Singh and Dharundhar Singh in Kashidih. Various puja venues across the city, including the famous ones in Adityapur and Kashidih, saw a large number of people gathering to seek the

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Prohibitory order underSection-144 has been

imposed at Satbarwa inPalamu. IG (Law and Order)Navin K Singh said the situa-tion is well under control andDC and SP of Palamu arecamping at Satbarwa. Similarly,DSP of Hussainabad MKMahto said situation atHaidernagar too is under con-trol where the Section 144.

The IG said police vigil arehigh at both the places.Communal tension erupted atSatbarwa and Haidernagarforced the police to swunginto action. Situation becametense over reportedly objec-tionable songs being played onSaturday.

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Durga Puja, one of the great-est festivals of the city,

ended with immersion of idolsof Goddess Durga in the riversall over. Tight security arrange-ments were made.

Four days of revelry andmerriment came to a happyend. Hundreds of devotees,including the men and women,joined hands to say 'Aaschebochor abar hobe' (See younext year).

Steel city witnessed peace-ful immersion of idols at 12rivers ghats. In all 308 idolswere immersed on a day whichwas incident free. TheSubernarekha river ghats wit-nessed maximum number ofimmersions (123 idols).

Police officers said that nountoward incidents have beenreported. There was adequatepolice deployment in the areasand things move smoothly.Law and order machinery waspressed into service with fullspeed to ensure peaceful con-duct of the festival, with addi-tional police force beingdeployed at several strategiclocations. About 371 magis-trates and more than 400 police

officers across 11 blocks and 33police stations in the districtwere deployed.

Chanting "Bolo Durga MaiKi, Jai", people took the giantidols of Goddess Durga frompuja venues to the banks ofrivers and immersed it afteroffering prayers. This yeararound 308 pandals were put up.

Tight security arrange-ments were made at the riverbanks of Kharkai andSubarnarekha launches werekept ready to rescue people incase of emergencies, policesaid.

In the morning, marriedwomen smeared the goddessand her children with red ver-milion and offered sweets andprayed for the well-being oftheir families and long lives oftheir husbands.

People were seen standingin long queues in front of thepandals for their turn for dar-shan of the Goddess. Huge rushof devotees was seen at thepandals of Jay Ram SportingClub in Adityapur and ThakurPyara Singh and DharundharSingh in Kashidih.

Various puja venues acrossthe city, including the famousones in Adityapur and

Kashidih, saw a large numberof people gathering to seek theblessings of the goddess thismorning. An adequate numberof policemen were deployedacross the city to streamline therush of devotees who were

headed towards river banks toimmerse the idols.

On the other hand the RamMandir Ravan Dahan Samity inSonari performed rituals ofRavaan Dahan. This year theRavan was 50 ft high and view-

ers enjoyed the legend of goodwinning over evil once again.

The tradition of the dahan,held on the Ram Mandirgrounds, first began in 1958.The total budget for this yearwas �1.25 lakh.

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Garhwa Police held threecriminals at Gurdi hillock

under same police station andrecovered a country made pis-tol, a live cartridge and a ironrod used in the murder of PalheKhan. According to Garhwa SPMohammed Arshi, acting on atip off Garhwa police led byOfficer in charge in AnilKumar raided the place atGurdi hill and arrested thecriminals.

They have identified asKrishna Paswan, Vinod Ramalias Jangali and Pappi Khan.Police also recovered an ironrod used in the assassination of

Palhe Khan, one country madepistol and a live cartridge from

them. SP informed that withtheir arrest Police foiled a loot

as well besides solving themurder mystery.

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Ahead of Chief MinisterRaghubar Das’ Japan visit

to woo investors there andshowcase Jharkhand to thefriendly country, JapaneseAmbassador to India KenjiHiramatsu has underlinedpotentials present in the min-eral rich State.

After meeting IndustrySecretary Sunil Barnwal onSunday in Delhi, theAmbassador also welcomedthe CM to Japan. “Jharkhand isamong the able States in build-ing India. There is lots ofpotential to invest inJharkhand. Japan would extendall possible help and supportduring the visit,” said he.

The CM is slated to lead adelegation to the country along

with the Czech Republic fromOctober 8 to October 14. He,besides holding several meet-ings in Japan and taking outroad shows at Tokyo andOsaka, would also participatein an international engineeringshow MSV-BRNO at the CzechRepublic.

Barnwal also metAmbassador of the CzechRepublic to India Milan Hovorkawho welcomed the State to thecountry. The Secretary on theoccasion apprised theAmbassadors about steps takenin the run up MomentumJharkhand event in which boththe countries were partners.

“Both Japan and CzechRepublic were partnering theMomentum Jharkhand GlobalInvestors’ Summit. The upcom-ing visit would present anopportunity to the companiesto understand Jharkhand fromclose quarters. The trip wouldalso speed up investment andindustrial progress in the State,”said Barnwal.

Officials of the high com-

missions said that all prepara-tions related to the CM trip arebeing finalised. Barnwal addedthat in the InternationalEngineering Show a Jharkhandpavilion showcasing specialtiesof the State along with scope ofinvestments and work culturewould be placed. PersonalSecretary to the CM KPBaliyan, Adil Jaidi of EY alongwith others were present in themeeting.

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Principal Secretary ofPersonnel Department

Nidhi Khare has summonednodal officers of theDepartment where applica-tions coming are not disposedand updated through e-reviewportal.

Through the portal reportsabout progress made on theschemes run by the Center inthe State and to be updated tothe Prime Minister Office. Outof total 225 matters, no updatehas been done in 42 which arerelated to energy, agriculture,IT, industry etc.

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After alerted by ChiefSecretary Rajbala Verma

and DGP DK Pandey for dis-trict administrations to be vig-ilant during Muharram, RanchiPolice will ensure that CCTVsare installed on all the routescovering the processions.Ranchi City SP Aman Kumarsaid that they will also ensurethat the prescribed routes arefollowed by the processionwithout any violation.

“The district administra-tion is all prepared forMuharram and deployment offorces for Durga Puja will con-tinue also on Tuesday to main-tain peace during Muharram.Extra deployment of forceswill be done on some of thesensitive locations identified bythe district administration,”said the City SP. In addition tothat, proper barricading ofthose sensitive locations willalso be ensured to keep thecrowd in control during theprocession, he added.

“We will also be vigilantthat the procession does not getdiverted from the prescribedroutes at any cost for whichproper barricading has alsobeen done,” said Kumar.

Though, CCTV has beeninstalled all over the city forDurga Puja, but we will ensurethat all the routes of the pro-cession gets covered so that aclose eye could be kept on themovements for better controlover the crowd, added the CitySP.

“Meanwhile, the organisershave been directed to clear theroutes by removing the arch-ways as immersion of idols getscompleted by Sunday itself,”said the SP. For smooth move-ment of procession, it will alsobe ensured that heavy vehiclesparked on its route wereremoved, he said. A route chart

has also been released by thedistrict administration which isto be followed duringMoharram.

The Chief Secretary, how-ever, has asked the districtadministrations to be in contactwith Muharram OrganizingCommittees and ensure thatpatrolling was done round theclock headed by Magistrates. Ithas also been directed to thedistrict administrations to keepa close eye on social media tocheck rumour mongers. Thedistrict administration has alsobeen directed to follow theinstructions passed by the StateGovernment on September 23.

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The proposed Delhi metrofare hike faces major road-

block with Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal onSunday demanding an inde-pendent audit of Delhi MetroRail Corporation (DMRC)accounts, and the Housing andUrban Affairs Ministry agree-ing to examine the issues raisedby the Delhi CM.

Kejriwal has also demand-ed that the hike be kept on holdtill the completion of the inde-pendent audit of all the incomeand expenditure of the DMRC.The Delhi CM said the incomeand expenditure details of theDMRC should be put in thepublic domain.

In a letter to Urban AffairsMinister Hardeep Singh Puri,Kejriwal on Saturday urgedthe Centre to direct the DMRCto withhold the “unjustified”proposed increase of metrofares from October 10.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Kejriwal and his deputyManish Sisodia said an audit ofthe accounts of Delhi Metrowas necessary as Delhi hasalready experienced how theprivate power distributioncompanies (Discoms) used tohike power tariffs by showing

fake losses. “It is only since 2015 that

there have been no power tar-rif hike in Delhi,” Kejriwalsaid, adding that there is animmediate need to maintain abalance between the opera-tional needs of the metro andthe interests of the commuters.

In his letter to Puri,Kejriwal said, “The fare-fixa-tion committee had recom-mended a gap of one yearbetween two fare hikes. Thisrecommendation is being com-pletely violated because theproposed second hike inOctober, 2017 will take place

even before six months sincethe previous fare hike.”

He also demanded that aDMRC board meeting be con-vened to put a stay on the farehike as the corporation is joint-ly owned by the Central andthe Delhi Governments.”

“There is no reason whythe principles to be followedfrom 2019 onwards should becompletely violated in 2017,”Kejriwal wrote in his letter. Hereferred to the financial modelof the Hong Kong Metro andsuggested that adopting itwould significantly improveDMRC’s finances and lead to amuch lower fare hike. He alsomentioned that his assertionwas based on the “advice” of thefare-fixation panel.

��'�� '��

From Page 1Incidentally, Haque was

commissioned by thePresident of India in the reg-ular Army in the rank of NaibSubedar in January 2003.

“This is not the only inci-dent. In 2012 they had regis-tered a similar case against mywife Mumtaz Begum. We gaveall the documents to the courtthen to prove our India citi-zenship,” he said, adding thatthe names of both his parents,as well as the names of hiswife’s parents, figure in the1966 voters list, which isenough to prove their Indiancitizenship.

Commenting on the case,Assam Director-General ofPolice, Mukesh Sahai, said hehas asked the districtSuperintendent of Police tofind out the details of the case.

“The case is related to a2008 proceeding of the court.So I have asked the SP to digout the entire proceedingsand to ascertain where theproblem is. Unlike criminalcases, in cases related to theForeigners’ Tribunal, the onusof proving one’s citizenship lieswith the individual. So if thecourt asks any individual toprove his citizenship, heshould submit the documentsto it and settle the issue,” saidthe DGP.

The illegal infiltration ofBangladeshis has been a sen-sitive issue in Assam. Therehave been allegations that gen-uine Indian citizens are oftenharassed by police and otherlaw enforcing agencies in thename of detecting illegal foreigners.

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyon Sunday hinted at bring-

ing down tax slabs under theGoods and Services Tax (GST)once the revenue side startsshowing improvement.Currently, the GST regime slotsitems under rates of 5, 12, 18and 28 per cent. An addition-al GST compensation cess islevied on certain products.Trade bodies have been askingthe Government to reconsiderhigher level of tax slabs.Telecom companies have alsodemanded that GST on tele-com services be brought down5 per cent from 18 per cent.

“We are in first 2-3 months(of GST implementation). Wehave almost by the day, spaceand scope for improvement.We have space for improve-ment and need for improve-ment to reduce complianceburden as far as small taxpay-ers are concerned,” said Jaitley.

“We have space forimprovement, eventually oncewe become revenue neutral, tothink in terms of biggerreforms such as lesser slabs, butfor that we have to become rev-enue neutral...,” he said at anevent organised here byNational Academy of Customs,Indirect Taxes and Narcotics.

Emphasising that indirecttax burden is borne by all sec-tions of society, the FinanceMinister said it is always theendeavour of the Governmentto bring down tax rates on massconsumption commodities.“Direct tax is paid by moreaffluent, somewhat by the oth-ers and certainly not by theweaker section, but the impactof indirect tax places burden onall. Therefore, an effort is

always as part of the fiscal pol-icy... to ensure that the com-modities which are consumedmore by the common peopleare least taxed compared toothers,” he said.

Noting that India has con-ventionally been a tax non-compliant society, he said whenpeople have the right todemand development they alsohave the responsibility to paywhat is required for the development.

Addressing the 67th batchof Indian Revenue Service(IRS) officers, Jaitley said rev-enue is the lifeline ofGovernance and all the devel-opmental activities. “You don’thave to extort taxes from thosewho are not liable to pay. Astax people, you are not entitledto invite fear, you have toinvite a respect that you aresomebody who (wants) peopleto comply with national duty,”he said.

The FM also said there arenever grey areas in taxation lawand it is duty of tax officer tobe firm and fair.

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The National HighwaysAuthority of India (NHAI)

has agreed to pay �11.12 croreto the Delhi Government’senvironment department forcutting 1,952 full grown treesbetween Mukarba Chowk andDelhi border to add four lanesto the existing eight-lane NH-1 in the national Capital andneighbouring Haryana.

On the other hand, theDelhi Government on behalf ofthe NHAI will plant 19,520saplings on 19.52 hectare ofDDA land at Yamuna flood-plains (in between YamunaBank Metro Station andRailway Line adjacent to CWGVillage Complex).

Once these saplings growup, they would be planted onthe 8.10 kilometre stretch alongthe Right of Way (ROW)between Mukarba Chowk andHaryana border on the samehighway after seven years. The

cost of cutting of each tree hasbeen worked out to be about�57,000 a tree.

The Cabinet Committeeon Economic Affairs hadapproved the proposal for

development of the eight-laneroad from Mukarba Chowk toPanipat section of the NationalHighway–1 in Delhi andHaryana on April 22 , 2015.

A senior official said thetimber obtained from felling of1,952 trees would be auctionedby the land owning agencyand its proceeds would bedeposited as revenue with theGovernment. He said, “Thelops and tops obtained onremoval of firewood species oftrees will be handed over by theNHAI to the municipal officialsfor use of free of cost firewoodin public crematoriums ofDelhi. Before shifting of wood,if any, from the site of removalof trees, permission for itstransportation will reportedlybe obtained from the TreeOfficer.”

The project cost of NH-1from Delhi to Panipat Haryanawas estimated to be �2,204.51crore. The project cost includedcost of land acquisition, reset-

tlement and rehabilitation andother pre-construction activities.The total length of the road willbe approximately 69.84 km.

The main object of the pro-ject is to improve infrastructurein the States of Delhi andHaryana and also to reduce thetime and cost of travel, partic-ularly for heavy traffic, plyingon this sector.

The road is a part of SherShah Suri Marg (now NH-1)connecting the States ofJammu & Kashmir, Punjab,Himachal Pradesh, Haryana,Chandigarh and Western UttarPradesh with Delhi. This roadis also important from a strate-gic and defence point of viewas it leads to the borders of thecountry. The development ofthis stretch will help in uplift-ing the socio-economic con-dition of the concerned regionsof Delhi and Haryana andalso increase employmentpotential for local labourers forproject activities.

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In a shocking incident, aForeigners’ Tribunal in Assam

has accused a retired IndianArmy Junior CommissionedOfficer (JCO) of being an ille-gal immigrant from Bangladesh,and asked him to prove hisIndian citizenship.

The Assam Police has reg-istered a case againstMohammad Ajmal Haque, whoserved in the Indian Army for

30 years, before retiring in 2008. The Foreigners’ Tribunal

No. 2, located at Boko underKamrup district in Assam, hasissued a notice to Haque andsaid that he was accused of ille-gally entering Assam withoutany valid documents afterMarch 25, 1971. The tribunalis likely to hear the case onOctober 13.

“This is not only ridicu-lous, but also depressing forme. I have served the IndianArmy for 30 years and now Ihave to face this insult. Howcould I have served in theIndian Army for so long if I wasan illegal immigrant?” askedHaque, expressing his disap-pointed with the system.

Continued on Page 2

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With only about 18 monthsto go for the next Lok

Sabha polls, the Narendra ModiGovernment has decided toundertake a massive publicoutreach campaign, utilising allmodes of communication andmedia platforms. The PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO) hasemphasised that an effectivecommunication strategy isessential for establishing such“proactive engagement withcitizens.”

Secretary to the PrimeMinister, Nripendra Misra,wrote to all the Secretaries lastweek maintaining, “All majorGovernment decisions that sig-nificantly impact the citizens orenvisage a major paradigmchange either in policy ordelivery of public services,should have an effective communication outreach planby involving different mediaviz. social, print, electronicetc.”

The PMO’s latest missive iskeeping the 2019 elections inmind, top Government sourcessaid, adding, “It is also anindicator that in the run-up to

the polls the Government willcome out with some majorannouncements at regularintervals.”

“One of the key outcomesof the Congress’ introspectionof its drubbing in the 2014 LokSabha polls was that it failed toreach out to the masses toinform them about the variouswelfare schemes and measuresundertaken by the UPAGovernment.

“The Modi dispensationhas thus been particular aboutkeeping the public aware of itsvarious decisions and schemeslike demonetisation, Jan Dhan,Smart Cities, Pradhan MantriUjjwala Yojana and Make inIndia. The Ministers, MPs andMLAs have been, time andagain, instructed to connectwith the people and informthem about what the

Government is doing forthem.

With reports about sec-tions of society not being toohappy with the Government,they need to do it now on alarger scale to influence publicsentiments positively beforethe elections,” the sourcesadded.

The PMO has circulated an‘illustrative template’ for theMinistries to follow while mak-ing their respective outreachplans. The template is based onthe September 12 Cabinet deci-sion related to doubling of theBarabanki-Akbarpur railwayline, which, it says, will “decon-gest Lucknow-Varanasi line,add to passenger mobility andimprove connectivity to holytowns of Ayodhya andVaranasi, and coal supply to theTanda Power Plant”.

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Chief Minister Raghubar Dassaid that ‘Vijaydashmi’ is a

festival which inspires people toremove their evil from inside.Addressing the gathering on theoccasion of ‘Ravan Dahan’ inMorhabadi on Saturday, the CMsaid that one should take inspi-ration of doing some positivework for the society and the Stateon the auspicious occasion ofVijaydashmi.

The Chief Minister alsocongratulated ‘Panjabi HinduBiradari’ which has been car-rying forward the age-old tra-dition of ‘Ravan Dahan’ since1962 in Ranchi and has alsobeen helping in propagating itto the coming generation. TheCM took part in Ravan Dahancelebrations both at Morhabadiand Argora in Ranchi.

“All of us should take apledge to make ‘Ramrajya’, phi-losophy of Mahatama Gandhi,true by bringing smiles on thefaces of everyone. Killing of

Ravana symbolises victory ofgood on the evil and hence, weshould make efforts of makingJharkhand a self sustained Stateby keeping faith on good. TheState Government has beenmoving forward in this direc-tion,” said Das.

Congratulating the admin-istration in all districts for con-ducting peaceful Durga Puja allover the State, the CM said thatJharkhand has set an example insocial and communal harmony.Ravan Dahan was done by theCM through remote control.

While at Argora, Das saidthat Vijaydashmi was also sym-bolises victory of truthfulnessover dishonesty and also of jus-tice over injustice and hence, weshould try to free our Countryfrom the evil called filthiness.

“We should all take a pledgethat we will keep Ranchi cleanwhich could not be done only byRanchi Municipal Corporationor by the Government, it requirescooperation from everyone,”said the CM. He also ensured

people that the beatificationwork of Argora Maidan will becompleted by the next year andthe process was on for the wid-ening of Argora Road, he added.

Urban DevelopmentMinister CP Singh, Ranchi MP

Ramtahal Chaudhary, RanchiMLA Naveen Jaiswal, RanchiMayor Asha Lakra, DeputyMayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya,Khadi Board Chairman SanjaySeth, DGP DK Pandey,Additional Chief Secretary

Amit Khare, Principal SecretaryNidhi Khare, Secretary to CMSunil Kumar Barnwal and pres-ident of Panjabi Hindu BiradariRajesh Khanna along withother dignitaries were also pre-sent during the programme.

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Having achieved the arduoustarget of constructing

approximately 31,000 toiletswithin the municipal peripherysuccessfully, Ranchi along withother Urban Local Bodies(ULBs) will be declared OpenDefecation-Free (ODF) today.

In the presence of CMRaghubar Das along withMinister, Railways and Coal,GoI Piyush Goyal, theannouncement will be made.Notably, the State Governmenthad set the deadline of October2 for 41 ULBsacross Jharkhandto ensure the con-struction of toiletson or beforeOctober 2.

The pro-gramme is beingorganised underthe aegis ofSwaach BharatAbhiyaan-Urbanand PMAY-Urbanschemes respectively. By far, noobjections or grievances havebeen received by the SwachcchBharat Mission (SBM) cell ofRMC regarding the constructionof toilets from any ward.According to the City Managers,the completion of constructionof toilets was done following twomajor schemes. The MunicipalCorporation has also con-structed 22 modular communi-ty toilets in slums and in otherinterior locations.

Meanwhile, in the course ofdeclaring Ranchi ODF, theMunicipal Corporation teamleft no stone unturned to cur-tail this menace. From adoptinginnovative measures like ropingin members of NGOs, womenof Self Help Groups (SHGs) tolaunching special drives to com-

bat the menace of defecating inopen. Setting examples for theothers, all OD spots will be con-verted into green covers soon.

Also, this is the elementarystage where the status of ODFhas just been verified by the StateUrban Development Agency(SUDA), however, the sanitationdrive will continue further. In ashort while, the members ofQuality Council of India (QCI)will also visit the designated ODspots identified by the CivicBody. Only after considering therecords and conducting inspec-tion of the OD spots twice, final

certification will begiven to RMC andother ULBs con-sidering its status.

“Through rig-orous drive, wehave been able tocomplete the con-struction of 31,000toilets in StateCapital. However,this is just a firststep, at least thrice;

the Municipal Corporation willhave to go through a rigorousprocedure. All the identifiedOD spots will be certified by QCIteam on their parameters againand then finally GoI will provideus the ODF certificate,” said,RMC City Manager, ShashiKumar. The dignitaries listincludes Minister, UrbanDevelopment and Housing CPSingh, Rajya Sabha MP MaheshPoddar, Mayor Asha Lakra,Ranchi MP RamtahalChoudhary, Hatia MLA NavinJaiswal, Kanke MLA JituCharan Ram, Khijri MLA RamKumar Pahan.

Also, under the PMAY, theevent will also mark the cele-bration of ‘Grih PraveshPujanutsav’. It will be held atHarmu Ground at 4 pm.

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Navratri has ended peaceful-ly with Maa Durga idol

immersion on Sunday. However,Jharkhand State PollutionControl Board (JSPCB) hasappeared as reluctant this yeartoo, in terms of compellingdevotees and Pooja Samitis tofollow environmental norms inthe process saying that thoughit had issued guidelines beforePooja started on September 21,the district administration hadto play more important role inforcing devotees to follow them.

