12
I n a major push to improving international air connectivi- ty in Andhra Pradesh, the Dubai-based airline Emirates, has agreed in principle to make Amaravati its airline hub. On Thursday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had lengthy negotiations with the key management of the airline. Naidu spoke to Adnan Kazim, divisional senior vice-presi- dent at Emirates, through a video conference and proposed the establishment of a hub in Amaravati. Naidu told Emirates that he would like to improve the connectivity between cities in Andhra and Dubai. The Chief Minister agreed to devel- op more green-field airports in the State, like Visakhapatnam International Airport. The team from Emirates expressed eagerness to renew old ties with the Chief Minister and recalled the successful business ventures with Naidu in Hyderabad. “I have been an admirer of Dubai for a long time, and I have received great cooperation and knowledge from the Government in the past. I would like to revive that friend- ship, and request the expertise for the development of Amaravati,” Naidu said. In reply, Kazim said that a team from Emirates would soon be sent to Andhra to sur- vey the opportunities avail- able in the State, and the next step would be discussed during the Chief Minister’s visit to Dubai on October 22. Kazim also informed Naidu that he would be wel- comed by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Emirates Group, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and the uncle of the ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The Principal Secretary, Infrastructure & Investments Department Ajay Jain, Pennsylvania Ambassador Kanika Choudhary and Singapore Government repre- sentative Raghu were also part of the video conference. T he Railways will launch India’s fastest long-distance premium Express train before Diwali. It will be faster than the Rajdhanis and Durontos, will have just one stoppage and will be without the controversial flexi-fare system. The first such train, whose name will be decided shortly, will be run between New Delhi and Mumbai on a trial basis with only a single stoppage at Ratlam. The existing Mumbai Rajdhani and August Kranti trains have seven and six stop- pages en route respectively, while Duronto has four. The Railway Board has given its approval to the train. An announcement in this regard will be made before Diwali and the services will be expanded to important desti- nations gradually. The train will operate with 18 coaches between Hazrat Nizamuddin station and Bandra Terminus (BDTS) stations and the most special feature for making it faster is that it will be pulled by two locomotives at a maximum speed of 130 kmph against the existing average of 80 kmph. “The train will depart from Nizamuddin at 4.25 pm to reach Bandra Terminus at 6.10 am to complete the distance of 1365 kms in 13 hours and 45 minutes. The existing August Kranti Rajdhani takes 17 hours and the Mumbai Rajdhani takes 15 hours 30 minutes at an average speed of 90 kmph. Continued on Page 4 W ith robust performance of mining and power sec- tors, coupled with higher cap- ital goods output, country’s industrial production grew at a nine-month high of 4.3 per cent in August, while retail inflation remained almost flat at 3.28 per cent in September as against 3.36 per cent in August, despite softening of vegetable and cere- al prices, according to the Government data which was released on Thursday. The output growth in man- ufacturing sector, which con- stitutes 77.63 per cent of the index, however decelerated to 3.1 per cent in August from 5.5 per cent a year ago. Detailed report on P10 A Blue Wagon R car earlier used by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was allegedly stolen outside the Delhi Secretariat on Thursday. Confirming about the theft, Mandeep Singh Randhawa, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) said, “We received a call around 3.31pm on Thursday regarding theft of a blue colour Wagon R with reg- istration number DL-9CG- 9769. On enquiry, it was found that the car was being used by one Vandana of Media Cell of the Aam Aadmi Party. Prior to this, the car earlier belonged to the Delhi CM.” A senior investigator said the humble blue hatchback, which became synonymous with Kejriwal’s “aam aadmi” image, was being used by an AAP functionary these days. “The car was parked out- side the Delhi Secretariat. It went missing around 1 pm,” a senior police official said. The car was donated to Kejriwal by Kundan Sharma, a software engineer, in January 2013. Police said they have reg- istered a case under the Motor Vehicles Act at the IP Estate police station. The senior offi- cer said that they are scanning through the CCTV cameras installed in and around the Delhi secretariat to establish who stole the car. I n a bid to meet the rising demand for residential, com- mercial and other needs besides to stimulate economic growth, the Centre on Thursday further simplified the land pooling policy (LPP) for Delhi. Under the new LPP, the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has decided to restrict the role of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to a facilitator and planner from a developer. Earlier, the DDA acted not only as the Developer Entity (DE) and undertake further sectoral planning and development of infrastructure in the pooled land but also took the land’s ownership title. This resulted in people refusing to part with their lands under the LPP. Under the new LPP policy meant for pri- vate developers and land own- ers, the land owners will retain their ownership title. The decision was taken at a meeting between Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri and Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday. “The DDA was also directed to for- mulate necessary regulations under the LPP in accordance with the changes in a month’s time. The DDA was asked to ensure single window clear- ance mechanism for according necessary approvals for speedy implementation,” said sources adding Narela, Najafgarh and Bawana could benefit the most from this policy. Continued on Page 4 T he Himachal Pradesh Assembly election will be held on November 9 and the results will be out on December 18, along with that of Gujarat polls, the dates for which will be announced later. The dates for Assembly elections in Gujarat were not announced on Thursday, but Chief Election Commissioner AK Joti said polling in the State will be held before December 18. The term of the 68-mem- ber Himachal Assembly ends on January 7 and that of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly on January 22. In HP, corrup- tion-hit Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will again be the Congress’ face for the top job, while Gujarat will witness the first Assembly polls in 15 years without Narendra Modi. “The Gujarat polls have been delayed due to the recent floods and the ongoing reha- bilitation work in the villages,” Joti said. On the issue of results of HP elections too being announced on December 18, Joti reasoned, “This is being done to ensure that the voting pattern of one State does not affect the other State.” The contests for Gujarat and Himachal Assemblies will be interesting test cases to know the pulse of the people, with the 2019 Lok Sabha polls being only about 18 months away. The BJP is confident of wresting Himachal from the Congress, given the fact that the electorate of the State has voted for parties in ‘rotation’ since the 1990s, and also because Virbhadra Singh is facing cor- ruption charges. He is seeking re-election for the seventh time. The BJP, however, is yet to name its chief ministerial can- didate for the hill State, even as names of two-time Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Union Health Minister JP Nadda, are doing the rounds. As against the BJP’s target of decisively ousting Singh, the Congress has been asserting that it will cross the halfway- mark in the Assembly. In Gujarat, the Prime Minister’s home-turf, the BJP has set an ambitious 150-seat target in the 182-member Assembly. The Hardik Patel-led Patidar protest for reserva- tions for Patels has created a wedge between the BJP and the influential community, which forms about 15 per cent of the population. To offset any loss of votes from the Patel com- munity, the BJP has doggedly cultivated the numerically- strong Other Backward Classes, particularly Kolis, who consti- tute 20 per cent of Gujarat. In a State, where Modi has reigned for 13 years as CM, the BJP is “confident” of continu- ing its rule. The Congress has sought to revive its rural base in Gujarat with Congress vice- president Rahul making aggressive forays in the State. Modi is scheduled to hold a mega rally on October 16 in Gandhinagar to mark the con- clusion of the ongoing Gaurav Yatra. Joti said the Gujarat Chief Secretary had written to the EC seeking additional time for polls as the July floods-related relief and rehabilitation work is yet to be completed properly. “Since roads have been washed out, and the relief works began in September, the State Government asked for more time to enforce the Model Code of Conduct,” he said. The elections will be held through EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail and the height of the voting compartment will be increased from 24 inches to 30 inches, keeping in mind the introduc- tion of paper trail machines. There will be 136 women- managed polling booths in Himachal and each con- stituency will have two women, Joti said. The poll panel has also increased the size of the VVPAT screen, so voters can easily see who they have voted for. Himachal will be the sec- ond State after Goa with 100 per cent VVPAT coverage. The VVPAT machines will be deployed along with EVMs in all the 7,521 polling stations, including 42 auxiliary polling stations at remote places. Addressing a Press confer- ence, Joti, who was flanked by Election Commissioners OP Rawat and Sunil Arora, said VVPAT machines from one polling booth in each of the 68 Assembly constituencies will be tallied with EVM results to check the vote count. Each candidate contesting the poll will have to maintain a separate account of poll expenses, which have been capped at a maximum of Rs 28 lakh for Himachal. However, the candidate will have to sub- mit the election expenses to the Returning Officer within 30 days after the declaration of results. T he Allahabad High Court on Thursday acquitted Nupur and Rajesh Talwar — who were serving a life sen- tence for killing their teenage daughter Aarushi and domes- tic help Hemraj in May 2008 at their home in Noida — saying that neither the circumstances nor the evidence was enough to hold them guilty. The Talwar couple were sentenced to life by a Ghaziabad CBI court on November 28, 2013 for the double murder. However, upholding the Talwars' appeal against the CBI court verdict, a HC Bench com- prising justices BK Narayana and AK Mishra said in the 263- page verdict, “There is a strong possibility that incident was caused by some outsider.” The Talwars, who are both dentists, are expected to be freed on Friday from Ghaziabad’s Dasna jail after the completion of paperwork. The CBI did not immediately say if it would appeal against the high court judgment. It said it would study the order and decide the future course of action. Pronouncing their verdict in a packed court room, justices Narayana and Mishra said, “From the facts and evidence on record, we find neither the circumstances nor evidence are consistent and circum- stances did not complete a chain showing involvement of appellants in the incident.” They said, “In case where two views are possible, the view taken for conviction of appellants may not be correct. In the absence of circumstan- cial evidence to complete the chain, it is a fit case where ben- efit of doubt can be given to the appellants.” BG Chitnis, Nupur Talwar's father, said, “I am grateful to the judiciary for the verdict.” He told reporters in New Delhi, “They have really suffered. They are emotional- ly drained. At my age it was very trying to see my daughter behind bars.” Vandana Talwar, an aunt of Aarushi who was 14 when she was killed, said, “It’s been an exhausting journey for us. We are really grateful to the High Court for having aquitted and ending the injustice meted out to them.” Continued on Page 4 I t was on the night of May 15, 2008, Aarushi Talwar (14) and the family’s domestic help Hemraj Banjade (45) were killed inside L-32, Jalvayu Vihar (Noida) and what fol- lowed was a saga of flip-flops. One of the most sensa- tional murder mysteries of Independent India, it appeared as if it was a ‘perfect murder’. The myth was to be dismantled soon when AGL Kaul, the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), with the Special Crime Unit-II of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was handed over the probe by then Director Ashwani Kumar. If the double murder appeared like a jigsaw puzzle, it was sole- ly because of the shoddy inves- tigation by the Noida police in the beginning and then by a CBI team, headed by an offi- cer like Arun Kumar. ASP Kaul conducted an extensive probe and found that crucial linking evidence was missing despite the fact that the Talwar couple was the prime suspect. He did a mas- terstroke by submitting the closure report before the spe- cial judge on January 3, 2011. Kaul knew if he charge-sheet- ed the Talwars, the onus to prove them guilty rested with the CBI. He however, turned the tables on the Talwars as they were supposed to prove that they were innocent. The Special CBI Judge, while rejecting CBI closure report, had then said there was enough prima facie material in the CBI’s report to put the couple on trial for their alleged involvement in the twin murders. If there was one villain who allowed material evidence to be destroyed from the crime scene, it was Data Rama Nanoria, the then Station House Officer (SO) of Sector 39 Police Station in Noida. Nanoria disregarded the basic norms of mapping a crime scene and did not requisition the services of forensic team and sniffer dogs. He believed what Rajesh Talwar told him. So much so that he registered a case of murder against Hemraj and sent a team in his pursuit. Had he applied his brains and checked the exit and entry points of the Talwars’ flat, the murder mystery could have been solved then and there. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

˙ 0 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... connectivity between cities in Andhra and Dubai. The Chief Minister agreed to devel-op more green-field airports in the State,

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Page 1: ˙ 0 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... connectivity between cities in Andhra and Dubai. The Chief Minister agreed to devel-op more green-field airports in the State,

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In a major push to improvinginternational air connectivi-

ty in Andhra Pradesh, theDubai-based airline Emirates,has agreed in principle to makeAmaravati its airline hub.

On Thursday, AndhraPradesh Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu hadlengthy negotiations with thekey management of the airline.Naidu spoke to Adnan Kazim,divisional senior vice-presi-dent at Emirates, through avideo conference and proposedthe establishment of a hub inAmaravati. Naidu told Emiratesthat he would like to improvethe connectivity between citiesin Andhra and Dubai. TheChief Minister agreed to devel-op more green-field airports in

the State, like VisakhapatnamInternational Airport.

The team from Emiratesexpressed eagerness to renewold ties with the Chief Ministerand recalled the successfulbusiness ventures with Naiduin Hyderabad.

“I have been an admirer ofDubai for a long time, and Ihave received great cooperationand knowledge from the

Government in the past. Iwould like to revive that friend-ship, and request the expertise

for the development ofAmaravati,” Naidu said.

In reply, Kazim said that a

team from Emirates wouldsoon be sent to Andhra to sur-vey the opportunities avail-able in the State, and the nextstep would be discussed duringthe Chief Minister’s visit toDubai on October 22.

Kazim also informedNaidu that he would be wel-comed by Sheikh Ahmed binSaeed Al Maktoum, chairmanof Emirates Group, president ofDubai Civil Aviation Authorityand the uncle of the ruler ofDubai, His Highness SheikhMohammed bin Rashid AlMaktoum.

The Principal Secretary,Infrastructure & InvestmentsDepartment Ajay Jain,Pennsylvania AmbassadorKanika Choudhary andSingapore Government repre-sentative Raghu were also partof the video conference.

��������#���������,->��-% �

The Railways will launchIndia’s fastest long-distance

premium Express train beforeDiwali. It will be faster than theRajdhanis and Durontos, willhave just one stoppage and willbe without the controversialflexi-fare system.

The first such train, whosename will be decided shortly,will be run between New Delhiand Mumbai on a trial basiswith only a single stoppage atRatlam. The existing MumbaiRajdhani and August Krantitrains have seven and six stop-pages en route respectively,while Duronto has four.

The Railway Board hasgiven its approval to the train.An announcement in thisregard will be made beforeDiwali and the services will beexpanded to important desti-nations gradually. The train willoperate with 18 coachesbetween Hazrat Nizamuddinstation and Bandra Terminus(BDTS) stations and the mostspecial feature for making itfaster is that it will be pulled bytwo locomotives at a maximumspeed of 130 kmph against theexisting average of 80 kmph.

“The train will depart fromNizamuddin at 4.25 pm toreach Bandra Terminus at 6.10am to complete the distance of1365 kms in 13 hours and 45minutes. The existing AugustKranti Rajdhani takes 17 hoursand the Mumbai Rajdhanitakes 15 hours 30 minutes at anaverage speed of 90 kmph.

Continued on Page 4

���� ,->��-% �

With robust performance ofmining and power sec-

tors, coupled with higher cap-ital goods output, country’sindustrial production grew at anine-month high of 4.3 per centin August, while retail inflationremained almost flat at 3.28 percent in September as against3.36 per cent in August, despitesoftening of vegetable and cere-al prices, according to theGovernment data which wasreleased on Thursday.

The output growth in man-ufacturing sector, which con-stitutes 77.63 per cent of theindex, however decelerated to3.1 per cent in August from 5.5per cent a year ago.

Detailed report on P10

������������� ,->��-% �

ABlue Wagon R car earlierused by Delhi Chief

Minister Arvind Kejriwal wasallegedly stolen outside theDelhi Secretariat on Thursday.

Confirming about the theft,Mandeep Singh Randhawa,Deputy Commissioner of Police(Central) said, “We received acall around 3.31pm onThursday regarding theft of ablue colour Wagon R with reg-istration number DL-9CG-9769. On enquiry, it was found

that the car was being used byone Vandana of Media Cell ofthe Aam Aadmi Party. Prior tothis, the car earlier belonged tothe Delhi CM.”

A senior investigator saidthe humble blue hatchback,which became synonymouswith Kejriwal’s “aam aadmi”image, was being used by anAAP functionary these days.

“The car was parked out-side the Delhi Secretariat. Itwent missing around 1 pm,” asenior police official said.

The car was donated toKejriwal by Kundan Sharma, asoftware engineer, in January2013. Police said they have reg-istered a case under the MotorVehicles Act at the IP Estatepolice station. The senior offi-cer said that they are scanningthrough the CCTV camerasinstalled in and around theDelhi secretariat to establishwho stole the car.

�������#����� ,->��-% �

In a bid to meet the risingdemand for residential, com-

mercial and other needs besidesto stimulate economic growth,the Centre on Thursday furthersimplified the land poolingpolicy (LPP) for Delhi.

Under the new LPP, theHousing and Urban AffairsMinistry has decided to restrictthe role of the DelhiDevelopment Authority (DDA)to a facilitator and plannerfrom a developer. Earlier, theDDA acted not only as theDeveloper Entity (DE) andundertake further sectoralplanning and development ofinfrastructure in the pooledland but also took the land’sownership title.

This resulted in peoplerefusing to part with theirlands under the LPP. Under the

new LPP policy meant for pri-vate developers and land own-ers, the land owners will retaintheir ownership title.

The decision was taken at ameeting between Housing andUrban Affairs Minister HardeepPuri and Delhi Lt GovernorAnil Baijal on Thursday. “TheDDA was also directed to for-mulate necessary regulations

under the LPP in accordancewith the changes in a month’stime. The DDA was asked toensure single window clear-ance mechanism for accordingnecessary approvals for speedyimplementation,” said sourcesadding Narela, Najafgarh andBawana could benefit the mostfrom this policy.

Continued on Page 4

��������������������,->��-% �

The Himachal PradeshAssembly election will be

held on November 9 and theresults will be out on December18, along with that of Gujaratpolls, the dates for which willbe announced later. The datesfor Assembly elections inGujarat were not announced onThursday, but Chief ElectionCommissioner AK Joti saidpolling in the State will be heldbefore December 18.

The term of the 68-mem-ber Himachal Assembly endson January 7 and that of the182-member Gujarat Assemblyon January 22. In HP, corrup-tion-hit Chief MinisterVirbhadra Singh will again bethe Congress’ face for the topjob, while Gujarat will witnessthe first Assembly polls in 15years without Narendra Modi.

“The Gujarat polls havebeen delayed due to the recentfloods and the ongoing reha-bilitation work in the villages,”Joti said. On the issue of resultsof HP elections too beingannounced on December 18,Joti reasoned, “This is beingdone to ensure that the votingpattern of one State does notaffect the other State.”

The contests for Gujaratand Himachal Assemblies willbe interesting test cases toknow the pulse of the people,with the 2019 Lok Sabha pollsbeing only about 18 monthsaway. The BJP is confident ofwresting Himachal from theCongress, given the fact that theelectorate of the State has votedfor parties in ‘rotation’ since the1990s, and also becauseVirbhadra Singh is facing cor-ruption charges. He is seeking

re-election for the seventh time. The BJP, however, is yet to

name its chief ministerial can-didate for the hill State, even asnames of two-time ChiefMinister Prem Kumar Dhumaland Union Health Minister JPNadda, are doing the rounds.As against the BJP’s target ofdecisively ousting Singh, theCongress has been assertingthat it will cross the halfway-mark in the Assembly.

