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B JP candidate from the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat Sadhvi Pragya Thakur on Friday kicked up a major con- troversy by claiming Mumbai’s former Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare died during the 26/11 terror attacks because she had cursed him for torturing her while she was in custody in the 2008 Malegaon blast case. However, facing all-round criticism, she later not only apologised for her statement but termed Karkare a martyr. “I felt that the enemies of the country were being bene- fited from it, therefore I take back my statement and apolo- gise for it. It was my personal pain... He (Hemant Karkare) died from the bullets of ter- rorists from the enemy coun- try, he is certainly a martyr,” Pragya said. Left red-faced, the BJP had earlier sought to undo the damage by saying the party considered Karkare a martyr. Nevertheless, at the same time while the BJP termed Pragya’s remarks as her personal opin- ion, it reasoned it could be due to the physical and mental torture she underwent for years. Pragya is facing trial in the Malegaon blast case and is at present out on bail. “The BJP believes that Karkare died while bravely fighting terrorists. The BJP has always considered him a martyr,” the party said in a writ- ten statement in a damage-con- trol exercise. Earlier, addressing party workers in Bhopal, the Sadhvi said, “Hemant Karkare falsely implicated me. He died of his karma. I told him, he will be destroyed. I told him his entire dynasty will be erased. Maine kaha tera (Karkare) sarvanash hoga.” Pragya had alleged Karkare committed an anti-national act by falsely implicating her in the Malegaon blast case and keep- ing her behind bars without evidence. “It was treason. It was against religion,” she had said. T hree days after the death of Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, who fought with his father Narain Dutt Tiwari, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, to be accepted as his son, the autopsy report on late night of Thursday revealed that his death was “unnatural”. Police sources said Rohit was most probably strangulat- ed and smothering with a pil- low. “Following the post- mortem at AIIMS conducted by a medical board comprising five senior doctors, police on Thursday registered a case of murder and transferred it to the Crime Branch for investigation, a senior officer said. “The medical board unan- imously concluded that the cause of death in this case is asphyxia as a result of stran- gulation and smothering. It is a sudden unnatural death, placed in the category of homi- cide,” said Dr Sudhir Gupta, the head of the AIIMS forensic department. Crime Branch officials on Friday visited Rohit’s house in Defence Colony and ques- tioned his family members and domestic helps. His wife Apoorva is currently not in Delhi. A forensics team too vis- ited the house. Police sources said there are seven CCTV cameras — of which two don’t work — in Rohit’s house. “Rohit had gone to Uttarakhand to vote on April 12 and returned on the night of April 15. He could be seen on CCTV taking support of the wall while walking in an inebriated state,” police said. I n a major jolt to the Congress, its spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi on Friday formally joined the Shiv Sena, saying she felt “let down” by the Rahul Gandhi-led party for its failure to act firmly against “some lumpen goons” who were reinstated after having been suspended for “misbe- having” with her while she was on her official duty. "If I have joined the party, it is only with a feeling to serve and not for political posts. I wanted to come back to my roots. When I thought of com- ing back, I did not find any organisation better than this and no other better platform than this,” she said. A day after she sent her res- ignation as the AICC spokesperson and Convener (Communication) to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, 39- year-old Chaturvedi joined the Sena in the presence of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. Yuv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray presented Priyanka a bouquet and tied on her wrist a thread symbolising “Shiv Bandhan”. K eeping the possibility of alliance with the Congress alive, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday postponed the filing of nomination of three of its Lok Sabha candidates in Delhi, saying the party is will- ing to give another chance to the Congress to think about the nation. AAP’s East Delhi candidate Atishi, Chandini Chowk can- didate Pankaj Gupta and North West candidate Guggan Singh were set to file their nomina- tions on Saturday. “But to give a last chance to the Congress to come on the table for holding talks over the alliance, we are postponing these candidates’ nominations from Saturday to Monday,” Gopal Rai said. The effort was being made “to save the country from the Modi-Shah duo”, he said. Now these candidates would file their nominations on Monday, along with South Delhi candidate Raghav Chadha, North East Delhi can- didate Dilip Pandey and New Delhi candidate Brijesh Goyal, he added. Sources said the AAP leader Singh has proposed to the Congress that the party would not field its candidate from Chandigarh and give the grand old party outside support in the Union Territory if an alliance is formed in Delhi with the 5:2 seat-sharing for- mulas, five for the AAP and two for Congress. The AAP has already declared its candidates in Delhi for all the seven seats after receiving ambiguous response from the grand old party. D espite being located in the heart of Delhi’s posh Ram Krishna (RK) Puram, the unauthorised Anant Ram Dairy colony with a population of 3,500 residents that include educated and people employed in Government Departments such as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), advocates, and teachers is deprived of basic civic facilities. Sixty-six-year-old Manudev Pehlvan said as the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) takes no interest in repairing pothole-ridden roads and picking up heap of garbage, residents pool money to get streets constructed during mar- riages or other important cer- emonies. Other residents, mostly Gujjars, concurred with Pehlvan and said their several complaints have failed to prod the NDMC and the local MLA into action. “The NDMC charges house tax but provides us with no facilities. Also, our water and electricity bills are high. We don’t understand why the authorities are dilly-dallying in authorising this colony,” rued many residents to The Pioneer which visited the locality to take stock of the situation. Many residents lamented that the NDMC is not provid- ing proper safety for the resi- dents resulting in the rise in robbery and theft cases. Resident Welfare Authority’s (RWA) long demand of build- ing closed gates in the resident has fallen on authorities’ deaf ears. Civic authorities are so corrupt that for every single work they ask for bribery, said a resident. The colony established in 1973 is in bad shape with garbage piled up on roadsides being a normal thing. Despite the pathetic state, the colony has been the hub of Paying Guest (PG) for college students of Delhi University colleges such as Jesus and Marry College (JMC), Delhi College of Arts and Commerce (DCAC), Maitreyi College for woman and a few other colleges of South Campus. However, many students are now vacating the PG accommodations due to high electricity and water bills, said Manu Dev, who owns a private hostel. P aving the way for the moth- er of all battles in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress general secretary and East UP in- charge Priyanka Vadra Gandhi has made up her mind to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi, as per her close confidante. Varanasi will go to polls on May 19. Priyanka confidant and Congress leader in UP Legislative Council Deepak Singh on Friday added the final call would be taken by party chief Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka’s candidature would be announced “soon”. Singh said, “Priyankaji is an Iron Lady akin to her grand- mother Indira Gandhi. She has made up her mind to take on Modi to give out a clear message to voters that the time of ‘change’ has come. She will defeat Modi by exposing that as MP of Varanasi, he not only cheated his constituency but also the entire country.” Singh said a Congress sur- vey team has been camping in Varanasi to draw a campaign strategy. N early a quarter century after their bitter fallout, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday came togeth- er in Mainpuri to share the dais from where the BSP chief cam- paigned for the SP patriarch hailing him as a real leader of the backwards and not being a “fake leader like Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” The BSP-SP alliance, hav- ing a formidable political arith- metic in the State, also achieved a strong political traction as the two bitter rivals ended their over-two-decade-long ani- mosity . Mayawati waxed eloquence for Mulayam terming him a “real and born leader of the other backward classes” unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi whom she dubbed a “farzi OBC”. Besides praising each other profusely, the two arch- rivals also expressed gratitude to each other. Mayawati even went on to take at the estranged Yadav clan member Shivpal Yadav saying, “Akhilesh Yadav is the sole inheritor of the legacy of Mulayam Singh Yadav.” “I welcome Mayawati and I am very happy that Mayawati has come to my Lok Sabha con- stituency to campaign for me and I will never forget this favour. I am happy that I am sharing dais with Mayawati after very long gap. I respect Mayawati and you all should respect her,” said Mulayam Singh Yadav in his brief address to the rally. He added, “This is my last election and I am contesting as per the wishes of the alliance”. Mulayam also appealed to the voters of Manipuri to ensure his victory in the election with a record margin. Mulayam also blessed Akash Anand, nephew of BSP supremo Mayawati, who too was present on the dais. Further enhancing the feel- good factor, Mayawati defend- ed her move to join hands with the SP and said sometimes in the national interest and the party interest some tough deci- sions have to be taken. “I know people must be wondering why I have come here to campaign for Mulayam Singhji despite the State Guest House case. I have already replied to this question in January when both the parties announced this alliance in January”. T he Election Commission took suo motu cognisance of Pragya Thakur’s remarks against Hemant Karkare and ordered an enquiry after a complaint was filed against her with the Madhya Pradesh Election Commission. Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer VL Kantha Rao said a complaint has been received against the BJP Lok Sabha candidate for Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, for her comments on 26/11 martyr (former Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare). “Cognisance is taken. The matter is under enquiry,” Rao tweeted. T he Indian Police Service (IPS) Association did not name her but took exception to Thakur’s comments saying sac- rifices of martyrs should be respected. “Ashok Chakra awardee late Sri Hemant Karkare, IPS, made the supreme sacrifice fighting ter- rorists. Those of us in uniform condemn the insulting state- ment made by a candidate and demand that sacrifices of all our martyrs be respected,” it said. T he main Opposition Congress on Friday latched on to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur’s remarks against former Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare to demand an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the country and action against the BJP candidate from Bhopal for “insulting every soldier”. Karkare, who died fighting terrorists during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, gave his life protecting India and he must be treated with respect, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted. For his part, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “Modi ji, only BJP leaders can commit the crime of declaring 26/11 mar- tyr Hemant Karkare a traitor. This is an insult to every Indian soldier who has sacrificed his life for Mother India while fighting terrorism. Apologise to the country and take action against Pragya.” He also alleged the Prime Minister was behind the remarks made against Karkare by Thakur. Reacting to the controver- sial comment of his political opponent from Bhopal LS seat, Congress leader Digvijay Singh said, “Hemant Karkare was a dedicated officer. He laid down his life for the country and we should be proud of him. No one should comment on it.” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal too hit out at Pragya for her “disgraceful” comments on Karkare, saying it showed the party’s “true colours”. “Disgraceful comments by BJP’s Bhopal Lok Sabha candi- date Pragya Thakur on 26/11 martyr Hemant Karkare ji need to be condemned in strongest terms. BJP is showing its true colours & it must be shown it’s place now,” he said in a tweet. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also said the BJP is questioning the martyr- dom of Karkare, who gave life to the protection of “Bharat Mata” in the Mumbai terror attack. “Any bhakt will not get angry on this... This is the patri- otism of BJP,” he said in a tweet.

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������������� ����������������������� �������������� ������������������������������������������������ ������ ���������� ���������������� ������������������������ � �� ������� � ��������� ������������� ��������� !������"��� �� ��������� � �������� ������������������ �������������������������������� ��������������� �������� ����#�� � ��$� ������ �������� ����������� ����������� �������� ������������ !

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BJP candidate from theBhopal Lok Sabha seat

Sadhvi Pragya Thakur onFriday kicked up a major con-troversy by claiming Mumbai’sformer Anti-Terrorist Squad(ATS) chief Hemant Karkaredied during the 26/11 terrorattacks because she had cursedhim for torturing her while shewas in custody in the 2008Malegaon blast case. However,facing all-round criticism, shelater not only apologised forher statement but termedKarkare a martyr.

“I felt that the enemies ofthe country were being bene-fited from it, therefore I takeback my statement and apolo-gise for it. It was my personalpain... He (Hemant Karkare)died from the bullets of ter-rorists from the enemy coun-try, he is certainly a martyr,”Pragya said.

Left red-faced, the BJP hadearlier sought to undo thedamage by saying the partyconsidered Karkare a martyr.Nevertheless, at the same timewhile the BJP termed Pragya’sremarks as her personal opin-ion, it reasoned it could be dueto the physical and mentaltorture she underwent foryears. Pragya is facing trial inthe Malegaon blast case and isat present out on bail.

“The BJP believes thatKarkare died while bravelyfighting terrorists. The BJPhas always considered him amartyr,” the party said in a writ-ten statement in a damage-con-trol exercise.

Earlier, addressing partyworkers in Bhopal, the Sadhvisaid, “Hemant Karkare falsely

implicated me. He died of hiskarma. I told him, he will bedestroyed. I told him his entiredynasty will be erased. Mainekaha tera (Karkare) sarvanashhoga.”

Pragya had alleged Karkarecommitted an anti-national actby falsely implicating her in theMalegaon blast case and keep-ing her behind bars withoutevidence. “It was treason. It wasagainst religion,” she hadsaid.

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Three days after the death ofRohit Shekhar Tiwari, who

fought with his father NarainDutt Tiwari, former ChiefMinister of Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand, to be accepted ashis son, the autopsy report onlate night of Thursday revealedthat his death was “unnatural”.

Police sources said Rohitwas most probably strangulat-ed and smothering with a pil-low. “Following the post-mortem at AIIMS conductedby a medical board comprisingfive senior doctors, police onThursday registered a case ofmurder and transferred it to theCrime Branch for investigation,a senior officer said.

“The medical board unan-imously concluded that thecause of death in this case isasphyxia as a result of stran-

gulation and smothering. It isa sudden unnatural death,placed in the category of homi-cide,” said Dr Sudhir Gupta, thehead of the AIIMS forensicdepartment.

Crime Branch officials onFriday visited Rohit’s house inDefence Colony and ques-tioned his family membersand domestic helps. His wifeApoorva is currently not inDelhi. A forensics team too vis-ited the house.

Police sources said thereare seven CCTV cameras — ofwhich two don’t work — inRohit’s house. “Rohit had goneto Uttarakhand to vote onApril 12 and returned on thenight of April 15. He could beseen on CCTV taking supportof the wall while walking in aninebriated state,” police said.

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In a major jolt to theCongress, its spokesperson

Priyanka Chaturvedi on Fridayformally joined the Shiv Sena,saying she felt “let down” by theRahul Gandhi-led party for itsfailure to act firmly against“some lumpen goons” whowere reinstated after havingbeen suspended for “misbe-having” with her while she wason her official duty.

"If I have joined the party,it is only with a feeling to serveand not for political posts. Iwanted to come back to myroots. When I thought of com-ing back, I did not find anyorganisation better than thisand no other better platformthan this,” she said.

A day after she sent her res-ignation as the AICCspokesperson and Convener(Communication) to Congress

president Rahul Gandhi, 39-year-old Chaturvedi joined theSena in the presence of Senapresident Uddhav Thackeray.

Yuv Sena leader AdityaThackeray presented Priyankaa bouquet and tied on her wrista thread symbolising “ShivBandhan”.

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Keeping the possibility ofalliance with the Congress

alive, the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) on Friday postponed thefiling of nomination of three ofits Lok Sabha candidates inDelhi, saying the party is will-ing to give another chance tothe Congress to think about thenation.

AAP’s East Delhi candidateAtishi, Chandini Chowk can-didate Pankaj Gupta and NorthWest candidate Guggan Singhwere set to file their nomina-tions on Saturday.

“But to give a last chanceto the Congress to come on thetable for holding talks over thealliance, we are postponingthese candidates’ nominationsfrom Saturday to Monday,”Gopal Rai said.

The effort was being made

“to save the country from theModi-Shah duo”, he said.

Now these candidateswould file their nominations onMonday, along with SouthDelhi candidate RaghavChadha, North East Delhi can-didate Dilip Pandey and NewDelhi candidate Brijesh Goyal,he added.

Sources said the AAPleader Singh has proposed tothe Congress that the partywould not field its candidatefrom Chandigarh and give thegrand old party outside supportin the Union Territory if analliance is formed in Delhiwith the 5:2 seat-sharing for-mulas, five for the AAP andtwo for Congress.

The AAP has alreadydeclared its candidates in Delhifor all the seven seats afterreceiving ambiguous responsefrom the grand old party.

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Despite being located in theheart of Delhi’s posh Ram

Krishna (RK) Puram, theunauthorised Anant RamDairy colony with a populationof 3,500 residents that includeeducated and people employedin Government Departmentssuch as Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI), advocates,and teachers is deprived ofbasic civic facilities.

S i x t y - s i x - y e a r - o l dManudev Pehlvan said as theNew Delhi Municipal Council(NDMC) takes no interest inrepairing pothole-ridden roadsand picking up heap of garbage,residents pool money to getstreets constructed during mar-riages or other important cer-emonies. Other residents,mostly Gujjars, concurred withPehlvan and said their severalcomplaints have failed to prodthe NDMC and the local MLAinto action.

“The NDMC charges

house tax but provides us withno facilities. Also, our waterand electricity bills are high. Wedon’t understand why the

authorities are dilly-dallying inauthorising this colony,” ruedmany residents to The Pioneerwhich visited the locality to

take stock of the situation.Many residents lamented

that the NDMC is not provid-ing proper safety for the resi-

dents resulting in the rise inrobbery and theft cases.Resident Welfare Authority’s(RWA) long demand of build-ing closed gates in the residenthas fallen on authorities’ deafears. Civic authorities are socorrupt that for every singlework they ask for bribery, saida resident.

The colony established in1973 is in bad shape withgarbage piled up on roadsidesbeing a normal thing.

Despite the pathetic state,the colony has been the hub ofPaying Guest (PG) for collegestudents of Delhi Universitycolleges such as Jesus andMarry College (JMC), DelhiCollege of Arts and Commerce(DCAC), Maitreyi College forwoman and a few other collegesof South Campus.

However, many studentsare now vacating the PGaccommodations due to highelectricity and water bills, saidManu Dev, who owns a privatehostel.

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Paving the way for the moth-er of all battles in 2019 Lok

Sabha polls, Congress generalsecretary and East UP in-charge Priyanka Vadra Gandhihas made up her mind to takeon Prime Minister NarendraModi in Varanasi, as per herclose confidante. Varanasi willgo to polls on May 19.

Priyanka confidant andCongress leader in UPLegislative Council DeepakSingh on Friday added thefinal call would be taken byparty chief Rahul Gandhi andUPA chairperson Sonia Gandhiand Priyanka’s candidaturewould be announced “soon”.

Singh said, “Priyankaji is anIron Lady akin to her grand-mother Indira Gandhi. Shehas made up her mind to take

on Modi to give out a clearmessage to voters that the timeof ‘change’ has come.

She will defeat Modi byexposing that as MP ofVaranasi, he not only cheated

his constituency but also theentire country.”

Singh said a Congress sur-vey team has been camping inVaranasi to draw a campaignstrategy.

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Nearly a quarter centuryafter their bitter fallout,

Mayawati and Mulayam SinghYadav on Friday came togeth-er in Mainpuri to share the daisfrom where the BSP chief cam-paigned for the SP patriarchhailing him as a real leader ofthe backwards and not being a“fake leader like Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.”

The BSP-SP alliance, hav-ing a formidable political arith-metic in the State, also achieveda strong political traction as thetwo bitter rivals ended theirover-two-decade-long ani-mosity .

Mayawati waxed eloquencefor Mulayam terming him a“real and born leader of theother backward classes” unlikePrime Minister Narendra Modi

whom she dubbed a “farziOBC”. Besides praising eachother profusely, the two arch-rivals also expressed gratitudeto each other.

Mayawati even went on totake at the estranged Yadav clanmember Shivpal Yadav saying,“Akhilesh Yadav is the soleinheritor of the legacy ofMulayam Singh Yadav.”

“I welcome Mayawati andI am very happy that Mayawatihas come to my Lok Sabha con-stituency to campaign for meand I will never forget thisfavour. I am happy that I amsharing dais with Mayawatiafter very long gap. I respectMayawati and you all shouldrespect her,” said MulayamSingh Yadav in his brief addressto the rally.

He added, “This is my lastelection and I am contesting as

per the wishes of the alliance”.Mulayam also appealed to thevoters of Manipuri to ensurehis victory in the election witha record margin. Mulayam alsoblessed Akash Anand, nephewof BSP supremo Mayawati,who too was present on the dais.

Further enhancing the feel-good factor, Mayawati defend-ed her move to join hands withthe SP and said sometimes inthe national interest and theparty interest some tough deci-sions have to be taken.

“I know people must bewondering why I have comehere to campaign for MulayamSinghji despite the State GuestHouse case. I have alreadyreplied to this question inJanuary when both the partiesannounced this alliance inJanuary”.

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The Election Commissiontook suo motu cognisance

of Pragya Thakur’s remarksagainst Hemant Karkare andordered an enquiry after acomplaint was filed againsther with the Madhya PradeshElection Commission.

Madhya Pradesh ChiefElectoral Officer VL KanthaRao said a complaint has beenreceived against the BJP LokSabha candidate for Bhopal,Pragya Singh Thakur, for hercomments on 26/11 martyr(former Mumbai ATS chiefHemant Karkare). “Cognisanceis taken. The matter is underenquiry,” Rao tweeted.

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The Indian Police Service(IPS) Association did not

name her but took exception toThakur’s comments saying sac-rifices of martyrs should berespected. “Ashok Chakraawardee late Sri HemantKarkare, IPS, made thesupreme sacrifice fighting ter-rorists. Those of us in uniformcondemn the insulting state-ment made by a candidate anddemand that sacrifices of allour martyrs be respected,” itsaid.

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The main OppositionCongress on Friday latched

on to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur’sremarks against formerMumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad(ATS) chief Hemant Karkare todemand an apology fromPrime Minister Narendra Modito the country and actionagainst the BJP candidate fromBhopal for “insulting everysoldier”.

Karkare, who died fightingterrorists during the 2008Mumbai attacks, gave his lifeprotecting India and he mustbe treated with respect,Congress chief Rahul Gandhitweeted.

For his part, Congress’chief spokesperson RandeepSurjewala said, “Modi ji, onlyBJP leaders can commit thecrime of declaring 26/11 mar-tyr Hemant Karkare a traitor.This is an insult to every Indian

soldier who has sacrificed hislife for Mother India whilefighting terrorism. Apologise tothe country and take actionagainst Pragya.” He also allegedthe Prime Minister was behindthe remarks made againstKarkare by Thakur.

Reacting to the controver-sial comment of his politicalopponent from Bhopal LS seat,Congress leader Digvijay Singh

said, “Hemant Karkare was adedicated officer. He laid downhis life for the country and weshould be proud of him. Noone should comment on it.”

Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal too hit out atPragya for her “disgraceful”comments on Karkare, sayingit showed the party’s “truecolours”.

“Disgraceful comments byBJP’s Bhopal Lok Sabha candi-date Pragya Thakur on 26/11martyr Hemant Karkare ji needto be condemned in strongestterms. BJP is showing its truecolours & it must be shown it’splace now,” he said in a tweet.

Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia also said theBJP is questioning the martyr-dom of Karkare, who gave lifeto the protection of “BharatMata” in the Mumbai terrorattack. “Any bhakt will not getangry on this... This is the patri-otism of BJP,” he said in a tweet.

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When unable to toleratepeople hollering at the

same time or discussing unim-portant issues while under themisapprehension of beinginvolved in something seriouslyimportant on various newschannels, one often tries to findsomething worth watching onthe nature and wildlife chan-nels. Even though the subjecton such nature-centric chan-nels seems better, the repre-sentation is extremely skewedand even unscientific at times.On such channels we havevarious animals being por-trayed as ‘deadly killers’, ‘freaks’and ‘monsters’. Nothing couldbe further from the truth, thattoo on channels claiming to bebased on scientific researchand knowledge.

Many decades ago, zoolo-gists and experts studying otherbranches of science hadreached the conclusion thatanimals who kill other crea-tures for food do not exhibitemotions like anger or hatredthat a human killing anothercreature would. For example,the things going on in thebody and brain of a tigressnursing her cubs are not thesame as when she is killing ananimal for food but still the actof an animal killing anotheranimal for food or in selfdefence is not the same as ahuman murdering anothercreature. But, the folks whomake a living out of trying tosell ‘products’ through distor-tion — to beguile the targetswho pay — thought that scenesfrom wildlife would sell betterif animals were depicted also asruthless killers, monsters andfreaks.

This is called anthropo-morphism- when animals andother non-humans are givenhuman traits and emotions.Considered to be an innate ten-dency of human psychology,anthropomorphism is also evi-dent in most cartoon charactersthat now play a major role ininfluencing children of peoplewho find it convenient to placetheir kids in front of a televisionset for extended periods.Though some may opine that

such distortion is not reallyharmful, it does condition theaverage mind to soak in otherforms of deception and mis-conceptions that seem to bebecoming all too common invarious spheres of life in soci-ety. With the ongoing parlia-mentary elections forcingpoliticians to come out in fullform, what better examplecould there be of misrepresen-tation of facts and deceptionthan what many of them areclaiming repeatedly while try-ing to convince the people tovote for them? Describing indetail, the deception and mis-representation in politics is a

tedious and cumbersome taskthat is best left to those whothink it will be comprehendedby the public and makes a dif-ference to the public.

However, there are simi-larities in how the wildlifechannels deceive the audienceto increase their viewership andhow some politicians deceivethe public to elicit their votes.Just like the channel executivesmake programmes depictinganimals securing their food ascold hearted killers slaughter-ing other animals, some politi-cians also resort to similar tac-tics. Hence, we have non-issuesbeing inflated to major con-

t rov e r s i e s(with the fullcooperationof somemedia per-sons) andsome char-acters beingdepicted asanti-democ-ratic killersof freedom.What mostof us tend tomiss in suchscenarios isthat be it them i s r e p r e -sentation ofwildlife byt e l e v i s i onexecutives

and dishonest presenters orfalsehoods spread by somepoliticians, the facts remainunaltered even if the gullibleare affected by distortions. Anapt example of this is the ‘dam-age’ caused by snowfall inKedarnath. Despite there beingprominent scientific institu-tions in Uttarakhand, theauthorities decided to buildsomething that many opine isscientifically unsound, ecolog-ically damaging and spiritual-ly disturbing. They built facil-ities for thousands of people tostay overnight in a place wheretraditionally such human pres-ence has been limited.

Even otherwise intelligentand impressive personalitieswant to turn this place into a‘grand’ centre as if any man-made construction can begrander than an ancient shrineof Shiva amidst the lofty snowclad Himalayas. It is now beingreported that considerablesnowfall (which is natural insuch a place) damaged cottagesand other aspects built here.What this should teach us isthat irrespective of our ambi-tious plans to change a place or‘develop’ it, Nature has the lastword. Sadly, there are somequestionable plans yet to beexecuted like the playing of‘devotional’ music on the bri-dle path to this ancient shrine.A place where a devotee ismeant to be introspectiveamidst the inspiring silence andnatural sounds of theHimalayas will have musicchosen by a few to be played formultitudes walking on the path.

Those misrepresentingnature on television, politi-cians misinforming people,authorities favouring imprac-tical damaging ‘developments’and we the people need tocomprehend that facts are stub-born and do not change justbecause we want them to. Thesooner we realise this, the less-er the damage will be in thefuture from our skewedactions.

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Chiasma-2019, the week-long cultural event of the

Sri Guru Ram Rai (SGRR)Institute of Medical and healthsciences, culminated on a highnote on Friday. Speaking onthe occasion, the ViceChancellor (VC) of the SGRRUniversity Pitamber DuttDhyani said that such plat-forms help in promoting thetalents of the students.

