16
P resident Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday embarked on Presidential Yacht “INS Sumitra” and reviewed the imposing international parade of fleet at International Fleet Review here where 50 countries across the globe have come together to participate in this show of prowess and pre- paredness by the Indian Navy. Mukherjee, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, was accompanied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, among others at the fleet review. Modi will be the chief guest at the International City Parade to be held here on Sunday. This is the 11th fleet review after Independence and the second international one being conducted in India. The President was onboard INS Sumitra which sailed through a display of 70 ships at anchor- age off Visakhapatnam. “IFR 2016, while focusing on the prowess of Indian Navy, has brought together Navies from across the globe here on Indian shores, signifying our common desire to use the seas to promote peace, cooperation and friendship as also develop partnership for a secure mar- itime future. Navies world over have conducted fleet reviews to symbolise their loyalty, alle- giance to the nation and strengthening bonds between the sailors and the State,” the President said. “Your presence in such large numbers has made this inter- national event spectacular and truly reflects the spirit of this IFR, we are indeed ‘United through Oceans’. The waters that lap our coast also wash your shores, these great blue ‘COM- MONS’ indeed link us to each other,” the President added. The review had a combi- nation of ships from Indian Navy as well as frontline Navies from across the globe. The ships from Indian Coast Guard and Mercantile Marine too participated. Turn to Page 4 T he latest case of a police- man deserting with rifles in Jammu & Kashmir on Saturday has confirmed apprehensions of the security establishment about a new trend wherein ter- rorist organizations are asking potential recruits to prove their mettle by stealing or snatching weapons besides carrying out attacks. At least three such incidents have taken place in the last few months. This apart, the pre-dawn fidayeen attacks on military establishments including the Pathankot airbase in January and an Army camp in Tangdhar in December last year has forced security forces to change their patrolling tac- tics by rotating the sentries at shorter intervals to ensure they remain alert during those cru- cial hours to prevent intrusion. Giving the details of the lat- est suspected desertion, offi- cials said Riyaz Ahmad, a dri- ver in the police department and posted at Rainawari Police Station in Srinagar, had not reported for duty since Friday. A service rifle of one of the constables at the police station was also missing. “Riyaz, who was working as a driver, might have fled with the rifle as we have not been able to contact him since Friday,” they said adding efforts were on to trace the missing cop. This is the third incident of a policeman deserting the force with official weapons in the past few months. Last month, a policeman posted in Bijbehara decamped with four rifles from a police establishment in the south Kashmir Anantnag district and joined the ranks of militants. While the police managed to recover three rifles and nab an accomplice of the cop, he is still missing. In October last year, a Personal Security Officer (PSO) of then Minister for Roads and Buildings Altaf Bukhari decamped with his service rifles to join the mili- tants. The PSO was later spot- ted in a video released by Hizbul Mujahideen’s “Divisional Commander” Burhan Wani. Elaborating on this alarm- ing new trend, officials said militant organisations were urging potential recruits, including policemen and oth- ers to prove their worth by stealing or snatching rifles. Turn to Page 4 D emanding a CBI investi- gation, the father of six- year-old Devansh, who was found dead in the water tank at Ryan International School’s, Vasant Kunj branch, alleged on Saturday that his son was sex- ually assaulted before being killed. Indicating that the child had been sodomised, Ramheet Meena in a letter to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung alleged that there were injury marks on the boy’s private parts and cot- ton swabs had been stuffed in the child’s anal passage. However, citing prelimi- nary reports the police ruled out any possibility of sexual assault on the child. A senior officer said the boy’s body had no external injuries. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia who has the education portfolio, said there were enough indi- cations to suggest that it was a “heinous crime” and promised action against the guilty. “The observations of the parents are being ignored that the private parts of the child had cotton in them. The report is indicating towards a heinous crime. And saying that he had a disorder amounts to running away from responsibilities,” Sisodia told reporters Police on Saturday sent notices to Ryan International Group’s Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Pinto and north- ern zone head Francis Thomas seeking details about the under- ground reservoir in the school where Devansh’s body was found floating on January 30. An official privy to the investigation said they have also been asked about the “char- ter of duty” related to responsi- bilities of the staff members employed by the school’s man- agement and the protocol to be followed in times of emergency. He said that central foren- sic teams and senior police officials conducted a thorough inspection of the spot thrice. “During investigation it also came to light that children often went near the water reser- voir as some objects were found floating in the water tank, which had no cautionary signs nearby. Fortunately for all no untoward incidents had taken place in the school until Devansh’s case,” the senior officer said. Turn to Page 4 A ustralia’s veteran all- rounder Shane Watson emerged as the biggest draw going for a whopping 9.50 crore but it was young uncapped all-rounder Pawan Negi, who turned heads with a mind-boggling deal of 8.50 crore to be the costli- est Indian buy in an other- wise low-key IPL players’ auction here on Saturday. The 34-year-old Watson, who marked his return to form with a blazing century against India in the last T20, triggered an intense bidding war among three franchises before Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clinched the deal with the highest package so far. Watson thus became the first million dollar buy of the auction with his package translating into $1.39 mil- lion. He was joined by Yuvraj Singh (7 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad) soon after even though Saturday’s bid was far less than the 16 crore he had garnered in the last auc- tion. Also walking away with a package of 7 crore was South Africa’s big-hitting all-rounder Chris Morris, who was bought by Delhi Daredevils. However, the show-stealer of the day came in the post- lunch session in the 23-year-old Negi, who has created a flutter with his selection for the Twenty20 World Cup next month. The youngster, who has played for Chennai Super Kings, had a bonanza awaiting him just a day after being select- ed for the Indian team. No uncapped player has clinched the mammoth deal that he managed to get after an intense bidding war, which was won by Delhi Daredevils. Although Negi clinched the biggest deal but it was a rewarding day for India’s uncapped players, many of whom fetched excellent packages. Some among them were Karun Nair (4 crore to Delhi Daredevils), India under-19 player Rishabh Pant (1.9 crore to Delhi), all-rounder Deepak Hooda (4.2 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad), Tamil nadu spinner M Ashwin (4.5 crore to Rising Pune Super Giants) and Krunal Pandya ( 2 crore to Mumbai Indians). Rishabh Pant had guid- ed the India colts to the semi-final of the ICC U-19 World Cup in Fatullah in Dhaka with a crushing 197- run win over Namibia. Among the big names, veteran Indian pacer Ashish Nehra ( 5.5 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad), Ishant Sharma (3.8 crore to Rising Pune Super Giants), Kevin Pietersen (3.5 crore to RPSG), and Dwayne Smith (2.3 crore to Gujarat Lions) were the top draws among the mar- quee players in the auction which was beamed live to millions of viewers. Related reports on P8 T he Uttarakhand Meteorological Centre has forecast light to moderate rain or snow at several places in the State on Sunday. The Met director Bikram Singh has attributed this to a fresh spell of western disturbances. The weather forecast for Dehradun on Sunday is partly cloudy sky. Thunder cloud development is likely to occur in some areas on Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 18ºC and 10 ºC, respec- tively, in Dehradun on Sunday. Singh further informed that the maximum and minimum tem- peratures were recorded at 22.9 ºC and 8.9ºC in Dehradun while it was 19.6ºC and 9.8ºC in Tehri, 19.4ºC and 9.1ºC in Mukteshwar and 23.6ºC and 6.0ºC in Pantnagar on Saturday. E minent cartoonist Sudhir Tailang, who for decades sketched contemporary polit- ical figures and captured the vagaries of Indian politics and public figures with the deft strokes of his pen in a humorous manner, passed away on Saturday, after fight- ing brain cancer for over two years. Tailang, 56, died at his East Delhi residence in Mayur Vihar a few weeks after com- ing home from hospital after doctors gave up all hope of curing his brain tumour. The cartoonist, who would have turned 56 on February 26, is survived by his daughter and wife. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004. Turn to Page 4

have conducted fleet reviews to symbolise their loyalty, ... parents are being ignored that ... for Chennai Super Kings,

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President Pranab Mukherjeeon Saturday embarked on

Presidential Yacht “INSSumitra” and reviewed theimposing international paradeof fleet at International FleetReview here where 50 countriesacross the globe have cometogether to participate in thisshow of prowess and pre-paredness by the Indian Navy.Mukherjee, the SupremeCommander of the ArmedForces, was accompanied byPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Defence Minister ManoharParrikar, among others at thefleet review. Modi will be thechief guest at the InternationalCity Parade to be held here on

Sunday.This is the 11th fleet review

after Independence and thesecond international one beingconducted in India. ThePresident was onboard INSSumitra which sailed through

a display of 70 ships at anchor-age off Visakhapatnam.

“IFR 2016, while focusingon the prowess of Indian Navy,has brought together Naviesfrom across the globe here onIndian shores, signifying our

common desire to use the seasto promote peace, cooperationand friendship as also developpartnership for a secure mar-itime future. Navies world overhave conducted fleet reviews tosymbolise their loyalty, alle-

giance to the nation andstrengthening bonds betweenthe sailors and the State,” thePresident said.

“Your presence in such largenumbers has made this inter-national event spectacular and

truly reflects the spirit of thisIFR, we are indeed ‘Unitedthrough Oceans’. The watersthat lap our coast also wash yourshores, these great blue ‘COM-MONS’ indeed link us to eachother,” the President added.

The review had a combi-nation of ships from IndianNavy as well as frontline Naviesfrom across the globe. Theships from Indian Coast Guardand Mercantile Marine tooparticipated.

Turn to Page 4

����������%�����!������� �8���8956:2�44

The latest case of a police-man deserting with rifles in

Jammu & Kashmir on Saturdayhas confirmed apprehensionsof the security establishmentabout a new trend wherein ter-rorist organizations are askingpotential recruits to prove theirmettle by stealing or snatchingweapons besides carrying outattacks. At least three suchincidents have taken place inthe last few months.

This apart, the pre-dawnfidayeen attacks on militaryestablishments including thePathankot airbase in Januaryand an Army camp inTangdhar in December lastyear has forced security forcesto change their patrolling tac-tics by rotating the sentries atshorter intervals to ensure theyremain alert during those cru-cial hours to prevent intrusion.

Giving the details of the lat-est suspected desertion, offi-cials said Riyaz Ahmad, a dri-ver in the police departmentand posted at Rainawari PoliceStation in Srinagar, had not

reported for duty since Friday.A service rifle of one of theconstables at the police stationwas also missing. “Riyaz, whowas working as a driver, mighthave fled with the rifle as wehave not been able to contacthim since Friday,” they saidadding efforts were on to tracethe missing cop.

This is the third incident ofa policeman deserting the forcewith official weapons in thepast few months.

Last month, a policemanposted in Bijbehara decampedwith four rifles from a policeestablishment in the southKashmir Anantnag district andjoined the ranks of militants.While the police managed to

recover three rifles and nab anaccomplice of the cop, he is stillmissing. In October last year, aPersonal Security Officer(PSO) of then Minister forRoads and Buildings AltafBukhari decamped with hisservice rifles to join the mili-tants. The PSO was later spot-ted in a video released byHizbul Mujahideen’s“Divisional Commander”Burhan Wani.

Elaborating on this alarm-ing new trend, officials saidmilitant organisations wereurging potential recruits,including policemen and oth-ers to prove their worth bystealing or snatching rifles.

Turn to Page 4

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�������������� �8���8956

Demanding a CBI investi-gation, the father of six-

year-old Devansh, who wasfound dead in the water tank atRyan International School’s,Vasant Kunj branch, alleged onSaturday that his son was sex-ually assaulted before beingkilled.

Indicating that the childhad been sodomised, RamheetMeena in a letter to LieutenantGovernor Najeeb Jung allegedthat there were injury marks onthe boy’s private parts and cot-ton swabs had been stuffed inthe child’s anal passage.

However, citing prelimi-nary reports the police ruledout any possibility of sexualassault on the child. A seniorofficer said the boy’s body hadno external injuries.

Meanwhile, Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia whohas the education portfolio,said there were enough indi-cations to suggest that it was a“heinous crime” and promisedaction against the guilty.

“The observations of theparents are being ignored thatthe private parts of the childhad cotton in them. The reportis indicating towards a heinouscrime. And saying that he hada disorder amounts to runningaway from responsibilities,”Sisodia told reporters

Police on Saturday sent

notices to Ryan InternationalGroup’s Chief AdministrativeOfficer Ryan Pinto and north-ern zone head Francis Thomasseeking details about the under-ground reservoir in the schoolwhere Devansh’s body wasfound floating on January 30.

An official privy to theinvestigation said they havealso been asked about the “char-ter of duty” related to responsi-bilities of the staff membersemployed by the school’s man-agement and the protocol to befollowed in times of emergency.

He said that central foren-sic teams and senior policeofficials conducted a thoroughinspection of the spot thrice.“During investigation it alsocame to light that childrenoften went near the water reser-voir as some objects were foundfloating in the water tank, whichhad no cautionary signs nearby.Fortunately for all no untowardincidents had taken place in theschool until Devansh’s case,” thesenior officer said.

Turn to Page 4

��� � /8��90:;��99�5

Australia’s veteran all-rounder Shane Watson

emerged as the biggest drawgoing for a whopping �9.50crore but it was younguncapped all-rounder PawanNegi, who turned heads witha mind-boggling deal of�8.50 crore to be the costli-est Indian buy in an other-wise low-key IPL players’auction here on Saturday.

The 34-year-old Watson,who marked his return toform with a blazing centuryagainst India in the last T20,triggered an intense biddingwar among three franchisesbefore Royal ChallengersBangalore (RCB) clinchedthe deal with the highestpackage so far.

Watson thus became thefirst million dollar buy of theauction with his packagetranslating into $1.39 mil-lion. He was joined by YuvrajSingh (�7 crore to SunrisersHyderabad) soon after even

though Saturday’s bid wasfar less than the �16 crore hehad garnered in the last auc-tion.

Also walking away witha package of �7 crore wasSouth Africa’s big-hittingall-rounder Chris Morris,who was bought by DelhiDaredevils. However, theshow-stealer of the day camein the post- lunch session inthe 23-year-old Negi, whohas created a flutter with hisselection for the Twenty20World Cup next month. Theyoungster, who has playedfor Chennai Super Kings,had a bonanza awaiting himjust a day after being select-ed for the Indian team. Nouncapped player hasclinched the mammoth dealthat he managed to get afteran intense bidding war,which was won by DelhiDaredevils.

Although Negi clinchedthe biggest deal but it was arewarding day for India’suncapped players, many of

whom fetched excellentpackages. Some among them

were Karun Nair (�4 crore toDelhi Daredevils), India

under-19 player RishabhPant (�1.9 crore to Delhi),all-rounder Deepak Hooda(�4.2 crore to SunrisersHyderabad), Tamil naduspinner M Ashwin (�4.5crore to Rising Pune SuperGiants) and Krunal Pandya(�2 crore to MumbaiIndians).

Rishabh Pant had guid-ed the India colts to thesemi-final of the ICC U-19World Cup in Fatullah inDhaka with a crushing 197-run win over Namibia.

Among the big names,veteran Indian pacer AshishNehra (�5.5 crore toSunrisers Hyderabad),Ishant Sharma (�3.8 croreto Rising Pune SuperGiants), Kevin Pietersen(�3.5 crore to RPSG), andDwayne Smith (�2.3 croreto Gujarat Lions) were thetop draws among the mar-quee players in the auctionwhich was beamed live tomillions of viewers.

Related reports on P8

��� �850���

The Uttarakhand MeteorologicalCentre has forecast light to

moderate rain or snow at severalplaces in the State on Sunday.

The Met director BikramSingh has attributed this to a freshspell of western disturbances. Theweather forecast for Dehradun onSunday is partly cloudy sky.Thunder cloud development islikely to occur in some areas onSunday.

The maximum and minimumtemperatures are likely to bearound 18ºC and 10 ºC, respec-tively, in Dehradun on Sunday.Singh further informed that themaximum and minimum tem-peratures were recorded at 22.9 ºCand 8.9ºC in Dehradun while it was19.6ºC and 9.8ºC in Tehri, 19.4ºCand 9.1ºC in Mukteshwar and23.6ºC and 6.0ºC in Pantnagar onSaturday.

��� �8���8956

Eminent cartoonist SudhirTailang, who for decades

sketched contemporary polit-ical figures and captured thevagaries of Indian politicsand public figures with thedeft strokes of his pen in ahumorous manner, passedaway on Saturday, after fight-ing brain cancer for over twoyears.

Tailang, 56, died at hisEast Delhi residence in MayurVihar a few weeks after com-ing home from hospital afterdoctors gave up all hope ofcuring his brain tumour. Thecartoonist, who would haveturned 56 on February 26, issurvived by his daughter andwife. He was awarded thePadma Shri in 2004.

Turn to Page 4

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�Was it really a tough decision to say yes toKhatron Ke Khiladi Season 7?

There was no negative thought ordilemma, only excitement when I got thisoffer. When Colors came to me, they had avery clear picture of what they wanted andwhy they chose me. Looking at theirconfidence was very heartening and anadded incentive. �Did you feel any pressure of living up tothe show’s standard?

There was no pressure. I never putmyself in comparison with Akshay Kumar orRohit Shetty. Both have been here for decadesand have done some great work. Regardlessof all that, the line-up and content are sostrong that it has done continuously wellregardless of who the judge was. �How difficult is this season from theprevious ones?

The difficulty quotient is very high andit gave a lot of peeda to the contestants. I’veadded some twists. Every stunt is designed ina way that could fail any strategy. Just whenyou feel you understood the stunt, Iintroduced a new twist. Because of my filmykeeda, we exploited that and brought someelements of that as well. �What was the biggest challenge for you?

More than doing stunts by myself, thebiggest challenge was to host the show. I amused to playing a character on screen, it waschallenging to be myself in front of the camera24X7. I had to keep up my energy level, bespirited, encourage the contestants others andunderstand what’s going on in every stunt. Youhave to be spontaneous, treat each person asper their personality and merit. Also to spenda 20-episode journey with 12 people whomyou don’t know. And still make it your ownby the end of it is a challenge. �Tell us about the contestants and yourbonding with them?

They went through a lot of physical andmental stress than I did. I was giving them adaily dose of peeda and creating anenvironment with my filmy keeda. Youempathise with these people because youknow that they have come with so much ofdetermination, putting themselves throughchallenges and fighting their fears. I connectedwith them as a friend. As a host, I remindedthem that they have got this opportunity toface all their fear and come out stronger.�What is the biggest fear in your life?

I’ve always had a fear of giving up.Thankfully I’ve never done that. I hope thatI don’t become that person who walks awayand gives up on a fight. I’ve had my share ofchallenges and I’ve risen to the occasionwhenever needed. �You’ve lost so much of weight when youmade your debut in Bollywood. How areyou maintaining yourself?

I owe to my profession and I’ve to keepmaking an effort even if I don’t want to. It’snot about building six pack abs but aboutbeing physically active and having thatconfidence to take on a lot of challengesphysically, mentally and emotionally. To beable to focus and channel your energy,you’ve to give yourself at least half an hourfor your physical and mental well-being. Iwould like to believe that when I’ll havechildren, I should be fit enough to go and playwith them. I wouldn’t want to be a father whosits and watches them play. �What you took back from the show?

It was a very fulfilling experience as Idiscovered a lot of myself as well. I believedthat I had it in me. I feel very proud and happythat I chose to take on this challenge.�How is your film Ki and Ka differentfrom your previous films ?

I play a stay-at-home husband whodecides not to run the rat race with a 9 amto 5 pm job. He wants to make goodmemories. The wife, on the other hand, isambitious. The movie deals with today’sgeneration’s view on work, marriage andsociety’s take on ‘tu ladki thhodi na hai joghar pe baithega’ or ‘tu ladka thhodi na haijo bahar jake kaam karegi’. It’s a typical RBalki film.

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Ghayal .... once again.... becauseit is not in sync with the timesat all. Sunny paaji is all sincere,

angry, frustrated and earnest as hewas in Ghayal. But he is also mucholder, much more bloated andlooking somewhat bored with theproceedings himself.

Which is sad to say because, well,he is a good (old) man of thisconstantly moving and veryunforgiving film industry. In all theseyears that he has been away fromBollywood, tending to businessesabroad, things have moved, emotionshave moved and issues have moved.No longer does a dhai kilo ka haatimpress, or even make sense. Nolonger does the politics pluscorporate vs aam aadmi conflictspew fire. Ghayal Once Again suffersfrom this out of time syndrome andonly the Sunny fans (if there are anyleft after such a long hiatus) wouldappreciate this rekindling of an iconicmovie.

In any case, as compared to theoriginal, this one is strangely mutedin all the gamut of emotions it battleswith. Deol is hardly fire and fury, orat least a very mellowed downversion of it. The villain is a shade ofgood and bad, battling to save hissmack-crazed son on a shootingspree. As the one to take on Deol, heis too busy fighting his own guilt ofbad parenting. Even the guys heemploys to kill the good ones are laxand mostly incompetent.

Yes, Sunny has introducedcontemporary campaigns like RTIactivism etc but as I said, Bollywoodhas moved on from the good oldversion of Indian badlands.

Also, what Soha Ali Khan isdoing with him is still a questionbegging for an answer. Looks almostlike his daughter, what with Sunnypaaji not even once wanting toromance her.

Amid all this, one has to,however, insist: It’s paaji’s genuineeffort to rekindle his type of moviesand his association with an industryhe has so many times admitted tohaving become a stranger to him.

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After a long, long time a gentle,soulful movie around love hascomes to the Indian screen from

Hollywood. But that does not meanall’s well with it. It has the sparks andthe dousers in equal measure whichrenders this romance in a neither herenor there zone, somewhat aimless andyet somewhat meaningful.

Rich girl meets not so rich guy in asleepy beach town. He’s a vet and she adoctor. He is quiet, lonely and sad boyworking in his pop’s clinic in the dayand sitting in his garden chair alone inhis backyard through the evenings.

She is a dog lover who has a thingfor dogs and so inevitably meets upwith the young vet. Together theyweave a togetherness which is moreabout the lovely locales, the starlitnights, the full moon sea, the boatrides into marooned islands and somebarbeques and family time on the side.

There’s marriage and kids too butnot everyone lives happily ever after.

The romance needed some moreverve, some more pace and a lot moregroovy moments which were happy.But on a dry Valentine month, this oneis good to go to.

