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The Pioneer · 2019. 4. 20. · ough monitoring of uninter-rupted power supply in their respective...

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12
A llegations of sexual harass- ment have cropped up against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi prompting him to convene an urgent extraordi- nary hearing on Saturday and assert that the charges by a for- mer apex court staffer were “unbelievable” and part of a con- spiracy by some “bigger force” to “deactivate” the CJI’s office. As the allegations by the former woman staffer who had worked at Gogoi’s home office in Delhi and dating back to October stunned the judiciary, Gogoi said he would not stoop too low even to deny them. At the hurriedly called hearing in Court No 1 presided by him after the allegations were carried by some news por- tals based on the affidavit by the woman, the apex court said it is leaving it to the “wisdom of media” to show restraint and act responsibly so that indepen- dence of judiciary is not affect- ed. The court, however, decid- ed not to issue any gag order. A three-judge special bench headed by Gogoi was constituted after a sworn affi- davit by the woman, copies of which were sent to the resi- dences of 22 apex court judges, became public. In her affidavit, the woman described two incidents of alleged molestation by Gogoi days after he was appointed CJI last October and her subse- quent persecution. The woman alleged that she was removed from service after she rebuffed his “sexual advances”. She claimed that her husband and brother-in- law, both of whom were head constables, were suspended for a 2012 criminal case that had been mutually resolved. She was later also made to prostrate before Gogoi’s wife and made to rub her nose at her feet in the Chief Justice’s residence, she alleged in her affidavit, adding that her dis- abled brother-in-law was removed from service at the Supreme Court. There was no immediate reaction from the Government or any major political party. The court held the hearing for about 30 minutes during which Gogoi said indepen- dence of judiciary was under “very serious threat” and “unscrupulous allegations” of sexual harassment had been levelled against the CJI as some “bigger force” wanted to “deac- tivate” the office of the Chief Justice. He did not elaborate on who the “bigger force” was that he was referring to. The CJI also said the woman had a criminal record and two FIRs were lodged against her. “How can she become a Supreme Court staff when an FIR was pending against her,” the CJI asked, adding that two criminal cases were also pend- ing against her husband. The court, which said the judiciary “cannot be made a scapegoat”, said the media should not publish the woman’s complaint without verifying its truth. The CJI said this issue has cropped up when a Bench headed by him is scheduled to hear “many, many sensitive cases” next week and this was also last few weeks of the Lok Sabha elections. The CJI did not name any of the cases. Besides the CJI, the Bench also comprising jus- tices Arun Mishra and Sanjiv Khanna, said the “bigger force” behind the controversy has the potential to shake the faith of public in the judicial system. Though the CJI was head- ing the Bench, he left it to Justice Mishra to take a call on passing any judicial order. Dictating the order, Justice Mishra said, “Having consid- ered the matter, we refrain from passing any judicial order at this moment, leaving it to the wisdom of the media to show restraint, act responsibly as is expected from them and accordingly decide what should or should not be published, as wild and scandalous allegations undermine and irreparably damage reputation and negate independence of judiciary.” Turn to Page 4 A day after BSP chief Mayawati termed him a ‘fake’ OBC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit back saying the ‘farzi friend- ship’ of the SP and the BSP will fall apart the day election results are announced. Also, the PM took a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying the “speed-breaker Didi” has lost sleep after the first two phases of polls. Modi held back-to- back rallies in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh ahead of the third phase of polling, sched- uled for April 23. “You all remember the friendship that was struck dur- ing the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh that came to an end with the announcement of the results and turned into rivalry,” he said in Etah referring to the understanding in 2017 between the Congress and the SP. “The farzi dosti of ‘bua’ and ‘babua’ will also end the same way,” Modi said referring to Mayawati and her SP counter- part Akhilesh Yadav. “The date of this friendship has also been fixed. May 23, Thursday, this ‘farzi dosti’ (fake friendship) will fall apart,” he said. “That day ‘bua’ and ‘babua’ will start part 2 of their rivalry,” the PM said. At the joint rally of the Opposition alliance in Mainpuri on Friday, Mayawati had said it was SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav who was a real backward unlike Modi, who, she alleged, was a ‘farzi’ or ‘naqli’ backward. Turn to Page 4 A day after Delhi Police reg- istered a case of murder in Rohit Shekhar Tiwari death, his mother Ujjwala said his son did not share a cordial relationship with his wife and was appar- ently upset over his political career not taking off. Police on Saturday ques- tioned Rohit’s wife Apoorva in the mysterious death case. According to Ujjwala, 40- year-old Rohit, and she went to Haldwani to cast their vote on April 11. They were supposed to return to Delhi on April 12, but changed their plan after Rohit, son Narain Dutt Tiwari, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, said he wanted to meet his people. On April 15, the mother- son duo returned to Delhi. While Rohit went to his resi- dence in Defence Colony, Ujjwala went to Tilak Lane and returned later. “When I came back, I asked Apoorva (Rohit’s wife) about him, she told me he was tired, so he had dinner and went to sleep,” said Ujjwala. “I left for Tilak Lane at around 11.30 pm that day and returned around 2 pm the next day but could not meet my son. I had severe pain in my thumb, so I immediately took an appointment at Max Hospital. Before leaving, I asked Apoorva about Rohit. She told me he was sleeping and I thought I should- n’t disturb him,” she said. “I trusted Apoorva and did not question her as to why was Rohit sleeping till so late,” she said. Ujjwala said she reached Max Hospital around 4.30 pm and went to the emergency ward. Turn to Page 4 C hief Secretary Sudhiranjan Mohanty reviewed arrangement of electricity, drinking water and procure- ment of wheat, gram and mus- tard in the State through video conferencing on Saturday. All the Divisional Commissioners and District Collectors were present at the meeting. Conduct thorough moni- toring of uninterrupted power supply The Chief Secretary instructed Collectors for thor- ough monitoring of uninter- rupted power supply in their respective districts. During the video conferencing, it was informed that an action has been taken against 387 Officers-Employees for negli- gence in power arrangements. Reduction in the cases of unan- nounced power cut has been registered. As compared to the last year, 15 percent increase has been made in power supply. The Chief Secretary said that drinking water supply should not be affected by power sup- ply. He told the Collectors to obtain feedback constantly from patwaris, gram sachivs along with kotwars and others. He further told the collec- tors that they should strictly monitor power supply arrange- ments and register FIR against people, who obstruct power supply. Besides, he hoped from the Collectors and Commissioners for holding constant interaction with the Senior Officers of the Power Companies during unexpected weather, storm, rains etc. The Chief Secretary has informed that 18 lakh 81 thou- sand MT wheat has been pro- cured till date from 2 lakh 44 thousand 510 farmers in the state. Approximately 2 lakh 9 thousand MT wheat is being procured daily in the state. Storage and transport of 13.73 lakh MT wheat Out of the procured wheat, 13 lakh 73 thousand metric tonnes of wheat has been transported and stored. Wheat procure- ment of 3,541 centers in the state has been established this year, which is about 600 centers more than the previous year. It was informed in the meeting that arrangements have been made for the pay- ment of acquired wheat on the basis of quantity prepared for transport. Orders for payment of 2,098 crores out of the total amount of 2,148 crores wheat ready for conveyance has been sent by the bank. Turn to Page 4 T hough under pressure, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur had tendered apology for her remarks on Maharahstra ATS chief late Hemant Karkare, the trouble seems not over as Election Commission has served notices to her and BJP district president over the statement. District Returning Officer and the Collector Sudama Khade has served notices to Thakur and BJP Bhopal presi- dent Vikas Virani over party’s Bhopal candidate’s remarks. The officer has directed the two to furnish their replies within 24 hours. On Friday, Chief Electoral Officer of MP VL Kantha Rao had stated that a complaint had been received by his office on Thakur’s remarks and he has directed Bhopal Collector to probe into the matter. The officer without naming the complainant had claimed that no political party had submit- ted the complaint. Thakur during a meeting of party workers in Bairagarh in Bhopal on Thursday had slammed late Maharahstra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare accus- ing him of worst torture and abuses just to make her confess the involvement in Malegaon blasts of 2008. She even claimed it was her curse that brought about the demise of Karkare in encounter with terrorists and even called him anti-national. The remarks meant for a police officer who was martyred in terrorist attack and was conferred with Ashok Chakra the highest peace time civilian honour had caused a furore in the country. The BJP on Wednesday fielded her from the Bhopal seat, where she is set to have a direct contest with Congress heavyweight and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh. Her statement against Karkare raised a political storm Friday with opposition parties attacking the BJP and the Congress demanding an apol- ogy from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the saffron party distanced itself from her comments, saying it was her personal view which she might have made due to years of physical and mental torture. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday said it would hear on April 24, a police plea to can- cel the bail of a former woman Supreme Court employee, who has accused Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi of sexual misconduct, in a cheating and criminal intimidation case. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Manish Khurana listed the matter for Wednesday as the accused woman was not served with the copy of the police’s plea. The police sought cancel- lation of the bail granted to the woman on March 12, after the complainant claimed that he was being threatened by the former Supreme Court staffer and her associates. An FIR for the alleged offences of cheating, criminal intimidation and criminal con- spiracy was lodged against the woman on March 3, after a complaint was filed by Naveen Kumar, a resident of Jhajjar in Haryana, at the Tilak Marg Police Station here. Kumar has alleged that the former apex court employ- ee had defrauded him of 50,000, which he claimed she took as part of a bribe, promising him a job at the Supreme Court. He claimed that in June 2017, he met the woman through a common friend, Mansha Ram, regarding his employment and she had told him she was a personal assis- tant of a judge in the Supreme Court and her husband was also an officer. Turn to Page 4 New Delhi: The Election Commission on Saturday directed Eros Now to immedi- ately take down a web series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and all related contents till further orders. Turn to Page 4 RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 C M Y K C M Y K
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    Rajya Sabha MP Prof RakeshSinha here on Saturdayaccused Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Kamal NathGovernment in the State of tar-geting academicians out ofpolitical vendetta.

