T he Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a probe headed by former SC judge Justice AK Patnaik into allega- tions made by advocate Utsav Bains that there is a “corporate” conspiracy to frame the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on charges of sexual misconduct. A Bench of Justices Arun Misra, RF Nariman and Deepak Gupta also directed Delhi Police, CBI and Intelligence Bureau to cooper- ate with Justice Patnaik in the probe. On the completion of inquiry, Justice (Retd) Patnaik will file a report in a sealed cover before the court after which the matter will be heard again. Justice Patnaik was earlier appointed by SC to probe the allegations against former CBI Director Alok Verma. Anguished over “system- atic attack” to malign the judi- ciary, the Supreme Court said that time has come to send a message to the country that the top court was “not vulnerable” and nobody can “remote con- trol” it either by money or political power. The top court, warned that if such attempts were not stopped the institu- tion “will die”. During the course of the hearing, advocate Utsav Bains, who made the claim about a conspiracy to frame Justice Gogoi, filed an additional affi- davit in a sealed cover in the court in support of his claims. The court - while examin- ing an affidavit by lawyer Utsav Bains - noted that the allega- tions of “Bench fixing are so serious that it requires investi- gation”. SC also noted that the probe committee will not go into the issue of sexual harass- ment allegations against the CJI and the outcome of the Justice Patnaik probe will not affect the in-house inquiry. Meanwhile, Justice NV Ramana, part of 3-member in-house inquiry panel set up to examine the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, recused himself from it on Thursday. The development comes a day after the former apex court woman employee, who lev- elled the allegations against the CJI, wrote a letter to the panel expressing reservation over the inclusion of Justice Ramana. Observing that the apex court cannot be run by money or political power, a three- judge special Bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said that the day has come for them to rise and tell the country’s rich and powerful that they are “playing with fire”. “Do not think that the Supreme Court can be remote controlled by anything on the earth, whether money power or political power,” the Bench said. “We are anguished with the way this institution is being treated in the last three-four years and we must say that it will die and it will not survive if this will happen. There is sys- tematic attack, systematic game to malign this great institution,” the court said. The Bench said letters were being written and books were being printed in matters pend- ing in the court and this prac- tice has to be stopped. “Do the rich and powerful of this country think that they can remote control the Supreme Court,” the Bench said. The hard hitting observa- tions by the Bench came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said there should be a probe by a special investigation team (SIT) on the allegations levelled by advocate Utsav Singh Bains in his affidavit as he has claimed a larger conspiracy which concerns the adminis- tration of justice. “You (Mehta) are provok- ing us to speak. We are not inclined to say but now listen. So many things are going on. There are serious allegations that need to be probed. The Supreme Court cannot be run by money power or political power,” Justice Mishra said. “It is an institution of you people and not ours. Judges come and go but if these things will happen then it (institution) will die and it will not survive,” the Bench said. During the hearing on Thursday, the Bench said, “We cannot mention several things. People are trying to manage the court registry by money power. When somebody tries to improve things, he is killed and maligned? We have come to this extent of black- mailing.” I n an effort to boost its defences in the region facing China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Army in collaboration with the public sector National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) will build tunnels or concrete caverns to store ammunition. Huge bunkers will ensure that the ammunition cannot be destroyed by artillery fire or aerial bombing besides ensur- ing smooth supply of bombs and bullets to the troops with- out any hindrance. The pilot project costing about 15 crore for four tunnels has to be completed within two years after the Army and the NHPC signed a MOU here on Thursday. Three of the four tunnels will be built in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh facing China while the fourth will come up in the mountain region of Jammu division. Each ammunition bunker has the capacity to store more than 200 metric tonnes of ammunition and will also be safe from the vagaries of weath- er including ammunition get- ting damaged due to dampness. Explaining the significance of the project, officials said China already has built similar storage tunnels in the Tibet region. While India also has sim- ilar underground caverns in the plain regions of the country, this pilot project, if successful, will pave the way for con- structing similar dumps in the inaccessible mountain regions facing China, they said. Once the project meets all the requirements of the Army, more such storage facilities may come up in Ladakh which has a long border with China besides some sensitive places in Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand and the north-eastern States, they said. C ongress on Thursday fielded old-hand Ajay Rai from Varanasi to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ending speculation of a possible electoral duel between Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the PM. The suspense finally ended with the party nomi- nating Rai, who unsuccess- fully contested against Modi in 2014 and finished third after the BJP leader and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal. In 2014, Modi won by a margin of over three lakh votes against Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal. While Modi got over 5,81,000 votes, Rai managed about 75,000 votes. The party also fielded Madhusudan Tiwari from Gorakhpur against BJP’s Ravi Kishan, a popular Bhojpuri film star. Speculation on Priyanka making her electoral debut from Varanasi had been rife for the past few weeks and was fuelled after Congress president Rahul Gandhi, to a question on whether he planned to field his sister against PM Modi, said last week, “I will leave you in suspense. Suspense is not always a bad thing.” C ountry’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday announced that it will stop sales of all diesel- engined cars from April 1, 2020. This is the day that Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) emission norms come into force in India and no old Bharat Stage 4 diesel engined vehicles will be allowed to be registered. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that it will not allow the sale and registration of any BS4 from April 1, 2020”, MSI chairman RC Bhargava said explaining the decision. Some of the company’s models like Vitara Brezza and S-Cross currently come with a diesel engine option only. W ith full Statehood as the main poll plank, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday launched its mani- festo for general election. With the status, the Delhi Government "will have control over land, law and order, police and control over officials and decision-making," AAP nation- al convener Arvind Kejriwal said while launching the mane- festo. The manifesto covered a range of issues in 12 areas of education, health, women safe- ty, police reforms, zero cor- ruption, jobs, land and housing, protection from sealing, clean- liness, pollution, transport, and Yamuna rejuvenation. P rime Minister Narendra Modi held a massive 7-km roadshow in Varanasi, touch- ing all ancient ghats which have presence of different commu- nities settled from across the country for centuries. Ahead of filing his nomination papers on Friday, the PM sought a second term for himself as party paint- ed the ancient city saffron. Modi commenced his roadshow by first garlanding the statue of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) founder Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya and then proceeded in an open vehicle with thousands of sup- porters lined-up on both sides raining flower petals on him. Clad in a saffron kurta, Modi, in a repeat of 2014 road- show, greeted people with fold- ed hands and incessant waving. Modi’s roadshow mean- dered through localities like Lanka, Assi Ghat, Sonarpur, Narad Ghat, Madanpura, Gadoliya and concluded at Dashaswamegh Ghat where he performed the famous Ganga Aarti amid sound of “Shankhs” and “Ghantis”. Madanpura is largely a Muslim populated part of the city where the Prime Minister passed through in the evening. Modi, who will file his nomination papers on Friday at about 11.30 am in the presence of NDA alliance partners, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray and former Punjab CM Prakash Singh Badal, was accompanied by UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Union Ministers Piyush Goyal, Sushma Swaraj, and JP Nadda during the roadshow. Amid loud shouts of “Modi, Modi”, the Prime Minister’s cavalcade slowed- down at many places with the PM acknowledging people waving at him from rooftops. Boats in the Ganga were lighted with Modi’s cut-out and display of “Mai Bhi Chowkidar” and BJP’s symbol lotus. New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra was on Thursday appointed as a new member of the in-house enquiry panel set up to exam- ine the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, following the recusal of Justice NV Ramana. Justice SA Bobde, who is heading the panel and is the senior-most judge after the CJI, has appointed Justice Malhotra to the committee. Justice Indira Banerjee is also part of the panel. “I have been given the power to constitute or re-con- stitute the panel and conduct the inquiry... I have inducted a new member and this will be sent to the full court for approval... We are going to have our first sitting as scheduled on Friday,” Justice Bobde told PTI. P rime Minister Narendra Modi will hold his second rally in Jamua in Giridih on April 29, soliciting support for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) can- didates. Through Jamua rally, Modi will try to connect with three Lok Sabha constituencies—Giridih, Koderma and Hazaribag. On April 24, Modi carried out a road show in State Capital, with a mega rally next day in tribal dis- trict of Lohardaga connecting with people of Lohardaga, Chatra, Palamu and Khunti Lok Sabha areas. The Prime Minister Office has given its confirmation for Modi rally. Modi will reach Koderma from Gaya in a chopper and then proceed to rally venue. State BJP general secretary, Deepak Prakash said, “The PM will address the rally in Jamua giving a positive message about BJP vision for 2019 elections.” Apart from BJP star campaigner, Modi, the rally will be attended by Chief Minister Raghubar Das, State BJP in-charge Mangal Pandey and candidates from Koderma, Giridih and Hazaribag. In Koderma, the BJP has put former RJD state president, Annapurna Devi against JVM heavy weight Babulal Marandi. The Koderma seat is lively to wit- ness triangular contest as CPI (ML) candidate and Dhanwar sit- ting MLA Raj Kumar Yadav is also in fray from the seat. Similarly, in Giridih seat the BJP has replaced its sitting MP Ravindra Pandey with AJSU party candidate Chandra Prakash Choudhary. Choudhary is also drinking water and sanitation min- ister in Raghubar Das’ cabinet. Choudhary is pitted against JMM Dumri MLA Jagarnath Mahto. In Hazaribag, the party has fielded union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha. He is contesting against senior Congress leader Gopal Sahu, who is younger brother of former Congress MP from Ranchi Shiv Prasad Sahu. Sources said that the BJP has planned Modi’s rally in all four phases which includes—April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. The BJP star campaigner rally is to build the tempo of BJP cadres with an attempt to repeat the show of 2014 election. In 2014, the BJP won 12 out of 14 seats, however, this time the BJP is in sticky wicket after four parties Congress, JMM, JVM and RJD forming Mahagathbandhan. A senior BJP leader requesting anonymity said, “As the party is facing anti-incumbency in many seats, with many MPs unpopular, the State BJP depends upon its star campaigner Modi to create a magic for BJP candidates.” Apart from Modi, BJP nation- al president Amit Shah will address public rallies in Daltonganj and Ranchi. The Daltonganj at Shivajee Maidan is scheduled on April 27, the Ranchi rally will be held at Harmu Maidan on May 3.
headed by former SC judgeJustice AK Patnaik into allega-tions made by advocate UtsavBains that there is a “corporate”conspiracy to frame the ChiefJustice of India (CJI) RanjanGogoi on charges of sexualmisconduct.
A Bench of Justices ArunMisra, RF Nariman andDeepak Gupta also directedDelhi Police, CBI andIntelligence Bureau to cooper-ate with Justice Patnaik in theprobe. On the completion ofinquiry, Justice (Retd) Patnaikwill file a report in a sealedcover before the court afterwhich the matter will be heardagain.
Justice Patnaik was earlierappointed by SC to probe theallegations against former CBIDirector Alok Verma.
Anguished over “system-atic attack” to malign the judi-ciary, the Supreme Court saidthat time has come to send amessage to the country that thetop court was “not vulnerable”and nobody can “remote con-trol” it either by money orpolitical power. The top court,warned that if such attemptswere not stopped the institu-tion “will die”.
During the course of thehearing, advocate Utsav Bains,who made the claim about aconspiracy to frame JusticeGogoi, filed an additional affi-davit in a sealed cover in thecourt in support of his claims.
The court - while examin-ing an affidavit by lawyer UtsavBains - noted that the allega-tions of “Bench fixing are soserious that it requires investi-gation”.
SC also noted that theprobe committee will not gointo the issue of sexual harass-ment allegations against the CJIand the outcome of the JusticePatnaik probe will not affect thein-house inquiry.
Meanwhile, Justice NVRamana, part of 3-memberin-house inquiry panel set upto examine the allegations ofsexual harassment againstChief Justice of India RanjanGogoi, recused himself from iton Thursday.
The development comes aday after the former apex courtwoman employee, who lev-elled the allegations againstthe CJI, wrote a letter to thepanel expressing reservationover the inclusion of JusticeRamana.
Observing that the apexcourt cannot be run by moneyor political power, a three-judge special Bench headed byJustice Arun Mishra said thatthe day has come for them torise and tell the country’s richand powerful that they are“playing with fire”.
“Do not think that theSupreme Court can be remotecontrolled by anything on theearth, whether money power or
political power,” the Benchsaid. “We are anguished withthe way this institution is beingtreated in the last three-fouryears and we must say that itwill die and it will not surviveif this will happen. There is sys-tematic attack, systematic gameto malign this great institution,”the court said.
The Bench said letters werebeing written and books werebeing printed in matters pend-ing in the court and this prac-tice has to be stopped.
“Do the rich and powerfulof this country think that theycan remote control theSupreme Court,” the Benchsaid.
The hard hitting observa-tions by the Bench came afterSolicitor General Tushar Mehtasaid there should be a probe bya special investigation team(SIT) on the allegations levelledby advocate Utsav Singh Bainsin his affidavit as he has
claimed a larger conspiracywhich concerns the adminis-tration of justice.
“You (Mehta) are provok-ing us to speak. We are notinclined to say but now listen.So many things are going on.There are serious allegationsthat need to be probed. TheSupreme Court cannot be runby money power or politicalpower,” Justice Mishra said.
“It is an institution of youpeople and not ours. Judgescome and go but if these thingswill happen then it (institution)will die and it will not survive,”the Bench said.
During the hearing onThursday, the Bench said, “Wecannot mention several things.People are trying to manage thecourt registry by money power.When somebody tries toimprove things, he is killed and maligned? We have come to this extent of black-mailing.”
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In an effort to boost itsdefences in the region facing
China on the Line of ActualControl (LAC), the Army incollaboration with the publicsector National HydroelectricPower Corporation (NHPC)will build tunnels or concretecaverns to store ammunition.
Huge bunkers will ensurethat the ammunition cannot bedestroyed by artillery fire oraerial bombing besides ensur-ing smooth supply of bombsand bullets to the troops with-out any hindrance.
The pilot project costingabout �15 crore for four tunnelshas to be completed within twoyears after the Army and theNHPC signed a MOU here onThursday. Three of the fourtunnels will be built in Sikkimand Arunachal Pradesh facingChina while the fourth willcome up in the mountainregion of Jammu division.
Each ammunition bunkerhas the capacity to store morethan 200 metric tonnes ofammunition and will also be
safe from the vagaries of weath-er including ammunition get-ting damaged due to dampness.
Explaining the significanceof the project, officials saidChina already has built similarstorage tunnels in the Tibetregion.
While India also has sim-ilar underground caverns in theplain regions of the country,this pilot project, if successful,will pave the way for con-structing similar dumps in theinaccessible mountain regionsfacing China, they said.
Once the project meets allthe requirements of the Army,more such storage facilitiesmay come up in Ladakh whichhas a long border with Chinabesides some sensitive places inHimachal Pradesh, Uttrakhandand the north-eastern States,they said.
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Congress on Thursdayfielded old-hand Ajay Rai
from Varanasi to take onPrime Minister NarendraModi, ending speculation of apossible electoral duelbetween Priyanka GandhiVadra and the PM.
The suspense f inal lyended with the party nomi-nating Rai, who unsuccess-fully contested against Modiin 2014 and finished thirdafter the BJP leader and AAP’sArvind Kejriwal. In 2014,Modi won by a margin of overthree lakh votes against AamAadmi Party leader ArvindKejriwal.
While Modi got over5,81,000 votes, Rai managedabout 75,000 votes.
The party also fieldedMadhusudan Tiwari fromGorakhpur against BJP’s RaviKishan, a popular Bhojpurifilm star.
Speculation on Priyankamaking her electoral debutfrom Varanasi had been rifefor the past few weeks and was fuelled after Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi, to aquestion on whether he planned to fieldhis sister against PM Modi,said last week, “I wil l leave you in suspense.Suspense is not always a badthing.”
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Country’s largest carmakerMaruti Suzuki India (MSI)
on Thursday announced that itwill stop sales of all diesel-engined cars from April 1,2020. This is the day thatBharat Stage 6 (BS6) emissionnorms come into force in Indiaand no old Bharat Stage 4diesel engined vehicles will beallowed to be registered.
“The Supreme Court hasmade it clear that it will notallow the sale and registrationof any BS4 from April 1,2020”, MSI chairman RCBhargava said explaining thedecision.
Some of the company’smodels like Vitara Brezza andS-Cross currently come witha diesel engine option only.
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With full Statehood as themain poll plank, the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) onThursday launched its mani-festo for general election. Withthe status, the DelhiGovernment "will have controlover land, law and order, policeand control over officials anddecision-making," AAP nation-al convener Arvind Kejriwalsaid while launching the mane-festo.
The manifesto covered arange of issues in 12 areas ofeducation, health, women safe-ty, police reforms, zero cor-ruption, jobs, land and housing,protection from sealing, clean-liness, pollution, transport, andYamuna rejuvenation.
roadshow in Varanasi, touch-ing all ancient ghats which havepresence of different commu-nities settled from across thecountry for centuries. Ahead offiling his nomination papers onFriday, the PM sought a secondterm for himself as party paint-ed the ancient city saffron.
Modi commenced hisroadshow by first garlandingthe statue of Banaras HinduUniversity (BHU) founderPandit Madan Mohan Malviyaand then proceeded in an openvehicle with thousands of sup-porters lined-up on both sides
raining flower petals on him.Clad in a saffron kurta,
Modi, in a repeat of 2014 road-show, greeted people with fold-ed hands and incessant waving.
Modi’s roadshow mean-dered through localities likeLanka, Assi Ghat, Sonarpur,Narad Ghat, Madanpura,Gadoliya and concluded atDashaswamegh Ghat wherehe performed the famousGanga Aarti amid sound of“Shankhs” and “Ghantis”.
Madanpura is largely aMuslim populated part of thecity where the Prime Ministerpassed through in the evening.
Modi, who will file hisnomination papers on Friday atabout 11.30 am in the presence
of NDA alliance partners,including Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar, Shiv Sena chiefUdhav Thackeray and formerPunjab CM Prakash SinghBadal, was accompanied byUP CM Yogi Adityanath,Union Ministers Piyush Goyal,Sushma Swaraj, and JP Naddaduring the roadshow.
Amid loud shouts of“Modi, Modi”, the PrimeMinister’s cavalcade slowed-down at many places with thePM acknowledging peoplewaving at him from rooftops.
Boats in the Ganga werelighted with Modi’s cut-outand display of “Mai BhiChowkidar” and BJP’s symbollotus.
New Delhi: Supreme Courtjudge Indu Malhotra was onThursday appointed as a newmember of the in-houseenquiry panel set up to exam-ine the allegations of sexualharassment against ChiefJustice of India Ranjan Gogoi,following the recusal of JusticeNV Ramana.
Justice SA Bobde, who isheading the panel and is thesenior-most judge after the
CJI, has appointed JusticeMalhotra to the committee.
Justice Indira Banerjee isalso part of the panel.
“I have been given thepower to constitute or re-con-stitute the panel and conductthe inquiry... I have inducted anew member and this will besent to the full court forapproval... We are going to haveour first sitting as scheduled onFriday,” Justice Bobde told PTI.
Prime Minister Narendra Modiwill hold his second rally in
Jamua in Giridih on April 29,soliciting support for NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA) can-didates. Through Jamua rally, Modiwill try to connect with three LokSabha constituencies—Giridih,Koderma and Hazaribag.
On April 24, Modi carried outa road show in State Capital, witha mega rally next day in tribal dis-trict of Lohardaga connecting withpeople of Lohardaga, Chatra,Palamu and Khunti Lok Sabhaareas. The Prime Minister Officehas given its confirmation forModi rally. Modi will reachKoderma from Gaya in a chopper
and then proceed to rally venue.State BJP general secretary,
Deepak Prakash said, “The PM willaddress the rally in Jamua givinga positive message about BJP visionfor 2019 elections.” Apart from BJPstar campaigner, Modi, the rallywill be attended by Chief MinisterRaghubar Das, State BJP in-chargeMangal Pandey and candidatesfrom Koderma, Giridih andHazaribag. In Koderma, the BJPhas put former RJD state president,Annapurna Devi against JVMheavy weight Babulal Marandi.The Koderma seat is lively to wit-ness triangular contest as CPI(ML) candidate and Dhanwar sit-ting MLA Raj Kumar Yadav is alsoin fray from the seat.
Similarly, in Giridih seat the
BJP has replaced its sitting MPRavindra Pandey with AJSU partycandidate Chandra PrakashChoudhary. Choudhary is alsodrinking water and sanitation min-ister in Raghubar Das’ cabinet.Choudhary is pitted against JMMDumri MLA Jagarnath Mahto.
In Hazaribag, the party hasfielded union minister of state forcivil aviation Jayant Sinha. He iscontesting against senior Congressleader Gopal Sahu, who is youngerbrother of former Congress MPfrom Ranchi Shiv Prasad Sahu.
Sources said that the BJP hasplanned Modi’s rally in all fourphases which includes—April 29,May 6, May 12 and May 19. TheBJP star campaigner rally is tobuild the tempo of BJP cadres with
an attempt to repeat the show of2014 election. In 2014, the BJP won12 out of 14 seats, however, thistime the BJP is in sticky wicketafter four parties Congress, JMM,JVM and RJD formingMahagathbandhan.
A senior BJP leader requestinganonymity said, “As the party isfacing anti-incumbency in manyseats, with many MPs unpopular,the State BJP depends upon its starcampaigner Modi to create a magicfor BJP candidates.”
Apart from Modi, BJP nation-al president Amit Shah will addresspublic rallies in Daltonganj andRanchi. The Daltonganj at ShivajeeMaidan is scheduled on April 27,the Ranchi rally will be held atHarmu Maidan on May 3.
Passengers travelling duringthe summer vacation in
May will not have to face berthpangs, thanks to South EasternRailway (SER). After announc-ing three summer special trains- Shalimar-Jaipur SummerSpecial Express, CSTM-Shalimar Superfast SummerSpecial and Tatanagar-Kacheguda Summer Special,SER has decided to provideadditional bogies in long dis-tance trains facing huge ticketbooking rush.
SER headquarters inGarden Reach issued a notifi-cation for introduction of oneextra AC-3 tier coach. Thetrains which will get the facili-ty of an extra AC- 3tier coachinclude Up and Dn Howrah-Sambalpur Express, which trav-els via Tatanagar railway station
and Rourkela-BhubaneswarIntercity Express. According toa notification, the facility begin-ning today will be extended tillJune 30 in both the trains.
