$23.45˝ .0 6 ˜ ˛!˜˚˙˚#ˆ$˚%˛ˆ - the pioneer placed third on the list, while delhi’s...

16
I n a major decision aimed at giving impetus to India’s domestic nuclear power pro- duction, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a pro- posal for indigenously building 10 atomic reactors of 700 MW each. This is the largest-ever approval granted for such facil- ities in one go. The Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) will be developed by the Department of Atomic Energy. The 10 reactors would be built at Mahi Banswara (Rajasthan), Chutka (Madhya Pradesh), Kaiga (Karnataka) and Gorakhpur (Haryana). It would be one of the flagship Make in India projects in this sector. The decision was taken at the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “A total of 7,000-MW capacity will be added. It will help produce clean energy,” Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said. “India currently has 6,780 MW from 22 opera- tional plants. Another 6,700 MW of nuclear power is expected to be added by 2021- 22 when currently under-con- struction projects come on stream in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu,” said a Government statement. With likely manufactur- ing orders of close to 70,000 crore to the domestic compa- nies, the project is expected to help transform Indian nuclear industry and generate more than 30,000 jobs in direct and indirect employment. “The Cabinet’s decision reflects the Government’s com- mitment to prioritise the use of clean power in India’s energy mix, as part of low-carbon growth strategy and to ensure long-term base load require- ment for the nation’s industri- alisation,” said the statement, adding, “It also supports India’s commitment to sus- tainable development, energy self-sufficiency, and bolsters global efforts to com- bat climate change.” The Government also approved a new policy under which fuel supply to the power sector will be either through the auction route or power pur- chase pact based on competitive bidding of tariffs. The move may ease stress on account of non-availability of linkages to power sector projects. “The coal availability sce- nario has now emerged from scarcity to adequacy,” the Coal Ministry said in a statement. “In this adequate coal avail- ability scenario, the present policy proposes a fading away of the old linkage allocation policy and emergence of a new linkage allocation policy based on transparent and objective criteria for the optimal utilisa- tion of the natural resources,” it added. Related reports on P5 M uslim organisations on Wednesday argued in the Supreme Court that triple talaq was optional for women giving the Centre a chance to claim that an “optional” practice can- not be fundamental part of a religion and hence must be scrapped as unconstitutional. The submission followed a statement by the Jamiat Ulema- e-Hind, Maharashtra that Muslim women marrying under the Special Marriages Act 1954 will not have to comply with talaq provisions contained in the Muslim personal laws. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said triple talaq is a “dying prac- tice” pointing to data collected by a recent online survey show- ing that out of 331 divorces reported among Muslims, only one reported instance of oral triple talaq. The Constitution Bench headed by CJI JS Khehar, all set to conclude hearing on argu- ments on Thursday, asked AIMPLB counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal, “Can it be that the AIMPLB passes a res- olution binding all Quazis to incorporate a condition in the nikaahnama which gives the woman option to say no to triple talaq before she gives her con- sent to marry.” Sibal said the ground real- ity is changing as he showed a resolution issued by the Board on April 14, 2017 educating people about discouraging triple talaq. He said, “In the absence of firm data, when the courts suo moto raise a dying practice as a constitutional issue, it sends a wrong impres- sion. An impression builds up that if the door of personal laws is opened to you (Court), the door is ajar for anyone to enter.” But the CJI had an effective counter. He said, “In your Friday prayers said every week at the mosque, you recite that biddat (triple talaq) is sin. While your scripture records other two forms of talaq, it does not talk of biddat.” The argument by Muslim bodies came handy for the Centre. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the Bench, “They talk about triple talaq existing for 1,400 years. Now they suggest that women can strike it off in the nikaahnama. Even without triple talaq, the religion will remain the same. Even their scripture suggests such practice to be undesirable. So what is made optional or undesirable, how can it be an essential part of religion or even a religious practice.” Even otherwise, the A-G argued this is not a case of “majority versus minority” as Government will preserve interests of all religions. Distinguishing the present case being violation of fundamental rights of women in a particu- lar community, Rohatgi said, “A secular Constitution must rise above religious interests. Your right to religion must give way if not in accord with Fundamental Rights.” Senior advocate Indira Jaising, advocating against triple talaq, said, “Since Constitution came into existence in 1950, equality before law is a pro- tected right and Sharia law clearly discriminates between men and women.” The Bench also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohington F Nariman, UU Lalit and S Abdul Nazeer observed that judicial precedents abound- ed where courts refused to decide on such issues, leaving it open for the legislature to decide. Similarly, it noted that discrim- inatory practices within Hindu religion — untouchability, sati, widow remarriage, etc., were removed by Parliamentary laws. Jaising urged the Court not to maintain a “hands off ” approach in the name of saving personal laws under Article 25. If it does so, the court will be seen as “can- celling” out the Constitutional guarantee of equality under Articles 14 and 15, she added. T he Visakhapatnam Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh has been adjudged the cleanest station in the country followed by Secunderabad station in Hyderabad. These are the find- ings of a survey of 407 busy railway stations across the country, conducted by the Quality Council of India and released by the Ministry of Railways on Wednesday. Out of the total 407 stations surveyed, 75 are in the A-1 cat- egory or most busy stations category and 332 are in the A category. As per the report released by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, the Jammu Railway Station is placed third on the list, while Delhi’s Anand Vihar station is fifth, Nizamuddin station ranks 23rd and Old Delhi Railway Station comes in at number 24. While the Darbhanga Railway Station in Bihar has been judged as the dirtiest of the lot in the A-1 category com- ing in at the 75th position, New Delhi Railway Station has been ranked number 39 on the list. In the A category, the Beas Railway Station in Punjab is the cleanest, followed by Khammam in Telangana. Ahmednagar sta- tion in Maharashtra is ranked third. Jogbani in Bihar’s Araria District is the dirtiest in the A category. “We want all stations to be clean. There are many sta- tions, which have improved their cleanliness ranking from last time,” Prabhu said. The rail- way station at Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is ranked at 14th position. Clean toilets, clean tracks and dustbins at stations were some of the criteria for judging railway stations for their clean- liness. This is the third survey on cleanliness done by the Indian Railways to keep tabs on rail premises as part of its ‘Swachchh Rail’ campaign. Continued on Page 4 T he International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague will deliver its order on Thursday on the jurisdiction of the international court in the Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case as well as on India’s plea to stay his death sentence in Pakistan. The order will be delivered at 3.30 pm India time. The single round of oral obser- vations on India’s request took place on Monday at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the ICJ. During his pleadings, counsel for India Harish Salve had requested that pending final judgement in this case, the ICJ should indicate Government of Pakistan to take all measures necessary to ensure that Jadhav is not executed and “no action is taken that might prejudice the rights of the Republic of India or Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav with respect to any decision the Court may render on the merits of the case.” India had urged that Pakistan must report to the court on the action it has taken. India had listed out several pro- cedural lapses made by Pak under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), 1963 saying it amounted to human rights violation of the person arrested on a foreign soil. Continued on Page 4 A n Indian Navy warship foiled a piracy attempt onboard a Liberian registered merchant ship in Gulf of Aden on Tuesday. Also, the Navy war- ship also recovered arms and ammu- nition from some dhows abandoned by pirates who fled when the Indian vessel rushed towards them. The ship INS Sharda was deployed for anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden in April this year. Part of an international effort to prevent piracy there, India has deployed ships there since 2008 and they escort merchant ships through 490 nautical mile sea lane. Giving details of the incident on Wednesday, Navy officials said at about 4.45 pm on Tuesday, INS Sharda, an off-shore patrol vessel, received a distress call from MV Lord Mountbatten , in position 230 nau- tical miles south-west of Salalah (in the Gulf of Aden). Continued on Page 4 K arnataka cadre IAS officer Anurag Tiwari was found dead on Wednesday morning under mys- terious circumstances outside a VIP guest house at Hazratganj on Meerabai Marg. Posted as Commissioner of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs in Bengaluru, Anurag was head- ing a probe in a food and civil supplies scam there and was living under a threat percep- tion. The 36-year-old officer’s family has demanded a probe in his death as they suspect foul play. The officer belonging to the 2007 batch had just gone through a divorce and his parents, who live in Bahraich, were waiting to wish Anurag on his birthday on Wednesday, when they got the news of his demise. Anurag was staying with the Lucknow Development Authority Vice-Chairman Prabhu Narayan Singh for the last couple of days in room Number 19. Anurag was spotted lying in a pool of blood on the road just outside the guest house with injuries on his chin and blood oozing out of his nose, by some residents of the area, early in the morning. Continued on Page 4 T he Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod to the maternity benefit pro- gramme providing 6,000 each to lactating mothers, but restricted the scheme to the firstborn only. “A pregnant or lactating woman having her first child will get up to 6,000. Out of this, 5,000 will be given by the Women and Child Development Ministry in three installments,” said Power Minister Piyush Goyal at the Cabinet briefing While Goyal maintained that the scheme was for the women having their first child, he added the pilot scheme was applicable for “the first two live births”. Pregnant women and lactating mothers are eligible to receive a cash benefit of 5,000 in three installments through direct benefit transfer from the Women and Child Development Ministry. The mother will receive the initial 1,000 after early regis- tration of pregnancy, 2,000 after at least one antenatal check-up (after six months of pregnancy) and 2,000 after the child birth is registered and has received the first cycle of BCG, OPV, DPT and Hepatitis-B or its equivalent/substitute. “The eligible beneficiaries would continue to receive the remaining cash incentive as per approved norms towards Maternity Benefit under exist- ing programmes after institu- tional delivery, so that on an average, a woman will get 6,000,” said an official release. In his address to the nation on December 31 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced pan-India expansion of the existing ‘Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana’, which was being imple- mented across 56 districts on pilot-basis since 2010. New Delhi: Faced with the shortage of Government accom- modation and unauthorised influential occupants aggravat- ing the problem, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved changes in a law that empowers an estate officer to fasttrack eviction of Ministers, MPs and bureaucrats overstaying in Government-allotted residences long after they cease to hold official positions. According to sources, such people usually take the bene- fit of law to make possible their stay even after they no longer hold official positions. Currently, the eviction proceedings take unusually long time of five to seven weeks, thereby reducing the availability of Government accommodation to new allottees. Detailed report on P5

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Page 1: $23.45˝ .0 6 ˜ ˛!˜˚˙˚#ˆ$˚%˛ˆ - The Pioneer placed third on the list, while Delhi’s Anand Vihar station is ... (VCCR), 1963 saying it amounted to human rights violation

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In a major decision aimed atgiving impetus to India’s

domestic nuclear power pro-duction, the Union Cabinet onWednesday approved a pro-posal for indigenously building10 atomic reactors of 700 MWeach. This is the largest-everapproval granted for such facil-ities in one go. The PressurisedHeavy Water Reactors(PHWRs) will be developed bythe Department of AtomicEnergy. The 10 reactors wouldbe built at Mahi Banswara(Rajasthan), Chutka (MadhyaPradesh), Kaiga (Karnataka)and Gorakhpur (Haryana). It would be one of the flagshipMake in India projects in this sector.

The decision was taken atthe meeting of CabinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs (CCEA) headed byPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

“A total of 7,000-MWcapacity will be added. It willhelp produce clean energy,”Union Power Minister PiyushGoyal said. “India currently has6,780 MW from 22 opera-tional plants. Another 6,700MW of nuclear power isexpected to be added by 2021-22 when currently under-con-struction projects come onstream in Rajasthan, Gujaratand Tamil Nadu,” said aGovernment statement.

With likely manufactur-ing orders of close to �70,000crore to the domestic compa-

nies, the project is expected tohelp transform Indian nuclearindustry and generate morethan 30,000 jobs in direct andindirect employment.

“The Cabinet’s decisionreflects the Government’s com-mitment to prioritise the use ofclean power in India’s energymix, as part of low-carbongrowth strategy and to ensurelong-term base load require-ment for the nation’s industri-alisation,” said the statement,adding, “It also supports India’s commitment to sus-tainable development, energyself-sufficiency, and bolsters global efforts to com-bat climate change.”

The Government alsoapproved a new policy underwhich fuel supply to the powersector will be either through theauction route or power pur-chase pact based on competitivebidding of tariffs. The movemay ease stress on account ofnon-availability of linkages topower sector projects.

“The coal availability sce-nario has now emerged fromscarcity to adequacy,” the CoalMinistry said in a statement.“In this adequate coal avail-ability scenario, the presentpolicy proposes a fading awayof the old linkage allocationpolicy and emergence of a newlinkage allocation policy basedon transparent and objectivecriteria for the optimal utilisa-tion of the natural resources,”it added.

Related reports on P5

��������������������

Muslim organisations onWednesday argued in the

Supreme Court that triple talaqwas optional for women givingthe Centre a chance to claimthat an “optional” practice can-not be fundamental part of areligion and hence must bescrapped as unconstitutional.

The submission followed astatement by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Maharashtra thatMuslim women marryingunder the Special Marriages Act1954 will not have to complywith talaq provisions containedin the Muslim personal laws.

The All India MuslimPersonal Law Board (AIMPLB)said triple talaq is a “dying prac-tice” pointing to data collectedby a recent online survey show-ing that out of 331 divorcesreported among Muslims, onlyone reported instance of oraltriple talaq.

The Constitution Benchheaded by CJI JS Khehar, all setto conclude hearing on argu-ments on Thursday, askedAIMPLB counsel and senioradvocate Kapil Sibal, “Can it bethat the AIMPLB passes a res-olution binding all Quazis toincorporate a condition in thenikaahnama which gives thewoman option to say no to tripletalaq before she gives her con-sent to marry.”

Sibal said the ground real-ity is changing as he showed aresolution issued by the Boardon April 14, 2017 educatingpeople about discouragingtriple talaq. He said, “In theabsence of firm data, when thecourts suo moto raise a dyingpractice as a constitutionalissue, it sends a wrong impres-sion. An impression builds upthat if the door of personal lawsis opened to you (Court), thedoor is ajar for anyone toenter.” But the CJI had aneffective counter. He said, “Inyour Friday prayers said everyweek at the mosque, you recitethat biddat (triple talaq) is sin.While your scripture recordsother two forms of talaq, it doesnot talk of biddat.”

The argument by Muslim

bodies came handy for theCentre. Attorney GeneralMukul Rohatgi told the Bench,“They talk about triple talaqexisting for 1,400 years. Nowthey suggest that women canstrike it off in the nikaahnama.Even without triple talaq, thereligion will remain the same.Even their scripture suggestssuch practice to be undesirable.So what is made optional orundesirable, how can it be anessential part of religion or evena religious practice.”

Even otherwise, the A-Gargued this is not a case of“majority versus minority” asGovernment will preserveinterests of all religions.Distinguishing the present casebeing violation of fundamentalrights of women in a particu-lar community, Rohatgi said, “Asecular Constitution must riseabove religious interests. Yourright to religion must give wayif not in accord withFundamental Rights.”

Senior advocate IndiraJaising, advocating against tripletalaq, said, “Since Constitutioncame into existence in 1950,equality before law is a pro-tected right and Sharia lawclearly discriminates betweenmen and women.”

The Bench also comprisingJustices Kurian Joseph,Rohington F Nariman, UU Lalitand S Abdul Nazeer observedthat judicial precedents abound-ed where courts refused todecide on such issues, leaving itopen for the legislature to decide.Similarly, it noted that discrim-inatory practices within Hindureligion — untouchability, sati,widow remarriage, etc., wereremoved by Parliamentary laws.Jaising urged the Court not tomaintain a “hands off” approachin the name of saving personallaws under Article 25. If it doesso, the court will be seen as “can-celling” out the Constitutionalguarantee of equality underArticles 14 and 15, she added.

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The Visakhapatnam RailwayStation in Andhra Pradesh

has been adjudged the cleaneststation in the country followedby Secunderabad station inHyderabad. These are the find-ings of a survey of 407 busyrailway stations across thecountry, conducted by theQuality Council of India andreleased by the Ministry ofRailways on Wednesday.

Out of the total 407 stationssurveyed, 75 are in the A-1 cat-egory or most busy stations category and 332 are in the Acategory.

As per the report released byRailway Minister Suresh Prabhu,the Jammu Railway Station is

placed third on the list, whileDelhi’s Anand Vihar station isfifth, Nizamuddin station ranks23rd and Old Delhi RailwayStation comes in at number 24.

While the DarbhangaRailway Station in Bihar hasbeen judged as the dirtiest ofthe lot in the A-1 category com-ing in at the 75th position, NewDelhi Railway Station has beenranked number 39 on the list.

In the A category, the BeasRailway Station in Punjab is thecleanest, followed by Khammamin Telangana. Ahmednagar sta-tion in Maharashtra is rankedthird. Jogbani in Bihar’s ArariaDistrict is the dirtiest in the Acategory.

“We want all stations to beclean. There are many sta-tions, which have improvedtheir cleanliness ranking fromlast time,” Prabhu said. The rail-way station at Varanasi, the Lok

Sabha constituency of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, isranked at 14th position.

Clean toilets, clean tracksand dustbins at stations weresome of the criteria for judgingrailway stations for their clean-liness. This is the third surveyon cleanliness done by theIndian Railways to keep tabs onrail premises as part of its‘Swachchh Rail’ campaign.

Continued on Page 4

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The International Court ofJustice (ICJ) in The Hague

will deliver its order onThursday on the jurisdictionof the international court inthe Kulbhushan Jadhav’s caseas well as on India’s plea to stay hisdeath sentence in Pakistan. The orderwill be delivered at 3.30 pm India time.

The single round of oral obser-vations on India’s request took placeon Monday at the Peace Palace inThe Hague, the seat of the ICJ.During his pleadings, counsel forIndia Harish Salve had requested thatpending final judgement in thiscase, the ICJ should indicate

Government of Pakistan totake all measures necessaryto ensure that Jadhav is notexecuted and “no action istaken that might prejudicethe rights of the Republic ofIndia or Kulbhushan SudhirJadhav with respect to any

decision the Court may render on themerits of the case.” India had urgedthat Pakistan must report to the courton the action it has taken.

India had listed out several pro-cedural lapses made by Pak under theVienna Convention on ConsularRelations (VCCR), 1963 saying itamounted to human rights violationof the person arrested on a foreign soil.

Continued on Page 4

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An Indian Navy warship foiled apiracy attempt onboard a Liberian

registered merchant ship in Gulf ofAden on Tuesday. Also, the Navy war-ship also recovered arms and ammu-nition from some dhows abandonedby pirates who fled when the Indianvessel rushed towards them.

The ship INS Sharda wasdeployed for anti-piracy patrol in theGulf of Aden in April this year. Partof an international effort to preventpiracy there, India has deployedships there since 2008 and theyescort merchant ships through 490nautical mile sea lane.

Giving details of the incident onWednesday, Navy officials said at

about 4.45 pm on Tuesday, INSSharda, an off-shore patrol vessel,received a distress call from MV LordMountbatten , in position 230 nau-tical miles south-west of Salalah (inthe Gulf of Aden).

Continued on Page 4

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Karnataka cadre IAS officerAnurag Tiwari was found dead

on Wednesday morning under mys-terious circumstances outside a VIPguest house at Hazratganj onMeerabai Marg.

Posted as Commissionerof Food, Civil Supplies andConsumer Affairs inBengaluru, Anurag was head-ing a probe in a food and civilsupplies scam there and wasliving under a threat percep-tion. The 36-year-old officer’sfamily has demanded a probein his death as they suspect foul play.

The officer belonging to the2007 batch had just gone through a

divorce and his parents, who live inBahraich, were waiting to wishAnurag on his birthday onWednesday, when they got the newsof his demise.

Anurag was staying with theLucknow DevelopmentAuthority Vice-ChairmanPrabhu Narayan Singh forthe last couple of days inroom Number 19.

Anurag was spottedlying in a pool of blood onthe road just outside theguest house with injurieson his chin and bloodoozing out of his nose, by

some residents of the area, early inthe morning.

Continued on Page 4

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday gave its nod to

the maternity benefit pro-gramme providing �6,000 eachto lactating mothers, butrestricted the scheme to thefirstborn only. “A pregnant orlactating woman having herfirst child will get up to �6,000.Out of this, �5,000 will be givenby the Women and ChildDevelopment Ministry in threeinstallments,” said PowerMinister Piyush Goyal at theCabinet briefing

While Goyal maintainedthat the scheme was for thewomen having their first child,he added the pilot scheme wasapplicable for “the first two live

births”. Pregnant women andlactating mothers are eligible toreceive a cash benefit of �5,000in three installments throughdirect benefit transfer fromthe Women and ChildDevelopment Ministry.

The mother will receive theinitial �1,000 after early regis-tration of pregnancy, �2,000after at least one antenatalcheck-up (after six months ofpregnancy) and �2,000 after the

child birth is registered and hasreceived the first cycle of BCG,OPV, DPT and Hepatitis-B orits equivalent/substitute.

“The eligible beneficiarieswould continue to receive theremaining cash incentive as perapproved norms towardsMaternity Benefit under exist-ing programmes after institu-tional delivery, so that on anaverage, a woman will get�6,000,” said an official release.

In his address to the nationon December 31 last year,Prime Minister Narendra Modihad announced pan-Indiaexpansion of the existing ‘IndiraGandhi Matritva SahyogYojana’, which was being imple-mented across 56 districts onpilot-basis since 2010.

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New Delhi: Faced with the shortage of Government accom-modation and unauthorised influential occupants aggravat-ing the problem, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approvedchanges in a law that empowers an estate officer to fasttrackeviction of Ministers, MPs and bureaucrats overstaying inGovernment-allotted residences long after they cease to holdofficial positions.

According to sources, such people usually take the bene-fit of law to make possible their stay even after they no longerhold official positions.

Currently, the eviction proceedings take unusually longtime of five to seven weeks, thereby reducing the availabilityof Government accommodation to new allottees.

Detailed report on P5

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Page 2: $23.45˝ .0 6 ˜ ˛!˜˚˙˚#ˆ$˚%˛ˆ - The Pioneer placed third on the list, while Delhi’s Anand Vihar station is ... (VCCR), 1963 saying it amounted to human rights violation

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In a move to provide trans-parent and prompt services,

South Delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC) onWednesday launched a newwebsite mcdonline.gov.in tofacilitate online payments ofvarious services. With theintroduction of the newmethod, the licensees can paytheir licence fee and also gen-erate the receipts sitting athome. They will not have tovisit the offices or 'CitizenService Bureau Centers' anymore.

The South Corporationalso launched of e-mutationservice. A time period of 15days has been fixed for issue ofmutation certificate from thedate of submission of the application.

Delhi BJP president, ManojTiwari while launching theservices said that the new web-site is more informative andprovides most modern facilities

to the citizens to avail variousservices provided by theCorporation.

The SDMC CommissionerPuneet Kumar Goel said thatthe initiatives of theCorporation have been nur-turing the concept of ease ofdoing business, fulfilling objec-tives of digital India promotedby Prime Minister NarenderModi and ensuring prompt-ness, transparency and goodgovernance in the civic body.The services such as tehbazarifee, hawking fee, hackney-car-riage registration and fee pay-ment, have also been made on-line.

"These initiatives havefacilitated the people in quick-ly and easily obtaining thelicences and also helped theCorporation in generatingmore revenue, as the number oflicences issued has significant-ly gone up. There has been 500per cent increase in revenuecollection from these licences,"he said.

Greater Noida: Instead ofpatients, an ambulance wasused here for transportingliquor illegally. The police lastnight seized 40 cartons ofliquor which were being smug-gled into Uttar Pradesh fromHaryana in the ambulancenear Kheda village underpass.

Circle Officer Dilip Singhsaid the Rabupura police hasarrested two persons who werein the ambulance andimpounded the vehicle.

During interrogation, theaccused, identified as Manojand Murli, revealed that theywere using the ambulance tosmuggle liquor for the last fewmonths. Investigations areunderway to determinewhether the duo was involvedin other criminal activities andused ambulance to get away,said the police officer.

It may be recalled that fewweeks back Ghaziabad Policehad arrested two members of agang of burglars who used toescape in an ambulance aftercommitting thefts. Now withGreater Noida police inter-cepting an ambulance carryingliquor, the police now plans tocarry out surprise checks onambulances to stop its misuse,said a police officer.

