C yclone Fani (also known as Phani, meaning “hood of the snake” in Bengali) rolled through Odisha’s Puri on Friday, bringing rain and windstorm that gusted up to 175 kmph, leaving at least 8 people dead, and blowing away thatched houses, uproot- ing trees, electricity polls, cut- ting off power supply, and swamping towns and villages in the State. The strongest cyclone in India in 20 years made landfall around 8 am in Puri, with roar- ing winds flattening huts, enveloping the pilgrim town in sheets of rain, and submerging homes in residential areas. The extremely severe cyclone Fani, a name given by Bangladesh, weakened from an “extremely severe” to “very severe”, and is predicted to further weaken to a “severe cyclone” before moving to West Bengal. In several videos doing rounds on social media showed the impact of the powerful gale and heavy rain. In videos post- ed by Sitangshu Kar, the Director General of the Press Information Bureau, the roof of an undergraduate hostel in the Bhubaneswar AIIMS was seen being blown off. Later the wind speed of Fani came down to around 140-165 kmph. According to officials, large areas in Puri and other places were submerged with water as heavy rain battered the entire coastal belt of the State. Several trees were uprooted and thatched structures destroyed at some places, including Bhubaneswar. All flights from Bhubaneswar have been can- celled since Thursday mid- night, and Kolkata airport is shut from 3 pm on Friday till 8 am on Saturday. 140 trains, including 83 passenger trains, have been cancelled so far. In Bhubaneswar, people took shelter under shades as the heavy rain lashed the city. They said their “homes were shak- ing”. After crossing Odisha, cyclone Fani is likely to move towards West Bengal before tapering off. Cyclone Fani also triggered heavy rain in parts of north coastal Andhra Pradesh, where gusty winds with speed reaching up to 140 kmph uprooted trees and electricity poles, officials said. The Odisha Government has evacuated over 11 lakh people, including at least 600 pregnant women, to camps on higher grounds. “I assure the affected peo- ple that the nation and the cen- tre are with them,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a rally in Rajasthan. He said over 1,000 crore had been released in advance for the states affected by Fani. The Union Health Ministry has announced can- cellation of Bhubaneswar as a centre for the AIIMS PG 2019 examination due to Fani. “AIIMS PG exam is sched- uled on May 5. Due to cyclone Fani, AIIMS Delhi is cancelling the exam centre in Bhubaneswar. Another exam will be conducted for students affected by this cancellation as soon as normalcy returns (sic),” Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan tweeted. KJ Ramesh, Director General of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), predicted light to mod- erate rain in northeastern States — Arunachal Pradesh, Assam & Meghalaya and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura due to cyclone while heavy to very heavy rain predicted over Arunachal Pradesh and Assam on May 4 and 5. “After making landfall this morning, cyclone Fani has started weakening and it’s like- ly to enter Bangladesh by Saturday evening,” he said. No cyclone ever had such a long duration in April. The Home Ministry said an eye of cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ “com- pletely moved into land” by 10 am on Friday weakening its fury, but heavy rainfall is still predicted in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and parts of the northeastern States. The system is likely to weaken gradually and emerge into Gangetic West Bengal as a “severe cyclonic storm” by the early morning of May 4. Thereafter, it is expected to move further north-north- eastwards and emerge into Bangladesh by May 4 evening as a cyclonic storm. T he Congress candidate from Lucknow on Friday took strong exception to party leader Shatrughan Sinha can- vassing for his wife, who is the Samajwadi Party candidate in the constituency. Shatrughan was present during the filing of nomination papers by his wife, Poonam Sinha. He attended an election meeting on Thursday with Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav. “From the behaviour of Shatrughan Sinha, it appears that although he has joined the Congress, but has not yet resigned from the RSS,” Acharya Pramod, the Congress’ Lucknow candidate, tweeted. Shatrughan Sinha quit the BJP recently and is the Congress candidate from the Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar. Poonam is the SP-BSP- RLD alliance candidate from Lucknow, who is contesting against Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Pramod. Polling will be held in Lucknow on Monday. A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claimed BJP candidate from North West Delhi Hans Raj Hans convert- ed to Islam in 2014 and there- fore can’t fight from a Lok Sabha seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste, Hans on Friday said he would file a defamation case against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders for “maligning” his image. In a tweet on Thursday, Kejriwal had claimed that Hans would be declared ineligible to contest the election for fighting on a reserved seat. Rejecting Kejriwal’s allega- tion as canard, Hans asked at a Press conference, “I am used to speaking Urdu but that does not mean I am a Muslim. Does a Muslim speaking Hindi becomes a Hindu? I was born in a Valmiki family and my mother worships Valmiki.” A am Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Gandhi Nagar Anil Bajpai quit his party and joined the BJP on Friday. “I worked with the AAP for many years. I was hurt by the lack of respect and the peculiar functioning of the party. AAP has deviated from its original path,” Bajpai said. The move comes at a time when AAP leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, have accused the BJP of indulging in horse trading. Bajpai joined the BJP in the presence of party national vice- president and Delhi BJP in- charge Shyam Jaju and Union Minister Vijay Goel at the Delhi unit office here. Earlier Kejriwal had hit out at Vijay Goel for saying that 14 AAP lawmakers were in touch with the BJP and ready to switch loyalty. On Wednesday, Manish Sisodia had claimed seven AAP MLAs had been offered 10 crore each to join the BJP. T wo sewer cleaners — resi- dents of Janakpuri in West Delhi and engaged by the Noida Authority via a con- tractor — died in a sewer tank in Salarpur in Noida on Friday, officials said. Though police are ascer- taining the cause of the death of Hamid and Aslam late on Thursday, preliminary investi- gation suggests that they suf- focated to death inside the sewer tank. Police, the Fire Department, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were called in for res- cue, officials said. The bodies of the workers were retrieved after nearly four-hour rescue operation by a team of the NDRF, said an official of the disaster response force. “We reached the spot at 3.15 am and began operations at 3.20 am. The first body was recovered at 6.25 am and the second at 7.20 am,” said Jeetender Yadav, who led the nine-member NDRF team. The Noida Authority has dismissed a contractual Junior Engineer (JE) from job and proposed police action against the contractor. “The JE has been dismissed and a com- plaint is being made against the contractor with police to reg- ister an FIR over the lapses that led to the death of the two workers,” Noida Authority’s Officer on Special Duty Rajesh Kumar Singh said. A joint team of security forces early on Friday morning dealt a body blow to top Hizbul Muhajideen (HM) commanders active in Kashmir Valley by neutralising Lateef Ahmad Dar, alias Tiger of Dogripora Pulwama, the lone surviving member of Burhan Wani group, along with two other local terrorists in a fierce firefight in South Kashmir’s Shopian district. Timing of the clinical oper- ation is set to boost the morale of the security forces deployed in the area to ensure peaceful polling in the final phase in Shopian and Pulwama districts on May 6. After the killing of HM’s poster boy Burhan Wani in July 2016, several other top com- manders were neutralised by the security forces. Lateef Ahmad Dar, killed in Shopian, was lone surviving member of the group who was still active in the area. Detailed report on P9 T he Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha seat is all set to witness a very interesting contest between two Olympians — sitting BJP MP Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Congress’ Krishna Poonia. An equally keen contest is on the cards in the neighbouring Bharatpur, a stronghold of Jats, between two Dalits — a retired bureaucrat and a daughter-in- law of three times BJP MP Gangaram Koli. Both the seats will go to polls on Monday. While Rathore is a Rajput and an Olympic gold medalist, Poonia is a Jat from Haryana and married in Rajasthan. She is also a sitting MLA and inter- national gold medal-winner in discus throw and three times Olympic participant. In 2014 Jaipur Rural Lok Sabha polls, Rathore defeated Congress veteran CP Joshi by over three lakh votes. But in the November 2018 Assembly elec- tions for the eight Assembly seats in this Lok Sabha con- stituency, four were bagged by the Congress, three by the BJP and one by an Independent. Punia has been working on a successful caste equation by banking on the support of Jats, and a combination of Ahirs (Yadavs), Dalit and Muslim. Faced with such challenging scenario, Rathore is relying on the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “While Modi magic can work on youths and middle class, a large section of voters here are upset with Rathore, claiming that he confined him- self to inaugurating projects and remaining inaccessible. But Poonia worked at grass- roots with her husband (athlete Virender Poonia) and thus has a chance this time,” said Sukhbir Chauhan of village Jomwar Ramgarh. Given the caste equation of Bharatpur Lok Sabha seat, Congress candidate Abhijit Kumar Jatav, a retired bureau- crat, seems to have an edge over BJP’s Ranjeeta Koli. In the recent Assembly elections, the Congress and its alliance part- ner RLD won six of the eight Assembly seats in Bharatpur the Parliamentary constituen- cy. While the BSP bagged the remaining two seats, the BJP failed to even open its account. Ranjeeta will also have to face the backlash from the sup- porters of sitting party MP Bahadur Singh Koli, who was denied the ticket. Though the Congress has an upper hand in Bharatpur, it has to guard against BSP’s Suraj Jatav. The Congress is working hard to end the enmi- ty between Jatavs and the Jats arisen in the 1992 Kumher massacre when Jats set ablaze more than 100 houses of Jatavs. Erstwhile ruler of Bharatpur and a Minister in the Ashok Gehlot Government, Vishvendra Singh, has been deputed by the party to win over Jats for the purpose. Once represented by tall leaders of the Congress such as Natwar Singh, Rajesh Pilot, Raj Bahadur and Vishvendra Singh, the Jat Kingdom was declared a reserved con- stituency for SC in 2008 delim- itation. The Congress won in 2009, but lost to the BJP in 2014 in the heat of Modi wave. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015
Cyclone Fani (also known asPhani, meaning “hood of
the snake” in Bengali) rolledthrough Odisha’s Puri onFriday, bringing rain andwindstorm that gusted up to175 kmph, leaving at least 8people dead, and blowingaway thatched houses, uproot-ing trees, electricity polls, cut-ting off power supply, andswamping towns and villagesin the State.
The strongest cyclone inIndia in 20 years made landfallaround 8 am in Puri, with roar-ing winds flattening huts,enveloping the pilgrim town insheets of rain, and submerginghomes in residential areas.
The extremely severecyclone Fani, a name given byBangladesh, weakened froman “extremely severe” to “verysevere”, and is predicted tofurther weaken to a “severecyclone” before moving to WestBengal.
In several videos doingrounds on social media showedthe impact of the powerful galeand heavy rain. In videos post-ed by Sitangshu Kar, theDirector General of the PressInformation Bureau, the roof ofan undergraduate hostel in theBhubaneswar AIIMS was seenbeing blown off. Later thewind speed of Fani came downto around 140-165 kmph.
According to officials, largeareas in Puri and other placeswere submerged with water asheavy rain battered the entire
coastal belt of the State. Severaltrees were uprooted andthatched structures destroyedat some places, includingBhubaneswar. All flights fromBhubaneswar have been can-celled since Thursday mid-night, and Kolkata airport isshut from 3 pm on Friday till8 am on Saturday. 140 trains,including 83 passenger trains,have been cancelled so far.
In Bhubaneswar, peopletook shelter under shades as theheavy rain lashed the city. Theysaid their “homes were shak-ing”. After crossing Odisha,cyclone Fani is likely to movetowards West Bengal beforetapering off. Cyclone Fani alsotriggered heavy rain in parts ofnorth coastal Andhra Pradesh,where gusty winds with speedreaching up to 140 kmphuprooted trees and electricitypoles, officials said.
The Odisha Governmenthas evacuated over 11 lakhpeople, including at least 600pregnant women, to camps onhigher grounds.
“I assure the affected peo-ple that the nation and the cen-tre are with them,” PrimeMinister Narendra Modi said ata rally in Rajasthan. He saidover �1,000 crore had beenreleased in advance for thestates affected by Fani.
The Union HealthMinistry has announced can-cellation of Bhubaneswar as acentre for the AIIMS PG 2019examination due to Fani.
“AIIMS PG exam is sched-uled on May 5. Due to cyclone
Fani, AIIMS Delhi is cancellingthe exam centre inBhubaneswar. Another examwill be conducted for studentsaffected by this cancellation assoon as normalcy returns (sic),”Union Health Secretary PreetiSudan tweeted.
KJ Ramesh, DirectorGeneral of the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), predicted light to mod-erate rain in northeastern States— Arunachal Pradesh, Assam& Meghalaya and Nagaland,Manipur, Mizoram and Tripuradue to cyclone while heavy tovery heavy rain predicted overArunachal Pradesh and Assamon May 4 and 5.
“After making landfall thismorning, cyclone Fani hasstarted weakening and it’s like-ly to enter Bangladesh bySaturday evening,” he said.
No cyclone ever had sucha long duration in April. TheHome Ministry said an eye ofcyclonic storm ‘Fani’ “com-pletely moved into land” by 10am on Friday weakening itsfury, but heavy rainfall is stillpredicted in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengaland parts of the northeasternStates.
The system is likely toweaken gradually and emergeinto Gangetic West Bengal as a“severe cyclonic storm” by theearly morning of May 4.Thereafter, it is expected tomove further north-north-eastwards and emerge intoBangladesh by May 4 eveningas a cyclonic storm.
took strong exception to partyleader Shatrughan Sinha can-vassing for his wife, who is theSamajwadi Party candidate inthe constituency.
Shatrughan was presentduring the filing of nominationpapers by his wife, PoonamSinha. He attended an electionmeeting on Thursday withSamajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav.
“From the behaviour ofShatrughan Sinha, it appearsthat although he has joined theCongress, but has not yetresigned from the RSS,”Acharya Pramod, the Congress’Lucknow candidate, tweeted.
Shatrughan Sinha quit theBJP recently and is theCongress candidate from thePatna Sahib constituency inBihar. Poonam is the SP-BSP-RLD alliance candidate fromLucknow, who is contestingagainst Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh and Pramod.
Polling will be held inLucknow on Monday.
��������������� )(+�!(,-�
Aday after the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) claimed BJP
candidate from North WestDelhi Hans Raj Hans convert-ed to Islam in 2014 and there-fore can’t fight from a LokSabha seat reserved for theScheduled Caste, Hans onFriday said he would file adefamation case against DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwaland other AAP leaders for“maligning” his image.
In a tweet on Thursday,Kejriwal had claimed that Hanswould be declared ineligible tocontest the election for fightingon a reserved seat.
Rejecting Kejriwal’s allega-tion as canard, Hans asked at aPress conference, “I am used tospeaking Urdu but that doesnot mean I am a Muslim. Doesa Muslim speaking Hindibecomes a Hindu? I was bornin a Valmiki family and my mother worshipsValmiki.”
��������������� )(+�!(,-�
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)MLA from Gandhi Nagar
Anil Bajpai quit his party andjoined the BJP on Friday.
“I worked with the AAP formany years. I was hurt by thelack of respect and the peculiarfunctioning of the party. AAPhas deviated from its originalpath,” Bajpai said.
The move comes at a timewhen AAP leaders, includingDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, have accused the BJP of indulging in horsetrading.
Bajpai joined the BJP in thepresence of party national vice-president and Delhi BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju and UnionMinister Vijay Goel at theDelhi unit office here.
Earlier Kejriwal had hitout at Vijay Goel for saying that14 AAP lawmakers were intouch with the BJP and readyto switch loyalty. OnWednesday, Manish Sisodiahad claimed seven AAP MLAshad been offered �10 croreeach to join the BJP.
��������������� )/�!�
Two sewer cleaners — resi-dents of Janakpuri in West
Delhi and engaged by theNoida Authority via a con-tractor — died in a sewer tankin Salarpur in Noida on Friday,officials said.
Though police are ascer-taining the cause of the deathof Hamid and Aslam late onThursday, preliminary investi-gation suggests that they suf-focated to death inside thesewer tank.
Police, the FireDepartment, and the NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF) were called in for res-cue, officials said. The bodiesof the workers were retrievedafter nearly four-hour rescueoperation by a team of theNDRF, said an official of thedisaster response force.
“We reached the spot at3.15 am and began operationsat 3.20 am. The first body wasrecovered at 6.25 am and thesecond at 7.20 am,” saidJeetender Yadav, who led thenine-member NDRF team.
The Noida Authority hasdismissed a contractual JuniorEngineer (JE) from job andproposed police action againstthe contractor. “The JE hasbeen dismissed and a com-plaint is being made against thecontractor with police to reg-ister an FIR over the lapses thatled to the death of the twoworkers,” Noida Authority’sOfficer on Special Duty RajeshKumar Singh said.
������� ������� 0�$$.
Ajoint team of securityforces early on Friday
morning dealt a body blow totop Hizbul Muhajideen (HM)commanders active in KashmirValley by neutralising LateefAhmad Dar, alias Tiger ofDogripora Pulwama, the lonesurviving member of BurhanWani group, along with twoother local terrorists in a fiercefirefight in South Kashmir’sShopian district.
Timing of the clinical oper-ation is set to boost the moraleof the security forces deployedin the area to ensure peacefulpolling in the final phase inShopian and Pulwama districtson May 6.
After the killing of HM’sposter boy Burhan Wani in July2016, several other top com-manders were neutralised bythe security forces.
Lateef Ahmad Dar, killedin Shopian, was lone survivingmember of the group who wasstill active in the area.
Detailed report on P9
������������������0�� .121.1�,34�&-�1�' .1
The Jaipur Rural Lok Sabhaseat is all set to witness a
very interesting contestbetween two Olympians —sitting BJP MP Union MinisterRajyavardhan Singh Rathoreand Congress’ Krishna Poonia.An equally keen contest is onthe cards in the neighbouringBharatpur, a stronghold of Jats,between two Dalits — a retiredbureaucrat and a daughter-in-law of three times BJP MPGangaram Koli. Both the seatswill go to polls on Monday.
While Rathore is a Rajputand an Olympic gold medalist,Poonia is a Jat from Haryanaand married in Rajasthan. Sheis also a sitting MLA and inter-national gold medal-winnerin discus throw and three timesOlympic participant.
In 2014 Jaipur Rural LokSabha polls, Rathore defeatedCongress veteran CP Joshi by
over three lakh votes. But in theNovember 2018 Assembly elec-tions for the eight Assemblyseats in this Lok Sabha con-stituency, four were bagged bythe Congress, three by the BJPand one by an Independent.
Punia has been working ona successful caste equation bybanking on the support of Jats,and a combination of Ahirs(Yadavs), Dalit and Muslim.Faced with such challengingscenario, Rathore is relying onthe charisma of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.
“While Modi magic canwork on youths and middleclass, a large section of votershere are upset with Rathore,claiming that he confined him-self to inaugurating projectsand remaining inaccessible.But Poonia worked at grass-roots with her husband (athleteVirender Poonia) and thus hasa chance this time,” saidSukhbir Chauhan of villageJomwar Ramgarh.
Given the caste equation ofBharatpur Lok Sabha seat,Congress candidate AbhijitKumar Jatav, a retired bureau-crat, seems to have an edge overBJP’s Ranjeeta Koli. In therecent Assembly elections, theCongress and its alliance part-ner RLD won six of the eightAssembly seats in Bharatpurthe Parliamentary constituen-cy. While the BSP bagged theremaining two seats, the BJPfailed to even open its account.Ranjeeta will also have to facethe backlash from the sup-porters of sitting party MPBahadur Singh Koli, who wasdenied the ticket.
Though the Congress hasan upper hand in Bharatpur, ithas to guard against BSP’s
Suraj Jatav. The Congress isworking hard to end the enmi-ty between Jatavs and the Jatsarisen in the 1992 Kumhermassacre when Jats set ablazemore than 100 houses of Jatavs.Erstwhile ruler of Bharatpurand a Minister in the AshokGehlot Government,Vishvendra Singh, has beendeputed by the party to winover Jats for the purpose.