Sources in Garden Reachsaid that keeping in view therush, a summer special trainmight be introduced for NewDelhi in the second week ofMay.
Officials at the Tatanagarcomputerised railway booking
counter revealed that waitinglists in several trains like Puri-New Delhi Neelanchal Express,Purushottam Express andHowrah-Ahmedabad Express isrising for the entire May andJune month.
An official said every yearduring the summer vacationsuch rush is witnessed. Steps arebeing taken to ease the rush. Hewent on to inform that SouthEastern Railway has decided toattach extra coaches to severallong distance trains passingthrough Tatanagar to accom-modate passengers.
Chief reservation supervi-sor at Tatanagar C.S. Rao con-firmed the heavy rush to booktickets in advance. “ Yes thewaiting lists in several trainssuch as Howrah-MumbaiGeetanjali Express, Puri-NewDelhi Purushottam Expressand Howrah-Ahmedabad
Express have crossed the cen-tury mark for second and thirdweeks of May,” he said. Headded apart from Tatanagar,bookings for other places underChakradharpur railway divisionwere also in demand.
The Tatanagar railway sta-tion is the only A1-categoryrailway station underChakradharpur division ofSouth Eastern Railway ( SER).The footfall at the station isgradually on the rise because ofincreasing number of trainsand also because of the fact thatTatanagar falls on the Howrah-Mumbai main line. Severalimportant trains travel viaTatanagar, including the high-profile Rajdhani Express andDuronto Express. The stationsees a daily traffic of 90 mail,express and passenger trains,besides a footfall of more than60,000 passengers.
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Candidates in fray for LokSabha elections from
Jamshedpur seat are puttingtheir best effort to woo voters.With D-day inching closer forthe Jamshedpur seat, the con-testants in fray have stepped uptheir campaign, knowing thatit would be a tough contest.
Development of the con-
stituency is the main poll plankof all the contestants.According to BJP candidateBidyut Baran Mahto “I have fullfaith on the voters ofJamshedpur. They will be elect-ing their MP on the basis ofperformance of candidates. Iopenly ask the voters to judgemy tenure as the MP and thendecide to vote. The people areonly going to cast their vote onthe basis of performance of thecandidates and theGovernment. I am here seek-ing votes of the people for thework that I have done so far inthe last five year of my tenureas the MP of Jamshedpur.
During my tenure as MP I havetoured every nook and cornerof my constituency and under-stand issues concerning thepeople. Whether it was newtrains or roads, I have ensuredan over all development of myconstituency area. I have sev-eral future plans to ensure sus-tained development of theregion. If voted to power I willtry my best to start a pensionscheme for two lakh labourersin the area”.
JMM candidate ChampaiSoren said : “First of all let metell you that I belong to thisarea. I am the son of the soiland have been a part of the
movement for separate stateJharkhand. I understand thepulse of the people of theregion.
I have been active activistand have been crusading forthe rights of the people evenbefore I was elected MLA. Iwant to be their voice andensure that they reap the ben-efits of different projects. I amalso concerned about migra-tion of labourers from ourregion to different states. Thisis a vital issue that needs toaddressed. If voted for LokSabha I will raise issues of trib-als in the house to draw atten-tion of the Government. Ourparty has envisaged roadmapfor equal and sustainable devel-opment of the urban and ruralperiphery of the Jamshedpurparliamentary constituency. Iam aware of the problems ofthe city here since my earlierdays as political activist. If, I getan opportunity to represent thecity (Jamshedpur LS seat) thancertainly, I will even take up theissues which I couldn’t as partyactivist. I want to work with thepeople and make a difference.I see a lot of potential inJamshedpur”.
Former MLA and founderof AJSU ( All JharkhandStudent’s Union ) Surya SinghBesra too said that he will workfor the development of theLok Sabh area.
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Proving their mettle threeBokaro students maid their
mark in national talent schol-arship KVPY (Kishore VigyanProtsahan Yojana).
The first round of thisexamination was held inNovember 2018 while the finalstage of this examination washeld in February 2019.
Rahul Shreshtha, PranshuGaur and Mohammad HasnainRaza qualified for national tal-ent scholarship with highgrades. All of them are studentof Delhi Public School Bokaro.
The Kishore VaigyanikProtsahan Yojana (KVPY) is anon-going National Programmeof Fellowship in Basic Sciencesinitiated and funded by theDepartment of Science andTechnology, Government ofIndia, to attract exceptionallymotivated students for pursu-ing basic science courses andresearch career in science.
Chief Minister Raghubar Das onThursday coined Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha as Jharkhand Mudra Mochanparty targeting JMM president ShibuSoren and his family members. Dasclaimed that JMM’s entire politics revolvesaround minting money on the pretext offooling innocent tribal of State. The ChiefMinister was addressing a rally at Rajmahalafter BJP candidate Hemlal Murmu filedhis nomination paper from the SanthalPargana seat.
For BJP, Santhal Pargana assumesimportance as in 2014 despite Modi wavethe party lost Dumka and Rajmahal seat.The Rajmahal seat is presently held byJMM Vijay Hansdak while from Dumka,JMM patriarch Shibu Soren is party MP.
Das said, “In last five years nothing haschanged in Rajmahal only the property ofJMM MP has increased by five times.”Targeting JMM MP Hansdak, Das said,“The JMM MP has tried to stop drinkingwater schemes worth Rs 200 crore inSanthal region.”
Highlighting the welfare schemeslaunched by Prime Minister NarendraModi, Das said that the construction workof inland port in Sahibganj will be com-pleted soon. Das said, “The inland port willbe operational by May this year which willboost trade activities in the region leadingto flow of money in the region.”
Meanwhile, campaigning in State hasintensified with several leaders carrying outcampaign in support of BJP candidates. BJPcandidate from Khunti and former chiefminister Arjun Munda today visited var-
ious areas in Khunti. The BJP candidatealso visited the house of his rival andCongress candidate Kalicharan Munda atMahil village. Arjun Munda, touched thefeet of Radhika Munda mother of Congresscandidate Kalicharan Munda.
The Congress candidate KalicharanMunda is brother of Khunti MLA NeelkantSingh Munda, who is minister of ruraldevelopment in Raghubar Das’ Cabinet.
The BJP candidate during his cam-paign also visited the house of 93-year-oldwoman, Laxmi Devi at Dalwa village. Thewoman also presented Munda with Rs1,100, Dhoti and Gamcha and gave herblessings for victory in election. Arjun whowas glad after meeting also posted aremark in his face book stating that it wasa special experience for him to get the giftsfrom the elderly woman.
BJP candidate from Ranchi Lok Sabhaseat, Sanjay Seth too today carried out cam-paigning in Chutia area of the Ranchi seat.During his campaign, the BJP candidateattacked the Mahagathbandhan blamingthe Congress, JMM, RJD as dynastic par-ties. Seth said, “In the election the oppo-sition is fighting to save their families.While the Congress is party of mother-son,JMM father-son and RJD a party of father-son. Only BJP is a party which is cadrebased party.”
He said, “In BJP a simple tea seller canbecome a Prime Minister, a labourer canbecome chief minister, and an ordinaryparty leader can me can become party can-didate from an important seat like Ranchi.”
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Additional Chief ElectoralOfficer, Manish Ranjan on
Thursday asked representa-tives of Railways, banks, postoffice and CISF to ensure 100per cent participation ofemployees working in thesedepartments in the upcoming17th General Elections.
Chairing a meeting withrepresentatives of the afore-mentioned organizations inRanchi, he said that all stake-holders must ensure maxi-mum participation of voters inthe elections by using all pos-sible means of effective com-munication.
“You must constitute a vot-ers’ awareness forum andencourage voting through ral-lies, signature campaigns,sports events, banners andposters,” Ranjan said.
Besides, Ranjan also askedall the officials concerned tomonitor smooth functioning ofthe various platforms madefor voters’ awareness and fair
elections this year. All ModelCode of Conduct violationcases reported on c-Vigil Appshould be taken seriously andaddressed within 100 minutes,he added.
He also asked the officialsattending the meeting to makesure that differently-abled vot-ers come out in large numbers
to cast their votes this year.There are a total of 120031 vot-ers with disabilities inJharkhand, as per figures withthe Election Commission ofIndia (ECI).
Ranjan said that all thepolling booths must haveramps, wheelchairs, crutchesand other facilities for differ-
ently-abled voters andofficials must keep a tabon the availability of thesefacilities.
Jharkhand goes topolls on April 29.Elections for the 14 con-stituencies here will beconducted in four phas-es and the final pollingwill happen on May 6.
Meanwhile, a total of10 nomination formswere sold on Thursdayfor the fourth phase ofelections in Rajmahal,Dumka and Godda, tak-ing the total count ofnomination forms soldfor the three constituen-cies till date to 56.
As many as12 nomina-tions were filed on Thursday,taking the total count of nom-inations filed in the con-stituency till date to 17. By now,12 nomination forms havebeen sold in Rajmahal and sixfiled; 12 sold in Dumka andfive filed; and 32 sold in Goddaand five filed.
said that the crowd present inPrime Minister NarendraModi’s public meeting atLohardaga on Wednesday hasproved that the slogan of theparty ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’is getting an overwhelmingsupport from public.
Addressing a press meet inGumla, State BJP SpokespersonPratul Shahdeo said that theoverwhelming presence of sup-porters at the Prime Minister’srally is evidence to BJP’s pop-ularity in Jharkhand. This sup-port, he added, will reflect inthe ballot and ensure a com-fortable win for the party in theGeneral Elections here.
Applauding developmentwork done by the BJP-led NDAGovernment, Shahdeo saidthat BJP is focusing on welfareprogrammes such asAyushman Bharat Yojna,Pradhan Mantri Kisan
Samman Nidhi, Kaushal Vikas,Swacchta Abhiyan, Jan DhanYojna which are changing livesof commoners. On the otherhand, the party has never com-promised with national secu-rity, he added.
“BJP will give properanswer to those who will raisefinger on defense forces. BJP
has neither been involved inappeasing any community, norhas it encouraged discrimina-tion. The party aspires toinclude every citizen of thecountry in the developmentprocess,” said Shahdeo.
Later in the day, addressinga press meet in Chandwa underPalamu parliamentary con-
stituency, Shahdeo said thatopposition parties were shot ofissued for the election and weretherefore trying to create issues.
He accused former BiharChief Minister Lalu Prasad’sfamily and former JharkhandChief Minister Shibu Soren’sfamily of illegally acquiringacres of land from the poor.
He said that Prasad’s fam-ily has acquired illegal proper-ty worth crores through shellcompanies and shopping malls.“Similarly, Soren family hasduped poor tribesmen andacquired land worth millions,”he added.
The BJP government,Shahdeo said, has always pro-tected land and forest belong-ing to the tribal community.
On the issue of reservation,Shahdeo said that BJP hasnever intended to make anychanges to the reservation pol-icy. “Prime Minister himselfsaid that the present system ofreservation will continue,” headded.
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Ranchi University (RU) onThursday prevented the
dreams of a young long jumpchampion from getting shat-tered due to lack of financialbacking. It shelled out a sum ofRs 2.26 lakh to ensure that thebudding talent gets a chance toprove her mettle on a globalplatform.
Mandar’s PriyankaKerketta, 21, a student ofDoranda College got short list-ed for the World UniversityGames to be held in Italy, butcould not deposit a sum ofRs.2.26 lakh required for thesame till the penultimate day ofthe deadline. RU on Thursday,which happened to be the lastday for depositing the amount,directly transferred the sum onbehalf of Kerketta to KalingaInstitute of IndustrialTechnology (KIIT),Bhubaneswar.
An athlete at the SportsAuthority of India (SAI),Ranchi Centre, Kerketta is anational record holder in longjump. In 2017 at the 15thFederation Cup National JuniorAthletic Championship held inLucknow, she made a record of6.30 meter and proved hermettle. Apart from this, she hasalso won various medals atnational level tournaments andis an election icon for Ranchi.
Kerketta was selected forthe World University Gamesafter winning a medal at thenational level and a trial roundwhich was held at KIITUniversity. The tournament inItaly will be held from July 3 toJuly 14. A total of 22 athleteshave been selected from acrossthe country for the games.
“The university has decid-ed to sponsor her trip to Italyfor the games. All the requiredexpenses will be taken care ofby the varsity. I wish her all the
best and pray to the Almightyfor her success and a brightfuture,” said Professor RameshKumar Pandey, Vice-Chancellor, RU.
A total sum of Rs. 2.26 lakhhas been approved and fundedby the university. The amounthas been directly transferred byRU to KIIT University,Bhubaneswar.
“There was a trial roundfrom April 2 to April 5 at KIITUniversity, Bhubaneswar. Forlong jump the qualifying stan-dard was 5.95 meter and I cov-ered 6.23 meter,” said Kerketta.
She thanked RU for spon-soring her trip to Italy and saidthat she will try her level bestmake the varsity proud.
“I make it a point not tomiss any practice session. Myparents have always supportedme and are very happy that Iam now going to represent thecountry at an internationalevent. My aim is to win a goldmedal at the Olympics,” shesaid.
This amount has beenreleased by the university as perthe proposed budget. “Theuniversity is willing to pay foradditional expenses too.Presently the total amountapproved is Rs 2.26 lakhapproximately,” said PK Jha,public relations officer, RU.
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At least 90 per cent of hos-pitals in major cities across
Jharkhand are flouting rules ofbio-medical waste manage-ment and contributing to amajor public health concern, anindependent survey by a NewDelhi-based NGO Toxics Linkrevealed on Thursday.
A team of experts from theorganization surveyed 31 hos-pitals in Ranchi, Jamshedpur,Dhanbad, Bokaro and Deogharand found that medical wasteswere dumped along withmunicipal solid wastes in dif-ferent parts of the city. The sur-vey was conducted over a peri-od of six months in govern-
ment as well as private hospi-tals.
The NGO released areport, titled ‘FAILED ORIGNORED’ on Thursday at acity-based hotel, inviting sug-gestions from experts toaddress the problem whichapparently looms large overcities in Jharkhand.
“We found rag-pickersrummaging through yellowand red colour coded bagscontaining body parts, usedsyringes and gloves inJamshedpur and Deogharmunicipal waste dumpingarea,” said Shalini Samvedna,Founder Director, Lok Swar, aJharkhand-based organizationthat worked along with Toxics
Link in the survey. According to Jharkhand
Pollution Control Board, thestate produces 12,000 Kilogramof bio-medical waste daily,totaling to 4,700 tonnes annu-ally.
During the survey it wasfound that 42 per cent of wards,13 per cent nursing stations, 39per cent laboratories and sixper cent OPDs did not havewaste bins. Many health carefacilities transported wasteswithout trolleys or used opentrolleys, a practice consideredunsafe. Around 55 per centhealth care facilities did notmaintain any record of bio-medical waste generation, thereport highlighted.
Besides, a majority of hos-pital staff here have not under-
gone any training in bio-med-ical waste management, itadded. Moreover, around 39per cent of health workerswere not immunized inJharkhand, which increasesthe risk of infections contract-ed during occupational expo-sure. The surveyors found thatnone of the hospital staff usedprotective equipment likegloves and masks.
“The state of bio-medicalwaste management is worri-some and needs immediateattention. Regulatory bodiesmust strengthen the system andtake actions against health carefacilities that are not followingproper norms,” said SatishSinha, Associate Director,
Toxics Link.As per rules laid down for
bio-medical waste manage-ment, hospitals must segre-gate their waste in four cate-gories – yellow for infectedbody parts, blood-soaked cot-ton, gauges and bandages; redfor intravenous tubing, salinebottles, catheter, syringes andgloves; puncture proof con-tainer for sharp wastes and acardboard box for glass wastes.
The report pointed out atthe importance of segregation,highlighting that only 15 to 20per cent of hospital wastes areinfectious but mixing themwith other wastes makes 100per cent bio-medical wasteinfectious.
Centre Ranchi organized a lec-ture on the topic of ‘Civilisationand Culture: Inter-dependence’at Department of Hindi,Ranchi University here onThursday. Dr. Jang BahadurPandey, Former HOD,Department of Hindi, RanchiUniversity was the speaker ofthe lecture session. The lecturewas chaired by Dr. RameshKumar Pandey, ViceChancellor, Ranchi University.Honoured guests namely, Dr.Kamal Bose, Head of theDepartment, St. Xavier’s’College, Ranchi; P.K. Jha,Former Director, DoordarshanKendra, Ranchi; Dr.Rameshwar Sahu, Head ofDepartment, Department ofHindi, Ranchi University andDr. Heera Nandan, graced theoccasion.
The programme was orga-nized under the supervisionand guidance of Dr. AjayKumar Mishra, RegionalDirector, IGNCA, RegionalCentre Ranchi. Dr. Mishrawelcomed all the eminentguests and participants presentand gave a brief introduction
about the importance of culturein the development of a soci-ety and its civilisation.
The Chairman of the after-noon, Dr. Pandey, expressed hisimmense pleasure to be presentduring the session and also con-gratulated IGNCA, RegionalCentre Ranchi for the venture.He also explained that not onlyhuman beings but also the ani-mals and plants communicatewith each other and that theyalso have a civilization andculture of theirs. Also, humansand animals interact to form abond where inspite of belong-ing to different species theybecome related.
Dr. Jang Bahadur Pandey,the Speaker of the afternoonspoke about the relationbetween civilization and cul-ture, and how they are closelyrelated. The lecture dealt withthe analysis of dependence and
complementariness of culturead civilization. He stressed onhow civilization is dependenton culture. Culture of a societygradually grows with time,education, knowledge and wis-dom. Through cultural devel-opment, a civilization isformed. If civilization is thebody of a society, culture is itssoul.
He gave important refer-ences of Kalidas’ life, RamdhariSingh Dinkar’s works and otherimportant texts related to cul-ture and society.
The session was interactiveand the students showed greatinterest by participating withenthusiasm.
It was an informative andsuccessful session. After the lec-ture, Shri Anjani Kumar Sinhathanked the Speaker, ChiefGuest and all the respected per-sonalities present on the dias.
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On the second day onThursday of two- day
workshop organized on‘Optimum Utilization of CMMand CBM in India’ expertsdiscussed on various issues forbetter utilization of CBM ascoal and CBM both are equal-ly important.
On the concluding dayexperts participated in inter-active session. They exchangedopinions of each other on opti-mal use of CBM and CMM incoal mining. They have decid-ed that such kinds of technol-ogy should be used so that coalmining should be safe.
It has also been decidedthat Coal India will identifyCBM on fast track andGovernment of India will facil-itate the company. The com-pany will re tender for Munidihmines in Jharia.
The two-day Internationalworkshop on began onWednesday, which has been
jointly organized by CentralMine Planning and DesignInstitute (CMPDI) - Coal IndiaLimited (CIL) and UnitedStates EnvironmentalProtection Agency (US EPA) -Global Methane Initiative(GMI) under the aegis of IndiaCMM and CBM clearing houseon behalf of Ministry of Coal.
Chairman, Coal India, AnilKumar Jha was the Chief Guestof the workshop.
Chairman cum ManagingDirector CMPDI, ShekharSaran and Adviser (Projects)Ministry of Coal, AnindyaSinha were also present alongwith representative of some for-eign companies.
solved the mystery of the bru-tal killing of a 28-year- old busi-nessman of Lalkutta basti inGomia, who was axed to deathallegedly by her brother andtwo others in the name ofhonour in Bokaro Thermal,Officer in-Charge UmeshKumar Thakur said onThursday.
The businessman identi-fied as Aharar Ahamed wasaxed to death when he wascoming back home after duescollection from Pannk villagein Nawadih on April 18, some5 km from Bokaro thermal.
According to Thakur, themain accused Abrar Ahamd,own brother of the deceased,had been in dispute over aproperty and also having affairwith elder brother's sister-in law.
Disclosing this here today'ASP R. Ramkumar of theBokaro police that according tothe preliminary investigationscarried out so far Abrar Ahamdof Lalkuta basti has been arrest-ed from Bokaro thermal rail-way station while Md ImteyazKhan of Hindpiri and TipuKhan of Lalkuta basti in Gomiahave been arrested from Ranchion Wednesday night and theyhave confessed, he added.
Police have recovered threemobile phones, an axe andone bamboo and others mate-rials from their possession.Md Imteyaz Khan and MdJaffar alais Tipu have associat-ed with decorate works. Apartfrom this, the trio got in touchwith each other through socialmedia,mobiles and were plan-ning to target the AhararAhamd responsible for family
dispute.Officer-in Charge say they
initially suspected a murder bysomeone,but started looking atother angles after getting someinformation from deceased'fa-ther Abdul Gaffar. Police's firstbreak came when the victim'syounger brother has beenarrested, who narrated theentire incident, the Officer-inCharge said.
In view of the Lok Sabha elec-tion scheduled on April 29,
police team led by Bardihapolice station in chargeBhuvanamani Pathak raidedthe illegal liquor furnace run-ning on a deserted spot in LavaChampa village near theSukhani River Ghati. Policedemolished the illicit liquorfurnace and making tools.
Anti social elements, whomade the liquor, fled from thespot.
Although the people flee-ing the police tried to catchthem, but all took advantage ofdarkness and managed toescape. During this raid, thepolice seized two motorcycles(black colored CD deluxe andTVS star) of the accused, twobig gas cylinders, big stove, bigutensil of aluminum and 30liters of country made liquor.
After this, the policedestroyed a large quantity of
java mahua put in big drums. Police have registered a
case under section 272, 273,290, IPC and 47 (A) of ExciseAct under Bardihah police sta-tion case no. 21/19, against fouraccused. These accusedincludes Awadhesh Paswan,Chunu Yadav, Guddu Yadavand Munnalal Sao, all residentsof village Tarhe village ofMajhiaon police station.
Apart from the thana incharge in the team wete SIRamesh Das, Nizam Khan,Naseem Khan, Rajesh KumarChaudhary, Vinay Manjhi andNarendra Mehta. were involvedin the charge.
In this regard, Police sta-tion in-charge of the Bardihapolice station said that theaction was taken on a tip off.He said that four people fromTadhe village of Majhiaonpolice station were running ille-gal liquor furnace. The raids arebeing conducted for the arrestall fled accused.
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Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on
Thursday said that makingfarmers debt-free is the visionof Congress and the loan waiv-er of defaulting farmers is justa mile stone in that regard.
Baghel said this whileinteracting with media personsin Jabalpur in Madhya Pradeshwhere he had gone to cam-paign for the Congress candi-date Vivek Tankha.
