˚ ˇ˚ ˇ · kalraj mishra (78), who will ... was the cm of up at time the babri masjid was...

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

�� )�� %�� '�� '�� !��!��! �*�$�� #�� !��#�� (

�� !�� ""#� �� *��'�� *�� #�� +��$�� (

�� !��$�� +�,��% ��%*�� # ��'�� #��-(.��/�� (

�� !��%��"�&�'� � *�� '�� 0�!�� 1 �� #$�� $��%�� 2�1��(�3�� "�� !��2�� 1 �� #�� !��4�� 2�� ! �� 2�� # ��(

��

�� &5�4&+62

An erstwhile prominentMuslim face of theCongress who protested

against then Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi’s move to rescindthe Supreme Court verdict formaintenance to triple talaqvictim Shah Bano, ArifMohammed Khan was onSunday appointed theGovernor of Kerala, where theBJP is eager to gain a foothold.

Besides Khan, who joinedthe BJP in 2007, the Centreappointed three more partyleaders as Governors andreplaced incumbent KalyanSingh in Rajasthan. Singhwill now lose immunity fromtrial in the Babri Masjid demo-lition case after he retires fromthe gubernatorial post onMonday.

While BJP leader and for-mer Uttarakhand ChiefMinister Bhagat SinghKoshyari, 77, will be the newGovernor of Maharashtra,BJP’s Tamil Nadu chiefTamilisai Soundararajan, 58,has been appointed theGovernor of Telangana, andformer Union Labour MinisterBandaru Dattatraya, 72, hasbeen choses as HimachalPradesh Governor, replacingKalraj Mishra (78), who willsucceed Kalyan Singh as the

Governor of Rajasthan.Koshyari replaces Vidya SagarRao as the MaharashtraGovernor, whileSoundararajan will succeedESL Narasimhan in Telangana.

Reacting to Khan’sappointment as Governor, theCongress said it was an “entire-ly expected decision” as the hisrecent statements were an indi-cator of him getting rewardedby the BJP. “Congratulations toArif Mohammed Khan onbeing appointed as Governorof Kerala. An entirely expect-ed decision. His statements

made in the recent times werean indicator of him soon get-ting rewarded by the BJP. Thereward is well deserved andwas long awaited,” Congressleader Abhishek Manu Singhvisaid in a statement.

Khan, who will succeedformer Chief Justice of India PSathasivam in the Kerala RajBhavan, has been a vocal crit-ic of the practice of instanttriple talaq and calling forreforms in the Muslim per-sonal laws for long. Khan’sspeech in Parliament in 1985in the wake of the Shah Bano

judgment extending the RajivGandhi Government’s initialsupport to it was muchacclaimed.

However, when the RajivGandhi Government made aU-turn under pressure fromMuslim clerics and brought aBill to nullify the SupremeCourt verdict, Khan resignedfrom the Ministry. The UttarPradesh politician later joinedthe BJP in 2007 but remainedinactive since then.

Recently, when the ModiGovernment brought a Bill tocriminalise the practice ofinstant triple talaq, Khan sup-ported it. In the Shah Banocase, the Supreme Court haddelivered a judgment favouringmaintenance to an aggrieveddivorced Muslim woman.

On April 19, 2017, theSupreme Court had orderedrevival of criminal conspiracycharges in the Babri Masjiddemolition case against seniorBJP leaders LK Advani, MurliManohar Joshi and UmaBharati. But the SC had clari-fied that Kalyan Singh, whowas the CM of UP at time theBabri Masjid was demolishedin 1992, could not be broughtin as an accused to face trial inview of the constitutionalimmunity granted toGovernors under Article 361 ofthe Constitution.

�� &5�4&+62

The civilian population inJammu & Kashmir alone

has not been hit by the snap-ping of communication linesafter the abrogation of Article370, it has also badly affectedintelligence gathering whichhas seen a sharp 70 per centdecline in the last three weeks.

Intelligence gathering wasthe key reasons for the successof many recent anti-terroroperations in which top mili-tants were neutralised follow-ing pin-point real time tip-off.

Restrictions on movementand communication have seenfew anti-militant operationsin the last three weeks. Officialsin the security establishmentsaid the perfect synergy amonglocal police, paramilitary andthe Army led to neutralisationof nearly 140 terrorists, includ-ing the top leadership, thisyear so far. The figure crossedthe 200-mark last year againdue to pinpoint intelligence,they added. However, the localadministration, paramilitaryforces and police are now total-ly focused on maintaining lawand order in sensitive regionsof the Kashmir Valley, whichhas impacted the intelligencegathering network

Moreover, the informersare not able to relay the intel-ligence due to restrictions oncommunication and move-ment. Similarly, the militantsare also not moving from oneplace to another which gener-ally gives away their locationleading to encounters. This

phenomenon is more pro-nounced in South Kashmirwhich is more urbanised anddensely populated due to over-whelming deployment of forcesto ensure restrictions, sources said.

Meanwhile, the securityforces are exercising maxi-mum restraint and local com-manders were instructed toconduct anti-militancy opera-tions in the night hours. Themain reason for this is to pre-vent people gathering at theencounter site and indulging instone-pelting leading to lawand order situation, they said.This restriction is also fol-lowed to avoid collateral dam-age in the present situation.

As regards the PakistanArmy’s bid to stoke violence,officials said at least 10 infil-tration bids were foiled since

the revocation of Article 370on August 5. However, theseattempts will increase in thecoming days as the ISI and thePakistan Army are determinedto push in large number of ter-rorists from across the Line ofControl (LoC)to carry out ter-rorist strikes within the State,they said. Some spectacularterrorist incidents in otherparts of the country are alsofeared, officials said addingmore than 100 Afghan fightersrecruited by Pakistan arepoised to come in from across.

Also, the ceasefire viola-tions by the Pakistan Army onthe LoC have seen a sharpjump since August 5 withmore than 230 incidents. Theoverall figure for ceasefire vio-lations this year is 1,890 ascompared to 1,700 odd for theentire last year.

�� &5�4&+62

Bad news for the Indianeconomy continued to pile

on. After the GDP for April-June 2019 quarter touched asix-year low at 5 per cent, thecountry’s Goods and ServicesTax (GST) collections inAugust has dropped to �98,202crore from over �1.02 lakhcrore in the previous month,and auto sales number for thesame period has forcefullyreflected the alarming slow-down in the economy.

While Maruti saw a declineof 33 per cent, Tata Motorssales figure collapsed by 58 percent and Honda Cars India Ltd(HCIL) reported a 51.28 percent decline in domestic sales.

This is the second timeduring this year that the rev-

enue collection from the GSTslipped below the �1 lakh croremark. First, it happened inJune when the collection was�99,939 crore. However, it was�1.02 lakh crore in July.However, total GST for August

was 4.5 per cent higher than the�93,960 crore collected in thesame month last year.

Central GST collectionsstood at �17,733 crore, StateGST �24,239 crore.

Continued on Page 7

��

�� !"

�� &5�4&+62

Former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on

Sunday said the state of theeconomy was “deeply worry-ing” and asked theGovernment to shun “vendet-ta politics” and reach out to

“sane voices and thinkingminds” to steer the economyout of this “man-made crisis”.

Accused the Centre of all-round mismanagement, Singhsaid youth, farmers, entrepre-neurs and the marginalisedsections deserve better.

Continued on Page 7

��

��

#��$��%�&��'��

�� &5�4&+62

India on Sunday thwarted anattempt by Pakistan to raise

the Kashmir issue during theSouth Asian Speakers’ Summitin the Maldives, sayingIslamabad should end all statesupport to terrorism which isthe “biggest threat” to human-ity. The two sides had a heatedexchange during summit heldin the Maldivian Parliamentwhere the representatives of theSouth Asian countries hadgathered.

Pakistan’s Deputy Speakerof the National AssemblyQasim Suri tried to raise theKashmir issue during the dis-cussion on SustainableDevelopment Goals.Indiaimmediately raised a point oforder after which the presidingofficer asked Suri to let theIndian representative, RajyaSabha Deputy ChairmanHarivansh, to speak, but he didnot pay any heed, leading tocommotion. In a strong

response, Harivansh hit out atPakistan for raising India’s inter-nal issue and politicisation ofthe forum. “We strongly objectto the raising of internal mat-ter of India in this forum. Wealso reject to the politicisationof this forum by raising theissues which are extraneous tothe theme of this summit,”Harivansh said.

“There is a need forPakistan to end cross borderterrorism and all kinds of statesupport to the same in the inter-est of regional peace and sta-bility. Terrorism is the biggestthreat to the entire humanitytoday. Therefore, unanimouslywe should not allow in thisaugust gathering any kind ofcirculated statement to become a part of the proceed-ings,” he said.

Pakistan SenatorQuratulain Marri objected to

Harivansh’s remarks and saidthat SDGs for women andyouth cannot be achieved with-out human rights.

Harivansh hit back atPakistan saying a country thatperpetrated a genocide of itsown people has no moral rightto speak on the human rightsissue. Raising a point of orderagain, the Rajya Sabha DeputyChairman retorted: “Excellency,I would like to ask what moralrights this country has to raiseissues related to human rights?The world knows how theycommitted genocide in a partof their own country and thatcountry is now separate entitycalled Bangladesh.

“Since they have raisedhuman rights issue of Kashmir,I would like to state facts thatPakistan has occupied our partof Kashmir known as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

“This Pakistan-occupiedKashmir comprises 2 areas,the so-called Azad Jammu &Kashmir (AJK) and GilgitBaltistan (GB) which Pakistanhas illegally occupied througharmed action in 1947.

“Pakistan has kept peopleof this region guessing on theirstatus. As a constitutional enti-ty, the so-called ‘AJK’ is unique.It has been given the trappingsof a country with a President,a Prime Minister and aLegislature of its own. But theso-called AJK is neither a coun-try nor a province,” he said, asMarri was on her feet againprotesting India’s remarks.

The Karachi Agreement(April 28, 1949) truncatedPOJK and brought more than85 per cent of the land, strate-gically important for its con-nectivity with China and con-trol of rivers, under Pakistan’sdirect control, Harivansh said.

From the time of theKarachi Agreement, the so-called AJK President and PrimeMinister have enjoyed only tit-ular power, that too at thepleasure of the Ministry ofKashmir Affairs, he said. Amidthe commotion, SpeakerNasheed tried to calm down thetwo sides, as the Pakistani rep-resentative continued her ful-minations. The Indian delega-tion in the summit is led by LokSabha Speaker Om Birla.

��

�� !�� "#�$�� %�&

�� !��!�� %�&

'��(�� &�� %�!� ��

73��4 �� !��*(��8� �� !��"

��

�#$%&��'(

'�942/+&4��:�+232:��;:%;'<&%&��2':�$�=02++'�>?@

�� (��8� �� 8

+ �� !(�)�-AA��%%#� B.CD��'�� &"� �� !��

�!��)��4&+62��+9�0�:5 ;6:��+��;69;��&'5��

��62��2�9� �6��42,��6�4&6��49� 6<4&��;�4�E21�<5�4�

�%*�&��%��'�+,-.��

�� /��0/�01+23��+-��4

��

$)�*�$*�+�+&��36&%2�4'��&

�)$%,�'-19E&�39'�;&�3�

��:+2�2��'&�2&��

Lucknow (PNS): Wife ofthe State Urban DevelopmentAgency (SUDA) director suc-cumbed to firearm injurieswhich she suffered undermysterious circumstances ather house in Vikalp Khandunder Chinhat police stationarea on Sunday afternoon.

She suffered gunshotwounds on chest and back asthe bullet pierced throughher chest. Her husbandUmesh Singh is presentlyser ving as State UrbanDevelopment Agency direc-tor in Lucknow. The deceasedwas identified as Aneeta Singh(42). Though police claimedAneeta committed suicide,they were yet to find out thereason. She was rushed toKGMU Trauma Centre where she was declaredbrought dead.

Details on Page 3

�.��.�� /��0�� !�/�

�� !�"�#$�#%&'

Ballia (PTI): A womanwas beaten up by a group oflocals on suspicion of being achild lifter, police said onSunday. The incident took placenear a bus stand in Sikandarpurarea of the district on Saturday.

Police said Karishma Yadavwas talking to people aboutcomputer education inSikandarpur area of the districtwhen some locals started beat-ing her on the suspicion that shewas a child lifter. Police reachedthe spot and rescued thewoman.

Police outpost in-chargeAmarjeet Yadav said action willbe initiated, once a complaint isreceived. Attacks over rumoursof child-lifting have seen anincrease in UP.

�� +9�0�:5

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that hisgovernment was com-

mitted to cleansing the educa-tion system of cheating forbrighter future of students.

He pointed out that theexamination system of UttarPradesh had been marred bythe evil of cheating in the lastmany years

“When we launched thecampaign to cleanse the edu-cation system of its evilsaround two years back, the sit-uation in the state was quitechallenging. But our govern-ment was successful in launch-ing a massive crackdown oncheating,” Yogi said at a func-tion to felicitate meritoriousstudents organised at Dr RamManohar Lohia National LawUniversity in Ashiyana here onSunday.

Highlighting the stepstaken to curb use of unfairmeans in examinations, theChief Minister said the govern-ment held a dialogue withteachers and students. “Wegot full support of principals,teachers, parents and educa-tional institutions in makingexaminations copying-free.Around five lakh studentsskipped exams after the gov-ernment restricted use ofunfair means. During probe, itwas found that the sole aim ofthese examinees was to getadmissions (in higher classes)through unfair means,” he said.

