ˆ˙ ˙˝ˆ ˇ ˘ˇ - the pioneer · population to resume their normal lives in a phased man-ner....

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As the ground situation isgradually showing signs

of improvement, with no majorincident of violence reportedfrom anywhere in the KashmirValley during IndependenceDay celebrations, the Jammu &Kashmir Government onFriday announced they havedecided to open schools fromMonday and ease out restric-tions to allow “locked” downpopulation to resume theirnormal lives in a phased man-ner.

Most phone lines inKashmir will be restored overthe weekend, said Jammu &Kashmir Chief Secretary BVRSubrahmanyam.

Since August 5, 2019, theentire Valley has been wit-nessing unprecedented shut-down and communicationblockade ahead of theAbrogation of Article 370 bythe Narendra Modi-ledGovernment at the Centre.The announcement to liftrestrictions was made by theChief Secretary in Srinagarwithin hours after the UnionGovernment told the SupremeCourt that they are ready toease certain restrictions in thewake of improvement in the sit-uation on ground zero.

Listing out the measures,the Chief Secretary toldreporters, “Schools will beopened after the weekend.” Hesaid currently 12 of the 22 dis-tricts of the State are function-ing normally with some limit-ed night-time restrictions infive of these.

“Keeping in view the evolv-ing situation, as well as thecooperation of the people inmaintaining peace, we are nowtaking measures to ease therestrictions in a gradual man-ner. After Friday prayers, there

would be an easing of restric-tions in the next few days in anorderly way,” he said.

Defending the actions ofthe Government, the ChiefSecretary claimed the mea-sures put in place have ensuredthat there has been not a sin-gle loss of life or serious injuriesto anyone during the course ofmaintaining peace and order.

“We have prevented anyloss of human life despite con-certed efforts by terroristorganisations, radical groupsand Pakistan to destabilise thesituation,” he said.

Referring to the resump-tion of public transport facili-ties in the Valley, the ChiefSecretary said, “As movement

restrictions are removed, pub-lic transport will start movingin these areas. Governmentoffices have been made fullyfunctional from today. Telecomconnectivity will be graduallyrestored in a phased manner,keeping in mind the constantthreat posed by terrorist organ-isations in using mobile con-nectivity to organise terroractions”.

He said the intent of ter-rorist attacks was to create anatmosphere of fear and terrorand to block development thatcould unleash opportunitiesfor the younger generation ofthe population. Among thegroups that are well-known forsponsoring violence and car-

rying out such attacks areLashkar-e-Tayyeba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, HizbulMujahideen, etc.

When asked whether localpoliticians in preventive cus-tody too would be releasedsoon, the Chief Secretary said,“Preventive detentions arebeing continuously reviewedand appropriate decisions willbe made based on law andorder assessments.

“It is expected that over thenext few days, as the restric-tions get eased, life in Jammu& Kashmir will become com-pletely normal. This is alreadyvisible on the roads which hasseen steady return of regulartraffic.”

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Amid Pakistan’s posturingfollowing the Narendra

Modi Government’s move onArticle 370, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Friday saidIndia is “firmly committed” tothe “no first use” nuclear poli-cy but what happens in futuredepends on the circumstances.His remark assumes impor-tance since it underscores thatIndia reserves the right tochange its policy of “no firstuse” in place for many years.

Rajnath said this on Twitterafter visiting Pokhran, whereIndia conducted nuclear testsunder the leadership of thenPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee in 1998. Pokhran isalso the site where two nucleartests were first conducted in1974 when Indira Gandhi wasthe Prime Minister.

“Pokhran is the area whichwitnessed Atal Ji’s firm resolveto make India a nuclear powerand yet remain firmly com-mitted to the doctrine of ‘NoFirst Use’. India has strictlyadhered to this doctrine. (But)What happens in futuredepends on the circumstances,”Rajnath said.

A no-first-use (NFU) pol-icy gives an assurance by anuclear power not to usenuclear weapons unless firstattacked by an adversary withnuclear weapons. TheGovernment’s stated positiontill now has been that nuclearweapons are solely for deter-rence and India will pursue apolicy of “retaliation only”.

“India attaining the statusof a responsible nuclear nationbecame a matter of nationalpride for every citizen of thiscountry. The nation will remainindebted to the greatness ofAtal Ji,” Rajnath said in a tweeton the occasion of Vajpayee’sfirst death anniversary.

He said, “It is a coincidencethat today I came forInternational Army ScoutMasters Competition inJaisalmer & today it is the firstdeath anniversary of#AtalBihariVajpayee. So, I feltI should pay tribute to him onthe land of Pokhran only.

Accompanied by ArmyChief General Bipin Rawat,Rajnath was the chief guest atthe closing ceremony of com-petition held at the Jaisalmermilitary station from August 6to 14. The Indian contingentstood first.

The NFU doctrine sawIndia acquire civil nuclear tech-

nology after it signed a dealwith the US, despite being anon-member of the NuclearSuppliers Group and a non-sig-natory of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Given this position, at pre-sent, experts and politicians inthe last few years questionedthe “no first use” policy. ThenDefence Minister ManoharParrikar had raised doubtsabout in November 2016. Thenuclear doctrine underliningnot first use policy came intobeing in 2003 during the NDAregime.

While India sticks to itspolicy, Pakistan does not havean NFU policy and often bran-dishes it claiming it needsnuclear weapons to deal withIndia’s much bigger military. Infact, Pakistan threatened touse nuclear weapons after Indiamobilised troops in the after-math of Parliament House ter-rorist attack in December 2001.

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Greenland is not for sale, themineral-rich island said

on Friday after a newspaperreported that US PresidentDonald Trump was askingadvisers whether it’s possiblefor the United States to buy theArctic island.

Trump has expressed inter-est in the self-governing part ofDenmark — which is mostlycovered in ice, — asking advi-sors if it is possible for the USto acquire the territory, TheWall Street Journal said onThursday, citing people famil-iar with the discussions.

The President, a formerreal estate magnate, has beencurious about the area’s natur-al resources and geopoliticalrelevance, the paper reported.

Greenland is a self-gov-

erning region of Denmark,which colonised the 772,000square-mile (two-millionsquare kilometre) island in the18th century, and is home toonly about 57,000 people, mostof whom belong to the indige-nous Inuit community.

There has been no officialcomment from the WhiteHouse, and the DanishEmbassy in Washington didnot immediately respond toAFP’s request for comment.

But Greenland’s Ministryof foreign affairs insisted theisland was ready to talk busi-ness, not purchase.

“#Greenland is rich invaluable resources such as min-erals, the purest water and ice,fish stocks, seafood, renewableenergy and is a new frontier foradventure tourism,” it tweeted.

“We’re open for business,

not for sale,” it added. Theoffice of Danish Prime MinisterMette Frederiksen declined tocomment when contacted byAFP.

But a former premier, LarsLokke Rasmussen, tweeted, “Itmust be an April Fool’s Dayjoke... But totally out of sea-son!”

Some Trump advisers sayacquiring Greenland, which isnortheast of Canada, could begood for the US, while otherscalled it only a “fleeting fasci-

nation” from the AmericanPresident, The Wall StreetJournal said.

Others outside the WhiteHouse say Trump’s interestcould be a desire to secure alegacy achievement, the paperreported, and advisors won-dered about the potential forresearch or greater militaryclout for the US.

The US’s northern-mostmilitary base, Thule Air Base,has been located on Greenlandfor decades. But Greenlanddoesn’t quite live up to its lushname — 85 per cent of theisland is covered by a 1.9-mile-thick (three-kilometre)ice sheet that contains 10 per-cent of the world’s fresh water.

The world’s largest islandhas suffered from climatechange, scientists say, becom-ing a giant melting icicle thatthreatens to submerge theworld’s coastal areas one day.

July saw unprecedentedmelting of the Greenland icesheet, with 12 billion tonnes ofice flowing into the sea.

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India on Friday defended itsdecision to scrap provisions

of Article 370 that have specialstatus to Jammu & Kashmir,saying it is an internal matter.India also slammed Pakistanfor interfering in the internalmatters of the country, sayingPakistan was misleading theworld.

Meanwhile, the UNSecurity Council on Fridaybegan a rare closed door meet-ing to discuss India revokingthe special status of Jammu &Kashmir after Pakistan, backedby its all-weather ally, China,requested “closed consulta-tions” on the issue.

The outcome of the UNSCmeeting will not be a formalpronouncement as the consul-tations are informal in nature.India and Pakistan are notattending the meeting, which isopen only to the five perma-nent members and 10 non-

permanent members.China, a permanent mem-

ber of the UNSC and close allyof Pakistan, had asked for“closed consultations” in theCouncil, which began its delib-erations at 7.30pm IST.

On August 5, Indiarevoked Article 370 of theConstitution removing specialstatus to Jammu and Kashmir,and has also bifurcated theState into two Union Territories— J&K, and Ladakh.

India has categorically toldthe international communitythat its move to scrap Article370 of the Constitution revok-ing the special status to Jammu& Kashmir was an internalmatter and has also advisedPakistan to accept the reality.

Russia’s deputy permanentrepresentative, DimitryPolyanskiy told reporters beforeentering the meeting roomthat Moscow’s view is that it isa “bilateral issue” between Indiaand Pakistan.

He said the meeting wasbeing held to understand whatis happening.

“That’s what closed con-sultations are for. What doesRussia think the next stepshould be- we favour bilateraltrack between india andPakistan. You know our posi-tion. It hasn’t changed. Todaywe have closed consultationsand we will just exchange opin-ions and see what we can doand what we cannot do. It is anormal process.”

When asked if Russia wasconcerned over the tense situ-ation between India andPakistan, Polyanskiy said, “weare very much concerned. Wehope to avoid it.

Asked if the Council canplay a useful role, he replied,“We first need to discuss andthen we’ll see.”

Replying to another ques-tion, he said, “sometimes it isbetter not to touch upon suchan issue. It’s a bilateral issue,”

the Russian diplomat said.It is significant that the dis-

cussions are not being held atthe horse-shoe table in theSecurity Council Chamber,which is a more formal formatfor meetings.

In a setback to Pakistan’sintentions, the consultations onits letter to the Council areclosed and informal and therewill unlikely be a formal pro-nouncement after the meeting,diplomatic sources said.

In the letter to the UNSC,Pakistan had requested that itsrepresentative be allowed toparticipate in the meeting, inaccordance with the relevantprovisions of the Charter of theUnited Nations and rule 37 ofthe provisional rules of proce-dure of the Security Council.

But Pakistan’s request wasnot allowed, the sources said.

According to UN records,the last time “the SecurityCouncil addressed the dispute

Continued on Page 4

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AMajor General was onFriday dismissed from ser-

vice without pension over acase of sexual harassmentinvolving another officer ofthe rank of Captain. The dis-missal was confirmed by ArmyChief General Bipin Rawatafter the court martial pro-ceedings against Major GeneralRS Jaswal recommended severeaction in December.

The decision of the Chiefof Army Staff was intimated tothe Major General by the 2Corps Commander Lt GenMJS Kahlon in Ambala onFriday, officials said. The ArmyChief had signed the orders fordismissal in July.

The alleged sexual harass-ment incident took place in late2016 when the Major Generalwas serving as InspectorGeneral, Assam Rifles inNagaland. The officer had

denied the charges against himby the Captain-rank womanofficer as the Judge AdvocateGeneral branch of the Armyhad filed a written complaintagainst Jaswal following whichthe court martial was ordered.During the court martial,Jaswal denied the charges andalleged that he became a victimof the Army’s factional feud fol-lowing General Rawat’sappointment as the Army chiefin December 2016.

The court martial held atthe Western Army Command,Chandimandir, Chandigarh,found Major General Jaswalguilty under Section 354A (sex-ual harassment) of the IndianPenal Code and Section 45(unbecoming conduct) of theArmy Act. The court martialwas headed by a LieutenantGeneral and had six MajorGenerals as members.

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The Supreme Court onFriday said it will wait for

sometime before passing anydirection on the plea seekingremoval of restrictions on themedia in Jammu & Kashmirafter the Centre said curbs arebeing lifted gradually.

A Bench comprising ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi and jus-tices SA Bobde and SA Najeersaid, “We would like to give lit-tle time. We have read in news-paper today that landline andbroadband connections arebeing restored gradually.Therefore, we will take up thepetition with other connectedmatters,” the Bench said.

“The landlines are work-ing. We also got a call todayfrom the CJ of J&K HC,” theBench further said.

“We will see when thematter can be listed for hearing.We will fix a date on theadministrative side,” the SCsaid.

Advocate Vrinda Grover,appearing for AnuradhaBhasin, Executive Editor, theKashmir Times, said there wasa need for early restoration ofcommunication mode for jour-nalists to carry out their work.“My matter is related to free-dom press,” Grover said andadded it had nothing to do withArticle 370. At this point, theBench said it can also refer thismatter to the Bench which onTuesday had entertained a sim-ilar petition. Another Bench,

Continued on Page 4

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Chief Minister YogiAdityanath announced on

Friday that residential schoolsnamed after former PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayeewould be set up in all 18 divi-sions of Uttar Pradesh and a25-foot tall statue of the formerprime minister would beinstalled at Lok Bhawan onDecember 25.

The Chief Minister madethis announcement at an eventcommemorating the first deathanniversary of the formerPrime Minister at Lok Bhawanhere. Paying tributes to thedeparted leader, the ChiefMinister said that Atalji wasfondly remembered for hishard work, his repartee andhonesty.

He recalled that the formerprime minister used to oftensay that he was not afraid ofdying but of being defamed.

“Atalji always dreamt of a‘united India’ and his thoughtsare a source of inspiration tomany. The government haspaid tribute to him by revok-ing Article 370,” he said.

Referring to the work doneby the state government in thehonour of Atalji, Yogi said thatthe Ekana Stadium in the statecapital was named after him.“In addition to this, a medical

university will soon be estab-lished in the state capital in hisname. KGMU’s satellite centreis also being set up inBalrampur which will later bedeveloped into a medical col-lege. Along with this, a memo-rial for the great parliamentar-ian will be built in Bateshwar.A provision of Rs 5 crore hasbeen made for setting up aCentre of Excellence at DAVCollege in Kanpur,” the ChiefMinister said.

Bharatiya Janata Party statepresident Swatantra Dev Singhsaid that Atal Bihari Vajpayeewas the man who worked hardto fulfill the dream of DrSyama Prasad Mookerjee andPandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.Singh said that Atalji ensuredthat benefits of governmentschemes reached the deprivedsections of society. Earlier,Deputy Chief Minister DineshSharma also paid tributes toAtal Bihari Vajpayee.

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The boundary wall of aresort belonging to

Abdullah Azam Khan, MLAand son of Samajwadi PartyMP Mohammad Azam Khan,was demolished by the Rampurdistrict administration onFriday.

According to authorities,the Humsafar resort was illegal-ly constructed and built on gov-ernment land.

The UP Irrigation depart-ment had served a couple ofnotices on the SP leader, ask-ing him to vacate the depart-ment’s land.

“A nullah used to passwhere the resort was con-structed. Complaints werereceived and when we investi-gated, we found that the resortwas constructed on a nullah,which is illegal. Notices wereserved on them (Azam Khanand his son) but we did not get

satisfactory answers,” RampurDistrict Magistrate AnanjayKumar Singh said.

“The Irrigation depart-ment along with the districtadministration demolished thewall today that was erected ille-gally,” he said.

Two backhoes weredeployed for pulling down thewall constructed over the nul-lah, officials said.

A large contingent of policewas deployed to avert any lawand order problem during thedemolition.

There were allegations thatthe SP leader had grabbedaround 10,000 square feet ofthe Irrigation department’sland for his resort, locatednear Mohammad Ali JauharUniversity, during the previousSamajwadi Party regime.

Last month, police hadcarried out a raid at the premis-es of Mohammad Ali JauharUniversity and recovered over

2,500 expensive books alleged-ly stolen from Madarsa Aliya inRampur. Several complaintshave been filed against thecontroversial Rampur lawmak-er, who is the chancellor of theuniversity, for allegedly grab-bing land to build the univer-sity.

As many as 72 cases havebeen filed against Azam Khanby the police in Rampur sinceApril this year. As most of thecases lodged against AzamKhan are criminal in nature,the Rampur police have openeda history sheet of the SP leader.

Meanwhile, SamajwadiParty spokesman RajendraChowdhary described theaction of Rampur districtadministration as “politicalvendetta and misuse of power”.

“Samajwadi Party has faithin Constitution, rule of law andjudiciary and we are confidentthat Azam Khan will get justicefrom courts,” Chowdhary said.

Lucknow (PNS): TheBharatiya Janata Party faced anembarrassing situation whentainted lawmaker KuldeepSingh Sengar, who has beenexpelled from the party, founda prominent place along withPrime Minister Narendra Modiand Chief Minister YogiAdityanath, in an advertise-ment.

The advertisement, given byBJP leader Anuj Dixit for greet-ing people on IndependenceDay and Raksha Bandhan, car-ried pictures of the PrimeMinister and the Chief Ministeralongside that of Sengar.

“Sengar is the MLA of ourarea that is why his picture isthere. Till the time he is ourMLA, his picture can be put upin advertisement,” said Dixit,justifying his decision to give thepicture of Sengar in that adver-tisement.

Sengar has been chargedwith raping a teenage girl andmurdering her father. Aftermuch hue and cry was raised,the BJP sacked Sengar from theparty.

BJP spokesperson RakeshTripathi also claimed that therewas nothing wrong in publish-ing the pictures of top BJPleadership along with that of theUnnao MLA as though theMLA is an accused in the rapecase he has not yet been convict-ed.

“The advertisement wasreleased at a local level and it hasnothing to do with the state unitof the party,” he said and askedwhy people do not raise ques-tions on putting up pictures ofLalu Prasad Yadav, who is in jail,on big hoardings when he isconvicted. “Rahul Gandhi wentand met him (Lalu Prasad) andno one questioned this meet-ing,” he said.

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Nearly three years after los-ing the control of his party

to his son, Samajwadi Partypatriarch Mulayam SinghYadav wants to be the presidentof the party again.

Earlier this week, MulayamSingh Yadav summoned hiscousin and SP general secretaryRam Gopal Yadav and askedhim to speak to Akhilesh Yadavand convene the meeting of thenational executive of the partyfor the change of guard.

Akhilesh Yadav has so farnot responded to the desireexpressed by his father. OnIndependence Day, Akhileshwas scheduled to unfurl thenational flag at the SP stateoffice and Mulayam SinghYadav was expected to be pre-sent there. However, Akhileshskipped the event and went tohis home town in Etawah dis-trict to celebrate RakshaBandhan along with the fami-ly members. Mulayam SinghYadav unfurled the nationalflag at the SP state office in theabsence of party president.

Sources close to MulayamSingh Yadav said the elderYadav was perturbed over therapid erosion in the supportbase of the party following thecollapse of the SP alliance withBahujan Samaj Party after therecent Lok Sabha elections andexodus of Rajya Sabha mem-bers from the party.

A senior SP leader said,“Netaji is convinced that it isbeyond the political acumen ofAkhilesh to manage the affairsof the party and if the party hasto be saved from going to

oblivion, he must take over thereins.”

“Netaji is particularly wor-ried over the resignation ofNeeraj Shekhar from the RajyaSabha and his joining theBharatiya Janata Party. The SPhas lost the tall leader in Balliadistrict in eastern UP which iscrucial for the electoral fortunesof the party,” the SP leader said.

Akhilesh Yadav, the thenchief minister of UP, had top-pled his father from the officeof party president in January2017. Akhilesh, with the activesupport of his uncle RamGopal Yadav, on January 1,2017 convened a meeting of theSP national executive and gothimself elected as party presi-dent. Akhilesh had retaliatedagainst his father’s move toexpel him from the party.

Mulayam Singh Yadav hadthen termed all decisions takenat the national executive as ille-gal and unconstitutional, say-ing the meeting was convenedwithout his permission.

The fight for supremacy in

the first family of the SP brokeout in the midst of UPAssembly elections in 2017and went to the ElectionCommission. After hearingboth the parties, the poll panelupheld the decision of thenational executive of the SPelecting Akhilesh Yadav asparty president. Mulayam’sclaim to the party and the partysymbol was also rejected by theElection Commission.

Sources in the party said itwas highly unlikely thatAkhilesh Yadav would acceptthe demand of his father. “Eversince taking over the party inJanuary 2017, Akhilesh Yadavis singularly working for cleans-ing the party of leaders owingallegiance to his father anduncle Shivpal Singh Yadav. Thethree Rajya Sabha memberswho recently resigned from theparty were from the Mulayamcamp so Akhilesh never caredfor them. For him it was a goodomen that they left the party ontheir own volition,” a SP leadersaid.

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Lashing out at BharatiyaJanata Party government,

Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav said that theruling party was dividing soci-ety by spreading hatred andruling the state on the patternsof the British. He said that thecolonial power had used thepolicy of divide and rule to rulethe country.

The SP president said onThursday that the politics of liesand deceit was at its zenithtoday and the way in whichpeople who spoke against thegovernment were treated waswell-known. He said whenev-er elections were around thecorner, the BJP leaders indulgedin politics of jealousy, andspread hatred and misinforma-tion to win the polls.

Advising party workersbefore returning to Lucknowfrom his ancestral village Saifaion the occasion of RakshaBandhan, Yadav said those whospoke lies were expert in the artof communicating with peopleand so people believed them.

Underlining the need fordiscipline and for inductingyouth into the cadre and theirproper training, Yadav said,“SP has a long haul ahead andthe cadre should concentrate onthe grassroots level to strength-en the party.”

Yadav said that it had cometo his notice that the party cadrein several districts wereinvolved in factionalism andwere at loggerheads. He saidthis situation was not in theinterest of the party and theparty leaders and workersshould close their ranks for theupcoming by-elections to 13UP Assembly seats. He askedSP workers to devote all theirtime and energy on defeatingthe BJP in the by-elections asthe ruling party had strength-ened its organisation up to thevillage level. He asked the partyworkers to work for strengthen-ing the organisation in villagesand in rural areas.

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Hailing the decision ofNarendra Modi gov-ernment to repeal

Article 370 giving special sta-tus to Jammu and Kashmir,Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathsaid it was the step towards ‘EkBharat, Shreshtha Bharat’.

Yogi said this while greet-ing people after unfurling thetri-colour at Vidhan Bhawanon the 73rd anniversary ofIndia’s independence.

“On this day, let us allpledge to make India the besteconomy in the world. Also, weshould ensure that the benefitsof government’s schemes reacheveryone and the standard of liv-ing of the person on the last rungof society improves,” Yogi said.

The Chief Minister saidthat under the leadership ofPrime Minister NarendraModi, the government hadstarted a new work culture inthe last five years. He said theimage of the country hadimproved all over the worldand India was marching aheadand had become the 5th largesteconomy in the world.

Yogi said the PrimeMinister had set a target ofmaking India a $ 5 trillion

economy and Uttar Pradeshwould play a big role in achiev-ing this goal.

“UP has set a target tobecome a $ 1 trillion economyand is working hard to achievethis target,” he said.

The Chief Minister said thestate had received proposals forinvestment of more than �5lakh crore in the 2018 Investors’Summit. “Uttar Pradesh is astate of immense potential andfarmers have proved this byproducing record foodgrainsduring the last two years. In

these years, the government hassucceeded in paying more thanRs 72,000 crore to sugarcanefarmers. This amount waspending for 5-7 years,” he said.

Yogi said that many eventswere held in Uttar Pradeshwhich played a role in improv-ing the state’s reputation. Hesaid the successful organisationof Prayagraj Kumbh hadproved that if there was prop-er guidance and right leader-ship, then even the biggest ofresolutions of the state could befulfilled.

“The Prime Minister hasset a target of doubling farm-ers’ income by 2022. Effectivesteps have been taken at everylevel, from seed to market, inthe interests of the farmers. Sofar more than 1.56 crore farm-ers have benefited from thePradhan Mantri KisanSamman Nidhi Yojana. At thesame time, we have succeededin providing electricity connec-tions to more than 1.08 crorefamilies in the state. Thesefamilies had never been able toget electricity after indepen-dence,” he said.

The Chief Minister saidthat on the occasion of 73rdanniversary of IndependenceDay and festival of RakshaBandhan, the state govern-ment was going to implementthe Chief Minister KanyaSumangala Yojana soon, fur-thering the success of PrimeMinister’s Beti Bachao, BetiPadhao scheme.

The Chief Minister saidthat the state had established anew record by planting morethan 22 crore saplings onAugust 9. He said this pro-gramme of the state govern-ment had received appreciationnot only from the nation butalso from around the world.

Lucknow (PNS): Bahujan Samaj Party pres-ident Mayawati on Friday said the gross negli-gence of Congress government in Rajasthan ledto the acquittal of all the accused in the PehluKhan lynching case. “The act of the Rajasthangovernment is condemnable as due to theirgross negligence, all the accused in the Pehlu Khanmob lynching case were acquitted by the lowercourt,” she said in a tweet. “Had the state govern-ment been cautious, the victim’s family would havegot justice,” she added.

An Alwar court on Wednesday acquitted allthe six accused in the Pehlu Khan lynching case.The state government and the victim’s lawyer saidthat they would approach the higher court overthe decision.

Pehlu Khan (55), his two sons and a few oth-ers were transporting cows when they wereallegedly stopped and thrashed by a mob nearBehror in Alwar district on April 1, 2017. Khanlater died in a hospital.

Lucknow (PNS): A constable thrasheda betel shop owner to death in Mathura forasking him to pay for the gutka (panmasala) he had taken from the shop.

The local police initially tried to bailout the cop by showing arrest of the vic-tim in a fake case of assaulting the accusedpolicemen. However, after protest by thelocal residents, the police took applicationagainst the accused policeman but so farneither has a case been registered nor theconstable has been arrested.

Reports said that constable YogendraChowdhary, posted in Ferozabad went toa betel shop at Tiwariji Ka Bada inDhaulipau hamlet of Highway police sta-

tion in Mathura on Wednesday evening.He took a gutka sachet and after eating itleft the shop. On this, the shop owner,Rahul Bansal (25), intercepted the cop andrequested him to make the payment. Thecop refused and also abused the shopowner for daring to ask for money.

When Rahul insisted on the payment,saying that he was poor, the constable losthis cool and started beating him up. Laterthe constable took a stick and brutallyassaulted the shop owner. When some localresidents started gathering, Yogendrapulled Rahul and forcibly took him to thenearby Highway police station. The con-stable used his clout in the police station

and got Rahul arrested on fake charges ofassaulting a policeman. He then left thepolice station.

The situation took an ugly turn whenRahul fainted following which the policecalled his family members and with theirhelp shifted him to the district hospital.

However, the doctors pronouncedRahul dead on arrival.

The news of death of Rahul spread likea wild fire and hundreds of local residentsgathered after which the police took anapplication against the accused constableand assured of action in the matter.

The body of Rahul was also sent forpostmortem.

Lucknow (PNS): Special Task Forceclaimed to have busted a gang facilitat-ing selection in the exams of RajasthanSubordinate and Ministerial ServicesSelection Board (RSMSSB) and ofother service commissions in UP andRajasthan.

The STF nabbed five members ofthe gang from Lucknow on Thursday.Besides �61.50 lakh in cash, the STFrecovered two handwritten list of can-didates’ names, 18 result sheets ofRSMSSB, one question sheet, two OMRsheets, 15 admit cards of UPSubordinate Services Commission etc.The arrested gang members revealedtheir identities as Vinod Kumar Gaur,Sadan Khan, both hailing fromLucknow, Pankaj Kumar Gupta ofKanpur, Kamal Kishore Yadav ofPrayagraj and Ajeet Kumar of Jaunpur.

IG (STF) Amitabh Yash disclosedthat they were getting information aboutsome gang active in the state capital that

was facilitating youths in getting select-ed to various posts staff selection com-mission exams in Rajasthan and UP. Ateam was formed to work on the infor-mation and on Thursday afternoon it wastipped-off that the some members of thegang were present near Janeshwar MishraPark in Gomti Nagar. The team rushedto the spot and nabbed five members ofthe gang. The gang leader, Vinod KumarGaur was in touch with Shadab Khan,an operator in Rabhav Limited, a com-puter firm in Gomti Nagar that got dataentry and result preparation ordersbetween 2014 to 2016. The same firmreceived contract from RSMSSB for dataentry and preparation of results examsfor women supervisors, laboratoryassistant, agriculture technicians posts.Gaur, Khan and other gang memberslured potential candidates and took �5lakh from each of them. The candidatesleft their OMR sheets blank for the gangto fill them.

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Banda (PTI): A 28-year-old man suffered serious burnswhen three brothers allegedlyset him ablaze over old enmi-ty here, police said Friday.Hasib was asleep when thebrothers – Kallu, Raju andRajjan Tripathi — barged intohis house, sprinkled keroseneover him and set him afire lateThursday night.

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NOTICE

I have chang my name diptishukla w/o Mukesh kumar shuk-la to Jyoti shukla, in Furture Iknow Jyoti shukla w/o mukeshshukla R/O 489/5 Raniganj dali-ganj hasanganj Lucknow.

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Lucknow (PNS): Thievessneaked into two houses atRajeev Nagar Ghosiana inTelibagh under PGI police sta-tion on the intervening night ofThursday and Friday and madeoff with cash and valuablesworth lakhs of rupees. The inci-dent came to light only in themorning.

Police said Sudhir Singh,along with his family, had goneto his native place in Rae Barelilast week to attend the post-death rituals of his elder broth-er SK Singh, who was also anex-serviceman. When he cameback on Friday morning, hefound the locks broken andlights switched on. He laterfound out that thieves haddecamped with Rs 60,000 incash and valuables worth lakhsof rupees from his house. Helodged a case without naminganyone. Another theft wascommitted in the house adja-cent to that of Sudhir Singh.House owner Sanjeev Singhhad gone to his native place inUnnao along with his family onWednesday evening. When hecame back on Friday morning,he found his house burgled.Sanjeev said the cost of thevaluables stolen was around Rs1 lakh.

