INDIAN BROTHERS LOOK TO HARNESS AI FOR GREATER GOOD PG11

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OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has initiated the process for securing an Interpol Red Cor-ner notice against Pakistani diplomat Amir Zubair Sid-diqui, who was chargesheeted last week for allegedly con-spiring to launch terror strikes on the US and Israeli consul-ates in South India. Officials in the agency said the paper-work was being completed and would be sent soon to the Interpol headquarters based in Lyon in France for issuance of the Red Cor-ner notice against Siddiqui, who during his stint at Pak-istani High Commission in Sri Lanka during 2014 had conspired to carry out terror strikes in India.

He was named by a Sri Lankan resident Sakir Hus-sain, who is at present under-going a simple imprisonment after pleading guilty in a court of law. He was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police after the Intelligence Bureau busted the conspiracy in April 2014. His jail term will end next year. See P6

NIA to seek Interpol

notice against Pakistan envoy

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IMAGE IN BRAIN DIGITALLY RECREATED

This new tech can mind-read who you are thinking about!

TORONTO: Scientists have developed a new mind-reading technology that analyses brain waves to recreate the facial image a user is thinking about. The technique, developed by Dan Nemrodov, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto Scarborough, is able to digitally reconstruct images seen by test subjects based on electro-encephalography (EEG) data.

“When we see something, our brain creates a mental percept, which is essentially a mental impression of that thing. We were able to capture this percept using EEG to get a direct illus-tration of what’s happening in the brain during this process,” said Nemrodov.

For the study published in the jour-nal eNeuro, test subjects hooked up to EEG equipment were shown images of faces. Their brain activity was recorded and then used to digitally recreate the image in the subject’s mind using a technique based on machine learning algorithms.

The study provides validation that EEG has potential for this type of image reconstruction, something many researchers doubted was pos-sible given its apparent limitations, Nemrodov said. Using EEG data for image reconstruction has great theo-retical and practical potential from a neurotechnological standpoint, espe-cially since it’s relatively inexpensive and portable.

Work is currently underway to test how image reconstruction based on EEG data could be done using mem-

ory and applied to a wider range of objects beyond faces. The technology could have wide-ranging clinical appli-cations as well.

“It could provide a means of com-munication for people who are unable to verbally communicate. Not only could it produce a neural-based recon-struction of what a person is perceiv-ing but also of what they remember and imagine, of what they want to express,” said Adrian Nestor, Assistant Professor at University of Toronto.

“It could also have forensic uses for law enforcement in gathering eyewit-ness information on potential suspects rather than relying on verbal descrip-tions provided to a sketch artist,” said Nestor. “What’s really exciting is that we’re not reconstructing squares and triangles but actual images of a per-son’s face, and that involves a lot of fine-grained visual detail,” said Nestor.

“The fact we can reconstruct what someone experiences visually based on their brain activity opens up a lot of possibilities,” he said. PTI

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Army has started implementing reforms aimed at readying a larger tal-ent pool for crucial tasks and bringing down the age of those commanding key formations, including those along the bor-ders with China and Pakistan. Top sources in the defence estab-lishment said that the idea behind the reforms initiative is to bring down the age of commands at all levels and ensure deploying the “right person for the right job” in a timely manner.

“We also want longer tenures of brigade commanders, divi-sional commanders and core commanders,” said a top military official, explaining the implemen-tation of a new promotion policy as part of the overall reforms ini-

tiative. The Army has begun put-ting the measures into effect.

The issue was discussed exten-sively at a meeting of top com-manders of the Army last year when it was also decided that the organisation’s human resource policy would be reoriented. “The aim of the initiative is to improve

the overall functioning of the Army,” the official said.

The sources said that as part of the new promotion policy, selections for key assignments have been widened to encourage young officers and increase their motivation levels besides ensur-ing longer tenures at the level of

command and director general. The world’s second largest stand-ing Army has been undertaking a series of reforms and procuring various weapon systems to bol-ster its overall capabilities in the wake of evolving security threats including on India’s borders with Pakistan and China.

“The broader aspect of the ini-tiative is to having a bigger talent pool of young officers. A wider selection process is expected to result in better motivational levels among the officers,” said the offi-cial, refusing to delve any deeper into the initiative. The sources said that under the new policy, corps commanders may be pro-moted as army commanders if they have at least 18 months of tenure left in their service as against the previous requirement of 24 months.

They said that the top brass of the Army has also decided to sternly tackle incidents of indiscipline.

In August last year, the Gov-ernment had announced major reforms in the Indian Army such as redeployment of nearly 57,000 officers and other ranks as well as ensuring better utilisation of resources.

The reform initiatives were prescribed by a committee headed by Lt Gen (Retd) D B Shekatkar, which had a man-date to recommend measures for enhancing combat capability and re-balancing defence expenditure of the armed forces to increase the “tooth to tail ratio”.

The ratio refers to the amount of supply and support personnel (termed tail) for each combat sol-dier (or tooth).

Army upgrading officer capabilities along China & Pak borderAIM IS TO LOWER AGE OF COMMANDS AT ALL LEVELS, HAVE BIGGER TALENT POOL OF YOUNG OFFICERSICC asks BCCI to adjust IPL match

to its Kolkata meet… snubbedNEW DELHI: The BCCI has turned down the ICC’s request of reschedul-ing an IPL match in Kolkata during its annual board meeting in Kolkata from April 22-26. It’s after a long time that the ICC is having its high-profile meet-ing in Kolkata and since it is overlapping with the cash-rich league, the world body wanted BCCI to ensure that its members could at least watch a home match of the Kolkata Knight Riders.

“Yes, there was a specific request from ICC as they wanted it’s various member delegates to watch an IPL game. How-ever, between April 22 and 26, there are no home games of KKR at Eden Gardens,” said a senior BCCI official.

KKR is playing a home match on April 16 and their next home game is on May 3. Between April 22 to 26, matches will be held in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Indore, Ben-galuru and Jaipur. “If we have to resched-ule it, the entire itinerary would be in a disarray. So we told them that it’s not pos-

sible to have an IPL match rescheduled,” the official added.

Meanwhile, it was also known that uncertainty looms large over PCB chair-man Najam Sethi’s attendance. The meet-ing is being held in Kolkata and not in Mumbai specifically to avoid any politi-cal protest over the PCB delegate attend-ing a meeting in India. However, Sethi may end up not getting the Indian visa in the prevailing volatile situation. “If Sethi doesn’t get visa, it might well be an indi-cator about the chances of Pakistan team procuring visa during the Asia Cup in September,” the official said. MPOST

CPC TO SCRAP 2-TERM CAP ON PREZ FROM PARTY CONSTITUTION

China’s Communist party clears way for Xi to rule indefinitely

K J M VARMA

BEIJING: In an unprece-dented move, China’s ruling Communist Party on Sun-day prepared the ground for President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely after the end of his second term in 2022 as it proposed to remove presi-dential term limits from the party’s Constitution. The CPC Central Committee proposed removing the clause that the President and Vice-President “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms” from the country’s Constitution, state-run Xinhua news agency

reported on Sunday.The removal of the term

limit, which is expected to be endorsed by the Plenum of the party to be held on Monday, would give 64-year-old Xi a limitless tenure. Xi’s predeces-sors, Jiang Zemin who was in power from 1993 to 2003 and Hu Jintao from 2003 to 2013,

stepped down as general sec-retary of the party as well as the president under the con-vention of two terms to pro-mote the collective leadership system in the one-party state.

If China pushes ahead with the proposal, Xi would become the country’s most power-ful leader since Mao Zedong, who ruled for more than three decades through 1976. Presi-dent Xi, who is also the gen-eral secretary of the CPC and chairman of the Central Mili-tary Commission, began his second five-year tenure last year, following a national Con-gress of the CPC. PTI

I REALLY WANT TO BE A LEGEND, SAYS SHAH RUKH KHAN PG16

MOVIE JOURNEY SPANNED 5 LANGUAGES AND 50 YEARS

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: Those expressive eyes are now shut forever…. That mis-chievous smile that sent hearts aquiver and lit up cinema screens will never be seen again. Sridevi — Bollywood’s first female super-star — died suddenly in Dubai at the age of 54 due to a cardiac arrest late on Saturday, leaving her fam-ily, her fans and the whole nation in shock and grief. This ‘Chandni’ left the world too soon.

The actor, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, had gone to Dubai along with her family to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah’s wedding. In an impressive career, spanning five-decades, the actor ruled the commercial cinema space in the ‘80s and ‘90s like no heroine had done before.

In an industry dominated by male superstars, Sridevi reversed the trend by her sheer acting prow-ess. Her name, most of the times, was a guarantee enough for a film’s success. An extremely shy person in real life, Sridevi came alive in front of the cameras, playing a variety of roles. Such was her pop-ularity that her style and dance moves would be copied by her fans country over. She was ‘Miss Hawa Hawaaii’ and ‘Chandni’ for them.

Sridevi started acting at the age of four and made her debut with

M A Thirumugham’s “Thunaivan”. She continued acting in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films but it was her career in Bol-lywood that made her a household name in the country.

She made her Bollywood debut as a child artiste in 1975 hit “Julie” but continued ruling the South Indian film industry where she established herself as a lead-ing heroine with films such as “16 Vayathinile”, “Sigappu Rojakkal”, “Meendum Kokila” and “Moon-dram Pirai”. In Bollywood, she made her debut in 1978 as a lead actor in “Solva Sawan”.

She gained commercial suc-cess with the 1983 film “Himmat-wala” opposite Jeetendra, which also established her as one of the

best dancers in cinema. She was grace-personified dressed as an apsara (a celestial beauty in Hindu mythology) performing on the hit track ‘Nainon mein sapna’.

The year 1983 also saw Sridevi give stellar performances in both critically acclaimed and box-office hits such as “Sadma”, where she played the role of a woman who loses her memory. Both she and actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan played the roles in the Hindi remake of their 1982 Tamil movie, “Moondram Pirai”. The cli-max of the heart-wrenching movie was deemed as poetic as the entire plot, with the song ‘Ae zindagi gale laga le’ as an ode to the philosophy of uncertainty in life.

Sridevi followed it up with a

number of commercial hits such as “Mawaali”, “Tohfa”, “Masterji” and “Nazrana”. In 1987 came Shekhar Kapur’s “Mr India”, a film which was produced by her future hus-band Boney Kapoor.

Sridevi gave a memorable per-formance as crime reporter Seema Sohni. She was one of the few female actors who left the audi-ence spellbound with both her comic timing and sensuality. How her undercover scribe transformed into Ms Hawa Hawaaii, thanks to her dancing skills in one of the popular songs, is one of the most memorable scenes of the film.

Owing to the cult status the song went on to achieve, the Kavita Krishnamurthy number has been recreated a number of times in films such as “Shaitan” and most recently in Vidya Balan’s “Tumhari Sulu”. And so will ‘Kaate nahi kat-te’, an iconic sultry number which saw the actor romance an invisible man in a song revelling in a never-before-seen boldness and fantasy.

Filmmaker Yash Chopra cast her in the title role of “Chandni” in the 1989 film, another iconic film. Such was her performance that fans came to recognise her with the name of Chandni. Impressed with her performance in the film, Chopra cast her again in “Lamhe” in a dual role, where she played the mother and daughter. See P7 & 16

Sridevi leaves us at 54… nation plunges into grief

Women must play a role in every walk of life: PM

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Ensuring the participation of women in all fields of life is every Indi-an’s fundamental duty, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday and noted that the dream of a new India envis-ages women who are strong, empowered and equal partners in development. Addressing his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio broadcast, the Prime Minis-ter said that a woman’s power today underlines inner for-titude and self-confidence, which makes her self-reliant.

“Not only has she herself advanced but has carried for-ward the country and soci-ety to newer heights...Today the country is moving for-ward from the path of wom-en’s development to women-led development,” he said. Modi said that it is “our fundamen-tal duty” to ensure the partici-pation of women in every field of life, be it social or economic.

Referring to International Women’s Day observed every year on March 8, he recalled the words of Swami Vivekananda, who had said the idea of “per-fect womanhood” was “perfect independence”. “We are part of a tradition where men were identified because of women. Yashoda-Nandan, Kaushalya-Nandan, Gandhari- Putra, these were identities of a son...,” he said.

As India observes National

Science Day on February 28, the PM also stressed the impor-tance of the “relentless quest” for truth. “And this is the very essence, the real inspiration behind scientific inventions and discoveries. Never rest till every why, what and how are answered,” he said.

In his address, the prime minister also spoke on the issue of safety ahead of National Safety Day on March 4. “If we are not aware of safety in our daily life, if we are not able to attain a certain level, it will get extremely difficult during the time of disasters,” he said.

Modi regretted that while people read signboards on safety, they often ignored the messages. “Leave aside natural disasters, most of the mishaps are a consequence of some mis-take or the other on our part. If we stay alert, abide by the pre-scribed rules and regulations, we shall not only be able to save our own lives but we can also prevent catastrophes harming society,” he pointed out.

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Sunday reg-istered a case against Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd in connection with an alleged loan default case to the tune of Rs 109 crore. The investigating agency booked CMD Gurmit Singh Mann, Deputy MD Gurupal Singh and others in the case while con-ducting a series of searches at multiple locations across Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

According to reports, the Uttar Pradesh-based sugar distillery had reported a net loss of Rs 74.98 crore in the quarter ending 2017, pre-ceded by a loss of Rs 19.09 crore in the quarter ending December 2016. The case of loan fraud against the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)-listed company comes just on the heels of major rev-elations of loan frauds by several major banks.

On Saturday, the CBI had registered a case against another Delhi-based diamond jewellery exporting company, Dwarka Das Seth Interna-tional Pvt Ltd, and its directors after receiving a complaint from Oriental Bank of Commerce. The case was registered nearly six months after OBC filed a complaint with the central agency.

As the banking sector reels under pressure from Rs 11,400 crore fraud in Punjab National Bank (PNB), allegedly involving Mumbai-based diamond jeweller Nirav Modi and Mehul Chowksi, the new case adds to the vulnerability of the banking system. Raising concerns over the increasing number of wilful defaulters and non-performing assets in the banking system, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley termed them as ‘a scar on economy’. “Cases of wilful defaults are something which is much more than the busi-ness failure itself,” Jaitley added. The finance minister called it worrisome that loan frauds went undetected in the banking sector, add-ing that a single flag was not raised when the fraud was detected. Earlier in the week, the CBI arrested Rotomac Global owner Vikram Kothari and his son Rahul in connection with the com-pany’s Rs 3,695 crore loan default. The CBI had booked Rotomac Global Pvt Ltd, Kothari, his wife Sadhana and son Rahul for allegedly defaulting on Rs 3,695 crore in loans taken from a consortium of seven banks. MPOST

`109 cr loan defaultCBI searches Simbhaoli

Sugars in Delhi & UP

PANAJI: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has been admitted to hospital again with complaints of abdomi-nal pain.

The 62-year-old has been unwell for days and was dis-charged from Mumbai’s Leela-vati Hospital on Thursday. Hours later, he made a dra-matic appearance at the State assembly to present the bud-get, surprising his colleagues

and leaving the state police scrambling for last-minute security arrangements.

Parrikar had been admit-ted to hospital on February 15 after he complained of stomach ache and food poi-soning. Later, his office said he received treatment for an illness related to the pancreas.

Asked about his health after the budget session, he brushed away concerns, say-ing, “Nothing is wrong with me. I have been asked not to maintain close contact”. MPOST

Goa CM Parrikar re-admitted to hospital with abdominal pain

2 MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018mp around town

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LOVE FOR ARTEminent Artist Ritu Kamath is presenting her solo show of 40 recent works entitled, ‘i-seek’, which includes three-dimensional canvas works, drawings and mixed media works. She uses different hues of polycarbonate sheets, hand-cut in different shapes and layered on paper to create a translucent effect. This exhibition is curated by Anoop Kamath.WHEN: February 21 – 27 WHERE: Lalit Kala AkademiTIMINGS: 12:00 pm – 8:00 pm

SOLO EXHIBITIONHere is a call for all art lovers to witness fine visual storytelling through the stimulating artwork showcased by Milburn Cherian. A graduate of The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Milburn is holding her first ever solo exhibition in New Delhi. Based on the theme ‘Old World, New Palette’, the exhibition will display Milburn’s intrinsic work that she constructs using minuscule elements to create a labyrinth of stories. WHEN: February 21 – 27 WHERE: Lalit Kala Akademi TIMINGS: 12 pm - 8 pmYOUTH FESTIVAL 2018A six day cultural youth festival is being organised by Sahitya Kala Parishad at the Central park. The Festival is one such big platform of Delhi which shows the rich cultural legacies of our country. This festival will be featuring the various dance, music and theatre performances on a single stage like Aamad Dance Centre, Theatre Society of Kirorimal College, Hindu College, Prayas Juvenile NGO and Classical music by Sangam group etc.WHEN: February 22 -27WHERE: Central park, Connaught PlaceTIMINGS: 6:30 pm onwards

JASHN-E-TALATJashn-e-Talat by Sahar Zaman, a journalist and curator by profession, is a multi-performance tribute to the legend Talat Mahmood. The evening will have a special guest appearance by Talat Aziz apart from other performances by Radhika Chopra, Vidha Lal and Sanjeev Choudhury and young college talent. The event will be hosted by RJ Sachin. The main aobjective is to re-live the charm of these classic melodies while reaching out to the youth of today.WHEN: March 4WHERE: India Islamic Cultural CentreTIMINGS: 6:30 pm onwards

DAYINDAYOUT What’s on Around Town

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Like every other parent Minu Budhia, a Psychotherapist, was concerned about her child’s well being and future. Hence, she came up with

an innovative idea – ICANFLYY, a voca-tional and skill building institute for special needs individuals – to empower not only her own daughter but every other child with special needs.

“What will my daughter do when she grows up? How will she be occupied? This was a big concern at the back of my mind. Like Prachi, all special needs young adults in Kolkata do not have much to do after they finish their schooling. So I came up with this idea for ICANFLYY to empower special needs young adults who, like you or me, deserve a place in society” said Minu Budhia, Psychotherapist, Counsellor and Founder – Director of ICANFLYY, a voca-tional and skill building institute for special needs individuals.

Minu Budhia’s younger daughter Pra-chi is the inspiration behind ICANFLYY. Diagnosed with ADHD, low IQ, and Bipolar disorder, Prachi was having a difficult time settling in at a regular school. As a mother, Minu was not only concerned about her daughter’s time at school, but also her future.

Looking for answers, Minu travelled the world and educated herself in the field of special education and psychology. Envi-

sioning a better, brighter future for her child and others like her, Minu Budhia estab-lished ICANFLYY – a place where you can be who you are and all that you want to be.

ICANFLYY can train its students to be as independent as their capabilities allow and employ them in a nested workplace. Some can even be gainfully employed in a corporate setup. In fact, there should be a quota for them like there is in more devel-oped countries. It is our joint responsibil-ity to accept special needs individuals and give them suitable jobs – Minu said. This thought gives birth to ICANFLYY. Down Syndrome, Autism, Learning Disabilities, Cerebral Palsy, Intellectual Challenges,

ADHD, etc. are some of the special needs that the institute caters to. Here the focus is on giving every student space where he or she will be accepted, appreciated, and educated and be a part of a community that is open, non-judgemental, and embraces the idea that being different does not make one less of an individual. In an era of chal-lenges and cut-throat competition, it’s the aim of the institute to enable its students to face the world with self-confidence and honesty. In addition to vocational training, ICANFLYY aims at overall holistic devel-opment where physical, mental, and aes-thetic aspects are addressed.

Training special needs students is com-

plex and the team of experienced, skilled, and passionate special educators and voca-tional trainers of ICANFLYY rise to the challenge every time.  They are not only teachers but also friends, philosophers, and guides. ICANFLYY began its journey as a unit of Caring Minds and then moved into its new stand-alone premises spread across five floors at 4B Valmikee Street, Kolkata - 700026 (near Maddox Square).

“Special children do not usually have too many options at their disposal after the initial education bit is done. Empowering and training them to lead independent lives was the need of the hour, and for that, it was important to have the right kind of space. Each floor of this building is dedicated to a particular skill set and function, along with early intervention and pre-vocational pro-grammes. We have tried to keep the insti-tute as vibrant as possible. I want this to be a place where children and people with special needs feel comfortable in and look forward to coming to,” said Minu Budhia.

The institute has been successfully run-ning a programme for special needs young adults aged 15+. From March 2018 a new wing will cater to special needs children between the ages of six and fourteen. Chil-dren between the ages of six and nine join the Twinkling Stars programme, children between the ages of 10 and 14 join the Ris-ing Stars programme and teenagers who are 15+ join the Superstar programme. There is

no upper age limit and at present, the older students of the institute are in their early to mid-thirties.

It has also started an Academic Assis-tance Programme. In a regular classroom, children learn at different rates, some slower than the others. To help such students with additional learning needs, ICANFLYY now offers one-on-one academic assistance. 4Vocational Training: Training mod-

ules are tailored to the unique needs of each student. Its unparalleled on-site job training equips students to work independently in a home set-up or under minimal supervi-sion at various workplaces. 4Bakery Prep and Packaging: At the

Food Factory, the students get an opportu-

nity to bring out the chef inside. 4Digital Studio: Its state-of-the-art

computer lab is full of resources that enable to make its students tech savvy. 4Data Entry: It welcomes corporate

houses, small businesses and individuals to outsource their data entry needs. 4Art and Craft Studio: The Art and

Craft studio at ICANFLYY is taking creativ-ity to a new level. You can get handcrafted gifts for any and every occasion. Unique bookmarks, gift bags and tags, coasters and more are designed and created by its tal-ented special needs individuals at

As the name says ICANFLYY, these individuals can fly higher and higher, and touch the zenith.

ICANFLYY Where dreams come true

ICANFLYY, a vocational and skill building institute for differently abled individuals, trains its students as per their capabilities and later employs them in a nested workplace

Parents, please take note. A new study assures us that a long list of recur-ring but less severe ill-

nesses such as ear pain, bad cough or running nose is unlikely to affect the learning ability of your child.

Even when one sick day leads to another, and collecting prescriptions at the pharmacy becomes a routine, parents need not worry that their children’s brains are affected or they are los-ing the ability to do well in school, said the study published in Pedi-atric Infectious Disease Journal.

“Other studies have demon-strated that serious illnesses, for example severe infections such as measles, rubella or men-ingitis, which we vaccinate against, affect the brain and thereby the child’s abil-ity to learn. From this we know that illnesses, and in particular infections, to some degree have an influ-ence on our brains,” said researcher Ole Kohler-Forsberg from Aarhus University in Denmark.

“In this study, we decided to look at how children perform fol-

lowing the less severe infections that many of them frequently experience during their child-hood,” he added.

The study involved around 600,000 Danish children who were born between 1987 and 1997. 

The findings showed that a good number of sick days due to less severe infections – whether five, ten or even fifteen prescrip-tions were picked up at the phar-macy during childhood – had no significance for the child’s ability to complete primary and lower secondary school.

“On the other hand, we

found that children who had been admitted to hospital as a result of

severe infections had a lower chance of completing ninth grade. The decisive factor is therefore the severity of the

disease, but not necessarily the number of sick days,” Kohler-Fors-berg said.

“The study ought to reassure those parents who find that their young children are often sick.”

“Our findings indicate that as long as we ‘only’ have a case of less severe infections, and even though the child is definitely ill and requires medicine, the child’s cognitive development is not at risk,” he pointed out. IANS

Good number of sick days need not make your kid dullOUR CORRESPONDENT

WITH THE objective to popularise rare folk music of different parts of the coun-try, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has been successfully orga-nizing a monthly folk con-cert – titled Sanjari – since its 30th Foundation Day.

The concert would help in maintaining the existence of folk music, thereby mak-ing the present generation aware of the traditional art.

This was the fourth per-formance out of the 12 pro-grams that will be conducted one after the other.

The previous Sanjari programs, which have been highly successful, saw folk artist from Arunachal, Bihar, and Rajasthan enthralling the audiences with their performance.

In the fourth series of Sanjari, people witnessed a performance of the Portu-guese semi-classical music ‘Fado’, performed by Fadista Sonia Shirsat from Goa.

Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awardee Sonia is the only Indian singer who has mastered in the Por-tuguese Fado music. She can sing in 14 different languages.

During the event, she sang many famous songs like ‘Mãe Preta’ (Black Mother), by Brazilian songwriters Caco Velho and Piratini. The song was initially for-bidden by the dictatorship in Portugal because the lyr-ics talked about slavery. So, the Portuguese poet David Mourão-Ferreira  wrote other lyrics, a beautiful love poem, Barco Negro. Por-tuguese fado icon Amália Rodrigues recorded ‘Can-ção do Mar’ – the original version in 1978, after the rev-olution of 25 April 1974. It was later performed by fado icon Amália Rodrigues in 1955.

IGNCA will release a DVD of all the 12 perfor-mances on its Foundation Day, which will be held towards the end of the year.

Sanjari: Preserving the traditional FOLK MUSIC

 OUR CORRESPONDENT

GIRIRAJ SINGH, Union Minister [I/C] marked his presence at 45th edition of IHGF-Delhi Fair Spring, being held at India Expo Cen-tre and Mart, Greater Noida. He gave away the Guild certificates to 12 framers – working in Picture Framing Segment- on the second day of the fair.

O.P. Prahladka, Chairman – EPCH, Radhey Shyam Ranga, President of the fair, R.K. Passi, and Sagar Mehta, Vice Chairmen- EPCH and Rakesh Kumar, Executive Director – EPCH were also present at the venue.

While awarding the guild certified fram-ers, MSME Minister appreciated the efforts and vision of Rakesh Kumar and said that he has both emotion and devotion which have strengthened the handicrafts sector.

Giriraj  Singh also lauded EPCH’s efforts towards creating marketing platform in the form of IHGF-Delhi fair wherein exhibitors from across the country are showcasing their products to the visiting buyers from all over the

world.  He further acknowledged the role of 70 lakhs artisans who are the backbone of the hand-icrafts sector and are engaged in the production of handicrafts and commended EPCH for giving them the opportunity to display their intricate craftsmanship in this show as well. 

 Keeping in view the vision of EPCH, the Minister expected that the exports of handi-crafts would cross Rs. 30,000 crores very soon. 

 The MSME minister also elabo-rated that he has introduced technol-ogy in spinning and hoped it will create employment of 5 crore people in the MSME sector. Rakesh Kumar, Execu-tive Director informed that EPCH in collaboration with M/s Lion India has taken unique initiative to upgrade the Picture Framing Industry in India by conducting GCF training programme for the Indian framers.

The training programme was held from November 6 to 12, 2017 in Kol-kata where 20 participants from all over India participated in the course. Among them, 12 participants who

have passed the Guild Certified Framers exam-ination successfully include Deepak Oulkar from Belgaum, Punit Prahladka from Kolk-ata, Dipak Dholey from Kolkata, Sanjay Lahoti from Pune, Geovanni Fernandes from Goa, Liza Mayan from Kannur, Kerala, Aliasgar Kanch-wala, Hyderabad, K. Narendra Shenoy from Mangalore, Mia Renny from Cochin and others. 

MSME minister visits IHGF fair on its second day

mp city 3MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

To mend ties, Delhi ministers to meet govt officers today

Delhi Social Welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam will be at the forefrontSAYANTAN GHOSH/

ROUSHAN ALI

NEW DELHI: In a bid to normalise relations with the bureaucrats, the ruling party ministers will start meetings from Monday. Social Welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam will be in the forefront from the Cabinet to handle the situation.

The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister have asked Gautam to do the dam-age control.

“The minister has a good relationship with the officials and he has been in grassroots level social work as well as. He is a lawyer and he knows how to deal with these conditions,” said a senior leader.

The Chief Minister and Deputy CM will also talk to the officials to manage the situation.

The alleged assault on Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash has created a trust def-icit between the bureaucracy and the AAP government that will be difficult to bridge, for-mer chief secretaries, feel.

Two former top bureau-crats of Delhi — D M Spolia and P K Tripathi — said the

alleged attack on Prakash by AAP MLAs last week was a cul-mination of a series of events in which bureaucrats had been targeted for reportedly not toe-ing the line of the Arvind Kejri-wal government.

Spolia, who had two stints as Delhi chief secretary and also worked under the AAP

government briefly, said the incident was a case of “bad manners, lack of etiquette and lack of decency” while Tripa-thi alleged the Kejriwal gov-ernment seemed to believe if it subjected “the bureaucracy to torture...then they (the bureau-cracy) will toe the line.”

“You can have differences of opinion, but you don’t man-handle people,” said, Spolia.

The incident had sent shock waves among civil ser-vants, said Spolia, who was the chief secretary from January 2013 to January 2014 and then between August 2014 and Feb-ruary 2015.

He warned that no bureau-crat would now feel comfort-able offering the right kind of advice for the fear of being assaulted.

Asked if the incident had created a trust deficit between the bureaucracy and the AAP

government, Spolia said in Hindi, “Aankh se aankh mila ke kaam kaise karenge (How will they face each other and work).”

Spolia said, “When you abuse so completely and with such contempt, do you think the bureaucracy would like to face you? Would they like to come in your pres-ence? Nobody would like to work with you. When cracks develop, you can paper over them, but you can hardly wipe them out. Injuries and scars are very different. Injuries heal, scars stay.”

Tripathi, who was the chief secretary of Delhi between 2011 and 2012, dismissed AAP’s charge that the alleged assault was politically-moti-vated, saying no chief secretary would make such a wild allega-tion “unless, someone is actu-ally subjected to this assault”.

‘Strict action against those who serve liquor to people below 25’

Assault on teacher: Deputy CM urges LG to ensure action, boost security

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi gov-ernment has warned all liquor vends, hotels, clubs, bars and pubs here against selling and serving alcohol to “underage” customers, saying non-com-pliance would attract strict action including cancellation of licence.

As per the Delhi Excise Rules, serving liquor to any person below 25 years is an offence in the national Capi-tal, and the government will strictly implement it.

In case of any doubt about the age of the customer, the city’s clubs, bars, pubs, liquor vends and hotels can ask for “age proof” which ascertains that he or she is not under the age of 25 years, a senior govern-ment official said.

“As per the Section 23 of the Delhi Excise Act, 2009, no per-son or licensed vendor or his employee or agent can sell or deliver any liquor to any per-son under the age of 25 years. We consider serving or selling liquor to underage customer

as a major offence,” the offi-cial said.

According to the official, if the offence is proved, strict action, including cancellation or suspension of licence and imposition of heavy fines, on an erring establishment can be taken under the Delhi Excise Rules. The license of a famous bar in Delhi’s Hauz Khas area was recently suspended by the excise department for serving liquor to “underage” customer, the official said.

