ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ...

16
T he Centre Government’s own stationery provider has a utility value of just 3 crore while it takes almost 22 crore annually to sustain that organisation. The Government of India Stationery Office (GISO) pro- cures and supplies stationery, worth just 3 crore, for official use. But, the Government spends a whopping over 22 crore every year simply to ensure the 167-year-old organ- isation continues to function. “The Government of India Stationery Office (GISO), a sub- ordinate office under the Minister of Urban Development, was established in 1850. As of now, the Government is spend- ing almost 22 crore on GISO but purchases only about 3 crore worth of stationery from it for use in offices every year,” said an official. The peculiar situation has been in prevalence for the last 12 years and it arose due to the amendments in the General Financial Rules in 2005 that empowered Minis- tries/Departments to procure stationery directly from agen- cies other than GISO making it almost redundant. According to sources, the Urban Development Ministry has now taken note of it and directed the GISO to make a presentation about the money it needs to run the unit and the businesses and services they do in monetary terms. The Kolkata-headquar- tered GISO has offices in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai and is responsible for transparent pro- curement of stationery and paper-made articles at eco- nomical costs and supply to the Government officers for their use. Soon after the GFR amendments, in 2005-2006, the expenses on the organisa- tion were 9.28 crore while the stationery supplied by GISO stood at a mere 1.63 crore. The data accessed by The Pioneer reveals the trend con- tinued in the years thereafter. In 2006-2007, the expenses incurred were 9.46 crore against a supply of stationery worth 1.37 crore. In 2007- 2008, it was 9.87 crore against just 0.75 crore. In 2008-2009, the expenses on organisation increased to 14.58 crore, and the supply was worth 1.43 crore. Then again, the GISO spent 18.44 crore on its office and manpower while supplying stationery of 4.41 crore in 2009-2010. In 2010-2011, the unit did good business of 5.52 crore but spent on itself 18.15 crore. In the subsequent fiscal, the expens- es were 17.76 crore against a supply of 4.06 crore. In 2012- 2013, the GISO’s expenses fur- ther rose to 18.98 crore even as its supplies fell drastically stand- ing at just 2.46 crore. The upward spending con- tinued in 2013-2014 and 2014- 15 as well – 20.09 crore and 21.17 crore respectively. The figures for actual supplies stood at 2.12 crore and 3.35 crore during the corresponding peri- od. Last fiscal, (2015-2016), the expenses increased to 21.19 crore while the supplies stood at 5.98 core. Officials said after the amendment in Rule 140 of the GFR — a compendium of gen- eral provisions followed by all Government offices while deal- ing with matters of a financial nature — the GISO witnessed sharp decline in its business. “The role of GISO reduced. Full powers for procurement of goods were delegated to the Ministries or departments. This led to reduction in supply of stationery, reduction in staff strength, and reduction in bud- getary allocation,” said the offi- cials, adding prior to 2005, the GISO was running in losses but was not in such dismal state. Also, the GISO saw its staff strength getting reduced by half, from 1214 to 622 in 2010. Now it has been further reduced from 399 across the country in 2016. But after the Seventh Pay Commission, the expenses on the running GISO almost doubled in 2016-2017. A n online campaign by a Delhi University student saying “I am not afraid of ABVP” has snowballed into a full-scale war of words between political opponents and trig- gered heated debates in the social media as top Ministers and senior BJP leaders accused the Opposition of inciting vio- lence on campuses and the Congress hit back against an attempt to “curb freedom of speech.” With tension mounting, Home Minister Rajnath Singh who is in Varanasi, said his Ministry was keeping a watch on the situation. He also ordered the Delhi Police to act with caution over the Ramjas College issue and ensure the sit- uation remained under control. The social media campaign of Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of Captain Mandeep Singh who died in the Kargil War, on the violence at Ramjas College has gone viral and also become a source of major tension between campuses and stu- dents groups. Ramjas witnessed wide- spread violence last week after the ABVP objected to a semi- nar because of an invitation extended to JNU students Umar Khalid and Shehla Rashid, who were involved in a controversy related to alleged anti-national and pro-Kashmir Azaadi slogans last year. The BJP and the Congress have locked horns on the issue of “intolerance” and “freedom of speech.” Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu slammed the Opposition for inciting violence on campuses and accused it of subversion, while Rahul Gandhi showed support to Kaur prais- ing her valour for raising her voice against intolerance. “Against the tyranny of fear we stand with our students. For every voice raised in anger, intolerance and ignorance there will be a Gurmehar Kaur,” Rahul’s office tweeted. “You cannot hurt others’ religious feelings. You cannot question the nation’s unity and integrity. You cannot advocate separatism. Dissent, having a different opinion apart from the majority opinion is agreeable but not disintegration. Nobody can advocate disintegration. What is azaadi? What is azaa- di of Kashmir?” Naidu retort- ed. “Congress subverted peo- ple’s rights and now they accuse us saying there’s no freedom of expression. Freedom of expres- sion is guaranteed under the Constitution of India, but it can’t be used to create social tensions or hurt the sentiments of people,” said Naidu. “You want to make univer- sities laboratories for separatist experiments? There is a sys- tematic effort going on — you want to have anniversary for Afzal Guru, who was responsi- ble (for) and spearheaded the attack on Parliament, the tem- ple of democracy. And then you appeal to others that freedom of expression is affected,” he said. Asked about ABVP’s involvement in the protests, Naidu said, “ABVP is a nation- alist organisation. Other organ- isations have different views let them express it. Why should outsiders go and disturb peace of campuses? You have such freedom in this country that you can call the PM by name. You compare him with a don- key.” Union Minister Kiren Rijiju tweeted that freedom of expres- sion is not a licence to shout anti-national slogans on cam- puses. “Criticise the Government but don’t abuse the motherland,” he wrote on Twitter. Kaur had last year made a video asking India and Pakistan to amicably settle their disputes. She held a placard saying, “Pakistan did not kill my dad, war killed him.” Asking who is “polluting” her mind, Rijiju said, “India never attacked anyone, but a weak India was always invaded”. Talking to newspersons, he said, “One should not say things which could demoralise the countrymen and the security forces. Everybody has freedom but that does not mean that you raise slogans to weaken the country.” S tudents’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) chief Safdar Hussain Nagori and 10 other activists of the banned group were on Monday awarded life imprisonment in a 2008 sedi- tion case for the Ahmedabad blasts. Special Additional Sessions Judge BK Paloda pronounced all the 11 SIMI activists guilty under IPC Sections 124(A) (sedition) and 153 (A)(pro- moting enmity between differ- ent groups on grounds of reli- gion) and also under the rele- vant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. On a plea of 10 of the accused lodged in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Central Jail, they were informed about the court’s judgement through video-con- ferencing. Besides 45-year-old Nagori, the others convicted are Hafiz Hussain (35), Aamil Parvaz (40), Shivli (38), Qamruddin (42), Shahduli (32), Qamran (40), Ansar (35), Ahmed Baig (32), Yasin (35) and Munroz (40). Nagori, Parvaz, Qamruddin, Qamran, Shivli, Ahmed Baig and Hussain were also convicted under IPC section 122 (col- lecting arms with intention of waging war against the Government of India). In its 84-page judgement, the court observed, “It appears from the activities of the con- vict that they don’t have faith in the lawfully and constitution- ally established Government of India. “Their acts are against national unity and integrity of the country. They are involved in illegal activities by foment- ing religious hatred with an aim to create serious danger for the entire humanity.” The prosecution has pro- duced 27 witnesses as evi- dence to prove crime against the SIMI activists. Appealing to the court to award maximum sentence to them, the prosecution argued that the banned SIMI activists have deliberately involved in acts against the government and have spread hatred on the basis of religion. To fulfill their aims, they have distributed objectionable material, col- lected arms and explosives and imparted terror-training to the youths and also incited them against the country, the pros- ecution informed the court. It also stated that during probe their relations with other terror outfits too were estab- lished. They don’t consider Kashmir as an integral part of India and such literature was also seized from their posses- sion which mentioned about “waging a war” against the country, the prosecution contended. A round 58 per cent voting was recorded in 51 Assembly segments across 11 districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh during the fifth phase of polling on Monday. The fifth phase sealed the fate of 607 candidates, including 40 women, in EVMs. Election Commission offi- cials said in Lucknow that polling was by and large peaceful with sporadic inci- dents of clashes. However State Government officials claimed that polling was inci- dent-free and long queues were witnessed at several polling stations, especially in Terai districts along Indo- Nepal border like Balrampur, Sidharthnagar and Bahraich. Around two lakh policemen were deployed for the elections which included around 200 companies of Central para- forces. EC officials said that till 9 am the voting percentage was 10.78 per cent, which rose to around 38.12 by 1 pm and was 49.19 per cent around 3 pm. In 2012 polls, the voting average in these 51 seats was 57.09 per cent and in 2014 Lok Sabha polls, 55.58 per cent. In Basti, SP and BJP sup- porters clashed near Dihrauli booth of Harriya Assembly segment during polling and police had to intervene to control the situation. T o improve the standard of food being provided to passengers, Indian Railways on Monday decided to take up the responsibility of pro- viding catering services through its own subsidiary, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Indian Railways will now set up 25 mega base kitchens across the country to provide quality meals. The policy has also separated cooking and food distribution onboard trains. As per the much-awaited new catering policy unveiled on Monday by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, the Railways will not issue any new licences to private parties. Also, the licences of the exist- ing private parties, who enjoy a monopoly over catering in trains, will not be renewed. The policy, that has sepa- rated cooking and food distri- bution, envisages fulfilling aspi- rations of the public regarding healthy and hygienic food in view of regular complaints from passengers. While the food will be prepared at state-of-the-art base kitchens, it would be dis- tributed through service providers from the hospital- ity industry. The new policy aims to attract reputed food- chain players from the market and weed out contractors, most of who face CBI probe in corruption cases. While staple food like rice, dal, veg- etables, etc., will be cooked in the base kitchens, the Railways will buy other items from well known brands to ensure quality. Prabhu said meals for all mobile units will be picked up from the nominated kitchens, owned operated and managed by IRCTC. Zonal Railways will manage static units except base kitchens. Allotment of minor catering units at all category of stations will be done through open tenders. Prabhu who had served as Power Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government and shot to fame after unbundling the power sector (generation, procurement and distribution) has emulated the same method in the new catering policy. The policy that has replaced a seven-year-old one, gives the IRCTC onboard catering responsibility for majority of trains including all the new ones. IRCTC was relieved of the responsibility in the exist- ing catering policy that was introduced by the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2010. The Railway Catering Policy-2017 also empowers the IRCTC to fix menu and tariff in consultation with the Railway Board which will mandatorily include the cuisines of the areas which the train would cross. “Stringent guidelines have been incorporated in the pol- icy to set up base kitchens at major junctions and also to restrict IRCTC from out- sourcing to private licensees outrightly. Besides, self-help groups will also be empan- elled in catering services to promote employment oppor- tunities in various regions,” Prabhu said. Railway Board Member Md Jamshed, IRCTC MD SK Manocha, and Railway Executive Director (non-fare revenue) Ranjan Thakur were present on the occasion. Till some time ago, Thakur was ED Catering. “Provision of perpetual renewal has been done away within the new policy. Now, it has been envisaged that tenure of all static units except kitchen units and food plaza will be five years only. The policy talks about ceiling limit on holding of minor units including milk stalls, compu- tation of units has been defined for smooth imple- mentation of renewal,” explained as senior Railway official. For the first time, allot- ment of special minor units (reserved category) at all sta- tions will be done through open tendering system with- in the similar reserved cate- gory. While technical eligibil- ity criteria has been simplified, 33 per cent sub-quota for women in allotment of each category of minor catering units at all stations has been provided. T aking advantage of strained relations prevailing between the ruling saffron alliance partners ahead of the BMC Mayoral polls, the Opposition Congress and NCP are planning to drive a wedge between the BJP and Shiv Sena further, by bringing in a no- confidence against the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra Government dur- ing the Budget session of the State Legislature beginning on March 6. It is a litmus test for Sena that is “trying” to .seek “out- side” support to win the Mayoral polls. Similarly, in twin develop- ments that are bound to isolate the ruling BJP and help the Sena capture power in the BMC, the Opposition Congress, NCP, Samajwadi Party and MIM — which together have a collective strength of 48 seats in the newly elected BMC — are seri- ously considering putting up their own candidate in the Mayoral polls and the Raj Thackeray-led MNS has indi- cated that it might go with the Sena in the interest of Marathi people in the metropolis. In the event of the Sena taking on the BJP in the Mayoral poll likely to be held on March 9, the Sena will in all likelihood win the poll either in a triangular contest forced by the Opposition Congress, NCP, SP and MIM or in a situation where the four parties choose to abstain from voting. This is because the Sena has current- ly a strength 88 members — 84 members and 4 Independents who have already pledged their support to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party, as against the BJP’s strength of 86 (82 members of its own plus four Independents). New Delhi: The right to con- test an election from jail does not give anyone the right to be released for campaigning, the Delhi High Court on Monday said while rejecting custody parole to MLA Mukhtar Ansari to canvass for himself in the UP Assembly polls. N ational Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has found the then Hazaribagh Deputy Commissioner Sunil Kumar guilty of discourteous and unseemly behavior, and imposed a fine of 25,000 on the State Government with a direction of submitting a com- pliance report within six weeks along with a proof of payment. The NHRC directive has come on a complaint of National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Deputy General Manager Rakesh Nandan Sahay, who had alleged that the then Hazaribagh DC assaulted him when he had gone to meet him at his official residence in February 2015. “In the opinion of Commission, a case of violation of human rights of the com- plainant is made out. Keeping in view the facts and circum- stances of the case, the Commission recommends to the Government of Jharkhand, through its Chief Secretary, to pay compensation of 25,000 to the complainant,” stated the Human Rights order sheet. The Chief Secretary, Government of Jharkhand, is directed to submit compliance report along with proof of pay- ment within six weeks, it said. The NHRC, in its order, also stated that the incident was “an established case of violation of human rights” and pulled up Kumar for “discourteous and unseemly behaviour”. Sahay, then involved in Pakri-Burwadih coal mining project, had alleged that he was manhandled when he had gone to meet the DC at his residence along with two colleagues, Srikant Sinha and Neeraj Jha. The DC holding Sahay respon- sible for unnecessary lingering the NTPC’s mining work held him responsible for loss of face during a review meeting conducted by the Chief Minister and allegedly beat up Sahay with an aluminium rod. Sahay after being injured seriously was later taken to Sadar hospital in Hazaribagh with an injury on right knee from where he was referred for further treatment to Bhagwan Mahavir Medical Superspeciality Hospital in Ranchi. According to NHRC, the inquiry report of Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Home, Prison and Disaster Management, “prima facie sub- stantiates” the allegation lev- elled by Sahay making it “an established case of violation of human rights”. “After detailed inquiry in the matter, it has been con- cluded…. that the conduct of the then Deputy Commissioner, Hazaribagh, Sunil Kumar was not in terms of the All India Service (Conduct) Rule, 1968 and that he is guilty of discourte- ous and unseemly behaviour,” read the order. Continued on Page 2

Upload: doannhi

Post on 21-Mar-2018

226 views

Category:

Documents


6 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

�������

���������������� ����� ��������� ��

���� ���� ���� � ��������������������� �

�������

!"#�$#%�&'�����(!�)(*(�(!����*���("#)�!�+�'��������������������� ��������������� �������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ������ ��������!

��*��,$-$,��("#)��#(.$�!�/"$�)�(!��&�$#�,$&0!�+�'�������������������������������"�������� ������#�$ ����%��#&�������������������'����$ ������(�(����������������� � �������)���������*������������������� '������� ��������������(��� �!

�$*�&,&%&1��#(()�.#�'*$!(��!&)$'�2(#�!�2�&3&#'��������� ���������������"�������������������������������(������� ��+��������#���������,� ��������%+#,&������������������������������������ ���������������������'�������*���� �������������������!

$4�,(��-$���&",�2#(�$4��$#-��$�&!1���("�$. �5 �6"�7� ��$ ����������)(��������������� ���������������������� ���������)"����� ����� ����������������������������������������� �*�(��� ����������������!

(!��&#����8��!��-�#&&))(�.$�'$�(������(!$'����� ���#+-�.�����*������� ������ ����� ��������������#����������������*����������� ����������������� ��/*�.� ����������������0 �������������������!�

*(�&,�.&*,&%�&��(�!)$'�$&���(0$��$#�(!!�+�'����� -��������(��������(��1��������������������((������-(�'��(�������������2)������������"������������� ������.�'���-���" (*��������������#�����������������������������������!

$'����"$��2#$����"��(!�)(�9&0�#�!&�0���� �������2���� ��������� �������%2�&�������� ��������� ���������#����� �(��� ���3�'���+��'���� ���� ��������������������� �������(����� ���!

#&:$���0"�&# � +24��20#

The Centre Government’sown stationery provider

has a utility value of just �3crore while it takes almost �22crore annually to sustain thatorganisation.

The Government of IndiaStationery Office (GISO) pro-cures and supplies stationery,worth just �3 crore, for officialuse. But, the Governmentspends a whopping over �22crore every year simply toensure the 167-year-old organ-isation continues to function.

“The Government of IndiaStationery Office (GISO), a sub-ordinate office under theMinister of Urban Development,was established in 1850. As ofnow, the Government is spend-ing almost �22 crore on GISO

but purchases only about �3crore worth of stationery fromit for use in offices every year,”said an official.

The peculiar situation hasbeen in prevalence for the last12 years and it arose due to theamendments in the GeneralFinancial Rules in 2005 thatempowered Minis-tries/Departments to procurestationery directly from agen-cies other than GISO makingit almost redundant.

According to sources, theUrban Development Ministryhas now taken note of it anddirected the GISO to make apresentation about the moneyit needs to run the unit and thebusinesses and services they doin monetary terms.

The Kolkata-headquar-tered GISO has offices in Delhi,

Chennai and Mumbai and isresponsible for transparent pro-curement of stationery andpaper-made articles at eco-

nomical costs and supply to theGovernment officers for theiruse.

Soon after the GFR

amendments, in 2005-2006,the expenses on the organisa-tion were �9.28 crore while thestationery supplied by GISOstood at a mere �1.63 crore.

The data accessed by ThePioneer reveals the trend con-tinued in the years thereafter.In 2006-2007, the expensesincurred were �9.46 croreagainst a supply of stationeryworth �1.37 crore. In 2007-2008, it was �9.87 crore againstjust �0.75 crore. In 2008-2009,the expenses on organisationincreased to �14.58 crore, andthe supply was worth �1.43crore.

Then again, the GISOspent �18.44 crore on its officeand manpower while supplyingstationery of �4.41 crore in2009-2010.

In 2010-2011, the unit did

good business of �5.52 crore butspent on itself �18.15 crore. Inthe subsequent fiscal, the expens-es were �17.76 crore against asupply of �4.06 crore. In 2012-2013, the GISO’s expenses fur-ther rose to �18.98 crore even asits supplies fell drastically stand-ing at just �2.46 crore.

The upward spending con-tinued in 2013-2014 and 2014-15 as well – �20.09 crore and�21.17 crore respectively. Thefigures for actual supplies stoodat �2.12 crore and �3.35 croreduring the corresponding peri-od. Last fiscal, (2015-2016), theexpenses increased to �21.19crore while the supplies stoodat �5.98 core.

Officials said after theamendment in Rule 140 of theGFR — a compendium of gen-eral provisions followed by all

Government offices while deal-ing with matters of a financialnature — the GISO witnessedsharp decline in its business.“The role of GISO reduced.Full powers for procurement ofgoods were delegated to theMinistries or departments. Thisled to reduction in supply ofstationery, reduction in staffstrength, and reduction in bud-getary allocation,” said the offi-cials, adding prior to 2005, theGISO was running in losses butwas not in such dismal state.

Also, the GISO saw itsstaff strength getting reducedby half, from 1214 to 622 in2010. Now it has been furtherreduced from 399 across thecountry in 2016. But after theSeventh Pay Commission, theexpenses on the running GISOalmost doubled in 2016-2017.

2�� �� ��%� � &� ��$;�������������5���� &� �����������5������ 5�<�� �������� 6���������76���������7

=>>?�>� @A=B �A�C=>>��> @AD� �AC =>> �>B @AB >A ?=>>B�>@ �DA?B �ADC=>>@��> �BADD DAD�=>�>��� �BA�? ?A?==>����= � A � DA>�=>�=��C �BA@B =A�==>�C��D =>A>@ =A�==>�D��? =�A� CA=?=>�?��� =�A�@ ?A@B=>���� �6����5 �7 �A @ CAD?

�� ���� ������ ��� �� �� �� �� ���������

��(!$$#�!$3���$#-��$�� +24�20#�

An online campaign by aDelhi University student

saying “I am not afraid ofABVP” has snowballed into afull-scale war of words betweenpolitical opponents and trig-gered heated debates in thesocial media as top Ministersand senior BJP leaders accusedthe Opposition of inciting vio-lence on campuses and theCongress hit back against anattempt to “curb freedom ofspeech.”

With tension mounting,Home Minister Rajnath Singhwho is in Varanasi, said hisMinistry was keeping a watchon the situation. He alsoordered the Delhi Police to actwith caution over the RamjasCollege issue and ensure the sit-uation remained under control.

The social media campaignof Gurmehar Kaur, daughter ofCaptain Mandeep Singh whodied in the Kargil War, on theviolence at Ramjas College hasgone viral and also become asource of major tensionbetween campuses and stu-dents groups.

Ramjas witnessed wide-spread violence last week afterthe ABVP objected to a semi-nar because of an invitation

extended to JNU studentsUmar Khalid and ShehlaRashid, who were involved in acontroversy related to allegedanti-national and pro-KashmirAzaadi slogans last year.

The BJP and the Congresshave locked horns on the issueof “intolerance” and “freedomof speech.” Union MinisterVenkaiah Naidu slammed theOpposition for inciting violenceon campuses and accused it ofsubversion, while Rahul Gandhishowed support to Kaur prais-ing her valour for raising hervoice against intolerance.

“Against the tyranny of fearwe stand with our students. Forevery voice raised in anger,intolerance and ignorance therewill be a Gurmehar Kaur,”

Rahul’s office tweeted. “You cannot hurt others’

religious feelings. You cannotquestion the nation’s unity andintegrity. You cannot advocateseparatism. Dissent, having adifferent opinion apart from themajority opinion is agreeablebut not disintegration. Nobodycan advocate disintegration.What is azaadi? What is azaa-di of Kashmir?” Naidu retort-ed.

“Congress subverted peo-ple’s rights and now they accuseus saying there’s no freedom ofexpression. Freedom of expres-sion is guaranteed under theConstitution of India, but itcan’t be used to create socialtensions or hurt the sentimentsof people,” said Naidu.

“You want to make univer-sities laboratories for separatistexperiments? There is a sys-tematic effort going on — youwant to have anniversary forAfzal Guru, who was responsi-ble (for) and spearheaded theattack on Parliament, the tem-ple of democracy. And then youappeal to others that freedom ofexpression is affected,” he said.

Asked about ABVP’sinvolvement in the protests,Naidu said, “ABVP is a nation-alist organisation. Other organ-isations have different views letthem express it. Why shouldoutsiders go and disturb peaceof campuses? You have suchfreedom in this country thatyou can call the PM by name.You compare him with a don-key.”

Union Minister Kiren Rijijutweeted that freedom of expres-sion is not a licence to shoutanti-national slogans on cam-puses. “Criticise theGovernment but don’t abusethe motherland,” he wrote onTwitter.

Kaur had last year made avideo asking India and Pakistanto amicably settle their disputes.She held a placard saying,“Pakistan did not kill my dad,war killed him.”

Asking who is “polluting”her mind, Rijiju said, “Indianever attacked anyone, but aweak India was always invaded”.

Talking to newspersons, hesaid, “One should not say thingswhich could demoralise thecountrymen and the securityforces. Everybody has freedombut that does not mean that youraise slogans to weaken thecountry.”

������ ��*��� ��������������������������5���������� �!��� #+�652

Students’ Islamic Movementof India (SIMI) chief Safdar

Hussain Nagori and 10 otheractivists of the banned groupwere on Monday awarded lifeimprisonment in a 2008 sedi-tion case for the Ahmedabadblasts.

Special Additional SessionsJudge BK Paloda pronouncedall the 11 SIMI activists guiltyunder IPC Sections 124(A)(sedition) and 153 (A)(pro-moting enmity between differ-ent groups on grounds of reli-gion) and also under the rele-vant provisions of the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act.

On a plea of 10 of theaccused lodged inAhmedabad’s SabarmatiCentral Jail, they wereinformed about the court’sjudgement through video-con-ferencing. Besides 45-year-oldNagori, the others convicted areHafiz Hussain (35), AamilParvaz (40), Shivli (38),Qamruddin (42), Shahduli(32), Qamran (40), Ansar (35),Ahmed Baig (32), Yasin (35)and Munroz (40). Nagori,Parvaz, Qamruddin, Qamran,Shivli, Ahmed Baig andHussain were also convictedunder IPC section 122 (col-lecting arms with intention ofwaging war against theGovernment of India).

In its 84-page judgement,

the court observed, “It appearsfrom the activities of the con-vict that they don’t have faith inthe lawfully and constitution-ally established Government ofIndia. “Their acts are againstnational unity and integrity ofthe country. They are involvedin illegal activities by foment-ing religious hatred with an aimto create serious danger for theentire humanity.”

The prosecution has pro-duced 27 witnesses as evi-dence to prove crime againstthe SIMI activists.

Appealing to the court toaward maximum sentence tothem, the prosecution arguedthat the banned SIMI activistshave deliberately involved inacts against the governmentand have spread hatred on thebasis of religion. To fulfill theiraims, they have distributedobjectionable material, col-lected arms and explosives andimparted terror-training to theyouths and also incited themagainst the country, the pros-ecution informed the court.

It also stated that duringprobe their relations with otherterror outfits too were estab-lished. They don’t considerKashmir as an integral part ofIndia and such literature wasalso seized from their posses-sion which mentioned about“waging a war” against thecountry, the prosecution contended.

�!��� 07�8+64�

Around 58 per cent votingwas recorded in 51

Assembly segments across 11districts of eastern UttarPradesh during the fifth phaseof polling on Monday. Thefifth phase sealed the fate of607 candidates, including 40women, in EVMs.

Election Commission offi-cials said in Lucknow thatpolling was by and largepeaceful with sporadic inci-dents of clashes. HoweverState Government officialsclaimed that polling was inci-dent-free and long queueswere witnessed at severalpolling stations, especially inTerai districts along Indo-Nepal border like Balrampur,Sidharthnagar and Bahraich.Around two lakh policemenwere deployed for the electionswhich included around 200companies of Central para-forces.

EC officials said that till 9am the voting percentage was10.78 per cent, which rose toaround 38.12 by 1 pm and was49.19 per cent around 3 pm.

In 2012 polls, the votingaverage in these 51 seats was57.09 per cent and in 2014 LokSabha polls, 55.58 per cent.

In Basti, SP and BJP sup-porters clashed near Dihraulibooth of Harriya Assemblysegment during polling andpolice had to intervene tocontrol the situation.

��������������� ����� �������� ���

�!��� +24��20#

To improve the standard offood being provided to

passengers, Indian Railwayson Monday decided to takeup the responsibility of pro-viding catering ser vicesthrough its own subsidiary,Indian Railway Catering andTourism Corporat ion(IRCTC). Indian Railwayswill now set up 25 mega basekitchens across the country toprovide quality meals. Thepolicy has also separatedcooking and food distributiononboard trains.

As per the much-awaitednew catering policy unveiledon Monday by RailwayMinister Suresh Prabhu, theRailways will not issue any newlicences to private parties.Also, the licences of the exist-ing private parties, who enjoya monopoly over catering intrains, will not be renewed.

The policy, that has sepa-rated cooking and food distri-bution, envisages fulfilling aspi-rations of the public regardinghealthy and hygienic food inview of regular complaintsfrom passengers.

While the food will beprepared at state-of-the-artbase kitchens, it would be dis-tributed through serviceproviders from the hospital-ity industry. The new policyaims to attract reputed food-chain players from the marketand weed out contractors,most of who face CBI probein corruption cases. Whilestaple food like rice, dal, veg-etables, etc., will be cooked inthe base kitchens, theRailways will buy other itemsfrom well known brands toensure quality.

Prabhu said meals for allmobile units will be picked upfrom the nominated kitchens,owned operated and managedby IRCTC. Zonal Railways willmanage static units except basekitchens. Allotment of minorcatering units at all category ofstations will be done throughopen tenders.

Prabhu who had served asPower Minister in the Atal

Bihari Vajpayee Governmentand shot to fame afterunbundling the power sector(generation, procurement anddistribution) has emulatedthe same method in the newcatering policy.

The policy that hasreplaced a seven-year-old one,gives the IRCTC onboardcatering responsibility formajority of trains including allthe new ones.

IRCTC was relieved ofthe responsibility in the exist-ing catering policy that wasintroduced by the thenRailway Minister MamataBanerjee in 2010.

The Railway CateringPolicy-2017 also empowersthe IRCTC to fix menu andtariff in consultation with theRailway Board which willmandatorily include thecuisines of the areas which thetrain would cross.

“Stringent guidelines havebeen incorporated in the pol-icy to set up base kitchens atmajor junctions and also torestrict IRCTC from out-sourcing to private licenseesoutrightly. Besides, self-helpgroups will also be empan-elled in catering services topromote employment oppor-tunities in various regions,”Prabhu said.

Railway Board MemberMd Jamshed, IRCTC MD SKManocha, and RailwayExecutive Director (non-farerevenue) Ranjan Thakur werepresent on the occasion. Tillsome time ago, Thakur wasED Catering.

“Provision of perpetualrenewal has been done awaywithin the new policy. Now, ithas been envisaged that tenureof all static units exceptkitchen units and food plazawill be five years only. Thepolicy talks about ceiling limiton holding of minor unitsincluding milk stalls, compu-tation of units has beendefined for smooth imple-mentation of renewal,”explained as senior Railwayofficial.

For the first time, allot-ment of special minor units(reserved category) at all sta-tions will be done throughopen tendering system with-in the similar reserved cate-gory. While technical eligibil-ity criteria has been simplified,33 per cent sub-quota forwomen in allotment of eachcategory of minor cateringunits at all stations has beenprovided.

)!�#&*�"!&)�&�� �7�1�#

Taking advantage of strainedrelations prevailing

between the ruling saffronalliance partners ahead of theBMC Mayoral polls, theOpposition Congress and NCPare planning to drive a wedgebetween the BJP and Shiv Senafurther, by bringing in a no-confidence against theDevendra Fadnavis-ledMaharashtra Government dur-ing the Budget session of theState Legislature beginning onMarch 6.

It is a litmus test for Senathat is “trying” to .seek “out-

side” support to win theMayoral polls.

Similarly, in twin develop-ments that are bound to isolatethe ruling BJP and help theSena capture power in theBMC, the OppositionCongress, NCP, SamajwadiParty and MIM — whichtogether have a collectivestrength of 48 seats in thenewly elected BMC — are seri-ously considering putting uptheir own candidate in theMayoral polls and the RajThackeray-led MNS has indi-cated that it might go with theSena in the interest of Marathipeople in the metropolis.

