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ˆ ˆ ˇ · 2019. 7. 27. · Friday night. Gulshan Das, 35, — a ... the firefight or when they...

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I n a massive joint operation, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Navy, Army and Air Force, on Saturday res- cued amid heavy rain as many as 1,050 marooned passengers — including nine pregnant women — from the Mumbai- Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Express which remained stranded in heavy floodwaters for more than 17 hours near Vangani, 69 km away from Mumbai. The authorities used three helicopters — two Seaking of Navy, one Mi-17 of Air Force — and several inflatable boats for the first-of-its-kind rescue operation that lasted for near- ly eight hours. Beginning its journey amid pouring rain, the Kolhapur- bound Mahalaxmi Express — which had left Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus at 8.20am on Friday — got stuck at Chimtoli village near Vangani station. “What made matters diffi- cult was the Ulhas river flow- ing in the vicinity was in spate. With tracks under knee-deep water, the train could not pro- ceed further. The passengers on board were safe, but the raising water levels on tracks became a cause for concern,” a senior Thane district official said. Turn to Page 4 A mid a heightened threat perception ahead of the Independence Day and the turf war between terror groups, the Centre has decided to deploy 10,000 additional troops on an “immediate basis” in Jammu & Kashmir. The addi- tional deployment will serve the twin agenda of strength- ening the counter-insurgent grid and maintaining law and order situation in the Valley. The Centre’s move has not gone down well with former Chief Minister Mehbboba Mufti, who criticised it claim- ing it has created a “fear psy- chosis” among the people. The decision assumes sig- nificance as it comes shortly after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s two-day visit to the Valley. Sources said he met senior officers and reviewed the law and order situation in the State that’s still under President’s Rule. In all, 50 additional com- panies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 30 com- panies from the SSB, and 10 companies each from the BSF and ITBP will be deployed. Sources said the troops are being airlifted from various parts of the country for deploy- ment in Jammu & Kashmir. In an order issued by the CRPF, the nodal force for operations in the Valley, the paramilitary said out of the 50 companies of the CRPF being moved to the State, nine deployed in Delhi for Parliament duty and Kanwaria security will be replaced by nine companies of the BSF. The security challenges in the Valley have been aggravat- ed by a gang war between Pakistan-based terror groups like Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-e-Mohammad and Al Qaeda Kashmir on the one side and the Islamic State on the other. J&K DGP Dilbag Singh said they needed the addition- al deployment in North Kashmir. “100 companies have been airlifted and that’s what we had asked for,” said Dilbag. Turn to Page 4 T he high-powered GST Council on Saturday decid- ed to reduce the tax rate on electric vehicles (EVs) to 5 per cent from the existing 12 per cent, a move aimed at acceler- ating the adoption of eco- friendly mobility solutions. The new Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate on EVs will be effective from August 1, the Finance Ministry said in a statement after the 36th meet- ing of the GST Council. Additionally, the tax rate on chargers or charging sta- tions for EVs has been slashed from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. The council also approved GST exemption for hiring of electric buses (of carrying capacity of more than 12 pas- sengers) by local authorities from August 1, the statement said. Detailed report on P8 I n a curious turn of events, the Enforcement Directorate has arrested Hyderabad-based businessman Sana Satish Babu, the complainant whose allega- tions triggered a war among the CBI top brass last year, in con- nection with a money-laun- dering probe against contro- versial meat exporter Moin Qureshi and others. Babu was grilled for a few hours and was taken into cus- tody as he was “not cooperat- ing” in the probe. Following Babu’s complaint, the CBI headed by Alok Verma then had registered a criminal FIR on charges of corruption against its former special direc- tor Rakesh Asthana last year. Babu was earlier sum- moned as a witness in the ED money laundering case but with the latest development, he becomes an accused. Babu was arrested late on Friday night under the provi- sions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as he was “not coop- erating” in the probe, officials said. His links with Qureshi, an accused in a CBI and ED case, as also in certain financial transactions, are suspected to be dubious by the agency which will be probed during his custodial interrogation. Turn to Page 4 I n a suspected case of marital discord turning fatal, a newly-wed couple and the man’s mother were found hang- ing in their residence inside the IIT campus in South Delhi on Friday night. Gulshan Das, 35, — a senior lab assistant in IIT’s bio-chemistry department — was found hanging from an overhead rod in the corridor, while his wife Sunita and his mother Kanta were found hanging in two bedroom of their residence, police said on Saturday. The couple married in February 2019 and had no children. It was second mar- riage for both of them, police said. A domestic violence com- plaint was filed against Das by his wife merely two months after their marriage. Sunita had alleged that Das used to assault her. She had also alleged that he had demanded dowry from her family, police said. Police suspect the couple might have fought on Friday night following which the three family members took the extreme step. No suicide note has been recovered, however. Turn to Page 4 I n a big blow to the Jaish-e- Mohammad (JeM) leader- ship in Kashmir Valley, a joint team of security forces early on Saturday morning eliminated a dreaded Pakistani terrorist, also an expert in making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), along with his accom- plice in Bunbazar area of Shopian. The Pakistani terrorist, killed in the operation, has been identified as one of the top JeM Commanders Munna Lahori (code name). According to police records, Munna Lahori was active in the South Kashmir area for a long time and was also respon- sible for recruiting fresh cadre in the terror outfit. Meanwhile, an Indian Army jawan sacrificed his life while foiling a desperate infil- tration bid by heavily armed terrorists in Machhal sector of Kupwara district on Saturday. The clinical operation in Shopian was conducted by the security forces after a gap of almost three long weeks in South Kashmir, in view of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. Turn to Page 4 T he synergy between the security forces in Jammu & Kashmir is at an all-time high. This is resulting in reduction of reaction time in carrying out anti-terrorist operations and ensuring that there is no col- lateral damage. The biggest example of the co-ordination is the neu- tralisation of top militant Zakir Musa on May 23 when the response time of the security forces after getting the tip-off was less than 30 minutes. The success rate against the terror- ists too has increased with 23 ultras neutralised in 13 encounters in June alone there- by proving the effectiveness of these measures. Also, with a view to cause minimum trouble to the locals, the fire services has been co- opted to douse fire in the houses damaged during the fire fight. In fact, to ensure that ordinary citizens are not incon- venienced during the opera- tion, the local commanders have ordered the ground troops to desist from cor- doning the hamlet where the terrorist or terrorists are hiding. “This may result in the terrorists escaping but the security forces are determined to ensure that inno- cents are not harmed during the firefight or when they are closing in on to the tar- geted hiding place,” officials in the security establishment said. Elaborating upon these standard operating procedures now in force, officials said this has come about due to perfect synergy between the Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the local police and intelligence agencies. On the response time, they said vastly improved coordi- nation between all the stake- holders in the counter-insur- gency grid has seen anti-ter- rorist operations launched only on the basis of hard and real time intelligence. Turn to Page 4
Transcript
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    In a massive joint operation,National Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF), Navy, Armyand Air Force, on Saturday res-cued amid heavy rain as manyas 1,050 marooned passengers— including nine pregnantwomen — from the Mumbai-Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Expresswhich remained stranded inheavy floodwaters for morethan 17 hours near Vangani, 69km away from Mumbai.

    The authorities used threehelicopters — two Seaking ofNavy, one Mi-17 of Air Force— and several inflatable boatsfor the first-of-its-kind rescue

    operation that lasted for near-ly eight hours.

    Beginning its journey amidpouring rain, the Kolhapur-bound Mahalaxmi Express —which had left ChhatrapatiShivaji Terminus at 8.20am onFriday — got stuck at Chimtolivillage near Vangani station.

