume a similar pact withEuropean Union.

He also stated that assis-tant US Trade Representativeis visiting India to deliberateon trade-related issues.

Prabhu, who also holdsthe aviation portfolio, saidthat the sector sector is facinglot of issues and the ministryis working on them.

He said that thousands ofairplanes would be required inthe coming years and “if youmanufacture them along withdrones, then it will createhuge opportunities”.

Commerce andIndustry Minister

Suresh Prabhu

Rakesh Bharti Mittal new CII PresidentPTI n NEW DELHI

Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman Rakesh Bharti

Mittal on Monday assumedoffice of the President ofConfederation of IndianIndustry (CII) for 2018-19year, the industry chambersaid. He takes over fromShobana Kamineni, ExecutiveVice Chairperson, ApolloHospitals Enterprise Ltd.

Uday Kotak, Founder andCEO of Kotak Mahindra Banktook over as President-Designate of CII for 2018-19,whereas Vikram Kirloskar isthe new Vice-President of CIIfor the current fiscal.

Bharti Enterprises is abusiness group with interests intelecom, agri & food business,financial services, retail, realty,and communication and mediadevices.

Mittal is also Chairman ofBharti AXA Life Insurance,Bharti AXA General Insurance,FieldFresh Foods and CentumLearning. He is also on theBoard of Bharti Airtel and isManaging Director-BhartiRealty Holdings, CII said.

“Mittal was associated withCII for more than two decades.He has served as the Chairmanof CII Northern Region in2004–05. Besides being activeat the Regional level, Mittal,also Chaired the NationalCommittees on CIIAgriculture, CSR and PublicPolicy Council.

“He also served as member,India-Pakistan Joint BusinessForum (IPJBF) and severalGovernment Committees andGoverning Councils ofInstitutions of Excellence likeICAR. Mittal had been electedas a member of the NationalCouncil of CII several timessince 1999,” the chamber saidin a statement. Besides,President-Designate Kotakholds a Bachelor’s degree inCommerce and an MBA fromJamnalal Bajaj Institute ofManagement Studies, Mumbai.

Kirloskar is the Chairmanand Managing Director ofKirloskar Systems Ltd. andVice Chairman of ToyotaKirloskar Motor. He is aGraduate in MechanicalEngineering from theMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology, USA.

CII President Shobana Kamineni present memento to Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman during the CII Annual Session inNew Delhi on Monday. PTI

Centre buys 19.31 lakhtonne wheat so farPTI n NEW DELHI

The government has kickstarted procurement of new

wheat crop from farmers andhas purchased 19.31 lakh tonnesof the grain in the current mar-keting year so far, according tothe Food Ministry.

The government has fixedwheat procurement target at320 lakh tonnes for 2018-19marketing year, as against 308lakh tonnes purchased by state-owned FCI last year.

Although wheat marketingyear runs from April-March, thebulk of procurement is done inthe first three months. FCI andstate agencies undertake pur-chase at the minimum supportprice (MSP) on behalf of thegovernment.

Food Corporation of India(FCI) has bought 19.31 lakhtonnes of wheat so far this year,slightly lower than 20.79 lakhtonnes in the year-ago period,the ministry’s data showed.

Much of the procurement ishappening in Madhya Pradesh,Haryana and Uttar Pradesh atpresent, as arrival of fresh wheatis in full swing in these states.The procurement is expected to

pick up in Punjab in the com-ing months.

From Punjab, the govern-ment aims to buy 119 lakhtonnes. The FCI has purchased14,183 tonnes so far this year asagainst 10,644 tonnes in theyear-ago period, the datashowed.

In Madhya Pradesh, FCIand state agencies have procured13.49 lakh tonnes so far this year,lower than 16.5 lakh tonnes inthe year-ago. In Haryana too,wheat procurement remainedlower at 4.27 lakh tonnes whencompared with 3.92 lakh tonnesin the said period.

FCI purchased 69,122tonnes of wheat from Haryanain 2018-19 marketing year so far,significantly higher than 3,178tonnes in the year-ago period.Wheat buying in Rajasthanincreased to 60,678 tonnes from16,248 tonnes, while that inGujarat to 10,944 tonnes from1,145 tonnes in the said period.In the second estimate releasedin February, the governmentprojected wheat production tobe slightly lower at 971 lakhtonnes for this year, as against arecord 985.1 lakh tonnes lastyear.

Panel to considerEBRs for infra,social schemesPTI n NEW DELHI

The finance ministry hasconstituted a 13-member

Steering Committee to con-sider the proposals of differentministries and departmentsfor rasing Extra BudgetaryResources (EBR) to fund infra-structure and social sectorschemes.

Headed by EconomicAffairs Secretary, the commit-tee has secretaries from differ-ent ministries as members,besides Chairman of NABARDand Managing Director ofIIFCL.

Joint Secretary (Budget)in the Department ofEconomic Affairs (DEA) ismember secretary of the com-mittee which will consider theproposals for raising EBR tomeet the “resource gap forfunding infrastructure, health,education and other social sec-tor projects,” the Department ofEconomic Affairs (DEA) saidin an office memorandum.

The committee will exam-ine all aspects of proposalsreceived fromministries/departments forraising EBRs, it said.

world 11LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018

Zayn plans to erase Gigi Hadid tattoo’

after deleting all his instagram posts

New York: Zayn Malik has officially started a new chap-ter in life after doing a Taylor Swift and completely

wiping his entire Instagram feed. The 25-year-oldrecently parted ways with model girlfriend GigiHadid and left his 27.7 million followers scratch-ing their heads after erasing every single one ofthe posts he’s ever uploaded. Although it looks likehe was just gearing up to promote a new project,fans have obviously connected the move toreports that he’s planning on erasing *that* chestinking of Gigi's eyeballs. According to TheMirror, Z has already been shortlisting poten-tial designs that could be slapped over the tatt:“Zayn was openly talking about it during a recent

work commitment, he was mentioning his tat-toos and said he needed to get his Gigi stuff cov-

ered up. “He has been looking at different designsto see if something could work. If it looks good, he

will go for it - he just wants to move on with his life.”Announcing their break-up in March, Zayn wrote:“Gigi and I had an incredibly meaningful, loving andfun relationship and I have a huge amount of respectand adoration for Gigi as a woman and a friend. Shehas such an incredible soul. Zayn tweeted "I'm grate-

ful to all of our fans for respecting this difficult deci-sion and our privacy at this time, we wish this newscould have come from us first. We love you all.

GLOBEGLOBETROTTINGTROTTING

China asks India to refrain from

‘hyping up’ border issue

PTI n BEIJING

China on Monday askedIndia to respect the Line of

Actual Control and refrain from“hyping up” the boundary issueand work with it to jointlymaintain peace and tranquilli-ty in the border areas.TheChinese Foreign Ministry’sremarks came in response to areport that China has lodged astrong protest with New Delhi,alleging “transgression” by theIndian troops in the strategicallysensitive Asaphila area alongArunachal Pradesh. The Indianside has dismissed Beijing’scomplaint. Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Shuang skirt-ed a direct response to thereport and said, “ I do notunderstand the specific state ofaffairs that you mentioned thathappened recently on the Sino-Indian border”. “Prior to the res-olution of the border issue, it ishoped that the Indian sideabide by the agreement proto-col, respect and obey the Lineof Actual Control (LAC) andrefrain from hyping up theissue and work with China tojointly maintain peace and tran-quillity in the border areas,”Geng said.

He, however, reiteratedChina’s repeated stand thatBeijing never recognisedArunachal Pradesh, which itclaims as part of southern Tibet.“China’s position on the Sino-Indian boundary issue is con-sistent and clear. The Chinesegovernment has never acknowl-edged the so-called ArunachalPradesh,” he said.

“Both China and India arenegotiating to resolve theboundary issue between thetwo countries and seek a fairand reasonable solution accept-able to both sides,” he said. Boththe countries have SpecialRepresentative talks mecha-nism to resolve the boundaryissue.The two countries so farhave held 20 rounds of talks toresolve the boundary disputeand worked out different mech-anisms to keep peace along the3,488 km-long LAC. Askedabout the recent visit of Chinese

Vice Foreign Minister KongXuanyou to New Delhi on April6 and reports of several Indiantop ministers visiting Chinathis month, Geng said, “China

and India have sound momen-tum of exchanges and closecooperation. It is not strange tohave such kind of coopera-tion.” Prime Minister Narendra

Modi is to due to visit China inJune to take part in the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation sum-mit to be held in the Chinesecity of Qingdao.

China’s PLA using new equipmentfor all-weather border monitoringPTI n BEIJING

China’s military is bolster-ing the management of its

border defence by developingnew types of equipmentincluding a satellite earlywarning system that can beused to monitor the borderareas in all environments,according to official mediareports.

A satellite early-warningmonitoring system is plannedin some border areas that arein dispute or are difficult toenter and patrol, state-runBeijing Evening News report-ed on Sunday.

A surveillance cameranetwork has also been built inborder zones and the densityof coverage is set to increaseto cover blind spots, the reportsaid but did not mentionwhich, or if all, of China’s bor-der regions are covered.

The Line of ActualControl (LAC) between Indiaand China covered 3,488 kmswhich included ArunachalPradesh, claimed by China aspart of southern Tibet. Theinformatization and mecha-nisation of equipment, vehi-cles and monitoring methodsof People’s Liberation Army(PLA) border defence willgive an early-warning of anyrisks to security as well asovercoming previous blindspots, Song Zhongping, a mil-itary expert was quoted as say-ing by the Global Times.

The PLA has to increasethe level of automation of itsequipment, Song noted. Thiswill include using drones andtracking vehicles to conductpatrols and setting up

unmanned monitoring sys-tems, which means borderregions will come under con-tinuous monitoring and con-trol.

To cater to various geo-graphic environments alongChina’s long borders, the PLAhas developed equipment thatcan be used in water, in the airor on land, Song said.

While reporting about thenew border monitoring sys-tem, the Global Times men-tioned Pangong Lake inLadakh, where skirmishestook place between Indianand Chinese troops after bor-der guards foiled an attemptby Chinese soldiers to enterIndian territory in Augustlast year.

The PLA has deployed anew patrol boat there which ismade of non-metallic materi-als, the report said. The crafthas a top speed of 40 km perhour and can resist ice colli-sions.

A type of heavy scoutvehicle, called the “wild ox,”capable of accommodating17 full-armed soldiers, hasbeen deployed to a borderdefence regiment in SouthwestChina’s Yunnan Province,which shares a border withthree countries.

Besides a BeiDou satellitenavigation system, akin tothat of US Global PositionSystem (GPS), the vehicle alsohas a real-time communica-tion system installed.

The scout vehicle also haswater filters, a kitchen and atoilet so it can conduct patrolsin tropical environments.

The report also implied

that in the jungles of Yunnan,the sparsely populated desertsof Xinjiang and the highplateaus in Tibet, PLA troopsbegan using drones to patrolmore areas than 10 years ago,which has resulted in a 25-foldincrease in efficiency.

