Voice of South Asian Community Since March 2002 Page...

1Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019

Voice of South Asian Community Since March 2002

Vol. 15 Issue 4 4 Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 $1 w w w . t h e s o u t h a s i a n insider. com t h e s o u t h a s i a n i n s i d e r @ g m a i l . c o m

Business, Liability,Disability, Workers

Comp., E & O,Auto, Home

InsuranceCall : 917-612-3158,

516 246 9022(See Full Page Advt. on Page 32)

Fugitivediamantaire Nirav

Modi denied bailagain by London

Court

Page 18

Past Govts Used DefenceDeals as Their ATMs :PM Modi in Interview

Page 19

New York Sues Sackler Family Members and Drug Distributors

AG says Sackler family, PurduePharma behind the drug crisis

(Insider Bureau) - As investigatorsclosed in on Purdue Pharma, themaker of the opioid painkillerOxyContin, more than a decadeago, members of the family thatowns the company began shifting

hundreds of millions of dollarsfrom the business tothemselves through offshoreentities, the state of New Yorkalleged in a lawsuit onThursday.

The legal complaint, released at Continued on Page 19

US, China in bitter showdown at UNover sanctions on Masood Azhar

Page 19

Flint water crisis shows thedanger of a scientific dark age

(Insider Bureau) - After comedian Michelle Wolfended her monologue at the 2018 White HouseCorrespondents' Dinner with the resounding micdrop: "Flint still doesn't have clean water," a paradeof celebrities,including AlyssaMilano, SusanSarandon, MichaelMoore andO m a r o s aManigault, sharedsimilar proclamations. Yet in our work alongsiderelief agencies over the last three years, we canattest that Flint's water system has been one ofthe most talked about, monitored and scrutinizedin the world. In fact, after switching back to therelatively pure Lake Huron source water andcommitting over $100 million of engineeringinterventions, Flint water has met all federal watersafety standards for regulated contaminants --including those for lead -- since January 2017.

Continued on Page 19

"No talks on Kartarpur Corridoruntil Pakistan clears issues"

India conveys concerns to Pakistan over presenceof Khalistani separatists on Kartarpur panel

Page 18

2Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 COMMUNITY

Sushmita Sen Honored by Dilip Chauhan ,former Nassau County Deputy Comptroller

New York's Nassau County HonoredFormer Miss Universe Sushmita Sen

with Citation presented by FormerDeputy Comptroller Dilip Chauhan

(By a staff reporter) New York - Inan exclusive ceremony held atLeonard's Palazzo on Long Island,Miss Universe Sushmita Sen wasrecently honored by Former DeputyComptroller Dilip Chauhan. Eventwas held to honor severalaccomplished women from differentwalks of l i fe by Former MissUniverse Sushmita. Nassau CountyLegislator Joshua Lafazanrecognized individuals withCitations, which were presented byDilip Chauhan. "It's such a greathonor and privilege to welcome andhonor a Former Miss Universe", Dilipsaid, while Presenting Citations.

Former Officers and Employees of Indiana Loan Packager and Servicer Charged $10 Million Scheme to Defraud the SBA(By a staff reporter)-Five former officers andemployees of an Indianaloan packaging andservicing company werecharged for their allegedroles in a 13-year-longconspiracy to defraud theSmall BusinessAdministration (SBA) inconnection with i tsprograms to guaranteeloans made to smallbusinesses.Kerri Agee, aka KerriAgee-Smith, 43, ofNoblesvi l le, Indiana,former president, chiefexecutive off icer and

founder of Banc-ServPartners LLP (Banc-Serv);Kel ly Isley, 38, ofWestfield, Indiana, Banc-Serv’s former chiefoperating officer; MatthewSmith, 50, of Westfield,Indiana, Banc-Serv’s co-founder; Chad Griffin, 46,of Carmel, Indiana, Banc-Serv’s former chiefmarketing officer; andNicole Smith, aka NicoleSmith-Kelso, 42, ofIndianapolis, Indiana, aformer Banc-Servemployee, were charged inan indictment unsealedtoday with one count of

conspiracy to commit wirefraud affecting a financialinstitution and one countof conspiracy to makefalse statements in loan-guarantee applicationsand purchase requests.Additionally, Agee wascharged with four countsof wire fraud and sevencounts of making falsestatements in loan-guarantee applicationsand purchase requests;Isley was charged withthree counts of wire fraudand four counts of makingfalse statements in loan-guarantee applications

and purchase requests;Griffin was charged withone count of making falsestatements in loan-guarantee applicationsand purchase requests;and Nicole Smith wascharged with three countsof wire fraud and four

counts of making falses ta temen ts i n l oan -guarantee applicationsand pu rchaserequests.The indictmentfu r the r a l l eges tha twhen a f raudu len t l yguaran teed loande fau l ted , t he

de fendan ts causedo the r Banc -Servemployees to transmitrequests to the SBA topurchase the defaultedloans from investors andlending institutions, therebyshifting losses on theineligible loans to the SBA.

Trump a big winner & Russia a bigger loser

(By Ravi Batra)-The RobertMueller Report, from auniquely leak-proofinvestigation, was a hugewin for President Trump,and a huge loss for RussianPresident Putin. PresidentTrump flexed hisconstitutional muscles,presidential pardons, firingMueller by firing DAG RodRosenstein or AG Jeff

Sessions, and by evadingsitting for his legallyrequired-deposition, itself aHobson’s Choice of crimesfor him of either Perjury orConspiracy, won for himselfa non-exoneration, which isneither perjury orconspiracy, but a “cloud ofdoubt” for Democrats and a“winner’s crown” forRepublicans from a “witch

hunt.” As for Russia, whotook her victory lap in theOval Office the morningafter Comey’s obstructive-firing in the person of FMSergey Lavrov and personanon grata AmbassadorSergey Kislyak, she will bepunished very hard.Ironically, had Americansbeen charged withconspiring with Russians,the punishment to Russiawould be less - as had theWalls of Troy beenbreached, new bigger, tallerand stronger walls wouldbe built. But if Troy fell dueto a Trojan Horse, onlybetter & more guards wouldbe needed. Now, PresidentPutin will get the full

punishment of daring to“meddle so well,” andRussia will get 100% of thepunishment as if she did itwithout help fromtreasonous “BenedictArnolds.” Presidential-

history will judge PresidentTrump a big winner in hisface off with American ruleof law, which was itselfpersonified by RobertMueller and his team, thefinest example of integrity-

soaked investigativeprosecutors. Richard Nixonwould be jealous and takingnotes. As for 2020, anyonewho rules out a Trumpsecond term, needs atherapist.”

3Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 COMMUNITY

USCIS sought additional info for 60% H-1B applications last quarter (By a staff reporter) Datareleased recently by the USCitizenship and ImmigrationServices (USCIS) reflects agreater scrutiny of H-1Bapplications, with an increase inrequests for evidence (RFEs).Data for the first quarter of USfiscal 2019 (that is, three monthsended December 2018) showsthat 60% of all completed H-1Bcases had been issued RFEs.This is significant, consideringthat only 38% of all completedH-1B applications received RFEsduring fiscal 2018 (12-monthperiod ended September 30,2018) and 21% in the previousfiscal.By issuing an RFE, the agencyseeks additional evidence beforeit adjudicates an H-1Bapplication. If the evidencesubmitted, say to prove that the

job is a speciality occupation,does not satisfy USCIS officials,the application is rejected. RFEscast an additional burden onsponsoring companies, in termsof time and cost.In numerical terms, nearly60,000-odd RFEs were sentduring the first quarter of fiscal2019 as opposed to 1.50 lakhduring fiscal 2018 and 86,000 oddin fiscal 2017.The IT sector dominated the top30 employers that had sponsoredH-1B applications for both 'initial'(new applications) and 'continuedapprovals' (visa extensions). Mostimpacted by the additionalscrutiny were IT consultancycompanies (including thoseheadquartered in India), which sawa higher denial rate, especially for'initial' H-1B applications. The win-rate for continued visas was

comparatively better. The denialrates for initial visa applicationsfor Capgemini was 80%. It was61% for Cognizant, which wasthe top employer. It rangedbetween 20% and 40% for firmsheadquartered India. USheadquartered non-consultancyfirms such as Amazon,Microsoft, Intel, Google,Facebook and Apple, saw adenial rate of only around 1% fornew visa applications. Totalapproval rate for these USfirms (including for continuedemployment) was 98-99%.USCIS denied 54% of thein i t ia l H-1B pet i t ions forInfosys while for Mindtree thedenial rate was 40%. It was23% for Wipro and the L&Tgroup combined. TCS, thesecond largest employer of H-1Bworkers, fared better with a denial

rate of 22%. The top three reasonsfor denials of H-1B applications,according to USCIS, areinabi l i ty by the sponsor ingemployer to establ ish thatthe posi t ion is a specia l i ty

o c c u p a t i o n , i n a b i l i t y t osubstantiate a valid employer-employee relationship and lack ofevidence of specific assignmentat third party sites for the entirevisa duration requested.

WH receives proposed regulation to end work authorisation for spouses of H1B visa holders(By a staff reporter)-The WhiteHouse has formally received theproposed changes in the existingregulations to end the workauthorisation for spouses of theholders of H-1B visas, the mostsought-after among Indian ITprofessionals.The move thatwould impact over 90,000spouses of H-1B visa holders, anoverwhelming number of whomare Indians, was sent by theDepartment of HomelandSecurity to the White HouseOffice of management for Budgeton Wednesday, officials said. The H-1B visa, most sought-after among Indian ITprofessionals, is a non-immigrantvisa that allows US companies

to employ foreign workers inspeciality occupations thatrequire theoretical or technicalexpertise. The technologycompanies depend on it to hiretens of thousands of employeeseach year from countries likeIndia and China. It's now for theWhite House to take a final callon it, before a formal regulationcould be issued and theDepartment of HomelandSecurity can inform a federalcourt, where a lawsuit on thisissue is pending. Now WhiteHouse would carry out its reviewof the proposed regulation, takeinputs from various agencies,before taking a final call. Theentire process could take from a

few weeks to several months.US Citizenship and ImmigrationServices (USCIS) whichmanages the programme saidthe proposed regulation was notfinal until the review andcomment process wascomplete. USCIS is "reviewingall employment-based visaprograms, including H-4 EADs.No decision about the regulationconcerning the employmenteligibility of certain H-4 spousesis final until the rulemakingprocess is complete," USCISspokesperson Jessica Collins As per the existing process,once White House gives its nod,the regulation would be publishedin federal register with a 30-day

comment period. It is only after that thenew changes can comeinto effect. The Trumpadministration is movingahead with its proposedregulation, despite strongresistance from a group ofUS lawmakers includingSenator Kamala Harris,and Silicon Valleycompanies who argue thatthis is not only anti-women, butalso prevents talented spouses ofH-1B visa holders from workingin the United States. Meanwhile,the US Court of Appeals, Districtof Columbia has extended thetime for various stakeholders,including the Department of

Homeland Security to submit itsresponses on the lawsuit againstit filed by the organisation SaveJobs USA. In September, SaveJobs USA which had filed thelawsuit urged the court to removethe abeyance and move forwardwith the case.

Mississippi Man Pleads Guilty to Health Care Fraud, Money Laundering and TaxEvasion Charges for Role in $200 Million Compounding Pharmacy Scheme

(By a staff reporter)-A Hattiesburg,Mississippi man pleaded guiltytoday for his role in a $200 millioncompounding pharmacy schemeto defraud health care benefitprograms, including TRICARE,which is the program that coversU.S. military service membersand their families.AssistantAttorney General Brian A.Benczkowski of the JusticeDepartment’s Criminal Division;U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst of theSouthern District of Mississippi;Special Agent in ChargeChristopher Freeze of the FBI’sJackson, Mississippi Field Office;Special Agent in Charge ThomasJ. Holloman III of IRS Criminal

Investigation’s (IRS-CI) AtlantaField Office and Special Agent inCharge John F. Khin of theDefense Criminal InvestigativeService’s (DCIS) Southeast FieldOffice made the announcement.Glenn Doyle Beach Jr., 46,pleaded guilty to one count ofconspiracy to commit health carefraud and one count of conspiracyto commit money laundering andtax evasion, before U.S. DistrictJudge Keith Starrett of theSouthern District of Mississippi.Beach was charged in May 2018in a 26-count indictment and hadbeen scheduled to begin trialtoday. He is scheduled to besentenced on July 2, 2019.

“Glenn Doyle Beach and his co-conspirators stole hundreds ofmillions of dollars from federalhealth care programs, includingTRICARE, which providesbenefits to brave members of ourmilitary and their families,” saidAssistant Attorney GeneralBenczkowski. “The CriminalDivision remains dedicated torooting out and punishing thiskind of misconduct, and toprotecting America’s importanthealth care programs from fraudand abuse.”“While our men andwomen in uniform were defendingthe freedoms and values we holddear, this defendant was selfishlystealing precious money and

resources from their militaryhealthcare system, TRICARE, tothe detriment of us all,” said U.S.Attorney Hurst. “Our investigatorsand prosecutors are to becommended for their steelyresolve in rooting out corruptionand administering justice for victims.We will not stop until every lastperson involved in this criminalscheme has been brought tojustice.”“Fraud schemes of thismagnitude disrupt the fabric of ourhealth care system, ultimatelydamaging our nation's economyand costing taxpayers billionseach year,” said FBI SpecialAgent in Charge Freeze. “Today'sguilty plea brings this case one

step closer to justice and provesthat the collective resources of allpartnering agencies will continueto expose these schemes andwill actively seek justice for thosewho participate in them."Beachwas an owner and the managingmember of Advantage Pharmacyof Hattiesburg. At the hearingtoday, Beach admitted his rolein a scheme to defraud healthcare benefit programs, includingTRICARE, by marketingmedications known ascompounded medications, whichordinarily are medications thatare specially combined orformulated to meet the individualneeds of patients.

4Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 ADVERTISEMENT


6Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 EDITORIAL

Disclaimer The South Asian Insider is a weekly newspaper published every week by The South Asian Insider. It's available incommunity & religious centers, ethnic grocery stores and also available by mail, email & online to subscribers. The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints

expressed by the various writers, authors and forum participants in The South Asian Insider do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpointsof the Editor. All advertisers advertising in The South Asian Insider assume responsibility for accuracy of their advertisements. The South Asian Insider

and/or people associated with it are not responsible for any claims made by the advertisers and don't endorse any product or services advertised in The South AsianInsider. We strongly urge consulting your lawyer before buying/contracting /hiring through the ads published in the newspaper. We are in the business of selling space

and claims made by the advertisers are not authenticated or confirmed by an independent source

REGD & MAILING OFFICE :

P.O Box 7005 Hicksville New York 11801

Phone: 917 612 3158 TelFax : 516 342 [email protected], [email protected]

www.thesouthasianinsider.com

ISSN No. 1554 06X

Editor in Chief & Publisher :Sharanjit Singh Thind

Editor (Political Affairs-India) :Aruna Singh

Chief Photographer : Vijay Shah

Photographers: Hamad

Editorial Intern: Roubin Singh Thind

Special Correspondent :

Gagandeep Singh (INDIA)

Web Coordinator : Harpreet Singh

A Publication of Media Partners Capital, Inc.

Being the anti-Trump isn't enoughfor Democratic candidates

Jacinda Ardern's solidarity with Muslimsshould be the norm, not the exception

In the aftermath of the 2015Charlie Hebdo terror attack which left 12dead, world leaders flocked to the streetsof Paris and partook in an iconic unitymarch to condemn the terrorist attack.Contrast this with the aftermath of theChristchurch mosques massacre justover a week ago, in which an allegedAustralian white supremacist brutallygunned down 50 Muslims during prayer.In the wake of these senseless killings,a global gathering of world leaders did notoccur in the streets of Christchurch. Buta march of another, relatively largermagnitude did occur -- and it was led byone woman. New Zealand's Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern quickly became a symbolof solidarity with the slain Muslims ofChristchurch.

The nation's 38-year-old PrimeMinister showed up for her people, for thevictims and for their families in ways otherleaders simply have not for their respectiveMuslim communities. The admirablestances she took on behalf of the NewZealand Muslim community there haveraised the bar for what principledleadership should look like today. Andthey have begun to change the globalnarrative of animus toward Islam andMuslims. Ardern's firm and unequivocalcondemnation of the terrorist nature of theattack stands in stark contrast with thenarrative of those -- such as US PresidentDonald Trump and Indian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi who, in the past, haveappeared to base part of their politicalplatforms on incit ing anti-Muslimsentiment and associating Islam withterrorism.

A member of the progressiveLabour Party, Ardern decided to act fastand stand with the victims' families adecision which drew widespread globalattention and won the respect andadmiration of Muslims. Sharing on Twitterthe now-iconic photo of a somber Ardernin a black headscarf, which she donnedthe day after the attack as a sign ofrespect to Muslims, Bernice King,daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., wrotethat Ardern "reflects the type of sincere,people-oriented leadership that the worldneeds to evolve from its current chaotics ta te. " Indeed, Ardern 's s tancesrepresent a far cry from the divisivetune o f r igh t -w ing na t iona l i s tincitement against Islam and Muslimsthat has become all too normalized ing loba l po l i t i ca l d iscourse today.Meanwhile, in the days since theshooting, Ardern has announced theban of all military-style semi-automaticweapons and assault rifles in NewZealand and visi ted Christchurchtwice. In a parliamentary speech, shedeclared that she will not dignify theterrorist by ever mentioning his name, so

as not to give in to his pitiful andevident thirst for publicity. Setting auniting tone of anger, grief andsolidarity for all of New Zealand, sheimplored her countrymen and womento "speak the names of those whowere lost rather than the name of theman who took them." Some might sayit is easy to exhibit unifying andhumanistic leadership in the aftershockof such a ghastly attack, especially ina peaceful country like New Zealand.One can easily criticize the pre-existing climate of microaggressionand Islamophobia in New Zealand andAustralia and ask what Ardern haddone for the Muslim community beforethe attacks happened. Others haverightly questioned New Zealand'smil i tary presence in Iraq andAfghanistan. These valid criticismsdemand serious introspection andaction on the part of Westernpoliticians. And although Ardern'sleadership has just set a new bar for amore compassionate, responsible andinclusive response to instances whenMuslims are the primary victims ofmass violence, it still falls short. Sucha narrative must also seriously askwhat role the "War on Terror"-- whichhas killed approximately half a millionpeople in Afghanistan, Iraq andPakistan -- plays in the escalation ofhate crimes, such as the Christchurchattack. Arden should use this momentto crit ique the ongoing mil i taryinvolvement by Western powers inMuslim-majority countries. Ideally,Ardern's empathy would not beconsidered unique or novel, but amidthe highly divisive, "strong-manrhetoric" so ubiquitous in world politicstoday, her stance is powerful andpotentially game-changing.

She even told Trump (who theterrorist reportedly mentioned in hismanifesto) that the best way the UScould support New Zealanders duringthis diff icult t ime is by offering"sympathy and love for all Muslimcommunities."

This recommendation speaksvolumes: her discourse on solidaritywith Muslims possesses the powerto ex tend i t se l f beyondChristchurch to reach vulnerableMuslim communities in places likethe USA, Europe, India, Myanmarand China. On Friday, during thefirst weekly congregational prayers ince the at tack, Arden jo inedmourners for a two-minute silencefo r the s la in a f te r a na t iona lbroadcast of the athan (the call toprayer), when she cited a movinghadith (saying) by the ProphetMuhammad.