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The Ghaziabad DistrictMagistrate has ordered the

deduction of a day's salary ofthe Chief Medical Officer fornot being present during herinspection of a hospital onWednesday.

Chief Medical Officer AjayAgrawal of the GovernmentMMG Hospital was missingwhen District Magistrate S.Nayyar inspected it despitebeing told about her visit a dayearlier, official sources said.

When officials telephoned

Agrawal to request him toreach the hospital, there was noresponse.

During her inspection,Nayyar found poor infrastruc-tural facilities and hygiene.Many patients were seated onthe ground. Cleanliness ofwashrooms was pathetic.

Some patients complainedto the District Magistrate thatthe sanitation staff misbehavedwith them. Agarwal has beenthe Chief Medical Officer ofGhaziabad since July 2011 ashis elder brother is a senior IASofficer in Lucknow.

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The Delhi Police have arrest-ed two men for allegedly

supplying drugs for rave partiesin Delhi and other cities acrossIndia and seized Ephedrineworth �22 crore.

Deputy Commissioner ofPolice, Special Cell, SanjeevKumar Yadav said the twoaccused identified as AshokKumar (45) and Lalmuankimaalias Jimmi (29), were arrestedon May 15 from nearPochanpur Village, Dwarka.

Police have recovered 22.5kilogram of fine qualityEphedrine from their posses-sion and the value of recovereddrug is more than Rs 22 crorein the international market, hesaid.

The Special Cell had beenworking on busting a drugcartel involved in supply of'Ephedrine' and ecstasy drugsin rave parties in Delhi,Mizoram, other northeasternstates and other parts of India,said the officer.

The accused also used tosupply ecstasy tablets to collegestudents in Delhi and neigh-

bouring areas.It was found that Kumar

was procuring Ephedrine fromZirakpur in Punjab. He furthersupplied the drug to his clientshere.

Kumar had arrived nearPochanpur village to supplyEphedrine to Jimmi.

The duo was arrested fromthere on May 15 after policereceived a tip-off about theirpresence.

Kumar told police that heused to work in a pharmaceu-tical company in Delhi. Heused to travel to various partsof the country in connectionwith his job.

During his several trips, hegathered enough knowledgeabout how Ephedrine can beused for preparing party drugtablets in the name of ecstasy,said the officer.

Kumar also got to knowthat one can make a hugeprofit by preparing ecstasytablets with the help ofEphedrine.

The second arrestedaccused Jimmi told police thathe is working for Aizawl andMizoram based drug traffick-ers. On their directions he hadcome to Delhi to collect con-signment from Ashok.

"Jimmi had to deliver theconsignment to a foreignnational living in Dwarka. Heused to get paid well for ferry-ing the drug consignment,"added the officer.

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BSES Rajdhani PowerLimited (BRPL) and BSES

Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL)have started deploying inno-vating solutions like 'DoubleDecker Sub Stations' (DDSS)and 'Electronic House' in con-gested areas to augment theirdistribution network.

By implementing this,BSES have become the first dis-coms in Delhi to deploy thesespace saving solutions. Thesesolutions will take 40 to 50 percent less space than conven-tional sub-stations, makingthem ideal for congested areas.

BSES spokesperson said"Since inception, the discomshave taken a lead in adoptinginnovative technologies toreduce "Aggregate Technicaland Commercial losses" and toensure reliable and qualitypower supply to more than 38lakh consumers.

BRPL has commissionedDelhi's first DDSS' in SangamVihar that is heavily congestedarea in South Delhi. After thesuccessful completion of theproject, 50 more DDSS areplanned over the next fewmonths. While BYPL hasinstalled Delhi's first state-of-the-art packaged Grid orElectronic House (ElectronicCompacted Switchgear) in

Krishna Nagar, a congest areain East Delhi. The 36 MVA E(Electronic House) in KrishnaNagar's C Block, will substan-tially improve the area's powersupply by adding 36 MVAcapacity. This will cater to thearea's present and future needs.

"A Grid is typically com-missioned in about 18 months.On the other hand, this E Hubhas been commissioned in lessthan 8 months, thereby savinga lot of time. Another uniquefeature of this compact pack-aged grid is that it does notneed separate premises tohouse the panel as it can beencased within the existingenclosed compartment," said aBSES official.

BRPL and BYPL are pre-mier power distribution com-panies and Joint venturesbetween RelianceInfrastructure Limited andGoNCT.

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ADelhi court has sought theresponse of the city police

on how much time it wouldrequire to de-seal the LeelaHotel suite where SunandaPushkar had died in 2014.

Metropolitan MagistratePankaj Sharma asked the DelhiPolice to file a report by coor-dinating with the forensic teamas to how much time and howmany visits they would need fora final view of the room to con-clude their investigation.

The court, which put upthe matter for further hearingon July 14, sought the responseafter the police claimed that theroom may be required for fur-ther examination by the foren-sic laboratory or the CentralForensic Laboratory or anyforeign lab team, even as thehotel has claimed that for thepast one year, no probe teamhas visited the suite.

Opposing the Leela Hotel'sapplication to de-seal Suite num-ber 345, the police claimed thatsome exhibits have been sent forforensic examination and theresults were still awaited.

The hotel claimed thatbecause of the sealing of thesuite, which costs between�55,000 and �61,000 a night, thehotel has suffered a loss of over

�50 lakh in the last three years.It claimed that a number of

times police and forensic teamshad visited the suite earlier andit was not required to be keptsealed any longer.

"The hotel continues tosuffer loss with each passingdays. The continuous sealing ofthe suite is also affecting the useof other rooms/suites on thesame floor," it said.

It claimed that no prejudicewill be caused to the police ifthe suite is de-sealed as it hasbeen examined by multipleforensic experts and agencies.

The suite was sealed onJanuary 17, 2014 during theinvestigation in pursuant ofdeath of Pushkar, the wife ofCongress leader Shashi Tharoor.

An FIR was registered byDelhi police on January 1, 2015against unknown persons underthe section of 302 (murder).

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In fresh trouble for the largestreal estate builder in the

country, Unitech Ltd, a Delhicourt has ordered Police to reg-ister a First Information Report(FIR) under sections of cheat-ing against the company forallegedly duping a family to thetune of over �2 crore. The caseaccording has been registeredat the Vasant Kunj (South)Police station.

The complainant in thecase, Suneel Sardana hadalleged that the accused com-pany was giving an offer thatthey were willing to takedeposits from people with ahigher percentage of interestreturn than banks.

He further alleged that thecompany had taken moneyfrom him and his sons but hadnot paid them back theirmoney. After they found outthey were cheated, the familyapproached court.

Metropolitan MagistrateDr Pankaj Sharma directedthe Station House Officer ofVasant Kunj (South) policestation to register the FIR onthe basis of the complaint.

" Accordingly, applicationunder section 156(3) CrPC isallowed. The concerned SHOis directed to register the FIRon the basis of the complaintand investigate the matter isaccordance of law. The inves-tigation shall be uninfluencedby sections/provisions. Thepower of arrest should be usedwhen it is an aid to the inves-tigation," read the court order.

As per the complaint,Suneel Sardana that in 2010 hehad deposited a total amountof �45,00,000 in the form oftwo FDR's (Fixed DepositReceipts) for a period of threeyears bearing interest of 12.5%with Unitech.

In September 2013,Saradana renewed both theFDR's for a period of oneyear. Sardana's sons VikasSardana and Sidharth Sardanahad also invested in theaccused company.

" While Sidharth Sardanainvested �50,50,000 in theform of one FDR, VikasSardana invested �50,50,000and �60,00,000 in the form oftwo FDR's for a period of oneyear each," the order read

The order further read, "

Thereafter, employee of theaccused company on the direc-tions of the Managing Directorof the company, took away theoriginal fixed deposit receiptsof the victims on the pretext oftransferring the maturityamount with interest in theirrespective bank accountsthrough RTGS within 48 hoursof maturity. Therafter, theaccused persons allegedly paidno amount to the victims,"

An Action Taken Report(ATR) filed by theInvestigating Officer of thecase was perused. Recordswere perused and argumentswere heard.

" Facts disclosed ex-faciecommission of cognisableoffences and in the consideredview of the court. Field inves-tigation by police is required inthe case. Since the proposedaccused has no locus standi atthis stage, the submissionmade by them are not consid-ered," said MM PankajSharma.

Previously, the Managingdirector of Unitech Ltd SanjayChandra and his brother AjayChandra was arrested by DelhiPolice EOW for allegedlycheating buyers as Unitechfailed to complete a project inGurugram's Sector 70 on timeand also did not refund themoney along with the interest.

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Acouple, who were victimsof a cylinder blast in a

Baraat ghar in Munirka Gaonlast week, died at a city hospi-tal on Wednesday.

Additional DeputyCommissioner of Police, southdistrict, Chinmoy Biswal, saidthe deceased has been identifiedas Mukul Rohtagi and PoonamRohtagi. Their bodies havebeen sent for post-mortem.

As many as fourteen peo-ple were injured Friday lastafter a cylinder blast took placenear the Barat Ghar in Delhi'sMunirka area.

The incident happenedaround 7:30 pm and the flameswere doused in two hours.

The injured were sent to theAll India Institute of MedicalSciences for treatment. However,there were no immediate reporton what triggered the explosionof the LPG cylinder.

Four to five families residein the said building, a portionof which collapsed due to theexplosion's impact.

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The Gurugram police onWednesday announced a

reward of �2 lakh for anyonegiving information about thethree accused involved in thegangrape of a 26-year-oldwoman on Saturday.

The reward wasannounced as the police failedto find any leads to trace theculprits after three days the casebeing reported. The police per-sonnel claimed that they havereceived some clues but thecase is yet to be cracked.

Announcing the rewardmoney, Commissioner of PoliceSandeep Khirwar said, "A rewardof �2 lakh has been announcedfor information leading to theapprehension of the criminalsinvolved in the rape case, whichwas registered in police stationsector 17/18, Gurugram."

He further said, "SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) isinvestigating the case. SIT hasscanned CCTV footage of sur-rounding areas where the inci-dent had occurred. TheGurugram police will put all hisefforts to nab the culprits",Khirwar added.

Earlier on Monday, thepolice had formed an SIT ledby DCP (crime) Sumit Kuhar,and other senior officials toinvestigate the case.

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In a latest incident of roadrage, a 53-year-old driver of

a DTC bus was brutally beatenup by four men when the busaccidentally brushed the Innovacar in Outer Delhi's Mundkaarea on Monday morning. Theincident took place in the pres-ence of scores of passengerswho did not try to save the busdriver from the four people.

The incident took place ataround 5.40 am near metro pil-lar no 752 in Tikri border areawhen 53-year-old PraveenKumar, the driver, was headingfrom Rajghat to Bahadurgarh.

"All of a sudden, an Innovacar came and hit the DTC bus.Annoyed that their car had gotscratches, four men came outof the Innova car, took outPraveen and started hurlingabuses at him. This furtherdegenerated when the four

people started beating Praveen.All this happened in the pres-ence of a dozen bus passengersand the bus conductor. Noone came forward to help thedriver," said police sources.

After hitting the bus driverblack and blue, they fled fromthe spot.

The driver managed toinform the police after whicha team of Mundka policereached the spot and tookPraveen to a nearby hospital.

Police said that they haveregistered a case under sections186, 353, 332 and 34 of theIndian Penal Code (IPC)against unknown people at theMundka police station.

Following the incident,Praveen has been discharged.He works as a driver at theRajghat depot in the DelhiTransport Corporation. Helives with his family inBahadurgarh area.

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Page 3: $23.45˝ .0 6 ˜ ˛!˜˚˙˚#ˆ$˚%˛ˆ - The Pioneer placed third on the list, while Delhi’s Anand Vihar station is ... (VCCR), 1963 saying it amounted to human rights violation

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New Delhi: With the UnionGovernment planning to comeout with grading system forschools across the countryaffiliated with the CentralBoard of Secondary Education(CBSE), parents will find iteasy to choose the best schoolfor their children in the future.Official sources said the grad-ing exercise will focus on aca-demic output and less on fancyinfrastructure.

After issuing a ranking foruniversities and colleges, theGovernment is likely to comeup with an official qualityindex for CBSE schools too.

CBSE, which has over18,000 schools in the countryand more than 250 abroad, ismulling to grade schools.

“A plan is being consid-ered,” CBSE Chairman RKChaturvedi said on the side-lines of an event. He said, “We

will accredit schools and thefocus will be more on academicquality than on infrastructure.”

This is likely to put a checkon “false claims” and “unfairpromises” by schools.

“Schools come up withfancy buildings, charge a largesum of money, make unfairpromises and false claims buthow will parents know thetruth unless they have enrolledtheir children in any particularschool,” a senior HRD Ministryofficial wondered.

In last month, the Boardhad directed schools not toindulge in any commercialactivity and barred them fromselling books and uniform ontheir premises.

The plan to grade schoolswas also considered by theprevious Government and theBoard had conducted a wideconsultations in 2013. ��

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The growing water crisis inthe national Capital is

deepening as the supply fromHaryana has not been restoredto its full capacity. However,DJB has promised to end thecrisis soon. Shortage of potablewater has started to impactthousands of people residing inaffected areas of North, Centraland South Delhi. Residents ofaffected areas are forced to runaround in the city to deal withthe daily requirement of water,so much so that students acrossNorth Delhi have started tovisit malls for answeringnature’s call.

Some of the studentsclaimed that they have startedusing mineral water to dealwith this shortage. The watercrisis has prompted the sup-pliers to increase rates waterbottles to �5 to 10.

A visit to some of the areasfacing severe water shortagesuch as Mukherjee Nagar,Nehru Vihar, Indira Vikas, andKewal Park revealed that thou-

sands of students and familieswere dependent on privatetankers and tube wells for theirwater needs.

Amit Singh, a civil servicesaspirant who lives at NehruVihar of North Delhi said thathe is facing a lot of problem aswater was not available.

He also said that many like

him are victim of water short-age and forced by circum-stances to buy water bottle fordaily ablutions.

Many students were agi-tated as the dealers increasedrates of water bottles at GandhiVihar area on Wednesday. “Noone understands the kind ofhelplessness and pain a girl

goes through. I had to travel myrelatives place at Uttam Nagar,sensing the water crisis may notbe end. Leaving importantclasses unattended is certainlygoing to harm me in a longrun,” laments Saloni Madanwho is originally from MadhyaPradesh and preparing here forcompetitive exams.

While some of the familieshave already shifted to their rel-atives’ places to avoid the prob-lems. Sudhir Tyagi, a residentof Burari said that he has shift-ed his family to one of the rel-ative’s home at Rohini wheretube well facility is alreadyavailable. “I am a bit relaxednow as my wife and childrenwill not be affected by thisshortage,” he added.

However, the officials ofDelhi Jal Board (DJB), the nodalagency for supplying drinkingwater, said that situation willstart improving from Fridaymorning as Haryana hadreleased Delhi’s share of water.

Meanwhile, KeshavChandra, the Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) of DJB told ThePioneer that Haryana hasalready released water that willprobably reach Delhi byWednesday evening. “It takestime for the water to reachDelhi. We expect the situationto improve in the days tocome,” he said.

Almost 200 cusecs of waterhave been released by Haryanafrom Munak canal through

DD-8 in the river course. It isexpected that the pond level ofWazirabad will improve suffi-ciently to start the water pro-duction at 100 per centinstalled capacity in Wazirabad,Chandrawal and Okhla plants.However, water distributionsituation will normalise only byMay 19, 2017 morning, since ittakes a whole day for the plantsto function at full capacity andfill all underground reservoirsin the command areas of theseplants, a DJB release said.

In view of the prevailingcondition, DJB seeks the coop-eration of the residents ofKewal Park-booster pumpingstation, Jagatpur, Gopalpur,Mukherji Nagar, GujranwalaTown, Model Town, NirankariColony, Hakikat Nagar,Kingsway Camp, Azadpur,Jahangirpuri Booster Pumpingstation, Jahangirpuri area,Adarsh Nagar, WazirabadIndustrial area, Punjabi Baghand nearby areas to maintaincalm till the time water supplyis normalised, the release fur-ther stated.

The Lutyens’ Bungalow

Zone, which comes under theNew Delhi Municipal Council(NDMC) and houses the PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO),Rashtrapati Bhawan and resi-dences of several UnionMinisters, judges of theSupreme and High Court,Army officers and bureaucrats,among others was affected bythe shortage.

A senior DJB official saidthat soon an advertisementwill be published in leadingnewspapers in order to informthe people about importantnumbers and other details.

“Alternatively tankers areavailable at Kewal park, Ashokvihar, Punjabi Bagh, MukherjeeNagar,” said an official of the DJB.

The daily water require-ment in Delhi is 900 MGD;around 60 per cent comesfrom Haryana and approx 240MGD from Uttar Pradesh. Twowater treatment plantsWazirabad and Chandrawalwhich treat around 220 milliongallons per day out of the 900MGD treated in Delhi weredown to 60 per cent of theircapacity, making life difficult

for people across Delhi.However, an official from

DJB confirmed that the regu-lar requirement is 820 MGDand supply is 770.

Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia had tweeted onTuesday that the Haryana ChiefSecretary has “assured” thecity Government that watersupply in Yamuna would be“back to normal” by todayafternoon. Earlier in the day,Sisodia had threatened to movethe court against Haryana for“withholding” Delhi’s legalshare of water and had alsosought the intervention of thePrime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Almost every summer,Delhi and Haryana lock hornsover water sharing with eachclaiming that the other’sdemand exceeds the stipulatedquantity. Waters shortage dur-ing summers has been a reali-ty as successive HaryanaGovernments have reducedwater supply to the nationalCapital, citing own needs andDelhi needs to take measures tocounter this during summers,said a DJB official.

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New Delhi: Delhi EnvironmentMinister Imran Hussain hassaid that Delhi Government has37 authorised e-waste collectioncentres. He said that unautho-rised dismantling and recyclingof e-waste is posing a great dan-ger to human health and theenvironment. He also said thatthe e-waste should be disposedoff only at the Delhi PollutionControl Committee- authorisedcollection centres in strict adher-ence to the e-waste ManagementRules.

While addressing a work-shop, organised by theEnvironment Department on e-Waste Management for bulkconsumers, the Minister saidthat there was a need to createpublic awareness about the haz-ards of improper disposal of e-waste.

During the workshop pre-sentations on e-waste legislationsand management by experts DrAmit Jain, MD, IRG Systems,

South Asia, and Priti Mahesh,Chief Programme Coordinator,Toxics Link, shared their viewson making the world toxic free.

These Rules are applicable toevery manufacturer, producer,bulk consumer, collection cen-tres, dealers, e-retailers, refur-bishers, dismantlers and recy-clers involved in manufacture,sale, transfer, purchase, collec-tion, storage and processing ofe-waste or electrical and elec-tronic equipment (includingtheir components, consumables,parts and spares which make theproduct operational) as listed inschedule 1 annexed to the e-Waste Management Rules.

“E-waste is managed bydealers who are generally igno-rant about handling e-waste andas a result e-waste often ends upbeing burnt for extracting valu-able metals which also releaseharmful gases in the atmos-phere thus causing air pollution,”said the Minister. ��

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Following two incidents offire within a week inside the

Antriksh Bhawan here, theNew Delhi Municipal Council(NDMC) has shot off a noticeto the owners for “violating”building bylaws.

The Delhi Fire Services isalso in the process of issuing ashow-cause notice to the own-ers for flouting fire-safety normsand for having “inadequate”fire extinguishing equipment.

“The building did not havea fire-safety certificate, whichis mandatory under the build-ing bylaws laid down by theCouncil. A notice has beenissued to them after the firedepartment raised the issuewith us,” said a senior NDMCofficial.

Earlier this month, twoincidents of fire were reportedin the high-rise building on theKasturba Gandhi Marg whichhouses several offices.

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Delhi BJP president ManojTiwari has said that the

party, if voted to power in thenext Assembly polls, wouldcut taxes to make the nationalCapital lowest tax city in thecountry. He also promisedaccess to tap water to all slumclusters.

“On a promise for makingDelhi, the city of lowest taxslabs (if voted to power), Tiwaristated that Delhi deserved thistreatment for its all-rounddevelopment and minimise theinconveniences for its people,”industry body PHDCCI quot-ed Tiwari as saying in a releaseon Wednesday.

The municipalities in Delhiare also working to complete-ly digitalise all operations toreduce physical interactionbetween authorities and people,he added.

Interestingly, the AamAadmi Party (AAP) hadpromised to discontinue housetax in the recent MCD pollsthat it lost to the BJP.

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Delhi MLA ManjinderSingh Sirsa with other

senior BJP leaders met theDelhi University Vice-Chancellor Professor YogeshTyagi to fix the quota for thestudents of domicile of Delhifor admissions in different col-leges. Professor Tyagi hasassured Sirsa to arrange a oneto one meeting with the admis-sion committee before thebeginning of admission processfor this year.

MP Parvesh Sahib SinghVerma and Sirsa had urged theTyagi to fix the quota for thestudents of the domicile ofDelhi for admissions in differ-ent colleges of Delhi University.

They drew VC’s attentiontowards the poor condition ofstudents of domicile of Delhifor getting admission in dif-ferent colleges of University ofDelhi in comparison to the stu-dents passed out from otherStates.

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Aneighbourhood WhatsAppgroup set up by the Delhi

Police, played a crucial role inreuniting a five-year-old boywith his parents within a mat-ter of 20 minutes. In Shahdaradistrict’s Vishwas Nagar area,effective use of social mediahelped a child who had lost hisway home to get back to hisfamily. At a time when crimesagainst children are rampant-ly rising in the national Capital,Delhi Police has undertakenmultiple initiatives to curb theissue of missing children.Although measures likeOperation Milaap, a project ofthe Delhi Police which helps inreuniting missing children withtheir families, communitypolicing played a substantialrole. Taking the measures ofcommunity policing a step for-

ward, Shahdara district hasinstructed its police officialsacross all ranks to keep in touchwith the locals of their juris-diction through WhatsApp.

Thousands of children gomissing in the national Capitalevery day. Likewise, onWednesday morning, a fiveyear old boy too his way home

and was found crying on thestreets in East Delhi.

A senior police officer said,“Five-year-old Subhan wasspotted roaming alone in streetnumber 14 in Vishwas Nagararea by a beat staff. Unable todescribe where he lives, thechild started crying. The beatstaff then took him to theFarsh Bazaar Police Station.Here a picture of Subhan wasclicked and shared by theStation House Officer andother police personnel with thelocals on a WhatsApp group.

Talking about how thechild was reunited, NupurPrasad, Deputy Commissionerof Police (Shahdara) said,“Picture of Subhan was sharedby the beat staff on WhatsAppgroups. To ensure effectivepolicing among the communi-ty, our beat staff has created aWhatsApp group in which

members of the ResidentWelfare Associations are added.On Wednesday too, it waswhen one of the beat staffuploaded the picture of themissing child in the WhatsAppgroup that one Deepankarreplied. He said that the boylives in a neighbouring street.”

The senior police officialfurther said, “Deepankarclaimed that Subhan was theson of his neighbour. Swiftlyacting on the information,Deepankar brought the child’sfather Liyaqat to the FarshBazaar Police Station. Afterproper verification of the doc-uments, Subhan was finallyhanded over to his father.”

Under the initiativelaunched by the Delhi Police toreunite missing children withthe family, Operation Milaapwas launched in 2014.

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Delhi BJP chief ManojTiwari has urged

Lieutenant-Governor AnilBaijal to intervene to help thepeople facing power cuts andwater shortage in many areas ofthe city, alleging that DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalhad no time to attend to thesegrievances.

In a letter to the L-G,Tiwari has asked for a high-level meeting of officials ofdepartments concerned to finda solution to the power andwater issues.

The actor-turned-politi-cian Tiwari alleged that DelhiKejriwal has no time to addressthese grievances as he is busyin power games to retain hisoffice.

“It is tragic that CM has no

time to attend to power andwater shortage problems ofDelhiites or to frame themandatory summer plan ofpower and water supply as heis busy in power games toretain his office.”