Once represented by tallleaders of the Congress such asNatwar Singh, Rajesh Pilot,Raj Bahadur and VishvendraSingh, the Jat Kingdom wasdeclared a reserved con-stituency for SC in 2008 delim-itation. The Congress won in2009, but lost to the BJP in 2014in the heat of Modi wave.
allegedly taking a bribe of �1crore from a medicine suppli-er with the assurance of get-ting him listed as an agent ofa noted pharmaceutical man-ufacturer under Central ratecontract.
Vikas Gupta and KajalGoldar, both medical officersof Employees' State InsuranceCorporation (ESIC), now post-ed at its hospitals in Tirunelveliand Kolhapur respectively,have been booked by the CBIfor alleged criminal conspira-cy, cheating and under the rel-evant provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Act.
The action has been initi-ated on a complaint from theESIC which conducted a vigi-lance probe against the two ona complaint from a Delhi-based medicine supplier.
During 2016-17 Gupta,
then working as medical offi-cer, and Goldar as Director(medical), Delhi, had alleged-ly induced the supplier to pay�1 crore as bribe for awardinga contract in Central RateContract (CRC) of ESIC forsupply of medicine and dress-ings by engaging him a agentof a reputed manufacturerduring the process of ensuingtender for CRC, according tothe FIR.
Basant Goel, the supplier,allegedly paid �1 crore toGupta — �38 lakh in hisaccount, �10 lakh in his wife'saccount and another �52 lakhin cash on various dates to bedelivered to Goldar.
On receiving complaintfrom Goel, the ESIC conduct-ed a vigilance inquiry whichconfirmed payment of �48lakh to Vikas Gupta and hiswife Geeta Gera, the com-plaint from ESIC said.
"It has also been estab-lished that Kajal Goldar and
Vikas Gupta had official deal-ings with Goel Medicos andBasant Goel, an empanelledchemist for supply of day today medicines and drugs anddressings to various hospitalsand dispensaries of Delhi andNCR. The said chemist wasallocated and was supplyingmedicines to VK Nagar dis-pensary of which Vikas Guptawas the IMO. Therefore,Basant Goel has business inter-est and dealings as well asacquaintance with both theofficers," said the complaint,which now part of the FIR.
Goel also furnished videoevidence of the negotiationswith the two doctors whoreceived the bribe from him.
The ESIC also alleged sus-picious high-value transac-tions in Gupta's accounts andproperty dealings by him dur-ing 2013 and onwards forwhich no satisfactory expla-nation could be provided byhim.
� ��� )(+�!(,-�
Hailing the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM)chief
Masood Azhar as a "global ter-rorist" by the United NationsSanctions Committee two daysback, France on Friday said forthe first time, a consensus hasemerged in the world and allthe members of the UnitedNations SecurityCouncil(UNSC) stood firmlyon the issue. Moreover, Francetook the lead in getting himdeclared as a "global terrorist"in the European Union(EU)and it may also get through.
Making this assertion here,French ambassador to India,Alexandre Zeigler, said Franceplayed a vital role in gettingAzhar designated as a globalterrorist though the processwas long. Highlighting hiscountry's support in this effort,the envoy said France backedIndia in 2001 when there wasan attack on Parliament ofIndia and earlier on the Jammu
& Kashmir Assembly. Allefforts to impose sanctionsagainst JeM had earlier failed.Then France took the lead andmoved the UN body in 2017for getting Azhar listed as aglobal terrorist but the attemptdid not succeed. However, afterthe Pulwama attack, Francetook the initiative and lastyear, put Azhar on its ban list.France, the UK and the US hadmoved a fresh proposal todeclare Azhar as global terror-ist by the UN in the wake of theFebruary 14 Pulwama terrorattack.
Stressing on the pointabout consensus, the ambas-sador said it was for the firsttime that the UNSC con-demned the Pulwama attack in
a statement soon after the inci-dent on February 14. FortyCentral Reserve PoliceForce(CRPF)personnel werekilled in a suicide attack inPulwama and the JeM hadclaimed responsibility for theact.
Zeigler said France canappreciate and gauge the sig-nificance of this the UN deci-sion on Tuesday last and saidlisting Azhar as a global ter-rorist has "concrete conse-quences." These entailed freez-ing of all his assets and restric-tion on getting finances andinternational travel.
On efforts to fight terror-ism, he said India has beeninvited to attend the G-7 meet-ing in France later this year andone of the topics will be cyberspace terrorism. "The fightagainst terrorism is one of thepillars of our strategic part-nership with India. Our twoleaders had recalled this duringthe State visit of PresidentMacron and I can tell you that
we are moving very closely andvery fast with India," he said.Macron had visited New DelhiIn March last year.
Meanwhile, diplomaticsources said providing morehard credible evidence to UNSanctions Committee finallyled to the listing of Azharwhich China also backing it.Evidence by several countrieswas given after China onMarch 13 put on hold the list-ing, they said adding the pro-posal to designate Azhar has tostand stringent legal scrutiny.
Moreover, the evidencegiven to the UN clearly high-lighted link between Azharand the JeM and terrorist activ-ities, sources said adding notmentioning Pulwama andKashmir in the final proposalwas more technical but thelarger objective of listing theJeM succeeded. They also saidthe UNSC condemnation ofPulwama incident helped in thefinal process of getting theJeM listed.
� ��� )(+�!(,-�
As Amethi goes to poll onMonday, BJP on Friday
claimed that its candidateSmriti Irani has an upper handin the seat and Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi was "losingsteam" in his home con-stituency.
Addressing a Press confer-ence here, BJP leader andUnion Minister Piyush Goyalmaintained that the US Galluppolls survey report has givencredit to Modi-Governmentfor making people "secure" and"safe" during its tenure.
Hitting out at the Congress,
Goyal claimed that the wayparty was going it may touch alower figure than what it got inlast Lok Sabha poll. He, how-ever, did not elaborate on hisanalysis.
The BJP leader insistedthat BJP's nominee Irani waswinning from Amethi andpointed to Rahul's move to con-test from a second Lok Sabhaconstituency in Kerala. Goyalsaid Congress leader did goodby not selecting a seat inKarnataka as he claimed thatthe Congress was on a losingtracking in the southern stategoverned by Congress-JD(S)coalition.
Goyal said Rahul had wonAmethi by the margin of threelakh vote in 2009 whichdeclined to one lakh in 2014 .He said Irani would havetrounced Rahul in 2014 itselfbut for "our delay in announc-ing her name". "This time roundour sister will win", he said.
Amethi votes in the fourth-phase of polling on Monday.Rahul's sister and CongressGeneral Secretary-in-charge ofEastern Uttar Pradesh has beencampaigning in Amethi asIrani alleged that Rahul was a"missing MP". Rahul has heldAmethi for three consecutivetimes.
� ��� )(+�!(,-�
CSC e-Governance Services IndiaLimited, a Special Purpose Vehicle
under the Ministry of Electronics & IT,has tied up with Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT)-Kanpur to upscale'Unnat Bharat Abhiyan', the HRDMinistry's programme which is spear-heading to evolve solutions for accel-erating sustainable growth in ruralIndia.
Under the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan,IIT-Kanpur has brought together 15leading higher education institutionsfrom UP who have now agreed to workwith CSC for the development of vil-lages under the scheme. IIT Kanpur hasalready adopted five villages —Hridayapur, Baikanthpur, Ishwariganj,Pratappur Hari and Saxupurva — sit-uated on the outskirts of Kanpur for itsoverall development.
"As many as 15 affiliated educa-
tional institutions under Unnat BharatAbhiyan will adopt gram panchayatsand equip them with all citizen-centricservices through CSCs. These institu-tions will train village level entrepre-neurs (VLEs) who run CSCs as part ofthe village development plan. TheVLEs will also be skilled about the useof solar energy, cleanliness, and use ofmodern technologies through inter-
ventions of IIT Kanpur," said Dr. ReetaSingh from IIT Kanpur who is headingUnnat Bharat Abhiyan project.
"All the participating institutionshave been informed about various ser-vices being delivered through CSC to cit-izens and further potential which CSCsoffer in empowering communities andoverall village development. We hopethat this relationship of IIT-Kanpur and
other leading institutions with CSCs willfurther strengthen the government'svision of Digital India. It will alsoimprove the technical skills of ourVLEs and make CSCs future-ready toimplement more government schemes,"said CSC CEO Dr. Dinesh Tyagi.
The 15 higher education institutionswhich have been associated with CSCare IIT-Kanpur; School of ManagementSciences, Lucknow; BundelkhandUniversity, Jhansi; Allahabad College ofEngineering & Management; PranveerSingh Institute of Technology, Kanpur;Kiranlata Singh Mahavidyalaya,Fatehpur; Seth Badri Prasad SmritiCollege, Jalaun; SRSSD College,Auraiya; Virendra Singh Group ofInstitutions, Unnav; Allen HouseInstitutions; Rama University; NationalPost Graduate College, Lucknow;Lucknow Polytechnic, Lucknow;Dayanand Girl's PG College and CSMDegree College, Chitrakoot.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court onFriday appointed former apex court judgeJustice AK Sikri to look into the evalua-tion process of the main exam for the postof Civil Judge (Junior Division) inHaryana, in which only nine people wereshortlisted out of more than 1,100 candi-dates. The exam was conducted to fill 107vacancies.
A Bench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi said more than 1,100 can-didates appeared for the main exam andonly nine have qualified.
The Bench said Justice (retd) Sikri willlook into whether the evaluation wasacceptable or not and will submit thereport to the apex court.
The Bench, also comprising JusticeDeepak Gupta, directed the Punjab andHaryana High Court to submit answersheets to Justice Sikri.
The top court's order came on a pleafiled by 92 aspirants to the post of CivilJudge (Junior Division) in Haryana, seek-ing quashing of the result of its Main(Written) Examination which wasdeclared on April 11. The apex court hadon April 29 directed the Punjab andHaryana High Court Registry not toappoint any civil judge in Haryana with-out its nod.
The petition challenged the selectionprocess and evaluation method adoptedin the examination on the grounds ofbeing "unreasonable, arbitrary and malafide". It alleged that if the examination'sselection process was not stayed, it wouldcause irreparable damage to the petition-ers and other un-successful candidates.
The petitioners have alleged that var-
ious RTI applications were filed immedi-ately after the result of the main exami-nation seeking disclosure of marks, copiesof answer scripts, model answers andmarking criteria, but to no avail and theinterview tests were scheduled on the basisof the already declared results.
The petitioners have also alleged thatthere was a "serious problem" with theevaluation method being conducted forselecting judicial officers in Haryana.
A total 14,301 students took the pre-liminary examination held on December22, 2018 for total 107 vacancies.
"1,282 students, out of 14,301, whowere declared successful in preliminaryexamination, took the main examinationheld on March 15 and 17, 2019," it said.
The plea further said that it was "sur-prising" and "invited disbelief " that at least20-30 candidates, who had appeared forthe main exam but were not selected forthe interview are those who have alreadycleared judicial examinations of otherstates or are sitting judges in their respec-tive States. PTI
New Delhi: In a sensationalrevelation by CBI in theSupreme Court on Friday, 11girls were allegedly murderedby key accused Brajesh Thakurand his accomplices and "bun-dle of bones" recovered from aburial ground in theMuzaffarpur shelter home sex-ual abuse case.
In its affidavit filed in thetop court, CBI stated that fromthe statement of victims record-ed during the probe, names of11 girls have emerged, whowere said to be allegedly mur-dered by Thakur and his
accomplices.The agency said that on the
pointing out of one of the
accused, a particular spot in aburial ground was excavatedfrom where a bundle of boneswas recovered.
Several girls were alleged-ly raped and sexually abused atan NGO-run shelter home atMuzaffarpur in Bihar and theissue had come to light fol-lowing a report by the TataInstitute of Social Sciences(TISS).
The probe into the case wastransferred to CBI and theagency has chargesheeted 21people, including Thakur.
"During investigation,
from the statement of victims recorded by IOs (inves-tigating officers) andNIMHANS (National Instituteof Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences) team, namesof 11 girls emerged who weresaid to be allegedly murderedby the accused Brajesh Thakurand his accomplices," the CBIsaid.
"Based on the factsrevealed by one accused, name-ly Guddu Patel during hisinterrogation, a particular spotin burial ground as identifiedby accused Guddu Patel was
excavated and a bundle ofbones were recovered fromthe spot," CBI said in the affi-davit filed on an applicationwhich had alleged that it hadnot conducted a proper probein the case.
The matter came up forhearing on Friday before abench comprising Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi and JusticeDeepak Gupta.
The bench said that it wouldissue a formal notice to the CBIon the application and theagency would file its responsewithin four weeks. PTI
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Fridayagreed to hear next week a review plea filedby 21 Opposition leaders seeking furtherincrease in random matching of VVPATslips with EVMs in the ongoing generalelections.
The apex court had on April 8 direct-ed the Election Commission to increaserandom matching of Voter Verifiable PaperAudit Trail (VVPAT) slips with ElectronicVoting Machines (EVMs) in five pollingbooths per Assembly segment from onebooth.
The top court, however, had not agreedto the demand of 21 Opposition leaders forcounting of at least 50 per cent of VVPATslips with EVMs in every Assembly seg-ment.
Opposition leaders led by AndhraPradesh Chief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu had sought the review of the apexcourt's order, saying the "increase from 1to 5 is not a reasonable number and doesnot lead to satisfaction desired by thiscourt".
The plea was mentioned for urgenthearing before a bench comprising ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice DeepakGupta.
Senior advocate Abhishek ManuSinghvi, appearing for petitioners, told thebench that the review plea be listed for hear-ing next week.
The bench accepted Singhvi's submis-sion and said the matter will be heard nextweek.
The plea said: "The petitioners submitthat the aforesaid increase to a mere 2 percent is not sufficient and will not make anysubstantial difference to the situation thatexisted prior to the passing of the impugnedorder. PTI
New Delhi:Instant mes-saging appWhatsApp onFriday told theS u p r e m eCourt that it isconducting atrial run of its payment serviceand will comply with RBI normson data localisation beforelaunching the full service.
The trial run is likely to becompleted by July end this year,it said.
A bench of Justices R FNariman and Vineet Saran washearing a plea filed by an NGO,Centre for Accountability andSystemic Change (CASC),which has claimed thatWhatsApp has not fully com-plied with RBI's circular whichprescribed data localisationnorms.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibaland Arvind Datar, appearing forthe messenger app owned byUS-based Facebook, told thebench that they are only havinga trial run which is likely to becompleted by July and it will notlaunch payments services with-out fully complying with RBInorms.
"We cannot launch theproduct without complying withthe norms," Sibal said.
Advocate Virag Gupta,appearing for the NGO, said thatWhatsApp was allowed to runthe trial of its payments serviceswith one million users. PTI
����� �������� )(+�!(,-�
If India cuts down consump-tion of dirty household fuels
such as wood, dung, coal andkerosene that produce high lev-els of household air pollutionwith a range of health-damagingpollutants, it can save as manyas 2,70,000 lives every year,according to a joint study con-ducted by researchers fromUniversity of California,Berkeley and the India Instituteof Technology (IIT), Delhi.
There are 3,000 chemicalsthat have been identified inwood smoke, and if taken at amacro level, it is very similar totobacco smoke, they warned.
"Household fuels are the sin-gle biggest source of outdoor airpollution in India," said Kirk RSmith, professor of global envi-ronmental health at UCBerkeley and director of theCollaborative Clean Air PolicyCentre. "We looked at whatwould happen if they onlycleaned up households, and wecame to this counterintuitiveresult that the whole countrywould reach national air pollu-tion standards if they did that."
Smith is co-author of apaper describing the analysisthat appeared this week in thejournal Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences.
Till early 2016, nearly half ofthe Indian population wasreliant on biomass for householdfuel. In addition to generatinggreenhouse gases like carbon
dioxide and methane, thesedirty fuels kick out chemicalsand other fine particulate mat-ter that can stick in the lungs andtrigger a whole host of diseases,including pneumonia, heart dis-ease, stroke, lung cancer andchronic obstructive pulmonarydisease. In 2015, India's averageannual air pollution level was 55micrograms per cubic meter (ugm-3) of fine particulate matter.
Complete mitigation of bio-mass as fuel — which could beachieved through widespreadelectrification and distribution ofclean-burning propane to ruralareas — would cut India's aver-age annual air pollution to 38 ugm-3, just below the country'sNational Ambient Air QualityStandard of 40 ug m-3. Whilethis is still far above the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)standard of 10 ug m-3, it couldstill have dramatic impacts onthe health of the country's resi-dents, Smith said.
"You can't have a clean envi-ronment when about half thehouses in India are burning dirtyfuels every day," Smith said."India has got to do other things
to fix air pollution — they've gotto stop garbage burning, they'vegot to control the power plants,they've got to control vehiclesand so forth. But they need torecognise the fact that house-holds are very important con-tributors to outdoor air pollu-tion, too."
In 2016, India instituted anational programme to distrib-ute clean burning stoves andpropane to 80 million impover-ished households, or about 500million people. The rationalebehind this programme was toprevent illness due to cookingand heating smoke trappedwithin the home.
However, Smith hopes thestudy's findings will bolster sup-port for reducing outdoor airpollution, as well. Similar pro-grammes have been successfulin China, where air pollution isnow on the decline in 80 cities."We've realised that pollutionmay start in the kitchen, but itdoesn't stay there — it goes out-side, it goes next door, it goesdown the street and it becomespart of the general outdoor airpollution," Smith said.
New Delhi: The BJP on Fridayattacked the Congress overunaccounted money beingtraced from "close associates" ofMadhya Pradesh Chief MinisterKamal Nath, saying the State hasbecome a "new ATM" for thegrand old party.
Addressing a Press confer-ence at the party office, BJPspokesperson GVL NarasimhaRao alleged that the Congressdispensation in the state is"minting money and divertinggovernment funds. Rs 281 croreunaccounted cash was tracedfrom his close associates".
Describing Madhya Pradeshas a new ATM of Congress, Raoalleged that as per entries in adiary traced by Income TaxDepartment, senior Congressleaders Digvijay Singh andRandeep Surjewala also got a cutfrom this unaccounted cash.
The Congress dismissed thecharge, saying it was a sign ofdesperation of the ruling party.Senior party leader AnandSharma said that raising theseissues at this stage shows themindset of the BJP and the rul-ing Government which werepanicking. PTI
FANI EFFECT: A view of devastation caused by cyclone Fani in state capital Raipur. Dust storm and short spell of light showers causeddue to the impact of Fani toppled hoardings in the city. One such collapsed hoarding in Shankar Nagar locality. Pic Santosh Sahu
STAFF REPORTER n
RAIPUR
Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh
Baghel on Friday gaveinstructions to ChiefSecretary Sunil Kujur tomake necessary arrange-ments to lend a helping handto Odisha in the wake ofcyclone Fani causing devas-tation in the coastal areas ofthe neighbouring state.
In between his hecticelection campaign in UttarPradesh, Baghel stole time to
show concern for thecyclone affected people ofOdisha. He talked to thechief secretary and instruct-ed him to provide every pos-sible aid to the neighbouringstate.
Following CM’s instruc-tions, the CS immediatelydirected the officials of con-cerned departments to makenecessary preparations toextend help to the cycloneravaged state.
The CS also directed theState Disaster ManagementForce (SDMF) to be pre-
pared for extending help tothe affected.
Baghel while givinginstruction to CS said,“Odisha is not only ourneighbouring state but thepeople there has a close cul-tural ties with us.
The people of the twostates also share commonfood habits and socio-cul-ture. In this situation whenthe people of Odisha are fac-ing difficulty due to naturaldisaster, we stand behindthem,” he added.