In Gujarat, the PrimeMinister’s home-turf, the BJPhas set an ambitious 150-seattarget in the 182-memberAssembly. The Hardik Patel-ledPatidar protest for reserva-tions for Patels has created awedge between the BJP and theinfluential community, whichforms about 15 per cent of the

population. To offset any lossof votes from the Patel com-munity, the BJP has doggedlycultivated the numerically-strong Other Backward Classes,particularly Kolis, who consti-tute 20 per cent of Gujarat.

In a State, where Modi hasreigned for 13 years as CM, theBJP is “confident” of continu-ing its rule. The Congress hassought to revive its rural basein Gujarat with Congress vice-president Rahul makingaggressive forays in the State.

Modi is scheduled to holda mega rally on October 16 inGandhinagar to mark the con-clusion of the ongoing GauravYatra. Joti said the Gujarat ChiefSecretary had written to the ECseeking additional time for pollsas the July floods-related relief

and rehabilitation work is yet tobe completed properly.

“Since roads have beenwashed out, and the reliefworks began in September, theState Government asked formore time to enforce the ModelCode of Conduct,” he said.

The elections will be heldthrough EVMs with VoterVerifiable Paper Audit Trailand the height of the votingcompartment will be increasedfrom 24 inches to 30 inches,keeping in mind the introduc-tion of paper trail machines.There will be 136 women-managed polling booths inHimachal and each con-stituency will have two women,Joti said. The poll panel has alsoincreased the size of the VVPATscreen, so voters can easily seewho they have voted for.

Himachal will be the sec-ond State after Goa with 100per cent VVPAT coverage. TheVVPAT machines will bedeployed along with EVMs inall the 7,521 polling stations,including 42 auxiliary pollingstations at remote places.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Joti, who was flanked byElection Commissioners OPRawat and Sunil Arora, saidVVPAT machines from onepolling booth in each of the 68Assembly constituencies will betallied with EVM results tocheck the vote count.

Each candidate contestingthe poll will have to maintaina separate account of pollexpenses, which have beencapped at a maximum of Rs 28lakh for Himachal. However,the candidate will have to sub-mit the election expenses to theReturning Officer within 30days after the declaration ofresults.

��5����� #%%# #<#�

The Allahabad High Courton Thursday acquitted

Nupur and Rajesh Talwar —who were serving a life sen-tence for killing their teenagedaughter Aarushi and domes-tic help Hemraj in May 2008 attheir home in Noida — sayingthat neither the circumstancesnor the evidence was enough tohold them guilty.

The Talwar couple weresentenced to life by a GhaziabadCBI court on November 28,2013 for the double murder.

However, upholding theTalwars' appeal against the CBIcourt verdict, a HC Bench com-prising justices BK Narayanaand AK Mishra said in the 263-page verdict, “There is a strongpossibility that incident wascaused by some outsider.”

The Talwars, who are bothdentists, are expected to befreed on Friday fromGhaziabad’s Dasna jail after thecompletion of paperwork. TheCBI did not immediately say ifit would appeal against the highcourt judgment. It said it wouldstudy the order and decide thefuture course of action.

Pronouncing their verdictin a packed court room, justicesNarayana and Mishra said,“From the facts and evidenceon record, we find neither thecircumstances nor evidenceare consistent and circum-stances did not complete achain showing involvement ofappellants in the incident.”

They said, “In case wheretwo views are possible, theview taken for conviction ofappellants may not be correct.In the absence of circumstan-cial evidence to complete thechain, it is a fit case where ben-efit of doubt can be given to theappellants.”

BG Chitnis, NupurTalwar's father, said, “I amgrateful to the judiciary for theverdict.” He told reporters inNew Delhi, “They have reallysuffered. They are emotional-ly drained. At my age it wasvery trying to see my daughterbehind bars.”

Vandana Talwar, an aunt ofAarushi who was 14 when shewas killed, said, “It’s been anexhausting journey for us. Weare really grateful to the HighCourt for having aquitted andending the injustice meted outto them.”

Continued on Page 4

�������������������� ���������������� ���������������������� ���������� �������������

��������#������!���,->��-% �

It was on the night of May 15,2008, Aarushi Talwar (14)

and the family’s domestic helpHemraj Banjade (45) werekilled inside L-32, JalvayuVihar (Noida) and what fol-lowed was a saga of flip-flops.

One of the most sensa-tional murder mysteries ofIndependent India, it appearedas if it was a ‘perfect murder’.The myth was to be dismantledsoon when AGL Kaul, theAdditional Superintendent ofPolice (ASP), with the SpecialCrime Unit-II of the CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)was handed over the probe bythen Director Ashwani Kumar.If the double murder appearedlike a jigsaw puzzle, it was sole-ly because of the shoddy inves-

tigation by the Noida police inthe beginning and then by aCBI team, headed by an offi-cer like Arun Kumar.

ASP Kaul conducted anextensive probe and foundthat crucial linking evidencewas missing despite the factthat the Talwar couple was theprime suspect. He did a mas-terstroke by submitting theclosure report before the spe-cial judge on January 3, 2011.Kaul knew if he charge-sheet-ed the Talwars, the onus toprove them guilty rested withthe CBI. He however, turnedthe tables on the Talwars asthey were supposed to provethat they were innocent.

The Special CBI Judge,while rejecting CBI closurereport, had then said there wasenough prima facie material in the CBI’s report to put the

couple on trial for their alleged involvement in thetwin murders.

If there was one villain whoallowed material evidence to bedestroyed from the crimescene, it was Data RamaNanoria, the then StationHouse Officer (SO) of Sector 39Police Station in Noida.Nanoria disregarded the basicnorms of mapping a crimescene and did not requisitionthe services of forensic teamand sniffer dogs. He believedwhat Rajesh Talwar told him.So much so that he registereda case of murder againstHemraj and sent a team in hispursuit. Had he applied hisbrains and checked the exit andentry points of the Talwars’ flat,the murder mystery could havebeen solved then and there.

Continued on Page 4

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India has indirectly blamed Pakistan fortrying to destablise Afghanistan through

terrorism and stressed on the need tostrengthen security mechanism in the war-torn country. Putting forth its views dur-ing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) Contact Group meeting onAfghanistan, held in Moscow, on October11, India talked about greater connectivi-ty and regional integration for Afghanistan.

"India shared its perspectives on thesituation in Afghanistan, including secu-rity challenges posed by terrorism imposedfrom beyond its borders, the need tostrengthen Afghan National Defence andSecurity Forces, need for an Afghan led,Afghan owned and Afghan controllednational peace and reconciliation in anenvironment free of terror and violence,continued assistance for socio-economicdevelopment based on priorities of the peo-ple of Afghanistan, and ensuring greaterconnectivity and regional integration forAfghanistan," Ministry of ExternalSpokesperson Raveesh Kumar said onThursday.

India has a divergent view from Chinaand Russia on engaging Taliban as part of

the peace process. Raveesh said NewDelhi has always maintained that there isno good or bad Taliban while reiteratingthe country's position that "red lines"should be adhered.

He added that India conveyed its readi-ness to work closely with the SCO memberStates in efforts to bring peace, prosperityand stability in Afghanistan. Secretary(West), Ruchi Ghanashyam led the Indiandelegation to the SCO-Afghanistan ContactGroup Meeting held in Moscow on October11. This was the first meeting of the Groupfollowing the expansion of SCO in June 2017with India becoming its full member.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, respondingto Pakistan Prime Minister's recent state-ment on India not needed in Afghanistan,MEA said that India doesn't agree with hisassessment.

"We don't foresee any political or mil-itary role for India in Afghanistan. I thinkit will just complicate the situation and itwill not resolve anything. So if they wantto do economic assistance, that's their pre-rogative, but we don't accept or see any rolepolitically or militarily for India inAfghanistan," Pak PM Shahid KhaqanAbbasi said in New York last month.

Responding to his remarks, Raveeshsaid: "India has a very clear role inAfghanistan. There are more than 100development projects going on in thecountry out of which there are six big ones.India is also providing economic assistanceto Afghanistan apart from now training itspolice. We are looking at peace and rec-onciliation process in Afghanistan."

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Trading words with Chinaon the Sikkim dispute,

India on Thursday remindedBeijing about the commonunderstanding reachedbetween the SpecialRepresentatives of the twocountries during the boundarytalks in 2012. India and Chinahad reached an understandingin 2012 reconfirming theirmutual agreement on the ̀ basisof the alignment.' India alsostressed that it is important thatthese understandings arescrupulously respected by bothsides and each side projects theposition of the other side accu-rately.

The Ministry of ExternalAffairs spokseprson RaveeshKumar was on Thursday

responding to the recent state-ment by the Chinese ForeignOffice spokesperson whoreferred to an ancient Treaty tostake claims on Sikkim.Chinese Foreign Ministry whilereferring to the 1890 pactbetween UK-China, said thatthe Sikkim section of China-India border has been delin-

eated by historical conventionand that India should observethese historical conventionsand agreements to maintainpeace and tranquility at theborder. The Chinese statementcame shortly after DefenceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanvisited Nathu-La in Sikkim onSaturday.

"The Sikkim section of theIndia-China border has beendemarcated by the historicalboundary. It is the best testi-mony to this fact. We urge theIndian side to face the facts,abide by the provisions of thehistoric boundary treaty andthe relevant agreement of theparties, and work together withthe Chinese side to maintainpeace and tranquillity in theborder areas," the ChineseForeign Ministry told an Indian

news agency a day afterSitharaman's visit to Nathu-La.

"We have seen the relevantcomments. Negotiations forthe settlement of the IndiaChina boundary question areheld at the level of the SpecialRepresentatives of the twocountries based on agreementsand understandings reachedbetween them from time totime. The most recent com-mon understanding betweenthe Special Representatives wasreached in 2012. It is impor-tant that these understandingsare scrupulously respected byboth sides and that each sideprojects the position of theother side accurately," Raveeshsaid.

During the peak of India-China tensions at the Doklamtri-junction, the Indian

Government had had issued astatement underlining theagreement between the twoGovernments reached in 2012which with regard to Sikkimsaid: "Where the boundary inthe Sikkim sector is concerned,India and China had reachedan understanding in 2012reconfirming their mutualagreement on the `basis of thealignment." On the tri-junctionissue, the agreement said that"the tri-junction boundarypoints between India, Chinaand third countries will befinalised in consultation withthe concerned countries."MEA had added that furtherdiscussions regarding finaliza-tion of the boundary havebeen taking place under theSpecial Representatives frame-work.

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The pre-trial review of theextradition case filed by

the Indian Governmentagainst Vijay Mallya, chairmanof the United BreweriesLimited, is scheduled forNovember 20 in London.Mallya is wanted in India inconnection with a moneylaundering case being investi-gated by the EnforcementDirectorate (ED). The Indianauthorities have been asked tosend reply to the defence evi-dence, in the case manage-ment review hearing, beforeNovember 3.

The extradition request forMallya was handed over to theUnited Kingdom HighCommission in New Delhi onFebruary 9, 2017. Mallya wasarrested and produced beforethe Westminster Magistrates'Court in London on April 18for extradition hearing andwas later granted conditionalbail.

According to the Ministryof External Affairs, in the firstcase management review heldon July 6 the tentative date forextradition hearing wasannounced to be December 4,2017. Mallya's bail was alsoextended until then on the

same terms and conditions. "In the hearing on October

4, 2017, UK CrownProsecution Service on behalfof India filed supplementalaffidavit in connection withmoney laundering charges.Mr. Mallya was re-arrested andgranted bail thereafter till 4December 2017 when extradi-tion hearing is scheduled tocommence. The pre-trialreview on the case is scheduledfor November 20, 2017," MEAspokesperson Raveesh Kumarsaid on Thursday.

In the second case man-agement review hearing heldon September 14, the defence

evidence was served to UKCrown Prosecution Service forresponse from the Indian side.The Indian authorities need tosend reply to the defence evi-dence before November 3,Raveesh said.

India is pursuing the extra-dition case against Mallya withUK government after the inves-tigations by the Central Bureauof Investigation and the EDrevealed that Mallya had divert-ed most of the Rs 6,000 croreshe had borrowed from StateBank of India led consortiumsof lenders to the shell compa-nies. Mallya has denied theseallegations.

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President Ram Nath Kovindand Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on Thursdayurged the Governors to bemore proactive to the devel-opment and well being of pub-lic. Addressing a two-day con-ference of Governors and Lt.Governors of States and UnionTerritories, the President saidtheir obligation to committhemselves to the welfare of thepeople was more pronouncedin the "current paradigm ofcooperative federalism".

In his opening address atthe conference, attended byVice President M VenkaiahNaidu, Prime Minister andCabinet Ministers, Presidentsaid Governors should inspireand connect all relevant stake-holders in their respectiveStates for the creation of a 'NewIndia' that is free of corruption,poverty, illiteracy, malnutri-tion and unhygienic condi-tions.

"The President said that

being an intrinsic part of thelegislative system in their States,Governors can provide a newdimension to the developmentof their States by communi-cating with legislators, andinviting them to Raj Bhavan todeliberate on subjects related to

public well- being," a statementissued by Rashtrapati Bhavanquoted Kovind as saying.

He added that they play therole of a bridge between theUnion government and states.

"The obligation ofGovernors to preserve and

uphold the Constitution andcommit themselves to the ser-vice and welfare of the peopleis even more pronounced in thecurrent paradigm of coopera-tive federalism," Kovind said.

In his speech, PrimeMinister said Governors can

become catalytic agents forchange in the society whileupholding the sanctity of theConstitution. He mentionedthe target of 'New India' by2022 and emphasized that thiscan be achieved only by mak-ing it a people's movement, aPMO statement said.

Modi also said that theGovernors can "motivate"banks to give loans underMudra scheme to tribals, dal-its and women, especially in theperiod between ConstitutionDay on November 26 andAmbedkar MahaparinirvanaDiwas on December 6. Heencouraged them to interact atlength with students and teach-ers in this regard, the statementsaid.

The conference is beingattended by 27 Governors andthree Lt. Governors of statesand Union Territories. TheAdministrators of the UnionTerritories of Dadra and NagarHaveli and Daman and Diu aswell as of Lakshadweep are alsoparticipating as special invitees.

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Union Home Ministry on Thursdaydirected Border Security Force

(BSF) and Assam Rifles to maintainextra vigil to foil attempts by RohingyaMuslims to enter India.

The move came after theGovernment told the Supreme Courtthat Rohingyas were "illegal" immi-grants and some of them were part ofa "sinister" design of Pakistan's ISI andterror groups such as the ISIS, whosepresence in the country will pose a "ser ious" national security threat.

BSF is guarding 4096-km Indo-Bangladesh border and Assam Riflesguards 1643-km Indo-Myanmar border.Meanwhile, India's ambassador toMyanmar, Vikram Misri, was among the50 diplomats who visited Rakhine stateof Myanmar on October 2.

The diplomats were taken to near-ly half a dozen villages in northern dis-tricts of Maungdaw and Rathedaung (ofRakhine). The visit was arranged by theMyanmar government.

The details of the visit and subse-quent observations are not available yet.

The government told Parliament onAugust 9 that more than 14,000Rohingyas, registered with the UNHCR,were staying in India. However, aidagencies estimate that there are about40,000 Rohingya Muslims in the coun-try.

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The Supreme Court onThursday took a big step

towards introducing trans-parency in selecting senioradvocates of Supreme Courtand High Courts by involvingthe Attorney General (AdvocateGeneral in case of High Courts)and members of the Bar in thedecision-making process. Tillnow, judges used secret ballotto vote for each aspiring can-didate and the choices werenever made public.

Reforming the age old sys-tem, a Bench of Justices RanjanGogoi, RF Nariman and NavinSinha laid down an elaborateset of guidelines to be followedby SC and all HCs by setting upa permanent Secretariat to doa background check of all can-didates who apply to becomesenior advocate. The scrutinyshall be with regard to reputa-tion, conduct, integrity of theadvocate, his/her participation

in pro-bono (without legalfees) work, reported judgmentsin the last five years where theadvocate has contributed, andany published works.

The list will be forwarded toa five-judge Committee forDesignation of Senior Advocatesheaded by Chief Justice of Indiafor SC and respective ChiefJustices of High Courts willscrutinize these names and inter-view the candidate. This is thefirst time ever such a Secretariatand a Permanent Committee isput in place to deal with selec-tion of senior advocates.

This committee, to be setup in SC and all HCs, shall havetwo senior most judges andAttorney General (in case of

SC) or Advocate General (incase of HC) as members. Thesefour members will nominate alawyer from the Bar as the fifthmember. The names of candi-dates will be published on theofficial website of SC/HC toinvite suggestions/views fromstakeholders following whichthe Committee shall interviewthem and place the selectednames before the Full Court ofSC/HC, who will vote either byconsensus or secret ballot.

The decision of the Courtcame on a petition filed bysenior advocate Indira Jaising. Aseparate set of petitions chal-lenged Section 16 of AdvocatesAct 1961 providing for senioradvocates, which the bench dis-missed.

The Committee shall gradecandidates based on number ofyears (below 20 years - 10points, above 20 years - 20points), reported judgments (40points), publications (15 points)and final interview (25 points).

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Following the directions ofPrime Minister Narendra

Modi after Tamil Nadu DeputyChief Minister OPanneerselvam met him andtold him about the spurt indengue cases in the State, theUnion Health Ministry onThursday deputed a multi-dis-ciplinary team to the State toinvestigate the outbreak of thevector-borne diseases there.

Tamil Nadu has witnesseda spurt in the dengue cases andthe state government has beentrying measures to control it.

Panneerselvam, after meet-ing Modi, told reporters thatthe Prime Minister gave apatient hearing on the steps

taken by the State Governmentto check the spread of dengue.

"PM has been apprisedabout the steps taken by thegovernment and he has ordereda central government's medicalteam to visit the state to assessthe situation," he said.

In the wake of huge surgein dengue cases, the TN gov-ernment is facing strong criti-cism from all quarters over thehandling of the "health emer-gency", though it claims it istaking all possible measures tocurb the menace.

According to the direc-torate of National Vector BorneDisease Control Programme(NVBDCP), 11,552 cases havebeen reported in Tamil Naduthis year, a 350% increase in the

number of cases compared tolast year.

However, Kerala andKarnataka top the list with18,727 and 13,016 dengue casesso far.

As part of efforts to controlthe spread of dengue, the TamilNadu government has decidedto undertake a 15-day cleanli-ness drive in the state.

The state government,which has kicked off severaldengue prevention activitiesand awareness initiatives, hasbegun to observe Thursdays asanti-dengue day.

It has warned of actionagainst owners whose uncleanpremises could lead to massbreeding of mosquitoes spread-ing the disease.

�%��&'�%(�)*!�&(+() !"�",&(�!"%�-.")� (& ������������� ������� // /

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The Supreme Court onThursday took serious

exception to Sahara chiefSubrata Roy's interference in theauction process of his primeestate Aamby Valley, the auc-tion of which got stalled afterRoy's letter to police authoritiesin Pune warned of a law andorder situation ahead of a pos-sible lockdown forcing police toseize control of the premises.

The Securities ExchangeBoard of India (SEBI) con-ducting the auction brought thematter to the Supreme Court

which ordered auction. It fileda contempt petition againstRoy for writing a letter toSuperintendent of Police(Pune) which proved to be an

obstacle in the auction process.SEBI counsel Arvind Datarinformed the Court that as ondate, no buyer had come forthto participate in the auction.