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A19-year old girl, identifiedas Anshu Tripathi, ended

his life by jumping off the12th floor of HimalayanEnclave at Vrindavan Housingscheme on Rae Bareli Road onFriday morning. She was saidto be suffering from depressionand undergoing treatment atSGPGI. No suicide note wasrecovered from the scene.

Police said she lived with

her parents Shivmani Tripathi& Reeta, and brother Ankit.The family hails fromGopalganj in Bihar. A studentof BA-II, she was a student ofa college in Bihar. Her uncleDharmendra Mishra said shecame to his house (flat number1205 phase-111 of A-1 tower)about a fortnight back andwas being looked after by hiswife and her mother as she wassuffering from depression andundergoing treatment at

SGPGI. Her father is a proper-ty dealer and mother a house-wife while her brother works asan electrical contractor. Hewas recently working at SGPGI.Her father claimed that shepassed first year of graduationwith second division marks andsaid she was not satisfied withher performance.

Her uncle said she man-aged to sneak out of the flat inthe wee hours even though theywere keeping an eye on her

movement. As her motherwoke up, she could not find herin the house. The family mem-bers were searching for herwhen the security guard foundher body lying in a pool ofblood. The police said herclothes were torn when she hitthe ground and died due toinjuries and excessive bleeding.

Her father said she wasjovial in nature but he was sur-prised why she was diagnosedwith depression.

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Lucknow University is gearing up for its cen-tenary celebrations. According to Vice-

Chancellor SP Singh, they will involve the alum-ni and current students and take suggestions onhow the celebrations should be carried out.

Talking to The Pioneer, Singh said a largenumber of Lucknow University’s alumni werein varied fields like medical, administration,bureaucracy, academics and political leaders. Hesaid they would try and get funds to make it abig event.

“Currently, the plan is to take suggestionsfrom all the stakeholders. Lucknow Universityis a heritage institution and there are big plansfor celebrations. The planning is still in a nascentstage,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor said allefforts were being made to procure central sta-tus for the university. “Lucknow University hasbeen continuously been making recommen-dations in this regard. Lucknow UniversityTeachers’ Association has also been makingefforts for getting special status and specialgrants,” he said.

The central university status, he said,would make a big difference in terms ofprocuring funds. “Currently, the university isbarely making the ends meet with a grant of Rs34 crore and an income of approximately Rs 160crore. We are doing a balancing act by not car-rying out any developmental activities. We arespending only on the essentials, includingsalaries and power supply. The total salaryexpenses are around Rs 170 crore,” Singh said.

Asked about the CAG audit being carriedout at the university, he said it was a perfor-mance audit and ten institutions had beenselected for the audit as a pilot project by theCentral government.

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The body of a six-month-oldchild was found inside Bal

Griha (protection home for des-titute children) in Hazratganj onFriday. The infant was received bythe shelter home four months ago.Inspector, Hazratganj, RadheyRaman Singh said investigationwas in progress to ascertain thecause of death.

He said there were multipleinjuries on the head, indicatingthat the infant was hit with someblunt object. Police said the offi-cials of the shelter home informedthe police around 8.30 am onFriday that the infant’s body wasfound in one corner of the roomwhere his bed was allotted. Theinspector said that the motivewould be known after the inves-tigation team submitted its find-ings. He claimed that the casewould be worked out soon.

Meanwhile, four persons,including a police constable, were

killed while six injured in separateroad accidents in the past 24hours. In the first incident inKakori, head constable ChandraBhushan Singh was knockeddown by a speeding SUV near tollplaza on Agra Expressway underKakori police station area around7 am on Thursday.

He had gone to Unnao onleave August 13 and was return-ing to Lucknow to participate inthe Independence Day functionwhen an SUV knocked down hisbike near toll plaza. The errantSUV driver sped off without pay-ing toll tax. Employees of the tollplaza and others tried to chase thevehicle, but in vain. Deceased’sfather Gyan Singh lodged a com-plaint in the evening stating hisson was fatally knocked down bya speeding SUV. He was taken tothe community health centrewhere he succumbed to injuries.

Police said they were takingthe help of CCTV footage to track

down the errant SUV driver.Police spokesman SB Shukla saidthe driver in question would betraced within a day or two.

Meanwhile, three personswere killed while six injured in aroad mishap near Kanora cross-ing in Gosainganj on Fridaymorning. Those killed includedone-and-a-half-year-old boyAnmol alias Chhotu, AkhileshTiwari and Shalu. Those injuredwere identified as Swaran Lal,Roop Rani, Shamim Bano, MeeraNizami, Shilpa and Suraj Prasad.

A speeding truck hit a sta-tionery car parked near the cross-ing. The car overturned followingthe impact. The truck also fell intoa nullah as the driver lost the con-trol of the vehicle. Doctors saidthe condition of Shamim Banoand Akhilesh Tiwari was criticalwhile others would be dischargedin a day or two.

Meanwhile, two friends werekilled while another injured whenthey were crushed by a speeding

SUV near a park in Indira Nagaron the intervening night ofThursday and Friday. 23-year-oldPawan Singh, who was a residentof Shankerpuri Colony, alongwith his f r iend SachinChowdhary, left for Shaheed Pathfor some work on Thursday nightand went to meet their friendTushar.

The police said the scooterwhich Pawan was riding belongedto Tushar. After spending some-time at Tushar’s house, all thethree left to have meal at the near-by market on a scooter. They wereknocked down by the speedingvehicle on the way.

They were taken to RamManohar Lohiya Hospital wherePawan and Tushar succumbed toinjuries while Chowdhary wasshifted to KGMU Trauma Centre.

Pawan’s father Subedar Singhalleged that his son was killed. Henamed Sandeep Singh of HariharNagar and seven of his accomplices.

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On the first death anniver-sary of former Prime

Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayeeon Friday, mayor SanyuktaBhatia renamed the Hazratganjcrossing as Atal Chowk.

She also renamed NagarNigam Degree College as AtalBihari Vajpayee Nagar NigamDegree College. The decisionwas taken by Nagar Nigam atits working committee meetingheld on August 25 last year,soon after the death of the for-

mer Prime Minister. On Friday,the mayor gave shape to thedecisions which had been takenthen. The mayor was accom-panied by senior officials of theNagar Nigam, includingMunicipal CommissionerIndramani Tripathi.

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Lucknow (PNS): The CentralBoard of Secondary Education willconduct the 13th edition of CentralTeacher Eligibility Test (CTET) onDecember 8 (Sunday). The test will

be conducted in 20 languages in 110cities all over the country. Thedetailed information bulleting con-taining details of examination, syl-labus, languages, eligibility criteria,

examination fee, examination citiesand important dates will be availableon CTET official websitewww.ctet.nic.in from August 19. Thecandidates are required to downloadthe information bulletin only fromabove-mentioned website.

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Independence Day was cele-brated in the city with tradi-

tional fervor and enthusiasmon Thursday. DistrictMagistrate Kaushal Raj Sharmafirst hoisted the flag at his campoffice and later at Collectorate.Divisional Commissioner AnilGarg hoisted the flag at hisoffice while mayor SanyuktaBhatia took part in theIndependence Day functionand hoisted the 101-feet flag atJhande Wala Park.

An all-religion prayer washeld at Gandhi Bhawan whichwitnessed the participation ofheads of all religions.

At RDSO, director gener-al Virendra Kumar hoisted theflag in the presence of a largegathering of officers, staffmembers and their families.

Addressing the gathering,Kumar highlighted majorachievements and develop-mental initiatives of RDSO.

Managing director ofUPSRTC Raj Shekhar hoistedthe flag and then took a roundof the command and controlroom and interacted with theofficers and staff members.

Managing director LMRCKumar Keshav also hoistedthe flag on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the 73rdIndependence Day was cele-brated at National BotanicalResearch Institute. Director SKBarik hoisted the flag at themain building as well as distantresearch centre, Banthra.

Addressing the staff mem-bers, Barik discussed the objec-tives and future road map ofthe institute. He called on sci-entists and research scholars for

team work to achieve goals. St Xavier’s Convent School

also celebrated IndependenceDay with zeal and enthusiasm.Director Arjumand Zaidi hoist-ed the tricolour on the occa-sion. The students expressedtheir sentiments and aspira-tions for the country in Englishand Hindi.

The occasion was also cel-ebrated at Kendriya Vidyalayain Gomti Nagar where thechief guest was principal CBPVerma. A melodious patriotic

fusion was presented by theschool choir while Sukriti andKomal Pandey threw light onthe importance of I-Day.

SKD Academy portrayedglorious years of India in aunique style. All the fivebranches saw the students dis-play their creativity as they tookpart in different cultural pro-grammes. They also celebratedRaksha Bandhan.

Independence Day wasalso celebrated at St JosephInter College. Students of pri-

mary, junior and senior wingstook out a prabhat pheri onHardoi road highway. The stu-dents sang patriotic songs andraised slogans.

At Lucknow PublicCollegiate, the celebrationscommenced with the hoistingof flag by joint director andprincipal Jawaid Alam Khan.Tributes were paid to the free-dom fighters. The studentstook part in a plantation driveand also celebrated RakshaBandhan.

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Uttar Pradesh State RoadTransport Corporation

received a good response to thefree bus service provided towomen on the occasion ofRaksha Bandhan. Managingdirector (UPSRTC) Raj Shekharsaid that on the occasion ofIndependence Day and RakshaBandhan, they deployed a totalof 12,080 buses. “There werearound 1502 additional busesdeployed on various importantroutes as per the requirement ofpassengers. UPSRTC alsorefunded Rs 11,77,411 to 2,412women passengers who hadbooked the tickets online inadvance. The money will becredited to their accounts in aweek,” he said.

He said that the number ofwomen passengers who trav-elled by the buses on the RakshaBandhan was being compiled.He said most of the passengerstook routes like Delhi toLucknow, Delhi to Haridwar,

Lucknow to Prayagraj,Lucknow to Gorakhpur, andDelhi to Saharanpur.

Shekhar said the UPSRTCHQ had analysed the perfor-mance of the enforcement androute checking teams for the lastfour months and issued show-cause notice to the poor per-formers. The five best per-forming regions have beenMeerut, Hardoi, Gorakhpur,Aligarh, and Etawah while thefive poor performing regionshave been Devipatan, Ayodhya,Varanasi, Jhansi, andSaharanpur. “The UPSRTCHQ has also issued instructionsfor new and revised points forthe enforcement team andincluded passenger safety andbus fitness aspects in the check-ing format. Poor performersmay lose a part of their salaryor may even attract depart-mental enquiry. We have madeit mandatory for the enforce-ment teams to capture andsend photos and video clips ofchecking drives,” he said.

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Lucknow Metro RailCorporation Kumar Keshavhas got an extension of twoyears. Keshav, whose term wasdue to end on August 17, willcontinue till 2021.

�#(#��A camp to rectify Aadhaar

cards and make new ones wasinaugurated at the customerservice centre by principal gen-eral manager, BSNL, KuldeepKumar Singh on Friday. Otherspresent were UIDAI assistantdirector general Nitish Sinha,DGM (O) Abhay Raj and othersenior officials of BSNL.

"�$�#��Avadh Girls’ Degree

College conducted an interna-tional lecture series on‘Pedagogy of the 21st Century:Innovative Teaching Methods’,in collaboration with‘Professors without Borders’with thought-provoking talksby Dr Samira Barzin fromUniversity of Groningen

(Netherlands) and AlishaTuladhar from the University ofBath, UK. Samira focused hertalk on how to make the learn-ing more student-centric andpost-study teacher-and-studentassessment.

�$��"�� Gopal Krishna Shukla, a

meritorious student of CityMontessori School(Mahanagar), has been offeredUS $72,000 scholarship by PaceUniversityof USA forp u r s u i n ghigher edu-cation. Thescholarshiphas beenoffered tohim for his entire study periodof four years. In addition, healso has offers of admissionfrom five noted US universitieswith scholarship, includingFlorida Institute of Technology,University of Cincinnati,University of Illinois, Universityof Utah and Washington StateUniversity.

Lucknow (PNS): TheCentral Institute forSubtropical Horticultureplanted rare species ofsaplings under the plantationdrive. CISH directorShailendra Rajan said theinstitute selected plants ofrare garden species for plant-ing. “Not only the varietalrepository for mango, guava,

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With probe into the sui-cide bid by a lady sub-

inspector in Muzaffarnagarallegedly due to rampant cor-ruption in the Mahila policestation and even at higherlevel is till on, two more copscommitted suicide on Friday,highlighting the frustrationamong policemen.

Director General of PoliceOP Singh has taken the mat-ter seriously. Though theprima facie motive behindthe suicides on Friday is saidto be related to family dis-putes, he has ordered a probeinto the matter by a seniorofficer so that the truth comes out.

In the first case, a seniorsub-inspector allegedly com-mitted suicide by shootinghimself with his servicerevolver at his residence inGhaziabad.

According toSuperintendent of Police(City) in Ghaziabad ShlokKumar, Madhup Singh, post-ed at Baleni police station inBaghpat district, had gone todrop his child to school in the

morning. After coming backto his home at Sanjay NagarColony in Kavi Nagar area,Singh received a phone calland had a heated argumentwith the caller. He later shothimself with his servicerevolver. Police reached thespot after getting informationfrom his wife and foundSingh’s body lying in a pool ofblood on his bed.

The case is being probedfrom various angles to ascer-tain the motive behind theincident.

In another incidentreported from Bijnor, a policeconstable committed suicideby shooting himself with hisservice rifle on Friday morn-ing. Ankur Rana (30), a resi-dent of Baghpat district, wasposted at Bijnor district trea-sury and he shot himself deadwhile on duty at 9 am,Superintendent of PoliceLaxmi Narain Misra said.

He was rushed to the dis-trict hospital, where the doc-tors pronounced him broughtdead, the SP said.

The cause of suicide is yetto be ascertained, he added.

Meanwhile, some district

level officers took an initiativeto sanction weekly off to allnon-gazetted policemen sothat they may fulfil familyresponsibility. The initiativehas been taken on trial basisand if the law and order runssmoothly, it wil l be extended.

With Barabanki andKanpur police already givingweekly offs, the Ayodhyapolice also implemented thescheme at Kotwali police sta-tion. Now all the constablesposted at Kotwali will get aday’s off from Friday from 8am till the same time next day.

Sources said that theweekly off would be given insuch a way that there is noshortage of policemen at thepolice stations.

It may be mentioned thatconstables and sub-inspec-tors in UP are allowed 30 days’off as casual leave, and 30days’ leave encashment eachyear. They are not allowed offday every week. Stress levelsare thus very high amongpolicemen. This is seen as thecause of their erratic and abu-sive behaviour while dealingwith the public.

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jamun, aonla and severalother fruit crops, the instituteis trying to conserve the gar-den species which are becom-ing uncommon. Because ofland scarcity, people havebecome choosy and areaccommodating fashionplants in their gardens. As aresult, plant species whichwere common few decadesback are not finding spacetoday. This is due to changingpreference of garden lovers aswell as unavailability of theseplants in common market.The declining demand hasresulted in slow rate of mul-tiplication of these plants andavailability. The plants arebecoming rare and in comingdays, students would not beable to identify them,” he said.

He said CISH wasinvolved in skill developmenttraining for students as well asentrepreneurs which requires identification of thecommon plants.

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12� ��"��between India and Pakistanover the territories of Jammuand Kashmir” under agendaitem ‘The India-Pakistan ques-tion’ was in 1965. The Council’sschedule said “Security Councilconsultations (closed)India/Pakistan”, listed for 10am. Sources said since it is aconsultation, any outcome isnot formal pronouncement.

A UN diplomat had toldPTI that China had asked forclosed consultations on theSecurity Council agenda item‘India Pakistan Question’.

“The request was in refer-ence to the Pakistani letter toSecurity Council PresidentJoanna Wronecka,” the diplo-mat said. Poland is the SecurityCouncil President for themonth of August.

The five permanent mem-bers of the UNSC are China,France, Russia, the UK and theUS. The 10 non-permanentmembers are Belgium, Coted’Ivoire, Dominican Republic,Equatorial Guinea, Germany,Indonesia, Kuwait, Peru,Poland and South Africa.

UN Secretary GeneralAntonio Guterres has urgedIndia and Pakistan to exercise“maximum restraint” andrefrain from taking steps thatcould affect the status ofJammu and Kashmir. He hadhighlighted the SimlaAgreement which rejects anythird-party mediation on theissue. Pakistan formally calledfor an emergency meeting ofthe UNSC to discuss Indiarevoking the special status toJammu and Kashmir, ForeignMinister Shah MahmoodQureshi said on Thursday.

Last Friday, Qureshi hadair-dashed to Beijing for urgentconsultations with the Chineseleadership on the issue of rais-ing the Kashmir issue at theUNSC. During his meetingwith Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi on Monday in Beijing,External Affairs Minister SJaishankar conveyed that India’sdecision to revoke the specialstatus of Jammu and Kashmirwas an internal matter.

He said the issue related tochanges in a temporary provi-sion of the Constitution ofIndia and was the sole prerog-ative of the country.

Jaishankar emphasised toWang that these changes hadno bearing on Pakistan as it wasan internal matter.

“It did not impact the LoC.Where India Pakistan rela-tions are concerned, Chineseside should base its assess-ment on realities. India, as a

responsible power, had shownrestraint in face of provocativePakistani rhetoric and actions.India has always stood fornormalisation of the ties in anatmosphere free of terror,” theminister said.

�$ ��headed by Justice Arun Mishra,on Tuesday had refused tointerfere with the Centre andthe Jammu & KashmirGovernment imposing severalrestrictions, saying “reason-able time” be given for bring-ing normalcy in the sensitivesituation and had decided tohear the issue after two weeks.

During Friday’s hearing,Grover submitted that therehad been a lot of curtailmenton the movement of media per-sonnel and there has beenblackout on the publication ofnewspapers because of thecommunication shutdown.

Attorney General KKVenugopal said he had readKashmir Times, which hadbeen published from Jammu,and permission has been grant-ed to all media to functionfrom all other places. Heexpressed surprise whyKashmir Times was not pub-lished from Srinagar. “So far thesituation is concerned it wouldgradually be settled and, there-fore, there is no need to jump to any conclusion,”Venugopal said.

Solicitor General TusharMehta submitted that therewas no need to entertain thepetition seeking lifting of curbson media. He said peopleshould trust the security forcesdeployed in Jammu & Kashmirand authorities are taking stockof situation on day-to-daybasis. He said some time shouldbe given to bring normalcy inthe region. The petition filed byBhasin had sought removal ofrestrictions imposed on work-ing of journalists in the stateafter scrapping of provisions ofArticle 370. Bhasin has soughtrestoration of all modes ofcommunication, includingmobile Internet and landlineservices, throughout the state inorder to provide an enablingenvironment for the media topractise its profession.

In the petition, the editorsaid she is seeking a directionfor the Centre and the Jammu& Kashmir administration toimmediately relax all restric-tions on freedom of movementof journalists and media per-sonnel in Kashmir and somedistricts of Jammu.

The direction was soughtin order to enable media per-

sonnel to practise their profes-sion and exercise their right toreport in furtherance of theirrights under Article 14, 19 (1)(a) and 19 (1) (g) and 21 of theConstitution as well as theright to know of residents ofKashmir Valley, the petitionsaid.

In the petition, the editorsubmitted that since August 4,all connectivity was shutdownleaving Kashmir and some dis-tricts in Jammu completelyisolated and cut-off from allpossible modes of communi-cation and information. “Noformal orders, under whichsuch action was taken, werecommunicated by the Centreand state administrators, andpower and authority underwhich such excessive and arbi-trary action was ordered is stillunknown to the petitioner,” theplea submitted.

It said on August 5, ordersunder section 144 of the CrPCwere issued and all of Kashmirwas placed under a de factocurfew and severe restrictionsimposed on movement.

Press identity cards ofreporters were not given anyattention and they were effec-tively disabled from reportingon the situation by restrictingtheir movement, the petitionsubmitted, adding due to severeand pervasive restrictionsimposed by authorities hernewspaper Kashmir Times,Srinagar edition could not bedistributed and circulated onAugust 5.

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Terming the UNSC dis-cussing the Kashmir issue

a “grave diplomatic failure” ofthe BJP Government, theCongress on Friday askedPrime Minister Narendra Modito talk to “India’s friends” in theUnited Nations to stall thescheduled meet on the issue.

Congress spokespersonAbhishek Singhvi said it was afailure on the part of the gov-ernment’s foreign policy toallow internationalisation ofthe Kashmir issue in the UN.“This is a grave diplomatic fail-ure of the government. In fact,it is worse, it is a grave strate-gic failure at a time whenIndia’s Foreign minister is inChina,” Singhvi said at AICCPress briefing.

External Affairs Minister SJaishankar, who concluded histhree-day visit to Beijing onMonday, conveyed that thedecision to revoke the specialstatus of Jammu and Kashmir

was an internal matter for India. Singhvi said Jammu and

Kashmir, and Ladakh is India’sinternal issue and nobody,group or organisation can assertto the contrary. It is for the firsttime in 48 years that the UN hastaken up the Kashmir issue, hesaid, adding that this is a glar-ing “diplomatic failure” by theBJP government.

“I implore and beseech theprime minister not to remainsilent...I urge the prime minis-ter to pick up the phone andtalk to all India’s friends to getthis meeting cancelled,” hesaid. Singhvi said as he is mak-

ing the demand for getting theUN meeting cancelled, he fearsbeing dubbed by the BJP as“anti-national”.

He said this is not a dis-missable issue as this is some-thing that has not happened fordecades and is being allowed tohappen now. The UN SecurityCouncil was scheduled to meeton Friday to discuss India revok-ing the special status of Jammuand Kashmir after Pakistanwrote a letter on the issue to theworld body. China, an ally ofPakistan, asked for “closed con-sultations” in the Council, whichmet to discuss the matter.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has

attached assets worth �299.99crore of Nowhera Shaik ofHeera Group of Companiesand others spread across mul-tiple states under the provisionsof Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act in a ponziscam case.

The attached assets con-sisting of 96 immovable prop-erties located in Telangana,Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi andAndhra Pradesh worth �277.29crore in the form of agriculturallands, commercial plots, resi-dential buildings, commercialcomplexes and balances inbank accounts worth �22.69crore.

ED initiated investigationsunder PMLA on the basis ofFIRs registered by CentralCrime Station, Hyderabad,Telangana and Andhra PradeshPolice against Shaik and otherson the allegation of illegally col-lecting deposits from lacs ofinvestors under the guise of

high returns. There areMultiple FIRs registered acrossthe country against HeeraGroup of Companies, the EDsaid.

The ED probe revealedthat Shaik incorporated multi-ple companies under HeeraGroup of Companies and col-lected an amount of approxi-mately �5,600 crore as unau-thorized deposits from around1,72,000 investors across thecountry by engaging a networkof marketing executives anddirect selling agents with afalse promise of paying highrate of returns to the tune ofthree per cent per month (36per cent per annum)

Shaik floated multipleschemes and extensively adver-tised the schemes to lure thevictims. She started 24firms/entities under HeeraGroup and 182 bank accountswere opened in different banksin different parts of the coun-tries in the name of these 24entities. Further 10 bankaccounts were also opened inforeign countries such as UAE

and Saudi Arabia for collectingthese deposits, the ED said ina statement.

Shaik does not possess anyvalid permission either underthe Banking Regulation Act,Companies Act, RBI Act orfrom any other governmentagency such as SEBI for col-lecting deposits. She startedGold, Food & Textile tradingbusinesses only to create theimpression that she earninglegitimate profits, but in reali-ty, the payouts to the newmembers were simply beingfunded from the cash flowsgenerated from new mem-bers/investments. The volumeof business in her Gold, Textile& Food marts was minisculeand not sufficient to justify thehigh returns promised by her,the agency said.

Shaik along with her fam-ily members and close associ-ates diverted the depositors’money to their personalaccounts and amassed hugemovable and immovable assetsfor wrongful personal gain,the agency added.

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Senior Congress leader PChidambaram, who has

been one of the strongest crit-ics of the Modi Government,sprang a surprise on Friday ashe welcomed the PrimeMinister’s announcements onpopulation control, respect forwealth creators and shunningsingle-use plastic. He said hehoped the Finance Ministerand tax officials would heed tohis exhortation.

“All of us must welcomethree announcements made

by the PM on I-Day. Small fam-ily is a patriotic duty; Respectwealth creators and Shun sin-gle-use plastic. Of the threeexhortations, I hope the FMand her legion of tax officialsand investigators heard thePM’s second exhortation loudand clear,” Chidambaram said.

Chidambaram has beenthe most vocal critic of Modi’sgovernance particularly on eco-nomic and security issues. Hehas been continuously ques-tioning the Centre over abro-gation of Article 370 for Jammuand Kashmir. Chidambaram,along with his son Karti, facesallegations of wrongdoing inallowing foreign direct invest-ment when he was financeminister in UPA-1.

Chidambaram, who is aformer finance minister, said,

“The first and third exhortationsmust become people’s move-ments. There are hundreds ofdedicated voluntary organisa-tions that are willing to lead themovements at local levels.”

Addressing the nation onthe 73rd Independence Day onThursday, the prime ministerexpressed concern over “pop-ulation explosion” in the coun-try, saying it causes innumer-able challenges for the cominggenerations, and asserted thatthe central and state govern-ments should launch measuresto deal with the issue.

Modi also said wealth cre-ators should not be eyed withsuspicion and that they arecountry’s wealth and should berespected. He urged people toshun single-use plastic andencouraged usage of jute and

cloth bags to protect the envi-ronment.

Chidambaram’s responsecame weeks after the death ofVG Siddhartha, founder ofpopular chain Cafe Coffee Daywho in a purported suicidenote mentioned as “harass-ment” from a senior income taxofficer which forced him to endhis life.

Former Infosys DirectorMohandas Pai too allegedthreat to businesses from “taxterrorism”, and a report saidBiocon Chairperson KiranMazumdar Shaw was told by a“government official” not tospeak about issues such asincome tax harassment. Paialso recounted an incident,where an official called up hiscolleague in Infosys and threat-ened to “shut him down”.

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The Supreme Court onFriday expressed anguish

over “defective” petitions on theissue of scrapping of provisionsof Article 370 of theConstitution.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi said thepetition by advocate M LSharma has “no meaning”.

The CJI said he spent 30minutes reading the petitionbut could not make out any-thing and also could not under-stand what was the prayer.

“What kind of petition isthis? It could have been dis-missed but there are 5 otherpleas with the registry whichare under defect,” the benchalso comprising Justices SABobde and SA Nazeer said.

“You are not praying forsetting aside the Presidentialorder. What is the prayer it isnot clear. It can be dismissed ontechnical grounds.

“In a matter of this natureif this is the petition, there is nomeaning,” the bench said.

The court was hearing thepetition by Sharma, who hadfiled it on August 6, a day afterthe Centre had abrogatedJammu and Kashmir’s specialstatus.

The apex court askedlawyers to cure defects in theirsix petitions on Article 370 andadjourned the hearing.

The bench also noted thatit was hearing the petition onArticle 370 by breaking thecombination of judges whichwas hearing the sensitiveAyodhya matter.

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At a time when every drop ofwater counts in view of its

scarcity, researchers of the IndianInstitute of Technology (IIT),Madras, have developed a proto-type that can produce green fertil-izers and water from human urine.

The product, ‘Water Chakra’,works on the development of amodular on-site toilet treatmentunit. It recovers about 96 per centof phosphorus and 85 per cent ofnitrogen in the form of commer-cial grade ammonia solution andstruvite fertiliser, besides recoveryof 90 per cent water, according tothe researchers. The Project haswon the Indian Innovation GrowthProgramme 2.0 award in July 2019.

Anusha Gupta, a PhD scholarat IIT Madras who led the team,said the aim was to protect valuablewater assets, reduce customer’soperation costs and create newproducts from toilet resources(human urine) in a simplisticapproach. On an average, a manflushes nearly 1 liter of water everytime he urinates, which equals tonearly 2160 liters of water per year.

“The Water Chakra projectaims to recover fertilizers andwater from urine ,” Gupta said.“The developed prototype can beinstalled in large footprint areas likecommercial complexes, corporatebuildings, where huge amount ofurine can be collected and used forprocessing to obtain green fertil-izers and water.”

According to the researchers, the

human body excretes elements thatare highly essential for the produc-tion of nutrients. Urine contains ofabout 98 per cent of water andremaining are nutrients — nitrogen,phosphorous, and potassium — thatare currently flushed into sewers.

About 22 per cent of the glob-al phosphorus demand can beachieved through the recovery ofphosphorus from human waste likeurine and faeces, they said.

Explaining the product’s way ofoperation, Indumathi M Nambi,technical mentor at the IIT Madras,said: “Urinals are retrofitted tomake water-less urinals in one ofour buildings, which helps us tocollect the concentrated urine thatis stored in a primary storage tankin large volumes of up to 500 litres.”

“This tank is followed by ahydrolysis tank where the urine isstored for three days for rise in pHto 9-10,” Nambi said. “Thishydrolyzed urine then gets pumpedto the distillation column, where itgets in contact with steam gener-ated using a steam generator.”

In this column, the technicalmentor said, ammonia present inurine strips out and gets collectedin the ammonia collection tankafter condensing happens with thehelp of a condenser.

“The remaining urine goes tothe electro-chemical polishing unitfor the removal of the organic andpharma residues,” she said, addingthat 98 per cent of the water recov-ered can be reused for flushing,firefighting and gardening pur-poses.

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The Centre on Friday toldthe Supreme Court that it

would take a call within aweek on the collegium’s May 10recommendation to elevateJustice Akil Kureshi as ChiefJustice of Madhya PradeshHigh Court.

A bench of Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi and Justices S ABobde and S Abdul Nazeer wastold by Solicitor General TusharMehta that the Centre wouldtake a call within a week on thetop court collegium’s recom-mendation for the elevation ofJustice Kureshi as Chief Justice

of Madhya Pradesh High Court.“I have instruction that

within a week some decisionswill be taken in this regard,”Mehta said and requested thecourt that the matter be takenup after a week as the Centrewas going through the files sentby the collegium on the judgeconcerned.