Border defence troops inKoktokay, in Xinjiang UyghurAutonomous Region, haverecently tested more than 20types of new equipment.

Koktokay in northernXinjiang and borderingMongolia has an average tem-perature of -20 degree celsiusin winter.

A new type of hot waterbottle that can keep water hotfor 24 hours has been issuedto soldiers in Koktokay. Thetroops garrisoned at Koktokayhave also tested other newequipment such as cold-proofblankets, tents and snow cam-ouflage suits.

“Logistics support is themain guarantee to generatecombat capability,” Song said.“These changes all benefitfrom China’s increasing mili-tary technology ability andinnovation,” Song noted.Previous reports said guardrails have been set up alongthe border to prevent terror-ists sneaking into Chinathrough Xinjiang’s Kashgar, aprefecture that shares a borderwith Afghanistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) andKyrgyzstan.

China has ramped upsecurity along the Xinjiangborder to prevent the cross-ings of militants of the EastTurkistan Islamic Movement(ETIM) active in the province.

Strike on Syria air base kills 14

AFP n BEIRUT

An early-morning strike on a Syriangovernment air base in the country’s

centre killed 14 fighters, including Iranianforces allied to the regime, a monitoringgroup said on Monday. “At least 14 fight-ers were killed in the strike on the T-4 air-port, among them Iranian forces,” said theSyrian Observatory for Human Rights, aBritain-based war monitor.

Syrian state media had earlier report-ed dead and wounded in the strike, with-out giving casualty figures. The T-4 base

lies in Syria’s central Homs province andis also known as the Tiyas airport. Forcesfrom regime allies Russia and Iran, as wellas fighters from the Tehran-backedLebanese Hezbollah militia, are known tohave a presence there, said Observatorychief Rami Abdel Rahman.

The Observatory, which has a widenetwork of sources across war-ravagedSyria, said it could not confirm who car-ried out the attack on the T-4 base. Israelcarried out strikes against a Syrian gov-ernment base in the country’s centre in

February, with the Observatory identify-ing it at the time as T-4.Israel has strucktargets inside Syria on multiple occasionsthroughout the country’s seven-year war,including those linked to Iran andHezbollah or to Assad’s chemical weaponsprogramme.

An Israeli military spokeswomandeclined to comment.The raid came asworldwide outrage mounted over a report-ed chemical weapons attack on a rebel-controlled town outside the Syrian capi-tal.

This image made from video released by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a medicalworker giving toddlers oxygen through respirators following an alleged poison gas attack in the opposition-held town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, Syria,Sunday, April 8, 2018. AP

Israeli jets target Gaza position Jerusalem (AFP): Israeli

fighter jets targeted a Hamas“military target” in northernGaza on Monday in responseto Palestinians infiltrating theborder and laying bombs theprevious day, the army said.

Palestinian securitysources in Gaza said the Israelistrikes hit a base in Jabaliabelonging to Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamassarmed wing, and farmlandnear Beit Lahia, causing dam-ages but no injuries. The Israelistrike came a day after suspectscrossed the northern Gazaborder fence, leaving “explosive

devices” that were found by thearmy. The border fencebetween the Palestinianenclave and Israel has becomethe backdrop of mass Gazademonstrations that lead todeadly clashes.

Israel has faced mountingquestions over its use of livefire after 10 days of protestsand clashes along the GazaStrip border. Monday, the Gazahealth ministry said MarwanQudeih, 45, who was wound-ed by Israeli fire east of KhanYunis on March 30, died of hiswounds.His death brings thenumber of Palestinians killed

by Israeli forces since then to31. Israel says it opens firewhen necessary to stop dam-age to the border fence, infil-trations and attempted attacks.

It alleges Hamas, theIslamist movement that runsthe Gaza Strip and with whomit has fought three wars since2008, is seeking to use theprotests as cover to carry outviolence.

“The IDF (Israeli DefenceForces) views with great sever-ity the Hamas terror organisa-tion endeavours to turn thesecurity fence parameter intoa combat zone while attempt-

ing to damage security anddefence infrastructure,” thearmy said in its Monday state-ment.

Rights groups have harsh-ly criticised Israeli soldiersactions, and Palestinians sayprotesters are being shot whileposing no threat to troops.

Sunday, the InternationalCriminal Courts chief prose-cutor Fatou Bensouda said shewas opening a preliminaryprobe to determine whetherthere was enough evidence tolaunch a full-blown investiga-tion into any alleged crimescommitted by Israel or Hamas.

PTI n NEW YORK

Under fire globally forallowing the data breach,

social media giant Facebookwill on Monday start alertingthe 87 million users, including562,455 in India, whose datamay have been compromisedas the UK-based CambridgeAnalytica pilfered themthrough an app.

The US-based companywill send a detailed message atthe top of users’ news feed,offering information on appsthey use and the informationthey have shared with thoseapps.

It will also tell people iftheir information may havebeen improperly shared withCambridge Analytica, the datamining firm accused of har-vesting personal informationof millions of Facebook usersillegally to influence polls inseveral countries.“As part of

this process we will also tellpeople if their informationmay have been improperlyshared with CambridgeAnalytica,” the company saidlast week.

Facebook users will alsohave the opportunity to use thelink to delete apps and preventthem from collecting moreinformation, CNN reported.

Also, all 2.2 billionFacebook users will receive alink to see what apps they useand what information they

have shared with those apps.Facebook says most of the

affected users (more than 70million) are in the US, thoughthere are over a million each inthe Philippines, Indonesia andthe UK. It said the total num-ber of potentially impactedusers in India (562,455 people)is 0.6 per cent of the globalnumber of potentially affectedpeople. A Facebook spokesper-son last week said privilegeddata of users who had down-loaded the app called ‘thisisy-

ourdigitallife’, developed byDr Aleksandr Kogan, mayhave been compromised.

There are about 200 mil-lion Facebook users in India.Of them, “only 335 people”were directly affected throughthe installation of the app,while another 562,120 peoplewere “potentially affected” asfriends of those users, thespokesperson said.

“Cambridge Analytica’sacquisition of Facebook datathrough the app developed byDr Aleksandr Kogan and hiscompany Global ScienceResearch Limited (GSR) hap-pened without our authorisa-tion and was an explicit viola-tion of our Platform policies,”the spokesperson had said.

The past few days haveseen a global outrage over thebreach of user data onFacebook, forcing the compa-ny to issue an public apology.

Won’t back CM Wigneswaranfor another term: TNAPTI n COLOMBO

CV Wigneswaran, the firstTamil chief minister of Sri

Lanka’s Northern Province,will not be backed by his partyTamil National Alliance foranother term amidst his dif-ferences with the main Tamilparty, a senior party leader hassaid.

Tamil National Alliance(TNA) parliamentarian MASumanthiran told reporters inJaffna yesterday that whenWigneswaran was elected asthe northern chief minister in2013, the idea was to limit histerm for 2 years. “We do notexpect to appoint Wigneswaranas the Chief Minister againbecause he said he would nothold the position for morethan two years. We do notthink it is suitable to give himthe position again,” he said. The

party sources said they wouldopt for veteran MavaiSenathiraja as TNA’s chief min-isterial candidate at the nextelection to be held later thisyear.

Wigneswaran, 78, a polit-ical novice and a retiredSupreme Court judge, waselected with over 80 per cent ofthe Tamil vote. But, of late, hasbeen at loggerheads with theTNA over its policy towards thenational unity government atthe center led by PresidentMaithripala Sirisena.

TNA’s softer attitudetowards the government hasangered both the hardlineTamils and Wigneswaran.Meanwhile, the JointOpposition (JO) headed byformer President MahindaRajapaksa is seeking the ousterof TNA leader R Sampanthanfrom his Leader of the

Opposition post. JO seniorleader Dinesh Gunawardenasaid a movement for his ousterwill be launched soon. With theresounding victory ofRajapaksa’s new party Sri LankaPeople’s Party in February 10 inthe local council election, theJO seeks the position ofOpposition Leader toRajapaksa. “It is no more thecorrect position that Rajapaksabe denied the post of the oppo-sition leader,” JO politicianUdaya Gammanpila said.

Sampanthan and almostall Tamil and Muslim minori-ty Tamil politicians voted infavour of the Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe in theno-confidence motion movedby JO last week. The minoritysupport meant a clear cut winfor Wickremesinghe, enablinghim to continue as the PrimeMinister.

Five injuredafter quakehits JapanTokyo (AFP): A 5.6-magnitudequake hit western Japan onMonday injuring five peopleand damaging buildings androads, as officials warnedstronger tremors could come inthe days ahead. The shallowtremor was gauged as magni-tude 5.6 by the US GeologicalSurvey and 6.1 by Japans mete-orological agency on theRichter scale.It rocked the westof the main island of Honshu,96 kilometres north ofHiroshima, at 1:32 AM (2200IST yesterday).The Japaneseagency urged residents to stayvigilant. “We want the areasthat experienced strongtremors to be on guard in thecoming week or so againstquakes that could be as pow-erful as the upper five,” agencyofficial Toshiyuki Matsumoritold a news conference, refer-ring to a Japanese seismic scalewith a maximum intensity ofseven.

An upper five on JapansShindo scale refers to tremorsthat make it difficult to walkwithout holding onto some-thing. Strong aftershocks couldcontinue for two to three days,Matsumori said, and severalstrong tremors have alreadybeen felt in the region hit by theinitial quake.

Five people were hurt inthe quake, including a 17-year-old boy who broke his legafter falling from his bed, butno life-threatening injurieswere reported. Around 100households lost water in OdaCity, prompting troops to sendtrucks to set up makeshiftwater supply stations.

Damage to some build-ings and roads were alsoreported. No problems werereported at the nearby Shimanenuclear power station, whichhas been offline for a checkup.

Japan sits on the so-calledPacific “Ring of Fire” where alarge proportion of the worldsearthquakes and volcanic erup-tions are recorded.

A devastating magnitude9.0 quake — which struckunder the Pacific Ocean onMarch 11, 2011 — and a result-ing tsunami caused widespreaddamage and claimed the livesof thousands of people.

Online ‘friends of friends’ can reveal our hidden traits: StudyPTI n BOSTON

Your Facebook account mayreveal the information that

you want to keep private, throughthe friends of your social mediacontacts, Stanford researchershave found. Researchers whofound that any online presenceprotecting personal data if peo-ple have any public is becomingincreasingly difficult.

The study, published in thejournal Nature Human Behavior,shows that there are more waysthan previously thought to revealdemographic traits that peoplemight be trying to conceal.Researchers used databasesthat reflect the kinds ofinformation thatwebsites makeavailable to adver-tisers or reveal tooutside groupswhen peopleallow third par-ties to accesstheir social profiles. Given theprevalence of such data, theresearchers sought to betterunderstand what sorts of statis-tical inferences might end uprevealing traits people have

sought to conceal. “In socialdata, some things are more pre-dictable than others. We set outto study the relationship betweenfriend networks and predictabil-ity, and ended up uncovering aninference mechanism that had-n’t been noticed before,” saidJohan Ugander, assistant profes-sor at Stanford University in theUS. Researchers who have stud-ied social media relationshipshave found that we tend tofriend people of roughly oursame age, race and politicalbelief.