    “What made matters diffi-cult was the Ulhas river flow-ing in the vicinity was in spate.With tracks under knee-deepwater, the train could not pro-ceed further. The passengers onboard were safe, but the raisingwater levels on tracks becamea cause for concern,” a seniorThane district official said.

    Turn to Page 4

    ���� �4"�.456$

    Amid a heightened threatperception ahead of theIndependence Day and theturf war between terror groups,the Centre has decided todeploy 10,000 additional troopson an “immediate basis” inJammu & Kashmir. The addi-tional deployment will servethe twin agenda of strength-ening the counter-insurgentgrid and maintaining law andorder situation in the Valley.

    The Centre’s move has notgone down well with formerChief Minister MehbbobaMufti, who criticised it claim-ing it has created a “fear psy-chosis” among the people.

    The decision assumes sig-nificance as it comes shortlyafter National Security AdviserAjit Doval’s two-day visit to theValley. Sources said he metsenior officers and reviewed thelaw and order situation in theState that’s still underPresident’s Rule.

    In all, 50 additional com-panies of Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF), 30 com-panies from the SSB, and 10companies each from the BSFand ITBP will be deployed.Sources said the troops arebeing airlifted from variousparts of the country for deploy-ment in Jammu & Kashmir. Inan order issued by the CRPF,the nodal force for operationsin the Valley, the paramilitarysaid out of the 50 companies ofthe CRPF being moved to theState, nine deployed in Delhifor Parliament duty and

    Kanwaria security will bereplaced by nine companies ofthe BSF.

    The security challenges inthe Valley have been aggravat-ed by a gang war between

    Pakistan-based terror groupslike Lashkar-e-Tayyeba andJaish-e-Mohammad and AlQaeda Kashmir on the one sideand the Islamic State on theother. J&K DGP Dilbag Singh

    said they needed the addition-al deployment in NorthKashmir. “100 companies havebeen airlifted and that’s whatwe had asked for,” said Dilbag.

    Turn to Page 4

    ���� �4"�.456$

    The high-powered GSTCouncil on Saturday decid-ed to reduce the tax rate onelectric vehicles (EVs) to 5 percent from the existing 12 percent, a move aimed at acceler-ating the adoption of eco-friendly mobility solutions.

    The new Goods andServices Tax (GST) rate on EVswill be effective from August 1,the Finance Ministry said in astatement after the 36th meet-ing of the GST Council.

    Additionally, the tax rateon chargers or charging sta-tions for EVs has been slashedfrom 18 per cent to 5 per cent.

    The council also approvedGST exemption for hiring ofelectric buses (of carryingcapacity of more than 12 pas-sengers) by local authoritiesfrom August 1, the statementsaid.

    Detailed report on P8

    ���� �4"�.456$

    In a curious turn of events, theEnforcement Directorate hasarrested Hyderabad-basedbusinessman Sana Satish Babu,the complainant whose allega-tions triggered a war among theCBI top brass last year, in con-nection with a money-laun-dering probe against contro-versial meat exporter MoinQureshi and others.

    Babu was grilled for a fewhours and was taken into cus-tody as he was “not cooperat-ing” in the probe. FollowingBabu’s complaint, the CBIheaded by Alok Verma thenhad registered a criminal FIRon charges of corruptionagainst its former special direc-tor Rakesh Asthana last year.

    Babu was earlier sum-moned as a witness in the ED

    money laundering case butwith the latest development, hebecomes an accused.

    Babu was arrested late onFriday night under the provi-sions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA) as he was “not coop-erating” in the probe, officialssaid.

    His links with Qureshi, anaccused in a CBI and ED case,as also in certain financialtransactions, are suspected tobe dubious by the agencywhich will be probed during hiscustodial interrogation.

    Turn to Page 4

    ���������� �4"�.456$

    In a suspected case of maritaldiscord turning fatal, anewly-wed couple and theman’s mother were found hang-ing in their residence inside theIIT campus in South Delhi onFriday night.

    Gulshan Das, 35, — asenior lab assistant in IIT’sbio-chemistry department —was found hanging from anoverhead rod in the corridor,while his wife Sunita and hismother Kanta were foundhanging in two bedroom oftheir residence, police said onSaturday.

    The couple married inFebruary 2019 and had nochildren. It was second mar-riage for both of them, policesaid. A domestic violence com-plaint was filed against Das byhis wife merely two monthsafter their marriage. Sunitahad alleged that Das used to

    assault her. She had also allegedthat he had demanded dowryfrom her family, police said.

    Police suspect the couplemight have fought on Fridaynight following which the threefamily members took theextreme step. No suicide notehas been recovered, however.

    Turn to Page 4

    �����������������������������

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    In a big blow to the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) leader-ship in Kashmir Valley, a jointteam of security forces early onSaturday morning eliminateda dreaded Pakistani terrorist,also an expert in makingImprovised Explosive Devices(IEDs), along with his accom-plice in Bunbazar area ofShopian.

    The Pakistani terrorist,killed in the operation, hasbeen identified as one of thetop JeM Commanders MunnaLahori (code name).According to police records,Munna Lahori was active inthe South Kashmir area for along time and was also respon-sible for recruiting fresh cadrein the terror outfit.

    Meanwhile, an IndianArmy jawan sacrificed his lifewhile foiling a desperate infil-tration bid by heavily armedterrorists in Machhal sector ofKupwara district on Saturday.

    The clinical operation inShopian was conducted by thesecurity forces after a gap ofalmost three long weeks inSouth Kashmir, in view of theongoing Amarnath Yatra.

    Turn to Page 4

    ����������$����������������4"�.456$7����3

    The synergy between thesecurity forces in Jammu &Kashmir is at an all-time high.This is resulting in reduction ofreaction time in carrying outanti-terrorist operations andensuring that there is no col-lateral damage.

    The biggest example ofthe co-ordination is the neu-tralisation of top militant Zakir

    Musa on May 23 when theresponse time of the securityforces after getting the tip-offwas less than 30 minutes. Thesuccess rate against the terror-ists too has increased with 23ultras neutralised in 13encounters in June alone there-by proving the effectiveness ofthese measures.

    Also, with a view to causeminimum trouble to the locals,the fire services has been co-opted to douse fire in thehouses damaged during the firefight. In fact, to ensure thatordinary citizens are not incon-venienced during the opera-tion, the local commanders

    have ordered the groundtroops to desist from cor-doning the hamlet wherethe terrorist or terrorists

    are hiding. “This may result inthe terrorists escaping but the

    security forces aredetermined toensure that inno-cents are notharmed during

    the firefight orwhen theyare closingin on tothe tar-

    geted hiding place,” officials inthe security establishment said.

    Elaborating upon thesestandard operating proceduresnow in force, officials said thishas come about due to perfectsynergy between the Army,Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), the local police andintelligence agencies.

    On the response time, theysaid vastly improved coordi-nation between all the stake-holders in the counter-insur-gency grid has seen anti-ter-rorist operations launched onlyon the basis of hard and realtime intelligence.

    Turn to Page 4

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    �What is your character about inKawach Mahashivratri?

    I play Kapil, an aggressive ghost. Hehas returned to take revenge by possessinghis friend Angad’s (played by Namik Paul)body.�How tough is it to be a part of asupernatural show?

    It’s not that tough. Whenever I play acharacter, I try to live it. I don’t copyanyone. I try to put myself in the samesituation as of my character and decidehow I would have reacted in a situation.This makes it easy for me to play any role.I try to keep things natural. �You are doing two shows at the sametime — Kumkum Bhagya and Kawach.How do you manage?