In the event of the Senataking on the BJP in theMayoral poll likely to be heldon March 9, the Sena will in alllikelihood win the poll either ina triangular contest forced bythe Opposition Congress, NCP,SP and MIM or in a situationwhere the four parties chooseto abstain from voting. This isbecause the Sena has current-ly a strength 88 members — 84members and 4 Independentswho have already pledged theirsupport to the UddhavThackeray-led party, as againstthe BJP’s strength of 86 (82members of its own plus fourIndependents).

������������������������������������������(�����������(����������9������������ (�:;����'�� ������������������������

��� ��������������������� �������� �������������

��4�������������� ����*�������������5�������-�������������.�������*����������������������'��(�������� ������������ ��������7��������������8�����5���� �������������������������)(������������������ �� �������� ������"������������������ ��( ���!�<����� ������������������� ���������� ����������������*���������������������

������������ ����� �������

New Delhi: The right to con-test an election from jail doesnot give anyone the right to bereleased for campaigning, theDelhi High Court on Mondaysaid while rejecting custodyparole to MLA Mukhtar Ansarito canvass for himself in the UPAssembly polls.

���#$:$�)��&!�&#��,$&�)(��&��&�*!

����������� ���� ��������� � ��������� �

������

�"0$���#&!:&!�� 5�+�#

National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) has

found the then HazaribaghDeputy Commissioner SunilKumar guilty of discourteousand unseemly behavior, andimposed a fine of �25,000 onthe State Government with adirection of submitting a com-pliance report within six weeksalong with a proof of payment.

The NHRC directive hascome on a complaint ofNational Thermal PowerCorporation (NTPC) DeputyGeneral Manager RakeshNandan Sahay, who had alleged

that the then Hazaribagh DCassaulted him when he hadgone to meet him at his officialresidence in February 2015.

“In the opinion ofCommission, a case of violationof human rights of the com-plainant is made out. Keepingin view the facts and circum-stances of the case, theCommission recommends tothe Government of Jharkhand,through its Chief Secretary, topay compensation of �25,000 tothe complainant,” stated theHuman Rights order sheet.The Chief Secretary,Government of Jharkhand, isdirected to submit compliance

report along with proof of pay-ment within six weeks, it said.

The NHRC, in its order,also stated that the incident was“an established case of violationof human rights” and pulled upKumar for “discourteous andunseemly behaviour”.

Sahay, then involved inPakri-Burwadih coal miningproject, had alleged that he wasmanhandled when he had goneto meet the DC at his residencealong with two colleagues,

Srikant Sinha and Neeraj Jha.The DC holding Sahay respon-sible for unnecessary lingeringthe NTPC’s mining work heldhim responsible for loss offace during a review meetingconducted by the ChiefMinister and allegedly beat upSahay with an aluminium rod.

Sahay after being injuredseriously was later taken toSadar hospital in Hazaribaghwith an injury on right kneefrom where he was referred forfurther treatment to BhagwanMahavir Medical SuperspecialityHospital in Ranchi.

According to NHRC, theinquiry report of Additional

Chief Secretary, Department ofHome, Prison and DisasterManagement, “prima facie sub-stantiates” the allegation lev-elled by Sahay making it “anestablished case of violation ofhuman rights”.

“After detailed inquiry inthe matter, it has been con-cluded…. that the conduct ofthe then DeputyCommissioner, Hazaribagh,Sunil Kumar was not in termsof the All India Service(Conduct) Rule, 1968 andthat he is guilty of discourte-ous and unseemly behaviour,”read the order.

Continued on Page 2

!)���(22���&,&��&",)��&�$

���� ����� ���� ��� !� �"�" !#"

���������� ��� ������������������� ��� ��!����"

�#$�%��&'

�57����6�0�=�67����2+���#+,#5-�����52--��6��6+�52--

$(�)�$)����2��6425,70���++6���2��4�=�4#���2#5��#-�22�-

�($����&*��+�7+#�2���564+2�02��72��7������#6+-

������������� ����������������������������� �����

������������������� ���!�"#$% &�$�'�

&�!&'#��%'( ('#�� �(' �!(��'#� )'(������('�!#

>0�������� -��A�?@������ ;A>����- � �����2)��������((�� ����

$� ������5��B�D

#&!���8�)"$�'&%�2$.#"&#%�=B8�=>� E��&*$������C

���*� ��+�������*,��

��������������� �!"#����$#����%&�'('$�(�)

Page 2: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345 ��"�!� $�

���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �!����������������"���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������������� �����������������������������#��������������������������� ���� ����$����%����&�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������'����������������������������������� ���������������"��������������������(�����������������������������

����������� ������ �������������������� ��������������������������� ����������� ��������� ��!�������"�������������#���#����$%&'((%�)���(* &'&(( &&� &(&& � &(&&*�$���+,�������������-.����������������/������� ������.0����������01������2�3��0�4�#���#����56������78�����+����������#/1#�.��60�8/9: ((%: *&(�#89;�/��#/$<' : ((%��1#�=#�0�#98��#��<�((8��+�������4�� ���>��/����+���?���+��� �@����� ������+4�.����@�������������+��,�����;����)���������+8��4A+(<<$ &BCC B<$B'�(<<$'(BC'<((�(*%B< &' B<!2+(<<$ &BCC BC������>3�����+'��!���������������.�������!�D �#���������> E(<E�)���������+(C $ &'E''&� &'E'''� &'E''C�

�!��� �3�5#1��

Sugarcane crop of lakhs was burnt inBarkagaon block on 26-27 February night

when electricity wire of 11000 KW fell downon the field. It happened in Kutulwa villageof Badam panchayat where sugarcane is the

main crop and this year too dozens of peas-ants have planted it in their fields. Last nightwhen the broken wire fell down, villagers triedtheir best to save their crop but they failed asthe crop was ready bearing dried leaves. Thepeasants are blaming electricity departmentfor this loss.

�!��� 5�+�#

Much before RanchiCollege starts enjoying

university status and studentsstart enjoying at least couple offacilities any university musthave, it’s proposed name hasprovided the opposition partiesfresh new reason to attackGovernment. Jharkhand MuktiMorcha (JMM) has stronglyopposed proposal of renamingRanchi College as Dr ShyamaPrasad Mukherjee Universityafter the college attains uni-versity status. Ranchi districtunit of the party on Mondayhanded over a petition toGovernor Droupadi Murmu,Ex-Officio Chancellor of State-run universities requesting her

to reject proposal of renamingRanchi College as Dr ShyamaPrasad Mukherjee University.

“Jharkhand has proved tobe one of the most fertile landsfor those willing to sacrifice fortheir State and nation. Theymust be respected with theirdue. Why should we borrowany name from outside whichhas probably no resemblancefrom the State. This is why westrongly oppose to any pro-posal or move of theGovernment who is trying toignore local legends and impos-ing saffron-driven names,” saidJMM District Unit PresidentShushila Ekka on Monday,who sat with party workers infront of Rajbhawan on a peace-ful agitation before handing

over petition to the Governor.The party which appeared

enraged over comment fromChief Minister Raghubar Dascouple of days ago saying thatJharkhand didn’t need anyMukti Morcha anymore,requested the Governor torename Ranchi College as RamDayal Munda University orafter name of any other locallegend.

The party also requested inits petition to the Governor ofrejecting CNT/SPT Acts’amendment bill, as the amend-ment would lead the very exis-tence, recognition and cultureof the State towards extinction.Government’s move of amend-ing aged acts which werebrought in existence only toprotect interests of locals in theState would ultimately becomethe only reason of destructionof society, said the Party in itspetition.

The JMM has requestedthe Governor to also rejectproposal of government takingsale of liquor products in itshands from coming August.“We are in favour of liquor banin the State, as consumption ofliquor has taken thousands oflives directly, and tens of thou-sands indirectly,” said Ekka.

�&!:$$-�:�&�� 5�+�#

Unlike other states,Jharkhand is not going to

have any public transport cor-poration like body anytimesoon. Joint TransportCommissioner Shekhar Jamuarsaid today that the State wasvery clear with the view that itwouldn’t go form somethingcalled Jharkhand State RoadTransport Corporation(JSRTC) in line with similarState-run transport bodieswhich manage and run gov-ernment buses on roads.

“It (formation of any suchbody) is not on cards, not atleast since last five years and forsometime now. We are clearwith the view that the way intraand interstate buses have beenoperated is fine and govern-ment doesn’t require any bodyto operate buses of its own,”said Jamuar after the meetingof Transport Minister CP Singhwith transport and traffic offi-cials concluded on Monday.

Singh sat with transportdepartment and traffic officialson Monday to discuss some ofthe long pending issues. “Most

of the issues were related toproblems coming in way aftermany processes were digitised.There are issues with Sarthi-2,which has hampered issuanceof licenses. Data is not beingautomatically saved after man-ual entry of NOC. TheMinister has directed to mendthings as early as possible,” saidJamuar.

This meeting of theMinister with department offi-cials, sources said, was impor-tant for two reasons. “E-rick-shaw operators are not at allhappy with the allocation ofroutes in first lottery and thereare issues with diesel-petrol runauto rickshaw as well. Second,the traffic in the city whichappeared so arranged and sys-tematic during two days ofGlobal Investors’ Summit hasgone back to square one. Therewere discussions on theseissues,” said an official presentin the meeting.

However, Traffic SP SanjayRanjan Singh who was alsopresent in the meeting said thatissues related to objections ofe-rickshaw operators related totheir route carried some sense.

+,,� �������-��������������

��!�"�������"������!���#����$�!����!��������!������

From Page 1Sahay, in the meantime,

hailed the NHRC order andcalled it a strong order.

“With this order, propen-sity of violation of humanrights has been establishedwhich itself proves that theincident had actually hap-pened. My concern is thatsuch incidents should not takeplace again with anybody infuture,” Sahay said.

The NHRC had asked the

Chief Secretary to send a reporton the outcome of the inquiryconducted by the AdditionalChief Secretary, Home depart-ment, to the Commission. Ithad further stated that keepingin view the principles of naturaljustice, a copy of the inquiryreport should also be providedto the complainant within six weeks.

$,$�)#���)%�3�#$�'$�)#(%���"*&#�&!$��#(��3(#)��,&0��

���� ����� ���%$$$ ��� &&&

!#" "'(��) "! �)�!' �!*��� ) �+� , �-�!���)����'!�.+'�# � ��- �/ �00�

Page 3: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

"!1�2��� $�('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345

�&!)(���!&#&%&!�� 5�+�#

Election Commission ofIndia is yet to come up

with date of the bye electionslated to take place at Littiparabut the political parties havebegun taking position overthe seat.

The BJP core committeeis meeting with ChiefMinister Raghubar Das onTuesday while JVM supremoBabulal Marandi held a pub-lic meeting a couple of daysback in the constituency inorder to feel the pulse.

Regardless of all this, thesense which is coming outindicates that the midwaypolitical battle would bereduced to a contest betweentwo major power centres—theruling BJP and theOpposition JMM—at presentin the State. The Oppositionminus JMM finds itself on themargins in the constituencyand in all likelihood wouldback the JMM’s candidatewhose selection has alsobecome tricky now.

“We are still to call partyleaders’ meeting to decidethe candidate,” replied JMMgeneral secretary SupriyoBhattacharya by sidesteppinga crucial question about thefate of late Anil Murmu’s twowives.

Information from groundsuggest that Uniki Hansdaand Nisha Sabnam Hansdaare at loggerheads over theparty ticket since the death ofthe sitting MLA and the JMMis finding itself in a tangle.“Both the ladies have stakedtheir claims to the JMM tick-et since the sympathy factoris likely to sail through thecandidate. The JMM is atpresent focusing to settle thefamily feud and if it goes outof its hands, a new namemay surface from the party,”said a party leader.

Irrespective of the tanglethe party is sure to present abloc which would f ighttogether with the ruling BJP.It is also because neither theCongress nor the JVM hasconsiderable presence in theconstituency. Danial Kiskuhad to press in at the lastmoment from the JVM dur-ing the Assembly polls afterits leader Anil Murmu hadswitched over to the JMM.Now even Kisku has switched

his loyalty to the BJP. “We became virtually

faceless during the last occa-sion and our candidate couldscore just 2000 votes. Thistime as well there is no cred-ible face. We would like theOpposition to win over therebut for that all the partieswould have to come togetherand discuss first. As far as theJVM is concerned we areready for a coalition,” saidJVM vice president SabaAhmed. The sense prevailingwithin the party notwith-standing, the workers haveexpressed their view in favourof contesting the poll whenBabulal Marandi held a meet-ing with them at Littipara onFebruary 26.

The Congress is anotherplayer in Opposition campthat is preparing to consult itshigh command. “I am rightnow with Jharkhand co-in-charge Tara Chand Bhagora.We with the Congress Statepresident will discuss theissue and report to our lead-ership in a week’s time,” saidCongress legislative partyleader and Pakur legislatorAlamgir Alam.

Though he was unsureabout winnability of the partywhen he explained that everyelection is not fought to winand electoral battles are nec-essary for survival of parties.Moreover, insiders say thatthe party high command isnot keen to give BJP anyupper hand, especially whenthere is a bleak chance to win.

“Congress is likely to backthe JMM considering the hostof issues like CNT-SPT, domi-cile policy and land relatedcontroversies are so rife atpresent. If the JMM wins, itwould be considered as back-lash for the ruling BJP andreferendum on its policies,”said a senior party func-tionary.

The BJP, on the otherhand, is in no mood to givethe JMM a walkover. “Wehave all the sympathies to thefamily of Dr Anil Murmu butin the political battlegroundthere is no scope of any sym-pathy. Our core committeeand State president would sitwith the Chief Minister tofinalise the name of a candi-date,” said BJP chief whipRadha Krishna Kishore.

The party would be zero-ing in on a new face since ex-JMM MLA from the con-stituency who had joined andfought unsuccessfully on itsticket on the last occasion—Simon Marandi—has jetti-soned it and is preparing tocontest as an Independentcandidate this time around.

,�))��&#&�&��$�.,%�.%�(,,

������%&��'��&����������!������34� *!' *!--�"" - " "!+�(5 �!����*"6 "1 � "1! 1�+!1�!� + * �� + 7��0 �� 477 1��"��)

�#&*%&��&,,&-��� 5�+�#

The board meeting of RMC called afterfive months turned into a battle-

ground on Monday when despite repeat-ed attempts on Mayor Asha Lakra’s part topeacefully conduct the meeting, it failedenormously. In the high voltage drama, theMayor along with the ward councilorslocked up the main entrance gate ofRMC and sat on dharna in protest.

None of the officials, including DeputyMayor, Sanjiv Vijaywargia and TownCommissioner, Prashant Kumar was pre-sent in the meeting. Moreover, all the wardcouncillors were kept waiting for long andnone of the public welfare issues was takenup that have been delayed since long.

The meeting time was scheduled at 11AM and it started late at 12:15 PM, But,amid protests the Mayor had to immedi-ately call off the meeting. All the wardcouncilors present were demanding thatall RMC officials must attend the meetingor else they will have to take stern steps asa mark of protest.

“The last board meeting was conductedin September 2016, I cannot simply waitfor long to resolve public welfare issues thatare pending since long. I had forwarded theinvitation letter about the board meetingto each official few days back.Unfortunately, the Town Commissioner didnot forward the proceedings to any of theconcerned board members,” said MayorAsha Lakra who sat outside the RMC officealong with the ward councilors.

Notably, 11 agendas were supposed tobe discussed during the board meetingranging from procurement of tenders,holding taxes to water crisis in differentwards on Monday. “This is simply a dirty

politics of few officials who do not wantto take up public issues on priority basis.I am an elected representative; my duty isto resolve the grievances. I want a clearanswer why board meetings are gettingcancelled time and again,” added Lakra,who was supported by the ward councilorspresent on the spot.

Even the protesting ward councilorssaid that this is a mere conspiracy to holdoff the public welfare task for long. “Wehave to give an answer to all the public ofour wards. Just six months are remainingwith us, despite having funds, we cannotutilise them as since September 2016 boardmeetings are getting cancelled repeatedlyand we cannot solve them without gettingit passed from the board here,” said, wardcouncilor of 51, Kumari Marget.

After much outcry, AdditionalMunicipal Commissioner, BidyanandPankaj came for the meeting but he tooappeared clueless about the entire pro-

ceedings. When asked about the absence ofRMC officials in the meeting, Pankaj said,“I was informed about the meeting late. Ifthe meeting is conducted, I am ready to lis-ten to the ward councilor problems.”

The differences between the Mayor andDeputy Mayor were also visible as the lat-ter walked out recklessly out of his officesidelining all public issues and stated thathe has not received any formal letter aboutthe special board meeting to be held today.

The Mayor along with her supportersmet Urban Development Minister, CPSingh to sort out the issue immediatelyafter the much ruckus at RMC. On theother hand, Urban Development Minister,CP Singh reiterated to intervene in thematter at the earliest. “I cannot commenton the issue as I was not present on thespot. However, now things are turningfrom bad to worse. Within one week thematter will be sorted out, this is my assur-ance,” Singh said.

,�.�������� ��,�/��������������������0$

����������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������

*(-)�.$*�!���$&#���2(#������������������( ������������������������������((�����������#���������������������������������'��������������������� �����#�����������������������*����������5����������������� ��B���������!��((�� ��������������������������������� ��B?���������(��������(��(�������� ��������������������� �������!�

�$$)�!*�(!�3(#,'�3&)$#�'&%

����������������(����������������#��������������������������C7+#�2,*��-,*������#����*�4��������*������������D5�2,��������������������(������� ������ '����8 ���*�-���������� ������ ���*�D���'����2� �������� � ������������������� �������������������� ������������ ���������4�����4������������������� ����������� �����(�� �� ������������� ��������������� ����� ���������) ���������������(�������� �����!������������������������E8���1������*����������1� �����F!

�(-$#$�*!�*(,'�.(!'��&)��(�2#(��2$.�= ������������������������������������������������� ������������,��� ����:A������������(�������� ���%�6&!�#����������� ���������(������������������ ������������� � ���������#�*�������� ���*�����(��������+� ��������������� (�8����=� ��� ��������%8=�&��������!�,��������������������������������6�!����� �� ���*���������� ��$ �(������� ����������!�������$ ��������������������������� �(������������6���������� ��B!�

'�#$�)(#�6�$#�7��&!'��(-$#�(.����$/"$5-�����(����*����� ����%����&*���0���������������������������������0��6��� ����1����������-� �����%61-&����������������������� ��$ ������ ���������� �������G!;���'�����-����������*���������0�������8�������*�2)"- ����������2�������(���������8��(���� �����+8�����!��������������������������0���61-�����(��������������� ���������� ������G!;���'��������������B���'����������������������������� ��������� ���!

'$.)�#$�(-$#%��&���&)��.�

��������� ������ ��(��������������������������������� ������������1��'����#����*�5�� ��� ���������� (������������5+�-���������*��������������*���������6��� �*�� ��������������!�����������?;@�������������(�������������� ��(�������� �(� �������� ��������?:!G/� ������������������������ � �������?:H���������������� ��������?!@/� ����������� ���������������(��!

F�(,�)�����!�)�$�!&�$�(2�2&�)�1-�����-� �����������������*��������.�'����������������������������������� �� �(������(�������������4�������������1����� ������������:������C�D���'���������������������������������1������ ��������������������������������������������������� ��(�������!���� ��������������������������(����� ���������������������������������������������� �������������������������(� ���������1����� ���������������������� ��(�������������!�

)&)&��)$$,���!$�.&*���$#2(#�&!�$�&3&#'

�����-�����+��� ����#���������%+#�&����������������(��I��������6���������������� �� ��������������?A���������2�����������������������������������%�2��&����'������I��� ����������������#������1 ��� ����������%#1�&*�8��'����5�������������,���:;!�+#�������������������(��I�� ��������� ����������,����-����5�����-����������?G������������(���� �(�������������2���4��'!�#��(� ������������������������������������������������������(���� �(������������������ �����������(�������� ������������������������*������� �(����������*���������� ������ ������� �������(����*�������� �����������*��� ���������������������������*��������������� ������*�����������������������*�� ����������������(����*�� ��� ����J��������������������-5�� ���������������������

��3����

�!��� 5�+�#

Senior BJP leader and sittingMP of Ranchi Ram Tahal

Chaudhary today flayedthe Government’s deci-sion of selling liquor onits own. Chaudhary saidthat the decision willruin the youth of theState and make daugh-ters and sisters widows.

Speaking to The Pioneerafter a public gathering nearRanchi, Chuadhary said that, onthe one hand, Prime MinisterModi has been taking sincereefforts to brighten lives of youthsof the country through variousschemes and, on the other hand,the State government led byCM Raghubar Das was takingsuch disastrous decision.

“Everyone knows thatJharkhand is the worst suffererof the menace of alcoholism.Thousands of women havebecome widows and children

became orphan due to this evil.Other states like Gujarat andBihar that have banned alcoholare now prospering. They have

able workforce in theform of skilled youths.How can the governmenttake such an insensibledecision? I am all againstit,” said Chaudhary.

“I have written toCM Raghubar Das for total banon alcohol in the State the day thedecision was taken in theCabinet. He has to take a firmstep. You cannot always think ofmoney. The government hassome social responsibilities too,”said the MP.

Notably, the governmenthas recently attracted criticismfrom its own Ministers and sev-eral leaders from the party afterit decided to sell liquor on itsown. Three ministers of thegovernment had opposed theproposal in the Cabinet meetingheld on February 21.

�!������"�������������������������������������������������������������������!�����#�������� �������������������$���������� ��������������%�&�������������������������������������'�����������������������������������������������������������������������&����� �!������������������������������������������!������������������%�&��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!���������������������� $(&

�*�#� ����+�*� ,-����.����

�!��� 5�+�#

After successful arrest ofMaoist Shyam Pahan from

Yamunanagar in Haryana onSunday, Khunti Police noweye top Maoist Kundan Pahanas its next target. Khunti SPAshwini Kumar said that halfof the mission was accom-plished with arrest of KundanPahan’s brother Shyam Pahan,now Kundan could not remainout of their reach for a longtime.

“First it was Dimba, nowits Shyam….the next targetdefinitely is Kundan,” saidKumar. He said that primarymotive of police was to arrest

Shyam Pahan, which has beenachieved.

“We could have sent ateam to Yamunanagar to arrestShyam Pahan, but there werechances that he might havedodged us again and couldhave fled away as he hadalready been preparing toleave the place, but did notsucceed because the gate of thepoultry farm was locked,” saidthe SP.

Meanwhile, efforts madeby Khunti Police to bringShyam back to Jharkhandseem to have failed as HaryanaPolice filed a petition at alocal court in Yamunanagarseeking 12 day remand for him

to check whether he had anyNaxal link in Haryana also.

“A team has already goneto Yamunagar to bring himhere, but the Haryana policeitself has filed a petition in thelocal court seeking a remand of12 days for him for interroga-tion,” said the SP. The policeteam however, are lining upwith the officials to seewhether something could bedone in this regard or not, saidthe SP.

The Khunti SP said that ithardly makes any differencewhether he remains in jailhere or in Haryana as their pri-mary intention was to put himbehind bars, which has already

been achieved.Acting on a tip off that

Shyam Pahan had been hidingsomewhere in Yamunanagarunder Bilaspur Police Stationand has been running a poul-try farm, Khunti SP immedi-ately his counterpart there andprovided all details about himincluding his photograph tothem.

“Reacting on the infor-mation given by Khunti Police,Bilaspur police team led bySHO Naveen raided the poul-try farm and nabbed Pahanearly in the morning at 6 am.A country-made pistol wasalso recovered from him,” saidthe SP.

The SP further added thatShyam Pahan, who has been

booked in more than 36 casesof murder and robbery amongothers, had been working at thepoultry farm at Khidta Khasvillage in Bilaspur, he said.

Shyam Pahan alias Motuhails from Barigadha village ofKhunti and had been hiding asa poultry farm worker inYamuna Nagar for the last twoyears with a fake identity. Hewas living there as Mahadeoalong with his wife SukramaniDevi, son Durga Pahan,daughter Pramila. His sister inlaw Parwati and her son in lawhowever, were also stayingthere for the last eight years.

Shyam was carrying areward of � 5 lakh on his head.

��" ' �2(�-% �!��* ( !� �8�+�� ��2��

�������������&����$���� )*��������+

�!��� 5�+�#

The Department of Food and CivilSupplies has initiated steps in the

direction of retrofitting the existingAadhaar-based PDS machines withiris scanners. It is learnt that theDepartment has sought report fromthe Assembly following the orders forissuing tender would be placed to theJAP-IT Department.

On its part, the Department hasbegun some primary level assess-ments which conclude that the entirefleet of the machine used for dis-bursal of food grains to the target-ed beneficiaries need not to bereplaced with the new one andinstead would be attached with irisscanner into the existing one.

“There are iris scanners in themarket which can be attached withthe Aadhaar based machines used atthe PDS shops. We would publishtender as soon as the directioncomes from the Department,” said IT

Director Umesh Prasad Shah.Food and Civil Supplies Minister

Saryu Roy while agreeing to the laps-es existing with the machines in usehad declared in the Assembly thatiris scanners would be introduced allacross since the additional data ofeyeball is already with the UID. Theannouncement had come after some

members raised issue of the consid-erable number of rural populacebeing deprived of their monthlyration since the machines in use wereunable to read their depleted thumbimpression required to verify the bio-metric details of the beneficiaries.

“I have told the Departmentofficials to expedite things in this

direction which is yet to finalise aproposal in this regard. I have alsoconsulted RS Sharma (TRAIChairman) who said that iris devicewould also fasten disbursal of com-modities to the beneficiaries. A smalldevice would be connected with themachines in use without much hus-tle,” said the Minister expressinghope that in the next 2-3 months theiris scanners would be supplied with.

There are nearly 20,000machines installed across the PDSshops in the State which had beenpressed into action only previousyear to stop pilferage of ration meantfor BPL and Antyodaya beneficiaries.The step holds importance sincemore than 2.25 lakh population ofthe State has been covered under theambitious Food Security Act.

However, the department is ofthe view that entire fleet of theAadhaar-based biometric machinesare not needed to be fitted with irisscanning feature. “We are starting a

survey to locate the villages wherethe problem of the machines notreading thumb impressions is acute.Since this problem primarily persistsin rural pockets we would be tar-geting those first,” said Secretary ofDepartment Vinay Kumar Chaubey.

He also referred to some factssuggesting that not more than 10 percent of the machines needed to beretrofitted. “Look, about 88 per centof beneficiaries are lifting theirration regularly and other 2-3 percent are about to be removed fromthe list since they have not turned upfor taking the ration. This apart thereis an option of mobile phone basedOTP as well if thumb impressionfails. So there would not be morethan 2000 odd machines whichneeded to be equipped with iris scan-ners to begin with,” added theSecretar y, saying that theGovernment would bear the addi-tional cost coming on purchasing theeye scanners.

,���-./�$"&����������������������������������������������

Ranchi: Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Saryu Roy on Monday expressedunhappiness over sluggish pace of paddy purchase by the agencies. In a reviewmeeting he also issued warning to the agencies for a probe if things do notimprove.

The Government has set target to purchase 40 lakh quintal of paddy fromthe farmers this year against which only 5.90 lakh quintal of the produce from15500 farmers has been bought so far. This is also only half than the pur-chase made last year.

Agencies complained about non-cooperation from rice mills which hasleft the process standstill at Palamu. The Minister directed Department offi-cials to call a meeting of mill owners on March 1 and also to consult all theDCs to ensure lifting of the purchased paddy from the centers.PNS

�&#%"�#(%�#&����&''%��"#��&�$#�

Page 4: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

��"�!� $9('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345

�!��� ��0�6+��+D

Navin Simgh has got anew lease of life. He had

come across a male elephantat Bhawar Bandha forestunder Garu West of thebuffer zone of the tigerreserve and the elephant justmade bid to take him into histrunk but an agile NavinSingh did not lose his pres-ence of mind and hid himselfin a nearby bush said theranger of West Garu AshokKumar Singh. The elephantcontinued looking for himthere for some time andNavin just sat under the bush

with his frozen breath.Singh said Navin after

spending some time ran for abig cover and in this panicrun he got his right kneebadly injured. Navin is a dailywage earner and does variedworks to run his family.

Navin got 11 stitches onhis right knee but he is con-tented that his life is safe asthe elephant would havetrampled him to death.

The elephant raised astorm of dust to further blurthe vision of Navin fromrunning away .

Ranger said Navin and 6others had been to jungle to

collect fire wood when thisencounter with the elephanttook place.

Ranger conceded thatNavin did not come in theclutch of the elephant other-wise he would have by nowmultiple fractures on hisbody but there is nothing likethis except the right kneeinjuries.

The elephant is of thePTR, Officials have givenhim �1,300 so far. Navin wastreated at the referral hospi-tal in Garu. According toranger he would be lilkely tobe discharged this Mondayitself.

�!��� ��54�

The District Vigilance andMonitoring Committee

meeting was convened todayunder the chairmanship ofPalamu MP BD Ram at train-ing hall of collectorate. In themeeting, Ram directed the EEof building division to submitexplanation regarding 45 worksallotted to the engineerNijamuddin.

MLA Satyendra NathTiwari raised the question ofabout 45 work orders allottedto the engineer Nijamuddin forpreparing estimates. The MPalso directed the EE PHED toprepare short schemes forwater supply. He suggested

preparing an estimate for watersupply from Panda andDomani River.

Daltonganj MLA AlokChaurasiya alleged BuildingDivision EE of working on hisown and ignoring him. TheMLA said that EE did notinvite to the local MLA in foun-dation laying and inaugurationceremony.

Bhawnathpur MLA BhanuPratap Shahi said that middle-men have taken illegalamountof Rs.1600 from each benefi-ciary in a particular scheme.

Garhwa DC Neha Arora,DDC Jagat Natayan Prasadand other officials attendedthe meeting. The MP ordereda probe regarding briberycharges on middlemen. DistrictBoard Chairman Vikashkumar, Nagar CouncilChairman Pinki Keshari,District Board members and alldepartments officials were pre-sent.

##��#�-&�)&-&�� �3�5#1��

Aworkshop on disaster man-agement was organised in

the meeting hall of NorthChotanagpur commissionaireon Monday. CommissionerDinesh Chandra Mishra inau-gurated the workshop alongwith experts arrived from dif-ferent parts of the state andcountry.

Addressing the gatheringMishra said that disaster isactually an accident which caus-es major loss to both the indi-vidual and the Government.Geographically Jharkhand issituated in a safer zone in com-

parison to other states of thecountry where disasters of flood,earthquakes etc. most oftentake place and causes hugedamage. Jharkhand faces thethreat of disasters caused bylightening and drought, so theexperts will have to take specialcare of it and to suggest mea-sures to cope up in case of suchdisasters.

An expert arrived fromRanchi who is retired Colonelsaid that drought is a majorthreat for Jharkhand soGovernment and individualsshould be always ready to faceits challenge. Selection of alter-nate agriculture product, pro-viding balanced diet to the cit-izens specially the women andchildren in case of droughtshould be in the priority list ofJharkhand government. Thepockets of the state where thisthreat is maximum should be

developed in such a mannerthat maximum use of rainwa-ter can be made.