He claimed that there is nei-ther shortage of raw water inflowfrom Haryana or Uttarakhandnor there is any drop in supplyfrom power grids but despitethat people in almost all areas ofDelhi are facing poor water andpower supply.

In his letter, he allegedthat residents in east, north

east, north west, south, southwest and rural parts in Delhiwere facing daily power cuts oftwo to three hours.

Areas such as GreaterKailash, Malviya Nagar,Shalimar Bagh, Patparganj andPatel Nagar have been affectedby volatage fluctuations andunannounced power cuts in themidnight, he complained.

The Delhi Jal Board wateris very filthy and people areforced to buy bottled water andinstall water purifiers due towater borne diseases, saidTiwari.

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A50-year-old woman hasbeen arrested for alleged-

ly stealing jewellery and cashfrom her relative’s house inKhirki Extension when theyvisited her home for dinner, onWednesday.

The victim Deepak Kumarapproached Malaviya Nagarpolice station with a com-plaint that jewellery and �9.60lakh had been stolen from hishouse. In the complaint, hereported that on the evening ofMay 7, he along with his wifehad left to visit their relative’shouse in Laxmi Nagar. Whenthey came back home in thewee hours of May 8, theyfound that cash and jewelry

had been stolen from theirhouse even though the locks oftheir house and almirahs wereintact.

A senior police officer saidthat during investigation itwas clear that an insider or per-son known to the family hadcommitted the theft becausethe main door of the house wasunlocked with keys and therewas no forced entry.

“A police team was formedand local informers were alert-ed. We questioned several rel-atives of the complainant,neighbours and securityguards in the locality. Duringthe investigation, CCTVfootage of the surroundingarea was examined and theneedle of suspicion pointedtowards one Shabnam, mater-nal aunt of the wife of thecomplainant,” said a seniorpolice officer.

On Wednesday, a raid was

conducted at the house ofShabnam in Laxmi Nagar andstolen cash, gold and silver jew-elry articles were recovered atthe instance of Shabnam. Later,she was arrested, said police.

During interrogation,Shabnam disclosed that shecame to know that there washuge cash in the house of herniece. She further disclosedthat when the couple visitedher house in Laxmi Nagar onMay 7, she stole the house keysfrom the purse of Natasha, thecomplainant’s wife. Thereafter,she left the house on the pre-text of getting her maid treat-ed by a doctor and asked thecouple to stay at her house tillshe returned.

She committed the theft intheir house in KhirkiExtension and went back toLaxmi Nagar late at night andasked them to stay and leave inthe morning.

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Delhi Police on Wednesdayquestioned the aide of the

Karnataka Home Minister GParameshwar in connectionwith the alleged attempt byAIADMK (Amma) leaderTTV Dinakaran to bribeElection Commission officials.

Police sources said thatVC Prakash on Wednesdayaccepted that he received a callfrom Mallikarjun, (who wasarrested along with Dinakaranon April 25) to arrange cashfrom Bengaluru. “However,Prakash denied arranging thecash. Prakash was picked upfrom the Bengaluru airport.”

The statement of Prakashwas recorded under Section164 of the CrPc. On Tuesday,Crime Branch probing the casehad issued a lookout notice forPrakash who was the DeputyChairman of the NRI Forum in

Karnataka.It is suspected that Prakash

had helped Mallikarjuna inthe money transfer throughhawala route, police said.

He has already been ques-tioned once and is likely to begrilled again on Friday. “It wassuspected that he might escapefrom here and that is why a look-out notice was issued. His state-ment has been recorded onceand he will be questioned againthis week,” said the officer.Dinakaran was arrested here on

the night of April 25 after fourdays of questioning for alleged-ly attempting to bribe an uniden-tified EC official to get the undi-vided AIADMK’s ‘two leaves’election symbol for his faction fora by-election to the RK NagarAssembly seat in Tamil Naduwhich was later cancelled by theElection Commission. The EChad frozen AIADMK’s ‘twoleaves’ symbol after two factionsled by Sasikala and former ChiefMinister O Panneerselvamstaked claim to it. Dinakaran hasbeen accused of allegedly arrang-ing the amount from undis-closed sources and getting ittransferred from Chennai toDelhi through illegal channels.His name had surfaced afterpolice arrested an alleged mid-dleman Sukesh Chandrasekarwho had allegedly toldDinakaran that he had contactsin the EC and would help his fac-tion get the election symbol.

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State-owned CentralElectronics Limited (CEL)

has now earned the distinctionof providing home lighting sys-tems in eight States of the coun-try. The projects taken as CSRactivities through PSUs andother Government agencies haveresulted in installation of 25,000home lighting and street lightingsystems in remote villages ofAssam and Jharkhand and 6,000home lighting in Chhattisgarhrural areas. Provision of 1,500home lighting systems alongwith mobile charging facilities,television and RO systems forthree village panchayats inJaisalmer too have been made.

CEL Public Relations OfficerManoj Sharma said that CEL hasdone yeoman services to thenation in the area of rural devel-opment through solar energyand has successfully imple-mented a number ofGovernment programmes forprovision of home and streetlighting systems as well as com-munity facilities including enter-tainment facilities and primaryhealth service (facilities) inremote areas of the countryincluding Chhattisgarh andremote areas of Assam,Jharkhand and Laddakh.

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New Delhi: In 1979, when typ-ist Rakesh Vaid was gifted a keyring by a colleague for keying ina few extra pages, little did heknow that 38 years later hewould be the proud owner of amassive collection of 32,000 keyrings. Initially the passion beganwith purchasing every key ringthat he could lay his hands on,but a growing financial crunchthat made it difficult for Vaid tokeep money aside for his indul-gence, led him to make the key

rings himself. “I was so pas-sionate that after getting mysalary, the first thing I did was tobuy key rings. But, as the pricesincreased, I had to look foralternatives to fuel my passion.So, I decided to make themmyself,” Vaid said. Soon after,thermocol, plastic sheets, chartpapers, and cardboards becamehis friends and great personali-ties began getting packaged intiny fibre glass frames, danglingfrom metalling chains. PTI

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Prime Minister NarendraModi's recent visit to Sri

Lanka was a "grand success"and enabled both countries tofinalise a number of projects,including the Trincomalee portproject, a Minister said.

Sri Lanka's Minister onSpecial Assignment SarathAmanugama, who was part ofthe official delegation headedby Sri Lankan Prime MinisterRanil Wickremeshinghe thattook part in the 'One Belt OneRoad' initiative here, said talkswere underway with India forits participation in free tradezones in Trincomalee,Hambantota free trade as wellas the Colombo port.

"Modi's visit was a grandsuccess. The chemistrybetween our President, PrimeMinister and Modi was excel-lent... The interesting thing isthat Modi made a clear state-ment that projects should befast tracked," the Minister said.

India and Sri Lanka are intalks to jointly operate oil tanksat the strategic Trincomaleeport. At least 73 of the 99 stor-

age tanks in Trincomalee are tobe managed under a new equi-ty arrangement between Indiaand Sri Lanka.

Calling both India andChina "friends", Amanugamasaid Sri Lanka doesn't see theworld divided between the twocountries.

"Taking sides is not ratio-nal in Sri Lanka's interest. Noway we subscribe to the viewthat India and China have dif-ferent interests," he said.

"India is our brother,Chinais our friend. Our link withIndia is historical and geo-graphical. Both are our friends.We don't see the world divid-ed between India and China,"he said.

Modi wrapped up his SriLanka visit last week duringwhich he took part in the theInternational Vesak Day cele-brations and addressed Indian-origin Tamils.

Modi addressed Tamils ofIndian origin in Dickoya townin the tea growing CentralProvince of Sri Lanka andinaugurated a �150 crore super-speciality hospital built withIndia's assistance.

Beijing: Sino-Indian relations are likely to remaincomplicated as India's "longing" for great powerstatus will be a challenge for China, a state-run dailysaid on Wednesday.

Under the leadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, India may seek to establish clos-er ties with the US, Japan, Australia and other coun-tries so that it can play a more important role thanearlier, an article in the Global Times said.

"The Modi administration will not greatlyadjust the current diplomatic strategy, which couldbe generalised as going beyond the regional visionand pursuing great power status; striking a diplo-matic balance among big powers but giving toppriority to the US; creating peripheral securitywhile putting its focus mainly on China and

Pakistan; developing more partners and prioritisingJapan and Australia; and promoting Indian prod-ucts," it said.

By joining international organisations such asthe China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) India wants to gain more international influ-ence, it said.

"However, in the process of becoming a lead-ing force in the international security arena, find-ing out how to better handle relations withPakistan, China and other neighbouring countrieswill be a major challenge for India."

The daily said India's foreign policy is a con-tinuation of Modi and his team's "political ambi-tion and self-confidence", while also showingIndia's "longing for great power status". PTI

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London: Two Indian activistson Wednesday won the annu-al Whitley Awards, dubbed asthe 'Green Oscars', for theirworks in the field of animal andbird conservation in India.

Sanjay Gubbi won theaward for his work to protectKarnataka's tiger corridors,and Purnima Barman for cre-ating an all-female network tosave the Greater Adjutant stork,

known in India as Hargila, andits wetland habitat in Assam.

The two Indians are amongsix global winners of the awardshortlisted from 166 entries.Each of the winners receives35,000 pounds (USD 45,374)prize money in project fundingover one year.

"This is a life-changingevent for my team. It is adream of every conservation-

ist to win this award and theprize money will go a long wayin expanding our Hargila Armynetwork," said Barman, whogot attracted to the projectwhile she worked on her PhDin Kamrup district of Assam.

The Hargila storks are largescavenger birds with a globalpopulation of just 1,200, 75 percent of which are found inAssam. PTI

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Facing severe criticism for itsfailure to ensure safety of

women in the Haryana,Manohar Lal KhattarGovernment seems to havefinally woken up and acceptedthe demand of more than 80girls, who were sitting on ahunger strike since May 10demanding upgradation oftheir village high school tosenior secondary school inRewari.

The incident had hit thenational headlines and causeda lot of embarrassment to theHaryana Government, which isalready under fire in the wakeof gang-rape cases in Rohtakand Gurugram.

More than 80 girls of

Rewari’s Gothra Tappa Dahinavillage were sitting on a hungerstrike since May 10 demandingupgradation of their villagehigh school to senior sec-ondary school, alleging that thesenior secondary school thatthey are in, is about 3 km awayin another village and they faceharassment on the way to theirschool from local boys.

Several girls were alsoadmitted to the hospital astheir health had deteriorateddue to the hunger strike, whichthey finally ended on the eighthday on Wednesday following aGovernment’s notification onupgradation of their villageschool.

Unhappy with the mis-handling of the sensitive issue,Chief Minister Manohar Lal onWednesday convened a meet-

ing with Education MinisterRam Bilas Sharma and issueddirections to immediately issuethe notification of upgradationof the school.

Sources said the ChiefMinister sought reply fromthe Education Minister on theissue and also, expressed hisdispleasure over the delay inissuing the said notificationeven after Government gaveassurance on this two daysback.

Following his meeting withthe Chief Minister, EducationMinister Ram Bilas Sharma,while talking to the mediaper-sons said that the village schoolhas been upgraded, a Principalhas been appointed and theadmission process will beginfrom Thursday onwards.

The issue has been dis-

cussed with the CM and a noti-fication is issued, said theMinister.

When asked why the gov-ernment took eight days toaddress the grievances of girlstudents, the EducationMinister refrained from com-menting further and said thatthe government took notice ofthe issue and the school hasbeen upgraded now.

On being asked why thegovernment representatives didnot meet the girls in the pasteight days, Sharma claimedthat BJP MLA Bikram SinghYadav went to meet them fivedays back and had also giventhem assurance that theirdemand will be fulfilled.

On opposition’s demand ofhis resignation on the issue, theEducation Minister did not

respond and walkout out of thehurriedly called press confer-ence by him.

Additional Chief Secretary,School Education, PK Dasinformed that the village schooldid not fulfill the norms of upgradation but it has been decided to upgrade theschool by giving relaxation inrules.

Commneting on the casesof eve-teasing by anti-social ele-ments with the girls going toother villages for education,Das said that besides the StateGovernment, it is also thesocial responsibility of thePanchayats and other promi-nent people of the village tocome forward to deal with theanti-social elements.

At the time when the BJPled State Government is push-

ing its ambitious ‘Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao’ project and alsocarrying out ‘Operation Durga’to curb eve-teasing, the tale ofGothra Tappa Dahina village isseen as a grim reminder of gov-ernment’s apathy in dealingwith sensitive issues.

The opposition-Congressand INLD- had also launcheda scathing attack on HaryanaGovernment for ignoring thedemand of girl students of thevillage for eight days.

Haryana former CMBhupinder Singh Hooda whilequestioning the StateGovernment for delaying theprocess of school upgradation,said that the government is notserious about the safety ofgirls.

On the other hand, Leaderof opposition in Haryana

Assembly and INLD’s seniorleader Abhay Singh Chautalasaid that the government isonly interested in advertise-ments and slogans on ‘BetiBachao, Beti Padhao’ but not atall serious about its imple-mentation. This is not the firsttime that the state has seensuch a protest from girl stu-dents.

Last year, Rewari’s SumaKhera village was in the newswhen its residents stoppedsending the girls to school inLala village following thealleged rape of a girl en routeto the school in April last. Theresidents of Suma Khera villagehad also staged a sit-in demon-stration against the BJP-ledHaryana Governmen demand-ing upgradatin of primaryschools to middle schools.

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From Page 1The vessel had reported an

incident of attempted piracy bytwo suspicious mother vesselsalong with 7-8 skiffs. TheIndian ship, which was at thattime 30 nautical miles east ofthe reported position, imme-diately responded to the dis-tress call, they said.

On arriving in the area byabout 7.00 pm INS Shardadetected two dhows along witheight skiffs in vicinity, three ofwhich fled the area at highspeeds on sighting the warship.Indian Navy’s MarineCommandos (MARCOS), withsupport of the armed heli-copter from the ship investi-gated the dhows and theirskiffs by conducting board andsearch operations.

The absence of any fishinggear onboard the two dhowsand remaining five skiffs indi-cated malicious intent and pos-sible piracy-linked intentions.One high calibre AK-47riflewith one filled magazine (28rounds) was found hiddenonboard one of the dhows. Theweapon and ammunition wereconfiscated to prevent futureillegal misuse, they said.

From Page 1Police, identified the IAS

officer with the aid of an IDcard found in his pocket andrushed him to Civil Hospitalwhere he was declared broughtdead. The cops also recoveredRs 5,500, and an ATM card.

SSP Lucknow, DeepakKumar said Anurag was stay-ing with LDA V-C Singh as hewas his batchmate.

“Anurag had undergone adepartmental training inMussoorie a few days back andlater visited Lucknow to meetSingh. Both the IAS officers hadpartied at a hotel on Tuesdaynight and had returned to theroom at the guest house ataround 11 pm,” he said.

Anurag was found lying

near a transformer locatednear the guest house. While theeyewitnesses claimed that theIAS officer had wounds on hisface and other parts of thebody, the police suspect that heeither fell from the terrace ofthe guest house or fell while hewas out for a morning walk.

Deepak Kumar said theautopsy was being conductedby a panel of doctors andwould be videographed. Hesaid the police did not suspectany foul play, but if the autop-sy report confirmed anythingsuspicious they would probethe case on that line.

SSP Lucknow said the fam-ily’s allegations of foul play willbe probed if they give a writ-ten complaint. He added that

he had spoken to the ResidentCommissioner Bengaluruabout the incident. “The RCasked me to provide the detailsof the probe and had asked forappointing an officer fromKarnataka to oversee the probebeing conducted by theLucknow Police.”

A native of KanoongopuraSouth of Bahraich, Anurag didBTec Electrical Engineeringfrom Uttar Pradesh TechnicalUniversity. Before being post-ed as Commissioner, Food,Civil Supplies and ConsumerAffairs, he had also served asDeputy CommissionerKodadagu, Deputy FinanceSecretary Bengaluru andAdditional CommissionerMadhugiri.

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Allaying concerns about thesecurity of data in Aadhaar

servers in the wake of"WannaCry" ransomwareattack, the UniqueIdentification Authority ofIndia (UIDAI) on Wednesdaysaid its database was com-pletely secured and immune toattacks from any kind of mal-ware.

"The data in the Aadhaarservers is in the encryptedform. You cannot do anythingwith that information, which isin an encrypted form. Aadhaarmain systems, which are real-ly so very well-designed androbustly designed that there isno concern about security inAadhaar," UIDAI chairman JSatyanarayana said.

UIDAI presently maintainsthe data of about 114 croreIndians in over 6,000 serverslocated in Bengaluru andManesar.

"Just 48 hours back wehad big scare all over the worldabout this ransomware. So, inAadhaar, people were sleeping

peacefully (as they are sure ofits security features)... That it is 100 per cent sure that nothing would happen. Suchrobust systems were put inplace in Aadhaar," he said in aprogramme organised by the Institution of Electronicsand TelecommunicationEngineers.

Amaravati: The WannaCryvirus, which hit tens of thou-sands of computers worldwide,apparently hit some systems inthe Andhra Pradesh Secretariattoo on Wednesday but the offi-cials sought to play down thethreat. The virus attack came tolight today when a deputy sec-retary in the revenue depart-ment routinely sought to openhis computer. “The system did-n't open and I immediatelycalled the IT people. The virusattack was then discovered," theofficial said. PTI

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Three men from Delhi arefeared to have drowned in

a lake in Surajkund here onWednesday, police said.

Rishi Gupta, Pavan Gupta,Milan Gupta and Ankit Guptaand their friends went to thelakeside, SHO of Surajkundpolice station, Inspector PankajKumar said.

Rishi slipped and fell intothe lake when he was trying totouch the water. In a bid to savehim, Milan and Pawan enteredthe lake and are suspected tohave drowned, he said.

After Ankit informed thepolice, a team of cops alongwith divers from the firedepartment reached the spot.

A rescue operation waslaunched, however, the threemen are yet to be traced,Kumar said. They were all res-idents of Sangam Vihar of thenational capital. A search oper-ation would be launched againtomorrow morning, the officeradded.

Jodhpur: A 25-year-oldMuslim woman, whose hus-band divorced her by writingtalaq thrice on a piece of paper,has moved court against thepractice and also appealed toPrime Minister Narendra Modito abolish it.

Amit Maheshwari, thecounsel for Shagufta Modi,who married Rizvan inDecember 2014, claimed thather husband was unemployedand would pressure her to takemoney from her parents.

The woman said Rizvanevicted her from their house inApril and gave her a piece ofpaper with talaq written thriceon it. Rizvan, in a letter toShagufta, had alleged that she"is querulous, would visit herparents often and that she didnot mend her ways. So talaq isthe only solution". He saidthat according to the Sharia law,he had divorced his wife in thepresence of two witnesses andthat "both of them are now freeto remarry as per their choice".

Shagufta said her parentstried hard to bring him roundto save their marriage but invain. Later, they knocked thedoors of the court. PTI

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved sec-

tions of electrification anddoubling of railway tracks inMaharashtra, Andhra Pradeshand Uttar Pradesh. It alsoapproved a National Highway(NH) between Dwarka andPorbandar in Gujarat, whereelections are due later thisyear.

The Cabinet Committeeon Economic Affairs (CCEA)approved the construction ofelectrified third line of 160 kmbetween Manmad-Jalgaon inMaharashtra at an estimatedcost of �1035.16 crore.“Construction of third line willgreatly ease the ever increasingpassenger and freight traffic onManmad-Jalgaon route there-by increasing the revenue of theRailways. Jalgaon and Nashikdistricts of Maharashtra will becovered in this route.

Manmad-Jalgaon sectioncaters to the traffic of Delhi-Mumbai and Kolkata-Mumbaicorridors. Two double linetracks from Wardha and Itarsi,respectively, converge atBhusawal. Work of third andfourth line in Jalgaon-Bhusawalsection is already underprogress. Operations on thesection have already reached tosaturation. The third linebetween Manmad-Jalgaon sec-tion is imperative andinescapable, the Government

stated.The Cabinet also approved

construction of electrified dou-bling line between Phephana-Indara and Mau-Shahganj inUttar Pradesh totaling 150 kmat an estimated cost of�1,028.95 crore. The doublingof these lines will remove thepressure over the congestedNorth Central Railway route byproviding an alternative route.The Cabinet also sanctionedthe construction of double linewith electrification of 402 kmbetween Guntur-Guntakal inAndhra Pradesh at an antici-pated cost of �3,631 crorewhich will be funded throughcost sharing of 50:50 by theState Government and theMinistry of Railways.

The project fulfils thecommitment given in theAndhra Pradesh BifurcationAct regarding increased railconnectivity to theRayalaseema region to theAmravati, the capital of AndhraPradesh.

The Government alsoapproved a �1,959-crore projectfor upgrading Porbandar-Dwarka section on NH8E inGujarat. The total length of theroad to be developed is approx-imately 118 kms.

The development of thisstretch will also help in uplift-ing the socio-economic condi-tion of this region in the State.It will also increase employ-ment potential for local labour-ers for project activities, thestatement said, adding that ithas been estimated that a totalnumber of 4,076 man-days arerequired for construction ofone kilometre of highway.

New Delhi: The Union Cabineton Wednesday approved a pro-posal to set up IndianAgricultural Research Institute(IARI) in Assam at a cost ofover �155 crore to promoteagri-education and realise sec-ond green revolution in thenorth eastern region.

The first IARI was set up inthe national Capital way backin 1967. The Narendra ModiGovernment had announced aplan to set up four such insti-tutes in the Budget 2014-15.The IARI-Assam was delayedas the previous Governmentdid not give land. The currentSarbananda SonowalGovernment has given 587acres of land at Gomukh,Dimaji and work will start.Also the proposal for 98 posi-tions has been approved. ThePrime Minister is expected tolay a foundation of IARI on

May 26, this month. Sources in the Ministry of

Agriculture said that the IARI-Assam would focus more onresearch activities and willteach 67 MSc students and 106PhD students. “It will promoteresearch, education, extensionprogrammes in its missiontowards developing qualityhuman resource, generationof farmer-friendly technologiesto enhance productivity, qual-ity and profitability, promoteagro-based industries and gen-erate employment opportuni-ties for holistic and sustainabledevelopment of the agriculturesector in the North-Easternregion,” the sources said.

“Development of N-E is apriority for the Governmentand has the potential to bringsecond green revolution. It willbe an off-campus of IARI, NewDelhi, and undertake integrat-

ed multi-disciplinary researchthrough Schools of CropSciences, Natural ResourceManagement, and AnimalSciences and Fisheries,” thestatement said.

lARI-Assam would be aPost-Graduate Institution ofhigher learning in AgriculturalEducation. It will have thehallmark identity of an IARIincluding all sectors of agri-culture like field crops, horti-cultural crops, agro-forestry,animal husbandry, fisheries,poultry, piggery, silk rearing,honey production. “IARI-Assam would work on theagrarian challenges and com-plexities of N-E India in coor-dination with all existingCentral and State Governmentresearch and developmentInstitutions and private sectorenterprises,” the statement said.

PNS

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Faced with the shortage ofGovernment accommoda-

tions and unauthorised influ-ential occupants aggravatingthe problem, the UnionCabinet on Wednesdayapproved changes in a law thatempowers an estate officer tofasttrack eviction of Ministers,MPs and bureaucrats over-staying in Government-allottedresidences long after they ceaseto hold official positions.

According to sources, suchpeople, including Ministers,MPs and Government offi-cers, usually take the benefit oflaw to make possible their stayeven after they no longer holdofficial positions. People whooverstay in official accommo-dations used to take recourse tocourts.

The beneficiaries includethe employees of the CentralGovernment offices who areeligible for General PoolResidential Accommodation(GPRA) and are waiting for thematurity of their turn.

Currently, the eviction pro-ceedings take unusually longtime of five to seven week,thereby reducing the availabil-ity of Government accommo-dations to new incumbents.