Fani: Chhattisgarh to lendhelping hand to OdishaCyclone rips through east coast, Odisha worst affected
STAFF REPORTER n
DANTEWADA
Two Maoists carryingrewards of Rs 2 lakh and Rs
1 lakh on their heads werenabbed following an encounterbetween security forces andthe ultras in the insurgencyhit-Dantewada district, policesaid here on Friday.
The duo were identifiedas Baman and LakshmanVetti and were arrested fromthe forest near Mangnar vil-lage in Barsoor police stationlimits located around 450 kmsouth of state capital Raipur, alocal police official said.
Baman, a member ofMaoist military platoon no.16, had a reward of Rs 2 lakhon his head while Vetti, the
head of Janatana Sarkarsquad, was carrying a rewardof Rs 1 lakh on his head, theofficial said. According topolice a patrolling team of theDistrict Reserve Guard(DRG) and Special TaskForce (STF) was out on asearch operation in the interi-ors of Barsoor. NearMangnar, the police partycame under Naxal fire
prompting the security forcesto retaliate, he said.
When the ultras startedto flee from the encounter inthe face of heavy firing fromthe police team, the two werenabbed, he said.
Notably, on Thursdaysecurity forces had gunneddown a Maoist commanderMadvi Muiya in Kirndul areaof Dantewada.
STAFF REPORTER n JASHPUR
Two villagers were trampledto death by a wild elephant
in separate locations of tribal-dominated Jashpur district onFriday, a forest official said.
Both the incidents occurredin the morning hours atKunkuri forest sub-division, hesaid.
In the first incident thathappened near Ib River close toChulahapani village, a manidentified as Pankhasiyus Kujur(54) was killed by the tuskerwhen he had gone to attendnature's call, Divisional ForestOfficer (Jashpur division)Krishna Kumar Jadhav said.
Later, around 2 km awayfrom the spot of the first inci-dent, a man identified asTarsiyas, a native of Pandripanivillage, was trampled to deathby the same elephant when hewas collecting herbal plants in
the forest, the DFO added.This elephant has got sepa-
rated from its herd and is roam-ing around in Badalkhol
Wildlife Sanctuary of the dis-trict, he said, adding that forestpersonnel are keeping a tab onthe movement of the pachy-derm.
The kin of the deceased per-sons have been provided imme-diate relief of Rs 25,000 each, hesaid.
Notably, the forestedSurguja division comprisingfive districts viz. Surguja,Jashpur, Koriya, Balrampur andSurajpur, and two other districtsof Korba and Raigarh ofBilaspur division, have wit-nessed several such incidents ofman-elephant conflicts in thepast few years.
The region, which falls innorthern part of the state, wit-nessed deaths of several vil-lagers and widespread damagesto houses and crops by rogueelephants in the recent past.
Rouge tusker tramplestwo villagers to death
Pioneer Archive
Two hardcore Naxalsheld after encounter
Baman, a member of Maoist militaryplatoon no. 16, had a reward of Rs 2lakh on his head while Vetti, the head
of Janatana Sarkar squad, was carryinga reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel was on an
extensive electioneering tour ofAmethi in Uttar Pradesh onFriday as a star campaigner forthe Congress.
Spearheading the Congress’scampaign there, he attended sixpublic meetings there.
Congress in a tweet sharinga photograph of Baghel’s tour,said that every petal of lotus wasnow withered and CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi wasgoing to register an impressiveand landslide victory from there.
Baghel on Friday in his pub-lic contact programme metstreet vendors to common menand appealed them to vote forthe Congress to make RahulGandhi the next Prime Minister.
During his campaignBaghel also met senior doctorGanga Prasad Gupta. A closeassociate of late Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi and seek blessingsof him for victory of theCongress. “Dr Saheb had alwaysblessed Rajivji with his guid-ance and I am fortunate enoughto get his blessings too”, saidBaghel.
‘Every petal of lotushas withered’Bhupesh Baghel on an extensiveelectioneering tour of Amethi in UP
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
Second session of Prayatna, athree-month long intra IIT
league organised by Sports Councilof IIT Bhilai to compete in eventslike volleyball, chess, badminton,football, basketball and athleticsconcluded on April 29 with felicita-tion ceremony of the young sports-men.
The sports league was inaugu-rated on January 21 by Director,IIT Bhilai Professsor Rajat Moona.
The teams Arkham, Atlantis,Metropolis, Valhalla, Xandar andWakanda participated in Praytna2.0, a press communiqué issued by
the IIT said.This opportunity helps stu-
dents to interact, compete and leadtheir fellow teammates.
In the competitions, studentsdisplayed their sportsmanshipskills in volleyball, chess, bad-minton, table tennis, basketball,cricket, athletics and football.
Inspector, C.G. Police DeptRustam Sarang was the chief guestat the concluding event. Sarang isan Indian weightlifter who has rep-resented India in CWG 2014 atGlasgow and has various accoladesto his credit.
In his address, Sarang shared hislife experience and struggles which
laid foundations for his success.He reinstated that sports not
only trains young minds to facephysical challenges but also gearsthem to be mentally strong as well.
Prof Moona in his address saidthat sports meet is a great opportu-nity for students to unite, rejoice,introduce and represent them-selves.
He also said Prayatna, the InterIIT sports meet at IIT Bhilai givesstudents a chance to not only per-form but outperform and re-ener-gize themselves.
The event was also graced byRajni Moona, Dr. Suchetan Pal(faculty I/c sports and yoga), Dr.
Veena Bansal and Dr. Anshul Fayewith their presence.
Team Xandar were the champi-ons of the tournament and baggedthe championship trophy, followedby team Arkham and Wakanda asthe first and second runners up.Saranjit Sarkar was adjudgedPlayer of the Tournament. Thewinners were felicitated withtrophies and certificates
IIT Bhilai is the youngestamong the 23 IITs in India. It cameinto existence in August, 2016. Theinstitute is currently functioningfrom its transit campus at theGovernment Engineering College,Sejbahar Raipur.
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
BJP has criticized the state gov-ernment for Chhattisgarh
Professional Examination Board(CPEB)’s decision to organise PET-PPHT exams without having anexam controller.
State BJP Chief Vikram Usendialleged that due to this irresponsibleact of the state government, the cru-cial PET-PPHT entrance examswere cancelled.
“Was Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel not aware that in place of anexam controller the CPEB is beingrun by an advisor appointed by him,which resulted in stalling of theexamination,” BJP chief VikramUsendi questioned in a press release.
CPEB is a key department thatdecides the future of youth andBhupesh Baghle-led government byscheduling exam without having anexam controller has very irresponsi-bly jeopardised the future of lakhs ofyouth, Usendi remarked.
Raking up the issue of delay inpayment of salary of state govern-ment employees due to problem in
the government owned servers,Usendi said by shifting the responsi-bility on officers for the cancellationof exam, the state government hasmocked lakhs of students.
“Bhupesh Baghel may be tryingto impress Congress national presi-dent Rahul Gandhi by engaging inelectioneering in Uttar Pradesh, but
the reality is that he (Baghel) is atotal failure in Chhattisgarh,”Usendi stated.
According to the BJP leader can-cellation of exam just a day beforethe test is unfair as candidates areprovided with a window period offive days to make sure they reach theexamination center on time.
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
Chhattisgarh Congress in astatement on Friday refuted
the charges of the BJP that thestate has been pushed intofinancial crisis by burdening itwith heavy loans.
State general secretary andchairman communication wingof the state Congress ShaileshNitin Trivedi said as compare tothe payments made in themonth of April, 2018, this yearthe Congress government hadpaid 1.5 fold more from thestate exchequer.
“There is ample money forall the welfare schemes forsocial security, financial aidsand grants, construction works,salaries and allowances in the
state exchequer and regularpayments are being made,” hesaid.
Regarding borrowing ofloans, the Congress leader saidit’s a normal practice that apartfrom the revenue receipt, gov-ernment raises funds throughborrowings, he pointed outsaying there is nothing wrongin it.
“Chhattisgarh nevercrossed the annual credit limitset for states by the Governmentof India,” he said.
The loan component in thestate GDP is 17.4% which is farbelow the national average of24.3%”, the Congress leaderclaimed.
The Government of India
had permitted the state to takeloan up to Rs 12979 crore infinancial year 2018-19 and thestate’s borrowing of Rs 12,900crore is well within that limit,the Congress leader clarified.
The Congress leader alsorefuted the charges of opposi-tion BJP that the governmenthas stalled construction worksinitiated by the previous gov-ernment.
Almost 700 constructionworks, including road andbuilding construction, irriga-tion projects and other workshad been initiated, he said.
The rest of the developmentworks will start after the modelcode of conduct for the elec-tions is lifted, he added.
No financial crisis in state, borrowingsfar less than national average: Cong
3-month long intra-IIT sportsleague ‘Prayatna’ concludes
Congress govt flayed for schedulingPET-PPHT exam without controller
�� ��!����������������� ����� ����� !
� ���������� �-�)!�6�1-
In a big sigh of relief for the‘worried’ saffron brigade, the
election panel has agreed to haveactor-turned-politician SunnyDeol’s screen name on theEVMs (electronic votingmachines) instead of his realname — Ajay SinghDharmendra Deol.
After finalising the list ofcontesting candidates for May 19elections, the ElectionCommission has writtenapproved BJP’s request to have“Sunny Deol” on the EVMs. Theparty had argued that the peo-ple know him by his screenname, and most of the peopleare not aware of his real nameAjay Singh Dharmendra Deol —the name by which he has filedhis nomination papers.
Taking his first electoralplunge, the junior ‘Punjab daputtar” filed his nominationpapers on April 29 to contest asthe SAD-BJP combine candidatefrom Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seatby the name of ‘Ajay SinghDharmendra Deol’, as he hasbeen registered as the voter bythe same name.
For the same, the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) had urged thepoll panel to mention its candi-date’s name as “Sunny Deol”instead of his real name.
Playing a minor role inPunjab politics with just onemember in the Lok Sabha, andthree in Vidhan Sabha, the BJP
is eyeing to grab a bigger andbetter share by riding high onthe Bollywood action heroSunny Deol’s star power in theMay 19 Lok Sabha elections inthe state.
A senior BJP leader hadcontended that the people knewhim as Sunny Deol. “Theydon’t know who is Ajay Singh.When people would come tovote for Sunny, they may getconfused by not finding hisname there. That is why wehave requested the electioncommission to write SunnyDeol instead of his real name,”the leader added.
Moreover, Sunny’s realname has not been mentionedin the publicity material, andonly his screen name, “SunnyDeol”, is being publicised.
� ��� �-�)!�6�1-
With polling for Lok Sabhaelections just 10 days
away in Haryana, top leadersacross the political spectrumincluding Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, BJP chief AmitShah, Congress chief RahulGandhi, Congress general sec-retary Priyanka Gandhi will hitthe campaign trail in the state.
Prime Minister NarendraModi and BJP chief Amit Shahwill be addressing eight electionrallies in Haryana, wherepolling for all 10 Lok Sabhaseats will be held on May 12.
The two top leaders of BJPwill be addressing election ral-lies in areas where oppositionCongress has fielded its stal-warts in Haryana.
Prime Minister Modi willaddress three rallies on May 8and May 10. On May 8, Modiwill be addressing public gath-erings in Fatehabad andKurukshetra while on the lastday of campaigning for the sixthphase on May 10, he will beaddressing a poll rally in Rohtak
district.Former Chief Minister
Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s sonDeepender Singh Hooda isseeking re-election for thefourth term from Rohtak andthe Prime Minister has chosenthe last day of campaigning ofsixth phase to address a rallythere, which is considered asstronghold of the Hooda fam-ily. BJP has fielded a Brahmincandidate, Arvind Sharmaagainst Deepender Hooda nRohtak.
Haryana AgricultureMinister Om Parkash Dhankarand Cooperation MinisterManish Grover have beenappointed organiser and co-organiser for the success ofModi’s rally on May 10 inRohtak, known as political cap-ital of Haryana.
Fatehabad falls in the Sirsaparliamentary constituencyfrom where the BJP has field-ed bureaucrat-turned-politi-cian Sunita Duggal to take onHaryana Congress presidentAshok Tanwar. In the outgoingLok Sabha, Sirsa is represented
by INLD's Charanjit SinghRori, who is seeking re-election.
From Kurukshetra parlia-mentary seat, Congress hasfielded former Minister NirmalSingh against BJP's Nayab Saini,who is a Minister in theManohar Lal Khattar cabinet.
Haryana BJP chief SubhashBarala on Friday said that theparty national president AmitShah will also be addressingthree poll rallies on May 5 inSonipat, Panipat andYamunanagar.
Two-time former ChiefMinister Bhupinder SinghHooda is contesting from theSonipat Lok Sabha seat againstBJP’s outgoing MP RameshKaushik, who is seeking re-elec-tion for the second term. InSonipat, JJP-AAP has fieldedDigvijay Chautala, a fourthgeneration member of Chautalaclan.
Panipat is part of Karnalparliamentary constituencyfrom where BJP’s candidateSanjay Bhatia is pitted againstCongress sitting MLA and for-mer Speaker Kuldeep Sharma
while Yamunanagar forms partof the Ambala Lok Sabha seat,from where senior Congressleader and former MP KumariSelja is pitted against BJP’s out-going MP Rattan Lal Kataria.
On May 10, Shah will againvisit Haryana and address ral-lies in Hisar and Dadri.
Jannayak Janta Party’sleader Dushyant Chautala isseeking re-election from Hisarconstituency, where the BJP hasfielded Union MinisterBirender Singh’s bureaucrat-turned-politician son BrijendraSingh while the Congress hasfielded senior leader KuldeepBishnoi’s son Bhavya.
Dadri falls under Bhiwani-Mahendergarh Lok Sabha con-stituency, where Congress for-mer MP Shruti Choudhary,the granddaughter of formerChief Minister late Bansi Lal, ispitted against BJP’s outgoingMP Dharamvir, who is seekingmandate for the second term.
Barala added that the partyhas stepped up preparations forsuccessfully holding these ral-lies in the state.
Apart from PM Modi andAmit Shah, BJP’s star cam-paigners including HomeMinister Rajnath Singh, Roadand Highways Minister NitinGadkari, Finance MinisterArun Jaitley and ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swaraj,BJP vice president Uma Bharti,Railway Minister Piyush Goyal,HRD Minister Smriti Irani,UP Chief Minister YogiAdityanath will also addresselection rallies in Haryana nextweek.
Notably, the saffron party,which was riding high on theNarendra Modi wave in the2014 Lok Sabha elections hadwon seven seats out of 10 seatsin Haryana.
������ ������� ����������� � �����)�B�5
In a bid to boost party’s LokSabha poll campaign inHaryana, Congress presidentRahul Gandhi and party gen-eral secretary Priyanka GandhiVadra will tour the state overthe next few days for electioncampaigning.
The Congress chief willaddress an election rally inGurugram on May 4 in supportof party’s candidate Capt AjayYadav, who is facing a toughelectoral battle against BJP’snominee and Union MinisterRao Inderjit Singh.
Another rally of Rahul isscheduled on May 6 inMahendragarh, which fallsunder Bhiwani- MahendragarhLok Sabha constituency.
The party’s general secre-tary Priyanka Gandhi will visitAmbala, Hisar and Rohtak onMay 7 for campaigning.
Priyanka will hold publicmeetings in Ambala and Hisarto seek votes for party candi-dates Kumari Selja and BhavyaBishnoi respectively on May 7.Later in the evening, she willhold a roadshow in Rohtak insupport of party candidate,three-time MP DeependerSingh Hooda.
Former Chief MinisterBhupinder Singh Hooda onFriday said that the rallies bytop party leaders would boostCongress’ poll campaign in
Haryana.Hooda said that the
Congress is confident of win-ning all 10 seats in Haryana.
The former Chief Minister,who is contesting from SonipatLok Sabha seat said he has beentouring various parts of the stateand people are eagerly waitingto vote out the non-performingNDA Government at theCentre.
Hooda said that there is noModi wave this time. The vil-lages that I have visited, peopleare comparing the develop-ment that we undertook duringour 10-year rule as against thehollow promises the BJP hadmade in 2014, he said.
The four-time former MPadded that Congress’ agenda isdevelopment and not the divi-sion politics done by BJP.
The Congress, which ismaking all out efforts to capture10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryanaafter its 2014 poll debacle, hasthis time wheeled out its triedand trusted heavyweightswhich include former ChiefMinister, former MPs, Rajya
Sabha MP, sitting MLA and athird generation politician fromformer Chief Minister BhajanLal’s family.
In 2014, the Congress couldretain only one seat i.e. Rohtak,from where Deepender Hoodawas elected to the Lok Sabha.
������������0� ������������������ ������
Delhi Chief Minister andAam Aadmi Party convenerArvind Kejriwal, who hadrecently held roadshows inHaryana will visit the stateagain on May 7 to hold an elec-tion rally in Hisar.
Kejriwal, whose AAP iscontesting the Lok Sabha pollsin alliance with Jannayak JantaParty in Haryana, will hold theelection rally in support ofDushyant Chautala, who isseeking re-election for the sec-ond term in Hisar.
JJP patron Ajay Chautala,Haryana JJP chief NishanSingh among other seniorleaders will also be present atthe rally.
panel to bar the airing ofactor-turned-politician SunnyDeol’s movies on the nationaland regional television chan-nels till the elections.
The state PradeshCongress committee secretaryAmit Singh Mantoo had writ-ten a letter to the ElectionCommission of India urging itto direct national and region-al channels to stop airing ofSunny Deol’s movies till theelections end.
Mintoo, who had unsuc-
cessfully contested the 2017assembly election fromSujanpur against BJP’s DineshSingh Babbu, claimed thatsuch movies would createenormous electoral mileagefor film star turned politicianSunny Deol who was also BJPcandidate from Gurdaspur.
In his letter to EC, he saidthat the Bharatiya Janta Party,“by tactics of airing movies intelevision and video channels,is trying to lure voters ofGurdaspur parliamentary seatwhich is a clear violation ofModal Code of Conduct. “Themovies are propaganda by theBJP to influence voters in
Gurdaspur. But for healthydemocracy, it is necessity tostop airing of his movies whichare influencing free and fairelection,” he said.
Meanwhile, GurdaspurCongress too has voiced thesame demand to stop airing ofSunny Deol’s movies on thetelevision. District Congresspresident Roshan Joseph saidthat the movies would put aninfluence on the voters’ mind.“We have not a problem withhis movies, but till the electionend, the movies should not beaired in televisions to conductfree and fair elections,” headded.
���������������E����������������F����
� ��� �-�)!�6�1-
Sunny Deol or Sunny Leone”,no one can stop Congress’
“aandhi” (storm) in Punjab,declared Congress’ candidatefrom Hoshiarpur Dr Raj KumarChabbewal on Friday whiletaking a dig at the BJP’s decisionto field Bollywood actor SunnyDeol from Gurdaspur LokSabha seat.
“The Narendra Modi gov-ernment has failed miserably.
They (BJP) can’t find candidateseven for three seats in Punjab.They have fielded Sunny Deolin Gurdaspur. The BJP canbring Sunny Deol or SunnyLeone but no one will be able tostand before this aandhi,” saidDr Raj Kumar while addressinga gathering in the constituency.
He said that Punjab ChiefMinister Capt Amarinder Singhwould ensure Congress’ victo-ry in all 13 seats in Punjab andmake Rahul Gandhi the next
Prime Minister.Notably, the BJP had
announced Sunny Deol’s can-didature from Gurdaspur, theseat actor late Vinod Khannawon in 2014, soon after hejoined the party on April 23. Hefiled his nomination papersthe next day, and has been cam-paigning since, conductingmassive road-shows attractingan enormous gathering.
