45& 4 #./’ ’( ) ’) * +’˚˙! , -(’˚˝ . 60 7˛/)0 80: )/f ... period from 2016-17 to...

16
A uthorities on Wednesday named two suicide bombers who struck Brussels as brothers linked to the prime suspect in Paris attacks to Salah Abdeslam, as a manhunt for a third assailant in Belgium’s bloodiest terror assault gathered pace. Belgium’s federal prosecu- tor named Ibrahim El Bakraoui as one of the two men who blew themselves up at Brussels airport Tuesday, while his brother Khalid El Bakraoui struck a crowded metro train in coordinated blasts that left 35 dead and 270 injured. “The third man is on the run,” prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said of a man seen on CCTV pushing a trolley through Zaventem Airport alongside the two suicide bombers, shortly before the attacks claimed by the ISIS jehadist group. “He left his bag with the biggest bomb in it which exploded later because it was so unstable,” Van Leeuw told a Press conference, adding that police had found a massive stash of explosives in a Brussels apartment. Belgian investiga- tors have unleashed a dragnet, releasing CCTV images of the three airport attackers, with the second suicide bomber and the third man, on the run, still unidentified. Belgium stood still at noon to mark a minute’s silence for the victims of the carnage that left bodies strewn across the air- port’s departures hall and a train at Maalbeek station, near the European Union’s head- quarters. Three days of nation- al mourning have been declared as King Philippe and Prime Minister Charles Michel led a minute’s silence outside the EU headquarters in Brussels. And at the city’s Place de la Bourse, defiant applause broke out amongst the large crowd gath- ered to honour the dead, chant- ing: “Long live Belgium”. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has cancelled his visit to China and Belgium’s football friendly against Portugal next week has been moved to the Portuguese city of Leiria from Brussels because of the attacks. Meanwhile, Brussels air- port will remain closed on Thursday its chief executive said after the bomb attacks wrecked the departure hall. “There will be no passenger flights into and out of Brussels airport on March 24,” Arnaud Feist said in a tweet. In a statement, the airport said it was working with air- lines to help thousands of pas- sengers stranded by the attacks, many of them having fled without their baggage as instructed by security staff. Those who did so could now contact their airline to get their luggage back, it said, but they would still not be able to retrieve their cars. Continued on Page 4 T he Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the implementation of a 81,975- crore rural housing scheme to construct one crore homes for the poor within the next three years, even as it sought to bring cheer to 1.08 crore Central Government employ- ees and pensioners on Holi eve by agreeing to hike Dearness Allowance (DA) by 6 per cent. Under the housing scheme titled Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana — Gramin, which is aimed at housing for all, finan- cial assistance will be provided to those without a house and households living in dilapidated houses for construction of pucca homes. The unit size of the house under this scheme has been enhanced from the existing 20 sqm to up to 25 sqm, includ- ing a dedicated area for cooking. The scheme would be implemented in rural areas throughout India except Delhi and Chandigarh. The Cabinet decided to provide financial assistance of 1,20,000 in plain areas and 1,30,000 in hilly areas for the construction of the homes under the rural housing project. “The expenditure involved in implementing the project in a span of three years from 2016-17 to 2018-19 is 81,975 crore. It is proposed that one crore households would be provided assistance for construction of pucca hous- es under the project during the period from 2016-17 to 2018- 19. The cost of houses would be shared between Centre and States,” said the statement issued by the Cabinet. The beneficiaries of the rural housing scheme will be selected through the Gram Sabha and funds will be deliv- ered electronically. “Annual list of beneficiaries will be identified from the total list through par- ticipatory process by the Gram Sabha. Gram Sabha will need to justify in writing reasons for any alteration of priority in the orig- inal list,” said the statement. The construction of one crore homes in three years is expected to generate large employment opportunities across the country. For its part, the combined impact on the exchequer on account of both DA and Dearness Relief would be of 6,796.50 crore per annum and 7,929.24 crore respec- tively, in 2016-17 (for a period of 14 months from January, 2016 to February, 2017), Prasad said. In September last year, DA was increased to 119 per cent from 113 per cent with effect from July 1, 2015. The latest increase takes it 125 per cent of the basic pay. There are 50 lakh Central Government employ- ees and 58 lakh pensioners. The Cabinet also approved about 9,000 crore World Bank support for the Swachchh Bharat Mission (SBM) in rural areas. “The project basically incen- tivises States on the basis of their performance in the existing SBM-Gramin. Incentivisation of States was approved by the Cabinet while approving the SBM-Gramin on September 24, 2014,” said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Continued on Page 4 T he banks may not manage to get their dues back, but the Service Tax Department in Mumbai certainly wants its pound of flesh from Vijay Mallya. The one-time liquor baron who is currently in the UK has seen his pride and joy, his private Airbus A319 Corporate Jet registered VT-VJM being put up for e-auction by Service Tax officials on an “as is” basis. This is the second jet of Mallya’s that is being disposed of. Last year, an old Hawker jet was sold as scrap by the Mumbai airport authorities to recover past dues. Mallya was the first busi- nessman in India to buy this Airbus Corporate Jet, although Mukesh Ambani followed suit a year or so later. No other Indian industrialist has such large private jets. The disposal of this jet however highlights the struggle between Mallya’s creditors for Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya owes Indian banks, mainly from the private sector, over 9,000 crore; there are also dues to employees; the Income-Tax Department; the Airports Authority of India, other private airport operators, oil companies as well as more mundane sup- pliers such as caterers and ground handling companies. Continued on Page 4 I n two major disclosures, incarcerated Pakistani- American terrorist David Coleman Headley said that he had donated as much as 60 to 70 lakh in Pakistani currency to the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) and that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the United States has funded his trip to Pakistan in 1997. Contesting reports that he had received money from LeT, for which he was gathering information ahead of the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, Headley said, “I never received money from the LeT. This is complete nonsense. I gave funds to LeT myself. I donated a total of around 60 to 70 lakh Pakistani Rupees to the LeT at different times. My last donation (to LeT) was in 2006”. Responding to a question from Abdul Khan, Headley told the court that the US agency DEA had, in 1997, instructed him to visit Pakistan and had even sponsored his trip. Headley was responding to questions posed to him during the cross-examination con- ducted by key 26/11 conspira- tor Zaibuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal’s lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan before Additional Sessions Judge GA Sanap. During his cross-examina- tion that began on Wednesday, Headley also disclosed that he had been convicted twice, in 1988 and 1998 on charges of drug smuggling. Headley, who is currently serving a 35-year sentence in a terror case in a US jail follow- ing a plea bargain that saved him from death sentence and extradition, had earlier deposed before Judge Sanap’s court from February 8 to 13, in the trial of Jundal, two months after he was pardoned and made an approver in the case by the same court. Deposing before Judge Sanap’s court through a video-conference from an undisclosed location in the United States, Headley said that he had no knowledge whether the LeT had used the money he had given to it as donation in the execution of the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. Continued on Page 4 A day after the Brussels ter- ror attack that left two Indians injured, another Indian national, Raghavendran Ganesh, who hails from Bengaluru, is believed to have gone missing. Ganesh works for Infosys and there is no information about him ever since the deadly attack at the airport. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said the Indian Embassy in Belgium is trying its best to locate him. “We are doing our best to locate Raghavendran Ganesh. The airport is still not open. This may take some time,” Swaraj tweeted. “I have just spoken to Manjeev Puri, our Ambassador in Brussels. He has informed me that Nidhi and Amit are both recovering well,” she said about the two injured Jet Airways employees. Swaraj said the Government was coordinating with Jet Airways to evacuate Indian citizens. “We are coor- dinating with @jetairways on alternate plans to evacuate our citizens,” she added. Continued on Page 4 T he Environment Ministry on Wednesday released new rules to control the heaps of electronic waste that are pil- ing up in the country every day. For the first time, even CFL energy-efficient bulbs, which contain mercury, will have to be recycled. And, producers will have to provide details of how and where consumers can submit used bulbs. Further, consumers of elec- tronic/electric items (smart- phones, laptops, TV, washing machines, microwave ovens, air conditioners etc) will get incen- tive for handing over the e- waste to retailers or dealers under a newly-introduced deposit refund scheme. Releasing the new E-waste Management Rules, 2016, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said, “The norms have been made more stringent, reflecting our commitment to environmental governance.” He maintained that a reverse chain has to be created by man- ufacturers to ensure electronic products are recovered for safe recycling. The rules will bring the producers under Extended Producer Responsibility, along with targets and requirements to collect e-waste and hand it over to recyclers. Continued on Page 4 New Delhi: Delhi, Punjab and Assam police were on Wednesday alerted by security agencies about an ex-Pakistani soldier having crossed over to India along with six hardcore terrorists through the India- Pakistan border in Pathankot with a plan to carry out attacks in Delhi during Holi. The central security agencies said Mohammad Khurshid Alam alias Jahangir, an ex-military personnel of Pakistan Army, who had worked as a recruiter, coordinator and guide of Jehadi elements in Assam, had crossed over to India from Pakistan through the India-Pak border in Pathankot on February 26 along with six hardcore terrorists. Continued on Page 4 Mumbai: A 44-year-old woman from an affluent fam- ily, caught for travelling with- out a ticket on a local train, chose to go to jail for a week instead of paying 260 fine. The outraged woman said the authorities should first arrest and recover the 9,000-plus crores that liquor baron Vijay Mallya owes the country’s banks. The woman was caught by a ticket checker on Sunday at Mahalaxmi station. Continued on Page 4

Upload: vuphuc

Post on 22-Feb-2018

217 views

Category:

Documents


1 download

TRANSCRIPT

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

���������������������������������� ���!"!#$% �"��&��������� ��$�% �� �&��'���%&��� � � �������������� � $��"����� �����������������(�"�����)�������"�������*��� �!+��$ ���� + �' ���������, � �� -�� �� ��������"��"��������� ����"��" ��������-������������ ��� �� ����� ���� �������-���� ����������� �# �'

(����)����������������������(��)�*��� ����!!"���)���(�����("������ �)���$ �' �� ���������� �������.���������������)������������������/ ���0 ����� ��� ��������� �'�1�����.!���&��� ���� ���" �����.#�

�������������������+,����- �������������������������'��� ��������-���������������������������� ���������������'��)����� �������)�� ����������� ����������������������/����23���(��� ������ ����43#� �./

)�����������������������������������������0#� "&"#��506�6�"�������. �� �� �.� ��� ����������� ���������"���������� ������� ����������������� � ������ ��6��-����� ������ � ����"�������-������"�������������������(-���� �����)"" �7 ��+�����#� �'

�������

� ��� ,76���&�

Authorities on Wednesdaynamed two suicide bombers

who struck Brussels as brotherslinked to the prime suspect inParis attacks to Salah Abdeslam,as a manhunt for a third assailantin Belgium’s bloodiest terrorassault gathered pace.

Belgium’s federal prosecu-tor named Ibrahim El Bakraouias one of the two men whoblew themselves up at Brusselsairport Tuesday, while hisbrother Khalid El Bakraouistruck a crowded metro train incoordinated blasts that left 35dead and 270 injured.

“The third man is on therun,” prosecutor Frederic VanLeeuw said of a man seen onCCTV pushing a trolleythrough Zaventem Airportalongside the two suicidebombers, shortly before theattacks claimed by the ISISjehadist group.

“He left his bag with thebiggest bomb in it whichexploded later because it was sounstable,” Van Leeuw told aPress conference, adding thatpolice had found a massivestash of explosives in a Brusselsapartment. Belgian investiga-tors have unleashed a dragnet,releasing CCTV images of thethree airport attackers, with thesecond suicide bomber andthe third man, on the run, stillunidentified.

Belgium stood still at noonto mark a minute’s silence forthe victims of the carnage thatleft bodies strewn across the air-port’s departures hall and atrain at Maalbeek station, nearthe European Union’s head-quarters. Three days of nation-al mourning have been declaredas King Philippe and PrimeMinister Charles Michel led aminute’s silence outside the EUheadquarters in Brussels. And atthe city’s Place de la Bourse,defiant applause broke outamongst the large crowd gath-

ered to honour the dead, chant-ing: “Long live Belgium”.

Belgian Prime MinisterCharles Michel has cancelledhis visit to China and Belgium’sfootball friendly againstPortugal next week has beenmoved to the Portuguese city ofLeiria from Brussels because ofthe attacks.

Meanwhile, Brussels air-port will remain closed onThursday its chief executivesaid after the bomb attackswrecked the departure hall.“There will be no passengerflights into and out of Brusselsairport on March 24,” ArnaudFeist said in a tweet.

In a statement, the airportsaid it was working with air-lines to help thousands of pas-sengers stranded by the attacks,many of them having fledwithout their baggage asinstructed by security staff.

Those who did so couldnow contact their airline to gettheir luggage back, it said, butthey would still not be able toretrieve their cars.

Continued on Page 4

��������������(�����0�����&�8

The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved the

implementation of a �81,975-crore rural housing scheme toconstruct one crore homes forthe poor within the next threeyears, even as it sought tobring cheer to 1.08 croreCentral Government employ-ees and pensioners on Holi eveby agreeing to hike DearnessAllowance (DA) by 6 per cent.

Under the housing schemetitled Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana — Gramin, which isaimed at housing for all, finan-cial assistance will be provided tothose without a house andhouseholds living in dilapidatedhouses for construction of puccahomes. The unit size of thehouse under this scheme hasbeen enhanced from the existing20 sqm to up to 25 sqm, includ-ing a dedicated area for cooking.

The scheme would beimplemented in rural areasthroughout India except Delhiand Chandigarh. The Cabinetdecided to provide financialassistance of �1,20,000 in plainareas and �1,30,000 in hillyareas for the construction of thehomes under the rural housingproject. “The expenditureinvolved in implementing theproject in a span of three yearsfrom 2016-17 to 2018-19 is�81,975 crore. It is proposed

that one crore householdswould be provided assistancefor construction of pucca hous-es under the project during theperiod from 2016-17 to 2018-19. The cost of houses would beshared between Centre andStates,” said the statementissued by the Cabinet.

The beneficiaries of therural housing scheme will beselected through the GramSabha and funds will be deliv-ered electronically. “Annual listof beneficiaries will be identifiedfrom the total list through par-ticipatory process by the GramSabha. Gram Sabha will need tojustify in writing reasons for any

alteration of priority in the orig-inal list,” said the statement.

The construction of onecrore homes in three years isexpected to generate largeemployment opportunitiesacross the country.

For its part, the combinedimpact on the exchequer onaccount of both DA andDearness Relief would be of�6,796.50 crore per annumand �7,929.24 crore respec-tively, in 2016-17 (for a periodof 14 months from January,2016 to February, 2017), Prasadsaid. In September last year, DAwas increased to 119 per centfrom 113 per cent with effect

from July 1, 2015. The latestincrease takes it 125 per cent ofthe basic pay. There are 50 lakhCentral Government employ-ees and 58 lakh pensioners.

The Cabinet also approvedabout �9,000 crore World Banksupport for the Swachchh BharatMission (SBM) in rural areas.“The project basically incen-tivises States on the basis of their performance in theexisting SBM-Gramin.Incentivisation of States wasapproved by the Cabinet whileapproving the SBM-Gramin onSeptember 24, 2014,” said UnionMinister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Continued on Page 4

���� 0�����&�8

The banks may not manage toget their dues back, but the

Service Tax Department inMumbai certainly wants itspound of flesh from VijayMallya. The one-time liquorbaron who is currently in the UKhas seen his pride and joy, hisprivate Airbus A319 CorporateJet registered VT-VJM beingput up for e-auction by ServiceTax officials on an “as is” basis.

This is the second jet ofMallya’s that is being disposedof. Last year, an old Hawker jet

was sold as scrap by theMumbai airport authorities torecover past dues.

Mallya was the first busi-nessman in India to buy thisAirbus Corporate Jet, althoughMukesh Ambani followed suita year or so later. No other

Indian industrialist has suchlarge private jets.

The disposal of this jethowever highlights the strugglebetween Mallya’s creditors forKingfisher Airlines. Mallya owes Indian banks, mainly fromthe private sector, over �9,000

crore; there are also dues toemployees; the Income-TaxDepartment; the AirportsAuthority of India, other privateairport operators, oil companiesas well as more mundane sup-pliers such as caterers andground handling companies.

Continued on Page 4

�����1��������� �6�,)8

In two major disclosures,incarcerated Pakistani-

American terrorist DavidColeman Headley said that hehad donated as much as 60 to70 lakh in Pakistani currencyto the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT)and that the Drug EnforcementAgency (DEA) of the UnitedStates has funded his trip toPakistan in 1997.

Contesting reports that hehad received money from LeT,for which he was gatheringinformation ahead of the 26/11attacks on Mumbai, Headleysaid, “I never received moneyfrom the LeT. This is complete

nonsense. I gave funds to LeTmyself. I donated a total ofaround 60 to 70 lakh PakistaniRupees to the LeT at differenttimes. My last donation (toLeT) was in 2006”.

Responding to a questionfrom Abdul Khan, Headley toldthe court that the US agency

DEA had, in 1997, instructedhim to visit Pakistan and hadeven sponsored his trip.

Headley was responding toquestions posed to him duringthe cross-examination con-ducted by key 26/11 conspira-tor Zaibuddin Ansari alias AbuJundal’s lawyer Abdul Wahab

Khan before AdditionalSessions Judge GA Sanap.

During his cross-examina-tion that began on Wednesday,Headley also disclosed that hehad been convicted twice, in1988 and 1998 on charges ofdrug smuggling.

Headley, who is currentlyserving a 35-year sentence in aterror case in a US jail follow-ing a plea bargain that savedhim from death sentence andextradition, had earlier deposedbefore Judge Sanap’s court fromFebruary 8 to 13, in the trial ofJundal, two months after hewas pardoned and made anapprover in the case by thesame court. Deposing beforeJudge Sanap’s court through avideo-conference from anundisclosed location in theUnited States, Headley saidthat he had no knowledgewhether the LeT had used themoney he had given to it asdonation in the execution ofthe 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.

Continued on Page 4

���������� ��� ������� ����� �� ��� �� ����� �� ���� ���� ����� ���� ���� ���� �� ! ��"�

���������� ������������������� ��������������������������������� ������

���� 0�����&�8

Aday after the Brussels ter-ror attack that left two

Indians injured, anotherIndian national, RaghavendranGanesh, who hails fromBengaluru, is believed to havegone missing. Ganesh worksfor Infosys and there is noinformation about him eversince the deadly attack at theairport. External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj saidthe Indian Embassy inBelgium is trying its best tolocate him.

“We are doing our best tolocate Raghavendran Ganesh.

The airport is still not open.This may take some time,”Swaraj tweeted.

“I have just spoken toManjeev Puri, ourAmbassador in Brussels. Hehas informed me that Nidhiand Amit are both recoveringwell,” she said about the two injured Jet Airwaysemployees.

Swaraj said theGovernment was coordinatingwith Jet Airways to evacuateIndian citizens. “We are coor-dinating with @jetairways onalternate plans to evacuateour citizens,” she added.

Continued on Page 4

������������������� ��������������� ��99�� ���� �������������� ��������������� ������������ ������������������������8���:��)�������#+������� ��� ����� � �(������������ ���- �� ��� ����8���� : �����8���� ��� ���8:8�)��"��1������������� ��;��������������������� �� �������������� ��� *���������#�<)�� ������ ����������������8���:���������� �������-��� ��� �������1�� ����������������� � ������;3� #�)����� � �(�����8���:�������!�=� >4!�� ����� ���8:8�)��"��� ������4�"#�<)��" ���������������- �� ��#�)������������'������������!?��+��������.� ��:�" �� ��#

������������� ��

#������ ����� ���� �������� $�%��� �%����� ����&�& #�&����

����������� ����������������

���� 0�����&�8

The Environment Ministryon Wednesday released

new rules to control the heapsof electronic waste that are pil-ing up in the country every day.

For the first time, even CFLenergy-efficient bulbs, whichcontain mercury, will have tobe recycled. And, producerswill have to provide details ofhow and where consumers cansubmit used bulbs.

Further, consumers of elec-tronic/electric items (smart-phones, laptops, TV, washing

machines, microwave ovens, airconditioners etc) will get incen-tive for handing over the e-waste to retailers or dealersunder a newly-introduceddeposit refund scheme.

Releasing the new E-wasteManagement Rules, 2016,Environment Minister PrakashJavadekar said, “The normshave been made more stringent,reflecting our commitment to

environmental governance.”He maintained that a reverse

chain has to be created by man-ufacturers to ensure electronicproducts are recovered for saferecycling. The rules will bring theproducers under ExtendedProducer Responsibility, alongwith targets and requirements tocollect e-waste and hand it overto recyclers.

Continued on Page 4

���������������������������

��������!�"������������������#�����$��%����New Delhi: Delhi, Punjab andAssam police were onWednesday alerted by securityagencies about an ex-Pakistanisoldier having crossed over toIndia along with six hardcoreterrorists through the India-Pakistan border in Pathankotwith a plan to carry out attacksin Delhi during Holi.

The central security agenciessaid Mohammad Khurshid Alamalias Jahangir, an ex-militarypersonnel of Pakistan Army,who had worked as a recruiter,coordinator and guide of Jehadielements in Assam, had crossedover to India from Pakistanthrough the India-Pak border inPathankot on February 26 alongwith six hardcore terrorists.

Continued on Page 4

'��(�"������ ���&��)������� ��� ����"��� ����* !������

+������� ��,��-���.� )�%��� !�-��!/�� 0�)���� 1�� �� �� ��&� �����

/�����������������$����� ��� 1��� �������������"�������#�& ���� �!� ������� �'���$�� ������� ����� "��������� �� ��"��� ��������������-���" ������#�� ��� �� ����������������� �����8��� ����������)���������"�� �5�� ���������'����)� ��������������� ��� ��������� ��#0�������8��� ��������� ���� �������� ����"��- ��$��

2����� �����* 3����)���� 4��� �� ���� ����%������ ������� ��"��Mumbai: A 44-year-oldwoman from an affluent fam-ily, caught for travelling with-out a ticket on a local train,chose to go to jail for a weekinstead of paying �260 fine.

The outraged womansaid the authorities shouldfirst arrest and recover the�9,000-plus crores that liquor baron Vijay Mallyaowes the country’s banks.The woman was caught by aticket checker on Sunday atMahalaxmi station.

Continued on Page 4

5������� ���� �������&�������%� �� ��������� ���&��� �%� ������� �� &�����

� 8��� �� �'��>������������������(� ������� ����� 6�������������1���������"������������(� ��!����������������� � /������'����������1���(� �����"������������� ��"��'���� ,���������������������*���"� ���!���������-��� ���@� ���������"��������� ����������������������� ���������� ��������������-����

� �� ������ �����"���������@��������"������������������������(�* �� ����������������'���2=A;;�����"�� ���B �������)�� ��� �� ��)���5��� �1��� �����)������ � ��.� �� ����������������(�* �� ���!��� ����� ��������������� ����� ���������-����������C���;D � ���;DD ������ ��������������������� �� ������ ���7 � �� � � ���� ����� �� ��"�� �-���������������&�/� �� ����1�������(�* �� �������������������/����� �� �� ������������������ ��" �������������"� ���� �'��� ��������������� 9� :�� ��

&��������&����� ����� ��'���6�� ����&� -��-�� �&�������& �� -����� ���"�&�� (��� ����"� !-&������ ���� �� �� ���&���������� 7������ &����� �����&�� �������

����������� �!"�����#�����������

)���������������/���+�������������� ������������� ����2E!�����*���������������"������������� ����2=

��������������������� ������� ��

(�����#�����������������"��)%����� ����� ���

��� ��������� 6�����+� �� ��� ����)� ��%�$ � �C:� ��!���� ��� �� ���� ������������"��-������ ��������� �������-���������� ��� ���������������-���������� "�� ���������������������������"��� �������� /���������9������������������������������ ���������� �������������*�����23��@����"���2>��@����������� ������ �� �� ��������'����� /���� ���������������"��-������� ��� � ���� ��������;!23!333����"� ��� �� �� ���;!43!333���������� �� �������������������������������� /����������������������������������������� �������*"������������ ��� ���

�"�������""��������� ����������������� /���� ����� ���� ""��-��� �����D!333������������, �'���""������������ �����,� � ��������������� �� �� �

�������������

���������� ��� ������������������� ���$����%������&

��'(�)�')�*

60��7�/)0�80:���)/F��)++�080:�)&G0:�&)�

+'��!� ,/76�+�)0���8&&)7%

�80�)78BG0)

-('��� .80�8)�+8+�,)0:&)�����80�)0��:��GH�/�����)/�/�78&&�7

������������ ��������������� ���������� ����������

��������� ������������������ ������

����������� ���������������������������������

I& ����� (2�3�2=��44%� 4I)�������� �����*� ����)""��� ���

�45"&��4��#�./'

������ �!"���#$"%&�� '�%()��""�(*�+,�-(-��(��

���������*���������������+'*�+,./6���1��./��7

!"��#$��% !&��

! ����� ��& �� ���&����� � ��&�� �� �������� �� 7�������� 3�&���&�� !(

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 ��������

���������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �

����������� ������ ����������������� ������������������������������������������ !����"��#����$�%�&'����())***�� ����������+$������������������������� �������������������,�����-����������./0"10��.02,������**,��-�������0�����!�� ���&��%����-���3���-��4 �5.�4�� �"����-����� ��!�$����5�������������-��6�����'���� 7���������-,�.!8(9*:;9)**�� :;;�:)(:9�<=:)� 9�:)�������&>�����-9��������"��"������$���������? �0���������&(��@*)@�7���������-*;��(� 9@99 �� 9@999�� 9@99;�

�� ����������� 0�����&�8

With number of cases ofneurological disorders

on the rise, doctors said over20 per cent of adult epilepsycases occur due to headinjuries. Epilepsy is the secondmost common neurologicalproblem.

Experts are of the view thatin India and developing coun-tries, of the 3.5 million peoplewho develop epilepsy annual-ly, 40 per cent are younger than15 years. And more than 80 percent patients of epilepsy live indeveloping countries.

Speaking to The Pioneer,Dr Ish Anand, Neurologist andEpilepsy Specialist at SirGangaram Hospital said,“Cases of epilepsy have beenemerging more often thesedays. There can be several fac-

tors for the same such as braint u b e r c u l o s i s ,Neurocysticercosis (NCC)

which occurs due to unhy-gienic food intake in the body.When the worm in green leafy

veggies enters the body andattack brain, then patient suf-fers from NCC brain disorder.”

Informing about the preva-lence of epilepsy in children DrAtma Ram Bansal, Consultantneurologist, Medanta-TheMedicity said, “Having epilepsycan affect a child in differentways, depending on his or herage and type of seizures the childhas. Children with epilepsy canlive a happy and successful life.Diagnosis will not affect the day-to-day lives of children, but, insome it may be a frightening ordifficult experience.”

As there are misconcep-tions related to the disease, DrDr Anshu Rohtagi, atGangaram Hospital, said thatwith the advent of newer med-icines, availability of advancedmedical care and increasedawareness of the condition, ithas become possible for a per-son with epilepsy to lead agood life.

�8/��/���)���0/�GH0���7����8�80��!)�)8&),8&8/%�GH

)��)0�������8�)&�)7��)0�80�7�)���

)�)7�0����GH�/���G0�8/8G0!�8/��)�,��G���+G��8,&�HG7�)�+�7�G0��8/��+8&�+�%�/G�&�)��)

:GG��&8H�

�� ����������� 0�����&�8

Security agencies went intoa tizzy after an unidentified

caller on Wednesday informedthem about bombs in 11flights of IndiGo Airlines. Outof the 11 flights, only one wasat the IGI airport when the callwas received.

However, the call laterturned out to be a hoax.

DCP IGI Airport DineshKumar Gupta said the call per-tained to some Indigo flightsoriginating from IGI airportand others landing at IGI air-port from other airports acrossthe nation. The phone calloriginated from the US and thecaller claimed that 11 aircraftof private carrier IndiGo could

be in the danger of beingblown up.