President Richard Nixon, in themiddle of the Watergate scandal,famously said, "People have got toknow whether or not their President isa crook." In the case of Donald Trump,America has already weighed in on thatissue. According to a recent Quinnipiacpoll, "64% of voters said Trump hadcommitted crimes before enteringoffice." This is particularly astounding,given how difficult it is, in ourhyperpartisan nation, to get nearly two-thirds of voters to agree on anything!(For the record, Trump denies anywrongdoing.) And sure, it would betempting for the 2020 Democraticpresidential candidates to capitalize onthis, and make Trump's past actions(and tweets) their No. 1 issue duringthe Democratic primary contest. Butthey shouldn't. By now, American votersare very familiar with who Trump is.There's a reason why Trump has thehighest disapproval rating of any modernpresident: almost 53%. Even JimmyCarter, who lost re-election, only had a39.3% disapproval rating at this point.Trump is flawed, but it's not enough forDemocratic pres idential candidates topoint at that. What voters need to hearfrom them is how they'll be differentfrom him -- where do they stand on thecritical issues facing our country? Andthis is precisely where the candidatesshould focus their time, both in theprimary and in the general election. Inshort, they need to give voters a reasonto come out and vote for them. Forexample: Exit polls from November'smidterm election found nearly 70% ofvoters said they "want major changes"

to our nation's health care system. Andin the days before Trump's February 5,2019, State of the Union, the top issuethat voters wanted to hear Trumpaddress was how he would improve ourhealth care system. he good news forDemocrats is that polls find thatAmericans view the Democratic Party asmore likely to fix health care. In one 2018midterm exit poll that askedrespondents which party will betteraddress coverage for pre-existingconditions, 58% named Democrats;34% cited the Republican Party. And aNovember 2018 Gallup Poll found only36% of Americans approved of howTrump was handling health care policy.If Democratic candidates can offerconcrete solutions to pre-existingconditions, rising deductibles andsoaring prescription drug costs, they willlikely find they have a receptive audience.Beyond Trump's failure to deliver onhealth care, there's also his signatureissue of immigration. A recent CNN pollfound Trump's approval on immigrationat only 39% -- while 58% gave him athumbs down. That means Trump'sfearmongering about immigrants and hisobsession with a wall that he failed toget Mexico to pay for are not playing wellwith the American public. Democrats canturn this issue against Trump by offeringa vision of immigration reform that isconsistent with American values ofcompassion and diversity -- a starkcontrast to Trump's.The same goes forforeign affairs. According to that sameCNN poll, only 40% of Americans approveof Trump's handling of foreign policy,while 54% disapprove.

7Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 OP-ED

Opportunism will hurt democracyIndia has beenindependent for 70 yearsnow, and its story isunder scrutiny now morethan ever. Some feel thatthe years have beenwasted, others think thatthey have beenproductive.The idea of Indiamentioned by JawaharlalNehru while giving shapeto India's independencewas eclipsed the momentit came into being. Thereason? No matter howsentimental people areabout the concept ofnationalism, when itcomes to voting, theyalways put their culturalidentity first. Therefore,our elections havebecome dependent oncastes, communities,languages, dialects andregions. If you look at theactivities surrounding the

elections for the 17th LokSabha, all the electoralequations are based onthese very fundamentalelements. For example,Omprakash Rajbhar doesnot have much base in hisstate's politics. He is aleader of a communitywhich has influence in aparticular area of easternUttar Pradesh. He is aminister in the Yogigovernment cabinet andoften expresses hisdisagreement with thepolicies of the BJP thuscreating a problem and attimes challenges theimage of the government.Despite this, hesucceeded in securinggovernment posts andfacilities for many of themembers of his party priorto the elections.In the same manner,Anupriya Patel enjoyed

power during the Modiregime. But as electionsdrew nearer she alsostarted throwing tantrums.As a result, shesucceeded in getting twoseats instead of one. Notonly this, the BJP gave theJD(U) and LJP seats asthey asked and had tosacrifice five seats in whichthe party was sure ofvictory. The same storywas repeated inMaharashtra. UddhavThackeray never lost anopportunity to humiliate theBJP government in the lastfive years but he was alsogiven the seats he wanted.Of course, the saffron partyhas no special affection forNitish Kumar, UddhavThackeray or Ram VilasPaswan. The underliningfact is that the BJP wantsto win as many seats as itcan and it does not want

to take any risks.The Congress was alsomaking the same effortsbut it had to work muchharder in this regard. Itfaced no problem in TamilNadu and Maharashtra butthe Congress is now forcedto contest alone in UttarPradesh, a state whichwas once its stronghold.Not only this, in Bihar tooit had to face the tantrumsof the Rashtriya JanataDal's Tejashwi Yadav. TheCongress wanted tocontest on 11 seats whileTejashwi was ready to giveat the most eight seats.Not just that, he wasleaving only thoseconstituencies which,going by the socialequations, were not goingto prove beneficial for theUPA. Finally, they reachedan understanding.It 'sneedless to point out how

politically significant Delhi,Uttar Pradesh and Biharare. Out of the total of 543Lok Sabha seats, thesestates have 25%, that is127 seats. Out of them, theBJP and its allies occupy111 seats.It was anopportunity for theCongress and its allies.They could reap the benefitof anti-incumbency of thegovernments at the Centreand the states. But thedelay in striking allianceshas made their task moredifficult. Contestingelections alone in UttarPradesh may bear fruit inthe long run, but will theCongress be able to

compensate for UP-Biharin the nine states whereit is in a direct fightagainst the BJP? Why dothe national parties seemso helpless? Theregional parties andpersonalities have givengreat importance toregional or caste-basedaspirations that thenational parties arecompelled to strike acompromise with them.The BJP is contestingthe elections in the nameof Narendra Modi whilethe Congress wants tomove ahead under thepatronage of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Representation is fine, but the idea of democracyshouldn't meet the same fate as the idea of India.

The SC's Ayodhya mediation offer is pragmatic and wise

The sight oflawyers in black and whiterobes arguing about civilprocedure before judgesseated on a pedestal, whilethe hapless litigant strainsher ears to understand howher legal claim is beingdecided, has always beena curious advertisement forthe rule of law in India. Onethe one hand, it holds thepromise of applying neutralrules. But so alien is thelanguage of rules and sobefuddling the legalprocedures for the commonperson, that theauthenticity of a litigation-based rule of law hasalways remained suspect.The order of the SupremeCourt sending the Ayodhyadispute to mediation isrepresentative of thiscultural hesitation regardingthe rule of law. Equallytellingly, it is recognition ofthe salient fact that there

exist alternate approachesto adversarial litigation asa means of securingjustice.In substance, though notin form, the order isstrikingly similar to thefinal judgment in the titlesuit in the Allahabad HighCourt. There, Hindu groups- those on behalf of RamLalla and the NirmohiAkhada - asked for adeclaration of title andpossession of thedisputed property wherethe Babri Masjid stood.This was contested by theSunni Waqf Board andother Muslim groups. TheAllahabad High Court heldthat the disputed propertyshould be divided threeways - one each to therepresentative Hindu andMuslim groups, and one tothe Nirmohi Akhada, whichhad traditionally beenresponsible for a part of

the disputed property.This was panchayati justicedisguised as theapplication of legal rules. Tobe fair to the judges, fromthe evidence adduced, itcould scarcely be statedwith certainty that theproperty definitivelybelonged to one group orthe other. This is becausethe basis of the legal claimwas political all the waydown - it required a look notonly at archaeologicalevidence and documentedhistories (which are politicalin their own way) but alsobeliefs (whether indeedRam was born at thespecific spot where themosque stood), which arenot designed to be testedin a court of law. Add to thisthe protracted timelines,and it is difficult to come toa conclusive resultregarding who exclusivelyowned the disputed

property, without making apolitical judgment. This isneither helpful for resolvingthe dispute nor forbolstering the legitimacy ofa judicial process that ismeant to be apolitical.What transpired in the highcourt was a mediatedsettlement minus thehealing that emanates fromhonest conversations in aformal mediation process.The Supreme Court'smediation order builds onthis lived judicial history. Itis both pragmatic,recognising the limitationsof the judicial process, andwise, in attempting tosecure its own legitimacy.It is, however, unfortunatethat the same extent ofpragmatism did not extendto the time period providedfor mediation and choice ofmediators. Setting a harddeadline of eight weeksgives rise to the impression

of mediation as a stopgapsolution. This has given riseto all kinds of idle, butpowerful, speculation ofwhom the judgmentpolitically benefits. Givingthe mediators a longerperiod to attempt to healthe wounds and find amutually workableresolution would have giventhe process more of afighting chance of success.This is linked to the criteriaused for selectingmediators. Apparent fromthe choices made is the factthat the Supreme Courtdesired credibility, identityand mediation acumen. Allthree criteria are critical if

the mediation is to beconducted professionallyand its results widelyaccepted. But a fourthcriterion is equally key:impartiality. By selectingSri Sri Ravi Shankar whosatisfies theaforementioned threecriteria, but has publiclystated that Muslims shouldgive up their claims onAyodhya "as a goodwillgesture", impartialityappears to becompromised. This has thepotential to alienate not onlyMuslims, but also Hindus, ifthe outcome of the mediationis something that they do notsubstantively agree with.

The apex court recognises the limitations of the judicialprocess, and attempts to secure its own legitimacy.

8Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 OPINION

Who speaks for Muslims in Lok Sabha? The answer is quite trickyMuslims are

witnessing two contradictorytrends in Indian democracy.Between 2001 and 2011, theshare of Muslim population inIndia increased from 13.4% to14.2%. This rise in share,however, has not led to a risein share of Muslim membersof Parliament (MPs) in LokSabha. In fact, the 2014 LokSabha had the lowest share ofMuslim MPs in India. One ofthe biggest reasons for this wasthat the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP), which got a majority inthe 2014 elections, gave lessthan 2% of its tickets toMuslim candidates, and noneof them were elected.Should this be a matter ofconcern? The answer to thisquestion depends on whetherpolitical representation for a

community is necessary forvoicing its concerns in thelegislature. One useful way tomeasure this is to look at thequestions MPs ask aboutMuslims in India.Using natural languageprocessing algorithms, we wereable to extract and analyse morethan 1,800 questions aboutMuslims raised in the QuestionHour in the last 20 years.Muslim MPs have had a greaterrelative share in questions askedabout Muslims in Lok Sabha.This means that the share ofquestions asked by them ismuch larger than their share ofseats in the House. They alsoseem to ask different kinds ofquestions compared to non-Muslim MPs. And there arecertain issues, such as concernsregarding Muslim women, which

are ignored by both Muslim andnon-Muslim MPs.Our analysis picked up 1,875unique instances of questionsraised about Muslims between1999 and 2017. Muslim and non-Muslim MPs had a share of 22%and 78% in these questions.When seen with the fact thatMuslim MPs did not make upmore than 6% of Lok Sabha atany period, it shows that MuslimMPs have a larger relative sharein questions concerning Muslimsin the House.Among issues concerningMuslims, questions about Hajhad the biggest share, whileviolence against Muslims andwelfare of Muslim prisoners hadthe smallest share in thesequestions. The most skewedMuslim versus non-Muslimdivision can be seen in questions

on Islamic terrorism, where non-Muslim MPs asked 97% of suchquestions. Non-Muslim MPsalso had a larger share inquestions about Haj.Does the fact that Muslim MPshave a bigger share in questionsabout Muslim issues mean thatthey only raise issues of theirown community in the LokSabha? Data suggestsotherwise. Only 2% of allquestions raised by Muslim MPsin the Lok Sabha are aboutMuslim issues. This figure was0.3% for non-Muslim MPs.To be sure, there is a differencebetween asking questions on anissue concerning Muslims anddoing justice to the concerns ofthe community on that issue. Thebest example of this iseducation. Our analysis showsthat 44% of the questions asked

by MPs in the Lok Sabharegarding Muslim educationwere focused on madrasas.This, when seen with the factthat barely 4% of Muslimstudents are enrolled inMadrasas (National Council forApplied Economic Research,2005), suggests thatinterventions by MPs might notbe highlighting the relevantissues for the community.On the other hand, there areissues that, despite having awidespread currency amongMuslims, are not givenadequate attention by MPs. Forexample, a 2017 Gallup surveyfound that more than 85% ofIndian Muslims support equalaccess for both genders ineducation, and think thatwomen should be able to holda job outside of the house.

The mismatches in Indian politicsIndia has a parliamentarysystem. But there is amismatch between the roledefined for the parliamentarianand the expectations of thepeople. The constitutionalscheme holds that Members ofParliament (MPs) essentiallyhave to frame laws: people onthe ground expect MPs to solvetheir daily problems, intervenein essentially municipal anddistrict level issues, and improvetheir lives. There is a secondmismatch. When the voter goesout to press the button, he isexpected to elect only his localrepresentative - admittedly onthe party platform he represents.But in reality, since the

The bankruptcy code should have been invoked Does India need two state-owned airlines?There's only one answer

to that question. It's a one-wordanswer, a word that begins withN and ends with O and hasnothing in between.Yet, pushed by the government -whatever be its reasons - India'sState-owned banks have tradedroughly Rs 8,500 crorein debt fora majority stake in Jet Airways.It 's small consolation thatchairman Naresh Goyal, whooversaw the airline's descent intoa fiscal mire, and his wife havestepped down from the board(although Goyal and his familyand associates will still own 25%of the stock).Lenders led by India's largest

bank, the State-owned StateBank of India, now own 50.1% ofthe airline and are in the processof putting together a committeeor team to run it. This is agovernment that started off in2014 with the aim of selling theState-owned Air India and which,a few years ago, actually madea concerted attempt to do so(there were no takers). Thelogic behind the move wasst ra ight forward: Thegovernment has no businessrunning an air l ine. By thesame logic, it has no businessrunning two.This is a retrograde step,s imply because there is

already a mechanism to dealwith a case like Jet's. This is amechanism put in place by thisvery government - the Insolvencyand Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Anyresolution of the crisis at Jetshould have happened throughthis. It may have involved achange of ownership througha sale; or it could have eveninvolved a break-up of theair l ine and the sale of i tsassets. The code has enoughin it to protect the interests ofeveryone - suppl iers andvendors, lessors, lenders,even employees. To be sure, thecode needs some fine-tuning butthis is something that will only

happen when it actually startsdealing with specific cases, andJet's is a textbook sample of thekind of case where the IBCshould have been invoked.

Instead, the government, throughState-owned banks, is doingwhat it has done many times inthe past: throwing good moneyafter bad.

legislature and executive areconjoined in India, the voter is notjust electing his MP but also hisPrime Minister. This divergence- of an MP's role andexpectations from him; of anelection which is local but turnsincreasingly national - has madethe role of parliamentarians verydifferent in India's system.It is in this larger backdrop thatwe should assess the selectionof candidates, so far, by differentparties. A caveat- Congress hasreleased six lists, the BJP hasnamed 184 candidates, butmany more are yet to bedeclared. But initial trends giveus a glimpse into a pattern. TheCongress is playing on the front

foot, as Rahul Gandhi said itwould, in battleground states likeUP. In the seats where it is inthe reckoning, the party is puttingup strong candidates - even ifthese candidates hurt theprospects of the SamajwadiParty-Bahujan Samaj Partyalliance. At the same time, whilethe Congress left many alliancestill too late, the fact is it hasstitched up multiple alliances instates like Maharashtra,Karnataka, Tamil Nadu andBihar. This has meant that it willcontest on fewer seats than it didin the past in many pockets. Butin all cases, the local candidateis essential in the Congressscheme of things since they

hope local arithmetic will overturnNarendra Modi's nationalcampaign.But the BJP's list is even moretelling. In a state like UP, wherethe party suffers from triple anti-incumbency - since it is in powerat the centre, has the stategovernment, and has both theMP and mostly the MLAs anyconstituency - it has chosen torepeat the majority of itsincumbents. This is always a finebalancing act for parties. Do youdrop MPs and hope antiincumbency fades, or do yourepeat incumbents, bank on hishome and prevent a possiblerebellion? While adopting thelatter in key states like UP, the

BJP seems to have adopted theformer strategy - of changingcandidates - in states likeChhattisgarh where it isconfronting a major challenge.This can be traced to the factthat in major states, the BJPhopes that the Modi campaignwill push through localincumbents, but in someregions, it needs strong localfaces.What is common to bothparties so far however is the lackof gender diversity, and the factthat women constitute less than15% of the list. This is even moreincongruous when NaveenPatnaik has given 33% andMamata Banerjee, 40% of theirparties' tickets to women.

9Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 INDIA

( Agencies) -Actress JayaPrada joined the BJP onTuesday, fuelling speculationsthat the party may field heragainst Samajwadi Party veteranAzam Khan in Rampur, westernUttar Pradesh.Jaya Prada and Azam Khan arearch-rivals and have fought eachother bitterly during their stint inthe Samajwadi Party.Jaya Prada said she was joiningthe BJP as she was impressedwith the work of Prime Minister

Jaya Prada, actor-turned-politician, joins BJP

Narendra Modi. She said joiningthe BJP was a key moment inher life.She began her career with theTelugu Desam Party in 1994 andwas a member of the RajyaSabha from Andhra Pradesh.She crossed over to theSamajwadi Party after falling outwith TDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu.A close confidant of thenSamajwadi Party leader AmarSingh, Jaya Prada successfully

Sushma Swaraj demands justice for PakHindu girls forced to convert, marryLok Sabha Elections 2019

contested the 2004 and 2009parliamentary elections fromRampur.She was expelled from theSamajwadi Party in 2010 forthrowing her weight behind AmarSingh in a fight between him andthe party leadership. They floateda regional party and contestedthe 2012 assembly electionwithout much success.JayaPrada joined the Rashtriya LokDal and fought the 2014 electionfrom Bijnor. She stood fourth.

( Agencies)- External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj onTuesday demanded that thetwo Pakistani Hindu girls, whowere a l legedly abducted,forcibly converted to Islam andmarried to Muslim men shouldbe reunited with their families.Both the girls are minor."Forced conversion of Hindugirls in Pakistan: The age ofthe g i r ls is not d isputed.Raveena is only 13 and Reenais 15 years old. Even thePr ime Min is ter on NayaPakistan will not believe thatgirls of this tender age canvoluntarily decide about theirconversion to another religionand marriage," Swaraj tweetedtaking a dig at Pakistan PrimeMin is ter Imran Khan 'scatchphrase to assert "newthinking" in his governmentKhan has referred to 'NayaPak is tan ' in h is pub l icspeeches after coming topower in las t year 'sparliamentary elections. Khanhas also ordered probe intothe incident.Swara j sa id , "Just icedemands that both these girls

should be restored to theirfamily immediately."Meanwhi le , in Pak is tan,Islamabad High Court orderedthe government to ensureprotection to the minor girlsand take over their custody.The two underage girls aresisters from Ghotki in Sindh.They were allegedly forciblyconver ted f rom Hinduismand married to Muslim menon the eve of Holi.The incident came to publicknowledge after the fatherand brother of the minor girlspos ted v i deos on soc ia lmedia giving details of thecase. Civil society activists inPak is tan s taged protestsincluding one outside theKarach i Press Club onSunday.

For Congress's Rs 12k poll promise, fixinghousehold income could be big hurdle

Congress has set a minimum income guarantee line of Rs12,000, akin to a poverty line. The party also assumesthat any Indian household should meet this monthly

income threshold to escape poverty.