“We have issued guidelinesrelated to idol immersion beforePooja started. We have identifiedrepeat offenders of environmentnorms during previous years andare keeping close eyes on them.We will also identify gross vio-lators who have failed to follownone of the norms. But theproblem is that we have been fac-ing manpower crunch, and wecan’t remain present at every im-mersion site. Moreover, districtadministration has to play moreactive role in entire process,” saidJSPCB Member Secretary SanjayKumar Suman on Sunday.

However, he appeared

downplaying impact of idolimmersion created pollution inwater bodies as a whole whichhas otherwise played key role indestroying water ecosystem inand around city and State sincesome years.

“It is once in a year affair,and we can’t become as strict aswe use to happen in other casesof environment pollutionthroughout the year. But itdoesn’t mean that we will notissue notices to gross and repeatviolators. We will go a stepahead to get them penalisedtoo,” added Suman. Notably, thedistrict administration hadalready asked the Durga PujaSamitis to finish entire processof idol immersion by October 1,as Muharram procession wasexpected on October 2 and 3.

Ironically, JSPCB doesn’thave many examples of thosepenalised for violating pollu-tion norms in past to those tak-ing process for granted. “Thisis true that the number ofthose penalised for violatingidol immersion norms hasremained low. But as I said, Itis once in a year affair, and evenafter repeated guidelines andsuggestions, most of the PoojaSamitis other than those whichhave started using environ-ment friendly materials andcolours have failed to take thematter seriously,” said Suman.

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When it comes to‘Swachcchta’ (cleanli-

ness), the ‘word’ is not just con-fined to sanitation in andaround or curtailing the men-ace of open defecation but it isalso linked up with the health,hygiene of pubescent predom-inately.

In a bid to promotehygiene among adolescents asa primary component alongwith ensuring environmentalsafety, a sanitary napkins dis-posable machine or incineratorwill be installed at KasturbaGandhi Balika Vidyalaya(KGBV), Satbarwa to markthe birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi.

Notably, it is one of theremotest blocks under PalamauDistrict. This is the first KGBV,where such environmentalfriendly approach has beenadopted. Palamau DC, AmitKumar said that this is the firstof its kind attempt at anyKGVB across Jharkhand thatregisters quite a number ofgirls’ studying at these resi-dential schools. At present,around 400 girls falling in theage group 12-16 years hailingfrom humble backgroundstudy at KGVB, Satbarwa.

“On October 2, we willinstall incinerator at KGBV,Satbarwa. Later on the initiativewill be covered at rest of theKGBVs functioning across thePalamau district. Within aweek, all 12 KGVBs here willget the machines. The initiativehas been taken under the aegisof Information, Education andCommunication (IEC) funddispersed especially to improvethe sanitation status while fol-lowing the parameters ofSwacch Bharat Mission-Gramin,” said, Kumar.

As the sanitary napkinsare mostly disposed in openand are non biodegradable, ithas several hazardous impactson environment. The initia-tive has been taken to endorsesafe disposal of used sanitarynapkins and to encourageadolescents to adopt healthypractice.

Notably, the electric incin-erators provide an environ-ment friendly alternative fordisposal as they convert eachused sanitary napkin into onemilligram of sterilised ash. Theconversion takes less aroundfive minutes for each napkinand the vessel can hold up to50-70 napkins at a time. Themachine uses half a unit ofpower an hour.

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In the wake of a series ofRailway mishaps in recent

times, strange rumours havebeen floating around theheadquartersof Ministryof Railwaysabout am a j o rV a s t uDosh at Rail Bhawan wherethe Railway Minister has hisoffice. Officials point out thatexcept Babu Jagjivan Ramand Lalu Prasad none of theRail Minister has been able tocomplete full tenure. Awayfrom such omens, the newRail Minister Piyush Goyalhas been spending most of histime at Northern Railway'sheadquarters at BarodaHouse. Ever since he tookover from Suresh Prabhu, hetoo had to make an uncere-monious exit. Goyal has beenconducting official meetingsat Baroda House. Grapevinealso has it that Goyal is keento keep a watch on top offi-cials who sit at Baroda Houseand go back home to forlunch and siesta.

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October 4 is a VIP boys'day for CBI. On that day,

Former Finance Minister PChidambaram's son Kartiand RJD supremo LaluPrasad Yadav's son Tejashwihave been summoned by theCBI in two separate corrup-tion cases. Aware of massivemedia interest in the two per-sonalities, the CBI has put inplace necessary arrangementsto avoid any kind of chaos.

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At 85, KK Venugopal is theoldest Attorney General

of India, and age-related chal-lenges are beginning to showin his work. In a recent caserelated to electoral reforms,while presenting the argu-ments for theC e n t r e ,Venugopalprepared awritten noteand supple-mented itwith some points that hescribbled with his pen. Whenthe time for argument came,Venugopal was at a loss toread his own handwriting.Confessing his inability to thejudges, the top law officersmilingly remarked, "I madea point which I can't read. Myhandwriting is so bad. "Thepoint was well taken by thejudges before reserving theverdict.

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Usuallyt h e

f o r e i g na m b a s -s a d o r sposted inNew Delhi loveIndian cottonclothes and food. But the cur-rent Chargé d'Affaires of theAmerican embassy in India,Mary Kay Loss Carlson,swears by Indian sarees. In allpublic events, the CDA isalways seen wearing a saree,

and in several private func-tions she either wears SalwarKurta or saree. On theIndependence Day functionsshe was seen Khadi sarees.She also loves to be part offestivities. She recently post-ed videos of her first DurgaPuja experience at Delhi'sChittaranjan Park. Here tooshe was seen in a traditionalred bordered Bengali saree.

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After Congress leaderDigvijay Singh, rebel

JD(U) leader Sharad Yadavhas also taken a brief breakfrom political activity tospend time with daughter'snewborn son. Yadav has alsoput out the news on hisTwitter handle. Last week, heasked journalists to leave himalone as he was busy with afamily affair.

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MP cadre IAS officers areup in arms against the

360 degree evaluationprocess. The State IAS asso-ciation has written DoPT tochange the new evaluationprocess. "No IAS officerfrom Madhya Pradesh fig-ured in the Centre's list ofSecretaries and AdditionalSecretaries last year. This hasimpacted the moral of thestate bureaucracy as some ofoutstanding officers with highintegrity and intellects wereomitted from the list", the let-ter read.

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Two UK-based Gujaratis,Rakesh Rajpara and

Sadhnaben,are mak-ing des-p e r a t eattempts

to saveriver Yamuna. They havepetitioned online to BritishParliament to seek technicalsupport to rejuvenate the sconsidered as Dead in moststates. The petition is called"Help, Assist in rejuvenatingthe sacred holy riverYamuna." If BritishParliament takes up for dis-cussion they will send a tech-nical team to assist in reju-venating river Yamuna.

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Bu y e r shave

to oftendo a lotof bar-gainingwith thehawkersat placeslike Sarojini Nagar andJanpath markets. But it wasthe other way round forUnion Minister of State forTourism KJ Alphons duringhis two-minutes shoppingexperience in the midst of hiscleanliness drive 'Swacchatahi seva' last week at Janpathmarket. The Minister gaveaway �200 for an embroi-dered purse, double the pricethe woman vendor had quot-ed for the item.

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Rahul Gandhi may take overas the Congress president

shortly after Diwali, RajasthanCongress leader Sachin Pilotsaid on Sunday, stressing thatthe time had come for theparty vice-president to leadfrom the front.

The Gandhi confidant alsosaid the last names of leadersshould not be treated as a dis-qualification in politics. It wasthe performance of a leader thatultimately decided his worth, asa surname could only take him"so far", he said.

Pilot added that Gandhi'selevation had been in thepipeline for long.

"Organisational electionsof the Congress are underwayand the new president couldtake over shortly after Diwali.It is something that has been inthe pipeline for a long time,"Pilot told PTI in an interview.

The Congress leader saidthe general sentiment in theparty was that the time hadcome for Gandhi to take charge

and lead from the front, whilefavouring a "balancedapproach" of a mix of the youngand the old in the party.

"To my mind, there is ageneral sentiment in the partythat he should take over as theparty president," Pilot said.

He pointed out that Gandhihad been handling "a lot ofwork" as the vice-president butthe party believed "this(Gandhi's elevation) shouldhappen in due course and thetime has come for it to happen".Asked if Gandhi's sisterPriyanka Vadra should alsoenter active politics, the formerMinister said, "Though shebelongs to the Congress party,whether she should join activepolitics or not is her personaldecision".

On the issue of dynasticpolitics and accusations that theCongress promoted dynasties,Pilot said belonging to a polit-ical family might help someoneinitially but it could not guar-antee progress unless backed byperformance.

"Belonging to a family that

has been in politics should notbe treated as a disqualification,"he said. Ultimately, he said, suc-cess depended on performance.

"If you perform and win thehearts of people through work,delivery and performance, thenit will decide. The mere lastname will only take you so far,"said Pilot, the son of late UnionMinister and Congress heavy-weight Rajesh Pilot.

He brushed aside BJP crit-icism that the Congress waspromoting dynasties, pointingout that several people in thatparty too were from politicalfamilies.

"The BJP should introspect.Many of their leaders are alsofrom political families," he said.

Pilot added he neither pro-moted nor denounced dynasticpolitics, but sought to stress thatindividual calibre would decideone's success.

"It (family) should not bethe only reason to bring some-one into public life. No one canbe thrust upon the public andthere is no short cut to hardwork," he said.

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India has opened two immi-gration check posts along the

borders with Myanmar andBangladesh, a reflection of itsgrowing closeness with thetwo neighbours. In a gazettenotification, the HomeMinistry said the CentralGovernment has designatedZorinpui land check post inLawngtlai district of Mizoramas an authorised immigrationcheck post for entry into or exitfrom India with valid traveldocuments for all classes ofpassengers to or fromMyanmar.

In a separate notification,the Ministry said the CentralGovernment designatedKawrpuichhuah land checkpost in Lunglei district ofMizoram as an authorisedimmigration check post forentry into or exit from Indiawith valid travel documents for

all classes of passengers to orfrom Bangladesh. Zorinpuiwas selected for a new land cus-tom station along the Indo-Myanmar border in Mizoramfor the Kaladan multi-modalproject.

The remote Zorinpui is287 km away from Sittwe Portin Myanmar. An agreement onZorinpui was included in thejoint statement issued duringthe visit of the then PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh toMyanmar in May, 2012.Kawarpuchiah is situated inMizoram along a riverine bor-der with Bangladesh.

Prime Minister NarendraModi had visited Myanmarfor two days from September 5,the first bilateral visit to theneighbouring country.

India shares a 1,643-km-long border with Myanmarwhich touches ArunachalPradesh, Nagaland, Manipurand Mizoram.

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On the occasion of thirdanniversary of the launch of

Swacch Bharat Mission(Urban)for leading in marketing of com-post made from Municipal SolidWaste, the Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs (HUA) willconfer the 'Swacchata Award', tothe fertiliser cooperative, KRIB-HCO on Monday (October 2).

The Ministry will felicitate20 individuals and agencies in 7categories for significant contri-bution towards furthering theClean India objective in urbanareas. Delhi based citizen group'My Delhi Keep It Clean' gets theaward for promoting voluntary

efforts to clean public placeseffectively using Face Book, inthe Self-Help Group category.Richmond Park, Gurugram,located in DLF Phase-IV andcompleted in 2002 has beenchosen for the award for exem-plary decentralised waste man-agement initiative through wastesegregation at source, in theRWAs category. KRIBHCO hasbeen chosen among theCompanies category for mar-keting the highest quantity of22,768 tons of compost during2016-17. RWA Federation ofMysuru has shown the way inZero-waste effluent manage-ment system. Roseland HousingSociety, Pune also gets the award

for waste segregation initiative.'No Food Waste' initiative ofCoimbattore has been selected inthe Innovative Practices catego-ry for end-to-end cycle to man-age and reduce food waste.

Kasturba Gandhi BalikaAwasiya Vidyalaya, Ambikargets the award in the Schools andColleges category while SwacchAmbikapur Sahakari Samiti hasbeen chosen in Self-Help Groupcategory for women empower-ment and livelihood generationby converting garbage intowealth. Pemayangste Monastery,Gyalshing, Sikkim will be felic-itated in the category of religiousinstitutions for being a Zero-waste institution.

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The Government seems tobe in no hurry to make

mandatory the Uniform Codeof Pharmaceutical MarketingPractices (UCPMP) that aimsto regulate unethical promo-tional practices in the phar-maceutical industry.

The code came in 2011 fol-lowing complaints that pharmacompanies often promotedtheir products by offering bribeto doctors and pharmacists inthe form of foreign junkets,gifts, cash and other incentives.The code is in accordance withthe MCI code of ethics, too.

However, even after nearlythree years of its announcement,it remains voluntary in nature.

The Union Ministry ofPetroleum and Chemicals'Department of Pharmaceuticalshad announced the code onDecember 12, 2014. It was to beimplemented from January2015 for six months. But evenafter 2 years and 10 months,there has been no movement inthe matter.

Unhappy at the delay, theAlliance of Doctors for EthicalPractices (ADEH) has rued thatthis delay flies in the face of theGovernment's proclaimed fightagainst corruption. It furthersaid that the Government is wellaware that the pharmaceuticalindustry indulges in huge cor-ruption by enticing the medicalprofessionals with expensivegifts including foreign travel.

The ADEH's core commit-tee members Dr Arun Mitraand Dr GS Grewal said "Itseems that theGovernment issleeping over it intentionally andseems to be hand in glove withsome corrupt pharma giants."

The alliance also notedthat though income taxdepartment had recently raided the pharma giant USVto see if there is any suchinvolvement of giving freebiesto the doctors, in the absenceof mandatory code, the exercisemay fall flat.

Mandatory implementa-tion of UCPMP will increaseaccountability and ensure highethical standards for the phar-maceutical industry, the mem-bers said.

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The Amethi district author-ities have asked Congress

vice-president Rahul Gandhi tore-schedule his proposed visitto his Lok Sabha constituencyon law-and-order grounds,leaving the Opposition partyfuming and the BJP making acounter-attack.

Gandhi is scheduled tovisit Amethi from October 4-6.

"In order to maintain law-and-order, a majority of the dis-trict police force will be onduty. Hence, there will be greatinconvenience in maintainingpeace. Therefore, it is request-ed that the tour be re-scheduledfor any date after October 5, "aletter written by the Amethiadministration to the districtCongress chief said.

The letter, signed by DistrictMagistrate Yogesh Kumar andSuperintendent of PolicePoonam, added, "Through a let-ter (dated September 30), it wasinformed that a visit of MPRahul Gandhi is proposed fromOctober 4 to October 6.However, on October 5, Durga

Puja/Dussehra and Muharramwill culminate at several places."

Reacting sharply to the let-ter, senior Uttar PradeshCongress leader Akhilesh Singhaccused the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP Government in theState of "using tactics" to stopGandhi from visiting his LokSabha constituency.

"The Uttar PradeshGovernment is worried anddoes not want Rahul to visitAmethi, fearing that he mightraise issues directly related tothe public. This scares the BJP,"he said. Singh added that theYogi Government was perhapsworried that Gandhi's schedulemight "eclipse" the proposed

visit by BJP Chief Amit Shahand Union Ministers SmritiIrani and Nitin Gadkari toAmethi on October 10.

Refuting the grounds onwhich the authorities haveasked the Congress vice-pres-ident to re-schedule his visit,Singh told PTI that by October4, almost all the festivitieswould be over.

"After all, Rahul is visitinghis own parliamentary con-stituency," he pointed out.

Hitting out at the Congress,State BJP spokesperson RakeshTripathi said, "As an electedMP, Rahul has failed to workfor his people and many of thedevelopment schemespromised by him are lyingincomplete."

Taking a dig at the Gandhiscion, he said "missing" postersof the Congress leader hadbeen put up in Amethi in thepast. "That is why, (Smriti) Iranihas taken the initiative to startthose projects in Amethi," saidTripathi. Union Minister Iranihad unsuccessfully contestedthe 2014 Lok Sabha electionfrom Amethi against Gandhi.

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Rainfall in India's annualmonsoon season was below

average and less than forecast,with some crop-growing cen-tral and northern States receiv-ing less rain than needed andit may impact the agriculturesector in some parts of thecountry, the IndianMeteorological Department(IMD) said on Sunday as therainy season ended.

The IMD had revised themonsoon forecast to 98 percent of the LPA in June afterearlier pegging it at 96 per cent.The rainfall season in Indiastarts from June 1 and ends onSeptember 30. Anythingbetween 96 to 104 per cent ofthe LPA is considered as a "nor-mal" monsoon.

According to IMD officials,the monsoon was 95 per centof the Long Period Average(LPA), which is below normal"."The first two months of themonsoon season witnessed 3per cent more rainfall abovenormal, while the remainingtwo months witnessed defi-ciency of 12.5 per cent," saidofficials.

"Of the 36 weather subdi-visions of the country, six --East Uttar Pradesh, West UttarPradesh, Vidarbha, Punjab, thecluster of Chandigarh, Delhiand Haryana and East Madhya

Pradesh -- received "deficient"rainfall," said officials.

The IMD for the first timeadopted the so-called dynam-ic model, based on a US modeltweaked for India, to improvethe accuracy of its forecasts.IMD's forecast for the 2017monsoons was its most accu-rate since 2008, when there wasa difference of only 1 percent-age point between the forecastand the actual rainfall. Theweather office was similarlyaccurate in 2011, when the dif-ference was 3 percentagepoints.

The season also witnessedseveral parts of the countrysuch as coastal Maharashtra,including Mumbai, Gujaratand Rajasthan and the north-eastern states, being battered byextremely heavy rainfall. Themonsoon was not that badand there was also no reason toexpect drought in parts of thecountry.

"There could be someimpact on agriculture in someparts of the country, but theAgriculture Ministry is in a bet-ter position to talk on this," headded. Several parts of thecountry are witnessing agri-culture distress.

Earlier this year, there werereports that an El Nino, a phe-nomenon associated with theheating of Pacific waters, couldimpact the monsoon. But the

IMD had downplayed it andlater revised the monsoon fore-cast to 98 per cent of the LPA.It had also said that there wereprospects of a positive, butweak India Ocean Dipole

(IOD). The IOD is associatedwith the heating of the watersof the Indian Ocean and a pos-itive IOD can have a goodinfluence on the monsoon.

The Southwest monsoon's

onset over Kerala was on May30, two days before its normalarrival date while it startedwithdrawing on September 27,12 days after its normal with-drawal date. In the last four

years, three rainfall seasonshave been below normal.

Below normal rainfall wasregistered in 2014, 2015 and2017 while 2016 recorded nor-mal rainfall.

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Puzzled at the mysteriousChronic Kidney Disease of

undetermined causes (CKDu)that has gripped the AndhraPradesh's Uddhanam region ofSrikakulam district, the IndianCouncil for Medical Research(ICMR) and the Southern Statehave jointly invited insti-tutes/NGOs to conductresearch and help tackle thedisease.

Incidentally, the ICMR, in2016, along with researchers ofHarvard University, AndhraMedical College, BhabhaAtomic Research Centre(BARC) and NTR University ofHealth Sciences among othershad initiated a probe into thematter.

Researchers initially pin-pointed "excessive levels of sil-ica in water" as the cause; how-ever, the ICMR research had tobe shelved because of fundcrunch.

Now, the health research

wing of the Union HealthMinistry along with AndhraPradesh Government has invit-ed researchers from insti-tutes/universities/NGOs to takeup 'Grand Challenge-CKDu'project to be kick started fromDecember this year.

The project entailsresearch, strengthening of CKDscreening and managementprogram through standardisedalgorithms; capacity buildingand strengthening the humanresources and reduces harmfulenvironment exposures.

The CKDu is prevalent incountries like Sri Lanka, Egypt,and now India. It's a fatal pro-gressive loss of kidney functionthat has killed 40,000 people inthe last decade-and no oneknows what causes it. It most-ly affects poor, agriculturalworkers, and is virtually unde-tectable until its latest stageswhen kidney failure isinevitable.

The Andhra PradeshGovernment woke up from its

slumber only afterTelugu superstarand Jana Sena partychief Pawan Kalyanthreatened to agi-tate if agony of thepatients afflictedwith the deadly dis-ease is addressed.

It had prompt-ed the NaiduGovernment toapproach theICMR whichresulted into theGrand challenge-CKDu project. TheState has also start-ed a pensionscheme for thosedisabled by the dis-ease.

A high-level multi-disci-plinary ICMR team early thisyear too had reviewed theexisting information and iden-tify the research needs tounderstand the etiology andburden of CKDu and the ongo-ing interventions.

It also analysed variousstudies conducted in the past:A study conducted in 2005indicated very high prevalence(47 per cent) of CKDu in theregion, while two another com-munity based studies (2011and 2014-16) indicated preva-lence of CKD at 15 per cent -17 per cent in the Uddhanamarea. These studies covered1,152 and 3,938 individualsfrom 16 and 13 villages respec-tively.

It also analysed data avail-able from ongoing screeningprogram by the StateGovernment. Of 9,000 per-sons screened, 2,493 (28 percent) were found to had crea-tinine, suggesting high burdenof CKD in the community.

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Congress leaders might bemaking mockery of devel-

opment by launching socialmedia campaign but once bal-lot boxes would open theywould get apt reply from thepeople of Gujarat, claimed BJPnational president Amit Shahafter flagging off a fortnightlong ‘Gujarat Gaurav Yatra’from Sardar Patel’s birthplaceKaramsad on Sunday.

Expressing his party’sthumping victory in the ensu-ing Assembly polls to be con-ducted in December this year,the BJP chief further said thatthe Opposition party was try-ing to spread lies by camou-flaging reality of developmentthrough slogans and socialmedia campaign but develop-ment would continue to remainpriority and mission for the BJP.

‘‘Sardar Patel spent hisentire life in the service of peo-ple. Unfortunately the Congressparty didn’t acknowledge it andignored him. Especially theNehru family kept him awaydespite the fact he was themost deserving politician tobecome Prime Minister,’’ saidShah while addressing a publicmeeting here.

Coming down heavily onthe Opposition party he saidthat it was the Congress thatignored Sardar Patel from con-ferring the highest civilian

award ‘Bharat Ratna’. Not onlythat, even a statue of Patel wasnot erected in the Parliamentcomplex, he continued to attackthe Congress party.

‘‘Rahul Gandhi wantsaccounts for the developmentin Gujarat. We demandaccounts on injustice done bythree generations of Nehru-Gandhi family to the people ofGujarat. People want answers ofinjustice to the State’s two sons

— Sardar Patel and MorarjiDesai,’’ he said targetingCongress vice-president whoduring Gujarat visit recentlydemanded accounts on devel-opment claims of ruling BJP.