On this occasion herecalled the ancient and his-toric relation of Mahakaushal(Jabalpur region) withDakshin Kaushal(Chhattisgarh). He acceptedthat the relation between thetwo places was badly ham-pered as connection was inter-rupted after the separate stateof Chhattisgarh was carved outof the undivided MadhyaPradesh.
Speaking on this occasionBaghel came down heavily onPrime Minister NarendraModi and National
Democratic Alliance (NDA)government at the Center. Heclaimed that none of thepromises made by them weredelivered in their five year’stenure.
Mocking Modi, Baghelsaid, “He (Modi) handed over'brooms' to the people andthen he kept himself busy forfive years in touring foreigncountries”.
Baghel also criticised Modifor not addressing a singlepress conference in his fiveyears tenure. “Right from PtNehru to Manmohan Singhji,every Prime Minister hadaddressed the media. This wasthe first time any PrimeMinister avoided the mediainteraction”, he said.
Comparing Modi withCongress President RahulGandhi, Baghel said the latterinteracts with people andshares his views with mediapersons wherever he goes.
“This testifies thatCongress is the only politicalparty which believes in demo-cratic traditions”, he said.
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Indian Inst itute ofManagement, Raipur con-
ducted its 8th annual convo-cation on Thursday.
The institute graduated atotal of 179 students from the2017-19 batch and 54 stu-dents from the 2016-18batch. In addition to this, 8PhDs were granted at theconvocation this year.
The graduating studentsdonned their well-deservedgraduating robes after twoyears of continuous hardwork and efforts towardsself-betterment.
The atmosphere in theauditorium was filled withexcitement as the studentswere ready to finally receivethe fruits of their success.
The ceremony wasattended by eminent person-alities such as Dr. Ram SewakSharma, Chairman, TelecomRegulation Authority ofIndia, who presided as theChief Guest of the event,
Dr Sharma in his addresssaid, “Life is uncertain and itgets difficult at times, but thisis where the opportunities forgreatness arise.”
Dr Sharma concluded hisspeech by advising the stu-dents to be proud of theirbackgrounds, be true tothemselves as pretending tobe someone you are not isonly wasteful and useless.
Chairperson of the Boardof Governors,ShyamalaGopinathan beganher address by expressing her complimentsto Prof Bharat Bhasker onwinning the Best Directoraward.
Professor Bhasker wasconferred this award earlierthis year at the IndianSubcontinent DecisionSciences Institute’s 12 annu-al conference.
The US State Departmentand a host of officials from
American covert agencies areset to make a beeline to Indiato get first-hand account andperspectives on the NationalThowheed Jamat (NTJ) thatexecuted the deadliest attack inthe region in the last onedecade by hitting luxury hotelsand churches in Sri Lanka onSunday.
The move comes as the USState Department was caughtunaware despite the NTJ twit-ter handle following at least sixofficials of the US Statedepartment officials but couldnot get an assessment on theoutfit’s nefarious agenda evenas India provided actionableinputs to Colombo two weeksbefore the bombings. The NTJhandle followed a total of 28handles.
Interestingly, the securityarchitecture of the servers ofNTJ’s online services is alsobased in the US which alsohosts the servers of Pakistan-based terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba as also the Inter-Services Public Relations(ISPR).
According to the inputsprovided by India over twoweeks before the serial suicidebombings, the NTJ was plan-ning to target five-star hotelsand churches following whichthe Sri Lankan police issued analert to various police units butcould not prevent the attacks.
As per the inputs with theIndian agencies, the NTJ hadfirst tried to hit the Indianembassy in Colombo on April4 but after finding the securi-ty tight enough, the outfit triedto target the US embassy onApril 11 but to no avail.Following the failures, the NTJdecided to target the luxuryhotels and the churches onApril 21.
Post-26/11 Mumbai terrorattacks, the who’s who ofAmerican intelligence andinvestigation agencies had trav-elled to Mumbai to questionMohammad Ajmal Kasab, thelone terrorists nabbed in thecase.
However, the NIA teamhad returned empty-handedfrom the US that had visitedthe US in 2009 to quiz DavidColeman Headley, one of theconspirators of the Mumbaiterror attacks.
The NTJ clearly posed itselfas an anti-democracy organi-zation and posted radical reli-gious posts on itsTwitter han-dle with a follower base ofaround 3,000 people.
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As tension prevails betweenIndia and Pakistan post
Pulwama attack and the threeArmed Forces are now on fullalert to meet any situation,functional reorganisation ofIndian Navy towards improv-ing operational efficiencyformed the core of discussionsduring the three-day Navycommanders’ conferencewhich ended here on Thursday.
The conference assumedgreater significance in thebackdrop of Pulwama-associ-ated events that have broughtcountry’s defence under sharp-er focus and provided thehigher naval leadership aforum to discuss the emergingchallenges in the maritimedomain and fine tune thestrategies for responding to theevolving geo-strategic envi-ronment, officials said here.
Forty Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) personnelwere killed on February 14 inPulwama in a suicide attack.The IAF carried out air strikeson Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM)training camp in Balakot,Pakistan on February 26.Pakistan retaliated the nextday and tried to conduct airstrikes against military instal-lations of India in Rajouri sec-tor.
Inaugurating the conclave,Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman complimented theIndian Navy for maintaining a
high operational tempo and itsability to not only safeguardIndia’s interest in the maritimedomain but also coerce anadversary into submission aswas evident during the recentstandoff.
During the interaction, theDefence Minister reviewed thecombat readiness, pace of mod-ernisation and progress of var-ious acquisition and infra-structure related cases. Whilepraising the Indian Navy’s for-eign cooperation efforts tosupport the Navies in theregion, she urged the NavalCommanders to optimallyutilise available resources to
build a strong Navy that isready and vigilant to counterany challenge that may emerge in the maritimedomain.
Chairing the conference,Navy Chief Admiral SunilLanba addressed theCommanders on variousimportant issues pertaining tooperational readiness, capabil-ity enhancement, maintenance,op logistics, infrastructuredevelopment and humanresource management.
Functional Reorganisationof Indian Navy towardsimproving Operational effi-ciency’ and ‘Optimal Manning’
formed the core of discussionstowards finalising the longterm road map of the Navy.
In keeping with the Navy’sethos of harnessing niche tech-nologies, concrete plans toincorporate ‘Big Data Analytics’and ‘Artificial Intelligence’ forsolutions in the domains ofnaval combat, convergence ofnetworks, information, logis-tics, administration andequipment health monitoringfor sustained operation werealso discussed.
The next edition of NavalCommanders’ Conference isscheduled in October orNovember this year.
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Watching television orvideos or even playing
games on mobiles should notbe more than an hour at a gofor kids under 5, the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)has said, concerned at the inac-tivity fueling a rise in the num-bers of obese or overweightchildren worldwide.
Toddlers are most vulner-able to screens. The WHO inits first of its guidelines for theparents said that infants aged18 months and younger shouldnot be exposed to any digitalmedia.
Obesity in young age canlead to premature death from
heart disease, diabetes, hyper-tension and some forms of can-cer. Also, shorter sleep durationhas been associated with moreTV viewing and time spentplaying computer games, saidthe global health agency in itsguidelines released recently toits member states.
It noted that under-fivesshould also be physically activeand get adequate sleep to helpdevelop good lifelong habitsand prevent obesity and otherdiseases in later life.
“What we are cautioningon is over-use of those elec-tronic screen times with youngchildren,” WHO expert Dr.Fiona Bull said in a statementhere.
The WHO said childrenbetween one and four years oldshould spend at least threehours in a variety of physicalactivities spread throughoutthe day. “Infants under oneshould interact in floor-based
play and avoid all screens,” itsaid as it noted that beinginactive is fueling a rise in thenumbers of obese or over-weight people worldwide.
“Preventing these deathsneeds to start in very early life,”Bull said.
One in three adults todayare overweight or obese, andone in four adults does not doenough physical activity, shesaid. “In this age group ofunder 5s, it is currently 40 mil-lion children around the world(who) are overweight. Of that(figure) 50 per cent are inAfrica and the southeast Asiaregion,” Bull said. That trans-lates into 5.9 per cent of chil-dren globally.
Noting that early child-hood is a period of rapid phys-ical and cognitive develop-ment during which habits areformed and family lifestyleroutines are adaptable, theWHO said, “sedentary behav-iors, whether riding motorizedtransport rather than walkingor cycling, sitting at a desk inschool, watching TV or playinginactive screen-based gamesare increasingly prevalent andassociated with poor healthoutcomes.”
Chronic insufficient sleepin children has been associat-ed with increased excessive fataccumulation as measured bybody mass index (BMI), itsaid.
3��� ��� ����������������������� ��/"(" �New Delhi: While India provided actionable inputs to the SriLankan Government days ahead of the serial suicide bombingsin capital Colombo, the National Security Council Secretariatheaded by the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval did not both-er to ensure issuance of a travel advisory to Indians against vis-iting luxury hotels and churches in the island nation. Had thetravel advisory been issued in time, the precious lives of abouta dozen Indians killed in the attacks could have been saved. Thefailure has been brushed under the carpet and even an enquiryhas not been ordered till far for the lapse. PNS
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With the IndianM e t e o r o l o g i c a l
Department forecasting “nearnormal” monsoon this year, theAgriculture Ministry onThursday set its target forfoodgrain production duringkharif season 2019-20 at 147.9million tonnes (MT), with riceoutput pegged at 102 MT.These targets are higher whencompared to the actual kharifoutput for 2018-19, which is142.24 MT, as per the secondadvance estimates.
The Ministry also expectsthe production during the2019-20 rabi season to be ten-tatively around 143.2 MT. Atthe National Conference onAgriculture, officials said riceproduction would touch the102 MT-mark this kharif sea-son, while maize productionwould be around 21.3 MT.
The production of bumperfoodgrain output expected thiskharif season, cereals will beabout 35.8 MT, while that ofpulses would be around 10.1MT. The output of jowar, bajraand ragi will be 2.1 MT, 9.5 MTand 2.3 MT, respectively. Also,total oil seeds production islikely to be 25.84 MT and thesugarcane output is expected tobe 385.50 MT, the Ministrysaid. Cotton output is estimat-ed to be 35.75 million bales(each of 170 kg).
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Two days after Vice AdmiralBimal Verma approached
the Armed Forces Tribunalagain challenging the selectionof his junior Karambir Singh asthe next Navy chief, theTribunal on Thursday directedthe Central Government tosubmit its response withinthree weeks. The new Navychief takes over on May 31 afterincumbent Admiral SunilLanba retires that day. Vermain his plea had sought a stay onthe Government order onMarch 23 appointing Singh asthe next Navy chief.
Verma, now heading thestrategically importantAndaman and NicobarCommand, had earlier with-drawn his plea on April 8 afterthe Tribunal asked him to firstexhaust all other ways includ-ing seeking redress from theNavy through a statutory com-plaint. The officer, however,again appealed to the Tribunalon Tuesday. His daughterRhea Verma and AnkurChibber are representingVerma in the legal battle.Incidentally, Verma, youngerbrother of former Navy ChiefNirmal Verma, had filed thestatutory complaint on April10. The petitioner retires inNovember.
During the proceedingshere on Thursday, the centresought four weeks timesregarding the appeal filed byVerma on April 23 and the
matter will now come up forhearing again on May 20,Verma’s daughter Rhea said.She also said the central gov-ernment has to positivelydecide on the complaint byMay 15.
In the latest petition filed inthe Tribunal on Tuesday,Verma had sought that the gov-ernment order on March 23 toappoint Karambir Singh as thenext Navy Chief instead ofhim be stayed.
The petition filed by hisdaughter Rhea Verma said“Call for confidential reports ofthe applicant and Vice AdmiralKarambir… examine them tosee whether any irrelevant andextraneous considerations wereplaced to reject applicant’s caseand if so, to expunge the extra-neous considerations and directthe competent authority to re-examine the case,” theplea said.
The plea said the ViceAdmiral had filed a statutorycomplaint before the DefenceMinistry for not being appoint-ed the next Navy Chief despitebeing the senior most andasked it to decide the matterurgently within ten days. “Thecomplaint is still pending withthe competent authority andhence this original application(petition),” the plea said.
In a communication datedMarch 23, he had stated thatthe government has “illegally”and in a “wrongful” mannerappointed his junior KarambirSingh as the next Navy chief.
Verma had stated that hefelt that the respondents (gov-ernment) had illegally and in awrongful manner used the twoletters of Severe Displeasure,which were issued to him in2005 and 2007, to deny him thepost of the Navy chief.
The two letters were issuedto Verma on October 28, 2005,and June 20, 2007, and he waspromoted to the rank ofCommodore and Rear Admiralafterwards, thereby taking awaythe sting of the said letters.
Verma also said “it isimperative that the ArmedForces court apply the‘Wednesbury rule’ and consid-er whether relevant facts arenot considered and irrelevantfacts were considered by therespondents before passing theimpugned letter.”
The Naval headquartersforwarded the name of Vermaalong with Vice AdmiralKarambir Singh and ViceAdmiral Ajit Kumar, the FlagOfficer Commander-in-ChiefWestern Naval Command andVice Admiral Anil KumarChawla, the Flag OfficerC o m m a n d e r - i n - C h i e fSouthern Naval Command, tohead the Navy. Verma retiresin November end.
It is the second time in thecurrent NDA regime that theseniority tradition was over-looked. In the first case in2016, Bipin Rawat was appoint-ed the Army Chief supersedingthe senior most officer LtGeneral Pravin Bakshi.
The Election Commission(EC) has made it clear that
candidates will have to bear thecost of advertising their crim-inal antecedents in TV andnewspapers as it comes in thecategory of ‘poll expenses’. Thepoll panel has made it com-pulsory for candidates con-testing elections to advertisetheir criminal antecedents inTV and newspapers at leastthrice during electioneering.
Though directions in thisregard were issued on October10, 2018, the rule is beingused for the first time in theongoing Lok Sabha elections.
EC officials said politicalparties have been informed
that candidates will have tobear the cost of the advertise-ment from their poll expenses.Some parties had approachedthe poll panel urging it toallow the advertisementexpenditure be borne by themand not the candidates.
The parties too will have toadvertise the criminal recordsof the candidates they havefielded. The expenditure ofadvertisement by the partieswill be borne by them.
This means that candi-dates and parties contesting theelections will have to publicisetheir criminal records at leaston three different dates inwidely circulated newspapersand popular TV channels dur-ing the campaign period.
Candidates who do nothave records have to mentionthat. The candidates will nowhave to fill up an amendedform (number 26). They willhave to inform parties abouttheir antecedents such as casesin which they have been con-victed and cases pendingagainst them.
The parties, the EC said,will be “obliged” to put theinformation about the candi-dates on their websites. The ECdirection of October, 2018 wassilent on whether the candi-dates will have to pay from their pocket for the pub-licity.
Parties which fail to com-ply, face the prospects of gettingtheir recognition withdrawn or
suspended. Candidates have tosubmit clippings of their dec-laration published in papersand parties have to submitdetails about the number ofsuch candidates in a state.
While there is a ceiling onexpenditure of candidates, theparties have no such limit.Candidates in Lok Sabha pollscan spend up to �70 lakh.
All registered political par-ties have to submit a statementof their election expenditure tothe election commission with-in 90 days of the completion ofthe Lok Sabha elections.
All candidates are requiredto submit their expenditurestatement to the poll panelwithin 30 days of the comple-tion of the elections.
New Delhi: Former Army chiefDalbir Singh Suhag has beenappointed as India’s next highcommissioner to Seychelles, acountry which is of strategicimportance to India in theIndian Ocean region.
“He is expected to take upthe assignment shortly,” theMinistry of External Affairs saidwhile making the announce-ment. General (retired) Suhagwas the Army chief from July31, 2014, to December 31,2016. He was also part of theIndian Peace Keeping Force(IPKF) in Sri Lanka in 1987.
His appointment as IndianHigh Commissioner toSeychelles comes amid deep-ening military ties betweenIndia and the island nation.
India is developingAssumption Island inSeychelles as a naval base toexpand its footprint in thestrategically-key region whereChina has been trying toenhance its military presence.
An agreement to developthe island was inked in 2015between India and Seychelles.
In June last year, SeychellesPresident Danny Faure visitedIndia during which both coun-tries agreed to work togetheron the Assumption Island pro-ject. Before his visit to India,there were reports from theisland nation that it was can-celling the pact with New Delhi. PTI
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The CBI has called formerUnion Minister and Telugu
Desam Party (TDP) leader YSChowdary for questioning inconnection with a bank fraudcase. He has been asked toappear on Friday at the agency’soffice at Bengaluru.
“I can confirm that I do nothave any connection, knowl-edge or acquaintance with thecompany referred or its affairsat any point time. I will be tak-ing appropriate steps in thematter,” Chowdary asserted.
The CBI had registered a
case against electrical equip-ment manufacturer Best andCrompton EngineeringProjects Limited for allegedlycheating Andhra Bank to thetune of �71 crore in 2017. In itsFIR against the Chennai-basedcompany and its five directors,including Managing DirectorKakulamarri Srinivas KalyanRao, the CBI has slappedcharges under Indian PenalCode sections pertaining tocriminal conspiracy, cheatingand forgery among others andrelevant provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Act,they added.
Bengaluru: The CentralAdministrative Tribunal (CAT)here on Thursday stayed theorder of the ElectionCommission suspending IASofficer Mohammed Mohsinfor checking Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's helicopter inOdisha.
The officer from Karnatakacadre, deployed in Odisha as ageneral observer, was sus-pended on April 17 for check-ing Modi's helicopter inOdisha's Sambalpur in viola-tion of norms for dealing withSPG protectees and sent backto the state.
The CAT maintained thatduring an election processwhile reasonable assurances ofprotection and security must bemade available to SPG pro-tectees, it cannot be said "theyare eligible for anything and
everything."Mohsin had tried to check
some luggage in the convoy ofthe Prime Minister and the ECorder had said he had acted inviolation of existing instruc-tions of the commission.
In its order, the CAT, whichadjudicates disputes involvingcentral government employees,noted that there was a circularregarding the SPG protecteesthat they are exempted fromcertain examinations on certaingrounds.
It also said:"We will not gointo the SPG protectees guide-
lines as per the bluebook rightnow but the rule of law mustprevail."
The tribunal also took noteof the submission of the appli-cant's counsel who pointedout that there were news aboutheavy packages unloaded fromprime minister's cavalcadebeing taken away in othervehicle.
"It has been laid down thatSPG protectees are exemptedfrom checking. He should haveknown the instruction being anobserver. The reason for sus-pension is dereliction of duty,"a source in the EC had said fol-lowing suspension.
After the incident, Mohsinwas attached to the Sambalpurheadquarters and subsequent-ly sent back to Karnataka wherehe was attached with statechief electoral officer. PTI
While articles as innocuousas “chuninda Kurta” and
“Bangali Mithai” threatening toupset Mamata Banerjee’sminority applecart, the BengalChief Minister on Thursdaytook initiative to control dam-age done by Narendra Modi’soff-the-cuff remark on how“Didi occasionally sends himchuninda Kurta and BangaliMithai.”
In an apparent bid to estab-lish her political differencewith Modi more than everbefore, the Chief Minister onThursday mounted a no-holds-barred attack on the PrimeMinister saying courtesy wasthe last thing that would appearin his dictionary.
“I sent him kurta andsweets as I regularly do to theother politicians irrespective oftheir political identity. But thatis a part of my courtesy andhere this man is trying tomake use of that to gain polit-ical points,” Banerjee told ahuge rally at Durgapur adding“I send such gifts during theDurga Pujas which representsmy culture and upbringing.”
The Prime Minister had inan interview to film starAkshay Kumar said that“though this may cause some
political flutter I must concedethat Mamata Didi often sendsme choicest kurta mostlyselected by her personally. Infact after learning that I hadliked the sweets sent to me byBangladesh Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina, she did thesame by regularly sending mesome delicious Bangali Mithai.”
A subsequent statementby Bengal BJP chief DilipGhosh tended to rub salt ininjury when he claimed “Ihave no problems in sendinggifts. Even I have a good per-sonal relationship with theChief Minister. I appreciateher gesture when she calls meup to inquire after my healthwhenever I am unwell.”
The Prime Ministerialinterview was televised onWednesday causing an imme-diate reaction in the ruling
Trinamool Congress circle evenas Banerjee’s nephew and MPAbhishek Banerjee said “hadsuch gifts been sent to him whyhe did not make it public ear-lier and why is he telling it now.”
Banerjee who earlier saidthat she would “send gifts tohim but not allow him to takevotes,” on Thursday increasedher decibel level followingreports that the Left Front theearlier ‘custodians’ of theminority votes in the State hadgone to town (read villages)raising questions on the “setting(read adjustment) betweenDidibhai and Modibhai.”
This even as BengalCPI(M) secretary and partypolitburo member SuryokantoMishra said “the PrimeMinister has finally spilled thebin exposing the real chemistrybetween the two sides. Wehave been for long been tellinghow the two sides were work-ing on an adjustment basiswhich first started in 2001when Mamata Banerjee sent abouquet to Modi when hebecame the Chief Minister ofGujarat.”
The Left leaders like SujanChakrabarty also demanded toknow from the Prime Ministeras to “reveal what more she hasbeen sending to you,” or“whether she has gifted you her
right hand Mukul Roy, andmany other leaders of the TMCand whether she has gifted youaway the entire TMC in Tripurato win power there.”
In an apparent bid to con-trol damage and to establish herclaim as the true champion ofthe minority cause — thatconstitutes about 30 percentvote in the State, Banerjee said.
Upping the ante the ChiefMinister reminded how thePrime Minister had “promised2 crore jobs per year but endedup taking away 3 crores in fiveyears of his rule. Most of suchjobs were lost during thedemonetisation which in itselfis a big scam and will beprobed when we come topower.”
In a gruesome incident relat-ing to post poll-violence, a
homemaker was allegedlyforced to gulp down acid by herin-laws. Her fault: she hadvoted for Congress Party. Theincident took place on Tuesdayat Mohanpur village inMurshidabad parliamentaryconstituency and came to lighton Thursday.
Makhan Biwi, the victimwas fighting for her life in hos-pital, son Rafzal said. “Mymother was pulled back homeby her hair after she emergedfrom inside the booth. I triedto protect her but my father,
grandfather and uncles lockedme inside a room. From thereI saw them forcing apart hermouth and pouring acid in it.”