The Principal of the SGRRMedical College, Dr AnilKumar Mehta said that collegeis heading on the path ofdevelopment. He exhorted thestudents to set up high stan-dards for themselves and try toachieve them by toiling veryhard. On the last day theMBBS students showed theirtalent in a unique fashionshow in which the culture ofdifferent parts of the countrywas depicted.

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The Governor ofUttarakhand, Baby Rani

Maurya visited the vocation-al centre of Bajaj Institute ofLearning for the deaf onFriday. She inaugurated thenewly instal led sewingmachine on the occasion.

Addressing the studentsof the institute, she said thatthe children are reflection ofgod. The governor exhortedthem to get associated withthe mainstream of the societyin a powerful manner by get-ting educated. She assuredthem that like other studentsthey too would contribute to

the society. Maurya addedthat the especially abled chil-dren are not less than anyoneelse and achieve all targets inthe life. She appreciated a cul-tural programme presentedby the students and inspect-ed the handicrafts and otherproducts made by the students.

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Representativesof more than

21 universitiesparticipated inthe nationalConference on‘Rural EconomicsChallenges —Role of UnionBudget’ whichwas organised atthe IMS UnisonUniversity onFriday. The con-ference wasorganised underthe aegis of the school of man-agement of the IMS University.The former Assistant DirectorGeneral of ICAR, DrKusumakar Sharma was thechief guest on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion,the Chief Guest, Dr Sharmasaid, “Social policies should notbe at the cost of economic poli-cies. All factors are movingaway from favourable condi-tion to agriculture. Soil quali-ty is depleting and alternate fac-tors are becoming more attrac-

tive. Agricultural developmentin India has been lopsided andwe have ignored many cropsfor selected crops. We have toadopt a move up and move outstrategy in order to be more

effective in our approachtowards agriculture.”

In the conference repre-sentatives of 21 Universitiesand colleges participated. TheChief Guest was felicitated bythe Pro Vice Chancellor ofIMS University, Dr RavikeshSrivastava.

A total of 52 papersreceived from many universi-ties, colleges, corporate hous-es and civil servants acrossIndia were tabled on the occa-sion.

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The case of the alleged mur-der of student Vasu Yadav

at Children Home Academyschool needs more and firmaction to be solved. Statingthis, the chairperson of StateCommission for Protection ofChild Rights (SCPCR), UshaNegi said that the death of a stu-dent is a serious issue andinvestigation into it will bemonitored properly by thecommission too. The SCPCRhas been active even in the casesthat do not form part of itsmain responsibilities, she said.

Talking to The Pioneer,Negi said, “We have been hear-ing even those cases that do notmainly concern us becausebeing a commission it is one ofour basic responsibilities tohelp any family in distressespecially when it comes tobreach of someone’s basicrights. The Vasu Yadav case toowas highlighted because at ourlevel, we investigated and triedto find out everything possiblewhich led us not only to thepresent case but also to pastincidents in the same school.’’

She further said, “Thepoint we had raised was reit-erated by the committeeformed by the district magis-trate SA Murugesan in the

Vasu Yadav case recently. Theinvestigation process in thecase is now a bit better butmore firmness is needed toreveal the truth behind all thecases that have been happeningthere since the past.’’

Referring to carelessness ofofficials concerned, she saidthat cases get highlighted onlyafter something happens tosomeone which should not beso. She said, “The ChildrenHome Academy was given NoObjection Certificate by theeducation department. Issuingan NOC is not the only task ofofficials concerned who arealso meant to visit the schoolson a regular basis. This willensure that no private institutionignores the norms which aremandatory to follow,’’ she added.

It will be recalled that 12-year old Vasu Yadav wasallegedly murdered by hisseniors at the Children HomeAcademy in Ranipokhri areaduring March. Though somearrests were made in this case,some including the SCPCRchairperson have questionedthe veracity of the findingsascertained through investi-gations by the police so far.Earlier, Negi had also demand-ed that the case be investigat-ed by the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI).

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Officials from the StateCommission for Protection

of Child Rights (SCPCR) allegedthat the schools run by the reli-gious organisations especiallyfor the deprived students in thestate are keeping the childrenaway from basic education. Inthe recent visits of the SCPCRteam to various schools, thecommission noted that the stu-dents enrolled in these schoolswere unable to have even basiceducation.

Citing an example of recentvisit to such a school an officialfrom the SCPCR said, “Theschools which are running forthe deprived students are treat-ing the basic education as thesecond priority. As a result, thesteps taken to connect everypoor student with basic edu-cation are achieving little. Ourrecent visit to a Madrasa high-lighted this point. It has 25 to30 students from deprivedbackgrounds. The Madrasawas teaching the students abouttheir religious books but thechildren were not properlytaught the basic knowledge ofEnglish, Hindi, GeneralKnowledge or mathematics.’’

Adding further in this the

official said, “Our visit to theChildren Home Academy alsorevealed the same situation. Thestudents were taught about thebasic education however manyof the students who were under18 years acknowledged thatthey follow Christianity as theirreligion though their familiesfollow Hindu religion. Studentsare equal for us from any religionhowever it is very important thatpoor or rich, everyone should begiven the basic education likeHindi, English or History. Also,no education institute regardlessof religion should sideline basiceducation.’’

When asked about it thechairperson of SCPCR, UshaNegi said, “In the recent visit toa Madrasa, instructions wereissued to the management tonot only give knowledge to thestudents about religious booksbut also to connect them withbasic education. As every stu-dent has potential in differentfields, it is the work of the edu-cational institute to guide thestudent in the stream well.Also, officials from the educa-tion department should keep aregular check on every schoolso that no student remainsdeprived of basiceducation,"she stressed.

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Holiday on the occasion of GoodFriday and Hanuman Jayanti

on Friday came as a blessing in dis-guise for routine traffic movementin Dehradun. With several religiousprocessions being held in the city,traffic was comparatively less con-gested compared to when suchprocessions are held on work days.

Superintendent of Police(Traffic) Prakash Chandra Aryasaid, “Yes, obviously on holidaystraffic is usually less and it was oneof the reasons behind less traffic dis-ruptions on Friday. Also, we hadproper route plan, diverting trafficduring the time of these processionsand extra force was stationed withthe processions to enable smoothflow of traffic.”

It is important to mention herethat on the occasion of HanumanJayanti, Vishwa Hindu Parishadtook out a procession from NehruColiny Fountain Chowk toDharmpur, Saraswati Vidya Mandir,Araghar, CMI, Buddha Chowk,Survey Chowk, EC road and thenback to Dharmpur. Traffic policewas stationed with them through-out the procession to mitigate traf-fic disruption.

It is also worth mentioning herethat earlier on the occasion ofMahavir Jayanti and before that onAmbedkar Jayanti, processions andrallies had caused major traffic

woes in the provisional state capi-tal. Though Deputy InspectorGeneral (DIG) and Traffic direc-

torate director Kewal Khurana hasreiterated that no such processionsor rallies are to be allowed on main

roads during peak hours still thesaid rallies continue to affect rou-tine traffic in the city.

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Hanuman Jayanti which falls on full moonwas observed in various temples of the

district on Friday with religious fervour.Special rituals were performed in Anjani Devitemple dedicated to Lord Hanuman’s divinemother, on Neel Parvat near historic ChandiDevi temple. The ascetics exhorted people toserve like Hanuman selflessly to raise thenation to the status of 'Vishwaguru'.

The Anjani Devi temple is just 100 metresfrom the Chandi Devi ropeway station. It ismentioned in scriptures that Anjani Devi hadpracticed penance at this place and every yearlakhs of devotees visit the temple.

Mahamandaleshwar Harichetanand Giriof Bada Udaseen Akhada said that LordHanuman was a true symbol of devotion whoserved his master without any wish for nameor fame. “True service always demands self-lessness and a country which has such servantswill definitely rise as a super power,” he said.

The president of Anjani Devi CharitableTrust Mahant Satish Giri said, “People wor-ship Anjani Devi for emancipation fromtheir sins and fulfillment of their desires. Thisis an ancient site and whosoever visits ChandiDevi also visits this historic temple.”

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Two elephants died afterbeing hit by a passing train

at Jamalpur Kalan area ofHaridwar forest division onthe Haridwar-Dehradunstretch of the railway trackearly on Friday morning. Thisis the fourth such fatal acci-dent involving elephants andtrains here in a period of twoyears.

On Friday morning, twoelephants estimated to be agedbetween 10 and 15 years werekilled by Nanda Devi Expresstrain during the wee hours.The Haridwar railway stationsuperintendent MK Singh stat-ed that this express trainreaches the Haridwar station at4 AM. The incident happenedsome 15 minutes before that.The bodies of the elephantswere removed from the trackand a probe in to the incidentis underway, said the forestdepartment officials.

When the railway depart-ment informed the forestdepartment about the acci-dent, a team of departmentpersonnel headed by theHaridwar divisional forest offi-

cer Akash Verma reached thesite and the bodies of thejumbos were moved off thetrack. According to theforesters, the elephants hadcome from Chilla range cross-ing Shyampur and wereattempting to reach Sitapurthrough the railway track.

When asked, the DFOAkash Verma said, “It is sounfortunate that elephantdeaths have occurred so fre-quently on railway tracks. Thisis the old migration route of

elephants which has beenencroached by the people.Some residential colonies havecome up but elephants still

come here in search of food.”Meanwhile, the former

honourary wildlife wardenRajiv Mehta slammed the

Rajaji national park authoritiesfor the recent elephant deathson the railway tracks. He said,“There is no patrolling on

foot by the forest departmentpersonnel otherwise so manydeaths would not be occurringhere at frequent intervals.

Between 2002 and 2014-15 noteven single elephant deathwas reported on the railwaytrack. Many a time the wire-less sets and handsets provid-ed to officials are defunctwhich implies that no com-munication is made byforesters to railway officials onmovement of elephants innearby locations. The nation-al park director seems to havelack of experience in wildlifeconservation,” he opined.

The park authorities hadthought of ways in the past tocheck the rising incidents ofjumbo deaths on the railwaytracks. They had marked 18 sen-sitive points two months agoalong the stretch of railwaytrack where the elephant move-ment is more and the pachy-derms get trapped in the trackwhen a speedy train is approach-ing. However, two months onnothing is visible on the groundeven as elephants continue toface fatal risks in these areas.

Activists opine that theRajaji national park and tigerreserve, once considered a safehaven for the wildlife especial-ly the elephant, is emerging asa death trap for the elephants.

A 28-kilometre long railwaytrack passes through theHaridwar -Motichur-Kansrorange of Rajaji which is provingto be a fatal threat for thepachyderms. In May last year, anadult elephant while trying tocross the railway track wasmowed down by the NandaDevi Express in the early hoursof the morning about 10 kilo-metres from Haridwar. Inanother accident, the same trainhad fatally hit a pachyderm.

The Rajaji director SanatanSonkar said that the security ofelephants was top priority ofthe authorities and all possiblemeasures are being undertak-en for the same. “The probe ison in the death of the elephantsto ascertain whether the rail-way staff was given signal ofelephants approaching.”

Notably since the forma-tion of the park, 31 elephantshave died after being hit bytrains on these deadly tracks.Some of the recent incidentsinclude a female elephantdying near Motichur range onJune 26 last year, an elephantcalf hit by a train and anoth-er elephant dying nearRailwala track during October.

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The political fate of Congress veteranand general secretary of All India

Congress Committee (AICC) HarishRawat hinges firmly on the result of theNainital- Udham Singh Nagar parlia-mentary constituency where he is lockedin a tough battle with the President of thestate unit of BJP, Ajay Bhatt.

A defeat for the indomitable Rawatcould provide a mortal blow to his fiefdomin the politics of the state. A victory on theother hand would reaffirm his dominancein the state and shut the mouths of hisdetractors. The battle of Nainital- UdhamSingh Nagar constituency is important toHarish Rawat as he had suffered defeatsfrom both the assembly constituencies hecontested in the assembly elections of 2017.

In these assembly elections, the mainplank of Congress was the leadership ofthen Chief Minister Harish Rawat after theinfamous budget session of the assemblyin March 2016 in which many top lead-ers of the Congress had left the party.Rawat contested from Kichha in UdhamSingh Nagar and Haridwar rural assem-bly constituencies in 2017. However, theveteran leader had to bite dust at the hus-tings from both these places. In Kichha,

Rawat was defeated by Rajesh Shukla ofBJP by a margin of more than 2000 voteswhile in Haridwar rural he was trouncedby Swami Yatiswaranand.

Harish Rawat has risen from villagelevel politics as he had held the posts of vil-lage Pradhan and Block Pramukh in hisnative Almora district.

He shot to national limelight in the year1980 when he defeated senior BJP leaderMurli Manohar Joshi from Almora par-liamentary constituency. He represented

this constituency for three successiveterms. Rawat however lost Lok Sabha elec-tions four times in row from Almora outto which three times his nemesis was BachiSingh Rawat of BJP.

Harish Rawat shifted to Haridwarparliamentary seat in the year 2009 andwon from here. In the elections of 2014, hefielded his wife Renuka Rawat fromHaridwar against Ramesh PokharialNishank. In this election Nishank defeat-ed Renuka Rawat by a huge margin.

After the severe drubbing the Congressreceived in the assembly elections of2017, the dominance of Harish Rawatwithin the Congress party was challengedby the leader of opposition in state assem-bly Indira Hridayesh. She joined handswith the Pradesh Congress Committee(PCC) President Pritam Singh to mar-ginalise Rawat in the party.

Political observers opine that chal-lengers within party would become morevocal if Harish Rawat and his protégéPradip Tamta who is contesting from theAlmora- Pithoragarh parliamentary con-stituency against union minister of state,Ajay Tamta, lose the elections. A victoryhowever would reaffirm his position as thetallest leader of the Congress party inUttarakhand.

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The association of field workers of the108 ambulance service has threatened

to launch an agitation if their services arenot transferred to the new operatingagency of the ambulance service. These

employees are demanding that theirsalaries and place of posting shouldremain unchanged in the new company.

On Friday these workers under theaegis of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh(BMS) held a press conference in whichthey threatened that if their services are nottransferred to the new operating agency ofthe 108 ambulance service by April 23,2019 then they would start their agitationand on April 24 they would organise amarch to the state secretariat.

The general secretary of the associ-ation, Vipin Jamloki said that the chiefminister Trivendra Singh Rawat shouldintervene in the matter so that the jobsof the experienced field workers of theambulance service are saved.

It is worth mentioning here that thecontract of GVK EMRI Company tooperate 108 emergency ambulance ser-vice is ending on April 30 due to whichan uncertain future looms over the headof more than 850 employees.

The state government had recentlyhanded over the task of operating the 108ambulance service to Community Actionand Motivation Programme (CAMP)after it quoted cheapest rate in the ten-der process.

As the term of its contract is ending

on April 30, the GVK- EMRI manage-ment has issued letters to the all itsemployees in which it is mentioned thatApril 30 would be their last day in ser-vice.

The 108 ambulance service has morethan 850 employees which include, dri-vers, technicians and workers of its callcentres.

It is learnt that the new operatorCAMP is willing to appoint experi-enced staff of the GVK EMRI but isreportedly not ready to pay them thesalary they were receiving.

Most of these workers are workingfrom last seven to eight years and are get-ting salaries in the range of �15000 to18000 per month. The new company issaid to have offered only �10000 permonth to these workers.

Started in the year 2008, the 108ambulance service is providing emer-gency care in all parts of the state. Theservice also caters the important task oftransporting pregnant women for safedeliveries in the hospital underKhushiyon Ki Savari.

The 108 ambulance service has a fleet139 ambulances and which includes aboat ambulance which is operational inthe Tehri Lake.

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Locals and members of theCorbett Gram Vikas Samiti

(CGVS) observed the 64thdeath anniversary of hunter-conservationist Jim Corbetthere on Friday.

They garlanded his bust atthe Corbett museum inKaladhungi and recalled hiscontributions especially to theKaladhungi and ChhotiHaldwani areas.

Office bearers of the CGVSreiterated their commitment towalk the path of love forwildlife as advocated byCorbett. Children wereinformed in detail about the lifeof the hunter-conservationiston the occasion.

Head of the CGVS,Rajkumar Pande said thatCorbett had a deep attachmentfor forests and wild animals.Once a famous hunter, he latershunned hunting and preferred

to capture wild animals usinga camera. He also recalled thatCorbett has purchased 40 acreland from Guman Singh andhad settled 10 families in thisplace now known as Chhoti

Haldwani. Though he relocat-ed to Kenya after India gainedindependence, he retained con-tact with his friends living inChhoti Haldwani.

Villager Indra Singh Bisht

said that Corbett is akin to amessiah for the residents ofChhoti Haldwani.

He had facilitated arrange-ments for farming, got an irri-gation channel to the village,sourced seeds from India andabroad and also protected thecrops from wild animals, whichshowed his attachment for thevillagers.

It should be mentionedhere that Corbett was born onJuly 25, 1875 in Nainital.Charmed by the environmentat Kaladhungi, he had pur-chased 22 bigha land on theKaladhungi-Nainital road andbuilt a home for himself. Hesold this house before leavingIndia in 1947. Later, this homewas converted into a museum.On April 19, 1955, Corbett diedin Kenya. Since then, the resi-dents of this village rememberhim especially on his birthanniversary on July 25 anddeath anniversary in April.

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The State MeteorologicalCentre has forecast the pos-

sibility of very light to light rainand thunderstorm at isolatedplaces in the state today. Isolatedplaces in Uttarkashi, Chamoli,Rudraprayag, Bageshwar andPithoragarh districts may expe-rience such weather while dryweather is forecast for the restof the state on Saturday.

According to the meteoro-logical centre, Dehradun is like-ly to experience mainly clear topartly cloudy sky. The maxi-mum and minimum tempera-tures are going to be about 32degree Celsius and 16 degreeCelsius respectively.

Meanwhile the maximumand minimum temperaturesrecorded at various places of thestate on Friday were 31.6 degreeCelsius and 14.3 degree Celsiusin Dehradun, 31.8 degreeCelsius and 14.9 degree Celsiusin Pantnagar, 17.9 degreeCelsius and 6.3 degree Celsiusin Mukteshwar and 21.2 degreeCelsius and 7.2 degree Celsiusrespectively in New Tehri.

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Lack of proper city bus stopsin Dehradun remains one of

the factors affecting not onlypublic convenience and trafficflow but also the business ofcity bus operators in the city.

President of the Dehraduncity bus union Vijay VardhanDandriyal said that no one con-sulted the union before identi-fying the places for these busstands.

He alleged that authoritieshad set up these bus standsmainly for advertisement pur-poses.

This and other vehiclesplying as public transport whileblatantly violating rules arecausing loss to the city busoperators.

This is why many city busowners are surrendering theirpermits due to the resultinglosses, he said.

Dandriyal told The Pioneeron Friday, “I have been fight-ing this battle since 2014.

According to the normsVikrams, Tata Magic and nowE-Rickshaws are contract car-riages, and they are supposedto carry passengers only whenthey are on booking. Despitethat none of these vehicles arefollowing rules, because ofwhich city bus owners are sur-rendering their permits.”

He further added, “Thereare city bus 310 permits inDehradun district but only260 are being used. The othershave surrendered their permitsand rightfully so, all their pas-sengers are being carried byVikrams though they are noteven meant to do so as per therules.”

When asked about the lackof proper city bus stands inDehradun he said, “Places suchas Clock Tower, Tehsil Chowk,Prince Chowk, Railway Station,and ISBT do not have city busstands. Commuters at ClockTower do not want to walk andthen board a bus; they wouldrather sit in a Vikram available

there and move on.”About the bus stands he

added, “Most of them such asbus stands near Secretariatand LIC building are almostinsignificant for city buses asno one boards buses fromthere, neither are these spotswhere buses halt. When placesfor the bus stands were beingidentified the city bus unionwas not even consulted. Infact, Parade Ground fromwhere we have the permit tostart our daily routine hasbus stand only on one side ofthe road.”

It is pertinent to mentionhere that lack of proper pub-lic transport in Dehradun isconsidered to be one of themajor reasons of various civicwoes experienced in the pro-visional state capital.

While the Vikrams arebelieved to be major contrib-utors to noise and air pollutionapart from traffic congestion,there are anomalies in theoperation of city buses too.

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In a last ditch effort to forman al l iance with the

Congress, the Aam AadmiParty has postponed theannouncement of its candi-dates in Haryana.

In Delhi, the party post-poned the filing of nomina-tion of its candidates.

The AAP, which has analliance with Jannayak JantaParty in Haryana, was sched-uled to announce its threecandidates on Friday in thestate.

But, wanting to giveanother chance to the grandold party to forge an allianceto contest the Lok Sabhapolls, the AAP decided to waitfor a day.

The AAP will be fieldingcandidates from Faridabad,Karnal and Ambala(reserved) Lok Sabha seatswhile the JJP has alreadyannounced candidates on four seats out of sevenseats in its quota in Haryana.

A day before, JJP leaderDushyant Chautala hadannounced to seek his re-elec-tion from Hisar Lok Sabhaconstituency.

The party has fielded newfaces--Nirmal Singh Malhadifrom Sirsa, Pradeep Deswal

from Rohtak and Swati Yadavfrom Bhiwani-Mahendergarh.

The JJP is yet to namecandidates on parliamentaryseats namely Kurukshetra,Sonipat and Gurugram.

The 10 Lok Sabha seats inHaryana will go to polls onMay 12.

Notably, uncertainty pre-vails over the tie-up in Delhi,with the AAP seeking analliance in Haryana, Delhiand Chandigarh. TheCongress, however, offeredto tie up only in the nationalcapital.

Har yana state partyincharge Naveen Jaihind hadon Thursday said that talksover alliance in Haryana in aseat-sharing formula of 6:3:1were held between seniorAAP leader Sanjay Singh andCongress general secretaryincharge of Haryana GhulamNabi Azad.

“Six seats for Congress,three seats for the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP)and one for the AAP wereproposed but the Congressabruptly called off the talks,”he had said.

On the other hand, theCongress had offered a 7:2:1deal for Har yana, taking the largest share andleaving two for the JJP andone for AAP.

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Lashing out at the BJP’sBhopal candidate Sadhvi

Pragya for insulting AshokChakra awardee late HemantKarkare, Punjab ChiefMinister Capt Amarinder Singh on Fridayaccused the hardliner of drag-ging the current nationalismdiscourse in the country to anew low.

Capt Amarinder, in ahard-hitting reaction toSadhvi’s “sickening and repul-sive” comment that it was her“curse” that led to Maharashtrapolice officer Hemant Karkarebeing killed while fighting theMumbai terror attack ofNovember 2008, said: “Thatwoman cannot be sane. Noperson in their sane mindcan think or talk like that, andthat too about a police officerwho sacrificed his life for thenation.”

Also tweeting his angerover Sadhvi’s atrocious com-ment, Capt said: “Is she sane?Sadhvi Pragya has draggedpatriotism to a new low byattacking decorated dead IPSofficer #HemantKarkare whosacrificed himself to fight ter-rorism & here's an official@BJP4India candidate insult-ing his memory! It's an insultto our men in uniform & toevery Indian.”

Sadhvi Pragya has not justinsulted a police officer but hasshown disrespect to everyman in uniform, said CaptAmarinder, adding that theSadhvi’s remarks had exposedthe true colours of the BJP,which had been claiming the`nationalist’ agenda as its keypoll plank and projecting itselfas the only protector of our`nationhood’.

The fact that the two BJPleaders, present at the pressconference where she madeher remarks, did not try tostop her or make amends inany way shows that the BJP’s‘saffron agenda’ overridesevery other agenda, includingpatriotism and nationalism,said the Chief Minister.

He dismissed as “crap” theparty’s subsequent attempt toalienate itself from the con-troversial remarks by callingthem the Sadhvi’s personalopinion.

“Every BJP member, espe-cially a candidate, only res-onate the thinking and phi-losophy of the party. So theBJP cannot wriggle out of itsresponsibility in the matter by

simply shrugging its shouldersas an afterthought,” he added.

After demolishing all thevital democratic institutions ofthe country during the fiveyears of its total misrule, theBJP was now trying to destroythe very fabric of civilizationby fielding such shamelesslyprejudiced and divisive ele-ments, Captain Amarindersaid. “They have reduced thiselection to a mockery bybringing in criminals and dis-sensionists. If the BJP does notsupport the Sadhvi’s view-point then why is she still withthe party?”

It was shameful that BJPleaders were, on the one hand,seizing credit for the patrio-tism of our armed forces, andon the other demeaning menin uniform, the Chief Ministersaid. “What kind of national-ism is this? Definitely notwhat our freedom-fighterssacrificed their lives for,” headded, appealing to the peopleof India to vote out theseforces of hatred and divisive-ness to save the nation’sConstitutional ethos and char-acter.

“We cannot let these peo-ple destroy our country. Wecannot let them get away withtheir destructive agenda,” heasserted, vowing to do every-thing in his power to countertheir nefarious designs.

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Accumulation of snow andextreme cold climatic con-

ditions in the upper reaches ofHimachal Pradesh is affectingarrangements for the May 19Lok Sabha poll. But the votersare gung-ho over the partici-pation of the people in the elec-toral process.

Officials said that at amajority of 92 polling stationsin Lahaul-Spiti district - out ofstate's 7,723 booths - there isstill widespread accumulationof snow.

These booths are scatteredover rugged, cold and inhos-pitable terrain where poll offi-cials have to trek hours toreach their booths.

"The physical verificationof some of the polling boothsis yet to be done owing to clo-sure of road links there afterwinter snowfall," Tehsildar(Elections) Dorje Thakur toldIANS over the phone.

He said snow clearanceoperations are on across thedistrict and it would take atleast a fortnight to reopen amajority of the roads.

Lahaul-Spiti, along withother remote areas of Kinnaurdistrict and Bharmour inChamba district, are part of thesprawling Mandi constituencythat covers almost two-thirds ofthe state.

A total of 49 voters, includ-ing 20 women, are eligible toexercise their franchise at

Tashigang, one of the country'shighest polling stations locat-ed in Lahaul-Spiti at an altitudeof 15,256 feet and close to theChina border.

This polling station in theSpiti Valley will also cater tovoters of Gete village.

For years, Hikkam (14,400feet), close to Tashigang, wasone of the highest pollingbooths.

Deputy CommissionerAshwani Chaudhari said elec-tricity and water supply hasbeen restored to most of thepolling stations.

Work to reopen traffic toKeylong, 225 km from statecapital Shimla, via the snow-marooned Rohtang Pass locat-ed in the Pir Panjal mountain

range is on, he added.Snow-clearing work start-

ed on March 1 and it will takeat least a month more to reopenthe 115-km road stretchbetween Manali and Keylongtowns.

Rohtang Pass is the gate-way to Keylong from Manali inKullu district, but it remainsoff-limits from the rest of thecountry for over five monthsdue to heavy snow deposits onthe road.

This time, Rohtang shutdown in mid-December andsince then, people of the Lahaulregion have been holed up intheir region.