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� What is Haraamkhor all about?It is the journey of three wretched souls

in pursuit of love. It’s an innocent, illicit andemotionally driven story, set in the virginaldesert territory juxtaposed against thelifeline of India’s dream development. A 15-year-old is infatuated with her 35-year-oldschool teacher, Shyam. Her classmates,Kamal and Mintu, are spectators to thissecret love affair. But Kamal is in love withSandhya. The film is about stirringemotions. � Is it based on a real-life incident thattook place in Gujarat?

It’s a fictional film, not a true story. Butlike most stories and films, Haraamkhor,too, it’s based on true events and characters.� What have you tried to show in it?

That, how much ever we’d like tobelieve in black and white, the world is fullof grey. Haraamkhor explores that elementof grey in us. This does not mean thateverybody is exploiting each other. Itsimply implies that when we sense ourfavourite thing slipping out of our reach,we all resort to desperate measures.Sometimes these are planned andsometimes impulsive.� What was the biggest challenge?

To shoot a feature film in 16 days ona shoe-string budget. But we managed todo this with our talented cast and crew. Theenergy and aura of a superstar likeNawazzuddin Siddiqui made it brilliant.�How did the idea for this film came up?

The story inspiration is based on anarticle that I’d read a long time back.Secondly the storyline, a young school girlfalling for the wrong man. I personally findit very engaging. The emotions that havebeen explored in this film are veryuniversal.� What kind of research work has goneinto this film?

We had spoken to a lot of young girlsabout their love stories.

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Be it Cinderella going out for a ball orBatman riding his bike or Shakuntala

losing her ring, listening to folk andfairytales in our childhood days wasfascinating. Here’s an opportunity toonce again go into dreamland with theongoing Kathakar Festival. The best ofstorytellers from India and abroad havecome on board to take you to the worldof imagination through their unique styleof storytelling.

“Students have been taught aboutmorals and culture through storytelling.But sometimes they lose interest. Itbecomes more like a lesson that we aretrying to teach through storytelling.Thus, we need to tell stories that geteveryone thinking and let the childrenfind their own answers to the questionsthat pop up. Perceive things in their ownunderstanding and belief. Weaving themorals and values in the world of fantasyfiction and telling the story in a subtlemanner is the key to make your childrenaware and entertained,” Emily Hennessey,a storyteller from UK tells you.

The problem is that fantasy andfiction stories are an illusion, whenchildren get to know that it neverhappened in reality, it breaks their heartand are saddened about it. But thissuperficial world helps them tounderstand the emotions.

“Fairytales are superficial but thefundamental core of stories is that it letyou experience and understand the

feelings like loss or sorrow or the first timethe heart got broken like the agony ofparents dying or how they struggle tomake your dreams come true. When weget to live little bit in the world of thestories, we get to feel someone else’sfeelings. Such emotional journey is whatstorytelling lets us do. Some things maynot be possible in real life but there areimportant lessons that are to be learnt.These were a lot of stories that were toldduring our childhood days that were not

true but I hope there was something thatmade you the person you are today,” TimRalphs, a storyteller from UK says.

The festival is open till today and hasfree entry for all. The evening session willkickstart from 4:30pm at the IndiraGandhi National Centre for Arts and willhave an informal session to take tips, learnideas on storytelling and performancefrom the other artists like EmilyHennessey, Giles Abbott from UK andUsha Venkataraman from Mumbai.

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From Byomkesh Bakshi, Bombay Velvet toParineeta and many other period films,

watching actors driving some of the rareluxury vintage cars have been a greatdelight for many car lovers. It’s all the moreexciting when we see them running on theroads, making all heads turn and lookingfor an opportunity to touch and feel and getclicked with one of the beauties.

This Sunday, experience the same andwatch out for the world’s first vintage carexhibition and racing that will leave you insurprise. Unfolding this Sunday on theBuddh International F1 Racing Circuit,Greater Noida, the 6th edition of this 21 GunSalute rally and concours show brings to youover 125 national and international vintagecar that have been restored and maintainedby some car lovers. Exhibited at the Red Fort,these cars will be flagged off at 10 am byTourism Minister Mahesh Sharma.

From importing cars to inviting highprofile people, the organisers are leaving nostone unturn to make it a grand affair. “Ouraim is to put India on the world tourismmap. We have imported 10 cars from

Germany, UK and France. These includeMaybach SW 38 1937; Horch 780 Cabriolet,1959; Lister Costin Jaguar; 1933 Jaguar SS1Coupe; Jahuar XK 120; Mercedes 630Murphy; Rolls Royce – Silver Ghost and

many more,” Madan Mohan, managingtrustee of Gun Salute Heritage & CulturalTrust says. Not just that. There’s aninteresting line-up of judges and guests,including the chairman of Pebbel Beach

Concour show Sandra Button and herhusband Martin Button, Ratan Tata and over50 royal families from Kapurthala, Baroda,Tehri Garhwal, Patiala, Kishangarh.

Though vintage cars are our national

heritage, it has become a tough task for theowners to maintain them. This promptedMadan’s elder brother to take up a full timecourse on automotive restoration technologyin Penn State University. “It’s difficult to mainthese cars as you don’t get skilled mechanics.People who have the knowledge to maintainthese cars are no more and the youngergeneration is not taking up this profession.Due to globalisation, we import cars and thatis making it a little easy to get parts for themaintenance of these cars. But gettingmechanics from abroad is expensive. Theycharge on an hourly basis. To resolve thismatter, my brother went for an automotiverestoration technology course,” Mohan,who has a collection 287 cars, says.

The Mohan brothers plan to come upwith Asia’s largest Vintage Car and BikeMuseum in Jaipur. “We’ll showcase morethan 500 cars there. I’ll import cars, planes,war vehicles, ambulances, buses andmotorboats from all over the world. We’llhave a workshop to train people inautomobile restoration. We will also inviteprofessionals from abroad to train theyounger generation so that this can becomea larger movement in India,” he says.

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There is something about reunionswhich makes one sad and happy at the

same time. It is a feeling that can only befelt and not explained easily. Most of uswould know the feeling - meeting peoplewhom you knew at a different stage of lifeand trying to go back to that time whilegetting to know about their present.

People whom you meet after somedecades can make you feel quite strangeat times as you just cannot connect themto your memory of them as youngsters.However, these things have now changeddue to social media where we havemanaged to re-connect with our schooland college friends.

The reunions that used to take placein the pre–social media days were indeedsomething else! Nostalgia is always animportant part of any reunion worth thename.

We may not have liked some of ourclassmates in school but when we meetthem after a gap of long years, nostalgiamakes us wear rose-tinted glasses throughwhich we can no longer see them as peoplewe did not like. We see them as part of aworld gone forever, a phase of our liveswhich will never come back and whichnow appears idyllic! Such is the power ofnostalgia.

When I met some of my schoolfriends after a gap of many years and sawthem as mature women, I could simply notbelieve that they were the same persons.Life changes people greatly, speciallyafter they leave school. However, therewere some who did not appear muchchanged.

We had a girl in our class in theConvent of Jesus and Mary, Dehradun,who was known for her goodness,straightforwardness and happy-go-luckynature. She had a loud, ringing laughterthat would echo in the corridors andgardens of the beautiful school.

Between one class and another, whilewe waited for the next teacher, she wouldburst out into laughter at the slightest ofthings and we had a tough timecontrolling her. She would often be madeto stand outside the class for that.However, everyone loved her.

I met her a couple of years ago whenshe came to Dehradun from the USAwhere she lives. She looked just the same!And laughed just like that. It seemed thattime had stopped and we were in school.It was such a refreshing and wonderfulfeeling.

I was really happy to know that thereare some things which even time findsdifficult to change. Thank God for smallmercies!

There was another of my classmateswho never used to be fond of studying andshe spent most of her time going to partiesand clubs with her parents who were muchinto socialising. She would somehowmanage to go from one class to the next.I met her recently and was indeedsurprised to know that she was a professor!Such is life. It can bring about the mostdrastic of changes in us.

My college friends, whom I met a fewyears ago, seemed like strangers to me.When I thought over that, I realised thatthis was because I had spent all my freetime in college making notes in thelibrary. I had never made friends orbunked classes to go out and have fun.

I was an exceptionally serious girl andI am sure they all called me a bookworm.Not that I would mind that. So when I metthem after all those years, I could not relateto the things they were recalling anddiscussing. As all those things hadhappened while I was in the library!

Reunions are sometimes unsettling asthey make one realise that life has indeedpassed too soon. That there is no turningback. There is no way that we can meeteach other as those dreamy-eyedyoungsters again. We can only keeptalking about the past. Makes one feel abit helpless, doesn’t it?

However, this does not stop us fromtaking the opportunity to be part of anykind of reunion. We go there trying tolook for our childhood or our youth..torecapture those days, even if for a fewmoments, through our collective effortsto remember and relive them.

God has given us this lovely gift ofmemory which can take us back to a worldwe have left far behind. But it does not letus stay there once again. Time is cruel. Itwill not relent.

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Good news for the pre-pay-ing domestic power cus-

tomers. In its f irst ,Uttarakhand PowerCorporation Limited (UPCL)is all set to implement prepaidmetre scheme in the Statefrom May this year as a resultof which the customers wouldget around three to four per-cent discount on domesticpower consumption. Such aprogramme was mulled earli-er, but was put on hold due toseveral reasons.

The UPCL has sent a pro-posal of separate tariff for theprepaying customers toUttarakhand ElectricityRegulatory Commission.UPCL spokespersonMadhusudan said that UPCLhas recently submitted a newproposal to UERC for procur-ing prepaid electronic meters.The proposal has been pre-sented along with the pro-posed electricity tariff plans.

It should be mentionedhere that UPCL had startedinstalling prepaid electronicmeters under temporary con-nection in January 13, 2015.Out of 1200, 500 wereinstalled in Dehradun dis-trict. The department, how-ever, stopped the project inApril as the existing machineswere not matching with exist-ing tariff plans. Besides, thechange in the tariff plans cre-ated hurdles for the con-sumers to recharge their con-nections.

Now, the electricity con-sumers having one phase canrecharge connection withcoupons worth Rs 100 or Rs500 while the consumersusing three- phase connec-tions can use prepaid couponsworth Rs 15,000. UPCL hadinstalled nearly 1,200 prepaidelectronic meters across theState.

Under the scheme, thecustomers may get discounton power rate and fixedcharge rate with the imple-mentation of prepaid metre inthe State. According to theUPCL official, a separatearrangement has been madefor electric tariff plans for theyear 2016-17. Fixed chargewill be incorporated withrecharge coupon. All thearrangements have been madeunder the new scheme so thatthe customers could not faceproblems while using the pre-paid scheme. Extra chargewill be deducted from therecharge coupon purchased bythe customers.

UPCL earlier soughtUERC for implementation ofgeneral tariff and a monthlater, a permission was soughtfor the implementation of tar-iff in prepaid metre so thatnew programme could be fedas per new tariff. Under thescheme, a recharge couponworth Rs 100 to Rs 500 hasbeen kept for single phaseconnection. Recharge couponworth Rs 15, 000 for three-phase connection has alsobeen kept. A system has beendeveloped in which alarmwill be sounded in case of lessbalance in the coupon. Power,however, will not discontinuetill 40 hours in case of low bal-ance, the UPCL officer added.

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Uttarakhand has got its Statesong. The song was pub-

licly dedicated by ChiefMinister Harish Rawat at hisresidence on Saturday.

In his address on the occa-sion, the Chief Ministerexpressed gratitude to theChairperson of the State SongSelection Committee, LaxmanSingh Batohi, other members ofthe committee, lyricist of theState song Hemant Bisht, com-poser and singer of the songNarender Singh Negi andAnuradha Saras and appreci-ated the song as it incorporat-ed the culture, history, geogra-phy and identity of the peopleof Uttarakhand. Actually it’s aneffort to summarise our vastculture into a few words. It con-tains Uttarakhand spirit alongwith respecting our local lan-guages.

Rawat made request toprepare a short draft (2-3Minutes) of this 9 minuteslong song so that song might besung in formal programmes.But basic spirit of song should

not be affected.Chairperson of State Song

Selection Committee, LaxmanSingh Batohi apprised that203 entries were received bycommittee. Song written byHemant Bisht was unani-mously approved after phasewise sorting of these entries.Local culture and spatiallyelements have been givenimportance in the Song.Garhwali and Kumauni lan-guages each have a paragraphin the Song. Three entrieshad been received for com-posing State Song, composi-tion of Narender Singh Negiwas found suitable.

Composer and Singer ofState Song Narender SinghNegi said that short draft ofState Song according to expec-tations of Chief Minister ShriRawat would possibly be pre-pared till end of the month.

Chief Minister Shri Rawatalso felicitated the Chairpersonof State Song SelectionCommittee Laxman SinghBatohi, Others members ofcommittee, Lyricist HemantBisht, Narender Singh Negi.

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Chief Minister Harish Rawathas made it clear that his

Government would brook nodelay in the completion of themuch-awaited Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project.

While reviewing theprogress report on Karnprayag-Rishikesh rail line project here inDehradun on Saturday withRailway DevelopmentCorporation (RDC) CMD SatishAgnihotri, he said the remain-ing formalities should be com-pleted at the earliest to clear thedecks for the ground level exe-cution of the project. To expeditethings, the land under forestdepartment should be trans-ferred to the Rail DevelopmentCorporation as early as possible,he averred. He stressed on therole of the Regional EmpoweredCommittee (REC) to clear thingsfast. CM said that Karnprayag-Rishikesh Rail project is one ofnational importance and theState government would provideall possible help to the raildepartment. Land transfer and

forest clearance issues will beexpedited so that the executionof the project starts on time, hesaid. He also asked Agnihotri toadopt a hospital in Rishikeshunder Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR).

Expressing thanks to theState government for its sinceresupport, RDC CMD SatishAgnihotri said that the Stategovernment is expediting theprocedure of settlement of theissues which have been com-ing in the way of the executionof the project. “I am convincedthat the remaining one or twoissues that are still there will besorted out shortly. It theseissues are sorted out theKarnprayag-Rishikesh Railproject would start on theground level by April this year,”he said.

It is learnt that around 50.3hectare Government-ownedland spread over Chamoli, Pauril,Rudraprayag and Tehri districtsare to be transferred to RDC andthe proposals on the land trans-fer have been sent to revenuecouncil by the district magistrates

concerned. It is further learntthat around 5.7 hectare land is tobe transferred from differentdepartments. However, theDMs of the districts concernedare yet to release the requisite no-objection certificates (NoC) onthese lands. This is what is delay-ing things, sources say.

In the first phase, propos-als involving 64 hectare reserveforest land are learnt to havebeen sent to Dehradun forestdivision. However, theapprovals are being awaitedfrom Regional EmpoweredCommittee (REC). For the sec-ond phase, proposals for 244hectare forest land spread overfive forest divisions have beensent through online. However,the regional office is yet to giveits positive nod regarding thispiece of land.

During the meeting, chiefsecretary Shatrughan Singh,chief principal secretary to CMRakesh Sharma and principalsecretaries S Ramaswami andOmprakash were among othersenior officers present at themeeting.

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In another case of lovelornyouths bumping off lovers

after being jilted in love,police have arrested a man,named Ashish, aged around35, f rom Mussoorie onSaturday evening on thecharge of hacking to death hisgirl friend in the tea estatearea of Premangar on Fridaynight.

The murdered GurpritKaur was a married woman,mother of a five-year oldchild, also veering on 30,police said.

Stricken by remorse fol-lowing the crime, the youthlater sought to cut his veins ina bid to commit suicide whilestaying in a hotel inMussoorie. However, policereached on time and took himto Doon Hospital. He is sta-ble now.

Police said they have notpressed him much till now,given his condition. However,the accused is learnt to haveconfessed his crime.

“He was admitted atDoon Hospital on Saturdayevening and he is reported tobe out of danger,” saidMussoorie police station offi-cer. Sources said that Ashishhad got enraged as the mur-dered woman had been run-ning relation with some otherfriends of hers.

Police said both Ashishand Gurprit Kaur had beenfound wandering around thetea estate in Premnagar. Kaurhad reached the place on herscooty while Ashish, on hisbike. “Maybe, the murder waspre-meditated as the placewhere the crime was com-mitted was far away fromtheir homes. Interestingly,both had taken selfies before

Ashish had knifed her todeath. He had left the place onhis bike after the crime wascommitted and later he hadleft his vehicle in front of one

of his friends’ houses atRaipur.

Police said that Kaur wasacquainted with Ashish whenshe was living in his home on

rent. After the relationbetween them developed,Kaur’s husband had left thehouse and took another alsoon rent on Race Course. Her

husband is now doing busi-ness in Chandigarh. Policehad contacted him on Fridaynight in Chandigarh. Hereached Dehradun onSaturday.

Police had been informedon Friday night that a bodyhad been lying in pool ofblood. Senior police officers-SSP Dr Sadanand Date, SPCity Ajay Singh and others-rushed to the spot and thebody was sent for post-mortem. Police had circulat-ed her photograph on what’sapp on Friday and later in thenight, the body was identifiedas that of Guruprit Kaur, res-ident of Race Course. Policehave sealed the area on Fridaynight. The same night, policehad also arrested Ashish’sfriends and his brother. Later,Ashish was arrested from ahotel in Mussoorie onSaturday evening.

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Though down with acutestaff crunch and dearth of

the required infrastructure, thesecurity staff of Pursari jail inChamoli are doubly alert in thewake two convicts of the infa-mous Madhumita Shukla mur-der case and the jailer havinghad a brawl a few days ago.

The jail has no CCTVcamera nor has a regular super-intendent to man things. Thelower rung officials alone lookafter the security of the jailwhere some notorious crimi-nals are being lodged.

However, BP Pandey,superintendent of jail (direc-torate), was sent on Thursdayfor Chamoli to review thesecurity status of the jail. Hewould submit a report soon,said IG (jail) PVK Prasad. Heclaimed that things in the jailpremises were normal.

Pandey inspected theChamoli jail campus and gavethe officials necessary instruc-tion to strengthen security.Sources said that Pandeywarned the inmates that theywould face the consequences ifthey misbehave with the jailofficials in future.

Two convicts — SantoshRai and Waseem Kalia — bothserving life- term for theirinvolvement in the Madhumitamurder case, had a violentaltercation with the jailer,Karmraj Chauhan. Sources saidthings had started after the duohad refused to go to the barrackafter the jailer had told them todo so. However, another sourcesaid that the duo had man-handled the jailor when theywere talking on the matter ofusing mobile phones while injail.

Observers say such thingswould recur unless the rightinfrastructure is put in place.

“The inmates are taking fulladvantage of the dearth ofsecurity infrastructure,” one ofthem said.

A jail official had earliersaid that though they hadsought 36 CCTV cameras forChamoli jail from the StateGovernment nothing has hap-pened so far. “We are grapplingwith a grim situation. Thedreaded convicts are here andwe have not the bare minimumin terms of security,” he added.

Another official stated thatthe junior jail officers of therank of deputy jailors or headwardens are running the jails inChamoli and other districts like

Tehri and Pauri. These officers have to

report to the SDM concernedon a daily basis as regardsbudget and other decisions. Itmeans that things are being leftto the charge of junior jail offi-cials like warden or head war-den for five to six hours daily,leaving the jails highly vulner-able. “What happened onWednesday is inevitable. Weare scared too,” the jail officeradded.

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Police arrested a youth onSaturday for allegedly rap-

ing a 15-year old girl onFriday night. The accusedwas identified as Deepak, res-ident of Aaduwala,Vikasnagar.

A case under sections363/376 of IPC and section3/4 of Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act has been regis-tered against the accused inVikasnagar police station, saidVikasnagar Circle officer SKSingh. He said that the victim’sparents registered a complaintin Vikasnagar police station,stating that their daughter, astudent of Class X, had beenraped while she was returninghome after taking tuition ather uncle’s home on Fridayevening.

The complaint said that aDeepak, the victim’s neigh-bour, had forced her to get onhis bike and taken her to anearby forest area where shewas raped by the accused. Thecomplaint further said shehad returned home late, look-ing shattered. She had laterinformed them what had hap-pened to her.

Acting on the complaint,a case under appropriate sec-tions of IPC was registered inVikasnagar police station.Vikasnagar police station in-charge Sandeep Negi formeda team led by senior sub-inspector Arvind Kumar tohunt the accused. The accusedwas arrested from his homeon Saturday. Police had alsoconducted medical of the sur-vivor in Vikasnagar hospital.

The accused was sent toSuddhowala Jail after beingpresented in the court onSaturday evening. Policesources said that the accusedhad also raped a minor girlfrom the locality in the past.But justice had remained elu-sive for the accused as her par-ents had not lodged any for-mal complaint with the policeon the same.

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In view of the upcomingfour-day third ‘Uttarkhand

Spring Bird Festival 2016’which would kick-start onFebruary 11, Dehradun dis-trict magistrate RavinathRaman convened a meeting atVikas Bhawan, Dehradun onSaturday.

Later, he also took stock ofmatters related to VeerchandraSingh Garhwali Yojna, pulsepolio district task force andMission Indradhanush as well.

He instructed the divi-sional forest officer ChakrataDiwakar Sinha to make nec-essary arrangements and alsoto put up hoardings on themain public places. The hoard-ing must mention the venue,the date and free entry asidefrom asking the visitors tomaintain peace and to keepphotography restricted, headded.

He instructed police andtransport department to makenecessary arrangements toensure smooth transport dur-ing the festival.

He also instructed theelectricity department toensure uninterrupted elec-tricity supply. The healthdepartment was instructed todeploy ambulance along withother medical facilities at thevenue.

He also instructed all con-cerned to ensure full partici-pation of the local communi-ty. He stressed on roping inGarhwal and Kumaon basedlocal NGOs in the festival.

Chakrata DFO said thatthe Spring Bird Festival isbeing organised betweenFebruary 11 and 14 at fourplaces — Asan conservationreserve, Vikasnagar, FRIDehradun, Rajpur Road andThano range Dehradun.However, Asan reserve wouldbe the main venue where theState forest minister wouldinaugurate the festival at 2 pmon February 11.

“On this occasion, we areorgnising workshops and exhi-bitions. Stalls would be put uptoo to enlighten the visitors onmany subjects pertaining tothe festival,” he added.

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Things hanging fire forlong, the examination

date for recruitment of 400 jailofficials (male warder) has notbeen declared so far. Around30,000 applicants had filledtheir forms for the same post.The applicants were earliertold to fill their forms throughUK SSSC websitewww.sssc.uk.gov.in byNovember 20.