The boy and his sister werealso beaten up for trying tointervene, he said adding hermother had allegedly votedfor the Congress which was notliked by his family whichbacked the TMC. Murhsidabadhad already seen one poll-related death and three near-fatal injuries on Tuesday withalleged TMC goons stabbing todeath a Congress worker. Inother incidents three TMCworkers were grievouslyinjured in attack mounted bythe CPI(M) and Congress.
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Kannauj (UP): The ongoingLok Sabha election will see theend of those chanting "Namo,Namo", BSP supremoMayawati said on Thursday,while SP chief Akhilesh Yadavexpressed confidence that theSP-BSP-RLD alliance will givea new Prime Minister to thecountry.
Both the former UttarPradesh Chief Ministers wereaddressing a joint poll rallyhere, along with Rashtriya LokDal (RLD) president Ajit Singh,in favour of Dimple Yadav, thejoint candidate of the opposi-tion alliance from Kannauj.
Dimple, the sittingSamajwadi Party (SP) MP andthe wife of Akhilesh Yadav, isseeking re-election from thisparliamentary seat.
"This election will see theend of those chanting 'Namo,Namo' and pave the way forthose who shout Jai Bheem.Seeing your response, it appearsthat you are going to ensure thevictory of the alliance candi-dates," Mayawati told thecrowd.
Yadav called PrimeMinister Narendra Modi a"prachar mantri", or ministerfor publicity, and claimed thatthe SP-BSP-RLD combine inUttar Pradesh will give thecountry a new PM.
"Last time he came as a'chaiwala' (tea seller) and youtasted his tea. This time he hascome as a chowkidar (watch-man)," he mocked Modi.
"This alliance will give anew prime minister to thecountry and we will make anew Bharat," the SP chief said.
He added that the opposi-tion alliance is aimed at ensur-ing social justice and takingforward the ideals of B RAmbedkar, Ram ManoharLohia, Kanshi Ram andMulayam Singh Yadav.
Criticising the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) governmentover demonetisation, Yadav
said, "Has demonetisationeradicated corruption? Whereis the black money? They havemade the country hollow withtheir policies."
Earlier, his wife Dimpleclaimed that the BJP was con-spiring to deprive the backwardclasses and Dalits of educationand employment.
Playing the caste card tothe hilt, Mayawati remindedthe electorate that the Congressdid not implement the MandalCommission report.
She also said when theCongress was in power, it didnot give Bharat Ratna toAmbedkar. PTI
Jalore/Ajmer/Kota: Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi onThursday accused PrimeMinister Narendra Modi ofdoing "injustice" to the peopleof the country in the last fiveyears, saying the 'acche dinayenge' slogan has now beenreplaced by 'chowkidar chorhai'.
He said there will be onlyone 'Hindustan' where justicewill be done when theCongress is voted to power.
During the day, Gandhiaddressed election rallies atJalore, Ajmer and Kota inRajasthan.
"If rich people are notjailed for not paying off loansthen farmers too will not bejailed. If lakhs and crores aregiven to them then the samewill be given to farmers,labourers, tribals, Dalits andsmall traders. There will be noinjustice in Hindustan. Thecountry will not be divided intwo Hindustans. There will beone Hindustan where justicewill be done," the Congresspresident said at a rally inJalore.
"PM Narendra Modi didinjustice with people of thecountry in the last five years.
Demonetisation and GST wereways to rob poor, labourers,small traders of their money,NYAY scheme will benefitthem," he alleged.
He said the Congress gov-ernment will listen to people's'mann ki baat' and run accord-ing to them.
"Five years ago, there was aslogan 'acche din ayenge' (good
days will come). Now peoplesay 'chowkidar chor hai' (watch-man is a thief) everywhere inthe country," he said.
Addressing a gathering inAjmer, Gandhi said, "On oneside there is Narendra Modiwho speaks lies one after theother wherever he goes and onthe other side, there is truth.Depositing Rs 15 lakh in bank
accounts, two crore jobs everyyear, reasonable price for farm-ers' crops were all lies."
He said the Congress haddone brainstorming with emi-nent economists for minimumincome guarantee 'Nyay'scheme to deposit Rs 72,000annually in individual bankaccounts of 25 crore poor peo-ple.
The Congress presidentsaid that people of the countryheard 'Mann ki Baat' in the pastfive years but the Congress'think-tank has done 'kaam kiBaat' by formulating the NYAYscheme.
"I want to thank Modi Ji foropening bank accounts. I amgoing to deposit money ofNYAY scheme in the sameaccounts. The money will bedeposited directly in bankaccounts of women of the fam-ilies," he said at an election rallyin Kota.
Gandhi stressed that themoney deposited through theNYAY scheme will move thewheels of the economy and cre-ate job opportunities for theyouth.
He said the Congress gov-ernment, if voted to power, willfill 22 lakh government jobs inone year, separate budget forfarmers, reservation for womenin state assemblies, Parliamentand in Government jobs. Healleged that the prime ministeris "protecting 15 rich people",including Mehul Choksi, AnilAmbani, Lalit Modi and NiravModi, who took bank loansworth several crore and did notpay back. PTI
Ghazipur/Unnao (UP): BJPpresident Amit Shah onThursday claimed Oppositionleaders cannot look after thecountry's security.
Addressing a rally inGhazipur constituency of UttarPradesh, he alleged BSP supre-mo Mayawati and herSamajwadi Party and Congresscounterparts, Akhilesh Yadavand Rahul Gandhi, respective-ly, were upset with the Balakotair strikes.
"These 'mahamilavati' peo-ple talk about the country.Akhilesh, Mayawati andCongress cannot keep the coun-try safe," he said.
Shah said the BJP cannot do"ilu-ilu" with terrorists, an appar-ent reference to the popularshort form of 'I love you'.
"Though terrorists ofPakistan were killed (in theBalakot air strikes), there was anatmosphere of mourning in theoffices of 'Bua' (Mayawati),'Bhatija' (Akhilesh) and 'Rahulbaba'," he said.
"I could not find out as towhy they were so sad. Why were
they moving about with longfaces? Were those terrorists theirmaternal or paternal cousins?"he said.
The BJP chief asserted hisparty cannot play with the secu-rity of the country.
"If a bullet is fired from there(Pakistan), a bomb will be sentfrom here (India)... Eent kajawaab patthar se diya jayega (Ifsomeone throws bricks, willrespond by throwing rocks)," hesaid. Shah alleged the Congresswant to break the nation withthe "tukde-tukde" gang.
Pointing to the promise ofscrapping sedition law in theCongress manifesto, the BJPleader claimed the move is toprevent those raising "anti-national" slogans from going tojails. Union Minister and sittingMP Manoj Sinha is seeking re-election from the Ghazipur seat.
The BJP president alsoalleged that Purvanchal laggedbehind under the Congress gov-ernments, and came on theright track of progress after theBJP came to power.
Attacking the previous UPA
government, he said the tenyears when "mauni baba"(apparent reference to formerPM Manmohan Singh) was atthe helm, soldiers were behead-ed and the government took noaction.
"This is not happening any-more... Terror strikes took placeand the Modi government car-ried out air strikes... The mar-tyrdom of our soldiers wasavenged with surgical strikes," hesaid.
Taking a dig at RahulGandhi's "silence" over NCleader Omar Abdullah's "sepa-rate PM" remarks, Shah said,"Rahul Gandhi does not speaka word on Omar Abdullah as hefears that if he does, voters willgo away."
Omar had recently suggest-ed separate prime minister forKashmir.
Addressing another meetingin Unnao for party nomineeSakshi Maharaj, the senior BJPleader said the Yogi Adityanath-led state government has beensuccessful at checking "gunda"(hooligans) elements. PTI
Sirsa (Haryana): Since the self-styled godman Gurmeet RamRahim was sentenced to life impris-onment in January for killing ajournalist, followers of his DeraSacha Sauda have been lying low atthe sprawling 800-acre campusoutside Sirsa in Haryana.
The followers say they are alsounsure about who to support in thiselection.
The Dera has been an impor-tant vote bank for parties for overa decade. In 2007, it had formed apolitical affairs wing which decid-ed which political party or politicianit will support.
During the 2007 Punjab
Assembly election, it supportedthe Congress.
In 2014 general election, the
Dera openly supported the BJP.But after the sentencing of
their flamboyant but controversialchief, the Dera and its politicalaffairs wing became dysfunctional,locals and followers said.
This, however, has not stoppedpolitical parties, including the BJPand the INLD, from saying they willnot refrain from seeking support ofthe once-influential Dera SachaSauda.
BJP leader and Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar hassaid he was not averse to Dera sup-port in Lok Sabha election, anddefended his stance, saying it is apolitical party's "right to seek votes
in an election".INLD leader Abhay Singh
Chautala too has said his party willseek the Dera's support.
Punjab Congress chief SunilJakhar has ruled that option out.Jakhar said, "We shall not compro-mise with Sirsa Dera for the elec-tion after sacrilege (incidents) havebeen traced to it."
That political parties have madetheir stance clear may not have abearing on the Dera followers, whosay they are clueless.
"There used to be public meet-ings and then a decision was taken.It used to be of course not bindingbut suggestive in nature. But this
time, everyone is clueless about whowill the Dera support," said ChinderKaur, whose family has been thesect's supporter for decades.
A Dera functionary, who didnot wish to be identified, said,"Guru ji never told us who to votefor."
"It was the political affairs wingof the Dera to which political par-ties used to reach out and then pub-lic meetings were held with fol-lowers and a decision was taken,"the functionary said.
Several Dera followers, who didnot wish to come on record, said thepolitical affairs wing is almostredundant and hence the followers
will have to make their individualchoices.
"It is not just the political affairswing but everything about Dera hascome to a standstill. The manufac-turing plants for aloe vera products,bottled water, car batteries andconfectionery items are shut," saidBabita Gautam, who lives near theDera campus.
Gautam said many people havebeen rendered jobless because of theclosure of the Dera units. "Sowhom to vote for is still a questionin our neighbourhood."
In August 2017, a special CBIcourt sentenced the 50-year-oldRam Rahim to 20 years of impris-
onment for raping two female fol-lowers.
His conviction in the 2002 casetriggered widespread violence,arson and police firing. Thousandsof Dera followers rampagedthrough parts of Haryana. Over 40people died.
Though the Dera has tumbledsince then, Ram Rahim's followersand those who had a stake in hisbusiness live in large numbers inSirsa and surrounding districts. Itis yet to be seen how they react inthe polls.
Polling in Haryana, which has10 Lok Sabha constituencies, will beheld on May 12. PTI
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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on
Thursday announced thenames of three party leaders tocontest in the Assembly by-elections from Bhatpara,Habibpur and Islampur seats.
While former ministerMadan Mitra will contest fromBhatpara, Amal Kisku will filenomination from Habibpur.Another former MinisterAbdul Karim Chowdhury willcontest from Islampur seat,Banerjee said.
The by-polls to the fourassembly seats necessitatedafter resignations of sittingMLAs who are contesting the
Lok Sabha elections will be heldon May 19, the date for the lastphase of election to the LokSabha.
Banerjee also extendedsupport for Gorkha JanmuktiMorcha(GJM) leader BinayTamang in Darjeeling assemblyseat, which was vacated byAmar Singh Rai who is con-testing from Darjeeling LokSabha constituency as a jointGJM-TMC candidate.
morning neutralised twoHizbul Mujahideen terrorists,including an under graduate,pursuing course inPhysiotherapy, in BagenderMohalla of Bijbehara in SouthKashmir's Anantnag district.
Security forces sufferedno collateral damage in theclinical operation, launched inthe thickly populated areaafter receiving a specific intel-ligence input about the pres-ence of armed terrorists in thearea.
Since one of the terroristsneutralised in the gun fight wasa resident of Bijbehara, spo-radic protests were reported inthe area at several places.
The security forces exer-cised restraint to contain thelaw and order situation.
Police spokesman said,"security forces on Thursday
morning recovered two deadbodies from the hide out afterthe encounter was called off inthe area". One of the terroristwas identified as Safder AminBhat, a ninth class drop out,resident of village Zirpara inBijbehara. He was active in thearea since May 2017, policespokesman said.
Another terrorist, accord-ing to police was identified asBurhan Ahmad Ganie aliasSaifullah.
After completing his class12, Burhan was pursuing agraduate course inPhysiotherapy. He is a residentof Malipora Hablish, Kulgam,at present residing in SKColony of Anantnag. He wasactive in the area since June2018.
Police also recovered oneAK rifle and one SLR fromtheir hideout.
Meanwhile, security hasbeen beefed up along the 300km long Jammu-Srinagar
National Highway ahead ofthe shifting of the Durbarmove offices from April 27.
Due to strict security relat-ed restrictions, the state gov-ernment has chalked out acomprehensive schedule ofmovement of durbar moveemployees to ensure theirhassle free travel.
To prevent any attack onthe movement of the vehicleselaborate security arrange-ments would remain in place.
In the wake of regularsuspension of traf f ic on account of land sliding onthe National Highway thestate government has alreadymade parallel arrangementsacross different district head-quarters to meet any conti-gency.
Due to security restric-tions on the highway the stategovernment has also appealedto the state govt employees toremain alert and respond to thesituation appropriately.
-���8����� ����������� ������������ Barmer: Hajeeb Ali, 70, had to
mortgage his wife's jewellery tofeed fodder to his beloved cat-tle in Bandasar, a last village inBarmer Lok Sabha constituen-cy along the international bor-der with Pakistan. Ali is notalone in his village, a Muslim-dominated area.
There are many in Bandasarwho are facing acute difficultiesfor a long time to arrange fod-der in Barmer, which has nopasture land for cattle.
Shortage of fodder is amajor poll issue in the Thar dis-trict Lok Sabha constituency.
Ali says in every election,candidates of political partiescome to the village to seekvotes, but after winning polls,they never return.
A drought is a bad time forcattle as their source of fooddries up, even if they are aban-doned and allowed to roamfreely by farmers.
In Bandasar and 150 vil-lages nearby, small and big —such as Munabav, Ramsar,Bhigusi, Gagaria, Bhajpar,Derasar and Bikusar, whenthere is no rain, farmers have to
look for other things, includingworking under MGNREGAand going to Ahmedabad,around 500 kilometers fromBandasar, in search of work tofeed both family and cattle.
Ali has 28 cows and calves.But, he said, he and his wife,who considered them as a partof their family, worry every two-three days as to how to arrangefodder instead of feeding theirchildren as arrangement of theirfood cost them much less thanwhat cattle eat.
He says he has around 100acre land in Bandasar, but it islying useless as he cannot use it
because of the drought-situa-tion.
"I had to mortgage 170grams of gold jewellery of mywife to arrange money forfodder for my cattle. I and mywife consider cattle like ourfamily. Our cattle is everythingto us.
"Government should find apermanent solution to thisproblem existing across theThar desert area,” Ali said.
When there is rain, pastureland is easily available for cattle,Subha Momin, another villager,said.
Ramesh Chand, a former
sarpanch of the nearby bordervillage of Gatra, said theRajasthan government used torun fodder camps where cattlefood was available at subsidisedrates for farmers, but for the lastthree years, no such camp hasbeen organised.
Chand also said that farm-ers having not more than 12acres of land would only be cov-ered by the scheme, and becauseof this, most farmers, who havedesert land ranging from 40 to100 acres, are deprived of state-run programmes.
There are around 300 smalland big villages in Barmer LokSabha constituency, falling with-in a 50-70 -km radius from theinternational border.
Government has con-structed concrete wells to storerain water, but this is only use-ful when there is good amountof rainfall.
Due to water scarcity in thedesert area, people have to shellout Rs 2,000 to 3,000 to buy2,500 litres of water which isused for both family membersand cattle.
“Not only Barmer, the
entire Thar desert area ofRajasthan has been facing waterscarcity. But government isdoing nothing. Being far-reachareas, candidates come only forcampaigning, and once elec-tions are over, nobody comes tothese villages,” says Changa,who goes by his first name.
Apart from shortage of fod-der and water scarcity, health isalso an issue in those villageswhere no hospital facility hasbeen set up by authorities.
Desar village, 50 km fromthe international border, has apopulation of 6,000 persons, butit and its nearby areas do nothave any health facility.
Nawaj Ali, a villager, sayswhen a person has fever, he orhis family has to spend aroundRs 1,000 on the transportationto reach the city area of Barmerto get medical treatment.
"In case of emergency, wehave to rush patients to a healthfacility located at Barmer's citypoint to get him or her medicaltreatment, and this situation isa brisk business for trans-porters," he said. Barmer goes topolls on April 29. PTI
Begusarai (Bihar): UnionMinister Giriraj Singh was onThursday booked for violatingmodel code of conduct by mak-ing controversial remarksagainst the Muslim communityat a rally here a day ago whereBJP national president AmitShah, among others, was pre-sent.
According to DistrictMagistrate, Begusarai, RahulKumar, the FIR was lodged atTown police station under rele-vant sections of theRepresentation of People Actand the Indian Penal Code tak-ing suo motu cognizance of the"controversial" remarks made bySingh at Wednesdays rally.
Besides Shah, the rally wasattended by a number of otherBJP leaders, including DeputyChief Minister Sushil KumarModi. Singh is contesting fromBegusarai Lok Sabha as theNDA candidate and he isengaged in a three-corneredfight with CPIs Kanhaiya Kumarand RJDs Tanveer Hassan.
Video footage of Singhsbrief address at the rally was tele-cast on news channels whereinhe can be heard saying, "I wouldlike to say, Giriraj Singh's ances-tors died and were cremated.You need a yard of land evenafter you die, for burial of yourmortal remains. If you say youcannot chant Vande Mataram,this nation will never forget you".
"There are many peoplewho are trying to spread com-munal passions. We will notallow that to happen anywherein Bihar including Begusarai.The RJD candidate inDarbhanga recently said he hadproblems with reciting VandeMataram", Singh said referringto Abdul Bari Siddiqui's com-ments on Sunday last.
"In Begusarai too, manycan be seen spewing venomwearing bade bhai ka kurtaand chhote bhai ka pyjama", hesaid referring to the long shirtsand short trousers that are usu-ally associated with devout mus-lims. PTI
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Bengaluru: With dissidencein ruling coalition partnerCongress surfacing again,Karnataka Chief Minister HDKumaraswamy on Thursdaytook stock of the situationwith his deputy GParameshwara and seniorMinister DK Shivakumar.
During the meeting, theCongress-JD(S) coalition lead-ers are said to havediscussedabout the threat by rebelCongress MLA RameshJarkiholi to quit the party alongwith other legislators with him,and its implications on theGovernment.
The meeting also came inthe backdrop of the BJP pre-dicting the fall of the coalitionGovernment after the LokSabha election results aredeclared on May 23.
Emerging out of the meet-ing with Chief Minister, whohas taken a break after busycampaigning for about amonth, Parameshwara ruledout any threat to the coalitionGovernment.
"We have discussed politicsalso, but we also have infor-mation that there are no suchdevelopments (threatening the
Government)," the Congressleader told reporters.
"we don't have any appre-hension about the collapse ofthe government as beingclaimed by the BJP," he said.
The government isstable,he asserted, adding they helddiscussions with the chief min-ister about facing drought sit-uation in parts of the state.
Speculation about thelongevity of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government inKarnataka has again come tothe fore after the second andfinal phase of Lok Sabha pollsin the state on Tuesday, withstate BJP chief B S Yeddyurappapredicting its collapse after theelection results.
There are talks withinpolitical circles that any adverseresults for the coalition in theLok Sabha polls will have itsimplications on the stability ofthe state government.
The Congress and JDS,which stitched an alliance aftercontesting the assembly elec-tions separately last year, had anunderstanding for theParliamentary polls despiteresentment amongthe grassroot workers and leaders of
both the parties.Adding to this was the
threat by Jarkiholi, who hasbeen hobnobbing with the BJPfor some time now and threat-ening he alongwith otherMLAs would resign fromCongress soon.
His public posturing hascaused fear among the rulingcoalition leaders as itcouldtrigger the number game in theassembly.
Karnataka PradeshCongress President DineshGundu Rao, however expressedhopethat Jarkiholi would thinkwith "good sense" and not quit.Rao also warned of adverseconsequence by believing inBJP.
"Congress has not done anyinjustice to him (Jarkiholi),party has always stood by him,he is five-timeMLA from theparty and has been a Minister.
"He too may not haveanynegative opinion against theparty and is giving somestate-ments due to some reasons, thisis my feeling," he added. Rao,however, ruled out any talkswith him and said May 23 LokSabha pollresults will put anend to every thing. PTI
Mumbai: From Dalit icon DrBabasaheb Ambedkar to notedCommunist leader SripadDange, many a political stal-wart have tried their luck inparliamentary elections fromMumbai.
There have also been sur-prises like when firebrand tradeunion leader George Fernandestrounced Congress heavy-weight S K Patil from theMumbai South Lok Sabha con-stituency in 1967.
Before delimitation in2008, the city district had threeLok Sabha constituencies -Mumbai South, South Centraland North Central.
Mumbai district was divid-
ed into Mumbai City andMumbai Suburb in 1990.
In 1952, Mumbai's parlia-mentary constituencies wereMumbai South, Mumbai Northand Mumbai Suburbs. While in1957, there were Mumbai CitySouth, Mumbai Central and
Mumbai North.In 1962, the Lok Sabha
seats were Mumbai City South,Mumbai City South Centraland Mumbai City NorthCentral (SC).
Ambedkar, who was thelaw minister in the JawaharlalNehru government formedafter independence, contestedas the candidate of theScheduled Caste Federation(SCF) from Mumbai North in1952.
However, the chiefConstitution-maker wasdefeated by Congress candidateNarayan Kajrolkar. Kajrolkarhad bagged 1,38,137 votes,while Ambedkar polled
1,23,576 votes.In 1957, Defence Minister
V K Krishna Menon of theCongress won from MumbaiNorth.
While Dange, a foundingmember of the CommunistParty of India (CPI), was elect-ed to the Lok Sabha fromMumbai Central in 1957,Fernandes emerged as a "giantkiller" in 1967 by defeatingCongress's Patil from MumbaiSouth.
Another interesting fea-ture is that in 1971, Shiv Senaleader Manohar Joshi contest-ed from Mumbai NorthCentral but lost to R DBhandare of the Congress.