Dr. Rahul of UNICEFspoke on another threat for thestate that is lightening andsaid that individuals can besaved only by making themaware so massive awarenesscampaign is needed here in thestate to make the citizensacquainted with the measuresof safety needed when there isa threat of lightening.

In this workshop disasterlike outbreak of fire in resi-dential buildings, hospitals etc.were also discussed. Expertscited different judgments andsaid that the owners shouldtake special care of this accidentand people should be awareenough as to how to deal withsuch problems and where theyshould contact or give infor-mation.

Some speakers also raisedthe issue of atrocities againstwomen and children in thestate and said that is intensityis so high that it should be keptin the category of disaster inthis state specially.

Representatives of differentNGOs, members of disastermanagement groups of all thedistricts of North Chotanagpurcommissionaire and other offi-cials of the district adminis-tration were present in thisworkshop.

�!��� 168�56

DPS Bokaro studentsbrought laurel to the

school by securing secondposition in the Nationals in thePCRA Quiz Competition heldon Monday at DoordarshanBhawan, New Delhi.

Sagar Mishra, student ofClass 10 and Priyam HarshClass 9 led the school emergeas the First Runner Up in thefinal round of ‘Saksham’ quizout of four teams which hadparticipated across the Nation,informed the school authori-ty.

The Executive Director ofPCRA, Alok Tripathi awardedthe quizzers a Cash Prize of�15000/- each along with alaptop and a Certificate ofMerit. Beside others B. Ashok,the Chairman, Indian Oil wasalso present on the occasion.

Dr. Hemlata S Mohan, the

Director and Principal of DPSBokaro expressed herimmense happiness on theoutstanding performance bySagar and Priyam and wishedthem to do even better in thefuture.

The competition was orga-nized by PCRA — PetroleumConservation ResearchAssociation, run under theaegis of Ministry of Petroleumand Natural Gas, Governmentof India.

PCRA, committed tomake oil conservation aNational Movement, conductsvarious competitions with anaim to raise awareness amongyoung minds aboutConservation of Fuel andEnvironment protectionincluding practical conserva-tion tips for the conservationof Petroleum products inindustrial and daily lives, saidthe authority.

-�!('��#&�&'�� 06�5����

The Jharkhand ChiefSecretary Rajbala Verma

with DGP DK Pandey andsenior officers reached Peshrar,one of the worst hit naxalregions of the district. Shechaired a review of develop-ment schemes and PeshrarAction Plan and talked to thevillagers. Verma discussed allthe schemes with DC, SP andother officials and told that thenext 100 days are very impor-tant and we have to take it as amission to speed up the devel-opment plans.

The Chief Secretary said,“The region has become free ofnaxal effects with the effort ofthe police. Now the civiladministration has to com-plete the rest plans. For this thewhole team should work coor-dinately. The construction ofbuilding works must be speed-ed up. The helipad should beconstructed within 15 days.The DC must assure the work.”

Verma instructed that aDPR for road constructionmust be prepared under SocialStabilizing Technology keepingin view the geographical areasof the district. The DSE was

instructed to organise camps inPeshrar herself so that no childcould be deprived of education.The BDO was directed to livein Peshrar. The block officemust be shifted to Peshrarfrom Kisko. The beneficiariesof Ujjawala Yozna must gettheir amounts within 10 days.All the 4100 owners and themembers of Shakhi Mandalsmust start employment ori-ented and traditional works.

DGP DK Pandey assuredall the officials that they shouldnot be afraid of any event towork in these areas. The DPR

of the roads of Peshrar,Chainpur, Kerar, Bulbul andShahi Ghat have been pre-pared. The CS also expresseddissatisfaction on not gettingthe aim of Dhobha construc-tion in prescribed time period.

Verma on the occasionreviewed the plans of educa-tion, health, skill developmentsand welfare plans and listenedto the problems of the people.Before it she garlanded the stat-ue of the martyr SP AjayKumar Singh and appealed allthe officials to work with sin-cerity and dignity.

�"#$���!�0�&#�� -�5#�%�#5#�#&

The All Jharkhand StudentUnion (AJSU) has starting

making its strong organisa-tion in the Saria region in theGiridih district. With a moti-vate to strengthen its organi-sation, the AJSU on Mondayorganised a day conference inthe Saria in which leaders andworkers of the district attend-ed the meeting. AJSU party subdivisional conference chairedby Guddu Yadav while presentas chief guest on the occasionparty supremo Sudesh Mahtosaid in his address to the devel-opment of AJSU party is always

needed and strongly empha-sised in the organisation.

Party Suprimo SudeshMahto told the party workersand local leaders to work unit-edly. He said he is a worker ofthe party who works for theonly party as well as theJharkhand state not for any spe-cial person. AJSU is only party,which given a political platformto all youths of the state whileother party who limited themfor only banners and flags. If wewill have united in the party wewill make sure the next gov-ernment in Jharkhand and wehave to be appointed 7354party officials before the gen-eral conference to be organised

in Ranchi, who will make thevoice of the people ofJharkhand ,he further added.

The officer –bearers ofAJSU of the Saria GudduYadav, Dharma Pal Mahto,Asha Devi, Daman Thapa,welcomed the party suprimoSudesh Mahto .While all lead-ers including DeosharanBhagat, Pradeep Prasad, AnupPanday ,Dinesh Rana ,PRanjan ,Shankar Yadav,Baidnath Mahto, SantoshMahto, Madmud Aalam ,Mannu Modi, DimpleViswkarma, Virendra Yadavand others also laid emphasisto strengthen the party in theregion.

&�������!�&�� 168�56

Demanding hike in theincentive amount for con-

struction of toilets under theSwachh Bharat mission, hun-dreds of the people protestedand stopped the BDO forinspection at Kolbendi villagein Bokaro district.

The residents of Kolbendivillage under Pindrajora policestation threatened ‘open defe-cation’ in group if the govern-ment did not pay heed to theirdemands.

"Presently, Government isproviding the incentive amountof �12,000 for construction ofan individual’s toilet under thePrime Minister’s SwachhBharat mission but the villagersare demanding hike in theincentives," said Kapil KumarBDO Chas.

We are going for inspectionof the toilet construction workat the village but irked villagersstopped us while we are on theway and started agitation, saidKumar.

A case has been filedagainst one Ajay Kumar andothers at local police station forcreating obstruction in gov-ernment works, he said.

Notably, defecation in theopen was completely banned in

Chas (Bokaro) on 22December 2016 and section133 of CrPC was imposed.Amidst all Chas becomes thefirst municipal corporation inJharkhand to get the ODF sta-tus 16 February after two suc-cessive surveys conducted bythe teams of Quality Control ofIndia, Chas got the status. Thisis the result of all our efforts, itsproud moment for us, said anofficial.

Our efforts are ‘on’ to pro-mote better sanitation andhygiene to the residents ofChas. Toilets are only a part ofthe sanitation solution thoughwe are on move to tackleSewage, wastewater and solidwaste management on war footbasis, said Bholu PaswanMayor Chas.

��������������.������!�(�������1����(��

�&�(��"���$�)��#���������!� ��������������!�*�����

'��/���/�,-��� ������0-�*�,������� ,������#

1!������/� �� ��������������.������������-����-��

��)2" ���) ��++'!8)2" �' -�:!'"2' �"� �� 42�'02��+%��(� 7��2'�

2������������!�)�������������(��13��4��- �����

����� ���*��0����������� ������������ ��������

��0��7���*��0�-5�#-2�#--72-�#+�#-�5#����22�#+�

�������������������0��������������1�����������

�2 ' ��+ �"� !��!�6 �+� #����) 8�+ ' ���+'�:!'��!��* �"�"�!�

"2' �" � + ;!� �+ � *�"�!�< ��)'!8� �� "2

)!# '�- �" +�+�!" ��( 2 + "!"2 �' + -��+�

Page 5: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

��"�!� $�('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345

��(!$$#�!$3���$#-��$��+24��20#

Taking a serious note of thealleged leak of question

paper of its recruitment exam-ination, the Army on Mondayordered a Court of Inquiry(COI) to ascertain facts andpunish Army personnel iffound involved in the racket.The Army top brass also dis-cussed the issue here andreviewed steps to prevent rep-etition of such incidents.

The racket was busted byThane police in Maharashtraon Sunday and the SouthernCommand of the Armyordered its own Court ofInquiry, officials said here onMonday adding the tests atsome other centres may becountermanded based on the

findings of the inquiry.After the police exposed

the racket, the Army had onSunday cancelled examinationsat a number of centres includ-ing Kamptee, Nagpur,Ahmednagar, Ahmedabad,Goa and Kirkee, which comeunder the Pune zone.

The examinations wereheld for a number of posts,including those of soldier clerk,strongman and soldier trades-man, at 52 centres across thecountry. These centres are partof the 12 zones looking afterrecruitment process.

The police arrested 18 sus-pects, including a retired ser-viceman and a para-militarypersonnel, during raids inMaharashtra and Goa sinceSaturday midnight.

Joint Commissioner of

Thane police AshutoshDumbare had said on Sundaythat 350 students who pos-sessed question papers weredetained for questioning.

A case was registeredunder various sections of theIPC, IT Act and Prevention ofCorruption Act against theaccused, who were beingbrought to Thane for furtherinquiry. Among those arrested,nine were from Pune, six fromNagpur and three from Goa, hesaid. Of the detained candi-dates, 79 are from Pune, 222from Nagpur and 49 fromGoa.

The Thane police hadreceived information a coupleof days ago from an institutewhich conducts coaching class-es for the Army job aspirantsthat some city students were to

be given the question papers inadvance for a price. The policecaught the students and mid-dlemen from lodges and otherplaces with the copies of ques-tion papers, the officer said.

The middlemen alsoarranged fake domicile andresidence proof for studentshailing from other places so asto enable them to appear forthe examinations in that zone.The beneficiary was to payaround �4 to �5 lakh to themiddlemen, said Dumbare.Police suspect that the paperswere leaked either from thepress where it was printed orfrom the distribution centres.Police was sharing informationwith the Director of ArmyRecruitment Examinations andathe Military Intelligence wingregarding the leak, he said.

��"������#�����$����������+�������!,+��$�

������!(��$��&!����)(��)(�(.��$!$��(!)$!)��*(-)!�+�'����� ������������������������ �� ���������������- (������� ��������������������������<����� �����������(������ (������������� ���� ����������'�������������) ��������� ������������*����������������� (������!�

&��!��(!'$�!��&##$�)(2��$!�(#��&��(22��$#!�+�'����������1�����1��� ����#�-����� �������� ���������������� ���������1�������������-(��'���.�������� ���������� ��������������� ���� �����������������������������#�-����� ���- �����8 �����������'!���� ��������� ������������������'�� (�������������������������������+������8 ���!�

.&*,&%�)&0$����&#*$�&��$&���(0$��$#�(!!�+�'����� ��?KK:���� ��#�����,������-���� ������ �����(��1������������������'� ����������������(�'��(���������������������2)��������������!�1�������(�� ��.�'���-��� (*��������������((����������#������������������������������!�1��������D�����-� ���������#���������'��� (�����(������� ����!

2�,,�"����(�)���!�!�#��.%&�#�,�C>��&�$4��("#)!�+�'����� ����- (������� ���������������� �������������������������� (������� ����(����������������������+�������� ���5����������������%+5�&�����������(����B@!������ ���)�������������������������������������������������� ��������((�������+5���������� ����������������� ��������������-�����!

���)(��$&#�2#$����,$&(!�'&!�$�.&#�,&3!�+�'����� ����- (������� �������������������������������� �:���������(���� ������������ ������ ���������������������:@?/����������������( ���� ���������������� ��(�������� ���������������������������������������������-����!�

F!$*()�&)�(!��(!�)(�$)),$�&�&#)�$!)����"$1!�+�'����� ����- (������� ����������������������������������������L���������(�L������������������������7�������������5������������-����5��������������������������(�����������(������������������������ � ���!����� ������������D ��� ����(�'����������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������� ��� ������������(�������� �������������������������!

F���&'�2&�,$'�&����!8�&#,�&�$!)&#�&!1�!�+�'����� ,������7���������������������8 ���*����������������(��������(���� ����������������������� ���I���*���������� �� ������������������������������������������������(��������"��������������������!�L#��������������������������������(�������"��������� ��#������������������������� ���I��*L�����������- (������� ��1�� �����D ��� ���������1�0�' ��������(�'�� (���� ��������������������#0����������������� ��������������� �(�������� ����������� ���������(���� ��������������������������������������������������������������������� ��!

=?�%#��(2�)�$����!'�&8��#&$,�)(��$,$.#&)$!�+�'����� ������������������������� ������'� '����� �����������������'�:;����������������������������������(������ ����������!�1������������������(����������������������������������������������� ��� ��!

&#��&!&�:%()��� +24��20#

Unable to meet the increas-ing cost of its efforts to

curb Tuberculosis (TB), theUnion Health Ministry ismulling to set up a TB CorpusFund by roping in PSUs andcorporate sector. The fund willbe for financing activities likenutrition support for TBpatients, active case finding inprisons, slums, tribal areas,sputum collection and trans-port in difficult areas.

The fund under BharatKshay Niyantran Pratishtan(India TB Control Foundation)is part of the several measuresthat the Ministry is planning toachieve under the NationalStrategic Plans NSP 2017-2025,framed recently after severaldiscussions with all the stake-holders in the sector.

It is built on the successand learnings of the last NSPimplemented thorough theHealth Ministry’s RevisedNational Tuberculosis ControlProgramme (RNTCP). TheNSP 2017-2025 aims to achievea rapid decline in cases of TBmorbidity and mortality whileworking towards elimination ofthe disease in India by 2025,said a senior official from theMinistry.

Despite several measures,India continues to carry one-

fourth of the global burden ofTB with 40 per cent of its pop-ulation infected with the bac-teria. The deadly disease claimsan estimated 4,80,000 Indiansevery year and more than 1,400every day.

However, what is worryingthe Government is that thereare more than 10 lakh ‘missing’cases every year that are notnotified and most remaineither undiagnosed or unac-countably and inadequatelydiagnosed and treated in theprivate sector.

For achieving the goals, theMinistry is in the midst ofpreparing a plan to address thepatients seeking care in privatesector.

“The scheme will have suit-able incentives for the privatedoctors and patients for report-ing TB cases coupled withanother scheme to provide freeof cost medicines to TBpatients going to a private doc-

tor/institute,” the official added.He said a robust, modern

informative system will bedeveloped to monitor thenewly diagnosed as well asexisting cases of TB on deliv-ery of the drug kit to thepatient, compliance to treat-ment regimen etc.

The availability of rapidmolecular tests will be suitablyaugmented so that these diag-nostic facilities are also madeavailable for patients referredby any private doctor or insti-tute. To improve the compli-ance of the TB patients to thetreatment regimen, a cus-tomised SMS services will bestarted to remind each patienton regular basis about the timeto consume the drugs.

A mechanism will also bestarted for facilitating nutri-tional support to the TBpatients, including financialsupport through DBT mode,the official said.

����������/������-�������2 �� ��� ������������(����������(����� ��(������*��-7������������� ���������������������� ��������������

��(!$$#�!$3���$#-��$ �+24��20#

Congress on Monday movedthe Election Commission

against Prime MinisterNarendra Modi alleging that hehad violated the Model Code ofConduct in Haridwar inUttarakhand as the rally washeld without the requisite permission of the poll watch-dog.

The party alleged that dur-ing the election campaign inUttarakhand, Modi held a pub-lic rally in Haridwar onFebruary 10, 2017 without req-uisite permission of theCommission and thus violatedthe Model Code of Conduct of

the Commission. On bringingit to the notice of Chief ElectionOfficer of Uttarakhand andother authorities, a show causenotice was issued and since theBJP failed to convince theElection Commission throughits reply, the poll watchdog hasfiled an FIR against theHaridwar Unit of BJP.

“In this connection, we

would like to submit thatbreach of Model Code ofConduct was committed by thePM himself, amongst others,hence FIR should be filedagainst the perpetratoramongst others who commit-ted the breach of MCC,” theCongress petitioned. FIRshould also be filed againstHealth Minister JP Nadda and

former Uttarakhand CMRamesh Pokhriyal Nishankand other BJP leaders whoaddressed or participated in theelection rally

The Congress remindedthe Election Commission onthe other hand theCommission has filed an FIRagainst the Congress VicePresident Rahul Gandhi andUttarakhand Chief MinisterHarish Rawat for violating theMCC on the basis of a com-plaint by a local BJP worker.The Election Commission hadfiled an FIR against theCongress VP and the ChiefMinister on the ground ofdelay in concluding the roadshow.

��(!$$#�!$3���$#-��$��!$3�'$,��

Shocked over an AndhraPradesh High Court deci-

sion where a man, convictedof pouring acid on a womanfor spurning his marriageproposal, was allowed to bereleased from jail after just onemonth of imprisonment, theSupreme Court said that suchcases deserve no mercy.

Sending the man back toprison to serve the remaining11 months of his one-year rig-orous prison term, the apexBench slapped him with a fur-ther compensation of �50,000to be paid within six months,

failing which he will serveanother six months in jail. TheBench of Justices Dipak Misraand R Banumathi also direct-ed the State Government ofAndhra Pradesh to award �3lakh as compensation for thevictim, R Sasikala within threemonths.

The HC showed compas-sion to the accused lookinginto his weak economic status,the social strata to which hebelonged, and the burden oflooking after his old parents.Finding these grounds to beno justification for the hor-rendous crime he committedon May 24, 2003, the Benchsaid, "The case at hand is an

example of uncivilized andheartless crime committed bythe accused. It is completelyunacceptable that concept ofleniency can be conceived ofin such a crime. It is individ-ually as well as collectivelyintolerable."

The victim's lawyerAparna Bhatt told the courtthat the accused acted withvengeance after the younggirl's family refused to accepthis marriage proposal. Onthe fateful day, he forcefullyentered the victim's housewith a bottle of acid. She hadjust stepped out after havinga bath when the accusedpoured the contents of the

bottle on her head, causingpermanent disfiguration ofher face and body parts.

Expressing shock and dis-content over the HC decision,the Bench said, "When a sub-stantive sentence of 30 days isimposed, in the crime of pre-sent nature, the sense of jus-tice is not only ostracized butalso is unceremoniously sentto 'Vanaprastha'. It is whollyimpermissible." The Benchfurther reminded the courtsbelow that while decidingsentence, the judge must becareful about the expectationof the collective from thecourt for the society at largeeagerly waits for justice.

1������-�,���������������,,����2��,��

� ���" � # '�� - ��8' �% ��+��*!�"��8 � "! *�''( !� .�!8'"2 !�"2 )�!6�� 68'+ � !� �3% 1�"2 9$� ' * �" !� �"� �!�8��"�!���� *" + 1�"2 "2 6�*" '��&

2�����(�����������������������������!������������������(!$$#�!$3���$#-��$ �+24��20#

Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterEdappadi K Palaniswami

on Monday met PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andsubmitted a memorandumwith various demands of theState. In his first visit as theChief Minister, Palaniswamiurged for settlement of theCauvery water sharing disputeand exemption of the statefrom NEET (NationalEligibility cum Entrance Test)for medical courses.

The detailed memoran-dum also sought central fundsfor damage caused by cyclone'Vardah' in the meeting thisevening. Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister will also meet Central

Ministers Nitin Gadkari,Venkaiah Naidu, Ravi ShankarPrasad and Piyush Goyl onTuesday to discuss various pro-jects concerning the state.

On Monday evening theChief Minister hosted dinnerfor senior officers from TamilNadu cadre working withCentre.

�3����������������������������3�����������������3�����"�!��������'�4�������5�3�����$�!���� ���!�����������6�����������5�������������'�����������(������������������������������������������3������76�������������������������������������������������������'����(���"������������%� $26�$����

��(!$$#�!$3���$#-��$��+24��20#

After coronary stents, it isnow time for the

Government to put a cap onthe prices of generic and can-cer medicines, hip and kneeimplants are also on the pricesof the intraocular lenses, saidDr GS Grewal and Dr ArunMitra, former president andchairman, ethical panel of thePunjab Medical Council.

Under the umbrella of theAlliance of Doctors for EthicalHealthcare, they have written toPrime Minister NarendraModi, alleging that these med-ical devices and drugs are exor-bitantly charged, making themout of reach to the poor.

“There is a practice of spe-cial ‘hospital rate’ and the ‘max-imum retail price’, which is notonly unethical but criminalalso,” they said.

To corroborate their alle-gations, the Alliance has also

attached ‘documented evi-dences’ as to how the drugs,particularly those for cancerand the knee and hip-replace-ment implants, were hugelypriced, sometimes more than200 per cent.

And the MRP mentionedon the drugs is sometimeseven 2,000 per cent more thanthe actual price, they saidadding that the prices shouldbe fixed after full assessment ofthe cost and same should bementioned on the drugs.

�,������� ��0�/�-3�2,�,���0,������ �� ���4�/� �������0/-

$�������������(����������������������������������2�����(���'�8#�$����������������������������������(���"������������% $26�$����

�!��� +24��20#

Three institutes of IndianCouncil of Forestry

Research and Education(ICFRE), Dehradun, havedeveloped 20 high-yieldingvarieties of plant species. TheVariety Releasing Committee(VRC) of ICFRE, grantedapproval for the release ofthese varieties of plant species,at a meeting held on Monday.

The three institutes areForest Research Institute (FRI),Dehradun, Institute of ForestGenetics and Tree Breeding(IFGTB), Coimbatore andTropical Forest ResearchInstitute, Jabalpur.

The Forest ResearchInstitute, Dehradun, hasworked on ten improved vari-

eties of Melia dubia and threeclones of Eucalyptus tereticor-nis, the timber of which is inhigh demand in the industry.The released cultivars of Melia,popularly known as Dreake, orMalabar Neem, not only havea high productivity per unitarea, with an average of 34.57cubic metre per hectare perannum.

The Research at Institute ofForest Genetic and TreeBreeding, Coimbatore, hasresulted in the development offive inter-specific hybrids ofCasuarina equisetifolia andCasuarina junghuhniana foruse as timber. Similarly,Tropical Forest ResearchInstitute, Jabalpur, developedtwo varieties of medicinal plantRauvolfia serpentina.

In its earlier efforts, ICFREreleased 27 high-yieldingclones in 2010, 2011 and 2014of Eucalyptus camaldulensis,Eucalyptus Hybrid, Casuarinaequisetifolia, Casuarinajunghuhniana and Dalbergiasissoo and are in commercialproduction now. Of these, 27varieties have been released inthe past.

�!��� +24��20#

The Ministry of UrbanDevelopment (MoUD) has

proposed to increase ReformIncentive Fund from �500crore during 2017-18 to over�3,000 crore per year over thenext three years. The States andcities will have to implementfive new reforms that includeformulating of Land TitlingLaw, credit rating of UrbanLocal Bodies, value capturefinancing, moving to a trustand verify approach andimproving professionalism of

Urban Local Bodies. According to an official

statement, cities will be rankedbased on performance undereach reform category for pro-viding reform incentive.

“The ministry has evolveda new reform matrix to enableState sand cities to go beyondthe present incrementalism oftaking small steps towardsimplementing transformation-al reforms over the next threeyears, for a turnaround inurban governance, planningand finance. The concernedGroup of Secretaries in their

report on urban sector haverecommended that “After areview of the schemes over theyears, the Group felt thatinstead of an incrementalapproach, the time has comefor ushering in transforma-tional reforms in Governance,Planning and Finance,” thestatement said.

The ministry has organiseda national-level workshop onurban development onTuesday. The Ministry willalso discuss with States andUnion Territories new initia-tives.

$���������������������������6������!��*��������!����9#����

�������!���8���!������1��4�������������2 ��'"( ��� ) + "2�" +8'��) "2 � *"�!� *�-���)� �� �""�'�02��+%7!+� 2 �+ � �86��* '���( 1�"2!8" "2 ' =8���" � '-����!� !� "2 �!�� ��� ���+ "28� #�!��" + "2 7!+ � �!+ !��!�+8*"

�2 !8"��" 2���""�*2 +;+!*8- �" + #�+ �* �< �� "!2!1 "2 +'8)�1 ' 28) �(�'�* +%�!- "�- � -!' "2�� �$$>

:.�����7��������!��������������������!����������6�*�8�

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRASPh.D. and M.S.(Research) ADMISSION

For Academic year 2017-18

Admission to the Research Programme for Ph.D. and M.S. is open throughout the acad-emic year from July 2017 to June 2018.

Applications are invited at any time from eligible candidates for admission to Ph.D. and M.S. (byResearch) programmes under regular / part-time / external schemes of IIT Madras. Half-timeTeaching Research Assistantship (HTRA) funded by MHRD as well as fellowships from otherfunding agencies like CSIR, UGC, DST, ICMR, ICAR, AICTE etc. are available for those whohave qualified for these schemes. Shortlisted candidates will be called for interview and/or testby the Selection Committees of the respective departments from time to time.

Financial Assistance (Half-time Teaching Research Assistantship):

For Ph.D./Direct Ph.D./Upgraded to Ph.D. : Rs.25,000/- p.m. for first 2 years: Rs.28,000/- p.m. for subsequent 3 years.

For M.S. : Rs.12,400/- p.m. for the period of eligibility.

Candidates with B.E/B.Tech can apply to pursue Direct Ph.D. (M.S.+Ph.D.) in Engineering/Sciencesafter their Bachelor's Degree.

Meritorious M.S. scholars with CGPA>8.0 are eligible to upgrade to the Ph.D. programme in thesame department and will receive two degrees (M.S.+Ph.D) on completion of the programme.M.S. scholars receiving HTRA are eligible for enhanced fellowship after upgradation.

Opportunities to carry out Joint Ph.D. between IITM & reputed Foreign Universities exist; detailsat https://research.iitm.ac.in/jdp.

Detailed information including fellowships and online application form can be accessed

at https://research.iitm.ac.in or https://www.iitm.ac.in. Access to the link "IITM Ph.D./M.S.

Application" is available from 01.03.2017.

Applications received till 02.04.2017 will be considered for July 2017 admission.

Date: 26.02.2017 Sd/-davp 21338/11/0001/1617 Joint Registrar (Academic-RU)

Page 6: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

��3&!)�)(�)$,,�)�$,$&'$#��(2�)�$����&!')�$�.���)(�)#%�3�&)$-$#�$&!��)�$%��&!�)('$2$&)�)�$�.:�8�)�$#$���!(��#(.,$��3�)���)AAA.")'(�!()��,&%�3�)��)�$2")"#$�(2�"�!&#$!'#&��('�

)�$#$����&�F.&.&1��!�)�$!$�*�.("#�(('�3�(��&�#&��$'�/"$�)�(!��(!�(3$#��"��,%AAA��3�,,(!,%��&%�)�&)�F.&.&:�1%("��&!�)("���&!$,$�)#���3�#$�&!'��$$3�$)�$#�)�$#$�����(3$#(#�!()&0��,$���%&'&-

��!�$8��&%&3&)�1��$,$��&!)�&#$�.$�!*�2$'��"##$!�%!()$���!�)$&'�(2�,$&-$�8�.��,$&'$#��&#$�,$&-�!*�)�$�&#)%�&!'��(��!*�)(�"�AAA)�$�%�,$8�3�����)�$�.#&-$�(,'�$#����#�'�!*8��&��.$$!�"!�)"#$'�.%��",&%&����!*��%&'&-8�3��,$��)����&�!�&��.$$!�#$�(-$'�.%����-�&,�%&'&-#&:!&)����!*�

���0$�.&."&&�0(����0�.�&.���.���!&���.&��&�&&%$*��6$-$!���1����)$#��!�,&3�'���,$83�,,�!()�.$�&.,$�)(��&-$�)���"���-$!$#&)$'%("!*��&!�&0��,$��7�&%&3&)�

�(!*#$����&��$!)$#$'�!)(�&!�&,,�&!�$�3�)����)(�)$&���.:��&!'��('��&,$��(!AAA�2�)�$��('�*(-$#!�$!)��&��'(!$$-$!�&���!*,$�3(#0��!)�$�,&�)�)�#$$�%$&#�8)�$!��)��"�)�)$,,��$(�,$(2�)�$��("!)#%�&.(")��)#&�",�*&!'��

MANIPURUTTARPRADESH

5*

���������� ��� ��������� ��������

snippets.:����!��)$#��2,(�0�-&#&!&��7����������������������������.��������M�����(������������ ������ �� ��������������������+�������������M��� � ���������������������������1���������D������������%1D�&�������������(�������������(������������������(������������� ���������������� ����������(����!������������� ��������������������"-�������� �������������������������1D�!�1D�����������(��������������-������� ��(������������� ������������������������������������������ ���������������� ''��������!�+����*�������-����*�-������#����*�+��������-���������*8������������*�������8 ���*����������������������� (������������������(������!�1������*������������������� ������������$ ��������� ���!����8� �����8�������������*�����*�(����� ���� ��� �����1��������� �7���������*�����*�E���������(����������������'�!�����1D���������������������������-������ �������������������������������������������������������������������������7������������������������1D�!F

&!�&#����&-�!*�&�2#$$�#"!#������������1D�����������������-��������������'������������������������� �������������7������������������������� ������ ��������1�� ����-�����������%1-�&�������!�4����������������(�(������1D�� �������������'�-������������ ����� ��������� � ����������� ����������������1-������������������������������������������ '�����������*����������������� ���������������-�� ������������������������������� '���������������������-���� ������������������������ ������������� �����������������I�( �������� �!����-������������������ ����������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������� ������������� ������������ ����������;�(��"��� ������������������������� ����(����!� '����������������������� ������������������������� ��(������������������ !���������������������� ���������������������������������� "���I�( �������� ������1-���� '���������������������������� '����������-�!�� '�����������������������*������������������������������� ������������������������!

2&#�$#��#$2"�$�)(��,$&#�,(&!��)�,,��(,,�#$�",)�4����(����� ���(�������(���������������������� ������������������*���������������������������������� ������� ������ ������������(������ ��������� �!���������(����� ���(�������M��������������*�-�*�1-����1D��M����������(�������������������������� ��������(����!������������'����� �������1��'����1��������������'���(���������� ������������������������������������������������� ������������ ��!E������(�������,��� �������$ ����������!���������� ���� ������������ (����������'!�#��#�$ ����������������������G@�(��� ������������������������������������*F��������� ��������!����������������� ��(����������������������������7���������������� �������� �����������������������'����� ��8�����������������"���� ������������������!�E4��������������������� � �������%��� ����&���� ��!�����������������������(���������������������������������������������������1D�����������!�#���������((����#���������������������*F���������5���+����������!���������'���5��;@*@@@������������������1��'���1���������,��I��������� �!

��%��&%��!(�)(�$,$�)�(!$$#�!*�����-���������������(������ ��� ������-����=������������ ��������������� ���������������������7�������������"����������������� �����������'������-�"�������������� �!�E���������������������;*�.�'�������������!�� �������������������������'��(���������� �����������������*F��� ����� �������������� �������������������!