The bench adjourned thehearing on the matter andindicated that the next date forhearing will be fixed on theadministrative side.

On August 2, the top courthad asked the Centre to take adecision in the matter byAugust 14 after Mehta had

informed the bench that thecollegium proposal was underconsideration.

The top court was hearinga petition filed by the GujaratHigh Court AdvocatesAssociation (GHCAA) seekingdirection to the Centre to noti-fy the elevation of JusticeKureshi.

The lawyers’ body allegedthat the Centre has cleared theappointment of Chief Justicesof other high courts.The pleahad said that Justice Kureshiname has not been notified bythe Centre even after the col-legium has recommended hisname on May 10.

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The first death anniversary offormer Prime Minister Atal

Bihari Vjpayee was marked onFriday by a prayer meetinghere held at Sadaiv Atal—thememorial to the late leader-which was attended by top dig-nitaries and political leaders.

President Ram NathKovind, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Home MinisterAmit Shah and members ofVajpayee’s family were amongstthose who paid tributes to theBJP leader amid the playing ofhymns and devotional music.

The memorial was dedi-cated to the nation inDecember last year. The centralsamadhi platform comprisesnine square black polishedgranite stone blocks, capped

with a “diya” in the centre.Vajpayee (93) passed away onAugust 16 last year at AIIMS.

Similar memorial were alsoheld at different parts of thecountry with governments

announcing various schemes inthe memory of the late leaderincluding setting -up of hospi-tals and schools after his name.

In the national capital, DRRML Hospital’s medical collegewas named after the ex-PrimeMinister. Union Health MinisterHarshvardhan also laid thefoundation for Super Specialityblock and New doctor’s hostel.

Medical Superintendent &Director Dr. VK Tiwari saidthat Atal Bihari VajpayeeInstitute of medical sciences(ABVIMS) starts with 100MBBS seats this year. “It will bea state of art medical collegewith reputed faculties andworld class infrastructure.Super Specialty Block has morethan 550 beds and the NewResident Doctors’ Hostel has827 bed units,” Dr Tiwari said.

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The Supreme Court hascleared the decks for the

ambitious Chardham highwayproject for all-weather con-nectivity to four holy towns ofUttarakhand and constituted afresh high-powered committeeto address environmental con-cerns.

A bench comprisingJustices Rohinton Fali Narimanand Surya Kant modified theNational Green Tribunal’sSeptember 26, 2018 order byconstituting the high-poweredcommittee.

“However, the Committeeis to be headed by Prof. RaviChopra, who will replace

Justice U C Dhyani, and will bethe Chairman of theCommittee.

“In addition to this, weadd a representative of thePhysical Research Laboratory,Department of Space,Government of India,Ahmedabad; a representativeof the Wildlife Institute ofIndia, Dehradun, a represen-tative of MoEF, RegionalOffice Dehradun and a repre-sentative of the Ministry ofDefence dealing with Borderroads, not below the rank ofDirector. We direct MoEF toconstitute the High PoweredCommittee within two weeksfrom the date of this order,” thebench said.

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CPI(M) Polit Bureau memberBrinda Karat on Friday

urged Urban DevelopmentMinister Hardeep Puri torebuild the recently demolishedGuru Ravidas Mandir and near-by for samadhis in Tughlaqabadby Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA). In her letterBrinda said that DDA authori-ties decision to a lot anotherplace to the followers of theGuru is not at all acceptable andthe Mandir must be rebuilt inthe same place.

Citing the ModiGovernment’s position in

Ayodhya case on supportingthe faith of the people, theCPI(M) leader said that thisshould be applicable to the fol-lowers of the Guru Ravidas.“This is to draw your attentionto the demolition of the GuruRavidas Mandir and foursamadhis in the “forest area” inTughlaqabad extension onAugust 10. I had visited theplace on August 14th alongwith my Party colleagues andoffice bearers of the DalitSoshan Mukti Manch and metthe petitioners (Guru RavidasSamiti) who gave me the detailsand took us to the site.

“I had read in the papers

that you had met the LieutenantGovernor of Delhi in this con-nection and are working out “asolution” namely to “allot anoth-er place” for the temple and thesamadhis. Unfortunately inthese developments the DDA,which is directly under yourMinistry, has played the worstrole in riding roughshod overthe legitimate grievances of thepetitioners leading to the pre-sent plight. I strongly urge youto rectify this by going in for areview petition before theSupreme Court,” she said, insist-ing the rebuilt of the GuruRavidas Mandir on the samespot.

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Floods affecting 13 States have severe-ly affected the cultivation of rice and

pulses as the kharif crops could not besown in a whopping 40.25 lakh hectaresof farm land. To add to it, an estimat-ed 6-7 lakh hectare crops have beendamaged due to floods. India hasrecorded 604.8 mm rainfall as againstthe normal of 595.7 mm so far. The datashows rice and pulses cultivation hasbeen most hit in West Bengal, Bihar,Jharkhand, Assam, Chhattisgarh,Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan andMaharashtra.

As per data released by theAgriculture Ministry on Friday, kharifcrops sowing are 40.25 lakh hectares lessthis year due to flood and erratic rainsacross the country. The data shows Riceand Pulses cultivation, however, hasremained slow in major eastern statessuch West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand,Assam, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, UttarPradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

As per data, overall, total kharifcrops so far have been sown in around926.13 lakh hectares this year as com-pared to 966.39 lakh hectares sown inthe corresponding week last year.

The shortfall is the highest in rice.The data shows rice cultivation is downby 36.85 lakh hectare so far. Rice isplanted at nearly 301.40 lakh hectarethis year as compared to 338.25 lakhhectare last year.

Flood-hit West Bengal (a deficit of8.86 lakh hectare), Odisha (4.66 lakhhectare) and Bihar (5.54 lakh hectare),Jharkhand (5.54 lakh hectare),Chhattisgarh (1.39 lakh hectare), Assam

(1.31 lakh hectare), Tamil Nadu (1.06lakh hectare), Maharashtra (1.66 lakhhectare0, Kerala (1.2 lakh hectare) andSikkim (0.11 lakh hectare) are amongthe States that reported the maximumdrop in rice planting.

Besides, it is estimated that 6 to 7lakh hectare crops have been damageddue to flood. This number could gohigher as assessment of crop damagedyet to be completed in several states.Similarly, kharif pulses (arhar, urad,moong) area stands at 115.55 lakhhectare against 120.94 lakh hectare lastyear. Gujarat and Telangana reporteddecline in kharif pulses sowing so far.The sugarcane cultivation is alsodeclined this year so far.

“The decline in sowing is mainlybecause of the delayed onset of thesouthwest monsoon and floods in sev-eral states. Though most crops are in thegrowing stage and it is difficult to pre-dict the final harvest now ,’ said officialsof agriculture ministry. July, August andSeptember is considered as main sea-son for Kharif cultivation across thecountry.

According to the IndiaMeteorological Department ( IMD),

there was some respite for the rain-bat-tered states-Kerala, Karnataka andMaharashtra for the second consecutiveday,even as the toll climbed to 111 withmore bodies being retrieved from land-slide hit areas in Malappuram andWayanad districts as the southwestmonsoon turned week on Friday. Onthe other hand, there is a threat of floodin Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan andGujarat as rivers are in spate.

The IMD has predicted moderateto heavy rainfall activity in several northIndian states including Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh overthe next two days due to low pressurearea over Bay of Bengal. “The situationis likely to continue till August 20,” theIMD said. In Rajasthan, five peoplewere killed in rain-related incidents inthe past 24 hours and flood like situa-tion created in Hadauti. A red alertwarning was issued for Jodhpur, Nagaurand Pali for the next 24 hours. InMadhya Pradesh, the water level in 96out of 251 big and medium reservoirsin Madhya Pradesh has crossed 90 percent capacity mark following copiousrains over the last few days.

The IMD said that the southwestmonsoon are crucial for farm outputand economic growth as the agriculturalsector forms about 15 per cent ofIndia’s $2.5 trillion economy. Indiareceived 45 per cent more rainfall thanthe 50-year average in the week toAugust 16. The rains from June toSeptember are a lifeline for rural India,delivering some 70 per cent of the coun-try’s rainfall, but they also cause deathand destruction each year.

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A“massive” temple of LordRam, dating back to the

second century BC (BeforeChrist), existed at the disputedsite in Ayodhya before theconstruction of Babri Masjid, acounsel for deity “Ram LallaVirajman” told the SupremeCourt on Friday.

The counsel for Ram Lalla,a party to the decades-old RamJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidland dispute, referred to thereport of a court commission-er, appointed to inspect the sitein 1950, and also relied uponthe findings of theArcheological Survey of India(ASI) to buttress its claim overthe disputed 2.77-acre land inUttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya.

Advancing submissionsbefore a five-judge Constitutionbench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi on the seventhday of the hearing, senior advo-cate C S Vaidyanathan, appear-ing for the deity, said accord-ing to the ASI report, there“existed a massive, pillar-basedstructure dating back to thesecond century BC and the ASIsurvey was conclusive aboutthere being a ‘mandap’ at thesite with pillars”.

The senior lawyer exten-sively referred to various picturesand reports, including the ASI’s

findings on the excavated mate-rials from the disputed site, andsaid, however, there was nosuch material to show that it wasa temple of only Lord Ram.

But the pictures of thedeities, including those of LordShiva, sculptures on the pillarsof “Garuda” flanked by lionsand the images of lotus amplyindicated that it was a templeand moreover, these thingswere not found in mosques,Vaidyanathan submitted beforethe bench also comprising jus-tices SA Bobde, DYChandrachud, Ashok Bhushanand SA Nazeer.

“Keeping in mind the faithof Hindus and preponderanceof probability, it would indicatethat this was a temple of LordRam,” he said.

“Along with the massiveold structure, other materialsfound during excavation sug-gested that it was a temple,” thesenior lawyer added.

Referring to the AllahabadHigh Court order, he said oneof the judges, Justice SU Khan,did not deal with the ASIreport in his judgment anderroneously concluded that themosque came up on a vacantland and on the ruins of a tem-ple, while the other two judgestook note of the report, whichsaid there was a temple wherethe mosque came up

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Jammu: Adviser to J&KGovernor, Farooq Khan, hassaid the complete return ofKashmiri Pandits (KPs) to theValley is possible only with thesupport and cooperation of allstakeholders.

"The complete return ofKashmiri migrants to theValley is possible only with thesupport and cooperation of allstakeholders, including the civilsociety of Kashmir, who sharea social and cultural bond withthe Kashmiri migrants," Khansaid on Thursday.

He said the Government

was committed to the safereturn and rehabilitation ofKashmiri Pandits in the Valley.

Khan further said theprocess for the recruitmentagainst 3,000 posts for themigrants and the constructionof transit accommodationsfor the migrant employeesserving in the Valley wouldstart soon. The statement camein the wake of hopes for thereturn of over 3 lakh displacedpandits to the Valley after thescrapping of the special status forJammu & Kashmir underArticle 370. PTI

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Srinagar: National SecurityAdviser Ajit Doval on Fridayreturned to Delhi after spend-ing 11 days in Kashmir Valleyto ensure smooth implemen-tation of plans after the with-drawal of special status accord-ed to Jammu & Kashmir, offi-cials said.

Doval, Who came here onAugust 6, took charge of secu-rity and development-relatedactivities with a special focus onensuring that there was noloss of life, they said.

During his stay, the NSAtook a round of Shopian, a dis-trict worst hit by terrorism, andmet locals and security per-sonnel.

Visuals of Doval havinglunch with locals, with closedshops in the backdrop, at anundisclosed locality were cir-culated in the media. He was

heard saying in the video thatonce the new administration isset up, things will change.

He also addressed person-nel of the Jammu & KashmirPolice, CRPF and Army sepa-rately, telling them about theirsuccesses in disturbed areasand underling their impor-tance in ensuring the safety ofthe country and citizens.

The officials, while com-menting on some adverse newsreports about his visit toShopian, said one cannot takeaway the credit that he visitedthe place.

The officials said that theNSA had to ensure that thereis no loss of life and damage toproperties as well as to see thatthe morale of troops on theground is high, and he has beensuccessful in that.

Doval, during his meetings,

conveyed in clear terms thatthere should be no inconve-nience to the people in gener-al public.

During his stay in the city,he also toured downtown areas,including the sensitive Eidgahlocality, which is notorious forincidents of stone pelting atsecurity forces.

The NSA also ensuredsmooth coordination betweenall arms of security forces in J-K and gelling them with avail-able intelligence inputs forsmooth operations in the hin-terland as well as along the lineof control.

On August 5, theGovernment announced thedecision to abrogate special sta-tus of Jammu & Kashmir underArticle 370 of the Constitution,and dividing the state into twoUnion Territories. PTI

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Patna: An AK-47 rifle wasrecovered from the ancestralhouse of controversial BiharMLA Anant Singh on Fridayduring a raid which also yield-ed a large number of ammu-nition and explosives.

Acting on a tip-off, a policeparty raided the house of Singha multiple term MLA fromMokama at Nadawan village inBarh sub-division of ruralPatna where bomb disposalsquad has also been sum-moned to defuse the explosivesthat have been recovered.

We had received informa-tion that some illegal arms andexplosives were stashed insidethe house. Accordingly, weconducted a raid. The AK-47rifle was found wrapped insheets of paper. Ammunitionand explosives were also recov-ered and bomb disposal squadwill do the needful,Superintendent of Police(Rural), Patna, Kantesh Kumar

Mishra told reporters at Barh,about 70 kms from here.

Notably, Singh nicknamed"Chhote Sarkar" has longcriminal record and wasrecently summoned to thePolice Headquarters in Patnafor giving his voice sample inconnection with a bid on thelife of a Mokama-based con-tractor.

The MLA angrily reactedto the raid conducted on hisancestral house and alleged aconspiracy has been hatchedagainst me at the behest ofLalan Singh as part of whichweapons not belonging to meare being shown as havingbeen recovered. My house hasalso been badly vandalizedduring the raid.

Notably, Rajiv RanjanSingh alias Lalan is the JD(U)MP from Munger the LokSabha constituency underwhich Mokama assembly seg-ment falls. He had clinched the

seat defeating the MokamaMLAs wife Neelam Devi whocontested on a Congress tick-et by a huge margin.

However, Mishradebunked the allegations lev-elled by the MLA and pointedout the raid was carried out inpresence of a magistrate, inaccordance with law, as well asthe caretaker of the house.Moreover, videography hasbeen done of the entire exer-cise.

Singh was formerly knownto be close to Chief MinisterNitish Kumar but fell out withthe latter ahead of the 2015assembly elections which led tohis exit from the JD(U) andcontesting and retaining hisseat as an Independent.

Thereafter, the MLA —known for his strong-arm tac-tics — has been accusingJD(U) leaders of conspiringagainst him to get him framedin criminal cases. PTI

Srinagar: A Kashmir-basedjournalist, who was picked upfrom his home in Pulwama bysecurity forces on Thursdaynight, has been released on abond, officials said on Friday.

Irfan Malik, a correspon-dent with the Greater Kashmirnewspaper, was questionedbefore being released, theysaid.

It was not immediatelyknown as to why was hedetained. Officials, however,

said a bond is taken fromthose who indulge in anti-social activities.

After the Governmentremoved Jammu & Kashmir'sspecial status on August 5, itimposed restrictions on freemovement of people, prevent-ed large gatherings, put curbson telecom connectivity andannounced closure of schoolsand colleges.

A few preventive deten-tions of individuals were alsomade in accordance with theprovisions of the law to main-tain peace, a senior official saidon Friday.

A media centre was set upto enable media to coverevents in the state with regu-lar press briefings by seniorofficials, the officials told jour-nalists. PTI

,��&�� Jammu: The National PanthersParty (NPP) on Friday said aparty delegation would be meet-ing central leaders in Delhi toapprise them of some of theimmediate concerns of the peo-ple in the wake of the reorgan-isation of J&K. The NPP team,comprising of former legislatorsand some senior leaders, woulddiscuss among other things the

desirability of enactment ofdomicile laws so as to protect theland of state subjects from get-ting into the hands of outsideland mafia, NPP chairman andformer minister Harsh DevSingh said in a statement here.The team will also demand tofurther protect the interests ofthe local youth in the employ-ment, he added. PTI

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In a major embarrassment forthe Trinamool Congress, the

Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) probing the larger con-spiracy angle of the Sharadhaand other chit fund cases, onFriday, interrogated ParthoChatterjeem, a comparativelyless controversial face of theBengal ruling outfit.

In a similar vein, CBI alsoquestioned former KolkataPolice Commissioner RajivKumar in Rose Valley case.

Chatterjee, one of thesenior-most leaders, a key aideof Chief Minister MamataBanerjee and State EducationMinister, was grilled for aboutfour hours in connection to theSharada chit fund case, sourcessaid adding his name croppedup during the interrogation ofTMC Rajya Sabha MP DerekO’Brien and party general sec-

retary Subroto Bakshi.“Chatterjee's name sur-

faced up during the question-ing of Mr O'Brien last week,sources said adding “we got hisname in connection withalleged funding of the party'snewspaper, Jago Bangla.”Chatterjee is the editor of theTMC mouthpiece and O’Brienis the publisher.

On the reason of him beingquestioned in the chit fund caseChatterjee said he had beencalled to not on individualcapacity but to explain someorganisational transactionsbetween the Sharada groupand the party as such.

CBI sources saidChatterjee’s statements wererecorded and would becounter-checked adding “Ifneed be he may be summonedlater on.”

The CBI earlier turneddown the request of Kumar

who had earlier sought amonth’s time for appearance.

The former CP, currentlyacting as the AdditionalDirector General of CID, wasquestioned for more than threehours and was asked to explainhis role in some transactions atBurdwan. He was questionedabout his role in some land dealat Burdwan, inside sources said.

Meanwhile, Kumar onFriday got a judicial respitewith the Calcutta High Courtextending the order stoppinghis arrest till September 3. TheCourt had earlier directed himnot to venture out of his offi-cial bungalow and to appear atthe CBI office whenever askedto do so.

A major political stormkicked up last year when theChief Minister personallydescending on the streets insupport of Kumar after CBIraided his bungalow.

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Panaji: People dependent oniron ore mining in Goa onFriday urged Union HomeMinister Amit Shah to con-vene a meeting of the Groupof Ministers (GoM), led byhim, to discuss the issue ofresumption of the industry inthe state.

The GoM, which has beenformed to examine the vexedissue of mining in Goa,includes Union Ministers forFinance, Environment,Agriculture, Mining,Commerce and Industries,Petroleum and Law. It is led byShah.

"The complete closure ofmining in Goa since March

2018 has had a devastatingeffect on the dependents of theindustry. This has severelyimpacted the state's economyand resulted in a heavy drainon the revenues," PutiGaonkar, president of the GoaMining People's Front(GMPF), said.

GMPF is an umbrellaorganisation of the peoplerendered jobless following theclosure of the key industry.

"A GMPF delegation,under the leadership of GoaChief Minister PramodSawant, wants to meet Shah topresent our case before himonce again...This would helpsustain the livelihood of lakhs

of people and provide a strongboost to the ailing economy ofthe state," he added.

The GMPF representa-tives had met Shah in Januarythis year to discuss the issue.

"A follow-up meeting wassupposed to be held by Julyend. However no such meet-ing has taken place so far.Hence, we request the homeminister to kindly convene ameeting of the GoM on themining issue at the earliest," hesaid.

The mining industry inGoa has come to standstillsince March 2018 after theSupreme Court quashed 88mining leases. PTI

Kozhikode: A 31-year old manwas arrested on Friday near herefor allegedly giving instant tripletalaq to his wife, in the first suchcase in Kerala after the practicebecame a criminal offence,police said.

E K Ussam (31) was arrest-ed in Mukkom following a war-rant issued by the ThamarasseryJudicial First Class MagistrateCourt. This is the first arrest inthe state under the MuslimWomen (Protection of Rights onMarriage) Act, 2019 after theParliament passed the tripletalaq bill last month and thePresident gave his assent to it,

police said. "On the basis of thedirections of the magistrate, hewas arrested and producedbefore the court. His wife haddirectly complained to the courtwhich issued the warrant," asenior police official told PTI.

The man has been chargedunder section 3 which makespronouncement of talaq bywords, either spoken or writtenor in any other manner what-soever void and illegal and sec-tion 4 that provides for pun-ishment with imprisonmentfor a term which may extend tothree years and shall also beliable to fine. PTI

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Jaipur: The father of a Dalitman who was allegedly beat-en to death last month after hismotorcycle hit a woman inRajasthan's Alwar district hascommitted suicide, police saidon Friday.

They said Ratiram Jatav(60) consumed a poisonoussubstance on Thursday, amonth after his son died at aDelhi hospital.

Harish (28) had sustainedserious head injuries on July16 after he was allegedlythrashed by a group of menwhen his motorcycle hit thewoman.

No suicide note has beenrecovered and Ratiram's bodyhas been kept at a hospital'smortuary for post-mortem,Chaupanki police station in-charge Vijay Kumar Chandelsaid.

His family members onFriday refused to get the post-mortem conducted. They helda protest at Alwar's TapukdaCommunity HealthcareCentre, demanding compen-sation and a job for one of the

family members.Alwar Superintendent of

Police Anil Paris Deshmukhsaid Ratiram's family hasdemanded a compensation ofRs 1 crore.

He added that the accused

in Harish's killing have beenbooked under section 302(murder) of the Indian PenalCode (IPC) and the investi-gation is underway.

Blaming the Congress-ledRajasthan government for the

incident, state BJP spokesper-son Satish Punia demanded aCBI inquiry into Harish'skilling.

"Ratiram committed sui-cide as he was disappointedover not getting justice for hisson. Accused named in theFIR have not been arrestedeven after a month of Harish'sdeath," Punia said at a pressconference.

"It seems that protection ofDalits and majority commu-nity is not the state govern-ment's priority. The govern-ment tried to sweep the mat-ter under the carpet by givingRs 4 lakh compensation (toHarish's family)," he added.

Punia claimed that thepolice booked the accusedunder section 302 of the IPConly after the local leadersprotested. PTI

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A34-year-old man was killedand 17 people were injured

after lighting struck the south-ern gates of historic VictoriaMemorial in Kolkata. The con-dition of all those injured con-tinued to be critical but stable,sources at the SSKM Hospitalwhere they were rushed in bythe police said.

Three other persons of afamily were killed by lighting atPurulia bordering Jharkhand,sources said. The thunderstruck when the farmers wereworking in the field. One per-son was seriously injured andwas undergoing treatment.

The rain gods finallysmiled on South Bengal —

which had thus far experi-enced more than 50 per centshortage in average rain fall —pouring down heavily onFriday late noon even as theweather man predicted heavyshowers for another 48 hours.

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Vadodara: As many as 35crocodiles have been rescued sofar from various parts of thecity ever since heavy rains bat-tered the city and its sur-rounding areas over a fortnightago, a forest official said onFriday.

The city and its adjoiningareas had received nearly 500mm of rainfall in a day tillAugust 1 morning, which hadcreated a flood-like situation.Water from the overflowingVishwamitri river entered sev-eral localities in the city, bring-ing with it many crocodiles.

According to the official,till August 8, around 22 croc-odiles had been rescued. After

that, at least 13 others were res-cued from various parts of thecity.

"Apart from the forestdepartment, volunteers ofNGOs working in the field ofwildlife and animal welfare, aswell as teams of NDRF areinvolved in the task of safelycapturing and rescuing croco-diles from parts of the city,"Vadodara range forest officer(RFO), Nidhi Dave, said.

"They had captured 22 croc-odiles till August 8. After thatthey rescued another 13 croco-diles from different localities inthe city, thereby taking the totalnumber of crocodiles rescued to35," she added. PTI

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Bengaluru: Apparently facedwith cr it ic ism from asection of villagers and polit-ical class, Karnataka ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa onFriday dropped the offer torename flood-hit villagesafter donors who contributemore than �10 crore for reliefworks.

The offer has now beenmodified, and the ChiefMinister said such donorscontributing for the develop-ment of the flood-affectedvillages would have the newlayouts, which would comeup there, named after them,not villages.

"Clari f icat ion: ChiefMinister had announced thatdonors contributing morethan �10 crore will have thelayouts named after them, notthe villages," he tweeted.

Yediyurappa's announce-

ment on Wednesday at ameeting with industrialistsand corporates in the wake oflast fortnight's rain fury thatleft 62 people dead, that vil-lages would be renamed aftercompanies if they give morethan Rs ten crore had drawncriticism from some villagersand the JDS.

The contention of thosevillagers and some JDS lead-ers is that changing villagename is nothing short of los-ing one's identity.

The JD(S), headed by for-mer Prime Minister HD DeveGowda, had termed the move"Tughlaq"-like.

".. Please don't make peo-ple who have lost everythingin the floods to lose the nameof their village," the party hadsaid.

"Do not put Karnataka upfor sale". PTI

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Thane: A court here has sen-tenced three brothers fromMaharashtra's Palghar district toseven years of rigorous impris-onment for physically torturingpatients at the de-addiction cen-tre run by them and also forpractising black magic on them.

Thane district court judgeShailendra Tambe, in his orderpassed on Wednesday, alsoimposed a fine of Rs 1.2 lakh oneach of the convicts KantilalPurushottam Deshmukh (52),Nandkumar (58) and Umesh(46). Additional public prose-cutor Rekha Hiwrale told thecourt that the trio ran Om ShivArogyadham Daru MuktiKendra, a de-addiction centre inWada, which was previously inThane district.

However, they used to beatpatients with belts and otherthings. They used to threatenvictims that if they don't followdirections, they would undergopain and also face consequences.This continued between 2010and 2015, she said.

The court relied on thestatements given by over a dozenvictims and inspector SanjayHazare, who investigated thecase.

Hazare told the court that adozen victims and their relatives,who had come to the de-addic-tion center, were mercilesslybeaten in the name of drivingaway evil spirits.

The court found the trioguilty under IPC sections 420(cheating and dishonestly induc-ing delivery of property), 323(voluntarily causing hurt), 506(criminal intimidation) and 201(causing disappearance of evi-dence). PTI

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Jodhpur: The railways onFriday cancelled operations ofThar Link Express that connectsJodhpur in India to Karachi inPakistan, officials said, a devel-opment that temporarily snapsall rail links between the twocountries, as the services ofSamjhauta Express have alreadybeen suspended.

The railways said it can-celled the services of Thar LinkExpress from Jodhpur asPakistan has already suspendedits operations on their side.

"We have been continu-ously chasing Pakistan about thestatus of Thar Express runningon its end. But we have not gotany response. We cannot leaveour passengers in limbo. So inview of Pakistan cancelling thetrain on its end, we have alsodecided to cancel its operationon our end till further orders,"North Western Railway's ChiefPublic Relations Officer AbhaySharma told PTI.

Another railway spokesper-son said here that the Thar LinkExpress would not undertake itsjourney scheduled for early

Saturday (1 am) and the admin-istration has initiated theprocess of cancellation of all the45 tickets which have beenissued so far.

"The directions (to suspendthe train) were issued by therailway ministry to the NorthWestern Railway on Friday,"said Gopal Sharma, thespokesperson for JodhpurDivision-NWR.

The weekly train departsfrom Jodhpur's Bhagat Ki Kothirailway station on Saturdaysand reach Munabao, the last sta-tion on the Indian side of theborder, early morning of the day.At the zero point on the inter-national border with Pakistan,passengers change trains. Anda train from Pakistan then takesthem to Karachi.

"Till now, 45 tickets havebeen issued. But with this orderin effect now, we are cancellingthe tickets," said Sharma.

The Thar Express has beenrunning between Jodhpur andKarachi since services resumedon February 18, 2006 after a 41-year suspension.

The train service was notsuspended even after the dead-ly terrorist attack in Pulwama onFebruary 14 which sent the ten-sion between the two countriessoaring.

According to estimates, overfour lakh passengers have takenthe train in the past 13 years.

Last Saturday, the trainhad departed from Bhagat KiKothi station with 165 pas-sengers. The train fromPakistan was also received suc-cessfully by India with as manypassengers.

Pakistan had last weekannounced suspension of alltrain services to India after theCentre scrapped provisions ofArticle 370 and divided Jammu& Kashmir into two Union ter-ritories.

Pakistan also stopped theLahore-Wagah SamjhautaExpress services — the main raillink between the two hostileneighbours. Following the move,the Indian Railways announcedon Sunday that it has cancelledthe New Delhi-Attari SamjhautaExpress on its side. PTI

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In yet another setback to theOpposition NCP ahead of the

October 2019 State Assemblypolls, former MLA DhanrajHaribahu Mahale — who hadquit the Shiv Sena and joinedthe Sharad Pawar-led party andcontested the recent Lok Sabhapolls from Dindori constituen-cy — returned to the parentparty on Friday.

Mahale, who had unsuc-cessfully contested the LokSabha polls on an NCP ticket,rejoined the Shiv Sena in thepresence of its presidentUddhav Thackeray. Uddhavwelcomed Mahale back into theSena by tying a saffron threadon the latter’s hand symbolis-ing ‘Shiv Bandhan’ and hand-ing him a party flag.

The NCP has been losing itsleaders to the ruling Shiv Senaand BJP one after another inrecent months in the run-up tothe State Assembly polls.

First, it was NCP’s formerminister and once Pawar’sclose-confidant Jaydutta

Kshirsagar from Beed districtin Marathwada who quit theNCP and joined the Shiv Senaon May 22, 2019. later on July10, sitting MLA from ShahpurPandurang Barora quit theNCP and entered the Sena.Later, NCP’s Mumbai unit pres-ident Sachin Ahir quit theparty and joined the ruling ShivSena on July 25.

Similarly, three sittingMLAs Shivrajendra Bhosale(Satara), Vaibhav Pichad (Akolein Ahmednagar district) andSandeep Naik (Airoli in NaviMumbai), NCP’s former stateNCP president and SharadPawar’s erstwhile confidantMadhukar Pichad, NaviMumbai’s former Mayor SagarNaik and NCP’s former womenpresident Chitra Wagh joinedthe BJP on July 31.

