ˆ % .% 67- 6˛˝78 & ˝5 6 ˛˚˙ ˛˜ ˙!˛#˛!˚˛ $%&’˛’!ˇ˛( With the sunset on Wednesday the curtains on the 20-month-old Mahagathbandhan Government came down with Chief

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With the sunset onWednesday the curtains

on the 20-month-oldM a h a g a t h b a n d h a nGovernment came down withChief Minister Nitish Kumarquitting and submitting the res-ignation of his Cabinet to acting Governor Keshri Nath Tripathi.

After accepting the CM’sresignation, the Governor hasasked Nitish to continue tillalternative arrangement ismade. However, the CM hasnot recommended for dissolu-tion of the Assembly.

Nitish’s harsh decisioncame after once again a defiant RJD supremo LaluPrasad said his son and DeputyCM Tejashwi Prasad Yadavwill not resign.

The BJP lost no time inwhole-heartedly welcomingNitish’s decision to resign, giv-ing a clear indication that it isopen to do business with theJD(U) chief again and is againsta mid-term poll.

Prime Minister NarendraModi welcomed Nitish’s dis-engagement with the RJD.

“It is the need of the time torise above political differencesand unitedly fight the corruptionfor the bright future of the coun-try, particularly that of Bihar,”Modi tweeted within half-an-hour of Ntish saying it quits asCM. “Many-many congratula-tions to Nitish Kumar forjoining fight against cor-ruption. 1.15 crore citizenswelcoming and supportinghonesty,” Modi said in hissecond tweet.

Wearing a meeksmile, a tense lookingNitish came out afterremaining with theGovernor for 10 minutesand addressed the media.“I have submitted resig-nation. I ran this 20-month-old alliance andobserved dharma ofMahagathbandhan. I triedmy best to save this unitybut such an atmospherewas created under which

it was just impossible for me tocontinue further. I informedLalu and Congress leadersbefore going to the Raj Bhavan.”

He said he did not askTejashwi to resign because hedid not want any confrontation.

“It was the voice of my con-science to resign after I failed inmy constant efforts to find a

Continued on Page 4Related report on P7

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The Central Governmenton Wednesday remained

silent on media reports that Rs2,000 currency notes will bescrapped. When theOpposition in the Rajya Sabhaasked the Government to clar-ify that matter, Leader ofHouse and Finance MinisterArun Jaitley, who was presentin the House, did not respondto the members’ demand.

Raising the issue soon afterthe House met for the day,Naresh Agrawal (SamajwadiParty) said reports indicatedthat the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) proposed to scrap the Rs2,000 notes. He said as per tra-dition, policy decisions by theGovernment are announcedin Parliament if the session ison and asked it to clear the air.

So far, the RBI has printed3.2 lakh crore pieces of Rs 2,000notes, said the SP leader, addingit has now stopped printing.Also, he remarked that theRBI cannot bully.

Deputy Chairman P JKurien said it was the prerog-

ative of the RBI to take suchdecisions. Agrawal then saidthe earlier demonetisation deci-sion was taken by theGovernment and not the RBIas its board had opposed it.

Expressing similar senti-ments, Leader of OppositionGhulam Nabi Azad too soughtclarification from theGovernment on whether it wasplanning to introduce Rs 1,000coins. He also said demoneti-sation decision was alsoannounced by the Government.

He said every day the mediawas reporting that Rs 2,000notes will be scrapped andinstead coins of Rs 1,000 will beintroduced. Taking a dig at theGovernment, Azad then saidnow people will have to carry abag for coins. Seeking aresponse from the Government,the Congress leader said therewas no politics in this issue.

Sharad Yadav (JD-U) saidthe issue was serious as therumours are strong. TheGovernment should clarify andstop the rumours or else peo-ple will start returning Rs 2,000notes, he said.

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In a significant decision, theSupreme Court has held that

the post of ParliamentarySecretary created by StateGovernments is unconstitu-tional as State legislatures arenot competent to create anynew office under theConstitutional scheme.

The question arose in thecontext of a law passed byAssam Government in 2004titled Assam ParliamentarySecretaries (Appointment,Salaries, Allowances andMiscellaneous Provisions) Act2004 appointing ParliamentarySecretaries by giving them sta-tus equal to Ministers of State.

The order is sure to affectother States as well which fol-lowed suit and passed similarlaws. A Bench of Justices JChelameswar, RK Agarwal andAM Sapre while striking downthe Assam Act said, “In ouropinion, the most crucial Articlein Constitution is Article 187which makes stipulations evenwith reference to the secretari-al staff of the Legislature. On theface of such elaborate andexplicit constitutional arrange-ment with respect to the legis-lature and the various officesconnected with the legislatureand matters incidental to themto read the authority to createnew offices by legislation would

be a wholly irrational way ofconstruing the scope of Article194(3) and Entry 39 of List II.”

The Bench declared the Actto be unconstitutional and heldthat the state had no “legislativecompetence” to enact the same.

Article 194(3) dealt withpowers and privileges of thelegislature which can bedefined by the legislature fromtime to time by law passed bythe Assembly. The StateGovernment cited this provi-sion and traced the source ofpassing the 2004 law underEntry 39 of State List (List II).On May 30, 2005, the Stateeven appointed eightParliamentary Secretaries giv-ing them oath of office but notassigning any Ministry.

However, the petition filedby one Bimolangshu Roy criti-cised the law for violating Article164(1A) which places an upperlimit on the Council of Ministersto be 15 per cent of the totalstrength of the Assembly.According to the petitioner, atthe time of enacting Article164(1A), the strength of theAssam Assembly was 126 whilethe strength of Council ofMinisters was 36, constitutingabout 28.5 per cent. If Article164(1A) was to be strictlyapplied, the Council of Ministersought to be 15 per cent, therebyreducing the strength ofMinisters to 19.

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Claiming that there cannotbe any finality on the fate

of 39 Indians abducted fromMosul in Iraq three years agounless the Governmentreceived “direct evidence” fromIraq, External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj said onWednesday that there was no“substantial proof ” whetherthe Indian construction labour-ers taken hostage by the ISISwere dead or alive and to“declare them dead withoutproof will be a sin.”

Dismissing allegations thatshe misled the country on theissue, Sushma said in the LokSabha that she was only ‘faith-fully’ communicating to theHouse and the affected familiesthe information which she gotfrom foreign sources. Sushmasaid in her effort to get to theexact details of the abductiontrail six nations were followedas she herself visited Turkeyand spoke to the ForeignMinister of that country.

The External AffairsMinister said she met the fam-ilies of the labourers 12 timesand also briefed them on theinformation collected byMinister of State for ExternalAffairs General (Retd.) VKSingh during his visit to Iraq, and that given to theIndian Government by for-eign countries.

“I gave details but said Ihave no evidence. The infor-mation was coming from `sec-ondary sources’ and not fromthe direct ones. I have no directcontacts with them”, Sushmasaid adding a final conclusioncould only be made when firmevidence comes forth from Iraqor any other country.

Continued on Page 4

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The Centre on Wednesdaytold the Supreme Court

that the right to privacy cannotbe a fundamental right in adeveloping country like Indiaas it will deprive 270 millioncitizens living below the pover-ty line of access to their basicneeds of food, shelter andemployment, forming part ofright to life.

Talking in the context ofAadhaar which kicked off thedebate on privacy, AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal repre-senting the Centre told a nine-judge Bench that even if pri-vacy is assumed to be a funda-mental right under right to lib-erty of citizens, it must yield tothe right to life of 270 millioncitizens who will receive thebenefit of social welfareschemes with Aadhaar.

He said, “A large section ofthe people would be deprivedof their basic needs and rightsif the claim of the petitioners toa fundamental right to privacyis accepted…Even otherwise,there can be no claim to a pri-vacy right against identification

for the purposes of public wel-fare and social schemes of theGovernment, and to plug leak-ages and corruption in theadministration of suchschemes.”

Venugopal took the debatea step further with his argu-ment terming those opposingAadhaar on the ground of vio-lation of their privacy to be an“elitist” approach. “In a devel-oping country where millionsof people are devoid of thebasic necessities of life and donot even have shelter, food,clothing, or jobs, and are forced

to sleep on pavements even inthe height of winter, and per-haps, to die, no claim to a rightto privacy of the nature claimedin this case, as a fundamentalright would lie. Any suchclaim…would be based on anapproach which is esoteric andelitist, in the light of allegationthat Aadhaar would convertIndia into a totalitarian state.”

The Bench of Chief JusticeJS Khehar, Justices JChelameswar, SA Bobde, RKAgarwal, RF Nariman, AMSapre, DY Chandrachud, SKKaul, and S Abdul Nazeer told

the A-G that the issue ofAadhaar was not before it asthis issue would arise later.When the Bench specificallywished to know the stand of theCentre on privacy, Venugopalsaid that privacy cannot betreated as one single right.

He said that privacy is ahomogenous group consistingof several rights and each con-stituent right cannot be elevat-ed as a fundamental right. TheConstituent Assembly toodeliberately avoided inclusionof right to privacy in theConstitution, the A-G submit-ted as doing so would have seri-ous implications in crime con-trol, preparation of the NationalCensus, etc where personaldetails are collected on a rou-tine basis.

The Bench wondered thatthe State was free to do anythingin the absence of a constitutionalsafeguard. But the Centre sub-mitted that privacy has many“species” of rights and combin-ing all under one single right wasnot possible as each required tobe dealt with on a case to casebasis. The arguments will con-tinue on Thursday.

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In a major decision which islikely to lead up to changes

in the organisational andGovernment level, the BJP onTuesday announced that partypresident Amit Shah will con-test the August 8 Rajya Sabhapoll from Gujarat.

The announcement cameafter BJP Parliamentary Boardmet here to take stock of theBihar situation following NitishKumar’s resignation as the StateChief Minister. Union MinisterJP Nadda said after the meet-ing, that besides Shah, UnionTextile and I&B Minister SmritiIrani too will be contesting theRajya Sabha poll from Gujarat.While Shah is an MLA fromGujarat, Irani is also an MPfrom the State and her termends on August 18.

The BJP’s move came a dayafter Congress GeneralSecretary and a close aide toCongress president SoniaGandhi, Ahmed Patel, was re-nominated as the party’s can-didate for the upcoming RajyaSabha election from Gujarat.

With Shah in the fray, theRajya Sabha poll is set to turninteresting in Gujarat as theCongress is already wary ofcross-voting by 11 of its MLAsin the State during the presi-dential polls, last week and thequitting of its influential leaderShankar Singh Vaghela,

Continued on Page 4

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Led by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, the BJP on

Tuesday lost no time in whole-heartedly welcoming NitishKumar’s decision to resign even

as it gave a clearindication that it wasopen to do businesswith the JD(U) chiefagain and wasagainst a mid-termpoll. Ironically, theJD(U) had partedways with the NDAin 2013, on the issueof Modi’s likely pro-jection as the BJP’sPM candidate forthe Lok Sabha elec-tions.

“The BJP is notin favour of mid-term polls in Bihar,”said Union Ministerand senior BJP

leader JP Nadda after the meet-ing of the BJP ParliamentaryBoard’s meeting at party head-quarters with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in attendance.Nadda said the BJP was of aview that the battle against cor-ruption should continue inBihar and announced that athree-member State committeewill go into the details of freshmoves to be made by the party.

The message from the BJPwas loud and clear as Modihimself welcomed Kumar’s dis-engagement with the RJD andits leader Lalu Prasad, whosefamily is facing a barrage ofcorruption charges.

“It is the need of the timeto rise above political differ-ences and unitedly fight thecorruption for the bright futureof the country, particularlythat of Bihar,” Modi tweetedwithin half-an-hour of Kumarsaying it quits as Chief Minister.

Continued on Page 4

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Five people, including fourmembers of a family and a

driver, died and four otherswere injured when their Innovacar was hit by a speedingdumper on the NationalHighway 24 in East Delhi’sKalyanpuri at 3:55am onWednesday, police said.

“Nine occupants of theInnova car — all natives ofMeerut — were returning fromthe Delhi Airport where they

had gone to pick up their rel-atives returning from Iranwhen their car was hit by a

speeding dumper moving onthe other side of the road.

“The driver was headingtowards the Ghazipur landfill.The driver, suspected to havedozed off while driving theheavy vehicle carrying debriscrossed the divider and hit andsmashed their car. After hittingthe Innova, the driver managedto f lee from the spot, leaving behindthe dumper,” said a seniorpolice official.

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Four new cases of swine fluwere reported by the district

health department of Dehradunon Wednesday. The total num-ber of swine flu cases in the dis-trict has mounted to 26.

The nodal officer for Swineflu, Dr Puneet Chandrainformed that a 25 year oldwoman, a resident of ReshamMajari, Doiwala was admittedat the Himalayan HospitalJollygrant on July 19 and she isstill undergoing treatment atthe hospital. Similarly a 35 oldwoman of Dehradun was alsofound positive for the disease.This patient however is nowdischarged from the hospital.Dr Chandra further informedthat Shyampur, Premnagar res-ident one year old girl wasadmitted in Doon hospital onJuly 19. Her sample was takenon July 21 and was found pos-itive for this disease. The child

is now discharged from thehospital. He informed thatanother swine flu patientadmitted in the Max hospitalwas discharged on the requestof his family members.

The Chief Medical Officerof Dehradun Dr T C Pant saidthat 26 cases of swine flu havebeen found positive for the dis-ease this year. Incidentally 12cases of the disease have beenfound in the month of July onlyand five persons have suc-cumbed from the disease in themonth. The department has sofar collected samples of 96 sus-pected patients of the disease outof which 26 patients have beenfound suffering from the disease.

The CMO said that all thehospitals and medical officershave been asked to the keep avigil on the suspected patientsof the swine flu.He said that thedepartment has sufficient stockof Tami flu which is the med-icine of swine flu. The author-

ities have also asked all the hos-pitals to set up isolation wardsfor treatment and stay of swineflu patients.

Swine flu is a viral disease,its virus is also called H1 N1and its genetic analysis hasshown that it has originatedfrom the animals specially pigshence it is called Swine flu. Thevirus spreads from person toperson similar to that of sea-sonal influenza.

It is a common observa-tion that the virus of H1 N 1,the virus of swine flu, normal-ly strikes the population duringthe months of December andJanuary when winters are at itspeak. This year the suddenarrival of the disease duringthis time of year has raised con-cern among the doctors. Theyare of the view that variation indaily temperature with highlevel of humidity is responsiblefor spurt in the number of casesof the disease.

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Dehradun district magis-trate SA Murugeshan

reviewed the progress of vari-ous developmental schemesbeing implemented in the dis-trict by different departmentslike Panchayatiraj department,DRDA and Swajal at VikasBhawan on Wednesday. In themeeting, the department offi-cers were directed to providethe list of the projects beingexecuted presently. In addition,they were asked to highlight theproject details like the datesuch projects would belaunched and the time framefor their completion. DMdirected the officials to installsign boards regarding the pro-jects being implemented bytwo different departments. Thesign boards must display thedates of the launching of suchprojects and the time theywould be completed.

While reviewing PradhanMantri Awas Yojana,Murugeshan directed the dis-trict officers to take necessary

steps to execute the schemeeffectively so that the homelesspeople are benefited under thescheme. Project director DRDAofficer informed that a targethas been fixed up to 2022 toprovide homes to all thehomeless people under thescheme. Around 2077 peoplewho are homeless have beenidentified and necessary steps

are being taken with �397crore being released, he wasinformed. DM reviewedNRLM scheme too underwhich some groups have beenselected at village levels whichalong with an NGO based inTelangana are providing train-ing to the women based in thevillages. Currently, four blocks-Raipur, Sahaspur, Vikasnagar

and Doiwala- have been select-ed at the district levels. To makethe women self- reliant, fundwithout interest is being pro-vided to them to help them runtheir business, the DM wasinformed. Regarding smallbusiness, a financial assistanceof �10, 000 is being given to thewomen for three months andRs one lakh under CIF after six

months to run their business.DM reviewed MNREGA

scheme too and directed theofficers to create jobs for thecard- holders in building floodsafety walls, networks, con-struction of roads and nallahsin villages on a priority basis.DM also reviewed schemes ofSwajal and directed the officersto immediately release fund forbuilding toilets in the villageswhere toilets have not beenmade so far. DM reviewed Panchayatirajdepartment and the officerswere directed to ensure thatsocial audit should be con-ducted in those gram pan-chayats where it has not beendone yet. DM also reviewedprogress report of online con-nectivity of gram panchayats.The panchayatiraj officersinformed that all the grampanchayats would be connect-ed through online bySeptember 2017. This wouldhelp the residents receive birthcertificates, death certificatesand land register copiesthrough online.

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The four- day All IndiaDoubles Ranking

Badminton Tournament, organ-ised in the memory of the socialactivist Satyapal Kumar by histwo sons, kicked off onWednesday at City SportsComplex, Bhalla College.Qualifying matches were heldfor nearly 250 players who havecome from across the countrywhile the main matches wouldbe held in the next three days.

The organising secretary ofthe tournament Neeraj Kumarwho himself is a Badmintonplayer said, “I always felt thatthe holy city must host somenational level sports champi-onship which would encouragethe local and the state levelplayers to participate.

The UttarakhandBadminton Association hav-ing assigned the responsibil-ity to our district association,we are funding the tourna-ment from providing theplayers with lodging andother facilities to giving themthe prizes. The winners wouldget �2 lakh.”

Many players from thestate, including Kuhu Garg,Himanshu Tiwari and Aparna

Dutta are participating in thematches, said Anurag Gupta, amember of the joint organisingcommittee. “Matches wouldbe held in the category of openmixed doubles, women dou-bles, men’s doubles and 32main draws. All the entriesbeing taken by BadmintonAssociation of India, no directentry would be allowed,”

he added.Ajay Kumar, the host of the

tournament, said that BAIwould send its own chief ref-erees, controllers and inspec-tors. Arrangements have alsobeen made for direct telecast onYoutube and Sports flashes, headded.

Lauding the efforts of thedistrict badminton association,

the state urban developmentminister Madan Kaushik said,“Badminton being a very pop-ular game in the country, weare happy that the nationaltournament is being held inHaridwar in which playersfrom 30 states are participating.We are also gearing up for the2018 National Games which isgoing to be held in the State.”

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Dehradun police havearrested four members

of an inter-State swindlinggang on the charge of dupingpeople in Dehradun and someother parts of the countryfrom Shimla Bypass onWednesday. The accused havebeen identified as VirendraMohan Barar and JitendraGupta, natives of Delhi,Shakil, native of Kanpur, UttarPradesh and Nadim, residentof Haridwar.

Police recovered �11 lakhin cash, forged company slips,electronic vat machine and acar used in committing thecrimes from their possession.Ashwani Kukreti, resident ofPremnagar, had registered acomplaint at Premnagarpolice station and on its basis,police started investigation.

In his written complaint,Kukreti, a wholesaler of shoesbased in Premnagar, had stat-ed that he had met Nadim whoinformed him that he had anEryx (a double- headed snake)

with him, used for producingmedicines to cure cancerwhose price is �5 crore. As perthe complainant, Nadim hadoffered to sell such a reptile tohim for �20 lakh. Two dayslater, Kukreti had received acall from one Jitendra Guptawho identified himself as themanger of a company based inDelhi and stated that he wouldpurchase Eryx from him for �4 crore.

As Kukreti had contact-ed Nadim the latter had pro-vided him with the double-headed snake at Nanda KiChowki area after being paid�10 lakh by the complainant.Subsequently, a deal had beenmade with Gupta for thesnake being sold for �4 crore.

However, Gupta hadasked for Rs 8 lakh fromKukreti to have the snaketested in the company’s lab toverify its efficacy as a cancermedicine. Soon after Kukretihad given Gupta the sumGupta informed him that thesnake having died duringtesting, the deal stood can-

cel led. Both Gupta andNadim had refused to payhim back the money he hadgiven them, the complaintran. Realising that he hadbeen duped, Kukreti hadfiled a complaint and actingon the compliant, a caseudder sect ions-420/467/468/471/506/120b ofIPC had been registeredagainst the accused inPremnagar police station.

A police team comprisingPremnagar police station in-charge Naresh Rathore andsub-inspectors Sunil Negi andNarendra Adhikari had beenformed to investigate the case.Acting on a tip- off, the teammembers arrested the quartetfrom Shimla bypass.

While being grilled, theaccused are said to haveadmitted their crime and saidthat they had duped around60 people from several statesl ike Rajasthan, Delhi ,Himachal Pradesh andHarayana aside fromUttarakhand over the pastfew years.

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What can be a better gift fora visually handicapped

person than getting back vision?Two such persons have beenblessed with vision from theeyes donated by a Shantikunjresident Kishore Pattidar whodied on 25 July. After the deathof Kishore, his family membersfulfilled the dream of thedeceased to help the blind to getback their vision.

Speaking to The Pioneer,son of the deceased Kishore,Ankur Pattidar said, “As per thewish of my father, we contact-ed a doctor who introduced usto the eye donation team ofJolly Grant Hospital. The teamof doctors came to Shanti Kunjwith some members of MuskanFoundation and my father’swish was fulfilled.”

The working partner ofHimalayan Institute of MedicalSciences and head of Muskanfoundation, Neha Mallik saidthat pledging eyes is a noble actand the people should followthe lead of Kishore Pattidar.

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Areport on the “Health Statusand Age Assessment of the

trees of Rashtrapati Bhavan” waspresented to the outgoingPresident Pranab Mukherjee bythe Director, Forest ResearchInstitute, Dehradun Dr Savita ina function held at theRashtrapati Bhavan CultureCentre, New Delhi on July 24.In this function, the Presidentelect Ram Nath Kovind, VicePresident Mohammad HamidAnsari, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and UnionCouncil of Ministers were pre-sent. The report depicts the ageof various older tree species

growing in the RashtrapatiEstate by using scientificmethodology. One Shishamtree located at Bal Vatika wasfound to be the oldest tree of thePresident’s Estate with an esti-

mated age of 225 years. Duringthis project the tree diseases andinsect pest surveys, physiolog-ical studies and assessment ofsoil and irrigation water was alsoconducted apart from assessing

the age of older trees. After the study, the report

was generated which also high-lights important recommen-dations and suggestions forthe better maintenance of trees.

The project was given toForest Research Institute by theRashtrapati Bhavan Secretariat inJuly 2016. The senior scientists,the forest pathologist Dr N S KHarsh, Dr Amit Pandey, SureshChandra, wood anatomist Dr PK Pandey, Physiologist Dr S PChaukiyal, Soil Scientist Dr B.M.Dimri, Entomologist Dr SudhirSingh contributed immensely incarrying out different studies andmaking the project successful.

Dr U D Kukreti, OSD(President’s Gardens) gave hisactive cooperation during thecourse of study and facilitatedthe FRI Scientists during sur-veys and sampling atRashtrapati Bhavan Estate.

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While discussing the issuesof protection of ordnance

factory employees’ interest andredressal of their demands,general secretary BahujanKaramchari Sangh, Ordnancefactory, Indar Singh Singhaccused the Centre of ignor-ing the employee’s interestwhile handing over the facto-ry products to the private sec-tors. Indian borders are tensewith the soldiers not havingadequate ammunitions to pro-tect the Indian boundaries.

Handing over defence productsto private sectors is thus dan-gerous, he said, adding that theCentre government has put139 defence products in non-core category.

The numbers of defenceproducts being reduced arelanding the factory employeesin crisis, he said.

He alleged that it is a con-spiracy of the Centre to shutdown the government- runfactories where defence prod-ucts are being made. Accordingto Singh, the central govern-ment has implemented FDI in

defence sectors and 222 privatecompanies have been givenlicense to make weapons anddefence equipments. In addi-tion, several items have beenput on non-core category.Highlighting the local issues,Singh said that in factory estate,people are facing drinkingwater problems.

Others present on theoccasion were Indar Singh,Umesh Kumar, KailashChandra, Man Prakash, DeerajShankhsawar, Rajveer Singh,Devendra Singh, Ompal andAnuj Kumar.

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The notorious criminalfrom the dreaded Sunil

Rathi gang Sachin Khokharhas been shifted to Nainitaljail from Haridwar district jailon Wednesday. As per the jailsources, the decision wastaken by the jail authoritiesafter they concluded that hehad instigated other inmatesof the prison to stage hungerstrike in protest against therevised rules regarding thevisitors. Sources further saidthat more such transfers areon the cards with many hard-ened criminals presentlybeing lodged in the Haridwardistrict jail. Confirmingthat Khokhar had been shift-ed to the Nainital jail, the jailsuperintendent B P Pandeysaid that the decision was animperative in view of the cur-rent situation in the jail.

Police seems convincedthat the gangsters lodged inthe district jail are behind therecent spurt in the crimes like

murder and robbery. “Theywere planning crimes frombehind the prison cells andwere having them executedthrough their cronies. Thedistrict administration offi-cials remain perturbed overnews of the gangsters pass-ing on messages to their aidesto undertake crimes throughthe informers who come inthe garb of the visitors. Hencethe decision to video-recordsuch meetings. IG Jail P V KPrasad also directed the dis-trict jailer to reduce the dura-tion and frequency of suchmeetings between the prisoninmates and their visitors,” asenior district jail officer said.