“Our government ensuredthat instead of declaring holi-days on the anniversaries ofgreat personalities, the schools

should tell students about theircontributions to society. Wealso ensured that all examina-tions were conducted in 15days instead of three monthsand we thank the UPSecondary Education Boardfor this feat,” he said.

At the function, the ChiefMinister felicitated 1,695 mer-itorious students of UP, CBSEand ICSE boards. As many as120 meritorious students whofigured in the state merit listsof High School andIntermediate examinationsreceived Rs 1 lakh each as cashprize, tablets and citations.

As many as 1,575 merito-rious students figuring in thetop ten lists at district level

received Rs 21,000 each ascash prize and tablets.

The Chief Minister saideducation not just provideddegrees but helped in overallgrowth of an individual andlaid the foundation for fulfill-ing the vision of ‘Ek Bharat,Shreshtha Bharat’.

“Parents play an importantrole in the development of thechild and a child’s first teacheris his mother. A child willdevelop according to the envi-ronment provided to him,” theChief Minister said.

He said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was of theview that protection of publicproperty was the responsibili-ty of all people as it belonged

to all people.“If students and teachers

start cleaning the school cam-pus, their efforts should beappreciated,” he said.

Deputy Chief MinisterDinesh Sharma said meritori-ous students played a key rolein making exams cheating-free.

“Our government has alsobrought a change by introduc-ing NCERT books in UP.Earlier, students had to buycostly books,” he said.

Minister of State forSecondary Education, GulabDevi, and Principal Secretary(Secondary Education)Aradhana Shukla were alsopresent on the occasion.

�� +9�0�:5

The power employees of thepublic sector power distri-

bution companies havedemanded performance auditof the privatised power assetsin India and their adverseimpact on the financial healthof commercial banks.

Making a case against thealleged discreet privatisation ofpower utilities and channels,the All-India Power EngineersFederation (AIPEF), repre-senting nearly 1.5 milliontechnocrats from the sector,said an independent evalua-tion of the performance of pri-vatised assets, their impact

on consumers in terms of costburden and customer service,and financial burden on bankswas the need of hour.

AIPEF chairmanShailendra Dubey also criti-cised the alleged arm-twistingtactics of Union Minister ofState for Power RK Singh,who, he claimed, had warnedstate power distribution com-panies (discoms) that theywould have to hand over elec-tricity supply business to mul-tiple-supply licensees or fran-chisees in order to get Centralgovernment assistance orloans from Power FinanceCorporation (PFC) and RuralElectrification Corporation.

Claiming that urbanpower distribution franchiseeshad met with a fiasco, Dubeynoted that since electricitywas a concurrent subject, theCentre could not dictate termsto state governments.

“Almost every franchisee,which had undertaken ‘creamycity areas’, has failed in differ-ent states, to deliver power toconsumers and ultimately thestate power discoms had totake their systems back,” hesaid.

Citing the example of thefailure of the private fran-chise, he said a franchisee inNagpur had expressed inabil-ity to operate and asked

Maharashtra discom to takeover distribution. Franchiseesin Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Gaya,Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur,Gwalior, Sagar and Ujjain have also fai led, Dubeyclaimed, adding that in otherplaces, franchisees regularlydefault in making payments todiscoms.

“The Power Minister istalking of franchisee on onehand and on the other, theGovernment of India hasformed a joint power distrib-ution company consisting ofNTPC and Power Grid, whichhave no past exposure topower distribution,” he under-lined.

The AIPEF had earlieralso opposed the proposals offederal policy think-tank NITIAayog, which in its strategypaper, had dwelt on privatisa-tion of power distribution inurban areas and introductionof franchisee system in ruralareas.

Dubey said NITI Aayog’sstrategy paper had essentiallyhighlighted those points thatwere part of Electricity(Amendment) Bills, 2014 and2018. These bills lapsed afterthey could not be passed inLok Sabha during theNarendra Modi-I regime.

In its paper, the NITIAayog had proposed privati-

sation of state discoms and/orthe use of franchisee model toreduce AT&C (aggregatetechnical and commercial)losses in the domestic energysector.

The NITI Aayog had alsosaid discoms could adopt afranchise model for their retailbusiness in rural areas andstipulate a minimum level ofperformance parameters,including the use of decen-tralised generation sourcesand storage systems for localreliability and resilience.

On its part, the AIPEFopined that ‘experiments’ ofprivatisation and franchisemodels had failed in India.

�� +9�0�:5

Congress on Sundayannounced the name of

Hardeepak Nishad as its candi-date for Hamirpur Assemblyby-election in Uttar Pradesh.“Congress president SoniaGandhi has approved the can-didature of Hardeepak Nishadas Congress candidate for theensuing by-election to theLegislative Assembly of UttarPradesh from Hamirpur con-stituency,” said UP Congress inan official statement.

Nishad is pitted againstSamajwadi Party candidateManoj Kumar Prajapati andBahujan Samaj Party’s Naushad

Ali.The Hamirpur seat will go

to bypolls on September 23 andcounting of votes will be takenup on September 27.

The bypoll is being heldfollowing disqualification ofBJP legislator Ashok KumarSingh Chandel following hisconviction in a murder case.

By-elections are due in 13Assembly constituencies ofUttar Pradesh. Except for theHamirpur bypoll, the ElectionCommission is yet to announcethe election schedule for theother seats.

The Communist Party ofIndia has also decided to con-test the Hamirpur bypoll

�� +9�0�:5

Communist Party of India’sgeneral secretary D Raja

said the situation in Jammu andKashmir was not at all normaland the Union governmentwas not aware of the historicalfacts related to the state

Addressing a press confer-ence at party office in Lucknowon Sunday, Raja said, “Thegovernment officials are detain-ing people and even stoppingdelegations of different politi-cal parties from going toJammu and Kashmir. There isno point in stopping represen-tatives of political parties fromgoing there (J&K).”

The CPI senior leader saidthat telephone and internet facil-ities had been withdrawn andsecurity forces were deployedeverywhere in Jammu andKashmir.

“The situation (in J&K) isnot as is being presented by theBharatiya Janata Party govern-ment at the Centre. In fact, thesituation is very difficult there.Children are not going to schooland people are unable to pur-chase medicines as shops areclosed,” he said.

Taking a jibe at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s state-ment that Jammu and Kashmirwould soon get statehood, Rajasaid Modi should come andexplain this point in Parliament.

The CPI leader said theUnion government’s approachwas not good for Parliament.“Our Parliament represents thesovereign will of the peopleand it is being made redundant.Democracy is in peril andParliament is being taken forgranted,” he said.

Raja demanded that allpolitical leaders detained orarrested by the government inJammu and Kashmir be setfree. “I hope good sense will pre-vail on the government,” headded.

Hitting out at BahujanSamaj Party supremo Mayawati,Raja said he failed to understandwhy she quoted Dr BRAmbedkar as being in favour ofabrogation of Article 370 of theConstitution. “Dr Ambedkar, infact, had strongly rejected theidea of Hindu rashtra and hadadvocated a secular democrat-ic republic,” he said.

Raja also hit out at NationalRegister of Citizen (NRC) andsaid the BJP was raking up theissue of intrusion ofBangladeshis and saying theirnumber was above 40 lakh onlyto set up a communal rhetoric.“The number of outsiders wasrecorded as 19 lakh only,” hesaid.

Raja also criticised RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh chiefMohan Bhagwat, saying theRSS was very opposed to theidea of social justice and BJP andRSS aimed at abolishing thereservation system. “RSS wantsits own agenda to be implement-ed by the Union governmentwhich is being controlled andguided by it,” he said. The CPIleader demanded reservations inprivate sector also.

Raja also criticised the Modigovernment for “de-nationalisingpublic sector banks in the nameof merger”. He alleged: “The pri-mary objective was to ensurecapital for corporate houses andthat the lending policy was infavour of corporate houses”.

“No where in the world big

banks have provided stability tothe economy. Big banks havecollapsed even in the US. Duringthe 2008 global meltdown, Indiacould withstand the crisis, asIndia had strong public sectorbanks and public insurancecompanies,” he said.

The government on Fridayunveiled a mega plan to merge10 public sector banks into fourwith a view to create fewer andstronger global-sized lenderswith robust balance sheets thatcan be used to boost credit andspur growth.

“In the name of merger,what the (Narendra) Modi gov-ernment is trying to do is to de-nationalise public sector banks.The government claims thatthe fundamentals of the econo-my are strong. In fact, the Modigovernment is destroying, break-ing the fundamentals of theeconomy,” the CPI general sec-retary said.

On the current state of theeconomy, Raja said, “The econ-omy is in shambles. There is abig crisis in industry, agrariandistress and demonetisation hasbrought disastrous conse-quences for the small sector. Asplanned by Modi, we do not seetwo crore jobs. There is highestrate of unemployment, which isgrowing at a galloping speed.”

Meanwhile, the CPI decid-ed to contest the Hamirpurbypoll and said it would conteston 7-8 seats. Party leader Girishsaid the name of the candidatefor the Hamirpur seat would bedecided in a couple of days. Heurged the Election Commissionto announce the dates of filingof nomination ten days inadvance for the convenience ofthe political parties.

�� +9�0�:5

Asking police to be effective,Chief Minister Yogi

Adityanath said the more wehone our skills, the more wewill find ourselves equipped toface challenges in our field.

The Chief Minister wasaddressing a gathering duringthe inaugural function of thePolice Training Centre in Kalpitehsil of Jalaun district onSunday.

It is the first police trainingcentre to be opened inBundelkhand region.

“This training centreshould not be limited toimparting police training. Infact, it can play a big role inaddressing the issues of publicconcern at the local level,” theChief Minister said.

“We need to change theperception about police thatwas handed over to us as alegacy by the British. We needpeople-friendly police todaywith whom criminals shouldfeel frightened while commonpeople should have respectfor them. Training plays a keyrole in building this image,” theChief Minister said.

He said the UP Police wasworking more efficiently withthe use of modern technology.

“All important events likeKumbh Mela, Pravasi Bharatimeet and Lok Sabha electionspassed off peacefully. The roleof police was highly appreciat-ed by all,” he said.

The Chief Minister saidthat in the present times, thenature of crime had changed.

“This change is being seen

not only at the local level butalso at the inter-state and inter-national levels. In such a situ-ation, it is important to bringabout technological changes inthe force,” he added.

The Chief Minister said,“In the last two-and-half years,his government recruited over75,000 police personnel andmore than 50,000 recruitmentswere in the process.”

He said no incident of useof any unfair means wasreported in the recruitmentsbecause the government con-ducted the recruitment processwith transparency and sincer-ity.

He said the governmentwould reinstate 54 companiesof PAC that had been terminat-ed and the process to set upthree woman PAC companies

had been started.The Chief Minister said the

government had initiated theprocess for establishing policeand forensic university inLucknow to train cops to tack-le cyber crimes.

Those present on the occa-sion included Minister of Statefor Higher Education, Scienceand Technology NeelimaKatiyar, MP Bhanu Pratap SinghVerma, DGP OP Singh and sev-eral senior police officers.

�� ! ��""��!�#��$��%&''()*(��+��+��,��&--./��0�� .��1��%�2��3��$��2��3��$101��')*(456��%+� �"��32�.783 )-(())!93'- 55:'�. ��;��3<)5-'=' '):*:�' '*)*:�-'>) ()��"��;��3<)5*'='-) ))(�'-) *(��;��3<)5 '=' * '> �' * '>5�?� ��;��31��(�7��@� �7�%��7��A��1�%?� ��&**)))'��3)**& )**) 55��//��;��3!&-*��(�1;0?.�@��/7��1��&')*-)*�B��3)*')& :6>:))C :6>>))

�� !�� "�� #��$��%�� &�� !��

1��2/�� .

3��1��"�� .��

)�� *�� +��!��#��%��

%�� %

Lucknow (PNS): The banon plastic and polythene havingthickness of less than 50 micronscame into force in Uttar Pradeshfrom Sunday with a fine up toRs 1 lakh and six months in jailfor violators, according to astate government order.

After the Uttar Pradeshgovernment warned of sternaction against officials whofailed to implement the plasticban in the state capital, police inLucknow had launched ahelpline on Thursday, askingpeople to inform them aboutany violation.

“People should come for-ward and call anti-crime helpline7839861314 to report the man-ufacturing or supply of plastic inthe city,” Senior Superintendentof Police Kalanidhi Naithanihad said, adding that the iden-tity of informers would not bedisclosed.

The initiative came afterthe state government on August26 said stern action would betaken against officials if thebanned plastic/polythene bagsand material were sold in anypart of Lucknow from nextmonth.

After August 31, stern actionwould be taken against anypolice station in-charge, civicofficial, commercial tax officer,magistrate and circle officers, ifthe sale of the banned plastic wasnoticed in their areas, AdditionalChief Secretary (Home) AwanishAwasthi had said. He said theofficials had also been asked toinform traders and the peopleabout the ban.

Prime Minister NarendraModi in his Independence Dayspeech this year and subse-quently in his monthly radioaddress ‘Mann ki Baat’ hadappealed to people not to useplastic to protect the environ-ment.