    Notably, the EOW has fewdays ago lodged an FIR in con-nection with the alleged irreg-ularities in the MakhanlalChaturvedi National Universityof Journalism andCommunication, Bhopalagainst 20 persons includingformer VC BK Kuthiyala andassistant professors and pro-fessors.

    Prof Sinha who earlierserved the university as guestfaculty (on deputation) is alsoaccused of getting appoint-ment against norms.

    Upset with the persistentmedia bashing, Prof Sinhadwelled into ‘excellent’ acade-mic record adding he is a pro-

    fessor at Delhi University (DU)for years and claimed he wasnot jobless when he was invit-ed for being faculty on depu-tation by the journalism uni-versity Bhopal.

    It was a matter of servicesbeing transferred between DUand Makahnlal University andI did not receive salary fromtwo places, said Prof Sinha.Saying it has been publicised that I was in need ofmoney but the fact was hereceived Rs five lakh as rewardfrom the President and insteadof getting her ailingmother treated, he had donat-ed the sum to a needy dalitfamily.

    The visiting leader claimedthe Kamal Nath governmentwas creating an emergencylike situation in MP by tram-pling the academicians. Theacademician fraternity of thecountry would take to streets tooppose this attitude, heclaimed.

    Accusing the Kamal Nathgovernment of disrespectingconstitutional bodies, ProfSinha alleged the VicePresident of India was theChancellor of the university buthis permission wasn’t soughtfor new VC’s appointment andalso not before lodging FIRagainst teachers, which accord-ing to him was first suchinstance in the free India wherean FIR has been registeredagainst teachers in such num-bers.

    He said the enquiry com-mittee did not even seek anyreply from the persons con-cerned.

    The MP went on to claimthat seven Congress MLAswere upset with the happeningsat journalism university andthree of them have even metKamal Nath with their dissent.

    He however did not revealthe names of the MLAs claim-ing it was not a proper thing todo in elections.

    He justified Bhopal uni-versity’s decision of seekinghis services claiming that hiscentre translates content for 22Urdu newspapers, he was a DUtopper and did his PhD on acommunist leader and havepenned books which is why theuniversity had decided tosecure his services on deputa-tion.

    On his alleged absencefrom classes, Prof Sinhaclaimed as per the contract, hewas required to undertake sixhours of academic work permonth in Bhopal.

    Hitting back at Prof Sinha,

    MPCC media coordinatorNarendra Saluja in a state-ment claimed that when Sinha’sanomalies are detected andEOW is probing the issue he issuddenly remembering moral-ity and politicization of educa-tion.

    Let him remember it wasex-VC who splurged varsityfunds on ABVP and RSS affil-iate bodies. In the manner heis leveling baseless allegationson the CM after being exposedneeds no clarification, headded.

    He also sought to remindacademicians backing ProfSinha of Dalit student RohithVemula's torture / suicide andbashing of Dalits in Pune byBJP govt. The MP govt hasappointed the VC through athree-member search commit-tee, he clarified. “By justifyingthe liquor consumption by ex-VC on university funds, it hasexposed the true face of BJP/RSS,” Saluja said.

    Bhopal: Sagar Public Schoolconducted an OrientationProgramme for parents atRatibad and Saket Nagarbranches. The objective of thesession was to connect parentsas ‘Partners in Progress’ withthe curriculum, regulations ofthe school, teaching method-ologies and the co-scholasticactivities with belief in educa-tion for overall development ofyoung minds.

    At Sagar Public SchoolRatibad, the programme wasgraced by Director, SagarPublic Schools Jaishree Kanwarand Headmistress Rashmi Sethwhereas Headmistress RPreetha and Ms PoonamSharma addressed the gather-ing at Saket Nagar campus.Jaishree Kanwar connected andenlightened the parents stress-ing on the school’s vision of

    being progressive and childcentric. In her address sheunfolded the school ethos, phi-losophy and broad practices ofthe school which is full of cre-ative activities and hands onexperience of all forms of per-forming arts with the holisticdevelopment of child. She alsoenlightened on learning para-meters and the innovativeteaching methodologies fol-lowed by school which createopportunities with learning’samongst children.

    During the session, mem-bers of the faculty were intro-duced to the parents with anaim of grooming children intohappy, skillful and creative cit-izens. The session concludedwith an Open House Session inwhich Director andHeadmistress answered thequeries of the parents. SR

    ����������� � ;�:�68

    District police have onSaturday recovered overRs 1 crore during raids con-ducted at different places wherebetting was operated.

    Police said that raids wereconducted at seven places andmassive amount whichaccounted to around �90 lakhwas recovered from two placeswhich was �56 lakh and �29lakh.

    During the raids, �29 lakhwas seized from Bharat Soniwho owns Bharat tent house atHabibganj while �56 lakh wasseized from Naresh Hemataniwho runs a bakery in Kolararea and recovered moneyfrom his house at MahabaliNagar in Kolar.

    The two were involved inbetting and the money waslikely to be used in electionswould be investigated. At thetime of raid money was seizedfrom Hemtani’s almirah in hishouse which was raided, hishouse was raided when police

    team arrived on beinginformed about a betting denoperated in his house. After thecash was seized he was askedto produce the details of themoney which was recoveredfrom his house but he failed todocuments. Police startedinvestigation and informedincome tax officials.

    The other big catch Soniwas detained from his inHabibganj area where he hadkept the money and was like-ly involved in betting. SOnifailed to produce details ofmoney and same process ofinforming the income tax offi-cials was done by the police.

    Third in the row wasSanjeet Chawla was arrested forpossessing �11 lakh at his shopat bus stand. Police have alsoseized �6 lakh around wereseized from other spots atIdgah hills and Ashoka gardenareas from the houses ofJaiprakash Meghani andChetan Wadhwani. They live inShahjahanabad and AshokaGarden areas respectively.

    ������������ ;�:�68

    Athree day theatre festival isbeing organised in the city.The festival began here fromSaturday at Shaheed Bhavanauditorium. The fest beganwith the play The Flies.

    The theatre festival is beingorganised by Samantar TheatreTroupe. Directed by ManojNair the play was beautifullyperformed by the artists ofShadow Theatre Troupe.

    Prior to the play, PurvRang was held. During thePurv Rang Devesh Mauryaalong with his troupe per-formed Rang Sangeet. It was

    beautifully performed and wasmuch loved by the audience

    The Flies is a play by Jean-Paul Sartre, written in 1943. Itis an adaptation of the Electramyth, previously used by theGreek playwrights Sophocles,Aeschylus and Euripides.

    The play recounts thestory of Orestes and his sisterElectra in their quest to avengethe death of their fatherAgamemnon, king of Argos, bykilling their motherClytemnestra and her husbandAegisthus, who had deposedand killed him.