People of India haveaccepted Modi Model of devel-opment which is corruptionfree, said Shah adding thatallocation of funds to Gujaratfrom the Central Governmentincreased substantially after

Narendra Modi became thePrime Minister of India.

Congress Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru laid founda-tion stone for the NarmadaProject way back in 1961 but theCongress Governments kepton delaying the project for fourdecades, he said adding that theproject completed only afterBJP-ruled Modi Governmentcame into power in 2014.

‘‘Right from freedom up to

1995 under Congress rule elec-tricity production in Gujaratwas nearly 36700 MW whichunder BJP rule in the past twodecades has already crossed 1lakh MW. Till 1995 there were73.78 lakh vehicles in the Statebut in the past 20 years the fig-ure has cross 2 crore,’’ said Shahadding that the production ofcotton was around 24 lakhbales till 1995 which has goneup to 1.24 crore in 2017.

Production of fruit in theState jumped from 21.29 lakhmetric tons to 85 lakh metrictons during the correspondingperiod. Milk production tooincreased considerably from46.9 lakh metric tons to 122.26lakh metric tons. During theperiod of 1995 to 2017, Gujaratbecame number one state inthe country, he said adding thatit could become possiblebecause of pro-people policy ofBJP Governments underNarendra Modi, AnandibenPatel and now Vijay Rupani.

In 1995 there were only

26,000 doctors, now the figuretouched 61,000. Same successstory for the number of engi-neering seats which hasincrease 14 times in the State.The most encouraging devel-opment parameter according toShah was per capita incomewhich was �13,665 in 1995 butnow increase to �1,14,504 in2017.

‘‘With Narendra Modi asPrime Minister the develop-ment process of Gujarat willcontinue in future too. Alreadyapprovals for international air-port and AIMS in Rajkot have

given. Investments are flowingin the state due to VibrantGujarat summits. The Statehas become curfew free andpeace has been prevailed,’’ headded.

Through Gujarat GauravYatra, BJP would tell the peo-ple about development revolu-tion that has taken place in theState in the past two decades.As many as 138 public meet-ings will be addressed duringthe Yatra in 15 days by BJPleaders. It will touch 149Assembly constituencies out of182 during the period.

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In an incident similar to thefinding of the skeletal

remains of a 63-year-oldwoman in a Mumbai apart-ment in August, the decom-posed, termite-eaten body of a70-year-old man was found ina house near the GovernmentMedical College in Kerala cap-ital, Thiruvananthapuram onSunday. The police said thedeceased was Radhakrishnan,who had retired as a nursingofficer from the GovernmentDental College in the capital.

Local residents said theyhad not seen Radhakrishnan,who was living alone at hishouse, for several months, andthat he was not in touch withthe neighbours since retire-ment. Nobody used to visit himat the house for the same rea-son, they said. His wife andchildren also were not in touchwith him and they were stay-ing in Kasaragod district due tosome family problems.

Radhakrishnan’s daughterhad arrived inThiruvananthapuram onSunday morning and shelodged a complaint with thepolice after she could not findhim. The police found the

totally decomposed, termite-eaten body when they exam-ined the house, which wasfound closed, on the basis ofthe complaint.

The police saidRadhakrishnan could have diedfive or six months back con-sidering the condition of thebody. They found newspapersfrom April inside the house andthe page of calendar therereferred to that month. Thisalso led made them to arrive atthe conclusion. The police hasmoved the body to the mortu-

ary of the Medical CollegeHospital after preliminaryexaminations.

Local residents said theyhad not noticed any stenchcoming out of the house any-time in the past six months.“That need not be reason forsurprise because the two-storeyhouse is standing in a plot a lit-tle away from the road. Also, ashe had never been keeping anycontact with the neighbours,nobody had given a thought toit,” said a shopkeeper in thearea.

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Kerala Catholic priest FrTom Uzhunnalil, who was

rescued from the captivity ofthe Islamic State (ISIS) inYemen on September 12, wasaccorded a warm welcome atthe Kochi Airport on Sundaymorning as he landed there byhis family, representatives of theCatholic Church and leaders ofthe Congress-led OppositionUDF. However, no representa-tives of the CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment had arrived atthe airport to receive him.

“I thank you all for yourlove and prayers and for thisreception. May God Almightyshower His blessings on all…How do I feel? Returning homeis the best feeling anyone canhave and I am feeling the samehappiness now,” Fr Uzhunnalil,who had arrived in India fromThe Vatican four days back,told the gathering at the air-port.

The absence of any repre-sentative of the StateGovernment to welcome thepriest drew particular attentionof the media and all those pre-sent there. Opposition leaderRamesh Chennithala of theCongress, who was at the air-

port, said, “I must say that thisis inappropriate. TheGovernment could have sent aMinister. I hope it will correctthis mistake.”

Apart from Chennithala,Congress MLAs VD Satheesan,Hybi Eden and Anwar Sadath,former minister Ibrahim Kunjuof the Muslim League, LokSabha member Jose K Mani ofthe Kerala Congress (M), for-mer Union Minister PCThomas of the Kerala Congressand several senior members ofthe Catholic clergy were at theairport to welcome FrUzhunnalil.

From the airport, FrUzhunnalil drove to the hostelof the Salesians of Don Boscosociety, to which he belonged,at Vennala in Kochi city wheretook part in prayers. He alsoparticipated in prayers at the StMary’s Basilica in Kochi, thebase of the Ernakulam-Angamaly CatholicArchdiocese.

Speaking to newsmen later,Fr Uzhunnalil said he was pre-pared to go back to Yemen,where he went through terribleexperiences, “if God wills”. Hesaid his captors had givenmedicines whenever he was notwell and that reflected the

goodness of their hearts. Hehad no idea who his captors tillhe learned from the mediathat they were from the ISIS.

The priest was given awarm welcome at Pala, hishometown in Kottayam districton Sunday afternoon. Seniormembers of the Catholic cler-gy of the Pala diocese, people’srepresentatives like formerMinister KM Mani and peoplefrom various walks of life par-ticipated at a programmeorganised at the Bishop’s Housein Pala to welcome him.

Fr Uzhunnalil, who was

abducted by ISIS terrorists inwar-torn Yemen on March 4,2016, was rescued from cap-tivity on September 12 lastthrough the intervention ofOman authorities and he wastaken to Muscat from Aden onan Oman air force plane. Hewas later taken to The Vaticanfrom where he flew to NewDelhi on September 28.

In Delhi, he had calledupon Prime Minister NarendraModi and External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj. Thepriest arrived in Kochi onSunday from Bangalore. The

last time Fr Uzhunnalil hadarrived in his home State wasin September, 2014 when hehad come here for the ritualsassociated with his mother’sdeath.

He will take part in prayermeets and thanksgiving Massat various places in the State.He is scheduled to call uponMarxist Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan and formerChief Minister and seniorCongress leader OommenChandy. He will be returning toBangalore after four days ofprogrammes in Kerala.

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Tamil film superstarRajinikanth on Sunday said

fame and clout earned in theworld of cinema were notenough to help one make amark in politics, and stressedthere was something beyondthese attributes that ensuredsuccess in public affairs.

Rajinikanth said his con-temporary Kamal Haasan pos-sibly knew what that somethingwas, but might not want notshare the secret with him.

The two stars were amonga host of dignitaries at the inau-guration of a memorial con-structed by the Tamil NaduGovernment for the iconicactor Sivaji Ganesan.

To press his case,Rajinikanth cited the instanceof the late thespian, sayingthat he could not succeed inpolitics despite being immense-ly popular.

“Sivaji (Ganesan) has left alesson not just in cinema butalso in politics. He started hisown political party, fought andlost (elections) from his ownconstituency. This was not aninsult to him, but the people ofthat constituency,” he said at thefunction, attended by DeputyChief Minister OPanneerselvam and Haasan,among others.

“So, the message is, to suc-ceed in politics, it's not enoughto just have fame and clout(earned in cinema). There issomething beyond that... I

don't know what it is,” he said,adding that Kamal Haasanpossibly knew what this was.“But even if he knows it, hewon't share it with me,” he said,as the gathering laughed.

Tamil Nadu has had a richhistory of cinema marryingpolitics. Ganesan's contempo-rary, MG Ramachandran, notonly floated the AIADMK afterwalking out of the MKarunanidhi-led DMK, butalso went on to become the

Chief Minister.Of late, both Haasan and

Rajinikanth have been indi-cating that they may join pol-itics, with Hasasan takingrepeated potshots at the rulingAIADMK over issues such ascorruption and the spread ofdengue.

AAP supremo and DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalhad met Haasan here recentlybut while their meeting trig-gered speculation about a polit-

ical alignment, the two did notmake any announcements.

At the event on Sunday,Rajinikanth said Haasan mighthave shared with him the secretto success in politics “if I hadasked for it two months ago”.“He might have shared it.When I say you (Haasan) aresenior to me in cinema, and arelike an elder brother and askhim to share that with me, hesays come with me I will tell,”he said.

Haasan had recentlyreportedly said he had heldtalks with Rajinikanth amidrumours that the two wouldjoin hands politically.

Heaping praise onGanesan, Rajinikanth said thememorial, and an earlier stat-ue put up in his honour byKarunanidhi when he wasChief Minister, were notinstalled only because he wasan actor.

Such honours were inrecognition of the fact thatGanesan brought to life free-dom fighters and kings with hisonscreen performance and tookthem to the masses, he said.

Rajinikanth recalled thatGanesan had vibuthi (sacredash) on his forehead “at a timewhen atheism was at its peak”.

“He touched great heightsonly due to his performances,”he said. The actor of mega hitssuch as Kabaali thanked lateChief Minister J Jayalalithaa forthe memorial and Karunanidhifor the earlier installation.

Rajinikanth also saidPanneerselvam was “fortunate”to have been able to inauguratethe memorial.

“Panneerselvam is very for-tunate, it has been provedmany times,” he said in an obvi-ous reference to the leaderbeing made chief ministerthrice-- twice when Jayalalithaawas convicted in different courtcases, and later after her deathin December 2016.

Haasan, who is at logger-heads with the ruling

AIADMK, said Ganesan was anactor who had “transcended” allkinds of boundaries — politi-cal, regional and national.

“If I had not been in cine-ma, I would have been a fanand even if I was not allowedentry here, I would have beenwaiting (outside). None couldhave stopped me,” he said.

Any Government has torespect “this great artiste andthey will respect him... Noneed to compel or plead withanyone...It will happen by itself,”he said in an apparent referenceto the controversy surroundingSaturday's function.

Earlier, many sectionsincluding Ganesan's actor sonPrabhu, opposition DMK andfans of the late star haddemanded that top leaders ofthe government includingChief Minister K Palaniswamiinaugurate the building thoughoriginally Fisheries MinisterD Jayakumar and his cabinetcolleague Kadambur Raju(Information Minister) weresupposed to have led the event.

Palaniswami had later clar-ified that he could not attendthe function because of priorcommitments, even as heexpressed his respect andadmiration for Ganesan.

He, however, deputedPanneerselvam to inauguratethe building, constructed at anestimated �2.80 crore.

Haasan thanked the “filmworld, Government and poli-tics for allowing” him to felic-itate Ganesan.

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Apparently dragooned by aveiled intimidation from

the ruling Trinamool Congressbrass nearly all big ticket DurgaPuja committees in and aroundKolkata on Saturday and Sundaychose to ignore the CalcuttaHigh Court order overrulingChief Minister MamataBanerjee’s directions to post-pone immersion of Durga idolsmaking way for Muharram.

Literally proving whosewrit ran large in Bengal, DurgaPuja committees held backimmersions till the Muslim

festivities were over whileinside reports said the organ-isers were conveyed the mes-sage from political high zonesthat the Trinamool high com-mand “would be pleased” ifimmersions were held backon Muharram day.

Hearing a public-interest-litigation the High Court hadordered the administration tomake adequate arrangementsso that the two festivals couldbe celebrated simultaneously.Notwithstanding the courtorder, the top Trinamool lead-ers who went about inaugurat-ing Durga Pujas told organis-

ers that the Chief Ministerwas confident that they would“listen to their inner voices”which they indeed did by with-holding immersion onSaturday and Sunday.

On Saturday about 2,000idols — almost the entirelyfrom household Pujas — wereimmersed in Hooghly.Household Pujas belonging toindividual houses often severalhundred years old are differentfrom the Baroari Pujas that areorganised publicly in Pandals.

“We have no other choicebut to go by the Government’s(read Chief Minister’s) wishes.Despite the fact that it coststhousands of rupees to holdback immersion for each day— as you have to pay onaccount of lights, labour, dailypuja expenses, corporation

charges and so on — we do nothave any other option,” said anorganiser from Hidusthan Parkarea in South Kolkata.

Another organiser from apandal near Gariahat said, “whowill risk future problems byflouting the Trinamool’s orders.We would have done it onSaturday itself but we do notwant to get ‘stamped’ hence wewill immerse the idol on Mondayafter Muharram is over.”

No wonder why all the big-budget Pujas — often organ-ised by powerful Ministers andpoliticians — from SuruchiSangha, Chetla Agrani, EkdaliaEvergreen, Singhi Park,Tridhara Sanmilani, BallygungeCultural Association,Muhammad Ali Park, SreeBhumi and many others with-held their immersion pro-

grammes for October 2 or 3.Like in 2016, Muharram

had fallen on Vijaya DashmiDay this year round with theChief Minister issuing a blan-ket ban on the immersion ofidols beyond 10 pm onSaturday till Monday morningleading to ruffling of senti-ments. However, the Highhearing a PIL reversed theorder and directed theGovernment to ensure ade-quate security measures toallow the two festivals to be cel-ebrated side by side.

Meanwhile, Muharramwas celebrated amid tight secu-rity arrangements on Sunday.Nearly 7-8 thousand policepersonnel had been deployedto ensure safe observation offestivities, police administra-tion said.

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After the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) failed to con-

vince its alliance partnerPeoples Democratic Party(PDP) to declare a State holi-day on the occasion of birthanniversary of last Dogra rulerMaharaja Hari Singh, DeputyChief Minister Nirmal Singhhas now called for broaderreview of existing State holidaysin the State.

Last week the State BJPunit found itself on the backfoot after Mehbooba Mufti ledalliance Government refusedto even acknowledge thedemand to declare September23- a State holiday.

Feeling public pressure theState BJP unit has nowlaunched a damage controlexercise. Singh was even heck-led by the angry supporters ofMaharaja Hari Singh onSeptember 23 in Jammu afterhe failed to spell out the exactreason for not announcing thestate holiday.

On Sunday Nirmal Singh,without naming NationalConference, said it is high timethe State Government shouldreview the existing State holi-days which are directly linkedwith a particular political party.

Singh was responding to astraight question whether theBJP had demanded review ofState holiday on Martyrs' day— celebrated in Kashmir val-ley on July 13 and December 5—Birth anniversary of SheikhMohd Abdullah.

"Yes, I have asked for abroader review of list of exist-ing state holidays in the Stateas the list of holidays in increas-ing and we are left with veryfew working days". "The Centreand UP Government have alsoreviewed list of Governmentholidays. In Jammu & Kashmirthe list of holidays is too long.It is high time the same shouldbe reviewed, Singh clarifiedwhen he was repeatedlyquizzed by reporters on thecontentious issue.

On the occasion NirmaSingh also reiterated BJP's standin support of state holiday onSeptember 23, birth anniversaryof Maharaja Hari Singh. Hesaid, “We support the genuinepublic demand for a State hol-iday on September 23.”

Reacting to the commentsof RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwatover the issue of abrogation ofArticle 370 which grants spe-cial status to the state of Jammuand Kashmir, Dr Nirmal Singhsaid as far as BJP is concernedwe also support the demandbut as an alliance partner weare committed to Agenda ofAlliance. Dr Singh maintainedin Agenda of Alliance it hasbeen mentioned clearly thatboth the alliance partnerswould maintain the status quoon constitutional matters andother issues where both theparties have divergent viewpoints and different percep-tions.

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Ten days after he resignedfrom the primary member-

ship of the Congress, formerChief Minister Narayan Rane onSunday announced the forma-tion of a new political outfit“Maharashtra SwabhimanPaksha” and said that his partywould join the BJP-led NDA, ifinvited to do so.

Having failed to gain to a“direct entry” to the BJP amidresistance from the ruling ShivSena and also from within a sec-tion of the principal ruling party,Rane — as was being talkedabout in the State political circlesfor the party few days —announced the setting up of“Maharashtra SwabhimanPaksha”, amid intense specula-tion that he might join theDevendra Fadnavis Governmentas a senior Minister.

Announcing the formationof a new political outfit, Ranesaid at a news conference herethat while “MaharashtraSwabhiman Paksha” would beregistered soon, he would unveilthe party’s symbol and flag in thecoming days.

Queried specifically if hisparty would join the NDA, Ranesaid: “Let my party get formedfirst. Then, if someone asks meif my party would join them,then we would formally say wewill join”.

To another query onwhether he would join theDevendra Fadnavis Governmentin the impending State Cabinetexpansion, Rane said: “Whydon’t you pose this question toFadnavis? After all it is he whodecides whom to induct newlyinto his Cabinet. No one hascommunicated anything to meanything in this regard”.

Rane’s decision to float a newparty comes six days after he metBJP’s national president AmitShah in New Delhi, along withstate party president RaosahebDanve and Revenue MinisterChandrakant Patil.

Informed sources in thethat given the resistance from theShiv Sena and the reservations

expressed in a section of its stateparty ranks to Rane’s “directentry” to its party fold, the BJPleadership advised him to floathis own party so that he could beaccommodated in the NDA –which will pave way for hisinduction in the State Cabinet.

That Rane is favourably dis-pensed towards the BJP andNDA could be evidenced fromthe fact that at his press confer-ence, he castigated the Shiv Senapresident Uddhav Thackerayfor his continued criticism ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand his Government’s decisionslike demonetisation and GST, hedefended Modi’s bullet trainproject train project and said hedid not think that Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis had takenthe farmers in the State for a ridethrough his loan waiver decision.

The formation of“Maharashtra SwabhimanPaksha” is a milestone in hismore than four-decade longpolitical career.

Having been associated withthe Shiv Sena since early seven-ties, Rane emerged as a seniorleader in the party and was madethe Chief Minister ofMaharashtra, a post he heldbetween February 1, 1999 andOctober 17, 1999 when theSena-BJP alliance was rulingthe State.

However, after he rebelledagainst the leadership of thenparty’s executive president

Uddhav Thackeray, Rane wasexpelled from the Shiv Sena onJuly 3, 2005. He joined theCongress on July 30, 2005,expecting that one day he wouldbe made a chief minister of thestate – a dream that remainedunfulfilled.

While in the Congress, hewas suspended once from theparty on December 6,2008 forhis outburst against the partyleadership, a day after AshokraoChavan was appointed as theChief Minister in place ofVilasrao Deshmukh in the wakeof November 26-30 Mumbai ter-rorist attack

After being in the Congressfor 12-long years, Rane quit theSonia Gandhi party onSeptember 21, after complainingthat the party leadership hadfailed to fulfil its repeatedpromise of appointing him as thechief minister.

Going by the manner inwhich Rane took on Sena pres-ident Uddhav Thackeray atSunday’s news conference, Ranehas his job cut out as the founderof the “Maharashtra SwabhimanPaksha” which is going to be partof the BJP-led alliance in the Stateand at the Centre’.

First, the ruling BJP woulduse Rane to launch counter-offensive against the Shiv Senaand its leaders, includingUddhav, in the run-up to the2019 Lok Sabha and Assemblypolls. Secondly, Rane would go

all out to poach MLAs from boththe Shiv Sena and Congress.

Incidentally, Rane’s sonNitesh continues to be aCongress MLA. He stayed awayfrom Rane’s news conference onSunday. Nitesh Rane’s continuedpresence in the Congress is astrategic move employed by SrRane, who will in all likelihooduse his son to poach into theCongress.

Incidentally, Sr Rane hasderived his new party’s namefrom the NGO SwabhimaniSanghatana floated by hisCongress MLA-son Nitesh Rane,who has been elected fromKudal constituency in coastalKonkan region.

Earlier, singling out ShivSena president UddhavThackeray for a vicious attack,Rane demanded to know as towhat it is its contribution to theDevendra Fadnavis governmentduring the last three years.

“What has Uddhav donebeyond indulging in viciouscriticism of the ruling BJP in thestate and at the Centre. DoesUddhav have the moral right tocriticise Prime Modi in a man-ner he has been doing for thepast three years? On one hand,he (Uddhav) equates demoneti-sation to treachery, while on theother his party Ministers makeno issue of it in the State Cabinet.Why the Sena ministers have notspoken anything about the risein price in fuel prices, essentialcommodities and domestic gascylinder in the State Cabinet?,”Rane asked.

“Uddhav says that corrup-tion has not ended due todemonetisation. I would like toask him as to why he has nottaken any measures to end cor-ruption in the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC).The most corrupt municipalcorporation in the entire coun-try is BMC. Who has been rul-ing the BMC for the past 25years?. It is the Shiv Sena,” hesaid. Rane reiterated that theSena’s lust for power so much sothat come what may, it wouldnot quite the BJP-ledGovernment in the State.

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Averring that working forSwachchhata was a service

for mankind, President RamNath Kovind on Sunday saidthat “dirt is a curse for societyand impedes economicgrowth”.

Speaking at a function here to declare UrbanMaharashtra as open-defeca-tion free (ODF), the Presidentsaid: “Working forSwachchhata is a service formankind and dirt is a curse forsociety and impedes econom-ic growth. Through construc-tion of toilets, the incidence ofwater borne diseases can bereduced. Smart sanitation andsmart waste management willhelp in achieving the swachchhata mission”.

Congratulating the State ofMaharashtra in taking the leadin ODF, the President urged the

people to keep their toiletsneat and clean. “The workdone in this field inMaharashtra will encourageother States to replicate thesame. Swachchhh Bharat willlead to a healthy and prosper-ous India,” he said.

The President felicitatedthe representatives of a few

local bodies and swachchhataworkers at the launch of theODF Maharashtra.

Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavissaid the announcement ofUrban Maharashtra as ODFwas a “historic moment” for his State and said that amass awareness programmewould be undertaken to edu-cate the people.

Fadnavis said that a three-step validation process wouldtake place before a city or a vil-lage was declared ODF inMaharashtra.

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The temple town of Shirdi inMaharashtra came on the

air travel map of the country, asPresident Ram Nath Kovindthrew open the newly-con-structed airport there.