��456��"�%�7��

�&%,��-�� #��

�.��"�3��/�� *�� /��8��

5�� !� ��!��/��

��7�� Muzaffarnagar (PTI): At

least four people were injuredin a clash between two groupsover a land dispute, police saidon Sunday.According to SHOPankaj Tyagi, three people werearrested following the skirmishin Nagla Khepad village underMuranpur police station in thedistrict on Saturday evening.

The groups attacked eachother with sharp weapons andlathis, he added.

Meanwhile, the policearrested a man who allegedlyshot at RSS activist SompalSaini in Muzaffarnagar district,

an officer said on Sunday.During interrogation, the

accused Rohit revealed that heattacked Saini due to old enmi-ty, Circle Officer Sidharth Tomarsaid. The pistol used to committhe crime was recovered fromhis possession, he added. In-charge of a wing of the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh inHabibpur village, Saini wasattacked on Friday. UnionMinister Sanjeev Balyan andseveral BJP leaders had onSaturday met the injured activistat the Meerut Medical College.

Meanwhile, a 20-year-old

woman was found dead at a gar-den in Jalalabad of Shamli dis-trict, police said on Sunday.They suspect it to be a case ofhonour killing. According toDSP Pradeep Singh, the bodyhas been sent for a post-mortem. The father of thedeceased, Niyamat Ali, and herbrother Nazakat had been takeninto custody, police said.Members of the woman’s fam-ily had claimed that she hadgone missing on August 29.She was allegedly strangled todeath as there were injury markson her throat.

.�� %Lucknow (PTI): Parts of

Uttar Pradesh received rains onSunday and state capitalLucknow recorded a maximumof 34.4 degrees Celsius.According to Met department(MeT), rainfall was recorded inBareilly (8.4 mm), Hardoi (22.2mm), Banda (21 mm) and Agra(10.3 mm). Ballia was the hottestcity in the state, where maxi-mum temperature of 36.5degrees Celsius was recorded.The Met department also fore-cast rain/thundershower at a fewplaces in eastern UP and at iso-lated places in western part.

*�!��

Firozabad (PTI): A staffnurse at a government hospi-tal here has been suspended foralleged laxity following thedeath of a newborn here, asenior health official said.

Chief Medical Officer ofFirozbad Dr SK Dixit told PTI,“Yesterday, around 7 am, staffnurse Deepti Nigam declarednewborn dead and informedthe child’s family members.”

However, when anothernurse joined the duty around 8

am, she saw that the child wasstill alive. She put the child onoxygen. However, the childdid not survive, the CMO said.

An enquiry has beenordered against Nigam, as shedid not consult the doctorbefore declaring the newborndead, the Chief Medical Officersaid, adding she has been sus-pended.

The child died at around11 am on Saturday.

�� !�"�#$�#%&' ��

�� !�� +9�0�:5

Giving a clarion call to makeeradication of malnutrition

a people’s movement, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidthat Poshan Maah (NutritionMonth) was not just a formal-ity but an important steptowards making India strongand capable.

“If a country’s children areweak and malnourished, theyouth of that nation can neverbe strong. People’s participationis needed in the fight againstmalnutrition to make the cam-paign successful,” the ChiefMinister said while launchingthe Rashtriya Poshan Maahcampaign from his 5 KalidasMarg official residence in thestate capital on Sunday.

Yogi said the success of anycampaign depended on theco-ordination between differ-ent departments. “It should beensured that no child is left outduring the month-long cam-paign. Due to proper co-ordi-nation, there was no outbreakof viral diseases such as dengue,kala-azar, chikungunya, filari-asis in Uttar Pradesh this timeand we will succeed in fightingmalnutrition if we work as ateam,” he said.

Elaborating on this, theChief Minister said for the lastfive years, all the programmesand schemes launched in thecountry were aimed at makingIndia united to ensure itexcelled in every field.

“Swachh Bharat Abhiyanthat ultimately took shape of abig public movement is com-mendable. This programmewill also fulfil the resolutions ofPrime Minister NarendraModi,” he said.

The Chief Minister said thecitizens of eastern UttarPradesh were angry overencephalitis menace. “In thelast two years, through concert-ed efforts of the Health andother departments concerned,we have successfully checkedthe spread of this disease.Public awareness and mass

movement played an importantrole in this,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion,Women and Child WelfareMinister Swati Singh said thiscampaign would be celebratedas a festival. She urged peopleto participate in it for a cause.“We would be able to complete-ly root out malnutrition fromthe state,” she added.

Chief Secretary RK Tiwarisaid it was for the first time that‘annaprashan’, birthday and

function of Nutrition Monthwas being held at the residenceof the Chief Minister.

He said around 50 percent children did not developphysically and mentally due tomalnutrition and this could beeradicated only with publicawareness. Earlier, the eventwas launched by the ChiefMinister by lighting the tradi-tional lamp, He also releasedthe report on Health Mela andthree books. Nutrition Month

to be celebrated in four phas-es. The main objective of theevent, which will run fromSeptember 1 to 30, is to ensureproper care, provision of nutri-tion supplements to children inthe first 1,000 days after birthand saving them from diar-rhoea, and prevention ofanaemia, and promotion ofhygiene in adolescent girls.This campaign will be organ-ised in four phases: first weekas male participation week,second week as adolescent girlsweek, third week as children’sweek and fourth week as moth-er week. The Chief Ministeralso launched the Yatharth appat the event. This app has beenmade with the joint collabora-tion with Piramal Foundation.The app will be helpful inretrieving information aboutfield visits by officers of ChildDevelopment and Nutritiondepartment.

Around 40 children weredistributed meals during theevent, The meal was cooked bytheir mothers. The ChiefMinister served meals to somefew children. Birthday of agirl, Ananya Tiwari, was alsocelebrated on the occasion.

�� !�� +9�0�:5

The traditional ‘Shahi Zarih’procession was taken out

on the first day of Moharram(Sunday). Earlier, clerics andspeakers addressed ‘majalis’commemorating the martyr-dom of Imam Hussain and hiscompanions, including nearand dear ones.

Giving a backgrounder ofthe procession, MasoodAbdullah, a resident of theOld City, said in the year 1839,King Mohammad Ali Shah,the third king of Avadh,formed a trust called‘Hussainabad Mubarak’, andgave Rs 36 lakh as loan to EastIndia Company at 4% interestrate. “He signed a treaty with awill that from this interest, var-ious religious activities wouldbe performed, especially theexpenses incurred onMoharram observation,” herecalled.

The main objective was theShahi juloos comprising a‘Zarih’ (replica of ImamHussain’s shrine in Iraq) on thefirst day of Moharram,‘Mehendi Juloos of HazratQasim on seventh day ofMoharram and Ashura proces-sion on the tenth day.‘Tabarruk’ was also distrib-uted among the ‘Azadars’ atBada Imambara, ChhotaImambara and ImambaraShahnajaf.

“On every first day ofMoharram, the ‘Shahi Zarih’procession is taken out fromBada Imambara to ChhotaImambara. Earlier, the route ofthe procession was not like it istoday,” he pointed out.

“This procession compris-es a banner of the processionfollowed by ‘Roshan Chowki’on which musicians playshehnai in elegiac tone, a‘Sabeel’ distributing sherbetmade of milk, dry fruits andsaffron. ‘Sozkhwans’ and‘Marsiyakhwans’ recite elegiesdepicting the martyrdom ofImam Hussain (a.s) and his 71companions, including his 6-month-old infant Hazrat AliAsghar. There is also a horsedecked up as ‘Zuljanah’, thehorse of Imam Hussain (a.s).

�� !�� +9�0�:5

Apetty issue escalated astwo brothers indulged in a

brawl with a sub-inspectorwho they accused of damagingtheir car and threatening tosend them to jail. The incidenttook place in Hasanganj on theintervening night of Saturdayand Sunday. The brother duowas arrested by the police later.

The S-I alleged that theaccused attempted to snatch hisservice revolver and looted hismobile during brawl. Heclaimed that the police teamthat rescued him got back hishis mobile from the brotherduo. Playing safe, theHasanganj police registered a

cross-FIR in this connection.However, the FIR lodged by theS-I was registered under seri-ous sections of IPC.

As per reports, S-I NareshPal Singh, who is posted atVibhuti Khand police station,was returning home in TriveniNagar and took a lane to reachthere around 1 am on Sunday.“As it was dark, I could not seea car parked on the road andmy motorcycle rammed into it.Following the incident, AvinashMishra and his brother ShivamMishra came out of their houseand talked to me in a harshtone even as I tried to pacifythem and offered to pay for thedamage. But they attacked meand tried to snatch my service

revolver. I started making avideo clip using my mobilephone camera but theysnatched it from me. Later, ateam rescued me and I got backmy mobile phone,” he said.

Contrary to his claim,Shatrughna Mishra, father of

the accused, said the brawl tookplace around 11.45 pm, and notat 1 am. “I was in my roomwhen I heard someone shout-ing at my sons. As I reached thescene, I found the S-I rebukingmy sons. I dialled police con-trol room and a team reachedthe scene. Later, we reached thepolice station where my sonswere detained,” he said.

Police spokesman SBShukla said a case for lootattempt, attacking a police-man and damaging his motor-cycle was registered againstthe brother duo. We also reg-istered a case against the S-I forreckless driving,” he said,adding further investigationswere underway.

�� !�� +9�0�:5

Wife of the State UrbanD e v e l o p m e n tAgency (SUDA)

director succumbed to firearminjuries which she sufferedunder mysterious circum-stances at her house in VikalpKhand under Chinhat policestation area on Sunday afternoon.

She suffered gunshotwounds on chest and back asthe bullet pierced through herchest. Her husband UmeshSingh is presently serving asSUDA director in Lucknow.The deceased was identified asAneeta Singh (42). Thoughpolice claimed Aneeta com-mitted suicide, they were yet tofind out the reason.

As per reports, Aneeta wasresting in a room on the sec-ond floor of her house whileher husband Umesh and theirson Ashutosh in their roomson the ground floor. Their ser-

vants Vikas and Tulsiram werebusy in daily chores.

“Around 2.30 pm, I heardthe gunshot and ran upstairs toreach my mother’s room. I sawmy father banging the roomand crying for help. As webroke open the doors, I foundmy mother lying in a pool ofblood on a sofa. Her licencedpistol was lying close to her. Werushed her to the KGMUTrauma Centre where she wasdeclared brought dead,”Ashutosh told the police.

Gomti Nagar circle officerAC Srivastava said the policegot the information around

4.30 pm. “We were informedthat the SUDA director’s wifehad shot herself to death at herhouse. A team was sent to theplace for investigation. Theteam found blood spattered ona sofa in the room. A photo ofMaa Kali was found on a table.The police team recovered apistol lying under the sofa anda bullet shell a few steps,” hesaid. The Chinhat police saidAshutosh told them that hismother committed suicide asshe was under depression.“Ashutosh told us that hismother did not want to live inthe house with them,” the

police said. A policespokesman said Ashutoshcould not explain as to whyAneeta did not want to livewith the family. He said as thefamily was currently in a stateof shock, the police could notquiz them further.

About the autopsy report,the CO said the victim had exitwound on the back. “Itappeared that she put the noz-zle of the pistol on her chestand pulled the trigger. The bul-let pierced through her chest.It seemed to be a case of sui-cide. We are examining everyminute detail related to theincident,” he said.

The CO said the policewere yet to conclude if it wasa case of suicide. “The findingsin the case so far suggest thatit is a case of suicide. We haveyet to get any complaint in thisconnection,” he added.

Earlier, after the newsreached to the police, a teamled by ASP (North) SukirtiMadhava reached the crimescene. The field unit consistingof forensic scientists also exam-ined the crime scene and collected evidence.

(��'�� '��'�)�'��

)�� !�� .� ��%� �� /� �� %��

#�/��/��0�� /��7��%��'��

*��)��+��+��#

�� !��0��1��2�� !�� %��

��,��'�� '

�� !�"� #$�#%&'

Lucknow (PNS): As perthe priority of UPSRTC toadopt and replicate the bestpractices of other transportcorporations, a team consistingof managing director, generalmanager (operations), deputygeneral manager (IT) anddeputy chief mechanical engi-neer visited Bengaluru andMysuru to study the practicesof Karnataka Road TransportCorporation (KSRTC) andBangalore MetropolitanTransport Corporation(BMTC) from August 29 to 31.

UPSRTC managing direc-tor Raj Shekhar said the teamvisited Mysore Bus TransportCommand and Control Systemfor effective implementationand use of vehicle tracking sys-

tem. “We visited the depot ofVolvo buses and studied theinventory management sys-tem. The team had interactionsand meetings with KSRTC andBMTC officers.

KSRTC is one of the mostsuccessful corporations in Indiawhich has successfully imple-mented many innovations. It isalso one of the three SRTUsmaking profits albeit of smallscale. The officials shortlistedfew functional activities forfurther study and implementa-tion, replication and adoptionof the same with modificationas required by UPSRTC in thecoming days. The managingdirector said these include adriver-cum-conductor systemfor non-stop buses.

�� !�� +9�0�:5

The Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority (LDA) adminis-

tration on Sunday decided toissue notices to 700 owners ask-ing them to start constructionon their residential plots lyingvacant in Gomti Nagar areas.The idea is to check the mush-rooming growth of shantiesand to prevent them frombeing used as garbage dumpinggrounds. The resolution waspassed at a special meeting heldhere on Sunday to review theprogress made in terms ofremoving unauthorised struc-tures set up by labourers work-ing at nearby sites.