So even if a person does notreveal their ge, race

or political views,these traits are eas-ily and accurately

inferred fromfriendship stud-ies.

Researcherscall this tendencyh o m o p h i l y ,which stems from

the Greek words for love ofsameness.

However, not all unknowntraits are easy to predict usingfriend studies. Gender, forinstance, exhibits what

researchers call weak homophi-ly in online contexts.

If an unknown person in asocial network has mostly malefriends there’s an almost equallygood chance they could befemale, or vice versa,” said KristenAltenburger, a PhD student atStanford.

The research shows that it ispossible to infer certain concealedtraits - gender being the first - bystudying the friends of ourfriends.

This technique worksbecause researchers havedescribed a new social structurethey call monophily, Greek for“love of one,” where people haveextreme preferences for traits butnot necessarily their own trait.They observe that when there’smonophily in a network, itbecomes possible to predict traitsof individuals based on friends offriends, even in situations wherethere’s no homophily. The teamrelied on standard networkdatasets widely studied by acad-emics. These datasets mapfriendship networks and containcomplete information about all ofthe traits of all of the individualtraits, including gender.

Steve Woznaik protests FBby shutting down accountSan Francisco: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak isshutting down his Facebookaccount as the social mediagiant strug-gles to copew it h t heworst privacycrisis in itshistory. In anemail to USATo d ay, Woz n i a k s ay sFacebook makes a lot ofadvertising money frompersonal details providedby users. He says the “profitsare all based on the users info,but the users get none of theprofits back.” Wozniak sayshe’d rather pay for Facebook.He says “Apple makes moneyoff of good products, not off ofyou.” Facebook CEO MarkZuckerberg will testify onCapitol Hill tomorrow andWednesday about the compa-ny’s ongoing data-privacy scan-dal and how it failed to guardagainst other abuses of its ser-vice. Facebook has announcedtechnical changes intended toaddress privacy issues. AP

FB to tell users if their data was shared

world 12LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL10, 2018

‘N Korea ready to discuss

denuclearization with US’

AFP n WASHINGTON

North Korean officials havetold their US counterparts

that Kim Jong Un is ready todiscuss denuclearisation, anassurance that could pave theway for a planned meetingwith President Donald Trump,reports said. It is the first timePyongyang has made the offerof a summit directly toWashington, after its invitationwas previously conveyedthrough a South Korean envoy.“The US has confirmed thatKim Jong Un is willing to dis-cuss the denuclearisation of theKorean Peninsula,” a Trumpadministration official toldThe Wall Street Journal andWashington Post on Sunday.

Washington stunnedobservers when it announcedlast month it had agreed to ahistoric first meeting betweenTrump and Kim, to be held bythe end of May. The North’soffer to meet was delivered tothe White House by SouthKorea’s national security advis-

er Chung Eui-yong, who hadmet Kim during a visit toPyongyang days earlier.

But Pyongyang has failedto publicly confirm the offersince, beyond a commentaryfrom its state-run KCNA newsagency noting the “dramaticatmosphere for reconciliation”with the South and “a sign ofchange” with the US. Thissilence had made US officialsnervous that Seoul had over-stated the North’s willingnessto negotiate over its ownnuclear arsenal, the Wall StreetJournal reported.

Many remain skepticalabout whether the plannedsummit can succeed. It isscheduled to take place with-out the months of groundworkthat usually precedes suchmeetings.

CNN reported on Saturdaythat secret, direct talks pavingthe way for the summit wereunder way between NorthKorean and US intelligenceofficials, citing anonymousWhite House sources.

But no specifics have yetemerged concerning the dateor venue of the proposed sum-mit, with a third country suchas Mongolia or Sweden underconsideration to host the talks,according to multiple reports.Beyond that, a detailed agen-da for the talks will need to beset.

\Washington’s long-heldstance is that it will not accepta nuclear-armed North Korea.That means it wants to see“complete, verifiable, and irre-versible” denuclearisation — avery high bar.

The North has previouslydemanded the withdrawal ofUS troops based in the Southand the end of the securityalliance between Seoul andWashington — an extraordi-nary concession that it is hardto imagine any previous USpresident acceding to.

South Korea today wel-comed the reported offer bythe North to discuss denu-clearization. “We are not adirectly concerned party since

it is something that is takingplace between the US andNorth Korea, but if the reportsare true, we view it positivelyand welcome it,” said NamSang-kyu, a spokesman at theSouth’s presidential office.

The South will host its ownsummit later this monthbetween Kim and the South’spresident Moon Jae-in. Lastweek, the two Koreas held aworking-level meeting aimedat ironing out protocolheadaches and other logisticsahead of the rare inter-Koreansummit, due to take place onApril 27.

A different group of offi-cials from the two sides met onSaturday to discuss setting upa direct hotline between theoffices of the leaders of Northand South Korea.

Details of the talks werenot released but officials fromboth sides agreed to furthermeetings on the topic later thisweek, a spokesman for theSouth’s unification ministrysaid on Monday.

In this (March 27, 2018) photo, a man watches a TV screen showing file footages of U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a newsprogram at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea. A Trump administration official said Sunday, April 8, that the United States has now "confirmed that Kim JongUn is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." The official wasn't authorized to be quoted by name and demanded anonymity. The meeting couldoccur as early as May. AP/file

100 hurt in B’desh student’s protest PTI n DHAKA

Thousands of students acrossBangladesh staged protests and sit-ins

on Monday after clashes at the country’stop university left at least 100 peopleinjured. Police fired rubber bullets and teargas at Dhaka University students fightingwhat they consider “discriminatory” gov-ernment job quotas in favour of specialgroups.

It was one of the biggest protests facedby Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in herdecade in power. A minister was due tomeet protest leaders in Dhaka on Monday.

But students at state-run universitiesin Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal,Rangpur, Sylhet and Savar boycottedclasses and staged sit-ins, police andmedia said. “More than 1,000 studentsjoined the demonstrations at JahangirnagarUniversity,” said Ataur Rahman, a protesterin Savar where the university is located.

The clashes, which began last nightand went into the early hours of Monday,turned Dhaka University into a battle-ground. Copycat protests soon started inother major cities as thousands of studentsboycotted classes and staged sit-ins.

Organisers in Dhaka said theywere holding peaceful protests whenpolice started firing tear gas and rubberbullets. They used batons and water can-non to clear a central square. As violencespread across the campus, thousands of

male and female students launched intopitched battles with police.

“More than 100 people were injured,”police inspector Bacchu Mia told AFP,adding they were treated in hospital buttheir condition was not serious.

Protesters threw rocks, vandalised thehome of the Dhaka University vice-chan-cellor, torched two cars and ransacked thefine arts institute, said senior police offi-cer Azimul Haque. Fifteen people weredetained, police said.

The students are angry at the gov-ernments decision to set aside 56 percentof civil service jobs for the families of vet-erans from the 1971 war of independenceand for disadvantaged minorities. Thatleaves most university graduates to fightfor only 44 per cent of the jobs.

Hasan Al Mamun, a leader of theprotests, said tens of thousands of studentsjoined the demonstrations nationwide.Police declined to estimate the number. AlMamun said the quota for top-grade jobsshould be reduced to only 10 per cent.

“These quotas are discriminatory. Dueto the quota system, 56 per cent of the jobsare set aside for five per cent of the coun-try’s population. And 95 per cent of thepeople can compete for the 44 per cent,”he said.

Students are particularly upset at the30 per cent quota set aside for descendantsof veterans of the independence war.Sheikh Hasina, whose father was thearchitect of the country’s independencefrom Pakistan, has rejected demands toslash the quotas.

Yerevan (AFP): Armenia’snew President Armen Sarkisianwas sworn in on Monday butpower is expected to remainwith his predecessor as the ex-Soviet republic shifts to a par-liamentary form of govern-ment. The former ambassadorto the United Kingdom took theoath of office at an extraordi-nary parliamentary session, hisright hand laid on a 7th-centu-ry manuscript of the NewTestament, and the ArmenianConstitution.

The 64-year-old thenreceived blessings from thehead of the Armenian Church,Catholicos Garegin II.Sarkisian’s inauguration allowscontroversial 2015 constitu-tional amendments to comeinto force, turning the coun-try into a parliamentaryrepublic with a strong primeminister.The political shiftwas initiated by the outgoing

president Serzh Sarkisian —who is no relation to the newleader — and was approved ina referendum with 63 percentof the voters backing thechanges.

Critics of Serzh Sarkisian,63, say the reforms have beendesigned to increase his powerin a new capacity as premier.The ruling party has defend-ed the reform as a move aimedat consolidating the Caucasus

nations democracy andimproving the balancebetween the legislative andexecutive branches of power.

But the opposition com-plained of widespread viola-tions at polling stations duringthe December 2015 referen-dum, prompting thousandsto rally in protest. Hand-picked by the RepublicanParty, Armen Sarkisian wasthe sole candidate for the nowmostly ceremonial presidentialpost.

Elected on March 2 by theNational Assembly for a singleterm of seven years, the pres-ident is expected to mainlyrubber-stamp the prime min-isters decisions.

Under the new legislationhe is not part of the country’sSecurity Council. A formerphysics professor, ArmenSarkisian briefly served asprime minister in the 1990s.

AFP n BRUSSELS

The leading political group inthe European Parliament

congratulated Hungary’s ViktorOrban on his reelection onMonday, but the anti-immigra-tion populists victory looks set toprolong the fractious relationshipbetween Brussels and Budapest.The European Union has clashedrepeatedly with Orban’s gov-ernment during his first twoterms as premier over a numberof issues including Hungaryscrackdown on foreign-fundeduniversities and NGOs, its hard-line stance on migrants andalleged misuse of funding fromthe bloc.

Orban has been defiant inthe face of EU criticism, andsome observers say the fact hisFidesz party is part of theEuropean Peoples Party (EPP),the dominant force in theEuropean Parliament, has givenhim cover in Brussels.

“Congratulations to Viktor#Orban and #Fideszmpsz ontheir clear victory in the#HungaryElections. I look for-ward to continuing workingwith you towards common solu-tions to our European chal-lenges,” Manfred Weber, thehead of the EPP bloc in the par-liament, wrote on Twitter on onSunday. In the run-up to

Sunday’s vote in Hungary, EPPPresident Joseph Daul tweeted amessage wishing Fidesz “all thebest” in the election, sayingOrban would “continue to bringstability and prosperity”. The EUhas launched a battery of legalaction against Orban’s govern-ment, taking it to the blocs topcourt over a crackdown on edu-cation and foreign-backed civil

society groups that critics say tar-gets US billionaire George Soros.