Mahale’s re-entry to theShiv Sena is a classic case ofpolitical musical chair gamebeing witnessed inMaharashtra ahead of the StateAssembly polls. Mahale hadquit the Shiv Sena to contest theLok Sabha polls on a NCP.

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Opposition parties mayallege Edappadi

Palaniswami-led AIADMKGovernment as corrupt andinefficient. But that has notdeterred the Chief Ministerfrom taking steps to facilitategovernance easily accessible tothe people of the State. Whileaddressing the theIndependence Day Parade atFort Saint George in Chennai,the Chief Minister deliveredyet another pro-people act bydeclaring the formation oftwo more districts in the State.

With the announcementof two more districts, Ranipetand Thirupattur by trifurcat-ing the district of Vellore,Tamil Nadu will have 37 dis-tricts. The number of districtsin Tamil Nadu went up by fiveduring the last eight months.

“We have created 85taluks and 11 revenue divi-sions since 2015,” said RBUdhayakumar, Tamil NaduMinister for Revenue. He alsosaid that the creation for newdistricts was the first steptowards effective administra-

tion.“You can watch a marked

difference in the quality ofgovernance with the creationof these new districts. TheDistrict Collectors who are thebosses of the districts wouldfind it easy to monitor theprogress of governmentschemes and ensure that theaspirations of the populationget fulf i l led,” saidUdhayakumar.

S Ramdoss, founder, PMKand a staunch critic of theEdappadi PalaniswamyGovernment was the first tocongratulate the chief minis-ter for the bold initiative.“This is a right step in theright direction. The districtsin Tamil Nadu have becomedifficult to administer becauseof population explosion andthe area of each unit . Smallerarea and lesser populationshould be the criteria to carveout districts. The districtadministration should be ableto attend to the grievances ofthe public within minutes andresolve them fast,” DrRamadoss told The Pioneer.

The PMK founder is alsoof the view that there is

enough potential to carve outsmaller districts from theexisting large land mass. “I feelthe number of assembly andparliamentary constituenciestoo should be increased basedon the population. This wouldmake it easy for legislators andParliament members to gojustice to their electorate,”said Ramadoss.

Most retired civil servantstoo made it known that morethe number of districts, thepeople stand to benefit.“There will be employmentgeneration in government ser-vices as well as in businessestablishments. It will be awin-win situation,” saidSwaran Singh , a former ChiefSecretary.

People who are familiarwith local body governanceare of the view that once thelocal bodies are in place afterthe election, the quality ofadministration would be vis-ible. “Based on the present daypopulation, Tamil Nadushould gave at least 60 districtsfor speedy and fair gover-nance,” said Ramadoss whobelieves in the dictum small isbeautiful.

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With three more deaths,the toll in the flood-

ravaged western Maharashtrarose to 54 on Friday, even asthe authorities restored amajority of flood-ravagedroads and bridges and dis-tributed a total cash relief of�16.88 crore among the floodvictims in the Pune revenuedivision.

Sangli, which is one of thetwo worst flood-hit districts inwestern Maharashtra afterKolhapur, accounted for amaximum of 26 deaths,including 17 persons killed ina boat tragedy on August 8.

While there have been 10deaths in Kolhapur, Pune andSatara districts have reportednine and eight deaths respec-tively. There has been onedeath in Solapur district. Fourpersons have been missing inSangli, Kolhapur and Punedistricts.

The situation in Sangliand Kolhapur districts, whichwitnessed unprecedentedfloods early this month, is fastreturning to normal. “We haverestored traffic on the 37 outof the total 47 damaged roadsin Sangli. In Kolhapur, traffichas resumed in 65 out of the

total 88 roads which had beenclosed early this month. StateTransport bus services haveresumed on 39 out of 45 routesin Sangli and on 26 out of 31routes in Kolhapur district,”Pune DivisionalCommissioner Dr DeepakMhaisekar said.

With banking servicescrippling back to normal in theaffected areas, the banks havereopened 229 ATS out of total329 ATMs in Sangli districtand 390 out of 647 ATMs inKolhapur district.

The relief work has pickedup pace during the past fewdays. “We have distributedcash relief amounting to atotal of �16,88,75,000 among33,775 flood victim families infive districts of the Pune rev-enue division at the rate of�5000 per family. Similarly, wehave distributed 2388.9 quin-tals of wheat, 2,388.9 quintalsof rice and 10,251 litres ofkerosene among 23,889 affect-ed families,” Mhaisekar said.

As many as 7,847 cattleincluding cows, bulls and buf-faloes have perished in theflood waters, while more 1,065goats, sheep and 160 calves ordonkeys have either beenkilled or have gone missingduring the floods.

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Thiruvananthapuram/Bengaluru/Amaravati: The situationin Kerala and Karnataka, bat-tered by heavy rains over thepast several days improved onFriday with the combined toll inthe two states rising to 176,while the Krishna and Godavaririvers in Andhra Pradesh werein spate.

Over five lakh people havebeen housed in 1,758 reliefcamp in these three states.

There was some respite forthe rain battered Kerala for thesecond consecutive day, evenas the toll climbed to 111with more bodies beingretrieved from landslide hitareas in Malappuram andWayanad districts. The sunnyweather helped in search oper-ations as more bodies wereretrieved from Kavalapparain Malappuram andPuthumala in Meppadi in

Wayanad, the worst hit in thesecond spell of rains sinceAugust 8.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan said 31 persons were stillmissing and over 1.47 lakh arein 891 camps across the state.

"111 lives lost; 31 missing.Now there are 891 relief camps.1,47,286 persons from 46,450families are in these camps.

As per initial estimates 1,116houses were fully damaged,11,935 houses suffered partial damages," Vijayan tweeted.

In Karnataka, the toll in rainrelated incidents went up to 65on Friday with the recovery ofthree more bodies, according toofficials

While 14 people are stillclassified as missing, nearlyseven lakh people have beenevacuated till date.

The Karnataka government

said inflows into reservoirs hasreduced and the situation hasimproved in affected districts ofnorth, coastal and Malnadregions, where the rain fury hadcreated mayhem in the last cou-ple of weeks.

As many as 849 relief campsare operational in Karnataka,housing 3,20,106 people, anofficial release said.

It said 103 taluks in 22 dis-tricts have been affected byfloods and incessant rains overthe past few days,resulting in lossof agriculture and horticulturecrops on 6.9 lakh hectares anddamaging 74,374 houses.

In Andhra Pradesh, morethan 4,200 people have beenmoved to relief camps as theKrishna river is in spate, caus-ing floods and affecting life inseverals mandals of Guntur andKrishna districts on Friday,authorities said. PTI

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Kohima: Nagaland GovernorRN Ravi said on Friday that allsubstantive issues betweennegotiators and the Centre onthe Naga political problemhave been resolved and assuredpeople that Article 371(A) ofthe Constitution will not berepealed.

Ravi, who was earlier theinterlocutor for the Naga peacetalks, said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had told himbefore he joined as Governorthat the Naga peace processmust be concluded within threemonths.

Chief Minister NeiphiuRio expressed hope that thevexed issue would be settledsoon with Ravi taking over asthe Governor of Nagaland.

Ravi, who assumed officeon August 1, quoted the PrimeMinister as saying, "Now wemust conclude the peaceprocess... Having resolved all

the issues we must do it with-in three months time."

"We need to do it becausethe status quo as it standstoday is unbearable to theNaga people," the Governorsaid.

Referring to the fear in thepeople on withdrawal of Article371(A), which gives certainspecial rights to someNortheast States, he said it is asolemn commitment of theGovernment of India to theNagas and not impermanent asArticle 370.

He said there is no simi-larity between articles 370 and371(A), which is a product ofover three years of negotiationbetween the people ofNagaland and the Centre. Thegovernor said any attempt todraw a parallel between the twoarticles is either due to misun-derstanding, or is mischievous.

"Even in our negotiations

that we are at today, we are try-ing to bring something morethan what 371(A) says andthere is no question of dilutingit, but to strengthen it," he tolda gathering of tribal bodies,civil societies, citizens and leg-islators of the state at a civicreception by the State in hishonour.

On the Naga peace process,he said, "All the substantiveissues have been resolved andthere is nothing left. We (Naganegotiators and the Centre)have agreed that with theCentre recognising the uniquehistory of the Nagas, the set-tlement is on the basis of powersharing and peaceful coexis-tence."

"We know the sentimentsin the neighbouring States. Weare not opposed to integrationof Naga areas, in fact we haveconsidered and accepted ithappily," he added.

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Bengaluru: The JD(S) onFriday took a dig at the one-man Cabinet of the BSYediyurappa Governmentclaiming that the ChiefMinister is both the proposerand approver of projects worththousands of crores of rupees.

The regional party alsoinvoked "Nikhil Yellidiyappa"(Where are You Nikhil) cam-paign, on Yediyurappa and asked"YadiyurappaCabinetYellappa"(Yediyurappa where is cabinet).

"Nikhil Yellidiyappa"phrase with its multiple funnyversions had gone viral duringthe Mandya Lok Sabha pollcampaign, from where JD(S)

leader and former ChiefMinister H D Kumaraswamy'sson Nikhil Kumaraswamy wasthe party candidate.

Nikhil lost to SumalathaAmbareesh, an independentcandidate supported by theBJP.

"Minutes of KarnatakaCabinet meeting held recently-Yadiyurappa (Yediyurappa)called Yadiyurappa for cabinetmeeting. Yadiyurappa pro-posed projects worth thou-sands of crores.

Yadiyurappa approved allthe projects proposed byY a d i y u r a p p a .#YadiyurappaCabinetYellappa,"JD(S) tweeted.

Yediyurappa, who tookoath as the Chief Minister onJuly 26 and proved his govern-ment's majority on the floor ofthe assembly on July 29, is yetto induct any minister into hiscabinet.

Yediyurappa is currently ona visit to Delhi during which hewould hold talks with partypresident Amit Shah andfinalise the much awaitedexpansion of his cabinet.

Yediyurappa had onThursday said he would be inDelhi on Friday and the dayafter. "I will also talk to AmitShah regarding cabinet andcome to final decision beforecoming back," he added. PTI

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Bengaluru: The Congress inKarnataka onFridaythreatened to agitateagainst the "anti-people" standof the BJP government in thestate as well as the Centre, andslammed the latter for notreleasing Rs 5,000 crore forflood relief in Karnataka.

"We have been demand-ing release of Rs 5,000 crore asan interim relief, which theunion government is yet totake adecision.

That is why we aredemanding either to act ortoresign and go. Otherwise we

are going to expose theanti-people attitude of the BJP inthe floor of the House andsoalso in the public," Congressspokesperson V S Ugrappatoldreporters.

He slammed the unionministers "for doing nothing"even after visiting the State.

"The union government, itappears, is going to send ateam. If that was the casethen why NiramalaSitharaman (finance minis-ter) visited, why Amit Shah(union home minister) visitedKarnataka? PTI

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Lauding the contribution ofparty workers on his birthday,

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Friday said the AamAadmi Party (AAP) will win allthe 70 seats in the Assembly elec-tion next year. Kejriwal addressedhis party workers who came togreet him on his 51st birthday.

"I want to thank the AAPworkers for their contributiontowards the party. In lastAssembly elections, we won 67seats but this time we will win all70 seats," he said in a video post-ed on the AAP’s official Twitterhandle.

It may be recalled that theAAP had registered a landslidevictory in the last Assembly elec-tion and won 67 out of the 70seats in Delhi. Congress thatruled Delhi for consecutive threeterms was relegated to zero seatswhile Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) could manage only threeseats. BJP increased its tally to

four after MS Sirsa won RajauriGarden assembly seat by-elec-tion.

Prime Minister NarendraModi also wished the chief min-ister on his birthday. "Birthdaygreetings to Delhi CM Shri@ArvindKejriwal. Praying forhis good health and long life,"Modi tweeted. Replying to himthe Chief Minister said "Thanku so much PM sir for ur goodwishes"

Leader of Opposition inDelhi Vijender Gupta, his WestBengal counterpart MamataBanerjee, former Jharkhand chiefminister Hemant Soren and BJP

MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar,among others who greetedKejriwal on his birthday.

"Wishing you a very happybirthday, Arvind ji," Banerjeetweeted. "Thank u so muchDidi," replied Kejriwal. Guptaalso wished Kejriwal on hisbirthday. "I wish Arvind Kejriwalji on his birthday. I wish you along and healthy life," he said.

Delhi Lieutenant GovernorAnil Baijal also greeted ChiefMinister. "Birthday wishes toChief Minister, GNCTD Sh@ArvindKejriwal ji. I pray for hisgood health and long life!," hetweeted. Several Bollywoodcelebrities, including directorsVivek Ranjan Agnihotri andShirish Kunder, also wishedKejriwal. "#HappyBirthdayAKyou literally changed Indian pol-itics," Agnihotri tweeted.

Riteish Deshmukh tweeted"Happy Birthday@ArvindKejriwal ji - May godgrace you with good health &happiness."

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President Ram Nath Kovindvisited All India Institute of

Medical Sciences (AIIMS) toenquire about the health condi-tion of former Finance MinisterArun Jaitley on Friday. However,AIIMS administration has notissued any official statementregarding his health conditionsince August 9, after he wasadmitted in the ICU after hecomplained of breathlessnessand restlessness. Jaitley is said tobe critical. Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan and Minister ofState for Health AshwiniChoubey were also present dur-ing president's visit to the hospi-tal.

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spokesperson AbhishekSinghvi said it was a failure onthe part of the government’sforeign policy to allow inter-nationalisation of the Kashmirissue in the UN.

“This is a grave diplomat-ic failure of the government. Infact, it is worse, it is a gravestrategic failure at a time whenIndia’s Foreign minister is inChina,” he told reporters.External Affairs Minister SJaishankar, who concluded histhree-day visit to Beijing onMonday, conveyed that thedecision to revoke the specialstatus of Jammu and Kashmirwas an internal matter forIndia.

Singhvi said Jammu andKashmir, and Ladakh isIndia’s internal issue andnobody, group or organisa-tion can assert to the contrary.It is for the first time in 48years that the UN has takenup the Kashmir issue, he said,adding that this is a glaring“diplomatic failure” by the

BJP government.“I implore and beseech

the prime minister not toremain silent...I urge theprime minister to pick up thephone and talk to all India’sfriends to get this meetingcancelled,” he said. Singhvisaid as he is making thedemand for getting the UNmeeting cancelled, he fearsbeing dubbed by the BJP as“anti-national”.

He said this is not a dis-missable issue as this is some-

thing that has not happenedfor decades and is beingallowed to happen now. TheUnited Nations SecurityCouncil will meet here onFriday to discuss India revok-ing the special status ofJammu and Kashmir afterPakistan wrote a letter on theissue to the world body.China, the all-weather ally ofPakistan, asked for “closedconsultations” in the Council,which will meet to discuss the matter.

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With landlines, mobiles andinternet connections

blocked, television channelshave become a mode of com-munication in Kashmir for peo-ple in the Valley and also forthose elsewhere in the countryand abroad. From the anxiousto the prosaic, the messages onlocal cable channels and region-al channels of national newschannels with viewership inthe state are varied. Some wantto know about the wellbeing oftheir kin inside the Valley, somepost they are fine and others usethe medium to pass on infor-mation.

The number has comedown sharply after the Jammuand Kashmir government putinto action about 300 publiccalling offices (PCO) for people,but messages are still coming insteadily on channel helplines, aprivate channel official said.Pooja Mishra from Lakhimpurin Assam posted a message ona channel wanting to knowabout her brother, who workswith the Army and is posted inthe state. Pinki from UttarPradesh asked her friend Basitin Charar-e-Sharief how he andhis family were doing. There are

many messages about mar-riages, simply communicatingthat the function will now beperformed in “simplicity”.

Khaled from Kupwara, whois studying in Bangalore, told hisfamily he is fine and also askedthem to send his books throughhis sister when she travels laterthis month. The messages arenot limited to people residingin country. There are also postsfrom Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubaiand Kuwait, informing andinquiring about safety statuses.

Several students studying inBangladesh posted messagesabout their safety. It’s all free,channel officials said. Accordingto a News 18 Urdu official,thousands of messages from dif-ferent parts of the country andabroad have come in.

“We have a particular num-ber in Hyderabad. People sendthe messages throughWhatsApp and we use them onthe ticker,” he said. There hasbeen a virtual communicationsblackout in the Valley sinceAugust 5, when the Centrerevoked Jammu and Kashmir’sspecial status.

It has also announced thebifurcation of the state into theunion territories of Jammu andKashmir, and Ladakh.

The International Panel on ClimateChange’s (IPCC) latest report,released earlier this month and stat-ing that the process of producingand making food available

accounts annually for a quarter of globalgreenhouse gas emissions, requires seriousattention. The second in the series of theorganisation’s specially-focussed reports andentitled Climate Change and Land, the valid-ity of its observations is hardly in doubt.

Agriculture cuts both ways. As thereport says, it accounts for 37 per cent of allgreenhouse gas emissions if one takes intoaccount both the percentage generated byglobal food production and activities liketransportation and the work of energy andfood processing industries. On its part, climatechange adversely impacts agriculture byaffecting cropping pattern and reducingcrop output through changing temperaturesand unpredictable weather fluctuations.Worse, a quarter of the food produced is lostor wasted and, as the report further points out,“global food loss and waste contributed 8 to10 per cent of total anthropogenic (man-made) GHQ (greenhouse gas) emissions”during 2010 and 2016.

Besides agriculture, a number of land-based activities like forestry, cattle-rearing andurbanisation have contributed to the carbonload. While noting this, the report also takesinto account the manner in which climatechange impacts these. It further argues thatmeasures like reduction in food wastage, sus-tainable agricultural practices and the con-sumption of more plant-based rather thananimal-based food could reduce the emissionof greenhouse gases estimated to be about 49billion tonnes of CO2 annually.

It will not be easy to implement thereport’s recommendations. It will take a hugeexercise of will by several billion humanbeings. Dietary habits, evolving ever sincehumankind appeared on earth, will be dif-ficult to change. These, however, will haveto, particularly since options are available.The alternative can be as drastic as theextinction of the species.

The danger is very real. Other specieshave been disappearing at an alarming rate.A report by the World Wildlife Fund’s(WWF) conservation group, titled LivingPlanet, said human activity had wiped out,between 1970 and 2014, 60 per cent of all ani-mals with backbones — fish, birds, amphib-ians, reptiles and mammals. Referring to suchactivity, the WWF International’s director-general, Marco Lambertini, has said that hunt-ing, shrinking habitat, pollution, illegal tradeand climate change had been too much forthem to overcome.

The subject of mass extinction has beencausing worry for quite some time. IanJohnston writing in The Independent of theUnited Kingdom in 2017, cited scientists writ-ing in a special edition of the magazine,Nature, that humans were causing the sixthmass extinction of life on earth. Earlier,

Elizabeth Kolbert had written inThe Sixth Extinction: AnUnnatural History (first pub-lished in 2014), “Very, very occa-sionally in the distant past, theplanet has undergone change sowrenching that the diversity of lifehas plummeted. Five of theseancient events were catastroph-ic enough that they’re put in theirown category: The so-called BigFive. In what seems like a fantas-tic coincidence, but is probablyno coincidence at all, the histo-ry of these events is recovered justas people come to realise that theyare causing another one.”

There is no reason whyhumans can escape the process.A major cause is the populationincrease under way. Referring toit, Desmond Morris predicts inThe Naked Ape: A Zoologist’sStudy of the Human Animal,that a time will come when “thedensities we are now experienc-ing in our major cities wouldexist in every corner of theglobe. The consequences of allthis for all forms of wild animalsis obvious. The effect it wouldhave on our own species isequally depressing.”

Morris adds shortly there-after, “Long before our popula-tions reach the levels envisagedabove we shall have broken somany of the rules that govern ourbiological nature, that we shallhave collapsed as a dominantspecies….Many exciting specieshave become extinct in the pastand we are no exception.” Morris’

critics argue that the humanmind will, through technology,find a way of preventing this. Thisis laughable. Technology wouldremain a formulation on paperif the environment in which it hasto be applied disappears.Humankind has evolved, and issustained by, support from a widerange of plant and animal speciesproviding it with food and habi-tat. No technology can sustain itif these disappear.

Particularly severe will be theimpact of mass extinctions on thehuman mind, which PaulShepard writes in ThinkingAnimals: Animals and theDevelopment of HumanIntelligence, is at the centre ofhumanity’s pride in its indepen-dence “from animals and animal-ity.” According to him “the mindand its organ, the brain, are inreality that part of us mostdependent on the survival of ani-mals. We are connected to ani-mals not merely in the conve-nience of figures of speech — azoological equivalent of ‘floweryspeech’ — but by sinews that linkspeech to rationality, insight,intuition, and consciousness’.Animal images and forms play acritical role in the shaping ofhuman “personality, identity, andsocial consciousness. They arebasic to the development ofspeech and thought.”

The situation is grim.Addressing a preparatory meet-ing of the UN Climate ActionSummit scheduled to be held in

September, 2019, the UNSecretary General, AntonioGuterres had said in Abu Dhabion June 30 that climate changewas advancing at a rate that wasoutpacing efforts to address it.While lauding the Paris agree-ment, he said that the worldwould face a catastrophic threedegrees Celsius rise in tempera-ture by the end of, century.

Things would start becom-ing worse even earlier. TheSpecial Report on GlobalWarming of 1.5°C, released byIPCC on October 7, 2018, hadobserved that at the currentrate, the global mean tempera-ture — which is already onedegree Celsius above the pre-industrial revolution level — islikely to rise to the 1.5-degreemark sometime between 2030and 2052. It further stated thatwarming, even if limited to1.5°C, would not reduce the risksand impacts of climate change.Sea levels will continue to risebeyond 2100, threatening coastalecosystems and infrastructure.Flooding, drought and extremeweather events will wreak havocon communities around theglobe. Many species will contin-ue to be driven toward extinctionand marine ecosystems couldface “irreversible loss.”

The September meeting ofthe UN Climate Action Summithas its work cut out.

(The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and anauthor)

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Map of India” (August 16). PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in hisaddress to the nation on indepen-dence day once again made a freshpitch for simultaneous polls to theLok Sabha and State Assembliesbut did not elaborate on how it canbe done with an outdated poll sys-tem. It is essential that Modi takesthe initiative for consolidated andmassive poll reforms, which havebeen deferred for decades in thename of political consensus.

A Chief Minister (or thePrime Minister) should be simul-taneously elected with the Speakerand Deputy Speaker by secret andcompulsory votes through EVMsequipped with VVPAT on nom-inations signed by at least 34 percent of the House’s members.

Such elected incumbentsmay be removed only throughthe same process but only afteran alternative leader is named inthe same motion. This is the onlyway to prevent hung legislativebodies and unstableGovernments and pave the wayfor simultaneous elections.

SC AgrawalNew Delhi

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Gambling for high stakes”(August 13) by Deepak Sinha and“Lost art of development”(August 14) by Ashok K Mehta.

A major point made by Sinhawas that Kashmiriyat died thevery day the Hindu minoritywas targetted and forced to flee

the Valley to become refugees intheir own country. This point isconspicuously absent in GenMehta’s article.

Further, Gen Mehta quotesHaseeb Drabu, former FinanceMinister of Jammu & Kashmir,who said that linking Article 370to the “lack of development wasmisplaced” and that “the lack ofpublic and private investment wasdue to militancy and violence.”

But the root cause of militan-cy was not analysed objectively.Despite Article 370 being in placefor seven decades, a section ofMuslims refused to mainstreamthemselves. In this connection, itwill be apt to quote whatAmerican economist and andsocial theorist, Thomas Sowell,said: “When people get used topreferential treatment, equaltreatment seems as discrimina-

tion.” The abrogation of Article370 did just that.

SC PandaBhubaneswar

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Nature’s fury” (August 14). Thecatastrophic impact of monsoonrainfall has not just impactedKerala, Karnataka andMaharashtra but torrential rains inother States like Gujarat, Bihar andMadhya Pradesh, too, have creat-ing havoc. While the respectiveState Governments were pro-activein providing relief operations, it’stime we ask some tough questionsabout their preparedness to dealwith floods. While such extremeweather-related events can beattributed to climatic factors we,too, have failed to do our bit inunderstanding the monsoon andfinding ways to deal with its fury.

The vagaries of weatherdemand cooperation betweenStates and all stakeholders,including the Jal Shakti Ministry.

Bal GovindNoida

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All through its tenure beginning 2014, theModi Government demonstrated a highdegree of sensitivity to millions of poor and

downtrodden and spent prodigious sums on pro-viding basic amenities such as affordable hous-ing, electricity, sanitation, toilets, fuel and lique-fied petroleum gas (LPG), health care, educationetc to improve their lot.

In the last five years, it built 1.5 crore afford-able housing units and nine crore toilets, gave 2.6crore and seven crore electricity and gas connec-tions respectively and assured free medical treat-ment up to Rs 500,000 that covered 10 crore fam-ilies (or 50 crore people).

Under Modi 2.0, the government has vowedto build 1.9 crore houses by 2022, give 1.4 croreelectricity connections and provide safe drinkingwater to all homes under the ‘Jal Shakti Abhiyan’.

It is also investing Rs 100 lakh crore in build-ing infrastructure such as irrigation facilities,roads, national highways, expressways, railwayprojects, ports, airports, waterways etc thatwould indirectly help improve the quality of lifeof millions of citizens. For instance, a vast net-work of rural roads enables farmers to carry theirproduce to the market with ease and in lesser time,thereby improving price realization and augment-ing income.

These are welcome measures that havehelped millions extricate themselves from pover-ty. Indeed, this was a major factor that enabledModi to secure a resounding mandate to be at thehelm of affairs of the country for another term.But, there’s a flip side to it, which relates to financ-ing of these investments that are being done inan ‘opaque’ and ‘non-transparent’ manner.

During 2018-19, the National Bank forAgriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)raised Rs 30,000 crore to finance the UnionGovernment’s rural affordable housing, sanitationand irrigation projects. The Housing and UrbanDevelopment Corporation (HUDCO) andNational Housing Bank (NHB) provided Rs20,000 crore to finance affordable urban hous-ing projects. Likewise, the Rural ElectrificationCorporation (REC) and Power FinanceCorporation (PFC) raised Rs 19,331 crore to fundthe Centre’s rural electrification schemes whichinclude free electricity connections to households.

The Food Corporation of India (FCI) bor-rowed Rs 70,000 crore from the National SmallSavings Fund (NSSF) to finance the shortfall infood subsidy allocation vis-à-vis the actualrequirement (including loans taken during 2016-17 and 2017-18 which were not paid back despitethe Centre’s commitment to do so. Incidentally,the FCI’s cumulative borrowing from the NSSFis around Rs 200,000 crore).

Similarly, fertiliser manufacturers borrowedRs 33,000 crore from commercial banks undera special banking arrangement (SBA) to fund theshortfall in budget provision for fertiliser subsidyas against the actual need.

Likewise, in the case of fuel subsidy, the PublicSector Undertakings (PSUs) involved in market-ing of LPG and kerosene, for instance Indian OilCorporation Limited (IOCL), Bharat PetroleumCorporation Limited (BPCL) and HindustanPetroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) tookloans to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore during 2018-19 to make up for unpaid dues by the Centre.

In the infrastructure sector, theNational Highways Authority of India(NHAI) borrowed Rs 61,000 crore forexecuting highways projects; IndianRailway Finance Corporation (IRFC)borrowed Rs 52,297 crore to fundimplementation of railway projects andPower Finance Corporation (PFC) tooka loan of Rs 97,000 crore to finance gov-ernment-sector power projects.

All these loans or Extra-BudgetaryResources (EBRs), though taken byPSUs, other state agencies and fertilis-er manufacturers under SBA are onbehalf of the Union Government andbacked by sovereign guarantee. TheUnion Government is solely responsi-ble for discharging these liabilities, yet,it decides not to reflect this on its bal-ance sheet. As such, these debts are notincluded in the reported Fiscal Deficit(FD).

All put together, the EBRs add upto a whopping Rs 407,628 crore thattranslates to about 2.3 per cent of theGross Domestic Product (GDP).

Had they been included, the FD for2018-19 would have been 5.7 per centinstead of 3.4 per cent reported in theUnion Budget. During 2017-18 also,according to the Comptroller andAuditor General (CAG), the FD wassuppressed by 2.4 per cent, courtesy theEBRs.

Most of the off-Budget borrowingsare meant for financing current con-sumptions like subsidies on food, fer-tilisers, fuel etc or investment for a bet-ter life for millions of poor families byproviding them affordable housing,free electricity connections, free gas con-nections, toilets and so on. Theseexpenditure or investments don’t yield

any returns for the Union Government.Even spending on infrastructure fails togenerate adequate revenue to fullyamortise the investment, as a sizeablechunk of the services and utilitiesoffered through these projects areunderpriced. A few cases in pointbeing, power to farmers and poorhouseholds, subsidised rail fare forpassengers and toll-free roads, etc.

This inability to make even inter-est payments and the ever-increasinggap between available resources andactual requirement having to be met bymore borrowings, leads to debt pile-upto ‘unsustainable’ levels. What makes thescenario appalling is that this debt is noteven seen on the balance sheet of theUnion Government. It seems that theCentre is sitting on an ‘invisible’ fiscalvolcano which could erupt without anywarning, and cause widespread devas-tation of unimaginable dimensions inthe process.

A government hiding its real stateof fiscal health gives wrong signals tovarious stakeholders, including for-eign investors. It can prompt them toreview their decision to invest in India(the plan to go for overseas sovereignborrowings — announced in the UnionBudget for 2019-20 — could be in jeop-ardy). The greater damage will beinflicted by way of further postpone-ment of long-pending reforms in cru-cial sectors like food, fertilisers, power,fuel etc, which otherwise have hugepotential for expenditure saving.

For funding the �100 lakh croreinvestments, in infrastructure in fiveyears, the government is banking a loton participation of the private sector. If,the former keeps an easy option on the

table (read: EBRs by PSUs and otheragencies), there would be less effort ingarnering the support and involvementof the latter.