Most of the vacant plotsare being used as dumpinggrounds for garbage and con-struction of makeshift houses.LDA Vice-Chairman PNSingh said it was also theirduty to prevent misuse oftheir land. Singh said the LDAadministration would takehelp from the district admin-istration in this regard. The

LDA administration has takensimilar initiative in other res-idential colonies. BesidesGomti Nagar, drives have beenlaunched at Transport Nagar,Jankipuram Extension andRajajipuram areas in the past.

Private partners will alsobe invited, if required.Presently, Lucknow MunicipalCorporation is helping LDA intransporting the garbage to thedumping ground. The LDAadministration has yet todecide in terms of slappingpenalties on such plot owners.Chief financial controller RKSingh said penalties would beimposed only after they got thenod from the state govern-ment. He hastened to addthat LDA had no such inten-tions at the moment. It hasbeen observed in 60 per centof the cases that owners do notsold their lands and wait forthe prices to go up to earn bigprofit. “Over 40 per cent ofplots have not been fenced orsurrounded by boundarywalls.

��A educational organisation

held a seminar on ‘New-ageaptitude-based career options’in the city for students and par-ents on Sunday. It was aimed atcreating awareness about theemerging new-age careeroptions for young students invarious fields as opposed to theconventional ones. The seminarwas attended by around 500students. The seminar provid-ed an interactive platform for

career options, opportunities,and future-ready courses. Ithelped the students understandthe importance and relevance ofaptitude test. Ankit Kapoorfrom the organisation said ithad become consequential forstudents to keep transformingtheir skill-sets with the chang-ing trends. “In order to beirreplaceable in today’s world ofpossibilities, one must beunique. The need for buildinga strong foundation for aptitude

�� !�� +9�0�:5

The stage is set for GaneshChaturthi celebrations

which will kick off fromMonday. The pandals this yearhave various themes including‘Save Environment’, ‘WaterConservation’ ‘Unity of India’etc. Makeshift shops sellingGanesh idols have cropped upacross the city.

Bharat Bhushan Guptafrom Ganesh Prakataya Samiti,which has set up one of thebiggest pandals in the city atJhulelal Park, said an amalga-mation of all the current pro-jects of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was the themeof their Ganesh Utsav.

“Although we have takenup projects like ‘Akhand Bharat’,‘Clean India, Green India’, ‘BetiBachao’ Beti Padhao’, ‘Fit India’and ‘Plastic Ban’, we are apolit-ical. However, the issues arebeing raised in the interest ofsociety. In terms of not usingChinese products, we haveplaced a dragon on the pandalentrance,” he added.

“We will have a nritya nati-ka with a special focus onArticle 370 abrogation. Otherthemes will also be projectedthrough the programme,” headded.

Gupta said they were usingpaper plates for serving prasadand paper glasses for water. “Inview of the government direc-tive, we will do bhoo visarjan ofidols even though we are hold-ing the celebrations close to

Gomti river,” he pointed out.The pandal is spread over

14,000 square feet and there areelaborate security arrange-ments under CCTV cameramonitoring. “We have 50 menand women from our organi-sation looking into the securi-ty aspect. The pandal is air-conditioned and waterproof.Swings have been put up forchildren and a variety of dish-es will be available for the vis-itors,” he said. The pandal(with 6.5-feet Ganesh idol thisyear) attracts over 4 lakh devo-

tees. Manish Kumar Guptafrom Ganesh Samiti which willhold the celebrations (AliganjKa Raja) near Nehru Vatikasaid the theme was ‘WaterConservation’.

“We have made the pandaland the Lord Ganesha thronein the shape of a peacock. Wewill be serving whole fruits andladdoos to the devotees toavoid the use of plastic,” he said.

Pratibha Jha from GomtiNagar Ganesh Utsav Samitisaid their themes were ‘Save theEnvironment’ and ‘Plant More

Trees’. Manoj Shukla fromPili Kothi Ganesh Pandal saidthey had the largest Ganeshaidol (over 18-feet). “The idol issculpted by my sister who is analumna of Lucknow University.We have made the provisionsof puja within our home whichis over a century old,” he added.

Yogesh Sharma, a teacherassociated with the Art ofLiving founded by Sri Sri RaviShankar, said the elephant-headed deity was worshippedas the supreme lord of wisdom,prosperity and good fortune.

“Ganesh Chaturthi, whichhas been an individual andhome function for a long time,is now a social event as well.During the colonial rule, therewas a wave of desperation insociety as there was no hope forfreedom. Many leaders such asLokmanya Tilak then decidedto have community celebra-tions of Ganesh Chaturthi toinvoke a sense of bonhomieand camaraderie. Since then,Ganesh Chaturthi has becomea community event also. At theindividual level, it’s a spiritual

celebration and it assumes acultural identity and expressionwhen celebrated in the com-munity,” he said.

He added that there wasevidence that Ganesha wasadored around the world. “It’sinteresting how different typesof Ganesha idols were foundduring excavations inIndonesia, Mexico, Russia,Bulgaria and several Europeancountries,” he added.

“Ganesh Chaturthi is theoccasion to realise that you canovercome all obstacles. When

you face obstacles in life, youfeel a sort of helplessness. Youfeel you don’t have the powerand energy to get over them. Atsuch moments, rememberGanesha,” he said.

“When we celebrate a fes-tival, we should consider itsimpact on the environment. Ifyou use Ganesha idols withsynthetic paints, you should notimmerse them into rivers. Ifyou have to immerse the idols,use paints based on naturaldyes. Ideally, one should not gofor any paints and use idols

made of clay. As the elephanthas only one colour, theGanesha idol you use for wor-ship should not have any addi-tional colour. The use of harm-ful paints also amounts to dis-respecting the water element.Usually, before immersing theidols, the water element isworshipped. If we immersethe idols painted with toxicchemicals along with othernon-bio-degradable items, itwill not only amount to pollut-ing the water but also disre-specting it,” he added.

�38$$&�3�*

3�,1�%�9 �

�� !�"��#��$�%�&��'"��(�$(�'))��'��*

%�� )�� 3��4��%��!��%��!�� %��

from an early age is very impor-tant,” he noted. “The spirit andenthusiasm should always behigh in order to confront chal-lenges boldly. New-age apti-tude-based career options is aninteractive platform that helpsstudents in choosing the rightcareers to grow in their respective fields,” said AbhayOjha from the same organisation.

��Lucknow zoo organised a

birthday party for four cubs ofPrithvi and Vasundhara onSunday. The cubs — Chinky,Pinky, Naaz, and Sheena —have turned four. The cake wascut by children who visited thezoo and was distributedamongst them.

��A day-long medical check-

up camp was organised for freeat Vibhuti Medical Store inIndira Nagar (sector-19).Doctors attended to over 140patients and gave them medi-cines free of cost. InchargeIndrajeet Shukla said over 140patients were examined at thecamp and most of them weresuffering from diabetes andhypertension. They were toldabout precautions. Shukla saida large number of locals turnedup at the camp to get advise from senior medicalconsultants.

�� $01+2

Central Institute forSubtropical Horticulture(CISH) organised a two-day‘Hortipreneurship Workshop-2019’ which concluded onAugust 31. The workshop wasaimed at making buddingentrepreneurs aware about therecent advances in horticultur-al approaches and their appli-cations. Speaking on the occa-sion, CISH director ShailendraRajan said: “India is the secondlargest producer of fruits andvegetables. However, the farmproduce does not reach amajority of platters owing tolack of mass multiplicationtechniques, market linkagesand skill developmentapproaches. India currentlyhosts more than 450 start-upsin the agritech sector and it isgrowing at a rate of 25 per centper year, which is a rise of 300per cent as compared to theprevious year. The findingsare testimony to the potentialof agritech industries in theupcoming years. The call of

hour is how to fill the voidbetween the farmers produceso as to reach to every platterand in turn, in the process, howthe stakeholders or entrepre-neurs be benefited to expandtheir start-ups to vast indus-tries,” he said. The entriesincluded from Ladakh toPunjab, Madhya Pradesh, UttarPradesh and other states.

��Akhil Bharatiya

Prabandhak WelfareAssociation, UP, organised aworkshop for teachers at LPC,Sahara States (Jankipuram), inwhich 550 teachers of 41schools participated. The work-shop was started by Prof NidhiBala who spoke on ‘Pedagogy:An overview’, laying emphasison pronunciation skills of stu-dents in their formative years.Kiran Lata Dangawal laid stresson information and communi-cation technology for teachers.

5�6��The Lucknow circle office

of Canara Bank organised aquiz competition ‘CanaraKnowledge Champ’ on Sunday.

The event started with thewelcome address by DGMShambhulal. The keynoteaddress was given by GM UKSharma. More than 300 chil-dren of classes 8-12 from 85schools participated in thecontest. The winners of thequiz were Arnav Dev andSiddhant Mishra from StFrancis College while first run-ners-up were Dhruv Mishraand Hardik Sharma from LaMartiniere College. The secondrunners-up were Harsh Shettyand Kush Chaturvedi from StDominic Savio College. Thewinner was awarded a cashprize of Rs 50,000 while thefirst and second runners-up Rs30, 000 and Rs 20,000 respec-tively.

�� Sajal Prakash has taken

charge as chief executive offi-cer (CEO),AccessoriesC o m p l e x(AC) ofHindustanAeronauticsL i m i t e d(HAL), inLucknow onS u n d a y .Prior to this assignment, he wasposted as general manager atHAL, Transport AircraftDivision (Kanpur). Prakashholds a degree of BTech inMechanical Engineering fromHBTI (Kanpur) and a degree ofMTech in Aircraft ProductionEngineering from IIT-Madras.He joined HAL as a manage-ment trainee in the year 1986.He has rich experience indiverse fields like project man-agement, marketing, businessdevelopment, civil aircraft andhelicopters etc.

)��!�� +��!��#�5�� %��

6��! ��+%)��

&��

� �+�� ,�"-�%#�# ��*�#�#

:;2.��2�� 0;122$12D��2$�0�2 � ��'�(�)

In a shocking incident, a 40-year-old man was shot dead

by some unidentif iedassailants in Badi Nahar kiPuliya located at Narayanpurunder the Fatanpur policestation of Pratapgarh districthere on Sunday. The assailantswere on a motorcycle and fledfrom the spot after commit-ting the crime. On receipt ofinformation, the policereached the spot took thebody of the victim into itscustody and sent it to themortuar y for the post-mortem examination.

According to a reportreceived here, Lalta PrasadSharma, son of Bhola NathSharma, hailing from NaikotPurekhargaray of the afore-said police station, was anexorcist by profession.According to report, a mancame to him on a motorcyclearound 11 am on the Sunday.Lalta then left for Khakhapuron his motorbike. On his wayLalta al ighted from themotorbike to relieve himselfnear a canal located inNarayanpur Kala village. Inthe meantime, some uniden-tified assailants on a motor-cycle approached him from

behind and by the time Laltacould sense foul play, theyshot him dead and fled thescene. As a result, Lalta col-lapsed on the ground bleed-ing profusely and died instan-taneously. On hearing thesound of gunshot, somepassersby reached the spotand informed the police aboutit. Soon, the top brass, includ-ing CO (Sadar) along withheavy force from differentpolice stations, reached thespot and launched a combingoperation to trace the where-abouts of the assailants, butfailed to get any clue aboutthem.

��$01+2Students of Nepal,

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and var-ious states of India took part ina series of string of competi-tions on the second day ofInternational Festival ofHistory and Civics,‘Reflections-2019’, organisedby City Montessori School,Mahanagar. The children par-ticipated in a plethora of com-petitions like debate, model dis-play, brochure-making, extem-pore, group discussion andfilm-making. Earlier, the daybegan with the morning schoolprayer and world unity & peaceprayers, followed by an addressby CMS founder JagdishGandhi.

6�� 0)�� #��)��2��#��

�� !�"�#$�#%&'

)�� /��*%3��.��9�� &5�4&+62

People left off the NRC arenot "stateless" and will

continue to enjoy all the rightsas before till they exhaust all theremedies available under thelaw, the Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) said on Sunday.

It said exclusion from theNRC has no implication on therights of an individual residentin Assam and that they will notbe deprived of any rights orentitlements which they haveenjoyed before.

The MEA's commentscame in the wake of commen-taries in sections of the foreignmedia about certain aspects ofthe final NRC which it said are"incorrect".

The National Register ofCitizens (NRC) has been pre-pared to identify Indian citizensliving in Assam since March 24,1971 or before.Out of 3.3 croreapplicants, over 19 lakh peoplewere excluded from the finalNRC published on Saturday.

"Exclusion from the NRChas no implication on therights of an individual residentin Assam. "For those who arenot in the final list will not bedetained and will continue to

enjoy all the rights as before tillthey have exhausted all theremedies available under thelaw," MEA spokespersonRaveesh Kumar said.

"It does not make theexcluded person 'Stateless'. Italso does not make him or hera 'foreigner', within the legalmeaning of the term. They will

not be deprived of any rights orentitlements which they haveenjoyed before," he added.

The spokesperson also saidthat to expedite the process of

receiving applications for inclu-sion, the Assam government isestablishing 200 more tri-bunals, in addition to the exist-ing 100.