After inaugurating theShirdi International Airport, thePresident flagged off the inau-gural flight from Shirdi toMumbai.

With the induction of airservices, the travel time toShirdi from Mumbai is expect-ed to reduce to 40 minutes asagainst five hours by road atpresent.

There will initially be sixreturn flights daily to Shirdi,including four from Mumbaiand one each from New Delhiand Hyderabad.

While Air India’s subsidiaryAlliance Air will operate amaximum number of returnflights, Hyderabad-based TruJetand IndiGo and plan to oper-ate flights to Shirdi.

Developed by MaharashtraAirport DevelopmentCompany (MADC) at a cost ofRs 350 crore, the Shirdi airport– spread over 400 acres -- hasa 2,500-metre runway, a 3,000sq meter swank terminal build-ing, an Air traffic control (ATC)tower and all other communi-

cation and infrastructure. Theairport can handle narrow-body aircraft like Airbus A-320and Boeing B-737s.

The Shri Saibaba SansthanTrust (SSST), which managesthe famous Shirdi temple, hasinvested Rs 50 crore in the air-port project.

More than 40,000 to 50,000pilgrims visit the Shidi templeevery day and the number ofpilgrims visiting the temple onweekends and special occa-sions increased multi-folds.The MADC plans to tap at least10-12 per cent of the pilgrimsvisiting the temple town allthrough the year.

Later in the day, thePresident also inaugurated thecentenary year celebrations ofthe Samadhi of Shri Sai Baba inShirdi.

Speaking on the occasion,the President said: “,Sai Babaattracts people from every caste,religion ,sect and class. Usingsimple phrases like ‘SabkaMalik Ek Hai’,Sai Babaexplained the philosophy of‘Advaita’ to the common man.The influence of Sai Baba canbe seen all over the world”.

The President said thatalong with spiritual connectiv-ity, the country also neededphysical connectivity throughlarge infrastructure projects.

Commending the newsbuilding of the airport as a mea-sure that would help pilgrimsand visitors as well as triggereconomic activity and job cre-ation in Shirdi, the Presidenthoped that people in largenumbers would use the ShirdiInternational Airport.

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Faced with a worrying decline inthe gross domestic product (GDP)growth, industrial production andjobs, Union Minister of FinanceArun Jaitley chaired an inter-

ministerial brain-storming session onSeptember 19, with a view to create quick-ly-implementable measures to stimulateIndia’s economy. Railways and CoalMinister Piyush Goyal, Minister ofCommerce and Industry, top bureaucratsfrom the Commerce and FinanceMinistries, Niti Aayog vice chaiman RajivKumar, and officials from the PrimeMinister’s Office attended the session.

The key message that came out of themeeting was that the Narendra ModiGovernment won’t steer economic policiesin a new direction, but generate fresh mea-sures to galvanise the economy and imple-ment financial plans rapidly.

“The group discussed areas which needgreater thrust. Exports, industrial produc-tion, infrastructure and job generation werediscussed as zones which need speedy stim-ulus,” said an official.

The group agreed that the Governmentwill have to provide the fiscal stimulus thecountry needs. They feel the private sec-tor, which has remained indifferent to theCentre’s attempts to get it to open its chequebooks, won’t change overnight.

All participating Ministries presentedthe measures they had planned, as well asideas on how to increase the speed of exe-cution. For instance, the Railway Ministryhad a slew of infrastructure plans thatcould involve the private sector and gen-erate employment. The CommerceMinistry was asked to create a blueprintfor incentivising exports to boost produc-tion and create jobs.

The cash crunch occasioned bydemonetisation reduced demand, which inturn stymied industrial production. Thiscaused GDP growth from 7.1 per cent inlast year’s first quarter, to 6.1 per cent inthe corresponding quarter this year. Thefigure for Q2 is even lower: 5.7 per cent.Various estimates say the note ban, tout-ed as a crusade against hoarders of unde-clared income and financiers of terrorism,has wiped out around 1.5 million jobs.Inflation had risen by almost one per centthis month alone. It was at an all-time lowlast month.

As for India Inc, it remains averse tothe expanding job market in the nearfuture, given the doubts about the manu-facturing sector. A quarterly Federation ofIndian Chambers of Commerce andIndustry (FICCI) survey shows that asmany as 73 per cent of manufacturers hadno plans to hire new hands between Julyand October.

The Narendra Modi Governmenthopes the effects of demonetisation will

slowly wear off, and that demand and man-ufacturing will increase again. But 74 percent of the entities in FICCI’s report hadno plans to add capacity in the comingmonths. The organisation recordedresponses from over 300 companies froma wide array of sectors, with a combinedannual turnover of �3.5 lakh crore. Sinceprivate investment in manufacturing is like-ly to remain low for a few more months,the Modi Government decided to speed upwhatever the public sector can do.

It hopes that in doing so, it will createa trickle down impact, encouraging the pri-vate sector at a time when macroeconom-ic indicators are positive: Global growth isshowing signs of revival, Governmentrevenues are improving, foreign exchangereserves ($400 billion) and oil prices are atreasonable levels, the money flow isencouraging, and a decent monsoon keptfood prices in check.

Despite all feel good factors, Indianeconomy is heading for a “major depres-sion” and it can “crash” soon if efforts arenot put to revive it, BJP leader SubramanianSwamy has said. The Rajya Sabha MPclaimed that a year and a half ago, he hadwritten a 16-page letter to the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi warning himabout the economy, which is in a “tailspin”.“We need to do a lot of good things torevive the economy. Even a tailspin can bemade to steady. If nothing is done, we areheading for a serious depression. There willbe mass scale...banks may collapse, facto-ries might start closing,” he said.

The Modi Government needs to get

its act together on the economy to preventbig slippages in growth as well as to keepinflationary risks well under control.Economic growth had eased to its slow-est in 13 quarters in the April-June quar-ter of the current fiscal year and full yeargrowth is expected to be around seven percent. Much of the slowdown in the sec-ond half of the last fiscal year and the firstquarter of the current fiscal is a result ofthe shock demonetisation announced onNovember 8 last year.

Growth in the current quarter and per-haps, even the next is expected to beimpacted by the implementation of theGoods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1this year. Both, demonetisation and GSTwere disruptive moves, but the Governmentneeds to be more pro-active in relieving thepain caused by them.

What should concern the Governmentis that there is some despondency settlingin — businesses continue to remain slow,save recovery in sales of automobiles.

High frequency data points to sever-al risks to India’s growth. The index ofindustrial production for July was up 1.2per cent and that’s mostly because min-ing output and electricity generationhave been rising. Manufacturing sectorgrowth remains insipid, expanding only0.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis inJuly. Inflationary pressures are returning— and not just on account of fruits andvegetables alone. Petroleum productprices too are responsible for the higherreading of both consumer price index andwholesale price index.

The wholesale price index for Julyshows petrol and diesel inflation climbedto 24.6 per cent and 20.3 per cent respec-tively. To compound the economy’s woes,exports have not been doing too well, eventhough growth has picked up in exportsheaded to the US and Europe. Gems andjewellery exports fell almost 26 per cent inAugust, compared to a year ago. Bank cred-it growth to industry has also been poor forseveral months now, a clear indicator thatprivate investment has not yet picked up.

The onset of the festival-wedding sea-son normally boosts demand, particular-ly for consumer durables. Likewise, agood monsoon may prove beneficial foragricultural output.

But these alone are not enough to getgrowth well over seven per cent, a pre-requisite for job creation. In the shortterm, consumer and investor sentimentsneed to improve, and that can happen if the Government affects some feelgood policies.

Lowering taxes on petroleum productscould be one such move. However, for morestable and rapid growth, the Governmentneeds to address glitches arising out ofimplementation of the GST.

It also needs to address the problemsof farmers, who are bearing the brunt ofprice volatility in particular, rather thantake knee-jerk decisions on imports andexports. In short, the Centre needs todemonstrate that it is still very much incharge of the economy.

(The writer is a retired Professor in inter-national trade)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Reforms get currency”(September 30). Modernisation ofinfrastructure for the police forceis definitely welcome, but at thesame time, the reforms ordered bythe Supreme Court must also beimplemented and the police forcemust be governed by rules andregulations and not by bureau-crats and politicians.

Ashok K MehtaVia web

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Compassion: Missing link in anindifferent world” (September 30)by Hiranmay Karlekar. Indeed,man is a sadist, masochist, whotries to dominate others in thename of race, religion, caste,colour, nationality and all normsof heinous divisive credentialsand also relish the torture heapedupon those who are ‘not my own’.

This is the reason why theHimalayan woes, sufferings anddeaths of persecuted refugees donot hurt our conscience. It’s goodthat the European Union is doingits bit in favour of the Syrianrefugees, who are escaping theircountry scarred by the civil war.But there’s no such sympathy forthe Rohingyas who are beingmercilessly killed and thrown outof their homeland Myanmar.

The heart wrenching pictureof the corpse of a Syrian baby onthe shores of the Mediterraneanhad shaken the conscious of theworld, to some extent promptedthe European Union to open its

doors for a significant number ofrefugees. In contrast, similarpathetic picture of the Rohingyaslying dead on the sea coast ofCox’s Bazar hardly cause a rever-beration in the world.

The whole thing pays lip ser-vice to the rhetoric of ‘internation-al brotherhood’ and ‘global village’and the country which tries toproject its ‘liberalism’ by mouthingvasudhaiva kutumbakam (theworld is one family) should hangits head in shame. The passingaway of many refugees followingpersecution expose the blatanthypocrisy, double standards, inhu-manity and cruelty deeply embed-ded within us.

Kajal ChatterjeeKolkata

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Sir — Senior BJP leader YashwantSinha’s scathing criticism at thestate of the Indian economymight have been discomfortingfor the party, especially for UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitley, butsurely, it is clear that demoneti-sation and the roll out of theGoods and Services Tax were notplanned properly.

Sinha is one of the brightestfinancial minds in the countryand his forthright and honestassessment of the Indian econo-my should spur the Governmentfor course-correction. The cur-rent Government should focuson bringing the economy to agood health.

Devendra Khurana Bhopal

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The Niti Aayog’s three-year actionplan notes that “unemploymentis the lesser of India’s problems.

The more serious problem, instead, issevere underemployment”. Therefore,since large corporations are hiring peo-ple, who have a minimum level of rel-evant competence, skill developmentappropriate for them must be done ina systematic manner.

The Government has secured �15lakh crore worth of investment com-mitment in its ‘Make in India’ pro-gramme. If this investment is to employIndian workforce, skill development toappropriate level is essential. In infor-mation and communications tech-nology (software) and informationtechnology-enabled industries too,where most job decline has occurred,

skilled people are essentially needed.A growing trend, as is evident in

new and evolving ‘high-tech’ jobs, isdemand for workers with a combina-tion of technical training, formal edu-cation and ‘soft’ skills. In addition tojob-specific knowledge and skills,employers look for a broader set ofskills, often called employability skills.

The Conference Board of Canadadeveloped the critical employabilityskills profile for the Canadian work-force, which is as follows:

Academic: Provides the founda-tion for good communication skills, acapacity to analyse, evaluate and solveproblems, and to learn new assign-ments and ways of doing the job withtechnology changes;

Personal management skills:Positive attitude, ability to take respon-sibility and be accountable, ability todeal with changes in the workplace andbe innovative, and respect for others.

Teamwork skills: The skills need-ed to work with others on a job and toachieve the best results.

In the current scenario, skill-building in India can be viewed as an

instrument to improve effectivenessand contribution of labour to theoverall production.

The most important task, therefore,is to improve employability of theyouth. And for this, the need is ofskilling (including upgrading existingskill-sets) of 500 million individuals by2022. The Ministry of SkillDevelopment and Entrepreneurship isresponsible for coordination of allskill development efforts across thecountry, removal of disconnect betweendemand and supply of skilled manpow-er, building vocational and technicaltraining framework, skill upgrada-tion, building new skills, and innova-tive thinking, not only for existing jobsbut also jobs that are to be created.

The World Economic Forumranked India at 65 out of 130 countriesin its development of ‘skill for yourfuture’ index. The National SkillDevelopment Corporation (NSDC),that has been tasked with skilling 150million youth in partnership with theprivate sector, has so far skilled a littleover 5.1 million people and has man-aged to get just over 1.5 million placed.

According to official data, NSDCtrained 557,000 people in 2016-17under the flagship programme,Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana,but managed to place only 63,000.That’s a success rate of less than 12 percent against the desired 70 per cent. Somuch remains to be done.

“Every month, one million youthcome into the job market. Our effortwill be to coordinate with the StateGovernments and other agencies tocreate an ecosystem of skilling forthem”, said Minister for SkillDevelopment and Entrepreneurship,Dharmendra Pradhan.

Though skill training in the coun-try has improved in recent years,absence of job linkages is only aggra-vating the problem of unemployment.Pradhan further said, “We have to thinkbig way, lot of technologies are coming,conventional jobs are squeezed, newverticals are emerging, what are they,they have to be informed to employ-able youths which all big jobs are there.”

Skill development starts withidentifying future job prospects andsegmenting it according to the need

and feasibility of training candidates.Stakeholders for skill developmentneed to be identified, likeGovernment entities, StateGovernments, private training insti-tutes, large corporates, small andmedium-sized enterprises, non-prof-it organisations etc. Private players canuse technology to automate, improveand scale training and certificationapproach of skill-based training.

Technology is an essential driverwhich can help scaling up skill devel-opment initiatives. If skill segments andstreams are identified, then the next stepis to define educational content or syl-labus, including practicality of training.Technology can help define standardtraining tools for the candidate and alltutorials, assignments, tests can be con-ducted using technology.

An investment of �4,000 crorehas been made for the ‘Sankalp’(Skill Acquisition and KnowledgeAwareness for Livelihood Promotion)programme. This initiative hasopened knowledge and training/cer-tification opportunities for Indian pri-vate education entities. However, for-

mal education system must be supple-mented with affordable and accessible‘just-in-time’ learning modules. Suchmodules can be developed and offeredby private players. This has to be linkedwith the skill development scheme.

The Government should furtherinstitute policies that provide appropri-ate education and vocational trainingin order to move people out of agricul-ture and make use of opportunities inthe market economy. Pradhan MantriMudra Yojana (Mudra bank loan) isavailable for non-agricultural activitiesfor up to �10 lakh. Activities allied toagriculture, such as dairy, poultry,beekeeping are also covered.

Enterprises need flexibility toadjust their workforce to remaincompetitive in a dynamic environ-ment. Only then can they employpeople in consonance with dynam-ics. But then, it would need an ade-quate social security system to pro-vide a safety net to enable appropri-ate retraining and re-employment ofthe retrenched workers.

(The writer is a commentator oncontemporary issues)

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Two women. Close neigh-bours. Both powerful andinfluential. Myanmar StateCounsellor Aung San SuuKyi and Bangladesh Prime

Minister Begum Sheikh Hasina arethe women under focus of the worldat present.

Despite having too many things incommon they are different in severalways. They are both Prime Ministers(Suu Kyi’s post is equivalent to the PrimeMinister in Myanmar). Both are part oflegendary families that have contributedin the fight for independence of theircountries. Incidentally, both Suu Kyi andHasina’s fathers — General Aung Sanand Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — werebrutally assassinated, and their familiesalmost wiped out. The two also have adeep connect with India — Suu Kyi hasdone her schooling and college fromIndia, apart from being a fellow at theIndian Institute of Advanced Study inShimla, while Hasina had taken refugein India following the assassination of herfather, mother and three brothers.

Despite so much in common, thesetwo women are being viewed by theworld in two different ways. Havingopened the doors for the fleeingRohingyas, Hasina is seen as a leaderwith compassion, and a strong PrimeMinister, while Suu Kyi is being viewedas an oppressor with questions beingraised over her powers in the new demo-cratic order in Myanmar. Having faceda lot of struggle herself in her fight fordemocracy against the military junta inMyanmar, Suu Kyi is aware of the risksof confronting the Myanmar Army,which is accused of ethnic cleansing of‘Bengali speaking’ Rohingyas from theBuddhist dominant country. Suu Kyiherself is a Buddhist.

Hasina, on the other hand, has givenshelter to these Rohingyas fleeing vio-lence in the Rakhine State of Myanmar.In fact, Bangladesh alone has taken theburden of nearly 4.3 lakh refugees in thelast few weeks who are fleeing throughthe roads, thick jungles, rivers andeven through the Bay of Bengal. Priorto the present influx, nearly four lakhrefugees have already taken shelter inBangladesh from time to time, whilemany have fled to Malaysia, Indonesia,India, Saudi Arabia and other countries.But the biggest hit has been taken byBangladesh that borders Myanmar.

Despite her economy being understress due to recent floods and now thepresent influx, Hasina has not shownany signs of panic or distress. Herdiplomats say: “We cannot throwthem (Rohingyas) in the sea”, a viewguided by Hasina’s own sympatheticattitude towards the refugees. Withfloods impacting nearly one-third ofBangladesh’s population, the countryhad to import rice for the first time inmany years to feed its own people. Thehigh number of refugees has put addi-

tional burden on the state.Humanitarian aids from India and theUnited Nations (UN) can only be tem-porary help. Hasina wants the interna-tional community to pressuriseMyanmar to take back its people.

After initial hesitation, Hasinaopened the borders for the Rohingyamen, women and several orphaned chil-dren. Bangladesh diplomats say they arevirtually running a day care centre at therefugee camps for the children betweensix month and six years.

So overwhelmed are the Rohingyarefugees that they are viewing Hasina asa ‘hero’. No wonder a Rohingya Muslimrefugee woman who delivered her babygirl in the refugee camp of Bangladeshdecided to name her ‘Sheikh Hasina’ tohighlight the fact that the child couldcome to life only because of the human-itarian assistance provided by Hasina.

Both, Suu Kyi and Hasina havemade speeches recently. But while SuuKyi avoided going to the United NationsGeneral Assembly (UNGA) or touch-ing the sensitive Rohingya issue direct-ly, Hasina stood up at the UNGA andmade an emotional speech to drum upsupport for the Rohingya cause.

Hasina urged Myanmar to endviolence and ethnic cleansing in theRakhine State immediately while givingout a five-point proposal. She alsocalled upon the UN and the internation-al community to take immediate andeffective measures for a permanentsolution to the protracted Rohingya cri-sis while urging the UN SecretaryGeneral, António Guterres to immedi-ately send a fact-finding mission toMyanmar, and creating ‘safe zones’inside Myanmar under the UN super-vision for protection of civilians irrespec-tive of religion and ethnicity. She also

urged to ensure sustainable return of allforcibly displaced Rohingyas inBangladesh to their homes in Myanmarand demanded immediate implemen-tation of all recommendations of the KofiAnnan Commission report.

Starting her speech, Hasina said shehad come to the UNGA with a heavyheart. “I have come here just after see-ing the hungry, distressed and hopelessRohingyas from Myanmar who tookshelter in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.This forcibly-displaced people ofMyanmar are fleeing an ‘ethnic cleans-ing’ in their own country where theyhave been living for centuries,” she said.Hasina said she feels the pain ofRohingya refugees as she, along with heryounger sister, had been a refugee forsix years after her father, Sheikh MujiburRahman and almost all members of herfamily were assassinated in 1975.

Having been a target of a numberof terrorist attacks, Hasina said thatshe personally empathises with thevictims of terrorism and appreciatestheir need for protection.

Compared to this, Suu Kyi’s state-ments and attitude towards the Rohingyacrisis appear to be unsympathetic andhave come under severe criticism fromthe international community. Her fail-ure to reign in the violence against theRohingyas has exposed her as a weakworld leader resulting in a demand forSuu Kyi to rescind the Nobel Peace prize.

Suu Kyi avoided going to the UNGAfor fear of international scrutiny and crit-icism, and the possibility of being forcedinto committing herself to the Rohingyaswho are being driven away due to vio-lence from Mynamar Army and theArakan Rohingya Salvation Army mil-itants fighting with the military. She,however, made a statement at home

which neither offered a solution nor gaveany assurances.

All she had to say was: “Myanmarfeels deeply for suffering of all groups inRakhine…We will take all measuresmentioned to ensure that there is peacein Rakhine and Myanmar as a whole. Wewill also investigate why so many youngMuslims are crossing the border andgoing to Bangladesh. We will ask themwhy they are doing this?” She saidMyanmar was ready to verify the statusof the 4.1 lakh Rohingyas who fled vio-lence in the last month to aid the returnof those ‘eligible’ for resettlement. Herindications are clear that these Bengalispeaking Muslim Rohingyas have aBangladesh connect and that theyshould go to their country of origin.

Bangladesh, on the other hand,said among the fleeing Rohingyasthere are Hindus, and Christians apartfrom Muslims. Dhaka also agreed forthe verification process, as suggestedby the Kofi Annan Commission, toascertain the ethnicity of theBangladeshi Rohingyas and is willingto take those who belong to it.

There is one more interestingaspect worth comparing betweenHasina and Suu Kyi. While Suu Kyi con-tinues to be playing in the hands of herArmy, which is accused of atrocities onthe Rohingyas, Hasina has shown thatshe has a tight grip on her security forcesand is effectively using her Army tooversee refugee relief work.

In this military versus militants fight,innocent civilians are being killed andthrown out of their country. A womanwatches silently. Rather heartlessly.Another opens arms for them. With abig heart. Tale of two women.

(The writer is a Senior Editor, The Pioneer)

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Reliance Communications,which is reeling under a debt

of about �46,000 crore, todaycalled off merger talks withAircel, citing ‘legal and regulato-ry’ delays and outlined an alter-native plan for debt reduction byselling real estate as well as towerand fibre business. “Merger ofmobile business of RCom andAircel lapses with mutual con-sent,” the Anil Ambani-led firmsaid in a statement. RCom andAircel had signed binding agree-ments in September 2016 for themerger of mobile business.

“Legal and regulatory uncer-tainties, and various interventionsby vested interests, have causedinordinate delays in receipt of rel-evant approvals for the proposedtransaction,” it said.

RCom also blamed highlevel of competition as one of thereasons for termination of themerger talks. “Unprecedentedcompetitive intensity in theIndian telecom sector togetherwith fresh policy directives,adversely impacting bank financ-ing for this sector, have also seri-ously affected industry dynam-ics. As a result of the various fac-tors aforesaid, the merger agree-ment has lapsed,” RCom said.The company said that unlimit-ed free voice offers and ‘irrationalpricing’ by all industry partici-

pants have destroyed profitabil-ity of traditional 2G and 3Gmobile business. It was claimedthat with the deal the debt ofRCom will come down to around� 20,000 crore, while that ofAircel to around �4,000 crore.