There is an urgent need for bring-ing about transparency in funding ofwelfare schemes and investment ininfrastructure. All loans taken on behalfof the sovereign government, irrespec-tive of who borrows, should appear onits books and be included in the FD.This will give a true and fair view of theCentre’s finances and enable investorsto make credible assessment and takeinformed decisions.

The government will be forced toshed populism and restrict welfareschemes only to the most deserving. Itwill also have to carry out long-pend-ing reforms in key sectors such as food,fertilisers, fuel, power etc to allow for anincreased role of market forces with aview to reduce cost and enhance effi-ciency in operations and give subsidiesonly via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).This, together with increasing tax col-lection (we are still far from realizing thefull potential of the Goods and ServicesTax) will help in garnering the requiredresources for infrastructure and welfareof the poor, even while sticking to thefiscal target.

The CAG has recommended thatthe government should put in place apolicy framework for reining in EBRswhich, amongst others, should alsoinclude disclosure to the Parliament.This lacklustre approach won’t do.Modi should go for completely doingaway with the practice of off-budgetfinancing.

(The writer is a New Delhi-basedpolicy analyst)

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Two consecutive Augusts havebrought only bad news forthe country, the BJP and

thousands of admirers of two of themost sophisticated, refined andrespected leaders of our times. Onethe mentee (Sushma Swaraj) of theother, while the other being amentor to perhaps thousands of us.

On this day last year, India lostone of its most progressive primeministers, Bharat Ratna Atal BihariVajpayee, the reformer in chief andthe original architect of a 21stCentury India. He started his careeras a journalist, but destiny had otherplans and he found himself in pol-itics. As a parliamentarian, he spentdecades in the Opposition, whichgave him the unique opportunity toidentify and, more importantly,highlight problems successive gov-ernments created sinceIndependence.

This experience came handyonce he became the Prime Minister.Even though he got the post thrice,and was destined to complete onlyone of those terms, still, in an eraearmarked by coalition politics, he

showed how a non-Congress gov-ernment could not just rule butprovide a strong and stable govern-ment.

The first time he became thePM, his government lasted just 13days and during the trust vote heshared an important flaw in India’spublic discourse. In his concludingspeech, he asked political parties tothink about the interest of peopleand work together in the event offractured mandates rather thanlook at petty political interests. Hepointed out that parties and govern-ments would come and go but thedemocratic set-up must be strength-ened, even as he resigned.

As no other political partymanaged to provide a stable gov-ernment, elections were held again.This time too, the BJP emerged asthe single-largest party, and he wasre-elected as PM. His short 13-month stint as PM was highlight-ed by two major achievements.First were the Pokhran-II tests,which were successfully conduct-ed despite international pressure.Though sanctions were imposed on

India post the tests, however, heappealed to Non-Resident Indians(NRIs) to invest or remit to Indiato help mitigate their impact. To thesurprise of many, Indians settledabroad rallied to the cause and senthuge amounts of money.

The other achievement was thedefeat of Pakistan during the Kargilconflict. Vajpayee became India’sfirst serving PM to enter an activewar zone as he visited soldiers inKargil to boost their morale.

During the 1999 elections, theNational Democratic Alliance,under the leadership of Vajpayeesecured a sizeable number of seatsand a stable government wasformed. Over the course of the nextfive years, India saw unprecedent-ed focus on developing a strongeconomy, public infrastructure andrural road networks. Be it the over-haul of the Public DistributionSystem or the Sarva ShikshaAbhiyaan, the focus was on makingIndia a modern country. It comes asno surprise that one of the most suc-cessful disinvestment drives hap-pened under his leadership.

In many ways, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s programmes are alogical extension of NDA-I. Be itinvestments in infrastructure, focuson education and delivery of pub-lic goods, Modi has amplified thescale of these programmes andstrengthened Vajpayee’s legacy. Hehas re-established ‘good-governance’in the country. If Vajpayee showedIndia that a non-Congress coalitioncould provide a strong govern-ment, Modi has shown that a non-Congress government can emergewith a majority on its own and helpIndia attain newer heights.

However, Vajpayee’s mostimportant legacy was in terms of hisdiplomatic efforts and success in sta-bilizing South Asia. He made sev-eral efforts towards mending rela-tions with all neighbours, includingPakistan, and even Modi, in his firstterm worked extensively to put inplace a dialogue process. The factthat political instability in Pakistanderailed it is a separate issue, but thefact that genuine attempts weremade by both will go down in his-tory as a sincere attempt to resolve

the 70-year-long conflict. Anotherparallel can be drawn when oneconsiders the Indo-US relationsnurtured by Vajpayee and strength-ened by Modi. The fact that theserelations were nurtured by Vajpayeedespite the US imposing sanctionspost Pokhran-II tests reflects hispragmatic foreign policy as he reit-erated that US and India were nat-ural allies.

However, Vajpayee was beyondpolitics and it was perhaps hishumble nature combined with clas-sic wit that made him one of India’smost adored leaders. For instance,it was very rare for him to say ‘no’to matters that were brought underhis consideration. His style was toask others to think more on the sub-ject as he navigated complex issueswith ease. Throughout his career, hewas known as the right man in thewrong party to which he respond-ed by asking how could he be rightif he was in the wrong party andhow could the party be wrong if hewas right?

A poet, at heart, I rememberonce we went to his place in the late

1980s as student leaders and heasked if we were hungry. We said yesand to our surprise, he cookedkhichdi for all of us; that was his sim-plicity. In one interview he men-tioned Chilli Chicken as hisfavourite food. The surprised inter-viewer asked him if it was the mostprudent answer given that he was aBrahmin. He replied, “If we aren’thonest to the people, then why arewe even in politics?”

After becoming the PM, hebecame concerned by the numberof restrictions on his personal free-dom. Fond of street food, it was per-haps this that he missed the most,along with his ability to cycle withhis best friend, LK Advani, ridingpillion. Post 2004, he retired fromactive politics and was away frompublic life from 2008 onwards.

There are very few partner-ships in politics that stand the testof time. The dynamic duo of Atal-Advani was one of those whereboth leaders stood side by side asthey built a political movement.They both often disagreed buttheir political and personal equa-

tions remained separate through-out their career. Often when theydisagreed during party meetings orlater in Cabinet meetings, they’dmeet for dinner and discussmovies. The Modi-Shah partner-ship is very similar to their part-nership and has built upon thispolitical movement to make it theworld’s largest political party.

The fact that despite Vajpayeebeing away from public life since2008, last year saw an entire nationstand still and mourn the loss of thecharismatic statesman, speaks vol-umes about the impression that he’sleft on all of us. A careful study ofhis life reveals how his politics wasgoverned by simplicity, honestyand integrity. While it is rare to findstatesmen like him, India would belucky if more leaders take inspira-tion from the life and times ofVajpayee.

(The writer is national con-venor of Project Samagra Atal ji,director at Public Policy ResearchCentre and was a member of thesocial media election committee forBJP in 2019 elections)

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Benchmarks Sensex andNifty pared early losses tosettle marginally higher

on Friday as participants tookheart from the governmentconsidering measures to aid theailing economy and the globalmarkets showing someresilience.

Flipping between lossesand gains for a better part of thesession, the 30-share Sensexsettled 38.80 points, or 0.10 percent, higher at 37,350.33. It hitan intra-day high of 37,444.45and a low of 36,974.41.

The broader NSE Niftygained 18.40 points, or 0.17 percent, to close at 11,047.80.During the day, it swungbetween a high of 11,068.65and low of 10,924.30.

During the holidays-cur-tailed week, the Sensex lost231.58 points, or 0.60 per cent;while the NSE Nifty gave up61.85 points, or 0.55 per cent.On a weekly basis, both indiceshave posted five losses in sixweeks.

Indian equity markets wereclosed on Monday andThursday for public holiday.

Concerns over economicslowdown, weak earnings andglobal trade volatility have beenweighing on investor sentiment,experts said.

Stocks of banking and auto

sectors got a boost amid buzzthat the Centre will come outwith stimulus measures to helprevive consumer spending invarious sectors.

In view of fast-spreadingslowdown in key sectors, theIndian government on Thursdayreviewed the state of the econ-omy.

Riding on news about pos-sible stimulus measures, autocounters rose as much as 2.74per cent on the BSE.

Among the auto companies,Maruti was the biggest gainer,followed by Hero Motocorp,Bajaj Auto, Mahindra andMahindra and Tata Motors.

Yes Bank topped the list ofbanking sector gainers as alsothe Sensex chart with 3.79 per

cent. Other gainers from thebanking vertical on the bench-mark index were IndusIndBank, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank,ICICI Bank and SBI.

Top five Sensex gainers wereYes Bank, PowerGrid, MarutiSuzuki, IndusInd Bank and AxisBank.

On the other hand, TCS,Vedanta, HCL Tech, HDFC andRIL fell.

Sectorally, BSE utilities, auto,power, bankex, telecom, financeand realty indices ended up to1.50 per cent higher.

BSE IT, energy, teck, metaland healthcare indices fell up to0.78 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap andsmallcap indices too ended inthe green.

Equities in Europe weretrading on a positive note intheir respective early sessions.

Elsewhere in Asia, ShanghaiComposite Index, Hang Sengand Nikkei ended in the green,while Kospi settled lower.However, Asian equities loggedlosses on a weekly basis.

Meanwhile, China hintingplans to take measures to spureconomic growth helped reviveinvestor sentiment globally.

Sanjeev Zarbade, VP PCGResearch, Kotak Securities, said,“Global markets are seen endingin the red for the week on lin-gering concerns of trade war.This is taking a toll on the glob-al investor confidence. Easing ofbond yields are pointing towardsslowdown in global economy.Indian markets also ended lowerthis week on disappointing earn-ings and selling by foreigninvestors.”

India’s economic growthhas slowed to 6.8 per cent in2018-19 — the slowest pacesince 2014-15. Consumer con-fidence is waning and foreigndirect investment has plateaued.International trade and curren-cy war is further aggravating theproblem.

Meanwhile, the Indianrupee appreciated by 13 paise to71.14 against the US dollar.

Brent crude futures, the glob-al oil benchmark, rose 1.89 percent to USD 59.33 per barrel.

New Delhi (PTI): Withthe “complexities of issues”being faced by Jet Airways,financial results for the Junequarter are yet to be finalisedand the process is taking time,according to a communication.

The affairs of Jet Airways,which closed down its opera-tions on April 17, are now beingmanaged by resolution profes-sional Ashish Chhawchhariaunder the insolvency law.

In the communication tothe exchanges, Chhawchhariasaid that prior to the com-mencement of the resolutionprocess, directors, chief execu-tive officer, chief financial offi-cer, company secretary andother top management per-sonnel had resigned from thecompany. “Further, the accessto data was not available untilmid-July. Pending book closureprocess, financial results for thequarter ended June 30, 2019,have not been prepared/finalised till date...” he noted.

He also said the require-ment under Regulation 33 ofSebi LODR (Listing Obligationsand Disclosure Requirements)cannot be compiled with with-in the prescribed timelines.

One of the requirements isthat listed companies have toreport their financial resultswithin a specified time framefrom the end of a particularquarter.

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Fitch Ratings on Fridayraised the outlook on

Reliance Industries (RIL) topositive from stable due to thecompany’s potential to furtherdeleverage following itsannouncement to eliminate itsnet debt by March 2021.

In a statement, Fitch said itis revising “the outlook onRIL’s Long-Term Local-Currency issuer default rating(IDR) to Positive from Stableand has affirmed the rating at‘BBB’.”

“At the same time, theagency has affirmed the Long-Term Foreign-Currency IDR at‘BBB-’ with a Stable Outlook,as RIL’s Foreign-Currency IDRis capped by India’s (BBB-/Stable) Country Ceiling of‘BBB-’,” the statement said.

The revision in the outlookfollows RIL announcing plansto sell a 20 per cent stake in itsoil-to-chemical division toSaudi Arabian Oil Company(Saudi Aramco).

This provides RIL potentialto “further deleverage” aftereliminating its net debt by thefinancial year 2020-21.

“We forecast its adjustednet debt/EBITDAR to reach1.5x over the next 18 to 24months,” Fitch said.

The rating affirmationreflected RIL’s strong businessprofile — a large-scale refinery

with a capacity of around 1.2million barrels a day and dom-inant market position in petro-chemicals.

“The company has com-pleted capex to increase itsdownstream integration, whichhas improved feedstock flexi-bility,” the rating agency saidadding it expects RIL’s digital-services business, Jio, to con-tinue its strong growth.

Jio has achieved a leadingposition in its wireless sub-scriber base, though it is stillevolving, as reflected in therecent spinoff of its tower andfibre assets to investment trustsand plans to roll out a fiber-to-the-home business.

“RIL’s financial profile isalso likely to improve, sup-ported by strong operatingcash flow from its expandedpetrochemical and refiningbusiness. Capex should mod-erate from FY’20, with free cashflow turning positive in FY’21,”it added.

Fitch said RIL’s capex isexpected to fall following thecompletion of most plannedprojects in its various businesssegments.

The company’s expansionof its fiber business is likely tobe the major capex driver overthe medium term, along withits investment in the domesticupstream business of aroundUSD 5 billion in a joint venturewith BP plc over the next two

to three years.Free cash flow (FCF)

should turn positive by FY’21,driven by robust operatingcash flow from its refining,petrochemical and digital-ser-vices business along with lowercapex, it said.

“We expect the digital-ser-vices business to turn FCFpositive in FY22, hence it willno longer be a drag on RIL’soverall cash flow profile. Thisshould see lower net debt andnet leverage, as measured bynet adjusted debt/EBITDAR,should improve to around 1.7xby FY21, from 2.5x in FY19,without factoring in the pro-posed investment from SaudiAramco,” it said.

RIL has entered a non-binding letter of intent withSaudi Aramco to sell a 20 percent stake in its oil-to-chem-ical division based on a USD75 billion enterprise value forthe division. Earlier, RILagreed to form a joint venturewith BP where the Britishfirm will invest Rs 7,200 crorefor a 49 per cent stake in fuelretail network and aviationfuel business.

RIL has also entered intoan agreement with Canada’sBrookfield InfrastructurePartners L P for an invest-ment of �25,200 crore in Jio’sTower Infrastructure Trust(Reliance Jio Infratel Pvt Ltd).

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��A>(��%��=��New Delhi (PTI): Gold prices on Friday surged �475 to

�38,420 per 10 gram at the bullion market here on fresh buy-ing from jewellers, according to the All-India Sarafa Association.

Tracking gold, silver also gained �378 to �44,688 per kgon increased offtake by industrial units and coin makers. Pick-up in demand from local jewellers at the domestic spot mar-ket led to the rise in gold prices, analysts said. They, however,added that the weak global trend restricted the gains.

In the national capital, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 puri-ty on Friday surged �475 each to �38,420 and �38,250 per 10gram, respectively. Sovereign gold held flat at �28,700 per eightgrams. Silver ready rose �378 to �44,688 per kg, while week-ly-based delivery advanced by �594 to �43,824 per kg. Silvercoins were in good demand and traded higher by �1,000 at�90,000 for buying and �91,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

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TEAMLEASE 2593 2593 2497.5 2511.15PFIZER 2990 3012.4 2933.55 3003.65HDFCAMC 2220 2269 2189.45 2263.15TECHM 658 660.9 646.2 659.15SUNTV 438.15 446.05 428.75 444.7JUBLFOOD 1160 1160 1104.35 1113.1DISHTV 24.3 24.7 23.55 24.3IOC 126.55 127.35 125.3 126.25CEATLTD 883 883 847.2 856.45POWERGRID 204.75 213.3 202.4 211.25M&MFIN 313 323 304.95 319.55HONAUT 23399 23400 23005 23208.6ICICIPRULI 385 390 376.85 389.25GRAPHITE 286.75 292 282 289GODREJIND 448.75 459.35 438 453.95CENTURYTEX 891.5 910.8 873.5 906.5SAIL 37 37 35.95 36.15INDIACEM 80 80 77.7 78.3ADANIPORTS 357.95 358.1 350 357.35LICHSGFIN 485 486 473.7 480.55PVR 1428.05 1428.05 1366 1383.35ADANIENT 129.5 134 128.3 132.75RAYMOND 623.4 640.2 606.85 632.15SHANKARA 243.05 258 243.05 257.2BHEL 51.6 51.75 50.25 51.35MRF 57355.8 57866 56627.7 56800.5GESHIP* 235 237.9 232.45 235.95NBCC 35.2 35.2 33.55 33.95MINDTREE 702.05 702.7 685 700.05DCBBANK 195.9 206.9 194.25 205.55FEDERALBNK 84.8 85.5 83.6 85.25RECLTD 145 148.8 143.45 148.25NTPC 117.35 119.25 116.55 117.85BPCL 353 355.05 346.5 351.35UJJIVAN 278.1 285.25 275.35 284.1CANFINHOME 375.3 378.75 372.6 374.9TATAPOWER 55.5 56.35 54.05 56.1LAKSHVILAS 44.95 47.1 42.7 47.1DIVISLAB 1530.1 1530.1 1491.1 1506.5ACC 1593.7 1594.45 1571 1590.5FORCEMOT 1064.8 1135 1035.9 1119.3CHOLAFIN 264.6 267 261.6 265.45MCX 853.9 857.45 838.45 850.05HSCL 84.95 84.95 81.1 81.95

MUTHOOTFIN 618.15 637.5 617.5 635.15HAVELLS 654 661.35 648.5 650.65HINDZINC 206.3 210.65 199.05 207.9ENGINERSIN 103.55 107.9 103.55 104.5HEXAWARE 380 388.3 378.45 387.4RADICO 322 339.95 320 331.05CIPLA 478.75 483.05 474.7 476.25BHARATFORG 400 400.55 389.5 397.95HCLTECH 1075.6 1075.75 1051.1 1061.65THYROCARE 446.5 446.5 437.7 438.65GLAXO 1200 1215.3 1194.05 1213.2IBVENTURES 203.4 208.3 197.9 204.3RCOM 1.22 1.26 1.19 1.24BALKRISIND 729.7 743 714.65 719.8TRENT 445.15 476.6 445.1 465.6BOMDYEING 71.9 74.75 70.25 73.35ITDCEM 70.75 73.7 70.55 72.1EDELWEISS 143 143.15 132.7 134SIEMENS 1161.7 1174.6 1142 1160.4NMDC 104.05 104.1 101.7 102.85STRTECH 139.5 143.05 138.3 141.25TORNTPOWER 284.2 292.3 284.2 288.8MFSL 405.55 422.5 398.6 418.85TATAGLOBAL 263.5 269.5 263.5 266.85DABUR 431.95 431.95 427.1 428.15WOCKPHARMA 285 287 281.1 282.15UBL 1376.95 1381.5 1334 1338.8VENKYS 1312 1396.35 1306 1362RNAM 241.85 257.6 241.5 254.65ABB 1365 1367.4 1338.55 1359.75JKCEMENT 990 1019 980.15 1011.5BERGEPAINT 366 367.1 361 365.9SUNTECK 464.9 467.1 455 460.75AMBUJACEM 213 215 209.95 213.95TORNTPHARM 1681.65 1685 1642.85 1647.2PETRONET 245.5 245.5 240.7 241.2WABAG 272.2 294.7 272.2 291NESTLEIND 12099 12099 11933.7 12011.1BANDHANBNK 500 507.1 497.05 502.4

EQUITAS 108 113.4 108 112.4GODREJCP 630 637.9 612.65 622.7NIITTECH 1298.1 1298.1 1261 1288.85FSL 46.4 49.35 45.7 48.5PGHL 4485.15 4567 4440 4448.95INFRATEL 248.7 250.9 243.25 248.75GMRINFRA 15.03 15.36 14.77 15.26AJANTPHARM 974.5 1009.75 962.2 996.45ITI 70.5 76.5 69.65 75.2PNBHOUSING 718.7 741.95 717.6 729.35LALPATHLAB 1122.15 1200.7 1114 1177.35ORIENTBANK 66.65 67.8 65.6 67.1DCMSHRIRAM 400 425.9 400 407.4PCJEWELLER 35.5 35.5 33.55 33.7KAJARIACER 484 487.3 478 481.5NATIONALUM 41.35 41.5 40.7 41.25SWANENERGY 100 104.15 99.3 102.4JAICORPLTD 76 77.2 74 75.45TATACHEM 559.3 559.65 548.6 555.8BLISSGVS 99 99.8 96.5 97.85ABFRL 194.15 194.4 187.7 189GNFC 193.7 195.5 191.15 194.45DELTACORP 162.35 163.35 156.35 157.55CADILAHC 227 227 214.9 217.65GRUH 260.5 265.45 259.15 263.65NAUKRI 2182.8 2198.9 2174 2188.8MARICO 395.65 395.65 388.05 392.35IDFC 32.6 34.7 32 34.3PAGEIND 18050 18200 17769.5 18163AVANTI 299 306 297.3 302.7HEIDELBERG 192.35 202 189.55 199.4RPOWER 3.6 3.64 3.44 3.54SUZLON 4.12 4.46 4.12 4.39BOSCHLTD 13389 13790 13080.8 13760EMAMILTD 299 304.45 297.75 301.05DEEPAKNI 263 274 263 271ABCAPITAL 88 88.85 86.5 87.75HINDCOPPER 31.35 33.35 30.2 32.5LAOPALA 157 160.2 156.2 158.35AMARAJABAT 628.1 628.1 612.05 618.35KTKBANK 78.1 79.25 77.5 78.9RCF 44 45.35 43.3 44.45ABBOTINDIA 9124.95 9226.55 9100 9136.3TNPL 177 182.9 168.2 181.15SPARC 157.25 157.4 152.2 153.25INDIANB 183.55 185.65 178.2 183.9HFCL 18.9 19.1 18.75 18.8VIPIND 386.15 388.75 380 384.25MMTC 19.5 21.45 19.1 20.85GALAXYSURF 1215.75 1270 1214.85 1259.4DBL 397.05 400.8 392.4 394.45J&KBANK 39.35 39.35 37.55 37.8GSFC 71.2 71.75 69.8 71.25JUBILANT 440 455 433.2 447.25NHPC 23 23.35 22.6 23.15MEGH 46.95 48.8 46.7 48FRETAIL 418.9 422.7 414.5 418.65CUMMINSIND 587.7 597.4 583.7 594.8NESCO 531.45 537.9 500 530.05IBULISL 99.75 110 99.75 104.55GICRE 188.9 188.9 180 182.25OIL 152 154.25 148.95 152.75IRB 90 92 89 90.35ADANIGAS 153.5 155 151.7 153.2NILKAMAL 988.5 1050 987.3 1031.5SHILPAMED 292.8 292.8 255.2 258.35INDHOTEL 135.15 135.15 130.3 132.2CASTROLIND 116.55 120.05 115.5 119.05SHREECEM 19467.15 19599.05 19222.05 19443.5MRPL 54 54 50.1 50.6CONCOR 476.05 477 467.75 468.6GUJGAS 187.7 188.55 183.6 184.1ATUL 3679 3679 3560 3570.35RAMCOCEM 737 737 721.25 730.1EXIDEIND 180.7 180.7 178 178.85GODREJAGRO 448.6 449.85 446 448.85NATCOPHARM 546.05 549 537.5 544.5VINATIORGA 2120 2145.2 2090.3 2105.25ENDURANCE 834.9 874.55 830.95 865.2REPCOHOME 290 317 276 310.55BAJAJHLDNG 3304 3431 3229 3414.75JISLJALEQS 22 22.2 20.5 21.75CGPOWER 17.85 18.15 17.35 17.95RAIN 84.5 85.8 82.05 83.6IPCALAB 931.5 947.95 930 939.5KANSAINER 460 481.25 458.5 478.15DCAL 186 186 173.35 178.25SOBHA 486 486.5 462.6 474.15AAVAS 1577.65 1604.7 1569.65 1595.45KEI 469.5 474 450.2 468.15IEX 149 149 143 143.1GICHSGFIN 215 215.95 194.4 196.4GDL 106.4 108.95 101.15 102.7PHILIPCARB 121.5 123 119.9 120.75AUBANK 695 699 682.55 697.1TATACOMM 442.3 450.1 440.6 441.75JAMNAAUTO 33 34.8 32.95 33.55SUVEN 235.95 235.95 226.55 233.75CYIENT 437.3 437.3 420.2 430.65TTKPRESTIG 5808 5998.9 5700 5762.6ALBK 37.65 37.65 35.8 36.15VGUARD 223.65 230.5 223.6 227.8JINDALSAW 69.95 71.25 67.15 70.55FINOLEXIND 524.2 534.75 510 513.9INOXLEISUR 284.35 296.1 282 291.85APLAPOLLO 1262.65 1350 1260 1322.4INTELLECT 214.7 222.15 213.05 219.75MINDAIND 311.6 315.35 301.2 308.5NOCIL 84.8 85.7 82.6 82.85

SCI 26.6 27.3 25.9 273MINDIA 20901 21135.7 20820 20879.95ZENSARTECH 216.75 218.85 214 215.85JCHAC 1520 1611 1511.25 1572CARERATING 555 581.5 555 574.15GRANULES 93.8 95.5 92.1 93.85BAYERCROP 3071 3120 3022 3099.5KRBL 222.05 233.8 222 229.5JBCHEPHARM 376.8 376.8 374 376SOUTHBANK 11.68 11.68 11.45 11.55PTC 57.9 57.9 56.65 57.75FCONSUMER 33.6 33.6 32.15 33CROMPTON 227 227.5 225.4 226.65ASTERDM 121.3 123.9 120.8 122.85HUDCO 34.4 34.4 32.7 33.1VMART 1729 1743.25 1714 1717.6SANOFI 6290 6340 6265.15 6297.05INFIBEAM 43 43.25 42.35 43.05SUPREMEIND 1117 1117 1090 1108.6ESSELPRO 101.85 104.4 89.05 98.4VBL 650 656.95 615 654.05JKTYRE 56.05 56.8 55.4 56.1MAHSCOOTER 3716.5 3877 3716.5 3868.05WABCOINDIA 6057 6115 5869 6063.85LAXMIMACH 3795 3835 3775 3787.1TATAINVEST 804 813.7 787.1 794.6ASTRAZEN 1696.35 1748.35 1683.7 1708.4CUB 191.25 196.85 189.3 195.6UFLEX 226.5 226.5 222.45 223BALMLAWRIE 170.1 172 169 171.2LUXIND 1000.05 1055 998 1041.65ITDC 167.85 188 167.85 184SYNDIBANK 31.4 31.75 31.1 31.5GUJALKALI 409.6 411.55 408 409.9TV18BRDCST 21.25 21.25 20.6 20.9PARAGMILK 168.7 173.1 166.5 170CAPPL 447 454.95 441 445.8MPHASIS 961.4 979.9 959.95 976.7GSKCONS 7884.75 7943.95 7881.6 7907.15BBTC 806.05 813.75 800 805.25ADANIGREEN 46.3 47.6 45.75 46.8HERITGFOOD 346.5 357 341 344COROMANDEL 344.05 344.05 336.5 342.55RITES 230.1 230.1 225.75 228.7CHAMBLFERT 145.5 147.7 142.4 146.55OBEROIRLTY 537 544 532 534.9QUESS 455.85 455.85 445.55 450.2MOIL 129 129.3 127.7 128.7PGHH 10255 10324.4 10255 10305.65MHRIL 217.4 218.3 210.2 215.65MOTILALOFS 557.9 565.5 522.75 555.15KALPATPOWR 486 491.05 478.45 489.1FINEORG 1397.4 1435 1397 1432.45CENTURYPLY 133.6 135.7 133.3 134.1HSIL 225.2 237.95 222 234.5SJVN 24.6 24.6 24.15 24.25GRINDWELL 541.5 554.9 541.5 550.9WELSPUNIND 47 47.5 45.55 47.2PERSISTENT 516.15 516.15 503.55 511.55WHIRLPOOL 1537 1552 1536 1546.8JPASSOCIAT 2.42 2.46 2.4 2.43CHENNPETRO 194.65 197.4 192.4 193.85IFCI 7.4 7.58 7.36 7.39CREDITACC 506.05 523.2 505 514.5GREAVESCOT 115.7 118.2 115.5 117.65CRISIL 1254.35 1275 1227.6 1258.45JMFINANCIL 70.3 74.25 69.5 73.45JKLAKSHMI 321.7 328.45 320.4 327TIMKEN 699.9 714 691.7 700.05TATACOFFEE 73.2 73.8 71.75 73.25REDINGTON 97.8 104 97 102.45SONATSOFTW 318.2 320 311.15 318.9ASTRAL 1210 1217.65 1191.15 1209.5INOXWIND 46 46 41.1 41.95FORTIS 127.7 127.7 123.5 125.5SUPRAJIT 151.55 181.75 151.55 178.7PNCINFRA 199.65 204 199.5 202.75JSLHISAR 67 68.45 66 66.7HATHWAY 27 27 24.35 24.5TRIDENT 57.85 57.85 55.05 55.85WELCORP 115.3 116.5 113.3 115.05SUDARSCHEM 328.8 329.45 323.95 325.5TEJASNET 97 97 86.95 87.45CENTRUM 26.45 26.75 25.75 26.35KNRCON 235 238.8 228.65 234.15STARCEMENT 98.7 98.7 97.4 98.1SADBHAV 131.4 133.45 123.65 124.9KEC 286.75 291.85 286.75 289.3CENTRALBK 18.85 18.85 18.35 18.75DEEPAKFERT 86.5 86.5 83.9 84.5PRSMJOHNSN 80 84 80 83.1THOMASCOOK 170 170 164.15 167.4FDC 162 163.9 159.15 159.35JSWENERGY 67.5 68.1 67 67.95EIDPARRY 147.8 151.95 145.6 149.05SUNDRMFAST 407 410.6 401.9 406.65AEGISLOG 194.45 199.9 192.55 199JSWHL 2701 2741.4 2687 2691.05TVTODAY 297.45 307.55 296.05 300.2BASF 1012 1012 994.55 999.1NIACL 113.75 115.25 112.4 114.7NLCINDIA 55.1 55.25 54.7 54.75EVEREADY 80 82.25 77 77.35IRCON 352.2 354.75 349 353.25MAHINDCIE 155.1 161.2 155.1 159.4SCHAEFFLER 4108.05 4167.65 4100 4112.55GILLETTE 7230 7230 7000 7057.2INDOSTAR 282.1 288 275 277.2MAHLIFE 377.55 384.4 370 376.5