"A further 200 more tri-bunals will be set up by theState of Assam by December2019. These Tribunals will beset up at block level for the con-venience of appellants," he said.

Kumar said that anyoneexcluded from the list at thisstage has a right to file an appealwithin 120 days of receiving anotification of exclusion to thedesignated tribunal.

"All appeals and excludedcases will be examined by thistribunal i.e. A judicial process.This judicial process will com-mence only after the appellateperiod is over. Thereafter, any-one still aggrieved by any deci-sion of being excluded will havethe right to approach the HighCourt of Assam and then theSupreme Court," he stated.

He also said that the Indiangovernment will even assist inproviding directions on how todeal with such appeals.

"Through the District LegalService Authorities, the gov-ernment has provisioned toextend legal aid to the needy.The State of Assam has assuredprovision of free legal assistanceto any person excluded fromthe list and who is unable to

afford such legal assistance.This is to enable people, espe-cially the disadvantaged sec-tions, to have access to the bestpossible legal assistance," hestated.

He said that the updatingof NRC is a "statutory, trans-parent, legal process" mandat-ed by the Supreme Court.

"This is not an executive-driven process. The process isbeing monitored by theSupreme Court directly and thegovernment is acting in accor-dance with the directives issuedby the court. The apex court of the land has itself setthe deadlines for all steps thathave been taken so far," he stat-

ed.He said that the NRC is a

fair process based on scientif-ic methods.

"Inclusion in the NRC is aunique process, as it is based on'application' rather than 'houseto house enumeration'. Itmeans that any person inAssam could have sought to beincluded in the list on thebasis of having documentationto prove lineage from an enti-tled person, i.e A person whowas a resident of Assam as onMarch 24, 1971," he explained.

He also stated that it is anon-discriminatory process,which leaves no room for biasand injustice.

2�� *�� *�� *�� #��2�� *��#��'�*�� *�� $�2�� '�� "��#�� *��!�� *�� (&"�� %�� *�� #��0� ��'�� #�� 2�� #�� !��$��#�� '�*��(2�� *�� @�� !��#��$� �� '�*��$�� $�� !�� #��2�� !�� %�� $�� #��(�3�� -C/ � �/��(� ��

�� &5�4&+62

Dealing a blow to the coun-try’s wood work industry,

a global body on the endan-gered species has spurnedIndia’s demand to lift interna-tional trade restriction onproducts made of sheeshamand rosewood timber.

The 18th meeting of CoP ofConvention on InternationalTrade in Endangered Species ofWild Fauna and Flora (CITES)at Geneva recently refused to beconvinced with India's con-tention that the prized timberwas available in abundance inthe country and that the restrict-ed trade has adversely affectedlivelihood of the poor farmersas well as over 50,000 artisans.

Since 2016, the productsmade of Dalbergia genusspecies, around 250 in totalincluding sheesham and rose-wood have been enlisted in theAppendix-II of the CITES, amultilateral treaty to protectendangered plants and ani-mals. Items falling underAppendix-II are subject totrade restrictions to check over-utilisation.

The move has already hithard India's handicraft industry.It has been observed that despiteof having potential export ofover Rs 1000 crores of handi-craft of this species only, exportof Rs. 617 crores only could takeplace in 2017-18 due to thisincreased control on trade, asper the government report.

"Export market of rose-wood handicraft, a thrivingsector has nearly crashed sincean international agreementcame into effect in 2017, reg-ulating the trade in all the 250rosewood species (underDalbergia genus)," a senior inUnion Environment Ministryadmitted.

Since then India along withNepal, Bhutan and Bangladeshhave been jointly demandingremoval of trade restrictions onthe Dalbergia sissoo, one of theDalbergia genus species.

In 2016, the Dalbergiagenus species was broughtunder the Appendix-II of theCITES after several Africanand Latin American countrieshad raised concerns over a"considerable rise in interest inthe wood of Dalbergia in inter-national markets, primarily inChina". According to them, this

was fuelling an illegal trade,which was decimatingDalbergia populations.

However, since all speciesof Dalbergia are not threatened,India had submitted thatCITES should regulate thetrade of individual speciesbased on their conservationstatus. In its proposal at theCITES meeting at Genevarecently, India cited non-detrimental finding (NDF)study carried out by BotanicalSurvey of India stating thatDalbergia sissoo does not fallinto any threatened categoryand is available in abundanceboth in wild and cultivatedpopulations, a source in CITESManagement Authority forIndia, the body responsible forimplementing rules of the con-vention said.

India had also argued thatthe species grows at a very fastrate and has the capacity tobecome naturalised outside itsnative range, it is even invasivein some parts of the world.Listing of Dalbergia genus maycreate unnecessary complica-

tions in the trade of commonspecies like D sissoo, which arebeing managed and monitoredthrough the management plansof forest areas and are protect-ed under the forest laws ofIndia, said the Ministry.

India also pointed out thatthe listing of Dalbergia inCITES Appendix II hasadversely affected livelihood ofthe several poor farmers as wellas artisans (over 50000) inIndia due to increased controlof the trade.

"Hence, we would like tourge the CITES Secretariat forreconsidering the opinion onthe proposal for de-listingDalbergia sissoo fromAppendix II of CITES, whilethe proposal is considered dur-ing the CITES CoP-18 atGeneva, Switzerland.

Export market of rose-wood handicraft, a thrivingsector has nearly crashed sincean international agreementcame into effect in 2017, reg-ulating the trade in all the 250rosewood species (underDalbergia genus).

�� &5�4&+62�

In an alarming trend, nearly one bat-talion of the CRPF deployed in the

Special Operation Zone(SOZ) ofChhattisgarh has been found to be ofLow Medical Category (LMC).

A total of 22 battalions are deployedin the SOZ and as many as 894 per-sonnel have been found to be LMC.

The CRPF treats SOZ,Chhattisgarh as a "high conflict zone"where every CRPF personnel is expect-ed to maintain highest level of physicalfitness and remain battle ready to beinducted into intense counter Naxaloperations at a very short notice.

LMC cases not only hamper theoperational performance of each com-pany but also become burden on thecommandants who are engaged inrelentless counter Naxal operations, arecent order issued by the Force said.

"You are earnestly requested torecall all the LMC cases posted in theAdministrative Units of your sectoroperating in SOZarea for the largerinterest of the counter Naxal opera-tions," CRPF Inspector General GHPRaju said in a letter circulated to all theformations of the Naxal-affected States.

Seeking to arrest the dwindling

health profile of the Force in one of theworst Naxal-hit states, Raju also advisedthe formations to stop of disbursal ofspecial Risk and Hardship Allowance tosuch LMC cases. Each CRPF personneldeployed in the Naxal-hit States up tothe rank of Inspector is entitled to amonthly allowance of Rs 17,300 and forofficers the amount is to the tune of Rs25,000 per month. The allowance wassubstantially enhanced by the UnionHome Ministry on March 8 this year fol-lowing the Pulwama hit by the Pakistaniterror group Jaish-e-Mohammad inwhich 40 paramilitary men were killed.

In his letter, the IG further said, "Asyou are aware , this is a specialallowance extended to CRPF person-nel who are giving their best in the mostdifficult and high riskoperations.

The Commandant cannot detailLMC cases for Naxal operations. Hence,the LMC cases are not eligible to drawrisk allowance. Allowing them to drawrisk allowance amounts to extending

undue favour to these (LMC) cases atthe cost of the government exchequer,

which must be stopped forthwith toavoid audit objections in future."

�'��!'��&��"-��%��'"��-��&��(��.�)�$�

�� !��&5�4&+62

Khadi and Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC) on

Sunday welcomed the govern-ment's decision to put restric-tions on imports of agarbattiand other similar productsamid reports of significantincrease in inbound shipmentsfrom countries like China andVietnam.

KVIC Chairman VinaiKumar Saxena had raised theissue during his meetings withCommerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal andMSME Minister Nitin Gadkarion August 29. Union MSMEMinister Nitin Gadkari alsoshown his concern about heavyimports of these products.

"Import policy of agarbat-ti and other odoriferous prepa-rations which operate by burn-ing...Is revised from free torestricted," the DirectorateGeneral of Foreign Trade(DGFT) said in a notificationon Saturday. Importers of

restricted category goodsrequire licence from the gov-ernment for import purpose.

"I was shocked to see thatin 2016-17, we had established2,831 projects of agarbatti mak-ing with the disbursement Rs10.06 crore as margin moneyand created 22,648 directemployment in this field. Sadly,in 2017-18 and 2018-19, wecould establish only 279 and397 units respectively - whichhas created a heavy loss inemployment in the agarbatti-making industry," Saxena said.

In a statement, KVIC quot-ed responses of agarbatti man-

ufacturers supporting the gov-ernment's move.

Subhash Bhatia, who headsthe Raw AgarbattiManufacturers' Association(RAMA), said the price of rawagarbatti available to the localperfumers, that had gone downfrom Rs 70/kg in 2009 to Rs48/kg in 2018, has been up byat least Rs 5/kg in less than aday of this notification. It willcreate not less than 20 lakh jobsin some months.

Bhatia, who hails fromJabalpur and heads the RawAgarbatti Manufacturers'Association (RAMA) - an

organisation who had beenstruggling from many years forputting Agarbatti and otheritems in the restricted catego-ry, says, "The effect of this boonfrom the Narendra Modi gov-ernment has already startedreflecting. The price of RawAgarbatti available to the localperfumers that had gone downfrom Rs 70/kg in 2009 to Rs48/kg in 2018, has been up byat least Rs 5/kg, in less than aday of this notification. It willcreate not less than 20 lakh jobsin some months now."

Corroborating similarviews, Bikram Singh Deka ofGuwahati (Assam) and BhavikSah of Ahmedabad (Gujarat)said that the recent amendmentof import policy of agarbattiand other odoriferous prepa-rations would not only paveway for village industry unitsinvolved in agarbatti-makingbut would also check theimport dependency of Indianperfumers to a significant level.

Saxena further said thatKVIC would establish at least

50,000 Prime MinisterEmployment GenerationProgramme (PMEGP) unitsof agarbatti-making acrossthe nation in the present fis-cal.

Expressing their gratitudefor Khadi and VillageIndustries Commission(KVIC), they said unanimous-ly: "It was the Herculean effortof KVIC Chairman thatbrought ray of hopes for IndianAgarbatti-makers, otherwisesuch amendment was a miragefor us."

Imports of agarbatti andother odoriferous preparationsstood at USD 17.75 million(about Rs 125 crore) duringApril-June 2019-20. It was USD83.58 million (about Rs 585crore) in 2018-19 as againstUSD 84.95 million (about Rs595 crore) in the previous fiscal.

Agarbatti imports fromChina dipped to USD 6.39million in 2018-19 from USD8.53 million in the previous fiscal.

2�� ! ��#�� $�0E2��

�� &5�4&+62

By 2022, the CentralGovernment Health

Scheme (CGHS) serviceswould be made available in 100cities from present 71 cities,said Dr Harsh Vardhan, UnionMinister of Health and FamilyWelfare at the inauguration ofthe state-of-the-art CGHSBhawan here at an event.

"The CGHS services whichstarted in 1954 from GolMarket in Delhi expanded toonly 25 cities till 2014.However, in the last five yearsunder the NDA Governmentthey have been extended to as

many as 71 cities," said theMinister adding that morecities will be covered soon.

The new Bhawan is theCGHS Headquarters and hous-es the administrative section,the CGHS Card section, and astate-of-the-art modern andwell equipped Wellness Centre.

Dr Harsh Vardhan saidthat CGHS services haveundergone a remarkable posi-

tive change. While the ruleshave been simplified, severalpeople friendly facilities havealso been added.

"The scheme has thepotential of becoming one ofthe best in the world," he saidadding that all positive reformsshall be incorporated in theplanning. In addition, he appre-ciated the new CGHS initiativeof calling telephonically andinquiring about the health ofbeneficiaries who are above 80years of age. The HealthMinister stressed on the needfor compassion and politenessin the behaviour of doctorstowards their patients.

�� &5�4&+62

Monsoon may have beenlate in arrival, but it has

been more than generous dur-ing the last two months, brin-ing in excess rains in majorparts of the country.

According to data sharedby the India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD), nearly halfof the country received 15 per-cent excess rainfall than normalin August. This is the secondconsecutive month the countryrecorded above normal rainfall.

June recorded deficientrainfall at 87 per cent of theLong Period Average (LPA),while July saw above normalrainfall at 109 per cent of LPA.August recorded rainfall at 115per cent of the LPA. The cur-

rent LPA is 89 cm, the averagerainfall in the period between1951 and 2000.

The overall rainfall depar-ture in the country from June 1to August 31 is zero per cent, KSathi Devi, head of the NationalWeather Forecasting Centre toldnews agency PTI. September,the last leg of the four-monthrainy season, is expected toreceive normal rainfall, D Pai,

head of the IMD Pune said.He added that El Nino, the

phenomenon associated withthe heating of Pacific waters,and that is also believed to havean impact on the Indian mon-soon, has turned neutral.

Pai said there is a positiveIndia Ocean Dipole, a phe-nomenon associated with cool-ing of the Indian Ocean waters.This is believed to have a pos-

itive impact on the Indianmonsoon. Twenty six per centof the country received "largeexcess" rainfall in August, while22 per cent received "excess"rainfall.