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Police are on their toes with fool-proof security being put into place

in the Ardh Kumbh Mela area inHaridwar two days ahead of the keysnan on the occasion of SomwatiAmavasya on Monday. Around 15 lakhpilgrims are expected to turn up to takethe holy dip in the holy river. Pilgrimsfrom other States are likely to startpouring in from Sunday evening.

Police are extra cautious in the wakeof the recent arrest of the four IS linkedterror suspects from Roorkee. “We aretaking no chances as far as security ofthe mela is concerned, said IG (ArdhKumbh) GS Martolia.

The cops have been asked to iden-tify shop owners and locals at theirjurisdictional areas as they would helpthem in tracking any suspicious personsor any outsider, he added.

He said that police officers andpolice personnel were also directed tounderstand the geography of the placeswhere they are deputed without delay.They need to get in touch with local res-idents and local shopkeepers soon andthey would help them in identifyingthem locals or outsider or any suspects.You should be vigilant at designed placein such a way that you are protectingthemselves. Terrorists are eyeing onthose areas where police’s presence isminimal or policemen are negligence.

IG Martolia said that security hasbeen beefed up and additional forceshave been deployed at crowded placesand other important places in the ArdhKumbh area. The police officer said thattemporary police stations have been setup along Railway tracks in demarcatedArdh Kumbha area.

The move has been initiated withthe consent of the railways to ensure

that major railway stations are notover burdened with passengers. Inaddition, The RPF and GRP personnelhave been instructed to thoroughlycheck trains and passengers coming toHaridwar.

He directed the police officers tohave good behaviour with pilgrims.Pilgrims reaching in Haridwar to takedip in Ganga river should be facilitat-ed like they are their family members.

IG Martoi la said that threeunmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) wouldbe pressed into service in the forth-coming big snan and that would helpthe police in crowd management, traf-fic management on the highways andtraffic regulation on the normally con-gested areas aside from parking man-agement during the snans on Monday.All the possible steps have been takento complete the forthcoming big snanpeacefully, he added.

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Speaking at the inauguration ofthe 5th International Model

United Nations Conference ofUPES (IMUN) PrincipalSecretary Radha Raturi said thatUPES has proved to be a bless-ing for Uttarakhand and the Statetakes pride in the fact that stu-dents now have access to worldclass education at undergraduateand postgraduate levels right intheir backyards.

She was the Chief Guest atthe inaugural ceremony of thetwo day event in UPES, Bidholicampus in which over 200 stu-dents from National andInternational Universities areparticipating including 60 inter-national students from variousgeographies which includeAfghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal,Mexico, South Sudan, Angola,Gabon, Kenya, Sudan and Chad.Applauding the initiative ofUPES for presenting anApproach Paper titled“Proliferating Migration ofUttarakhand’s Youth - Reasons,Remedies andRecommendations”. She advisedthe student research team ofSatvik Shukla, Tanisha Gupta,Ritika Raj and Aatreyee Dhar toalso study the history of initial

settlers of Uttarakhand since itwill also have a bearing on theirarea of research.

In her address she broughtthe focus of the audience on twoUttarakhand specific issues forwhich sustainable and balancedresolutions are needed on pri-ority. Elaborating on these sheshared that since Uttarakhandhas 65% of its land under thecover of forests there has been analarming rise in the“Man–Animal” conflict wherelives are lost and crops get dam-aged on a daily and the otherbeing the conflict between“Progress – Environment”, whereinfrastructure developmentwhich is essential for progress ofthe state gets hampered due to attimes irrelevant existing envi-ronmental policies which needto be re-visited and re-framed.

She made an earnest appealto the MUN organizing com-mittee of UPES to put the youngand fresh minds to also deliber-ate on these two very importantissues of Uttarakhand and sharethe findings along with some rec-ommendations.

Dr Adish C. Aggarwal,Chairman of All India BarAssociation was the “Guest ofHonor” on this occasion. In hisaddress to the gathering he

shared that the kind of impetus‘Moot Court’ culture has pro-vided to legal students, similarstimulus ‘MUN’ has been givingto the youth to enable them tobecome well informed global cit-izens of tomorrow. He said thatparticipating in such‘MUN’events also teaches the artof diplomacy to the youth veryearly in their lives.

Sunil Kumar, Bureau Chiefof Pioneer, Dehradun was the‘Special Invitee’ on this occasion.In his address he not only appre-ciated not the continual growthof UPES but also the attentionwhich the management paystowards all round developmentof their students by organisingevents like “MUN”.

The dignitaries were wel-comed by Sanjeev Zutshi, SeniorDirector of Operations in UPESand the vote of thanks wasdelivered by Dr Kamal Bansal,Dean of College of EngineeringStudies in UPES. Arun Dhand,Director - Government Relationsand Media Affairs disclosed thattwo new features have beenadded to this edition of ‘MUN’which include ‘Deliberations onsome Uttarakhand Issues’ assub-agendas and participation ofcadets from the Indian MilitaryAcademy.

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The district court has issuednon-bailable warrant against

TP Nautiyal, an assistant engi-neer, MDDA and resident ofDalanwala who has beenabsconding since the vigilanceteam registered a case under sec-tions of the Prevention ofCorruption Act, 1988 against his

junior Ajay Kumar. Nautiyal has been made a

co-accused of the case. Vigilanceteam has been deployed at var-ious places to arrest him, it islearnt. He had allegedly sent thesupervisor Ajay Kumar to collectthe bribe from complainantLakshmichand. Kumar wasarrested by the vigilance onFebruary 3 evening.

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Seven more deaths due toswine flu were reported in

Punjab in the last four days tak-ing the death toll from the dis-ease to 24, while in Haryana fourpersons including three womendied of the H1N1 virus. “Freshdeaths have been reported fromplaces including Bathinda andFaridkot taking the toll to 24,”State Nodal Officer for Swine Flu(Punjab) Gagandeep SinghGrover said on Saturday.

The patients who diedbecause of the virus over the fort-night belonged to Bathinda,Muktsar, Ferozepur, Faridkot,Ludhiana, Fatehgarh Sahib,Moga and Mansa. Notably, tillJanuary 20, swine flu hadclaimed four lives in the State.Out of 165 samples collected inPunjab, 51 have been testedpositive, Grover said.

In neighbouring Haryana,four deaths due to swine flu havebeen reported. “Four personsincluding three females have

died because of swine flu,” saidAprajita, State SurveillanceOfficer (IDSP), Haryana. Thepatients who died belonged toHisar, Fatehabad and Jind dis-tricts, she said, adding out of 47samples collected, 13 were test-ed positive.

In Chandigarh, there hasbeen casualty because of swineflu so far. “Out of 21 samples col-lected so far, three cases havebeen tested positive,” a healthofficial said. “We are concernedabout the fact that why patientsare coming to hospitals at latestage. If people with swine flu

symptoms come early, they canbe treated very well. We have suf-ficient number of Tamiflu tabletsetc for the treatment,” Groversaid. All Govt hospitals in theState have been directed to set upseparate wards to treat patientswith swine flu. An advisory hasalready been issued to Govt andprivate hospitals to provideimmediate treatment to sus-pected swine flu patients with-out conducting tests. The testing,which is free of cost, for influen-za is being conducted at GovtCollege Amritsar and PGIMER,Chandigarh, Grover added.

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Nearly 100 students fell sickafter consuming midday

meal at the Kendupali UpperPrimary School underBirmaharajpur block inSubarnapur district onSaturday.

They were admitted to theBiramaharajpur health centre.“Only six students, whose con-ditions are critical, were givenmedication. Others are statedto be out of danger and will bedischarged soon,” doctors said.

The students complainedof nausea and stomach achesoon after taking the meal. Theteachers took the matter light-ly and fed them with antacid

tablets. However, no sign ofimprovement was seen evenafter they were administeredpreliminary treatment. Theywere later taken to the nearesthospital by ambulances.

Palpable tension grippedthe school over the incidentafter guardians locked theteachers for a while allegingnegligence on their part.

The Sub-Collector andpolice reached the school andtook stock of the situation. TheSub-Collector also visited thestudents at the hospital.

The food samples werecollected for examination toascertain the cause of such anincident, the Sub-Collectorsaid.

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From Page 1Tailang, who worked for a

number of newspapers includ-ing Hindustan Times, TheIndian Express, The Times ofIndia and the IllustratedWeekly, with The Asian Agebeing his last employer, wasadmitted to Medanta MedicityHospital in Gurgaon inDecember but was broughthome around a month ago.

As a cartoonist, manypoliticians including Indiraand Rajiv Gandhi, ABVajpayee, PV Narasimha Rao,Manmohan Singh andNarendra Modi bore the bruntof his humour.

“He was fighting braincancer since 2014 very brave-ly. However, after last Diwali,his condition deteriorated andhe was admitted to MedantaHospital. We brought himhome in mid-January whenthe doctors said there wasnothing more they could do.He passed away at 1 pmtoday,” said Aditi, Tailang’sdaughter.

He would be cremated at2 pm on Sunday at the LodhiRoad crematorium. Sufferingfrom GBM-4 stage braintumour, Tailang had under-gone two surgeries andchemotherapy during thecourse of his treatment overtwo years, Aditi said.

Born in Rajasthan’sBikaner in 1960, Tailang hadhis first cartoon published ina newspaper at the age of 10in 1970. It was in 1982, whenhe got his first major break inIllustrated Weekly of India,Mumbai. Late Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi was the firstsubject of Tailang’s pen.

As a child, the cartoonistwas fascinated by comics suchas Tintin, Phantom andBlondie, which are known tohave inspired him to opt for acreative career.

In 2009, he had come outwith a book of cartoons titled“No, Prime Minister”, whichcarried cartoons onManmohan Singh.

Congress president SoniaGandhi condoled the passingaway of the noted politicalsatirist. “Saddened at hisuntimely death, Gandhi saidthat his depiction of contem-porary events through car-toons and fearless commit-ment to the right to artisticexpression will be foreverremembered,” the AICCtweeted. Former Jammu &Kashmir Chief Minister OmarAbdullah also expressed griefover the passing away ofTailang. “Very sorry to hearabout cartoonist SudhirTailang. Was a big fan of histongue-in-cheek humour.May he rest in peace,” Omartweeted.

From Page 1While a policeman carrying

such an attack can be identified,security forces were more wor-ried about educated unemployedyouth resorting to such acts incoming days.

Expressing apprehensionsover the new tactics used by ter-rorist organizations to recruitand get sophisticated weapons,officials said more than 80 youngmen were feared to have joinedterror ranks of HizbulMujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayyeba last year.

As regards enhancing secu-rity of vital installations, they saidoperational commanders wereredrawing their strategy to fightmilitants who were now attack-ing in the wee hours as seen inthe Pathankot airbase and anArmy camp in Tangdhar.

Not ruling out such attackson high profile targets by mili-tants to make their presence felt,security forces were instructed totighten their drills and com-manders strengthened perime-ter of all sensitive buildings,Army camps and other suchinstitutions. In one of the firststeps, sentries guarding the sen-sitive military bases are nowrotated frequently more so dur-ing early morning hours whenmilitants sneak in and causemaximum damage.

Taking advantage of poorlight just before dawn, militantshad tried to enter the Armycamp in Tangdhar and openedfire killing two persons includ-ing a contractor. The Armymanaged to repel the attack bykilling all the four militants in along fire fight. However, terror-ists managed to breach the secu-rity cordon of Pathankot airbaseleading to a four-day operation.

Officials admitted that ele-ment of surprise always restswith the terrorists and theymanage to inflict casualties in thefirst couple of moments.Thereafter, militants hide inbuilt-up areas like buildings orfields like in the Pathankot attackand generally do not fire to avoidgiving away their location tosecurity forces.

Armed with sophisticatedweapons, guards were nowchanged after short spell of dutyto prevent lack in alertness. Thefrequent shifting was stepped upduring early morning hourswith clear orders to maintainhigh-level of vigil during that

crucial period.Similarly, patrolling by the

local police backed byIntelligence inputs was alsoincreased in villages surround-ing the vital installations todetect movement of strangers orany unusual activity, officialssaid. Regular interactionbetween operational comman-ders of the counter-terrorism andcounter-insurgency grid wasalso on. The grid comprisesArmy, Border Security Force(BSF), Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) and local policebesides Intelligence agencies.

With the State capital shift-ing to Jammu during wintermonths, the city was now a highvalue target with the entire Stateadministration includingMinisters and bureaucrats pre-sent there. In this backdrop,Governor NN Vohra instructedthe security forces to review theiroperational preparedness to dealwith any eventuality andstrengthen protection of all vitalinstallations.

With the detection of freshmovement along theInternational Border in Bamiyalarea of Pathankot, where oneintruder was shot dead by theBSF, the entire border routebetween Kathua and Jammuwas also sealed. Terrorists hadsneaked in from Bamiyal toattack the Pathankot airbase.

Additional troops weredeployed in the vulnerablestretches along the InternationalBorder, officials said addingintense cold and dense fog wasposing a major challenge tosecurity personnel patrolling theborder.

General security wasincreased in and around Armycamps and school buildingsalong the Jammu-PathankotHighway. Additional policemenalong with Quick ReactionTeams (QRT) were stationed atsensitive locations along thisroad which saw at least twomajor suicide attacks on Armycamps in the last two years.

Security was stepped up onthe crucial Jammu-SrinagarHighway including towns likeUdhampur housing the Army’sNorthern CommandHeadquarters. The Army con-voys moving on this highwaywere taking extra precautions toavoid improvised explosivedevice blasts, they said. SpecialForces commandos were alsokept on the standby mode at sev-eral vital locations to meet anyexigency, they added.

From Page 1Earlier in the day, Ramheet

in a letter, once again accusedthe school principal SandhyaSabu of threatening the familyand asking them to remainquiet over the issue.Demanding a CBI probe andcancellation of the school’slicense Ramheet said: “Therewas sexual assault. He wasdone to death. I saw the body.There were some injury markson his private parts and cottonwas stuffed in his anal passage.We are demanding a CBI probeto find out how he reached thatunapproachable place which isoften locked. My child wastaken intentionally to the spotby someone to commit the ter-rible crime of sodomy.However desired investigationhas not been done in the case.”

Giving the chronology ofevents Ramheet wrote: “At 1:34pm I got a call from the schoolstating that my child had suf-fered minor injuries, afterwhich I rushed to the IndianSpinal Injuries Centre. I foundmy child’s naked body on abench with no-one takingresponsibility for his condition.I tried rubbing his feet andpalms to revive him, but thehospital staff told me that hewas brought dead. I was theone who asked the hospital staffto call the police, followingwhich a police team arrived atthe hospital.”

In his letter, Ramheet haspointed fingers at the schoolauthorities and the police’s rolein the investigation. “When myson’s classmates had informedhis class teacher at 9:30 am thatDevansh was missing then whydid the search for him begin at12:00 pm,” he wrote.

Ramheet further raisedquestions about the fact thatthe CCTVs in the school couldnot track and record the child’smovements and wrote: “Howcould the CCTVs not recordDevansh’s movement near thewater tank.”

Earlier, a magisterial probeordered by the DelhiGovernment into the case saidthe “deliberate” inaction bythe school authorities amount-ed to “gross criminal negli-gence” which led to the deathof the child. It slammed theauthorities for “insinuating”that he was a special kid.

From Page 1In this most formal of

naval ceremonies, each shipdressed in full regalia salut-ed the President as he passed.The President also reviewedthe Indian Naval air arm ina display of spectacular fly-past by several fixed wing androtary aircraft comprising 15formations. In the final stageof the review, a mobile col-umn of warships and sub-marines streamed past thePresidential Yacht. This dis-play showcased the latestacquisitions of the IndianNavy. Further, severalenthralling waterfront activ-ities, a display of MarineCommandos and helicopterdemonstrations were con-ducted to mesmerise theviewers. The President saidIndia’s geographical location,astride the major shippingroutes of the Indian Ocean,gives it a pivotal maritimerole.

“Considering the glob-alised nature of today’s polit-ical and economic environ-ment, it is our belief that thepresent day maritime domainrequires navies across theworld to re-focus their effortsto counter the rising tide ofnon-traditional maritimechallenges in the brown,green and blue waters acrossall oceans,” he said.

Mukherjee said theIndian Navy, accordingly, hasre-aligned its maritime strat-egy, to reflect the changes inthe evolving global environ-ment, and has established acredible record of cooperativeinitiatives to promote stabil-ity of the oceans, and playeda central role in ensuringsafety of the vital sea lines ofcommunication, across theIndian Ocean.

Prime Minister NarendraModi will be the chief guestat the International CityParade to be held here onSunday. The picturesqueRamakrishna Beach here willwitness two events --Operational Demonstrationand International City Parade- on Sunday evening, adefence release said. The 30-minute long OperationalDemonstration will show-case multidimensional oper-ational tasks undertaken bythe various arms of theIndian Navy. Several war-ships, submarines, aircraftas well as MarineCommandos will present anaction-packed display of thecapabilities of the IndianNavy.

The demonstration willculminate with the address byPrime Minister, who wouldalso release a book on‘Maritime Heritage’ duringthe event. This event will befollowed by the International

City Parade to be heldbetween 5.30 PM and 7PM.

A hornpipe dance willbe performed by the SeaCadet Corps and tableauxwill also be presented. Theparade will be conductedafter sunset, which will befollowed by illumination ofships, pyrotechnics culmi-nating with a light andsound show, it added.

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Signaling the reform ofObservation Homes meant

to keep juveniles in conflictwith law, the Supreme Courthas sought to turn a new leaf inprison reforms by asking theMinistry of Women and ChildDevelopment to prepare amanual to deal with the livingconditions of juveniles, issuesof their mental, physical health,and rehabilitation.

This is the first time thatthe apex court has desiredpreparation of a comprehensivemanual on juveniles housed inObservation Homes which is awelcome step, considering thepitiable conditions prevailing inseveral correctional homeswhere delinquents facing pettyand heinous crimes stay.

Issuing the order on Friday,the bench of Justices Madan BLokur and RK Agarwal hassought a response from the

Secretary, Ministry of Womenand Child Development byMarch 14. While issuing noticeto the Ministry, the benchobserved, “The purpose ofissuance of notice to the saidMinistry is to require a manu-al to be prepared by the saidMinistry that will take into con-sideration the living condi-tions and other issues pertain-ing to juveniles who are in

Observation Homes or SpecialHomes or Places of Safety interms of the Juvenile Justice(Care and Protection ofChildren) Act, 2015.”

Although the judgmentconcerned prison reforms, thebench was impressed by theModel Prison Manual pre-pared by the Ministry of HomeAffairs and thought of havinga manual for observation

homes along the same lines.A rough picture of what the

proposed manual on JuvenileHomes will cater to can begauged from the latest PrisonManual prepared by the MHAfor the year 2016. The docu-ment contains 32 chapters withdealing with a variety of issuessuch as custodial management,medical care, education of pris-oners, vocational training, skilldevelopment programmes, legalaid, welfare of prisoners, aftercare and rehabilitation, Board ofVisitors, prison computeriza-tion, etc. While some issuescould find resonance in obser-vation homes too, the suggest-ed manual may focus on areasexclusive to juveniles, such asperiodic counseling, reformmeasures, and education.

Once the manual on juve-nile homes is in place, there willbe better accountability since thePrison Manual has an inbuiltprovision for regular jail visits toensure compliance on ground.

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The Governor administra-tion in Jammu & Kashmir

has received consent from theIndian Air Force authorities tovacate tracts of land in twin dis-tricts of Leh and Kargil inLadakh region for expansion ofcivilian airport and develop-ment of residential colonies.

The proposal has beenunder discussion sinceNovember 2013 and two ChiefMinisters Omar Abdullah andMufti Muhammad Sayeed havediscussed it with top defenceauthorities during their tenures.

The latest assurance camein a meeting between DivisonalCommissioner Kashmir AsgharHassan Samoon and the offi-cials of IAF, Airport Authorityof India Limited (AII) and civiladministration here.

Ladakh is under theadministrative control ofDivisional Commissioner and

in absence of a civilianGovernment, the provincialhead of bureaucracy is holdingtop level meetings.

Samoon was informed thatthe State Government has iden-tified land in lieu of the exist-ing IAF airbase in Leh while thedistrict officials of Kargilinformed that in exchange foran alternate site, the Army hasagreed to vacate a large tract ofland presently under its control,which will be used for theexpansion of the town.

The issue had come up

during the Civil-MilitaryLiaison (CML) meeting held onSeptember 29, 2015 between thethen Chief Minister MuftiSayeed and Army’s top brass inJ&K headed by NorthernCommander Lt Gen HS Hooda.

Leh and Kargil towns aregoverned by LadakhAutonomous Hill DevelopmentCouncils, which are consis-tently pursuing vacation ofarmy from certain areas.

The CML had constitutedcommittees to negotiate betweenarmy and civilian authorities on

the issue of 1,82,865 kanals ofland with the Army in Leh andexpansion plans in Khurbathangarea of Kargil for developingcivilian colonies.

The IAF officials toldSamoon that the alternate siteoffered by the state governmentin Leh has been examined byexperts and they are ready totake over if the state govern-ment finalises the deal.

The DivisionalCommissioner was alsoinformed that the modalities arebeing worked out to shift theexisting airbase in Leh to AirportAuthority of India which willexpand it for civilian purposes.

Observers say that thereadiness of IAF to shift base inLeh and Kargil is one of theCBMs that Centre might beoffering to the PeoplesDemocratic Party to convinceit to take over reins of the stateonce again. The PDP com-plains that the central govern-ment was not forthcoming infulfilling promises, whichincluded vacation of landoccupied by army at severallocations in Kashmir, Jammuand Ladakh regions.

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The Goa Governmentshould review its decision

to de-recognise the coconutpalm as a tree, a ParliamentaryStanding Committee onScience and Technology,Environment and Forest rec-ommended on Saturday, evenas the panel, which was on adaylong visit to Goa also put onrecord its displeasure about thestate’s “tardy implementation”of green laws.

The committee led byRajya Sabha MP AshwiniKumar also conducted day-long deliberations on issuesrelated to ecology degradationcaused due to illegal mining,Coastal Regulatory Zone vio-lations and other green issues.

“There was the issue of thedefinition forests in which acoconut tree in Goa is notregarded as a tree, is regarded asgrass which we found extreme-ly unusual and we have recom-mended that a review of the def-inition of tree, under the treeprotection act be undertaken.

“In law we have to see thenet effect of things. If theabsence of a clear and anunambiguous description of aparticular species, leads to itsdestruction, then surely the lawwill need to be changed,”Kumar said.