On reading the contents ofthe letter, the Bench headed byChief Justice Dipak Misra toldRoy's counsel senior advocate

Mukul Rohatgi, "You shouldnot have written the letter,"refusing to give Rohatgi a hear-ing despite his several requests.The Court ordered the police toevacuate the premises within 48hours and directed the officialliquidator of the Bombay HighCourt to restart the auctionunder the supervision of theCompany Court judge and asitting Bombay High Courtjudge.

The Bench threatened jailfor anybody who interferedwith the auction process. andposted the matter for hearingon November 23.

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The State-level Bankers'Committee (SLBC) meet-

ing was held here on Thursdayat the Mantralaya .

The meeting was presidedover by Chief Secretary VivekDhand.

He called upon the bankersto pay emphasis on providingloans to buy e-Rickshaws forcontrolling pollution in Raipur,Durg, Bhilai, Rajnandgaon,Bilaspur and Korba.

Dhand also asked bankersto provide a boost to digitaltransactions, supplying ade-quate cash in rural ATMs andlinking the social welfareschemes’ beneficiaries accountswith Aadhaar and mobile num-bers.

He asked the officials toincrease the loan disbursal tofarmers so that their incomesare doubled by the year 2022.

Notably, TransportMinister Rajesh Munat in Julythis year had announced thatthere will now be no more per-mits issued for purchase of newfossil fuel powered auto rick-shaws in the State.

Chairing a meeting of theState Road Safety Council inthe Mantralaya here, theMinister also stated that sale ofe-rickshaws will be promotedin Raipur city.

He directed officials to befirm with people who don’twear helmet while riding twowheelers and take stern action.

Munat also directed offi-cials to set up pollution check-ing centers at every petrolpump in the State.

The Minister also directedofficials to take action against

people who drive vehicle on thewrong side of roads and usemobile phone when driving .

The State Government inJune last year had announcedthat Chhattisgarh is set to ban

commercial vehicles which aremore than 10 to 12 years old —mainly scores of diesel fuel pow-ered autos, trucks and buses- thekey culprits in spreading pollu-tion. Buses plying on long-dis-

tance routes which are more than12-years-old are already deniedpermits. The trucks which aremore than 10 years old will notbe given permits to ply on theroads, officials had informed.

Chief Minister RamanSingh had convened a meetingof senior government officialsin a meeting of ChhattisgarhEnvironment Protection Board(CECB) at his official resi-dence last year.

Singh, during the meetinghad stated that the StateGovernment would undertakestern measures to control pollu-tion in the interest of the peopleof the State. The truck ownerswill be given one-year period tobuy new vehicles. Registration ofmore than 8-year-old vehicleswill also not be done inChhattisgarh. No permits will begiven to autos which are morethan 10 years old in Raipur,Durg- Bhilai and Bilaspur, themeeting was informed.

The auto rickshaw ownerswill be given one-year period toconvert the autos to e-Rickshaws.After this expiry period, theowners will not be given permits,it was decided last year.

The Chief Minister hadalso called upon the senior offi-cers to prepare a master plan tocurb pollution. Several crucialdecisions were taken at themeeting. Proposals to ban oldvehicles and shutting downindustrial units spreading pol-lution were accepted.

He had stated that onlinemonitoring of pollution levelsof industrial units should bedone. If the managements ofunits violate guidelines morethan twice a month then stepsshould be taken to close downthe defaulting industrial units.

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The agreement for collabo-rative project work for

"Development of “Modeling &Optimization of HighConcentration Iron Ore fines/concentrate slurry Pipelinesfor Indian Iron Ore ProcessingIndustries” was executedbetween NMDC Ltd andIMMT Bhubaneswar in thepremises of IMMT during the76th anniversary celebrationsof CSIR on October 9, aNMDC press releaseinformed.

Dr Narendra K Nanda,Director (Technical) NMDCand Dr S K Mishra, actingDirector IMMT were presenton the occasion, a companypress release informed.

The objective is to devel-op a measurement procedurefor obtaining solids concen-tration distribution and tur-bulent intensity profiles inhighly concentrated iron orefines/concentrate slurry which

will be extended to Indian IronOre processing industriesespecially to NMDC fordesigning, testing and model-ing/simulation of their futur-istic iron ore slurry pipelinetransportation systems, itinformed.

The 2nd ResearchCooperation Agreementsigned by Dr. Narendra K.Nanda, Director (Technical)on behalf of NMDC and Prof.R.K. Panda, Dean (Research),IIT, Bhubaneswar for estab-lishing an advanced research

laboratory on "Optimizationof Silos, Bins and Hoppersdesigns through Modeling,primarily intended for ironore storage" and also to sug-gest modif ication andimprovements in existingoperating units of NMDC

Limited. This project has been taken

under the Uchchatar AvishkarYojana (UAY), whereby Rs 90lakh is being contributed byMinistry of HRD and NMDChas to take care of �30 lakh.

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The work for Optical FibreCable (OFC) laying in the

jurisdiction of RaipurMunicipal Corporation (RMC)for providing high speed inter-net connectivity under smartcity project will commencesoon, officials informed.

Raipur is also being putunder a ‘retrofitting plan’ cov-ering 500 acres of land to pro-vide facilities not present so farunder the Smart City Mission, officials informed.

Notably, Raipur city wasselected among 100 cities to bedeveloped as smart city inIndia due to various achieve-ments, initiatives and all-inclu-sive approach.

Accordingly Raipur cityhad submitted “Smart CityProposal” (SCP) for RaipurCity to Ministry of UrbanDevelopment, Government ofIndia with required consent ofGovernment of Chhattisgarhand statutory authority ofRaipur Smart City.

The city of Raipur hasbeen selected to be developedinto a smart city under the fasttrack mode of first phase of theSmart Cities Mission.

The Smart City Proposal ofRaipur includes the smart citysolutions which involve theuse of technology, informationand data to improve infra-structure and services with inthe city of Raipur (The SmartSolutions Projects).

Raipur City is to promoteNon-Motorized Transport(NMT) with dedicated pedes-trianized corridors and

enhanced ‘walk ability’ options. This was stated in the

‘Smart City Proposal’ forRaipur submitted during StageII of the ‘Smart City Challenge’of India Smart City Mission ofthe Union Ministry of UrbanDevelopment.

The NMT mode had beenfocussed to bring pollutionlevels further down in the city,officials informed.

The citizens of Raipur fore-see themselves living in envi-ronmentally clean, sociallycohesive, sustainable, usingrenewable energy sources, uti-lizing scientific water and wastemanagement, employing smarttransportation and a safe citywith a responsive ‘SmartGovernance Framework’, thedocument mentioned.

The Union Ministry ofUrban Development has takenup ‘Transit OrientedDevelopment’ (TOD) in Naya

Raipur besides Ahmedabad,Delhi (Kakardooma), Nagpurand Navi Mumbai, the CentralGovernment has informed.

The Ministry would likethis to be expanded to othercities as well, it informed.

To effectively address theemerging urbanization chal-lenges, the Union Ministry ofUrban Development has comeout with a multi-pronged pol-icy framework to promote liv-ing close to mass urban tran-sit corridors, the Ministryinformed.

This new initiative seeks topromote TOD which enablespeople to live within walking orcycling distance from transitcorridors like the Metros,Monorail and Bus RapidTransit (BRT) corridors, cur-rently being taken up on a largescale.

The Ministry has formu-lated a ‘National Transit

Oriented Development Policy’which will be discussed withthe States and Union Territoriesat a National Workshop onUrban Development to be heldon Tuesday next week.

This policy seeks toenhance the depth of under-standing of States and UTs onTOD as a viable solution tomany of the challenges likehaphazard urban growth andsprawl, mobility, rapidly risingprivate vehicles on roads, pol-lution, housing choices etc..

This new urban designand planning in the form ofTOD, is being incentivized bythe Union Ministry under twomore initiatives viz., MetroPolicy and Green UrbanMobility Scheme which alsowill be discussed with Statesand UTS for taking them onboard.

Under TOD, city densifi-cation will be promoted alongmass transit corridors throughvertical construction by sub-stantially enhancing FARs(Floor Area Ratio) backed bypromotion of Non-motorisedTransportInfrastructure forwalking and cycling to trans-port stations, development ofstreet networks in the influencezone of transit corridors, multi-modal integration, effectivefirst and last mile connectivi-ty through feeder services toenable people access publictransit in 5 to 10 minutes fromhome and work places.

Dense living along transitcorridors besides resulting inenhanced living and travelexperience, will also improveridership of mass transit sys-

tems. If properly executed,TOD could emerge as a meansof financing mass transit pro-ject, for which the demand isgrowing.

TOD promotes integra-tion of land use planning withtransportation and infrastruc-ture development to avoid longdistance travel in cities throughcompact development asagainst the present pattern ofunplanned and haphazardurban growth.

Under the new MetroPolicy, TOD has been manda-tory while under Green UrbanMobility Scheme, TOD hasbeen made an essential reformand is given priority for receiv-ing central assistance.

The Ministry’s initiativecomes in the context of over300 km of Metro lines beingoperational in seven cities,another 600 kms of metro lineprojects under construction in12 cities and over 500 km pro-jects under consideration.

The Ministry has support-ed BRTS projects in 12 citieswhich are under differentstages of progress and eightmore cities are set to take upBRT projects. Mass Rail TransitSystem of 380 km length isbeing taken up in Delhi.

Transit OrientedDevelopment will be financedby channelizing a part ofincreases in property valuesresulting from investments intransit corridors throughBetterment Levies and ValueCapture Financing tools.Increased private sector par-ticipation will result in eco-nomic development and

employment generation. TOD Policy also aims at

inclusive development byensuring mixed neighbour-hood development in the formof a range of housing choicesincluding affordable housingand ensuring spaces for streetvendors.

The Chhattisgarh govern-ment will encourage use ofpublic transport by way ofallowing more density alongthe public transport corridorswhich makes public transportfinancially sustainable and onthe other hand, reduces theusage of personal vehicles in itsnew capital city, officials hereinformed.

The concept of TransitOriented Development (TOD)is being adopted to make NayaRaipur a sustainable city.

To construct bus shelterswithin walkable range from thesectors, to connect the sectorsand BRT shelters with cycletracks and walkways, to designthe shelters with facilities ofbicycle parking thereby reduc-ing the emission of green housegases, congestion on roads andreducing accidents.

Notably, the Naya RaipurDevelopment Authority(NRDA) has plans of develop-ing a ‘Transport Hub’ spreadover an area of 161.9 hectaresin the new capital city.

The Raipur Smart CityProject is promising 24x7 watersupply to the residents whenready.

Improvement and revamp-ing of existing water supply ,transmission and DistributionNetwork under ‘Mor Raipur

City Center Area’ (MRCC)will be done through PPPmodel on DBOT basis , officialsinformed.

Currently, Raipur is sup-plied 277 MLD of water fromvarious sources. The popula-tion of Raipur as per 2011Census is 10,26,539.Considering current popula-tion as 12 lakh, the average percapita supply in Raipur is about200 lpcd, supplied intermit-tently for a period of 2-3 hoursper day mostly.

The MRCC area receives11 MLD and its current popu-lation is about 67000. At pre-sent, water from 4 ESRs(Motibagh, Ganj, Deven Nagar,and Tank No.7) are serving theArea Based Developmnt(ABD) Area of Raipur.

The total number of houseservice connections in ABDarea is around 6700, currentlythere are many type of loses inthe Water Supply DistributionNetwork, which includes losesdue to pilferages, leakages inlines etc.

The Smart City Proposalsincludes area based proposalfor a particular area (MorRaipur City Central or MRCCArea) which will be developedinto a smart area, therebyimproving liveability of thewhole city (the “Area BasedDevelopment Project”).

The ABD area consideredfor retrofit and redevelopmentmodel development is 777acres. It is predominantlycommercial with equal pres-ence of wholesale and retail.

The area contains threesignificant water bodies, sports

infrastructure, households, anda plethora of heritage areas too.MRCC is envisaged as a trans-formational project convertingthe Raipur urban heart into aClean, Connected, Cohesiveand Credible Raipur; A projectreplicable in other parts ofRaipur as well as other smartcities of the state.

The Government ofChhattisgarh has formed a spe-cial purpose vehicle (SPV),Raipur Smart City Limited(RSCL) to plan, design, imple-ment, coordinate and monitorthe smart city projects inRaipur. RSCL is an unlistedPublic company incorporatedon September 16, 2016 and isincorporated under IndianCompanies Act 2013.

As a part of the Smart CityDevelopment, RSCL has decid-ed to improve water supply sit-uation in MRCC area throughPublic Private Partnership(PPP) mode on Design, Build,Finance, Operate and Transfer(DBFOT) basis.

The main objectives are:To achieve 24x7 water supplyin MRCC area or its part(s)--To achieve adequate pressuresin the system, To reduce NRWto less than 15%., Quality ofWater to be as per IS 10500., Toimplement smart Billing,Collection and SCADA System,Operation and Maintenanceof the total scheme for a peri-od of 10 years.

CCTV surveillance to curbcrimes and nab traffic offend-ers would become a norm inRaipur city with the imple-mentation of Smart City plans, officials informed.

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We are all a part of theBALCO family. No

member of the family shouldwork without safety. We shouldall follow the safety normsunfailingly, and commit tomake BALCO the safest plantin the world”, Vikas Sharma,CEO and Director, BALCO,said at the Suraksha Chaupalprogramme organized at Plant-II canteen here, a companypress release informed.

In a first of its kind event,more than 200 officials,employees and contract labor-ers participated in the SurakshaChaupal, it informed.

Sharma cited out the ben-efits of safety measures withdifferent stand points.

He said that the reason foraccidents was the failure tobring safety norms into habit.Safety measures should bepracticed not with the intent to

escape the fine but to bring itto the conscious behaviour.

Sharma emphasised on theuse of all safety equipmentduring work. The car driver aswell as the passengers wearsafety belts. The Motorbikerider as well as the pillionwear helmet.

Deepak Prasad, Head,Aluminium Business, BALCOsaid that the management isalways vigilant that the plant isaccident free every day. Theprobability of accident increas-es when the established normsare not abided by.Overconfidence while workingis also one of the major reasonsfor mishaps. Whatever the rea-son, it leads to a loss of humanresource.

It is our responsibility tokeep ourselves safe duringwork. If someone is foundworking without adequate safe-ty measures, they should bestopped and encouraged tofollow safety norms, he said

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Page 4: ˙ 0 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... connectivity between cities in Andhra and Dubai. The Chief Minister agreed to devel-op more green-field airports in the State,

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)on Thursday took out a Jan

Raksha Yatra in the city to con-demn the killings of BJP andRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) workers in Kerala.

The BJP and its associat-ed outfits took out the Yatrafrom Motibagh which culmi-nated at Dharna site nearBudha Talab.

The party has alleged thatthe ruling Government inKerala was responsible for the

violence and blamed that ithad failed to maintain the lawand order situation in theState.

The BJP leaders and work-ers also raised slogans againstthe Left Front Governmentand demanded its dismissal.

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The police on Thursdayarrested a Maoist carrying

a reward of Rs 3 lakh on hishead in restive Bijapur districtof Bastar.

Punem Sona (30), whowas active as DeputyCommander of the Local

Organisation Squad (LOS) ofMaoists, was apprehendedfrom a forest near Futapalli vil-lage under Usoor police stationarea, a police official said.

Acting on specific inputsabout the presence of Sona inFutapalli village, a team oflocal police yesterday launcheda search operation near the

area, he said.The patrolling team wait-

ed in a concealed position inthe forest for the cadre beforecatching him, he said.

Warrants were since longpending against Sona in fourNaxal-related incidents, includ-ing attempt to murder, arsonand loot, the official informed.

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Chhattisgarh In-charge of AllIndia Congress Committee

(AICC), P.L. Punia said that theCongress party will win all the12 seats of Bastar in the forth-coming Assembly polls in theState.

He said addressing a massivepublic meeting here onThursday.

AICC Secretary ArunUraon said that the ruling BJPgovernment of the State was dis-tributing bonus on paddy pur-chase keeping in view the pollsslated next year.

The BJP government is try-ing to woo the voters and thepeople should not get misguid-ed , he said. Leader of OppositionT.S. Singhdeo said that the rightsthat the tribals have were beinggiven to the non-tribals and theCongress would give back theirrights if it comes to power in theState.

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Aone-day visit of SpecialRelief Commissioner

(SRC) Bishnupada Sethi toNuapada district on Tuesdayhas created much hope amongthe farmers here. This wasquite evident from the inter-action of farmers with the SRCin villages that they are undersevere distress. Every farmerwas desperate to show his cropfield to the SRC with the hopethat his situation would belisted in Government record.

The way the SRC listenedto people’s grievances andexpressed his concern to themedia on drought situationcreated hope. Even, the leadersof political parties who accom-panied the SRC through hismovement in the district said,“It seemed the Commissioner

understood the problems; andwe hope he will give report infavour of the people.”

Drought, after wreckingdevastation in the district con-secutively for last two years, hasplayed havoc this year too.“Drought this year will havemuch impact on our livingbecause it is repeating,” peopleof Khasbahal village of Khariarblock had said to this corre-spondent last year duringAugust when the drought waslooming large.

Farmers faced massive lossin past two years. Neither theinput subsidy provided by theGovernment nor the insur-ance paid by the insurancecompany could match thatloss. The consequence of athird year repeat is easily con-ceivable.

Kalabati Sabar ofKhasbahal had spent �50,000last year in cultivation of threeacres of land; and out of that�35,000 was loan from privatesources.

“The loan remainedunpaid and added to that is theburden of the borrowings forthe current year,” she says. Notonly Kalabati, farmers every-where in the district are fran-

tically looking for Governmentsupport to get rid of the debttrap as well as food insecurity.Labour brokers are hoveringaround to snatch the opportu-nity of a distressed labour mar-ket as the people are desper-ately searching for alternativelivelihood options.

The district administra-tion says the MGNREGS is oneof the alternatives, but what thepeople of Samserpadar andChicher villages of Khariarblock revealed before the SRCexposes how this programmehas miserably failed to addressthe situation of joblessness in

the villages.The villagers have not been

paid their wages although morethan a year has elapsed. Thefailure of the job scheme toaddress the job requirement isquite visible in other villagestoo. The block officials havefound a simple way to befoolthe labourers.

“We have done our work;your fund transfer order hasbeen submitted online, but thepayment has not been releasedby the Government,” they say.The workers in turn don’tunderstand what to do. TheMGNREG Act makes provi-

sion for compensation fordelayed payment, but nothingcomes true.

“We will never work underMGNREGS again,” say theworkers. “We have repeatedlycomplained about it to theBDO and even to the Collectorin the monthly grievance meet-ings, but in vain,” they add.

The scanty rainfall in Julyand August this year gave aclear indication that a severedrought was looming large,which forced many farmers totake advance from labour bro-kers to work in brick kilns out-side the State. Some farmershave already migrated and alarge numbers are preparing toleave.

Ghatu Parabhoi of Haripurvillage of Komna block is onesuch marginal farmer whomigrated to Hyderabad inAugust after Nuakhai withother five. Each of them hadreceived � 3,000 as advance.Ghatu could not bear the tor-ture by the contractor there,managed to escape from thekiln with another worker andreturned to the village. “Theother four are still there in thekiln being tortured severely bythe drunkard contractor,” says

Ghatu.This is an example of how

the failure of agriculture in adistrict like Nuapada playsdevastation in the lives of farm-ers.