“The government’s officials (must) visit bars, hotels, pubs and liquor vends time-to-time to check whether these estab-lishments are following excise rules. During visits, if under-age customer is found, action is initiated against establishment,” the official said.

In 2015, a proposal to bring down the legal drinking age from the current 25 to 21 in

the city had been submitted to the Delhi government, but the AAP dispensation had turned down the same.

According to the official, if the offence is proved, strict action, including cancellation or suspension of licence and imposition of heavy fines, on an erring establishment can be taken under the Delhi Excise Rules. The license of a famous bar in Delhi’s Hauz Khas area was recently suspended by the excise department for serving liquor to “underage” customer, the official said.

“The government’s officials (must) visit bars, hotels, pubs and liquor vends time-to-time to check whether these estab-lishments are following excise rules,” the official said.

During visits, if underage customer is found, action is ini-tiated against establishment,” the official said.

ROUSHAN ALI

NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Sunday urged Lieuten-ant Governor Anil Baijal to initiate action against those involved in a recent attack on a teacher inside a Delhi school and to ensure adequate security arrangements in Delhi govern-ment schools.

Sisodia wrote to Baijal about the matter, as Delhi Police falls under the jurisdiction of the LG.

The Deputy CM’s request was in regards to the attack on a teacher by a mob, which broke into Sarvodaya Kanya Vidya-laya school in north west Delhi’s Narela on February 21.

In a letter to Baijal, Siso-dia highlighted security issues involving female teachers and

students.“It is a matter of grave con-

cern if teachers are not safe within the premises of their school. Since the Delhi Police comes under the LG, I would

request him to ensure that swift action is taken in this case and adequate security arrangements are made for all government schools in Delhi,” Sisodia, who also hold the Education port-folio, said.

Seeking swift action, the Aam Aadmi Party leader also referred to the recent alleged assault on Delhi Chief Secre-tary Anshu Prakash, in which two MLAs have been arrested by the police.

He said that in the alleged assault case on the senior IAS officer, “Delhi Police has taken no-hold-barred action, includ-ing arrests within 24 hours, 50 police officers going for collect-ing evidence in the matter and the personal presence of the DCP in court to ensure that the accused do not get bail.”

“I would like to request the LG to ensure that the Delhi Police takes the same level of interest in the case of assault on a teacher in SKV (Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya), Narela,” he further said.

Otherwise, Sisodia said, it would send a message that security of teachers was far less important than that of IAS officers and it was essential to make them feel that their secu-rity was of prime importance to the Delhi Police and its control-ling authorities – the LG and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Regarding the attack on the school teacher, the Deputy CM said this was not the first inci-dent of a serious security threat to teachers. Last year, a teacher received injuries after being stabbed inside school premises.

Rishab Mann, Soumya Dutta win 18th DDA Golf tourneyOUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Rishab Mann won the 18th DDA Lieutenant Governor’s Golf Tournament 2018 ,which concluded here at Qutab Golf Course on Sun-day at about 2.00 pm. Alkesh Chaudhary was the Runner-up. In the ladies category, Soumya Dutta was the Winner while Pooja Batra was the Runner-up.

Speaking on the occa-sion, LG Anil Baijal said he was impressed with the over-whelming response the tour-nament got, with 670 golfers participating. The desire of the golfers who could not take part in the tournament was a testi-mony to the fact that the pop-ularity of the tournament has been on the rise.

Appreciating the efforts of DDA staff in conducting the golf tournament of this mag-nitude, he wished them well for the future tournaments.

The 18th LG Golf Tour-nament 2018 was organised from 21 to 25 February 2018 at Qutab Golf Course. The tour-nament which is an annual event began in 2001. The well-maintained Golf Course is the first Public Golf Course in the country and is very popular because of its affordability and accessibility.

DERC bats for retail supplier to achieve govt’s universal service obligation

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: In a bid to provide electricity to every citizen at a regulated rate, the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has recommended that a retail supplier be identified to achieve the goal.

Citing a landmark judgment of Madras High Court that held electricity supply as a legal right of a person and its denial as a violation of human right, the DERC approach paper calls

for identifying a retail supply licensee for the purpose of universal power supply.

The international practices for supply of electricity to the lower income group of consumers at affordable rates, cross subsidy among the different consumer category cannot be eliminated, it says.

“This would, however, call for identifying a retail supply licensee which may be among the existing distribution licensee, for the purpose of USO and ensure electricity

at regulated rate to every consumer as mandated under the Electricity Act.”

The approach paper of the power regulator on tariff rationalisation recognises electricity supply to each citizen as a universal service obligation (USO) of the government.

The paper suggests that to attain the USO objective, a portion of cheaper source power plants may have to be allocated to the identified supplier as is being followed in Singapore.

YOGESH KANT

NEW DELHI: To address the need of around 90 per cent of patients across the country in palliative care, which aims to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from termi-nal ailments, Delhi Govern-ment is mulling to bring cancer treatment closer to the house of patients.

This April, this healthcare facility would be started in all the major hospitals of Delhi Government including Lok Nayak Hospital, DDU, GTBH, Ambedkar Hospital and San-jay Gandhi Hospital, said Kirti Bhushan, DG Health Services. Moreover, all the doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and technicians would be trained in palliative care.

According to the official, health department is wor-ing on a plan to bring cancer treatment closer to the patients’ house. The department is also working to provide counseling to cancer patients at its dispen-saries and mohalla clinics.

He also added that under this project, trained medical professional would provide counseling to terminally ill patients, who cannot be treated by medical intervention and cancer drugs.

“At present, this facility is only available at AIIMS and to initiate the project, the Delhi government has collaborated with AIIMS cancer department and formed a joint commit-tee to frame a policy for treat-ing patients in palliative care” he added.

Speaking at a workshop organised by Indian Associ-ation of Palliative Care here, Dr Sushma Bhatnagar, Profes-sor and Head, Department of Onco-Anaesthesia and Pal-liative Medicine, AIIMS, said there is a growing need for con-cerned stakeholders to work on further promoting a culture of palliative and home care.

She said, “The workshop is part of the opportunity to debate on how to create, col-laborate and communicate new ideas and advances in the field of palliative care. It will show-case the unique research and development works being done in India and will gain experi-ence from experts from other countries.”

Dr Sachidanand Jee Bharti, Assistant Professor, AIIMS said that some challenges still need to be addressed, such as the lack of public awareness about advantages of palliative care and social misconceptions about pain relief.

RAHUL SINGH

NEW DELHI: With the nation was mourning the demise of one of Indian cinema’s legend-ary actors Sridevi – who died of a cardiac arrest – on Sunday, Millennium Post took the task of ascertaining how and why there has been a rise in heart ailments and who are more prone it.

Shockingly, senior cardiol-ogists stated that women and youngsters are more likely to die after experiencing their first heart attack.

“The risk of heart disease increases with ageing due to lifetime’s worth of exposure to risk factors. But these days, such factors have been majorly seen in young people, as they remain physically inactive on a regular basis. In case of women, hormonal protection is present till the age of 45.

“After that, they become more vulnerable to heart dis-eases as their natural (hor-monal) protection goes away. So women need to be more cautious after they cross the age of 45,” said Dr Praveen Chan-dra, Chairman, Department of Interventional Cardiology, Medanta group of Hospitals.

Discussing the increasing risk of heart diseases among the

younger generation, Dr. Chan-dra said, “There is no specific age group which is prone to heart diseases. But generally, the symptoms are seen in peo-ple aged above 30-35 years. High mental stress, sedentary lifestyle and improper diet are the high risk factors contribut-ing majorly to cardiovascular diseases among the people of this age group”.

Dr Chandra further told Millennium Post that cardiac disorders are hereditary too.

“Inherited conditions can be passed through the fami-lies. The risk for heart disease and stroke increases when a person in a family has suffered a cardiac disease or heart fail-ure below the age of 50 years. The risk of getting heart-related issues are higher for younger generations of the family” Dr. Chandra added.

Experts also say that having too much stress, for too long, is bad for one’s heart.

“Being overstressed is one of the reasons contributing to heart ailment. Unhealthy hab-its such as smoking, alcohol and taking drugs or medicines without consulting doctors also increases the risk of cardiac dis-order or related issues” said Dr Deepali Batra, Clinical Psy-chologist, Max Hospital.

PIYUSH OHRIE

GURUGRAM: It was a huge moment of joy and relief for hundreds of citizens of Guru-gram as Raahgiri on Sunday returned to the city where the event was originally started.

Taking note of the enthu-siasm which the event gen-erated, Gurugram deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh attended and addressed a huge gathering of the citizens.

“Raahgiri has proved to be extremely beneficial and gone beyond the objective of creating awareness on road safety. Ever since its inception in 2013, it has evolved and gained immense popularity.

“It was only this popularity that resulted in it again com-ing back to the city where it all started,” said the Deputy

Commissioner.Considered to be a unique

initiative to create a society that is less dependent on its cars, Raahgiri had gained immense popularity among the residents.

Lack of funds, however, has ensured that it will be closing down in the city where it has originated from.

In a city where the levels of interaction were also less, Raah-giri that was held on Sunday was also credited for bringing many citizens together. There are now plans to extend the event to other parts as well so that more citizens can participate.

Ever since it has been launched, it is being held at DLF Phase -4 near Galleria.

With huge number of people of all age groups coming for it, corporates also began sponsor-ing the event.

Taking cue from its smaller neighbour, even the Delhi organised it at Rajiv Chowk two years ago.

Loss of interest among the participants resulted in no further addition of sponsors and lack of assistance by pub-lic authorities resulted in the announcement of its closure.

After the announcement, various residents expressed their displeasure and highlighted that how this closure will affect not only Gurugram but even other urban areas adversely.

Various citizens also requested the officials that this unique and innovative concept should not be allowed to come to an abrupt end in November last year. It, however, got a new lease of life after the Haryana government decided to pour in funds to revive the event.

Delhi govt mulls bringing cancer care

closer to patients

‘Younger generation, women more prone to heart diseases’

With Haryana govt’s help, Raahgiri returns home

Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh addresses the crowd at Raahgiri on Sunday PIC/MPOST

Gautam was on Thursday detained from Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence protesting against the assault on Imran Hussain PIC/MPOST

WEEKEND WORKOUT

Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, former Union Cabinet Minister Ramakant Goswami and Indian cricketer Ishant Sharma at a friendly cricket match between Delhi Police Commissioner XI and Media XI, played at Talkatora Cricket Ground on Sunday in the memory of Late G Murali CREDIT

OUR CORRESPONDENT

GURUGRAM: Taking cog-nisance of depleting natu-ral drains of Gurugram, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken up the issue of encroachments around the Sikanderpur natural drain and sought a reply from the district authorities.

The next hearing on the case is scheduled to take place in April.

It is located along the Meh-rauli-Gurugram (MG) Road and having close proximity to Cyber City. Sikanderpur has seen various developmental activities over the years.

Similar complaints are also being raised in other parts of the city.

Just a few metres from Gurugram, the drainage at Nathupur has been converted into a parking lot.

The lack of natural drains is being mostly felt during the monsoon season when city faces water logging with few millimeters of rain.

For a city that used to have ponds and bunds, today most of it is encroached upon and have built-up areas. Most of the bunds that have now become extinct were set up during the British era. The ones that are surviving continue to remain in a neglected state. In over 460 ponds spread across Gurugram district, 208 have dried up, 186 are dirty whose water cannot be used.

Encroachment at Sikanderpur

drain under NGT scanner

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Uni-versity (DU) has invited bids from private players for con-ducting ‘Online Computer-based Entrance Test’ for different courses across 18 cit-ies for the upcoming 2018-19 academic year.

The test is for select under-graduate and all post-graduate, M Phil and Ph.D courses.

The online entrance test will be held for admission to “select under-graduate, all Post Grad-

uate, M Phil and Ph.D courses”, an e-procurement notice issued by the the university said.

The bidder will have to conduct the exam, handle its administration, logistics and process results and give it to the university, it said.

Following criticism from student circles, the DU last year had shelved its decision to hold online entrance tests for its M Phil, Ph.D and PG programmes as it felt conduct-ing these along with the offline format was not feasible.

“Question paper will be objective-type with multiple choice questions of two hours duration. Medium of the test would be English or Hindi or both and will be conducted in three shifts -- 8-10 am, 12-2 pm and 4-6 pm,” the notice on the DU website said.

The last date of submission of the bid is March 8, and the bidder has to pay an earnest money of Rs 25 lakh, the notice said.

The chairperson, admis-sions committee, Maharaj K

Pandit or the officials in the examination wing could not be reached for comments.

Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) president Rocky Tuseed said an option for offline process should also be made available.

“We are not against the online entrance exam but there should be offline pro-cess as well. All students may not be in the capacity to know the online entrance procedure and how to give online test,” the DUSU president said.

Delhi University invites bids for online entrance test for 2018-19 year

As per the Delhi Excise Rules, serving liquor to any person below 25 years is an offence in the national Capital

Since the Delhi Police comes under the LG, I would request him to ensure that swift action is taken in this case and adequate security arrangements are made for all government schools

Manish Sisodia

mp city4MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

Youth attacks 21-year-old woman after engagement called off, held

ABHAY SINGH

NEW DELHI: A 21-year-old woman was attacked by a man, with whom she reportedly had broken her engage-ment, inside her house in outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri area on Saturday evening.

Police said they have arrested the accused, identified as Lucky, adding that he had used a blunt object to attack the woman.

Lucky and the woman had report-edly got engaged in August 2016. However, after realising that the youth used to often misbehave with the woman, her family called off the engagement.

Police claimed that the incident was reported on Saturday evening,

when the girl was preparing a meal for her family.

Police said that Lucky barged into the victim’s house, closed the kitchen door and went on to attack the woman with the blunt object.

The victim’s family members claimed that she was alone in the kitchen when the accused attacked her.

Her father was in the hall of the residence, while her sisters were busy doing household chores.

Talking to Millennium Post, the woman’s father said that while he was sitting in the hall, he they heard her daughter crying for help.

They reached the first floor of the house, where the kitchen is situated,

and broke open the door to find Lucky attacking the woman.

The family members caught hold of him, subdued him and made a PCR call, after which police team reached the spot and took Lucky away.

“When we entered the kitchen, blood was all over the place. Lucky was holding my daughter’s hair and attack-ing her with the weapon which he had brought with him,” said the father.

He further said, “Since the attack, she is not eating anything. She was attacked brutally by Lucky. He used to threatened my daughter, but I never taught he would take such a step.”

The victim is currently in hospital, receiving treatment for the injuries in neck, face and hands.

The girl lives with her family in Sultanpuri area, while her father works as a mechanic.

The father also said that earlier he had thought of getting the two mar-ried. But he soon realised that the Lucky was not fit for his daughter.

On January 31, he told the accused and his family that he was calling off the engagement. “Lucky did not like this and started harassing my daugh-ter,” said the father.

A senior police officer from Outer district said they have arrested the accused and a case under the appro-priate section of the Indian Penal Code has been registered.

“Investigation is going on in the case,” said the officer.

Couple found dead at home in GovindpuriOUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Sunday said that 30-year-old man and his wife were found dead, reportedly after commit-ting suicide, at their residence in south east Delhi’s Govind-puri area.

Police said no suicide note was found at the spot and the circumstances that led to the incident are not clear yet.

According to police, the deceased was identified as Mohit Bagga and his wife 28-year-old Arpita, who got married two years ago.

Police said that on Satur-day night, Arpita had sent a WhatsApp message to one of her relatives stating that she and Mohit were going to com-mit suicide

However, the relative saw the message only the next morning and immediately sent it to her relatives. The message soon reached Mohit’s father, who is staying in Varanasi, and he called the police.

Around 10.50 am on Sun-day, a team from Govindpuri police station reached the cou-ple’s residence. Nitin, a relative of Mohit, also reached the spot along with cops, and the door of the couple’s one BHK flat was broken open.

“Inside, the body of Arpita was found lying in the draw-

ing room with ligature mark around her neck. Her husband Mohit’s body was hanging from the ceiling fan with a bedsheet,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Chinmoy Biswal on Sundat.

“As less than seven years had elapsed since their mar-riage, a mobile crime team was called to the spot and SDM and Tehsildar were informed to conduct proceedings under section 176 of CrPC. The bod-ies have been shifted to AIIMS mortuary on the direction of Tehsildar for preserving, as the parents of deceased are on their way to Delhi from Varanasi,” Biswal added.

Police further said that Mohit worked at a jewellry shop in Amar Colony in Lajpat Nagar, while Arpita was a housewife.

Two cops suspended for shooting at wedding receptionOUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Two police per-sonnel posted with the Special Cell of Delhi Police were dis-missed from service after shot at and injured two persons at a wedding reception, including a woman, in north east Delhi. Police claimed that both cops were also arrested.

According to police, the vic-tims were identified as Manoj Gupta and Pooja Gupta, while

the accused police personnel were identified as Assistant Sub-Inspector Intkhab Alam and Constable Naiem Khan.

On the night of Febru-ary 24, both the Special Cell personnel were attending the reception party of one Monu Gupta, at V R Vatika Khajuri Khas, on the invitation of the bridegroom, a neighbor of Naiem Khan.

“At around 10.30 pm, Naiem had a brawl with a pho-

tographer and Manoj Gupta intervened. Aggrieved with this, Naiem took the service pistol that Intkhab Alam was carrying and fired it in the air. In the firing, two persons, a woman and a man got injured,” said a senior police officer.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North East) Ajit Kumar Singla on Sunday said that they a PCR call was received at Kar-awal Nagar police station about the quarrel and firing.

On enquiry, it was found that prima facie Naiem had fired three rounds at the wed-ding reception.

During investigation, police also found that one more PCR call regarding the quarrel and snatching of service pistol of Alam was received. However, it turned out to be fake.

Police claimed that a case under sections 336, 337 and 307 of the Indian Penal Code and section 27 of the Arms Act

has been registered in Khajoori Khas police station.

Both Naiem and Alam have been arrested in this case and also being dismissed from service.

The government pistol used for firing has also been recovered.

“Both the injured per-sons are out of danger, but the injured man Manoj is currently under observation at GTB Hos-pital,” said Singla.

AAP MLA booked for

tirade against govt officials

Three people arrested for

stealing Rs 14L of Noida firm

Another stone pelting incident

reported in Trilokpuri

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Uttam Nagar constituency Naresh Balyan has been booked by Delhi Police for his alleged speech against government officials.

A case under sections 189, 505 (1), 116, 186 and 353 of the Indian Penal Code was registered on Saturday against Balyan at Dabri police station in Dwarka, said a senior police officer.

The case was registered against the AAP MLA on a complaint from a policeman on duty during Balyan’s speech at JJ Colony, Bindapur, on Feb-ruary 23. The complainant alleged that Balyan was making an “aggressive” speech saying that officials should be beaten up and people were giving their nod to what he was saying.

A case was registered by the police on a complaint of the chief secretary in connection with the alleged assault on him. Two AAP MLAs Amanatul-lah Khan and Prakash Jarwal were arrested and sent to judi-cial custody.

Prakash alleged that he was assaulted in a meeting at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriw-al’s residence, on the interven-ing night of February 19-20, by Khan and other persons. BJP leader Vijender Gupta on Sun-day filed a complaint against AAP leader Dilip Kumar after the latter allegedly threatened him with assault a few days ago.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

GHAZIABAD: Three people were arrested on Sunday for allegedly stealing over Rs 14 lakh of a Noida-based firm and then claiming that there had been a robbery, police said.

The accused were arrested by a team from Murad Nagar police station. One of them Abhishek was a cash collection agent on contract with the firm, they said.

They had made a call on the ‘100’ number on Saturday, claiming that two motorcycle-borne men had looted Rs 14.71 lakh from them near Duhai vil-lage on the Delhi-Meerut road, they said.

Following the call, police had put up barricades and launched a search operation to nab the robbers.

The call was received around 1 pm and police per-sonnel were informed on wire-less, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) HN Singh said.

However, later it was found that there had been no robbery and the accused had concocted the story, the SSP said.

Abhishek, who is looks after the firm’s cash collection in Murad Nagar as he is a local, had made the call, police said.

Station House Officer (SHO), Murad Nagar, Ranvir Singh said that a complaint was lodged by the firm’s man-ager Nishant, six hours after the incident, and this raised suspicion.

During interrogation they confessed to the crime and fabricating the story, the SHO said.

The cash has been recov-ered. The money was collected over the past two days, police said, adding that one of their associates Sonu is at large.

One country-made pistol, a cartridge and a motorcycle have been seized, they said.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on said that they brought under control a minor stone pelting incident in east Delhi’s Trilok-puri area on Sunday night, add-ing that they are probing the cause of the incident.

Ravindra Yadav, Joint Com-missioner of Police (Eastern Range) said no firing took place done from the police’s side. “A bit of stone pelting was there and after receiving the infor-mation, the DCP East and others rushed to the spot and controlled the situation,” said Yadav said.

Hansraj, a resident of the area, said that as soon as the stone pelting began on Sun-day night, police were called and a police team immediately reached the spot.

“The exact cause of pelt-ing is been investigated and they are searching the persons involved in this,” said a police official.

On February 20, a similar clash was reported from Trilok-puri, after which security was heightened.

“There was Tuesday mar-ket in the area when some per-sons started pelting stones. We don’t know what was the cause. There were many inno-cent people in the market who were injured,” said Waseem a resident of Trilokpuri.

Police scanned CCTV foot-ages of the area and identified some persons involved in the stone pelting.

OVER 400 UNDERPRIVILEGED YOUTH FROM SHAHDARA GET JOBS

NEW DELHI: More than 400 underprivileged residents of Shahdara district secured job placements after they were trained by Delhi Police and NGO ‘Step Ahead Foundation’ at a job camp here on Sunday. A training centre under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana’ is being run to impart train to the youth on computer data entry, computer hardware, mobile repair and tailoring. The duration of the course is three months and 450 youth have been trained at the centre since August 2017.

GMDA OFFICE TO BE SET UP IN GURUGRAM’S SECTOR-32GURUGRAM: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) headquarters is expected to be set up at Sector-32. The office will house senior officials that will include the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and deputy CEO. After delays on various counts, the GMDA began functioning last year. On January 31 this year, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar chaired the first officials’ meet of GMDA and discussed various plans for the development of Gurugram. The public body is entrusted with initiating urban infrastructure development. GMDA will have power over real estate matters in the city.

CITY BRIEFS

Ggn admin pulls up socks to rein in road accidents

PIYUSH OHRIE

GURUGRAM: Taking cog-nisance of the spate of deadly road accidents in Gurugram, the district administration has began devising plans through various means to prevent the loss of lives.

The dangers to commuters can be gauged from the fact that an average of eight mis-haps occur on Gurugram’s roads daily. In 2017, 481 lives were lost to accidents on the city roads.

Commuters on two wheel-ers and pedestrians were the most the vulnerable groups of victims that were affected.

To reduce the rate of acci-dents, the Haryana government has started the Haryana Vision Zero campaign.

Under this campaign, Gurugram authorities plan to set up preventive mechanisms at the deadly stretches situated on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway.

Faulty road designs, poor signages and poor manage-ment of traffic are attributed as major reasons for accidents along the Delhi-Jaipur highway.

Coordinating with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the Guru-gram administration plans to construct foot over bridges and improve signages.

Gurugram Police have also involved over 300 traffic cops to manage the traffic in the city.

Citing indiscipline among commuters as a major reason for traffic blockades at MG road, the Municipal Corpora-tion of Gurugram and Guru-gram Police have also imposed speed limits for all categories of vehicles passing through the Mall Mile.

As per the new rules, if any vehicle is found to be speed-ing beyond the 60 km/hr speed limit, the drivers will be fined.

For auto drivers, the speed limit has been set at 40 km/hr,

while for heavy commercial vehicles, it is 30 km/hr.

To make commuters aware of the new speed limits, MCG has began setting up boards at vital points of the busy route.

According to Gurugram Police officials, the move will not only result in smoother flow of traffic, but will also pre-vent accidents.

Several factors today make driving extremely unsafe in Gurugram. To begin with there are no proper cuts and diver-sions for commuters.

“There is also negligible action taken by authorities on over speeding and rash driv-ing. There is also no system of the three wheelers and private buses plying in the area,” said Rajeev Verma, a city resident.

“With the area seeing mas-sive jam due to construction activities, most two-wheelers violate traffic rules and makes themselves as well as other sus-ceptible to accidents,” he added.

Biker on the brink of death gets new lease of life, thanks to timely action by policemen

ABHAY SINGH

NEW DELHI: Once again the humanitarian face of Delhi Police come to fore when the Police Control Room team shifted an injured man who was lying in a pool of blood in Bawana area of Rohini District.

According to police, it was at 5.20 Saturday morning when the PCR team, which was patrolling in the Rohini Dis-trict, received a PCR call about a road accident near Bawana Canal. Without wasting any-time, Assistant Sub-Inspector

Pramod and constable Wazir reached the spot, which was in a narrow road where they can-not take their vehicle as it was meant only for motorcycle.

“I went down and walked for about a kilometer when I found a motorcyclist coming and with his help, I reached the spot where I found the victim lying in a pool of blood. He was a Delhi Police personnel,” said Pramod adding that he cleaned his face and gave him CPR. With the help of the motorcy-clist, the victim was taken to an ambulance where first-aid was

given and later taken him to the hospital.

The Delhi Police Control Room (PCR) personnel have been trained in life-saving skills which can make a huge differ-ence between life and death. According to the police, in dif-ferent training sessions, they have learned how to handle injured people before they reach the hospital. The train-ing has different modules including bleeding control, airway management, and safe transportation.

According to police, more

than 700 PCR vehicles have been guarding the streets of Delhi covering vulnerable points and also the border areas of the capital.

During the patrolling, the PCR vehicles found more than one lakh people who were injured and they were taken to hospital. In 2016, more than 50,000 people were found injured and were shifted to hos-pital whereas in 2017 from Jan-uary 1 to November 15, around 49,563 people with injurues weere found, who were rushed to hospital by PCR vans.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Pramod, who the victim the by responding at the right time PIC/MPOST

PIYUSH OHRIE

GURUGRAM: A major complaint from pedestrians and cyclists across the Millennium City is the dearth of space for them to travel.

Despite various claims, encroachment and illegal parking continue to decrease the already shrinking paths designed for pedestrians and cyclists.

While the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) claims that its officials are working for removal of illegal encroachments, most residents do not seem to be impressed by the claims.

Complaints about poor quality of walking spaces and

encroachments in the city continue to come in large numbers at the Corporation’s office.

Residents complain that both old parts and posh areas of the city face the problem of lack of spaces for pedestrians.

Further, the lack of proper walking spaces in the city only increases the risks of citizens in the city.

“Problems of encroachment continue to be rampant in the city. Unfortunately, it is not only in the old parts of the city that continues to be a problem even in the posh parts of the city.

“MG Road better known as Mall Mile have extremely poor quality of foot paths. In some

areas, there are no footpaths at all. Further, even the MG Road which is one of the most recognised parts of Gurugram, there are encroachments and illegal parking,” said Raghav Sahni, a city resident.

“It is not that complaints on quality of pedestrian spaces have not been sent to MCG officials but it seems there is just no accountability of MCG towards addressing this problem,” added Sahni.

Besides MG Road, complaints on poor quality of walking spaces are also received from areas of Mahavir Chowk which is near the bus stand, Sheetla Mata Road, Golf Course Road and Rajendar Park area.

“Poor quality of walking spaces is a major problem in the city. The MCG in order to tackle this issue has come down heavily on illegal encroachments. Every alternate day, we remove illegal encroachments from different parts of the city. We are also in the process of beautifying the footpaths in the city. At MG Road, we are putting the new tiles,” said a senior official from MCG.

We continue to engage with citizens though various interactive platforms so that they can make us aware of the problems regarding the walking spaces in their area,” the Corporation official further said.

After realising that Lucky used to misbehave with the victim, her family called off the engagement

Photo caption box for single column PIC/MPOST

The victims Mohit and Arpita Bagga PIC/MPOST

Encroachment, illegal parking continue to clog pedestrian spaces in Gururgram

Sharp-shooter nabbed near Apsara border

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Special Cell of Delhi Police on Sunday claimed that they have arrested a sharp-shooter of Nasir gang near Apsara border in North-East Delhi. The notorious crim-inal was wanted in six criminal cases across different police stations.

According to police, the accused, Mohammad Salim (28), and his younger brother Farman joined the Nasirgang to make a fast buck.

“Salim along with Nanhe and others started commit-ting crimes on the directions of Aazim and Nasir. Salim is trigger happy and he fires upon slightest provocation or refus-ing to pay extortion money to his gang members,” said DCP (Special Cell) PS Kushwaha.

A team of Special Cell of Delhi Police led by Inspector Shiv Kumar under the super-vision of Attar Singh, ACP,

Special Cell, Southern Range arrested the accused on the basis of an information that he would be coming to Apsara border near a bus stand in order to meet one of his associates

Police claimed that the arrested accused during inter-rogation revealed that he is a key member and sharpshooter of the notorious Nasir gang.

There is a fierce gang rivalry going on between ‘Nasir’ and ‘Irfan alias Chhainu’ gangs for dominance in the trans-Yamuna areas, especially north east Dehli.

Police claimed that the accused Mohammad Salim is a key member and sharpshooter of the notorious Nasir gang

PIC/MPOST

NEW DELHI: An alleged sup-plier of illegal arms and ammu-nition, carrying a reward of Rs one lakh on his arrest, was apprehended on Sunday from the Sarai Kale Khan area here, police said.

Acting on specific informa-tion, a special cell team inter-cepted accused Shripal Singh (29), who was in Delhi to meet his associates, near the Bara-pulla flyover here, DCP (Spe-cial Cell) P S Kushwah said, adding that 20 live cartridges of .32 bore were found on him.

In November 2016, the spe-cial cell arrested Mahipal and Sandeep Yadav, and seized a big cache of cartridges from them.

During interrogation, the duo named Prempal and Shri-pal as the “main suppliers” of ammunition to criminals oper-ating in Delhi NCR, Kushwah said. AGENCIES

Illegal arms supplier

arrested from Sarai Kale Khan

mp nation 5MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

OUR CORRESPONDENT

PUDUCHERRY: Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at the “one family” dynas-tic rule of Congress for 48 years and said it should be compared with the achievements of the “development-oriented” NDA in the last four years.

“One family either directly or indirectly ruled the country for 48 years... for about 17 years our first Prime Minister ruled, and after that his daughter held the reigns for 14 years and fol-lowing that her son was at the helm for five years,” he said.

Modi, who was addressing a BJP organised public meeting here, referred to the regimes of Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi without naming them.

His comments come weeks after Congress president Rahul Gandhi had dared Modi to spell out achievements of the NDA government instead of criticis-ing his party.