The Opposition as well ascivil society has repeatedlyaccused the BJP-led coalitiongovernment in Goa of amend-

ing the Goa Daman and DiuPreservation of Trees act 1984in January and dropping the treestatus accorded to the coconuttree, to unfairly hasten realestate and industrial develop-ment at the cost of environment.

Forest Minister RajendraArlekar had defended theamendment saying a coconutpalm does not fit the definitionof a tree even botanically andthat the amendment wouldhelp coconut farmers cull oldand non-productive palmswithout too much red-tape.

Kumar, a former unionminister for law and justice inthe United Progressive Alliancegovernment also said that theimplementation of environ-ment related laws in the statewas tardy and said that he haddirected that an official fromthe Union Ministry forEnvironment and Forestsshould engage with the state

government to ensure thatgreen laws are followed in let-ter and spirit.

“We have directed that arepresentative of the centralministry of environment andforests to engage with the StateGovernment authority with aview to finding ways andmeans to implement in letterand spirit all possible lawsintended to protect the envi-ronment. We have put onrecord our displeasure at thetardy implementation of envi-ronmental laws and regula-tion,” Kumar said.

The Committee led byKumar also heard views fromNGOs and civil society mem-bers in Goa over the variousprovisions of the compensato-ry Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015as well as the deterioratingenvironmental conditions inGoa attributed to mining andtourism industries including17 categories of highly pollutingindustries and other industrialactivities which are categorizedas red, orange and green basedon the process involved and pol-lution load generated withrespect to effluent emissionand hazardous wastes.

“The committee also helddiscussions with state govern-ment of Goa and also with rep-resentatives from industrieson the various aspects of envi-ronmental issues caused due tomining in Goa,” an officialstatement issued by theCommittee members also said.

New Delhi: UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar on Saturday urgedfor better coordination betweenofficers and lawyers dealingwith environment cases incourts and tribunals to ensurethat the Government’s stand oncases is presented in the correctperspective that may lead tofast disposal.

Speaking at a day-longworkshop where lawyers andMinistry officials got an oppor-tunity to interact together,Javadekar said that the protec-tion of environment restedjointly on all organs of the State.Attending the workshop wereempanelled lawyers represent-ing the Ministry across thecountry, from the SC, HC,NGT and CentralAdministrative Tribunal.

The Minister focused onmany problems encountered inhandling of cases in judicialforums and felt that better coor-dination was the key to explainthe rationale of various decisionstaken by the Ministry, for whichhe exhorted both the counselsand officers to handle caseswith passion and efficiency.

Law Secretary PK Malhotrafelt there was an urgent need toensure frivolous litigations arenipped at the notice stage itself.Additional Solicitor GeneralPinky Anand lauded the effort toorganize such a workshop as shefelt that the growing impor-tance of environment in societywill require the Ministry to raisea specialised cadre of environ-mental lawyers. PNS

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Taking an aggressive stand,Congress on Saturday hit

back at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for targetingthe Gandhis, saying it wasproud of the “family” andwarned that any attempt “toseparate them from the party”would attract a “befitting” reply.

The party’s sharp retortcame as its war of words with theGovernment intensified aheadof the Budget session with Modion Friday attacking CongressChief Sonia Gandhi and her sonRahul, saying “one family” was

disrupting Parliament to avengedefeat in 2014 Lok Sabha pollsand stalling bills aimed at ben-efiting the poor.

Congress senior spokesmanAnand Sharma today said theparty was proud of the “family”which was “integral” to it andthe PM should refrain from pro-voking and insulting the prin-cipal opposition.

“It is a funny way of seek-ing co-operation by attackingthe leadership of the Congressand we want to tell the PrimeMinister one thing categori-cally that when he talks of ourleadership or the family, we are

proud of that and they areintegral to the Congress,” hetold reporters.

Sharma told the PrimeMinister that he and the BJPcannot separate the IndianNational Congress and its lead-ership and “if you try to do so,we will be giving a befittingreply to the best of our abilityand they must never be indoubt about that”.

Asked whether the con-frontation would escalate in thebudget session in the backdropof the Prime Minister’sremarks, he said, “If that is whathe wants, then it is most unfor-

tunate for our democracy.”“He is the Prime Minister

of the country. He should notprovoke and insult the princi-pal Opposition Party and thenthey say that he seeks co-oper-ation,” he said.

He also contended that itwas “always due to the stub-born and confrontational atti-tude of the Prime Minister”that the proceedings inParliament were stalled.

“We would like the PrimeMinister not to continue withhis confrontational attitudeand he must answer our ques-tions,” Sharma said.

�.� �������$�����0��������������������� New delhi: Congress hassought an explanation fromformer Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Ajit Jogi over alleged“fixing” of a bypoll, an issuethat has seen the expulsion ofhis son Amit Jogi from theparty last month.

The Central DisciplinaryAction Committee of the partyheaded by senior leader A KAntony has asked Ajit Jogi tofurnish his explanation on theissue within two weeks.

The action has come amonth after audio tapesemerged suggesting financial

inducements behind the partycandidate’s withdrawal from thefray in the Antagarh Assemblybypoll in 2014 to facilitate thevictory of BJP candidate.

The purported conversa-tions between key politicalplayers of that time also hintedat the role of Ajit Jogi and Amit.

Both Ajit and Amit Jogihad denied their involvementin the unsavoury episode. AjitJogi’s son Amit, who is a partyMLA was expelled last month.

The Chhattisgarh PradeshCongress Committee had alsopassed a resolution seeking the

party high command’s nod forshowing the door to his fatherand the State’s former ChiefMinister over the tape row.

A meeting of DisciplinaryAction Committee (DAC) onFebruary 1 had discussed theissue in detail and had said thatit will take action in “duecourse of time”.

On the appeal filed by AmitJogi to revoke his expulsion, theDAC has decided to forward itto the State PCC for its com-ments. Amit Jogi had claimedthat the allegations against himwere not probed. PTI

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Mumbai Congress chiefSanjay Nirupam has got a

reprieve with the party accept-ing his apology over the publi-cation of controversial articlesslamming Jawaharlal Nehru andterming Sonia Gandhi’s father a“fascist soldier” and asking him“to be careful in the future”.

“Sanjay Nirupam acceptedthe responsibility for publica-tion of grossly inaccurate, base-less and malicious articleagainst the Congress leadershipin the party magazine —‘Congress Darshan’ — and sub-mitted his unconditional apol-ogy for the same.

“The Central DisciplinaryAction Committee, while

accepting his apology, cautionedhim to be careful in the futurewhile editing, printing and pub-lishing materials in ‘CongressDarshan’ so that this type ofgrave mistake is not repeated,”sources in the party said.

Left embarrassed by thearticles criticising Nehru’s poli-cies on Kashmir and China,Congress had last month issueda show-cause notice to themagazine’s editor Nirupam.

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Aday after the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samiti

scored a resounding victory inGreater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation elections, the van-quished Opposition parties gotinto damage control mode.

The TRS rank and file cele-brated the unprecedented suc-cess and the Chief Minister KChandrshekar Rao thanked thepeople of Hyderabad for theirsupport, saying that the party willfulfill every promise made tothem.

Addressing the media hesaid that the party will construct100,000 two bedroom houses forthe poor families in the city andequal number of flats in the out-skirts and make the city slum freeand a global city with world classinfrastructure. The promisesinclude three Government hos-pitals and two new reservoirs toimprove drinking water supply.

While the TRS was nowgearing up for the elections ofMayor and deputy Mayor fromamong the elected members ofGHMC, the only other success-ful party in this election Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen was alsohappy with its performance.

“I am thankful to the GodAlmighty for this victory”, saidthe party President and MPAsaduddin Owaisi after the finalresults released by the StateElection Commission put hisparty at second position with 44seats, one better than last time.TRS was ahead with 99 seats.

Making the victory a bitextra sweet for MIM, its old bit-ter rival in the old city MajlisBachao Tehreek or Save MajlisMovement was also completelywiped out since its formation in1994.

“The MIM will emerge as astrong political force in thecountry giving voice to theweaker sections including

minorities and Dalits”, Owaisisaid savoring the victory.

He said that MIM was a trueexample of secularism as fourmembers of other communitieswere also elected on its tickets.Meanwhile Greater HyderabadCongress Committee presidentDanam Nagendar resigned fromhis post blaming the defeat onthe groupism in the party.

In an apparent dig at theTelagnana Congress Committeepresident Uttam Kumar Reddy,Nagendar told the media onSaturday that though he was notgiven full power, he tried his bestto lead the party in the elections.

However Uttam KumarReddy and the acting presidentof the party Bhatti Vikramarkawere away in Delhi for a partymeeting and they submitted areport on the reasons for thepathetic performance of theparty. Congress which hadbagged 53 seats in 2009, camedown to abysmal two.

The situation of the TDPwas still worse. The party couldwin only one seat in the TDPwhile its partner in the allianceBJP bagged three seats.

While the TDP president NChandrababu Naidu and hisson N Lokesh, who led the cam-paign remained silent, AndhraPradesh Deputy Chief MinisterKE Krishnamurthy refused togive too much importance to theoutcome. “Defeat and victory isbut natural in elections”, he saidexpressing confidence that theparty will do better in future.

The State BJP President GKishan Reddy reeling under theblow the worst ever perfor-mance in Hyderabad said thatthe party will not be demoralisedby the result.

He charged that the ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raowas misusing money powermaking a false propaganda thatthe development of Hyderabad

will be stopped if TRS looses thiselection.

While Kishan Reddyexpressed his satisfaction thatthe alliance polled 18% of thevotes, other leaders in the partycritical of Kishan Reddy’s lead-ership pointed out that thealliance had polled more than33% in 2014 elections inHyderabad.

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SUNIL HEALTHCARE LIMITEDRegistered Office

38E/252-A, Vijay Tower, Shahpurjat, New Delhi-110049CIN No. L24302DL1973PLC189662

Email: [email protected]; website: www.sunilhealthcare.comTel -011-49435555 / Fax-011-43850087

Extract of Unaudited Financial Results for the Quarter and Nine Months Ended 31st December 2015

(Rs. in Lacs)

S.No. Particulars Quarter Nine months Quarter EndedEnded Ended 31.12.2014

31.12.2015 31.12.2015Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited

1 Total Income from Operations (net) 2,505.71 5,874.93 2,006.532 Net Profit / (Loss) from ordinary

activities after tax 148.22 399.65 93.623 Net Profit / (Loss) for the period after

tax (after Extraordinary items) 148.22 399.65 93.624 Paid-up equity share capital (Face

value Rs.10/- each) 1,025.48 1,025.48 1,025.485 Reserves (excluding Revaluation

Reserve as shown in the BalanceSheet of previous year) -

6 Earnings Per Share (before extraordinaryitems) (of Rs. 10/- each)Basic : 1.45 3.90 0.91Diluted: 1.45 3.90 0.91

7 Earnings Per Share (after extraordinaryitems) (of Rs. 10/- each)Basic : 1.45 3.90 0.91Diluted : 1.45 3.90 0.91

Notes:-1 The above is an extract of the detailed format of Quarterly/Nine months ended on 31st

December 2015 filed with the Stock Exchanges under Regulation 33 of the SEBI (Listingand Other Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The full format of theQuarterly/Nine months Results are available on the Stock Exchange websites(www.bseindia.com) and the Company's website (www.sunilhealthcare.com)

2 The above results have been reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Boardof Directors at their meetings held on 06.02.2016.

For & On Behalf of the BoardPlace : New Delhi Anil KhaitanDate : 06.02.2016 Chairman Cum Managing Director

DIN- 00759951'

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Invoking the concept of ‘TeamIndia’, Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley on Saturday said theCentre and States need to worktogether to put the country on ahigh growth path even as Statespitched for higher allocation tomeet additional outgo towardspay revision of their employees.

The Minister said reformsinitiated by the Centre in therecent past will be taken forwardin coming months and urged theStates to work together forputting India on the high growthtrajectory.

Jaitley appreciated theirefforts in attracting foreign invest-ment and expressed the hope that‘the growth momentum wouldcatch pace in coming months’.

In a pre-Budget meetingwith the States, Jaitley wantedthem to step up spending oninfrastructure and poverty alle-viation schemes as the 14thFinance Commission hasdevolved higher funds to them.

“We expect that those Stateswhose resources have beenincreased after the implementa-

tion of the 14th FinanceCommission will spend furtheron infrastructure creation andanti-poverty programmes sincetheir incomes have increasedconsiderably,” Jaitley toldreporters. He said the worldeconomy is passing through a dif-ficult phase and is quite fragile,adding that “though this has alsoaffected India, especially exports,Indian economy is able to emergeas one of the fastest growingeconomies in the world.”

Several States, in their pre-

Budget meeting with Jaitley,sought higher allocation in theupcoming Budget to implementPay Commission recommen-dations as well as under central-ly-sponsored schemes (CSEs).

“The States have discussedtheir own resources and eachone of them is competing forhigher resources, higher invest-ment and they are all geared upto fight this environment ofglobal slowdown so that Indiaremains an economy which ison the move,” he added.

Jaitley assured the gatheringthat the Centre would cooperatewith every State, and as thegrowth of States increases, thenational growth will be on therise. At the meeting, the Statessuggested a sharper focus on agri-culture, which has suffered in thelast two years due to inadequatemonsoon.

Also, they demanded con-tinuation of certain social devel-opment-oriented CSEs such asSarv Shiksha Abhiyan,Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan,ICDS, National Rural HealthMission and the like on the oldpattern as many states find it hardto sustain them from their ownresources. During the meeting,the States suggested payment ofCST arrears and higher allocationin the upcoming Budget forimplementing Pay Commissionrecommendations.

The 7th Pay Commissionin November recommended anincrease in remuneration ofabout one crore governmentemployees and pensioners,which is estimated to entail anadditional burden of �1.02lakh crore in 2016-17.

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Asserting that India is sittingon the cusp of a digital rev-

olution, Union Minister RaviShankar Prasad has exhortedsenior executives of leadingAmerican IT firms to take advan-tage of the ‘Digital India’ initia-tive and tap the growth oppor-tunities in the country.

“India is sitting on the cuspof a digital revolution," the UnionMinister for Communicationsand IT Ravi Shankar Prasad onFriday told executives of topAmerican IT firms in a roundtable here.

“Whether it is big metro-politan cities or small towns, awell-connected India has thepotential to not only usher in eco-nomic and welfare opportunitiesfor its citizens, but also the glob-al economic order,” Prasad, whois here to attend the annualIndia Conference at the presti-gious Harvard University, said.

“Our Government is takingevery policy decision in a trans-parent, predictable and reason-able manner. Therefore, I encour-age American businesses to takeadvantage of the Digital Indiaprogram, and the growth oppor-tunities in India,” Prasad said.

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BHUBANESWAR: India is keen to establish refinery and bunker-ing operations in Sri Lanka, Petroleum Minister DharmendraPradhan said on Saturday and hoped the country will once againbe in a position to export petroleum products to Bangladesh withthe commissioning of Paradip refinery. He stated this during bilat-eral meetings with Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Energy Adviser toBangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and Anoma Gamage, Deputy Ministerof Petroleum Resources Development of Sri Lanka. PTI

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PARIS:A legendary 1950s Ferrarihas fetched a world record 32 mil-lion euros at auction, going underthe hammer in Paris. Applausebroke out after the hammer camedown on the bidding for the 1957335 S Spider Scaglietti at theArtcurial auction house just off theChamps-Elysees. In a sale that gen-erated interest from around theworld, the race car fetched 28 mil-lion euros plus premiums andtaxes taking the overall price to justover 32 million euros. The Spider-- which beat the record set in 2014when a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO soldfor what was the equivalent of 28.9million euros - finished sixth in theSebring 12 hrs race in 1957. PTI

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COLOMBO: India on Saturdayoffered to set up an InformationTechnology Park in Sri Lankathat could attract investments inthis growing sector. ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swaraj,while inaugurating the ‘Rise ofDigital India Exhibition' here aspart of the first Festival of Indiain Sri Lanka, which is aptly titled- 'Sangam: a confluence of cul-tures’, said India was ready to setup an IT park in the country.

“We are ready to set up anInformation Technology Park inSri Lanka that could attractinvestments in this importantsector, and both sides agreed toexplore this issue further,”Swaraj said. “I am aware that SriLanka too, has been focusing onpromoting Infotech for socio-

economic development, andhas achieved notable success invarious fields,” she told. Swarajsaid in her interactions with topLankan leadership, she foundthat Sri Lanka is keen on devel-oping the IT sector as part oftheir effort of developing theirservice sector.

“One of the issues that I dis-cussed with Minister MangalaSamaraweera was the impor-tance of information technolo-gy for the development of bothour countries, and to takeadvantage of the opportunitiesthat the new digital world offers.We felt that there are enormousopportunities of cooperationbetween the two countries in thefield of information and digitaltechnologies,” said Swaraj. PTI

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KOLKATA: Country's largestlender State Bank of India is tak-ing steps to develop womenentrepreneurship in the country,its chairperson ArundhatiBhattacharya has said.

“We are trying to create spe-cial schemes for women so thatthey may become entrepre-neurs and create jobs,”Bhattacharya said at the KolkataLiterary Festival here lastevening. Bhattacharya, who wasspeaking on 'Being Woman',said that employment had to begenerated through entrepre-neurship as government jobswould not be sufficient toabsorb all unemployed. PTI

%�����$�.�����������/������������������ ��NEW DELHI: The Naresh Goyal-run Jet Airways on Saturday

reported a record stand-alone quarterly profit of �467 crore forthe three months ended December, driven by 15 per cent domes-tic traffic growth and lower fuel costs. The profit reflects a multi-fold growth from �63 crore reported in the year-ago period.This is the third consecutive profitable quarter for Jet Airways,which is the country’s second-largest carrier by market share.Chairman Naresh Goyal said that had it not been for the forexlosses, net profit would have been higher at �515 crore. PNS

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Civil Construction Wing: All India RadioNOTICE INVITING E-TENDER

The Executive Engineer (E), Division - Project, CCW, AIR,2nd floor, Room No. 239, Soochna Bhawan, New Delhiinvites on behalf of President of India, online item rate-bids for the following work:-NIT No.- SE [E]/NZ/2015-2016/11, Dated: 03.02.2016,Name of work - C/o Doordarshan Bhawan Tower 'C' atMandi House, New Delhi [SH: Providing Power Supplyarrangements for Indoor/Outdoor Units, PressurizationSystem & Work Station etc], Estimated Cost - �� 22, 05,445/-, Earnest Money - � 44, 109/-, Period of comple-tion - 02 Months, Last time and Date of submissionof bid - By 15.00 Hours on 18.02.2016

This tender notice is also available on the web sitewww.allindiaradio.org.in & www.tenderhome.com

The bid forms and other details can be obtained from thewebsite www.tenderwizard.com/AIR.

Sd/-Executive Engineer (E) - Project

Construction Wing, All India Radio 2nd. Floor, Soochna Bhawan,

CGO Complex davp 22439/11/0020/1516 New Delhi - 110003

MILITARY ENGINEER SERVICES e-PROCUREMENT TENDER FOR GE (AF) FARIDABAD C/O HQ CWE (AF)

PALAM COMPLEX, OLD PALAM ROAD, DELHI CANTT-10GE (AF) Faridabad C/O HQ CWE (AF) Palam Complex, Old Palam Road, Delhi Cantt-10 on behalf of the President of India inviteselectronic bids from MES enlisted Contractors/un-enlisted Contractors through NIC e- procurement solution for the work as detailedhere under. The NIT details, eligibility criteria of tender and other related documents can be downloaded from the CPP Portalwebsite eprocuremes.gov.in. The prospective/likely Contractors are requested to look up the website. These are e-Tenders andtherefore manual applications/bids for these tenders will not be accepted under any circumstances. Only electronic applications/bidsshall be accepted.

Ser Tender No and name of work Cost of work EMD Last date of bid RemarksNo submission

1. NIT NO 71/GE (FBD)/AF-71/2015-16SPECIAL REPAIRS TO 24 ROOMS AND SHAFTS OF 08 SLA BUILDINGAT AKASH AF OFFICERS MESS, Tender shall beDR ZAKIR HUSSAIN.MARG, concluded in single stageNEW DELHI Rs 48.00 Lakhs Rs 96,000/- 24 Feb 2016 two cover system

2. NIT NO 72/GE (FBD)/AF-72/2015-16REPAIR/MAINT OF COOLING APPLIANCES AND STABILIZERS AT AKASH AF OFFRS MESS NEW DELHI Rs 13.40 Lakhs Rs 26,800/- 24 Feb 2016 -do-

Note: For more details please visit our website www.eprocuremes.gov.in.Sd/-

(Sanil Kumar R)Capt

Offg AGE (Contracts)davp 10102/11/4370/1516 for Garrison Engineer

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Islamabad: Pakistan PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif hascome under attack fromIslamist parties and groupssupporting militancy inKashmir that accused him ofbeing soft on India and advo-cating peace.

The groups led by Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief andMumbai attack mastermindHafiz Saeed held a conferenceoutside National Press Clubhere to mark ‘Solidarity Day’with Kashmiris on Friday.

It was Saeed’s first majorpublic appearance in the capi-tal after three years, showing

defiance towards Government.While taking to task the

Government, Saeed praisedArmy chief General RaheelSharif. “The Prime Minister isbound to follow the path ofQuaid-i-Azam (MohammadAli Jinnah), Liaquat Ali Khanand the founding fathers. Heshould not betray the Kashmircause,” Saeed said.

He asked Sharif to own the“Kashmir cause” and praisedthe United Jihad Council (UJC)which had claimed thePathankot attack. “They (UJC)came to the rescue of Pakistanafter the Pathankot attack and

it is time that we too own theKashmiris,” Saeed said.

He also stated that thearmy chief was right when hesaid “Kashmir is an unfinishedagenda of partition”. PTI

United Nations: Thirty-fourmilitant groups from aroundthe world had reportedlypledged allegiance to the ISISas of mid-December and thatnumber will only grow in 2016,UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report.

Ban said UN member statesshould also prepare for anincrease attacks by ISIS associ-ated groups from countries suchas the Philippines, Uzbekistan,Pakistan, Libya and Nigeria.According to the UN mission inIraq, cash taken from banks inprovinces under ISIS controltotaled $1 billion. AP

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External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj on Saturday

called on Sri Lankan PresidentMaithripala Sirisena and dis-cussed a host of regional andinternational issues.

