A damant on his decision to quit the office of the Congress president, Rahul Gandhi is planning to under- take a countrywide padyatra to revive the party. While he awaits the deci- sion of the Congress Working Committee to zero in on a new chief outside the Nehru- Gandhi family, sources con- firmed that the Gandhi scion will hit the roads to spread sig- nificance of the Congress ide- ology, its nation building agen- da and the role of the party in the freedom movement. “We believe that each household across the nation has a Congressman (either elders or young) and they have to be engaged to catapult the party to regain its glory,” said a very senior Congress leader. Sources said Rahul will handpick a mix of young and senior leaders to assist himself in the padyatra the modalities of which will be planned short- ly. Then Congress president Sonia Gandhi too had hit the roads in run up to Lok Sabha polls in 2004 to take on the might of Atal Bihari Vajpayee- led NDA Government. Sonia led the party to an impressive win in 2004. “After the appointment of party chief and working pres- idents he (Rahul) will be free from the routine meetings and party works and will focus only on connecting with the people of the country. He realises that people across the country share a deep historic bond with the Congress, and all that he needed was to touch a chord with their heart to revive the Congress,” said a senior Congress leader. This is the reason Rahul has insisted there is no going back on his decision to quit, despite requests by leaders from his party and outside to continue in the post. “Given his plan to undertake this massive exercise to connect with the masses, it is obvious that come what may, Rahul will not with- draw his resignation as the party president,” said a senior leader. Congress leaders also feel that despite party’s flop show in the Lok Sabha polls, Rahul has gained tremendous sympathy and he could cash in on it by casting himself in the role of a man of the masses. After Rahul announced his decision to quit, many leaders of State units have followed suit and till Saturday evening about 200 office-bearers had resigned. Over a dozen office-bearers of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee resigned from their posts on Saturday continuing the spate of resignations in the party following its Lok Sabha election debacle. Amid the spate of resigna- tions, the party said the entire organisation, in one voice, wants its president Rahul Gandhi to continue in the post. At a Press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said many party leaders have resigned, but the prevail- ing sentiment is that Rahul should continue as the party president. He parried queries about why several senior party lead- ers had not quit their position, insisting that “people have dif- ferent ways of expressing their request” which is that, he added, Rahul should remain the Congress chief. Several office-bearers of the Congress, including its general secretary incharge of Madhya Pradesh Dipak Babaria and Goa unit chief Girish Chodankar, had resigned on Friday. T wo years after Haryana res- ident Pehlu Khan was lynched by cow vigilantes in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, police here have filed a chargesheet against his two sons and a truck operator for illegally transporting cattle. The issue triggered a row with AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi charging that the Congress in power was the “replica of the BJP”. Owaisi was reacting to earlier reports that Pehlu Khan was also chargesheeted. Amid the row over the lat- est chargesheet, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday distanced himself from any role in the investiga- tion. “Investigation into the case was done during the BJP rule. If any discrepancy is found, we will get the case re- investigated,” he said. “The Congress has not changed its stand on the issue,” he added, saying those who indulge in such killings on the pretext of “gau raksha” won’t be spared. Although the case goes back to April 2017 when the BJP was in power in the State, the chargesheet is being filed months after the Congress took over. “The chargesheet was accepted by the court on May 24 against three persons under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act. Since Pehlu Khan had died, he has not been chargesheeted,” Alwar Superintendent of Police Anil Paris Deshmukh told PTI. However, Pehlu Khan’s name was mentioned in the summary of the chargesheet. Police maintained that the case against Pehlu Khan, his sons Irshad Khan (25) Aarif Khan (22) and truck operator Khan Mohammad stood proved in the investigation. They were charged under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995. Pehlu Khan and his sons were thrashed by a mob on the suspicion of cow smuggling in Alwar’s Behror on Aprli 1, 2017. Pehlu Khan died at a hos- pital in Alwar on April 3. The Rajasthan Police registered a case against the people who allegedly lynched Pehlu Khan and thrashed his companions. Six men were named in the FIR which also mentioned about 200 unidentified people. A case was also registered then against Pehlu Khan and others under the Rajasthan Bovine Animal Act, which allows the transportation of cattle only after getting per- mission from the administra- tion. C ontinuing their protest against carbandi in Connaught Place’s inner circle, traders on Saturday staged protest as New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) conducted a mock drill for the pedestrian- isation of the shopping hub. Protesting against restric- tion on entry of private cars in CP, New Delhi Traders’ Association president Atul Bhargava told The Pioneer, “The council should under- stand that CP is a shopping hub. Our business will get affected if they plan to run this project for long. During the mock drill, we have noticed that visitors were confused.” Traders had raised objec- tion to the plan following which the NDMC had tweaked its earlier plan, which was to make the inner circle com- pletely car-free on Sunday and Monday. CP market, along with Chandni Chowk, is one of the locations initially chosen for pedestrianisation. While carrying out mock drill, NDMC official said, “The objective of this exercise is to improve vehicular movement, regulate parking and facilitate ease of movement for pedes- trians.” “The major interventions during the trial run shall be restricted entry to inner circle, only CP-destined vehicle will be allowed to park in dedicat- ed parking lots and under- ground Palika parking, direct entry from radial-1 and radial- 4 to be restricted, auto/taxi will have restricted access to inner circle and will only be allowed to use middle circle for exit to outer circle and designated pick and drop facilities for taxi and auto shall be operated from six zones on the radial roads,” said council official. While the civic body has claimed that for convenience of commuters, the NDMC shall depute traffic police consul- tants, civic wardens and secu- rity staff from NDMC, along with traffic police, however, traders said visitors faced dif- ficulties as they seemed con- fused at the idea. Meanwhile, the council official said this is a pilot pro- ject to be experimented on the weekend (Sunday) and a full-fledged plan will be implemented after taking fur- ther inputs from the stake- holders. C hief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Saturday expanded his council of Ministers by inducting tribal leader Amarjeet Bhagat into his ministry. The Pioneer, on Friday, reported that Bhagat was likely to get the vacant 13th ministerial slot in the Baghel-led Congress Government. Governor Anandiben Patel administered oath of office and secre- cy to Bhagat as Minister in a function held at Darbar Hall, Raj Bhawan on Saturday evening. He has taken charge as 13th Minister after six months of formation of the Congress Government in the mineral-rich State. After taking oath as Chief Minister, Baghel had inducted only 12 Ministers in the State Cabinet, leav- ing a ministerial post vacant in order to pacify the possible dissidents who would vie for the ministerial berth. Sitapur MLA Amarjeet Bhagat, a resident of village Panchayat Parvatipur, of Surajpur block is eldest among the three siblings. He did his primary education in his native village but shifted to Jainagar for middle school. He pursued high school to graduation studies at Ambikapur. He started his political career in undivided Surguja while raising issue of villagers affected by coalmines. He was suc- cessful in ensuring due compensation and jobs for the affected villagers. Bhagat got electoral success for the first time in 2003, during the first gen- eral election held after formation of Chhattisgarh as state. He then con- tinued his winning spree in 2008, 2013 and 2018. He held various posts in party organisation and is presently state pres- ident of the Congress’s Tribal Cell. Baghel, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Charandas Mahant, Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik, cab- inet ministers, MLAs, officials and oth- ers were present at the oath-taking cer- emony. Chief Secretary Sunil Kujur conducted the proceedings of the ceremony. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015
Congress president, RahulGandhi is planning to under-take a countrywide padyatra torevive the party.
While he awaits the deci-sion of the Congress WorkingCommittee to zero in on a newchief outside the Nehru-Gandhi family, sources con-firmed that the Gandhi scionwill hit the roads to spread sig-nificance of the Congress ide-ology, its nation building agen-da and the role of the party inthe freedom movement.
“We believe that eachhousehold across the nationhas a Congressman (eitherelders or young) and they haveto be engaged to catapult the party to regain its glory,”said a very senior Congressleader.
Sources said Rahul willhandpick a mix of young andsenior leaders to assist himselfin the padyatra the modalitiesof which will be planned short-ly. Then Congress presidentSonia Gandhi too had hit theroads in run up to Lok Sabhapolls in 2004 to take on themight of Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA Government. Sonialed the party to an impressivewin in 2004.
“After the appointment ofparty chief and working pres-
idents he (Rahul) will be freefrom the routine meetings andparty works and will focusonly on connecting with thepeople of the country. Herealises that people across thecountry share a deep historicbond with the Congress, and allthat he needed was to touch achord with their heart to revive
the Congress,” said a seniorCongress leader.
This is the reason Rahulhas insisted there is no goingback on his decision to quit,despite requests by leadersfrom his party and outside tocontinue in the post. “Given hisplan to undertake this massiveexercise to connect with the
masses, it is obvious that comewhat may, Rahul will not with-draw his resignation as theparty president,” said a seniorleader.
Congress leaders also feelthat despite party’s flop show inthe Lok Sabha polls, Rahul hasgained tremendous sympathyand he could cash in on it by
casting himself in the role of aman of the masses.
After Rahul announced hisdecision to quit, many leadersof State units have followed suitand till Saturday evening about200 office-bearers had resigned.Over a dozen office-bearers ofUttar Pradesh CongressCommittee resigned from theirposts on Saturday continuingthe spate of resignations in theparty following its Lok Sabhaelection debacle.
Amid the spate of resigna-tions, the party said the entireorganisation, in one voice,wants its president RahulGandhi to continue in thepost.
At a Press conference,Congress spokesperson PawanKhera said many party leadershave resigned, but the prevail-ing sentiment is that Rahulshould continue as the partypresident.
He parried queries aboutwhy several senior party lead-ers had not quit their position,insisting that “people have dif-ferent ways of expressing theirrequest” which is that, headded, Rahul should remainthe Congress chief.
Several office-bearers ofthe Congress, including itsgeneral secretary incharge ofMadhya Pradesh DipakBabaria and Goa unit chiefGirish Chodankar, hadresigned on Friday.
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Two years after Haryana res-ident Pehlu Khan was
lynched by cow vigilantes inRajasthan’s Alwar district,police here have filed achargesheet against his twosons and a truck operator forillegally transporting cattle.The issue triggered a row withAIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi charging that theCongress in power was the“replica of the BJP”. Owaisi wasreacting to earlier reports thatPehlu Khan was alsochargesheeted.
Amid the row over the lat-est chargesheet, RajasthanChief Minister Ashok Gehloton Saturday distanced himselffrom any role in the investiga-tion. “Investigation into thecase was done during the BJPrule. If any discrepancy isfound, we will get the case re-investigated,” he said.
“The Congress has notchanged its stand on the issue,”he added, saying those whoindulge in such killings on thepretext of “gau raksha” won’t bespared.
Although the case goesback to April 2017 when theBJP was in power in the State,the chargesheet is being filedmonths after the Congress tookover. “The chargesheet wasaccepted by the court on May24 against three persons underthe Rajasthan Bovine AnimalAct. Since Pehlu Khan haddied, he has not been
chargesheeted,” AlwarSuperintendent of Police AnilParis Deshmukh told PTI.
However, Pehlu Khan’sname was mentioned in thesummary of the chargesheet.
Police maintained that thecase against Pehlu Khan, hissons Irshad Khan (25) AarifKhan (22) and truck operatorKhan Mohammad stoodproved in the investigation.They were charged under theRajasthan Bovine Animal(Prohibition of TemporaryMigration or Export) Act, 1995.
Pehlu Khan and his sonswere thrashed by a mob on thesuspicion of cow smuggling inAlwar’s Behror on Aprli 1,2017. Pehlu Khan died at a hos-pital in Alwar on April 3. TheRajasthan Police registered acase against the people whoallegedly lynched Pehlu Khanand thrashed his companions.
Six men were named inthe FIR which also mentionedabout 200 unidentified people.A case was also registeredthen against Pehlu Khan andothers under the RajasthanBovine Animal Act, whichallows the transportation ofcattle only after getting per-mission from the administra-tion.
����������� �1/�213��
Continuing their protestagainst carbandi in
Connaught Place’s inner circle,traders on Saturday stagedprotest as New Delhi MunicipalCouncil (NDMC) conducted amock drill for the pedestrian-isation of the shopping hub.
Protesting against restric-tion on entry of private cars inCP, New Delhi Traders’Association president AtulBhargava told The Pioneer,“The council should under-stand that CP is a shoppinghub. Our business will getaffected if they plan to run thisproject for long. During themock drill, we have noticedthat visitors were confused.”
Traders had raised objec-tion to the plan followingwhich the NDMC had tweakedits earlier plan, which was tomake the inner circle com-pletely car-free on Sunday andMonday. CP market, alongwith Chandni Chowk, is one ofthe locations initially chosenfor pedestrianisation.
While carrying out mockdrill, NDMC official said, “Theobjective of this exercise is toimprove vehicular movement,
regulate parking and facilitateease of movement for pedes-trians.”
“The major interventionsduring the trial run shall berestricted entry to inner circle,only CP-destined vehicle willbe allowed to park in dedicat-ed parking lots and under-ground Palika parking, directentry from radial-1 and radial-4 to be restricted, auto/taxi willhave restricted access to innercircle and will only be allowedto use middle circle for exit toouter circle and designatedpick and drop facilities for taxiand auto shall be operatedfrom six zones on the radial
roads,” said council official. While the civic body has
claimed that for convenience ofcommuters, the NDMC shalldepute traffic police consul-tants, civic wardens and secu-rity staff from NDMC, alongwith traffic police, however,traders said visitors faced dif-ficulties as they seemed con-fused at the idea.
Meanwhile, the councilofficial said this is a pilot pro-ject to be experimented onthe weekend (Sunday) and afull-fledged plan will beimplemented after taking fur-ther inputs from the stake-holders.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel onSaturday expanded his council of
Ministers by inducting tribal leaderAmarjeet Bhagat into his ministry.
The Pioneer, on Friday, reportedthat Bhagat was likely to get the vacant13th ministerial slot in the Baghel-ledCongress Government.
Governor Anandiben Pateladministered oath of office and secre-cy to Bhagat as Minister in a functionheld at Darbar Hall, Raj Bhawan onSaturday evening. He has taken chargeas 13th Minister after six months offormation of the CongressGovernment in the mineral-rich State.
After taking oath as ChiefMinister, Baghel had inducted only 12Ministers in the State Cabinet, leav-ing a ministerial post vacant in orderto pacify the possible dissidents whowould vie for the ministerial berth.
Sitapur MLA Amarjeet Bhagat, aresident of village PanchayatParvatipur, of Surajpur block is eldest
among the three siblings. He did hisprimary education in his native villagebut shifted to Jainagar for middleschool. He pursued high school tograduation studies at Ambikapur. Hestarted his political career in undividedSurguja while raising issue of villagers
affected by coalmines. He was suc-cessful in ensuring due compensationand jobs for the affected villagers.
Bhagat got electoral success for thefirst time in 2003, during the first gen-eral election held after formation ofChhattisgarh as state. He then con-
tinued his winning spree in 2008, 2013and 2018.
He held various posts in partyorganisation and is presently state pres-ident of the Congress’s Tribal Cell.
Baghel, Vidhan Sabha SpeakerCharandas Mahant, Leader of
Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik, cab-inet ministers, MLAs, officials and oth-ers were present at the oath-taking cer-emony.
Chief Secretary Sunil Kujur conducted the proceedings of theceremony.
Saturday said that the modelcode of conduct for the StateAssembly elections could beenforced from September 10and the elections might beheld by October 15.
“The party workers shouldnot be over confident andshould work hard for the forth-coming elections,” ManoharLal said while speaking at aparty meet in Rohtak.
He said that we have set atarget to win 75 seats out oftotal 90 in the HaryanaAssembly and all party work-ers should contribute to achievethis target.
Claiming that the IndianNational Lok Dal (INLD) andthe Congress has derailed inthe state, Manohar Lal said thatBJP has a strong organization-al structure and there is nocomparison between the orga-nizational structure of the BJPand any other political party.
The State Governmentdeveloped all the regions, sec-tions and castes equally, andfulfilled the resolution of
'Haryana Ek-Haryanvi EK'.Priority was given to the wel-fare of disadvantaged andaffected people, Manohar Lalsaid.
He said that equitabledevelopment has been carriedout in the areas of all MLAsirrespective of the fact to whichparty they belong.
We have opened the doorsof jobs on merit basis for theyouth of the state. Initiativessuch as Women Police Stations,Ujjwala Scheme, Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao have been takenduring our government’stenure, he added.
Speaking on the occasion,BJP’s national secretary, AnilJain, who is also in-charge ofparty affairs in Haryana askedparty workers in Haryana toremain grounded to achievevictory in the October assem-bly polls.
“Victory brings arrogance.However, without becomingarrogant, the BJP workers inHaryana should work on theground to ensure a record-breaking victory for the party,”he said.