( Agencies)-The Congress'spromise of a minimum incomeguarantee, details of which wererevealed by the party on Monday,is the highest among somerecent estimates of how much thepoor could be given as incometransfer by the government andwhat it would cost.The party has set a minimumincome guarantee line of Rs12,000, akin to a poverty line.The party also assumes that anyIndian household should meet thismonthly income threshold toescape poverty.According to details available sofar, any deficit from the minimumincome line, depending on wherea household is placed on theincome-distribution ladder, will bemade good through an incometransfer.The programme promises thelowest quintile (or the poorest

20% households) a monthlyincome transfer of Rs 6,000,assuming this will pull them upto the level of at least Rs 12,000.According to party's calculations,the poorest 20% translates into250 million people or 50 millionhouseholds. Targeting thepoorest quintile will ensure nohousehold will have an incomebelow Rs 12,000, according to theparty's internal estimates.There are two broad officialestimates of poverty: the SureshTendulkar poverty line, in 2009,which was criticised for being settoo low at Rs 4,050 per householdper month in rural areas and Rs4,950 in urban areas. It wasreworked by the RangarajanCommittee in 2012. Neitherpoverty line, however, is now usedfor anti-poverty programmes.Rather, the government uses theSocio-Economic Caste Census

(SECC).The number of householdstargeted by the Congress closelyapproximates that of theRangarajan poverty estimates.According to the Rangarajanpanel, about 29.5% of Indianpopulation (or 269 million people)are below the poverty line, whichwas revised to Rs 4,800 a monthfor a household of five in ruralareas and Rs 7,050 a month fora household of five in urban areas.Experts say it will be difficult todetermine household incomes.Policymakers now usehousehold consumptionexpenses as a proxy for incomedata."Household income data atthe national level doesn't exist.Such data do exist at the statelevel compiled by state statisticalbureaus, which then have to becleaned up by Central StatisticsOffice," said economist Amitabh

Kundu. People tend to theirunderreport incomes, he said."Income data are available. Wedo have a sense of the incomedistribution. How do you thinkinequality figures are arrived at?There is the Centre for Monitoringof Indian Economy for instance.There is of course the SECC. Thatthere is no official income dataand therefore I can't embark on afinal mission to finish poverty isthe most ridiculous excuse," saidPraveen Chakravarty,chairperson of the Congress'sdata analytics department.Congress president Rahul Gandhihas claimed there is fiscal space

available for the programme. Yet,there will be considerable debateon this. The government'sspending and borrowings have tomeet limits set by the FiscalResponsibility and BudgetManagement Act, 2003The Union government slammedthe Congress promise as a pollgimmick. "Rahul Gandhi hastalked about minimum incomeguarantee. Was Surprised. Hehas remembered the poor now?His grandmother had called forbanishing poverty long ago. Wethought poverty was gone," Unionlaw minister Ravi ShankarPrasad told ANI.


Centre allocated most of mines to BJP-ruled states... wefeel cheated', says Chhattisgarh CM?Bhupesh Baghel

(Agencies)- 'The Congress,which won the 2018 Chhattisgarhassembly polls with a two-thirdsmajority, is now upbeat about itsprospects in the state in the LokSabha elections. In an interviewto Chetan Chauhan and RiteshMishra, CM Bhupesh Baghelspoke on the alleged corruptioncharges against former CMRaman Singh, the rise of Left-wing extremism and the state'spoor mining revenue. Editedexcerpts:You have constituted SITs toinvestigate the policies of theprevious government and theallegations against former CMRaman Singh. The BJP is sayingCongress is doing vendettapolitics.During [the 2018 assembly]elections, we raised PDS [publicdistribution system] and otherscams involving Raman Singh'sfamily and promised toinvestigate them. When we were

in the Opposition, we raisedquestions about the JheeramGhati case [in which several topCongress leaders were killed byMaoists in May 2013], andpromised to reinvestigate it. Weare fulfilling all promises anddoing more than that.In Chhattisgarh, Rahul Gandhiattacked Raman Singh morethan Modi. Does the Congressfeel that by attacking him, theprobability of winning the LSpolls in the state will increase?Rahul ji was initially attackingNarendra Modi on the Rafaledeal... We noticed that size ofModi's picture on the BJPhoardings in Chhattisgarhreduced and Raman Singhbecame the main face. This wasthe first indication that the Modifactor was not working, and theBJP thought Singh's image willsave them. It was then we askedRahuj ji to attack Singh and nosenior BJP leader defended him.

Rahul Gandhi made the farmsector a main electoral issue.What steps have you taken tofulfil your poll promises?We have waived farm loans ofabout two million farmers to thetune of Rs 11,000 crore ,withoutany upper limit. We haveincreased the paddy procurementrate to Rs 2,500 per quintal [fromRs 1,700 per quintal] , which isnow the highest in the country.We have returned the [4,200hectares] land acquired by theprevious BJP government to thetribals of Bastar. The rest of thepromises will be fulfilled after theLS polls.What is your strategy for tacklingMaoism?See, when Chhattisgarh wasformed [in 2000], the Maoistswere only in three blocks. In thepast 15 years of the BJP rule,they have spread to 14 districts.As more forces were deployed,the Maoists' number rose, clearly

showing that bullets-for-bullets isnot the right strategy. We shouldwork for the people living inMaoist areas and build trust withthem. My government will talkwith all stakeholders to build trustand find a solution to the Maoistissue. The presentcounteroffensive will continue tillwe prepare a new strategy.How do you plan to check illegalmining in the state?We will take strict action againstthe illegal coal mining in the state.As far as illegal sand mining isconcerned, we are making newrules and illegal sand mining willbe checked.

In an interview, CM Bhupesh Baghel spoke on the alleged corruptioncharges against former CM Raman Singh, the rise of Left-wing

extremism and the state's poor mining revenue

What are your reservations aboutthe Centre's mine allocationpolicy?We feel cheated. If all the coalmines in Chhattisgarh wouldhave been auctioned, we wouldhave got a royalty of Rs 2,500per tonne. But, the Centreallocated most of the mines tothe BJP-ruled states under itsmine developer-cum-operator(MDO) policy and therefore,we get royalty of just Rs 100per tonne. I want to ask whythe state government has beengiven the mine if a privateplayer has to be appointed asactual miner?


(By a Staff Reporter) - Tounderstand the grip Odisha chiefminister Naveen Patnaik hashad over state politics for closeto two decades, a grampanchayat (GP) office is a goodplace to begin.It is late morningand the Kapileswara GP officein Kendrapara district is witnessto a steady stream of visitors.Banita Sutar's husband died ina road accident eight years ago.The family had then got acompensation of Rs 3 lakh.She is here to collect hermonthly widow pension of Rs300. Sutar is a lso thepresident of a self-help group(SHG) in her vil lage. Thegovernment, under a schemecal led Miss ion Shakt i ,empowered SHGs by offeringseed money of Rs 15,000,mobile phones and regulartraining to all members whocan then avail of loans at lowin terest fo r product iveactivities from January lastyear. Suttar also gets 10 kgof rice for Rs 10.When asked what shethought of Patnaik, she said,"He works for the poor. Weare with him." And what didshe think of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi? "He is goodtoo." Between the two, whom

Nirav Modi extradition case in London court likely to begin on Friday

Lok Sabha elections 2019: BJD leans on welfare to counter BJP charge

would she choose? "Naveen,no doubt." A little later in theday, Seba Swain of Baro villagewalks in. He is here to collect hispension. Swain, an agriculturallabourer, receives rice at thesame subsidised rate, and ownsan acre of land. He has applied,under the new Kalia (KrushakAssistance for Livelihood andIncome Augmentation) scheme,for direct income assistance andis waiting for governmentsupport. Swain too is an ardentB i ju Janata Dal (BJD)supporter. Kalia is a directcash assistance scheme inwhich an estimated 3.7 millionsmall and marginal farmerswould get Rs25,000 as farmass is tance over f iveagr icu l tura l seasons forpurchase of inputs like seeds,fer t i l isers, pest ic ides andlabour charges. Bes ides,another 900,000 landlessagricultural labourers wouldget one-time assistance of Rs12,500 for agricultural alliedactivities like livestock, fisheryand hor t icu l ture-basedactivities towards livelihoodsupport in three phases. Sofar over Rs 1,900 crore hasbeen transferred to the bankaccounts of farmers as thefirst instalment of Kalia. In

April, another Rs1,900 crorewould be given to the farmers.More than any other group,women voters have beenPatnaik's staunchest supporterssince 2000, when he first cameto power in the state. Organisedunder 600,000 SHGs, womenvoters have given the Biju JanataDal (BJD) a decisive edge inelection after election. This mixof social welfare andempowerment -- subsidisedfood, pensions, materni tyallowance, support to womenSHGs -- has helped constructan image of Patnaik as a pro-poor leader. And, it is thissame image that is beingchallenged by the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP).Its confidence largely stemsfrom a dramatic improvement

in i ts per formance in thePanchayat elections in early2017, which established thesaffron party as the primarychallenger (The party won 297zila parishad seats, comparedto the BJD's 473 and theCongress 's 60) and ant i -incumbency against Patnaik'sgovernment. The Congressremains the third pole of thepolity. "Though there shouldhave been anti-incumbencyagainst Naveen Patnaik afterfour successive terms, neitherBJP nor Congress seem to beready to match up to him,"sa id Satya Prakash Das,pro fessor a t SambalpurUniversity. The challenge Itwas back in 2014 that Modiand BJP president Amit Shahdec ided to focus on the

eastern seaboard in general,but Odisha in particular. Thecalculation was two-fold. TheBJP had peaked in north, westand central India; to make up forinevitable losses here, it neededto expand in newer territories inthe east. Two, Odisha hadseen the same government forfour terms. There was norobust opposition. Modi waspopular. And, the BJP thoughtit could make a dent. The faceof this challenge was Unionminister and Odisha leaderDharmendra Pradhan. The partyfocused on organisationalexpansion and claims to havecommittees across 36,000booths. A big section of secondand th i rd- rung Congressleaders, particularly at thedistrict level, switched sides.

Modi, 48, was denied bail on March 20 after being arrested theprevious day on an arrest warrant issued by the court after home

secretary Sajid Javid certified India's request to extradite him to facecharges of bank fraud amounting to over Rs 14,000 crore.

(By a Staff Reporter) - Fugitivediamantaire Nirav Modi, lodgedin the Wandsworth prison, islikely to appear in theWestminster Magistrates' Courton Friday via videolink to seekbail.It will mark the beginning ofcase management hearings aspart of extradition proceedings.A team from India's CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI) isexpected to be present in thecourt on Friday.Modi, 48, wasdenied bail on March 20 afterbeing arrested the previous dayon an arrest warrant issued bythe court after home secretarySajid Javid certified India's

request to extradite him to facecharges of bank fraud amountingto over Rs 14,000 crore.DenyingModi bail is significant given thehistory of Indians sought to beextradited since the 1992 India-UK treaty.Almost all of them weregranted bail, including formerDawood Ibrahim aide Iqbal Mirchi,as well as others such as VijayMallya, Sanjeev Chawla and RaviShankaran.Modi offered to pay500,000 pounds security depositfor bail, but was denied due towhat judge Marie Mallon calledthe "high value of amount involvedin the allegations" and thelikelihood of his

escaping.Extradition case of bothModi and Mallya relate to loansof around Rs 9,000 crore securedfrom a consortium of banks thatincludes IDBI and SBI in theMallya case , and a fraud of overRs 14,000 crore perpetratedon the Mumbai branch of thePunjab Nat iona l Bank inModi's case.However, there are keydifferences in the nature ofcharges o f f inanc ia limpropriety. Mallya's maincontention was that there is noprima facie case against him,since the inability of hisKingfisher Airlines to return loans

was due to a genuine businessfailure. After over a year ofhearings, chief judge EmmaArbuthnot upheld India's case.In contrast, Modi's case may bedecided over a shorter time-frame, given seemingly clearercharges of fraud against him, hisco-accused and uncle MehulChoksi, his family and somePNB officials, as outlined in CBI'scharge sheet filed in Indian

courts. As in the Mallya case,Modi's defence team is likely toraise issues in court to preventhis extradition such as risk to hishuman rights in Indian jails,political persecution and allegedinfirmities in the Indian judicialsystem that prevent delivery ofjustice. India successfully counteredsuch claims in the court withdocumentary and visual evidence inthe Mallya case.

To understand the grip Odisha chief ministerNaveen Patnaik has had over state politicsfor close to two decades, a gram panchayat

(GP) office is a good place to begin.


Speaker removes Abhay Chautala as leader of opposition in Haryana House

(By Our Staff Reporter)- TheHaryana assembly speakeron Tuesday removed AbhayChautala as the leader ofopposition after strength ofparty legislators dropped to15 following resignations oftwo of its members."TheINLD MLA count has comedown to 15 as I haveaccepted the resignationsof Ranbir Gangwa andKehar Singh Rawat. AbhayChautala has beenremoved as the leader ofopposition," said speakerKanwar Pal. sdl;fks HathinMLA Rawat and Nalwa

legislator Gangwa haveswitched sides to the BJP."Gangwa and Rawat hadsubmitted theirresignations to my officebefore they joined the BJP.As there were holidays inbetween, I accepted theirresignations now," headded. The speaker saidhe will write to the statepresident of the Congress,which has a strength of 17MLAs and has emerged asthe principal oppositionnow, to forward the nameof their legislator for thepost of LOP. Currently,

Kiran Choudhry is theCongress legislature partyleader and is likely tonamed as the LOP. Abhay,while announcing hisresignation on Saturday,had also has demandeddisqualification of four INLDMLAs - Naina Chautala,Anoop Dhanak, PirthiNambardar and RandeepPhogat - who have sidedwith the Jannayak JanataParty (JJP), a breakawayoutfit floated by his elderbrother Ajay Chautala andhis sons Hisar MPDushyant Chautala andDigvijay Chautala.On fate ofthese four INLDs, thespeaker said, "There is aprocess for this which willbe initiated. These fourMLAs will be asked to cleartheir stance. If they saythey have joined the JJP,then appropriate action willbe taken, but if they deny,then Abhay Chautala will beasked to give proof tosubstantiate his claims".In the 90-memberassembly, the ruling BJPhas 48 members. Onemember each belongs tothe Shiromani Akali Dal andthe Bahujan Samaj Party,five are Independents whileone seat fell vacant after thedemise of INLD leaderJaswinder Singh Sandhuearlier this year.INLD

The speaker said he will write to the state president of the Congress, which has astrength of 17 MLAs and has emerged as the principal opposition now, to forwardthe name of their legislator for the post of LOP. Currently, Kiran Choudhry is the

Congress legislature party leader and is likely to named as the LOP.

Jind bypolls in January,with party candidate UmedSingh Redhu forfeiting hissecurity deposit.

secretary general RSChoudhry expresseddisappointment over Abhay'sremoval. He said whileGangwa had defected toBJP on March 22 and Rawaton March 25 and told thenewspersons that they hadnot resigned from the Vidhan

Sabha, the speakerinsisted that they hadresigned.The INLD hadsuffered a heavy defeat in the

Death by mosquito not accident,can't claim insurance: SC

(Insider Bureau)-A disease caused or transmitted byinsect bite/virus in the natural course of events wouldnot be covered by the definition of an accident, theSupreme Court has held.A bench of justices DYChandrachud and Hemant Gupta gave the ruling in amatter related to insurance cover for a bank employeewho died due to malaria occasioned by a mosquitobite in Mozambique. The judges, however, said thatin case the affliction or bodily condition may beregarded as an accident where its cause or course oftransmission is unexpected and unforeseen.Thebench was dealing with an appeal against the NationalConsumer Commission which rejected the Insurancecompany's contention that malaria due to mosquitobite is a disease and not an accident. After hearingthe rival submissions and considering the provisionsin the insurance policy, ruled in favour of the insurancecompany and held that in a place like Mozambique,death due to malaria from mosquito bite cannot beconsidered as death due to an accident

DSFG


New island rules make green activists worried

(Insider Bureau)- The unionenvironment ministry hasnotified island protection zone(IPZ) 2019 for Andaman andNicobar, which allows eco-tourism projects 20 metresfrom the high tide line (HTL)in smal ler is lands l ikeBaratang, Havelock and CarNicobar, and at 50 metres inlarger ones, and relaxedother norms, t r igger ingconcern among some greenactivists.The notif ication,pub l ished on March 8 ,relaxes development normsin the islands compared tothe IPZ notification of 2011,which s t ipu la ted a no-development zone (NDZ) of200 metres from the HTL for

all islands.This brings thenorms for Andaman andNicobar at par with coastalregulation zone (CRZ) normsfor other islands close to themainland and backwater islandswhere an NDZ only 20 metresfrom HTL has been stipulated.The Union cabinet had approvedthe CRZ notification 2018 inDecember, which relaxed anumber of provisions in the CRZ2011 to facilitate infrastructuredevelopment and construction onthe coast, including easing floorarea ratio (FAR) in coastal urbanareas and slashing the NDZ indensely populated coastal ruralareas to 50 metres from HTL ascompared to 200 metresearlier.The IPZ 2019 notification,

which was issued a day beforethe model code of conduct for theduration of the general electionscame into force on March 10,makes way for many otherrelaxations. It allows for eco-tourism activities like mangrovewalks, tree huts and nature trailsin island coastal regulationzone IA (classif ied as themost eco-sensitive region ofthe islands which includestur t le nest ing grounds,marshes, coral reefs etc).Thenotification also allows forconstruction of roads, roadson stilts by reclaiming land inexceptional cases for defenceinstallations, public utilities orstrategic purposes in eco-sensitive zones. It states that

in case construction of suchroads pass through mangroves,a minimum three times themangrove area destroyed duringthe construction process shall betaken up for compensatoryplantation of mangroveselsewhere.These were not allowed under theIPZ 2011 notification which onlypermi t ted p ipe l ines,transmission l ines, t rans-harbor links to be laid in theeco-sensitive zone. The newnot i f icat ion a lso a l lows anumber of new activities in theinter-tidal zone between lowt ide l ine and HTL Th isincludes land reclamation andbunding for foreshore facilitieslike ports, harbours, jetties,wharves, quays, sea links etc,t ransfer o f hazardoussubstances f rom ships toports, manual mining of atomicminerals, and mining of sandfor construction purposes withpermiss ion f rom loca lauthor i t ies in non-eco-sensi t ive s i tes. The 2011noti f icat ion al lowed a fewactivities in the inter-tidal zonelike construction of huts forfisher folk and other publicfacilities required for traditionalinhab i tants . "Theseamendments are dangerous.There was no public hearinghere before this notification

Serious allegations against ex-top cop: SC

(Agencies)- The SupremeCourt on Monday said therewere "very, very serious"allegations against formerKolkata police commissionerRajeev Kumar in the CentralBureau of Investigation's statusreport on the Saradha chit fundscam. A three-judge bench ledby the Chief Justice of IndiaRanjan Gogoi said that "factshaving serious bearings aredisclosed in the Central Bureauof Investigation (CBI) statusreport" and that the agencyshould file an applicationagainst Kumar in the next 10days. The Central Bureau ofInvestigation filed the statusreport based on last month's

interrogation of Kumar, who isaccused of tampering withevidence pertaining to theSaradha chit fund case.The court also refused to dropcontempt proceedings againstthe West Bengal home secretaryand the director general of policefor "wilful and deliberate violation"of apex court orders.The CBI had last month filed acontempt petition against RajeevKumar, the state director generalof police (DGP) and the homesecretary, saying the threeofficials were not cooperating inthe Saradha case investigation.In an affidavit filed in the top courton February 18, the probeagency alleged "even after the

CBI was entrusted with theinvestigation on 9.5.2014, RajeevKumar was not parting with theinvestigation material containingthe evidence collected by the SIT[special investigation team]headed by him clearly inconnivance with the mainaccused persons". "...It issubmitted that in spite of thecontinuous insistence and follow-up by the CBI, Rajeev Kumarfurnished only CDRs of the primeaccused only on 28.6.2018.The CDRs of the accused whenanalysed by the CBI were foundto be tampered [with], doctoredand material evidence had beendestroyed," the affidavit read.Kumar, a 1989-batch Indian

INDIA

The Supreme Court on Monday said there were "very, very serious" allegationsagainst former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in the Central

Bureau of Investigation's status report on the Saradha chit fund scam.