However, the revised rulessent the prisoners to stagehunger strike on Monday.They ended the strike thesame evening following theirtalks with the ADM LalitNarayan Mishra. But theyagain refrained from takingfood presumably at the insti-gation of Sachin Khokhar,said the jail sources.

Dehradun: The State healthdepartment has initiated aprocess to open a small medicalunit at the office of State healthdirectorate for the employeesposted there. The State healthdirectorate is located at DandaLakhaund on Sahastradhararoad. The Director Medicalhealth Dr L M Upreti has writ-ten a letter to the DirectorGeneral (DG) state health ser-vices Dr D S Rawat requestinghim to open a medical unit in thedirectorate so that more than 400employees working in differentgovernment departments therecan get its benefit. Dr Upreti saidthat since the health directorateis situated more than 10 kmsaway from the city the employ-ees working in the state healthdirectorate, National HealthMission (NHM), Ayush direc-torate, Homeopathy directorate,head office of Red Cross societyand office of UttarakhandMedical Services Selection Board(UMSSB) face problems. PNS

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The country has foughtmany wars in the past but

victory in Kargil war on July 26,1999, is special one as our sol-diers fought it from a very dis-advantageous position andcame out victorious. The Kargilvictory is important in oneanother aspect that it was thewar in which not even a singleinch of our land was cededaway to the enemy and Indiaregistered both military anddiplomatic victories.

The Chief Minister ofUttarakhand, Trivendra SinghRawat, made these observa-tions while addressing a pro-gramme organised on the occa-sion of Shourya Diwas (KargilVictory Day) at Gandhi Parkhere on Wednesday.

“In every war our bravesoldiers had always emergedout victorious but unfortu-nately we use to lose on table(talks) but Kargil was an excep-tion. The Kargil victory hasbecome an example of modernday warfare,’’ he said.

Paying glowing tributes tothe martyrs who ensured vic-tory to the country even whenthe odds were heavily placedagainst them the Chief Ministersaid the nation was indebted tothem. He said that respect forthe brave was the rich and longtradition in our country.

On the occasion, Rawatremembered visionary andstrong leadership of formerPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee. He said that Vajpayeeunderstood the pain of thefamilies of the martyrs anddirected that bodies of thedead soldiers should reach tothe place where their familiesreside.

The Chief Minister pre-

sented the mementoes to thefamily members of the martyrsand war heroes on the occa-sion. He also laid flora wreathat the martyr memorial to payhomage to those who laiddown their lives for the coun-try.

The BJP leader andMussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshicongratulated the ChiefMinister for taking many mea-

sures for welfare of ex service-men. He also demanded thatthe pension of the war widowsof World War II should beincreased from Rs 4,000 to Rs8,000. Joshi also said the StateGovernment should increasethe ex -gratia amount givenby to the martyrs from pre-sent Rs 10 lakh to 15 lakhs.

The students of theBhatkhande Sangeet School

paid tributes to the soldiers bypresenting patriotic songs onthe occasion.

The Mayor of Dehradunand Dharampur MLA VinodChamoli, Rajpur MLA KhajanDas, Saurabh Bahuguna,Lieutenant General TPSRawat (Rtd), Lt Gen O PKaushik (Rtd), ManagingDirector (MD) ofUttarakhand Purva sainik

kalyan Nigam Limited(UPNL) Brigadier PPS Pahwa(Rtd), Director Sainik KalyanBrigadier Chand, President ofUttarakhand Ex ServicesLeague Brigadier R S Rawat,large number of ex service-men, families of serving andretired soldiers and NationalCadet Corps (NCC) were pre-sent on the occasion despitebad weather and rainfall.

:%�� ;��!��The Martyrs of Kargil war

were remembered on the18th anniversary of KargilDiwas at Garhi Cantt,Dehradun on Wednesday.The General Off icerCommanding (GOC) ofUttarakhand Sub area MajorGeneral Balraj Metha laidfloral wreath at Lal Gate warmemorial and paid homage tothe soldiers who laid downtheir lives for the nation.Large number of officers,Junior CommissionedOfficers (JCO), Other Ranks(OR) and armed forces vet-erans also paid homage to themartyrs. A communiqué fromthe Uttarakhand sub area saidthat an award ceremony tohonour Veer Naris and Exservicemen would be orga-nized at Doon Sainik Institute(DSI) on Thursday.

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Kargil Victory Day (Shaurya Diwas) is celebrated every yearto commemorate the historic victory of Indian Armed

forces in Operation Vijay. On this day, 26 Jul 1999, India successfully took command

of the high outposts in Kargil which had been intruded byPakistan. Kargil war was fought for more than 60 days start-ing from May 03, 1999.

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Uttarakahnad has seen asubstantial rise in the

number of tigers in both big cathabitats of the State — CorbettTiger Reserve and Rajaji TigerReserve — as per the TigerCensus of the year 2016-17,released by Chief MinisterTrivendra Singh Rawat at hisresidence on Wednesday.

While the number of thebig cats inhabiting the CorbettTiger Reserve has shot up to208 as against 163 of the lastcensus it has gone up to 34 inRajaji Tiger Reserve as against

16 as per the last census.Sounding happy over thesteady rise in the big cat pop-ulation in the State, ChiefMinister said the credit must goto the State Forest Departmentofficials who have worked hardto save the tigers from theclutches of the poachers.

He further saidUttarakhand with 340 tigers,including cubs and thoseinhabiting other parts of theState outside these two reserves,has come up as the number oneState in the country whencounted in terms of the areas oftheir habitats. Though in termsof number, Karnataka is stand-ing first with 400 tigers inhab-iting the Uttarakhand with 340tigers must be consideredahead of Karnataka in view ofits areas being much smallerthan the southern State, saidCM.

The census was released inthe presence of State ForestMinister Dr Harak SinghRawat, Chief Secretary SRamaswami, Additional ChiefSecretaries — Ranbir Singhand Omprakash, Yoga GuruBaba Ramdev and his closeaide Acharya Balkrishana.

As per the Corbett Tiger

Reserve sources, CTR hadinstalled 535 cameras and thecensus had been conducted intwo phases. WWF had helpedthem by imparting training totheir employees about how todo census. The first phase wasconducted between November28, 2016 and January 21, 2017through camera trap in CTR,Ramnagar tiger reserve divi-sion while the second phasewas conducted between

January 25-2017 and March 19,2017 in Kalagarh tiger reservedivision.

In every camera point, twocameras were installed. Whilein Ramnagar 235 camerasremained installed for 55 daysin Kalagarh division 232 cam-eras were installed on 54 points.During this period, the census

officials got picture of 424,870in 25,453 night traps. While3892 tigers’ picture weretrapped 2,539 pictures wereused for the census. Duringthis census, they had matchedthe tigers’ right and left por-tion pictures during whichboth left and right side pic-tures of 142 special tigers weretrapped. While 66 pictureswere taken of the left side ofthe tigers 96 pictures of the

right side of the tigers weretaken and they were matchedfor reaching the final figure ofthe census.

CTR Ramnagar divisioncollected pictures of 99 specialtigers and six tiger cubs whilein Kalagarh division, 109 spe-cial tigers were identified.

In Rajaji Tiger Reserve(RTR), WWI) and WWF havesupported in the tiger censusphase -IV--2016-17. Cameratrap density was 1.5 kilometersand had installed 562 camerasin core areas of the RTR. Theyconducted it between January28,2017 to June 3, 2017 in 10ranges. In each range they hadcollected 620 tigers’ picture in15330 night traps. Whileanalysing the picture theycome to conclusion that 34tiger and five tiger cubs are liv-ing here. In 2014, the figurewas 16.

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Politics has again raised itshead on the war memorial

in the provisional State capital.The construction work of a warmemorial at Cheer Bagh hasstarted recently but now theBJP leader and MussoorieMLA, Ganesh Joshi hasdemanded that a war memor-ial should be built by the StateGovernment.

Joshi while speaking on theoccasion of Kargil victory dayat Gandhi Park on Wednesdayrequested the Chief Minister,Trivendra Singh Rawat, to allota piece of land for WarMemorial in Dehradun. Heeven pledged to donate a sumof �50 lakh from his MLA fundfor the memorial.

“If the State Government

allots land than budget for thewar memorial would not be aconstraint. I would provide asum of �50 lakh and similarlyother MLAs would also berequested to provide funds,” hesaid.

The fact that the veteranBJP leader and former soldierof Indian army Joshi raised theissue of a new war memorialwhen one at Cheer Bagh isalready under constructionclearly hints that he is notamused by the credit given tofellow BJP leader and formerRajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijayfor getting the necessaryclearances for War Memorialat Cheer Bagh.

To underlie his image ofan ex serviceman and truerepresentative of strong com-munity of armed forces vet-erans, Joshi also demanded

the State Government shouldinstal l a statue of BabaJaswant Singh Rawat in theGarhi Cant area and raise thepension of war widows.

When contacted, BJPleader Tarun Vijay refused tosay anything on the issue.Vijay incidentally was instru-mental in getting clearancefrom Ministry of Defencefor land of war memorial. Healso provided the necessarybudget of �2 crore from hisMember of Parliament LocalArea Development(MPLAD) fund for the pro-ject.

The war memorial was anissue of scoring political pointsbetween Congress and BJPearlier but now it seems lead-ers within BJP are also tryingto secure personal politicalpoints on the matter.

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Dalit farmer from Tehri,Raju Kumar had commit-

ted suicide as he was underpressure to return the loan hehad taken, claimed former StateCongress president KishoreUpadhyaya on Wednesday.

The Congress leader wasaddressing mediapersons.

He said the suicide of poorfarmer showed total failure ofthe State Government and theCongress party would start itsproposed ‘Kisan Bachao DeshBachao Yatra’ from the villageof the farmer.

Updhayaya demanded thatthe State Government shouldwaive off the agricultural loanof the farmers in the State.

The Congress leaderclaimed that the Raju Kumarwas only earning member ofthe family. He had taken a loanof Rs 40,000 from a bank andthe bank was putting pressureon him for loan repayment,

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The MeteorologicalDepartment has forecast

heavy rain across the State, par-ticularly in Garhwal region, fortwo days from July 29. All theseven districts in the region arelikely to be lashed by the tor-rential spell for the two days.

Meanwhile, with rain bat-tering the hills for the past fewdays, the water level of Gangaflowing through in Haridwardistrict has reached 292.75metres while the danger markis 294 metres.

Some of the roads, blockedafter rain-triggered landslidesoccurred across the State fol-lowing the arrival of mon-soon, are still blocked despitethe State administration offi-cers claiming to have gone all-out to reopen such roads. Asper State Disaster Controlroom report, as many as 14roads in Rudraprayag districthave remained blocked forvehicular movement while thenumber of such roads are six in

Uttarkashi district, five in Tehri,one in Almora, 10 inPithoragarh, two in Bageshwarand 19 village roads in Chamolidistrict. Besides, one nationalmotor road and 16 villagemotor roads are still blockedfor traffic in Pauri districtwhile the figure is 14 in

Dehradun.Meanwhile, rain lashed

Dehradun on Wednesday fromthe morning hours. While therain gave the residents relieffrom heat and humidity thelow-lying areas getting water-logged left those residing thereinconvenienced.

Birkam Singh, Director ofMeteorological Centre saidlight to moderate rainfall hadoccurred at most places inUttarakhand on Wednesday.While 60 mm rainfall wasreported in Uttarkashi it was50 mm in Chaukhutia, 40 mmeach in Ghansali, and Jakholi,

30 mm each in Chamoli,Bhatwari, Ukhimath,Rudraprayag and Karnaprayag,28.3 mm in Dehradun, 9.4 mmin Tehri and 2.8 mm inMukteshwar. The highestmaximum temperature of theState at 34.6 degree C wasrecorded at Roorkee.

The weather forecast forUttarakhand on Thursday isgenerally cloudy sky and lightto moderate rain/thundershowers at most places. Theweather forecast for Dehradunon Thursday is generallycloudy sky with the likelihoodof one or two spells ofrain/thunder showers. Themaximum and minimum tem-peratures are likely to bearound 31 degree Celsius and24 degree Celsius respectivelyin Dehradun on Thursday.The maximum temperaturewas 31.2 degree Celsius- onenotch above the normal- whilethe minimum was 23.8 degreeCelsius- one notch above thenormal- in Dehradun onWednesday.

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Upadhyaya said. “The land holding of the

farmers in the State is very lessand they have small scatteredpieces of land due to which theyare not able earn substantiallyto meet their basic needs,” hesaid.

The Congress leader saidthe State Government shouldrope in industrial houses forspending funds available inCorporate Social Responsibility(CSR) for welfare of farmers. Heridiculed the recent Open

Defecation Free (ODF) status ofthe State declared by the BJPGovernment and said thateveryone knew that the claimwas totally false.

The Congress leader saidthere was no toilet in the homeof farmer Raju Kumar and asimilar situation prevailed inmany other houses of his villageand other villages of the State.He warned the Government formaking false declaration andrefrain from the habit of play-ing to the gallery.

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From Page 1“We will continue our

efforts to trace them till the timewe get evidence that they aredead, as declaring them deadwithout proof will be a sin andI will not commit that sin,” shesaid.

Giving the backdrop of theincident, Sushma said thehostage incident happened onJune 15, 2014 just 20 days afterthe BJP Government was in thesaddle at the Centre. Indianswere caught in Mosul, 400 kmfrom the Iraqi Capital, taken tohospital, reported doing farm-ing, and thereafter informa-tively lodged in Badush Jail in2016. “There has been no con-tact with them for the last one-and-a-half year,” she said.

“This file will not close tillthere is proof that the 39Indians are dead,” she said,adding Vietnam still looks forsoldiers who went missing orare believed to be killed in theVietnam War. Even the USstill looks for soldiers whowent missing in World War II.

This apart, the Ministercited the case of Major DhanSingh Thapa, ParamveerChakra winner, who, thoughdeclared dead, came out alivefrom a Chinese jail after a longpassage of time.

She quoted Singh as sayingthat even war has a tradition ofcategorizing - Prisoners of War,Missing, Killed and thosebelieved to be killed and said itis the Government’s responsi-bility that the files of those‘Believed to be killed’ are notclosed.

The Minister’s articulateand firm assertion on the issuecame two days after IraqiForeign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said here that there wasno “substantial evidence” onwhether the Indians were aliveor dead and confirmed that theprison at Badush, their lastknown location, has beendemolished by the terror groupISIS.

Referring to the demolitionof the Badush Jail, Sushma saidshe had suggested to the IraqiForeign Minister to look for thejail warden and find out fromhim details about the Indians.She said even a list of prisonerswill help.

“Our questions are, if thejail was demolished, then werethe Indians there and whetherthe inmates were killed. If theywere killed, where are the bod-ies...Is there any blood trail,” shesaid.

Sushma said she hasrequested the Iraqi ForeignMinister to provide informationabout the Indian labourers with“evidence” to which the latterhas acceded to. “Without evi-dence, I will not meet families,”she said.

However, the Congressappeared to be not satisfiedwith her statement as its leaderMallikarjun Kharge said, “Wewill give a notice to discuss for-

eign affairs and then we will seewhat you (Sushma) had said in2014.”

Kharge stated this afterSpeaker Sumitra Mahajan dis-allowed any questions onSushma’s statement.

Earlier, the External AffairsMinister, referring to a state-ment she made in Lok Sabha inNovember 2014, said whatevershe did in the case was with theconsent of the House.

Sushma on July 16, basedon information gathered byVK Singh during his recent visitto Iraq, had stated that BadushJail in north-west Mosul was thelast known location of theIndians.

In her statement onWednesday, she said she neversaid that the Indians were in thejail and that as per information,they were taken to Badush inearly 2016.

“The Iraqi Foreign Ministersaid they do not have concreteinformation whether they arealive or not. He never said theyare dead. He told me that inIraq it is said that wait is worsethan death,” she said.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministeralso had said that ISIS hadseized control of Badush Jailand it was demolished.

Sushma said she told herIraqi counterpart that she willnot accept anything on theissue without “proof ” andrequested him to continue thesearch for them.

She cited an example of theCongress Government declar-ing a soldier martyred in the1971 War and after 45 years, itwas found that he was in a jailin Pakistan.

“If someone feels they aredead, then you are free to go tothe families. But if any one ofthem (Indians) comes back,then it will be your responsi-bility. Similarly, their familiesare free to carry out ardas (rit-uals) but it will be their respon-sibility if someone comes back,”she said.

The Minister said she hadnever misled Parliament or thefamilies of the abductedIndians. “I have never misled.I want to ask the Oppositionwhat benefit will I get by mis-leading. What benefit will myGovernment get by misleadingthe people on the issue,” sheasked.

Sushma said one person,Harjit Masih, who was alsoabducted along with the 39Indians but had managed to fleefrom captivity, had said theIndians were killed, but sixsources had told theGovernment that they werealive.

“There were contradictionsin Masih’s version. That is whyI told our Embassy to find outdetails about them,” she said.

Mentioning about her ear-lier statement, Sushma said, “Ihad said that one person saidthe 39 Indians were killed whilesix sources said otherwise.”

From Page 1“Many-Many congratula-

tions to Nitish Kumar for join-ing fight against corruption.1.15 crore citizens welcomingand supporting honesty”, Modisaid in his second tweet.

Leader of Opposition inBihar Assembly and seniorBJP leader Sushil Kumar Modialso announced in Patna thathis party was “not in favour ofmid-term elections in Bihar”.“We are happy that the BiharCM did not compromise onthe issue corruption and didnot kneel down before theRJD,” he said.

BJP president Amit Shah

spoke to Sushil Modi andsought him to give feedback onpossible steps which may betaken in the light of the break-ing of the rulingMahagathbandhan in Bihar.

In an indication that theBJP was ready to be friendsagain with Kumar, UnionMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadsaid the break-up of thealliance in Bihar was inevitableas it was an alliance of com-pulsion and convenience. Hesaid while Kumar placed pre-mium on good governanceand integrity, it was not thecase with the RJD leader LaluPrasad.

From Page 1From Page 1way out. I spoke to Rahul

Gandhi and there was nocommunication gap with Laluji. This crisis had beenbrought. I waited for long buthe (Tejashwi) said nothing.Under these circumstances Ihad no reply to the people ofBihar for whom I had beenworking. I had no basis to runthis Government and it wasagainst my nature.”

Nitish said he always sup-ported Opposition unity buthad to suffer and faced a lot ofcriticism from the allies. “Idon’t want to blame anybodyso took this initiative to resign.I tried my best to find a wayout and ran this Governmentfor one third of the totaltenure and no finger of accu-sation was ever raised on gov-ernance.”

Asked if he could ally withthe NDA he said, “Aage kya

hoga, kab hoga, kaisa hogaaage par chhor dijiye (When,how and what will happen nextleave it on the future. But ifthere is any development in theinterest of Bihar I will definitelyconsider it. Let us see whathappens but the current crisishas come to a logical end.”

On Tejashwi’s refusal toresign, Nitish said he talked toLalu ji and also met Tejashwi.“I told them that they shouldexplain about the charges onhim. Its fine to counter that hewas implicated out of politicalvendetta but the impressionamong the people needed anexplanation. But it was notdone and atmosphere becameso uneasy that it becameimpossible for me to remain insaddle. Had he explained Iwould have got some basis toface public. But it becameclear that he did not want tosay anything and I had noreply to offer.”

From Page 1who could prove a spoil-

er in the party’s scheme ofthings. Shah and Irani are setto romp home easily and theBJP may queer the pitch forPatel with its additional votes.

The BJP’s decision toinduct Shah to Rajya Sabhahas also come close to themuch-awaited Cabinet

reshuffle and changes in theparty organisation. The BJPchief had recently himselfspoke of imminent “majorchanges” in the party whichmay coincide with theCabinet reshuff le in theModi-Government.

With Venkaiah Naidu

being fielded as vice-presi-dential nominee, ManoharParrikar moving to Goa asState Chief Minister and AnilMadhav Dave’s untimely pass-ing away, the Union Cabinetmay require “more experi-enced hands and talent”,sources said.

From Page 1Eyewitnesses told The

Pioneer we heard a loudsound.

“At first, we thought that itwas just machines (as con-struction work is going on theDelhi-Meerut Expressway).However, within a few min-utes, large number of peoplestarted swelling on the roadand we saw four to five peoplelying badly hurt in the car.

“One of the passersbymade a call to the PoliceControl Room. Police reachedhalf an hour later. Even whenpolice came, instead of helpingthe injured people who were

stuck in the mangles of theInnova car, police rushed thedead to the hospital.”

While the male membersof the two families were seat-ed in the front and the secondrow, the children were seatedat the back, said eyewitnesses.

As the dumper crushedthe roof of the SUV car, 55-year-old Qamar Abbas Zaidi,his 50-year-old wife AnjumFathima Zaidi, his 18-year-oldson Azhar Abbas Zaidi and14-year-old daughter Juhi werecrushed, along with their 36-year-old driver Mahrajuddin.

The injured includedAnjum Fathima, wife of Kalbe

Abbas, her son Ali Abbas,Abbas Mehendi, 16-year-oldson of Qamar and seven-year-old daughter of Qamar’s broth-er.

Doctors of Guru TegBahadur hospital told policethat Anjum is stated to be crit-ical, with severe head injurieswhile the other three were dis-charged later in onWednesday.

Earlier in the day, relativesgathered at the mortuary ofthe Lal Bahadur Shastri hos-pital and said, “The Zaidifamily left at 10 pm onTuesday from Meerut as theyhad to pick up Anjum and her

son who were coming fromIran,” said Anjum’s sister.

Ravindra Yadav, JointCommissioner of Police(Eastern Range) said, “Wehave registered a case undersection 304 (culpable homi-cide not amounting to mur-der) at the Kalyanpuri policestation.”

Investigators said sincethe errant dumper had a stick-er of the MCD, they are veri-fying whether it belonged tothe civic agency. “We are try-ing to identify the driver. Sofar, we have identified theowner of the dumper. Arrestswill be made soon.”

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Accident spree continuingunabated taking its toll in

the State, two persons diedand three others were injuredwhen the car they were sittingin skidded off the road and

plunged into a river nearMehalchairi at Gairsain inChamoli district on Wednesday.The deceased have been iden-tified as Pan Singh and his wifeSavitri, residents of Garisain,Chamoli. The injured are ManSingh, car driver Bharat Singh

and Rekha Devi, residents ofGairsain. They were admittedat a local hospital in Garisain.

After the accident occurredaround 1.30 pm the localsinformed the police. SDRF andlocal revenue police rushed toconduct rescue operation.

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Accusing the BJP ledHaryana Government of

telling “lies”, former HaryanaChief Minister BhupinderSingh Hooda on Wednesdaychallenged Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar for anopen debate on developmentalworks in the State.

“Haryana had witnessed“unprecedented” developmentduring the ten years of theCongress’ rule whereas thecurrent Khattar Government isonly building castles in the air,”said senior Congress leaderBhupinder Singh Hooda whiletalking to the mediapersonshere.

Alleging that the BJPGovernment was takingHaryana “backwards”, Hoodasaid they (BJP) believed intelling lies and adopting thedivide and rule policy.

Let them tell what steps

they have taken for the welfareof the public. I challenge theChief Minister for an opendebate, said Hooda.

Hitting back at CMManohar Lal over his “pot-holes” remark recently, thetwo-time former CM said, “Itis them (BJP) who are takingthe State backward. Haryana’sdebt has crossed �1.4 lakhcrore. There are no jobs, nodevelopment is taking place,but the Government is in amood of celebration of com-pletion of its 1,000 days rules.”

The BJP Government inHaryana had completed its1,000 days in office on July 21and Manohar Lal had on theoccasion listed several devel-opmental initiatives of his gov-ernment. Manohar Lal hadalso hit out at the previousHooda led CongressGovernment saying that theprevious Government had leftmany “potholes” for the pre-

sent dispensation to fill.Lashing out at BJP

Government, Hooda said,“This government is onlybuilding castles in the air andgiving hollow slogans.

“The State Governmenttalks about zero tolerancetowards corruption. I say peo-ple of Haryana have zero tol-erance towards thisGovernment and will throwthem out in the next elections,”he claimed.

Continuing his tirade,Hooda said the BJP Governmentwas talking about giving round-the-clock power supply to vil-lages, while they have not beenable to do so in the cities. On theother hand, they have increasedthe power tariff, he added.

Hooda also said the percapita income in Haryanaincreased from �37,000 in2005 to �1.48 lakh in 2014under the CongressGovernment.

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The Manohar Lal KhattarGovernment in Haryana,

which has been doing every-thing to pamper the bovinespecies, has now proposed toset up “cow hostels” in urbanareas of the State.

The “cow hostels” is pro-posed to be set up in majorcities of Haryana to give anopportunity to urban citizensto keep a cow or a buffalo to getpure milk.

While the cow shelters arecalled “gaushalas” in ruralareas, a different term “cow hos-tels” will be used in urban areasin reference to modern life ofcities besides making suchfacilities more appealing toensure youth’s participation insuch initiatives.