Referring to the BJP's vic-tory on all 10 Lok Sabha seats
in the state, Jain said, “This vic-tory should be considered bigbut not supreme.”
“We should take everyone
along," he said, stressing theneed to strengthen the party atthe booth level.
He asked the party leaders
and workers to strive for at least75 seats in the assembly elec-tions.
, the BJP has 48 MLAs in
the 90-member State Assembly.It was decided at the two-
day meet, which concludedon Saturday, that the
Chief Minister would hold a“Jan Sampark Rath Yatra” in thestate. The “Rath Yatra” will beheld in the state to highlight theachievements of BJP led Central and StateGovernment.
Also, a nine-membervision document committeehas been constituted underthe leadership of AgricultureMinister OP Dhankar.
The party has also decidedto hold a state level sammelanto strengthen the organiza-tional structure in Haryanaand boost the morale of pannapramukhs appointed in thestate.
During the meet, INLD'ssenior Rohtak leaders SatishNandal and Surat Singh joinedthe BJP.
The meet was attended byall state BJP MPs, ministers,MLAs and working committeemembers.
Haryana BJP chief SubhashBarala while speaking at themeeting, asked party workersto enroll at least 25 new vol-unteers at every both in thestate.
“The BJP got 33 lakh newmembers last year. This targetshould further be increase by20 per cent before the assem-bly polls,” he added.
Health Department to opensmall clinics in urban slums fortreating minor illnesses in slumdwellers. Reviewing theprogress in different healthrelated projects in Jharkhandduring a meeting with officialsconcerned in Ranchi, Das saidthat the clinics will referpatients to bigger hospitals incase they need more seriousmedical attention.
“The project should beginfrom the month of August thisyear. All these clinics shouldhave an OPD (Outdoor PatientWard) and address medicalemergencies,” he said.
Besides, Das also askedthe department to launchemergency bike ambulanceservices in at least 35 blocksthat have hilly topography,which makes it difficult forconventional ambulances tomove freely. “The projectshould begin by end ofSeptember. Every block willhave at least five such bikeambulances and the expensesfor the same will be arrangedthrough CSR (Corporate SocialResponsibility),” said Das.
During the meeting, Dasalso lauded the efforts of privatehospitals in the state for active-ly participating in AyushmanBharat Yojana, a Centre-runscheme for providing healthfacilities to the poor. Since thelaunch of the scheme at least1,73,501 patients have availed
benefits under the said scheme.Out of these patients, a total of1,51,668, nearly 90 per cent,were treated at private hospi-tals, said a press communiquéfrom the State Public RelationsDepartment on Saturday.
“I congratulate all the pri-vate hospitals for showing pos-
itive intent in supporting theGovernment’s initiative andserving the poor. OurGovernment will felicitate topthree private hospitals onSeptember 25 for their contri-bution in Ayushman BharatYojana,” Das said.
The State Government by
now has spent Rs.170 crorefrom its exchequer forAyushman Bharat Yojana.Prime Minister Narendra Modilaunched the Ayushman Bharatscheme from Jharkhand lastyear. By now, at least 36.65 lakhbeneficiaries have golden cardsunder the scheme. Jharkhand,Das said, is on the third posi-tion among all the states inIndia in terms of golden cardholders. The State, he added,will provide golden cards freeof cost of people in Jharkhand.
In a bid to encouragehealthy practices, Das asked theofficials to run Yoga camps atPanchayat buildings. TheCentre has particularly focusedon health facilities inJharkhand lately. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onFebruary 17 inaugurated threemedical colleges worth Rs.885crore, one each in Hazaribag,Palamu and Dumka, whichwill add a fillip to health facil-ities here.
Chief Minister Kamal Nathhas said that the image of
the police should be such thatthe public look up to them withrespect and not fear. For this,it is important for the police toestablish emotional connec-tion with the people.
The Chief Minister wasdedicating the residential quar-ters constructed by MadhyaPradesh Police Housing andInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporation in Indore onSaturday. As many as 944 hous-es costing more than �155crore are being constructedfor police personnel in Indore.Of these 236 multi-storeyedhouses were dedicated by theChief Minister on Saturday.
Nath said that the policehave constant communicationand dialogue with the public.The role of the police should becooperative and work on pro-viding speedy justice to themmust be ensured. He said thatin rural and urban areas, thepolice should create trust in thegeneral public with their con-duct-behaviour.
The Chief Minister saidthat the Government is com-mitted to protect the interestsof police personnel who pro-vide 24 hours of service. TheGovernment has decided togive a day’s weekly off to thepolice personnel so that theirtension is reduced and they getback to work the next dayafresh. With this decision, thepolicemen can now spend timewith their family. He said thatthe houses made with newtechnology is a step towardsfacilitating policemen and will
continue even further.Director General of Police
VK Singh said that MadhyaPradesh Police is working withstate-of-the-art resources andtechnology to control criminalsand crimes in the State. In thischain, the new techniques havebeen used in the houses beingbuilt for the policemen also.Share world technology hasbeen used for the first time intwo-room houses. The houseswill be equipped with gas con-nection, fire fighting system,sewerage treatment plant,Narmada connection, tubewell, power system and fourstar facility.
Public Works andEnvironment Minister SajjanSingh Verma, Public Healthand Family Welfare MinisterTulsiram Silawat, HomeMinister Bala Bachchan,
Higher Education Minister JituPatwari, Indore MunicipalCorporation Mayor MaliniGoud, MP Shankar Lalwaniand MLAs were present in thededication programme.
Thirteen children were de-boarded from Shalimar Kurla express at Durg station by railway checking squad onSaturday. The children hailing from Purnea district of Bihar were on their way to a Madarsa in Nagapur. They werehanded over to Durg Child Protection Committee, which is now contacting its Purnea counterpart to get more detailsabout the children.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu on Saturday paid tributes to martyr CRPF jawans at ManaBattalion premises, Raipur. The CRPF jawans were martyred on on Friday at Keshkutul under Bhairamgarh police station limits of Bijapurdistrict during a Naxal attack.
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel, who also
held the post of ChhattisgarhPradesh Congress Committeepresident, turned emotionalwhile handing over the chargeof the party’s state chief to newpresident, Kondagaon MLAMohan Markam on Saturdayat Rajiv Bhawan, state head-quarters of the Congress party.
Recalling his tenure asCPCC chief, Bhupesh Baghelsaid after the party had lost inassembly election in 2013,Rahul Gandhi had given himthe charge.
The party had conductedseveral public movementsagainst the then ruling partyBJP from streets to assemblythrough massive agitations
and strikes, Baghel said. Partyleaders even went to jail fight-ing for farmers, youth, women
and poor, he recalled.Baghel said Rahul Gandhi
had laid the foundation stone
of Rajiv Bhawan and after hebecame president, he inaugu-rated it. The entire election
management for the assemblypoll was done from this office,for which all deserve the cred-it, he said.
Giving credit to T. S.Singhdeo, he said all partyleaders and workers deservethe due recognition for stayingtogether to make the turn-around in party’s electoral for-tune in the state with a massivewin in 2018 assembly elec-tions. Chief Minister saidparty got the administrativeand political guidance fromChhattisgarh incharge P. L.Punia
He said Mohan Markam isa person with a fighting spiritas he had been in the forefrontof each foot march conductedacross the state.
Markam will take theparty ahead, Baghel said.
Murder convictdies in DurgCentral JailDURG: A murder convict report-edly died after he slipped downfrom stairs in Central Jail, Durg,officials said here on Saturday.
“Rajendra Dewangan, a nativeof Kabirdham, who was serving alife term, slipped down from thestairs of duplex prison cell between5:30 and 6:00 am in the Durg cen-tral jail,” Jail Superintendent YogeshSingh Kshatri said.
After the incident, Dewanganwas rushed to jail hospital wheredoctors informed that due tointense head injury, Dewangan suc-cumbed, the jailer said.
During initial investigation andtaking into account nature ofinjuries on the body of thedeceased, it seemed he had slippedfrom the stairs, the jailer added.
STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR
Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel has urged
Prime Minister NarendraModi to roll back theCentre’s decision toreduce kerosene quota ofChhattisgarh and insteadprovide it 1.53 lakh kilo-litres of kerosene, officialsinformed on Saturday.
In a letter addressed tothe Prime Minister, theChief Minister reasonedthat refilling price of LPGcylinder was high inChhattisgarh and its distri-bution system was also weakin the state due to whichcooking gas refill rate inrural region was negligible.
While citing earlier let-ter sent to the PMO onMarch 26, 2019 he said, “Ihad earlier also highlightedthe issue that after launch
of Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojana (PMUY) inChhattisgarh, the kerosenequota of the state wasslashed.” “Due to negligiblerefill in rural region, I hadrequested for increasing thekerosene quota of the statefrom 1.1 lakh kilolitres to1.58 lakh kilolitres,” the CMsaid in the letter.
Baghel informed thatin the second quarter of2019-20 there was reduc-tion of 10,884 kilolitres in
Chhattisgarh’s quota,which is around 38 per-cent reduction.
“Out of 146 blocks inChhattisgarh, 85 blocks or58 percent of the state arescheduled blocks. Thefamilies living here are notcapable of paying refillamount at once. Likewise,‘Antyodaya’ and ‘priority’families living in non-scheduled regions also arenot in the position to payfor one-time refill.
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
Stern action should be takenagainst those selling fake
seeds, fertilizers and pesticidesto farmers, Agriculture MinisterRavindra Choubey directed offi-cials.
Selling substandard seeds,fertilizers and pesticides wasone of the biggest crimes, theminister pointed out while hold-ing a review meeting of Raipurdistrict-level officials at RedCross conference hall of the dis-trict collectorate here onSaturday.
Choubey, who is also the in-charge minister of the Raipurdistrict said, officials shouldensure that farmers did not faceany problem in procuring fertil-izers, seeds and loan from coop-erative committees.
Reviewing the district’s
monsoon preparations, hedirected to ensure that waterinundation did not take place incivic body limits. For this, hesaid, all drains should becleaned on regular basis and
there should be adequatedrainage. The water harvestingshould be taken on prioritybasis, he added. Women SelfHelp groups should be involvedin making alternative arrange-
ment to replace plastic.Minister in stern note
directed officials concerned toshift liquor shops from aroundthe periphery of schools.
On cattle, he said under the‘Suraji Gaon Scheme’ the‘Gauthan’ must have adequatestorage of fodder and drinkingwater. The cattle moving aroundin the capital city of Raipur,mainly on roads, should beshifted to a safe zone.
Choubey directed the offi-cials and other employees to bein office on time, so that peopledid not face problem. The rev-enue related issues like division,measurement and nominationcases should be resolved withina time period, he said.
Raipur collector Dr SBharatidasan briefed the meet-ing on all developmental worksbeing undertaken in the district.
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
Chhattisgarh government onSaturday affected a major
administrative reshuffle at the topechelon of the state ahead of mon-soon session of the assembly.
A total of 18 officials weregiven new assignments.
As per the order issued byGeneral Administration depart-ment, Dr Manindra Kaur Dwivedi(IAS-1995) has been given chargeof principal secretary, gramudyogwith additional charge of principalsecretary, agriculture (independentcharge of horticulture, MandiBoard and Milk Federation). Apartfrom the additional responsibilitiesallotted to her, she will continue tohold her present post of residentialcommissioner, ChhattisgarhBhavan, New Delhi.
Pardeshi Siddarth Komal (IAS-2003), secretary, sports and youthwelfare department has been givenadditional charge of secretary,women and child welfare depart-ment.
Avinash Champavat (IAS-2003), secretary, water resources ,religious bodies and endowmentdepartment has been given addi-tional charge of secretary, tourismand culture department.
A. Kulbushan Toppo (IAS-2003), commissioner Sarguja hasbeen posted as secretary, social wel-fare and given additional charge ofcommissioner for the differentlyabled.
Anil Kumar Tuteja (IAS-2003),joint secretary, secretariat has beenposted as joint secretary, commerceand industries and public sectordepartment.
Emil Lakra (IAS-2003) hasbeen posted as commissioner,Sarguja division, Ambikapur.
Taman Singh Sonwani (IAS-2004) has been given additionalcharge of agriculture and sugarcanecommissioner. He is presently jointsecretary at the chief minister’soffice (CMO) and joint secretary(independent charge) aviation anddirector aviation.
Mukesh Kumar (IAS-2005) hasbeen made special secretary, horti-culture and agriculture while AlexV. F. Paul Menon (IAS-2006) hasbeen posted as special secretary,food, civil supplies and consumerprotection department along withadditional charge of managingdirector, Chhattisgarh StateWarehousing Corporation, Raipur.
Bheem Singh (IAS-2008) hasbeen posted as managing director,Chhattisgarh Tourism Board,Raipur.
Narendra Kumar Dugga (IAS-2008) has been given charge ofmanaging director, ChhattisgarhState Seed and AgricultureDepartment Corporation and addi-tional charge of Managing Director,Milk Federation.
Anurag Pandey (IAS-2009)Director, Industries and joint secre-tary, Commerce and industriesdepartment has been shifted asdirector, local fund and also givenadditional charge of mission direc-tor, Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural).
Two Naxalsheld in SukmaSUKMA: Two insurgentswere arrested during separateactions in the insurgency-hitSukma district, police saidhere on Saturday.
“Madvi Masa (30), a resi-dent of Gompad villageSukma was nabbed fromAmbedkar Chowk Konta. Hewas a Maoist milita memberactive in Gompad region ofthe district,” a local policeofficer said while adding hewas involved in criminal inci-dents like attempt to murder,arson and similar othercrimes.
In a separate action, dur-ing an area domination exer-cise Hunga Markam (26), aresident of Irpa village inSukma was nabbed near aforested patch on way toDoleras village from NationalHighway 30, under Kuknarpolice station limits, policesaid.
He was wanted in con-nection with setting fire toconstruction vehicles, lootand other crimes under ArmsAct.
Baghel turns emotional whilehanding over charge of PCC chief
CM Baghel urges PM Modito hike state’s kerosene quota
State goes for major administrative reshuffle Take action against substandardseed-fertilizer suppliers: Choubey
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)on Saturday condemned the
statement of Chhattisgarh HomeMinister Tamradhwaj Sahu overthe agitation of candidates of policeconstable recruitment test.
The home minister reportedlystated that the candidates were agi-tating because they “have no otherwork to do.”
The candidates were agitatingdemanding declaration of exami-nation result.
BJP state spokespersonSachchidanand Upasane in a state-ment pointed out that even aftermonths of conducting the recruit-ment examination, the governmentcould not declare the results.Instead of taking positive steps toannounce the result, home minis-ter was ridiculing the unemployedyouth, which was tantamount toshowing disrespect to youth look-ing for jobs.
Upasane further said that with-in six months of formation of theCongress government, the insecu-rity among the people hadincreased. The ministers did nothave control over their words, he
alleged.Instead of finding solution to
problem raised by common man,the ministers were giving recklessstatements.
BJP demanded that the resultof recruitment test should beannounced immediately.
BJP dubs Tamradhwaj’sstatement ‘irresponsible’
Instead of takingpositive steps to
announce theresult, homeminister wasridiculing the
unemployed youth,which was
tantamount toshowing
disrespect to youthlooking for jobs
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
Raigarh resident Yashi Jainhas set a target to climb
the highest peak of seven con-tinents. She will be the firstgirl from Chhattisgarh to takeup such a challenge. She isleaving for Europe for the firstleg of mountaineering.
Before departing, shecalled on Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel andChhattisgarh State AssemblySpeaker Dr CharandasMahant to seek their blessingsto achieve the target.
Mahant said this daughterof Chhattisgarh will bring lau-rel to the state. She will carryalong the blessings of 2.5crore people of the state.
Yashi Jain targets toclimb key mountains
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Congress on Saturdaymocked Home Minister
and BJP president Amit Shahafter he blamed first PrimeMinister Jawaharlal Nehru forthe problems in Jammu andKashmir, saying he draws hisknowledge of history fromWhatsApp and that theOpposition party can sendhim history books.
National Conference andCPI(M) too while demandingan early Assembly election inJammu & Kashmir alleged thatthe Union Home Ministercomments in the Lok Sabha aday ago regarding the Statewere “provocative” and wouldalienate the people further.
Congress spokespersonPawan Khera said while Shahkeeps on his attack on Nehruand blaming the Congress fortroubles in Jammu & Kashmir,the Congress wants to focus onissues like unemployment fac-ing the masses today.
He then took theWhatsapp dig at Shah.
He said before MuslimLeague, it was Veer Sawarkar,a reverential figure in the BJP,and Hindu Mahasabha whichhad propogated two-nationtheory. Shah had blamed theCongress for partition.
The Left party said if theconditions were conducive forholding the Lok Sabha electionin the state, there was no rea-son to believe that the same sit-uation prohibits the holding ofassembly election.