Following the threat call,the Srinagar-Delhi flight, whichhad just landed at the airport,was evacuated at the IndiraGandhi International Airport’sdomestic terminal 1D.

Airline sources said thecaller, who identified himselfonly as Smith from the US, saidat least 11 flights of IndiGo,which were either ready fortake off or had already depart-

ed from around 10 airports,were facing bomb threat froma woman flyer.

The threat was for flightsemanating from major air-ports like Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai,Srinagar, Vadodara, Guwahati,Goa and Kochi, sources said.

“As many as 11 IndiGoflights were grounded onWednesday after the airline’scall centre at Chennai recieveda message about bomb threat.

The caller, who identified him-self as one Smith from the US,said that a woman passengerallegedly belonging to the ISI ofPakistan was carrying a bomband could blow up one of theaircraft,” a source said.

In a statement, IndiGo saidits call centre at Chennai receiveda bomb threat call at 1113 hoursand within minutes the securi-ty agencies were informed.

IndiGo said, “All our pas-sengers are safe”.

According to sources, secu-rity agencies were carrying outextensive search on theseplanes across nine airports.

Soon after the call wasmade, the Bomb ThreatAssessment Committees(BTAC) at different airportsswung into action. The planes,which were mentioned by thecaller, were isolated and subjectto vigorous checks.

The 11 fligts are Vadodara-Delhi (6E 591), Kochi-Delhi(516), Delhi-Srinagar (853),

Delhi-Chennai (443),Ahmedabad-Kolkata (135),Delhi-Mumbai (223), Chennai-Mumbai (612), Delhi-Goa(329), Guwahati-Delhi (571),Delhi-Ahmedabad (161) andDelhi-Vadodara (734).

“We are actively engaged inworking very closely with theconcerned agencies. We canassure you that our operationsare safe...,” IndiGo said.

According to the airline,there are certain laid down pro-cedures to be followed by theairlines, airports and otherGovernment authorities and“all such procedures were fol-lowed and are being followed”.

“We have commencedadditional security measures asper our laid down procedures,”it added. A day before onTuesday, a call was receivedabout bomb threat to five JetAirways flights from Delhi,barely hours after the explo-sions at Brussels airport, but itturned out to be a hoax.

������)��������� 0G8�)

Bhartiya Janta Party LokSabha Member of

Parliament Kirit Somaiya haslodged an FIR against RingingBells Pvt Ltd, which took thecountry by surprise by launch-ing a smart phone priced atjust �251 — Freedom 251, ata Noida police station foradvertising and raising fundfrom public allegedly bycheating, forgery, and mis-leading information.

Police have registered anFIR against the company offi-cials Amit Goyal and AshokChaddha under section 420 ofIPC and section 66 of IT act.

Dinesh Yadav,Superintendent of police,

Noida, said that BJP leaderSomaiya in his complaintalleged that the Ringing Bellhad raised funds by issuing mis-leading advertisements in lead-ing newspapers. Such mobilecan not be advertised or sold

without the approval of Bureauof India standards (BIS).

The company has raisedcrores of rupees through adver-tising and using social mediawithout approval.

“The company is newlyregistered. Some of Company’ssome directors don’t have nec-essary registrations. It is impos-sible to sell a smartphone for�251. The intention is nothingbut to collect money from peo-ple and run away,” FIR reads.

Somaiya demanded thatthe company’s accounts andbuyers data be seized andnvestors be refunded.

“We have started the inves-tigation into the matter. Policeteams and cyber cell is lookingthe case”, Yadav added.

�� ����������� 0�����&�8

In the wake of multiple blastsin Brussels, Union Minister

of State for Home HaribhaiParathibhai Chaudharyreviewed security prepared-ness of the Delhi Metro, whichferries around 2.6 million pas-sengers on a daily basis.

Accompanied byManaging Director of DelhiMetro Mangu Singh,Chaudhary took stock of thesecurity preparedness of theDelhi Metro system besides vis-iting the maintenance work-shop and training institute atShastri Park.

During his half-day visit toDelhi Metro network, theMinister visited the PatelChowk Metro station afterwhich he travelled by the Metrotrain upto Shastri Park viaKashmere Gate Metro station.

The Minister was shown

and briefed about the safetyand security related featuresavailable in the Metro trains.

At Kashmere Gate, heinspected the security arrange-ments in place for the inter-change of passengers fromLine-2 to Line-1 and vice versa.

The Minister’s visit came aday after two bomb attacksclaimed by the Islamic State(ISIS) killed at least 15 peoplein Brussels.

At Shastri Park, he visitedthe Operation Control Centre(OCC) and Security ControlRoom. He was apprised aboutthe overall operational controland security management ofthe Metro network by Singh.

The Minister expressedsatisfaction about the overallhandling of the operations andsecurity of such a vast systemwhich carries around 2.6 mil-lion passengers daily.

The Minister also visited

the Shastri Park Depot to seethe workshop and maintenancepractices and facilities availableat the training institute forgrooming professionals notonly for the Delhi Metro butalso for the other upcomingMetros in the country.

The Minister was briefedthat the Delhi Metro has a verysafe and sound securityarrangement in place at all itsstations and depots.

There are dog squads andbomb disposal teams, whichswung into action anytimethere is a safety and securityalarm and concern.

Entry of passengers is facil-itated through advanced doorframe metal detectors(DFMDs) on the Metro Systemand baggage scanners are usedto scan luggage automatically,thus ensuring that no untowardincident or security breachtakes place.

New Delhi: The Delhi HighCourt on Wednesday reservedits verdict on a plea against therelease of a film ‘Santa BantaPvt Ltd’ saying it will pro-nounce its verdict after watch-ing it, even as the Censor Boardstood by its decision to certifyit on the ground that there wasnothing objectionable.

A bench of Chief Justice GRohini and Justice Jayant Nathdirected the producers of themovie to submit compact discs(CD) of the film, its trailer andpreamble for its perusal.

The order was passed on aplea Delhi Sikh GurdwaraManagement Committee(DSGMC) which has contend-ed that the movie, to be releasedon April 22, makes fun of theSikh community and could alsolead to “disturbance”. During thehearing, Additional SolicitorGeneral (ASG) Sanjay Jain,appearing for Central Board of

Film Certification (CBFC) toldthe court that the board has cer-tified the movie after consider-ing all aspects and nothingoffensive towards the commu-nity was found.

He said under theCinematograph Act, only theproducers can challenge theBoard’s order in the appellatetribunal and the petitionercannot do so in the instant case.He suggested that the court candirect the I&B Ministry toreconsider the certification ofthe movie as per the provisionsof the Act.

Delhi Sikh GurdwaraManagement Committee in itspetition has sought stay on therelease of the film contendingthat it “misrepresented” thecommunity and projected “thepersonality of the communityin defamatory and denigratingmanner” which could cause“disturbance. SR

New Delhi: Delhi TourismMinister Kapil Mishra onWednesday exposed a majorscam of more than �5 croreby private security contractoron contract with Delhi Tourism and TransportationD e v e l o p m e n tCorporation (DTTDC) andrecommended blacklistingof company from Governmentsecurity contracts.

The Minister soon lodgedan FIR against security con-tractor Kore Securities, whichhas indulged in massive viola-tion of existing labour laws andconducted financial fraud at agrand scale.

During investigation it wasfound that the security con-

tractor, Kore Securities, wascollecting over �22,000 persecurity guard per month whilepaying only �8,000 to eachguard, as opposed to the con-tractually agreed upon �13,000per month. This fraud bringsthe amount paid to securityguards lower than the mini-mum wage in Delhi.

No weekly off-days wereprovided to security guards(601 in total) whilst the com-pany continued to bill theDelhi Government, effectivelyrobbing the security guards oftheirwell-deserved salary, saidthe government official addingthat the total loss to the exche-quer is worked out to be over�5 crore. SR

������������������������������6�� ����� ���� ��%�-��� ���%�& �� �� ����&��� ��������� 7����������" �� 6���&��

����&��������������������#��� �������%���������������'��#���

&*��#�����������+,-��������-�������&��������'�������������

��.��/��0� �/1���0�/���2. ���1�/3����4�1��/��.��1/����5��1���6������

������&���������.��/�0����&�������$���� 1� 0�����������������%���'�������

New Delhi: The DelhiCommission for Women(DCW) chief Swati Maliwal onWednesday told Union HomeMinsiter Rajnath Singh thatscrapping the police station-level committees is so far themost anti-women decision takenby the Lt Governor Najeeb Jung.Maliwal met Singh and com-plaint about Jung in a 20 min-utes long meeting at minister’sresidence 17, Akbar Road.

“Home Minister RajnathSingh had assured me thatafter Holi he will be takingconcrete steps in this matterand I had pleaded him thatunder no circumstances these‘thana level committees’ mustbe scrapped. He also agreesthat these committees areimportant,” Maliwal said.

“Thana level committeesare extremely important for fix-ing the accountability of DelhiPolice directly to the people andspecially for the women.

She further added that thecommittees were scrapped evenas L-G appreciated them earlier.“I realised that L-G had actual-ly praised these Thana levelcommittees in past. I can’t under-stand that what had happened inone year that he had changed hismind, in light of all the rapes thathappened in Delhi,” she said. SR

2������* 5�))���)���� ������� ��%���������� -� 8�$���� ����������

5��&���� ���-��� ���� �� ���� �� 3�&���&�� (����� (����

New Delhi: App-based caboperator Ola added 6,000 newCNG cars to its platform of carsduring the recently concludedOla Pragati Mahotsav — thelargest CNG Driver mela inDelhi-NCR. Tourism MinisterKapil Mishra flagged off thefirst batch of cars registeredunder the programme onWednesday.

The Company plans toinvest �200 crore to enableCNG adoption in Delhi NCRover the next six months. Ola’scurrent CNG fleet in DelhiNCR stands at over 26,000 cabs.

Handing over keys to thefirst CNG car owners from thePragati Mahotsav, Kapil Mishrasaid, “Transportation is impor-tant for citizens as well as for

tourism in the State and aworld class experience can bebuilt only by such investmentin skilling, training and entre-preneurship for drivers who arethe service providers. By bring-ing together various partners inthe ecosystem under one roofthrough its ‘Pragati Mahotsav’event, Ola is positively impact-ing the livelihoods of many

thousands of drivers, so thatthey can continue to work asentrepreneurs.”

Speaking on the occasion,Rahul Maroli, vice president ofStrategic Supply Initiatives atOla, said, “We are committedto providing a seamless mobil-ity experience in the state inadherence to the local regula-tions, at the same time

empowering our driver-part-ners by helping them switch toCNG with no negative impacton their earnings. Going for-ward, we plan to invest �200crore towards innovative greenfuel technology, leasing ofCNG cars as well as strength-ening the ecosystem to catal-yse greater CNG adoption inthe region.” SR

���� ����/�/��1/�� 7����1�� �����8 �#���9:;;;����/

New Delhi: A 19-year-old girlwas found murdered inside ahouse in central Delhi’s PatelNagar area on Wednesday.

The victim, Nikita, hadsustained four stab injuriesand her body was found insidethe rented accommodation ofa youth who has claimed hewas not present in the house atthe time of the incident, whichcame to light at around 8 PM.

Nikita’s identity was ascer-tained with the help of anidentity card recovered fromthe room, police said.

Her parents were informedand the body was then sent fora post-mortem, police said.

“We have registered a caseof murder and investigation isunderway,” said DCP (Central)Parmaditya.

The youth in whose roomthe body was found has beendetained for questioning. PTI

;D(��(���������������������

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

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 �������$

�� ����������� 0�����&�8

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Wednesday

unveiled the statues of freedomfighters Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Shaheed Sukhdev andShaheed Rajguru within thepremises of the DelhiLegislative Assembly on theoccasion of “Shaheedi Diwas”.

While raising the issues ofVijay Mallya and farmers’ sui-cides, he said Bhaghat Singhused to say that Independencewould not come by only turn-ing away Britishers from thecountry and instead, it wouldcome when imperialism andpoverty are rooted out and

farmers and labourers wouldlive happily.

“When Vijay Mallya ranaway with pending loans of Rs9,000 crore, the entire systemhas been helpless before him.I don’t think that theIndependence of Bhagat Singh(which he used to envisage) hascome so far in our country.

“There are several loop-holes in our system. On onehand, Mallya ran away with aloan of Rs 9,000 crore andthere are several persons likeMallya who owe loans ofcrores of rupees to banks, buton other hand, our one farmerhas to commit suicide fortheir loan of just Rs 50,000-

60,000,” said Kejriwal whileaddressing a gathering at DelhiAssembly premises.

Raising issue of farmers’alleged suicide in Punjab, hesaid farmers are committingsuicide there because theywere not able to repay theirloans. “Recently, I had visitedPunjab where farmers arecommitting suicide. When Iasked for reasons, I was toldthat farmers were commit-ting suicide because of non-payment of their loans takenfor crops which were laterdamaged,” he said.

Kejriwal said some familiesof farmers who committed sui-cide told him they had to com-

mit suicide as they were alsonot able to bear excessive med-ical expenses of hospitals.Lauding his Government’swork done for the welfare offarmers in the Capital, theDelhi CM said they will not letpoor people die, who cannotafford medical expenses.

“The Delhi Governmenthas given the highest compen-sation to farmers for their croplosses in the history ofIndependent India. We gave�20,000 per acre compensationto farmers for their crop loss-es. When farmers face prob-lems, it is the responsibility ofGovernment to resolve theirissues,” said Kejriwal.

6�-������ ������������������������ �����,� � ������!��� �������'���-� ���� �����7 $��������������"�������������������&����� �-��)������

%�!"�&��"������������ '(���)�'"*�"�#��������

��)����������� 0�����&�8

As terror threat looms largeover the national Capital

following the Brussels blood-bath on Tuesday, Delhi divisionof Northern Railways has notonly heightened security butalso introduced special trainsand better facilities at the rail-way stations on Holi.

The Railway departmenthas decided to bring 826 trainsfor summer rush which isexpected to begin from Holifestival. In order to ensurepassengers convenience, 60additional coaches have beenprovided in various trains. TheHoli Special trains planned

this year include Suvidha trainsand Express Special trains forpopular destinations such asKatihar, Darbhanga, Patna,Lucknow, Barauni,Chandigarh, Saharanpur,Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Puneand Mumbai.

Besides, from the expresstrains, Northern Railway wouldalso run extra passenger trainssuch as Jammu-PathankotDEMU Specials and Ghaziabad-Aligarh EMU Specials.

Other than this, dog squadof the RPF has also been put onalert to do multiple rounds ofthe platforms in a day. QuickResponse Team vehicles armedwith light-machine gun have

been deployed at the stations,they said.

Officials said pickets witharmed men have been raised atentry points and vehicles arebeing scanned thoroughly.Parking and circulating areasare also being taken care of.Senior officer from the RailwayMinistry inspected the railwaystation on Wednesday taking astock of the situation. Seniorofficials said frequent and reg-ular announcements aboutintroduction of special trainsfor the festive season.Additional counters have alsobeen set up at stations dealingwith additional rush like NewDelhi and Delhi Junction.

Squads of Commercial andticket checking staff/vigilanceinspectors would be formed toorganise special surprise checkto curb the activities of anti-social elements and to organ-ise special checks to detectvarious frauds like touts, trans-fer-of-ticket cases.

“35 special trains are beingrun. Almost 60 trains have extracoaches. As a huge number ofpeople are travelling by train wehave put extra counters for tick-et booking purpose. Senior offi-cers are regularly conductinginspections to monitor the entiresituation,” said Niraj Sharma,Chief Public Relation Officer,Northern Railways.

����������������� ���� ������'

�� ����������� 0�����&�8

The Delhi Government isworking towards providing

round-the-clock permit torestaurants and bars in thenational Capital to serve liquor.The proposed 2016-17 ExcisePolicy — to be approved by theDelhi Cabinet soon — willenable owners of bars, restau-rants and five star hotels andabove to run their business24x7 in the national Capital.

As per proposed ExcisePolicy 2016-17, the ExciseDepartment has proposed torationalise the annual fee forhotels and restaurants to serveliquor round the clock.

There are 150 hotels andrestaurants having five starand above rating in Delhi butonly 13 have liquor license toserve 24x7 liquor.

Opposing theGovernment’s move, Leaderof Opposition and BJP leaderVijendra Gupta said it is beingdone in the garb of promotingtourism and encouraging nightlife. “This is being donenotwithstanding the fact that itwill adversely affect the socialfabric of the city and create lawand order problem which isalready a matter of deep con-cern,” said Gupta, adding evenwomen dare not remain outafter nightfall.

Asked if the city’s bars andrestaurants will be allowed torun 24x7, Delhi TourismMinister Kapil Mishra said,“Yes, we are working for round-the-clock permit for business-es. I believe that there will beless crime when shops will beopen for longer duration.”

The Minister said theGovernment was in talks withshopkeepers, restaurant own-ers, police, Labour Departmentand other stakeholders in thisregard. “A final shape will begiven to this proposal only afterconsultation with all stake-holders,” Mishra said on thesidelines of an event.

Earlier, the 24x7 license toserve liquor was not too pop-ular as it attracted an annual feeof �40 lakh for restaurants and

bars in hotels that were abovefive-star.

These hotels did not havetoo many visitors through thenight and, therefore, did notfind the licence necessary. Inthe new policy, the excisedepartment has proposed toslash the licence fee.

It has also proposed doingaway with prerequisites for a24-hour excise licence, to servealcohol in restaurants, such asa tourism licence, police regis-tration and fire clearance. Theproposed policy is aimed atencouraging more and morerestaurants located in seven-star and five-star hotels andmotels to run round-the-clock.This, authorities feel, will aidtourism and enhance therestaurant business.

,5+1��:�" �""������-�!�� ������������ ��� �� ��������"�����

+"�)�"����" ���� ,�� �� ��-./��

�"���")������-./����� ���� ���"0���1� "�&�� ��� �� ���"�����

��"����� � ���'��� '���-���2�' "�"����" ��� ��,"��� �� ����

����&�"��, 0��'�0����"�

�� ����������� :67:)G0

Providing affordable andswift mode of transport in

the city, a bike-taxi service hasbeen launched in Gurgaonwith 50 such bikes flagged offin the f irst phase onWednesday.

Rapido, the bike-taxioperator which already runsbike-taxis in Bengaluru, saidit plans to expand the numberof bikes to 500 in Gurgaonover the next two months.

Charging �5 per kilome-ter, and no waiting charges,the bike-taxi service aims toprovide alternative to solocommuters and poses a chal-lenge to four-wheeler cabsand auto rickshaws.

With its headquarters inBengaluru, Rapido claims tohave executed more than 1lakh rides till date.

Launching the service inGurgaon, Aravind Sanka, co-founder of Rapido said, “Morethan 60 per cent of the work-ing population changes threemodes of transportation ser-vices while commuting on adaily basis. We want to pro-vide a convenient, reliable,economical solution to trav-el short distances. There are20 million unemployed peo-ple in India and our target isto reduce the number byoffering them means of liveli-hood while also turning theminto entrepreneurs.”

,�'�( *����-���� ���������:��� ��

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 �� ��-

���� �78�)0)0�+67��)�8,

With the Satluj YamunaLink (SYL) canal all set

to become a major politicalissue in the run-up to theAssembly polls next year,Punjab Chief Minister ParkashSingh Badal on Wednesdaygave a call to the people of theState to prepare themselves fortough battle ahead to safeguardthe river waters of the State.

Addressing a gatheringduring religious congregationto mark the commemorationof historic Hola Mohalla here,Badal declared the SatlujYamuna SYL canal would notallowed to be constructed atany cost and under any cir-

cumstances.He said it was high time to

make supreme sacrifices ratherthan allowing the constructionof SYL canal as it would divestthe people of Punjab of theirlegitimate rights over the riverwaters, in blatant violation ofthe nationally and interna-tionally accepted RiparianPrinciple.

The Chief Ministerassailed the Congress fordepriving the genuine rightsespecially related to riverwaters during their successiveGovernments at the centre. Hechided the State Congress lead-ership for being mute specta-tors that surrendered hapless-ly before their party high com-

mand in brazen defiance of theinterests of the State and itspeople. Badal said the Punjabisin general and Sikh commu-nity in particular could neverforgive the Congress party forits sins against Punjab.

Badal said there was awide consensus that Punjabdid not have even a single dropof water to spare for any otherState, neither is it even possi-ble to do so. In view of that,there never had been any neednor was there one now toconstruct the SYL canal. Hecategorically said they wouldnot allow this canal to be con-structed at any cost.

On the occasion, the ChiefMinister and Deputy Chief

Minister were honoured forchampioning the cause ofpeasantry by bestowing‘Kissana da Messiah’ and‘Paaniyaan da Raakha’ award.

In his speech, DeputyChief Minister, Sukhbir SinghBadal took on Congress andAam Aadmi Party (AAP) forplaying dirty politics on SYLissue which is of utmostimportance to the State. Hesaid both Congress and AAPhave displayed height of polit-ical opportunism and theirdubious role has come to thefore on crucial SYL issue.

He said while PunjabVidhan Sabha was deliberatingon SYL issue and bill to de-notify the land acquired from

farmers for SYL was beingbrought, Congress MLAsresorted to dirty tactics ofstaging walkouts. Taking onAAP, Deputy CM said its con-vener and Delhi ChiefMinister, Arvind Kejriwal, gavestatement supporting Punjab’sstand on SYL but changed histune as soon he reached Delhiwhich was equivalent to stab-bing Punjabi people in theback.

Earlier, the Chief Ministerpaid obeisance at Takht SriKesgarh Sahib and was pre-sented a robe of honor (Siropa)by Jathedar Giani Mal Singh.

Cabinet Ministers, MPs,MLAs and officials were alsopresent in the function.

����� ��)0�8:)7�

Punjab Police and othersecurity agencies have

launched a manhunt after acar was snatched from a per-son at gunpoint at Sujanpurtown in Punjab’s Pathankotdistrict, police said onWednesday.

The incident took placelate on Tuesday, police said.

Police officials, however,ruled out the possibility of aterror angle to the incidenteven though the whole districthas been put on high alert.

“Three men approachedthe Ford Figo car and hijackedit at gunpoint after forcing the

owner out of it. Two peopledrove the car and the third onefled on a motorcycle,” a PunjabPolice officer said inPathankot.

Sujanpur is about six kmfrom Pathankot on thePathankot-Jammu highway.

Security agencies weretaking the incident seriously inview of two major terroriststrikes in the area in recentmonths.

Terrorists from Pakistanhad attacked the Indian AirForce (IAF) base in Pathankoton January 2 this year andDinanagar town in neigh-bouring Gurdaspur districton July 27 last year.

(���� ����� ������� �� (��4�-���� � ������& �� ���)����

From Page 1The current approval pro-

vides for the mechanism ofsuch incentivisation throughWorld Bank credit, he said,adding that under theapproved project, the perfor-mance of the states will begauged through certain per-formance indicators, calledthe Disbursement-LinkedIndicators (DLIs).

The States will pass on asubstantial portion of morethan 95 per cent of thePerformance Incentive GrantFunds received from theMOWS, to the appropriateimplementing levels of dis-tricts, Blocks, GPs etc, he said.

The end-use of the incentivegrants will be limited to activ-ities pertaining to the sanita-tion sector, he added.

This apart, the Cabinetapproved transfer of 89.72hectares of land in Dwarka toDIPP for setting up of a worldclass state-of-the-art exhibi-tion-cum convention centre.“The Cabinet has given itsapproval for transfer of landmeasuring 89.72 hectares inSector 25, Dwarka, New Delhi,free from all encumbrances, tothe Department of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion for cre-ation of a World class State-of-the-Art Exhibition-cumConvention Centre in Dwarka,

New Delhi,” an official state-ment said.

The Government also setthe ball rolling for hosting theU-17 World Cup next year byauthorising the SportsMinistry to constitute anorganising committee forsmooth conduct of the event,while giving its stamp ofapproval to the changes sug-gested by FIFA’s inspectionteam.

The venues earmarked areJLN Stadium in New Delhi,DY Patil Stadium in NaviMumbai, JLN Stadium inKochi, Salt Lake Stadium inKolkata, JLN Stadium in Goaand IG Stadium in Guwahati.

����������� �!"�����#�����������From Page 1

Javadekar clarified that theprocess of dismantling and recy-cling has been simplified throughuniformity in authorisation.

It would be the CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) that will give the sin-gle authorisation throughoutthe country, the Ministeradded.

The country’s present gen-eration of e-waste stands at 1.7million tonnes every year,which is increasing at an annu-al rate of five per cent.However, only 25 per cent canbe scientifically recycled, leav-

ing the rest in hazardous con-ditions severely polluting landand water.

The new rules also intro-duce the role of StateGovernments to ensure safety,health and skill development ofthe workers involved in dis-mantling and recycling opera-tions.

The Department ofIndustry in State or any otherGovernment agency autho-rised in this regard by theState Government will ensureearmarking or allocation ofindustrial space or shed for e-waste dismantling and recy-

cling in the existing andupcoming industrial park,estate and industrial clusters. Aprovision of penalty for viola-tion of the norms has also beenadded.

The e-waste exchange as anoption has been provided in therules as an independent mar-ket instrument offering assis-tance or independent elec-tronic systems offering ser-vices for sale and purchase ofe-waste generated from end-of-life electrical and electronicequipment between agencies ororganisations authorised underthese rules.

(�����#�������222

From Page 1When they told her to

cough up the fine, she said theyshould first arrest Mallya, theRailway Police said.

“She was produced in themagistrate’s court today(Tuesday) and asked to pay thefine. But she declined andchose to go to jail for sevendays,” said a security officer atthe Mumbai division ofWestern Railway. PTI

2����� �����* 3����)���� 4��� �� ���� ����%������ ������� ��"��

From Page 1“The intention of this group

is to kill citizens in Delhi inhotels and hospitals on or beforeHoli,” the communication said.

The agencies said Alamhad visited a madrasa in Barpetadistrict in Assam in September2015. The ex-Pakistan armymanhad stayed in the madrasa forfive days and thereafter left forChirang district, borderingBhutan. Alam had used anoth-er madrasa in Dhubri district inAssam as his base and used tovisit other parts of the state, itsaid. In Dhubri, a teacher of themadrasa provided all requiredlogistical support to Alam, thecommunication added. PTI

'��(�"������ ���&��999

From Page 1Following the attacks in

Brussels, Infosys has reachedout to all its employees in thecity to ascertain their where-abouts and safety.

“With the exception of oneemployee who we are trying toreach, we have been able toconnect with all other employ-ees,” Infosys said in a statement

adding that the company is intouch with missing employee’sfamily and is working withIndian Embassy/local author-ities in Brussels to locateemployee on priority.

Meanwhile, the two IndianJet Airways employees whowere injured in the attack onTuesday are out of danger.“Nidhi & Amit, 2 Jet crew

members injured in #brussel-sattack r out of danger and arebeing attended by doctors&Embassy staff…I have justspoken to Manjeev Puri ourAmbassador in Brussels. Hehas informed me that Nidhiand Amit are both recoveringwell,” Swaraj said on Twitter.

Indian passengers travel-ling by Jet Airways were shift-ed out to hotels after the airportwas closed following the terrorattack.

#������ ����� ���� �������� $�%� ��999From Page 1

Leeuw revealed that air-port bomber Ibrahim ElBakraoui had left a desperate“will” on a computer that hedumped in a trash can on thestreet, in which he said he wasbeing “hunted everywhere”.

“I don’t know what to do,”the letter read. And in anapparent reference to the Paris

attacker Abdeslam, he added:“I don’t want to end up in a cellnext to him.”

Investigators had foundan unexploded bomb, an ISflag and bomb-making mate-rials in an apartment on thesame street in the Brussels dis-trict of Schaerbeek on Tuesdaynight.

The find also included 15

kilos of TATP high explosive,Van Leeuw confirmed.

Broadcaster RTBF saidmetro bomber Khalid ElBakraoui had rented an apart-ment in Brussels last weekunder a false name whereAbdeslam’s fingerprints werefound.