�!��� �65�8�75�

Sharing the dais againwith Congress vice-pres-ident Rahul Gandhi,Uttar Pradesh Chief

Minister Akhilesh Yadav onMonday claimed the SP-Congress combine is set toform the next Government inthe State. He also attributed hisconfidence to the “the pollingtrend in the last five phases”.

“The polling trends in thefive phases of the state dropample hints that SP-Congresscombine is going to form theGovernment in the State,” saidthe UP CM, while addressing

his first joint election rallywith Congress vice-presidentRahul Gandhi at Gorakhpur ineastern UP. Akhilesh said peo-ple of the state would rejectparties like the BJP and BSP fortheir “anti-people” policies.

“The SP on the other handis committed to the welfare anddevelopment of youngsters,” hesaid adding his Government hasalready made available land inGorakhpur for building AIIMS.

“But, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi must tell whenthe construction would actual-ly begin,” he said. In his speech,Rahul said, “Congress hasentered into an alliance with SP

to teach BJP and Modi a lesson.”Claiming that Modi

Government has doneabsolutely no work in the lastthree years of its tenure, Rahulsaid, “If the Modi Governmenthas done even a single work inthe last three years, then it musttell people of the country aboutit.” He alleged that most of thepoll promises made by Modihave fallen flat and are yet tosee the light of the day.

“This includes sending Rs15 lakh in accounts of each cit-izen, sending those with blackmoney behind bars and col-lecting the illegally stashedblack money,” he said.

�!��� 87-#+���5

Stressing on division ofStates into smaller unitsas “key” to all-rounddevelopment of Uttar

Pradesh, BSP chief Mayawationce again took a dig at ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav andhis MP wife Dimple Yadavasserting that their party willhave to be put on ventilatorafter the polls.

Mayawati also took a dig atUttar Pradesh Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav and assertedthat the Samajwadi Party willhave to be put on ventilatorafter polls.

“SP ke babuaa ko SP kibhabhi bhi nahi bacha paayegi(Even SP’s sister-in-law Dimple,will not be able to save itsmuch-venerated young manAkhilesh),” she said at a pollmeeting here.

Mayawati also said after thepoll results are out, the SP willrequire ventilator support to getthe much-needed Oxygen. Herretort came a day after SP MPfrom Kannauj Dimple Yadavsaid in Jaunpur, “Buaa ji(Mayawati) has been waitingwith a Raakhi in her hand. Butafter SP’s alliance withCongress, she is feeling thepain.” She also sought toridicule SP patron and said,“Mulayam Singh Yadav seemsto have been affected by putra-moh (blind love for son), andhas gone on to insult brotherShivpal. This will lead to divi-

sion of votes.”The BSP chief claimed that

most of the welfare schemespursued by the SP Governmentowed their origin to BSP rule.

“SP has convenientlychanged the names of schemesstarted by the BSP. The much-hyped Samajwadi PensionScheme was known asMahamaya Gareeb AarthikMadad Yojana,” the former UPCM said, adding that BSP willwork for a separate PoorvanchalState, if voted to power.

Taking a dig at the BJP,Mayawati said, “BJP is BhartiyaJumla (rhetoric) Party and thepoll promises made by Guru-Chela (Narendra Modi andAmit Shah) during the 2012Lok Sabha elections have fall-en flat. I urge you to give abefitting reply to this duo.”

�)��� 07�8+64

The issue of division ofUttar Pradesh has onceagain bounced back tothe centre stage of State

politics with BSP supremoMayawati raking up the issuethat had been lying dormant inthe polls till now.

“If BSP forms Government,it will not sit idle...It will divideUP into four smaller States,including Purvanchal, as pro-posed by the previous BSPGovernment,” Mayawati hadsaid at an election meeting inGorakhpur. Gorakhpur is thehub of eastern UP or Purvanchal,the area which is considered tohave lagged behind in develop-ment. Polling will take place inthis area in the sixth and penul-timate phase on March 4.

Mayawati had passed a res-olution in the UP Assembly

towards the fag end of her gov-ernment in 2011 to carve outHarit Pradesh (western UP),Poorvanchal (eastern UP),Bundelkhand and Awadh.

“Your under-developed dis-trict can’t be developed till thecreation of a separate state.Efforts in this direction will bestepped up if the BSP comes topower. This election, you need topunish theCongress, BJPand SP, whichhave beenopposing cre-ation ofPurvanchal,”Mayawati hadsaid onSunday.

The issue ofdivision of UttarPradesh had beenlying dormant tillnow with major

political parties including theBSP preferring silence so far.

Though there had beendemands from different quarters,it was the BSP which had takena concrete step in this directionby passing a resolution for divi-sion of UP. Mayawati, who hasbeen a strong supporter of theissue, had also used it to cornerthe Samajwadi Party on devel-

opment and law andorder issues, maintaining thatsmaller states could be gov-erned better. She had first raised

the issue way back in 2007.Dalit icon BR

Ambedkar, thearchitect ofConstitution,by whosen a m e

Mayawati swears,had recommend-ed division of

Uttar Pradesh in his

book “Bhashayi Rajya”.Both BJP and Congress had

supported the resolution broughtby Mayawati in the House. But,as Mayawati lost power in 2012and ended up with just 80 seatsagainst 206 seats in 2007, herdemand lost steam and the issuesurprisingly finds no mention inmanifestos of other parties or inspeeches made by their leadersthis time.

As BJP-led NDA had carvedout Uttarakhand, Jharkhand andChhattisgarh from UP, Bihar andMadhya Pradesh respectively, itwas believed that further divisionof UP might find favour with itbut the party has been silent onthe issue and understandably soas its stakes are high. The saffronparty has preferred skirting theissue in these election though iteven recently used to emphasiseon giving recognition to region-al aspirations.

Bhadohi/Mirzapur: Taking ajibe at BSP supremo Mayawati,Union Home Minister RajnathSingh on Monday said her‘elephants’ (the party’s pollsymbol) feed on currency notesand not leaves.

“Since, Mayawati’s ele-phants are being fed currencynotes instead of leaves, BSPleaders are leaving the party andcoming to us,” he claimed at anelection meeting in Bhadohi.Apparently referring toCongress vice president Rahul

Gandhi, he quipped, “The bravesoldier of the Congress caughthold of a cot (referring toGandhi’s ‘Khat Sabha’ inSeptember last year), almostfour months before the polls,and when the Assembly elec-tions drew near, the brave sol-dier jumped on to the ‘bicycle’.”

‘Bicycle’ is the election sym-bol of the Samajwadi Party,with which the Congress hasforged an alliance in the state. Ofthe 403 Assembly constituencies,the Congress is contesting 105seats and the SP the rest.

“The cycle, which the bravesoldier is riding, has beenpunctured by Mulayam SinghYadav, while its chain has beenremoved by Shivpal Yadav,”Singh said.

Addressing another rally inMirzapur, the BJP leader ques-tioned Akhilesh’s claim overdevelopment and said,“Performance should not onlyspeak, it should show on theground.” PTI

������,�����&&"�(,������������� ��������������������� ����� ����������������

��-��!��)���������*�'�������$����-��5�#�3�

&$��������������!��������������� ���"�,�.�!���

�!��� �265#�

Aday afterd a r i n gthe PrimeMinister

to join him at a debate,Samjawadi Party presi-

dent Akhilesh Yadavthrew another gauntlet to

Narendra Modi asking him for a debate on demon-

etisation.Yadav said, “I challenge the

PM to have a debate with me ondemonetisation so that the peopleknow the pros and cons of the pol-icy and how this move of the Centredevastated the economy and ruined the lives of the millions of thepoor people.”

The CM said, “Instead of going forwork to earn their wages, the poor peo-ple were forced to stand in queuesbefore banks to withdraw or change oldcurrency notes.”

Yadav took a jibe at Modi over hisbullet train promise, asking him to hurryup as he will “not get another chance” at

the Centre.Modi, the SP leader said, served as Chief

Minister of Gujarat for three terms but couldnot get a Metro there. “We have started Metrotrain (but) where is your bullet train?...It hasbeen three years now since your Governmentcame to power, where has that traingone?...Please hurry up as you will not getanother chance,” Akhilesh told an electionrally here.

“You have been Chief Minister of Gujaratthree times but could not get a Metrothere...We have started its work at threeplaces,” he said, hitting back at Modi for hischarge that UP lacked development.

Referring to the Prime Minister’s remarkon mass copying in the state, Akhilesh asked,“Are examinations being held anywhere atthis point of time...In BJP-ruled states (too)those who had leaked papers were caught.”

Taking a dig at BJP MP from GorakhpurYogi Adityanath for his remark over elec-tricity supply in the state, Akhilesh said,“There is a ‘baba’ (the Yogi, who dons saf-fron robes) in the neighbourhood who hasraised questions on power supply...I will onlysay that ‘babaji’ you can touch an electric wireand see whether there is power or not,” hesaid amid applause from the crowd.

��������-��,�.�!�������2�( ������!����,������6�� ���

�&������#&'$��

."!'$,0�&!'

&3&'��#&'$�� �"#-&!��&,

$���������!����������

4��������������;�����&������������������������������������������������� $26

,�.�!���6��7��� ����6������������.���"���8���

.&,,�&��1D��(��������������-������������������� �����1-�� ��������������������(��������������<��������������7����������������(������� ���������(�������(������������(���������� '�����������������������������I��!���������'�� ������ ������������������������ ������� ��� ������(���������� '����*�������������0��������� *���� ����������������������������������������(����!�E�����������������������������������!�1 ��1-�� �����������(�������(�������������������(������(������� '������������������I���������*F�-�������������! �)�

��(!$$#�!$3���$#-��$�� ��7�

Prime Minister NarendraModi while addressingan election rally onMonday said the SP and

the BSP have sensed their defeat.He said both parties havelaunched a new game plan for afractured mandate so that theycan have bargaining power.

“The SP and the BSP, afterthe third phase of polling, haverealised that they have nochance of winning and so they

have launched a new game, anew technique...Even if we aredefeated or our seats decrease,no one should get majority,” hesaid at an election rally in thiseastern UP town.

“I want to tell the leaders ofthe SP and the BSP to try what-ever means they can to defeatthe BJP, there is no problemwith it...But do not play withthe future of UP. It has suffereda lot in the past,” Modi said.

“You (SP, BSP) might bethinking that in case of a hung

House, you will get a chance tobargain but the people of UPhave shown you in the LokSabha polls, by ensuring a fullmajority to BJP, and in theseelections, they will ensure thatBJP wins with a huge margin,”Modi said.

“After result on March 11,we will celebrate Holi of victo-ry,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister said itis the right of the SP, theCongress and the BSP indemocracy to try to win elec-tions by doing whatever theywant against the BJP. “Whenthe polls were announced andthe SP got afraid that they willnot win, in a hurry they wentand sat in the lap of theCongress...Boarded a sinkingship. They got encouraged bymedia coverage and got intox-icated and thought they willbefool the people,” Modi said.

On the hype on the SP-Congress alliance, Modi saidsoon after entering into anunderstanding they wereclaiming they will get a two-thirds majority and there werealso reports that “certain peo-ple” will come out for cam-paigning.

������������������(������������9

4������������������������������'1:;�%0�;��$�(,

�&$������������������!���������������������������������� <������������� $26�

�=$����������� ����&��������������������������������������� $26

���������$�������������(����������1��)�����+�����������������������3�����$�������������� $26�

���������!���7���������������� ���������������������������������� ����������������%�3$�������������� ��������>���!��������� $26

����������;����������.

Page 7: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

MANIPURUTTARPRADESH

5<

���������� ��� ��������� ��������

(�$#�2&#((/�� =�25�1���

Veteran Congress party leaderand former Union Minister

P Shiv Shankar, who was oncedescribed as the second mostpowerful man in Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi’s Cabinet, passedaway on Monday after a pro-longed illness.

88-year-old judge-turned-politician breathed his last athome in Hyderabad. Duringhis four-decade long eventfulpolitical career, Shiv Shankarserved in the Cabinets of PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi andRajiv Gandjhi and also servedas the Governor of two Statesof Sikkim and Kerala.

However, Shiv Shankar,who belonged to backwardcaste, just before the polls in

2004 revolted against theCongress party and its leaderSonia Gandhi and resignedthe party alleging that theparty was selling its electiontickets to the highest bidders inAndhra Pradesh.

Shiv Shankar who studiedlaw at Osmania University wasa symbol of the compositeDeccani Culture and spokefluent Urdu apart from Teluguand English.

After serving as the APHigh Court Judge in mid 1970she entered active politics, joinedCongress party and entered theLok Sabha from Secunderabadconstituency in 1979.

After serving as LawMinister in Indira Gandhi’sCabinet, Shiv Shankar heldmany key portfolios in the

cabinet of Rajiv Gandhi includ-ing external affairs, commerce,Petroleum and Humanresources and also headed thePlanning Commisison.

Ever smiling and affableShiv Shankar was elected thriceto the Lok Sabha and twice toRajya Sabha where he alsoserved as the Leader ofOpposition when Congresswas out of power.

(�$#�2&#((/�� =�25�1���

Stage is set for another son-rise in south India as the rul-

ing Telugu Desam Party inAndhra Pradesh has decided tofield Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu’s only sonin the elections to the StateLegislative Council.

Once elected to the UpperHouse his inclusion in the Statecabinet will be a mere formali-ty and it will seal his position asthe heir to his father’s legacy.

A day after the party’shighest policy making bodyPolitburo urged ChandrababuNaidu to nominate his son,Nara Lokesh himself thankedthe party for the decision.

“Heartfelt thanks to TDPPolitburo for believing in mycapabilities & proposing myname as MLC. It is an oppor-tunity to serve people closely,”he tweeted.

Party sources say the pro-posal to field him in theLegislative Council electionsslated for March 20 came up

because there was no vacancy inthe 176 member LegislativeAssembly. “Making a memberresign to make way for NaraLokesh could have created heartburn,” a senior party leader said.

The PB has left the finaldecision to Chandrababu.

Nara Lokesh was active inpolitics for quite sometimeand had campaigned exten-sively in the 2014 electionswhich brought the TDP topower in the truncated state ofAndhra Pradesh. He also holdsthe key position of generalsecretary in TDP, which isheaded by his father and wasplaying a major role in the for-mulating the party’s policiesand programs.

!&%&!�'&-$�� ��+�#+���5

Aday after arrest of the twoISIS suspects arrest, a local

court in Rajkot sent both ofthem to 12-day police remandon Monday for their furtherinvestigations over their con-nections within the country aswell as overseas.

The Gujarat Anti-TerroristSquad (ATS) personnel nabbedtwo brothers - Wasim Ramodiaand Naeem Ramodia hailingfrom Saurashtra region’s maincity Rajkot on Sunday after-noon. The cops arrested Wasimfrom Rajkot and Naeem fromBhavnagar almost simultane-ously after keeping tab onthem for around one year.

The court granted 12-dayremand till March 10, 2017.Apparently, both brothers con-fessed of their intent of makingbombs to carry out blasts atsome religious places in theSaurashtra. The suspects weresent to remand without beingrepresented by any defencelawyer as the lawyers in the localcourt refused to represent any ofthe accused brothers.

Kochi: The Kerala Police haveregistered a case against aChristian priest in Kerala’sKannur district for allegedlyraping a 16-year-old girl.Unconfirmed reports said thepolice had already taken RobinVadakkumchery, Vicar of thechurch at Neendunokki nearPeravoor in Kannur, into cus-tody. The girl, a Plus 1 student,had given birth to a baby twomonths ago.

The matter came to lightafter an anonymous call alert-ed the district Childline. TheChildline authorities launcheda search for the girl and theyalerted the police after she wastraced. The girl and the babyhad reportedly been hidden ina secret place. The priest wassaid to be the manager of aschool near Kottiyoor, Kannurwhere the girl was a student.

Reports said the girl herselfrevealed that she was abused bythe Church Vicar, who wentinto hiding after getting infor-mation that the police werelooking for him. PNS

!&%&!�'&-$�� ��+�#+���5

In an important meeting ofKhadi & Village Industries

Commission (KVIC) at historicSabarmati Ashram inAhmedabad, THE KVIC hasdecided to increase the wage ofspinners from existing �5.50 perhank to �7 per hank with effectfrom the new financial year.

“Recognising the impor-tance of enhancing the wagesof spinners (Khadi artisans) toa moderate level and in orderto ensure that Khadi artisanalprofession provides sustain-able life support, theCommission decides toincrease the remuneration. Thenew rates will come into effectfrom April 1, 2017,” said KVICchairman VK Saxena.

The Commission alsodecides that to enforce thiswage increase through allKhadi institutions alike andrecommend withholding ofMarketing DevelopmentAssistance (MDA) to the insti-

tutions which do not imple-ment new wages for spinners.Such institutions may seekrelease of the suspended MDA,only upon certification toKVIC to the effect that theDecision to enhance wages perhank has been implemented,informed Saxena, while talkingto The Pioneer.

-#�:&%&#&:�� 86�#

The Budget Session of theKerala Assembly began on

Monday on a stormy note withthe Congress-led UDFOpposition stalling the pro-ceedings over the alleged attemptof the CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment to sabotage theprobe into the assault andmolestation of a leading filmactress in Kochi and reports onthe alleged deterioration of thelaw and order situation in thenine months of the Leftist rule.

Alleging the Governmentwas not supporting the victimbut was trying to protect theoffenders, Opposition accusedMarxist Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan of hiding the truth. TheOpposition also boycotted theHouse proceedings by chargingthat the Government could notbe trusted in matters related towomen’s safety.

The Opposition members,who demanded a fair probeinto the attack on the filmactress in Kochi on the night ofFebruary 17, had arrived at the

House with banners reading,“Where is woman’s safety?Goondas and Mafia are rulingthe State.” The protests were so noisy and intense that the Speaker was at onestage forced to adjourn theHouse for some time.

The main weapon of theOpposition was a statement theChief Minister had made lastweek after the arrest of SunilKumar alias Pulsar Suni, leaderof the gang that had assaulted theactress, indicating that there wasno conspiracy involving promi-nent persons behind the incidentand that the crime was conceivedand executed by Suni himself.

After his statement trig-gered protests in the context ofthe claim by people close to theactress that there was indeed aconspiracy behind the abduc-tion and attack, the ChiefMinister had made a U-turn byexplaining that he had neverruled out a conspiracy and thatit was up to the police to findout such matters, adding thathis statement was based onmedia reports.

2&�9&!�&��&'�� ���+�

Names of some high-profilepoliticians are doing the

rounds in connection with thepaper leak scam in Bihar StaffSelection Commission (BSSC).The Opposition BJP allegedthat some Ministers and severallawmakers were involved inthis scam.

Demanding a CBI probe,leader of Opposition PremKumar said in the Assembly onMonday, “No other enquiry butof CBI can take the scam to alogical conclusion and exposethe big people involved in it.The Special Investigation Team(SIT) is only arresting the offi-cials.” To this ParliamentaryAffairs Minister ShrawanKumar retorted, “If theOpposition has any proof of theinvolvement of politicians itshould reveal everything tothe SIT.”

With the IAS Officers’Association, Bihar adamant on

a CBI enquiry into the recruit-ment paper leak scam and tak-ing a stand not to obey the ver-bal orders from the Ministers,including the Chief Minister, itsmembers wore black armbandson Monday to show theirresentment over the arrest oftheir colleague and 1987 batchIAS officer Sudhir Kumar, whohad been arrested on Saturdayin connection with the leak ofquestion papers from BSSC ofwhich he was chairman. Theydemanded that Kumar should

be released immediately.The Association also

pledged that no IAS officerwould chair the institutions ofexam and recruitment sincethey were pressurised by thepolitical powers for favour.The SIT, which arrested abouttwo dozen people, includingBSSC chairman and secretaryParmeshwar, is headed byPatna Senior SP ManuMaharaaj who said there wereproofs of the involvement ofIAS officer.

�&"*&#��$!*"�)&�� 8608���

Almost on the verge of bank-ruptcy, the Mamata

Banerjee Government is onceagain raising a whopping�3,000 crore from the markettaking the total amount bor-rowed in the current fiscal to�32,000 crore, FinanceDepartment sources said.

The Government’s heavyborrowing comes against thebackdrop of sustained attackChief Minister MamataBanerjee’s sustained attack onthe erstwhile Left FrontGovernment for spongingheavily during its three-decadetenure that literally pushed theState on the verge of a debt trap,sources said.

Bengal, along with Bihar isthe highest borrower amongthe 16 States that will raisemoney from the market onMonday.

Incidentally, State FinanceMinister had already gone onrecord telling the StateAssembly that the Government

will borrow Rs 44,484 crore inthe coming 2017-2018 fiscal.

Curiously when theFinance Minister was asked asto why the Government willborrow an additional Rs 12,000crore in the next fiscal the ChiefMinister intervened saying,“The Government will borrowin order to meet the risingexpenses. In any case you don’thave to bother about borrow-ings that we will take care of.”

From 1950 till 2011 whenthe Trinamool CongressGovernment came to powerBengal had an accumulateddebt of Rs 1,92,000 lakh crorethat the Chief Minister hadoften referred to as a major rea-son why she was finding it dif-ficult to run the Government.

“We have to give away ahuge amount of money from asinterest for the previous loanstaken by the earlierGovernment which is why Icannot take many develop-mental measures. Still we aretrying to make the both endsmeet,” she said.

However, ever since theTrinamool came to power inthe State the Government hasborrowed a whopping Rs186,074 crore in the past sixyears.

�)��� +24��20#

The Armed Forces(Special Powers) Act— the AFSPA — is notthe medicine for mili-

tancy and it is there to “extractresources” from

Manipur, IromSharmila’s partyPRJA has said. Todrive home the

point, theP e o p l e s ’

Resurgenceand JusticeA l l i a n c e(PRJA) saidthat therewere onlyfour insur-

gent groupswhen thedraconian

AFSPA was intro-duced in Manipurin the 1980s andthe number hasgone up to 32 since.

The PRJA,which was formedby Sharmila aftershe ended her 16-year-longhunger strike against the AFSPAin August last year, is making itselectoral debut in this Assemblypolls, fielding candidates inthree of the state’s 60 seats.

“The AFSPA is not aboutmilitancy and counter-insur-gency. It is something beyondthat. To deal with militancy andcounter-insurgency, you mayneed laws and programmes butthe AFSPA is not one of them.

“In the 1980s when theAFSPA was introduced inManipur, there were only four

i n s u r g e n tgroups and in2016 therewere morethan 32groups report-ed... TheAFSPA is not

the medicine for militancy. Ithas clearly multiplied the dis-ease. The AFSPA is there toextract resources fromManipur,” PRJA convenerErendro Leichombam said inan email interview to PTI.

He said that his partywould work towards theremoval of the Act, whichgives sweeping powers andimmunity to the army in con-flict-ridden areas, fromManipur first and “then moveParliament to repeal it from allplaces across India”.

�&%&.�"��&!�� ��+�D#

Months after being sackedas the State RSS chief and

launching a sustained bitterattack on the BJP-led coalitionGovernment in Goa, SubhashVelingkar chief of the rebelSangh faction in the coastalState has hinted at a possiblereturn to the original fold.

Velingkar also told ThePioneer, that the mission of hisbreakaway faction, the ‘GoaPrant RSS’ to expose the GoaBJP’s misgovernance andbetrayal of the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh’s princi-ples in the run-up to the StateAssembly elections was suc-cessful and that it was time tore-unite with the parent RSSorganisation as promised.

“The office-bearers willtake a formal decision by

March 3 or 4,” Velingkar said.“As proud RSS sewayamse-

vaks we could not back the BJPafter its betrayals on importantissues. That would have amount-ed to trampling on RSS princi-ples. We chose to fight for pub-lic good during the elections.That was out mission. Now thatelections are over, we are prepar-ing to join the parent fold,” hesaid, adding that none of the for-mer RSS office-bearers wereexpecting to hold similar posi-tions, once they are assimilatedback into the original unit.

General Secretary of theGoa Prant RSS, Krishnarajalias Raju Sukerkar said near-ly 2,000 local volunteers andover 90 local office bearers hadjoined the breakaway faction inAugust and a process was on toamalgamate the faction withthe parent RSS.

�)��� �671�0

With Manipur goingto the poll laterthis week, all eyesare on Thoubal

Assembly constituency whereactivist-turned-politician IromSharmila is contesting againstthree-time Chief Minister OIbobi Singh. Election will beheld in the constituency onMarch 8 in the second of thetwo-phase poll.

Thoubal constituency, oneof the 10 constituencies inThoubal district, having anelectorate of 27,728, has beena Congress bastion and is thebackyard of Ibobi Singh, atwo-time MLA from the seatsince 2007.

Besides being the district

which houses the Assembly con-stituency of the Chief Minister,Thoubal has an unofficial tag ofbeing a VIP district as well.

According to residents andCongress leaders of the State,every household in Thoubalconstituency has got a job fromthe Ibobi Government, everyhousehold has all basic facilitieslike drinking water and powersupply which even certain partsof Manipur do not have.

“During regular frisking atvarious checkpoints, the statepolice handles a person with careif he says he is from Thoubal. InThoubal, the fight is not aboutwhether Ibobi Singh wins orloses, the fight is to increase the2012 margin,” a district Congressleader asserted.

Ibobi Singh had won the

seat by a margin of more than16,000 votes by defeating hisnearest BJP rival in 2012.

Thoubal shares its borderwith as many as five other dis-tricts and the general sentimentin the air is that Ibobi Singh isnot only invincible in Thoubalconstituency but also in the restof the nine seats in the district.

Apart from the candidatesof TMC, BJP and anIndependent, the constituencywill also witness Irom Sharmiladebuting in electoral politics asa candidate of her newly formedparty Peoples’ Resurgence andJustice Alliance (PRJA).

On being asked to react onIrom Sharmila contesting fromhis seat, Ibobi Singh said,”Everyone has the right to con-test. My best wishes are with

her.”At the flag-

hoisting cere-monies of someof the

Congresscandidates ofhis district,the turnoutwas hugeand all theC ongressrallies werejam-packed.I r o mSharmila isfacing a severecash crunch,so much soshe has to doher cam-p a i g n i n gon a cycle.

��������+������+���$��������;1�,�%1 �(�1=1�)���

�;�00>��,0��,��2$2� Imphal: Irom Sharmila Chanuon Monday refused to acceptthe ‘security escort’ provided toher by the State authoritiesunder the direction of theElection Commission of India.Sharmila told PTI that she hasno enmity with anyone and has“nothing to fear about”.

The former iconic humanrights figure said she does notapprove of the “VIP culture” ofbeing surrounded by armed forces and wants to bewith the people.

On the other hand,Additional Chief Secretary JSuresh Babu said, “The Stateauthorities are doing their partas the ECI has directed them toprovide security to Sharmila asshe travels alone almost all thetime.” “Security has been pro-vided to Sharmila for her ownsafety,” he said.

PTI

��"�!� 3����1�$+

2+(��00:���2��(�$20?�1��2$�@�1�1,1)�

. �����"�!!���/)���������� �#��

$�������������� ��./�2����=������������A/555�����

��!���������� �!#���"�������)�$#������������������������-�� !������-������8���=����6����������(����1������������������������������

�������� ����������&'>��. �������-��

0�����*���0��������!�����$������-+!����)�� ���!�

!���-,�-�6�������0-���2����,��--��,,���4�7�*�-- �--8

��������� �������������� ���-�������

6 &������������������������������������������������������������ �������������� $26�

2#(��$4��)�!*�#��?A?>�$#��&!0�)(�#�� ��$#�&!0�3�)��$22$�)�2#(�)�$�!$3�2�!&!��&,�%$&#

(�$#�2&#((/�� =�25�1���

Srinivas Kuchibotla, theIndian engineer who was

killed last week in the Kansascity, USA in a suspected hatecrime, will be cremated inHyderabad on Tuesday.

His family will perform thelast rites at Jubilee Hills cre-matorium at around at 1130 inthe morning.

His body will be flown infrom the US later tonight. It willbe accompanied by his wifeSunaina, brother, sister in lawand a friend. Officials of Indianand Telangana governmentwere in touch to ensure that theprocess was completely withoutany further delay.

From the airport the bodywill be driven to the family homeat Dindigul in the outskirts ofHyderabad where Srinivas’ par-ents were in deep shock. Familysources said that Sriniva’s fatherMadhusudhan Shastri has askedhis younger son, who was alsoin the USA to shift to India.

The family home atPraneet Bounty Township waswearing a gloomy look as griefstricken family members andrelatives had gathered to makearrangements for the funeraltomorrow.

“We were expectingSrinivas to visit Hyderabad inJune. We never thought he willcome like this”, said one of hiscousins. A framed portrait withtwo pictures of smiling Srinvaswas kept outside the homewith a heap of red flowers werelying on the ground as a markof homage to the young man.

(�������������������&&�������7�������������?���������������������������������'����������������������������������������������������

0 *&$ ��������������������������@���1�����������?����������������������1

:��������/�����������/��������-������;.�����.

Page 8: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

Recently, the SupremeCourt of India strucka blow for probity inpublic life when itpacked off VK

Sasikala and two others to jail forbeing abettors and conspiratorsin acts of corruption by JJayalalithaa when the latter wasChief Minister of Tamil Nadubetween 1991 and 96. Althoughthe case dragged on for close totwo decades and court proce-dures were dreadfully slow, thosewho long for a justice system thatwill make the rich and powerfulaccountable, will hail this verdictas a landmark judgement.

The Jayalalithaa-Sasikalacase is a pointer to how a corruptpolitician begins to amass wealthand then, if caught, uses politi-cal clout and every trick in alawyer’s bag to stymie the legalprocess and, if possible, renderthe justice system defunct. It alsotells us a lot about the mentali-ty of some political leaders,who think and behave as if theyare above the law. This story ofcorruption began whenJayalalithaa became the ChiefMinister of Tamil Nadu in 1991.After she demitted office,Subramanian Swamy filed acomplaint in June that yearbefore a special judge inChennai, accusing Jayalalithaa ofamassing wealth disproportion-ate to her sources of income. Theprosecution’s case againstJayalalithaa and the otheraccused was as follows:

In 1987, the total value ofassets possessed by Jayalalithaawas �7.5 lakh. In addition sheclaimed she had one lakh rupeesin her bank accounts and somejewellery. The second accused inthe case, Sasikala, was an occa-sional visitor to Jayalalithaa’shouse at Number 36, PoesGarden, in Chennai, and laterbegan living with Jayalalithaa atthis residence since 1988.Jayalalithaa described her pub-licly as a “friend-cum-sister”.The third accused —VNSudhakaran — was Sasikala’s sis-ter’s son (Akkana Maga) andJayalalithaa proclaimed him asher “foster son”. He too livedwith Jayalalithaa. The fourthaccused, J Elavarasi, was the wifeof Sasikala’s deceased brother.After her husband’s death, shetoo moved into Jayalalithaa’sPoes Garden residence.

This issue is an excellentcase study on how a corruptpolitician goes about amassingwealth. Jayalalithaa and the otherthree accused lived under one

roof and went about stashingaway ill-gotten cash into a slew ofcompanies floated by them. Thebrazenness of this operation canbe seen from the fact that dozensof companies and bank accountswere opened and crores of rupeeswere credited to these bankaccounts in cash. These fundswere in turn used to buy land andbuildings. The accused wentabout their business as if therewas no anti-corruption law in thecountry and as if there was nosuch thing as an income tax law.