    The basic story of the playis Orestes returns home after

    many years' absence and findsthat his mother, Clytemnestra,and her lover, Aegistheus (herhusband in The Flies), havemurdered Agamemnon,Orestes' father; they now sit onthe throne and have made aslave of Orestes' sister, Electra.She urges her brother to mur-der them, which he does, andthen he is hounded for the restof his life by the Furies ofrevenge.

    The play was wonderfullyperformed by the artists keep-ing the story intact. The direc-tion, backdrop of the stage andlight design of the play addedmore zest in the play.

    Bhopal: The new collection of books suggest-ed by members in the Swami VivekanandaLibrary will be launched on Sunday at the library.

    Such books collection in SwamiVivekananda Library brings library for itsmembers every month. As always, every time acollection of books suggested by the memberswill be displayed. It is to be noted that a lot ofbooks have been released in this collection in2019. Swami Vivekananda Library ManagerYatish Bhatele said that he is a member of thelibrary who can suggest thier favourite book,write the names of the register books, or suggestsuggestions on the email.

    The books which will be displayed at the

    library includes Red Queen by VictorianAward, The Good Mother by Alex Perry, Indiain the Age of Ideas by Sanjeev Sanyal, Falen A.Navel by Lauren Kate, Mouth Full of Blood byTony Morrison, These violent land, Gene Eatingby Gilles Ao, The Fotty Rules of Love by ElephShuff, Bottling For India Athlete Salim Yusufzai,India 2019, Jalliahwallah by Sakhshanda Jalil,Leader Block by Ritu Ji. Meherish and more.

    Yatish Bhatele said that the number of bookssuggested by the members was 25. A new col-lection of books suggested by the members inSwami Vivekananda Library and collection ofnew books is collected every Sunday at SwamiVivekananda Library. Staff Reporter

    ������������ ;�:�68

    Easter Vigil was observed inall the Catholic Churches ofthe city from 10 pm to 1 am.The climax of Easter VigilService was the celebration ofEucharist.

    Archbishop Leo Cornelio,celebrating the Easter vigil onSaturday night at St. Francis ofAssisi Church, Jehangirabadsaid in his address that millionsof Christians have accepted thetruth of Jesus resurrection,which not only presents theglorious state into which Jesushimself rose but also promis-es others everlasting happinessin a transformed life beyond

    the grave.“Whoever we are, we are

    well advised to ponder Jesus'victory over death.

    That is to say that for usbelievers, the resurrection ofJesus is not merely a historicalevent of the past, but it is alsoa life giving event to all thosewho believe, till the end oftime,” he added.

    Fr. Maria Stephen, thePRO wishing all the Christiansa Joyful Easter said, “We needto find our own ‘LittleResurrections’ in our lives hereon earth, with their ups anddowns (tragedies, disappoint-ments, betrayal, failures, unjustdeaths etc) in this ever chang-

    ing world.He invited all the people to

    come and celebrate ‘EasterMahotsav’ to be held today atBSSS College at 6.30 pm,Where Christians of differentdenominations will be comingtogether to celebrate this Easterfestival.

    There will be many, Publicrepresentatives, Religious lead-ers and many dignitaries towitness the communal har-mony at Easter Mahotsav.

    There will be cultural per-formances from Churches andSchools along with various delicious food stalls forthe people to enjoy them-selves.

    ������������ ;�:�68

    The classical music lovers ofthe city would have a massmusical treat by the young san-toor and Sitar player of thecountry Sanskriti Vahane andPrakruti Vahane.

    The spectacular santoorsitar player would showcasetheir concert organized byAnhad, Bharat Bhavan. Theywould give their performancehere on Sunday at AntrangHall under Saptak series ofclassical music. Santoor is raremusical instruments of Kashmirand to find a female artist play-ing on this is rarest. Sanskriti

    Vahane hails from Bhopal, is adedicated Santoor player whodisplays remarkable genius. It isreally a great pleasure listeningto her performance. Her audi-ence is always spellbound whenshe reaches the zenith of expres-sion during her performance.She is a talented Santoor Player.

    She is one of the most bril-liant artists of Santoor. She haspolished her art by strenuoustraining and riyaz and has wonappreciation from audience allover the country.

    On the other hand theinstrument flourished underthe Mughals, and it is namedafter a Persian instrument called

    the setar, Prakruti Vahane is ableto mesmerise the audiencealways.

    Her highly versatile andaesthetic perception of the Sitarhas enabled her to touch mostprofound depths of his instru-ment. The purity of her style,uniqueness of imagination withbrilliant technique made herrecitals enchanting. The notedand young Sitar Maestro hasalways presented a wonderfulshow before the audiences andcreates an ambiance ofHindustani Classical Music inthe hall. It will be a musical treatfor all the music lovers of thecity.

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    From Page 1“We would, therefore, at

    this juncture leave it to themedia to take off such mater-ial which is undesirable,” theorder said. Justice Gogoi andthree other senior most judgesof the apex court at anunprecedented news confer-ence on January 12, 2018 hadstaged a virtual revolt againsthis predecessor Justice DipakMisra on the issue of allocationof sensitive cases.

    During the hearing, the CJIsaid “unbelievable” allegationshave been levelled against himand “I do not think I shouldstoop too low even to denythese allegations. But thatcomes after 20 years of selflessservice as a judge”. “Nobodycan catch me on money. Peoplehave to find something andthey have found this,” the CJIsaid, while making it clear thathe has a bank balance of Rs6.80 lakh apart from around Rs40 lakh in provident fund afterbeing in service for around twodecades.

    “There has to be a bigger,bigger force behind this. Thereare two offices — one of thePrime Minister and one of theCJI. They (people behind this

    controversy) want to deactivatethe office of the CJI,” JusticeGogoi said, adding, “This is thereward a CJI gets after

    20 years of service”.Anguished over the alle-

    gations, the CJI warned “thejudiciary of

    this country is under veryserious threat. We will notallow this to happen”.“I will sit on this chair and dis-charge my judicial functionswithout any fear or favour. Iwill decide the cases in theseven months (of his remain-ing tenure as the CJI). I will dothat,” he said.

    Gogoi, who assumed theoffice of the CJI on October 3,2018, will

    retire on November 17.“Reputation” is the only thingwhich a judge has and if it willbe attacked on baseless allega-tions of sexual harassment, no“sane person” will come for-ward to take up judgeship, hesaid.

    The apex court registry ina notice earlier in the day saida three-Bench headed by theCJI was being set up to dealwith a “matter of great publicimportance touching upon theindependence of judiciary”.

    From Page 1Kumar said the woman had

    claimed that she has good con-tacts and can get him employedas process server or as a class-IVemployee in the Supreme Courtin about one-and-a-half monthtime, and for this she allegedlydemanded Rs 10 lakh fromhim. “On her inducement, thecomplainant paid an advance ofRs 50,000 to her in cash in thepresence of Ram in the SupremeCourt complex. Till threemonths, he did not receive anyinformation regarding hisemployment. Thereafter, healong with Ram again met thewoman at Supreme Court com-plex.

    “She told him that theemployment will take moretime and he should not visit herin the Supreme Court andthreatened him to implicate insome false case,” the police saidin the application seeking can-cellation of her bail. Kumarsaid he remained in touch withRam, who died in January thisyear due to illness. Heapproached the police claimingthat he has been cheated of Rs50,000 by the woman on the pre-text of his employment in theapex court and that she neitherreturned his money nor got him

    employed. He alleged thewoman and her husband threat-ened him for life if he demand-ed the money back. During theinvestigation, the woman wasarrested by the police on March10 and was sent to judicial cus-tody by a court here the next day.She was granted bail on March12. On March 14, the investiga-tion in to the case was taken upby the crime branch of DelhiPolice and the complainantaddressed an application to theDCP that he was being threat-ened by the woman and herassociates. The police also toldthe court, in its application,that the SSP of Jhajjar has beensent a letter to provide adequateprotection to the complainant.It is pertinent to mention thatthe woman on Friday sent asworn affidavit to the residencesof 22 apex court judges whichbecame public on Saturday.In her affidavit, the former SCemployee has described twoincidents of alleged molestationby the CJI. Both the alleged inci-dent took place in October2018, within days of CJI Gogoibeing appointed to the post.This allegations prompted theSupreme Court to hold an extra-ordinary hearing on Saturdaymorning. PTI

    From Page 1Modi took the fight further

    in a rally in Bareily, where hesaid the Opposition is now outto ridicule him for being a back-ward. “In every election, thisgame on my caste starts when-ever they stare at a defeat. Webackwards are used to beingabused by the dynasts but let

    me ask them what have theyapart from alleviating thepoverty of their own families?”