He is also linked to anoth-er apartment in southernBelgium that Abdeslam andother jehadists used beforethe Paris attacks.

&��������&����� ����222

From Page 1The list also includes pas-

sengers who had booked tick-ets on the airline and even fre-quent flyer mile owners, whoare also creditors of the airline.

The Hyderabad Airportoperator, part of the GMRGroup has filed a chequebounce case against Mallyawho gave several personalguarantees for his airline. Thequestion of who gets first rightto the money collected fromthe disposal of Kingfisher’sremaining assets is one that willprobably be answered in thecourts.

However, much like thefailed auction of KingfisherAirlines House off the WesternExpress Highway by the StateBank of India, there are doubtson this auction as well. It is notclear whether the aircraft is ina flyable condition and will abuyer spend money on an air-craft that sits on the ground.

Unlike the old IndianAirlines aircraft auctioned afew years ago, this aircraft is arelatively young plane and wasfrequently used by Mallya aswell as his political and enter-tainment industry friends overthe years.

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

From Page 1On whether he had told

the US authorities about the“donation” he had made to theLeT, Headley said: “I am notsure... May be...I will checkout and let you know about ittomorrow.”

Queried as to what wasthe source of money that hehad donated to LeT, Headleysaid that it was the moneythat he had earned from fewshops that he purchased in theUAE and also through thepurchase and sale of proper-ties in Pakistan and businessin New York.

Headley appeared triflemiffed when he was repeat-edly asked by the defencelawyer as to what he did withthe money he earned fromthat he had received from LeTand the money he earnedfrom drug smuggling. “Youare asking me the same thingagain and again ...That’s com-plete nonsense,” Headley toldthe defence lawyer, as hedenied that he had notreceived any money from LeTand claimed that it was he onthe contrary who had donat-ed money to LeT

At this juncture, Headelyhad a mild dig at the defencelawyer who broke into a smilelistening to his reply. “Yourclient’s life is relying on thiscase. You should be seriousabout that . . .don’t joke,”Headley told the defencelawyer.

The defence lawyer tookexception to Headley’s dig.Judge Sanap intervened and

asked Headley to be polite inhis replies.

Jundal’s lawyer told thecourt that Headley, who facedconviction twice in the pastbefore the Mumbai strikes,had indulged in criminalactivities and violated his pleabargain agreements with theUS Government.

Responding to questionsfrom Jundal’s lawyer, Headleyadmitted that he had beenconvicted in 1988 and 1998 bya court in the US for allegeddrug smuggling.

However, on both theoccasions, Headley hadentered into a plea bargainwith the AmericanGovernment and got off witha lighter sentence.

In an admission, Headleysaid: “One of the conditions ofmy plea agreement was that Ishould not take part in anycriminal activity. I violatedthis condition by going toPakistan and joining the LeT”.

Headley said that aftercompleting his four year sen-tence in 1988, he was involvedin drug smuggling from 1992to 1998 and had visitedPakistan during this period.

Responding to a ques-tion, Headley admitted thathe was a part of the failedLeT-sponsored MickeyMouse Project involvingreconnaissance for a largerplan to target Danish news-paper Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten in retaliation to car-toons depicting the ProphetMohammed published innewspaper in 2005.

“I was working for it...heoffered assistance sometimes,he was a small part of that,”Headley said, when askedwhether he was part of theMickey Mouse Project andwhether his business associ-ate Tahawwur Hussain Ranatoo was part of it.

To another question,Headley said Rana, his asso-ciate and a Pakistani nativewho operated an immigrationbusiness in Chicago, wasaware that he was an opera-tive of terror outfit LeT.

“Rana knew about myassociation with LeT. Iinformed him about the train-ing imparted by me to LeToperatives. I disclosed to Ranathat I was spying for LeT. Thiswas four to five months beforethe 26/11 attacks,” Headleytold the court.

Headley also disclosedthat Rana had disapproved ofhis association with LeT, andadded that Rana was not in“constant touch” with anyLeT operatives. “Rana object-ed to my association with LeT.He did not want me to con-tinue using his office inMumbai. I conceded hisobjection and started takingsteps to close down the office.This was in July 2008,” hesaid.

Headley disclosed thatRana had once come toMumbai in the immediaterun-up to the 26/11 attacks.

Headley’s cross-examina-tion wil l continue onThursday.

Incarcerated LeT terrorist

David Coleman Headley onWednesday lost his cool andpatience when key 26/11 con-spirator Zaibuddin Ansarialias Abu Jundal’s lawyerAbdul Wahab Khan repeat-edly questioned him about hiswife Shazia Gilani.

Shazia is Headley’s thirdwife. The two other wivesfrom his earlier marriagesare Portia Peters and FaizaOutelha al ias FaizalaChristiana.

Queried if he and Shaziawere still married, Headleyreplied in the affirmative.

When the defence lawyerasked Headley as to whereShazia was currently living -in Pakistan or the UnitedStates, the latter’s attorneyJohn Theis intervened andsaid that the informationcould not be disclosed owingto security and safety reasons.

Asked to what was thename of Shazia’s father, amiffed Headley said: “What isthe relevance of this matterwith the case….I am notgoing to answer anythingabout my wife…you can askanything about me, (and) thecase.”

When the defence lawyerpersisted and specificallyasked Headley whether Shaziawas in Pakistan, SpecialPublic Prosecutor UjjwalNikam inter vened and said: “He is trying to pres-surise the witness...these arepersonal things and not needed.”

Queried as to whethershe had visited India with

him, Headley said: “Zero”.On whether Shazia knew

about his links with LeT,Headley responded saying:“Yes” . He, however, said thathe did not know as to whenhis third wife came to knowof his links with LeT.

Asked as to how Shaziareacted when she came toknow of his links with LeT,Headley said: “Her reaction isa personal matter between meand her…what she said, whatshe did not, how she reacted,how she did not….”

Continuing, the defencelawyer wanted to know ifShazia knew about him hav-ing changed his name fromDaood Gilani to DavidHeadley, a somewhat upsetHeadley said: “I don’t want toshare anything about mywife.”

At this stage, senior coun-sel Mahesh Jethmalani, who isassisting the US attorneys in“procedural issues”, inter-vened that the informationsought by the defence lawyerwas irrelevant. “It’s a privi-leged communication(between the husband andwife),” Jethmalani said.

However, the defencelawyer averred that a talkbetween husband and wifecould be a part of conspiracy.

Later, Special PublicProsecutor Nikam also inter-vened when the defencelawyer asked Headley if hecommunicated with Shaziain coded language. Nikamsaid: “This has already comeon record”.

����������������������������

�(��/��%��������%�-0��������������

���� :)0��80):)7

The board of prestigiousIndian Institute of

Management, Ahmedabad(IIM-A) has decided to increasethe fees for its post-graduate pro-grammes (PDP).

As per the new fee structureapplicable from 2016-18 batch,the students will have to pay�19.50 lakh instead of �18.50lakh. The amount is cumulativefee for both years, includingtuition, academic support (casematerials, books, etc.), accom-modation, basic health care,medical insurance, and alumniassociation membership fee.

“IIMA fee increases havetended to lag inflation rate overthe past several years. Taking2009 as base, even with the pro-posed increase, 2016-18 feewould be 10 per cent lower ininflation adjusted terms com-pared to 2009-11 fee,” explainedby the IIMA communiqué.

��12"����������������(��������3�

����� ����8�� �%��7),)��

The Hyderabad CentralUniversity campus

remained in the grip of hightension as the police arrestedaround 30 students and threefaculty members in connectionwith yesterday’s ransacking ofVice-Chancellor P Appa Rao’soffice by a group of protestorseven as Jawaharlal NehruUniversity Students Unionpresident Kanhaiya Kumarwho arrived here to attend ameeting was denied entry tothe varsity.

With Kanhaiya arriving inHyderabad, the security wastightened in and around thevarsity to prevent the outsidersfrom entering the area. Theentire campus turned into afortress as additional forceswere deployed.

University Vice-ChancellorAppa Rao said that no per-mission was granted for themeeting as nobody hadapproached for the same.” Wehave nothing do with that boy”,Appa Rao said when askedabout the programme ofKanhaiya Kumar to visit theuniversity.

Kanhaiya, on the otherhand, soon after his arrival atHyderabad airport said that if police permit him he willdefinitely address a meeting on the varsiy campus.He added he had come on theinvitation of the Joint ActionCommittee (JAC) for Social Justice of the HCU stu-dents.

The allegations that thestudents and teachers werebeaten up in police custody lastnight further flared up thetempers and the JAC has called for four days long boy-cott of the classes to protestagainst the police highhand-edness.

University authorities onthe other hand said that theyhad suspended the classes tillMarch 26. “In view of the sit-uation classes will remain sus-pended from March 23 to 26”,said M Sudhakar, Registrar ofHCU.

Students under theumbrella of JAC were onTuesday protesting against thereturn of Appa Rao from two-month long leave.

The students hold Raoresponsible for the suicide by aDalit research scholar RohithVemula on January 17 after healong with some other students was suspended fromthe University Hostel following a clash with the students belonging to theABVP, the students wing of the BJP.

:������� �������� ����� �0;��)�� �-���&

)�����(��)��� ,�0:)&676

After a row broke out overthe right-wing Hindu par-

ties which include VHP andBhajrang Dal opposing theprinting of the name of aMuslim Deputy Commissionerin the invitation card of SriMahalingeshwara temple festi-val in Puttur in DakshinaKannada district, the KarnatakaGovernment has decided torepeal certain Sections of theKarnataka Hindu ReligiousInstitutions and CharitableEndowments Act 1997.

After deliberation in theongoing Budget session of theAssembly Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah said they wereamending the Karnataka Hindu

Religious Institutions andCharitable Endowments Act1997 to withhold the secularnature of the Constitution.

Law and ParliamentaryAffairs Minister T.B.Jayachandra promised on thefloor of the House that in orderto avoid such controversies infuture the Government wouldbring an amendment to the Act.The VHP which fiercelyopposed the name of a MuslimDC in the temple festival invi-tation has taken refuge by cit-ing Sections of the KarnatakaHindu Religious Institutionsand Charitable EndowmentsAct, 1997 to demand theremoval of his name from theinvitation card for a State-administered temple function.

:.��"� �� ����& ���&� <�������� !��� ��������� =�����. ��%���� �� ���)���

)��������������������00)8

Vijaykant, founder of theDMDK (Desiya

Murpokku DravidaKazhagam), will captain thefive-party People’s WelfareFront (PWF) in the TamilNadu Assembly election to beheld on May 16. Leaders of theother four constituents of thePWF - Vaiko (MDMK), GRamakrishnan (CPI(M)), RMutharasan (CPI) and TholThiruma Valavan (VCK) -drove down to the DMDKheadquarters on Wednesdaymorning in their swanky SUVsand declared that Vijaykantwould be the chief ministerialcandidate of the front.

With Vijaykant (63) beingfielded as the chief ministerialcandidate by the PWF, TamilNadu’s voters have the choiceof four candidates - DMK’s MKarunanidhi (93), AIADMK’sJ Jayalalithaa (68) andAnbumani Ramadoss (47) ofthe Vanniyar - dominated thePMK being the three others -for the top political post in theState. This is the first time inthe political history of TamilNadu this many leaders arevying for the post of ChiefMinister. In the past elections,the fight was between the DMKand the AIADMK.

Vaiko, the convener of thePWF, declared that the alliance,

if voted to power, would formthe first coalition Governmentin Tamil Nadu. He said theobjective of the front is to pro-vide a transparent and corrup-tion-free Government and gov-ernance.

Though there were specu-lations that the DMDK waslikely to align either with theBJP or the DMK, both the par-ties were silent on the post theywould offer to Vijaykant. Localmedia reported that MDMKchief Vaiko in a late nightmeeting on Monday withPremalatha, the real powerbehind Vijaykant, agreed tooffer the Chief Minister’s postto her husband and the dealwas struck.

3�4���������'�������)������5+����!6�����

)��������������������00)8

The BJP inTamil Nadu

suffered yetanother setbackon Wednesdaywith popularfilm actor andAISMK leaderR Saratkumar calling onAIADMK supremo JJayalalthaa and reviving hisparty’s alliance with the later.

� � '� ��� �'���) 1��� "

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 �� ��3

�����*� �������1����� ���/��-����������������� 8��� � ���H� ���� -��������� ����6�����������������������*������ ��� ����� �5 � "������ � � ��� !��������� ��������������������������������������������(������ ������ ������������"��$���������� �����#�/���" ��� ����'�����/���� �� ���������������(� ��-������� �����(��-������� �������������������H� �������H(H������"������������������ �����������������������������0 ��� ��+�������"�� �������8��� �&���0+�8&�����������������������"� ��!���"�� ������������ ��#

��������������������(��.9*:..��������������� ���������� �������H���� ��� !����6���������������/�����1��2E*J������������������"����(; 33;;;4=4���� ����������;4=4�� �������-���;J!D;;� ��������������� ������ ���23#�/������-����"��-��������� ������� ������� -���K������������������������������ ���8���� ��� �������A-������� ����� �������� ���������� �-������� ��������� '��#�/������"�������"��-��������� ��� ����� ���!)� ���!�H�����!�:�� �!�8 �� �!5 " ����!�.��� �!��������!+��������!�7���� �� ���" ����!��������������� ���������!�� ��� �� ��������#�

������� ���������������������)��*��������������������� �-��� �� ����� ������ ������������������ ������� ��� ������ ������ ����"���������������� ������� ������� ������������ �����'!�����-������������������������ ��� ������������������ ������������� '��� ���� ���(�����"������ �����������"���������� �#

45�67�

���� 0�����&�8

Nearly 1,000 Indian and for-eign defence companies

will showcase their weapon sys-tems at the four-day interna-tional exhibition DefExpo-2016starting in Goa on March 28and there is no bar on black-listed firms from participatingin the event unlike last time.

Moreover, the exhibition,held every two years, is beingheld outside the national Capitalsince it started two decadesback. Defence MinisterManohar Parrikar will inaugu-rate the show.

Making it clear that black-listed firms are free to exhibittheir products, Secretary(Defence Production) AKGupta said on Wednesday "this

is a commercial exhibition. Youcan come and participate.Debarment is from the point ofview of purchase by theMinistry of Defence. They canshowcase their products toother countries and enter intocollaboration."

Giving details of the forth-coming exhibition, Gupta talkedabout this issue when askedwhether blacklisted companieswill be allowed to participate. InFebruary 2014, when theDefExpo was held in Delhi, theDefence Ministry had decidedto keep 27 Indian and foreignfirms, including those facingCBI inquiries, out of exhibition.

Director of DefenceExhibition Organisation, WingCommander M D Singh, saidone such company

Finmeccanica is participating inthe event. In 2014, the DefenceMinistry had not allowedAgustaWestland’s parent com-pany Finmeccannica, whichwas under the scanner over theVVIP helicopter scam, alongwith some of its other groupcompanies.

As regards the forthcom-ing show, officials said US hasthe largest presence with 93 ofits companies followed by 71Russian firms, 46 from UK, 39from Germany, 28 each fromFrance and Israel, besidesothers.

In total 490 foreign defencefirms are attending the ninthedition of DefExpo as comparedto 369 in 2014. Among theIndian companies too, there hasbeen a significant jump. Whilein 2014, 256 domestic compa-nies took part, the figure isalready 540 this time.

���� 0�����&�8

The BJP on Wednesdaymade it clear that it has not

accepted any new conditionfrom the Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) and it was for itsleader Mehbooba Mufti totake a decision on forming theGovernment in J&K.

The restiveness within thePDP with some of its MLAs‘demanding’ an early revival ofthe Government in the Statemay have prompted Mehboobato resume dialogue with the BJPleadership and subsequentlymeet Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday, sources said.

The BJP’s assertion byGeneral Secretary RamMadhav came a day afterModi-Mehbooba meeting,leading to speculations aboutsome ‘new understanding’having been reached to breakthe two-and-a-half-month-long impasse. So far, the BJPhad been desisting from com-

menting on ‘the political aloof-ness’ of the PDP on the issueof continuing the coalitionGovernment in Jammu &Kashmir.

“We have not acceptedany new condition from thePDP,” Madhav, a party’spointsman in the State, toldPTI on Wednesday. The talksbetween Modi and Mehboobawere cordial during whichspecific issues were not dis-cussed, said Madhav, addingthat she also did not put upany condition during themeeting.

The alliance between thetwo parties had run into roughweather following the death ofChief Minister MuftiMohammad Sayeed as hisdaughter Mehbooba hadsought assurances from theCentre on certain politicaland economic issues close toher party’s agenda, includingthe transfer of NHPC powerstations to State and ‘softening’

of Armed Forces (SpecialPowers Act) in the State.Asked about prospects ofGovernment formation,Madhav said PDP has to makethe next move as he noted thatits legislature party is meetingon Thursday.

Madhav had also made itclear earlier that conditionscould be discussed only afterformation of the Governmentand not before it.

Finance Minister ArunJaitley has also maintainedwhile speaking at a functionon Tuesday that it was forMehbooba who has to decideon the issue. "The fact is thatthe PDP leader MehboobaMufti has to really make upher mind," Jailtey said.

Noting that the PDP andBJP are ideologically quite dis-tinct, Jaitley said, "Our supportbases are different, our corebeliefs may also be different.But then there was one com-monality that the people of

J&K threw up a hung verdict"."As far as the BJP is con-

cerned, we stand by the J&Kpackage which the PrimeMinister announced in toto.Every word will be imple-mented. Secondly, as far as theagenda for governance is con-cerned, between BJP and PDP,we are fully committed toagenda items we had agreedon," he said.

Meanwhile, Jammu andKashmir Governor NN Vohracalled PDP presidentMehbooba and State BJP unitchief Sat Pal Sharma for sep-

arate meetings on Friday todiscuss the Government for-mation even as the regionalparty is set to hold its cruciallegislature party meeting onThursday.

"Through separate com-munications, the Governorhas intimated the president JKPDP and the State president ofthe BJP to meet him onFriday,” a Raj Bhawanspokesperson said in Jammu,as signs emerged for return ofthe PDP-BJP coalit ionGovernment after a prolongeddeadlock.

�)����%��������������4��������(!(��

���� 0�����&�8

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Wednesday issued

orders for attachment ofHimachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Virbhadra Singh’sassets worth nearly �8 crore,including a residential flat in anupscale locality here in con-nection with its money laun-dering probe case against himand others.

The agency issued a provi-sional attachment order underthe Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA), seiz-ing three LIC policies, twobank fixed deposits and twostoreys of a building at southDelhi’s Greater Kailash-Part I,sources said.

Official sources said theassets have been considered the"proceeds of crime" of moneylaundering and were created byusing alleged tainted funds.

The agency also issued pro-hibitory orders on these assetswhich are "valued at �7.93 crore," sources said.

An attachment order underPMLA is aimed at depriving theaccused from obtaining bene-fits of their alleged ill-gottenwealth and the accused partiescan appeal against the orderbefore the AdjudicatingAuthority of the said Act with-in 180 days.

ED has filed a case undercriminal provisions of thePMLA after taking cognisanceof a CBI FIR relating to allegedpossession of disproportionateassets against Singh, his wife

and others in September lastyear. It had also conductedsearches in 2015 in Delhi,Maharashtra and West Bengal.

While the CBI is probingthe allegation that Singh and hisfamily members allegedlyamassed assets worth �6.1 crorebetween 2009 and 2011 thatwere disproportionate to hisknown sources of income, whileserving as the Union Ministerof Steel, the ED is investigatingthe issue from the money laun-dering angle.

The CBI FIR had namedVirbhadra Singh, his wifePratibha Singh, LIC agentAnand Chauhan andChauhan’s brother CL Chauhanin the case registered under thePrevention of Corruption Act.

The CBI suspects that dur-ing the 2009-11 period, Singhallegedly invested �6.1 crore inlife insurance policies in his andhis family members’ namesthrough LIC agent Chauhanclaiming this money to be hisagricultural income.

It alleged that Singhattempted to legitimise thesame as agricultural income byfiling revised Income-Taxreturns in 2012. The CBI has said that agriculturalincome as claimed by Singh wasuntenable.

����������' � ��'���0#$��������%��'��7���

���� 0�����&�8

Outlining grievance redressal asone of the biggest aspects of

democracy, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Wednesdaydirected top officers to ensure thatall grievances, barring some excep-tions, are disposed of within 60days. He also called for integrationof all land records with Aadhaar atthe earliest.

He was chairing the 11th inter-action with officials through PRA-GATI — the ICT-based, Multi-modal Platform for Pro-ActiveGovernance and TimelyImplementation.

"The Prime Minister reviewedthe progress towards handling andresolution of public grievances.Urging the officers to further speedup the pace of work in this regard,he emphasised that grievance

redressal is one of the biggestaspects of democracy.

"He called for focused actionwithin the next one month, toensure that barring exceptions,grievances are disposed of within 60days. He reiterated his directive fortop officers to intervene in this mat-ter," a PMO release said.

Modi also reviewed the progressof vital infrastructure projects in theroad, railway, power, and oil sectors,spread over several states includingMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat,Maharashtra, Karnataka, UttarPradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.

Noting that there is now healthyprogress among States for invest-ment in terms of ease of doing busi-ness, the Prime Minister called forfurther concerted efforts to build onthe momentum, to create a positiveperception.

He also enquired about MissionMode projects under Digital India.

"Examining the progress ofDigitisation of Land Records, thePrime Minister called for integra-tion of all land records withAadhaar at the earliest. He empha-sised that this is extremely impor-tant to monitor the successfulimplementation of the PradhanMantri Fasal Bima Yojana," therelease said.

Reviewing the progress of pro-vision of citizen-centric serviceselectronically, the Prime Ministercalled for a comprehensive dis-trict-wise review across the coun-try of how many services are actu-ally being delivered online.

In the social sector, the PrimeMinister assessed the status of theWidow Pension Programme, andthe progress towards eradication of leprosy.

���������������,�6,)0���)7

In what is being seen as agame changer in bringing

down child mortality in thecountr y, Union HealthMinister JP Nadda will onSaturday launch the much-awaited indigenously-maderotavirus vaccine in Odisha. Itwill be free of cost under thenational programme to savekids below five years of agedying from rotavirus causingdiarrhea.

Besides Odisha, the vac-cine will be rolled out in thefirst phase in the UniversalImmunisation Programme(UIP) in Andhra Pradesh,Har yana and Himachal

Pradesh. Later on entire coun-try will be covered.

Around 3,45,286 childrensuffer from diarrhoea inOdisha every year of which2,669 infant deaths are due toRotavirus diarrhoea. TheCentre along with UNICEF,Bil l & Melinda Gates

Foundation and other stake-holders besides the StateGovernment is launching theRotavirus vaccination pro-gramme and an estimated8.53 lakh children between 0-1 year of age will be orallyadministered the vaccineannually.

The vaccine would beavailable at all Governmenthealth facilities for free to chil-dren at six, 10 and 14 weeksof age, said Nirmala Dei,director family welfare,Odisha Government. The ini-tiative is expected to savemore than lakh lives per yearfrom diarrhoea, said DrNirmala Dei, Director, FamilyPlanning OdishaGovernment.

She was speaking at amedia orientation programmeon the vaccine organised bythe UNICEF here on Tuesday.

Diarrhoea can turn seri-ous with high chance of dehy-dration and death if not treat-ed adequately in underfedchildren. Rotavirus-induceddiarrhoea accounts for 40 percent of hospitalisations among

children.Dr Hemanta Mishra from

State Health Department said,under UIP, around 8,53,000infants between 0-1 yearwould be targeted through26,000 immunisation sessionsmonthly in 30 districts in theState.

Umi Bae, Chief of FieldOff ice, Unicef-Odisha added, "It is important thatinformation about the avail-ability of the Rotavirus vac-cine reaches all mothers andcare givers in the state. Themedia, through responsiblereporting is a valuable partnerin getting the messages out ona consistent basis that not onlycreate demand but also dispel fears."

New Delhi: Naxal activitiescontinue to be a matter of con-cern with 35 districts in sevenStates being badly hit, accord-ing to the annual report of theHome Ministry for 2015-16.

"Left Wing Extremism(LWE) remains an area of con-cern for internal security of thecountry," the report submittedto Parliament said. While 106districts in 10 States are affect-ed by Maoist activities in vary-ing degrees, 35 districts in sevenstates are the most affected.

"CPI (Maoist) continues tobe the most potent among thevarious LWE outfits in thecountry and accounts for morethan 80 per cent of total LWE

violence incidents and resultantdeaths," the report said.

Referring to Jammu andKashmir, the Home Ministrysaid the State has been affect-ed by terrorist and secessionistviolence "sponsored and sup-ported" from across the borderfor more than two decades.

"Since the advent of mili-tancy in Jammu and Kashmir in1990, 13,921 civilians and 4,961security personnel have losttheir lives till 2015," it said.

The Home Ministry said theendeavour of the Government inJammu and Kashmir has beento proactively take suitable mea-sures by all security forces tosafeguard the borders from

cross-border terrorism and tocontain militancy.

"The priorities of theGovernment are to ensure thatthe democratic process is sus-tained and the primacy of civiladministration restored to effec-tively tackle the socio-econom-ic problems facing the people onaccount of the effects of pro-longed militancy in the State.

"And, also to ensure a sus-tained peace process and toprovide adequate opportunitiesto all sections of people in thestate who eschew violence toeffectively represent their viewpoints and to redress their gen-uine grievances," the annualreport said. PTI

�<����1�4�1��/��� 1� .��1��������11�������� ��� )�0'�

'���� &��)���� �� ���%���� �������> &���* (2 2�&� �� ��) ������

Agartala: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Wednesdayinaugurated by remote control100 MW power supply fromTripura’s Palatana toBangladesh.

At the same time,Bangladesh Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina provided 10GB Internet bandwidth toIndia and the entire pro-gramme was held throughvideo-conferencing.

"In this age of interdepen-dence, the two countries wouldfurther strengthen its ties andit is a significant day that bothare promoting the ways ofdevelopment," Modi said.

Hasina said "the relation

between the countries has fur-ther consolidated through thesupply of power and Internetbandwidth."

"Bangladesh wouldobserve its National Day onMarch 26 and I pay my respectto the memory of the Father ofthe Nation of Bangladesh. Theera of good relations beganduring the time of‘Bangabandhu’ between thetwo countries which still con-tinues," Modi said.

He was referring to‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh MujiburRahman, the founding leaderof Bangladesh and the father ofPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

PTI

����������� ���1+�4�%����44�5 ����������������%���������6����

(��� 2������ ?���&� 2�&� ���� ���%������������� ������ (<!$!6# @ ��� #06�-���&� ��������&�� )������ �� (��!��%�$�%����� ��& 6����� #�)����������� ��?�� ���� �� 3�&���&��

���� 0�����&�8

Pakistan High Comm-issioner Abdul Basit said

his Government is keen tohave normal ties with India onthe basis of mutual respect andinterest. Speaking on the occa-sion of 76th anniversary ofPakistan Day on Wednesdayhe also called for resolution ofall outstanding issues, includ-ing the Kashmir dispute, toensure peace and prosperity.

Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar was theguest of honour at the event.

"Pakistan wants to have anormal relationship with Indiaon the basis of mutual respect

and mutual interest. This wasnecessary not only for pro-moting bilateral cooperativerelations but also regionalintegration. It was also neces-sary to resolve all our prob-lems, especially the Jammu &Kashmir dispute so as to putour relations on the irre-versible trajectory of peaceand prosperity," Basit said.The High Commissioneradded cooperative relationswere also needed to addressmany common challengesincluding climate change andpoverty.

Basit mentioned ChinaPakistan economic corridorvery important for Pakistan as

it aspires to be regional hub.The reception held at the

Pak High Commission wasalso attended by, Kashmiriseperatists leaders like SASGeelani and Umar Mirwaiz.Several politicians cuttingacross party lines were alsopresent. Pakistan Women’scricket team also attended thereception. Defending the invi-tation to Hurriyat Conferenceleaders for the Pakistan Daycelebrations, Basit said, "Theyhave been attending the recep-tion for years and Pakistan didnot see any issue in it."