Police Service officer, is knownfor his proximity to West Bengalchief minister Mamata Banerjee.He headed the SIT formed by thestate government to probe theSaradha scam in April 2013. OnFebruary 3, Banerjee launcheda 48-hour dharna in Kolkata inprotest against the entry of a CBIteam to Kumar's residence toquestion him in connection withthe case. Subsequently, Kumar

had to face questioning inShillong for five days betweenFebruary 9 and 13 underdirections by the top court. TheSaradha Group, which operatedin states such as West Bengal,Assam and Odisha, hadcollected~200-300 billion fromabout 1.8 million depositors -mostly poor and lower middle-class people - before it collapsedin 2013.

ANDAMANS allows eco-tourism projects 20 metres from high tide linewas drafted. There are threeluxury tourism projects alsocoming up on Long Island, SmithIsland and Aves Island. Obviouslythese will have an impact on thefragile ecology of this region likeour marine biodiversity includingcorals and turtle nesting sites.More importantly, how can we besure that checks and balanceswill be introduced," said ZubairAhmed, Port Blair-basedenvironmental researcher.Experts said the new notificationwas in line with the government'splans of opening up the "blueeconomy." Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu last weekurged sustainable harnessingof ocean resources, includingdeep sea mining, at a meetingwith Nationa l Ins t i tu te o fOceanography scientists."The legal changes in the IPZare al igned w i t h t he N i t iAyog's proposal for holisticdevelopment in the Islandswhich is being taken forwardunder the guidance of theIsland Development Agency.T h e f i r s t p h a s e o f t h i sproposal involves creation ofj e t t i e s a n d o t h e ri n f r a s t r u c t u r e fo r e c o -t o u r i s m p r o j ec ts inecologically fragile islands,"sa id Kanch i Kohl i , legalresearcher with the Centre forPolicy Research think tank.


The RBI has slapped a penalty of Rs 2 crore on Punjab NationalBank (PNB) for non-compliance of regulatory directions with

regard to SWIFT operations, the state-run lender said Tuesday.

RBI slaps Rs 2 cr penalty on PNB for violating SWIFT norms

(Insider bureru)- The RBI hasslapped a penalty of Rs 2crore on Punjab National Bank(PNB) for non-compliance ofregulatory direct ions withregard to SWIFT operations,the state-run lender saidTuesday.SWIFT is a global messagingsoftware used for transactionsby f inancia l ent i t ies. Themassive Rs 14,000-crore fraudperpetrated by bi l l ionairejeweller Nirav Modi and his

uncle Mehul Choksi at thePNB was a case of misuse ofthis messsaging software.In a regulatory filing, the PNBsaid the Reserve Bank in aletter dated March 25 hasinformed the bank about thepenalty."In the matter of violations ofregu la tory d i rec t ions byPunjab Nat iona l Bankobserved during assessment ofimplementat ion of SWIFT-related operational controls,

the Reserve Bank of India,( imposes) an aggregatepenalty of Rs 20 million ... onPunjab Nat ional Bank," i tsaid.Earlier this year, the ReserveBank had imposed penaltieswor th Rs 71 crore on 36public, private and foreignbanks for non-compliance withvarious directions on time-bound implementation andst rengthen ing o f SWIFToperations. However, the list

did not include PNB.The major banks which werefined by the regulator included

SBI, ICICI Bank, HSBC, Bankof Baroda, Citibank, CanaraBank and Yes Bank.

NDA ally Bharatiya Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS) on Tuesday saidit is ready to give the Wayanad constituency in north Kerala to

the BJP if Gandhi contests from there.

If Rahul Gandhi contests from Wayanad, NDA ally BDJS may ask BJP to contest

( Ins ider bureru) - Amidconfus ion over Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi 'sprobable second seat in southIndia, NDA al ly BharatiyaDharma Jana Sena (BDJS) onTuesday said it is ready tog ive the Wayanadconstituency in north Keralato the BJP if Gandhi contestsfrom there. The BDJS is apolitical outfit of the backwardEzhavas. Out of the 20 seatsin Kera la , the BJP iscontesting on 14, BDJS iscontesting on five seats andKerala Congress leader PCThomas is contesting fromone seat . "The BJP hasalerted us about Wayanad. If

Rahul Gandhi is fighting fromthere we are ready to give upthe seat for the BJP," saidBDJS pres ident ThusharVellapally, who is seeking hismaiden mandate from Thrissur.The BJP has made it clear thatif Gandhi decides to contestfrom Wayanad, the party willf ie ld a s t rong candidateagainst him. Though manynames are doing the rounds,a party functionary said asenior leader will be fieldedfrom Wayanad. Party statepresident PS Sreedharan Pillaiis among the probablecandidates. "We won't givehim an easy walkover. We willfield a strong candidate," said

the leader who did not want tobe identified.Meanwhi le , uncer ta in tycontinues over Rahul Gandhi'spossible candidature fromWayanad. A senior Congressdistrict functionary said theAICC has adv ised par tyworkers to wait for a few days.The DCC has approached theparty leadership saying thatthe uncertainty was affectingthe morale of the grassrootsworkers even as rivals surgedahead in campaigning.A top contender for the seat TSiddique had announced hiswithdrawal to make way forGandhi. "There is no delay. Itis a great honour for the state

if he contests from here. Weare sure the party presidentwill take a favorable decisionsoon," sa id S idd ique.Opposition leader RameshChennithala and former CMOommen Chandy also saidthey expected a favorabledecision by Wednesday.

Malappuram DCC has passeda resolution requesting theCongress leadership to take aspeedy decision on this. Inmany p laces in theconsti tuency, enthusiast icworkers have put up boardsand hoardings to welcome theCongress president.

Top Oxford honour for Nobel laureate Amartya Sen ( Ins ider bureru) - Nobellaureate Amartya Sen onTuesday was awarded theBodley Medal by theUniversi ty of Oxford - anhonour that goes back to 1646- for h is outs tand ingcontribution in various fields,including literature, culture,science and communication.The medal is awarded by theun ivers i ty ' s B o d l e i a nL i b r a r i e s , s o m e o f t h eoldest and largest l ibrariesi n w e s t e r n E u r o p e t h a thouses rare manuscr ip tsand co l lec t ions l inked toI n d i a . T h e m e d a l w a si n s t i t u t e d i n 1 6 4 6 b yThomas Bodley, founder ofthe libraries. Sen, 85, received

the medal in Oxford during anevent called the 'Founder'sLunch' from Chris Patten,chancellor of the university,and Richard Ovenden,librarian. "The Bodley Medal isawarded to those who havemade outs tand ingcontributions to the worlds inwhich the Bodleian Libraries isactive, including literature,cu l ture , sc ience and

communication", aspokesperson for the librariessaid. Another awardee in 2019 isNobel-winning novelist KazuoIshiguro, who will receive it duringthe Oxford Literary Festival onApril 3. Previous recipients of themedal include scientist StephenHawking, world-wide webinventor Tim Berners-Lee,naturalist David Attenborough,writers Hilary Mantel and IanMcEwan, and fi lm directorRichard Attenborough.The Bodleian Library is themain library in the BodleianLibraries group and is secondin size only to the Brit ishLibrary. First opened in 1602,the group holds over 13 millionprinted items.


Kerala forms SIT after drone buzzes overPadmanabha temple and police HQ

(Insider Bureau)- The Keralapolice on Tuesday formed aspecial investigation team (SIT)to probe an unidentified flyingobject (UFO), suspected to bedrone, which was sightedmultiple times over the coastal

areas of the state capital in thelast few days.On Monday night it was sightedagain over the state policeheadquarters and the famedshrine Sree Padmanabha Swamitemple, sending the cops into a

tizzy.One of the richest temples in theworld Sree Padmanabha Swamishrine reportedly carries wealthamounting to Rs one lakh crorein its underground vaults. Morethan 300 commandos have been

Police suspect some anti-social elements have carried out the flights to create panicguarding the temple since 2011after one of its secret vaults wasopened following a SupremeCourt order."We view this incident seriouslyand sought the help of centralagencies. We have formed aspecial investigation team toprobe this and making a list ofall who are using drones," saidThiruvananthapuram policecommissioner Sanjay KumarGurudin. He said the object wasspotted several times in the lastone week. Police have asked alldrone camera users to submitdetails of their equipment andthey suspect some anti-socialelements have carried out theflights to create panic.Meanwhile, a Tamil Nadu-basedagency which is carrying out asurvey for a railway lineconnecting the upcomingVizinjam port toThiruvananthapuram said one of

their drones lost control and laterit was retrieved. But they said ithappened last week. Police havesummoned officials of theagency."Drones are usually used inprivate functions like marriages.But they have no night visionfacilities and can fly only up to100-300 metres. But what wesighted reportedly has nightvision facilities and it was sightedin five-seven kms radius," said asenior officer adding it wasspotted flying closely to someof the vital installations likeVikram Sarabhai Space Centre,Southern Air Command and SreePadmanabha Swami temple.Military intelligence and southernair command are also closelymonitoring the incident, said thesenior official. However, sourceswith the air command said theirradars did not detect anyunusual activity.


(Insider bureru)-A womanlodged complaint of assaultagainst the state agricultureminister Randhir Singh atKarmatand police station inJamtara district, around 180-km south from capital Ranchi,on Tuesday.Pinky Kumari, Zila Parishadmember f rom Sarath inDeoghar district, alleged thatthe BJP minister abused,slapped repeatedly and brokeher eyeglasses amid hundredsof villagers during a religiousfunction at Kalajharia village.The minister, however, deniedthe a l legat ion terming i t'political conspiracy' againsthim. BJP workers also lodgeda counter complaint at thesame police station.Jamtara sub-divisional policeoff icer (SDPO) Arv indUpadhyay sa id , "Thecomplaints were lodged byboth the parties against eachother. We will investigate the

matter and then lodge an FIR."Kumari said she was at thereligious event on villagers'invitation and when she wasabout to pick Kalash (metalpot ) to par t ic ipate in there l ig ious process ion,minister's workers came andasked her to leave the place."They said the function wasbeing organ ized by theminister. I told them that won'tleave the place until villagersask me to go. Then, theycalled up the minister. Theminister came and startedabusing me. He slapped merepeated ly and broke myeyeglasses. Then he left theplace following the protestf rom the v i l lagers , " shealleged.Kumar i 's younger brotherRahul Kumar, who was alongwith her during the incident,said, "My sister had beenpreparing to contest upcomingassembly polls. She was on

The minister, however, denied the allegation terming it'political conspiracy' against him. BJP workers also

lodged a counter complaint at the same police station.

field visit to the village twodays back where the villagersinvited her for their annualrel igious function held onTuesday. But, it did not go wellwith the BJP workers.""This is a political stunt todefame me. Actually, the ladys lapped me and held mycollar," Singh said. Singh,BJP legislator from Sarath,sa id , "L ike every year, Iparticipated in the religiousevent. When I was walking inthe procession along with

Jharkhand minister accused of assaulting woman in public

others, I found few committeemembers arguing with eachother. I went to stop them. Shesuddenly came and started

alleging me that I was creatingan uproar. She held my collar.When I requested to leave her,she slapped me."

17Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 SOUTH ASIA

'Danger not over yet, Pak's relations with India will betense till Lok Sabha elections 2019': Imran Khan

China destroys thousands of maps showing Arunachal as part of India: Report

PM Imran Khan has said he believes Pakistan's relations with Indiawill continue to be tense till the general elections in the neighbouring

country, and Islamabad is prepared to counter "any aggression"because "the danger is not over".

(By a Staff Reporter) - PrimeMinister Imran Khan has said hebelieves Pakistan's relations withIndia will continue to be tensetill the general elections in theneighbouring country, andIslamabad is prepared to counter"any aggression" because "thedanger is not over".Khan made the remarks duringa wide-ranging interaction withthe media in Islamabad onMonday. Tensions between thetwo countries had spikedfollowing a suicide attack by the

Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) atPulwama in Jammu and Kashmirthat killed 40 paramilitary troopslast month.Ind ia re ta l ia ted for thePulwama at tack byconducting an air strike on aJeM base a t Ba lakot inPak is tan, and th is wasfo l lowed by an aer ia lengagement along the Line ofControl that resulted in theshooting down of an Indian jetfighter. The situation easedafter Pakistan freed Wing

Commander AbhinandanVarthaman, the pilot of thedowned jet.According to a report in Dawnnewspaper, Khan responded toa question about ties with Indiaby saying: "The danger is notover. The situation will remaintense till forthcoming generalelections in India. We arealready prepared to avert anyaggression from India."Khan said his Indian counterpartNarendra Modi was "trying tocash in on the anti-Pakistan

narrative during his electioncampaign", the report added.He added there was no hope forimproving relations with India atleast until the elections."Pakistan needs to be fully alertas threat by India is possible untiltheir elections. The nation mustnot let down their guard," he was

quoted as saying by The ExpressTribune.Khan also said thatthough Modi had sent amessage on Pakistan Day,which was observed on March23, he was pushing ahead with"war hysteria".There was noimmediate response to Khan'sremarks from Indian officials.

Acting on a tip off, customs officials of Qingdao city inShandong province raided an office and seized more

than 800 boxes containing 28,908 world maps.(By a Staff Reporter) - Nearly30,000 world maps showingArunachal Pradesh as a part ofIndia and Taiwan as a separatecountry were destroyed bycustoms authorities in anortheastern Chinese city lastweek.Reports said it was thelargest such exercise in recentyears and was carried out toprotect China's "territorialintegrity". The maps were inEnglish and manufactured by acompany in a Chinese provincecalled, Anhui.Arunachal Pradeshis claimed by Beijing as a part of

China and depicted on its officialmaps as a part of south TibetAutonomous Region(TAR).Beijing also considersTaiwan, a self-governingdemocracy, as a breakawayprovince to be eventually unified.Acting on a tip off, customsofficials of Qingdao city inShandong province raided anoffice and seized more than 800boxes containing 28,908 worldmaps."A total of 803 boxes ofthe 28,908 wrong maps wereseized and destroyed, thelargest amount to be disposed

of in recent years," the province'sNatural Resources ministry saidat a press conference, quoted bythe news website DazhongwangQingdao reported.The documents were taken to asecret location and shredded."The maps were produced by acompany in East China's AnhuiProvince and were on the way tobeing exported to an unspecifiedforeign country," the nationalistictabloid, Global Times reported."The problematic maps failed toshow the correct territory of Chinaand omitted south Tibet and the

island of Taiwan, the Qingdaogovernment found after anexamination of the maps," thereport added.Relevant authoritieshave carried out checks on thedomestic map market more than100 times and have discoveredand destroyed over 10,000

incorrect maps, preventing thesale in domestic and overseasmarkets."Maps reflected nationalsovereignty and were a politicalstatement", Ma Wei, from theNatural Resources ministry'sgeographical information centre,was quoted as saying.

'No sprinklers, two fire exits': Dhaka tower fire toll risesMinister calls deadly Dhaka blaze 'murder' after officials say building lacked proper fire exits and fire equipment.The death toll from a horrificblaze that ripped through aDhaka high-rise building hasclimbed to 25, Bangladeshipolice said, as governmentofficials vowed tough action toimprove lax safety standards.Speaking to reporters on Friday,Mostaq Ahmed, deputycommissioner of the Gulshandivision of Dhaka MetropolitanPolice, said the victims hadbeen identified and "24 have beenhanded over to their families".The blaze on Thursday lefthundreds of people trapped

inside the 22-storey FR towerscreaming for help as horrifiedonlookers massed outside.

Some of those stuckinside made it to safety bysliding down cables on the sideof the building, but others tooktheir chances and jumped in abid to escape the smoke andheat. Six people leaped to theirdeaths. More than 70 peoplewere taken to hospital fortreatment in the wake of the fire.On Friday, f irefighterscompleted the process ofcombing through the gutted and

blackened floors of the building.Ahmed, of Dhaka MetropolitanPolice, said there was noimmediate indication if others aremissing. "Still we are checking,if someone comes to us we willverify," he said. Ataur Rahman,a restaurant worker who rushedto the scene when the fire brokeout, said the image of peoplejumping from the building wouldhaunt him forever. "I could hearthe screams of people trappedinside the building," he told AlJazeera. "Soon after the firespread on the seventh, eighth

and ninth floors, people startedbreaking window panes to getout. "Then I witnessed the mosthorrible scene - people fallingfrom the top floors while tryingto climb down the wires in thebuilding. I saw two people fallingdown.Abdulla Al Faruq Tomal, a32-year-old who worked on the11th floor of the FR Tower, wasamong the 25 victims. His wife,Sanjidha Ovi, said Tomal calledher soon after the fire broke out."He telephoned me and said hehad found a safe zone inside thebuilding. The last time he called,

he said he was on the 15th floorand that the smoke from the firehad reached that floor. I told himto go to the roof, but he saidthere was 'no scope' to do so,"Ovi told Al Jazeera. "We havetwo children. I don't know whatwill happen to them," she said,choking up. Shammi Akhter saidher 27-year-old brother FazleRabbi had died of smokeinhalation. "I received mybrother's dead body on Friday atthe morgue," Akhter told AlJazeera. "He was supposed toget married in this year."


Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modidenied bail again by London CourtThe court’s order came after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told the court that

Nirav Modi should not be granted bail because he posed a significant flight risk and hadeven issued death threats to witnesses related to his fraud and money laundering case.

The Westminster Magistrates Court on Fridaydenied bail to fugitive Indian diamantaire Nirav Modifor the second time after the prosecution raisedthe prospect of him fleeing the UK, influencingwitnesses and destroying evidence in the high-profile case. Toby Cadman, lawyer for the CrownProsecution Service, acting on behalf of India,made several revelations about Modi while urgingchief judge Emma Arbuthnot to deny him bail. Hewas first denied bail after his arrest on March 19.Modi was returned to the Wandsworth jail, wherehe will remain until the next hearing on April 26.The revelations included Modi applying for acitizenship-by-investment scheme in Vanuatu byseeking to invest $200,000 in 2017, which wasrejected; Modi living in London since January 2018in a central London flat on rent, and Modi allegedlythreatening to kill witness Ashish Lad. India has informed the court that Modi will be lodged

in the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai, if extradited. Italso highlighted the high value of fraud involved, upto $2 billion through 144 letters of understanding fromthe Mumbai branch of the Punjab National Bank.The judge set April 26 as the next date of hearing inthe extradition case, when Modi will appear by video-link from the Wandsworth jail. He was produced incourt on Friday and sat impassively, following theproceedings, dressed in a white shirt and darktrousers, flanked by a policeman. Arbuthnot, whoheard and ruled in the extradition case ofbusinessman Vijay Mallya, began the proceedingsby asking the lawyers if they had a sense of déjà vu.Last month, UK home secretary Sajid Javid signedan order to extradite Mallya, wanted in India to facecharges of financial irregularities running intothousands of crores of rupees. The beleagueredliquor tycoon has filed an appeal against thedecision.