It may take another four-week time if the unauthorisedoccupants file appeal which isdisposed of by the AppellateOfficer within 30 days.However, eviction proceedingstake much longer period thanthe timeline prescribed in theAct. Sometimes it takes years toevict the unauthorised occu-pants.

Recently, the Delhi HighCourt had issued eviction order

to former Jammu & KashmirChief Minister OmarAbdullah’s estranged wife Payalfrom the 7, Akbar Road bun-galow. The family had been liv-ing in the Type VIII bungalowbelonging to the J&KGovernment for 17 years.When the couple separated in2011, Abdullah moved out,but his wife and two sons con-tinued to live there.

Former Home MinisterButa Singh and Chief Ministerof Himachal Pradesh VirBhadra Singh too moved theCourt against their evictionfrom Government bungalowsin Delhi while former MinistersAmbika Soni and Kumari Seljawere evicted from their bun-galows after the Delhi HighCourt order.

Officials said there is short-age of accommodations ofalmost all types in Delhi and atother stations where the eligi-ble employees have to wait foryears for maturity of theirturns in the waiting list.

Besides a large number ofeligible officers are residing inaccommodations much belowtheir entitlement and unauthoriaed occupants areoverstaying in General Poolresidential accommodationscreating additional and unwar-ranted burden on the generalpool residential accommoda-tions.

An estate officer, as per thenew rules, will not need to follow “elaborate procedures”and can even make anorder for the evictionof such persons forthwith followingthe procedure pro-posed in the amend-ments.

“Thus now, the estate offi-cer can make such enquiry ashe deems expedient in the cir-cumstances of the case and thusdo not have to follow the elab-orate procedures prescribed asper Sections 4, 5 and 7 of theAct.

Estate Officers can evenmake an order for the evictionof such persons forthwith fol-lowing the procedure proposedin the new section. “If such persons refuse or fail to comply with the said order ofeviction, Estate Officer mayevict them from premises andtake possession thereof andmay, for that purpose, use suchforce as may be necessary,” saidthe officials.

The Cabinet has approvedamendments in Section 2 andSection 3 of the PublicPremises (Eviction ofUnauthorised Occupants) Act,1971 (PPE Act, 1971), byinserting definition of ‘residential accommodationoccupation’ in a new clause insection 2 of the Act and inserting provisions relatingto eviction from ‘residentialaccommodation occupation’in a new sub-section 3B belowsub-section 3A of Section 3 ofthe Act.

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New Delhi: The Union Cabineton Wednesday approvedamendments to a law for allow-ing the Central Government tocarry out infrastructure pro-jects within the limits of “pro-hibited area” around protectedmonuments.

The Ancient Monumentsand Archaeological Sites andRemains Act 1958 will beamended to allow “publicworks of national importance”in the prohibited areas, saidUnion Minister Piyush Goyalwhile briefing reporters on thedecisions taken by the UnionCabinet.

A 'prohibited area' meansland in the 100-metre radiusaround a protected monument.Currently, construction is notallowed in the prohibited area

except for repair and renova-tion works.

The ban on new construc-tion within prohibited areawas “adversely impacting var-ious public works and devel-

opmental projects of the cen-tral government,” Goyal said.

Public works have beendefined as construction worksrelated to infrastructure whichare financed and constructedby the Central Government forpublic purposes as they areessential to public safety orsecurity. Its emergent necessi-ty is based upon specificinstance of danger to publicsafety or security.

He said adequate safe-guards have been proposed toensure that monuments remainprotected when the infrastruc-ture work is carried out.

The Ancient Monumentsand Archaeological SitesRemains (Amendment) Bill,2017 will now be introduced inthe Parliament. PNS

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After The Pioneer exposé, theMinistry of Urban

Development (UDM) has issueda showcause notice to the Centrefor Applied Politics (CAP),Narendra Niketan, asking why aplot of land allotted to it shouldnot be cancelled over violation ofterms of allotment. The CAP wasfounded by former PrimeMinister late Chandra Shekharand is located at a prime prop-erty at ITO. The showcausenotice was issued by Deputy

Land and Development OfficerRajanish Kumar Jha.

The property measuring2,000 yards near ITO is esti-mated to be worth about �500crore. It has become a bone ofcontention between theSamajwadi Janata Party and theCentre for Applied Politics(CAP) Narendra Niketan.

PS Prasad, who is a closeaide of late Prime MinisterChandra Shekhar, hadapproached the UDM andCabinet Secretary with a pleathat the said premises was

encroached upon by a politicalparty (Samajwadi Janta Party-Chandra Shekhar) and a few pri-vate persons and Land andDevelopment Office of UDMhas not taken any action againstthem.

The Election Commissionof India has written to theLand and Development Officeof Ministry of Urban Development about misuse of the purpose for which the land

was allotted to the CAP. TheCentral Vigilance Commissionhas also forwarded a complaintpertaining to the allotment.

Recently, the ElectionCommission de-recognised theSJP (Chandra Shekhar).According to Prasad, the CAPdoes not have any office at thesaid property. At present, thereis a signboard in the name ofCAP outside the property, nearpolice headquarters at ITO.When this reporter visited atCAP he was told that that thecentre has been shifted to

Vasant Kunj, and now thispremises is the office of SJP-Chandra Shekhar.

Prasad claimed that theCAP does not have any elec-tricity, telephone and waterconnection. The L&DO andSouth Delhi MunicipalCorporation have issued noticesin the name Secretary Generalof the Centre. He alleged thatdespite inspection by L&DOofficials in 2015 after which theydirected that encroachmentsbe removed within 30 days, noaction has been taken till date.

The said property wasinspected by the L&DO officialsvide inspection ID no ID12468and after ascertaining that theland was being misused a noticeno L&DO/LS2B/1(309)/251 ofAugust 26, 2015 was issued toCAP saying, “You are thereforehereby required to remedy thebreaches within 30 days from thedate of receipt of this notice fail-ing which action to re-enter thepremises under clause of thelease will be taken against youwithout any further notice in thematter.”

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Aday after the I-T raids onpremises linked to RJD

supremo Lalu Prasad in Delhiand NCR, the workers of BJPand RJD came to blows here onWednesday leaving a few ofthem injured. Some vehiclesparked nearby were also dam-aged. The rivals accused eachother of attacking them withlathi, bottles and bricks. Theclashes took place near BJPoffice at Beerchand Patel Path.The offices of the two partiesare located side by side.

Senior of leaders of the BJPwho rushed to the office

accused ‘goondas’ of RJD ofgate crashing office and attack-ing workers with bricks andlathis. On the other hand, theRJD countered that its workerswere provoked with brickbatsfrom BJP office when theywere moving towards IncomeTax roundabout.

A fuming senior BJP leaderSushil Kumar Modi said, “Humeent ka jawab pathar se denge.(If hit by bricks, we will retal-iate with stones). The conse-quences of this attack will bedisastrous for both Lalu andChief Minister Nitish Kumar.”He, however, said that his partywould not retaliate with vio-lence.

Modi said though the BJPoffice was located in restrictedzone, the police allowed theRJD lumpens to move unchal-lenged with lathis and bottlesand remained a silent specta-

tor. Some injured BJP workerswere heard claiming that the

attackers came escorted by thepolice. Attempts were also

made by the BJP workers toretaliate and attack RJD office

but they were stopped by thepolice.

Incidentally, the BJP hadorganised a day-long dharnaacross Bihar on Wednesday toregister protest against thealleged corrupt practices byLalu family and amassing hugewealth. Modi said the admin-istration did not permit the BJPto hold dharna near its officesaying it was restricted area.Hence they were forced tomove to Gandani Bagh fordharna, but at the same time,RJD workers took out proces-sions in hundreds and attackedBJP office. About half a dozeninjured workers were taken toGardiner Road hospital forfirst aid.

State BJP chief NityanandRai said his party would meetthe DGP to register complaintand if he did not act, theywould also meet the Governor.

He asked the BJP workers toremain clam and patient andnot deviate from their stand ofexposing corruption.

An FIR was filed againstunnamed RJD workers.

RJD spokesperson ManojJha retaliated by saying that hisworkers were first hurled withstones from BJP office. At aPress conference he producedat least two injured workerswith one suffering damage tocornea and another teenagedboy sustaining wounds at hisarms.

Jha said Lalu disapprovedof the procession by the RJDworkers, but he accused Modiof doing politics of violence andalleged that stones were hurledfrom the BJP office. He alsolamented at the language usedby Modi for Lalu and his twosons and calling RJD workersgoondas.

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Amid the BJP’s determinedefforts to bring the Marxist

violence against BJP-RSS lead-ers and workers in Kannur intonational discourse, UnionMinister and senior BJP leaderRajiv Pratap Rudy onWednesday promised all pos-sible Central help, includingdeployment of Central forces,to Kerala’s CPI(M)-ledGovernment to put an end topolitical violence in the district,infamous as Kerala’s Marxistkilling field.

“If the State Governmentfeels that the situation (inKannur) is out of its hands, itshould seek the Centre’s help.They should ask the Centre formore (Central) forces to protectthe people,” Rudy, who visitedthe family of local RSS leaderChoorakad Biju (34), who washacked to death by a Marxistkiller gang on May 12 nearPazhayangadi in Payyannur,Kannur, told newsmen. TheState BJP has demanded impo-

sition of AFSPA in Kannur.Stating that BJP’s wish was

to see the return of peace inKannur, the Union Ministersaid the State Government andthe Chief Minister shouldintervene to ensure justice inKannur. The Centre’s inter-vention in Kannur was becom-ing necessary because of thefailure of the State administra-tion in ensuring peace and jus-tice, he told newsmen onWednesday afternoon.

After visiting the family ofBiju, the slain RSS Karyavahakof Ramanthali, at their house inPayyannur, Rudy said, “It is thejob of the State Government toprotect the life (of the people).We are very deeply anguished.Action should be taken oversuch brutal killings that are tak-ing place here.”

Rudy observed that fearwas lurking among the peopleof Kannur that was unseen inany other region in the coun-try. He will submit detailedreports on the situation inKannur and on the intensity of

the Marxist threat the RSS-BJPworkers were facing there toPrime Minister Narendra Modiand BJP president Amit Shah.

Complaining that his fam-ily had no hope of getting jus-tice from the CPI(M)-ledGovernment in Kerala, theslain RSS leader’s father toldRudy that a CBI investigationalone could bring his son’skillers before the law. TheMinister assured him that everyrequired step would be taken toensure justice.

A Marxist gang had mur-

dered Biju, 12th accused in acase pertaining to the murderof CPI(M) worker CVDhanaraj of Payyannur, onMay 12 evening after waylay-ing his motorbike using aToyota Innova car. Two of theseven-member killer gang havealready been arrested andremanded in judicial custody.

Meanwhile, State BJP pres-ident Kummanam Rajase-kharan said that the police hadregistered a case against him inthe name of posting a video inthe social media, which alleged-ly showed CPI(M) activists cel-ebrating the killing of Biju, aspart of an effort by the LDFGovernment to divert publicattention from the real issue ofCPI(M)-sponsored violenceagainst BJP workers.

The Kannur town policehad on Tuesday registered acase against Kummanam overthe video, which the CPI(M)says is misleading and intend-ed at fomenting Marxist-RSStension, on the basis of a com-plaint lodged by the Kannur

district president of the SFI.Kummanam said he was con-vinced about the video’sauthenticity and was even pre-pared to go to prison over theissue.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan had questioned theauthenticity of the videoKummanam had posted in thesocial media and had told theState Assembly on Tuesdaythat the BJP leader was likely tobe booked over it. The Kannurdistrict leadership of theCPI(M) was the first to attackKummanam over his socialmedia post.

In a similar development,Thiruvananthapuram districtBJP chief S Suresh, againstwhom a case has been registeredfor an allegedly inflammatorystatement, said he did not fearfabricated cases. While protest-ing on Tuesday against theattack against a BJP worker, hehad said that the LDFGovernment’s police would notbe able to stop the BJP-RSS ifthey respond to such attacks.

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The UP Government hasordered a probe into the

complaints received about theirregularities in the construc-tion of roads in the State dur-ing the previous SamajwadiParty regime. Deputy chiefMinister and the PWDMinister Keshav PrasadMaurya said in the StateAssembly on Wednesday thatthe work for making the roadspothole free is in progress andwill be completed by June 15next month.

“We have received thou-sand of complaints from thelegislators and others about thecorruption in the PWD. Wehave already blacklisted twocompanies with one of themusing fake bank guarantee toget the contract,” said Maurya,while replying to a query of anMLA on how the roads getdamaged within a few days ofconstruction.

The MLA said this hap-pens due to the use of the sub-standard material in the con-struction of roads. TheMinister said this matter hascome to the notice of the StateGovernment and a probe hasbeen ordered. He said theGovernment will take effectivemeasures to prevent the reoc-currence of such incidents.

“The State Highways havefour-year guarantee by the con-struction company while otherroads have a guarantee of five-years. The damage of the roadswithin a couple of monthsafter its construction is a seri-ous matter and the construc-tion firms will be accountablefor the lapse” said the Minister.

He said the Government iscommitted for the repair of alldamaged roads and makingthem pothole free by June 15.He said of the total of 80,000kms of roads to be repaired, thework on 13,952 kms of road hasbeen completed by May 15.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will inaugurate a

Narmada water project pump-ing station in Kutch district onMonday during his two-dayvisit to poll-bound Gujarat.

Modi will also address apublic meeting at Lohida vil-lage near Bhachau town andattend an event at Kandla PortTrust (KPT) on the day.

The Prime Minister wouldhave night halt at the State cap-ital Gandhinagar and onTuesday he would attend aprogramme of AfricanDevelopment Bank atMahatma Mandir in the Statecapital.

According to Gujarat BJPspokesman Bharat Pandya on

Prime Minister’s visit, Modiwill hold an important meetingwith the Gujarat BJP leaders.Pandya said that his visit toBhachau was advanced by a dayas he has to visit Kutch onTuesday.

This would be Modi’s thirdvisit to his poll-bound home-State in 2017. In fact, all threevisits came in the past threemonths.

If sources have to bebelieved, the Prime Ministerwill visit Gujarat at least oncein every month till theAssembly elections scheduledfor December 2017.

Already Modi had visitedGujarat 11 times after he waselevated from Gujarat ChiefMinister to the Prime Ministerof India on May 26, 2014.

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JD(S) chief HD Kumaras-wamy, who is expected to

play a major role in the ensu-ing Assembly polls, got antic-ipatory bail from a city court onWednesday in the Janthakalillegal mining case in which asenior IAS officer GangaramBaderiya was arrested recent-ly. But Kumaraswamy’s worriesare not over as the LokayuktaSpecial Investigation Team(SIT), which is investigating thecase based on the SupremeCourt orders, has summonedhim to appear before them onMay18.

Kumaraswamy blamed theruling Congress Governmentled by Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah for targeting him.He said, “The Governmentmachinery is working over-time to fix me. The anticipato-ry bail is for a period of sevendays and it is an interim bail,which has been given to me bythe judiciary. I have also beenserved a notice to appear beforethe SIT, and will do so onThursday.”

“The SIT is filled withthose from the State

Government. And they arebeing ordered by theGovernment to ensure that Iam behind bars for at least anhour, if not a day.”

Kumaraswamy claimedwith 2018 elections round thecorner, the Congress and theBJP are afraid of him being wayahead of the national parties instrengthening the JD(S) andposing a threat to them. “Theyknow that I am ahead of them,in strengthening the JD(S) base.Hence, the intent to curtail andcurb me by such cases. It willnot succeed,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the 53rdCity Civil Court granted reliefto Kumaraswamy who hadapplied for the bail on Tuesdayanticipating SIT issuing noticeand possible arrest in connec-tion with illegal iron ore trans-port by Janthakal Mining com-pany.

Earlier during the hearingof the application, SIT advocateargued against granting thebail since investigation was yetto begin and if bail was grant-ed, there is a possibility ofKumaraswamy not cooperatingwith the investigation and mayinfluence the witnesses.

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Aday before Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit,

Hardik Patel-led pro-quotaorganisation Patidar AnamatAndolan Samiti (PAAS)announced a march of its 51leaders with tonsured (shaved)head from Saurashtra townBotad to Bhavnagar.

“Though we have kept tar-get of 51 PAAS leaders all withshaved heads — including me,any numbers of Patidar youthare welcome to join the marchon Sunday. It would be theprotest march in support ofPAAS’s demand to give reser-vation to Patel community inGovernment jobs and educa-tional institutions under OBCcategory,” said the pro-quotaleader at a Press meet onWednesday.

Patel claimed that though

the BJP kept a target to win 150out of 182 seats in the upcom-ing Assembly polls, it wouldhardly win 80 seats as not onlyPatels but women, Dalits, trib-al people and the youth fromother castes too were not happywith the ruling party.

Despite PASS leaders meet-ing with Gujarat PradeshCongress Committee (GPCC)president Bharatsinh Solankilast week, Hardik came down

heavily on the OppositionCongress and termed the old-est political outfit in the coun-try as a sinking ship.

“The Congress should notthink that the laddoo would fallin to their mouth due to Patelagitation. If they too do notmake their stand clear and gettheir act together, the peoplemay be forced to look some-where else for a completelynew alternative,” said Patel clear-ing the air that PAAS wouldsupport Congress in the forth-coming Assembly polls.

Suggesting the State to setup a separate commission toconsider PAAS’s demand togive reservation to Patidaryouth in Government jobs aswell as educational institu-tions, Hardik said that if theState Government was seriousit should form the commissionwith immediate effect.

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The ruling TrinamoolCongress continued with

its winning spree clinching onWednesday four out of sevenmunicipal boards that went towhat the Opposition partiescalled “farcical elections”marred by rampant violenceand booth-capturing.

Though the BJP, along withits bigger partner GorkhaJanmukti Morcha, won threemunicipalities of Darjeeling,Kurseong and Kalimpong —where voters tended to ignoreMamata Banerjee’s politicallargesse that came in the formof the sub-divisional townbeing made a district — it con-ceded the victory to theTrinamool in Mirik a small Hilltown and the tiniest board inthe country with nine members

amid complaints of fraud dur-ing counting process.

In the plains at Raiganj, theTMC swept the scene winning24 out of the 27 seats defeatingeven the sitting Congresschairman and MLA MohitSengupa by a meager 45 votes.The BJP could win only oneseat in the board while the Left-Congress alliance won two.

At Domkal municipality inMurshidabad district borderingBangladesh, the TMC won 18seats while the Left-Congresswon three out of which twomembers switched to the rul-ing outfit within moments ofclinching the seat followingwhat the Congress leaderscalled “dire threats and lure ofmoney.”

Curiously Anisur Rehmana former Minister and the sit-ting CPI(M), MLA from

Domkal had been winning theseat for the past three decadesand had withstood the Mamatawave since 2011 till 2016.

At Pujali in South 24Parganas too, the Trinamoolswept the polls as the Congressand the BJP won only one andtwo seats respectively.

Incidentally all the threeparties had pulled out of theelectoral fray by noon of May14 when elections were heldfollowing complaints of ram-pant violence, bombing andbooth-capturing.

While Mamata subse-quently tweeted thanking“Maa-Maati-Maanush forreposing faith in me andaffording us such a commend-able victory,” the BJP, Congressand the Left dismissed the results as “fallout of vio-lence.”

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Acontroversial Shahi Imamfrom Kolkata, who refused

to take red beacon off his vehicle, was removed from hisroyal post on Wednesday bythe board of trustees of the spe-cific mosque.

Days after he gave outanti-India statements by threat-ening jehad and days after thered beacon standoff, NoorurRehman Barkati the contro-versial Shahi Imam of Kolkata’sTipu Sultan Mosque wasremoved by its board oftrustees.

The information ofBarkati’s removal was dissem-inated from the office of AnwarAli Shah \sixth in the line ofdescent from the last Sultan ofMysore and the head of theboard of trustees.

The Shahi Imam knownfor his proximity to ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeewhose numerous electoral ral-lies he had co-addressed hadearlier openly denouncedalleged “the ploy by BJP todeclare India a Hindu Rashtra,”and threatened to “declareJihad if India becomes HinduRashtra or Koran and Azaanare banned here.”

He also demanded a

Muslim Rashtra or a Pakistanin such case creating a ruffle inthe political circles.

Barkati had challenged thenew Central laws and refusedto remove red-beacon from hisvehicle which he finallyremoved a couple of days agofollowing massive criticismfrom other Imams and men ofhis own community.

“The red beacon was givento me by the BritishGovernment and was used bymy car. It is heritage instructionfor me and I will never removeit,” Barkati had said, curiouslyattracting no comments fromthe Chief Minister.

Only after widespread crit-icism and a personal coaxingby State Minister FirhadHakim, who went to his resi-dence, that he allowed the redlight to be removed from hisvehicle.

Another State MinisterSiddiqullah Chowdhury whomainly represents the BengaliMuslims had demonstrated infront of Barkati’s office andcalled for larger agitationagainst him for his “anti-national ways.”

Police complaints were alsolodged against him after hemade such provocative state-ments.

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Afull-fledged war has brokenout in the electronic media

between two rival news chan-nels, with the Bennett Coleman& Co. Ltd (BCCL) that ownsTimes Now TV accusing ArnabGoswami of new televisionchannel Republic TV alleginginfringement of IntellectualProperty Rights and othercharges and the latter dismiss-ing the allegations as “silly” and“incredibly foolish”.

A day after the BCCLlodged a police complaint withthe Azad Maidan police stationagainst him and his colleaguePrema Sridevi for alleged “theft,misappropriation of propertyand criminal breach of trust”,an unruffled Arnab said “I

was ready for all this... This isa ‘David and Goliath’ battle.Somewhere in my heart, I feelthat the audiences are with me.Tomorrow TRP ratings aregoing to come out. They(BCCL) are doing all thisbecause they have lost theaudiences completely. Thiskind of tactics will not workwith us. This will strengthenour resolve.”

“It (the allegations) is sucha silly thing. I have been laugh-ing about it since this morn-ing..........Arnab Goswami issitting in a news room, whileVineet Jain (of BCCL) is sittingin a police station (lodging acomplaint against me). Instead,Vineet Jain should spend moretime in news room then he willunderstand what news report-

ing is all about,” a combativeArnab told The Pioneer in anexclusive conversation onWednesday evening.

Alluding to the tapes usedin the exposes done byRepublic TV on Lalu PrasadYadav’s purposed conversationwith incarcerated MohammedShahabuddin and on the deathof Congress leader ShashiTharoor’s wife SunandaPushkar, Manish Wadkar ofBCCL stated in the complaintlodged with the Azad Maidanpolice station Tuesday “Boththese exposes displayed mate-rial (in the form of audio tapesof phone conversations) thatwas procured and accessedwhile Goswami and Premawere in the employment ofTimes Now”.

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Defence Minister ArunJaitley on Wednesday

reviewed security situation inJammu & Kashmir with topArmy commanders. His visit,the first after assuming chargeas Defence Minister in Marchend, comes in the backdrop ofcontinuing unrest in KashmirValley and attacks on securityforces.

Army Chief General BipinRawat also arrived in Srinagaron Wednesday to take stock ofthe measures taken by theArmy to sustain the tempo ofanti-terrorist operations. Withexpected spike in number ofinfiltration bids from across theLine of Control (LOC) in thecoming weeks, he was also

briefed about the deploymentpattern of troops in thecounter-infiltration grid.

One additional battalion(1,000 soldiers) was recentlydeployed in the Shamshabarimountain range to preventinfiltration into North Kashmirand if needed more troopswill be pressed into service toman the LOC.

Jaitley and Rawat wereapprised of the deploymentpattern and preparedness, offi-cials said here.

Rawat will return to NewDelhi on Thursday while Jaitleywill be back on Friday after tak-ing part in Goods and ServicesTax(GST) deliberations withthe State Government asFinance Minister.

The Defence Minister and

the Army chief ’s visits to theState comes at a time whenprotests and stone peltingremain unabated and securityforces admit the situation is notconducive. Moreover, PakistanArmy was regularly violatingceasefire and firing on IndianArmy posts forcing evacuationof civilian population fromRajouri and Poonch regions.