UCOBANK 15.4 16.05 15.3 15.85BLUESTARCO 710 719.7 697.2 700.45LAURUSLABS 332.65 339 332.65 337.9ASHOKA 120.7 120.7 117.3 118.6RALLIS 157.2 160 156.05 158.7BAJAJELEC 385 385.8 367.05 382.5TIMETECHNO 66 66.05 64.5 65.05COCHINSHIP 348.55 350.3 347.3 348.35EIHOTEL 159 159.95 154.3 155.75ANDHRABANK 18.55 19.3 18.55 19.15COFFEEDAY 62.95 62.95 62.95 62.95TAKE 102.9 102.9 99.2 100.25ADANITRANS 208.75 214.2 208.1 209.95DBCORP 154 158 154 156.35JSL 30.45 31.3 30.25 30.95BAJAJCON 269.7 269.7 255 255.7IOB 10.12 10.26 10.07 10.14LEMONTREE 54.05 54.05 51.9 53.55BDL 291.2 292.8 289.05 291.2THERMAX 1064.3 1064.3 1050 1058.55ORIENTELEC 161.5 163.8 161.2 161.75MASFIN 640 640 604.55 618.8NETWORK18 22.45 22.45 20 21.95HAL 658.65 662 645.05 653.7JETAIRWAYS 40.25 40.25 40.25 40.25GMDCLTD 64.8 66.55 64.8 66.15AKZOINDIA 1724 1730.95 1703.05 1705.3MAHSEAMLES 403.35 403.35 399.5 401.8MAHABANK 12 12.13 11.83 11.99ZYDUSWELL 1509 1509 1488 1497.45CORPBANK 19.5 19.5 19.05 19.35APLLTD 520.95 525.8 512 513.7MAHLOG 365.45 368.05 359.75 365.7ISEC 208.3 211.75 207.25 210UNITEDBNK 10 10 9.69 9.85RELAXO 427.8 431.55 423.85 426.2NAVINFLUOR 653 654.6 638.25 640.85IFBIND 641.5 648 632 644.45DHANUKA 316.5 329.9 316.15 325.95LINDEINDIA 513.8 515 496.75 506.9PHOENIXLTD 649.15 652.55 631.2 638.55SREINFRA 11 11.36 10.6 11.18FINCABLES 364.1 364.1 352.3 361.45ORIENTCEM 86.65 88.35 86 86.4ECLERX 510.05 518.9 483 491.9TIINDIA 354.95 359.35 348.1 352.2SYNGENE 306 308.8 300.85 307.35APARINDS 549.95 549.95 532.6 540.7VTL 909.95 924.65 906 914.9ALKEM 1779.55 1779.8 1754.15 1758.9ADVENZYMES 154.35 154.4 150.55 151.15SYMPHONY 1225.15 1256 1223.35 1245.2GEPIL 730 769.9 730 752.95ERIS 388 397 386.25 395.25ALLCARGO 94.4 97 94.15 94.65ELGIEQUIP 242 243 233 243KPRMILL 564 585 563 577.05HIMATSEIDE 135.55 137.95 135.55 136.2BIRLACORPN 562.2 570.5 560 564.4TATAMETALI 513.1 516 508.5 514.35GAYAPROJ 133.9 135.2 132.7 133.25AIAENG 1652.1 1666.65 1648 1650.85SKFINDIA 1840 1852 1819.75 1838.8SFL 1129.95 1170 1129.9 1137.65MONSANTO 1990 2046.15 1990 2039.25GET&D 161 161 152.2 156.4CHOLAHLDNG 470.05 472.6 464.15 472.05MINDACORP 88 88 84.2 85.75CARBORUNIV 276 283.5 276 280.85TCNSBRANDS 709.75 715.4 687 699.5SCHNEIDER 73.95 76.4 73.95 74.85GHCL 203.1 204 201 202.1CCL 241.7 244.15 240.15 243.1TRITURBINE 101.85 101.95 100 100.3SHK 121 121 117 118.5GPPL 79 79 77.5 77.9TVSSRICHAK 1661.3 1662 1639 1651.75ASAHIINDIA 190.7 197 190.5 195.15JYOTHYLAB 153 154.5 152.95 153.95MAXINDIA 58.8 58.8 57.8 57.85HATSUN 610.4 624 606 624VARROC 437.1 450 431 431.1MAGMA 69 71.1 68 70BLUEDART 2295 2313.1 2265 2313.1SOLARINDS 1080 1122.95 1080 1099.35GULFOILLUB 793.45 815 793.45 809.75SOMANYCERA 302 302 295.2 297.85SHOPERSTOP 382.95 382.95 375.1 379.45JAGRAN 66 67.65 65.7 67NBVENTURES 87.5 87.5 86.6 87SIS 797.55 813 797.55 804.25

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11,043.65 11,068.65 10,924.30 11,047.80 18.4UPL 526.9 553.25 522.05 551 23.8POWERGRID 204.1 214.25 202.3 211.2 6.05MARUTI 5,805.00 5,995.00 5,590.00 5,970.00 154YESBANK 79 81.45 76.85 78.5 1.95GRASIM 725.1 757.35 719.25 752.6 18.1INDUSINDBK 1,380.00 1,445.00 1,375.00 1,435.10 34.25GAIL 128.7 131.45 124.25 129.55 2.8IBULHSGFIN 521.5 562.5 498 561.7 10.35AXISBANK 664 678 656.85 675.1 11.9ITC 248.75 253.4 247.4 252.65 3.9ASIANPAINT 1,571.00 1,600.85 1,561.00 1,593.05 23.35BAJFINANCE 3,280.60 3,358.90 3,253.35 3,335.90 45.95HEROMOTOCO2,561.55 2,680.00 2,547.05 2,668.15 34BAJAJ-AUTO 2,712.05 2,760.00 2,661.35 2,748.20 34.3ZEEL 343.7 347.8 336.3 345.55 3.95BRITANNIA 2,500.00 2,505.00 2,442.00 2,499.50 20.6COALINDIA 200 202.85 199.7 202.1 1.6M&M 524.7 531.9 515.55 527.05 3.5KOTAKBANK 1,489.00 1,506.50 1,477.50 1,501.65 9.85BHARTIARTL 360 365 355 363.45 2.25ICICIBANK 417.8 420 412.1 419.2 1.9JSWSTEEL 226.35 228.95 221.6 228.45 0.7NTPC 117.4 119.3 116.6 117.95 0.35SBIN 287.95 292.8 284.3 290.3 0.55BAJAJFINSV 7,391.00 7,575.00 7,283.35 7,428.00 12.8ONGC 127.7 129.1 126.4 127 0.15LT 1,335.00 1,339.90 1,320.50 1,335.00 1.3INFRATEL 249 251 243.5 249 0.15EICHERMOT 16,600.00 16,720.00 16,183.40 16,580.00 5.35INFY 780 780.05 762.5 775 0.2TECHM 656.9 661 646.15 659.05 -0.05TATAMOTORS 119.9 122.45 117.35 120.65 -0.25IOC 127 127.4 125.25 126.15 -0.3HDFCBANK 2,214.00 2,233.00 2,204.10 2,223.95 -5.5CIPLA 477 483.4 474.5 477 -1.3ULTRACEMCO 4,226.00 4,244.35 4,198.00 4,203.55 -22.35WIPRO 250 251 245.05 249.6 -1.45ADANIPORTS 356.05 358.55 350 356.55 -2.3HINDUNILVR 1,838.00 1,847.55 1,816.05 1,826.75 -12.3TATASTEEL 360 366.9 355.45 361.9 -2.75RELIANCE 1,291.20 1,291.80 1,273.00 1,278.50 -9.75HINDALCO 179.1 181.5 173.7 179.15 -1.45DRREDDY 2,529.00 2,529.00 2,465.00 2,491.10 -20.85TITAN 1,075.00 1,084.30 1,070.20 1,074.65 -9.35HDFC 2,160.00 2,162.00 2,092.50 2,099.00 -18.7SUNPHARMA 419.4 421.4 410 413.4 -3.75BPCL 355.5 355.9 346.35 350.45 -4HCLTECH 1,076.90 1,076.90 1,050.50 1,061.80 -14.35VEDL 144.35 145.7 140.95 144.1 -2.45TCS 2,241.40 2,241.40 2,143.25 2,162.00 -42.4

SE 500B

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 25,837.50 26,021.85 25,693.65 25,999.60 85.6IDEA 5.65 6.85 5.4 6.45 0.8HDFCLIFE 515 543 513.6 540.7 23.7OFSS 2,990.00 3,100.00 2,990.00 3,094.00 108.45HDFCAMC 2,200.30 2,269.00 2,191.10 2,266.90 66.4SBILIFE 801.1 838.9 801.1 835.2 23.05BOSCHLTD 13,240.00 13,825.00 13,017.70 13,720.00 348.9ICICIGI 1,150.00 1,173.60 1,132.10 1,170.95 27.25BAJAJHLDNG 3,348.40 3,435.00 3,220.00 3,409.00 70.65ASHOKLEY 61.8 64.45 61.35 63.75 1.2PIDILITIND 1,355.00 1,373.00 1,340.00 1,372.50 25.3NHPC 22.75 23.4 22.6 23.25 0.4HINDZINC 204.95 208 199.25 207.9 2.95BANDHANBNK 499 507 497.8 504 6.4DLF 174.9 179.8 172.6 177.1 2.2BANKBARODA 100.05 103.25 99.45 102.35 1.25ICICIPRULI 385 390 376.15 389.9 4.65PEL 1,764.70 1,810.00 1,750.05 1,784.00 18.55L&TFH 103.5 105.85 102.3 104.9 1.05ABB 1,348.90 1,368.45 1,339.55 1,359.00 10.05BHEL 51 51.8 50.25 51.3 0.25PAGEIND 18,041.00 18,190.00 17,805.25 18,122.05 80INDIGO 1,572.00 1,615.35 1,572.00 1,605.00 5.5AMBUJACEM 213.9 214.95 209.65 214 0MARICO 392.4 393.35 388 392.7 -0.05MCDOWELL-N 584 594.9 580 587.95 -0.6PGHH 10,210.00 10,350.00 10,210.00 10,280.00 -15.4COLPAL 1,196.30 1,201.55 1,182.45 1,197.80 -2SIEMENS 1,152.10 1,174.80 1,140.55 1,159.50 -3.3HINDPETRO 245.9 250.4 241.65 245.5 -1.1DMART 1,484.00 1,500.00 1,472.00 1,483.50 -7.1CADILAHC 218 219 214.75 216.95 -1.05MOTHERSUMI 98 99.95 96.5 98.4 -0.5ACC 1,590.00 1,595.00 1,571.05 1,589.00 -8.4AUROPHARMA 605 611.9 595.15 601.9 -3.6NIACL 113 115.2 112.45 113.15 -0.8DABUR 430.95 431.6 427.1 428.4 -3.35MRF 57,300.00 58,300.00 56,501.35 56,800.00 -493HAVELLS 652.9 661.5 648 648.5 -6.05LUPIN 734 734.6 722.25 727.5 -6.8SRTRANSFIN 1,040.00 1,063.20 1,019.70 1,030.00 -11.55GODREJCP 629.8 638 612.4 622 -7.8SHREECEM 19,839.00 19,839.00 19,210.10 19,417.10 -259.6PETRONET 244 244.55 240.6 241 -3.3BIOCON 225.1 231.45 224 229.1 -3.35CONCOR 477.9 477.9 467.5 468.5 -7.4NMDC 104.7 104.7 101.6 102.55 -2.1DIVISLAB 1,522.50 1,522.50 1,490.25 1,499.10 -32.8SAIL 36.8 36.8 35.95 36.2 -0.8UBL 1,382.00 1,383.95 1,333.15 1,339.00 -35.8GICRE 186 188 181 184 -9.35

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Hong Kong’s police are con-fident they have the

resources to continue battlingpro-democracy protesters, evenif violence escalates further,pouring cold water on concernsthat the authoritarian mainlandmight need to intervene.

Three senior commanderssaid they were unaware of anyplans by China to bolster theirown ranks with mainlandtroops or police officers, evenif the political chaos worsens.

And they admitted thatany move to do so would placethe city’s police force inuncharted waters.

But, they insisted, the issuewas moot because the localforce could handle the crisis.

“I can’t envisage it,” saidone senior commander. “Atthe operational level we haveconsiderable depth. I think wehave the determination, thecohesiveness and the depth ofresources to keep going.”

The three officers agreed tosit down with a group of for-eign journalists on condition ofanonymity so they could speakmore freely during the worstunrest the force has faced sinceleftist riots in the late 1960s.

Hong Kong’s summer ofrage was sparked by broadopposition to a plan to allowextraditions to the mainland,but has since morphed into awider call for democratic rights

in the semi-autonomous city.Millions have hit the streets

while clashes have broken outbetween police and smallgroups of hardcore protestersfor ten consecutive weeks in thegreatest challenge to Beijing’sauthority since the city’s 1997handover.

With neither Beijing norHong Kong’s leaders willing tooffer any compromises, thepolice have become the loathedface of the government.

The chant “hak geng” —corrupt cops — has becomeroutine, both from protestersand, more recently, local resi-dents infuriated by policeengaging in near nightly battlesin their neighbourhoods.

Protesters, rights groupsand the UN’s rights chief haveaccused police of using exces-sive force, with videos of tear-gas and rubber bullets gener-ating renewed public outrageeach weekend.

But officers insist they havedeployed proportionate forceagainst increasingly violentprotesters armed with sling-shots, petrol bombs and bricks,and said they remained confi-dent a “silent majority” ofHong Kongers still supportedthem.

The three officers painteda picture of a force challengedby wildcat protests and hintedat frustration over the intran-sigence of Beijing and cityleader Carrie Lam.

“This is a political issue.And a political issue needs apolitical solution to solve it,”said one.

But they also said attacksand insults directed towardstheir ranks had only reinforcedmorale and that there wereample reserves to call upon.

Of the 28,000 people inuniform, around 3,000 areengaged in frontline crowdcontrol but there are hundredsof immediate reserves and a“scaling up” plan in placeshould the protests escalate.

“We’re not at full mobili-sation by any stage yet,” saidone officer, a commander onthe ground.

As China takes an increas-ingly hardline tone, state mediahave published images of mil-itary personnel and armouredvehicles across the border inShenzhen this week.

The United States haswarned Beijing against sendingin troops, a move many ana-lysts say would be a reputa-tional and economic disasterfor China.

The three officers saidthere had been no discussionsabout what would happen ifBeijing sent reinforcementsand that there were no estab-lished protocols in place.

Asked if such a movewould leave the force inuncharted waters, one officerreplied matter-of-factly: “Yes”.

All three felt coverage and

footage on social media hadportrayed the force, or specif-ic confrontations with protest-ers, in an unfair light and thesaid officers were now beingsubjected to routine abuse.

At least 300 police have hadpersonal data — such as IDcard numbers and addresses —published online. Some havehad fraudulent bank loansapplied for in their name orfood deliveries sent to theirhomes late at night.

One officer said his teenagedaughter was approached by anadult at a recent sports day.

“He pulled her to one sideand said ‘What your father isdoing is disgusting, you shouldbe ashamed’,” the officerrecalled. “Things like that I feelare completely, completelyunreasonable.” Since the clash-es began in early June, policehave made more than 700arrests but so far there appearsto be no let up in the protests.

And even if the roilingdemonstrations end, analystssay the force has sufferedunprecedented reputationalloss in a city now deeplypolarised between those whosupport and those who loathethe police.

Asked how long it mighttake to repair that damage, onecommander said: “It’s not easy.I can’t tell you how long it willtake, but it’s going to taketime.”

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Hong Kong’s pro-democra-cy movement faces a

major test this weekend as ittries to muster another hugecrowd following criticism overa recent violent airport protestand as concerns mount overBeijing’s next move.

Ten weeks of protests haveplunged the internationalfinance hub into crisis with thecommunist mainland taking anincreasingly hardline tone,including labelling the moreviolent protester actions “ter-rorist-like”.

Chinese state media haveput out images of military per-sonnel and armoured person-nel carriers across the border inShenzhen, while the UnitedStates has warned Beijingagainst sending in troops, amove many analysts say wouldbe a reputational and eco-nomic disaster for China.

The nationalistic GlobalTimes newspaper said therewould not be a repeat of theTiananmen Square crackdown,in which hundreds — or eventhousands — are believed tohave been killed, if Beijingmoves to quash the protests.

“The incident in Hong

Kong won’t be a repeat of theJune 4th political incident in1989,” it said, insisting thecountry now had more sophis-ticated approaches.

It was a rare reference tothe bloody events, which aretaboo in China.

Hong Kong’s protests weresparked by opposition to aplan to allow extraditions to themainland, but have since mor-phed into a wider call fordemocratic rights in the semi-autonomous city.

Millions of people havehit the streets while clasheshave broken out between policeand small groups of hardcoreprotesters for ten consecutiveweekends.

For most of that time, USPresident Donald Trump hastaken a hands-off approach tothe unrest but began speakingup this week, suggesting anypotential trade deal withBeijing could be upended by aviolent response from themainland.

Speaking on Thursday,Trump urged Chinese coun-terpart Xi Jinping to meet pro-testers and solve the crisis“humanely”.

If Xi sat down with the pro-testers, Trump said, “I’ll bet he’d

work it out in 15 minutes.”Activists are now planning

to hold a major rally on Sunday,which is being billed as a“rational, non-violent” protestdesigned to show the move-ment still maintains broadpublic support after suffering asetback earlier in the week.

On Tuesday, protestersblocked passengers fromboarding flights at the city’s air-port and later assaulted twomen they accused of beingChinese spies.

The shocking images dam-aged a movement that untilthen had largely only targetedthe police or government insti-tutions, and prompted somesoul-searching among protest-ers.

China’s propaganda appa-ratus seized on the violence,with state-media churning outa deluge of condemnatory arti-cles, pictures and videos.

Sunday’s rally is being puttogether by the Civil HumanRights Front, a protest groupthat advocates non-violenceand has previously been thedriving force behind record-breaking rallies in June and Julythat saw hundreds of thousandsof people hit the streets.

“This coming Sunday

should be another million-strong march. Hong Kong peo-ple can’t be defeated, HongKongers soldier on,” prominentpro-democracy lawmakerClaudia Mo wrote onFacebook.

But the likelihood ofrenewed clashes over the week-end remains high.

On Saturday, activists havevowed to gather in Hung Homand To Kwa Wan — two har-bourside districts popular withmainland Chinese tourists —despite police banning theirproposed marches.

And while police havegiven permission for protesterson Sunday to rally in a majorpark on the island, they haveforbidden demonstrators frommarching through the city.

Previous bans in the lastfew weeks have simply beenignored by demonstrators,leading to running battles withriot police.

Authorities say they havebeen compelled to ban recentrallies because of increasingviolence used by hardcore pro-testers, who have often target-ed police stations alone theirmarching routes with bricks,slingshots and Molotov cock-tails.

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Chinese state media vowedFriday there “won’t be a

repeat” of the TiananmenSquare crackdown if Beijingmoves to quash Hong Kong’spro-democracy protests.

In a rare reference to thebloody incident — which isusually taboo in mainlandChina — the Global Timesnewspaper insisted the countryhad more sophisticated meth-ods than those it employed 30years ago to crush protests inthe capital.

“The incident in HongKong won’t be a repeat of theJune 4th political incident in1989,” it wrote in an editorial.

“China is much strongerand more mature, and its abil-ity to manage complex situa-tions has been greatlyenhanced.” Hong Kong hasendured 10 weeks of civilunrest, which have morphedfrom opposition to a hatedextradition bill into a wider,and sometimes violent, callfor democratic rights.

An intensifying drumbeatof propaganda and stridentwarnings have sparked fearsthat Beijing might look tointervene — possibly militari-ly — in the semi-autonomouscity.

Images of flag-waving mil-itary personnel and armouredvehicles in the border city of

Shenzhen this week added tothose fears, with internationalcommentators invoking spec-tre of the June 4, 1989Tiananmen crackdown.

Weeks of student-ledprotests in the Beijing squarewere ended when the militaryrolled in with tanks. Images ofthe operation were beamedaround the world.

Estimates on the death tollrange from hundreds to thou-sands, although there is no offi-cial figure.

The brutal assault resultedin two years of economic near-stagnation as the countrybecame an international pari-ah.

Discussion of what is

euphemistically referred to asthe “June 4th incident” is heav-ily censored in China, and fewChinese are familiar with thephotos that are so well knownaround the world.

US National SecurityAdvisor John Bolton warnedChina Thursday against creat-ing a “new” Tiananmen Squarein its response to the protestsin Hong Kong.

Beijing has repeatedlyblamed “foreign forces” forstirring up trouble in the city,which was handed back fromBritain in 1997, and the GlobalTimes said Friday that the USwould “not be able to intimi-date China by using the turmoil30 years ago”.

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North Korea fired twounidentified projectiles

into the sea on Friday andlaunched a scathing attack on“foolish” calls for dialogue fromSouth Korean President MoonJae-in.

It was the sixth round oflaunches in recent weeks inprotest at ongoing joint militarydrills between Seoul and theUS. North Korean leader KimJong Un has described thetests as a “solemn warning” tothe South.

Pyongyang has routinelyexpressed anger at the wargames, which it considersrehearsals for invasion, but inthe past has avoided carryingout tests while the manoeuvresare taking place.

The South Korean militarysaid the projectiles were firedfrom near the city of Tongchonin Kangwon Province and flewsome 230 kilometres (143miles) before falling into theEast Sea, also known as the Seaof Japan.

The latest test came as theNorth’s Committee for thePeaceful Reunification of theCountry said it rejected com-ments by Moon on Thursdayoutlining his desire for unifi-cation, and said it had nothingmore to discuss with the South.

It called Moon — who haslong favoured dialogue with theNorth — an “impudent guyrare to be found”, for hoping fora resumption of inter-Koreantalks while continuing militarydrills with Washington.

In a speech on Thursdaymarking the anniversary ofKorea’s liberation from Japan’s1910-45 rule, Moon outlined agoal of “achieving peace andunification by 2045”, althoughhis single five-year term pres-idency ends in 2022.

“His speech deserves thecomments ‘foolish commemo-rative speech’,” the North saidin its statement.

“We have nothing to talkany more with the SouthKorean authorities nor haveany idea to sit with them again,”it added.

Seoul’s UnificationMinistry said the North’s com-ments are not “consistent” withthe spirit of inter-Korean agree-ments, including thePanmunjom Declarationsigned by Moon and Kim inApril last year.

“We want to clearly pointout that (the comments) won’thelp the improvement of inter-Korean relations at all,” a min-istry official added.

Moon has played downthe North’s recent tests, evensuggesting potential inter-Korean economic projects as away to tackle the South’s ongo-ing trade row with Japan,prompting critics to accusehim of having a “peace fanta-sy”.

The exact type of projec-tiles fired Friday was still notclear but Seoul has describedmost of the previous launchesas short-range ballistic missileswhile Pyongyang has said somewere a “large-calibre multiple-launch guided rocket system”.

The North is banned fromballistic missile launches under

UN Security Council resolu-tions.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staffsaid the South was “monitoringthe situation in case of addi-tional launches while main-taining a readiness posture”.

The tests come as plans toresume working-level talksbetween the North andWashington appear to havestalled.

After a year of mutualthreats and mounting tension,US President Donald Trumpand Kim held a historic sum-mit in Singapore last year,where both leaders signed avague pledge to work towards“denuclearisation of the Koreanpeninsula”.

A second summit in Hanoiin February broke up amid dis-agreements over sanctionsrelief and concessions fromthe North.

The two leaders thenagreed to resume nuclear talksduring an impromptu Junemeeting in the DemilitarisedZone that divides the penin-sula.

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Time is running out forJakarta.One of the fastest-sinking

cities on earth, environmentalexperts warn that one third ofit could be submerged by 2050if current rates continue.

Decades of uncontrolledand excessive depletion ofgroundwater reserves, risingsea-levels, and increasinglyvolatile weather patterns meanswathes of it have already start-ed to disappear.

Existing environmentalmeasures have had littleimpact, so authorities are tak-

ing drastic action: the nationwill have a new capital.

Its location could beannounced imminently,according to local reports.

“The capital of our coun-try will move to the island ofBorneo,” Indonesian leaderJoko Widodo said on Twitter.

Relocating the country’sadministrative and politicalheart may be an act of nation-al preservation, but it effectivelysounds the death-knell forJakarta where many of thecity’s 10 million residents havelittle means of escape.

“When the floods came Iused to tremble,” food stall

owner Rasdi told AFP.“I nearly drowned back in

2007 — all my belongings wereswept away and I had to startover again,” said from his homeclose to Jakarta’s northern port,one of the worst affected bysinking ground.

Built in an earthquakezone, on swamplands, near theconfluence of 13 rivers, thecity’s foundations have beenfurther stressed by uncheckeddevelopment, heavy traffic, andpoor urban planning.

Jakarta doesn’t have a pipedwater system in its northernreaches, so local industry andmillions of residents tap into its

aquifers.This rampant groundwater

extraction causes land subsi-dence, which is making Jakartasink by as much as 25 cen-timetres (10 inches) a year insome areas — double the glob-al average for major coastalcities.

Today some parts of it sitsome four metres below sealevel, irrevocably changing thelandscape, and leaving mil-lions vulnerable to natural dis-asters.

Flooding is common dur-ing the tropical nation’s wet sea-son and that is expected getworse as sea levels rise due to

global warming.The partly submerged

skeleton of an abandonedmosque at the waterfrontunderscores the severity of theproblem, while vast puddlesscar the roads, and for some theground floor of their homes isno longer habitable.

Murky green water flowsalong the floor of an aban-doned building, while tinyshacks on stilts line thegarbage-strewn waterfront.

“You can see it with yourown eyes,” said Andri, a 42-year-old who liked manyIndonesians goes by one name.

“When I was a kid I used

to swim over there,” he added,motioning off in the distance.

“Over time the water justkept getting higher and high-er.” Even as Widodo presseson with the plan for a 21stcentury capital in Borneoisland, local authorities aredesperately probing solutionsfor Jakarta.

A scheme to constructartificial islands in Jakarta’sbay, which would act as abuffer against the Java Sea, aswell as a vast coastal wall wasapproved.

But there is no guaranteethe estimated USD 40 billionproject — which has been

beset by years of delays —would solve the city’s sinkingwoes. Building barriers hasbeen tried before. A concretewall was built along the shorein Rasdi’s district and otherhigh-risk neighbourhoods.

But they have crackedand show signs of sinkingalready. Water seeps throughthem, soaking the maze ofnarrow streets and shacks inthe city’s poorest neighbour-hoods.

“Building walls is not apermanent solution,” saidHeri Andreas, an earth sci-entist at the Bandung Instituteof Technology.

“We need to go to thenext step and fix our watermanagement.” The hub ofSoutheast Asia’s biggest econ-omy has seen breakneckdevelopment over the years.New buildings and skyscrap-ers are compressing theground, which aggravates itssinking problem.

But the biggest culprit isexcessive groundwater extrac-tion, and the city has no wayto meet demand without itdue to a lack of water-reten-tion facilities or a compre-hensive piping network,Andreas said. Jakarta is not theonly sinking urban centre.

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Members of the Indiancommunity assembled

in large numbers outside theIndian Embassy inWashington and IndianConsulates in New York,Houston, San Francisco andChicago to celebrate India’s73rd Independence Day.

India’s Ambassador to theUS Harsh V Shringla onThursday unfurled the tri-colour and read out PresidentRam Nath Kovind’s messagewhile addressing a gatheringof more than 500 Indian-Americans.

Joined by a popular localband, members of the Indiancommunity were seen danc-ing to the tune of patrioticsongs on the road in front ofthe embassy as theychanted slogans like “BharatMata Ki Jai” and “VandeMataram.”

A pictorial exhibition onMahatma Gandhi in the parkin f ront of the IndianEmbassy drew a large number

of crowd.In Houston, Consul

General Anupam R ayunfurled the national flag ashundreds of Indian-Americans gathered at theConsulate General to takepart in the celebrations.

Wearing colourful eth-nic attire and holding nation-al flags, the members of theIndian community dancedto patriotic songs.

“Every citizen is feelingupbeat today and this year’sIndependence Day is spe-cial. The Prime Ministerdeserves appreciation fromever y Indian and ever yIndian living abroad as thecountry was one with one flagand one constitution,” said anIndian-American present atthe event, expressing happi-ness at the revocation of spe-cial status of Jammu andKashmir.

D e m o c r a t i cCongresswoman Shei laJackson Lee, representativesof Senator John Cornyn andCongressman Al Green

among others also took partin the event.

Addressing the membersof the Indian diaspora, Raycongratulated them for theircontributions towards bring-ing the two countries evenmore closer strategically.

R ay welcomedCongresswoman Lee anddescribed her as a link to thetradition that brought togeth-er Mahatma Gandhi andMartin Luther King.

Addressing the audience,Lee talked about the unity shesaw in the gathering and howeveryone is connected bytheir love for India.

She noted that Houston isstanding tall because of theenormity of the service by theIndo-American community.

Indians in Houston alsoattended another celebrationat the India House.

Several other festivities tocommemorate India’s inde-pendence day are scheduledthroughout the week. One ofthem being on August 18organised by the India

Cultural Center (ICC).“By celebrating India’s

Independence Day inAmerica, we are celebratingthe success of the democrat-ic institutions of the USA andIndia, the oldest democracyand largest democracyrespectively,” Nishani Mirani,president of ICC, said.

The Indian-Americancommunity also gathered inNew York, San Francisco andChicago to celebrate the day.