Villagers say, “Drought inNuapada is not new; the prob-lem is that the Government hasfailed to address the problem.Why the irrigated area of thedistrict has remained below 20per cent,” asks a farmer ofChindaguda village who has 10acres of land but is never con-fident that the land will sustainhis family of five.

Even big farmers withmore than ten acres of land alsohold the same opinion. “Thedelay in completion of theLower Indra Irrigation Projectand the low quality of its workshas created hopelessnessamong farmers.

The status of the deep borewell irrigation scheme is alsothe same. Thousands of farm-ers in the district are waiting foryears for installing bore wellsafter depositing their shares.Corruption is rampant in allprogrammes and schemes.Things will not change if sucha situation continues to prevail,”say the villagers.

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Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)on Thursday asked the

Congress Government toimmediately stop victimisingfarmers who were burningpaddy stubble in despair andinstead incentivise them byoffering them a minimumcompensation of �4,000 peracre to stop this practice.

“It is shocking that theCongress Government ispenalising farmers and initiat-ing cases against them forburning paddy stubble insteadof offering compensation tothem besides implementingsolutions to tackle this prob-lem,” said former Minister andSAD general secretary BikramSingh Majithia.

He said that it was con-demnable that the Governmenthas approached farmers withwarnings and even threatenedto withdraw subsides given tothem in case they burn theirstubble this season.

“Instead of doing this, theGovernment should immedi-ately incentivise straw man-agement by registering farmerswho undertake not to burnstubble and give them com-pensation of �4,000 per acre,”he added.

Stating that the Punjabpeasantry was already understress and had become more sorecently due to the CongressGovernment’s failure to imple-ment the promised �90,000crore farm loan waiver,Majithia said that at this junc-ture, the Government neededto seek farmers’ cooperation

rather than entering into a con-frontation with them.

“More than 250 farmershave committed suicide in thelast six months. They cannotmanage the crop residue ontheir own under any circum-stances. The only way for-ward is to assist them in tack-ling this problem,” he said.

Majithia said thatinstead of doing this, theGovernment was indulgingin an eye wash throughstatements as well as pass-ing on the buck to theCentre.

Asserting that no fundswere being released to coop-erative societies to buy equip-ment including straw reapers,Majithia said that theGovernment should also giveneeded machinery at subsi-dized rates to farmers willingto manage paddy straw.

He said that theGovernment should alsoencourage establishment ofmore bio-mass plants to createa market for paddy straw.

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From Page 1The train will run on Linke

Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach-es,” said a senior railway offi-cial.

According to Railways’technical experts, designed torun on 150 kmph the LHBcoaches are of a superiordesign that reduce the chanceof derailment and mitigates thepossibility of grievous injury ordeath in case of accidents.These coaches have anti-climb-ing features and provision ofsuperior braking.

When asked the need forthe third Rajdhani-type trainbetween the two destinations,the official indicated that sim-ilar services will be expandedbetween other important des-tinations gradually given thecompetition railways if facingfrom aviation sector.

“This new pair of train willprovide succor to the passen-gers hit by dynamic fare sys-tem. Railways is in a catch 22situation as the flexi schemehas augmented the passen-gers revenue by Rs 550 crore ina year but at the same time hasbeen facing criticism frompassengers. While the author-ities are working on to reviewthe flexi fare which wouldtake some time, we are expect-ing that the new train with thenormal fare slab would be ananswer,” added the official.

During the festive season,while most of the trains gojam-packed, seats have beengoing vacant in premiumtrains due to the flexi farescheme.

From Page 1If that was not enough, he

allowed Aarushi’s room to bethoroughly cleaned and evenwhitewashed to obliterate allthe evidence. He also forgot toseize the clothes that Aarushiwore on the fateful night. DrDohre, who performed theautopsy, did mention white vagi-nal discharge but did not pressfor further forensic tests. Therewas another controversy involv-ing the swab of Aarushi. It waschanged with ulterior motive tobenefit the murderers and sub-sequent tests proved that itbelonged to a very maturewoman.

Nanoria was in a tearinghurry as he handed overAarushi’s body for cremationwithout obtaining the post-mortem examination report. Heforgot to recover Aarushi’s cam-era gifted by her parents for herbirthday. Aarushi and Hemraj’smobile phones too were notrecovered. Amidst the hue andcry, the Investigating Officer(IO) of the case was changed and

Anil Samania was handed overthe probe. Samania concludedthat it is an “honour killing” andRajesh Talwar had murdered hisdaughter, whom he had found inan “objectionable position” withhelp Hemraj. Rajesh Talwar wasarrested and sent to Dasna Jail.

His arrest led to a clamourof justice for Aarushi and thecase was transferred to the CBI.The CBI team, led by JointDirector Arun Kumar, turnedthe case upside down by debunk-ing the Noida police theory andarrested three servants Krishna,Raj Kumar and Vijay Mandal forthe ghastly double murders.Despite his claims, the CBI failedto submit the charge sheet in thecase and thus, allowing it to bereopened by the CBI chief.

AGL Kaul the InvestigatingOfficer of the case carried out anin-depth probe. Kaul wrote in theclosure report; “There is nodirect evidence of what hap-pened between 12.08 midnightand 6 AM next day but circum-stantial evidence is available,the probable sequence of events.”

From Page 1Under the policy, 60 per cent

of pooled land would bereturned to land owners afterinfrastructure development, ifthe pooled land is 20 hectaresand above and 48 per cent if theland is between 2 and 20hectares. Of the 60 per cent ofreturned land, 53 per cent will befor residential purpose, 5 per centfor city level commercial use and2 per cent for Public and Semi-public use. In the other case, thesame would be 43 per cent, 3 percent and 2 per cent respectively.

The LPP is aimed at gettingindividuals or a group of land-owners - living in urban villageson Delhi’s periphery - to pooltheir land for infrastructuredevelopment.

From Page 1The Talwars were arrested

in May 2008. The CBI courtconvicted them on November26, 2013. The high court hadreserved its verdict on theappeals of the couple onSeptember 7.

Filmmakers VishalBhardwaj and Meghna Gulzarin their critically acclaimed“Talvar” on the murder case,presented competive narra-tives of what happened on thenight of May 16, 2008, whenAarushi was found murderedin her Noida home. The bodyof the Talwars’ family helpHemraj was found severalhours later.

“Justice delayed is NOT

justice denied. Overwhelmedand deeply relieved upon hear-ing the news of the acquittal.#AarushiVerdict #Talwars,”Bhardwaj tweeted.

Meghna said, “I did not dothat film to tell the story of aparticular side. Our intentionall along was to see that all theversions of the case are out inthe open. I think this is whathas happened in this appeal.The facts and testimonies wereexamined very carefully andrationally.”

The CBI court had reliedon circumstantial evidence toconvict the couple in theabsence of any motive. In hisorder, Additional SessionsJudge Shyam Lal has citedjudgments of the SupremeCourt to say that the mere factthat the prosecution had failedto “translate that mental dis-position of the accused into

evidence does not mean that nosuch mental condition existedin the mind of the assailant.”

He said, “In a case of cir-cumstantial evidence motivedoes not have extreme signif-icance. In the absence ofmotive, the conviction basedon circumstantial evidence canin principle be made.”

Dadhiram Maurya, thejailor of the Dasna prisonwhere the Talwars are lodged,said the couple felt they havegot justice. “After having break-fast they were praying. Theirschedule was normal. She saidthey got justice today and hadtears of joy. Any person afterspending this amount of jail(time) will feel happy to getfreedom. So they were happyafter they were told about thenews,” he said.

Lawyer Rebecca John, whowas part of Talwars’ legal team,

said she was relieved by thejudgment. She claimed thewhole case was based on “innu-endos” and would “not havecarried through”.

John hoped that theTalwars, who have been inmedia spotlight for over nineyears, will be allowed privacyafter their release from thejail. Aarushi was found deadinside her room in the Talwars’Noida residence with her throatslit in May 2008. The suspicioninitially fell on 45-year-oldHemraj, who at the time wasmissing. But his body wasrecovered from the terrace ofthe house a day later.

As the Uttar Pradesh Policedrew flak over shoddy investi-gation into the case which wasmaking national headlines,then Chief Minister Mayawatirecommended a probe by theCBI.

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US President DonaldTrump, who has been hav-

ing a running battle with themajor American media net-works right from the time helaunched his White House bid,is now so disgusted with the“Fake News” networks that hewishes their licences are chal-lenged and possibly revoked.

Trump’s latest outburstcame with NBC News put outa story that he wants a 10-foldexpansion of the United States’nuclear arsenal. He called thereport “pure fiction, made up todemean”, adding, “NBC=CNN”.

“Network news hasbecome so partisan, distortedand fake that licenses must bechallenged and, if appropriaterevoked. Not fair to public!”Trump tweeted on Wednesday.

“With all of the Fake Newscoming out of NBC and the Net-works, at what point is it appro-priate to challenge their License?Bad for country!” he said. Trumplater dealt with the issue dur-ing a joint media appearancewith visiting Canadian PrimeMinister Justin Trudeau, telling

a questioner: “It’s frankly dis-gusting the way the press is ableto write whatever they want towrite. And people should lookinto it.”

“I never discussed increas-ing it (N-arsenal). I want it inperfect shape. That was just fakenews by NBC, which gives a lotof fake news, lately,” he said.

“I want to have absolutelyperfectly maintained — whichwe are in the process of doing —nuclear force. But when they saidI want ten times what we haveright now, it’s totally unnecessa-ry,” he said, adding Defence Se-cretary Jim Mattis has also putout a statement, calling it fakenews.

Asked if he thought thereshould be limits on what thePress should write, Trumpreplied: “No, the press shouldspeak more honestly. I mean, I’veseen tremendously dishonestpress. It’s not even a question ofdistortion, like the question thatwas just asked before about tentimes the nuclear capability. Iknow the capability that wehave, believe me, and it is awe-some. It is massive.”

“And so when they makeup stories like that, that’s justmade up. And the generals willtell you that. And then theyhave their sources that don’texist. In my opinion, they don’texist. They make up thesources. There are no sources,”he said.

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The United States on Thursdayannounced its decision to withdraw

from UNESCO (the United NationsEducational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation), accusing the Paris-basedUN affiliate of “continuing anti-Israel bias”.

“This decision was not taken lightly,and reflects US concerns with mountingarrears at UNESCO, the need for funda-mental reform in the organization, andcontinuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO,”State Department spokesperson HeatherNauert said.

The withdrawal, however, takes effectonly on December 31, 2018. “The UnitedStates will remain a full member ofUNESCO until that time,” Nauert said,

adding that UNESCO Director-GeneralIrina Bokorova has been notified of the USdecision to withdraw and to seek, instead,to establish a permanent observer mission.

Reacting to the decision, Bokovaexpressed “profound regret”, calling the USmove a “loss for multilateralism”. In astatement from Paris, she said:

“Universality is critical to UNESCO’smission to strengthen international peaceand security in the face of hatred and vio-

lence, to defend human rights and dignity.”

The US has had strained relations withUNESCO off and on over a long period.Back in 1984, under the ReaganAdministration, it first withdrew from theUNESCO, accusing it of pro-Soviet bias.It rejoined only in 2002 under the BushAdministration.

Renewed differences arose in 2011,when the Obama Administration cut offfunding in protest over UNESCO’s actionof admitting Palestine as a ful member.With the termination of financial contri-butions, the US lost its vote in the orga-nization in 2013.

While notifying its decision, the UShas indicated to the Director-General its“desire to remain engaged with UNESCOas a non-member observer state in orderto contribute US views, perspectives andexpertise on some of the important issuesundertaken by the organization, includingthe protection of world heritage, advo-cating for press freedoms, and promotingscientific collaboration and education”.

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Islamabad: A family of fiveWestern hostages, includingthree children, were recoveredafter five years of their abductionby terrorists with ties to the Afg-han Taliban in an operation bas-ed on intelligence shared by theUS, the Pakistan Army said onThursday. They were capturedby terrorists from Afghanistan in

2012 and kept as hostages there.“Pakistan Army and ISI

recovered 5 Western hostagesincluding 1 Canadian, his USNational wife and their threechildren from terrorist custodythrough an intelligence basedoperation by Pakistan troops andintelligence agencies,” the Armysaid in a statement. PTI

Yangon: The media has “exag-gerated” the number ofRohingya refugees fleeing anarmy crackdown, Myanmar’scommander-in-chief saidtoday, in a brash rebuttal ofaccusations of ethnic cleansingby his forces.

Some 520,000 Rohingyahave fled Myanmar’s westernRakhine state since August 25,when the military launched asweeping campaign against

militants from the Muslimminority.

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Spain marked its national dayon Thursday with a show of

unity in the face of Catalan inde-pendence efforts, a day after theCentral Government gave theregion’s separatist leader a dead-line to abandon his secession bid.

The country is suffering itsworst political crisis in a gener-ation after separatists in thewealthy northeastern region

voted in a banned referendumon October 1 to split from Spain.

To mark the national holi-day, Prime Minister MarianoRajoy and King Felipe VI attend-ed a traditional military paradein central Madrid.

Armed forces marchedalong Madrid’s Paseo de laCastellana boulevard to com-memorate the day thatChristopher Columbus firstarrived in the Americas in 1492.

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Moscow has lodged aprotest with Washington,

accusing US officials of tearingdown Russian flags from two ofits diplomatic missions in thecountry, the foreign ministrysaid on Thursday.

In late August, the UnitedStates ordered Russia to closeits consulate in San Franciscoand two other installations asrelations between the two for-mer Cold War enemies tookanother dive.

“Yesterday we learnt abouta new ... Hostile act of the USauthorities against our diplo-matic missions,” foreign min-istry spokeswoman MariaZakharova told reporters onThursday, warning thatMoscow would retaliate.

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Page 6: ˙ 0 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... connectivity between cities in Andhra and Dubai. The Chief Minister agreed to devel-op more green-field airports in the State,

Fifty two-year-old CKRamachandran, an auto driver anda prominent face of the Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and theBharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) inPayyanur was killed on the night of July7, 2016, when 50 Communist Party ofIndia (Marxist) or CPI(M) goons sur-rounded his house, dragged him out, andhacked him to death. They also burnt andgutted nearby houses of those they con-sidered to be RSS and BJP supporters,workers and sympathisers. To the mes-siahs of the proletariat, it did not matterthat Ramachandran belonged to themarginalised section of society, it did notmatter that he found empowerment andsocietal support, strength and directionthrough his association with the RSS,what mattered was that he dared to fol-low a different ideological path fromtheirs and, thus, had to be silenced andeliminated. Ramachandran had alsotaken a strong stand against the CPI(M)protected history-sheeter and gangster ofPayyanur area one Dhanraj.

Under the CPI(M) developmentmodel, gangsters have a place of prima-cy. Whether it is West Bengal or Kerala,they play a unique and stellar role in see-ing to it that the communist model ofdevelopment is well implemented and verydiligently followed. It is these gangsters;hordes of them, who sustain and nurturethe communist model of development,watering its roots though a network ofsyndicates and commission agents.

As against the Gujarat model ofdevelopment, the communist model ofdevelopment is one of syndicatism,extortionism and based on violence.Both, West Bengal and Kerala, where thecommunist model had been or is stillimplemented, can become case studiesfor anyone interested in examining sucha model. Thus, when the custodians ofthe communist movement in India,those leaders for whom addressing thefull quorum of the Politbureau is seen asa mass meeting, castigate the Gujaratmodel of development, simply rememberthat they do it out of acute jealousy or tocleverly hide their own rotten syndicatemodel of development.

Each time the Left Democratic Front(LDF) came to power, gangster Dhanrajwas given a free hand to run his racket,while the State and district administrationlooked the other way or facilitated hismovements. Dhanraj was eventually killedin a turf tussle with the Social DemocraticParty of India members, a political wing ofthe jihadi Popular Front of India (PFI). Thecommunists led by Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan, knowing well the back-ground and reason of the murder, made itconvenient to blame Dhanraj’s death on

RSS members, thus fanning the flames ofrevenge which saw Ramachandran beingkilled. Such is the perfidious politics ofdeath and of gore that the communists havepractised in Kerala and in States in whichthey have been in power.

Ramachandran’s murder is oneamong hundred such incidents of terrorthat have occurred in Kerala. And yet, asBJP president Amit Shah observed, whileflagging off the Jan Raksha Yatra andleading it from the front, the championsof human rights, who are ever ready totake out candle light marches; who areever ready to protest and to cry hoarseover the so-called intolerance, havemaintained a studied silence over thesekillings. In these murders, they connivethrough their silence.

Who, for example, among these pro-fessional protestors, have raised a banneragainst the manner in which seven-year-old Karthik of Irrity Taluka in Kannurdistrict was brutalised by CPI(M) cadreson May 30, 2016, just because Karthik’sfather Rahul and his mother Ramya hadcontested panchayat elections on a BJPticket. Rahul narrates how on May 30,2016, three CPI(M) goons barged into hishouse looking for him and in his absenceattacked his son Karthik a class two stu-dent. The goons caught Karthik by hishair and banged his head to the wall.They did not stop at that and attacked thechild with a knife gashing his left handand inflicting severe injuries. A trauma-

tised but defiant Karthik remained con-fined to his bed for one month. On theirway out, the CPI(M) goons broke all win-dows and also burnt the furniture. Onewould almost feel that Karthik andRahul lived in Pol Pot’s Cambodia orwhere caught in the throes of the so-called cultural revolution!

But human rights activists, five staractivists, champions of the ‘Idea of India’living abroad and pontificating from theirsanitised Ivy League confines andCongress vice president Rahul Gandhi,India’s latest self-styled ‘liberator’, did notutter a word in solace for Karthik. Whywould they, Karthik and his family areBJP supporters, that is reason enough toconsign them to terror and to the dun-geon! Similarly, they kept silent whenSantosh, RSS Shakha Karyavah in thenearby area was attacked with steel rodsby CPI(M) cadres. His knees were sobadly damaged that Santosh had tospend 56 days in hospital and is unableto walk properly anymore.

As per these champions of humanrights, Rahul, Ramya and Santosh have nohuman rights, they have no right to livewith dignity and security, they have noright to practice their political or cultur-al faith just because they have the temer-ity to follow the BJP or the RSS, such isthe communist democratic model beingfollowed in Kerala and controlled fromAKG Bhavan in New Delhi, implement-ed on the ground by that leader-of-vio-

lence by par excellence, Pinarayi Vijayan.Just as the Jana Raksha Yatra entered

its ninth day, news has come from theState of Sudheesh (38) a BJP worker inKannur district, being brutally attackedin the afternoon of October 10 by a groupof communist goons in Mathuni, in thePanoor police station area.

Sudheesh was beaten with iron rods,received severe injuries and is now admit-ted in the ICU at the Indira Gandhi Hospitalin Kannur. In the early hours of the next day,a country-made bomb was hurled at the BJPoffice of the Pattiam Panchayath Committeeagain in Kannur district. For those who havelived through communist rule in WestBengal such scenes and episodes are com-mon and easily recognisable.