The European Commissionhas also brought a case againstHungary, Poland and the CzechRepublic over their refusal toaccept quotas for asylum seekers.Left-leaning EuropeanParliament groups condemnedthe fact that Orbans crushingwin on Sunday came after a cam-

paign in which his tough anti-immigration stance featuredprominently. German MEPSylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, of theSocialists and Democrats group-ing, said Orban had been “verysuccessful with a campaign offear against migrants”. “This isanother bitter victory for pop-ulism at the expense of peopleseeking protection,” she said,

calling on Webers CSU party to“talk straight to him, instead offlattering him with visits andinvitations”. The left-wing Greensslammed the EPP for backingand congratulating Orban whenHungary is facing legal actionfrom the EU and the EuropeanParliament is investigatingwhether Budapest is living up toits rule of law obligations.

Orban win in Hungary brings headaches for Brussels

Hungarian Prime Minister and Chairman of Fidesz Party Viktor Orban, center, and Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Christian Democratic Party Zsolt Semjen, left,celebrate the win of Fidesz and the Christian Democrats at the election night watch event after the general elections in Budapest, Hungary, late on Sunday. AP

Pope hits outat critics of hispro-migrantpolicyVatican City: Pope Francisissued a warning to Catholicswho criticise his calls to wel-come migrants with open arms,in a much-awaited text pub-lished on Monday.

The Argentine pontiff hasput the plight of people fleeingwar, persecution and poverty atthe heart of his five-year papa-cy, putting him at odds with awave of anti-immigrant senti-ment in many parts of theworld.

In the third apostolicexhortation of his pontificate -a guideline on how Catholicscan strive for “holiness” - the81-year-old unexpectedly hitout at his critics.

“Some Catholics considerthe situation of migrants to bea secondary issue,” he wrote.“That a politician looking forvotes might say such a thing isunderstandable, but not aChristian for whom the onlyproper attitude is to stand inthe shoes of those brothers andsisters of ours who risk theirlives to offer a future to theirchildren.” Citing a passagefrom the Old Testament urgingthe welcoming of foreigners,Francis remarked sharply thatthe issue was not “a notioninvented by some pope, or amomentary fad”.

In April 2016, he flew to aGreek island on the frontline ofthe migrant crisis, Lesbos, andreturned to Rome with threefamilies of Syrian Muslims.Thepontiff also took the opportu-nity to reiterate his staunchopposition to abortion in thetext entitled “Gaudete et exsul-tate” (Rejoice and be glad).

“Our defence of the inno-cent unborn needs to be clear,firm and passionate,” he said,adding that the “lives of thepoor” were “equally sacred.”

The first years of Francispapacy were peppered withstrong words against govern-ments, which he has accused ofnot doing enough to welcomethe millions of refugees andmigrants fleeing their homecountries.

But over the years, he hasmoderated his discourse, sug-gesting that host countries hadthe right to regulate the num-ber of arrivals according totheir capacity to accommodateand integrate foreigners.

Washington (AP): A pornactress who says she had anaffair with Donald Trumprenewed an effort on Mondayto get the president to answerher attorney’s questions underoath.

An attorney for StormyDaniels filed the motion in fed-eral court in Los Angeles.Michael Avenatti is seeking ajury trial and wants sworn tes-timony from Trump and hispersonal lawyer, Michael Cohenabout a USD 130,000 paymentmade to Daniels days before the2016 presidential election aspart of a nondisclosure agree-ment she is seeking to invali-date.

Trump answered questionsabout Daniels for the first timelast week, saying he had noknowledge of the paymentmade by Cohen and adding

that he didn’t know whereCohen had gotten the money.

The White House has con-sistently said Trump denies theaffair and Cohen has held thathe made the payment out of hisown pocket, without involve-ment from the TrumpOrganization or the Trumpcampaign.

Cohen did not immediate-ly respond to a request seekingcomment yesterday. Avenatti

filed a similar motion over aweek ago, which a judgedeemed premature. He refiledafter Trump asked a federaljudge to order private arbitra-tion in the case.

Trump and Cohen filedpapers last week asking a judgeto rule that the case must beheard by an arbitrator insteadof a jury. Avenatti opposes pri-vate arbitration.

In the filing, Avenatti says

he wants to question Trumpand Cohen for “no more thantwo hours.” He says the depo-sitions are needed to establishif Trump knew about the set-tlement agreement and if he“truly did not know about theUSD 130,000 payment.” Healso asks if Trump was involvedin any effort to “silence”Daniels.

Daniels, whose legal nameis Stephanie Clifford, said in arecent interview with CBS’ “60Minutes” that she was threat-ened by an unidentified man tokeep quiet about the affair.Avenatti tweeted a photo yes-terday that he said showedDaniels sitting with a forensicsketch artist to develop animage of the person she saysthreatened her in a Las Vegasparking lot in 2011 when shewas with her infant daughter.

PTI n LONDON

The countdown to Britain’s PrinceWilliam and his wife Kate’s third child

began on Monday as barriers and parkingrestrictions sprung up at the London hos-pital where the royal baby is to be born.Kensington Palace has not revealed thebaby’s due date but it was expected thatnotices would go up around St Mary’sHospital in Paddington a week before thebirth, planned at the Lindo Wing whereKate gave birth to Prince George andPrincess Charlotte.

The yellow notices put up outside theLindo Wing refer to an “event” which willsuspend parking on the street from todayuntil April 30. Some reports have beenspeculating on the due date being April 23but Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, hasgone beyond her due date for both her pre-vious pregnancies – George in 2013 andCharlotte in 2015 – leading to what wasdubbed as the “Great Kate Wait” as jour-nalists, photographers and fans from

around the world gathered outside the hos-pital.

The new child will be fifth-in-line tothe British throne, behind big sisterCharlotte and pushing uncle Prince Harryone place down the line of succession tosixth. A change in the law after William,35, and Kate, 36, were married in April2011 gave female heirs the same rights ofaccession to the throne in the UK as men.

Kate suffered from hyperemesis gravi-

darum, or severe levels of nausea and vom-iting, during the early stages of her preg-nancy during all three births. Now, the firstannouncement to come out of KensingtonPalace will be to reveal when she has beenadmitted to hospital for the birth.

A formal signed bulletin will be placedoutside Buckingham Palace announcingthe news of the newborn after William hasinformed his grandmother, QueenElizabeth II, and other members of theroyal family once the baby is born.

Britain’s royal gynaecologist GuyThorpe-Beeston will be present for thebirth. As with both previous births, mediapositions will be clearly marked on thepavement opposite the Lindo Wing doorswhere Kate and William will emerge withtheir new arrival.

William and Kate have chosen not tofind out if they are having a boy or a girl,but bookies are favouring a girl, withLadbrokes offering odds of 4/5 it will beanother little sister for George.

Duterte urges fast-tracksacking of top judgeManila (AFP): PhilippinePresident Rodrigo Dutertesaid today lawmakers must“fast-track” the impeachmentof the nations top judge, fur-ther stacking the odds againsther staying in office. SupremeCourt Chief Justice MariaLourdes Sereno is one of sev-eral high-profile critics whohave found themselves in legaltrouble after battling withDuterte over his deadly anti-drug crackdown.

“Im putting you (Sereno)on notice that I am now yourenemy and you have to be outof the Supreme Court,”Duterte told reporters beforeflying to China for an eco-nomic forum. “I held my tem-per before because shes awoman. This time Im askingthe congressmen and theSpeaker: Do it now. Cut outthe drama, or else I will do itfor you,” he added.

A committee in the legis-latures lower chamber theHouse of Representatives lastmonth found “probable cause”to impeach Sereno, in a movewhich critics allege is part ofwider efforts by Duterte todestroy foes and usher in one-man rule. If lawmakers in the

full House support the finding,Sereno would face a US-styleimpeachment trial in theSenate or upper house.Congress is currently in recessand is due to reconvene May14. The Supreme Court is setTuesday to hear a separatepetition to unseat Sereno fromthe country’s highest tribunal.

She has been accused offailing to pay about two mil-lion pesos (USD 40,000) intaxes as well as falsifying andtampering with court resolu-tions. She is also alleged tohave spent excessively on“opulent” hotels and a luxuryofficial vehicle, as well as fly-ing business or first class.Until today Duterte hadrepeatedly denied having any-thing to do with the moves tosack Sereno. He called onHouse Speaker and key allyPantaleon Alvarez to “kindlyfast-track the impeachment” ofSereno. “If it calls for yourforced removal I will do it,”Duterte said, referring toSereno. Duterte and Serenofirst clashed in 2016 when shecriticised his order that judgeswhom he linked to the illegaldrugs trade turn themselves inas part of his crackdown.

Armenia becomes parliamentary republic as new leader sworn in

Britain’s royal baby countdown beginsStormy again seeks Trump’s answers under oath

‘I am glad to workwith fine actors’

Actress RICHA CHADHA, who hasbegun shooting for AnubhavSinha’s political satire titled AbhiToh Party Shuru Hui Hai inLucknow, says it isrefreshing to work withartistes who improvisescenes.

The cast of 12 alsoincludes SaurabhShukla, PankajTripathi, Vinay Pathak,Pavan Malhotra, DivyaDutta, Kumud Mishra,Manoj Pahwa, RichaChadha, DilipPrabhavalkar, CyrusBroacha, PrateikBabbar and ShriyaPilgaonkar.

“I am thrilledto be a part ofsuch a stellarcast. It is sorefreshing to work withactors who are improvising andmaking everything funnier in eachpassing scene. I love the characterI am playing in this film. I wantedto do a comedy after Fukrey andthis is just right,” said Richa.

Actress DAKOTA FANNING saysshe has faced anxiety troubleswhile growing up. She sayssmaller things being out of placeoften trigger a sense of unsettle-ment in her. “I wasn't an anxiouschild at all, but as I'vegot older, I've felt moreanxiety moving into mylife. Usually, the littlethings I get anxiousabout are indicative of abigger thing. For me,making a decision that's going toaffect something in the future isoverwhelming. Or I can be finefor a long, long time, and then I'llwalk into my apartment and then(panic) that things are a mess.”

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018vivacity 13

Mark calls Infinitywar a grand film

Actor MARK RUFFALO believes itis not everyday one gets to be apart of a film as grand as hisupcoming release Avengers:Infinity War, that not only boastsof insane number of superheroesbut is equally special in termsof quality creative concepts.Ruffalo, who plays Hulk inthe Marvel CinematicUniverse (MCU), saidthe CGI and the crafts-manship he saw on thesets of the Anthonyand Joe Russo-directedfilm was “astounding”.“It's amazing. As anactor, you just don't get towork in that kind of scale.It's always either CGI, or it'sjust a tiny piece of an envi-ronment. But we have it all.I was walking around that setand seeing places that were com-pletely propped and designed anddecorated and painted.”“It hearkens back to another timein Hollywood that really hasn'texisted for quite some time. Theamount of craftsmanship that'spresent is pretty astounding,”added Ruffalo.

If you thought humans were theonly couch potatoes, turns out

they are turning their pets intothem, if a latest survey is anythingto go by. All the urban workforceneeds is a good couch, a throwblanket, and their dogs to binge-watch shows online or on the telly.Things have come to such a pass forthe pet owner that the home view-ing experience isn’t complete with-out your paw-tner.