Interestingly, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi had in2011 launched the idea of “cowhostels” when he was GujaratChief Minister.

The idea was that such hos-tels would serve as a placewhere cattle of the entire villagecould be looked after well. A“cow hostel” was first estab-lished in village Akodara ofSabarkantha district in Gujaratto keep the milch cattle ofentire village.

If all goes well, “cow hos-tels” will now be established inurban areas of Haryana. It has

been proposed to set up suchcow shelters in 4-5 acre land inPanchkula, Gurugram,Faridabad and other majorcities of Haryana.

“We have prepared a pro-posal to set up “cow hostels” inurban areas of Haryana. Wehave written to urban localbodies in this regard and ameeting with concernedMinister will also be held soonto finalize the plan,” said saidBhani Ram Mangla, chairmanof Haryana Gau Sewa Aayogwhile talking to The Pioneer.

He said the Aayog hadreceived a large number ofrequests from the people livingin major cities to allow them tokeep milch cattle for gettingpure milk.

Haryana UrbanDevelopment Authority(HUDA) does not given per-mission to keep bovine specieson their land. Hence, we haveasked municipal bodies to pro-vide land to set up “cow hostels”in urban areas of Haryana, saidhe.

Elaborating on the pro-posal, Mangla said that a largenumber of such requests havebeen received from Panchkula,Gurugram, Faridabad andother cities. Accordingly, wehave planned to set up “cowhostels” in such cities. Subsidyfor the purchase of desi (indige-nous) cows would also beoffered by us,” he said.

For maintenance of these

facilities, committees involvingcitizens will be constituted.While the land would be pro-vided by municipal bodies forconstruction of “cow hostels”,maintenance cost and otherworks would be undertaken bythese committees. These com-mittees would include ownersof cows to be kept at such facil-ities, NGOs among others, headded.

Notably, there are morethan three lakh cattle in around437 gaushalas in the state.Recently, the government hadannounced to provide a finan-

cial assistance of �5 lakh togram panchayats for con-struction of cow shelters (gaugrehs) in villages to rehabilitatethe abandoned cattle.

Known for its love for thecow, the BJP led StateGovernment has also plannedto construct 40 cow sanctuar-ies in a phased manner toaccommodate more than onelakh stray cattle in Haryana.

Among various initiativesof State Government for cowprotection includes issuingidentity cards to gau rakshaks,appointing a senior IPS officer

to monitor cases of cow smug-gling in the state and banningconsumption of beef.

Haryana Government hadin 2015 enforced HaryanaGauvansh Sanrakshan and GauSamvardhan Act 2015 makingcow slaughter punishable withrigorous imprisonment of upto 10 years and a fine of �1lakh.

The state has 18.08 lakhcattle. Out of total cattle pop-ulation, 8.12 lakh are indige-nous cattle and 9.96 lakh areexotic/cross bredcattle, as perthe 2012 livestock census.

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The Rajya Sabha onWednesday witnessed

stormy scenes after Leader ofthe House Arun Jaitleyremarked that issues wereraised for publicity and "TVcameras". The Opposition,subsequently, raised a din forc-ing repeated adjournmentsdemanding that the remark beexpunged as it "denigrated"and "castigated" them.

Jaitley did not relent andsaid the Opposition was creat-ing a din to prevent some rul-ing party members from rais-ing the issue of Samjhautatrain blast case of 2005 inwhich some media reportshave suggested that some cru-cial evidence was ignored.Leader of Opposition GhulamNabi Azad said the membershighlighted matters pertainingto the "have nots" and not fortelevision. He also charged theNDA regime for throttling thetelevision channels and 99 percent coverage pertained to the"sarkar"(Government).

Ruckus started in the pre-lunch session after Congressleader Anand Sharma wantedto raise an issue under Rule 267which prescribes suspension ofbusiness to take up the matter.Several members had givensuch notices on various issues

but Deputy Chairman P JKurien did not allow. He, how-ever, asked Sharma to state hiscase.

Charging that the NDAGovernment was underminingthe stature of MahatmaGandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru andIndira Gandhi, Sharma saidGandhi was compared toDeendayal Upadhyaya in anapparent reference to newPresident Ramnath Kovind'sspeech in the Central Hall ofParliament on Tuesday.

Reacting to this contention,Jaitley said the practice of rais-ing matters under Rule 267 was"grossly abused" for publicityand TV cameras. This led tosharp exchanges between him

and some Opposition membersdemanding the remark beexpunged. Amidst the din,Jaitley also said the membersgenerally refrain about men-tioning persons in high con-stitutional authority butSharma said he had not namedanyone. Jaitley countered say-ing he knew the "spirit" ofSharma's contention.

Backing his party col-league, Azad said theGovernment was trying toinsult leaders like Gandhi andNehru who had fought forIndia's independence.Moreover, the Governmentwas observing centenary ofthose people who had no roleor connection with the free-

dom struggle, he said.Taking an affront to

Jaitley's remarks, Sharma thensaid the Opposition was "cas-tigated, denigrated" and pro-jected as being "frivolous."Demanding the expunction ofremarks, he also said such"sweeping" statements cannotbe allowed. His colleagueKapil Sibal said if the remarksare not expunged, they will beforced to move a resolutionagainst Jaitley adding the levelof "arrogance" in the TreasuryBenches was not earlier seen.

DMK member ThiruchiSiva said he was "hurt" byJaitley's remarks that issueswere being raised for TV pub-licity. To this, the BJP leadersaid, "Every day what is notpoint of order is raised aspoint of order knowing fullythat you are violating the rule.None of us were born todaythat we don't realise eachother's games. We know thisnoise is being created onlybecause some members want toraise the issue of Samjhautacase. We know that. Don't pro-vide an alibi. I know they areyour ally parties. Don't providean alibi."

Earlier, BJP memberSubramanian Swamy said heshould be allowed to raise apoint of order regarding theSamjhauta train blast case.

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Aday after the Congress andBJP MPs took on each

other over an alleged incidentin Madhya Pradesh, Lok SabhaSpeaker Sumitra Mahajan onWednesday admitted that heroffice had made certain mis-takes in recording the state-ment regarding the allegedremarks by some BJP membersagainst Congress leaderJyotiraditya Scindia two daysago.

The Congress leader hadalleged that BJP MPs VeerendraKumar, Manohar Utwal andNand Kumar Chauhan hadlevelled certain "baseless alle-gations" against him that per-tained to the Dalit communi-ty.

Mentioning the issue dur-ing the Zero Hour, Mahajansaid Veerendra Kumar had notmade any direct allegationagainst Scindia.

"Ismein thodi si galtihamari office ki bhi thi (Therewas some mistake on the partof my office too)," Mahajansaid, adding that certain dele-tions were made by the officein the "uncorrected statement"amidst the din.

"When I had asked the offi-cers to delete the names, theyhad by mistake deleted theentire sentence," she said.

Scindia then said the con-text was "about me", but couldnot be heard any further in thedin. Mahajan was then heardsaying she was ready to showthe recordings to him.

On Tuesday, Scindia hadoffered to quit the Lok Sabhaif the allegations by the BJPMPs that he was against Dalitswere proved. He had also saidthat these MPs should quit ifthey were unable to prove theircharges and also demanded apublic apology from them.

"They (BJP MPs) have beenmaking wrong and baselessallegations against me for thepast few days. ... My image hasbeen tarnished. I seek your pro-tection," he had told Mahajan.

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Congress on Wednesdayaccused the Centre of

adopting a "fascist approachand dictatorial agenda" in sti-fling the Opposition's voice bynot allowing a discussion oncrucial issues like lynching andquestioned the PrimeMinister's silence on the issue.

Leader of Congress in LokSabha Mallikarjun Khargeasked why the Congress andother Opposition parties weredenied the right to raise issues

of national concern and whythe Prime Minister and the BJPare avoiding a debate on lynch-ing.

Kharge accused theGovernment of displaying anautocratic attitude by not dis-cussing issues in the House andsuspending those who demanda discussion on importantissues, saying "we don't agreewith such an attitude". "Does hewant to work in a democracy,as the leader always gives astatement in the House onimportant issues and when

there is a crisis. He comes for5-10 minutes and goes. This islike ending democracy andthe Constitution," he said.

Kharge also alleged that theSpeaker took the decision ofsuspending six Congress mem-bers demanding a discussionon lynching "only after theGovernment exerted pressure".

"Prime Minister NarendraModi has once again shiedaway from the debate in LokSabha, escaping accountabilityand answers that people of

India seek in the light of all per-vading volatility. PM choses tospeak in captive audiences andBJP rallies but misses everyopportunity for a meaningfuldebate in the House," Khargesaid.

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Speaker Sumitra Mahajanon Wednesday warned BJP

MP Anurag Thakur for alleged-ly shooting a video ofOpposition protests on hismobile phone, though she saidshe did not know what hadhappened at that point of timein the House as there was a din."I am warning you... Dobaragalti nahi honi chahiye (the mis-take should not be repeated)."

Some Opposition mem-bers, including those from theCongress, had complainedabout Thakur shooting a videoof their protests on July 24inside the House. AAP mem-ber Bhagwant Mann, who washimself suspended for two ses-sions for taking a video in theParliament complex, had alsowritten a letter in this regard tothe Speaker.

Leader of Congress in LokSabha Mallikarjun Kharge con-demned and questioned theadoption of different yard-sticks by suspending the oppo-sition members and letting offThakur with a mere warning.

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ABill empowering theCentre to collect statistical

data from Jammu & Kashmirwas passed by the Rajya Sabhaon Wednesday even as variousOpposition parties said themove was not proper in view ofArticle 370 which grants spe-cial status to the State.

Opposition MPs urged theGovernment to take the J&KAssembly into confidencebefore getting The Collection ofStatistics (Amendment) Bill,2017 passed.

Responding to the issuesraised by various membersregarding the special status ofJ&K, Statistics Minister D VSadanand Gowda said the pro-visions of the Bill do notinfringe upon the rights ofKashmiris and the Centre wasnot overriding Article 370 orencroaching upon the powersof the state government.

The legislation, which waspassed by the Lok Sabha inApril this year, will facilitate inorganising data collectionunder the provisions of theprincipal act throughout the

country including Jammu andKashmir.

Participating in the debateon the bill , Leader ofOpposition Ghulam NabiAzad, who hails from J&K,said the question was not ofmerit of the legislation but ofthe Constitution whichaccords special status to thestate.

Referring to a statement byhis colleague in the Congressparty Jairam Ramesh, Azadsaid the party is not opposedto the bill but everyone knowsthat Jammu and Kashmir hasspecial status under Article370 of the Constitution.

Azad alleged that theCentre had not consulted theState Government or theOpposition in the matter.

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The Government onWednesday countered the

Opposition charge that privateinsurers were benefitting underits new crop insurance scheme,saying it was the Congress-ledUPA which had first allowedprivate firms in 2007.

Replying to a debate in theRajya Sabha on the agrarian cri-sis, Agriculture Minister RadhaMohan Singh said theGovernment was alive to theproblems of the farmers and wasmaking efforts to resolve them.

The Minister, whose over-an-hour-long reply was repeat-edly disrupted by the Oppositionmembers, said if the previousGovernments had taken ade-quate steps, the farmers' condi-tion would not have worsened.The Opposition partiesexpressed dissatisfaction over hisreply and staged a walkout.

Before leaving the House,Congress leader Anand Sharmasaid the Minister, instead ofspeaking about the past, shouldspell out what the Governmentwas going to do to end theplight of farmers.

Responding to Oppositioncharge that private insurancecompanies were making prof-it under the Pradhan MantriFasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY),the Minister asked, "Whobrought the private compa-nies" in the scheme?

Singh added that StateGovernments have also beenasked to set up their insurancecompanies, and Gujarat andHaryana have already expressedinterest.Responding to the con-tention that the incidents offarmers' suicide have seen anincrease, Singh said the num-ber has come down to 11,458 in2016 from 12,602 in the previ-ous year. He was citing the datafrom the National CrimeRecords Bureau (NCRB).

The Congress member hadinitiated the debate on 'farmers'distress leading to rise in theincidents of their suicide in thecountry'. The issue was debat-ed in Lok Sabha last week.

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Elected representatives ofboth the Houses will, for the

first time, get a first-hand feelof the promising innovationsand technological interven-tions carried out by the coun-try's scientists over the yearsthat have played a catalytic rolein improving the quality of livesof people in various spheres, atan exhibition to be kickstartedfrom Friday at the ParliamentAnnexe.

The fortnight-long exhibi-tion which will be inauguratedby Vice-President HamidAnsari in the presence of LokSabha Chairperson SumitraMahjan besides Science andTechnology and Earth SciencesMinister Dr Harsh Vardhanamong others will display peo-ple-oriented key technologiesdeveloped by variousautonomous institutionsattached with Ministriesincluding the MoST and MoES.

Institutions likeDepartment of Science andTechnology, Centre forScientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR), Departmentof Scientific and IndustrialResearch (DSIR) and BhabaAtomic Research Centre areengaged in strategic sectorslike aerospace and strategicsector, atomic, ecology andenvironment, industry, miner-al and mining, water, food andnutrition, health care and

chemicals and petrochemicalsamong others.

"Literature and demon-strations in the new technolo-gies as well as those which arealready in huge demand amongthe people will be displayed atthe exhibition. Visiting MPswill be educated and encour-aged to help popularise themamong their electorate," said asenior official from the CSIR,a nodal agency entrusted toorganise the mammoth exhi-bition.

The CSIR which celebrat-ed its Platinum Jubilee in 2016will be at the forefront in dis-playing its numerous state-of-the-art technologies devel-oped by its various laborato-ries in areas such as metalenergy, aromatic herbal plantsand food and food processingand others.

'Also, people-friendlyhealthcare products like clotbooster drugs, contraceptivemedicine Saheli and anti-dia-betes drug BGR-34 which dur-

ing a short span of less than ayear have found acceptanceamong diabetic patientsthroughout the country with asale of approximately �100crores will be showcased.

"Similarly, aromatic herbalplants and solar tree that takesup only four square feet ofspace but generates 5 kW ofelectricity will be displayed,"said the official.

"The aim is to sensitiseand educate theParliamentarians about thescience and technologicalinnovations being undertakenin the country which canbring changes in the lives ofthe people," he said.

On Wednesday, Dr HarshVardhan while replying to asupplementary question inLok Sabha too invited theMPs to visit the mega exhibi-tion and get a first-hand expe-rience about how the scientistsare contributing in makingpositive changes in the lives ofthe people.

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Days after the Comptrollerand Auditor General

(CAG) rapped the Railwaysfor poor onboard catering ser-vices, a passenger found a deadlizard in the veg-biryani servedto her in the New Delhi-boundPoorav Express on Tuesdayevening. The Railway Ministryon Wednesday cancelled thecaterer's contract.

The passenger, AllahabadHigh Court advocate SantoshKumar Singh, underwent ahealth check-up in Patna, Buxarand then again at Mughalsaraiin UP, where senior Railway

officers were also present. Singh said he planned to

file a PIL in a court against thecaterer. "My mouth is full ofulcers and I have trouble uri-nating. I have consulted a doc-tor and have to go for anotherconsultation," he said.

"In view of the Railway'szero tolerance policy towardspoor quality and overchargingof food, the Railway adminis-tration has terminated the con-tract of the catering contractor,RK Associates, for the Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express,"Railway Ministry spokespersonAK Saxena said.

According to series of

tweets by a co-passenger, thepassenger had ordered andeaten the dish without noticingthe lizard but felt unwell later.The co-passenger, MeghnaSinha, had also shot a photo-graph of the biryani packet andposted on social media includ-ing Twitter and tagged to twit-ter handle of Indian Railways aswell as Railway Minister SureshPrabhu.

The Ministry tweeted thatthe catering contract on PoorvaExpress was given to RKAssociates on May 15, 2014, forfive years. The caterer was fined�10 lakh last year and � 7.5 lakh,it said in another Tweet. The

passenger, who had asked for thebiryani when the train was nearJhajha, Bihar, also uploaded acomplaint on Twitter.Responding to the complaint,the Minister's office asked thetraveller for travel details.

The spokesperson said inthe last six months, the admin-istration had terminated thecontracts of eight catering units."It is unprecedented the num-ber of contracts that we haveterminated in the past sixmonths. In the last year, 16 suchcontractors were also blacklist-ed. We have also financiallypenalised the offenders,"Saxena said.

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The Railways received about30,000 complaints related

to security in the last threeyears, the Lok Sabha wasinformed on Wednesday.Minister of State for Railways,Rajen Gohain, in a writtenreply to the Lower House, saidthat a total of 29,906 security-related complaints werereceived at Security Helplinenumbers- 182 and 1800-111-322, from 2014 to June, 2017.

The Minister mentionedthat based on the report of ahigh level committee, 202 sta-tions have been identified as'sensitive' for the purpose ofinstallation of ISS to strength-en surveillance mechanism atthese stations.

A total of 102 stations havebeen covered with CCTV sur-veillance system under ISS. Inaddition, 151 baggage scanners,32 under vehicle scanning sys-tem (UVSS) and 88 bombdetection units have been pro-vided under the security sys-tem, Gohain added.

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With 17 confirmed deathsin the flood affected

Banaskantha district in thepast 24 hours, the death tollrelated to rain during the cur-rent monsoon season hasrisen to 111.

Of the 17 dead bodiesrecovered by rescue teams onWednesday morning nearKhariya village in Banaskanthadistrict, 14 are from a one fam-ily only. Gujarat’s revenue min-ister BhupendrasinhChudasama said that of 11deaths in the State, 58 died dueto floods, 33 lost their lives inlightening, six electrocuted and14 people killed as a result of col-lapse of walls or other reasons.

Those who are occupied inthe rescue and relief workfeared increase in death tollonce water start receding in theNorth Gujarat region.According to PrincipalSecretary Revenue over 53,000people have been moved to

safety since July 21 of these34,043 belonged to worstaffected Banaskantha and Patandistricts of North Gujarat.

The State administration isalso in the process of distribut-ing over six lakh food packets tothe affected people,” he said,adding that with rains in theregion taking a little respite inlast 24 hours, compared to pre-vious 72 hours, 8518 personshave been sent back to theirhome. Other than those relo-cated, the 18 NDRF teams, 11of SDRF, 3 columns of Army, 10helicopters of IAF and localadministration have rescued1930 persons since July 21.

“NDRF rescued 450 per-sons on Tuesday, 56 onWednesday; IAF 114 onTuesday, and 40 on Wednesday,while Army rescued 580 per-sons on Tuesday and 214 onWednesday,” he said, addingthat more than 475 villages inBanaskantha and Patan dis-tricts continue to be withoutelectricity supply.

The administration is inthe process to restore electric-ity to these villages as early aspossible as it had done in partsof Saurashtra region last week.

At least five national high-ways, 153 State highways and674 Panchayat roads remainedclosed for vehicular trafficdue to floods, affecting therelief and rescue operations.Rail and air traffic too ham-pered due to continuous rainand bad weather.

The State continued to seerelatively milder amount ofrains on Wednesday, with anaverage rain of seasonal rainsreaching 555.2 mm or 68.52%.This was 66% till Tuesdayevening. Sabarkantha in NorthGujarat received highest rainsin the State at 219 mm, fol-lowed by Banaskantha with150 mm of rains. A total of 31of the 203 dams in the Statewere completely full withwater, with 41 others between70%-100% capacity and 131less than 70% capacity.

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The allegations and suspi-cions of widespread use of

drugs has created a stir inTelugu film industry both inTelangana and AndhraPradesh.

Even as famous Telugu

actress Charmme Kaur appearsbefore the Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) of the Prohibitionand Enforcement Departmentin Hyderabad on Wednesday,Cinematography Minister ofTelangana T Srinivas Yadavsaid action will be taken againstthose film celebrities who will

be found using or supplyingnarcotics.

Charmme who hadapproached the High Courtagainst the method of ques-tioning of film celebrities wasquestioned by a team compris-ing of four women, including aDeputy Superintendent andthree circle inspectors. Therewas no male officer in theteam to avoid any controversy.

According to the sourcesmost of questions asked toCharmme were about theprominent film director PuriJagannath who was questionedon the first day of the probe.

Charmme was askedwhether she was using thenarcotics substances and whowas the supplier. She was askedwhether she had supplied drugsto Puri and any other celebri-ties. She was also grilled abouther visit to Bangkok and askedwhether she had smuggled

drugs into the country. There were speculations in

the film industry that manymore big names of Tollywoodwere likely to get the noticesfrom the Excise department onthe basis of information col-lected during the questioningso far.

“Drug abuse is an individ-ual matter and suspectingentire industry is wrong.Action will be taken on thebasis of the material unearthedduring the questioning by SIT”,the Minister added.

Charmme Kaur drove tothe Excise Commissioner officefrom a shooting schedule toappear before the SIT.

Charmme caught theattention of the Prohibitionand Enforcement departmentas they found her name in thephone of an alleged drug smug-gler Calvin Mascarenhas. Theinvestigators found that the two

had chatted frequently throughWhatsapp.

Charmme had saved hisname in her phone as Dada.

As the High Court hadrestricted the SIT questioningto a lady till 5 pm only,Charmme was likely to besummoned again.

Another actress MumaithKhan, known for her itemsongs was likely to be ques-tioned tomorrow. She ispresently participating in real-ity Tv show Big Boss.

Meanwhile a former actorand YSRCP legislator Rojatook strong objection to thepublicity surrounding the ques-tioning of the film celebrities.“What if these celebrities werefound innocent. Will thedepartment compensate theharm caused to the image ofthese actors and the film indus-try as a whole”, she asked at amedia conference.

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Could any Indian imagine atrain faster than flight in

the country! Reaching desti-nation in lesser time muchbefore aeroplane passenger!Faster than Bullet Trains ofJapanese and Chinese. Now, it’sturn of the Americans to makedifference.

Beyond doubts, USElectric Car giant Tesla’s EionMusk’s brainchild “HyperloopOne” Company based at LosAngles of California came for-ward to give its yet to com-mercialise latest hyperlooptransportation system tech-nology to the new CityAmaravati, the Capital ofAndhra Pradesh. Hyperloopcompany is developing 500kmph fastest train system nearLas Vegas. On Wednesday,Hyperloop Company repre-sentatives put their proposalsbefore Chief Minister N.Chandra Babu Naidu.

They proposed, ‘aHyperloop train betweenAmaravati — Visakhapatnam’in 23 minutes and ‘a trainbetween Amaravati—Tirupathi’ in 25 minutes, and,also further promised trainsto Banglore, Chennai,Mumbai, Hyderabad etc.Shocked and surprised Naidu

directed CRDA officials tostudy the proposal ofHyperloop One companydeeply and in detail.

The US Company also pro-posed to set up it’s research anddevelopment centre inAmaravati and ready to ink onMemorandum ofUnderstanding with the

Government of Andra Pradesh.In his recent US tour, Naidumet Tesla Top Managementand discussed many issueswith them. Following his invi-tation, Tesla sister companylanded here with hyperlooptransportation technology.

And, few five star hotelgroups such as Raddison, Taj,

Leela, GRT, Novotel came for-ward to establish their outfits inAmaravati, officers informedChief Minister.

The State Governmentallotted 500 acres to Star Hotelsin capital area. Construction ofCity Square in Vijayawadawith $ 300 Bln, was also dis-cussed in the meeting.

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It is inevitable for ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah in

Karnataka to make all efforts tokeep the power in Karnatakawhich is crucial for theCongress to keep its nationalidentity. In this power struggletwo issues which raised bySiddaramaiah is very signifi-cant and might give a majorchallenge to the OppositionBJP lead by its Lingayatstrongman BS Yeddyurappa,who has been declared as theChief Ministerial candidate.The BJP is also making effortsto grab the power with a slogan“mission 150” to decimate thecentury old party, CongressMukth Bharath.

Ahead of BJP’s nationalpresident and election strate-gist Amit Shah’s three daysvisit to Karnataka next monthto work out a strategy to theensuing polls which is seen asentr y to the South,Siddaramaiah has moved thepawn first to checkmate the BJP.

Siddaramaiah’s support toLingayat community to treatthem as a separate religion dis-associating from Hinduism hasbeen a master stroke and thismight erode the Lingayat basefor the saffron party.

Siddaramaiah has sent hisLingayat Ministers to conducta survey to gather opinionfrom within the community, asection of which has beendemanding status of a separatereligion outside Hinduism. TheMinisters spoke about such asurvey after CM Siddaramaiahsaid he would recommendLingayats’ demand to theCentre if there was unanimityin the community on the issue.This is the first indication ofCongress backing the demand.

The Lingayats, concentrat-ed in northern Karnataka, form17 per cent of the electorate,making it the single largestcommunity in the State. Theyhave supported the BJP inrecent years — former BJP CMB S Yeddyurappa is a Lingayat.Their demand to be recognisedas a separate religion is not new,

but hit headlines last weekwhen it was reiterated at a rallyattended by 50,000 Lingayats inBidar. Assembly polls inKarnataka are due in 2018.