“You will have to tell the country during the elections what you did in the last five years. It is going to be five years and you have not even opened your account,” Gandhi had said making Modi the focal point of his attack in a series of roadside and public meetings in poll-bound Karnataka.

In his address here, Modi also said “between 2004 and 2014, the same family ran the government with remote con-trol,” in an apparent reference to the Manmohan Singh-led UPA regime.

“From Puducherry, I would like to give a message for the intellectuals of this country,” he said.

Intellectuals can debate the difference between what was gained and lost during the Con-gress regimes and what the BJP-led NDA has achieved in 48 months, he said.

“We are talking about peo-ple’s development, ease of living for the common man,” he said.

Though nations that got independence in 1947 like India have grown, the country still lagged behind and it warranted a serious thought on the lacu-nae vis-a-vis the functioning of the government and political culture that were holding back the nation, Modi said.

In an obvious reference to his oft-repeated slogan “Con-gress mukt Bharat”, Modi asserted the Congress would be left with only the V Naraya-nasamy government in Puduch-erry in the country, saying the BJP would win the coming

assembly elections in Karna-taka and north east.

He did not refer to the Ama-rinder Singh-led Congress gov-ernment in Punjab.

“I want to congratulate the Chief Minister of Puducherry in advance because the Con-gress is going to exhibit him as a specimen after June,” he quipped predicting the defeat of the Congress in other states.

“Elections are going to be held in North East where the Congress has a government and it will go. After that, polls are to be held in Karnataka and there too the Congress will go, so the Narayanasamy government will be the only one to be left,” the Prime Minister said.

The jibe drew laughter from the large crowd that had gath-ered to listen to Modi, who became the first prime minis-ter to address a public meeting

in this former French colony in 33 years. Rajiv Gandhi was the last Prime Minister to address a rally here in 1984.

Targeting the Congress gov-ernment in Puducherry, Modi said the union territory had poor infrastructure and was a victim of “Congress culture”.

He claimed Puducherry had poor infrastructure and sectors such as transport and cooperation were in a sham-bles and charged the successive regimes with doing injustice for the people.

“The Congress has failed on all fronts in Puducherry,” he said recalling the glorious history of the former French colony which was closely asso-ciated with the freedom move-ment sheltering the likes of Sri Aurobindo, and national poet Subramania Bharathi.

He also came down on the Puducherry government for not holding civic polls for years together while the “party had been making tall claims from Delhi that it is the champion of democracy and rights of the people.” By delaying the civic polls the Congress government “is only gagging the voice of the people,” he said.

Outlining the initiatives of his government like the ‘Mudhra Yojana’ and ‘Jan Dhan Yojana’, he said such schemes empowered the people across the country. Modi said the Prime Minis-ter’s Mudra Scheme had been implemented expeditiously with around 3.25 lakh youth having been benefitted during the last three years. Mudra scheme is of help to the youth who could get loans without any collat-eral security, he said urging the

youths to make use of it and launch projects in Puducherry.

Udan Scheme providing regional air connectivity would be of help for Puducherry to promote tourism and generate employment, he said.

Citing the Ayushman Bharath Scheme, he said it will benefit the poor families to get free medical treatment upto Rs 5 lakh rupees per year.

The government was strengthening the ports and ushering in an era of port-led development, through the Sagarmala project.

Financial assistance were being given for long-liner trawl-ers for fishermen under the Blue Revolution Scheme, he said. Modi also listed financial assis-tance given to various schemes such as smart city for the union territory.

PM predicts BJP win in K’taka, NE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves during a public rally in Puducherry on Sunday PTI

AUROVILLE: Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi on Sunday said India has been the spiritual destination for the world for ages and always allowed mutual respect and coexistence of dif-ferent religions and culture.

Several of the world’s great religions were born in the coun-try and they motivated people from all walks of life to take a spiritual path, he said at the international township, around 6 km from Puducherry.

Modi was addressing the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Auroville (City of Dawn) Inter-national Township.

The township was envi-

sioned by Mirra Alfassa, a spiri-tual collaborator of Aurobindo and the ‘Mother’ of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

The prime minister said that as observed by the Mother, Auroville has become a univer-sal town to realise human unity and the large gathering today reflects the idea.

He said for ages India has been a spiritual destination for the world. “Many of the world’s great religions were born here. They motivate people from all walks of life to take a spiritual path...,” Modi said.

“Aurobindo’s vision of India’s spiritual leadership con-

tinues to inspire us even today, indeed Auroville is a manifes-tation of that vision,” he said.

Over the last five decades Auroville has emerged as a hub of social cultural, educational, economical, and spiritual inno-vation, the prime minister said.

It has brought together men and women, young and old from across boundaries and identities under the char-ter handwritten by the “divine Mother” herself, he said.

“It belongs to all the human-ity and is a reflection of our ancient credo ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ the world is one family,” he added. MPOST

‘India a spiritual destination for the world’OUR CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG/KOHIMA: The high-octane Meghalaya and Nagaland poll campaign dur-ing which barbs flew thick and fast among parties ended on Sunday.

Voting in the two states, both having 60-member assemblies, will take place on Tuesday. The results will be declared on March 3 along with that of Tripura, where elections were held on February 18.

The BJP is making a deter-mined bid to expand its foot-print in the Northeast, buoyed by formation of its govern-ments in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

Meghalaya, in particular, is important for the Congress, which has ruled it for 10 years.

But, this time the BJP is making a determined effort to throw them out of power and include Meghalaya, a next door neighbour of BJP-ruled Assam, in its kitty.

BJP’s resolve could be gauged from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi him-self spearheaded the campaign. Party chief Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Nirmala Sith-araman, I&B minister Smriti Irani and a host of other lead-ers also chipped in.

Union Minister of State for Tourism K J Alphons, a Chris-tian from Kerala, stayed put in Meghalaya as the BJP in- charge of the state with a predominant Christian population.

From the Congress, its president Rahul Gandhi cam-paigned in the state. Its media chief Randeep Singh Surjew-ala and MP Shashi Tharoor extended helping hands.

With a total of 25 Lok Sabha seats and 14 Rajya Sabha berths, the eight states of the region are crucial for the BJP to add up to its number in 2019 general election.

At present, the BJP has eight Lok Sabha members from the region, and the Congress has seven.

In the Rajya Sabha, out of total 14 seats, the BJP has one and the Congress nine. The rest are with local parties.

As the clock ticked 4 pm, campaigning ended in both Meghalaya and Nagaland.

The Congress and the BJP are slugging it out in Megha-laya. The Congress has fielded 59 candidates, while the BJP has put up nominees in 47 constituencies.

Though they are fighting separately, in Meghalaya NPP of Conrad Sangma, son of for-mer Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, is the BJP’s partner in NEDA (North East Democratic Alliance).

In Nagaland, the BJP’s hope hinges on its alliance partner NDPP (Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party) of Neiphiu Rio which is contesting 40 seats. The BJP is fighting 20.

The Congress, which has given three chief ministers to Nagaland, is contesting only 18 seats, two less than the BJP.

Fiery campaign for Feb 27 polls in Meghalaya, Nagaland draws to end

OUR CORRESPONDENT

BAGALKOTE: Continuing to target the Prime Minister in his campaign in poll-bound Karnataka, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked why Narendra Modi, who had described himself as the coun-try’s “chowkidar”, was “silent” on the PNB fraud.

He also asked Modi as to why he was not taking any action regarding the alleged sudden increase in turnover of a company owned by BJP presi-dent Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah.

“Modi ji comes to Karna-taka and speaks about corrup-tion. He had told the country not to make him Prime Minis-ter but make him the chowki-dar (watchman) of the country,” he said at party rallies in Vija-pura and Bagalkote districts in north Karnataka.

Gandhi said, “On one side there is his party’s (former)

chief minister (B S Yeddy-urappa) who had gone to jail and on the other side are the other four former ministers of the BJP government who had gone to jail; sitting in between them, Modi speaks about corruption.”

“Shah’s son converts Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in three months and the chowkidar of the country doesn’t get it enquired and doesn’t even utter a word,” he alleged.

The BJP chief has rejected allegations of corruption against his son Jay Shah, who has filed a criminal defamation suit against a news portal which claimed his business fortunes had zoomed after the BJP came to power in 2014.

Gandhi is on the second leg of his three-day tour of north-ern parts of Karnataka.

This is his second visit to the state in less than a fortnight.

Karnataka is slated to go to

the polls in a few months.At all rallies, Modi has

remained the focal point of speeches by Gandhi, who, on the other hand, is projecting Siddaramaiah as party’s face to take on Modi in the state, on whom BJP is banking heavily to boost its electoral fortunes.

Hitting out at Modi on demonetisation, the Congress president said, “Modiji told the country to stand in line (queues at banks) for the fight against corruption.You would have not seen a single rich person or someone wearing suit-boot in the line.” He alleged that all the “thieves” in India had con-verted their black money into white with the help of Modi.

Attacking the Prime Min-ister on the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud issue involv-ing jewellery designer Nirav Modi, Gandhi questioned his silence. “Nirav Modi has indulged in the theft of Rs

22,000 crore, he runs away from the country, but the chowkidar of this country does not even utter a word,” he said.

Breaking his silence over the Rs 11,400-crore fraud at India’s second-biggest PSU bank, Modi on Friday had warned of strict action against those involved in financial irregularities and said loot of public money would not be tolerated.

“Nudidante Nade” (prac-tise as you preach),Gandhi told Modi, invoking 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara from Karnataka.

Basaveshwara is revered by the dominant Lingayat- Veerashiva community,who are predominantly present in northern parts of the state and form a major support base for BJP,which is projecting Lingayat strongman Yeddy-urappa as its Chief Ministerial candidate.

Why is ‘chowkidar’ silent: Rahul on PNB fraud

NEW DELHI: The vehicle that killed nine schoolchildren (six girls and three boys) in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Satur-day belonged to a BJP leader from Sitamarhi, police officials said. The BJP leader, Manoj Baitha, was reportedly inside the Bolero when the accident took place on NH 77 and escaped along with his driver after the incident, agency reported. The RJD was quick to pounce upon the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine and sought strict pun-ishment for those behind the deaths.

The accident took place around 1.30 pm when school got over and students were crossing the highway to reach Dharampur village on the other side.

A truck coming from Muzaffarpur and going towards Sitamarhi first hit and injured a woman. The driver of a speed-ing Mahindra Bolero vehi-cle, coming from the opposite direction, lost control, prob-ably to avoid running over the injured woman and hit the schoolchildren.

About a dozen other stu-dents were reportedly injured, and are being treated at Muzaf-farpur’s Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital.

On Sunday, Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav visited the injured and met the families of the victims. He alleged that the driver of the vehicle was drunk and asked why no arrests had been made so far.

“The vehicle has a BJP board attached to it and the driver was drunk at the time of the incident. BJP leaders are totally drunk in power,” he said.

The victims were children of either daily wage workers and marginal farmers and stu-dents and parents have been demanding relocation of the school owing to its location near the highway.

Protesting parents and local residents blocked traffic on the stretch for several hours after Saturday’s accident, while agen-cies reported that some peo-ple also vandalised the school and set ablaze the infrastructure.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed grief over the incident and announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each child killed in the accident. AGENCIES

Bihar accident: Vehicle that killed 9 students belongs

to BJP leader?

OUR CORRESPONDENT

HUMNABAD: BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday demanded that Congress president Rahul Gandhi prove his charge that the Narendra Modi govern-ment waived loans taken by industrialists.

What Rahul Gandhi is say-ing is incorrect, Shah said and demanded that the Congress president make public any doc-ument which mentions that loans to industries were writ-ten off.

“I want to clarify one thing... one statement that the Congress president repeatedly makes is that the BJP waived thousands of crores, lakhs of crores of loans taken by indus-tries. I can tell you with guar-antee that after the Narendra Modi government came to power, not even a single paisa of loan taken by any single industrialist has been waived,” he said during an interaction

with sugarcane farmers.“If he (Rahul Gandhi) has

any records anywhere that industries’ loans have been waived, let him make it pub-lic... I am ready to answer and seek an apology from farmers of Karnataka. What he is say-ing is wrong,” the BJP national president said.

He said that tax had not been waived for industries, but it has “only been reduced a bit.”

Shah is on a three-day visit to north Karnataka region, during which he will interact with party workers in Bidar, Kalaburagi and Yadgiri dis-tricts. State Assembly polls are

expected to be held in a few months.

“There is already no income tax on anything related to farm-ers and there is no question of taxing them. Let anyone spread misinformation how much ever they want, government is not imposing any income tax on farmers,” he said.

The BJP chief said the Cen-tre’s “full focus” was on farm-ers’ welfare and after coming to power in Karnataka, his party would follow a pro-farmer strategy.

Listing out various initia-tives taken by the Modi gov-ernment for sugarcane farmers, Shah said the BJP’s poll mani-festo would include ensuring on-time payment to sugarcane growers.

“If the BJP comes to power in Karnataka... within 90 days sugar mills would have to make payment to the farmers, as done in Uttar Pradesh. We will include this in our manifesto,”

he said, adding after forming government in the state, sugar mills in the region would be re-opened.

Mentioning various ‘pro-farmer’ initiatives of the Union government, such as procure-ment of pulses, neem-coated urea and the Pradhan Man-tri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, he accused the Congress gov-ernment in Karnataka of not allowing benefits of some of the schemes reach the farmers.

The Congress government in the state fears that it may lead to further rise in Modi’s popu-larity, Shah claimed.

He said Narendra Modi would attend a farmers’ con-clave at Davangere on Febru-ary 27, after which BJP workers would visit their homes, col-lect a fistful of rice from each household, cook and eat it while pledging that once the party forms government in the state, it would be dedicated to work for farmers’ welfare.

Prove charge that Govt waived industries’ loans: Shah

BJP National President Amit Shah pay obeisance at Gurudwara Sri Nanak Jhira Sahib at Bidar in Karnataka on Sunday PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has set up two special courts to exclusively deal with criminal cases involving politi-cians and for their speedy dis-posal, in pursuance with the Supreme Court’s directions.

The high court designated Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar and Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal, of the Patiala House Courts, to preside over the spe-cial courts.

An administrative order said Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and other judges of the Delhi High Court, in compli-ance with the directions of the Supreme Court on Novem-ber 1, 2017 and December 14, 2017, have designated the two courts as special courts to deal with cases against elected MPs/MLAs.

The February 23 order issued through High Court

Registrar General Dinesh Kumar Sharma said the special courts will function in Patiala House Courts complex from March 1.

“The acting chief justice and judges of this court have further been pleased to order that the cases pending against MPs/MLAs in different courts be transferred to these two courts before March 1 and to put such cases on fast track and endeavour be made to dispose of the same within one year,” it said.

The apex court on Decem-ber 12 last year, had directed that 12 special courts, to be set up to exclusively deal with cases involving lawmak-ers, should start functioning from March 1, 2018, and had asked the Centre to “forthwith” allocate Rs 7.80 crore propor-tionately to the respective states. MPOST

HC sets up special courts to try MPs, MLAs in criminal cases

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The number of cases in the Supreme Court where the Centre is a party has seen a spike in the last one year, with law ministry officials attributing the spurt to the note ban, GST and other taxation issues.

Between January 1 and December 31 last year, 4,229 cases were filed in the top court in which the government was a party as against 3,497 in 2016, according to the latest data from the law ministry.

Officials in the ministry said

the spurt could be attributed to a slew of cases on government policies such as demonetisa-tion, the GST regime and taxa-tion issues in the last one year.

In 2014, when the NDA government came to power, the number of such cases was 4,748 but dipped to 3,909 in 2015.

From January 1 to Febru-ary 22 this year, 859 such cases have already been filed in the apex court.

A number of cases relate to demonetisation, announced in November 2016, GST which came into effect last year and other taxation issues, a minis-

try functionary said.According to the data, 3,909

cases where the Union of India

is a party were filed between January 1 and December 31, 2015, 4,772 cases in 2013 and

4,149 in 2012.While there has been a rise

in litigation over such matters, the number of law officers rep-resenting the Union of India has dwindled.

Though the number of law officers representing the government in the Supreme Court is set to go up from six to 10 next week, so far there is no word on who would become the next solici-tor general.

A law ministry file recom-mending the names of Aman Lekhi, Madhvi Diwan, Sandeep Sethi and Bikramjeet Banerjee

as additional solicitors general has reached the Prime Minis-ter’s Office for a final approval.

Sources in the govern-ment said the final nod of the Appointments Committee of Cabinet on the four names was likely next week.

After Ranjit Kumar resigned as the solicitor general in October last year, the key post has been lying vacant and so far there is no word from the law ministry on who would be appointed to the post.

P S Patwali and N K Kaul had decided against a second term as additional solicitors

general when their terms ended last July.

Maninder Singh, Tushar Mehta, P S Narasimha, Pinky Anand and Atmaram Nadkarni are the other ASGs.

Besides Attorney General K K Venugopal, five ASGs rep-resent the Centre in the apex court. There are nine other ASGs who appear in various high courts.

Officials pointed out that since there are not many law officers, sensitive cases are also being handled by senior advo-cates who are on the law min-istry panel.

Spike in SC cases where Govt is party; note ban, GST possible reasons

SIMONTINI BHATTACHARJEE

NEW DELHI: A key meeting with all Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States has been called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah on February 28 at its new party headquarters here.

BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav has already dispatched a letter to the Chief Ministers and the Deputy Chief Min-isters, where they have been asked to present the status of implementation of central schemes, especially pro-poor schemes like Jan-Dhan, Mudra, Ujwala, housing etc.

BJP has 14 chief ministers and deputy chief ministers in states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,

Gujarat and Jammu and Kash-mir. In Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir the BJP is a coalition partner with the Janata Dal-United and People’s Demo-cratic Party (PDP), respectively.

Meanwhile, many interpre-tations are in the round over the meeting. Political pun-dits claimed that the meeting is very crucial in view of the impending Lok Sabha elec-tion next year and BJP lead-ers are likely to brainstorm and to introspect the outcome in the saffron states during the meeting. But the party sources opined that it is a ‘yearly affair’ of the party.

Reportedly, those in the know of the development claimed that the letter by Yadav also mentioned to pres-ent details of booth level prep-

arations. The participants have also been asked to form com-mittees over “One Nation-One Election” under leadership of a senior leader either from gov-ernment or organisation so that the issue can gain momen-tum in public discourse and PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah will also talk about the issue during the meeting. How-ever, party sources completely denied such reports.

Interestingly, the meeting will take place on the day when the results for by-polls for two Assembly constituencies in Madhya Pradesh and one in Odisha will be announced and the budget will be presented by Madhya Pradesh govern-ment. The marathon meeting will be held from 9.00 am to 7.00 pm.

Modi, Shah to meet BJP CMs, Dy CMs on Feb 28

MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

6 CIVILIANS KILLED IN PAK SHELLING DURING LAST 10 MONTHS IN J&KJAMMU: Six civilians were killed and 13 others were injured in heavy Pakistani shelling along the LoC in Rajouri district of Jammu & Kashmir during the last 10 months, an official said on Sunday. Nowshera and Manjakote sectors were worst hit and accounted for majority of the damage in the shelling from across the border, District Development Commissioner, Ra-jouri, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary said. As many as 169 residential houses and 12 government buildings were damaged in the shelling from May 1, 2017 to Febru-ary 25, 2018, Choudahry said. He said 4,600 people migrated from the affected villages along the LoC during the past 10 months even as the local adminis-tration constructed 86 underground bunkers at various places in the twin sectors for the safety of the people.

J&K: TERRORISTS KILL 2 COPS IN ATTACKS ON POLICE POSTSSRINAGAR: Two policemen were shot dead by militants on Sunday in two separate attacks on police posts, one near the revered Chrar-e-Shareef shrine and another outside the residence of a Hurriyat leader, in the Kashmir Valley on Sunday, officials said.A group of militants fired upon a police post near the shrine of Sufi saint Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani in the Chrar-e-Shareef area in Budgam district this afternoon, an official said. A policeman, Kultar Singh, suffered injuries. Singh was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries, the official added.

SEVEN GET JAIL TERM IN KERALA HUMAN TRAFFICKING CASEKOCHI: A CBI court here has awarded rigorous impris-onment (RI) to seven persons, including three women, in a human trafficking case. The seven persons traf-ficked women from parts of Kerala to brothels in gulf countries from 2009-2012. While four accused were awarded 10 years RI and slapped fines ranging from Rs 2.54 lakh to Rs 1.54 lakh, the rest were handed seven years RI and fine of Rs 1.2 lakh each. Six other accused in the case, who aided the racketeers, were acquitted by the court, while two accused turned ap-provers and one is still absconding.

NOTORIOUS CRIMINAL KILLED IN ENCOUNTER WITH STFLAKHIMPUR KHIRI: A notorious criminal, carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, was killed in a joint operation by special task force (STF) and Khiri police, an official said on Sunday. Nilu Chaudhary, a resident of Hapur, was killed in an encounter on Sat-urday night, said Abhiskek Singh, SSP STF. According to Singh, 19 cases including that of murder, loot and dacoity were registered against the accused in differ-ent states. Chaudhary alias Fauji had escaped from a jail in Haryana in 2015 and was absconding since then, Singh said.

FIVE KILLED IN TWO SEPARATE INCIDENTS IN RAJASTHANJAIPUR: Five people were killed on Sunday in two separate accidents in Rajasthan’s Sirohi and Jaipur dis-tricts, police said. Three people were killed in a head-on collision between a tempo and a tractor-trolley in Brahmpuri police station area in Jaipur. The diseased were identified as Salim (32), Asfash (23) and Anaan (18), police said. In another accident, a car hit a two-wheeler in Sirohi district’s Swaroopganj police station area killing two persons. Baburam (50) and Laduram (48) were riding the two-wheeler. SHO, Swaroopganj, Bhagwat Singh, said the bodies were handed over to family members after post-mortem.

RPF OFFICER SHOT DEAD IN MEGHALAYA, CONSTABLE HELDSHILLONG: An assistant commandant of the RPF was killed and three others were injured when a con-stable of the force opened fire from his service rifle in Meghalaya’s South West Khasi Hills district early on Sunday, following which the accused was arrested, the police said.

NATION BRIEFS

LINKING AADHAAR TO RATION CARDWANTED IN TERROR PLOT

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OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has initiated the process for securing an Interpol Red Cor-ner notice against Pakistani diplomat Amir Zubair Sid-diqui, who was chargesheeted last week for allegedly conspir-ing to launch terror strikes on the US and Israeli consulates in South India.

Officials in the agency said the paperwork was being com-pleted and would be sent soon to the Interpol headquarters based in Lyon in France for issuance of the Red Corner notice against Siddiqui, who during his stint at Pakistani High Commission in Sri Lanka during 2014 had conspired to carry out terror strikes in India.

He was named by a Sri Lankan resident Sakir Hussain, who is at present undergoing a simple imprisonment after

pleading guilty in a court of law. He was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police after the Intelli-gence Bureau busted the con-spiracy in April 2014. His jail term will end next year.

Hussain had carried out reconnaissance of the US con-sulate in Chennai and Israeli consulate in Bangalore to facili-tate a terror strike similar to 26/11. For this, two terror-ists were to be flown in from

Maldives.Siddiqui was working as

visa counsellor at the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo but had to be repatriated to Islamabad after India mounted pressure on Sri Lanka about his alleged activities targeting this country. He was nailed after the NIA was handed over evidence by the US authorities. The doc-uments handed over by the US to India established commu-

nication between Hussain and ‘Shahjee’, a Pakistani national introduced to the accused allegedly by a Pakistani diplo-mat working with its mission in Sri Lanka.

The NIA, which has carried out the probe into the conspir-acy meticulously, had sent a request under Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty to the US for details from service provider whose email was being used by Hussain to communicate to his handler in Sri Lanka.

The response provided by US authorities following the request under the MLAT showed that the account was being operated by “Shahjee” who had provided the name while registering with the email account, the officials said. There have been communica-tion with some email addresses in Pakistan and even personal account of Siddiqui, they said.

The email account is also

alleged to have been operated under the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo, they said.

The code name for the ter-ror plot to attack the US consul-ate in Chennai was “wedding hall” which was to be executed by “cooks”, a code for terrorists who were to gain entry from Maldives into India.

Hussain had given a detailed description of his meetings with various Paki-stani officials based in Sri Lanka as well as two “fidayeen” (suicide attackers) whom he had met in Bangkok.

Hussain was told by a Pakistani official, who was of a higher rank than Siddiqui, that the project to carry out the attack at the US consulate in Chennai would be code-named as “wedding hall” and “cooks” was the code for the two terror-ists who would have executed the plan.

NIA to seek Interpol notice against Pakistan diplomat OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has refused to defer the March 31 deadline imposed by the Union government for linking Aadhaar to ration card.

A bench of justices Shan-tanu Kemkar and Rajesh Ket-kar, however, directed the Maharashtra government to look into the grievances of technological glitches faced by residents of the state in the digi-tisation of their ration card, and subsequently, in linking it to their Aadhaar card.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Nashik resi-dent Aziz Pathan.

According to the plea filed in 2015, the Maharashtra gov-ernment issued a resolution notifying a scheme for digiti-sation of ration cards.

The scheme was launched in compliance with an order of the apex court and was aimed at streamlining and bringing about more transparency in the public distribution system (PDS).

The scheme includes digiti-sation of ration cards, installa-

tion of electronic point of sale devices at fair price shops and issuance of food grains through biometric authentication. It stipulates including the ben-eficiaries’ Aadhaar numbers in their ration card database.

However, according to the plea, several beneficiaries from Nashik district were fac-ing problems in the digitisation of their ration card, and their biometric authentication.

Pathan said there were inconsistencies in the biomet-ric machines and the upgraded ration cards of several resi-dents of Nashik bore incorrect names, addresses, and employ-ment and caste details.

He said because of these

inconsistencies, the residents were facing difficulties in link-ing their Aadhaar cards with ration cards and as a result, the linking process was get-ting delayed. Pathan urged the court to grant an interim relief by deferring the March 31 deadline, and directing the state government to ensure the affected citizens did not lose out on receiving food grain subsidies and other benefits under the PDS, if they failed to link the ration cards with the Aadhaar by March 31 this year.

The bench, however, refused to defer the deadline saying that going by Pathan’s plea, it seemed the problem was limited to Nashik district alone.

Bombay HC refuses to defer Mar 31 deadline

OUR CORRESPONDENT

RAIPUR: The CRPF, in the thick of anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh, has launched a unique bike ambulance initia-tive for providing basic health-care facilities to those living in remote jungle areas of Bastar region.

Medical teams, accompa-nied by well-armed security personnel ride their motorcy-cles to help the sick and injured in about 70 villages of Bijapur district that shares its border with Dantewada -- the worst Maoist violence-hit district of the state -- and also adjoining Telangana and Maharashtra.

“We got these motorbikes a few years back for anti-Naxal patrols and operations as four-wheelers were easy for the ultras to target. Then we thought, why not use these two-wheelers to help the locals who are ill?,” Commandant of

the 85th CRPF battalion Sud-hir Kumar said. The battalion is based in Bijapur.

A field surgical team, com-prising a doctor, a paramedic and an assistant, are part of the bike ambulance team. They go to villages either as part of a patrol or are called in by the villagers in need.

The team has also visited villages that flank the 30km long Bijapur-Gangloor axis that has claimed lives of as many

as 150 security personnel over the years.

“There are only two gov-ernment health centres in the interiors of the district. Hence, we decided to send our medi-cal teams on bikes to cater to the needy. These teams have helped in rushing the critically ill to the district headquarter and also provided Jaipur foot to a tribal who had to undergo amputation,” Kumar further added.

According to the Com-manding Officer (CO), even while on operations these teams carry medicines that are used to treat regular health issues prevalent in these areas like malaria and typhoid.

“There are risks involved too as there have been inci-dents when security person-nel responded to a emergency call from locals and they were ambushed by Naxals. But, we take calculated risks and every such medical team is accompa-nied by a well-armed security squad,” Kumar said.

This new initiative is also a step towards widening the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) civic action work that is traditionally conducted to befriend the locals by providing household items to them using government funds.

“We are reaping rich div-idends after the bike ambu-lance initiative was launched

sometime back. Our troops got timely inputs from locals about some IEDs (improvised explosive devices) secretly con-cealed under roads by Naxals to ambush security forces, apart from getting cooperation in rendering our other duties,” Kumar said.

With the success of this initiative, the 85th battalion of the CRPF is now sending its officials on bikes to hold few school sessions for students living in the interiors of Bija-pur district, the Commanding Officer said.

A senior official at the com-mand office in Raipur said the force has decided to replicate the Bijapur bike ambulance initiative in other areas of the Bastar region, worst-hit by Naxal violence.

“That would be on a case-by-case basis keeping in mind the security of the troops,” the official said.

CRPF launches bike ambulance for remote jungle areas of Bastar region

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Rattled by a spate of frauds in the banking sector, lenders are now plan-ning to increase insurance cover against delinquencies by their employees to protect their bottomlines.

“Frauds of such magni-tude and scale -- PNB fraud Rs 11,400 crore and OBC fraud Rs 390 crore -- has forced us to consider substantially much higher risk cover than the basic banker’s indemnity pol-icy which various banks have right now,” a top public sector bank official said.

Besides, tightening inter-nal risk mechanism and vigi-lance, banks have to look for higher cover to guard against such fraud where employees are involved, the official said, adding, this will help insulate the balance sheet.

Punjab National Bank had only bought a basic banker’s indemnity policy, which covers employee fraud, to the extent of Rs 2 crore which would not cover even 0.2 per cent of Rs 11,300 crore fraud done alleg-edly by Nirav Modi, Mehul

Choksi and his associates in connivance with officials of a Mumbai branch.

Soon after this, a case of alleged swindling of Rs 390 crore from Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) was regis-tered against a Delhi-based dia-mond jewellery exporter. In between there was a fraud case of Rs 3,695 crore by Rotomac Pen company owner Vikram Kothari in which the CBI filed cases and effected several arrests.

For example, SBI alone in 2016-17 reported frauds of Rs 2,424.74 crore (837 cases). Out of this, an amount of Rs 2,360.37 crore (278 cases) rep-resents advances declared as frauds.

With faith on their own

internal audit system and risk management, banks were not keen for higher cover but a series of frauds in the system have compelled them and in the recent Indian Banks’ Asso-ciation meeting also the issue came up for the deliberation, the official of another public sector lender said.

However, the official said, cover can be for fraud not for the wilful default where num-ber of lenders are involved and these two have to be dealt separately.

The official said for exam-ple the cases of Winsome Diamond Group and Nirav Modi are completely differ-ent, and the legal treatment and provision for both are diverse.

PNB fraud: Banks for raising cover against fraud by staff

BHUBANESWAR: President Ram Nath Kovind will inau-gurate a museum dedicated to former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik next month.