So is the Kunzum Pass, theroad link between the Lahauland Spiti valleys that too is

closed for motorists.The Lahaul Valley, com-

prising over two dozen small,scattered villages some 350 kmfrom state capital Shimla,remains cut off owing to heavyaccumulation of snow atRohtang Pass (13,050 feet) - theonly connection with Manali inKullu district.

The usual election bustle isstill missing in Lahaul-Spiti dis-trict. The poll scene will heat uponly with the melting of thesnow and the re-opening of theland routes.

"We are still cut off fromthe rest of the world. Some ofthe internal roads have beenmade motorable. We are await-ing restoration of mobile net-work in the area," Shyam Bodh,

a resident of Chokhang villagein Lahaul, told IANS.

He said no candidate of theBJP or the Congress hasreached here for canvassing.

This time, Ram SwaroopSharma, the BJP's outgoingMP, who is again in the fray,and the Congress' greenhornAshray Sharma, grandson offormer Telecom minister SukhRam, are the main contenders.

"I am going to start my tourin the interiors of Lahaul-Spitisoon," the BJP candidate toldIANS.

"If the weather permits, Iwill travel by car. Otherwise,the helicopter is the onlyoption," he added.

The entire Lahaul and Spitidistrict is populated mainly by

the tribals. The climatic con-ditions of the district are harshas much of the land forms partof a cold desert where the mer-cury drops below minus 20degrees Celsius during winter.

The Buddhist-dominateddistrict in the Himalayan ter-rain at elevations ranging from15,000 to 20,000 feet, attractsglobetrotters not only fornature-based activities but alsoto ancient monasteries likeTabo and Dhankar.

The district has no town;the population is rural, spreadacross 521 villages with 23,407voters.

The residents of Lahaul-Spiti were months ahead of therest of the nation in exercisingtheir franchise in the first gen-

eral elections in 1951-52.The tribal areas that form

the Mandi constituency wereearlier called Mahasu. In 1952,Rajkumari Amrit Kaur of theerstwhile Kapurthala royalfamily won.

"We are excited to partic-ipate in the election process.We are awaiting the arrival ofthe party candidates. Even onelection day, we will be amongthe first voters to reach thepolling station," said Jai SinghNegi, a retired governmentemployee settled in Hikkamvillage.

Like in the previous elec-tions, this polling stationwould again record the high-est polling in the district," headded.

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New Delhi: Former UnionMinister Upendra Kushwahawill continue to be the Presidentof the Rashtriya Lok SamtaParty (RLSP) and the symbol of"ceiling fan" will be reserved forthe party till the conclusion ofthe Lok Sabha elections, theElection Commission (EC)ruled on Friday.

Giving an interim order ona dispute between two factionsof the party over its leadershipand symbol, the EC said, "Therecognition of the RLSP with thereserved symbol 'ceiling fan'shall continue till the conclusionof the current general elec-tions."

"Upendra Kushwaha willcontinue to be recognised as thePresident of the party for thepurposes of the current elec-

tions," it said.RLSP MLA from Bihar

Lalan Paswan, who leads one ofthe two RLSP factions, had peti-tioned the EC that the party hadremoved Kushwaha after he leftthe National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) and joined theUnited Progressive Alliance(UPA) last year without theconsent of party members.

In the interim order, the ECsaid the faction led by Paswanwill be granted interim recog-nition as a state party until thedispute was resolved.

The faction has to give anew name for the party "imme-diately". It has also been askedto indicate a symbol of its choice(giving a choice of at least threesymbols) from among the avail-able free symbols. IANS

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minister Nitin Gadkari onFriday accused Congress chiefRahul Gandhi of misleadingpeople with a false promise ofproviding a minimum incomeof Rs 72,000 per year.

Addressing a campaignrally at Pathalgaon in Jashpurdistrict of Chhattisgarh, he alsosaid the credit for transformingthe country's image in the lastfive years did not go to him orPrime Minister Narendra Modi,but to the people who gavemajority to the BJP.

"Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru,Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhiand Sonia Gandhi, all gave theslogan `garibi hatao' (removepoverty) and people voted forthem, but they did nothing.

"Similarly, Rahul Gandhihas started misleading the coun-try by lying to people. He ismaking a false promise of giv-

ing Rs 72,000 per year to thepoor," Gadkari said.

"It is wrong, because theycannot give it. From wherethey will get the money? To mis-lead people has been theCongress' policy," he said.

"During its 50-year-rule,the Congress spread the poisonof casteism and communalism.They misled people by tellingthem that the BJP governmentis anti-Dalit and it will changethe Constitution. They tellMuslims that this governmentwill chop them off (`katwadenge') and send them toPakistan," he said.

"The Congress is spreadinglies because it cannot seek voteson the basis of its work,"Gadkari said.

"We are working to fulfil thedream of making India a super-economic power," he added.

"The credit for changing the

country's image in the last fiveyears does not go to me orprime minister Narendra Modi,but to the people who gavemajority to the BJP (in 2014polls) and gave us opportunityfor undertaking development,"the Union minister said.

He sought votes so that theBJP could continue "the processof development" and crackdown on corruption.

He also referred to theModi government's initiativeto clean up the Ganga, sayingnow its water was so clean thatCongress general secretary Priyanka Gandhicould drink it (when she visit-ed Varanasi).

Priyanka Gandhi could alsotravel from Varanasi toPrayagraj by a boat because ofthe Modi government's inter-nal waterway development pro-gram, he added. IANS

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Five persons died in separateaccidents in the national cap-

ital in last 24 hours. In two acci-dents reported in southeast Delhithree persons died after theauto-rickshaw they were travel-ing toppled in NFC area and inNizamuddin area an ITI studentwas crushed to death by a speed-ing DTC bus.

While in the third incidentreported in northeast Delhi'sHarsh Vihar area where a youthwas mowed down by a tractor onlate Thursday night.

In first incident, three per-sons died while one is still bat-tling for his life in hospital afterthe auto-rickshaw they weretraveling met with an accident inNew Friends colony area on lateThursday night.

They were rushed to the

Apollo hospital where three ofthem were declared broughtdead.

According to a senior policeofficial, the trio deceased hasbeen identified as Ram Singh(40), Ashok (18) and Devraj (23)and they all belongs to Rampurand Sambhal districts of UP.While the injured is identified asAmar Singh (25). The driveridentified as Vijender initially ranaway from the spot but was laterapprehended by the police.

"They work as caterers inmarriage functions and werereturning to Nehru Nagar fromJaitpur after doing their duty ina marriage function when sud-denly the auto-rickshaw turnedturtle at Mathura road around1:30 AM," said the senior policeofficial.

It was also alleged that theauto driver was cleaning the

windscreen due to which theauto lost control. The deceasedsustained serious head injurieswhile the fourth injured is alsosaid to be critical. "A case hasbeen registered and the accusedauto rickshaw driver has beenarrested by the police," said thesenior police official.

In another incident in thesame district, a 22 year old manwas crushed to death by a speed-ing DTC bus, who was identifiedas, Honey Meena. He was a stu-dent to ITI, Arab Ki Sarai, Delhiwho was crossing road at thetime of incident.

Chinmoy Biswal, theDeputy Commissioner of Police(DCP), South-East district saidthat on Thursday, a PoliceControl Room (PCR) call wasreceived at Hazrat Nizamuddinpolice station regarding an acci-dent at Bhogal Road.

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Activists and intellectualshave come down heavily

on the BJP Government led byNarendra Modi at the Centrefor not fulfilling a singlepromise the BJP had given atthe election time in 2014 andpresently creating a frenzy todivert attention from its mas-sive failures and misdeeds.

At a meeting hereaddressed by Prof Jayati Ghosh,scribe Manoj Mitta and attend-ed by activist PrafullaSamantara, Prof Golak Nath,Narendra Mohanty andAbhiram Behera, among oth-ers, the voters were urged notlose sight of the real issues thatconcern them while castingtheir votes this time.

They alleged that theGovernment has promoted anaggressive religious majoritar-ian agenda and enabled mobviolence, forcing people to livein fear, especially minorities,dissenters and women.

The NRC and the

Citizenship Bill are denying cit-izenship rights to millions, andthis is happening openly on thebasis of religion. Human rights are being com-pletely denied to Kashmiris,they said. From the investiga-tive agencies to the judiciary tothe tax authorities, all institu-tions seem to be under thesway of the ruling Government,while corruption has increasedbut is now harder to trace.

The unemployment rate isthe highest in 45 years, withwomen and young peoplebeing the worst affected. Theyalso hit out at the Modi

Government for the ill-con-ceived demonetization andGST policies.

Citing that there are now24 lakh vacancies in CentralGovernment posts alone, lead-ing to lower employment gen-eration, they lambasted theGovernment for low invest-ment in agriculture and ongo-ing farm crisis.

The Government has fur-ther weakened the bankingsector by interfering with theautonomy of the RBI, theytold. There are inadequate stepsto resolve the NPA crisis and torecover bad loans. Cronies

continue to loot the bankingsystem while the value of bankfrauds has increased by fourtimes since 2014, theyinformed.

They further charged theGovernment for manipulatin-gandsuppressing official datareleasing any information thatmay reflect badly on theGovernment’s performance.Besides, they charged that theModi Government under-mined the Right to Food, trib-al rights and laws protectingthem, women security anddeteriorating healthcare system.

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Apolling party walked forover 15 km with EVMs

fearing Maoist attack after thecompletion of phase-II elec-tions near Phulbani inKandhamal district onThursday.

The polling had ended at 4pm in booth no. 12 of Barahalain the Maoist-infestedBalandapada area of Phulbani.The polling officials, however,could not return as they gotinputs that Maoists had laid atrap for them by snappingtrees, thus obstructing theirroad.

With possession of EVMs,the polling team could notreturn without being escortedby police due to the blockadeand, therefore, had to hide inthe nearby forest.

“We took biscuits andwater for our dinner and got

drenched in the rain, as well,”said Sushanshu SekharMeher, who led the 12-mem-

ber team.Later, they walked for 15

km, accompanied by SpecialOperation Group jawans ofOdisha police, to reach a CRPFcamp in Balandapada and thenarrived at the district head-quarters in Phulbani on Friday

at 11 am. Notably, Maoists had

gunned down a polling staff,Sanjukta Digal, following alandmine explosion in thesame area a couple of days ago.

Last week, 36 officials of sixpolling parties had walked 15km in Maoist-hit Malkangiri toprotect EVMs after the firstphase of the elections.

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The simmering discontent-ment over the absence of

basic amenities in the areaalong the China border is forc-ing 400-odd voters inHimachal Pradesh's remoteKunnu and Charang villages inKinnaur district to boycott theparliamentary polls.

The reason: politicians visitthe area only during electionsand thereafter disappear.

"A road to connecting toour village has been con-structed under the PradhanMantri Gram Sadak Yojanabut there is lack of its mainte-nance. It is literally non-existentat most of the 15-km stretchfrom Moorang to Charang,"village head Puran Singh toldIANS on Friday.

He sought to strengthenthe BSNL network, open moreschools and provide liberalfunding for local area devel-opment.

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The Election Commission(EC) on Friday said that

Arnab Roy, a 2010 batch WestBengal Civil Service (WBCS)officer, who was on electionduty in Nadia of RanaghatParliamentary constituency, ismissing since Thursday.

The police filed an FIR latelast night on Thursday andstarted an investigation. Roy,in his 30s, a district nodalofficer, was in-charge of theEVMs (electronic votingmachines) and VVPATs (VoterVerifiable Paper Audit Trail) ata polling booth in Nadia dis-trict of Ranaghat parliamentaryconstituency.

In another development,the EC sought a report from theWest Bengal chief electoral offi-cer on an alleged biopic onChief Minister MamataBanerjee. The biopic titled‘’Baghini’’ is slated to release onMay 3. The BJP had approachedthe poll panel seeking a ban onthe release of the movie till theelection process is over.

Sources in the EC saidthat the Commission hassought a report from the dis-trict magistrate on Roy goingmissing after it was alerted bydistrict administration and thechief electoral officer (CEO) ofWest Bengal about Roy’s dis-appearance. Roy’s wife toolodged a missing complaint inthis regard. EC said that officeris being appointed in his placeto look into EVMs and VVPATin Nadia.

Nadia has two parliamen-

tary constituencies - Ranaghatand Krishnanagar - where elec-tions are due on April 29, in thefourth phase. It is consideredTrinamool Congress strong-hold.

Sources in the districtpolice said that his two mobilephones are switched off andtheir last location was detect-ed to be near Shantipur, also inNadia district. “After Shantipurhis location could not bedetected as his phones wereswitched off. This is making itdifficult for us to locate him,”another police officer said. Thepolice are tracking the officer’sphones and scanning CCTVfootage of the area. Accordingto reports, Roy was last seen atShantipur in Nadia.

Initial investigationrevealed that Roy, a few daysback, had an alleged tiff withNadia District MagistrateSumit Gupta, who was also hisneighbour, a few days ago onsome operational duties inconnection with the elections.According to Gupta, there was

no such tiff between them.After a failed search, the

district administration lodgeda complaint with the PSKotwali Krishnanagar, thepolice officer said.

Earlier, union minister andBJP candidate of Asansol,Babul Supriyo, tweeted andattached a picture of the offi-cer about his missing. “NadiaDistrict Nodal Election OfficerArnab Roy is reportedly miss-ing. He was at BipradasChoudhury PolytechnicCollege for his poll duty yes-terday and after lunch wentuntraceable. He is in-charge ofthe EVMs and VVPATs. Policehas begun investigations,”Babul Supriyo tweeted.

Ahead of the third phase,the election observers reviewedthe security situation, in a highlevel meeting on Friday. OnThursday, during the secondphase of Lok Sabha polls, mas-sive violence erupted in WestBengal causing apprehensionsabout the free and fair electionsin the state.

After violence at booths inDarjeeling’s Chopra, theobservers in West Bengal calledfor 50 more companies of cen-tral forces for elections onApril 23, when five con-stituencies of Balurghat,Maldah Uttar, MaldahDakshin, Jangipur andMurshidabad goes to polls.

Among this, a report hassurfaced that Hindu residentsof a Muslim dominated villagehave been barred from votingin the Raiganj constituency inthe state.

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As Libya’s capital Tripolicontinues to be hit by vio-

lence, External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj on Friday saidthat over 500 Indians are stuckthere and suggested that theyleave the cityimmediately.

The minis-ter said that ifthe Indiansstranded in theLibyan capitaldo not leave immediately, thenit may not be possible to evac-uate them later.

Over 200 people werekilled in Tripoli in the last twoweeks since renegade Libyanmilitary commander KhalifaHaftar’s troops launched astrike to oust UN-backedPrime Minister Fayez al-Sarrajfrom power.

Swaraj tweeted, “Even aftermassive evacuation from Libyaand the travel ban, there areover 500 Indian nationals inTripoli. The situation in Tripoliis deteriorating fast. Presently,flights are operational.

“Pls ask your relatives andfriends to leave Tripoli imme-diately. We will not be able toevacuate them later,” she saidon her Twitter handle.

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The Election Commission(EC) has said that NaMo

TV can air live speeches of thePM during the “election silenceperiod” as long as there is noreference to the candidate orconstituency going to poll inthat particular phase.

Speaking to reporters onNaMo TV, Deputy ElectionCommissioner Sandeep Saxenasaid, “Since live speeches arenot pre-certified election (cam-paign) material, they can beaired (by NaMo TV) during thesilence period as long as thereis no reference to candidate orconstituency.”

The EC has already madeit clear that according to elec-toral laws, the platform cannotdisplay “election matter” dur-ing the silence period in a par-ticular phase of the poll.

The poll panel has askedthe chief electoral officer(CEO) of Delhi to ensure thatits directions are followed ineach of the remaining fivephases of the ongoing LokSabha elections.

The directions were issuedto the Delhi CEO as he is thenodal officer to pre-certifypolitical content in TV chan-nels and similar platformswhich are beamed nationally.

The CEO has also beenprovided with a committeespecifically for the purpose, asource aware of the develop-ment said.

Section 126 of theRepresentation of the PeopleAct “prohibits” display of any“election matter” by means of

“cinematograph, television orother similar apparatus”, 48hours before the hour fixed forconclusion of poll in a partic-ular constituency.

This phase is called the“silence period” as it allows avoter to make up his or hermind on whom to vote withoutbeing influenced by politicalcampaigning. Section 126 is notapplicable on the print media.

The direction, sources said,was issued to bring clarity onthe applicability of “silenceperiod” on NaMo TV.

On Thursday last week, theEC had concluded that sinceNaMo TV is sponsored by theBJP, all recorded programmesdisplayed on the platformshould be pre-certified bymedia certification and moni-toring committee of Delhi andall political publicity contentsbeing displayed without pre-certification should be removedimmediately.

After the Congress filed acomplaint with the poll panelabout the channel disturbingthe level playing field, the EChad asked the Delhi CEO to filea report on the issue.

Earlier, the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcastingtold the poll panel that it wasan advertising platform that didnot require a license from theministry.

The Delhi CEO hadapproved the logo of NaMo TV,which, the BJP said, is part ofthe NaMo App that it owns, butdid not “certify” the content asit contained the old speeches ofPrime Minister NarendraModi.

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The BJP on Friday took ajibe at grand alliance in the

UP, saying a “storm” in supportof Prime Minister NarendraModi in the general electionhas forced Opposition leadersto come together.

The dig from BJPspokesperson ShahnawazHussain came as BSP ChiefMayawati and SP patriarchMulayam Singh Yadav sharedstage after many years of bitterrivalry.

“This is a proof of storm inModi’s support. Both SP andBSP have been rendered pow-erless by it and have cometogether to survive. People inUttar Pradesh and country arewith Modi,” Hussain toldreporters.

Mayawati, he said she cameto respect those whom sheblamed for her life’s biggestinsult.

At the press conference,Hussain also took aim at theCongress after its spokespersonPriyanka Chaturvedi joinedShiv Sena, saying the opposi-tion party has become a “sink-ing ship”.

Opposition parties are insuch a poor shape than nobody

know which leader is support-ing whom, said the BJP leaderafter Congress leaderShatrughan Sinha, who is itscandidate in Patna Sahib seat,campaigned for his wife andSamajwadi Party nominee inLucknow Poonam Sinha.

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All applicants from big statessuch as Uttar Pradesh,

West Bengal and Bihar havebeen cleared for going on thepilgrimage as Saudi Arabia hasincreased India’s Haj quota totwo lakh.

On Friday, the SaudiArabian government issued aformal order with regard to theincrease in India’s Haj quota,sources said.

At a meeting here inFebruary that was attended bySaudi Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj and Minority

Affairs Minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi, Saudi Arabia hadincreased India’s quota by about25,000, taking the number ofpilgrims from India who canperform Haj to two lakh.

“Due to the significantincrease in India’s Haj quota, allthe applicants from UttarPradesh, West Bengal,Andaman and Nicobar Islands,Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa,Manipur, Lakshadweep,Odisha, Puducherry, AndhraPradesh, Assam, Bihar,Chandigarh, Daman and Diu,Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand,Punjab, Tripura, will go onHaj,” a source said.

A record number of twolakh Muslims will perform Haj

this year without subsidy. Another highlight this year

is that 2,340 Muslim womenfrom India will also go for thepilgrimage without ‘Mehram’or male companion.

A total of 34,397 applica-tions were received from UttarPradesh this year, 8,470 fromWest Bengal, 191 from Goa,499 from Manipur, 698 fromOdisha, 2,138 from AndhraPradesh, 3,588 from Assam,4,950 from Bihar, 72 fromHimachal Pradesh, 2,233 fromJharkhand, 342 from Punjab,and 110 from Tripura.

All these applicants havebecome eligible to go on Hajafter the increase in India’squota, the sources said.

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The unified emergency helpline number 112 is now

available in 22 States. The ‘112’helpline is an integration ofpolice (100), fire (101) andwomen (1090) helpline num-bers and the project is beingimplemented under the centralgovernment’s Nirbhaya Fund.The single number for emer-gency services is similar to ‘911’in the United States.

The 20 states and UTsinclude Himachal Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand,Punjab, Kerala, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh, Telangana, TamilNadu, Gujarat, Puducherry,Lakshadweep, Andaman andNicobar Islands, Dadar andNagar Haveli, Daman and Diu,Jammu and Kashmir andNagaland, a Home Ministryofficial said.

The Emergency ResponseSupport System (ERSS) envis-ages a single pan-India emer-gency number ‘112’, which is aninternationally recognisednumber, to target all types ofemergencies. A panic button is

already provided on all mobilephones, which on activationwill trigger an emergency callto ‘112’. The EmergencyResponse Centre (ERCs), beingset up by the States and UTs,can receive panic signal viavoice call to ‘112’, emailrequests on state ERSS websiteor the ‘112’ mobile app, theofficial said.

Location based tracking ofvictim can be done throughlocation based services of allphones or even more accuratelythrough GPS for smart phones.

The ‘112’ India app pro-vides for ‘shout facility’designed especially forwomen, for enlisting supportof volunteers, who have regis-tered themselves with the statepolice, for emergencyresponse.

To access emergency ser-vices, a person can dial ‘112’ ona phone or press the powerbutton of a smart phone threetimes quickly to send a paniccall to the EmergencyResponse Centre. In case of anormal phone, a long press ofthe ‘5’ or ‘9’ key will activatethe panic call.

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The Janata Dal (United) onFriday demanded that the

Chief Election Commissionercancel the nomination papersfiled by the RJD candidates forthe Lok Sabha polls in Bihar,asking how jailed RJD chiefLalu Prasad had distributed theparty symbol with his signa-ture, in apparent violation ofthe jail manual.

JD (U) spokespersonNeeraj Kumar has written to theCEC demanding the cancella-tion of the nomination papersfiled by the RJD candidates.

“On which basis jailed Laluhad distributed the party sym-bol with his signature to can-didates. Whether Lalu hastaken permission of the courtto distribute the party symbol?”Kumar said.

The JD(U) leader said thathe has urged the CEC to takeaction in this connection.

Lalu had reportedly dis-tributed the RJD symbol to thecandidates after the partyauthorised him to do so.

The RJD is contesting on19 out of the 40 Lok Sabha seatsin the state as per the seat shar-ing formula of the oppositiongrand alliance.

Lalu was convicted in threefodder scam cases in December2017 and January 2018 and wasawarded 14 years imprison-ment. He has applied for bail inthe Supreme Court.

Lalu Prasad, as President ofthe RJD, is entitled to distributethe party symbol. He is currentlyundergoing treatment at theRajendra Institute of MedicalSciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

���� %&'(&�)*

Awhopping 570 candidatesout of a total 1,612, who are

contesting in the third phase ofthe Lok Sabha elections, havedeclared criminal cases againstthem.

According to Associationof Democratic Reforms (ADR),the data was published afterscreening the candidates’ self-sworn affidavits.

The data cites that amongthe major parties, 40 out of 90Congress candidates and 38 outof 97 candidates of the BhartiyaJanta Party (BJP) have criminalcases amongst them. TheCommunist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has the leastnumber of candidates withcriminal cases against them.

Fourteen candidates havedeclared that they have beenconvicted.

Thirteen candidates havedeclared murder cases againstthem, 29 have declared casesrelated to crime against womensuch as rape, assault or crimi-nal force to woman with intentto outrage her modesty, hus-band or relative of husband ofa woman subjecting her tocruelty, against themselves.

Only 26 candidates havedeclared cases related to hatespeech.

According to the data, 63out of the 115 constituencieshave been put in the “red alert”category, where three or morecontesting candidates havedeclared criminal cases againstthemselves.

Apart from criminal cases,the affidavits of candidateswere also screened on financialand education background.

The ADR concluded in itsreport that 392 candidates havedeclared personal wealth incrores.

The Samajwadi Party’sKumar Devendra Singh Yadavhas declared Rs 204 crore in histotal assets. He is followed byBhonsle Shrimant Chhatrapatiof the National Congress Party,with assets worth Rs 199 crore.

The report also estimatesthat an average Rs 2.95 crorehave been identified in the dec-laration of every candidate,who has declared wealth inexcess of Rs 1 crore.

The third phase polls willbe held on April 23.

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Mental health professionalsin the country have taken

serious objections to the title ofthe upcoming film ‘Mental haikya’ starring Rajkumar Raoand Kangana Ranaut , termingit ‘discriminative’ that violatesrights of the people with men-tal disorders.

While the IndianPsychiatric Society (IPS) hasshot off a letter to the CentralBoard of Film Certification(CBFC) seeking removal ofthe title that, it said, is “dis-criminative, stigmatising,degrading and inhuman inprojecting mental disordersand persons who suffer men-tal disorders, “ the social mediaworld was also abuzz with psy-chiatrists sharing their viewsabout the need to bridge thegap in all aspects of mentalhealth.

In line of fire is the newlyreleased poster of the movie,produced by Ekta Kapoor ledBalaji Production, written byKanika Dhillon and directed byPrakash Kovelmudi, which iscaptioned “Get ready for crazi-ness that cuts through!”

The mental health expertshave slammed the poster whichdepicts the artistes trying tobalance a razor sharp bladebetween their tongues. Theimages showcase Kanganamaking a cross-eyed face whileRajkummar shows his twomiddle fingers, Kangana witha matchstick on her tonguewhile Rajkummar stubs a cig-arette on his forehead... so onand so forth.

The poster further reads:“This June, witness two men-tals collide”, before breakinginto a montage of images withthe words “crazy, bizarre, crack,freaky, whacky, gutsy, weirdo,psycho”.

The IPS said in the letter,“We strongly demand the titleto be removed with immediateeffect preventing further dam-age to the modesty of mentalhealth service users.”

Dr Smita N Deshpande,Professor & Head ofDepartment of Psychiatry,Centre of Excellence inMental Health, Dr RamManohar Lohia Hospital toocondemned the title of thefilm. “At a time when thecountry is coming out of thestigma with various film

actors sharing their pain ofhaving gone through the ill-ness, it is sad that films like‘mental hai kya’ only hamperour positive efforts.

“There are lots of myths

and misconceptions in ourcountry surrounding mentalillnesses. Media should be sen-sitive in handling such issues,”she said. She has a point. 1/8in India are mentally ill accord-

ing to a recent survey by theNIMHANS. In this back-ground, such images does notaugur well for mental health ofour youth, Dr Deshpandeadded.

Amrit Bakhshy, Presidentof Schizophrenia AwarenessAssociation took to tweeter ashe said, “name of the film stig-matizes mental illness, needs tobe changed,” while disabilityrights activist Dr SatendraSingh added, “In a countrywhere mental health is a tabootopic, such insensitive imagesand movie titles can make thesituation worse.

“The title is derogatoryand may be used for makingfun of a serious issue. Peopleworking in the mental healthsector have worked hard foryears to bring about the muchneeded change in the way peo-ple think. The advancementmade in the field can be easilyundone by such movie titles,”he further said.

Dr Pavan Sonar, psychia-trist tweeted, “Yes , we need tochange the stereotypes. Mentalillness / being affected by it isnot fun at all. Media, whichinfluences the masses & class-es must be sensitive towards it.Title #MentalHaiKya is notfunny. #MentalHealth issuesare real.”

The Central Board of FilmCertification is yet to decide inthe matter.