The Army along with Para-Military Forces and the localpolice were also gearing up forproviding security cover to theforthcoming Amarnath Yatracommencing June 29 and end-ing August 7. Jaitley and Rawatwere apprised about the plansto ensure an incident free pil-grimage where lakhs of peoplefrom all over the country wereexpected to participate.

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The Telangana Police is gear-ing up for action against

political leaders, includingmembers of the State Assemblyand legislative Council, fortheir alleged links with theMaoist turned dreaded gang-ster Nayeemuddin.

Having suspended fivepolice officials and orderingdepartmental action against16 other cops, the police topbrass is now focusing on thepoliticians who had extendedtheir patronage and protectionto the illegal activities ofNayeem and his gang.

The action was taken onthe basis of solid evidenceincluding photographs ofNayeem with the police officersand politicians.

Names of TelanganaRashtra Samithi leader andvice chairman of LegislativeCouncil N Vidya Sagar Raoand another TRS leaderChintala Venkat Reddy fromBhongir find a place in the listof politicos likely to face action.Three other MLAs of TRS andopposition were also facingprobe.

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With only a fortnight leftbefore the summer sea-

son formally comes to an end,an intense heat wave hasgripped entire Telangana andAndhra Pradesh with mercuryshooting up to more than 46degrees Celsius at many places.

According to the weatherbulletin of the IndianMeteorological Department(IMD) Kottagudem andKhammam were the hottestplace in Telangana onWednesday as a maximumtemperature of 46.4 degreeCelsius was recorded in boththe places.

Mercury touched a high of44 degrees in Nalgonda,Adilabadand Mancherial 43degrees Clesius in Warangaland Karimnagar.

For the State capitalHyderabad also it was one ofthe hottest days as the mercurycrossed 42 degrees for the sec-ond consecutive day. Most ofthe city roads wore a deserted

look as the people stayedindoors to avoid exposure tothe heat and sun stroke.

In Andhra Pradesh, wherethe hot winds kept the peopleconfined to their homesVijayawada was among thehottest place with maximumtemperature of 46 degrees.Guntur and Eluru also record-ed the equally high tempera-ture. The city roads wore adeserted places as peopleremained indoors to avoidexposure to the heat wave.Rajahmundry and Ongolerecorded 45 degrees, Kadapa 44and Nellore and Tirupatirecorded 43 degrees Celsius onWednesday.

Weather officials said thatthe temperatures were four tofive degrees Celsius above nor-mal. “A heat wave like situationis prevailing in both the States,”said YK Reddy, director, IMDHyderabad.

He however hoped thatthe situation may ease andheat wave will abate fromThursday onwards.

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To maintain hold over theminorities after kicking out

their Muslim face,Naseemudeen Siddiqui, theBahujan Samaj Party onWednesday made entry of twomore of old senior leadersfrom Hardoi, who wereexpelled from the party just ayear back.

Former UP Minister AbdulMannan of Sandila (Hardoi)and his brother Abdul Hannan,also an ex- MLA of Hardoi,both along with their support-ers joined BSP in the presenceof party’s State president, RamAchal Rajbhar here onWednesday noon.

Interestingly, the party for-mer general secretaryNaseemudeen Siddiqui (nowexpelled) had announced theexpulsion of both the abovebrothers last year on May 26,accusing them of engaging inanti-party activities.

Now on Wednesday, soonafter joining BSP, Mannan,who earlier joined SamajwadiParty after being expelled byBSP, took the opportunity toblame Siddiqui for workingagainst the interest of theMuslim leadership within BSPand said that the Siddiquiwanted that no other leader ofhis community should remainin the party and hence hemanaged their ouster. Heaccused Siddiqui of misguidingMayawati.

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Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath

on Wednesday stressed that thebenefit of all the GovernmentSchemes should reach the lastperson of the society.

Releasing a book of theState Information Directorate‘Uttar Pradesh Sandesh’ here onWednesday morning, Yogi saidthat his Government is com-mitted on their agenda of Sabka

Saath-Sabka Vikas so the offi-cials should ensure that bene-fit of all the GovernmentSchemes should reach thepoorest of the poor and no oneshould be deprived of it.

Yogi said that as the bookscontains details of all theGovernment run schemes sothe Department must ensurethat it should reach to all thepublic representatives even tillpanchayat level and also to allthose concerned who facilitate

the Government agencies inforwarding the benefit of theschemes.

He said that in the comingdays, the book will help tospread awareness on theGovernment Schemes withinthe common people. BesidesChief Minister, the otherimportant officials present onthe occasion included chiefsecretary Rahul Bhatnagar, andprincipal secretary informa-tion, Avinish Awasthi.

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The Uttar Pradesh Assemblyon Wednesday expressed

concern over the plight of thewomen in jail who were arrest-ed for holding protest againstthe opening of the liquor vendsin rural areas of the State. Theliquor vends in many districtsof the State were shifted to thedensely populated areas of thecity following the Supremecourt order banning the oper-ation of the liquor vends with-in the 500 meter radius of theNational Highways.

The issue was raised byBSP member Sukhdeo Rajbharduring the Zero Hour throughcall attention motion. Rajbhar

said that as many as 433women which include women

of 70 to 80 years-old and somelactating mothers were arrest-ed for staging protest againstthe opening of the liquor shopsin their respective localities inEast UP districts. He said theyoung mothers have been sentto jail along with their children.He said the police had regis-tered 161 cases against thesewomen and chargesheet is like-ly to be filed soon against thepoor women in Court. BSPleader demanded immediaterelease of the poor women.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Suresh KumarKhanna said the information ofthe member was not correct asseveral women have alreadybeen released from the jail.

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The family members andaides of incarcerated

Maharashtra’s former DeputyChief Minister ChhaganBhujbal on Wednesday vehe-mently contested claim byactivists Anjali Damania andothers that he and his nephewSameer were getting royal treat-ment inside Arthur Roadprison in south Mumbai, wherethey are lodged.

A day after Damaniaalleged in her complaint to theState prison administrationthat Bhujbals had been pro-vided “favourite” food, a wide-screen television to watchHindi movies and Sameer wasbeing given vodka mixed withcoconut water, an aide ofBhujbals stated “Such lettersand news are deliberatelyimplanted with a view todemoralise and humiliatemembers of Bhujbal family.Further, such publications andcirculations creates unneces-sary pressure on Governmentmachineries be it jail authori-ties, Government Hospitals,local police etc. There is nosubstance in allegations againstBhujbal and it is a matter oftime that he will be declaredinnocent by the Court of law.”

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Page 8: $23.45˝ .0 6 ˜ ˛!˜˚˙˚#ˆ$˚%˛ˆ - The Pioneer placed third on the list, while Delhi’s Anand Vihar station is ... (VCCR), 1963 saying it amounted to human rights violation

The tensile strength of a politi-cal party in a democracy istested in times of adversity. Ifa party takes defeats on itschin, recognises the reasons for

the setback and works with greatervigour to connect with the people, it canreasonably nurse hopes of a comeback.If it spins excuses, blames all but itself forthe loss, and turns its ire on its own peo-ple who do some plain-speaking, theprospect of a turnaround in the fortunesgets dim. Several twists and turns havetaken place in Indian politics since inde-pendence, but one truth has held firm:Parties that have shown humility and notarrogance in defeat and willingness tolearn, have always bounced back.

The stories of the Bharatiya JanataParty and the Congress since indepen-dence are poles apart, but they convergeat one point: Both have gone through dif-ficult times but have resolutely scriptedcomebacks. The euphoric moments ofvictory often hide the strenuous effortthat goes into a revival. And such a recov-ery is not automated; it has to be con-scious, focussed, directed and sustained.Simply because there is a mass of peopleout there wanting a party to make areturn is no guarantee that the return willhappen. Besides, if the positive changedoes not happen fast enough, people arenot prepared to wait forever. The longerperiod a party languishes in the backyard,the greater the chance of its being writ-ten off for good.

When the Bharatiya Jana Sangh wasformed 65 years ago, the Congress led byJawaharlal Nehru was at its peak. Itsfounder Syama Prasad Mookerjee was thelone warrior. The party had to wait formore than 25 years before it tastedpower, and that too as part of the largerJanata Party conglomeration in 1977.After the Janata Party experiment failed,the Jana Sangh found for itself a newname, which we now know as the BJP. Itstraightaway plunged to a humiliatingdefeat, winning just two seats in the 1984general election. But just a little morethan a decade later, it emerged as the sin-gle largest party in the Lok Sabha andwent on to form a Government with alliesat the Centre. However, only five yearsafter completing its first full five-yearterm, it suffered a shocking defeat — fol-lowed by another one. With two back-to-back losses in the Lok Sabha poll (2004and 2009), the BJP’s rivals were ready towrite it off. Its dramatic comeback in2014 provides a valuable lesson for stu-dents of Indian politics — a people-cen-tric organisation can eventually tilt thescales in its favour.

If the BJP had a rocky beginning onlyto stabilise later, the Congress started on

the strong foundation Nehru had laid.But within five years of his death, theparty headed by Indira Gandhi faced amassive crisis. The 1967 Lok Sabha elec-tion saw the Congress considerablyweakened, a trend which continued withthe party faring poorly in various StateAssembly polls as well. Indira Gandhi’sleadership came into question and a kindof coup was simmering within. IndiraGandhi was expelled by the old guard;she went on to form her own outfit, tri-umphed and purged the party of dissi-dents. Barring the post-Emergency defeatof 1977, she reigned supreme until herassassination.

The Congress under Indira Gandhiand the BJP under Atal Bihari Vajpayeeresuscitated themselves because theyunderstood the pulse of the people. Noteven in their worst moments did the lead-ers allow their connect with the masses tobe diminished. They continued to inspiretheir workers and party leaders to keepmoving ahead and not lose steam or opti-mism. More importantly, they acknowl-edged the reasons for the debacle and wentabout course-correcting. Additionally,they learned from the mistakes of theirrivals and exploited them to the hilt. That’show Indira Gandhi triumphed in 1980 andNarendra Modi scored in 2014.

There were those who refused tolearn, and they were cast aside. The LeftFront in West Bengal and the SamajwadiParty and the Bahujan Samaj Party inUttar Pradesh are two recent examples.It must be said here that the last two par-

ties still have the potential to restore theirlost glory if only they see the writing onthe wall (this is also true of the Congress,stuck with a leadership that neither hasthe intellectual heft of Nehru nor thecharisma of Indira Gandhi). For now, thatrealisation is not evident in any of thethree parties.

The Left organisations, particularlythe Marxists, appear to be a lost case —not only because the ideology they clingto stands discredited but also becausethey have failed to strike a rapport withthe new generation of voters who havedifferent aspirations and are (or want tobe) upwardly mobile. There are many rea-sons, one among them being the Left’scolossal illusion that Marxism as a polit-ical ideology still has takers in India.Merely because the Left rules in a cou-ple of States in the country, it must notentertain the belief that it’s acceptablepan-India. The message is clear :Disconnect with the people, and you cankiss goodbye to a return to power.

If adversity brings out the best in apolitical organisation, it can also throwup the worst. The swing factor is themoral fabric of the party in question, asit would be in the case of an individual.Rejected and ridiculed, an individual maytake to a world of crime or sink intodepression, or reform for the better.Similarly, a political party can either slipinto a coma, lulled by self-denial, or shakeitself up by seeking answers — howeverunpalatable they may be. Both theCongress and the BJP have demonstrat-

ed that willingness over the decades,being veterans in the political arena. TheAam Aadmi Party, on the other hand, isdevoid both of moral/ethical strength andpolitical acumen. It is, therefore, threat-ening to crumble under just twoAssembly election losses and a defeat ina municipal body poll. The leadership isso rattled by what would have been a blipon a serious political organisation’s radar,that it has lost sense of proportion andhas taken to hallucinating. Instead ofunderstanding that baseless rants of itsleaders have contributed to a loss ofimage among the public, the party hasactually stepped up the slander campaign.It desperately needs sane counsel — andthis can come for free.

Worse will surely follow for the AAPif it continues to make a mockery of thetrust the people had reposed in it. DelhiChief Minister and AAP supremo ArvindKejriwal has promised to re-connect withthe people, but that would be an exercisein futility if the party insists on re-connect-ing with issues that sound like patheticexcuses — rigged EVMs, for instance. Onthe other hand, if it adopts an honestapproach and admits to its blunders,behaves like a responsible organisation,stops casting aspersions on independentinstitutions such as the ElectionCommission of India, and desists fromflinging spurious allegations on rivals, itmay yet be able to ward off a humiliationin the next Assembly election.

(The writer is Opinion Editor, The Pioneer)#

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Mamata meets Sonia, bats forcommon Prez candidate” (May17). Love for power has blindedconscience of Mamata Banerjee.She defended Maulana NururRehman Barkati, Shahi Imam ofTipu Sultan mosque of Kolkata,who was using a red beacon on hiscar, callous to the ban imposed bythe Union Government. Barkatihad also issued a fatwa, offering areward of �25 lakh who would cutoff Modi’s beard and shave hishead, and arranged a condolencemeeting for Osama Bin Laden,who had been killed by US forces.

Now her Members of theLegislative Assembly, Membersof Parliament and Ministers arearrested, involved in different chitfund scams. She is politician whois abetting divisive forces.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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Sir— Thinker ThakurAnukulchandra (Chakraborty)could unfurl a problem irrespec-tive of race, caste, creed, languagereligion and land barrier. He hasgiven a simple maxim in theBengali language and others too;for example, in English and Hindi.One of his sayings is simple butvery effective to the people, irre-spective of any community. It is,“Manush aapan taka par jotoparish manush dhar.” In English,it means that if we can love andnurture people, it would be ben-eficial to us. The human being gen-erally has a great inclination for

earning money, neglecting otherbenefits — and to earn it by hookor by crook. This maleficent ten-dency of earning money general-ly makes people exploit others. Forthis, so many crimes are beheld inso many sections. Resultant, a greatnumber of people are badly affect-ed in society.

This attitude can be controlledif we can love people like ourselvesand try to relieve others from painand sorrow. Then, those peoplewould be our assets and be affec-tionate to us indefinitely.

Democracy is largely definedas a rule by the people, of the peo-ple and for the people. Ifr this isfollowed in true spirit, we canenjoy the success of democracy insociety in the truest sense.

Ashok Kumar SanyalDelhi

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Rajnikanth the politician?”(May 17). With no sign of AllIndia Anna Dravida MunnetraKazhagam’s patch-up exercise,some disgruntled leaders andparties are making attempts touse the image of Rajinikanth tograb power. Rajinikanth shouldunderstand that he is no MKStalin who has spent years in themurky world of politics. Unlikecinema, governance is muchmore tougher. Both his age andhealth are not on his side. Thus,he should be treading lightly. Butthen, it’s his choice.

N NagarajanVia email

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Page 9: $23.45˝ .0 6 ˜ ˛!˜˚˙˚#ˆ$˚%˛ˆ - The Pioneer placed third on the list, while Delhi’s Anand Vihar station is ... (VCCR), 1963 saying it amounted to human rights violation

Arecent Niti Aayog report has putfull and comprehensive focus onenvironment friendly and trans-

formative mobility solutions that couldwell prove to be the basis for an all-newgreen car policy of India.

According to the report, Indiacould save as much as $60 billion inenergy costs by 2030 and one giga-tonnes of carbon emissions between2017 and 2030 by adopting more elec-tric and shared vehicles. Piyush Goel,Minister of State with IndependentCharge for Power, Coal, New andRenewable Energy and Mines , alsoshared this view earlier in April.

The Niti Aayog report proposesthree major transitions — a shift fromprivate vehicle ownership to sharedusership, from petrol and diesel to elec-

tric vehicles and from cities designedfor cars to cities designed for humans.

The objective of the Governmentis praise-worthy as such a transforma-tion will position India as the globalleader in clean, shared, and connect-ed passenger mobility, while establish-ing a model of low-carbon solutions forother developing nations to follow.

The report recommends path-breaking initiatives such as limitingthe registration of petrol and dieselcars through public lotteries, provid-ing fiscal and monetary incentivesand subsidies to push sales of electricvehicles and using tax revenues fromthe sale of petrol and diesel cars to setup electric charging stations. Thereport also suggested lowering ofinterest rates and electricity tariffs forelectric taxis, establishing a consor-tium for manufacturing standardisedbatteries and common componentsto bring down their cost and settingup battery-swapping facilities.

Besides these steps, the report rec-ommended setting up of a governingbody to create, update and simplify theregulatory framework for electric vehi-

cles. Through this report, Niti Aayogis proposing to gradually phase out fos-sil fuel powered vehicles in India, whichin itself is a heartening move.

However, a recently released reportalso by Niti Aayog, has stated that coal will remain India’s mainenergy source for the next threedecades although its share will gradu-ally fall as the country pushes for renew-able power generation. This contradic-tory standpoint is surprising since Niti

Aayog on the other hand is pushing formass electric mobility that is free of fos-sil fuel power.

India already has the unflatteringdistinction of being the world’s third-largest coal producer and the third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter. Itdepends on coal for about three-fifthsof its energy needs and aims to doubleits output to 1.5 billion tonnes by 2020.

Niti Aayog has the mandate to planIndia’s future and if anything, it must

work towards reducing the role of fos-sil fuel in India’s energy mix. Currentlythe report expects that by 2047, coal’sshare of India’s energy mix wouldshrink to 42-48 per cent from about 58per cent in 2015.This state of affairs cansurely be improved.

India dependence on fossil fuels,especially coal is a matter of concernfor leaders of other countries as well asfor environmentalists. The fact thatIndia is also the world’s second largestcoal importer does not help mattersmuch. The main concern that theGovernment must tackle is that despiteits commitment to renewable energy,the country is not only increasing theuse of coal but also projecting that theusage trend will continue for anotherthree decades.

This is coming at a time whenmany Western nations are rejecting thedirty fossil fuel. India’s increasing coal usage is also expectedto hamper the global fight against cli-mate change besides adversely impact-ing India’s green credentials. Currently,India aims to cut thermal coal importsto zero by the end of this fiscal year and

use its abundant domestic stockpiles toaddress its electricity needs. However,it will have to start importing again afterits coal production peaks in 2037.

According to estimates, importscould rise to as much as 62 per cent by2047 from over 25 per cent; now if thecountry doesn’t make its coal miningmore efficient. India also aims to gen-erate 175 gigawatts of electricitythrough renewables by 2022 and boostnatural gas to 15 per cent of its energyneeds, from 6.5 per cent currently, asit plans to use cleaner fuels for powerplants and transport, but these plans likeothers must not stay on paper whilecoal usage is peaking on the other hand.

Coal dominates our energy gener-ation scenario currently and inspite ofyears of planning, alternative andrenewable sources of energy are yet tobe perfected to the level that they canreplace coal. This is the colossal chal-lenge faced by India, and a response tothis challenge can only be met by scal-able, sustainable green energy. Thisalone can dislodge coal use.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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The Supreme Court’s order,upholding the death sen-tence for the four accused inthe Nirbhaya rape and mur-der case, has largely been

met with applause. There has been awidespread sense of contentment thatjustice has finally prevailed and thatthere has been a closure.

The top court’s ruling was indeedunusual — it was ‘the rarest of rarecase’. The brutality and torture under-gone by Nirbhaya raised the collectiveconscience of the people and forcedthem to take note of the menace lurk-ing on Indian roads. There were can-dle light marches and protests in sol-idarity with her. And the demand wasjust one — “hang the rapists”. Theaccused deserved no mercy. Rightly so,the case became a turning point andthe apex court’s judgement will tosome extent alleviate public’s faith inthe justice delivery system and infusea sense of fear among the rapists.

However, the reality is that all pos-itive. One of the perpetrators of thecrime, a juvenile, continues to live asa free bird, in anonymity, after havingserved three years in a remand home.The judiciary was tied by the law of theland as the juvenile fell short of a fewmonths to be tried as an adult.Considering that his conduct was asheinous as the other accused, or bysome accounts worse than those of fiveothers (one of them died in jail), hisfreedom seems a travesty of justice.

Today, while he remains free,there are no chances to bring him tojustice, at least in the Nirbhaya case.This shall remain a matter of endur-ing regret. The saving grace, however,is that an enraged India’s voice againstthe establishment’s apathetic attitude tothe incident finally yielded results. TheGovernment was forced to amend theJuvenile Justice (Care and Protectionof Children) Act, 2000, which had beenproviding a ‘protective’ shield to hard-ened juvenile offenders.

Now, at the very least, there cannotbe a juvenile, who commits a ‘heinouscrime’, getting away by serving a fewyears in a remand home, (which washardly a punishment). Juveniles agedbetween 16 and 18 years will now haveto face the consequences as any otheradult does and will also be subject tothe Indian Penal Code (IPC).

However, the Government’s deci-sion to make the changes in the juve-nile Act re-ignited the debate on howjuveniles, who commit crimes, must betreated. At the forefront of this debatewere human rights activists. Theirargument was simple: The Government,instead of giving in to popular pressure,must ensure reformation and rehabili-tation of young offenders, as juvenilesare still learning and not mature enoughto understand the consequences of theiractions. They, therefore, deserve to be

treated with compassion. The hue and cry raised by these peo-

ple was completely misplaced. In fact,most juvenile offenders are well awareof the provisions of the law that couldhelp them escape lightly. Moreover, it’snot necessary that a juvenile rapist willturn a new leaf in reform homes. He canbecome a repeat offender.

While the lamenting brigade’s logicmay hold true for those juveniles whoengage in petty misdemeanours, it can-not be the case for those committingheinous crimes such as rape and mur-der. Lines must be drawn and this is whatthe new amendment has sought to do.

No one is suggesting that all chil-dren, who commit a crime, must be triedunder the IPC. To be sure, it’s not thatthe court will blindly start a case andinstantly push the culprit under the adultjustice system. The judicial process haswell-laid down checks and balances fora fair trail. Once the case is registered,it will be passed on to the juvenile jus-tice court, which will decide the natureof the crime and also give its recommen-dation on whether the juvenile is to berecommended for rehabilitation ortried as an adult for a heinous crime.

To further simplify matters, basedon the Indian criminal law, what kindof an act amounts to heinous crimes, toohas been defined. As per the law, seri-ous offences are those like that of cheat-ing, counterfeiting etc and heinousoffences include that of murder, robbery,rape etc. Arguably, even in the case ofheinous crimes, it’s not essential that theultimate punishment is death sentence.Depending on the nature of the crime,it may be the case that a juvenile mayhave to serve a few years in jail.

While the amendments shouldhave a come long time ago, for variousreasons — the lack of political will andalso the lack of reformatory zeal on thepart of the apex court — the change tooktime in happening. What was astonish-ing was that the court — in this partic-ular the Bench that was hearing the case,which was headed by the then ChiefJustice of India Altamas Kabir — wentagainst the popular demand and took acontroversial decision to try the teenag-er accused in the case as a juvenile, andnot as an adult.

The Bench was of the view thatafter undergoing reformation, thejuvenile would be fit to join main-stream society. Just for argument’s sake,even if we are given to trust this state-ment, given the number of cases ofrepeat offenders one wonders if a smalltenure in a reform home can bring theso-called reform in a serious criminal.We must also not forget the patheticconditions of our reformatory homes.

Sadly, instead of being led byjurisprudence, if not populism, AltamasKabir was heavily influenced by teary-eyed activists, more so his wife MinnaKabir, a well-known child rights activist.It cannot be just a coincidence that inthe wake of the December 16 incident,Minna Kabir had written that, insteadof “knee-jerk reactions”, it is essentialthat the juvenile justice law be revisit-ed but not to provide for trial of a juve-nile as an adult.

And, this is what the Bench, head-ed by Altamas Kabir had to say, “Knee-jerk reaction to the situation could seta dangerous trend and affect millions ofchildren in need of care and protection.”

Apparently, Altamas Kabir was also

taken to believe that since the numberof minors involved in grave crimes wassmall, such alterations must not bemade. In fact, these were the verywords written by Minna Kabir whosaid, “The child crime rate from 2000to 2012 reflects that juvenile crimesaccounted for only 0.5 per cent of totalcrimes committed. Rape accounts foronly about 3.5-4.45 per cent of the totalcrimes committed by children…”

Even now, with the new amend-ments in force, the battle againstmaking public places safer for ourwomen does not end here. As a mat-ter of fact, ever since this incident,there has been a surge in the numberof rape cases being reported.According to the National CrimeRecords Bureau, 34,651 women wereraped in India in 2015 — an appallingrate of 95 per day. The Rohtak incidentis only among the latest.