The Museum and Learn-ing Centre has been set up at Anand Bhawan, the ancestral house of Biju Patnaik in Cut-tack. This was stated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, son of Biju Patnaik, after his return from New Delhi here on Sun-day. “I called on the honour-able President at Rashtrapati

Bhavan yesterday. Invited him to visit Odisha and dedicate the Anand Bhawan Museum and Learning Centre to the people,” Patnaik said after his arrival here. “The President has kindly agreed to the invitation and will inaugurate the museum either on March 17 or 18,” the chief minister said.

The ancestral house of Biju Patnaik, which has been con-verted to a museum in memory of the late leader, houses rare articles belonging to him and will give visitors a comprehen-sive insight into the life of the legendary personality, he said.

The Anand Bhawan prop-erty has been donated to the district administration of Cut-tack in 2015 to convert it into a museum dedicated to Biju. His rare photographs, furniture, clothes and household items, which were lying in Anand Bhawan, would be on display in the museum, sources said. PTI

Prez Kovind to open museum dedicated to Biju Patnaik

NEW DELHI: Amid a rising graph of crime against women in the country, they constitute just 7.28 per cent of the police force in India and at 2.47 per cent, their presence is the low-est in Naxal-hit Telangana, according to government data.

In militancy-affected Jammu & Kashmir, there are just 3.05 per cent women in a police force which has a sanc-tioned strength of more than 80,000 police personnel, Union home ministry statistics said.

The government data comes amid an increasing graph of crime against women in the country where overall crimes against them rose from 3,29,243 incidents in 2015 to 3,38,954 incidents in 2016.

The situation is pathetic despite the Union home minis-try sending advisories in 2009, 2012 and 2016 to all the state governments and Union terri-tories to increase the strength of women police personnel to 33 per cent, a senior ministry official said.

All state and UTs have also been requested to create addi-tional posts of women consta-bles and sub-inspectors and fill up vacancies by recruiting them, the official said.

As on January 1 last year, Telangana had just 2.47 per cent women in the rolls of its police force which has a sanc-tioned strength of 60,700 per-sonnel, the data said.

In Uttar Pradesh, the coun-try’s most-populous state, the police force has only 3.81 per cent women. It has a sanc-tioned strength of around 3,65,000 personnel.

The percentage of women in police forces in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya was also low, the statistics showed.

While Tamil Nadu has the highest number of women police personnel, the situation

in Himachal Pradesh, Maha-rashtra and Goa was relatively better.

Among the Union ter-ritories, Chandigarh has the highest number of women per-sonnel while the Delhi Police, with a sanctioned strength of around 85,000 personnel, had just 8.64 per cent women in its roll as on January 1 last year.

The home ministry has taken a number of steps for increasing the strength of women in paramilitary forces, another official said.

Women are expected to soon account for one-third of constable-rank personnel in the Central Police Reserve Force and around 15 per cent in the border guarding forces -- Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), he said.

These forces together com-prise around nine lakh per-sonnel of whom only around 20,000 are women now.

The CRPF, considered to be world’s largest paramilitary force, is mostly deployed for law and order duties and the anti-Naxal operations.

The year 2015 saw the reg-istration of 34,651 cases of rape in the country and the figure increased to 38,947 in 2016.

Overall crimes against women also rose from 2015 to 2016, according to the data of the National Crime Records Bureau.

The majority of cases cat-egorised as crimes against women were reported under cruelty by husband or his rel-atives, followed by assault on woman with intent to outrage her modesty, kidnapping and abduction and rape.

The highest number of rapes have been reported from Madhya Pradesh followed by Uttar Pradesh and Maharash-tra in 2016. MPOST

Just 7.28 pc women in police forces: Govt data

PATNA: The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Sunday claimed that BSP supremo Mayawati has declined its offer to get her elected to the Rajya Sabha, saying she did not wish to go to Parliament till the BJP is in power.

The Election Commission on Friday announced that polls to 58 Rajya Sabha seats, includ-ing six in Bihar, will be held on March 23. “As soon as notifica-tions were issued for elections to Rajya Sabha seats, I rang up Mayawati and said we could send her to Rajya Sabha from our quota”, Tejashwi Yadav, leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly, said. Yadav said she thanked him for the offer but said she did not want to go to Parliament till the BJP is in power. RJD president Lalu Prasad too had offered to send Mayawati to the upper house from Bihar in July last year after she resigned, accusing the BJP and the Chair of not allowing her to raise the issue of anti-Dalit violence in Uttar Pradesh.

The BSP does not have the requisite number of MLAs in UP Assembly to bag a Rajya Sabha seat. Addressing a pro-gramme on the occasion of birth anniversary of Dalit poet and mystic Sant Ravidas, Yadav came down heavily on the BJP.

“They always complain about casteism. In reality, they want to suppress the back-ward classes and put obsta-cles in the way of realisation of dreams of B R Ambedkar. That is why they are always after Lalu Prasad too,” Yadav who is younger son of Prasad said. MPOST

‘Maywati’s no to RJD RS offer saying not till BJP in power’

Maharashtra Govt to digitise private vegetable markets

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has decided to digitise the functioning of pri-vate wholesale vegetable mar-kets for better transparency and to prevent farmers from being cheated while selling their produce.

The Centre had earlier launched a pan-India electronic trading portal, called e-NAM (National Agriculture Market), to facilitate farmers, traders, buyers, exporters and proces-

sors with a common platform for trading commodities.

The e-NAM portal keeps a database of the movement of vegetable produce, its distri-bution, prices and fluctuations.

The Maharashtra govern-ment is now planning to bring the private markets under the ambit of e-NAM, while it is also digitising the functioning of some of the major Agriculture Produce Marketing Commit-tees (APMCs) in the state. PTI

mp nation 7MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

PNB FRAUD CASE

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The coun-try's front line security force against terror threats at civilian airports and strategic nuclear and aerospace installations, the CISF, is working without a reg-ular chief for over a month as the Centre is yet to appoint a Director General (DG).

The about 1.80-lakh per-sonnel strong force has been without a regular DG since January 22 after serving chief OP Singh was repatriated to his cadre, on the request of the Uttar Pradesh government, and appointed the state's director general of police (DGP).

The process of decision-making and making large

policy moves in the force has slowed down owing to the absence of the designated chief, official sources said.

"This is not a healthy prec-edent at all and it is happen-ing again and again in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs). This shows that the government has utter disregard for the importance of such an important paramilitary force," retired IPS officer Prakash Singh said. Singh, who has served as the DGP of the Uttar Pradesh and the BSF, has been an advocate for police reforms in the country and the Supreme Court, acting on his petitions, had issued guidelines on the subject.

"Not only policy making

and decisions but the entire organisation suffers in the absence of a full-time chief. I do not know what is the problem in appointing a regular CISF chief when there is a pool of eligible IPS officers available to chose from," he said.

Sources in the Union home ministry said the process of appointing the CISF chief is ongoing since the last month.

"It is not at all good to keep a large and important paramil-itary force like the CISF head-less for such a long time.

"Last year, the government appointed the new CRPF DG after a delay of two months, during which the force suf-fered two major reverses in anti-Naxal operations," a senior

official in the security establish-ment said.

The CRPF lost 38 troops in two deadly Maoist ambushes in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district when it was without a regular chief, and after these incidents senior IPS officer R R Bhat-nagar was quickly appointed the new DG.

"Do we keep the defence forces headless like this? The CAPFs are a very vital cog in the internal security establish-ment and such delays should be avoided," a senior paramilitary officer said.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) guards 59 civil airports of the country apart from a number of vital and strategic installations in the

nuclear energy and aerospace domain and is a very active force operationally.

A number of government buildings such as central minis-tries in Delhi, power plants and coal mines across the country are also under its security cover.

"It is not that the force is failing on any count in the present times but having a regular DG ensures that the final responsibility and accountability of the organisa-tion is on the officer in com-mand," the senior officer of the security establishment quoted above said. In the absence of a regular CISF chief, Additional DG of the force A K Pateria is handling the top charge in an additional capacity.

CISF headless for over a month; govt yet to appoint DG

OUR CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI: The seventeenth annual discussion of the Union Budget was organised by Vel-lore Institute of Technology on Sunday.

The discussion was presided over by Dr G.Viswanathan, founder and Chancellor of VIT and moderated by noted col-umnist and Editor of Thuglak, S.Gurumurthy.

VIT has been organising such discussions on the annual Budget for the past 17 years. Representatives of different political parties are invited to take part in the discussion and viewpoints from a wide spec-trum are shared on the plat-form. This year, the discussion was held at the Chennai Cam-pus of VIT.

Among the participants who spoke on the occasion included TK Rangarajan, MP and Central Committee Mem-ber of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), D Raja, MP

and national secretary of CPI, TG Venkatesh Babu, AIADMK MP, TKS Elangovan, DMK MP, Narayanan Thirupathy, Media Coordinator and State Execu-tive Member of BJP, Swarnah Sethuraman, spokesperson of TNCC, A Venkataraman, Convenor, Economic Affairs and Taxation Panel, CII, Tamil Nadu and Chief Financial Offi-cer of Grundfos India.

In his presidential address, Dr Viswanathan said the quan-tum of the annual Budget was increasing every year. While it was Rs. 21.4 lakh crore in 2017-2018, it had increased to Rs. 24.42 lakh crore during the Budget for 2018-2019. Dr. Viswanathan said that it was very important to increase the per capita income of people in India.

“In 1960, the per capita income in South Korea was US Dollar 158 and it is US Dollar 29,000 now. In China, the per capita income in 1960 was USD 891 and it is USD 8,400 now.

In India, the per capita income in 1960 was USD 851 and it is USD 1,850 now,” Dr. Viswana-than said.

He said India should con-tinue to pursue a fast and higher economic growth to reach the per capita income of US Dollar 26,000 by 2035 and by then, the country’s GDP would be an estimated US Dol-lar 36 Trillion. He pointed out that China’s contribution to the global exports was 11.4 per cent, while India’s contribution was 2 per cent.

Further, India spent US Dollar 160 Billion on its imports, mostly oil and that it left an adverse balance on the economy today. For India’s contribution to increase sig-nificantly in global exports and economy, there was be a strengthening of the manufac-turing sector and the Prime Minister’s Make In India proj-ect was one such. He also said that in a recent survey, it was revealed that among Asian countries, India was among the top corrupt countries at 69

per cent, while it was only 1 per cent in Japan.

Stating that last year’s Bud-get was presented after the Demonetisation and the pres-ent Budget in the aftermath of the GST, Dr. G. Viswanathan also recalled that the initiatives of the Centre had resulted in the increase in the number of tax payers in India from 1.5 per cent to 5 per cent.

Dr G Viswanathan, a for-mer two-time Lok Sabha Mem-ber of Parliament, also said that economic growth was also resulting in economic inequali-ties and that a study had estab-lished that 1 per cent of India’s people had in their possession, 73 per cent of the country’s wealth. Calling for electoral reforms, he said there were over 1,000 parties, but only 30 parties were represented in the Parliament. He also rec-ommended that simultaneous elections for both the Parlia-ment and the State Assemblies should be conducted.

VIT holds 17th annual discussion on Budget

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Widening its probe into the PNB fraud case, the Enforce-ment Directorate will soon send judicial requests to over a dozen countries for obtaining information about the over-seas businesses and assets of diamantaire Nirav Modi and owner of Gitanjali Gems Mehul Choksi.

Official sources said the agency will approach a com-petent court in Mumbai with a request to obtain Letters Roga-tories (LRs) to be sent to about 15-17 countries where the cen-tral investigation agency has traced the footsteps of the dia-mond and gold jewellery busi-nesses of the firms owned by Modi, his uncle Choksi and others associated with them.

The countries where the LRs would be sent include Bel-gium, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Dubai, Singapore and South Africa.

Some official requests on the basis of agency-to-agency

exchange will also be sent to few countries, the sources said.

The attempt of sending these judicial requests for exchange of information is aimed at obtaining the details of the overseas financial hold-ings of Modi and Choksi, who are accused in the Rs 11,400 crore PNB loan fraud case, their bank accounts, assets, partner-ships, showrooms, trusts and other assets, they said.

These assets and their sources of income will be inves-tigated and if necessary would be attached under the crim-inal sections of the Preven-tion of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) if it is found that they have been created using tainted

funds or the proceeds of crime of the alleged bank fraud, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Modi, his wife Ami, and Choksi have been summoned by the Enforce-ment Directorate (ED) to appear at its zonal office in Mumbai tomorrow.

Sources indicated that if they skip the summons, the agency may approach a spe-cial PMLA court to get non-bailable warrants against them.

The agency has also asked about 16 other banks, apart from the Punjab National Bank, to share with it the details of loans extended and collater-als offered in the case of Modi, Choksi and their companies.

It has also asked the RBI to share with it audit reports of the PNB conducted by it since 2011. The total assets seized by the ED in this case are now over Rs 6,393 crore, officials had said, adding that this was being independently valued.

Modi, Choksi and others are being investigated by the ED and other probe agencies after the fraud recently came to light, following a complaint by the PNB that they allegedly cheated the nationalised bank to the tune of Rs 11,400 crore, with the purported involve-ment of a few employees of the bank. The CBI and the ED have registered two FIRs each to probe the case. Both Modi and Choski are said to have left the country before criminal cases were lodged against them.

The ED, a central probe agency under the Union finance ministry, is investigat-ing if the allegedly defrauded bank funds were laundered and proceeds of crime were subse-quently used by the accused to create illegal assets and black money.

ED to expand probe against Nirav, Choksi

NEW DELHI: The CBI has examined Punjab National Bank's Executive Director K V Brahmaji Rao for the second day today in connection with the Rs 11,400 crore PNB scam allegedly involving jewellers Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, officials said.

Rao, who started his career in banking 35 years ago as a probationary officer in Vijaya Bank, handled the Mumbai zone, among others, in the bank where the crime was allegedly detected, they said.

The officials said several other officers of the bank were being questioned by the agency as well. They said the examination was focussed on understanding how the crime was detected by the bank and other procedural issues and their violations.

They were not being treated as accused, the offi-cials said. It was alleged that fraudulent guarantees worth Rs 11,400 crore were issued to Modi and Choksi through 293 Letters of Undertakings.

According to the website of the PNB, Rao is incharge of the integrated risk manage-ment division, credit (opera-tions), monitoring of accounts with exposure of above Rs 50 crore. MPOST

PNB’s ED quizzed for second day

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The vice-presi-dent and the prime minister led politicians and leaders on Sun-day in condoling the death of actor and Padma Shri awardee Sridevi and remembered her illustrious career that spanned over four decades.

The 54-year-old actor, wife of producer Boney Kapoor, died late last night reportedly due to cardiac arrest in Dubai, where she had gone along with her family to attend her nephew Mohit Marwah's wedding.

"Felt very sad over the sud-den demise of popular actress Sridevi. She was an extremely versatile and talented film star, who had acted in Telugu, Hindi and other South Indian lan-guages," Vice President M Ven-kaiah Naidu tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened by her untimely demise.

"She was a veteran of the film industry, whose long career included diverse roles and memorable performances. My thoughts are with her fam-ily and admirers in this hour of grief. May her soul rest in peace," the PMO tweeted.

Describing Sridevi as an incredibly talented and versa-tile actress, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, "Her vast body of work spanned a range of genres and languages."

Union Minister for Infor-mation and Broadcasting, Smriti Irani, in an emotional letter published by News18 remembered the actor as her "favourite star who defined joy in my childhood".

"I pay homage to an actor who through her body of work ascertained that a female actress' place in a commer-cial Hindi movie is not only to compliment her male counter-parts," Irani wrote in the letter.

"My memories of Sridevi are built through my journey from being a fan girl to an actor and then my role as a politi-cian... She was a woman who knew her mind and despite the challenges that came her way, she approached life with a lot of dignity. The actor in me was influenced by her work in mov-

ies like 'Chalbaaz', 'Chandni', 'Sadma' and the effortless per-formance in 'Lamhe'," she said.

The minister described Sridevi as the first female superstar of the Indian film industry, who shouldered many '90s blockbusters alone.

Sridevi, known for her ver-satility as an actor, made her Bollywood debut in 1978 with "Solva Sawan". But it was only after five years with Jeetendra-starrer "Himmatwala" that she gained commercial success.

Before her entry into Bol-lywood, the actor had been a known face in South Indian films. She made her debut as a child artist in in Tamil film "Thunaivan" in 1969. She also worked in Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao said, Sridevi, who acted in Telugu, Hindi and several other regional films, had captivated the cine-goers with her beauty, dancing and acting skills, and had earned countless fans."

"It is unfortunate that Sridevi, who was still active in the film industry, died at a young age," he said in an offi-cial release.

Sridevi acted in several Telugu movies and starred in hit films opposite late N T Rama Rao, late Akkineni Nageswara Rao, and late Sobhanbabu.

Former Union minis-ter Bandaru Dattatreya and Telangana BJP president K Laxman also expressed their condolences.

Kerala Chief Minister Pina-rayi Vijayan, in a Facebook post, said the actress, who came to the filmdom as a child artist in Malayalam, had left behind a handful of unforgettable act-ing moments which her fans can cherish forever.

The chief minister also said the sudden death of the actress, who immortalised sev-eral characters in different lan-guages, was an "irreparable loss to the Indian film industry."

Sridevi's beguiling eyes, scintillating screen presence and acting prowess made her one of the most sought-after actors in the Hindi film industry.

While films like "Mawaali" (1983), "Tohfa" (1984), "Mr India" (1987) and "Chandni" (1989) kept her at the top in the box-office game, her outings like "Sadma" (1983), "Chaal-Baaz" (1989), "Lamhe" (1991), and "Gumrah" (1993) earned her critical acclaim.

She went on a hiatus for 15 years after starring in home production "Judaai", co-star-ring her brother-in-law Anil Kapoor and Urmila Matond-kar. It was director Gauri Shinde's "English Vinglish" in 2012 that marked Sridevi's comeback.

BJP veteran L K Advani said her contribution transcended Bollywood.

"Sridevi was an iconic star of the Indian film industry. Her contribution transcended Bol-lywood, since she also starred in many Tamil, Telugu and other regional language films. In this sense, she symbolised Indian cinema s great role in national integration," he said.

Maharashtra Chief Minis-ter Devendra Fadnavis said the actor's contribution to the field of cinema will be remembered for a long time.

In his condolence message, Fadnavis said Sridevi started her career at the age of four and continued to perform with ease in Hindi films and movies in several regional language.

"Her roles in movies such as Sadma, Chandni, Lamhe and English-Vinglish will be remembered for a long time," he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described the actor as "one of the most popu-lar actors of a generation" while her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar said Sridevi's death had caused an irreparable loss to the film fraternity.

V-P, PM, chief ministers condole Sridevi's death

OUR CORRESPONDENT

RAIPUR: The Mahasamund district police in Chhattis-garh has arrested three people, including a doctor, for allegedly printing and circulating fake currency notes, an official said on Sunday.

The police also recovered counterfeit currency notes with a face value of Rs 55,800 from the three men, he said.

A joint team of the Crime Branch and the city Kotwali police arrested the accused, identified as Dwarika Prasad Sahu (31), Akhilesh Dhruv (33) and Kundan Dhiwar, last eve-ning, Mahasamund Superin-tendent of Police Santosh Singh said.

The Crime Branch officials were keeping an eye on Sahu, who ran a photocopy shop in Mongra village, after getting a tip-off that he was involved in printing counterfeit currency

notes, he said.The police also got an infor-

mation that Dhruv, who is a BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) doc-tor, and Dhiwar used to visit Sahu's shop regularly and that they were also involved in the racket, he said.

Some policemen later went to the shop while posing as decoy customers and found that Sahu and Dhruv were allegedly engaged in the print-ing of counterfeit notes, Singh said.

The three accused were subsequently arrested and fake notes in the denominations of Rs 100 and Rs 500 and having a face value of Rs 55,800 were recovered from them, he said.

A computer, a colour printer, papers and other mate-rial used for making the cur-rency notes, and three mobile phones were also seized from the shop, the SP said.

3 arrested for printing fake notes in C'garh

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A designated PMLA authority has held that a Delhi farmhouse, attached by the ED in the name of RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misha Bharti and her husband, is "involved" in money laun-dering and ordered that the attachment of the asset should continue.

The central probe agency had provisionally attached the immovable asset, located on a 12-bigha land in south Delhi's Bijwasan area, in September last year under the Preven-tion of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"Considering the material (filed) in the original com-plaint (by the Enforcement Directorate)...I find the prop-erty provisionally attached is

involved in money laundering."I, therefore, hereby con-

firm the attachment of the property...and order that the said attachment shall con-tinue during the pendency of the proceedings related to the offence under the PMLA before a court and become final after an order of confiscation is passed by the special court," the recent order issued by Mem-ber (Law) of the Adjudicating Authority of the PMLA, Tushar V Shah, said.

The ED has now seized the property, agency sources said.

The property belongs to Misha Bharti and husband Shailesh Kumar and is held in the name of Ms Mishail Pack-ers and Printers Pvt Ltd , the central probe agency had said.

The agency had said that its investigation found that

the farmhouse was purchased "using Rs 1.2 crore involved in money laundering in the year 2008-09."

The ED is probing Misha Bharti, an RJD MP in the Rajya Sabha, and her husband as part of its criminal probe in a Rs 8,000 crore alleged money laundering case involving shell or bogus companies and two Delhi-based alleged entry operators Surendra Jain and Virendra Jain.

Jains were brothers and had been arrested by the ED in this case in the past.

It had also arrested an accountant, Rajesh Agrawal, who mediated and provided a cash amount of Rs 90 lakh to the Jain brothers in advance so as to invest in Ms Mishail Packers and Printers Pvt Ltd as share premium".

'Misha's Delhi farm house a money laundering asset'

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court has said private firms appointed by the government for octroi and toll collection from vehicles have to pay stamp duty.

A division bench of justices SC Dharmadhikari and Bharati Dangre was recently hearing a petition alleging non-pay-ment of stamp duty amount-ing to crores of rupees since 2005 by a private firm which was appointed by seven munic-ipal corporations in Mahara shtra for collection of octroi and toll.

Relying on a judgement passed by the Supreme Court last month on a similar issue, the high court said the octroi collecting contractors have to pay stamp duty under the provisions of the Bombay Stamp Act. "Such agreements between the civic body con-cerned and private companies cannot escape stamp duty," it

said."The Supreme Court has

already decided the issue.Now, it is not debatable,"

the court further said.The petition, filed by city

resident Jeet Pratap Satyana-rayan Singh through lawyer Laxman Kanal, said a com-pany, M/s Konark Infrastruc-ture, was the toll and octroi collecting agent of the munici-pal corporations in Bhiwandi, Nashik, Kalyan-Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Mira-Bhayander and Akola.

"The corporations entered into an agreement with the said company each year and hence, it was the duty of the company to pay the stamp duty and also register the documents with the registrar, under the Registra-tion Act," Kanal argued.

According to the petition, Konark Infrastructure had not paid the said charges from 2005, resulting in loss to the public exchequer to the tune of crores of rupees.

'Govt-appointed toll collection firms need to pay stamp duty'

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Giving ‘Make in India’ plan a big push, India's premier defence research institute DRDO on Sunday carried out "successful" test flight of its Rustom 2 drone, a medium-altitude long-endur-ance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), at Chalakere in Kar-nataka's Chitradurga district.

Rustom 2 is being devel-oped on the lines of predator drones of the US to carry out surveillance and reconnais-sance (ISR) roles for the armed forces with an endurance of 24 hours, officials said.

"DRDO successfully flew its Rustom 2 today at its Aero-nautical Test Range (ATR) at Chalakere at Chitradurga. This flight assumes significance due to the fact that this is the first flight in user configuration with higher power engine," a statement read.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the test flight was "successful" and all its param-eters were "normal".

Rustom 2 is capable of car-rying different combinations of payloads like synthetic aperture radar, electronic intelligence systems and situational aware-

ness payloads, officials said.DRDO chairman S Chris-

topher, its Director General of Aeronautical System CP Ramanarayanan, DG Elec-tronics and Communication Systems J Manjula and other senior scientists witnessed the test flight. The around Rs 1,500-crore UAV project was initiated

considering requirement of the the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The UAV has been designed and developed by Aeronauti-cal Development Establish-ment (ADE) of the DRDO, and aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Ltd are its produc-tion partners.

DRDO successfully carries out test flight of Rustom-2 drone

mp editorial8MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

DEEPANWITA GITA NIYOGI

When two judges or benches of judges consid-ering the same

case issue different verdicts applying the same law, then there is something wrong with the law in question. And if there is nothing wrong with the law and the circumstances of the case remain the same, then there is something wrong with the judges who delivered the divergent verdicts. But if one judge or the bench, issuing a particular verdict, questions the other judge or bench deliv-ering a verdict different than theirs, then it is chaos unlim-ited. And when the judges in question belong to the ‘pre-ferred’ category on one side and the ‘mutiny’ team on the other, it is hell broken loose.

Ordinarily, such condi-tions might appear to be far-fetched and most unlikely. But this is exactly what happened in the Supreme Court recently. In a 2014 case involving Pune Municipal Corporation relat-ing to the Land Acquisition Act, a three-judge bench led by then Chief Justice of India R M Lodha, including Jus-tice Kurian Joseph, one of the revolting foursome led by Jus-tice Chelameswar, issued a 2:1 majority verdict that a land acquisition would be deemed to have lapsed if compensation for the acquired land had not been paid to the landowner or depos-ited with a competent court and retained in the treasury. But in a verdict issued this month, a three-judge bench led by Jus-tice Arun Mishra, one of the so-called ‘preferred’ benchers, overturned the 2014 judgment saying it had been pronounced without due regard to law and ruled that the Central govern-ment had authority over an acquired land even if the com-pensation was not paid. The lat-est decision, however, broke the convention that Supreme Court benches of the same numerical strength cannot overrule each

other’s judgments. In case of any difference, it can only be referred to a bench of larger strength. Anguished by the development, a three-member bench headed by whistleblower judge Justice Madan B Lokur, which included Justice Kurian, criticised Justice Mishra’s bench for ‘tinkering with judicial dis-cipline’. Justice Kurian went to the extent of saying in the open court that such action would eventually cost the judicial institution. He emphasised that the correctness of a judgment can be doubted but a bench of similar strength cannot hold a judgment rendered by another bench as wrong.

The controversy has reig-nited the concerns about judi-cial decisions being marred by bias, bench preferences, lack of transparency, and all those issues raised at the famous, or rather infamous, press confer-

ence by the four senior judges. When judges spar in the open on issues other than judicial prudence and propriety, it indi-cates a deep-seated malady in the system, which has been plaguing our judiciary for some time. We don’t expect judges to behave like the man on the street, but when they do, it jolts the very foundation people’s trust. It is a signal that we have to start looking for alternatives.

Luckily, new contours of judicial processes are emerg-ing, which might help in insti-tuting a more acceptable and transparent system. Artificial intelligence is one such area. Technology and law are con-verging in a manner that might make it possible to integrate and even interchange human and non-human roles for bet-ter delivery of justice. Artificial intelligence, more understood as algorithms, is already in use

for judicial decision-making in some US states, where the algo-rithms supplement decisions made by the judges in bail cases to determine the risk involved in granting bail.

It has been found that if AI can correctly identify patterns in judicial decision-making, it might be better at using prec-edent to decide or predict cases. According to reports, an AI judge recently developed by computer scientists at Univer-sity College London drew on extensive data from 584 cases before the European Court of Human Rights to analyse existing case law and deliver the same verdict in 79 per cent of the time. Apparently, it was found that the European Court judges actually depended more on non-legal facts than on legal arguments. If an AI judge can examine the case record and accurately decide

cases based on the facts, human judges could be made free to consider more complex ques-tions. They will also have more time on their hands to do what our Supreme Court judges are currently engaged in. A seri-ously perceived problem with AI judges is that it raises impor-tant ethical issues around bias and autonomy. It is argued that the AI programs may incor-porate the biases of their pro-grammers and the humans they interact with. Also that it can behave in surprising and unexpected ways as it learns to behave like the human judges. But the counter-argument to such fears is that the human judges are already biased. After all, if we can put up with the imperfections of our judges, we can also accommodate some inadequacies of their non-human counterparts. IPA (The views are strictly personal)

Time for non-human judges?EDITORIAL

AI could have faults, but so do our human judges, writes K Raveendran

Artificial intelligence, more understood as algorithms, is already in use for judicial decision-making in some states in the US, where the algorithms supplement decisions made by the judges in bail cases to determine the risk involved in granting bail

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has expressed displea-sure over the failure of the banking sector regulator and auditors in detecting banking frauds in time. He said that the political leaders are being blamed for the

frauds but not the regulator or the auditors who are primarily tasked to oversee the functioning of individual banks and the banking sector as a whole. Meanwhile, the CBI examined Pun-jab National Bank (PNB) Managing Director and CEO Sunil Mehta and executive director K V Brahmaji to understand the procedure for issuing Letters of Understanding and how the fraud committed by Nirav Modi went unnoticed for so long. In yet another banking fraud coming to light, the promoters of Dwarka Das Seth International defrauded the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) of is Rs 390 crore between 2007 and 2012 and fled the country in 2014. The bank informed the CBI about the fraud in August 2017. The CBI has now registered an FIR against the promoters of Dwarka Das Seth International. On Saturday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attached 21 more properties and assets of Nirav Modi, taking the value of such attachment of properties, assets and bank accounts to Rs 6,393 crore. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has revoked the passports of Nirav Modi and his uncle and managing director of Gitanjali Gems Mehul Choksi. Earlier, the MEA had sus-pended their passports.

The quick succession in which three serious banking frauds involving top jewelers and other industrialists that have come to light indicate that public sector banks are sitting on a pile of similar frauds. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s outburst at the regulator and banking sector auditors for not detecting the frauds in time is not misplaced. Since the public sector banks function in an autonomous manner, the role of the regula-tor and auditors assumes more significance because they are expected to caution the banks in time about any anomaly that they detect in the functioning of the banks. But as repeated cases of banking frauds have come to light within a span of a month, they go on to establish the fact that the banking sec-tor regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and auditors have failed to act as the watchdog of the banking sector. Their fail-ure to ensure a fair banking system has cost the Public Sector Banks a number of frauds, some of which have come to light and many are still to be discovered. The Public Sector Banks together have a whopping Rs 6.5 lakh crore of non-performing assets (NPAs). The banks have yet not made public the enti-ties who have taken these loans and failed to repay. In recent weeks some of these entities have grabbed media headlines just because these cases could no longer be kept under the wraps.