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The Election Commission(EC) on Friday barred BJP’s

Himachal Pradesh chief SatpalSingh Satti from campaigningfor two days starting Saturdayover his “indecent and deroga-tory” comment againstCongress President RahulGandhi.

Responding to theCongress chief ’s “chowkidarchor hai” jibe at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Satti on April13 told a rally that Gandhi andhis family were “thieves”.

He has already been bookedby Baddi police under Section294 (obscene acts and songs) ofthe Indian Penal Code, after theCongress complained aboutthese comments made at a rallyin Nalagarh’s Ramshehar townin Solan district.

The EC has also served asecond notice to Satti for hisindecent remarks about Gandhiand sister Priyanka GandhiVadra made at another rally twodays later, and his reply was

under consideration.At this rally, Satti said that

Gandhi was not suitable for thePrime Minister’s post as he hadfailed even in getting a daugh-ter-in-law for his mother, SoniaGandhi.

He also made objectionableremarks about CongressGeneral Secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra’s dressing styleand how she was trying to woothe voters.

Himachal Pradesh’s fourLok Sabha seats will go to thepolls in the last phase on May 19.

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The ongoing Lok Sabha elec-tions may not be a

Mahabharat in the true sense ofthe term, but characters fromthe epic abound the voter listin Uttar Pradesh.

According to ElectionCommission (EC) sources,there are more than 6.5 lakhvoters named Krishna and 30lakh named Gita (afterKrishna’s message in the bat-tlefield) in the voter list.

More than 26.70 lakh vot-ers share the name Sanjay, thenarrator of the battle ofKurukshetra to KingDhritrashtra, while there are

more than 9.2 lakh voterscalled Arjun and 2.09 lakhcalled Bhim.

Draupadi may not be avery popular name in theHindi-speaking states, but theelectoral list has 95,966Draupadis, 16,225 Yudhishthirsand 1,422 Dronacharyas.

Bhishma figures 23,253times in the voter list and eventhe epic’s villain Duryodhanhas 62,311 namesakes.

Nakul, Sahdev andAbhimanyu are also commonnames in the list of the Hindiheartland.

Interestingly, the holy cityof Mathura has more than9,000 voters named Radha and

a similar number of votersnamed Mohan and Krishna.

Social scientist Rati Khoslaexplains the phenomenon: “Itis considered auspicious in therural areas to name newbornsafter gods and goddesses. Thistrend was very strong till abouttwo decades ago when childrenwere named Shiva, Gauri,Meera etc. Today, they figure invoter lists. Then came an erawhen children were namedRahul, Pooja, Neha after pop-ular Bollywood characters.Today, the focus is on unusualsounding names with a definitemeaning and examples areMyra, Nysa, Vivan, Ziva,Atharv...”

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Congress General SecretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra on

Friday held marathon meetingwith party workers and thesenior leaders of the BSP andthe JAP in Gauriganj, the dis-trict headquarters of Amethi.

Arriving at the FursatganjAirport in Rae Bareli, hermother and UPA ChairpersonSonia Gandhi’s parliamentaryconstituency on Friday morn-ing, she travelled to Gauriganjby road for the meeting to dis-cuss the party’s poll prepared-ness in the district.

A senior Congress leadertold IANS: “During PriyankaGandhi’s five hour meeting,BSP district President DilipKumar and Jan Adhikar Partydistrict President Vipin Kumarwere also present.”

The BSP and the JAP lead-ers assured of all help to theparty in Amethi, wherePriyanka Gandhi’s brother andCongress President Rahul

Gandhi is facing a stiff chal-lenge from BJP’s Smriti Irani,who is contesting from theUttar Pradesh constituency fora second time after she lost in2014, the leader added.

Asked about the presenceof Samajwadi Party leaders inthe meeting, the Congressleader said that they will organ-ise a meeting on their own andthen they will call PriyankaGandhi, the Congress in-charge for eastern UttarPradesh, in the meeting.

Amethi will go to the pollsin the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elec-tions on May 6.

After holding the five hourlong meeting with the partyworkers, Priyanka Gandhi leftfor Kanpur where she willembark on the 5 km-long road-show for Congress candidateand former Union MinisterSriprakash Jaiswal.

The roadshow will begin atthe Ghanta ghar and will endat Bada Chauraha.

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Attacking the ruling BJPGovernment, Congress

leader Priyanka Gandhi VadraFriday said it was concernedonly about its “own progress”and not the country’s.

“Governments are of twotypes... One which works forpeople’s progress and the otherwhich is concerned only aboutits own progress. The BJPGovernment is of show off andpublicity,” said PriyankaGandhi while addressing anelection meeting here.

The Congress general sec-retary and eastern UttarPradesh in-charge, who held amassive roadshow here earlier,was campaigning for partycandidate and former Unionminister Shriprakash Jaiswal.

“They (BJP) were makingKanpur a smart city but noth-ing has happened so far. Youthare unemployed and farmersare committing suicide due to

debts,” she said.Priyanka Gandhi stressed

that the Congress works for thepeople, while the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) only favoursindustrialists.

“We have promised Rs72,000 per year for the poor,but BJP is saying that there isnot enough money... They(BJP) have enough money forindustrialists,” she said.

“I went to Varanasi whereModi ji despite being the PrimeMinister was unable to ensuredevelopment,” she added.

During the roadshow,Priyanka Gandhi stopped at theNageshwar temple and paidobeisance before moving on.She was also gifted a ‘chadar’ bysome local Muslims.

When the processionreached Birhana, people onone side of the road beganchanting Modi’s name whilethose on the other raised slo-gans against the PrimeMinister.

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BJP chief Amit Shah onFriday challenged Congress

president Rahul Gandhi todebate with the the president ofthe ruling party’s youth wing onwhat the country’s oldest partyhas done for the poor in its overfive-decade rule.

Addressing an electionmeeting here, Shah listedachievements of the NarendraModi Government andaccused the Congress of creat-ing hurdles in the path ofdevelopment of BJP-ruledGujarat. “Rahul baba chantsabout the poor. The Congressagain raises the remove pover-ty (garibi hatao) slogan. For fivegenerations and 55 years, onlyyour family ruled the country.

“Come to any crossroad inVadodara with an account ofwhat you did for the poor, andour youth morcha presidentwill respond to you,” Shahsaid. Shah’s dare comes againstthe backdrop of Gandhi on sev-eral occasions challengingPrime Minister Narendra Modito a debate on corruption,especially in the Rafale fighterjet deal, and demonetisation.

“For five generations, you(Congress) sought votes in thename of the poor, tribals,

Dalits, farmers, villagers, butdid nothing for their develop-ment,” the BJP chief said.

Shah said the ModiGovernment had taken manysteps to alleviate poverty, citingexamples like providing sub-sidised gas cylinders to sevencrore families, houses to 2.5crore people and electricity con-nections to 2.35 crore citizens.Shah also claimed that, as ondate, 23 lakh people had beengiven free medical treatment

under the Centre’s AyushmanBharat health scheme.

The Congress had createdhurdles in the development ofGujarat and defamed the statepost the 2002 communal riots,Shah said, adding the BJP hadworked to restore the pride ofthe State. “The BJP Governmenthas done a lot for the develop-ment of Gujarat. When Modiwas CM, he did a lot for Gujaratsdevelopment, but the Congressonly created hurdles. Whenever

there was a Congress govern-ment (at the Centre), it workedto suppress Gujarat,” he alleged.

“After the 2002 communalriots, the Congress worked todefame Gujarat. The BJP hasalways fought for the pride ofGujarat, it has worked to restorethe pride of Gujarat,” he said.

Shah claimed while thecountry’s first Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru opposedSardar Patel, a leader fromGujarat, another Congress PMIndira Gandhi opposed MorarjiDesai, also from Gujarat, whileformer Congress chief SoniaGandhi “used all her might tostop Narendra bhai (Modi)”.

Shah credited the ModiGovernment with securing thecountry, and claimed bombblasts were rampant under theCongress-led UPA govern-ment. He praised the Modigovernment for conducting airstrike on terror camps inPakistan and alleged that theCongress was siding withIslamabad on the issue.

The BJP chief pointed toCongress leader Sam Pitroda’sreported statement that Indiashould hold talks with theneighbouring country ratherthan bomb it for the handiworkof a few people (a reference toPulwama terror attack).

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Congress president RahulGandhi on Friday asserted

that Prime Minister NarendraModi would be “removed fromDelhi” and his party wouldform the Government afterthe Lok Sabha polls.

On the final lap of hiselection campaign in theCongress-JDS alliance ruledKarnataka, Rahul also hit outat Modi for “what he has done”to his “guru”, BJP stalwart LKAdvani, saying that he shouldbe “ashamed” of it. Gandhiaddressed rallies at Raichur andChikkodi in north Karnatakaand is not scheduled to againcampaign in the State, which will go to the secondphase of polls on April 23. Thefirst leg of the elections washeld on Thursday.

At his rally in Raichur,Gandhi said, “People havedecided in 2019 that inKarnataka, Congress andJD(S), in Andhra PradeshNaidu (Chandrababu Naidu)and across the country thosewho are fighting against BJP,

they will win. Narendra Modiwill be removed from Delhi.”

Rahul, who addressed arally in Gujarat earlier in theday said, “People have decided.I’m telling you people ofGujarat have decided, I amcoming from Gujarat. There isan undercurrent in favour ofCongress in Gujarat.”

“People of Gujarat are say-ing, leave alone the country,Narendra Modi has not doneanything for Gujarat... Lakhs ofacres of our land were given tobig business people,” Rahulsaid. Assuring Congress andJDS workers that the alliance ofthe two parties would win here(in Karnataka), he said, “inDelhi, Congress will form theGovernment.”

He also said Modi talksabout security of the nation“but making crores of youthunemployed” does notstrengthen the nation. In hisChikkodi rally, Rahul raked upthe issue of Advani, who hasbeen kept out of the contest inthe 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

“In Hindustan there isnothing bigger than Guru.

Narendra Modi speaks aboutdharma, but see what he hasdone with Advani. He shouldbe ashamed.” “Advaniji madeNarendra Modji stand, but intwo minutes Narendra Modisidelined Advani,” Rahul said.

“He does not even doNamaste to him (Advani), helooks at the other side. Then hespeaks about dharma.” AccusingModi of not having fulfilled anyof the promises he made, Rahulsaid “he has destroyed crores ofpeople,he has spread hate in the country, he spreads hate wher-ever he goes.”

Speaking about the“NYAY” scheme (minimumincome guarantee scheme) theCongress has promised toimplement if voted to power, hesaid that under it, Rs 3.6 lakhwould be put into the accountsof 20 per cent economicallyweaker sections over five years.

“You will have to decidebetween truth, Nyay pro-gramme, brotherhood, love onone side, on the other side hate,demonetisation, Gabbar SinghTax and unemployment,” Rahultold the crowd.

The uneasy alliance ofCongress and JDS is fightingthe Lok Sabha polls together inall the 28 constituencies, butthe electoral arrangement hasbeen hit by resentment at thelevel of local leaders and work-ers, who have fought eachother for decades and are nowfiding it difficult to reconcile tothe new situation.

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Chandrababu Naidu,who was also present at theRaichur rally, said there was aneed for a non-BJPGovernment at the Centre.

“Only if Narendra Modigoes, this country will be free,keep this in mind.” He accusedModi of having deceived peo-ple despite having a clear man-date and caused a loss to thecountry on the issues ofdemonetisation, unemploy-ment and GST.

“Narendra Modi thinksthat there is no leader greaterthen him in the country, I canprove that there are leadersother than you who can devel-op this country well, there isthat ability,” Naidu said.

Moradabad: Just 32, a YouTubestar and a poet who wraps hismessages on conscience voting,secularism and women in fieryverse, Congress candidateImran Pratapgarhi is the politi-cian with more than a slightdifference.

The young man’s poetryhas always been political but hesteered clear of mainstreampolitics, until recently when hebecame Congress presidentRahul Gandhi’s choice to con-test the Lok Sabha electionsfrom this parliamentary con-stituency.

Pratapgarhi, who takes his

name from Pratapgarh in theState, about 500 km from here,decided to write his politicaldestiny from Moradabad, theland of legendary poet JigarMoradabadi.

“I am trying my best to notlet the votes get divided. Thisis not about Muslims. I amappealing to every one troubledby the politics and policies ofBJP,” Pratapgarhi told PTI.

The newbie is up againstsitting BJP MP Kunwar SarveshKumar, an influential Thakurand five-term MLA from thearea, and the SP-BSP-RLD can-didate, former mayor ST

Hasan, who has a loyal base ofsupporters and managed overthree lakh votes in the 2014‘Modi wave’ election.

Seen as a David amongGoliaths in the poll arena,Pratapgarhi is confident of awin in the April 23 election.

Prime Minister NarendraModi and SP president AkhileshYadav have held rallies to gal-vanise their respective supportbases, but Pratapgarhi is tryingto first test his own abilities.Asked why top leaders ofCongress are not coming for hissupport in contrast to BJP and‘gathbandhan’ leaders who arecampaigning in and aroundMoradabad, he said, “I request-ed them to come during the fagend of the campaign. Till now,I am trying to test my own abil-ities to take on this challenge.”

The administration, headded, is scared of his risingpopularity and has disrupted at

least three meetings.“They are delaying per-

missions for meetings, arrest-ing our workers, stoppingmeetings at the last moment asthe State Government is scaredof my popularity. They mayhave some sort of understand-ing with the local ‘gathbandhan’candidate,” he alleged.

Pratapgarhi said his politi-cal journey started eight monthsago when the Congress presi-dent asked him to contest elec-tions. “I convinced myself to takeon this challenge. When (UPunit chief) Raj Babbar came toknow, he offered me the chanceto contest from here and went toFatehpur Sikri,” he said.

And while the results of theelection are in question, hedoes seem to have struck achord with the YouTube gen-eration that follows his work.At 8.30 pm one night recently,Mohammed Tasleem finished

his 11-hour shift in a castingfactory to reach the mainsquare of the brass artisancolony ‘Chakkar Ki Millat’along with hundreds of others.

“I have seen many videosof his on YouTube. That’s whyI came along to hear him,” saidTasleem. The three lakh odd brass artisans are animportant deciding factor inthe constituency. While men inthe locality crowded into thesquare, women lined therooftops to get a vantage viewof the makeshift stage that wasbeen set up. The air was abuzzwith speculation. When he didarrive after a 45-minute delay,he delivered a speech lacedwith couplets, much to thedelight of the crowd.

Pratapgarhi said the fight isnot only to save the social fab-ric of the country but also theirprofession affected by GSTand demonetisation. PTI

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As BSP supremo Mayawatiand SP patriarch Mulayam

Singh Yadav buried their hatch-et after 24 years to come togeth-er at an election rally here onFriday, the bonhomie was notjust restricted to the dais. Thesignificance of the momentwas not lost on the cadres ofLohia Vahini, an arm ofSamajwadi Party, and BahujanVoluntary Forces of BSP whichused to engage in bitter turf warbefore the SP-BSP alliance wasstitched. Both sides were seenworking in unison to ensuresmooth conduct of the rally forwhat Mulayam himself saidwas his last election.

“We have no problemworking with Lohia Vahinipeople and other SP workers.

They are respecting us and weare respecting them. We areworking together to make thisevent a success,” Sachin, a stu-dent and member of BVF, said.

He was present along withfive others, all students, fromhis village in Mainpuri. Theyhave joined as volunteers andare often tasked with rally andevent management.

Mayawati and SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav had announcedtheir tie-up for Lok Sabha elec-tions in Uttar Pradesh after thesuccess of the arrangementagainst the BJP in bypolls. TheBSP had failed to open itsaccount in the 2014 general elec-tions while the SP had won justfive seats in the polls that wereswept by the BJP. The BJP hadalso trounced the two parties inthe 2017 Assembly election. But

for the poll arithmetic to work,the leaders of the two parties,which were earlier arch-rivals,understand that the cadres haveto come on board. In his speech,Mulayam told his supporters toalways respect “Mayawati ji’who has come to seek votes forhim in his last election.Mayawati too returned thefavour calling him a “true leader”of the backward communities.

“There is no problem. I amin touch with people in areaswhere voting has been done.Voters for both sides are votingfor Gathbandhan (SP-BSP-RLDalliance) ,” Rakesh who was partof the crowd, said. Jaiprakashfrom Kisni, located 35 km fromhere, studies in Kannauj and isa volunteer of BVF. The 20-year-old said there were 175 BVF vol-unteers managing the affair.

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Lucknow: A Dalit man, whoaccidentally cast his vote for theBJP in Uttar Pradesh’sBulandshahr, has chopped offhis index finger for the “mis-take”. Pawan Kumar, in a videoclip that has gone viral on socialmedia, can be heard saying thathe got confused with too manysymbols on the voting machineand pressed the wrong buttonon Thursday. “I wanted tovote for the elephant, but Ivoted for the flower by mis-take,” he said in the video. Hesaid he was a Dalit and it washis duty to vote for the elephant(the BSP symbol). He addedthe ink mark on his index fin-ger reminded him of his mis-take for which he chopped itoff. IANS

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This could well be the lastelection that the voters were

taking part in — if they votedPrime Minister Narendra Modito power for the second time,Mamata Banerjee said on Friday.

This is because the “BJP isa dangerous party,” and “ifthey are allowed to return topower they will destroy eachand every constitutional insti-tution in the country,” theChief Minister told in a rally atBehrampore parliamentaryconstituency.

“They are a fascist partywhich has left no stoneunturned to undermine thecountry’s democratic set up.Dangerous times are ahead ofyou. If they return to powerthey will take away all of yourrights. You will lose your free-dom to speak, to work, to eat,lead your own life and not theleast they will throw you out ofthis country by applying theNRC which they have done inAssam striking about 23 lakhHindu Bengalis and as manyMuslims from the citizenshiplist,” Banerjee said warning “soyou must give a serious thoughtabout whom you vote for.”

As the Trinamool Congresswas the only outfit that hadbeen fighting relentlesslyagainst Modi’s divisive politics,his crippling demonetisationthat has thrown two crore peo-ple out of job “they are victim-ising me, but you should notmind that as I will alwaysstand behind you. But for thatyou will have to for me and notthe Congress or the CPI(M)

who are hand-in-glove with theBJP and RSS.”

In Murshidabad theCongress was getting full helpfrom the RSS, she said askingthe people not to vote for aparty “which would not win inthe elections.”

Behrampore is the districtheadquarter of Murshidabadwhich has three parliamentaryconstituencies — Behrampore,Jangipur and Murshidabad.

With more than 68 percent of its population beingminorities and plagued byacute unemployment forcinglocal labourers to migrate towestern and northern Statesthis district has been a tradi-tional stronghold of the

Congress Party.While former PCC presi-

dent Adhir Chowdhury is theBehrampore MP who won thelast elections by more than 3.25lakh votes, Jangipur also wentto the Congress’ nomineeAbhijeet Mukherjee — the sonof former President PranabMukherjee — who defeatedCPI(M) by a slender margin ofabout 8,000 votes. The Marxistswon the Murshidabad in a tri-cornered contest — featuringTMC, Congress and CPI(M) —by about 25,000 votes.

The district is plagued bylack of employment, erosion ofRiver Ganges which bifurcatesinto Padma before flowing intoBangladesh and plight of more

than 6 lakh bidi workers.Mostly residing in Jangipurthe bidi workers constitute agood 30-35 lakh strong votebase most of which gets divid-ed between the Congress andthe Left.

However the BJP has thistime round made some inroadsinto the Congress den by net-ting Mahfooza Begum a vocal,former CPI(M) MLA who hasthrough a strong Net cam-paigning has gained muchpopularity.

As TMC has not been amajor force in the district untiltwo years ago when it alleged-ly “intimidated and boughtover” most of its leaders whoconstituted a strong electoralarmy of Adhir Chowdhury theoutgoing MP of Behramporethis time round its “strongentry” into the electoral arenais making the scene interesting.

Because of a drop in Hinduvote base of both the Congressand the Left — thanks to theinroads made by the BJP —and the storming in of theTMC into the district theCPI(M) has thrown its weightbehind the Congress inBehrampore.

It is the second seat besidesMalda South where the Left didnot field any candidate againstthe Congress after the alliancetalks between the two sidesfailed. Elections forMurshidabad and Jangipur willtake place on April 23.

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After nearly three decades, ex-Congresswoman Priyanka V

Chaturvedi’s grand entry to the Shiv Senawill bring a much-needed ‘glamour quo-tient’ to the Mumbai headquartered party.

The last time when a woman joiningthe Sena created waves was in early 1990swhen the cricketer-turned-politicianChandrika Kenia-Jain, a former Congressminister and Rajya Sabha member joinedthe party for a short time.

However, more than the formerCongress spokesperson PriyankaChaturvedi’s decision to quit the grand oldparty, it was her surprise decision to jointhe 53-year-old regional Shiv Sena thatgrabbed attention on Friday.

Sources said her decision was notabrupt, but was in works for the past near-ly three weeks, before the Lok Sabha elec-tions got under way, with the nod of ShivSena President Uddhav Thackeray.

The Sena, enjoying a macho image, has

long been devoid of a ‘soft demeanour’ thatcould further enhance its acceptanceamong the womenfolk, especially theurban educated, middle and the elite.

Chaturvedi’s decade-long experiencein a high-profile national-level position

with the country’s oldest political party,could prove advantageous for the Sena inthe country’s capital.

On the ‘big catch’, Thackeray said elec-tions come and go, what is important is theparty’s ideology and that “Chaturvedi hasaccepted it by deciding to join the ShivSena.” Though her exact role is not yetclear, ‘sister’ Chaturvedi could be an assetwhile dealing with Sena’s big brotherBharatiya Janata Party and other NDAallies effectively at the Centre.

Among the options being weighed forher is a largely national role: helping theparty expand in Delhi and other States —she might get a Rajya Sabha nomination inthe near future — and roping her to buildbridges with India Inc, a crucial aspect thathas largely remained unattended by the Sena.

Chaturvedi, 39, left a national-levelhigh-profile post as one of the AICCspokespersons at the height of 2019 LokSabha elections and accepted the Sena’ssymbolic ‘Shiv Bandhan’ in the presenceof a beaming Thackeray this afternoon.

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After completing the 72-hour campaigning ban

imposed on him by theElection Commission for vio-lation of Model Code ofConduct, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath offered prayers atAliganj Hanuman temple onHanuman Jayanti beforeaddressing four election rallieson Friday.

Sources in the BharatiyaJanata Party said Yogi drove tothe Aliganj temple and offered‘prasad’ in the morning,

During the ban period,Yogi visited three Hanumantemples — Hanuman Setu tem-ple in Lucknow, HanumanGarhi in Ayodhya andSankatmochan temple inVaranasi.

Yogi reiterated his Hinduidentity as he defended his vis-its to temples during the ban.He tweeted that the visitsshould not be linked to politicsas he was practising his right tofaith enshrined in the IndianConstitution.

“The experience attainedthrough darshan of Ram Lallaand Bajrang Bali at Hanuman Garhi and SarayuMata temples is difficult toexpress,” he said.

On Friday morning, Yogitweeted, “BJP ideology is torespect constitutional institu-tions and democratic values.Have given respect to the order of EC for the past 72hours and followed theirinstructions.”

Addressing Vijay Sankalprallies in Sambhal, Firozabad,Mishrikh and Etawah, Yogisaid that the first two phases ofpolling had set the tone andtenor of the outcome.

Ahmedabad: Congress leaderKapil Sibal on Friday said hisparty would give a cash rewardof Rs 1 lakh to anyone whocould reveal the identity of aman seen in a video purportedlyexchanging demonetised noteswith face value of Rs 5 crore.

Speaking at a Press con-ference in the city where heplayed the video clip for themedia, Sibal claimed it was shotin Ahmedabad and thatKamalam, the ruling BJP’sheadquarters in Gujarat, wasalso involved.

The grainy video, reported-ly shot by journalists here andobtained from a website calledwww.Tnn.World, shows a beard-ed man exchanging demone-tised currency with a face valueof Rs 5 crore with new Rs 2,000notes totalling Rs 3 crore.

“The (video) episode hap-

pened in Ahmedabad. The per-son in the video was apparent-ly very close to the BJP. He maywell have been a member of theBJP. He, along with others, wasrunning a racket of illegallyconverting thousands of croresof unaccounted currency afterDecember 31, 2016 (postdemonetisation on November8 that year),” Sibal said.

“The process of conversionmust have involved politicians,bankers, brokers and others.Those involved in the chain ofconversion earned commis-sion of up to 40 per cent,” theCongress leader claimed.

“Anybody who can identi-fy the person in the video willbe given a cash reward of Rs 1lakh by the Congress party,” hesaid, adding that the BJPGovernment had not both-ered to probe the video. PTI

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The politically volatile northKerala is witnessing a fierce

battle between the rulingCPI(M)-led LDF and the oppo-sition Congress-headed UDFin the three Lok Sabha con-stituencies — Vadakara,Kannur and Kasaragod, towrest them from the rival frontin the April 23 election.

While the main battle isbetween the two fronts inKerala, the BJP has emerged asa significant player afterextending support to theSabarimala devotees. How thesaffron party fares in the bipo-lar polity of the southern stateis being keenly watched bypolitical observers.

The Communist Party ofIndia (Marxist) has fielded itsstrongman P Jayarajan, toreclaim Vadakara from stateCongress chief MullappallyRamachandran who had wonthe seat with a meagre marginof around 3,300 votes in 2014.

Jayarajan, CPI(M)’s for-mer district secretary inKannur, has a considerableclout among the party cadre,prompting the Congress tofind a heavyweight to take onhim. But the Congress, in a sur-prise move, picked KMuraleedheeran, after two-time sitting MP Ramachandranopted out of race, to take onJayarajan, making it an inter-esting constituency.

Muraleedheeran is a three-time MP, incumbent MLAfrom Vattiyoorkavu inThiruvananthapuram districtand son of former ChiefMinister K Karunakaran.

Vadakara is Left bastion,which it won first in 1980 andis holding since. The CPI(M) istroubled by rebellion withinthis time and also by thedecade-old RevolutionaryMarxist Party founded by lateTP Chandrasekharan afterquitting the Marxist party.

Muraleedheeran, theCongress candidate, has RMP’ssupport. The BJP has re-nom-inated VK Sajeevan fromVadakara, who had securedover 76,000 votes in 2014.

Both the Congress and theBJP have called for a voteagainst the violent politics ofCPI(M). “We are fightingagainst the politics of violence

played by Left,”Muraleedheeran said.

But Jayarajan is trying tocounter that narrative by sayingthat he himself is a victim of vio-lence. In August 1999, assailantsattacked Jayarajan with knivesand machetes in which he wasgrievously injured.

“I am being referred to as‘Kamsa’ and Keechaka (Hindumythology characters), but itwas me who was attacked andhacked by the Sangh Parivar,”Jayarajan has said, remindingthe people of the constituencyof the incident.

Muraleedheeran said he isconfident about the prospectsof Congress also because party

president Rahul Gandhi haschosen Wayanad in Kerala ashis second Lok Sabha con-stituency to contest the poll.“This will help improving theprospects of Congress in thestate,” he said.