The State Minister forhigher education, BasavarajRayareddi, a Lingayat, saidfour other Lingayat Ministerswould travel across the Stateto gauge the opinion of thecommunity. “We will conducta survey and based on theresponse, we will ask the CMto make the recommenda-tion.” However Yeddyurappawho enjoys the support ofLingayts and mutts whichcontrol the community hasopposed the demand for aseparate religion. He said

“Let them say anything.There is no dif ferencebetween Veerashaivas andLingayats.

The Akhila BharathaVeerashaiva Mahasabha willdecide whether the commu-nity should have a separatereligion. We are Hindus”

The Veerashaivas are not acaste... we are a religion. In the12th century, Basava and hisdisciples gave us a strong cul-ture, a strong philosophy...of acasteless society, of equality toall, including women; aboutavoiding superstitions. It is aworld religion, like Buddhism,Christianity, Jains. LikeHinduism,” says MB Patil,Water Resources Minister andan influential Minister from thecommunity.

A jittery BJP smells anattempt to split its traditionalvote-bank in north Karnataka.“We are very much a part ofHinduism,” Yeddyurappa tolda public rally, accusing theCongress of divisive politics.“The Lingayat community willstand united and there is no

question of seeking separatereligion status,” he asserted.

However some Lingayatleaders in the Congress arecagy about the entire issue ofCongress banking on the divi-sion of the Lingayat community.

Siddaramaiah’s support toan ongoing agitation againstthe imposition of Hindi sign-boards at the Bengaluru Metrostations and constituting acommittee to examine thelegality of a separate KannadaState flag has incited the region-al pride ahead of elections isalso a cause of worry to the saf-fron party which is yet to workout a counter strategy.

A senior Congress leadersaid “ this is the strategyChief Minister has adoptedlike the BJP in some States topit Lingayats against Lingayatsby encouraging them to havetheir own religion. This isexactly what he wants.”

Lingayats are the followersof 12th century reformerBasavanna who preachedagainst caste. There are also

Veerashaivas who follow theteachings of Sri Renukacharya,who believed in Vedas, puranasand the caste system.Veerashaivas and Lingayats,who both worship Shiva, havealways been considered oneand the same. But there aresome who contend they are dif-ferent. They argue thatVeerashaivas are a Shiva-sect ofHinduism, while the Lingayatsmust be deemed to belong to adifferent religion.

A BJP leader on the con-dition of anonymity said theseare the new threat party has toface. He said “Whether theissue is the adoption of aKarnataka State flag, the resis-tance to use of Hindi in publicspaces, or the assertion of theLingayat caste identity in oppo-sition to a Hindu religiousidentity, it is the BJP that is feel-ing the heat”.

Amidst all these develop-ment political pundits are look-ing at Amit Shah to wriggle outa strategy to counter thesestrong moves of the Congressto keep its domination.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will lead the nation

in paying tributes to formerPresident APJ Abdul Kalam atRameswaram, the latter’sbirthplace on the seconddeath anniversary of India’sMissile Man.

Modi is flying down toRameswaram, described asthe Temple Town of TamilNadu on Thursday and woulddedicate to the nation themajestic looking KalamMemorial at Peykarambuwhere the scientist-turnedformer President was laid torest.

The Prime Minister willalso flag off “Kalam 2020Science Vehicle”, a digitalbased mobile museum madeby APJ Abdul KalamInternational Foundation.The vehicle showcasesKalam’s scientific achieve-ments as a student and histenure as scientist in theIndian Space ResearchOrganisation and the DRDO.

The vehicle will travelthrough several States likeKerala, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra,Gujarat and Uttar Pradeshbefore reaching RashtrapathiBhavan on October 15, thebirthday of Kalam.

As a mark of respect tothe late President, who wasthe most popular personalityin the country even after hispresidential days, the PrimeMinister will flag off a newweekly express train fromRameswaram to Faizabad viaAyodhya.

The Prime Minister willflag off the weekly expresstrain by video conferencingfrom Rameswaram . Theinaugural train leavesRameswaran station at 12 30pm on Thursday and willreach Faizabad on Saturday at

23.30 hrs.A release by Southern

Railway said regular ser-vices of the 16793/16794weekly express train willcommence fromRameswaram on August 6and from Faizabad on August 9.

The train which covers2,921 km would have stops atTiruchirappalli, Thanjavur,Chennai Egmore, Gudur,Vijayawada, Warangal,Balharshah, Nagpur, Itarsi,Jabalpur, Satna, Allahabadand Ayodhya.,

Elaborate securityarrangements have beenmade in Rameswaram and thesurrounding areas in thebackdrop of the arrest of aPakistani citizen at the tem-ple town who infiltrated intothe country from Sri Lankawithout any travel documents.

The Prime Minister willbe accompanied by Governorof Tamil Nadu C VidyasagarRao, Chief Minister EdappadiPalaniswamy, union ministerPon Radhakrishnan and thevice-presidential candidate ofthe NDA, M Venkiah Naidu.

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Hours before the resignationby Cheif Minister Nitish

Kumar on Wednesday evening,the RJD legislature party meet-ing reiterated its stand thatDeputy CM Tejashwi PrasadYadav would not resign andthat the grand alliance willremain intact. RJD supremoLalu Prasad clearly said CMNitish Kumar not even onceasked Tejashwi’s resignation andaccused media of repeatedlyraising resignation issue. “RJDwill continue supporting eachmove of the Government. ButTejashwi will not go to explainhis position. He will speak outwhere he is supposed to,” saidLalu and made fun of JD(U)spokesmen saying “Is JD(U) apolice?”

“It had been intact, it is intactand it will remain intact. Theconspiracy of the BJP to breakout alliance will never succeed,”said Tejashwi while hitting at theCentre and the BJP, “Tejashwi ekbahana hai, asal me

Mahagathbandhan nishana hai”(Tejashwi is just an excise themain target is grand alliance).

JD(U) secretary general K CTyagi very frankly said that hadTeejashwi been in JD(U) hewould have been removed sim-ilarly as many Ministers of theparty were removed earlier onbeing named in cases.

Speaking to the media after

the meeting, a defiant Tejashwisaid that his party would donothing which leads to crack. “Iam also concerned about theimage of Nitish ji, my own andmy father’s and my party’s. Butsee who is trying to damage theimage of the Mahagathbandhanand its leaders. It is BJP leaderswho are indulging in characterassassination and falsely impli-

cating me in cases and defameme,” said the Deputy CM andasserted that there was problemin the alliance and “there is noneed to give explanation everynow and then.”

Denying any communica-tion gap between Lalu andNitish, he said they spoke onphone last evening. About clar-ifying his position in the public,he said he would soon begin tourof the district for the proposedAugust 27 rally and would tell thepublic about the conspiracies ofthe BJP at the rally. Asked ifNitish would attend his rally, hequipped, “He will be the host (ofthe rally).”

Tejashwi said he wouldnot create any hurdle in theCBI probe and extend allcooperation to the agency. “Itis a legal and sub judiced mat-ter but BJP leader SushilKumar Modi is trying to influ-ence it by making public alle-gations. Everybody knows thecase is out of political vendet-ta. Lalu in his inimitable styleshowed hairs on his chest

and chuckled, “Modi ke badanme rowan nahi hai” (Modi hasno body hairs).

Meanwhile, former CM andpresident of Hindustani AwamMorcha (HAM) party Jitan RamManjhi made an interestingstatement. He said, “If Lalu andNitish can come together whynot Manjhi and Nitish.” Manjhiis believed to be sulking in theNDA and is suspected to breakties with the BJP. However, headded that he would prevail onthe NDA leaders to save theNitish led Government even ifthere was any threat to its exis-tence.

Even as Lalu and Tejashwimaintained restrain while talk-ing to media people, RJD boss’sclose aide Shivanand Tewarimade vitriolic attack on Nitish.“I know Nitish and his zero tol-erance policy very well. If Iopened my mouth many skele-tons will fall from the cupboardand Nitish will have no reply,”said Tewari in a warning tone.JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singhbranded him a mental case.

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As one of the alliance part-ners of the Bihar

M a h a g a t h b a n d h a nGovernment, the Congress onWednesday played it safe sayingthe party would continue tostrive to resolve the differencesin the ‘grand alliance’. Expressingdisappointment over the resig-nation of Nitish Kumar as chiefminister, the party stated thatCongress leadership includingchief Sonia Gandhi has lot ofrespect for Nitish Kumar as apolitical person.

Party sources said that Soniaand party vice president RahulGandhi is likely to call on NitishKumar to reconsider to lead thepeople of Bihar as mandated forfive years. A few minutes beforetendering his resignation, Nitishhad called the AICC GeneralSecretary CP Joshi to share hisresignation plan who was how-

ever suggested by Joshi thatnothing should be done in hastewhen matters could be resolvedamicably. Nitish is reminded thathe already confided the problemareas in leading theMahagathbandan during hismeeting with Rahul last weekend.

Congress chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala saidthe ‘grand alliance’ was givena mandate for five years andthe Congress will strive torespect that. The Congressleader said the‘Mahagathbandhan’ was givena five-year mandate by peopleof Bihar based on the policies,principles and cumulative lead-

ership that were presented."We are deeply disappoint-

ed by the news of resignation ofBihar Chief Minister NitishKumar. We, in the Congressparty, particularly Congresspresident and party vice presi-dent have great respect andaffection for Nitish Kumar,"Surjewala said. "It was also amandate against the BJP andPrime Minister Narender Modi,who challenged the honour ofBihar who in a public rally wasgiving the greed of money to lorethe Biharis for votes", he said.

"Responsibility lies up oneach one of us to respect thismandate. The Congress partywill do everything within itsmeans (to see to it) that this man-date is honoured. Any differ-ences of opinion that may havecropped up we will try and sortthem out by speaking to eachother in an amicable and cordialfashion," he said.

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A few minutes before tendering his resignation,Nitish had called the AICCGeneral Secretary CP Joshito share his resignation plan

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Unidentified militants shotdead a policeman work-

ing with the counterinsur-gency wing of the constabu-lar y in south Kashmir’sKulgam district onWednesday afternoon.

Sources said constableGowhar Ahmad Tantray wason way to his native villageKujjar riding a motorbike whenarmed militants waylaid him atYaripora and fired upon himfrom point blank range.

The state police chiefShesh Paul Ved has issuedadvisory to the policemenand officers three months agoto avoid visiting their homes,

especially in south Kashmir. The advisory was issued

following threats by militantsgroups. Last month six police-men including Station HouseOfficer of Acchabal policestation were killed in a majorstrike.

Days later police killedBashir Lashkari and Lashkar-eTayyeba militants and histwo associates in anencounter. Lashkari was sus-pected to be involved in attackon police party.

Sources said Tantray wasrushed to hospital but doctorsdeclared him dead on arrival. Hewas posted with SpecialOperations Group (SOG) inneighbouring Shopian district.

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The toll in the Ghatkoparbuilding mounted to 17

on Wednesday, even as thepolice arrested a Shiv Senafunctionary on charges of cul-pable homicide not amountingto murder for allegedly carry-ing out "illegal" structuralchanges in the affected build-ing to renovate his privatenursing home located on theground floor.

On a day when more num-ber of bodies were recoveredfrom the debris, the policetook into custody Sunil Shitap,a local office bearer of the ShivSena, who ran a maternity

home on the ground floor of“Sai Darshan”, a ground plusfour-storey building located atGhatkopar’s Damodar Parkwhich collapsed at 10.54 am onTuesday.

Shitap, who was bookedunder 304-2 (culpable homi-cide not amounting to murder),336 (Act endangering life orpersonal safety others) and338 ( causing grievous hurtendangering life or personalsafety of others) of IP forallegedly contributing to themishap, produced before a citycourt which remanded him inpolice custody till August 2.

An influential politician,Shitap had allegedly removed afew load-bearing pillars toundertaken massive renovationof his maternity home locatedon the ground floor of “SaiDarsha” which housed 12 fam-ilies.

Informed civic sources saidthat Shitap had allegedlythrough his political to sought

permission from the theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) in 2009 forusing the ground floor as anursing home. “Shitap had inthe recent past gone in formajor renovation work withoutnecessary permission from theBMC. As part of the renovationwork, he had removed a few

critical load bearing pillars,” asenior BMC official said.

The building, which hadthree flats on every floor,turned into a pile of rubble ina span of mere one hour onTuesday.

Two families—theKhanchandanis and theDongres living in the building

– bore the maximum brunt inthe mishap, having lost theirthree members each. Deoras,Ajmeras and Tags lost twomembers each of their families.Ajmeras were in a way unluckyas they had bought another flatelsewhere were preparing tomove.

At around 5 pm onWednesday when they calledoff their 30-hour-long searchand rescue operations, the cityfire brigade and NDRF teamshad recovered 17 bodies andrescued 28 persons from underthe debris of the first majorbuilding collapse that themetropolis has witnessed dur-ing the current monsoon.

Those killed comprisedtwo children –a three-monthfemale infant and 18 months’old boy, 10 women and fivemen.

In all, 12 persons, includ-ing two fire brigade personnel,were injured in the mishap. Ofthe injured, four persons are

continuing to be treated at thenearby Shanti NiketanHospital.

Meanwhile, BMCCommissioner Ajoy Mehta hasset a 15-day deadline for sub-mission of a report of theinquiry into the mishap that hehad ordered on Tuesday.

The inquiry will seek toestablish as to what all per-missions had been given to theresidents, particularly Shitap, toundertake repairs and alter-ations in the structure. Theinquiry will also try to ascertainif the local civic officials hadcolluded with Shitap in thegrant of permissions.

The BMC had reportedlyissued to eviction notice to theresidents of the dilapidatedbuilding which was nearly 40years’ old.

The civic administrationhas ordered structural audit ofseveral buildings at Ghatoparelsewhere in the north-eastMumbai.

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Even as ruling BJP yet to open its cards forthe forthcoming elections of three Rajya

Sabha seats in Gujarat, All India CongressCommittee (AICC) president Sonia Gandhi’spolitical advisor Ahmed Patel filed his nom-ination on Wednesday with the support ofNCP and JD (U) at the State capitalGandhinagar.

The Congress party repeated one of itssenior most leaders for the Rajya Sabha pollslated on August 8 despite the fact that at least11 members from the Opposition parties didcross voting in the recently concludedPresidential election. Currently of the threeseats that are going for the polls, ruling BJPholds two in form of Union Minister SmritIrani and Dilip Pandya. The lone seat is beingheld by Congress leader Patel.

This RS polls could become interesting incase BJP decides to put its candidates for allthe three seats. The last date for filing nom-ination is July 28, Friday.

In the 182 member Gujarat Assembly, BJPis having 122 MLAs, opposition Congress 57,NCP and JD (U) have two and one legislaturerespectively.

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The Aurangabad Bench ofthe Bombay High Court on

Wednesday stayed the ongoingtrial in the Kopardi girl gan-grape and murder case tillAugust 3, after admitting aninstant review application filedby a defence lawyer challeng-ing the “legality, validity andpropriety” of the order passedby the trial court on July 10.

In what came as a new twistto the much-discussed case,Justice Mr K K Sonawane of theAurangabad bench of the

Bombay High Court stayed foreight days the July 10 order of thetrial court, after hearing thereview application filed bydefence lawyer VijayalakshmiKhopade. Justice Sonawane isexpected his pass his final order’s Vijayalakshmi’s plea onAugust 3.

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 wit-nesses in the case.

The trial court judge hadalso rejected the documents andelectronic evidence submitted bythe defeence lawyer in supportof her case. Vijaylakshmi, who isrepresenting who is representingone of the three accused in thecase Santosh Bhaval, stated in herpetition that the rejection of herapplications seeking to makeNikam and others as defence wit-ness resulted in “miscarriage ofjustice”.

While seeking quashing ofthe lower court’s order, thedefence lawyer contended inher review application that the

trial court had made “incorrectobservations” on the basis of“irrelevant observations and pre-sumptions” on law and facts.Vijayalakshmi also contendedthat the trial court had wronglyexercised the jurisdiction of call-ing upon and entertaining theSpecial Public Prosecutor’s replyon her plea. In her plea before thetrial court, the defence lawyerhad strongly for examiningSpecial Public Prosecutor UjjwalNikam under section 313 of Cr.PC in view of his “active partic-ipation” in the investigations inthe case.

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In a meeting held at the party’s State head-quarters Rajiv Gandhi in Ahmedabad, the

Congress legislatures elected Chhota UdaipurMLA Mohansinh Rathwa as the in-chargeLeader of Opposition (LoP) in GujaratAssembly. The position was vacant following77-year-old Shankersinh Vaghela’s resignationfrom Congress party as well as from the posttoo. Belonging to tribal community, Rathwa’sselection is being seen as an attempt to woolarge chunk of tribal voters in view of upcom-ing assembly polls.

Rathwa to be new LoPin Gujarat Assembly

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)supremo Mayawati’s resigna-tion from the Rajya Sabha hasbecome a talking point, bothinside and outside Parliament.

Much of the clamour is not owing to herdramatic resignation but due to theflaky reason she gave. People and parlia-mentarians have been made to believethat she gave up her seat because she was-n’t allowed to speak on what she claimedas rising atrocities on Schedule Castemembers in Uttar Pradesh under the YogiAdityanath regime. She also said that thetreasury benches heckled her, interrupt-ed her speech and did not allow her tospeak. Further, she claimed that the pre-siding officer directed her to wind up herspeech when she had a lot more to say.To top it all, to make her action look real-istic, she cited BR Ambedkar’s resigna-tion when the Jawaharlal NehruGovernment refused to back thereformist Hindu Code Bill.

The explanation given by Mayawati forher resignation is not believable. Membersof Parliament in the Lok Sabha and theRajya Sabha often face interruptions of thiskind. At times they are heckled and hec-tored by their opponents. But none hastaken this so seriously as to quit. If MPswere to start leaving House membershipon issues like this, then there will be veryfew members left in Parliament. Such inter-ruptions have happened in the past; arehappening; and will continue to happen.

As for the BSP supremo herself, it wasnot the first time that she had been heck-led while speaking in the House. Nor wasit for the first time that the Chairman hastried to restrict the duration of her inter-vention. Interruptions are part and par-cel of a democratic ethos which Parliamentrepresents. Some are motivated, while oth-ers are malicious in nature. But there aresystems in place to handle them. Quittingthe House is not the solution.

One recollects that, when Congressleader Meira Kumar was the Lok SabhaSpeaker and the BJP was in theOpposition, senior BJP leader SushmaSwaraj had been given a raw deal by theSpeaker. In fact, after Meira Kumar’s namewas announced by the UPA as its presi-dential choice, Sushma Swaraj had put avideo on Twitter, which showed MeiraKumar not allowing her to speak. As perreports published in The Pioneer, whichwas also tweeted by Swaraj, Meira Kumarinterrupted her ‘60 times’ in the six-minutespeech. Swaraj posted the video to showthe partisanship of the then Speaker.

Coming to Mayawati, her resignationcomes at a time when the BSP leader hasrather few members in Parliament toraise issues. In the Lok Sabha, her partyhas no presence at all after having been

wiped out completely in the 2014 LokSabha election. In the Rajya Sabha, it hadjust six seats, and after her resignation,the party is left with five. Every seatshould have been valuable for Mayawati.

By resigning, she has not onlyreduced her party’s strength in the RajyaSabha but has also made it difficult forthe BSP to recoup this setback. It is dif-ficult because the current electoral num-bers in Uttar Pradesh simply do notfavour the BSP. A majority of the MLAsand MPs are from the BJP and itsalliance partners. Then how is the BSPto gain the seat that it has given up?

We need to understand what exact-ly is Mayawati’s game-plan. She may beimpulsive and short-tempered but she isdefinitely not a greenhorn. There had tobe some reason for the precipitate stepshe has taken. The immediate reason thatcomes to one’s mind is that she wants tobask in the glory of victimhood. By giv-ing up her seat, she is seeking to send themessage to her constituents that she hassacrificed her position because she was-n’t given an opportunity to raise issuesregarding their welfare. Perhaps she alsowants to spread the message that she isthe sole credible spokesperson of thebackward and the minority community.She believes that she can gain back theirconfidence by playing the martyr.

Despite a committed vote-bank, theBSP won nothing in the 2014 Lok Sabhaelection. In the 2017 Uttar PradeshAssembly election too, it could get just19 of a total 403 seats — a sharp decline

from 80 in 2012. The numbers are all themore shaky given that the vote-share forthe BSP has seen a rise from past years.

Second, even within her constituen-cy, there has been a drift of votes, to alarge extent to the BJP. Significantly, thenon-Jatavs have already made the shift asthey voted for the BJP and dumpedMayawati. In fact, much of Mayawati’sdiscomfort is due to the BJP’s recent moveof nominating Ram Nath Kovind, whobelongs to the backward caste commu-nity, as the presidential candidate.

Her fears are understandable. TheScheduled Castes comprise 56 per centof Uttar Pradesh’s population. Shebelieves that by her resignation drama,she may be able to bring these voters backto her fold and also further project theBJP as anti-Scheduled Castes.

Clearly, Mayawati’s politics is basedon victimhood. The ‘Dalit messiah’ hasbeen banking on this section of the peo-ple right from the time she started herpolitical journey as the voice of theScheduled Castes. Lady luck favoured herwhen BSP founder Kanshi Ram adoptedher as his disciple. It was a matter of sheerluck that she was at the right place at theright time, and the community backedher during her early years, helping her toexpand her base in the State.

Interestingly, Mayawati’s supportbase was not due to what she as a per-son was, but for the future she promisedto the people of her community. Afterhaving survived three small stints as theChief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, her time

came when she was assured a full termin office. Mayawati’s espousal shiftedfrom bahujan samaj to sarvajan samajrule. It was a sort of social engineering,but the outreach did leave her core con-stituents befuddled and even upset.

But along the way, she lost the uppercaste support which she had gained in2007 — and later saw her core supportbase dented too. Her existential strugglehad begun. The present resignation mustbe seen as an exercise in this direction.Mayawati’s wheels of fortune have, in fact,taken a full circle. Her career graph canwell be summarised as the rise, the fall,the rise and the fall of Mayawati. It is thusapparently clear that the current resigna-tion is much about getting back the BSP'smarginalised status and less about thewelfare of the backward community.She has sought to not hold a parliamen-tary seat but to get back the relevance shehad as the benefactor and mentor of theScheduled Castes. But she has, perhaps,miscalculated. For, Parliament shouldhave been the very forum to get backwhat she lost — she could have made hervoice heard and raised a number of issuesfor the betterment of her community.

Nonethless, the BSP chief has resort-ed to a political gamble. If her resigna-tion strategy works, she may capture thecentre-stage of politics once again. But it’sunlikely that this will happen. If it doesnot, she will be left with little to look for-ward to — either in 2019 or later.

(The writer is senior Assistant Editor,The Pioneer)'

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“‘Bapu’ Vaghela’s punch” (July 24).The editorial has rightly observedthat the Congress is being margin-alised in State after State. In UttarPradesh, it is in single digit, its tra-ditional hold in the North-East toois in the hands of the BJP now. Sois the case in Bihar where it couldget 27 seats with the charity of theRashtriya Janata Dal, and its voiceis no longer effective there. It is alldue to the immaturity of the Delhi-based Congress leadership which isadept in disrupting the working ofapex institutions of democracy,with the two Nehru-Gandhis stillruling the roost. In Gujarat, it has agood number of 56 seats, but inrecent presidential election, 11Congress MLAs voted for RNKovind as President. The Congressis in doldrums in Gujarat, whereeven SS Vaghela could not havesaved it the coming election.

The top duo in Congress willnot allow any fresh thinking with-in the party. The Nehru-Gandhidynasty will continue to ruin it downthe hill in Gujarat, Vaghela or noVaghela. It has been the Congress’sdynastic policy which is the maincause of the party’s decay, along withcorruption. Had it made the senior-most Minister Jagjivan Ram thePrime Minister when Indira Gandhilost the election petition in 1975, theScheduled Castes could have beenwon over for a long period of time.Again, the Congress could have putup a Dalit face instead of PratibhaPatil as President. Meira Kumarcould have been the candidate then,instead of now.

PN Saxena Via email

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Sir — This refers to the report, “Prezstresses on equity” (July 26). RamNath Kovind deserves all apprecia-tion for fondly remembering theIron Man of India, SardarVallabhbhai Patel, with the boldomission of Jawaharlal Nehru in hisfirst-ever speech as President ofIndia. By doing so, President Kovindreminded one of a bitter historicalfact of Sardar Patel being unfortu-nately prevented from becoming thefirst Prime Minister of independentIndia. Post-independent history ofIndia would have been far better hadSardar Patel become the PrimeMinister instead of Nehru.

It is unfortunate that theOpposition criticised Kovind’s nam-ing of selfless social worker PanditDeen Dayal Upadhyay. It is the pre-rogative of any personality, includ-ing the person seated at the highestpost, to remember his role-modelson appropriate occasions.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

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Sir — The Madras High Court’sorder, making the singing of VandeMataram mandatory in allGovernment institutions, deservesappreciation. This poem has mes-merised innumerable revolutionar-ies, who sung it all through their sac-rificial valour during the freedomstruggle, and is is the natioal song.