In his first electoral battle,Sunny is facing Punjab
Congress president and sittingMP Sunil Jakhar, who won theseat in 2017 bye-election fol-lowing death of the sitting MPVinod Khanna.
The Gurdaspur seat, in2014, was won by yesteryearactor Vinod Khanna on the BJPticket, who had also represent-ed the seat thrice. Sunny’s fatherand yesteryears’ starDharmendra had representedthe Bikaner Lok?Sabha seatfrom 2004 to 2009.
)������� ��������������"����������������"��
� ��� �-�)!�6�1-
Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on
Friday questioned BharatiyaJanata Party’s propagandaagainst the Congress on theissue of the Balakot air strikes,saying there was "nothingwrong" in his party’s demandof proof from the NarendraModi government.
“If the strikes were assuccessful as the Modi gov-ernment claimed them to be,it was actually a matter ofimmense pride for our coun-try and for all of us. So let ussee how our forces destroyedPak buildings and shatteredtheir inflated ego,” the ChiefMinister told a TV inter-viewer, when asked to com-ment on BJP’s allegation thatthe Congress was being anti-nationalist by asking proof ofthe operation.
This is not the first timeproof had been asked, hesaid, even in the 1965 war heremembered an Army majorbringing chopped ears ofthose killed on the other sideof the border to put all doubtsof a certain Indian operationat rest. Photographs werereleased of the Kargil opera-tion too, he pointed out,adding that demanding prooffrom the government was notunpatriotic by any standard.
“I’m very proud that ouraging MIG 21 plane broughtdown a Pak F-16 and wouldbe delighted to know about
the success of our Air Force inBalkot,” said Capt Amarinder,who has been unsparing in hiscriticism of the prime minis-ter over the latter’s attempts totake credit for the actions ofthe Indian Air Force (IAF)and seek votes in the names ofmartyred soldiers.
The Chief Ministerridiculed Modi for not find-ing anything unpatriotic inthis but finding the Congressdemand for proof on Balakotas anti-national. . “Have they(BJP) forgotten who wonIndia its wars against Pakistanin 1965 and 1971,” he asked.
“I’m a military historianalso and if Modi doesn’t wantto give the proofs of thestrikes to the press or theCongress, he can send themto me”, he quipped, addingthat as an ex-army man andan Indian, he would feelextremely proud if the successof the IAF was as beingclaimed by the BJP leaders intheir speeches.
In any case, said the ChiefMinister, it was the BJP thatstarted the numbers game bygoing overboard to usurp theaccomplishment of the airforce by claiming hundreds ofcasualties in Balakot. TheCongress only countered withits demand for proof, he said,adding that the BJP shouldnot hesitate to grab the oppor-tunity to show the world, andall doubt mongers, of thegreat success of the Indianforces.
� ��� �-�)!�6�1-
It was a rare occasion whenthree main candidates, con-
testing from three differentpolitical parties fromChandigarh came on a platformto discuss issues concerning thecity on Friday.
Congress candidate PawanKumar Bansal, BJP candidateKirron Kher and Aam AadmiParty nominee Harmohan
Dhawan participated in adebate at Punjab Kala Bhawan,Sector 16.
Bansal said BJP’s nomineeand outgoing MP Kirron Kher’sremarks where she expressedher displeasure at Chandigarhbeing a union territory arereally unfortunate.
In the debate, all candidateswere given an opportunity tospeak on making Punjabi as theofficial language of Chandigarh.
While reacting to KirronKher’s displeasure ofChandigarh being a UT, Bansalsaid it was unfortunate on herpart to say so, adding he is infavour of Chandigarh remain-ing as UT, and this is what peo-ple of Chandigarh would alwayswant to. Kirron later clarifiedthat she is also in favor of UTstatus of Chandigarh and hadjust commented on promotingPunjabi in the city.
� ���������� �-�)!�6�1-
For driving home the mes-sage to its voters, the spe-
cially-designed ‘NRI CampaignBus’ will traverse on the Punjaband Haryana roads cuttingthrough the length and breadthof the two neighbouring statesahead the crucial Lok Sabhaelections.
The bus, carrying hun-dreds of NRIs from the differ-ent countries including USA,UK, Canada, Germany,Switzerland, among others,would tour across the statesmaking the electorate aware ofCongress party’s vision andpoll manifesto while making avote appeal for the party can-didates.
Elections for the 10 LokSabha seats of Haryana will beheld on May 12, while for 13seats of Punjab, polling will beon May 19.
During the previous gen-eral elections, the NRIs ralliedbehind the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) by supporting throughsocial media, poll funding andcampaigning, leading to the
emergence of nascent politicalparty in Punjab by bagging fourout of 13 total seats stunningthe state’s traditional politicalparties — Congress, and SAD-BJP combine.
This time, besides AAP, sixdifferent political outfits arejointly contesting the electionsunder the banner of PunjabDemocratic Alliance (PDA),which is also reportedly receiv-ing a major NRI support.
Its candidate, Punjab EktaParty’s Bibi Paramjit KaurKhalra — the widow of humanrights activist Jaswant SinghKhalra — is receiving massiveNRI support.
Besides lending a helpinghand in the state’s electioncampaigning, either fromabroad or by flocking here, theNRIs have been seen makinglavish donations to the much-needed poll funds.
It is estimated that around11 million NRIs are living invarious countries across theworld, most of whom are fromPunjab. The Doaba belt, com-prising Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur,Kapurthala and Nawanshahr
districts, had seen maximumimmigration to arid zones fromPunjab.
Notably, in the US alone,there are approximately sevenlakh Punjabis, of whom near-ly 2.5 lakh hold Indian pass-ports and are eligible to vote inthe Punjab elections.
Various leaders, in fray,are using radio talk shows toconnect to the Punjabi dias-pora, and making a vote appeal,on popular Punjabi radio chan-nels abroad.
“NRIs hold a major influ-ence among the state voters,especially in the rural areas.Every election, they comeand work for the party, butthis time, party’s overseaswing has decided to make ita planned thing, and make the best use of theirsupport back home,” a seiorCongress leader told ThePioneer.
The leader said that the‘NRI campaign bus’ waslaunched by the OverseasCongress chairman and tech-nocrat Sam Pitroda from theAICC headquarters in New
Delhi on Wednesday, and itwould mainly be touringPunjab and Haryana.
“These two states have asubstantial number of NRIs,and they hold the power tosway the voters here...they willbe touring the two states,largely the rural areas, tomake the voters aware of theparty’s promises in the man-ifesto, especially the Nyayscheme,” added the leader.
With Haryana going toelection a week before Punjab,the bus would first tourHaryana, and then Punjabareas.
A similar bus had earliertoured Gujarat too, while ateam of NRIs had also cam-paigned for the party in theelections held in southernstates.
More than 100 NRIs trav-elling on the campaign busare from countries such as theUS, Canada, Australia, theUK, Germany, Switzerland,and New Zealand. Earlier,about 1,000 NRIs had workedon the Congress campaign inKerala and Karnataka.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal onFriday said that the Congressleaders in Haryana have lostfaith in their party president andfelt ashamed in seeking votes inthe name of their party chief.
Manohar Lal, whileaddressing the Vijay Sankalprally here in support of party’snominee for Ambala Lok Sabhaseat Rattan Lal Kataria, said thatthe so-called master plan madeby Rahul Gandhi for his party’ssuccess is frightening theCongressmen who are feelingcertain of their defeat.
He said that from Kashmirto Kanyakumari there is decisivewave in favour of the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s vic-tory as electorate has made upits mind to see the return of theBJP government.
In the election phases heldso far, voting has been for Modiand in the remaining phasesalso, people are waiting to votefor Modi, he said.
The Chief Minister saidthat Rahul Gandhi is no matchfor Modi during the Lok Sabhaelections in world’s biggestdemocracy.
Cautioning the voters,Manohar Lal said that repre-sentatives of many parties willcome seeking votes detailing thework done by them during thepast seven decades, but peopleshould not fall into their trap astheir campaigning is based onfalsehood.
He sfurther aid that on theother hand BJP is detailing theachievements of its five year rule
which is over shadowing the 70year rule of the main oppositionCongress. People should voteafter considering the situation intotality, Manohar Lal said.
He added that the wholecountry trusts Modi unlikeRahul Gandhi who has lost thefaith of his won partymen.
Referring to Congress man-ifesto assuring to end seditionlaws, AFSPA and reduce thepowers of the defence forces,Manohar Lal said that thedefence forces personnel feltdemoralised due to these pro-posals. In such circumstanceswhy would the defence per-sonnel protect the borders, hequestioned.
He said that the foremostrequirement is of all beingnationalist. BJP is committed toprotect the unity, integrity andsecurity of the country and thegovernment has given a freehand to the defence forces todeal with the threats from ter-rorists and separatists elements,he added.
The Chief Minister saidthat the party would not allowanyone to intrude into thecountry and do damage.
He also questioned thementality of those questioningthe air strike and the Pulwamaattack on the CRPF convoy.
The Chief Minister alsohighlighted various develop-ment programmes, includingAyushman Yojna, UjjawalaYojna, Crop InsuranceScheme and employment onmerit initiated by the BJP toensure welfare of all sectionsof the society includingwomen, youth, farmers andthe poor.
Pakistan has issued an officialorder to freeze the assets of
and impose a travel ban on JeMchief Masood Azhar after theUN declared him a “globalterrorist”.
Pakistan-based Azhar isalso banned from selling orpurchasing arms and ammu-nition.
The UN sanctions com-mittee on the Islamic Stateand Al-Qaeda on Wednesdayannounced the designation ofAzhar, leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), over itsties to Al-Qaeda.
The JeM has claimedresponsibility for the Pulwamasuicide attack that killed 40
CRPF soldiers and led to aspike in military tensionsbetween India and Pakistan.
The Security and ExchangeCommission of Pakistan(SECP) ordered all non-bank-ing financial institutions andregulating authorities onThursday to block all invest-ment accounts of Azhar.
The SECP ordered that allcompanies should scan theirdata and inform the SECPwithin three days about thenecessary action being takenagainst the accounts of Azhar.
An official of interior min-istry said that Azhar wasalready on the Fourth Scheduleof the Anti-Terrorist Act (ATA)and could not travel withoutpermission of the police. He
was also barred from havingany weapons due to the listingunder the ATA.
His name was also alreadyon the list of proscribed per-sons maintained by theNational Anti-TerroristAuthority (NACTA).
According to ForeignOffice spokesman MohammadFaisal, Pakistan would fullycooperate with the interna-tional community.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry,in a notification issuedWednesday said: “the FederalGovernment is pleased to orderthat the Resolution 2368 (2017)be fully implemented” againstAzhar.
The government directedofficials to take actions “asappropriate for the implemen-tation of sanctions” against theJeM chief, according to thenotification.
The UN designated Azharas a “global terrorist” afterChina lifted its hold on a pro-
posal by the US, the UK andFrance to blacklist him.
The US, the UK andFrance had moved the proposalto designate Azhar as a “glob-al terrorist” in the UN Security
Council’s 1267 Al QaedaSanctions Committee inFebruary, just days after thedeadly Pulwama terror attackcarried out by the JeM inJammu and Kashmir.
- ���������3� �����*��'���&
!��������������������+��������� + ��
���� +��-�)6'/)�
US employers added a robust2,63,000 jobs in April, sug-
gesting that businesses haveshrugged off earlier concernsthat the economy might slowthis year and now anticipatestrong customer demand.
The unemployment rate fellto a five-decade low of 3.6%from 3.8%, though that droppartly reflected an increase in thenumber of Americans whostopped looking for work.Average hourly pay rose 3.2%from 12 months earlier, a healthyincrease though unchangedfrom the previous month.
Friday’s jobs report fromthe Labor Department showedthat solid economic growth isstill encouraging strong hiringnearly a decade into the econ-omy’s recovery from the GreatRecession. The economicexpansion is set to become the
longest in history in July.Many businesses say
they’re struggling to find work-ers, yet each month they seemto add a substantial number.Some have taken a range ofsteps to fill jobs, includingtraining more entry-level work-ers, loosening educationalrequirements and raising paysharply.
Years of steady hiring havesharply lowered unemploy-ment for a range of populationgroups. The unemploymentrate for women fell last monthto 3.1%, the lowest point since1953. The rate for Latinosdropped to 4.2%, a record lowsince 1973, when the govern-ment began tracking the data.
For Asians, joblessness hasmatched a record low of 2.2%.And the unemployment ratefor veterans of the Iraq andAfghan wars dropped to 1.7%,also a record low.
4����������56$%��7����� ���������89;���� �#
����� +(,,�)6'/)
New Zealand PrimeMinister Jacinda Ardern
and her long-term partnerClarke Gayford have becomeengaged to be married, heroffice said on Friday.
A spokesman for Ardernand Gayford said the couple,who have a baby daughterNeve, agreed to tie the knotover the Easter break.
He could not revealwhether a date for the primeministerial nuptials had been
set or who had proposed towhom.
“I can’t say anything aboutit other than they are engagedand it happened over Easter,”the spokesman told AFP.
Ardern, 38, had Neve lastJune, becoming only the sec-ond prime minister in theworld to give birth while inoffice and later taking theinfant onto the floor of the UNAssembly in New York.
Since the birth, Gayford, atelevision fishing show host,has taken on the role of stay-at-home dad.
The engagement comesafter a trying time for Ardern,who has been widely praisedfor her response to the March15 Christchurch mosque shoot-
ings that claimed the lives of 51Muslim worshippers.
Ardern said in an interviewlast year that she would notpropose to Gayford, eventhough she regards herself as afeminist.
“I want to put him throughthe pain and torture of havingto agonise about that questionhimself,” she told the BBC.
News of the engagementbroke after journalists noticedArdern was wearing a dia-mond ring while carrying outher duties on Friday.
London: Britain’s two mainpolitical parties, the rulingConservatives and theOpposition Labour Party, suf-fered a severe Brexit bruising aslocal election results poured infrom around the country onFriday.
The Liberal Democrats cel-ebrated a major boost to theirfigures as voters overwhelm-ingly used the polls, to electlocal councillors in nearly 250councils across England andNorthern Ireland, to punish themain parties for failing to finda solution to the ongoing Brexituncertainties.
Smaller parties like theGreen Party also gained hun-dreds of seats, but the far-rightpro-Brexit UK IndependenceParty (UKIP) lost much ground.
British Prime MinisterTheresa May, who is facingrenewed calls to resign,appeared at a Conservativeparty conference as the dam-
aging results continued to pourin and admitted that voters hadsent the “simple message” thather party and Labour had to“get on” with delivering Brexit.
“These were always going to bedifficult elections for us and therewere some challenging results forus last night, but it was a bad nightfor Labour too,” she said, amidchants of “out, out, out” from theaudience.
“I just don’t think we cancontinue like this. We needchange, we need a change ofleadership. Perhaps the time hasnow come for that,” said PritiPatel, a prominent Brexiteer andformer Indian-origin ministerin May’s Cabinet.
Speaking in GreaterManchester, Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn said he had“wanted to do better” and con-ceded that voters who dis-agreed with the party’s backingfor Brexit had deserted Labour.
The 50-week jail sentencegiven to WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange for breaching aBritish court’s bail conditionsseven years ago is “dispropor-tionate,” the UN WorkingGroup on Arbitrary Detentionsaid Friday.
Assange took refuge inEcuador’s London embassy in2012 after a British judgeordered his extradition to faceSwedish allegations of sexualassault and rape, which hestrongly denied.
He was arrested last monthafter Ecuador gave him up. Hewill now serve the nearly one-year jail sentence while fight-ing a separate attempt to extra-dite him to the United States.
The UN working groupnoted that the Swedish allega-tions — the initial offence thattriggered his British arrest —had been withdrawn and thatthe original bail terms shouldtherefore have been nullified.
It noted too that he hadbeen given near the maximum12-month sentence available in
the UK for breaching bail con-ditions.
The group is “deeply con-cerned about... The dispro-portionate sentence imposedon Mr Assange,” it said in astatement.
It accused Britain ofextending “the arbitrary depri-vation of (his) liberty.” Theexperts took further issue withAssange’s detention at the Belmarsh high-securityprison.
“This treatment appearsto contravene the principles ofnecessity and proportionalityenvisaged by the human rightsstandards,” the panel said.
The US has charged the 47-year-old Assange with “con-spiracy” for working with for-mer US Army intelligence ana-lyst Chelsea Manning to cracka password stored onDepartment of Defence com-puters in March 2010.
Manning passed hundredsof thousands of classified doc-uments to WikiLeaks, exposingUS military wrong-doing in theIraq war and diplomatic secretsabout scores of countries.
Moscow: Russia emerged as acrucial power broker in the cri-sis in far-away Venezuela thisweek when Washingtonaccused Moscow of convincingPresident Nicolas Maduro notto flee to Cuba.
US Secretary of State MikePompeo said Maduro had aplane on the tarmac ready to flyto Havana when “the Russiansindicated that he should stay”.
Moscow hit back, dismiss-ing the claim as fake and accus-ing Washington of supportinga coup “that has nothing to dowith democracy” by backingopposition leader Juan Guaido.
Moscow has its reasonsfor standing behind Maduro -- he’s a rare ally in LatinAmerica and Russia has pouredbillions into the Venezuelaneconomy. AFP
Pemba (Mozambique):Isabella Mussa has not set footin a classroom or read a bookfor the past week.
For the 13-year-old, dis-placed by a deadly cyclone innorthern Mozambique, it feelslike a lifetime. Yet she is calledone of the lucky ones. Morethan 1 million children havebeen affected by a pair ofcyclones that ripped intoMozambique in less than twomonths, the United Nationschildren’s agency says. AP
Addis Ababa: Dozens of civil-ians were shot dead in ethnicclashes in Ethiopia’s northernAmhara state, a regional offi-cial said, describing the attacksas retaliation for violence.
“Search and rescue mis-sions are still ongoing to findvictims and survivors fromMonday’s attack, but I canconfirm the death toll runs intoseveral dozen,” Geleta Hailu,the director of communicationsin neighbouring BenishangulGumuz state, told AFP. AFP
����� �/'/)/.
Troops in Benin maintaineda tight clamp on protests
after two days of deadly vio-lence sparked by elections inwhich not a single oppositioncandidate took part.
Soldiers broke up demon-strations with gunfire onThursday around the home ofex-president Thomas BoniYayi, which had become a focalpoint of protests.
Life returned back to nor-mal in much of the economiccapital Cotonou on Friday, butsoldiers and police kept astrong presence on the streetsaround Boni Yayi’s house,according to an AFP reporter.
At least two people wereconfirmed killed in the vio-lence.
Parliamentary elections lastSunday were marked by lowturnout and widespread angerat changes to electoral rules that
effectively barred oppositionparties from fielding candi-dates.
The final results, issued lateThursday by JosephDjogbenou, president ofBenin’s Constitutional Court,showed that all seats were wonby the only two parties allowedto take part — both allied toPresident Patrice Talon.
Turnout was 27.1 percent,a record low since Benin tran-sited to democracy nearly 30years ago, although higher thanthe 23 percent given in pre-liminary results, Djogbenousaid.
The protests began hoursafter the initial results werereleased on Wednesday.
Large numbers of troopsand riot police — as well ashundreds of protesters man-ning burning barricades —squared off in the streets ofCotonou.
India has been “politicising”the proceedings at the FATF
against Pakistan, the ForeignOffice claimed on Friday, a dayafter the Indian governmentsaid it seeks downgrading ofPakistan on the global watchdog’s terrorism financing list.
Finance Minister ArunJaitley said on Thursday thatIndia will ask the global moneylaundering and terror financewatchdog to put Pakistan on ablacklist of countries that fail to
meet international standards instopping financial crime.