Legislation alone will not tacklethe problem. Efforts must be made toimprove the overall conviction rate,which can only happen through bet-ter policing and investigation, withoutwhich the new legislation will make nosense. Most importantly, it has nowbecome all the more necessary for thepolice to deal effectively. Because, withstricter laws, the punishment toobecomes harsher. Then the need aris-es for the police to present before thecourt a water-tight case so that themaximum punishment is upheld held.On its part, the court too becomesdoubly careful. It does not want an iotaof doubt to remain, because sentenc-ing someone to death is not a joke.

(The writer is Senior Assistant Editor,The Pioneer)

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In a move to bring trans-parency in coal sector in the

country, Union Cabinet onWednesday approved a newcoal linkage policy that seeksto lower power tariffs by allo-cating coal blocks through areverse auction.

The new policy is calledSHAKTI or Scheme forHarnessing and AllocatingKoyala Transparently in India.The Government will make itseffort that that the new poli-cy will lead to gradual phas-ing out of the old one. It isexpected that the move mayease stress on account of non-availability of linkages topower sector projects. Thedecision was taken at themeeting of CabinetCommittee on EconomicAffairs (CCEA) headed byPrime Minister NarendraModi.

Briefing reporters afterthe Cabinet decision, UnionMinister for Coal, Power andRenewable Energy, PiyushGoyal, said the policy aimedto ensure coal availability at allpower plants and reducedependence on imports ofthe dry fuel. “It will also helprevive the stressed assets in thepower sector,” he said.

The policy also seeks toalleviate the stress that certainpower units are under due tounavailability of linkages. Itthus bodes well not just for theinfrastructure sector but alsofor the public sector bankswhich have crores of rupeeslying unpaid in loans given to

the power companies.However, the Coal

Ministry said in a statementthat the coal availability sce-nario would now emerge fromscarcity to adequacy. “In thisadequate coal availability sce-nario, the present policy pro-poses a fading away of the oldlinkage allocation policy andemergence of a new linkageallocation policy based ontransparent and objective cri-teria for the optimal utilisationof the natural resources,” itsaid.

The CCEA has approvedthe signing of Fuel SupplyAgreement (FSA) with theLetter of Assurance (LoA)holders. “The allocation oflinkages for power sector shall

be based on auction of link-ages or through PowerPurchase Agreement (PPA)based on competitive biddingof tariffs except for the stateand the central power gener-ating companies and theexceptions provided in TariffPolicy, 2016,” it said.

PPA is a contract betweentwo parties, one which gen-erates electricity and onewhich is looking to purchaseit. Coal drawal will be per-mitted against valid long-term PPAs and to be con-cluded medium term PPAs.

As per the new policy,thermal power plants (TPPs)having LoA will be eligible tosign FSA after ensuring thatthe plants are commissioned,

respective milestones met, allspecified conditions of theLoA fulfilled within speci-fied timeframe and wherenothing adverse is detectedagainst the LoA holders andthe TPPs are commissionedbefore March 31, 2022. TPPs,part of 78000 mw, whichcould not be commissioned byMarch 31, 2015 will now beeligible for coal drawal if theplants are commissionedbefore March 31, 2022.

Actual coal supplies to allTPPs will be to the extent oflong term PPAs or mediumterm PPAs to be concludedin future and coal linkageswill be granted to central andState Gencos on recommen-dations of Power Ministry.

Coal linkages will begranted on auction basis forIndependent Power produc-ers (IPPs) with PPA based ondomestic coal. The IPPs par-ticipating in auction will bidfor discount on the existingtariff. The discount on tariffwould be adjusted from thegross amount of bill at thetime of billing.

“The future coal linkagesfor supply of coal to IPPswithout PPA shall be on thebasis of auction where bid-ding for linkage shall bedone over the notified priceof any coal company. TheLoA shall be issued to thesuccessful bidders and FSAsigned after meeting theterms of LoA,” it said.

Linkages, for full norma-tive quantity, shall be grant-ed for setting up Ultra MegaPower Projects (UMPP). Coallinkages, for IPPs having PPAbased on imported coal, shallbe made available through atransparent bidding process.The auction done on the basisof linkage allocations to IPPswill result in cheaper andaffordable power for all.

The coal supply to theTPPs has been made as perthe provisions of the NewCoal Distribution Policy(NCDP), 2007. Till 2010, CoalIndia (CIL) issued LoA forapproximately 1,08,000 MWcapacity and no new LoAswere issued thereafter due tothe prevailing scarcity sce-nario. The CCEA in 2013had directed CIL to sign FSAwith TPPs of about 78,000MW capacity.

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The Cabinet on Wednesdaygave its go ahead for sign-

ing of a multilateral conventionto implement tax treaty to checkevasion by preventing BaseErosion and Profit Shifting(BEPS).

Briefing reporters after theCabinet meeting, PowerMinister Piyush Goyal said theconvention is an outcome of theOECD/G20 BEPS Project totackle BEPS through tax plan-ning strategies that exploit gapsand mismatches in tax rules toartificially shift profits to low orno-tax locations, resulting in lit-tle or no overall corporate taxbeing paid.

The final BEPS project

identified 15 actions to addressBEPS in a comprehensive man-ner.

Implementation of the finalBEPS Package requires changesto more than 3,000 bilateral taxtreaties which will be burden-some and time consuming.

In view of the same, theconvention was conceived as amultilateral instrument whichwould swiftly modify all coveredbilateral tax treaties (CoveredTax Agreements/CTA) toimplement BEPS measures.

For this purpose, forma-tion of an Ad-hoc Group forthe development of such mul-tilateral instrument wasendorsed by the G20 FinanceMinisters and Central BankGovernors in February 2015.

India was part of the AdHoc Group of more than 100countries and jurisdictionsfrom G20, OECD, BEPS asso-ciates and other interestedcountries, which worked on anequal footing on the finalisa-tion of the text of theMultilateral Convention, start-ing May 2015.

The convention has beenopened for signature as onDecember 31, 2016 and a firstjoint signing ceremony isscheduled to be held in Parison June 7.

Signature is the first step inthe process of expressing con-sent to be bound by the con-vention, which will becomebinding only upon ratification,an official release said.

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��)�������The Governmentis moving ahead with furtheropening of print media, con-struction and retail sectors toforeign investments, anddetailed deliberations in thisregard were held in thef inance ministr y onWednesday.

The commerce andindustry ministry may soonapproach the Union Cabinetto get the final approval onthe proposals, sources said.

According to them, thegovernment is considering torelax foreign direct invest-ment (FDI) norms in certainareas of print media.

Currently, Governmentallows foreign investment inareas such as printing ofnewspapers and publishingof scientific magazines withcertain conditions and FDIcaps.

There is also a proposalto ease the policy in con-struction and developmentsector, under which anIndian company could beallowed to bring FDI even forundeveloped plots in anyproject.

Currently, 100 per centFDI is allowed in the con-struction sector subject tovarious conditions.

One of the norms is that

the Indian investee companyis permitted to sell onlydeveloped plots , whichmeans plots where trunkinfrastructure - roads, watersupply, s treet l ight ing,drainage and sewerage, havebeen made available.

Sources said the govern-ment may put certain restric-tions while making changesin this condition.

The whole exercise isaimed at providing investorfriendly climate to foreignplayers and in turn attractmore FDI to boost econom-ic growth and create jobs.

The Government is alsomulling easing policy in sin-gle brand and multi-brandretail trading.

There is a considerationto allow 100 per cent FDI insingle brand retail sectorthrough automatic route withcertain conditions.

Currently, FDI up to 49per cent is permitted underthe automatic route butbeyond that l imit ,Government’s nod isrequired.

Further, the Governmentis weighing the option ofpermitting overseas retailersto open stores for selling‘Made in India’ products.

Besides, Union Food

Processing MinisterHarsimrat Kaur Badal ispitching to permit FDI innon-food items, along withfood products, under themulti-brand retail policy.

She wants that foreignplayers should be allowed tosell non-food items alongwith food products processedand manufactured in Indiaunder the FDI in food poli-cy.

The easing of the policywill be on the lines of theannouncements made byFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyin the Budget for 2017-18.

The Government last yearrelaxed FDI norms in over adozen sectors, includingdefence, civil aviation, con-struction and development,private security agencies, realestate and news broadcasting.

Foreign investments areconsidered crucial for India,which needs around $1 tril-lion for overhauling its infra-structure sector such as ports,airports and highways toboost growth.

Foreign investments willhelp improve the country’sbalance of payments situationand strengthen the rupeevalue against other globalcurrencies, especially the USdollar. ���

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������ Sajjan Jindal-led JSWSteel on Wednesday said it hasdrawn up capital expenditureprogramme of �26,800 crore forthe next three years period toexpand capacity.

“We are investing �26,800crore over the next three years peri-od to expand our steel capacity. Wewill raise around �15,000 crorethrough debt and the balance willbe through cash accruals,” JSWSteel joint managing directorSeshagiri Rao told reporters here.

The company is looking atexpansion of existing units, along-with new greenfield steel projectsat Odisha and Jharkhand, forwhich it has already started acquir-ing lands, Rao said, adding that thecompany is not looking at anymore acquisitions in the countryto grow its business.

Welcoming the union cabi-net’s approval of the NationalSteel Policy (NSP), 2017 whichprovides a long term vision to givethrust to the steel sector, Rao saidthe board of the company hasapproved the key new invest-ment projects to expand overallsteelmaking capacity, lower oper-ating costs and enrich product

mix.It is augmenting crude steel

capacity at Dolvi to 10 MT fromthe present 5 MT. The estimatedproject cost is �15,000 crore andthe project is expected to be com-

pleted by March 2020.The company has taken up

revamp and capacity upgradationof BF-3 at Vijayanagar worksfrom 3.0 MT to 4.5 MT. The esti-mated project cost is �1,000 croreand the project expected to becommissioned in a period of 20months.

Commenting on the out-look, Rao said, the overall con-sumer discretionary spending,public capex on ‘Rurban’ infra-structure development and foreigndirect investment in the domesticmarket have continued to improve,supporting a gradual growthrecovery.

“Steel demand is expected tobenefit from rising infrastructurespend and improving consumerdemand in FY2018. The allocationfor infrastructure development at�4 trillion in the Union Budgetwith thrust on affordable housing,water and gas pipelines, renewableenergy and road sector, andexpected recovery in rural demandon the back of normal monsoonexpectations augurs well for steelconsumption growth in the coun-try. We expect Indian steel demandto grow by four million tonnes

which is around 5 per cent inFY2018,” he said.

Rao said steel prices areexpected to remain range bound.In the absence of further supply-demand disruption, raw materialprices are easing off and volatilityis receding. However, coking coalcontract prices for 2QFY2017 isexpected to settle at a price high-er than the current spot and thisis expected to keep steel pricesrange-bound.

Meanwhile, the companyreported a three-fold increase inconsolidated profit at �1,008.5crore for the fourth quarter endedMarch 31, 2017 due to higherexport sales, firm steel prices,along with, lower cost of produc-tion. The consolidated totalincome increased to �17,973.06crore, over �11,815.21 crore in thecorresponding quarter of FY16.

“Despite weak steel demandof 2.6 per cent in the domesticmarket and poor liquidity post de-monetisation as well as a surge inraw material prices, we haveenhanced exports sales to offsetdomestic slowdown, with con-tinued focus on enriching theproduct mix,” Rao said. ���

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Reliance Industries ChairmanMukesh Ambani is among the

25 ‘Global Game Changers’ listedby Forbes who are transformingtheir industries and changing thelives of billions of people aroundthe globe.

Forbes’ second annual GlobalGame Changers list includes 25“intrepid business leaders” who are“unsatisfied with the status quo”and “transforming their industriesand changing the lives of billionsof people around the globe.”

Ambani, 60, is in the list for hisgame changing efforts to bring theinternet to India’s masses.

“Oil and gas tycoon enteredthe country’s telecom market witha bang, offering fast internet at dirt-cheap prices. Gained 100 million

customers in six months and set offa wave of consolidation in the mar-ket,” Forbes said, referring to hiscompany’s mobile network oper-ator Reliance Jio.

It quoted Ambani as sayingthat “anything and everything thatcan go digital is going digital. Indiacannot afford to be left behind.”

Forbes said the 25 trailblazerson the list, arranged alphabetical-ly, are re-imagining countless facetsof everyday life, from health tosending money to relatives abroad.

“While plenty of corporatefunctionaries make headlines forsuccessful turnarounds or recordprofits, we sought to identify truemovers and shakers who are deter-mining the course of the future formore than just their own share-holders or employees,” it said.

The list includes founder ofhome appliances companyDyson, James Dyson, Americanglobal investment managementcorporation BlackRockcofounder Larry Fink, DeputyCrown Prince of Saudi ArabiaMohammed bin Salman, socialmedia company Snapcofounder Evan Spiegel,Chinese ride sharing giant DidiChuxing founder Cheng Weiand African retail tycoonChristo Wiese.

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��)�������The tax that 1.3 bil-lion Indians will pay on buyingsalt to luxury cars and on serviceslike phone calls to dining out willbe decided at the GST Councilmeet starting on Thursday inSrinagar, where a tight securitycover has been thrown in view ofrecent protests.

Srinagar has been chosen asthe venue for this crucial GSTCouncil meeting, which willhave in attendance UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyand his ministry officials as wellas representatives of 29 states andunion territories, to send out pos-sibly a message to the people ofJammu and Kashmir on theimportance it holds for the coun-try.

The Council over the nexttwo days will fit most of goodsand services in either 5, 12, 18 or28 per cent tax bracket. The ratesthus fixed will be charged fromJuly 1, the scheduled date for roll-out of Goods and Services Tax(GST) -- India’s biggest tax over-haul since independence.

The GST will be a nationalsales tax that will be levied onconsumption of goods or use ofservices. It will replace 16 currentlevies -- seven central taxes likeexcise duty and service tax andnine state taxes like VAT and

entertainment tax -- thereby cre-ating India as one market withone tax rate.

Jaitley had earlier this monthexpressed confidence of the GSTCouncil arriving at tax rates in theMay 18-19 meeting.

Around 1,000 security per-sonnel will be pressed into ser-vice for sanitising the conferencevenue and the hotels the officialswill be staying. Another 400men will be deployed for thesecurity of the delegates, statepolice official said.

Holding of the meeting inSrinagar is not just the Centre’sinitiative but many of the statestoo had demanded way back inFebruary that the Council shouldmeet in Jammu and Kashmirwhen it decides the tax rates, offi-cial sources said.

With the GST, India will joinselect league of nations with agoods and service tax. France wasthe first country to implement theGST in 1954.

Since then Germany, Italy,the UK, South Korea, Japan,Canada and Australia have beenamong the over a dozen nationswhich have implemented theGST. China implemented GSTin 1994 while Russia did it in1991. Saudi Arabia plans to doit in 2018. ���

��)� ������ After months ofdelay, Paytm is now set to com-mence its payments bank oper-ations from May 23, havingreceived the final approval fromthe Reserve Bank of India.

The digital payments andcommerce firm has namedRenu Satti as its new CEO, fol-lowing the departure of ShinjiniKumar.

“Paytm Payments Bank Ltd(PPBL) has received the finallicence from the RBI and wouldcommence its operations onMay 23, 2017,” it said in a pub-lic notice.

A Paytm spokesperson said:“We recently received approvalfrom RBI for Renu Satti to be theCEO.”

Satti had joined Paytm in2006 as manager humanresources and over the years, hasbeen involved with variousdepartments at the company.Most recently, she was headingthe movie ticketing business asvice president.

Before Paytm, she hasworked with Mother Dairy andManpower group.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, for-mer CEO Shinjini Kumar said:Everyone n their #farrago on myleaving #Paytm, living in Mumand working in NOIDA did notwork for me?? Big deal! Bestwishes @vijayshekhar.”

Paytm was earlier slated tobegin its payments bank oper-ations around Diwali last year

after getting an in- principleapproval from RBI in 2015.

Payments banks can acceptdeposits from individuals andsmall businesses up to �1 lakhper account.

While 11 entities were givenapproval for payments banks,three entities -- Tech Mahindra,Cholamandalam Investmentand Finance Company and aconsortium of Dilip Shanghvi,IDFC Bank and TelenorFinancial Services -- backedout.

Airtel and India Post are theonly players to have startedPayments Bank operations.Aditya Birla Idea PaymentsBank is expected to launch ser-vices soon.

Paytm, in a public notice,has said it will transfer its wal-let business, which has over 218million mobile wallet users, tothe newly incorporated entity -- PPBL, after May 23.

In case consumers do notwish for that, they have toinform Paytm, which will in turntransfer the wallet balance to theconsumer’s bank account oncesuch details are shared. Suchcommunication will have to bemade before May 23.

In case the wallet has beeninactive with no activity in thelast six months, the transfer toPPBL will only happen once theconsumer gives specific consent.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma --founder of One97

Communications that runsPaytm -- holds the majorityshare in the payments bankarm.

The rest of the shareholdingis with Alibaba-backed One97Communications. However, theChinese entity will not have adirect shareholding in the pay-ments bank.

Post the government’sannouncement of scrapping old�500 and �1,000 notes inNovember last year, Paytm hasemerged as one of the main gain-ers as a huge number of peoplemove towards digital currency.

Wallet companies like Paytmand Mobikwik have registeredspike in user base as well as thenumber of transactions. ���

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��)� ������ FMCG majorHindustan Unilever Ltd onThursday posted 6.19 per centincrease in standalone net prof-it to �1,183 crore for the fourthquarter ended March 31, drivenby robust sales across variousbusiness segments.

The company had posted astandalone net profit of �1,114crore in the same period pre-vious fiscal, Hindustan Unileversaid in a BSE filing.

Total income during thequarter under review stood at�8,969 crore, as against �8,430crore in the year-ago period, up

6.39 per cent, it added.“This has been a strong

quarter with profitable volumedriven growth. In a challengingyear, we delivered a resilientperformance by managing ourbusiness dynamically andresponding with agility to thechanging external environ-ment,” HUL Chairman HarishManwani said in a statement.

With gradual improvementin market conditions, the com-pany remains optimistic aboutthe medium term outlook forthe FMCG sector, he added.

For the year ended March

31, the company posted a con-solidated net profit of �4,490crore, up 8.16 per cent from�4,151 crore during the previ-ous fiscal.

Total income of the com-pany rose to �36,128 crore asagainst �35,039 crore in the2015-16.

The company’s board,which met on Wednesday, rec-ommended a final dividend of�10 per share. Together with theinterim dividend of �7 pershare, the total dividend for thefinancial year ending March 31amounts to �17 per share. ���

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Regulator Trai may look intothe issue of testing and

quality of mobile phones andset-top boxes as part of awider consultation to boostmanufacturing of telecom andbroadcasting products in thecountry. The issue assumessignificance as telecom opera-tors had blamed mobile hand-set quality for call drops andapproached the Governmentsaying the role of devices inissue of service quality has notbeen considered adequately.

The Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India’s (Trai) dis-cussion paper pertaining toincentivising manufacturers oftelecom and broadcastingequipment is currently in theworks, two persons familiarwith the matter told PTI. It islikely to be released over thenext one month. The papermay explore, amongst otheraspects, possible sweetners foroperators who use indigenousproducts in their networks.

“The operators had raisedthe issue that the poor qualityof some handsets affects thequality of service and networkperformance. There is likely tobe a larger consultation paperon manufacturing that willinclude this issue,” one of thepersons cited above said.

In March this year, telecomoperators - under CellularOperators Association of India(COAI) - demanded that thegovernment chalk out a mech-anism to control the quality of

mobile handsets in India.Drawing the Government’sattention to the absence of reg-ulations governing the handsetquality, the COAI had ruedthat there was no visibility orcontrol over the large numberof ‘rogue devices affecting thenetwork quality’. This was,however, contested by theIndian Cellular Association, anindustry body that includeshandset makers.

The ICA had countered

COAI's claims saying phonessold in India ‘diligently’ fol-lowed the prescribed norms.The ICA has maintained thatinadequate infrastructure, andnot device quality, was respon-sible for the call drop and net-work throughputs. Trai is look-ing into the issue, a sourcesaid, adding that one of theaspects was ‘testing of proto-type models’. “If the networkperformance is affected then itwill certainly be looked into.

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NEW DELHI: India’s exportshave been increasing despiteglobal headwinds and efforts arebeing made to neutralise anyimpact on them due to imple-mentation of GST, Commerceand Industry Minister NirmalaSitharaman said. She also saidthat the Government will comeout with amendments to the for-eign trade policy to align it withthe Goods and Services Tax(GST), which is scheduled to berolled out from July 1.

Since September last year,exports are consistently going upand “I can see this as a clear indi-cator that our exporters areperforming against all odds andshowing their capacity to with-stand any headwinds and theglobal situation,” she told PTI inan interview. “I do not think thatglobal situation has improved

drastically. Even if there aregreen shoots that people are see-ing and saying that there areprospects that world trade mightimprove, it is yet to be signifi-cantly felt by others,” she added.

The Minister said even inthis type of environment,domestic exporters are doinggood. She also expressed hopethat the country would achievethe the 900 billion target ofexports for goods and servicesby 2020. Talking about theongoing review of the foreigntrade policy (FTP), Sitharamansaid the ministry is covering allaspects in this review, which wascommenced in January.

“We shall not wait tillSeptember. It should happenparallely (with GST) so thatexports do not suffer on accountof any doubts which have not

been explained,” she said. Overconcerns being expressed byexporters body Federation ofIndian Export Organisations(FIEO) on impact of GST onexports, the minister said she hasasked the commerce secretary

and the duty drawback com-mittee in the finance ministry torepreent the case of exporters tothe GST Council. “We are try-ing to see how best other alter-natives of dealing with revenueconcerns as regards to exports

can be handled without makingit cumbersome for exporters,”she said. As there is no provisionof ab-initio exemption in theGST, exporters would have topay the duties and then seek therefund.

Exporters have raised cer-tain concerns over refund ofduties and according to FIEO,a certain portion of workingcapital would be blocked in theprocess with the governmentfor about three months.Thefive-year FTP (2015-20) pro-vides a framework for boostingexports of goods and servicesbesides creation of employ-ment and increasing valueaddition. In 2016-17, whileIndia's merchandise shipmentsaggregated at $275 billion, ser-vices exports grew by 3.4 percent to $160.68 billion. PTI

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Amid concerns over job loss-es in $155 billion IT sector,

industry lobby Assocham onWednesday said this is the time foroutsourcing companies ‘to lookinward’ and focus on the domes-tic opportunity to curtail layoffs.

“It is time our industry bell-wethers looked a bit inward now.It is also time to redraw strategythat gives a good look at the homemarket, which can more thanmake up, at least in the short tomedium term, for the possibledent on jobs in the disruptiveoverseas markets,” it said in a note.

The information technologyand business process managementindustry has grown at a healthyclip for nearly two decades, butprotectionist policies in the westand increased automation have ledto job losses in the recent past withsome analysts estimating layoffs atover 2 lakh per year.

Even as IT majors say thatIndian opportunity is veryvolatile, contributes only singledigits to the revenue and hasproblems surrounding payments,the industry lobby said PM's JanDhan Yojana and Aadhar basedservice delivery models offerinteresting opportunities. It said60 per cent of the current workdone by the Indian IT industryis for global companies in thebanking, financial services andinsurance sector. Data generatedby PMJDY and its linkages with

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)can be a ‘delight for different setof analytics’ and can be used tohelp the fast moving consumergoods, auto, telecom, insurance,agri sectors, it said.

An increased focus on thedomestic front will be a ‘win-win’for both the country as well as theIT industry, it said, calling for ahigh level task force consisting ofIT industry and the Government.The lobby’s secretary general DSRawat claimed ‘lakhs of new jobs’can be created through the focuson domestic opportunity whichcan make up for the losses due toupheavals in global markets andchanging technologies.