Swaraj, who arrived hereyesterday on a two-day officialvisit, had an “excellent meeting”with President Sirisena, IndianHigh Commissioner toColombo YK Sinha said.

“The President recalled thevery warm ties that existbetween the two countriesbuild on civilisational links ofthousands of years,” he said.

During an hour-long meet-ing, the two leaders discussedvarious projects undertakenby India in Sri Lanka and deci-sions taken during the previoushigh-level visits.

“They expressed satisfac-tion at the progress in variousprojects undertaken by India inSri Lanka and the Presidentthanked India for its assis-tance,” Sinha said.

“President Sirisena briefedthe minister on developmenton regional and internationalissues. They discussed a host ofissues,” he said.

The two leaders also

reviewed the progress made the9th Joint commission meetingwhich has held here yesterday.The joint commission was setup in 1992 as a mechanism toaddress issues of bilateral coop-

eration.Sirisena recalled with hap-

piness his visit to India inFebruary last year and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s triphere in March.

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Colombo: The UN humanrights chief on Saturday arrivedhere for talks with the Sri LankanGovernment over its probe intoallegations of war crimes duringthe country’s brutal civil war.

The four-day visit of UNHigh Commissioner forHuman Rights Zeid Ra’ad AlHussein is significant followinga UN Human Rights Council(UNHRC) resolution lastOctober which mandated aninvestigation into allegedhuman rights abuses during thefinal phase of Sri Lanka’s eth-nic conflict that ended in 2009.

Hussein, on his first visit toSri Lanka after succeeding NaviPillay as UN rights chief, saidhe hoped for “constructive dis-cussions” with PresidentMaithripala Sirisena.

He was met at the airportby foreign minister MangalaSamaraweera with whom helater held talks.

In a hard hitting report atthe UNHRC, Hussein had crit-icised Sri Lanka’s failure todeliver justice to the victims of

the conflict.He had prescribed an inter-

national “hybrid court” withforeign judges, prosecutors andinvestigators.

However, the currentSirisena Government, whichhas a softer attitude towards theminority communities thanthe nationalist hawkish regimeof former President MahindaRajapaksa, has cited constitu-tional difficulties in allowingforeign judges to operate in theisland. PTI

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Colombo: External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj onSaturday met leaders of SriLanka’s main Tamil party TNAled by its chief R Sampanthan,who briefed her about theefforts made by theGovernment in moving for-ward the reconciliation processwith the minority community.

“Engaging across the polit-ical spectrum. Leader of theOpposition, TNA’s RSampanthan calls on EAM@SushmaSwaraj,” External

Affairs Ministry SpokesmanVikas Swarup tweeted.

The Tamil National Allianceleaders apprised the Minister onthe “various efforts that havebeen made by the Governmentsince January last year in mov-ing forward the reconciliationprocess, the political process andexpressed readiness to workwith the government in fulfill-ing the aspirations of the peopleof Sri Lanka,” Indian HighCommissioner to Colombo Y KSinha said. PTI

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Tainan (Taiwan): A powerfulearthquake in Taiwan felled a16-storey apartment complexfull of families who had gath-ered for Lunar New Year cel-ebrations on Saturday, with atleast eleven dead and morethan 30 feared trapped.

The death toll was rising inthe historic city of Tainan,which bore the brunt of the 6.4-magnitude quake, as rescuersscoured rubble for survivors.

An entire residential com-plex of four buildings contain-ing almost 100 homes toppled,left on its side with twistedmetal girders exposed andclouds of dust rising from thejumbled concrete.

A 10-day-old baby girland two other children wereamong the dead, the NationalFire Agency said. AFP

Karachi: At least nine people,including four security per-sonnel and an eight-year-oldgirl, were killed and about 40others injured on Saturday ina Taliban suicide attack thattargeted a Frontier Corpsvehicle in Quetta, the capital ofPakistan’s restive Balochistanprovince. PTI

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The United States has wel-comed India’s ratification of

the Convention onSupplementary Compensationfor Nuclear Damage (CSC),thus clearing the decks forimplementation of the land-mark India-US civil nucleardeal and participation ofAmerican firms in buildingnuclear reactors in India.

“Indian membership in theCSC marks another impor-tant step towards creating theglobal nuclear liability regimecalled for by the IAEA(International Atomic EnergyAgency) Nuclear Safety ActionPlan,” State Departmentspokesman John Kirby toldreporters on Friday.

The Indian action of join-ing CSC will “also facilitate par-ticipation by companies fromthe United States in the con-struction of nuclear reactors inIndia,” Kirby said, pointingout that this will mean more

reliable electricity and reduc-tion of India’s reliance on car-bon-intensive sources, thusbenefiting the environment.

“We believe it’s an impor-tant step toward creating aglobal nuclear liability regimeand it’ll facilitate international

cooperation in expanding theuse of nuclear power in India,”he said, without directlyanswering a question onwhether the Indian action willhelp implementation of thecivil nuclear deal that was con-cluded in 2008.

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The White House regardsthe close working relation-

ship thatPresident BarackObama andPrime MinisterNarenda Modihave developedover the past yearand a half as “agood thing for ourtwo countries”.

“It’s a goodthing for our twocountries. It’s agood thing for thecitizens of our two countries,”White House Press SecretaryJosh Earnest said on Friday,stressing: “I would expect the

President will continue to lookfor ways to strengthen therelationship not just betweenthe two leaders, but between

our two coun-tries during hisfinal year inoffice.”

While mak-ing the com-ment in reply toa reporter’squestion on thetransformedbilateral rela-t i o n s h i p ,Earnest pointedto how the last

meeting between Obama andModi in Paris played an impor-tant role in concluding theagreement on climate change.

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It was a day of double delightfor young Rishabh Pant as he

guided the India colts to thesemi-final of the ICC U-19World Cup here with a crush-ing 197-run win over Namibiabesides fetching �1.9 crore IPLdeal with the Delhi Daredevils.

Left-handed Pant propelledIndia to 349 for 6 with a pulsat-ing 111 off 96 balls, with othercontributions coming fromAnmolpreet Singh (41), SarfarazKhan (76) and Armaan Jaffer(64).

Anmolpreet also chippedin with three valuable wicketsand alongside other spinners,Mayank Dagar (3/25) andWashington Sundar (2/27),plotted the downfall ofNamibia, who folded up for149 in 39 overs.

Namibia began the mam-moth chase well with openersSJ Loftie-Eaton and NikoDavin taking the team past 50.But their challenge fizzled outsoon after and from 59 for noloss the team was tottering at96 for five.

Namibia was expected to

show more fight in the quarter-finals after it famously knockedout defending champions SouthAfrica in the group stage.

As it turned out, it wasIndia, coached by batting greatRahul Dravid, all the way, be itthe professional effort with theball or their stellar batting per-formance after winning thetoss.

Pant's fireworks were ondisplay hours before he wasbought by Delhi Daredevils for�1.9 crore after a bidding warwith the Mumbai Indians.

"I think we have playedsome good cricket rightthrough the tournament. Atsome stages, I still feel we havenot played a perfect game, butthis was our best all-roundperformance," Dravid said.

"We had a few hiccupsearlier on in the batting but itis nice to see that we haverecovered and we are playingwell. We're playing good crick-et, focusing on the processesand not worrying too muchabout the results and things aregoing well."

Pant's captain Ishan Kishantoo had another reason tosmile although he was out

cheaply in the game, after hetoo went under the hammer inthe auction back home withGujarat Lions picking him for�35 lakh.

Pant, who had smashed 78off 24 balls in the last match,was unstoppable today as well.The Delhi-based wicketkeeperbatsman hammered 14 foursand couple of sixes in hisentertaining knock that laid thefoundation for a big total.

Dravid said he hadreminded his boys not to be

complacent."When you come into

knock-out stage, you can't takeany team for granted. Namibiaput in some very good perfor-mances to get here. Before thegame started, we spoke aboutthe dangers of being compla-cent and we wanted to get awin.

"The focus was to win andnot about anything else. I amglad that we were able to put ona commanding performanceand qualify for the semi-finals."

Sarfaraz too continued withhis rich vein of form with a run-ball 76. It was his third 70 plusscore in the four games Indiahave played in the tournament.

India captain Ishan said,"We set a good target with Pantleading the way and then field-ed and bowled well.

"It was nice to move intothe semi-finals with such agood win. Namibia had a goodstart, but we needed to staypatient and once the first wick-et fell, we applied pressure on

their batsmen."Asked whether India

would prefer to face England orthe West Indies in the semi-final, Kishan said: "We can farewell against either team. Wejust need to play to ourstrengths."

Brief scores:India: 349/6 (Pant 111,Sarfaraz 76; Coetzee 3/78)beat Namibia 152 all out(Niko Davin 33; MayankDagar 3/25, AnmolpreetSingh 3/27) by197 runs.

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Australia, propped up by 98from David Warner, held

their nerve for four wickets inthe second ODI on Saturday tosend the series to a decider.

After Warner's dismissal,Australia were still 90 runs shortof their target with an unbeaten69 from Mitchell Marsh andJohn Hastings not out 48, gettingthem over the line.

Warner was nudging hissixth ODI century when he wasundone by New Zealand's matchace Mitchell Santner, but by thenhe had done enough to ensurethe world champions were in adominant position.

Australia lost six wickets asthey chased down NewZealand's 281-9 with 21 balls tospare. After New Zealand wonthe first match by 159 runs theseries will now go to a deciderin Hamilton on Monday.

Both sides suffered middle-order batting blues, but Australiahad better padding with Warnerand Usman Khawaja in a 122-run opening stand.

Warner's 98 came off 79deliveries and included eightfours and four sixes, whileKhawaja batted at a run-a-ballfor his 50.

The breakthrough afterearly jitters signalled a return forHenry and Boult. Henryremoved Steve Smith andGeorge Bailey with successiveballs and Boult claimed GlennMaxwell as Aussies lost four for22 runs.

New Zealand's 281 owedmuch to Santner and his tail-endpartnership with Milne as wellas Kane Williamson's 60.

McCullum produced histrademark onslaught to get a

brisk start and New Zealandreached 35 in the fifth over whenhe was bowled by Scott Bolandfor 28.

But the rest of NewZealand's top order were unableto maintain momentum andeven Williamson's 60 took 74balls. At the start of the 30thover, New Zealand were 152-3.Just over 11 overs later they hadadded only 53 runs and critical-ly lost four wickets to be 205-7.

Santner, known as "Flatline"for his unflappable nature,stepped up with an unbeaten 45and a 61-run partnership withMilne who made 36 off 27.

Josh Hazlewood took threefor 61 while Adam Zampa, ondebut, Scott Boland and Marshtook two wickets each.

BRIEF SCORES:New Zealand: 281/9(Williamson 60; Hazlewood3/61) lose to Australia: 283/6 in46.3 overs (Warner 98, Marsh69; Santner 3/47) by 4 wickets.

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IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla on Saturday said that the sched-uling of the league has not been related to Lodha Pnael rec-

ommendations about having a 15-day gap between start of theleague and India’s national calender.

The IPL is scheduled to begin on April 9 this year but ifIndia play the final of theWorld T20 on April 3, itwill be a straightawayviolation in case the rec-ommendations are imple-mented in toto.

“IPL scheduling hasnothing to do with Lodharecommendations. Weare going ahead with ourschedule and everything,”Shukla told reporters dur-ing the IPL auctions onSaturday.

IPL’s Chief OperatingOfficer Ratnakar Shettysaid: “I am sure that whenwe prepare the schedulefor the season, there areseveral factors that are taken into account and the best possi-ble window that are available to BCCI for the IPL is concerned.I am sure we will be able to put across our views to the com-mittee.”

Replying to another query, Shukla said the mushroomingcricket leagues across the globe, are no match to the IPL.

“No league is near to IPL. So let them run their leagues,but I don’t think they can really compete with IPL and matchwith it,” he said.

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Your current book has a lot of past imagesjuxtaposed with new ones and this ismore like a mosaic. Why doesn’t this one have a thematic unity?

India defies definition. It is my constant inspirationtoo. So though I have done thematic journeys with the

Railways and the monsoon, this one (India, RoliBooks) is really a collection of pictures that expresses

the reason why I’ve been so fascinated with India overthe years and why I kept coming back. It’s that simple.

Besides, this book compiles more of random momentsthat I feel are poetic. It’s like a poem. Obviously, there are

many things in India that are not there in the book, butthat is not what it is about. I am not being an exclusionist,

it’s more about me and my journey through India.

�What struck me again was your fascination with portraits, a mirror of the human soul...

Everywhere I go in the world, I’m fascinated with people andfaces. How we look and how we compare. We’re similar yet

we’re not similar. There is a powerful human spirit that mani-fests in all of them. Portraits are also about a dialogue of trust

and respect between you and your subject, far more potent thanwords — an unseen bridge.

�We all know the elaborate story of the Afghan girl, how youfound her and re-shot her after many years. Do you have any par-

ticular moving story from India that features in this collection?The Afghan girl was a dramatic story no doubt. These Indian stories

may not seem so dramatic but are small stories in their own right. Thecover for me was an interesting moment. A group of women in

Rajasthan, out to get water from a well on a normal day, and suddenlyputting their pots down in the face of a sandstorm, pulling their veil over

and huddling under an old acacia tree. It was such a fluid moment offighting adversity collectively.

Or take the case of the old widow of Vrindavan. She had a terriblybent back and it seemed like she would keel over any moment. Yetshe walked on. I remember this encounter because I found she had awonderful heart and was generous in spirit. She also had a greatsense of humour. She had a really wonderful soul in that bodydespite all the odds stacked against her. Then I recall the tenacityand smile of the tailor with his sewing machine, holding histool of trade proudly aloft his shoulders and wading throughthe flooded streets during monsoon. He wet himself but nothis machine — the reason for his being who he is. And hewould resume his trade on high ground. Similarly, Iadmired the husband and wife who powered their waythrough the water to save their life together. And home.

The great thing about a place like India is that youfind many of these images that bring out the essenceof life. And it doesn’t take a challenge to rise up.Which is why I took a photograph of this old man onHoli. Normally, you associate kids with hurlingcolour at each other but this gent had thiswonderful colouration on his face like hehad had a lot of fun.

The same obsession with adding colourto life I found in a man who had appliedhenna on his beard, the traditional method ofadornment. And he looked so powerful and tri-umphant despite trying to hide his age.

Portraits are also about a piece of history beingmade and some time in the near future these guys won’texist. Neither would their style of the beard or the tur-ban. I don’t think men would apply henna on their hair50 years from now. In the future, people will be amazedby the look of this guy with a red beard.

�Do these frames happen for you just by chance or do you devote a lot of time thinking about the composition?Many of these frames were kind of sudden. I visited a tribe of snakecharmers and spent some time inside their tents till I chanced upon aboy with extremely luminous eyes. I was riveted. Pictures don’t come toyou, you have to go after them. I start my day at 7 or 8 in the morningand walk around until it gets dark. I spend about eight to nine hoursshooting and get into a meditative state and space. I flow with themoments. Then I distill from that experience. I look at my surroundingsand see what is different and special about the place, how it talks to me.The subject doesn’t always have to be human. It can be a crack in theruins or a stray dog, which is so unfamiliar to my world in New York.

�Given the digital age we live in, how different is a journalisticphoto from creative imagery? Well, they are different if you’re doing journalism in the spirit of a doc-umentary. If you’re doing photography as art, you’re using the mediumto interpret your subjects. A great photo is about bringing many peopleinto the same moment and speaking to them universally.

�Is your Afghan girl a news photo or great art?Sometimes, pictures can transcend the original use because they are so powerful that they burn into people’s consciousness. They come tosymbolise a period of time. Sometimes pictures that were created fordocumentary purposes can end up being considered very creativeexpressions. They are profound statements which you can also make in the newspaper. It all depends on your eyes and your heart.

�Do you think static frames still have a more potent grammar than moving images?Absolutely. You can keep coming back to a picture. You can linger andthink of a story like a fantasy or lend meaning to it. You can stay with it.A video just goes by. It is integral to show the picture of what a placelooks like or how an individual looks like. It’s important now as it hasever been. You can describe a person the whole day long but he will notbe as accurate as a picture. Whether you are looking at a newspaper oronline, I feel pictures are still important today.

�In an age of photo-sharing apps and enabled cameras on everydevice, how is it possible to stand out in a collection of imagesand put your definitive signature? You are not a storyteller just because you can photograph or text.

You may sit there and text all day long and it may not haveany meaning because it’s just information. It is just noise

if it doesn’t talk to you. There are so many songs butonly some of them break through. There are so manybooks being published but only a handful of giftedwriters. Glut doesn’t discourage quality or talent. Samewith photography.

�Do you agree with the idea of tweaking photographsdigitally to enhance their appeal? No problem with enhancing the appeal till you have

filled up your canvas meaningfully in the first place. Ifyou’re doing art, you just look at the picture and say I creat-ed the whole thing and nothing is real. If it is interesting,great, it has worked for you. But in general, photographydoesn’t work that way; it has to be accurate about a lifewithout manipulation.

For example, take my boy with the snake. You cannotphotoshop a snake on to a guy. Your integrity lies in find-ing these stories, by walking eight hours a day, understand-ing and reflecting your space. Many won’t try to do that,but they can’t say that they’re going to make up stuff. They

can’t put the snake around a guy and pretend it’s real. Thesoul is really about simplicity than technique.

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�Which photography legendinspired you when you weregrowing up?French photographer Henri Cartier-Besson and Elliot Erwitt. Then thereare Dorothy Lagne and MargaretBourke White. Their observationand curiosity about the world welive in opened up my senses.

�Did you always want to becomea photographer or did you wantto be a journalist?I wanted to travel the world. Youcan’t just travel around randomlywithout a point. So photographygave my travels a purpose.

�What brings you back to Indiaevery time? Your study of theIndian Railways is probably thebest we still have...It is my past unique memories ofmoments that goad me to returnevery time. I was the first person totake the picture of the steam enginewith the Taj Mahal in the backdrop.There was one shunting track whichis gone now. But while it was there, Idon’t think anybody realised that ifyou waited at this one particularspot, then you could frame moder-nity against tradition. It’s not a bigdeal but I’m proud of it.

�Nobody has documented themonsoon or the Railways the wayyou have. What made you choosethese two topics?I was in Kodaikanal when some-body gave me The Great RailwayBazaar by Paul Theroux. I readthat book and said wow. Heinspired me to explore South Asiawith the Railways and I rememberexperiencing the heart of India

while travelling by train betweenDelhi and Chennai.

Of course, the Indian monsoonappealed to me as a kid. When Iwas 12, there was a photo essay onmonsoon in the LIFE magazine byNew Zealand photographer BrianBrake. He spent a few months inthe subcontinent for this project,and growing up in Pennsylvania,the photos seemed like a fairytaleto me. I knew then that I had toexperience this first hand. Later,when I was working with NationalGeographic, I proposed to reinvent

that story. I wanted to experiencemy space, understand and thengive my take on it. And that iswhen I saw both the nurturing anddestructive elements of the season.I saw heavy rain and flooding onone side and severe drought on theother. Either way crops sufferedand I saw how the monsoon couldmake or mar an agriculture-basedeconomy. From June to lateSeptember, there are a bunch offestivals that may not be directlyconnected to the monsoon butwhich you see through the filter of

the rains. It is dramatic.It was during the rains in 1984,

in a flooded Porbandar, that I sawthis tailor carrying his sewingmachine and wading through thewater. The water had gotten intopeople’s homes but the inmates weremaking do with cramping up on theupper floors. There was no power,TV or phone connections. Peoplewere hanging around on rooftopsand windows, yelling and joking.And then there was this guy, shift-ing his work tool to dry ground sothat his deadlines were not affected.

As I trained my camera on him, theyoung men signalled to him. Andhe gave me such a valiant and win-some smile. That resilience hum-bled me. There was so much hap-pening in that one moment of lifethat needed to be crystallised. Eachphoto should have this richness.

�Globalisation has imposedhomogeneity. What is yourimpression of India in change?Indian culture has evolved overtime and is one of the greatest cul-tures on the planet. One of the

great civilisations ever created.Whether it is the music, the waypeople tie their turbans or dress. Isee the biggest change in dresscodes, something that lent youidentity and defined it over time isnow assembly line Western wear atcheaper rates. Maybe they are moreefficient and work-friendly. Maybethey are aspirational for a genera-tion that wants to be hip. TheIndianness then starts breakingdown. You can’t stop it but in a wayit is kind of sad that what wasunique to your culture is fadingaway. And rather easily without anattempt at incorporating somestrands of originality. Then youhave the food, music and architec-ture, all of which have lost theirthread to a certain sameness.Everybody now has a cellphone, alaptop or a TV. I loved how moviehoardings were hand-painted butnow are pushed to the corners.

Evolution is a necessity. Lifemoulting into something else, Ifind that fascinating. So pho-tographs are a great way of retain-ing memory of how we were. Icompare and contrast with my pastwork many a time. I even revisitmy spots to understand change. Iremember witnessing Holi inMathura in the early 90s. It wasincredible, the explosion ofcolours, though still touristy. Yet Iwent around without beingnoticed in the gush. When I went

back there last year, I found manyyoung aspiring Indian or foreignphotographers. Not that themoment wasn’t authentic but thepresence of cameras had changedthe crowd behaviour. The boyswere not just shooting downcolours in merry abandon, buttheir actions were more self-con-scious. There was an unspokencode of performing to the shutter-bugs. There was so much chaos,people were dancing and it wasstill unbelievable. But I can’t forgethow the glut of images everywherehad changed the perception ofsubjects about the camera itself.

�Have you ever been to a hoteland spotted this cultural curio in the lobby?That is where we are all going. Myfear is that what was once realwill end up as a cultural show-piece in the lobby. World culturewill become unanimous, it will bedifferent in another 100 years.Maybe people will look at the waylife was through these pho-tographs. They will wonder inamazement.

Having said that, I must saythat India has a real strong cul-ture, perhaps stronger than otherSouth or Southeast Asian nations.It’s like a world in itself. It is sostrong that you end up influenc-ing music and food, the twomost potent expressions of pop-ular culture. Half of London isall about curry. You are changingother people too. I would like tobe the keeper of change. AndIndia as a subject makes youwant to dig deeper and deeperbeyond the obvious.

Women, they say, are obser-vant, intuitive, foresight-ed and perceptive, amongmany other attributes.But in spite of their mes-

meric nuances, they have been conspic-uous by their absence in Indian photog-raphy. While their male counterpartshave reached the zenith of success, thelikes of Homai Vyarawalla, DayanitaSingh, Sipra Das etc, have been few andfar between.