“The Union HomeMinister’s intervention inParliament while moving the(resolution for) extension ofPresident’s Rule for another sixmonths in Jammu & Kashmirwas provocative leading to fur-ther alienation of the people ofthe state,” the Communist Partyof India (Marxist) said in astatement.
“This is not healthy forIndia’s unity and integrity.Alienation only feeds growth ofterrorism, which the country isunitedly determined to defeat,”it added.
Shah had said on Fridaythat Article 370 of theConstitution, which provides
for special status to the state,was “temporary in nature” and“not permanent”.
The National Conferenceexpressed dismay over thestatement of Amit Shah on thequestion of conducting assem-bly elections in Jammu andKashmir, saying the “inordinatedelay” in holding the polls inthe state is synonymous with“scuttling” federalism in thecountry.
It said the people are yearn-ing for a stable Governmentwhich could protect the iden-tity and territorial integrity ofthe state.
NC general secretary AliMuhammad Sagar said on onehand, the Home ministerminced no words to accentuatethe peaceful conduct of urbanlocal bodies and panchayatpolls and Parliament electionsin the state, but on the otherhand, he is “denying” a repre-sentative government to thestate.
The NC general secretarysaid any further delay in hav-ing an elected representativegovernment in the state would“further increase the gapbetween the Government andthe people”.
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Congress on Saturday took adig at the Centre dubbing its
decision to reduce interest rateon small savings schemes as its“return gift” to voters after theygave it a massive victory in therecent Lok Sabha polls.
Congress spokespersonPawan Khera said his party willraise the issue in Parliament,where the budget session iscurrently underway, anddemanded that the decision berolled back. The government onFriday reduced interest rate onsmall savings schemes, includ-ing NSC and PPF, by 0.1 per cent
for the July-September quarter.Few Governments in histo-
ry have received such a mandateas has the Narendra Modi gov-ernment, and it has gone on to“punish” them by trimming theinterest rate on saving schemesrelied upon by a majority of peo-ple, Khera said at a press con-ference. “This is the return giftthis government has given topeople,” Khera said, attacking it.
During the Congress-ledUPA government, interest rateson two-year deposit scheme,five-year deposit scheme, pub-lic provident fund and senior cit-izens’ saving scheme were 8.4,8.5, 8.7 and 9.2 per cents, respec-
tively, he said. Under the BJP-ledNDA government, it is 6.9, 7.7,7.9 and 8.6 per cents respectively,he added. “India’s householdsavings are at a 20-year low. Oneof the reasons for this is theunceasing relentless pursuit ofthe BJP government to reducethe interest rate in small savingsschemes,” Khera said. Askedthat interest rates, at whichloans are given, were also high-er during the UPA Government,he parried the query saying hewill not join the debate with “bigeconomists” but will say thatsuch decisions should be takenwhich do not harm people if notbenefit them.
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Home Minister Amit Shahon Saturday said a clear
‘chain of command’ should be inplace when multiple stakehold-ers get on-board to combat a dis-aster and Government agenciesshould ensure that Indiabecomes a top-notch nation formanaging such emergencies.
Officiating his first publicevent after taking charge of theministry, Shah said it is impor-tant to quickly develop betterresilience and capability againstdisasters given that India ismuch prone to catastrophesowing to its varied topographyand expanse.
The minister was speakingat the inauguration of a two-day annual conference organ-ised here by the NDRF oncapacity building of state dis-aster response forces (SDRFs)in consultation with homeguards, civil defence and fireservices. The National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) is afederal force of the country andhas 12 battalions based acrossvarious states for quickresponse to any emergency,manmade or natural.
Addressing the delegates atthe meeting Shah said a chain
of command between variousagencies, stakeholders anddepartment should be decidedand formed when dealing witha disaster. “This is very impor-tant as I have seen a verychaotic situation emerging inabsence of this protocol andorder of hierarchy,” he said,adding it is a big lacuna in thecountry’s bureaucratic systemthat no one pays heed to theother till a formal or officialorder is issued.
The minister said agencieslike the NDRF should not reston their past laurels but strive todo better. “This is now thetime to work and ensure thatIndia becomes the number onecountry in disaster manage-ment. The path to achieve thisgoal is long but that should beour target. It should be our effortthat the world takes note fromour best practices and counter-disaster models,” Shah said.
Shah asked the NDRF, anagency under his ministry, tocollaborate with the DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation and developindigenous equipment to com-bat disaster not only for Indianagencies but also for neigh-bouring countries like Nepal,Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
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The Mahatma Gandhi ITand Biotechnology Park in
Cote d’Ivoire, a dedicated freetrade zone built with India’sassistance to build developmentcapacities, has been inaugurat-ed. The Mahatma Gandhi ITand Biotechnology Park(MGIT-BP) was jointly inau-gurated by Ambassador ofIndia and Cote d’Ivoire VicePresident Daniel KablanDuccan at a ceremony inGrand-Bassam, Cote d’Ivoireon Thursday, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA) said instatement.
MGIT-BP is a dedicatedFree Trade Zone (FTZ) for ITand Biotechnology, it said. “Itmay be noted that PrimeMinister Modi has made Africaa priority for our foreign poli-cy. PM has outlined 10 princi-ples of our engagement withAfrica in July 2018 inKampala,” the statement said.
The inauguration of theproject is an important mile-stone in 150th anniversary cel-ebration of birth anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi, it said. Theceremony showcases the com-mitment of government toexpedite projects under the100 days plan, it added. TheMGIT-BP is being built withIndia’s assistance throughEXIM Bank Lines of Credit ofUSD 20 million.
The MGIT-BP project con-sists of two parts firstly, archi-tectural concept and design forthe buildings of FTZ and con-struction of main building tohost IT enterprises.
Secondly, supply and com-missioning of equipment whichincluded, Computer Assembly
Plant, VSAT with Satellite EarthStation, Networking Lab,Human DNA Lab, DataStorage Area Network, anAudio-Visual Lab and a powergenerator, the MEA said.
The MGIT-BP is expected to further consolidate the two country’scooperation and bilateral rela-tions especially in context oftransfer of technology andsharing of development expe-rience to build capacities ofpartner countries in Africa, toface challenges of knowledgeeconomy in 21st century, itsaid.
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The Centre has given Statesand Union Territories time
till June 30, 2020 to roll out the‘one nation, one ration card’system, under which benefi-ciaries can buy subsidised food-grains from ration shops in anypart of the country. FoodMinister Ram Vilas Paswansaid already 10 States —Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,Haryana, Jharkhand,Karnataka, Kerala,Maharasthra, Rajasthan,Telangana and Tripura -- areproviding portability of PublicDistribution System (PDS)entitlements.
“By next June 30, 2020, ‘onenation, one ration card’ shouldbe implemented without fail inthe entire country. We havewritten letters to the state gov-ernment to fast track the imple-
mentation of this system,”Paswan said.
The new mechanism willensure no poor is deprived ofPDS entitlement if that personshifts from one place to anoth-er. The system will also helpremove fake ration card hold-ers, he added. Paswan furthersaid there are 11 states, includ-ing Tamil Nadu, Punjab,Odisha and Madhya Pradesh,which can easily implementPDS portability within theirstate as Point of Sale (PoS)machines have been installed inall ration shops. This is one ofthe 100-days agenda of theModi 2.0 government, headded.
Since November 2016, thegovernment is implementingthe National Food SecurityAct, under which foodgrainsare supplied every month athighly subsidised rates of Rs 1-
3 per kg to over 80 crore peo-ple in the country.
Elaborating about the newsystem, Paswan said beneficia-ries are required to show theirAadhaar card to buy food-grains from any ration shop inthe country. Only ration cardwill suffice if beneficiaries wantto get their PDS entitlementonly from a particular regis-
tered ration shop. So far, Aadhaar cards of
about 89 per cent of benefi-caries have been linked withthe system, while 77 per cent ofration shops have installed PoSmachines, he said. As many as22 states have 100 per cent PoScoverage and there is no prob-lem in implementing the newsystem. Delhi had rolled out
portability of PDS entitlementa year back but later stopped,Paswan added.
Asked whether a benefi-ciary who moves to anotherstate where PDS foodgrain isgiven for free is entitled for thesame, a senior Food Ministryofficial said, “In such cases, thebeneficiary will get the entitle-ment as per the rates fixed bythe Centre, that is Rs 1-3 perkg.”
To ensure that one memberof a family after shifting toanother place does not buy theentire family quota in one go,a maximum limit of buying willbe fixed, the official said. Insuch cases, the beneficiary willbe allowed to buy maximum 50per cent of the family quota.This will ensure other membersare not deprived of their enti-tlement, he added.
The food ministry will
issue detailed guidelines inthis regard soon, the officialadded. Besides, Paswanannounced distribution of for-tified rice under the a pilotbasis in one district each in 15states from October-November.
Rice grown in Kharif sea-son of 2019 will be fortifiedwith iron, folic acid, vitamin Aand B12 at the milling stage asper the standards fixed by theFood Safety and StandardsAuthority of India (FSSAI), hesaid. The scheme in this regardwas approved in January.
The minister also said theCentre has given a six-monthdeadline to states to automatethe operations of their food-grain depots in order to min-imise storage losses. Thedepots of Food Corporation ofIndia (FCI) and CentralWarehousing Corporation arefully automated at present.
New Delhi: The Governmenthas prepared a draft nationalpolicy for women empower-ment with a priority on theireducation, food security andnutrition. The Women andChild Development Ministryhas prepared the draft policyafter receiving suggestions fromvarious stakeholders, sourcessaid. The draft policy identifiesthe priority areas of food secu-rity, nutrition, education, econ-omy (including agricultureindustry, labour, employment,NRI women, service sector, sci-ence and technology), violenceagainst women, governance anddecision making.
According to the draft pol-icy, it aims to create an enabling
environment for womenthrough housing, shelter andinfrastructure, drinking waterand sanitation, media and cul-ture, sports and social security.It states that it aims to empow-er women and envisions a soci-ety in which, women attaintheir full potential and are ableto participate as equal partnersin all spheres of life.
The draft policy also hasprovisions to promote environ-mental friendly, renewable, non-conventional energy, green ener-gy sources for women in ruralhouseholds. It also has provi-sions for addressing all forms ofviolence against women andpreventing trafficking at source,transit and destinations. PNS
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Intelligence chatters haveindicated the gang war
between Hizbul Mujahideen onthe one hand and the Al QaedaKashmir and ISJK on the otherin Jammu & Kashmir has rat-tled Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence that sus-pects the former being a localoutfit is leaking informationabout the other terror groupsdue to battle of supremacy.
The Hizbul is known toplay double game by leakinginformation to security forcesin the Valley and is also opento dialogue for the cause of theseparatist diaspora and hasalso close connections withthe Pakistani establishment.Such gang wars are likely toincrease in the future as anambitious Hizbul seeks toincrease its utility with a viewto join the dialogue process atfuture date in any Indian ini-tiative.
Following the Indianstrikes at Jaish-e-Mohammadfacility in Balakot post-Pulwama suicide hit on a CRPFconvoy earlier this year, theJaish is facing a crunch ofcadres in the Valley and Hizbulis now seeking to fill that spaceto become more important inthe eyes of the Pakistani mas-ters. Hizbul chief SyedSalahuddin is resident of the
Valley and is based in Pakistanunder the patronage of the Pakarmy-ISI combine.
Salahuddin has beenknown to be beneficiary of thelargesse of the Indian covertagencies with a number of hisrelatives being in governmentservice. Hizbul has in the pastplayed friendly cricket match-es with the Indian army. TheHizbul is considered a local ter-ror group with patronage fromPak army-ISI combine as partof the latter’s strategy to claimdeniability after terror attacksin the Valley as also to get localrecruits for other jehadi groupslike the Lashkar and Jaish.
Last week, the securityforces eliminated four terroristsof Al Qaeda Kashmir alsoknown as Ansar GhazwatulHind---Rafi Hassan Mir of
Kralchak, Shopian, SuhailAhmad Bhat of Batmuran,Shopian, Showkat Ahmad Mirof Rajpora in Pulwama andAzad Ahmad Khanday ofBamnoo, Pulwama. The Hijbulterrorists in the Valley are sus-pected to have leaked infor-mation leading to the elimina-tion of the four terrorists in acordon and search operation atthe Panzar area of Shopian,sources said.
In its bid to deflect atten-tion from its vested agenda inthe Valley, the HizbulMujahideen in association withthe Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba indulged in a fightwith the international terrorgroup Islamic State Jammuand Kashmir (ISJK)Commander in SouthKashmir’s Anantnag district
on Wednesday to show soli-darity with the ISI’s designs inthe trouble-torn State.
The clash between ISJKterror commander Adil Dasand Hizbul terrorist ArifHussain Bhat ensued at anapple orchard in Sirhama vil-lage in Beijbehara. While Daswas killed in the shootout,Bhat was nabbed by the Statepolice.
The ISJK operates in theValley under the banner ofWilayah Al Hind but has beenunable to gain significant trac-tion locally where even the AlQaeda’s arm has been virtual-ly decimated with the liquida-tion of its chief Zakir Musa lastmonth.
Sources said the gunfight isan indication of the riftbetween various terror groupsoperating in the Valley forgaining supremacy. It is alsoindicative of the desperation inthe terror ranks following con-tinuous operations by the secu-rity forces against the ultras.The security forces have killedover 700 terrorists during thelast three years including theelimination of Al QaedaKashmir chief Zakir Musa andHizbul commander BurhanWani among others. Only onekey commander of the HizbulMujahideen Riyaz Naikoo hasevaded the security forces afterthe Indian Army released a list
of 22 most wanted terroristslast year as part of theOperation All Out.
Hizbul had engaged inRamzan ceasefire during AtalBehari Vajpayee regime at theCentre and the outfit’s chiefSyed Salahuddin’s son wasgiven admission in MBBScourse in Sri Nagar MedicalCollege who is now based inLondon. The Indian army hadrescued Salahuddin’s son work-ing in Jammu and Kashmireducation department who wastrapped in terror siege in twoseparate incidents and twocommissioned officers of thearmy had laid down their livesin saving him.
The international groupslike Al Qaeda Kashmir hasbeen seeking to respond to theISIS attack in Colombo andmaking their presence regis-tered here through dominationon groups like Hizbul. Feelingthe heat, Hizbul has startedsharing information to theforces at different levels. Bothcommanders and cadres arebelieved to be sharing inputs onother groups to the agencies ina discreet manner, sources said.
Agencies in the Valley aregetting good information onthe movement and hideouts ofother terror groups and areexpecting the trend to contin-ue in both short and longterm, added the sources.
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The Delhi Pollution ControlCommittee (DPCC) sealed
three more “polluting” factories“operating without consent”in the Mayapuri scrap marketin west Delhi on Saturday.
This was the second suchexercise carried out in the lastthree days in the Mayapuriindustrial area, which had wit-nessed violent clashes betweentraders and the police person-nel accompanying a sealingteam on April 13.
On the directions of the
National Green Tribunal(NGT), the DPCC had carriedout a comprehensive unit-wisesurvey in May and found sev-eral units “operating withoutconsent”.
Neeraj Sehgal, secretary ofthe Mayapuri Industrial AreaWelfare Association, said theauthorities sealed three morefactories in D and C blocks onSaturday, taking the number ofunits shut down in the lastthree days to 15.On June 19, theauthorities had served 122notices, of which 41 were forclosure of defaulting units.
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In a delicate surgery, doctorsat a hospital here used the
cartilage and fat from the ribsof a nine-year-old Yemeni boyto reconstruct his and twinbrother’s cleft lips and nose.
Cleft lip and associatednose and palate deformitieslead to problem in breathingand speech, said Dr AjayaKashyap, the medical directorof KAS Medical Centre andMedSpa. The twins, Ahmedand Shad, were not able tobreathe properly and theirspeech was also affected.
At school, their appear-
ance, because of their cleftlips, affected their confidencelevel.
The surgery, conductedaround two weeks ago, was suc-cessful with no rejection orcomplications, Dr Kashyapsaid.
“Usually, to correct cleft lipdeformity, that also includesreconstruction of a part of thenose and upper lips, we need totake cartilage and fats from therib bone of a patient.
“However, in this case, oneof the boys was not healthyenough for this procedure. So,we took cartilage and rib fatsfrom one of the twins and used
on both of them. Since thedonor was an identical twin, itmade for a great genetic matchfor the recipient,” the doctorsaid.
Dr Preeti Pandya, consul-tant surgeon at KAS MedicalCentre, said the major chal-lenge in transplant therapy isrejection, wherein the immunesystem of the recipient startproducing antibodies againstthe donor cells considering it aforeign substance leading to amedical emergency.