Love for our pets has reachedepic heights — special pet taxi ser-vices in Mumbai, sick leave for dogs

in Italy, emotional support forpeacocks in the US — so it shouldcome as no surprise that our four-legged friends have infiltrated ourentertainment habits as well.According to a new survey releasedby Netflix, when it comes to watch-ing TV, most Indians (75 per cent)find pets to be the best binge part-ner. Around 88 per cent of Indians,who are Netflix members, havewatched the online streamingmedia with their pets, as comparedto 74 per cent globally.

After all, watching a show with

pets means no spoilers and nocheating. Not only do pets not hogthe remote or judge your entertain-ment tastes (well, maybe), theymake the perfect partners for thecompany, the cuddles (44 per centof Indian members have turned totheir furry friends for comfortduring a sad or scary scene) andeven the conversation (39 per centhave talked to their pet about theshow or movie they were watch-ing).

Though you should be warnedthat pet bingeing also has its corol-

lary costs. A considerable numberof respondents (43 per cent) hasmoved from where they were sit-ting, so their pet would be morecomfortable, several (31 per cent)have bribed them with treats towatch longer, and some (30 percent) have even gone so far as turn-ing off a show because their petdidn’t appear to like it. The snug-gle is real.

So what are the shows every-one is barking and meowing about?Dog and cat owners in the coun-try are likely to go for comedy witha high dose of drama and adven-ture. They are glued on laptops forshows like Friends from College,Alias Grace and A Series ofUnfortunate Events. The one showthat brings all streaming speciestogether is Stranger Things.

If the 16-year-old Manu Bhakerwon gold at the

Commonwealth shooting range,another 16-year-old, ManikaChakerverty, grabbed eyeballs atthe Grub Fest with her bakesstuffed in quirky glass jars. Call itfeast of the senses but she got itcomfortingly right with heaven-ly flavour pairings — like moistNutella and Oreo sponge splashedwith crushed Oreo biscuits and agenerous spread of Nutella inbetween layers — and a visualsense of lusciousness through theglass.

There was a chocolate block,carefully sliced up into four thinlayers, each layer topped withhomemade dark chocolateganache. Each such block wasflavoured with Ferrero Rocherand topped with smooth DairyMilk Silk. Familiar flavours in anunfamiliar mix. And all arrayed incolourful jars. Amid some of thebig labels like Baking Bad, IHOPand Big Yellow Door, Manika’s

Little Mixx stood out. “I have apassion for baking and I don’t findthis job hindering my studies inany way. Every night after mystudies, I have infinite and indul-gent ideas rolling in my headwhich I keep writing down along-side. It’s the sixth year that I havebeen working on my food label.Stepping into Grub was a big leap.Though the first day turned outto be the flop, sales picked upfrom the second day onwards asthe foodies were surprised by myinnovative jars and tastes.” Manikawas one of the contestants onMasterchef Junior but fell justshort of the final. She plays withfew ingredients but works out

countless combinations of flavourmixes and profiles. “I do not fol-low any examples, every recipe ismy own,” she added.

Another first came in theform of Russian bakes andsavouries. We spotted seeminglyunique varieties in waffles, frompies to sandwiches, the latterenwrapping farm-fresh, organicvegetables. Then there was the J-Tube, packed with vanilla, choco-late and other flavours, lookinglike delectable twisted candies.“We have introduced these here amonth ago and in our outlet atGK-1 it’s a hotseller,” said RitinGandharva, the founder of Waflin India.

Another eye-catching ele-ment was the giant “ChickenKamina Bada Bhai Burger” byBewdi Ainak. Served with onionand capsicum rings at the bottomand crispy Nachos and chickenpatties on the top layer, all past-ed together by creamy cheese anddressing, it was held together bya stick, which gave it a fuss-freeappearance.

The quirky names of thedishes became the talking pointsuch as Rag Rag Mai Cheese witha fun tagline, “This guy hascheese instead of blood in hisveins” and “Mutthu met PammiMexico.”

And though vodka golgappas

have been around for quite sometime, Kshitij Sanghi and UrvashiBhatia’s cocktail versions were aquick draw on a Sunday after-noon. Childhood friends, theytold us, “We try keeping thedrunken vision alive in our food.Setting up this pop-up stall was adream which we saw as kids andwe are really excited to finallybring it to the food lovers.”

As a sideshow to restaurants,bars, exclusive lounges, meal cartsand food trucks, the sixth editionof Grub Fest also had DJs and afashion and lifestyle exhibitionalongside. “The fest is a feast of thesenses. Be it singers, songwriters,DJs and various other talentedmusicians, our platform is one oftalent and innovation,” said ArjunJain, founder of Grub Fest India.

“We also introduced a liveice-skating experience and a beergarden to sit back, relax andenjoy some grub,” addedChaitanya Mathur, the fellowfounder.

Designer Neeta Lulla does-n’t bother about thelabels that get stuck on

her and just goes with the flow.She has done it all, from costumesto wedding garments, pret tocouture, and taken each taskassigned to her as a challenge. Soshe chooses not to define herselfor her design discipline. “Frommy school days, I have alwaysgone with the flow and somehowit has worked. I have never satdown to make notes or plannedmy day from point A to point B.I have juggled with designingclothes for multiple films, stylingmagazine shoots, building a label,showcasing collections andspending time with the family.There is no hard and fast rulewhen you are multi-tasking. Youjust need to prioritise at thatpoint of time and see to it that youfinish the task.” The designer wasin the city for her flagship storelaunch in DLF Emporio.

nWhat are your expectationsfrom Delhiites once you openyour store here?

I have a lot of clients fromDelhi who fly down to Mumbaito buy my outfits. With the kindof clothes and the work I ambringing in, I am hoping forgreat sales. There is sensuality inthe latest range. There are vintagecolours with silver and foam.

nWhat will be your pitch in thecrowded designer retail space inDelhi?

I feel my products will speakfor themselves. If I am not doingwell, I am to blame and may be Ihave not been up to the mark. ButI have always believed and comeup fairly because in the end, theproduct speaks. I think that is theloudest one can shout.

Apart from that, one needs tokeep reinventing constantly. Inthat sense I am not a consistentdesigner. But some of my highpoints have been fluidity of formsand silhouettes, colour accents ofthe Renaissance and the subtleblend of Indian and contempo-rary. Last year, I had focussedmore on heritage and played withKanjeevaram saris. This seasonhas Edwardian elements withpretty butterflies which wouldmake one wonder if this is NeetaLulla. I like to keep surprisingmyself, given the short attentionspan my buyers have. As a creativeperson too, I get bored withdoing the same thing over and

over again. That is my design phi-losophy.

nYour meticulous research andknowledge of fabric are consid-ered to be one of the reasons whyyou are sought after for periodfilms. Do you bring that to yourcontemporary lines as well?

I have studied fashion, so I doextensive research on fabric andsilhouettes. I have been teachingfashion for the past 26 years. Butfilmmakers get drawn by myability to create a look which isconversive and in sync with theadjectives of the contemporaryaudience. For example, I had tocreate a brocade look. Instead ofopting for brocades or pure silk,because my DOP was using nat-ural light, I had to create some-thing that looked rich but at thesame time did not scream texture.Thus a lot of work was done onmul with embroidery sectionscreated on it. We needed to walkthat thin line.

nDo you feel India is goingthrough a revival period in fash-ion, bringing back our age-old

textiles like Jamdani?I think we are quite tradition-

bound. It is just that social mediahas widely propagated that con-sciousness. There is such astrength in our great artisans andheritage of fabric, colours, anddesign, we can create a globalmovement.

nHow do you feel fashiondesigners can popularise khadiamong a younger audience sinceit has the potential to employ thelargest number of people inrural India?

I think khadi is the essence ofour country and I have begun touse it even while styling for films.In the Kangana Ranaut-starrerManikarnika, there is a whole seg-ment where all the characters aredressed in khadi.

nHow does knowing the backstories of characters, their behav-iour and where they are comingfrom help you in designing cos-tumes?

It is a process that even I amunaware of. It is just an instinct.Once I get the story, I read the

script about four times at lengthand jot down some takeaways ofthe character. A kind of colourmay be shouts out in my head, afabric, a fluidity of form. Apartfrom that, what also works is thecareful research I do dependingon what era it is they are talkingabout, what kind of trade hap-pened around that time andbetween which cities or countries,the merchant boats that came in...It is a long and rigorous process.Manikarnika took me six to eightmonths. You have to be very care-ful about how you utilise colourswhile depicting a negative orpositive character.

nHow different is it being a fash-ion designer from a costumedesigner?

As a costume designer, youcreate an entire look and lifestylefor the character that exists inyour mind. The reason we call itcostume is because it requires a lotof detailing to enhance figuretypes to create a character that youprobably have heard about. As afashion designer, the consumer isa flesh and blood filled out char-acter and you fit into his/herrequirements.

nDo you feel fashion as weknow it will see a downfall in thegeneration we are living intoday?

There is a tremendous knowl-edge about what is going on witheverybody and today, at the dropof a hat, you can go on to socialmedia and see what all otherdesigners are doing. Then the

presence of brands has spoilt uswith choices. And with so manyonline sites that tell you what towear, how to style yourself and howto look good, people have startedmaking their personal style state-ment. However, this was not thecase earlier where one looked at afashion magazine for inspiration.Fashion is becoming generic, thereis a glut and I would say, therefore,that fashion is static. We are tryingto play it safe thinking we shouldplay to the gallery and ensure sales.We are scared to invent and we aregetting scared to take chances withdesigns and to experiment.

Sometimes when you areexperimenting, people come upwith queries, get judgemental aboutyour work and don’t even find it tobe fashionable. But as a creator, wehave to take that risk.

nTell us something about yourfashion school?

I did launch the school butnow I am not connected with it.With the advent of online educa-tion, I like channelising buddingdesigners in the right direction inany way possible. I enjoy tappinginto the imagination and creativi-ty of young minds.

‘I had pre-conceivednotions aboutVarun Dhawan,thecommercialworld he was

living, stardom andall. I saw innocencein his eyes. Therewas something pureabout him. Varunsurrendered himselfto me, which wasdifficult for him. Butbrave of him to comefrom that world toour world andsurrender’— Shoojit Sircar

FLUID

IDENTITIES

Designer NEETA LULLA is reinventingherself with her latest store launch in Delhi.TEAM VIVA reports

THIS SEASON HASEDWARDIAN ELEMENTSWITH PRETTYBUTTERFLIES WHICHWOULD MAKE ONEWONDER IF THIS ISNEETA LULLA

PAWS AND CHILL75 per cent Indians think that pets are the best binge-watch buddies, says survey

A GRAB OF NEW FLAVOURSThe Grub Fest was a feast of the senses, says TEAM VIVA

PTI n CHENNAI

Chennai Super Kings willaim to dominate Kolkata

Knight Riders in the presenceof die-hard fans when theyplay their first IPL home gamein two years here on Tuesday.

Back with a bang with athrilling win over MumbaiIndians in the tournamentopener, Chennai Super Kingswill look to improve further.