However, a small group ofanti-India protesters,

including Kashmiri sepa-ratists and officials from thelocal chapter of the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), gath-ered outside the IndianEmbassy but were outnum-bered by the large gatheringcelebrating the IndependenceDay.

“The small turn out ofthese anti-India elementsdespite a massive campaignby them reflects that theyhave l itt le support in their community,” a diplomatsaid.

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Atanker carrying Iranianoil, released by Gibraltar

authorities after being heldsince July 4, is preparing to setsail into the Mediterranean, asenior Iranian shipping officialsaid Friday.

The ship’s seizure, with thehelp of British Royal Marines,had triggered a sharp deterio-ration in relations betweenTehran and London and the tit-for-tat detention by Iran of theBritish-flagged tanker StenaImpero.

The Grace 1 will berenamed and switch to theIranian flag for its onwardjourney, the deputy head ofIran’s Ports and MaritimeOrganisation, Jalil Eslami, toldstate television.

“At the owner’s request,the Grace 1 will depart for theMediterranean after beingreflagged under the IslamicRepublic of Iran’s flag andrenamed as Adrian Darya forthe voyage,” Eslami said.

“The ship was of Russianorigin and Panama-flaggedand is carrying two million bar-rels of Iranian oil,” he added.

Gibraltar’s Supreme Courtordered the tanker released

on Thursday after the Britishoverseas territory said it hadreceived written assurancesfrom Iran that the Grace 1would not head to any countrysubject to European Unionsanctions.

The ship had beendetained on suspicion that itscargo was destined for theBanias oil refinery in Syria inbreach of an EU embargo.

But Iran denied it had pro-vided any assurances to securethe ship’s release, sayingGibraltar was only seeking to“save face”.

“Iran has given no assur-ances over the Grace 1 notgoing to Syria to secure itsrelease,” the state broadcaster’syouth website quoted foreignministry spokesman AbbasMousavi as saying Friday.

“The tanker’s destinationwas not Syria ... and even if itwas, it did not concern anyoneelse.” Hours before the court’sruling, the administration ofUS President Donald Trump,which has waged a campaign of“maximum pressure” againstIran, launched a last-minutelegal move demanding thatthe Gibraltar authorities extendthe vessel’s detention.

Iranian Foreign Minister

Mohammad Javad Zarif tweet-ed that the US attempt at “pira-cy” had failed, saying it showedthe Trump administration’s“contempt for the law”.

Tehran and Washingtonhave been at loggerheads sinceTrump withdrew from a land-mark 2015 nuclear dealbetween major powers andIran last year and reimposedcrippling unilateral sanctions.

Following the Grace 1’srelease, Britain renewed itsdemand that Iran release theBritish-flagged tanker it seizedin the Strait of Hormuz on July19.

Tehran charged that StenaImpero was in violation of“international maritime rules”but the move was widely seenas retaliation for the detentionof the Grace 1.

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��;��N�3&��,��!��&,��-��;��,+,��8� MADRID (AP): A lawyer representing the captain of anIranian supertanker caught in a diplomatic standoff says hisclient no longer wants to be in command of the ship, whichis in need of repairs that could prevent its immediate depar-ture from Gibraltar. The tanker — and its cargo of 2.1 mil-lion tons of Iranian light crude oil — remains still, shroud-ed in heavy fog in waters off the British overseas territorya day after authorities lifted a detention order for breach-ing European Union sanctions.

The United States had tried to stop the release butauthorities in Gibraltar say they went ahead after Iranianauthorities promised not to deliver the fuel to a sanctionedrefinery in Syria.

Richard Wilkinson, a lawyer for the three crew mem-bers released Thursday from detention, says Friday theIndian national who commanded the Grace 1 haa asked hisIranian employers to replace him.

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The United States has threat-ened a visa ban on the crew

of a seized Iranian supertankerwhose departure fromGibraltar Washington failed toblock.

State Department spokes-woman Morgan Ortagus saidThursday that the Grace 1 wasassisting Iran’s RevolutionaryGuards — which the US deemsa terrorist organization — bytransporting oil from Iran toSyria when it was detained lastmonth.

“Crewmembers of vesselsassisting the IRGC(Revolutionary Guard Corps)by transporting oil from Iranmay be ineligible for visas oradmission to the United Statesunder the terrorism-relatedinadmissibility grounds,”Ortagus said. “The maritimecommunity should be awarethat the US governmentintends to revoke visas held bymembers of such crews.

“In the case of the M/TGrace I, we will continue to actconsistent with our existingpolicies concerning those who

provide material support to theIRGC.” Gibraltar’s SupremeCourt earlier Thursday ruled infavour of releasing the vesselseized on suspicion of shippingoil to war-torn Syria in breachof international sanctions.

Hours before theannouncement, the US hadlaunched a last-minute legalmove demanding that theBritish overseas territory detainthe ship.

Gibraltar police and Britishspecial forces seized the Grace1, carrying 2.1 million barrelsof Iranian oil, on July 4, pro-

voking a diplomatic crisis.Tehran retaliated by seizing

a British tanker, the StenaImpero, two weeks later in thestrategic Strait of Hormuz —the conduit for much of theworld’s crude — for breaking“international maritime rules”.

The capture of the tankersheightened tensions just asEuropean nations scramble tosave a landmark nuclear dealwith the Islamic Republic afterthe US pulled out of the accordin May last year and startedimposing painful sanctions onIran.

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Opposition mass protestsagainst deepening eco-

nomic problems in Zimbabwewere called off on Friday aftera court upheld an 11th hourban imposed by the police.

Zimbabwe’s oppositionMovement for DemocraticChange (MDC) had vowed tolaunch protests marches onFriday against the worseningeconomy, despite governmentthreats to stop them.

Late on Thursday policesaid the protests had beenbanned. The MDC went tocourt in the early hours ofFriday to challenge the ban, butlost the case. “The court hassaid the demonstration shouldbe off,” MDC spokesmanNkululeko Sibanda told AFP.

The party’s vice presidentTendai Biti told reporters out-side the high court that “we dif-fer respectfully with the ruling”.

“The fascist regime hasdenied the right forZimbabweans to demonstrate,”said Biti. He added that even ifthey had won “this march wasnot going to take place becausethe city has been cordoned off”by police. Armed police formedbarricades around the city on

Friday, turning back cars onstreets leading to the MDC’sparty headquarters, with roadblocks also set up elsewhere inthe capital. Long queues of traf-fic formed as the policesearched cars and commuterbuses for weapons. Teams ofriot police also carried outpatrols and randomly stopped

and searched pedestrians.The planned protests

would have been the first sincerallies in January againstPresident EmmersonMnangagwa’s decision to hikefuel prices that ended in dead-ly clashes with troops.

As the Zimbabwean econ-omy deteriorates, people are

facing shortages of basic goodsand skyrocketing prices.

Around five million people— almost a third of the coun-try’s 16 million population —are in need of aid and at leasthalf of them are on the cusp of“starvation”, the World FoodProgramme (WFP) said onAugust 6.

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China on Friday defended itsmuch-criticised “voca-

tional education camps” in therestive Xinjiang where thou-sands Uighur Muslims havebeen kept, saying that the train-ing centres have “effectivelyeliminated” religious extrem-ism in the restive province.

China in the last fewmonths faced severe criticismfrom western countries overreports that it is holding onemillion people, mostly ethnicUighurs, in internment campsin Xinjiang bordering India,Afghanistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) andseveral Central Asian States in

a bid to control violent attacksby separatist East TurkistanIslamic Movement (ETIM)organisation.

China blames the ETIM,stated to be an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, for numerous violentattacks in the restive Xinjiangregion and various other partsof the country includingBeijing. Resource-rich Xinjiangprovince is home to over 10million Turkik-speakingUighur Muslims.

In a second official whitepaper titled “VocationalEducation and Training inXinjiang”, China said no ter-rorist incidents have occurredin Xinjiang for nearly threeyears since the education and

training started, and the over-all situation in society contin-ues to be stable.

“Religious extremism hasbeen effectively eliminated.Through education, the vastmajority of trainees can recog-nise the nature and harm of ter-rorism and religious extrem-ism, and free themselves fromthe control these phenomenaexert over their minds,” thewhite paper issued by the StateCouncil, China’s centralCabinet said.

“Citizens now consciouslyresist religious extremism, andthe trend in society is now topursue knowledge of modernscience and technology and acultured way of life,” it said.

Education and trainingcentres in Xinjiang never inter-fered in the trainees’ freedomof religious belief nor make anyattempts to have the traineeschange their religious beliefs, itclaimed.

“As trainees have fallenunder the influence and controlof religious extremism to agreater or lesser extent, the cen-tres integrate de-radicalisationinto the whole process of edu-cation and training,” it said.

It said hundreds of policeofficials have been killed in thepast in violent attacks carriedout by separatists.

“Xinjiang is a key battle-field in the fight against ter-rorism and extremism in

China. For some time, Xinjianghas been plagued by terrorismand religious extremism, whichpose a serious threat to the livesof the people in the region”, itsaid

“Between 1990 and theend of 2016, separatists, reli-gious extremists and terroristsplotted and carried out sever-al thousand acts of terrorismsuch as bombings, assassina-tions, poisoning, arson,assaults, and riots in Xinjiang.Many innocent people werekilled and several hundredpolice officers died in the lineof duty. The property lossesincurred were enormous,” itsaid.

Following the improve-

ment in the situation in 2018,over 150 million tourists visit-ed Xinjiang, an year-on-yearincrease of 40 per cent. Foreigntourists numbered 2.6 million,a year-on-year increase of near-ly 12 per cent, it said.

China had last monthissued a white paper onXinjiang, defending the campsand describing the facilities asre-education centres aimed atde-radicalising sections of theUighur Muslim populationfrom extremism and sepa-ratism.

“China released the whitepapers to provide a full pictureto the international commu-nity on its Xinjiang policiesamid attempts of some

Western media and anti-China forces to use this issueto stir trouble and containChina,” Qian Jinyu, executivedean of the Human RightsInstitution of NorthwestUniversity of Political Scienceand Law in Shaanxi Province,told state-run Global Times.

The camps came underheavy criticism at the UNHuman Rights Council lastmonth where UN ambassadorsfrom 22 countries — includingAustralia, Britain, Canada,France, Germany and Japanhave written a letter to top UNhuman rights officials con-demning China’s treatment ofUighur and other minorities inthe western Xinjiang region.

The letter to Human RightsCouncil President Coly Seck,and the High Commissionerfor Human Rights, MichelleBachelet called on China tostop “arbitrary detention” andallow freedom of movement ofUighurs and other Muslim andminority communities inXinjiang.

In defence, Chinamobilised over 50 countriesincluding Pakistan and sever-al Islamic countries who wroteto the UN defending Beijing’smeasures in Xinjiang.

Local officials in Xinjiangsaid in recent weeks that mostof the trainees have been senthome after completion of thetraining.

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The Pakistan governmenthas launched a crackdown

on the sale of CDs of Indianmovies after New Delhirevoked the special status toJammu and Kashmir, accordingto a media report on Friday.

The crackdown is the lat-est in series of measuresannounced by Pakistan in reac-tion to revocation of special sta-tus of Kashmir by India.

It also comes after PakistanElectronic Media RegulatoryAuthority (Pemra) banned theairing of advertisements fea-

turing Indian artists and India-made products.

“We have banned Indianadvertisements and launched acrackdown on CD shops toconfiscate Indian movies,” Dawnnewspaper quoted FirdousAshiq Awan, the SpecialAssistant to the Prime Ministeron Information, as saying.

She said the InteriorMinistry had already started acrackdown on Indian movies inthe federal capital and it wouldbe expanded to other parts of thecountry soon in collaborationwith the provincial govern-ments.

“Today the interior ministryraided some compact disc shopsin Islamabad and confiscatedIndian movies.”

Pemra on Wednesday cir-culated a letter dated Aug 14 onWednesday announcing the ban.

Pemra said that it alreadywithdrew the permission for air-ing Indian channels and contenton the directions of the PakistanSupreme Court in October lastyear.

“However, it has beenobserved that advertisements ofvarious products of multina-tionals which are either pro-duced in India or carrying

Indian characters/talent [are]being aired on electronic media,”according to the Pemra letter.

It said that currently ads ofproducts like Dettol soap, SurfExcel powder, Pantene shampoo,Head & Shoulders shampoo,Lifebuoy shampoo, Fogg bodyspray, Sunsilk shampoo, Knorrnoodles, Fair & Lovely facewash, and Safeguard soap werebeing banned.

India has categorically toldthe international communitythat its decision on Jammu andKashmir is an internal matterand has also asked Pakistan toaccept it.

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Several more migrants havebeen taken from the rescue

vessel Open Arms for medicalreasons to the Italian island ofLampedusa, the Spanish char-ity which operates the boat saidFriday.

Three people who suffered“medical complications whichrequire specialised care” and anescort were brought ashorelate on Thursday, ProactivaOpen Arms, which is waitingfor permission from Rome todock in Lampedusa, said onTwitter.

All four migrants weretaken to Lampedusa with theaid of the Italian coastguard,leaving 134 migrants on boardthe Open Arms, a ProactivaOpen Arms spokeswomansaid.

This was the sixth emer-gency evacuation of migrantsfrom the vessel.

The mainly Africanmigrants on board had beenplucked from boats in theMediterranean off Libya.

“All of the people on boardneed to disembark urgently.For humanity,” Proactiva OpenArms added on Twitter.

��N0�%�,,�#&,,��,3��)��-��,��#��&��%Bangkok (AP): The UNrefugee agency says Myanmarand Bangladesh are making asecond attempt to start repa-triating Rohingya Muslimsafter more than 700,000 ofthem fled a security crackdownin Myanmar almost two yearsago. Agency spokeswomanCaroline Gluck said Fridaythat the Bangladesh govern-ment has asked for its help inverifying the 3,450 people on anew list of returnees are goingback to Myanmar voluntarily.She said the list was whittledfrom 22,000 names thatBangladesh had sent toMyanmar for verification.

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The grief-stricken parentsof a Franco-Irish teen

found dead in Malaysia aftershe disappeared from a rain-forest resort claimed her bodyFriday, police said, following anautopsy that showed no signsof foul play. Mohamad MatYusop, the police chief ofNegeri Sembilan state whereNora Quoirin died, told AFPher remains would be repatri-ated to London where she hadlived with her family.

An autopsy showed the15-year-old likely starved anddied of internal bleeding after

about a week in the jungle, withno immediate signs of foul play,police said. There was also noindication that the teenager,who had learning difficulties,was abducted or sexuallyassaulted, they said.

“The body of Nora hasbeen claimed from the hospi-tal by the family after a post-mortem found no foul play,”Mohamad Mat said.

“Nora’s body will be flownback to her home in London.”The girl had gone missingfrom Dusun Resort, about 70kilometres (40 miles) from theMalaysian capital KualaLumpur, on August 4, a day

after checking in for a holidaywith her family.

Her disappearance sparkeda massive 10-day search in thejungle that involved hundredsof people, helicopters, dronesand sniffer dogs.

The search came to a trag-ic end Tuesday when theteenager’s unclothed body wasdiscovered in a ravine beside astream not far from the resort.

Police had classified herdisappearance as a missingpersons case. But the lawyer ofher family, who believe she mayhave been abducted, said it wastoo early to rule out a criminalelement in the case.

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Israel is to allow a visit bybarred US congresswoman

Rashida Tlaib who is ofPalestinian origin on “human-itarian” grounds, the interiorministry announced on Friday.

It said Interior MinisterAryeh Deri decided to allowTlaib to make a “humanitari-an visit to her grandmother” inthe Israeli-occupied West Bankafter the lawmaker had senthim a written pledge “to respectconditions imposed by Israel”.

Tlaib had “promised not topromote the cause of the boy-cott of Israel during her stay”,in a letter to Deri sentovernight, the ministry said ina statement.

Israeli media published theletter reading: “I would like torequest admittance to Israel inorder to visit my relatives, andspecifically my grandmother,who is in her 90s...

“This could be my lastopportunity to see her. I willrespect any restrictions and willnot promote boycotts againstIsrael during my visit.”

On Thursday, Israelannounced it would bar aplanned visit by Tlaib and fel-

low Muslim congresswomanIlhan Omar over their supportof a boycott of the Jewish statefor its treatment of thePalestinians.

Israeli officials had, how-ever, said they would considera separate humanitarianrequest from Tlaib to visit herfamily, a trip for which shewould have to pass throughIsrael. The decision to bar thecongresswomen, althoughencouraged by PresidentDonald Trump, drew sharpcriticism in the United Statesfrom several allies of Israel,including top Democratic law-makers, presidential hopefulsand influential pro-Israel lobbyAIPAC.

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Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan on Friday dis-

cussed the Kashmir issue withUS President Donald Trumpover phone, as the UN SecurityCouncil held a closed doormeeting to discuss India revok-ing the special status of Jammuand Kashmir. Foreign MinisterShah Mehmood Qureshi saidKhan took the US President“into confidence” regarding theUN Security Council meeting atthe UN headquarters after theIndian government revoked thespecial status of Jammu andKashmir.

“Prime Minister Khan con-veyed Pakistan’s concern onrecent developments in Kashmirand the threat they pose to theregional peace,” Qureshi wasquoted as saying by state-runRadio Pakistan.

The Foreign Minister saidthe conversation between thetwo leaders was held in a “cor-dial environment”. They alsoagreed to remain in contactover the Kashmir issue, he said.They also discussed the situationin Afghanistan. Prime MinisterKhan said Pakistan has beenplaying a “constructive role tobring peace in Afghanistan andit made efforts in past and willdo so in future too.”

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Like America, chefs could beIndia’s new rockstars too. Andnot a cliché this time. Serving

food to the beat of a meticulouslysourced soundtrack is a trend on therise. And one such chef is PriyamChatterjee who is also the first Indianchef to have been conferred with thehonour of Chevalier de l’Ordre duMérite Agricole. The honour comes inrecognition of his contribution toreinventing the gastronomic scene inthe Indian capital. Also a musicianand an artist, Chatterjee has beenrecognised for his masterful platingand his eclectic cooking styles. Hiscreative dishes draw upon his Bengaliroots, the French influence in his lifeand his love for music and art.

As he reinvents the Bengali cui-sine by blending it with French andEuropean cuisine styles, he tell us why.“I figured out that the Bengali cuisine,being one of the most elegant and sub-tle, is also very underrated. Theregional cuisine was dying. Theyounger generations do not want toeat what we have cherished andgrown up with. But we can try to keepthe cuisine very much alive if we gaveit a fresh perspective and vision bykeeping the taste authentic but chang-ing its complete look,” says the chef,who feels that his training with theexperts of French cuisine has helpedhim in achieving this. And this is whyhe could transform the “quintessen-tial Bengali dishes” into what could becalled the “modern” Bengali cuisine.

Sharing some anecdotes from hislife, he talks about he shaped his foodlogic while growing up. Chatterjeecalls himself fortunate and blessed tobe born into a family of exceptionalcooks and serious gourmands. And hehas build his cuisine philosophybased on nostalgia, history and mem-ories. “I am a Bengali and food is holyin my bloodline. My father was a verypassionate man and I learnt procur-ing vegetables and fishes from himeven though I have had very less timeto spend with him,” he says and addsthat his mother had brought her cook-ing heritage from Bangladesh and his

aunts, too, were “cooking up a storm.”However, Chatterjee owes the

latter part of him becoming a profes-sional cook completely to France,where he realised his “depth of pas-sion” for the cuisine.

The chef, who has a cellularapproach when it comes to sourcinghis ingredients. He says, “I follow avery organic way. From visiting mysuppliers and building a strong rela-tionship with them to presenting my

menu ideas with them and lettingthem decide what they have in storefor me. I figure out what best can bemade available in the season and thenwork on the menu.” He invites all hisvendors once in two months and

makes them eat what they cooked atthe restaurant as “it’s important for meto make them realise what we do withall the amazing products that theysource for me.”

It is commonly said that if a chefis not travelling, he is probably notexperimenting. So how is it that headapts his dishes to local ingredientswhile travelling? However, he says thatwhile he is travelling, he only eats andtastes new dishes, making sure heemphasises on just that. “I try my levelbest to not eat fancy and only eat attraditional households where grandmothers are still cooking. I even tryout street food or local joints thrivingon history of their food culture. Itopens up enormous doors of creativ-ity and inspiration for me. I can thenmerge the subtleties with the blessingof complex and mega Indian spicesand layers of aroma and flavours,” headds.

Recalling one of his experiencesin Ko Samui, Thailand, he says thattheir use of “absolutely” fresh produceand keeping it the way it is made thedishes super super tasty, which real-ly impressed him. He is also a huge fanof South India, especially the “Andhracuisine.” He says, “Their flavours area gift to the world. I also find Gujaraticuisine one of the most delicate andcomplex ones to enjoy eating. It’s anart that shows how simple elementscan be transformed into amazingfood.”

For him, there is no particularcuisine in the world which perfectlybalances sensory and nutritional ele-ments. “I think every cuisine has itsown balance. It’s not the cuisine thatbrings out the nutritional value but theproduct. Neo-Indian, Nordic andNeo-French cuisines are very ingre-dient-specific and minimalistic intheir approach. But they are complexand packed with real flavours. ThusI thrive to cook those types of foodwith a little more oomph!” says he.

Talking about the honour he hasreceived on behalf of the President ofthe French Republic by theAmbassador of France to India,Alexandre Ziegler, he tells us how hewill initiate more such gastronomicpractices and make contributions tothe industry. He aspires to cook thecountry’s Prime Minister as well as theFrench President. “And strengthen theties of the two unique cultures not justby diplomatic relationships but alsothrough food and love. It will thusspread awareness and inspire otheraspiring chefs to learn the craft reli-giously so that one day, even theycould make their country proud andserve its leaders,” says the chef, whohas been the head chef at Rooh(group of Indian chef Sujan Sarkar)and Qla in the city.

�Tell us about your character Kerra?She is the daughter of Pellenor, the

king of Cantii. They are at war with theRegni while Kerra is at war with herfather. She is a woman of her own mind.She doesn’t like to be used as some kindof pawn in a scenario she doesn’t agreewith. There was a wedding before theseries starts that was supposed to unitethe two clans, but it doesn’t end well. She’squite a bold figure to play. But it taughtme something about who she is, some-body who does not steer too far fromwhat she believes in. She is fiercelyopposed to her father. Therefore, when wemeet her, she is not in his favour.

�Where do you think she gets her innerstrength from?

We live in much softer times. I justthink of these people as indigenoustribes. So there’s no pre-Freud analysis —people were just surviving. They livedshort lives and were ruled by the gods.Their lives were part of a bigger picture.But Kerra’s mother was part Romanfrom the first invasion. So the gods proph-esied about Kerra when she was a younggirl, that she was going to be killed as asacrifice to the gods. And her father, KingPellenor agreed to it. So she has never for-given him. She is fiercely angry with himthat he killed her mother. I think shedraws from that an attitude to do the rightthing. She thinks her father sold his soulto the Druids, who she also hates.

�What is Kerra’s relationship with thegods?

She definitely believes in the god. Idon’t think there’s anybody in this world

who doesn’t believe in him. It’s really thefabric of their lives. What she doesn’tbelieve in is the Druids. She even thoughthinks that they think they are gods them-selves, but in fact, she says, ‘You’rehuman. You’re not the wind, you’re notthe earthquakes, you’re not the trees,you’re a damn human. And I’m a human.’She doesn’t buy the hypocrisy and theirneed for power. She’s very sceptical ofthem as one would be if they took the one

thing from your life that mattered.

�The time of Britannia is famous infolklore for having strong, warriorwomen, of which Kerra might be anexample. Is that what first interested youin the project?

Yes. I’m always fascinated with thisthing with strong female characters. Imight not necessarily be interested inthem I’m not even interested necessari-ly in the weak ones. I’m more often inter-ested in fully-rounded characters. So oftenwomen can be just one thing in dramas.I like a character who can be vulnerableand strong but is complicated and com-plex and is a real human being, regard-less of her feminine self. The fact that thiswas a world that respected women andtheir intuition, could be considered aspowerful and not a misogynistic world.There was a sacredness to the Earth,which was feminine. So I have a passionfor this time in history. I find it fascinat-ing that she’s trying to survive and do theright thing. In a way, she comes from

quite a male-dominated society. It’s allabout getting things done and to getthings done she takes things into her ownhands.

�Were you familiar with the history ofBritannia before joining the cast?

As far as mythology is concerned, Iwouldn’t say I was an expert. I’m some-body who would drive down to the WestCountry and see Stonehenge, go and bein that space and wonder about thosepeople and times. They seem to have beentuned into something else. The Druids,the Pagans, it’s certainly something thatI am interested in. So to be involved in adrama that lives in that world, is reallyexciting for me.

�Given her heritage, what does Kerrago through when the Romans return?

What we realise about Kerra is herfundamental reason for being, which isthe survival of her people. So in that way,she is her father’s daughter. She will sac-rifice anything for that, including herself

and the love of her father. She thinks herfather is blind and is ruling just to be inthe favour of the Druids. Whereas, shewants to do the right thing for her peo-ple, land and her tribe. So when theRomans come, she feels there’s no waythey can conquer this. They know whatRome is and they come with their armies.So while King Pellenor’s attitude is ‘Headback to Rome,’ Kerra’s attitude is, ‘Well,we need to talk to them, we need to havea conversation first’.

�What was it like to be involved in thestunts?

Kerra is tough. She builds this kindof fortress around herself. And she is alsophysically abled as she is a great horse-woman and has had to protect herself. SoI had to do a couple of scenes where she’skilling off her enemies. And I had neverdone anything like that before in a job andit was a lot of fun to play that part of her,which goes like ‘Do not mess with me’. Allof the characters have this. There is noone who can be called as weak. They’re

all survivors and strong fighters.

�It’s a show of many conflicts... Yes, emotional conflict. Who am I?

What am I going to do now? There aretimes that we’re doing this and it feels sobig. It’s quite biblical in a way. We wereshooting the Amber Palace scene, whichlooks like Stonehenge and we had 300extras dancing and playing drums and asmoke machine going under a full moon.I just thought to myself, ‘This thing hassome magic.’

�What was the Amber Palace scenelike?

Working with Mackenzie, he waschannelling something playing Veran.He’s extremely powerful for such a slimguy and he inhabits Veran with this mad-ness and brilliance. He’s so innovative andinventive. And he’s really an exciting per-son to act with. But we all got tribed upwith the tribe make-up and that was real-ly fun. It’s proper dressing-up. I love act-ing because you can feel like you can sortof time travel. Not that I’m actually there,but in my imagination, I can just drop in.And we felt like there was something real-ly powerful going on. We did the wholesequence in one go. It was almost like the-atre. And then when I get into that headspace it’s like we’re actually there. I hopethat actually comes through when peo-ple watch it. I hope they get that experi-ence.

�What else do you think people willenjoy about the show?

One of the things I am taken with isthat it feels very exciting. It feels very alive,and relevant, weirdly, to the time in whichwe live. There’s not really anything safeabout this place or these people. We don’tknow what’s going to happen. Anythingcan happen. There’s a real modern-feel-ing attitude. All of the characters are verywell-rounded. There’s no one which isgood or bad. Everyone has a lot of differ-ent colours and there’s a real earthinessto it, which I really like. This is the real-ity of the Earth. And I love that about it.It’s a huge cast with a lot of storylines andof conflict, which makes it a great drama.

(The show is live on SonyLIV.)

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Singer and television hostAditya Narayan, who is

mostly hosting TV showsthan singing, says he is notokay with the contract sys-tem that music labels forceupon singers. Adding thathe wants to build his careeras an independent musician,Aditya said doing televisionshows and acting help himtake a step forward in thatdirection.

“From the time corpo-ratisation happened (in themusic industry), musiclabels have started signingcontracts with singers. Theywant artistes to serve them.They cut a certain percent-age from our live gigs andassignments. I am not okaywith that system,” Adityasaid.

“I am a singer and amusician at heart, andmusic is in my soul, but welive in a different era -- waydifferent from what myfather and the earlier gener-ation of singers lived in —whether it is ShreyaGhoshal, Sonu Nigam,Sunidhi Chauhan, Papa(Udit Narayan) and his con-temporaries, they werefriends and lived like a fam-ily,” said Aditya, whosefather has been a 90s and2000s sensation.

“They (the earliersingers) would collaboratewith music directors andexperience success and fail-ure together. Those thingsare over now,” added theyoungster who started

singing from his childhoodalong with his father.

As a child artiste, he lenthis voice for numerous hitsincluding the title songs ofRangeela (1995) and AkeleHum Akele Tum (1995),besides the number ChhotaBachcha Jaan Ke in Masoom(1996). He has alsoappeared as a child actorRangeela, Pardes (1997), JabPyaar Kisise Hota Hai(1998).

In 2007, Aditya startedhosting the musical talenthunt show, Sa Re Ga Ma PaChallenge.

Given the situation inthe music industry, Adityaclaims that he has decidedto make money throughanchoring game shows, real-ity shows, and live gigs,along with singing.

“To fight a system sostrong, I need to havemoney and backing to putout songs independently.So I am hosting televisionshows and live gigs. I amreally fortunate to be one ofthe highest-paid TV enter-tainers. For me, indepen-dent music means a groupof artistes writing, compos-ing and performing a songby themselves without thecontrol of a music label,”said the singer, who isappearing on the ColorsTV show Khatra KhatraKhatra.

“I want to usher change,and I know I have to worktirelessly for that,” Adityaconcluded. D)�?&

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From her first appearance in a TVseries Spin City in 1996 to playing

the eccentric mother in The Hauntingof the Hill House to some terrific workin Gerald’s Game, actress Carla Guginohas come a long way and with Jett, shesays that she has found a characteronly she could have played best.

Jett is a fun show but a little dif-ferent. It’s a character that she hasn’tplayed yet. What made her say yes toit? Carla says, “It’s something thatSebastian Gutierrez (director andhusband) and I have been working onfor a long time. He wrote such anamazing role for me. He said, ‘I wantyou to play Daisy Jett Kowalski’. Thename itself is a great thing to beginwith. You always got to start with agood name. Though television is awonderful place for female charactersright now, there is still some way to gowith a female villain. We have a lot ofmale references for that but not somuch women. So yes. She is cool. Shekeeps her own council and lives the lifethe way she wants to. She is a superfierce character.”