Jai Prakash GuptaAmbala Cantt

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The recurrent annual floodsacross India and the Asianregion have been showing an

unmistakable pattern of regularityand increasing intensity. Accordingto latest report by the AsianDevelopment Bank and thePotsdam Institute for ClimateImpact Research, Asia has the high-est number of people exposed toflooding from possible storm surgeevents, particularly in China, India,Bangladesh and Indonesia.

The recent floods in Assam thatled to 60 casualties and displacedaround 60,000 people and the ongo-ing floods in Gujarat that have dis-placed 25,000 people so far are a tes-tament to the fact that floods arenow becoming a new normal for

many geographical regions.Studying the 136 largest coastal

cities, the authors of the report esti-mate that the average global floodlosses in 2005 were approximatelysix billion dollar per year and willincrease to $52 billion by 2050.

The report predicts that near-ly 130 million people in low-eleva-tion coastal zones in Bangladesh,India, and Pakistan are at risk ofbeing displaced due to constantexposure to floods.

Growing populations, assetsand subsidence is expected to exac-erbate this situation. India especial-ly stands to face the worst possibleimpact of this condition as thefloods are expected to affect foodsecurity in the coming years by trig-gering a decline in rice yields by fiveper cent by 2030 in the southernStates. These conditions would alsolead to a considerable spike inglobal warming with notable tem-perature increase in Southeast Asiaand India.

Unpreparedness, both at therural and urban levels, has been

instrumental in giving impetus to theproblem of floods every year whichcould otherwise have been avoided.According to a recent Comptrollerand Auditor-General of India (CAG)report, there has been a 60 per centshortfall in release of central fundsto Assam for implementing floodmanagement programme.

In addition to this, the CAGreport also stated that the StateGovernment did not release 84per cent of the allocated budget pro-vision. This lack of crucial supportin the face of worsening climatechange exposed Assam to thevagaries of nature that could wellhave been avoided.

The Government needs to tack-le the issue of funds insufficiency asit adversely affects the implemen-tation of f lood managementschemes. The Ministry of WaterResources, River Development andGanga Rejuvenation must make allpossible efforts to release adequatefunds in a timely manner as per theflood management programmeguidelines and impress upon the

State Governments to release fundsto executing agencies in a time-bound manner. In order to ensurecompliance in this regard, theMinistry can also maintain a strictvigilance on utilisation of funds bythe State Government and execut-ing agencies so as to avoid parkingand diversion of funds.

Furthermore, the Ministry mustreimburse the funds to the StateGovernments only after ensuringreceipt of statements of expenditure,utilisation certificates and otherrequisite documents.

Due to high concentration ofhuman population and property persquare kilometer, urban areas tendto suffer the maximum brunt of thefloods in the form of lives lost andproperty damaged. This is proventime and again as cities that are notclimate-proof pay a heavy price inthe face of natural disasters such asfloods. This situation needs to beaddressed immediately and citiesmust be made climate resilient andespecially flood-proof.

The foremost step to be taken

is to ensure proper planning of thecities and their sewage network.This should be integrated with rainharvesting system and floodwatermanagement system.

The civic bodies happen to bethe first robust barriers for manag-ing floods and have a major role toplay when it comes to minimisingthe effect of floods, especially inareas that are known to be vulner-able to flooding.

The Government must com-mission adequate research projectsthat are able to scientifically iden-tify how often floods will takeplace in a specific area. Properassessment needs to be done whilegiving town planning permits, sothat limits can be placed for mak-ing the area less vulnerable toflooding. This is especially applic-able when land is being developedor redeveloped in areas that areprone to floods.

The State Government in asso-ciation with non-governmentalorganisations and resident-welfareorganisations must set up infra-

structure such as retarding basinsand stormwater drains and updatethem on a consistent basis in orderto deal with the after effects offloods in a better way.

There should also be propermodels for assessing possibilities ofrise in water level and good coastaldevelopment programmes. Theseneed to be assessed on a regularbasis as well. Additionally, riverlevel and rainfall gauges that canhelp in predicting major floodsmust be set up and monitored on aregular basis.

The authorities also need tocarry out awareness and educationprogrammes so that people inflood-prone areas can be in a bet-ter situation if and when a floodhappens in a particular area.

Floods are representatives ofchanging climate and unless urgentmeasures are taken to tackle thesenatural disasters they might justbecome a new normal for us to livewith, causing humongous damage.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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Security from the enemy andsecurity from hunger are twofundamental aspects of anation. While the former isensured by the soldiers on the

borders, the burden of food securityrests on the farmers. But, unfortunate-ly both have been forgotten by thepresent Government.

Two days after Narendra Modiwas nominated as BJP’s prime min-isterial candidate, he had addressedformer servicemen in Rewari(Haryana) on September 15, 2013.This was his first election rally wherehe had promised that once “a strongGovernment” with “a strong leader”will be in place at the Centre, neitherPakistan nor China will dare to lookat India. If the soldiers were dying, itwas because of the “problems inDelhi”, Modi had remarked.

What is the situation after threeyears of ‘a strong Government’ inDelhi? There have been 42 per centmore terrorism-related deaths inJammu & Kashmir since the ModiGovernment came to power, com-pared with the last three years of theUPA-II. The number of security per-sonnel killed in terrorist violence hasincreased 72 per cent, from 111 per-sonnel in the last three years ofUPA-II to 191 in the BJP’s first threeyears. During the third year alone, 98jawans and officers laid down theirlives in Jammu & Kashmir, which isa 61 per cent jump compared to thecorresponding year of UPA-II.

As per the Ministry of Defencedata, 60 soldiers were killed in 2016,compared to 33 in 2015 and 32 in 2014.Recently, two Army jawans were killedin attack by Pakistani troops in thePoonch sector, a third incident in thissector during current year. This was fol-lowed by killing of a Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) officer by terror-ists in Srinagar.

The numbers speak for them-selves. It appears that the Governmentis nowhere in the picture and thedefence forces are fighting a lonelybattle. There is no forward movementto suggest that situation will improvein near future. Diplomatic action isalmost absent to ease tensions alongthe borders.

Instead, the provocations fromthe BJP and its ideological cohortshave become the hallmark of itsKashmir policy, leading to unprece-dented unrest in the Valley. Not onlyin Jammu & Kashmir but in Maoist-affected areas also, casualties of secu-rity forces continue unabated duringthe last three years. Failure in foreignpolicy fronts, absence of a consistentstrategy against Pakistan, non-exis-tence of apolitical design to deal withthe situation in Jammu & Kashmir,North-East and Maoist-affected Statesare the reasons for increase in death

of security forces during this period. Political pundits in the

Government had projected demon-etisation and surgical strikes as effec-tive deterrents against terrorism, butthe numbers of deaths have provedthem wrong. The Prime Minister,who was very vocal to blame the pre-vious UPA Government on theseissues, has failed to stop enemy atroc-ities against Indian soldiers. The lackof seriousness to deal with the situa-tion is evident on the part of theGovernment from the fact that we donot have a full time Defence Ministerafter Manohar Parrikar was repatri-ated to Goa. Ad-hocism is responsi-ble for the absence of policy-makingin critical areas in the ministry.

Coming to farmers, NarendraModi, in his Pathankot rally on April25, 2014, had promised that farmerswould get at least 50 per cent profitsof their produce from the marketprice if the BJP-led NDA came topower. Agriculture would be mademore ‘productive, scientific andrewarding’, was the promise made inBJP manifesto. But the reality is thatagrarian crisis has deepened andcondition of farmers worsened in pastthree years. Farmers’ margin over costhas declined during this period.

The Government in its affidavitin the Supreme Court has admittedthat more than 12,000 farmers havecommitted suicide on an yearly basisduring its tenure. The incidence ofsuicide is higher in BJP-ruled Statessuch as Maharashtra andChhattisgarh. Neither is theGovernment coming with any com-prehensive plan of action nor with any

institutional mechanism to addressthe agrarian crisis.

The Supreme Court was right inits observation that the solution toevery problem does not lie with itsreferral to the Niti Aayog. SeveralState Governments have announcedwaiving off of farmers’ loans but theirimpact will be limited to immediaterelief. The major reasons for suicideare increase in input costs, lack ofinstitutional credit, crop loss and non-remunerative prices.

Unfortunately, either policies areabsent in these crucial areas, or even ifsome policies are in place they aremarred by shabby implementation.Because of the inherent limitations, thecrop insurance scheme announced bythe Prime Minister has failed to achievethe desired results. To make agriculturesustainable, the grower has to be able tomake a profit. The Minimum SupportPrice (MSP) must be increased to thelevel that apart from covering the costof production, it should give a reason forthe farmers to cultivate.

Another important aspect is thatthe Government has to ensure that itsexport-import policies do not contra-dict with interests of the farmers. Forexample, even when the Governmentwas aware that there would be suffi-cient production of pulses, it contin-ued to import pulses, which led tocrash in prices of pulses.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) isanother example. On the one hand,the Government claims to take mea-sures to reduce the cost of productionin agriculture. On the other, itsimposes GST of 18 per cent on pes-ticides and 12 per cent on fertilisers.

The rates being higher than theexisting tax rates, it will push the inputcost upward. The ultimate loser willbe the farmer. Such policy contradic-tions need to be avoided. Further, tomake agriculture more productive,the government will have to ensureadequate investment for agriculturalresearch. Given investment priorities,access to credit and technology, agri-culture has a tremendous potential toabsorb a major chunk of the growinglabour force.

On the ground, what is more dis-turbing is the lack of empathy of theGovernment towards soldiers’ andfarmers’ causes. There appears to bea disconnect between the plight of thesoldiers and famers and the govern-ment's perception of it. While jawanTej Bahadur Yadav was dismissedfrom service for questioning thequality of food, farmers were killed inbroad daylight in Mandsaur fordemanding loan waive-off. Chanakyahad said that the day when a soldierhas to demand his dues or, worse,plead for them, the king loses themoral sanction to rule. The same isalso applicable to the farmers whofeed billions through their hard work.

The present political regime mustact, and it must act immediately. ThePrime Minister and his Governmentshould be serious about the soldiers’and the farmers’ issues and not treatthem as election rhetoric. There is nodifference between failing the soldiersand farmers, and failing the nation.

(The writer is a Supreme Courtlawyer and Congress’s national mediapanelist. Views expressed here are personal)

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Bringing a smile in theface of investors, the

Nifty finally set a record onWednesday, settling above10,000-mark, for the firsttime in stock market history,while the BSE benchmarkSensex closed at a fresh lifehigh, ending up 154.19points at a new record32,382.46.

Amid quarterly corpo-rate earnings optimism,unabated capital inflowshelped the rally throughoutintra-day. ForeignInstitutional Investor (FII)inflows ensured there isenough liquidity to supportthe stocks despite lingeringconcerns over stretched val-uations.

Besides, the market hasalso got a boost from thereported comments by NITIAayog Vice ChairmanArvind Panagariya that Indiais likely to clock a 7.5 percent economic growth in FY2018.

However, speculatorscovered their short positionsahead of the July derivativesexpiry on Thursday, buildingup the momentum. “Betterfirst quarter results and shortcovering ahead of F&Oexpiry took the market tonew heights. On the globalf ront , r is ing consensusexpectations for status quoon US key interest rate is pro-viding support to the mar-ket,” said Vinod Nair, Head ofResearch, Geojit FinancialServices.

After hitt ing a freshintra-day l i fe high of10,025.95, the 50-share NSEindex ended at a new peak of10,020.65, up 56.10 points, or0.56 per cent, surpassing itslast closing record of 9,966.40hit on July 24.

Metal stocks contributedbig, tracking a rally in glob-al commodity prices -- par-ticularly base metals onexpectat ions of r i s ingdemand from China and aweak dollar. Vedanta rallied2.33 per cent at a three yearhigh after the company’s con-solidated profit after tax dou-bled for the June quarter.Tata Steel, Jindal Steel andPower and Hindustan Zincwent higher by up to 8.37 percent.

On the other hand, the30-share Sensex rallied toan all-time high of 32,413.63

too, before ending up 154.19points, or 0.48 per cent, at a

new record 32,382.46. Itbroke previous closing highof 32,245.87 reached on July24. The gauge has lost 17.60points on Tuesday.

A firming trend in Asiaand a better opening inEurope kept the pitch con-ducive to more gains, with alleyes on the US FederalReserve’s interest rate move.Renewed hopes of a rate cutby the Reserve Bank of Indiaat its policy meet early nextmonth as the inf lat iondipped to record low accel-erated the buying pace,traders said.

Investors were also opti-mistic that more blue-chipcompanies might post encour-aging earnings numbers incoming days. Risk appetiteremained strong on the back

of a slew of positive factors,including brighteningprospects of the economy,expectations of more reforms,monsoon progress so far andweakness in the dollar, thetraders added.

As far as the Sensex is con-cerned, some key stocks in thefirms such as Sun Pharma,ICICI Bank, M&M, HUL,Cipla and NTPC rose by up to2.12 per cent. Two-wheelermarket leader, HeroMotoCorp firmed up 0.21 percent after the company onTuesday posted a 3.5 per centgrowth in profit after tax forApril-June.

Private lender Yes Bankclimbed 6.10 per cent to closeat an all-time high after thecompany’s net profit rose 32per cent for the first quarter

ended June. Shares of AxisBank, however, fell by 2.90 percent after a drop in net prof-it.

Sector-wise, the BSE metalindex came out on the topwith a gain of 1.74 per cent fol-lowed by capital goods, health-care and banking. The broad-er markets of late have beenperforming well. Shares of GET&D India rallied 20 per centto hit an upper circuit as thecompany turned profitable inthe quarter to June.

Key indices in the Asianregion ended positive. Europetoo saw strength building.Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) bought shares worth anet �270.77 crore on Tuesday,as per provisional data.Domestic institutions net soldshares worth �209.50 crore.

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National Company LawTribunal on Wednesday

gave go-ahead to banks to startinsolvency proceedings againstBhushan Steel Ltd and BhushanSteel & Power Ltd (BSPL) torecover loans the companieshave defaulted on.

Allowing the pleas filed bythe lead bankers, SBI and PNB,NCLT appointed interim reso-lution professionals (IRPs) anddirected the companies’ man-agements, officials and promot-ers to assist them in the pro-ceedings.

NCLT has appointed VijayKumar V Iyer as an IRP forBhushan Steel Ltd and MahenderKumar Khandewal for BhushanSteel & Power Ltd.

“All personnel connectedwith the corporate debtor, its pro-moter or any other person asso-ciated with the management ofthe corporate debtor are underlegal obligation to extend everyassistance and cooperation to theIRP as may be required by himin managing the affairs of the cor-porate debtor,” said a NCLTbench headed by Justice MMkumar.

In case there is any violationof its order, “the IRP would be atliberty to make appropriate appli-cation to this tribunal for passingan appropriate order”, it added.

The petition for initiatinginsolvency process was filed byState Bank of India, the lead bankof the consortium of lenders, in

the case of Bhushan Steel and byPunjab National Bank (PNB)against Bhushan Steel and Power.

Since the pleas have beenadmitted by the NCLT, there is a180-day timeline to decide on aresolution plan in accordancewith the Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.

The tribunal, in two separateorders, also rejected debtors’argument questioning the role ofRBI, which had issued directivesto the banks to file insolvencyproceedings against 12 defaulters.

“We may observe in thepassing that issuance of directionby RBI on June 30, 2017 can notbe termed illegal because there isadequate power conferred by thebanking regulation act byamendment of section 35 toissue directions to the bankbeing a regulator entitled to doso,” NCLT observed.

NCLT also did not agreewith the submission that stepslike restructuring are part ofexternal process, which arebeyond the scope of theInsolvency and Bankruptcy

Code.“It is imperative to observe

that insolvency is not equivalentto liquidation or winding up. Thisinvolved restructuring, re-plan-ning and facilitation of evolvinga resolution for the industry tosurvive,” said NCLT bench whichalso includes Deepa Krishan.

NCLT also rejected the pleathat there was discrepancy in theamounts claimed by the banks.

“We are satisfied that thedefault has occurred in repay-ment of loan,” it said adding “Ona closer scrutiny, we find thatthere is hardly any discrepancy.”

NCLT further said that anyobjection with regard toamount would be maintainablebefore the committee of credi-tors.

Any order of NCLT couldbe challenged before theNational Company LawAppellate Tribunal within aspecified period.

SBI has claimed recovery of�4,295 crore from BhushanSteel and $490 million for for-eign currency loan.

The NCLT, on July 13,issued notices to Bhushan Steelas well as Bhushan Steel andPower over insolvency pro-ceedings initiated by thelenders. The companies weredirected to file their reply.

Both the petitions werefiled under the Section 7 of theInsolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC), 2016, where thefinancial creditor initiates insol-vency proceedings with a claim.

After hearing both the par-ties, the tribunal had reservedthe order on July 19.

Bankruptcy proceedingshave also been initiated againstother companies includingElectrosteel Steel and LancoInfratech, Alok Industries andJyoti Structures, which areamong the 12 non performingasset (NPA) or bad loan casesidentified by the Reserve Bankof India.

The 12 accounts alone con-stitute a quarter of the over �8lakh crore of NPAs. Of the total,�6 lakh crore are with publicsector banks alone.

The internal advisory com-mittee (IAC) of the RBI, after itsmeeting on June 13, had rec-ommended 12 accounts repre-senting about 25 per cent ofgross NPAs of the banking sys-tem for immediate referenceunder the IBC.

These accounts have anexposure of more than �5,000crore each, with 60 per cent ormore classified as bad loans bybanks as of March 2016.

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As part of its efforts to reaffirm its posi-tion on technologically empowering

SMBs (Small & Medium Businesses),Google India on Wednesday revealed itsprogression with regard to its DigitalUnlocked campaign launched earlier thisyear while announcing the national win-ners of its flagship initiative-’SMB Heroes2017’.

The IT giant further divulged itsfuture goals to empower every Indian cit-izen with public internet connection byproviding strong Wi-Fi access in everylocality as a means to encourage knowl-edge among the masses and highlight-ed its ongoing digital efforts to promotethis initiative through supporting SMBs.

Rajan Anandan, Vice President

(India and South-East Asia), Google,while addressing reporters, said that thecompany always aims for a digitally con-nected India while pressing on theneed to recognise local businesses thatutilize digital technology for their growth.“India’s story of internet adoption con-tinues to have a major impact on howpeople are consuming information,finding new businesses and connectingwith one another but India’s 51 mil.strong small and medium businesscommunity is not yet where they shouldbe and Google is committed to providethe training for their accelerated growth”,he said.

In a bid to address the technologi-cal loopholes, Google, under its DigitalUnlocked campaign, which recognisesdigitally empowered business ventures,

is providing online, offline and mobiletrainings to empower Indian SMBs withessential digital skills claiming that over20k businesses have been trained.

Also, three businesses emerged asnational winners of ‘SMB Heroes’ undereach categories viz. Farida Gupta(faridagupta.com) under ‘BusinessImpact Through Digital’, ShantanuPathak and Aditya Kulkarni (CareNx)under ‘Impacting Change ThroughDigital’ and Arpita Ganesh (Buttercups)for ‘Woman Business Leader’.

“It is encouraging to see initiativeslike Google’s SMB Heroes program,which helps fuel economic growthmaking Internet a key facilitator in India’sSMB growth story,”said Ajay Sawhney,Secretary, Ministry of Electronics andInformation Technology.

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Maruti on Wednesday intro-duced its latest innovation

in the car service space with theintroduction of Nexa brandedservice centres. The Nexa brandunder which Maruti-Suzukiretails their premium productssuch as the S-Cross, Baleno andCiaz has been hugely successfulfor the carmaker thanks to its cus-tomer-service orientation andinnovative design.

The country’s largest car-maker which continues to main-tain a 50 per cent share of themarket believes that this innova-tion will help them retain cus-tomers. Kenichi Ayukawa, man-aging Director, Maruti-Suzukisaid, “Listening to customers,we have now created NEXAService to take forward thatpromise. Plush workshops withpremium lounges and use of dig-ital technology to enhance cus-tomer service and transparencywill be the defining elements ofNEXA Service. I am sure cus-tomers will like NEXA Service aswell.”

The Nexa service experi-

ence will be a highly digitised oneaccording to the company.Bookings can be made online orvia a new application that was alsolaunched on Wednesday.Customers will be able to wait ina premium lounge with a similardesign layout to Nexa show-rooms while their vehicles arebeing serviced.

The carmaker has also intro-duced increased automation inthe service bays, which improvesturnaround time and enhancesproductivity significantly.Customers will also be able toaccess ‘Digital Health Card’ fortheir vehicles. While the servicewill cost slightly more than stan-dard showrooms, Maruti officialsexpect that high levels of service,comfort and digitisation will per-suade customers to pay the slightpremium.

The company plans to have70-80 Nexa Service outlets openby the end of the current fiscaland over 300 outlets open by2020. This rapid pace of growthreflects the confidence the com-pany has in the market as well asmirroring the rapid growth ofNexa sales outlets.

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Japanese car brand Datsun launched the premium variant of its Redi-Go small car featuring a 1-litre engine. The car was introduced by

medal-winning Indian Olympian Sakshi Malik and is going to takeon the Maruti Alto K10, Hyundai Eon and its stablemate the RenaultKwid 1.0. Datsun claims to be the first mass car brand to have anall-India price which they claim is due to the introduction of GSTand the Redi-Go 1.0 has a starting price of �3,57,333. This variantwill also be available with the carmakers comprehensive service pack-ages which are offered in three, four and five year options.

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��9 �� Snapdeal will seekviews of its shareholders, includ-ing Ratan Tata and PremjiInvest,on the proposed $900-950 mil-lion buyout deal by Flipkart, asource said.

The deal is almost throughbut there are a few areas of con-cern and the Board wants to seekviews and comments from share-holders on the deal, two peopleaware of the developments said.

They did not want to beidentified as discussions are stillon and the deal has not beenfinalised yet.

SoftBank declined to com-ment, while Snapdeal did notrespond to emailed queries.

Snapdeal’s largest investor,SoftBank has been proactivelymediating the sale for the past fewmonths.

Snapdeal has a number ofinvestors including OntarioTeachers’ Pension Plan,PremjiInvest, Ratan Tata,Foxconn, Temasek andBlackRock among others.

Interestingly, PremjiInvest -- the personal investment arm ofWipro chairman Azim Premjihas already written to Snapdealseeking greater clarity on the dealterms.

It has also called for equaltreatment of shareholders forpayouts from the deal. ��

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UK-based best practicesolutions provider Axelos

is planning to rope in theGovernment's projects forspeedy execution by using itsmethodology in almost allsectors, a move aimed at expe-diting mostly the stalled pro-jects in some key sectorswhich are impending the eco-nomic growth in the country,according to a top official ofthe company.

“We are seeing huge take-off in India for our projectmanagement methodologybusiness. We are in talks withdiversified sectors - bothGovernment as well as privateones, including banking,insurance, automobiles, con-struction, IT & telecom,FMCG and others.

We have also met some keyofficials in these sectors and weare hopeful that our projectmanagement method will helpexpedite speedy and easy exe-cution in their projects, espe-cially the stalled ones,” theofficial told The Pioneer onTuesday.

As the country is facingtoo many hurdles during theproject execution, theGovernment, led by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, ismaking its all-out efforts toclear all stalled projectsinvolved in all sectors, espe-cially in power, road and infrasector.

“Our project managementmethodology or PRINCE 2 isa process-based approach forproject management usedacross diversified sectors in

India. I think it will help sup-port the delivery of projects ofany size, any complexity in anyindustry, any sector,” CameronStewart, Axelos Global Head,PPM Product Development,said, while launching an updat-ed version of its project man-agement methodology calledPRINCE 2 in India in collab-oration with IT managementsolutions provider Quint.

Axelos is a joint venture(JV) between the UKGovernment and Capita Plc,which aims at managing,developing and growing theglobal best practice portfolio,while Quint is a global con-

sulting and training firm spe-cialising in IT managementsolutions.

“PRINCE 2 is built onexperiences and knowledge ofpeople who are running pro-jects in real life. We havearound 1.5 lakh practitionersall over the world where we getmaximum responses from UKand Australia. India has alsohuge market and we hope wewill get same responses here aswell,” Stewart said, adding thatit is going to help for every-thing from preparing for con-ferences, to make a building ora ship or an IT system.

Explaining success rate ofPRINCE 2 in India, SunilMehta, MD, Quint India, said,“We see huge success in Indiafor our project managementmethodology because we knowthe complexity in any industry,be it a Government or privatesector. Our aim is to deliverany sort of projects at anaffordable cost with account-ability involved in it.

For instance, when there issuccess, the credit goes toindividual(s), not the team ororganisation, but when there isfailure, it goes to the organi-sation. It is only due to lack ofaccountability that we strictlyfollow in our project manage-ment practice in which weidentify the individual who isreally accountable for the fail-ure.”

As per the company, thenew version is designed toensure that the project failurerate in India is less. The com-pany has other methodologiesincluding MSP, ITIL, and a col-lection of cyber resilience bestpractice products, RESILIA.