For the legion of CSKfans, it will be a homecominglike no other as the 'Men inYellow' will play at M AChidambaram Stadium for thefirst time since May 2015.Their loyal supporters alsoturned up in huge numbers towatch them train.

Away from the field, therehas been opposition by polit-ical groups to conduct IPLgames in the city as theydemand formation of CauveryManagement Board andthreaten to disrupt proceed-ings.

CSK CEO K SViswanathan, however, saidthe team's home matches willgo on as per schedule.

The city police has beeninformed about the scheduleand will handle the situationaccordingly, he added.

Pitted against defendingchampions MI, CSK lookeddown and out before DwayneBravo's heroics helped theteam pull off a stunning heist.Barring Kedar Jadhav andAmbati Rayudu, the rest of thebatting failed to get going andskipper M S Dhoni will hopefor a quick turnaround.

Back in their den, the CSKplayers will aim to get going infront of an adoring crowd. Thehome favourite Dhoni will beexpected to lead from thefront while Suresh Rainawould love to shake off the fail-ure in the MI game.

Jadhav suffered a ham-string pull during the openinggame and looks likely to missthe KKR match.

"Kedar will have scans at ahospital here to determine theextent of the injury. We willupdate on his status later onMonday," Viswanathan said.

Murali Vijay didn't playthe opening match and couldslot in at the top, with Rayudu

probably moving down theorder.

Also, in case CSK prefersto accommodate South Africacaptain Faf du Plessis, there isa possibility of Shardul Thakurgetting a call in place ofEngland pacer Mark Wood.

Bravo was the star per-former with the ball, deliver-ing at the death after an expen-sive opening over while ShaneWatson took two wickets.

The spin trio of HarbhajanSingh, Ravindra Jadeja andImran Tahir - bowled just fiveovers between themselves atthe Wankhede but will beexpected to play a bigger roleat Chepauk, which is known tobe spin-friendly.

The visiting Kolkata sidestarted with a win against thestrong RCB as Sunil Narine,blasted a quickfire 50.

The batting sports a for-midable look with in-formDinesh Karthik leading a mixof experience and youth.Australian Chris Lynn, whenin the mood, can make anyground look small and theKKR think-tank will be pray-ing he plays a big role given histrysts with injury.

Live on Star Sports 1

CHENNAI

CSK vs KKR

TUESDAY | 8:00 PM

HEADTO

HEADM 7

CSK 3

KKR 4

L I G H T N I N G S T A R TU P N E X T

Q U O T E U N Q U O T E

INDIA WOMEN'S TEAM LOSE TO ENGLAND

NAGPUR: The Indian women's team produced alistless performance with the bat to suffer a crushingeight-wicket defeat against England in the secondone-dayer of the three-match ODI series here onMonday. English bowling duo of Danielle Hazell(4/32) and Sophie Ecclestone (4/14) returned withfour wickets each to dismiss India for a paltry 113 in37.2 overs after the hosts won the toss and elected tobat. Smriti Mandhana (42) and Deepti Sharma (26)were the top scorers for India as five batswomenscored in single digits while two of them were out fornaught. Chasing 114 for a win, England never lookedlike in trouble as Danielle Wyatt (47) and TammyBeaumont (39) shared a 73-run opening stand totake the game away from India.

ANKITA BREAKS TOP-200 MARK IN WTA CHART

NEW DELHI: Ankita Raina on Monday became onlythe third Indian woman tennis player to breach thetop-200 rankings in singles as she jumped 15 placesto reach a career-best 197 in the WTA chart. The 25-year-old Ankita, who trains with Hemant Bendreywhen she is in the country, is the first player toachieve the feat since Sania Mirza put India on thesingles map with her remarkable achievements overthe years. Ankita is the only third player after Saniaand Nirupama Vaidyanathan to made it to top-200.While Sania, winner of six Grand Slam titles indoubles, touched a career-high of 27 in singles in2007, Nirupama's best rank was 134 in 1997.

BFC LOOK TO CONSOLIDATE TOP POSITION

BENGALURU: Bengaluru FC would look toconsolidate their position at the top of the pointstable when they host New Radiant of Maldives in aAFC Cup Group E clash here on Tuesday. BothBengaluru and New Radiant have six points fromtwo games each. Bengaluru had recorded theirsecond win of the tournament by bouncing backfrom a goal down to sink Aizawl FC 3-1. Earlier thehosts had trounced Abahani Dhaka FC 1-0 in theiropening match group stage match. Although, theyhad begun their preliminary round with a goallessdraw against Transport United in Bhutan, Bengaluruovercome them 3-0 in the home leg. Thereafter,Bengaluru completed a double over Maldives' TCSports by an aggregate scoreline of 8-2 to make itinto the group stage.

NARWAL RETAINED BY PATNA PIRATES

MUMBAI: Raider Pardeep Narwal has been retainedby three-time champions Patna Pirates for season sixof the Pro Kabaddi League, set to commence onOctober 19. Twenty-one players from the fifth seasonhave been retained by their respective franchises forthe upcoming season, a media release said onMonday. Apart from Narwal, Patna Pirates haveretained some others like Jaideep, Jawahar Dagarand Manish Kumar. The Puneri Paltan have showntheir faith in four players — Sandeep Narwal, RajeshMondal, GB More and Girish Ernak.

Agencies

S I N G L E S

S I D E N E T S

JADHAV RULED OUT OF IPL

CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings all-rounder KedarJadhav was on Monday ruled out of the rest of the IndianPremier League (IPL), due to a hamstring injury whichhe suffered in the season-opener against Mumbai Indianson Saturday. Jadhav has suffered a grade two tear, coachMichael Hussey informed. "Unfortunately for us, KedarJadhav has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament.His hamstring scan didn't come back so good. I believe itis a grade two tear. He is going to be out for some time.We haven't picked a replacement yet, We will go throughthat process," Hussey said ahead of clash against KolkataKnight Riders. "It is a big loss for us. He is a very goodplayer for us, a key player for us in the middle-order,"Hussey said. Jadhav returned from the dugout for a finalover flourish to seal the game in favour of CSK afterDwayne Bravo set up the win.

‘NARINE'S INNINGS WAS TURNING POINT’

KOLKATA: Sunil Narine's blistering half-century made allthe difference and paved the way for Kolkata KnightRiders' winning start in the Indian Premier League here,Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman Mandeep Singhsaid. Narine, who had scored IPL's fastest fifty last sea-son against the same opposition, smashed a whirlwind50 from 19 balls to make light of the 177-run target onSunday night. Narine completed the milestone in 17 ballsto become the fourth joint fastest IPL fifty scorer.Mandeep said they scored a decent total but Narine wasthe turning point. "Definitely, the turning point wasNarine's innings. If you get a good start like this in thefirst six overs, 50 per cent of the game is over. There wasnot much left for others to do for the rest of the bats-men," Mandeep said at the post-match conference. Part-time off-spinner Nitish Rana (2/11) picked up the bigwickets of AB de Villiers and skipper Virat Kohli in suc-cessive deliveries to reduce the visitors to 127/4 in 14.3overs before Mandeep's 18-ball 37 cameo propped upthe total. "It was a crucial moment of the match to losetwo big players off successive deliveries, may be we fellshort by 10-15 runs. But honestly, we thought of keepingour target in 175-180," Mandeep said.

‘PLAYING 400 T20 GAMES A MILESTONE’

MUMBAI: Kieron Pollard, who has become the first play-er to play 400 Twenty20 matches, on Monday said hecelebrated the milestone by wearing the Mumbai Indiansjersey with that number in the IPL lung opener onSaturday. Pollard has so far played 414 T20 games, inwhich he has scored 8,048 runs, with highest being 89not out and has also taken 251 wickets. Pollard's fellow-West Indian all rounder Dwayne Bravo also donned theChennai Super Kings jersey with no 400 on it in the IPLlung-opener to celebrate his own landmark of 400 wick-ets in T20 games. "It is just something that Bravo and Icame up with. He is the first bowler in T20 cricket to take400 wickets, and I am the only player so far to play 400matches. At the young age of 30, being able to play 400matches, I think that in itself is a milestone in a format(in which) none of us thought how much we would endup playing when we started our career in cricket. Thatwas the reason (to wear those jerseys)," Pollard toldreporters here.

Agencies


Bumrah is astrong character.

He will surelymake a very

strong comeback–– Rohit Sharma

14

O T H E R S P O R T

4s97

6s 46

boundarymeter

CSK’s Kedar Jadhav in a file photo

Sunrisers Hyderabad players celebrate during the IPL match against Rajasthan Royals at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Monday

MS Dhoni during training PTI

PTI n MUMBAI

Hardik Pandya had twisted his ankle dur-ing Mumbai Indians opening game

against Chennai Super Kings and skipperRohit Sharma said the Baroda all-rounderlooks fine and hoped he would be in goodshape when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabadon Thursday.

The freak injury had happened off thefinal delivery of the Mumbai Indians inningsbowled by Dwayne Bravo. Pandya wanted togo for a second run but twisted his ankle.

"He's looking good for now. He twistedhis ankle but he came back and bowled fourovers. We still have three days. I think he willbe fine," Sharma told reporters here onMonday.

The MI captain was speaking afterlaunching 'AlphaBounce Beyond', a runningfootwear by adidas, in presence of his team-mate Kieron Pollard.

MI were defeated by CSK by a wicket anda ball to spare in a thriller courtesy a whirl-wind 30-ball 68 by West Indian DwayneBravo and some late hitting by Kedar Jadhav.

Sharma said his side was in the game tillthe 17th over, adding it is difficult to containbatsmen when they are set at the Wankhedestadium.

"Everyone saw what happened. There

were certain things that we did not do rightin the pressure situation. That's all. We werein the game till the 17th over. In the last threeovers the game drifted away from us.

"You cannot do much about it. AtWankhede it is always difficult to containbatsmen once they are set. With the dew andall those factors it is very hard for the bowlers,but that is not an excuse. I am just trying tosay what exactly happened on that day and

in that particular over," the skipper said.He also backed pacer Jasprit Bumrah who

had an off-day in office against Chennai."Bumrah is one of the highest rated

Indian death bowlers. Anyone can have a badday. Yes, of course (he will make a strongcomeback). He is a very strong character.Games like this teaches you more as an indi-vidual and he has played enough now tounderstand how he needs to comebackfrom those situations.

"He also knows that there is a lot of pres-sure on him. He wants to take it up as a chal-lenge. Games like this will happen but again,he will still be our best bowler," the 30-year-old right-handed batsman said.

Debutant Mayank Markande hadimpressed with his figures of 3-23 includingthe prize scalp of Chennai skipper MahendraSingh Dhoni and Sharma praised the leg-spinner. "He has got great control of what-ever he does, so, I think going forward he willbe a great weapon for us. You never know,he has got great skills and potentially he isgood. It's just about going out there and doingwhat he is doing. For us, me and Mahela(Jayawardene), as captain and coach, we justhave to be supporting this guy.

"He has got everything that he needs tobe successful at the highest level," Sharmasigned off.