In 1984, Joshi, who laterwent on to become the firstShiv Sena Chief Minister ofMaharashtra, unsuccessfullycontested as the BJP nomineeagainst Sharad Dighe of theCongress from Mumbai NorthCentral.
Another top Sena leader,Wamanrao Mahadik, had con-tested on a BJP ticket fromMumbai South Central in 1984.
Communist and socialistleaders have left their deepimprint on the political land-scape of the financial capital ofthe country, which was oncehome to a large number of tex-tile mills.
Communist stalwart
Ahilya Rangnekar was electedfrom Mumbai North Central in1977 and Pramila Dandavate,the wife of former Union min-ister Madhu Dandavate, hadmade it to the Lok Sabha fromthe same constituency in 1980.
In 1984, trade unionistDatta Samant was elected to theLower House of Parliamentfrom Mumbai South-Central asan independent.
The metropolis now hashalf a dozen Lok Sabha seats —Mumbai North, MumbaiNorth-West, Mumbai North-East, Mumbai North-Central,Mumbai South-Central andMumbai South — which go tothe polls on April 29. PTI
Srinagar: National Conferencechief Farooq Abdullah onThursday said those who aretrying to repeal articles 370 and35-A of the Constitution,which guarantee special statusto Jammu & Kashmir, are play-ing with fire.
"The need of the hour is todouse these flames and not toadd fuel to the fire," Abdullahsaid, addressing a poll cam-paign rally at Devsar in Kulgamdistrict.
The forme Chief Ministerasserted that no one can sub-due Kashmiris.
“History bears the testi-mony to the fact that no onewas able to enslave Kashmiris.We have fought Mughals,Pathans and other despoticregimes and never let anyonesubdue us.
"New Delhi will have ourrespect, only if they respect thepeople of this State. No oneshould dare tinker with our self
esteem for the Kashmiris havealways responded to the brick-bats thrown at them with deter-mination,” he said.
Cautioning the peopleagainst forces inimical to thestate's special status, Abdullahsaid the forces which havebeen inimical to the state'sspecial status come in differenthues and colors trying todestroy it.
"Kashmiris, however, havenever allowed such forces tosucceed in their nefariousdesigns; today the situation isno different. Today we see theBJP-RSS cheekily taking vowsto destroy the identity andintegrity of our State,” he said.
He added that articles 370and 35-A protect the statenatives rights to jobs, landholdings and scholarships.
"Any move to scuttle thearticles will have far reachingconsequences on the people ofthe state. So it is imperative for
the the people across the state,in particular the people ofsouth Kashmir to vote. Everyvote you cast will set therecourse of our State for thenext half a decade," he added.
The former chief ministersaid the people of Kashmir cantackle their problems onlythrough ballots and not guns.
“The problem cannot beresolved by using guns or pelt-ing stones. It is only throughthe use of vote that the peopleof Kashmir can find a way for-ward.
"The gun culture has onlyadded to the miseries of thepeople and made us suscepti-ble to the machinations ofthose who are inimical to ouridentity. The people have toforge unity and come in largenumbers to vote in order tosave the identity, integrity, plu-ralistic visage and special con-stitutional status of our state,”he said. PTI
Mumbai: Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman onThursday denied Opposition'sallegation that the BJP waspoliticising security forces' val-our to seek votes, saying herparty was only talking about the"political will" necessary to com-bat terror.
""Who is politicising the(valour of) security forces? Wehaven't done it," she said, speak-ing to reporters here.
The UPA government ledby Manmohan Singh lackedthe political will to combat ter-rorism which was evident afterthe 26/11 Mumbai attack, theBJP leader said.
The Narendra Modi gov-ernment took "decisive" stepsand showed "political will" tocombat terror, which was seenin the 2016 surgical strike andBalakot air strike in February inthe aftermath of Uri andPulwama attacks, respectively,Sitharaman said.
"The Congress feels hesitantto talk about political will, henceit thinks we are politicising (thevalour of soldiers)," she said.
"We are not politicising the
valour, but talking about thepolitical leadership's will to takeaction which is not politicisa-tion," the defence minister said.
She also attacked theCongress over its poll promiseto review the Armed Forces(Special Powers) Act, saying itwould be difficult for the Armyto operate in a state such asJammu and Kashmir in itsabsence.
"For AFSPA to be removed,changes have to be brought onthe ground first through pro-grammes. Till that time, it can-not be removed," the ministersaid. Sitharaman also hit out atOpposition for questioning theBalakot air strike or seeking theproof of the surgical strike.
She felt "sad", she said,adding that Pakistan would likeOpposition's language.
To a question, Sitharamansaid due procedure was fol-lowed in negotiating the Rafaledeal. There was no need tochange the defence procure-ment policy in the context of thedeal, which the Congress iscriticising for alleged irregular-ities, she added. PTI
Bengaluru: In the wake of theterror attacks in Sri Lanka, thepolice here on Thursdaystepped up security and initi-ated elaborate measures to pre-vent such an incident.
In addition, the police havedecided to set up ananti-ter-rorist cell in the city and havewritten to KarnatakaGovernment in this regard.
As part of the measures,the police convened a meetingwith head of variousinstitu-tions, religious places and com-mercial establishment with afootfall of more than 500.
Speaking to reporters afterthe meeting, city police com-missioner T Suneel Kumarsaidhe has instructed deputy com-missioners to gather informa-tion on religious places wherelots of people congregate.
The deputy commission-ers, in turn, have been direct-ed to instruct the managers ofmalls and hotels. Further, thecommissioner decided to holda meeting with the trustees,board members and managersof religious institutions andcommercial places. PTI
Mumbai: Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh has said Indianauthorities shared "actionable"intelligence with Sri Lankabefore the serial blasts rocked theneighbouring country.
Nearly 360 people werekilled in the Easter Sundaybombings in the islandnation."Desired and actionableinputs were shared with theauthorities in Sri Lanka prior tothe blasts. But unfortunately,they (plotters) succeeded," Singhtold PTI.
Asked if Sri Lanka failed toact on those inputs, he said it isnot a question of blaming thatcountry's Government for it.
Nine suicide bombers,believed to be members of localIslamist extremist group namedNational Thowheed Jamath(NTJ), carried out the series ofblasts that tore through threechurches and three luxuryhotels.
However, the NTJ has not
claimed responsibility for theattacks.
According to officials, intel-ligence inputs about a possibleterror attack in Sri Lanka, tar-geting the Indian HighCommission, were shared byIndian agencies with their coun-terparts in the island nation ear-lier this month after the NationalInvestigation Agency complet-ed its probe into an ISIS-inspiredmodule planning to kill promi-nent leaders in south India.
The inputs were sentthrough diplomatic channels toSri Lanka after a thorough inves-tigation pertaining to the ISIScase in Coimbatore was carriedout by the NIA, which has fileda charge sheet against seven peo-ple. During investigation, theprobe team had stumbled uponvideos of NTJ leader ZahranHashim, which was indicative ofa terror attack on the IndianHigh Commission in Colombo.
PTI
Bengaluru: With polls endingfor all 28 LoK Sabha con-stituencies in Karnataka,Congress and BJP turned theirfocus on Thursday on finalis-ing candidates for Chincholiand Kundgol assembly con-stituencies for the May 19 by-elections.
BJP held its core commit-tee meeting under theleader-ship of State chief BSYeddyurappa to finalise itscan-didates for both the assemblysegments.
Pradesh CongressPresident Dinesh Gundu Raotoo held meetings to discussthe preparations for the by-election and selection of can-didates.
Congress and JD(S) havedecided to go to polls togeth-er by fielding a consensus can-didate from the grand oldparty, as both seats were heldby it.
The outcome of by-polls
along with Lok Sabha resultsiscrucial for the ruling Congress-JD(S) alliance as it would havea bearing on the longevity ofthe coalition Government,triggering the number game inthe Assembly.
Bypoll to Chincholi wasnecessitated as Umesh Jadhavquit as Congress MLA andjoined the BJP to contest LokSabha pollsfrom Gulbarga,while Kundgol seat fell vacantfollowing thedeath of MLAand Minister C S Shivalli.
The last date to file nom-ination is on April 29.
Speaking to reportersafter the core committeemeeting Yeddyurappa said,"We have recommended onename each for boththe con-stituencies to Delhi (partycentral leadership) afterdis-cussion.
It will be finalised tomor-row and from Delhi the can-didates will be announced.
We will win both the seatsandwe are making all prepa-rations."
"We also discussedprospects of Lok Sabha polls.According to our leaders andfeed back received from variousplaces we will win minimum 22seats (out of 28). We havethatconfidence. We may wineven more," he added. PTI
Sri Lanka is no stranger to violence— a complete generation under-went the ordeals of the Tamil-Sinhala Civil War (1976-2009). Butthe serial blasts that bloodied the
Easter celebrations in the island lastSunday were on a different plane. Its rootsseem to puzzle those who had studied thehistory of Sri Lanka.
Tamil insurgency was an outgrowth ofbad blood between the two ethnic commu-nities viz, Tamil and Sinhala, in post-colo-nial Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon). Thesetwo communities, unequal in size andinhabiting different geographical zones ofthe island, once viewed themselves as co-founders of the island’s civilisation. For onecomplete century between the Colebrooke-Cameron Reforms (1829-32) — which gavecolonial Ceylon a legislative council — andthe Donoughmore Commission (1931),when territorial elections were introduced,the relationship between the Tamils andSinhalese deteriorated sharply.
The Tamils, though in a numericalminority, could previously take a much-relaxed view as long as their representationin the Council was the same as theSinhalese. But as political reforms pro-gressed in the crown colony, relationshipsworsened under the shadow of Sinhalamajoritarianism. The Tamils were themakers of modern Ceylon. But they foundthemselves falling from the frying pan tothe fire after Ceylon gained independence.
Between 1951 and 1976, one findsTamils trying to fashion various politicalresponses to the Sinhala clout. Thenfinally came the Vaddukoddai Resolution(May 14, 1976), which pitched for an inde-pendent “Tamil Eelam”, an expression firstused in modern time as early as 1923 bySir Ponnambalam Arunachalam (1853-1924). The uncrowned king of CeyloneseTamil civilian politics viz , SJVChelvanayakam (1898-1977), exhorted theTamil youth to take up arms to resistSinhalese hegemony.
An independent Tamil Eelam was,thus, not the brainchild of either theTamil Eelam Liberation Organisation(TELO), or the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam (LTTE) or People’s LiberationOrganisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). Buta resolution passed by those politicians whohad tried to handle the issue byConstitutional means for far too long with-out any success. The situation erupted intoa bloody, messy and cruel civil war that last-ed for three decades. It ended in May 2009with the defeat of the LTTE by the SriLankan Army, accompanied by the carnageof Tamils caught in the crossfire.
The Easter bloodbath, on the otherhand, does not seem to be an outgrowthof natural politics. It was directed againstChristians (regardless of ethnicity) and for-eigners, who stay in plush hotels likeShangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and
Kingsbury in Colombo. Theblasts coincided with the US-Sri Lanka Naval exercise off theHambantota Port, owned byChina on a 99-year lease.
The Sri LankanGovernment found the blaststo be the handiwork of Islamicradicals, and the Islamic Statehas claimed responsibility forthe bombings. Both Christiansand Muslims are small minori-ties and do not hope to play anindependent role in the over-all politics of the island. Theydo not have a history of turn-ing against one another as agroup either.
The Muslims, who have adominant presence in easterndistricts like Batticaloa andTrincomalee, could still fostersome territorial ambitions. ButChristians, who are to be foundboth among Sinhalese andTamils besides Burghese (whoare Anglo-Indians in SriLanka), can at best manage toinfluence politics as part ofsome group.
Various Prime Ministersand Presidents of Sri Lanka,right from DS Senanayake toMahinda Rajapaksa, have hada Christian family background.Christian presence in Sri Lankagoes back to Portuguese inva-sions in the 16th century.Various Sinhalese (Buddhists)and Tamil (Hindus) had con-
verted to Christianity. But asthe DonoughmoreCommission (1931) recom-mended franchise base on ter-ritory, many of those leadingfamilies re-converted toBuddhism to ingratiate them-selves to the masses. They aregenerally referred to as“Donoughmore Buddhists.”
Interestingly, it was suchfamilies, who remained at thehelm of Sri Lankan politics butit was not before RanasinghePremadasa (1924-1993), a gen-uine Buddhist, who becamethe Sri Lankan President, thatthey held an official post.However, such re-convertedfamilies were never shy of usingBuddhism as a state policy tomarginalise the Tamils.
Those who remainedChristians (amongst Sinhaleseand Burghese) felt politicalpower passing away from theirhands. In January 1962, therewas a “Christian coup d’etat”,popularly called “OperationHoldfast”, to overthrow thed e m o c r a t i c a l l y - e l e c t e dGovernment of the then PrimeMinister SirimavoBandaranaike. The top brass ofthe Army, Navy and policeinvolved in it were Christians,and pained that Bandaranaikewas advancing the policies ofher slain husband SWRDBanadaraniake which related to
the aggressive “Buddhitisation”of Sri Lanka. But the attemptwas exposed and neutralised.
During the Civil War, theChristians settled down on therespective side of the ethnicdivide. While the SinhaleseChristians tried to prove theirSinhalese credentials, the TamilChristians were active in theLTTE. Young women fromTamil Christian families werethe first to volunteer for LTTE’swoman brigade. This wasbecause they were comparative-ly free from the conservatism ofHindu families. The Muslims,though they were Tamil-speak-ing, did not join the LTTE.They eventually came to be atthe receiving end of the LTTE’spolicies. In the Kattankudymosque massacre, 147 Muslimmen and boys were killed onAugust 3, 1990, by the LTTE.
The Muslims, thoughTamil-speaking, did not con-sider themselves as part of theTamil nation. Way back in1885, a debate arose when SirPonnambalam Ramanathan(1851-1930), in a speech to theCeylon Legislative Council,had tried to prove that TamilMuslims were descendants oflow-class Tamil Hindus, whohad converted to Islam. TheMuslim community (thencalled Moors in Ceylon) wasenraged and argued that they
were descendants of Arabtraders, who settled down inthe island centuries ago andgradually adopted Tamil whileforgetting Arabic.
Muslim assertiveness isnot new in Sri Lanka. Way backin 1915, there were Candyriots between Sinhalese(Buddhists) and Muslims. Lastyear in March 2018, there weresimilar clashes betweenSinhalese and Muslims.Religious places of each com-munity were attacked by theother. But this is the first timein historical memory thatMuslims have turned againstthe Christians. The provoca-tion seems to be importedrather than indigenous. Theterror attacks rather seem to bepart of the global jihad ormore particularly, retaliationfor Christchurch mosqueattack on March 15. In recentyears, missionary activities byChristians and Muslims are onthe rise in the island. These ter-ror attacks, though a gravesecurity risk, might not indicateany shift in the politics of SriLanka. But it is a signal thatJihad bi-al Qital has appearedon the shores of the palm-fringed island.
(The writer is an indepen-dent researcher. The views expressed herein are hispersonal)
Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Who’s the bigger star?” (April25). During the hour-long non-political interview of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi by actorAkshay Kumar, where the formershowcased his personal life —right from his childhood days, tohis struggles and his relationshipwith political rivals likeTrinamool Congress chiefMamata Banerjee and Congressleader Ghulam Nabi Azad, hislove for mangoes — was candidand made an interesting listen.
There is not an iota of doubtthat the rise of Modi from beinga chaiwala to becoming the ChiefMinister of Gujarat and subse-quently the Prime Minister was along arduous journey. Otherwise,Modi would have been an Armyman or a sanyasi. This only revealsthat he never dreamt to reach suchhigh positions. The PrimeMinister rounded off the interviewon a bright note by saying that hewould always be focussed onresponsibilities — whether in orout of power — which is a posi-tive trait very few leaders possess.
KR Srinivasan Secunderabad
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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Terror returns” (April 23).Churches and luxury hotels inand around Colombo were tar-getted during Easter Sunday.The bomb attacks must be con-demned in the strongest terms.This was, perhaps, the biggestterrorist attack in Sri Lanka
since the cessation of Civil war.The bloodshed would certainlyhave an adverse impact on tradeand tourism in the island nation.It is baffling that the islandnation did not take warningsabout a possible terror attackseriously enough.
Some of the blasts tookplace in places of worship. Thisgoes to show, once again, thatterror has no respect for religion.
Terrorism can be battled onlythrough coordinated efforts bythe international community bysharing intelligence, chokingfinancial support of terroristsand greater collaboration of pre-ventive measures are reliablestrategies. Simultaneously, theinvestigation into the blastsshould be speeded up.
Ramesh G JethwaniBengaluru
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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “The three-way split” (April24). In the ongoing extremelyvituperative political cauldron,the electorate must be desperateto find a sane and sober person-ality who is endearing.
The one reason why one canheave a sigh of relief is formerChief Minister Sheila Dikshit isthe Congress’ candidate fromNorth East for the Lok Sabhaelection. Dikshit still sports asuave, down-to-earthdemeanour that ought to havefar greater appeal than what shehad earlier.
If the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwalsends impressions of being amaverick, the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) has the ever volublePrime Minister, who still contin-ues with the 2014 rhetoric butwith improved spelling and syn-tax. This time, Delhi must belonging for the return of thegenial and maternal figure.
On March 15, when a horrendousattack by a White Australiansupremacist left 50 Muslims deadin a mosque in New Zealand, thePrime Minister of Pakistan, Imran
Khan, fired a series of tweets againstIslamophobia. Interestingly, in Pakistan, thetweets received some rather mixed responses.Many accused him of exhibiting “outrighthypocrisy” while others were more tongue-in-cheek in their response, pointing out that it wasironic that a Prime Minister of a country, wherereligious and sectarian minorities are constant-ly attacked by radical Islamist outfits, should belamenting the state of Islamophobia in the West.
Indeed, there is always much irony inMuslim states that overtly criticise Islamophobiawhile doing precious little to address the per-secution of minority faiths or sects in their ownrealms. Therefore, a prominent Muslim (or forthat matter, any Muslim) should be very care-ful in his/her criticism of Islamophobia. If theirlaments are to be taken seriously, without sound-ing so obviously contradictory, then they shouldbe well-informed about the inherent contradic-tions that these laments carry. The wording oftheir criticism should, thus, be a more measuredexercise.
Prime Minister Khan should have observedhow Pakistan’s military establishment has beenwording its responses in this context. Ever since2015 — when the military initiated a widespreadoperation against militant outfits — it condemnsviolence against Muslims elsewhere but alwaysattaches a reminder to it that Pakistan has foughta vicious war against religious terrorism andwon. This somewhat neutralises the contradic-tions that emerge when a country, with a his-tory of sectarian bloodshed and violence againstminorities, wags a finger at a country guilty ofexhibiting Islamophobia. Because when thisquestion does arise, it is countered by thereminder that Pakistan is actually doing some-thing about it.
But Prime Minister Khan went slightly offthe rails in his tweeted outrage againstIslamophobia. He failed to balance his critiqueby confessing that Pakistan, too, has a problemof religiously-motivated violence but one thatit is trying to address seriously.
But when he was in Opposition, Khan andhis party had actually opposed any serious actionagainst religious militancy. Yet, it is also true thatthe complex reality of being in power is grad-ually transforming his views. So one nowexpects him to be a bit more aware when com-menting on the violence unleashed by Whitesupremacists against Muslims.
But what really is Islamophobia? This ques-tion needs to be answered in a more thoroughmanner, especially by the Muslims themselvesif they are to critique it without sounding con-tradictory. According to the Oxford EnglishDictionary, Islamophobia is an “intense dislikeor fear of Islam.” In an article in the October 2015issue of The Atlantic, Tanya Basu wrote that theterm was derived by the French word,“Islamophobie.” It was first coined by Frenchauthor Alain Quellien in 1910 to criticise thebehaviour of French colonial administrators
towards their Muslim subjects.In her essay for the March 2006 issue of the
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, LP Sheridanwrote that the term’s first known usage in Englishappeared some 90 years later in 1991. It thenmade its way into the Oxford English Dictionaryin 1997. This suggests that Islamophobia, as itis understood today, is a recent development.Professor Emeritus Bichara Khader, in hisessay for the 2016 anthology, The Search forEurope, wrote that Islamophobia in Europe andthe US is often linked to migrants from Muslimcountries that are seen as a threat to Western cul-ture and security.
He questioned this assumption by addingthat migration was not an issue at all in the Westtill the early 1970s, after thousands of Muslimsfrom South Asia, South East Asia, the MiddleEast and North Africa began arriving in vari-ous European cities from the 1950s onward.They were looking for work and higher wages.Khader wrote that as post-war economiesboomed in Europe, these migrants were seen asbeing vital contributors to this boom. Headded that it was only when the economies ofEurope began to recede — especially after the1973 oil crisis — the term “migration problem”came into play.
Yet, it was never linked to a “Muslim prob-lem” as it is today. Khader said that during theturmoil of the 1970s and 1980s — which sawriots involving migrants and locals, especiallyin France and England — these were explainedas “race riots” and also included migrants fromthe Caribbean islands and non-Muslim Indians.The reasons were economic.
Neo-fascist outfits accused theirGovernments of allowing non-white migrantsto steal “white jobs.” It really wasn’t a clash ofcultures as such. Or not yet. According toKhader, till the early 1980s, Muslim migrants
were not very public or exhibitionistic abouttheir faith. For example, they were happy witha few basement mosques.
Once settled, Muslim migrants began tomarry women from their own countries andthen brought them to Europe — even thoughit wasn’t uncommon for some to marryEuropean women as well. Khader wrote thatmost of the women who came as wives, werefrom rural and semi-rural areas of Pakistan,India, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Egypt amongothers. This development changed the settlers’attitude towards their religion and cultural val-ues. Whereas once they were fine with theirsmall ‘basement mosques’, now they began todemand proper mosques.
The change in behaviour attracted preach-ers, who began to set up shop in variousEuropean cities. They were particularly appeal-ing to second generation migrants, especiallyfrom families who had failed to be fully integrat-ed by European integration policies. Khaderwrote that, as the presence of veiled women andmosques grew, this is when the ‘migration prob-lem’ began to be seen as a ‘Muslim problem’, trig-gering Islamophobia.
Authors such as Khader and George Morganin (Muslims and Moral Panic in the West) agreethat the more outward exhibition of ‘Muslimness’in the West did contribute in the making of theabove- mentioned scenario. Nevertheless, theyare of the view that Islamophobia is still large-ly a construct of populist right-wing parties.