    And at a well-attendedrally in Buniadpur in WestBengal, where the BJP hasemerged as a strong contender,Modi lashed out at TMC supre-mo Mamata Banerjee saying,“It is shameful that people

    from neighbouring countryare campaigning for the TMC.This was done by the party toappease the minority commu-nity.” His remarks came againstthe backdrop of reports of twoBangladeshi actors campaign-ing for TMC candidates inBengal. Both were asked toleave India, subsequently.

    While Modi accused thechief minister of fooling peo-ple in the name of ‘ma, matiand manush’ (mother, landand people), he flayed herseeking proof of the Balakot airstrikes in Pakistan, and askedher to, instead, collect evi-dence against those behindchit fund scams.

    From Page 1Citing the model code of

    conduct for the Lok Sabhapolls, the EC said the stream-ing of five-episode web series,“Modi — Journey of aCommon Man”, should be“stopped forthwith”.

    After watching the trailer,the EC said, it is apparent thatthe web series showcases dif-ferent phases of Modi’s life --from childhood to becoming anational leader.

    The EC cited its April 10order banning the screening ofa biopic on the PM till the Lok

    Sabha elections are over, to barthe streaming of the series.

    The EC said, in view of theadmitted facts and materialavailable on record, the webseries is based on Modi, who,besides being the PM, is also apolitical leader and a candidatein the Lok Sabha elections. “Inview of the above, you are here-by directed to stop forthwiththe online streaming andremove all connected contentsof the web series till furtherorders,” it told Eros Now andasked it to send a compliancereport immediately.

    From Page 1“Rajeev (who was accom-

    panying her to the hospital)received a call from a domestichelp who said Rohit wassmeared in blood and asked usto come with an ambulance. Mycar was parked near an ambu-lance. I ensured that an ambu-lance left for my home imme-diately,” she recalled.

    Ujjwala said while on herway home, she dialed Dr SumitSethi, who had been treatingShekhar since 2007 when hefirst suffered a heart attack.

    “Apoorva and Rohit tiedthe nuptial knot in 2018. It wasa love marriage. Before that,they were seeing each other fora year,” Ujjwala said.

    The Delhi Police onThursday registered a case ofmurder into the death of Rohit,hours after his autopsy reportstated that he died of asphyxiadue to strangulation.

    “The medical board unan-imously concluded that thecause of death in this case isasphyxia as a result of strangu-lation and smothering. It is asudden unnatural death, placedin the category of homicide,”said Dr Sudhir Gupta, the headof the AIIMS’ forensic depart-ment. Crime Branch officialson Friday visited Rohit’s housein Defence Colony and ques-tioned his family members anddomestic helps. A forensicsteam too visited the house.

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    Apoll rally of quota spear-head-turned Congressleader Hardik Patel wasSaturday disrupted in Nikolarea here allegedly by a sectionof Patidar Anamat AndolanSamiti (PAAS) membersopposed to him.

    Hardik was campaigningfor Congress candidate GeetaPatel from Ahmedabad Eastseat.

    Hardik was slapped onFriday at a rally in Baldana inSurendranagar district.

    On Saturday night, four tofive people, claiming to besupporters of jailed PAASleader Alpesh Kathiriya, cameto the venue at Virat Nagar inNikol and shouted slogans forhis release, eyewitness JayeshPatel said.

    "Supporters of Hardik pre-sent at the venue had an alter-

    cation with them and theywere taken out of the rally.Police present at the venueintervened and escorted themout," he said. "This is the hand-iwork of the BJP. They do notwant me to campaign.Yesterday they had send a manwho slapped me and today theysend goons to disturb the rally,"Hardik said.

    BJP leader DhansukhBhanderi, however, refuted theallegations and said the inci-dent was a fallout of an inter-nal dispute within theCongress.

    On Friday, one TarunGajjar had slapped Hardik at arally in Surendranagar LokSabha constituency.

    Gajjar had later told policethat he slapped Hardik as hispregnant wife had to face lot ofdifficulty due to violent agita-tion by Hardik and his sup-porters in the past.

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    Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot Saturdayurged the new generation tobrush up their knowledge ofhistory and not fall prey to theBJP's "misleading" campaign onsocial media.

    "Teams of social media areat work. They (BJP) are spend-ing crores of rupees to attack...Conspiracy is going on to mis-lead people of the country," hetold reporters in Jaisalmer dis-trict.

    "People in the BJP are mis-leading the new generationthrough social media. I appealto youths to limit the use ofsmartphones and read history,"he said.

    Gehlot also asserted that Prime Minister NarendraModi will not come back topower.

    He claimed that there wasa wave in favour of theCongress in the entire state andan undercurrent against Modidue to the environment of"fear, hatred and violence" cre-ated by the Centre.

    Meanwhile, BJP's DeputyLeader of Opposition inRajasthan Assembly RajendraRathore hit out at Gehlot'srecent remarks on surgicalstrikes.

    "It seems the ChiefMinister is talking like aspokesperson of Pakistan," he told reporters inChittorgarh.

    ���������������1��������������������������� ��� H6�:�6&6

    Actor-turned-politicianShatrughan Sinha, whorecently shifted from the BJP tothe Congress, Saturday askedwho is "pappu" and who turnedout to be a real "feku" after theCongress beat the BJP in theMadhya Pradesh, Rajasthanand Chhattisgarh Assemblypolls.

    While the BJP routinelyaddresses Congress chief RahulGandhi as "pappu", theCongress often terms PrimeMinister Narendra Modi as"feku" accusing him of makinglofty and fake promises.

    "Now please tell us who ispappu and who has turned outto be the real feku. Who wonelections in three states," Sinhaasked.

    Sinha claimed PM Modi is

    known for making falsepromises and said he continuedto do so for 2022, 2024, 2029even though he is not going tobe PM at that time.

    Sinha praised the Congresschief and described him as"dashing, dynamic and ofcourse charming".

    He said he joined theCongress, despite invitationsfrom other parties like TMC,

    SP, BSP because the party wasan old one founded byMahatma Gandhi, JawaharlalNehru, Sardar Patel, NetajiSubash Chandra Bose amongothers.

    Sinha claimed note banand GST had rendered lakhs ofyouth jobless, destroyed smalland medium traders andbrought down factory produc-tion by 50 per cent.

    "I am a persistent critic ofNarendra Modi on issues suchas the Rafale deal, demoneti-sation and GST because anarrogant PM did not consultsenior party leaders and cabi-net ministers on these issues.That is why I resigned from theparty and joined the Congress,"he said.

    He predicted that winningthe 2019 Lok Sabha would be"impossible" for Modi.

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    NCP chief Sharad Pawar isengaged in a "Beti Bachav"(save the girl child) mission forhis daughter Supriya Sule, theparty's Baramati MP and can-didate, Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavissaid Saturday.

    Fadnavis was addressing apublic rally in Khadakwaslaarea of the constituency insupport of BJP candidateKanchan Kul.

    Lauding Kul for putting upa strong challenge before Sule,the chief minister took a dig atPawar, saying he "took onething from Prime MinisterNarendra Modi".

    "Modi gave the slogan ̀ BetiBachav...And Pawar is doingthe same thing in Baramati(trying to save his daughterfrom defeat)," he said.

    Sule too aped one of Modi's slogans, Fadnavis fur-ther said.

    ����)��������I;����;���A'�����J�/�����

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    Jammu and KashmirGovernor Satya Pal MalikSaturday suggested Universityof Jammu to organise acade-mic and extra-curricularevents in different education-al institutions in the countryto clear misconceptions aboutthe prevailing security envi-ronment in the state.

    The Governor said suchan interaction between localstudents with their counterparts in other stateswould also promote betterunderstanding among youthregarding diversity existing inthe country.

    Malik, who is also chan-cellor of the University ofJammu, was speaking at the85th Council meeting of thevarsity at Raj Bhavan here.Jammu varsity has been select-ed for grant of Rs 100 croreunder RUSA-II in 2018-19.

    To change perception of

    Jammu and Kashmir, theGovernor suggested organiz-ing academic and extra-cur-ricular events in different edu-cational institutions outsidethe state so that increasedinteraction among studentscould help in clearing mis-conceptions relating to secu-rity environment prevailingin the state and promote bet-ter understanding amongyouth regarding diversityexisting in the country, an offi-cial spokesman said.