Basit also condemnedBrussels explosions and saidthere can’t be any justification

for actions of terrorists.Talking about the upcomingNuclear Security Summit inWashington, Basit saidPakistan being a nuclearpower has an important role toplay and expressed the hopethat international communitywill work together and ensurenuclear security in all itsaspects and without any dis-crimination.

He described the proposedvisit of a five-member investi-gation team of Pakistan toprobe the Pathankot terrorattack as a positive develop-ment and hoped they will beable to do their work productively.

)��H)7�)��/���,5+�8���G0��70��!�����/)0�,%�/���5K.�+)�.):����8���/���+�

)00G60����80�/G/G#����7%��G7���8&&�,�8�+&���0/��#����G0�&%!�)��H)7�)�

/���):�0�)�HG7�:G��70)0���8��G0��70��!�,�/���0�,5+�)0��+�+!

���)7��H6&&%��G��8//���/G):�0�)�8/��������)��):7����G0

=8������"<���1����>� � �7���� �0�����?@78��$'�9��)�$��1-��'��":9�("��

� 8/�.8&&��J !333�.8��)006)&&%!�;���8&�����7%HG67��806/��

� &�)�80:��)6���GH�60��7(H8�����8&����)/��

� ),G6/� #J�&).����8&�7�0)7���G�+8/)&8���)006)&&%

:���9���'�";��<-��)��)!�"

(�"������ ���� 0���������� !-&�� 7���� ���� '�%������� 2������ (�"���1�%�&�"� &���� (�"����� �� ���-������ �� ��� (�"����� ���� 0��������� ��?�� ���� �� 3�&���&�� (6#

+ '�� ��� ������ -����� ����������8��� L�, ��

���� 0�����&�8

Urban DevelopmentMinister Venkaiah

Naidu on Wednesdayreleased guidelines forproviding "barrier-free"environment for theelderly and persons withdisability in Governmentand private buildings,saying the requirements of the two commu-nities need to be addressed.

The objective of issuing the guidelines isto provide easy accessibility and barrier-freeenvironment for the elderly and persons withdisabilities in public places and buildings, Naidu said.

"It will help in policy formulation for mak-ing cities inclusive where needs (of disabled andelderly persons) are addressed," he said whilereleasing a report containing the guidelines.

The report titled ‘Harmonised guidelinesand space standards for barrier free environ-ment for persons with disability and elderly per-sons’ was prepared by Urban DevelopmentMinistry.

The Union Minister said the guidelines willalso guide city authorities while consideringprojects or developing projects of urban designor public buildings.

Naidu said the guidelines will support andgive thrust to the ‘Accessible India Campaign’,which seeks to make transport, Governmentbuildings, tourist spots, airports, railway sta-tions and internet technology friendly for dif-ferently-abled people.

"The guidelines are in sync with the inter-national standards," he said. Provisions havealso been made for fitting retro and upgrad-ing of existing buildings to make them acces-sible to all sections, he said.

Naidu also released a ‘Handbook of UrbanStatistics’, which he described as the "the firstof its type for the Indian urban sector."

At present, data on various aspects ofurbanisation is brought out by different agen-cies and there is no compendium of statisticson urban development.

�������������%�������������5 ��������������

(65�8����59�745:�����

?�&&� �� ����� ���%��� %���� �� +&���� ���� �� ��%� "�&�

�;��� ����� � �� ����� � �������� � ����� ��� ����

�/��� ����� � �� ����� � �������� � ����� ��� ����

The People’s LiberationArmy has done it again.According to PTI,Chinese troops entered afew kilometres inside

the Indian territory in the Pangonglake area of Ladakh. A stand-offbetween the Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice and the PLA followed. “Theincident occurred on March 8when a platoon of at least 11 PLAmen led by a colonel-rank officercrossed over the Line of ActualControl at ‘Finger VIII’ Sirijap-I areaclose to the Pangong lake”, said PTI.

The Chinese soldiers camewith four vehicles and reached5.5km deep inside India’s territory.

Indian sources told the newsagency that the Chinese soldierswere “engaged and countered” byan ITBP patrol. The confrontationnevertheless lasted for a few hours“after which the situation gotdefused and the other side(Chinese) retreated”. Apparently,China has constructed a road up toFinger-IV, also falling under Sirijaparea on the banks of the lake.

The Chinese Government wasnot pleased: They blamed theIndian media which has “repeated-ly hyped up similar incidents, cit-ing information from unnamedsources”. While admitting that therewere divergences over the border,especially over the LAC, it said“both China and India are wellaware of it”. Beijing added that inthis case there was “no evidence toprove India’s claim of the latest inci-dent. But Indian media is inclinedto make a fuss over such issues, andoften use words like ‘transgression’or ‘incursion’”.

Around the same time, thepresence of PLA troops was spot-ted near a forward post, oppositeNowgam sector, a major route formilitants to sneak into Kashmir val-ley from Pakistan-occupiedKashmir. Lu Kong, the ChineseForeign Ministry spokesman, didnot deny it; he stated with a straightface: “I have not heard about theincident you mentioned.”

About Ladakh intrusions, hetoo blamed the Indian media:“There is no such a thing as bordercrossing. Some media twisted thefact and hyped up the China-Indiaboundary question.”

A Ministry of Defence sourcenonetheless told India Today that‘intrusions’ have lately increased inthe vicinity of the Pangong lake andChumur area in Ladakh. “Therewere at least 11 incidents of Chineseinfiltration last year; in three monthsthis year, there already has been 16cases of transgression”, it said, andthis despite an effective BorderDefence Cooperation Agreement

and the setting up two more bor-der personnel meeting points inDaulat Beg Oldi in Ladakh andKibithu in Arunachal Pradesh.

To understand what is happen-ing on India’s borders, it is neces-sary to read the latest speech ofPresident Xi Jinping, who is also theChairman of the all-powerfulCentral Military Commission.During the President’s ritual visit tothe PLA delegation during theNational People’s Congress, Xiaffirmed that the PLA’s futurehinges on innovation and reform,but he also told the Generals “toturn cutting-edge military technol-ogy into real combat capacity”,and urged it to be “proactive incombat readiness”. What does‘proactive’ mean? It is a question thatIndia should ask Beijing.

Xi gave a partial explanation: “Apre-emptive attitude toward mili-tary affairs is needed... the militaryneeds to plan and act in advanceand establish unique advantages insome key fields.” Plan and act inadvance, is probably what is hap-pening in Ladakh and in PoK.

The PLA, under ChairmanXi’s command, does not want theborders with India to slip into a rou-

tine; in other words, the bordershould be kept ‘alive’, notwith-standing what the spokesman of theforeign ministry may say.

During his speech at the NPC,Xi not only requested the PLA touphold political integrity, supportthe reforms and the rule of law, buthe also urged the Generals tomaintain the military’s combatreadiness. Xi is aware that it is thislack of ‘combat readiness’, which hasplagued the Chinese defence forcesfor decades. Another way to be‘proactive’ is to be innovative.

The Global Times, the ChineseCommunist Party mouthpiece,quoted Gong Fangbin, a professorat the PLA’s National DefenceUniversity, as saying that “onlywhen a nation takes the lead in mil-itary technology, can it take a lead-ing role on the world stage, whichis why China’s leaders have high-lighted theoretical and technolog-ical innovation as the key to upgrad-ing the country’s military andnational defence”.

The professor added:“Technology plays a decisive role inwhether a country will win or losea battle… The realisation of theChinese Dream is based on a

strong nation and a strong military,which must rely on powerful andadvanced technology.”

Major General Xu Guangyu, asenior consultant of the ChinaArms Control and DisarmamentAssociation told The Global Times,“China’s strategy of active defencedoes not mean the country wouldonly be defensive. We shouldn’tignore the active strategy in it.”

Elaborating on Xi’s speech, Xuexplained: “The PLA must haveuniqueness in weapons, which is aninseparable part of building a strongmilitary. The PLA Army, Navy, AirForce, Rocket Force and StrategicSupport Force, must step up inno-vation to improve the hardware ofthe army to make sure that Chinaat least does not lag behind theworld level.”

During his encounter with thePLA delegation, Chairman Xi spokeof “pouring efforts into developingcutting edge defence technology,which has strategic significance”. Hesaid that the capability to innovatewill determine the future of theChinese Armed Forces. This meansthat the PLA not only requires aproactive attitude, but also needs todevelop high-tech weapons and‘Make in China’ in collaborationwith local manufacturing industry.This could lead to exports to ‘cost-conscious countries’ unable to buyarms from the US, Xi said.

During the NPC, 15 deputiesdelivered a speech; one of them wasMajor General Dai Shaoan, a seniormilitary intelligence officer whoserved as military attaché in Egypt.General Dai argued that with thePLA’s increasing normalised over-seas military operations includinginternational rescue, escort mission,port call to foreign countries andjoint military exercises with foreignmilitaries, China should set up “acomplete legal support system onoverseas military operations assoon as possible”. He proposed thatthe NPC passes a legislation todefine and legalise China’s overseasmilitary operations and “to makeclear the legal position, codes ofconduct, internal and external rela-tionship of the Chinese troops involved”. In other words, it’sto ‘legalise’ the Chinese militarypresence in Djibouti, Gwadar,Hambantota in Sri Lanka or in PoKto protect Chinese interests in thenorthern leg of the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor.

Defence Minister ManoharParrikar is scheduled to visit Chinanext month; he is supposed tofinalise the setting up of a hotlinebetween the Indian Army and thePLA. It will be an ideal occasion forfor India to be ‘proactive’ as well. /

������������� ��������8��� ������������� � ����������;3� ���������������������0�" �� ������� �������� �#����� �� �� �� �������� �"������� ���������������� ����� �������!� ����������������� �� ��� ""��������!

�������0�" ��+������������.� �� �+� � ���� � �G��F�������������'(�������� ����!�� �� ������ �� ������ ���������@� ���� � ����8��� #������-��!������ �� ������0�" �!� �� �� ������������� �������������- ������������ ��!������������������������������������#�/���8��� (0�" ����� �� �!����"������������� ��������� ���� ��� ���!������� �������������!� ��������� ��������������� ������������. � ���� ���,��$���#�/� �� ��!�8��� �� ���� ������������"� �����������������������������'����������� ��� ������������������(�������������������������������������������#�8������������!����" ��� �������������������� ��� �����������'�� ������ ���� ������#�/���� ���F"��$�������"��������������������"������������������������ ��� ���� ��("�������C���������� ������*"����������#�/ '�!������* "��!���� ���������������0�" �F����������� �������������� #���������!� ���� ������0�" �F������(

� ��� ��� ���� ""�����������8��� C� ������������� ��������� #�)" ����������(����� �����'�!������� �������-������������0�" �� ������8��� �� ����� ������ #�8� ��������(� �� �������. � ��������������������'�������� F��� ��� ���� ��������!��� ������ ������ ��� ������ � � ������ ������ ���� ������#�8����� '����-�� ���� ��!���������� ���!�����������'������������� ���� ��("������� �������#����� ���!����"��("������ ������'��������� ���0�" ���� ����������(���"��$���� �� ���������� �� ����� "��� �� �� �������#/�����������H���������������������� �� ���� ����������� �"� ������*������ M���� �(/���� ����� �� :������!�������������������������������0�" �! ���������*�����������0�" �����������

� ""���<� �������������?#�)������������� ����� ������������ ���������8��� ������"��"����������� ���9��������������� � ���0�" �#�,������"��$������������������� ���#�G����������� ��!�8��� � ��� ���� �� �������� ��� ���������"� �������0�" �!�������� ����������������"��-��������������� �������� ��� ��"���� �������#�

/����� �����������"��$����� �� ������� �������������� ��� ���C����� ���������� ��� �� ��"������+�'� � !��������������� �� ������������ ��!� ������ �� �������� ���������N� �� ���-������������� (0�" ��������#�/���� ����������"�����"� ������������� ����"���� ������������(��-���� ����������. �� ��������#�,������ �����-������������ �� ������ ����8��� (0�" �����!�0��������� ���������������������"� ���������������� ���#�/����� ������������������-(��������� ���"��$����� ��� ��� ���� �����0�" �!��"��-��������������� ����(���!�������������"����� ����������. � ���!� ������������������������"��"��(�("��"������ ��������������������������#

/��������� �'����,�����������/���� ���������'������������� ����L�G����!����������!�� ���������"��"��������'�������������� ��!�������� ""���� ���� ��"��� ��� ������ ���#�/������������ �������� ������������

���������'�� ������������ �� ��� ����������� ���!�����������"����#�/������'�� ������������ �������� �� ������+ �������0�-�����23;>!���������("�������������������� ������"����� ������� ��� ���� �������������#�,�������������� �� � �&�-���/������������� �����&�-���H�����������������!���"��� ��� ������������� ������������������"��"�� ����������+ ���� �'!�� � ��)����� !���������#�)���� ���������� ��������������� ����� ����"����������'(������"��-����* ��������'������� �� �'!�������� �������"�����������$�� �����-�������������*"��#�)� ����>33��������!�,������� ������������"��� "� ������������������������"�!���������������� � ������������8�� ���� �#� ������������ ��(� ���������������� -������������������� ���������������� �'� �����8�� ���� �������������������*" ����� �������� -������������ ��������#�����-��!� ��"������ �����-���� ���������-���� -�� �'����(�����!����� ����-��������������� �'� �� ���C����� ����� ������������ ����������� ������'��"� ���������������-�������"�����������-��� �#��-�������

���� '�� �����!�������"���� ������ ���� ����� ���#� /����� ���������������������������������������� �� ��� ������ ��� ������ �� �� ��#,��������� �����"����������� ���(����!��������������������������������� ������� ������:�-�����!������ '��� ������� ���� ��������#� /����*"� ���� ���� ��� ��������� ������ ���� �� "��-��� /���� �F�� �'�-�������������'���������� ������"��"�� ���#�)����� ��" ����� �� ���������� ���� ��� + ���� �'�#� 8������ ���!�������"���������'��������� ��� ���� ����� ���������(�����#�/���������F�" ����� ��������(��������������� ��� ��� ����� ""����@���'��#�/��� �'�� ����������������� "�������� ����� ��� ���� ��������� � ��� � �'� ��� ����� ���� ��(

���'�#�/������� ���"�� ��� ����� 1��������-�����'��!����� � �������(������������������' ������������ #�8� ����� ��������@������� ����������� ����(������������ ""�� �������"����������������-����� ��"������������������ ������"�����������������������(��������� �����#�

H��� ������("����� ��"���"���-�!������������������������ ��� ����� �"������������"�F������������(����� ����"��$��� ������ ��� ���� ������"��!�"��������-�� �������� ��- ������ � ������� �� �'��������"� ��������#/�������*��!�����"��������������� �������������!�� -���������� �������� ����������� ��� ���� 8�� ���� � ���� �� � ���� ������� ����� ��- ����#�/���� �� E,����������"��������"��������* "��#�/�� �!���������'����������'���,�������� ��������������+ ���� ����������� -����������������������������� ���!� ����������� ���������� �������������������� ���#�8��,�����!���"�����������"��� ���������!� ���-�������������������� �"�����-����� ������ �� � �������������������� � ����-���������������� �����������#�)�������������(������"����� ���������������(��������� ����!���������������"���������! �����������������"�������� "����������������#

�����2�������9��4������������ �����������������8������ �������

�� � ��<����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0

�������������� %'��$�'��������������.�0#�&��.� ��)���� �� 0������ �������� ����� ��� -�&�� ��� -��� ����&� -���� � -�� �� ��-���������93���� 7��4��� �� ��"��� ��� !�� �� -� )����%� ��& ����%���%�� ���� �� ������ �� ���� ��� ��� #�&��� ��&�

����������������������9�����������������'��6����)0'����8�' ��

�������������

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Insulting a nationalist” (March23). Freedom-fighter Bhagat Singhcontinues to inspire the youths byhis thoughts that were naturalistic.He vigorously fought for the free-dom of our country. It is reallyunfortunate that CongressMember of Parliament ShashiTharoor has compared BhagatSingh to Jawaharlal NehruUniversity Students Union presi-dent Kanhaiya Kumar. Tharoormust apologise for his remarks andthe Congress must take him to taskfor this unholy remark.

Sravana RamachandranOoty

������������

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Insulting a nationalist” (March 23).Congress leader Shashi Tharoor hasindulged in idle prattle by belittlingthe great freedom-fighter, BhagatSingh. Perhaps he was enamouredand elated by the presence ofCongress vice president RahulGandhi and a few others at the JNUcampus earlier.

But does Tharoor know thatJNU Students Union presidentKanhaiya Kumar had unabashed-

ly urinated on the campus road,that too in front of a girl student?Is it not atrocious to compareKanhaiya Kumar, a ‘road-sideleader’ with a great freedom-fight-er such as Bhagat Singh? May goodsense prevail on our leaders.

A Seshagiri RaoVia email

� ������

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Insulting a nationalist” (March 23).Congress MP Shashi Tharoor wasnot expected to stoop this low so asto compare Jawaharlal NehruStudents Union president KanhaiyaKumar to Bhagat Singh, a patriotwhose heart bled for our country.The Congress will deserve appre-ciation if it disowns Tharoor for thisunfair comparison.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

��������������

Sir — This refers to the article, “TheSheldon Pollock hold on Indianminds” (March 23) by RajeshSingh. The so-called Western indol-ogists cannot gauge the depth oflogic, depicted in our sacred texts.

Interpretations must be logicaland unbiased because the values

that the Indian society adheres tois a direct derivation from the shas-trartha, depicted in the Vedas, theUpanishads, and the Puranas. Thesacred texts have a mass effect onthe social mindset. If there is a sub-tle and devious change in the inter-pretation of these texts, it will havea direct bearing on the value systemof Indian society.

Prasanna Khakre Via web

������������

Sir — This refers to the article, “TheSheldon Pollock hold on Indianminds” (March 23) by RajeshSingh. The Sheldon Pollock sway onthe Indian minds was reducedconsiderably by the likes ofJawaharlal Nehru, who held that“we are not Hindus”, and that “ourlanguage is not Hindi”. The follow-ers later on went to other groups tosave ‘secularism’. Today, the samefollowers confess that even if some-body puts a knife on theirthroats,they shall not say ‘BharatMata ki jai’. Their aim was never tomake Indians proud, but to makethem ashamed of themselves.

Abhi Via web

555������� �������

4 4 � � % � � � � 4 � � � � �

�����������

�����7��/G�/�����8/G7

A��5���������11��1��7�4�� �� 1������1�� ��������� ���(1�5�/�1������5���������/���81�� >��/��� ��1/�����1� ���� ��

!B�������C �����$� >�

(���.�5� 1�5��� D/����5���� 1�� �1����. 1�:��1��/������1� 11��1���1����/��./1������ ���1��5��� �

$� ���� �������C&����E����.��

!�/�������� >��1/�/��8��/���1�1��>�����5��:�1�����������0��������0.�1���/��.�1�1���/� 1�8�� 1/����1�����������B���.�F�*�/�����

( ���� �� 1�00%�C$������#�/���

/G�60��7�/)0���)/�8�

�)++�080:�G080�8)F��,G7��7�!8/�8��0�����)7%�/G7�)��/���&)/��/�+�����GH���80���

+7��8��0/�N8580+80:!�)&�G�/����)87�)0�GH�/��)&&(+G��7H6&

��0/7)&��8&8/)7%�G��8��8G0

�6�59+4��

+�������� �#���������������������������/

���������������������� �!�<8�������� �� ��� ���?��� ����24�#�8� �����������"������������������������� ������ ����/� ����!� � ����� �������� �'�������C�������� ������� ���!��������������60

���� ��� � ���6+)�� �������������C�����������������������9 ���� �"�� ��" ��� ������(������� ,� � � ������ ���� � ������!� �"� �!5 � � �� ��0�����6��-�������������6�����"��������. �� �� �.� ��!������������"��� ��������� ����(������������ ��#�

. �� �� �.� �����"�� ����� ���� ���� ����C������ ������������*(���'����#�������������������� ���������*������ �������� ����!�������(��������" ����" ������� �� ��(8��� ��-��� �506����H���� ���D#

%�!��� ����/� ����!������� ���������� �� ������� �������-�����!�����-���� �����"�� ������������� �������!� ��� �����,� � ������ �� ��� <. �� �� � .� �� ��� ���� ���?#����� �� ����� ��'�� /� ����!� ���������������������������������� �������������� ���� ��� ���#

���"5"!���� ��

5��& ���� ����&-�" ���* ��55� 452$�2!�� ;<="��3>2=�

������������1���

)���������

The issue of plastic waste,wreaking havoc on thedelicate environment, is

a widespread global problemthat is yet to be countered bya conclusive solution. The ram-pant use of plastic in the pack-ing industry has also led to ani-mals and birds ingesting harm-ful plastic, leading to manyunfortunate casualties.

Seabirds, in particular, areexcellent indicators of marineecosystem health. Variousseabird species across the worldhave become symbolic of thedestruction unleashed by plas-tic pollution. According to astudy published by theProceedings of The NationalAcademy of Sciences, nearly 60per cent of all seabird specieshave already ingested plastic.

Over the past half century,the quantum of plastic contentin animals and birds has beenincreasing. In 1960, plastic wasfound in the stomachs of less

than five per cent of seabirds,but by 2010, this had risen to80 per cent; it is projected thatby 2050, as much as 99 per centof the world’s seabird specieswill be eating plastic. If the con-sumption goes on at the cur-rent rate and unless appropri-ate action is initiated, theweight of plastic clogging theworld’s oceans will exceed theweight of all fish by 2050.

There is an urgent need toadopt stringent measures thatwould not only restrict plas-tic use, but also tighten andimprove plastic waste man-agement. This in turn willundoubtedly benefit wildlife.Reduction of packaging, ban-ning single-use plastic itemsor charging an extra fee to usethem, and introducingdeposits for recyclable itemslike drink containers canimmensely help achieve desir-able results. The Europeanindustrial community has

already achieved improvedmanagement of plastic leadingto a clear reduction in thenumber of plastic items foundin seabirds in the North Sea.This is encouraging, as it sug-gests not only that the solu-tions are effective, but alsothat they work in a relativelyshort time.

On the home front, India’sefforts to grapple with plasticpollution have taken the shapeof the ban on the use of plasticbags. However, public responseto the ban and the enforcementof the same, by the authorities,has been feeble. Taking cogni-sance of the adverse effects ofplastic on health and the envi-ronment the Himachal PradeshHigh Court, in a recent ruling,has ordered a State-wide ban onthe sale of junk food in non-biodegradable packets.

The ban, effective fromApril 1, can help build ahealthy pace in taking mean-

ingful initiatives for a plastic-free environment.

A successful anti-plasticcampaign can be effective onlyif the regulatory mechanism isrobust and encompasses theentire gamut of plastic pollutionsphere. The Union Ministry ofEnvironment, Forests andClimate Change recentlyannounced the much-awaitedPlastic Waste ManagementRules. The rules will be imple-mented across the country inthe next six months.

However, the new rulesseem to be lacking the passionand the intensity needed totackle the rising menace ofplastic pollution. For instance,the new rules do not offer clar-ity about the fine amount to beimposed on plastic manufac-turers or how the monitoringsystem will be carried out topin-point the violators.

In addition, the rules alsolack uniformity in regulating

plastic use. For instance,though the focus on plasticcarry bags has resulted inincreasing the minimum thick-ness from 40 microns to 50microns, but there is no simi-lar specification on other formsof plastics such as the PETmineral water bottles.

The reassuring aspect ofthe new rules is that they aimto reduce 6,000 tonnes ofuncollected plastic waste gen-erated daily, by targeting man-ufacturers and industriesthrough the use of a newprinciple, called the ExtendedProducers’ Responsibility.

Under this law, industriesthat use plastic will have to bearthe onus and pay towards thecollection of plastics throughthe distribution system thatthey use for retailing theirproducts. Those who fail toabide by the norms will lose thecertification necessary to carryon with the operation.

Furthermore, producersand importers, who will intro-duce plastics in the market inthe form of carry bags, multi-layered plastic sachets or forpackaging purpose, need toestablish a system for collect-ing back the waste generated asa result of their products.

The Environment Ministrycould have done well to includethe informal sector of wastecollection. In Delhi alone thereare 150,000 informal wastecollectors who handle nearly1,088 tonnes of recyclablewaste everyday.

The informal sector inclu-sion could have resulted incomprehensive regulations andensured better confidence of allstakeholders. There is anurgent need for India to setglobal benchmark standards inplastic waste management anda refined and improved set ofplastic waste management rulescan help achieve that.

/����������������"� ����� ������"�� ��� �'��������������������� �'���"� ����"�������#�/���:�-������������ -������������������������������ ������������ �������������������������������������� ����� '��������

" ����������(���������#��

$"������=����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0

���������� ��� ��>"���&���������� ��2� �,����"��"��� �������0 ����

:� �"�)� �("��&�?������1���?@(�"���"��(

9�A�597����95�A4�

��������'�(� ����"����� ���2�' "�*�"���> �� ?�4�1����,������ '�� '����� '����� ��' "������2�� '�� ������� ����,�����?@� "*�"�(�"���"��:�74�74��5�8

6,*����,�� ��2� >�, �����'�� >�����"����*,"> >� �����,�' "����������>�����"��� ������&��'�"���������?�����

*����� �� >� '�������� "��"���� �"�������>� ��*����"�

,���� �:� � * +����"���*� "�

�" *���?�+��� �����" '������

��0�� �*� ����� �&��"���� ���� ���� � >?����

� >"���)�� �" ����,��7���,��� �)

*2�����"�� '����

��( ��6�5��7��( ��

When US PresidentBarack Obamatouched down in Cubathis past weekend, thevisit was hailed as a

“historic” occasion. However, only ina crassly superficial sense can the offi-cial state visit be viewed as historic.

Yes, Obama is the first Americanleader to visit the island in nearly 90years since President Calvin Coolidgein 1928. But otherwise, fundamental-ly, the relationship between the USand Cuba has not changed and isunlikely to do so in the foreseeablefuture. It is still a relationship ofunmitigated and criminal dominationby Washington, DC, towards itssouthern Caribbean neighbour.

Washington continues to imposea crushing trade embargo on theisland state and it continues to occu-py Cuban territory at GuantanamoBay — all in defiance of internation-al norms and Cuban sovereignty.This is tantamount to an imperialistbully having its boot planted firmly onthe neck of this impoverished nationof 11 million people. The boot gripmay be easing just a little. But whatis “historic” about that?

Obama and his family spent threedays in Cuba where he dined withsocialist President Raul Castro. TheWhite House had already ruled out ameeting with the elder Cuban states-man, Fidel, brother of Raul. It was FidelCastro who led the Cuban revolutionto victory in January 1959 against theUS-backed despot Fulgencio Batista.

Posters of Obama sniffing aCuban cigar are among the many fun

images adorning the capital Havana.No doubt the American President hasbeen given a rapturous reception bythe long-suffering, but famously gra-cious, people of Cuba.

Obama first announced a thawingof relations with the Communist-runisland more than a year ago. Since thenthere appears to be a quickening ofCuba’s access to the outside world. USSecretary of State John Kerry made alandmark visit last year when he over-saw the re-opening of the Americanembassy in Havana.

Earlier this month, the EuropeanUnion signed an accord with Cubaheralding “normalised relations”. (Whythe Europeans hadn’t the independenceand courage to maintain normal rela-tions with Cuba decades ago is ashameful admission of the EU’s sub-servience to the US, just as we see inthe ongoing EU sanctions againstRussia, evidently in compliance withWashington’s diktat.)

Last September, the RomanCatholic pontiff and the first fromSouth America, Pope Francis, coupleda trip to Cuba with a visit to the UnitedStates in a symbolic gesture of urgingreconciliation between the two ColdWar foes. Later this week, coincidingwith Obama’s itinerary, the RollingStones will give a free open-air concertin Havana on March 25.

So, is this Cuba beginning to rockand roll in a new era of freedom?Sadly, no. It is just more of the samemedia hype to feign that something“historic” is underway.