RCom now plans to mone-tise prime real estate in Mumbaiand Delhi as well as telecomtower and optic fibre assets byDecember to avoid lenders con-verting a part of their debt intoequity. The company, however,also said that the combinationof the mobile business ofSistema Shyam TeleservicesLtd (SSTL) into RCom will becompleted this month.

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Jet fuel or ATF price was onSunday hiked by a steep 6 per

cent on firming internationalrates, the third straight increasein rates since August. Aviationturbine fuel (ATF) will now cost�53,045 per kilolitre (kl) inDelhi, �3,025 per kl more than�50,020 previously, according toa price hike notification byIndian Oil Corp, the nation'sbiggest fuel retailer.

This the third consecutivemonthly hike in ATF price, thelast being by 4 per cent (� 1,910per kl) on September 1. Also,cooking gas (LPG) price washiked by �1.50 per cylinder inline with the Government deci-sion to raise rates every month

to eliminate subsidies by March. A subsidised 14.2-kg LPG

cylinder will from today cost�488.68 in Delhi as against�487.18 previously, IOC said.The hike comes on back of over�7 per cylinder increase effect-ed from September 1. OilMinister Dharmendra Pradhanhad on July 31 told the LokSabha that the Governmenthad asked state-run oil firms toraise subsidised cooking gas(LPG) prices by up to �4 percylinder every month to elimi-nate all the subsidies by Marchnext year.

Rates were, however, raisedby �2.31 per cylinder on August1 and the oil companies effect-ed a large hike on September 1to equalise that, sources said.

Since the implementation of thepolicy of monthly increasesfrom July last year, subsidisedLPG rates have gone up by over�69.50 per cylinder. A 14.2-kgLPG cylinder was priced at�419.18 in June 2016.

The Government had pre-viously asked IOC, BharatPetroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL)and Hindustan Petroleum CorpLtd (HPCL) to raise rates of sub-

sidised domestic LPG (liquefiedpetroleum gas) by Rs 2 per 14.2-kg cylinder per month (exclud-ing VAT).

The quantum has now beendoubled so as to bring down thesubsidy to nil. Every householdis entitled to 12 cylinders of14.2-kg each at subsidised ratesin a year. Any requirementbeyond that is to be purchasedat market price. The price of

non-subsidised LPG or marketpriced cooking gas has also beenhiked by �1.50 to �599 per bot-tle. Rates at the last revision onSeptember 1 were hiked by�73.5 to �597.50 per bottle.

State-owned oil firms reviserates of LPG and ATF on 1st ofevery month based on average oilprice and foreign exchange ratein the previous month. Today'shike in the LPG price is fifthsince the May 30 order of the oilministry to raise rates by �4 percylinder every month. There areas many as 18.11 crore customersof subsidised LPG in the coun-try. These include over 3 crorepoor women who were givenfree connections during the lastone year under the PradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojna.

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Even though the non-life insur-ance industry has breached

the magical figure of 1 per centpenetration in terms of GDP inFY2017, the industry believesthere is tremendous potential todouble the figure in the next fiveyears, say insurers.

After hovering around 0.7-0.8 per cent for several years, thepenetration ratio of non-lifeinsurance industry has moved upto 1.04 per cent in March 2017,based on the revised GDP figure.

This took the industry size to�1.27 trillion, as per data collat-ed by the industry body GeneralInsurance Council, and was dri-ven mainly by around the �21,000crore premium coming in fromPrime Minister Crop InsuranceScheme. As per the CentralStatistical Office, real GDP grewto �121.9 trillion in FY17, agrowth of 7.1 per cent over�113.81 trillion in FY16.

When it comes to the generalinsurance industry, its businessgrew 33 per cent to �1.27 trillionin FY2017 from �96,000 crore inFY2016, or in terms of penetra-tion at 1.04 per cent from 0.85 per

cent in FY2016. There are 28non-life insurers which includefour state-owned players, two spe-cialised insurers, and six stand-alone health insurers. Chennai-based United India Insurance,which may also launch an IPOnext fiscal, is focusing onstrengthening its agency channelto increase its business. Still, theindustry feels that as a market itis still highly underpenetratedmarket.

“Various Governmentschemes like RSBY, crop insur-ance scheme, and PMSBY helpedthe sector cross the 1 per cent-mark penetration mark. Still I dobelieve there is scope to doublethis to 2 per cent over the next fiveyears but that will be possible only

if the government support con-tinues,” United India chairman MNagaraja Sarma told PTI. “We arehaving the largest agency forcewith 65,000 agents at presentwhich include around 50,000active agents. We plan to add10,000 more agents this year,” headded. Breaching the 1 per centmilestone sets the stage for inter-esting times, Sanath Kumar, chair-man and managing directorNational Insurance which is gear-ing up for an IPO this fiscal year,has also been indexing steadygrowth of double-digit for the pastyear.

“While the growth opportu-nities are plenty, we have been cal-ibrating business growth with ourcapital/solvency ratios and this

has been a limiting factor,” Kumarsaid. While the company hascome out of the bad times, he saidthey have to shore up the capitalbase and the forthcoming IPOand the number of strategies it hasadopted will it improve the cap-ital base.

ICICI Lombard chief execu-tive Bhargav Dasgupta said cross-ing the 1 percentage penetrationmay be a big news now but wehave miles to go as we are still farbehind the global average of 3 percent. The General InsuranceCouncil believes that the indus-try may cross the business at �1.5trillion by March.

“Based on revised GDP fig-ures, the industry has become asignificant contributor to both,financial services sector and over-all GDP growth,” RChandrasekaran, secretary gen-eral of the Council said. “We areconfident if the untapped poten-tial is tapped, the industry's con-tribution to the economy will fur-ther increase,” he said and hopedthat the industry will cross the�1.5-trillion mark this fiscal-enddriven by segments like cropinsurance and personal lines ofbusiness like motor and health.

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NEW DELHI: Moody’s InvestorsService has assigned an invest-ment grade rating to state-ownedIndian Renewable EnergyDevelopment Agency Ltd's(IREDA) $300 million masalabond programme. “Moody'sInvestors Service has assigned aBaa3 rating to Indian RenewableIREDA’s $300 million equivalentIndian rupee-denominated seniorunsecured bonds (the so-calledIREDA Green Masala Bond),” therating agency said in a release.

The bonds issued mediumterm note (MTN) programmewill be listed on the LondonStock Exchange (ISM) and theSingapore Exchange (SGX-ST).The rating outlook is stable, theratings firm said. On the ratingsrationale, it said company'sstandalone credit profile comesfrom it being the nodal agencyto implement Government’srenewable energy initiatives. PTI

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NEW DELHI: The commerceministry has given more timeto special economic zonedeveloper Navi Mumbai SEZ,which has planned eight pro-jects in Maharashtra. TheseSEZ projects are facing certainoperational and regulatoryissues in the state.

The Maharashtra govern-ment had sought more timefrom the Board of Approval(BoA), headed by CommerceSecretary Rita Teaotia, to resolveall the issues faced by NaviMumbai SEZ Ltd (NMSEZ).The BoA, highest decision mak-ing body on SEZ related issues,in its meeting on September 18‘approved extension’ of validityof formal approval for setting upeight SEZs by NMSEZ for fur-ther period of ‘three months,”according to the minutes of themeeting of BoA.

Earlier, the developer --Navi Mumbai SEZ Ltd -- hadintimated the board that it hasnot been able to operationalisethe proposed SEZs because theMaharashtra government did

not enact the state SEZ Act. Inabsence of the legislation, entre-preneurs were not willing to setup units in the zones.Development Commissioner ofNavi Mumbai SEZ had statedthat the state government, Cityand Industrial DevelopmentCorporation (CIDCO) andNMSEZ are in the process ofresolving operational and regu-latory issues.

CIDCO had said the matteris now referred to AdvocateGeneral of the state to seek hislegal advice on issues, which maytake some more time. The devel-oper has planned eight SEZs. Outof this, six zones got formalapproval from the BoA in 2007,while the remaining two wereapproved in 2009.

As the issue has been pend-ing since 2015, the board haddecided to give the Maharashtragovernment time till August 30to resolve the issues with thedeveloper.The eight zones arefrom IT/ITeS (4), multi-services(2), multi-product (1), gemsand jewellery (1) sectors. PTI

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British automotive marqueMorris Garages, which is in

the process of establishing fullscale operations in India, willwait for policy clarity on electricvehicles before finalising plansfor the segment in the country,according to a top company offi-cial. MG Motor India, a whol-ly-owned subsidiary of China'slargest automaker SAIC MotorCorp that owns the brand, aimsto launch its first product in 2019and follow it up ith another ayear later.

It has already taken overGeneral Motor's Halol plant inGujarat where is has earmarkedinvestment upwards of �2,000crore to refurbish it to have aninitial installed capacity of 85,000units. “On electric vehicles, I justwant to say one thing that wewill wait for more clarity, poli-cy and regulation to come,"MG Motor India President andManaging Director RajeevChaba told PTI. He wasresponding to query on thecompany's plans for EVs as itwas entering India at a timewhen the government has beenpushing for an all-electric fleetby 2030. "Speaking about capa-bility and intention... MG and

SAIC are more than capable tolaunch any kind of electric vehi-cle anywhere in the world,including India," Chaba said.

Reiterating the need forpolicy clarity on the front, headded, "But we need to wait fordetails to come then we need tostudy and then we need to havea plan." It is just not the electricvehicle. It is the whole ecosystemand infrastructural details,which the government has tocome out with clearly, Chabaadded.

He clarified that the first lotof products that the companyplans to introduce from 2019 isnot going to feature electricpowertrains. "The first productis not going to be electric for surebut yes, as and when detailscome we would be part of thatstory. We will participate in the

segment when the governmentclarifies," Chaba said.

When asked if the compa-ny is prepared for the new set ofregulations that are going to beushered in, Chaba said thatthey are "more than ready".

"We are ready...No problemfor us...This is the positive sideof being a late entrant as weknow what norms we have tocomply," he added. Safety standards, includingthat of occupants and pedes-trians, along with CAFE (cor-porate average fuel efficiency)norms are set to kick in begin-ning this month till 2020,when India is set to adopt BSVI emission norms. On Halolplant, Chaba said the compa-ny is trying to bring interna-tional suppliers to create jobson the ground.

MUMBAI: Budget carrierAirAsia India on Sundayrolled out a heavily dis-counted fares scheme, offer-ing customers starting tick-et prices as low as �1,299 fordomestic travel and �2,399for international flights fora limited period.

The bookings under theoffer commence from 12.01tonight and will remain ineffect till October 15, for thetravel between October 2and March 31, a release said.

As part of the year-end,AirAsia offers fares from aslow as �1299 for domestictravel on the AirAsia Indianetwork covering destina-tions such as Bengaluru,Ranchi, Hyderabad, Pune,Kolkata, Kochi, New Delhi,

among others, it said.Fares from as low as

�2,399 are available forinternational travel to KualaLumpur, Bal i , Bangkok,Krabi, Phuket, Melbourne,Syd n e y, S i ng ap ore ,Auckland as well as to morethan 120 other global des-t i n at i ons a c ro s s As i a ,Australia and New Zealand,the Middle East and theUS, the release said.

Besides, these promo-tional fares are applicable tothe newly-launched air ser-vices to Johor Bahru andBali from Kolkata, the air-line added. The offer isapplicable to the ticketsbooked through AirAsiaportal or its mobile app, therelease said. PTI

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IT major Tata ConsultancyServices (TCS) on Sunday

said a US court has more thanhalved the compensatory andpunitive damages demandedfrom the company to $420million in a lawsuit filed byEpic Systems Corporation.

The matter relates to a USgrand jury order that slappedtwo Tata group companies --Tata Consultancy Services andTata America InternationalCorp -- with a $940 millionfine in a trade secret lawsuitfiled against them by Epic inApril 2016.

TCS said an opinion andorder has been issued by theWestern District Court of

Wisconsin, USA in the suitf i led by Epic SystemsCorporation against the com-pany.

“Partially granting TCSmotion, the court significant-

ly reduced the compensatoryand punitive damages of USD940 million awarded by the Julyverdict in April 2016, to $420million,” TCS said in a regula-tory filing issued on Sunday.

The Mumbai-headquar-tered IT major said it hasreceived a legal advice that theorder and the reduced dam-ages awarded are not sup-ported by evidence presentedduring the trial and a strongappeal can be made to supe-rior court to fully set aside thejury verdict.

Epic had accused TCSand Tata AmericaInternational Corp, in a law-suit filed in October, 2014 inUS District Court in Madisonwhich was amended inJanuary and December 2015,of ‘brazenly stealing tradesecrets, confidential informa-tion, documents and data’belonging to Epic.

The Wisconsin court in

April 2016 had ruled the twoTata group companies to pay$240 million to Epic Systemsfor allegedly ripping off itssoftware, besides $700 millionas punitive damages.

“The company did notmisuse or derive any benefitfrom Epic's documents andplans to defend its positionvigorously before the trailjudge as well as in appeal,”TCS said in the filing.

TCS said the order willnot have any impact on sec-ond quarter financial resultsexpected on October 12. As anorganisation TCS remainscommitted to respecting andprotecting proprietary infor-mation as well as its reputa-tion,” it said.

NEW DELHI: The country’slargest car maker Maruti SuzukiIndia (MSI) on Sunday reported 9.3per cent increase in total sales at1,63,071 units in September. Thecompany had sold 1,49,143 units inthe same month last year. MSI'sdomestic sales stood at 1,51,400units, up 10.3 per cent from1,37,321 units in September 2016,the company said in a statement.

Sales of mini segment cars,including Alto and WagonR, wit-nessed a 13.3 per cent decline to38,479 units during the monthunder review from 44,395 units in

September last year, MSI said.The auto major further said

sales of the compact segmentcomprising Swift, Estilo, Dzire andBaleno jumped by 44.7 per centto 72,804 units as against 50,324units earlier. MSI said sales of mid-sized sedan Ciaz declined by 14.4per cent to 5,603 units during themonth. Sales of utility vehicles,including Gypsy, Grand Vitara,Ertiga, S-Cross and compactSUV Vitara Brezza, increased by8 per cent to 19,900 units inSeptember, from 18,423 units inthe same month of 2016. PTI

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MUMBAI: The ambitious ini-tiative to use social media ana-lytics to identify tax non-com-pliance is a $100-million projectfor the infotech arm of engi-neering giant Larsen & Toubro,according to a company official.

Since the note ban lastNovember, the government hasbeen putting in lots of efforts toplug the loopholes in the taxationsystem using advanced tech-nology and the attempt got anadded focus since the ReserveBank in June had admitted thatas much 99 per cent of thebanned banknotes had returned

to the system, negating the stat-ed intent of cancelling 87 per centof the notes in circulation.

“That is really advancedanalytics. Now, that is like a $100-million deal for us. It's not a smalldeal,” LT Infotech chief executiveand managing director SanjayJalona told PTI. Termingthe work awarded by the CentralBoard of Direct Taxes as a ‘highvolume digital deal’, he elaboratedthat the project involves creatinga ‘semantic web’ where webpages are structured and taggedin such a way that can be direct-ly read by the computers. “We are

creating a systematic web on aperson. If his wife is going to theSeychelles and putting photos onInstagram, we will capture it ..

That is really advancedanalytics,” Jalona said. It can benoted that in its efforts to shoreup tax collections in a countrywith among the lowest tax toGDP ratios among its peers, thegovernment has decided to usethe best that data analyticsoffers. A news report last monthhad said it was a multi-yearcontract where LTI would oper-ate on a build-own-operate-transfer basis. PTI

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NEW DELHI: Eight of the 10most valued Indian companiessaw a combined erosion of�82,653.59 crore in marketvaluation last week, withReliance Industries Ltd (RIL)taking the steepest hit. Exceptfor Oil and Natural GasCorporation (ONGC) andInfosys, the rest eight compa-nies, including TataConsultancy Services (TCS),HDFC Bank, ITC and HDFC,suffered losses in their marketcapitalisation (m-cap) for theweek ended Friday.

RIL’s market valuationplummeted �22,385.57 crore to�4,95,300.50 crore. The m-capof Hindustan Unilever Ltd(HUL) tumbled �13,939.14crore to �2,54,358.70 croreand that of TCS slid �12,509.87crore to �4,66,511.89 crore.ITC's valuation slumped�12,094.05 crore to�3,14,642.67 crore and that ofState Bank of India (SBI)tanked �7,035.12 crore to�2,19,038.28 crore. PTI

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NEW DELHI:Retailers need data-driven approach to steer repeat busi-ness as only 5 per cent C-suite levelretail executives think their cus-tomers are loyal, finds out an EY sur-vey. According to the findings of thesurvey of 130 C-suite retail execu-tives from North America, Europeand Asia, despite spending billionseach year on loyalty programmes,retailers are struggling to effective-ly use their data to differentiate cus-tomer experience and retain sales.

While a majority of retail lead-ers surveyed -- 87 per cent -- said aloyalty strategy is critical to theirbusiness success, just 27 per cent areconfident that their current loyaltyinitiatives have a positive effect. “Therelationship with the consumerhas become increasingly transac-tional. With consumer expectationschanging at a rapid pace in India,

retailers need to create loyalty todrive business,” said PinakiranjanMishra, Partner and NationalLeader, Retail and ConsumerProducts, EY. Companies in Indianeed to carefully monitor loyaltyprogramme metrics, retention rates,

analytics and targeted marketingcampaign outcomes to see the truevalue of such programmes andthereby, meet customer expectationsat every turn, Mishra said.

The survey found that just 19per cent of retailers are able to lever-age their data and systems tounderstand individual customerneeds; only 35 per cent can capturereal- time insights frequently and amere 30 per cent have the ability touse technology to personalise theoffer and experience for a customerevery time. “Legacy methods of cre-ating and maintaining brand loyal-ty are failing. Many retailers are cap-turing data, but struggling to gen-erate and activate insights in waysthat help them stay relevant,” saidPatrick Moriarty, EY ExecutiveDirector, Retail CustomerExperience and Loyalty. PTI

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WASHINGTON: India hassharply increased its exposure toUS Government securities withholdings worth $135.7 billion(bn) at the end of July, officialdata showed. NeighbouringChina continued to top thecharts with holding to the tuneof $1.166 trillion, followed byJapan with exposure worth$1.113 trillion. In recent months,India has increased its purchaseof American Government secu-rities and the country is thethird largest holder among theBRICS group after China andBrazil ($271.9 billion).

At the end of July, Russia heldsecurities worth $103.1 bn. As perthe latest data from the USTreasury Department, India’sholding of the securities touched

$135.7 bn as on July end -- also thehighest in a year. There has beena significant jump in the exposurecompared to June when it stoodat $130.3 bn.Since February thisyear, India’s holding of these secu-rities has been on the rise.

At the end of January, theexposure was just $113.7 bn.India is the 12th largest holderof US government securities justbehind Saudi Arabia whoseexposure stood at $142.5 bn atthe end of July. Other countriesin the top ten are Ireland ($310.8bn) at the third place, followedby Brazil, Cayman Islands($259.2 bn), Switzerland ($244.8bn), United Kingdom ($ 229.7bn), Luxembourg ($ 213 bn),Hong Kong ($199.1 bn) andTaiwan ($182.5 bn). PTI

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Sounding optimistic aboutthe economy bouncing

back in the coming months,former RBI Governor CRangarajan on Sunday saidthe economy needs to ‘pick upvery fast’ to be able to main-tain a healthy annual growth.The government needs to takequick measures to push thegrowth, he said.

“In some ways, one can saythe economy has bottomedout. Because, for two quartersit has remained at 5.7 percent. Therefore, the glitches of

GST may be over. Some of theeffects of demonetisationwould also be neutralised withthe new currency coming in.Therefore, it could pick up.But, it needs to pick up very

fast,” Rangarajan told PTI hereon the sidelines of an event.

The economy needs togrow at 7 per cent in threequarters even to have a growthrate of 6.5 per cent for the year

as a whole, the eminent econ-omist said. “Because, the rateof growth of 5.6 per cent in thefirst quarter, even to get 6.5 percent for the year as a whole, theeconomy needs to grow atseven per cent in the threequarters. Therefore, the growthrate has to pick up muchfaster,” he said.

The Government needs totake quick action for the econ-omy to pick up ‘really fast’,Rangarajan said. He suggestedrevival of ‘all viable stalledprojects’, recapitalisation ofbanks and removal of imped-iments in the way of higher

corporate investment to give apush to the economy.

“One immediate thing thatneeds to be done is to recapi-talise the banks as quickly aspossible to enable them to lendmore. For example, the disin-vestment amount can beincreased and the amount col-lected could be so to say rein-vested in the banking system,”Rangarajan said. TheGovernment should meetindustry bodies in small groupsto find out the impedimentsthat have come in the way ofhigher level of investment andtry to remove them, he said.

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Industry body Assocham hasurged the Government to

relax fiscal deficit targets andboost public expenditure as ameans to accelerate India'seconomic growth, whichslipped to 5.7 per cent in theJune quarter.

In a statement, the cham-ber said India Inc is looking upto the Government to take the‘out of ordinary’ measures, cit-ing “concerns over slowdownin growth due to the transientdisruptions in the economy fol-lowing GST implementationand the remaining over-hang ofdemonetisation”. Ahead of the

credit policy review on October4, the chamber has also writtento the Reserve Bank of Indiaand the Monetary Policy

Committee to cut the interestrates by at least by 25 basispoints, outlining the challengesfaced by the economy which

needs immediate measures forrevival of growth.

“At least 50 basis pointselbow room can be taken withregard to 3.2 per cent fiscaldeficit for the current year andthe next financial year.”

“The fiscal targets can betaken to 3.7 per cent, but witha strict oversight over quality ofexpenditure so that the extraresources are wisely spent inbuilding and reviving invest-ment in infrastructure sectorslike roads, power, railways,ports,” Assocham SecretaryGeneral DS Rawat said. He saidthe present economic scenariorequires immediate interven-tion of the Government so

that any disruptive impact ofthe Goods and Services Tax(GST) is minimised. In a letterto RBI Governor Urjit Patel,Assocham said the “economy isfacing multiple challenges asgrowth is slowing down andinvestment is not picking up.Consumers have cut down onspending and businesses havealso lost momentum”.

Stressing that the rupee isstill over-valued, the chambersaid the effective exchange rateof the rupee has appreciatedagainst India's trading partners,hitting the country's exports. Itsaid the RBI should target thereal effective exchange ratemore effectively.