    In order to usefully gainunder RUSA-II phase, theGovernor emphasised restruc-turing of course curriculum byintegrating it with researchboth in science and technolo-gy as well as humanities.

    He stressed on providingworld class education by mod-ernising and creating smartclassrooms, providing e-resources and state of the artlaboratories, introduction ofnew programmes and courses

    with emphasis on developingbroad competencies and skillsin order to ensure that thestate's students can compete atthe national and global level.

    Malik suggested focus onestablishing Research andInnovation Cluster for creatingsynergies and partnershipsamong all institutions of high-er learning of the region.

    He stressed handholdingof the affiliated colleges of theUniversity in areas of research,governance, accreditation andquality assurance.

    In order to enrich bothacademic and social life of thestudents, the Governoradvised developing inter-dis-ciplinary programmes toenhance cross-collaborationamong faculty and scholars,introduction of studentexchange programmes in var-ious disciplines and pro-grammes and holding megacultural, sports and academicevents on the campus.

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    Prime Minister NarendraModi Saturday asserted thatthe BJP is committed to 'deshbhakti', while its rival Congressis dedicated to 'vote bhakti' aspart of its appeasement politics.

    He said lies are beingspread that his governmentintroduced 10 per cent reser-vation for the weaker sectionsof the unreserved categories willeventually do away with thequota system.

    "The country has witnessedtwo types of politics of votebhakti and of desh bhakti. Theformer was on display whenafter the 26/11 Mumbai terrorattacks the government of theday did not go after Pakistan forabetting terror.

    "It rather chose to derail the

    investigations in many terrorcases by coming up with thetheory of Hindu terror. Deshbhakti was demonstrated by uswhen the Uri terror attack wasreplied with surgical strike andPulwama was followed by airstrikes," Modi told an electionrally here.

    The politics of 'vote bhak-ti' was again on display whenthe Congress insulted martyrsof the Batla House encounter inNew Delhi by casting doubtsover the operation in whichsecurity personnel were killed,he said. A team of Delhi Policehad raided a Batla House flat insouth Delhi following a tip-offthat terrorists involved in theSeptember 13, 2008 serial blastsin the national capital, wereholed up there.

    Some Congress leaders

    were in tears when they cameto know about the Batla Houseencounter, Modi claimed.

    "The trends of the first twophases of elections have leftthem rattled. They are notdemanding proofs of theBalakot air strike," Modiclaimed at the rally.

    In a bid to reach out to thefarmers, the prime ministerannounced that in his nextterm he will ensure that the ceil-ing of ownership of five acres ofland for beneficiaries ofPradhan Mantri KisanSamriddhi Nidhi Yojana ismade available to all.

    Leaders of BJP allies - ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar whoheads the JD(U), and cabinetcolleague Ram Vilas Paswan,who is the founder of the LJP -were also on the stage.

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    New Delhi: Hardik Pandya and KLRahul were on Saturday fined �20lakh each by the BCCI OmbudsmanDK Jain for their sexist comments ona popular TV show, ending an infa-mous saga that dented the reputationof the two India cricketers.

    In the order published on theofficial BCCI website, Jain wrote thatno further action will be takenagainst Pandya and Rahul, who hadmissed five ODIs while serving theirprovisional suspension, and ten-dered an unconditional apology formaking loose comments onwomen.

    Instead, he directed the WorldCup-bound players to pay a fine of�20 lakh each that included a pay-ment of �1 lakh each to “each of themost deserving widows of 10 con-stables in paramilitary forces whohave lost their lives while on duty,through “Bharat Ke Veer App”.

    Jain also instructed them todeposit �10 lakh each in the fund“created by the Cricket Associationfor the blind”.

    All payments are to be madewithin four weeks from the date ofthe order — April 19, 2019 — fail-ing which “the BCCI may deduct theamount from their match fees”.

    “I have no hesitation in observ-ing that the remarks made by theplayer, even by his own admissions,did offend sensitivities, which oughtto have been avoided. Hence, hemust make amends,” Jain stated inthe order.

    “Taking into consideration allthese aspects, in particular the factthat the player has tendered anapology for the incident withoutseeking to justify his action, hasacknowledged his duty to the soci-

    ety and expressed his willingness tohold himself to the higher standardsexpected of him and has missed fiveODIs, in the interest of justice andfair play, (the fine) would suffice.”

    Pandya, 25, and Rahul, 27,deposed before the Supreme Court-appointed Ombudsman earlier thismonth and were awaiting their fateeven after being named in India’sWorld Cup squad on Monday.

    With their fate finally decided,they both can fully focus on the gamenow ahead of the World Cup begin-ning May 30 in the UK. They bothare doing well for their respective IPLteams at the moment.

    Pandya and Rahul were provi-sionally suspended by theCommittee of Administrators (CoA)for their remarks and were asked toreturn home in the middle of theAustralia tour.

    They had become subjects ofnationwide criticism following theiroutrageous comments on a talkshow, aired in the first week ofJanuary. PTI

    New Delhi: Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman, whobecame the face of the tense mili-tary confrontation between Indiaand Pakistan, has been shifted outof Srinagar and posted to a front-line air base in the western sector,official sources said on Saturday.

    It is also learnt that the IAF isto recommend Varthaman’s namefor Vir Chakra, the coveted wartimegallantry medal, which is the thirdhighest after the Paramvir Chakraand the Mahavir Chakra.

    The transfer came after theIAF assessed a security threat toWing Commander Varthaman’s lifefrom terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which has beentrying to attack Indian military

    locations and personnel.Varthaman, who was captured

    by Pakistan on February 27 duringan aerial combat with Indian Air Force, had returned to hissquadron in Srinagar last monththough he was on a four-week sickleave.

    Orders have been issued for histransfer from Srinagar to anotherbase in the western sector, sources

    said, terming the transfer as “rou-tine one”.

    The IAF pilot went on leave inmid-March after security agenciescompleted a nearly two-weekdebriefing following his returnfrom Pakistan.

    Sources said a medical boardwill review his fitness to help theIAF top brass decide whether hecan return to fighter cockpit as

    desired by him.Varthaman was captured by the

    Pakistani Army on February 27after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shotdown in a dogfight with Pakistanijets during aerial combat.

    Before his jet was hit, hedowned an F-16 fighter of Pakistan.Varthaman was released on thenight of March 1 by Pakistan. Afterhe was captured, Varthamanshowed courage and grace in han-dling the most difficult circum-stances for which he was praised bypoliticians, strategic affairs experts,ex-servicemen, celebrities and peo-ple in general.

    Tensions between India andPakistan escalated after Indianfighters bombed terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed’s biggest trainingcamp near Balakot, deep insidePakistan on February 26.

    Pakistan retaliated by attempt-ing to target Indian military instal-lations the next day. However, theIAF thwarted their plans.

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    From page 1Facilities have been pro-

    vided at the SMS committeelevel to make the sale of pro-duce easier for the farmers.

    The Chief Secretary told toverify 3 lakh 10 thousand 482Khasras of the farmers of 28districts registered on e-pro-curement portal within twodays. He also instructed tospeed up the transport of wheatin Raisen, Katni, Jabalpur,Sagar, Tikamgarh and Pannadistricts.

    The managing directorasked Markfed to ensure trans-port arrangements in Katniand Jabalpur districts. He toldManaging Director MARK-FED to ensure transportarrangement in Katni andJabalpur district.

    It was informed in the

    meeting that procurement ofgram, lentil, mustard has begunat 233 procurement centers. Sofar the total purchase amountsto 11 thousand 900 metrictonnes. The Chief Secretary hasgiven instructions to start pur-chase at the remaining centersalso.

    Additional Chief Secretary,Public Relations and WaterResources Shri M. GopalReddy, Additional ChiefSecretary, Energy I.C.P.Keshari, Principal SecretaryTransport and Public WorksMalay Shrivastava, PrincipalSecretary to Chief Ministerand Public ServiceManagement Ashok Vernawal,Principal Secretary Food andCivil Supplies, Neelam ShamiRao and other officials werepresent at the video conference.

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    The Union Home Ministryhas allowed risk and hard-ship allowance to non-fieldunits of CRPF in Jammu &Kashmir and Naxal-affectedStates after revising the earlierguidelines which provided forsuch allowances exclusively tothe personnel deployed in thefield units and not those locat-ed in a district headquarter.