American Airlines is resuming adirect flight service to Cuba and a major

US-owned chain just this week signeda multi-million-dollar deal to developluxury hotels to tap the anticipated del-uge of tourists to the island.

However, US media coverage ofObama’s visit is the usual weird triumphof hype over reality. All the supposedchanges in bilateral relations do notalter the fact that the United Statesremains a reprehensible aggressortowards the nation of Cuba.

Obama has been talking about lift-ing the trade embargo against Cuba forthe past eight years since he was firstelected in 2008. He also made closingof the US torture centre at its giant mil-itary base in Guantanamo Bay a prelim-inary promise. But neither of thesedevelopments is anywhere close to hap-pening. The Republican-controlledCongress makes sure of that.

Despite all the hullabaloo, whatneeds to be kept in focus here is the USpolicy of imposing vicious sanctions onCuba. The embargo has been in placefor 54 years, from around the time thatObama was born. The official USrationale for this blockade was neveracceptable. So what if Cuba was social-ist, revolutionary and an ally of theSoviet Union? That’s no justification fora crippling trade embargo.

A quarter of a century after theSoviet Union dissolved and since thesupposed end of the Cold War,Washington’s policy of embargoingCuba can be seen for what it alwayswas from the outset: Blatant unilater-al aggression, which under interna-tional law is a violation of the UNCharter and a war crime.

Right now, the US not only slaps

punitive economic measures on Cuba,it also entitles itself to do the same onseveral other countries, includingRussia, Iran, North Korea andVenezuela. The political claims thatWashington invokes in each case tojustify its sanctions are dubious if notoutrightly fraudulent. In any case, itis completely unacceptable thatWashington is able to arrogate to itselfthe self-declared right to embargoother nations.

Cuba is a particularly lamentableexample of Washington’s bully-boybehaviour in the world. It is this impe-rialist behaviour that needs to beexposed, questioned, prosecuted andoverturned. Washington’s rogue con-duct is the primary source of worldconflict and the relentless threat of war.

President Obama, his WhiteHouse entourage and the fawning USmainstream media will of coursehype up the “historic” visit this week.Obama has got his eye vainly on his“presidential legacy” when he quits theOval Office at the end of this year,after serving two terms.

But the only thing historic aboutObama’s visit to Cuba is that it is agrotesque manipulation of publicrelations and reality. If the US was toremove its boot off the Cuban nation’sneck, then perhaps we could indulgein plaudits.

As things stand, Washington’s rela-tions with Cuba — as with any othercountry that dares to defy its hegemo-ny — is testimony to more despoticAmerican business-as-usual.

(Courtesy: Sputnik International)

������ �����'�������������� �'����%���"��)� �"�">�*� �

�� &����������� &�"� �������� '���" � >��.����

� ������ ����"���B� ������!�������������&��� ,���� ���" '" *��"2 ����� ���>���&��� ������&� ���, ��)�� �� ����� ��"�*� �� '�2 &���>��� ���,������* 0�*� �� '����&� ���� ���,����" ���'" *����& "��� '�,�� *� >�� � ����� ',�� >)� ����" �,����>"����� � ��"��������>��� '�,�� >)� �� '����,"�>������ ��,���� '�,�� >) "�� � ���"�& "��)� '�����> �?�

@��� ��������:"��2����� � ���"

�������4��������5���������1�/��)�������������1�� ����� �����������������!�����"����� "�������- ��:����� "�����������"������ ���"�����-�����- � ���������

%��!�, � �'�G� ������������6� +����������-���������� �������� ����D3��� ��#�,��� 1�� �����#�/���� ����"������������6�(��� ��� �� ��C�� �������1��������������� - � ������������ ����� ����C�� ��1��� ����!� ����������'�������������� ����������������)����)��

�47���6��(5

/����� �'�� ����1��� �������������1��"�����!���� ���(��"� ���� ����" �������#�)�-�� ����������������������"������ ��� ��� ��� �� �������� �� ����� �� ��� �� ����

��������������-��-�������� �������������� ���������� �!����� �� ����������������*���������#�/���� ��������������������� ������������������!���-���� ��!�� ��� ��A���"��(������"����� ��� ������!������������� �������(�������������'��� ���-����"���!� �����������-�� ������ �� � ������� �������� �������O� ������!���������� ����������'��!��������������� ���� ������"����� ������� ����������1������� ��������������#��

8����-���������1��"����� "�!��� �� �:��1��� ��!��������� �� ����� �������)��� ��� ���������������"����� (������������-������������������������������� ���5���!;D >!���������������������� �����������!������(�"� ����#8�� ����-������� �������������� ������ ���������������������������!�������'����������" ����!�������� "����+ '�� ����������������!� �������������������������� "����+ '�� ������������ ��������������#�8����������� ��"��� "�� �������� ������ ��������� ��'�"�����������������'������������(����������� ������������������� �-����������������#

�������� � ���"����� "�������� ���2332#�0��� ����� ���������������!�������������������� ����!�� �����"� ���� �!������ �����������������!��������� ��������"�99�����-������ �������������� "���������� ��� ""���������� ������"�������������@������!����������������������������!��� �(���� ��������� ����"!����(���� ������������"�������� ����������������� ������������-� ���#

/����� ��� ���������* "�������� �����������������C��������� ���� ����� ���� �� �:��1�#���-�� �������!�� �������������������!������������"� �� ����- ��:���1��������*�����������������������������������������������!� ��� � ����� �� � ������ � ��� 8��� � 8���� ��� �� �����1�)���*�#�8���� ��-���������� ��!����"����� "��� ��������!����� ������ ���!���������< ������� �����?���� ���"��*����<����!�� ����!�� �������� ���"��� ������������������������ ��(����� ��������'�O#?!���� ����� ����������� �������� ��������-�������#

G�����������1������� ��;!=4D�<�� �����9�����������?!,�� ���� �$��!���!���@����:���� � ��!�< �� �� �'������������������������" � ������������������������C�������������!������ �����������!���-���!���-���� �����������������#�/����� ��������� �������8��� F��� "� �!�������"��"���� -���� ��!������� ���� '�� ��� ��!� �"� �������� ������#�, ��� ����� -��� ������������ ���� -�������������-��!�"��������"� � ������������� ���� ������������������ ����� �(������������������ ��#?

%�!��������� �� ���� "����������� ������� #�)��:����"���!�</������!�������������!� ��������������� ����@� ���!������"�������������������������� �'����������������������� ��#%�!��� ������������������ ����������)� ��- �� ���*����#&���!�� ������ ��� �������"�������������� 9���������� ���� ����#�/��������� ���������!� ��������������"�#?

8���!���������!�������"�������� �:���1��� �� �-�����������$�������-��� ��� ���������������������@���"����������� ��"����� ������C�� �������!������* "���C������������(�1���������-���������� ���������������!���������� ���"�����(������ ��� - �� ��������@����� ������� ���� ������������� ��� ����� ��� �������� ���� ���-�- �� �������� �� ��� �������� ���" ���� �� �� ������ ��������#�

8����������� -�������� �������� ������P����� ��������������-���� ������� ������ ����� �� �������� ���#�:���!����-��!�� ��������������� �' ����-�������� ���� � ���!�� -�������� ��������������� ������ ������ ��� ����������������������� ����� ���"������"�������� �������� �$��"�-���� ��� ����� ���������-������������� ������� ���� �� ���9�����������#�,���������� ��������"���������-������� ������ �� ����( '��� ��������� ���"����� "���!�����*����-�����'�������� �� �����-���"�� �� ������!���� ��(� ���� ������ ��������#�

;5 (���&��� 7��" +-��� ���)����& -� ���� ��&� 2������ +-��� ��%�� �� �� ��%�� �� 1��� 2��� #����������� !�)�� �� ��%���� 0�-�� �� 2�� A>

��������� '�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 * ���C�

4'�4 ���� �>" &���/?3���"��� ���� ����D������������ ��� ���"���"��� �� "��& �� �����>" &���"��E)��'�����>� ,����&� ���"��* "������ "��0�)"� �> ���"��2� ��"� ������ � �"�����,���� �* 0�� �&����� *���"�' "*�

�45�5���(454���7��7�5�F�4���8

����: 0�" *� �����,�� �*������ >�����(2��� �4 ��

�*��> �� ����� ���?���������"�"����0�"��* �'���"� >

� *� ���)�* ��� '����*�"��"� � >�� "�� '��2�������, �"?�� �� � �">�

�*�� �*� ���" ��������� *� ���)��2���� >��, �"�������

��* ��� ���� '������ �"��

�5465�(454���7�7�F4A��7�����7�987�-�&#�0!�GG

���� 0�����&�8

Hero Cycles, the world’slargest bicycle manufactur-

er, has acquired majority stake inone of Sri Lanka’s leading bicy-cle manufacturers BSH Venturesfor an undisclosed sum,strengthening the company’smanufacturing presence in theIndian subcontinent. This is thethird major acquisition within sixmonths

The acquisition comes inline with the company’s aggres-sive intent to strength its globalpresence and to spruce up itsmanufacturing proficiency tofeed a rapidly rising globaldemand.

The acquiring of 60 percent stake in BSH Venturescomes within months of thecompany making significantacquisitions in UK-based AvocetSports and Firefox Bikes. WhileAvocet Sports was Hero Cycles’first overseas acquisition andmarked the company’s entryinto mass segment of Europeanbicycle market, the acquisition ofFirefox Bikes was a strategic

move to cement its position inthe fast-growing premium bicy-cling segment in India.

BSH Ventures is a Sri Lankabased export-oriented bicyclemanufacturing company locat-ed in the Biyagama Export Zonein Sri Lanka. With an acquisitionof a 60 percent stake in the com-pany has enabled Hero Cycles toactively build this facility as a keyhub for manufacturing its pre-mium bicycles to meet the glob-al demand, double up exports toAvocet and simultaneously feedthe ever growing demand forpremium bicycles to the SouthIndian market, given its geo-graphical proximity to Sri Lanka.

“This is a major strategicacquisition for us as we work toexpand our presence globally –both in terms of sales as well aspresence. Hero will further investinto ramping up the plant capac-ity in Sri Lanka to half a millionunits per year with clear planslaid out to fuel the domestic aswell as ever growing globaldemand,” opined Hero CyclesChairman & Managing DirectorPankaj Munjal.

This key acquisition willhelp Hero Cycles to increase itsshare in the international sales ofIndian bicycles companies toclose to 30 per cent.

Hero Cycles has beenaggressively driving growth byclocking a robust 11 per centgrowth in the Indian market.With the acquisition of ‘FirefoxBikes’ Hero Cycles now alsocommands dominance in thedouble-digit growing premiumsegment and continues to main-tain its dominance in the masssegment with over 45% share.

Incorporated in 1956, HeroCycles Limited is the largestbicycle manufacturer by volume

in the world. The company hasa manufacturing capacity of7.5 million bicycles per year,with its units in Ludhiana(Punjab), Bihta (Bihar) &Ghaziabad (UP). It has a high-ly integrated plant in Ludhianawhich produces 19,000 bicyclesevery day. It also manufacturesautomotive rims and variousother precision-engineered autocomponents.

Hero Cycles posted aturnover of around �3000 croresduring the financial year 2014-15 with a production of around5.5 million cycles. It is theleader in both the standardand specialist bicycle segmentsin India, with an overall marketshare of about 41 per cent. HeroCycles has been aggressively dri-ving growth by clocking arobust 11% growth in the Indianmarket.

With its recent announce-ment of entry in the Europeanmarket and acquisition ofFirefox in India and AvocetSports in UK, Hero Cycles aimsto grow by �8000 crore by2018.

=���#5������>�������?���-����3����-=�;������ �����������Beleaguered liquor

baron Vijay Mallya onWednesday announced he willretire as Chairman of SanofiIndia and will not seek reelec-tion as a director of the drugmaker, nearly a month after hesigned a sweetheart deal withDiageo to step down asChairman of United SpiritsLtd.

Mallya, who has been theChairman of the drug makerformerly known as HoeschtPharmaceuticals, for over 32years and served over 42 yearsas director, gave the similarreason of wanting to spendmore time in England closer tohis children as he did whileagreeing to step down fromUSL chairmanship, for hisdecision.

In a letter to the Board ofDirectors of Sanofi India,Mallya wrote, “Having been adirector of your company forover 42 years and Chairman ofthe board for over 32 years, Ihave decided it is time for meto retire without resorting tothe ‘first-in, last out formula’.

He further said: “I havedecided to step down pro-gressively from my responsi-

bilities and therefore will notbe seeking as a director at theforthcoming AGM at the endof April 2016.”

Elaborating reasons for hismove, Mallya said: “As you areaware, I celebrated my 60thbirthday and I am spendingmore time in England closer tomy children, it is also thecompany’s Diamond jubileewhich marks two importantmilestones.”

Reacting the Mallya’s letter,Sanofi India said its Board,which met today accepted hisdecision. “C o n s e q u e n t l y,Mallya will cease to be aDirector and Chairman of theBoard of Directors of SanofiIndia Ltd at the conclusion ofthe company’s AGM,” the com-

pany said in a BSE filing.The company said it will

seek approval to appoint AdityaNarayan and Usha Thorat asIndependent Directors for aterm of five years each fromApril 30, 2016.

Mallya left the countryearlier this month amid con-tinuing efforts by banks torecover dues totalling over�9,000 crore of unpaid loansand interest owed by ground-ed Kingfisher Airlines.

He has been summoned byEnforcement Directorate (ED)to make a personal appearancebefore its investigating officerin Mumbai on April 2 in con-nection with its money laun-dering probe in the over � 900crore IDBI loan fraud case. Hehas sought more time from theagency to present himself on alater date instead of the sched-uled time of March 18.

Last month, Mallya signedan agreement with Diageo underwhich he agreed to step down asChairman of United Spirits inreturn for which he was to bepaid $75 million, out of which$40 million was paid immedi-ately and the balance to be paidover a period of five years. ���

5������������ �0'��� ���'��������,�����������3�4���#���������� ���00)8

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Wednesday said it hasattached �4.5 crore worthof properties belongingto R Subramanian, pro-moter and managingdirector of SubhikshaTrading Services.

The company ownedt he Subhi ksha re t a i lchain network.

In a statement issuedhere, the ED said theC ent ra l Bure au ofInvestigation (CBI) hasc h a r g e s h e e t e dSubramanian fordef rauding B ank ofBaroda to the tune of�77 crore.

The ED had taken upinvestigation under theprov is ions of t hePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act, 2002.

According to the ED,its investigations revealedthat Subramanian, man-ag ing d i rec tor ofSubhiksha Trading, hadavailed term loan andcash credit totalling �77crore in 2007 for settingup the Subhiksha chainof stores.

9!��������-����3�������4�������������

��������Sales of listed non-financial private companiescontinued to decline in thethird quarter of this fiscal forthe aggregate level and man-ufacturing mainly due to fallin petroleum products andiron and steel industr y,according to the RBI data.

Net profit, however, grewby 15.9 per cent in the thirdquarter this fiscal against 9.9per cent in the previous quar-ter, the RBI data releasedON Wednesday showed.

RBI said the data is basedon abridged financial resultsof 2,736 listed non-govern-ment non-financial compa-nies.

“Among the sectors, netprofit showed a significantimprovement for the manu-facturing sector, contractedfor the services (Non-IT)sector and deceleratedsharply for the IT sector,” RBIsaid while releasing the dataon ‘Performance of thePrivate Corporate BusinessSector’ during the third quar-

ter of 2015-16.It said that contraction in

sales continued in the thirdquarter for the aggregate leveland manufacturing sector,primarily driven by the con-tract ion in ‘PetroleumProducts’ and ‘Iron & Steel’industry”.

Further, year-on-yearsales growth of the IT sectorand services (other than IT)sector moderated in October-December.

On the expenditure front,expenses in raw material con-

tinued to contract.“Y-o-Y growth rate of

staff costs increased for the ITsector and the services (otherthan IT) sector,” RBI said.

Also, cost of raw materi-als to sales ratio declined atthe aggregate level and in themanufacturing sector.

The data also revealedthat at the aggregate level,operating profit, which wasstagnant in third quarter ofthe last fiscal grew by 9 percent in third quarter of 2015-16.

As per the data, operatingprofit growth for the manu-facturing sector improved to11.7 per cent from a con-traction of 3.1 per cent in thethird quarter of 2014-15.Though, it decelerated slight-ly for the Services (Non-IT)sector and sharply for the ITsector.

Further, year-on-yeargrowth in interest expensesdeclined significantly in thequarter at the aggregate leveland across all sectors.

“Debt servicing capacity

as measured by interest cov-erage rat io decl ined inQ3:2015-16 as compared withthe previous quarter.

“However, it showed mar-ginal improvement as com-pared with Q3:2014-15 at theaggregate level and in themanufacturing sector,” thedata said.

On pricing power thecompanies , RBI said itdecreased in October-December 2015-16 from thelevels observed in the previ-ous quarter for the aggregatelevel, manufacturing and ITsectors.

However, it remainedhigher than the levelsobserved in the third quarterof the last fiscal for the aggre-gate level, manufacturing andservices (Non–IT) sectors.RBI also released the datarelated to the performance ofNon-Government Non-bank-ing Financial and Investment(NGNBF&I) companies(including chit fund/Kuri andmutual fund companies) for

2014-15.Financial income of the

select 23,293 NGNBF&Icompanies witnessed agrowth of 17.1 per cent in2014-15 (15.1 per cent in2013-14) mainly due to high-er interest income.

Total income increasedby 17.4 per cent during 2014-15 as against 13.1 per centincrease recorded in the pre-vious year.

On the liabilities side,share of short-term and long-term borrowings increasedduring 2014-15 as comparedto the previous year. Howevershareholders’ fund declinedgradually over the three yearsperiod -- 2012-13 to 2014-15.

On the assets side, shareof short-term loans andadvances along with currentinvestment increased during2014-15. The share of long-term loans and advances aswell as non-current invest-ment declined in 2014-15 ascompared to the previousyear. ���

����������$����������������������������:;/�-&,�����

����� 0�����&�8

Vo dafone to day to ldDelhi High Court that it

will file a reply by Friday tothe income tax department’sshow cause notice askingthe company why its 2011-12 financial records shouldnot be subjected to a specialaudit.

Vodafone’s submissioncame two days after thecourt, in a subtle warning,told the company that itwould be taking a risk if itdid not file a reply to the ITdepartment’s show causenotice of March 11.

In view of the submis-sion by Vodafone today, ab ench of jus t i ces SMura l idhar and VibhuBakhru disposed of the com-pany’s plea challenging theshow cause notice.

While disposing of thepetition, the bench said thatquestions of law raised in theplea are left open.

Vodafone also submittedthat if aggrieved by the orderpassed by the IT depart-ment, it will approach the

court. The governmenthad earlier told the courtthat by not responding to theshow cause notice, the com-pany was trying to delayt he ass essment pro cessbeyond the March 31 dead-line.

In its notice, the depart-ment had asked the compa-ny to show cause why its2011-12 financial recordsshould not be subjected tospecial audit to arrive at thetotal income for assessmentyear 2012-13.

In its plea challengingthis notice, Vodafone hasalso challenged the amend-ment to section 142(2A) ofIT Act that says the assess-ing officer can seek a specialaudit in certain circum-stances.

In its show cause notice,the IT department had said,“during course of assess-ment proceeding, the infor-mation and details askedvide various questionnairehave not been submitted tilldate and you yourself sub-mitting the reasons that dueto extreme voluminous ofrecords the specific infor-mation cannot be furnishedor requesting to grant somemore time to furnish detailswhich itself is concrete evi-dence t hat re cords ofassessee are voluminous andaccordingly need thoroughinvest igat ion by specia laudit.”

5����������������,!�������'%�����������/�3������� 0

���� 0�����&�8

Tata Motors on Wednesdaysaid workers at its Sanand

plant in Gujarat, where thecompany manufactures smallcar Nano, have called off theirover a month-long strike.

“Workmen have called offthe strike and resumed dutyfrom March 23, 2016 and nor-malcy has been restored at theSanand plant,” Tata Motorssaid in a BSE filing.

The company further saidSanand is one of its six plantsin India and manufacturesNano and the new hatchbackTiago, “being manufacturers ofthe complete range of CVsand a portfolio of PVs, this saidevent does not have a materi-al impact on the overall com-pany’s operation/performance”.

Last month, around 300workers at the plant had goneon flash strike to press for rein-statement of around 20 of theircolleagues who have been sus-pended for serious misconduct.

The Sanand plant, whichhas an annual productioncapacity of 2 lakh units, cur-rently rolls out compact hatch-back Nano. The auto makerwill also roll out its upcomingsmall car Tiago, earlier namedas Zica, from the same plant.

The company had said thatthere had been continued agi-tations for monetary increasesas well as protests against dis-ciplinary actions against thoseinstigating the workmen,resulting in serious threat tocompany personnel as well aslosses due to tampering.

Labour issues at theSanand facility surfaced at atime when a plant of one of itssubsidiaries -- Tata MarcopoloMotors plant in Dharwad,Karnataka was locked out tem-porarily following strike byworkmen over wage negotia-tions.

Tata Motors shares onWednesday ended 0.01 percent up at �376.95 apiece onBSE.

5��������������������������������/�!����#��� ����� )����),)�

Indian Inst itute ofManagement Ahmedabad

(IIM-A) has increased the feefor its flagship two-year post-graduate programme in man-agement (PGPM) from �18.5lakh to �19.5 lakh.

The new fee structurewill be applicable from the2016-18 batch, the institutesaid in a press release onWednesday.

“The IIMA Board hasapproved the increase of feesfor its two-year PGPM ...Theamount is cumulative fee forboth years, including tuition,academic support, accom-modation, basic health care,medical insurance, and alum-ni association membershipfee,” the press release said.

The institute stated thatthe increase is necessitated asthe institute’s costs have beenrising in step with inflation.It added that despite increase,IIM-A fees have “tended tolag inflation rate over thepast several years.”

“Taking 2009 as base,even with the proposedincrease, 2016-18 fee wouldbe 10 per cent lower in infla-tion adjusted terms com-pared to 2009-11fee...Although we continue todrive for efficiency, part ofthe cost increase is reflectedin fee increase,” the institutestated.

���� 0�����&�8

Budget carrier Spicejet onWednesday announced its

summer schedule with threenew routes and six more fre-quencies of its flight on somesectors.

The three new servicesare on the Mumbai-Udaipur,Tirupati-Vijayawada andVijayawada-Vishakhapatnamsectors effective April 16, theairline said in a statement,adding it will enhance fre-quencies between Delhi-Sr inagar, Hyderabad-Chennai, Delhi-Dharamshala , Chennai-Vishakhapatnam andHyderabad-Bengaluru fromMarch 27.

Recently the airline hasstarted connecting Tirupatifrom Mumbai, Delhi andAhmedabad apart f romDubai, Colombo andBangkok from Vijaywada andTirupati.

With these new services,

the airline will increase itsoperation to 306 daily flightsfrom 240 in the last summer.

To tap the rising leisure andbusiness travellers and consid-ering the tourist and commer-cial demand, it has increasedthe frequencies on the Delhi-Srinagar (2nd non-stop flight)Hyderabad-Chennai, (4th non-stop flight) and Hyderabad-Bengaluru (4th direct flight)among others.

The airline has alsoincreased its seating capacity onvarious domestic routes bychanging planes, from the 78-seater Bombardier Q400s toBoeing 737s which can carry186 passengers on the Pune-Goa and Delhi-Dehradun sec-tors.

The second largest low-cost carrier Spicejet operates293 daily flights to 40 destina-tions, 34 domestic and sixinternational with its 26Boeing 737NGs and twoAirbus A320s along with 14Bombardier Q-400s planes.

�����*����������%����'��������������������� �����'�����

,,#)���������������'���<)��������� ��8�������'�������

��� 0���� 0������ B 2������� ���� (��"�4 2��4��

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 * ���CC

1���2

;��%����� 5���� �� !������� ��& )������� C;5!(D� #( ;��%����� �������& � ������ �� �����E� ������ �� ��� ��"� ��)��9 0������ �� ���� ;-�� !� 0���������� (�� (5? <��� ���������& ��� ������9 F�� 0������� ����� ;��%������ (�� !��� : 6���� ��& (�� F0 (�� (���)����� 6�)���� ���� ���& ��� ������9 !�&��� �� ��� ��� �;5!( (�� ?��4� 8����� 5����� ��� ������ ��� �� �����)� �� ���& ����� �� ��� -����� ,������� �� ��� &����� ��)�-�� �)�� �&&��� �����E� ������ )�)���G #� )�%�&�& � )������ �� ������& �������� )������� �������������& ���� ��)��� �� ��� ��-4�� �� ��"� &������ ��& ���& ��� ��� �� ����� -����� ������ �����& �� �����E� ������9

02 �� ?80� 5���� :��� !����� ���������& ��� &����-����� �� )����& ���&-���� ���� ��� ������� �� ��)��������� ��)����� �� %����� ��& �� ���� �������� �� ���� ����� �� 3�&���&�� �� ?��%��� F����&���� (���� 5�-�������5���� 6���"�%�� &���� ��� ���-������ �� E(������ ;�����E �����%��9 02 �?80 �)���& ��� &����-����� �� ���)����� �� H��� 2��� !����� (���&���� ?��%��� 8�&��� 0��-9 ������ ��� '������ +���� �� ?��%��� 0����������2����� �9 '������ +����� ? 2����� ' C�<D� ?80 ��& 5 5�&��� 0$2I(<� '&������ B 05< )����)���&9

2������ �� ;-�� �%���)���� �� 3�&���&�� �������& ��� )�������) ���� 75?8 �� ��)��������� � %����� ��"��� ��& ���������������� �� ��" ��& ������ ��� %������ ������& �� �������� ��& ����)������� �� ����& ����� �� J>J� ;-�� 8��� 7�&��� C;87�D �� ��������9 75?8 ��� ����& �� &�%���) �� #��������� ��& 0������������ 6�������� C#06D (������� �572 �� ���-���� ������%� �)��������������� ��& ����� �� ��&�%�&��� �����)������� ��& �������& ��"�� ������ �� ����%���%� 3�- �))�������9 5)��"��� �� ���������� (�%��� (�"���� 1���� 5������ 2������ �� ;-�� �%���)���� B 2������ ���� � 5���� 7���� 2������� ���& K6���))������� ��& )������ &�%���)�& ���� ���) ��� ���� ��& ��&�%�&��� ;87� �� ����� ������%� ��)����������� �� ����� ���������� B����� ��������9 6�� 2�; �����& �� ��� ������ ��������%� -� ��� 2�; � ����� ��������� �� ��)�%� ��& �������� ����&���%����������� ��& �)�������9 6�� 2������ ���� ���%� �� ����� ���� ��� ��� J>J� ;87� ���� ���� �������� ���� 75?8 �� ���� ��"9L

6�� JA�& !����� $����� 2������ C!$2D �� 50+('� ��� �)�� -�&� �� (5'�� ��� ���& �� 50+(' 0��%������ 0����� ?�� ����9 0������� 50+('B 02 � <0M� <$ <�4��� ��& ���� $������ 50+('� ; 0���-��� �&&����& ��� $�%����� 0����� 2��-��9 F�� 0������� 50+('�?���� 5����� ��& ���� ���� �� �)��������%�� �� (5;� ��� ���� )����� �� ��� ������9 <$ <�4�� �� ��� �&&��� ������& ���� 50+(' ������-������� �� !�&��� �� (�-�� 5��� '���)��� ���� ���� -� �)�������� %�� ����9 6�� !�&��� ���� ��������� -� ������� �� #�&����� 8�%��'�����%�� ���� ���� �� ����� ����&� 2�&&�� ��& 5���� 8�%�� '�����%�� �� (5'�9 3���� ������������ ��� &������� 0���-�� ������& ���� ����������� %����� �� (�-�� 5��� !�&��� �� �� ���� �� �&��� #���������� �� (5; ��)������ ��& ���� (�-�� 5��� �&� �� )�����������9

��������� ���������� �������)�����������(�������������8��� ��7���������� ����� ������"���������������������)"���!�2323����������""��������"���������������,���8�������������#�8��� �� ���������������������� ��������������������������������"� ��� �� ���!��� ����'����� �����������#�H�����"������ ����� ����"������������������������� �� ���������"����������������"���������������� �� ��������� �������8�!�����������������8#��������� ���������������� ������� '�������������� ��������������"������ �������"��������"���������"��������@�������#�8��� �������������������-�����;33�"�������,��8������������������)"���!�23;J#�8��� �� � ��� �-���� ������� ����� ���������"� ������ "�����,��8����,���8������� ��" ������������ ��#�����@� ���$�"������� ��" ������������ ������������ �"���"��� "�������������������� ��������������������#�/����� �����������������������Q7���������R!�8��� �G��!� �$�-������#�/�����,���8������������!�G�����" ���������������@����������""������ ��������!������ ��,��8!��"������ �������������� -������������������������������ �: 9��������� ���#�G-�������� ��!����������"������ ����� -��������������� ���"��-����������������������������"���� �� ��������������������2334#�

���� 0�����&�8

Government on Wednesdaycleared a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) betweenIndia and the United ArabEmirates (UAE) to exploreopportunities for mobilisation ofup to $75 billion long-terminvestment in the NationalInvestment and InfrastructureFund (NIIF).