The ongoing Jan Raksha Yatra in theState being organised and led by the BJPis evoking a wide and resoundingresponse. People, fed up with the cycle ofcommunist violence and oppression, arejoining it spontaneously and in large num-bers. The equations on the ground are fastshifting, the culture of political violenceas practised by the communists is beingchallenged and resisted. The spirit of theland of Shankara and of Narayana Guruis being invoked and reclaimed. That is thedeeper symbolism of this yatra, a symbol-ism that will eventually lead to a wider re-awakening and change.

(The writer is Director, Dr SyamaPrasad Mookerjee Research Foundation,New Delhi)-

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Diwali gift! 7th pay scale forprofessors” (October 12). TheUnion Cabinet’s nod for a payhike to teachers in higher educa-tional institutions was expected.This will benefit 7.58 lakh teach-ers in 106 University GrantsCommission-funded institutions,329 State Government-fundeduniversities and 12,912 privateaided colleges. However, a salaryhike alone is not going to develop the higher education inthe country. Teachers must haveacademic freedom and the liber-ty to pursue teaching.Government interference muststop and political diktats oughtnot to have a place in education-al institutions.

Wealthy NRIs and residentIndians may be appointed aspatrons in Government educa-tional institutions for develop-ment. Prime Minister NarendraModi aims to develop India’shigher education to the worldstandards. Everyone in the country should co-operate withthe Union Government toachieve world class higher edu-cation in India.

A PrabaharanTrichy

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Why the metro matters”(October 11). A spike in the fareof tickets for the Delhi metro isundoubtedly distressing for thecommuters who rely on this life-line which is safe as well efficient.

Although the Delhi MetroRail Corporation requires fundsfor its upkeep, maintenance anddaily activities, the Union andState Governments should coor-dinate to ensure that the burdenof heavy prices does not fall onthe passengers alone.

Isha ShahVia email

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Sir — A common man finds hissenses bombarded with wordslike free, offers, discounts, saveupto rupees, hurry etc. Often, theconsumer ends up spendingmore under the pretext of saving money and buys morethan the required quantitybecause of tempting combooffers, which appeal to the emo-tion of greed in humans, whichprompts them to take actionand also words like: ‘Hurry’,‘offer valid only till...’ .

Marketers have known thisfact for years that emotions offear and greed can be used todrive the consumers to takeaction. So, it is not enough thatonly our phones be smart, today’ssmart consumer, who is bom-barded with offers whichpromise free goods or at dis-counted rate should evaluate thefreebie offers from all aspects andask a question to themselves: Canthe marketer really give some-thing free to the consumer? AndWhere are we heading and whatwill this lead to?

TS KarthikChennai

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Page 7: ˙ 0 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... connectivity between cities in Andhra and Dubai. The Chief Minister agreed to devel-op more green-field airports in the State,

The Union Government’s newnotification of the Wetland(Conservation and

Management) Rules 2017 showshow the environment continues tobe a dispensable commodity. TheGovernment alone must not beblamed for this. We reap what wesow, and the Government’s policies— technocratic and disinterested —reflect our flawed thinking on the environment.

It is absolutely fine to suggestthat environment is critical tohuman survival and, therefore, needsto be protected, but the moment weattach the incentive of ‘services’ tothe environment — as most expertscontesting the new rules do — wetake the first step towards commod-

ifying the environment. After all, if we, which includes

‘communities’ and ‘experts’, canplace a utilitarian value on the envi-ronment, there is no defensible eth-ical ground to prevent businessesand the Government from doingthe same from time-to-time.

And the wetlands, unfortu-nately, have for decades beenviewed as a reservoir of ecosystemservices. At the very outset, placingthem within the ‘ecosystem services’framework gives credence to thetrade-off mentality — and such anattitude can work both ways.

If wetlands perform importantfunctions, like carbon sequestrationand disaster modulation, then these cannot be regarded as dis-pensable services, especially whenwe are on the brink of impendingecological disasters.

So, in the entire hullabalooover the experts’ disgruntlementwith the new rules, nobody is will-ing to recognise this root cause ofour collective failure.

Environmental protection has

become a byproduct of incentives,‘succeeding’ where incentives prof-it us (like renewable energy) andfailing where they do not (likewetland protection).

In India, the tendency to regardwetlands as wastelands (leading toland encroachment, squatting andwaste dumping) led to the Chennaifloods of 2015 and the Kashmirfloods of 2014, both States lost morethan 50 per cent of their wetlandswithin just two to three decades.

Even now, major metropolitancities are fast eroding their wetlandsand are failing to realise the omi-nous implications, despite being atthe receiving end of regular flood-ing over the last two years.

These disasters wil l onlyincrease in the times to come, espe-cially so in India, which is project-ed to be amongst the countrieswhich are most vulnerable to cli-mate change.

The bleak picture shows that notonly a collective moral change isrequired immediately, at the veryleast, but also that failed policy paths

already trod not be taken again, tobegin with.

One such failed policy path wasthe half-hearted management ofwetlands initiated by a set of rulesin 2010. Even though these rulesplaced the wetlands under centralcontrol, due to the propensity of theStates to mismanage them, imple-mentation was a failure. In fact, itwas a non-starter.

The Central WetlandRegulatory Authority (CWRA),whose dismantling in the 2017rules is being decried, hardly everconvened, let alone take decisionssince the last six years.

The CWRA’s dismantling andgiving way to State-level authoritiesfor managing the wetlands in eachState at least makes the Statesaccountable in some way. And eventhough no legal penalty is specified,the Union Government is defi-nitely involved in an advisory andmonitoring role.

Logically, to not devolve pow-ers to States in managing wetlandswould have led to poor results, as

the experience from 2010 onwardsshows. How can you not give a keyrole to State authorities underwhose jurisdiction the wetlandsare located?

And since wetlands are associ-ated with a range of ‘functions’ related to water, liveli-hoods etc, how can the State not beinvolved in the management of itsown key subjects, despite the bind-ings of local politics?

The last six years of wetlandsmanagement reflect exactly thiskind of apathy. Even in other cases,sub-national action to manage envi-ronment (like the US and otherglobal cities taking voluntary initia-tives) has proven to be better thanthe Union Government trying to doeverything at once.

So, the 2017 rules are not at allwrong in devolving powers to theStates, which had to be a naturalstep in a democratic polity whereStates exercise lot of heft; they lagbehind in not backing up the ruleswith legal penalties and not specifying what they mean by ‘wise

use’ of wetlands, which can allowconsiderable leeway for commercial activities.

Also, exempting the wetlandsunder forests and coastal zonesfrom rules and focusing only oninternationally recognised wetlandswould leave out more than half of the country’s nearly lakh pluswetlands.

This would ensure that future‘development’ becomes a garb forjustifying commercial extraction atthe cost, in this case, of wetlands.Having recognised this, debatingthe revival of defunct institutionslike the CWRA becomes a mootpoint. Policy would be ineffectiveand good only on paper in most such cases.

Unless we change our lens ofviewing environment as a commod-ity — for instance, wetlands as ser-vice repositories — any number ofnew rules would keep running intoroadblocks.

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

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Astrange phenomenon seems tohave gripped this country.Every development in the eco-

nomic and political realm appears toaccentuate its virulence. At times I findmyself oscillating my head from leftto right; just like I do when I witnessa live tennis match. Issues which mustbe condemned for just being blatant-ly wrong are being politicised byextremes. The space for a healthy mid-dle is diminishing; and very rapidly.

Debates in this country are beingheld hostage by two conspicuoussquads. On the left, we have India'sliberals. Mind the usage. In politicalscience, the term liberal has a com-pletely different meaning. But peo-ple who subscribe to this philosophyin India have grossly misinterpretedits essence. They will eloquentlyarticulate their grand vision forIndia; an India where Prime MinisterNarendra Modi is nowhere in the pic-ture. This appears to be their onlyagenda. Any unnerving develop-ment has to be and must be attrib-uted to the current regime. On theright, we have the blind supportersof Prime Minister Modi. Their unwa-vering commitment and dedicationto the current regime sometimesblinds them from discerning subtletrends in policy that may in the endnot be good for even their own cause.Any action undertaken must beright, is the discourse. So, where dopeople who can think for themselvesand strive for balance, appear in thispolemic? Well, we are a like a littlecrestfallen puppy in the middle whois trying to catch the ball; but the twoplayers keep playing catch.

The horseshoe theory in therealm of political science propoundsa very important message — therecomes a time when the far left andfar right begin to resemble oneanother. Their posture and rhetoricsound very similar. This is happen-ing in India today. Both sides havetwisted the political discourse. Thereappears to be no difference betweenthe two camps.

Let us start with the brigadewhich desperately needs to unlearnwhat it has poorly digested — India’sliberals. What does it mean to be a lib-eral in this country? Well, the list isinterminable, but from my under-standing, one needs to subscribe to afew basic tenets to be a part of thiscoterie. For starters, you need to bepolished and articulate. In their view,the Indian Government is the Satanin Kashmir. The Goods and ServicesTax (GST)and the Uniform CivilCode are detrimental for the econom-ic and social fabric. The massacre ofSikhs in 1984 was exaggerated andbest forgotten. The forced expulsionof Kashmiri Pandits in the valley in theearly 1990s is case of selective amne-

sia. The minority, especially theMuslim community, must be protect-ed from the rapacious majority. Theunfortunate lynching of MohammadAkhlaq in Dadri must be unequivo-cally condemned but strangely, thesame group of liberals condoned thedeath of Mohammad Ayub, thepoliceman who was lynched inKashmir. Why you may ask? Well,because he was lynched by Muslims— the community that is the cynosureof liberals — or because he was apoliceman in Kashmir who musthave been up to no good just like theIndian Army! The ailing Congress,which is in desperate need for an over-haul, is India’s only hope. And theydespise the colour orange, or shouldone say saffron? These are just a fewcommon traits the liberal communi-ty exhibits in India.

But they do not have it all wrong.Freedom of speech and expressionmust be protected. It is an inalienableright with reasonable restrictionsthat are justiciable. They did vocif-erously criticise the gruesome mur-der of Gauri Lankesh in Bangalorebut where were they when the lynch-ing in Kashmir took place? And, ofcourse, they routinely express fears ofIndia turning into a dictatorship. ThisI find to be the most hilarious. Dothey not know that the Congressruled this country for decades? ThatJawaharlal Nehru ruled the countryfor years and single-handedly craft-ed India’s foreign policy in the mainas he saw fit and depending on hisown ideological position and intellec-tual proclivities?

A strong Opposition is indispens-

able in a modern democracy. It cre-ates room for passionate debates.Ideas thrive when there is stiffOpposition. But does this exist inIndia? Have the liberals in the mainever bothered to introspect anddemand that the leadership in theCongress is strengthened? Have theyever clamoured for the change they soardently champion? The illusory spacethey operate in is far removed fromreality. India’s liberals are shockinglyarrogant and dismissive, to top it all.Intergenerational privilege does that.

India’s far right brigade is anoth-er problem. Like it or not, NarendraModi’s ascendancy to power haschanged many perceptions. Hindunationalists seem to have beenemboldened by Prime Minister Modi’srise. But it would be a folly to suggestthat the Prime Minister himself isencouraging these anti-social ele-ments; on the contrary, he has con-demned them pretty unequivocally.Now there is nothing wrong in beingproud of your country, indeed onehopes we all are. But when some lettheir narrative of nationalism threat-en the way of life of others who sharethe same country, it becomes a hugeproblem. Do not dictate what anyoneshould eat or how they should dress.

Just like the liberals, this albeitself-appointed Modi brigade refusesto identify faults in policy implemen-tation. In their view, demonetisationhad no implications for the rural econ-omy because the Prime Ministerintroduced it. They will ferventlychampion the GST and refuse toadmit that some sectors are bound tobe impacted. The Government's deci-

sion to announce rollbacks in the GSTregime is an implicit admission thatall is not well with the GST. The farright will hail the much-vauntedMumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train pro-ject as a success of the ModiGovernment, conveniently forgettingthe spate of recent rail accidents andthe fact that we still cannot avail basicservices (hygienic food) on a trainjourney. The right brigade will neverquestion the aggressive push to elec-trify the car industry and its feasibil-ity. Do not forget that there is an acutepower shortage in the country. Thefar right will take every opportunityto incite tensions and communaliseissues. This certainly does not augurwell for the future. With a country aspluralistic as ours, it does not takemuch to ignite emotions.

The discourse in the country hasbeen hijacked by these polar oppositesbut strangely they often resemble eachother in terms of their bigotry andperceptions. They both are recalcitrantlegions spearheading their agendas.There ought to be a healthy middlewhere the rest of us can express ourviews. Where do people like us do inthis disquieting atmosphere? Thedebilitating peculiarities of both sideshave left us with no option. Themajority, which does not subscribe tothese murky extremes, must carve outits own space in these rapidly chang-ing contours; and we must do so fastbefore these extremes expand theirfootprint and the centre ground van-ishes from beneath our feet.

(The writer is a socio-economiccommentator. He can be reached [email protected])

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The uncertainty associatedwith the longevity of Tamil

Nadu Legislative Assemblyremained unresolved as theMadras High Court onThursday adjourned the indi-vidual petitions filed by 21 DMKlegislators challenging the pro-ceedings initiated against themby the Privileges Committee forhaving displayed the bannedgutkha sachets in the House.

Justice K Ravichandrababudeferred the hearing after VijayNarayan, advocate general,sought time to file the counteraffidavit. Justice M Duraiswamyhad on September 8 restrainedthe Privilege Committee fromproceeding against the legislatorsand had said that his orderwould be in place until furtherorders in this case. The MLAshad contended that the PrivilegeCommittee’s move to disqualifythem was with an eye on win-ning the trust vote in the Houseas and when it was held.

The Edappadi PalaniswamyGovernment was facing an inter-nal rebellion as 18 MLAs of theruling AIADMK had submittedletters to the then Governor CVidhyasagar Rao stating thatthey were withdrawing supportto the Chief Minister. The DMKhad written to the then Governordemanding the convening of theAssembly for a trust vote.

“The EdappadiPalaniswamy Government haslost majority in the House fol-lowing the decision by the 18AIADMK MLAs to rebel againstit,” DMK leader MK Stalin hadstated in his letter. The thenGovernor reportedly told a del-egation of Opposition partiesthat called on him that it was aninternal matter of the AIADMKand the ball was not in his court.Meanwhile P Dhanapal, Speaker

of the Assembly, disqualifiedfrom the House the 18 AIADMKMLAs who had written to thethen Governor. The MLAs chal-lenged their disqualification inthe Madras HC and the matteris being heard by the courtwhich has asked the ElectionCommission of India not to pro-ceed with its plan for by electionin the Assembly constituenciesrepresented by the ousted MLAs.

The court is also hearing apetition filed by the DMK ask-ing for an immediate floor testto decide the fate of theGovernment. The survival of theEdappadi PalaniswamyGovernment depends on theoutcome of these cases makingTamil Nadu a peculiar entitywhere the judiciary would decidethe fate of the present legislativeAssembly. The Tamil NaduAssembly has an effectivestrength of 234 members. Withthe demise of J Jayalalithaa, thetotal strength stands at 233.

Since M Karunanidhi, theDMK patriarch, is bed-riddendue to age related aliments, hewould not be in a position toattend the House, which meansthat the preset strength of theAssembly is 232. Which meansthe present Government needs support of 117 MLAs to survivea trust vote. The OppositionDMK alliance has 97 MLAs. Ifthe Madras HC negates the dis-qualification of the 18 rebelAIADMK MLAs and thePrivilege Committee moveagainst the 21 DMK MLAs, theGovernment would collapse.

Meanwhile, hectic parleyswere on in the AIADMK campled by disposed general secretaryVK Sasikala who was in Chennaifor five days on parole. Shereturned to prison on Thursdayafter being with her husband MNatarajan who is recovering ina city hospital after kidney andliver transplant.

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Embarrassed by theVigilance probe and crim-

inal cases ordered by the KeralaGovernment against top lead-ers including former ChiefMinister Oommen Chandyand his senior colleagues overthe infamous solar scam, theCongress high command hasordered State leaders to reachDelhi in order to discuss theissue that has pushed the partyinto a crisis and prepare strate-gies of self-defence.

The national leadershiphas also put a gag order on theState’s functionaries askingthem to refrain from makingcomments publicly on thisissue and party affairs as voic-es of protest began to come upfrom middle-level leaders likeyoung MLA VT Balaramagainst the ‘politics of com-promise and adjustment’ thetop leaders had allegedly beenplaying with the CPI(M).

The leaders who havebeen called to Delhi byCongress vice-president RahulGandhi are — OommenChandy, Opposition LeaderRamesh Chennithala, StateCongress president MMHassan and senior leader VMSudheeran. The State leaderswill hold discussions withGandhi on Friday, accordingto sources.

Though the purpose ofthe scheduled meeting inDelhi is said to be to discussorganisational matters, theprobe and cases orderedagainst Chandy and others inthe solar scam will figureprominently in the talks, saysources. Chennithala, whoarrived in Delhi on Thursday,has already held discussionswith Congress WorkingCommittee member AKAntony.

Rahul Gandhi hadinstructed Mukul Wasnik,party secretary in charge of

Kerala affairs, to submit areport to him immediatelyafter the CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment orderedVigilance probe and criminalcases against Chandy and oth-ers in the solar scam onWednesday. Wasnik andAntony also will participate inthe discussions on Friday.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan had the other dayannounced his Cabinet’s deci-sion to initiate a Vigilanceprobe against Chandy andsome of his colleagues in his2011-16 Government underprovisions of the Prevention ofCorruption Act and criminalcases for serious chargesincluding sexual assault inthe solar scam that had erupt-ed in June, 2013 when he wasChief Minister.

The investigations wereordered on the basis of thefindings of a judicial com-mission that had looked intothe scam and the legal advice

the Government had received.Apart from Chandy, seniorCongress leaders AryadanMuhammad, ThiruvanchoorRadhakrishnan, several for-mer Ministers, MLAs policeofficials would be facingprobe, as per the order.

The commission, accord-ing to the Chief Minister, hadfound that then ChiefMinister Chandy had receivedlarge sums of money as bribedirectly and through his aidesfrom con woman Saritha SNair, prime accused in thescam-related case promisingher help for developing thebusiness of her solar powercompany, Kochi-based TeamSolar Energy Solutions.

According to Pinarayi,criminal cases for sexualassault, rape and outragingwoman’s modesty (of SarithaNair) would be initiatedagainst 11 persons includingChandy, Aryadan, formerMinisters AP Anil Kumar,

Adoor Prakash, KCVenugopal MP, APAbdullakutty (al l ofCongress), Jose K Mani MP ofthe Kerala Congress (M) andADGP K Padmakumar.

The Congress and theOpposition UDF it leads haveaccused the LDF regime ofattempts at political score-set-tling using the solar scam judi-cial panel report but the devel-opment has shaken the lead-ership to the core because of itspossible political fallouts. Thedevelopment is sure to haveserious repercussions in theinternal politics of the State’sgroup-ridden Congress party.

According to observers,the Congress cannot ignorethe developments in Kerala asa simple State matter espe-cially at a time when the lead-ership — particularly RahulGandhi —has embarked on acampaign against the BJP overthe alleged irregularities con-nected to a company of Jay

Shah, son of that party’s pres-ident Amit Shah.