PNB has pegged the Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi fraud at Rs 11,300 crore. Other estimates suggest that the fraud could be in the range of Rs 22,000 crore though Nirav Modi in his let-ter to the PNB management has said that his liabilities to the bank is less than Rs 5,000 crore. The ED has attached Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi properties and assets worth over Rs 6,000 crore. Similar banking fraud involving Rotomac Pens’ Chair-man and Managing Director Vikram Kothari runs into Rs 4,000 crore. And the latest in the list, promoters of Dwarka Das Seth International has left the country three years ago after availing Rs 390 crore of loans from OBC. The bank is simply clueless how the promoters of the company have vanished from the scene with little knowledge about their whereabouts. The case of Vijay Mallya running away from the country without pay-ing nearly Rs 9,000 crore of bank loans still haunts the public memory. The banks’ delinquency in these cases of fraud has taken its toll on the Central government’s credibility, with a section of the political parties blaming the government for providing safe passage to these fraudsters.

But as the Finance Minister has rightly pointed out, it’s surprising that banking frauds of this scale have been occur-ring all the while and the RBI could not notice it. If RBI fails to detect and put a check on frauds committed by esteemed customers with the connivance of some bank officials, who will be responsible for the frauds? As the regulator of the banking sector, RBI needs to keep a watch on systematic and other fail-ures in the banking system. The latest cases of banking frauds have clearly established the fact that RBI has not taken its role to keep a watch on banks’ transactions, especially to smell out the fishy ones. The finance ministry and the government should take this opportunity to put in place systematic checks and bal-ances that promise to detect the frauds at the very outset and makes banking frauds a zero-tolerance crime.

To be holed up in a foreign embassy in London for over five years ostensibly to avoid extradition proceed-ings must be an awful experience. But the curious case of Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, has been

getting more curious by the day and seems to have hit all but a dead end. In the beginning, it was Sweden that wanted him on “unforgiveable” sex charges. Extradition seemed immi-nent at one point of time but the Ecuador government threw its weight behind him, tilted scales in favour of the strange, controversial figure who has often been likened to a “genius” and was even recommended for the Nobel Peace Prize. Peace has, since, eluded him even if Sweden dropped its charges. True, both Ecuador and U.K. have had lengthy negotiations to try and have the celebrated refugee set free. Talks between the UK and Ecuador over the future of Julian Assange at its London embassy have broken down, the South American country’s foreign minister has said. Maria Fernanda Espinosa suggested British officials had been unwilling to negotiate over the WikiLeaks founder’s potential release. Earlier this month, a judge upheld an arrest warrant issued when Assange skipped bail as he fought extradition to Sweden in 2012. The 46-year-old has been at the Embassy ever since because he fears extra-dition to the United States for questioning over the activities of WikiLeaks if he leaves. Ecuador said it would continue to pro-tect Assange’s rights, however, there was a risk to his physical and psychological well-being after spending nearly six years in the building as a “refugee”. The country has assessed more than 30 similar cases in a bid to break the deadlock, including that of British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is in prison in Iran accused of spying. This included options for granting diplomatic immunity, although Ecuador said it would continue to respect the UK’s laws. Interestingly, in November, Espinosa said Assange had been granted Ecuadorian citizen-ship. The foreign minister said Ecuador was trying to make Assange a member of its diplomatic team, which would grant him additional rights under the Vienna Convention on Dip-lomatic Relations – including special legal immunity and safe passage. Last week, former British cabinet minister Sir Patrick McLoughlin asked the Home Office when action would be taken over Assange’s case during Commons questions. He said the first three years of Assange’s five-year stay in the embassy had cost the Metropolitan Police an additional £11m. As matters stand, the costs would mount as there is little or no likelihood of Assange being handed over to Scotland Yard. In event of his being extradited to the U.S., even he is uncertain but apprehen-sive of what awaits him. His present living conditions are akin to being in a space capsule, he has said. But freedom, as they say, always comes at a price. Can Assange afford it?

Who will bell the cat?

Holed up in a foreign embassy

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EDITOR

Amid burgeoning TV channels, people are sorting out their likes. News from across the length and breadth of the country and even abroad are telecast instantly. Many go for presentation with TRP rate enhanced. The advent of the electronic media has revolutionised the way we receive news. We get the news immediately along with visuals. Nothing is left to our imagination. Because of the explosion of news channels, there seems to be a shortage of good reporters. A good many are seen to be voluble. For the viewers, it becomes nauseating when decorum is not maintained.

SAMIR CHAKRABORTY Via email

Bad news isn't wine. It doesn't improve with age

Quote martial

COLIN POWELL

As the future via-bility of agricul-ture depends on soil health, it is

imperative to protect this pre-cious resource. Keeping this in mind, farmers in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district are gradually shifting to poly-cropping under zero bud-get natural farming (ZBNF) from the prevalent groundnut monoculture being practised for generations.

Currently, about 60,000 hectares (ha) are under ZBNF cultivation. The government plans to increase it to 100,000 ha by the end of 2018. “When introduced in September 2015, the critical thing about the zero budget farming initiative was its sustainability over a long period of time. Farmers were worried about reduced yields under ZBNF as compared to conven-tional farming practices,” says Vijay Kumar Thallam, the in-charge of the project.

However, things are gradu-ally taking a turn for the bet-ter as more and more farmers are turning to ZBNF. From the beginning of 2016 (phase 1 of ZBNF) till now, 4,263 ha have been covered in Anantapur with 9,964 farmers taking up natural farming.

End of monocroppingAs a result of ZBNF prac-

tice that encourages polycrop-ping, groundnut is no more the solo crop being grown across many villages in Anantapuram. In villages like Thammaiah doddi, Gundumala, Neelakan-tapuram and Nijavalli, poly-cropping is the new mantra. Lush green fields of paddy are

interspersed with vegetables like brinjal, onion, and spin-ach. A few farmers are trying out mulberry trees, along with pigeon peas. In a few farms, pomegranate trees grow with maize and tall coconut trees dot the border.

Multicropping or polycrop-ping has a number of benefits and is aimed at drought-proof-ing dryland agriculture that depends entirely on rainfall. This has benefited Anantapur in another way too. Migra-tion has reduced as farmers’ income has become assured. Take the example of Nagaraju, a farmer from Govindapuram in Madakasira mandal (block). He migrated to Bengaluru in

2014 as there was not much prospect in agriculture in his village. But he came back and started polycropping. Since the past three years, he has been cultivating groundnut, castor, redgram, and cowpea on two acres. The latest thing in his field is mulberry trees.

“Conservation of agricul-tural diversity and using on-farm inputs are the paths to a sustainable future”, Sonali Bisht, founder and advisor to the Institute of Himalayan Environmental Research and Education, says.

Fighting drought, migrationAccording to G V Raman-

janeyulu of Hyderabad-based

non-profit Centre for Sustain-able Agriculture, Anantapur is a dry region where the annual rainfall is around 500 mm. So, naturally one of the efforts under natural farming is to increase the soil organic mat-ter to fight drought. “Drought adaptation has increased in the district, as farmers are shifting towards natural farming.”

In Anantapur, 90 per cent agriculture is rainfed. “The rainfall amount may be there, but distribution is the main problem. Most of the times, crops have to be saved from drying up through protec-tive irrigation efforts,” says T Y Reddy of Accion Fraterna, non-profit based in Anantapur.

To make agriculture cli-mate resilient, water run-off is arrested across slopes. Under watershed management, trenches and earthen bunds have been created to absorb rainwater across farmers’ fields. Farm ponds have been dug to collect excess water at the time of rainfall.

In Thammaiah Doddi vil-lage, around 55 farmers are practising ZBNF. Mostly these farmers are smallholders with lands ranging from 0.80 ha to 2.02 ha. “Now, if we do not have rains for even 25 days, as a farmer I can say the crop will survive,” says Shivanna, who has been practising ZBNF since 2015. He grows groundnut, paddy, and ragi on five acres. “The crop colour has improved and we get more yields. Crops survive because the soil stays fertile and moist due to the application of ghanajeevam-rutam and dravajeevamrutam, says Chandrasekhar, another farmer from the same village.

In Nijavalli village, farmer Balavaradaraju grows mul-berry interspersed with papaya, onions, chilly, and other vegeta-bles on 0.80 ha. Each mulberry tree needs 2 litres of water a day. He practices mulching and as a result, his soil does not need much moisture.

“Migration had reduced to some extent, but farmers still continue to leave. Those who have water are lucky and can stay behind.” As a solution, he feels NREGS and ZBNF should work together. Right now, the former is only concerned with labour payment for farm pond construction. DOWN TO EARTH (The views are strictly personal)

To make agriculture climate resilient, water run-off is arrested across slopes. Under watershed management, trenches and earthen bunds have been created to absorb rainwater across farmers’ fields. Farm ponds have been dug to collect excess water at the time of rainfall

As a result of natural farming practice that encourages polycropping, groundnut is no more the solo crop in many villages

Polycropping to drought-proof agriculture

Polycropping has a number of benefits and is aimed at drought-proofing dryland agriculture that depends entirely on rainfall (Representational Image)

If an AI judge can examine the case record and accurately decide cases based on the facts, human judges could be made free to consider more complex questions (Representational Image)

9mp in focusMILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

UMA NAIR

M SHAKEEL AHMED

Newspapers and magazines have been going to town with images of actor Sridevi and her daughters Jhanavi

and Khushi over the past 2 years. The wasp-waisted Sridevi has been a shutter bug’s dream. The news of her demise in Dubai comes as a shock and a testimony to life’s truth of mortality that hinges on the doors of immortality in cinema.

Her last outing at Mohit Marwah’s wedding, which recently took place in the UAE was attended by the entire Kapoor clan. You can see in the pic-tures in tabloids that it was Sridevi and her younger daughter Khushi Kapoor, who stood out from the rest. In what she wore and how she carried it, Sridevi was a design diva as her tall lanky frame brought life to a fabric creating a picture of a modern-day Venus.

Tamil filmsThe Sivakasi born Sridevi was first

known in the many films she acted in Southern fare. Her Tamil films Moon-dru Mudichu. Moondram Pirai defined her prowess as an actor of sterling dimensions.

In the Kamal Haasan-starrer Moon-dram Pirai, you realise her effortless ease in her mother tongue - Tamil. It was a highlight of Sridevi’s long and illustri-ous career that Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam films created her screen signature in a way that defined acting predicaments and perspectives. In an interview to film critic Anuj Kumar, Sridevi said she missed the art side of Tamil cinema, but enjoyed doing com-mercial cinema for Bollywood she also said she was in love with the camera while talking about the relevance of her film ‘Mom.’

Genesis at 4Her life in cinema began as a child

artist when Sridevi was barely four years old when she faced the camera in Kan-dan Karunai and Nam Naadu and went on to act in M.A. Thirumugham’s Thu-naivan (1969). For the next 10 years, she starred in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films before she stepped into the studios in Bollywood with Solva Sawan (1979), which flopped and saw her return to Tamil cinema.

Sridevi held her own against two actors who were charting a similar path to stardom. The Rajinikanth-Sridevi-

Kamal Haasan trinity was one of the highlights of ’70s Tamil cinema.

Sridevi and Haasan were paired in many films across genres, including Manidharil Ithana Nirangala (1978), Kalyanaraman (1979), Thaayillamal Naan Illai (1979), Varumayin Niram Sivappu (1980) and Meendum Kokila (1981).

The Rajinikanth-Sridevi pairing, too, was well received through such films as Priya, Pokkiri Raja (1982) and Naan Adi-mai Illai (1986).

The best Sridevi-Haasan pairing was in Balu Mahendra’s Moondram Pirai (1982). Remade in Hindi as Sadma, Moondram Pirai featured Sridevi as a woman who regresses into child-like behaviour after developing retrograde amnesia. Her relationship with her res-cuer (Kamal Haasan) forms the crux of the tragedy.

Her film Himmatwala (1983) brought in the phrase ‘thunder thighs’ and she soon became recognised as a commercially viable star. Her Bollywood blockbusters include Mr. India (1987), Chandni (1989), Lamhe (1991), Khuda Gawah (1992) and many others.

India’s Merryl StreepCritics christened her as India’s

Merryl Streep. It is said she gave Indian heroes a run for their money.

After all, not everyone can make Bollywood’s Dabangg Khan gush. At a teaser launch of the film Mom, Salman Khan called the 300-film old Sridevi big-ger than all the Khans combined. Her riveting performance in Sadma, of a woman who suffers memory loss, was so remarkable that her co-star in the film, Kamal Haasan, went on record to say it was even better than the original por-trayal of the character in the Tamil ver-sion of the film, Moondram Pirai. Then came the eccentric Anju and Manju of Chaalbaaz, the story of twins separated at birth an unforgettable Sridevi sojourn.

Film historian Amrit Ganger had intriguing remarks to make about Sridevi’s abilities and on-screen cha-risma. According to Ganger, her onscreen charisma was “her depar-ture from the previous classicism of Hindi, in particular, and Indian cin-ema in general. Sridevi brought in a completely different acting energy into Indian cinema in terms of abhi-

naya and nrittiya. She brought in a dif-ferent sensuality to Indian cinema.” Mom- Boney Kapoor’s Taj Mahal

Sridevi’s Mom capped her career as her 300th appearance in a journey that began in the films of K Balachander and Bharathiraja. Her career in films began on July 7, 1967, the same day on which her film Mom was released last year. It was a gift from her affable husband Boney Kapoor. “The film is my tribute to her and since I cannot build a Taj Mahal for her, I am making Mom,” said Boney Kapoor about the film which released in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam and received rave reviews. Over five decades Sridevi amassed a huge fan base, was known for her devotion and dedication and her professionalism on the sets and in the studios.

Her passing away at 54 tells us that life is short. Indian cinema loses a siren who lived life on her own terms and wrapped herself around her own mystique.

(The author art curator and critic. The views expressed are strictly personal)

According to Arab observers, Netanyahu’s fall from the pinnacle of power would be of great service to the cause of peace not only on the Palestine front but also regionally. The peace process between Israel and Palestine has been stalled since Netanyahu’s assumption of power more than a decade ago

Her onscreen charisma was “her departure from the previous classicism of Hindi, in particular, and Indian cinema in general. Sridevi brought in a completely different acting energy into Indian cinema in terms of abhinaya and nrittiya. She brought in a different sensuality to Indian cinema”

Spectre of indictment looms large For the time being, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition is

stable as none of its partners have spoken against him

The southern siren Sridevi

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his politi-cal survival in the wake

of recommendations by the police to indict him on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in two corruption cases, rendering not just an embarrassing blow to him but also likely to fuel calls for his resignation.

Netanyahu, a dominant figure in Israeli politics, has rejected the accusations, which included accepting nearly $300,000 in gifts from two bil-lionaires allegedly in the form jewelry, crates of champagne, and boxes of Cuban cigars. He accused police of being on a witch-hunt and vowed to remain in office and even seek re-election, due next year.

“I will continue to lead the state of Israel responsibly and loyally as long as you, the citi-zens of Israel, choose me to lead you,” Netanyahu said in a televised address on February 13, an hour after police told his lawyers about their recom-mendations. “I am sure that the truth will come to light. And I am sure that also in the next election that will take place on time I will win your trust again, with God’s help.”

Although most members of Netanyahu’s inner circle seem to stand behind him, one of his confidant, Shlomo Filber, according to Israeli media, has agreed to turn state witness in one of several investiga-tions, threatening his politi-cal survival.

Filber was appointed by Netanyahu to head the Com-munications Ministry. He was arrested recently along with top executives at Bezeq Tele-com, Israel’s largest telecom-munications company. His decision could leave the tough-talking Netanyahu at his most vulnerable situation yet.

Without giving the source, Israeli media reported that Filber has now agreed to tes-tify for the state in the case in which police allege that Bezeq’s owners offered favourable cov-

erage on media they controlled in return for favours from regulators. Bezeq, its own-ers and executives deny any wrongdoing.

Netanyahu has questioned the integrity of police investi-gators saying they could not be trusted and accusing them of trying to thwart the electorate’s will and bring down a serv-ing Prime Minister. Ironically, the police chief Roni Alsheikh was picked up by him to head the force perhaps hoping that the favour would be paid in loyalty.

The police recommen-dations marked a dramatic ending to a more than year-long investigation into allega-

tions that Netanyahu accepted gifts from Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and Austra-lian billionaire James Packer, and suspicions that he offered to give preferential treatment to a newspaper publisher in exchange for favorable coverage.

The recommendations have been handed over to Attorney General Avihai Mendelblit, who will review the material before deciding whether to file charges against a sitting Prime Minister for the first time.

In a statement, police said their investigation found suffi-cient evidence to indict Netan-yahu in the first case, known as ‘File 1000,’ for accepting bribes,

fraud, and breach of trust.It said Netanyahu had

accepted gifts valued at 750,000 shekels ($214,000) from Milchan, and 250,000 shekels ($71,000) from Packer. The gifts from Milchan report-edly included expensive cigars and champagne.

Police said that in return, Netanyahu had operated on Milchan’s behalf on U.S. visa matters and legislated a tax break. It said he also helped Milchan, an Israeli producer whose credits include ‘Pretty Woman’, ‘12 Years a Slave’ and ‘JFK,’ in the Israeli media market.

In the second case, known as ‘File 2000,’ Netanyahu

reportedly was recorded ask-ing Arnon Mozes, the pub-lisher of the Yediot Ahronot daily, for positive coverage in exchange for promoting leg-islation that would weaken a free newspaper that had cut into Yediot’s business.

Police said there was suf-ficient evidence to charge both Milchan and Mozes with bribery. Channel 10 TV read a statement that it said came from Milchan’s “defence team” saying the bribery charge would not stand.

For the time being, Netan-yahu’s coalition is stable as none of its partners have spo-ken against him. Key mem-bers of Netanyahu’s Likud

Party have rallied behind him. Observers say probably they are waiting for the attor-ney general’s decision whether to indict before coming out against him. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a bitter rival of Netanyahu, has asked Netanyahu’s resignation say-ing, “the depth of corruption is horrifying.”

The Attorney General may take his own time to decide on the police recommendations and Netanyahu can remain in office during that process.

During similar circum-stances a decade ago, Netan-yahu, as opposition leader, had asked the then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign during

a police investigation, saying a leader “sunk up to his neck in interrogations” could not gov-ern properly.

Some observers say that it would be better if Netanyahu, who first came to power in 1996-1999 and again has been servicing as Prime Minister since 2009, resigns before an indictment is issued, as hap-pened in the case of Olmert, who was jailed for corruption.

So far he has not given any indication to step down. There is no precedent in Israel of any Prime Minister con-tinuing in office during indict-ment. In 1977, Yitzhak Rabin had resigned rather than being charged for holding money in an overseas bank account and not declaring it to the tax authorities.

Netanyahu is no stranger to investigations. In 1997, during his first term, police wanted him to stand trial in an influ-ence-peddling case involving the appointment of an attorney general. While he was between terms, police recommended in 2000 that he and his wife Sara be prosecuted on suspicion of bribery and theft of state gifts. Neither of the recommenda-tions culminated in charges.

Arab countries are watch-ing the development with immense interest. According to Arab observers, Netanyahu’s fall from the pinnacle of power would be of great service to the cause of peace not only on the Palestine front but also regionally. The peace process between Israel and Palestine has been stalled since Netanya-hu’s assumption of power more than a decade ago. Of course, there is no guarantee that any future Israeli leader would be any different or more forth-coming in engaging the Pales-tinians in serious and fruitful peace talks.

(M Shakeel Ahmed is former Editor, PTI. He has

also served as West Asia Correspondent for PTI, based

in Bahrain from 1988 to 1995. The views expressed

are strictly personal)

The 300-film old Sridevi was bigger than all the Khans combined

tweetRETWEET

RAMACHANDRA GUHA @Ram_Guha

RAJYAVARDHAN RATHORE @Ra_THORe

NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON @neiltyson

SHASHI THAROOR @ShashiTharoor

The response of civil society in Kerala to the horrific mob lynching in their state has been admirable; wish this sense of shame and the desire to seek prompt remedial action would be visible in other states where hate crimes are even more rampant.

Medal for one, belief for millions! Put your hands together for India's first Gymnast to win an individual medal in the #GymnasticsWorldCup at Melbourne. Well done Aruna Budda Reddy. You have made India proud. #Gymnastics

If the #Olympics were a bit geekier, they would measure aerial acrobatics in Radians. Every half-rotation is Pi Radians, making it easier to track and say how many rotations were executed. You're just counting Pi’s.

"Let your presence ring out like a bell into the night. And if the earthly no longer nows your name, whisper to the silent earth: I am flowing. To the flashing water say: I am." --Rainer Maria Rilke: Sonnets to Orpheus #srideviRIP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is alleged to have improperly received lavish gifts from Hollywood and business figures

Sridevi was among the very few Indian female superstars capable of huge box office success without the support of a male hero

mp world10MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

6 months after attacks began, Rohingyas see no end in sight

‘Water widely present across Moon’s surface’

Sirisena reshuffles Lankan Cabinet amid political turmoil

LONDON: Scientists have identified gene variants that make people of Asian and European ancestry more prone to developing severe dengue.

Dengue fever is endemic to tropical and subtropical regions of East Asia and the Ameri-cas, but the virus responsible for the disease has recently spread to North America and Europe due to the introduc-tion of its vectors - mosquitoes of the Aedes genus - into these regions.

The dengue virus can lead to a wide spectrum of illness, ranging from classic dengue fever (DF) to the potentially fatal dengue shock syndrome (DSS).

Ethnic diversity has long been considered as one of the factors explaining why the severe forms of dengue are more prevalent in Southeast Asia than elsewhere, as previ-ously shown in epidemiological research, yet the phenomenon has never been explained by human genetics.

Researchers, led by Anavaj Sakuntabhai from National Center for Scientific Research

(CNRS) in France, studied the genetics of 411 patients admit-ted with dengue virus infection to three hospitals in Thailand between 2000 and 2003.

The study, published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, identified two genes related to blood ves-sel inflammation that confer risk of severe dengue, and four genes related to metabolism that affect risk of classic den-gue fever.

Further experiments showed that variations in the genes led to observable changes in cellular dynamics.

A comparison with the genetic databases of individu-als of African and European

origin showed that the preva-lence of these variations varies based on ethnic ancestry.

"The particular genetic risk conferred by these genes indicates that Southeast and Northeast Asians are highly susceptible to both pheno-types, while Africans are best protected against severe den-gue," said Sakuntabhai.

"Europeans, on the other hand, are less susceptible to classical dengue fever but more susceptible to severe dengue fever," he said. This research offers insights that can help understand the pathophysiol-ogy of this infectious disease and develop new therapeutic approaches. AGENCIES

Asians, Europeans genetically prone to dengue: Study WASHINGTON: The Moon's

water is widely distributed across the surface and is not confined to a particular region or type of terrain, say scien-tists who studied data from a NASA probe aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 orbiter.

The water appears to be present day and night, though it is not necessarily easily acces-sible, they said. The findings may help understand the ori-gin of the Moon's water and how easy it would be to use as a resource. If the Moon has enough water, and if it is rea-sonably convenient to access, future explorers might be able to use it as drinking water or to convert it into hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel or oxy-gen to breathe.

"We find that it doesn't mat-ter what time of day or which latitude we look at, the signal indicating water always seems to be present," said Joshua Bandfield, a senior research sci-entist with the Space Science Institute in the US.

"The presence of water doesn't appear to depend on the composition of the surface, and the water sticks around," said Bandfield, lead author of the study published in the jour-nal Nature Geoscience.

The results contradict some earlier studies, which had sug-gested that more water was detected at the Moon's polar latitudes and that the strength of the water signal waxes and wanes according to the lunar day (29.5 Earth days).

Some researchers proposed that water molecules can "hop" across the lunar surface until they enter cold traps in the dark reaches of craters near the north and south poles.

In planetary science, a cold trap is a region that's so cold, the water vapour and other vol-atiles which come into contact with the surface will remain stable for an extended period of time, perhaps up to sev-eral billion years. The debates

continue because of the sub-tleties of how the detection has been achieved so far. The main evidence has come from remote-sensing instruments that measured the strength of sunlight reflected off the lunar surface.

When water is present, instruments like these pick up a spectral fingerprint at wave-lengths near three microme-tres, which lies beyond visible light and in the realm of infra-red radiation. However, the surface of the Moon also can get hot enough to "glow," or emit its own light, in the infra-red region of the spectrum.

The challenge is to disen-tangle this mixture of reflected and emitted light. To tease the

two apart, researchers need to have very accurate temperature information.

Researchers came up with a new way to incorporate tem-perature information, creating a detailed model from mea-surements made by the Diviner instrument on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

The team applied this tem-perature model to data gath-ered earlier by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, a visible and infrared spectrometer that NASA's Jet Propulsion Labora-tory in Pasadena, California, provided for the Chandray-aan-1 orbiter.

The finding of widespread and relatively immobile water suggests that it may be pres-ent primarily as OH, a more reactive relative of water that is made of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom.

OH, also called hydroxyl,

doesn't stay on its own for long, preferring to attack molecules or attach itself chemically to them. Hydroxyl would there-fore have to be extracted from minerals in order to be used.

The research also suggests that any water present on the Moon isn't loosely attached to the surface.

"By putting some limits on how mobile the water or the OH on the surface is, we can help constrain how much water could reach the cold traps in the polar regions," said Michael Poston of the Southwest Research Institute in the US.

Sorting out what happens on the Moon could also help researchers understand the sources of water and its long-term storage on other rocky bodies throughout the solar system.

The researchers are still dis-cussing what the findings tell them about the source of the Moon's water. "Some of these scientific problems are very, very difficult, and it's only by drawing on multiple resources from different missions that are we able to hone in on an answer," said LRO project sci-entist John Keller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in the US. AGENCIES

Scientists studied data from a NASA probe aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 orbiter

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Presi-dent Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday reshuffled the Cabinet in the backdrop of the ongoing political turmoil.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed as the Minister of Law and Order in the unity government's second cabinet reshuffle.

The unity government of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) was thrown into a crisis after for-mer president Mahinda Raj-apaksa's new party pulled off a stunning victory in local elec-tions seen as a referendum on the ruling alliance. Former strongman Rajapaksa's nearly a decade-long rule was ended by Sirisena in 2015.

Several portfolios have been reshuffled among the UNP members with some of them exchanging jobs.

"Taking (into account) peo-ple's message expressed at the recent local government elec-tion, the government needs to improve its policies, pro-grammes and actions to serve people," Sirisena said in a tweet.

Handing out the new

appointments Sirisena expressed hope that the changes will serve the people better.

Rajapaksa's new political party, Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP), defeated Sirisena's SLFP and Wickremesinghe's UNP, winning 225 councils or two thirds of the 340 councils which went to polls earlier this month.

After registering the land-slide win, Rajapaksa was quick to demand a snap general elec-tion which is scheduled to be held after August 2020.

Since the defeat, Sirisena has been seeking the removal of Wickremesinghe as the prime minister, attempting to form his own SLFP government, analysts have said. AGENCIES

MANILA: The widows of two slain militant leaders have been arrested for allegedly sup-porting extremist groups and possessing firearms and explo-sives, Philippine police said on Sunday.

Juromee Dongon was mar-ried to a senior leader of the notorious Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group, Khadaffy Janjalani. After his death in 2006 she married Malaysian bombmaker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, who was killed in 2015 in the Philippines, police said.

Authorities arrested Don-gon along with her relatives in her home in Lanao del Norte province in the restive southern region of Mindanao where they found firearms, ammunition and bomb-making compo-nents, a police statement said.

"She assists, associates, net-works and supports terror-ist groups," regional police spokesman Superintendent Lemuel Gonda told AFP.

"Juromee is linked with Abu Sayyaf during the time of Jan-jalani and then later Jemaah Islamiyah," he added, referring to a Southeast Asian militant group. Marwan was a leading member of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and a suspect in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings that killed 202 people as well as in two deadly Philippine attacks.

He died in a raid in the southern Philippines that also left 44 police commandos dead. The US had offered a 5 million bounty for him.

In two operations on Sun-day, police arrested Dongon as well as her two sisters and father, Gonda said, adding the family had "connections with terrorists". AGENCIES

DHAKA: Their houses are often made of plastic sheets. Much of their food comes from aid agencies. Jobs are few, and there is painfully little to do. The nightmares are relentless.

But six months after their horrors began, the Rohingya Muslims who fled army attacks in Myanmar for refuge in Bangladesh feel one immense consola-tion. "Nobody is coming to kill us, that's for sure," said Mohammed Amanullah, whose village was destroyed last year just before he left for Bangladesh with his wife and three children. They now live in the Kutupalong refugee camp outside the coastal city of Cox's Bazar. "We have peace here."

On August 25, Rohingya insurgents attacked several security posts in Myan-mar, killing at least 14 people. Within hours, waves of revenge attacks broke out, with the military and Buddhist mobs marauding through Rohingya vil-lages in bloody pogroms, killing thou-sands, raping women and girls, and burning houses and whole villages.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders has estimated at least 6,700 Rohingya were killed in Myanmar in the first month of the violence, includ-ing at least 730 children younger than 5. The survivors flooded into Bangladesh.

Six months later, there are few signs Rohingya are going home anytime soon.

Myanmar and Bangladesh have signed an agreement to gradually repa-triate Rohingya in "safety, security and dignity," but the process has been opaque and the dangers remain. New satellite images have shown empty vil-lages and hamlets leveled, erasing evi-dence of the Rohingyas' former lives. And with 700,000 having fled Myan-

mar since August, more Rohingya con-tinue to flee.

So for now, the refugees wait."If they agree to send us back that's

fine, but is it that easy?" asked Amanul-lah. "Myanmar must give us citizenship. That is our home. Without citizenship they will torture us again. They will kill us again." He said he would only return under the protection of U.N. peacekeep-ers: "They must take care of us there.

Otherwise it will not work. " Buddhist-majority Myanmar doesn't recognize the Rohingya as an official ethnic group and they face intense discrimination and persecution.

The children in the camps face a particularly difficult time. The U.N. esti-mates children are the heads of 5,600 refugee families.

A survey of children's lives inside the camps showed they faced an array of terrors, from girls reporting concerns of harassments near the camp toilets to fears that elephants and snakes could attack them as they collect firewood.

"We cannot expect Rohingya chil-dren to overcome the traumatic experi-ences they've suffered when exposed to further insecurity and fears of violence in the camps," Mark Pierce, country director for Save the Children in Ban-gladesh, said in a statement.

The study was prepared jointly by Save the Children, World Vision and Plan International. "The overwhelming message from these children is that they are afraid," Pierce said. "This is no way for a child to live."

The situation will worsen soon. Sea-sonal monsoon rains will begin pound-ing the refugees' plastic-and-bamboo city in April. AGENCIES

DHAKA: Bangladesh's High Court on Sunday deferred the judgement on imprisoned ex-prime minister and main opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia's bail petition, saying it would decide after receiving necessary papers from the lower court which sentenced her to five years in jail this month.