Kannur, a constituencyadjacent to Vadakara, is expect-ed to witness a replay of the2014 poll battle as temperaturessoar ahead of the arrival of theannual monsoon.

Incumbent PK Sreemathy,of the CPI(M), has a campaignplanned to avoid the mid-dayheat. Her party has ensured shehas to campaign from 8.30 amto 11 am and then again from3 pm onwards, according to

CPI(M) workers.She is highlighting the

development work carried outthe Left Front Government.

Congress leader KSudhakaran, from whomSreemathy wrested the seatwith a margin of around 6,500votes last time, too has madeLeft’s violent politics a pollplank to seek votes.

The BJP has fielded CKPadmanabhan, a familiar polit-ical face in Kerala who is bank-ing on the achievements of theModi Government.

In Kasaragod, towards thenorthern edge of Kerala sur-rounded by the Western Ghatsand the Arabian Sea, is con-

sidered the “red fort” ofCPI(M). The last time Left wasdefeated here was in 1984.

The Congress is aiming tomake use of the sympathy gen-erated after the killing of its twoyouth workers in Periya area inFebruary. Police said the killingswere politically motivated.

Rahul Gandhi said he will“not rest till the murderers arebrought to justice”. TheCongress later fielded seniorparty leader RajmohanUnnithan from the the con-stituency. “I am a popular facein the State. I have acted in over20 movies. I am confident theCongress will be able to wrestKasaragod from Left,”Unnithan has said during hiselection campaign.

To keep its bastion intact,the Left party has fielded for-mer member of legislativeAssembly KP SatheeshChandran from Kasaragod,thrice represented by veteranAK Gopalan.

Even though CPI(M) hasclaimed it has no role in thekilling of the workers, the Leftwas unable to project its inno-cence over the crime allegedlycommitted by one of its localleader. The BJP has fieldedRavish Tantri, a Hindu hard-liner, to gain momentum inManjeshwaram and Kasaragodassembly segments, formingpart of the Kasaragod parlia-mentary constituency.

Rahul’s decision to contestfrom Wayanad has visibly lift-ed the spirits of the Congressworkers in all other con-stituencies but angered the Left.

Wayanad: Congress GeneralSecretary Priyanka Gandhi andUnion Minister and BJP leaderSmriti Irani will on Saturdayvisit Wayanad in Kerala fromwhere Congress PresidentRahul Gandhi is contestingthe Lok Sabha elections.

The State will vote on April23 in the third phase of thestaggered elections. Rahul’smain opponents in Wayanadare NDA’s Tushar Vellapallyand CPI’s PP Suneer.

Priyanka Gandhi has a pub-lic meeting at Manathanvady,after which she will meet thefamily of Central Reserve PoliceForce trooper Vasanthkumarwho was killed in the Pulwamasuicide bombing. Later she willattend a farmers rally and thengo to Malappuram district,where there are two Assemblyconstituencies that are part of theWayanad Lok Sabha con-stituency. IANS

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Jaipur: Rubbishing Oppositioncharge that democracy wasunder threat in BJP rule, UnionMinister Prakash Javadekar onFriday said the Congress wasmaking such remarks as it hasshrunk to a “fringe party” froma mainstream party and has nochance in future elections.

“Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot says if Modicomes, there will be no elec-tions again. This is wrong.Modi won in 2014 and thereare elections in 2019. Elections are taking place.Elections will happen in 2024,2029 (and so on) but Congresshas no chance in these elec-tions,” the BJP’s poll in-charge for Rajasthan, toldPTI here.

“Congress was the main-stream party and now it hasbecome a fringe party sidingwith the ‘tukde-tudke gang’.Congress is giving certificatethat this is freedom of expres-sion. They give such kind ofdefence,” he said.

CM Gehlot has said in hispublic rallies that democracyand the Constitution are under“threat” under Modi rule andelections may not happen if hecomes to power again.

The Union HRD Ministeralso exuded confidence that theBJP will, on its own, win moreseats than in 2014 and theNDA will get two-thirds major-ity in polls. PTI

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In a new development theElection Commission of

India has directed the BengalChief Electoral Officer to senda report on an alleged biopicon Chief Minister MamataBanerjee scheduled to bereleased early next month.

The ECI move came afterthe CPI(M) and the BJPapproached the ECI againstthe release of the movie titled“Baghini(Tigress).” Like thebiopic on the Prime Ministerhad been stopped the “ECI hasbeen approached to stop therelease of this movie also tillthe election process is over,”CPI(M) central committeemember Nilotpal Basu said.

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Our parliamentary system is large-ly modelled on the Westminsterorder — relevant provisions ofthe Constitution being quitesimilar to those contained in the

chapters on Federal and ProvincialLegislatures in the Government of India Act,1935. Sir Samuel Hoare, the then Secretaryof State for India, had piloted this Bill in theHouse of Commons in 1935.

The institution of our Speaker is a take-off from this model, which is inspired by theSpeaker of House of Commons. Being theguardian and the custodian of the House,he/she occupies a very exalted position. It iswell within his powers to guide the Parliamentand give direction to our democracy.Elaborating on the persona of the Speaker, GVMavalankar, the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha,had this to say, “Once a person is elected aSpeaker, he is expected to be above parties andpolitics. In other words, he belongs to all themembers and at the same time belongs tonone. He holds the scales of justice evenly, irre-spective of the party or person. As a humanbeing, he has his human drawbacks and short-comings, however, everybody knows that hewill intentionally do no injustice or show par-tiality. Such a person is naturally held inrespect by all.”

These high ideals set for a Speaker havemostly been met but as we are all aware, thereal test of the mettle only comes when oneis faced with a challenge. Difficult decisionsare never easy to make and these days itappears that quite often one has taken the easyway out, sometimes even inconsistent with thedignity of the high office. Such a perceptionwill not only lower respect for the individual,but also question for all time his even onetransgression of ethics and norms.

The situation has become more acute eversince the powers of adjudication wereassigned to the Speaker under the Anti-Defection Law. While taking decisions underthis law many a time, they may have servedthe party well, but in the process, they havecome out of such episodes ‘bruised’ and maybe sometimes even ‘tainted’.

But what makes the Anti-Defection Lawso complicated for the Speaker needs a clos-er look. A path-breaking feature of this Actwas that for the first time, a political person,the Speaker or the Chairman of the House,was made to adjudicate and administer thisAct. Hitherto, the role of the Speaker was lim-ited to regulating and adjudicating onParliamentary proceedings, which are insu-lated by Articles 122 and 212 of theConstitution. In respect of the Parliament andLegislative Assemblies, these articles restrictthe role of the courts from judging the valid-ity of the proceedings on grounds of allegedirregularity of procedures.

However, after the Supreme Court’sjudgement in Prakash Singh Badal’s case, pro-ceedings under the Anti-Defection Lawwere made justiciable. While supporting thenew role of the Speaker, the apex court in the

Kihota Hollohon case alsoobserved that it was the appro-priate forum under the Anti-Defection Law and furtheradded, “Accordingly, we holdthat the vesting of adjudicatoryfunctions in theSpeakers/Chairmen would notby itself vitiate the provision onthe ground of likelihood of polit-ical bias is unsound and is reject-ed. The Speaker/Chairmen holda pivotal position in the schemeof Parliamentary democracy and(are) guardians of the rights andprivileges of the House. They areexpected to and take far reach-ing decisions in the functioningof Parliamentary democracy.Vestiture of power to adjudicatequestions under the TenthSchedule in such constitutionalfunctionaries should not be con-sidered exceptionable.”

On the other hand, theminority view in this casethought that assigning powers ofadjudication to the Speaker wasagainst the basic structure doc-trine and the separation of pow-ers between the Judiciary,Legislature and the Executive.Further, it was contemplatedthat adjudication of such disputesshould be by an independentauthority outside the House,namely President/Governor inaccordance with the opinion ofthe Election Commission, all ofthem being high Constitutionalfunctionaries.

Chief Justice MNVenkatachaliah had upheld thecause of the Speaker in hismajority judgement in this case,while a few years later, as theHead of the Commission toreview the working of theConstitution, he supported theElection Commission route forthe Xth Schedule (AntiDefection Law), which, howev-er, remained unaccepted.

Today, the ground situationis such that till the time the actu-al proceedings under the XthSchedule are not initiated, thematter of defection virtuallyremains a function of Articles212 and 122, where the courtshave virtually no jurisdiction.The moment the proceedingsunder the Schedule are takenup, the role of the Speakerchanges to that of an adjudica-tor and can be taken cognizanceof by the appropriate courts. Theresult is that in certain cases,proceedings have got inordi-nately delayed only to circum-vent the judicial process.

There have been severalinstances where the role of theSpeaker has come under scruti-ny. Among the recent ones arethe continuing imbroglio inTamil Nadu from 2017onwards and the cases ofAndhra and Telangana whereproceedings against the defec-tors had remained pending fora very long time. While Andhra

Pradesh has now gone to thepolls, a new TelanganaAssembly was constituted inDecember last year, in a way,making the proceedings againstthe defectors virtually in fruc-tuous. In fact, this trend hadbegun in Uttar Pradesh morethan a decade ago, where suf-ficient breathing time had beengiven to the Government bydelaying proceedings underthe Anti-Defection Law. Theindictment of the KarnatakaSpeaker by the Supreme Courtis already well-known.

Instead of assigning theproceedings to an institutionother than the Speaker, suchaberrations can be easilyaddressed by amending the law.Besides covering defections,these could also include othervariants mentioned in the Act,for instance, expulsions, volun-tarily giving up membership andeven splits and mergers. First, byfixing a time limit, within whichsuch proceedings have to bemandatorily disposed of by theSpeaker, would be a major stepforward. Second, an amendmentneeds to be brought in to pro-vide for all types of defectors,whether singly or in groups, toresign from their seats and con-test fresh elections. They alsoneed to be debarred from hold-ing any public office of aMinister or any other office ofprofit, till their fresh election.

Also, as recommended by theNational Commission to reviewthe working of the Constitution,the vote cast by a defector to top-ple a Government or to reposeconfidence in a new dispensa-tion may be treated as invalid.

In order to save the highoffice of the Speaker from anyembarrassment, there used to bea convention in the House ofCommons where in the subse-quent elections to the Parliament,no party fielded a candidateagainst him/her. Also, havingresigned from the parent party,he/she would contest only as aSpeaker. In case he/she was notre-contesting, usually, he/shewould be elevated to the Houseof Lords. Some of these conven-tions have since been diluted butin our context need to be stud-ied for strengthening the office ofthe Speaker and ensuring his/herneutrality.

Though the Anti-DefectionLaw was enacted to curb defec-tions, they have continued. Itwould now be upon the mem-bers of the 17th Lok Sabha,which will get constituted by theend of next month, to review andeffect changes in the law in amanner that will go a long wayin strengthening ourParliamentary democracy.

(The writer is a formerGovernor of Meghalaya andUttarakhand and a formerCommissioner of Police, Delhi)

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Phase-II turnout 1.3 % lessthan 2014” (April 19). With theconclusion of Phase-II of voting,the Election Commission (EC)is faced with the issue of lowvoter turnout, especially inurban areas. Low voter turnoutis mainly due to issues related todeleted/missing names, delaysowing to EVM glitches and alsothe long weekend.

It is ironical that despite suf-ficient knowledge about theseries of public holidays, the sec-ond phase of elections was heldduring the week with a series ofpublic holidays. Also, necessaryvoter awareness drives, as car-ried under the flagship SWEEPdivision, have yet again failed tobring voters to the polling booth.

But one fails to understandas to why the option on e-vot-ing or online voting still remainselusive even for PwD voters.Online voting will help outsta-tion voters and even NRIs. Toensure high voter turnout, com-pulsory voting may be the onlyoption.

Varun SDBengaluru

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Sir — It is regretful that politicalleaders in our country are blithe-ly ignorant about the ModelCode of Conduct that is of para-mount importance for the con-duct of free and fair elections. Itis disgraceful that Congress chiefRahul Gandhi let the bar fall solow when he said that all thieves

have “Modi” in their names.His vitriolic rant against

Prime Minister Modi withregard to the Rafale deal, too, isdeemed to be inappropriate.Rahul may be of the view thatsince the Supreme Court hadaccepted the review petition, itmeant that there was corruptioninvolved in the deal. But heshould bear in mind that so longthe apex court has not pro-

nounced its ruling on the reviewpetition; its previous rulingstands valid. Moreover rhetoric,sabre-rattling and insinuationare progressively resorted toallure the voters. It is diametri-cally opposite to the democrat-ic polity. It is shocking that theEC is apathetic to these increas-ing instances of violation.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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Sir — This refers to the article,“History speaks for itself ” (April18) by B Deepanjali. Kudos to thewriter for dissecting the anatomyof the Indian National Congress(INC) founded by AO Hume. Yes,Gandhiji rightly understood theINC and recommended to makeit a service organisation similar toLokmanya Tilak’s ‘Servants ofIndia Society’ and Lala Lajlat Rai’s‘Servants of People Society’. Butthat did not happen for the sim-ple reason that the organisation-al set-up was readily available forpolitical purposes.

SC PandaBhubaneswar

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Sir — This refers to the article, “InDante’s footsteps” (April 18) byHiranmay Karlekar. The writerhad inadvertently attributed toHippocrates the aphorism, “Aslong as men kill animals, they willkill each other.” It is byPythagoras. The error is regretted.

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The second phase of the Lok Sabha elec-tion took place in Tamil Nadu on April18. In my earlier articles focussing on

Tamil Nadu, I had mentioned that theDravidian State is in need of a leader who caninspire the Tamils and create a feeling in themthat they, too, are part of the sub-continent,enjoying the same cultural and historical her-itage of the vast landscape that is India.However, the month-long election campaign inthe State could not throw up any candidate ofthat calibre. More than that, what is disturb-ing is that leaders of most regional parties wantthe population to remain sub-literate andignorant about their rich past. Regional partieslike the All India Anna Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (AIADMK), the Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (DMK), the Pattali Makkal Katchi(PMK), the Marumalarchi Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (MDMK) and the Desiya MurpokkuDravida Kazhagam (DMDK) want the aboli-tion of the National Eligibility cum EntranceTest (NEET), the proposed common admissiontest to engineering colleges.

The demand for the abolition of NEET isbeing made with ulterior motives because theregional parties stand to gain by reverting tothe old style of admission. The quality of med-ical doctors churned out from the medical col-leges in Tamil Nadu is far below than that ofthe national average. Before the advent ofNEET, admissions to medical colleges in theState were based on the marks scored by thestudents in the Class XII board examination.Students scoring 90 to 98 per cent in the exam-inations being held by the Tamil NaduGovernment was a routine affair. Quality of theplus two courses in Government-run schoolswas abysmally low compared to Central schoolsas well as other national board syllabi. Moneyplayed a big role in admission to the medicalcolleges in the State. With the introduction ofthe NEET, the managements (mainly politicalleaders belonging to the DMK, AIADMK andother regional parties) lost a source of incomeand, hence, the opposition. How many Statesin the country are opposed to the NEET andhow many are worried about the loss of feder-alism because of this all-India commonentrance test?

The country’s top medical doctors andteachers were aghast over the intransigent atti-tude of politicians in Tamil Nadu. MK Stalin,leader of the DMK, claimed that there is con-vergence of thoughts in the manifestoes of hisparty and that of the Congress’. The DMK’s pri-ority is to get the NEET abolished while it wasthe Congress-led UPA regime which introducedit. Well, the Congress will go to any extent toregain the power which it surrendered to theBJP in 2014.

Last year a girl, Anita, who had set dreamsof becoming a medical doctor committed sui-cide. Though she had scored reasonably goodmarks in the qualifying examination, she failedin NEET, which forced her to resort to theextreme measure. Nobody has asked the politi-cians in Tamil Nadu why they are not raisingthe standard of the syllabus in the State. The BJPhas done a good thing by telling the AIADMK

that NEET is here to stay.Some of the demands being made

by Dravidian politicians in the Statewill make one wonder whether TamilNadu considers itself worthy of spe-cial status in a loose federal structureof the Indian Union. Tamil Nadu hasalways rejected centrist impositions,equating them with a hegemonichold of North India in the life of itspeople. It is the lone State in Indiawhich does not have even a NavodayaVidyalaya, a concept school systemintroduced by Rajiv Gandhi during histenure as Prime Minister (1985-1991).

Rajiv Gandhi wanted the ruralpoor in the country to get state-of-the-art modern education with the ambi-ence of public schools. That was howJawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya waslaunched. All districts in the countrywere allocated a Navodaya Vidyalayawhich offered free education, board-ing and lodging. But the rural andurban poor of Tamil Nadu are deniedthis facility because of the obsessionof Dravidian parties. They areopposed to Navodaya Vidyalayasbecause they shun Hindi and Sanskrit.Please note that not a single studentfrom such schools had taken recourseto the extreme step for failing in anyentrance examination. Tamil Nadu isthe only State in the country whereHindi is not taught in Government-run schools.

The opposition and resistance toHindi and Sanskrit by Dravidianpoliticians is an attempt to hasten theprocess of secession from India. TheDMK keeps on declaring that theattempt to “impose” Hindi on non-Hindi speaking States is part of the saf-

fronisation drive. Though scientificresearch has established that therenever was any Dravidian in the sub-continent, the DMK and the AIADMKstill swear by the Aryan-Dravidiandivide. If they accept the fallacybehind the Dravidian theory, their rai-son d’être itself would be questioned.The Dravidian parties could be hauledto the court over charges of denyingthe students their right to education.Another secret ploy behind this resis-tance to Hindi and Sanskrit is thedesign of the DMK and the AIADMKto create a notion among the Tamilsthat they are not part of this greatcountry.

Did you know that some of thebest defence training establishmentsin the country are in Tamil Nadu?There are the Officers’ TrainingAcademy at Chennai which groomsyoung graduates to take up professionsin the elite Indian Army, the Air ForceFlight Instructors’ School atTambaram that trains flight instruc-tors, who teach fighter pilots and theDefence Services Staff College,Wellington, Nilgiris, a centre wheresenior commanders of the defenceforces are moulded.

Soldiers not only from India buteven from friendly countries aretrained at these establishments whichhave played a significant role in cre-ating a strong bond between officersof Indian defence forces and those ofother countries. You may be shockedto learn that officer trainees from SriLanka are not allowed in these insti-tutions because of opposition fromDravidian politicians like MK Stalin,Vaiko, Thol Thirumavalavan and the

Leftists. The ethnic crisis in Sri Lankaand the civil war demanding a sepa-rate EELAM are the reasons behindthe Sinhala officers becoming personanon grata in Tamil Nadu. Political par-ties, which could not stand on theirown feet, force the national parties tofollow a foreign policy to suit theirconvenience. This is nothing butcompromising on national securityand India’s ties with friendly countries.Why should a handful of narrow-minded people dictate the foreign pol-icy of India?

As we get ready to face the 2019Lok Sabha election from Tamil Nadu,the truth remains that there is not a sin-gle leader in the State who has a nation-al outlook and the image of a states-man. The present lot of leaders are atbest a group of greedy politicians, fight-ing openly for the fruits of power.Unfortunately, the Congress is weak-kneed when it comes face-to-face withthe DMK. Local Congress leaders, whocan best be described as subservient to10, Janpath, have become the B-teamof the DMK in Tamil Nadu. The BJPleaders are also a big disappointmentas they failed in countering the anti-Modi campaign by the Dravidian-dominated media or stand up to thelikes of Stalin and Vaiko.

Questions were asked about thepossibility of Kamal Haasan emergingas an alternative rallying point. Butthen for all his grandiloquent state-ments of change and Gandhi, hefought shy of a contest. Who will saveTamil Nadu from this predicament?Sadly, there is nobody on the horizon.

(The writer is SpecialCorrespondent, The Pioneer)

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With the Election Commission(EC) of India announcingdates for the general election,

the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)— the document to ensure fair conductamong political parties in the run-upto the 17th Lok Sabha elections —came into force. While I expect theusual circus of parties — complainingagainst one another and numerous rep-rimands by the EC — I am relieved thatanimals will be spared in this drama.

Chapter 22 of the MCC notes:“The Election Commission hasadvised the political parties and can-didates to refrain from using any ani-mal for election campaign in any man-ner. Even a party, having a reservedsymbol depicting an animal, should

not make live demonstration of thatanimal in any election campaign of theparty/any of its candidate.”

The EC’s move is laudable andindicates its recognition of the abuseanimals are subject to when used forexhibition or performance. Use of ani-mals during road shows, rallies or forcampaigning is a pointless activitywhere they are tortured, beaten andneglected while the netas hog the lime-light, usually after arriving manyhours late. There are many instancesof animals being abused during pub-lic events, which turned violent.

Political parties, which have animalsymbols as part of their emblem, areknown to bring animals to their ralliesto showcase their strength and celebri-ty-like status. Not only does this glori-fy the vanity of the party but also comesto show that such tactics are used to pulllarge crowds and gather support in theabsence of organic support or loyaltyto the party. These animals, mostly ele-phants and horses, are subjected tothrongs of unruly humans and end upbeing used as props for politics.

Often, they are made to carryheavy loads throughout the day, with-

out any consideration of food, wateror rest. No veterinarians are availableon the site of the rally, meaning thewell-being of the animals is no one’spriority. Consistent with the history ofanimal abuse in travelling circuses,mandatory permissions are nevertaken for the use of animals. Even incases where permissions are granted,the Animal Welfare Board of India(AWBI) — the statutory body toensure the well-being of animals in thecountry — does not have enoughmanpower to ensure the animals are

not needlessly harassed.Although the AWBI was set up

with the purpose of implementing thestatutory rules under the AnimalWelfare Division, the body only playsan advisory role. As the national fed-eration for animal rights, FIAPO hasoften worked with the AWBI toensure Government-sanctionedinspections take place as part of ourlegal battle to end the use of animalsin circuses.

With the support of the AWBI, theliberation day for animals in circuses

is not too far away. This, the ban of ani-mals in circuses, will be a historic dayfor animal rights movement in India— for the recognition of animals assentient beings. Not only will the cit-izens of India acknowledge the inhu-man treatment meted out to animalsin circuses but also see the realitybehind each industry and business thatprofits off of animals.

For activists and organisationsworking for the protection of ani-mals, such precedents are ofimmense importance. The EC’smove is a similar show of empathyand kindness to animals. And wemay even be in a position to say thatthe greatness of our nation and itsmoral progression can be judged bythe way we treat our animals.

We are the nation that gave theworld ahimsa; we are the country ofa million gods, many of whom are per-sonified animals. We risk the dangerof being branded cultural, religiousand legal hypocrites if we let such cal-lous and outright cruel treatment toanimals to continue. This is alreadyhappening in Kerala where tourists areboycotting public events with ele-

phants as they are treated inhuman-ly to make them perform.

I welcome the EC’s move alsobecause it recognises that animals can-not be used as inanimate props.Though the primary intention of theadvisory is to avoid inconvenience tothe public, I think it also questions ourperception of animals. They are think-ing, feeling beings who deserve to betreated with respect. To expect animalsto pose in a rally, just as they aredepicted on party pamphlets, is indica-tive of our indifference to their natur-al identity. It is time we evolve fromsuch outdated attitudes and give ani-mals basic recognition as sentientbeings.

The world’s largest democracy notonly gives its citizens rights but its ani-mals the right to live a life free of abuseand with dignity. During this election’scircus, I will be happy not because noanimal is blocking my way to work butbecause the animals have been sparedabuse despite being the electoral sym-bols of political parties.

(The writer is Executive Director,Federation of Indian Animal ProtectionOrganisations)

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Bank unions on Friday urged Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to take over grounded Jet

Airways to secure the future of the 22,000-oddemployees of the carrier.

In a letter to Modi, the All-India Bank EmployeesAssociation also said government must ensure thatbanks are not forced to lend to the crippled airline.

After flying for 25 years, Jet Airways Wednesdayannounced grounding of operations after its lendersdeclined an interim funding of �400-crore.

“We learn that banks have invited bids to pos-sible investors to take over the airline. If it does nothappen, we urge you to take over the airline so thatthe jobs of these 22,000 employees are safe,” the asso-ciation said.

At the same time the unions opposed any moveto force banks to lend more money to the airline.

“Everyone is looking at the banks to bail out theairline as though lenders are the owners,” theunions said, also demanded an enquiry into the affairsof Jet.

“Naresh Goyal is still the promoter and majorshare- holder with 51 percent stake and it is hisheadache to run the company or sell it someone,” theunions said.

The attempts to sidetrack the whole issue bybuilding pressure on the banks to extend further loanand save the company is only with a view to keepGoyal out of the picture whereas he is the real manwho is answerable for the whole crisis, the unionsclaimed.

“We seek the immediate intervention of theGovernment so that banks are not pressurised to doleout more money,” the letter said.

The airline owes more than �8,500 crore to banksand around �4,000 crore to its vendors and aircraftlessors and months of salaries to the employees apartfrom thousands of crores of rupees in ticket refundsto passengers. That apart it has an accumulate lossof over �13,000 crore.

A consortium of banks led by State Bank had saidthey were hopeful of a successful bidding process forstake sale in the airline.

The 26 lenders to the cash strapped airline, nowown 51 percent stake in the airline, have invited bidsfrom potential suitors and received four bids fromEtihad Airways, NIFF, TPG and Indigo Partners andexpect to close the deal by May 10.

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The grounding of Jet Airways hasleft the tourism industry a

worried lot as it has led to an aver-age 25 percent spike in airfaresacross the sectors leading to mas-sive hotel cancellations, says indus-try experts.

Some key sectors like Mumbai-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Delhi andDelhi-Mumbai have seen the faresflying by 62 percent, 52 percent and49 percent, while the Bengaluru-Delhi sector has had the lowestimpact with a 10 percent surge short-ly before and soon after the ground-ing of Jet, show Cleatrip.Com data.

Financially struggling formonths, Jet Airways decided to call

it quits from Wednesday night,leaving 22,000 jobs at stake andinconveniencing lakhs of passen-gers both domestic as well as inter-national as Jet was the single largestairline out of and into the country.

“The impact of grounding ofJet Airways is not only restricted tothe airlines sector as tourism hastaken a severe beating due to themassive surge in airfares during thepeak demand season. The impactis unlikely to fade away anytimesoon and may continue into the restof the year,” Travel AgentsAssociation of India (Taai) presi-dent Sunil Kumar told PTI Friday.

He said, both the domestic aswell as international travel andrelated sectors are affected as trav-

ellers are cancelling their hotelbookings as airfares have surged byover 25 percent on average.

Leading tour operator Cox &Kings’ Karan Anand said the shut-tering of Jet has upset the travel plansof many who have booked on Jet.

“This is the peak travel seasonand the airfares for the next 10-12days are up by at least 25 percentas the capacity has fallen massive-ly dissuading last minute travelers,”he added.

However, online travel aggre-gator Easemytrip. Com RPTEasemytrip.Com co-founderNishant Pitti tried to downplay theimpact saying airfares normallyfluctuate as the aviation industry isalways unpredictable.