The Cabinet meetingchaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi gave an ex-postfacto approval for an MoUbetween India and the UAEsigned on February 11, tomobilise long-term investmentin the NIIF, Minister ofCommunications andInformation Technology RaviShankar Prasad said here.

Addressing media after themeeting, Prasad said "the jointstatement during the visit ofPrime Minister to the UAE inAugust 2015, mentioned theestablishment of UAE-IndiaInfrastructure Investment Fund,with the aim of reaching a tar-get of $75 billion to supportinvestment in India's plans forrapid expansion of next genera-

tion infrastructure, especially inrailways, ports, roads, airportsand industrial corridors andparks.”

The MoU will help establisha transparent and high-level

framework and collaborationplatform under which bothcountries intend to explore waysto facilitate and expand the par-ticipation of UAE's investmentinstitutions in appropriate infra-

structure projects and institu-tions in India including NIIF, hesaid. A joint working groupcomprising of the concernedrepresentatives of both partieswould take forward cooperationunder this MoU and to discussand agree the terms, principlesand criteria jointly, he added.

The objective of NIIF is tomaximise economic impactmainly through infrastructuredevelopment in commerciallyviable projects, both greenfieldand brownfield, including stalledprojects, NIIF would solicit equi-ty participation from strategicanchor partners, he said.

The Government inDecember had set up the�40,000 crore NIIF, which is aninvestment vehicle for fundingcommercially viable green-field, brownfield and stalledprojects. While the govern-ment will invest �20,000 crorein NIIF, another similaramount will come from privateinvestors. NIIF has alreadybeen established as a CategoryII Alternate Investment Funds(AIF) as per the regulations ofthe Securities and ExchangeBoard of India.

�����44���������2<"94������@A.������������)��$

NEW DELHI: Government onWednesday approved agree-ments signed between theMinistry of Skill Development andEntrepreneurship and the UAEfor cooperation in skill develop-ment and recognition of qualifi-cations.

“The Union Cabinet hasgiven its ex-post-facto approval tothe Letter of Intent signed onFebruary 10, 2016, between theMinistry of Skill Developmentand Entrepreneurship of Indiaand the National QualificationsAuthority of UAE,” an officialstatement said. “The Letter ofIntent will strengthen relationsbetween the two countries andpave the way for bilateral coop-eration between the two countries

on skill development and recog-nition of qualifications,” the state-ment said. Govt also approvedsigning of a MoU betweenMinistry of Skill Development andEntrepreneurship of India and theNational Qualifications Authorityof the United Arab Emirates(UAE) for cooperation in skilldevelopment and recognition ofqualifications.

“The MoU will pave theway for bilateral cooperationbetween the two countries onskill development and recog-nition of qualifications. Alsothe MoU will facilitate work-force mobility, skill develop-ment and placement of youthin overseas jobs in UAE,” thestatement said. PNS

0��������8��� (6)���'�����-���"��� ������

�� � 0�����&�8

The Ahmedabad-baseddrug firm Torrent Pharma

is seeking enabling approvalsfrom its shareholders to raise�10,500 crore through issue ofshares and other securities tofund its growth activity.

The board of the compa-ny, at a meeting held onWednesday, has decided toobtain enabling approvalsfrom shareholders to issueequity “including convertiblebonds/debentures throughqualified institutional place-ment (QIP) or depositoryreceipts or any other modes

for an amount not exceeding�3,000 crore.”

The company is also

seeking enabling approvalfor borrowing through issueof “unsecured/securedredeemable non-convertibledebentures/bonds by way ofprivate placement for anamount not exceeding�7,500 crore, subject to over-a l l borrowing l imits of�10,000 crore.”

“It was prudent to haverequisite enabling approvals inplace for meeting the fundrequirements for its organicand inorganic growth, capitalexpenditure, working capital,refinancing the existing bor-rowings and other corporatepurposes,” the company said.

8/��)��+76��0/�/G��)��7�M68�8/���0),&80:

)++7G�)&��80�+&)���HG7���/80:�/���H60�

7�M687���0/��HG7�8/�G7:)08��)0��80G7:)08�

:7G�/�!��)+8/)&�N+�0�8/67�!��G7.80:�)+8/)&!�7�H80)0�80:�/���N8�/80:�,G77G�80:��)0�

G/��7��G7+G7)/�+67+G����

���� 0�����&�8

Finance Minister Arun Jaitleywill embark on a 4-day visit

to Australia on March 28, dur-ing which he will address aMake in India conference andmeet CEOs of multinationalcompanies.

“One of the main objectivesof the finance minister’s visit toAustralia is to attract foreigninvestment in India, especiallyin infrastructure sector, amongothers,” a finance ministrystatement said. On the first legof his official visit in Sydney, theminister will have an interactivesession at SP Jain School ofGlobal Management and inau-gurate the Sydney branch ofUnion Bank of India. He willalso meet with Julie Bishop,Minister for Foreign Affairs.

On March 30, Jaitley willaddress the 'Make in India' con-ference in Sydney and hold asession with prominent CEOsof Australia. He will then havea bilateral meeting with ScottMorrison, MP, Treasurer, fol-lowed by an interaction withthe Indian community. InCanberra on March 31, theminister is slated to meetSenator Mathias Cormann,Minister for Finance, and PeterVergese, Foreign Secretary.

*����������������������������#���'�<7

���� 0�����&�8

The revenue department onWednesday asked taxpayers

to file correct details of interestreceived from term depositsfor the assessment year 2014-15on or before March 31, while fil-ing their Income Tax returns(ITRs).

The Central Board of DirectTaxes has also asked theassessees to revise their ITRs forassessment years 2014-15 and2015-16 if the return alreadyfiled does not include taxableinterest income.

“Tax payers are advised tocollect correct details of inter-est received or credited and file

their return of income forassessment year 2014-15 (if notfiled already) on or beforeMarch 31, 2016, in case theirtotal income exceeds the max-imum amount not chargeable totax,” CBDT said.

It also advised assesses tofile return of income for assess-ment year 2015-16, by includ-

ing taxable interest income tillMarch 31, if any, and avoidpenalty U/s 271F.

CBDT said interest incomeshould be shown in the returnof income even in cases whereForm 15G/15H has been filed ifthe earning is not exempt underSection 10 of the Income-TaxAct and the total income of the

person exceeds the maximumamount not chargeable to tax.

“Tax payers are advised tocollect correct details of inter-est received or credited andrevise their return of income forassessment year 2014-15/2015-16 if the return already fileddoes not include taxable inter-est income,” CBDT said.

It said that Form 26ASreflects only those payments onwhich tax has been deducted andit can be viewed by the individ-ual tax payer by logging on towww.Incometaxindiaefiling.Gov.In. CBDT has also advised tax pay-ers to contact Assessing Officer orthe toll-free number 1800-180-1961 for further details.

=������������������������������������ �����,!-$�.����"��"���0������ �� �����

� ""����������� '�� ��"����"����0��� "�"������� ��"�0��������"�"���" � '� � *��' "������*� ����"���C-�C3G��C3�C;��'�����"���" ��"����'����� ��� ��� �������.,���� ��"���

� � *�)������+9��

NEW DELHI:The foreign invest-ment promotion board at its meet-ing on April 5 will take up 16 FDIproposals, including that ofCholamandalam MS GeneralInsurance Co and IndianRotorcraft in defence sector. FIPB,chaired by the Economic AffairsSecretary, will also consider theproposal of Gulf Quarry GeneralTrading FZC which has soughtapproval for investment in anIndian company that is yet to beincorporated. It plans to establisha new factory in Amritsar forcrushing of gypsum rocks to makegypsum powder and boards. PNS

+,�&�����������>��+�,����������������?� ������

����� ,�8580:

Dismissing reports aboutIndia becoming the ‘new

growth engine of world econo-my’, Chinese state media onWednesday said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s economicreforms have achieved ‘littleprogress’ and asserted that theChinese economy was five timesbigger than the Indian economy.

Speculation that ‘the Indianeconomy will surpass that ofChina’ and ‘India will become anew engine for the world econ-omy’ are frequently heard andsome analysts even conjecturethat the Chinese model is infe-rior to that of India, an articlein state-run Global Times said.

“By hyping the Indian econ-omy's superiority, Indian offi-cials and the Western media areinstigating internationalinvestors to direct their capitalsfrom Beijing to New Delhi,

giving impetus to Indiangrowth,” the article said.

“However, such hype haslimited effects as profit-orient-ed investors try to lower theirtransaction costs as well,” itsaid. The article advised againstcomparing the India modelwith China model and suggest-ed that the two countries,should, rather learn from eachother's development experience.

“There is no fixed model forChina's development, thus it isimpossible to make compar-isons between Chinese andIndian models,” it said.

Talking about prime min-ister Modi's economic reforms,the article said: “Since he cameinto office as prime minister,Modi has boosted the moraleof the Indian economy.However, Modi’s economicreform has achieved littleprogress, which is known inthe international community.”

1��������������������������4����� �5��#�������44�

���� 0�����&�8

Indian firms have raised a stag-gering �46,000 crore from the

primary market route in first tenmonths of the current fiscal,mainly on account of robustfund mobilisation through initialpublic offerings. In comparison,companies had garnered �13,158crore in the April-January periodof 2014-15. Most of the fundshave been raised for expansionplans, to repay debt and for othergeneral corporate purposes.“During 2015–16, primary secu-rities market seems to have comeout of its lull. Both the total num-

ber of issues and the resourcesmobilised from the primary secu-rities market have gone up. IPOshave contributed to this perfor-mance more than public debtissues and rights issues,” capitalmarkets regulator Sebi noted.

Out of �46,014 crore raised dur-ing April-January period of the

ongoing financial year, �24,552crore have been mopped-upthrough debt and another �21,462crore via equities. Out of �46,014crore raised during April-Januaryperiod of the ongoing financialyear, �24,552 crore have beenmopped-up through debt andanother �21,462 crore via equities.

0 ������� �)����@>�)��������� ���� ���������)*���+A$�>NEW DELHI: Cabin crew

aboard the Air India One theofficial aircraft of the President,the Prime Minister and theVice-President will soon bewearing khadi garments to pro-mote adoption of the indige-nous fabric.

The Khadi GramodyogBhawan, under the Khadi andVillage Industries Commission(KVIC), has already secured anorder for the same. Whilefemale crew members will weara silk saree, their male coun-terparts will turn up withJodhpuri bandgala coats,trousers and jackets -- all madeup of khadi, the order said. PNS

"2��'�����%����%�3���������������

/������+� � ����'���� ����� ""��- ����� �����;3!>33������

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 & "���C�

:�6+���76��45:

�����1���������)��80:/G0

Donald Trump and HillaryClinton kept up their

march towards presidentialnomination by their respectiveparties, with both easily win-ning the Arizona primary onTuesday, even as their rivals TedCruz and Bernie Sanders pre-vailed in Utah. Sanders addi-tionally picked up Idaho, keep-ing alive his campaign, despiteClinton’s virtually unbeatabledelegate tally.

Given his aggressive stanceagainst illegal immigration,

Trump was widely predicted tocapture Arizona, the key win-ner-take-all State along theUS-Mexico border, just as Cruzwas expected to win the Utahcaucuses. Trump picked upArizona’s all 58 delegates andCruz collected Utah’s all 40 del-egates.

After this latest round,Trump leads the delegates

table with 738, followed byCruz’s 463 and John Kasich’s143. Trump still needs anoth-er 499 delegates to reach the

magic figure of 1,237 to clinchthe nomination.

Cruz, meanwhile, is garneringmore and more support from

the Republican establishment,with former Florida Governorand presidential hopeful JebBush endorsing the hardcoreSenator on Wednesday. Inrecent days, Cruz has won thebacking of 2012 Republicannominee Mitt Romney, SouthCarolina’s Indian-AmericanGovernor Nikki Haley andSenator Lindsey Graham.

Anxious to stop Trump’smarch, Bush came up with his

endorsement of Cruz, saying:“Ted is a consistent, principledconservative who has demon-strated the ability to appeal tovoters and win primary con-tests…For the sake of our party

and country, we must move toovercome the divisiveness andvulgarity Donald Trump hasbrought into the political arena,or we will certainly lose ourchance to defeat theDemocratic nominee andreverse President Obama’sfailed policies.”

In the backdrop of Tuesday’sterror attacks in Brussels,

some analysts believe thatTrump’s sharp rhetoric againstISIS and his strong advocacy oftorture of terror suspects maywell boost his prospects in theremaining primaries.

Just hours after the attack,Trump renewed his call for

torture methods to extract vitalinformation from terror sus-pects caught by the Belgianauthorities in recent days. He

went on to say that thatTuesday’s attacks could havebeen thwarted if tools likewaterboarding had been usedon Salah Abdeslam, the Parisattacks suspect who was caughtby the Belgian authorities lastweek.

Cruz does not support water-boarding, but he came up

with a call to step up policingof Muslim neighbourhoods inthe US in the wake of theBrussels attacks. And Trumpwasted no time to endorse hisrival’s suggestion.

On the Democratic side,Clinton dismissed the extreme

torture methods advocated byTrump as ineffective, com-menting: “We have to be

absolutely strong and smartand steady in how we respond.We’ve got to work this throughconsistent with our values.”

Speaking after her Arizonavictory, Clinton attacked

Trump, calling him a “dema-gogue” who was “inciting big-otry and violence”. “We live ina complex and dangerousworld, and we need a com-mander-in-chief who can pro-vide leadership that is strong,smart and above all, steady,” shesaid. Sanders, reflecting on theday’s results, said: “These deci-sive victories in Idaho andUtah give me confidence thatwe will continue to win majorvictories in the coming con-tests.”

���4����=���5�%���"�B��

������������.*+,,���������������)���� %4"��=��8�� ����"������� ������������� ������� �� �������;!233+ ������ �����'����������"����!������� ��� �'����� ���� ����"�����@����� ���-�(����� -�����-�������#�/����� ������������'���������� ����� ���������;>3��"��������-������" ��������'�!� �"������ ����� ��#

��������������������������-���������������� %5� ���� ��"��(:�-������������� �- ��������������������� ��� �������������+ ��� ����������� �!�������� � $����������-�������-������8�� ���� ��$�� ��������"!� �������� ��#�8�8�����9�������������������<+� ��������������?����� ��� ���� �!������������'�� -��� ��������������� ���������"������������������������� �������������������60���G(���������������� ������#

?�����1���������������1���@�������(�����"4��!<52!� )���������� -�������-����������������� � *�����-�����������������-�����C���$�������������� ������� �������� -�� '������ ���������S��� ���������������1#7��� ������� �6��-���������� �� �������)�����������6��� ���� ��������������"��������� ��<��� (� �����"��(�������?����������������"��-���������������'������ � *�����������-���������������������������������������-�������$���#�

1�� ��������� ������1����������������)%"�"��%=$% � � � ��� 1������ �������+������������0 $���7 9 '� ������������ ���� �������������������"������������ � ����� �!����������� �� ������� ������� �������-�������� ���6���= 3����������:�-������� ��������"�������+�����1�"����� �� ������#���*�(��(�� �(����0 $���� ������������������������������� � ���� ������������1��G""�������" ����-�� ���� �������������"�������'�����������(� ����� �(����;� � ��� ���-���"���,��� ���;��,�� �����"�����������+�����������1��"����� ��� �'� ����������� ����6���= 3�������#

����������� ��������)� ������������������ %4"��=� 8�� ���� ��������������������"��������, �'� �� �������� ����� �5����������� ���������������������� �� �������������� ������������ �������"� ����������� ��� �!����)��� ��#�/�������� ���������������� ��� �� -�����+ ������ ��'����!���� ���� �(� ���� �'��������G������ ��������'��"�������������� �������+ ������ �����'���#

������������������������8��)�-���������)"5�="!#%� ,�� ��F��+������� ����� ������������*����������"��0�" �������*�� ��������"��������� ��������� ������� ���- � ���� ��@� '��� ���� �#�/���4;(�� �(����"������� ��������������'����� �� ��������"���� ������-��� ��!���������������-�������� ���#���� ���������"����� ���������� ������������� �� ������� ���-�(� �������� ��-���!�����������������-������� ��@� '�(� �������� ������!��"���� ��� �� "�������"��"��� �����������������)"���23;>�� ��@� '�� ����������-���#�

����������������- ����������������������.,�!�5�#��"5�2!4� /���60���-�����%����� �� ��������� ��� ��(����������� �(��������������)"����;3� �� ����� ��������������"� �� �'��� �����)"����; ����.�� �#�8� ���G��������'��)���� ����� ���������� � �"�������������������������� ������������*����-�������� ����������������� ��� �����������9�����-����� ���������������� ������� �������� ����������!����6�� ���H� ���#

���9�"��'���"6 �� ���,������������P/��"�������� ������������������������"���

/��"���� ������S�"�������� ��1����/������91������New York: Raising the stakes in an already bitter battle, DonaldTrump threatened Ted Cruz’s wife in a cryptic tweet, sayinghe would “spill the beans” on her. Mr Trump appears to be ref-erencing an advertisement done by the Make AmericaAwesome Political Action Committee — not Mr Cruz’s cam-paign — that showed Melania Trump posing naked with thewords “Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady. Or you couldsupport Ted Cruz on Tuesday.” Mr Cruz responded shortly after,saying that his team had nothing to do with the ad. He warnedMr Trump that his wife is off-limits.

It is unclear exactly about what Mr Trump could “spill thebeans” on Mr Cruz’s wife, Heidi, but the Republican front-run-ner has shown he will strike opponents with low-blows. Heand Mr Cruz have engaged in increasingly aggressive rhetoricas the Republican field has been whittled down.

As seen in the above tweet, Mr Trump has taken to call-ing Mr Cruz “lyin’ Ted”, which Mr Cruz has encouraged allnon-Trump voters to coalesce around him.(The Independent)

����� 8�&)�),)�

President Mamnoon Hussainon Wednesday called

Kashmir the “jugular vein ofPakistan” even as he sought apeaceful resolution of the long-standing dispute withIndia over it.

“We are a peace lovingnation and want peaceful rela-tions with other nations, espe-cially our neighbours,”Hussain said in his address atthe Pakistan Day parade cer-emony where the country’sarmed forced showcased theirmilitary might.

He said Kashmir was the“jugular vein of Pakistan” but hiscountry would continue effortsfor the peaceful resolution of thelong-standing dispute. Hussainreiterated support for Kashmiripeople, saying, “Pakistan willcontinue to extend moral, polit-ical and diplomatic support tothe Kashmiri people in theirright to self-determination.”

Last year, Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif, while addressinga joint session of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s assembly inMuzaffarabad, had describedKashmir as his country’s “jugu-lar vein”. In 2014, Army ChiefGeneral Raheel Sharif had alsotermed Kashmir as the “jugu-lar vein” of Pakistan and saidthe issue should be resolved inaccordance with the wishesand aspirations of Kashmiris.

Hussain said that Pakistan’sdesire for “peaceful ties shouldnot be misconstrued as ourweakness”.

9��' ��������4�����������/�������������

� ��� ,6�0G��)87��

After bidding to turn thepage on the Cold War in

Cuba, President Barack Obamaarrived early on Wednesday inArgentina, where campaignershope he will acknowledge USbacking for its former dictatorship.

After calling for freedomand democracy as he stoodalongside the Cuba’sCommunist leaders, Obamahas touched down in anotherLatin American nation with ahistory of delicate relationswith Washington.

After a series of historic butat times awkward publicappearances with Cuba’s

Communist leader Raul Castro,Obama will meet Argentina’snew free market-friendlyPresident Mauricio Macri.

Tuesday’s deadly bombblasts in Brussels promptedArgentina to put its securityforces on high alert as it pre-pared for Obama’s visit.

Macri has reached out toWashington and other foreignpowers since taking office inDecember after years of com-bative relations under his left-ist predecessors.

But the delicate issue of USinvolvement in Latin America’sviolent history will rear itshead during his visit to BuenosAires -- after the Havana visittouched on sensitivities over

human rights in Cuba.Tomorrow morning

Obama will pay homage to vic-tims of the “dirty war” byArgentina’s dictators againstdissidents. Thursday marks the40th anniversary of the militarycoup that started the 1976-1983dictatorship. Declassified doc-uments have shown that top USofficials backed the coup.

Obama arrived in the weehours of today with First LadyMichelle Obama, their twodaughters and his mother inlaw and were received byForeign Minister SusanaMalcorra. Later in the day heholds talks with Macri, lays awreath at Buenos AiresMetropolitan Cathedral.

� ��� )��0

Saudi-led coalition air strikeshit an al-Qaeda training

camp in the network’s south-eastern Yemen stronghold onWednesday, killing and wound-ing dozens, Government officials in the region said.

“An Arab coalition air forcetargeted an Al-Qaeda trainingcamp, killing and woundingdozens” in Hajr, west ofHadramawt’s provincial capitalMukalla which has been heldby the jehadists since April.

Tribal sources in the areatold AFP that a series of airstrikes hit the camp and thatwounded militants were takento a hospital in Mukalla.

Witnesses there reportedseeing around nine vehiclescarrying casualties from thearea. Dozens of Al-Qaeda mil-itants were meanwhile seenrushing to the hospital to donateblood, according to residents.

Al-Qaeda and the IslamicState group have taken advan-tage of the conflict between therebels and coalition-backedloyalist forces to reinforce theirpresence in the south and eastof the country.

The Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the ArabianPeninsula, or AQAP, is classi-fied by the United States as thenetwork’s deadliest franchiseand had claimed attacks on theWest in the past.

�N��� &��& �� �� ���"���� !O!( �� H����

&�����.��:���/1��8��� �1���1���/�������1����>� 1� ��

����� ������1

China today accused the USof “instigating” the

Philippines to go for UN arbi-tration on the disputed SouthChina Sea issue, citing anAmerican diplomat’s remarksthat ruling by an internationaltribunal would be critical forthe “rules-based” future of the

region. “As Foreign MinisterWang Yi has said, thePhilippines’ action of forward-ing the arbitration case isunlawful, unfaithful and unrea-sonable,” Foreign MinistrySpokesperson Hua Chunyingtold a media briefing.

“Its stubbornness is clearlythe result of behind-the- scenesinstigation and political maneu-

vering. China is surely notgoing to humour such a polit-ical farce,” she said. Hua wasreacting to comments by DanielRussel, top US diplomat for EastAsia that the upcoming rulingby an international tribunal onthe arbitration case brought bythe Philippines would be acritical moment for the “rules-based” future of the region.

��� ����/��$������ /1�>�1� >������� �/�1��>��1���

4� �������8�8����"� ������ �'�:�� ������������/��'��� ��� �������

Three suspected Islamic Statemembers arrested in Turkey

were planning attacks onGermany’s diplomatic missions or schools in thecountry, which were closed lastweek over a terror threat,Turkish media reported onWednesday.

The three men — a Turk,an Iraqi and a Syrian — werearrested in Istanbul on Tuesdayby police acting on informationfrom both Turkey’s andGermany’s intelligence services,Hurriyet newspaper and thebroadcaster CNN-Turk report-ed.

The suspects, presented asmembers of an ISIS cell, areaccused of plotting attacks onGerman interests in Turkey, thereports said.

Last Thursday, Germanyclosed its embassy in Ankara, itsconsulate in Istanbul andGerman schools in both cities,with Foreign Minister

Frank-Walter Steinmeierciting “very serious” indicationsof planned attacks.

Turkish authorities hadcriticised the closures, sayingthey were unjustified.

Two days later, a Turkishalleged ISIS member blew him-self up on a busy shoppingstreet in Istanbul, killing threeIsraelis and an Iranian andinjuring dozens.

Tuesday’s arrests in Istanbulcome as police continue tohunt three Turkish suspectedmembers of an IS cell believedto be planning further attacksin crowded public places.

A further 10 suspected ISISmembers were captured yes-terday on Turkey’s border withSyria, one of whom was wear-ing an explosives vest, officialssaid. Two of those held insouthern Gaziantep province were injured in anexchange of gunfire withTurkish troops.

�����1���������)��80:/G0

Ahead of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit here

this month-end for the NuclearSecurity Summit, RepublicanCongressman George Holdinghas introduced a Bill in theHouse of Representatives thataims to elevate India’s status asa defence partner, bringing iton par with the US’s NATOallies on defence cooperationmatters.

“This legislation will ele-vate India’s status by shorten-ing the time required for thenotification of sale or export ofdefence articles from theUnited States to India. It willencourage more joint contin-gency planning and require theUS government review andassess India’s ability to executemilitary operations of mutualinterest,” Holding said.

The Bill, called US-IndiaDefence Technology andPartnership Act, will “buildupon the recent progress madeto strengthen our strategicpartnership by facilitating clos-er collaboration, promotinggreater defense trade, and byelevating India’s status”, saidHolding, who is also co-chairof House India Caucus.

“Together, the US andIndia face a range of sharedsecurity challenges and Ibelieve we should be encour-aging deeper defense ties andcloser cooperation betweenour countries,” said Holding,noting that his legislation will

cement a process alreadyunder way and will lay a foun-dation for future cooperationand growth.

The legislation, nowreferred to the HouseCommittee on Foreign Affairs,has been promptly hailed bythe US-India Business Councilas an effort that “recognizesIndia’s status as an essentialdefence partner of the UnitedStates and facilitates addi-tional co-production/co-development and trade”.

“This Bill not only putsIndia on par with other NATOallies in terms of the notifica-tion period, it sends a clear sig-nal to Washington and Delhithat defence cooperationshould be a top priority forboth governments,” USIBCpresident Mukesh Aghi said.

Holding’s legislation seeksto amend the US Arms ExportControl Action in order to for-malise India’s status for thepurpose of Congressionalnotifications as a major part-ner of equal status as America’streaty allies and closest part-ners.

The USIBC noted that theinitiative sends “an importantsignal to the Indian defenseestablishment that today’spolitical conditions are fun-damentally different from thepast”. It said the legislation alsoencourages actions necessaryto give a further fillip to bilat-eral defence trade, which hasshot up from $300 million toOver $14 billion over the past10 years.

;5 7��� �� ���%��� #�&��.������� �� ����� )����

Holi brings up images ofgujiyas dipped in chashni,thandai, bhang and of course

— colours. It is perhaps one day ofthe year when you don’t worryabout whether the colours wouldleave your clothes.

But the festivities are largelyover by noon and, if trends are to be

believed, people go out for a quiet din-ner — either with family or withfriends. And to add to the fervour ofthe occasion, restaurants in the cityand in top hotels have curated foodand beverages keeping colours inmind.

Taj Mahal Hotel is providing aHoli special weekened stay package.No Holi is complete without the tra-ditional drinks like the classic thandaior the refreshing badaam milk, hence,the guests will be delighted with thesespecial refreshments present at thehotel. They are also offering a discountof 10 per cent on the best available rateinclusive of a thoughtfully createdHoli inspired breakfast buffet attheir restaurant Machan. They also

have something special for their inhouse guests. A special celebratoryplatter of gujiya and organic colourswould be placed inside the rooms.