The 72-year-old three-time former prime minister was given a five-year jail term by Dhaka's Special Court on February 8 in connection with the embezzlement of 21 mil-lion taka (about $250,000) in foreign donations meant for the Zia Orphanage Trust, named after her late husband Ziaur Rahman, a military ruler-turned-politician.

"The (two-judge) bench said it would issue the order on the bail petition after receiving the case documents from the trial court" which is expected to reach the High Court in the next two weeks, a high court official told reporters.

The February 8 verdict shook the country's political scenario ahead of the general elections scheduled to be held

by the end of the year.The BNP, the main opposi-

tion party outside Parliament, alleged that the verdict was politically motivated to debar Zia from contesting elections, an allegation denied by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led government.

The High Court had earlier this week accepted for hear-ing her bail petition along with prayers, challenging her con-viction and ordered authorities concerned to forward the case records in 15 days.

Political analysts say the BNP is now exposed to a political wilderness after Zia's conviction, which is likely to disqualify her for elec-tions unless she could obtain a different direction from the Supreme Court.

Zia, however, appears to be seeking to contest the next polls.

BNP's secretary general Mirza Falhrul Islam Alamgir earlier last week told a pro-test rally that the party would not take part in polls discard-ing Zia and "no national elec-tion will be held without BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia".

But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her government could do nothing if the BNP again decides to boycott the polls over its leader's impris-onment but elections would be held in due time.

In a separate hearing, a court extended the bail of Zia until tomorrow in a graft case.

Judge MD Akhteruzzaman of the Special Judge Court-5 here passed the order extend-ing the bail after Zia's barrister Moudud Ahmed submitted a petition seeking an extension of her bail in the Zia Charitable Trust graft case.

The Zia charitable graft case, filed in August 2011, accuses four persons includ-ing Zia of abusing power to raise funds for the trust from unknown sources. AGENCIES

Bangladesh HC defers verdict on Khaleda Zia’s bail petition

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is drifting towards international isolation mainly due to its pol-icy of using groups designated by the global community as ter-rorist outfits as instruments of foreign policy, the media here warned on Sunday, days after a global watchdog on terrorism financing reportedly placed Islamabad on its watch-list.

The world, which includes our brotherly friends (China and Saudi Arabia) whom the foreign minister (Khawaja Asif) thanked in a prematurely triumphant tweet on Tuesday, is not impressed with what they see as this country’s continued intransigence, the Dawn said in a stinging editorial, criticis-ing the policies of the govern-ment, especially the powerful military.

Now that the news from the just-concluded round of meet-ings of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) held in Paris has been digested, it is impor-tant to focus on the fact that both China and Saudi Arabia abandoned Pakistan during the proceedings, opening the way for the motion advanced

by the United States to a grey list the country’s financial sys-tem, it said.

The FATF in its report released on Friday did not mention Pakistan's name, leading to confusion about the country's status.

It is now increasingly clear that Pakistan is drifting towards international isolation mainly due to its policy of using groups designated by the world com-munity as terrorist outfits as instruments of foreign policy, the prominent newspaper com-mented. This is precisely the state of affairs that the civilian government has been trying to warn the security establish-ment about for a number of years now, including in a series of meetings in late 2016 but evi-dently, these conversations did not lead to the desired actions, it noted.

The FATF has been asking Pakistan to fully implement UN Security Council Resolu-tion 1267 ever since the coun-try was taken out of the grey list back in 2015. Once that act was passed in 2015, the next step was action against those groups

and individuals that had been designated as terrorists by the United Nations.

The warnings are now pouring in continuously to act against militant groups, or risk international isolation. Paki-stan would do well to heed them for its own sake, it said.

Another newspaper, The News, commented that Pak-istan needs to reflect seri-ously about the consequences of its inaction against terror-ist finance. The failure to curb terrorism finance is some-

thing that the country accepts internally.

There have been constant pleas within the government apparatus to come up with measures to combat the free flow of terrorist finance. But these efforts remain beset by contradictions, it said.

Currently, the offending entity seems to be the free oper-ation of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its charity wing JuD, it said.

The group (JuD) was able to launch a political party this year and has not faced action

from the state akin to a seri-ous clampdown. Cosmetic action has continued to be taken, which is why the inter-national community remains unconvinced by the presiden-tial ordinance putting Paki-stan’s terrorist organisation list in compliance with the UN list and the recent seizing of LeT assets, the paper said.

The optics are not convinc-ing. However, there is little evi-dence that Pakistan is doing worse that it was in 2015 when it was taken off the grey list, The News commented.

The Nation, another lead-ing Pakistani newspaper, in an editorial said, This is a time to reflect upon the flawed poli-cies which brought us to such a brink of panic.

The mainstreaming of ter-rorist and extremist factions, to the point that we tolerated their large participation in our elec-tion process, is what has put us in this situation today, it said.

It is time that Paki-stan actively pushes against these liabilities that are caus-ing us so much damage, it commented. AGENCIES

Pakistan media blasts govt using terror groups as instruments of foreign policy

JERUSALEM: Thousands of mourners took part in the funeral on Sunday in Jerusa-lem of a radical Israeli rabbi who led opposition to attempts to force ultra-Orthodox reli-gious students to serve in the military.

The funeral procession for Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, who died aged 86, moved slowly

through the city towards the cemetery in the Givat Shaul neighbourhood where large crowds were expected for his burial. Auerbach led a rela-tively small but fervent group of followers, known as the Jeru-salem Faction, who opposed more mainstream ultra-Ortho-dox Jewish leaders.

He was among the stron-

gest opponents of attempts to force ultra-Orthodox Jew-ish students to serve in the military like their secular counterparts.

A series of protests in recent months against such moves drew huge crowds and led to scuffles with police.

Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews follow a strict interpre-

tation of religious law and account for some 10 percent of the country's eight million people.

More mainstream ultra-Orthodox Jews participate in politics and their politi-cal parties have often played a kingmaker role in forming governments.

But groups such as Auer-

bach's decline political par-ticipation under the belief that a Jewish state cannot be formed until the coming of the Messiah.

They refuse to serve in the military out of fear their reli-gious lifestyle will be compro-mised in the largely secular setting, arguing too that reli-gious study is just as important

to Israel as military service.Israeli law requires Jew-

ish men to serve two years and eight months in the mili-tary on reaching the age of 18, while women must serve for 24 months.

Benny Brown, an expert on the ultra-Orthodox at the Hebrew University, said Auer-bach broke off from the main

ultra-Orthodox leadership in 2012 over their willingness to enable young men's to join the army and work market in limited numbers. "The Jerusa-lem Faction's reaction was to that," said Brown, and caused a schism among the so-called Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox sector, hitherto unified under one rabbi. AGENCIES

BNP chief Khaleda Zia

Philippines arrests widows

of slain militants

Noble Peace Laureate from Yemen Tawakkol Karman, right, holds a Rohingya refugee child during her visit to Kutupalong refugee camp near Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh AP/PTI

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena

Thousands attend funeral of radical rabbi in Jerusalem

mp world 11MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

Indian brothers look to harness AI for greater good

Beijing protests US sanctions on Chinese firms over N Korea ties

SEOUL: South Korea's Cath-olic church on Sunday apolo-gised to a woman who accused a priest of sexual abuse and attempted rape during a trip to a mission in South Sudan.

Kim Min-Kyung took the rare step of appearing on tele-vision news last week to accuse the priest of sexually abusing her during their trip to the country in 2011.

Kim, a volunteer who helped build a school and med-ical clinics in South Sudan, said the priest repeatedly tried to

rape her, at one point breaking into her room at night.

"He pinned me down so that I couldn't move and said 'I can't control my body anymore. Please understand me,'" Kim told KBS TV station, saying she managed to flee the room.

Kim said she had reported the incidents to other priests at the mission but received lit-tle help, and had previously decided to keep silent "for the sake of the church and the mission".

The name of the priest was

withheld. The church released a statement apologising to Kim and vowing to "reform our priesthood", without elaborat-ing on any specific measures taken against the priest.

"I... offer my deepest apol-ogy to the female victim who lived with such deep wounds for all these years and her fam-ily, as well as the members of our diocese," Bishop Math-ias Lee Yong-Hoon of Suwon said in a letter posted on the church's website.

"The priesthood of our dio-

cese will take joint responsibil-ity and repent together over this incident," he said.

"Our diocese will use this opportunity to repent and atone for our past sins and to correct our wrongdoings".

The priest has reportedly admitted committing most of the abuses recounted by Kim and has been removed from his parish, Yonhap news agency said, citing church officials.

Kim said she suffered from depression after returning to Seoul and decided to come for-

ward after hearing about the #MeToo campaign against the abuse of women.

"I would have kept this secret had I not known about the Metoo movement... I just didn't want other victims like me... to spend the rest of their lives blaming themselves like I did," she said.

Sex abuse allegations are a rarity in South Korea, which remains a patriarchal and con-servative society despite its economic and technological advances.

South Korea Catholic church priest accused of sexual abuse

SEOUL: North Korea on Sunday slammed the lat-est US measures against it as an "act of war", after US President Donald Trump announced the "heavi-est sanctions ever" on the nuclear-armed regime.

The measures, which Washington says are aimed at forcing Pyongyang to roll back its banned nuclear and weapons programmes, target more than 50 North Korea-linked shipping companies, vessels and trade businesses.

"Like we have said repeat-edly, we consider any restric-tions on us as an act of war," the North's foreign minis-try said in a statement car-ried by the state-run KCNA news agency.

It also vowed a retalia-tion if the US "really has the nerves" to confront the North in a "rough" manner.

Trump warned on Friday that, if the latest sanctions don't work, the US would "go to phase two" that "may be a very rough thing", without elaborating. AGENCIES

BOSTON: A job application filled out and signed by Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs is expected to fetch $50,000 at an US auction.

Jobs enrolled at Reed Col-lege for the fall semester in 1972 but dropped out after just six months to preserve his par-ents meager funds.

However, he hung around campus for a year and a half to audit creative courses, includ-ing classes on Shakespeare, dance, and calligraphy - which helped shape his artistic worldview that influenced the innovation of the Macintosh computer. The one-page ques-tionnaire was filled out by Jobs in 1972 where he fills out his address, ‘reed college’; phone, ‘none’; and major, ‘english lit.’

In the middle section, he wrote ‘yes’ in response to ‘Driv-er’s License?’ and ‘possible, but not probable,’ in reply to ‘Access to transportation?’.

Concerning his skills, next to ‘Computer’ and ‘Calculator,’

he wrote, ‘yes (design, tech).’ At the bottom, he described

his ‘Special Abilities’ as ‘elec-tronics tech or design engi-neer. digital. - from Bay near Hewitt-Packard.’

In his 2005 Stanford com-mencement speech, Jobs had said “If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multi-

ple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.” In 1974, Jobs put his technical skills to work and secured a job as a technician at Atari, heavily relying on the help of Steve Wozniak.

In 1976, Jobs and Woz-niak set out on their own and founded Apple, introducing the personal computer to the masses.

“It’s a remarkable document

that reveals Jobs’ early aspira-tion to work in the fledgling tech industry that he would one day revolutionize,” said Bobby Livingston Executive VP at Boston-based RR Auction.

The auction also features a Mac OS X technical manual signed by Jobs in 2001. The sig-nature was obtained in a park-ing lot after a training session at Apple in California.

“Steve Jobs was a notori-ously difficult signer and his autograph is incredibly scarce among contemporary figures,” said Livingston.

The manual is also expected to sell for $50,000.

A newspaper clipping from, 2008, featuring an image of Jobs speaking at the Apple Worldwide Developers Con-ference for the introduction of the iPhone 3G, with the head-line, “New, faster iPhone will sell for $199,” signed by Jobs is also up for auction.

Bidding for the items ends on March 7. AGENCIES

Steve Jobs employment application may fetch $50,000 at auction

OKLAHOMA CITY: At least two people are dead as a strong storm system that included possible tornadoes pushed its way eastward through the central United States, leaving demolished homes, damaged vehicles and uprooted trees in its wake.

A man in northeast Arkan-sas and a woman in south cen-tral Kentucky both were killed as the storm that also included heavy winds, rain and hail muscled its way through the area, according to authorities.

In northeast Arkansas, an 83-year-old man was killed after high winds toppled a trailer home. Clay County Sheriff Terry Miller said that Albert Foster died on Saturday night after the home was blown into a pond.

In rural, south central Kentucky, 79-year-old Dal-las Jane Combs died after a suspected tornado hit her Adairville home on Saturday evening, Logan County Sher-iff 's Department said. AGENCIES

HOUSTON: The popular dating app Tinder, which is supposed to help peo-ple form new relationships, is increas-ingly helping youngsters cheat on their romantic partners, a study claims.

However, the app also makes it eas-ier to catch cheaters, researchers said.

Scientists from the Texas Tech Uni-versity in the US showed that a sig-nificant number of college students are using Tinder to meet what they called "extradyadic partners" - that is, a partner outside of and in addition to the partner in a committed, romantic relationship.

"A couple of years ago, one of my students shared the story that she had come across a friend's boyfriend on Tinder, and she was not sure whether she should tell her friend," said Dana Weiser, an assistant professor at Texas Tech.

"So, although Tinder may make it easy to meet potential partners, the potential for exposure may be high," Weiser said.

Among the 550 undergraduate stu-dents who participated in the study, 12.5 per cent had spent time with some-one they met on Tinder, 17.1 per cent had messaged someone on Tinder, 8.9 per cent had been physically inti-

mate and 7.2 per cent reported hav-ing sexual relations with someone they met on Tinder while in an exclusive relationship.

"We know infidelity is quite com-mon among college-aged adults as they grow and learn about relationships, not to mention there is quite a bit of oppor-tunity," Weiser said.

"Our results are consistent with previous research and suggest Tinder may be one way college students meet extradyadic partners," he said.

Ironically, although the numbers show college students are using Tinder to find partners outside their relation-ships, many of these same participants said they were not sure Tinder was a

good way to do so."The participants are quite mixed

though as to whether Tinder is an effec-tive way to meet extradyadic partners," Weiser said.

"This may be because, while it is easy to meet individuals via Tinder, it may also be very easy to get caught, as a percentage of our participants also indicated they saw people who they knew were in relationships on Tinder," she said.

Researchers found two personal-ity traits they said could predict a per-son's likelihood to cheat on a partner: willingness and intention to engage in infidelity.

"We expected that these same per-sonality traits that predict in-person infidelity would also be associated with engaging in infidelity via Tinder," Weiser said.

"We found those traits were more important for predicting infidelity than gender. Basically, men and women looked very similar when we accounted for personality," he said.

Researchers emphasised that it is unclear if Tinder is actually increasing rates of infidelity or simply giving peo-ple a different way to meet extradyadic partners. AGENCIES

‘Dating app Tinder facilitates infidelity’

BEIJING: Beijing has pro-tested against Washington's decision to impose sanctions against Chinese companies accused of conducting illicit economic deals with North Korea, the foreign ministry has said.

US President Donald Trump on Friday announced measures targeting more than 50 North Korea-linked ship-ping companies, vessels and trade businesses, hailing the package as the "heaviest sanc-tions ever" levied on the nuclear-armed regime.

The measures, which the US says are aimed at forcing Pyongyang to roll back its banned nuclear and weapons programmes, apply to com-panies located or registered in North Korea, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Marshall Islands, Tanzania, Panama and Comoros.

Washington has been locked in a nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang, which is trying to develop missiles that could deliver an atomic weapon to major US cities, and the sanctions are designed to put the squeeze on North Korea's already precarious economy and fuel supply.

"China is strongly opposed to the United States' long-arm jurisdiction and unilateral sanctions on Chinese entities

and individuals," foreign min-istry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Saturday.

"We have lodged solemn representations to the United States and asked the U.S. to immediately cease the wrong practice so as to avoid under-mining relevant cooperation between the two sides," he added.

China, North Korea's only major ally, has steadfastly rebuffed Washington's calls for a full oil embargo -- fear-ing the chaotic collapse of the Pyongyang regime -- but has accepted caps agreed at the United Nations.

"We will never allow Chi-nese citizens or companies to be engaged in activities that violate resolutions from the United Nations Secu-rity Council," Geng said. But Washington says its latest mea-sures target entities that have helped Pyongyang evade UN sanctions.

The North Korean mili-tary and broader economy depend heavily on imports of coal and oil from Russia and China, with the latter account-ing for some 90 percent of the country's trade. Last year, the Security Council adopted a series of resolutions to ban North Korean exports of com-modities, including coal, iron and steel. AGENCIES

SAN FRANCISCO: As debate swirls on whether artificial intelligence will be a boon or a curse for humanity, two Indian-American entrepre-neur brothers are out to ensure the emerging technologies don't just benefit the richest in society.

Romesh and Sunil Wadh-wani this week launched what is billed as the world's first nonprofit institute dedicated to putting AI to work improv-ing lives of poor farmers, rural health care workers or teach-ers in communities with scant resources.

"AI will go where AI will go; it is difficult to predict where," Sunil Wadhwani said of the conflicting views on the emergence of computers more brilliant than their human creators.

"Our focus is how many tens of millions of lives can we improve in the next five or 10 years. Where AI goes in 100 years, it will go."

The entrepreneur brothers, who have a series of lucrative startups to their name, have committed 30 million over 10 years to the Wadhwani AI institute, established in Mum-bai with the Indian govern-

ment as a partner.Areas targeted at the outset

will include health care, edu-cation, agriculture and urban infrastructure.

The project's founders hope AI could help nurses in rural areas with diagnoses, advise how to optimize crops, trans-late text books into various languages as needed or even spot signs students might be on paths to dropping out.

"AI is a game-changing technology," said Sunil Wad-hwani, who is based in Pitts-burgh as a trustee for Carnegie Mellon University.

"A lot of developing coun-tries are getting left behind; US and China are leapfrogging ahead."

Students from New York University and the University of Southern California will travel to Mumbai to collabo-rate, while the brothers also plan to partner with players in Silicon Valley, where Romesh Wadhwani is based.

The ethical issues raised by AI –from its potential to destroy jobs to the power it could exert over people's lives –will be front of mind, according to institute chief P. Anandan, a former Microsoft

Research director."It has the potential to be

used badly, or run away on its own," Anandan said of AI.

"At the end of the day, you are going to manage that by being aware of it from the start and applying it where inten-tions are good."

Internet giants have been investing heavily in creating software to help machines think more like people, boosted by super-fast com-puter processing power and access to mountains of data to analyze.

AI has been put to work in the form of virtual aides, for recognizing people's friends

in photos, fighting "fake news," stymying the online spread of violent extremist messages and more.

But the rise of artificial intelligence brings mighty new challenges too, and the new initiative coincides with the release of a report by AI schol-ars warning the technology has the potential to be exploited for nefarious purposes.

"These technologies have many widely beneficial applica-tions," said the study produced by the Future of Humanity Institute, the nonprofit group OpenAI and others.

"Less attention has histori-cally been paid to the ways in

which artificial intelligence can be used maliciously."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which took part in the study, expressed concern that "increasingly sophisticated AI will usher in a world that is strange and different from the one we're used to, and there are serious risks if this technology is used for the wrong ends."

High-profile figures who have expressed fears about the potential dangers of AI include tech visionary and innovator Elon Musk.

SpaceX founder and Tesla chief executive Musk in 2015 took part in creating the research organization OpenAI, which aims to develop artificial intelligence that helps rather than hurts people.

Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, IBM, and Google-owned British AI firm DeepMind are also members of a nonprofit "Partnership on AI" which seeks to promote the technology's use "to benefit people and society."

Sunil Wadhwani has mean-while promised an "aggressive" timeline at the brothers' epony-mous institute, with testing of potential AI tools starting by the end of this year. AGENCIES

Romesh (Left) and Sunil Wadhwani at the launch of Wadhwani AI Institute with Amitabh Kant (Centre)

SEOUL: A blacklisted North Korean general arrived in the South on Sunday for the Win-ter Olympics closing ceremony, which will also be attended by US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka.

The visit by Kim Yong Chol, who led an eight-member high-level delegation that crossed the Demilitarized Zone in the morning, is the final piece of the Games-led diplomacy that has dominated headlines from Pyeongchang.

The nuclear-armed North has gone on a charm offensive in connection with the Olym-pics, sending athletes, cheer-leaders and performers to the Games, with leader Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong attend-ing the opening ceremony.

Analysts say it is seek-ing to loosen the sanctions imposed against it over its banned nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes, and trying to weaken the alliance between Seoul and Washington.

But Kim Yo Jong had no interaction with US Vice Pres-ident Mike Pence at the open-ing ceremony, even though the two were sitting just a few seats apart in the same VIP area, and according to the US, a planned meeting between the delega-tions from Washington and Pyongyang the following day was cancelled at short notice by the North Koreans.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in –who has long pushed for engagement with the North to bring it to the negotiating table –also did not immediately accept an invi-tation passed on by Kim Yo Jong from her brother to go to

Pyongyang for a summit, say-ing the right conditions needed to be created. Washington, which describes its approach to Pyongyang as "maximum pressure and engagement", announced a raft of new sanc-tions against it on Friday.

Pence also condemned Kim Yo Jong as part of an "evil family clique" and "murderous regime", prompting a denunci-ation from Pyongyang on Sun-day, which said it would not talk to the Trump administra-tion for "even 100 years or 200 years". Kim Yong Chol's dele-gation crossed the heavily-for-tified border into the South on Sunday morning, a spokesman for Seoul's unification ministry said. Television footage showed Kim Yong Chol, wearing a dark long coat, being greeted by Seoul's vice unification min-ister Chun Hae-sung before getting into a black sedan pre-pared by the South, while oth-ers boarded a bus and a van.

Kim's nomination as the leader of the group is contro-

versial in the South, where he is widely blamed for a spate of attacks including the torpedo-ing of Seoul's Cheonan warship in 2010, with the loss of 46 lives. Pyongyang denies responsi-bility. Conservative lawmak-ers staged an overnight protest near the border with the North, joined by hundreds of other activists.

Images showed the protest-ers waving banners including "Arrest Kim Yong Chol!" and "Kim Yong Chol should kneel in front of the victims' families and apologise!" Kim is black-listed under Seoul's unilateral sanctions against the North –meaning he is subject to an assets freeze –although he is not named in the UN Security Council's measures. Officials from both Seoul and Washing-ton say there will be no meeting between Kim Yong Chol and Ivanka Trump –who is travel-ling with Korea specialists from the US administration and White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. AGENCIES

High-level North Korean delegates arrive in South

Ivanka Trump, US President Donald Trump’s daughter, applauds during the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Sunday. At rear right is Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee AP/PTI

North Korea slams latest US

sanctions

Two dead as severe weather hits central US

mp business12MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

NEW DELHI: The government expects to collect around Rs 300 crore annually from the levy on airlines flying on major routes towards the regional air con-nectivity scheme, a senior offi-cial said.

To partly raise money for viability gap funding require-ment under the UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, the civil aviation ministry has been collecting the levy since December 2016.

More routes are get-ting added under the UDAN scheme, which seeks to connect unserved and under-served air-ports as well as making flying more affordable.

With increasing number of UDAN routes, the ministry is also preparing to deal with higher funding needs in the coming months.

A senior ministry official said the response to UDAN flights has been very positive and many routes are having good occupancy.

Every year, the ministry expects to garner Rs 280 crore to 300 crore by way of levy col-lected from airlines flying on major routes.

An amount of Rs 5,000 is levied for each departure of flights on major routes. Initially, the levy was Rs 8,500 and was subsequently reduced.

To fund the ambitious regional connectivity scheme — UDAN — the civil aviation ministry is collecting a levy of Rs 5,000 per departure from air-lines operating in major domes-tic routes, including Mumbai and Delhi.

With at least half of the seats in UDAN flights offered at sub-sidised fares, the participating carriers will be provided a cer-tain amount of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) — an amount shared between the Centre and the states concerned.

All the five operators — Alli-ance Air, SpiceJet, TruJet, Air Deccan and Air Odisha — that won routes in the first round of bidding under UDAN have already commenced operations.

IndiGo and Jet Airways are among the airlines that have won routes in the second round of bidding and are yet to start services under the scheme.

In his 2018-19 Budget speech, Finance Minster Arun Jaitley had said that 56 unserved airports and 31 under-served helipads will be connected under the regional air connec-tivity scheme.

The allocation for UDAN has been substantially raised to Rs 1,014.09 crore for the next financial year. The same was at Rs 200.11 crore for 2017-18 fiscal. PTI

UDAN: Govt expects `300 crore annually from levy on airlines

NEW DELHI: As about 70 per cent of GST refunds stuck due to flawed information, the CBEC has asked exporters to amend the details in the final returns of subsequent month to enable the department to process the refund claims by March.

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has sanctioned Rs 4,000 crore worth refunds to exporters in 4 months since October. Still about Rs 10,000 crore worth claims are stuck due to dis-crepancies in the informa-tion furnished by exporters to GST Network (GSTN) in filing GSTR 1 or Table 6A or GSTR 3B and shipping bill filed with Customs.

"The analysis of data indi-cates that only about 32 per cent records of GSTR 1 / Table 6A have been transmitted from GSTN to Customs. In other words, a majority (about 70

per cent) of refund claims are held up either due to insuffi-cient information or lack of due diligence on the part of exporter while filing GST returns," the CBEC said in a communication to Principal Commissioners.

The analysis of claims data post October 2017 indicate that while the quantum of error is decreasing, a large number of exporters are still filing incom-plete GSTR 1 or Table 6A, where shipping bill number or date or port code are missing.

"These records are not pro-cessed / forwarded to Customs by GSTN. E-mails have been sent to exporters asking them to correct their records through amendment process of GSTR 1 i e through Table 9 of GSTR 1 of the following month," the CBEC said.

The CBEC had in Octo-ber 2017 started refunds for exporters of goods who have paid Integrated GST (IGST)

and have claimed refund based on shipping bill by filling up Table 6A. While for those busi-nesses making zero rated sup-plies or those want to claim input credit have to fill Form RFD-01A.

Analysis of GSTN data show that in a large number of cases, the refund claimed by an exporter is higher than the GST paid by him and consequently, the information filed by export-

ers is not forwarded to Customs by GSTN.

"In these cases also, e-mails have been sent to exporters asking them to correct their records through amendment process of GSTR 1 i e through Table 9 of GSTR 1 of the fol-lowing month," the CBEC said.

The apex indirect tax authority also said where exporters have already filed information through Table

9 of GSTR-1, the said infor-mation is being validated by GSTN. "The validated infor-mation is expected to be for-warded by GSTN to Customs by mid-March 2018 for further processing".

AMRG & Associates Part-ner Rajat Mohan said the issue could be resolved if GST com-pliance structure is simplified and government programmes are designed to achieve a robust digital literacy in the long run.

"IGST refund to exporters are issued in a fully automa-tised environment, and even a smallest mismatch in invoice number results in non-issu-ance of refunds. Now, govern-ment has planned to provide an alternative mechanism whereby exporters can get such errors rectified with the help of a manned interface placed at Customs department. This could address the worries of the exporters if this manned

intervention is operated timely," Mohan said. The CBEC listed out the major errors that are committed by the exporters in claiming refunds. These are mismatch of invoice number, taxable value and IGST paid in the Shipping Bill vis-a-vis the same details mentioned in GSTR 1 / Table 6A, incorrect shipping bill numbers in GSTR-1, GSTIN declared in the ship-ping bill does not match with the GSTIN used to file the cor-responding GST returns.

Besides, there are instances of non-filing or incorrect filing of electronic Export General Manifest (EGM).

"Information is being made available to exporters on a real-time basis with regard to the errors status on ICEGATE website for registered users. Details of refund sanctioned is being sent through SMS on registered mobile phones," the CBEC noted. PTI

70% GST refunds stuck due to flawed claims filed by exporters, says CBEC

NEW DELHI: With one of the largest delegations at the Mobile World Congress, India plans to highlight its readiness for 5G services and technology leader-ship including its numero uno position globally in terms of mobile data usage.

"We want to position our-selves not as a recipient of 5G technology but active con-tributor of the 5G technology. Whether it is core network tech-nology, all services of appli-cation ecosystem," Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan told reporters about India's par-ticipation in the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018.

The global telecom event will begin from February 26 in Barcelona, Spain.

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha will lead a 90-people strong delegation at the annual event.

The Indian government has set up a high-level committee to work on 5G technology road-map for India including partici-pation in global standards, test facilities etc.

Sundararajan said that most of the used cases being show-cased for 5G services at present are largely for the developing advanced economies.

"We want to make sure that we start building in develop-mental used cases particularly in the field of health, agricul-ture etc. We should be an inte-gral part of standards," she said.

Talking about technol-

ogy leadership, she said that India now has leapfrogged from 155th position in terms of mobile data usage to the top position globally. She said that India now houses the world's largest internet protocol based

network with Reliance Jio and the largest solar-powered net-work deployed in the naxal-affected area.

"LWE (Left Wing Extremist affected area project) deploy-ment that we have done in

phase 1 that will be world larg-est green energy powered tele-com network.

"Now what we will do for the (LWE project) remaining that will really cement India's position as leading player in the green network," Sunda-rarajan said. State-run firm BSNL through indigenous tele-com gear makers Vihaan Net-works and Himachal Futuristic Communications has deployed around 2,200 solar-powered mobile towers across nine states. The government is going to deploy 4,072 towers in the sec-ond phase of the project.

"We have now end to end spectrum of telecom capa-bilities which are relevant for other emerging countries on

the ground that these are highly affordable and these are robust. Minister (Sinha) has already said that India is willing to col-laborate with other countries for adoption of these technologies," Sundararajan said.

As per a GSMA official, there are over 90 people from government and industry par-ticipating from India in MWC 2018 making it the largest ever delegation from the country.

She said that the official del-egation will focus on spread-ing the message that digital inclusion needs to be at the heart of all product technol-ogy services solutions otherwise 5 billion people in the world are likely to be left out of the new technologies. PTI

India to highlight 5G readiness, tech leadership at MWC

NEW DELHI: Leading TV manufacturers like Sony, LG, Panasonic and Samsung are set to increase prices of their LED/OLED sets by up to 7 per cent to offset impact of increase in customs duty.

Some of them are also expecting a short-term impact on sales and the Consumer Elec-tronics and Appliances Manu-facturers Association (CEAMA) has already initiated a dialogue with the government to roll back the duty hike.

Panasonic is going for a hike of 2-7 per cent on its range of LED/OLED TVs.

"The increase in the prices of LED/OLED TVs and thereby, an impact on the consumer demand will be imminent with the proposed custom hike. In line, we will be increasing our prices by 2 per cent to 7 per cent," Panasonic India Business Head Consumer Electronics Division Sales Neeraj Bahl said.

According to industry sources, Samsung is also plan-ning for a hike of around 5-6 per cent.