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The ongoing consolidationamong telecom operators

will result in efficient use ofspectrum for better services,and six players in each servicearea will have adequate com-petition, Parliament wasinformed on Wednesday.

“After the reported con-solidation among the variousIndian Telecom Ser viceProviders, there will beenough competition in thesector as six players areexpected to remain in eachservice area in the accessser vices segment,”Communications MinisterManoj Sinha said in a writtenreply to the Lok Sabha.

Mergers and Acquisitions(M&As) among operators donot cause fragmentation ofspectrum but rather its con-solidation for providing bet-ter services by efficient util-isation of the radiowaves, headded.

The Minister further saidthat the Telecom Departmenthas ‘conveyed’ the objec-tion/representation on theproposed merger scheme ofTelenor India and BhartiAirtel on July 5, 2017, and thesame is also brought to thenotice of National CompanyLaw Tribunal (NCLT).

“Approval by the NCLT isawaited,” Sinha said. On theacquisition of telecom busi-ness of Sistema Shyam Tele

Ser vices by Rel ianceCommunications, he said thatthe two companies are yet tosubmit the additional bankguarantees, as per a directionof the telecom tribunal.

On the planned merger ofVodafone India and IdeaCellular, the minister saidthat the scheme of mergerand approval by NCLT hasnot yet been submitted.

Responding to anotherquery on the alleged denial ofinterconnect ports by exist-ing incumbent operators toReliance Jio, Sinha said thatTelecom Department hadreceived the ‘reconsideredopinion’ of the regulator, andis ‘seized of the matter’.

Wit h re g ard to t hevacancy in key posts in theTelecom Department, Sinhasaid that amendment in therecruitment rules for theposition of Member Servicesand Member Technology -currently given as an addi-tional charge arrangement -is under process. The postswil l be advertised afterfinalisation of recruitmentrules, he added.

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NEW DELHI: State-run insurance behe-moth Life InsuranceCorporation (LIC) hasset a premium collec-tion target from newbusiness on individualbasis at �38,000 crore inthe ongoing fiscal, a topofficial said. For 2016-17, theinsurer had set a target of �31,000crore in new business premiumcollection on individual basis.Theactual collection was 22 per centhigher than the target at �37,800crore during the last fiscal.

“We hope to garner �38,000crore on the individual basis inthe 2017-18 fiscal on the back ofour products,” LIC Chairman VKSharma told PTI. Its total newbusiness premium, includingpension and group business,rose to �1.22 lakh crore in 2016-

17, a rise of 25.8 percent from around�97,000 crore a yearago. However, thecompany registereda degrowth in termsof policies in 2016-17. LIC sold 2.01crore policies during

the last fiscal from 2.05 crore ayear earlier.

With higher profits from itshuge investment portfolio, LIChas decided to pay 40 per centhigher bonuses and dividends tothe Government and its cus-tomers in 2016-17. LIC has allo-cated �47,387.44 crore as rever-sionary bonuses with profit topolicyholders and paid �2,494.08crore to the Government towardsits share of surplus on within thecountry business, against�34,207.58 crore and �1,800.40

crore, respectively, a year ago.Last week, Finance Minister

Arun Jaitley launched LICadministered pension schemefor elderly with 8 per cent fixedrate of interest on their sav-ings.Pradhan Mantri VayaVandana Yojana (PMVVY) canbe purchased offline as well asonline through LIC) which hasbeen given the sole privilege tooperate this scheme.

PMVVY is a pensionscheme announced by the gov-ernment exclusively for the seniorcitizens aged 60 years and abovewhich is available from May 4,2017 to May 3, 2018. Pension ispayable at the end of each peri-od, during the policy term of 10years, as per the frequency ofmonthly, quarterly, half-yearly,yearly as chosen by the pension-er at the time of purchase. PNS

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Dreaming about a healthy retire-ment is the first step; planning

and working towards it withplanned retirement goals is whatwill get you there. And for a firststep towards it, it is important thatyou should avoid these 'RetirementPlanning Myths and Mistakes'.PFRDA Chairman Hemant GContractor explains 10 importantsteps to bust retirement mythbelow.

1 I'm just in my 20s; it's tooearly for me to start thinkingabout that

The biggest mistake and myth;youngsters/young earners who jointhe work force at an early age tendto have this habit of procrastinat-ing the process of saving andinvesting. Each year's delay in ini-tiating the long-term savings andinvesting will reduce your retire-ment kitty substantially. Rememberthe golden rule- the early you startsaving and investing, the moretime your investment gets to grow,

the higher will be the retirementcorpus.

2 I'll delay saving for retire-ment until later when It's easier onmy pocket

After I get the next incre-ment/bonus, I'll have more moneyand it will be easier for me to invest-we think.

The truth is- It never happens.More money, more income,

better bonus, higher increment etalnever translates into that addi-tional and ever-elusive saving weare looking forward to. So what todo?

It is important that a personstarts taking small steps towardssaving and investing - start off bysaving 5 per cent of your monthlyincome; slowly when that becomesa habit, increase it step by step to10 per cent/15 per cent/20 per centand 25 per cent etc.

3 My employment pension willbe enough to take care of my post-retirement life

True, there are companies andemployments where a fixed pension

option is available. Even then, askthis important question to yourself.Will that pension amount beenough for me in my old age?Research has provided evidencethat a lot many people are going forsecond innings in career, not bychoice or to mitigate boredom, butout of economic and financialcompulsion. The faster and quick-er we understand this fact and startour own plans, the better.

4 Retirement planning requiresa huge amount to start with

Another big misnomer! Likethe proverbial "Little Drops ofWater Make the Mighty Ocean", theretirement corpus is built up usingsmall contribution, invested regu-larly and allowed to grow over aperiod of time - say 20-25 years.You would be surprised to see whatmagic small contributions and timedo to your corpus accumulation.

5 I have to plan for just 10-15years of my post retirement life

The statement is both an actu-arial & statistical fact and a retire-ment myth! The fact is - we are

going to live longer than our pre-ceding generation! Just look aroundyou - most of your relatives wouldbe in their 70s and importantly, afew would still be leading a veryactive life. Also, you would try hardto be in that group that stays alivelonger - with ever improving med-ical aids and healthcare facilitiesthat is already a reality! Now, to livelonger 'financially', it is importantthat you start your plan for it- thattoo RIGHT NOW.

6 I am saving for retirement; I

don't need to invest that!A big mistake - people confuse

saving and investing! They are notsame but yes, the former is the pre-cursor to the later. You can't invest,until you have saved. And it is veryimportant to invest them. Savingand not investing is akin to you tak-ing the money out of your purseand just storing it into a box keptin your kitchen! Over time themoney 'kept' loses its value.Investing helps your money togenerate returns and also ride overthe inflation. Investing for retire-ment is very necessary - that too ina mix of asset classes, thus provid-ing you good returns.

7 My spouse/kids will take careof my retirement

Research has proved urbanmigration brought about by bettercareer opportunities are bringingabout a change in family dynamics- from joint families to nuclear ones- the parents staying away fromtheir kids and staying by them-selves. Don't confuse this with theissue of kids neglecting parents! It'sthe other way round - parents

should plan in such a way that theyare not a financial burden to theirkids, that too at a time when thekids will and should be planning forthemselves!

8 Underestimating the cost ofhealth care

Many of the salaried people,when employed, have an office perkwhich helps them to reimburse billsfor health care and treatment.When they retire, that's a cost thateats HEAVILY into savings.Research has provided evidencethat over the last decade the cost ofhealth care (medical expenditureper hospitalisation) has increasedby more than 150 per cent. It'simportant that while calculatingyour retirement corpus, you do notunderestimate the cost of healthcare and a sizeable expense head.

9 For retirement planning Iwould play safe and go for capi-tal preservation rather thangrowth

Previously with 10-15 years ofpost-retirement life, most of theretirement investing was to preserve

capital. Losses couldn't be riskedbecause there wasn't enough timeto recover from them. But withtoday's retirees facing 20-30+ yeartime horizons and inflation gnaw-ing at the purchasing power, mak-ing a no-risk portfolio is potentiallythe most risky portfolio of all.People have to understand that a lit-tle bit of risk in the investment port-folio is good for the overall retire-ment fund growth and accumula-tion.

10 I'll spend less in retirementThis is a common mistake

made by many people who areplanning for their retirement. If youare planning to seriously undergoa lifestyle change (read - down-grading your lifestyle expenses) theexpenses are going to be more orless same. And it may increase also(read point 8).

Retirement planning may besomething we procrastinate, asretirement seems to be many yearsahead, but we tend to forget thatwhat we do today, determines howsmoothly we will handle our retire-ment life, at least FINANCIALLY.

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ACommittee of Secretaries(CoS) has recommended

that Niti Aayog be designatedas the nodal agency for pro-motion of electric vehiclessolution, Parliament wasinformed on Wednesday.

It has also said thatNational Electric MobilityMission Plan may be relocat-ed in Niti Aayog, from theDepartment of HeavyIndustry, which may restruc-ture it as per requirement,Minister of State for Ministryof Planning Rao Inderjit Singhsaid in a written reply to theLok Sabha.

Besides, the CoS has saidthat an apex monitoring com-mittee may be set up under theCabinet secretary for coordi-

nation across various min-istries/departments and toreview the progress from timeto time, he said.

“Niti Aayog may work outa detailed strategy for promo-tion of electric vehicles solutionand bring out a comprehensivenote for consideration ofCabinet covering promisedstrategies along withspecificmilestones and timelines, inconsultation with all concernedstakeholders,” Singh said, quot-ing the CoS recommendation.

The FAME (faster adop-tion and manufacturing ofhybrid and electric vehicles inIndia) scheme aims at marketcreation through incentivesacross segments -- 2 wheelers,3 wheelers, autos, passenger 4wheeler vehicles, light com-mercial vehicles and buses.

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India will emerge as one of thebiggest markets for not only IT

services but also for hardware, aleading Indian IT expert has said.“All the steps that the IndianGovernment is taking, whether itis around the whole digital jour-ney across Government and othersectors, whether it is around whatthey’re doing in each individualstates, as well is what they'redoing around the new BPM pol-icy,” Keshav Murugesh, GlobalCEO of WNS, a global businessprocess outsourcing player, toldPTI.

He said that in the comingyears India will be one of thebiggest and most attractive mar-kets in the world. “And over a peri-od of time will deliver the kind ofimpact that is expected from themarket, because over a period oftime India will be one of thebiggest markets for IT services, aswell as in the longer-term, hard-ware,” Murugesh, 53. Responsiblefor executing the business strate-gy and directing the overall per-formance and growth of the 3,000

plus people organisation across 13countries, and a market capitali-sation of $1.6 billion, Mumbai-based Murugesh said today WNSreceives 42 per cent of its revenuefrom North America, 37 per centfrom Europe, and 21 per centfrom the rest of the world.

Responding to a question, hesaid China will also be a veryimportant market, but China isalready getting penetrated quitewell. “I think for India these areall early steps, and it depends onthe scope, scale, and potential ofIndia, it will be a huge market, andthat doesn’t mean that China doesnot have to be a big market either,”he noted.

Refuting reports that IT sec-tor is resulting in job loss in India,he said job creation in India was

far higher than job losses. “In fact,during 2017 when all this nega-tive rhetoric was being seen, Indiaactually created 170,000 addi-tional jobs in the sector. I thinkall of that messaging has really,really helped, because the wayindustry and the Governmenthave worked together to allay thefears of both employees as well asgetting support of and clients hasbeen phenomenal,” he said.

“While all of this is hap-pening obviously there is thishuge investment that is takingplace in all of these other areasare driven by the IT ministerand the Prime Minister,” headded. Murugesh said WNS isexperiencing strong momentumand strong growth in NorthAmerica across the US.

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The Government on Wednesdaysaid it is currently in discussion

with Russia, the US and EuropeanUnion to commence negotiation onbilateral investment treaty (BIT)based on the new model text. BITshelp to project India as an attrac-tive FDI destination as well as pro-tect outbound Indian investmentsby increasing the comfort level andboosting the confidence of investorsby assuring a minimum standardof treatment and non-discrimina-tion, Commerce and IndustryMinister Nirmala Sitharman said.

In a written reply to the RajyaSabha, she said the existing BITswere largely negotiated on thebasis of model BIT text adopted in

1993 and as amended in2003. She said the 1993text contained provisionswhich were susceptible tobroad and ambiguousinterpretations by arbitraltribunals.

“Further, significantchanges have occurredglobally regarding BITs, in gener-al, and investor-state dispute reso-lution mechanism, in particular,” theminister said. Accordingly, shesaid India started the process forreview and revision of the earliermodel BIT and came out with arevised version in December 2015.

“Discussion on commencingnegotiations on BIT or invest-ment agreement based onapproved Model BIT text with

Russia, USA and EUare ongoing,” shesaid. Replying to aseparate question,Sitharaman said2,360 entities havebeen recognised asstartups by theDepartment of

Industrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP) as on 20 July. Under theStartup India initiative, Fund ofFunds for startups (FFS) of�10,000 crore has been estab-lished and is being managed bySmall Industries DevelopmentBank of India (SIDBI).” 67 star-tups have received an overallinvestment of about �250 crore,of which �55.79 crore has beendrawn from FFS,” she added.

BENGALURU: As many as300 startup women entrepre-neurs have registered for men-torship and funds under the�400-crore ‘Elevate 2017’scheme to help themselves turntheir ideas into successful busi-nesses, Karnataka IT MinisterPriyank Kharge said onWednesday.

The Government has ear-marked �10 crore out of the�400 crore fund for spending iton selected startup womenentrepreneurs, but all would notbe given money as some ofthem would seek help in men-toring, accounting and legalmatters, he said in a releasehere. These women have regis-tered across Mysuru,Mangaluru, Hubballi,Kalaburagi and Bengaluru andwould be competing with otherregistered entrepreneurs to avail�400 crore fund that would bedistributed to 100 selectedentrepreneurs.

The entrepreneurs will nowpitch for funds at open housesessions to be held at variouscities across the state beginningtomorrow, Kharge said. Thedeclaration of entrepreneurswho have been selected wouldbe made between August 29and August 30, he added. PTI

NEW DELHI: The highest decision makingbody on special economic zones - Board ofApproval (BoA) has approved 81 cases of de-notification of SEZs, Parliament was informedon Wednesoday. In a written reply to theRajya Sabha, Commerce and IndustryMinister Nirmala Sitharaman said the rea-sons given for de-notification include eco-nomic slowdown, poor market response, lackof demand for SEZ space and change in thefiscal incentive regime for these zones.

“As on 30th June, on the request of the SEZdevelopers, the BoA has approved 81 cases ofde-notification of SEZs subject to the refundof all duties and tax benefits availed by the SEZdeveloper and on receipt of no-objection from

the concerned state government,” she said. Shealso said that the Department of Commercehad advised all states to ensure that de-noti-fied land of SEZs would be utilised towardscreation of infrastructure. In a separate reply,she said total exports from SEZs were �4.67lakh crore in 2015-2016, which increased to�5.23 lakh crore in 2016-17.

“There has been an increase of 12.05 percent in the total exports from SEZs during 2016-17 in comparison to the previous year,” sheadded. In a separate reply, the minister said rep-resentations have been received fromexporters/growers associations regarding allegedimport of low quality pesticide contaminatedpepper from Vietnam through Sri Lanka. On

analysis of the data of import and productionof pepper in Sri Lanka in the last three years, itis observed that the quantum of total import ofpepper in Sri Lanka was very small as comparedto the production of pepper as well as the quan-tum of exports from Sri Lanka to India.

“Therefore, there is little possibility ofVietnamese pepper being imported to India,through Sri Lanka,” she said. The matter wasexamined and necessary directions were issuedto Central Board of Excise and Customs andFood Safety and Standards Authority of Indiafor taking suitable measures like strict verifica-tion of Certificates of Origin and further to checkthe possibility of contaminated Vietnamese pep-per being imported into India, she added. PTI

BENGALURU: Japanese imagingand optical products major CanonInc is eyeing a jump in sales to $10billion from Asian markets,including China and India, by2020. “We are looking at $10 bil-lion sales by 2020 from the Asiagroup,” Canon Inc Executive VicePresident Hideki Ozawa told PTI.

Presently, the Asian market-ing region is contributing around23-24 per cent of the total globalsales. In 2016, Canon Inc hadreported net sales of $29.32 billion.“Contribution from Canon Asiais increasing. Eventually Asiawould be the leading contributor,”said Ozawa who is also Presidentand CEO Canon China, adding itwould beat Japan, which ispresently its biggest market. PTI

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The US House ofRepresentatives has over-

whelmingly voted to imposenew sanctions against Russia,Iran and North Korea for theirdangerous and belligerentactions that undermineAmerica and its allies.

The Russia, Iran and NorthKorea sanctions bill was passedwith a 419-3 votes in the lowerhouse of the US Congress onWednesday.

The Bill is aimed at pun-ishing Moscow for meddling inthe US presidential election andits military aggression inUkraine and Syria. It also seeksto make Tehran pay a price forits “continued support of ter-rorism.”

The bill, that notably con-strains President DonaldTrump’s ability to waive thepenalties, is now headed to theSenate, where there is supportfor sanctions but debate aboutwhether to include penalties onNorth Korea.

House Speaker Paul Ryansaid that the is one of the mostexpansive sanctions packagesin the history. “It tightens thescrews on our most dangerousadversaries in order to keepAmericans safe,” he said.

House Democratic WhipSteny H Hoyer said the Billseeks to make it harder forRussia to use that type of coer-cion and empower othernations to join us in standingup against Russian aggression.

“These three (Russian,Iranian and North Korean)regimes, in different parts ofthe world, are threatening vitalUS interests and destabilisingtheir neighbours. It is well pasttime that we forcefullyrespond,” Ed Royce, chairmanof the House foreign affairscommittee, an author of theBill, said after the passage of thelegislation.

Senate Minority LeaderCharles Schumer said theHouse vote on this tough sanc-tions bill sends a message toRussian President Vladimir

Putin that meddling in USelections will not be tolerated.

“Senate Republican leadersshould move this bill as soon aspossible, so that it can be on thePresident’s desk without delay.Passing the bill on a bipartisanbasis will send a strong signalto the White House that theKremlin needs to be heldaccountable for meddling inlast year’s election,” he said.

On the House f loor,Congressman Joe Crowleyalleged Putin’s interference inthe 2016 presidential electionswas a blatant attempt to under-mine and weaken Americandemocracy, threats that havebeen met with disregard fromthe Trump administration.

“I’m glad my colleagues inthe House voted to imposestronger sanctions on theRussian Government and makeit harder for the White Houseto lift existing sanctions. HouseRepublicans should havemoved on this long ago, as thisis an important step forward toensure that Russian leaders

will face consequences for theiractions,” he said.

He added that this vote willhopefully also allow theCongress to get back to workfor the American people.

“The numerous scandalsemanating from the TrumpWhite House on Russia are adistraction that has keptCongress from focusing onthe issues Americans want tosee progress on jobs, the econ-omy, and expanded opportu-nities for growth,” Crowleysaid. According to The Hillnewspaper, the vote amountedto a rebuke of Trump, whoseadministration had pushed towater down the bill’s provisionsgiving Congress the power toveto the lifting of sanctions.

“While the president sup-ports tough sanctions on NorthKorea, Iran and Russia, theWhite House is reviewing theHouse legislation and awaits afinal legislative package for thePresident’s desk,” White HousePress Secretary, Sarah Sanderssaid.

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An overwhelming vote bythe US House of

Representatives to slap toughnew sanctions on Moscow is a“serious step” towards wreckingchances of improving ties,Russia’s Deputy ForeignMinister said on Wednesday.

“What has happened goesbeyond the realms of commonsense,” Sergei Ryabkov toldstate-run TASS news agency.

“The authors and sponsorsof this bill are taking a very seri-ous step towards destroying thepossibilities for normalisingrelations with Russia.”

The sanctions package —which also contains measuresaimed at Iran and North Korea— passed 419 to three onTuesday after weeks of negoti-ations. It now heads to the

Senate before President DonaldTrump will face the trickychoice of whether to veto thelegislation, which has beenopposed by the White Houseand considerably constrainshis ability to lift the penalties.

If Trump does sign off onthe bill then Russia looks like-ly to retaliate, with Ryabkovinsisting Moscow has warnedWashington “dozens of times”that any new sanctions would“not go unanswered.”

But for now Moscowappears to be keeping its pow-der dry as it waits to see howTrump reacts.

“We are not giving in toemotions,” Ryabkov said. “Wewill work to look for ways tomove ahead, persistently andconsistently searching for waysto compromise of issues impor-tant to Russia and the US.”

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Iran’s top nuclear negotiatorsaid on Wednesday that new

sanctions approved by the USHouse of Representatives were “ahostile measure” that breachedWashington’s commitmentsunder a 2015 nuclear deal.

“The ongoing action in theUS Congress... Is very clearly ahostile measure against theIslamic republic of Iran,” deputyforeign minister AbbasAraghchi said, according to theISNA news agency. Araghchiled the negotiating team thatagreed the deal with worldpowers in 2015 known as theJCPOA, by which Iran agreed tostrict limits on its nuclear pro-gramme in exchange for an eas-ing of sanctions.

The new sanctions billpassed by the House on

Tuesday, was merely “a compi-lation of previous US sanctionsin the non-nuclear fields,”Araghchi said.

“Still, it can influence thesuccessful implementation ofthe JCPOA and reduce Iran’sbenefits under the JCPOA.That’s why it is incompatiblewith various sections of theJCPOA which the US has com-mitted to implement with goodintention and in a constructiveatmosphere,” he added.

“These are America’s com-mitments. What the Congressis doing is against these com-mitments and for sure will bemet with a reaction from Iran.”

The Iranian parliament’snational security and foreignaffairs committee said it wouldhold an extraordinary sessionon Saturday to discuss itsresponse.

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US President Donald Trumphas said that he is not plan-

ning to sack Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions, but reiterated his“disappointment” over the lat-ter’s position on the probe intoalleged Russian meddling inthe 2016 presidential polls.

“Well, I don’t think I amdoing that. But I am disap-pointed in the attorney gener-al,” Trump told when askedwhether he would be firingSessions after he went againsthim on twitter. Trump wasaddressing a news conferenceat the White House with visit-ing Lebanese Prime MinisterSaad Hariri.

Earlier in the day, Trump

accused Sessions of being “veryweak” in the investigation intoformer secretary of state andthe 2016 Democratic presi-dential candidate HillaryClinton’s emails.

“Attorney General JeffSessions has taken a VERYweak position on HillaryClinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intelleakers!” he said in a tweet,expressing anger against theman who was the first US sen-ator to endorse his candidacy.

Over the last few days,Trump had gone public inexpressing dissatisfaction overSessions’ position on investi-gations related to Russian inter-ference in the American pres-idential elections last year.

Sessions has recused him-self from the government’sprobe of Russian meddling inthe US election.

“He (Sessions) should nothave recused himself almostimmediately after he tookoffice. If he was going to recusehimself, he should’ve told meprior to taking office and Iwould’ve, quite simply, pickedsomebody else,” the presidenttold the news conference.

The president called it a abad thing not for the president,but for the presidency.

“I think it’s unfair to thepresidency. And that’s the wayI feel,” he said. The attorneygeneral has said that he wouldstay in the position as long asit is appropriate.

Beijing: China on Wednesdayopposed a new round of uni-lateral sanctions that the US hasimposed against North Korea.Such sanctions were not con-ducive to mutual trust andcooperation between Chinaand the US, Foreign Ministryspokesperson Lu Kang said.

“China is always opposed

to unilateral sanctions outsidethe framework of the UNSCand especially opposed to long-arm jurisdiction imposed byother countries on China’senterprises and individuals,”Kang said. The new sanctionscould affect companies fromthird countries, which tradewith North Korea, and espe-

cially China, the main tradingpartner of the isolated regimeof Kim Jong-un. Lu addedChina has always strictly imple-mented UN resolutions relatedto N Korea and will investigatesuspected violations of sanc-tions by Chinese enterprises orindividuals according to itsown domestic law. IANS

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Tehran: President HassanRouhani said on WednesdayIran would respond in kind toany breach by the United Statesof the 2015 nuclear deal afterthe House of Representativespassed a new sanctions bill. “Ifthe enemy steps over part of theagreement, we will do thesame, and if they step over theentire deal, we will do thesame too,” Rouhani said at acabinet meeting aired by statebroadcaster IRIB.

The Iranian parliament’snational security and foreignaffairs committee said it would

hold an extraordinary sessionon Saturday to discuss itsresponse.

The parliament voted ear-lier this month to fast-track abill introduced in June thatwould increase funds for Iran’smissile programme andRevolutionary Guards.

“We must always developour defence capability and wewill strengthen our defensiveweapons regardless of the opin-ion of others,” Rouhani said.The US House passed a newsanctions bill on Tuesday tar-geting Iran’s Revolutionary

Guards, as well as Russia andNorth Korea.