The Congress high com-mand is apprehensive of thepossibility of the BJP makingthe solar scam and the currentdevelopments over it a subjectof discussion nationally, saysources. The meeting in Delhion Friday will try to chalk outan effective strategy to counterthe LDF’s attack againstCongress leaders over thesolar scam and forestall pos-sible BJP attack.

On Thursday, theOpposition UDF gave noticefor breach of privilege againstChief Minister Pinarayi fordisclosing parts of the reportof the solar scam judicialcommission — whileannouncing the probe —before tabling the report in theAssembly even as Chandyapproached the State ChiefSecretary for a copy of thecommission’s report as perprovisions of the RTI Act.

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With the trial in the Kopardiminor girl gangrape and

murder case having reached acrucial stage, final arguments inthe much-discussed case willbegin before a special court(POCSO Act) at Ahmednagaron October 26.

The final arguments were tohave begun in the special courtat Ahmednagar in westernMaharashtra on Wednesday.However, the Prosecution soughtpostponement of the final argu-ments. “Though we had con-veyed to the court that theProsecution could begin thefinal arguments even in ourabsence, the prosecutor made arequest for the postponement ofthe hearing,” defence lawyerVijayalaxmi Khopade said, afterthe adjournment of the hearing.

Following the Prosecution’s

request, Ahmednagar districtSessions Judge (Mrs) SuvarnaKeole scheduled the final argu-ments for October 26. The ver-dict in the case is likely to bedelivered in the first week ofNovember.

The trial in the Kopardi girlgang rape and murder casebegan on December 20, 2016.

During the trial which sawseveral twists and turns that sawdefence lawyer VijayalaxmiKhopade – along with anotherlawyer Rakesh Rathod --firstmove the Aurgangabad bench ofthe Bombay High Court andlater the Supreme Court, theProsecution examined 31 wit-nesses, while Vijayalaxmi exam-ined one defence witness.

A 15-year-old victim girl,who belonged to the Marathacommunity, was brutally rapedon July 13, 2016 allegedly bythree Dalits who inflicted injuries

all over her body and broke herlimbs before throttling her atKopardi village in Ahmednagardistrict. The fast-track court hadon November 9 last year framedcharges against three accused --- Jitendra alias Pappu BabulalShinde (26), Santosh GorkhaBhaval (30) and Nitin GopinathBhailume (28) --under varioussections of the Indian PenalCode and Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences (POSCO)Act for allegedly perpetrating asexual assault on a 15-year-oldgirl and strangulating her in July2016.

After partly allowing a pleaby defence lawyers VijayalaxmiKhopade and Rakesh Rathodchallenging the “legality, validi-ty and propriety” of the lowercourt’s July 10 order, Justice K KSonawane of the high court’sAurangabad bench had onAugust 3 directed the trial court

not to go ahead with the pro-ceedings in the ongoing trial tillAugust 11, to facilitate thedefence advocates to move theSupreme Court.

In his order on the criminalrevision petition filed by the twodefence advocates, the high courtJudge had directed theAhmednagar Special Court(POCSO Act) to issue process tomake one Rajendra Chavan asa defence witness in the case.

Subsequently, in the thirdweek of August, a SC bench ofJustices A K Goel and JusticeUU Lalit – while dismissing aSpecial Leave Petition (SLP)filed by Vijayalaxmi and Rathodchallenging the August 3, 2018order of the Aurangabad benchof the Bombay High Court --disapproved the mention of thenames of the victim, informantand the name of the village in theorder of the lower court bench.

It directed the Aurangabadbench of the high court to mod-ify its order.

In their SLP, defence lawyersin the Kopardi girl gang rape andmurder case, In had urged theSupreme Court to make five per-sons including SPP UjjwalNikam, as the defence witness-es in the ongoing trial.

Among the documents andmaterial which the lower courthad earlier refused to admit asevidence, there were CDs pre-pared by Chavan. They containthe speeches of State chief min-ister telecast on a Marathi tele-vision channel, the news item ofa meeting between Special PublicProsecutor Ujjwal Nikam, thefamily members of the victim girland one Bhayuji Maharaj, theinterview of State EducationMinister Vinod Tawde. Findingsubstance in the argument madeby the defence lawyers that “the

Prosecution has no authority tocause interference during thecourse of investigation”, the highcourt judge observed that theparticipation or indulgence ofpublic prosecutor during thecourse of investigation is “inju-dicious” and “pernicious” one.

It may be recalled thatAhmednagar district SessionsJudge (Mrs) Suvarna Keole hadin her July 10 order rejected thedefence lawyer’s plea seeking tomake Public Prosecutor Nikamand five others defence witness-es in the case. The trial courtjudge had also rejected the doc-uments and electronic evidencesubmitted by the defeence lawyerin support of her case. Of the six“defence witnesses” whose depo-sitions that the defence lawyerhad wanted the trial court torecord, the trial court allowed theexamination of one defence wit-ness Rajendra Chavan.

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Retired college professorTJ Joseph, whose right

hand was chopped off byIslamists in 2010 for alleged-ly blaspheming ProphetMuhammad through a ques-tion paper for students, is aliving proof of the active pres-ence of jehadis in Kerala,State BJP chief KummanamRajasekharan has said.

Talking to mediapersonsafter visiting the retired pro-fessor at his house inMuvattupuzha in Ernakulamdistrict on Thursday,

Kummanam, who is captain-ing the BJP’s ongoing JanaRaksha Yatra, said the twomain political fronts in Kerala— CPI(M)-led LDF andCongress-headed UDF — thathad been ruling the Statealternately had failed in pro-viding justice to Joseph.

“State CPI(M) secretaryKodiyeri Balakrishnan sus-pects whether there are anyJehadis in Kerala. The expe-rience of Joseph is the answerto his doubt,” Kummanam,who met Joseph at his housewhen the party’s all-KeralaYatra against Jehadi and Red

terror reached Muvattupuzhaen route to Kottayam dis-trict.

A gang of activists of theSDPI, polit ical wing ofIslamist outfit Popular Frontof India had chopped off theright of Joseph, who was thenMalayalam professor at theChurch-run Newman Collegein Thodupuzha, in an attackwhen he was returning homeafter Sunday Mass from alocal church in Muvattupuzhawith his mother and sister onJuly 4, 2010.

The Islamists had attackedthe professor by blocking hiscar with the van they hadarrived in and after creating ascene of terror with explo-sions. They had unleashedthe terror in front of hismother and sister for alleged-ly blaspheming ProphetMuhammad in a questionpaper he had set for the stu-dents of his college.

According to the BJPleader who said theGovernments in Kerala hadfailed in catching the main cul-prit behind the attack, theforces that had attacked theprofessor and those behind thealleged efforts to take Akhila,the Hindu woman whobecame Hadia after embracingIslam, to Islamic State campsin Syria were the same.

“Kerala has alreadybecome a haven of Jehadis.The Government and thepolice have informed thecourt that Love Jehad is a real-ity and this is being carriedout under the leadership ofthe Popular Front. Still, theLDF Government of MarxistChief Minister PinarayiVijayan provided all help to itfor holding its conferencerecently,” Kummanam said.

The Jana Raksha Yatra,flagged off by BJP chief AmitShah on October 3 atPayyannur, Kannur, touredthrough Kottayam district onThursday after coveringKannur, Kozhikode,Malappuram, Palakkad,Thrissur and Ernakulam district.

The Yatra wil l conclude atThiruvananthapuram onOctober 17 after covering 11of the 14 districts in the State.

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Aday after Mukul Royresigned from Trinamool

Congress which he co-foundedwith Mamata Banerjee, a newcharacter made a dramaticentry into the ongoing high-pitch political drama in Bengallaying into the former RailwayMinister for absolving himselfand the Chief Minister fromchit fund charges.

Alleging that Roy was one ofthose who had influenced thecourse of chit fund probe inmulti-crore Saradha case sus-pended TMC MP Kunal Ghoshon Thursday asked the CBI tojointly interrogate him and Royto dig up many hidden facts.

“The course of interrogationhas been influenced in theSaradha case and Mukul Roy isof those persons who did it. If I,Kunal Ghosh had to spend years

in jail why not other co-accusedpersons,” Ghosh said “disbeliev-ing” Roy’s statement thatBanerjee and himself were notaware of the scam taking place.

“Do you want me to believethat the general secretary of aparty was unaware of the scamin which so many leaders wereinvolved” Ghosh said adding, “Ihave already written to the CBIfor jointly interrogating MukulRoy and myself and watch howmany facts tumble out.”

He said “if Roy is not asso-ciated with chit fund thennobody is,” asking what one ofthe main accused RajatMajumdar a former DG, Policedid in Roy’s official residence atNizam Palace in Kolkata. “Beforegoing to jail Rajat Majumdar hadonly two places to go, theSharada office and Mukul Roy’sresidence at Nizam Palace,” hesaid.

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Coastal countries andoceanic islands really

need to shore up and findsolutions to the challengesposed by global warming,Chief Minister ManoharParrikar said. The formerDefence Minister also saidthat the phenomenon ofpiracy in the Indian Ocean isunder control, but alsowarned that the threat totrade convoys could not beruled out altogether.

“I think we should alsolook into the aspect of threatto the coastal cities due to therising ocean levels or islandStates. There are few islandStates which may not exist ifthe current climate changecontinues at the same rate,”Parrikar said, while speakingduring the inaugural sessionof a three-day conclaveorganised by the Forum forIntegrated National Security(FINS) on oceanic security,which kicked off at a SouthGoa resort on Thursday.

“Ocean is rising quiterapidly, so this is going tothreaten the coast of the bigcountries as well as alsothreaten the island itself.

So this is one threat forwhich we may not be able tocome up with a direct solu-tion, but we may definitelypush for a better climaticsolution,” Parrikar also said,while speaking at the conclavewhich is expected to deliber-ate on issues like climatechange, fresh water, trade andcommerce among other issuesrelated to governance.

Parrikar also said, that 60per cent of the global tradepassed through the IndianOcean and said that the spec-tre of piracy, which plagued thetrade route some years backwas under control for now.

“Their threat (to oceantrade) from pirates, the tradewhich moves from the Indianocean, right now it is quitesafe because we have managedto get most of the piratesunder control. There are noincidents which are recentlyreported. But you cannnottotally ignore the threat,” theformer Defence Minister said.

He also said, that whiletowards east of the IndianOcean in the Malacca straits,

East China sea, the threatswere more obvious, on thewestern coast too there

were various threats whichcropped up and subsidedoccasionally.

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An Indian Army jawan anda defence porter attained

martyrdom along the Line ofControl in Poonch on Thursdayafter one of the forward postsin Khari Karmara area wastargeted by the Pakistan Army.

At least five soldiers andone defence porter alsoreceived splinter injuries inthe intense shelling and wereairlifted to command hospitalin Udhampur for advancetreatment. The Indian sidealso retaliated strongly andeffectively. The situationremained tense along the LoCfollowing fresh exchange offiring in the area.

According to field reports,“Pakistan Army initiated‘unprovoked’ firing on IndianArmy posts in Krishna Ghatisector at 10.35 am onThursday”.

During the exchange offire, one of the forward posts inKhari Karmara area of Poonchcame under direct attack from

across the LoC. Intermittentfiring in the area continued forseveral hours during the daytriggering panic among theborder residents living in theforward areas.

According to DefenceSpokesman in Jammu, "SepoyTK Reddy and Defence PorterMohd Zahier were grievouslyinjured during the firing andsuccumbed to their injuries".Six other personnel includingone defence porter also sus-tained injuries and are undermedical treatment.

"Sepoy TK Reddy (21),belonged to VillageObulapuram, Tehsil Giddaluru,District Prakasam, Andhra

Pradesh and is survived by hismother Gurrumma. MohdZahier (22) belonged to VillageKalali, Tehsil Manjakote,District Rajouri, Jammu &Kashmir, Defence Spokesman

added. More than 600 ceasefire

violations have been reportedfrom across the LoC andInternational border this year.This is the highest number ofviolations in one single yearever since ceasefire agreementwas reached between the twoneighbouring countries inNovember 2003.

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Arandom inspection of aGovernment school

premises by an AssistantCommissioner, Revenue inKishtwar on Thursday trig-gered tension in the area afterhe exchanged ‘hot words’ withthe school authorities andthey in turn accused him ofinsulting National Anthem.

The situation turned uglyand apparently went out ofcontrol as large number ofschoolchildren started shout-ing patriotic slogans againstthe Government officer.

The local police authori-ties along with senior schoolteachers tried to safely escortthe Government servant toprevent any scuffle in theschool premises. Presence ofpolicemen in the schoolpremises created commotionamong the students as theyran for cover to escape anyharsh police action.

According to eyewitnessreports, “Soon after MohdSyed Khan, Assistant Com-missioner (Revenue), Kishtwararrived in the GovernmentModel Higher SecondarySchool (Boys), Kishtwarmorning assembly was goingon in the school premises”.Instead of standing in atten-tion while National Anthemwas being played he along withhis security guards entered theoffice of school Principal tocheck the attendance records.

A senior school teacherinformed the senior officer towait for some time as morn-ing assembly was going on inthe school premises".

School Principal PrahaladBhagat told The Pioneer, "as Iarrived in the school premis-es I tried to convince theAssistant Commissioner(Revenue) to be a little patientbut instead of listening to ourpleas he exchanged 'hot words'with us".

Principal said, the schoolteachers were in no mood todisobey the senior officer but

he was not ready to listen andused foul language while dis-playing his 'arrogance'.

The children waiting out-side the compound becamerestive and started sloganeer-ing. According to eye witnessreports,

"In the commotion, somepolicemen hit few childrenwith batons to disperse themas they were shouting slo-gans". A school teacher wasalso injured while Principaltried his best to prevent canecharge on school children.

SSP Kishtwar AbrarAhmed told The Pioneer, "nolathicharge was ordered on theschool students inside schoolpremises". He said stationhouse officer of the area hadreceived information fromschool authorities and somepolicemen went there to sort out the issue and restoreorder.

Assistant Commissioner(Revenue), Kishtwar, MohdSyed Khan was not availablefor comments and his mobilephone was switched off.

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To highlight the gravity ofthe bad roads and its con-

sequences, citizens ofBengaluru turned to a novelway of protest by performinglast rites to a road which is ina very bad condition.

The people who are hit bythe apathy of the Government,as a last resort took to this kindof protest to draw the attentionby performing last rights andlaid a road to rest. A group ofresidents of Kaggadasapura,Byrasandra, GM Palya and CVRaman Nagar, all outskirtsextensions of Bengaluru havecome together to perform lastrites of Kaggadasapura mainroad which has become a victimof the apathy of the BruhuthBengaluru MahanagaraPalike(BBMP), the cityCorporation which is run by theCongress and the JDS.

This road in the eastBengaluru which houses many

Public Sector Undertakingsand Defence establishmentshas been laid to rest by placingwreath and performing ritualsof shradda.

The pot holes which havebecome death traps and killedas many as five people so farfor the last few days reflectsvery badly on the ruling con-gress Government led by ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah aheadof ensuing assembly polls in2018. The Karnataka electionsare crucial for the Congress tokeep its national identity intact.

The city once called thegarden city of the country hasbecome a pothole city with lotof death trap craters adding tothe rain fury. Siddaramaiahafter huge criticism about han-dling of the situation the after-math of the rains has woken upand ordered filling up of pot-holes in fifteen days. So farmany areas in the city eventoday inundated and floodedwithout any help.

Aptly, the residents havelaid the road to rest by per-forming last rites with a char-acter of Yamraj, the God ofdeath also protesting to high-light the situation.

The residents, as a homage,placed wreath and flowers onthe symbolic grave of the roadto show the negligence of theelected representatives. Thissymbolic protest goes a longway in highlighting the prob-lems of the people and the apa-thy of the authorities who arenot bothered about dischargingtheir responsibilities.

According to residents ofthe area, the KaggadasapuraMain Road has been dottedwith huge potholes for the lastsix months. Several heavy vehi-cles, cars, buses and two wheel-ers have got stuck on this roaddue to its deplorable condition.Couple of months back anAfrican student was killed onthis road as he was hit by alorry which was trying to avoid

a killer crater. The citizensalso protested some time backwith a candle light protest butnothing changed.

After few deaths on the badroads and pot holes in Bengaluruthe BJP came down heavily onCongress Government and ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah.

BJP State president BSYeddyurappa tweeted that hewas saddened by the deaths.“While (the Karnataka ChiefMinister is) busy in corruption,innocent people paying withtheir lives for Siddaramaiah’s)incompetency.”

Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah has blamedheavy monsoon rains for thedamaged roads. The BruhatBengaluru Mahanagara Palikehas been given 15 days to fillover 15,000 potholes in the city.

According to rain fall dataBengaluru urban district hasreceived 45per cent excess rain-fall since the beginning of thesouthwest monsoon.

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In a setback to the ruling BJP,the Congress on Thursday

recaptured power in theNanded-Waghala CityMunicipal Corporation(NWCMC) by a thumpingmajority in the high-stake elec-tion held on Wednesday.

In what came as a vindica-tion of sorts for Maharashtra’sformer Chief Minister AshokChavan on home turf of Nanded,the Congress had walked awaywith 69 of the 77 seats in the 81-member NWCMC — for whichthe results had been declared till9.30 pm. The results of theremaining four seats wereexpected later in the night.

The Congress’ victory inthe NWCMC poll should beseen in the light of the fact thatthe ruling BJP had deployedChief Minister DevendraFadnavis and nine of its StateMinisters in the extensive cam-paign it carried out in the run-up to Wednesday’s polls.

The Congress improved its2012 poll tally of 41 seats in theNWCMC, by bagging 69 out ofthe 77 result-declared seats,while the ruling BJP in the Statewon merely six seats as againsttwo seats it had won while it wasin the Opposition five yearsago. The Shiv Sena, which hadwon 14 seats in the 2012NWCMC poll, managed to winonly one seat in the latest polls.The NCP, which had put up arespectable performance in 2012polls by bagging 10 seats, drewa blank in the 2017 poll. TheOwaisi brothers-led All IndiaMajlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen(better known as MIM), whichhad made a fantastic politicaldebut in Maharashtra by win-ning as 11 out of 23 seats it hadcontested in the 2012 NWCMCpolls, suffered a major jolt asfailed to win even one seat thistime around. The MIM, whichhad for the first time teamed upwith the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) in the polls, had contest-ed 32 seats, while the BSP field-

ed candidates in 22 civic wards. Describing the NWCMC

poll outcome as the “beginningof the ruling BJP’s downfall inMaharashtra”, MaharashtraPradesh Congress Committee(MPCC) president AshokChavan said, “The BJP’s all-outeffort to snatch power from theCongress in the NWCMC hasmiserably failed. Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis himself ledthe BJP’s campaign in the polls.The BJP had imported candi-dates from political parties to winthe polls. But, the people fromNanded did not fall prey to theblitzkrieg unleashed by the rul-ing BJP in its campaign”.

It may be recalled thatFadnavis had at his last campaignmeeting held on Mondayexpressed confidence over theBJP’s victory in the polls and said,“Entire Maharashtra is with theBJP today. In the recent electionsto 16 municipal corporationsacross the State, the BJP capturedpower in 13. The congress is asgood as finished”.