    The move is expected topositively impact thousands ofthe CRPF personnel as theparamilitary has deploymentover one lakh men in Jammu& Kashmir and Naxal-affectedareas.

    “It is clarified that since thenew classification of field areashas been made on geographi-cal basis for drawal of RHA forall CRPF offices situated in aparticular classified field area,hence Risk and HardshipAllowance is applicable to allthe officers and personnel post-ed in the same classified area,”reads an internal circular issuedon April 16.

    “…approval is herebyaccorded to draw RHA to allOfficers/personnel to drawRHA in the areas classified videMHA OM (office memo) dated22/2/2019..while issuing sanc-

    tion for RH Allowance, thecomplete postal address of theoffice including Block , subdivision, tehsil and districtshall be mentioned.

    These allowances areapplicable wef 22/2/2019,” itfurther said.

    A committee was consti-tuted under the chairmanshipof Union Home Secretary toreview the existing classifica-

    tion of field areas in respect ofJammu & Kashmir and LeftWing Extremism affected dis-tricts where troops aredeployed for anti-Naxal oper-ations.

    On the basis of report ofthe Committee, the UnionHome Ministry issued onFebruary 22 thi year conveyedsanction to the CRPF to drawrisk and hardship allowance

    according to field areas classi-fied in a series of annexures tothe order.

    After the order from theHome Ministry, a number ofreferences were received at theCRPF headquarters here fromvarious CRPF offices fromJammu & Kashmir and Naxal-hit States asking for permissionto allow them the allowanceaccording to the new classifi-

    cation of field areas as clearedby the Home Ministry inFebruary.

    Following this, a clarifica-tion from the Financial Advisorwas taken before the paramil-itary allowed the allowance inthe entire terror or Nazalism hit districts of Jammu& Kashmir besides ultra-Leftinsurgency affected areas, anofficial said.

    ��� ��5���8�0

    Chief Justice of India RanjanGogoi, who held an extra-ordinary hearing in theSupreme Court on Saturdayover allegations of sexualharassment against him, cited“criminal record” of the accuserduring the proceedings.

    The CJI, who along withJustices Arun Mishra andSanjiv Khanna assembled tohear the matter which wasdescribed as of “great publicimportance touching upon theindependence of judiciary”,said that the woman, a formerapex court employee, had acriminal record and two FIRswere lodged against her.

    In a letter addressed to 22other apex court judges, thewoman had said that she wasa junior court assistant in theapex court. She said she hadjoined the service on May 1,2014 and her service was ter-

    minated on December 21,2018. During the hearing,Justice Gogoi said when shewas employed with the apexcourt, an FIR was pendingagainst her.

    “How can she become aSupreme Court staff when anFIR was pending against her?”

    the CJI said, adding that twocriminal cases were also pend-ing against her husband.

    A third FIR was registeredagainst her following which shewas arrested, he said, addingthat after getting bail, shethreatened the complainant ofthe third case with dire conse-

    quences. He said the womanwas in jail for four days becauseof the criminal cases lodgedagainst her and she was alsowarned by the police a coupleof times to maintain goodbehaviour.

    The CJI said that in thethird case, the police has movedthe lower court seeking can-cellation of the bail granted toher and the matter was listedfor hearing in the Patiala Housedistrict court today itself.

    Later in the day, a trialcourt said that it would hear onApril 24 the plea filed by policeseeking cancellation of the bailgranted to the former womanSC employee in a cheating andcriminal intimidation case.

    Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Manish Khuranalisted the matter for Wednesdayas the accused woman wasnot served with the copy of thepolice’s plea.

    The police sought cancel-

    lation of the bail granted to thewoman on March 12, after thecomplainant claimed that hewas being threatened by theformer Supreme Court stafferand her associates.

    An FIR for the allegedoffences of cheating, criminalintimidation and criminal con-spiracy was lodged against thewoman on March 3, after acomplaint was filed by NaveenKumar, a resident of Jhajjar inHaryana, at the Tilak MargPolice Station here.

    Kumar has alleged that theformer apex court employeehad defrauded him of �50,000,which he claimed she took aspart of a bribe, promising hima job at the Supreme Court.

    The apex court took suomotu (on its own) note ofreports carried by four newsportals on allegations of sexu-al misconduct levelled by theformer apex court womanemployee against the CJI.

    ���� ��5���8�0

    Questions on Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi’s citi-zenship and educational qual-ifications resurfaced onSaturday prompting theAmethi Returning Officer todefer the scrutiny of his nom-ination papers from the seat tillApril 22, giving the BJP a han-dle to hit out at him as it askedhim to come clean on theissue.

    An independent candidatefighting from Amethi hasraised doubts over Rahul’sIndian citizenship, leveled alle-gations of non-disclosure ofassets and properties of the UKcompany whose documents

    show him as a British citizenand non-matching of docu-ments related to his educationalqualifications. The issues hadearlier too cropped up and theBJP has had targeted him thenalso. Citing the complaint filedwith returning officer ofAmethi against Congress pres-ident, the BJP also raised ques-tions on Rahul’s citizenshipand educational qualification,and asked him to come cleanon the matter. The returningofficer (RO) has fixed Mondayas the next date of hearing onthe matter.

    BJP spokesperson GVLNarasimha Rao told reportersit was “stunning” that Rahul’slawyer sought time to reply to

    the objections. “These are serious allega-

    tions. Is Rahul Gandhi anIndian citizen or not? Did heever become a British citizen?He should come out with thereal story,” he said.

    Election Commissionsources said the returning offi-cer is the final authority onsuch a matter, but he cannotcheck the veracity of whateveris written on an election affi-davit.

    “If someone approachesan RO raising objections, hemust hear the affected party. Ifanyone has any objection towhatever is recorded in anaffidavit, the person shouldapproach court. The EC has no

    role in any objection made toelection affidavit,” they said.

    Rao claimed that a Britishcompany, in which Rahul hadsaid in 2004 that he madeinvestment, in its submission tothe authorities there stated thatRahul was a British citizen.

    Under Indian law, oneceases to be a citizen of thecountry if he gets citizenship ofany country, he said and askedthe Congress president toanswer the questions raised inthe complaint. If the Britishcompany made a false state-ment, then did Rahul actagainst it, he asked.

    Referring to the complaint,the BJP spokesperson saidthere are “discrepancies and

    attempts to suppress facts” inRahul’s affidavits filed duringdifferent elections from 2004 to2014.

    The Congress chief hadsaid that he did M Phil indevelopment economics fromCambridge University, but laterclaimed it was in developmentstudies, Rao alleged.

    The BJP spokesman said

    inquiries show that one RaulVincy and not Rahul Gandhigot the degree in that particu-lar year.

    “We will like to know ifRahul Gandhi goes by multiplenames in different countries,”Rao said. He also wondered ifthe Gandhi scion’s qualificationwas like Congress manifestoesthat change every five years.

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    Attacking what he called“present generation ofdynast” in Congress, UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyon Saturday claimed that it hasbecome a liability for theCongress party and hopedthat the “aspirational India”would find it increasingly dif-ficult to accept “dynasties”.

    “If the Congress’s dynasthas only an ability to deliver 44seats or 60 seats in Parliament,what then is the incentive forconventional Congressmen tobear humiliation of subjectingthemselves to a dynast?Ultimately, in dynastic partiesone has to accept politicalslavery,” Jaitley said in a blogtitled, ‘Will 2019 Witness theDynasty as a Liability on theCongress Party?’

    The grand old party is ledby Rahul Gandhi , grandson ofIndira and son of Rajiv, and isassisted by his sister PriyankaVadra.

    Jaitley said the two PrimeMinisters that BJP gave to thenation — Atal Bihari Vajpayeeand Narendra Modi — were bya mile the “tallest politicians oftheir generation”, adding thatthis could happen only inmerit-based parties and notdynastic ones.

    “A relevant question withthis changing socio-econom-ic profile of India is — Aredynasties an asset for a partyor are they a liability?Unquestionably, the presentgeneration of dynast hasbecome a liability rather thanan asset for the CongressParty,” he said.

    Jaitley further said, “Is

    history going to witness some-thing wholly unprecedented?Are we going to witness therejection of caste based anddynastic parties? And willaspirational India make aharsh judgement on electing amerit based leadership? Thismay well be the case.”