“We want Pakistan down-graded on the FATF list,” Jaitleytold reporters in New Delhi,adding that the Paris-basedFinancial Action Task Force(FATF) was due to meet inmid-May and India wouldmake its request then.
“The statement re-con-firms Pakistan’s longstandingconcerns that this technicalforum is being politicised byIndia against Pakistan,”Pakistan Foreign Office said.
Ahistoric "loya jirga" peacesummit in Kabul ended on
Friday with delegates fromacross Afghanistan demandingan immediate and permanentceasefire, and President AshrafGhani saying he was condi-tionally prepared to imple-ment the call.
This week's loya jirga, orgrand assembly, saw about3,200 religious and tribal lead-ers, politicians and representa-tives try to find a breakthrough
in Afghanistan's gruelling con-flict, which is now in its 18thyear.
"The government of theIslamic Republic ofAfghanistan and the Talibanmovement should declare andimplement an immediate andpermanent ceasefire," delegatessaid in a declaration at the endof the jirga.
They said the ceasefireshould start at the beginning ofthe holy month of Ramadan,which gets underway in thecoming days.
The selection of a Prime Ministeris a relatively smooth affair in casethe results of a general election aredecisive. In such cases, the PrimeMinister virtually selects himself.
But this is not always the case. There havebeen instances post a general election, as alsoa mid-term poll, where Presidents have hadto undertake strenuous exercises before mak-ing the final selection. Some such cases —where the decision-making was not sosmooth and conventions were not followed— will be recalled in this column.
India’s Constitution is one of the longestin the world. Its drafting took almost threeyears and was debated extensively beforebeing finalised. Despite being a comprehen-sively written document, ambiguities remain,resulting in varying interpretations, some-times leading to controversies.
Article 74 of the Constitution is mod-elled on Section 9 of the Government ofIndia Act, 1935, which lays down the basisof a Cabinet system (Council of Ministers)with the Prime Minister as the head of theCabinet to aid and advise the President.Article 75 lays down that the PrimeMinister shall be appointed by thePresident. Obviously, it is left to the latterto take a decision and appoint the former.As per the Constitution, the Prime Ministerand the Council of Ministers are responsi-ble to the House of the People. Article 75(3)says such a person chosen as the PrimeMinister has to have the confidence of theHouse. Though not mentioned explicitlyin the Constitution, ultimately, it becomesthe weightiest factor in the selectionprocess with the President.
In the case of a single political party ora pre-poll alliance having majority, who havechosen a leader, the decision-making isuncomplicated and smooth. Complicationsarise in cases where claims of relativestrengths conflict and overlap. For such sit-uations, too, over a period of time, conven-tions and precedents have evolved, facilitat-ing the decision-making process.
Presidents have adopted varying yard-sticks for different situations, which are nowpart of our Constitutional history. After thesixth general election in March 1977,Morarji Desai of the Janata Party hadbecome the Prime Minister. He had to resignmid-term on July 15, 1979, on account ofcertain intra-party stress factors, eventhough he continued to be the leader of theJanata Party. The next day, the then DeputyPrime Minister Ch Charan Singh brokeaway from the Janata Party and formed hisown party. As per the convention, the thenPresident Neelam Sanjeev Reddy invitedLeader of the Opposition YB Chavan toform the Government. Expressing hisinability, Chavan suggested to the Presidentthat a combination of parties had emergedled by Ch Charan Singh, which could formthe Government. The President at this stageset a precedent when he asked for lists of
supporting MPs, both fromMorarji Desai as well as ChCharan Singh. Ultimately sup-ported by the Congress, CharanSingh was sworn in as thePrime Minister on July 28,almost two weeks after MorarjiDesai’s resignation. He was sup-posed to prove his majority dur-ing the Monsoon Session ofParliament but had to resign onAugust 20 for want of supportfrom the Congress.
While resigning, he hadadvised the President to dissolvethe House for a fresh election.Strictly following the conven-tion, the advice of a PrimeMinister, who had failed to winthe confidence of the House, wasnot binding on the President. Inthis case, President NeelamSanjiva Reddy, instead of mak-ing an offer to Jagjivan Ram,then Leader of Opposition, dis-solved the House and ChCharan Singh continued as thecare-taker Prime Minister foralmost five months till the sev-enth general elections were heldin December 1979. It has beenoften observed that this decisionwas propelled by the previoushistory of the President andJagjivan Ram from their daystogether in the Congress at thetime of its split in 1969.
The precedent of obtaininglists of MPs in support was laterrepeated in 1999 by President
KR Narayanan, when one of theclaimants was unable to furnishthe requisite numbers, leading tothe post-Kargil war general elec-tions in September 1999.
Earlier in November 1989,after the ninth general election,as no party had secured anabsolute majority, President RVenkataraman invited RajivGandhi in his capacity as theleader of the largest party inParliament to form theGovernment. After his refusal,VP Singh, with letters of supportfrom the Left Front as well asthe BJP, formed theGovernment. As the latter with-drew their support on October23, 1990, VP Singh was asked toprove his majority in the House.Having lost the vote 142 to 346,he had to resign on November7, 1990. The Congress was onceagain asked to form theGovernment, but they insteadsupported Chandrasekhar’sbreakaway group. Accordingly,Chandrasekhar was sworn in asthe Prime Minister. Later, inMarch 1991, after the withdraw-al of support from the Congress,he resigned, advising dissolutionof the Lok Sabha, which wasaccepted by the President.
At least on one occasion,the principle of making the firstoffer to the largest partyappeared to be embarrassing-ly impractical. In 1996, the then
President Shankar DayalSharma had invited Atal BihariVajpayee to form theGovernment, as the BJP wasthe largest party with 161 seats,its allies having 34, thus mak-ing it a total of 195.
On the other hand, theUnited Front had a total of 318,including the Congress’ sup-port. Embarrassingly, also forthe President, Vajpayee failed tosecure the vote of confidenceand had to resign within 13days of being sworn as thePrime Minister. Obviously,while extending the invitationto Vajpayee, his capacity to winconfidence of the House hadnot been considered.
Ultimately, what matters isthe satisfaction of the Presidentthat his choice would be able towin the confidence of the House.Based on this principle, afterIndira Gandhi’s assassination,Giani Zail Singh as Presidenthad invited Rajiv Gandhi to bethe Prime Minister in 1984, eventhough at that time, he had notbeen formally elected as theleader of the party.
In 2004, the differencebetween the Congress (145)and the BJP (138) was verysmall, but the then President,APJ Abdul Kalam had invitedthe Congress to form theGovernment not only because itwas the largest party but also
because it had the largest pre-poll support (UPA) in numbers.
The modalities of theselection process were lookedupon in detail by the SarkariaCommission, which had rec-ommended that the Presidentshould invite the leaders of theparties in the following order,(i) Leader of the largest pre-poll alliance of parties, (ii)Leader of the single largestparty, (iii) Leader of the post-poll alliance.
Later, the Commission,to review the working of theConstitution chaired by for-mer Chief Justice of India MNVenkatachaliah, had suggest-ed that in certain ambiguoussituations, the President couldsend a message to the LokSabha to choose a leader, whowould then be appointed thePrime Minister. Such a proce-dure would do away with therequirement of a vote of con-fidence in the House. Eversince our independence,despite our initial lack ofexperience in running demo-cratic institutions, it is heart-ening that we have, as theworld’s largest democracy,evolved in a manner to set anexample to the rest.
(The writer is a formerGovernor of Meghalaya andUttarakhand and a formerCommissioner of Police, Delhi)
Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Azhar nailed, finally” (May 3).The Pulwama terror attack onFebruary 14 was, perhaps, thedeadliest that occurred in theValley in the past three decadesof militant activity in Kashmir.This Pakistan based-terror out-fit, the Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM), claimed responsibility forthe attack and was also respon-sible for many other attacks inIndia, including on theParliament, Pathankot and Uriamong others.
For the last 10 years, Indiahad relentlessly tried to put himon the terror list but China’sopposition was the thorn inIndia’s side. It was only afterPulwama that the US, the UKand France moved a fresh pro-posal in the UN SecurityCouncil on February 27 to des-ignate JeM chief Masood Azharas a global terrorist. The effortsput by these countries as also bythe Modi Government, whichraised the costs for Pakistan’ssponsorship of terrorism, led tothis diplomatic victory. Timesare becoming harder for Pakistanday by day. It stands isolated and
if the ISI and Pakistani Army con-tinue harbouring terrorists andusing terror as a tool of state pol-icy, international sanctions maybe slapped on it.
Meanwhile, the IndianGovernment must build themomentum hereon. It must alsocontinue working with the West.
MC JoshiLucknow
� � ����� ����
Sir — There seems to be an acri-monious controversy over theIndian citizenship of Congresschief Rahul Gandhi. TheMinistry of Home Affairs hassought for clarification fromGandhi on the basis of allega-tions made by none other than
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy. The Congress says such
doubts had been clarified in2016 itself and this charge wasold wine in a new bottle. Nowthat the Supreme Court hasagreed to hear the case in thecoming week, matters should beresolved once and for all.
Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar
�������������� �
Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Azhar nailed, finally” (May3). Kudos to the European coun-tries, the US and the UK, whoplayed an important role inpressuring China to toe the line.New Delhi should now mountpressure on the UN as also thosenations who are a witness to ter-rorism like India, to fight collec-tively and ensure that the mostwanted terrorists are extraditedto face trial in Indian courts.
Abhinav KumarVia email
�������� ����������
Sir — Congress chief RahulGandhi should have put thematter to rest by admitting hismistake for attributing thephrase ‘chowkidar chor hai’ to theSupreme Court. The top court’sstand, asking him for an apolo-gy, will act as a deterrent againstbeing irresponsible.
India has secured a big diplomatic victory withthe listing of Masood Azhar, Pakistan-basedJaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief, as a global ter-
rorist by the United Nations Security Council(UNSC) after China decided to lift its earlierimposed technical hold. It has been a long strug-gle for the Indian diplomatic corps since the issuehad been hanging fire for almost a decade now.Incidentally, the JeM had already been listed as aglobal terror organisation by the UN since 2002.However, Azhar continued to avoid the listing dueto Chinese patronage. The decision from the UNSecurity Council’s 1267 Al Qaeda SanctionsCommittee came after China lifted its technicalhold, imposed on March 13, on a proposal madeby the US, the UK and France to this end. Evenbefore that, China, a permanent member of theUNSC, had been blocking India’s attempts tosecure designation of Azhar for almost a decade.
Certainly, India’s consistency has paid off. Itwas not an easy task to propel China to changeits mind, especially when it had clarified after theBrics summit declaration that it was “for banningterrorist organisations but not individuals.” Chinastill had three months to lift the technical hold butstretched it to the last limit. Now that it has givenin, it is definitely a victory of the ModiGovernment. The declaration, coming as it doesin the midst of the electoral battle, indicates therespect the Chinese leadership has for the currentleadership in India with Modi at the helm. It is aspin-off of the Wuhan spirit and definitely a win-win for India.
In diplomacy, there are no clear cut winnersor losers until a decisive victory in a war has alreadydeclared the winners. In the instant case, both Indiaand China had been pursuing their national inter-ests. The latter was also treading the path very care-fully. Chinese national interests were under attackfrom America as a result of the ongoing trade warbetween the two countries that had begun muchbefore Pulwama. China’s GDP was on a decline.Many companies are contemplating shifting theirmanufacturing units to India. China, which con-siders itself as an emerging global power, can ill-afford a declining economy. Also, China’s image asa responsible member of the global community wasbeing dented due to its continuous support to Azhar,thus labelling it as pro-terror. The recently held sec-ond summit of the Belt Road Initiatives (BRI) alsoforced China for a re-think. India’s persistence tostay away from the initiative and not very encour-aging response from those who attended, includ-ing Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, made theChinese think-tank a bit nervous.
China was feeling the heat of international iso-lation with majority nations not aligning with itin the matter of terrorism. America’s threat to takethe matter to the UNSC further weakenedChina’s insistence because it was hardly left withany allies. The fear of losing a huge market likeIndia — one of the major trading partners ofChina — also weighed heavily in the minds of theChinese leadership. It was, therefore, perceived byChina that in its national interest, it can no longerafford to be seen as a pro-terrorist nation.However, it also did not want to offend its onlyally, Pakistan, with whom it pronounces itsfriendship as stronger than the Himalayas. Hence,China ensured that no reference was made to
Kashmir and Pulwama, a face-saving gimmick forPakistan, in the Sanction Committee’s declarationlisting Azhar as global terrorist.
“On this listing issue, China has been com-municating with relevant parties in a construc-tive and responsible fashion. Recently, relevantcountries revised and re-submitted the materialsfor the listing proposal to the 1267 Committee.After careful study of the revised materials andtaking into consideration the opinions of relevantparties concerned, China does not have objectionto the listing proposal,” Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Shuang said in a press statement.
“The proper settlement of the above-men-tioned issue again shows that in internationalcounter-terrorism cooperation, we have to upholdthe rules and procedures of relevant UN body, fol-low the principle of mutual respect, resolve dif-ferences and build consensus through dialogue,and prevent politicising technical issues,” he added.
In his statement, Geng pointed out thatPakistan has made “enormous contributions tofighting terrorism”, which should be recognisedby the international fraternity. Thus, it is a win-win situation as far as China is concerned. It is awin-win situation for France, the US, Britain andother members of 1267 Committee as well.
Pakistan is also claiming a win-win situationon the pretext that no mention has been made ofKashmir and Pulwama since India has been blam-ing Azhar as the mastermind and JeM as theexecutor of the dastardly Pulwama terror attack.Let Pakistan rejoice but the bare fact remains thatit has been recognised and designated globally asa fountainhead of terror. The Damocles’ Swordin the form of Financial Action Task Force (FATF)continues to hang on its head. A fragile and fail-ing economy is an issue, which cannot allow thisrejoicing to be a long lasting pleasant experience.India should also not particularly worry about thefine print because the intent was to have Azhar
declared as a global terrorist and that has beenachieved. With the JeM already on the ban list andnow its chief also meeting the same fate, it wouldbe a Herculean task for Pakistan to defy theSanctions. It will have to act, and act swiftly.
A word of caution: The deep state in Pakistanhas mastered the art of circumventing internation-al sanctions as is evident from its past behaviour.The banned organisations appear in a new avtaror with a different name and their leadersassume charge again though ostensibly of a dif-ferent outfit, generally portrayed as a philanthrop-ic organisation. But the watchful eye of FATF maymake the task difficult for Pakistan this time.
Undoubtedly, India has secured a huge diplo-matic victory but this should not be the end. Indiahas to tread its path carefully to ensure that thisvictory is not turned into defeat through a Sino-Pakistan collusion. India also has to be preparedfor the immediate consequences of this decision.The JeM sympathisers in Kashmir may carry outa sensational attack to show their solidarity withAzhar and as a protest to his listing. Pakistan isalready singing a different tune. It says that by notnaming Kashmir and Pulwama in the declaration,the global community has accepted their con-tention that what is happening inside Kashmir isan internal resistance movement. Indirectly, bothChina and Pakistan have continued to supporttheir consistent policy of “good” and “bad” ter-rorists. Pakistan has also made its intentions clearthat there would be no laxity as far as Kashmir isconcerned and that it will continue to follow itspolicy of “thousand cuts.”
India will have to ensure that Pakistan andChina are compelled to give up their policy of clas-sifying terrorists to suit their convenience. As faras China is concerned, India has to keep itscounter-narrative active and play the ‘Tibet card’tactfully. In view of the ensuing summer, whenpasses in the Himalayas are open, India will have
to be vigilant and guard against any Sino-Pakistan collusion militarily. After the Balakotstrikes, both India and Pakistan continue to main-tain the stand-off. It is the conventional edge thatthe Indian armed forces enjoy over their coun-terparts in Pakistan and the international pressurethat has kept Pakistan reined in so far. A misad-venture from Pakistan to avenge Balakot with thecollusion of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)is a possibility that cannot be ruled out straightway. A lot would also depend on the electoralresults on May 23 that would determine the newGovernment in New Delhi. Before resorting to anymisadventure, Pakistan will like to determine thethresholds of the new regime. In a nutshell, thecoming months are going to be very critical forIndia not only diplomatically but militarily as well.
Pakistan’s mindset against India will changeonly if its Army changes its attitude towards Indiaand stops projecting us as a quintessential threat.That can only happen when Pakistan’s economycannot be saved from a collapse. Fear of FATFsanctions may also, to some extent, force the Armyto concede a bit. When IMF’s bailout packagebecomes almost a certainty, the Pakistan Army willhave no option but to relent. Islamabad will beforced to denounce terrorism as the instrumentof state policy.
India has a long haul ahead. It has to ensurethat it further tightens its grip against Pakistanthrough diplomatic, economic and militarymeans. It also has to ensure that the global watchover Pakistan does not slacken. With all indica-tions that Modi may return to power and Indiacontinuing with its tough policy against Pakistan,there is a hope that coming years may see a declinein cross-border terrorism. However, the univer-sal fight against global jihadi terror will contin-ue relentlessly.
(The writer is a Jammu-based political com-mentator, columnist and strategic analyst)
Ukraine has a new President andhe’s a comedian. Oh, wait aminute, that’s not such a big
deal. Guatemala was the first countryto elect a comedian as President:Jimmy Morales in 2015. AlthoughMorales turned sort of serious once hetook office: He’s a Right-wing nation-alist, who supports death penalty andopposes abortion. Whereas VolodymyrZelensky hasn’t turned.
Right through the presidentialelection campaign in Ukraine, Zelenskyavoided speeches. Mostly, he justtoured the country with a comedytroupe, performed in skits and didstand-up. And he’s not just a comedi-an, he’s a Jewish comedian — the verybest kind. His style is south Ukrainian,
sort of vaudeville, with a distinctiveJewish inflection and people love it.
Congratulations to Ukraine, by theway, for having Jews as both Presidentand Prime Minister (VolodymyrGroysman) at the same time in theheart of traditionally anti-semiticEastern Europe and not even makinga fuss about it. But what is Zelenskygoing to do for Ukraine now that he hasbeen swept into office with a landslidemajority (73 per cent)? Nobody actu-ally knows and this may includeZelensky himself.
When Zelensky did offer morethan jokes, in the short videos hereleased from time to time during thecampaign, it still wasn’t policies. Morelike mood music, really.
“He’s from a family of JewishSoviet intellectuals from a Russian-speaking industrial region (in easternUkraine,” Vyacheslav Likhachev of theNational Minorities’ Rights MonitoringGroup in Kyiv told the Haaretz news-paper. “He has repeatedly made fun ofover-the-top (Ukrainian) nationalpatriotic discourse.”
“Zelensky might make some sym-bolic gestures toward nationalist sen-
timent to fend off accusations that he’llsell us out to Russia,” Likhachev con-tinued, “but that seems unlikely to me.He probably realises that it’ll be hardfor him to win over the most nation-alist-oriented part of society, so he’llwash his hands of them so as not toalienate the majority.”
That will be a welcome change afterfive years of the pompous nationalistbilge of billionaire Petro Poroshenko,who won the presidency in 2014 aftera popular revolt overthrew the pro-Russian stooge Viktor Yanukovych.
In a video Poroshenko released just
before the sole presidential debate inKiev’s huge Olympic Stadium lastFriday, he tried to play the patrioticcard: “There’s no room for jokes here.Being a President and supreme com-mander is not a game... it means beingresponsible for the people, for the coun-try.” It would have sounded more per-suasive if Poroshenko had done some-thing about the corruption that hasmade oligarchs like him rich.
Zelensky’s response was lethal:“I’m not your opponent. I’m a verdicton you. I am the result of your mis-takes.” And by a majority of almost
three-to-one, Ukrainians voted to puttheir future in his hands. Although, tobe frank, most of them doubt that hecan really deliver the future of peace andprosperity that they hope for.