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Air India chairman AshwaniLohani is likely to meet State

Bank chairman Rajnish KumarFriday over the national carrier’splans to lease five wide-bodyBoeing planes from the nowgrounded Jet Airways.

Weighed down by a mountainof debt and falling revenue, JetAirways announced suspension ofits entire operations fromWednesday night and owns 16wide-body planes, 10 B777-300ERsand six Airbus A330s.

The SBI-led consortium oflenders are now running the airline

under a debt recast plan.The Air India chairman had

written to SBI chief Wednesdayexpressing interest in taking onlease five of the Boeing 777s fromJet and deploy them in key inter-national routes. And the meeting,expected to take place in NewDelhi, is in furthering this.

“Lohani is expected to meetKumar today to discuss his plans ofleasing five Jet Airways’ B777s. AirIndia is keen to launch more inter-national routes and enhance fre-quencies on the existing ones.

“But it does not have additionalaircraft to do so. If it is able to strikea deal with Jet lenders, it can

expand the international operationsfurther,” a source privy to thedevelopment told PTI.

The Air India spokespersonwas not available to confirm ordeny the meeting.

In a dry-lease arrangement, thelessor gives out only the aircraft toa lessee, while in wet-lease, the air-craft comes with the completecrew, maintenance and insurance.

After the grounding of Jet, AirIndia is the only domestic carriernow operating services on long hauland ultra-long haul routes likeLondon, Paris, New York,Washington, Chicago and SanFrancisco, among other cities.

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Airlines in India have “lim-ited freedoms” to operate

as true commercial businessesand the country is a challeng-ing market for the carriersdespite the huge aviationpotential, according to globalairlines’ grouping IATA.

The comments from theInternational Air TransportAssociation (IATA), which hasnearly 290 airlines as members,also comes at a time when JetAirway has temporarily closeddown its operations due tocash crunch.

Jet Airways is also a mem-ber of the IATA.

Albert Tjoeng, AssistantDirector of CorporateCommunications (AsiaPacific) at the IATA, said thatwhile the aviation potential ofIndia is huge, it is a challeng-ing market for airlines.

“Airlines have to deal withhigh operating costs – fuel, tax-ation, airport charges - in avery competitive environment.Fuel costs makes up 34 percent of operating costs ofIndian carriers when theindustry average is about 24per cent.

“Coupled with the depre-ciation of the Indian rupee, itis a double whammy for theairlines,” he said in a statement.

According to him, India’sregulatory and tax frameworkaround fuel also adds a burdenon the airline industry.

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In a fresh attempt to retaincontrol over its realty arm

Jaypee Infratech, crisis-hitJaypee group’s promotersFriday apologised to thousandsof distressed home buyers andpromised to infuse �2,000 croreto complete pending apart-ments over the next four years.

This proposal was made tohome buyers at a meetingcalled by Jaypee group chair-man Manoj Gaur as part ofefforts to seek flat owners’ sup-port for resolving the crisis anddelivering the pending 20,524units.

Jaypee group founderJaiprakash Gaur was also pre-sent at the meeting, which wasattended by over 1,000 buyers,while around dozen flat own-ers boycotted the meet andstaged protest at the venue —Jaypee Instutute of InformationTechnology — here.

Jaypee Infratech, a sub-sidiary of Jaypee group flagshipfirm Jaiprakash Associates Ltd

(JAL), is undergoing an insol-vency proceedings. State-owned NBCC and Surakshagroup are in race to acquireJaypee Infratech. JAL has alsosubmitted its plan but the sameis not being considered bylenders at this stage.

To solicit the support of it’shomebuyers, who have now gota voting rights for approval of anyresolution plan under Insolvencyand Bankruptcy Code, theJaypee group chairman Fridayinvited flat owners to discuss theproposal submitted by it.

The Jaypee group said itwill put in �1,500 crore in anescrow account and also attacha 100-acre land parcel worth�500 crore to deliver theseflats within four years.

At the outset, Manoj Gaurapologised for the delay incompleting the housing pro-jects, which he said “wasbeyond his control”.

“We are victims of cir-cumstances. Jaypee Group issynonymous for creating bestof the infrastructure projects inIndia like power plants inBaspa, Karchamwangtoo in thetoughest of the terrains andSardar Sarovar Dam that asideYamuna Expressway and oth-ers,” he said.

Promising to complete andhand over the remaining units,

Gaur sought another chancefrom the homebuyers.

“We will put �1,500 crore inescrow account and keep 100-acre land worth �500 earmarked,won’t sell this land. In total wehave around �2,000 crore forthis,” Jaypee Group advisorAjeet Kumar told reporters.

Additional funds wouldcome from home buyers as wellas sale of unsold housing unitsworth �4000 crore, he added.

“Under Section 12A of theIBC Procedure, we have sub-mitted a proposal (to lenders)in the month of February. Thehighlights of the proposal arethat we will put �1,500 crore inan escrow account which willbe monitored by a committeeand the entire amount will beused for construction and com-pletion of the houses,” he said.

Jaypee group had in April2018 as well submitted �10,000crore plan before lenders torevive Jaypee Infratech, butthe same was not accepted.

“It’s been 18 months sincethe case is in the SupremeCourt and the NCLT, ourchairman (Manoj Gaur) hasapologised to the buyers. Hetold them that he understandstheir pain of not getting thehomes and wants the supportof the buyers for his proposal,”Kumar said.

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Air India chairman AshwaniLohani held preliminary

talks with his State Bank coun-terpart Rajnish Kumar in theCapital Friday on the nationalcarrier’s interest in leasing fiveBoeing 777s from the now-grounded Jet Airways, sourcesclose to the development said.

The meeting lasted for overmore than an hour at theAirlines House, the headquar-ters of the flag carrier in thenational Capital.

“During the meeting withKumar, Lohani discussed hisproposal on leasing five B777sof Jet Airways,” the sources toldPTI.

As per these sources, the AIchairman will now take theproposal to the airline’s boardfor approval, after more inter-nal discussions and if all goeswell, then the proposal will besent to the aviation ministry forthe final approval.

The AI board is scheduledto meet on April 27 and thesubject may come up for dis-cussions.

Weighed down by a moun-tain of debt and falling revenue,Jet Airways announced sus-pension of its entire operationsfrom Wednesday night. Theairline now owns 16 wide-

body planes--10 B777-300ERsand six Airbus A330s.

The SBI-led consortiumof lenders are now running theairline under a debt recastplan.

The AI chairman had writ-ten to SBI chief Wednesdayexpressing interest in taking onlease five of the Boeing 777sfrom Jet and deploy them inkey international routes.

When asked about the nextstep, the source said after fur-ther deliberations, a formalproposal will be sent to theboard for its approval. “If theboard gives its go ahead, it willbe sent to the aviation ministrywhich will take a final call.”

Air India is keen to launchmore international routes andenhance frequencies on theexisting ones.

“But it does not have addi-tional aircraft to do so. If it isable to strike a deal with Jetlenders, it can expand theinternational operations fur-ther,” the source said.

The Air India spokesper-son was not available to com-ment parleys.

In a dry-lease arrange-ment, the lessor gives out onlythe aircraft to a lessee, while inwet-lease, the aircraft comeswith the complete crew, main-tenance and insurance.

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Wipro Ltd on Friday said acyber attack on few of its

employee accounts has notimpacted its critical businessoperations and the firm hastaken remedial measures.

In a regulatory filing, thecompany said it became awareof potentially abnormal activ-ity within its network about 10days back in respect of few ofits employee accounts, whowere “subjected to an advancedphishing campaign”.

“Upon learning of theabove, the company promptlykicked off its standard operat-ing procedure for addressingsuch incidents. We beganinvestigating the incident, iden-tified and isolated the employ-ee accounts which wereimpacted, took remedial stepsto contain the incident and mit-igate any potential effects of theincident,” Wipro said.

It also informed the hand-ful of customers where theaffected employees are engaged.

“We would like to clarifythat the incident did not impactthe company’s ongoing criticalbusiness operations,” it said.

Cybersecurity blogKrebsOnSecurity had previous-

ly stated that Wipro’s systemshad been breached and werebeing used to launch attacksagainst some of its clients.

“Like any large enterprise,the company investigates over 4.8million alerts in a year,” Wiprosaid without elaborating on whatits investigation had revealed.

Wipro said it has used itsindustry-leading cybersecuri-ty practices and partner ecosys-tem for remedial steps and hasshared this intelligence with itspartners to develop theAntiVirus signatures.

“The same has beenapplied to our enterprise sys-tems. We are collaboratingwith our partner ecosystem tocollect and monitor advancedthreat intelligence for enhanc-ing our security posture. Wecontinue to monitor our enter-prise infrastructure at a height-ened level of alertness,” it said.

KrebsOnSecurity, in itsblog, had cited sources to statethat Wipro was “dealing with amulti-month intrusion from anassumed state-sponsoredattacker” and that Wipro’s sys-tems were seen being used asjumping-off points for digitalphishing expeditions target-ing at least a dozen Wipro cus-tomer systems.

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Reliance Industries has statedthat it will start natural gas

production from R-Cluster gasfield in the flagging KG-D6 blockin the Bay of Bengal from the sec-ond half of the 2020-21 fiscal.

Reliance and its partner BPPlc of UK had in June 2017announced an investment of�40,000 crore in the three setsof discoveries to reverse theflagging production in KG-D6block. These finds were expect-ed to bring a total 30-35 millioncubic metres (1 billion cubicfeet) of gas a day onstream,phased over 2020-22. R-Clusterwill be first to come on stream.

“R-Cluster development ison track for first gas in 2HFY21,” Reliance said in aninvestor presentation after itsfourth-quarter earnings.

Four of the planned sixwells that would produce gasfrom the field have been com-pleted and the fifth one is beingdrilled currently, it said addingfirst offshore installation cam-paign is underway and is expect-ed to be completed in Q1 FY20.

The second set is called theSatellite Cluster for which allmajor orders have been com-mitted and engineering work isin progress. “Manufacturingof components of SubseaProduction System (SPS) hascommenced,” it said.

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The Finance Ministry islooking at innovative Real

Estate Investment Trusts(REITs) model for sale of landassets of CPSEs and also thosewhich are classified as ‘enemyproperty’ by the government.

REITs, which are regulatedby Sebi, are instruments forinvestments in real estate. Underthis REITs model of securitisa-tion, the land assets will betransferred to a trust providinginvestment opportunity forinstitutional investors.

The finance ministry islooking at the REITs modelalong with other modes likeleasing or outright sale of landassets for monetising non-coreassets of Central Public SectorEnterprises (CPSEs) which havebeen identified for strategicdisinvestment, an official said.

The ministry is also con-sidering REITs model for mon-etisation of immovable enemyproperty.

Although market regulator

Sebi had notified REITs guide-lines in 2014, the market forthis instrument for investmentin real estate is yet to pick up.

With regard to sale ofimmovable enemy properties,the guidelines said the assetswould be identified for disposalin consultation with the stake-holders including the respectivestate governments.

Enemy property refers tothe assets which were leftbehind by people who migrat-ed to Pakistan or China and areno longer citizens of India.

The Custodian of EnemyProperty for India (CEPI) or theMinistry of Home Affairs willselect the properties for dispos-al and will also certify that a cleartitle deed is available and theproperty is free of any encum-brances and encroachment.

Although the Departmentof Investment and Public AssetManagement (DIPAM) underthe finance ministry has spelledout the several model whichcould be used for monetisingland assets, the final call will be

taken by a ministerial panelheaded by the finance minister.

One of the models proposedby DIPAM is ’DirectContractual Approach’ underwhich large upfront paymentsfor the land could be made togovernment coupled with smallannual payments or smallupfront payment coupled withannual payments.

“Adoption of one or theother model would dependupon many factors like typeand use of asset, objective ofmonetisation and various otherfactors,” an official said.

The other model could bethe one being used by NHAIunder which operations of anexisting revenue generatingassets are entrusted to a privateparty for specified period onspecific terms and conditionslike the ’Toll-Operate-Transfer’(ToT) Another model whichcould be considered is to trans-fer the land to State-ownedNBCC for developing afford-able housing or central/stateGovernment offices.

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China said on Friday it wasready to hold a Wuhan-

style summit meeting withIndia this year to improve ties,notwithstanding the differ-ences over the trillion-dollarBelt and Road Initiative inwhich the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC)is a flagship project.

Addressing a media con-ference here ahead of the Beltand Road Forum (BRF) beingheld from April 25-27 to show-case China’s trillion-dollar Beltand Road Initiative (BRI),Chinese Foreign Minister WangYi appealed to India to shed itsopposition to the USD 60 bil-lion CPEC, saying it no way“undermined” the basic posi-tion on the Kashmir dispute.

Asked if India’s oppositionto the BRI would undermine thenew momentum generated bylast year’s informal summitbetween Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and ChinesePresident Xi Jinping, Wang saidthe two leaders had a very suc-cessful meeting at Wuhan city.

“Particularly they haveestablished mutual trust betweenthe leadership and they jointlyplanned for the future ofimprovement and strengtheningof China-India relations.

“After the Wuhan summit,we see all areas or progressbetween the two countries andwe have bright prospect for thisrelationship. We are nowpreparing for the next summitof our leaders,” he said withoutspecifying any time line.

After the Wuhan summithosted by China, the secondsummit will be held by India.President Xi plans to visit Indiafor the 2nd informal summitafter the general elections, cur-rently underway, are over.

Wang said so far 37 headsof state and governments hadconfirmed their participationin the BRF. Representativesfrom over 150 countries organ-isations’ close to 5,000 partic-ipants have confirmed theirparticipation.

Leaders of Pakistan andNepal are among the countrieswho would take part in themeeting.

Informed sources here toldPTI that there was no officialinvitation from China to theIndian leadership or at theministerial level to take part inits 2nd BRF meeting.

For its first BRF meetingheld in May 2017, China hadinvited India to take part in thesix separate forums that Chinaorganised as part of the meeting.

Indian Ambassador toChina, Vikram Misri flaggedIndia’s concerns over the CPECin an interview to state-runGlobal Times last month stat-ing that “above all, connectiv-ity initiatives must be pursuedin a manner that respects sov-ereignty, equality and territor-ial integrity of nations. Nocountry can participate in aninitiative that ignores its coreconcerns on sovereignty andterritorial integrity”.

The BRI is a multi-bil-lion-dollar initiative launchedby President Xi when he cameto power in 2013. It aims to linkSoutheast Asia, Central Asia,the Gulf region, Africa andEurope with a network of landand sea routes.

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Waaree Energies Ltd., anIndian EPC player and

solar PV manufacturerannounced its foray into theStand-Alone Solar Solutionssegment with Off-GridInverters. With an aim to sub-stantially reduce dependencyon the electrical grid, the solarinverters are available in capac-ities ranging from of 375 VA to10 KW across a wide scale ofcommercial and residentialconsumers. This new offeringwill uphold the strong ’qualitycontrol’ measures of Waareeand will be made availableacross India in a span of a yearthrough its supply, distributionand franchise chain.

The Indian Solar Invertermarket is expected to grow atover 25% CAGR in the next 5years and Waaree aims to cap-italize on the growth curve andsatiate the much needed qual-ity service in the segment.

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Ed-tech startup, AvantiLearning Centres, which

offers Science and Mathematicseducation by leveraging aPhysical, Digital model, haslaunched an AI poweredMobile App. The Mumbai-based education startup worksin the area of preparatory class-es for higher education inSTEM domain (Science,Technology, Engineering andMathematics) for studentslooking to succeed in IIT andMedical entrance examinationsincluding NEET.

It has recently expanded to300 centres across 50 cities andtowns while impacting the livesof over 500,000 students look-ing to enter the Engineering andMedical colleges of India.

The startup is currentlyproviding its services close to11.9 Lakh students appearingfor IIT Entrance and over 13lakh students appearing forNEET, Avanti with a Physical,Digital model.

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Hopes for a breakthrough ina push to end

Afghanistan’s gruelling con-flict suffered a major setback onFriday after a key summitbetween the Taliban andAfghan officials was indefi-nitely postponed.

The so-called intra-Afghandialogue, due to take place inDoha this weekend, fell apart atthe last minute in a row overthe large number of delegatesKabul wanted to send.

The collapse comes at acritical time and amid contin-ued bloodshed. The Talibannow control or influence abouthalf of Afghanistan and 3,804civilians were killed there lastyear, according to a UN tally.

Washington, which is lead-ing an effort to end the war, sig-nalled its disappointment andurged both sides to return tothe table, though organisersprovided no hint about whenthe conference might berescheduled.

Sultan Barakat, who headsthe group that was to host theevent, said in a statement thepostponement was “necessaryto build further consensus as towho should participate”.

“Clearly the moment isnot yet right,” added Barakat,the director of the Center forConflict and HumanitarianStudies.

President Ashraf Ghani’sadministration had on Tuesdayannounced a list of 250 peoplefrom all walks of Afghan life,including government figures,who it wanted to send to Doha.

But the Taliban pouredscorn on the lengthy list, say-ing it was not “normal” andthat they had “no plans” tomeet with so many people.

The conference is “not an

invitation to some wedding orother party at a hotel in Kabul,”the Taliban said this week.

Though the insurgentsinsisted they would only talk toGhani officials in a “personalcapacity”, any contact betweenthe two parties in Doha wouldhave been hugely signficant,especially at a time whenAfghanistan is being ripped byfresh violence after the Talibanannounced their annual springoffensive. Ghani officialsblamed the Qatari governmentfor the summit’s derailment. Ina statement, the presidentialpalace said Qatar had rejectedthe long list of delegates andsuggested a shorter one whichwas “not acceptable”.

Analyst Michael Kugelmanof the Wilson Center inWashington said the break-down illustrated the toughpath ahead for peace.

The conference “mess andits dysfunction amplifies justhow much of a long, hard sloga reconciliation process will be,”he told AFP.

“If an event billed as a mereinformal ice-breaker causes somany problems, imagine whatcould happen when it’s time toput something more formaltogether.” Even some of thoseGhani said would attenddropped out, slamming theguest list as rigged to political-ly strengthen the president,who faces delayed elections inSeptember. The Doha summitwas separate from ongoingdirect talks between the Talibanand the US.

While the insurgents didmeet with Afghan politiciansoutside the government inMoscow in February, they havesteadfastly refused to meetwith Ghani and his adminis-tration, which they view as apuppet regime.

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US President Donald Trumpon Friday dismissed unfa-

vorable testimony in theMueller report on Russian elec-tion interference as “fabricated”and labelled the document“crazy.”

“Statements are madeabout me by certain people inthe Crazy Mueller Report, initself written by 18 AngryDemocrat Trump Haters,which are fabricated & totallyuntrue,” the president tweeted.

A 400-page document out-lining the findings of SpecialCounsel Robert Mueller’s 22-month investigation, madepublic on Thursday, clearedTrump of criminal conspiracybut left open whether he hadobstructed justice.

Mueller’s report recounts10 episodes involving the pres-ident and potential obstructionof the investigation.

After reviewing the docu-ment, Attorney General BillBarr and his deputy RodRosenstein concluded therewas insufficient evidence tocharge the president withobstruction. Mueller, however,noted that while he was fol-lowing Justice Department pol-icy in not charging Trump, theevidence he gathered “doesnot exonerate” the Republicanpresident.

Trump initially celebratedthe publication of the report -- which landed as the UnitedStates dives into the ferment ofa bitter presidential campaign-- saying at the White Housethat he was “having a good

day.” But he was in a more

defensive mood Friday, as heprepared for a long Easterweekend at his Florida golfresort, insisting that he haddone nothing wrong.

“Because I never agreed totestify, it was not necessary forme to respond to statementsmade in the ‘Report’ about me,some of which are total bullshit& only given to make the otherperson look good (or me to

look bad),” Trump added,repeating his description ofthe investigation as an “IllegallyStarted Hoax.”

Mueller said in his reportthat Trump’s “efforts to influ-ence the investigation weremostly unsuccessful, but that islargely because the personswho surrounded the presidentdeclined to carry out orders oraccede to his requests.”

The episodes of potentialwrongdoing, which will now beexamined by the Democrat-ledHouse of Representatives,include the firing of FBI chiefJames Comey, Trump’s effortsto remove Mueller and hisattempts to prevent disclosureof emails about the infamous2016 Trump Tower meetingbetween Russians and seniorcampaign officials. Democrats

meanwhile have demandedaction against Barr, arguingthat Mueller’s report undercutsome of the attorney general’skey claims about the obstruc-tion issue and the WhiteHouse’s cooperation with theinvestigation.

“There are at least four sig-nificant ways that Mr Barr hasmisled the public on the con-tents of the Mueller report,”Senate Democratic LeaderChuck Schumer and HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi said in ajoint statement.

Eric Swalwell, a Californiacongressman, called for Barr’sresignation while several oth-ers berated him. They accusedBarr of suggesting publicly andfalsely that Mueller had notintended for Congress toresolve the obstruction issue.

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Russia on Friday once moredismissed the Mueller

report, saying it failed to pre-sent clear evidence of anymeddling by Moscow in the2016 US election and called itsimpact on relations regret-table.

“As a whole the report asbefore does not present anyreasonable proof at all thatRussia allegedly meddled inthe electoral process in the US,”Kremlin spokesman Dmitry

Peskov told journalists, sayingit contained “no new infor-mation.” Russia has consis-tently rejected any suggestionthat it interfered in the electionwon by Donald Trump.

The politically explosiveprobe by Special CounselRobert Mueller ruled thatTrump’s campaign did notcriminally conspire withRussians to skew the election,and drew no conclusion onallegations of obstruction.

“We regret that documentsof such quality have a direct

influence on the developmentof US-Russian bilateral rela-tions which are not in the bestshape as it is,” Peskov said.

He even suggested thatUS taxpayers should questionwhy their money was spent onthe lengthy probe with such aresult.

“In our country, the AuditChamber would probably takean interest in such a report:what did American taxpayers’money get spent on? But let theUS taxpayers themselves askthat question,” Peskov added.

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Japanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe is scheduling a

rushed visit to Washington tomeet with President DonaldTrump and celebrate first ladyMelania Trump’s birthday, andthen is inviting him to be firstforeign leader to meet Japan’snew emperor, the two countriesannounced Friday.

Without close friends inAsia, Abe is seen as usingevery opportunity, even theemperor’s accession, to courtTrump.

Tokyo and Washingtonsaid Friday that Trump and thefirst lady will make a state visitto Japan at the end of May, justweeks after Crown PrinceNaruhito ascends Japan’sChrysanthemum throne.Naruhito’s 85-year-old father,Emperor Akihito, is endinghis three-decade reign on April30 by abdicating.

Chief Cabinet SecretaryYoshihide Suga said receivingTrump as the first state guest ofthe new imperial era would“symbolize the unshakablebond of the Japan-U.S.Alliance.”

Japanese officials are alsoarranging for Trump to watchthe final day of a sumo

wrestling tournament on May26 so he can present a trophyto the winner. Trump may alsotravel to a Japanese naval basein Yokosuka west of Tokyo to see a destroyer thathas been refitted as Japan’sfirst postwar aircraft carrier,Japanese officials and mediareports said.

Abe, experts say, is takingevery opportunity to courtTrump as Japan tries to stay outof the U.S. Leader’s crosshairs,unlike some other world lead-ers who have upset him ontrade and other issues.

“I’m not sure what otherchoices this administration, orany Japanese administration,has except to try to build thebest relationship possible withWashington through face-to-face interaction,” said StephenNagy, a politics and interna-tional studies professor atInternational ChristianUniversity in Tokyo.

“I think Mr Trump beingthe first to meet the emperor isa good example of that.”Relations between Japan andtwo of its closest neighbors,South Korea and China, remainstrained over their war historyand territorial disputes.

In February, Trump saidAbe had nominated him for the

Nobel Peace Prize for his effortsto denuclearize North Korea.Abe did not deny the claim,triggering criticism from oppo-sition lawmakers that hisapparent effort to please Trumpwas embarrassing. Abe hasmanaged to largely stay ongood terms with Trump byassiduously avoiding criticismof the U.S. Leader. “You neverhear criticisms out of Japan ...That has been very character-istic of the Abe administration,”Nagy said.

“I think he has done wellbecause he hasn’t insulted Mr.Trump to cause problems.”Abe was also the first foreignleader to meet Trump after hiselection in November 2016, noteven waiting until he official-ly took office as is normaldiplomatic practice, and gavehim a special golf driver.

Hiro Aida, professor ofglobal studies at AoyamaGakuin University and anexpert on Japan-U.S. Relations,said Abe is jumping at theopportunity of the emperor’ssuccession after his ties withTrump were seen to be weak-ening as the U.S. Leader camedown hard on trade issues,demanding that Japan do moreto reduce the countries’ tradeimbalance.

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Protest leaders on Fridayannounced plans to unveil

a civilian body to take overfrom Sudan’s ruling militarycouncil as crowds of demon-strators kept up the pressureoutside army headquarters andWashington said it will send anenvoy to encourage the transi-tion. The military council,which took power after oustingSudan’s longtime leader Omaral-Bashir on April 11, has so farresisted calls from protesters toquickly make way for a civilianadminstration.

The Sudanese ProfessionalsAssociation, which has beenspearheading the protests, saidin a statement that the civiliancouncil members would benamed at a news conference at1700 GMT on Sunday outsidethe army complex to which for-eign diplomats are also invited.

“We are demanding thatthis civilian council, whichwill have representatives of thearmy, replace the militarycouncil,” Ahmed al-Rabia, aleader of the umbrella group ofunions for doctors, engineersand teachers, told AFP.

Four months after anti-regime protests started, access

roads were packed on Fridaywith crowds flocking to hugesquare outside army head-quarters. Activists mobiliseddemonstrators through socialmedia to keep up the pressurefor replacing the military coun-cil, now led by General AbdelFattah al-Burhan.

“Power to civilians, powerto civilians,” protesters chant-ed through Thursday night.

“I won’t leave until Burhantransfers power to a civiliangovernment,” said Wali Aldeen,who has camped outside thecomplex since the day Bashirwas ousted. Activists havecalled for large crowds to gath-er after weekly Muslim prayers,as on previous Fridays.

Protests first broke out onDecember 19 in response to thetripling of bread prices, swift-ly turning into nationwide ral-lies against Bashir’s three-decade rule.

After his ouster, protestersdemonstrated against GeneralAwad Ibn Ouf who took overas the first head of the militarycouncil, insisting he was a toolof the old regime.

Ibn Ouf stepped down inless than 24 hours and wasreplaced by Burhan, who so farhas appeased protesters by lift-

ing a night-time curfew andvowing to “uproot” Bashir’scircle.

The United States onThursday praised orders bySudan’s new military leader tofree political prisoners andend the curfew as it dispatchedMakila James, a deputy assis-tant secretary of state, on a mis-sion to Khartoum this week-end. The United States will “cal-ibrate our policies based on ourassessment of events”, StateDepartment spokeswomanMorgan Ortagus said, addinghowever that talks on delistingSudan as a state sponsor of ter-rorism remained suspended.