AP n MANCHESTER

The Champions League semifinalscould feature four of the five most suc-

cessful teams in European football's elitecompetition.

Real Madrid, wh0 lifted the EuropeanCup for a record-extending 12th time lastseason, hold a 3-0 lead over Juventus head-ing into Wednesday's quarterfinal secondleg.

Liverpool and Barcelona — bothfive-time European champions — alsoenjoy three-goal advantages. On Tuesday,Barcelona head to AS Roma 4-1 in front,and Liverpool go to Manchester City lead-ing 3-0.

The closest contest for a spot in thelast-four will be in Munich on Wednesday.Bayern, another five-time winner, onlymanaged to build a 2-1 lead at theRamon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium inSeville.

MAN CITY-LIVERPOOLRegardless of the 3-2 loss to United,

City will undoubtedly win the PremierLeague.

But given that City missed out on thesymbolic derby title win after key talentstarted on the bench — including Kevin DeBruyne — Guardiola can only show thegamble was worth it by making a comebackagainst Liverpool.

A 4-0 victory over Liverpool at theEtihad Stadium would be enough to takeCity's players through. It's not such a daunt-ing proposition since City has already beat-en Juergen Klopp's side 5-0 at home in theleague this season.

Liverpool will be missing suspendedJordan Henderson, with GeorginioWijnaldum set to replace the captain in anuntested midfield combination.

"We are not going to sit back,"Wijnaldum said. "We are going to play ourgame. That is what we always do."

ROMA-BARCELONABarcelona are closing in on a first trip

to the semifinals since winning the com-petition three years ago.

It's already been a dream first seasonin charge for Ernesto Valverde, withBarcelona unbeaten in the Spanish leagueand 11 points in front with seven gamesremaining.

In the quarterfinals for the first timein a decade, Roma aren’t even sure they willbe back in the Champions League next sea-son. The Italian capital club only has a one-point hold on the fourth ChampionsLeague place from Serie A.

PTI n HYDERABAD

The Sunrisers Hyderabad pro-duced a disciplined bowling dis-play to restrict Rajasthan Royals toa paltry 125 for 9 in their openingmatch of the IPL-11 here onMonday.

The home side bowlers justi-fied captain Kane Williamson'sdecision to put the opposition inafter winning the toss as theRoyals struggled to score runs ona pitch which got the turn as thematch wore on.

The Royals could not buildpartnerships and they crumbledunder the pressure of a disciplinedbowling attack of the Sunrisers.

Sanju Samson top-scored witha 42-ball 49 and his 46-run standwith captain Ajinkya Rahane (13)for the second wicket was the high-est partnership for the Royals.One-down Samson looked like he

would anchor the innings afterRahane was out early but he alsogot dismissed in the 14th overwhen he was just one run short ofa half century.

For the Sunrisers, which haveone of the best bowling units inthis IPL, Shakib Al Hasan andSiddhart Kaul grabbed two wick-ets apiece while Afghan leg-spin-ner Rashid Khan, Australian pacerBilly Stanlake and Bhuvneshwargot one wicket each.

The Sunrisers got immediate

success after the start of the matchas the Royals' opening batsman DArcy Short was caught short of hiscrease with Williamson's rocketthrow from the mid-off rattled thewickets in the final ball ofBhuvneshwar Kumar's openingover.

Rahane, who was captainingthe Royals after disgraced formerAustralia skipper Steve Smith wasbarred by the BCCI from takingpart in the IPL, got out in awrong time as he was caught by

Rashid at deep off the bowling ofKaul.

A miserly over from Rashidwas followed by Ben Stokes' (5)dismissal off Stanlake as theRoyals were 71 for 3 at the halfwaymark.

Samson, meanwhile, wasgoing steady for some time butwickets fell at the other end. RahulTripathi (17) gave him some com-pany but did not last long as hebecame Shakib's first victim.

Samson himself followed suitthree balls later, giving Shakib hissecond wicket of the night and atthat stage the Royals innings wasin tatters.

Krishnappa Gowtham couldnot open his account from the twoballs he faced and fell victim ofKaul. Englishman Jos Butler wasleft to add some runs to theRoyals kitty but he too couldscore just six from nine balls.

PTI n CHENNAI

South Africa captain Faf du Plessisis not yet ready to play the IPL as

he has a slight side strain and a smallfracture in a finger and is expected tobe ready for the game in Mohali (onApril 15 vs Kings XI Punjab), ChennaiSuper Kings batting coach MichaelHussey said on Monday.

"I believe Faf is not in full train-ing at the moment. He is recoveringfrom a slight side strain. And he alsohas a small fracture in his one of hisfingers. He is going to be ramping uphis training in the next seven days. Heis hopeful to be available for selectionin the next game against Mohali, theCSK batting coach said

Hussey was addressing a pre-match press conference ahead oftomorrow's game against KolkataKnight Riders here.

Asked why Ambati Rayudu waschosen to open in the MI game aheadof Murali Vijay, a regular opener,Hussey said Vijay had suffered aknock during the early part of thetraining, was recovering and would be

available for selection."From what I understand, Vijay

got a bit of a knock in his ribs. He hasbeen quite sore actually and is slowlyworking his way back to full fitness.There are always 50-50 calls that cango either way. And sometimes the gutfeel of the captain and coach."

"Rayudu is playing really well. Hehas obviously played for India anddone very well as well. But M Vijay isbatting nicely as well. So, it is a niceheadache I guess for the coach andcaptain to have," Hussey said.

Super Kings eyeperfect homecoming

SRH RESTRICT RR TO 125/9

Inspired Hyderabad bowlers keep Rajasthan to below-par total

Du Plessis not

ready yet: Hussey

‘Hardik looking good, will be fine’

Can City turn the tide?

Rohit Sharma during a promotional event in Mumbai PTI

Liverpool’s Oxlade-Chamberlain (R) and Man City’s Fernandinho (L) during the UCL quarter-final first leg at Anfield AP

Faf du Plessis in a file photo

SANJU SAMSON TOP-SCORED WITH A 42-BALL 49 AND HIS 46-RUN STAND WITH

CAPTAIN AJINKYA RAHANE (13) FOR THESECOND WICKET WAS THE HIGHEST

PARTNERSHIP FOR THE ROYALS

15LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | APRIL 10, 2018the pioneer

PTI n GOLD COAST

India swept the table tennis team events of theCommonwealth Games as the men matched the

women to seal a memorable gold with anemphatic 3-0 win over Nigeria in the final onMonday.

It is the first time since the racket sport'sinduction into the Commonwealth Gamesprogram that India has topped both categories.

After Manika Batra fired India to a historictriumph over Singapore on Sunday, the SharathKamal led men's outfit too beat the team from thecity state 3-2 in the semifinals, played earlier onMonday.

Kamal, who has four CWG gold medals to hisname now, set the ball rolling by beating BodeAbiodun in the opening singles. The experiencedIndian was sluggish to start with, losing the firstgame.

From the second game onwards, 48th-rankedKamal was his usual self, unleashing forehanddrives on either side of the table. His power andrange of strokes was too hot to handle for the

Nigerian as Kamal completed a 4-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 win.

Just like his senior teammate, GSathiyan too fumbled in the first game but bouncedback in style to outplay 2002 CWG singles goldmedallist Segun Toriola 10-12, 11-3, 11-3, 11-4.

India was now one step away from the goldand 46th-ranked Sathiyan teamed up withHarmeet Desai to cross the finishing line. TheIndian duo defeated Abiodun and OlajideOmotayo 11-8, 11-5, 11-3 to complete a

memorable triumph. "It's amazing (feeling) andgold on the debut is a great feeling. It will take timeto sink in. It's the best moment for me and I hopeto continue this form in the singles too," Sathiyansaid after team's win.

An ecstatic Desai is hoping for a hero'swelcome when they return home.

"We didn't expect both teams to win, we werevery motivated and had nothing to lose. When wereturn to India we're going to be heroes, havingwon the gold medal for both the men's andwomen's team events," Desai said.

With individual and doubles medals still onoffer, India's performance is already a markedimprovement from its disappointing showing inGlasgow four years ago when it just managed justa silver in men's doubles. It was none other thanNigeria who beat India for bronze in the previousedition. India's unprecedented effort at the GoldCoast Games is also a fair reflection of the sport'sfast improving standard in the country.

As many as six players are in the top-100 ofthe men's world rankings and two in the women'sstandings.

PTI n GOLD COAST

There haven't been any defeats toworry over but the Indian men's

hockey team would be eager toensure that its far-from-convincingcampaign finds some footing whenit takes on lower-ranked Malaysia atthe Commonwealth Games hereon Tuesday.

Starting off against Pakistanshould have been ideal to get theadrenaline going for the defendingsilver-medallists but the pool Bopener was among the most insipidencounters between the arch-foes tillthe last seven seconds produced allthe drama, ending in a 2-2 draw.

The Indians wereexpectedly livid, most ofall coach Sjoerd Marijne,who went to the extent ofsaying that he didn't even recognisethe team that played the game.

Next up was Wales and thescoreline read 4-3 in India's favour,a win but the kind which shouldhave been way more convincing.

Malaysia isranked waybelow in the FIHcharts butManpreet Singh's

side has been known to slip up whenleast expected, the opening gameagainst Pakistan being a testimonyto that.

A heartening aspect of thecampaign so far has been forward

Dilpreet Singh being in good scoringtouch. A couple of goalshave also come from thestick of defender

Harmanpreet Singh.In fact, scoring goals hasn't

exactly been a problem for India, theproblem has largely stopping theopposition from scoring, especiallylate into the proceedings.

"I don't think that's a problem

specific to India, I think a lot of otherteams also struggle with it," insistsMarijne.

But it is hard to look away fromthe fact that India have had adisastrous tendency to let late goalsin.

Even against Wales, a penaltycorner was conceded in the 58thminute of the match before the teamrecovered quickly enough.

Malaysia, on the other hand,have been enduring an ordinary runso far. The defeated Wales 3-0 butafter being hammered 0-7 byEngland in their tournament opener.

The last time the two teamsclashed, in the Sultan Azlan ShahTournament in March, India hadnotched up a massive 5-1 triumph.And a similar victory would beexpected on Tuesday given the gulfbetween the two sides.

A win on Tuesday wouldstrengthen the two-time defendingsilver-medallists chances of makingthe semifinal as well and perhaps aimfor the gold that has eluded themthus far in the mega-event.

Hockey

Live from 5am IST

SONY TEN

BLAKE STUNNED IN 100M

GOAL COAST: Akani Simbine and HenrichoBruintjies led South Africa to a surprising 1-2 finishin the men's 100 meters at the CommonwealthGames that may have Yohan Blake thinking twiceabout going home to Jamaica. Usain Bolt joked thatBlake may not be welcome home if he didn't win the

title on the Gold Coast. The 2011 worldchampion entered Monday's final as thehot favourite after posting the quickesttime of the season and in the first two

rounds, but stumbled early and neverregained his form against the two runners to hisright. Simbine, who was fifth at the 2016 Olympicsand at last year's world titles, won in 10.03 second,with Bruintjies second in 10.17, shading Blake by0.02.