We now know thatJayalalithaa did not care to fileher income tax returns fromassessment years 1987-88 toNovember 1992. During thisperiod, she was a member of theRajya Sabha, Leader of theOpposition in Tamil Nadu andChief Minister — and no ques-tions were asked. She filed herreturn only when the issue wasraised in Parliament. This is yetanother example of two sets oflaws operating in the country —one for honest law-abiding cit-izens and another for the politically powerful.

Investigators found that after

July 1991, there was a suddenspurt in the acquisition of assetsand Jayalalithaa and Sasikalafloated a staggering 32 compa-nies in the names of Sasikala,Sudhakaran and Elavarasi. Six ofthese companies were regis-tered on a single day, January 25,1994. Ten companies were reg-istered on February 15, 1995,and all their bank accounts wereopened on a single day — March23, 1995. After Jayalalithaabecame the Chief Minister, 50new bank accounts were openedand there was ‘laundering ofgigantic unaccounted cash’.

Huge credits of cash werefrequently made into theseaccounts. Pursuant to this crim-inal conspiracy, they amassedwealth to the tune of �66.65crore, which was grossly dispro-portionate to their knownsources of income. The numer-ous inter-account transfers cor-roborated massive unaccountedcash deposits being made andproperties were bought in ‘shadyand murky deals’.

Karnataka got willy-nillydrawn into this affair when ademand was made for the trans-

fer of this case outside TamilNadu. Two individuals from theState — Justice John MichealD’Cunha, the Special Judge whoconvicted Jayalalithaa and herco-accused, and BV Acharya, theSpecial Public Prosecutor whobuilt an iron-clad case against theaccused — merit special men-tion. They have done the justicesystem and the State they hailfrom, proud by the way theyhandled their responsibilities invery trying circumstances. OnJustice D’Cunha, formerAdditional Solicitor-General, KNBhat has said, “Several heroeshave emerged from the case. Thefirst was the Special Judge ofKarnataka, John MichaelD’Cunha. If money could pur-chase a judgement, the cus-tomers in this case were a capa-ble lot but the judge was notavailable for sale. He is now anhonourable justice of the HighCourt of Karnataka.”

He pays a similar tribute toAcharya. Friends of Acharyaspeak of the constant threatsthat he and members of his fam-ily had to face while the trial wasone. Incidentally, Acharyareturned to the case as seniorcounsel on behalf of the State ofKarnataka, when the appeal washeard by the Supreme Court.

Two things stand out in theSupreme Court verdict: Theencomiums that the court haspaid to Justice D’Cunha and itsdisappointment with theKarnataka High Court orderacquitting all the four accused.The court had high praise forJustice D’Cunha when it saidthat the Special Judge had been“meticulous, sensitive, vigilantand judicious” while valuingassets and the expenses.However, it said the verdict ofthe Karnataka High Court “suf-fers from manifest errors on theface of the record, both on factsand in law and is liable to be setaside”. It said the percentage ofdisproportionate assets com-puted by the High Court “isbased on completely wrongreading of the evidence onrecord, compounded by incor-rect arithmetical calculations”.

It is true that it took a tortur-ous 20 years to send the corruptto jail, but with the long arm ofthe law eventually catching upwith the accused, one can say thatthis case will go a long way inrestoring public faith in the coun-try’s judicial system.

(The writer is Chairman,Prasar Bharati. Views expressedhere are personal)�

��� �����������"������������������������������������������������1��������,���������� ������%�1,�&�������������������������'�����-����������N������*��� �������������������*���������� �� ����$ �� ������������� �����������(�����-�����"

������� � �������������������*���� �������������������������� ������������ ����"��������������������������!�-����*���������#������������������������������������ �������� �����*������������������ (������� �����������!��������������������������������������������������( �����������������*������������������������������!�#����� ��������������� "�����������*�����������*������1,���������� �����������+���������������������� �������������( ��� ���������������� ������������� ��HK ��!�+�)�*����������� ��������������������������������������� ����������( �������������:H�<(������N�������%���2��������������&� ��������!�1�����+����������0�����-�����*������������������������������� ���������� (��������� ����,���������� �������((����������� ���N���� �������������� ��������1,�N���� ��������������� ������ ���� �������������������������*� ���� < ������ ������� ���� �����������������������������������������������!�4�������������������(������O���

���� � )��������������*������� ������������������������������ ��������!�#������ ���� �����(���� � ����������������� (� ��� (��(��!� 2����������*� ����� (�������� �����(���� ����������"������������ ������� ������� ��� ����� ��� �� ���������������� ��(�������(������"��������'��!�

#�� ��� ���� ����� ������� ����� ���#�����������J�1���� ������������������������������'�����(�������������(���������� ��������*������������������������� ����-�����1�����*������ "����������(����������� � �����������!� �(��� ����� ���� ����� ���(����*���� �� ��������������������(��(�������������������� ����*��� ��(���������������� ���������'�������� ������ ��������������!�6������������*����(�����������������((����*�����������"

�������������������1,�N��������������� ������������������� ��������������� ��"������������ ���� ���� (���������������������������� ����!������������������������������������������������� ����������(����������������1,��� ������������������"�������������������(��� ������� ������� ��������'���� �����������'���� ����������!�-����(��������������(������������*��������(������� �������'����D��*��������� �������� ���� ���� ���� ������ � � ������ ���� ��������� ���� ���� ��� ��� ����������������������� �����������!�#����*�(����(�*�� ����������������������+������������������������� ���������!����������*������� ������� (�*��������������������������������*��� ��������������������*�������������������������������'����7�������������������( ��������������� ������������������������ ���������� ��� ����N�������� ������������*�������������������������������������������������������������������������!������ �������((������������������������'�������!����������������������������������������������������(������P������1,��� �������������������� ��������(�����!�

6����?@���������*��((��� �������������� �������������������(��������'�����������������!�������������������������*�,� ����'��(����� (������������� ��� ����*��� � ������������������������ ����������'��!������������

��������������������� ������!�-�����������(��"����������(�������*��������!����8���������!����������N�������� �������� ��( ���*�4�����*������������������(�����:@@A!���� ����������������*����������N��������� ��(���� �� � ���*�#����*��� ����������� �� ��������� '����������������������!�#���������������I����(� �*������������������������������������ ����!������*��������� ��������������������������*� ����������������'���� ������ ����*�������������������������" ������������� ������!�=� � ������'�(��������������������������������������������� ������������������ ����'�������������(�������������������(���������������� �*������'��( � �����!�-�������������I������� ����N������"��)��������������(��" �� �� ���������������� �������������� ��������������� �����������������������(���������������� �����M������������ ����� ��������������(���� ������"���!���������� ��� ���*������(�������������������������������!������� ��������"������< ������N������������ ������������ ��������(������� ���� ���!����(���������������������(������������������(��������������� ������ ��� �����������

���(� ����� ����� �� '� ��� ����!� ������� �������N������������(���!�4�����*������������������������ �����*�E������������� ����������F!������N�������((��!�#������ ������������� ��"��� ������������������?@����������������������� ���������� ��������(� �"���� �������������� ���*���������"�� ���������� �������!�#�N������������ ������������ ������� ������9����$ ������� ��P� ��� ����O� ������� 2�����*��������������� ����������(���"� ��� ����������������������������������� �������������������������*���(��(��)������������(�������� ������!#���� ������������������ �����������0�,�������*��������*�E�-�������������������(!�+���)(�����������'��������������������!F�������*�� ��������������������������!���������I�������� ���

����������)(�����!�#����N������� ��(�����*��������N����������������������������"��������������� ���������!�#����N�����������������������*������������������������9������ ������� ������������������������������ � �����(�����������������(�������"���������������������*����������������!������N��������� ����������� �����������!�

1 ���������� ����������� ����������������������������(��������%��������������������������������������&� ��$ ����*���� ���N�����(� ��������������������� ���'���N�� ������� �������'��(���(� �����������O������������������� ������������������������*�� ��� ��������������� ������ ���*� �����������*������"�������������(����!�4����������������� ������������������������"���������������(�������������������������������������� �������O�4����(��(��� ����������" ���������������(����'���������(�(��O�4���������� ���� �������������������� ������ � �����������O�4����������'����������������� ����������� ������������������������������O�4������(���������������� � ������������ �*��'��� ��� �*� ������� ��� ����O������������� ������������������ ����������������������������������N����������������������������������!�#�N������������������ ������������*��N��������������� ���������� ������������!�

1��������.������������������ �!����$�!����� !����������+����������1

!����!� $?('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345

��"�)���+����!/������)�$�)�� ���������6�������������������:.�����������������������������;�����������=���������������������������������������%����������������������������������!������������������������������������'�������������������������������

���-����������������"����!��� ��%�!�����"�!����������!�����!�

���������������

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Politicising hate crime”(February 27). It appears thatwords and deeds of newly elect-ed US President Donald Trumphave induced racist Americansto attack immigrants in thatcountry and those serving theirnation with H1-B visas.

There are also reports thatborder security officers andother immigration officials havebeen conducting long andunwarranted inquiries with evenlegal immigrants, with an inten-tion to harass them. It is allegedthat al l of this is happening with tacit support ofthe new Government.

It is t ime that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, whoboasts of having a good relation-ship with Trump, took up thecase of the Indian immigrantsand other professionals andsought protection for their livesfrom such racist hooligans. It isalso advisable that Indians in theUS take utmost care and avoidany altercation with anyone,particularly in public places andvarious leisure joints. These arebad times in the US.

Tharcius S FernandoChennai

� ��������������

Sir — In a welcome move, thejudiciary rightly scrapped everyattempt to extend reservation tothe Jats in Haryana. However,the resourceful and powerfulcommunity is at it once again,and threatened to observe a‘black day’ to protest againsttheir demands not being imple-mented by the BJP-led Haryana Government.

Adding on to the problemsfor the BJP Government inHaryana is the extended supportthat these agitators have receivedfrom the Congress, the IndianNational Lok Dal and the media.Strangely, these people never askthe protesters to agitate (if at all)against the Supreme Court or the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Actually, the media hasalways been comfortable withanarchy and disharmony in theBJP-ruled States. The Jat leader-ship in Haryana is jealous of anon-Jat Chief Minister too. TheState Government must talktough with the anarchists, whileworking to maintain social harmony for inclusive growthand prosperity.

Jai Prakash GuptaAmbala Cantt

��������

Sir — This refers to the article,“US sending the wrong message”(February 21) by Ishaan Saxena.No doubt, the US is theindomitable world power. It isnot only the champion of liber-ty and democracy, but also thatits sphere of influence over theworld community is widelyrealised. The firm resolve anddetermination of the USPresident to eliminate the burgeoning terrorism from theworld is well appreciated accept-ed and acknowledged.

President Donald Trumphas even challenged China’sforceful sovereignty over theSouth China Sea and its conti-guity. Its contribution to worldpeace progress and security aremarkedly acclaimed. ButTrump’s aggressive designs toban immigrants from sevenMuslim countries from enteringthe US is a breach of liberal pol-icy, which the country had beenpursuing after the Second WorldWar. It is hoped that Trump willreconsider his decision.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

***������� �������

� � � � ! � � � � � � � �

&��"#%&��#&0&��

������� �6��2�2�#�65

$-���+�9��� 4�:�,� ;$������ ���/�� ,*������� ���-���0�� ���� /�(����/�� -,�� ��� ����*��,��,�*� ,-�,�-�����,��0-�

$�,��;������,���<3���3�=�� �

��2��� /�,���*����� ,�0-�� ���0��� ����-4��,�/����-�����,�-�����4�������,�0�>0-,�����,�� �����//��--�� �� ��*���

(�� �� �����������<$-/����"������

�������-� ������,�2�/���*������������;,�� �� �1���������( ��;������-�0,������ -�,�����,��-,0��� /������

"�����������-,� ���-��� ,<���2�.�+0-������

42�+64�8+64����D�=�0�0#�����#�

+6����52��6�,#02�25#+�6�2���Q�52�75+-!

-2�,#02��#��6+0=42+��2�#--72�4�-

5�#-2��#+��50#��2+�!��#-�#-

=2���+6�252Q���02�6,��46-2�-�6,�0�4-6�25��#+��#+��2��67+�5=

����3���

+��������������.���������.���!-�6�������.�

���������������������� ��*�E�������������������P���� �'���(��" �(����F�%,��� ����:A&����1������� ��!�#� ������������(�*��������"����*�����*�������*���� ��������� ������ ������������((�����

������������� ������������������������������������������������������������ �������������� ����������������������������������'*���������� !-����*�#��������'���?G?�� �����?/B� � ��������������:@?/����������� �#���)!� .����� �� ��� ��� ���������� ��� ��� ���!� 2���� �� �� ����� ���������'��������(����������������������������������������!

7����� ������*������� ���������������'������� ��������*���(� ���"������� ������������*����������"����������(����������� � �����(R����������(���������� �������������(���������� ��������������*� ���������� �*���� ������������ ��������� ���� ���������� ��������*�� ������"�� ����������������������������� �������!�#����������������� ��������$ � '����������� ���������� ��������������� ��� �������(��������� �!

��G��'�!"����

&���������������������A��������������H�� ��A���

Page 9: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

#&*�"�'&%&,

�:�3&#��

International Mother lan-guage Day is celebrated everyyear on February 21 since

1990, after the declaration by theUnited Nations to recognisethe sacrifices of people who losttheir life for the sake of theirmother-tongue in Bangladesh.To every one of us, mother lan-guage is one of the most pre-cious gifts that we have in ourlives. Each and every languagespoken throughout the globerepresents a unique and distinctcultural heritage, melodioussongs, colourful environment,tasty food and a healthy societyto live in, where people expresstheir feelings and emotionswithout any hesitation.

The beautiful sounds ofwhich one hears, understandand gets familiar in the moth-er-tongue since the very begin-ning, has an important role inshaping our, feelings, emotionsand thought-processes. Theconcept of the mother-tongue is

a fascinating aspect of languagethat has transcended genera-tions. To have a better under-standing, this writer asked oneof his first generation American-born Indian students, Meghal.She said, “I have experiencedmany interesting facets of lan-guage and culture. My mother-tongue is English. However, myparents grew up speaking twodifferent Indian languages:Gujarati and Kannada.”

You may be wonderingwhat any of this has to do with‘mother-tongue’. She endedup speaking English, onlyEnglish, in her householdbecause her parents were notfamiliar with each other’s lan-guage. Every now and thenthey would speak to her inGujarati and Kannada and shewas able to pick up on whatthey were saying. Mother lan-guage has a very powerfulimpact in the early formationof an individual, and main-

taining the language equateswith preserving a culturaland upholding tradition.

Language is how we notonly communicate, but how weconnect to the growing worldaround us. In a reply to thiswriter’s question, Meghal said“While my mother-tongue maybe English, I still attribute all ofmy heritage and understandingof culture to my Indian identi-ty and my parents’ mother-tongue. Although English is myfirst language, and I cannot flu-ently speak Gujarati orKannada, I still consider thoseto be my mother-tongue lan-guages over English. I am thefirst native English speaker inmy family, which makes me feellike I cannot say that English ismy mother-tongue. To me, lan-guage goes hand in hand withidentity and lived experiences,and my experiences are moreassociated with Indian roots.”

According to Leanne

Hinton, “More broadly, the lossof language is part of the loss ofwhole cultures and knowledgesystems, including philosophi-cal systems, oral literary andmusic traditions, environmen-tal knowledge systems, medicalknowledge, and important cul-tural practices and artistic skills.The world stands to lose animportant part of the sum ofhuman knowledge whenever alanguage stops being used. Justas the human species is puttingitself in danger through thedestruction of species diversity,so might we be in danger fromthe destruction of the diversityof knowledge systems.”

Within multilingual soci-eties, maintaining the languagesof ethnic and cultural groups iscritical for the preservation ofcultural heritage and identity.Using one’s mother-tongue athome will make it easier for chil-dren to be comfortable withtheir own cultural identity. A

language is more than just ameans of communication. It isa repository of a community’scollective history and heritage.It also provides an identity anda focus that binds a communi-ty together, which makes indi-vidual accomplishments easier.With Hindi having a prominentWeb presence, Hindi songs inDevanagari script can be easilyfound and enjoyed. And alsobecause of the presence ofregional languages on the Web,words such as puja, namaste,lassi, mehendi, kabaab havebecome common in Americancities. On the importance ofmother-tongue, SanjeevShekhar, an Indian-Americanliving in St Louis, Missouri, says:“It allows children to knowtheir roots and they will be ableto pass it on to their children,thus securing their culture forthe future generations.”

To preserve our linguisticand cultural diversity, we must

encourage the use of mother-tongue as much as possible.Therefore, familiarity with thelanguage is seen as the gatewayinto the culture because it pro-vides the bridge into under-standing the culture by provid-ing access to literature and poet-ry, original historical texts, reli-gious texts, philosophical worksas well as music and art. Weshould always practice, speakand teach our new generation tospeak and communicate witheach other in their mother-tongue. We must not and shouldnot underestimate the power oflanguage and work together topromote mutual understandingand cooperation. We shouldtake this opportunity to reaffirmour respect for each other andcelebrate the great diversity oflanguages and cultures through-out the globe.

(The writer is a linguist andtaught at the WashingtonUniversity in St Louis,US)

������������������ ������������ ����� �� ������ (����� ���� �����������(��������������� �� ������������������������!7�������N��������"��� ������������'����������������� �������������� �������������������������� �� ������������

�����������.B���6��!����!������

�'+ ( $@('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345

�2 A��!��# +��'( 12�*2 2�� 6 � A�!� +�� "2 �86��* +!-��� �2!1� 28) ��(!���

+!� 6( ��'��"�0� �!�)' �� � �+ '�& B34� � �+ '

3� �����������

� " "2 ����'!� !8"��" �!" 6 8�+ ' "2 ���8��!� "2�" "2 �!�)' �� 1��� 6 *!1 ++!1�& �� 34� 2�� �'!!�% � " �" �*" �)����" 8�&B�!�)' �� � �+ '����4��� ����

��+��C� 6!+( �!*����8�� '� �'!- -8�"�.!')�� ����8' �& �"�

�8- '!8�'8++ '� �� (!8"2�' -��� 6 ' �" !�

��( #��8 � �-6�6 +�" 2!- !' ��

�*2!!� !' �'!- "2 #�*���"(5 ��+ +%"2 ( � �'� � �!" B2!1 "! A��!�" ��+ A"!'"% 2!1 "!

� 05 �!" "! �"'�# &�2 3!��(1!!+6!���D� !� "2

�+�!" 6!A �8 �� "2��� 1.�!8�+ 8')

�-!�) "2 - "! �� "2 * ��8�!�+ 2 '!

�!( ��������!( ��

Nothing has really changedsince the despicableNirbhaya gang rape overfour years ago. A dailyaverage of six rape cases in

Delhi alone sends shivers down thespine. How often one is left to stare atscreaming newspaper headlines narrat-ing macabre episodes, one more grue-some than the other, of not only younggirls but even toddlers brutalised byrunaway youths, many among themjuveniles, reinforcing pervasive publicperception of audacity and fearlessnessof morbid young minds, administrativeinertia, effete governance, and thebankruptcy of social systems.

The National Crime Records Bureaureveals that, among India’s cities, Delhiregistered 25.7 per cent of all cognizablecrimes in the country in 2015, earning thesobriquet of India’s ‘crime capital’, ‘rapecapital’, ‘stalking capital’. The crime datathat Delhi Police has just revealed showshow perilous the nation’s capital remains,particularly for women, who make a dis-tress call to the helpline every nine min-utes on an average. Allegations of crimeagainst women in the city include amolestation plaint every two hours, anda rape case every four hours. The city ledthe rest of the country with 1,636 inci-dents of rape in 2013, rising to 2,166 in2014, 2,199 in 2015, and marginallyfalling to 2,155 cases filed in 2016. Andnow there are rape videos on sale.

Every 20 minutes, a rape is report-ed to be committed somewhere in thecountry. What a testimonial for a nationclaiming to be the world’s largest vibrantdemocracy, besides a hoary, hallowedcivilisation! We revere our country asBharat Mata; we respect womanhood asnothing short of devi or mother. Instead,in reality, we remain guilty of horrendous

crimes against women, shameful treat-ment of the girl child, in embryo and afterbirth. Undoubtedly a complex issue, itencompasses steadily eroding filial andsocietal norms and values as much asgrowing anomaly for and alienationfrom the state. The rape of these inno-cent women is, in fact, the rape of India’ssoul and spirit; that’s how it occasional-ly galvanises men and women, young andold, in pain and anguish.

The rot runs deep. A complete sub-version of means and ends has turned thelife of Indian society upside down, to thepoint that there are acts which, althoughno doubt, criminal, are seldom con-demned by the collective consciousness:kidnappings and rapes, smuggling andterrorism, thefts and murders, violationof laws and rules, criminals becomingpublic heroes, mafia gangs loominglarge with a halo of public acclaim. Withstrange impunity, cartels of avarice andextortion grow and prosper with unin-hibited bravado, undeterred by the fearof the state or society.

India’s body social suffers frommulti-organ failures. Its numerous rud-derless youths remain bereft of any val-ues imbibed at home or in school or fromthe vicinity; indeed, they learn a lot —how to exploit and extort, how to seek;not to strive. The Bollywood bonanza onthe idiot box fuels this new-found urgeamong them to ape the celluloid hero andpossess the artefacts of fanciful lifestyle;lurid films and songs add to the malaise.Good examples are the best teachers. But,what examples do we get fromGovernment and Parliament, schools andsurroundings? The ubiquity and mag-nitude of scandals and scams hasbenumbed the people’s conscience, breed-ing cynicism and disaffection for the veryinstitution of democracy — as practised

in the country. Even khap panchayats,ever belligerent on community honour,remain inert. An image of an effete, con-fused, pusillanimous leadership endures.

The multi-layered governanceleviathan remains immune; there is noclear accountability, no swift, deterrentpunitive action. Shaken by the ‘high pro-file’ ghastly cases such as the Nirbhayacriminalisation, one believed the long armof the state and the countrymen’s con-science would work as an effective deter-rence against such barbaric acts.Notwithstanding the rape laws and con-viction process rendered stringent, DelhiPolice data reveal that only 29 per centof the cases ended in conviction in 2015.Characteristically, the cases linger forlong, each case taking an average of fiveyears to be decided. It transpires that, ofthe 17,301 heinous crimes reportedacross the National Capital Region in2014, chargesheets were filed in 5,346cases and only 919 of the accused wereconvicted. The State SecurityCommission, overseeing such com-plaints, has not met for three years.

While there is no deterrence by wayof swift, exemplary punishment for theculprits, the Delhi Government leaves anunfortunate impression of a largely nar-cissistic dispensation, remiss in providingassured remedial infrastructure such asrobust public transport, installation ofCCTV/GPS in buses, autos and taxies.Even after the police identified 2,177 ‘darkspots’, like south-west and south Delhi asmost vulnerable to crime, and recom-mended provision of adequate street-lights, most of them remain defunct ornon-existent. The judiciary procrastinates,the police is lackadaisical.

Delhi, with its adjoining areas for per-ceptible reasons, breeds cartels of deprav-ity and decadence. For some days, many

years ago, the perfidious Delhi Bagiya tan-door case was the talk of the town. Acoincidence it was that a local leader wasin the eye of the storm, an archetypalfamiliar figure strutting along in the cap-ital city, signalling that the high andmighty, the nouveau riche and the polit-ical neophyte, the tough and the strongwill get away even with gross savageryinflicted on the meek and infirm.

Bringing to the fore the travails of thePeruvian society, from which a parallel canbe drawn for India, Hernando de Soto’sThe Other Path: The Economic Answer toTerrorism, constitutes an indictmentagainst the ineptitude and discriminationof the state in the Third World. The stateas a rule legislates and regulates in favourof small pressure groups — what De Sotocalls “redistributed coalitions” and dis-crimination against the interest of the largemajorities whom this system punishes.Again, Julia Preston and Samuel Dillon,in Opening Mexico: The Making of aDemocracy, talk of the disgust and cyni-cism of Mexicans, which led to a standardformation of rescue brigades which laterspawned grassroots political organisations.

A new paradigm of public anger, theire and angst of the people, is a veritablepowder keg, more so because it is sincereand silent. This catharsis of inner outrageimplies that wages of sin will, in the end,permit no escape from retribution. Thecountry’s mute majority is jolted by theyoung living with a profound sense ofgrief, reminding them of the insight fromthe American singer, John Gorka’s famousrefrain, “The old future’s gone”. We may,or may not, yet be a failed state; with ourdecadent values, ethics, and mores, butwe can’t deny we are a failed society.

(The writer is senior fellow, AsianInstitute of Transport Development andcommentator on social issues)

��� �����!�+�������!#�����+��+�� � �!#!�)7 � 2�# *��� + - -�+5 68"

"2 =8 �"�!� �� �!" � ""� +12 "2 ' -�+� �� �� !' ��

�!" "2 �!�"� �" ��" ���) �* %12 "2 ' -8*2 "2�" �� )�!'�!8�%12 "2 ' ��� "2�" �� �'!�!8�+ +! ��!" ��'��) �'!- +�� �� !�"2!8)2"% �'!- -!!+� !� -��+ A��" + �" "2 A� �� !� "2 ) � '�� ��" �� *"& �2 ( 12! +' �-6( +�( �' *!)�����" !� -��("2��)� 12�*2 �*�� "2!� 12!!��( +' �- 6( ��)2"& �� "2 �' )'�(#���!�� "2 ( !6"��� )��-�� � !� " '��"(% ��+ "2'���% �� 1�0��)% "!���+ "2�" "2 ( 2�# 6 � 8�!� "2 # ') !� "2 )' �" � *' "&

B�+)�' ����� �! ��������

��������������������������� ������������ ���(�������� ������ '�����(�������� ���� �������������������������������������*����������� '������������������!�+��"(����������� �������� ��� �

2�����:@���� ���*�����(�������(������������ �������������������������� � ����!�4������������������������������� ���������������������N��������������������� �� �*����������������*���������� �����������R�4����������������������� ������)(�����������"'�&!�"�#�'&�

��������7�

����1D���� ������ (��������'�������������� ������ '������� ��"����������������7������������������������� ����!�������(���"�����������-�������������(�������������������� ���������N

�(� ������������������ ����!������(��������������������������'����������1D������ ��������������������������������� �����!�����-������������(������������������ �����������������1D�N���)���"������"(��������� ���������!���������'����'��������� ���� �!#����1D������������������(���������������� �����*������ ������������������������(����!�

7����� �������� �����*������-���� ������� ������������!����������������� ������� ������������������������'����������(���������(� ����� ������ �� ������������������(������� �����������"�������������� �����!�+��(����� ���(�������� ���������� ����� '���������"(��������� ���������!

2����� ������ �� ����������� �� ��� ��� ������ ����� ����� �������������������(����� ���������!������� �� ���������(�����"������������������� ��' ����(������(��(����� ������*��������� '"��������������'�����������������!����*������������������������������������������ ������#������(����� �!������������� ��������������� ������(��������*�� �������� ���(�������!����������������������(���� �����������������������������( ��� !�#���������� ��������(��������������� �����������������(��(������������ �����*������ ���������������(������� '���!��

����������� ������������� ��������� ������������������1D����� � ���(��(�����������(�( ������!��+������ ������������ '��������(�( "����������!�����������������+������������������������� ���������������� ��1D���������!����<1�����������1����1� ����� ��(�������������������������������� ������� �������������� � ����!�����������������'��� (��������� ������������������������ ����������( �(���*�������� ��������� ����(�( ���!����� ����������������������������(����� ��� �"�� ����� �������� �����#������������� ����!���������� ��������������'����� ��������������(���*������*�(����*�� �����*����(����������� �����(��� *�������� �������������� ������������������!�

��(�( ������������������������������ ���� '���!��� ��������� ���������(������������������� ������ ���������������������(���������������!�������������������(����� �������#� ����(����� �������������#���!��#�����������#�� ���������������(���*�������� ������(���������������������� ����!�#�����������������������(���*����(��(������(�������������������������������������������'�������������� ��������������������������������������((��!�

#����������������������� ��� ���������������*����������� ������������������������(����� ��������������������������������������" ������������ �!�����:@?G�0�'�-�������� �������(���� ������0�� ������*�� ������-����=����� ������������� ��!� #�� ��((������ � ���������������������������������'����������������� ������������������������(����������"(��������!��,����:@?A�������*�������������������������� ����������������������N�������������(������!#������������� ������(���������������������� ������(���������������������*���� ���� �������������� ����������(����� ���������!�

1D�����������������-������������������������������������1D������(�������������������� �!��������������������� �������������������� )�������"1D������������������� ����"������(����!�

������������ �������������1D��������������������(�������� ���(��������� ����"�������������!�-�������������� ��������'������ ��������������N�(�������� �����������(������������������������������ � ����� ��������������������!������������ ������ ������'��������������������������������������(��������� �������������� �������������(�����!�������������N�(�������� �� ������� �������������� �����(���������) ���������� ����������(���������)�������(��(��!�

6��� ���� ������������� �������(��*�(��� ������������������ � �����������(���������!����� ���������� ��������������� ������ ���� ������ ��� ���� (�������� �� ��� ����� �� ������(����� (��"��������������������������������� ������ ����������!��� ����"����N��(�( ������� ������ �� '�����������������������(��(��N��(��"�� �(�������������( ��� �������!�����(����� ���(���������� ������������������������������� ������ '��������������������(�������� �

���������:@?K����������� ������(����� ���(������!����� ��������� ���������������������������������������!

%����$���������������"������������&

Page 10: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012��0345 -!� ( E$

� !� "2 ' ��!�� �!' �!" 6��1�� "�A �!�.*!-�����"& � !�"2 !6: *"�# � !� "2 + -!� "���"�!� 1�� "! ' +8* ��+ ��-���" ��!�(-�"(& � +!�<"� ��+�� 6 *!-��) � *��2� ���(�" - �-- +��" �(& � � ��+��6 *!-��) � ��.*��2 *!�!-(

������� 7������� ���� 4������

�� � ' * �" !� !8' � !�� �� "2 + # �!� + 1!'�+ �1�"*2 !�� "2 �'-!6�� +�"�& �" �� -( �"�-�" +

)8 �� "2�" @$ � ' * �" !� "'�# �� '��'!- - ')��) -�'0 "� �1�"*2 !��"2 �' -!6�� +�"�& �2 ( )! �!' �!*����7 *�'+�% "2 ( )! �!' "2 � �' �"1�.�� ��!"% "2 ( 1��" �!' "2 -� �# �"! ) " "! "2 �' 2!" �& F2�" 2�# 1

+!� "! !8' ��+8�"'(G �2�� -8�" �"!�

�����7 ���� ����� 7�����

3!'��55���!#�"#!+=�??

�&'�"�"'&!��&�((�� +24��20#

As the balanced funds aregarnering investor’s atten-

tion amidst flip-flop in thestock market scenario, retailinvestors with a low-riskappetite can look at balancedfunds with dynamic asset allo-cation. Most of such fundshave been observed that theycan give maximum returns inthree or five years of duration.Such funds, including ICICIPrudential Balance Fund givingthe highest returns, also offerthe investors the benefit ofequity as well as debt andcombines then into a singlefund, to meet the investor’sneeds, according to moneymanagers.