“We are encouraged by thedecision to release politicalprisoners and cancel the curfewin Khartoum,” Ortagus said ina statement.

She said that the UnitedStates wanted the militarycouncil and other armed unitsto “show restraint, avoid con-flict and remain committed tothe protection of the Sudanesepeople.”

“The will of the Sudanesepeople is clear: it is time tomove toward a transitionalgovernment that is inclusiveand respectful of human rightsand the rule of law,” she said.

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Ajournalist was shot deadduring riots in Northern

Ireland in what police onFriday were treating as a ter-rorist incident following thelatest upsurge in violence to shake the troubledregion.

“Lyra McKee was mur-dered during orchestrated vio-lence in Creggan last night,”Assistant Chief Constable MarkHamilton said in a statement.

McKee had earlier postedan image that appeared to befrom the riots in the Cregganhousing estate in the city ofLondonderry, also known asDerry, accompanied by thewords “Derry tonight. Absolutemadness.”

Images of the unrest post-ed on social media showed acar and van ablaze and hood-ed individuals throwing petrolbombs and fireworks at policevehicles.

“A single gunman firedshots in a residential area of thecity and as a result woundedMs McKee,” said Hamilton,adding that police believed thegunman was a “violent dissi-

dent republican.” “We are treating this as a

terrorist incident and we havelaunched a murder enquiry,” headded.

Journalist Matthew Hughesearlier identified the deadwoman as one of his friends.

“I just received the heart-breaking news that my friend@LyraMcKee was murdered tonight in a terror-ist incident in Derry,” he wroteon Twitter.

McKee had written for TheAtlantic magazine andBuzzfeed News and was namedby Forbes Magazine in 2016 asone of their “30 under 30” out-standing figures in media,according to her literary agentJanklow & Nesbit.

Leona O’Neill, a reporterwith the Belfast Telegraph, saidshe saw McKee get hurt.

“I was standing beside thisyoung woman when she fellbeside a police Land Rovertonight in Creggan #Derry. Icalled an ambulance for her butpolice put her in the back oftheir vehicle and rushed her tohospital where she died. Just 29years old. Sick to my stomachtonight,” she tweeted.

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The UN said on Friday it hadevacuated 163 refugees

from war-ravaged Libya toneighbouring Niger, but morethan 3,000 others were stilltrapped in detention centresaffected by clashes.

The move marked the firstevacuation of refugees andmigrants out of Libya sincefighting escalated in Tripoli twoweeks ago, the UN refugeeagency said.

“Given the situation inLibya, humanitarian evacua-tions are a lifeline for detainedrefugees whose lives are injeopardy in Libya,” UN refugeechief Filippo Grandi said in astatement.

The operation came asfierce fighting continuedbetween forces loyal to strong-man Khalifa Haftar and those

backing the internationallyrecognised Government ofNational Accord (GNA).

The renewed fighting haskilled over 200 people and leftmore than 900 wounded, theWorld Health Organisationsaid Thursday.

More than 25,000 havebeen displaced, according tothe International Organisationfor Migration.

Dozens of women andchildren were among thoseevacuated on the UNHCRflight that landed in Niger

early Friday morning.They had all been held in

detention centres near thefrontlines of the conflict.

UNHCR said it had previ-ously relocated many of themfrom the Abu Selim and AinZara centres to its Gatheringand Departure Facility (GDF)in the centre of the capital.

In all, it said, it had relo-cated 539 refugees from sever-al detention centres near theimmediate fighting zone.

But it said more than 3,000refugees and migrants remaintrapped in detention in areaswhere the fighting was raging.

The agency said itremained “extremely con-cerned” for the safety of thosewho remain “trapped insidedetention centres and exposedto violence.”

Grandi meanwhile hailedNiger for welcoming the

refugees and urged other coun-tries to follow suit.

“Niger’s solidarity in receiv-ing these refugees is world-leading and exemplary, butNiger cannot do this alone,” hesaid. “There must be sharedresponsibility and we needother countries to come for-ward to lend a hand and helpbring vulnerable refugees out ofLibya to safety.”

UNHCR issued an urgentappeal to the internationalcommunity to find solutionsfor all the trapped and detainedrefugees in Libya.

Among other things, itsaid there was a need for evac-uations and humanitarian cor-ridors to allow refugees in itsGDF in Tripoli to find safetyabroad. It also said new suchspaces were needed, since thefacility had only limited capac-ity.

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Mali’s prime ministerresigned along with his

entire government onThursday following criticismover their handling of anupsurge of violence in the cen-tre of the country and a mas-sacre last month that left 160people dead.

A statement from PresidentIbrahim Boubacar Keita’s officesaid he had acceptedSoumeylou Boubeye Maiga’sresignation, along with those ofhis ministers, two weeks aftermass protests erupted over therising tide of violence.

Lawmakers from both rul-ing and opposition parties hadsubmitted a motion of no con-fidence against the govern-ment on Wednesday, blamingMaiga and his administrationfor failing to clamp down onthe unrest.

“A prime minister will benamed very soon and a newgovernment will be put inplace after consultations with

all political forces” from boththe ruling and opposition sides,the statement from Keita’soffice said. The president hadon Tuesday said in a televisedaddress that he had “heard theanger”, without explicitly nam-ing the prime minister.

The government had comeunder mounting pressure overits handling of violence in therestive Mopti region and espe-cially a massacre on March 23in which 160 people were killedin the village of Ogossagou nearthe border with Burkina Faso.

Members of the Dogonethnic group -- a hunting andfarming community with along history of tension with thenomadic Fulani people overaccess to land -- were accusedof being behind the masskilling.

Tens of thousands of peo-ple took to the streets ofBamako on April 5 to protestagainst the upsurge of vio-lence, accusing the govern-ment of not doing enough tostop it. The protest was called

by Muslim religious leaders,organisations representing theFulani herding community,opposition parties and civilsociety groups.

Mali has been struggling torestore stability since Islamistextremists linked to Al-Qaedatook control of the country’svast desert north in early 2012.While the jihadists were large-ly driven out in a French-led military operationthat began in January 2013,huge areas are still in the gripof lawlessness, despite a 2015peace agreement with somearmed groups that sought todefinitively stamp out theIslamist threat.

Since then, militants haveshifted from the north towardsthe more densely populatedcentre of the country, wherethey have sharpened ancientrivalries and ethnic conflictsthat date back years. Jihadistattacks have also spread toBurkina Faso, Chad and Niger,forcing tens of thousands ofpeople from their homes.

Paris: For many of France’s yel-low vest protesters, the stingingsadness that came with the dev-astating fire at Notre DameCathedral has quickly givenway to boiling anger.

Despite their struggles tomake ends meet, some madesmall donations for the restora-tion of the iconic Paris build-ing.

But they also felt unheardwhen French PresidentEmmanuel Macron addressedthe nation to speak about thefire, instead of laying out hisresponse to the social crisis thathas fueled their protests sincelast November.

And they felt even moreoutraged when, in just a fewhours, billionaires pledgedhundreds of millions of dollars(euros) to help restore thedamaged cathedral while theirdemands remain unsatisfiedin their longstanding fight withthe French government. AP

Istanbul: Turkey has arrestedtwo men suspected of spyingfor the United Arab Emiratesand is probing if they are tiedto Saudi journalist JamalKhashoggi’s murder, Anadolustate news agency said onFriday. The two were detainedas part of an investigation byIstanbul prosecutors intoalleged spying by the Gulfstate, Anadolu reported.

It was not clear when theywere arrested.

A critic of the Saudiregime, Khashoggi was killedOctober 2 in the Saudi con-sulate in Istanbul by a team of15 agents sent from Riyadh.

AFP

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���Kalank is set in a period that young actors like youmay have difficulty relating to because it is genera-tions apart. So what were the reference points in yourpreparation process, did you read up and how did youcontemporise sensibilities?

Varun: Yes, the research was there to understand thecontext but the acting sensibilities are very different today.There’s definitely a paradigm shift in terms of perfor-mance and texture in what the audience is acceptingtoday and most new directors want that syntax from theactors. Just because we were doing a film set in the 1940s,our director was very clear that he didn’t want us to “act”like actors did in the films of that era, which was a bitover-the-top. Agreed, filmmakers do take cinematic lib-erties but obviously a 1940 cinematic liberty is differ-ent from that of 2019. So we have tried to keep the per-formance very real and organic within the trajectory ofour characters. The director didn’t want us to go melo-dramatic at all in any of the scenes. There is a lot of dramabut he wanted to keep it very fluent. Only as and whenthe need was, he allowed us to play with the pitch. Soconsciously, I did not rely on particular references.

Alia: Just taking forward from what Varun said, whatone of the things I enjoyed the most was delivering mydialogues. If you hear them, they are almost like poet-ry but how do you not make them seem overwhelming.The only way that I could make them believable was tokeep the words in a normal pitch, with a contemporarystyle and touch. The references were not many but justa few. Like I watched Mughal-e-Azam, Umrao Jaan andSilsila, not for any particular character or periodicity butto understand grace and gravitas. I just wanted to get asense of how the women would carry themselves at thattime, their body language, their demeanour, their sub-tlety. Because I’m a girl of today, my body language maybe a bit more free and unhindered; I may end up usingmy hands, shoulders and all of that. So how do I restrainmyself, bring about some grace and vulnerability in theeyes, maintain carriage. I have mentioned this before aswell that Sanam’s character in the TV show ZindagiGulzaar Hai was a big reference and inspiration forme for how to bring about vulnerability andstrength with a burden on your shoulders at thesame time.

Varun: Me and Alia are very differentactors. She is very instinctive, I prep a lot.Abhishek Varman (the director) and shehave an amazing tuning. With me it’s dif-ferent. I usually come with a buffet ofideas of what the character could be.Which is why Abhishek didn’t wantme to over-prepare for this role. AllI did was go through a month ofdiction classes. Luckily, we alsohad a dialect coach on the sets,Kamal sahab. Abhishek real-ly wanted me to work onmy body languagebecause this is the most“manly” role I havedone so far. So hedidn’t want me todo any gesture thatcomes to me natu-rally in real life. Hesaid he wanted toremove Varun fromZafar. And hopefullyyou won’t see Varun inZafar. This is also my mostcomplex role, with my charac-ter carrying the baggage of a past,being conflicted and sorting out hisidentity through a set of emotions.There’s a self-reckoning through Roop,Alia’s character, who actually does theheavy-lifting in the film.

Alia: She is a progressive girl. She may notbe doing everything that’s right but her inten-tion is never bad. She is an emotional person whohas been burdened by the journey of life. Yet sheis adorable despite her complexities. The challeng-ing part was to make her likeable, make the audi-ence feel for her.

���As actors, both of you have straddled arthouserealism and the big commercial entertainers rathereffortlessly. How difficult is it to keep the balance whileswitching genres at a time which allows it?

Alia: I do not think in binaries. My only focus is todo different stories and cinema. And yes, as actors wewant all films to be commercially successful.

Varun: Everything should do well. And we are luckyto be in a time when a merger of ideas has happened inthe film industry.

Alia: For me, the focus is on the story and how wellI can tell it. The only aspect I vary is my choice of roles;I may want to do a light film after a heavy one. SometimesI pick up roles only when I want to challenge and scaremyself a bit. It’s a feeling that comes from within. So whenopportunities come to you, you just kind of run with it.

Varun: I can attempt a range simply because myexposure to cinema has been very, very big from mychildhood. Courtesy my dad (director David Dhawan),

who was a gold medallist from the Film and TelevisionInstitute of India (FTII), me and my brother werebrought up on world cinema. So my dad’s favourite film,something I watched over and over again when I wasa child, Bicycle Thief, had a great impact on me. SatyajitRay’s films are my all-time favourites. When I told himI wanted to be an actor — I remember I had come backfrom England and was recovering from a jetlag — hetold me the first thing I should do is watch Jean-LucGodard’s Breathless. I watched that film till 6 am andthen watched it twice the whole day. So there are thesecertain films that have impacted my life. There is DevAnand’s Guide, also Oliver Stone’s The Doors. Right nowI’m obsessed with Split, a psychological horror film fea-turing a person with multiple personality disorder. Sosomewhere when I do a film like October or Badlapur,it allows me to expand my range, test myself. Every nar-rative doesn’t have to be dramatic, I like smooth onestoo. I just love cinema. I want to do every genre, everytype of character.

���What is that hunger that drives you to the nextrole? How do you make your script choices?

Varun: I have made a very conscious decision aboutmy next project because

wherever I go, I runinto so many chil-

dren who are myfans. So I haveto do some-thing specificfor them. The

next two orthree films aregoing to be veryfamily and kid-oriented. Likehappy films.

Alia: Mychoice of films

depends on justwhat I am feel-

ing at the time ofhearing the story.It’s not complicat-

ed, it’s organicand just comes

from the gut.Within 10-15 minutes of

the narration, I know if this is thefilm I want to do or not. I choose

my script purely on instinct.Sometimes I may find a really good script

but if I am not in the headspace to do it inthe required timeframe, then I let go. I need tofeel inspired at that moment. So genuinely, thereare no heavy calculations. And I like to keep it

that way. It’s more fun.

��� Both of you also have back-to-back projectsafter Kalank. So how do you keep it real betweenfilms and how much space do you get to draw on reallife as observers?

Alia: We are always around real people. Especiallyon film sets. And I am not talking about industry col-leagues and friends. I am talking about all the backroommen and women who are working on the sets and withwhom we interact. Sometimes, I just look at peoplearound me going through their motions. For me, interms of characters, it’s very important to imagine. I treateach story like reading a book; you imagine the char-acter doing things beyond the written word, like going

to the park, eating food. When I am play-ing a certain character, I go into this

story book mode. And thenenjoy the story from that

character’s point of view.That’s how I switch off

my characters once afilm ends. I treateach of my roles asa book that I amreading and whenfinished, pick upthe next one.

I believe inspi-ration can be

drawn from any-thing, any moment.

There’s a myth that anartist needs to go out,

ponder and think. Butyou don’t always have that

luxury. What do you do then?I am from the mark only very

observant. Standing in front of the cam-era, I look at everybody, even minutiae like somebody’smuscles twitching or a facial expression. I may uncon-sciously pick up something from somebody and applyit somewhere. According to me, the more clinical youare about the process, the more put on it will look onscreen. It has to come from a part you don’t know it’sactually coming from. One of the things that I enjoythe most during acting is when the director tells me that

the ‘way you did this in the previous shot was better.’And if I don’t remember how I had done it, I like thatfeeling because at least it means I was lost in themoment. It doesn’t always happen though because youcan’t be that honest always. But when it happens, it feelsgood. Of course, I disconnect from work and have agreat support system of non-industry friends. Actingis actually a small part of my life.

Varun: Even I engage with the real world as muchas possible and have a non-industry circle and familyto rely upon. I have a complete alternate universe offriends who are not even closely related to the film fra-ternity and are far away from it. I have a whole gangwhich is into football, UFC and a lot of other things.I could play anything and everything. I spend a lot oftime with my younger nieces whenever I get the chancebecause eventually I make the films for them as well.All of this keeps me grounded.

���Varun, how is your process different from that ofAlia’s?

Varun: Very different. I think I am very cinemat-ic in general. The way I look at this room is very dif-ferent than any other human being. Since we are sit-ting at this ballroom, I am thinking Great Gatsby. Itseems like some jazz music is going to play anytime now.I am imagining a scene where eventually there wouldbe people dancing. So I imagine film scenes and frameswherever I go always. It’s a continuous process of visu-alisation and understanding.

I believe there is a big disconnect from what filmpeople think is cool and what actually is cool. I don’tthink we actually get it. The day we do, the sky is thelimit and films will be very relatable. We are closer toit today but we keep thinking ki gaane ke itne views hotoh hit hai and radio pe chale toh hit hai (if a song getslikes and tops radio charts, we think it is a hit). But thetruth is TikTok is the biggest thing in the country rightnow. Everybody is on the app recording performancevideos. The reach of social media has been massive. Iremember I was away from a month and my house helprecorded a video of him going into my room, wearingmy clothes and performing on each of my songs. Mymanager showed me his antics on the live app.Everyday he was posting a video with a new song. Itwas funny and cool. Yet he went about his chores too.That’s the kind of reach cinema has. If I ever play a househelp, I would love to be like him.

���You both are also influencers courtesy the hugefollowing on your social media profiles. Do you everfeel the pressure then to react to current issues of theday and respond when somebody provokes or prodsyou? People do expect your views and opinions sim-ply because you have made yourselves available tothem...

Alia: It would be foolish to say that we don’t haveopinions. Of course, we do. We have an opinion fromdisease to divinity. But right now is not the time whereanother opinion will be heard or respected. There areso many opinions already swirling around. And peo-ple just go on and on without attempting a dialogue.

Varun: When we created our profiles, we werealways told to speak our minds and speak well of thefacts that we knew. And sometimes we say things westrongly feel about but until that statement is not con-troversial enough, the media is also not going to giveit coverage. So many times I have said what is right butit was disregarded simply because the media felt it wasboring.

I have said more than 500 times that I am a verysecular person by nature. I have been brought up in away that my family celebrates all festivals. There is astatue of Christ in my house, my mother goes to thechurch on Good Friday and on Eid, we get biryanicooked at home. So many of my Muslim friends cele-brate Ganpati Utsav. This is the environment in whichI grew up and I intend keeping it that way.

Alia: The exact same thing. At a point of time, Ihad Ya Aali Madad, a Ganesha poster and a Cross onthe same panel. I believe actions speak louder thanwords.

Varun: I think in each part of the country peoplego through different experiences. This is the way I havefelt, so I will always speak about it this way. But at thesame time, I am an Indian. So I will support my armedforces as they keep us safe. But I will not make any con-troversial statement for the sake of a headline space.That’s wrong.

Alia: Sometimes I feel the ping-pong of opinionstends to blow an issue out of proportion even more.Won’t do it for virality.

Varun: Just because you’re famous, you cannot takeaway the focus from the actual issue and divert atten-tion to yourself. After that, the news becomes whatthis person has said not what actually happened. Sothe whole attention goes to the person. As public fig-ures, we have to be smart and stand up for what isright.

Alia: Coming back to your question, I don’t thinkwe feel the pressure. I feel very comfortable in ourspace. As my father said, there are so many opinionsright now that the world can do with one less. So I keepthat to myself and express myself through my actions.

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Actor Shah Rukh Khan says hefelt bad when Zero failed,and he hasn’t zeroed in on

his next project till now.“Unfortunately, Zero itself

wasn’t received too well backhome in India. Maybe I madethe wrong film, maybe I did notdo the right storytelling so I ama little wary how it will bereceived in China and I hopepeople will like it,” Shah Rukhsaid.

Shah Rukh’s Zero hasbeen selected as the closingfilm of the BeijingInternational Film Festival2019. The fest will closetoday.

The 2018 film fea-tures SRK as a personwith dwarfism in a lovetriangle with a scientist

with cerebral palsy,Anushka Sharma andKatrina Kaif. The actorswere lauded for their per-formances. Despite astrong buzz and an ensem-ble cast, the film turned outto be a damp squib at thebox office.

Looking back, he said,“When it went wrong, I feltbad that it got rejected byso many people. Whenyou make a film like that forthree years and it goeswrong, you get not depressedor anything but... I didn’t

want to see it. I am going tosee it after three months.

Maybe I will be able to figureout when I am away what went

wrong with it.”What’s his next project? “I haven’t

decided what I will do next. I thought Iwill take a few months off and try andwork on what I want to do because it’svery important for me to be most excit-ed about it. I have worked for 30 years,I work 16 hours a day, so if it doesn’texcite you in the morning, you shouldnot wake up,” he said.

“At my stage, when I have workedin over 80 films, have done some satis-factory roles and have made a career outof what I do, I should be like I don’t wantto get up and go if it’s not going to bean absolutely, stunning, scintillatingand exciting day as an actor. So, rightnow I don’t have anything which is thatexciting. If I will have it, I will start work-ing on it,” he said.

Shah Rukh was overwhelmed to get a“warm and happy welcome,” as he wrote onsocial media “I am red all over.” “When Iwalked out, suddenly they screamed andfor a moment I thought they were doing itfor something or someone else. Now I havegot to know that they were from Xinjiang,”he said.

The actor, who owns a productionhouse, feels “Indians should have a home-grown superhero.” He said, “Like Iron Manor Batman. Maybe we could do a film aboutIndian and Chinese superheroes. It will bereally nice,” he said, going on to express hisinterest in acting in a Chinese movie onlyif he learnt Mandarin.

The actor feels cinema is a modern cul-ture about telling stories and “storytellingand any art form is going to break barri-ers.”

“I know Chris Martin. But sometimesI don’t understand his accent, but I like hismusic. These things enhance people-to-people culture. Language of art is beyondsemantics and grammar,” he said.

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We all think obesity is caused by eatingtoo much and exercising too little. But

the latest research is turning those assump-tions on their head.

The series, The Truth About Obesitylooks at groundbreaking new treatments:from faecal transplants to the hunger-hor-mone injection that might eliminate obesi-ty forever. A time-travelling experimentreveals how people are more obese than wewere in the ‘70s — despite eating fewer calo-ries and doing the same amount of exercise.It reflects upon how a combination of fast foodculture and genes have led to our expandingwaistlines. However, known for Eat Well ForLess?, Chris Bavin reveals how small changescan help us all maximise our chances of keep-ing trim. It shows how a simple piece of stringcan tell you how healthy you are; when thebest time to eat is; and how our gut bacteriamay keep us skinny.

� How was your experience working onthe show, The Truth About Obesity?

It has been a very interesting experience.The show talks about weight gain globally.This is something which has been of greatinterest to the people. It was very interest-ing for me to also look at factors around whyare we gaining so much weight as a popu-lation. In the UK, the majority of people,about 70 per cent of the population is over-weight and in culture about one-third of thatpopulation is termed as obese. It was hencevery intriguing to look at the how, what andwhy of this issue.

� Obesity has been a major concernworld over and India has been grapplingwith the same. As a presenter of the show,where do you think the problem lies?

What I have learnt from the show is thatit is very complicated and there are a lot of

factors. Historically, it has been said thatpeople who are suffering from obesity eattoo much and don’t do any exercise. Thatwas a popular belief. But, the series showsyou that it’s not the case. There are many fac-tors involved. We saw in-depth about thefood environment, what’s selling off, we alsotook a look at our body’s ability to burn calo-ries off and at the gut bacteria. It was alsointeresting to look at the genetics becauseit is said that you can be genetically pre-dis-posed to not only put on some weight butalso that it is harder for you to lose weight.There is a gene called the MC4R gene andif there is a fault in that, then a person tendsto put on weight. So, there are many factorslike that.

��You have worked on a series of food-related shows, how is this one differentfrom your other shows?

This show is not really about food, butabout behaviour. Food has obviously playeda part, but it’s not typically about food. It ismore about people’s health and what factors

pay a role in gaining weight and why doesit happen. It is quite different from any otherfood show that I have ever done before.

�� What are the kind of challenges onworking on such a show?

I think since there is so much to cap-ture the truth about each of these in a series,which becomes a challenge. So, it is abouttrying to make sure we tell enough of thestory and covering nothing of the differentsubject or a different topic. The hardest chal-lenge is to make understandable quite acomplicated issue in a show format. Youneed to cover everything and in detail forpeople to understand and that was thebiggest challenge for me.

��What is the one startling truth you canshare that holds true for all individualsirrespective of the country they comefrom?

The most important thing that I believein is that if you are suffering with obesity, youare not completely to be blamed and I thinkit’s important to understand that. Also, youare not helpless as well. It’s not completely yourfault. But you are not as helpless.

��What foods one should avoid to preventobesity? And at what age should the aware-ness begin?

Awareness should begin from a youngage. We should be talking to our childrenbecause we are starting to see more childrenbecome obese and people should inculcate thehabit of talking to children and address thisissue from the beginning. It is never too early.It is not about avoiding any food or blamingit. You can grab a chocolate and eat it if youare craving for it. I believe it's about eatinggood food more than about eating bad food.

��Tell us about your future projects?I have just finished Britain’s Best Home Cookand I am currently filming Series 6 of EatWell for Less? Also, I have just released a cookbook titled, Good Food, Sorted: Save Time,Cook Smart, Eat Well. So yes, a lot is hap-pening and more interesting things are com-ing up.

(The show airs on April 27 at 9 pm on Sony BBC Earth.)

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Marvel Studios want their filmsto “reflect the audience all

over the globe that are cheering”their work. Though they are goingbig on diversity, they are yet to havea plus-size superhero or someonewho doesn’t have an enviousphysique. But this might change“sooner than you think”, saysMarvel Studios President KevinFeige.

Chris Hemsworth, Brie Larsonand Chris Evans are some of theHollywood stars who have donnedthe superhero costume for MarvelCinematic Universe (MCU). It’snot just their special skills orsuperpowers that fans across theworld are in love with, but alsotheir jaw-dropping figures.

When asked would Marvel liketo introduce superheroes whodon’t possess the “perfect figure”,Feige laughed and said, “Yes, Iwould because then maybe I canbe a superhero.”

Superheroes generally come infigure-enhancing tights. Doesn’t hefeel they are being stereotyped?

“Traditionally, if you look atthe way they are drawn in thecomics, they go to very iconicmythic proportions. We happen tohave many actors and actresseswho have mythic proportionsthemselves for real but I will justsay yes and perhaps sooner thanyou think,” he said.

MCU, which won Oscars for

Black Panther that had an ensem-ble of African-American actors,will continue to focus on diversecharacters. Marvel is bringing itsfirst Asian-led superhero film onShang-Chi. Does Feige see this asa risk?

“I think every movie that wedo is a risk. We only want to domovies that people seem to thinkare risks. Doing the story of anAsian-American hero of Chineseheritage is something that is veryintriguing to us. It will be really dif-ferent and special,” he explained.

“I hope the audience aroundthe world responds to it in thesame way they did to Steve Rogerswhether they have American flagor not,” Feige added referring toSteve Roger’s aka Captain America,who wears a costume bearing themotif of an American flag.

“It’s about the individual sto-

ryline, spectacle and adventure thatcome with Marvel Studios movies,”he added.

Is India part of the diversityplan? “There is no official updatebut we want our films to reflectthe world, to reflect the audienceall over the globe that are cheer-ing for our films. We want themto see themselves up there. In ourcomic books, there are a lot ofcharacters and opportunities to dothat,” he said.

Female superheroes areimportant as well. “I think thesuccess of Captain Marvel thank-fully proves that people do wantto see that (female-led superherofilms). Warner Bros did it first andalso proved it and I think CaptainMarvel proves that ‘WonderWoman’ wasn’t just lucky or justone time only. So that is going tobe the way we are heading in thefuture,” he said.

As of now, all eyes are on thehighly anticipated film Avengers:Endgame, MCU’s 22nd film. It willbe the end of a phase that revolvedaround Iron Man, the Hulk andCaptain America, among others.

Directed by Anthony and JoeRusso, the superhero film, starringRobert Downey Jr, Chris Evans,Mark Ruffalo, Hemsworth, JeremyRenner, Scarlett Johansson andLarson, will hit the screens inIndia on April 26.