The note comes monthsafter Reliance Industries’ MukeshAmbani called the protectionistpolicies in US as a blessing in dis-guise for India. (US PresidentDonald) Trump can actually bea blessing in disguise. Thedomestic IT industry can focuson solving problems right here,which is a huge market,” Ambanihad said in February.

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MUMBAI: Benchmarks Sensex and Niftyfinished at lifetime highs for the third dayin-a-row on Wednesday on robust buy-ing momentum triggered by the earlyonset of monsoon and upbeat quarterlyearnings. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose76.17 points, or 0.25 per cent to end at30,658.77, while the broader Nifty finishedat 9,525.75, up 13.50 points, or 0.14 percent. Persistent buying and foreign fundinflows offset the impact of global volatility sparkedby US President Donald Trump's unexpected fir-ing of the FBI chief, brokers said.

Continuing its upmove for the third straight ses-sion, the 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed to yet anoth-er intra-day record of 30,692.45, but slipped brieflyon profit booking to touch 30,519.14. It finally ended76.17 points, or 0.25 per cent higher at 30,658.77,

surpassing its previous record close of30,582.60 hit on Tuesday. The gauge hasnow gained 470.62 points in three con-secutive sessions. On similar lines, thebroader NSE Nifty surged to a freshintra-day peak of 9,532.60, beforeending at 9,525.75, up 13.50 points, or0.14 per cent.The index overtook itsprevious lifetime high of 9,512.25 hiton Tuesday.

“Market continued to set new highs but lackedstrength on the upside due to worries about US polit-ical turmoil. Investors are gearing up for the two-day GST council meet beginning on Thursday get-ting clarity on rates continued buying from FIIs andannouncement of good quarterly results is keepinga positive vibe in the market,” said Vinod Nair, Headof Research, Geojit Financial Services. PTI

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NEW DELHI: Apollo Tyres haslined up �2,500 crore capex forthe current fiscal as it eyes a dou-ble- digit volume growth. Thecompany, which recently com-missioned its new manufactur-ing plant in Hungary, expectsconstruction activity to com-mence at its new plant in AndhraPradesh in the second half of thecurrent year.

“In rupee terms, overall forIndia and Europe would beabout �2,500 crore, almost splitequally between India andEurope,” Apollo Tyres ChiefFinancial Officer Gaurav Kumarsaid in an analyst call. For theEuropean operations, the co has

earmarked a capex of about 180million euro for the current fis-cal. “In FY18, the Europeancapex, which is Hungary andsmall maintenance etc, would beabout 180 million euro,” Kumarsaid. Besides Hungary, the com-pany's other European manu-facturing plant is in theNetherlands. On the outlookfor the current financial year,Kumar said growth prospectslook good with the governmentfocusing on infrastructure devel-opment. “We expect the demandoutlook to be good. I would saywe are internally looking at againa double-digit volume growtheven in FY18,” he added. PTI

NEW DELHI: India wantsthat new issues in the WTOagenda should be taken up onlyafter consensus among themember nations although it isnot opposed to informal dis-cussions, Commerce MinisterNirmala Sitharaman has said.

The comment assumessignificance as developedcountries including the USare pushing for inclusion ofcertain issues like investmentfacilitation and ecommerce inthe WTO agenda, which isbeing opposed by developingnations like India. PNS

NEW DELHI: More than twodozen candidates includingONGC director Shashi Shankerand Oil India director BiswajitRoy have applied for the top jobat India’s most profitable compa-ny, ONGC. At the close of appli-cation for the job last week, near-ly 30 candidates applied forreplacing incumbent CMDDinesh K Sarraf when he retires

on September 30 this year. Thecandidates are being screened andthe shortlisted will be called forthe interview to be held nextmonth, sources privy to thedevelopment said.

Top of the list of candidates isONGC Director for Technicaland Field Services Shashi Shanker.None of the other 5 functionaldirectors of ONGC were eligible

to apply as they did not have therequisite service of 2 years left.ONGC Videsh Ltd Director(Finance) Vivekanand has alsoapplied and so have 3 of ONGC’sEDs - Sanjay Kumar Moitra (AssetManager for Bassein and SatelliteFields), Rajesh Kakkar (AssetManager of Mumbai High fields)and A R Morbole (Asset Managerof Neelam-Heera fields). PTI

NEW DELHI: Telecom regu-lator TRAI on Wednesdayrecommended the use ofAadhaar-based eKYC verifi-cation for subscribers of fixedline, internet and broadbandconnections, as in the case ofmobile connections. TRAIrecommendation, if acceptedby the Department ofTelecom, would make theauthentication process fastand reliable and lead to sub-

stantial savings for the indus-try. “...The authority recom-mends laying down an appro-priate format (CustomerAcquisition Form) for verifi-cation/reverification of all sub-scribers (including fixed line)availing internet and broad-band services and adoption ofAadhaar-based eKYC service,similar to mobile connec-tions, for their verification,” aTRAI statement said. PTI

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Beijing: China has installedrocket launchers on a disputedreef in the South China Sea toward off Vietnamese militarycombat divers, according to astate-run newspaper, offeringnew details on China’s ongoingmilitary build-up.

China has said militaryconstruction on the islands itcontrols in the South China Seawill be limited to necessarydefensive requirements, andthat it can do what it likes onits own territory.

The United States has crit-icised what it has called China’smilitarisation of its maritimeoutposts and stressed the need

for freedom of navigation byconducting periodic air andnaval patrols near them thathave angered Beijing.

The state-run DefenseTimes newspaper, in a Tuesdayreport on its WeChat account,said Norinco CS/AR-1 55mmanti-frogman rocket launcherdefense systems with the capa-bility to discover, identify andattack enemy combat divershad been installed on FieryCross Reef in the SpratlyIslands.

Fiery Cross Reef is admin-istered by China but alsoclaimed by the Philippines,Vietnam and Taiwan.

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South Korean President MoonJae-In warned on Wednesday

there was a “high possibility” ofmilitary clashes along the bor-der with North Korea as ten-sions mount over Pyongyang’sweapons ambitions.

Moon, who was sworn in

last week, warned that theNorth’s nuclear and rocket pro-grammes were “advancingrapidly”, days after Pyongyanglaunched what appeared to beits longest-range missile yet.

“I will never tolerate theNorth’s provocations andnuclear threats,” he said on avisit to the defence ministry,

urging the South’s military toadopt a “watertight defenceposture”.

“We are living in the real-ity where there is a high pos-sibility of military clashes”along the disputed sea borderoff the Koreas’ west coast oralong the heavily-fortified land frontier that divides them,he said.

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President Donald Trumpfaced fallout Wednesday

over revelations that he per-sonally appealed to now-firedFBI Director James Comey toabandon the bureau’s investi-gation into former NationalSecurity Adviser Michael Flynn,allegations based on notesComey wrote after the meeting.

The White House hasdenied the report, which cameamid a furor over thePresident’s discussions withRussian diplomats in whichTrump is said to have disclosedclassified information.

The White House hasplayed down the importanceand secrecy of the informationTrump gave to the Russians,which had been supplied byIsrael under an Intelligence-sharing agreement. Trumphimself said he had “an absoluteright” as President to share“facts pertaining to terrorism”and airline safety with Russia.Yet US allies and some mem-bers of Congress expressedconcern bordering on alarm.

Trump left the WhiteHouse Wednesday morning tohead to Connecticut where hewas scheduled to give the com-mencement address at the USCoast Guard Academy.

As for Comey, whomTrump fired last week, the FBIdirector wrote in a memo aftera February meeting at theWhite House that the newPresident had asked him toshut down the FBI’s investiga-tion of Flynn and his Russiancontacts, said a person who hadread the memo. The Flynninvestigation was part of abroader probe into Russianinterference in last year’s pres-idential election.

Comey’s memo, an appar-ent effort to create a paper trail

of his contacts with the WhiteHouse, would be the clearestevidence to date that the pres-ident has tried to influence theinvestigation.

The panel’s top Democrat,Elijah Cummings of Maryland,a constant Trump critic, calledthe allegation of Trump pres-sure on Comey “explosive” andsaid “it appears like a textbookcase of criminal obstruction ofjustice.” John McCain, chair-man of the Senate ArmedServices Committee, said lateTuesday that the developmentshad reached “Watergate sizeand scale.”

Mitch McConnell, theRepublican leader of theSenate, said simply, “It wouldbe helpful to have less dramaemanating from the WhiteHouse.” The person whodescribed the Comey memo tothe AP was not authorised todiscuss it by name and spokeon condition of anonymity.The existence of the memo wasfirst reported Tuesday by TheNew York Times.

Trump fired Flynn onFebruary 13, on grounds thathe had misled Vice-PresidentMike Pence and other officialsabout his contacts withRussians. The intensifyingdrama comes as Trump is setto embark on Friday on his firstforeign trip, which had beenoptimistically viewed by someaides as an opportunity toreset an administration.

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Vladimir Putin said onWednesday that US

President Donald Trump hadnot divulged any secrets duringa meeting in Washington withRussian officials and offered toprove it by supplying Congresswith a transcript.

Putin said that Moscowcould provide a recording ofthe exchange between ForeignMinister Sergei Lavrov and USPresident Donald Trump, whois accused of sharing classifiedIntelligence. But a leading USRepublican politician said hewould have little faith in anynotes Putin might supply.

Two US officials said onMonday Trump had disclosedclassified information about aplanned Islamic State operationto Russian Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov when they metlast week, plunging the WhiteHouse into a fresh controver-sy just four months intoTrump’s tenure.

President Putin deployed

his trademark sarcasm onWednesday to make clear hethought the accusation thatTrump had divulged secretsabsurd.

“I spoke to him (Lavrov)today,” a smiling Putin told anews conference with ItalianPrime Minister Paolo Gentiloniin the Russian Black Sea resortof Sochi.

“I’ll be forced to issue him(Lavrov) with a reprimandbecause he did not share thesesecrets with us. Not with me,nor with representatives ofRussia’s intelligence services. Itwas very bad of him.”

Putin, who still hopesMoscow can repair battered tieswith the United States despitea deepening political scandal inthe United States related toTrump’s purported Russia ties,said Moscow had rated Lavrov’smeeting with Trump highly.

A Kremlin aide, YuriUshakov, later told reportersthat Moscow had a writtenrecord of the conversation, notan audio recording.

Washington: President DonaldTrump risked the life of anIsraeli spy embedded in theISIS by sharing classified infor-mation with Russia, formerUS and Israeli officials believe.

“The spy provided intelli-gence involving an active ISISplot to bring down a passengerjet en route to the United States,with a bomb hidden in a laptopthat US officials believe can getthrough airport screeningmachines undetected,” ABCNews reported. “The informa-

tion was reliable enough that theUS is considering a ban on lap-tops on all flights from Europeto the United States,” it said.

The President’s disclosureput the operative for one of theUS’ closest allies at risk andjeopardised future operationsby sharing the informationwith Russia.

“The real risk is not just thissource, but future sources ofinformation about plots againstus,” Matt Olsen, former Directorof the National Counter-terror-

ism Center, told ABC.Many in the counter-ter-

rorism community also feelthat what the president did wasa mistake as Russia is not thepart of a coalition fightingagainst ISIS.

“They are not our partner”.Dan Shapiro, the former USambassador to Israel, now asenior visiting fellow at theInstitute for National SecurityStudies in Tel Aviv, called the President and his team“careless”. PTI

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Washington: The classifiedIntelligence US PresidentDonald Trump divulged toRussian officials last week wasprovided by Israel, a mediareport said on Wednesday.

“The revelation adds apotential diplomatic compli-cation to an episode that hasrenewed questions about howthe White House handles sen-sitive Intelligence,” The NewYork Times said.

The White House refusedto comment on the report. “Icannot comment specificallyon that,” White House PressSecretary Sean Spicer told

reporters during an off- cam-era news conference.

However, Israel came outin support of the White House.“Israel has full confidence inour intelligence-sharing rela-tionship with the United Statesand looks forward to deepen-ing that relationship in theyears ahead under PresidentTrump,” Israeli Ambassador tothe US, Ron Dermer, said in astatement to The New YorkTimes. US NSA Lt General HR McMaster asserted thatTrump’s sharing of informationwith Russia did not risk nation-al security. PTI

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Jerusalem: Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu have spoken on phone, a spokesman said onWednesday, as controversy brewed over the US president’s shar-ing of Intelligence with Russia that came from Israel.

A spokesman in Netanyahu’s office confirmed the phone calltook place on Tuesday but did not say who initiated it.

Trump is due to visit Israel next week. “There was a call yes-terday between the President and Prime Minister for about 20minutes,” the spokesman said.

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On May 19, Ruskin Bond, theliving legend of the

Himalayas, will turn 83.However, when one talks to himor meets him, age becomes justa number. Nothing seems tohave really changed about him orfor him. His deep love for thehills, his attachment to his mem-ories of the Doon valley, his sim-ple daily routine, his interest inpeople, his endearing laughter arejust like they have always been.Like the mountains he has beenin love with, Bond too is consis-tent, constant and always there.One just has to reach out for himand he is there with his affection-ate smile.

Thousands of people havebeen reaching out to him throughreading his books down the gen-erations. He is the clear, beauti-ful and resonant voice of themountains which has been heardby lovers of literature the worldover for the past seven decades,right from the time he wrote hisfirst novella, The Room on theRoof, as a teenager.

Before each birthday, thiswonderful writer wonderswhether he can have a “quiet lit-

tle one” this time. But it is notpossible for him. There areinnumerable fans, admirers andfriends who wait all year to cel-ebrate this special day with theirbeloved author. He surely wouldnot like to disappoint them. “I getso many birthday cakes. I do noteat them as my figure does notallow it!”, he told The Pioneer onthe eve of his big day. “When Ihad just come in to Mussoorieand settled down here morethan 50 years ago, I could havequiet birthdays. But no more.”

Like last year, two newbooks of the prolific author willbe released at the CambridgeBook Depot here on May 19. Thefirst one is very special for Bondas, he says, “It has been writtenby me as a gift to myself.” This isa book about his father and is atribute to him by the author, wholost his father when he was only10 years old. “It is about the twoyears I spent with my father in

New Delhi. All those memorieshave been re-gathered by me withall the feeling I could put in.” Thebook, titled Looking for theRainbow, has been published byPuffin Books. It is an illustratedwork.

The second book isConfessions of a Book Lover,which is a sequel to the author’searlier work Love Among theBook Shelves. This talks about 10authors who have been close toBond’s heart. He opens a window

to his earliest encounters withincredible writers and their won-derful writings to introduce youto the stories that played a signif-icant role in moulding his imag-ination as a full-time writer.Confessions of a Book Lover is ajourney into Bond’s life throughthe books he has loved and anintroduction to some forgottenclassics by authors like Conrad,H.G.Wells and Virgina Woolf.This has been published byPenguin. A third book, which isalmost done, is the author’s auto-biography (text and pictures)which will be released in June. Itis being published by SpeakingTiger and is titled Lone FoxDancing: An Autobiography. LoneFox Dancing is the title of one ofBond’s early poems. “I wanted tohave an unconventional title andthis sounded fine”.

So, it’s going to be a busybirthday for Bond sa’ab again.The editorial team from Puffinwill be here and so will be hun-dreds of tourists who include alarge number of fans.

Bond’s name has becomesynonymous with Mussoorie andDehradun, with hills and stories

of simple people, told tongue-in-cheek and with an all-embracingwarmth and candour. He is nolonger just a writer. He meansmany things to many people. Anicon of excellence for some, aninspiration for others, a symbolof simplicity and good humourfor many and a weaver of exquis-ite tales for a lot of his admirersand fans.

On this occasion, he againshared memories of his child-hood days in the Doon valleywith me. “I spent many a holi-day at the Doon valley residenceof my maternal grandfather,William Dudley Clerke, whowas one of the early pioneers tobring the railways to Dehradun.In fact, he retired and settleddown in Dehradun in 1900, theyear when the first train arrivedat Doon’s railway station. DilaramBazaar, which was quite near ourhouse, was one of my favouriteplaces as the bakers there mademouth-watering nan-khataiswhich I used to simply love.” Donot forget to have some nan-khatais on your birthday, dearBond sa’ab, and keep giving uswondrous stories!

Maharajah Duleep Singh wasexiled by the British to a priv-

ileged life in England when he wasonly 15 years old, and was shortlythereafter converted to Christianity.Reuniting with his long-lost moth-er after more than a decade, Duleepbegins a daring journey of self-dis-covery in order to reclaim his faithand the kingdom that is rightfullyhis. His struggle inspired Sikhs tocontinue their fight for freedom untilIndia regained its independencefrom British imperialism in 1947,and the Sikh kingdom was dividedbetween India and Pakistan. Thisstory hopes to offset the glamourcomponent that has been definingIndia at the Cannes film festival late-ly and prioritise content once again.

The Black Prince, a historicaldrama based upon the true story ofMaharajah Duleep Singh, the boywho became king of Punjab shortlybefore it was annexed to the Britishempire, will launch its trailer inCannes this weekend. Produced byBrillstein Entertainment, the film iswritten and directed by Hollywoodfilmmaker Kavi Raz and filmedwidely across the UK and India.

The film was awarded theSpecial Jury Remi Award at the 50thannual World Fest InternationalFilm Festival in Houston. The event’sGold Remi was also awarded to thefilm’s art director Natalie O’Connor.It made separate debuts at theCineQuest Film Festival in San Jose,California and the Manchester FilmFestival in England, both in March.The film will next be unveiled at theBentonville Film Festival in Arkansasand at the International Film Festivalof South Asian films (IFFSA) inToronto.

Actress-producer PriyankaChopra will be putting her global starimage to good use to promote herSikkimese film Pahuna. With thetrailer launch, she hopes to drivehome the universality of good sto-ries, even if they are regional.Meanwhile Iranian filmmaker MajidMajidi’s India-set project Beyond TheClouds will unveil its second poster.This film features Shahid Kapoor’syounger brother Ishaan Khatter inthe lead with actress MalavikaMohanan. The film, which covers thenuances of an adorable brother-sis-ter relationship, has been complete-ly shot in India.

“The makers of the film are plan-ning a unique marketing strategy forthe film around its posters. They planto release a series of teaser postersone by one, unveiling the differentlooks and textures dedicated to thecharacters of the film. After the beau-tiful first poster and now the secondposter at Cannes, we can expect a fewmore in the next few months,” saida source in the know of develop-ments. The first look of the film wasunveiled at the Berlin Film Festivalin February.

At a time when it’s raining hat-tricks, can Michelin-starred

celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna befar behind? The trailer of BuriedSeeds, a timeless story of pas-sion, resilience, failure and rise

as seen through Khanna’s eyesand which follows the journey of an

immigrant overwhelming obstaclesin achieving his dreams, is to makeits debut today. Born with clubbedfeet in Amritsar, Khanna is unableto walk like other children. He findscomfort and refuge in his grand-

mother’s kitchen where he becomesfascinated with food and develops hissensory experience. At the majestickitchens of the Golden Temple, hefinds his true passion and purpose.At 17, he starts a small shop and sellsbread and food for kitty parties.

“A few years ago, Andreiapproached me about making afilm about my life’s journey fromAmritsar to America. With his purecraft, visual art and compellingstory-telling, he has created a mas-terpiece, Buried Seeds, inspired by asimilarly titled book,” Khanna said.

“It’s 70 years of India’s indepen-dence... 70 years of freedom andcoincidentally it’s 70 years of Cannesas well. I am humbled and proud thatAndrei is launching the trailer atsuch a historic moment,” Khannaadded.

Oscar-winning composer ARRahman walked the red carpet withthe lead cast, director and produc-ers of the trilingual (Hindi, Tamiland Telugu) magnum opusSangamithra, which is expected to beof another Baahubali-type scale.Sangamithra stars Shruti Haasan inthe title role, while Jayam Ravi andArya are the chief male protagonists.The film is directed by Sundar C,produced by Thenandal Studios andhas Rahman as its music director.Producer Narayanan Ramasamy,Chairman and Managing Director,Thenandal Studios, said, “This isan ambitious epic period film.The Cannes unveil withRahman sir, Sabu sir, Sundarsir and the entire lead cast isjust the beginning of themany milestones thatSangamithra is going toachieve with time — for

Tamil and Indian cine-ma.” Sabu Cyril, Tirru,Peter Hein, Anju Modiand RC Kamalakannanhave been roped in tolook after the produc-tion design, cinematog-

raphy, stunts, costumeand VFX respectively for

the film.The team is expected to

return from Cannes andresume the pre-production

preparations for the film, whichis expected to go on floors in

August.Come May 22, Nandita Das,

who has been on the festival jury,will unveil her directorial titledManto. Based on the life of theprolific Indo-Pakistani authorand playwright, Saadat HasanManto, who was known for hisshort stories, the film starsNawazuddin Siddiqui in thelead. “It is an independentfilm, not a typical Bollywoodsong and dance film. We don’thave a big budget so we can’tstretch it (the shooting) till 200days.”

Meanwhile, Paris cosmet-ic brand ambassadorsAishwarya Rai Bachchan,Sonam Kapoor and DeepikaPadukone will be joining theirinternational counterpartsJulianne Moore and EvaLongoria. Padukone has

already had her first photocalls and media interac-tions. Aishwarya RaiBachchan, who first went tothe festival with Devdas in2002, will be presentingthe Sanjay Leela Bhansalifilm again as part of anostalgia run. However,Sonam Kapoor says shehas not preparedenough for her appear-ance this time. “Thisyear, since we are busydoing so many otherthings, I have not pre-pared much forCannes. Usually, mysister Rhea styles meand she is busy makingthe f i lm Veere DiWedding. I was busyshooting for two filmsand promoting ourfashion brand

Rheson,” she said.“But since it is acosmetic brand,and it is all aboutlooking beautiful,I believe that youlook beautiful ifonly happy from

within. So I amjust doing that,” she

added.

Apurva Asrani debunked actress Kangana Ranaut’sclaim of converting her upcoming film Simran from

one line screenplay to a full-fledged story, saying he doesnot understand why the actress would snatch a writer’shardwork.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Apurva said after writ-ing Aligarh he was emotionally drained and when direc-tor Hansal Mehta sent him a news article of a womanin the US who crossed the line of the law, he decided todevelop it into a fun film.

“I saw Simran as an opportunity to have some fun...I signed a contract with Hansal’s company KarmaFeatures, developed the idea into an original story and

wrote one-line screenplay. Hansalloved it, and took me to meetKangana. She heard the narra-tion and jumped at it. She toldus she would do it!” he wrote.

Apurva said he wentthrough nine drafts to devel-op the story of the film andduring the process there was

“no communication thatKangana didn’t like thetone or direction of thescript.”

The writer claims hewas not even informedabout Kangana getting the‘additional story and dia-logue writer’ credit initial-ly.

“...it was after we fin-ished the first cut of thefilm that Hansal calledme to meet and said ner-

vously that Kangana isturning director and there-fore has demanded a co-writer credit.”

The writer said hethrew a fit as he felt“shocked and betrayed” bythe turn of the event andrefused to give in.

“For two months, he(Hansal) and his co-produc-er Shailesh tried to armtwistme into giving her a co-writer credit. I finally gaveinto an additional writingcredit, but only because theyclaimed their film would bestuck if I didn’t do so. But Irefused to give her a co-writer credit, and we signeda letter where they promisedme the same,” he added.

Apurva said he hasalways supported Kanganain her fight against the sys-tem but is taken aback bywhat she did on Simran.

“Today, not only do I seeher credit before mine on the poster

(which I had decided not to fight), but Ialso saw Kangana on her ‘Facebook Live’ event claim-ing that she had written the film (with Hansal) from aone-line he gave her. I am at a loss to understand whyKangana would snatch the hard earned work of a writer.I wish she had been graceful about this and acknowl-edged what I brought to this film.”

The writer also slammed his frequent collaboratorHansal, with whom he has worked on criticallyacclaimed films like Citylights and Aligarh.

“I also wish that my dear friend Hansal shows somespine and either refutes or endorses my story,” Apurvaconcluded.