    The production house — BalajiTelefilms is managing everything becausethe company is same for both the shows.It becomes hectic sometimes but it’s notthat I have to shoot for both the showseveryday. Sometimes, I push myself. Ishoot for Kumkum Bhagya from 7 am to2 pm. From there I have to go to shoot forKawach Mahashivratri till 10 pm. It isalmost 15 hours of shooting, which istedious but it is fine since I am young andcan take the pressure and the stress. It’stime to prove myself, so there’s nothing tofeel tired about. I enjoy my work.�How did acting happen with you?

    I was a businessman. But, acting wason my cards since my childhood. One day,I got an offer to act through Facebook andthat’s how I got into the industry. Then,I shifted to Mumbai and there is nolooking back since then.�Why did you choose an epic —Mahabharat as a debut?

    I didn’t choose it. Being a newcomerin the industry I didn’t have the liberty topick and choose my projects. I did whatI was offered. I went with the flow.Moreover, it was a big show. There’s noreason one can say ‘no’ to it. Today,whatever and wherever I am, I owe it tothe show.�This is your second supernaturalshow. What attracted you to this genre?

    Yes, this is the second time I am being

    a part of a supernatural show. But, thestories of both the shows are different.Stories of both the shows were good andappealing. This is why I said ‘yes’ to them. �What attracts people to supernaturalshows?

    The main thing is the story line. If thestory is good then people get hooked toit. The other thing is the entertainmentfactor. �Do you think such shows encouragesuperstition?

    I come from Delhi and never in mylife I have got to heard about superstitionsor evil powers. Therefore, I have nopersonal experience of this as such. But,the motive of television is to entertain theaudience and not to encourage anything.People like these kind of shows and that’swhy makers are making them. Ouraudience is wise enough to make out thedifference between what is right andwrong. They understand it is solely forentertainment purpose.

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    Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) chief Manoj Tiwarihas written to Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal demanding theexemption of women from thefour per cent registration fee onpurchase of properties in thesoon-to-be regularised colonies.

    In his letter to Kejriwal onJuly 25, he said a similar modelis already in place in Jharkhandwhere the BJP Government haswaived 7 per cent registration feefor women on purchase of prop-erties. Women have to pay just�1 for registration of propertiesin Jharkhand, he said.

    Tiwari said since June 2017,when the scheme was launched,nearly 1.25 lakh properties havebeen registered in Jharkhand.

    "This will be a big steptowards women empowerment(in Delhi) as registration ofproperties in their name wouldensure social security of women,particularly those belonging tothe lower strata of society,”

    Tiwari said.In the letter, he also urged

    the Aam Aadmi Party supremoto withdraw all bureaucratichurdles and expedite the processto regularise unauthorisedcolonies so that the people liv-ing in those areas get theirequal share in the developmentwork in the national capital.

    “I also urge you to makefunds available to MCDs(municipal corporations ofDelhi) for making lay out plansfor these colonies at the earliest,”Tiwari added.

    The Government has decid-ed to regularise 1,797 unautho-rised colonies in the nationalCapital.

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    The National Green Tribunal(NGT) has sought a factualand Action Taken Report (ATR)from the Union Ministry of JalShakti and the Delhi Jal Board(DJB) on a petition that saysthere is huge wastage and mis-use of fresh potable water acrossthe country.

    The petition was filed byGhaziabad-based BJP councillorRajendra Tyagi and NGO,'Friends'. It says that water isbeing wasted from overflowingoverhead tanks, obsolete flush-ing systems, running faucets,showers, washing cars, floors,leakages in distribution systemsand swimming pools.

    The petitioner said, "In next

    10 years, around 40 millionpeople will not have access toclean drinking water. Requisiteremedial measures to preventwastage and misuse of water arenot being taken."

    According to the petitioner,48,420,000 cubic meters of wateris wasted every single day.Around 163 million people arefacing deprivation of fresh and

    drinkable water. And around600 million people are facingextreme water stress in thecountry. As per the petitioner'sstudy, India tends to waste waterby keeping the water runningfrom faucets which discharges asmuch as 5 litres in a minutewhile a regular shower flows out10 litres of water per minute.

    As per the study, the

    demand for water is expected togrow from 40 billion cubicmeters currently to around 220billion cubic meters in 2025.

    The petition seeks direc-tions to the Ministry of JalShakti and the Ministry ofEnvironment, Forests andClimate Change to take mea-sures under Section 3 and issuedirections under Section 5 of the

    Environment (Protection) Act,1986 to all States and UnionTerritories (UTs) to makewastage/misuse of waterthrough overflowing tanks orotherwise a punishable offence.The petitioner has also reliedupon the Composite WaterManagement Index' prepared bythe Ministry of Water Resourcesin June 2018.

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    COMMEMORATING THE COURAGE, VALOUR AND SACRIFICE OF

    ARMY BRAVEHEARTS

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    In order to educate peopleabout hepatitis preventionand treatment and also to pro-vide much-needed psycho-social support to patients suf-fering from marginalisation inthe society, a major awarenesscampaign was unveiled onSaturday by the Institute ofLiver & Biliary Sciences.

    The 'EMPATHY Concave2019: Empowering PeopleAgainst Hepatitis' broughttogether leading policy makers,healthcare experts as well associal activists to discuss theway forward in India's fightagainst viral Hepatitis.

    "Fighting hepatitis is dif-ficult because both hepatitis Band C are chronic infectionsthat often remain dormant inthe body for years before dam-aging the liver. Liver cirrhosisand liver cancer are commonculminations of these chronicinfections," Dr SK Sarin,Director, ILBS.

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    Coimbatore: An activist of afringe outfit was arrested hereon Friday for an alleged socialmedia post, challenging aHindu Makkal Katchi leader toattack him for eating beef,police said.

    Nirmal Kumar, a func-tionary of Dravidar ViduthalaiKazhakam (DVK) was arrest-ed on Saturday on charges ofattempting to provoke reli-gious enmity by his controver-sial post about beef-eating,police added.

    He had in a Facebook poston July 12 had challenged HinduMakkal Katchi president ArjunSampath to beat him for eatingbeef, referring to the attack ona man in Nagapattinam forposting a picture of himselfhaving beef soup.

    "I am in Coimbatore inyour own town. Posting thebeef-eating picture repeatedly

    for you. If you have guts come.Will you kill beef-eater, youHindu fanatic," he had posted.

    Based on the post, a manlodged a complaint withKattoor police, who summonedNirmal Kumar on Saturdayand registered a case under IPCSection 505 (statement con-ducing to public mischief) andarrested him, police said.

    He was produced before acourt and remanded till August9. A 24-year-old man, who wasallegedly attacked by a group ofpeople in Nagapattinam forposting a picture of himselfconsuming beef soup, wasarrested on July 21 on charge ofdisturbing peace, soon after hewas discharged from a hospital.Also, a man in Thanjavur districtwas arrested for uploading a poston social media inviting peopleto a 'beef festival' to be held inKumbakonam soon. PTI

    Raipur: Seven naxals, includ-ing three women, were killed inan encounter with securityforces in Chhattisgarh's Bastardistrict on Saturday, policesaid.

    The gunbattle took placearound 4 pm in the forest nearTiriya village under Nagarnarpolice station area borderingOdisha, Deputy InspectorGeneral of police (anti- naxaloperations) Sundarraj P toldPTI.

    A joint squad of DistrictReserve Guard and SpecialTask Force (STF) ofChhattisgarh police was carry-ing out an anti-naxal operationin the forests along the inter-state border, he said.

    When the team wasadvancing through the forest ofTiriya, around 400 km from thecapital Raipur, the skirmish

    broke out, he said.Afterwards, bodies of

    seven ultras, including threewomen, were recovered fromthe spot, he said.