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Homegrown handset makerLava plans to focus on sub-

�10,000 mobile phones with 6-7 models in its portfolio to cap-ture a bigger pie of the market inthis price segment. “We want tofocus and dominate in the sub�10,000 mobile phones segmentwith a portfolio of 6-7 models.Our strategy is to have limitednumber of products and drivevolumes. With our R&D centrein Shenzhen in China, we areworking hard to enhance cus-tomer experience,” LavaInternational Head SmartphonesDeepak Mahajan told PTI.

The company, which haspresence in 11 countries, offers8-9 feature phones and 6-7smartphones. Lava's currentmarket share, in the under�10,000 price segment, is around11 per cent. Mahajan expectsIndia to be become a hub for ITand handset makers and seesglobal brands emerging from thecountry. He also expects a bigopportunity for his company.

He gave example of howgiants such as Google andFacebook made it big from theUS, Sony in Japan, Samsung, LGand South Korea and Huaweiand Oppo in China. He expectssimilar opportunity to arise fromIndia. According toCounterpoint Research, under�10,000 mobile phones con-tribute 59 per cent of the totalsmartphone sales in the country.Lava has operations in 11 coun-tries such as India, Thailand,Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal,the UAE, Indonesia, Mexico,Myanmar, Pakistan and Egypt.The company reported a revenue

of �7,626 crore in the 2015-16fiscal and 23 per cent growth ascompared to the previous year.

When asked if the compa-ny is looking at foraying intonew markets overseas this year,Lava International Senior VPHead of Product Gaurav Nigamsaid: “We will continue to growand expand our business in newmarkets to make Lava productsand services available to morecustomers.” Lava, which has astrength of 15,000 employees,plans to increase its head-countto close to 1 lakh in the next 8-10 years, Nigam said.

The company said thatmajority of the increased work-force will be in the manufac-turing and field sales team. Onthe China R&D centre, Nigamsaid: “With our establishedR&D centre based out ofShenzhen, Lava is in the processof spearheading the R&D roadmap among Indian manufac-turers in the country.

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NEW DELHI: The world’s largestcoal miner, CIL, is lining up near-ly �8,500 crore as capital expen-diture and �6,500 crore for vari-ous other projects in the ongoingfiscal. The projects include asupercritical thermal power plant,solar energy and coal gasification.

“The capital expenditure for2017-18 has been set at �8,500crore," an official said. Further, theofficial said, the company is plan-ning to pump in �6,500 crore ina host of projects, including asupercritical thermal power plant,solar power, revival of fertiliserplants, coal gasification and coalbed methane (CBM) during2017-18.

“In light of the Paris Protocoland consequent changes in theworld energy scenario, Coal IndiaLtd (CIL) is looking forward todiversify its operations towardsrenewable energy like solar powerand clean energy sources like coalmine methane, CBM, coal to liq-uid and underground coal gasi-fication (UCG) following theGovernment’s directives,” the offi-cial added.

The overall capital expendi-ture of Coal India (CIL) during2016-17 stood at �7,700 crore asagainst �6,123 crore in the previ-ous year. “Capital expenditureincurred during 2016-17 is 99.16per cent of budget estimates asagainst (102.21 per cent) in 2015-16,” he added.

Earlier, the Government hadsaid the coal major had taken var-ious steps for full utilisation of capexin 2017-18. CIL, which accountsfor over 80 per cent of the domes-tic coal production, is eyeing anoutput of 1 billion tonnes by 2020.In 2017-18, the target of coal out-put has been pegged at 600 mt withan annualised growth of about 8.3per cent. PTI

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Shashi Shanker has taken overas the Chairman and

Managing Director of India'sbiggest oil and gas producerONGC. He replaces Dinesh KSarraf, who superannuated fromservice on Saturday. “Shanker isan industry veteran with over 30years of experience in diverseexplorationand production activ-ities,” a company statement said.

A Petroleum Engineer fromIndian School of Mines (ISM),Dhanbad, he also holds an MBAdegree with specialisation inFinance.The AppointmentsCommittee of the Cabinet (ACC)named Shanker, who till now wasDirector (Technical and FieldServices) at ONGC, as CMD tillhis superannuation, as against aninitial one-year term proposed bythe Oil Ministry.

The ministry had, in a depar-

ture from pastnorms andguidelines, earli-er this monthrecommended tothe ACC thatShanker beappointed for an

initial one-year term instead of theusual five-year period.Duringthis one-year term, his perfor-mance was proposed to bereviewed every quarter instead ofthe current practice of review afterone year, sources in the know ofthe development said. ACC, head-ed by Prime Minister NarendraModi, however, appointedShanker as Chairman andManaging Director of ONGC ‘tillthe date of his superannuation oruntil further orders, whichever isearlier’, an official order issued onSeptember 25 said. Shanker, 56,will have a three-and-a-half-yearterm until March 31, 2021.

“Under his leadership, ONGCdrilled the deepest deep- waterwell covering a water depth of3174 meters, a world record. Healso led the team to one of thefinest drilling performance in2016-17 when ONGC set a newrecord of drilling over 500 wells,”the ONGC statement said.

This is the first time in 23years that ONGC has crossed the500-well mark.During his tenure,ONGC has conceptualised anambitious company-wide projectcalled 'DISHA' for creation of apaperless office platform, theimplementation of which is nowunderway. He will also be theChairman of ONGC Videsh Ltd,the overseas arm of the state-explorer, as also its other sub-sidiaries like Mangalore Refineryand Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL),ONGC Tripura Power Company(OTPC) and ONGC Petro-additions Ltd (OPaL).

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AGhana-based Indian entre-preneur has won a prestigious

business award in the UK for hisefforts to bring innovative ITsolutions to Africa. BirendraSasmal, CEO of Subah, bagged theInternational Business Person ofthe Year at the Asian AchieversAwards in London last week, forturning the company into a thriv-ing IT, telecoms and manufac-turing success story with opera-tions across West Africa.

“We are successful because weare very focused on providinginnovative solutions to solve prob-lems that are being experienced notonly in Africa but across the world,”said Sasmal, who has his roots inWest Bengal. “For example, inGhana we are currently carrying outthe largest household data collec-tion and streets and building map-ping exercise in African history.

“The information gatheredfrom this three-year project willenable the Government to properlyplan the expansion of municipalservices including roads, schools,medical facilities etc – and applyproperty taxes consistently to max-imise its revenues,” he added.Headquartered in Accra, Ghana,the Subah Group employs around350 people with offices in Guinea,Sierra Leone, New York City andDubai. Under Sasmal's leadership,the group's revenues have increasedby over 3,000 per cent and it hasbeen named among one of Africa'sfastest growing tech firms. PTI

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The Government has firmed upa �1,000 crore plan to revive

Hindustan Paper Corporationthrough involvement of private sec-tor in certain activities and settle-ment of dues, official sources said.The go-ahead to the revival planwas given at a meeting of the inter-ministerial group chaired by theprime minister earlier this month,the sources said. The inter-minis-terial group has been tasked withundertaking turnaround ofHindustan Paper Corporation andgovernment think tank NITIAayog has been entrusted withoverseeing implementation of therevival plan. “A Cabinet note isbeing prepared for settlement of thecompany's liabilities to the tune of�1,000 crore, including payment ofsalaries to its 1,500 odd employees(barring Hindustan NewsprintLtd) and clearance of outstandingstatutory bank liabilities,” a seniorHeavy Industries Ministry officialtold PTI.

Employees of Nagaon andCachar paper mills belonging tocentral PSU Hindustan PaperCorp which comes under the

administrative control of theDepartment of Heavy Industries,have not paid salaries for 10months and a year, respectively.Due to shortage of working capi-tal, the production in CacharPaper Mill and Nagaon Paper Millhas been suspended since October2015 and March 2017, respective-ly. “There was a brainstormingmeeting chaired by the prime min-ister wherein it was decided thatwhile retaining the public sectorcharacter of Hindustan PaperCorporation, contracts will begiven to private players for carry-ing out procurement and duediligence activities,” the officialsaid. While roping in private play-

ers is a practice commonly fol-lowed by state-run PSUs in the ser-vices sector, it is a ‘paradigm shift’for companies operating in themanufacturing sector, the officialadded.

“We are roping in a transac-tion advisor to chalk out the termsof the Expression of Interest and forfloating the Request for Proposal,”another official said, adding that thethe successful private bidders willbe given an assurance and a ‘cleanslate’ after settlement of all the lia-bilities of the sick Kolkata-head-quartered Hindustan PaperCorporation. HPC group has fourpaper mills, two of which are unitsand two are subsidiary companies.

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NEW DELHI: IndiaFirst LifeInsurance is eyeing to beamong the top 10 insurers interms of retail business pre-mium over the next few yearsas it is the fastest growingcompany in the sector, a com-pany official said.

“In terms of individual newbusiness annual premiumequivalent (APE) we are grow-ing at 120 per cent year-on-year.We were the fastest growing lifeinsurance company last yearand continue to be the fastestgrowing insurer so far thisyear,” IndiaFirst Life InsuranceDirector-Sales & MarketingRushabh Gandhi said.

The industry is growing at 26per cent and IndiaFirst is confi-dent of delivering a better thanindustry growth over the nextcouple of years, he said. “Interms of market ranking in indi-vidual APE, we are ranked 12thamongst the private insurers andaspire to break into the top 10over the next few years,” Gandhitold PTI in an interaction. PTI

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Wind power tariff maydrop marginally to �3.2

per unit in the second auctionfor 1 GW capacities scheduledon Wednesday as against �3.46per unit discovered in thefirst competitive bidding heldearlier this year, an industrysource said.

“There will not be free fallof tariff in case of wind ener-gy in the second auctionscheduled on October 4, 2017as happened in case of solarpower for which tariff is alsobottomed out. The windpower rates in the auctionmay not drop beyond �3.2 perunit,” the source said.

Earlier this year, windpower tariff dropped to all-time low of �3.46 per unit inthe auction of 1 GW capacitiesconducted by Solar EnergyCorporation of India (SECI).Solar power tariff rangedbetween �2.65-3.36 in an auc-

tion conducted by GujaratUrja Vikas Nigam (GUVNL)last month for 500 megawatt(MW) capacities. This wasslightly up from all-time lowrate of � 2.44 per unit discov-ered earlier this year.

“Wind power players arelikely to be aggressive in thesecond wind auction keepingin mind the viability of theproject. The tariff cannot go belower than �3.2 per unit evenafter factoring in more com-petitive cost of equipment andcost of borrowing.”

The SECI is also conduct-ing the second auction foranother 1GW capacities. Thesecond auction assumes sig-nificance because India has setan ambitious target of having60,000 MW of wind powercapacity by 2022. India hasinstalled wind power capacityof 32.5 GW as per latest reportfor the month of August by theCentral Electricity Authority.

The country needs to add

5-6 GW wind capacity everyyear to meet the target.Lastmonth, the Government haddecided to postpone the sec-ond wind power auction for 1GW capacities to October 4 inview of some issues abouttransmission connectivitybetween states.

Certain bidders and devel-opers have been grapplingwith the issue of inter-statetransmission connectivity.According to the tender, one ofthe conditions in the bid is tohave connectivity with Inter-State Transmission System(ISTS). The responsibility toget connectivity is with thebidders. The CERC hasreserved its order on the peti-tion, after hearing all theinputs pertaining to the reliefsought.The renewable energyplayers had sought immediaterelief pertaining to connectiv-ity for successful bidders forfirst wind power auction con-duced earlier this year.

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Beirut: Syria’s war killed atleast 3,000 people including955 civilians in September,the deadliest month of theconflict this year, the SyrianObservatory for HumanRights monitor said onSunday.

Hundreds of thousands ofSyrians have been killed andmillions displaced since thewar erupted in 2011 with thebrutal repression of anti-gov-ernment protests.

It has since spiralled intoa complex conflict involvingworld powers, with Russia-backed regime forces and aUS- supported alliance sepa-rately battling the Islamic Statejihadist group in the country.

The 955 civilians killed inSeptember included 207 chil-dren, said the Britain-basedObservatory, which relies on awide network of sources insideSyria for its information.

“More than 70 per cent ofthe civilians were killed inregime and Russian air strikes,

or in air raids of the interna-tional coalition” fighting IS,the monitor’s head RamiAbdel Rahman said.

Backed by Russian airstrikes, the forces of Syria’sPresident Bashar al-Assad arepressing a battle to retake IS-controlled areas in the easternprovince of Deir Ezzor.

A US-led internationalcoalition has been providingair support to a Kurdish-Araballiance, the SyrianDemocratic Forces, also fight-ing the jihadists in their for-mer northern bastion of Raqacity and in Deir Ezzor. Thenumber of people killed inSeptember was higherbecause

of increased fighting and“intensified air raids of theinternational coalition andRussia against jihadist bastionsin the north and east of Syria,but also due to increasedRussian and regime strikeson rebel-held areas,” AbdelRahman said.

Russian and regime war-

planes have in the past twoweeks increased their strikes onthe northwestern province ofIdlib, which is largely con-trolled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria affiliate.

Eight children wereamong at least 34 civilianskilled in strikes overnight

Friday-Saturday on the townof Armanaz in Idlib, theObservatory said.

HTS is not party to a dealbrokered by Russia, Turkeyand Iran for a safe zone in theprovince, one of four suchzones nationwide. TheObservatory said theSeptember toll also included790 regime troops and loyalists,738 jihadists from IS and HTS,and 550 rebels and SDF mem-bers.

Syria’s conflict has killedmore than 330,000 people since2011.

Early today, IS retook thetown of Al-Qaryatain in thecentral province of Homs, pre-viously a symbol of religiouscoexistence. Governmenttroops have now surroundedAl-Qaryatain, where severalChristian families are believedto be living, the Observatorysaid. Regime forces recapturedAl-Qaryatain in April 2016after eight months of jihadistcontrol. AFP

Barcelona: Spanish riot policefired rubber bullets and forcedtheir way into activist-heldpolling stations in Catalonia onSunday as thousands floodedthe streets to vote in an inde-pendence referendum bannedby Madrid.

“Spanish democracy facesits greatest challenge,” head-lined top-selling El Pais dailyjust hours before police movedin en masse to seal off pollingstations and seize ballot boxes,sparking scuffles as they soughtto block the vote.

At least 38 people wereinjured in the clashes, alongwith another 11 policemen,officials said. More than 5.3million people have been calledupon to have their say onindependence from Spain inthe wealthy northeasternregion which has its own dis-tinct language and culture.

The referendum poses thequestion: “Do you wantCatalonia to become anIndependent State in the formof a republic?”

But it has been ruledunconstitutional by the CentralGovernment in Madrid and thecourts, with judicial officialsordering police to seize ballotpapers, detain key organisersand shut down websites pro-moting the vote.

Thousands of Spanishpolice fanned out across theregion on Sunday, forcing theirway into polling stations.

In central Barcelona, riotpolice charged at demonstra-tors who were sitting on theground blocking their wayafter they raided a polling sta-tion at a school, witnesses said.

They also said police hadfired rubber bullets, with oneman showing AFP a leg injuryhe suffered.

The crackdown drew asharp rebuke from Catalanleaders.

“The unjustified use ofviolence, which is both irra-tional and irresponsible, bythe Spanish State will not stopthe will of the Catalan people,”Catalan leader CarlesPuigdemont said. The police,he said, had used “batons, rub-ber bullets and indiscriminateforce” against people demon-strating “peacefully”.

“The head of a cowardlyGovernment has flooded ourcity with police,” BarcelonaMayor Ada Colau wrote onTwitter, adding: “Barcelona cityof peace, we are not afraid” --a slogan coined after August’sjihadist rampage that killed 16people.

Riot police also stormed apolling station near Girona,

smashing the glass doors of thesports centre wherePuigdemont was due to vote,then cutting a chain to forcetheir way in.

But the regionalGovernment said Puigdemonthad managed to vote anyway,tweeting pictures of him cast-ing his ballot in Cornella delTerri, 10 kilometres away.

The drama unfolded aftera night of tension in whichthousands of people, both ner-vous and excited, had gatheredoutside polling stations beforedawn, joining those who hadspent the night camping insideto ensure they would be openon the day.

Under a sea of umbrellasoutside a school in Barcelona,a mixed crowd of people gath-ered to vote, among themelderly people in wheelchairs,families with buggies and par-ents clutching toddlers by thehand. With no police in sight,they were able to cast their bal-

lots, prompting scenes of jubi-lation.

“I’ve voted! I’ve voted,” oneman shouted.

“That’s the great hope, tobe able to vote freely like thisdespite the problems we’vefaced, I’m very happy. I can diepeacefully,” added Jose MasRibas, 79.

Elsewhere in Barcelona,rows of police vans lined thestreets, their blue lights flash-ing as officers in riot gear, somecarrying heavy bolt cutters,walked past crowds massedoutside another polling station.

“Votarem, votarem!” —Catalan for “We will vote!” —they chanted, many with theirhands in the air. AlthoughCatalans are divided over inde-pendence, most want to voteon the matter in legal, bindingplebiscite.

The Spanish Government’srepresentative in Cataloniaplaced the blame for the chaoson the regional leadership.

“Puigdemont and his teamare solely responsible for allthat has happened today andfor all that can happen if theydo not put an end to thisfarce,” Enric Millo told a newsconference.

“The sole objective oftoday’s operation has been toensure that this illegal refer-endum does not take place andthe Spanish and Catalan peo-ple can continue to live inpeace and liberty as they havethese past 40 years.”

Pro-separatist lawmakersin Catalonia have pushed foran independence referendumsince September 2015 whenthey won a narrow majority of72 seats in the region’s parlia-ment.

Although Cataloniaalready has significant controlover education, healthcare andwelfare, the region says it paysmore in taxes than it receivesin investments and transfersfrom Madrid. AFP

Marseille: A man armed witha knife killed two people at themain train station in theMediterranean port city ofMarseille on Sunday beforebeing shot by soldierspatrolling there, local officialssaid.

“Two victims have beenstabbed to death,” regionalpolice chief Olivier de Mazierestold AFP, referring to the attackwhich occurred at 1:45 pm(local time).

Local prosecutor XavierTarabeux said the knifemanhad been shot by soldiers,while the Marseille policeurged people in the city toavoid the area around Saint-Charles station.

The deaths came withFrance still on high alert fol-lowing a string of terror attackswhich began in January 2015

when jihadist gunmen stormedthe offices of the satirical week-ly Charlie Hebdo, killing 12.

The Government has sincelaunched Operation Sentinelle,deploying about 7,000 troopsacross the country to guardhigh-risk areas such as trans-port hubs, tourist sites and reli-gious buildings.

The knifeman is believedto have shouted “Allahu Akbar”(God is Greatest) beforeassaulting passers-by, a sourceclose to the investigation toldAFP on condition of anonymi-ty.

The attacks since 2015 haveleft 239 people dead, accordingto an AFP count beforeSunday’s incident.

French Interior MinisterGerard Collomb posted onTwitter that he would travel toMarseille immediately. AFP

Montreal: Canadian policearrested a man early on Sundaysuspected of stabbing an offi-cer and injuring four pedestri-ans in a series of violent inci-dents being investigated as an“act of terrorism.”

The crime spree began lastevening outside a football sta-dium in the city of Edmontonand ended hours later with ahigh speed chase in which thedriver of a rented truck plowedinto pedestrians, police said.“Currently, we believe this is anindividual who acted alone,although the investigation is inits early stages,” Edmontonpolice chief Rod Knecht said.

Based on the actions andthe evidence at the scene, theincidents were being investi-gated as “acts of terrorism,”police said in a statement.

At approximately, 8:15 pma man in a speeding whiteChevy Malibu crashed throughpolice barricades outside anEdmonton stadium where aCanadian Football Leaguegame was being played. The carstruck a police officer standingin front of his patrol car, “send-ing him flying 15-feet throughthe air.”

“A male, believed to be 30years of age, then jumped out

of his vehicle and beganviciously stabbing the officerwith a knife, as a struggleensued,” the police statementsaid.

The suspect then fled on

foot and the police officer wasrushed to hospital.

Just before midnight, policepulled over a rental U-Haultruck and noticed that thename on the driver’s licencewas similar to that of the whiteMalibu.

The man in the truck thentook off toward downtownEdmonton, according to thepolice account.

“During the chase, the U-Haul truck deliberatelyattempted to hit pedestrians incrosswalks and alleys,” it said.“Currently, it is believed fourpedestrians were struck by thetruck and transported to hos-pital with multiple injuries,” itsaid.

The chase ended when thetruck flipped over, and thedriver was arrested. Policedescribed him as a 30-year-oldfrom Edmonton. AFP

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For “independistas,” thefight for freedom has been

a three-century project, onethat can be traced back to1714, when Philip V of Spaincaptured Barcelona. (Eventoday, pro-independenceCatalonians insult Spanishloyalists by calling them “boti-flers,” or allies of Philip V.)

Since then, Cataloniannationalists have consistentlypursued some degree ofautonomy from Spain. By1932, the region’s leaders haddeclared a Catalan Republic,and the Spanish governmentagreed on a state of autonomy.

But when FranciscoFranco came to power in1939, those gains were lost.Franco systematicallyrepressed all efforts towardCatalan nationalism. Underhis dictatorship, the New YorkTimes writes, “theGovernment tried to stampout all Catalan institutions and

the language, and thousandsof people were executed inpurges. Virtually no Catalanfamily emerged from thatperiod unscarred.”

After Franco died, thefight for independence start-ed again in earnest. In 2006,Spain granted Catalonia“nation” status and taxationpower. But Spain’sConstitutional Court struckdown this ruling in 2010, argu-ing that while Catalans were a“nationality,” Catalonia was nota “nation.” More than 1 millionCatalonians protested the find-ing, to no avail. Agencies

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Rome: Italy has ordered NorthKorea’s incoming new ambas-sador to leave the country in aprotest over Kim Jong-Un’s mis-sile launches and nuclear tests.

Foreign Minister AngelinoAlfano announced the move inan interview with Italian dailyLa Repubblica, published onSunday. “We have taken thefirm decision to interrupt theaccreditation procedure. Theambassador will have to leavethe country,” Alfano said.

“We want to make

Pyongyang understand thatisolation is inevitable if it doesnot change course.” Alfanostressed, however, that Italy wasnot breaking off diplomaticrelations, “because it can alwaysbe useful to maintain a chan-nel of communications.”

North Korea nominatedlong-serving Foreign Ministryofficial Mun Jong-Nam as itsnew ambassador to Rome inJuly, filling a post that had beenvacant for over a year, accord-ing to South Korean reports.The diplomat had startedworking in Rome but not com-pleted his registration with theItalian authorities.