Betting big on these bal-anced funds, they feel thatsuch type of funds offer greaterstability, balanced income andcapital appreciation. Because,equity levels in a balancedfund are generally maintainedbetween 65-70 per cent, whilefixed income between 30-35per cent which is based on thefund manager’s assessment ofmarket valuations.

When asked whether bal-anced funds see higher alloca-tions to equity, Pankaj Mathpal,Director of Optima MoneyManagers observes that ICICIPrudential AMC uses an in-house price-to-book value(P/BV) model to decide theequity levels. “In this model,current market levels are com-pared to the fair value range todetermine under or over valu-ation of the market. A lowerprice to book value than the fairvalue range triggers an increasein equity levels and vice versa,”says Mathpal.

Over the last one year, bal-anced funds have seen steadyinflow of funds into this cate-gory with average monthlyinflows at around �1,700 crore.The assets under management(AUM) of the category wit-nessed a significant increase of

over 54 per cent in the last oneyear alone. The AUM as onDecember 2016 stands ataround �64,954 crore, accord-ing to report by Association ofMutual Funds in India (AMFI).

However, it has beenobserved that equity as anasset class tends to outperformseveral other asset classes in thelong run. There may be a caseof inconsistent returns in thenear term but it is often saidthat when one is planning forlong term goals, investorsshould opt for equity orientedfunds over traditional invest-ment options.

A report by mutual fundhouse Value Research showsthat four balanced fundsamong the top ten show thehighest returns for the last 1-year, 3-years and 5-years cate-gories, where ICICI Prudential

Balanced Fund leads the race.However, not every investor iscomfortable with the marketvolatility that hits the Streetfrom time-to-time. As a result,mutual funds have an offeringin the form of balanced fundsfor such investors. Balancedfund offers an investor all thequalities of equity orientedfund while being more con-servative as it invests in bothequity and debt. While equitieshelp in wealth creation, debtoffers the required stability inreturns.

When compared the bal-anced fund returns with pureplay equity and dynamicfunds in last one year andthree years, experts say that itwould be unfair because theequity allocation in each of thetype of fund is different.Mathpal, however, points to

the fact that the largest AMCin the country has multiplefunds which work on thedynamic asset allocation prin-ciple but have varying levels ofequity. For example, ICICIPrudential Equity IncomeFund has equity allocation of20-40 per cent while ICICIPrudential BalancedAdvantage Fund has 30-80 percent of equity followed byICICI Prudential DynamicPlan where equity portionranges between 65-100 percent. “Hence, it would beunfair to compare each ofthese with pure equityschemes which will alwayshave an equity allocation of80-100 per cent,” he says.

In terms of returns, Matpalopines, “The benchmark indexmaintained by Value Researchfor the balanced fund catego-ry (VR Balanced Index) hasgiven returns of 11.34 percent in three years and 10.02per cent in five years (CAGRbasis). For the same duration,ICICI Prudential BalancedFund has given returns of22.02 per cent and 18.92 percent respectively.”

� ���� �� ���������� �.��� ����� ) �. � ��5�2��5 �'2��. � ��5�2��5. � ��5�2��5� . � ��5�2��5

5�� �������=��S�T��� ;�������?H!K? ;���������?H!?B ;�������?A!HK ;�������?A!H?B�������:@!:@ B���������?A!A@ B�������?K!G: B�������:@!;;?�������:B!AH ?���������??!G@ ?�������?B!/; ?��������?K!B/

)&�����A���������������+

(���2� 3���45��

������������������������������!�����1���������'�6�6�6�$��������������

�"�.&��� Sebi has been justly“harsh” with those threateningthe integrity of capital marketsand is not “shy” about it, the out-going chief UK Sinha said todayas he favoured uniform treat-ment while acting against laps-es irrespective of the corporatebeing “big or small”.

As the regulator makesefforts to protect the interest ofinvestors and safeguard the mar-kets from manipulations, Sinhasaid, a new set of norms are beingworked out to curb misuse ofsocial media as also looking atslapping higher penalty for mis-use of high-speed algo trades.

Sinha, who would bedemitting office on March 1 afterbeing at the helm of theSecurities and Exchange Board

of India (Sebi) for six years, sentout a stern warning that actionwould be taken against violators.

In his last press conferenceas Sebi chief, Sinha said Sebi hasworked hard on “cleansing ofmarkets” and all potential instru-ments of manipulation, includ-ing defunct regional stockexchanges, have been closeddown.

A major effort has been toensure “uniform treatment” foreveryone and also promote com-petition, Sinha said and men-tioned that around 345 compa-nies have been delisted.

He said: “The idea is that ifwe see that there is some entitywhich could be a potential threatto the integrity of the market, wehave acted very hard on it.

“I have read comments andI am aware that there are com-ments that Sebi has been veryharsh in this period. Well wehave been. I don’t think we willfeel shy about saying that.

“Wherever we have foundthere are aberrations, violationswe have taken action. I am surethis has given comfort not onlyto domestic investors... But alsoFPIs.”

With regard to algo trades,the outgoing Sebi chief said theregulator is looking at imposinga bigger penalty for misuse of thesystem and is also “following up”on full implementation of direc-tions it issued in the NSE case.

While emphasising thatIndia is one of the very few coun-tries which has some mechanism

for preventing misuse of algotrading, Sinha said the regulatoris reviewing whether the penal-ty for misuse should beincreased.

As he completes his longtenure, Sinha said one significantregret is that not even one RealEstate or InfrastructureInvestment Trust could get list-ed during his tenure, though heexpects this to happen withintwo months. A new set of regu-lations is being planned to keepa tab on misuse of social and dig-ital media platforms for “mis-guiding investors” with falsepromises of high returns.

Attempts of the watchdogfor putting checks on socialmedia being used to lure gullibleinvestors have been criticised in

some quarters.“Sebi’s attempt has been not

to allow misuse of social media.That is our limited task,” he said,adding that if bulk SMSes arebeing sent guaranteeing assuredreturns, then the regulator is notcomfortable with it.

“Unfortunately, a bogey ofcurtailment of freedom of speechwas raised but it’s for you todecide if checks against mis-guiding investors and falselyassuring them of high returns iscurtailment of freedom ofspeech... After these commentshave been received, we are re-looking into the matter,” headded.

On the Government’s moveto impose 10 per cent Long TermCapital Gains (LTCG) tax relat-

ed to purchase of shares inunlisted entities, Sinha said it wasa good move but there needs tobe more clarity.

While mentioning that he isleaving with good memories,Sinha said that one of his sig-nificant regrets is that he couldnot see a REIT or InvIT beinglaunched during his time.

“I was hoping and hopingthat I will be able to see it... I amsure that in less than two monthsfrom now, the first InvIT will belaunched. This is the feedback Iam getting from the partici-pants...,” he said.

While emphasising that thereason for no InvIT or REIT get-ting listed is not due to Sebi,Sinha sought to put the onus onother regulators.

!$3�'$,����State-owned Oilan d Natu r a l G a sCorporation (ONGC) mayacquire India’s third-biggestfuel retailer HPCL in anabout �44,000 crore ($6.6billion) deal as part of theGovernment’s plan to createan integrated oil giant.

Fo l l ow i ng up onFinance Minis ter Ar unJaitley’s Budget announce-ment of creating an inte-grated oil company, India’sbiggest oil and gas produc-er ONGC may buy all of thegovernment’s 51.11 per cents t a ke i n Hi n du s t anPetroleum Corporation Ltd(HPCL).

This will have to be fol-lowed by an open offer toacquire additional 26 percent from other sharehold-ers of HPCL.

“ The Government islooking at creating an inte-grated oil company and theidea is to merge an oil pro-ducer with a refiner,” a topsource said.

There are only six majorcompanies in the sector -ONGC and Oil India Ltdbeing the oil producers,Indian Oil Corp (IOC),H P C L an d B h ar atPetroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL)in refinery business andGAIL in midstream gastransportation business.

The rest such as ONGCVidesh, Chennai PetroleumCorp (CPCL), NumaligarhRefinery Ltd and MangaloreR e f i n e r y ( M R P L ) arealready subsidiaries of oneof these six PSUs.

“So, the options are verylimited. One option is tomerge refiners HPCL andB P C L w it h ONG C and

merge IOC and OIL. Nowthis would create two largevertical ly integrated oi lcompanies. But this wouldalso mean l imit ing thechoice for consumers to justtwo companies for buyingfuel,” he said.

The possible way out isto merge HPCL with ONGCwhile keeping BPCL sepa-rate. BPCL already has aflourishing upstream arm inBharat PetroResources Ltdwhich can be strengthenedfurther.

“This way consumerswill continue to have threef u e l re t a i l e r s i n IO C ,ONGC-HPCL combine andBPCL,” he said.

HPCL will add 23.8 mil-lion tonnes of annual oilrefining capacity to ONGC’sportfolio, making it thethird-largest refiner in thecountr y af ter IO C andReliance Industries.

ONGC already is major-ity owner of MRPL, whichhas a 15-mt refinery.

The source said ONGCbuying HPCL will requiretwo sets of Cabinet approval- one where the governmentapproves sale of its all orpart of its 51.11 per centstake to ONGC, and theother for allowing ONGC to

spend the money on stakebuy.

C ons i d e r i ng t o d ay ’st r a d i ng pr i c e o f � 5 6 1 ,ONGC will have to pay theGovernment �29,128 crorefor 51.11 per cent stake. Itwill then have to buy anoth-er 26 per cent from theopen market for �14,817c rore , t a k i ng t he tot a lacquisition price to about�44,000 crore.

The merger will helpthe world’s third-largest oilconsumer better competew i t h g l o b a l m aj or s i nacquiring foreign assets.

More than 12 years aftera proposal to merge oilPSUs was first mooted bythe then oil minister ManiShankar Aiyar, Jaitley inhis Budget for 2017-18 pro-posed to “create an inte-grated public sector ‘oilmajor’ which will be able tomatch the performance ofinternational and domesticprivate sector oil and gascompanies”.

The behemoth so creat-ed will not just competeglobally, but withstand oilprice volatility by using prof-its the refining businessmake in low oil prices tomake up for loss es inupstream and vice versa. �)�

2���� $����+�����!��6 ��� /��!�'������������! �

$)=��-�.���C������������������;(�%���D*B*������ �)� � 1�5�206+�

Most regulators still live in“analogue world”, India’s

telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittalsaid on Monday, nudging them toallow consolidation while under-lining that a large number of oper-ators does not ensure greatercompetition.

Large countries only needthree service providers whilesmaller nations could be coveredby two carriers, he said.

The comments come daysafter his company, Bharti Airtelannounced acquisition ofNorwegian company Telenor’sIndia unit. Also, its smaller rivalsVodafone and Idea Cellular areconsidering merging.

“Governments have got itwrong for too long. Regulatorshave always felt giving out newlicences means more money forthe Government and more com-petition for the customers. It’s quitethe contrary,” he said delivering akeynote address at the MobileWorld Congress here.

The Airtel Chairman said onedoesn’t want a situation wherethere are one or two “healthy”operators, while another similarnumber struggle while other“three or four are in the ICU”.

“You really want a few sus-tainable solid operators, who canput out the investments that arerequired to deal with the newtechnologies, demand of data, thespeeds that you want. It’s extreme-ly important that the regulators re-calibrate demand,” he said.

Mittal cited examples fromthe US and Europe and said theseissues are of concern to the tele-com industry globally.

“In Africa, again and againwhen I meet regulators and min-isters, they talk about issuingnew licences. The time for alicence and 500,000 base stationscreating a value is over. You can

give as many licences as you wantbut please allow consolidation,” heurged.

He expressed delight thatIndian government is comfortable

with the country having fiveoperators now, from 12 a few yearsago.

“Probably it will be down to4, let’s see where it ends up,” hesaid.

Telecom Secretary J S Deepakhad said yesterday that the freshround of consolidation unfoldingin the Indian telecom market islikely to yield five major playersensuring “enough competitionbut not fragmentation of spec-trum”.

Most competition and com-munications regulators still live inan “analogue world”, Mittal said,adding that they need to realisethat more operators does notmean more competition.

My opinion to all regulatorsaround the globe is have few solidoperators and encourage consol-idation,” he said, adding, it isimportant that players get a rea-sonable return on their invest-ments. Mittal also made a refer-ence to the high tax rates for thet-elecom industry.

“...Spectrum is still veryexpensive, the taxes, duties... allthese issues put together load ourindustry 30-45 per cent taxesdepending on which part of theworld you are in,” he said.

Mittal, who is also the GSMAChairman, said the operatorsneed to come together to buildcommon infrastructure.

“The return on capitaldeployed is fast coming down,” hesaid. “In countries like India, youare looking at low single digitreturn on capital employed. Youmight as well put the money in thebank and get a decent return andgo out and play golf rather thanspend this 400 billion a year onhard capital expenditure that youdo.”

He regretted that the onlytime people or customers remem-ber operators is when there is calldrop or speed of data session.

�)��� 06+�6+

India has potential to growfaster and plans are under-

way to reduce poverty andcreate jobs in rural areas,Finance Minister Arun Jaitleysaid on Monday, even as heruled out the country becom-ing totally ‘cashless’ immedi-ately.

“One of the reasons fornote ban was tax non-com-pliant. One of the objectivesof the demonetisation was toreduce and eliminateanonymity. I don’t see Indiabecoming a cashless systemimmediately. I see Indiabecoming less-cash econo-my,” Jaitley told the newsagency here.

The Finance Minister,who is meeting topGovernment officials andbusiness leaders here, fur-ther said the GST regimewould also make generationof cash more difficult, besidesmaking the taxation systemmuch more efficient.

He hoped that the GSTwould be implemented byJuly 1.

On the Centre’s efforts tomove towards digitalisationand cash-less regime, he said,“Major business, propertytransactions, salary payments,and school fees will be donethrough cash-less system. Willit be totally cash-less? I don’tsee it happening immediate-ly.”

Talking about retrospec-tive taxation, the FinanceMinister said the Governmenthas decided not to resort tosuch measures and the exist-ing disputes are being sortedout either bilaterally orthrough the judicial system.

“India still has the poten-tial to grow at a higher ratethan today. A series of actionis needed to reduce poverty inthe rural areas. We have

planned several programmesfor rural India coupled withmeasures to create jobs,”Jaitley said.

“Today, India is one of themost open economies of theworld. While the world isturning protectionist, India isopening up more,” he added.

On the Goods andServices Tax (GST) roll-out,the FM said, “The firstrequirement is constitutionalamendment, the law has beenpassed unanimously and bySeptember 15, 2017 the cur-tain will be down. We haveresolved most of the criticalissues. Legislations have beendrafted. Two weeks ago, weapproved the first draft. ByMarch first week, the seconddraft will come up. Parliamentwill be resuming from march9.”

The Finance Ministersaid, “Despite teething prob-lems, hopefully GST willcome up for implementationby July 1. The entire processhas to be completed bySeptember 15. At themoment, it is the biggest taxreform since Independence.Once implemented, it will befar more efficient tax system.The quantum of taxation willgo up. GST will make gener-ation of cash more difficult.”

Defending the govern-ment surprise move to banold �500/1,000 notes in lastNovember, Jaitley said “one ofthe reasons for note ban wastax non-compliant. One of theobjectives of the demonetisa-tion was to reduce and elim-inate anonymity... Today thereis much greater support forany reform in India.”

On trade deal with theUK, the FM said “in my dis-cussion with my counter-part here, he clearly con-vinced me that Brexitshould not be confused withprotectionism”.

3�'����)��������"���������!��+�������!���������!��������

�!��� +24��20#

Country’s largest telecom-munications services pro-

vide Bharti Airtel on Mondayannounced removal of allroaming charges for outgoingand incoming calls as well asSMSes and data usage withinIndia as it takes on competi-tion from new comer RelianceJio.

India’s largest mobilephone service provider alsosaid international call rates willbe cut by up to 90 per cent toas low as �3 per minute anddata charges by up to 99 percent to �3 per MB across pop-ular roaming destinations.

In a press statement, ‘Airteldeclares War on Roaming’, thecompany said the move willlead to “death of NationalRoaming” from April 1.

Also, it said, there will beno bill shocks while roamingoverseas – daily billing will beautomatically adjusted to theprice of basic one day packeven for customers who don’tbuy a roaming pack.

“With this, Airtel mobilecustomers will be able to carrytheir numbers across Indiaand the world and stay con-nected all the time withouthaving to worry about highcall/data charges,” it said. “Billshocks will now be a thing ofthe past.”

1��������-�����-����������������/�����

�!������!����)���� �� �������7�8���������!�"��!��+!���)�$����$��9�

�)� ��4�-#+��6+

Counterfeit goods, software piracy and thetheft of trade secrets cost the US economy

as high as $600 billion a year, says a privateAmerican watchdog which labeled China as the“world’s principal IP infringer”.

The theft of Intellectual Property (IP)remains a grave threat to the United States dueto lack of legal enforcement and nationalindustrial policies that encourage IP theft bypublic, quasi-private, and private entities,according to the latest report by the Commissionon the Theft of American Intellectual Property.

“We estimate that the annual cost to the USeconomy continues to exceed $225 billion incounterfeit goods, pirated software, and theft oftrade secrets and could be as high as $600 bil-lion,” the report said.

“It is important to note that both the low-and high-end figures do not incorporate the fullcost of patent infringement—an area sorely inneed of greater research. We have found no evi-dence that casts doubt on the estimate provid-ed by the Office of the Director of NationalIntelligence in November 2015 that economicespionage through hacking costs $400 billion peryear,” it said.

At this rate, the US has suffered over $1.2trillion in economic damage since the publica-tion of the original IP Commission Report in

2013, it said.In 2015, the US imported counterfeit and

pirated tangible goods valued between $58 bil-lion and $118 billion, while counterfeit and pirat-ed tangible US goods worth approximately $85billion were sold that year worldwide, the reportsaid.

The proliferation of pirated software isbelieved to be a much larger problem in scopethan statistics suggest due to the ease of down-loading software, ubiquitous use of softwareacross industries and countries, and inadequatesurveys.

The value of software pirated in 2015 aloneexceeded $52 billion worldwide. Americancompanies were most likely the leading victims,with estimated losses of at least 0.1 per cent ofthe $18 trillion GDP of the US, or approximately$18 billion, the report said.

On China, the report noted that theCommunist giant, whose industrial outputnow exceeds that of the US, remains the“world’s principal IP infringer”. China is deeplycommitted to industrial policies that includemaximising the acquisition of foreign technol-ogy and information, policies that have con-tributed to greater IP theft.

“IP theft by thousands of Chinese actorscontinues to be rampant, and the US constant-ly buys its own and other states’ inventions fromChinese infringers.

� �!������ ��:)����/��"��!��"������!���!���;����$��(��)��� ���

#�4�-�6�#+���+��6�#+������#�4#00�12��102��6-22�#�!!!�#����-752�����#+�02--���+��46��6+�-,56��+64*��2�,#5-��#+.#��4#00�12�0�7+�2�!��#-

#-��2�,22�1��8�#�����2��#+��,56���2��5�#�#��+�-

-21#�67��6#+���#2,�78�-#+�

Page 11: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345 -!� ( EE

6���7

2�������������*�����!��������������������� �������� �����������6�����,�������B�6���������) 6,6+���������������������0$����2����$�������B�������������&����������&����+�%�2����������������������*���������C.������������������D����������( ,������������������������������������������������ 6�#��������'*���E� ��������'���!������������'�#����F��������������*�������!�����%�2���*����������������������&����������;�'�������)$�������+'� 6������������������� ��;� �������'�������)4�+'� 6�5�$��������'� 6,6'� #�"����'�������) (&+'� 6���������������������������#��������%�2���������������������������������%�2���*����������������������������������������������;����������������������7�����%

��������������������������!�������������'�&������ ��������������������7����������������02�����������������������B����������������!�������%�����������������������������������������������������������������������%�"��#�&�����!������'�&��'�&������ ������'����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������B������!�����%�"������������$������2�����'�$��������'�&������ ������'�������������6����B����������������������������������������8������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������%�$����&������&������'���������8��������������'������������������������������������������������������������������8���������������������!���������������������������!���������������������������%�4������������������������������7������������������������?���������&������"���������������������������������������������������������!�����������%����#�������'�8��������������������'���������������������������������<��������������'�"���������#�����!�'���������������������������%

"��3"�������'"�������� ������'&�,$8�������������������������������������������6���!�����8?��������� �������� ��������������6�����������8��������&������%$����#������&����&������'� �!��������4����������������������������������������"�����������������������������;�2�����'�$'�������%

2�������������&�������������������8��������)6����������������+'��������"���������������������������������������������������������0=������������������7:.-CB'���#����!��������4���&�����'���4��������������%

�#(-�'�!*��"�$#���$��&,�)%�)#$&)�$!)�)(�#$)�#$'��!�"#$'��$#�(!�����2-#����(�������� ���������������������0��� ��J�2�(�������*���������#������������%������������ ���?A?������������2-#����(����������������?H���,��*�:@?A����8� ������������((����������(��������- (���-(� ���������������������������#�� �����������!�������������-�����%#���(������������&�����0��� ��J�2�(�������*���������*�2-#�*1����� �����������*� �����������������!�������������#�� ������������J��������(� ���������������"�� ������ ���,� ������1����������(�����������?:@�(����� �!�+��*��������(�������������((���������(��� �(��*�)������������� ���������- (���-(� �����������������%--�&������������#�� �����������!�2-#�������(������-� ����-� �����������������(�������� ��(������������ ������ ����������������'����������������� ��������������������������1�������������������������� �������(����������� ��*��� '����*��������� !������2-#�� ���((��������� ������S���������������������?@���������(�������������(�����!�������(������������������� (�����:?*@@@���������������������������������� ��� �� �����������������������*� ���������2-#�� �!������ �������((�������������A!HB���'���� �������������������������� ��������� � ����*�������������� ��:!?B� ������������ �����������'���!����������*����������������� ����(�( ����������2-#�- �����������������H!:H� ����!�2������� �������� �(��������?K;:*�����2-#����(�����������*�������*����� (�?;?��(�����*�?G/AS?;K����(��������S#-��7����*�H?B�1��� �S����6��� �������/:�5�����������- �"5������S�����������6��� ��!

�������4��!�8������������������)�48�+��������������������������������2���:G������������������������������6����%� ����&����'��"'��48������!�����������������������������������&������$�����'�3����������������������'����������������������%�&�����������'����������������������$������&�����8��������������������������������������������'������������������������'����7���������!������������������������������6����

&&��������������� ����$�������������<����������� �����������&������������������'��������������(���'�2�������������:D������:H��'*������'�:.-C%�*�������&&������������������������������&������(����������!������������������������������$�������:H���*������':.-C%�&&������������������$������������������ ��������������<����������������#�������&������������� ������������������������%&&�����������!���������������������������������(������������6������������������������������������������������%

�!��� +24��20#

The Government will bringout a new policy for the

hydro power sector next fiscalto boost this clean source ofenergy, a senior official said onMonday. “We are working ona New Hydro Policy for quitesometime. We will do (bring)it next fiscal,” Power SecretaryPK Pujari told reporters at aTERI event here. The new pol-icy also seeks to bring largehydro projects at par withsmaller ones in terms of avail-ing various benefits.

At present, small hydro pro-jects of up to 25 MW capacitiesare considered as renewableenergy initiatives and are eligiblefor various incentives by theGovernment. Developers of largehydro power projects would geta big boost if the distinctionbetween small and large hydroprojects is removed. Of the314.64 GW installed power gen-

eration capacity, 44.18 GWcomes from large hydro projects(above 25 MW) and 50.01 GWfrom other renewable powergeneration capacities as ofJanuary 2017.

India has set an ambitioustarget of adding 175 GW ofrenewable energy capacity by2022, which includes 100 GW ofsolar, 60 GW from wind, 10 GWfrom bio-power and 5 GWfrom small hydro-power (up to25 MW capacity each). Onenergy efficiency in buildings,Pujari said, “SPARSH is a bril-liant initiative to integrate green

technologies for efficient greenbuildings. This would chart theway forward for all the futuregreen buildings and addressthe issue of energy security andenergy efficiency as well.”

“SPARSH is an effort byTERI (The Energy and ResourcesInstitute) to bring an economi-cally viable and structurally soundgreen building option to themasses. He also said that whilethere is a need to scale up the pro-duction of houses using thistechnology, the demand can onlybe generated through a shift inthe mindset of the people.”

=�����������!��.�� ���.��E��������"�(�8���

������ �� � 6'������" ���"��"�# "!��" )'�" )' � " *2�!�!)� � �!' ���*� �" )' � 68��+��)�& �2��1!8�+ *2�'" "2 1�( �!'1�'+ �!'��� "2 �8"8' )' � 68��+��)� ��+�++' �� "2 ���8 !� � ')(� *8'�"( ��+ � ')( ���*� �*( �� 1 ���F�� ��������� �� ��4���

3����������������3�����"�!��������'4�����������3�����$�!���� ���!������'����4�����;������������������������������������ 0��;������B�)4����+� ���������������:.����������������������������������������� 6�����4�������������'���������'�(���"����%����������5��������"�������'�43"�,'�"�����!��#�����)6 &+���������������!��� ������������%�"�&���������=����'�$��!���#�����=�������#�"��!��������������������������� ����������������������������������%�

NEW DELHI: Chairman, SAIL,PK Singh reviewed the marketingperformance of the company.This was part of a series of inter-actions held with various units ofSAIL for improving the overallperformance and increased cus-tomer focus.

PK Singh empha-sised the need forhigher levels of cus-tomer engagementand increased pro-portion of valueadded, ready-to-use steel materi-als to be a part of the co’s productbasket. While broadly outliningthe way forward for the market-ing team, Chairman SAIL, said,“The customer requirements areevolving fast, in these times ofready-made niche products weneed to anticipate their require-ments and look into customisedproducts suiting their needs.”

Enthused with the guidance pro-vided by PK Singh, the marketingteam will be preparing a product-wise detailed plan for increased lastmile value addition which willenable the end consumers to sig-nificantly reduce processing at theirend. This value addition is proposedat locations both inside and outsidethe steel plants.

The meeting was a precursorto the Annual Business Planmeeting of SAIL, which is organ-ised to finalise targets and goals forthe company in the coming year.It is noteworthy that during thepast one year, Chairman, SAIL hasbeen visiting and interacting withthe marketing setup across thecountry to further streamlineprocesses and services to makethem more customer-centric.PNS

6���������'��+���������������!�"���+������#��/

&���������6������ �����������������������)&6 +���������������--���&���������"������������!�������������������������I��� �������!��"����������������) "�+��������� ��%�2������������������!��������0"���������� ����������������������B%&������5�"������������!�����!�����������J�����������������?�������������������������������!�����������'���������������������������������%�2����!���������������������������!���-..����������%� ����&����'���������'�&6 �&������5"��������������������������������������������!���%�4������������������������������������������������!���������������������������������%�4����������������������������������������!�����������!�������������!����������������!�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������?���!������6����%�&�������&����'���7�����'�&6 �&������5�"�����������������������������������&��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������%��������&����'�2��������'�3#�&�����'�=��������'�"&#6&"'�$�������� ;��&�����&�����'�2�����������������������������02���"�����'�2���������5��������2����!�����B%�

NEW DELHI: The CentralStatistics Office is due to unveilon Tuesday the revised advanceestimate for GDP growth for2016-17 after factoring in thenote ban impact in theDecember quarter. The CSO isalso slated to release the num-bers for the third quarter whichwitnessed cash crunch follow-ing the Government’s decisionto scrap high value notes onNovember 8.

In the wake of the cash ban,a number of think-tanks andexperts have lowered their pro-jections for 2016-17 to evenbelow 7.1 per cent -- which wasput out by the CSO in its advanceestimates on January 6. Thisyear has been unusual for theCSO as it had to release theadvance estimates of GDP abouta month earlier than the gener-al practice of doing so onFebruary 7 in view of early pre-sentation of the Budget.

Releasing the data compiled bythe CSO in January, ChiefStatistician TCA Anant had said thefigures for November were availableand examined, but “it was felt inview of the policy of denotificationof notes that there is a high degreeof volatility in these figures anda conscious decision was takennot to make projection using theNovember figure”. Accordingly,the First Advance Estimates ofNational Income, 2016-17, didnot take into account the impactof demonetisation. PTI

�1!�,��0 2����&�3����-,���,��*�,����+�������,�,���

#��4�-�,20��#+�.#246,��2��60#�=�6,�2+6�#,#���#6+�6,+6�2-������252�#-��#���2�522�6,.60��#0#�=�#+��2-2�,#�752-�+�����6+-�#67-��2�#-#6+4�-���82+�+6���6���82�56D2��#6+�7-#+���2+6.2�125�,#�752*�-�=-�#2,�-���#-�#�#�+������+�+��

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bankon India on Mondayannounced the launch of thelatest ‘Inflation ExpectationsSurvey of Households’ across18 cities aimed at capturingsubjective assessments on pricemovements. The survey forMarch 2017 will cover around5,500 households, based ontheir individual consumptionbaskets, across cities likeAhmedabad, Bengaluru,Bhopal, Bhubaneswar,Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhiand Jaipur. The RBI has beenregularly conducting the surveyon inflation which provides‘useful policy information’.

“The survey seeks qualita-tive responses from house-holds on price changes (generalprices as well as prices of spe-cific product groups) in thethree month ahead as well as inthe one year ahead period andquantitative responses on cur-rent, three month ahead and

one year ahead inflation rates,”the RBI said. The central bankalso announced the launch ofConsumer Confidence Survey(CCS) for March 2017. Thissurvey aims at capturing sub-jective assessments of around5,400 respondents across sixmetropolitan cities Bengaluru,Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata,

Mumbai and New Delhi.“The survey seeks quali-

tative responses on questionspertaining to economic con-ditions, income, spending,percept ions on pr ices ,employment prospects,” itsaid. The RBI factors in resultof the surveys while framingits monetary policy. PTI

��61����?���������������!���������

NEW DELHI: The responsegiven by the Finance Ministry onan RBI report about the intro-duction of Sharia banking inIndia cannot be disclosed, the cen-tral bank has said. The RBI wasasked to give the copy of the let-ter sent to it by the ministry on therecommendation of its InterDepartmental Group (IDG)regarding Islamic banking. Thecentral bank had sought responsefrom the Department of Financial

Services (DFS) under the financeminister whether their letter canbe disclosed under the Right toInformation (RTI) Act. “In thisregard we have been advised bythe DFS, Government of India thatthe letter is exempt under Section8 (1) (c),” the RBI said in responseto an RTI application filed by PTI.The Section bars disclosure ofinformation ‘which would causea breach of privilege of Parliamentor the state legislature’. PTI

6��!/��� ���������������*�'����"�!����!�� �������!#�!�/NEW DELHI: Looking to tap

into the upbeat investor senti-ment, as many as five compa-nies are expected to hit capitalmarkets next month to raisearound �4,000 crore throughinitial public offerings. Thesefirms are Avenue Supermarts,owner and operator of super-market retail chain D-Mart;Music Broadcast Ltd, a Jagrangroup firm that runs Radio CityFM channel; Shankara BuildingProduct; BSE-promoted CDSL;and test-prep player CLEducate. These five companiesare expected to come out withtheir IPOs (initial public offers)in March to garner �3,860crore, sources said.