Twenty-three per cent of thecountry received normal rainfall,while 29 per cent recorded defi-cient rainfall. The south Indiapeninsula and central India divi-sions of the India MeteorologicalDivision (IMD) saw 56 and 39per cent more rainfall than nor-mal respectively.

The south peninsula divi-sion comprises all states ofTamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh and the unionterritories of Puducherry,Andaman and Nicobar islandsand the Lakshadweep. Thestates of Karnataka and Kerala

saw heavy rainfall in August.Thecentral India division consists of10 subdivisions covering statesof Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa,Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarhand Odisha. Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra and Gujarat alsosaw heavy rainfall and floodingin August.

The month recorded 38per cent rainfall deficiency inthe east and northeast divisionand one per cent deficiency innorthwest India division. Eastand northeast division com-prises states of the northeastIndia, Bihar, Jharkhand, WestBengal, while northwest Indiaconsists of Uttar Pradesh,Punjab, Haryana, JammuKashmir, Uttarakhand,Himachal Pradesh, Delhi andRajasthan.

��)�� ':F��=��G� �� !�� "#� ��$� �� %�� &�

(#�-��#��.��'�� '��'��

'�( �)�� %*%��+ ,&- )7�� -�� -��899�� 9��:�7��

�� !�" #$�#%&' �� .

�� 0:+0�3�

Iterating that the Centre mustensure no genuine Indians

are left out of the NRC, WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee on Sunday said shewas "shocked" to find out thatone lakh people of the Gorkhacommunity have been exclud-ed from the list.

The TMC supremo insist-ed that "justice should be metedout to all Indian brothers andsisters".

"Earlier I was not aware ofthe full NRC fiasco. As moreand more information is com-ing in, we are shocked to seethat names of more than 1 lakhGorkha people have beenexcluded from the list,"Banerjee said in a statementissued by the TrinamoolCongress (TMC) leadership.

"In fact, names of thou-sands and thousands of gen-uine Indians, including those ofCRPF and other jawans, fam-ily members of formerPresident Fakhruddin AliAhmed, have been excluded(from the list)," she said.

The updated NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC),which identifies bona fideIndian citizens in Assam, wasreleased on Saturday.

A total of 3,30,27,661 peo-

ple had applied for inclusion inthe register. Of them, 19,06,657were excluded, a statement

from the NRC StateCoordinator's office said.

"The government must takecare that genuine Indians arenot left out and justice is metedout to all of our genuine Indianbrothers and sisters," Banerjeeadded. On Saturday, the CMhad expressed concern overthe exclusion of large numberof Bengalis from the register.

Dubbing the updated finalNRC as a "fiasco", she had saidit exposed those who are try-ing to gain "political mileage"out of the exercise.

9��/�'&��.��

��/ 0,1�� 12�

Guwahati: Citizens for Justiceand Peace, an NGO helmed byrights activist Teesta Setalvad,said on Sunday that those left outof the NRC should immediate-ly get hold of a copy of the exclu-sion order, which would enablethem to file appeals before tri-bunals in stipulated time.

The NGO also said that thenitty-gritty and modalities forfiling the appeals were stillawaited.

Every excluded person willneed access to a "certified copyof the exclusion order and the

list of documents submitted bythem to the NRC authorities",CJP Secretary Teesta Setalvadsaid in a statement.

"We hope the authoritiesmake the documents availableat the earliest and clarifywhether the deadline of 120days starts after these docu-ments are accessed," she point-ed out.

The updated NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC),which identifies bona fideIndian citizens in Assam, waspublished on Saturday. PTI

�� ".)�� ;�� :�"�'

�� 0:�62

In the run up to two key UNsummits on Climate Change,

India has raised the pitch forfinance and technology supportto developing nations to achievethe Paris Agreement goals ofkeeping a global average tem-perature rise this century wellbelow 2 degrees Celsius.

Union Minister forEnvironment, Forest andClimate Change PrakashJavadekar said India, under theleadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, was takingdecisive steps in achievingNationally DeterminedContributions (NDCs), which isthe heart of the 2015 Paris pact.

Javadekar spelt out the suc-cess stories of India on ParisNDCs to reduce national emis-sions and adapt to the impactsof climate change.

"In Chile, when we meet inthe next COP (Conference ofthe Parties), we will be taking astance that every country needsto follow their own commit-ments to reduce national emis-sions and advanced countriesneed to provide finance andtechnology support, that is mostimportant to developing world,he told PTI here during his visitfor a function on Friday.

The nations under theUnited Nations negotiated andadopted the Paris Agreement in

which India made four com-mitments, including reducinggreenhouse gas emission inten-sity of its GDP by 33-35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030,under its NDC. NDCs embodyefforts by each country toreduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of cli-mate change.

Referring to theGovernments ambitious CleanIndia mission, its effortstowards eliminating single useplastic, harnessing solar andwind energy and, creating moretree cover for protection ofenvironment, Javadekar saidthese will be highlighted in var-ious UN Climate forums.

A climate action summitbeing hosted by UN Secretary-

General Antnio Guterres willbe held this month and theUnited Nations summit hostedby Chile in December.

He also said the PrimeMinisters ambitious renewableenergy programme to create175 GW by 2022 "is a huge suc-cess and India has alreadyreduced energy intensity by 22per cent. His remarks are in linewith the statementby theBASIC group of nations —Brazil, South Africa, India andChina — in which they urgeddeveloped countries to under-take ambitious actions toreduce greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions and meet theirfinance commitments, includ-ing by mobilising $100 billionannually by 2020.

#�� )��

��,&�/� �3�14�

Jammu: Jammu & KashmirGovernor Satya Pal Malik inau-gurated the annual LadakhFestival, the four-day extrava-ganza aimed at promotingtourism and the region's richculture, in Leh on Sunday.

Malik said the UnionTerritory (UT) status forLadakh "will open new doorsfor employment and develop-ment in the region".

He said Ladakh's pristinebeauty, traditions, culture, lan-guage and heritage would beprotected.

Malik said Ladakh's exclu-sive landscape and people, whoare deeply rooted in their tra-ditions and culture, have alwayspulled him towards the region.

He said that like the major-ity of them who follow tenetsof Buddhism, he is also abeliever in Buddha's philoso-phy which preaches ultimatepeace.

"Ladakh's pristine beauty,traditions, culture, languageand heritage will be protectedand people will benefitimmensely from the UT statuswhich will open new doors foremployment and develop-ment," he said.

He said the CentralGovernment under the lead-ership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has alwaysbeen considerate to aspira-tions of Ladakh and fulfilledthem as promised.

The Governor said he andhis administration will alwayswork for development ofLadakh and observed that evenwhen he is not at the helm ofaffairs, he will continue towork as its goodwill ambas-sador.

Malik also welcomed thelarge number of tourists whoare presently in Ladakh andwished them an enjoyable andcomfortable stay in the region.

BJP MP Jamyang TseringNamgyal expressed gratitude tothe Centre for granting UT sta-tus to Ladakh and to theGovernor and his administra-tion for their efforts in makingit possible.

"It was a long pendingdemand of whole Ladakh andUT status will definitely lead toprogress and prosperity of itspeople," he said.

The Central Governmentabrogated special status ofJammu & Kashmir underArticle 370 of the Constitutionand divided the State into twoUnion Territories — Jammu &Kashmir, and Ladakh — lastmonth. PTI

+��!�� #��#�� -�� 4< ��-

Chennai: The Indian space agency on Sundayevening successfully completed the fifth and finallunar bound orbit change for the Chandrayaan-2spacecraft.

According to Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO), the spacecraft's maneuverbegan at 6.21 p.m. using its onboard propulsionsystem for 52 seconds.

The orbit achieved is 119 km x 127 km. Allspacecraft parameters are normal.

The next crucial operation is the separation ofVikram, the lander, from the spacecraft scheduledon September 2 at 12.45 p.m. -1.45 p.m.

After Vikram's separation, there will be twode-orbital operations on September 3 and 4 so thatit could soft land on the moon's south pole onSeptember 7 at 1.30 am-2.30 am.

On July 22, the �978 crore Chandrayaan-2 waslaunched into the space by India's heavy lift rock-et Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a text book style.

The spacecraft comprises three segments —the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads),the lander 'Vikram' (1,471 kg, four payloads) androver 'Pragyan' (27 kg, two payloads). IANS

)��=��

�#��:�&�.'

Gaya: A group of men beat up a 40-year-oldfarmer and hanged him from a tree leading tohis death, and assaulted his wife when she triedto protect her husband in Gaya district onSunday, the police said.

Siyasharan Yadav, a farmer of Sikandarpurvillage under Paraiya police station area, wasattacked while he and his wife Soni Devi wereworking in the fields, Sub-Divisional PoliceOfficer Nagendra Singh said.

"The attackers are said to have been six innumber. After severely assaulting Yadav, theyhung him from a tree using cloths, resultingin his death," Singh said.

Soni Devi tried to put up a fight and criedfor help but nobody came, the police officersaid adding that she suffered blows andwatched helplessly as the attackers killed herhusband.

"An FIR has been registered on the basisof her statement. She alleged that the couplehad a feud with a neighbouring family formany years and she suspected their hand inthe incident," the SDPO said. PTI

��.�� /��/�!�/��

Jammu: Asserting that the situationin Kashmir is fast limping back tonormal, Jammu & KashmirGovernor's advisor Farooq Khanon Sunday said the number ofactive terrorists in the Valley haddeclined to 150 or 200 from thou-sands earlier.

However, he said the terroristswould either have to go to jail or getprepared to face the consequences

"Pakistan is making attemptson Kashmir since 1947. Expectinggood from it will be the biggest mis-take and every citizen of the stateneed to remain cautious," Khantold reporters on the sidelines of afunction here.

Lauding the role of people inhelping the security forces to dealwith terrorists over the past threedecades, he said "they are our eyesand ears as they know everythingwhat is happening and where.

"They will continue their coop-eration and support like in the pastwhich led to the successful tacklingof the terrorism in the state.

The terrorism was not easy todealt with without the support andcooperation of the people which ledto number of terrorists declining to150 or 200 from thousands earlier,"the retired IPS officer, who is seenas being instrumental in breakingthe backbone of militancy in the1990s, said.

Khan, who joined the BJPafter his retirement as IGP, said thesituation in the valley is fast limp-ing back to normal.

"No doubt that the peoplefaced some sort of communicationproblem in the valley for sometimebut today nothing like that is hap-

pening. Till date, 75 per cent oflandlines were restored and cellphones in some districts also start-ed working. More restrictions willbe eased in the coming days," hesaid.

Khan said schools have openedin most parts of the valley. Thoughthe student attendance was thinearlier, it has also started picking upas "we are preparing for 9th to 12thclass state board of school educa-tion examinations shortly".

"I want to assure the people ofKashmir and Jammu that there isno need for concern in the new setup for Jammu and Kashmir, whichwill come into effect after October31. You will witness large scaledevelopment in every field, whetherrelated to tourism or any other sec-tor, with each passing day.

"Jammu people, who were notgiven due attention in earlier times,be assured that such a thing willnever happen again. All the areaswill witness equitable develop-ment under the Union Territory,"

Khan said. The advisor said the biggest gift

which the people of Jammu andKashmir is getting in the comingmonths is 50,000 jobs which will befilled up in the next three months.

"The recruitment process willbe 100 per cent transparent andbased on merit without any dis-crimination," he said.

On the reports that relatives ofdetained persons including formerchief ministers are not allowed tomeet them, Khan termed it as a"false propaganda by vested inter-ests" and said as per the jail man-ual and law of the land, the relativesof the detained persons are allowedto meet them.

"The state administration isfunctioning as per the law of theland," he said.

In response to another questionabout restoration of mobile inter-net services in Jammu where thesituation is peaceful, he said thefacility would be restored in theregion in due course of time. PTI

"��99�� -�� :�4< ��-> ��-� �

��-�#��#�� #��!��-�� )�� !�� %�&

Kozhikode (Ker): Students of acollege near Parambra waved aflag that resembled Pakistan'snational flag during an electioncampaign on the campus and thepolice have on its own registereda case against them.

The green colour flag, whichwas similar to Pakistan's, waswaved as part of a college elec-tion programme organised bythe Muslim Students' Federation(MSF).

The leadership of MSF, thestudents' wing of the IUML(Indian Union Muslim League),however rejected the charge andclaimed it was the outfit's officialflag and not the Pakistan flag aswas alleged.

The case was registered aftera video footage of the August 27incident at the Silver Arts andScience College had gone viral

on the social media, police toldPTI on Sunday. The case wasregistered under various sectionsof IPC including 153 (wantonlygiving provocation with intent tocause riot), 143 (unlawful assem-bly) and 147 (punishment forriot). "The incident came tolight after a video footage wentviral.

Further action would bedecided upon after a compre-hensive probe," an investigatingofficer told PTI.

"The logo of MSF was miss-ing in this controversial flagwhich was also not proportion-ate to the standard size," the offi-cial added. Six college studentshave been suspended from thecollege in this regard and theywere absconding, the officialsaid adding that a search was onto nab them. PTI

��/�� +�)�� '��%��.�

�� ':��%��,��1H0�

Empty houseboats, vacanthotels and deserted resorts

present a gloomy picture ofKashmir's tourism sector whichis going through one of its worstphases due to the prevailing sit-uation after the Centre abro-gated provisions of Article 370of the Constitution and reor-ganised the State into twoUnion Territories.