“But the boy was lucky thathe had an identical twin, whoshared his genetic composi-tion,” she explained.
Lucknow: As many as 35 office-bearers of Uttar PradeshCongress Committee resignedfrom their posts on Saturdaycontinuing the spate of resig-nations in the party following itsLok Sabha election debacle.
The state unit's senior vicepresident Ranjit Singh Judev,general secretary AradhnaMishra Mona, vice president RPTripathi and many others haveresigned taking moral respon-sibility for the party's defeat, anofficial release of the party said.
Others who quit party postsinclude media coordinator RajivBakshi, joint media coordinatorPiyush Mishra, Onkar NathSIngh, Amarnath Agarwal andMukesh Singh Chauhan,Priyanka Gupta and AshokSingh.
More resignations are like-ly in the party state unit, a seniorparty leader said.
The UPCC has nearly 100members.
After Congress presidentRahul Gandhi announced his decision to quit in thewake of the party's dismal per-formance in Lok Sabha polls,many leaders of state unitshave followed suit.
Gandhi has reiterated thatthere is no going back on hisdecision, despite requests byleaders from his party and out-side to continue in the post.
Members from the UPCCwho have resgned include SatishAjmani, Shyam Kishore Shukla,
Earlier, state unit chief RajBabbar had quit after the partycould win only Rae Bareli seatin Uttar Pradesh and even lostit traditional stronghold ofAmethi.
Party MP Vivek Tankhaquit as the chairman of theparty's legal and human rightscell on Thursday and urgedothers to do the same to give afree hand to Rahul Gandhi torestructure the party at all levels.
Party general secretary incharge of Madhya PradeshDipak Babaria, Goa unit chiefGirish Chodankar, Delhi PCC'sworking president RajeshLilothia and Telangana PradeshCongress Committee workingpresident Ponnam Prabhakarhave quit, as also a number ofother office-bearers in variousstates. PTI
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Jammu: Union MinisterJitendra Singh on Saturday saidmilitancy in Jammu & Kashmiris in its final phase andexpressed hope that Annualpilgrimage to the cave shrine ofAmarnath will not require secu-rity arrangement from nextyear.
He said adequate securityarrangement has been put inplace this year for the 46-dayyatra, scheduled to begin fromthe twin routes of Pahalgam inAnantnag district and Baltal inGanderbal district on July 1, toensure its peaceful conclusion.
"There will be no need ofsecurity for the yatra from nextyear as the voice of my con-science says that this is the lastphase and final chapter of mil-itancy in the state," TheUdhampur MP added.
The first batch of the pil-grims to the cave shrine situat-ed at an altitude of 3,880 metrewill leave from the BhagwatiNagar base camp here onSunday. The batch of pil-grims will reach to the two base
camps in Anantnag andGanderbal districts by eveningand will stay there overnightbefore leaving for the yatra onMonday.
Addressing a group ofSadhus after inaugurating theregistration counter for them ata Ram temple in the old city, theminister said, "Like yesteryears,adequate security arrangementshave been made for the yatra toensure its peaceful conclusion."
The counters for registra-tion of the pilgrims opened atdifferent places in the city as vis-itors including Sadhus fromacross the country have startedflocking Jammu ahead of theformal commencement of theyatra.
"The Amarnath yatra ispart of our faith and a glaringexample of our rich culture andhas its own religious signifi-cance not only for this region
but for the entire country," saidSingh, who is the Minister ofState for Prime Minister'sOffice.
He expressed hope that thepilgrims would be welcomed inthe valley with traditional hos-pitality.
Ram Temple at PuraniMandi is providing free board-ing and lodging facilities to theSadhus who come from acrossthe country for the yatra.
Praising temple mahantRameshwar Dass for makingarrangements for the Sadhus atthe temple complex in coordi-nation with the district admin-istration, the minister said theadministration will attend toany issue so that the Sadhus donot face any problem.
Later, Singh attended a spe-cial prayer organised in con-nection with Devika pollutionabatement project under thenational river conservation planin Udhampur district.
The river, revered byHindus as sister of the Gangariver, is being revived at a costof over Rs 1.70 crore. It has beenpolluted by dumping of wasteand sewage and has also wit-nessed encroachment on itsbanks with unlawful construc-tions over the years.
"We are happy that thissacred project is being under-taken in our rule. This river islinked to our faith and itsrestoration is imperative due toits religious significance," he toldthe gathering on the occasion.
Hindu religious scripturesincluding Vedas mention thesanctity of the river and con-sider it a powerful source toattain divinity. PTI
Kanpur (UP): A 16-year-oldMuslim boy was allegedly beat-en by unidentified men here forwearing a traditional skull capand refusing to chant "Jai ShriRam", police said on Saturday.
The incident occurred onFriday when Mohammad Taj, aresident of Barra, was returninghome after offering namaz inKidwai Nagar, the Uttar Pradeshpolice said.
Three or four unidentifiedmotorcyclists stopped Taj a fewhundred metres from his housefor overtaking them and object-ed to him wearing the skull cap,Station House Officer (Barra)Satish Kumar Singh said.
Singh said the attackersasked the teenager to chant "JaiShri Ram", and kicked and
punched him badly after herefused to do so.
"They removed my cap,pinned me down and beat meblack and blue while asking meto chant 'Jai Shri Ram'," Taj toldPTI. The 16-year-old alleged thatthe men told him that wearingthe skull cap was "not allowed"in the area.
The teenager said he criedfor help and begged a couple ofshopkeepers to rescue him.Later, he added, some passers-by rushed to help him, follow-ing which the attackers fled.
An FIR has been registeredunder the Indian Penal Code,including Section 153A (caus-ing enmity between people ofdifferent religions), the officersaid. PTI
Mumbai: Heavy rains contin-ued to lash Mumbai and itsneighbouring areas for the sec-ond consecutive day onSaturday.
Although the rains did notmuch affect the normal life inthe city, at least five personswere injured in rain- relatedincidents, officials said.
The suburban local trains,called the lifeline of Mumbai,remained largely unaffectedand were running as per theirschedule.
However, in view of IMD'sheavy rainfall forecast, theCentral Railway (CR) can-celled some express or passen-ger trains, especially thosebetween Mumbai and Pune.
Panvel Passenger have beencancelled on Saturday andSunday. The Bhusaval-PuneExpress has been divertedthrough Daund-Manmad.
M u m b a i - B h u s a v a lPassenger will remained can-celled till July 1, it said.
According to the officialsof the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation(BMC), 39 incidents of shortcircuit, 104 incidents of uproot-ing of trees or falling of treebranches were reported fromvarious parts of the city.
Five persons were injuredin two different incidents ofwall collapse in the city, theysaid.
"While three persons wereinjured in Dadar on Friday, twoothers were injured in Govandilast night. They were treated innearby hospitals and dis-charged," they said. PTI
Lucknow: Four police person-nel were suspended on Saturdayfor allegedly torturing a 14-year-old boy at an outpost hereafter apprehending him on sus-picion of theft, officials said.
The incident came to lightwhen the family of the teenag-er -- who used to drive an e-rickshaw to help his father, alabourer -- contacted socialworkers. Pictures purportedlyshowing swelling and injurieson the child's legs were widelyshared on social media.
The boy was picked up bythe police on Thursday andtaken to the Telibagh outpostunder PGI police station fol-lowing an FIR over an e-rick-shaw theft by a suspectedteenager, an officer said.
According to his family, theboy was tortured and forced toconfess that he had committedthe crime.
Senior Superintendent of
Police (SSP) Kalanidhi Naithaniordered a probe, where it wasfound that guidelines of theJuvenile Justice (Care andProtection of Children) Actwere not followed and interro-gation was done illegally withthe teenager.
After a report was submit-ted in the evening, Naithanisuspended Telibagh outpostincharge Rajnesh Verma, headconstables Dinesh Tripathi andSandeep Singh, and anotherconstable, Rajendra Patel, thepolice said.
The SSP said swelling andwounds were found in themedical report and the familymembers could lodge an FIR ifthey wanted. PTI
3�� ��������������� ��� ������ )�������������+��� Lucknow: Congress leader
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra onSaturday hit out at the YogiAdityanath Government alleg-ing that criminals are "roamingaround freely, doing whateverthey wish" in Uttar Pradesh,drawing a quick retort from thepolice.
While the state policeclaimed a decline in crime,Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav joined her inattacking the Adityanath gov-ernment.
"The government is manip-ulating data to drive home thepoint that crime is declining,"Yadav said.
State Law Minister BrijeshPathak, when asked aboutGandhi's remarks, asserted thatsince the formation of BJP gov-ernment in the state, network ofcriminals has been broken.
Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi earlier wroteon Twitter, "In entire UttarPradesh, criminals are roamingaround freely, doing whatever
they wish. Incidents of crimecontinue to happen but it hasfallen on deaf ears of the BJPgovernment. Has the UttarPradesh government surren-dered before criminals?"
She also tagged along withher tweet news headlines of dif-ferent crime reports in thestate.
Replying to Gandhi's tweet,the state police tweeted, "UPpolice has initiated strict actionin serious crimes. In the pasttwo years, 9,925 criminals werearrested and 81 killed. In actionunder NSA (National SecurityAct), property worth �200crore was seized. There hasbeen a decline in incidents ofdacoity, murder, loot and kid-napping."
"Visible policing, strongmonitoring, effective actionagainst hardened criminals &public interaction has enabledus to win the confidence ofpeople. Crime under all majorheads is down by 20-35%. Weare committed to the safety and
security of citizens of the state,"it added.
UP minister Pathak said,"The network of criminals hasbeen broken in the state. Ourgovernment is acting tough oncriminals. There are incidentsof crime due to enmity andprompt action is taken bypolice wherever crime isreported."
Meanwhile, the SamajwadiParty chief said the state gov-ernment's claim of crime con-trol was "hollow".
"The UP government'sclaim of crime control is hol-low. Everyday loot, murderand rape is happening in thestate, but the government ismum. Police are taking law intotheir hands and harassing peo-ple," Akhilesh Yadav said.
He also alleged that ateenager accused of theft wastortured in the state capital.
"If such is the situation inLucknow, one can imagine thestate of affairs in other dis-tricts," he said. PTI
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Chennai: The Madras HighCourt has asked the TamilNadu Government not to pre-vent protests highlighting thewater woes in the State and saidit should work with organisa-tions interested in conservationof water bodies to address thesituation.
Justice N Anand Venkateshmade the observation on Fridaywhile directing the ChennaiCommissioner of Police to per-mit Arappor Iyakkam, an NGO,to hold a demonstration high-lighting the present water cri-sis in the city and the causes forit on June 30 nearValluvarkottam here.
"The issue that is sought tobe projected during protest is aburning issue about which thepeople must be made aware.The government is making allits efforts to ensure that wateris supplied to the nook and cor-ner of the city.
"However, it is important torealise as to why we havereached the present state of
affairs as a result of variouswater bodies that were allowedto be encroached in the pastand virtually destroying theecosystem," the judge said.
Noting that the issuerequires serious consideration,he said awareness must bespread in the state and that theNGO was one of the pioneersin it.
The court also said anygovernment in power shouldnever take these issues as anaffront and must make effortsto improve the situation andwork with associations that areinterested in the conservation ofwater bodies.
Awareness is the only waythrough which the situation canbe brought under control andtherefore, protests of this nature
should never be stopped, itobserved.
On June 20, the commis-sioner of police had rejected theNGO's application seeking per-mission for the protest on thegrounds that another organi-sation had sought permissionon the very same day and thatit would unnecessarily cause alaw and order problem.
Aggrieved, the petitionerapproached the high court.
Challenging the denialorder, the NGO submitted thatnone of these reasons wouldstand the test of the law. Byvirtue of being denied to con-duct the hunger strike, the fun-damental right of the petition-er for speech and expressionguaranteed by the Constitutionwas being denied, it said.
Several parts of TamilNadu, especially the state cap-ital, have been reeling undersevere water shortage since lastmonth owing to poor storage invarious reservoirs followingdeficit rainfall. PTI
Bandel/Chinsurah (WB): Alocal Trinamool Congressleader was gunned down onthe railway tracks at Bandelstation in West Bengal'sHooghly district on Saturday,police said.
Trinamool Congress has called a 12-hour shut-down in Chinsurah on Sundayin protest against the inci-dent.
Dilip Ram (40), the TMCleader who was a railwayemployee, was rushed to thenearby Chinsurah ImambaraHospital. From there he wasreferred to a hospital inKolkata, about 45 km away andhe died on the way, saidAkhilesh Chaturvedi,Commissioner ofChandernagore Police.
He was shot at when hewas on his way to catch train
to Naihati station, which isacross the Hooghly river, toreach office, the officer said.
A case of murder has beenlodged and investigation intothe incident is on, he said.
TMC has alleged involve-ment of BJP in the killing.Hooghly BJP MP LocketChatterjee and the party's statepresident Dilip Ghosh deniedit saying "cut-money" and fac-tion fight in TMC were behindthe killing.
Chinsurah TMC MLAAsit Mazumdar said Ram andwife Ritu were the main organ-isers of the party. Ram's wife isthe Bandel gram panchayathead.
Ram, he said, had receiveda number of threat calls sinceMay 23, the day the results ofthe Lok Sabha polls weredeclared. PTI
$����������� ���������4��������� ���4�+�� Ahmedabad: A multi-layered
security cordon involving25,000 personnel from differ-ent police units, CCTVs anddrone cameras has been put inplace for the 142nd LordJagannath Rath Yatra on July 4in Ahmedabad, officials saidSaturday.
The Rath Yatra will traversea distance of 14 kilometres andwill have three chariots, 19 ele-phants, 100 trucks, 30 troupesand seven motorcars.
Pradeepsinh Jadeja,Gujarat minister of state forhome, chaired a meeting to thereview the security and alsoinspected the route of the pro-cession.
He said the administrationwas fully prepared to ensure themassively-patronised eventpassed off peacefully.
The 14-kilometre has beendivided into 26 zones mannedby 37 teams of the state reservepolice apart from 15 QuickResponse Teams.
A government release said,"Over 25,000 policemen will bepart of the security arrange-ment for the procession. Itwill include eight InspectorGenerals of Police, 23 DeputyCommissioners of Police, 44Assistant Commissioners ofPolice, 119 inspectors, besidesHome Guards among others."
A team of five DCPs, fif-teen ACPs, 37 inspectors, and177 police sub inspectors,supervised by JointCommissioner of Police(Crime Branch), will beresponsible for securityarrangements when the pro-cession will be on the move,"the release informed.
It added that 94 CCTVcameras will be set up at 45points for the yatra, in additionto the ones existing across thecity.
They will be monitoredfrom control rooms set up atseven police stations, it said,adding that mini-control
rooms have been created ateight police stations along theroute. PTI KAOver 25k cops,CCTVs, drones to secure GujRath Yatra on Jul 4
Ahmedabad, Jun 29 (PTI)A multi-layered security cor-don involving 25,000 person-nel from different police units,CCTVs and drone camerashas been put in place for the142nd Lord Jagannath RathYatra on July 4 in Ahmedabad,officials said Saturday.
The Rath Yatra will traversea distance of 14 kilometres andwill have three chariots, 19 ele-phants, 100 trucks, 30 troupesand seven motorcars.
Pradeepsinh Jadeja,Gujarat minister of state forhome, chaired a meeting to thereview the security and alsoinspected the route of the pro-cession.
He said the administrationwas fully prepared to ensure themassively-patronised eventpassed off peacefully.
The 14-kilometre has beendivided into 26 zones mannedby 37 teams of the state reservepolice apart from 15 QuickResponse Teams.
A government release said,"Over 25,000 policemen will bepart of the security arrange-ment for the procession. Itwill include eight InspectorGenerals of Police, 23 DeputyCommissioners of Police, 44Assistant Commissioners ofPolice, 119 inspectors, besidesHome Guards among others."
A team of five DCPs, fifteenACPs, 37 inspectors, and 177police sub inspectors, super-vised by Joint Commissioner ofPolice (Crime Branch), will beresponsible for securityarrangements when the pro-cession will be on the move,"the release informed.
It added that 94 CCTVcameras will be set up at 45points for the yatra, in addi-tion to the ones existing acrossthe city. PTI
Chennai: The DMK onSaturday slammed the BJP-ledCentre over its "compulsoryretirement plan" for CentralGovernment employees, addingthat enough job opportunitieswere not being created for thepopulace of the country.
In an editorial in partymouthpiece 'Murasoli', theDravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK) likened issues relatedto unemployment under theBJP rule to "threats from hun-gry wolves waiting to devourtheir prey".
It said non-creation ofnew job opportunities,increase in unemploymentand not filling existing vacan-cies were the three-fold seri-ous issues on the job frontunder the BJP-led dispensa-tion.