    One INSAS rifle, four .303rifles and several muzzle- load-ing guns were also recovered,Sundarraj added.

    Further details were await-ed as the patrolling team wasyet to return to its camp, theDIG said. PTI

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    New Delhi: Madhya PradeshChief Minister Kamal Nath'snephew Ratul Puri could not bequestioned by the ED in con-nection with the VVIP chop-pers money laundering casehere as he left the agency'soffice soon after reaching, offi-cials said on Saturday.

    They said Puri was to beconfronted with some evidenceduring questioning at anEnforcement Directorate officehere on Friday.

    He was asked to wait but hereportedly left after some timeon the pretext of going to thewashroom, officials alleged.

    It is understood thatagency officials then tried tocall him on his mobile phonebut it was switched off.

    "It is not true that Puri gavethe slip during questioning," asenior official said.

    Puri, chairman of

    Hindustan Power Projects, hasbeen grilled by the agency inthis case in the past too. He isthe son of Nita and DeepakPuri, the CMD of optical stor-age media firm Moser Baer.Nita Puri is Nath's sister.

    The �3,600 crore deal topurchase AgustaWestlandchoppers for VVIPs wasscrapped by India over allega-tions of corruption and kick-backs being paid in the deal.

    The ED and the CBI areprobing the case and havealready filed multiple chargesheets in the case.

    Meanwhile, during the day,Puri got interim relief fromarrest till Monday from a Delhicourt in a money launderingcase related to the chopperscam.

    He had said he was coop-erating in the probe and therewas no need of his arrest. PTI

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    Jammu/Srinagar: Landslidestriggered by heavy rain onSaturday blocked the Jammu-Srinagar national highway forc-ing a halt to the ongoingAmarnath yatra.

    Landslides occurred on thenational highway in thePanthiyal and Digdol areas ofRamban district, but the con-voys of Amarnath yatris hadalready crossed the area.

    Officials said the convoyscarrying pilgrims back toJammu after performing theyatra are, however, strandedbetween Banihal and Ramsoo inRamban district.

    The authorities have sus-pended the movement of pil-grims from both the Pahalgamand Baltal routes towards thecave shrine due to heavy rain.

    "Movement of yatris onBaltal and Pahalgam trackstowards the cave shrine hasbeen stopped. All yatris arecamped at safe places. The deci-sion to allow the pilgrimstowards the cave shrine wouldonly be taken after the weather

    improves", officials said.Landslides also occurred

    on the Zojila Pass on theSrinagar-Leh national highwayon Saturday morning and traf-fic has also been stopped thereaccording to traffic departmentofficials.

    Meanwhile, the Met depart-ment issued an alert on Saturdayafternoon which said:"Moderate to heavy showersoccurred at many places and thesame is likely to continue for thenext 24 hours including on theyatra routes. Due to intermittentrain since the last few days, soilis saturated and additional rainmay trigger landslide, flashflood and mudslides which maylead to closure of highways andlocal roads. The Met depart-ment has also advised cautionduring the period, saying:"General public, administra-tion, state disaster relief forceand yatra managers are request-ed to remain cautious for nextfew days as weather is adverseand likely to remain so duringthe next 24 hours". IANS

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    Heavy rain that lashed theIsland city and suburbssince Friday night affected thenormal life in the metropolison Saturday, inundating low-lying areas and railway tracksat several places and disruptingroad, railway and air traffic.

    Owing to heavy rain allthrough Friday night, water-logging was reported fromvarious parts of the city in themorning. With railway tracksunder thick sheets of water atsome places, trains on thesuburban networks of theWestern and Central Railwaysran 15 to 20 minutes behindthe schedule. Traffic snarlswere reported from severalparts of the city on Fridaynight.

    Eleven flights were can-celled on Saturday mornign at

    the Mumbai airport due topoor visibility. “Thoughdelayed there were continuousoperations at the airport. Fewflights were diverted,” aMumbai International AirportLtd (MIAL) official said.

    Waterlogging was alsoreported outside the domesticairport departure gate leading

    to hardships to passengers whohad managed to reach the air-port after having been stuck intraffic jams on the WesternExpress highway. "With non-stop rain, we did observe water-logging at the landside area.The situation was immediate-ly addressed by MIAL’s on-dutystaff. Within a few minutes, the

    issue was addressed and sub-sequently, the water level wasbrought down with de-water-ing pumps," the MIAL officialsaid.

    Alluding to a complaintfrom the passengers aboutwater dripping from the ceil-ing, the MIAL official said itwas basically due to dislocationof rainwater pipeline joint dueto heavy in flow of rain waterin one of the pipe causing leak-age. "It was addressed withinno time and the requiredactions were taken to clear thewater without disturbing thepassengers," the official added.

    Meanwhile, the Kalyan-Ulhasnagar-Badlapur belt ofthe Mumbai MetropolitanRegion received heavy rainfall- between 280 to 330 mm rain-fall on Friday and Saturday.

    Following a landslide nearKhed, the busy Mumbai-Goa

    Highway was blocked onSaturday afternoon.

    Heavy rainfall was report-ed from Thane and Ratnagiriwith towns of Ulhasnagar,Murbad, Badlapur, Tiwala,Vangani, Khed, Mangaon,Mandangad, Chiplun and sur-roundings practically sub-merged.

    Meanwhile, IndianMeteorological Departmenthas forecast intermittentrains/showers with heavy tovery heavy falls at a few placesin the Island city and suburbsfor the next 24 hours.

    In a related development,the Central Railway cancelledfour long-distance trains anddiverted five other trains. Thecancelled trains were: CSMTMumbai — Bidar Express,Bidar — CSMT MumbaiExpress and CSMT Mumbai —Pandharpur fast passenger.

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    Vice president M VenkaiahNaidu said here onSaturday that stalling the func-tioning of Parliament andLegislatures was tantamount tosubverting democracy andbetraying people.

    Speaking after presenting‘Democracy Awards’ at a func-tion organised by theMaharashtra State ElectionCommission here, Naidu said,“Stalling the functioning of leg-islatures means subvertingdemocracy and betraying thepeople”.

    During the course of hisspeech, Naidu expressed hisanguish over the objectionablecomments made bySamajawadi Party MP AzamKhan, who had made a sexistcomment against woman pre-siding officer Rama Devi inLok Sabha. Without namingKhan, Naidu said: “It is not inour culture to disrespectwomen. Such behaviour woulddemeanour Parliamentary

    democracy”.“I am deeply distressed by

    the behaviour of some sectionsin the Rajya Sabha during lasttwo years as the PresidingOfficer of Rajya Sabha…. Asthe Chairman of Rajya Sabha,it pains me if members choseto disregard them resulting inpandemonium which in turnerodes the stature of the Houseof Elders in the eyes of the pub-lic,” Naid said.

    Mincing no words when itcame to speaking to question-able conduct of members inthe Upper House ofParliament, Naidu said:“Members of Rajya sabha havea special responsibility caston them of leading by exam-ple being the members of theHouse of Elders. During thissession, some members intheir wisdom have preferred totear official papers and throwthem at the Chair on someoccasions. Such conduct doesnot speak well of the func-tioning of our parliamentarydemocracy”.

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    From Page 1He is suspected to be involved

    in the bribery case and had madepayments to Qureshi which are ille-gitimate, sources claimed.

    After submitting a writtencomplaint against Asthana to theCBI, Babu had recorded a state-ment under Section 164 of theCriminal Procedure Code (CrPC)before a Magistrate. Following hisstatement under Section 164, theCBI then under Verma registeredan FIR against Asthana.

    In his statement to the CBI,Babu had said he paid a bribe of Rs2 crore to Asthana to be sparedfrom any adverse action in theinvestigation linked to Qureshi.