"No talks on Kartarpur Corridor until Pakistan clears issues"The second meeting between Indiaand Pakistan scheduled for April 2to discuss the Kartarpur Corridordetails may be postponed oversecurity concerns and “gaps inposition,” said a senior officer whodid not wish to be named. India saidit has “shared concerns and soughtclarifications” after reportssuggested that a pro-Khalistanileader was one of the membersappointed by Pakistan to acommittee to help Indian pilgrims toGurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.

Reports said thatPakistan’s minister for informationChaudhry Fawad Hussain had onWednesday announced a ten-member committee that includesKhalistani leader Gopal SinghChawla. “India has also sharedconcerns and sought clarificationson reports that controversialelements have been appointed byPakistan to a committee to beassociated with the KartarpurCorridor. It has been conveyed thatthe next meeting on the modalitiescan be scheduled at an appropriatetime after receiving Pakistan’sresponse,” the ministry of externalaffairs said in a statement. Sourcessaid that Pakistan’s deputy highcommissioner was called in by Indiato seek clarification from theneighbouring country on the issuesraised. The next round of talks wasscheduled to be held on April 2 at

the Wagah border. “There won’t beany meeting till clarifications areprovided. The meeting is only for asubstantive outcome and notoptics,” a source said. “We are keenon early resolution but cannot let upnational security concerns,” thesource said. Chawla is known asone of the main propagators of theSikh movement seeking a separatehomeland for the community. He isreported to be the general secretaryof the Pakistan Sikh GurdwaraParbandhak Committee.

His name had cropped upin the investigations into the grenadeattack on the Nirankari Bhawan inAmritsar in which three were killedin November last year. Chawla isalso reported to have preventedIndian diplomats from visiting agurdwara in Lahore. The statementalso said that India has soughtclarifications from Pakistan on keyproposals put forward by New Delhiat the last meeting held in Attari todiscuss the modalities of theKartarpur Corridor. “Meanwhile, inorder to take forward theinfrastructure development for theCorridor in an expeditious manner,India has proposed to hold anothermeeting of technical experts in mid-April to resolve outstanding issuesat the zero point agreed to at thelast meeting,” it said. Officials fromPakistan and India had held ameeting earlier in March to discuss

the technical issues regarding theproposed corridor to GurdwaraDarbar Sahib in Kartarpur in noman’s land on the border in DeraBaba Nanak. India and Pakistanagreed to set up the border crossinglinking Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in

Kartarpur, the final resting place ofGuru Nanak, to Dera Baba Nanakshrine in Gurdaspur district inNovember last year. Kartarpur islocated in Pakistan’s Narowaldistrict across the Ravi, about 4kmfrom the Dera Baba Nanak. “The

government of India remainscommitted to realise the longpending demand of the Indianpilgrims to visit the holy GurudwaraKartarpur Sahib using the Corridorin a safe, secure, smooth and easymanner,” the statement said.

FROM FRONT PAGE

19Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 FROM FRONT PAGE

Past Govts Used Defence Deals as Their ATMs: PM Modi in Interview

Flint water crisis shows the danger of a scientific dark age

New York Sues Sackler Family Members and Drug Distributors

(By a Staff Reporter) - The improvedwater lead data, initially reported bythe Michigan Department ofEnvironmental Quality, has beenindependently corroborated by theEnvironmental Protection Agency,third-, and even fourth-partyentities.And, in her 2018 Policy InfrastructurePlan, Michigan Gov. GretchenWhitmer rightly noted that "morethan 70 communities (in Michigan)have drinking water systems withhigher lead levels than Flint." So, whatgives with the "Flint water is still notsafe" mantra? For starters, there isno such thing as completely safedrinking water. Even bottled water hassome risks, ranging from bacteria tomicroplastics. So, what gives withthe "Flint water is still not safe"

mantra? For starters, there is nosuch thing as completely safedrinking water. Even bottled water hassome risks, ranging from bacteria tomicroplastics.Meanwhile, Flint stillhas extremely high water costs,according to a Michigan Radioanalysis, and an oversizedantiquated water system, whichcontributed to the initial water crisisin Flint. However, this kind of systemalso exists and endangers publichealth in thousands of otherAmerican towns and cities. In otherwords, claiming Flint water is "stillnot safe" is accurate in a generalizedsense, but by that metric otherAmerican water systems are alsodeserving of our financial assistanceand concerns about safety. Sadly,

the "still not safe" claim has alsobeen frequently used as a cudgel -- by opportunists aiming to takeadvantage of the fame, fortune andnarrative that the Flint water crisisoffers. In our newly publishedresearch in "Citizen Science:Theory and Practice," we argue thatthe trust vacuum created by aninitial failure of government at alllevels was partly filled byunscientific fearmongering and avictimization narrative thatsometimes drowned out reason.Scientific assessments that thewater quality was improving werecountered with some falsified dataand even harassment by thoseclaiming victimhood (aphenomenon known as

"crybullying"). If post-federalemergency Flint illustrates what ascientific dark age might look like inAmerica, it is not a pretty sight. In2018, an image of a fire hydrantspewing rust colored water (a resultof a lack of corrosion control) duringthe height of the Flint water crisis in2015 was shared -- along with a falseclaim the photo was taken"yesterday." The fire hydrant hoaxwent viral, supporting the "stillunsafe" claim and undermining dataindicating Flint water was improving,until other Flint residents exposedthe error. Five days later, the samedebunked photo image from 2015was shared again. It again went viralon social media with a new falsetitle: "Flint, Michigan Water on July

1, 2018. But we are going to get aSpace Force." Still more outragegenerated from false information. Weeven documented a troublinginstance, where lead fishing sinkerswere put inside plumbing, producingdangerously high water lead levelswhile the homeowner soughtfinancial assistance forcontaminated water via GoFundMe.Such false messaging canundermine public trust and health.In 2016, amid fears about watersafety, the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention found that anestimated nearly 80% of Flintresidents had altered their bathinghabits in a manner that could adverselyaffect hygiene -- even as an outbreak ofshigellosis dysentery occurred.

(Insider Bureau)- "Fourgenerations of the same familyhave spoken about removingpoverty. Indira Gandhi also spokeabout it. Rajiv Gandhi also spokeabout it and now Rahul Gandhiis talking about it." Days before

the Lok Sabha elections kick off,Prime Minister Narendra Modi hasgiven an interview to RepublicBharat's Arnab Goswami in whichhe talks about a range of issues -from defence deals to the stateof the Opposition in the country.

Slamming the Congress,especially over its governmentsin the past, Modi reportedly saidin the interview, "Who wanted toimpeach the SC judge? Whobrought in Emergency? Beforelevelling allegations, they should

look in the mirror." Defence DealsAmid the continuing controversy overthe Rafale deal, PM Modi refuted anyallegations of wrongdoing, as heaccused previous governments ofusing defence deals as their "ATMs"."They could not imagine that

deals can be done withtransparency," he said. RemovingPoverty In the context of RahulGandhi having announced theminimum income scheme -'NYAY' - aimed at alleviatingpoverty, Modi told the TV channel:

US, China in bitter showdown at UN over sanctions on Masood Azharkilled hundreds of thousands ofpeople nationwide.The major pharmaceuticaldistributors - Cardinal Health,McKesson and AmerisourceBergen - warned pharmacieswhen their monthly opioid limitswere approaching, then helpedthem manipulate the timing andvolume of orders to circumventthe limits, the complaint charged.On the rare occasion when adistributor would conduct"surprise" audits of its

customers, it would often alertthem in advance, the complaintsays.Over the past two decades, morethan 200,000 people have died inthe United States from overdosesinvolving prescription opioids,according to the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention.About 200,000 more have diedfrom overdoses involving illegalopioids, like heroin.In New York State, whereprescriptions for opioids

increased ninefold between 2000and 2011, opioid-related deathshave more than doubled since2013, the lawsuit said. Nine NewYorkers die each day. The suit,filed in New York State SupremeCourt in Suffolk County, nameseight Sacklers: Richard,Jonathan, Mortimer, Kathe,David, Beverly and TheresaSackler, as well as Ilene SacklerLefcourt. It seeks to claw backfunds that it alleges weretransferred from Purdue Pharma

to private or offshore accountsheld by family members in aneffort to shield the assets fromlitigation; to order the Sacklersto return any transferred assets;and to restrain them fromdisposing of any property.A spokesman for the Sacklerfamily called the allegations "amisguided attempt to placeblame where it does not belongfor a complex public health crisis.We strongly deny theseallegations, which are

inconsistent with the factualrecord, and will vigorously defendagainst them."A spokesman for Purdue Pharmasaid the company and its formerdirectors "vigorously deny" thecharges set forth in thecomplaint, and will defendthemselves against the"misleading allegations."The Sacklers are one of therichest families in the UnitedStates, known for their generousphilanthropy in the arts. Butthey have come underincreasing scrutiny after newdocuments came to light in aMassachuset ts casesuggesting that some familymembers he lped d i rec tmisleading marketing effortsfor OxyContin and ignoredevidence that the drug wasbeing abused. Over the pastseveral weeks, a number ofcultural inst i tut ions in theUnited States and abroad havesaid they will no longer acceptthe family's money.The New York lawsuit allegesthat Sackler family membersabolished quarterly reports,ins is ted that numbers berecounted only orally to boardmembers, and voted to paythemselves millions of dollars,often through offshorecompanies.

a news conference by the stateattorney general Letitia James, washeavily redacted. Even so, it containsstriking details alleging systematicfraud not only by the Sacklers butby a group of large but lesser-knowncompanies that distributed alarmingamounts of prescription painkillersamid a rising epidemic of abuse thathas The US and China seem headedfor a showdown at the UN over Jaishchief Masood Azhar with Beijingaccusing Washington of "forcefullymoving" a resolution in the SecurityCouncil intended to compel China tomake public its reasons for stallingefforts to tag him as a "global terrorist".With Beijing persisting with a"technical hold", preventing thesanctions committee of the UNSCfrom designating the Jaish-e-

Muhammedchief as a terrorist,Washington has sought to raise theheat by seeking a discussion in thecouncil - inviting a sharp Chineseretort that it should act with caution.Acting with the support of France andthe UK, the US bumped up the issueof listing Azhar on Wednesday. A dayafter Beijing used its veto to stall thesanctions committee's near-unanimous decision to designateAzhar a terrorist, a Security Councildiplomat said China should not preventthe UN panel from doing its job, andBeijing's move to hold the listing was"inconsistent with its own stated goalsof combating terrorism and furtheringregional stability in South Asia."The move came two weeks afterChina, for the fourth time, put a holdon a proposal to list him under the

1267 Al Qaeda SanctionsCommittee of the council. Neverbefore has a terrorist of interest toIndia been targeted at the council inthis manner. The other 14 membersof the council are said to besupporting the proposed ban. NewYork Sues Sackler FamilyMembers and Drug DistributorsChinese foreign ministryspokesperson Geng Shuang saidin Beijing that the US wasundermining the authority of thesanctions committee+ . "This is notin line with resolution of the issuethrough dialogue and negotiations.This has reduced the authority of thecommittee as a main anti-terrorismbody of the UNSC and this is notconducive to the solidarity and onlycomplicates the issue," Geng said.

"We urge the US to act cautiouslyand avoid forcefully moving forwardthis resolution draft," China said,using unusually blunt language as theTrump administration made good itsexpressed intent to take the JeMchief's issue to the UNSC since thesanctions committee had beenrepeatedly thwarted. Adding to thefriction was US secretary of stateMike Pompeo calling out thecontradiction of China's forcibledetention of Uighur Muslimswhilesupporting terror groups like JeM."The world cannot afford China'sshameful hypocrisy toward Muslims.On one hand, China abuses morethan a million Muslims at home, buton the other, it protects violent Islamicterrorist groups from sanctions at theUN," Pompeo said.

20Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 US & THE WORLD

Avenatti lashes out at Nike one day after arrest(Insider Bureau)- AttorneyMichael Avenatti accusedsportswear giant Nike onTuesday of il legallyarranging payments to highschool basketball players,leveling his allegations in aseries of tweets posted oneday after federal prosecutorsbrought explosive chargesagainst the lawyer for allegedattempts to extort millions ofdollars from thecompany.The high-profilecelebrity attorney, whorocketed into the nationalspotlight last year whilerepresenting adult filmactress Stormy Daniels inher case against PresidentDonald Trump, wasarrested Monday andindicted simultaneously onseparate charges offinancial crimes in New

York and Los Angeles.Avenatti on Tuesdaytweeted that he was"anxious for people to seewhat really happened.""We never attempted to extortNike & when the evidence isdisclosed, the public will learnthe truth about Nike's crime& coverup," he wrote.According to federalprosecutors in New York,Avenatti met with Nikelawyers last week andthreatened to unleash astorm of negative publicitybefore the company'squarterly earnings call andthe NCAA men's basketballtournament. Avenattirepresented a basketballcoach of a California amateurteam who allegedly hadevidence of Nike employeesauthorizing secret payments

to top high schoolplayers.Avenatti and hisunnamed co-conspirator -reported to be Mark Geragos,another trial attorney knownto represent celebrities likeMichael Jackson and JussieSmollett - said they would gopublic with the informationunless Nike paid them morethan $20 million, according tocourt documents.In a secondtweet Tuesday, Avenattiposted a CBS Sports articlereporting that Nike'sbasketball league for eliteyouth had been served witha subpoena as federalprosecutors investigatepotential schemes tofunnel money to promisingyoung players to increasethe likelihood of apparelcontracts if they go pro.Nike said in a statement

Tuesday that it has beencooperating with officials inthe NCAA investigation forover a year. Avenatticlaimed this was untrueand accused the companyof "trying to divert attentionfrom their own crimes."Avenatti was released on$300,000 bond afterappearing in New Yorkfederal court Mondayevening and told reportershe expects to be "fullyexonerated." The attorneyalso faces separate bankand wire fraud charges inLos Angeles.The latestscandals are not the firsthits Avenatti's reputationhas taken since he becamea regular presence on thenational stage. He wasarrested, but not charged,on suspicion of domestic

violence in November, andhe had public spats withDaniels until the two partedways earlier this month.His former law firm, EaganAvenatti, has fi led forbankruptcy more thanonce.Avenatti has been afervent critic of Trumpthroughout his presidencyand at one point was afrequent face on cable TV

shows, offering combativerhetoric about the WhiteHouse. While representingDaniels, whose real nameis Stephanie Clifford, heput a spotlight on hush-money payments madeduring the 2016presidential campaign andformer Trump attorneyMichael Cohen's role infacilitating the exchange.

'Let's just get'Let's just get'Let's just get'Let's just get'Let's just getthe goods'the goods'the goods'the goods'the goods'

Pelosi ralliesdejected Dems

post-Mueller

(Insider Bureau)- SpeakerNancy Pelosi sought torally House Democratsbehind closed doorsTuesday morning in theaftermath of specialcounsel Robert Mueller's22-month investigation."Becalm. Take a deep breath.Don't become like them.We have to handle thisprofessionally, officially,patriotically, strategically,"Pelosi said, referring toRepublicans, during aclosed-door meeting withHouse Democrats.Pelosi's comments cameafter the chairs of six key

committees demandedthat Attorney GeneralWilliam Barr hand overMueller's entire report bynext Tuesday, a formalrequest that followed afour-page memo from Barrsummarizing Mueller'sfindings. According to Barr,Mueller was unable toestablish that Trumpassociates conspired withRussians during the 2016presidential campaign andhe left unresolved the keyissue of whether PresidentDonald Trump obstructedjustice."The president wasnot exonerated," Pelosi told

Democrats, referring toTrump's claim on Sundaythat Mueller's reportamounted to a "totalexoneration."Democrats are demandingthat Barr turn over all of theunderlying evidence thatMueller uncovered so theycan use it as part of theirown wide-ranginginvestigations, which focuson allegations ofobstruction of justice,abuse of power, corruptionand foreign influence."If any of us have foreigngovernments approach uswith information about our

opponents, we should gostraight to the FBI," Pelosijoked, according to Rep.Annie Kuster (D-N.H.),who recounted Pelosi'sremarks to POLITICO. Itwas a reference to Russianoutreach to Trumpcampaign officials duringthe 2016 campaign. Shealso projected optimism,telling lawmakers: "Somepeople are viewing it as theglass half empty. I think itis half full."Democrats on the HouseJudiciary Committee havesuggested that the panelwould move to issue a

subpoena for the Muellerreport if Barr refuses to turnit over by April 2.Lawmakers said onTuesday that they expectBarr to send Congress aheavily redacted version ofthe highly anticipatedreport. The panel hasalready called on theattorney general to testifyabout his involvement incrafting the four-pagesummary releasedSunday. A JusticeDepartment official said theBarr review will be done ina matter of "weeks notmonths."On the Senate side,Judiciary CommitteeChairman Lindsey Graham(R-S.C.) saidhe planned tospeak with Barr laterTuesday about releasing aversion of the specialcounsel's report toCongress. Graham wantsBarr to come before hiscommittee, too.House Democrats soughtto highlight the fact thatBarr declined torecommend a criminalprosecution of Trump forobstruction of justice,noting his previouslyexpressed view that apresident could notobstruct justice. "We havenot seen the report. We'veonly gotten a summary thatwas created by a man whowas appointed by the

president, who clearly saidbefore his appointmentthat he didn't believe asitting president could becharged, if you will, withobstruction of justice," saidRep. Val Demings (D-Fla.),a member of the JudiciaryCommittee. The Judiciarypanel unanimouslyapproved a measure laterTuesday calling on theJustice Department to turnover documents about theorigins of its obstructionprobe into Trump. TheRepubl ican-authoredresolution was introducedbefore Mueller completedhis inquiry, but Democratssaid they, too, wanted toknow more about whythen-FBI Deputy DirectorAndrew McCabe chose tolaunch that investigation.Democrats insisted theyaren't singularly focused onthe Mueller investigationand the other probes theircommittees areconducting, noting that theHouse is tak ing uplegislation this week onthe gender pay gap, theTrump administration'stransgender troop ban,heath care and climatechange. "At this point,the ball is in the court ofthe attorney general,"House Democrat icCaucus Chai rmanHakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.)told reporters.


(Insider Bureau)- The HouseJudiciary Committee on Tuesdayunanimously approved legislationdemanding more details from theJustice Department on theobstruction of justiceinvestigation into PresidentDonald Trump.The straightforward result beliedan odd partisan dance that led aDemocratic panel to embrace aGOP proposal on one of the mostdivisive issues in Washington.Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), thetop Republican on the JudiciaryCommittee, introduced themeasure last week - before itwas known that special counselRobert Mueller would be finalizinghis investigation of Russianinterference in the 2016 election.Though Mueller's findings remainsecret, Attorney General WilliamBarr indicated Mueller opted notto charge Trump or anyassociates with conspiring withRussians.Mueller also explicitly chose to"not exonerate" Trump from anobstruction of justice inquiry, Barrrevealed, and Democrats have

clamored for Barr to provide thefull report to Congress tounderstand how Mueller arrivedat that decision.Collins' measure calls for detailsabout the origins of theobstruction probe, which wasopened by former FBI deputydirector Andrew McCabe. Theproposal also seeks informationabout conversations betweenMcCabe and Deputy AttorneyGeneral Rod Rosenstein about"wearing a recording device orpreparing in any way to recordthe President.""I certainly do not oppose effortsto learn more about whether, infact, such discussions occurredand, if so, what prompted suchalarm among Mr. Rosenstein andMr. McCabe, as well as other FBIofficials, that they would considerthese unprecedented actions,"said House Judiciary CommitteeChairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.)."Therefore, I will not oppose thisresolution."Republicans have long arguedthat McCabe was part of a corruptgroup of Justice Department

officials who leveraged theirinvestigative powers to undermineTrump, and they have beenseeking information aboutMcCabe and Rosenstein'sinteractions for months. McCabewas fired from the FBI hoursbefore he was set to retire lastyear after the inspector generalof the Justice Departmentdetermined he lied toinvestigators about hisinteractions with media.Collins said his resolution waspart of "showing the thinking andactions of the individuals whofueled investigations of PresidentTrump for collusion andobstruction.""The path forwardrequires us to identify the originsof an investigation that deceitfullyundermined America's faith in ourdemocracy and distracted usfrom our actual enemy," Collinssaid.Collins has backed efforts toreveal more details of the Muellerreport and has lately beenreleasing the transcripts ofinterviews conducted bylawmakers last year with figures

involved in the Russia andobstruction probes.Democrats have argued the GOPinquiries were really efforts toundermine the investigations intoTrump. But following Mueller'sreport they sensed a moment toembrace the GOP call forinformation as part of theirbroader call for more details fromthe Justice Department."I would not have been supportiveof the underlying resolution hadthe Mueller report not come to aresolution," said Rep. HankJohnson (D-Ga.)