"The central BJP govern-ment has ordered compulsoryretirement after evaluating work(eligibility) of employees whohave either put in 30 years ofservice or completed 55 years ofage," the editorial stated. PTI
Chinese President Xi Jinpingand his American coun-
terpart Donald Trump agreedon Saturday to re-launch thestalled negotiations to end thebruising trade war, according tothe Chinese state media whichsaid the US will not imposenew tariffs on imports fromChina.
The move came as Trumpheld a lengthy meeting with Xion the sidelines of the Group of20 economic summit in Osaka,Japan.
During the meeting, theUS said it will not add new tar-iffs on Chinese exports, China’sstate-run China Daily report-ed.
Trump’s assurance that nofurther tariffs would beimposed on Chinese goodshas come as a relief in China,which is reeling under contin-ued slowdown of the economy.
The negotiating teamsfrom the two countries are todiscuss specific issues, it said.
Trump said he harbours nohostility towards China andhopes for better relationsbetween the two countries,state-run Xinhua news agencyreported.
The US and China — theworld’s two largest economies— have been fighting a dam-
aging trade war over the pastyear.
Trump is demandingChina to reduce massive tradedeficit which last year climbedto over $539 billion. He has alsoasked China to workout veri-fiable measures for the protec-tion of intellectual propertyrights (IPR), technology trans-fer and more access toAmerican goods in the Chinesemarkets.
Trump has already slappeda 25 per cent tariff on $250 bil-lion in Chinese goods. Trumphas also threatened 25 per centtariffs on another $300 billionin goods from China.
China said will re-start “on
the basis of equality and mutu-al respect,” the media reported.
Special teams from boththe sides headed by high-levelofficials held 11 rounds oftalks to end the tariff war.
The feud escalated in themonths leading up to the sum-mit, after talks between the twocountries collapsed in May.
Noting that global situationand China-US relations havechanged considerably in thepast four decades since theestablishment of diplomaticrelations, Xi said that there isan unchanged fundamentalfact that cooperation will ben-efit the two nations, while con-flict will injure both sides.
India has pitched strongly todeal with fugitive economic
offenders, and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has flaggedthe issue at all global forums,the country’s Sherpa to G20Suresh Prabhu said onSaturday.
“We strongly put forwardthe need for to deal with fugi-tive economic offenders. It hasbeen a strong agenda, we havebeen working on tax evasion,corruption, economic offencesand fugitive offenders runningaway (from the country). Wehave also been very stronglychampioning this,” Prabhu tolda media conference, detailingabout the deliberations of themeeting.
He said that PrimeMinister Modi has raised theseissues at all global forums.
“We strongly feel that we asa global community must act inunison to deal with such issuesof people committing eco-nomic offences and runningaway from their national domi-cile country,” he told reporterspost G20 Sherpa’s meeting.
On the query that whyIndia didn’t join the Osaka dec-laration on digital economy,Prabhu said the reasons havebeen communicated to theJapanese Prime MinisterShinzo Abe.
But, he also clarified thatIndia strongly believes in dig-ital economy and has takenhost of measures, including ahuge number of bank accountsto thrust its digital agenda.
“India has a very massiveprogramme on digital transac-tions. We have opened bankaccounts of a large number ofpeople. Many transactions arehappening through the digitalforms,” he said.
al economy, leaders of thegroup of 20 major economiesSaturday called for a free andstable trade environment andreform of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO).
The G20 bloc said it willplay a lead role in the globalefforts to prevent fight againstcorruption by denying safehaven to persons sought forcorruption and “work moreclosely” on asset recovery coop-eration.
The group also agreed toapply the recently amendedFinancial Action Task Force(FATF) Standards to virtualassets and related providers foranti-money laundering andcountering financing of ter-rorism.
���� '1�6��-
India has made a strong pitchfor the export of its high
quality and organically-culti-vated tobacco to China, hometo 350 million smokers, theworld’s largest.
A delegation of IndianTobacco Board (ITB) led by itsChairperson K Sunitha heldtalks with Zhang Jianmin, ChiefCommissioner of State TobaccoMonopoly Administration(STMA) on Friday and madeout a case for China to open itsmarket for import of tobaccofrom India, a Press releaseissued by the Indian Embassyhere said on Saturday.
emission norms from Aprilnext year as “joker in the pack”,Bajaj Auto Ltd has cautionedthat there could be dumping ofold BS-IV stock in the domes-tic market, triggering an“unwarranted price war” inthe second half of the ongoingfiscal.
In its Annual Report for2018-19, the Pune-based firmsaid while its motorcycles,three-wheelers and quadricy-cles will be “fully BS-VI com-pliant not just on April 1, 2020but some months earlier, it isdifficult to anticipate the stateof BS VI readiness of our com-petitors”.
“For the industry as awhole, we believe that the jokerin the pack will be the toughBharat Stage VI, or BS VI,emission norms that will come into play from1 April 2020,” the company wrote to its share-holders.
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Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreedto extend a deal to keep
oil production low owing toabundant world supplies,President Vladimir Putinsaid on Saturday.
“We will extend thisdeal, Russia and SaudiArabia. For how long? Wewill think about that. For six or ninemonths. It is possible that it could beup to nine months,” Putin told reportersafter a G20 summit in Osaka.
The OPEC cartel and its oil-pro-ducer nation allies opted in Decemberto trim daily crude output by 1.2 mil-
lion barrels.The Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries, a cartel of 14countries pumping one thirdof the world’s oil, is holdinga high-stakes meeting inVienna on Tuesday.
The meeting comesagainst a background ofample global crude supplies,according to both the cartel
and the International Energy Agency(IEA).
The Paris-based IEA watchdoghas cut its forecast for 2019 oil demand-growth for a second straight month andhas also trimmed its second-quarterforecast.
The new GST return filingsystem will enable traders
to file returns in a single formatonce a month instead of mul-tiple formats, Bihar DeputyChief Minister Sushil Modi,who heads the GoM to lookinto revenue shortfall after theGoods and Services Tax roll-out said on Saturday.
Dubbing the new system asGST-2, Modi said the GSTcouncil has decided that thenew filing system would belaunched from October 1 thisyear.
The deadline for imple-mentation of the new systemfor small taxpayers is January1, 2020 whereas for big tax-payers above �5 crore,it isOctober 1, 2019, he said,adding the prototype of the fil-ing system will be made avail-able Monday.
New forms, “Sahaj” and“Sugam”, have been developed for different class oftraders, Modi told reportershere.
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State-owned BSNL on Saturdaycleared June salary of all its employ-
ees, while it awaits clearance of around�14,000 crore in dues from the telecomdepartment.
“BSNL has cleared salary paymentsof all employees for June from internal
accruals of about �2,000 crore,” anofficial source, who did not wish to benamed, told PTI.
The company has cleared around Rs750 crore for salaries, paid interest ofaround �800 crore on loans and rest ofthe funds have been approved for oper-ational expenses like electricity billpayments, partial dues of vendors etc.
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The Statistics Ministry onSaturday launched India’s
first Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDG) dashboard totrack the country’s progress onthe Agenda 2030 adopted bythe United Nations.
The SDG dashboard is aunique, searchable platform,which provides data andinsights on how the country isprogressing on the SDGs. It hasbeen launched on the occasionof National Statistics Day today.
The dashboard will beIndia’s official data repositoryof the National IndicatorFramework on SDGs, thecountry’s largest monitoringframework with 306 statisticalindicators, the Ministry ofStatistics and ProgrammeImplementation said.
Developed in partnershipwith the UN in India, DFIDIndia and data intelligencefirm Social Cops, the dash-board is a first of its kindnational platform that pullstogether reliable data fromover 100 different data sets,portals and sectors.
US President Donald Trumpon Saturday invited North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un tomeet for a historic handshakeat the demilitarised zone thatdivides the Korean peninsula,and said he would have “noproblem” stepping over theborder.
The invitation issued onTwitter caught observers bysurprise. If Kim accepts, itwould be the third meeting
between the leaders of the twowartime enemies amid effortsto contain North Korea’snuclear ambitions.
The North’s official KCNAnews agency quoted ViceForeign Minister Choe SonHui as saying the offer was “avery interesting suggestion”but that no official requesthad been received.
Trump lobbed the shockinvitation on Twitter from theG20 summit in Osaka, saying:“if Chairman Kim of North
Korea sees this, I would meethim at the Border/DMZ just toshake his hand and sayHello(?)!” He later said hewould have “no problem” step-ping into the North with Kim-- in what would be a dramat-ic gesture re-enacting an extraordinary 2018 scene when the young leader invitedSouth Korean President Moon Jae-in to walk over theMilitary Demarcation Line thatforms the border between theKoreas.
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Russian President VladimirPutin fired a new
broadside against Western lib-eralism on Saturday, sayingthat policies such as welcomingmigrants have hurt people'sinterests.
Speaking after the Groupof 20 summit in Osaka, Japan,Putin charged that DonaldTrump's victory in the 2016U.S. Presidential election and adrop of popularity of tradi-tional parties in Europe havebeen rooted in growing publicdismay with mainstream liberalpolicies.
He said Trump's electionvictory was driven by growingdisenchantment with liberalpolicies.
"The liberal idea has start-ed eating itself," Putin said at anews conference.
"Millions of people livetheir lives, and those whopropagate those ideas are sep-
arate from them." He also charged that the
influx of migrants to Europehas infringed on people's rights.
"People live in their owncountry, according to theirown traditions, why should ithappen to them?" Putin said.
The Russian leader addedthat while "liberal ideas remainattractive as a whole," electionresults show that people wantchange.
Putin hailed his meetingwith Trump on Friday on thesidelines of the G-20 summit as"business-like and pragmatic."
"We addressed almost theentire list of issues of mutualconcern," he said.
"Of course, we talked aboutthe situation in various parts ofthe world. Overall, these con-sultations were useful." He saidthe claims of Russian meddlingin the U.S. Election were partof the agenda of his talk withTrump.
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German Chancellor AngelaMerkel said on Saturday
that the G20 would sign asimilar deal on climate changeto that agreed at the last meet-ing in Argentina, where theUnited States was isolated.
“We will have a similar textto Argentina. A 19+1 declara-tion,” Merkel told reporters onthe sidelines of a G20 meetingin Osaka.
At the G20 meeting inBuenos Aires in December2018, leaders whose countrieshad signed up to the Parisagreement seeking to limit cli-mate change declared theaccord “irreversible” and com-mitted to its “full implementa-tion”.
However, the United Statesat the time said it “reiterates itsdecision to withdraw from theParis Agreement” and “affirmsits strong commitment to eco-nomic growth and energyaccess and security”.
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Afghan officials say a Talibanattack against pro-
Government forces has killed atleast 25 in the northernprovince of Baghlan.
District chief FazeluddinMuradi says that the insurgents’attack also wounded at leasteight pro-government fight-ers, during several hours of bat-tle late Friday in the area ofNahrin.
A police official, who wasnot authorized to speak on theissue, confirmed the high deathtoll.
Taliban did not immedi-ately claim the attack, butrecently the militant group hasstepped up its offensive againstAfghan security forces.
The US is openingSaturday in Qatar a fresh roundof peace talks with the militantsto end the country’s long-run-ning civil war.
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Islamabad: Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan is sched-uled to visit the US on July 20during which he would holdface-to-face talks with USPresident Donald Trump for thefirst time, according to a mediareport.
The visit, originally plannedin June, was postponed becauseof prime minister Khan’s priordomestic engagements, espe-cially due to federal budget2019. Khan would begin hisfive-day trip from July 20 dur-ing which he would hold firstface-to-face talks with Trump,official sources confirmed to theExpress Tribune paper onFriday. Foreign Minister ShahMehmood Qureshi on Thu-rsday told reporters that a meet-ing between Prime MinisterKhan and Trump was expectedsoon. He, however, did not sh-are the date of the visit. PTI
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An open-source investigationhas found that a top Russian
military intelligence officer coor-dinated last year’s Salisburychemical attack from a Londonhideout using his phone and afew messaging apps.
The award-winning web-site Bellingcat said late Fridaythat its joint analysis with theBBC helps establish the com-mand structure Moscow’s GRUnetwork of foreign agents usedto poison former Russian spySergei Skripal and conduct otherattacks. London and Washingtonidentify the GRU as Russia’smain security threat to Westerninterests abroad.
Russia denies involvement inthe Skripal case and calls otherallegations against the GRU --including its attempted hackingof the world’s chemical weaponswatchdog in The Hague last year-- politically motivated.
The findings “shed light on
the likely chain of command forthis (and other) GRU overseasoperations, with one coordinat-ing senior officer communicat-ing with headquarters inMoscow while the team on theground receive limited to no newinstructions,” the Bellingcatreport said. “Evidence obtainedby us on other internationaloperations involving the sameteam suggests that this is a sta-ble GRU operational model.”Britain’s Metropolitan Police saidit could not comment on an“ongoing investigation”.
British officials have identi-fied the two Russians suspectedof delivering the nerve agent toSalsbury as GRU agentsAlexander Mishkin and AnatolyChepiga. Both men enteredBritain using false passports andwere captured on CCTV footagewalking around the southernEnglish town shortly beforeSkripal and his daughter Yuliawere found slumped over on apark bench.
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The US has deployed F-22stealth fighters to Qatar
for the first time, its militarysaid on Friday, adding to abuildup of US forces in the Gulfamid tensions with Iran.
The Air Force F-22 Raptorstealth fighters have beendeployed “to defend Americanforces and interests,” the US AirForces Central MilitaryCommand said in a statementthat did not specify how manyof the hi-tech planes had beensent.
A photo handout showedfive of the jets flying above theAl Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
Tehran and Washingtonhave been locked in an esca-lating standoff since USPresident Donald Trump uni-laterally withdrew from amulti-party 2015 nuclear deal
with Iran and reimposed sanc-tions on the Islamic republic.
Tensions spiked lastweek when Iran shot down aUS drone over sensitive Gulfwaters following a series oftanker attacks that Washingtonblamed on Tehran, which hasdenied involvement.
Since then the arch-foeshave been locked in a war ofwords, which escalated thisweek when Trump announcednew sanctions against Iran’ssupreme leader Ayatollah AliKhamenei and ForeignMinister Mohammad JavadZarif.
Iran has threatened toabandon some of its commit-ments under the nuclear dealunless the remaining partners— Britain, China, France,Germany and Russia — help itcircumvent US sanctions andespecially sell its oil.
The United States and theTaliban opened fresh nego-
tiations in Doha on Saturday, aTaliban spokesman said, asWashington eyes a breakthrough beforeAfghanistan’s September pres-idential election.
Taliban spokesmanZabiullah Mujahid tweeted thatthe “seventh round of talksbetween US representativesand the negotiation team of theIslamic Emirate have begun inDoha”.
The talks mark the seventhround of negotiations aimed atending America’s longest war.
They kicked off in theQatari capital just as newsbroke that at least 25 pro-gov-ernment militiamen were killedin a Taliban attack in northernAfghanistan.
The attack happened inNahrin district of northern
Baghlan province before dawnwhen the militia membersattempted to rescue a group ofsoldiers surrounded by Talibanmilitants.
A potential deal would seethe US agree to withdraw itstroops after more than 17 yearsin Afghanistan, in return forthe Taliban guaranteeing thecountry never again becomes asafe haven for violent extrem-ist groups, as was the case withAl-Qaeda before the September11, 2001 attacks.
The negotiations have centred on four issues: counter-terrorism, the foreign trooppresence, an intra-Afghan dia-logue and a permanent cease-fire.
US officials have previ-ously said they are hoping fora deal before the upcomingAfghan presidential elections,which have already beendelayed twice and are now setfor September.
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Over 7,500 children havebeen killed or wounded in
Yemen in the last 5 1/2 years asa result of airstrikes, shelling,fighting, suicide attacks, minesand other unexploded ord-nance, according to a UNReport released on Friday.
The report by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saidthe killings and injuries wereamong 11,779 grave violationsagainst children during theperiod between April 1, 2013and Dec. 31, 2018.
It said the figures are like-ly to be worse because moni-toring Yemen has becomeincreasingly difficult.
The conflict in the Arabworld’s poorest country beganwith the 2014 takeover ofYemen’s capital Sanaa byIranian-backed Houthi Shiiterebels, who toppled the gov-ernment of Abed RabboMansour Hadi.
A Saudi-led coalition alliedwith Yemen’s internationallyrecognized government hasbeen fighting the Houthis since2015.
Saudi-led airstrikes have hitschools, hospitals and wed-ding parties. The Houthis haveused drones and missiles toattack Saudi Arabia and havetargeted vessels in the RedSea.
Civilians have borne thebrunt of the conflict, which haskilled thousands of people,created the world’s worsthumanitarian crisis, andbrought Yemen to the brink offamine.