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Page 14: $23.45˝ .0 6 ˜ ˛!˜˚˙˚#ˆ$˚%˛ˆ - The Pioneer placed third on the list, while Delhi’s Anand Vihar station is ... (VCCR), 1963 saying it amounted to human rights violation

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Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu laidthe foundation stone in Badrinath

for the final location survey of anambitious �43,000-crore project to linkthe four important Hindu shrines inthe hills of Uttarakhand. The CharDham rail circuit will enable devoteesto visit the famous Himalayan shrines— Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinathand Kedarnath — even in adverse cli-matic conditions.

Chief Minister Trivendra SinghRawat, who accompanied the Unionminister at the foundation-laying cer-emony, described the proposed pro-ject as a milestone in the developmentof the state. For Gangotri andYamunotri, the railway line will startfrom Doiwala near Dehradun, whilefor Kedarnath and Badrinath, it willstart from Karnaprayag.

According to officials of theRailway ministry, the Doiwala-Gangotri line will be 131 km long andfor Yamunotri another 22 km oftracks will be laid from Maneri. ForKedarnath, a 99 km rail link will belaid between Karnaprayag andSonprayag and for Badrinath anoth-

er 75 km long track will be laidbetween Karnaprayag and Joshimath.

Addressing a large crowd gatheredat the venue, the Minister announcedthat with the construction of the RailLine, the Char Dham Yatra willbecome less arduous and more com-fortable and convenient for the pil-grims and tourists wanting to visit thepristine and beautiful but ecological-ly sensitive region. He also said thatPRS (Passenger Reservation System)will be made operational at Kedarnathand Badrinath.

The Char Dham rail link projectis the second major gift from theNarendra Modi government toUttarakhand after the �12,000 croreall-weather Char Dham roads projectwhose foundation stone was laid bythe Prime Minister in Dehradun,ahead of the Assembly polls. “Peopleall over the country want to visit CharDham at least once in their lifetime.A rail link project in the area will makeit more convenient for them as the pil-grimage will not have to face obstruc-tions like landslides and bad weather,”Prabhu said.

Union Minister for Consumer Affairs,Food and Public Distribution RamVilas Paswan said that he had taken

a number of initiatives to make foodgrainmanagement more efficient and ensurefood security in the country.

Commenting on the completion ofthree years of the NDA government, MrPaswan said that interests of farmers andconsumers were high on the government’sagenda. He has issued guidelines, which arein the form of advisories, to state govern-ments with the aim of providing trans-parency and convenience to consumers andestablishing a grievance redressal mecha-nism for them.

The guidelines have been a huge stepforward for the industry which has beenfacing problems under the pressure of a reg-ulatory vacuum for a long time. It has comeas a major respite for companies in the sec-tor which have been facing some problemswith reference to their business modelscoming under the scanner. That is howev-er bound to change now.

Major reforms in public distributionsystem (PDS) for better targetting, trans-parency and accountability include automa-tion of fair price shops, direct benefit trans-fer, Aadhaar seeding in PDS, deletion ofration cards and digital/cashless/less-cash

payments.Some of the FCI (Food Corporation of

India) reforms include silos, use of mod-ern technology in storage, depot online sys-tem, pension scheme and post-retirementmedical scheme, liquidation of sugarcanearrears, abolition of levy system and sta-bilisation of prices of pulses.

The consumer protection initiatives arelisted below:

������������������������A new Integrated Grievances Redressal

Mechanism portal (INGRAM) will dis-seminate information to consumers and letthem lodge grievances online with a facil-ity to track status on real-time basis. Thisportal is available in both Hindi andEnglish.

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This was launched to address thegrievances pertaining to misleading adver-

tisements. Consumers can register com-plaints against false/misleading advertise-ments on this portal.

���������������������*���An online Consumer Mediation Centre

(OCMC) for e-commerce complaints waslaunched in December, 2016 and is in theprocess of being operationalised. A mobileapp named “Smart Consumer” waslaunched in December 2016. This helps theconsumer scan the bar code printed on anypackaged commodity and thereby know thedetails of the product and company. He canalso register a complaint.

���������������With the intention of facilitating “ease

of doing business,” guidelines for direct sell-ing were issued after detailed deliberationsby an inter-ministerial committee. Theguidelines are in the form of an advisoryto state governments, provide transparen-cy and ensure grievance redressal.

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A new Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)Act, 2016 was notified on March 22, estab-lishing the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)as the National Standards Body of India.The Act contains provisions for includinggoods, services and systems, besides arti-cles and processes for the purpose of stan-dardisation. It has enabling provisions forthe Government to bring any article,process or service — which it considersnecessary from the point of view of health,safety, environment, prevention of decep-tive practices and security — under com-pulsory certification regime.

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For ease of doing business, the LegalMetrology (Packaged Commodities) Ruleswere amended to relax labelling norms onimported packages. An exemption wasmade for any thread which is sold in coilsto handloom weavers in the interest of smallweavers. To safeguard the interest of thereadymade garment industry, an advisoryremoved loose garments from the LegalMetrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules.

The Ministry of Shipping signed an MoU with theMinistry of Rural Development in New Delhi for

skill development of youth in coastal areas. The MoUis for the convergence of the Ministry’ prestigious pro-ject Sagaramala and the Ministr y of RuralDevelopment’s flagship programme Deen DayalUpadhyay Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDUGKY).The Minister of Shipping and Road Transport andHighways, Mr Nitin Gadkari and the Minister forRural Development, Panchayati Raj, Drinking Waterand Sanitation, Mr Narendra Singh Tomar, were pre-sent on the occasion.

The DDU-GKY is expected to bring in its skillingexpertise to train coastal communities, therebypreparing them to take advantage of the job oppor-tunities that are expected to come up in the maritimesector.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr Gadkari said thatthis MoU would meet the exact skill needs of indus-tries in the port and maritime sectors and empowercoastal communities for the Sagarmala project. Theycan contribute to the economic development and will

ensure inclusive growth of the coastal districts of thecountry. He said that the Centre was planning to facil-itate fishermen with mechanised trawlers that wouldallow them to fish till 30-40 nautical miles in inter-national waters. This would generate employmentopportunities for youth in coastal areas, as fishing isa big industry, which involves processing, packagingand export of fish and other sea produce. He said thatthere was a need to develop tourism around light-houses in coastal areas as this would absorb ruralyouth as guides.

The minister for Rural Development, PanchayatiRaj, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Mr NarendraSingh Tomar, said that DDU-GKY was the flagshipprogramme of the ministry and rural youth andwomen of coastal areas would be able to develop skillsfor maritime, shipping and port management. He saidthat under the skill development pilot project, around7,000 people had been already been trained and outof this 600 people had already got employment.

A budget of �1100 crore has been allocated underthe Sagarmala scheme for coastal community devel-opment activities. Before execution, understanding theexact requirement is a key step and, therefore, an on-ground survey for accurate understanding of skillneeds of 21 coastal districts has been done so that thetraining programmes can be aligned to the exactrequirements. Along with the skill gap studies, dis-trict action plans have been made in consultation withthe state governments and districts concerned andtraining will commence this month onwards. Specifictraining needs have been identified for more than60,000 trainees in the next phase through more than100 skill projects.

The primary goal of the skills and livelihoods pro-gramme is to meet the exact skill needs of industriesin the port and maritime sector and provide the coastalcommunities right skills for better opportunities ema-nating from the large scale impact of the Sagarmalaproject.

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Awidely misinterpreted CBSEcircular of February 2017

has made it mandatory for privateschools to teach books publishedby the NCERT instead of choos-ing from a wide range of books byprivate publishers. What theCBSE meant was that schoolsshould be more socially respon-sible and stop retailing books andperipheral school items for prof-it. The CBSE would make booksavailable in necessary quantitiesto meet all kinds of demands.Secondly, school administrationsmust be accountable for the qual-ity of education: that they shouldnot misuse the choice available tothem to prescribe low-qualitybooks or any regressive content.

However, the populist mediapackaged the story differentlymuddling it with a social cause,and publishing is too small anindustry to afford large-scale per-ception management.

Educational book publishersare as competitive an industry asany other. The products of thebest publishers are not just print-ed books, but include software,multimedia content, web support,teaching aids and teacher train-

ing programmes. These are devel-oped with the help of high-levelacademic expertise and skillededitorial and technological talent.The schools for their part seem towant more of these in their pur-suit of academic excellence.Competition was helping both theseekers and providers of quality- until the CBSE circular hap-pened!

The NCERT is well capable ofmeeting the volume of thedemand for printed books, whichcertainly doesn’t mean it fulfilsthe market demand for all knowl-edge products, which in thistechnological era has spread farbeyond print. If the current movegoes ahead as projected, you maybetter forget the promised worldof connected, real-time, experi-ential education, which privatepublishers have pioneered, and goback to reading books as ever.

As for the price factor, theaverage textbook by a private pub-lisher, including the multimedia,software and web components, isno higher than that of a pizza ora multiplex movie ticket. Thebook lasts a year, mind you. It isalso a question of priority: would

knowledge products figure below,above or at par with consumeritems?

According to the Nielsenbook market report 2015, thereare 5,018 publishers serving theK-12 segment. This industry sub-sector accounts for the liveli-hood of lakhs of people. Thismarket is projected to grow at19.6 per cent by 2019-20 and thetotal market value is estimated to�541.9 billion. Covert or overtnationalisation of this industrytherefore flies in the face of bothderegulation economics and freemarket philosophy.

Indian school publishersexport books to Sri Lanka,Maldives, Pakistan, Nepal,Bhutan, Bangladesh, Malaysia,Thailand and even Nigeria.Restrictions on the industrywould lead to weakening suchexports and result in a sad chap-ter in the Make-in-India story.

The CBSE is entirely right toenforce the educational purposeof schools and restrict commer-cial tendencies for a social good.Unscrupulous elements in thepublishing world should be reinedin as well. However, blanket bans

like the one that is currentlythought to be taking shape canhave a retarding effect on the edu-cation system. Who would wantto sink a ship to drown the ratsaboard?

The many products and ser-vices other than books sur-rounding the educational sys-tem like tuition, coaching, onlinecourses, digital education packs,etc, are allowed to thrive unim-peded in the true spirit of themarket, while the publishingindustry is bracketed with theflaws in the system and chosen tobe penalised. This has more to dowith negative public perceptionsof the publishing world. Today’spublishing house has evolvedfrom the traditional role of pro-ducing and selling books to inno-vating in knowledge deliverymethods and adapting to globalstandards. Most are powered byyoung and energetic talent notdifferent from those in today’sunconventional start-ups.

The social cause will be bestserved if choices and action arebased on facts and clear perspec-tive instead of media-inspiredpopulism.

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Maria Sharapova retired withinjury in her second-roundmatch in Rome, just hours after

she was denied a wild card for the FrenchOpen, while defending champion AndyMurray crashed to a heavy defeat in hisopener against Fabio Fognini. Sharapova,who was wearing a bandage on her leftthigh, yesterday pulled out of her contestagainst Croatian veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni while leading 4-6, 6-3, 2-1 toround out a miserable day for the five-time Grand Slam champion.

"I apologise for having to withdrawfrom my match with a left thigh injury,"Sharapova said in a statement. "I will begetting all the necessary examinations tomake sure it is not serious."

Defeat in Rome meant the 30-year-old also missed out on a chance to qual-ify for the main draw at Wimbledon,which she could have achieved by reach-ing the semi-finals in the Italian capital.

World number one Murray's RomeMasters title defence then ended worry-ingly early as he was comfortably beat-en 6-2, 6-4 by local favourite Fognini aftera first-round bye.

Murray limped to another prematureexit with flamboyant shotmaker Fogninibossing the Scottish top seed around atwill and breaking him four times.

Murray succumbed to the Italian injust over 90 minutes and has major workto do before the start of Roland Garrosin less than a fortnight.

He hasn't reached the quarter-finalof a major event in 2017, with the loss toFognini his seventh of the season.

"I'm sure there were a lot of things Icould have done better. He obviouslystarted the match extremely well," saidMurray.

"I wasn't creating enough chances onmy own. The only chance I really got waswhen he was making errors.

"I definitely felt a little bit better... Butstill not close to where I would like to be,obviously."

Sharapova's exit merely intensifiedthe spotlight on the Russian after theFrench tennis federation (FFT) elected

not to award her a wild card into eitherthe Roland Garros main draw or quali-fying.

While she will at least have a chance

to qualify for Wimbledon, the FrenchOpen will now be without the twice for-mer winner as well as Roger Federer andthe pregnant Serena Williams.

"You can get a wild card when youreturn from injury but you cannot get awild card when returning from a dopingsuspension," FFT president BernardGiudicelli said in an internet media con-ference.

"I'm very sorry for Maria, very sorryfor her fans," added Giudicelli. "Theymight be disappointed, she might be verydisappointed, but it's my responsibility,my mission, to protect the high standardsof the game."

Four-time Rome champion NovakDjokovic overcame Britain's Aljaz Bedene7-6 (7/2), 6-2 for a place in the thirdround.

The world number two camethrough a tight opening set by domi-nating the tiebreaker before finishing offhis victory amid a smattering of jeersfrom the crowd.

The Serb lost to Rafael Nadal in lastweek's Madrid semi-finals, but his quickstart yesterday was just the tonic forDjokovic, who has never failed to reachthe last eight in Rome.

"It was a little bit of a slower start,Bedene is the kind of player that gives yougood rhythm.

“I had some good exchanges, somegood games with rallies and it felt right,especially in the second set," Djokovicsaid.

�����*�)�����G����������G�������� Maria Sharapova vowed to"rise up again" on Wednesday after shewas refused a wildcard for the FrenchOpen following her 15-month ban fordoping.

The Russian former world num-ber one also earned the backing of thehead of women's tennis, a day after theFrench tennis federation's announce-ment that it would not grant her awildcard for the event she won in 2012and 2014.

"If this is what it takes to rise upagain, then I am in it all the way,everyday," Sharapova wrote on Twitter,in her first remarks on her snub.

"No words, games, or actions willever stop me from reaching my owndreams. And I have many."

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Inspite of a great effort by theirbowlers in restricting SunrisersHyderabad to a very modest score of

128, Kolkata Knight Riders may get elim-inated due to the rains in Bengaluru.

When reports last came in, rainfallhad stopped and the covers were beingtaken off.

KKR’s chase will be a curtailed one,if it takes place at all, and the latest bywhich it can get underway is 12:58 AMon Thursday. The minimum overs pos-sible in a chase are five. In the case of playnot begining by that time, a Super Overwill decide the fate of the game. The lat-

est time for that situation to arise is 1:20AM.

In case of there being no possibili-ty of play beyond this time, SRH wouldgo through to play in the qualifier againstMumbai Indians on account of finish-ing higher in the league points table.

Earlier, KKR produced a disci-plined bowling and fielding effort torestrict defending champions SunrisersHyderabad to a modest 128 for seven inthe IPL Eliminator, here on Wednesday.

Returning to the side after an injurylay-off, Nathan Coulter-Nile (3/20)impressed with the ball. He was ably sup-ported by Umesh Yadav (2/21).

Sent into bat, it was struggle for

Sunrsiers from the onset as skipperDavid Warner (37) and Shikhar Dhawan(11) found the going tough against theKKR bowling attack on a slowish and dif-ficult M Chinnaswamy pitch. The slowscoring rate finally took a toll onSunrisers as Dhawan perished in the sec-ond delivery of the fifth over.

Dhawan slashed at a good lengthdelivery of Umesh only managing to bal-loon it to Robin Uthappa behind thestumps with the Sunrisers scoreboardreading 25 for one.

With the boundaries hard to comeby, Warner finally broke the shackles inthe ninth over clobbering PiyushChawla's (1/27) short delivery over mid-wicket boundary for a maximum.

New man in Kane Williamson (24)showed his class as he smacked Coulter-Nile for a boundary and a huge six offconsecutive balls to pick up 13 runs ofthe 10th over. At the halfway stage,Sunrisers were 61 for one. With timeWarner grew in confidence and his big

hitting skills came to the fore. He didn'tspare a single loose ball and clobbereda marginally short delivery from SunilNarine way over the long on boundary.

But just when the partnershipbetween Warner and Williamson waslooking dangerous, twin blows in con-secutive overs rattled Sunrisers' innings.

First Williamson departed caught atextra cover by Suryakumar Yadav offCoulter-Nile while trying to lift the ballover the in-field and then in the next overdangerous Warner was cleaned up byChawla. The duo stitched 50 runs for thesecond wicket off 44 balls balls. YuvrajSingh (9) and young Vijay Shankar (22)couldn’t contribute much either.

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Seasoned Bengal cricketer Manoj Tiwary hailed charismaticMahendra Singh Dhoni for providing the much-need-

ed impetus to the Rising Pune Supergiant innings that proveddecisive in the outcome of the Qualifier 1 against MumbaiIndians.

Dhoni smashed five sixes in his 40-run knock that pro-pelled Supergiant to 162 four four. Supergiant reached thefinal with a 20-run win.

"The momentum shifted during the last two overs," saidTiwary who played a crucial knock of 58 in 48 balls beforebeing run out. "We were struggling to get that until the 18th,19th and 20th over where Mahi bhai (Dhoni) played someoutstanding shots. Itwas not easy againstBumrah, but he showedwhy he is such a high-ly-talented player.

"He has so much ofability to hit the bestbowlers in the IPL.Those sixes in the cru-cial overs helped us toput up a good total,"said Tiwary who alsoput on 73 runs withDhoni for the fourthwicket.

Tiwary said cap-tain Steve Smith andcoach Stephen Flemingtold him and AjinkyaRahane during thestrategic time-out that ascore of 160 was reach-able. "Our bowlers exe-cuted the plans verywell. They lost a coupleof wickets in thePowerplay and wenever looked back from thereon," added Tiwary referringto rookie bowler Washington Sunder's three-wicket haul,two of which were in one over, which stymied MI's run-chase.

17-year-old Sundar grabbed the wickets of two-time titlewinners' captain Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu andKieron Pollard in his second and third overs to finish with3 for 16 and walk away with the man of the match award,the youngest to do so in IPL history.

Tiwary said his role in the team was well-defined, goin early and steady the ship if early wickets fall or bat lowerdown if a partnership gets built early on. "My role was likeif couple of wickets fall in Powerplay, then I have to go. If apartnership builds then I had to come down because(England all rounder) Ben Stokes was there. MS bhai wasthere. So, mentally I was prepared. Before coming to theIPL, I had a plan to strike at a very high strike rate. But com-ing here, I was given this role. I have always planned myselfthat I will bat according to the situation. Luckily, everythingis coming of well except a couple of bad scores prior to thisgame. I am happy with the way I have contributed."

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Mumbai Indians had things well in control before los-ing the plot in the last two overs that cost them 41 overs

but opener Parthiv Patel refused suggestions that it affect-ed their chances in the Qualifier 1 of the IPL.

"These kinds of things can happen in this format whensomeone like (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni is batting. Obviouslywe were in control, but I won't say it (loss) was just becauseof those two overs," said wicket-keeper Patel in the post-match media conference at the Wankhede Stadium.

Dhoni smashed five sixes, taking Mitchell McClenaghanand Jasprit Bumrah to the cleaners.

Patel defended Bumrah for bowling short of a lengthinstead of yorkers in the first four balls of the last over.

"If you see the last couple of games or even last year, hehad been successful against Dhoni with the kind of lengthhe was bowling. He obviously is a good player and has beenbowling brilliantly throughout the tournament. You got to

sometimes give credit to the batsman."(After) one odd game like this, you have to give cred-

it to someone (Dhoni) who has played so many knocks likethis." Bumrah bowled successive dot-ball yorkers to Dhonito end the over and the innings.

Patel did not agree to the suggestion that resting somekey players in the previous game, which was MI's last of theround-robin phase, had taken away some edge off their inten-sity as he felt the break was needed for all to recharge.

"Not really. I had niggle and stayed back. I played withniggles in the last three or four games. It (break) was need-ed and rightly so and we were sure of the first or second posi-tion," said the pint-sized 'keeper-batsman who top-scoredfor his side with a 52-run knock.

Patel was of the opinion that the 160-odd that theSupergiant scored was "par score" on the Wankhede track.

"We were thinking 160, but we lost too many wicketsafter six overs," he said.

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Time away from national team has givenHarbhajan Singh a fresh perspective about the

condition of an average domestic cricketer, prompt-ing him to request chief national coach AnilKumble to raise the issue of their match fees withthe COA.

Kumble is set to give a presentation to theCommittee of Administrators (COA) on May 21about the revised pay structure of the contractedIndian cricketers with an eye on substantial hike oncurrent central contract. The grades are �2 crore, �1crore and �50 lakh.

While the elite Indian cricketers are a sorted lotalong with a handful of first-class players, who haveIPL contracts, an average domestic cricketer still getsa match fee of �1.5 lakh (first XI player) for a first-

class game (Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy) com-pared to the �15 lakh for a Test match.

One of India's finest spinners, Harbhajan hasrecently written to Kumble about the financial inse-curities of domestic cricketers. The letter has

Harbhajan making an emotional plea to Kumble."It's been last 2/3 years (that) I am playing Ranji

Trophy. I hate that I've found constant strugglearound me in the financial situation of my first-classteammates. Even though Ranji Trophy is hosted bythe richest cricket board in the world, I appeal toyou as a player, who is an inspiration and role modelfor all Ranji players," Harbhajan wrote to Kumble.

"I request you to please take this up with the topbrass of BCCI and players like Sachin, Rahul,Laxman, Viru to ensure that a change is broughtabout in the pay structure, in the amounts they getpaid," Harbhajan wrote.

Harbhajan finds it difficult to digest that theRanji pay structure has not undergone revision fora long time. "I am willing to help/assist in any wayto help bring in a change. It's shocking to say theleast that the payment system hasn't been changed

����� �;��>

Cricket legend Kapil Dev is not los-ing sleep over the recent lean patch

of Virat Kohli and is confident that theDelhi stalwart will bounce back intoform in the ICC Champions Trophycommencing on June 1.

"It (Kohli's form) should not be (aworry). I know his ability and talent.He will bounce back. I don't see anyreasons (why) he will not be amongthe runs," Kapil said in an interactionarranged by event broadcasters StarSports and digital platform Hotstarhere on Wednesday.

"He is an important player (for theteam) and if he starts getting runs, thenthe whole team gets motivated. If yourcaptain starts getting runs, it's the bestthing that happens," Kapil added.

Kohli, who hammered 973 runslast season in 16 Test matches, man-aged only 308 runs in 10 games in the10th edition of the Indian PremierLeague, with a highest score of 64, forthe Royal Challengers Bangalore whowere knocked out after finishing laston the league table.

Defending champions India starttheir campaign in the tournament,

being held in England, with themuch-awaited group clash againstarch rivals Pakistan on June 4 inBirmingham.

Kapil, who led underdogs Indiato an unforgettable World Cup tri-umph in 1983, termed the present

Indian bowling attack as the best andheaped special praise on young death-over specialist Jasprit Bumrah. "WhenI saw Bumrah for the first time, I neverexpected (that he will rise). He hassuch a strong mind! When youraction is not so clean, it is difficult to

manage to bowl such good bowlingline and length, yorkers. He has thestrength within himself. Whatever hewants to do, he can do," said Kapilabout the Ahmedabad-born bowler.

"His mindset is better than any-thing else and I have started respect-ing him much more than what I hadseen on the first day when he playeda ODI match," said Kapil, who hadcaptured 434 wickets from 131 Testmatches.

“If I see all these players, I don'tthink anybody else can fit in.Bhuvnesh (Kumar) is very good,Umesh (Yadav) is very good,(Mohammed) Shami is extraordinary.(Ravichandran) Ashwin will be backand (Ravindra) Jadeja. This is the bestbowlers we have in the country," saidthe 58-year-old former India skiper,who scalped 253 wickets in 225ODIs.

Kapil emphasized that the Indianteam for the Champions Trophylooks strong on paper.

"On paper it (team) looks verygood. Perhaps I know the team muchbetter than other teams, so I can say,Indian team looks very good at thisstage," the legend said.

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