Judiciary Committee seeks obstruction of justice probe records from DOJ

In fact, the rare kumbayamoment for the committeefollowed a staff-level discussionlate last week in whichDemocrats revealed they'd bebacking the Collins measure.According to RepublicanCommittee sources, Collins'office offered to reschedule themotion so that Democrats couldadd it to the docket of a futuremarkup, since they expecteddebate on the measure would bebrief. Ultimately, Democrats keptthe matter on Tuesday's scheduleand the measure passed 22-0.

Looming 2020 deadline triggers wild chase for cash'We have two really big online behemoths, then

we have the rest,' said one Democrat.(Insider Bureau)-

Democratic presidentialcandidates are on a white-knuckle ride to March 31, thequarterly reporting deadline thatwill signal who's rolling in cashand who's scraping just toestablish viability.All too conscious that thenumbers they report will beviewed as either a show ofstrength or the first sign ofweakness, the campaigns arefuriously chasing dollars to bulkup their totals, while quietlymanaging expectations behindthe scenes with staffers,supporters and the media."For candidates who got in earlyit will be a much more significanttest than those who have onlyjust jumped into the race in thelast few weeks," said JoelBenenson, a former top adviserto President Barack Obama andthe chief strategist for HillaryClinton in 2016. "Rightly orwrongly, the political press isgoing to treat the filings as thefirst 'ballot.' So, it's importantboth for optics, but also as awarning light for campaigns that

have performed less well thanothers."The Federal ElectionCommission deadline loomsespecially large this year. In acrowded field in which it's difficultto draw sharp distinctionsbetween candidates, the firstcampaign finance report of theelection cycle promises the firstquantifiable measure to assesshow the nascent campaigns arefaring.Equally important, thetotals will likely accelerate andharden impressions of amultitiered field, divided betweenthose with the resources to lastdeep into the primary season andthose whose prospects are morereliant on capturingmomentum.Every campaign isfeeling the pressure to produce.Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)is pumping out email after emailto supporters, designed tosqueeze out every last dollar.Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) hasstepped up her fundraising,scheduling a flurry of fundraisersin her home state of California,as well as stops in Washington,Florida and New York. Joe Bidenis thought to be delaying a

possible launch until after thedeadline, so he doesn't have toreport a weak fundraising figure.In preparation for the first filingperiod, virtually every 2020presidential candidate saw aboost in Facebook spending lastweek. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who spent the most onthe platform last week, spentnearly double what she hadspent for the rest of 2019combined.Officials for several campaignstold POLITICO that internaldiscussions about how tomessage the campaign's firstmajor milepost have beenunderway for some time.Some who expect to be outraisedsuggested they'll cite othermetrics pulled from theircampaign finance reports toshow progress - such as theexpanding size of their staffoperations. Others areattempting to lower expectationsgiven the breadth of thecandidate field, or are discussingstrategies to help their staffs tuneout the noise they expect aroundthe March 31 date.

Trump says Mueller actedhonorably in Russia probe

(Insider Bureau)- PresidentDonald Trump said Monday thathe believes Robert Mueller actedhonorably during his Russiaprobe - seemingly reversingnearly two years of verbal attackson the special counsel.Trump,after giving a prepared statementwith Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, was askedwhether Mueller acted honorablythroughout his investigation intowhether Russia colluded withTrump's presidentialcampaign."Yes he did," thepresident replied.Trump for nearlytwo years has consistentlycriticized Mueller, claiming hisprobe is a "witch hunt" and thatMueller's team is composed of"13 angry Democrats."Late lastyear, Trump offered one of hissharpest attacks, tweeting thatthe special counsel's team wasa "disgrace to our Nation.""Theinner workings of the Muellerinvestigation are a total mess.They have found no collusion andhave gone absolutely nuts," hetweeted in November."They area disgrace to our Nation and don'tcare how many lives the ruin,"Trump continued. "These areAngry People, including thehighly conflicted Bob Mueller,

who worked for Obama for 8years. They won't even look atall of the bad acts and crimes onthe other side. A TOTAL WITCHHUNT LIKE NO OTHER INAMERICAN HISTORY!"AttorneyGeneral William Barr on Sundayreleased a 4-page summary ofMueller's report which concludesTrump's presidential campaigndid not collude with Russia.Barr's summary also statesthat he does not believe thereis enough evidence that Trumpobstructed justice.The WhiteHouse has since said thatTrump is comple te lyvindicated and exonerated.Democrat ic lawmakers ,however, have called for the fullreport to be released.Trumphas previously said Mueller'sreport should be made public,but that he would leave theu l t imate dec is ion on i tsre lease up to Barr. Thepres ident repeated thatposition Monday during anexchange with reporters in theOval Office."It wouldn't botherme at all," Trump said whenasked about releasing theMueller report. "It's up to theattorney general. It wouldn'tbother me at all."


House fails to override Trump's veto over national emergency wall fight(Insider Bureau)- TheHouse failed Tuesday toover r ide Pres identDonald Trump's veto afterboth chambers o fCongress sought tooverturn h is nat ionalemergency declarationto build more border wall.The vote was 248-181,wi th 14 Republ icansvoting with Democrats tosupport the override. Itwas a steep hill to climbfor opponents of Trump'snational emergency asthe House would haveneeded two-thirds of itsmembers to back theveto override. ThirteenRepublicans voted forthe resolution in the firstplace."Today, CongressionalDemocrats attempted toblock the President 'sNat iona l EmergencyDec lara t ion - - theyfa i led," Whi te Housespokesman Hogan

Gid ley sa id in astatement after the vote."Democrats continue toignore the reality that ourporous southern borderis a magnet for illegalimmigra t ion, ch i ldsmugglers , humantraffickers, drug cartels,gangs and many othercriminals. This nationalsecur i ty andhumani tar ian cr is isendangers everyAmerican and cannot bedescribed as anythingother than a NationalEmergency."Both chambers o fCongress had passed aresolution to overturnTrump's nat iona lemergency declarationto fund more border wall,which would use billionsfrom the Treasury andDefense departmentsafter Congress rejectedgiving Trump the ful lamount of border wall

money he requested forthe year.The decision sparkedcr i t i c ism f romRepubl icans andDemocrats alike, manyof whom argued thenat iona l emergencyaction would violate theConstitution.The House easily passedthe reso lu t ion o fdisapproval in February.A few weeks later, 12Senate Republ icansjo ined wi th SenateDemocrats to pass it,marking a sharp rebukefrom members of thePresident's own party ona key issue to his base.The President vetoed theb i l l one day a f ter i tcleared the Senate."Congress has thefreedom to pass th isresolution and I have theduty to veto it," Trumpsaid from the Oval Officebefore officially sending

the measure back toCongress without hisapproval.House Democrats ,meanwhile, were quick toannounce they wouldhold an override vote onMarch 26. "The Houseand Senate resoundinglyrejected the President'slawless power grab, yetthe President has chosento continue to defy theConst i tu t ion, the

Congress and the will ofthe American people,"Pe los i sa id in astatement at the time.But the House faced ahigh hurdle, needing atwo-thirds major i ty --ra ther than a s implemajority -- to override theveto. The House f irstpassed the bill 245-182.House Democrat icleaders were under noi l lus ion that the veto

overr ide would pass.Speaker Nancy Pelosisaid last week that thepoint of the vote is tomake it clear the newDemocratic-controlledHouse won't tolerate thePresident's persistencefor a border wall."Whether we cansucceed wi th thenumber of votes is notthe point," Pelosi said atan event in New York.

Key cooperating witnesses in college admissions scam sign plea agreements(Insider Bureau)-Mark Riddelland Rudy Meredith, two of themain cooperating witnesses inthe co l lege admiss ionsscandal, have signed pleaagreements with prosecutors inexchange for lesser sentences,according to courtdocuments.Riddell and Meredithrepresent the two prongs at theheart of the scheme: cheating onstandardized tests and bribingcollege coaches to falselyclassify an applicant as arecruited athlete, clearing a pathto admission.Meredith, theformer women's soccer coach at

Yale University, admitted toaccepting bribes in exchange fordesignating prospective studentsas recruits on the soccer team,according to the pleaagreement.Riddell, the formerdirector of college entrance exampreparation at IMG Academy, aprivate college prep school inFlorida, admitted he took testsin place of students, providedanswers for their tests andcorrected answers after thestudents comple ted the i rexams, the plea agreementsays. IMG has suspended himindefinitely.Both were part of

the sprawl ing co l legeadmiss ions scandal thatprosecutors revealed twoweeks ago that charged 50people, including 33 wealthyparents, of carrying out ascheme to get s tudentsf raudulent ly in to e l i teuniversities.The mastermindof the scheme, Rick Singer,is a lso cooperat ing wi thprosecutors . He p leadedguilty March 12 in federalcourt to racketeering, moneylaundering conspiracy,conspiracy to defraud the UnitedStates and obstruction of

justice.Meredith was the first ofthe three to begin cooperatingafter he was caught in an FBIsting soliciting a bribe from a

parent in exchange for helpingget the parent 's daughteradmitted to Yale as an athlete,according to court documents.

Yale rescinds admission of a student whose family paid $1.2 million to get her in(Insider Bureau)-Yale Universityhas rescinded the admission ofa student who was admitted aspart of the ongoing collegeadmissions scandal, the firstinstance of a school doing sosince the scheme became publictwo weeks ago.Yale has said twopeople applied to the universitywith fraudulent athleticendorsements from women'ssoccer coach Rudy Meredith.One was denied admissiondespite the endorsement, andthe other was admitted and wasattending Yale, the universitysaid on its website.A Yale

spokesman did not provide anymore information on the student.The decision comes as Yale,USC, UCLA and other majoruniversities deal with the falloutfrom the sprawling scandal.Prosecutors have arrested 50people, including 33 wealthyparents, for carrying out ascheme to cheat on standardizedtests and/or bribe collegecoaches, who then helped theprospective students gainadmission by falsely claimingthey were athletic recruits.Themastermind of the scheme, RickSinger, is cooperating with

prosecutors and has pleadedguilty to charges of racketeering,money laundering conspiracy,conspiracy to defraud the USand obstruction of justice.Meredith is also cooperating withprosecutors and has agreed toplead guilty to honest serviceswire fraud and related charges,according to court documents.Little is known about the identityof the Yale student who wasadmitted. The student isidentified in court documentsonly as "Yale Applicant 1."Aspart of the scheme, Singerhelped create a false athletic

profile for the student, courtdocuments state. Singer sent thatfake profile to Meredith, who thenfalsely designated the applicant

as a women's soccer recruit tohelp her gain admission to Yale,according to a criminalindictment.

23Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 SPECIAL FEATURE

China" to address the threatsthe country posed. Gaffney hasspent much of his time sinceleaving government in the 1980spropagating stridently anti-Islamic views.Even if Beijing faithfully kept itscommitments under a tradeagreement that Washington istrying to negotiate with China,the U.S. would still face seriousthreats in other areas and mustaddress those, Gaffney said."China's arsenal for globalsupremacy includes economic,informational, political andmilitary warfare," read astatement by James Fanell, aformer U.S. Navy intelligenceofficial focusing on Pacificsecurity affairs. The U.S. "haswitnessed already China'sexpansion into the vacuum of adiminishing U.S. presence inEast Asia," he said.Fanell argued that Washingtonneeded to regain a militarydeterrence position in the Indo-Pacific. "We already haveslipped," he said. "If we fall anyfurther, we may not recover."Sasha Gong, also a member of

the new CPD, said China was"waging an ideological war"against the U.S., which was"losing ground" and shouldconsider it "as urgent as militarydefense.""We are disarming ourselves;meanwhile Chinese are takingour ground, broadcasting here,taking our people and winninghearts and minds," said Gong,adding that the U.S. response toChina's aggression was "veryinadequate."Gong is the former chief of Voiceof America's Mandarin service.She was sackedby the U.S.government-funded broadcasteralong with two others inNovember for their involvement ina live-streamed 2017 interviewwith Chinese fugitive tycoon GuoWengui, who has used socialmedia to make corruptionaccusationsagainst seniorChinese officials including Vice-President Wang Qishan. In afaxed reply to the South ChinaMorning Post, China's Ministryof Foreign Affairs said that it hadnot heard about the organizationand that it was a "dead end" torevisit the cold war-era zero-summindset. "We have repeatedlystated our stances with regardto the 'China threat' cliché," theministry said. "We hope somepeople in the United States viewChina's development in properperspective, stop groundlessaccusations and defamationagainst China, and instead, bemore engaged in deeds thatwould benefit China-U.S.relations, the peace, stability andprosperity of the world," theministry said.Although the committee boastsa roster of China experts, it alsofeatures a number of U.S. publicfigures not known primarily asauthorities on the country'saffairs.The founders of the committeealso include Bannon, the formerWhite House chief strategist andco-founder of far-right news outletBreitbart, which he described inan interview with Americanmagazine Mother Jones as a"platform for the alt-right".Bannon is also known for beinga former vice-president ofCambridge Analytica, the now-defunct data analysis firm thatharvested the data of millions ofFacebook users to predict andinfluence political movements.

(Insider Bureau)- A group ofWashington policy advisers andformer U.S. government officialsincluding Steve Bannon haverevived a cold war-era advocacyorganization to take aim atChina, which it called "anaggressive totalitarian foe." TheCommittee on the PresentDanger: China, or CPDC, will belaunched to facilitate "publiceducation and advocacy againstthe full array of conventional andnon-conventional dangers" posedby the ruling Chinese CommunistParty, the group said in anannouncement on Monday.The committee's latest iterationunderscores the growth ofopposition to Beijing inWashington's policymakingcircles, which has helped to fuela bilateral tariff war started byPresident Donald Trump lastyear and a new law that willtighten oversight of Chineseinvestments in the United States.The Committee on the PresentDanger (CPD) was firstestablished in the early 1950s asa bulwark against the influenceof communism in the U.S. Thegroup disbanded after some

leading members were draftedinto the administration of DwightEisenhower, but in 1976 wasreformed by U.S. foreign policyhawks to counter the SovietUnion during the cold war.The committee members warnedat a press event in Washingtonon Monday that China had poseda broad range of threats to theU.S.: expanding military power,strengthening strategic nuclearcapability, stealing U.S.technology, repressing religions,human rights and minoritygroups, initiating "chemicalwarfare" by being the primesource of fentanyl reaching the

U.S. and influencing U.S.campuses and corporations."As with the Soviet Union in thepast, communist Chinarepresents an existential andideological threat to the UnitedStates and to the idea of freedom- one that requires a newAmerican consensus regardingthe policies and prioritiesrequired to defeat this threat," thecommittee's announcementsaid. The group's vice-chairman,Frank Gaffney, a defense adviserto former president RonaldReagan, said the committeehoped to "set the stage for aseries of national debates about

Jagan offered Rs 1500 cr to Congress highcommand to become CM: Farooq Abdullah

Former chief minister of Jammuand Kashmir Farooq Abdullah onTuesday alleged that YSRCongress president YSJaganmohan Reddy had offeredto pay Rs 1,500 crore to theCongress high command if hewas made the chief minister ofundivided Andhra Pradesh afterthe death of his father YSRajasekhar Reddy in 2009.Abdullah, the National

Conference leader, made thissensational claim at an electionrally that he addressed to seeksupport for Telugu Desam Partypresident and Andhra PradeshChief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu at Kadapa in the state.He said after YSR's death,Jagan had come to him andrequested his help (in convincingthe Congress high command)."Reddy told me he was ready to

offer Rs 1,500 crore to the highcommand if he was made thechief minister of the thencombined Andhra Pradesh," hesaid.He wondered from how Jaganhad made so much money. "Didhe have any treasure hiddensomewhere? Definitely, it musthave been looted from others. Ifsuch people are elected as thechief minister, they would onlyconcentrate on swindling money.Beware of such leaders," Abdullacautioned.Repeated attempts toreach out to YSRC generalsecretary and Rajya Sabhamember V Vijay Sai Reddy, whohas been with the party since itsinception, for his reaction onAbdullah's allegations provedfutile.On situation emerging afterPulwama terror attack, Abdullahsaid India should maintain good

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah has said that YSR?Congress chiefYS?Jaganmohan Reddy was ready to pay Rs 1,500 crore to the Congress high

command if he was promised chief ministerial berth.relations with the neighbouringcountries including Pakistan,rather than adopting aconfrontationist approach.He invoked former PrimeMinister Atal Behari Vajpayee tosay, "You can change yourfriends but, you cannot chooseyour neighbours." Abdullah saidthe Modi government shouldmake efforts to find peace withthe neighbours."If we maintaingood relations with ourneighbours, both will grow.Otherwise, both will suffer," hesaid.He accused the BharatiyaJanata Party of whipping upemotions of the people beforeevery election. "In the lastelection, they raised the issueof Ram Mandir. Now, they are nottalking about it," he said.Abdullah regretted that India atpresent had not been the sameit was during the Gandhi regime.