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Soon after success of BlockChain Technologies

International Conference held inFinTech Valley, Visakhapatnam,the State Government of AndhraPradesh will bring out CloudHub Policy soon. In a meetingchaired by the State's IT MinisterNara Lokesh with PrincipleSecretary, K Vijayanand andother officials, it was decided totable draft Cloud Hub Policy inthe coming Cabinet Meeting.The Minister suggested to draftout Cloud Policy to attractInternational Major Cloud DataCenters to the State. It was alsodecided to provide StateGovernment support to theProduct Global Patents would besubmitted by the IT companies.Lokesh has directed the PrincipleSecretary to draw modalitiesfor the purpose as possible asmany International PrestigiousIT Companies coming forwardto establish State units in AP.

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In an incident that triggeredintense protests, two school-

girls were killed and anotherwas injured, when they wererun over by a speeding SUVbelonging to a local Shiv Senaleader at Baramati in Pune dis-trict on Thursday morning.

Local Sena leader PappuMane, who is suspected tohave been behind the wheelsof the speeding vehicle at thetime of mishap, abscondedsoon after the mishap whichtook place at 7.30 am. Theaggrieved local residents setthe car on fire after themishap.

Identifying the girls killedin the mishap as SamikshaVitkar who was 13 years oldand Divya Pawar who was 12years old, the Baramati policesaid that they were on theirway to their school onBaramati-Morgaon road,when a Pajero driven alleged-

ly by Mane sped over them.“Both the deceased girls

were residents of the militarycolony at Baramati. They —along with another girl —were on their way toSomeshwar school when theincident took place. The thirdgirl who was injured in theincident, was rushed to a near-by hospital,” a police officersaid.

Soon after the incidenttook place, the local residentsstaged a spontaneous “rastaroko” in the arrest of the localSena leader who was drivingthe vehicle at that time.

Though the SUV is regis-tered in the name of a relativeof the local Sena leader, Maneuses the vehicle regularly.“There were at least three per-sons inside the SUV involvedin the mishap. We have sum-moned a couple of them forquestioning to know aboutthe whereabouts of Mane,”the police said.

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyhas said the Government,

faced with a ‘catch-22 situation’over the issue of non-perform-ing assets, is working on a planto rebuild the capacity of India’sbanking sector so as to supportgrowth. Jaitley, who is on aweek-long visit to the US toattend the annual meetings ofthe International MonetaryFund and the World Bank,also said that reforming thebanking system is the top agen-da of the Government.

“Today, with global growthturning around, we are work-ing to put up an actual plan inplay to deal with the bankingsituation, which is top of ouragenda. We need to rebuild thecapacity (of the banking sec-

tor),” Jaitley told students ofHarvard University in Boston.“I inherited a banking systemwhose monies were lying innon-performing assets. Areunable to service the debt. Weare faced with a catch-22 situ-ation as to how do we improvethe capacity of the banks so thatthey can support growth,” hesaid. So, all these factors togeth-er adversely impacted the pri-vate sector, the Minister said.

Gross non-performingassets (NPA) of the publicsector banks rose to �6.41lakh crore at the end of March2017 as against �5.02 lakhcrore a year ago, according toFinance Ministry data. Jaitley,however, also noted that big-ger enterprises did not suffer,because they approached thebond market and foreign

funding which were availableat much cheaper rates. Theydid not had to go to th Indianbanks. It is small and medium-sized enterprises that needthe support of the banking sys-tem, Jaitley said, noting thatSMEs are huge job creators.

“That's where the problemreally is as far as the privatesector is concerned,’ Jaitleysaid. Responding to a question,Jaitley refuted the notion thatprivate sector is not expanding.Jaitley asserted that the expan-sion of the private sector was‘limitless’. “Expansion of pri-vate sector is taking place.The last quarter, which wasotherwise not encouraging,indicated that the investmentgraph itself has turned posi-tive. A lot of investment istaking place,” he said.

MUMBAI: India’s largest soft-ware exporter TCS onThursday reported 2.1 percent dip in net profit to �6,446crore for the September quar-ter on softness in bankingand retail segments, but gavebetter guidance based on clientoptimism. The Tata groupcompany had posted net prof-it of �6,586 crore in the year-ago period. Its revenue grew4.3 per cent over last year --3.2 per cent over the preced-ing April-June quarter -- to�30,541 crore under the IndAS accounting norms.

Retail and banking andfinancial services (BFS), itsbiggest industry segments, expe-rienced some softness, but TCSchief executive and managingdirector Rajesh Gopinathan saidthat there is some optimismbuilding up on both. He said inretail, the company expects animprovement in the next fewquarters, but declined to speci-fy a timeline for BFS, the largerrevenue contributor, where thecommentary was limited to say-ing that the momentum is pos-itive.

Stating that BFS in Europeis doing good, Gopinathan saidbanks have moved beyond thefear of being disrupted by the fin-

tech firms and are now experi-menting on collaborative mod-els, where he claimed TCS is hav-ing a foothold, and the futureportends better prospects for thecompany. From the geographi-cal perspective, the largest mar-ket of the US showed some soft-ness, which was attributed byGopinathan to the tech maturi-ty in the market, which is result-ing in faster growth in other mar-kets which are catching up. “Theoverall sense when we speak toclients is returning to optimism,it is measured. People are look-ing at multiple technologies andhow to leverage them,” he said.

On the margin perspective,the company was able to post a1.70 per cent improvement to25.1 per cent on the pretax gap,on the back of a 0.50 per centhelp on account of currency,where dollar has been stablewhile rupee has depreciatedagainst other currencies, and a1.20 per cent help on operativeefficiencies. The guidance of26-28 per cent continued to beelusive, but the company con-tinues to chase the targetedband, TCS chief financial officerV Ramakrishnan said, addingthat it has not changed its cur-rency hedging policies despitevolatilities in the market.

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With robust performanceof mining and power

sectors, coupled with highercapital goods output, coun-try’s industrial productiongrew at a nine-month high of4.3 per cent in August, whileretail inflation remainedalmost flat at 3.28 per cent inSeptember as against 3.36 percent in August, despite soft-ening of vegetable and cerealprices, according to theGovernment data which wasreleased on Thursday.

Factory output growthmeasured in terms of Index ofIndustrial Production (IIP)stood at 4 per cent in August2016, while the previous highin IIP growth was recorded at5.7 per cent in November2016. IIP growth duringApril-August period of thisfiscal stood at 2.2 per cent,down from 5.9 per cent insame period in 2016-17.

Meanwhile, the July IIPnumber was revised to 0.94per cent from 1.2 per centprovisional estimates releasedlast month. The outputgrowth in manufacturing sec-tor, which constitutes 77.63per cent of the index, howev-er decelerated to 3.1 per centin August from 5.5 per cent a

year ago. The output of the mining

and electricity sectors grew at9.4 per cent and 8.3 per centas compared to August 2016.In terms of industries, 10 outof 23 industry groups in themanufacturing sector haveshown positive growth during

August 2017.As per use-based classifi-

cation, the growth rates inAugust 2017 over August2016 are 7.1 per cent in pri-mary goods, 5.4 per cent incapital goods, (-) 0.2 per centin intermediate goods and 2.5per cent in infrastructure and

construction goods. The con-sumer durables and consumernon-durables sectors record-ed growth of 1.6 per cent and6.9 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, retail infla-t ion remained almostunchanged at 3.28 per cent inSeptember as against August,despite softening of vegetableand cereal prices, while theConsumer Price Index (CPI)or retail inflation stood at 4.39per cent in September 2016.

As per CSO data, it alsorevised downwards theAugust inflation to 3.28 percent from 3.36 per cent. Thedata revealed the overall foodinflation moderated to 1.25per cent in September from1.67 per cent in the previousmonth.

The rate of price in veg-etables softened to 3.92 percent (from 9.97 per cent inAugust). On the other hand,the inflation print rose inthe fuel and light categoryto 5.56 per cent. It was 3.66per cent in August. Amongothers, inflation in fruits,meat & fish, and preparedmeals quicken during themonth. Rate of price rise inpulses continued with defla-tionary trend at (-) 22.51per cent and eggs prices fellby 0.15 per cent.

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MUMBAI: In a show of strength,the Sensex on Thursday leapt morethan 348 points -- its biggest one-day rise in three months -- to closeat 32,182, taking in its strideincreased prospects of an immi-nent US interest rate hike. In per-centage terms, the gains wereabove 1 per cent. The minutesfrom the US Federal Reserve’sSeptember policy meeting point-ed to a rate increase one additionaltime this year despite subdued infla-tion, signalling ‘patience in remov-ing policy accommodation’. IIP andinflation data slated for the dayheightened investors' interest as theywent on a buying binge at a timeof a rising trend overseas.

The NSE barometer Nifty tootraded above the key 10,000-mark before closing above that level.Oil and gas, healthcare, FMCG andauto counters drove the rally. The30-share Sensex after openinghigher settled up 348.23 points, or1.09 per cent, at 32,182.22. This isits best single-day performancesince July 10 when it soared 355.01points.

On Wednesday, the index haddropped 90 points for the first timein four sessions as investors tookprofit. Investor optimism took the50-share NSE Nifty above the key10,000-mark to 10,096.40 at theclose, up 111.60 points -- or 1.12

per cent -- its biggest one-day gainsince May 25 when it rallied149.20 points. Intra-day, it scaleda high and a low of 10,104.45 and9,977.10, respectively. With this rally,investors became richer by �1.46lakh crore as market capitalisationof BSE listed firms stood at �137.56lakh crore.

“Market regained from yester-day's loss and stayed close to 10,100mark ahead of economic data -- infla-tion and IIP later on Wednesday.Good demand on consumer stockson arrival of festival season and ecsta-sy on pharma stocks amid positiveregulatory approvals fuelled themarket. Investor's expectation onsome tailwinds in IT stocks aheadof results kept the counter busy,” saidVinod Nair, Head of Research, GeojitFinancial Services Ltd. PTI

WASHINGTON: The issue ofbringing real estate under theGST's ambit will be discussednext month, Finance MinisterArun Jaitley said on Thursday,as he acknowledged that it is theone sector where maximumamount of tax evasion and cashgeneration takes place.

The matter will be dis-cussed in the next meeting ofthe GST Council to be held onNovember 9 in Guwahati, Jaitleysaid while delivering the'Annual Mahindra Lecture' onIndia's tax reforms at the pres-tigious Harvard University.“The one sector in India wheremaximum amount of tax eva-

sion and cash generation takesplace and which is still outsidethe GST is real estate. Some ofthe states have been pressing forit. I personally believe that thereis a strong case to bring realestate into the GST,” Jaitleysaid. The Goods and ServicesTax (GST) was implementedfrom July 1 this year. It bringsthe economy under a uniformtax regime. “In the next meet-ing itself, we are addressing oneof the problem areas or at least(having) discussion (on) it.Some states want, some do not.There are two views. Therefore,by discussion, we would try toreach one view,” he said. PTI

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NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtelwill acquire Tata Group’s loss-making mobile telephony busi-ness, almost for free, boosting itsspectrum holding and raisingsubscriber base while saving theTatas from the prospect of hav-ing to shut down the strugglingunit.

Airtel, for whom it will be the7th acquisition in five years, willfrom November 1 take over 4 crorecustomers of Tata TeleservicesLtd (TTSL) and Tata TeleservicesMaharashtra Ltd (TTML) in 19telecom circles or zones on “a debt-free cash-free basis”, the twogroups announced in separate butidentical press statements.

TTSL and TTML employeesin the 19 circles, managing theconsumer mobile business, alongwith 178.5 MHz of spectrumacross 800, 1800, 2100 Mhz (3G,4G) bands would be transferred toAirtel. While all of the �31,000crore debt will remain with theTatas, Airtel will assume pay-ment of close to 20 per cent of the�9,000-10,000 crore deferred pay-ments for the spectrum to theGovernment. Tatas will pay therest. The telecom sector is in a con-solidation mode since theSeptember 2016 entry of India’srichest man Mukesh Ambani’sReliance Jio, which has givenincumbent operators a run fortheir money through free voicecalling and cheap data offers. Jiohas gained 12.8 crore subscriberswith in a year.

In February, Airtel absorbedTelenor's operations in seven cir-

cles -- Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East),UP (West) and Assam in a simi-lar no cash deal. Earlier this year,Vodafone India and Idea Cellularagreed to merge their operationsto create the country's largest tele-com operator worth of more than$23 billion (roughly �1,51,153crore) with 35 per cent marketshare.With this deal, Airtel will haveover 32 crore customers, waybelow 40 crore users with themerged Vodafone-Idea entity.

“Instead of closing down theconsumer mobile business,which would have entailed amuch higher cost and involvedletting go of employees and ven-dors etc, we have chosen thisroute,” Tata Group chief financialofficer Saurabh Agrawal toldPTI. He said Tatas will retain stakein the tower company, Viom, andexplore transferring the enter-prise business to TataCommunications and retail fixed-line and broadband business tosatellite TV arm Tata Sky. Theboard of the two firms will eval-uate the opportunity and decide in4-6 weeks, he said.

The struggling mobile con-

sumer business, Agrawal said,‘should have been restructured longback’ and when new group chair-man N Chandrasekaran took overin February, he reached out to peo-ple who could help out. Agrawal,who in July joined Tatas fromAditya Birla Group, said closingdown the business would havebeen against the ethos of TataGroup and would have renderedemployees jobless.

Through this deal ‘Tatas havetaken all the pain’ associated with thebusiness and ensure that businessis not shut, employees not sackedand vendors and other trades asso-ciated with it are not thrown out ofbusiness, he said. Without givingthe exact number of employeesbeing transferred to Airtel, headmitted that the Sunil BhartiMittal firm may look at optimi-sation of staff on ground after themerger. “The merger is beingdone on a debt-free cash-freebasis, except for Bharti Airtelassuming a small portion ofthe unpaid spectrum liabilityof Tata's towards theDepartment of Telecom, whichis to be paid on deferred basis,”the statements said. PTI

MUMBAI: The RBI onThursday proposed a schemeto encourage transparent andfair pricing in retail forexmarket by developing a foreignexchange platform for retailparticipants along the lines ofthe FX-Clear platform ofClearing Corporation of IndiaLimited (CCIL).

As per the discussionpaper floated in this regard,the retail market will have thesame market hours as theinterbank market (09:00 to17:00 hrs). The minimumorder size would be $1,000 andthereafter in multiples of $500.The maximum order sizewould be $500,000.

The foreign exchangemarket in India may be broad-ly divided into the interbanksegment and the retail seg-ment. The participants in theinterbank segment are banksand transactions in this seg-ment are conducted throughtrading platforms like FXT-D2and FX-Clear.

Retail Customers with aneed to buy/sell forex, current-ly do so over the phone with abank. While proprietary elec-tronic dealing platforms of indi-vidual banks and Multi-BankPortals (MBPs) are also avail-able, access to them is restrict-ed to retail customers with aminimum order size. PTI

NEW DELHI: The initial pub-lic offer (IPO) of state-ownedGeneral Insurance Corporationof India was subscribed 90 percent on the second day of thebidding on Thursday. GIC Re’s�11,370-crore IPO receivedbids for 11,16,79,024 sharesagainst total issue size of12,47,00,000 shares, data avail-able with the NSE showed.

The portion meant for qual-ified institutional buyers (QIBs)was oversubscribed 1.68 times,that for non- institutionalinvestors by 2 per cent and retailinvestors' quota by 16 per cent.Till yesterday, the IPO was sub-scribed 80 per cent. The rein-surance company has fixed theprice band at �855-912 for its IPOwhich closes on Friday. PTI

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India's campaign in the under-17World Cup came to a disappoint-ing end as the hosts were blanked

0-4 by a ruthless Ghana side here onThursday.

It was the third straight defeat forNorton de Matos' side in India's first-ever World Cup and the most painfulof the lot as the team were never real-ly in the game.

Two goals from Eric Aiyah justbefore the half-time in the 43thminute and the 52nd minute was fol-lowed by couple of late strikes -Richard Danso (86th) and EmmanuelToku (88th) - to end India's campaignin the tournament on a sad note.

In the other Group A match,Colombia stunned United States ofAmerica 3-1 in Navi Mumbai. As aresult of the final day action, Ghanatopped the group, followed byColombia and USA in 2nd and 3rdpositions respectively, while Indiafinished at the bottom of the pool.

Earlier, India started brightly infront of a staggering 52,614 vocal fansin the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium andthey won a corner within the firstminute but they couldn't make themost of it.

The Blue Cubs started to attack innumbers. However, the early pressurefaded off soon as Ghana started to findtheir feet in counter-attacks.

In the 6th minute, Aiyah tappedthe ball into an empty net, but an off-side from the linesman saved theIndian team.

Isaac Gyamfi was a commandingpresence in midfield. He won a lot ofball from the opponents and kept holdof it admirably under pressure and hisdistribution was equally astute.

After Sadiq Ibrahim tested the

keeper Dheeraj Singh from a tightangle in the 20th minute, RashidAlhassan and Isaac came up with a fewlong-range shots which didn't miss thegoalpost by a big margin.

Left-back Sanjeev Stalin was hav-ing a torrid time as Ghana playerswere attacking in numbers in his sideand hardly allowed him a breather.

Finally, the deserved break-through came for Ghana in the 43rdminute and it was no surprise that goalcame from India's left-side. Afternice work by Sadiq in the right-flank,his low-drilled cross was only parriedaway by keeper Dheeraj's on-stretch-ing right-hand into the path of Aiyah,who made no mistake in tucking itaway from six yards.

In first-half injury time, GideonMensah could have doubled theteam's tally but he could only head theball over from close range from a cor-ner.

India hardly threatened their goalin the opening half as striker AniketJadhav's free-kick was cleared by adefender in-front of the keeper andBorris Singh's weak left-foot shot waseasily collected by their keeper DanladIbrahim.

It didn't take long for SamuelFabin's side to double their lead.After exchanging some neat passesbetween them, Edmund Arko-Mensah was free on the left-side, buthis initial cross was blocked. However,he got the ball again and laid it to the

on-rushing Aiyah, who shot it direct-ly with his left foot without taking atouch into the bottom left corner.

India's chances of making it to theknockout stages as one of the fourthird-placed sides virtually endedthere.

In the 65th minute, IbrahimSulley almost caught the keeper off-guard, hitting a long-range shot frommidfield which landed on the roof ofthe net, saving a major embarrassmentfor the keeper.

Then, Sully found himself in agreat position but instead of taking ashot, he decided to pass it to Aiyah.With the goal gaping, he couldn't con-nect it properly with his diving headas India survived again.

Finally, India showed a bit ofresponse with a couple of long-rangeefforts by substitutes Rahim Ali andLalengmawia, which was caught bytheir keeper Ibrahim without muchtrouble.

Danso, who came on for goalscor-er Aiyah in the second half, assuredGhana of three points in the 86thminute with a neat left-footed finishwhen he was one-on-one with Indiankeeper.

A couple of minutes later, Tokucompleted the rout, tapping home arebound with his left foot afterDanso's shot came off the far post asthe home fans were left shell-shocked.

When the final whistle was blown,dejected Indian players fell to theground, holding their face with tearsin their eyes. Coach De Matos, how-ever, will know that his young troopswere well and truly beaten by astrong and powerful Ghana teamand not much he could have donefrom the sidelines to change the out-come of the result.

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Chile may be down and vir-tually out having leaked

seven goals from two matchesbut chief coach HernanCaputto is still hopeful of aturnaround in the FIFA U-17World Cup.