    The money was paid over a 10-month period -- starting fromDecember 2017.

    Babu was being investigated bya special investigation team (SIT)of the CBI, headed by Asthana,when he had accused him foraccepting bribes.

    Taking cognisance of the com-plaint filed by Babu, the CBI hadregistered a First InformationReport (FIR) against Asthana andothers, including a few otheragency officials.

    Later, Asthana had accusedthen CBI Director Verma of beingcorrupt and filed a complaintagainst him with counter allega-tions of shielding Babu and not

    allowing the SIT to go against him.Asthana, in an exhaustive let-

    ter to the Cabinet Secretary onAugust 24 last year, had given a listof 10 instances of alleged corrup-tion by Verma in which it wasalleged that Sana paid the CBI chiefRs 2 crore to get clean chit in thecase.

    The ED had registered a crim-inal case under the anti-moneylaundering law against Qureshi in2017 for alleged corruption inconnivance with Government offi-cials. It had also arrested Qureshias part of the probe and attachedhis assets. Former CBI Director APSingh is also being probed in thiscase by the ED.

    From Page 1They said most of the opera-

    tions at an average are now com-pleted within three to four hoursfrom getting the real time intelli-gence unlike in the past when itused to take much longer, thereby,raising the risk of collateral dam-age and local populace being putto hardship.

    “The best example of this is theneutralisation of Zakir Musa, themost wanted terrorist and BurhanWani’s successor in an encounteron May 23 night in Pulwama dis-trict. The entire grid including theArmy, CRPF and local police werein place around Musa’s hideoutwithin 30 minutes of receiving thetip-off,” they pointed out.

    Hiding in the staircase of thehouse, Musa was killed in the fire-fight after he refused to surrenderand retaliated by opening fire onthe security forces. He was carry-ing rocket, grenade launcher, pro-jectiles, huge ammunition and warlike stores. Highlighting the issueof response time in Musaencounter, officials said the entiremachinery moved in tandem andinformation was shared betweenthe commanders at ‘need-to-know-

    basis’ to prevent leakage.The security forces are now

    desisting from cordoning the entirevillage and asking the inhabitantsto come out which many a timesled to protests. The orders nowclearly stipulate that the particularhouse where the terrorists are hid-ing will only be targeted and oper-ations in built up areas in thicklypopulated localities have to beshort, swift and to be conducted bysmall teams to retain the elementof surprise, they said.

    The fire services also nowform an integral part of thecounter-militant operations andquickly move in to extinguish thefire caused by fire fight in the tar-geted house and prevent the blazefrom spreading to the adjacentbuildings. In many cases the policeand fire officers have rescued oldmen and women besides childrenfrom the burning building wherethe terrorists were holed up andmanaged to reduce the extent ofdamage caused due to fire, theysaid.

    Given better co-ordinationacross the board in the counter-insurgency grid, security forceshave in this year so far haveaccounted for 120 terrorists includ-ing two dozen foreign terrorists indifferent operations in the KashmirValley this year.

    From Page 1So far, more than 130 ter-

    rorists have been eliminated bythe security forces this year.Post Pulwama attack on CRPFconvoy on February 14, aroundthree dozen terrorists belong-ing to Jaish-e- Mohammadterror outfit have been elimi-nated by the security forces inthe ongoing ‘all out’ operations.Relentless operations by thesecurity forces have left theseterror outfits leaderless inKashmir Valley.

    Briefing mediapersons, asenior Army officer involvedin the operations, Col ShaitanSingh said, “The operationwas launched by the securityforces along with men ofSpecial Operations Group ofJ&K Police after receivingcredible inputs about the pres-ence of two to three terroristsin the Bunbazar area ofShopian”.

    Colonel Shaitan Singhsaid, “The operation waslaunched around 7 pm onFriday evening. He said atleast 20 houses were cordonedby the security forces to carryout the searches which con-

    tinued through the night”.“During search, the ter-

    rorists were switching housesand at last were cornered in acowshed. When challenged,they opened fire and tried tobreak the cordon. Our partiesfired and neutralised the ter-rorists at close range,” said ColShaitan Singh.

    He said, the first terroristneutralised in the operationwas, Zeenat-ul -Islam fromShopian town. The secondterrorist was identified asMunna Lahori. The seniorArmy officer also extendedthanks to local residents in thearea for their cooperation dueto which there was no collat-eral damage.

    Jammu & Kashmir Policespokesman in their statementsaid, “the Jaish commanderMunna Lahori was responsiblefor car blast attack on securi-ty force convoy on 30/3/19 atBanihal and fatal car blast onArmy vehicle at ArihalPulwahma on 17/6/19.

    Police spokesman said,“Munna Lahori, a Pakistaniterrorist, was known for IEDmaking and responsible for aseries of civilian killings in thelocal area. JeM had used himfor carrying out recruitment inthe South Kashmir districts.”

    From Page 1This is the second major troop deployment

    instance in the Valley this year. In February,around 100 companies of additional Centralparliamentary forces were airlifted anddeployed there with the Government saying itwas being done for the Lok Sabha elections inthe region.

    Reacting to the development on Twitter,Mehbooba said Jammu & Kashmir is a “polit-ical problem” which would not be solved bymilitary means. The former Chief Minister, whois also the president of Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP), said the Centre needs to “rethinkand overhaul its Kashmir policy.”

    However, development works relating toPrime Minister’s package for the economicdevelopment in the State during Mehbooba’srule could not be implemented successfully dueto corruption in the administrative machinery.In fact, the then CRPF DG as also the Statepolice chief had complained about it during theDGPs conference in 2017 that was attendedamong others by Prime Minister Narendra Modiand National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

    “Centre’s decision to deploy additional10,000 troops to the Valley has created fear psy-chosis amongst people. There is no dearth ofsecurity forces in Kashmir. J&K is a politicalproblem which won’t be solved by militarymeans. GOI needs to rethink & overhaul its pol-icy,” Mehbooba stated.

    J&K People’s Party president Shah Faesalfelt it was a sign of “something sinister”.

    From Page 1A senior police officer said

    they were alerted by Sunita’smother Krishna Devi, who lives

    in Naraina, at 10:59pm on Friday.“She called her daughter all daybut Sunita did not respond, fol-lowing which she panicked andinformed police,” said DeputyCommissioner of Police (south-west) Devender Arya.

    An inquest has been initiat-ed by a magistrate as mandated by

    law, since the couple had not beenmarried for more than sevenyears, he said.

    The post-mortem examina-tion will be conducted by a boardof doctors, which has been con-stituted. The investigation so farsuggest the case to be of suicidalhanging, the DCP added.

    From Page 1“The train had proceeded on

    its way as water had begunreceding, but after a suddenspell of intense rainfall, coupledwith overflowing of the Ulhasriver, the train was completelystuck in deep water at Vangani,”a Central Railway spokespersonsaid.

    A majority of the passengerson board the Mahalaxmi Expresswere blissfully unaware of theirtrain having been stranded nearVangani railway station tillSaturday morning.

    Some of the passengers whowere awake when the train cameto a grinding halt at Vangani hadstories to narrate. “We werestranded. We did not knowwhere we were. We were helpless.Meanwhile, we were furtherscared when a snake alsosneaked into our compartment,”said an aggrieved passengersAsha Barode. “We ran out ofdrinking water on the train,” saidanother passenger Dilip More.

    Around early morning,some of the passengers tried toreach out several rescue agencies,including the Railway police.

    The rescue operation beganin the morning. The Navy

    mobilised nine flood rescueteams, including five divingteams with rescue material,inflatable boats and life jackets.It launched a Seaking Helicopterwith divers and auto inflatablecraft for deployment in the areaas advance assessment party.