    Referring to other dynas-tic parties, Jaitley said theIndian National Lok Dal(INLD)has splintered, whilethe Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)got zero in the Lok Sabha elec-tions in 2014 and 19 seats inthe assembly elections.

    The Samajwadi Partycould only retain seats for itsfamily members in the 2014elections, while the RJD wasdown to two seats, he noted.

    Commenting on the firsttwo phases of polling for thegeneral elections, Jaitley saidthe momentum was clearlywith the BJP and PrimeMinister Modi.

    “In terms of nationalleadership contest for a PrimeMinisterial election, it isalmost becoming a one horserace. There is nobody elsemeasuring up to PrimeMinister Modi’s level of capac-ity and acceptability,” he soughtto say.

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    Cracking the whip, theElection Commission onSaturday ordered the transfer ofthe Malda police chief in WestBengal, just days ahead of theApril 23 Lok Sabha polls in thedistrict.

    The Commission askedthe state government to shuntout Arnab Ghosh as SP, Malda,and replace him with AjoyPrasad, who is heading a statearmed police battalion.

    The EC also made it clearto the state government thatGhosh should not be put onelection duty.

    Malda goes to polls onApril 23 in phase three of LokSabha elections.

    Recently, when the pollwatchdog had transferred somesenior police officials, stateChief Minister MamataBanerjee had accused it ofworking as a “tool” of the BJP-led government at the Centre.

    Rejecting the allegation,the EC had said it was wellwithin its rights to transfer offi-cials during election period.

    Meanwhile, the nodal elec-tion officer of Nadia distrci,Arnab Roy, who has been miss-ing Thursday, continued to betraceless.

    6��������������������%������������������������� ���� ��5���8�0Former Union Minister andCongress leader from

    Kerala S Krishna Kumar onSaturday joined the BJP sayingthat he wanted to work tostrengthen Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s leadership.

    The 80-year-old leader wasinducted into the party by BJPleader Anil Baluni andShahnawaz Hussain at theparty headquarters here.

    Kumar said Modi has beenworking to develop India andhe should continue to lead thecountry.

    He has been elected to theLok Sabha three times during80s and 90s, and was also aminister in the then CongressGovernments at the Centre.

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    The Bar Council of IndiaSaturday condemned the“false and cooked-up” sexualharassment allegations againstChief Justice of India RanjanGogoi and said the entire barwas standing with the CJI, andagainst this “attempt to malignthe institution”.

    “These are all false andcooked-up allegations and wecondemn these kinds of acts.These kind of allegations andactions should not be encour-aged. This is an attempt tomalign the institution. Entirebar is standing in solidaritywith the Chief Justice of India,”Manan Kumar Mishra, BCIchairperson, told PTI.

    He said an emergencymeeting of the top bar bodywould be convened on Sunday

    and a resolution be passed inthis regard.

    “We will pass the resolu-tion and then try to meet theCJI to make him aware of the(BCI’s) decision,” Mishra said.

    The Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) presidentand senior advocate RakeshKhanna, who was present dur-ing the extraordinary hearingin the matter on Saturday,however, refused to comment.

    “We are not part of thecase...There is no lis (litigation)before the court. I am not giv-ing any interview (on the con-troversy). Thank you,” he said.

    However, former SCBApresident and senior advocateVikas Singh said the propercourse would be to have an in-house inquiry by some seniorSupreme Court judges toauthoritatively find out thetruth “this way or that way” ina time-bound manner.

    “If it is a false allegationthen this definitely is a threatto independence of judiciary,but if it is true then it is alsovery serious,” he said.

    “There should be an in-house inquiry by some seniorSupreme Court judges to findout authoritatively this way orthat way in a time-bound man-ner,” Singh told PTI.

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    The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Saturdayarrested Mohammad Gufranfrom Amroha in Uttar Pradeshin connection with the ISISconspiracy case relating to a sis-nister plan to target Delhi-NCRand Uttar Pradesh. Gufran isthe 13th accused to have beenarrested in the case. Duringinvestigation, role of saidaccused person had surfaced asone of the key conspirators inplanning to carry out terroristattacks in Delhi NCR and UP.

    “Arrested accusedMohammad Gufran wasinspired by ideology of ISISwhich is a proscribed organi-zation under UAPA (UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act)and formed a pro-ISIS modulenamely Harkat Ul Harb-e-Islam with the help of accusedpersons arrested earlier to wagewar against Government ofIndia,” NIA spokesperson said.

    Investigation revealed thathe was instrumental in pro-curement of arms and ammu-nition and also explosives tocarry out terrorist attacks inDelhi NCR and UP, the NIA

    spokesperson further said.Twelve accused persons

    have earlier been arrested in thecase.

    The case relates to a groupof pro-ISIS terrorists whoformed a terrorist gang whichwas engaged in acts prepara-tory to commission of terrorattacks with a view to wage waragainst the Government ofIndia.

    “The group was found tobe inspired by ideology of ISISand was conspiring and prepar-ing to target places of impor-tance in and around NationalCapital Territory of Delhi. It

    was gathered that Mufti Mohd.Suhail alias Hazrath, resident ofJafrabad, Seelampur, Delhi,was the Amir of pro-IS mod-ule who mobilized funds andprocured weapons, ammuni-tion and explosive materials toprepare IEDs etc with his otherassociates, the spokespersonadded.

    Gufran will be producedbefore the designated NIACourt, Patiala House, NewDelhi on Sunday.

    Meanwhile, (the NIA onSaturday carried out searches atthree locations in Hyderabadand Wardha in another ISIS-related case known as AbuDhabi Module case

    During the searches con-ducted in this case, a numberof digital devices including 13mobile phones, 11 SIM cards,onr iPad, two laptops, oneexternal hard disk, six pen dri-ves, six SD Cards and threeWalkie Talkie Sets (Kenwoodbesides a number os suspiciousdocuments have been seizedfrom the houses of the suspects.

    “Questioning of the foursuspects is going on,” thespokesperson said without anelaboration.

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    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)said on Saturday it has not issuedany direction with regard to a five-daya week working for commercial banks.

    “It has been reported in certainsections of the media that commer-cial banks would have a 5-day weekin terms of RBI instructions. It is clar-ified that this information is not fac-tually correct,” the RBI said in arelease.

    The RBI has not issued any suchdirections, it said. Currently, branch-es of commercial banks observe hol-iday only on second and fourthSaturday of a month apart fromSunday.

    Remaining Saturdays are a fullworking hour for banks.

    ��� ��5���8�0

    Employees of Jet Airwayshave written to PresidentRam Nath Kovind and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi seek-ing their intervention to recov-er outstanding dues as well asto expedite the process ofemergency funds for the airline,which has shuttered its oper-ations temporarily.

    Cash-starved Jet Airways,which has around 23,000employees, has delayed pay-ment of salaries to the employ-ees, including pilots. Amiduncertainty over the futurecourse of the carrier, twoemployees’ unions have nowwritten to the President and the

    Prime Minister.In separate but similarly-

    worded letters this week, theSociety for Welfare of IndianPilots (SWIP) and Jet AircraftMaintenance EngineersWelfare Association (JAME-WA) have requested help inclearing their outstandingsalary dues.

    “We request you to con-sider the situation with theurgency it deserves and directthe management of Jet Airways(India) Ltd to expeditiouslydisburse all outstanding dues toaffected employees.

    “We also urge you toexpedite the process of emer-gency funding, as every minuteand every decision is very crit-

    ical in these testing times,” oneof the letters said.

    After months of uncer-tainty, Jet Airways announcedtemporary suspension of itsoperations on April 17 as itfailed to receive emergencyfunds from lenders.

    The unions highlightedthat a section of employees

    have not been paid theirsalaries on time for the lastseven months and that thedistressing situation was alsobrought to the notice of theMinistry of Labour andEmployment in March.

    “The management of JetAirways has gone back on itssalary arrears payment sched-

    ule conveyed by mail datedDecember 7, 2018. The out-standing amount for pilots andengineers as of now is threemonths salary (full salaries forthe months of January,February and March), and forall other staff is one month’ssalary,” the letter said.

    Noting that employees didtheir best to keep up the high-est standards of safety and pro-fessionalism in these tryingtimes, the grouping said non-payment of salaries is causingextreme hardships to employ-ees. “Even after all our efforts,we are not seeing any ray ofhope and so it is our humbleplea to take this matter underyour guidance for an imme-

    diate action for the revival ofthe entire system,” the lettersaid.