When asked about the hike, LG Electronics India Managing Director Ki Wan Kim said there is "no way to avoid it."

However, on being asked about the price increase, he said LG is still working on it.

"Internally we would try our best to absorb some of the additional cost through R&D innovation and manufacturing innovations by improving the productivity," said Kim.

Sony India said although prices have not increased and it is currently evaluating the mid and long term impact of the duty. "Keeping the current situation in mind, it seems likely that we may have to increase the price in the future," said Sony India BRAVIA Business Head Sachin Rai.

According to the CEAMA, the price increase would impact the demand and hit the panel industry in short term, which is facing rough times from last two consecutive years.

"We believe in the short-term, the move will drive infla-tion and have a setback on consumption as prices may go up to 7 per cent impacting the demand for TVs and further limit the scope of expansion and creation of more job opportu-nities," said CEAMA President Manish Sharma.

"CEAMA has already initi-ated a dialogue with the Govern-ment of India and the Ministry of Finance, seeking a reversal on the custom duty hike of up to 10 per cent on open cell and other components of the panel," he said. PTI

TV makers to hike prices by up to 7%

NEW DELHI: More than three-fifths of the total 349 delayed central projects belong to the railways sector causing a cost overrun of Rs 1.73 lakh crore, according to a report by the statistics ministry.

A total of 213 projects of railways are facing delays due to various reasons, leading to cost overrun of Rs 1.73 lakh crore, the report of the Statistics and Programme Implementa-tion ministry for October 2017 mentioned.

The statistics ministry monitors central sector proj-ects envisaging an expenditure of Rs 150 crore and above each on regular basis.

According to the report, the

original cost of these 213 rail-way projects was Rs 123,103.45 crore. The total anticipated cost of the projects has ballooned to Rs 2,96,496.70 crore now due to delays, which shows overall

cost escalation of 140.85 per cent. The ministry monitored 350 projects of Indian Railways in October this year.

The report stated that as many as 36 projects of rail-

ways out of the monitored 350 projects reported time over-run or delay of 12 months to 261 months.

After railways, power sec-tor reported the second highest incidence of overall cost over-run. Of the 126 power proj-ects monitored by the statistics ministry, 43 reported cost over-run of Rs 58,728.23 crore.

The total original cost of these 43 projects was Rs 104,449.62 crore which esca-lated to total anticipated cost of Rs 163,178.45 crore.

The report stated that out of the 126 power sector proj-ects, 64 reported time over-run (delay) of 2 months to 136 months. PTI

213 railway projects report cost overrun of ̀ 1.73 lakh cr

NEW DELHI: Faced with a daunting target of Rs 10.05 lakh crore, the apex decision making body for direct taxes CBDT has asked its field officers to step up efforts and put more focus on better performing zones.

In the 2018-19 Budget, the government has hiked the direct tax, which includes personal income tax and corporate tax, collection target to Rs 10.05 lakh crore, from Rs 9.80 lakh crore budgeted initially.

In a review meeting earlier this month, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has set higher target for zones which are performing well.

"We are looking at better

advance tax collection for Janu-ary-March quarter. If the trend of October-December quarter continues, we will be able to achieve the landmark Rs 10 lakh crore target," an official said.

The focus areas of the department for stepping up tax collection will be to follow up with entities which are cur-rently giving taxes on the basis of self-assessment.

"We will check if the tax assessment matches the income profile," he said, adding that refunds will also be closely monitored.

Also taxmen have been advised to ensure Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) are duly depos-ited to the central exchequer and follow up on arrears.

"Higher targets have been set for zones which are on track to achieve their initial target," he said.

The official further said demonetisation data is being scrutinised to check if based on the tax returns filed, some taxes could be recovered in current fiscal itself. PTI

Taxmen asked to step up collections to achieve ̀ 10.05 lakh crore target

MSE gets Sebi approval for electronic book buildingMUMBAI: Metropolitan Exchange of India (MSE), formerly MCX-SX, said it has received approval from markets regulator Sebi to launch electronic book building mechanism to facili-tate online bidding for private placement of debt securities.The exchange is also expected to roll out products for the equity segment during the first quarter of fiscal 2018-19. "As a part of our business strategy, we have undertaken several initiatives to introduce new offerings to gain traction. While many ideas are on the drawing board, we have a decent pipeline of roll-outs at advanced stages," MSE managing director and CEO Udai Kumar said. PTI

NEW DELHI: Italian luxury kidswear brand Monnalisa is set to enter India later this year with its first outlet in Delhi.

The brand, which is entering India through a franchise route, plans to open its first store by September this year.

"Monnalisa plans to open seven stores in India in the next five years. It has inked a pan-India contract with expansion plans in Delhi-NCR, Mum-bai, Bangalore, and Kolkata with FranGlobal with total deal size of more than €4 mil-lion," FranGlobal CEO Venus Barak said. PTI

Italian kidswear brand Monnalisa set to enter IndiaNEW DELHI: Lending to cor-

porates should not be choked as a fallout of the Rs 11,400-crore fraud at Punjab National Bank specially at a time when credit growth is about to recover and the economy set to grow at a higher pace, India Inc has cautioned.

The Indian industry called for better control systems to check financial frauds and also suggested gradual reduction in government holding in public sector banks (PSBs).

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said government should lower its stake in PSBs to 33 per cent gradually and adopt a twin strategy for tack-ling financial frauds, including

better monitoring and supervi-sion of banks and spread of best corporate governance standards.

"Government, regulators and industry must act fast to address systemic risks in the financial sector. The three key solutions for the banking sec-tor are better management and operational efficiencies, use of technology such as blockchain and big data analytics, and low-ering government sharehold-ing in public sector banks," CII President Shobana Kamineni said in a statement.

Assocham cautioned against allowing the alleged fraud in the PNB to halt the entire system of corporate lending as demorali-sation would set in among the

top functionaries and employ-ees of the state-owned banks.

It is something the country can ill-afford at a time when the credit growth was about to recover and economy was set to grow at a higher pace, Asso-cham said.

The CII president said finan-cial malfeasance perpetrated by a collusion of unethical business entities and corrupt officials

should not lead to a situation where funds to industry get choked.

"It is time for government to consider consolidation of PSBs and develop a few strong banks adhering to best standards in governance, accountability and transparency. Currently, share-holdings of government have been rising with bank recapi-talisation attempts, and these should be brought down to 52 per cent at the earliest as intended by the government," she said.

A roadmap could be announced for bringing Gov-ernment stake to 33 per cent in three to four years, CII said.

Assocham Secretary General

D S Rawat said while long term solutions like privatisation of banks can be sought, the need of the hour is to rally around honest bank officers and hon-est business entities which have built trust on each other.

"Let one or a few black sheep not derail our financial system, which is resilient enough to withstand this kind of shocks, though ideally such jolts are bet-ter avoided and averted through systemic reforms," Rawat said.

Citing January export data that showed a deceleration in growth even as the global econ-omy is on uptick, Assocham said the prick up in the domestic economy would require higher imports. PTI

Industry cautions against lending freeze in wake of PNB fraud

MUMBAI: The largest lender State Bank has said its tie-ups with various e-commerce play-ers, including Snapdeal and Flipkart, have not yielded the desired results so far and is thus reworking the strategy to increase the volume.

As part of supply chain finance, SBI had tied up with Snapdeal, Flipkart, Amazon and taxi aggregator Ola to offer easy working capital to their vendors.

"Somethings you invest but you don't get any immediate outcome. We did tie up with Flipkart, Snapdeal and taxi aggregators, but the outcome is not as per our expectations," chairman Rajnish Kumar said

at an event over the weekend.He said despite availability

of technology at the bank the volumes were not high as some-times these e-commerce play-ers themselves provide funds to their lenders, which affects the volumes for the banks.

"Many times these compa-nies themselves provide finance

to their vendors so the need for bank finance is not much. It is a constant review process for us and if we have to make our product more attractive we will make it," Kumar said.

He, however, hopes the transaction volumes will increase in near future.

"The fact is having invested in the technology, we have not lost hope. I feel that we have the platform and sooner or later we will be able to make use of these platforms," Kumar said. Last November, the bank launched a digital platform Yono, which provides all financial services of the bank and its subsidiar-ies under one app. PTI

Co-brandings with e-tailers not up to expectation, says SBI chief

NEW DELHI: The IPO lane seems to get busier as over two dozen companies have lined up initial share sale plans worth Rs 25,000 crore in the coming months, largely to fund their expansion projects and work-ing capital requirements.

Hindustan Aeronautics, ICICI Securities, Barbeque-Nation Hospitality and Flem-ingo Travel Retail are among the names that plan to launch share-sale offers in the coming months. Most of these compa-nies plan to utilise initial public offer (IPO) proceeds for busi-ness expansion as well as work-ing capital requirements, as per the draft papers filed with capital

markets regulator Sebi.Besides, some of the firms

believe the listing of equity shares on bourses will enhance their brand name and provide liquidity to existing sharehold-ers. Barbeque-Nation Hospi-tality, ICICI Securities, Bharat Dynamics and Indian Renew-able Energy Development Agency — have secured Sebi's go-ahead this year to float their public offers.

In addition, 20 compa-nies including RITES, Mishra Dhatu Nigam Ltd, Bandhan Bank, IndoStar Capital Finance, Nazara Technologies and Route Mobile are awaiting the regula-tor's approval to float IPOs. PTI

Indian companies line up `25,000 crore public offers

mp business 13MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

NEW DELHI: ONGC Videsh Ltd has shelved plans to build a $5 billion LNG export facility in Iran and has instead opted to only invest in developing a giant gas field in the Persian Gulf, for which a revised cost is being worked out, an offi-cial said.

OVL, the overseas arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), had last year made its 'best' offer to spend $11 billion in develop-ing the Farzad-B field in the Persian Gulf as well as in build-ing the infrastructure to export the gas but Iran deterred on awarding the rights of the field to the Indian firm owing to dif-ferences over investments and price of gas.

The company has now agreed to do just the upstream field development part, leav-ing the marketing of the fuel to Iran, the official said.

As had been agreed dur-ing the visit of Iranian Presi-dent Hassam Rouhani earlier this month, a team of OVL offi-cials will be visiting Tehran this week to discuss modalities of the upstream development.

"We had initially thought that the upstream field devel-

opment would cost $6.2 bil-lion. But, this is not the final cost. We will be able to arrive at a final cost only after we do at least well to appraise the dis-covery we had made about a decade back," he said.

Only after the appraisal well is drilled and data analysed to see the extent of the field and recoverable reserves can a final cost be put, he said, adding that OVL would put forth the idea of being allowed to drill an appraisal well on the field.

The appraisal well, he said, may take 9-10 months to be drilled and completed. Farzad-B was discovered by OVL in the

Farsi block about 10 years ago. The project has so far cost the OVL-led consortium, which also includes Oil India Ltd and Indian Oil Corp (IOC), over $80 million.

The field has an in-place gas reserve of 21.7 trillion cubic feet, of which 12.5 Tcf are believed to be recoverable.

The official said the field as high sulphur content and sep-arate facility would be needed to separate gas from it. Costs of these facilities can be estab-lished only after appraisal well is drilled. In the master devel-opment plan OVL submitted to Iran last year, it estimated

the upstream part to cost $6.2 billion while another $5 bil-lion will be required to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility.

While Iran believes the upstream investment should not be more than $5.5 billion, it wanted India to buy all of the natural gas produced from the Persian Gulf block at a price equivalent to the rate Qatar charges for selling LNG to India under a long-term deal.

Qatar, as per a revised for-mula agreed upon in December 2015, sells 7.5 million tonnes a year of LNG to Petronet LNG Ltd — India's biggest

gas importer — at a price of $7-plus per million British thermal unit. The rate being sought by Iran was triple of $2.3 per mmBtu rate OVL is will-ing to pay for the gas during low global oil prices. If global rates rise, OVL was willing to pay $4.3 per mmBtu, the offi-cial said.

OVL, he said, was willing to negotiate on the upstream cost but wants Iran to take up the marketing of the fuel, including building of LNG terminal, if it believes it can get a better price for the natural gas elsewhere.

India and Iran were initially targeting concluding a deal on Farzad-B field development by November 2016 but later mutu-ally agreed to push the timeline to February 2017. The deadline to wrap up negotiations later targeted for September 2017. But, with deal stuck over pric-ing of gas, no new deadlines have been proposed.

Last year, India cut Iranian crude oil imports by about a quarter to 18.5 million tonnes in 2017-18 fiscal to put pressure on Tehran to quickly wrap up negotiations. It has so far not finalised the volumes it will buy in 2018-19 fiscal. PTI

OVL drops plan to build LNG export facility in Iran NEW DELHI: The govern-

ment may in near future scrap the present system of allocat-ing coal mines for captive use and instead only auction mines for commercial use to private as well as foreign companies with a view to boost domestic product and cut imports, a top official said.

The move, which would not just help attract foreign invest-ment but also bring in efficiency and promote competition, fol-lows government's decision of opening up the coal sector to commercial mining by private entities.

"We can also take a decision that in future only commercial mining will be done.... things are evolving, we will see. One experience is there of end-use auctions. This will be another experience of commercial min-ing auctions. So we will see and compare whatever is better for the country in the longer term," Coal Secretary Susheel Kumar said in an interview.

The Cabinet had last week approved auctioning of coal mines to any firm bidding the highest per tonne price. At pres-ent, private sector firms are only allowed to mine coal for use in cement, steel, power and alu-minium plants. Coal India Ltd (CIL) is the sole commercial miner with 80 per cent mar-ket share. Terming commercial mining a "full-fledged reform"

in the coal sector, the secretary said the government is evaluat-ing whether it is advisable to go for end-use restrictions.

"There is an idea floated by few people which we are exam-ining whether it is advisable to go for end-use restrictions because that is a half-hearted reform. It is not a full-fledged reform. Commercial mining is a full-fledged reform so that is something which we are evalu-ating and whatever is in the best interest of the country will be done," Kumar explained.

Stating that the country was slowly moving towards free market in the coal sector, the secretary said CIL ought to improve its efficiency else it

"will not be in the market."On deadline for commercial

mining auctions, the secretary said : "Our expectation is that we will complete the process of auction by March 2019."

He however did not divulge the number of blocks to be put for bidding in the first tranche.

The government had in 2014 auctioned 29 mines to private players and states for capital use in power, steel, alu-minium and cement plants. In the following year, it permit-ted the allotment of coal mines to states for mining and com-mercial sale to medium, small and cottage industries. Close to 16 mines were allotted to several states. PTI

Govt may allow only commercial coal mining in future: Secretary

WASHINGTON DC: For those looking for free news online, the search is becom-ing harder.

Tougher restrictions on online content have boosted digital paid subscriptions at many news organizations, amid a growing trend keeping con-tent behind a "paywall."

Free news has by no means disappeared, but recent moves by media groups and Facebook and Google supporting paid subscriptions is forcing free-riders to scramble.

For some analysts, the trend reflects a normalization of a sit-uation that has existed since the early internet days that enabled consumers to get accustomed to the notion of free online content.

"I think there is a definite trend for people to start paying for at least one news source," said Rebecca Lieb, an analyst who follows digital media for

Kaleido Insights.Lieb said consumers have

become more amenable to paying for digital services and that investigative report-ing on politics in Washington and elsewhere has made con-sumers aware of the value of journalism.

A study last year by the Media Insight Project found 53 per cent of Americans have paid for at least one news sub-scription. A separate report by Oxford University's Reuters Institute found two-thirds of European newspapers used a pay model.

"Services like Netflix and Spotify have helped people get into the habit of paying for digi-tal content they used to get for free," said Damian Radcliffe, a journalism professor at the Uni-versity of Oregon and a fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Jour-nalism. "People recognize that if you value journalism, especially

in the current political climate, you need to pay for it."

- Making the transition - Newspapers seeking to

make a transition from print to digital have found it difficult to replace the advertising rev-enues that were long the staple of the publications.

News organizations are unable to compete against giants like Google and Face-book for digital advertising, and are turning increasingly to readers.

"For large-scale news orga-nizations whether they are national or regional, that want to have a large reporting staff, reader revenue needs to be the number one source," said Ken Doctor, a media analyst and consultant who writes the New-sonomics blog.

Doctor said some news organizations are getting close to 50 per cent of revenues from subscriptions and sees that ris-

ing to as much as 70 per cent.The New York Times

reported the number of paid subscribers grew to 2.6 mil-lion and that subscriptions accounted for 60 per cent of 2017 revenues. The Washing-ton Post last year touted it had more than one million paid dig-ital readers.

Not surprisingly, the Times

and Post have both tightened their online paywalls by limiting the number of free articles avail-able. Similar moves have been made at The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times and elsewhere.

Magazines such as Conde Nast's Wired and The New Yorker also introduced new online pay models that limit free content. The Atlantic,

a media group bolstered by an investment from Laurene Powell Jobs, said this month it is experimenting with vari-ous subscription models as it expands.

Ad blockers used by some consumers have caused deeper revenue woes for online news.

One site, Salon.com, told its readers that if they used ad blockers, their computers would be used to mine cryptocurrency to offset the lost ad revenues.

While well-known national publications may be able to nav-igate digital pay models, it will be harder for smaller, regional and local news organizations on slimmer budgets, said Radcliffe.

"Smaller local organizations might find it harder to make their case to readers (to pay), and they have a smaller pool of customers," Radcliffe said.

Facebook and Google recently agreed to help support paywalls for news organizations

on their platforms, and Apple agreed to waive its commis-sion for subscription sign-ups from the big social network on its devices, according to Face-book's Campbell Brown.

These moves could be posi-tive for news organizations after years of tensions with online platforms, according to Lieb.

"This means (online plat-forms) are trying to work for instead of passively against pub-lishers," Lieb said.

"This is important because search and social are the way people discover news in the digital age."

According to a study by Dig-ital Content Next -- formerly known as the Online Publish-ers Association -- news orga-nizations only got around five per cent of their digital revenues from the dominant online plat-forms but accounted for close to 30 per cent of the content viewed. The paywall trend may

have some other consequences by limiting national "conversa-tions" based on shared news.

"Content that is behind a paywall does not go viral," Lieb said, but noted that important news scoops can still spark national discussion.

Strict paywalls may also lead to a greater "digital divide" with a segment of the population having access to high-quality news, analysts note.

"From a journalist's per-spective, the big game is to be important to the community," said Rick Edmonds, a media business analyst at the Poynter Institute.

Radcliffe said that with more news behind a paywall, "some people might not be able to access important content. There is a risk those audiences don't get access to the range of information and journalism they need to stay informed in the current era." PTI

Free news gets scarcer as media groups tighten paywalls

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Andhra Pradesh government signed a total of 364 memo-randa of understanding with various business establish-ments, including the likes of Reliance Industries Limited, that could result in an invest-ment of Rs 2,18,814 crore and creation of 3,84,662 jobs.

Reliance Industries Lim-ited alone promised to invest Rs 52,000 crore in oil and gas and electronics manufacturing ventures in AP.

These MoUs were signed in the first two days of the ongo-ing three-day Partnership Summit at the Harbour Park here, State Industries Minister N Amarnath Reddy said.

The energy sector netted the highest investment pro-posals worth Rs 1,11,921 crore from 34 MoUs, the minister told reporters this evening.

About 22 MoUs were signed for an investment of Rs 39,281 crore in the indus-

tries, information technology and electronics sectors while 10 MoUs were signed for an investment of Rs 9,406 crore in the aerospace and defence sectors, Amarnath Reddy said.

On the second day of the Summit on Sunday, a total of 285 MoUs were signed that could fetch an investment of Rs 1,74,568 crore and provide employment opportunity to 2,86,371 persons, he added.

On the first day, 79 MoUs were signed to attract an investment of Rs 44,246 crore, including 15 MoUs in auto-motive sector for an invest-ment of Rs 15,224 crore, the minister said. PTI

AP govt inks 364 MoUs for ̀ 2.18 l cr investment

NEW DELHI: Foreign inves-tors have pulled out nearly Rs 10,000 crore ($1.5 billion) from the Indian stock market so far this month primarily due to PNB fraud jitters coupled with global cues.

This is against the total inflow of over Rs 13,780 crore by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in January, latest data with the depositories showed.

Geojit Financial Services Head of Research Vinod Nair said weak domestic cues impacted investors' sentiment.

Besides, renewed concerns that a rebound in global crude oil prices will have an adverse impact on fiscal deficit too kept market participants cautious, he added. State-run PNB on Feb-ruary 14 disclosed a Rs 11,400-crore ($1.77 billion) worth of fraud involving jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi and their group firms. According

to depositories data, FPIs with-drew a net amount of Rs 9,899 crore ($1.5 billion) from equities during February 1-23. However, they put in over Rs 1,500 crore in the debt markets during the

period under review."In January, the US unem-

ployment rate stood at a 17-year low of 4.1 per cent. In addition to this, there is a good possi-bility of an increase in the US

Federal Reserve rate to counter the rise in inflation. Overall, we witnessed a sell-off globally. The FPI pullout from Indian mar-kets is most likely a result of this," Harsh Jain, co-founder and COO of online investment platform Groww, said.

Echoing similar views, Nalini Jindal, chief investment advisor at Intellistocks, said the US inflation is hitting several years low, raising possibility of a hike in the Fed rate, and this has resulted in a caution among FPIs. "The budget announce-ment to tax long-term capital gains and bringing FPIs into local compliance are some of the reasons as FPIs may want to book some profits to enjoy the benefits of grandfathering. This, however, could be a short-term scenario as India is one of the much sought after destina-tions for investments by FPIs," she added. PTI

PNB scam, global cues spur `10,000 cr FPI sell-off in Feb

NEW DELHI: Markets regu-lator Sebi and stock exchanges are looking into possible manipulation in equity and derivatives trade of some pub-lic sector banks (PSBs) in the wake of circulation of a fake letter purportedly for mislead-ing the investors.

The fake notice bearing the regulator's logo and purport-edly addressed to National Stock Exchange (NSE) was cir-culated on various WhatsApp groups and other social media platforms on February 21.

It apparently sought to mislead the market commu-nity in the wake of Rs 11,400-crore PNB scam by suggesting

that Sebi was seeking details of futures and options data of all brokers and investors in vari-ous PSBs shares.

While the purported letter was soon found to be fake, the regulator and the exchanges are looking into trade details of various bank stocks to ascer-tain whether any manipulative activities took place, officials said.

Details would be also sought from telecom and inter-net operators, if required.

A day after the circulation of the letter, NSE clarified that Sebi did not issue any letter and the exchange did not receive any such directive.

Further, the exchange requested trading members to advise their clients to remain cautious on such unsolic-ited letter being circulated by unregistered and unauthorised entities.

"It is clarified by Sebi that no such letter is issued and NSE has not received any such letter from Sebi," the exchange noted.

As per the fake letter, Sebi had asked NSE to furnish futures and options data of all institutions, mutual funds, bro-kers and clients, who are keep-ing their futures position open at the end of the settlement- on February 22 of PSU bank futures contracts. PTI

Sebi, exchanges probe equity and derivatives trade violation of PSBs

NEW DELHI: Private steel maker JSW Steel is close to acquire Italy-based Aferpi steel firm, a for Rs 600 crore, a source in the know of the mat-ter said.

"The deal is almost final-ised. Most probably by the end of March or beginning of April, it will be final," the source said, adding that the deal is worth about Rs 600 crore.

Aferpi makes specialty long products for railways, bars for auto industry parts, earth-moving vehicles, among oth-ers and is the second largest steel maker in Italy.

An email query sent to JSW Steel remained unanswered.

The plan is to cater to the automobile customers of Europe. HR coils will be sent from India and further finished products will be sold to the cus-tomers there.

The company has been for long trying to have a facility in

the European region.JSW Steel had earlier also

tried to acquire Italian prop-erty in 2014 when it was known as Lucchini. But Algerian con-glomerate Cevital acquired Lucchini and renamed it Aferpi. PTI

JSW to acquire Italian Aferpi for ̀ 600 crore

Aferpi is the second largest steel maker in Italy

CMD Sajjan Jindal

BARCELONA (Spain): Clo-sure of Vodafone and Idea's mobile tower sale deal, and raising FDI limit in the Aditya Birla group firm are holding the government's approval to the merger of two operators' to create the largest Indian telecom player, according to sources.

According to a senior offi-cial, the government is await-ing for closure of Vodafone and Idea mobile tower sale trans-action with American Tower Corporation.

"Approval to Idea and Voda-fone will be granted once their mobile tower sale is completed," the senior government official,

who was here to take part in the Mobile World Congress starting on Monday, said.

People closely involved in the Vodafone-Idea merger pro-cess said the transaction clo-sure is a procedural issue, and will be done very soon as ATC has already applied for govern-ment's permission to make the investment in towers assets of the two companies.

"Besides ATC deal closure, Idea has applied for raising FDI limit in the company to 100 per cent. The clearance on the same is awaited from the Ministry of Home Affairs," an industry source said.

ATC will pay a total of Rs 7,850 crore for purchasing Idea (Rs 4,000 crore ) and Vodafone's (Rs 3,850 crore) mobile towers.

When contacted, the Voda-fone global spokesperson said "The standalone tower sale is not a condition to completing the merger with Idea."

The discussion around Idea and Vodafone exiting Indus Towers by selling stake to Bharti Infratel is not part of the pro-cess for government approval for the merger.

The merged Idea-Vodafone entity will have the second larg-est spectrum holding of 1,850 megahertz. PTI

Govt awaits Idea-Voda tower sale closure for green signal to mega merger: Sources

SAN FRANCISCO: Taiwan-based HTC Corporation has confirmed that it has laid off several employees from its US offices and will merge its vir-tual reality (VR) and smart-phone departments, media reports said.

HTC said the company will undergo some reorganisation, merging its smartphone and VR businesses to reduce oper-ation cost, The Verge reported on Friday.

"We have recently brought our smartphone and VR busi-nesses under common leader-ship in each region. On Sunday, we announced a restructure in

North America for the HTC smartphone business that will centralise the reporting struc-ture within the region," HTC said.

"In doing so, there have been some employee reduc-tions to align the businesses and empower the teams to share more resources," it added. IANS

HTC reduces its US staff, merges VR, smartphone biz

mp sport14MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

CAPE TOWN: Skipper Virat Kohli was presented with the prestigious ICC Test Champi-onship Mace as India retained the top spot in the ICC Test Team Rankings.

On behalf of the ICC, the mace was presented by ICC Cricket Hall of Famers Sunil Gavaskar and Graeme Pollock at a ceremony at the Newlands Stadium here after India con-cluded the tour of South Africa by clinching the T20 Interna-tional series 2-1, following a seven-run win in third match last night.

India ensured the number one spot on the ICC Test Team Rankings and a prize of USD 1 million after their victory in the third Test at Johannesburg against South Africa last month. The win ensured that no team can move ahead of India in the Test rankings at the 3 April cut-off date.

India won the prize for a second year running and have now been at the top of the rank-ings since October 2016. They have also been at the top two times before under Kohli – in January-February 2016 and in August 2016.

India’s longest stint at the number-one position was from November 2009 to August 2011, when Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the captain.

The other captains to have received the mace are Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Steve Smith (all Austra-lia), Andrew Strauss (England), Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla (both South Africa) and Mis-bah-ul-Haq (Pakistan).

“It’s truly a great feeling to hold the ICC Test Champion-ship mace again, which is an acknowledgement of our suc-cess in the truest format of the game,” Kohli said.

“We’re proud of the way we have performed in Test matches over the past couple of years and our performances have

reflected in the rankings. The quality of a side is judged in the way players step up when needed, and that is what our boys have done time and again.”

Kohli said it has been chal-lenging to succeed across for-mats and hoped his team will continue to set the bar high in future.

“It is heartening to be at the top of the Test rankings in an era when it’s challenging to do consistently well across formats. But that is something that we have managed fairly well and

something that I’d like my team to continue doing with their hard work and determination,” he said.

“I’d like to thank all play-ers who have been part of our

squads during this period and also the support staff for con-tributing to our success and for helping out in different aspects of the game. I’d also like to thank all our fans for support-

ing us across the globe.”ICC Chief Executive

David Richardson congratu-lated India, saying: “India has been simply outstanding in Test cricket over the last twelve months and I’d like to congrat-ulate Virat and his team for retaining the Mace. They have produced some memorable moments that will go down in Test match history.

“They are certainly deserv-ing of their number one rank-ing doing so much to attract fans around the world to Test

cricket with their entertaining and attacking style of play and great quality of cricket.”

Former India skipper Gavaskar said it was a moment of pride for him and wished the team luck for future assignment.

“It’s really nice to be hand-ing over the ICC Test Champi-onship mace once again to the Indian captain. It’s really a huge achievement to do well contin-uously in Test cricket and Virat should be a really proud man to have led his side to such success in this format,” he said. PTI

INDIA RETAIN ICC TEST MACEICC presents Kohli with Test Champioship mace as India stay firm at summit of Test Rankings

India ensured the number one spot on the ICC Test Team Rankings and a prize of USD 1 million after their victory in the third Test at Johannesburg against South Africa last month.

Suni Gavaskar (left), Graeme Pollock (right) present ICC Test Championship Mace To Virat Kohli (centre) in Cape Town on Saturday

CAPE TOWN: India never backed down in adverse situa-tions and played an aggressive brand of cricket to emerge as deserving winners in the lim-ited over series, said stand-in captain Rohit Sharma.

“We will take these lim-ited-overs trophies, through-out the series we played with a lot of aggression. As a group, we never back down from any situation. That is the reason we are standing here as winners,” Sharma said after India beat South Africa by seven runs to clinch the series 2-1 yesterday.

Sharma also lauded his bowlers for a clinical performance.

“We discussed certain plans and it worked today. The idea was to keep the ball on the stumps and we kept it tight in the first six overs. Credit to the new-ball bowlers. It was a com-plete bowling performance,” he said.

“To be honest, we were 15 runs short. Because the way the first half went, I thought we lost our way in the end. These things happen and we learn from it. I thought it was a decent score and the bowl-ers did the job for us. I hope games like these teach us a lot of things.”

JP Duminy, South Africa’s stand-in captain credited India for dominating the powerplays with both bat and ball.

“They bowled pretty well in the Powerplay, and we just couldn’t get the boundaries. The difference from their bat-ting Powerplay and ours was 30 runs. I definitely thought 170 was chaseable,” he said.

“The slower balls and the knuckle balls from them worked. I am proud of the way the guys fought, especially

Jonker. It is amazing to see a lot of talent coming through. All credit to India, outstand-ing white-ball tour for them.”

Raina, who was adjudged the Man of the Match for scor-ing 43 off 27 balls and tak-ing one wicket for 27 in three overs, credited skipper Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri for showing confidence in him.

“Especially in the first overs, you need to show intent. Thanks to Virat and Ravi bhai, they gave me the licence. The way we played, the dressing room atmosphere is so calm.