    Despite the heavy rain, therescue teams managed to reachthe spot and immediately ren-dered assistance to the strandedpassengers. The Seaking heli-copter and IAF MI-17 heli-copter provided aerial surveil-lance and supported the groundrescue teams in the rescue efforts.

    “Along with the NDRF andState Government teams, theNavy teams successfully evacu-ated all the passengers to safetyby the afternoon. The WesternNaval Command was in con-stant touch with StateAdministration and continues toremain prepared to respond asrequired to provide necessaryassistance,” a Navy spokespersonsaid.

    Personnel from variousagencies, including the NDRF,Navy and local volunteers,brought down the passengersfrom the stranded train andcarried them and their luggagein inflatable rubber boats to anearby village where they serveddrinking water, hot tea and bis-

    cuits.Later, the rescued passengers

    boarded buses, tempos andsmaller vehicles to go toBadlapur, 7 km away. TheCentral Railway then took by alocal train to Kalyan where a 19-coach special train was keptready to take them to the tem-ple town of Kolhapur.

    The rescued passengersincluded nine pregnant women- one of whom went into labourpains during the stranded peri-od -- several senior citizens,infants and kids and some phys-ically-challenged persons. Asmany as 37 doctors includinggynaecologists were part of therescue teams.

    Meanwhile, the strandednine-month old pregnantwoman, Reshma T Kamble, whowent into labour pains, was alsoshifted to the Shushrut Hospitalin Badlapur where she is nowunder observation.

    In a tweet put in the morn-ing, the Chief Minister’s Officestated: “Maharashtra CM@Dev_Fadnavis appeals thecitizens stranded in#MahalaxmiExpress to notworry & has ensured that allmeasures & rescue operationsare taken care of roping in allexpert teams from NDRF,Army, Navy, Local adminis-

    tration, Police, RailwayMinistry”.

    Union Minister of State forHome Nityanand Rai called upFadnavis and offered all helpfrom the Centre for the train pas-sengers.

    Later in the day, a satisfiedChief Minister tweeted: “Happyto inform that all the passengersstranded in #MahalaxmiExpresshave been evacuated safely.Congratulations & Thank you to@NDRFHQ, Army, @indian-navy, Airforce, Police, IndianRailways, Local administrationand entire team for this coordi-nated & great efforts!”

    Detailing the role played bythe Central Railway in the oper-ation, its spokesperson said:“The Central Railway had anescort party in the train that paci-fied passengers and teams of thelocal city police and the RPFreached the compartments todistribute food and biscuits.They also assured the passengersand told them not to get downfrom the train”

    “The Central Railway thenalerted the Disaster Control ofthe Maharashtra Governmentthat took a decision to air-liftstranded passengers. By 11 hrs,one coach had been evacuated bythe Thane Disaster ManagementCell,” the spokesperson added.

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    US aerospace companyBoeing on Saturday hand-ed over the first four of the 22Apache attack helicopters to theIndian Air Force at its HindonAir Force Base while anotherbatch of four helicopters will bedelivered next week. The eighthelicopters will then move tothe Pathankot air station forformal induction.

    The AH-64E Apache is oneof the world’s most advancedmulti-role combat helicopters,and is flown by the US Armyand several other countries.The IAF had signed a contractwith the US government andBoeing Ltd in September 2015for 22 Apache helicopters.Additionally, the DefenceMinistry in 2017 approved theprocurement of six Apache heli-copters along with weaponssystems from Boeing at a cost ofRs 4,168 crore for the Army.This will be its first fleet of attackhelicopters to be flown by theArmy pilots.

    Senior IAF officials said theaddition the Apache fleet willsignificantly enhance the force’scombat capabilities as thechopper has been customisedto suit IAF’s future require-

    ments. “The arrival of theApaches, ahead-of-schedule,validates Boeing’s commitmentto delivering on its promise ofmodernising India’s defenceforces. Boeing has ensuredhigh rate of mission readinessand increased operationalcapabilities through its currentpartnerships with the IAF,”Boeing said in a statement.

    The company has deliveredmore than 2,200 Apaches tocustomers around the worldsince the aircraft entered pro-duction and India is the 14thnation to select it for its military.“By 2020, the IAF will operatea fleet of 22 Apaches, and thesefirst deliveries are ahead ofschedule,” Boeing said.

    The aerospace major saidthe AH-64E has the latest tech-nology insertions, maintaining

    its standing as the world’s bestattack helicopter. The AH-64EApache for the Indian AirForce completed successful

    first flight in July 2018. Thefirst batch of Indian Air Forcecrew began their training to flythe Apache in the US in 2018

    “It is the only availablecombat helicopter with a spec-trum of capabilities for virtu-ally any mission requirement.For the AH-64 E, this includesgreater thrust and lift, joint dig-ital operability, improved sur-vivability and cognitive deci-sion aiding. It is uniquely suit-ed to meet the commander’sneeds, including reconnais-sance, security, peacekeepingoperations, and lethal attack -in both land and littoral envi-ronments - all without recon-figuration,” it said.

    ���� �4"�.456$

    The Government has appoint-ed Lt General Paramjit Singh,who has vast experience incounter-terror operations, as thenext Director General of MilitaryOperations (DGMO) of theIndian Army. He will take overfrom the incumbent Lt GeneralAnil Chauhan who will nowhead the Eastern Command.

    Singh, currently serving asGeneral OfficerCommanding(GOC) ofNagrota-based XVI Corps, willtake over as the new DGMO onOctober 15, sources said hereon Saturday. As DGMO, LtGen Singh will oversee variousoperations of the Indian Armyincluding along the LOC inJammu and Kashmir.

    He has extensive experi-ence of counter-terror opera-

    tions and was involved in theplanning of the 2016 surgicalstrikes on terror launch padsacross the LOC in Jammu andKashmir. An alumnus ofDefence Services Staff College,Wellington and Mhow-basedArmy War College, Lt GenSingh has held various opera-tional and staff positions in theArmy in Kashmir valley.

    He has vast experience inhigh-altitude warfare, includingtenure at the Siachen Glacier.He spent most of his careerconducting counter insurgencyoperations in Jammu andKashmir, besides taking part inoperations against the LTTE inSri Lanka. He was commis-sioned into the Army in 1982in Madras Regiment and hewas shifted to the eliteParachute Regiment (SpecialForces) in January 1984.

    ���� �4"�.456$

    Amidst uproar in the LokSabha over the “doublemeaning” comments of theSamajwadi Party (SP) MPAzam Khan against BJP MPRama Devi , the Lok JanshaktiParty (LJP) said on Saturdaythat the Lok Sabha shouldhave acted against theParliamentarian by now anddemanded that the Speakertake strict action against him ifhe does not apologise.

    In a party statement issuedby its Lok Sabha MP VeenaDevi, the LJP, which is the BJP’sNDA ally, said Khan’s remarksin the House “cannot be con-doned and were extremely

    condemnable”.“Action should have been

    taken against Azam Khan bynow. The Speaker shouldensure that stringent actionshould be taken against him ifhe does not apologise,” she said.

    Cutting across party lines,Lok Sabha members on Fridaydemanded exemplary actionagainst Khan.

    Speaker Om Birla has con-veyed to Khan’s party that hemust apologise or action will betaken against him.

    Parliamentary affairsMinister Pralhad Joshi has alsosought an exemplary action onthe issue saying all MPs areexpected to uphold the digni-ty of the august house.