Cold War is back Bannon helps revive U.S.committee to target 'aggressive

totalitarian foe' China

24Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 SPECIAL FEATURE

(Agencies)- If special counselRobert Mueller had reached theopposite conclusion-that therewas a criminal conspiracybetween Donald Trump and theRussians to tilt the 2016 election-that would mean that a sittingU.S. president would be crediblyaccused of something very closeto treason. The fact that arespected and diligent prosecutordetermined that not to be thecase should be regarded even bypeople who loathe Trump as agood thing, no?The path to Mueller's conclusion,of course, was so littered withtroubling evidence that it took himand his investigators two yearsto walk it, and along the way theyproved criminal deceit by severalof Trump's closest associates.He and other agencies ofgovernment have also provedbeyond serious dispute that ahostile foreign powermanipulated a very close electionin ways that possibly, or even

probably, affected the outcome.Even people who love Trumpshould regard these as badthings, no?The answer to both questionsseems indeed to be no. Or, ifyes, only in the most sullen andgrudging way. We can't all seemto agree that it's a good thing thepresident didn't conspire withRussia, nor can we all admit thatthe Kremlin may have helpedelect Trump.Twenty-four hours after AttorneyGeneral William Barr announcedhis summary of Mueller'sfindings, Washington's mainplayers continued to stew andsnarl in ways that suggest thehistorical significance of hisinquiry will lie partly in hisconclusion but just as much inthe fractious way it is beingreceived.Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)said he wants to keepinvestigating-this time, the peoplewho promoted the Russia

investigation in the first place.House Minority Leader KevinMcCarthy said his fellowCalifornian, Democrat AdamSchiff, who has been outspokenin alleging Trump-Russiacollusion, should resign aschairman of the HouseIntelligence Committee; at theWhite House, KellyanneConway said he should quitCongress altogether. Meanwhile,Democrats in Congress and onthe presidential trail sounded aconsistent refrain: They won't buyconclusions from the Muellerprobe until they see his fullreport, not simply Barr'ssummary.By all appearances, Muellerdelivered on his end of thebargain: His investigation wasthoroughly professional. Yet thenotion that this would bringfinality to an argument wasplainly a fantasy floating downfrom an earlier age.Forty-five years ago, after

Donald Trump just made sure health care will decide the 2020 election(Agencies)- Just 24 hoursremoved from arguably his bestday as President, Donald Trumppicked a political fight he cannotwin.On Monday night, the Trumpadministration announced that itnow supports a ruling from aTexas judge that would invalidatethe entire Affordable Care Act --aka Obamacare -- a move thatalmost certainly will push thefight over how health care isdelivered in this country to theSupreme Court."The Departmentof Justice has determined thatthe district court'scomprehensive opinion came tothe correct conclusion and willsupport it on appeal," said KerriKupec, a spokesperson for theJustice Department.Thatdecision, which caught evenmany Trump allies by surprise,again thrusts the health careissue to the center of the politicaldebate, and virtually ensures thatthe 2020 election -- like the 2018,2016, 2014, 2012 and 2010elections before it -- will turn onthe ACA.It's a baffling move forTrump, who spent most ofMonday basking in the glow of aseries of conclusions, accordingto Attorney General Bill Barr, in

special counsel Robert Mueller'sreport that were about asfavorable as the President couldhave hoped for: That the specialcounsel did not establish thatanyone in Trump's campaignconspired with the Russiangovernment in 2016 electioninterference, and that there wasnot sufficient evidence for Barr toestablish an obstruction ofjustice charge against thePresident.Switching the spotlightof the national debate fromRussia to health care so quicklywould be risky under anycircumstances but is particularlyproblematic given that a) thepast five elections have shownthat people care deeply aboutand vote on the issue of healthcare and b) gett ing r id ofObamacare is not a broadlypopular v iew wi th theAmer ican pub l ic .Trumpindicated Tuesday that heplanned to take that viewhead-on: "The RepublicanParty will become 'The Partyof Healthcare!'" he tweeted.In a February, Kaiser FamilyFoundation poll on the ACA,50% approved of it while 37%disapproved. In fact, since

President Barack Obama leftoffice in January 2017, hiss ignature leg is la t iveaccomplishment -- and theone that bears his name -- hasgrown steadily more popular.Since May 2017, according toKaiser data, more people haveapproved of Obamacare thandisapprove -- a sea changefrom most of the previous fiveyears, when the law wasconsistently underwater interms of approval. Many of theprovisions of the law that havelong been the most popular --allowing kids to stay on theirparents' insurance through age26, no d iscr iminat ion byinsurance companies because

of a pat ient 's preexist ingconditions -- remain in effect.The least popular provision --the individual mandate thatforced everyone in the countryto have some sort of healthcare - - was e f fec t ive lyeliminated by congressionalRepublicans (and Trump) inthe i r 2017 tax law.Thosenumbers explain why HouseDemocrats ran hundreds uponhundreds of TV ads during the2018 midterm e lec t ionsmaking the case thatRepublicans, if they had theirway, would have eliminatedObamacare a l together."Republ icans wi l l doabsolutely anything to divert

attention away from their votesto take away Americans' healthcare," then House MinorityLeader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said in the daysleading up to the midterms.And, fol lowing Democrats'takeover of the House in 2018,Pelos i was just as c lear ;"Heal th care was on theballot, and health care won,"she said.The data back up Pelosi'sposition. More than 4 in 10voters in 2018 said that healthcare was their top priority inthe elect ion, according toexit polling. Democrats wonthose health care voters by 52points. 52!

Watergate resulted in RichardNixon's resignation, evenRepublicans joined in the ritualsermonizing about how theepisode proved the primacy oflaw. No doubt even in those daysthere was ample pretensebeneath the piety-of courseDemocrats were gloating andRepublicans were plottingpayback. But the very fact thatthey bothered to pretend revealeda basic respect that Americanpolitical culture was on the level.These days, the one point onwhich warring sides all seem toagree is that American political

culture in the Trump era isfundamentally not on the level.The real conspiracy was betweenDemocrats and the media topromote a bogus narrativeagainst Trump. Or the realconspiracy is Barr's blandsummary of Mueller's findings-instead of turning over toCongress the actual report-andhis refusal to pursue anobstruction case against hisboss, despite Mueller's view, asBarr described it, that theevidence points in both directionsand "does not exonerate" thepresident.

If You Thought Mueller Had Settled Matters, Think AgainIn today’s Washington, even the rule of law goes

through the partisan wringer.

25Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 BUSINESS

Anil Ambani thanks brother Mukesh, Nita for clearing RCom duesIn a surprise twist, the embattled former billionaire thanked his brother

Mukesh, and his sister-in-law, after Reliance Communications Ltd. madethe required 5.5 billion rupee ($80 million) payment to Ericsson.

(Agencies)- Embattled billionaireAnil Ambani Monday warded offa possible jail term as RComcleared dues of a Swedishservice provider at the eleventhhour with money received fromelder brother Mukesh and his wifeNita, whom he thanked forstanding by him in trying timesand extending "timely support".Anil's heavily debt-laden RelianceCommunications made a Rs 550crore payment, includinginterest, to Ericsson just a daybefore expiry of the deadline setby the Supreme Court to cleardues or face a three-month jailterm.Soon after making thepayment, RCom announcedtermination of a Rs 17,000 croredeal to sell telecom assets likespectrum, fibre and tower toMukesh's Reliance Jio, citingdelays in approvals from thegovernment and lenders.Anil,whose businesses in telecomand power sectors went intoheavy debt in the face ofregulatory headwinds and

intense competition, thankedMukesh and his wife Nita forbailing him out."My sincere andheartfelt thanks to my respectedelder brother, Mukesh, and Nita,for standing by me during thesetrying times, and demonstratingthe importance of staying true toour strong family values byextending this timely support," alate night statement issued byAnil's firm quoted him as saying.Anil said he and his family "aregrateful" and "deeply touched withthis gesture" that they "havemoved beyond the past".In thestatement, RCom said Rs 550crore dues to Ericsson, includinginterest dues, has been made incompliance with the SupremeCourt judgement.However, thecompany did not give detailsabout the source of funds butcited "timely support" fromMukesh in the trying times.The two brothers had fought abitter public battle after his fatherDhirubhai died without leaving awill. They split his businesses

between themselves, with Anilgetting telecom and power whileMukesh retained oil andpetrochemical businesses.The split did not end the feud andthe two bickered overcommitment of Mukesh'Reliance Industries for supply ofgas to Anil's power plants. In2008, Anil's RCom wanted tomerge with South Africa's MTNbut the move was thwarted byMukesh citing his holding rightof first refusal.Since then, thetwo brothers scrapped a no-compete agreement andMukesh re-entered telecombusiness in 2016 offering freevoice call for life and data at dirtcheap prices.As debt grew,RCom, in December 2017,entered into a deal with Jio tosell spectrum and other assetssuch as fibre network andtelecom towers for an estimatedRs 17,000 crore.But the dealcould not progress amidregulatory hurdles faced as theDepartment of

Telecommunications wanted awritten assurance on who wouldpay for RCom's dues such asspectrum fee.Jio refused tomake a commitment to pay forsuch fee and lenders to RComalso played hardball, resulting inthe deal falling through.In separate statements, RComand Jio announced scrapping ofthe deal, citing delays in gettingapprovals from the governmentand lenders."The said transactionshave become incapable of beingconsummated in accordance withthe terms thereof, on account ofvarious factors anddevelopments since theexecution of the said

agreements nearly 15 monthsago...," RCom said.Jio said themaster agreement for acquisitionof certain specific assets ofRCom and the spectrum tradingagreement for change inallotment of certain specificspectrum stand terminated.This,it said, also follows the Board ofDirectors of RCom passing aresolution to seek fast trackr e s o l u t i o n t h r o u g hbankruptcy court and theN a t i o n a l C o m p a n y L a wAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT)on February 4 restricting thesale, transfer or alienation ofany movable or immovableproperty of RCom.

26Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 BUSINESS

Raghuram Rajan raises doubts about India growingat 7%, says cloud over GDP data needs to be cleared

(Agencies)- Former RBIGovernor Raghuram RajanTuesday expressed doubts overIndian economy growing at 7 percent when not enough jobs werebeing created and said thecurrent cloud over the GDPnumbers must be cleared byappointing an impartial body tolook at the data.Rajan, who has also served asChief Economist at theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF), said he had no idea whatstatistics are pointing atcurrently and "a revamp" wasneeded "to really figure out whatIndia's true growth rate is"."I know one minister (in theNarendra Modi government) hassaid (that) how can we begrowing at 7 per cent and nothave jobs. Well, one possibilityis that we are not growing at 7per cent," he told CNBC TV18.He did not name the minister.Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyhas been stoutly defending thegrowth data saying an economy

cannot be growing at 7-8 per centwithout creating jobs. He hasalso stated that no major socialagitation indicates it hasn't beenjobless growth.Rajan, who was Reserve Bankof India (RBI) Governor betweenSeptember 2013 and September2016, said a stronger broad-based growth is needed thatcreates more jobs.On doubts being raised by someover economic data after revisionin growth rate, he said a cleanup act is needed and an impartialbody appointed to look at thenumbers."I just think that we need now toessentially clean up, find outwhat in fact is the source ofconfusion with the new GDPnumbers, with the revisions etc.I would say setting up animpartial body to look at it is animportant step to resortingconfidence," he said.The impartial body maythrowback the same numbers but"we absolutely need better

confidence in our GDP numbersnow given the back and forth wehave had".In November 2018, the CentralStatistics Office (CSO) loweredthe GDP growth for previousCongress-led UPA byrecalibrating national accounts.After this, the four years of thecurrent government showedhigher average growth than thatachieved during the UPA.Last month, the governmentrevised the economic growthrate upwards to 7.2 per cent for2017-18 from 6.7 per centestimated earlier.Questions have been raisedabout the government notmaking public the NSSO laboursurvey that reportedly putunemployment rate in 2017 at a45-year high.Earlier this month, a group of108 economists and socialscientists said that lately, theIndian statistics and theinstitutions associated with ithave however come under a

cloud for being influenced andindeed even controlled bypolitical considerations."In fact, any statistics that castan iota of doubt on theachievement of the governmentseem to get rev ised orsuppressed on the basis ofsome quest ionablemethodology," the group hadsaid in a statement.Jaitley had countered themsaying 70 per cent of them werecompulsive contrarians, a termhe had coined to thrashopponents of Prime MinsterNarendra Modi-led governmentearlier.Rajan, who is on a tour topromote his new book 'The Third

Pillar', said a broad-basedgrowth that creates meaningfuljobs for people was needed."We need stronger broad-basedgrowth, which primarily for mostpeople means good jobs. Whatwe need to do is focus on howdo we create good jobs forthe vast number of people whoare leaving schools, who areleaving agriculture, who areleaving universities, in sucha way that they can expandIndia's growth," he said. "Lotof people have said thepopulation dividend shouldnot become a populationcurse. This is the time when weneed to make sure that in factdoesn't happen," he added.

'Double standards' Vijay Mallya tweet attacksCentre after Jet Airways loan

(Agencies)- Fugitive liquor baronVijay Mallya has tweeted againoffering to return the money heowns several banks as he hit outat the NDA government for its"double standards" for nothelping him out. Vijay Mallyapointed out in a series of tweetsthat the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliancegovernment did nothing for himeven though he invested croresof rupees into his now defunctKingfisher Airlines, a day after aconsortium of lenders led by theState Bank of India took controlof Jet Airways to save the airlinefrom bankruptcy."I invested over 4000 crores intoKingfisher Airlines to save theCompany and its employees.Not recognised and instead

slammed in every possible way.The same PSU Banks let India'sfinest airline with the bestemployees and connectivity failruthlessly. Double standardsunder NDA," Vijay Mallyatweeted on Tuesday.Mallya also questioned the BJP'scriticism of the UnitedProgressive Alliance governmentunder Manmohan Singh for itsefforts to bail out his KingfisherAirlines."BJP spokesman eloquently readout my letters to PM ManmohanSingh and alleged that PSUBanks under the UPAGovernment had wronglysupported Kingfisher Airlines.Media decimated me for writingto the current PM. I wonder whathas changed now under the NDA

Government," Mallya said.The controversial businessman,who is contesting India'sextradition bid in UK courts, onceagain urged banks to take hismoney against the loansextended to his companies."And I repeat once again that Ihave placed liquid assets beforethe Hon'ble Karnataka HighCourt to pay off the PSU Banksand all other creditors. Why dothe Banks not take my money.It will help them to save JetAirways if nothing else," he said.The 63-year-old businessman ison bail on an extradition warrantexecuted by Scotland Yard inApril 2017 after Indian authoritiesbrought fraud and moneylaundering charges amounting toRs 9,000 crore against him.

'Double standards'Vijay Mallya pointed out in a series of tweets that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance

government did nothing for him even though he invested crores of rupees into his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

Mallya flew out of India to theUnited Kingdom in March 2016around the same time, thegovernment says, agenciesclosed in on him for bank fraud.On January 5, Vijay Mallyabecame the first Indianbusinessman to be declared a

fugitive economic offender by aspecial court in Mumbai.A fugitive economic offender is aperson against whom an arrestwarrant has been issued forcommitting an offence and whohas left India to avoid criminalprosecution.

Rajan, who has also served as Chief Economist at theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), said he had no idea whatstatistics are pointing at currently and "a revamp" was needed

"to really figure out what India's true growth rate is".

27Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 HEALTH

According to a recent study, consistently eatingbreakfast as a family can also promote positive body

image for children and adolescents.

A family that eats together, staystogether, and now, according toa recent study, consistentlyeating breakfast as a family canalso promote positive bodyimage for children andadolescents.

The study suggests that parentshoping to raise teenagers withpositive body image might justfind helpful tools in the kitchenevery morning."We know that developing healthybehaviours in adolescence such

as eating breakfast every dayand eating family meals can havelong-term effects into adulthood.Children and adolescents areunder a lot of pressure from socialmedia and pop culture when itcomes to physical appearance.

Eating breakfast with parents linked withpositive body image for teenagers: Study

Treating diabetes mayprevent Alzheimer's disease

Scientists consider Alzheimer's as the result of acascade of multiple problems including factors

ranging from pollution exposure and genetics toheart and metabolic diseases.

Treating Type-2 diabetes mayprevent people from developingAlzheimer's disease, says a newstudy. Patients with untreateddiabetes develop signs ofAlzheimer's disease 1.6 timesfaster than people who did nothave diabetes, according to thestudy published in the journalDiabetes Care. Scientistsconsider Alzheimer's as theresult of a cascade of multipleproblems including factorsranging from pollution exposureand genetics to heart andmetabolic diseases. "It ispossible that the medicines fortreating diabetes might make adifference in the progression ofbrain degeneration," said DanielA. Nation, Associate Professorat University of SouthernCalifornia. "But it's unclear howexactly those medications might

slow or prevent the onset ofAlzheimer's disease, so that issomething we need toinvestigate," he added. For thestudy, the researchers analyseddata on nearly 1,300 peopleaged 55 and older. Data includedbiomarkers for diabetes andvascular disease, brain scansand a range of health indicators,including performance onmemory tests. Among 900 ofthose patients, more than 50 hadType-2 diabetes who did notreceive any treatment, whereasnearly 70 were undergoingtreatment. In addition, nearly 530participants had normal bloodsugar levels while 250 hadprediabetes. "Our findingsemphasise the importance ofcatching diabetes or othermetabolic diseases in adults asearly as possible," Nation said.

Having a healthy relationship withfood from eating breakfast andspending meal time with familymight have a significant impacton well-being," said VirginiaRamseyer, one of the leadresearchers.Researchers analyzed data frommore than 12,000 students inmore than 300 schools in all 50states and Washington D.C.They looked at data related toeating behaviours, includingfrequency of eating breakfast andeating meals with a parent.The researchers found that eatingbreakfast during the week morefrequently was associated withpositive body image. Just overhalf of the sample reported eatingbreakfast five days a week;

however, nearly 17 per centreported never eating breakfast.More than 30 per cent reportedeating breakfast fewer than fivetimes a week. The researchersalso found that boys were morelikely to eat breakfast than girls.Additionally, the researchersfound that children were muchmore likely to have a positivebody image if they regularly atebreakfast with a parent."We know that the healthbehaviours of a parent can havelong-term effects on a child.Results of this study suggestthat positive interactions withfood-- such as eating breakfastand having family meals together-- could be associated with bodyimage," Ramseyer asserted.

Eating this food will not just benefityour diet but also the environment

Including these foods like lentils, okra, sweet potato, moringa and morein your diet will benefit not just your health but the planet, tooEarlier this year, a list of

50 chosen food items was putout, as a means to guidesustainable ways of living. In thereport, Peter Gregory, researchadvisor, Crops For the Future,stated, "Diversified diets not onlyimprove human health but benefitthe environment throughdiversified production systemsthat encourage wildlife and moresustainable use of resources."These days, many are open tochanging their eating pattern andlifestyle to save the environmentfrom further degradation.Pooja Thacker, dietician,explains the benefits of the Indianfood items that made it to thislist.RagiThe reddish brown colour of ragihas important phenols like gallicacid and ferulic acid, It also hasanthocynins, flavonoids and isanti-tumourogenic. These factorshelp in reducing blood sugarlevels. It is also one of the richestsources of calcium. Ragi is good

for menopausal women as ithelps in handling mood swingsand osteoporosis issues. As ithas a little bitter aftertaste, onecan consume it as desserts.Ragi can also be added to batterof idli or chapati to make it soft.Wild RiceThese grains are black in colourand rich in folate and magnesium,which help in improving bonehealth and boosting immunity. Itis a heart-friendly grain due to itsfolate content. It also helpsprevent birth defects. It has achewy texture, and an earthy andnutty taste. It can be cooked andconsumed like regular rice.MoongIt is a good source of easilydigestible protein. Moong is a richsource of glutamine, which helpsto maintain gut immunity and tofight infections. It is also good forneuro functioning in infants. Itsarginine helps in release of nitricoxide and causes vasodilation,which is a big factor in preventingheart diseases. Also, sprouting

of moong helps in improving itsvitamin C level. Combine rice andmoong in the ratio of 7:3 to makea healthy and balanced meal.SpeltIt is similar to wheat but the huskis hard, which makes it rich inminerals such as zinc and B-complex vitamins including B3,B2, and B1. It has a nutty flavourand absorbs a lot of water. It canalso be used in place of maidain pasta, biscuits, noodles,cakes and other bakery items.But beware, it is not a gluten-freegrain.SesameIt has sesamin and sesamolin,which are fibre-rich sources thathelp in reducing the cholesterollevels in the body. It is also richin vitamin E, hence it is beneficialfor skin and hair. It helps inmaintaining their glow andprotects them from externalfactors. Use it as cooking ortempering oil. You can also optto drizzle it over salads in placeof olive oil.

28Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 FASHION AND TRENDS

Top 5 beard care guide for this season

If there's one question thatirritates the beardsmen oftoday is when someonerepeatedly asks them, "Howcan you keep a beard insummers"? Althoughmaintaining a beard duringsummertime can be tough, it'snot an impossible task. We gotin touch with hair experts RodAnker and Jawed Habib anddermatologist Rajat Khandariwho tell us what it takes to keepyour beard cool in thescorching heat.1)Clean thy beard: If you wantyour beard to be healthy, cleanyour beard two times a day.