Kashmir has been facingunprecedented restrictions fornearly a month now, as normallife remains affected across theValley with markets shut andpublic transport off the roadssince August 5.

Days before announcing

the decision on Article 370, theState Government had asked alltourists in Kashmir to leave theValley. According to officials inthe Tourist Department, about20,000-25,000 visitors were pre-sent in the Valley, which was inits peak tourist season.

Since then, the Valley iswithout tourists, which hasbrought the industry —believed to be the backbone ofKashmir's economy — to itsknees. Sonamarg — consideredas the gateway to Ladakh region— is a picturesque resort in cen-tral Kashmir's Ganderbal dis-trict and usually remainedcrammed with visitors.

However, the resort looksdeserted with most of the

hotels, restaurants and shopsclosed for business.

A manager at a hotel heresaid the only business they hadwas of a few local visitorsputting up for a night or two.

"We have not seen touristsfor the last few weeks now.There were a few of them hereeven after the advisory by thegovernment. But after they left,we have had no tourists here.Only locals come for a night ortwo and then leave," he said.

According to official fig-ures, 1.74 lakh tourists visitedKashmir in June, followed by1.52 lakh, including 3,403 for-eigners, in July.

However, officials in theTourism Department said the

department has no record oftourist arrivals in August.

"We have no reports of anytourist arrival. There may havebeen a few of them, but we donot have any records," NisarAhmad Wani, director oftourism, Kashmir told PTI.

Another official of thedepartment, on the condition ofanonymity, said while thedepartment keeps no record ofthe domestic tourists because ofthe advisory which asked thevisitors to leave, about 800 for-eign tourists have been regis-tered for the month.

"The state's CID registersthe foreigners, so that numberis officially available. But, sincethere is a ban on tourists, the

number of domestic touristarrivals is not officially taken,"he said.

Stakeholders said thechances of revival of tourism inthe Valley were bleak this year.

"Summer season is ourpeak season and now the win-ter is approaching and it is con-sidered a dull tourist season.With the situation as it is, we donot see much chances of anyrevival this year or till March,"a travel agent said.

The famous Dal lake inSrinagar, which otherwise is astar attraction for the visitors,is calm and the only activitytaking place there is of some locals trying their handsat angling.

�� ?�� !�� -�-��

�� !��! ��$��+�!�� #�� %�&

Vadodara: Physiotherapists currently on a protestmarch in Gujarat have sent an email to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi demanding the settingup of an independent national council for the pro-fession and changes in a draft medical bill.

Some 800 physiotherapists from across thecountry began a ten-day 254-km march onAugust 25 from Dandi in south Gujarat toSabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad for severaldemands, including rectifying issues concerningthe profession in the draft Clinical Establishment(Central Government) Third Amendment Rules,2019. The march will end at Sabarmati Ashramin Ahmedabad on September 3.

"We have sent an email to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for the formation of a central inde-pendent physiotherapy council. PM Modi hadestablished Gujarat State Physiotherapy Councilwhen he was CM of the state. The email was sentafter the physiotherapists' march reached Vadodaraon Saturday," said march organising committeechairperson Umashankar Mohanty. PTI

)�.��7�� )��

� 9��%��&�#��$�)�� * ��1 # ��* �� 2�� $�� %�� %��$�� *��#�� #�� 4��!��4��$�� B?-A��

� 1 # ��* ��2�� 4��

�� !�"�#$�#%&' �� 5

��)))Singh said, “The state of

the economy today is deeplyworrying. The last quarter’sGDP growth rate of 5 pc signalsthat we are in the midst of aprolonged slowdown. Indiahas the potential to grow at amuch faster rate but all-roundmismanagement by the ModiGovernment has resulted inthis slow down.”

India cannot afford to con-tinue down this path, he said,adding, “I urge theGovernment to put asidevendetta politics, and reachout to all sane voices andthinking minds, to steer oureconomy out of this man-made crisis.”

Singh said it is particular-ly distressing that the manu-facturing sector’s growth istottering at 0.6 pc. “This makesit very clear that our economyhas not yet recovered fromman-made blunders of demon-etisation and a hastily imple-mented GST,” he said.

The former PM alleged

that institutions are underattack and their autonomy isbeing eroded. On govern-ment taking Rs 1.76 lakh crorefrom the RBI reserves, Singhsaid the resilience of the RBIwill be tested after this recordtransfer to the government.This, he said, “claims that itdoes not have a plan on whatit will do with this windfall”.

��)))Integrated GST collection

stood at �48,958 crore (includ-ing Rs 24,818 crore collected onimports) during August thisyear, a statement said. It furthersaid that cess collection stoodat Rs 7,273 crore (including Rs841 crore collected on imports).

The number of GSTR 3BReturns (summary of self-assessed return) filed for themonth of July up to end-August totalled 75.80 lakh. Asper the statement, Rs 27,955crore has been released toStates as GST compensation forJune-July 2019. “TheGovernment has settled Rs23,165 crore to CGST and Rs

16,623 crore to SGST fromIGST as regular settlement.The total revenue earned by theCentral Government and theState Governments after regu-lar settlement in the month ofAugust 2019 is Rs 40,898 crorefor CGST and Rs 40,862 crorefor the SGST,” it said.

Gross GST collections dur-ing April-August stood at Rs5,14,378 crore, up from Rs4,83,538 crore in the corre-sponding period of the last fis-cal. This shows a growth of 6.3per cent during the five monthsof the current fiscal.

For 2019-20, theGovernment proposes to col-lect Rs 6.10 lakh crore fromCGST and Rs 1.01 lakh croreas compensation cess. TheIGST balance has been peggedat Rs 50,000 crore. The CGSTcollection in 2018-19 was Rs4.25 lakh crore, while com-pensation cess was over Rs97,000 crore.

AUTO SALE: The coun-try’s largest carmaker MarutiSuzuki India on Sunday report-ed a 32.7 per cent decline insales at 1,06,413 units inAugust. The company had sold1,58,189 units in August lastyear, Maruti Suzuki India(MSI) said in a statement.

Domestic sales declinedby 34.3 per cent at 97,061units last month as against1,47,700 units in August 2018,it added. Sales of mini carscomprising Alto and WagonRstood at 10,123 units as com-pared to 35,895 units in thesame month last year, down71.8 per cent. Sales of compactsegment, including modelssuch as Swift, Celerio, Ignis,Baleno and Dzire, fell 23.9 percent at 54,274 units as against71,364 cars in August last year.Mid-sized sedan Ciaz sold1,596 units as compared to7,002 units earlier.

However, sales of utility

vehicles, including VitaraBrezza, S-Cross and Ertiga,rose 3.1 per cent at 18,522 unitsas compared to 17,971 in theyear-ago month, MSI said.Exports in August were downby 10.8 per cent at 9,352 unitsas against 10,489 units in thecorresponding month last year,the company said.

On the other hand, TataMotors reported a 58 per centdecline in its domestic passen-ger vehicle sales at 7,316 unitsin August. The company hadsold 17,351 units in the samemonth last year, Tata Motorssaid in a statement.

News agency PTI quotedTata Motors presidentPassenger Vehicles BusinessUnit Mayank Pareek sayingthat the market continued to bechallenging, but the companyhas focused on improving itsretail sales, which saw an uptickof 42 per cent.

“We are hopeful that the

recently announced financialpackage by Finance Ministerwill help in improving the liq-uidity of market and to reducethe ownership cost. This willcertainly help the industry torevive and drive the growth,” headded.

In the commercial vehiclessegment, Tata Motors said itstotal sales were down 45 percent at 21,824 units last monthas against 39,859 units inAugust 2018.

Similarly, Toyota KirloskarMotor has reported 21 percent decline in total sales at11,544 units in August. Thecompany had sold 14,581 unitsin the same month last year,Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM)said in a statement. Sales in thedomestic market stood at10,701 units as compared to14,100 units in August 2018,down 24 per cent. However,exports during the monthincreased nearly two-fold to843 units as against 481 in theyear-ago month, TKM said.

Honda Cars India Ltd(HCIL) has also reported a

51.28 per cent decline indomestic sales at 8,291 units inAugust as against 17,020 unitsin the same month last year.The company also exported227 units last month. “The autosector continues to witnesshigh de-growth due to poorconsumer sentiment,” HCILSenior Vice President andDirector, Sales and MarketingRajesh Goel said in a statement.

Hyundai Motor India Ltd(HMIL) reported a 9.54 percent decline in total sales at56,005 units in August.

The company had sold61,912 units in the same monthlast year, HMIL said in a state-ment. Domestic sales weredown 16.58 per cent to 38,205units as against 45,801 units inAugust 2018, the companyadded. Exports, however, grew10.48 per cent to 17,800 unitslast month as compared to16,111 units in the year-agoperiod, HMIL said.

The slowdown has alsobadly hit auto major Mahindraand Mahindra (M&M) whichon Sunday reported a 25 per

cent fall in total sales to 36,085units in August. The companyhad sold 48,324 units in thecorresponding month last year,M&M said in a statement.

In the domestic market,sales were down 26 per cent to33,564 units last month, com-pared to 45,373 units in August2018. Exports declined 15 percent to 2,521 units, against2,951 in the year-ago month.

In the passenger vehiclesegment, which includes utili-ty vehicles, cars and vans, thecompany sold 13,507 units lastmonth as compared to 19,758vehicles in the same month of2018, a drop of 32 per cent. Inthe commercial vehicle seg-ment, the company sold 14, 684vehicles as against 20,326 unitsa year ago, down 28 per cent.M&M Aug tractor sales down17 pc at 14,817 units. Thecompany had sold 17,785 unitsin the same month last year,M&M said in a statement.Domestic tractor sales were at13,871 units as against 16,375units in the year-ago month,down 15 per cent, it added.

��+

��%9%;�2

Union Home Minister and BJPpresident Amit Shah on Sunday

sounded the bugle for theMaharashtra Assembly polls by mak-ing removal of Jammu & Kashmir’sspecial status under 370 of theConstitution as a major plank for theState Assembly polls to be held inMaharashtra.

Addressing a public rally organ-ised at Solapur in westernMaharashtra to mark the conclusionof the second phase of Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis’ statewide tour“Mahajanadesh Yatra”, Shah daredformer Congress president RahulGandhi and NCP founder-presidentto come clean on whether they sup-ported or not the Centre’s decision toabrogate Article 370. “The people ofMaharashtra want to know as to whatis the stance of the Congress and NCPwith regard to the removal of Article370. Do they want the terrorism tocontinue unabated in the country? Dothey want Pakistani terrorist contin-ue to infiltrate into the country andengineer acts of violence?”.

Linking the abrogation of Article370 with the Maharashtra Assemblypolls due in October this year, Shahsaid: “After the abrogation of Article370, the first elections are being heldin Maharashtra. Rahul Gandhi saysthe annulment of Article 370 was avery big blunder. Let the people ofMaharashtra decide if it is abrogationof Article 370 was a blunder. Will youthe people decide? . Rahul Gandhi hasto fight the State Assembly polls onArticle 370. We have nothing toworry on this count, because the peo-ple of this country are standing byNarendra Modi like a hard rock.”

Hitting out at Gandhi for hisstatement that there had been vio-lence in Kashmir ever since theabrogation of Article 370, Shah said:“Rahul Gandhi has said that violencehas broken out Kashmir after theabrogation of Article 370. I would liketo tell you that after the abrogation ofArticle 370 on August 5 an 6, not sin-gle bullet has been fired nor has a sin-gle tear gas shell been burst. No one has been killed in any unto-ward incident.”

Shah said that the Gandhi’s state-ment there was no peace in Kashmirafter the removal of Article 370 wasbeing used by Pakistani Parliamentto criticise India. “Rahul Gandhi’sstatement is being used by Pakistaniforeign minister to make a petitionin the UN. I would like to askRahulji as to which country you arespeaking. Pakistan is saying the samething that you are saying. Should wenot ask as to why Rahjuji is makingsuch statements?,” he said.

The Union Home Ministerslammed the former Congress pres-ident for not standing by theGovernment in matters relating tonational security. “Whenever there areissues of national security, theCongress takes a different stand thanthe Government. I would like to askhim if it is not correct on the part ofall the Opposition parties to raiseabove their party affiliations andstand with the Government on issuesof national security.

�� ! �)��")%� ��@A9��

7�� 3�� *�� )�$-��-� �� %�&

Recently, during a conversation,the line “Depression is a richman’s disease” was mentioned.This was followed up by the factthat the poor do not have the

mental bandwidth to get “depressed” astheir concerns are almost always moreabout material things. This is patentlyuntrue and, in fact, a casual observationof suicide statistics across the world willprove just that. Sure, a majority of farmersuicides, about which we often wring ourhands, are due to financial stress but thevery act of taking one’s own life, some-times murdering even our loved ones,requires a certain sort of psychologicalstress. A very cogent argument can bemade that to really reduce farmer suicides,one does not need financial bolstering asmuch as sending an army of psychologiststo rural India. But we do not even haveenough psychologists to cover majorIndian cities, let alone our villages.