Three days after beingrouted by England, Chile hand-ed Iraq their first victory of thetournament succumbing to a 0-3 loss to be virtually eliminat-ed from the competition.

The former Argentinegoalkeeper however was con-fident of an arithmetical turn-around of the team to make thelast-16. "There has been his-torical cases when a team winsbig and advance after two loss-es. We would like to keepgoing further," Caputto said atthe post-match news confer-ence Wednesday night.

He further refused toblame the players and accept-ed full responsibility for theheavy losses.

"Conceding seven goals intwo matches is a really a hardand difficult moment for us.They (players) don't under-stand what's happening at thispoint as both matches werewell lost." The responsibility ison my shoulders. We will fur-ther discuss and talk to eachplayer individually to motivatethem," Caputto said.

Mohammed Dawood onceagain shone for Iraq as hescored once on either side ofthe break to be their top scor-er with three goals from twomatches.

Chile had little chance withjust one shot at the goal but

Caputto hoped they wouldstill give their best againsttwo-time champions Mexico.

England with six pointsfrom two matches have sealeda pre-quarterfinal berth, whileIraq (four points) havestrengthened their qualifyingprospects.

The bottom two group Fteams now shift base toGuwahati for their last leaguefixture on October 14.

"The next match will beeverything for us. We willalways keep our fighting spir-it. We will have to keep fight-ing and hope to wake upagainst Mexico," he said as theyface a tough challenge ahead.

The 'boys in red' were thefirst among the four teams toarrive in Kolkata and Caputtosaid they loved every momentof their stay here in the foot-ball-loving city. "I would like toconvey my greetings to every-one here. We always had bigsupport behind us, it was real-ly overwhelming," he signed off.

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In a one-sided affair, Africanchampions Mali defeated New

Zealand by three goals to one intheir last Group B match of theFIFA under-17 World Cup hereat the Jawaharlal Nehru stadiumon Thursday. Goals by SalamGiddou, Djemoussa Traore andLassana N'diaye were enough tobook them a spot in the knock-out stages of the competition.

New Zealand, who lookeddown and out for about 70 min-utes of the game, suddenly man-aged to spark into life when arare attack from the left-wingsaw Elijah Just provide a perfectcross to the far post - over thegoalkeeper - to substitute CharlesSpragg, who nodded home andreduced the deficit to 1-2.

But any lingering hope ofgetting back into the match wasput to bed when Mali's right-back Fode Konate on an over-lapping run provided an exem-plary cross to sprinting N'diaye,

who made no mistake in slottingit behind the goalkeeper ZacJones.

Earlier in the match, New

Zealand started the game onstrong foot. In the third minute,after winning the ball in a dan-gerous position, All Whites' mid-

fielder Just played a defence-splitting pass to skipper MaxMata, whose shot though wasdirected straight at the goal-

keeper. The miss proved costlyfor the returning captain - aftermissing the second gamethrough suspension - as theteam hardly manage to get muchof possession from there on anddidn't have a single shot on goaltill half-time. It was all Mali afterthat.

Giddou scored a blinder of agoal to give Mali lead fromaround 25 yards. The screamercame after a sprinting run fromDjemoussa, who saw no optionsup front and made a back pass toGiddou.

Assist-provider Djemoussathen became the goal scorerearly in the second half after hemade a solo run from the mid-field and curl a shot from justoutside the box into far post todouble his team's lead.Djemoussa was probably thebrightest of all Mali stars on thefield as he took down counter-part's defender at will.

Jonas Komla's boys were notpleased with a two-goal cushion

and kept on pushing forward formore goals. Mali almost scoredanother when Djemoussa, afteranother sprinting run into thebox, squared the ball to Konateoutside the box. Right-back'sshot on first touch almost wentin but ricocheted off the post toN'diaye, who couldn't keep hisheader on target in front of anempty net.

Danny Hay's coached sidewere desperately in need for somehope and it came through Spragg'sgoal but the game returned to theold scenario in the very nextminute as Mali once again regainedtheir 2-goal cushion throughMamadou Traore, whose shot wasinches wide off the far post.

After making it 3-1, the teamled by Jonas Komla came close toscoring their fourth goal in theclosing minute as they kept push-ing at the tired defensive wall ofNew Zealand but couldn't scoreany further as the referee blew thefinal whistle to end New Zealand's misery.

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Paraguay continued to shineand recorded their third win on

the trot when they thrashed astruggling Turkey 3-1 in a GroupB match of the FIFA U-17 WorldCup here on Thursday.

With this win, the SouthAmerican side topped the poolwith nine points.

Giovanni Bogado (41stminute), Fernando Cardozo (43rd)scored in the first half for Paraguay,while Antonio Galeano (61st)struck their third goal after thebreak to seal a thumping win.

Paraguay took the lead aftermissing a penalty.

Bogado opened the scoringwith a free-kick — the mid- field-er curled the ball from the spot andit zoomed into the left corner of thegoal post, giving the Turkey cus-todian no chance.

Two minutes later, a back-healfrom Cardozo did the trick forParaguay, who went 2-0 up. On across from Blas Aroma, Cardozodisplayed exceptional skills andflicked the ball with his left foot,

which went past the goalie.Bogado took a corner which

was blocked by Turkey's defence,and Galeano shot outside the box,which deflected off MelihGokcimen and went to the bottomright corner of the goal, as theirkeeper stood on his spot. This wasParaguay's third goal.

Earlier, in the second minute,Paraguay failed to convert a penal-ty, awarded after Turkey defenderEmirhan Civelek brought downAmora. Anibal Vega, who scoreda brace in their last game, failed toconvert, as the Turkey custodiandived to his left.

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Switzerland's Esther Staubli is set tobecome the first female referee to

officiate a match at the FIFA U-17World Cup when Japan takes on NewCaledonia in the final round groupE match here on October 14.

This is in linewith FIFA's objec-tive to furtherdevelop women'sfootball as the 38-year-old is one ofseven women ref-erees invited tothe tournament inIndia where allthe male andfemale match offi-cials, nominatedby FIFA's RefereesCommittee, have completed a host ofactivities together in a series of sem-inars, including theoretical sessionsin the classroom and practical ses-sions on the field of play.

The benefits of joining forces aremutual when men and women teamup to hone their interpretation, posi-tioning and decision-making abilities.

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Columbia produced their bestgame when it mattered as

they beat USA 3-1 to qualify forthe pre-quarterfinal of the FIFAU-17 World Cup, here onThursday.

Desperately needing a winto push their case, Colombiascored through Juan Vidal (3rdminute), Juan Penaloza (67th)and Dieber Caicedo (87th) toseal the win and finish secondin Group A behind Ghana.

USA's lone goal was scoredby George Acosta in the 24thminute.

USA, who had earlierdefeated hosts India 3-0 andGhana 1-0, tasted their firstdefeat of the tournament.

This was Columbia's secondwin after they defeated India 2-1 in New Delhi.

With this, both USA andColumbia have six points intheir kitty, but Columbia fin-ished second on goal differenceand USA was pushed to thethird position.

Columbia took the lead inthe third minute.

A long throw by Andres

Cifuentes inside the box foundVidal who slammed the ball intothe right-corner of the goal.

USA soon missed a goldenopportunity when Acosta hitwide after a fine one-two withskipper Josh Sargent.

In the first 22 minutes USAhad the better share of ball pos-session, but they failed to findthe equaliser.

USA'a equaliser came inthe 24th minute, courtesy astunning right-footer by Acosta.

Both the teams were aggres-sive in their approach.

USA were denied a chanceto take the lead in the 37th

minute after a free kick bySargent took deflection of theColumbian wall before goingwide.

At the half-way stage, thetwo teams were levelled at 1-1.

After the break, Columbiahad at least three chances toscore. But in the 67th minuteColumbia took the lead afterPenaloza's stunning right-foot-er from a free-kick curled intothe r ight bottom of theAmerican goal.

The South American sideincreased their lead in the 87thminute with Penaloza providingthe winning assist to Caicedo.

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European champions Spain willenter their final group matchagainst DPR Korea as the firm

favourites, looking to secure a round-of-16 berth in the FIFA U-17 World Cuphere on Friday.

Spain are placed second in GroupD behind leader Brazil, to whom theylost 1-2 in their tournament opener.

They bounced back from thatreverse in style and notched up a 4-0 vic-tory over Niger in their second game.

Now, they are raring to go as theylock horns with the bottom-placedNorth Koreans, who have lost both theirmatches to Niger and Brazil.

The Koreans are unlikely to test thetactically superior Spanish side at theJawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Abel Ruiz, who plays for Bracelona'sB team, was in great form against Niger,scoring a brace and he will lokk to con-tinue in same vein.

The likes of Ferran Torres andSergio Gomez will also prove to betough propositions for the NorthKoreans, who can take solace from thefighting outing against the formidableBrazilians in their last match.

North Korea lost to World Cupdebutants Niger in their opening gamebefore playing Brazil.

Spain had come into the tourna-ment as one of the title favourites. Theyhad also started well against the SouthAmerican giants, taking an early leadthrough an own goal, before defensivelapses saw them go down 1-2.

��<� �����������!�����!����Assured of a pre-quarterfinalspot in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, three-

time champions Brazil would look toentertain the Goan crowd with yetanother win when they take on debu-tants Niger in their last Group D matchhere on Friday.

Brazil have been in sublime form,winning both their encounters againstSpain and North Korea to top Group Dand make it to the knock-out round.

Just like Goa, Brazil, who were also

ruled by the Portuguese, have the sameculture and the team will have no dif-ficulty in adjusting themselves to theconditions here.

They would be looking to takeadvantage of it and end their leaguecampaign with yet another dominatingshow, keeping their unbeaten run intact.

Brazil, who were also the runners-up twice, are looking to win the title for

the fourth time.The Brazilian trio of Lincoln,

Paulinho and Brenner have combinedwell up front and have troubled theirrival defence with their sublime skill.

Their midfield duo of MarcosAntonio and Alan Souza will keep theupfront busy with regular supply ofpasses.

Come Friday, Niger's defence willhave an uphill task to keep the mightyBrazilians at bay. "We are happy to comedown to Goa, the place is similar toBrazil and we feel at home here as theweather is same like Brazil," said mediamanager Gregorio.

"We are happy to play our lastmatch of the league down in Goa asthere are lot of Brazilian fans stayinghere and they will come to cheer ourteam."

Debutant Niger, on the otherhand, had a dream start to the tour-nament when they won their openingencounter against North Korea butlost the next game to Spain.

Now they have no option but towin Friday’s match if they want to haveany chance of advancing to the nextstage of the tournament.

“We have the potential to over-come the three times champions andare looking forward to the challenge,"said Niger coach Ismaila Tiemoko.

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Their confidence sky-highafter hammering Germany,

Iran would look to end theirleague engagements unbeatenwhen they take on Costa Rica ina Group C clash of the FIFAUnder-17 World Cup here onFriday.

Iran — top of the pointstable in Group C — have qual-ified for the knockout stagealong with USA, Paraguay,Brazil, France and England,who are leading their respectivegroups with six points each.

The Asian giant-killersthrashed Germany 4-0 in theirprevious match.

"It was a great performanceby our boys against Germany.They played as a unit, controlledthe proceedings and exploitedthe gaps in the German defenceto score a fluent 4-0 win," saidIran coach Abbas Chamanian.

"It is their best performanceso far and if they continue toperform in the same manner wehave a great chance to reach thefinal," said Abbas Chamanian.

Abbas also complimentedhis defence, who never allowedthe rival any space to operate inthe danger zone. Knowing that

the German defence is vulner-able under attack, the wilyIranian coach adopted an offen-sive approach and the moveworked as the German defencefell apart under pressure con-ceding four goals.

"Now that we have wonboth our matches, we are look-ing to win against Costa Rica tofinish our league engagementwith all win," stated Chamanian.

"We should not get carriedaway with the victory against theGermans and instead focus onCosta Rica who always lookdangerous in front of the goalwith their skillful play," headded.

Costa Rica, who lost to

Germany in their openingmatch, have one point afterthey drew against Guinea, andnow need to win on Friday tomake it to the knockout round.

Costa Rica found the goingtough against Guinea, who dom-inated throughout but weredenied by keeper Richardo.

"It's a do or die battle for usnow and our boys know it. Weneed to play to our potentialagainst a side who are on highconfident after two consecutivewin.

"We have worked out a strat-egy to overcome the challengeand we are looking forward towin tomorrow," stated CostaRica coach Breansse Camacho.

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India will be itching to bounce backfrom the thrashing they received

in Guwahati when they take on anedgy but resilient Australia in theseries-deciding third and final T20International here on Friday.

Despite the recent success Indiahave had over Australia, Virat Kohlihas maintained that the team fromDown Under is always tough to beat.

India had a forgettable day at theBaraspara Stadium in all depart-ments after they lost the all-impor-tant toss.

The highly-rated batsmen werefound wanting against the swingingball with rookie Australian pacerJason Behrendorff doing the bulk ofthe damage.

India's new ball bowlers didalright in Guwahati but wrist spin-ners Yuzvendra Chahal and KuldeepYadav were taken to the cleaners byMoises Henriques and Travis Head,who shared a match-winning part-nership of 109.

Despite the hammering thespinners received, it is unlikely thatKohli will make a change and bringin Axar Patel.

Similar is the case in the pacedepartment which means veteranAshish Nehra, who is set toannounce his retirement in thenext series, will sit out again.

David Warner has done well inthe absence of regular captain SteveSmith, making optimum use of theresources at his disposal.

Behrendorff made his job eas-ier with a spectacular spell of swingbowling before Henriques rose tothe occasion after being promotedto number three in the battingorder.

Leggie Adam Zampa too playedhis part well with a twin strike in themiddle overs and he would be

expected to do the same tomorrow.While Warner has led effec-

tively, he would surely love to beback among the runs after failing inthe earlier two games.

The pitch at the Rajiv GandhiInternational Stadium is usuallygood for batting and fans will beexpecting a run feast after the low-scoring affair on a damp pitch inGuwahati.

������������ ���������.����$%�Rain may play spoilsports in the

third and final T20 internationalbetween India and Australia withweather forecast indicating possi-bility of light to moderate rain, heretomorrow.

The city has been receivinggood rainfall almost on a daily basisfor about a week, throwing normallife out of gear.

Arrangements have been madeat the Rajiv Gandhi InternationalCricket stadium, the venue of thematch, to ensure that the match isheld without any problem.

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Veteran Indian pacer Ashish Nehraon Thursday decided to call time

on his injury-ravaged career after nextmonth's opening T20 against NewZealand at his home ground of Delhi,saying "it is always good to retire whenpeople are asking why rather than whynot."

"I have spoken to the team man-agement as well as the chairman ofselection committee that the gameagainst New Zealand has come inDelhi. So it can't get bigger than retir-ing in front of your home fans whereI played my first Ranji Trophy game20 years ago," said Nehra.

The 38-year-old seamer made theannouncement on the eve of the thirdand final T20 against Australia hereon Friday.

Nehra also confirmed that hewon't be playing in the lucrativeIndian Premier League.

Making his India debut back in1999 under Mohammed Azharuddin,Nehra has so far played 17 Tests, 120ODIs and 26 T20 Internationals forthe country. He has picked 44 Testwickets, besides 157 ODI and 34 T20scalps. He could have played a lotmore but for the constant injuries.

Nehra made his latest Indiacomeback for the ongoing T20 seriesagainst Australia but did not get a

look-in in the first two games.He came into the series with the

mindset of playing all matches butsoon realised that the younger cropwas fully ready to shoulder theresponsibility.

"When I came into the series, Icame prepared to play all games. Ispoke to the captain (Virat Kohli) andcoach (Ravi Shastri) straightaway.

"My thinking is that I should bein the XI if I am available. If you see,I have played in all the T20 games inthe past two years so I told my plansto them (team management)," said theDelhi veteran.

Nehra said it was not a decisionhe made overnight and reached theconclusion after seeing the young pac-

ers do well."Bhuvneshwar is ready (to shoul-

der the responsibility) with the way heis bowling. Earlier, Bumrah and I wereplaying but now Bhuvi is doing well.And there is also no big event linedup in the next 5-6 months. I put mypoint of view and they all respect mydecision," said Nehra.

The left-arm fast bowler said hecould have easily played internation-al cricket for another year and also thenext IPL.

"It is very important for me toknow what people think abut me inthe dressing room. So now, they all aresaying I can easily play for another oneto one and a half year. My thinkinghas always been that it is good to retire

when people are asking why than whynot. I always wanted to retire on ahigh."

Nehra is best remembered for hissix for 23 against England at Durbanin the 2003 World Cup, a match heplayed despite being unwell and fre-quently threw up in between his oversat the Kingsmead.

He was also a part of the 2011World Cup-winning squad with amatch-turning performance in thesemi-final against Pakistan. He missedthe final due to a finger fracture.

Asked to pick his fondest mem-ory in more than 18 years of inter-national cricket, Nehra said: "Everydayis a memory for me. People remem-ber moments, like the six wicketsagainst England, or the last over inKarachi but I don't think I am likethat.

"But yes I will always feel goodabout the fact that the captain alwaysasked me to bowl the last over. Wewon the World Cup final (in 2011),lost also (in 2003) but tough to pin-point my fondest memory."

On a lighter note, Nehra said thathe has made plans only till November1, when he will say goodbye to thegame, though he is open to coachingroles in the future.

His body underwent as many as12 surgeries but Nehra overcame allof them to play for India again.

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A0-4 humiliation by Iran denting their confidence,European powerhouse Germany face African side

Guinea in a must-win match of the FIFA U-17 WorldCup here on Friday.

Germany, who have qualified for the FIFA U-17World Cup as fifth place finisher from Europe via a play-off, began their campaign with an unconvincing 2-1 winover Costa Rica before slumping to an embarrassing 0-4 defeat to Iran.

Any further slip-up against Guinea in their lastGroup C match on Friday will see Germany making anearly exit from the tournament.

The Christian Wueck-coached German side willneed a win on Friday at the Jawaharlal NehruInternational Stadium to secure an automatic spot in theRound of 16 as one of the two group toppers.

With six points to their kitty, Iran have already qual-ified for the knock-outs.

Even a draw may see Germany through to the Roundof 16 but they would want a win against Guinea as thatwill give them some confidence which has been shat-tered by Iran.

In their previous match against Iran, Germany dom-inated the ball possession but their forwards were outof sorts as they had just four shots on target while theAsian team had 12 such efforts, out of which they scoredfour goals.

If it was not for Germany goalkeeper Luca Plogmannmaking several important saves, Iran may have won thatmatch in Margao by a bigger margin.

Germany have players of calibre of striker and cap-tain Jann-Fiete Arp who recently made his Bundesligadebut for Hambur, but they will have to quickly forgettheir humiliation by Iran and brought their campaignback on track with a win against Guinea tomorrow.

Guinea, on the other hand, have not won a match,having lost to Iran 1-3 in their opening fixture beforeplaying out a 1-1 draw against Costa Rica in their pre-vious game. For them, it is a do-or-die match with justone point in their kitty. A win on Friday will give thema spot in the Round of 16 but anything less than that willsend them crashing out of the competition.

In their previous match against Costa Rica in Margao,Guinea paid the price of the profligacy of their goal-shyforwards as they had as many as 42 shots at target as com-pared to just eight by their opponents .

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