Hyatt Regency, Delhi has crafteda collection of exquisite Holi hampersat Sidewalk to add cheer to the festi-val of colours. “We also have set gifthampers available at �3,000 that com-prises of traditional Indian sweets likegulab jamun and gujiyas, raspberrymacrons, cashew nuts and strawber-ry cakes,” said Somnath Dey, execu-tive AM, F&B of the hotel.

Cafe Dalal Street has decoratedtheir restaurant with herbal coloursand will be welcoming their guestswith a teeka. “We also had a pre-holibash with dhol and popular tracks ofHoli,” said owner Vidit Gupta.

They will provide a holi specialpackage to their customers which willinclude drinks ranging from �400 to�1,000 and shots ranging from �195to �295. The restaurant had also curat-ed the food menu especially for Holi.“We have the tri-coloured steam idlicake with honey yoghurt dressing andtri-colour ravioli aglio oleo,” Guptainformed us.

On other hand, Molecule is pro-viding molecular phuchka shots. “Asthe name suggests, the dish gives a feelof a chemistry lab where chefs are pro-viding five different colors andflavours of water in a test tube along

with two syringe full of imly chutneyand mint chutney along with withhomemade puchkas presented withsmokey hues,” said Manish Sharma ,owner of the restaurant. He also toldus that the water accompanying thephuchkas are of five types, or in fivedifferent colours and flavours.

As Saurabh Chandna, executivedirector at Zerucco Kitchen and Barat Ashoka Hotel said, “We at Zeruccoare bringing special offering of Holicocktail delights starting 5.30 pm to12 am where people can dig into ourcolorful Zerucco Signatures at �1,999plus taxes only for six cocktails. We arealso placing colourful upholstery to gowith the theme of holi.”

Priyank Sukhija, owner ofTamasha, seemed very excited for thefestival and going with the theme Holi,had introduced holi colour feistacocktails. “The cocktails not onlypleases a person’s sense of taste, butalso delights sense of sight and aroma,”said Sukhija and added, “One canchoose from tamasha smash (smokedbourbon, lime, mint, bitters, ginger aleand apple caviar), which is a smokyand woody version of the classic mintjulep with added zingy ginger notesand apple-flavored pearls.”

Dharam Garam has curatedcolourful rotis with their main coursesignature dishes. According to owner

Umang Tewari, “Holi is the season tospread happiness. I am not letting thiscolour fervor go down till evening.Adding more fun side to the drinks,we are serving cocktails in baalti, sowhile you have played enough withwater in baalti’s in morning, we areready to serve you best of cocktails.”

Like Cafe Dalal Street, Imly, toowill welcome their guest by applyinggulaal. “In terms of food, we haveintroduced colourful chat platter,shahi gujiya and fruit Dessert accord-ing to the theme,” said Varun Puri,owner of the restaurant.

Aryan Singh and Vani Vats, own-ers of Jugaad Cafe and Bar, had organ-ised pre-Holi bash with Holi fusionmusic and had also decorated theirrestaurant with pichkaris and colours.

Talking about the packages whichthey are providing to their customers,they said, “We are offering a packageof �1,450. It is too economical andtherefore we say Yaha sabka Jugaadhai.” At their restaurant, there is onedrink which has been added to theirHoli special menu called Baba Ji Kibooti. “This is a thandai based cock-tail and mocktail which brings out thebest in you this Holi,” promised theowners.

So what are you waiting for? Takea pick and dig into some post colourcelebrations of your own.

���(��������!���� ���������� �������'������������� �����������1�����'���������� �����������""��������� �������"��" ������ ����-���H����� �����������"������� '������������T�����������1����������� ��� ���������'�� ��������� ������� '��!����� ��������� �������������!�����-����J31���'���� ��������������"��������������������������#������ ���

�-����������� �� ;3"����� �������+�������������8��� #��������"� '���� �/��

��� ������������!G��-� �� ��!�<�� ����� ����'������ �����1����1J3�!?������ ��#</����������!���� '���!� ��������������������������������� �����������#�81�����#�%��1��

�� ����� �����������'���#�8�� �� �'���� �������������������������!�S&��'� ���TF?�����!� �� ���������� ������������ ���������1��-�� �;33"������#

7!�����.������� & "2�&����4""'

6��0��������" �����"��� ����

����������� �� ��������������� ������� ������� �������������������� � �� � ��������������������� ���������#

,���� ����� ���������(���� ������ � ������ ���"������$��� ��������������� �����������������������(������� ����� ������ ��#�� ����!�������� ������ �������"��� ��)� ��, ���� �!� � ������������ ��������������� -������ ��� �������� ��������������� ��������#

��������1��������!�������"��" �������������������"���������"�������������� ��!�����������!�� ��������S�*����1������'����������*�-������������ '������)� $ �� #�8�� ��� �������"������ ����� �� �������� � ��������� ���8��� ��.� �����)� $ ��F����*#���� ��� ��������8��� �F��� �� ���� �F� ����� �����'���������#�<8� ����� ����������8��� �����'#�8� ������������� ����8������������ ���������#�� �F� ����� �����'���������!?�� �����"��#��$��� �#�/ �'���� ������������ ������������'��!����� �� ����!<8���� �� � ��������" ������������ �����������������8��������'��������!������8� �-�����*���� ���#?�

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 0�0�����C$

We just love the coloursthough, don’t we? The

music, the people, the energyare just some of the few thingswe can see happening through-out the country. There are sev-eral types of Holi that will beplayed throughout the month.Right from Dol Purnima inBengal, Warrior Holi in Punjabto the ‘Yaosang Festival’ cele-brated in Manipur. Feel free totake your pick.

����������������������Tough, colourful and full ofenergy! Just like its people,Punjab celebrates Holi in acomplete ‘warrior’ style. Thereis a display of physical strengthby the men of Punjab whereinthey exhibit kushti and othermartial arts and shout theirhearts out before the colourscome out in the evening. Thefestival is also known as theHola Mohalla or simply Hola.

����������������������������Thanks to many Bollywoodmovies, we have seen thisalmost impossible feat takingplace in various parts of thecountry. But it is in Haryana thatthis is more popular and playedwith more gusto. A humanpyramid is formed to break thepot of buttermilk hung high upin the streets as people throwwater on the contestants tobreak the pyramid.

)�������������������)������)�Kamana Habba is a uniquetype of Holi well known toKarnataka and is still celebrat-ed in Mysore. As per custom,boys would ‘steal’ logs and cowdung cakes from neighbours

during the day while girls stayedhome helping mothers makeholige which would be offeredto Kamadeva, the God of Love.Children will set the ‘stolengoods’ on fire and dance aroundit singing ‘kaamana kattige,Bheemana berani’

���)���������������Assamese folk celebrate a ver-sion of Holi which is known asPhakuwa and is similar to theHoli in Bihar and West Bengal.Holi here is a two day fest filledwith colours and songs. On thefirst day, clay huts are burnt,signifying the legend of ‘HolikaDahan’ and on the second day,there will be colour and folkmusic galore.

��������)����������������������You thought South Indiansdon’t really celebrate Holi,right? While it may not be aspopular as the festivities upnorth, the folks in AndhraPradesh celebrate it throughfolk songs by the Banjara tribe,dances and colours on thestreets. Keralaites call it theManjal kuli or ‘turmeric bath’

which they celebrate in theKonkani temple ofGosripuram Thirumala.

�����)�����������������This is a pretty kickass versionof the festival that is celebrat-ed in the Braj region of Indiawhich includes Mathura,Vrindavan, Barsana andNandgaon. Holi celebrationshere take place for over a monthand the main attraction here isthe Lath mar Holi of Barsana

where women from theNandegaon village beat up themen with lathis.

)�����������Pretty much leave it to themountain folk to blend cultureand music together to celebratea nationwide festival. Takingplace for over two months,Kumaoni Holi is celebrated invarious forms known asBaithaki Holi, Khadi Holi andMahila Holi.

�������������Known as the ‘Yaosang’ Festival,Manipur celebrates Holi like therest of us, but with local dancesand music. They begin celebra-tions on the full moon day ofLamda one will witness exoticdance numbers like the ThabalChongba, Rasalila and more.

��������������������������������1��A week-long celebration withsong, dance, music and drycolours everywhere. TheBengalis have a way of makingthis festival aesthetic, classyand fun at the same time.

1��������Need we say more? The partycapital of India really knowshow to spruce up this festivalfor everyone. In Goa, Holi isthe part of Shigmo spring fes-tival, one of the major festivalof Hindu’s in Goa.

����������������������1������

Following in the footstepsof the folks in Haryana, Holi inMaharashtra and Gujarat arenot too different.

6�� ���� ��� -��� ��)���& -�'�)���9��

Deepika Padukone: Holi isobviously colour… but forme it is also a festival whereyou can just be yourself!Holi is a festival that allowsus to really express our-selves. Holi is one festivalthat allows us to expressourselves through celebra-tion. Sometimes we need tolet go of our inhibitions andreconnect with friends. Andwhat better occasion to dothis than Holi! My earliestmemory of Holi is gettingtogether with my friends and throwing water balloonsfilled with color at each other! We would wake upas early as possible and get dressed for the day. I wouldapply coconut oil generously before stepping out sothat I can enjoy myself and not worry about dam-aging my skin or hair. My friends and I would gettogether, size up each other’s colour inventory. Thisyear I will be shooting for The Return Of Xander Cage.It’s a fun team! We are family and we will definitelytry and celebrate together!

Vidya Balan: I’m shootingfor K2 at the moment, sounfortunately I’m not goingto be celebrating Holi, unlesswe end up doing somethingon set. I have lovely child-hood memories of Holi. Iremember my father used tofill balloons with water andwe would tie them up. Thisused to start a few daysbefore Holi — the excitementand fun. As we grew up itbecame less about the bal-loons but more about thecolour, dancing and having a merry time. Over theyears what I’ve done before stepping out to play Holiis to oil my hair with a Coconut based hair oil. Evenif you don’t want your hair to look greasy, just slight-ly oil it and go out so that colours and dust don’t endup damaging your hair. Maybe after you have playedalso you can oil your hair so that the colour will comeoff easily.

Kriti Sanon: I love the fes-tival and will definitely playHoli khulke with lot of gulaaland love. I make sure to oilmy hair with a coconut-based hair oil. It protects myhair from the damage thatthe harsh Holi colours cando! I prefer tying my hairwhile playing Holi to avoidtangles and any kind of hairdamage. You can wear a sidebraid or a side ponytail tostyle it. I also apply coconutoil on my skin before playingHoli. It ensures that the colour doesn’t stick to myskin. And yes a good sleep after playing Holi is all Ineed to detox myself. Also, I think given the watersituation in the country people should adopt to play-ing Holi khulke with Gulaal than with water. I am def-initely going to do my bit this Holi, what about you.

Shraddha Kapoor – Thisyear I will have one off dayfrom my OK JAANU sched-ule so I will try and spendsome time with family. Onestand out Holi memory wasMr Bachchans Holi partythat my parents took me too,it was very memorable. Myfavorite Holi song currentlyis balam pichkari.

��1������� 2 �5���#2%<�H���� 4���"�:��� ���", '������� ;A2��"G������������� 2 �5���A����!<�7�"�� ""����������� ����� �����2�;A2���"����� ���"����� U��"�� ������������� ;A2���"�� ��� ������ � ;AE���"���������� �'�"�""�� 4AE��"��������� �� ������� ;A2��"����� ��� ;���"

������� H���"��" ������������!����-��������������� ������������������ ��� �#�)��������� ��� ���'�� ����� �����������#���-��������� �� "����� ������ ����

�H���������������*� ����������������������#���� ����#� ����������� ������-�������������� ���� ���#��:�� ����������� ����#�7������������� ��������� ��������!�"�������������� ���"�����������#� +� ��������������������������"�����#�)""��� ������� �������������!������������ ���"���������#�7��-���*� ������#�.��"������� ��-��������� �� "����#��7�"� ����"���������������� -��������� ������������ ����������#��� ������������"�������� ����������� ��������������������������������#�&���������� ������ ������-��"���'��������"������������ ����� �#

������ ��� F������ 5���� M��&� -�(��4�- $���� 8��� 7��� M��&�

7 � � 4 � �

�������455�(65�:�F48�

4�*���"�����, ������"������ '���������� �����������������? &�4�&���

�4 �� �0�"�� � '���� ����,��*�����"� ��4�� �����������"* �� ������*�

@%�7�5��45::76A�7

A'��3$����*( 7HH�����(�������������� ����������' ����� ���%%����&��%����!��"���� �� � ��������� ������""�����"�@���'������� �����-�� �������������" �������������#�,����7),)�/8 �)&&8. ���)758/) �8��7)

/����/)7)//7)�/8G0�)/��)7)��:)7)�!)+)7/�H7G��/���G&G67H6&�'( )�!�8&&�,���G�./)8&���8����8&&�,�

��7����80!�0G/�80�)�)7/808�:&)���,6/!

)��*+ )

�������3���������

� � � # � � � � � � 85'�����'���������� ����������8���������#��'�����&��������4������%��'� ��������������2

3��������������������'�������������8������'���������������������'����%��%��

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./60�0�����1��$2 C-

6�� ;���� 2������ �� 0������ !������ M��& ��& (�-�� ����-������ <�� F���� (����� �&&������ ����� ������ �� ��� ���� �������� �&� �� #�&���� ��& � 4���� ��)���� �� ������ )������� �� ���)����� �� ��&���� -�&��� �� ?�� ����

In a medal investiture ceremony held atRashtrapati Bhawan recently, the

President of India awarded the ShauryaChakra posthumously to Late Hira KumarJha, Second in Command, CRPF. He wasthe only paramilitary officer to be decoratedwith this rare honour on the occasion ofIndependence Day in 2015, He was con-ferred with this rare honour for makingsupreme sacrifice while displaying excep-tional leadership and raw courage in theface of grave adversity, in an operation con-ducted recently. In this operation, con-ducted on the inter-state borders of Biharand Jharkand in village Lakhari, under PSKhaira, district Jamui (Bihar), he succeededin apprehending a senior MaoistCommander.

Known for his fearless attitude anddaredevilry, Late Hira Kumar Jha hadaccounted for a number of successfuloperations in the past as well. Hailing fromRanchi district of Jharkhand he joinedCRPF in 1999 as an assistant commandant.The brave officer is survived by his wife anda son and a daughter. The medal wasreceived by his wife Binu Jha.

To promote energy efficiencyamongst households, Tata Power

Delhi Distribution is running aspecial rebate scheme on air condi-tioners for its customers in Northand North-West Delhi. Under thescheme, Tata Power DelhiDistribution customers mayexchange their non-star ACs for BEEfive star rated ACs or Inverter ACsand avail a discount of upto 50 percent on MRP for various models ofACs from leading Brands likeVoltas, Hitachi and Godrej.Customers can opt for either awindow or a split AC.

Besides providing dis-count on the marketprice, the schemewould also help con-sumers save upto �5,500 on theirelectricity bills annually dependingupon their usage, thereby offeringthem twin advantages.

The scheme will be valid fordomestic customers on the firstcome first serve basis. However, the

Scheme is applicable for the cus-tomers having an average monthlyconsumption of up to 1200 units permonth during summer period fromApril to September. Tata PowerDelhi Distribution consumers can

avail the scheme against theirCA numbers (one AC perCA Number) mentioned inthe electricity bills.

The scheme has beentargeted at house-holds as thedomestic sector

accounts for almost 50 per cent ofenergy consumption in Delhi andACs power consumption is a keycomponent of the same. It is esti-mated that five star rated ACs canhelp reduce electricity consumptionsharply.

Commenting on the scheme,Praveer Sinha, CEO and MD, TataPower Delhi Distribution said, “Asa responsible corporate entity, wehave been constantly advocating andincentivising energy conservationschemes for the benefit of customersand the city as a whole. OurDemand Side ManagementSchemes not only aim to reducepower consumption but also helpcustomers in reducing spending ontheir electricity bills. On successfulimplementation of the scheme, wewill be able to reduce 12.9 MW peakload during summer and save 11.6million unit annually. The schemewill also have a positive impact onthe environment as it will help bringdown carbon dioxide emissions intune of 4,300 tonnes.”

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi,today laid the foundation stone for

the Dr. Ambedkar National Memorial,to be built at 26, Alipur Road in Delhi,the place of Mahaparinirvan of Dr.Ambedkar.

The plaque for the foundation stonewas unveiled by the Prime Minister atVigyan Bhawan. Later, delivering thesixth Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Lecture,the Prime Minister categorically assert-ed that no changes will be made to theUnion Government's reservation poli-cy, so as to deprive the weaker sectionsof society, of their existing entitle-ments. He strongly condemned thosewho he said were spreading lies and mis-information in this regard. He recalledthat such misinformation had beenspread even when Vajpayee was thePrime Minister.

Recalling the contributions of Dr.Ambedkar, the Prime Minister said thatthe Dr. Ambedkar National Memorialwould soon become one of the iconicbuildings of Delhi, and declared that hewould himself inaugurate it onBabasaheb’s birthday on April 14 in2018.

The Prime Minister explained thatfive places were being developed as‘Panchteerth’ in honour of Ambedkar.These included his birthplace inMhow, the place in London where hestayed while studying in the UK,Deeksha Bhoomi in Nagpur,Mahaparinirvan Sthal in Delhi, andChaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai. In addi-tion, the Prime Minister also referredto the building for the AmbedkarFoundation being built at Janpath inNew Delhi.

Describing his contributions for

the nation, he said that while SardarPatel had united the country politically,Ambedkar had united it sociallythrough the Constitution.

He recalled how Ambedkar hadadvocated equal rights for women,even in an era where this idea facedstiff political opposition. He said thatit is an injustice to Ambedkar to limithis contributions to just the Dalits, oreven just to India. He said Ambedkarraised his voice for all those who suf-fered injustice, and had a globalstature, much like Martin Luther Kingin the US. Ambedkar was a Messiah forall labourers — not just Dalit labour-ers — the Prime Minister said, explain-ing how he had contributed to limit-ing working hours to eight.

Talking of recent policy initiativesand legislative measures, the PrimeMinister said the vision for develop-ing India’s maritime potential, andindeed for Inland Waterways, wasfirst conceived by Ambedkar. Similarly,the vision for providing electricity toall unconnected villages, which theUnion Government has promised by2018, is also a step towards fulfillingAmbedkar’s vision, the Prime Ministersaid.

The Prime Minister recalled hisrecent meetings and interactions withDalit Entrepreneurs, and the sugges-tions made by them. He said all thesesuggestions had been implemented bythe Union Government in the recentUnion Budget.

The Prime Minister said that theNational Agriculture Market, an e-plat-form for farmers to get the best pos-sible price for their produce, would belaunched later this year.

New Delhi Municipal Council and Lalit Kala Academy organ-ised an Eminent Artists Sculpture Art Camp at park in front

of Birla Mandir, which was inaugurated by Lalit Kala Academyadministrator, KK Mittal, and NDMC secretary Chanchal Yadav.Other officials of NDMC and Lalit Kala Academy were also pre-sent.

Objective behind this camp is to promote Art and Culturein the country. Senior and eminent artists have participated inthe camp. Sculptures produced during the camp shall be utilisedfor display, which will enhance the artistic look of urban land-scape of NDMC area. The sculpture produced shall be around10 feet and above and will be displayed at important roundaboutsand other such locations. University School of

Architecture and planning(USAP), IP University organ-ised a seminar on women’s safe-ty at its Dwarka campus. PSNRao, chairman of Delhi UrbanArt Commission inauguratedthe seminar. Vice chancellor ofthe University Anil K Tyagi andPro VC Pushpalata Tripathialso graced the occasion.According to the Dean USAPNeerja Lugani Sethi, the sem-inar was an attempt to findanswer to the burning question— can the design of publicspace address women’s safetyproperly?

From major city planningdecisions at a macro- scaledown to careful designing ofpublic interstitial spaces in thecity fabric — all factors thataffect women’s safety werelooked upon in to this seminar.Critical assessment of the inclu-sivity of the design of Delhi’spublic domain raised ques-tions about the very buildingculture of the city. The seminarshowcased all these myriadissues and attempted to gener-ate awareness about women’ssafety through an architectur-al lens. The seminar provideda platform for renowned archi-tects, planners, sociologistsand other experts on the sub-ject to make discourse and findway out to these burning issuesrelated to women’s safety.

To mark the “World TBDay”, secretary, New

Delhi Municipal Council(NDMC) Chanchal Yadavgave away prizes and certifi-cates to the winners of PosterMaking Competition on thetheme of TB eradication, inwhich as many as 150 stu-dents of fifth standard ofNDMC primary schools par-ticipated. She also distributedblankets and bed-sheets toover 150 TB patients at afunction held at NDMCChest Clinic at ShaheedBhagat Singh Marg in GoleMarket area here today.

BS Bhati, member,NDMC, director (MedicalServices), Dr. Ranbir Singhand other senior members ofthe medical fraternity werealso present on the occasion.

Spelling out the healthand medical facilities beingprovided by the NDMC tothe inhabitants of the NewDelhi area in particular andDelhiite’s in general,Secretary said that NDMCChest Clinic with the wellequipped modern technolo-gy is playing a pivotal role foreradicating the tuberculosis(TB) and a CBNATT – a TBdetector machine has beenintroduced recently, whichwould cater to the needs ofTB patients in a specializedinvestigation and the reportcan has be taken within aperiod of two hours.

With the advancementof medical science and latesttechnology Yadav said thatthe TB disease is no more ataboo and incurable disease.If the subscribed medicine

under the DOTS strategy istaken by the TB patient onregular basis he can get rid ofthe disease completely for-ever.

Bhati appreciated thesteps taken by NDMCtowards eradicating TB dis-ease and said that the NDMCshould continue to providebetter medical facilities to theresidents of NDMC area infuture also.

Singh informed that theNational Success CurableRate of TB is 85 per centwhile in NDMC Chest Clinicand other associated hospi-tal and dispensaries it was 95per cent in the year 2015. Hesaid that all out efforts arebeing made by HealthDepartment of NDMC so asto extend the medical facili-ties in such a way that theneed for setting up of moresuch TB Clinics does notarise in New Delhi area.This step is the first of its kindtaken by the NDMC in col-laboration with NGOs by vis-iting door-to-door for detect-ing TB cases and also coun-seling the patients to taketheir treatment in nearbyclinic without taken into anypersonal hesitation or thesocial stigma into their mind,he said.

Skits and songs based onanti-TB were also presentedby the schools children andnursing students of LadyHarding Medical Collegeand Safdarjung Hospital onthe occasion.

The theme of World TBDay for the year 2016 is “LetUnite to End TB”.

Amidst lots of bustle, crazy activitiesand precise pin-point planning,began the 6th edition of the So Delhi

Tweasure Hunt, presented by dineout. The So Delhi Tweasure Hunt is a fun

event where Delhiites get to solve locationclues, scramble around the venue doing funtasks to earn points, post about it on socialmedia platforms such as Twitter, hence thetweak in the name, and then compete forthe grand prizes.

There were flocks and flocks of par-ticipants pouring in for registrations, pick-ing up their Tweasure Hunt gear and get-ting ready to go hunt.

This mammoth event started off at beau-tiful, charming The Project in Hauz KhasVillage. Registrations were done, dossierswere handed out and the rules were simple— solve your clue, reach the store or restau-rant it leads you to, perform the spirited taskset at that location, have fun, take pictures,post about it on various social media plat-forms and move on to the next clue.

Hauz Khas Village was taken over bythe So Delhi Tweasure Hunters and vol-unteers spread out all over the long, wind-ing streets and the result was a tremendousamount of cheering, scrambling and lotsof fun. Here’s a sneak peek of some of thefun tasks that went on all over the village.

At Imperfecto, huge crowds cheered onparticipants as they tried to gobble as manygolgappas as possible to a ticking stopwatch!And the best part — all the golgappas wereactually full of vodka.

Over at Raasta, a spirited game ofTaboo went on! A snippet about the task- each team got two cards, each with a par-ticular word along with five other wordslisted on the card they couldn’t say! Thecardholder then tried and explain tohis/her team-mates what that word was, allwithout using the other five words listedas Taboo words on the card. Needless tosay, it was quite a hilarious riot!

“A very interactive, great experience hereat Raasta — there was such a different, ener-getic feel given off by the enthusiastic par-ticipants. We’d definitely love to do thisagain,” said Joy Singh, owner, Raasta.

One task that was certainly posh andswanky was the Limo Task. Believe it ornot, there was actually a sleek silver limoparked right in the Village, swarmedaround by Hunters taking selfies with it!

Task by fun task, the Hunters ran allaround Hauz Khas Village to reach the fin-ishing point for one last funky selfie afterwhich each of the participants were hand-ed out a So Delhi Goodie Bag!

Speaking of the Goodie Bags, they wereloaded with all manner of treats such as dis-count vouchers from places like Kinbuck2, Getafix, Boombox, Poster Gully andDulce Couture et al.

Plus, a packet of delicious OperaChips, Nutella Salt Cookies fromBombaykery, chocolates from SinfullyYours and really, the list goes on.

“The Tweasure Hunt is one eventwhere planning it is just as much fun as exe-cuting it! You get to experience and dis-cover a particular area of Delhi from awhole new perspective. We have everyonefrom six year olds to 60 year olds partici-pating making it a fun and memorable dayout for everyone,” said Digant Sharma,founder of So Delhi

A great event characterised by thrilledparticipants, the Tweasure Hunt finallycame to a close with a bang, ready to comeback again and be bigger and better!

So Delhi is the leading digital guide onDelhi NCR. They provide hand picked rec-ommendations of what to do in the city,explore hidden gems and provide insightsand tips — pretty much a bird's eye viewof everything the capital city has to offer!

They’ve recently come up with a greatnew app for Android-enabled smart-phones, you can download it here:http://so.city

-��44����������

+? ! 5'!<0�Recently held 6th Edition of the So Delhi TweasureHunt at Hauz Khas Village concluded with a bang

���"����� ��� &����.���� ���1G67����)0���8��

�)0):���0/��������0G/�G0&%�)8��/G7��6���+G��7

�G0�6�+/8G0�,6/)&�G���&+��6�/G��7�80�7��6�80:��+�0�80:G0�/��87��&��/78�8/%

,8&&� 1")�'$��=91'19)�

"�����3

0�������%�������

���56�/�/78���G67�,��/�/G7��/78�/�/����60��7�;33,6/�60HG7/60)/�&%��G��0)&8�+&)%���:GG���78�.�/�/G/).���0:&)0��/G�;E2C�)H:�)08�/)0F��7)��8��.�)0)����������������� ��

P� ����� ���������������������������8��� � ���2D��� � ���-�� ��

��������;!333���������/23�����'�

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 C3

P� 4 � � � � � � � � (

� 5 : � 4 � � � � 3 � � �

( ����/.�4�4����11���������� �� 1� /���/1������ �/���>�� /1�!� >���/��� ���.����1��

It was Deja Vu for the audienceat Feroz Shah Kotla on

Wednesday as England andAfghanistan were identical in theway they started their innings.After ten overs Afghanistan foundthemselves struggling at 60/6, thesame as England at that point inthe match.

But the eventual differencelied in Moeen Ali's unbeatenknock of 41 along with a 57-runpartnership between him andChris Jordan for the eighth wick-et, proving crucial for the Poms.

Despite being knocked out ofthe WorldT20, Afghanistanshowed great fighting spirit inchasing 143, but it was too muchto ask from a team after the top-order collapsed so badly.

Afghanistan came close tothe target, but England always hadthe upper hand courtesy of theirdisciplined bowling line-up.

Afghanistan's in-form openerMohammad Shehzad was not ableto reciprocate his performancefrom the qualifying matches andwas out for just four runs whenDavid Wiley trapped him legbefore the wicket in the first overitself giving Afghanistan teamand fans a minor heart attack.