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After being singled out for workingwith Alok Nath in De De Pyaar De,

actor Ajay Devgn says replacing the dis-graced actor would have been a mone-tary blow to the makers of the film.“When the #MeToo movement hap-pened, I, along with many of my filmindustry colleagues, categoricallyexpressed that I respect every singlewoman at the workplace and I wouldnot stand for any unfairness or atroci-ty against them. Nothing about my standhas changed,” Ajay said.

“I reiterate I am extremelysensitive to the #MeToo move-ment. But when circumstancesare beyond me, I don’t see whyan attempt is being made to‘single’ me out as being insen-sitive. This is untrue,” he said.The statement has come afterhe was criticised by actressTanushree Dutta and writerVinta Nanda who allegedthat Alok raped her.Tanushree called him “moral-ly bankrupt and a spineless hyp-ocrite,” and Vinta said that she “didnot expect anything” from him.

Putting the decision to retainAlok’s scenes in perspective, Ajaysaid, this film was supposed to be anOctober 2018 release, the shoot gotover by September and the portionswith Alok Nath were canned byAugust in Manali.

“The said portions were shotover 40 days across various sets andan outdoor location with a combi-nation of over 10 actors. By the timethe allegations surfaced (in October2018) the actors in the film, includingme, had already started working on other

films.”Also, it would be near impossible to

get all the dates and combinations ofactors in the film and attempt a re-shootwith some other actor, he added.

“It would also have been a hugemonetary loss for producers. The deci-

sion to replace Alok Nath couldnever have been mine alone. In thiscase, I had to go with the joint deci-sion of the unit. Not to forget, Icould not have brought the entire

combination of actors back orput up sets again for a 40-day re-shoot. Also, it couldhave meant doubling ofbudget, which again was-n’t my call to make,” hesaid.

He added, “It wouldhave to be the call of themakers. Had circum-

stances played out evenslightly differently, I would

have pushed for a differentcombination of actors.Unfortunately, this was notmeant to be.”

At the film’s trailer launchearlier this month, Ajayrefrained from commentingon the #MeToo allegationsagainst Alok. De De PyaarDe, a romantic comedy, alsostars Tabu. Written and co-produced by Luv Ranjanand directed by Akiv Ali, it

tells a story of how a 50-year-old falls for a girl

much younger than him,and what happens when she meets hisformer wife. It is slated for release on May 17. >$�+�

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Pedro Rodriguez starred as Chelsea with-stood a spirited Slavia Prague fightbackin a wild 4-3 victory to qualify for the

Europa League semi-finals on Thursday,while Arsenal knocked out Napoli after anassured display in Italy.

Leading 1-0 from last week's first leg inthe Czech capital, Chelsea appeared to becruising towards the last four after an earlygoal blitz at Stamford Bridge.

Pedro struck the opener on five minutesbefore an unfortunate Simon Deli turned intohis own net and Olivier Giroud added a thirdwith barely quarter of an hour gone inLondon.

Tomas Soucek pulled one back for Slaviaon 26 minutes, but Spain forward Pedroreplied immediately to restore the Blues' three-goal lead.

Maurizio Sarri's side were made to sweatthough as two sublime, quick-fire goals by PetrSevcik just after half-time gave Slavia hope ofan incredible comeback with 35 minutes stillto play.

Chelsea eventually saw off the threat toprogress 5-3 on aggregate despite an uncon-vincing second-half display.

"We have been efficient up front and solidat the back but we dropped our intensity afterthe break," Giroud, who scored his competi-tion-leading 10th goal, told BT Sport.

The 2013 Europa Leaguechampions will meet EintrachtFrankfurt in the last four after theGermans eliminated Benfica onaway goals.

��(�A�������������Eintracht lost 4-2 in Portugal

a week ago, but goals by FilipKostic and former Bayern Munichmidfielder Sebastian Rode sent the

German Cup holders through at theCommerzbank Arena.

Kostic turned home a rebound on 37 min-utes after Mijat Gacinovic's curling attempt can-noned back off the upright.

Rode, on loan from Borussia Dortmund,hit the decisive goal on 67 minutes as he pickedout the bottom corner from the edge of the area.

In Italy, Alexandre Lacazette drilled in a ter-rific free-kick on 36 minutes at the Stadio SanPaolo as the Gunners completed a 3-0 aggre-gate victory over Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli.

Petr Cech denied Jose Callejon with his legsfollowing a rapid Napoli break on the quarter-hour as the Italians sought to overturn a two-goal deficit from the first leg.

But Lacazette's 30-yard drive all but put thetie beyond Napoli, shortly after Aaron Ramseyhobbled off with a hamstring injury — poten-tially his final appearance for Arsenal ahead ofa move to Juventus in July.

"We came here with ambition and want-ed to win and score some goals. We did it withLaca," Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny toldBT Sport.

"We kept a clean sheet, which is importantfor the confidence. Each game we have in frontof us is a final."

Arsenal boss Unai Emery will come upagainst one of his former clubs Valencia,the 2004 UEFA Cup winners, for a spot inthe final.

Valencia eased through with a 5-1aggregate win over Villarreal in an all-Spanish affair.

Toni Lato and Dani Parejograbbed the goals in a 2-0 second-leg victory for Valencia coachMarcelino against his formerclub.

The semi-finals will beplayed over May 2 and 9, withthis year's final in Baku on May29.

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Juventus turn the page on yetanother Champions League

disappointment as they focuson sealing an eighth consec-utive Serie A title at home on Saturday.

Massimiliano Allegri's side hostFiorentina needing just one more point tolift the Scudetto for a 35th time, days aftera shock 2-1 defeat (3-2 on aggregate) toAjax.

The Turin giants have won theScudetto more than any other team in Italywith AC Milan and Inter Milan trailing sec-

ond bestwith 18each.

F i v e -time Ballon

d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo will haveto settle for a Serie A title in his first sea-son in Italy after missing out on a sixthChampions League title.

The 34-year-old was inconsolableafter the defeat to Ajax and has remainedsilent on social media since, with his spec-tacular hat-trick in the last 16 againstAtletico Madrid, and two diving headersover two quarter-final games against Ajax

not enough."He told me he doesn't

perform miracles," hismother Dolores Aveirotold the Portuguesepress.

"He was sad. Hewould have liked to get

to the final but it will befor the next time."

Juventus canequal the

record for theearliest thetitle has beenwon with fivegames tos p a r eachieved by

Torino in1948, Fiorentina

in 1956 and InterMilan in 2007.

Juventus havewon their lastseven home SerieA matches againstFiorentina, butcoach Vincenzo

Montella will belooking for a sur-prise on his returnto the Tuscanyhotseat.

F i o r e n t i n ahave gone eightgames without awin and haveslipped totenth, 13points off theEuropa Leagueplaces.

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The third act of ManchesterCity and Tottenham's trilogy

has some living up to do after aChampions League classic sawSpurs prevail on away goals toreach the semi-finals.

However, their PremierLeague meeting on Saturday hashuge implications for both City'sbid to win the title and Spurs'hopes of just qualifying for theChampions League again nextseason.

Pep Guardiola's men are fivegames away from becoming thefirst side in a decade to retain thePremier League.

However, it isLiverpool who lead bytwo points as thingsstand having played agame more than theirtitle rivals.

City were oncourse for an unprece-dented quadruple until fallingshort in the most dramatic fash-ion in the Champions Leaguequarter-finals on Wednesday.

With the sides level at 4-4 onaggregate, Raheem Sterling scored

the goal that would have sentCity through in stoppage time,only for a VAR review to rule the

goal out for offside."We have to stand up, we have

to react," said Guardiola."We fought a lot in the last

nine or 10 months for the PremierLeague. We are still there, it is in

our hands. Of course it is tough,but we have to do it until the end."

City's extra resources mayhave counted for little once morein Europe, but it could prove thedifference with such a tight turn-around for both sides.

Guardiola could afford theluxury of leaving Fernandinho,Leroy Sane, Riyad Mahrez,Gabriel Jesus, Nicolas Otamendiand John Stones on the bench inmidweek.

By contrast, Tottenham

remain without HarryKane and are now desper-ately short in midfieldafter Moussa Sissokolimped off midwaythrough the first-half onWednesday.

And should they lose afifth straight away leaguegame, third-placed Spurscould easily find themselvesoutside the top four comethe end of the weekend.

Should Tottenham notshock City once more,Arsenal and Chelsea willbe confident of edgingahead of their Londonrivals.

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Commonwealth GamesSilver-medallist Satish

Kumar (+91kg) and the fast-rising Sonia Chahal (57kg)entered the quarterfinals on anall-win opening day for Indiaat the Asian BoxingChampionships here.

Satish out-punched Iran'sIman Ramezanpourdelavar tomake the last eight, whileworld Silver-medallist Soniadefeated Vietnam's Uyan DoNha in the women's draw onFriday.

In the morning session,national champion Deepak(49kg) and Rohit Tokas (64kg)advanced to the last-16 stagewith confident victories.Joining them was Ashish(69kg), who defeatedCambodia's V Y Sophors in theevening session.

"All the Gold medal win-ners from this competitionwill be assured of a place in theworld championships team(scheduled in September thisyear)," Indian boxing's High-Performance Director SantiagoNieva said.

Satish, who won a Bronzemedal at the event in its 2015edition, quite literally easedpast his fumbling opponent,striking at will in a one-sidedcontest.

In the last Indian bout ofthe day, Sonia pounced on herovertly defensive opponentand produced a near flawlessperformance to clinch a 5-0win.

Earlier, Deepak defeatedVietnam's Loi Bui Cong Danh,fetching a unanimous verdictfrom the judges before Rohitput it past Taiwan's Chu-YenLai with a similar scoreline.

Over 100 women and 198men boxers from 34 countriesare vying for the top honoursin the Championships.

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Ashleigh Barty will be overjoyed whendoubles partner and two-time major

winner Victoria Azarenka returns to thepeak of her powers but hopes it won't bethis weekend when Australia and Belarusclash for a place in the Fed Cup final.

Barty and Azarenka teamed up thisseason, making the doubles semi-finals atthe prestigious Miami Open just daysbefore the Australian clinched the singlestitle, a breakthrough which propelled herinto the world's top 10.

Now Barty leads Australia's hopes ofreaching a first Fed Cup final since 1993when they face 2017 runners up Belarusin Brisbane on Saturday and Sunday.

And the pair have been selected to

meet each other in the second singles rub-ber, with Azarenka preferred to her high-er-ranked teammate AliaksandraSasnovich.

Australia also opted for experience,with former US Open champion SamanthaStosur, who made her Fed Cup debut backin 2003, a surprise pick to open the tie,rather than Daria Gavrilova, against worldnumber 10 Aryna Sabalenka.

The two teams are evenly matched onpaper but Barty, who boasts a Fed Cuprecord of 14 wins and just two losses, isconfident seven-time champions Australiacan end their long wait to make anotherfinal.

"I feel like we have a really unique teamat the moment and it's a bloody good one,"she said. "I think we've got more than a

good chance of winning."In the weekend's other semi-final,

Simona Halep eyes taking another stepcloser to adding a maiden Fed Cup win-ner's medal to her 2018 French Opencrown when Romania face France inRouen.

Romania have equalled their best FedCup showing, having also made it to thesemi-finals in 1973.

Two-time champions France are bid-ding to reach the final for the sixth timeand first since 2016, when they suffered a3-2 defeat to the Czechs.

World number 21 Caroline Garcia,now back in favour after a two-year exile,leads the French team with KristinaMladenovic picked ahead of Alize Cornetfor the second singles spot.

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Indian boxer Vikas Krishan will take onAmerican Noah Kidd in his second

professional bout, which will be held atthe iconic Madison Square Garden hereon Saturday.

The six-round super welterweightbout is on the undercard for the keen-ly-anticipated WBO welterweight titleclash between Terence Crawford andBritish star Amir Khan.

The 27-year-old from Bhiwani isassociated with legendary promoterBob Arum's Top Rank Promotions andmade an impressive professional debut— a Technical Knock Out win in the sec-ond round against Steven Andrade of theUnited States in January.

"Madison Square Garden is one ofthe biggest and most famous arenas ofthe world and I am very excited to fighthere," said Vikas, who is contracted tofight five bouts in his debut year.

"Fighting in a big arena relieves pres-sure and I have been fighting and train-ing harder since I got here. All of this willhelp me become a better boxer," headded.

Vikas has been training in Newark,New Jersey under veteran boxing coachWali Moses, who is also the grandfather

of 2016 Olympic Silver-medallist ShakurStevenson.

His opponent, Kidd, is a 23-year-oldfrom Missouri who made his debut inJuly 2016 and has a 3-1-1, two KOrecord.

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World number one Novak Djokovicwas dumped out by Russia's

Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finalsof the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday,losing 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Djokovic, twice a former champi-on in Monte Carlo, lost his serve fivetimes as 10th seed Medvedev gainedrevenge for his last-16 defeat by the Serbat this year's Australian Open.

"This was the best match ofmy career, maybe not in the levelof tennis but in beating thenumber one for the first time inmy life," said Medvedev.

"It's just amazing."Medvedev will meet another

Serb, Dusan Lajovic, on Saturday for aplace in the final after the latter beatItalian qualifier Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 7-5.

For Djokovic, who won a recordseventh Melbourne title in January, itmarked another premature exit for thetop seed after he crashed out in the earlyrounds at Indian Wells and Miami lastmonth.

The player who has won the lastthree Grand Slam events and could con-clude a personal sweep with another titleat Roland Garros in June, feels that allhe needs is more court time and some

extra polish."The French Open is the ultimate

goal on clay. It's expected in a way forme to peak right at that tournament,because that's what I'm aiming for.

"This is only the first tournamenton clay, and it's a long season. Let's see

how it goes."Maybe I'm lacking the consis-

tency with the top results in the lastcouple of years in the best tourna-ments.

"But I've been playing my bestat Grand Slams and that's what I intend

to do."Djokovic was broken three times in

the final set, clawing one back but exit-ing when Medvedev drove a backhandinto the far corner on match point.

The winner totalled less than halfof the 47 unforced errors which cameoff the Djokovic racquet in the two-hour, 20-minute struggle in windyconditions.

"Novak played worse here than thetimes before," Medvedev said. "But I'malso getting more experience.

"I'm making the top guys realise it'snot easy to play me."

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Fast running out of time, astruggling Rajasthan Royals

will hope to complete the dou-ble against Mumbai Indians ina return-leg IPL fixture andrevive their campaign here onSaturday.

With six losses and twowins, hosts Rajasthan Royalsare languishing at the secondlast position in the points tableand they would be desperate tobring their campaign back ontrack with a much-needed winhere.

Rajasthan would be takingheart from the four-wicketwin over Mumbai Indians attheir own den last Saturday andwill hope to get the better oftheir rivals once again, thistime at home.

However, it will be easiersaid than done consideringRajasthan's dismal record at theSawai Man Singh Stadium.Apart from their lone victoryagainst Royal ChallengersBangalore, Rajasthan have lostthree matches at home.

England's Jos Buttler hasdone the bulk of scoring forRajasthan. His fiery 89 off 43balls was the cornerstone of

Royals' four-wicket victoryover Mumbai but rest the bats-men have either struggled ornot been consistent.

Sanju Samson, who had hitthe first ton of this IPL, too hasnot delivered in past couple ofinnings.

Skipper Anjikya Rahane,himself, has got starts butfailed to convert them. Thelikes of former Australian cap-tain Steve Smith and Englandall-rounder Ben Stokes also

have been struggling.The pace-spin duo of Jofra

Archer and Shreyas Gopal hasspearheaded their bowlingattack but rest of the bowlershave been far from penetrativeand also proved costly in deathovers.

Mumbai Indians, on theother hand, have looked formi-dable this season with a goodmix of power hitters, qualitybowlers and perfect all-rounders.

The three-time formerchampions grabbed the secondposition after a dominating 40-run win over Delhi Capitalsand would be eager to avengetheir defeat against Rajasthanon Saturday to inch closer tothe play-off berth.

If skipper Rohit Sharmaand Quinton De Kock laid thefoundation at the top, thePandya brothers — Hardikand Krunal, along with the big-hitting Kieron Pollard haveprovided the late charge to helpMI post huge scores.

MI boosts of two of thebest death bowlers in JaspritBumrah, who has taken 10wickets from nine games so far,and veteran Sri Lankan LasithMalinga.

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Seeking home comforts after multi-ple reverses at the Feroz Shah

Kotla, Delhi Capitals will be desperateto buck the trend when they take ona rejuvenated Kings XI Punjab here onSaturday.

Rechristened before the start of thecash-rich event's 12th edition, DelhiCapitals have been at ease on the road,winning three matches on the trot afteran authoritative beginning in Mumbai.

However, things have turned outquite differently in their home ground,where they found the pitches far fromfriendly.

The unwavering support, cheersand chants, from the galleries have nothelped so far and the side, coached byRicky Ponting and mentored by SouravGanguly, will look to play in the man-ner that befits the two greats' status inworld cricket.

For they know that if they are ableto live up to Ponting and Ganguly'sexpectations, chances of the fans goingback home with smiles on their faceswill increase manifold. And so will betheir prospects of reaching the playoffs.

Standing in their way will bemid-table team Kings XI Punjab, whoare also eyeing the title that has so farremained elusive.

R Ashwin's outfit will not be shorton confidence, having easily beatenRajasthan Royals three days ago.

The likes of Chris Gayle, K LRahul, David Miller and MohammedShami will look to capitalise on Delhi'smiserable record at home, and withAshwin leading from the front, it maynot be an improbable task for the con-fident visiting team.

Shreyas Iyer and Co have only onewin from their four home matches, the

lone victory coming in the SuperOver after the match against KolkataKnight Riders ended in a tie.

Rishabh Pant will again be in focusafter his fiercely-debated World Cupexclusion, having failed in Thursday'sdefeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians.

Disappointed at being ignoredfor the showpiece, the highly-ratedyoung wicketkeeper-batsman will cer-tainly look to prove a point.

Smarting from the onslaught bythe Pandya brothers — Hardik andKrunal, who smashed 54 runs in thelast 19 balls on a slow pitch, the Delhibowlers will hope for a better outingat the death.

In batting, the onus will be onsenior pro Shikhar Dhawan to lay thefoundation, and he will have the tal-ented Prithvi Shaw at the top of theorder.

After suffering their third defeat infour outings here this season, Iyer hadsaid, "It's really important for us to winhome games, especially on these tracks.

"Unfortunately we lost the toss, andwe got outplayed in all three depart-ments. We practice on the pitches thatare also slow. But when you come here,it's totally different. We have to get usedto these conditions."

For his team to harbour hopes ofa rare win, skipper Iyer, himself, willneed to lead by example.

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Seven of India's Test specialists mayplay a few games for various

English county sides to prepare forthe inaugural World TestChampionship series in July andAugust.

The players that BCCI havezeroed in are Cheteshwar Pujara,Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw,Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal,Ravichandran Ashwin and IshantSharma, who will play County crick-et.

Pujara already has a three-yearcontract with Yorkshire and is set toplay there again.

"Pujara's contract was a dealbetween him and the county and it'sa long term deal," a senior BCCI offi-cial said on Friday.

As far as Rahane is concerned, heis likely to sign a deal with Hampshirein the coming week and is waiting forthe approval of all three Committeeof Administrators.

"CoA head Vinod Rai has alreadygiven his approval but Diana Eduljiand Lt General Ravi Thodage are yetto give their approvals," the officialsaid.

"With India set to play against theCaribbean in about fortnight after theend of the World Cup, the BCCI hasprepared a proposal wherein theirTest specialists can play some red ballcricket in months of June till midJuly," the senior official added.

Some of the counties that BCCIis talking to include Leicestershire,Essex, Nottinghamshire.

"During the last Test series in

England, the BCCI has had discus-sions with the CEOs of all majorcounties so that our top Test playerscan play there in summers," said theofficial.

Ideally, the BCCI is looking atthree to maximum four first classgames for its players before the WestIndies series.

"The conditions are completelydifferent save that they will playingwith red Dukes which will also beused in the West Indies. It's just thatthey will get game time. We are hope-ful that all our seven Test players willbe playing either Division 1 or 2 ofthe English county," he said.

India skipper Virat Kohli wassupposed to play for Surrey last yearbut could not do so due to an injury.

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England's star all-rounder Ben Stokes on

said his struggling IPLfranchise Rajasthan Royalswill, from now on, have to"treat every game like afinal" if they are to makethe playoffs.

Stokes, who himselfhas not been in the best ofform, said that having lostsix of their eight matches,Rajasthan Royals cannotafford to lose anymore.

"Yes, we are in a must-win situation and we have

to treat every match asfinal and which, Iguess, puts any sort ofnegative thoughtprocess above ourhead. We have onlyone way to go and thatis aggressive and pos-itive," Stokes.

Rajasthan, cham-pions in the inauguraledition, are currentlyplaced seventh in theeight-team standingswith four points.

"If you look atmost of the games welost, we have lost at the

crucial moments. InT20 games two-threeor four balls can dictatethe winner, and unfor-tunately, we have notbeen the team to winthose critical moments.

"But if you losethose moments consis-tently then youdeserve to be where weare. It is unfortunateand disappointingbecause every playerhas given his absolutebest. It is not lack ofeffort or lack of com-mitment."

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Hardik Pandya hasalready emulated

M S Dhoni's signaturehelicopter shot and theMumbai Indians all-rounder says the veter-an keeper-batsmanliked his version of theinnovative stroke.

Pandya has lookedin ominous form thisIPL, scoring 218 runs ata strike rate of 194.64 innine matches. He usedthe shot to good effectagainst speedster KagisoRabada in their game

against Delhi CapitalThursday night.

The 25-year-oldsmashed 32 off 15 ballsto power Mumbai

Indians to 168 for five,a total which DelhiCapitals found too stiffto chase, going down by40 runs.

His inning com-prised two boundariesand three massive sixes,including the helicoptershot — a stroke madefamous by Dhoni.

It was in the secondball of the 20th overwhen Hardik hadplayed that shot, send-ing a Rabada deliveryacross the ropesbetween long-on anddeep mid-wicket posi-

tion.The all-rounder had

played the helicoptershot in front of Dhoniduring a game againstChennai Super Kings(CSK), which Mumbaiwon by 37 runs at theWankhede.

"I never thought Iwould play the heli-copter shot in a game.I've been practising thatin the nets. I went toDhoni's room and askedhim if he liked my ver-sion of the helicoptershot. He said it wasgood," said Pandya.

����� �.8.�)*

Pakistan Prime Ministerand World Cup winning

captain Imran Khan on Fridaystressed on the importance ofteam spirit, unity and passionto be successful at the upcom-ing World Cup in England.

Imran told the WorldCup-bound squad, who methim at his residence inIslamabad, especially captainSarfaraz Ahmed to lead byperformance and example.

"You are the leader of thisteam and the whole teamlooks up to you. When aleader performs and showspassion, his players do thesame," Imran told Sarfaraz.

Chairman of the PakistanCricket Board Ehsan Mani,

chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and other board mem-bers were also invited to thepre-World Cup meet-ing, in which some ofthe players also exchangedviews on the game withthe former skipper.

Imran, who had led

Pakistan to its only World Cuptitle in 1992, spent over an

hour giving advice to thenational team play-ers on how to be suc-

cessful during World Cupand shared his experi-ences with them."A champion steps onto

the pitch armed with passionand a plan. Team spirit is a keyto victory," he told the team,according to his spokesper-son.

"With your skills, sports-man spirit and your conduct,bring glory to Pakistan,"Imran added.

He told the players thatthe entire nation would lookup to them.

"The entire nation'sprayers are with you.Representing the country atan international forum is a bighonour. You are ambassadorsof the nation and the people'seyes are on you, and theirhopes rest with you," he said.

The Pakistan squad leavesfor a tour of England onApril 23.

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Virat Kohli notched uphis fifth century in theIndian Premier League

while Moeen Ali too struck abelligerent fifty to help RoyalChallengers Bangalore (RCB)post a mammoth 213/4 in 20overs against Kolkata KnightRiders at the Eden Gardenshere on Friday.

Put into bat first in amust-win tie, Kohli took 58balls to bring up his first tonof the season with the help ofnine fours and four sixes.

Moeen Ali, meanwhile,bludgeoned a 28-ball 66 (4x5,6x6), as the pair added 90runs for the third wicket offjust 43 balls.

After Ali 's dismissal,Kohli joined hands withMarcus Stoinis (17* off 8) fora 64-run fourth wicket part-nership as the visitorsamassed 143 runs in the last10 overs to flatten the hometeam.

Kohli got to his 50 off 40deliveries but stepped on theaccelerator to score his next50 in just 17 deliveries beforegetting out to Harry Gurneyoff the final ball of theinnings.

Among his boundaries,the most eye-catching was asquare drive past point offGurney in the 17th over.

For KKR, India's starspinner Kuldeep Yadav had aforgettable day with figures of1/59 from 4 overs.

RCB lost Parthiv Patel(11) early after the diminutivesouthpaw holed out to NitishRana at deep mid-wicket offSunil Narine.

Kohli got off to a slow

start, finding the fence only inthe fourth over after a horri-ble misfield by Shubman Gillat the deep mid-wicketboundary off Narine.

The India skipper did notlook his usual self as his nextboundary came off an outsideedge off Prasidh Krishnathrough third man.

RCB were 42/1 after six

overs with Kohli taking onIndia teammate Kuldeep inthe eighth over, hitting a loft-ed straight drive and a trade-mark cover drive for four.

With AB de Villiers indis-posed, Akshdeep Nath (13)was sent to bat at No 3 but themove did not bear fruit as thebatsman skied a Andre Russelldelivery for Robin Uthappa to

charge in from short coverand snaffle it.

Ali then took it uponhimself to up the ante bytonking Kuldeep for a sixover long on in the 10th overas the RCB scoreboard read70/2 at the halfway stage.

Ali went berserk fromthere on, smashing Kuldeepfor 27 runs in the 16th over

with a series that read 4-6-4-6-1W-6 before holing out toPrasidh at long-on in the lastball of the over.

RCB scored 70 runs forthe loss of just one wicketbetween overs 14 and 17.After Ali was dismissed, Kohliand Stoinis continued thecarnage with the last threeovers leaking 45 runs.

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!�����"������������������� ������$$ ������1�&�#��������(����Pakistan CricketBoard (PCB) on Fridayrejected a suggestion fromnational team captainSarfaraz Ahmed to haveplayers' families travellingwith them during theWorld Cup in England.

"Yes there was a sugges-tion from the captain andplayers that they should beallowed to have their wivesand children with them inEngland during the WorldCup but the board has notallowed this," an officialsource in the board said.

He said instead permis-sion had been granted tothe players that their wives

and children could be withthem during the ODI seriesagainst England but theyhave to leave before theWorld Cup.

The source said theboard wanted the players tobe totally focussed oncricket during the WorldCup.

"This decision has beentaken by the team manage-ment," he said.

Another source saidthis time the board andteam management had alsodecided to restrict the useof social media network forthe players during theWorld Cup. AFP

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