Iran’s deputy foreign min-ister Abbas Araghchi said thebill was “very clearly a hostilemeasure” even if it was only “acompilation of previous USsanctions in the non-nuclearfields”.

Araghchi led the negotiat-ing team that reached the dealwith world powers in 2015known as the JCPOA, underwhich Iran agreed to strictlimits on its nuclear pro-gramme in exchange for an eas-ing of sanctions. AFP

Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump has accusedSyria’s leader Bashar al-Assad ofcommitting “horrible” crimesagainst humanity, and vowed toprevent his regime from car-rying out any more chemicalattacks.

Speaking at a White Housepress conference withLebanon’s Prime Minister SaadHariri yesterday, Trump alsocalled the Lebanese Shiite mili-tia Hezbollah a threat to theentire Middle East. “I’m not afan of Assad. I certainly thinkthat what he’s done to thatcountry and to humanity ishorrible,” Trump said.

AFP

Lahore: A 16-year-old girl wasraped by a man in front of herfamily on the orders of the vil-lage council as a punishmentafter her brother was accusedof raping the man’s sister inPakistan’s Punjab province,police said on Wednesday.

Police have arrested 20people after the incident thattook place on July 18 in Rajpurvillage in Muzaffarabad in theprovince, Multan divisionpolice chief Ahsan Younis said.

“We have arrested 20 peo-ple including the head of thevillage council for orderingrape of the sister of UmerWadda of Rajpur village,”Younis said. PTI

Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump announced onWednesday that the US mili-tary will no longer allow trans-gender individuals to serve in“any capacity” in the military.

Trump said in a series oftweets that the military needsto be focused on “decisive andoverwhelming” victory.

“After consultation withmy Generals and militaryexperts, please be advised thatthe US government will notaccept or allow...Transgenderindividuals to serve in anycapacity in the US military,”Trump tweeted.

AP

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Most Indian movies come with adisclaimer that all the characters

and incidents are fictional and bearno resemblance to truth. TigmanshuDhulia’s, Raag Desh which hits thetheatres this week will say somethingexactly the opposite — every charac-ter and incident is based on truth.Based on the Red Fort Trials of threeIndian National Army officers,Colonel Prem Sehgal, ColonelGurbaksh Singh Dhillon and MajorShah Nawaz Khan, the film promis-es to take the audience to a time whenpassions and emotions to make Indiafree reigned.

The cast as well as producerGurdeep Singh Sappal visited theMarwah studios in Noida on KargilDiwas. Actor Kunal Kapoor, bestknown for his role in the iconicmovie, Rang De Basanti, said, “I wassurprised that no movie was made onthis incident before because thisstory really belongs to the big screen.Everything that should be there in alarger than life film is there in the tri-als. Nothing had to be made up or fic-tionalised.” Kapoor plays Major ShahNawaz Khan in the movie whichencapsulates everything from a courtroom drama to a war film so there isa bit of everything.

Another reason Kapoor feels thatthis should make it to the big screenis the fact that it is an important partof our histroy. “Many of the reportsby British Intelligence and adminis-tration reports say that the formationof the INA was one of the main rea-sons that the British left the countrybecause they felt that if the army hadturned against them they could notcontrol the country any more. Bythese trials, they wanted to prove thatthe three men were traitors. Insteadthey ended up uniting the country as3-4 lakh people came out in every citythat the three went to. But strangely,there is nothing in text books aboutthem,” says Kapoor.

Mohit Marwah, who made hisdebut with the movie Fugly, playsColonel Prem Sehgal, says, “The filmrevolves around three officers, oneHindu, one Sikh and one Muslim.When I first met Tigmanshu, I askedhim what should I do to get closer to

the character, Prem Sehgal and he toldme to take out all the corruption frommy life and I would be ready to playhim. He told me, to forget acting andif on the screen that niceness is evi-dent, my job was done,” he says. AndMarwah worked on his look for themovie. Sandeep Marwah, film, tele-vision, media personality as well asfounder of Noida Film City and hisfather says, “Mohit researched themovie and looked at old photographsof his grandfather also to understandthe way people dressed and looked.”The story also has a love angle whereSehgal meets Captain LakshmiSwaminathan of the Rani of Jhansiregiment. The character of Lakshmiis played by Mrudula Murali andColonel Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon isportrayed by actor Amit Sadh.

The film was also shown to thePresident of India recently where the

family members of the three INAheroes were invited. Politician andactivist Subhashini Ali, the daughterof Prem and Lakshmi Sehgal loved themovie. “As soon as the film got overshe ran to Kunal and me. She calledShahnawaz, uncle and Prem Sehgalwas her father. She gave us a big hugwhich said it all. She was so happy thatwe took the instances without play-ing with them in an engaging way.That is the first stamp of approval,”says Marwah.

Sappal, producer, says, “The filmhas two major records. In more thana100 years of film history, never hasa movie trailer been released in theParliament, which was done for RaagDesh. It was also the first time thatRajya Sabha and Rajya Sabha TV hasgone ahead with a full-lenght featurefilm for main cinema.”

Kapoor was a part of another his-torical, RDB and he finds there is some-thing that the superhit has in commonwith Raag Desh. “In both the moviesthe people worked with a lot of enthu-siasm. I think it happens when yourealise that you are a part of very pow-erful film. I haven’t felt it in any filmexcept for RDB and this.”

Kapoor makes a strong case formore historicals to be made in thecountry. “In this country we hardlymake any historicals which are authen-tic. Usually when we make historicals,they are documentrish so they are notengaging enought for the audience ora lot of it gets fictionalised to make itentertaining.” He makes a point whenKapoor takes up the case of the movieGandhi, which was made by a foreign-er. “It is a pity that in the west they make3-4 historicals in a year and they keepit authentic but they make big moneyat box office also,” says Kapoor.

So for all those who have a yen forhistory and even those who don’t, makea beeline for the theatres as the moviereleases on July 28.

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Madhur Bhandarkar’s latest film InduSarkar is all set to be realeased on July 28

but he is still facing problems which sparkedever since he started weaving the story in thebackdrop of India’s Emergency. However, he isdissapointed with the fact that the film frater-nity failed to express solidarity for his film whenit was drowned in controversy. The directorsaid, “Selective activism should not happenbecause what happened with me can happento anyone else. I wanted all the faces of the filmindustry to come on a single platform to talkabout this and support it because ultimately itsabout having freedom of expression.”

He says that the situation became really badin places like Pune and Nagpur “In some placesa fatwa was issued which is absurd as they arespreading a wrong message. I was really dis-heartened. Even people who talk about free-dom of expression didn’t raise a voice. Maybethey are busy doing their own work,” sharesBhandarkar.

The trailer of the film itself has created alot of buzz. Bhandarkar feels that people havereacted differently but there is certainly stenchof fear in the air. “Theatres have asked for policesecurity. It is essential and also a request toensure that people who are going to watch thefilm should feel safe,” Bhandarkar shares.

Bhandarkar may deny but there areintriguing similarities between the protagonistIndu and the then Prime Minister, IndiraGandhi.“I don't know why is there a contro-versy regarding this. This is about the life andjourney of Indu. People have written books onEmergency and even made documentaryfilms. But creating trouble for this film is notfair. “Ultimately, it is a story no matter if it isfrom a male or a female perspective. My nichemight be in female centric cinema. But it is mydecision what film I will make and what willbe the storyline,” he says. And ‘a film needs toquestion the society.”

The filmaker is known to make social andrealistic films. His previous films, including Page3 (2005), Corporate (2006), and Fashion (2005)threw light on the various unsavoury aspectsof the society. With Indu Sarkar he wants toeducate the youth about the country’s politi-cal past. “I have been known to make films

which are contemporary. I remember whenI was making Page 3 people were really curi-ous about it. And then there was no Twitter

to get live updates from. But today people

instantly get to know about everything. Thereis awareness now. And today’s generation is alsopolitically aware and are opinionated. I am notsaying that this film is going to be an encyclo-pedia regarding emergency but they will defi-nately get the summary,” he adds.

With the film deep in controversyBhandarkar always makes sure that his cast andcrew are strong and fearless. “Anupamji wasvery keen to be a part of this film. He wantedto know if there was any role suitable for himor not after I announced the film. In the filmhe plays the character who mentors peopleengaged in underground activities during theemergency,” he says

Kirti Kulhari plays the role of the protag-onist. Bhandarkar laughs and says, “After July28 people will know Kirti as Indu. She has beenso absorbed in the character and is alwayscharged up. She has indeed taken the charac-ter to a different level during the 53 days weshot with her. I am satisfied with everyone’s per-formance as a director.”

Bhandarkar who found the idea behindIndu Sarkar topical always wanted to work ona film which had both the elements of a peri-od and a contemporary film. “The film showssome characters that uphold the era. But I amyet to decide what comes next,” he says.

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While we hadalready told you

about Rohit Bal’s patent-ed designs before his bigcouture night, the show-ing itself threw up hissignature rooster andthe Nandi bull, embla-zoned prominently,embroidered subtly orthrown in causally. Todrive home the point, hegot actor Arjun Rampal,FDCI president SunilSethi, fellow designerRaghuvendra Rathod todo some heavy dutypitching. Yes theywalked the ramp as didsome of his womenfriends like KalyaniChawla and ShaliniPassi.

But the Bal showstood out for the intri-cacy of detailing and itsremarkably well-bal-anced combinations andpairings than anythingelse. Yes, he is known forhis fluid silhouettes andyardage but being theoriginal artiste that he is,we expected some vari-ation there from his ear-lier seasons. We lovedthe pristine white collec-tion with a string ofmother of pearl but-tons and crepe ruffledskirt breaking the fluid-ity of a sweeping sil-houette. Embossedand embroideredwhite on white madefor a delicate andcreamy statement. Wealso loved how hepaired white with thecoloured boleros inzardozi.

Point to note wasthe pairing of zigzag-striped dhoti pants inmuted green, ochre andearth-red for men witha velvet black jacketdone up in zardozi

motifs and encrustedwith green and redembellishments andcrystals. The intricacystretched to reverse pan-els and the borders ofthe underpinnings ofthe voluminous gowns.And the almost pluck-able flowers embeddedin the trails or the long-slit sleeves. This wasabout craftsmanshipthat was reined in andnot gushy.

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From intricate motifs of Godand Goddesses of India to

miniature art of Mughal empireto meenakari, patolas and pan-thani, master couturier ManavGangwani’s latest collection hadall this and more. At day-two ofIndia Couture Week held recent-ly in the Capital. Titled as India@70, Gangwani’s collection cele-brated 70 years of India’sIndependence, tracing the coun-try’s history from the Mughal agesto the recent ‘Make In India’ con-cept – which was dominant in hiscollection. An amalgamation ofIndia’s colossal and vibrant her-itage beautifully crafted in a mod-ern and edgy design elements, theonly-women collection

Talking about his latest col-lection he says, “I have takeninspiration from the rich Indianheritage and have created a col-lection that brings together inter-esting elements from every regionof India. I have used techniqueslike silhouettes and designs thattogether create a perfect amalga-mation of traditionalism andauthenticity.”

The show started with anensemble of lehengas made of silk

brocades, rich velvets, sheer gauzytissues with gold with intricatemotifs of Kathakali from Keralaand traced its way to KashmiriJamawaar along with RajasthaniBandaris and LucknowChikankari adding a touch ofmystery to traditional elements ofdesign.

The use of miniature paint-ings in this collection prominent-ly projected the cultural diversi-ty that India has to offer along

with great attention to detailing.He used different techniques likeBadla, Chikankari, Zardosi andParsi.

However, what stood out themost were the dresses that depict-ed the Mughal era. Velvet andbrocades embellished with intri-cate embroidery work along withrectanglular patches of Mughalart.

He used accentuated vintagegold elements to add a touch of

royalty to every garment, epito-mising the essence of every regionin India. The colour pallet for hiscollection were royal blue, crim-son, ivory, orange and greenwhich are most commonly seenin India.

Each garment had an unusu-al and unique element – used asa storyboard to paint the Indiandiversity. Gangwani believes thatthrough this collection he hasshowcased the best of whatIndia has to offer.

The installation of ‘Make inIndia’ was another uniquecomponent that enhancedthe glory of the show. Fromheavily embroided wide-shoulder black top, haulterblouses and shirt topspaired with beautifullydesigned lehengas hav-ing mughal elephant,lions of ‘Make InIndia’ and kathakalimotifs in zari andmeenakari work.All this markedthe USP of hiscollection.�� )�/

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��There is lot to look forward to in the

collection. It is called Tarakanna whichmeans stardust and this year we have actu-ally worked the longest. It is occasional andcouture. Some of the pieces are ready towear and will be in the store. In Indiaeveryone uses the word couture veryloosely. Not every evening wear can becalled couture. Couture is a process that yougo through. The collection is light, weight-less and it floats. It also uses customarydrapes. It started with the use of starsand constellations. I am so tired ofseeing people wear such heavyclothes. Everyone is dressing upand so the brides and theirfamilies are dressing up evenmore. And later on theydon’t want to touch thoseclothes. It is a total waste.We are not maharajas andwe do not have to dress thatway and stand on the podi-um. Wear beautiful thingswhich are light and fun. Ithink the spirit is very impor-tant. Everyone has beautiful

clothes and jewellery so what defines people is whatis inside. Ironically, to define what is inside we wentoutside to the cosmos. When you look up every-thing looks the same. There are a millions ofthings. That is what defines the collection intellec-tually.��

There are saris, anarkalis, lehngas and sari drapes.I have done a lot of things which are panelled. Theopening outfit which Ricky Chatterjee is wearing isjust a lot of embroidered borders. There is a lot ofpanelling so it contours the body and it just flows.

It is not a kurta, it is not an anrkali and it is not agown. Rather it is something that is in between.

In the western way it would be called a gown.Some people have that psychological thing –

muslim or more conservative families wearsomething below. Many do not have adupatta. The collection is India-modern.The clothes are very dressy. They can beworn anywhere. Also, my clothes are time-

less. I do not follow trends.��

We did a lot of gota which is laser cut inthe form of chands, stars and differentthings. It is weightless. If you are out in the

country where there isn’t so much pollu-tion, you see a million things in the

sky. We have used flowers.There is tabling of crystals.The embellishments are assy-

metrical. In the bridal wear,there are few lehngas that rely on the more

traditional Indian styles. There are a lotof winking crystals, stars and chands. It

is celestial.

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The maiden Indo-Bangla joint table topexercise started yesterday at Coast

Guard Regional headquater (NE), Kolkata.The exercise was aimed at bolstering Indo-Bangla joint search and rescue operationsin the Bay of Bengal.

IG Kuldip Singh Sheoran, the CoastGuard Regional Commander(NE) said,“The Bay of Bengal is a hotspot of maritimetrade and ships of both countries remain atrisk because of cyclones in the region. Astrong SAR setup is the need for the hour”

The two day exercise will take the par-ticipants through a dummy Mass RescueOperation in the bay. Also, SAR at sea is acomplex mechanism involving many stakeholders and Foreign Nations. From rescueto medical aid, from Media Management toImmigration and inter stake holder jointoperation challenges, this exercise will givethe participants a real feel of the problemsinvolved.

The Indian Coast Guard and theBangladesh Coast Guard had signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in2015 and established Standard OperatingProcedures (SOP) in April 2017. Severalhigh level diplomatic visits of DG IndianCoast Guard and Bangladesh Coast Guardhave also taken place in last few years.

“The iconic Indo Bangla SAR operationin August 2016 where more than 300 liveswere saved, showcases the synergy and co-ordination of both the forces,” said theCommander, Mohammad Radwan ofBangladesh Coast Guard.

National Trust,Department ofEmpowerment of

Persons with Disabilities(Divyangjan), Ministry ofSocial Justice andEmpowerment launchedthe Inclusive India Initiative.This Initiative aims to pro-vide education, employmentand community life accessto persons with intellectualand developmental disabil-ities.

To address the imperativeneed of ‘Inclusive Education’in the country, the NationalTrust is conducting a consul-tation workshop on InclusiveEducation on July 27, 2017 atScottish High InternationalSchool, Sector 57, Gurugram.The workshop will be attend-ed by government and privateschools of Delhi-NCR region.

The heads of the educationalinstitutes, teachers, specialeducators, students and par-ents will be participating todeliberate on the subject. Thiswould be an ideal platform foreducation fraternity to ideateand conceptualise the roadmap for making the schoolsinclusive by offering equaleducation access to persons

with intellectual anddevelopmental disabili-ties.

‘Inclusive educa-tion’ in simple terms, isthe creation of learningenvironments that max-imises the potential forevery young person inour diverse societies toreceive a high qualityeducation alongsidetheir peers in localschools. The Right to

an Inclusive Education hasbeen explicitly expressed inthe United NationsConvention on Rights ofPersons with Disabilities(UNCRPD), The Right toChildren to Free andCompulsory Education Act,2009 and Rights of Personswith Disabilities (RPWDs)Act, 2016.

Prasoon Sharma, MD of ZTE soft-India andSouth Asia was invited by AIM Smart City

Accelerator and supported by ISB, Microsoft andDalmia Bharat group, to mentor startups workingin smart city domain.

In a bid to translate the government’s focuson smart cities into action, Ashoka University'sCentre for Entrepreneurship in association with theDalmia Bharat Group and Microsoft Acceleratorannounced its AIM Smart City AcceleratorProgramme in April, 2016. The joint initiative isaimed at nurturing innovative and committed early-stage start-ups with unique solutions focused onbuilding a smarter and sustainable India.

Sharma initiated a new era of cooperationbetween India-China during Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's visit to China in May 2016. TheMoU for Developing Smart cities in Gujarat in pres-ence of then Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben wassigned.He pioneered to setup Indo-China jointIncubation Centre. This centre will have offices inAndhra Pradesh and Shenzhen to connect entre-preneurs and startup resources from India-China.

Union Minister of YouthAffairs and Sports,Vijay Goel

and Cricketer Gautam Gambhirspoke about the importance ofnutrition for a healthy lifestyle atFit India Conclave

Goel said, “Today many citi-zens of our country need to beaware of fitness and the Ministryis constantly working towards it.‘Stay Fit India’ is an apt slogan forthis initiative. If we educate thecitizens of the nation about the

fitness, then the country will bethe most prosperous. Also, yogais very important for physical andmental development along withnutrition which plays an impor-tant role in developing one’s

health. We get the maximumnumber of players from villages,slum and backward areas. ‘Beingfit for Delhi’ will soon be organ-ising rural games in whole ofDelhi”.

He also mentioned that therewill be a law in the country regard-ing nutrition which is going to stopdoping in our country.

The event aims to generateawarness among people about beinghealthy and to protect themselvesfrom diseases. Gambhir said, “Whatwe eat decides how healthy one willbe. Nutrition is a big part of mycareer in cricket. If you have atrained fitness expert then yourchances of getting sick are greatlyreduced. Also, the right choice ofnutrition is essential.”

During the Fit India conclaveorganised by Glanbia, Avik Sanyal,Country Head of Glanbia, saidthat,“there is a great need to makeIndia’s people aware about the fitnessfor which we will work together withthe government in people’s healthrelated programs.”

India Tourism DevelopmentCorporation Ltd. (ITDC) hos-

pitality major under the aegis of theMinistry of Tourism, has signed aMemorandum of Understanding(MoU) with National Carrier AirIndia to upgrade the skills andknowledge base of Airlines seniorexecutive and cabin crew inHospitality and Service Industry.

The MoU was signed in thepresence of Ashwani Lohani,Chairman and Managing Director,

Air India and Sudha Chandra,Principal AIHTM and GeneralManager, HRD ITDC at Air IndiaHead Quarters, New Delhi on 29thMay 2017.

Subsequent to the signing ofMOU between Ashok Institute ofHospitality and TourismManagement (AIH and TM),ITDC and Air India to imparttraining to the executives of AirIndia; AIH&M conducted a fivedays training program on “LEAD-

ERSHIP EXCELLENCE” fromJuly 11th-15th 2017 for the firstbatch of senior executives of AirIndia at Hotel Samrat, Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion ofValedictory function held atHotel Samrat on July 15, 2017,Piyush Tiwari, OfficiatingChairman and ManagingDirector and DirectorCommercial and Marketing,ITDC said that, “ITDC is grate-ful to Air India and Ashwani

Lohani for their faith in ITDC’sexpertise in hospitality trainingand management. We are proudthat we have been the biggestforce to drive tourism in Indiaand have always contributed innation building and progressivedevelopment of the industry.Our talented team at AIHTM hasspecially designed curriculumfor Air India employees in con-sultation with best faculties andAir India management. We are

going to plan more programs inthe coming quarters for enforc-ing strength and leadership qual-ity in other organisations aswell.”

“ITDC and Air India are twomost prominent and visible PSUsin the service sector having lotsof common traits and can workfor mutual benefit.” Tiwari added.

33 senior executives wereawarded with certificates ofappreciation.

The Campus PlacementCell (CPC), Indira

Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU)in association with RegionalCentres of Delhi, NCR andadjoining Regional Centresof Karnal and Aligarh had organised CampusPlacement Drive for back-end support systemsin GSTN Tax PayersAssistance Centre in DelhiNCR on July 26, 2017 at BR Ambedkar ConventionCentre, Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity Campus, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi.

“Students of Post-graduate in M.Com, Mastersin Computer Application(MCA), MA Economics(MEC) and PG Diploma in Applied Statistics(PGDAST) were eligible toparticipate in the drive,”informed Professor BBKhanna, Director, CampusPlacement Cell, IGNOU.

The students wererequired to carry photo-copies of their resume (hav-ing IGNOU enrolment no),an ID proof, address proofand passport size photo-graph at the time of inter-view. The students have tojoin immediately as these areurgent openings. The list of selected andshortlisted students will bedeclared at the end of theday.

The fifteen day peregrinationwas f lagged off from Leh

on July 11, 2017 and traversed a distance of 1100 Kms.

During the journey, the team inter-acted with the veterans and fellowcountrymen along the way, unfurlingthe message of harmony, goodwill, unanimity, dauntless and inviolable spirit of the Kargil WarHeroes.

To celebrate this spirit and commemorate the 18th Kargil VijayDiwas, a 15 member expedition teamof the Trans Himalayan CyclingExpedition, of the Indian Army’s, ‘Forever in Ops Division’, Led by Maj Manish Kumar was flaggedby Lt General SK Patial, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal (UYSM), SM, Deputy Chief Of Army Staff (DCOAS) at India Gate,New Delhi.

The expedition cycled through theever changing majestic terrain throughsub-zero temperature of Rohtang Pass, the Kaleidoscopic Himalayan landscapes, through the NorthernStates of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, to the sultry hot plains of Northern India.Meandering along the great Himalayan folds to the humid plains ofNorthern India. The adventure allowed an exemplary display of Esprit- de-Corps, grit and enduranceof the team.

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For more than a year, NovakDjokovic's right elbow hurtwhen he hit serves or fore-

hands. The pain kept getting worse,and now he's going to give his arma chance to heal by sitting out forthe rest of 2017.

Djokovic will miss the US Open,ending his streak of participating in51 consecutive Grand Slam tourna-ments, and aims to return to the ATPtour in January. He made theannouncement Wednesday — exact-ly a year to the day after RogerFederer said he would be sidelinedfor the second half of last season.

"This is one of those injurieswhere nothing can really helpinstantly. You just have to allow nat-ural rehabilitation to take its course,"Djokovic said. "Professionally, this isnot, obviously, an easy decision forme."

Since entering his first majortournament at the 2005 AustralianOpen, Djokovic has never missedone, the third-longest active runamong men and seventh-longest inhistory.

In that time, the 30-year-old Serbhas won 12 Grand Slam titles,including the US Open in 2011 and2015. Only three men have wonmore major tennis singles champi-onships: Federer (19), Rafael Nadal(15) and Pete Sampras (14).

"The remarkable series has cometo an end. My body has its limits, andI have to respect that and be grate-ful for all that I have achieved so far,"said Djokovic.

He said that Andre Agassi, withwhom he recently began working ona part-time basis, will be his coachafter the hiatus. Djokovic plans tostart with a tuneup tournamentahead of the Australian Open at thestart of 2018.

"He supports my decision to takea break and remains my head coach,"Djokovic said about Agassi, also not-ing that he'll be looking for a new fit-ness trainer. "He is going to help meget back into shape and bounce backstrong after the recovery period."

Djokovic made his announce-ment via Facebook, his website andat a news conference here.

His last match was on July 12,when he stopped playing during hisWimbledon quarterfinal againstTomas Berdych because the elbowwas too painful. Djokovic said thenhe had been struggling with the

elbow on his racket-swinging arm forabout one and half years, which hereiterated Wednesday. He said hedoes not need surgery.

Since winning the 2016 FrenchOpen to become the eighth man tocomplete a career Grand Slam andthe first man in nearly a half-centu-ry to win four consecutive major tro-phies, Djokovic's form has dipped.His ranking dropped from No 1 toNo 4; he failed to defend any of thosemajor titles.

He acknowledged Wednesday

that he "felt worn out" and "flat" afterthe run of success that culminatedat Roland Garros in 2016.

"I was searching for myself, formotivation," he said.