The Italian move came asthe international communityseeks to ratchet up pressure onKim’s regime to give up itsnuclear weapons, with Chinanotably agreeing to limit oilexports to and textile imports toits neighbour from today. AFP

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Beirut: The leader of theLebanese militant groupHezbollah has marked theShiite religious holiday ofAshoura with a speech warn-ing Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu againstpushing the region into war.

Hassan Nasrallah said in atelevised speech on Sundaythat Netanyahu is workingwith US President DonaldTrump’s administration toundermine the Iran nucleardeal and start a regional war. He

warned Israel not to underes-timate Hezbollah’s capabilities.

Shiites across the region aremarking the holiday withprayers and marches and, insome cities, self-flagellation.

Ashoura commemoratesthe day the ProphetMuhammad’s grandson,Hussein, was killed by a rivalMuslim faction in Karbala,present day Iraq, in 680 A.D.Hussein and his descendantsare seen by Shiites as the right-ful heirs to the prophet. AP

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Ajury led by renowned nov-elists Ritu Menon unveiled

the shortlist of five novels for$25,000 DSC South AsianLiterature, 2017 award atLondon School of Economics& Political Science in Londonlast week. The other membersof the jury were Senath WalterPerera, Steven Bernstein,Valentine Cunningham andYasmin Alibhai-Brown.

The jury had earlierannounced a long list of 13novels at the Oxford Bookstorein New Delhi in August 2017.

The shortlist represents adiverse mix of established writ-ers and young novelists fastmaking their mark in the SouthAsian literary landscape. Theshortlisted authors hail fromdifferent backgrounds and geo-graphies. It includes threeIndian writers, of which two arebased outside of the SouthAsian region, one Sri Lankanwriter and one American writerbased in India.

The five shortlisted entriescontending for the DSC Prizefor South Asian Literature 2017are: Anjali Joseph: The Living(Fourth Estate, HarperCollins,

UK); Anuk Arudpragasam:The Story of a Brief Marriage(Granta Books, UK); AravindAdiga: Selection Day (FourthEstate, HarperCollins, India);Karan Mahajan: TheAssociation of Small Bombs(Chatto & Windus, UK &Viking, USA & Fourth Estate,HarperCollins, India); StephenAlter: In the Jungles of theNight (Aleph Book Company,India)

Speaking on the occasion,Ritu Menon, Chair of the jury,said , "After deliberating on themany exceptional qualities ofthe novels selected, and con-

sidering the disparities in ourbackgrounds, the jury wasunanimous in its decision onthe five shortlisted titles. Allfive display a remarkable skillin animating current universalpreoccupations in unconven-tional idioms, and from a dis-tinctively South Asian per-

spective." The jury will now deliber-

ate on the shortlist over thenext month and a half, and thewinner of The DSC Prize forSouth Asian Literature 2017will be announced at a specialAward Ceremony at the DhakaLiterary Festival in Bangladeshon November 18th, 2017.

Commenting on the short-list, Surina Narula, co-founderof the DSC Prize said, "Mycommendations to the jurypanel for coming up withsuch a brilliant shortlist; itmust have been a challengingtask to bring down the already

impressive set of 13 longlist-ed novels down to the short-list of 5 which represent thevery best of South Asian fic-tion writing. The depth, cre-ativity and unique narrative ofeach novel is indeed bothimpressive and inspirationalin turn. My congratulations toeach one of the shortlistedauthors and I wish them thevery best for the final awardceremony in Dhaka inNovember."

The announcement waspreceded by a special paneldiscussion on "Literature &Film" which was moderated

by Steven Bernstein who wasin conversation with GurinderChadha, Michael Wood andKunal Basu.

The DSC Prize for SouthAsian Literature prides itselfon a thorough and transparentjudging process and is mod-eled on global best practices.The 5 member internationaljury panel, which comprisesliterary luminaries drawn fromdiverse geographies and exper-tise, is solely responsible fordeciding and arriving at thelonglist, the shortlist and theultimate winner and theiradjudication is final.

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�()(�)��,(��!��+�(�7�� !��+��The Taiwanese technology major ASUS launched its flag-

ship mainstream notebook VivoBook S15 at �59,990 in India.The phone is powered by 8th Gen Intel Core-i7 processor.ASUS VivoBook S15 features NVIDIA MX150 graphics andcomes with 15.6-inch, Full-HD ‘NanoEdge' display with a7.8mm thin bezel. “Today, the consumers want their lap-

top to be stylish, slim,ultra-portable and yeta powerful performerfor their daily tasks.We believe that it willredefine the everydaylaptop category inIndia,” said PeterChang, RegionalHead, ASUS. The

laptop comes with16GB DDR4memory and

1TB hard disk drive for storage. It is also equipped with128GB solid-state drive (SSD) to reduce boot-up and app-loading time. The device also has an integrated fingerprintsensor for security features which allows one-touch, pass-word-free login with Windows Hello. The phone claims tooffer up to eight hours of battery life with fast-charge tech-nology and is equipped with an ergonomic backlit keyboard.

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The US-based technology company GoPro unveiledHERO6 Black – the most powerful GoPro yet – that comeswith custom-designed GP1 processor and shoots videos in4K60 and 1080p240 quality. It is available on GoPro.com andat select retailers for �45,000. The company claimed that theHERO6 Black has the most advanced video stabilisation everachieved in a GoPro. “HERO6's next-level image quality andthree times faster QuikStories performance makes it a pow-erful storytelling extension of your smartphone. It's neverbeen easier to live it, and then share it using a GoPro,” saidNicholas Woodman, GoPro’s founder and CEO. HERO6Black and the GoPro App automatically transform the

footage into videos with QuikStory feature that can be sharedon social media platforms with ease. The camera has ‘TouchZoom’ feature and three times faster offload speeds via 5GHzWi-Fi. It is waterproof up to 10 metres and is compatiblewith Karma and existing GoPro mounts. Wi-Fi and blue-tooth-enabled this phone has voice control feature in 10 lan-guages. GoPro Fusion is currently available for pre-order onGoPro.com for US, Canada, Britain and the European Unionfor $699.99 and it will start shipping in November.

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LG Electronics India launched new K7i smartphone forIndian consumers that features an innovative Mosquito Awaytechnology that, once activated, keeps mosquitoes at bay. Thedevice is priced at �7,990. Keeping in consideration the sea-son's harmful mosquito-borne diseases and consumers' heavy

spends on mosquito-repellent products, thecompany has set abenchmark for ensur-ing the health of theIndian consumerswith this latest innova-tion, said LGElectronics India. Thesmartphone with 5-inch On-Cell displayalso sports 8MP rearcamera and 5MP self-ie camera. It hasQuad-Core proces-

sor with 2GB RAMand 16GB eMMCstorage. Theypromised that theconsumers will

face no distur-bance or harmwith this break-through technol-

ogy.K'"/�

US Senator Larry Pressler has decided to final-ly pen a book on what he is best known for

— the Pressler Amendment of 1985. TheNeighbours in Arms: An American Senator’sQuest for Disarmament in a Nuclear Subcontinent,was written for a reason. He says, “I penned thisbook, as I am an old man, 75 years now and Iwanted to make one last herald – to alert peopleto the problems of nuclear proliferation (the spreadof nuclear weapons) and that Pakistan is a threatto the US’s security.”

The Pressler Amendment was significant asaid and military sales to Pakistan were blocked.It was signed by then US President George HerbertWalker Bush. It briefly halted the spread of nuclearweapons in the 90s. The man is also famous forresisting a bribe in an FBI sting operation in thelate 1970s.

The book uncovers the journey of theSenator’s public life and the US foreign policy land-scape. It digs deep into what exactly happenedwhen the Pressler Amendment was active, its sub-sequent demise and the impact on the US’ aidassistance to Pakistan. There are a series of char-acters in it – Presidents, Prime Ministers,Senators and generals in the US, India andPakistan. It unveils the powerful military-indus-trial complex for which the author has coinedthe term Octopus. It also talks about how it hasa hold on crucial aspects of the American pres-ence in India.

The book elaborates upon the formation ofthe US foreign policy in the subcontinent start-ing from 1974 till the present time. It ends withan advise on a new US–India alliance.

Talking about the book, Pressler said, “I wroteit to alert people about the need to keep workingto try to get a regime in Pakistan that is moreaccountable when the nuclear weapons are con-cerned. I am told that there are as many as 407centres for nuclear weapons, that is like having 407countries with nuclear weapons. That’s a very seri-ous problem, we have to keep working on this.”

Pressler is of the belief that there is a clear shiftin the White House’s Pakistan policy under DonaldTrump and that the chances of the non-NATO allybeing declared a sponsor of terror can not be dis-missed. He said if Pakistan will not act on terror-ism, the Trump administration might declare it

‘a terror state’. He is hopeful that the new administration in

Washington is working with the Narendra Modiadministration towards it. “There is no silver bul-let solution, this is the toughest foreign policy prob-lem in the world. We have to continue workingin this direction,” added Pressler.

He also made an important point, “The focusof Indo-US bilateral partnership should be on agri-culture, technology and healthcare.”

India and the US signed the nuclear cooper-ation agreement in October 2008. He said that theIndo-US Nuclear Agreement is more of anArms Deal. “I would love to see the peaceful useof nuclear energy, but I am worried that so far it(the nuclear agreement) has mostly been an armsdeal. Much of the new agreement seems to be alarge arms sale to Indians,” said Pressler.

The walk through Khan Marketwill be led Baldev sir,” piped inone voice. Seemed like an ordi-

nary walk which told you about theculture, history and unknown detailsabout the area? Right? But the twistin the tale was that Gulati, who ledthe walk was visually impaired. Andthis was the challenge. The main aimof the walk was to provide a sense ofdifficulties visually impaired peoplego through in their everyday life andto also further enhance our hearing,listening and smelling sensory organs.I was accompanied by few more peo-ple for the blind-folded walk at theKhan Market.

After two successful walks, DelhiWalk Festival will be coming up withits third edition which is beingorganised by Delhi, I love You andSALT XP from November 2 to 12.The 170 walks within 11 days will beled by renowned walk experts (organ-isations and individuals), with an aimto generate curiosity for the lesserknown, appreciation for the unfamil-iar, nostalgia for the outgoing andnew possibilities for the future Delhi.The one I attended was a preview

which gave me a taste of what thewalks would be like.

As soon as the blind fold was puton, I recall feeling scared and a feel-ing of irritation persisted around theeyes. I constantly kept adjusting theblindfold throughout the walk. Whilesome people briefed us about thewalk and what we could expect dur-ing it, others gave us the instructionson how to use the foldable stick tonavigate. Each of us was given a guideto ensure we don’t bump into people,trees or be the cause of an accident.

For me, the walk was exception-al because I’ve never been to KhanMarket so I was clueless about whereI was heading to. Starting from theKhan Market metro station gatenumber 4 we all began our walk toSubramaniam Bharti Marg. Duringthese 20 minutes I realised how blanka person can become when you can’tsee which adds to the loss of sense ofdirection. While I was being guidedthrough the path, I identified a cafebecause of the aroma of coffee, juiceshop and also scented candle shops.“Mansi, move towards your right, youare hitting a BMW,” said my guideand we both ended up laughing.

Most of the time he allowed meto navigate the area by myself, so that

I could experience how tough andrisky it is for a visually impaired per-son to conduct, what appears routineto us. Soon I completed the first phaseof the challenge.

Gulati, is an optimistic and funny45-year-old man who is full of life andzest. While for others, the stick wasnot much of a help as it just gave avague idea about the obstacles in andaround, but for him, the stick wasvery useful. Since all of us were mov-ing, keeping an imaginative straightline in our heads, but in reality, it wasunfortunately, completely incorrect.Gulati said this was nothing surpris-

ing. He pointed out, “It is difficult fora blind person to maintain a straightline. Until graduation, I didn’t use thestick but then I became awfullydependent on others, which made meuse the stick to make myself mobile.”For him, walking through unfamil-iar places or a road is a scaryprospect. “I usually end up hurtingmy knees either because of the pillaror the pit-hole. This is why we slowdown our pace in a new place,” saidGulati. He shared that there aresome things which have made his lifea little easier. He uses a voice-over touse his phone and the narrow tactile

yellow line on the metro stations,which is to facilitate the movementof visually impaired people.

But being blindfolded was justthe first part of the walk. The secondphase involved role reversal — thereporters took on the role of guidesand the PR persons were blind-fold-ed. I felt this was the tougher part ofthe challenge. Helping a person whois dependent on you to navigatemeans that a constant fear racesthrough your head that the personcan go off-track. Reversing the rolemade me witness the reactions ofpeople around. While some wereastonished, others sympathised withthe blind folded people and gave wayalong the roads and lanes. Thismade me remember why Gulatisaid, “I’ve more important things inlife to focus and ponder upon ratherthan giving heed to useless com-ments.”

We successfully ended the secondphase too. Gulati was keen to knowabout our experience. “I would liketo take a pledge that whenever I’ll seeany person with any sort of impair-ment I would definitely go and beuseful in any way I could be to themnot because I pity but to empowerthem,” shared one of the reporters.

For me, the blind fold was the eye opener.

Fashion designer ManishArora collaborated with the

high-end jewellery line from theHouse of Tatas’ latest collectionMusee Du Luxe, for his tenthanniversary presentation at ParisFashion Week. The partnershipwas born out of an intrinsic syn-ergy in design philosophy andthe contemporary, internation-al outlook shared by both

brands.The ramp at Paris Fashion

Week witnessed a glamorousedge with jewellery collection —Musee Du Luxe – Museum ofLuxury, inspired by the cities’ sub-lime architecture, rich cultureand inherent joie de vivre.Engraved padlock on Pont desArts Bridge inspired a statementlayered necklace set, embellished

with brilliant cut diamonds set onthree gold tubes.

The selection at Manish’sshow also included pieces fromother classic collections such asKrsna, Banaras, Awadh, Jewels ofthe Crown, Egypt, Celestium andFire.

A rich palette of psychedeliccolours and kitsch motifs in gar-ments that combine traditionalIndian crafts like embroidery,appliqué and beading withWestern silhouettes carried adefinitive imprint of Manish’sdistinctive design.

Combine the unique concoc-tion of hues that are Arora’s trade-mark with Zoya’s outstandingcraftsmanship and the result was aneccentric amalgamation of high-fashion and understated luxury.

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Paying attention is some-thing that most of us have

found to be a struggling taskfrom day one, isn’t it? No mat-ter how hard we try, still themind wanders here and there.There is no doubt in it thatattention is one of the mostimportant element neededfor imbibing good qualities,lack of which results in severeloss of values. It’s a psycholog-ical truth that our mind canattend to one thing at a time,therefore in order to direct theattention of mind to a highersource of energy and concen-trate upon it, one has toremove one’s attention fromother things. Attention is thusa selective act of mind, where-in it is natural for the mind toselect the objects in which itis interested. To put it in sim-ple words, attention is noth-ing but interest in action andinterest is mainly the attentionin latent form. To understandit better, let us take an exam-ple of a house wife who is aloyal viewer of an afternoonprime time show on televi-sion. As a regular viewer shedoesn’t miss a single episode,however, one fine day sheexperiences power failure dueto which she misses her reg-ular show on TV. Now, inthose moments of power fail-ure, her mind is constantlyglued to the show and its sto-ryline. While there is nopower, she tries calling herfriends to get the updates ofher favourite show. Due to thisdeep interest, her attentionlevel is totally committed forthose 30 minutes to the showand nothing else. However,when the show gets over, herinterest automatically shifts toother household chores.

Similarly the men in thehouse who are interested inpolitics and current affairs,would watch news related topolitics, read political newsand pay attention to pollresults. After all this is over,their interest too shifts auto-matically to other family mat-ters. Thus, interest is the men-tal cause of attention thatmaintains and sustains it. Itgives us the tendency and asuitable mental structurewhich provides sufficientmotivating power to concen-trate on a particular subject oran object. The object or anindividual, in which we areinterested, works as a point ofattraction in our life and thisattraction further developsthrough our emotionstowards it. It should therefore,be borne in mind that if ourinterest shifts from the high-er source of energy who weknow as the Supreme one, tomundane things of the mor-tal world, then our attentionwould also shift. So, it may,most probably, due to the lackof interest or diminishing ofmotivation that we lose con-tinuity in our spiritualprogress. However, if ourinterest has been sufficientlyaroused, then there is nocause for lagging behind inour efforts to attain a higherstage of attention to progressspiritually in life. So, let usmake an effort to sustain ade-quate interest in order todevelop proper attention inthe Supreme, because life istoo short to miss the magicbus for new age.

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A34-feet tall black granite deityof Sri Sankarshan will beinstalled in Braj bhoomi in

Govardhan after Vijay Dashmi onOctober 3. This larger than life deityof Lord Sankarshan has invoked aspontaneous festival in the holy cityof Mathura.

The deity’s statue, was carved inTirupati by 22 sculptors from a sin-gle 40 ton granite block and wasbrought to Govardhan by road whilecovering a distance of over 2000 km.As per the scriptures, LordSankarshan, who is also known asBalaram, is considered to be “the pro-tector of Braj Bhoomi.” The deity,wrapped in a yellow cloth, will wit-ness its Prana Pratishtha ceremony(ceremony by which an idol is con-secrated in a Hindu temple, fol-lowed by the recital of hymns andmantras inviting the deity to be theresident guest. This is followedby the idol’s eye being openedfor the first time). The ceremo-ny is eagerly awaited bythe global commu-nity of Vaishnavas.The main event ison SharadPoornima whichfalls on October 5when His HolinessSri ChinnajeeyarSwamiji performs thePran Prathishthaand Abhishek atGovardhan.

A podium hasbeen built so thatdevotees can climband perform KailashAbhishek with milk,yoghurt and honey.

Sankarshan kundis amongst the mostimportant heritagesites of Braj located onthe Govardhan

Parikrama Marg. Thiskund is named after theelder brother of LordKrishna, known asSankarshan who is alsoknown as Baldauji(Balaram) or Dauji.

As per the mythology,a deity of Sankarshan wasfound in the Kund 5000 yearsago by Sri Vajranabh, thegreat grandson of LordKrishna, and it was installedin Anyor village. This deityfinds mention in theancient Vedic literatures

including Garg Samhita. Itis believed that a holy dip inthe Kund relieves one of allthe past sins which werecommitted in the mater-ial world.

Its further claimed

that 30,000 yojanas beneath the PatalLoka is Ananta Loka where LordSankarshan resides as Anant Shesha.Lord Sankarshan is believed to have1,000 hoods, on one of which rests theentire universe.

It is said that in the 16th century

Raja Man Singh, the army chief ofEmperor Akbar, had come to seekblessings of Sri Kumbhan Das in thepremise of the kunda. This sacredkunda is mentioned in ancient scrip-tures but was in a pitiable condition dueto accumulated squalor and filth overa long period of time.

In 2011, the residents of Anyor vil-lage of Govardhan requested The BrajFoundation to revive this sacred waterbody. The foundation, which isengaged in restoring the various

Leela Sthalis in Braj commenced therenovation of this kund on October 1,2012. The restoration work was inau-gurated by His Holiness Sri ChinnaJeeyar Swamiji of Hyderabad. Therestoration work got completed in theyear 2017.

The renovation work ran swiftly tillthe year 2013, after which it met someobstacles in the form of illegalencroachments and lack of properarrangements for village drains. Thedesilting of this kund was done with thefinancial support of Kamal Morarka,former Cabinet Minister and Mumbaibased philanthropist.

Construction work was done withthe financial support of Dr RameshwarRao (Hyderabad) and Jamnalal BajajFoundation (Mumbai). The construc-tion of the village drain has been donewith the financial support from RajyaSabha MPLAD fund of HK Dua.

Nearly 50 per cent of women in India livewith an abnormal cholesterol level, an

alarming indicator of the risk of them beingprone to cardiovascular diseases (CVD), a sur-vey has showed.

The survey by diagnostic chain SRLDiagnostics revealed that 48 per cent womenin the age group of 46 to 60 years had thehighest level of abnormality in the lipid pro-file tests – the number one cause of deathglobally and in India.

A lipid profile test measures the amountof cholesterol present in lipid carrier proteinslike low density lipoprotein (LDL), highdensity lipoprotein (HDL) and fats (triglyc-eride) present in the blood and determines therisk of CVD.

Further, women living in North India(33.11 per cent) and East India (35.67 percent) had higher abnormal levels of triglyc-erides while low HDL and high total choles-terol levels were more commonly seen inwomen living in South India (34.15 per cent)and West India (31.90 per cent).

“In India, cardiovascular disease is thenumber one killer of women. It’s an alarmingsituation as heart attacks appear differently inwomen than men and it is more fatal in thepost-menopausal women than it is in men,”said Avinash Phadke, President Technologyand Mentor (Clinical Pathology) from SRLDiagnostics.

High saturated fat, sugar and salt intake,very low consumption of vegetables andwhole grains leading to obesity, coupledwith sedentary lifestyles, rising stress levelsand smoking are the major contributory fac-tors for deterioration of heart health inwomen in India, the survey revealed.

Also, long working hours and job stresshave become key barriers to a healthy heart,felt Indians as per a recent survey.

Besides, 83 per cent of Indians said theygive in to temptation of food and 74 per centbelieved that healthy food is not tasty andhence can’t be eaten regularly, said theSaffolalife Study 2017.

Along with long working hours (80 percent), long travelling hours (69 per cent) arealso seen as reasons people are not able to doenough for their heart health.

The study was conducted among 1,306respondents (648 men and 658 women)across Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Hyderabad,Chennai and Kolkata. The study was commis-sioned by AC Nielsen among those who havebeen identified to be at risk of cardio-vascu-

lar diseases. Many Indians (76 per cent) cited job stress

and home stress as reasons that come in theway of efforts to stay healthy.

When it comes to women’s heart health,stress at home (75 per cent) and job stress (77per cent) impacted over 70 per cent ofwomen. Among women, factors like “havingto cook separately for herself if they want tohave a healthy meal” (74 per cent) and “con-cern about what will others will say” (65 percent) also came out as barriers.

With one third of heart failure patientsdying within six months of diagnosis, cardi-ologists have said that heart failure in Indiaoccurs a decade earlier than elsewhere in theworld, where the average age is 59.

AIIMS Cardiologist, Sundeep Mishra feltthe need to caution citizens against early car-diac issues as out-of-pocket expenditure andlack of infrastructure are corroborating to theincrease in disease prevalence, whileCardiological Society of India President MSHiremath said that a third of heart failurepatients die in the hospitals within six monthsof their diagnosis.