Proceeds from the saleswould be primarily used forexpansion plans, repayment ofloans and general corporatepurposes. So far this year, Asia’soldest stock exchange BSE got

listed on the rival NSE's plat-form. The year 2016 saw hec-tic fund-raising activities inthe IPO segment as a total of 26firms collected over �26,000crore through IPOs — makingit the best one for public offerssince 2010.

Avenue Supermarts plansto come out with its �1,870-crore IPO on March 8. The bid-ding for shares will close onMarch 10. This will be thebiggest public issue since PNBHousing Finance's offering inOctober last year, which hadgarnered �3,000 crore.

Music Broadcast’s IPO --comprises fresh issue of equi-ty shares up to �400 crore andan offer for sale of up to 26.59lakh equity scrips -- will beopen for public subscriptionduring March 6-8. Sale ofshares via OFS route may rakein �90 crore, sources said. PNS

��4���+� ��!����� 7�<������!��+"�����������=����

BARCELONA: The iconicNokia 3310 is set to make acomeback in a new trendieravatar, with HMD Globalbringing the handset to Indiain the next quarter for about�3,500. HMD Global, whichhas struck a 10-year brandlicensing agreement withNokia for mobile phonesand tablets, will also bring inAndroid-powered Nokia 6,Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 to India inthe second quarter of this year.

“All the products that we haveannounced Nokia 3310, Nokia 6,Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 will be avail-

able in the second quarter of thisyear in India. Average global

selling price for Nokia 3310is 49 euros,” HMD Global OyChief Marketing OfficerPekka Rantala told PTI in aninterview here. Therevamped 3310 model fea-tures bigger screen. Its 22hours of talk time and up toone month of standby time

are expected to position thehandset as a back-up for smart-phone users. Nokia 3310, known forits robustness, was the most wide-ly used feature phone globally in2000-05. It is estimated to have sold

126 million units globally whenthere were only a few countries withmobile networks.

The model was discontinuedin 2005 globally. It was when Indiahad very small mobile subscriberbase of less than 85 million com-pared to over 1 billion at present.Once the world's biggest handsetcompany, Nokia in 2014 sold its ail-ing handset operations to Microsoftfor $7 billion to focus on its networkequipment business. However, lastyear, the brand got a new lease oflife with HMD Global, a new com-pany led by ex-Nokia executives,getting the licence. PTI

+�'���BB?@���'����� ����� '*�������#���������'�����)��$ �����

TENDER NOTICEOffice of the Inspector General of Police,

CoBRA Sector, CRPF(LSC, CoBRA Sector)

Old Secretariat, Block No. 11, Civil Line, Delhi-110054(Telephone/ Fax No. 011-23814552)

NO.- L.VII-08/2016-17-LSC.Proc-CoBRA

Inspector General of Police, CoBRA Sector, CRPF,Delhi for and on behalf of the President of India invitesonline tenders under two bid system (Technical andCommercial bid) on the prescribed form for the purchaseof following stores as per details given below:-

Tender No.:- No. L.VII- 08/2016 -17-Proc-LSC-CoBRA,Description of stores:- Mosquito Net (LLINS) as per T.E.Specification, Quantity:- 9375 Nos., Specification:- Asper Appendix- A" of T.E, EMD(RS):- 1,04,000/- (RupeesOne Lakh Four thousand) only (EMD should valid upto240 days from the date of opening tender.), Cost of ten-der document (non-refundable (in rupees):- 250/-(Rupees Two Hundred Fifty) only, Date of receipt & open-ing of tender:- a) Time and date of receipt of online Tenderby 1230 hrs on 30/03/2017.b) Time and date of online opening of tender at 1430 hrson 31/03/2017.

2. Bids will be accepted only online at e-Procurementwebsite http://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app (CPPP).(Documents to be submitted in original as per Clause 24schedule to tender).3. All relevant details, including specification, terms &conditions etc are available on e-Procurement website http: / /eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app.(CPPP) same maybe downloaded by the bidders. Details can also be seenat CRPF website www.crpf.gov.in.4. For any changes/amendment in Tender Enquiry/spec-ifications etc, tenderers are requested to visit theCRPF/CPPP web sites regularly.5. Date of availability of tender on CPPP:15/02/20176. In case of any problem please contact on telephonenumbers 01123814552

Sd/- 15/02/2017 davp 19111/11/0776/16-17 DIGP (Prov. /LSC)

Page 12: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345 1!'�+ E�

�������������3�

&)�,$&�)��D��$(�,$0�,,$'��!�&2*�&!��,&��0 ��������������?G�(��(��������'������������������ �������� �����(������������������� '����D��I����(����� �*������� ������������������!�E��������������������� '����� ���� �� '(������������I��������� ����- ���������!�+����������������� ���������� �������� �����(������������� '*F�&���� �������� �$ ������������� ������������!

�#$&)�-$��$(�,$��&-$.$))$#��(!!$�)$'�.#&�!�3 �������������� ��������(��(������������� ����������������������� ���� ������������������������������������(������������������*� ����������������� ��!

� >��$&�(�0��'�$�(2&-�&!�'��$&�$��!��&0��� � � 5��-����?A@�(�� � '��������(��������� �����������������������������'�����������(��'��������*��� ����������(�����!�����(��'������������������� ������������������'������.������� �����������������������*���������������B@������������������� ��(�������������������� ������������ � (����������!

��#&$,���,&!$����)�*&9&&2)$#�#(�0$)�&))&�0:���� �����#���������� ������������������������I��-���(����������*��� ������������ '����������������������������������������������������� ������#�����!�E�������������������((����������������� ������������������������*F��� ��������I�� ���*���������������� ������� � ������!

���- �����.���������������������������������

Washington: The phones ofWhite House staffers have beenchecked under a crackdownafter the leakage of informationto the Press about TrumpAdministration’s private con-versations and meetings,according to a media report.

Quoting sources, Politicoreported that the incidentcomes a week after PresidentDonald Trump criticised themedia for using unnamedsources in stories and expressedgrowing frustration with theunauthorised sharing of infor-mation by individuals in hisadministration. PTI

Seoul: North Korea executedfive senior security officialswith anti-aircraft guns becausethey made false reports that“enraged” leader Kim Jong Un,South Korea’s spy agency saidon Monday.

The comments by theNational Intelligence Service ina private briefing to lawmakerscome as Malaysia investigatesthe poisoning death of Kim’sestranged elder half brother,Kim Jong Nam.

That investigation is stillgoing on, but South Korea

says it believes Kim Jong Unordered the assassination,which took place Feb. 13 atKuala Lumpur’s airport.

The spy agency told law-makers that five North Koreanofficials in the department ofrecently purged State securitychief Kim Won Hong were exe-cuted by anti-aircraft gunsbecause of the false reports toKim, South Korean lawmakerLee Cheol Woo said. It’s not clearwhat false reports they alleged-ly made, and the NIS didn’t sayhow it got its information.

South Korean spies have aspotty record when reportingabout high-level events inauthoritarian, cloistered NorthKorea. North Korea fired KimWon Hong in January, pre-sumably over corruption, abuseof power and torture commit-ted by his agency, Seoul saidearlier this month. The fallenminister had been seen as closeto Kim Jong Un. North Koreahas not publicly said anythingabout Kim Won Hong or aboutthe alleged executions in hisdepartment.

Lee also cited the NIS assaying that Kim Won Hong’sdismissal was linked to thosefalse reports, which “enraged”Kim Jong Un when they werediscovered. AP

Brussels: The European Union (EU) onMonday imposed new sanctions on NorthKorea in line with the UN SecurityCouncil’s resolution adopted after a ballisticmissile launch.

According to the European Council(EC), the new sanctions include furtherrestrictions on material transactions, newexport and import bans and restrictions onNorth Korean diplomats’ real estate andbank accounts in the EU, Efe news reported.

“Like existing sanctions, these restric-tive measures are designed in such a wayas to avoid adverse humanitarian conse-quences for the country’s civilian popula-tion,” said an EC statement.

It added that the sanctions “includeexemptions for livelihood and humanitar-ian purposes, where appropriate”. IANS

Washington: Hundreds gath-ered in Kansas city for a peacemarch and prayer vigil forslain Indian engineer SrinivasKuchibhotla and two othervictims of a US bar shooting.

Alok Madasani, the Indianinjured in an apparent hatecrime last week, attended themarch for peace and a prayermeeting at the Ball ConferenceCentre in Olathe on Sunday,reported Kansas City Starnewspaper.

The vigil was sponsored bythe India Association of KansasCity. “I wish it was a dream,”

Madasani said of the AustinsBar & Grill shooting that leftKuchibhotla dead.

American Ian Grillot wasalso shot when he tried to inter-vene. He is still in a hospital.

Adam W Purinton, 51, aformer US Navy veteran, ischarged with first-degree mur-der and two counts of attempt-ed first-degree murder.

Purinton reportedly gotinto an argument with the vic-tims and hurled racial slurs. Heyelled “Get out of my country”and “terrorist” before shootingthem. IANS

Washington: Philip Bilden haswithdrawn his nomination assecretary of the US Navy, thePentagon has said, marking thelatest in a series of nominees toremove their names from con-sideration to serve underPresident Donald Trump.

“This was a personal deci-sion driven by privacy concernsand significant challenges hefaced in separating himselffrom his business interests,”Defense Secretary Jim Mattissaid in a statement, adding thathe would soon suggest a newnominee.

“While I am disappointed,I understand and respect hisdecision, and know that he willcontinue to support our nationin other ways.”

Concerns over the ability ofBilden, a prominent business-man and private equity investor,to separate from his vast hold-ings, many of which are inHong Kong, clouded his nom-ination, according to reports.

The secretary of the Navyserves as the chief executiveofficer for both the Navy andthe Marine Corps.

Bilden’s move came on theheels of similar decisions by USArmy secretary nomineeVincent Viola over concernsabout his ability to separatefrom his large business hold-ings, and labor secretary nom-inee Andrew Puzder, who facedintense scrutiny for his businessrecord and controversies overhis personal life. AFP

��#&:&*(�&,&!�� 4�-#+��6+

After a tumultuous first month inoffice, notably the chaos over his

temporary immigration ban of peo-ple from seven countries, PresidentDonald Trump will deliver his firstaddress to Congress on Tuesday nightand is expected to lay out his broadlegislative agenda.

Trump is slated to unveil a bigplan for infrastructure, apart frombeefing up US military with a majorspending hike for the Defence sectorin line with his campaign pitch.Indications are that defence spendingwill be up by $54 billion.Simultaneously, foreign aid and thevarious non-security categories couldsee a slash.

“We will increase security and wewill decrease lower-priority programs.Most federal agencies will see a reduc-tion as a result,” The WashingtonTimes quoted an administration offi-cial as saying.

The big challenge that Trump andCongressional Republicans currently

face is on how to deliver in a timelyfashion their other campaign pledgeto repeal and replace Obamacare –President Obama’s landmark health-care overhaul – with an improved planthat also lowers the steep premiumhikes.

Trump’s address will focus on “therenewal of the American spirit”, saysWhite House Press Secretary SeanSpicer, noting it will “an opportunityfor him to lay out a very positive visionfor the nation and to really let Americaknow where we can go and how wecan get there, and the potential thatwe have as a nation”.

Apart from his Defence push andquest for a viable alternative toObamacare, the Trump administra-tion is working on a big infrastructureplan, with a possible announcementexpected in his address.

Indian IT majors and softwareprofessionals will be closely watchingTrump’s address to see if he has any-thing to say about his administration’splans vis-à-vis legal immigration,against the backdrop of much specu-lation over possible tightening of theH-1B and L1 work visa regime.

Three different Bills have inde-pendently been moved by lawmakers,two of which have proposed a dou-bling of minimum salary payableunder the H-1B scheme in a moveclearly aimed at discouraging IndianIT firms walking away with the bulkof this coveted visa. But there is noofficial word yet on what precisely theTrump administration plans to do.

Democrats are bracing to chal-lenge Trump and the Republicanmajority in both Houses on the repealof Obamacare and other plans, includ-ing the one to prune allocations forenvironmental and social safety netprogrammes.

Soon after Trump’s address, for-mer Kentucky Governor Steve Beshearwill deliver the Democratic response.Beshear is known to be a strong sup-porter of Obamacare and expansionof Medicaid.

3&�(�!��������������������������A�$�������

&2��� 1�+�7+�

Indonesian Police shot deada man linked to the Islamic

State (ISIS) group during afirefight at a Government office on Monday after asmall bomb was set off nearby.

No one apart from theattacker was hurt in the inci-dent in the city of Bandung onJava island, which startedwith a pressure cooker bombexploding in a park before thegunbattle erupted in the officeopposite.

&2��� 12#57�

Government air strikes onnorthwest Syria killed at

least 11 people overnight, mostof them civilians, the SyrianObservatory for Human Rightssaid on Monday.

“Government warplanescarried out air strikes aftermidnight on several areas inthe town of Ariha” in Idlibprovince, said the monitoringgroup’s head Rami AbdelRahman.

“The preliminary toll is11 killed, including at leastseven civilians,” three of themchildren, he said.

Others were still missingand rescue teams were search-ing for anyone trapped underthe rubble, Abdel Rahmanadded.

Leith Fares, a rescue work-er in Ariha, told AFP his teamhad pulled at least 20 wound-ed people out of the rubble.

“We’ve been working since3:00 am (0100 GMT) to rescuevictims still under the rubble oftwo four-storey buildings thattotally collapsed on the resi-dents inside,” he said.

“We’re still looking for twofamilies, estimated at eight to10 members each, that are stilltrapped,” Fares said.

The deaths come two daysafter 10 civilians were killed ingovernment air strikes onAriha, held since spring 2015by an anti-regime coalitiondominated by jehadists.

South of Mosul: Iraqi forcesbattling the Islamic State groupin west Mosul reached thecity’s southernmost bridgetoday, a key step in efforts todefeat the jehadists in theirstronghold, a spokesman said.

The move, a little morethan a week into a major pushon Mosul’s west bank, couldallow Iraqi forces to extend afloating bridge between thecity’s two halves and pile pres-sure on the jihadists.

“The Rapid Response forceand the federal police have lib-erated Jawsaq neighbourhoodand now control the westernend of the fourth bridge,”Brigadier General YahyaRasool told AFP.

The spokesman for theJoint Operations Commandwas referring to the southern-most of five bridges — all ofwhich are damaged and unus-able — across the Tigris Riverthat divides the northern Iraqi city.

“That means the bridge isunder control on both sides,”said Rasool.

Government forces retookthe east bank from IS a monthago, completing a key phase inan offensive on Mosul thatbegan on October 17 and hasinvolved tens of thousands offighters. AFP

������!�������������������������$�������������2������������������������������������0���?��1������������������������������������!������������� ������������� $

Beijing: China’s top diplomatYang Jeichi on Monday starteda two-day visit to the US withwhich Beijing’s relations havecome under strain after theelection of President Donald Trump.

Chinese State CouncilorYang Jiechi was invited by theUS Government, ForeignMinistry spokesperson LuKang was quoted as saying byXinhua news agency.

Yang’s visit comes at timewhen ties between China andthe US have been hit by sever-al issues like the South ChinaSea and Taiwan. IANS

London: A woman living in theUK who had been married toa British man for 27 years hasbeen forcibly removed from thecountry, a media report said onMonday.

Irene Clennell, who madeheadlines when she was placedin immigration detention, wasdeported to Singapore onSunday, the Guardian reported.

Clennell first arrived inLondon in 1988 and marriedJohn, a British man, two yearslater. They settled in CountyDurham and had two children.

IANS

Manila: Islamic militants in thePhilippines have beheaded theGerman hostage they wereholding for ransom, the SITE

Intelligence group said onMonday. A video posted by theextremist Abu Sayyaf group,which was monitored by SITE,showed German hostageJurgen Kantner being killed bya knife-wielding man. Thevideo appeared to confirmreports received by PhilippineGovernment officials that themercenary group had slainKantner. AFP

Kabul: A Taliban commanderwas killed in Afghanistan’sKunduz province, according tothe Afghan president and themilitant group.

During a ceremony onMonday honoring the country’ssecurity and Defense forces,President Ashraf Ghani saidthat Mullah Abdul Salam, theTaliban’s shadow Governor forKunduz, had been killed.

Taliban spokesmanZabihullah Mujahid also con-firmed Salam’s death, saying itwas from an American airstrikein the Dashti Archi district ofKunduz province. AP

���C��������������.,����������

���+����$��2�.�����>��+����<���!������+���$����������

Seoul/Kuala Lumpur: Two NorthKorean Ministries orchestrated theplot to kill Kim Jong-nam on theorders of Pyongyang’s leader KimJong-un, South Korea’s spy agencysaid on Monday.

The National Intelligence Service(NIS) said four of the eight suspectsbehind the murder worked forPyongyang’s Ministry of State Security,with two others being from theForeign Ministry, Yonhap reported.

“The assassination of Kim Jong-nam was an act of systematic terrorordered by Kim Jong-un,” SouthKorean lawmaker Kim Byung-keesaid in a televised address. “The oper-

ation was conducted with two assassination groups and one sup-porting group.”

The half-brother of NorthKorean leader Kim Jong-un died ear-lier this month after a suspected poi-soning while on his way to catch aflight to Macau from Kuala LumpurAirport. Malaysia said an autopsyshowed he was poisoned with VX nerve agent and died within 20 minutes.

Seoul’s Unification Ministryslammed Pyongyang for using VXnerve agent, which is classified as aweapon of mass destruction by theUnited Nations. IANS

<8���<�������������"����������'������

83�������������������������(�#����

������IP�����������������������'���������8 �� I

�4����������������������������������������

���#�������!*�'���������!�$�������!����

����������(�����������7-������

Colombo: At least seven per-sons, including an underworlddon, were killed on Mondaywhen a Sri Lankan prison buswas attacked by unidentifiedmen wearing uniforms similarto the police, the single dead-liest incident of its kind in thecountry for years.

The attackers opened fireon the bus transporting pris-oners from Kalutara prison insouthwestern Sri Lanka to amagistrate court, police mediaspokesman Priyantha Jayakodysaid.

Notorious underworld fig-ure Aruna Damith Udayangaalias ‘Samayan’, two prison offi-cials and four other prisonersdied in the attack.

The prisoners were beingtransported to a court case atthe Colombo suburb ofKaduwela when the assailants,numbering about 15 wearinguniforms similar to the policeopened fire at the prison bus.They later entered the bus andwere involved in an exchangewith the two prison guards inthe bus. PTI

?�#�������!�"����!��+������#��!�������!#�

#-���� ������-��:���� ���'<>.����-�������

6&6&7������6������������������������������������

��+��� " *2� -8'+ '/�8�+' +� �"" �+ -�'*2

������������������������$���������6��������A�&628

Seoul: South Korea’s actingleader has rejected a request toextend an investigation into thecountry’s biggest scandal indecades that led to PresidentPark Geun-hye’s impeachment.

A special investigationteam led by independent coun-sel Park Young-soo waslaunched in December toinvestigate allegations Park lether longtime confidante med-dle in state affairs and extortmoney from businesses.

The team, whose investi-gation is by law to end tomor-

row, had asked acting leaderand Prime Minister HwangKyo-ahn to allow 30 more daysof investigations.

But Hwang’s office said onMonday it rejected the requestbecause key suspects implicat-ed in the scandal have alreadybeen indicted.

It says a longer investiga-tion could sway a possiblepresidential election that wouldhappen if the ConstitutionalCourt approves President ParkGeun-hye’s impeachment.

AP

&�#����1������������������;��������?�����������������������

���!����������!������+��+���!��@���!��

Page 13: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345 #�#�*�"( E�

,("���)(�,�!�(! ����������������E����������F��������������������(�(������6������� ��������������M �����-�����*�0�������������+��������!�E4����#�����������&�'����* ��������������� �������������� ������� ((�����������#����'�����N��������N�������� �!����(�������������������������������������� �������N��������������*F��������������!�������������� (�������������'������������������������������*�� ������N�� ����� ����� ������((������������(����!��������������*E+������'����������������������!�2�������N�� ���������������)(����������(���� ��!F

&&��#�0�&!8������������������������� ����*������((��������� ��������.� ��(������� ����������� �����E(�� ������������������� �"����F!����������������� ������+����������������(���"����*������������������� �������������������"����*�������" ������ �����"���������������� ����"��������������� ������������'�������������� ��������� ������!�E#����'�������������������"��������-����� �!������������������" �������������(�� ����������������� ����������� �����������" ������� ����*F����������!�#������4����N�������(� ������ ��(������� �( ��������(����������� ������� ��������������$ �����!

:(!�)&�*&!'�� ������ ������((��� �������#���"����������������� ���*�-��������� ��������� ������������!��������������������������� �������D�������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������D �����������!���������������� �����������(������������������������������� ����������������������!

;�2 ' �2!8�+6 * '"���*�"�!���+ �!"* ��!'�2�� !���( *!�" �"&�3�� *��* '"��( � ���-�!' � * '"���

�) )'!8� 68" 12( "!* ��!' � �"!'( !' *!�" �"��(��) �"<� �!" ��" �!'*!��8-�"�!�G �� �� �+8�"%�� � *�� #!" % +'�# � *�'��+ 2�# *2��+' �& � *�����! 1�"*2 # '("2��)"2�" � 1��2 "! 1�"*2&<B �����7������7�F���

;�! 6�"" '� �� �������� ����<

��-�' � �"8' � �� ;�'!8+ +�+<

The 89th Academy Awardsgot off on the right foot,with a song and dance, but

ended with the most stunningmistake ever to befall the esteemedawards show when the best pictureOscar was presented to the wrongmovie. Faye Dunaway and WarrenBeatty, holding an incorrect enve-lope, wrongly presented the topprize to La La Land, instead ofMoonlight.

The moment at the conclusionof the Sunday night show was sojaw-dropping, it eclipsed every-thing else in a ceremony that waspacked to the brim with DonaldTrump jabs, fun stunts, heartfeltpositivity and a stunning upset byMoonlight over what had been aLa La juggernaut throughoutaward season. Yet somehow, eventhe embarrassing moment pivot-ed into grace.

As confusion and bafflementoverwhelmed those in the DolbyTheatre and at home on theircouches, Moonlight director BarryJenkins and La La Land directorDamien Chazelle shared a hug onthe back of the stage, out of sightfrom the television cameras.

“The folks of La La Land wereso gracious. I can’t imagine beingin their position and having to dothat,” Jenkins told reporters back-stage. “It was unfortunate thatthings happened as they did but,goddamn, we won best picture.”

Oscar tabulators PwC, in their83rd year providing the service tothe academy, later apologised to allin a statement and are investigat-ing why it happened.

There’s no denying, though,that Moonlight’s win over La LaLand was a massive upset, madeonly more pointed by the envelopegaffe. Chazelle’s candy-colouredmusical was widely presumed tobe a shoo-in for the top prize afterits record-tying 14 nominationsand a relative sweep of award sea-son. The film still won six Oscar's,including best director forChazelle, who at 32 became theyoungest ever to take the prize,and for score, song (City of Stars)and actress to Emma Stone.

The actress, who pledged herdeep love of Moonlight, said later,“Is that the craziest Oscar momentof all time? Cool!”

The academy usually throwsawards at films that gaze loving-ly at Hollywood, but BarryJenkins’ heartfelt coming-of-agedrama seduced academy voters inthe end — a subtle tide changeperhaps informed by both a prick-ly political climate and an urgentimperative to honor more diversefilms after two consecutive yearsof OscarsSoWhite.

Diversity could be found inevery corner of the awards thisyear, with supporting acting winsfor Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali andFences’ Viola Davis, although thebest actor category proved to bea bit of an upset when CaseyAffleck won for Manchester by theSea over Denzel Washington ofFences, who had picked upmomentum in recent weeks.

The improvement followedefforts by Academy of MotionsPictures Arts and Sciences

President Cheryl BooneIsaacs to diversify themembership of thelargely white, olderand male film acad-emy. “Tonight isproof that art hasno borders, nosingle languageand does notbelong to a sin-gle faith,” saidIsaacs.

Davis gave aparticularly pow-erful speech inwhich she praisedthe late Fencesplaywright AugustWilson who, shesaid, “Exhumedand exalted theordinary people.”Kimmel said laterthat Davis, “Just gotnominated for anEmmy for thatspeech.”

Ezra Edelman,whose nearly eighthour epic O.J.: Madein America took bestdocumentary, dedi-cated the award tothe victims of thefamous crime, NicoleBrown Simpson andRonald Goldman.

Rich Moore, oneof the three directorsof Disney’s best ani-mated film winnerZootopia, describedthe movie as about

“tolerance being more powerfulthan fear of the other.”

The majority of speeches weremoving and personal and gener-ally in praise of art’s ability to cre-ate empathy in the world, includ-ing Jenkins’ in his win for adapt-ed screenplay, who said, “All youpeople out there who feel likethere isn't a mirror out there foryou, the Academy has your back,the ACLU has your back, and forthe next four years we will notleave you alone, we will not for-get you.” But not one speechcame close to Meryl Streep’sGolden Globes barnburner.

“Personally, I didn’t say any-thing because my head was com-pletely blank,” Affleck said back-stage of his not political speech.

Instead, politics stayed large-ly with host Jimmy Kimmel,who kept his barbs coy andirreverent, stating at the start thathe wasn’t the man to unite thecountry.

The host peppered theevening with digs at PresidentTrump, at one point asking thecrowd to stand for the “overrat-ed Meryl Streep,” and, later, forany news outlet with the word“Times” in its name to leave, say-ing “we have no tolerance forfake news.”

Kimmel even jokinglythanked the president for shift-ing the focus of the night.

“Remember last year when itseemed like the Oscar's wereracist?” he said in the opening.

The evening’s most bluntprotests against Trump came

not from the A-list stars but fromforeigners, a few of whom werenot even in attendance and couldcommunicate their sentimentsonly through statements.

Kimmel, as if predicting thatthis would be the case, said earlythat the Oscar's are watched by225 countries “that now hate us.”

Iranian director AsgharFarhadi, whose The Salesmanwon best foreign film, his secondwin in the category, did notattend the ceremony in protest ofTrump’s travel ban to seven pre-dominantly Muslim nations.

Anousheh Ansari, an Iranianastronaut, read a statement fromFarhadi.

“I’m sorry I'm not with youtonight,” it read. “My absence isout of respect for the people ofmy country and those of othersix nations who have been disre-spected by the inhumane law thatbans entry of immigrants to theU.S.”

Gael Garcia Bernal, theMexican actor, while presentingan award also declared: “As amigrant worker, as a Mexican,and as a human being, I amagainst any wall.”

But, of course, the big bestpicture mistake will be the thingthat history remembers abouthe 89th Academy Awards.

“Let’s remember this is justan awards show," Kimmel said atthe close. “I knew I would screwthis show up, I really did. Ipromise I’ll never come back.”

$

Indian actor Om Puri,whose repertoire as an

actor reflected a rare realismand was popular for films likeEast Is East, Gandhi, City ofJoy and Wolf, was honouredat the 89th Academy Awardsceremony here in the InMemoriam montage.

Om Puri, who died aftera heart attack in Mumbai,India in January earlier thisyear, got a musical tribute byGrammy and Tony-nomi-nated singer and songwriterSara Bareilles.

Bareilles delivered a spe-cial performance of the JoniMitchell song Both sides now.A visibly emotional actressJennifer Aniston introducedthe memoriam segment.

Om Puri was remem-bered at the awards ceremo-ny, which was held at theDolby Theatre here onSunday.

He was included in theannual montage along withCarrie Fisher, Prince, GeneWilder, Michael Cimino,

Patty Duke, Garry Marshall,Anton Yelchin, Mary TylerMoore, Curtis Hanson andJohn Hurt.

Bareilles created an emo-tional moment as she ren-

dered the song in memory ofall the departed souls. Whilenot in the video presentation,actor Bill Paxton, who diedthe night before, was men-tioned by Aniston before

Bareilles took the stage.Om Puri was known for

his deep baritone and differ-ent acting style, as well ascraggy, pockmarked but dis-tinctive face. He had an affin-ity towards socially relevantcinema.

A National School ofDrama alumnus, Om Purinurtured an internationalcareer, which started with acameo in RichardAttenborough’s iconicGandhi.

Among some of hisBritish films were My Son theFanatic, East Is East and TheParole Officer. He alsoappeared in Hollywood filmsincluding City of Joy, Wolfand The Ghost and theDarkness.

A Padma Shri awardeeand National Award-winner,Om Puri was also made thehonorary officer of the Orderof the British Empire for hisservices to the British filmindustry.

6 (&

2��������������������'�������������������������'��!�����������������������!���������������:K���"�� 6���������������<���%�6�����7���������7���������!���������������"����������������������1� �����������)"�� +���������������������������������������������������!�����������<������������������������������������������%2�����<���������������������������4�������������������6�����&����<<��� ��%

�"���� �������������(� � ����������HK���� �������������� ������������������������ ��������� ����������������� �������������������

1����������������BBB

#������ � �������� ������'����(��� ���� ���(�'���� '���� ��II���� ����$ ������ ���������� ������6� ���������"(����4����� ���� )����� ���� ����� ��� ���"��� '� ����*����(�'��(���������� ����� �� �����"���"������� ���'� ����� ���� '���������� ����!������'�*� ���� ����������� ����� ��� ������� ��(��� ��� ���HK��� � ������������ ��� �� �����5��(�� J� 5 ������ � ���� ���*� ����� � ����� � ��� '� �� ����� 8�����$ ������ ���� ����� �(� ������ '������������������"(����!� 1���� �����*� ���� ���������� ���� ���'� ��������� ����'�" (!���������*����(�'�*������������� ��������� ��� �� ��� :@?A����� *&*�� +����� ,�� &����%���� ��������� ��������� ����.���������*� ����� ���������� ��� ���� '���������������������$ �������������!������������������������� ���*� ����� ����� �� ���'������ �� ���� ���� ����� �������������� �������� ��� ��������!���������������'����������������������(�'���������.� ��1�� �������������:@?:!�

6 (&

�5#=�+8���6�5������22�#8����786+2 �������6� ��N��������(�������'����������*����������������

����� ��������������� �,��,����/� �

Page 14: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012�0345

#�#�*�"( 6 �7�E9

Four years ago, she lost all her paint-ings to water-logging and it took hernearly three years, after the distress-

ing experience, to pick up the paint andbrush again. Delhi-based artist Renuka Varma, a self-taught artist, is now preparing to exhibitpaintings done over the last year and halfin her debut solo show in the capital.Titled Shakhein: Another Tree, AnotherSky, the show has been curated by Dr AlkaPande and depicts a refreshing perspec-tive on nature and environment, especial-ly trees, including nearly 30 paintings inoils and acrylics on canvas.Speaking of Shakhein, Renuka reveals thatshe has painted trees in her more recentworks while also painting majestic moun-tains and flower-laden fields. Interestingly,she uses a bottle and nozzle as her instru-ment to create a flowing, swaying move-ment of the trees while brush and knifealso come handy when creating the tex-tural effect on her canvases.