The only evidence they have ofZelensky’s industry, honesty and wis-dom is the television series he writesand stars in, Servant of the People. It’sa heart-warming story of a humble highschool history teacher, whose rantabout the dreadful state of the countryis secretly recorded by his students andgoes viral when they upload it to YouTube. So he is elected President ofUkraine.
Zelensky is not a high schoolteacher; he is a show business million-aire with his own production compa-ny. He may be just as warm and sin-cere in person as Vasyl PetrovychHoloborodko, the former teacher andaccidental President, whom he plays inServant of the People. (It’s one ofUkraine’s most popular series and isnow nearing 50 episodes). Or he maynot be.
Journalists are now working theirway through all the box sets of Servantof the People, trying to glean some clues
about what the new President has inmind. But that’s a thankless taskbecause a lot of the show is sheer fan-tasy (like the sequence where the frus-trated Holoborodko machine-gunsthe entire Parliament).
Ukrainian voters are not fools.They know they are buying a pig in anpoke. But they calculate that thingsmight change if Zelensky becomesPresident, whereas they certainlywouldn’t change if any of the usual sus-pects won the presidency. And thingsare certainly not good now.
Ukraine has become the poorestcountry in Europe — far poorer thanRussia. Millions of Ukrainians have leftthe country seeking work in Poland orRussia and the low-intensity waragainst the Russian-backed separatistsin the east drags on endlessly. No post-Soviet leader of Ukraine has made evena dent in the corrupt rule of the oli-garchs. Indeed, most of them have beenoligarchs themselves. So why not votefor Zelensky? Most Ukrainians feel thatthey have nothing left to lose.
(The writer’s new book is GrowingPains: The Future of Democracy andWork)
the names of yesteryearBollywood actors, but they are,in fact, lethal cyclones that havebrought violent winds, heavyrains and wreaked destruc-tion. As Cyclone Fani pound-ed the Odisha coast on Friday,the name ‘Phoni”, which wassuggested by Bangladesh, alsoevoked curiosity. How theCyclones named?
Mritunjay Mohapatra, theAdditional Director General ofthe India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD), said Fani,pronounced as ‘Foni’, means asnake’s hood.
The World MeteorologicalOrganisation/Economic andSocial Commission for Asia
and the Pacific Panel onTropical Cyclones, at its twen-ty-seventh session held in 2000in Muscat, Oman, agreed toassign names to the tropicalcyclones in the Bay of Bengaland Arabian Sea.
After long deliberationsamong the member countries,the naming of tropical cyclonesover north Indian Ocean com-menced from September 2004.
The eight countries alongthe Bay of Bengal and ArabianSea suggest names that aresequentially listed. The nationssuggest names alphabetically -- Bangladesh, India, Maldives,Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, SriLanka and Thailand.
The Regional SpecialisedMeteorological Centre (RSMC)based here gives a tropicalcyclone an identification from
the names list. The identifica-tion system covers both theArabian Sea and the Bay of
Bengal. So, for instance,Bangladesh suggested ‘Onil’the first in the list. Onil origi-
nated in Arabian Sea, off theGujarat coast betweenSeptember to October 2004. Itmade landfall in the state, butimpacted both India andPakistan.
Cyclone Phetai, suggestedby Thailand, originated in theBay of Bengal and made land-fall in Andhra Pradesh, rav-aging the coastal districts inDecember last year.
The next cyclone, when-ever it originates, will be named‘Vayu’, suggested by India.
Of the 64 names suggestedby these eight countries, 57have been utilised. Some of thenames suggested by India areAgni, Jali, Bijli, Akash, whileMala, Helen and Nilofar weresuggested by Sri Lanka,Bangladesh and Pakistanrespectively.
These lists are used sequen-tially and they are not rotatedevery few years, unlike theAtlantic and Eastern Pacific lists.
“A storm causes so muchdeath and destruction that itsname is considered for retire-ment and hence is not usedrepeatedly.
“If the public wants to sug-gest the name of a cyclone to beincluded in the list, the pro-posed name must meet somefundamental criteria,” a circu-lar on naming the cyclones overthe North Indian Ocean said.
“The name should be shortand readily understood whenbroadcast. Further, the namesmust not be culturally sensitiveand must not convey someunintended and potentiallyinflammatory meaning,” itadded. The name can be
communicated to the directorgeneral of the IMD.
According to the IMD, inthe beginning, storms werenamed arbitrarily. LaxmanSingh Rathore, a former direc-tor general of the IMD, said thepractice of naming the stormfirst started in the UnitedStates. This helped identify itand also aided the researchers.
Earlier, the storm wasnamed after the coast it hit,Rathore added. “Then the mid-1900s saw the start of practiceof using feminine names forstorms. In the pursuit of a moreorganised and efficient namingsystem, meteorologists laterdecided to identify stormsusing names from a listarranged alphabetically,” theIMD said explaining the gen-esis of the naming process.
“Before the end of 1900s,forecasters started using malenames for those forming in theSouthern Hemisphere. Since1953, Atlantic tropical stormshave been named from listsoriginated by the NationalHurricane Centre. They arenow maintained and updatedby an international committeeof the World MeteorologicalOrganisation,” the IMD added.
Storms over South Pacificand Indian Ocean are known ascyclones. In the North Atlantic,central North Pacific, and east-ern North Pacific, the termhurricane is used.
The same type of distur-bance in the Northwest Pacificis called a typhoon, accordingto the National Ocean Serviceof the US’ National OceanicAtmospheric Administration.
New Delhi: Due to CycloneFani that hit hard eastern coastof Odisha on Friday, the AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences, (AIIMS), Delhi hascanceled the AIIMS PG Exam2019 examination centre atBhubaneswar. In the noticereleased by AIIMS, the exam-ination, which is scheduledfor this Sunday May 5, 2019would not be conducted inBhubaneswar. Exam would beconducted on a different datefor the affected candidates.
Union Health and WelfareSecretary Preeti Sudan tweet-ed that, “AIIMS PG exam isscheduled on 5th May. Due tocyclone Fani, AIIMS Delhi iscancelling the exam centre inBhubaneswar. Another exam
will be conducted for studentsaffected by this cancellation assoon as normalcy returns”.
The examination is onlycancelled for the candidateswho were allottedBhubaneswar exam centres.
The examination at theother centres, however, wouldbe conducted as per the sched-ule. The revised dates forBhubaneshwar centre would bereleased by AIIMS New Delhiat a later date. As for theAIIMS MBBS 2019 examina-tion, there is no update.
AIIMS would be releasingthe admit cards for the MBBSexamination on May 15 onaiimsexams.org, said a seniorofficial from the HealthMinistry. PNS
�1
����������������� ����� ����� !
"� ���� ���F�������#������ ��������G
Jaipur: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said on Fridaythat the Centre stood with thepeople in states hit by cycloneFani. Modi said, “I want toassure the families affected bythe cyclone that we are withthem at this point of hour. Wehave collected fresh updatesfrom the officials and hadreleased a fund of Rs 1,000 crorefor relief work on Thursday.
“Rescue teams have beenoperationalised. The NationalDisaster Response Force(NDRF), Indian Coast Guard,Indian Navy and Indian Army— all have been working withthe administration. Comingtogether to combat bad timesis the spirit of India.” IANS
��������� ������� �/,��'�
With super-cyclonic stormFani ravaging Odisha
coastal belt and appearing in nomood to spare Bengal the StateGovernment went on maxi-mum alert state with ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee can-celling her election rallies forthe coming 48 hours.
The Chief Minister whowas currently camping atKharagpur some 50 miles fromthe sea was personally moni-toring the situation even as thestate administration evacuatedseveral lakh people from thecoastal regions.
Tourists had been evacu-ated from beach joints ofDigha, Mandarmani,Shankarpur, Tajpur, HomeMinistry sources said addinghotels at the mouth of Bay ofBengal in Bak Khali, GangaSagar, Namkhana, Sajne Khali
in Sundarbans had been evac-uated and local villagers hadbeen shifted to those places.
“Taking lesson from Aila,”that struck Bengal causingextensive damages in 2009 theGovernment had takenunprecedented measures, asenior official said.
The Chief Minister said “bealert, take care and stay safe forthe next two days but don’tpanic. I am personally super-vising the situation on warfooting. All the election-relat-ed programmes have been post-poned for the next 48 hours.”
In Kolkata Mayor FirhadHakim ordered evacuation ofpeople from shanties and hut-ments. “Several thousand peo-ple have been shifted to com-munity halls and roadside shopshave been closed,” a seniorKolkata MetropolitanCorporation official said adding.
The “extremely severe”
storm is likely fade into a“severe cyclonic depression” bythe time it would enter Bengalsometime in the wee hours ofSaturday, weather office saidadvising “chances should not betaken and people should be onmaximum alert.”
The State Government haddirected owners of ‘The 42’ thetallest building in India toremove the tall crane affixed toit. While the Railways cancelleda number of local trains mov-ing down south to Sunderbanregions of Diamond Harbour,Canning, Namkhana causingmassive passenger snarl atSealdah Railway Station.“Trains are being run sparing-ly considering the entry time ofthe storm,” an Eastern Railwayofficial said. Flights out ofNetaji Subhas InternationalAirport had also been sus-pended for several hours tillSaturday causing great incon-venience to the North-Eastbound passengers sources said.
“Our flights have been can-celled and we are stranded inKolkata without any boardingfacility being provided by theairline authorities,” said aRakesh Sinharoy a passengerappealing to the authorities tomake arrangements for thetrapped passengers.Meanwhile, the with electoralcode of conduct lifted from theaffected zones political partiesfound a great opportunity of dopre-electoral service to themasses even as many of themjumped into action as hordes ofmini trucks loaded withactivists and relief materialsrushed coastwards.
morning dealt a body blow totop Hizbul Muhajideen (HM)commanders, active inKashmir Valley, by neutralisingLateef Ahmad Dar, alias Tigerof Dogripora, Pulwama, one oflone surviving members ofBurhan Wani group, alongwith two other local terroristsin a fierce firefight in SouthKashmir’s Shopian district.
Timing of the clinical oper-ation is set to boost the moraleof the security forces deployedin the area to ensure peacefulpolling in the final phase inShopian and Pulwama districtson May 6.
After the killing of HizbulMujahideen’s poster boy,Burhan Wani, in July 2016, sev-eral other top commanderstoo were neutralised duringsustained operations by thesecurity forces.
Lateef Ahmad Dar, killedin Shopian, was lone survivingmember of the group who wasstill active in the area.
According to police, Lateef
‘Tiger’ was reportedly involvedin grooming young recruits forpro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideenterror outfit. He was active in thearea since 2014 and was a closeconfidant of Burhan Wani.
The killing of three localterrorists also sparked offprotests in the area. Local res-idents tried to assemble nearthe encounter site provokingthe security forces to use tearsmoke shells to disperse theunruly mob. The authoritiesimmediately snapped mobileInternet services in southKashmir whereas train ser-vices through the area alsoremained suspended.
According to policespokesman, “The operation waslaunched on the basis of a cred-ible input about the presence ofterrorists at Adkhara Village inImam Sahab area of districtShopian early on Friday morn-ing.” “During searches, the hid-ing terrorists fired upon thesearch party. The fire was retal-iated leading to an encounter.Initially, with the efforts ofpolice and security forces, thecivilians trapped around theencounter site were evacuated to
safer places”. During the oper-ation, one Army jawanYugendar Kumar also sustainedgunshot injuries. He was evac-uated to hospital and is under-going medical treatment,” thepolice spokesman said.
“In the ensuing encounter,three terrorists were killed andthe bodies were retrieved fromthe site of encounter. The threekilled terrorists have been iden-tified as Lateef Ahmad Daralias Tiger of DogriporaPulwama, Tariq Ahmad Sheikhalias Mufti Waqas of MooluChitragam Shopian and ShariqAhmad Nengroo of Chotigam
Shopian,” the spokesperson said.According to the police
records, all the three terroristswere affiliated with the pro-scribed terror outfit HM andwere wanted by law for theircomplicity in a series of terrorcrimes including attacks onsecurity establishments andcivilian atrocities.
As per police records,Lateef had a long history of ter-ror crime records since 2014and was involved in planningand executing several terrorattacks in the area. Several ter-ror crime cases were registeredagainst him.
Similarly, Tariq also had along history of terror crimerecords and was involved in sev-eral terror attacks. Several terrorcrime cases were registeredagainst him. He was part ofgroups involved in planningand executing terror attacks onthe security establishments inthe area. He was instrumental inluring youth to join terror organ-isations. Moreover, he was alsoinvolved in several weaponsnatching cases reported fromthe area. Shariq was alsoinvolved in several terror attacks.
Incriminating materialincluding arms and ammunitionwere recovered from the site ofencounter. Police has registereda case. All these incriminatingmaterials have been taken incase records to probe their com-plicity in other terror crimes.
Police also appealed to cit-izens not to venture insideencounter zone since such anarea can prove dangerous due tostray explosive materials.“People are requested to coop-erate with police till area is com-pletely sanitised and cleared ofall explosive materials if any,”said a detailed police advisory.
� ������ ������ $.$&��
Aspecial CBI court on Fridaysentenced one person to
life imprisonment and imposeda fine of Rs 3.13 crore andawarded rigorous imprison-ment to four persons, includ-ing a former branch managerof Andhra Bank, for periodsranging from three years to tenyears and levied fines collect-ing amounting to Rs 3.70 lakhin a bank fraud case.
The CBI court handed outlife imprisonment to oneRajendra Marutrao Patil, a pri-vate individual, and imposed afine of Rs. 3.13 crore.
The court sentencedBandalmudi Mahipal, thenBranch Manager, AndhraBank, Ghodbundar RoadBranch, 10 years’ rigorousimprisonment with fine of Rs.3.40 lakh and awarded threeyears’ rigorous imprisonmenteach to Nizamuddin Ismail
Surve alias Majeed Naik,Reshma Kunte @ Smt. ReshmaRajendra Patil and PremnathAtmaram Nikumbhe , all pri-vate individuals and imposedfines of Rs 18,000, Rs 12,000and Rs 12,000 respectively onthem for allegedly causing ahuge loss to the Andhra Bank.
The CBI had registered acase on 30.01.2010 on a com-plaint from General Manager,Andhra Bank, Andheri,Mumbai against Rajendra Patil,Bandalmudi Mahipal, thenBranch Manager, AndhraBank, Ghodbundar RoadBranch, Thane (Maharashtra)and three others.
The Prosecution’s case wasthat the accused persons hadavailed a term loan of Rs.203.35 lakh for purchase of 15Skoda Laura Cars. However,they purchased only one car,while they allegedly siphonedoff rest of of the money wassiphoned off for other purpos-
es by the borrower. The accused also availed
another facility of SecuredOverdraft of Rs.139.95 lakhagainst term deposit worthRs.155.50 lakh which was alsonot cleared and therebyAndhra Bank was put to a totalloss to the tune of approxi-mately Rs. 2.30 crore.
After its investigation, theCBI filed a charge sheet in thespecial court against theaccused under 120-B (con-spiracy), 420 (cheating), 465(punishment for forgery), 467(forgery of valuable security,will etc) 468 (forgery for thepurpose of cheating), 471(using forged document asgenuine one) & 511 (punish-ment for attempting to commitoffences punishable withimprisonment for life or otherimprisonment) of IPC andSection 13(2) r/w 13(1) (d) ofPrevention of Corruption Act,1988 and substantive offences.
������������� ���-())��
Despite Prime MinisterNarendra Modi pitching in
with his moral support to theScheduled Castes, ScheduledTribes and BackwardCommunities, a cartel ofbureaucrats are workinground-the- clock to victimise,disgrace and humiliateGovernment officials belongingto the SC/ST and BC sections.This has been brought to lightby a Chief Secretary grade IASofficer in Tamil Nadu.
The 13-pages long com-plaint filed by Jagmohan SinghRaju, Commissioner of LandReforms (additional chief sec-retary) Government of TamilNadu, and which the TamilNadu Police refused to acceptreveals shocking developmentsand happenings in the coun-try’s civil service.
The Pioneer had broughtout the news that Raju, aPunjab-born IAS officerbelonging to the SC communi-ty is being denied promotion tothe post of additional secre-tary/secretary to theGovernment of India because ofhis status as a member of the SC
Raju , who began his er inthe civil service at the age of 22has been honoured interna-tionally and nationally for themeritorious and exemplaryservices rendered by him forthe upliftment of the society.He was due for empanelmentas additional secretary /secre-tary to the Government ofIndia in 2016.
But certain people in thecorridors of power cannotdigest the fact that an officerfrom the SC community
would occupy the post of cab-inet secretary, the topmost posta civil servant could aspire.
A group of officials gangedup and devised strategies toderail the progress of Raju’scareer by foisting false fake andfrivolous cases on him.
Though all cases werefound to be fake by the inves-tigating agencies of theGovernment of India and judi-ciary, the people responsible forremoving the blots on thecareer of the officer ganged upand retained the charges withmore vigour.
Police complaint accessedby The Pioneer threw outshocking goings on in India’sbureaucracy.
“My career has nosedivedbecause of caste based dis-crimination at the hands ofsenior government func-tionaries and others. I havebeen in particular victimised byKabindra Joshi, G Srinivasan,KV Chowdary (CVC), PKMishra (additional principalsecretary to the PrimeMinister). With the sole motiveof harming my current andfuture professional/employ-ment prospects and socialstanding they have been ruin-ing my impeccable reputationas an honest officer by givingfalse information against me topublic servants , institutingfalse and malicious inquiriesagainst me contrary to estab-lished norms and practicesand creating an atmosphere ofdistrust and prejudice to dis-criminate against me. Therebythey have committed atrocitieson me which are an offencesinter alia under Section 3 of theSC/ST (Prohibition ofAtrocities Act) 1989,” Raju said
in his complaint which theTamil Nadu police refused toaccept. Joshi and Srinivasan areunder secretaries in the centralGovernment with unlimitedpower at their disposal.
Raju’s complaint is repletewith the modus operandi fol-lowed by the quartet of Joshi,Srinivasan, Mishra andChowdary, the last namedbeing the chief vigilance com-missioner of the country.
Despite Raju being clearedin all the inquiries held by thevigilance department of thegovernment of India, theseofficials succeeded in retainingthe charges against him bytampering the VigilanceInformation System of theDepartment o Personnel andTraining (DOPT) of theGovernment of India.
The National Commissionfor Scheduled Castes (NCSC)which went into the woes ofRaju expressed its anguish andshock over the way the officerhas been subjected to the worstkind of treatment.
“What is shocking is thedenial of justice to Raju hashappened despite the PrimeMinister’s assurance to themembers of the SC, ST andOBC sections that this wasgoing to be their century,” saida senior civil service officerprivy to the goings on inIndia’s corridors of power.
People who cry fromrooftops for any alleged viola-tion of the rights of theoppressed classes have notuttered a single word in supportof Raju.
They may be indifferentbecause Raju does not com-mand any vote bank in TamilNadu.
� ������ ������ $.$&��
Mumbai’s landmark prop-erty RK Studios, which
had been up for sale ever sincea massive fire gutted thepremises in September 2017,has finally changed hands. Itsnew owner is: realty majorGodrej Properties Ltd (GPL),which is now planning todevelop a swanky residentialcomplex-cum-shopping plazaon the premises.
Confirming that it hadinked a deal with Kapoors,GPL said in a statement here onFriday that 2.2 acre RK studioproperty, located at Chemburin north-east Mumbai, wouldoffer to the new owner anapproximately 3,50,000 sq ft (33,000 square meters) ofsaleable area comprising mod-ern residential apartments ofvarious configurations as wellas a luxury retail experience.