Khader wrote that there are 23 millionMuslims in Europe. This means they are just fiveper cent of Europe’s total population. Thus,Islamophobia has become a tool for populistpoliticians to describe Muslims as the ‘other’ andthe ones to blame for the economic or culturaldecline of a Western country.
On April 19, a complaint ofsexual harassment againstthe Chief Justice of India
Ranjan Gogoi (CJI) was sent to theResidence(s) of 22 judges of theSupreme Court of India, alongwith an affidavit and other support-ing evidence. The complainant hadasked for the constitution of aninquiry committee of senior retiredjudges to investigate and adjudicateon the serious allegations of sexu-al harassment.
Under the Indian law, com-plaint(s) of sexual harassment at theworkplace are required to beaddressed in accordance with theprocedure, as established underthe Sexual Harassment of Women
at Workplace (Prevention,Prohibition and Redressal) Act,2013 (POSH Act). The Act man-dates that every organisation —with more than 10 employees —must set up an Internal ComplaintsCommittee (ICC), comprising atleast four members and 50 per centof them should be women. Further,it also states that the presiding offi-cer of the ICC should also be awoman.
Thus, the spirit of the POSHAct lies in providing women greaterrepresentation in the inquiry com-mittee and in including an externalmember on the board to ensuretransparency and fairness.
The Supreme Court has consti-tuted an ICC and also framed TheGender Sensitisation & SexualHarassment of Women at theSupreme Court of India(Prevention, Prohibition andRedressal) Regulations 2013, toinvestigate the complaints of sexu-al harassment.
However, in gross violation ofthe procedure as established by thelaw and in absolute negation of the
‘rule of law’, the Supreme Court onApril 20, held a suo moto hearing ofthe complaint. The Bench com-prised three male judges, presidedby the CJI himself.
On acute criticism by variouslawyers and Bar Association(s) ofthe suo moto hearing held by theapex court, on April 23, a specialBench comprising three malejudges issued notice to a lawyer,Utsav Bains, who claimed that aman had approached him to file afalse case of sexual harassmentagainst the CJI. However, no inves-tigation was instituted to examinethe veracity of the complaint of sex-ual harassment.
Then in a series of surprises, thetop court constituted a new Benchon April 23, comprising two maleand a female Supreme Court judgesto examine the complaint of sexu-al harassment against the CJI. ThisBench issued notice to the com-plainant on April 24 and directedher to appear before the Bench onApril 26, that is today.
In setting up a predominantlymale Bench, headed by a male judge
(even though there are three sittingwomen judges at the SupremeCourt) the court has side-steppedand corroded the sanctity of thepredominantly women-led ICC.
Undoubtedly and inherently, areason exists for POSH to insist ona committee led by a woman withthem being in majority. This, toprovide an environment conducivefor a woman to speak freely andfearlessly about a sexual assault onher physical body. Presence ofwomen members in majority canease, facilitate and enable them tospeak about incidents that outragedtheir soul.
It is fearsome and intimidatingfor them to express about unwant-ed physical contact by men inauthority before strange men. Askany woman — no matter how richor powerful, educated or illiterate— whether they would be able toexplain the gory and graphic detailsof the violence committed beforestrange men.
To facilitate, enable and createa conducive environment — wherevictims are encouraged to speak
freely in the presence of otherwomen — POSH insists on this spe-cific composition which must nec-essarily be strictly and scrupulous-ly adhered. Any breach would onlyfurther perpetuate injustice.
In not providing more repre-sentation to women in the commit-tee and by not including an exter-nal member, the Supreme Court hasundermined the sanctity of thePOSH Act.
The apex court has been thetorch-bearer of women’s right toequality and safe spaces. The courtitself laid down the VisakhaGuidelines in 1997 to protectwomen against sexual harassmentand abuse at workplace. Even there-after, it took almost 15 years for thePOSH law to be enacted.
The POSH Act is unique. Thisprogressive and welfare legislationcannot be permitted to be under-mined lest Indian women lose theirright to safe work places.
Without getting into the mer-its of the allegations levelled againstthe CJI, it is imperative that a fairand impartial hearing of the mat-
ter be conducted that is based onthe settled principles and the pro-cedure established by the law. Thisis a sine qua non for upholding therule of law.
Looking at the gravity of thecomplaint at hand and in keepingwith the spirit and objectives of thePOSH Act, the Supreme Courtmust lead by example and ensurethat the presiding officer andmajority of the members of theinquiry committee are women.Further, the board must includeexternal member/members as well.
It is incumbent on all citizensof India, especially women, to voicetheir concern on side-stepping ofthe women-led complaints commit-tee in a matter of sexual harassment.
If we choose to remain quiet onthis grave violation of principles ofnatural justice and the procedureestablished by the law, it will sendthe Indian women back to decades.The spirit and sanctity of the POSHAct must be fiercely protected,preserved and prevented frombeing reduced to a mockery.
today clearly announced thatthey will stopsales of alldiesel-enginedcars from April1, 2020. This isthe day thatBharat Stage 6(BS6) emissionnorms comeinto force inIndia and no oldBharat Stage 4diesel enginedvehicles will beallowed to ber e g i s t e r e d .During the car-makers annualresults confer-ence, ChairmanR C Bhargavamade thisu n e q u i v o c a lstatement about diesels andannounced that this wouldapply to all Maruti-Suzukiproducts includings hatch-backs, sedans, SUV’s and com-mercial vehicles. Bhargava saidthat this was because makingexisting diesel engines BS6compatible was not technical-ly possible and new enginesand costs for a BS6 dieseloption on smaller cars wouldadd at least �1 lakh to the exist-ing cost of a diesel car. He feltthat alongside factors such ashigher cost and the fact that
diesel vehicles will be deregis-tered in the National capitalRegion within ten years, a planwhich might be implementednationwide and with dieselprices rising, the demand fordiesel vehicles would collapse.“The Supreme Court has madeit clear that it will not allow thesale and registration of any BS4from April 1, 2020”, Bhargavasaid explaining this decision.
This had a negative impacton the Maruti’s share pricewhich crashed after thisannouncement after havingclimbed earlier after the com-pany beat investor expecta-tions with a relatively positive
result. This is because 23 per-cent of Maruti’s sales are ofdiesel vehicles, almost all are ofthe 1.3 litre diesel engine thatMaruti licenses from Fiat, andthe company recentlyannounced a new 1.5 litrediesel engine for the Ciazsedan. Bhargava however saidthat the company continued towork on hybrid vehicles andwhile no ‘strong hybrids’ will belaunched in the coming year,Maruti-Suzuki continues towork on the technology for apotential future launch.
Bhargava expressed negativityon the possibility of more elec-tric vehicles being launched inthe small car space given costsand without a comprehensivestudy on commodities and car-bon costs.
Unit sales for the yearclimbed to 1,862,449 unitsincluding exports, a growth of4.7 per cent and thus net salesstood at �83,026.5 crore agrowth of 6.3 per cent.However with foreign exchangevolatility and rising commod-ity prices, net profit declined2.9 per cent to �7500 crore, andthus the company onlydeclared a dividend of �80 per
share. One other reason fordeclining profitability were theincrease in customer discountswhich rose from �15,849 pervehicle on average in 2017-18to �18,277 per vehicle in 2018-19. The company also saidthat while the last few quartershave been weak, sales in thefourth quarter declining 0.7 percent over the previous year thiswas in line with most pre-elec-tion years in India. That said,Maruti-Suzuki expected salesto grow between 4-8 per centin Fiscal Year 2020.
India will see internet users riseby about 40 per cent and num-ber of smartphones to doubleby 2023, McKinsey said in areport.
It also expects core digitalsectors to jump two-fold to$355-435 billion by 2025.
The report ‘Digital India— Technology to Transform aConnection Nation’ byMcKinsey Global Institute saidthe country is one of the largestand fastest-growing marketsfor digital consumers, with560 million internet sub-scribers in 2018, second onlyto China.
Indian mobile data usersconsume 8.3 gigabits (GB) ofdata each month on average,compared with 5.5 GB formobile users in China and 8-8.5 GB in advanced digitaleconomy of South Korea.Indians have 1.2 billion mobilephone subscriptions and down-loaded more apps — 12.3 bil-lion in 2018 — than residentsof any other country exceptChina.
“Our analysis of 17 matureand emerging economies findsIndia is digitising faster thanany other country in the study,save Indonesia — and there isplenty of room to grow: justover 40 per cent of the popu-lace has an internet subscrip-tion,” it said.
While a Government pushhas helped digitise the econo-my, private sector firms such asReliance Jio has helped bringdown data costs by more than95 per cent since 2013, it said,adding the cost of one gigabytefell from 9.8 per cent of percapita monthly GDP in 2013(roughly $12.45) to 0.37 percent in 2017 (the equivalent ofa few cents).
“Private-sector innovationhas helped bring internet-enabled services to millions ofconsumers and made onlineusage more accessible. Forexample, Reliance Jio’s strategyof bundling virtually freesmartphones with subscrip-tions to its mobile service hasspurred innovation and com-petitive pricing across the sec-tor,” the report said.
As a result, monthly mobiledata consumption per user isgrowing at 152 per cent annu-ally — more than twice therates in the United States andChina. Average fixed-linedownload speed quadrupledbetween 2014 and 2017.
“India will increase thenumber of internet users byabout 40 per cent to between750 million and 800 millionand double the number ofsmartphones to between 650million and 700 million by2023,” it said, adding the poten-tial for India’s internet sub-scriber base could reach 835million by 2023.
McKinsey said India’s
internet user base has grownrapidly in recent years, pro-pelled by the decreasing costand increasing availability ofsmartphones and high-speedconnectivity, and is now one ofthe largest in the world.
The average Indian socialmedia user spends 17 hourson the platforms each week,more than social media usersin China and the United States.
The share of Indian adultswith at least one digital finan-cial account has more thandoubled since 2011, to 80 percent, thanks in large part to themore than 332 million peoplewho opened mobilephone–based accounts underthe Government’s Jan-DhanYojana — a mass financial-inclusion programme.
“By many measures, Indiais on its way to becoming a dig-itally advanced nation,”McKinsey said. “Just over 40per cent of the populace has aninternet subscription, but Indiais already home to one of theworld’s largest and most rapid-ly growing bases of digital con-sumers. It is digitising activitiesat a faster pace than manymature and emergingeconomies.”
India’s core digital sectors,comprising of IT-BPM, digitalcommunication services andelectronics manufacturing,accounted for about $170 bil-lion — or 7 per cent — of GDPin 2017–18.
Bank credit rose by 14.19percent to �96.45 lakh crore
while deposits grew 10.60 per-cent to �125.30 lakh crore inthe first fortnight ended onApril 12, according to recentRBI data.
In the year ago fortnight,deposits were at �113.29 lakhcrore and advances stood at�84.46 lakh crore.
In the fiscal ended March2019, bank credit had risen by13.24 percent and depositsgrew by 10.03 percent. This wasthe second consecutive double-digits credit growth after thesame had declined to 4.54 per-cent in FY17 at �78.41 lakhcrore, which was the lowestsince 1963, the RBI data said.
On a year-on-year basis,non-food bank credit increasedby 13.2 percent in February2019 as compared with an
increase of 9.8 percent in theyear-ago period.
Loans to the services sec-tor almost doubled with a 23.7percent growth in Februarycompared to 14.2 percent in thesame month last year.
Advances to agricultureand allied activities increasedby 7.5 percent in Februarycompared to an increase of 9percent in February 2018.
Credit to the industry roseby 5.6 percent in February, upfrom an increase of 1 percentin February 2018.
Credit to the infrastructure,chemical and chemical products,and all engineering sectors accel-erated. However, credit growthto basic metal & metal products,textiles, and food processingdecelerated/contracted.
Personal loans rose 16.7percent in February down from20.4 percent in February 2018,the RBI said.
Tokyo detention centre in thelate hours of on Thursday afteraccepting bail of $4.5 millionunder strict conditions includ-ing restrictions on seeing his wife.
The 65-year-old tycoonfaces four charges of financialmisconduct ranging from con-cealing part of his salary fromshareholders to syphoning offNissan funds for his personal use.
His case has captivatedJapan and the business com-munity with its multiple twistsand turns, as well as shone aspotlight on the Japanese jus-tice system which critics say isoverly harsh.
Ghosn exited the KosugeDetention Centre in northernTokyo around 10:30pm (1330GMT) after spending 21 daysanswering questions fromauthorities over allegations hecreamed off $5 million inNissan funds for personal ends.
Unlike his previous depar-ture when he was dressedbizarrely in a Japanese work-man’s outfit with cap and face-mask, Ghosn this time strodeconfidently out dressed in adark suit without tie.
Under the conditions of hisbail, Ghosn must stay in Japanand must live in a court-appointed residence with cam-eras to monitor his movementsamid fears he might try todestroy evidence.
His lead defence lawyerJunichiro Hironaka said theconditions also included an“approval system” to see hiswife Carole, whom prosecutors
believe has made contact withpeople involved in the case.
“If the court approves it,she will be able to meet him,”he said. Ghosn denies all thecharges, with a spokespersonfor the executive saying onMonday he would “vigorouslydefend himself against thesebaseless accusations and fullyexpects to be vindicated”.
The spokesperson saidGhosn was being detained“under cruel and unjust con-ditions, in violation of hishuman rights, in an effort byprosecutors to coerce a con-fession from him”.
On Monday, he was hitwith what experts havedescribed as the most seriouscharges yet as prosecutorsaccused him of syphoning off$5 million of Nissan cash trans-ferred from the company to adealership in Oman. He alsofaces two charges of deferringsome $80 million of his salaryand hiding this in official doc-uments to shareholders, andseeking to shift personalinvestment losses to the firmduring the 2008 financialcrisis.
A Nissan spokesman saidin a statement that the com-pany’s “internal investigationhas uncovered substantial evi-dence of blatantly unethicalconduct”.
“Further discoveries relat-ed to Ghosn’s misconduct con-tinue to emerge,” he added.This was the second timeGhosn has been granted bailafter posting $9 million inMarch to win his freedom.
Last time he left the deten-tion centre, he was dressed ina cap, face mask and workman’suniform in an apparent attempt
to evade dozens of journalistsfrom around the world hopingto snap a picture of the fallentycoon.
The bizarre stunt wascooked up by one of hislawyers, Takashi Takano, wholater apologised for “tainting”the reputation of his client, whousually appears in public insharp suits.
Ghosn was preparing tohold a much-anticipated newsconference to “tell the truth”about his case but he was re-arrested shortly beforehand toface questioning about thealleged $5 million embezzlement.
Clearly aware he was aboutto return to custody, Ghosnpre-recorded a video in whichhe accused “backstabbing”Nissan executives of a “plot”against him, as they fearedcloser ties with French partnerRenault.
Unless re-arrested over fur-ther allegations, Ghosn will befree to organise his defenceahead of a possible trial that islikely to take months to pre-pare. Hironaka has toldreporters that a trial as early asthe autumn was “not possiblefor various reasons”.
His lawyers have demand-ed he be tried separately fromNissan, which also facescharges for submitting the sus-pect financial documents, andhave voiced fears he will notreceive a fair trial.
The dramatic case hasthrown international attentiononto the Japanese justice sys-tem, derided by critics as“hostage justice” as it allowsprolonged detention and reliesheavily on suspects’ confes-sions.
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Realme launch Realme 2 Proat Amity University in Noida.
Realme 2 Pro, a mid-range seg-ment smartphone, owing to its‘Max Power, Max Style’ proposi-tion. The device carries a formi-dable Snapdragon 660 AIEprocessor and comes in threevariants; 4 GB RAM + 64 GBROM at �13,990, 6GB RAM + 64GB ROM at �15,990 and 8GBRAM + 128GB ROM at �17,990.
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The country’s crude oil productionfell over 4 per cent in the financial
year 2018-19 after aging fields ofstate-owned Oil and Natural GasCorporation (ONGC) and Oil IndiaLtd (OIL) missed the target, officialdata showed Thursday.
India produced 34.2 million tonneof crude oil in the fiscal year endedMarch 31, down from 35.7 milliontonne in the previous year, accordingto data released by the Ministry ofPetroleum and Natural Gas here.
ONGC output dropped to 21 mil-lion tonne from 22.25 million tonne in2017-18, while OIL saw a 2.5 per centdip to 3.3 million tonne.
Fields in the private sector saw aproduction drop of nearly 2 per centto 9.8 million tonne mainly because oflower output at Cairn India’s Rajasthanoilfields.
ONGC production was lower dueto technical issues at its Mumbai andNeelam Heera fields in the Arabian Sea
and less than the production at Santhaland Balol fields in Gujarat.
During March, the country’s totalcrude oil production fell to 2.85 mil-lion tonne from 3.04 million tonne inthe corresponding month of the pre-vious fiscal year.
Natural gas production, however,edged up to 32.9 billion cubic metre(BCM) in 2018-19, from 32.6 BCM inthe previous year as ONGC pro-duced 5.3 per cent more gas at 24.67BCM.
Higher production by ONGCmade up for a nearly 14 per cent dropin output from private sector fields at5.47 BCM.
This was a result of shutting downof two more wells at RelianceIndustries’ eastern offshore D1-D3 gasfields in the flagging KG-D6 block, theministry statement said.
Indian refineries produced 2 percent higher fuel and other petroleumproducts at 257.2 million tonne in2018-19 on a better showing by state-owned firms.
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Companies have been givenmore time to furnish pho-
tographs and location details oftheir registered offices to theCorporate Affairs Ministry,with the deadline being extend-ed to June 15.
In February, the Ministrynotified a new electronic formACTIVE-1 (Active CompanyTagging Identities andVerification). It was part of larg-er efforts to curb shell compa-nies, suspected to be used asconduits for illicit fund flows.
The deadline for submittingthe form with requisite detailswas April 25. It is applicable forcompanies incorporated on orbefore December 31, 2017.
The ministry has nowextended the deadline till June15. In case of non-submissionof the form within the deadline,companies concerned wouldhave to pay a late fee of Rs10,000, according to a notifi-cation issued on Thursday.
Among other details, acompany has to provide thephotograph of its registeredoffice with at least one directoror key managerial personnelwho is signing the form.
New Delhi: The IT MinistryThursday wrote to WhatsAppover a recent report whichclaimed that the platform isbeing used to share child sexu-al abuse videos, and has askedthe Facebook-owned companyto take steps to prevent suchmisuse. PTI
The country’s largest car maker MarutiSuzuki India (MSI) on Thursday
reported a 4.6% decline in net profit to�1,795.6 crore for the fourth quarter of the2018-19 fiscal. The company had posteda net profit of �1,882.1 crore in theJanuary-March period of 2017-18, MSIsaid in a statement.
Net sales during the quarter rose to�20,737.5 crore, up marginally over theyear-ago period. Total car sales dips mar-ginally to 4,58,479 units during the quar-ter under review, the company said.
For the entire 2018-19 fiscal, MSI post-ed a net profit of �7,500.6 crore, down 2.9%from the previous fiscal. Net sales last fis-cal stood at �83,026.5 crore, a rise of 6.3%from 2017-18. Total volume sales during2018-19 were up 4.7% to 18,62,449 units.
Of this, 1,08,749 units were exported, thecompany said.
The company said that the quarter wasmarked by adverse foreign exchange ratesand commodity prices, higher depreciationand higher sales promotion expenses. Itwas partially offset by cost reductionefforts. The board of directors of the com-pany also recommended a dividend of �80per share for 2018-19.
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Maruti Suzuki India said it had ear-marked a capex of �4,500 crore for the cur-rent fiscal. The investment will go into var-ious initiatives, including new productdevelopment, R&D and land acquisitionfor sales network, MSI CFO Ajay Seth toldreporters here. MSI had earmarked a capexof �4,000 crore for 2018-19.
New Delhi (PTI): The revenue depart-ment has allowed businesses whose GSTregistration has been cancelled due to non-filing of tax returns to apply for its revo-cation by July 22, provided they file theirpending returns and pay due taxes.
In a letter to field offices, the CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) said it was providing a “one-timeopportunity” to apply for revocation ofcancellation of GST registration by July 22,2019, for those entities for whom cancel-lation order has been passed up to March31, 2019.
The CBIC said where the registration hasbeen cancelled with effect from the date ofthe order, all returns due till the date of suchcancellation are required to be furnishedbefore the revocation application is filed.
In cases where the registration hasbeen cancelled with retrospective effect, theCBIC has allowed filing of revocationapplication, subject to the condition thatall returns relating to the period from theeffective date of cancellation till the dateof revocation order will be filed within aperiod of 30 days from the date of the revo-cation order.
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Equity benchmarks surrenderedearly gains to end sharply lower
on Thursday as boiling crude pricesand a depreciating rupee keptinvestor sentiment at a low ebbamid expiry of derivatives contracts.
Auto, metal, energy and financialstocks witnessed robust selling onconcerns over valuation and earnings,traders said. On the global front,crude oil prices surged past the USD75 per barrel mark, sparking con-cerns over growth and macroeco-nomic stability.
After starting on a positive note,the indices succumbed to a suddensell-off in the last half-hour of tradeamid expiry of April futures andoptions contracts.
The BSE Sensex slumped 323.82points, or 0.83%, to close at38,730.86, while the broader NSENifty declined 84.35 points, or0.72%, to 11,641.80.
Maruti Suzuki tumbled 2.23 percent after the country’s largest carmaker reported a 4.6% decline in netprofit to �1,795.6 crore for the Marchquarter. Other losers in the Sensexpack included Tata Steel, Vedanta,SBI, Coal India, Tata Motors, SunPharma, HUL, RIL, IndusInd Bank,Axis Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank,ICICI Bank, M&M, Kotak Bank andInfosys, falling up to 2.89%.
Bharti Airtel, TCS and BajajAuto were the only gainers, spurtingup to 1.06%.
Domestic markets made newhighs during the month but couldnot sustain there due to profit-
booking at higher levels, analystssaid.
“Crude remained in focus asBrent oil rose above USD 75 per bar-rel for the first time in 2019 due tosuspension of Russian crude toEurope over quality concerns. Higheroil prices can have a negative impacton the current account deficit(CAD), the rupee, inflation anddoes not augur well for the domes-tic markets.