So is there anything that she diddifferent to prepare for the role? “A lotof things,” she says. But one thing, “AsI am an Italian; I am in a habit of usingmy hands a lot while talking. My faceis very expressive. Think of LeeMarvin, basically she reveals very lit-tle and that was much harder for methan I’d have thought,” she tells us.

Sebastian wrote all nine scriptsabout four years ago. Carla shares thatthey wanted to put it the right way butwere not sure if they’ll be able to doit or not.

There are many people out there,may not be in Hollywood, but work-ing with their partner in every field.So how difficult or easy is it to havesomeone by your side professionallyas well as in personal life? She tells us,“I don’t know. I didn’t take any magicbullet. What is great is that we aregood at different things and thereforeit makes it a good balance. If we wereboth actors that might’ve been differ-

ent. But for some reason, it’s just a verynatural thing and we really love andenjoy it. We trust each other so muchand I think it’s great as well as impor-tant in terms of creativity.”

The actress listens to differentplaylist with each character. Whatsongs might be on her list for Jett,which also recently premiered onStar World? She tells us some, “I cangive you a couple. Walk a Mile byHolly Golightly, Easy Money by Karen

Anne.”Carla’s Haunting of Hill House is

the scariest of all. She tells us that sheknow so many people who alreadyknew what’s going to happen in theseries still they preferred to watch itduring the day time. So is the seriescoming back with new and scarierepisodes? She says, “Yes. It is ananthology so it will be a different story.But you will see some actors return-ing.

�How has fashion consumptionchanged over the years?

In India, fashion was created throughlocal tailors in small towns, who craftedpersonalised styles. As industrialisationand foreign brands paved their way to thecountry, we started looking towards fastfashion in the market. The young con-sumers were largely attracted. However,over the last few years, with the garmentindustry creating awareness, their ismore thought into what we leave behindas a brand. The fashion industry isshowing the sustainable way to the con-sumers. We are the ones sitting close tocraft clusters and natural materials. It isour duty to create fashion, which is clas-sic, sustainable and doesn’t die with anyseason, especially handcrafted thingsand textiles. Things are rapidly changing,creating classic wardrobes and workingtowards thoughtful consumption is thenew trend.

�How have you evolved as a designer?As the brand became popular, it start-

ed living as a natural textile. Since ouressence is sarees, which are worn occa-sionally and daily as well, it helped megrow in all aspects. I have recreated thethought of wearing a saree and beingcomfortable in it. I have grown with thecreation and with the innovation oflinen as a textile.

�When and how did your love affairwith the saree start?

I have always been fond of sarees. Istill remember wearing a saree onteacher’s day when I was in sixth standard.My love for the fabric initiated from mymother as she used to wear it very often.I wanted to grow up and look exactly likeher. She was my inspiration. During mycollege days, I wore a saree, which I paint-ed myself. I thought of making a careerin it, when I started working with theMinistry of Textiles and understoodwhat textile actually means and what goesbehind into its making.

�As your upbringing was in Karnal,how far did that influence your designsensibilities?

It completely affected my designsensibilities. As a small town girl, I wasaway from the entire fashion industry.Whenever I would go to Delhi with mysister, I mostly used to buy textiles or goto a local tailors and get clothes stitchedas per my wish. The only influence thattime was magazine, television and mygrandmother. She used to do embroideryand hand paintings. Looking at all of that,I fell in love with handcrafted things. Thatis what the narrative of my brand is.

�You wore a hand-painted saree to yourinterview in NIFT. Did you plan of own-ing a saree brand when you joinedNIFT?

I joined NIFT with the intention ofunderstanding fashion. Working withsaree was nowhere in my mind. I was

inclined towards home textiles. But whenyou start studying and knowing about acertain subject, it develops your under-standing of it. I did not end up here strate-gically. Things just unfolded the way itwas meant to be.�A lot of celebrities are wearing and

adorning different brands? Do you seeit as an advantage or a hindrance?

It works for your advantage becausethe celebrities have a lot of influence onyoung minds. Young girls try to imitatecelebrities and look up to them. Even forme, to see what is happening in the fash-

ion world was to check Bollywood.When you see Sonam Kapoor wearinghand woven saree, printed with hand-blocks, the whole demography of hand-woven saree changes automatically andhandloom takes a front seat. People getan idea of how it can be styled in a cer-tain way. With the acceptance of hand-loom by celebrities, women see that as astyle quotient. It definitely helps the entiresector.

�You have been experimenting withhome furnishings, it is another binaryyou have taken to. How do you see thatdeveloping?

Home furnishings are in a developingstate in India right now. It has not takencentrestage but I am definitely going to giveit my best shot. I will come out with a col-lection very soon. It is a natural extensionbecause my heart lies there.

�What drives your passion for sustain-able fashion. Do you think sustainablefashion would also impact the way welive?

Yes, definitely, it is already doing that.One can see it at the new restaurants andfood outlets. More and more people are fol-lowing a vegan approach and they are curi-ous to know where the food is grown andwhere it is coming from. It is catering tothe popularity of the organic food andfarmer’s markets all around. The way weare using sustainable textiles in our hous-es and how plastic has been completely

banned says it all. How people consumefashion indicates how people are consum-ing other things in their life too. I see somany young people working on sustainableproducts thinking of environment. A verygood example from India is of the guy whois working with cork rather than leather tocreate bags. It is impacting our lives allaround.

�Fashion runs in cycles. Do you thinkthat saree is gaining popularity becauseof movements like the hundred sareepact?

I see social media taking this allacross. Movements like this have verystrong impact on making the fabric pop-ular right now.

�The sarees by Anavila can be immedi-ately spotted. What would you attributeit to?

The first thing is our material whichhas not changed over eight years of work-ing in the industry. We keep our sensibil-ity alive while creating our collection. Theeasiness and comfort with which ourstyling is done sets us apart.

�Statement blouses and experimentationwith drapes is something that’s trending.How do you cater to that?

For me, it’s all about simple minimal-istic sarees from my very first show in 2014.The fabric should be beautiful and the tex-ture should be nice. Sarees must give a mes-sage that they are comfortable everydaywear. Our styling ideas come from the ruralIndia because they wear sarees 24*7 andhave adapted it so beautifully.

�Why did you decide to come on boardwith the etsy design awards?

My first interaction with etsy was whenthey were launching it in India. They con-ducted an event in Delhi and invited me.That’s when I got to know about what theydo. Their thought of building it across Indiafascinated me. There were so many womenand artisans who work from home anddon’t have a platform to sell their products.They give them education and help themcreate that window. I completely got holdof that idea. So I thought of helping andpartnering with them. They have reachedquite far and have tried to connect to thevillages also.

�What are your future plans as a brand?I keep thinking about the different

products we can offer for a sustainablelifestyle. I always have a meaningful collab-oration with the artisans and women. Iwant to find sustainable materials and takemore and more people on board. We wantto make a community which can help eachother grow.

Tahir Raj Bhasin has alwaysbeen regarded as an actor

to watch out for. He debuted asa villain in Mardaani. In hisnext, he will be seen playing asports champion in NiteshTiwari’s Chhichhore. The actormoved to the IIT Bombay andstayed with students beforethe shoot of the film began.

Nitesh had graduated fromthe Indian Institute ofTechnology Bombay (IIT-B) in1996 with a Bachelor’s degreein Metallurgy and MaterialScience engineering.Chhichhore is inspired from hislife and times at the college.The film is about the campuslife in the engineering college.Tahir wanted to study andsoak in college life and seeinter-personal dynamics of var-ious hostels from close quartersbefore he started filming.

Tahir says, “I moved to IITBombay to spend a week at thehostel before the filming began.I internalise every role that I doand immerse myself with thesetting and the character thatI have at hand. I worked out atthe same gym as the studentsand ate in the canteens to getan actual feel of how their cam-pus life is. I studied the youngstudents closely and observedthe dynamics between hos-tels. Moving to the campusmade me ready for the role. Iam hoping that the audiencewill connect with my charac-ter.”

The actor also reveals thatliving and shooting in IIT wasuncanny for him. “MoodIndigo, the IIT cultural festivalis coincidentally also where Iperformed theatre for the firsttime as part of my college the-atre group. This was the place

where the germ of becomingan actor was set for me. Life isa full circle. The end of onejourney is the beginning of thenext,” he says and adds,“What’s further uncanny isthat my opening scene in thefilm is also shot in the same

corridor where I lived in forthe theatre. What are thechances! I think I was destinedto do this role and revisit thecampus that I so fondlyremember. Chhichhore willalways be one of the most cher-ished films of my career.”

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��"�� 'Sahara Estates defeated New Boys Tetro

Club 3-1 to lift District Football league trophyat the Chowk Stadium on Friday. Deepakstruck twice for the winners after Arjun gavethem 1-0 lead in the 18th minute. Director(Sports) RP Singh gave away the prizes. Otherspresent were Pawan Singh Chauhan and Syed

Rafat.

(�"��/�'��"Golden Boys blanked Mansarovar Club 3-

0 to enter the final of Lucknow Football Leagueat La Martiniere ground on Friday. In the sec-ond semi-final match, 1/11 GR crushed StateUnited FC 4-0.

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Asian and CommonwealthGames Gold-medallist

wrestler Bajrang Punia was onFriday nominated for thecountry’s highest sporting hon-our — the Rajiv Gandhi KhelRatna award, a year after hethreatened to move court fornot getting his due.

His name was finalised bya 12-member selection com-mittee on the opening day ofa two-day meeting. The panelcomprises the likes ofBhaichung Bhutia and M CMary Kom among others andis headed by Justice (Retd)Mukundakam Sharma.

“Bajrang has been nomi-nated for the Khel Ratnaaward. His name was a unan-imous choice,” a source said.

The source also said thatthe panel may add another ath-lete for the top honours onSaturday besides finalising thenames for the Arjuna andDronacharya awards.

Bajrang had threatenedto move court after he wassnubbed for the Khel Ratnaaward last year despitebeing a Gold-medallist inboth the Asian andC ommonwe a lt hGames.

On gettingthe nod onF r i d a y ,B a j r a n ga s s e r t e dthat he is adeservingcandidateof theaward.

“ M yjob is totrain hardand com-pete hard.My focus hasalways been on myperformance andnot awards. But therecognition doescome your way

when you do well,” Bajrangsaid from Georgia, where he istraining for the WorldChampionships.

“I had the achievements todeserve this award. I havealways said that awards shouldgo to the most deserving ones.”

Punia is a two-time medal-list at the world championshipsand a strong medal hope forIndia at next year’s TokyoOlympics.

While Bajrang won aBronze in 60kg in 2013 WorldChampionships, he betteredhis feat last year by bagging aSilver in the 65kg category.

He welcomed the recogni-tion, but Bajrang said he does-n’t consider it a motivationahead of the the WorldChampionships to be held fromSeptember 14 to 22 at Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

“My focus has always beenon preparing for the big stagebut yes, recognition makes youhappy. It is certainly a good

news weeks before theWorld Championship,”he said.

“I don’t need moti-vation from outside, I

am motivated to do wellat the World

Championships inKazakhstan. It(award) doesnot make anydifference tomy prepara-tions. Puttingon qualityperformanceis my focusand it willremain.”

Bajrangis only thef o u r t hwrestler tobe finalisedfor the KhelRatna award

after SushilK u m a r ,

Yogeshwar Duttand Sakshi Malik.

� �� 6��

Afighting half-century by wick-etkeeper-batsman BJ Watling

helped New Zealand to take a leadof 177 at stumps on day three inthe first Test match against SriLanka in Galle on Friday.

New Zealand, who trailed SriLanka by 18 runs in the firstinnings, finished on 195 for sevenand a target around 200 couldprove tricky for the hosts.

Spinners have long ruled theroost at Galle and towards the tailend of the game they tend tobecome even more threatening.

The highest successful runchase in here is 99 by Sri Lankaagainst Pakistan in 2014 andarmed with a three-pronged spin

attack, New Zealand should bealready feeling comfortable.

It was a thrilling day’s Testmatch with both teams fightingtooth and nail for the initiativeand at stumps on day three NewZealand emerged on top thanksto the efforts of Watling, who fin-ished unbeaten on 63.

New Zealand had slumpedto 25 for three losing top bats-men Ross Taylor (3) and KaneWilliamson (4) cheaply and at124 for six with only a lead of 106runs and four wickets remaining,they were playing catch up.

But Watling found an idealpartner in Tim Southee as thepair shared a 54-run stand toturn the game in New Zealand’sfavour.

Sri Lanka were sloppy on thefield with Southee dropped threetimes. Lasith Embuldeniya pro-vided the much-needed break-through when Southee gave himthe charge and was stumped byNiroshan Dickwella. He made23. It was Embuldeniya’s fourthwicket in the innings.

Watling who has six Testhundreds and posted a careerbest unbeaten 142 against SriLanka was again being a thornin their flesh with an unbeaten63 that came off 138 balls withfive fours.

Earlier, after resuming on227 for seven, NiroshanDickwella top scored for SriLanka with 61 as they went ontopost 267. Dickwella and SurangaLakmal were involved in a cru-cial 81 run stand for the eighthwicket that enabled them totake a lead. Lakmal made 40.

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The Indian men’s hockey teamwill open its campaign

against nemesis Malaysia whiletheir female counterpart willtake on hosts Japan in theOlympic Test event here today.

Both the Indian teams havesecured their places in the FIHOlympic Qualifiers, to be heldlater this year, by winning theirrespective FIH Series Finals.

Being world No 5 and thetop-ranked side in the tourna-ment among men, India start asfavourites against world No 12Malaysia.

The Indians have restedseniors like skipper ManpreetSingh and goalkeeper P RSreejesh, opting to test someyoung players.

In Manpreet’s absence,dragflicker Harmanpreet Singhwill lead the side while striker

Mandeep Singh will be hisdeputy.

Malaysia have time andagain showed their capability by

upsetting big teams like India atthe continental level.

But, in their last outing atthe Sultan Azlan Shah Cup ear-

lier this year, India defeatedMalaysia 4-2.

Overall, India boast a formi-dable record against Malaysia. Inthe last 10 meetings between thetwo Asian rivals, India have wonsix, while Malaysia only man-aged three victories.

“We are looking forward toour first match against Malaysia.We have had some good toughtraining sessions in both brandnew stadiums. Historically, wehave had some grand battlesagainst Malaysia and I don’t seeSaturday being any different,”India’s chief coach Graham Reidsaid.

After Malaysia, the Indianmen will play world No 8 NewZealand on Sunday and worldNo 16 Japan in their last round-robin match.

Meanwhile, the 10th-rankedIndian women’s team will havea relatively easy opener against

Japan. Then, Indian womenwill face their toughest test inworld No 2 Australia, before fac-ing world No 11 China.

The Indian women willtake heart from the fact that theybeat Japan 3-1 in the final matchof the FIH Series Finals inHiroshima this year.

But Japan hold a slight edgeover Indian women in the last 10meetings between the twoteams. While Japan have man-aged four victories, India havewon three with three matchesending in draws.

“We are looking forward toa good start at the Olympic TestEvent. This is a great opportu-nity for us to play against strongteams, and it will give us thechance to see where we need toimprove ahead of the crucialFIH Olympic Qualifiers laterthis year,” Indian women’s team’schief coach Sjoerd Marijne said.

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Manchester City will seekrevenge against

Tottenham today for their dra-matic Champions League exitlast season as Liverpool andManchester United also look tobuild on impressive PremierLeague starts this weekend.

City completed the firstever domestic treble of trophiesin England last season, but fellshort once more in theChampions League asTottenham progressed fromtheir quarter-final tie on awaygoals.

VAR disallowed RaheemSterling’s strike deep into stop-page time of a thrilling secondleg 4-3 win for the Englishchampions in April, robbingSterling of his hat-trick on thenight and City a place in thelast four.

Yet, Sterling has startedthe new campaign as he fin-ished the last, scoring a hat-trick on the opening weekendas City thrashed West Ham 5-0 to already move to the top ofthe table.

Tottenham were also victo-rious against Aston Villa, butneeded to come from behindand two goals in the final fiveminutes from Harry Kane tosecure a 3-1 win over promot-ed Aston Villa.

Kane has warned thatSpurs cannot fall behind soearly in the campaign if theywant to maintain a title chal-lenge.

Chelsea were the onlymember of the ‘big six’ to getoff to a losing start as the Blueswere humbled 4-0 byManchester United inFrank Lampard’s first game incharge.

The former England mid-fielder fairly argued that thescoreline was very harsh on hisside after they enjoyed thebetter of the opening hour.

� ��

World number oneNovak Djokovic hasa remarkably clear

road to the ATP CincinnatiMasters final after producingan efficient victory onThursday while third seedRoger Federer crashed out ofthe US Open tuneup event.

Djokovic was never indanger in his 6-3, 6-4 tri-umph over 53rd-rankedSpaniard Pablo Carreno Busta,whom he finished off in 90minutes.

Federer fell in a first-timemeeting with Russian AndreyRublev, who posted a 6-3, 6-4upset.

Defending championDjokovic will continue hisquest in a Friday quarter-final,taking on France’s LucasPouille, a 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-2winner over Russian KarenKhachanov.

Djokovic earned his eighthstraight victory at Cincinnation the first of two matchpoints.

“I’m very pleased today. Ibeat a top quality player,”Djokovic said. “It was straightsets but the score doesn’t indi-cate how tough it was.”

Federer, the seven-timeCincinnati champion whoturned 38 last week, wasunable to make an impressionon Rublev, playing only his sec-ond match since losing theWimbledon final to Djokovic.

Rublev, a 21-year-oldRussian qualifier who missedmonths last season with injury,was shell-shocked at his winover the 20-time Grand Slamchampion.

“It’s an amazing feelingwhen you play such a legend asRoger,” he said. “At least 99 per-cent of the crowd was support-ing him.

“Today I was just trying to

do my best. I told myself I needto play every point to the end.No matter what the situation,I kept fighting.”

Swiss third seed Federerwent down to the world num-ber 70 in barely an hour, los-ing for only the 10th time hereafter winning 47 matches.

This was Rublev’s secondtop-five win in a month afterbeating Dominic Thiem inHamburg on his way to thefinal.

/��'��'��Women’s top seed

Ashleigh Barty held off AnettKontaveit as the Estonian

served for victory before thetop seed scraped a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 triumph into the WTA eventquarter-finals.

The win keeps theAustralian in the chase for apossible return to the WTAnumber one ranking, whichshe lost to Naomi Osaka onMonday.

Barty needs to reachSunday’s final in order toregain the ranking summit.

Barty, who earlier elimi-nated five-time Grand Slamwinner Maria Sharapova, willplay Friday against MariaSakkari of Greece, a 6-7 (4/7),6-4, 6-4 winner over ninth

seed Aryna Sabalenka.Japanese second seed

Osaka advanced 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-2 over Hsieh Su-Wei,who defeated Osaka this yearin Miami. Osaka, currentholder of the US andAustralian Open titles, is play-ing the event for the first timeafter failing to qualify on heronly previous attempt in 2016.

2017 US Open finalistMadison Keys sentWimbledon champion SimonaHalep out 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.

Halep, last year’sCincinnati runner-up, will goto the US Open with just threepost-Wimbledon competitive

matches.Double Grand Slam

champion SvetlanaKuznetsova beat 2017 USOpen winner Sloane Stephens6-1, 6-2. Venus Williams wonthree matches in a row for thefirst time since March as shedefeated Donna Vekic 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

��/$�� /"��Roger Federer remains

determined to enter the USOpen on full throttle despitetaking a 6-3, 6-4 third-roundloss to Andrey Rublev at theATP Cincinnati Masters.

The 70th-ranked Russianqualifier was still in awe afterknocking off the seven-timetournament winner in 61 min-utes — the quickest loss for the38-year-old Swiss since 2003 inSydney when he fell after 54minutes.

But with the wisdomgained from nearly two decadeson tour, the 20-time GrandSlam winner was hardly atpanic stations after the surprisedefeat.

“It’s very important for methat I’m injury-free and I’mfeeling good,” he said.“Regardless of what the out-come of this week, I’m happyI came here, had good practicesessions.

Federer said that discus-sion with his team will deter-mine his schedule for the restof this week and next, with thefinal Grand Slam of the seasonstarting a week from Monday.

“I’ll have a few more daysoff now, I’m sure, before the USOpen,” he said. “I worked veryhard coming into Cincinnati inthat little season we had sinceWimbledon.

“I’m going to train —exactly what I need to do forthe Open — and that’s it. It’sfairly simple, keep it simple, butI’ve got to work hard.”

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Ravi Shastri was on Fridayre-appointed head coachof the Indian men’s team

by the Kapil Dev-led CricketAdvisory Committee (CAC),which unanimously felt thatthe incumbent’s “communica-tion skills and understanding ofteam issues” stood out.

Shastri, who had the publicbacking of captain Virat Kohlieven before the short-listingwas initiated, has been reap-pointed for a two-year period,ending with the 2021 T20 WorldCup in India.

“We have unanimouslydecided to appoint Ravi Shastrias the (head) coach of the Indiancricket team as you all wereexpecting,” CAC head KapilDev told mediapersons afterthe completion of the candidates’interviews that took placethrough the day.

The three-member CACalso comprised former Indiacoach Anshuman Gaekwad andex women’s captain ShanthaRangaswamy.

This will be Shastri’s fourthstint with the national team, hav-ing served briefly as the CricketManager (2007 tour ofBangladesh), Team Director(2014-2016) and head coach(2017-2019).

Shastri pipped former NewZealand coach Mike Hesson,Australian Tom Moody and

former India teammates RobinSingh and Lalchand Rajput tothe post. Former West Indiesand Afghanistan coach PhilSimmons pulled out of the race,citing personal reasons.

While Robin, Rajput andHesson gave in-person presen-tations, Moody spoke to thepanel over Skype from Australia.

“After doing all (interviews),Tom Moody was third after ourmarking and Mike (Hesson), anintelligent, young boy from NewZealand was a close second. Itwas a very close,” the formerIndia captain said, implyingthat Lalchand Rajput and RobinSingh were far behind in therace. The candidates were pri-marily marked on five aspects —coaching philosophy, experi-ence, achievements, communi-cation and knowledge of mod-ern tools.

A ‘very good’ had a 20-markweightage while good carried 15.Average was 10 and poor wasfive.

“Everyone of us gave marksand honestly we never dis-cussed which one of us gave howmany marks. When we calculat-ed, it was a very close race, I cantell you. I am not going to getinto the details as to how muchwas the difference but it was avery small number (margin),”said Kapil.

In fact, the 1983 WorldCup winning captain said thatfor him, his former teammate

Shastri’s “communication skill”was one of the highlights duringhis presentation.

“I felt his (Shastri) commu-nication skill was better and she(pointing at Shantha) mighthave felt something else. Wewere given a marksheet and wefilled it up without discussingwith each other,” he said.

Gaekwad felt that Shastriwas “well versed with the Indiancricket system, and knew theboys and their problems well

being the current coach.”Once Kohli openly backed

Shastri’s candidature at the pre-departure media conferencebefore the ongoing West Indiestour, it was expected that the for-mer India captain would be afavourite to retain the position.

However, Kapil reiteratedthat the committee never soughtthe Indian skipper’s opinion.

“Certainly not (soughtKohli’s opinion). Agar unkopuchte toh puree team ko puchte

(If we would have asked Kohli,then we would have taken theopinion of the whole team).”

Among all the candidates,Shastri’s record was unmatchedas the team reached the No1ranking in Test matches underhis guidance and won a series inAustralia for the first time in 71years. Since he came back in July,2017 replacing Anil Kumble,whose differences with Kohlicame out in the open, Shastri’scoaching record has been phe-nomenal.

India have won 11 out of 21Tests, 43 out of 60 ODIs and 25T20 Internationals out of 36 onhis watch.

“If somebody knows playerswell and can communicate well,he has an advantage,” Gaekwadsaid about Shastri’s candida-ture.

Kapil, however, clarifiedthat their committee is notaware of the terms of appoint-ment and Shastri’s remunre-tion.

He also stated that their

terms of reference, while con-ducting the interviews, was notbased on their previous perfor-mance but on the “presenta-tions” given and what the coach-es felt about the way forward forIndian cricket.

Gaekwad also insisted thatthe process was “completelytransparent”.

Kapil refused to divulge thedetails of Shastri’s presentation,which was made over a viedocall from Antigua and was thelast of the day.

“That’s confidential. He gavea presentation of what heachieved in the last two yearsand how the team can improvefurther. He sought more timefrom the board to make thisteam stronger in the days tocome.”

“All of them gave presenta-tions on what’s the way forwardand we weighed it along with thepast performances and thatswung it in Ravi Shastri's favour,”Shantha Rangaswamy gave theconcluding reply.

�� 6�

Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara,Ajinkya Rahane along with a well-

rested Jasprit Bumrah will be aiming forsome quality game time when Indiatake on West Indies Cricket Board XIin a three-day warm-up game startingtoday ahead of two-match series.

With skipper Virat Kohli sustain-ing a right thumb injury during thethird ODI, the team managementwould like to exercise precaution andmay be rest their best player beforeWorld Test championship opener.

Kohli has been in phenomenal

form and has led India from the frontin the limited-overs series. After scor-ing 106 runs in the three T20s, Kohligarnered 234 runs, including two cen-turies, in the two ODIs while the firstone-dayer was called off due to rains.

After whitewashing West Indies 3-0 in the T20 International series, Indiacontinued their winning spree andpocketed the three-match ODI rubber2-0. A win in the Test series startingAugust 22 will be the first time thatIndia would have won across all formatson Caribbean soil.

For one of India’s batting mainstaysin longest format, Pujara will be play-

ing a competitive red ball game after agood six months having last appearedin the Ranji Trophy final for Saurashtraa good six months back.

Rahane, skipper Virat Kohli’sdeputy in this format, didn’t exactly setthe English County on fire scoring only307 runs in seven games with a hun-dred and a fifty and sub-par average of23.61.

Rahane has had a prolonged badpatch in Tests also and this tour will becrucial for the Mumbaikar and a goodhit in the warm-up is the kind of starthe would be looking at.

Bumrah, who had a strenuous six

months till World Cup has now fresh-ened up and the practice game wouldbe more about hitting the straps andgetting some rhythm back after amonth-long rest.

The practice game will give achance for the players who are alreadyhere in the West Indies to shift fromlimited overs to five-day format andfrom white-ball to red-ball cricket.

On the batting front, Rohit Sharmaand Rishabh Pant would desperatelylook for runs after a below-par limit-ed overs leg. Rishabh for one would bemore keen on a hit as his understudyWriddhiman Saha has already hit two

half centuries in the A games and is nodoubt considered a far better keeper.

Mayank Agarwal is certain to openin the Tests but it will be a toss upbetween Hanuma Vihari (originally amiddleorder batsman) and KL Rahul,who has not been in best of forms inthis format. Pacers Umesh Yadav andIshant Sharma too would look toimpress the team management with afine show in the practice game aheadof the two Tests.

India’s spin department is expect-ed be led by the duo of off-spinnerAshwin and left-arm spinner RavindraJadeja.

� ��

England fast bowler JofraArcher marked his Test

debut with a wicket as Australiasuffered a top-order collapsebefore rain cut short play atLord’s on Friday.

Australia lost three wicketsfor 11 runs en route to slump-ing to 80-4 when rain forced anearly lunch on the third day ofthe second Test.

That left Australia 178runs behind England’s first-innings 258.

The 24.1 overs that tookplace in the morningsession represented the onlyaction on Friday, withpersistent rain leading theumpires to eventually abandonplay for the day at 5:22 pm localtime (1622 GMT) in a matchwhere Wednesday’s scheduledfirst day had already beenwashed out without a ballbowled.

Archer, on the groundwhere he bowled the SuperOver that saw England seal aWorld Cup final win over NewZealand last month, had finefigures of one wicket for 18runs in 13 overs.

Stuart Broad led the waywith 2-26 in 13 overs, while fel-low seamer Chris Woakeschipped in with 1-27 innine.

But Australia star bats-man Steve Smith was stillthere on 13 not out, withMatthew Wade unbeaten onnought.

Australia, 1-0 up in thefive-match series after their251-run win in the first Test atEdgbaston, resumed on 30-1having seen Broad dismissDavid Warner cheaply for thethird time in as many inningsthis series.

Play resumed undergloomy skies, the floodlightson at full beam, with condi-tions difficult for batting.

Cameron Bancroft wasfive not out and UsmanKhawaja 18 not out followinga lively opening spell by Archer,

in for the injured JamesAnderson, England’s all-timeleading Test wicket-taker, lateon Thursday.

Khawaja struck two offsidefours in as many balls whenfirst-change Woakes droppedshort.

But England altered themomentum with twowickets for no runs in four ballsas Australia’s 60-1 became 60-3.

Archer, topping speeds of90 mph, had his first Testwicket when he nipped oneback sharply to have Bancroftlbw for 13.

The 24-year-old Sussexpaceman’s celebrations wereput on hold as the strugglingopener reviewed.

But replays showing theball would have clipped the topof the stumps meant AleemDar, equalling SteveBucknor’s record of 128 Testsumpired, saw his decisionupheld.

There were some boos asSmith, fresh from twin hun-dreds at Edgbaston in hiscomeback Test following a 12-month ball-tampering ban,came into bat.

He could only watch asWoakes, with England at lastbowling over the wicket toKhawaja, induced an outsideedge to wicketkeeper JonnyBairstow that saw the left-han-der caught for 36.

Australia were 71-4when Broad had Travis Headlbw for seven, althoughEngland had to review Dar’soriginal not out verdict, withtechnology indicating the ballwould have smashed into theleft-hander’s middle and legstumps.

All-rounder Ben Stokesthought he had Edgbastoncentury-maker Wade lbw for aduck but the batsman’s reviewrevealed the ball had pitchedoutside leg stump.

Australia hold the Ashesbut are bidding for their firstTest series win away to Englandin 18 years.

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