England's new-ball partnersDavid Willey (2/23) and ChrisJordan (1/27) swung the ball intel-ligently to reduce the Afghans to13/3. They limped to 50 in the11th over, losing half their side inthe process and were in desperateneed of an innings like MoeenAli's. But, sadly, no one rose to the

task, though Shafiqullah (35) didbring them close but it wasn'tenough as they eventually lost by15 runs to England.

Earlier, England exhibitedaggression after winning the tossand taking first strike. But skipper

Eoin Morgan's decision proved tobackfire as opener Jason Roy (5)danced down the track to be cas-tled by left-arm spinner AmirHamza.

That brought the in-form manJoe Root in and he began to build

a decent partnership with JamesVince. But a collapse in the lastthree balls of the sixth over pushedthem on the backfoot. Vince (22)succumbed to the charms of off-spinner Mohammad Nabi, offer-ing a simple caught and bowledopportunity.

Morgan (0) followed Vinceback in the very next ball, shoul-dering arms to a bowl that camein. The slump turned into a crisis(12) when Root departed after anugly mix-up with Ben Stokes toreduce the Englishmen from 41/1to 42/4. They reached 50 in theeight over but never quite recov-ered from the shock and lost twomore wickets soon. The relative-ly grassy pitch didn't have anyvoodoo but England was simplynot able to apply themselves.

Jos Butler's (6) strong drivewas superbly caught by a pumped-up Nabi, diving at extra cover.Stokes (7) inside-edged a quickerflat-trajectoried delivery onto hisstumps and in the process landedon his bum, summing upEngland's poor effort with the bat.At 85/7 in 14.3 overs, the picturelooked bleak; Ali (41 not out) gaveEngland a fighting total, pullingthem past the 100-run mark in the18th over, launching into some bigshots in the penultimate over,scoring 25 off it.

He and fellow left-handerWilley (20 not out) stitched a 57-run stand in 5.3 overs, plundering55 of the last 30 deliveries to giveEngland a fighting chance.

Brief scoresEngland: 142/7 (Moeen Ali 41,Vince 22; Nabi 2/17, Rashid 2/17)beat Afg: 127/9 (Shafiqullah 35,Shinwari 22; Willey 2/23, Rashid2/18) by 15 runs.

������� �����������

��(

���"%( " +�5:���7�

B��( �--"#0�

���"%( " 5���9��4

5 � � �� � � � �

)���� ���������� ��F������-��������>JA=����������������������-�� ��

■ What have you learnedfrom Wednesday’s match?Firstly, I have learned about thewicket. Coming here and play-ing the T20 World Cup, I thinkthis was the type of wicketevery single one of us wasexpecting. We had spoken a lotabout the pitch and the execu-tion of our play was long offfrom the way. In the meantime,now me and the boys have to sitdown and need to strategise onthe right plan ahead of our nextgame against Sri Lanka we.■ Importance of Moeen Ali'sinnings towards the end andWiley's bowling performance?Moeen's importance was crucialand if it was not for him, wewould have never reached 142.He played according to the sit-uation and read the deliverieswell. We needed wickets upfront and Wiley provided uswith the same. He bowled wick-et to wicket and delivered the

goods for the team. We neededto set a decent score on theboard and targeted 120-125. Butthe 18th and the 19th overhelped us a long way. TheMoeen-David partnership wasvery important because chasing120 and 140 are very different.■ What do you make aboutyour dismissal?Well there is nothing to saymuch about that, isn't it? No, itwas simple error in judgementbut credit to Mohammad Nabifor bowling that delivery. Itwas a fantastic one.■ At 57/6, was the defeatagainst the Netherlands in thelast edition of World T20played in your mind and yourteammates?Well no there was no fear fac-tor in my mind. I believed in mybatting line-up and the boyskept my faith in them. We hadseen their qualifying gamesand we learned a lot about them.We knew it was an importantgame for and that we had to beatthem. ■ Concerned about team'sbatting performance?No. Not at all. Our strength isthat we bat deep. No concernabout our batting. It was a mat-ter of adapting to the wicket. Wehave been practicing it butcouldn't execute it today. Welearnt a lot about the wicket. Itwill help us against Sri Lanka inour next match.

�'�0��7��I

Bangladesh fast bowlerTaskin Ahmed's suspen-

sion from bowing in interna-tional cricket was onWednesday upheld by a judi-cial commissioner followinga review hearing.

The ICC said in a releasethat Taskin had "exercisedhis right to request an expe-

ditious review of his case by a judicial commis-sioner" after his suspension for an illegal bowl-ing action.

The hearing was conducted on Tuesday byMichael Beloff QC over a tele-conference call thatlasted several hours and in which numerous legalchallenges were made on behalf of the player.

Having carefully considered those argu-ments and the responses of the ICC, Mr Beloffhas now notified all parties concerned of his deci-sion that Taskin's suspension from bowling ininternational cricket shall be upheld and indicat-ed that a written reasoned decision will be pro-vided in due course.

( 6 � 4 6 5� � � ( � � �

India survived a mighty scare beforepulling off an incredible 1-run vic-tory over Bangladesh in a nerve-

wracking low-scoring thriller to keeptheir semi- final hopes alive in the ICCWorld T20, here on Wednesday.

Defending a modest 146, Indialooked down and out for the better partof the match before pulling their actstogether in the final two overs to restrictBangladesh to 145 for 9.

It was a piece of inspirational act byskipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whotook his right gloves off when HardikPandya came in to bowl the last deliv-ery with two runs required. Pandyabowled a fuller delivery wide offShuvagato Hom who missed it andDhoni caught it with only his inners on.

As Mustafizur started sprintingfrom the other end, the 34 plus Indianskipper beat his younger opponent in ashort sprint to whip off the bails to leadto an unbelievable finish as the entireChinnaswamy Stadium erupted in joy.

It was a perfect Holi gift for the fansby the Indian team, who now have fourpoints and are up in the second positionin the table with a match left.

Credit should also be given to JaspritBumrah, who bowled six magnificentdeliveries in the penultimate over whenBangladesh needed only 17 off 12 balls.

When Hardik Pandya (2/29) washanded the ball, pacers Ashish Nehra,Bumrah, and spinners Ravindra Jadeja(2/22) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/20in 4 overs) had already finished theirquota and Dhoni was hardpressed tochoose his options .

The dangerous Mahmudullah gotone off Pandya's first delivery andMushfiqur Rahim smacked the nextthrough covers for a boundary bring theequation down to 6 from four balls.

To everyone's horror Rahim thenplayed half scoop off the next ball on thepads which was just out of Dhoni's reachas equation became 2 off 3 balls. Off thenext ball, Rahim mistimed a pull shot toget out as it became 2 off 2 balls.

With Mahmudullah on strike, hemistimed a pull off another full tosswhich was pouched brilliantly by India'sbeat fielder Jadeja.

With 1 needed for tie and 2 to win,it was the inspirational Dhoni, who

brought smiles with his daredevilryand innovative thinking.

Ashwin was brought into the attackin the third over and he got Mithun Ali(1) with third delivery. The batsmenjumped out at a delivery that wasdropped short but did not get therequired power or elevation to clearHardik Pandya at long-on.

Jasprit Bumrah, who conceded aboundary off the first ball of theBangladesh chase had a horrible day inoffice when he dropped Tamim on 15when the left-hander miscued a sweepshot off Ashwin.

Bumrah standing at short fine legmissed a sitter. As if to rub salt to thewound, Sabbir Rahaman danced downthe track to deposit Ashwin into thestands.

Having understood that the ball isnot coming onto the bat, Tamim wascharging to reach to the pitch of thedeliveries.

A distraught Bumrah was thensmashed for 16 runs as if to add insult tothe injury. First a slash through the pointand then lofted over mid-on, followed bya deliberate thickish edge through third-man and a rasping cover drive.

It was a shooter from RavindraJadeja that kept low as Tamim (35, 32balls) gave the charge to miss it withDhoni completing the easiest of stump-ings.

Sabbir (26) was batting well but amoment's indiscretion off a wide Rainadelivery saw Dhoni effect a smartstumping (which was certainly the turn-ing point in the game).

Surprising everyone, MashrafeMortaza walked out leavingMahmudullah Riyadh in the pavilion.Mashrafe hoisted Raina for a straight six.In the next Pandya over, Shakib slashedone at deep point and Ashwin droppeda relatively easy catch.

Mashrafe's bravado did not last

long as he was bowled in Jadeja's nextover leaving Bangladesh at 87 for fourwith visions of a comeback.

But Shakib (22, 2x6), who hit a sixeach off Pandya and Jadeja as Indianfielders looked tense. Ashwin madeamends for a dropped catch with a nicedrifter of a delivery that spun enough totake edge as Raina took a simple catch.

Earlier, India's much vaunted battingline-up struggled on a slow and sluggishtrack as they just about managed anunimpressive 146/7 against a disci-plined Bangladesh attack after being putinto bat.

Almost all the Indian batsmenstruggled on a track where the ball wasnot coming onto the bat and Bangladeshislow bowlers made it even more diffi-cult with their controlled line andlength bowling.

Suresh Raina (30 off 23 balls) witha boundary and two sixes was the top-scorer but the contribution was not

enough looking at the total posted by thehosts.

Shikhar Dhawan (23), Virat Kohli(24) spent considerable time at the wick-et but could never force the pace.

Hardik Pandya (15) was showingpositive signs before a Soumya Sarkarstunner in the deep ended what couldhave been an impactful innings. YuvrajSingh (3) failed to gauge the pace of thewicket while skipper Mahendra SinghDhoni (13 no off 12 balls) concentrat-ed on the singles and doubles.

Skipper Mahsrafe Mortaza (0/22 in4 overs) and his deputy Shakib AlHasan (1/23 in 4 overs) used all theirexperience to keep things tight. Theywere ably supported by Shuvagato Hom(1/23 in 3 overs), Mahmudullah Riyadh(1/4 in 1 overs). Al Amin Hossain (2/37)got important wickets despite beingexpensive while Mustafizur Rahaman(2/34 in 4 overs) also went for some runsin the final overs.k

��(

���"%( " +�5:���7�

(+2( !? M'<F+;<* 1��)�� 7���� ���-���� ���� -������ ��� ���� �%� �� ���� ������� 7�����&���9 #�&�� ��� ��� ���� -� � ��9 (6#

6�'<' 5�' $+'5* 2���� !�� )���� � ���� �� ���� ������� !���������� (6#

"��2C����4����4%�������&�9���)�������-�-����)��� �F���� ��!����� ���� " ������������ ��� �� ������������������"��( ���"���������������#��)��� ��� ��"�������� -������ ��� ����� �����������,�������������������� �>JA=!���� ���� �'����������)��F��� ����������������������� ��� ���"���-�����������;E2!�������� -������ ��������������� ����� �� ������������ ������ ����"���;3���*���#������(���� ��"���������������9���

��/�� D//./�� /�� .����

��(

���"%( " +�5:���7�

Allrounder JP Duminyhas been ruled out of

South Africa's WT20match against WestIndies on Friday becauseof a hamstring injury.Duminy suffered a ham-string strain in their gameagainst Afghanistan. Theexact length for his recov-ery is unknown but SAare hopeful of having

him ready for their game against Sri Lanka.Scans confirmed the injury, team manager

Mohammed Moosajee said. Duminy has scored83 runs in two matches without being dismissed,and also took 1-31 in the loss to England. InDuminy's absence, South Africa will includeAaron Phangiso to complement the legspin ofImran Tahir with the wicket in Nagpur likely tosuit spinners. Duminy sustained the injury whenhe chased the third ball of Afghanistan's inningsand left the field before the opening over was com-pleted. “Brandon Jackson, our physio, will havehis work cut out for him. With these things youcan't really put down a time frame. It could be any-thing from seven to 14 days,” Moosajee said.

��0( �#�%"�����-$�A( �("$

M8H 6#2'* '�����&.� 7�� 5��"�� ���� �� ��� � "��� �������&�& �� ����& ���� )������ !���������� (6#

���� ��1��� -�����������"���������������

������������*����������/23��#�/���233����*�������

�/23�� ��������EJ������������2E�� ��

����������'�(������) '�*�����+,-�+./0 C;���HG60���)7&%�/�)/�/����8�.�/�)��:GG��/�)0���)/�����)���,��0+&)%80:�G0#��)0/���/G�,�)::7���8���)0��8/�+)8��GHH�HG7�6�#:G/�/G�.��+�+&)%80:�/����)����)%C�0���B�)&)0�1���)7/80�:6+/8&&)������������ � ����+ '�� �P

P

� � 7 � 6 5 � + � �����/1� �4/�!� >���/��J�5���9��4 %�4��$1���$���1/ K),;����

� 4 ( � 4 � � �

Buoyed by the thrilling win overarch-foes India, the Pakistan

women’s cricket team would look toscore a big victory over Bangladeshand stay in the hunt for a historicsemifinal berth in the ICC WorldTwenty20, here on Thursday.

The two-run win viaDuckworth/Lewis method overIndia was just the booster shot thatPakistan needed and they wouldlook to ensure a comfortable winover the Bangla women, who arealready out of contention after los-ing all their three matches so far.

Pakistan have never made theknockout stage of the ICC Women’sWorld T20, finishing seventh out of10 teams in the last edition, withwins over Ireland and Sri Lanka

during the competition. Since 2014,though, Pakistan managed impor-tant T20 series wins against SouthAfrica as well as Bangladesh.

While Pakistan’s bowling unithas given a good account of itself sofar, the batters will have to put upan improved performance.

They are already missing all-rounder Javeria Khan, who wasruled out of the tournament beforethe match against India with a bro-ken jaw, an injury caused by abouncer during their World T20opener against the West Indies.

In her absence, the onus would

be on the likes of Sidra Ameen,Bismah Maroof and Sana Mir, thecaptain, to add more punch to theteam’s batting.

Pakistan lost to West Indies byfour runs in their first game inChennai, but the spinners shook upthe opposition. Led by the left-armspin twins of Amin and Yousuf.

In the other match to beplayed at this venue on Thursday,Australia women will take on SriLanka.

6��7��67�

Ending days of speculation,Delhi District Cricket

Association (DDCA) onWednesday got the green signal tohost the WorldT20 semi-final clashwhich is scheduled for March 30thafter the cricket body got the nec-essary clearances to use the contro-versial RP Mehra block at the FerozShah Kotla stadium.

The semi-final match wasunder threat as the RP Mehrablock didn’t have all the certificates.DDCA was given an extendeddeadline till 2pm Wednesday to fur-

nish the clearance. The concernedblock has not been given therequired clearances by the munic-ipal authorities and theArchaeological Survey of India.

The clearance came after themeeting of DDCA officials andJustice Mudgal, the Supreme Courtappointed observer for the DelhiDistrict Cricket Association wasover here on Wednesday. Meetingwith Mudgal was attended by DDCAworking President Chetan Chauhan,Treasurer Ravinder Manchanda, andan ICC legal advisor.

“The semi-final will take placein Delhi as scheduled. We are goingahead with the preparations and theFeroz Shah Kotla will host the tie,”

Khanna (Vice-President of DDCA)said. “This will be a Holi gift forDelhiites,” he added smilingly.

Chetan Chauhan, President ofDelhi District Cricket Association,said, “On behalf of DDCA, I wouldlike to tell that we have got the clear-ance for RP Mehra block and to hostthe WorldT20 semi-final matchwhich is scheduled for March 30th.I would like to thank BCCI and ICCfor showing faith in us. There are 2,100 seats to be precise in this blockand now all the cricket lovers cancome on 30th and enjoy the match.”he told reporters here duringEngland-Afghanistan match atFeroz Shah Kotla stadium.

The tickets for the semi-final

match will go on sale on book-myshow.com from March 26th.

In a statement issued by SouthDelhi Municipal Corporation(SDMC), SDMC said, “As per theNational Capital Territory of DelhiLaws (Special Provisions) Act, 2007and amended in 2011 and 2014, thesaid structure (RP Mehra block) till31st December 2017. The said Actallows maintain status quo in respectof such unauthorized construc-tions. In view of above prima-facie,it appears that the RP Mehra blockis covered under the protection ofthe said Act. However, the depart-ment is seeking clarification fromthe Ministry of Urban Development,Govt. Of India. Till such time no

coercive action can be taken by theSDMC and the RP Mehra block canbe put to use.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the DDCAwithdrew its petition seeking adirection to South Delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC) to issue therequisite certificate for the block,which is at the centre of a contro-versy. The RP Mehra Block has notbeen used in the World T20 match-es that have taken place at the Kotlaso far. The ICC was concernedabout the prospect of the matchesbeing held at Kotla in front of emptystands, especially from the broadcastpoint of view. Prior to this, DDCA’sattempt to get relief from the DelhiHigh Court had failed.

Dejected Pakistan skipperShahid Afridi gave clear indi-cations that he would retire

from the shortest format after histeam’s campaign ends in the ongo-ing ICC World Twenty20.

After suffering a 22-run defeatto New Zealand in a crucial WorldT20 match here on Tuesday night,Afridi said the upcoming gameagainst Australia could be his last.“That (the match against Australia)could be my last,” Afridi said at thepost-match presentation ceremony.

The PCB had said that theboard had reached an understand-ing with Afridi that he will retireafter the tournament.

Disappointment was writ largeon Afridi’s face even as he congrat-ulated New Zealand.

“The bowlers bowled well in themiddle, we played well in the first sixbut after that we didn’t. We tried tohit the ball, tried to go for the bound-ary and we played a lot of dot balls.We still keep repeating the same mis-takes, every game we are making themistakes. We have to forget this gameand focus on Australia,” Afridi said.

Their loss in two out of threegames have dampened Pakistan’sprospects of securing a last-fourberth in the mega-event.

��������������� ���������������BCCI Secretary AnuragThakur on Wednesday criticisedembattled Pakistan captain ShahidAfridi for saying that “a lot of peo-ple from Kashmir” had come to sup-port his team during the WorldTwenty20 match against NewZealand in Mohali.

“To give a statement like that isnot politically correct. A playershould stay away from all this. That’sthe reason why he was criticised inPakistan,” Thakur said referring tothe controversy triggered by hisprevious remark on getting “morelove in India than back home”.

During Tuesday’s match, whichPakistan lost, a section of the crowdcheered Afridi at the toss, prompt-ing former Pakistan captain RameezRaja to ask if he and his team hadsupport from the spectators here.

“Yes, a lot of people, a lot of peo-ple are here from Kashmir as well.And I want to thank people ofKolkata, they really support us aswell,” Afridi said at the PunjabCricket Association stadium just

before the start of the game.“It seems you have a bit of fan

following here in Mohali,” Raja hadremarked after Afridi lost the toss.

Afridi is set to be axed as captainafter the World T20 owing toPakistan’s loss to India in a crunchWorld T20 match. The flamboyantall-rounder had triggered outrage inPakistan after stating that his team getsmore love in India than back home.

Senior BCCI functionary andIPL Chairman Rajeev Shukla saidAfridi perhaps does not understandthe psyche of an average cricket fanin India.

“I don’t think there is any needto react to Shahid Afridi’s statement.You can understand the kind ofphase he is passing through. If hesays something, I don’t think weshould give much importance to it.The only thing I would say is that hedoesn’t know the Indian spectators.Whoever plays well, they alwaysapplaud and appreciate that player,”Shukla said.

“There is no need to distinguishbetween them as Kashmiris or any-body else. They all are Indians. It wasa neutral game as far as Indian spec-tators were concerned. So pleasedon’t try to play politics. All Indiansare cricket lovers,” he added.

�''1��''1�������D

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis was understand-ably angry at his team’s middle order batting

performance in Tuesday’s defeat against NewZealand. At one point Pakistan were 65 for noloss in the sixth over, but the Men in Green wereunable to build on Sharjeel Khan’s blistering 47off 26 balls. Waqar explains what went wrongin their run chase and the reason behind theirdownfall on Tuesday.

■ What do you think cost you the match?If you see, we didn’t move at all from the eighthto the 15th over (run-rate slowed down). Twoof our so-called youngsters, upcoming crick-eters...They both batted for a good chunk of timein the middle, where we thought you would takethe game away. We just hoped so, but couldn’tfinish.

■ What do make about Pakistan not takingthe perfect platform laid by Sharjeel?I think the platform we needed, we had got that.I think they bowled really well, one must admitthat. In the middle, I think we couldn’t find theboundaries, which were important. And simplynot good enough, I guess.

■ What is your view on some batsmen com-plaining that they are not getting to bat at thedesired positions?Twenty20 cricket is such a format where oneshould adjust and be able to adapt to the con-ditions. Those who are raising this issue that theyare not getting to bat at desired position, therecould not have been a better opportunity afterSharjeel created the platform.

At one stage, we needed to score singles anddoubles to win the match. But one must say, weare not good enough, I am simply saying that.No matter, how much we keep talking about welack this and that, but people need to introspect,is this about number or is this about Pakistan.

■ What do you make about Afridi’s statement?What should I comment on that? Of course, hehas decided to finish playing cricket for Pakistan.I do not know what other sort of cricket he isgoing to carry on playing. But yeah, of course,he is looking to finish it.

■ Will you be continuing as the coach?Look, I don’t know. I think, a lot of things needto be told to the Cricket Board, Also what isgoing wrong. I have told it in the past also, it’snot for the first time I would be telling. But yeah,I will go back and have a look, and I will try tomake people understand who are in control (atthe helm), if they agree or don’t, it is entirely upto them.

����■ /��7)0

Indian football team will face its toughesttest in the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers

when it takes on Asia’s highest ranked sideIran, sans influential striker Sunil Chhetri,at their own backyard here on Thursday.

160th-ranked India were dealt a bodyblow when Chhetri, the country’s highestscorer in international football, was ruledout with a groin injury just before the teamboarded the flight to Tehran. The mantle ofleading the side has fallen on the youngshoulders of Jeje Lalpekhlua.

The Indians, whose campaign have beennothing short of a disaster, are currentlyplaced last in their group and will have onehome match against Turkmenistan onMarch 29 left after the Iran game.

A loss on Thursday against the Asianheavyweights Iran, who are ranked as highas 44th in the current FIFA rankings, willalso throw the Indians out of contention fora berth for the 2019 Asian Cup.

����■ )6�.&)0�

Indians made a resounding start to theircampaign at the New Zealand Open

with four doubles pairs reaching the secondround of the $120,000 Grand Prix Gold bad-minton tournament here on Wednesday.

Mixed doubles pair of Manu Attri andAshwini Ponnappa produced a thrilling per-formance to notch up a 21-13, 10-21, 21-12win over Australia’s Robin Middleton andAustralia Leanne Choo. They will next takeon second seeded Korean pair of Shin BaekCheol and Chae Yoo Jung here.

Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N SikkiReddy also entered the second round afteran easy win over local combination ofJonathan Sun and Jennifer Tam 21-8, 21-9.They will meet Japanese qualifiers TakutoInoue and Naru Shinoya next.

In the men’s doubles, Manu Attri and BSumeeth Reddy eked out a fighting 21-11,17-21, 21-16 win over Chinese Taipei’s ShangKai Lin and Lu Ching Yao at the North ShoreEvents Centre here.

Manu and Sumeeth, who claimed their

maiden Grand Prix title at Mexico Open lastyear, will next face Philippines’ RonelEstanislao and Paul Jefferson Vivas.

Pranaav and Akshay Dewalkar alsoreached the second round with a comfort-able 21-11, 21-7 win over New Zealand’sJoshua Curry and Maoni Hu He. They willsquare off against seventh seeds ChenHung Ling and Chi-Lin Wang of ChineseTaipei.

�����7"�$�7#"" �$(7 �%����'�$��A�?;�$"0(B��( �--"#0�

���"%( " 5���9��4

��(

���"%( " (6��4

� $

���"%( " (6��4

����/1� �/��������������/�/���1����>�� /1��./1�������.�������/�/5� /� >

6�' 8!56 5!2;<!#* 5����& !��&� �� ����� ������� :���� (6#

�#$� M#F'* (�"������ ����� )����� &���� ��� 3��& 6A> (6#

!������ (����))� �� � ���� )����

<( 2��� -��" �� M��N 5��� :���� ���&��� (?5

(�"����� ��� 3�,� H����� (6#

Pakistan may be down andout but Australia’s wicket-

keeper Peter Nevill said theyare a “dangerous team” and hisside can’t afford to be compla-cent against them in theirWorld T20 game on Friday.“There is certainly no compla-cency from our point of view.We certainly won’t be underes-timating them. They are adangerous team. If we don’tperform well, we lose,” Nevillsaid at a Press conference.

Nevill said Pakistan did notlack batting firepower. “I cer-tainly don’t think they lack bat-ting firepower. You just got tolook at their couple of players,who on their day, can beincredibly destructive,” saidthe 30-year-old, who was a sur-prise inclusion in the Aussiesquad for World T20 event.

Nevill said his team wouldlook to win both its remainingties (against Pakistan followedby India) in the league stage. “Ifwe drop (lose) one of these nexttwo games, then you are obvi-ously relying on other resultshoping they go your way. Youwould rather not be in thatposition. It is a must-win game(against Pakistan) for us,” hesaid.

Asked which team will betougher to beat — India orPakistan — the wicketkeeper-batsman said: “I don’t know, Ihave not thought about that.They are both tough. It is verydifferent challenge playingPakistan and India. You haveobviously to compete againstdifferent players with differentstrengths. I don’t think it real-

ly helps to compare the two.”Australia have so far played

two matches, winning oneagainst Bangladesh and losingone against New Zealand.Chasing 157 againstBangladesh, the Aussies sur-vived some anxious momentsas they lost wickets quickly inthe middle order before sailingthrough.

“We would have surelyliked to be more clinical in therun chase. We haven’t been, Isuppose, as clinical as a battingunit as we want to be, but thisgame against Pakistan is a per-fect opportunity. There are lotof guys in the change room whoreally will be looking to turn iton, putting a good perfor-mance and make some bigruns,” he said.

Nevill heaped praise onyoung Aussie leg spinner AdamZampa, who took three wicketson Monday. “He bowled beau-tifully. His performance wasfantastic and turned the matchin our favour. It was a crucialspell in the scheme of things. Hehas been performing beautiful-ly and bowling well,” he said.

��!����� �����#�!"�/���� ���������������������

+ '�� �� ����'�� ,� ��� �+�,�!������ ��� "������� ��� 0 ��� �� 1��"���������������)�� ���"!� �� ���� ����� �'��� �� ����� ��������� ����� ��� ��� ����"��� ���������������� ���"� ����� �������("������������������������/23#

)��������� �� � ������("� ���������� ��� ��� +�,!� ��� ���������� �'� �� � " ��� �� ���� )�����!�� �� �� ��!� � @ �� %�����! � ���� 8��'� �� )� � ��� ���"� ����� ��� ��� �/23� �@� �� �������� ����������������8��� #

</�������������� ���� �'����� ����������� ��� ��� ��""��� ��� ���������� ��� ������� � ���!� ���� �� �� ��� ��� ���� �� ��� :� �� H�����!?� ���������� ��#

</��� �� ��� � �� '��� ������������� ��� ������ ��� �"���� ����� ������������������"����������� � ��� � ���� ��� ���� "� ���������("����������������"����� �������!?���� ����#

20�����������1�./���5 3

/�G�GH�G67��G(�)&&��%G60:�/�7�!�6+�G�80:�78�.�/�7�###/��%�,G/�

,)//���HG7�)�:GG����60.�GH/8��!����7�����/�G6:�/�%G6�G6&��/).��/���:)��)�)%#����56�/��G+���G!�,6/��G6&�01/�H808��

� � 4 7 � � � � �

��(

���"%( " 5���9��4

��(

���"%( " (6��4

(������./1�����4/�$���%� ���

5���9��4%(-"�$1���$���1/�,),;���

(����$" >� ��4/�A�/1�( ���/9�7�(����

%(-"�$1���$���1/�K),;���

�����������������%�������������

80�8)0���6//&�7��G0��G0: �'<�=��9-�"+"��-��)!�"

=(�"����� �����-� ��"�� �������.