“This is an indication of how sick the

patients are when they report to us. Basicknowledge of managing heart failure ordetecting the disease at an early stage is miss-ing, so it is difficult to manage them in thehospital,” Hiremath said.

An earlier study, the InternationalCongestive Heart Failure study, had said thatdeath rate of patients due to heart failures inSoutheast Asia is 15 per cent, while it is sevenper cent in China, nine per cent both in SouthAmerica and West Asia — significantly lowerthan in Indian patients.

Mishra, a Professor of Cardiology atNew Delhi’s All India Institute Of MedicalScience, said that in India, heart failureoccurs a decade earlier than in the Westerncountries.

“There is availability of new treatmentoptions like sacubitril/valsartan — combina-tion of two existing blood pressure reducingmedications which are found to be highlyeffective,” he said.

According to the World HealthOrganisation, heart failure impacts morethan 60 million people worldwide.

The risk of death in heart failure patientsis comparable to that of patients withadvanced cancer, and currently costs the worldeconomy $108 billion every year.

The experts have also said that due to latediagnosis and adoption of unfriendly heartactivities, a large chunk of the youth popula-tion is becoming patients of heart by-passsurgeries, a situation not very different inother parts of the world.

“The stress, strain, pollution and all sortsof things exists everywhere in the world andits affecting the youth population extremely,”said Sanjeev Aggarwal, Director of Centre forCardiac Sciences at the city’s Saroj SuperSpeciality Hospital.

“There is a general tendency towardsyounger population getting heart diseases inunderdeveloped countries.”

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Rohit Sharma achieved a mem-orable milestone with hisclassy century as India out-

played Australia by seven wickets inthe fifth ODI to seal the series 4-1and cement their number one spotin the ICC rankings.

Rohit (125) and Ajinkya Rahane(61) set up the comprehensive winwith a 124-run stand, their third cen-tury stand in a row, before the for-mer shared a 99-run partnershipwith captain Virat Kohli (39) to takethe team on the cusp of a big victo-ry.

Chasing a modest 243, Indiaeventually got home in 42.5 overswith Manish Pandey hitting thewinning four.

Rohit not only completed his 14ODI ton over the course of his mas-terful knock, he also became theninth Indian to reach the 6000-runmark in ODIs.

The comfortable chase comple-mented the good work done by thebowlers, who were able to restrictAustralia to a below par 242 despitea promising start by David Warner(53) and Aaron Finch (32).

Left-arm spinner Axar Patelstood out among the Indian bowlerswith figures of three for 38 in 10overs.

With the emphatic series win,India also avenged the 1-4 seriesdefeat the last time they played inAustralia.

India got home rather comfort-ably but batting was not easy on thenewly laid surface which becameslower as the day progressed.

Rohit and Rahane dished out anexhibition of sublime strokemaking.On display were the delightfulstraight drives, crispy cuts and pow-erful punches off the backfoot.

It was Rahane who pierced thefield early on as Rohit took 15 ballsto get off the mark. But after his firsttwo scoring shots, which werestraight boundaries, there was nostopping him.

He mostly played with thestraight bat and his special effort waslaced with 10 fours and three sixesincluding the one he hit to get to his

hundred.Rahane was deeply disappoint-

ed to get out in the 23rd overdespite his fourth successive fifty. Heknew there was a hundred for thetaking after all the hard work he putin early on. He got to play all fivegames in the absence of ShikharDhawan and grabbed the opportu-nity with both hands.

After Rahane's dismissal, Rohitand Kohli took the team closer to thefinishing line but both perishedwhile trying to clear the fence.

Earlier, Australia once againfailed to build on a promising startprovided by Warner and Finch.

Patel bowled a tidy spell, ending

with his second best figures in ODIswhile Jasprit Bumrah (2/51) bouncedback brilliantly in the death oversafter leaking 34 runs in his first fourovers.

India, who gave match practiceto their reserve pacers — UmeshYadav and Mohammed Shami — inthe previous game, went into themiddle with a full strength squad. Inthe spin department, spinner AxarPatel took the field alongsideKuldeep Yadav as Yuzvendra Chahalwas unwell.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was fairlyaccurate his first spell but Bumrahpaid the price for being erratic.

After starting with a maiden,

Bumrah was guilty of bowling eithertoo full or too short as the danger-ous duo of Warner and Finch tookhim to the cleaners.

Bumrah ended up leaking 34runs in his opening spell of fourovers and was hit for as many sevenboundaries. Finch particularly pun-ished the usually accurate pacer, hit-ting him for five fours includingthree in a row in the eighth over.

Such was Finch's onslaught thatAustralia reached 60 for no loss in10 overs after they had scored just 21in the first five. The two big-hitterswere once again successful in pro-viding their team a good start afterSteve Smith won the toss and optedto bat for third game in a row. Their66-run stand came after their mon-umental 231-run effort in Bengaluru.

Kohli had to do something tochange the momentum of the gameand he brought in Hardik Pandya asfirst change. The lanky all-rounderstruck in his second over with Finchmistiming a full ball to Bumrah atmid-off.

The spin trio of Patel, KuldeepYadav (0/48) and part- timer KedarJadhav (1/48) then stemmed the flowof runs. It was also the first timeJadhav bowled his full quota of 10overs.

Jadhav was impressive andbesides keeping things tight, took theprized wicket of Smith, who misseda sweep shot to be plumb in front,leaving Australia at 100 for two in the20th over.

Two quick wickets, Warner andPeter Handscomb, followed the cap-tain's dismissal triggering a middle-order collapse and undoing thegood work done by the openers.

However, it was not the first timein the series that Australia were notable to capitalize on a solid start.They were sitting pretty at 100 forone but soon found themselvesunder severe pressure on 118 for fourin the 25th over.

Travis Head (42) and MarcusStoinis (46) steadied the ship with an87-run stand off 112 balls but got outjust when they looked set to push thescoring rate. Eventually, the visitorscould only muster 52 runs in the last10 overs.

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Neymar scored twice, including a first-halfpenalty, and created another goal as

Paris Saint-Germain hammered previouslyunbeaten Bordeaux 6-2 in Ligue 1.

The Brazilian curled in a brilliant 30-yardfree-kick after just five minutes at the Parc desPrinces before sliding in Edinson Cavani todouble the lead seven minutes later.

Thomas Meunier's excellent side-footedfinish made it 3-0 to PSG on 21 minutes, butBordeaux hit back on the half hour asYounousse Sankhare applied the final touchto a slick team move.

PSG were then awarded a penalty, the firstsince a row between Neymar and Cavani overspot-kick duties overshadowed a 2-0 winagainst Lyon a fortnight ago, with Neymar thistime stepping up to convert.

"For me the important thing with penal-ties is to score them," said PSG coach UnaiEmery. "The main thing is the two of them seethe opportunity and they both can takepenalties. The decision is down to those two.We've already spoken about it internally."

Julian Draxler volleyed in a superb fifthbefore half-time and Kylian Mbappe addedanother on 58 minutes, while Malcom scoreda late penalty for Bordeaux, as PSG pulledthree points clear of defending championsMonaco at the top.

"It was a good win against a team that wasstill undefeated," said Mbappe. "We don't needto send a message, we're just concentrating onourselves. We could still do better, we're notgoing to be picky, but there's still room for abit more."

Emery rested captain Thiago Silva for thevisit of third-place Bordeaux, who arrived inthe capital trailing PSG by just four points afterseven matches.

The hosts brushed aside five-time

European champions Bayern Munich 3-0 inmidweek and the gap in class on Saturday wasevident from the start against JocelynGourvennec's team.

With Monaco dropping points in Friday's1-1 draw at home to Montpellier, PSG imme-diately signalled their intent as three quick-fire goals left Bordeaux seeking to limit thedamage.

Neymar struck early as his magnificentfree-kick flashed beyond a helpless BenoitCostil, with the Brazilian then playing inCavani to poke in his eighth league goal of theseason on 12 minutes.

PSG were further in front when YuriBerchiche's cross from the left skipped pastMbappe but Meunier ran onto it and theBelgian international steered masterfully pastCostil.

Bordeaux replied on 31 minutes after TheoPellenard demonstrated remarkable compo-sure to thread in Nicolas de Preville whosquared for Sankhare to tap into an empty net.

But a senseless handball from Otavio gift-ed PSG a penalty and Neymar, rather thanCavani whose effort in the Lyon win onSeptember 17 was saved, tucked away the spot-kick for his sixth league goal.

Draxler made it five in style on the strokeof half-time when he fired in from Mbappe'sfloated cross, and the French teenager notcheda goal of his own on 58 minutes after he wasreleased in behind the defence by the German.

Bordeaux substitute Alexandre Mendysmacked the outside of the post on 69 min-utes, while Neymar nearly completed his hat-trick when his shot whistled just wide after aclever exchange with Draxler.

Brazilian Malcom, who extended hiscontract with Bordeaux until 2021 this week,netted a consolation in the final minute afterJonathan Cafu was fouled in the area byMeunier.

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Sebastian Vettel rescued a woeful dayfor Ferrari at the Malaysian Grand

Prix with a brilliant drive from last placeto fourth.

It was purely damage limitation, ashe drifted 34 points behind LewisHamilton in the title race, but it softenedthe blow for Ferrari.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won therace ahead of Hamilton with the otherRed Bull of Daniel Ricciardo in the finalpodium position.

Having seen both of its cars fail toscore points at the previous race inSingapore, Ferrari lost Kimi Raikkonenmoments before this race.

Vettel started from the back of thegrid after engine problems on Saturday,while Raikkonen did not start at all.

With less than 10 minutes beforequalifying, Ferrari's mechanics hur-riedly wheeled the Finnish driver's carback to the garage.

Team principal MaurizioArrivabene was wiping his face anx-iously moments before the start.Raikkonen failed to get back on track intime. He could ultimately have made astart from the pit lane but could not evendo that.

"Obviously we had some issue, Idon't know what it is exactly, I don'tthink any of us know right now,"Raikkonen said after the race. "It's farfrom perfect, but it's one of thosethings that happen."

Raikkonen had qualified in secondplace behind Mercedes driver LewisHamilton and, given how fast Ferrariwas in dominating both practice sessionson Saturday, he may well have had a shotat victory.

"I'm pretty certain I would have hada very good car today," the 2007 F1

champion said. "We'll never know."Within 15 minutes of the race, the

Finnish driver was already in his shortsand walking back to the team'smotorhome, while Vettel was chargingthrough the field.

"We were the quickest car for themajority of the race," Vettel said. "It wasmore entertaining, the first couple oflaps in particular."

As if Ferrari's luck could not get anyworse, Williams driver Lance Strolllater smashed into the side of Vettel's caron the warm-down lap, cutting it almostin half.

"That's impossible," a stunned Vettelsaid. "He's shunted into my car."

In a light-hearted moment, theGerman driver hitched a lift back to the

paddock by sitting on the side of coun-tryman Pascal Wehrlein's Sauber.

Stewards took no action after inves-tigating the incident, but Vettel blamedStroll.

"I went on the outside to pick up abit of rubber. I think Lance wasn't look-ing and wanted to do the same, but thatwas too late, I was there already," Vettelsaid. "That's completely unnecessary. Ithink he just didn't look."

Before the race, Vettel was handeda 20-place grid penalty after Ferrari madethree component changes to his engine.

Teams are allowed to make fourpower unit changes per season beforeincurring penalties. Ferrari had alreadymade the fourth change on Saturday,when an electronic malfunction was

detected late into the third practice ses-sion.

Vettel then encountered furtherproblems in the first part of qualifyingwhen his car lost power. Because hefailed to set a time in qualifying, the four-time F1 champion was at the back of thegrid anyway, so the 20-place grid dropmade no difference on the day.

Hamilton, who was second here,won in Singapore after Vettel crashedfrom pole position heading into the firstturn, taking out Raikkonen with him.

Mercedes is moving closer to afourth straight drivers' and constructors'championship, although fortunes mightchange for Vettel if he maintains his pace.The title race continues next weekend atthe Japanese GP in Suzuka.

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It was more target practice forhigh-scoring Napoli in a 3-0

win over Cagliari on Sunday thatextended the southern club'sperfect record in Serie A.

Captain Marek Hamsikended his scoring drought, DriesMertens got his seventh goal inseven matches and KalidouKoulibaly also found the net forthe Partenopei.

Napoli has now outscoredthe opposition 25-5 by produc-ing at least three goals in each ofthe club's Italian league gamesthis season. Coach MaurizioSarri's side moved three pointsabove Juventus, which was vis-

iting Atalanta later looking toextend its perfect record.

Napoli is aiming to win itsfirst title since Diego Maradonaled the club to its only two SerieA championships in 1987 and1990. Hamsik scored his first ofthe season four minutes in at theSan Paolo stadium with a low,angled shot after trading passeswith Mertens.

Mertens earned a penaltyand converted the spot kick todouble the advantage before thebreak and Koulibaly addedanother two minutes into thesecond half from within thebox. Napoli was coming off a 3-1 win over Feyenoord in theChampions League.

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Pakistan leg-spinner YasirShah grabbed the key

wicket of Dinesh Chandimalto leave Sri Lanka fighting toavoid defeat after the fourthday of the first cricket Test,here on Sunday.

The prolific wicket-takertook 2-25 as Sri Lanka strug-gled to 69-4, needing a rear-guard action to save the Test.

Pakistan will be expectingto push for victory in theopening match of a two-Testseries on the fifth and final day.

It was tough to negotiatespin on a fourth-day SheikhZayed Stadium pitch, butdespite a 32nd Test five-wick-et haul for veteran Sri Lankanspinner Rangana Herath,Pakistan posted 422 to take aslender three-run lead.

Sri Lanka had made 419 intheir first innings.

At the close, Kusal Mendiswas batting on 16, with night-watchman Suranga Lakmal ontwo, after a day of fluctuatingfortunes.

Herath's 5-93 in 40 overswere well foiled by a brilliant 76by Test debutant Haris Sohail,as initially it looked as thoughSri Lanka would take a first-innings lead.

Pakistan then hit back inthe second innings throughShah, who first had openerDimuth Karunaratne caught

for 10 and then dismissed first-innings centurion Chandimal,caught at slip, for seven.

Sohail followed his respon-sible knock by claimingKaushal Silva's wicket, whomhe trapped leg before for 25,while part-timer Asad Shafiqhad Lahiru Thirimanne forseven.

Earlier in the day, Pakistantoo were struggling at 316-6and were in danger of conced-ing a healthy lead with Herathusing all his experience andguile.

The 39-year-old left-armspinner, who now has 394wickets in 84 Tests, gave histeam the much-needed wicketof a resolute Azhar Ali, luringhim into an uppish drive whichwas brilliantly caught at shortmid-wicket by a diving Mendis.

Azhar's defiant knock of 85lasted more than five hours andincluded four boundaries, butwith his dismissal Pakistan'shopes of building a lead lookedslim.

But Sohail had other ideasas he added an invaluable 50 forthe ninth wicket with tail-ender Hasan Ali to lift Pakistanfrom 340-8.

Sohail hit seven fours andtwo sixes before holing out topaceman Nuwan Pradeep, whofinished with 2-77.

Hasan's whirlwind 25-ball29 featured three sixes and two fours.

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Arsenal celebrated the21st anniversary ofArsene Wenger's

appointment by easily beatingBrighton 2-0 in the PremierLeague on Sunday.

Alex Iwobi was set up byAlexis Sanchez's back-heel todouble Arsenal's lead at thestart of the second half afterNacho Monreal's opener.

"It was a great team play,"Iwobi told the BBC. "I didn'tthink Alexis would find mebut it shows the skill he has.

"He is capable of doinganything. To have eyes in theback of his head and back-heel to me was amazing."

Arsenal, without a leaguetitle since 2004, extended itsunbeaten run in all competi-tions to seven matches tomove up to fifth in the stand-ings. The north London clubis six points adrift of theearly pacesetters - Manchesterrivals City and United.

Brighton is six pointsbehind Arsenal in 14th placeafter seven matches of itsfirst top-flight campaign in 34years.

Facing a Brighton teamlacking impetus without asingle striker on the pitch,Arsenal did not have tooverexert itself to see off thesouth-coast side at theEmirates Stadium.

The visitors' plan lookedto be to absorb and frustratebut Arsenal could have beenahead within three minutes asAlexandre Lacazette lashed ahalf-volley against the post.

It prompted a relentlessspell of early pressure and justafter a quarter of an hour,Brighton cracked.

Lacazette was fouled byJose Izquierdo on the rightside of the box and then keptthe resulting cross alive byheading the ball back in off

the line. As Brighton's defend-ers claimed for a goal-kick,Shkodran Mustafi and HectorBellerin had shots blockedbefore Monreal finally foundspace to poke in his firstleague goal since March 2013in the 16th minute.

Forced to attack, Brightonwas far better from then onand could even have gone inlevel at half time.

An impressively choreo-graphed free-kick betweenPascal Gross, Dale Stephensand Solly March ended withthe latter crashing a long-range drive against goalkeep-er Petr Cech's post and DavyPropper curled over fromclose range just before theinterval.

In between, Arsenal hadlooked dangerous on thecounter and the matchbecame less even. It was little

surprise when Iwobi doubledthe hosts' advantage with avintage Arsenal goal 11 min-utes into the second half.

Iwobi began the movewith a pass inside to Sanchez.Sanchez fired the ball toLacazette who in turn fedAaron Ramsey. Ramseypopped the ball back into thepath of Sanchez, who held offa swarm of Brighton defend-ers before digging out asuperb back-heel to freeIwobi. He slammed the finishpast goalkeeper MathewRyan.

Sanchez was almostunplayable in the latter stagesand twice could have scoredhimself but for a pair of tamefinishes. Wenger, who washired by Arsenal on Oct. 11996, will hope there is moreto come.

�� !� ��,(�,��/� Kevin De Bruynecapped a dominant perfor-mance from Manchester Citywith a brilliant long-rangegoal in a 1-0 victory atChelsea in the EnglishPremier League on Saturday.

The midfielder exchangedpasses with Gabriel Jesusbefore shooting left-footedfrom just outside the area inthe 67th minute, for a goalthat earned unbeaten City asixth win from seven gamesand kept the team in firstplace on goal difference fromManchester United.

The goal would have beenextra sweet for De Bruyne,who was sold by Chelsea inJanuary 2014 after 18 monthsat Stamford Bridge. He madejust nine appearances andnever felt he was given a realchance before asking to be

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Max Verstappen celebratedhis birthday by winning

the Malaysian Grand Prix instyle on Sunday, while LewisHamilton finished second toextend his championship leadover Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel started the race fromlast but drove brilliantly to takefourth place behind Red Bull'sDaniel Ricciardo and limit thedamage to his own title hopes.Ferrari teammate KimiRaikkonen did not even start,despite qualifying second.Moments before the race,mechanics wheeledRaikkonen's car back to thegarage but could not get it ready.

Hamilton secured the 70thpole of his career in qualifying,and his fourth straight inMalaysia, while Vettel failed toset a time because of an engineproblem.

The day after turning 20,Verstappen turned on the style,making a fine move to overtakeHamilton on lap 4.

"The whole race went well.Once I got past Lewis I couldfocus on my tires," Verstappensaid. "From then on, I couldrace my own race. It's incredi-ble to win."

His father, the former F1driver Jos Verstappen, lookedemotional as his son stood onthe podium.

Dutch fans poured onto thegrid to join in the celebrations,with one fan applauding with apair of clogs.

Hamilton's only win inMalaysia was in 2014. He ledcomfortably last year but retiredwith an engine failure.

Vettel's last win came at theHungarian GP before the sum-mer break, moving him 14points clear of Hamilton. Butthe British driver has won threeof four races since and nowleads Vettel by 34 points withfive races remaining.

"It's a step toward trying towin this world championship soevery point counts," Hamiltonsaid. "Considering the issues wehad with the car, it's a goodweekend."

Hamilton had failed to fin-ish higher than fifth in practicebut found some speed in qual-ifying. Still, given his position— and where Vettel was - hemight have expected to be fur-ther ahead.

Vettel saved Ferrari's blush-es but, as if Ferrari's luck couldnot get any worse, Williams dri-

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ver Lance Stroll smashed intothe side of his car on the warm-down lap, cutting it almost inhalf.

"That's impossible," astunned Vettel said. "Stroll's notlooking where he's going. He'sshunted into my car."

Stewards investigated the

issue but no action was taken. Ina light-hearted moment, theGerman driver hitched a liftback to the paddock the novelway — by sitting on the side ofcountryman Pascal Wehrlein'sSauber.

Verstappen won the SpanishGP on his Red Bull debut lastyear, and became the youngestdriver on the front row when hequalified second for Monaco. Hewas still 18.

Up until Sunday, however,his season had been blighted byengine problems. Since placingthird at the Chinese GP — thesecond race this season — hefailed to finish seven times.Two weeks ago, he was taken outon Turn 1 by Vettel and had toretire. But his luck held and hedelivered a composed perfor-mance in keeping with the pre-dictions that he will become a

future great."Big congratulations to

Max," Hamilton said. "He did afantastic job today."

Hamilton made a clean start- although with no car next tohim on the front row that washardly difficult.

Verstappen drew cheersfrom the Sepang crowd - watch-ing a race here for the last time- after sweeping past Hamilton,who failed to defend his positionaggressively enough.

"I opted to go on the inside.It was my only chance,"Verstappen said. "I saw Lewiswas struggling more with trac-tion, so I used my battery a bitmore."

Valtteri Bottas made a greatstart from fifth to third, over-taking Red Bull's DanielRicciardo, but was soon underpressure from the Australian.

sold for the sake of his career.Chelsea, which lost star

striker Alvaro Morata to anapparent left hamstring injuryin the 35th, was overwhelmedby the visitors' passing andmovement in what will beregarded as a signature win inCity's toughest game of theseason.

"It sends out a big mes-sage," City left back FabianDelph said. "We needed tocome out on top. There's atogetherness in the team andyou could see that on thepitch."

City coach Pep Guardiolasaid the way the team playedwas as important as the result,

with City having almost 70percent possession in bothhalves and creating the best ofthe chances.

"They could not play andhad to do long balls ,"Guardiola said.Without lonestriker Morata, who wasreplaced by a midfielder inWillian, Chelsea had no out-

let up front and City easilypicked off possession beforeattacking in waves.

"It's very difficult to playthis type of game," Chelseamanager Antonio Conte said.

Gabriel Jesus had a volleycleared off the line by AntonioRudiger after De Bruyne'sgoal.

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Singh and Dharundhar Singh in Kashidih. Various puja venues across the city, including the famous ones in Adityapur and Kashidih, saw a large number of people gathering to seek the