Virginia Gamba, the U.N.Special representative for chil-dren in conflict, said that whilesome positive measures havebeen adopted by the warringparties, “the suffering of chil-dren in Yemen has worsenedduring the reporting period,becoming simply appalling.”
“The children of Yemenhad nothing to do with the
start of this conflict,” she said.“They should now be given theopportunity to exit from itand be assisted to fully recov-er.”
Gamba called on all partiesto the conflict and those whocan influence them to “priori-tise peace and actively engagein the ongoing peace negotia-tions.”
According to the report,the largest number of violationsagainst children in the 5 1/2years were the 7,508 youngsterswho were verified to have beenkilled or maimed.
The recruitment and use of3,034 children by the warringparties — including 1,940 bythe Houthis and 274 by thegovernment — was the secondlargest violation, it said.
The report also said 340boys were verified to havebeen detained for their actualor alleged association with thewarring parties.
It said only 11 incidents ofrape and sexual violence were
verified, explaining that thenumber remains under-report-ed “mainly for fear of stigma-tization and lack of appropri-ate response services.”
The verification of abduc-tions of children was also lim-ited during the reporting peri-od, with just 17 verified inci-dents, it said.
The report said the numberof children denied access tohumanitarian assistance sharplyincreased over the 5 1/2 years,“with catastrophic conse-quences.” It said the U.N.Verified 828 incidents where aidwas denied. The secretary-gen-eral’s second report on childrenin Yemen’s conflict also notedthat attacks on schools and hos-pitals remained high, with 345of the 381 that were verifiedcausing the partial or totaldestruction of the building.
Of “great concern,” thereport said, is the verified mil-itary use of 258 schools, whichis higher than the 244 schoolsthat were attacked.
When India meetEngland atEdgbaston today,there will be a
strange, never-before conflu-ence of support propelling theMen in Blue, oh, should we saythe Men in Saffron this time!Besides of course the 1.4 billionIndians, the entire sub-conti-nent will be cheering for Kohliand his men, including frac-tious neighbour Pakistan,Bangladesh and even the SriLankans.
That’s what permutationsand last-ditch attempts to getinto the knockouts do to you,if you have been unprofes-sional and doubtful starters.England’s loss means Pakistan,Lanka and Bangladesh get achance to play and live anoth-er day in the tournament.
Also, the sun will be shin-ing bright on Team India’sflamingo orange jersey in moreways than one. The tempera-ture will be 21 degrees, warm-ing up the cockles of Indianspinners and leaving theEnglish in the middle of veryun-English cricketing condi-tions, considering they will befighting to stay in the tourna-ment in a Cup considered theirsafest bet to lift the trophy;considering they are vulnera-ble to intelligent spin and con-sidering the wicket might bequite a head turner for them intheir pressure moment.
Adding to that, the chirpand the atmosphere outside ofthe middle has been and willcontinue to be electric, eggingon the Indian team whatevercolour intrudes on the blue onthe field for the day. All this istalk of colour, of sub-continen-tal support, of stand mechan-ics are welcome decoration, butonly for the outdoors.
Inside the Indian dressingroom, the task is cut out andKohli says there is no room forcomplacency, stressing thatevery individual will be doingthe job as assigned, nothingless, and definitely nothingmore.
Steering pressure on a badday is key to victories, he adds,and if you go by how theIndian campaign has pannedout in the last five games, it’s
been handled well. Englandskipper Eoin Morgan cannotagree more on the pressurepoint seeking some tips for histeam in this segment.
The Indian wins have beenclinical and measured to thepoint of becoming repetitive instyle and structure. Steer awaythe first 10 overs, then try tobuild-up, keep reassessing thecompetitive score as per anevolving pitch condition andlast, but not least, unleash the
pacers and spinners on theopposition to take care of therest.
They have so far staved offthe first 10 overs withoutgame-changing losses as theyhave the growing talk of a brit-tle middle, the slimness ofVijay Shankar’s contributionafter his first match burst andthe strange inertia that hasgripped MS Dhoni in rotatingthe strike when there is needto.
Kohli, however, smilesaway all the external concernsaying the dressing room issupportive of not just Shankarwho went down to a beautyagainst the West Indies, butalso Dhoni who, he feels, hasearned the carte blanche tobuild his innings as, how andwhen he likes. “He knows whathe is doing and we are prettysupportive of him,” he stressed.
Build Dhoni did but onlyin the last over against the WestIndies, giving India a winningtotal with 16 runs in six balls.Going into the business districtof World Cup however, themiddle needs to be sounderthan it is or has been for a longtime, especially when ShikharDhawan has fractured out ofthe tournament and KL Rahulthough solid is no firing run-machine all bats loaded.
England, on the otherhand, despite Root, Stokes,Morgan and Roy, have sudden-ly turned coy thanks to twodefeats pushing them into a dif-ficult survival drill, Ben Stokes“we will keep the trophy home”campaign notwithstanding.Their build-ups, especiallyagainst Afghanistan, have van-
ished from fable talk and leftthem to fend for themselves,that too with the onerous andpressure exploding task of fac-ing the striding tournamentfavourites India. Roy’s fitnesswill take the final test on matchmorning and their lead pace-man Joffrey Archer would notbe in unless he is 100 per cent.
Hundred per cent, sadly forthe hosts, is right now anIndian spice in the tourna-ment, howsoever queasy theirmiddle may turn out to be inthe coming days.
�=����India: Virat Kohli (captain),Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, VijayShankar, Kedar Jadhav, MSDhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya,Kuldeep Yadav, YuzvendraChahal, Mohammed Shami,Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant,Dinesh Karthik, BhuvneshwarKumar and Ravindra Jadeja.England: Eoin Morgan (cap-tain), James Vince, JonnyBairstow (wk), Joe Root, BenStokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali,Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, ChrisWoakes, Jofra Archer, JasonRoy, Liam Plunkett, TomCurran and Liam Dawson.
It was a bit of changed for-mat for the Press confer-
ence at the Edgbaston CricketGround today with the cap-tains of both the teams beingintroduced to the media by acherubic 11-year-old Edward,all dressed up in cricketingformals and sporting a veryEnglish accent. “Hello every-one. We’re the PlaygroundPundits, and we’re takingover tomorrow’s (today)match to help raise money forchildren. I’ll be your mediamanager. I’m very excited tointroduce India's captainVirat Kohli,” handing over themic to his colleague Neha.
Three cricket-playingschool children, selectedthrough online question-
naires and interviews all overEngland, kicked off the pre-match Press conference to asktheir own pertinent ques-tions. They were part of ICC’sCricket for Good campaign
in partnership with UNICEF,the ‘One Day 4 Children’aims at uniting fans to ensurethat children across the worldhave the chance to play, learnand be healthy with unique
activations. Throwing thefirst question at skipper Kohli,Neha a Class V student fromHaywood, a London suburb,asked: “Are you and theIndian team excited fortomorrow’s (today) match?”Kohli, despite an indulgentsmile on his face, answered inall earnestness: “Yes, Neha.Thank you for the lovelyquestion. We are excited. It'sa very special occasion, thefirst time that it’s been done,and we’re very proud thatwe’re a part of such a specialgame and I hope all of you areexcited to watch as well.”
Both the teams will besporting jerseys with theOneDay4Children logoembossed on them for the bigmatch.
The money raised
through #OneDay4Childrenwill support UNICEF’s workfor children in cricket playingnations across the world, withmany projects using theunique power of cricket todeliver these objectives. Eoinwas at the end of a pointedone from Rudra: “Hello, Eoin.How do you prepare yourEngland side for as big amatch as tomorrow’s(today)?” he asked. “I think,when you’re preparing for agame like tomorrow, youtend to call on previous occa-sions when you’ve played theteam that you’re going toplay the following day. Yougain confidence or look atstrengths, the positive thingsthat have happened, and lookforward to the game ahead,”Morgan told him.
The last exciting job Jacquie did wasto stenograph OJ Simpson’s trial.
Some years down the line, this 50-year-old mother of four all the wayfrom the American East Coast, isdoing cricket as no other can do. Shehas been staring down the skippersand the talkers at Press conferenceswhile she notes down every singleword on her stenograph machine tosimultaneously transcribe it on hercomputer into long words which isthen posted on the media zone of theICC for journalists to get all the tran-scripts in not more than 15 minutesafter the conference is over. Now thatis quick, actually pretty quick, if youknow how good an American can bewith cricketing talk! “New Zealand’sNeesham was quite a double wham-my for me. First his accent went overmy head and then the cricket termi-nology! The question was about
something like deep backward squareleg and I was like Where is that!,” shetells you with a laugh. On a more seri-ous note, this is her second cricket-ing assignment, the first being theChampions Trophy in 2017 duringwhich time she laboriously learnt theterminologies of a game quite alien tothe Americans. She is here on assign-ment from ASAP Sports, a sportstranscription company hired by theICC for this World Cup, which oth-erwise is big time into tennis grandslam transcriptions. “CT was a trialand doing cricket is fun. But I havestudied to be a court reporter andworked as the court steno for 11 years.I stenographed the OJ Simpson civiltrial. He was so creepily friendly andeveryone liked him so much but thereis no doubt in my mind that he didit,” she insists all these years after hehas been acquitted. “Though by thetime the civil trial started there waslot more to suggest you know… but
he got away as he had already hiddenall his millions,” she says. Murder tri-als, general crime, personal injury andmedical stuff have all gone on recordthrough her speed-breaking typingskills. But her favourite are collegesports in the US. “Well in collegesports back home, you hate moreteams than you like, like it is in crick-et rivalries,” she says, insisting that the“sweet Afghans” got a real raw dealfrom India after having them by thecollar! On the work front, Jacquie hasbought a computer software whichcost her $6,000. It transcribes hershorthand into longhand and alsodoes the required corrections withinseconds. Sanjay Bangar was quite dif-ficult to understand accent wise, shesays, adding that all the other Indianplayers have been, well, understand-able. So, is she here for the Final atLord’s? “No, no I am super bombed,I am not doing the Final,” she sayswith regret and a wink to follow.
Even though the stands will be bleedingblue when India plays England today,
Team India will be sporting the orange-navyblue jersey and captain Kohli quite likes it.“I quite like it. For me, it’s right up there.For me, it would be an 8 (on 10),” he saidto bit of disbelief and general laughter in thePress room. “Honestly, I'm not saying it forthe sake of it. I really like it because it looksnice. The contrast is really nice. The fit isgreat. It's a nice change,” he insisted. Afterfinishing his pre-match Press conference atthe Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Kohliunveiled the new jersey which has been thetalk of the nation, fuelling up saffron dis-cussions and nays with national headlines.Even for Kohli though, it looked good onlyfor one-time usage. “For one game, it’s fine.I don’t think permanently we’ll be headingin that direction because blue has alwaysbeen our colour, and we’re very proud towear that. For a change and looking at theoccasion, I think it’s a very, very smart kit,”he added after holding it up for the lensmenand then saying it looks as if “I am here towash it.” The deep blue part in the front hasbeen elevated to navy blue with some brightorange, but the back is entirely saffron.
September 19, 2007: India v England atKingsmead, Durban. India batting first,penultimate over with Yuvraj Singh onstrike. Ball 1: “That’s huge! That is a big-gie. It’s out of here! Into orbit. Even
bringing smoke in the clouds this. I think thosefew words with Flintoff just charged him up a
bit.” Ball 2: “Six more! Just aflick of the wrist, and awayshe goes into the crowd.Consecutive sixes here forthe left hander. Just a flick,nothing more. Look out inthe crowd, it’s coming again!”Ball 3: “This is in the airagain, clears long off, three ina row! Yuvraj doing to Broadwhat Dimitri Mascarenhasdid to him at the Oval. It’s
raining sixes here at the Kingsmead. Look at thetechnique. Right foot out of the way, full swingof the bat. Yuvraj 32 from nine deliveries. 6,6,6and its balle balle in the crowd.”
Ball 4: “It’s four in a row! 24 off the firstfour balls. England are having a conferencemeeting! They’re in bits!” Ball 5: “Five! Yes!Thirty with one ball to go. Could he make it sixout of six?” Ball 6: “And he’s put it away!!! Orhas he? Yes! Into the crowd! Six sixes in anover!” Yuvraj Singh finishes things off in style.The first time it’s happened in Twenty20; 50 off12 deliveries. Are you kidding me?
Cut to June 10, 2019: Yuvraj has announcedhis retirement from all forms of internationalcricket. It’s the end of an era. For millennials likeme, who grew up watching Yuvraj Singh eversince that NatWest series final (2002). For mil-lennials like me growing up in the noughties,Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni were the pin-upboys, not Virat Kohli or even Rahul Dravid(largely speaking). Sachin Tendulkar was God,of course, but if anyone came close to being themost gifted mortal it was the curly haired kingfrom Punjab called Yuvraj Singh.
He could flick Brett Lee effortlessly overdeep fine leg for a six. He could square cutStuart Broad over deep backward point for a sixand make it look like child’s play. He could takediving catches like Jonty Rhodes at point andexplode like Adam Gilchrist in PowerPlay. Hecould deceive you with his lazy left arm ortho-dox spin or catch you leg before wicket with afaster one. He could break partnerships, hecould certainly make partnerships. He couldwin you matches single-handedly. He could winyou tournaments, performing outstandingly. Hecould leave you speechless with the catches hetook. He could leave you delirious with therecords he broke. He gave you memories for alifetime. He gave you six sixes to cherish, hemade Team India’s trophy cabinet more embell-ished. There was nothing he couldn’t do. Therewas nothing he didn’t do. There was nothing hedidn’t achieve. There was nothing he couldn’tachieve after winning Man of the Tournamentin both the Under 19 and adult versions of theWorld Cup (2000 and 2011).
But right there, right then, fate played a cruelhand and brought him back to his knees. Literally.Puking blood in the midst of an innings and stillcarrying on. Still carrying the nation on his shoul-ders. Emerging victorious. But the cancer hadstarted to show its signs and symptoms. It wasduring the time of the World Cup when he wouldwake up in the middle of the night and find it dif-ficult to breathe and used to cough immensely.After the World Cup, a scan of his chest cavityrevealed a tumor but he couldn’t believe it andwent into denial. He ignored it as it meant leavingcricket, so he kept playing matches.
After the tumor grew, he went to variousdoctors and tried different treatments. He wasmisdiagnosed and that worsened the extrago-nadal mediastinal seminoma, with the tumorlocated between his heart and left lung, and itgrew about 14 centimetres like a ball over hischest. But he hit that too right out of the ballpark. He underwent chemotherapy for his germcell cancer that was benign and 100 per centcurable. But even so, being inflicted with a dis-ease just when you’re at the top of the worldand at the peak of your abilities would leaveanyone with a sense of injustice and question-ing God and his mysterious ways. But he cameout of it stronger and more resilient. He evenscored the highest score of his one-day interna-tional career after this phase — 150 off 127balls against England in 2017, a knock thatincluded 21 fours and three sixes. He put on256 runs for the fourth wicket along withDhoni and was named the Man of the Match.
Following the match, Yuvraj revealed he hadthought of quitting afterhaving been droppedfrom the team. Hesaid, “When I cameback from cancer,it was hard work. Iwas not performingafter being dropped;I thought whether Iwant to continue or not.” Hewas selected to play in theChampions Trophy 2017. Heplayed a scintillating knock of 53against Pakistan and won Man of theMatch. However, owing to the failure inclearing the infamous ‘Yo Yo Test’, he wasdropped from the squad before the tour ofSri Lanka in August 2017, which endedhis international career.
He may not have set the worldalight again or performed outstand-ingly after recovering from cancer,but he made a fairly reasonablecomeback throwing back theyears with some of his vintageknocks. Right after winninghis battle with cancer, hemade his comeback in theIndian team in a Twenty20match against New Zealandshortly before the 2012 WorldT20. He ended up being the
highest wicket taker for India in the T20 WorldCup 2012. He was later selected for the India-Pakistan series in which he scored a blistering72 off just 36 balls in the second T20.
In 2013, he established a cancer foundationcalled ‘YouWeCan’ through which he strives tocreate awareness about cancer and fight the stig-ma attached to it. He stresses the need for earlydetection of cancer which paves the way for bet-ter prognosis, recovery or even cure. As per theWorld Health Organization (WHO), earlydetection of cancer significantly increases thechances for successful treatment, improving thesurvival chances of patients. Increased aware-ness of possible warning signs of cancer isimperative. In his words, “Cancer does notmean death. Don’t be scared. Be positive. Pleasedon’t think that your life is about to end. Takethe right advice and act as soon as you can. Ifthere’s an issue in your system, don’t ignore it.Look at me, I never thought I’d get the chance toplay for India again, but I’ve beaten cancer. Godhas given me this opportunity and my love forcricket has brought me back. I see this alone as ahuge achievement. The experience has made mestronger (in the mind). If you’re strong, thenyou automatically become a positive person.Cancer doesn’t mean that you’re going to die.”