Among the Indian photographers, atleast ostensibly, women have not yet fullychannelised their deeprooted artisticexpression. In a space as vibrant, active andbeguiling as the Indian media, there areonly a handful of photojournalists, even in2016. Is it because of safety concerns? Asincere dearth of original ideas to capture?Or a lack of lucrative payments? Or theydon’t find the adrenaline rush creativeenough? Travel, in this case, could lead tomany unresolved questions.

Keeping the same in mind, the TravelPhoto Jaipur (TPJ) is a cultural initiativethat the Government of Rajasthan hasindulged in to promote travel photogra-phy and display the State as an open air artgallery. Launched on February 5, this exhi-bition will be held till February 15 in theState’s capital. Inaugurated by ChiefMinister Vasundhara Raje, this launch edi-tion showcases works of 14 exhibitionistsfrom all over the world and their works willbe on display in Jaipur’s historical sites suchas Hawa Mahal, Albert Hall Museum, andJawahar Kala Kendra etc.

What is fascinating about the exhibi-tion is the involvement of Indian womenwho have travelled far and wide in searchof images that narrate a substantial story.Serena Chopra, whose work, ‘The Ancients— Bhutan Diaries’, is on display, says: “Itwas during my post graduate course injournalism at IIMC Delhi that I chose tofocus on photo journalism for my thesisand covered the elections in Uttar Pradeshwith a Leica camera. The camera becameone more mode of expression that I wasdrawn to. Today, I use my manual 501 CMHasselblad medium format camera and awide angle lens.”

She adds, “A ‘fine art’ image has a lan-guage of its own. There is only one con-cern — to make a powerful image thatexpresses the photographer’s intention andimagination.”

Is there also a need to interact with hersubjects, to indulge a feminine vibe tomake them comfortable in opening up?She replies, “I like to know the person orpersons I might be photographing. Wherethere is trust, there will be those momentsof a meaningful connection between thesubject and the photographer.”

About the dominant trend of photo-shopping, she clarifies, “It’s a question ofartistic licence. I work with an image in theprinters laboratory with my negative or onphotoshop with a digital or scannedimage to perfect, tweak and interpret whatI imagine to be the story I want to tell.”

She also feels that being a woman hasworked for her in the field: “I actually feelthat as a woman I am accepted with a lotof grace and get a genuine welcome intomost homes and events. I haven’t ever seenthe negative side of being a woman photog-rapher. But as a woman, I choose my assign-ments and keep my personal security as apriority in terms of my assistant accompa-nying me and my mode of travel.”

Joining Serena is Siya Singh Akoi, whopresents her works “selected from a seriesof portraits made whilst travelling the

length and breadth of the country via someof the longest train routes in India”. She tooagrees that as a woman, things have beensmooth for her. “It has been amazing forme. Five years ago, I shot ‘The Dog ShowProject’, travelling all over the countryalone. I was a bit scared of going out therebut the thrill of photographing these por-traits gave me all the courage I needed. Iwould land at a place and hire my rickshawdriver for the day to be my studio assis-tant. He even recorded the names of peo-ple I was photographing in my register. Igot dropped back to the airport after theshow and came home safely every time. Wewomen have a lot of power. We must bein control, polite and calm.”

She believes that photo festivals arevery important to sensitise visitors and thelocal populace to the world of the arts. Siyawas driven towards photography by anoth-er woman — her mother. Siya recalls, “I

couldn’t load a film in a camera as I wasnever interested in photography. Somehowmy mother believed I was going to be areally good photographer so I got accept-ed into a college with her photographs, asshe was a keen wildlife photographer. Sincemy first assignment till today, it’s been fas-cinating how her instinct was exactly what

I was made to do. I had a fascination withthe studio portrait after college. It’s whatI tried to replicate in these portraits; theancient feeling of a raw theatrical studio,zapped by a 21st century Indianman/woman placed at the centre with theirdog. It was a truly beguiling shooting inthis simple curtain studio.”

She offers a few insightful tips as well:“Your images should depict an entirestory. Make use of the shoes, finger nails,hairstyle — every nuance that’s in yourframe is representing something. Beaware and very alert. Find that line thatconnects all the dots and click. Don’twaste time or frames. I took not morethan four portraits per person for thisseries. When you click your shutter,your subject can hear your vision, so takecontrol and direct them accordingly.”

She also adds, “For ‘The Dog ShowProject’, I used my Canon 5d Mark 1, a 24-105mm, a Canon flash with a Gary Fongand a tripod. For more personal work, Iuse my Hasselblad 503cw and HolgaTG120.”

Nishant Shukla, another Indian onthis diverse list, adds: “There has been alot of press lately about the issue of misog-yny in photography like there is in anyother industry. Photography is not exclu-sive to anything. Beyond that, the issue ofpersonal safety and being able to roamaround freely any time can really inhibitthe way one works.”

He’s also a co-founder and member ofBIND collective — a collection of photo-books curated around the theme of trav-el, most of which are limited editions,independently distributed and propagat-ing mindful dissemination of stories,ideas and unique voices. He says, “Therealisation that the camera can serve as atool to facilitate insightful interactions isinspiring.”

About his own methods of photogra-phy, he says, “I work largely with a medi-um format rangefinder — Mamiya 7 IIwith a 65mm and 80mm lens (32mm and39mm in 35mm equivalent). I also scan mynegatives, so everything is eventuallydigitised, which gives me more control andconsistency over what I produce.” He clar-ifies that his method of photoshopping isfairly basic — limited to colour correction,dodging/burning and dust spotting.

Intending to reinforce the delightfulnotion of travel, 14 photographers from theUK, Germany, the US, Japan, Spain, Italyetc have come together to put forth a mes-meric collection of stories from theirunique voyages. One of the most uniqueworks on display is French photographerLaurent Chehere’s. He explains, “‘FlyingHouses’ is inspired by the poor and cos-mopolitan neighbourhood of Paris.Through a tragic and melancholic report,they testify poetically of an alarmingcontemporary reality by revealing themeanderings and concerns of a class,impoverished by society, particularly thegypsies and immigrants. These buildingsare isolated of their urban context.Technically, it’s a photomontage.

“After a sketch, I photographed hun-dreds of elements: Roof, windows, gutter,fireplace, characters, antennas, graffitiand sky, then I assembled everything witha digital retouch software on a computer.I wish to propose a different point of view,against preconceived ideas and preju-dices. I am also influenced by HayaoMiyazaki, Jules Verne, Andrei Tarkovski,Albert Lamorisse, François Truffaut,Michelangelo etc.”

The artistic director of the project, LolaMac Dougall, is a woman as well. Travelopens the proverbial door to an enigmathat forlornness yearns for. And rightly so,as Chehere notes, “All the ingredients arethere: The comedy, drama, poetry, dark-ness… it’s finally the observer who willmake his own way.”

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Sometimes the most innocuous andseemingly dry reads have a meansof surprising you in the most

delightful of ways. They may conformto the rudiments of the genre — ofbeing some exhaustive in-depth analytictestament ensconced in a copiouslyresearched subject matter entailingyears of fieldwork and a wad of biblio-graphical references. But by toningdown the subject specific jargon, theycan be simplified to appeal to an aver-age reader; by simply cutting down onall the ‘noise’ as we say. Andrew Small’sThe China Pakistan Axis: Asia’s NewGeopolitics comes across as one suchwork which goes beyond the extraordi-nary in its representation and analysisof an oft ignored yet a most potentalliance between two nuclear equippedAsian neighbours with a cultural, social,ethnic, economic and historical discon-nect. This disconnect is so vast that tofathom an association is nothing shortof an impossibility but not when juxta-posed with(in) international power playmechanics and contextualised in thepresent day setup whereupon it seemsso very natural. The convoluted, almostcontorted histories of the subcontinentas also the power shifts resulting fromthe rise and fall of fortunes beyond itswaters have bequeathed upon thisalliance an aura of indestructibilitywhich makes it thrive even at the costsof repeated Pakistani misadventures andChina’s rearguard (and at times, face-saving) actions to extract itself out ofthe soup its alliance with an unstablePakistan often leads to.

The writer packs a punch right atthe onset as he relates the cascadingeffects of a seemingly routine incident— the kidnapping of the Chinese staffof a massage parlour cum acupunctureunit in an upscale Islamabad neigh-bourhood by a self styled fundamental-ist vigilante group owing allegiance to aprominent mosque — and how theaftermath went on to establish as wellas reinforce the mutually symbioticnature of the China-Pakistan relation-ship treasured (though for very diver-gent reasons) by both the nations. Theincident relates on how even theinkling of the development of a possi-ble fissure in that friendship ledPakistan into taking unprecedentedsteps in national and internationalspectrum. They even kicked off thelongstanding faceoff with the hithertoshielded fundamentalist terror groupslodged in the country even as it hadpaid no heed to the repeated urgingsby the United States on the same issue.

Small explains the basis of such a‘friendship’ and how it is much morethan simply a political alliance betweentwo neighbouring nations by contextu-alising this time-tested all-weatherfriendship into the shared histories ofboth the countries. Small, by hisaccounts of the resilience of this ‘rela-tionship’ which has survived regimechanges, full scale conventional wars asalso international sanctions and pres-sures, makes a statement on the valueattached to this relationship in bothIslamabad and Beijing.

In bombarding his readers by a

series of anecdotes, real instances inthe histories of both the countries, thewriter establishes the transcendentalnature of this time-tested friendshipborn out of necessity and circumstanceand posits how and why this nexusmay continue to worry India. Smalldesists from seeing the relationshipexclusively through a South-Asianframework as also from reinforcing thepopular understanding of this allianceas just having Indo-centric founda-tions. Therein lies his genius as he fac-tors in China’s concerns over its inter-nal security, stabilisation of its

Xinjiang province, threats to its fron-tiers from its shared borders withAfghanistan and the repercussions ofany possible spillovers of these prob-lem areas into its mainland and sees itin its best interests to preventPakistan’s (imminent?) slide into afailed state situation, helping andpropping Pakistan economically, mili-tarily as also buttressing its interna-tional position as and when required.However, Small doesn’t discount thefact that the shared animosity withIndia has laid the foundation of thisalliance and still is the overarching

concern that more often than not gov-erns its policy decisions.

After giving a general overview ofthe situation Small starts with dis-cussing the three major wars fought byIndia, the 1962 Indo-China confronta-tion and the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakwars that laid the founding stone andlater shaped the rudiments of the criti-cal, part parasitical, part tolerant rela-tionship between Pakistan and China.He then talks about the uneasy situationat Xinjiang and China’s struggle withthe rising extremist forces near its fron-tiers as also its need to assert its domi-nance in the region. Towards the end,he charts the possible Chinese responsesas also presents his views regarding thepossible future prospects of this alliance.

A highly researched volume, albeitsuccinct in its arguments and inferences,this highly readable book contains about140 odd pages of notes and bibliographyfrom varied sources present and pastwhich make it a work well entrenched inreality as also firmly establishes itsauthor as an authority on the subject.#���+��������$���������������� ����5AFG"����5��

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Jeet Thayil’s Collected Poems beginswith a short preface in which heannounces the decision for TheseErrors are Correct to be his last col-lection of poems. Published in 2008,

These Errors Are Correct had won Thayila Sahitya Akademi Award, so the suddenarrival of a definite published oeuvre issurprising. Spread over five sections, thebook includes poems from his four poet-ry collections — Gemini (1992),Apocalypso (1997), English (2004), andThese Errors Are Correct (2008) — and aselection of new and “uncollected” poemswritten during 2003-2015. With over 250poems, this sizable volume takes thereader into Thayil’s real and imaginedworlds as his poetry develops over a spanof 24 years.

There is a gradual shift in the soundof poems as one reads from Gemini toThese Errors Are Correct. In fact, poemslike Gemini and Apocalypso are formallywrought with distinct rhythm rooted inseveral poetic forms. In English andThese Errors Are Correct, the themesslowly acquire layers and sentimentsturn complex. Urbanity becomes less ofan observational chart and more of anunderstanding of personalised spaces.Evolved content complements newerforms of prose and list poetry. Thayil’ssubjects increase. His angels Gibreel andBeelzebub visit cities, his shapeshiftershold mirrors to our lives, his Augustine,feeble in the storm of desire, prays, “letme be chaste, Lord, but not today/fortoday there’s she & she & she”.

English is a recurrent concern inThayil’s work. He laments the tendencyof writers who, writing in English, playup “various Indiannesses/for an audi-ence that doesn’t reside here”. Throughcultural contradictions and irony, theawareness of English’s presence in hiswork evokes polar sentiments of desper-ation and fulfillment.

Thayil’s English is globalised and car-nivalesque, innovative and disruptive,branching wide across continents, andlooking painfully for its elusive roots.This is realised in poems from TheseErrors Are Correct where, in its urgencyand desperation, the language brilliantlyarticulates the nuances of separation.Thayil throws at us his many worlds withpeople, caricatures and situations. Behind

the shadow, Thayil’s poetic persona is thatof a disinterested archaeologist, diggingdeeper into the frailties of human exis-tence for the purpose of study but uncov-ering each fold with a cynical, unsenti-mental critical distance.

Expressions of intimacy and belong-ing transcend the autobiographical,incorporating several cultural and lin-guistic subtexts, affecting, and at thesame time being affected by, relation-ships formed with elements of the uni-

verse. From cosmopolitan cities to shift-ing seasons, Thayil’s world is extensivelyinterconnected and fluid. Lust fromGemini gives way to various manifesta-tions of intimacy in These Errors AreCorrect, and everything — living, dead,and material- are woven together by thecrucial principle of loss.

Thayil says in the preface that time,once his friend “is now the enemy”. Theawareness of time, the inevitable disillu-sionment with grand narratives, and a

final solitary dejection run throughoutthe book. Death, stinking of brashlymade promises, is a process rather thanan event, accompanying its equallyputrid brother, Travel. Both brothershave their own histories of evolution. InThayil’s universe, what is grand is contin-uously challenged by sharp, cuttingrhetoric in a postmodernist flair.

The breakdown of grand narrativesinto microcosmic worlds puts every-thing in a state of flux, and the archaeol-

ogist is forced to admit that he knows,like Icarus, how to soar, but “not how toland”. Chronological continuity, or itslack, in Thayil’s work comes acrosswhen a letter from a Mogul emperor isread in 2006, when the snake is asked to“laugh out loud” when the skim falls off,when a poem remains a fragment, whenthere’s only a blank page for “TheConsolations of Age”.

Throughout the book, Thayil’s wan-dering self tells stories of addiction andwithdrawal. Poems inspired by the nos-talgia for narcotics appear periodically.The point of heroin is that it creates thewasted time “which comes back lovelysometimes”. The Sisyphean question of“why push the stone back up the hill?”along with the realisation that the timedoes return “to punish you with the timeyou killed” almost effectively nullifies theslightest chance of rehabilitation. Thayil’sdebt to poets he admires and is influ-enced by erupts in confessions, eloquentand abrupt, in realising the texture ofMoraes’ hand upon handshake, in declar-ing, after borrowing a line fromBaudelaire for a poem, that he is over thecelebrated poet “at last, in Mexico City”.Each site of love and separation, religionand politics, humility and confidence, artand artistry, among several others, is thesite of perpetual questioning and recon-ciliation resulting from the poet’snomadic curiosity

Collected Poems has a life breathedinto it which shows us Thayil’s shiftingworlds and situations, each replete withits own sustaining mechanism. Thepoems, when read chronologically,depicts the discomfort of refracted roots,his obsession with examining the rele-vance of English language without con-crete results, the refraction of previousgrand truths into banal platitudes vul-nerable to mockery, and the push andrecoil of nuanced sentiments steering allmyriad worlds to their uncertain ends.Having assessed that he is “unable toequal the poems” in These Errors AreCorrect, Thayil gives a brief tour of somepoems that happened before and after2008 in the very first section of the book,demonstrating poetically the carefulcrafting of the fear of a final halt.

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At last week’s Counter-TerrorismConference, organised by IndiaFoundation and themed

around the rising tide of global jihad,speaker after speaker waxed eloquenton well-known basics withoutaddressing the core issue: The ideolo-gy of hate and how to deal with it.Theological pamphleteering, nodoubt well meaning and sincere, is ofno consequence to the peddlers ofhate, death and destruction. I doubt ifAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-appointed caliph of the Islamic State,and Abubakar Shekau, who headsBoko Haram, are remotely impressedby counter-scholarship. That wouldbe equally true of the mullahs of Taliban and the foot soldiers of jihad.

To ignore the ideology that dri-ves Islamism and its resultant vio-lence would be to ignore the realreason behind the continuing surgein transnational terrorism. The bar-barians may not be at our gate asyet, but the unstoppable march ofzealots, whom George W Bushdescribed as ‘Islamofascists’, as thecivilised world retreats, concedingground with each passing day,should not go unnoticed. To turn ablind eye, to be indifferent, orworse, to be politically correct andtolerate the intolerable would be toour peril. For let there be no mis-take, the taunting tone of those whobelieve in the inevitability of ahomogenous ummah replacing thediverse world we know is alreadydiscernible over the babble of ill-informed and vacuous politicallycorrect discourse.

Soon after the ghastly Londonbombings when Islamists blewthemselves up with deadly effect,Ed Husain’s book The Islamist waspublished, recording his disillusion-ment with radicals who use faith asa cover for their murderous deeds.A particular passage in that bookremains indelibly printed on mymind: “Teacher, I want to go Lon-don next month. I want bomb, bigbomb in London, again. I wantmake jihad!” “What?” I exclaimed.Another student raised both handsand shouted: “Me too! Me too!”Other students applauded thosewho had just articulated what manyof them were thinking...

That’s how Ed Husain recordshis experience in the Saudi Arabianschool where he had taken up ateaching assignment after embrac-ing radical Islam. It was the dayafter the 7/7 suicide bombings inLondon that killed 52 commuters.Ed Husain, his faith in radicalIslam by then dwindling rapidlyafter experiencing life in SaudiArabia, was hoping to hear his stu-dents denounce the senselesskillings. Instead, he heard a ringingendorsement of jihad and senselessslaughter in the name of Islam. EdHusain returned to London andpenned his revealing account inThe Islamist — Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What ISaw Inside and Why I Left.Debunking the Left-liberal intelli-gentsia’s explanation that depriva-tion, frustration and alienationamong immigrant Muslims inBritain are responsible for thesurge in jihadi fervour, Ed Husainwrote: “Many Muslims enjoyed abetter lifestyle in non-Muslim

Britain than they did in MuslimSaudi Arabia... All my talk ofummah seemed so juvenile now. Itwas only in the comfort of Britainthat Islamists could come out withsuch radical utopian slogans as oneGovernment, one ever expandingcountry, for one Muslim nation.The racist reality of the Arab psy-che would never accept black andwhite people as equal... I wasappalled by the imposition of Wahhabism in the public realm,something I had implicitly soughtas an Islamist...”

So, what does an Islamist seek?The reams of rubbish churned outby bogus activists and windbagcolumnists desperately seeking torationalise crimes committed in thename of Islam, ranging from theethnic cleansing of the Kashmirvalley to the Mumbai massacre,from the attack on ParliamentHouse in New Delhi to thedestruction of the twin towers ofthe World Trade Center in NewYork, from the horrific assault onhuman dignity by the Taliban inAfghanistan to the nauseating anti-Semitism of the regime in Iran, andfrom the unspeakable crimes of theIslamic State in the Levant to thelimitless horrors of Boko Haram inNigeria, cannot explain either thecore idea of Islamism or whatmotivates Islamists. For that, wehave to go through the teachings ofHasan al-Banna, the originalIslamist and progenitor of the

Muslim Brotherhood which nowwields power in Egypt, the land ofthe birth of radical Islam.

Hasan al-Banna’s articulation ofIslamism in the 1930s, distilled fromcomplex theological interpretationsof Islam, was at once simple enoughfor even illiterate Muslims to under-stand and sinister in its implicationswhen seen in the context of what weare witnessing today: “The Quran isour Constitution. Jihad is our way.Martyrdom is our desire.” Imaginedgrievances and manufactured ragecame decades later, as faux justifica-tion for adopting this three-sentenceinjunction that erases the line sepa-rating the spiritual from the temporaland giving Islam a political dimen-sion in the modern world, thusexpanding the theatre of conflictbeyond the sterile sands of Arabia.

Hasan al-Banna died a nastydeath when he was murdered in1949, apparently in retaliation ofthe assassination of Egypt’s thenPrime Minister, Mahmud FahmiNaqrashi, but the seed he hadplanted in his lifetime was to growinto a giant poison tree, wateredand nourished by Sayyid Qutub(whose tract, Ma’alim fi-l-Tariq,was interpreted as treasonous,fetching him the death sentence in1966) which over the years hasspread its roots and branches, firstacross Arabia and then to Muslimmajority countries; so potent isthat tree’s life force, its seeds, car-ried by the blistering desert wind

that blows from the Mashreq, havenow begun to sprout in countriesas disparate as Denmark andIndia, Turkey and Malaysia,changing demographic profilesand unsettling societies.

The world chose to ignore sub-sequent events and, like those whoclamour for a gentler, accommoda-tive approach to Islamism today bypushing for compromise over con-flict, ‘enlightened’ scholars andpublic affairs commentators ratio-nalised Anwar Sadat’s assassinationby Islamists on October 6, 1981.Even Egypt erred in setting freescores of conspirators, including acertain Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

Similarly, the ‘Islamic Revolu-tion’ in Iran with its blood-soakedconsequences was hailed as a “peo-ple’s victory” over Shah RezaPehalvi’s dictatorial regime. ForEurope, long dubbed Eurabia, it wasbusiness as usual — Iran’s oilswamped out rational analyses. Ifany country had the foresight tosense the danger signals, it was, andironically so, Egypt under PresidentHosni Mubarak who remained waryof Iran, not least because of itsexport of rabid Islamism. Tragically,the new rulers in Cairo are not riledby Tehran naming a street afterSadat’s assassin, Khalid Islambouli.