Located on the main Sion-Panvel Road, the propertyoffers an extremely well devel-oped social and civic infra-structure with multiple schools,hospitals, retail malls, residen-tial, and commercial spaces inclose proximity.
Not surprisingly, GPL hasnot disclosed the amount atwhich it purchased RK Studios,
which had been named afterlegendary filmmaker RajKapoor.
According to informedsources in the real estate mar-ket, the estimated valued of theprized property is anywherefrom Rs 500 crore to 600 crore.The ongoing rates ofDeveloped residential-cum-commercial rates in Chemburis any where Rs 25,000 to Rs30,000 per sq feet,
“We are happy to add thisiconic site in Chembur to ourdevelopment portfolio. Thisfits well with our strategy ofdeepening our presence in keylocations across India’s leadingcities. We will seek to ensure wecelebrate the remarkable lega-cy of this site with the goal ofdelivering an outstandinglifestyle for its residents,”Godrej Properties’ ExecutiveChairman Pirojsha Godrej said.
Filmmaker and late RajKapoor’s son Randhir Kapoorof RK Studios said, “This prop-erty in Chembur has been oftremendous significance to myfamily over the many decadesthat RK Studios has operatedfrom there. We are excited tohave chosen Godrej Propertiesto script a new chapter for thislocation and build upon its richhistory”.
Significantly enough,Kapoors have sold the propertymore than six months after thelate Raj Kapoor’s widow, Krishna,passed away at the age of 87, onOctober 1, 2018 last year.
The Kapoor family hadbeen looking out to sell thefamous property ever since ahuge fire broke out on thepremises on September 16,2017. After the fire reduced thestudio and also precious mem-orabilia and costumes fromthe RK Films & Studios bannerfilms to ashes, Kapoors hadexpressed their inability torevamp and restart the studio.
So much so that after thefire mishap, senior actor RishiKapoor had gone on recordthat it had become economi-
cally unviable for his family torenovate and maintain theplace. “Even before the fire, foryears RK Studio had become ahuge white elephant, toting uplosses,” Rishi Kapoor was quot-ed as saying.
Constructed in 1948, RKStudios contributed a great dealto the Indian cinema. After thefirst film Aag made at this stu-dio bombed at the box office in1948, the Studios — whichmade films under the RK Films— tasted first success withBarsaat (1949). The bannerwent on to make successfulfilms like Awaara, Boot Polish,Jagte Raho and Shree 420.
Many RK Films moviesfeatured Kapoor oppositeactress Nargis. Raj Kapoorappeared in 15 RK films withNargis and travelled around theworld with her to promote thestudio’s films. The music direc-tor duo-Shankar Jaikishan alsoworked frequently on RK Filmsproductions during this period.
In the following decades RKFilms produced many films,including Jis Desh Men GangaBehti Hai (1960), Mera NaamJoker (1970), Bobby (1973),Satyam Shivam Sundaram(1978), Prem Rog (1982) andRam Teri Ganga Maili (1985),which was Raj Kapoor’s last film.
impressed photographers dur-ing an interaction with snakecharmers, Modi accused her ofprojecting an image of thecountry that did not sit wellwith the reality.
“Now it is ‘mouse charm-ers’ and not ‘snake charmers’,”Modi said on Friday, referringto the young Indians in the ITsector. He did not directlyname the Congress generalsecretary. Photojournalists cov-ering Priyanka Gandhi’s elec-tion campaign in her motherSonia Gandhi’s constituencyof Rae Bareli had caught hertalking with snake charmers.
“Nothing will happen, it’sfine,” she had said when some-one warned her against holdinga snake. At an election rally here,Modi referred to a photo ofJawaharlal Nehru. “There was atime when the ̀ naamdars’ of theCongress used to feel happyshowing snake charmers to for-eign guests,” he said.
“There is popular pictureof the first Prime Ministershowing a snake charmer toforeign guests. It is available onsocial media. He was feelingproud,” he said.
Such pictures made theworld call India a country ofsnake charmers, Modi said.
“The fourth generation ofthe ‘naamdar’ family is doingthis now as well,” he added.
Modi said they forget thatthe country has moved ahead,
and Indians hold the comput-er mouse now. “Now it is‘mouse charmers’ and not‘snake charmers’.”
He said the country’syoung people have changed theimage of the country by mak-ing a name in the field of IT.
“But the fourth generation(of the family) is seeking votesby showing snake charmers,” hesaid. He also accused theCongress of doing nothing for the welfare of the nomadic community of snakecharmers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modito protect the fields of farmers onFriday, saying that is nationalismas well. “You are protecting peo-ple from Pakistan’s aggression.This is a big achievement.Everyone is happy. But youshould also protect fields offarmers. That is nationalism aswell,” she told an election meet-ing in support of her mother andthe Congress candidate from RaeBareli in the ongoing Lok Sabhapolls, Sonia Gandhi.
“Loving people also meansrespecting them. If they aresaying something, you (PM) should listen to them as their
voice is the voice of democracy.What kind of nationalism is thisthat you ignore farmers, young-sters and women?,” the Congressgeneral secretary in-charge ofeastern Uttar Pradesh said.
“When you demonstrate foryour rights, your voice is curbed.Why is this done? Because theGovernment is afraid of yourpower. They know that they didnot honour any of the promises
they had made in the last fiveyears. They had a majorityGovernment, but did nothing inthe interest of people,” she added.
Claiming the Governmentonly focussed on its own pub-licity, Priyanka said, “Whereveryou go, you see his (Modi’s) face.Half of his speech targets theopposition. Everyone is a nation-alist. What does nationalismmean? It means you shouldhear the voice of the people.”
Extramarks Education, a glob-al EdTech company, on
Friday announced the launch ofExtramarks Achieve, a uniqueprogramme to tackle learningwoes faced by students andimprove their comprehensionand confidence.
The programme providesfor personal academic gurus,who offer custom guidance andsupport to students. It aims toaddress the root of the manyproblems in the nation’s educa-tion system: lack of personalattention due to abysmalteacher-student ratio, inade-quate emphasis on self-study,absence of mentors to cleardoubts and to keep tabs on
progress.“There is hardly any con-
structive support available to stu-dents when it comes to buildingpersonalised learning plans suit-ed to their unique needs,” saidAtul Kulshrestha, founder andCMD of Extramarks Education.
He added, “ThroughAchieve, we also seek to rein-force the importance of self-study and look to meticulouslyguiding students towards acad-emic success.”
Extramarks Achieve beginswith a scientific assessment pro-gramme called SNAAP -Student Needs Analysis andAcademic Profile. SNAAP helpsidentify the learning gaps andneeds of a child, based on whichan academic profile is built.Mapped to this academic profile,an appropriate academic guru isappointed, who charts an acad-emic course for the student.Under Extramarks Achieve, aplethora of services are provid-
ed: twice a week compulsoryinteractions, unlimited doubt-clearing sessions, practice testsand worksheets, motivation andmentorship, scheduling andplanning studies, and empha-sising on the importance ofself-study.
Not just this, a monthly per-formance and progress report isalso generated, which is sharedwith parents, in order to keepthem posted about their ward’sperformance. Because of inte-gration with the learning app byExtramarks, a student avails fullbenefit of the LPT (learn-prac-tice-test) pedagogy, which isfocused on concept clarity.
The concept of Achievefunctions on the 9-9-7 model -which means that from 9 am to9 pm, all 7 days of a week, theacademic gurus are only achat/mail/call away for the stu-dents. Extramarks has alreadyimplemented a team of over 300experienced subject matter
experts to guide the students andaccompany them on the acade-mic journey towards excellence.The programme enables stu-dents to solve their doubtsinstantly, rather than waiting tomeet the teacher next day inclass, and potentially forgettingthe doubt. A personal guru alsotakes away the fear of beingjudged in public from the stu-dents by serving as a friend,motivator and guide, all rolledinto one.
Atul Kulshrestha said, “Ouracademic gurus are motivatededucators, who hold studentwelfare and success paramount.”
Launched on May 1, 2019,Extramarks Achieve is anothergame-changing offering. In a sit-uation where the deep-set fears,worries and lack of under-standing among individual stu-dents are hardly addressed, thisnew venture by Extramarks ispoised to be a plausible solutionto student woes.
����� $.$&��
The Reserve Bank of Indiaon Friday said it has
imposed penalties on five pre-paid payment instrument (PPI)issuers, including Vodafone m-pesa and PhonePe, for violationof regulatory norms.
Also, penalties have beenimposed on Western UnionFinancial Services Inc andMoneyGram Payment SystemsInc, both US firms, for non-compliance of guidelines.
“In exercise of powersvested under Section 30 of thePayment and SettlementSystems Act, 2007, the ReserveBank of India (RBI) hasimposed monetary penaltyon...Five PPI Issuers for non-compliance of regulatoryguidelines,” the central banksaid in a statement.
A penalty of �3.05 crorehas been imposed on Vodafonem-pesa and �1 crore each onMobile Payments, PhonePe,Private and GI Technology.
Also, a penalty of �5 lakhhas been imposed on Y-CashSoftware Solutions.
In another statement, theRBI said it has imposed penal-ty of �29,66,959 and �10,11,653on Western Union Financial
Services Inc, USA, andMoneyGram Payment SystemsInc, USA, respectively, for non-compliance of regulatoryguidelines.
Penalty on Western Unionand MoneyGram has beenimposed by the RBI under theprovisions of the Payment andSettlement Systems Act, 2007,for compounding of the con-travention.
0���� ������������ ���
����� $.$&��
The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Friday said no
gold was shifted outside thecountry in 2014 or thereafter.
The statement comesagainst the backdrop of reportsin certain sections of the printand social media regardingthe central bank shiftingabroad a part of its gold hold-ing in 2014.
It is a normal practice forcentral banks world over tokeep their gold reserves over-seas with central banks of othercountries like Bank of Englandfor safe custody, according tothe statement.
“It is further stated that nogold was shifted by the RBIfrom India to other countriesin 2014 or thereafter. Thus themedia reports cited above arefactually incorrect,” the state-ment said.
����� )(+�!(,-�
The Government has againextended its deadline to
impose retaliatory importduties on 29 US products,including almond, walnut andpulses, till May 16.
A notification of theFinance Ministry has said thatimplementation of increasedcustoms duty on specifiedimports originating in the UShas been postponed from May2 to May 16 this year.
These deadlines wereextended several times sinceJune 2018, when India decid-ed to impose these duties inretaliation to a move by the USto impose high customs dutieson certain steel and aluminiumproducts.
This extension comes inthe backdrop of the US decisionto withdraw export incentivesbeing provided to them toIndian exporters underGeneralised System ofPreferences (GSP) programme,which is expected to impact
India’s exports to the US worthUSD 5.6 billion under thisscheme. America has given 60days notice, which would endthis week, to withdraw thesebenefits. Amid this, USCommerce Secretary WilburRoss and Commerce MinisterSuresh Prabhu will hold bilateralmeetings on May 6 here to dis-cuss trade-related issues.
According to sources, Indiamay go ahead with its decisionto impose retaliatory tariffs ifthe US would withdraw theGSP benefits.
Further extension of GSPbenefits was part of a trade pack-age being negotiated betweenthe countries. However, thosenegotiations hit a roadblockafter the US announced its deci-sion to roll back GSP benefitsfrom Indian exporters.
The Finance Ministry willreview the capital infusion
requirements of PSU banksafter September and there willbe separate allocation for recap-italisation in the general Budgetlikely to be presented in July.
Sources said the interimBudget did not have the provi-sion for any recap from Aprilto July as the banks were ade-quately capitalised tillSeptember.
According to officialsources, by September (end ofsecond quarter), the capitalposition with regard to the reg-ulatory requirements andgrowth of all the PSU bankswhich received funds in 2018-19 will be clear.
The remaining PCA(Prompt Corrective Action)
banks will also require freshfunds to come out of theReserve Bank of India’s (RBI)framework for weak banks.But for this, the banks wouldhave to match the performanceparameter targets required forPCA removal and would haveto show improved performance.
In 2017, the Governmentannounced its �2.11 trillion
PSU bank recapitalisation plan,in which �1.35 trillion was tocome from the sale of recapi-talisation bonds and theremaining �76,000 crorethrough the Indradhanush plan(Budgetary allocation) and fundraising from the markets bynon-core assets sales.
The bank recapitalisationpackage saw a sharp increase
over the budgetary allocation.In February 2019, the
Government had announcedcapital infusion of �48,239 croreinto 12 public sector banks tohelp them maintain regulatorycapital requirements andfinance growth plans.
Before that in December2018, the Finance Ministry hadincreased capital infusion intothese banks for FY19 by acombined �41,000 crore to�1.06 lakh crore from the originally planned �65,000crore.
Now the entire recapamount has been exhausted.After the removal six banksfrom the PCA framework,Central Bank of India, IDBIBank, Indian Overseas Bank,UCO Bank and United Bank ofIndia remain under the PCAnow.
� ��� )(+�!(,-�
India’s largest telecom opera-tor Vodafone Idea Ltd on
Friday announced a five-yearmulti-million-dollar IT out-sourcing deal with tech giantIBM.
“This engagement will alsocontribute to Vodafone Idea’smerger synergy objectives byreducing its IT related costs,”the telecom firm said in a state-ment.
The company did not
divulge the size of the deal butsome reports pegged it atabout USD 700 million.
“The collaboration willprovide Vodafone Idea with ahybrid cloud based digital plat-form to enable more intimateengagement with its over 387million subscribers (as ofDecember 31, 2018), enhanc-ing business efficiency, agilityand scale plus simplification ofits business processes,” it said.
The new infrastructureplatform will remove con-
straints to exponential growthof data usage driven by increas-ing consumption of video,streaming and digital com-merce, the statement said,adding that it will also driveenhanced customer experienceto millions of connected con-sumers and businesses in India.
“Vodafone Idea is collabo-rating with leading global tech-nology partners includingIBM to deploy new age tech-nologies with built-in cus-tomisations and novel inno-
vations. We believe that use ofIBM’s hybrid and multi-cloud,analytics and AI security capa-bilities will accelerate VodafoneIdea’s progression to an open,agile and secure IT environ-ment,” the statement said.
The deal will also providea platform for fast-track jointinitiatives in ArtificialIntelligence and Internet ofThings. “This five-year col-laboration with IBM, opensnew opportunities for us topartner together in domainslike cloud, AI (ArtificialIntelligence) and IoT (Internetof Things).
“We will also be able toleverage collateral from thecloud partnership alreadyannounced between Vodafone
and IBM in Europe. Achievingsynergies post-merger fromthe combination of VodafoneIndia and Idea Cellular is astrategic priority for us and wecontinue to be ahead of track,”Balesh Sharma, CEO, VodafoneIdea, said.
IBM is supportingVodafone Idea with an optionof extended flexible paymentplan structure for the term ofthe contract through its whol-ly owned subsidiary IBMGlobal Financing.
����� )(+�!(,-�
Hyundai Motor India onFriday said it has received
2,000 bookings of its upcomingcompact SUV Venue on thefirst day of initiating the process.
The company had openedthe pre-launch bookings forthe model on May 2. “TheDay-1 response is a recordbooking for an SUV, with anaverage of 84 Venue cars everyhour,” Hyundai Motor India Ltd
(HMIL) National Sales HeadVikas Jain said in a statement.
The company is receivingcustomer enquiries at all itstouch points across the coun-try, he added. “Further, thenotable traction in online book-ing is coming from semi-urban areas due to strong tele-com infrastructure. This show-cases emergence of new era ofconnected-mobility solutionsand acceptance of technologyin day-to-day life,” Jain said.
Yuvraj Singh, hero of India's vic-torious campaign in the 2011
World Cup, is expecting "specialperformances" from all-rounderHardik Pandya in the 2019 edition,beginning May 30.
Pandya is back to his best, atleast with the bat, following testingtimes which saw him serve aninterim suspension.
The 25-year-old has been inremarkable form this IPL and hisMumbai Indians teammate Yuvrajhopes that he extends his explosiverun to the 50-over mega event.
"I was actually having this con-versation with him (Hardik) yester-day where I told him that 'you havea great chance of performing real-ly well with the ball and bat', thekind of form he is in at the moment.
"Definitely, the way he is battingat the moment, it is phenomenaland I hope he carries that form (intothe World Cup). He has been bowl-ing well in patches but as I said itis all about how you handle the pres-sure," said Yuvraj.
Pandya has been in the form ofhis life and Yuvraj said that his 91against the Kolkata Knight Riderswas the best IPL innings he hasseen.
"It is probably the best shape asa batsman to get in. I have beenwatching since the practice games,he was hitting the ball really well. Ihad told him 'it is going to be a spe-cial tournament for you, the wayyou are hitting the ball'," said thesouthpaw.
"Over the years, as an experi-enced player you know if someoneis hitting the ball well, he is in greatshape. He got 91 from 34 ballsagainst KKR, probably that is thebest innings I have seen in the IPL
just because he hit four qualitybowlers he was batting against.
"When you are doing that, youknow that someone is batting verywell," added Yuvraj, who is knownfor hitting six sixes in the 2007 edi-tion of WorldT20 in South Africa.
The man of the tournament ofthe 2011 World Cup also backedVirat Kohli-led India, hosts Englandand Australia to do well in the megaevent.
"My first two teams are Englandand India. Obviously with (David)Warner and (Steve) Smith comingback, Australia will be in con-tention. West Indies also looked avery power-packed side. You can'tsay much at this stage. I think itwould be India and England first,third would be Australia. Fourth Idon't know," said Yuvraj.
He also backed chinamanKuldeep Yadav to do well in theWorld Cup.
"I don't asses T20 cricket (form)over 50 over (cricket). I thinkKuldeep has been a fantastic bolw-er for India and I'm sure he willbounce back quickly. He has beenvery effective against England,South Africa, Australia," said Yuvrajwhen asked whether Kuldeep's cur-rent form in the IPL was a concernahead of the World Cup.
����■ &1��&�)(�
Steve Smith and David Warnerhave been welcomed back to
the Australian team with "no ten-sion", coach Justin Langer saidon Friday, with the World Cupoffering another opportunityfor redemption.
The duo returned to thenational side for a World Cuptraining camp on Friday inBrisbane after serving year-longbans for their part in the "sand-papergate" scandal in CapeTown.
"There is no tension," asmiling Langer told reporters."They're back in the team now.They've been selected, which isbrilliant."
The duo have enjoyed asolid comeback in IPL, withWarner in blistering form, top-ping the batting rankings with692 runs from 12 innings.
Langer acknowledged therewould need to be some adjust-ments for the former team lead-ers, but said the team would beboosted by their experience.
"When you come from thetitled position of captain thenthere is going to be a certaindegree of humility that comeswith that," he said.
"One of our really strong val-ues is humility, so there will begreat opportunity to developthat."
The Aussie coach welcomedthe selection dilemma Smithand Warner added to the toporder, joining Aaron Finch,Usman Khawja and ShaunMarsh, made it "exciting to havethose five 100-makers at our dis-posal".
Australia are the reigningWorld Cup champions and havebeen in recent red-hot form win-
ning eight one-day internation-als on the trot, against India andPakistan.
"We have had great successin the past. While we celebratethat, it means nothing on howwe play this (World Cup),"Langer said.
He said the team needed touse every tournament on the cal-endar to "make Australiansproud of us again". "We mustmake the most of every oppor-tunity that comes up, includingthis World Cup," he said.
����■ ,/)!/)
Arsenal manager UnaiEmery insisted his side'sEuropa League semi-final
against Valencia is still "50-50"despite the Gunners taking a 3-1 first leg lead to Spain.
Valencia's bright start at theEmirates on Thursday wasrewarded with MouctarDiakhaby's away goal.
But Alexandre Lacazettequickly turned the game aroundwith two goals in eight first-halfminutes before Pierre-EmerickAubameyang's late strike gaveArsenal a two-goal advantage todefend at the Mestalla on May 9.