The sweat, hot temperature anddampness in this weather canhamper your skin causingirritation, bad odour and dryness.Therefore, use a beard wash thatcontains a blend of natural oilsto hydrate and replenish yourskin. However, do not washyour beard in excess as itmight make your beard dry andabrasive. 2)Moisturize thybeard: In summers, your beardhair tends to be coarse, whichcauses irritation. Use a beardmoisturiser to combat bearditching. You can opt for amoisturiser that containsingredients like aloe, chamomile,

and tea tree oil.3)Hydrate thy beard: Dehydrationis quite common in hot summers.When your beard is dehydrated,it becomes dry and brittle.Hence, for a healthy beard,adequate hydration is anecessity.4)Soften thy beard: A soft beardis easy to maintain. Use a beardoil or conditioner to keep yourbeard hair soft and cool duringthe summer season.5)Trim thy beard: A heavy beardcan lead to an itchy skin or evenacne. It would be preferable totrim the beard as a trimmedbeard is easier to maintain.

Fashion trends 2019Fashion trends 2019Fashion trends 2019Fashion trends 2019Fashion trends 2019 How to experiment withdifferent styles this Spring

With spring in full glory it's time to make your wardrobe au courant withthe latest trends. Here are some styles you can experiment with.

With spring in full glory it's timeto make your wardrobe au courant withthe latest trends. Here are some stylesyou can experiment with.DenimWe are seeing various interpretations ofdenims that look sophisticated. Here,model Kunal Sareen is wearing araincoat-style denim outerwear pairedwith denim pants and multicolouredsneakers.Injecting technicoloursBold colours are never a bad idea.Colour-blocking is going to be a hit inthe coming seasons too. Model Srishti

is wearing a shredded cord blue kurtateamed with green pants from RimzimDadu. The orange heels are amping upthe entire look.Neon nationNeon green is the newest colour trend of2019. They are shockingly bright but ifyou style it right, you wouldn't look likea highlighter for sure. Here, Puneet Baidis wearing a figure-hugging neon t-shirtwith a pair of floral pants from Sahil Aneja.Model Monika Negi is wearing amultifunctional skirt with her sleevelessneon t-shirt from NoughtOne.Feline dreamsUnleash your animal instinct and pickthe hottest trend of the season. ModelDaphi is wearing a leopard print jumpsuit

from Shivan & Narresh and her hair hasbeen tied in a slick ponytail. ModelAdarsh Raj is wearing his leopard printshirt with olive flared pants from DhruvVaish.Pastel playAs you pick colours for the season, makesure you invest in buying clothes in pastelshades as they are cheery and delightfulto look at. Model Sachin Kabir is wearinga striped pastel shirt with matchingpastel blue pants. Namrata is wearing apastel pink angrakha with a skirt fromGood Earth.Easy Handloom Do your bit to promote local artisans andweavers. Designers are promotinghandlooms by making trendy clothes

catering to the millennial. Here, modelGaurav Chaudhary is wearing a yellowjacket and flared pants with a checkeredshirt from Antar Agni and Pero. ModelNamrata Chandra is seen in a red jacketwith lungi skirt from Pero. Spring flowersadorn as a crown on Namrata's head fora vivacious vibe.Multicoloured magicLet the blooming flowers set yourmood right as you pick multicolouredpieces for spring. Model RishabhThakur is wearing a multicolouredbelted jacket from Shivan & Narreshand denims from Sahil Aneja. ModelMandeep Kaur is wearing amulticoloured striped jumpsuit fromSiddhartha Bansal.

Is it too hot to keep a beard? Is it too itchy?Here's an expert guide on how to keep your

beard cool during summers.

29Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 MOVIE REVIEW

How to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World

Dear Dreamworks, please don't make anotherHow to Train Your Dragon The Hidden World movie review:

Dreamworks concludes its most heartfelt series on an emotionallysatisfying note. Here's hoping they stop. Rating: 3.5/5.

PhotographSanya Malhotra, Nawazuddin Siddiqui star in a poetic film about a dreamy city. 4.5 stars

How to Train Your Dragon: TheHidden WorldDirector - Dean DeBloisCast - Jay Baruchel, AmericaFerrera, F Murray Abraham,Craig Ferguson, Cate Blanchett,Jonah Hill, Kit HaringtonRating - 3.5/5It's a little serendipitous thatHow to Train Your Dragon: TheHidden World is being releasedin India in the same week thatDisney debuted the first trailerfor Toy Story 4. There are severalsimilarities between the two filmseries, not at all limited to theirthematic connections, but alsoin the more abstract sense -what the films mean to an entiregeneration that has grown upwith them, and more worryingly,what they might become.I am still in contemplatingwhether or not there is any pointin watching Toy Story 4, whichis perhaps the mostunnecessary sequel ever madein the history of cinema. The

risks are simply too large. Achildhood (and the reputation ofa perfect trilogy) is at stake. I'vebeen Jason Bourn-ed before.How to Train Your Dragon isn't asprecious as the Toy Story movies,but to the children who grew upwith it - as I did with Toy Story - itcan be. Almost a decade haspassed since the first HTTYD,and the legions of 10-year-oldswho must've dragged their parentsto watch it in 2010 are nowprobably adults - like Hiccup inthe film.This unusually long gap betweeninstalments probably wasn't whatDreamworks intended, especiallyin an era when the goal withblockbuster filmmaking seems tobe to churn out sequels asquickly as possible, beforeaudiences get distracted. But asit turns out, the delay has been ablessing in disguise, addingunexpected emotional heft toHiccup and his dragon Toothless'journey, in a very Antoine Doinel/

Before Sunrise/Harry Potter way.In the Hidden World, Hiccup hascultivated a human-dragon utopia- the only one of its kind - muchto the fear and jealousy of agroup of warlords, who areparanoid that Hiccup is sitting ontoo much power. The warlords hirean infamous dragon hunternamed Grimmel to captureToothless, by luring him with afemale Night Fury. To evadeGrimmel (F Murray Abraham,less blood curdlingly terrifying asDjimon Hounsou's DragoBludvist from the second film) andthe warlords, Hiccup decides togo on a quest to find the HiddenWorld, about which his latefather Stoic used to tell himstories as a child.What follows is a lessspectacular but enjoyable entryin the series, defined by writer-director Dean DeBlois' mythictake on the story, which sets itapart from other Dreamworksfranchises.Dreamworks is in

many ways the Marvel to Pixar'sDC - less serious, more relianton popular stars and morevibrant.Perhaps the biggest indicator forhow the times have changedsince the first film is in thecasting. A decade ago, hiring thebiggest names in comedy madeall sorts of sense, especially ifthey were graduates of the JuddApatow school of success; asJay Baruchel, Jonah Hill,Christopher Mintz-Plasse andKristen Wiig were. A decadeago, thanks to Ugly Betty,America Ferrera was huge, CraigFerguson was killing it on late

night TV, and Gerard Butlerwaspoised to become our next greataction star.This movie itself hasbeen years in the making, as isevidenced in the character ofTuffnut, who has been given alarger role, but is no longervoiced by TJ Miller. Miller's starhad risen considerably in recentyears thanks to his role in HBO'sSilicon Valley (hence theexpanded role), but recent sexualharassment allegations (not tomention reports of him being abully on set, and that fake bombthreat that he called in once)presumably led to him beingremoved.

PhotographDirector: Ritesh BatraCast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui,Sanya MalhotraRating: 4.5/5They say the camera never lies.This is, quite obviously, a lie. Thecamera is a tool of glorification,vilification and investigation asmuch as it is an instrument ofaccuracy. Ritesh Batra's newfilm Photograph features astreetside photographer - onewho sells the conceit thatstanding by a monument is itselfmonumental - and the film tellsthe story of a girl who allows herplainness to define her. Oneafternoon, a photograph flattersher. The lie is as white as theback of a picture.As pictures go,this looks exceptional.Cinematographer Ben Kutchinsshoots Mumbai by frequently

composing frames that look likestill photographs. It is a filmsmitten with the city, capturingthe round central counters of theGeneral Post Office with a lovelyaerial shot, reminiscent of theway we'd seen the Library OfCongress in All The President'sMen. As the girl surprised by herown picture would attest, it isindeed all about the beholder.Hername is Miloni - meaning'achiever' - and she is a studentso good that her picture is on thehoarding of a coaching institute,complete with a clip-art crown onher head. Yet she has never beenmade to feel special. She istaken aback by the new picture,passing it around to studentsminding the Ps and Qs ofChartered Accountancy, friendsas surprised as her. A suitor,disappointed by the girl across

from him, tells her she looksgreat… in the picture. Herreaction to the picture is that ofdisbelief - and of trust. Thattourist-hunting photographer hasfound something in her, makingher feel less plain.Thephotographer, Rafi, is a creatureof routine, who buys a kulfi at thevery end of the month and hashis patter memorised: his spielincludes a line about the waytime will fade but the sunlight onyour face will stay, in thisphotograph. Miloni, on a rareimpulse, indulges him, but beforehe can give her the near-instantpicture, before he can - in hiswords - 'cover today in plastic,'she has vanished.He has otherproblems. A belligerentgrandmother is holding him toransom, halting her medicationtill he chooses a bride. Backed

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra star Ritesh Batra'snew film, a homecoming for the filmmaker, who has worked

with Robert Redford and Julia Roberts. Rating: 4.5 stars

into a corner, he sends her theunclaimed picture, claiming thisgirl is the one for him, thrilling thelady who now wants to spendtime with the girl. This is as i tuat ion s t ra ight out o fclassic comedy - but the thingabout Mumbai is that i tdoesn't always feel l ike acomedy, and the thing aboutfarce is that pratfalls actuallyhur t .Bat ra is a keen andinsightful observer, and Miloni isan arresting character. When she

sucks on a gola on a Mumbaiwaterfront, Rafi predicts she'll fallill and, lo and behold, a coupleof scenes later, she's sick. Shelives a life so sanitised and blandthat when - playacting as Rafi'smake-believe girlfriend 'Noorie' -the grandmother enquires abouther parents, she concocts agruesome story of them havingdied under a collapsing masjidwall. She pretends she haswounds so she can pretend tofeel pain.

30Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 ENTERTAINMENT

Salman Khan poses with Jacqueline Fernandez, herdoppleganger Amanda Cerny at Notebook screening

(Insider Bureau) - Just a day after JacquelineFernandez shared pictures with herdoppleganger Amanda Cerny, a new picture hassurfaced online that shows her Kick co-star Salman Khan posing alongwithAmanda and her. A user shared thepicture and revealed that the trio werecl icked at a special screening ofSalman's home production, Notebook.

In the picture, Amanda gives aflying kiss while Jacqueline pouts for thecamera as Salman smiles, caughtbetween the two ladies.On Wednesday, Jacqueline had askedAmanda to come and meet her in Mumbai, towhich Amanda had a quick reply. Amanda thenshared her plans of a Mumbai trip. Amanda livesin Germany and has a fan following of her ownwith more than 24 mil l ion fol lowers onInstagram. Last year, Amanda had posted avideo on Instagram where she said she will post

a message on Salman's page stating why sheshould feature in his next movie. Jacqueline waslast seen opposite Salman Khan in Race 3,

which managed to survive at the box office butwas criticised by critics. She will now be seenalongside Sushant Singh Rajput in the action-thriller, Drive. The film is being directed by TarunMansukhani and also stars Pankaj Tripathi,Boman Irani and Sonal Chauhan. It is scheduledto release on June 28 this year.

Jacaqueline Fernandez recently invited herdoppleganger Amanda Cerny to visit her in Mumbai

and they were soon spotted posing with Salman Khan.

Chhapaak: Deepika Padukone is jumping withjoy after positive reactions to first look

(Insider Bureau) - Actor DeepikaPadukone is on cloud nine afterreceiving a wonderful response toher first look from the film,Chhapaak. The actor plays anacid attack survivor called Maltiin the film, the first look of whichwas shared a few days ago.Deepika shared a boomerangvideo of herself in her instagramstories to share her happiness.The actor can be seen jumpingwith excitement outside her vanityvan in the video. Deepika is seen

with a disfigured face in the firstlook of the film. The actor hadshared it with the caption, "Acharacter that will stay with meforever...#Malti." Chhapaak isbeing directed by Meghna Gulzarof Raazi fame and is based onthe life of acid attack survivorLaxmi Agarwal. SeveralBollywood stars and Laxmiherself had praised her look.Deepika's husband RanveerSingh was among the first onesto comment on the look.

Tamannaah Bhatia confesses she would love to go on a date with Vicky KaushalActor Tamannaah Bhatia has spoken about the #MeToomovement and expressed concern saying that it should

have been treated on a more serious note.

(Insider Bureau) -ActorTamannaah Bhatia had recentlyjoked about relaxing the no-kissclause in her contract for HrithikRoshan. The actor has nowrevealed that if she would hasto go on a date with aBollywood actor, she would liketo choose Vicky Kaushal.In an interview to Pinkvilla,Tamannaah also spoke aboutthe MeToo movement claimingit to be turning into a 'PR ploy'.The Baahubali actor said, "You

know there were differentallegations made on differentpeople and I think the whole ideaof #MeToo movement was to getpeople to talk about it and sharetheir experiences. If there is anexperience that someone hadand if they are talking about, ittakes a lot of courage to do that.But somewhere I feel me toomovement lost its gush becauseit became more of a PR ploywhich shouldn't have been. Itshould have been given its due

respect and should have beentreated with more serious senseand more serious note," sheadded.Earlier in an interview to DeccanChronicle, Tamannaah hadshared her experience of workingwith Sajid Khan, who wasaccused of sexual harassmentby several women. She had said,"He never treated me in any badway and I was completelycomfortable working with him.Everyone has a different

experience and everybody isentitled to their own opinion andexperience. If Vidya has had abad experience, it's normal forher to react like that."She had also called theentertainment professional andhad said, "Nobody forces youand in my case, I was veryspecific when I started mycareer. I had that clarity. It is myperspective and I stick to thatand nobody can force you in thefilm industry or the worldwide.When people say I was forcedto do it, I don't understand thatbecause you are a matureindividual and you can make achoice."

31Friday 29 March to 5 April 2019 ENTERTAINMENT

Demi Rose catches the eye as she slips her killercurves into low-cut beaded dress during her

24th birthday celebrations in London(Insider Bureau) - She recentlytreated herself to a refreshing trip toIsrael for her 24th birthday. And DemiRose was back on home turf as shecelebrated her milestone with palsat Knightsbridge's Ciro PizzaPomodoro restaurant, beforeheading to The Box Club in Soho,London, on Wednesday evening.The model ensured she garneredattention on her special day as sherocked a cream and black mididress, embellished with beadedpetal detailing throughout.Highlighting her famouslycurvaceous figure, the Instagramsensation exhibited her eye-poppingcleavage in the perilously low-cutnumber. The brunette bombshellmaintained the two-tone theme withher choice of footwear as she rockeda pair of black platform heels,featuring a perspex strap. Demitoted a sophisticated chain-straphandbag and added a pop of colourto her look with a fresh red manicure.With her glossy tresses styled into

beachy waves, the vixen complementedher out-of-this-world beauty with flutteryfalse lashes, blush-swept cheeks andnude lipgloss for the perfect poutShe started her special day by thankingher fans for their ongoing support asshe shared a jaw-dropping snap ofherself clad in a skimpy white bikinifrom her recent trip to Israel. Whilststood in the murky waters of the DeadSea, the model smiled at the camera,with her long brunette locks elegantlycascading down her shoulders.She captioned the stunning shot: '24today! I feel so happy, grateful to behere and blessed to have what I have.'My friends, the love that's in my lifeand the support I have got given fromyou all along my years.'I'm ready to take on another year andwhat it may bring. Thank you for all yourbirthday wishes! Love you guys.'Meanwhile, Demi has revealed that amove to LA could be in the works dueto her acting desires.Speaking to The Sun, she revealed:'Movies have always been a passion of

mine since I went to stage school. Butanother ambition is to become a BondGirl, as I love the style and glamour ofthose films'.Kylie Jenner lookalike Demi was firstpropelled into the spotlight when shewas linked to the reality star's ex,rapper Tyga, after they split.The starhas since gained a huge following onInstagram and she is known to displayher incredible curves in a number ofrisque ensembles.So, of course, shewas more than happy to divulge thesecrets to her sensationally curvyfigure in an exclusive chat withMailOnline.In September, Demirevealed: 'I try to keep as healthy as Ican. With travelling, it's hard to workout, I travel across the world but try tokeep my routine...Everyone says I'mthe healthiest person they know. Thefattiest thing I will ever eat is nuts andpeanut butter...'My figure just gainsweight so fast. Any bad thing I eat mybody isn't used to it and just puts onthe weight. That means no birthdaycake!...

Kylie Jenner 'quit filming Keeping Up With TheKardashians as she grieved for Jordyn Woods friendship'(Insider Bureau) - As the dramatic new trailerfor Keeping Up With The Kardashians hitscreens on Wednesday, there wasone notable absense.Amid Khloe Kardash ian 'seloquent outpourings of distressfollowing the break-up of herrelationship with baby daddyTristan Thompson, her littles is ter Kyl ie Jennerbare lymade an appearance.It was Kylie's best friendJordyn Woods whohastened the end ofKhloe's romance withserial cheater Tristan -a fac t that by a l laccounts left the 21-year -o ld make-upmi l l iona i re deeplydistressed.And as a result, Kylietook a break fromfilming as she dealtwith her feelings ofbetrayal.A source commentingon the absenceexplained to UsWeekly: 'Kylie tooka little break from

filming Keeping Up With The Kardashians andrecently got back into filming and it's been

a struggle and difficult.'She was very upset about the situation

with Jordyn and also just didn't wantto deal with it and have to addressit.'In the trailer, a devastated Khloefeatures prominently, pouring outher heart.But Kylie is only seen for acouple of seconds, with footagecaptured as she is prepped fora photoshoot.

In the voiceover we hear hersay: 'I just hope that there

is a light at the end of thistunnel but I just don'tsee it now.'However it is unclearwhen this wascaptured.The t ra iler alsoincludes somethrowback footage fromKylie and Jordyn's longand intense friendship,showing the two beingcelebrated by Kris Jenner,who raises a toast to themat a family gathering.

(Insider Bureau) - She's expecting her second child withhusband Charlie Thompson. And Alex Jones looked likeshe couldn't wait to get home and rest up followinganother busy evening hosting The One Show onWednesday, leaving the BBC studios in central London.The presenter, 42, was showing off her baby bump in apair of denim dungarees, embracing a casual look. TheWelsh star prioritised comfort in a pair of trainers andcarried her essentials in a leather shoulder bag. Thestar wore her brunette bob in sleek, straight style andported natural make-up. Last week, Alex was leftincredibly flustered when she mistakenly believed co-host Matt Baker had asked a guest about their genitalia.The blunder happened as the pair chatted with ValerieSingleton, who hosted Blue Peter for 10 years. Speakingabout her time on the children's show, Matt turned toValerie, 81, and asked 'where do you keep your badge?'But Alex misheard the last part of the question, andclamped a hand over her mouth as she squealed: 'Itsounds so rude'. Undeterred, Valerie responded: 'I've gota lovely big board with loads of badges on it' which leadto Alex collapsing in a heap of giggles.

Alex Jones displays her baby bump incasual denim dungarees and yellow

coat as she leaves The One Show


Date post:	02-Oct-2020
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	0 times
Download:	0 times

Voice of South Asian Community Since March 2002 Page...

Documents