    SWIP has around 1,200members while JAMEWA rep-resents more than 500 employ-ees.

    “We have also realised thatalong with our Jet Airwayssinking, we are not only 23,000employees who will be affect-ed directly but a number ofpeople who are running busi-ness or are associated with ussome way or the other.

    “Even the shops at the air-ports are facing a lull. Such abig airline going down willleave a huge vacuum behind.Passengers are already facingthe brunt of it,” they said.

    ��� ��5���8�0

    Private lender HDFCBank on Saturdayreported a 23 per cent jumpin its net profit to �5,885.12crore for the quarter endedMarch 2019 on a healthygrowth in its net interestincome.

    The bank had registereda net profit of �4,799.28crore in the January-Marchquarter of 2017-18. Totalincome for the quarterended March 31, 2019, stoodat �31,204.5 crore, up by 22.1per cent from �25,549.7crore for the quarter endedon March 31, 2018, the bank

    said in a regulatory filing. Net interest income

    grew by 22.8 per cent to�13,089.5 crore in the lastquarter of FY2018-19 from�10,657.7 crore in the year-ago quarter driven by aver-age asset growth of 19.8 percent and a core net inter-est margin of 4.4 per cent,the bank said.

    On asset front, bank’sgross non-performingassets (NPAs) were at 1.36per cent of gross advancesas on March 31, 2019, asagainst 1.30 per cent as onMarch 31, 2018. Coverageratio as on March 31, 2019was 71 per cent.

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    Net employment generationin the formal sectoralmost trebled to 8.61 lakh inFebruary compared to 2.87lakh in the same month of lastyear, according to the latestEPFO payroll data.

    The retirement fund bodyEmployees’ Provident FundOrganisation has been releas-ing payroll data from April2018, covering the periodstarting September 2017.

    According to the latestdata, the highest job creationwas recorded in January 2019at 8.94 lakh against the provi-sional estimate of 8.96 lakhreleased last month.

    During February 2019, thehighest number of 2.36 lakhjobs were created in the 22-25years age group, followed by2.09 lakh in the 18-21 years agebracket.

    The data showed that 80.86lakh new jobs were created inthe 18 months period fromSeptember 2017 to February2019.

    However, the EPFO hasrevised downward the numberof net subscribers added ornew jobs created fromSeptember 2017 to January2019 to 72.24 lakh from 76.48lakh released last month.

    The sharpest revision wasfor March 2018 in the latestreport which showed con-traction or exit of 55,934 mem-

    bers from the EPFO subscrip-tions. Last month, the EPFOpayroll data had showed that asmany as 29,023 members exit-ed from its schemes in March2018. ‘

    In February 2019, theEPFO data had showed that asmany as 5,498 members joinedEPFO schemes in March 2018.

    On contraction in March2018 numbers, the EPFO said,“March 2018 figure is negativedue to large number of exitsreported in the month ofMarch, in view of it being theclosing month of the financialyear.”The EPFO said the data isprovisional as updation ofemployee records is a contin-uous process and gets updatedin subsequent months.

    This is age-band wise dataof new members registeredunder the EPFO where the firstnon-zero contribution receivedduring a particular month. Foreach age-wise band, the esti-mates are net of the membersnewly enrolled, exited andrejoined during the month asper records of the EPFO, itadded.

    ��� ��5���8�0

    Paytm Payments Bank Ltd(PPB) on Saturday said ithas appointed entrepreneurSairee Chahal to its board ofdirectors.

    Chahal is the founder andCEO of SHEROES -- a com-munity platform for women.

    “We are delighted to haveMs Sairee Chahal on our board.She has comprehensive expe-rience of customer serviceecosystem. We will benefitfrom her knowledge and exper-tise,” PPB Managing Directorand CEO Satish Gupta said ina statement.

    PPB, which was incorpo-rated in August 2016, formal-ly began its operations in2017.Paytm Founder VijayShekhar Sharma holds 51 percent stake in PPB, while therest is held by One97Communications.

    Gupta had recently statedthat PPB has 4.4 crore savingsbank accounts with deposits ofover �400 crore as well as 26crore wallet accounts.

    ��� ��0�����6�0:��

    India’s growth trajectory holdsimmense potential for glob-al stakeholders to establishenergy, infrastructure andtechnology collaboration withthe country, a UN forum herehas been told.

    Counsellor in India’sPermanent Mission to the UNAshish Sinha stressed onWednesday at the ECOSOCForum on Financing forDevelopment Follow Up thatIndia wanted to use growth asa mechanism to pull the max-imum number of people out ofpoverty and improve quality oflife in an inclusive manner.

    “India has retained its posi-tion as the world’s fastest grow-ing major economy. Indianeconomy has been growingover 7 per cent for several yearsand the forecast for the futureis equally robust,” he said.

    Sinha noted that Indiaimproved its ranking by 23positions in the World Bank’sEase of Doing Business rank-ings last year.

    India improved its rankingon the World Bank’s ‘ease ofdoing business’ report for thesecond straight year, jumping23 places to the 77th position

    on the back of reforms relatedto insolvency, taxation andother areas.

    “India’s growth trajectoryholds immense potential forour global stakeholders toestablish energy, naturalresource, and infrastructureand technology collaborationwith us,” Sinha said.

    The current global eco-nomic outlook also reiteratesthe need for the promotion ofpolicies for enhancing eco-nomic growth and growthinducing investments, he said.

    Earlier this month, theWorld Bank said India’s GDPgrowth was expected to accel-erate moderately to 7.5 per centin fiscal year 19-20, driven bycontinued investment strength-ening, particularly private-improved export performanceand resilient consumption.

    “The objective is to bankthe unbanked, secure the unse-cured, fund the unfundedand service the un-serviced

    areas,” Sinha said.Noting that India has taken

    strong initiatives for financialinclusion, he said in the thepast three years, the govern-ment has opened over 320 mil-lion bank accounts for thosewho never had an account.

    “We have leveraged thesebank accounts with the powerof a biometric identity systemand mobile phones, to deliversubsidies and services to thedeserving poor,” he said, addingthat 1.6 million people havebenefited from the recentlylaunched cashless health insur-ance scheme called ‘AyushmanBharat’ in the first four monthsof its launch.

    India is also the sixthlargest producer of renewableenergy in the world and Indiansolar power capacity will growrobustly at an annual averagerate of 15.3 per cent to reach105.9 GW by 2028, up from 26GW in 2018, he said.

    Sinha noted that researchand innovation would be thedriving force in the 4th indus-trial revolution era. The Indiangovernment has introducedthe flagship programme Start-up India with 1.4 billion dollarsfund for four years to create astartup ecosystem in India.

    ��� ��5���8�0

    Reliance Industries onSaturday said it is not inviolation of the US sanctions onVenezuela and had purchasedcrude originating from theLatin American nation fromcompanies such as Russia’sRosneft in full knowledge of USauthorities.

    In a statement, Reliancesaid reports suggesting that itwas involved in an arrange-ment that leads to cash pay-ment for oil supplies toVenezuelan national oil com-

    pany PDVSA via third partiesare “false and reckless”.

    “Reliance has purchasedVenezuelan crude oil fromcompanies such as (Russia’s)Rosneft long before the impo-sition of the US sanctions, asthey do get title to Venezuelanoil in return for reduction intheir prior debt. “Since sanc-tions were imposed, Reliance

    has made such purchases withthe full knowledge andapproval of the US Departmentof State (USDOS), and Reliance has informed USDOSof specific volumes and trans-actions. Such transactions donot lead to any consequent pay-ment to PDVSA and do notviolate US sanctions or poli-cies,” it said.

    Reliance said its priceagreement with such sellers isat market price and paymentsare settled in cash or by prod-uct supply bilaterally betweenit and such sellers.

    ��� ��5���8�0

    The Government hasextended the last date forfiling summary sales return,GSTR-3B, for March monthby three days until April 23.

    “Due date for filing GSTR-3B for the tax period March2019 has been extended toApril 23, 2019,” a ticker onGST portal ‘gst.Gov.In’ said.

    The last date for filing

    summary sales return andpayment of taxes for March isApril 20, 2019.

    AMRG & AssociatesPartner Rajat Mohan said,“Glitches in GSTN is leadingto frequent extensions in thefiling of tax returns. Tax filersalso need to improve the habitof filing at the last date, lead-ing to burden on the serversresulting in the collapse of thesame.”

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