However, Emery, who man-aged Valencia between 2008 and2012, knows the tie is far fromover due to Arsenal's terribleaway record this season.
"It is a good result at home,but the second leg is going to bevery difficult and maybe differ-ent. I consider for both teams it
is 50-50," said Emery.Arsenal are desperate not
just for silverware in Emery's firstseason but the guarantee ofChampions League qualificationfor next season that winning theEuropa League would bring.
A run of three straightPremier League defeats has leftEmery's men needing morefavours from Chelsea orTottenham to stand any chance ofChampions League qualificationvia a top-four Premier Leaguefinish.
The Gunners had concededthree times in all three of thosedefeats to Crystal Palace, Wolvesand Leicester and the same defen-sive deficiencies cost them againearly on.
Valencia had already misseda glorious chance to take the leadwhen Ezequiel Garay blazed overbefore Diakhaby forced the ballhome at the back post for the vitalaway goal on 11 minutes.
Emery has been reticent to
start Lacazette and Aubameyangtogether up front, but the gameturned on one moment of magicfrom Arsenal's two prolific strik-ers.
Lacazette played inAubameyang and the Gaboninternational left his markerand Valencia goalkeeperNeto on the groundbefore squaring for hisstrike partner to roll intoan empty net.
Seven minutes later,Arsenal led as terribledefending allowedLacazette a free headerfrom Granit Xhaka'scross and a weakhand from Netocould not prevent theball crossing the line.
"We had the game complete-ly in control until their firstgoal," lamented Valencia coachMarcelino Garcia Toral.
Lacazette missed two gloriousopportunities to complete his
hat-trick as he firstly failed toconnect with an inch-perfectAubameyang cross before Netomade a brilliant save at his nearpost to keep the Spanish side inthe tie.
At the other end Petr Cechalso had to make a smart stop
as he raced from his goal todeny substitute KevinGameiro.
The veteran stopperhas announced he will
retire at the end of theseason.
And Cech's final gamecould well be against his
former club Chelsea innext month's final asthe Blues secured a
1-1 draw away atEintracht Frankfurt in the
first leg of the other semi-final.Arsenal still have work to do,
but they moved much closer tobooking their trip to Baku whenAubameyang turned home at theback post in the final minute.
����■ �1��
Roger Federer returns to clay court ten-nis for the first time in three years at
Madrid next week, admitting it feels likea journey into "no-man's land".
The 37-year-old last tested his abil-ity on European dirt at the Rome Mastersin 2016, before opting to concentrate onthe world's hard surfaces and grasscourts which have yielded the majorityof his 101 titles.
But with his career in its twilight, theSwiss has decided to re-enter a realm oftennis for so long dominated by rivalRafael Nadal — and Madrid seems thelogical venue.
Federer has won two of his 11 claytitles in the Spanish capital where thehigh altitude helps him negate the tra-ditionally pedestrian pace of the dustysurface.
"I'm very excited. It's a good chal-lenge, a good test. Confidence, I don'tknow, it's in no-man's land. I have to startfrom scratch," said Federer after winninghis most recent title in Miami.
His long-term aim this spring isRoland Garros where he was championin 2009 and where he has been a four-time runner-up in 2006, 2007, 2008 and2011, losing on every occasion to Nadal.
However, with 11-time French Openwinner Nadal in something of a claycourtslump, having been deposed as Barcelona
and Monte Carlo champion in recentweeks, Federer saw a glimmer of hope.
That shaft of light brightened whenworld number one Novak Djokovicexited Monte Carlo in the quarter-finals.
"Roger is still very hungry," Federer'scoach Ivan Ljubicic told Sky Sports Italia.
"And he has got used to playing onclay again pretty quickly."
Federer's last clay title was in Istanbulin 2015, the same year which saw his lastRoland Garros appearance end with aquarter-final exit at the hands of closefriend Stan Wawrinka.
Rome in 2016 witnessed the Swissstar's most recent competitive outing onclay, a straight sets loss to Dominic Thiemin the third round seemingly convincinghim that his dirt court career was done.
"I'm not very confident going intothis clay court season, I can tell you that— I don't even remember how to slideanymore," said Federer.
"You know, I'm taking baby steps atthis point. To be honest, I didn't play onepoint — not one shot on clay last year.Two years ago I played two days.
"Three years ago I played not feelinggreat in Monaco and Rome and all that.So it's been so little that I really don'tknow what to expect." Despite his cau-tion, his longtime rivals are wary ofunder-estimating the 20-time GrandSlam champion next week.
����■ )(+�!(,-��
They have never shared a greatrapport on and off-the-field
and now former Pakistan captainShahid Afridi has gone a step fur-ther terming former India open-er Gautam Gambhir as someonewith "no great records and just alot of attitude".
In his just released autobiog-raphy 'Game Changer', Afridilaunched a scathing attack onGambhir, some of which termedout to be factually incorrect.
"Some rivalries were person-al, some professional. First thecurious case of Gambhir. Ohpoor Gautam. He & his attitude
problem. He who has no person-ality. He who is barely a charac-ter in the great scheme of crick-et. He who has no great recordsjust a lot of attitude," writes Afridi.
Gambhir played 58 Tests, 147ODIs and 37 T20 Internationalsscoring more than 10,000 interna-tional runs across formats. Afridiplayed 398 ODIs for Pakistanwith a lot of matches as opener butthe average despite 8000 plusruns stand at less than 24 com-pared to Gambhir close to 40. InTests, Gambhir has an average ofclose to 42 compared to Afridi's27 plus.
In fact, Gambhir was the topscorer with 75 against Pakistan in
the 2007 World T20 final. Heretired from all forms of cricket inDecember last year.
However that didn't stopAfridi from taking a sarcastic digat Gambhir.
"Gambhir behaves like he's across between Don Bradman &James Bond. In Karachi, we callguys like him saryal (grumpy). It'ssimple, I like happy, positive peo-ple. Doesn't matter if they areaggressive or competitive, butyou have to be positive &Gambhir wasn't," he writes.
Afridi, who also reveals hisreal age in the book making himfive years older than what the offi-cial records state, recollected the
infamous heated exchange withGambhir during an Asia Cupgame when they nearly came toblows.
"I remember the run-in withGambhir during the 2007 AsiaCup, when he completed his sin-gle while running straight into me.The umpires had to finish it off orI would have. Clearly we had afrank bilateral discussion abouteach other's female relatives,"Afridi recalled the uncharitableverbal exchange.
Afridi featured in 27 Tests,398 ODIs and 99 T20Internationals. He retired frominternational cricket after the2016 World T20 in India.
Injured Kagiso Rabada was onFriday ruled of the rest of the IPL
after South Africa decided to call thepacer back as a precautionary mea-sure ahead of the World Cup.
Rabada had missed DelhiCapitals' last match against ChennaiSuper Kings due to stiff back and hisunavailability is a severe blow to DelhiCapitals, who are striving to win theirmaiden title.
According to a statement fromthe Delhi Capitals, Rabada, the cur-rent Purple Cap holder, has beenadvised to return home by CSA.
"It is indeed very hard for me toleave the Delhi Capitals at this stageof the tournament," said the 23-year-old Rabada, who took 25 wick-ets from 12 matches that he playedthis season.
"But with the World Cup just amonth away, a collective decision hasbeen made for me in this regard. It's
been a tremendous season for mewith the Delhi Capitals, both on andoff the field, and I truly believe thatour team can win the trophy."
Proteas team managerMohammed Moosajee said Rabada'srecall was precautionary based on hishistory.
"Kagiso experienced stiffness inhis lower back a few days ago and wastaken for scans for further investiga-tion. The scan results, combinedwith further assessment by our phys-iotherapist Craig Govender who isfortunately in Delhi, led the CSAmedical committee to the decision towithdraw him from the remainder ofthe IPL," Moosajee said in a CricketSouth Africa statement.
"Kagiso has a history with backinjuries and the CSA medical team istaking the best measures to ensure heis fully fit for the ICC Men's CricketWorld Cup next month. He willconsult with a back specialist upon hisreturn and proceed with a treatmentand rehab programme."
Delhi Capitals' head coach RickyPonting termed the development as"unfortunate".
"It's unfortunate that Rabada ishaving to leave us at this stage of thetournament. But I have full confi-dence in our team and I'm sure eachand every member of this unit willstep up to the occasion," Ponting said.
He is now banking on NewZealand pacer Trent Boult's experi-ence in the upcoming play-offs.
"It's a massive loss obviously butit's a loss that we can cover. We havesomeone like Trent Boult, who is aworld-class fast bowler. He had a ter-rific season for the Daredevils (erst-while) last year. With him coming tothe side now, we think we can coverfor the loss of Rabada quite well."
����■ )(+�!(,-�
Their play-off berthsealed, Delhi Capitals
will aim for a big winagainst Rajasthan Royalsto enhance their chances fora second-place finish whenthe two teams clash in theirfinal league match here onSaturday.
A big win on Saturdaywill not only will boostDelhi's morale after the 80-run hammering at the handsof CSK but it could also pro-pel the side to the secondposition in the eight-teamstandings.
Delhi are currently sittingthird with 16 points from 13games, just behind MumbaiIndians (16 points) and tabletoppers CSK (18 points).
A win against Rajasthanwill enhance Delhi's chancesof featuring in Qualifier 1,giving them two shots at theMay 12 final.
In the absence of Rabada,Delhi's bowling attack lookedmiserable, but it is the shod-dy performance of the battingunit which would be a causeof concern for skipperShreyas Iyer.
The likes of Prithvi Shaw,Shikhar Dhawan, RishabhPant and Colin Ingramwould like to forget the dis-astrous outing against CSKand come out afresh inDelhi's last home game.
Rajasthan, on the otherhand, are mathematically stillalive in the tournament with11 points from 13 games.
They need to win againstDelhi and hope forfavourable results from otherremaining games to secure aplay-off berth as the fourthteam.
But a win against Delhimight just not be enough forRajasthan as it will take themto 13 points, after their lastgame against RoyalChallengers Bangalore waswashed away.
With Steve Smith havingdeparted home for WorldCup preparations, AjinkyaRahane will return to cap-taincy duties. Ashton Turneris expected to replace Smithin the playing eleven.
The departure of Smith,Jos Buttler and Ben Stokeshas weakened Rajasthan'sbatting, putting more respon-sibility on the shoulders ofRahane, Sanju Samson andLiam Livingstone but theteam's bowling unit would bepumped up after the leg-spin-ner Shreyas Gopal's hat-trickin the rain-truncated matchagainst RCB.
In the last encounterbetween the two sides lastmonth, it was Delhi Capitalswho came out on top inJaipur by six wickets in ahigh-scoring affair.
����■ &()6�,.1.
Sunrisers Hyderabadwould look to complete
the unfinished business andseal their place in the IPLPlay-offs when they clashwith laggards RoyalChallengers Bangalore, hereon Saturday.
The defeat againstMumbai Indians via SuperOver must be hurting butthey need to shrug it off andadd two points to take theirtally to 14, good enough tostay in top-4.
Despite their defeatagainst Mumbai,Hyderabad's net run rate is+0.653, which is superior toothers in contention for thePlay-offs.
Even if Hyderabad losetheir last match, they can stillreach playoffs if KolkataKnight Riders and Kings XIPunjab don't win more thanone of their last two match-es.
In the absence of theirbatting mainstay DavidWarner, young ManishPandey (71 off 47 balls)shouldered the responsibili-ty pretty well against Mumbaias he pushed the match intothe super over.
But with just nine runs towin in super over, Pandyaand Kieron Pollard took
Mumbai home with threeballs to spare.
Captain KaneWilliamson, all-rounderVijay Shankar and come-back man Wriddhiman Sahawill look to score in the keymatch.
Hyderabad bowlers haveperformed well in patchesand need to get their acttogether against Bangalore'smaster blasters AB de Villiersand Virat Kohli.
The visitors boast ofmulti-pronged attack inwhich Afghanistan's RashidKhan has been the standoutperformer.
Sandeep Sharma, KhaleelAhmed and experiencedBhuvneshwar Kumar, alongwith the Afghan spin twinsRashid and MohammedNabi add sting to Hyderabadattack.
Bangalore will be playingfor pride after their hopes ofentering playoffs went up insmoke after their matchagainst Rajasthan Royals wasabandoned due to rain.
����■ )(+�!(,-�
Sanju Samson has always beenconsidered as a bright prospect but
he has not been able to break into theIndian team and the Kerala wicket-keeper batsman on Friday saidinstead of feeling frustrated he wouldwork harder to earn a spot for him-self.
Samson, who has played just oneT20 International for India againstZimbabwe in 2015, has been one ofconsistent performers with the bat inthis IPL with 337 runs from 11 gamesthat included a century and a half-century.
Legends like Brian Lara havefound it difficult to understand whya talented player like Samson has noteven been considered in India'sWorld Cup probables.
"It feels really great when legendslike Lara talk highly of you. It boostsyour confidence. I am very confidentand happy the way I have been play-ing. But I am excitingly waiting formy opportunity to play for India," theRajasthan Royals player said.
"There is no point in getting frus-trated. You can use it as a motivationand push more. It's not easy to getinto the Indian team. You need towork hard and earn that spot."
Insisting that failure is the secretof success, Samson said he has gonethrough many tough phases in hiscareer which only made him a bet-ter, determined cricketer.
"If you talk about my career oranyone's career, there are definitelyups and downs. Going through suchphases I feel is very lucky becausewhen you go down then only you willknow how to climb up.
"I am lucky that I have gonedown many times in my career. I'mhappy to have all these experiences.
To enter the Indian team you need toknow how to make a comeback, youneed to be strong enough and youonly get strong when you fail. I faileda lot of times and now I am strongenough to play for India," he said.
Steve Smith has flown back toAustralia to prepare for the WorldCup but Samson said his team hasgood bench strength.
"Definitely, it (Smith's depar-ture) is a great loss. First Jos Buttler,Ben Stokes and now Smith but weknew this before the tournament. Wehave enough bench strength to coverthe losses," Samson said.
The Royals are mathematicallystill in the play-off hunt with 11points from 13 games but to progressany further they will first have to winagainst Delhi Capitals and then hopefor favourable results from the otherremaining league games.
����■ $.$&��
Not depending on specificindividuals and handling
the pressure situations withaplomb has been key to MumbaiIndians' Play-off journey, anelated skipper Rohit Sharmasaid.
Mumbai Indians sealedtheir place in the Play-offs witha Super Over win over SunrisersHyderabad. They still have agame in hand.
"It's a good positive for us toqualify with one game to spare.In 2017, when we won the tro-phy, we qualified with twogames in hand. As a team what
we have done well is that wehave handled the pressure situ-ations well," said Rohit.
"A lot guys have put theirhand up and taken the respon-sibility which is why we don'thave anyone, barring Quinton(de Kock), in the top five (of thehighet run scorers). It's notabout one or two individuals.
"If you want to win the tour-nament everyone needs to dowell. That's the hallmark of thisteam, whether it is (leggie)Rahul Chahar or Quinton. Wedon't believe in individuals towin the game on their own. Wewant everyone to chip in andtake us over the line," he elabo-
rated.Rohit said the eight overs of
spin bowling done in tandem byleft arm Krunal Pandya (2-22)and Chahar (0 for 21) did thetrick in stopping SRH fromwinning the game.
"They understand the con-ditions really well. Vijay Shankarand Manish were batting andthey kept varying the length.Their eight overs were probablythe turning point. They bowledreally well with a wet ball, whichis not easy," he said.
Looking ahead, Sharma saidthe team's batting order was flex-ible from positions 3-7 whichgives them the option to send
"If you look at the wholetournament, they (Hardik andPollard) have batted around the14th or 15th overs and scored70-80 runs the maximum num-ber of times. Right from num-ber 3-7 all our batsmen are flex-ible. They can bat anywhere atany given time which makes ourjob easier.
"And Pollard and Hardik wehave that option. Polly has doneit a few times — if you remem-ber he had done that against(Kings XI) Punjab (batted at No4 and made 83 off 31 balls). Wewill keep our options open."
.�%��������/��������� �������8�
�-��$6�
Live on Star Sports 1& 2
�-���-��2
/���� ..
��'.1!�7 G OFCC� $
HEADTO
HEAD� &-����
�����
���������%��!��%?���,��� ��������.��
Live on Star Sports 1& 2
�-�!��?�?
.����� �.*
��'.1!�7 G 8FCC� $
HEADTO
HEAD� &/��"�
�����
��7���8�$�
=����Q���������&�#��������3����� ����J����
(3�������0��+���0������������������� �2��
6��,�����������0����� # ��� �0����+��01����+�
�������� Ajinkya Rahane was onFriday re-appointed captain ofRajasthan Royals following thedeparture of Australian Steve Smith.
Rahane returns to lead Royalsfor the game against Delhi Capitalson Saturday after Smith replacedhim as captain in the middle of theseason following the team's disap-pointing run which saw it lose sixout of their first eight games.
However, there was a revival offortunes of the side under Smithwhich led Royals to winning threeout of the last four games, givingthem a slender hope of making theplay-offs with a game to go.
Smith has returned home to join
the Australian team ahead of theWorld Cup.
"We have requested Ajinkya totake on the captaincy of the team;as a true Royal he has shown greatcourage and character in gracious-ly accepting the responsibility,which accompanies this role, whilstit would have been easier for himto take a back seat and focus sole-ly on his batting," said ZubinBharucha, Head of Cricket atRajasthan Royals.
"A true team man and a trueRoyal, we are extremely fortunate tohave characters like him playing thissport and even prouder he is part ofRajasthan Royals franchise." PTI
Sam Curran notched up hismaiden Indian PremierLeague (IPL) half-century as
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) posted acompetitive 183/6 in 20 oversagainst Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) in a crunch encounter at thePCA IS Bindra Stadium here onFriday.
Curran, who did not play thelast couple of matches, came in tobat when Kings XI were 140/4 after13.3 overs, having lost MayankAgarwal (36; 26 balls, 4x2, 6x1)and, more importantly, NicholasPooran (48; 27 balls, 4x3, 6x4) inquick succession.
The England all-roundersmashed an unbeaten 24-ball 55with the help of seven fours andtwo sixes as Kings XI plundered 58runs in the last five overs.
Curran made the most of areprieve after he was dropped on 17by Rinku Singh off Sunil Narine,hitting Harry Gurney for 22 runsin the final over, including threefours and a six off the last fourdeliveries.
Earlier, Pooran had set theplatform with a brilliant knock ashe shared 69 runs for for the thirdwicket with Agarwal.
Sandeep Warrier (2/31) joltedKings XI early, accounting for bothof their top-performing batsmenK.L. Rahul (2) and Chris Gayle(14). Rahul was the first to go withChris Lynn taking his catch at mid-on after the India batsman tried toclear the infield.
Warrier then set Gayle up witha short ball which the veteranWest Indies opener failed to nego-tiate, hitting straight to backward
square-leg where Shubman Gilltook an easy catch.
Kings XI were in some sort oftrouble at 41/2 after the powerplayovers. This is when Pooran came tothe party, taking the likes of PiyushChawla, who had a forgettableday, to the cleaners by scoring at abrisk rate.
The hosts were 84/2 at thehalfway stage with Pooran goinggreat guns, and KKR skipperDinesh Karthik failing to stop himeven with spinners operating fromboth ends.
This is when Karthik intro-duced Nitish Rana into the attack
and the move worked as Pooranholed out to Sandeep Warrier atdeep mid-wicket, bringing hisknock to an abrupt end.
Kings XI Struggled to get going
after Pooran's dismissal but onceCurran got going, there was nolooking back even after Gurneybowled a brilliant 18th over to leakjust four runs and take a wicket.