    ���� �4"�.456$

    The Congress on Saturdaylashed out at the ModiGovernment for allowing cut-ting down over 1 crore trees fordevelopment projects since2014 as the party wondered ifthe “BJP is destroying ourfuture”. The Congress also hitout at the BJP government inUttar Pradesh over issues beingfaced by farmers and ques-tioned the efficacy of farmand loan waiver schemes.

    “Trees are ‘life’. Tress are‘oxygen’. Tress absorb ‘carbondioxide’. Trees protect ‘envi-ronment’. Modi Govt has cut awhopping 1,09,75,844 trees inthe past 5 years! (ParliamentaryReply),” Congress’ chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala said on Twitter.

    He also posted theEnvironment Ministry’s replyin the Lok Sabha that it per-mitted cutting of over 1 croretrees in the last five years fordevelopment work. “Is BJPdestroying our future?” heasked.

    Responding to a questionin the Lok Sabha on Friday,Minister of State forEnvironment Babul Supriyosaid the ministry gave permis-sion to cut 1.09 crore trees fordevelopment purposes between2014 and 2019. Out of thetotal, the highest number oftrees (26.91 lakh) was cut in2018-19, he said. Supriyo saiddata on trees destroyed in for-est fires is not maintained byhis ministry

    For her part, Congress gen-eral secretary Priyanka Gandhi

    Vadra focused on her battle-ground as she hit out at the BJPgovernment in Uttar Pradeshover issues being faced byfarmers and questioned theefficacy of farm and loan waiv-er schemes.

    She cited a media reportwhich said that five farmershave committed suicide in asmany days in Bundelkhand’sBanda. “Farmers grow crop,don’t get the price for it. Famineoccurs, compensation is notgiven,” Priyanka said in a tweetin Hindi.

    “Farmers in Bundelkhandare getting threats of confisca-tion every day. What kind offarm policy and loan waiverschemes is it that farmers areleft with no option but to com-mit suicide,” the AICC in-charge (UP) said.

    ���� �4"�.456$

    Congress leader RahulGandhi on Saturdayalleged that the Modi govern-ment is “diluting” the RTI Actto “help the corrupt steal fromIndia”.

    While the Lok Sabhapassed the Right toInformation (Amendment)Bill, 2019 on Monday, theRajya Sabha gave its approvalon Thursday after opposition

    walkout over what it said was“intimidation” tactics by trea-sury benches to influence vot-ing on the motion to send theBill to a Select Committee forgreater scrutiny.

    “Government is dilutingRTI in order to help the corruptsteal from India. Strange thatthe normally vociferous anti-corruption crowd has sudden-ly disappeared,” Rahul said ina tweet, using the hashtag“GovtMurdersRTI”.

    ���� �4"�.456$

    JDU (U), an ally of the BJP inthe ruling NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA),would oppose the Triple TalaqBill that aims to remove theretrograde practice in thecountry in the Rajya Sabha too.The bill passed by the LokSabha on July 25 may come upfor consideration in the RajyaSabha on Monday. The practiceis abolished in over 20 Islamiccountries including Pakistanand Bangladesh.

    JD(U) spokesperson KCTyagi slammed the bill, whichcriminalises instant divorce byMuslim men ( by uttering theterm Talq three-times) with ajail term of up to three years,saying it is of “imposing nature”and will “definitely create a lackof trust in society”. “We will

    oppose the Bill,” he said onSaturday.

    After having passed the billin Lok Sabha, the governmentneeds the approval of the RajyaSabha to convert it into a lawto end the retrograde practicewhich leaves a wife at themercy of his husband.

    Even after government haspassed an ordinance for itsimplementation and SupremeCourt made it illegal, therehave been nearly 350 cases ofinstant talaq with Muslimwomen left to fend for them-selves. The bill provides jail tothe offender husband if wife orany blood relative makes a caseagainst him in case of tripletalaq.

    The Congress, TMC andSP, among other parties, areopposed to “criminalising”triple talaq, a stand, according

    to the BJP, was yet anotherinstance of “Muslim appease-ment”. JDU’s stand to oppose isalso seen in the similar light bythe BJP.

    The JD(U), led by BiharChief Minister Nitish Kumar,had not voted in the bill’s sup-port in Lok Sabha and hadstaged a walkout. It madethough little difference as theBJP enjoys a strong majority inthe Lower House on its ownbut the same may not be thecase in the upper house whereBJP does not have a majority.Just as in case of the RTIAmendment Bill, the BJPexpects ‘friendly parties’ likeBJD, TRS and YSR Congress toback it..

    The Bihar-based party mayadopt a similar tactic in RajyaSabha and stage a walkout. TheJD(U), which is otherwise a

    NDA constituent, has six mem-bers in Rajya Sabha, whose cur-rent strength is 240.

    “We believe that ours is anation based on a delicate bal-ance in respect of laws and gov-erning principles for differentreligious and ethnic groups.We must not impose any viewwithout obtaining substantiveconsultations,” Tyagi said.

    �� ���3������ ���3����=����34�-(���� � �4"�.456$

    Slamming Pakistan forindulging in deceit since1947, Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said theKargil war of 1999 had changedthe world’s perception aboutIndia, which took militaryaction to evict the PakistaniArmy and foiled the neighbour’sattempt to redraw the boundary.

    Addressing a gathering tocommemorate the 20thanniversary of the Kargil war,the Prime Minister said mod-ernisation of the armed forceswas a priority of his govern-ment as the wars have nowreached the space and arebeing fought even in the cyberworld.

    In 1999, Pakistani Armyhad captured the mountainousheights in Kargil in Ladakhregion of Jammu and Kashmirand India undertook militaryaction to evict the intruders ina three-month war.

    “We foiled Pakistan’sdeception in Kargil... This warchanged the perception of theworld towards India... Weexposed the deceitful plans ofPakistan to re-draw the Line ofControl (LoC). The world wit-nessed that we never initiatedany act of violence and insteadgave a befitting reply,” Modisaid.

    While quoting the thenPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee on the episode, Modisaid Pakistan had launchedthe misadventure, thinkingthat India would seek the helpof the international communi-ty and foreign powers wouldstep in to mediate.

    However, India did noth-ing like that and on its ownused the military power to

    throw out the Pakistani Army,the Prime Minister said.

    Hailing the armed forcesfor their exceptional valourdisplayed while recapturingthe mountain peaks of Kargil,Modi named a few of thosedecorated for their bravery.

    He recalled the Param VirChakra awardee CaptainVikram Batra, who hadfamously said, “Yeh Dil Maange

    More” and said the late officer’s“heart wasn’t asking for himself,not for a religion, language orcaste, but for the whole Bharat,for ‘Maa Bharati’.”

    Batra, who belonged toHimachal Pradesh, was killedin close combat with Pakistanitroops while recapturing apeak after having taking overone peak already.

    Paying tributes to the

    armed forces for safeguardingthe borders of the country, heemphasized modernization tomake them in tune with themodern warfare scenario.

    “Today, the wars havereached the space. Wars arebeing fought even in the cyberworld. So, the modernization ofdefence forces is not only anecessity but also our priority”,said Modi.

    ���� *4�8�53!3

    Senior Congress leaderSiddaramaiah on Saturdaysaid the government of the BJPin Karnataka was not “consti-tutionally or ethically formed”and called it “a victory ofhorsetrading.”

    Siddaramaiah, who is theleader of the Congress LegislatureParty, accused the BJP of “mis-using” the office of governor toform the government.

    “Yeddyurappa taking oathitself is against the constitutionby misusing the office of theGovernor though they don’thave the majority,” he toldreporters here.

    Explaining the equation, hesaid the strength of the

    Assembly after the disqualifi-cation of three MLAs was 221and the halfway mark was 111.

    However, the BJP has only105.