Djokovic made it past the quar-terfinals at only one of the past fivemajors: last year's US Open, wherehe lost in the final to Stan Wawrinka.

Djokovic, who also mentionedWednesday that his wife is expect-ing their second child, reached atleast the semifinals at Arthur AsheStadium each of the past 10 years.

That includes seven appearances inthe final.

Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland,who is ranked 95th, will getDjokovic's spot in the field atFlushing Meadows. This year's USOpen starts August 28.

"All the doctors I've consulted,and all the specialists I have visited,in Serbia and all over the world, haveagreed that this injury requires rest.A prolonged break from the sport isinevitable," Djokovic said. "I'll dowhatever it takes to recover."

Federer demonstrated the ben-efits of a break last year, sitting outafter Wimbledon to let his surgical-ly repaired left knee heal fully.

He missed the Rio Olympics andUS Open and dropped out of the top10 in the rankings.

But Federer was rejuvenated atage 35 when he returned at thebeginning of this season and won theAustralian Open to end a four andhalf-year Grand Slam drought, plustitles at Indian Wells and Miami. Hetook more time off after that, miss-ing the clay-court circuit, andreturned for the grass, winning hiseighth Wimbledon championshipand 19th major title overall thismonth.

"Well, I hope it's not a trend,"Federer said about lengthy absences,the day after he won Wimbledon."You've got to have the same issuesthat I had. I didn't just walk awayfrom the game for six months lastyear just because I was in the moodto. I actually had to, so it's a big dif-ference there, as well. But, yes,everybody needs to manage theirown schedules."

%��&��Australian two-time GrandSlam singles champion MervynRose, who went on to coach greatsMargaret Court and Billie Jean King,has died, tennis officials said Tuesday.

Rose, who won the AustralianOpen and French Open along withfive Grand Slam doubles titles, was87.

"The tennis family is mourningthe passing of seven-time GrandSlam champion Mervyn Rose andour thoughts are with his family andfriends," said Tennis Australia.

Rose claimed his first major titleat the 1954 Australian Open, defeat-ing defending champion and topseed Ken Rosewall on the way to thefinal, where he beat his long-timedoubles partner Rex Hartwig.

A left-hander known for per-fecting the art of chip and charge, hewent on to win at Roland Garros fouryears later, overcoming Chile's LuisAyala in the final.

Rose was also part of Australia's1951 and 1957 Davis Cup-winningteams, reaching a career-high threein the world.

After retiring from playing, hemade the transition to coaching,working with some of the greatsincluding Court, King and ArantxaSanchez-Vicario.

�� )5*�"5,�

India A put up a listless batting display to suf-fer a two-wicket loss at the hands of hosts

South Africa A in a low-scoring one-dayer ofthe Tri-Series here on Wednesday.

Put into bat, skipper Manish Pandey (55)emerged as the top-scorer for India A beforethey were bundled out for 152 in 41.5 overs.

South Africa A then huffed and puffedtheir way to overhaul the target, scoring 153for 8 in 37.4 overs here.

Dwaine Pretorius (3/24) shone for SouthAfrica A with a three-wicket haul and a cru-cial 38 off 54 balls, which included three foursand a six.

Chasing a modest target, South Africa Afound the going tough as they were 16 for 2after losing H Davids (5) and D Paterson (11)early.

By 16th over, the hosts had lost half theirside with 71 runs on board as R Hendricks(11), K Zondo (15) and H Klaasen (24) weresent back to the hut.

At the 32nd over, Yuzvendra Chahalstruck twice, removing D Pretorius (38) andJT Smuts (0) in a space of four balls.

However, Farhaan Behardien (37) kept hisnerves as he alongwith AM Phangiso (3) tookthe team home with 12.2 overs to spare.

Earlier, left-arm spinner Phangiso returnedwith a four- wicket haul and Pretorius scalpedthree to skittle out India A for a low total.

Left-arm seamer Hendricks provided theearly breakthrough for South Africa A as hedealt twin blows in his opening over, remov-ing opener Sanju Samson (7) and SS Iyer (0)to leave India A struggling at 7 for 2.

Karun Nair (25) and Pandey then tried toresurrect the innings and added 42 runs beforethe former was dismissed by fast bowlerPretorius, who trapped the batsman in frontof wicket in the 14th over. Nair had fourboundaries during his 39-ball innings.

Wicket-keeper batsman Rishab Pant (10)was then sent packing by Pretorius with DanePaterson taking the catch.

Left-arm spinner Aaron Phangiso then gotinto the act to sent back Krunal Pandhya (0)and Axar Patel (10), and India A slumped to89 for 6 in 27 overs.

Pandey then joined hands with YuzvendraChahal (24) to bring up the 100 for India A.The 27-year-old Karnataka batsman scored hisfifty before becoming a prey of Phangiso.

New batsman Shardul Thakur (0) lastedjust two balls as he was cleaned up byPhangiso, while Basil Thampi was dismissedby Pretorius. Mohammed Siraj (8) was the lastwicket to fall as India A were dismissed for152.

Beuran Hendricks (2/15), DwainePretorius (3/24) and Aaron Phangiso (4/30)were the best bowlers for South Africa A.

��3��5,�

One week after his arrest in a corruptionprobe, Angel Maria Villar's three-

decade reign of the Spanish FootballFederation came to an end on Tuesday whenhe was suspended from its presidency.

Villar, FIFA's senior vice president, hasbeen behind bars since police detained him,his son Gorka Villar, and two other footballofficials during police raids of the nationalfederation headquarters and other proper-ties.

Seeing no sign that Villar was willing tostep down from the post he has held since1988, Spain's government decided to removehim in an attempt to limit the damage doneto the national sport.

The country's top sports authority, theHigher Council of Sport, met on Tuesday

in Madrid and ruled to suspend Villar forone year pending the outcome of the inves-tigation that has rocked Spanish soccer.Court documents indicate that besidesmisappropriated funds, Villar allegedlycorrupted several regional federations byoffering favors in exchange for votes.

Council president Jose Ramon Lete saidthe 14-member board voted unanimouslyto suspend Villar and federation vice pres-ident of economic affairs Juan Padron, alsoarrested in the Civil Guard's "OperationSoule." Lete said the one-year suspensionscould be revised "depending on the facts thatcome out."

The federation will hold a generalassembly on Wednesday to determine howit will go forward without its longtime bosswho oversaw Spain winning the 2010World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European

Championships.Lete also said the council decided it will

request to take part in the case as an injuredparty, joining the Spanish league.

The scandal also has repercussions forfootball beyond Spain's borders. Beside hisimportant role at FIFA, Villar is also a UEFAvice president and has been at the heart ofboth governing bodies since the 1990s. Hehas worked closely with international soc-cer leaders who have since been indicted bythe U.S. Justice Department, and was sin-gled out for questionable conduct in the 2014FIFA report on the World Cup biddingprocess. Villar was denied bail last Thursdayand transferred from a police jail to the Sotodel Real prison after being questioned byNational Court judge Santiago Pedraz,who cited flight risks after detailing howVillar allegedly misappropriated private

and public funds "at least since 2009."In a 44-page ruling that included sev-

eral quotes from phone taps carried out bypolice, Pedraz detailed why state prosecu-tors allege that Villar used his influence asfederation president to funnel private andpublic funds into regional federations inexchange for votes to remain in power foreight consecutive terms.

The state prosecutor also suspectsVillar used his control of the television rightsfor Spain's friendly matches to secure eco-nomic benefits for his son Gorka, a sportslawyer who has worked for CONMEBOLunder three presidents who were all impli-cated in corruption cases.

Also arrested last week was the secre-tary of the regional federation of Tenerife,Ramon Hernandez. Judge Pedraz deniedbail to Gorka Villar and Padron, while set-

ting bail for Hernandez at 100,000 euros($116,000). The 67-year-old Villar, a formerAthletic Bilbao player, and the other threemen are accused of improper management,misappropriation of funds, corruption andfalsifying documents.

Spain's minister of education, cultureand sport Inigo Mendez de Vigo said lastweek the government was prepared to takecharge of the operations of the federationto ensure that competition was not affect-ed. The government has yet to take that step.

The federation is in charge of the nation-al men's and women's national teams, theCopa del Rey, setting the calendars of theclub competitions, and the appointment ofreferees, among other areas. It does not runthe top two divisions of the Spanish men'sleague nor the women's league, which aregoverned by La Liga.

&��3��5,�

Argentinean football icon DiegoMaradona voiced his support for

the video assistant referee system, whileacknowledging that with this technol-ogy his infamous goal against Englandin the 1986 World Cup would not havecounted.

"Football can't fall behind. Given therate at which technology is advancingand the fact that every sport uses it, howcan we not think about using it in foot-ball?" the former Barcelona and Napolistar told FIFA's website on Tuesday.

"People get annoyed when some-thing that shouldn't be given is given,or when you have a goal wrongly dis-allowed. Technology brings trans-parency and quality, and it provides apositive outcome for teams who decideto attack and take risks," Maradonaadded.

The VAR technology has beentested by FIFA at a number of its tour-naments, most recently at the FIFAConfederations Cup in Russia, reportsEfe.

Maradona acknowledged that notonly his "Hand of God" goal againstEngland in the 1986 FIFA World Cupquarter-final would not have beencounted with this technology, butthings could have taken a different turnin one of the 1990 World Cup match-es.

"I thought about it and, sure, thatgoal wouldn't have stood if technologyhad been around. And I'll tell you some-

thing else, at the 1990 World Cup I usedmy hand to clear the ball off the lineagainst the Soviet Union," the 56-year-old recollected.

"We were lucky because the refer-ee didn't see it. You couldn't use tech-nology back then, but it's a differentstory today," he added.

9��D��$��%�� E%�F� Manchester Unitedmanager Jose Mourinho says that theformer English Premier League (EPL)champions don't need the services ofMexican striker Javier Hernandez.

"I would always welcome (him) inmy squad because he doesn't need manyminutes on the pitch to score but wemove in another direction in a youngerplayer in Lukaku and we have Rashfordwho can be a striker. So we didn't feel

that need," Mourinho was quoted as say-ing on Wednesday by the Independentahead of their International ChampionsCup match against FC Barcelona.

The Mexican returned to Englishfootball on Monday, joining EPL sideWest Ham United after being sold toGerman football club Bayer Leverkusenby then Manchester United coachLouis Van Gaal in 2015.

Mourinho hailed the West Hamsigning and said he never takes time tosettle and score goals. "He left the cluba few years ago, I'm not sure (if) it washis decision or the manager's but he'sa good player, he's a player that willalways score goals," the Portugese said.

��%��.�� One-time Brazil mid-fielder Ederson says he has testicularcancer and won't be able to play for hisFlamengo club for months.

The disease was detected lastSaturday and he will undertake surgerynext Monday, the 31-year-old footballersaid in a news conference on Tuesday.

Ederson has played for Nice andLyon in France, and for Lazio in Italy.He represented Brazil once in 2010, andjoined Flamengo in 2015.

Flamengo doctor Marcio Tannuresaid there was a 99 per cent chance oftotal recovery for Ederson, who wascontracted to the club to Dec 31.Tannure said the disease was discoveredafter Ederson failed doping tests afterthree matches of the Brazilian champi-onship in May.

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Sri Lankan batsman Asela Gunaratne was today ruledout of the ongoing three-Test series against India after

fracturing his left thumbduring the opening day ofthe first match here.

Gunaratne sustainedthe injury in the 14th overwhile fielding at secondslip. He hurt his thumbwhile attempting a catch ofIndia opener ShikharDhawan off the bowling ofLahiru Kumara. Dhawan was batting on 31 whenGunaratne dived to his left to hold on to an edge offthe Indian's bat, only for the ball to hit him on the endof the thumb. Gunaratne left the ground clutching hiswrist and he was immediately rushed to Colombo foran operation. He will take no further part in the series.

Getting a reprieve, the India opener later went onto score a career-best innings of 190.

Gunaratne's injury means Sri Lanka will bat withonly 10 players in both their innings.

�� $*!��*+�,

The BCCI on Wednesday adoptedLodha panel reforms partially, reject-

ing all major recommendations on goodgovernance including age cap, tenure andcooling-off period at its Special GeneralMeeting here.

Having got a shot in the arm fromSupreme Court, which has agreed to hearthe "practical difficulties" on August 18,BCCI did not implement the controver-sial reforms on age cap (70 years), cool-ing off (3 years) and tenure (9 years eachat state and BCCI).

Not accepting what was termed byLodha Panel as principles of good gov-ernance is an indication that old guardsNiranjan Shah and N Srinivasan manageto stay relevant despite disqualification.

BCCI acting secretary AmitabhChoudhary on Wednesday said thatthey have unanimously adopted all butfive reforms as per Supreme Court ver-dict on July 18, 2016.

The five reforms cover: (1) Matterspertaining to membership, one state onevote, retention of full members, Railways,Services etc (2) Definition of powers ofappointed executives. (3) Size and con-stitution of apex council. (4) Restrictionand disqualification of office bearers andministers and government officials, age,tenure and cooling off period. (5) Size ofnational selection committee.

Choudhary only explained why thedisqualification of government employ-ees and ministers was kept among theirreservations.

"If we want Railways or Services toretain full membership (voting) rights,then they can only be represented byeither a government employee or a min-ister," he said.

On the size of proposed ApexCouncil, Choudhary said that "Currently,it's proposed size is five members. It hasonly one vice-president and members areof the opinion that it is smaller in size con-sidering the length and breadth of coun-

try."Choudhary said that they are still in

process of sorting out Conflict of Interestclause as there are a few objections frommembers.

The BCCI has also shortlisted a panelof names for role of Ombudsman.

.��9��&�Adhering strictly to the Supreme

Court diktat of letting in only office-bear-ers, the BCCI on Wednesday did notallow its Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Rahul Johri to attend the Special GeneralMeeting (SGM) here.

Along with Johri, the representativesOdisha and Punjab were debarred fromthe meeting as the representatives werenot office-bearers. As per the SC order,the ones eligible are president, vice pres-ident, secretary, joint/assistant Secretaryand treasurer.

While it is not a rule but a conven-tion, a team of BCCI employees arealways available for secretarial help dur-ing these meetings but a wary BCCI wentstraight by the book.

"Johri is not an office bearer but asalaried employee of BCCI. While heattended all previous SGMs, we can't takea chance this time as we have to honourSC order in letter and spirit. All employ-ees were told by acting secretary that theyhave to leave the room," a state unit rep-resentative, who did not wish to be namedsaid.

It was learnt that Choudhary per-sonally checked all the letters of autho-risation brought by representatives so thatthere is no violation of apex court's order.

�� 3�39�,

It wasn't much of a possibility a cou-ple of years back but India captain

Mithali Raj today said a women'sIndian Premier League is closer toreality after her team's brilliant WorldCup campaign.

Asked if she expects a women'sIPL soon, Mithali said:"If you hadasked me this question, a couple ofyears back, probably I would not(support the idea to have women'sIPL), but (may be) now since aftergoing to the World Cup and the waythey have responded and improved thestandard of women's cricket, taking itto different level."

For a women's IPL, the generalstandard of the game needs to be goodand Mithali feels that it has happenedas the statistics of this World Cup sug-gests.

"Scoring more than 300 plus,every team has got a centurion and afive wicket haul bowler, so it is prob-ably because of the leagues inAustralia and England and may be acouple of players have improved theirstandard and they have performedvery well for the country," she said.

Mithali feels that an IPL will alsohelp the domestic players improvetheir standard.

"We now have a base, it will helpeven the domestic players in terms ofexposure, but again it is up to theBCCI to organize the league.

“As a player, I feel now the domes-tic players are exposed to good crick-eting environment and interact withforeign players, they will benefit,"Mithali stated.

She is proud that her team has now

got global acceptance."This was a moment when a team

sport apart from men's cricket gar-nered so much attention because it'sindividual sport always gets thatmileage.

"In team games, irrespective ofhaving 2-3 good players, if the teamdoes not do well, you do not get thatattention, but it feels nice because weplay cricket and it is like a religion inIndia," she said when asked if it's awatershed moment in women's game.

But the bunch of 15 women fullydeserves it, feels their captain.

"They always deserved it. Nowbecause of broadcasting and televisingof the game, it is more, coming underBCCI has made a difference.

“I always believed if more match-es are televised, we can attract morepeople," said Raj, who became theleading run-scorer in women's One-day Internationals, during the event.

"The way the girls have played,Indian and other teams have put upgood standard of cricket in World Cupand it has given impetus to womencricket globally, it has given us morepositive feedback," she added.

The skipper lauded BCCI forbringing a structure in women's crick-et.

"Since two-three years, we have got

days game in the domestic structure,BCCI has made an effort to get under-16 level, that is the basic level wherethe girls can get into to play the high-er level.

“I have myself played U-16s, U-19sa lot, they are coming with U-23 aswell.

"There are changes in the domes-tic structure to develop quality play-ers but still there is a huge gapbetween domestic and internationalstandards.

“It is matter of playing moregames and giving them more oppor-tunities," she observed.

Asked what she wanted BCCI todo more, she quipped,"If you ask me,I am playing since 1999, when therewere no monetary benefits but youshould ask the question to those whohave come now."

But the skipper agreed that herteam needs to buck as far as their T20game is concerned especially aftertheir disastrous World T20 campaign.

"We put in the same hard workthat we would put for the T20 WorldCup, because it is a different formatand requires different preparation.

“It will start very soon and it willbe challenging as India have a longway to go in T20 format," concluded Mithali.

��3�39�,

Aggression comes naturally to HarmanpreetKaur and she attributes her six-hitting

prowess to playing with men in the formative daysof her career.

Harmanpreet's 171runs against Australia inthe World Cup semifinal made her an overnightsensation and many started comparing the 28-year-old to the legendary Kapil Dev.

The batting star said the memorable inningswas not any different to her usual style of play asshe likes to play aggressive brand of cricket sincechildhood. "I like to bat in that way since child-hood, I have learnt to play that way and playedcricket with boys, who used to hit sixes and I likedhitting sixes. In the final (that India lost toEngland), we needed runs and I was going forruns, I played the shot thinking it will be fully cov-ered, but it went into the fielder's hand. I was verydisappointed," Harmanpreet said.

She was due for runs in the knock out stagesafter a quiet league stage. And the team could nothave asked her for more in the semifinal.

"I have played knocks like that in domesticcricket, I got chance in international but nevermade a long score. That match was telecast andpeople saw it, we had the hunger to win that matchand I was happy that I played that knock whenthe team needed and the team won," said the right-

handed batswoman.She insists that her focus is always on the

team's total while batting and that is why she didnot worry about her fitness during the marathonknock against Australia. "It was not at all difficultin terms of fitness, as I like fitness and like to playfootball. There were injuries, but thanks tophysio, I did alright," she added.

�� -�++*

Shikhar Dhawan was left hurt after being dropped from the IndianTest team but says he remained confident of making his way

back into the longest format sooner than later.After day's play, Dhawan recalled the time when he was not

part of the Test team."When I had that lean patch, I knew that if I wasn't going to

score runs, I could get out of the side. Of course I felt that pres-sure at that moment and when I got out of the Test side, it hurtme," said Dhawan.

"But then, I moved on and I started playing domestic cricketfor Delhi and I was enjoying myself there. One thing about me isthat I don't like to be sad all the time. I like to be happy and so I

was enjoying myself over there and knew that ifthings have to come, they

will come my way."I don't want to run

around things toomuch. I am going to

keep doing my work andfollow my process. I love

doing my fitness drills andwork on my skill level. I knewif it has to come, it will come."

Dhawan was not part of theoriginal squad but was brought in

after an injured Murali Vijay pulled outof the series last minute.

"My plans were to go to Melbourne andspend time with my family, do training andget fit for the ODI series. I was in Hong Kong

actually, on holiday, and from there I flew backto India and joined the team.

"That was my plan, but I think destiny hada different plan for me. I am happy and thank-

ful to God," said the opener.

��9�D��%��%��&��Sri Lanka's cricket manager Asanka Gurusinha

today rued the dropped catch of Shikhar Dhawan,saying the team paid a heavy price as India finishedday one of the first Test at 399 for three.

Dhawan was on 31 at the time when his catchwas dropped and the opener went on to score 190off 168 deliveries.

"It is hard to appreciate bowlers' effort after youconcede 400 runs in a day. India are a very strong

side. We dropped a catch of Dhawan and then paid a price. Notsure what would have happened had that catch been taken," saidthe manager at the press conference. "It was a double blow. Wedropped the catch and lost a player. It's sad," the manager added.

The Lankan bowling attack came a cropper as it simply failedto contain the Indian batsmen, particularly Dhawan who punishedthem with 31 fours and scored at a rate in excess of 100.

�� -�++*

Opener Shikhar Dhawan madethe most of his lucky Testcomeback to slam a career-best

190-run knock, while CheteshwarPujara continued his golden run asIndia posted a formidable 399/3 on dayone of the first Test against Sri Lankahere.

Brought into the squad only afterfirst-choice opener Murali Vijay wasruled out due to injury, Dhawan madefull use of the opportunity and playedan entertaining 168-ball innings thatwas studded with 31 fours. This was hisfifth Test hundred.

Perfect foil to him was the in-formPujara, who notched up his 12th Testhundred, remaining unbeaten at 144 off247 balls. The duo powered India totheir highest total on day one of an awayTest and also the best by a visiting teamin Sri Lanka, bettering the West Indies.

They also shared a 253-run second-wicket stand, which can well bedescribed the defining partnership forIndia.

It was a case of two contrastinghundreds but both served India's pur-pose quite well against a home team,which was down to 10 men after mid-dle-order batsman Asela Gunaratnewas ruled out of the series with a frac-tured left thumb.

The visiting batsmen were inmarauding form and amassed thehighest number of runs on the open-ing day of a Test by a visiting team inSri Lanka. In the process, Indiaimproved on their previous record ofmost runs scored on the opening dayof an overseas Test, which stood at375/9 versus New Zealand inWellington.

Earlier, Virat Kohli (3) was caughtbehind shortly after the tea break as hetried to pull a short delivery and onlymanaged to edge to the keeper. SriLanka opted for a DRS review after theinitial not-out decision, and got it over-turned. But Ajinkya Rahane (39 batting,94 balls, 1 four) put on 113 runs withPujara for the fourth wicket and saw outthe remainder of the session withoutany trouble. They crossed the 50-mark off 96 balls and then the 100-mark off 182 balls. India crossed 300in the 63rd over, and then 350 in the77th over, with the run-rate slowingdown a tad as compared to the first twosessions when Dhawan was at thecrease.

In the process, Pujara brought up

his 12th Test hundred off 172 balls,inclusive of eight fours. Sri Lankatook the second new ball in the 81stover, but were unable to get a break-through even as play was extended tocomplete the day's quota of overs.

Earlier, Dhawan scored his highestTest score as India reached 282/2 at tea.After lunch, Dhawan and Pujarabrought up their 100-partnership off130 balls.

The left-handed opener reached hisfifth Test hundred off 110 balls, inclu-sive of 16 fours. He had scored at anawe- inspiring strike rate of 91.81until then, and accelerated once hecrossed this landmark. In total, hescored at 113.09 during his stay at thecrease.

He crossed 150 off 147 balls, withanother eight boundaries. Dhawanunleashed a plethora of sweep shotsagainst the spinners as Sri Lanka hadno clue on how to possibly contain him.His 200-partnership with Pujara cameup off 236 balls, and then crossed 250off 280 balls, as runs came easily

Shortly afterwards, Dhawancrossed his previous best score of 187against Australia scored at Mohali inMarch 2013 and looked primed forscoring his maiden Test double hun-dred. But it wasn't to be as he miscueda shot straight to Angelo Mathews atmid-off off Nuwan Pradeep (3-64) min-utes before the tea break, and threwaway his wicket needlessly.

In the morning, Dhawan andPujara helped India reach 115/1 in 27overs at lunch. This was after India wonthe toss and opted to bat. The visitorsopted for a five-pronged attack as all-rounder Hardik Pandya made his Testdebut. For Sri Lanka, DanushkaGunathilaka was handed his maidenTest cap as well.

Dhawan opened the innings withAbhinav Mukund (12) and the twobatsmen got off the blocks very quick-ly. Despite a sprinkling of green on theGalle pitch, pacers Pradeep and LahiruKumara (0-95) couldn't make optimaluse of the new ball. The opening duoscored at will as they rotated strike with

ease.With a great batting track available,

Mukund wasted a golden opportuni-ty for a big score as he edged behindoff Pradeep in the 8th over.

Spin was introduced in the seventhover but it wasn't stand-in skipperRangana Herath who came on tobowl. Instead, off-break bowlerDilruwan Perera (0-103) was intro-duced into the attack.

He didn't make any positiveimpact on Dhawan, or his newpartner as Pujara also made apositive start to his innings.The pair looked to attackagainst spin but after a fewmisses, settled down to forma partnership. They put on 50runs off only 60 balls, settingthe pace for the remainder of the day.Dhawan was given a life when AselaGunaratne dropped him at second slipoff Kumar in that same over. He was on31 not out at that time, and went on toscore his 4th Test half- century off 62balls inclusive of four fours.

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