DEBUT AT 79

Robert Pitcairn has flown in the military and foiled apotential hijacker on a commercial flight. Sotargeting a record as the oldestcompetitor to debut at theCommonwealth Games hasn't beentoo daunting. The 79-year-oldCanadian made his debut Monday inthe Queen's Prize Pairs Finals in thefull bore shooting competition. He and teammateNicole Rossignol were placed ninth after the first dayof the final. At 79 years and nine months old, hebroke the record previously held by England'sDoreen Flanders, who took part in lawn bowls atGlasgow in 2014 a few weeks after her 79thbirthday.

L I V E T O D A Y

ATHLETICS

Men's 400m Hurdles: Ayyasamy Dharun (6:45 am)

Women's 400m: Hima Das (4:46 pm

Men's 400m: Muhammed Anas Yahiya (5:18 pm

BOXING

Men's 46-49kg: Amit vs Aqeel Ahmed (9:17 am)

Men's 91kg: Naman Tanwar vs F Masoe (10:32 am

Men's 56kg: Hussamuddin vs E Mulenga (2:47 pm)

Men's 69kg: Manoj Kumar vs T Nickolas (3:32 pm

Men's +91kg: Satish Kumar vs Nigel Paul (4:17 pm)

HOCKEY

India women vs South Africa women (3:00 pm)

SHOOTING

Men's 50m Rifle Prone: Gagan Narang (4:30am)

Women's 25m Pistol: Annu Singh (4:30 am

SQUASH

Women's Doubles: India vs Pakistan (6:30 am)

Mixed Doubles Pool E: India vs Guyana (8:45 am)

LIVE ON SONY TEN NETWORK AGENCIES

100m final winner A Simbine (Right) and H Bruintjies AP

B U L L S E Y E

O N B R I N K

H I S T O R I C D A Y W H I T E W A S H

G O L D P O S T


It is a medal that I willforever cherish, it isvery special. Teamgold is always waymore cherishable

–– Saina Nehwal

16

PTI n GOLD COAST

Jitu Rai underlined his status as one ofIndia's premier shooters by winning the10m air pistol gold medal before

Mehuli Ghosh settled for the women's 10mair rifle silver by forcing a shoot-off witha perfect final shot of 10.9 in theCommonwealth Games on Monday.

The World Championship silvermedallist Rai shattered the Games recordin the finals with a score of shot 235.1 tocomfortably finish on top with compatriotOm Prakash Mitharval giving himcompany on the podium with a bronzemedal.

"I had a bad qualifying round becauseI was sweating a lot, was feeling nervousand also the timing of my trigger was off,"Rai said.

"But once the coach told me themistake I was making in my timing, Icorrected that and got better result in thefinals," he added.

Defending champion ApurviChandela added a bronze to India's tallyafter finishing third in the women's air riflefinals with 225.3.

The air rifle finals witnessed anexciting a climax as Ghosh, at 17 years ofage, ensured a shoot-off withSingapore's Martina LindsayVeloso, the eventual goldmedallist and one whodisplayed imperious form allalong, and so was Ghosh.

Both Veloso and Ghoshshot a Games record 247.2 before theSingaporean had the last laugh with a 10.3in the shoot-off as her Indian rivalmanaged 9.9 at the Belmont ShootingCentre.

Ghosh thought she had won the goldwhen she fired the only perfect shot of thefinal with the last shot in the gold-medalround, only to be told she had equalledVeloso to force a shoot-off.

The Indian shooter had alreadydisarmed her rifle and waved jubilantly tothe crowd.

Chandela had earlier smashed her ownCommonwealth Games qualifying recordfrom four years back by scoring 423.2,while Mitharval too had established a newqualification record with 584.

He eventually finished with the bronzeafter aggregating 214.3 in the eight-manfinals.

In the air pistol finals, Jitu started ona strong note and led with 100.4 at the end

of stage 1, while Mitharval was third with98.1. In stage 2 elimination, Rai started with10.3 and 10.3 to lead the pecking order,even as his compatriot moved up anddisplaced Bell at second place with two10.1. Rai continued to surge ahead with a10.2 but an 8.4 disturbed his momentumsomewhat, as the next shot fetched him 9.2.

Meanwhile, Mitharval closed the gapas Rai had just 8.8 in the 18th shot toMitharval's 10.0.

Last month, the young Indian shooterhad combined with Manu Bhaker toclaim the mixed team air pistol gold in theISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico.

And he displayed that form onMonday too, en route to creating a newqualification record. He competed well thefinals too, but came up short against arampaging Rai, a winner of multiplegold medallist in top global events.

In the other major events of theday, debutant duo of GauravSolanki (52kg) and Manish Kaushik (60kg)

advanced to the quarterfinals, continuingIndian boxers' fine preliminary run at theCommonwealth Games.

While Solanki eased past Ghana'sAkimos Annang Ampiah 5-0, Kaushikstaved off some early resistance fromTrinidad and Tobago's Michael Alexanderto win 4-0.

In athletics SuriyaLoganathan ran her personalbest but that was good enoughfor a 13th place finish in10,000m race while shot putter

Tejinder Pal Singh Toor took the eighthspot with a below-par show on thesecond day of athletics competition inthe Games.

Suriya fractionally ran better than herearlier personal best of 32:23.96 as sheclocked 32 minute and 23.56 seconds tofinish 13th in a field of 19.

In men's shot put, Toor could onlycome up with an effort of 19.42m, nearlyone meter outside his personal best.

PTI n GOLD COAST

The legendary but on the wane Lee Chong Wei wasone of the casualties as a rampaging Indian mixed

badminton team claimed its maiden CommonwealthGames gold medal, thrashing three-time defendingchampions Malaysia in the final here onMonday.

The pair of Satwik Rankireddy andAshwini Ponnappa claimed the mixed doublesmatch against Peng Soon Chan and Liu YongGoh 21-14, 15-21, 21-15, before Kidambi Srikanthstunned three-time Olympic silver medallist Lee 21-17,21-14 in straight games, his first victory over theMalaysian giant.

"Perhaps Lee was not at his best but then you cannever be too sure against a player like him. You alwayshave to be on your guard, which I was. And I also gavemy best. I was not expecting it to be this easy," Srikanthsaid after one of the biggest wins of his career.

The Games debutant men's doubles pair ofRankireddy and Chirag Shetty lost narrowly to Goh andWee Kiong Tan 15-21, 20-22, keeping Malaysia afloat fora while. But the in-form Saina Nehwal put paidto the their hopes with a 21-11, 19-21, 21-9 win over Soniia Cheah.

"It was exhausting, I actually lost focusduring the match but thankfully managedto hold it together and ensure that the goldmedal winning shot was mine," said theLondon Olympics bronze-medallist.

"It is a medal that I will forever cherish, itis very special. Team gold is always way morecherishable," she added.

Earlier, India had won the mixed teamsilver and bronze respectively in the 2010 and2006 editions of the Commonwealth Games.

Mixed doubles pair of Ashwini andRankireddy opened the proceedings for Indiaand within no time, the Indians were 14-9 ahead, taking it to 17-11 eventually. WhileSatwik provided most of the brute forcefrom the baseline, Ashwini's control stoodout as they claimed the first game 21-14.

Goh and Chan bounced back to equalisein the second game but simply self-destructed in the deciding game with poorlyexecuted strokes that made the Indians' job

easy.Malaysian legend Lee Chong Wei then walked out

to a thunderous applause to face Srikanth next but itwasn't meant to be his day despite the arena

resonating with the chants of his name.The Indian, who has never beaten Lee

on the circuit, was neck-and-neck with hisrival before taking a 10-8 lead in the

opening game.The ever-so-elegant Lee was surprisingly

off colourand the gap widened as the gameprogressed and it was quite a dampener forthe sizeable Malaysian fans to watch theiricon struggle.

Later, Saina was expected to close itquickly for Team India but Cheah took

advantage of her jaded state to put up a massivefight. Saina struggled to reach out for the shuttlequite a few times. It has been a punishing lastfour days for Saina as she played all the women'ssingles matches during the campaign.

Flashing a relieved smile after the win, Sainasaid, "I don't think anybody in the team is goingto sleep tonight. May be I will just relax on

Tuesday and then think about the singles," thechampion shuttler said referring to the singlescompetition which starts on April 11.

JITU SHOOTS GOLD & RECORD

Rai breaks CWG record in 10m air pistol as 3 more shooters bag medals

GOLD COAST: Indian weightlifterPardeep Singh (105kg) came agonisinglyclose to a gold but eventually settled fora silver after a close contestwith Samoa's Sanele Mao inthe Commonwelth Gameshere on Monday.

Singh, the reigningC o m m o n w e a l t hChampionships gold-medallist,lifted a total of 352kg(152kg+200kg) to claim thesecond spot after an excitingshowdown with Mao, whichhad the packed arena on its feet.

The 23-year-old went for211kg lift, which would have beena new Commonwealth and Gamesrecord in clean and jerk, but could notpull it off in his final attempt.

"I have lifted a personal best of 215kgin the past but may be it wasn't my day,"

said the Games debutant, who washappy with a podium finish but a shadedisappointed with the colour of hismedal.

Mao also dropped his final attemptof 211kg but had managedto lift 206kg in his secondchance. He finished with atotal of 360kg(154kg+206kg). The bronzewent to England OwenBoxall (351kg(152kg+199kg).

His second attempt at209kg was declared invalidby the jury despite getting

the judges' nod. "I don't knowwhy it was declared invalid. As I said,perhaps it was meant to be a silver forme. Whatever happens, happens for areason," the hint of disappointment in histone hard to miss. PTI

LIFTER PARDEEP CLAIMS SILVER

GOLD COAST: Forced out of the gold medal winning mixedteam campaign due to an ankle injury, top shuttler P VSindhu has recovered to be fit for the singles event of theongoing Commonwealth Games, national coach PullelaGopichand said on Monday."She is fine now and will compete in the singlescompetition," Gopichand said when asked about Sindhu'sfitness status after India upstaged three-time defendingchampions Malaysia in the finals on Monday."She had an ankle injury, which was not major but we didnot want to risk her when Saina was giving us the resultswe wanted. Now she has recovered and will be there fromApril 11," he added.Sindhu, who was to captain the side, had sustained theinjury during a practice session in Hyderabad beforearriving here for Games.She was, however, present on the sidelines during all thematches India played, vociferously cheering the team. PTI

GOLDEN SHUTTLE FOR INDIASINDHU FIT FOR SINGLES: GOPICHAND

Paddlers sweep men’s event

India eye semifinal spot

India's H Desai (L), Sharath Kamal (C) and Sathiyan PTI

Indian hockey player SV Sunil during a practice session

Jitu Rai of India wins Gold in the men's 10m Air Pistol final at the Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane AP

Pradeep Singh PTI

Mehuli Ghosh poses with her Silver medal; Right: Om Prakash Mitharval with his Bronze medal AP

Apurvi Chandela with her Bronze medal

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