Talking about his love for cricket, anotherless talked about dynamic in the
making of Yuvraj, the phenom-enon, is his love-hate rela-tionship with the sport andhis relationship with hisfather, Yograj Singh, a Ranjiplayer, who played one Testmatch and six ODI matchesfor India. Yograj Singh want-ed his unfulfilled dreams tobe fulfilled through the handsof his son. Like a typical
Indian ambitious parent, heunduly forced cricket upon
Yuvraj who derived happinessfrom skating and won medals in
that. But his father, after learningthat, took his medals and skates
and threw them in the dustbin. From then on, Yuvraj’s path
was etched out. But unlike mostpeople who are forced into acareer not of their choice, heworked hard, excelled in it and
made it big, making innumerablesacrifices along the way as his father toldhim to. He followed a strict regimen andstuck to his aim of becoming a cricketer.While having an authoritarian father from
the same field has its disadvantages, it also hasits advantages as you evolve quicker and learn todo things the right way at an early age. Yuvrajwas subjected to rigorous practice and specifictraining in his backyard, targeting his weak-ness of bouncers. He said, “I love cricketbecause it has given me everything. But atthe same time, I also hate it because it hasbeen very tough on me mentally.”
The name Yuvraj Singh will foreverremain synonymous with six sixes. His jerseynumber might be 12 but he will forever beremembered for number 36. The six sixesagainst probably one of the best bowlers atthat time were significant in more ways thanone. Consider the translation of the phrase,“Hitting someone for a six” or chakke chhu-daana. “Angrezon ke chakke chhudaana” takeson a whole new meaning if you consider itfrom a historical perspective. Literally, itmeant the world to us Indians even if most ofus didn’t realise what it meant symbolically.To do that against the inventors of the gameand the oppressors of our motherland wasbeautiful to watch and cathartic in many ways.This was Lagaan happening in real life (whichwas itself loosely based on real life events).
Yuvraj has no regrets regarding his cricketcareer, though Test cricket will always be afrontier he wished he had crossed more often.He counts his first Test 100 among the top threemoments of his career alongside the six sixesand 2011 World Cup, which goes to show howmuch he valued Test cricket. “Looking back,starting my first innings in 2000 againstAustralia in the Champions Trophy, that’s 17years of international cricket, and on and off, 25years of playing cricket,” he said. “I don’t thinkyou can ask for more than that. In time, youhave to decide what’s the best time to move on.Looking back at my career, it’s been amazing.”
And amazing it sure has been. Etched incricket folklore for those towering six sixes,record holder of the fastest T20 fifty, first all-rounder to score 300-plus runs and take 15wickets in a single World Cup, Man of theTournament in the ICC Cricket World Cup2011, Arjuna awardee, Padma Shri awardee,and many more. I’m sure he must sit back andreminisce about his roller-coaster journey andcome to the conclusion, which everyone comesto after a certain point of time in their lives.C’est la vie. Such is life. You cannot be savedfrom the bad times. You must not be proudduring the good times. You cannot give up inthe worst times. You must make the most ofyour best times. You must do something thatpeople remember you for even when you’relong gone. You must tell them how to not giveup when the trying period is long drawn.
You must show them how you went in as acharcoal and came out a diamond. You mustshow them the cards you were dealt and howyou played the hand. You must tell them all youcan. You must tell them everything as it is.Because only then will they be your true fan.Only then will they follow you outside the sportyou played. When you’ve stopped playing forwhat was not even one-third of your lifespan.Only then will they tell their children to lookup to you as a true role model — both on andoff the field. To never give up when life throwsyou a curveball, a yorker, and a bouncer all atthe same time. To keep you in mind and say tothemselves, “If You Can. We Can.”
Hiring trends are more dynam-ic than ever before acrossIndia and globally as well.
The statistics bear this out too. Today,a person’s gender, ethnicity, which partof the world he or she comes from,and age are less relevant to employ-ers. Detractors may object to this, say-ing that in the United States, if a can-didate with a white sounding namesubmits a resume, he or she is 75 percent more likely to receive a call backthan someone with an Asian sound-ing name who submits an identicalresume. They may also say that whena candidate with a white soundingname submits a resume, he or she is50 per cent more likely to receive a callback than a candidate who submits anidentical resume except that it has ablack sounding name. We don’t denythese statistics, but we know that tech-nology is being used to overcome suchunconscious biases, if any.
��� ��� ����9�����Several human resource departmentsare adopting the ‘blind hiring technol-ogy’ these days. There are clear advan-tages of using this technology, one ofwhich is that it prevents unconsciousbias from distorting the hiring process.Why is this good? The simple answeris that when unconscious bias isabsent during recruitment, the processis fairer and leads to the best persongetting the job. And when the personwho is best qualified for a job isappointed, the organisation benefits.Blind hiring technology isn’t the onlyone redesigning traditional hiring. Akey technology, Artificial Intelligence(AI), is helping HR departmentsmake the best hiring decisions andmanage employees better.
�������� ���������Unless you’ve spent the past decade ona deserted island, you know AI willcontinue playing a big role in every-day lives. The potential of the technol-ogy is a mere fraction of that seentoday. Its potential applications in HRare immense. Human resource fordecades was a soft discipline, but now,it is being aided by AI to make smarthiring decisions and helping employ-ers manage employees.
Consider that AI is being used tospot patterns that help employersmanage attrition. Clearly, every HRdepartment wants to ensure it retainsthe best talent, and by using AI, it cando so. AI is sophisticated enoughtoday to identify an employee who isconsidering leaving his or her employ-er. This is allowing the HR to inter-vene if necessary and ensure they’reable to retain their best talent.Technologies that anticipate humanaction using big data have crossed therealm of fiction into reality. Butthere’s much more.
AI is also being used to conductbackground verification. This meanseven small businesses, that couldn’totherwise afford costly extensivebackground checks, can use AI to doso. When every business, regardless ofits size, is able to do a backgroundcheck on prospective employees, itsodds of hiring dependable employeesgrow significantly. Dependableemployees are unlikely to commitfraud against employers and will like-ly work hard as well. But that’s not all!A third way AI is helping HR depart-ments is by providing insights thathelp spot anomalies. Because anom-alies are unusual and have an extreme-ly low probability of occurring, spot-ting them in a timely manner willavert disaster and create opportunities.
Employees are using AI to helpwith commonplace HR functions.They pose questions to AI that other-wise would have been asked to HR per-sonnel. This is reducing the HR’s bur-den and making internal processessmoother. Human resources relation-
ship with AI isn’t restricted to manag-ing existing employees. AI is helpingwith recruitment as well. AI recruitersare taking charge by conducting inter-views. Unilever is already using AI torecruit entry-level employees. Themethodology employed by Unileverensures that after several interviewrounds with AI only, the most quali-fied candidates appear for face-to-faceinterviews with human recruiters.
������������������54�6Increasingly, a modern HR depart-ment is playing an intimate role inemployees’ lives. Employee engage-ment, as highlighted by an industrystudy, is on the rise. The study
revealed that 57 per cent of HRemployees believe employee engage-ment helps retain productive staff. Soaside from recruitment, the HR’s rolewithin organisations is expanding tonurturing interpersonal relation-ships as well. This year, businesses areexpected to increase spending onemployee engagement by a whopping45 per cent. Companies have alsolearned how to use their workforcein a more agile manner. How, youask? They have realised that retrain-ing employees creates a greater ROIthan hiring new employees. So thisyear, more of them will re-trainemployees for new roles rather thanreplace them with new ones.
The word ‘freelancing’ is heardevery day and its possibilities aren’t loston employers. They have recognisedthe benefits of creating flexible work-ing relationships with freelancers. So,expect many more employees to free-lance this year and in the years ahead.Consequently, to many workers, theattractiveness of freelancing will grow.
While freelancing is a new para-digm, it is one among many shapingHR. An important paradigm is thatof employees choosing employersrather than the other way around.This is giving rise to the phenomenonof recruitment marketing. For recruit-ment marketing to work, HR depart-ments may have to learn a trick or twofrom marketing because now theyhave to attract the right candidatesusing marketing techniques.
Another recent phenomenonreshaping the HR domain is the gigeconomy. In India, the gig economy isalready generating 56 per cent employ-ment and, in the years ahead, isexpected to grow annually by 25 to 30per cent. The US flexi workforce willgrow to 43 per cent by next year. Thiswill be a win-win for the HR industry.Last but not least, the biggest HR coupthis decade is visible in the marketingdomain where traditional brand mar-keters are being replaced by expertswho have an eye for digital marketing,SEO, social media, influencer market-ing, website development. Companieshave realised the need for candidateswho can wear multiple hats, and thisis changing industry trends.
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The attack in Pulwama on 40Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) personnelhad sparked a massive out-rage in the country not
long ago. The counter attacks by theIndian Air Force (IAF) on terrorinfrastructure in Pakistan and the sub-sequent escalation of tensions betweenIndia and Pakistan had become hotlydebated topics in public circles. In thiscontext, it is pertinent to analyse therole of the CRPF in maintaininginternal security and the factors thatchallenge it continuously.
The CRPF was originally found-ed as the Crown Representative’sPolice Force on July 27, 1939, andunderwent several changes in the fol-lowing decades to transform itself asthe largest Para-Military Force (PMF)in the world. When it comes to mat-ters of internal security, the CRPF isthe chief and primary force whichleads from the front. The CRPF isundoubtedly the most popular PMFamongst all Central Armed PoliceForces (CAPF) and other CentralPolice Organisations.
There is no parallel to the CRPFin our country. They work along theentire length and breadth of ournation in tandem with various Statepolice forces. Since the laws and rulesgoverning police forces vary fromState to State, the CRPF displaysamazing levels of flexibility and adapt-
ability in working. The kind of oper-ations they undertake are also varied— ranging from helping the localpolice, to restoring law and order dueto any form of violent extremism.More often than not, all such dutiesare assigned at the eleventh hour withhardly any time for preparation.
The CRPF have accomplished alot in performing successful counterinsurgency operations in Jammu &Kashmir and the North-East, Anti-Naxal operations in Left WingExtremist (LWE) areas and othermiscellaneous and developmentalworks. In 2009, the CRPF, with thesupport of funds from theGovernment of India (GoI), under-took a mission of identifying Naxalsand fence-sitters in a LWE area withthe help of local NGOs. They provid-ed skill development programmesand employed hundreds of men andwomen as carpenters, security guards,receptionists etc in order to accom-plish their mission effectively and suc-cessfully. This experiment was contin-ued for a few years, which had a pos-itive impact in containing Naxalism.
Considering the multifariousnature of jobs that the CRPF needs toperform, it is needless to say that thereare a number of challenges that areencountered. Many of them need tobe addressed at the earliest, consider-ing the sensitive nature of internalsecurity in our country.
The issue of synergy with thepolice forces has been taking a toll onthe CRPF. The main point in thisdilemma remains if the CRPF shouldhave a “force orientation” akin to thatof a military or a “service orientation”similar to that of IPS cadres. It isinteresting to dissect this because arecent Parliamentary StandingCommittee report on Home Affairson CAPF observed that the nature ofduty of CAPF is more similar to thatof Armed forces rather than policepersonnel. However, the same isbeing contested by the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) and severalretired IPS officers that the presenceof IPS officers increases inter-depart-mental coordination. They furtheradd that transforming it into a com-plete force by itself would leave itdevoid of a human face. Nevertheless,the recommendation of the standingcommittee needs to be consideredseriously in certain sensitive andextremism-prone areas of the coun-try. The fact that the security situa-tion in such areas is changing in adynamic manner adds credence to it.
The top leadership of the CRPFalso remains with the IPS and therehave also been various views on thisissue. While some experts opine thatthe CRPF should be led by a defenceperson rather than a civilian IPS offi-cer due to the changing dynamics ofinternal security in the country, oth-
ers believe that the CRPF — beingresponsible for the maintenance ofinternal security — needs a person atthe top, who is more accustomed todealing with Indian laws and Acts, likethe Code of Criminal Procedure. Thislogic makes an IPS officer an automat-ic selection to lead from the front.
While this logic remains valid, weneed to put this one-size-fits-allapproach behind. Internal security incertain States, which share an inter-national border with other countries— like Jammu & Kashmir and theNorth-East — have a cross-borderimpact and dealing with such extrem-ist groups in such States may requirea completely different approach. Thisis where the structure and function-ing of the CRPF needs to be modifiedon a region by region basis.
The poor living conditions preva-lent in the camps, especially in the LWEareas, is an issue which has been men-tioned in several committees and com-missions of inquiry done on the func-tioning of the CRPF. They suffer fromlack of access to basic necessities, likefood and toilets. Unhygienic environ-ment has been affecting their health. Attimes, we need to wonder if they aremore affected by diseases than bycounter-insurgency operations.
In spite of having hundreds ofbattalions and lakhs of personnel, theCRPF is yet to have its own researchwing. There are a lot of issues which
are peculiarly specific to the CRPFwhich have to be dealt with and thelack of an exclusive R&D wing is crip-pling them. A comprehensive researchwing, which can help in exclusiveintelligence gathering and sharing,will go a long way in the effectivefunctioning of the force. Apart fromall these, issues of political interven-tions in transfers and postings, grossmismanagement of funds, and disci-plinary issues are a few amongst theothers that are making the function-ing of the CRPF ineffective.
We cannot aspire to be a greatpower if we cannot manage ourinternal security. Today’s problems inJ&K could have been mitigated to alarge extent if we could manage theinternal situation there. Unfortunately,breakdown of law and order on a peri-odical basis provides a breedingground for recruiting youngsters intoextremist organisations. This is whatnon-state actors in Pakistan havebeen doing since decades. After all,the man who blew the suicide bomberin Pulwama was an Indian. Impropermaintenance of internal security hasgot many offshoots which can bepotentially threatening and devastat-ing for an aspiring country like Indiaand, in this regard, we need to lookat modifying the structure and func-tioning of the CRPF.
Since the turn of the century, the structure of organisa-tions, the expectations of employees, and leadership styleshave changed. Instead of a top-down management style,
many organisations, especially startups, follow a bottom-upapproach in which employees’ voices are heard and encour-aged. Traditional authoritarian leadership styles are gradu-ally being replaced by democratic and laissez-fair leadership.
������������� �������Millennials make up a large segment of the workforce andhave expectations that are different from those who areolder. While still motivated by money, millennials are evenmore likely to be motivated by recognition. So while tra-ditional leaders could acknowledge employees best by pay-ing more, today’s leaders understand that millennialsrespond even better to recognition and being assignedgreater responsibility than higher salaries. Good leaderswho want to reward work often do so by acknowledgingan employee publically. A number of young nimble star-tups are populated by millennials who have an inclusivemindset that favours teamwork over competition. Whilecorporate offices are still highly competitive, amongyounger employees, cutthroat competition is graduallybeing replaced by a more collaborative atmosphere. In suchsettings, young employees expect their boss to also be amentor. Certainly, every leader’s decision is valued andadhered to. However, a leader is not expected to be a one-man show; rather a leader is expected to carefully consid-er viewpoints of employees before making crucial decisions.
�������� ��������������������A startup is energetic and places less emphasis on hierar-chy. In such organisations, the atmosphere is less formal andhighly fluid. The leader of such an organisation may be inhis 20s, while a large number of employees may be in their30s, 40s, or older. Because of changing dynamics and dis-ruptive economies in which startups succeed, many youngpeople are leading companies. This is leading to a disrup-tion of the traditional reporting structure, which is beingtransformed into one where age and seniority mean less thanthe value added by employees.
A leader in startups is expected to lead, inspire, mentor,and even befriend employees. The power distance betweenbosses and employees is smaller in startups than in largeorganisations. A low power distance allows employees toapproach their boss and dispense with many formalities. Intraditional organisations, employees are still expected to paydeference to leaders, however, new leaders at startups encour-age a friendly and participatory atmosphere.
������ ������������������ ����������One of the most important reasons why startups competeeffectively against incumbents is that they have small teamsthat rapidly assess challenges and swiftly spot opportuni-ties. Google was a startup before the word ‘startup’ enteredthe popular lexicon, and its success was largely based on thesmall size of teams in the company. The founders of the com-pany acknowledged a smallteam size lead to good commu-nication and had wanted toensure that the size of teams atGoogle remained small. Sincethe company has grown, sohave team sizes at Google.However, the advantages ofsmall teams are understood bymany startups. Individualsleading small teams have acrucial role to play. Such lead-ers have to be amiable towardsteam members and are expect-ed to have discussions unrelat-ed to work with them. Thestructure of smaller teams isless formal and rigid. Thismeans team members don’tnecessarily communicatethrough an established chain of command, rather discus-sions are open and informal. In such teams, when even themost junior member wants to make a suggestion, they areheard and their words are considered. Unlike a traditionalauthoritarian structure, where a leader’s orders are followedunquestioningly, in a startup, team members are free to ques-tion their bosses and make counter suggestions.