“General elections will keep themarkets buzzing in the near term.However, the major factor that willdecide the direction of the market isQ4FY19 earnings. A revival in earn-ings will help the markets sustain thecurrent valuation,” said HemangJani, head of advisory, Sharekhan byBNP Paribas.
Sectorally, the BSE telecom indexsaw the biggest losses, falling 2.26%,followed by metal, bankex, finance,auto, energy and teck. In the broad-er markets, the BSE midcap andsmallcap indices lost up to 0.58%.
Brent crude futures, the globaloil benchmark, rose 1.25% to tradeabove the USD 75 per barrel mark.The rupee depreciated 37 paise to70.23 against the US dollar intra-day.
Meanwhile, foreign institution-al investors (FIIs) purchased equityworth �974.88 crore on Wednesday,while domestic institutional investors(DIIs) sold shares to the tune of�657.06 crore, provisional data avail-able with stock exchanges showed.
Elsewhere in Asia, benchmarkequity indices in Shanghai, Tokyoand Seoul ended on a mixed note.European equites started weak.
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Dish TV on Thursdayforayed into onlineVideo on Demand seg-
ment by launching OTT (over-the-top) platform ‘Watcho’, andexpects to have 10 millionuser-base within a year, said atop company official.
Essel Group’s DTH arm istargeting the young millenialacross the country, and as perits strategy it will offer shortformat contents, which areeconomically viable along withuser-generated platforms inlanguages such as Hindi,Kannada and Telugu.
Besides, the company hasalso plans to add contents on itsplatform in other regional lan-guages, including Bhojpuri andGujarati, to expand in the OTTmarket.
The company will provideOTT service to its existingDTH subscribers of Dish TVand D2H brands, which areestimated to be around 23 mil-lion, free as of now.
The OTT platform willsynergise with the existingDTH platform as this wouldhelp to control churning ratesand benefit the customers, whonow prefer to consume enter-tainment contents on the go,Dish TV India executive direc-tor & group CEO Anil Duasaid.
“It would help us to growthe basic platform with itsactive base much more strong-ly because it would block onemore exit route. This is meantto strengthen the existing plat-form rater than creating a newplatform,” Dua told PTI.
The move will also helpDish TV to have presence inboth the mediums — the tra-ditional DTH and fast growingonline streaming market.
“We aim to reach over 10million users in the first yearitself,” Dua said, adding that thecompany was also looking tohave a preferred network part-ner for its OTT platform.
Watcho will offer over1,000 hours of library content,including movies and shortfilms. Its subscribers can alsoenjoy their favourite TV showsand popular drama seriesthrough live or catch-up TV.
According to a Boston con-sulting group report, IndianOTT market is rapidly growingand has potentials to reachUSD 5 billion by 2023, helpedby access to affordable data,mobile penetration into ruralmarkets etc.
The number of players inthe Indian OTT market hadgrown from 9 in 2012 to 32players in 2018.
Rural India will play a bigrole in OTT consumption as 48per cent of India’s Internetusers (about 650 million by2023) are expected to be fromthis area, the report said.
Major players in thedomestic OTT market areNetflix, Amazon Prime, ALTBalaji, Sony Liv, Eros Now andHotstar.
New Delhi: Telecom reg-ulator TRAI has directed DishTV India to comply with theprovisions of the new frame-work for broadcasting andcable TV services, acting onconsumer complaints per-taining to the operators’ spe-cific offering and grievanceredressal helpline. TRAI,which has promised strictaction against those cable TVand direct-to-home (DTH)players who are found violat-ing its new tariff order andregulatory regime, had earlierthis week also pulled up BhartiTelemedia on similar grounds.
As per complaints, theDTH operator “is forcefullyoffering a bouquet of free-to-air channels with no choice tosubscribers and without theirconsent”, the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(TRAI), which is also thebroadcast regulator, said in adirective on its website. PTI
One of the Sri Lankan suicidebombers was previously
arrested by police and thenreleased, a senior Governmentofficial said on Thursday.
Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim,one of two sons of a spicetycoon who blew themselvesup in Sunday’s attacks, deto-nated a device at the CinnamonGrand hotel in Colombo onEaster Sunday, the official told CNN.
“It was the suicide bomberof the Cinnamon Grand bombattack who was released earli-er,” the official said.
Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim andhis brother Imsath AhmedIbrahim were previously iden-tified as two of the suicidebombers in Sunday’s attackswhich left at least 359 people dead.
Police have confirmed toCNN that they are holding thebrothers’ father, MohamedYusuf Ibrahim, a wealthy spicetrader, on suspicion of aidingand abetting his sons.
Sri Lankan authorities haveblamed a local Muslim groupfor the bloodbath although theIslamic State has claimedresponsibility for the suicidebombings.
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The Sri Lankan authorities onThursday intensified their
raids with the help of the armyand arrested 16 more suspectsin connection with the country’sworst terror attack on EasterSunday that killed nearly 360people and left over 500 injured.
The arrested people werebeing interrogated at length bythe investigation sleuths in con-nection with the bombings.
Nine suicide bombers,believed to be the members ofa local Islamist extremist groupNational Thowheed Jamath(NTJ), carried out a series ofdevastating blasts that torethrough three churches andthree luxury hotels.
Officials said with thearrest of 16 more people onWednesday, the total numberof suspects under police cus-tody has risen to 76.
Many of the arrested peo-ple have suspected links to theNTJ, the group blamed for thebombings. However, the NTJhas not claimed responsibilityfor the attacks.
ISIS has claimed responsi-bility for the attacks and iden-tified suicide bombers who car-ried out the devastating blasts.Authorities have deployed thou-sands of troops to help policecarry out search operations.
Over 5,000 Army person-nel have been deployed aroundthe country. “During the last 24hours, there have been nomajor incidents. We havedeployed over 6,300 troops.This includes 1,000 from theAirforce and 600 from theNavy,” military spokesmanBrigadier Sumith Atapattu said.
Meanwhile, a minor explo-sion happened behind the mag-istrate’s court at Pugoda, thewestern province town, 40 Kmsnorth of Colombo. There wasno immediate report of anycasualty. Police said that theexplosion occurred in a garbagedump and that there were noinjuries. A probe has beenlaunched to ascertain the cause.
Search operations of sus-pected properties, arrests anddetention of people and toplace road blocks for suchoperations have been facilitat-
ed by the newly-enforcedemergency regulations.
The regulations wereadopted without a vote inParliament on Wednesday. Thecurfew which was imposed at10 pm on Wednesday was lift-ed at 4 am on Thursday.
President MaithripalaSirisena has convened an all-party meeting. He would meetreligious leaders. Both parleysare to discuss the attacksdubbed as among the fivedeadliest terrorist attacks car-ried out since the 9/11 in theUS. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith,the head of the local catholicchurch, has asked all churchesto stop masses until the situa-tion improved, his office said.
On Wednesday, the SriLankan Government hadadmitted that “major”Intelligence lapses led to thehorrific coordinated attacks.
Colombo: Sri Lanka’s DefenceSecretary Hemasiri Fernandoresigned from his post onThursday, days after a series ofdevastating suicide attacks thattore through three churchesand three luxury hotels onEaster Sunday.
President MaithripalaSirisena had asked DefenceSecretary Fernando andInspector General of PolicePujith Jayasundara to quit aftertheir failure to prevent theblasts despite having priorIntelligence.
Fernando handed over hisresignation letter on Thursdayon a request made by PresidentSirisena, Colombo Gazettereported.
Nine suicide bombers,believed to be members oflocal Islamist extremist groupcalled National ThowheedJamath (NTJ), carried out thedevastating blasts that killed359 people and wounded morethan 500 others. PTI
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Hundreds of Muslimrefugees in western Sri
Lanka have taken refuge inmosques and a police stationafter facing intimidation fol-lowing the deadly Easter bomb-ings, activists said on Thursday.
At least 359 people died inSunday’s coordinated suicideblasts, including more than 100Christians attending mass at St
Sebastian’s church in Negomboon the island’s west coast. Theattacks have been condemned byleaders of the country’s Muslimminority, but the community hasbeen left in fear of a backlash.
Scores of Ahmadi Muslimswho settled in Negombo afterfleeing persecution in theirhome countries have beenthrown out of their accommo-dation by landlords, accordingto officials. “Today these
refugees have become refugeesagain in Sri Lanka. They havebeen displaced for a secondtime,” Ruki Fernando ofInform, a Sri Lankan humanrights group, told reporters.
The refugees are fromPakistan, Afghanistan, Yemenand Iran. Ahmadis have facedrepeated attacks in these coun-tries by hardline Islamistgroups who do not considerthem to be Muslim.
'� ��������������������������������� �� �&��� � /����6� ������4�� ������ ��� �� ���(� (����� �����������Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump on Thursdaycast doubt on Joe Biden’s men-tal capacity for a successful pri-mary campaign as the sea-soned Democrat became thelatest to join the 2020 race forthe White House.
Washington: Former Vice-President Joe Biden formallyjoined the crowded Democraticpresidential contest onThursday, declaring the soul ofthe nation at stake if PresidentDonald Trump wins re-election.
In a video posted onTwitter, Biden focused on the2017 deadly clash betweenwhite supremacists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville,Virginia. Biden noted Trump’scomments that there weresome “very fine people” onboth sides of the violentencounter, which left onewoman dead.
“We are in the battle for thesoul of this nation,” Biden said.“If we give Donald Trumpeight years in the White House,he will forever and fundamen-tally alter the character of thisnation — who we are. And Icannot stand by and watch thathappen.” The 76-year-oldBiden becomes an instantfront-runner alongsideVermont Sen. Bernie Sanders,who is leading many polls andhas proved to be a successfulfundraiser. A m o n gDemocrats, Biden hasunmatched international andlegislative experience, and he isamong the best-known faces inUS politics. He quickly rackedup endorsements on Thursdaymorning, becoming the firstDemocrat running for presi-dent with the backing of morethan one US senator.
Still, Biden must competein a field that now spans at least20 Democrats and has beencelebrated for its racial and gen-der diversity. AP
At the outset, I should make one thingclear that the BMW i3s is a luxury car,
it might be an eco-friendly BMW withrecycled plastic being used as well as envi-ronmental-friendly fabric for the seat andthe few bits of (fake) leather were offcutsfrom the production line, but this is aBMW nonetheless. This is therefore, nota car for everyone, but is one of the mostpopular electric vehicles in Europe.Priced at around 40,000 Euros, if it wereto come to India, if incentives are offeredfor the import of electric vehicles, suchas no additional excise, it will still cost atleast �35 lakh, only a bit less than a brand-new BMW 3-series or X1. However, dri-ving one for a week, complete with its newgreen registration plates that electricvehicles are allowed to use was an eye-opener for this writer.
To be fair, this column had been writ-ten about the i3s when we had driven itin Portugal a year and half ago, but thatwas a media drive where one did not haveto deal with the nitty-gritty of living withan electric vehicle, that is charging. Now,we know that India does not haveenough charging infrastructure as yet, andmore on that later. But I could charge thei3s at home, thanks to a couple of reasons.Firstly, I had covered parking and a plug-point as well as a three-phase power con-nection. While charging from a lowamperage point meant that the car tookover twelve hours to charge from emptyand on ‘Comfort’ mode it took twelvehours.
In ‘Comfort’ mode, the default modeof the car had 218 kilometers of range onfull charge. On ‘Eco Pro’ mode, the carhad around 250 kilometers of range andin ‘Eco Pro+’ over 300 kilometres of range.I, however, kept the car on ‘Comfort’ mostof the time as it allowed me to use the air-conditioner without any issues, it issummer in Delhi after all. I’d also pluggedin my mobile phone so as to listen tomusic and actual range was a lot higherthan the initial indicated one because thei3s has a very good regenerating systemthat charges the battery whenever you liftyour foot off the pedal so much so thatyou rarely end up using the brakes.
So what are the headline numbers.The car claimed that it was consuming12.9 kilowatt-hours (units) of electricityfor every 100 kilometers of driving.Now, in Delhi, residential power costs�7.75 per unit at maximum rates, thismeans that the i3s has a running cost, ifyou buy power at the peak rate, of just �1per km. That, frankly, is unbeatable by anypetrol or diesel car. Keep in mind thatfixed costs remain the same, any few
households fall into the peak charge forelectricity. So overall costs will, using aback of the envelope calculation, bearound 80 paise per kilometre. A smallpetrol hatchback such as the Hyundai i20or Suzuki Baleno would have a per-kilo-metre cost of �5.5. Even with BMW’s1,00,000 kilometre warranty on the bat-tery and rising fuel prices going forward,which is almost certain, savings on run-ning cost over that period will be �8 lakhat best, not enough to make up the dif-ference. Maybe if you considered this overa BMW X1 for example, you might savemoney but that is all dependent on abenevolent government which wants topromote electric car usage in India andkeeps import duties low or at zero at least
initially to seed the market. But this does not preclude the fact
that the i3s will, even if not chargedimport duties, cost 3.5 times that of astandard hatchback. And then there is anissue with infrastructure, there are somecharging stations built in and aroundDelhi by Energy Efficiency ServicesLimited (EESL) for the fleet of govern-ment electric vehicles, including one atJor Bagh Market near the offices of theEnvironment Ministry. But guess what,that charging system is not compatiblewith that of the BMW. This is like need-ing an iPhone charger and finding aMicro-USB charger. So well, I could nottry that out. This incompatibility issue issomething that the industry and govern-
ment will need to deal with. The i3s is actually an amazing car to
drive around the city. For one the instantpower delivery and almost perfectlylinear acceleration means that it overtakeswith surprising ease, it can be ratherquick if you want it to be and thanks toits excellent centre-of-gravity, it handleslike you expect a BMW should. But thisis just a technology-demonstratorbrought here by BMW to showcase theirtechnology and train their service engi-neers. However, I do wish that the car-maker does share this car with someonein the government and let them drivearound and get some idea of how to for-mulate electric vehicle policy going for-ward.
‘A BUMP DOESN’T STOP YOU’Frumpy, loose, unbecoming
and not in the least stylish —these are some words that are
associated with maternity fashion.However, pregnancy doesn’t haveto mean dressing up in sacks or itsclosest equivalent. Celebrities likeKareena Kapoor Khan andBeyonce amping up the fashionquotient during pregnancy hasensured that there is no flagging
in the social pressure to lookgood even during this time.
It’s true that fashioningclothes for a changing body is adaunting task but designer Cécile Reinaud apprises us thatthere is a huge demand for mater-nity fashion on a global levelcompared to what it used to be afew years back. It started inAmerica, trickled into Europeand it has now reached India, anation that has spread its armswide to welcome this niche seg-ment. The consumers demandsomething comfortable yet fash-ionable, so it will definitely flour-ish exponentially in the comingyears.
Just like traditional fashion,many trends exist in maternitygarments as well. She notes thatdenim wear is extremely popularbecause most women love todress up their closet with the fab-ric. From skinny jeans to denimdresses and shirts, this is afavourite across the globe. Theother trend is floral prints — frompale pinks to light blues, thesenever go out of fashion. It is notjust the safest to follow but also aclassy style to adopt during thatphase.
There has been a substantialchange in the way expectant moth-ers live their lives as compared toyesteryears. This sensibility toohas to be blended into designs.She says that women are educat-ed, well-travelled and they believein being always on point. The sameattitude can be seen even whenthey are pregnant. Every womanwants to look stylish and elegantno matter whether it is in office orat a party — a bump doesn’t deter
them. Since, it is a new chapter ina woman’s life, nothing shoulddetract them from enjoying it tothe fullest. The designs are creat-ed keeping in mind the modernwoman’s desire to look chic every-day and also be able to re-use theseapparel post-pregnancy.
Dressing in the way you likecan keep you positive, happy andcomfortable, even as you face thisbig change in life. Fancy materni-ty outfit is becoming a necessity ascompared to the past, especially inIndia. She says that women in met-ros have a career and they want tolook smart and sophisticated asthey head out. “In a professionalspace, if you don’t dress up well,people don’t take you seriously,especially with a big belly. Itbecomes even more important todress sharp to show you are on topof things. This phenomenon start-ed 15 years ago in the UK and nowhas gained prominence among thenew generation of Indian womenwho are career-driven. With theadvent of the social media, womentake inspiration from the waycelebs and influencers dress up,regardless of the situation or theirphase of life. This has driven thedemand for more comfortableclothes for every stage of a woman’slife, including pregnancy,” addsCecile, who has also designedoutfits for many royals includingthe future queen of England, KateMiddleton.
She believes that the materni-ty fashion scene in India is not verydifferent as compared to othercountries. However, Cécile furtheradds, “Indian women like to dressup more modestly, so they avoidlow cut V necks. They are morecomfortable with sleeves attachedto their dresses and tops. Weathertoo plays a role. It is hot most ofthe months in the country so welook for fabrics that are light andthat will keep you cool, while mak-ing you feel adequately coveredand elegant.”
(The designer is also thefounder and the managing direc-tor of Séraphine.)
Book from the Ground is a novelwritten using only emoticons by a
Chinese artist Xu Bing that illustratesthe ability to create a universal lan-guage using graphic symbols, he said.
Xu’s aim to create the book, whichso far has only been published in theUS, is for any person anywhere in theworld to be able to understand thestory without having to know anygiven language in advance, since theemoticon symbols are universallyshared and used. This preoccupationwith language, which permeates all ofXu’s work, stems from his childhood.When he was 11, the CulturalRevolution erupted in China and hehad to learn new, simplified Chinesecharacters in order to be able to readand write according to the govern-ment’s new guidelines.
“It’s the first book that everyonein the world can read, since it needsno translation,” said the artist, addingthat currently, by using a very simplesystem of signs, emoticon users, espe-cially young people, enjoy the ability“to communicate on the internation-al level.” “The idea for the bookbegan 13 years ago, when I was hav-ing expositions all over the world andI spent a lot of time on airports,” saidXu.
The book includes 24 chapters. Xupresented his new book at the Art forPeople exposition, where on displayis a banner given to him by theMuseum of Modern Art in 1999 onwhich can be read the slogan “Art forthe People” with the English lettersgrouped in a way that simulatesChinese writing.
Using the same calligraphic tech-nique, the artist has also adapted ortranslated the 15th century poem Elbon poble by Ausias March in a workinspired by the Valencian culture.
There are certain small skillsthat make life better andeasier. I’m well aware that
many of them take place outsideof the kitchen, and I probablydon’t know as many of those asI should. I’m of no use if youhave a flat tire or need to calcu-late the circumference of some-thing or want to find your wayout of the woods.
But after many years ofclanking around in the kitchen,I have collected a fair arsenal ofcooking tips and shortcuts. Hereare a few that everyone shouldknow:
��� HOW TO QUICKLYRIPEN AVOCADOS
If you have a hard avocadoand you need it to be soft in aday or so, simply place it in abrown paper bag with a bananaor apple and fold the top to closeit up. The natural ethylene gasesemitted by the other fruit willcause the avocado to ripen faster.Depending on how hard youravocado is, it might take a cou-ple of days.
���HOW TO MINCE GARLICSUPER FINE
If you are using minced gar-lic in a dish, particularly wherethe garlic is uncooked, bigchunks are not what you arelooking for. Just smash a clove ortwo (or five) with the side of a
heavy knife, slip off the paperyskin and start chopping on a cut-ting board. As the garlic getschopped, add a pinch or so ofkosher or sea salt and keepchopping. The salt acts as anabrasive so the garlic gets mincedfine. Every once in a while, usethe side of the knife to smear thegarlic against the cutting board,then scrape it back up and keepmincing. You can hear the saltcrunching under the blade as itworks to pulverise the garlic.
���HOW TO MAKE BUTTER-MILK
Unless we are really plan-ning ahead, when ‘buttermilk’comes up as in ingredient in arecipe, it’s unlikely most of ushave it on hand. Easy solution —Make your own. Place one table-spoon lemon juice or whitevinegar in a measuring cup andthen fill it with milk to the onecup line. I like to use whole milk,but you can also use 2 per cent.If you see slight curdling, don’tworry it won’t affect the finishedproduct. This may not be asthick as regular buttermilk, butthe acidity in the milk will per-form the same function — get-ting you to a tender, flaky andflavorful baked good.
��� HOW TO PEEL GINGERWITH A SPOON
Ginger’s skin is thin enough
to be scraped off with the edgeof a teaspoon. In fact, it’s easierto use a spoon than a vegetablepeeler because the spoon can getinto the crevices and navigate
over the bumps more easily.Also, this means you can haveeven a little kid help with thiskitchen task, since they can’tnick themselves with a spoon.
��� HOW TO SOFTENBROWN SUGAR
If you have a day or two, justplace a piece of fresh bread in acontainer with the brown sugar,seal the container and yourbrown sugar will soften right up.If you are in a hurry, place thebrown sugar in a bowl, place adamp paper towel over it, coverthe bowl with a plate andmicrowave it for 20 seconds.Check to see if it’s soft and if not,continue microwaving in 20second bursts until it is. Use itpretty quickly, and when youstore any leftovers, make sure toput a piece of fresh bread in thecontainer with the sugar.
��� HOW TO GET HONEY(OR MOLASSES, MAPLESYRUP OR CORN SYRUP)OUT OF A MEASURING CUP
Anything sticky is just plainhard to measure. You pour itinto the cup or spoon and theninto your bowl or pot, and athick coating is always leftinside the measuring cup, drip-drip-dripping, but never fullygetting out of the cup. Thequick hack is cooking spray. Justspray the inside of the cup ormeasuring spoon with non-stick cooking spray, measureyour sticky ingredient and it willslide right out. Cleanup is eas-ier, too.
H)�
� Given livestock, certain foods won’tlast beyond 2030-50 as predicted byLancet, how do we change food cultureto make sustainable choices?
This situation has become alarming.We need to go back to the consumptionof local produce. The focus on western-ised diets which are based on three cropvarieties and an overconsumption ofmeat needs to be tackled. Refined sugars,saturated fats, dairy are areas where therestrictive approach can work in ourfavour. We will also need to inhibitwastefulness as a habit.
� What are the challenges to a sustain-able food culture in India?
The sheer size and diversity of thecountry presents a huge challenge interms of food. Indian food culture is anamalgamation of varied food interpreta-tions. Sustainable culture will need edu-cation for the farmer and evolution of theconsumer at various levels of the econo-my.
� In what way do we need to change theway we eat, given our lifestyle choices?