    Asserting that the BJP hasto give the list of 111 MLAs,Siddaramaiah underlined thefact that the names of rebelMLAs camping in Mumbaicannot be given as they werefrom Congress and the JD(S).

    “This (BJP’s) is not a con-stitutionally or ethically formedgovernment.

    How will they (BJP) provemajority then? Has it got anyrecognition within the frame-work of constitution?”Siddaramaiah asked.

    He said the H DKumaraswamy led coalition

    government would not havecollapsed if the MLAs ofCongress and the JD(S) werenot confined.

    “They (BJP) confined ourMLAs illegally by luring themand now they (BJP) are sayingit is the victory of people. No,it is not the victory of people.It is the victory of horse-trad-ing,” Siddaramaiah said.

    The former Chief Ministerclaimed that two rebel MLAshad called him regarding theirdisqualification but he did notreceive their calls.

    Four days after the coali-tion government collapsed,BJP leader Yeddyurappa stakedclaim to form the governmentand took oath as chief minis-ter on Friday.

    ���� �/5��+�

    Outgoing West BengalGovernor Keshari NathTripathi on Saturday said ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee’s“appeasement policy” isadversely affecting the socialharmony of the state.

    Tripathi, who has had sev-eral run-ins with the chiefminister during his five-yeartenure, said that Banerjee hasthe vision and power to imple-ment her decisions but needs tokeep a check on her sentimentsand exercise restraint.

    He said the chief ministershould treat every citizenequally without discrimina-tion.

    “Chief Minister MamataBanerjee has got vision, she hasthe power to implement herdecisions but she should exer-cise restraint too. She becomessentimental on occasions, soshe has to keep a control on it,”Tripathi told PTI while reply-ing to questions on a widerange of issues.

    His successor Jagdeep

    Dhankar will take oath as gov-ernor on July 30.

    “Her (Banerjee’s ) policy ofappeasement has the effect ofadversely affecting societal har-mony... I think she should lookat every citizen equally. Ibelieve that every citizen ofWest Bengal should be dealtwith equally without discrim-ination,” he said.

    Asked whether he saw anydiscrimination in West Bengal,85-year-old Tripathi said,

    “Discrimination is apparent.Her (Banerjee) statementsshow the discrimination”.

    He also expressed concernon violence in the state, sayingthe law and order situationshould be improved.

    “I think a lot of improve-ment is required in the law andorder situation. I do not knowwhy people are adopting vio-lence. There may be a politicalreason, a communal reason orinflux of Bangladeshis and

    Rohingyas or several othercauses,” he said.

    The state witnessed sever-al incidents of political violenceduring and after the Lok Sabhapolls.

    On whether he felt thecurrent law and order situationin West Bengal could warrantimposition of President’s Rule,Tripathi refrained from givinga direct reply.

    ���� �3�*�$

    The Indian Air Force onSaturday airlifted over 120people stuck in different partsof Thane district in Maharashtradue to flash floods triggered byheavy rains, an official said.

    While at least 70 peoplewere stranded on the terrace ofa petrol pump in Badlapurtown, around 65 km fromMumbai, another 45 peoplewere stuck at a private resort inShahad, 46 kilometres away, thestate disaster control roomofficial said here.

    Heavy showers sinceFriday night have caused theUlhas river in the district tooverflow, with water gushingonto roads in Badlapur andinundating many areas.

    “A rescue operation waslaunched with the help of theIndian Air Force after wereceived a call at 11 am request-ing airlift from the terrace of

    the petrol pump. An IAF heli-copter was dispatched to thespot and also to the resort inShahad. All of them have beenrescued,” the official said.

    Personnel of NationalDisaster Response Force, localpolice, fire brigade, and disas-ter management force weredeployed for the rescue oper-ations, he said.

    In another operation car-ried out by a helicopter-borneteam of the IAF, nine personswere rescued from a rooftop inKalyan in the district, an offi-cial said.

    The building is close to theUlhas river which has breachedits banks, said the official.

    While Thane city recorded160 millimetres of rainfall till8 am on Saturday, Murbadtehsil recorded 332 mm, whileKalyan, Ulhasnagar andAmberanth recorded over 200mm of rainfall each, the districtcollector’s office said.

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    Uncapped fast bowler Jofra Archer has beenincluded in England’s 14-man squadannounced on Saturday for next week’s Ashesopener against Australia, with all-rounder BenStokes re-appointed as vice-captain.

    The pair both enjoyed starring roles inEngland’s stunning World Cup final win over NewZealand at Lord’s on July 14, with all-rounderStokes ensuring England drew level with the BlackCaps total in regulation play before Archer bowledthe decisive Super Over that sealed victory.

    Archer, 24, who only became England qual-ified earlier this year, could now make his Testdebut when the first of a five-match series startsat Edgbaston on August 1.

    He carried a side strain throughout the WorldCup but reported fit after a brief holiday in hisnative Barbados, with Archer returning to actionfor Sussex on Friday, where he took 2-21 in a tiedTwenty20 Blast match with Surrey.

    Meanwhile Stokes was restored to his posi-tion as Joe Root’s deputy after being stripped ofthe vice-captaincy following a late night brawl inSeptember 2017. He was subsequently cleared ona charge of affray last year, with Jos Buttler act-ing as vice-captain.

    Both Buttler and Stokes were rested from asee-saw Test against Ireland that England even-tually won by 143 runs at Lord’s on Friday, withveteran spearhead James Anderson also return-ing to the squad after missing the match with aside injury.

    But while 10 of the 11 players who defeatedIreland were included, there was no place for left-arm spinner Jack Leach following his man-of-the-match heroics that saw the nightwatchman makea career-best 92 in England’s second innings.

    Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad finished theIreland match in spectacular style, the seamerstaking six for 17 and four for 19 respectively asthe visitors collapsed to 38 all out.

    England squad for 1st Ashes Test:Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, James Anderson,

    Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, RoryBurns, Jos Buttler (wkt), Sam Curran, Joe Denly,Jason Roy), Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, ChrisWoakes.

    ���� �@.�4@�

    Alex Carey’s omission from theAshes sqaud was met with disbe-lief on Saturday by former Australiangreats Mark Waugh and Shane Warne,while Mark Taylor said he was surprisedJoe Burns and Kurtis Patterson missedout.

    Australia named a 17-man squadfor the five-Test series against Englandon Friday, with opener CameronBancroft recalled alongside Steve Smithand David Warner following their bansfor a ball-tampering scandal in SouthAfrica last year.

    Matthew Wade also made thegrade, having not played a Test for near-ly two years, following recent outstand-ing form with the bat.

    He can act as back-up wicketkeep-er to captain Tim Paine, as couldBancroft, which meant the fast-improv-ing Carey, who starred for Australia atthe recent World Cup, was controver-sially overlooked.

    “Got to be kidding re Alex Carey,”128-Test veteran Waugh tweeted. “Forme Alex missing the squad is thebiggest shock particularly after his bat-ting during the World Cup and beingthe second best gloveman.”

    Spin king Warne was also stunnedat Carey’s omission.

    “Very surprised/disappointed thatCarey didn’t make the Aussie squad,” he

    said on Instagram in posting what hebelieves will be Australia’s team for theopening Test at Edgbaston.

    Warne has Bancroft opening withWarner and Wade coming in at num-ber six, while opting fot fast bowlerJames Pattinson instead of MitchellStarc alongside Josh Hazlewood, PatCummins and Nathan Lyon.

    Former Australia captain Taylorsaid opener Burns and middle-orderbatsman Patterson missing out was

    tough to take given both made centuriesin Australia’s last Test, against SriLanka.

    “I was disappointed KurtisPatterson didn’t make the squ


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