“The last we have done in two-and-a-half months, no team has done it in a long time. Two lefties at the crease, I got a ball, and working on it.”

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was awarded the Man of the Series, said IPL helped him to hone his skills in the shorter format. PTI

‘Never backed down from any situation’

CAPE TOWN: Indian bats-man Suresh Raina says he is hoping to continue his strong show in the T20 International series against South Africa in the upcoming tournaments, including the IPL, in his bid to make a comeback into the ODI squad.

Raina hit 43 off 27 balls and took one wicket for 27 runs in three overs in an all-round dis-play to help India beat South Africa by seven runs in the third T20I here on Saturday to clinch the series 2-1.

“This moment (comeback) is very important for me. From here on we will play in Sri Lanka and then IPL. We have a lot of matches coming up.

“I have been part of the World Cup before and I have won the World Cup before in 2011. It was my first World Cup and we won the trophy. That was an unbelievable feeling,” he said.

“Coming back to ODIs, I have done well at No. 5. It is just a matter of couple more games and I think I can show

that I can definitely come back in the ODIs too soon,” said Raina who was adjudged man of the match.

Raina last played in an ODI

in October 2015 against South Africa in Mumbai. Before this T20I series, Raina’s last appear-ance in the shortest format in India colours was in February

last year.“I worked really hard for

last two years. Each and every session I was doing in the gym or on the field, I was just hop-ing when am I going to play for India again. I have worked really hard on my game as well as my fitness and my mental toughness. When team India wins everything looks so nice,” he said.

The 31-year-old left handed batsman said the Indian team was a confident bunch of play-ers, which was reflected by the results.

“The way we played in Tests and ODIs, it showed what we can achieve as a team in South Africa. No team has ever done it before. That confidence in the dressing room gave us license to enjoy ourselves on the ground and express our-selves. That’s why we won this game. We bowled beautifully in the first six overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya did well. T20 cricket is all about how you put your attitude on the field and that’s

all we showed today,” he said.He said he has benefitted

immensely from the promo-tion to No 3, especially with Virat Kohli himself moving down to No 4. The skipper was absent from this final match owing to a stiff back.

“The way Virat led the team in last two and a half months, he showed he cares about each and every person. Batting at No 3, he has done brilliantly in T20 cricket but he gave me that license to go after the bowlers and attack. He showed the faith in me.”

Raina said it’s imperative to make the first six overs count whether batting or bowling.

“Today, I was enjoying bat-ting with Shikhar Dhawan. He made me more comfortable at the other end. I just looked to enjoy myself and express my shots. That’s what we have done in the first six overs (through-out the series). I think T20 is all about six overs. You can put a lot of bowlers back easily if you have wickets in hand and you can execute later,” he said. PTI

Raina hoping to make ODI comebackDUBAI: India opener Shikhar Dhawan and fast bowler Bhu-vneshwar Kumar on Sunday made significant gains in the latest ICC T20I Player Rank-ings, riding on their superla-tive performances in a 2-1 T20 International series win over South Africa.

Dhawan, who scored 143 runs to emerge as the top run-getter in the three-game T20I series, jumped 14 places to grab a career-best 28th spot, while Man of the series Kumar, who took seven wickets, improved 20 places to reach the 12th spot in the Player Rankings.

In the ICC T20I Team Rank-ings, India have gained one point and South Africa have lost one point after their closely-fought series and retain their third and seventh positions, respectively. Pakistan are on the top of the table at 126 points but only fractionally ahead of Australia. South Africa captain Jean-Paul Duminy, who scored 122 runs in the series, also

jumped four places to be at the 24th spot in the batting rank-ing. Among others, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has moved up to take top position among bowlers with some fine performances in a 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe.

Rashid, who last week became the youngest male cricketer to be top-ranked in the ICC rankings when he rose up to joint-first in ODIs, has moved up after taking five wickets in the two-match series in Sharjah to complete the double.

The 19-year-old Rashid’s

movement was not the only one at the top as New Zealand opener Colin Munro and Aus-tralia’s Glenn Maxwell became the top-ranked batsman and all-rounder, respectively.

The latest update includes performances in the Trans-Transman series in New Zea-land that also featured Australia and England, a three-match series in South Africa that India won 2-1, and Sri Lanka’s 2-0 win over hosts Bangladesh. Left-handed Munro has gained three slots after scoring 176 runs in the Trans-Transman series, which came with the help of two fifties and at a strike-rate of almost 210. Maxwell regained the top slot for all-rounders scoring 233 runs and grabbing three wickets in the tournament.

In the list of batsmen, New Zealand opener Martin Guptill (up six places to fifth) has made significant move after scor-ing 258 runs while England’s Dawid Malan is up 127 places to a career-best 22nd. PTI

Bhuvneswar, Dhawan make significant move in rankings

HAMILTON: A century by Ross Taylor and lusty late hitting by Mitch Santner delivered a last-over victory to New Zealand over England in their first one-day international in Hamilton on Sunday.

In a match filled with twists and turns, the outcome hung in the balance until Santer smacked a six in the final over to get New Zealand home with four balls to spare.

Domination fluctuated throughout the match but when Ben Stokes celebrated his return to international cricket with the crucial wicket of Tom Latham, it appeared to put Eng-land in charge.

However, Santner’s 45 off 27 balls swung the game back in New Zealand’s favour as they chased down England’s 284 for eight.

New Zealand were in immediate trouble at the start of their run chase as they fell to three for 27 in the 10th over.

Taylor, with his 18th cen-tury, and Latham clawed the

home side back into the game with a 178-run stand for the fourth wicket before Stokes stepped up to remove Latham for 79 and New Zealand were 205 for four in the 40th over.

Latham’s dismissal sparked a middle-order collapse with Henry Nicholls out for a duck and Colin de Grandhomme gone for two as three wickets fell for 10 runs.

As he started to run out of

partners, Taylor tried to up the pace to get New Zealand home but with 25 balls remaining and New Zealand needing a fur-ther 45 runs, he was stumped on 113.

But if England had a whiff of victory, Santner had other ideas with a rapid two fours and four sixes to get New Zea-land home.

Stokes, returning for his first international since a night-club incident five months ago, had an undistinguished turn at bat after New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl.

The all-rounder lasted 22 balls and was gone for 12 while the foundation of the England innings was laid by Root, with 71 off 75 deliveries and But-tler who belted 79 off 65 before he was run out off the penulti-mate ball.

England were looking at a score of more than 300 until tight New Zealand bowling restricted them to just 31 runs between the 42nd and 48th overs. AFP

Taylor, Santner heroics earn Blackcaps win

Hafeez wants ICC to retain ‘doosra’

DUBAI: Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez says the International Cricket Council (ICC) should tweak its rules to ensure the ‘doosra’ remains part of the sport.

“Really happy to see leg spinners come into interna-tional cricket. But I still believe something should happen when it comes to the doosra,” Hafeez said on the sidelines of the Pakistan Super League.

“Saeed Ajmal has given us a lot of excitement as well as Saqlain Mushtaq. It is one area ICC must look into. Some extension in the rules... doosra should be a part of cricket, not taken away from it,” he added.

Hafeez, a top order batsman and a handy off-spinner, has been reported for more than once in the past for his suspect bowling action and currently he cannot bowl in ICC events.

Hafeez said he is not sur-prised by the rise of leg-spin-ners in world cricket and feels it’s a great option to get wickets.

“This is one area that every team looks forward to. Hav-ing leg spinners in the team provides them with lots of excitement and options to get wickets,” Hafeez said.

“Leg-spinners are always fascinating when it comes to cricket, starting from Abdul Qadir when he used to bowl his googlys it was a new thing in cricket and everyone just loved that. Then the legacy continued with Kumble from India and Warne from Australia.” PTI

Quetta beat Lahore by 9 wkts in PSL

DUBAI: Quetta Gladiators pro-duced a clinical show to crush Lahore Qalandars by nine wickets in the second match of Pakistan Super League here.Put into bat, Lahore could only post 119/9 after a dazzling start and Quetta easily chased down the target in 14 overs for the loss of just one wicket at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. DSport is broadcasting the PSL action in India.Brendon McCullum and Sunil Narine gave a superb start to Lahore who were 45 for no loss after three overs. Narine blasted 24 runs in an over of Shane Watson that had three fours and two sixes.In the next three overs of Pow-erplay, Lahore’s innings, how-ever, took a dramatic turn with pacers Rahat Ali and Jofra Archer combining with spinner Mohammad Nawaz to share three wickets and reduce them to 61/3 in six overs.Rahat ended Narine’s knock of 28 while Archer accounted for Fakhar Zaman (1). PTI

new delhi: Skipper Virat Kohli along with senior most player Mahendra Singh Dhoni were prominent among the host of players rested for the T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka, starting March 6.

Rohit Sharma will lead a second string team compris-ing the leading performers in domestic (Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 and IPL) tournaments. Shikhar Dhawan will be his deputy in a side that has as many as six changes.

“MS Dhoni was not avail-able for selection as he had requested for rest,” national selector MSK Prasad was quoted as saying in a press release.

On predicted lines, top fast bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested along with all-rounder Hardik Pandya after they shared enormous work-load on the South Africa tour.

“We’ve kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalizing the team for Nidahas Trophy. The high-performance team has

suggested that adequate rest should be given to our fast bowlers to help improve ath-letic performance, maximize rest and prevent injury,” Prasad added.

Chinaman bowler Kul-deep Yadav is also not in the Sri Lanka bound team. A close look will indicate that selec-tors maintained consistency by selecting all those players, who were part of the home T20s against Sri Lanka in Decem-ber. Coming back in the team are prolific keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, after a solid season in white-ball cricket including centuries in both national T20s and One-dayers.

Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj and Deepak Hooda are back in the side.

SQUAD: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sun-dar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Md Siraj, Rishabh Pant (wk). PTI

Kohli, Dhoni rested for SL T20 tri-series

mp sport 15MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

GOVERNMENT OF MAHARASHTRA PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION, BHOKAR

Phone No.02467-202210 E-TENDER NOTICE No.55 FOR 2017-18

(3rd call) Online E-Tenders In B-1 Form from the Contractors registeres with

Public Works Department of Governament of Maharashtra for the under-mentioned works is hereby invited by the Executive Engineer, Public Works Division, Bhokar. The online Tender papers may be downloaded from the website https://pwd.maharashtra.etenders.in. Power to accept or reject any/ all tenders is reserved with Executive Engineer, Public Works Division, Bho-kar. Conditional tenders will not be accepted. Sr. No.

Name of Works Estimated cost in Lacs of Rupees

1 STBT to Kothari Pimpari Bhandarwadi Rith TandaSastrkund MDR-8 Km.0/0 to 34/00 Tq. Kinwat Dist. Nanded (3rd call)

79.36

Period of Downloding Tender 26/02/2018 to 05/03/2018 Bid Opening Date & Time 12/03/2018

1 The authority to reject any or all tenders is Reserved with under signed.2 The detailed tender notice can be seenonthe Notice Board in the office

of the Executive Engineer, Public Works Division, Bhokar Dist. Nanded. 3 Visit our web site www.mahapwd.com in Govt.

Outword No./AB/Tender/1167/2018 in the Office of Executive Engineer P.W.Division, Bhokar Date: 22/02/2018 Executive Engineer

P. W. Division, Bhokar Dist. Nanded

CAPE TOWN: Indian team’s baptism by fire during the tour of South Africa augurs well for the tougher assignments against England and Australia later this year, feels pace spear-head Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

After starting the tour with a narrow 1-2 loss in the Tests, India ended the bilateral series on a high after notching up a thrilling seven run win in the third T20 International yes-terday for a 2-1 result. The visitors had also recorded a dominating 5-1 win series win in the one-dayers.

“We don’t want to be too greedy and we are happy with these two trophies. Hopefully next time we will win all the three trophies,” said Kumar, who was awarded the Man of the Series.

“This tour has been bril-liant, particularly talking about Test series. Yes we lost two matches, but they were very close. We could have also lost 3-0 or won 2-1 instead. But it gives us confidence in whatever way we have played, and we are ready to go to Eng-land and Australia, and do bet-ter there,” he added.

Kumar said variations and timing were key to his success in T20 cricket.

“T20 cricket is all about using variations and timing has to be perfect. Whatever knuckle ball I have bowled, I wanted batsmen to go after that. That way you can get wickets and that’s one of the main reasons why I have been successful in power plays,” he said.

Pointing out the difference in the formats, Kumar said one has to be proactive in the shorter formats of the game.

“T20 is such a format that finishes quickly, and you only have four overs. If there are

three bad balls in one over you will go for runs and your whole analysis suffers. The team is on back foot because of three balls. So each and every ball becomes very important. It makes the bowler think. Every ball has to be proper and you have to execute the plan properly,” said Kumar.

“In Test matches you don’t have to do something different as compared to ODIs or T20 cricket. It’s not much variation but its about line and length. When you come to one-day cricket you look for yorkers and slower ones. It is never

easy to switch between for-mats but it is all about practice and preparation. You need 2-3 overs to adjust when you play but when it comes to T20s, you have to be proactive and

you cannot react after what the batsman does,” he added.

India’s strength in this T20 series has been powerplays. They have looked to domi-nate with both bat and ball, particularly in the last game as Kumar bowled a tight first spell to leave South Africa at 25/1 in six overs at Newlands yesterday.

However, Kumar said the key to India’s success was in bowling well throughout the innings.

“Power plays are very important in both formats, but you cannot win matches

based on power plays alone. If any team is down 4-5 wickets in the power plays but you still end up giving too many runs in the end, then you cannot win,” he said.

“Power play is an impor-tant factor to win matches but you have to contain the runs in middle overs and you have to do brilliantly in the death overs,” added Kumar, who played an instrumental role as India beat South Africa by 7 runs to win the three-match T20I series 2-1.

Throughout the tour, Kumar has been the stand-

out bowler for India but pacer didn’t take any credit and attributed his success to the entire bowling unit.

“When bowling, I don’t think I am the leader. Instead whenever anyone is bowling in this team, he thinks he is the leader. Then only we can win matches. Individually you need to have a brilliant day to take 10 wickets on your own. Mostly you can take only 4-5 wickets. So it’s about partner-ships and hunting in the pack. That’s what cricket is about whether batting or bowling,” said Kumar.

When asked about his omission from the second Test, Kumar brushed it off in jest, instead choosing to revel in the present moment.

“I don’t know about that (not playing in second Test at Centurion). I don’t want to go back to the Tests, or why I didn’t play. It’s all about team effort. If you talk about that match, there were bowlers who could bowl brilliantly in those conditions,” he added.

Talking about bowling to new faces in the South African team, Kumar said, “Heinrich Klaasen is an amazing player given the way he batted in the last two matches and in the ODIs also. They are very good players. When you play against new players, you don’t know what their strengths are, espe-cially Christiaan Jonker, we didn’t know what he does. It is never easy to play first match against any player. They are new players but I think we bowled well to get them out.”

Indian bowlers picked all 60 wickets on tough surfaces during their narrow 1-2 loss in Tests and Kumar hoped they can dominate the longer for-mat of the game when they tour South Africa next. PTI

‘Equiqqed for overseas test’Bhuvneswar feels Team India ready to go to England and Australia later this year

CAPE TOWN: South Africa coach Ottis Gibson said India’s experience in the bowling department was the main dif-ference between the two sides as Virat Kohli’s men clinched the T20 International series 2-1 with a thrilling seven-run victory in the third and final game here.

“Experience (is the big difference),”said Gibson after India restricted South Africa to 165 for six while chasing a tar-get of 172 for seven last night.

“India have got (Jasprit) Bumrah and (Bhuvneshwar) Kumar, two very experienced players. We have got Chris Morris and Junior Dala, who made his debut. The experi-ence they have of playing not just for India but also playing 3 or 4 years of IPL cricket has shown in the end.”

Talking about his bowlers, Gibson said: “While Junior held his own, Morris has a lot of work to do. He is a match win-ner for us but he needs more consistency in his bowling.

“He is short of that. He just needs to figure out what type of bowler he is and what he wants

to become. This is the conversa-tion I had with him. He will go back to playing some domestic cricket before playing the IPL.”

The Proteas were hampered by the absence of senior play-ers such as AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis due to injuries. South Africa were forced to bring in fresh faces and Gibson was impressed with the likes of Dala, Heinrich Klaasen and Christiaan Jonker.

“We have seen exciting new players in the ODIs. Lungi Ngidi made a debut, Klassen too and he has been excellent. Dala in this T20 series was also very good, and we saw a lit-tle bit of Jonker. He was good too,” Gibson said. “Losing is not always very easy but when you are missing so many senior players, and you have new play-ers coming in, the result can be hard to take. You look at the future then, and looking at them, it seems the future will be bright.”

Gibson said the youngsters struggled to adapt to the stan-dards of international cricket following injuries to senior players. PTI

India’s experience in bowling was the difference: Gibson

Bhuvneswar Kumar (centre) with teammates Virat Kohli (left) & Ajinkya Rahane in a file photo

MADRID: Luis Suarez hit a hat-trick and Philippe Coutinho scored a brilliant first league goal for Barce-lona as the La Liga leaders thrashed Girona 6-1 to open up a 10-point lead at the top of the table.

Lionel Messi continued his return to goalscoring form with a double to reach 30 in all competitions for the sea-son, as Barca extended their advantage over closest title rivals Atletico Madrid, who visit Sevilla on Sunday.

Real Madrid remain off the pace in third, despite a comfortable 4-0 victory over Alaves that saw Cristiano Ron-aldo net a double and Gareth Bale back on the scoresheet.

It was the perfect outing

for Barcelona after ninth-placed Girona had taken a shock early lead on their first-ever visit to the Camp Nou, as Coutinho, Suarez, Messi and Ousmane Dembele shone on their first start together. Portu

took advantage of hesitation from Barca centre-back Sam-uel Umtiti to round goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and slot into an empty net to put Girona ahead in La Liga’s new-est Catalan derby.

The hosts took less than two minutes to get back on level terms, though, as Messi collected the ball in midfield before sending Suarez through to score.

Messi’s wizardry put Ernesto Valverde’s side in front on the half-hour mark, after Suarez touched down a long pass from Andres Iniesta for the Argentinian.

It looked as though the chance had gone when Messi was forced wide, but the league’s top scorer showed trademark footwork to jink past several defenders before slotting into the bottom corner.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was running the show, and he doubled the advantage

just seven minutes later with a low free-kick under the wall.

“It always seems that he has done everything and then sud-denly, he surprises us again, as with his free kick. It sounds easy but it is not,” said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.

Having gone five games without a goal before his cru-cial equaliser in the 1-1 draw at Chelsea in the Champions League in midweek, Messi has scored three in two games.

Barcelona’s fourth goal came on the stroke of half-time with Girona’s defenders left begging for the interval after Messi’s perfectly-weighted pass found Coutinho to square for Suarez to tap in.

The Catalan giants eased offin the second half. AFP

Suarez hat-trick extends Barca’s La Liga leadPYEONGCHANG: Winter Olympics legend Marit Bjo-ergen lifted Norway top of the final Pyeongchang med-als table on Sunday, as Russia celebrated a dramatic men’s hockey gold -- but also saw their flag barred from the clos-ing ceremony over doping.

Bjoergen, 37, won her sec-ond gold and fifth medal at Pyeongchang in the women’s 30km cross country mass start, extending her record Winter Olympics career tally to 15.

It was a fitting finale as it handed Norway their 14th

gold to overtake Germany in the final medal count, after the German team won the four-man bobsleigh earlier on Sunday.

Germany also finish on 14 golds, but Norway take top spot with their record 39

medals overall to Germany’s 31. Canada are third with 11 golds, while hosts South Korea are seventh.

Norway’s celebrations capped a dramatic final day of competition that saw the Olympics Athletes from Rus-sia beat Germany 4-3 in a sud-den-death, overtime hockey thriller.

Kirill Kaprizov scored a thumping power-play goal 9:40 into the extra period to trigger wild celebrations and end a 26-year wait for the title to return to Russian hands.AFP

Norway finish on top as Russian flag barred in Winter Olympics

Lukaku inspires Man Utd fightback to beat Chelsea

MANCHESTER: Romelu Lukaku broke his barren run against top six Premier League opposition and provided the winner for Jesse Lingard as Manchester United came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford.

Victory against his former club was particularly sweet for Jose Mourinho as he got one over on Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, but more importantly moves United back above Liverpool into second place in the Premier League.

Defeat allied to  Tottenham Hotspur’s late win earlier in the day at Crystal Palace sees Chelsea slip to fifth.

The visitors enjoyed the better of the first period but failed to build on Willian’s 32nd minute opener.

Lukaku levelled seven minutes later from close range and then crossed for substitute Lingard to head home as a ruthless United took full advantage of their limited chances.

The spectre of another fiery clash between Mourinho and Conte, who have publicly bickered in recent months, hogged the headlines before kick-off, but there was a peace offering when the pair shook hands before the action got underway.

Mourinho recalled Paul Pogba to his starting XI after dropping the £89 million (100 million euros, $124 million) midfielder for Wednesday’s stalemate at Sevilla in the Champi-ons League.

But it was one of Conte’s two changes from his side’s 1-1 draw

with Barcelona in midweek who nearly made an immediate impact.

Alvaro Morata started for the first time in six weeks, but saw his side-footed volley from  Marcos Alonso’s driven cross come back off the bar just four minutes in.

Chelsea dominated possession in the opening quarter, but much like they did to Barcelona on Tues-day with limited time on the ball, United restricted them to few other clear-cut chances.

United had offered little going forward themselves until Anthony Martial’s low cross picked out Alexis Sanchez inside the area.

However, the Chilean is still waiting for his first big moment since joining United last month as he poked the ball tamely into the arms of Thibaut Courtois.

Moments later, the hosts were caught by a blistering Chelsea coun-

ter-attack to open the scoring.Willian picked up the ball just

outside his own area and drove through the United midfield before exchanging passes with Eden Hazard.

The Brazilian then unleashed a shot too powerful even for David de Gea to register his fourth goal in three games.

The lead lasted just seven min-utes, though, as for the first time in a United shirt, Lukaku netted against one of their top six rivals -- at the seventh time of asking.

Sanchez fed Martial and his clever reverse pass was slotted home by Lukaku to muted celebrations against his former club. Lukaku nearly had a spectacular second 22 minutes from time when he flush with an acrobatic volley, only to be denied by a finger tip save from Courtois. AFP

This tour has been brilliant, particularly talking about Test series. Yes we lost two matches, but they were very close,

Bhuvneswar Kumar

16MILLENNIUM POST | New Delhi | Monday, 26 February, 2018

mp Entertainment

Tribute to the diva

I have not achieved anything... There’s a long way to go. I feel my career has just started. Haan... let me tell you that,” said Sridevi,

laughing.“I feel like a newcomer. I feel that

my career is going to start now. It’s not finished, It’s going to start now,” she asserted, dismissing any desire to treat her fans to an autobiogra-phy replete with stories from her glo-rious life – starting as a child actor at four to superstardom in India. Born in Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu on August 13, 1963, Sridevi began her career at the age of four in the devo-tional film Thunaivan.

That marked the beginning of a journey in filmdom that saw her work across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malay-alam and Hindi productions, leading her to become one of the most formi-dable actresses of the 1980s and 1990s in Bollywood – in fact, the only female “superstar” the indus-try has seen. 

As filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma put it, “She was like a cre-ation of God which he does when-ever he is in a very special mood as a very, very special gift to mankind.” Sridevi grew up to be known for not just her ability for slip into myriad roles – whether the double role in Chaal-Baaz, as a woman with retrograde amnesia in Sadma, a shape-shifting woman in Nagina, a goofy crime jour-nalist in Mr. India, the warm mother act in English Vinglish or the fierce and revengeful mom in Mom – but also for her expressive eyes, sheer comic timing and her fluid dancing skills, all of which made her a director’s delight.

‘Hawaa hawai’, ‘Main teri dush-man’, ‘Morni’, ‘Na jaane kahan se aayi ha’”, ‘Mere haathon mein’ are some of the iconic and classic dance numbers which gave cinema fans a chance to see the dancing talent of Sridevi.

As filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who directed her in Karma, said:

“Introvert by nature,

she was electricity with thunder in front of the camera. She would shock direc-tors with each shot – be it dance, drama or romance. She was uncrowned queen of acting in all languages in her time.”

In 2013, the government feted her with the Padma Shri, the coun-try’s fourth-highest civilian award. Her work was widely lauded with a slew of other richly-deserved honours. Sridevi, who over the years became quite a fashion icon – sometimes giving tough competition to her daughters –commanded popularity like few others.

Co-producer K. Ramji of Tina Films International, said: “In 1986, while shooting for Sindoor, the her-oine Neelam Kothari was stay-ing in the same hotel as Sridevi. Neelam was a great fan and wanted to meet her, but was appre-hensive about

approaching an established star like Sridevi.

“Finally, when she took courage and entered her room, Sridevi got up to receive and welcome her, commented on Neelam’s lustrous hair and they became instant friends.” In real life, she was indeed a “purely traditional housewife – a great mother and per-fect host for guests at home”, says Ghai.

A mother of two daughters, Janhvi and Khushi, whom she had with hus-band Boney Kapoor, Sridevi was as dot-ing as a mom could get.

She was excited for Janhvi’s upcom-ing debut Dhadak, just months away from its release. And to cite the unpre-dictability of life, who knew Sridevi wouldn’t be there to see her daughter take baby steps into a world where she

was the uncrowned queen for so many years. IANS

SRIDEVI: 50 YEARSOF LIVING THE CINEMATIC DREAM

Sheer comic timing, fluid dancing skills and ability to slip into myriad roles made Sridevi first female “superstar” of the industry

Hansal Mehta was planning to approach Sridevi for his proj-ect. The filmmaker is saddened by the sudden demise of the veteran actress, and has now decided to dedicate the project to her. Mehta took to Twitter to share his grief.“There will never be another Sridevi. I was about to approach her for a film. That film will now be dedicated to

RAJINIKANTH

I’m shocked and very disturbed. I’ve lost a dear

friend and the industry has lost a true legend. My heart

goes out to her family and friends. I feel the pain with them #RIPSridevi... you will be missed.

Actor

KAMAL HAASAN

Have witnessed Sridevi’s life from an adolescent

teenager to the magnificent lady she became. Her

stardom was well deserved. Many happy moments with her flash through my mind.

Actor

MADHURI DIXIT

Just woke up to the terrible news of Sridevi

passing. My heart goes out to her family. The world has

lost a very talented person who left behind a huge legacy in film. #RIPSridevi

Actor

AKSHAY KUMAR

Shocked beyond words to hear about the sad

and untimely demise of #Sridevi. A dream for

many, had the good fortune of sharing screen space with her long ago.

Actor

NEW YORK: Actor Jennifer Law-rence is working on a series project inspired by #MeToo, Time’s Up and gender wage gap conversations in Hollywood.

While promoting her film Red Sparrow here, Lawrence said that she has partnered with former E! News anchor Sadler for a series project, reports hollywoodreporter.com.  “I’m going to be EPing a show with Catt Sadler,” she said. When asked to elaborate, she declined fur-ther comment, saying: “I wasn’t sup-posed to announce that but I am.”

According to a source, Lawrence and Sadler are developing a series inspired by #MeToo, Time’s Up and gender wage gap conversations in Hollywood.  The source added that the pair are looking to take a deep dive into issues facing women today and have brought Stepha-nie Soechtig into the mix to direct, reports hollywoodreporter.com. 

Soechtig is a documentary direc-tor known for exploring America’s gun violence epidemic and its prob-lem with obesity. The team is look-ing to fast track the docuseries once they secure a distributor. Earlier during an award show, Lawrence signaled that she had more work to do. “It’s not easy to speak out. and-face criticism on a global scale. But the fact is I have been given a plat-form, and if I don’t use it, then I don’t deserve it.” IANS

LOS ANGELES: Actor Maisie Williams has revealed that the makers are not filming multiple endings for the final season of ‘Game Of Thrones’.

Williams, who plays Arya Stark on the series ever since its first season, broached the topic of multiple endings being filmed for season eight to combat spoilers during an appearance on ‘Jimmy Kim-mel Live!’.

“Well I heard this, and I immediately thought, ‘I don t think we’ve got the budget to shoot lots of different endings’,” she said. When Kimmel reminded Williams that HBO President Casey Bloys was the one to put out the claims of multi-ple endings, she said, “But as we know, sometimes presidents don t always tell the truth.”  ‘Game of Thrones’ will return for its final season in 2019. PTI

NEW DELHI: Shah Rukh Khan, who is touted as one of the biggest superstars of the Hindi film indus-try, says he is done with the tag and now wants to be a legend.

Shah Rukh was here at the fourth edition of Global Business Summit to speak on ‘Bollywood’s Digital push: What it means for the stakeholders’.

“I am 26 years old in the film industry which is half my lifetime really. From here on I am going to spend time in the world of cinema than the outside of it... I realised I should do away with the tag of being a superstar instead I should work towards tag of being a legend,” he said.  He added: “No megastar... as egoistic and self-centred like me will fade away into the past with-out trying to wedge his or her foot into the door to the future. So even I want to put myself into the future of cinema like I have been in the past 25 years.”

The actor, 52, who has been in the Hindi film industry for over two decades, stressed that he really wants to be a legend.  “I really want to be a legend. Unfor-tunately, there are no articles or books on how to be a legend. So, I rummage through my personal library... I found a book on the his-tory of human kind called ‘Sapi-ens’ and going through the book I found that the only reason homo sapiens have dominated the rest of the species is because of one thing – because we gossip.”

The actor said that the spread-ing of ideas is a way of story telling.

“Genuinely, story-telling has anchored communication between human beings. Even entertainment is actually a derivative of story-tell-ing. Whether you music, art or poetry all of these things are a form of story-telling,” he added.

The modern art of story telling is of course filmmaking, he said. IANS

I really want to be a legend: SRK

NEW DELHI: Writer-lyr-icist Manoj Muntashir says dialogue writers in India have not been able to get as much recognition and lime-light as the famous screen-writing duo of Salim-Javed.

“Dialogue writers after Salim-Javed duo, have been in a sad state of affairs, that nobody has actually been given that kind of recogni-tion and nobody has been put on the forefront. But that could have the rea-son that dialogue writers maybe like to stay in the backdrop and not the lime-light.” The writer said that “every living being has a super power” that needs to be recognised.  “Every exist-ing living being has a super power, but we have to find out our strengths in us, our-selves and hone it. My super power is ‘words’. IANS

‘Dialogue writers not given much

recognition’

‘Game Of Thrones’ won’t film multiple endings: Maisie Williams

LAWRENCE WORKING on docuseries on #MeToo movement

her. If it finds an actor,” he posted.