It was in the immediate after-math of the Soviet invasion ofAfghanistan that Islamism acquireda new dimension and a vicious edgewhen it was coupled with Wah-habism, Saudi Arabia’s severely aus-tere version of Sunni Islam. Arabnationalism, which was unencum-bered by Islamism till then, becamean expression of faith in radicalIslamism. In what passes for Pales-tinian territories, the intifada wasborn and reborn, and while thepopularity of Yasser Arafat’s largelysecular PLO began to decline,Hamas, led by its paraplegic spiritu-al leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin,began its murderous march whichhas culminated with Gaza Stripbeing declared ‘Hamastan’. Yassinwas killed by the Israelis for inspir-ing young Palestinians to blowthemselves up in buses, restaurantsand markets, but that has neithershaken Hamas nor weakened itsfaith in what Hasan al-Bannapreached. In Lebanon, the Hezbol-lah is now facing competition fromFatah-al Islam in Palestinianrefugee camps and Syrian dissidentswho equally believe ‘Islam is thesolution’. In Britain, Hizb ut-Tahriris seducing young Muslims like EdHusain with its acid message ofintolerance and bigotry. In India,we have the Jamaat-e-Islami andthe Tablighi Jamaat. The Deobandisare not to be scoffed at.

To neutralise the three-sentenceinjunction of Hasan al-Banna, weneed more than a ‘War on Terror’.We need to launch an assault on theidea that motivates radicalIslamists. There is no scope foraccommodation, nor is there anyreason to capitulate or strike a com-promise. We still have time tomount a counter-assault. But to dothat, and do so successfully, wemust first acknowledge and debatethe Idea of Islamism.

(The writer is a current affairsanalyst based in NCR)

����������� �������������������� Reader response to Kanchan Gupta’s column,Coffee Break, published onJanuary 31:

Inhumane reaction: Anycrime where a Muslim or aDalit is involved, is immedi-ately given a ‘communal’colour by various sections ofthe people. However, in thecase of Savan Rathod, a 17-year-old Hindu boy fromPune, who worked as a ragpicker, they have maintainedsilence. Even if the boy wasstealing car batteries, shouldhe have been burnt alive?This is inhumane.

Sridhar

Political mileage: It is notso surprising that the Indianmedia has maintainedsilence over the death ofSavan Rathod.

What is surprising, however,is the fact that the politicianshave not used this issue totheir benefit as they didwhen a Muslim manMohammad Akhlaq of Dadriwas killed over rumours thathe had consumed beef orwhen a Dalit student fromHyderabad committed suicide recently.

Chandra Moorthy

Cause matters: When it istime for the Hindus to cometogether and protest vehe-mently against the killing ofa Hindu boy, a majority ofthem are least bothered.They lack the courage tofight for themselves.

The rest are pseudo-lib-erals, busy faking their pro-minority stance. I agreewith what actor AnupamKher said, that he is“scared” to say that he is aHindu and that if he puts a

teeka on his forehead andwears orange-colouredclothes, people may brandhim as an “RSS or even aBJP fanatic”.

Gowdam

Losing credibility: That themedia is ethically bankrupt(with few exceptions) hasbeen proved yet again. TheIndian media has lost credi-bility. The failure on thepart of the police, the StateGovernment, the UnionGovernment, other politicalparties and NGOs, to con-demn the death of SavanRathod, shows the social,cultural and political degen-eration of our country.

S Kurup

Hypocrisy unveiled: Whena Dalit student from Hyder-abad, Rohith Vemula, com-mitted suicide, the entirenarrative was built around

‘caste violence’, but when a17-year-old Hindu boy wasbrutally, murdered, it has become a ‘law and order’ crime!

The fact is that no onecares about the cold-blood-ed murder of Sawan Rathodbecause he was a Hindu boyand the names of his mur-derers may reveal an inconvenient truth. There’sso much of hypocrisy.

Somya

Balant truth: Rohit Vemulawas a Dalit student fromHyderabad who was brain-washed by the Left andother anti-Hindu and anti-India elements. Therefore,he received media coverageand support from the politi-cians. Sawan Rathod was aHindu boy from Pune whowas poor and uneducated.Therefore, he was sidelined.

Rashmi Singh

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Under the unsullied, invigo-rating skies of the Tea Cityof India, Dibrugarh —

where the smokes of moderndecadence have not yet tarnishedits inherent aura — the mightyBrahmaputra surges across the far-fetched land between two districtson its either side. On its banks,several young ferrymen rise earlyto brave a day that is long andhard and perhaps underappreciat-ed as well. Their ferries ply every-day to and from Dibrugarh (onthe south of the river) andDhemaji (on its north). Tiny,mobile shops for food are set upon the bank — which they alsorefer to as the ghat — for quickrefreshment although there is noprovision for toilets and toiletries.At one’s disposal are the sundryovergrown, wild bushes over a vastsand track with no sign of habita-tion in the vicinity. Depending onthe course of the river, the ghatkeeps shifting, and so do the ferrybusiness and the miscellaneousshops. But the picturesque,turquoise hues of the river and thewilderness around it evoke anenthralling, serene sensationwhich makes up for the hustle andbustle integrated into the mun-dane lives of the people there.

Rocky, who is assigned thetask of maintaining a track of theferries and their operations everyday, is on the phone. There’s aferry with passengers that is stuckin the middle of the river and theresponsibility falls on his shouldersto arrange for help. Bhaikan,entrusted with a similar job,knows all ferrymen and their asso-ciates. Seeking to use his resources,

passengers with their personalvehicles urge him to reserve thema slot as soon as possible. Thebusiness on the ghat runs on faithand camaraderie; the dealingswith the passengers have noreceipts either. The other ferrythat Rocky or Bhaikan sends toassist the one that is stuck, sets sailwith five or six boatmen. Withjust some bamboo poles and lum-bers, they will try to see if thegigantic ferry that has stuck itsedge on a shallow tract of the rivercould be moved. Mostly, they willuse their bare hands to push theferry that weighs hundreds ofkilograms and has three SUVsonboard, and it might take themhours to reinstate the situation. Inthe process, they are also going tolose an entire batch of their owncommuters for the day, but some-one still has to go and rescue theircolleagues; that is how their tradeoperates. It’s a normal day at theBogibeel ferry ghat.

The Assam Agitation (1979-1985) was a historic movement inthe State, led by the All AssamStudents Union (AASU) and theAll Assam Gana Sangram Parishad(AAGSP), against illegal immigra-tion into the State. After about fiveyears of mass protests, the AssamAccord was signed in 1985,between the leaders of the move-ment and the Government ofIndia, in New Delhi. The Accordled to the creation of a political

party (the Asom Gana Parishad orAGP) that could form a StateGovernment in Assam. Tracing itsorigins to the Assam Accord, theBogibeel Bridge was one of thesignificant infrastructural projectsin the pact. It was sanctioned bythe Government of India underthe Prime Ministership of HDDeve Gowda in 1997-98 and wasexpected to be completed by theend of the Ninth Five Year Plan in2012. However, it was only in 2002when the then Prime Minister,Atal Bihari Vajpayee laid the foun-dation stone and construction

started. In 2007, the UPAGovernment that was back inpower after Vajpayee’s, deemed itto be of “national importance”.However, after several years ofdelay (mostly attributed to volatileclimatic circumstances) andchanges in the Government, thebridge has still not been built com-pletely and the newest date of itscompletion that has been nowproposed is June 2017.

Until the construction of thebridge, almost 40 ferries plybetween Dibrugarh and Dhemajievery day, the earliest at 6.40 am

and the last at 4 pm, carryingaround 180 passengers. There isalso provision for accommodatingthree to four automobiles on eachferry, and even animals (poultry,cattle etc) could make a trip.

Tickets cost �60 for passengersand �1,000 for cars. TheGovernment-run ferries chargerelatively lesser for the passengersat �20 and �860 for cars. The ghat,under the Inland Water TransportDepartment, Government ofAssam, is auctioned to a lessee.The private ferries, boatmen, otheragents on the ghat will all be

entailed under the employment ofthe lessee. Shidhinath Lahan, whoworks at the ghat, says, “This ghatis currently owned by ArupChetia. The ferries are monitoredby teams of young lads from near-by places. We have been observingthem for a while now; they are ofthe right age and physique to han-dle the unpredictable course of theriver. They are paid around �6,000per month and a daily wage of�200 each. Profits from the ferriesare divided between the StateGovernment and the private par-ties in a 60:40 ratio; 60 per cent tothe owner of the ferry and 40 percent to the Government.”

Over the Brahmaputra, one ofthe longest trans-boundary riversin Asia, this 4.95-km bridge willconnect Dibrugarh and Dhemajiand its construction will reported-ly cost �5,000 crore. Mumbai-based Hindustan ConstructionCompany (HCC), whose projectsinclude the Bandra-Worli Sealink,Delhi Metro, and Lavasa city, owns51 per cent stake, Hyderabad-based VNR Infrastructure has 29per cent and Germany-based DSDBrouckenbau has 20 per cent stakein the construction of the girdersor superstructure.

Gammon India is in charge ofbuilding the 42 platforms on thegigantic pillars of the bridge, ofwhich now less than 10 remain tobe completed. Over 2,500 peoplework on the project.

This bridge is also going to bethe longest one in India havingtwin modes of transportation — adouble deck with two railwaytracks on the lower platform and athree-lane road with footpaths oneither side on the upper level.HCC had announced that 70,000metric tonnes of steel will be usedfor completing the superstructure,which they claimed will be equiva-lent to 10 Eiffel Towers. It has alsobeen reported earlier that the totallength of welding is about 12,800km, which is the same as circlingaround the moon 1.5 times!

There are three other bridgesover the Brahmaputra in the State.One in Guwahati, anotherbetween Goalpara and Jogighopa,and one between Kaliabor andTezpur. The first two are rail-cum-road bridges whereas the thirdonly has road connectivity.Internally of course, Assam andArunachal Pradesh will have bet-ter accessibility. But much beyondits architectural grandeur, India ishopeful of smoother trade withChina through Assam andArunachal via the bridge.

About what lies ahead for thepeople working at the ghat oncethis bridge is constructed, theysaid that earlier some of themworked at the Rani Ghat atPasighat in Arunachal Pradesh,but after a bridge was built overthe river there, they found way tothis one. After this, they believethey will find another ghat tooperate at, Tekelifuta at Sivasagar,for example. After all, there isalways an unbridged gap every-one is working on.

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Despite Rahul Gandhi’s bestefforts, infighting amongparty leaders is on the rise.Rahul tried hard to end thepower struggle within the

Congress, but it has reared its ugly headagain. In Punjab, Captain AmarinderSingh has decided not to fight KhadoorSahib byelections, and this issue hasbecome big. Though only Jagmeet SinghBrar has made a public statement, manyleaders are fuming. They are saying thatwhen the high command had decidedon Ramanjit Singh Sikki’s name for thisseat, then why did the Captain decidenot to fight?

Also, many leaders are unhappy withWest Bengal State President AdhirRanjan Chowdhury. Recently, seniorleader of the State, Manas Bhunia, allegedduring a meeting with Rahul Gandhi thatChowdhury only looks after his district.In West Bengal, Rahul’s biggest concern isbringing Chowdhury, Bhunia, and DeepaDasmunsi on the same page.

In Kerala, certain Congress leadersare facing serious allegations in either thebar license scam or the solar panel scam.It is said that Congress leaders are delib-erately taking each other’s names. AfterOommen Chandy, now there is news thatRamesh Chennithala had allegedly beengiven a �2-crore bribe.

In Delhi, despite all the efforts ofRahul, the war between Ajay Maken andSheila Dikshit continues. Many old sup-porters of Dikshit are supposedly run-ning a campaign against Maken. While inKarnataka, Mallikarjun Kharge, BKHariprasad and Oscar Fernandes are des-perate to throw out CM Siddaramaiah.

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The politics over the completion of10 years of MNREGA has been well

thought out, and the Congress hasgone far and wide to take credit for it.Rahul himself went to Anantapur inAndhra Pradesh, from where SoniaGandhi and Manmohan Singh hadstarted this scheme 10 years ago. TheNarendra Modi Government, whichhad declared this scheme a monumen-tal failure, also celebrated when it com-pleted 10 years. The CentralGovernment and the BJP are emphasis-ing that the funding of the scheme isbeing continued.

The reason for all this is simple —the Congress prefers politics that was thetrademark of NAC under Sonia’s chair-manship. Most of the members of thatcouncil were from the NGO fraternityand they had set the agenda of the UPAGovernment accordingly. Rahul is mov-ing forward on the same agenda. Whenhe went to Bundelkhand after a long gap,

he sent across a message that theCongress will work for the Dalits, thetribals and the downtrodden.

That is the reason why Rahul is high-lighting the completion of a decade ofMNREGA in a big way. He will meet allState Presidents of the Congress and dis-cuss the scheme with them. Sources inthe party say Jairam Ramesh is guidingRahul on this agenda. Apart fromMNREGA, the forest Act is the otherissue. Again on Ramesh’s advice, Rahulwill be raising this issue.

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The Congress will not take any deci-sion on former CM of Chhattisgarh,

Ajit Jogi, in a hurry. The disciplinarycommittee, which was assigned to lookinto the allegations against him, hasgiven sufficient indications that he won’tbe thrown out of the party anytimesoon. This was expected because theCongress was worried that if Jogi issacked, he could launch his own partyand that could create problems for theCongress in the elections.

It is said that State President BhupeshBaghel did a lot of lobbying to ensure theexpulsion of Jogi. He met senior leaders,such as AK Antony and Motilal Vora, andis said to have showed them proof of the

fact that Jogi had prepared a strategy withCM Raman Singh to compel theCongress candidate to withdraw from theAntagarh Assembly byelections in 2014.

Nobody raised questions on the proofgiven by Baghel but nobody gave anyassurance to him either. On behalf of Jogi,his wife Renu has taken command. Shealso came to Delhi to root for him. Apartfrom that, it is also being said that Vora isnot happy with Baghel and that is why hehas not created an adverse situation forJogi. So, there is greater possibility thatJogi will continue in the party. It is alsopossible that the decision on Jogi’s sus-pension will be reversed soon.

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During the UPA II regime, a new scamwas unearthed almost daily and a

new minister came under the scanner. Itis a similar story with the KeralaGovernment. The ambit of two scams,which have been unearthed recently, isincreasing and a new minister is facingallegations on a daily basis. The barlicense scam and solar panel scam haveleft CM Oommen Chandy, his familymembers, the Government and itsalliance partners in grave problems.

Two more ministers, RameshChennithala and VS Sivakumar, have

come under scanner in the bar licensescam. Chennithala used to be StateCongress President and is presently theHome Minister of Kerala, whileSivakumar is the Health Minister. Thehead of the association of bar owners, BijuRamesh, claimed to have paid �2 crore toChennithala and �25 lakh to Sivakumar.The Excise Minister had resigned when acase was registered against him, but whenthe High Court stayed the matter, hebecame a minister again.

The main accused in the solar panelscam, Saritha Nair, has levelled allega-tions against Chandy and his son ChandyOommen. Saritha claimed she gave morethan �2 crore to Chandy and his EnergyMinister, Aryadan Muhammed. NowSaritha has given a CD to the investigat-ing agency. In this CD, talks betweenSaritha, her partner Biju Radhakrishnan,and Congress leaders have been recorded.

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Congress leaders, who are by profes-sion lawyers, had a comfortable life

during the two UPA regimes. Almost allof them were ministers. However, most ofthem faced defeat in the last Lok SabhaElections, while some didn’t contest.Now, the term of those who were inRajya Sabha will also come to an end. So,

lawyer leaders are seemingly very busyand active. In fact, they are trying toinfluence Sonia and Rahul to secure aberth in Rajya Sabha.

Kapil Sibal wants a Rajya Sabha seateither from Punjab or Bihar. In Bihar,the Congress is not in a position to getany seat on its own and the NitishKumar-Lalu Prasad Yadav combo willnot leave any seat readily. That is whySibal is concentrating more on Punjabfrom where three seats will be vacatedthis year. Like Sibal, P Chidambaram hasalso suddenly become active, apparentlyin the hope of a Rajya Sabha seat eitherfrom Karnataka or Uttarakhand.

The third lawyer leader is AnandSharma; he is already in Rajya Sabha buthis tenure will end soon. The Congresswill not get even a single seat fromRajasthan, so he is trying to secure a seatfrom Himachal Pradesh. Manish Tewariis also trying to enter Rajya Sabha fromPunjab by pushing aside the chance, ifany, of his fellow advocate leaderAshwini Kumar. No seat is visible forformer Foreign Affairs and Law MinisterSalman Khurshid.

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In West Bengal, the political situationis almost the same as it was soon

after the Lok Sabha Elections. Onceagain, the BJP and TMC are pittedagainst each other. BJP’s four big lead-ers have addressed rallies in WestBengal. In their rallies, Nitin Gadkari,Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and SmritiIrani attacked the State Governmentand its governance. Shah had kept mumon the chit fund issue for the past fewmonths, but is now raising it again. Hesaid that during the TMC regime, onlythe chit fund industry has gone up inWest Bengal. Now it is clear that thisfight will continue till the nextAssembly Elections.

However, people are saying thatBJP’s attack will only benefit MamataBanerjee. In fact, leaders of the Left andCongress are claiming that the BJP andTMC have a hidden agreement: If theBJP becomes aggressive against TMC,the campaign of the Left will weaken.BJP leaders are aware of this fact, sothey are confident that Mamata willtake things in the right spirit.

On the other hand, Mamata has alsostarted showing her proximity to theCongress. She supported Sonia and Rahulin the National Herald case. So, on onehand she is puncturing the claims ofcloseness with the BJP by siding with theCongress, and on the other hand, she isonly benefitting from BJP’s attack. Thesetwo factors are quite important for polar-isation of minority votes.

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Gwendoline Christie has con-firmed she will return to therole of imposing villain Captain

Phasma in the forthcoming sequel tobox-office record-breaker Star Wars:The Force Awakens. Speaking to Peoplemagazine at the Screen Actors Guildawards, Christie also said she hopedher achievement in winning the partof a character originally written for aman would encourage greater diversityin Hollywood. “I will be in the nextStar Wars movie. I think that’s anexclusive, actually,” she said. “I wasoverexcited. I made no secret of thefact that I really campaigned for thepart for a long time. And then I wasdelighted when JJ Abrams wanted tohave me in the film and then wantedto cast me in this role that had origi-nally been designed for a man.”

Christie, 37, added: “I thought thecostume was incredibly striking. I alsojust liked this notion of a femalestormtrooper. I felt it encouraged diver-sity and it was doing something newand it was an interesting bit of castingfor women, and I hope that in some-

thing that was such a mainstream suc-cess it would breed more of those kindof opportunities for other women.”

The Game of Thrones actor haspreviously said she was particularlypleased to note that Phasma’s chrome-plated costume remained unalteredonce she was confirmed in the role. “Iwas struck by how incredible it looked,but also I liked that it was stormtroop-er armour,” she told People.

Meryl Streep’s daughterMamie Gummer is to starin Amazon Prime’s new

fashion drama, The Collection.Created by Desperate Housewivesand Ugly Betty showrunner OliverGoldstick, The Collection is set in aParisian fashion house just after theend of World War II. Centredaround the two brothers who runthe family business, it also stars TheLady In the Van and Harry Potteractor Frances de la Tour, who playsscheming matriarch Yvette Sabine.

The brothers Paul and Claude areplayed, respectively, by Crossbonesactor Richard Coyle and Tom Riley,whose previous credits include DaVinci’s Demons and Monroe.

Gummer, who is probably bestknown to viewers for playing NancyCrozier in hit US series The GoodWife, takes on the role of Paul’s wifeHelen in The Collection, while JennaThiam, who was in French dramaThe Returned, also features as the faceof the fashion house’s label.

Goldstick described The

Collection as “an entrepreneurialfable set at a pivotal moment inFrance’s history when fashion trulybecame a vehicle for transformationand reinvention. “At its heart, it isthe story of a volatile family whichpays a steep price for its ambition —and this ‘family’ encompasses notonly the name on the label, but thedevoted workers who execute themaster’s vision.”

Animated sequel Kung Fu Panda3 scored a respectable $41m ondebut to top the US box office,

but Oscar-winner Natalie Portmansuffered a career-worst opening on thetroubled western, Jane Got a Gun.

Directed once again by Jennifer YuhNelson, this time with AlessandroCarloni, the new Kung Fu Panda filmsees the roundhouse-kicking bear meethis birth family for the first time, as wellas graduating to become a teacher ofmartial arts. Strong reviews and a voice

cast featuring Jack Black, Angelina Jolie,Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and SethRogen once again fuelled the film’sNorth American success.

Kung Fu Panda 3 did even betterin China, where it pulled in $58.3m,the biggest animated opening of time.The sequel is the first in the trilogy tobe co-produced by DreamWorksAnimation and Shanghai-basedOriental DreamWorks, which guaran-teed it a preferential release underChina’s restricted system.

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Acraze for lifelike dolls thought tobring good luck is sweeping

Thailand, reflecting widespread anxi-ety as the economy strugglesand political uncertainty persistsnearly two years after a coup.

Thailand is predominant-ly Buddhist and has beenmodernising rapidly overthe past two or threedecades, but many peo-ple are highly super-stitious, theirBuddhist beliefsco-existingwithnotions ofanimism,astrology and black magic.

The plastic dolls, aboutthe size of a real baby, are called“look thep”, or “child angel”.Devotees buy them in shops oronline and invite benevolent spirits topossess them, hoping they will bringgood luck.

“The economy is bad right now.Everybody needs something to hold on

to,” said Mananya Boonmee, 49, a dollowner and seller. Mananya said her doll,called Nong Petch, or baby jewel, hadhelped her win the lottery by telling herwhat numbers to buy in her dreams.

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Apopular San Francisco parkthat re-opened after years

of construction is drawingattention for an unusual

new feature: An open-airpublic urinal. The uri-

nal, located rightnext to thetrain tracks atDolores Park,

was installed aspart of the park’s $20.5 millionrenovations due to the city

Parks and Recreation Department’songoing problems with public urina-tion on buildings and bushes.

“The more options we can givethem to relieve themselves the better forthe park-goers,” San FranciscoSupervisor Scott Wiener told KNTV.“The better it is for neighbours.”

The new feature waswelcomed by park-goers.“Honestly, we were readyto go pee anywhere,” park vis-itor Aaron Cutler said after try-ing out the urinal. “So anyfacility is better than none.”

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An Ontario sanctuary israising funds by selling artwork cre-

ated by one of its residents: A polar bearnamed Henry. The Cochrane Polar BearHabitat shared video of Henry, a bearthat formerly resided at Australia’s SeaWorld Gold Coast, acting as a “PolarPicasso” while wandering around aroom filled with paint and paper.