It can only start with the understand-ing that we need to make a change, soawareness is the key. Our lifestyle choic-es are the exact opposite of what’s requiredfor a healthy body and mind. Hence theintake becomes the most importantaspect we can work on. As I said, it willstart with the use of local and seasonalproduce. And by restricting the intake ofprocessed food options.
� As the population grows and yieldsget squeezed, a growing number offarmers are switching to practices thatconserve resources and at the same timeare more productive. What do youhave to say about the native crops thatIndia has stopped growing?
It’s a shame that we end up lappingwhat the West brings us with respect tosuper foods. We have always had abun-dance in terms of produce that is good foryou. From ghee to barley, millet tococonut, moringa to rosella. We have itall. We need to make all of this main-stream and enhance its usage. We alsohave to create suitable demand andmaintain a healthy rate of supply.
� What do you have to say about thecurrent food culture in India?
We have a head start when it comesto sustainable food culture as a majorchunk of the Indian population is vege-tarian. By focusing on grains, legume,pulses, vegetables and fruits, the balance
of the food ecosystem is maintained. Butwith an increase in the urban populationthat centres around a western diet, thisbalance is shifting.
� Has Indian cuisine made a mark onthe global palate? Is it being appreciat-ed by connoisseurs and the massesadequately?
You will be surprised if I tell you thatIndian cuisine is classified as a heritageone by the UN, with Mexico and Chinabeing the other two countries with thesame status. We have been eating the samefor ages. Indian cuisine is a feast as it’srich, varied, seasonal and has all the ele-ments that ensure that it is appreciatedacross the globe. International chefs haveopened up to Indian cuisine and Indianchefs have started using global techniqueswhile working with ingredients andflavours from the country. Indian chefshave made huge efforts in making thefood look delectable.
� Food preferences are subjective. Somemay like a dish and some won’t. How doyou deal with negative criticism to yourcooking?
I rather call it feedback. And no onecan please everyone. But each guest isimportant and we try to match his/herexpectations.
� What is the biggest thing you stand forand support as a chef?
Kitchens are high stress ecosystemsand chefs are burning out. I stand for cre-ating an environment that’s less taxing andis built on camaraderie and balance. Myfood logic is simple. I make the familiarexciting and the unfamiliar approachable.Having said that, seasonality, tastefullnessand balance of flavours play a vital role.
by a few days at least afterAlvaro Morata and AntoineGriezmann each scored in a 3-2 victory over Valencia onWednesday.
Defeat at the WandaMetropolitano would havecrowned Barca kings of Spainfor a 26th time in their histo-ry, with the Catalans now set tocelebrate at their own CampNou on Saturday instead.
A Barcelona win there overLevante will wrap up theirfourth league triumph in fiveyears and they could even behome and dry before kick-off,if Atletico fail to take a point athome to struggling RealValladolid earlier in the day.
Regardless, success forErnesto Valverde's side is sure-
ly now only a matter of timinggiven Atletico remain nine
points behind the leaderswith four games left toplay.
Angel Correa's stun-ning strike in the 81stminute proved the win-ner after Valencia hadfought back, Kevin
Gameiro and a Dani Parejopenalty twice pulling themlevel after goals from Morataand Griezmann.
Morata's early strike con-tinued his excellent form sincehis move to Atletico in January,his finish at the back post tak-ing his tally to six goals in 13games for the club.
Griezmann, meanwhile,back from suspension, nowhas 25 goals in all competitionsthis season, an impressivereturn, particularly in a side notrenowned for its creativity.
��#�� �8-%5�
Bayern Munich will faceRB Leipzig in the
German Cup final nextmonth after RobertLewandowski fired themto a 3-2 win over a valiantWerder Bremen onWednesday.
Lewandowski scoredtwice in a highly entertain-ing last-four tie to reachthe final for the 23rd time.
Bremen were unfazedby their role as underdogs,attacking Bayern all nightand briefly overturning atwo-goal deficit.
Yet Lewandowski'slate penalty ultimatelydecided a fiery cup tie inBayern's favour.
"It was the tough gamethat we were expecting,"
man of the match ThomasMueller told ARD.
"Football is fun in anatmosphere like this. Ihave to say, I'm a bit of aBremen fan. I love watch-ing them, and their fansare great."
Both sides threw
everything forward in thefirst half, with MilotRashica in particular caus-ing endless headaches forthe Bayern defence.
Lewandowski putBayern in front on 36minutes, however, andMueller appeared to land
the sucker punch when hescooped in a second justafter the hour mark.
Rashica, though,hauled Bremen back intothe tie with two minutes ofmagic.
The Kosovan set upYuya Osako to pull a goalback on 74 minutes, beforetearing through Bayernwith a brilliant solo run aminute later to net theequaliser.
Yet Lewandowskirestored the lead from thespot on 80 minutes afterKingsley Coman wentdown in the box.
Bayern will face RBLeipzig in the final atBerlin's Olympic Stadiumon May 25, where theyhope to win the trophy forthe 19th time.
��#�� 19-09-
Unai Emery refused to giveup on Arsenal 's
Champions League hopesafter seeing his side embar-rassed by Wolves in a 3-1defeat at Molineux onWednesday.
Ruben Neves, MattDoherty and the outstandingDiogo Jota scored the goalsthat condemned Emery's sideto a third defeat in fourPremier League games,severely denting their hopes ofa top-four finish with justthree games to go.
The Arsenal manageradmitted his team were out-played by Wolves, who scoredthree goals in the first half togive the visitors a mountain toclimb.
Despite the chasteningdefeat the Spaniard said hisside will keep striving forChampions League football,which they can achieve eitherthrough a top-four finish in
the Premier League or by win-ning the Europa League.
Defeat in the Midlands leftEmery's men a point behindfourth-placed Chelsea.
"I usually am very criticalwith myself and I am angrywith myself that we didn't dothe gameplan we wanted —not with the players," saidEmery when asked if he wasangry with his team.
"First it is with me andafter that my style and idea isto look in front and find asolution, not who is the play-er who is worst.
"First I am thinking aboutthe solution and the solutionfor me is to take the possibil-ity on Sunday at Leicester andget our best performance andthe best possibility to take thethree points."
��#�� ��-5�.4�.3
Manchester City manager PepGuardiola believes his side hasraised the bar in the Premier
League after edging one point backahead of Liverpool in a titanic title racewith a 2-0 win at Manchester United onWednesday.
Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sanestruck for the visitors in 12 second-halfminutes at Old Trafford to inflict a sev-enth defeat in nine games on United,who remain three points adrift of the topfour.
City cannot match their record 100points tally in romping to the titlelast season, but victoriesover Burnley, Leicester andBrighton will clinch thetitle on 98 points and ensureLiverpool's 29-year wait towin the league continuesdespite already posting aclub record points tally inthe Premier League era.
"We increased thelevel for the PremierLeague last seasonwith 100 points.That's the levelLiverpool are chas-ing. What theyhave done isincredible but it's inour hands," saidGuardiola.
"Both teams deservethe title. But it can be justone. The team that isgoing to lose can't haveregrets because theyhave given everything."
City's trip to OldTrafford was billed asthe last big hurdleleft for Guardiola'smen to cleardespite United'sterrible run ofform.
H o w e v e r ,Guardiola warnedof the tight turn-around before avery different typeof test at Burnleyon Sunday.
" N o r m a l l ywith this kind ofvictory you can enjoy it themost but we have to be calm,"
added Guardiola."Now we go to
Burnley and we knowhow tough it will be.It's important to becalm. We are still notchampions with threegames left — it'sincredible with thepoints we have andLiverpool have.
���������������United boss Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer slammed his players'attitude after a 4-0 at Everton onSunday and was rewarded witha far more energetic and com-mitted performance, even ifCity's greater quality eventu-ally shone through.
Raheem Sterling shot tooclose to De Gea after weav-ing through a host of United
bodies inside the area beforeSergio Aguero dragged well wide whenunmarked at the edge of the box as Citywent through the gears towards the end
of the first-half.But it was an enforced change early
in the second-half that swung the gameCity's way as Guardiola boldly intro-duced Sane when the more defensive-minded Fernandinho went downinjured.
David de Gea has been a raremodel of consistent brilliance asUnited have fallen behind City inrecent seasons.
But the Spaniard's dramatic dip inform of late continued as he could havedone better for both goals.
Guardiola's positive change wasinstantly rewarded when Bernardo cutinside onto his favoured left foot andbeat De Gea at his near post.
Sane has been scarcely used byGuardiola of late, but the German,whose winning goal inflictedLiverpool's only league defeat of the sea-son in January, again showed his capa-bility to make a difference in thebiggest games.
Sterling led a City counter-attackbefore feeding Sane, whose powerfulshot De Gea could not keep out.
�� ���Manchester United'sPaul Pogba is the only non-Manchester City or Liverpoolplayer to be named in theProfessional Footballers'Association's Premier Leagueteam of the year on Thursday.
The 26-year-old FrenchWorld Cup-winning mid-
fielder's inclusion is asurprise after an indif-ferent season, although
he hit a purplepatch after OleGunnar Solskjaer
arrived at OldTrafford as interim man-
ager.City and Liverpool have
been locked in an enthrallingduel for the title, with City
going top again afterbeating United 2-0, withPogba unable to inspirehis side to a much-need-
midfielders Bernardo Silva andFernandinho and forwardsSergio Aguero and RaheemSterling.
The remaining four placesare filled by Liverpool players -- full-backs Andrew Robertsonand Trent-Alexander Arnold,central defender Virgil van Dijkand forward Sadio Mane.
Van Dijk and Sterling arebelieved to be in the running forthe player of the year award.
There is no place, though,for Liverpool's Egyptian star MoSalah, who has scored 19Premier League goals this sea-son, Spurs pair Harry Kaneand Son Heung-min or Chelseaplaymaker Eden Hazard.
The PFA Team of the Yearis voted for by members of theProfessional Footballers'Association.
Manchester City had fiveplayers in the 2017/18 side butonly Argentine star Agueroretains his place from the teamof 12 months ago. AFP
��#�� ��#8�
Championship leader LewisHamilton is expecting his main
rivals to give him a tough time onthe demanding streets of Baku at thisweekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The five-time world champion,who heads the embryonic2019 title race by six pointsafter three races, has strug-gled to master the Baku circuitin the past and won last yearonly after Mercedes' team-mateValtteri Bottas had a puncturewhen leading with three lapsremaining.
That disappointment was abody blow for Bottaswho did not fully recov-er and failed to claim awin as Hamiltonromped to his fifth dri-vers' crown. This time, Hamiltonexpects him, and Ferrari, torespond.
"I was fortunate to get the winhere last year," admitted Hamilton,who has developed a habit of turn-ing unpromising races into valuablepodium finishes or wins.
"I wasn't quick enough really,
right through the weekendso it will be interesting thistime.
"I'm expecting Valtterito be quick and I expect
the Ferraris to be particularly quick.It will be interesting. I'm going witha mind-set that I've got to improveon my previous performances."
Victory last year was Hamilton'sfirst at the tricky track made up ofthe season's longest — and very fast— straight and tight corners, somewith little run-off and walls.
Osaka defeated HsiehSu-wei 6-4, 6-3 inher first clay courtmatch of the seasonin Stuttgart onThursday.
US andAustralian Openchampion Osaka,who lost to Taiwanese veteran Hsieh in Miami last month,secured a place in the quarter-finals against Croatia's DonnaVekic.
Osaka, 21, broke Hsieh three times in total to beat Hsiehfor the second time in three attempts this year, having also defeat-ed her on the way to lifting the title in Melbourne.
"She's a really tricky opponent. You never really know whatshe's going to do," said Osaka.
Osaka needed 84 minutes to dispatch the unconventionalHsieh, a win that ensures she will hold on to top spot for at leastanother week.
She is less than 200 points ahead of Simona Halep in theWTA rankings, although the Romanian pulled out of this week'stournament with a hip injury.
The Japanese star arrived in Stuttgart, where she last playedin Stuttgart as a qualifier in 2017, after suffering early exits inher last three tournaments.
Osaka will meet Vekic, a 6-1, 7-5 winner over DariaKasatkina, for a spot in the last four, while seventh seed AnastasijaSevastova defeated Germany's Laura Siegemund 6-4, 6-3.
��#�� ��35.19-�
Rafael Nadal showed no mercytowards an emotional David
Ferrer as he eased into the quar-ter-finals of the Barcelona Openon Thursday with a straight-setsvictory.
Ferrer is set to retire after theMadrid Open next month andmade a tearful exit on what washis last appearance at this tour-nament.
But there was no room forsentiment for Nadal, who won 6-3, 6-3 to take one step closer toa record 12th Barcelona title.
Four of those triumphs cameafter beating Ferrer in the finaland, at the end of this latest vic-tory, Nadal's 37-year-old oppo-nent saluted the crowd beforeplacing his pink headband downon the service line.
Ferrer reached a career-highranking of number three in theworld in 2013, the same year hewent closest to winning a GrandSlam too, undone by Nadal againin the French Open final.
Nadal will be gunning for his12th success at Roland Garrosnext month and this was more
like the sort of form expected ofthe world number two, who hadwon 30 consecutive sets inBarcelona before falling onebehind to Leonardo Mayer onWednesday.
Germany's Jan-LennardStruff or the talented 20-year-oldGreek, Stefanos Tsitsipas, nowawait in the last eight before apotential semi-final meetingwith Dominic Thiem, whomNadal beat in the French Openfinal last year.
They might have already reached the cut-offlimit of 16 points needed for the play-offs,
but Chennai Super Kings would like to consol-idate their position at the top when they takeon an inconsistent Mumbai Indians in an IPLmatch here on Friday.
The MS Dhoni-led side roared backto form after two loss-es, with a six-wicketwin over SunrisersHyderabad here onTuesday night, ridingon Shane Watson'sbig hitting.
Come on Friday, the hosts would be look-ing to continue the momentum.
The visitors, currently in third spot with 12points from 10 games, are coming off a defeatagainst Rajasthan Royals and will be keen tokeep themselves in the hunt for the playoffs.
While CSK's must have welcomed Watson'sreturn to form, the team would be hoping forSuresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and KedarJadhav to get going ahead of the knockout phase.
It is important for Jadhav to get his touchback with the World Cup looming.
The bowlers have played a big role in CSK'ssuccess so far, especially at home, on sluggishtracks. The much-improved Deepak Chahar willbe key in the matches to come with his intelli-gent bowling at the start and at the death.
Though Imran Tahir, who is the secondhighest wicket-taker with 16, went wicketless in
the SRH match, the South African veteran willbe expected to stymie the powerful MumbaiIndians batting line-up along with fellow spin-ners Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh.
Mumbai have had a roller coaster season sofar and they now need to be at their best in thelast lap of the preliminary phase.
In Rohit Sharma, they have a shrewd cap-tain who leads from the front, and a solid bat-ting unit that includes Quinton de Kock,Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers —Hardik & Krunal.
Jasprit Bumrah & Co will be wary of CSK'sbatting with Watson having found his mojoagain and the ever-reliable Dhoni.
An interesting battle looms between the twothree-time champions.
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Under-fire skipperDinesh Karthik
silenced his critics with acareer-best 97 not out asKolkata Knight Ridersrecovered from an atro-cious start to post a com-petitive 175 for six againstRajasthan Royals in theirmust-win IPL fixture hereon Thursday.
Under pressure to per-form after a string of fivestraight defeats, the WorldCup-bound Karthik pro-moted himself to No 4,shrugging off criticism,and smashed nine sixesand seven fours in his 50-ball unbeaten knock, asKKR hit top gear in theback end of the innings,scoring 126 from the last10 overs and 75 off the lastfive overs.
On a day their impactplayer Andre Russelllooked lacklustre in hisrun-a-ball 14, in which hewas dropped twice, it wasa one-man show fromKarthik who went berserkagainst the likes of Jaydev
Unadkat and ShreyasGopal.
Karthik seized themomentum in the 11thover when he hit ShreyasGopal for a six followed bythree boundaries in anover that yielded 25 runsand KKR did not lookback since then.
Karthik completed hisfifty from 35 balls andsmashed Jofra Archer forsuccessive sixes in thepenultimate over beforebettering his previous bestof 86 when he went berserkagainst Unadkat by hittinghim for two sixes and onefour in the final over.
Unadkat conceded 50runs for his one wicket andwas the most expensive ofthe lot as he undid all thegood work done by VarunAaron (2/20) who had afine new ball spell of 3-1-10-2.
Put in to bat, KKR gotoff to an atrocious start tobe 32/2 in powerplay oversagainst an all out paceattack from RajasthanRoyals.
Playing his only sec-
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After a brief two-match stint,Royal Challengers
Bangalore pacer Dale Steyn wason Thursday ruled out of theIndian Premier League owing toan inflammation in his shoulder.
The veteran South Africanfast bowler, who had recentlyjoined RCB as an replacementfor injured Nathan Coulter-Nile, was forced to sit out of thematch against Kings XI Punjab
after he picked up a niggle."Dale Steyn has been pre-
scribed with ample rest due toinflammation in his shoulder.On account of state of his health,Dale will not be available to takepart further in the ongoing sea-son of IPL," Sanjeev Churiwala,Chairman of RCB, said in astatement.
The injury-prone pacer hadreturned to the IPL after a gapof two years and straight awaycontributed to team's winning
cause by picking up four wick-ets in two games — againstKolkata Knight Riders andChennai Super Kings.
"His presence has helped theteam immensely and we are verythankful for the inspiration andpassion that he brought to thesquad. The team will deeply misshis energy and presence around.We wish him a speedy recoveryand all the luck for all futureendeavours," RCB Chairmansaid.
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India's Divya Kakran andManju Kumari bagged
Bronze medals for thecountry in the women's competition of theAsian Wrestling Championships here onThursday.
Asian Games Bronze-medallistKakran defeated Battsetseg Soronzonboldof Mongolia via fall in the play-offs of the68kg category to finish on the podium.
It was double delight for India asManju also secured a Bronze medal ear-lier in the day by beating Vietnam's ThiHuong Dao 11-2.
Seema, who also made it to the play-offs, however failed to register a hat-trickof Bonze medals for India after losing toValentina Ivanovna Islamova Brik ofKazakhstan 5-11 in the 50kg category.
Silver-medallist in the 69kg categoryat the 2017 edition of the AsianChampionships, Kakran lost out on aplace in the final of 68kg after going downto Feng Zhou of China 4-14 in the semi-finals.
In the 59kg category, Manju had lostto Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia 6-15 in the last four stage to settle for a placein the bronze-medal round.
Manju had earlier beaten Kazakhstan's
Madina Bakbergenova 5-3 in the quarter-finals.
In the 50kg category, Seema defeatedMeng Hsuan Hsieh of Chinese Taipei 10-2 in her repechage bout. She had earlierlost to Yuki Irie of Japan in the qualifica-tion round but made the repechage afterher Japanese rival reached the final.
However, India's campaign got overearly in the 55kg and 76kg weight divisionswhen Lalita and Pooja lost their respec-tive quarterfinal bouts to bow out of theevent.
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Ace Indian women shuttlers SainaNehwal and P V Sindhu registered
straight-game wins to sail into the quarter-finals of the Asian BadmintonChampionship here on Thursday.
London Olympic Bronze medallistSaina, who was the last Indian to take thecourt on Thursday, needed just 38 minutesto get the better of Kim Ga Eun of Koreato enter the last eight round of the women'ssingles event.
Saina, seeded seventh, has a tough nextencounter as she will be up against thirdseed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan.
The other Indian in fray, Sindhu, seed-ed fourth, took just 33 minutes to beatIndonesia's Choirunnisa 21-15, 21-19 inanother second round women's singlesmatch.
The world number six will next play theunseeded Cai Yanyan of China in the quar-terfinals.
Besides the female duo, Sameer Vermatoo continued his impressive run by pro-gressing to the men's singles quarterfinals.
Sameer brushed aside Hong Kong's NgKa Long Angus 21-12, 21-19 in his secondround encounter.
But a Herculean task awaits Sameer inthe last eight round as he will clash with sec-ond seed Shi Yuqi of China.
Among other Indians, mixed doublespair of Utkarsh Arora and KarishmaWadkar crashed out in the second roundafter losing 21-10, 21-15 to Hafiz Faizal andGloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia.
There was another defeat in store in themixed doubles as the combination ofVenkat Gaurav Prasad and Juhi Dewangantoo perished in the second round after los-ing 10-21, 9-21 against second seededChinese duo of Yilyu Wang and DongpingHuang.
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Young Indian shooters dominated themixed team competitions by winning
two Gold medals on day three of the ongo-ing ISSF World Cup to take the country onthe top of medal tally here on Thursday.
The teenage pairing of Manu Bhakerand Saurabh Chaudhary won their secondGold in 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team eventin as many World Cup stages this year whileanother teenager Divyansh Panwar struckGold in Air Rifle Mixed Team event part-nering the more accomplished AnjumMoudgil to help cap a memorable day for
India.The start of the day was all about
a new pair, a new format and a newresult. Anjum partnered Divyansh, who wasin only his second senior competition, forthe first time to beat the formidableChinese pair of Liu Ruxuan and Yang
Haoran 17-15 in a pulsating Gold medalmatch.
The win was even more creditablegiven that a new format was being tried bythe International Shooting Sport Federation(ISSF) for the mixed events in Beijing.
The second Indian team in the event,Apurvi Chandela and Deepak Kumar alsoreached the finals but finished sixth even-tually.
Then came the icing on the cake withManu and Saurabh's victory in the 10m AirPistol Mixed Team event. The teenage starscomprehensively defeated yet anotherChinese pair consisting of former Olympicchampion Pang Wei and 2019 New DelhiWorld Cup finalist Jiang Ranxin, 16-6 in theGold medal match.
Manu and Saurabh began from wherethey had left at the home World Cup inDelhi a couple of months back, beating topclass opponents en route to the Gold.
ond match this season, Aaronextracted pace and swingfrom the fast-paced Edentrack and removed both theopeners Chris Lynn (0) andShubman Gill (14) cheaply.
Aaron set up Lynn bril-liantly with his first two ballsbefore bowling a delivery thatsharply came back as theAustralian played it on to hisstumps in a wicket-maidenfirst over.
Then the talented Gillhad no answer to negotiate aninswinger as he was complete-ly beaten by pace to see theball clip his bails.
Archer capped a superbpowerplay for Royals withanother maiden as the dispir-ited KKR found themselvesgoing nowhere and seemed tobe losing the plot before skip-per Karthik revived them atthe back end of the innings.