��������� ������������������� �� In a startup, employees want to understand how they areadding value. While in large organisations, which follow tra-ditional leadership styles, older employees remain contentsimply doing their jobs, younger employees in startups wantto know how they’re contributing. This means leaders in star-tups have to be able to objectively define team members’efforts and contributions. Leaders in startups must have arepertoire with team members that encourages, points outmistakes, and communicates where improvement is need-ed. Such leaders need a nuanced approach when commu-nicating with team members because shouting matches willrapidly erode respect in a small team.
������������������ ��������� ���������������Leaders in startups understand that a diverse workforce isa huge enabler. A diverse workforce allows companies to pen-etrate new markets by revealing the preferences of differ-ent communities. Traditional leaders excelled at managingrelatively homogenous workforces, often many employed ina company were from the same region or of the same eth-nicity. Today, leaders understand that a diverse workforceoffers advantages a uniform workforce can’t. This is why suc-cessful leaders in startups and younger leaders in larger com-panies are open to new experiences and cultures. Rather thanviewing individuals through a stereotypical lens, they’retrained to see people as individuals first. By remaining opento different cultures and having new experiences, leaders insmall companies are more accepting of differences, leadingto tremendous professional and personal growth.
Startups will be vital to the Indian economy in the decadeahead. Some startups in the food and beverage space are com-peting effectively against incumbents and have changed whatconsumers buy by making them see exceptional value in star-tups products. The overthrow of incumbents would not havebeen possible without the new leadership style in startups.Using engaging and holistic leadership, a new generation ofleaders are creating the blue-chip companies of tomorrowthat will transform society and the economy.
India has taken a decision notto join the WTO’s multilat-
eral group on trade rules in e-commerce. Earlier this year, 77WTO member countries cametogether to negotiate traderules in e-commerce. AlthoughIndia is not a part of thisgroup, it is negotiating an e-commerce chapter in RegionalComprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP) agree-ment. Among the 16 RCEPmember countries, 11 (includ-ing China) are a part of multi-lateral group.
It is, therefore, importantfor the new Government toreview India’s stance in theWTO.
In the past decade, fastgrowth of technology anddevelopment of different busi-ness models have led to doubledigit growth of trade in e-com-merce. According to UNC-TAD, the global e-commercemarket was estimated at $29trillion in 2017, with a growthof around 32 per cent since2015. In 2017, India wasranked ninth in terms of glob-al e-commerce sales. The flowof data now contributes moreto world’s GDP than flow ofphysical goods. The rise inimportance of data and itsintangibility have made theregulatory framework govern-ing data flows complex. Whileit is increasingly difficult forcountries to regulate technol-ogy, there are concerns thatgrowing digitalisation mayincrease risk of national secu-rity and consumer privacy.
All WTO member coun-tries recognise that e-com-merce is an integral part oftheir business activities, but theway they would like to promotethis sector and/or regulate itdiffers widely. This creates anuncertain operating environ-ment for companies engaged ine-commerce trade. To pro-
mote a transparent, and pre-dictable regulatory environ-ment for growth and trade ine-commerce, 77 member coun-tries of the WTO came togeth-er to negotiate global traderules in e-commerce.
To understand whetherIndia should or should not bea part of the multilateral group,a survey of 50 stakeholderswere conducted by the authorwhich includes export promo-tion councils, industry associ-ations, companies, logisticsand express delivery industry,and payment services. Thirty-five respondents opined thatIndia should participate in themultilateral e-commerce nego-
tiations, while five opined thatIndia should not participate,and the remaining 10 said theywould leave it to theGovernment to decide. Thosein favour pointed out thatsooner or later India has toenter the e-commerce negoti-ating group and if it delays theentry it cannot play a majorrole in decision making.
Most Indian business andexport promotion councils feelthat taking a hard position ofstaying out of the negotiationscan adversely impact India’strade relations with key exportmarkets such as the US and theEU. In this regard, a submissionmade by Express Industry
Council of India, on the DraftNational e-Commerce Policy,stated, “We encourage the GOIto embrace the concepts cur-rently under consideration bythe WTO e-commerce initia-tive, recognising that this mul-tilateral effort is the means forIndia, should it join the effort,to adopt policies that will facil-itate the growth of India’s e-commerce market.”
Some survey participantsopined that disincentive toparticipate may be due to lackof data and information and/orlack of preparedness. In thiscontext, the Government maystart sponsoring research fordata collection on what com-
ponent of the SME businessesare through e-commerce plat-form, whether such platformshave helped SMEs to access theglobal market and integrateinto global value chains, whatis the business model of the e-commerce companies and theirsource of funding, among oth-ers. They also suggested thatIndia should enact the PersonalData Protection Bill based onthe Justice Sri Krishna report toensure data security.
The survey also found thatbarriers which adverselyimpact efficient business mod-els and restricts investment inlogistics infrastructure but arenot able to help the domestic
companies to gain global scaleshould be reviewed andreplaced by policies whichaddresses the issues faced bydomestic startups and SMEs(such as access to funds). Forexample, a number of e-com-merce companies and theirexpress delivery serviceproviders pointed out thatcommitments to deliver with-in a certain date and/or timecannot be made to customersunless e-commerce companiesand/or the express deliverycompanies in their networkhave control over the invento-ry and do efficient inventorymanagement.
Thus, the restrictions onFDI in inventory-based modelcannot be adhered to if a firm,on the one hand, has an effi-cient business operation whichmeets customer requirementsand satisfaction and, on theother, has a fast-track growthstrategy.
Indian express deliverycompanies pointed out thatbeing a part of the network ofglobal e-commerce companieshave led to 40 per cent increasein their B2C sales and 20 percent increase in their B2Bsales. Given that GST sup-ports a single market model, ifthe restrictions on inventory-based models are removed,they can be a part of the mostefficient inventory manage-ment system, which will reducelogistics costs.
While all survey partici-pants agree on the need fordata security and protection,they have raised concernsabout the way in which the pol-icy have been implemented bydifferent Government agen-cies and at times without stake-holders’ consultations andinputs. As an example, theycitied how on April 6, 2018, theReserve Bank of India (RBI)came up with a notification on
storage of payment data whichstates that the entire data relat-ing to payment systems shouldbe stored in a system “only” inIndia. This came as a surpriseas there were no discussions onthe issue with the stakeholdersthat may have led to this poli-cy. While the payment com-panies had no objection toshare the data real-time withRBI, they are concerned abouttheir ability to do risk man-agement and fraud in the con-text of international trade relat-ed payments if data mirror-ing/sharing is not allowed.
Localisation of data hasbeen a key component of theDraft National e-CommercePolicy, but in this case the pol-icy fails to define key termi-nology like community dataand sensitive data. Lawyersare also divided as to what arethe constitutional rights of cit-izens in a democratic countryand how that is ensured underthe proposed policy. Whilethe policy is drawn with aobjective of creating infra-structure and jobs in the coun-try, there are no studies on howmuch infrastructure is needed,do we have the capacity tomanufacture to meet therequirements, can we meet therequirements in three years asproposed, what would be theimpact on trade balance andimports.
Given these policy gaps,the Government should forma high-level committee toreview the current policyregime, look at global bestpractices, examine the inputsgiven by different stakeholdersand then develop India’s poli-cies and negotiating strategiesat the WTO.
(The writer is a Professor atIndian Council for Research onInternational EconomicRelations, New Delhi)
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Today, conflicts are a globalphenomenon. There is no
state or country in the worldthat can boast of total immu-nity against conflicts. The roleof women in preventing aresurgence of such violence andproviding public security todevelop the basic functioningof society is most often over-looked. As countries recuper-ate from the aftermath of war,it is essential to include womenin equal proportion in post-conflict reconstruction.Women's contribution in thesphere of post-conflict recon-struction has been mostimpactful in the enlargement ofpolitical rights, improving par-ticipation and involvement inreconstruction and promot-ing human development.
The goal of every societyinvolved in post-conflict recon-struction is to improve health,nutrition, reduce infant mor-tality, and in building a robustself-sustaining community.Recognising that social, polit-ical and economic participationby women is highly imperativeto this development andgrowth. Supporting the par-ticipation of women meansgiving them equal opportuni-ties in decision-making. Bynot identifying and integratingthe role of women in theprocess of reconstruction, thedevelopment of societiesinevitably stagnates and fails totransition into a functioningsociety. While there has beenan increase in the participationof women in post-conflictdevelopment and promotingpeace, they tend to fade into the
background when peace nego-tiations and economy rebuild-ing become an official exerciseprimarily because of the lack ofrecognition. This lack of recog-nition hampers evaluation andimplementation of their agen-da in post-conflict settings.
Participation of women inpost-conflict reconstructionhas been hampered constant-ly due to various factors. Theprevalence of rape and sexualassault generates fear andsilences campaigns for socio-political and economic rights.The lack of awareness, pooraccess to education andemployment opportunities,and cultural pressures againstwomen engaging and partici-pating in the public sphere aresome of the main causes ofpoor women turnout in post-conflict resolution. There havebeen successful cases of post-conflict reconstruction initia-tives taken up by women in thepast.
The Truth andReconciliation Committee of1995 in South Africa was set upto help the nation uncovertruths about human rights vio-lations that occurred during theapartheid period. The com-mittee built a victim friendlymodel and ensured that thewomen who testified againstgross human rights violationshad safe and accepting envi-ronments. Women wererecruited as commissioners,activists, and beneficiaries, whoaimed at bringing an impact-ful change to their society.
The Liberia Mass Actionfor Peace movement, which
started out as a prayer meetingfor Christian and Muslimwomen, soon turned into amovement for peace. Thesewomen fought against the dic-tator, Charles Taylor, whoinvaded the country and wasresponsible for the war. Theirpost-conflict reconstructionprocess had three fundamentalobjectives: narrowing the gapbetween the participation of
men and women in the recon-struction process, improvingthe representation of womenand addressing their needs,and acknowledging the pres-ence of existing support givenby women and utilising it.Women used their numericalstrength and platforms such aspublic spaces and the radio tomobilise around key issuesand organise protests. This
caught the nation's attentionand they used this opportuni-ty to rise against exclusionand achieve their goals. Theseinitiatives by women haveimproved involvement in post-conflict reconstruction andpromoting development.
However, they have beenmet with roadblocks and lim-ited successes in places likeAfghanistan and Syria. A crit-
ical point to be noticed at thisjuncture is that there is a cer-tain pattern to the successfulimplementation of post-con-flict reconstruction by women.Women in South Africa,Liberia and Bosnia have reapedsuccesses by implementingforms of protests, publicdemonstrations and awarenesscampaigns to make themselvesheard. However, in cases such
as Syria, Sudan, andAfghanistan, its failure could beattributed to the lack of edu-cation, awareness, and devel-opment, constant ostracisa-tion of women, poor channel-ing of economic resources andperhaps the constraints ofIslam as a religion. Anotherreason why post-conflictreconstruction by women hasfailed in Muslim dominatedregions could be that thesecountries have failed to adoptchanges. Secularisation andincreased respect for humanrights have led to a decline inviolence in other parts of theworld. Their justification fortreating women poorly can betraced back to the fundamen-talist interpretation of theQuran which is often taken outof context. Hand-pickingIslamic teaching from theQuran and interpreting itaccording to their own patri-archal interests has led to menasserting their dominance overwomen. The line separatingreligion from customs and tra-ditions has become blurred,with societal norms being mis-taken for religious doctrine.The seven-year-long war inSyria has reinforced and exac-erbated gendered vulnerabili-ties and social norms thatexisted pre-war as well. Theunderlying issue with gettingone's opinions in Syria heard isthat, there is a huge gulfbetween what is happening onthe ground what is being dis-cussed on international tables.
Although engaging inpeace talks can seem ambitiousfor women considering the
resistance they face from themale members of the Muslimsociety, the challenge is to for-mulate a set of policies thatconsistently promote women'sdevelopment even though itmay collide with other strate-gic objectives. The failure toidentify the importance of gen-der issues, gender-specific dataand gender-focused analysisexacerbates the probability of abreakout of violence in a recu-perating society. Formulatingpolicies starts with acknowl-edging women as capableactors and the role they play inworking towards peace andreconciliation. Governmentsdevelop quota systems andgrant women socio-politicaland economic rights, but theyoften run into obstacles in theimplementation of these lawsconsequently slowing downthe process of development.When countries andeconomies do not supportwomen in the growth andadvancement of their societies,they tend to stagnate econom-ically and fail in the transitionof a functioning society. In con-clusion, the inclusion ofwomen in peace processes is aprerequisite for enabling anenvironment where the inter-ests of ordinary civilians andtheir communities are heard.Conflict-ridden societies needthe settlement that can bederived from the inclusion ofwomen on the road to peace.
(The writer is a researcherat International Affairs at theNational University ofSingapore)
Last Saturday, I got stuck in a traf-fic jam at a place where the roadis quite wide and, therefore, usu-
ally one has a smooth go. I thenrecalled that there was a Shani templearound. People had lined up in longqueues, waiting for their turn to offermustard oil to the deity and reveren-tially burn earthen lamps, in the hopethat Shani deva will spare them of Hisfury. Out of curiosity, I stopped andasked a few devotees: “What makes youcome to offer prayers at the Shani tem-ple on a Saturday?” Pat came theirreply: “We are either going throughSaturn’s sadhesati or dhaiya.”
“Why fear sadhesati or dhaiya,” Iasked them. “We are afraid that duringsuch a phase, one often faces great hard-ship,” they replied in chorus. “So, out offear, you are trying to appease Shanideva,” I countered them. “Yes, of course,”they responded. “But I have seen manypeople making it big in their sadhesati,in as much as that many Indian PrimeMinisters occupied the high office dur-ing their sadhesati. What then justifiesyour fear,” I enquired. “We don’t knowhow this period will individually end upfor us. But the mythological story line in
circulation about Shani deva suggeststhat through such offerings, if at all weare to face a difficult situation, we will besaved.” I could feel their sense of dis-comfort in responding to my vexingquestions, so I left it at that.
It is, however, difficult to ignoremany important questions pertaining tothe above belief: “Is there any scope of aform God by the name of Shani deva inheaven, who would be adjudicating ourkarma and accordingly granting rewardor punishment? The Upanishads, whichforms the base frame of Indian philoso-phy, doesn’t suggest so. Even believingthat there is some power by this name(with or without form), it would beavailable in equal proportion to all ofus. Would it then be possible for us toselectively appease that power and earnits favour in individual terms? Had itbeen so easy to negate the conse-quences of our doings and undoings inthe past through such transactionalpujas, at least the resourceful oneswould have never suffered in life.
Since impressionable minds of a goodmajority of religiously oriented Indianpeople fall prey to the fear psychologycreated by such mythological stories, fur-
ther scrutiny of its relevance is called for.First let us understand what Saturn’s sad-hesati and dhaiya mean. Planets in thecosmos are ever on their run at their ownrespective speeds. Saturn’s sadhesatimeans seven and a half years that it takesto pass through three successive signs —the Moon sign, one preceding, and theone following it. The two and a half yearstaken by Saturn to cover kendra houseswith reference to the Moon sign (4th, 7th,and 10th therefrom) is termed as dhaiya.So, the two — sadhesati and dhaiya —relate to particular placement of Saturnwith respect to the Moon sign.
Now, since Saturn is marked withsuch characteristic features as wouldmarginalise those of Moon, more oftenthe ones who become subject to suchplacements have been found faced withchallenging situations in life. But how?Does Saturn wilfully play devil all byitself? Or is this placement just an indi-cator of probable outcome of somethingthat would be even otherwise brewingin our mind as a fallout of our doingsand undoings in the past? And howdoes Shani deva come into the picture?
Remember, the planets in the cos-mos are not to be seen just as physicalbodies moving in the cosmos in theirown right. They are all an inseparable
part of an integrated astronomicalframework. Each of them is markedwith an energy stream passing througha specific region identified with thatplanet in the centre, respectivelyreflecting different characteristic fea-tures, having corresponding receptorsin our brain. And every particularpoint of the brain administers set func-tion of the body, mind, and psyche.This is how energies marked with dif-ferent planets influence our thoughtprocess, and thereby our actions.
Here again, it needs to be remem-bered that the whole universe isframed into an inseparable unifiedorganism, which includes the cosmosas well as the life cycle on the planetearth. The system as a whole, drivenby self-evolved design parameters,operates in a self-automated mode. Inthis scheme of things, no individualplayer has a reality independent of theentirety, which includes the planets.
The issue continues.3��&&� ��� ����������������$����#������#������
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