“I always paint from imagination. Allmy work is done free hand, I never drawor sketch before hand, whether it is land-scapes or even a figure. It may soundfunny but I actually dreamt of using a bot-tle and nozzle to create the effect that myrecent paintings have. Then I tried out thismethod and realised it worked for mebeautifully to create this flowing effect oncanvas,” says Renuka.

“I was always sketching and drawingas a child. After graduating with a lawdegree from DU, I then decided to pur-

sue a Bachelor in Education degree. Herewe were asked to create art related projectsand perhaps I was the only one who hada full portfolio of pen and ink works, land-scapes, etc. My teachers could not believethat I didn’t have a formal training in art.So I guess I always had an innate sense ofpainting and I continued to paint whatinspired me all through my travels in var-

ious countries,” she adds.Renuka’s paintings not only reflect her

passion as an artist but also a deep con-cern for the fast depleting forest cover inour country. Naturally so, as she spent herchildhood in the lush green forests ofMussoorie where every summer and win-ter holiday meant endless hours spentamidst picturesque landscapes.

“I grew up in the foothills of theHimalayas,” she says. “The mountainswere lush green, there was ample snow inwinter and the valleys were full of flow-ers in summer. I spent most of my sparetime sitting outdoors, watching the chang-ing moods of the forest and listening tothe sounds of nature. I often go toMussoorie even now and I’m pained to seehow the landscape has changed. Theseforests have almost disappeared as the hillshave been vandalised by all of us.

“I still live in those forests and relivethose monsoon sunsets, the green hillsturning pink, purple and gold. In mymind, I touch again those mountainslopes, sway again with the trees and walkamidst the lush undergrowth of the for-est. I have tried to paint some of thesememories that refuse to leave the recess-es of my mind. The forests are disappear-ing and this is true for the entire country.Through my work, I want to not onlyrevisit my childhood but also bring backfocus on why environment and its protec-tion are important.”

Renuka is a law graduate from DelhiUniversity and after getting married toPavan K Varma, whose foreign postingsas an Indian Foreign Service diplomattook her to various countries, she contin-ued to paint what inspired her. Forinstance, in Romania, she was charmed byand created glass paintings, she took to oilsin Moscow and Cyprus and recalls that herfirst serious initiation into art was whenshe saw a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition

in Bulgaria, her husband’s first foreignposting. It was in Bhutan in 2012 thatRenuka lost her paintings and she revealsthat it has taken her a lot of courage and“great support” from her husband to beable to debut in Delhi as an artist.

About her inspirations she says, “InDelhi itself, we have such beautiful treesaround us. Areas like Tilak Marg,Rashtrapati Bhavan, Nehru Park, even thebio-diversity park next to my home wherewe go for morning walks is laden withimli, neem, amaltas, jamun and so muchmore. Every tree around me inspires meand it’s not as if I just copy them, I addmy own imagination to what I see aroundme. And then, my husband who has beenthe biggest influence and support for meand pushed me to paint again when I hadgiven up on it four years ago.”

Her colour palette ranges from thebright red of a work titled Poppies and tan-gerine yellow of Genda Phool (the largestwork in the show at 10 feet by 6.5 feet) tomisty whites of Himalayan ranges and ver-dant green of the forest cover.

“Every painting has a story. It’s aboutsaving our environment and our fastdepleting natural resources, but above allits about the beauty around us and anartist can only translate that beauty andits significance on canvas,” she concludes.

The show will be inaugurated byrenowned poet and lyricist Gulzar onMarch 1 at the Visual Arts Gallery, IndiaHabitat Centre.

A trained classical dancer,Rekha Mehra has acquired

a unique style of her own. Anexponent of kathak, choreogra-pher and social activist, she hasskil l fully blended Indianmythology with traditionaldance style along Jaipur andLucknow gharana.

“I have been fortunate bythe grace of God and havealways been light on my feet. Ihave seen so many social issuesand I think through kathak wecan share these stories. Whatpushed me towards dance is thejourney of life. Sometimes,something is destined andsomething you really have tochalk out in a diligent manner,otherwise it does not work.Gradually I realised I shouldspend more time with dance.Thus, my passion turned intomy profession,” Rekha tells us.

From last five years she isteaching dance and music tounder privileged children. “Ihave been teaching and learn-ing dance for the past 35 yearsand a five years back when I sawthese girls from the underpriv-ileged section of our society, Ithought about helping them. Ithought it would be amazing ifI could promote them in anyway possible. I believe teachingthe younger generation willmaintain the interest andattraction of the traditionaldance and music,” she says.

Rekha has performed forseveral International festivalsin India and abroad name-ly - Lucknow Mahostave,M a h a k h u m b h a ,International Trade Fair,Khajuraho Festival,Festival of India, CommonWealth GamesProgramme, Sharjah festi-val, Onam festival in

Maldives. About her recent show

Universe in you she says, “It’sabout glory and celebration ofthe universe in you, whichbrings the vastness, depth,beauty, limitless power of theuniverse inherent in each indi-vidual. Universe in you is thecompilation of the struggle andbattle between the good and evilforces, creative and destruc-tive forces, lower and higherstates in the outer and inneruniverse.”

While Indian classical dancehas an ancient history, therewas a time when they were alldying a slow death. However, asall art forms undergo a revivaland return with a glorious bang,so did Indian classical dance.

“Indian dances are our her-itage and if we guide the youthproperly then only they willtake interest in the traditionaldance forms. India is a meltingpot of culture and traditions.Hardly one can find any othercountry apart from India boast-ing of such rich dance forms.Indian dance form is full ofintricate steps which really takesa toll on any layman to get ver-satility in it.

“The youth today mostlyknow Bollywood dance. Many

are not aware that the sourcesfor Bollywood are the tra-

ditional folk and classi-cal forms. The classi-

cal dances to themare museumisedobjects that haveno relevance totheir real lifeissues,” she says.

“For me, Ihave a moralresponsibility to

share my knowl-edge and pass on

the same to my stu-dents. I have to bestow the

next generation and make mycommunity proud of what Ihave achieved. Skills and expe-riences that I have gained fromacademic training and personalpursuits were influenced fromthe people I have met. Therefore,it is ethically right that I returnthat favour for the benefit of thecommunity,” she concludes.

Even in the technology-driven world,where people have a short attention

span, Hindustani classical vocalist,Madhumita Ray believes that there isa young lot who are still interested inlearning the classical music and spendtime on learning the art. “We cannotexpect the things to be like they weremany years ago. And because of theconstantly changing times, we all runso fast that keeping up with our ownculture has become difficult. However,when I see young students coming tous and learning with utmost dedication,I feel happy and hopeful,” said Ray.

Madhumita Ray organised a musi-cal concert acknowledging the contri-bution of Ustad Asad Ali Khan to theHindustani Classical Music industry.Also a student of Ustad Asad AliKhan, Ray shared about the time shetrained under the maestro and sharedhow it helped her with her music. Shebelonged to the Khyal tradition and ini-tially trained under Ustad Ghulam TaqiKhan. “I was very upset after Khansahab’s demise. I met Ustad Asad AliKhan at that time only. He blessed meat Khan sahab’s memorial and said thathe is always there if I need him. It wasafter that I went to him for training.And for the next 18 years, I was underhis guidance,” said Ray.

Recalling one incident, she said,“There was one concert for which Iwanted to sing a particular raga, whichpeople normally do not sing at concertsas it is a very difficult raga. So while Iwas learning that, he wasn’t very happywith the way I was singing it. He askedme to call my husband to pick me upand he doesn’t want to teach me. Andmy husband was called and whilegoing I requested him that if he can giveme one more chance to learn and singit once for him. So he said yes and gaveme one month’s time. I went back andstarted searching for the raga andcame across different versions of it. Atthe end I was very frustrated and I wentback to him after a month, crying andsaid that I was not able to learn. So hehad a big smile on his face as he knewthat I have done a lot of hard work andhe then taught me the raga himself andI also performed it for the concert.”

Ray however feels that despite allthe other developments happening inthe music industry, the classical musicgenre still lags behind. “Music educa-tion in India is very poor. At the very

basic level if we talk about music edu-cation in India, it is very poor. Theschools teach all kinds of music but themusic overall is not taught in anyschool. This I believe is due to the otherpressures through which a studentpasses. They don't have time for music,”she said.

She added that there is certainly afear that the classical music art, if notpassed on properly, might just fadeaway. “The schools should give empha-sis on the subject of music. Theyshould catch them young. There shouldbe workshops and classes and music as

a subject should be included in the cur-riculum. That’s the only way I supposewe can carry on our music as a culture.”

Ray believes that for the aspiringyounger generation, who wants tolearn music and attain excellence,should know that there is no shortcutfor it. “There is no shortcut to suc-cess. And there is no shortcut to excel-lence. You have to go through theground, you have to go through it all.You cannot get it in one day. There isalways hard work and the dedicationthat counts and adds to your success,”she signed off.

52+78�.�5�������� ������������������������-���������.-����������(� �������������(���(� ������������������������� ��� �(��!�1��7++��# D6-#

���0�-���� �,0��

���������!���$!���������!�� ����+!��$��!����8����!��� �������$���� ����������(��������������. �!����@3(�� ��0�A����!�����������+�����!����B�%$�&�*A��( &4�3�

7,�������������� �������� �68����'��)(�����528���25��������2�� .#.���������(������������� ��� �������������(���������

C�� ��������!��"�����

�������������� ��

�6!8" "2 )�!'(��+ * � 6'�"�!� !�"2 8��# '� �� (!8%12�*2 6'��)� "2 #��"� ��% + �"2%6 �8"(% ��-�"� ���!1 ' !� "2

8��# '� ��2 ' �"�� �*2

��+�#�+8��<

Page 15: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012��0345��!'" E�

&��� 06+�6+

Zlatan Ibrahimovic powered in a lateheader to win the League Cup forManchester United on Sunday, seal-

ing a 3-2 victory over Southampton aftera two-goal lead was thrown away by JoseMourinho's side.

It was Ibrahimovic's second goal in thefinal after putting United ahead from a freekick, taking the 35-year-old Swede's tallyto 26 goals in an incredible first season atUnited where his performances have morethan lived up to the swagger. That brava-do was flaunted on the Wembley Stadiumpitch amid the celebrations.

Asked by a television reporter if some-thing special was unfolding at United,Ibrahimovic replied: "I came. That's special."

The free summer transfer windowrecruit ensured Mourinho became the firstmanager in United history to win a trophyin his first season, adding to his threeLeague Cup triumphs with Chelsea. "(It) isquite a sense of relief," Mourinho said.

United's fragile defense, though, near-ly contrived to throw away the chance ofglory. Although Jesse Lingard extendedUnited's lead in the 38th minute,Southampton fought back with goals either

side of halftime from Manolo Gabbiadini.But as Southampton pushed for its firstmajor trophy since beating United in the1976 FA Cup trophy, Ibrahimovic producedthe bullet header in the 87th minute fromAnder Herrera's cross. Now Ibrahimovichas won a major trophy in a fifth countryafter honors in France, Italy, Spain and theNetherlands. Although Wayne Rooneywent up to collect the trophy as captain, thatwas his only role at Wembley. The 31-year-old forward was forced to watch from thebench as his older teammate produced anageless, match-winning contribution.

"This is what I came for, I came to winand I am winning," Ibrahimovic said. "Ihave to keep going because the more I win,the more satisfied I get."

The striker didn't cost United anytransfer fee when he joined in the summertransfer window as a free agent after leav-ing Paris Saint-Germain. He sought anoth-er final challenge, even in the twilight of hiscareer, rather than an easy-pay day in aninferior league. "You appreciate winningmore the older you get, it's all about win-ning and collecting trophies," he said. "Thisis my 32nd trophy. Wherever I have been,I have won."

It was Southampton which had the ball

in the net first, though. Gabbiadini beat goal-keeper David de Gea in the 11th minute onlyfor referee Andre Mariner to harshly penal-ize Ryan Bertrand for being offside when theSouthampton defender wasn't interferingwith play. Compounding the frustration wasIbrahimovic putting United in front eightminutes later by curling a free kick aroundthe defensive wall past outstretching goal-keeper Fraser Forster.

United at the back, though, was livingdangerously, and allowing far too muchspace for Southampton to push for theequalizer. De Gea sprang into action to blocka low shot from James Ward-Prowse and heused his legs to deny Dusan Tadic.

United leading by one goal wasn'treflecting this contest, but Southampton fellfurther behind from another lapse.

Lingard was given so much time andspace that he could take a touch to controlMarcos Rojo's pass before slotting pastForster. Adding to strikes in the FA Cup finaland Community Shield in 2016, Lingardnow has three goals in three Wembleyappearances. Game over? Southamptonhad other ideas, sensing United's fragiledefense was ripe for exploiting. And in first-half stoppage time, Gabbiadini produced thegoal he had been denied earlier in the final.

Rojo was exposed again at left back asWard-Prowse whipped in a cross that wasmet by Gabbiadini, who put the ballthrough De Gea's legs. United's halftimeresponse was to replace Juan Mata and placeMichael Carrick as the shield in front of itsdefense. But the Southampton goal threatpersisted after the break, with NathanRedmond's volley turned wide by De Geaand Claude Puel's team leveled from theresulting corner. Gabbiadini swiveled pastSmalling to strike low into the net to makeit five goals in three games since joining fromNapoli. There would be no hat trick asGabbiadini was substituted and watchedfrom the bench as Ibrahimovic had the finalsay as extra time was looming.

"(Puel) has reason to be really sad anddisappointed because he did a fantastic work,his team did fantastic, his team deservedextra time," Mourinho said. "To lose inminute 87 with very little time to try to react,as they did in the first half, is a little bit unfairon them."

But it is United now on course for a tre-ble, still in contention for the FA Cup andEuropa League. The bigger target, though,is returning to the Champions Leaguethrough winning the Europa League or byfinishing in the Premier League's top four.

&��� 06+�6+

Ever the showman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic seems to be rev-eling in maintaining the suspense.Why accept a one-year contract extension from

Manchester United now when you can sustain the ambi-guity and add to the mystique?

"Let's see what happens," Ibrahimovic said after his freekick and header helped United win the League Cup onSunday. “I will stop on top. If I don't perform, if I don't bringresults, I will not play," the Swede added. "I will not be likeother players, playing because they (had) a great career andname and they are still playing because they are who theyare."

Even at 35, though, Ibrahimovic is feeding off his goalsrather than his reputation. "I'm an animal," he said. "I feellike a lion."

United manager Jose Mourinho certainly wants the strik-er to stay for another year. After Ibrahimovic producedanother age-defying, match-winning display and took histally for the season to 26 goals, Mourinho said he would not"beg" Ibrahimovic to prolong his stay.

The fans are another matter. If there's any doubtIbrahimovic could call it quits after a single season in Englishsoccer, Mourinho quipped that supporters should camp out-side his house.

It was Ibrahimovic's sons, Vincent and Maximilian, whourged their father to make England his next — potentiallyfinal — destination in a nomadic playing career after his ParisSaint-Germain contract expired last year. "I had my mindsomewhere else ... my mind was not here," Ibrahimovic saidas he left Wembley Stadium following United's 3-2 victoryover Southampton. "Then my kids started to bump my headand Jose called, then Iam here."

No one butIbrahimovic, though,is influencing the deci-sion about whether toplay on at United intonext season. "(My chil-dren) are satisfied withwhat I am doing,"Ibrahimovic said, "butthis time I am theboss, not them."

The Swede isenjoying toying withreporters about hisfuture, especially afterdefying so many pre-dictions that hewouldn't be able tocut it in England in thetwilight of his career.

"Let's see whathappens," he said. "Wehave another twomonths of the seasonto go, because accord-ing to many I couldnot do what I've beendoing."

Scoring goalafter goal, his exploits relegated a forward almost halfhis age - 19-year-old Marcus Rashford — and captainWayne Rooney to the bench at Wembley. And he has-n't just been used sparingly by Mourinho, netting in fourdifferent competitions — the Premier League, EuropaLeague, FA Cup and, of course, League Cup - since scor-ing in the season-opening Community Shield victoryover Leicester.

A marksman in front of goal still with suchunnerving precision, Ibrahimovic appears as unafraidby the march of time as he is by younger, supposedlymore nimble defenders, making 38 appearances with twomonths of the season still remaining. "I look good,"Ibrahimovic responded with typical bravado wheninformed that he looked 25 again. "I know I look good."

Unlike most swaggering players, Ibrahimovic backsup the hype with performances on the field. "I feel fresh.I feel good. I feel like an animal. I was not worried aboutage because I know what I am able to do," Ibrahimovicsaid. "People who know me from the locker room knowthat I train very hard ... and I need to suffer."

Ibrahimovic reaps the rewards. Sunday's triumphunder the Wembley arch took his career haul of win-ners' medals to 32, augmenting a collection from Ajax,Milan clubs Inter and AC Milan, Barcelona and PSG.

&2��� 06+�6+

Jose Mourinho has challenged hisManchester United stars to use their

dramatic League Cup final win againstSouthampton as a springboard to big-ger prizes.

Mourinho lifted the first major tro-phy of his United reign on Sunday afterZlatan Ibrahimovic's late header clincheda 3-2 victory at Wembley.

The 54-year-old is the first Unitedmanager to win a major competition inhis maiden season at Old Trafford andthe 19th trophy of his glittering careermade him only the third boss, after AlexFerguson and Brian Clough, to enjoyfour League Cup triumphs.

Now Mourinho wants his players tolearn from the winning feeling as theychase FA Cup and Europa League titlesthis term, and ideally Premier Leagueand Champions League glory next sea-

son. "The reality is that we want more:my contract is long, I have two moreyears with this one, so hopefully I canwin more," Mourinho said. "This seasonI know it's difficult, but the reality is we

have to try to fight for more."Despite the landmark occasion

Mourinho wore a stern expression dur-ing the trophy presentation. But he insist-ed he was merely hiding his pride

because he wanted his players to soak upthe adulation.

"I am very happy. I always try to putmyself in the secondary position — it'simportant for the fans, the club, the play-ers — but it's also important for me," hesaid.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself, you(the media) put a lot of pressure onmyself. I wanted very much to win amajor trophy at every club. By doing thatwith Manchester United it's quite thesense of relief because it was a big tar-get for me.

"I feel very happy with the victoryand the fact I did it four times, the sameas the biggest one (Ferguson) and MrClough."

After watching United blow a two-goal lead as Manolo Gabbiadini strucktwice for the Saints before Ibrahimovic'swinner, Mourinho conceded his teamhad been fortunate.

"You could feel in the game the dif-ference in freshness. Southampton werein Spain, relaxing and preparing, and wewere playing Europa League and FACup," he said.

"We coped because we are humble,we stuck together and fought together,then we had a bit of luck because the 3-2 came at a moment when they could-n't react."

Although more silverware this yearwould be nice, Mourinho knows themain target is to guarantee ChampionsLeague action next season by securinga top-four Premier League finish.

The key to achieving that will bekeeping Ibrahimovic fit and firing on allcylinders.

The Swedish veteran, who alsoscored United's opener with a fine free-kick, was written off by many whenMourinho signed him on a free trans-fer last year.

&2��� ���5#�

Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo hauled RealMadrid back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at

Villarreal and regain top spot in La Liga fromBarcelona.

Real lead Barca by a point, but also have agame in hand on their title rivals. "We showedcharacter to turn the game around," said Real bossZinedine Zidane. "With everything that happenedtoday it was vitally important to get the threepoints."

Bale was recalled to the starting line-up forthe first time in three months after a long-terminjury layoff and Real's shock 2-1 defeat toValencia in midweek. And the European cham-pions looked set for a second straight defeat asVillarreal struck twice early in the second half.

Firstly, Manu Trigueros volleyed home SamuCastillejo's knockdown before Cedric Bakambuburst onto Bruno Soriano's through ball to slotpast Keylor Navas.

Bale started Madrid's fightback as he rosehighest to power home Dani Carvajal's cross 25minutes from time.

Villarreal had enjoyed the better of the open-ing hour, but were swamped by wave upon waveof Real attack for the final 30 minutes. The visi-tors needed a slice of luck, though, when Soriano

was harshly adjudged to have handled inside hisown area 15 minutes from time.

Ronaldo took responsiblity from the spot tosmash home the equaliser. Villarreal had lost goal-keeper Sergio Asenjo midway through the firsthalf to what looks like the fourth cruciate kneeligament injury of his career. And his absence wasto prove crucial as substitute goalkeeper AndresFernandez let Alvaro Morata's powerful headerfrom Marcelo's cross squeeze under his body tocomplete a rousing Real fightback.

&� � 5#6��2�D�+2#56

Dominic Thiem won the Rio Open onhis favorite surface of clay Sunday in

a tournament victory which he hopes willjump-start his season after a slow start.

Thiem claimed his eighth ATP sin-gles title and his sixth on clay with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Pablo Carreno Bustaof Spain.

Now he's off to Acapulco for thisweek's Mexican Open, which he won lastyear on Acapulco's hardcourts.

"Of course it's not easy," said Thiem,who was to fly Sunday to Acapulo, wheresix of the ATP's top 10 are playing. "I didthe same last year, and it worked out pret-ty well. It's not the greatest preparation,but I hope I can make it one more time.The confidence is pretty high now. I feelgreat the way I'm playing."

The Austrian is ranked No. 8 by theATP and was seeded second in Rio. Buthe became the favorite as soon as top-seeded Kei Nishikori was beaten in thefirst round.

He won all five matches in Rio, anddidn't drop a set.

Carreno Busta is now winless in fourmatches against Thiem. For some con-solation, the Spaniard won the doubles

title on Saturday with teammate PabloCuevas, defeating Juan Sebastian Cabaland Robert Farah 6-4, 5-7, 10-8.

Thiem's victory comes on the nightof the first of two parades at theSambadrome, with another set forMonday in a street stadium likely to draw80,000 revelers.

Thiem said he saw just a tiny bit of

the Carnival atmosphere, getting a lookat one of hundreds of Rio block partiesduring the week.

"It was right on the street," Thiemsaid of a block party near his hotel. "It waspretty impressive."

In receiving his trophy, he said he'dlike to come back. But there are reportsthe event may be moved off clay to thenew Olympic tennis arena and its hard-court set up.

"Enjoy the rest of the Carnival,"Thiem said on center court as he accept-ed his trophy from three-time FrenchOpen winner Gustavo Kuerten.

#&(!���3�)�'#&3�8��(�0�3�!��'$,#&%�.$&����Top-seeded Milos Raonicwithdrew from the Delray Beach Openfinal Sunday after injuring his hamstringa day earlier, giving the title to Jack Sock.

Raonic slightly tore his right ham-string Saturday night, feeling a sharp painwhile chasing down a drop shot in hissemifinal victory over Juan Martin delPotro.

Raonic tried to ignore the discom-fort, opting to go to sleep and hoping hewould feel fine in the morning. Instead,after getting two hours of treatment, the26-year-old Canadian ranked fourth in

the world hobbled onto a practice courtwhere Sock was warming up andannounced he would be unable to play.

The third-seeded Sock wound upwith his second title of the year andmoved up to a career-best 18th in theATP rankings. The 24-year-old alsowon last month in New Zealand andhelped the U.S. reach the quarterfinals ofthe Davis Cup.

Sock is 11-1 this year, with his onlyloss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the thirdround of the Australian Open.

Only Roger Federer, who won theAustralian Open, has a better winningpercentage that Sock this year. He alsohelped lead the U.S. to the Davis Cupquarterfinals with a first-round winover Switzerland.

)�(!*&�3�!��&,,�2#$!���2�!&,�&#�$�,,$��Second-seeded Jo-WilfriedTsonga won a second title in as manyweeks by defeating fellow FrenchmanLucas Pouille 6-4, 6-4 Sunday in the Open13 final. The 11th-ranked Tsonga put ona nearly flawless performance on his serveto win his 14th career title at the indoorevent. Tsonga hit seven aces, droppedonly three points on his first serve anddid not face a single break point.

F%1�1)��#$�=$$�� $���1�)��-�������� (������������:������������������0�� ��� (�,������� �������������7�����

=67���52�#��2

4#++#+���652�2�60�25�=67�2�*�#�N-��00

�167�4#++#+���+��6002��#+�

�56�#2-!��#-#-��=�B:+��56�=!

4252.25�#�.2�122+*�#�.2�46+��9,&)&!

�.#&���(-��

��+��! ������!���(!��������" $�� ����

����������������'����6�������!��

���5#��-���2�.#00�552�0,#��1��8��6�4#+�B":

������*� -�-�9,��,�,��� �����,�#��

Page 16: ˆ˙ and weed out contractors,!"# $#%&’ ˚ ˚(!)(*((! ˚*˛("#)! +’ ˇ ˆ ˛ ˚ ˆ ˇ ˆ ˆ ˜ ! ˚*˝,$-$,˛("#) #(.$ ˚!/"$ )˚(! &

('#�� �-�.!���'/ -���&(!'(/ 012��0345��!'" EH

�)��� �7+2

Australia's spin consultantSridharan Sriram, who hasbeen credited for Steeve

O'Keefe's sensational performancein the first Test against India, feelsit's not the name of a coach but hisinputs that earn him respect fromplayers. Sriram, who played 8 ODIsfor India during early part of the lastdecade, is considered the guidingforce behind left-arm spinnerO'Keefe's match-winning figures of12 for 70 in Australia's 333-run winin the first Test against India.

"I don't think the name reallymatters, does it? How does a namematter? I mean, I come in and if Italk sense they listen to me, if I talkbull**** they don't. It's as simple asthat," Sriram said on Monday whenasked if he has faced problems ofacceptability considering he is nota big name.

"I think it's taken time... Theyhave really been open. That's thebest thing about this Australianteam. They have been open to lis-tening first. And then obviously Imade sense a little bit and they start-ed listening and they started tryingout things in the nets and saw thatit worked for them and I think that'show it's gone," said Sriram.

"I have a chat with everyone, itis not just the spinners, that is thefreedom I get from my head coachwhich is amazing so I can chat toanyone if I feel there is somethingthey should do, I go up to them andsuggest and it is up to them if theyimplement it or not, some say nosome say yes, I am willing to try andprolong the conversation," Sriramsounded practical in his approach.

Sriram said O'Keefe's successshould be attributed to his "pre-paredness" and "willingness toexperiment".

Asked what exactly did O'Keefechange, Sriram said: "Not neces-sarily change, more I would use theword adapt. Because India is sucha big country, there's no one-stop

solution. If you say 'this will work',it is not going to work. So you havejust got to adapt on the go. You havegot to see what works for you onthat day.

"And so I think that's whereO'Keefe really scored, because hewas well-prepared. He was prepared

to experiment, he was prepared tosort of try different things in thenets. Which goes back to our timein Chennai in 2015. So, I think heknew that he had to come with anopen mind for every day of a TestMatch. What works on day one maynot work on day three. He knows

that. I think that's his biggeststrength," said Sriram.

O'Keefe was seen bowling dur-ing the second day's lunch breakwith Sriram keeping a close eye onhim. He didn't have a good first ses-sion when KL Rahul had taken himon.

So what did he tell O'Keefe atthe break, Sriram said: "I camedown from the viewing area and Iknew he (O'Keefe) was a little dis-turbed. He was walking around. Ididn't know whether to really speakto him or not. But the conversationhappened and he said 'I think I need

to have a bowl with you in the cen-tre'."

"He told me he was a bit ner-vous to start off and he was in hiscomfort zone and trying to bowl ashe would do in Australia. But, I said'Sok (O'Keefe's nickname), what doyou think you need on this wick-et?' and he said 'I need to go a lit-tle bit rounder and quicker'. And Ijust said to him 'go for it mate'because you know what you can doand you know what you need to do.Just go for it. And I think he adapt-ed beautifully."

Sriram said when he wasn'tdirectly working with O'Keefe, hewas still tracking his SheffieldShield performances on CricketAustralia's website.

"I have not been with him rightthrough. I've seen him in patches.But the good thing is, you can evenfollow him bowling in the SheffieldShield game because I can see it onCricket Australia's website. I can seewhat he's doing. So I've been fol-lowing him quite a bit in that I havewatched even some games live, I'vewatched the Sheffield Shield games.So, I think he wanted it badly. Heknew that he was the sort of sub-continent expert that theAustralians were looking for and heknew that he had to play over here,so I think he sort of stepped up tothat beautifully."

Talking about the team's prepa-ration in Dubai, Sriram said: "Youprepare for the worst. Then if youget the best, you go for it. But I thinkthe preparation in Dubai was excel-lent. We prepared different tracks.We made a rough. We made rankturners. We made slow and lowpitches. So I think it was a greatpreparation in terms of trying dif-ferent surfaces and being preparedfor whatever you get."

On a lighter note, he wasasked if this was the worst pitch thathe has seen, the former Tamil Nadustalwart said, "I can't speak aboutone particular match. But I've seenworse than this. I can tell you."

��#&!��#�)��&,�(2���,�2�!&,��!�,&�(#$0&#&���� ,��������'������ �� '��������#�����8����������������������������������������'������- (���0�� �����0���������L���"����!L�L�����������������������-0���������0����������������������*L�#���������������� ������!�#�������������������������((���"�����(����*���'������������'"�"#���������"���������������������������� ������ ��"���������������������������� �������������� �������������������� �������������� ��"��!�L4��������������(�� ���������������� ����� �� ���������*L�#���������!����������� �(����������������������������-0���������������������������0����������� ����������������������� �������'������ �� '��!�#��������������"�����������������(��������������� �����������������(���������(��������������������������������*������ ������������( �(���������'������ �� '��!����������8����������*������"���� ������)� ��������������'��������� '��1��������������I�������?KHA�����?KK/4������ (���������� � ��������*����������������������������������������������0�����!�

&,���(,'��,$&'��!�:0����&,&%&!�'#�-$��&#(�6.�")&!7��6������������������������������������������ �������� ��������������������������������������� �������������1�����1�����D8����������������������������������!�0������������������������ ������������������ ����������?@;�'�������������� ������� ������ ��������������1� ���������� ������������ ��� � ���(������� �������� ���������������� ������B?@@�����������������������!��������������������- ����5����������������"����+���������������� ����(����������������������(�� �����������'����� �� ������������������(�������!���������� ������������������������������������������������������ �������������'��(�� ����������������������"������� '������������8� � ������������������������������������� � (������'���������!�

�#�0&!)��$%$��*$#�&!�(�$!��#(3!�I,�$���&!�'$#�#"�#�6*$#�&!%7���6��� ����� '��������������� �����������������'����� ��*�#����N��8�������-��'����������������'"������������������������������������������������������ ��(��������������������������)����������������������� �����!�-��'����*����������� ��������$ �������������������5��6���(� ������ ��*�������� ��������������D�(���������������������������� � ����������������'���� ��������������������8�����- (��-�����������-�(������!����������4�����+�!�B*-��'������������ ����������������������-�����������������)���������������������������� ��������'������ ��(�������-��������������0 '�����������������������#��������������'�����'����������������������(������� �����2����������(������(���)�������!����#����������������������'������������ ��� ��������� ��-����'��N�������5����������(������� ������������ �������!� �������

� � � � � �7��������������/�1���������������-�6,������������+�� ��(��������(���������������(����������6I�������������