“So how do you get a polar bear topaint? Very carefully! Henry loves pigfat, so our keepers placed the treat instrategic locations in Henry’s holdingroom so that he’d have to walk throughnon-toxic paint first and then across artpaper. Once they know he’s done hisbest — the trick is to get the 600 lb bearout of there before he really expresseshis artistic side — sometimes by rolling

on, tearing up — or rip-ping apart the artwork,”the sanctuary said in thevideo’s description.

Henry’s paintings,and those created by the sanctu-ary’s other bears, are being sold on the sanctuary’s website,www.polarbearhabitat.ca.

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The man who authorities dubbed the“Bordeaux Bandit” for allegedly

stealing expensive bottles of winearound the Northeast was sentenced toprison in Rhode Island for stealingvideo game equipment.

Scott Deluca, of Cohoes, New York,was sentenced in Providence to 90 daysin prison for larceny, with credit fortime served since January 11. Theremainder of his six-year sentence wassuspended. The 25-year-old is accusedof stealing rare wines from businesses inConnecticut, New Jersey and New York.One bottle he allegedly took from aConnecticut restaurant is worth $4,800.

In Rhode Island, Deluca pleaded no

contest to taking a Nintendo Wii,games, a controller and jewellery from aCumberland apartment in2011. A warrant wasissued after he failed toappear in court in June2014. Deluca wasordered to pay $6,188in restitution andhave no contact withthe victim. Heanswered questionsfrom a magistratejudge, but did not sayanything on his ownbehalf before the sen-tence was imposed.

Deluca wasarrested on January 8in Smithfield, wherepolice learned duringbooking that police inGroton, Connecticut,had obtained an arrestwarrant in the winetheft. Groton policesay Deluca stole abottle of 1990Chateau Petrus winefrom the wine stor-

age area at the Octagon restaurant at theMystic Marriott Hotel. Deluca’s lawyer,Thomas Thomasian, said he couldn’tcomment on the other cases.

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Aconvent in suburban Chicagoplans to move forward with an

effort to close a neighbouring stripclub even after a legal setback. CookCounty Circuit Judge Peter Flynntold the Missionary Sisters of StCharles Borromeo to rework theirlawsuit against Club Allure in StonePark alleging it violates prostitutionregulations and is a nuisance. ButFlynn also dismissed claims thatthe club violates zoning laws.He asked the nuns’ lawyers to

provide specific, detailed examples ofnuisances or lewd behaviour. Afterthe hearing, Sister Noemia Silva saidher order is called to “protect ourvalues, and we will not changethem”. Attorney Robert Itzkow, whois the former owner of the club,says it’s a legal business.

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It’s hard to think ofanyone who played

villains more lov-ably thanRickman —they’re oftensecretly thehero, even ifthe actual herohasn’t beentold. He wasalso a marvel-lously grumpyromantic leadwhen required(not oftenenough) andthe sort ofBritish prowhom Oscarvoters wouldusually get ontheir handsand kneesto reward.

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An old-school movie star and,to say the least, not the

world’s most consistent actor,Gere has still been unlucky notto enjoy even one Oscarmoment (where the likes ofGeorge Clooney have had afistful). He’s not been far offlately with The Hoax andArbitrage — it’ll come, maybe,when he finds his Wall Street.

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He is amazing at what he does, andbasically terrible, as he’d be the

first to admit, at being asked to doanything else. His whole career hingeson seeming to make a pig’s ear ofbeing a romantic lead, and makingthat hilarious, which he does with anatural skill and timing.

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We needn’t pretend all ofCarrey’s comic roles are nom-

ination-worthy, and he’s made a lotof dross amid the jewels. When hereally digs deep, though, it’s surpris-ing what emotional resources hefinds to depict Everymen in sorrycrisis, discovering the lim-its of what they’vebeen handed.

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Not just the head of a legendary Hollywood

dynasty (he’s Drew’s grand-father) and one of the mostimportant theatre actors of his day, but a major film-star throughout the soundera and for the first decadeof talkies, Barrymoredrank too much and died too young.

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In fairness, Lorre’s famouschild murderer in Fritz

Lang’s M (1931) was inOscar’s early days, when for-eign films weren’t embraced.Still, he made quite a mark inHollywood soon after, withhis unsettling cherub face,bulging eyes and ability toconjure auras of unseendepravity with just a fewquick strokes.

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The Academy felt soguilty about never

nominating the exotic andversatile Loy that a lobby-ing campaign sprang up toset things right, and theygave her an honoraryOscar in 1991. She accept-ed via camera at home,saying simply, “You’vemade me very happy.”

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For years best-knownas that weaselly guy in

the films with all thoseother guys, Buscemi islegitimately the greatAmerican character actorof the 1990s, more or lessthe Elisha Cook, Jr ofthat era. No nominationsfor either?

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Maybe it was consideredenough that she was the pin-

up to end all pin-ups, and awildly successful star for 10years. Perhaps she made toomany comedies — never thesurest path to Academyfavour. But any one of a half-dozen performances shouldhave earned her inclusion, if onlyas a polite nod of appreciation.

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There’s a subtle decency to mostof Cotten’s work, though it can

curdle into cynicism pretty fast, and his characters often get crushedby the looming failure of theirdreams. Even when cast againsttype, he’s a fascinating magnet foraudience faith.

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Many ofhis

films (TheGrifters, Bulletsover Broadway,Being JohnMalkovich) havebeen rather bighits with theAcademy, butCusack’s neuroticprotagonists neverquite charge to thefront. You feel he’s still waiting for the signature,mid-career rolethat will bring himinto the fold.

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Daniels wasabout the only

person not recog-nised for James LBrooks’s Terms ofEndearment(1983), and he’smanaged to cruisehis way though adurable Hollywood career, clowning it uphere and there, supplying a bitter gravitaselsewhere, without bagging one.

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The Puerto Ricanactor’s career was

cut short right in itsprime, just whenGomez Addams pro-pelled him to star-dom. His Shakespeareplaying was legendary,and he’d earnedrespect as the (superi-or) straight man to William Hurt’s Oscar-winning gay martyr routine in Kiss of theSpider Woman (1985). But the biggest filmaccolade eluded him.

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In the mix this year forher tough, thwarted

turn in Sicario, Blunt hasmanaged four GoldenGlobe nominations inmovies without getting onthe Academy’s shortlistonce. She’s becoming one

of the most respected actresses of her gen-eration, in an increasingly broad spectrumof parts. It can only be a matter of time.

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Song-and-dance legendMiller had the darnedest

voice, andwas almost

always thebest thing inher films.She couldtap-dancefast enoughto leave youdizzy, andreally act,too. Sheretired in1976, more or less, thoughDavid Lynch gave her a won-derful comeback cameo asCoco the landlady inMulholland Drive.

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In every way, it feels like Mia got the roughend of marriage to Woody Allen — she’s his

muse for a decade, and not one Oscar nomi-nation, while supporting players reap themconstantly? Even before they teamed up, herethereal, freckly beauty was a Hollywood trea-sure, and one the Academy should’ve noticed.

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Ryan’s in the Carrey/Grantcategory of someone

whose ticks can grate in herlesser vehicles, but when she’son, she’s really on — starwattage, comic timing, andnutso charm like no one else’s.

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Her mother IngridBergman won three of

the damn things, and whilefew would argue thatRossellini is anything likesuch a major star, she’s givenseveral mesmerising perfor-mances. She’s into her 60s now, let’s hope fora juicy supporting turn to get her in the club.

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Some blame theCanadian curse.

He has that instant-ly recognisablebaritone, maybethe most treasur-able voice in themovies this side ofJames Mason.

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Robinson was a huge ifunlikely star throughout

the 1930s and 40s. He musthave narrowly missed a nodas the hood in Little Caesar(1931), and sadly died two

months before an honorary Oscar waspresented to him in 1973.

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No power on earth can stop an idea whose timehas come.” Famous words from famous writer,philosopher Victor Hugo. But what is that

idea? Twentieth century was about achievements inscience and technology, about space and spacecrafts,about moon and mars. What about the present centu-ry? The 21st century. That idea may well be spirituali-ty whose time has come.

As the Indian diaspora spreads its wings all acrossthe globe carrying Indianism with it to the foreignshores, spirituality and its many variations from religionto ritualism seem to be catching up. The wheel seems tobe coming a full circle. Spirituality was an Indian dis-covery that overawed the world once upon a time. Itonce again seems to be picking up after a long lull of theextended medieval as people seem to be keen to buy it.

Keynes once said that “a man shall do all the ratio-nal things but only after exploring all other possibili-ties”. Spirituality now seems to be that rational thing inthe absence of other alternatives. Spirituality and itsattendant markets are growing as emptiness and loneli-ness catches up with increasing number of people.Even the sluggish Indian markets are bullish on spiri-tual-religious stocks. From lockets to devices promis-ing turn of fortunes, to totems to bring good luck areall the latest craze in the market place.

Indians known for their frugal buying habitsbecome generous on those buys that can connect themto the divine or at least offer possibilities of divinity’sgrace. Look at the way religious festivals and socialcustoms lead to spending spree. The mindset seems tobe affecting more and more people. Religion and spiri-tuality could be the next big idea that may bringinvestments and see start-ups stand up.

Being one of the largest unorganised segments inthe country, many estimate this to grow to somewherearound $30 billion by the next couple of years. A sim-ple research on a sample of some 500 Hindu house-holds carried out by an upcoming entrepreneurial ven-ture estimated just the Delhi/NCR market to be ataround $35 million per annum. That was only aboutpujas, customary rituals, religious festivals and someannually observed religious practices.

If the entire gamut of subjects like marriages,housewarmings, rituals related to births and deaths,occasional family pujas and festivities, astrology andfortune swinging practices is included, the quantum ofthe market may grow manifold. In fact pilgrimages andreligious tourism may also form a part of this. Imaginethe business opportunity that may be there for a one-stop shop or an app that provides packaged solutionsto such religion-spiritual needs.

Ventures like mypujapaath.com in Delhi are eyingprecisely this opportunity as there is potential in spiritu-ality. There is need for such efforts to cater to a targetmarket which wants service providers to fulfill all its reli-gious and spiritual requirements on one single platform.

These are the times when the religion-spiritualneeds are growing but people are not finding time andthe expertise to carry out steps to fulfill those needs.Puja rituals even otherwise involve a cumbersomeprocess and the idea definitely has a market in India.More so because for Indians from Amritsar to LosAngles, puja is required. Thus mypujapaath.com andother ventures of its ilk have opportunities waiting forthem. Visiting such sites may give an idea of the market.#���+����������������"��������������������� �%����&�(���$��

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Ihave intentionally chosen the word maryada tomake my point because I found no equivalentEnglish word which can describe exactly what I am

trying to convey through this Sanskrit word, also usedin Hindi. The closest English word is decorum butthat does not fully describe maryada. Norm, culture,etiquette and permissible limit, they all describe somepart of maryada but not all of it. In Hindi, there isLaxman Rekha, which comes only close.

The significance of this word can be understood byits use in describing Lord Ramachandra, who isaddressed as Maryada Purushottama. Translated intoEnglish, this will mean superior amongst persons, andwho upheld maryada. We cannot imagine how impor-tant it is to uphold maryada but, unfortunately, we keepon transgressing it and get in trouble repeatedly. Still, wedon’t learn that we must never go beyond maryada.

Let me now enumerate where all we must remainwithin the bounds of maryada and benefit immenselyby doing so. The order is not as per their importance butaccording to what is natural to consider first, and that isspeaking. We all speak throughout our lives. Out of allthe senses, speaking occupies a prime position. Noseand skin work more or less automatically. Hearing andseeing, I will take up next. Hands, legs, genital and anusare used as required. Speaking is where we make ourmark or get in trouble. It is said that harsh words canhurt more than any weapon can. Therefore, it is vital

that we stay within our maryada when we speak. Theopposite is also true. When we speak nicely, we endearourselves. This is one of the wealth which has beenbestowed on us by God and is limitless.

Next comes hearing and seeing. We should onlyhear and see what is beneficial to us. When we breakthis maryada and listen to nonsense or see somethingundesirable, our minds get polluted and sooner or laterwe get in trouble. Very few realise that lending our earsor seeing is easy but is very harmful if we don’t carefullyevaluate the person who is speaking to us or what we areseeing. Remember, words can damage more than anyweapon can, as will bad scenes.

Now I come to interpersonal relationships. The firstone has to be parents, which we all have. There ismaryada to deal with them and all cultured persons aresupposed to know it. Spouse comes next. Again, it isvital that we don’t cross maryada in interacting with himor her. Children follow. Here it is not a matter of dealingbut is of showing by behaviour because this is how chil-dren learn, ie by watching. Words don’t carry the sameweight. Relatives are next. Either they are friends or they

are not; we find out soon. If not friendly, deal with themformally, not badly. That is the demand of maryada.Teachers come next. They should always be treated withrespect. Same goes for the female gender, elders, thosewho help us and those who serve us. Yes, the last onesshould also be dealt with nicely. Higher placed, lower

placed, equals and juniors should be dealt with sensibly.The last person we must deal with properly is God, whois the most important person, because he is the supremeperson. We must love him not fear him. We should fearour sinful, impious or bad acts not God.

Then comes dressing, which also has its maryada.Staying within the bounds of maryada enhances ourpersonality and the opposite is also true. We cannot for-get our actions. These we must watch very carefully, likeour words. Because they can make or break us.

I am taking up the maryada of thinking in the endbecause I wish to emphasise that this is more importantthan all I have discussed before. Wrong or negativethinking more or less condemns us. What are fears, anx-ieties, worries, etc except punishment for bad thinking.Don’t we punish ourselves by being fearful, anxious,worried, etc? Everyone is advised to strictly stay withinthe permissible limits if one wishes to avoid unlimitedinjury inflicted upon the self by the self. Getting jealous,revengeful, lusty, greedy, etc also fall in the same catego-ry. We must remember that the mental agony we sufferis mostly due to transgressing the maryada of thinking,which very few realise. This self-inflicted pain can beavoided by resolutely staying within the maryada. Mostof the times we know what the maryada is but willinglyviolate it. Isn’t that very unfortunate?

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Every day we are bombarded with allsorts of problems. Some of them arepetty while some of them are verycomplicated. There are no humanbeings without problems. Some try to

ignore them, some react to them and some of usbecome so insensitive to our problems that aftera while they don’t affect us at all. Problems cre-ate an imbalance in our lives. When an other-wise normal life begins to lose balance, our firstreaction is anxiety and hastiness. But you mustunderstand that problems and challenges can beleveraged to make you a better and stronger per-son. Normally people deal with problems in thefollowing ways:� At first they analyse the problem.� Find out the root causes.� Some seek guidance from others.� Write down the several solutions.� Weigh the consequences of each solution.� And finally pick out the best solution.

This is a scientific approach tosolving problems and has proven tobe very effective in meeting corpo-rate and professional challenges.But this approach may not findsuitable solutions to personal prob-lems, especially those that involve alot of emotions. Emotions are com-plicated and cause turbulence with-in. And this is the reason why theyprevent our minds from makingrational decisions.

And when it comes to solvingpersonal and relationship problems,we need to have a calm and peacefulmind so that our solutions are notinfluenced by our emotional or men-tal blocks. So in these complicatedcircumstances whom do you need toturn to for solutions? How would youcalm yourself? These are some of thechallenges you need to overcome tomake the right choice.

So at times like these whenyour mind is clouded by emotions andthoughts, the best thing is to tap into your high-er self for answers.

7����������������FThe higher self is an invisible but very importantpart of us. Though different people refer to itthrough various different names, the higher selfmeans our extreme consciousness. It is our innerknowledge which we have built through various lifeexperiences. Our higher self knows who we are andwhat we want. And spirituality is the path toaccessing our higher self. We are born with thisdivine spark but our interaction with the physicalworld has tainted our thoughts, beliefs and percep-tion and this is the reason why people today are notin touch with their higher selves.

The higher self has the greatest potential to solve all our problems. So when you access your higher potential, life becomes much morepeaceful. Here are some techniques to tap yourhigher self to seek solutions:� Reach out to the cosmic connections: First ofall find a quiet place, sit comfortably and thinkabout your problem. Don’t block any emotions. Letthe negative emotions flow out of you. And nowask the universe to help you and direct youtowards the solution. Now imagine you are writingdown the solution on a piece of paper. Now youare putting it inside a bubble and then allow it tofloat away into space far away from you. As itfloats away, see the problem glowing and fadingaway. Then take a deep breath and wait for theuniverse to reveal the solution.

� Reach out to your higher intelligence: Do thisbefore you go to bed at night. Lie down comfort-ably and take a deep breath. Imagine your mind tobe a fresh water lake. Now visualise that you arewriting down the problem on a piece of paper andwrap it around a marble. Now engrave the marblewith the word peace boldly. Now imagine throwingthe marble into the lake and ask your higher mindto guide you. As you throw the marble, imagineripples being formed and spreading far out wide.The solution will be revealed to you either in yourdream or through any other sign.

� Reach out to your heart centre: Get into ameditating pose. You can sit on a chair or a mat.Calm your mind with deep breaths. Now imaginea golden light sparkling at the centre of your heartwhere you feel all your emotions. This spot isoften referred to as the heart centre. Think aboutthe problem and allow this light to absorb all theharmful and negative emotions that arise due tothis problem. Present your problem to this glow-ing light and ask for help. Your inner spiritresides in your heart. It will show you the bestsolution that will bring peace into your life.Calm yourself, meditate and allow your heart tocommunicate to you.

� Reach out to your favourite deity/guru: Mostof us have a favourite deity or a guru whom wetrust very much and seek answers from. If youare an atheist or do not have a guru, rememberguru doesn’t only refer to the one dressed in awhite or a saffron attire; a guru can be anyonewho is a guiding light for you — a teacher, whoteaches you to fight out the negativity and livewith positivity. This technique needs to be donewith love, dedication, sincerity and utmost faith.Get into a meditative pose and calm yourmind. Now chant the word ‘Om’ three to fourtimes taking deep breaths in between. Nowimagine that you are in the presence of thisdivine and powerful deity/guru. Express yourgratitude and perform the necessary saluta-tions that you would otherwise do at thetemple. And then put forward your prob-lem to the deity very clearly and requesthis guidance. Now express your gratitudeonce again and open your mind. Feelhappy and content as if the problem hasalready been taken care of.

7�������"�����������Normally these techniques reveal the solu-tions in your dreams, as signs, intuitionsor through someone. And sometimesthese problems fade away on their own,without any involvement from your side.But when none of it happens, it meansthat you may have some bad karmaclinging on to you. Try a spiritualcleansing to get rid of all the negative

karma; you can also try performing goodkarma, such as doing charity or helping

someone in need. Another thing that you need to know is

that problems and challenges appear in our livesto teach us certain lessons. Once you have learntyour lesson and applied it in your life, you willattain peace. Remember, it is not right to learneverything by your own experiences, at times;one must learn things from other’s experiencestoo — after all, this is the best mantra to limitcomplications in an otherwise complicated life.Learn to take life as a journey than striving toconclude that journey.

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Right to freedom has been res-onating loud on most of the tele-vision channels since Supreme

Court agreed to review afresh theirearlier take on LGBT issue. I wonderwhether legal adjudication could any-way set the terms of individual-specificsocial behaviour, which ordinarily isguided by how each mind is inherentlyinclined. And something that is rootedin the deep realm of mind cannot be soeasily transformed by social or judicialcommandments. At best, it could tosome extent deter people from behav-ing in a particular way in public.

I am not inclined to sit on judg-ment about whether the claim of theLGBT proponents is right or wrong,whether on religious grounds or inthe name of the laws of nature. Forthen the proponents may ask: Who iscompetent to define, a question withwhich they have been confrontingthose who are opposed to their stand-point. But what is intriguing is tomake such a claim in the name of‘fundamental right’.

True, human beings enjoy the free-dom to make choices. But would itmean that one could passionately pur-sue one’s individualistic whims and fan-

cies, even if it is to the detriment of ourcollective living order, and with impuni-ty? Would it enjoin you with absolutefreedom to sit in the middle of a roadand sell goods? Remember, wheneverthere is a choice, the probability of itsuse and misuse remains equal, and evi-dently, the onus of making right choiceis on you. For, in a living frameworkbound by cause-effect chain, you cannotescape the consequences of the choicesthat you make.

Had the consequences of individualchoice been limited to the self alone, thematter would not qualify for public con-cern. Here, what needs to be borne inmind is that this world is set into aninseparable interdependent structure.For, each one of us is born imperfect,not capable of meeting one’s existentialneeds by oneself. It is in togetherness,complimenting and supplementing eachother’s efforts that our existential con-cerns get served.

So, even individual welfare wouldbe secure only when the societal orderwould be in proper shape. It, thus,implies that any individual aberrationor for that matter, unseemly groupbehaviour all the more, carry thepotential to unsettle societal harmony

and balance, and hence the need for areasoned conduct.

The question is: “Are we justified inacting animal-like?” Here, it will bedesirable to look at what differentiatesa man from an animal. In the fivestages of the evolution chain, frommineral world such as earth mass — toplants and vegetable world to animalsand birds with a rudimentary mind tohuman beings with a developed mind— and finally to a fully evolved allknowing beings, animals have reachedthe third level. In this scheme ofthings, an animal’s nature is to act,react, or respond on instincts, butwould not know whether their act isright or wrong, and with no scope tomake any exception to the design para-meters driving them.

A man on the contrary, havinggraduated to the fourth level of evolu-tion is empowered to dispassionatelyevaluate the choices in hand throughexercise of the indwelling faculty ofdiscriminate intelligence, and accord-ingly guide one’s actions intelligently.Also, it qualifies human beings toeffect changes in the self as well as theenvironment through consciousefforts. For such an empowered crea-ture to lower down one’s level to act

animal-like is a point to ponder.Another question that deserves

attention in this context is that howcome ordinarily people are drawntowards the opposite sex? For ananswer, a look into the energy con-struct of human beings becomesimperative. Remember, a humanbeing with a solid frame, remains atthe sub-atomic level nothing but a webof vibrating energy patterns, men andwomen structured differently. Andthey are so made out as to meet eachother’s voids in energy terms, is howthey get naturally drawn towards eachother. Any exception to this frame-work has to be the handiwork of indi-vidual specific mental inclinations.

The above fundamentals of lifeneed to be kept in mind while deliber-ating on the issue in hand. Enough offood for thought has been made avail-able. It is now for all conscientiousminds to dispassionately examineagainst this back ground and reasonout the right course due for us.

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