It is estimated that about one in eightIndians needs some sort of mental health-care at some point in their lives. Only about10 per cent of them receive help. And whilenot all help is needed from certified pro-fessionals, there is a severe shortage of eventrained counsellors, particularly in educa-tional institutions. When it comes totrained clinical psychologists, there are justabout a 1,000 doctors across the countrywith an extreme bias towards the large met-ropolitan areas of Delhi-NCR and GreaterMumbai. An article that appeared in theTimes of India, which talked about the hor-rible statistics on mental health, mentionedthat there are more Indian psychologists inthe UK and the US than in India. The num-ber of social workers and nurses specialis-ing in mental health is equally low. Andwhat about criminal psychologists, the typesyou see glorified in American and Britishcrime dramas? Almost none.

One reason for this extreme shortageis that mental health issues are treated asan embarrassment by many Indian fami-lies. They fear having a crazy person, whowill have to go to a pagalkhana. This wouldstigmatise the family in society and nobodywould want to associate with them. But thetruth is that for every severe case of men-tal illness, with outward symptoms, thereare hundreds of cases of perfectly normal,seemingly happy people who are deep inthe throes of depression. This could be dueto some traumatic event in the past; it couldbe due to unhappiness in love or due toone’s career and sometimes it could be dueto nothing at all, really. And the reason Iknow this is because I have been theremyself, down a dark hole of nothingness butoutwardly, everything seems fine.

I was fortunate in the sense that I hadaccess to professionals and medication andwhile it was not all about a switch in myhead, I did, with help from others, snapback. But on the face of it, one might won-

der why someone like me, achild of privilege in this coun-try, would feel the way I did. Ido not know frankly, despiteissues while growing up, partic-ularly around my parents’ sep-aration. That is something Imanaged to deal with. Mycareer was fine. Yes, it couldhave been better but really, interms of everything, thingswere not bad per se and on theface of it, if you had met meback then, I was the same gre-garious, talkative person you’dsee today. Yet, inside, I was ina horrible place with thoughtsof self-harm and killing myself.And it is not me alone, actorDeepika Padukone, too, openedup with the challenges shefaced surrounding mentalhealth.

There is no reason to feeldepressed and to go down therabbit hole of clinical depres-sion. Being depressed is notabout being unaware to expressjoy or happiness when oneneeds to, but yes, there is asense, at least for me at thattime, of extreme loneliness.And possibly the recalibrationI had to make with my relation-ships, particularly at a timewhen so many are facile orpurely transactional, helped.

The biggest help, however,was not just seeing someone buthaving my mother ensure thatI went to a doctor. And thatsupport was critical becausemany people, who need help,

do not have that kind of sup-port from their families. Andthis is what must change,whether it is a teenager or a 50-year-old. Families need tounderstand that if someone isactively seeking help, he/sheshould be provided the support.The problem should not beswept under the carpet and theymust not insist that mentalissues are a passing phase.

While talking and under-standing why someone is goingthrough such problems is a startand friends and families makea difference, a mental healthprofessional, often by virtue ofbeing a new voice of support, anew place to offload the issuesthat one has and also someonewho will not judge, is the go-toremedy. Oversight is a mistakethat friends and families make,not necessarily deliberately butjust by virtue of being humans.Sadly, the lack of support orunderstanding often worsensmatters and drives sufferers toself-harm or worse, suicide.

It is also important that theGovernment promotes theestablishment of more institu-tions and trains more mentalhealth professionals. This hasbeen addressed to a certainextent in recent Budgets.However, the fact remains thatmental health still ranks low onthe list of healthcare prioritiesin a country as large as Indiawhere basic healthcare needsare far more pressing.

This requires a new sort ofthinking and the highest levelsof policy-making. People mustunderstand that this is a press-ing problem because millions ofIndians suffer mental illness.Ergo, it is also important forthose, who have been throughsuch problems, includingmyself, to talk and write aboutthese issues to ensure that thosegoing through clinical depres-sion realise that they are notalone, they are not screwed upin the head or whatever elsethey are told.

There is a lot of cutting-edge research being done intomental health issues, particular-ly post-traumatic stress disor-der and the treatment of thoseproblems with unconventionalmeans such as MDMA andmarijuana. Not only shouldIndia catch up with suchresearch, we should establishmore institutes that can dealwith these problems and do ourown research.

But most importantly, wehave to realise that we have aproblem when it comes tomental health and we have tohelp those who might havestopped by the wayside of life.If someone says that he/sheneeds help even if they do notverbalise it, do not ignore it. Bethere for them and direct themto the help that they so desper-ately need.

(The writer is ManagingEditor, The Pioneer)

*�� +�� #��, "� �� - ��.��!

��/��!��!�� )�� )��(�� !��!��0��

12�� 33�� /��!�� !�� !�� "�� 4��4�5��(��/��$��5��'��!��!��"��0�� !�� "��26789��:��(��;9:�(<��+#��"��2678��;��7= ��<��

'�� !��,>�� ,>��!� �� *�� /�� -�� .(��!��!��>�� !�� !��

*��?�� *��#��

��@��?��"��/��#��!��-��.��

��"��!��)��/��#��%�?��)��(��9��$��!��*��/��7122� /��$��9��)��"��#�� #��?��!�� #��4��*��?��%��?�� :�� !�� @��?��0��*��*��%��!��#��%��/�� ?��@�� $�4��5��(�� ?��!��?��-��*��."��*��0�� '��4��/��*��!�� 116�� 9��9��

0��?�� #��!��?��*��%�� !?��?��9��*�� ?��!��!��!��#��%��?�� *��5��%�� #��:��4��/��#��*/*��9��0�� /�� ?�� #��*�� #��/�� #��*��#�� 7ABC#��D��/��?��!�� *��#��%��?��!��#��%��*��?�� !�� !�� "��!�� #��4��(��D�� 7AAA�*�266C�)�4��/��#��4��>��'�� ?��#��4�� #�� :��E��@��(��#��4��:��9��/��/��%�� "�-��.��/��$��(��?��?��$��/��:��*��%��#�� !�� *��!��#��

��6��

��

Sir — This refers to the article,“Give a dog a bad name” (August31) by Hiranmay Karlekar. Thewriter has made a good caseagainst the municipal culling ofstray dogs. It would reallyamount to an ecological disasterif we try to exterminate thesenatural scavengers or even pestpredators like rats.

Animal activists such asManeka Gandhi had attributedthe same reason to the outbreakof plague in Surat in 1994.According to her, if stray dogs ofone area are killed, their spacewould be filled by an equal num-ber from another area.

For long, we have tried tomanage this issue by brutallyputting the dogs down. That, too,with poorly trained workers. Asa win-win solution, activists haveadvocated sterilisation, whichemasculates the biting instinct inmale dogs. But sterilisation pro-grammes for stray dogs in ourcountry are in tatters and need to be strengthened. Wemust look for compassionateways to handle the stray dogproblem instead of eliminatingthem completely.

Let me recall an inspiringanecdote in this context. Wheneminent educationist and free-dom fighter Madan MohanMalaviya was young, he once sawa dog on the road, which was flail-ing in pain from an ear wound.Moved by its plight, he rushed toa veterinary doctor for medicineand determinedly went to theunapproachable dog in spite ofthe doctor’s warning that it might

charge at him. He soaked a pieceof cloth with the medicine andtied it to one end of a long stick.Holding the other, he applied themedicine to the dog’s ear from asafe distance even as it kepthowling. The burning sensationsoon subsided and the afflictedanimal fell asleep. Relieved,Malaviya left the place.

CV Krishna ManojHyderabad

��

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Brexit brink” (August 29). Byagreeing to leave the EuropeanUnion (EU), the British had inflict-ed self-harm and with a massivedivide between the people acrosssociety, no one knew exactly whatwas in store or what should bedone. In this context, maverick

Boris Johnson had pledged a “noifs, no buts” exit from the EU. Andhe did precisely that by prorogu-ing Parliament for five weeks.This has shocked most Britishersmore so because the October 30deadline is just 60 days away andnothing concrete has happenedever since Theresa May left 10,Downing Street. This would alsomean that the lawmakers willhave less time to debate Johnson’sBrexit plan. The best option for theUK is to stay put in the EU as itwould be a win-win situation forthem and rest of the world.

Bal GovindNoida

��

Sir — The Government’s move tomerge various Public SectorBanks (PSBs) and reduce theirnumbers to 12 was unwarrantedand is aimed at deflecting atten-tion from the economic slow-down. It did not even think it fitto engage the bank unions beforemaking a structural shift.

RaviVia email

) � ) 9 % � # � , 8 � ) � � � � $ *

///0��%*1�'"��0$'�� !��*(��8� �� I 73��4 �� I �� (��8� �� 8

�� !�"�#$�#%&'

�"

(��'��

��2�� &,/2�

%�� !�� !�� (�5�� #�� *

5��(((5�� #�� (((5� �� #��/� �� #��(

�%%�"�� 78�%�'��*�J� ��0� ��4 ��

2��!�� (�2��2� �� $�2��!��(�2� �� #�� !��#��(

�9*(8J0 ��

� *�� #�� #�� (�3��,�#�� 2�� *�(�

��:�%*��;%��(8��<��%*�8J'� ��% ��K��

� � � 1 - 6 , / �

� � / / � 2 � / � // 3 � � - , / � 2

��

3��'�� /�� !�� 1 ��H

0 ��.L?(�3� �*�� $�� # ��/� ��' �� #�� /� �� (�6��#��$�� *�� !��# �� 9�� 2�� $� ��9��,�#�� (�3��/�� 4�� *�� #�*�� !�� /� G��#�� #�� #��!��/�� (�

2� �� #�� ,�#��$�� (�3�� !��"��/�� ,�#��(�%� ��$��#�� ! �� '��

�� *�� #��*��E �� !��(�5�� ! ��$��'�� (

��=�'��*(��

23�2'�2%�:�3��336�3�36&

,:E&��%&�3��:%:3&'�36&&'3�;+2'6%&�3

:)�%:�&2�'323932:�'��4

3��2�'�%:�&��:)&''2:��+'(362'�6�'�;&&�

�44�&''&4�3:��&�3�2��&M3&�3

2��&�&�3;94,&3'(6:5&E&�$

%&�3�+�6&�+36�2''32++�+:5�4:5�

:��36&�+2'3�:)6&�+36��&��2:�232&'

��!��:��**�8%*(7�(��8><"��)9("�

&.��

2� �� !��!/�� /��2�� (

�(8"�8��%%�"��J3 ��,��

%��)�� '�� 0��'��

1��23��'��4%�� )��'��'�� '��

5��'��

��?�� )��@��

��!��)?��

��

��A�� )� ��$�A�� !��)?��

��1/�2 ��

Democracy is one of the cardinal princi-ples of constitutional values guaranteedto the citizens of India. The State, as a

social institution, draws its contemporary pow-ers and sovereignty from its citizens.Constitutionalism demands electoral democra-cy and popular sovereignty, which in turn requirenot just theoretical representation but alsoequal representation. Since the end of the ColdWar, the universality of elections and electoralreforms has been institutionalised by democra-cy.

A radical move was taken by theConstituent Assembly by adopting the parlia-mentary system of governance in India. It is alsoessential to understand that it was implement-ed at a time when more than three-fourths ofthe world’s population lived under autocraticor partly free governments. It was still a dis-tant dream for a majority of the world popu-lation to exercise their civil liberties and tofreely participate in political life. The successof Indian elections is not limited to just polit-ical liberalisation or democratic advancement.It has also played a vital role in the transfer ofpower from the entitled to the empowered.

A vibrant democracy requires timelyreforms. The Constitution of India has put acap on the maximum number of representatives(Members of Parliament) elected to the LokSabha at 550. In countries like the UnitedKingdom (UK), there are 650 MPs, with eachone representing roughly 1 lakh individuals. InIndia’s present demography, each MP representsabout 24 lakh citizens if we divide 1.3 billionamong 545 Lok Sabha MPs. India is one of themost disproportionately represented parliamen-tary systems in the world. The problem is notlimited to this as the bigger elephant in theroom is the issue of unequal representation.India is the second populous country in theworld and there is a growing need to exercisedelimitation of constituencies to ensure equi-table representation.

Delimitation is the act or process of fixinglimits or boundaries of territorial constituenciesin a country or a province having a legislativebody. A delimitation commission is set up toundertake the exercise across the country.There are multiple methodologies used fordelimitation such as the Jefferson method, theHamilton method, Quota method, Webstermethod, etc. India used the Webster method orone-person-one-vote method. India redrew itsLok Sabha boundaries in 1952, 1963, 1973 and2002. The Indian Constitution has laid down cer-tain basic rules for delimitation and left out otheractual procedural regulations to be decided bythe Parliament. The idea of delimitation is tohave each MP represent roughly an equalnumber of voters.

Articles 81, 82, 170, 330 and 332 of theConstitution touch upon the constitutionalprovision of delimitations and electorate mat-ters. As per Article 82, delimitation shall be car-ried out by such authority and in such manneras the Parliament may, by law, determine.

Article 81 (3) after the 42nd Amendmentprovides that in this article, the expression pop-ulation means the population as ascertained atthe last preceding census of which the relevantfigures have been published. The Constitution(84th Amendment), Act 2001 under Section 3extended the deadline from 2000 to 2026. Thiswas done because States like Kerala, Punjab andTamil Nadu would lose several seats as they hadbrought down their fertility rates, whereaspoor family planning programmes had ensuredthat the population in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Biharand Rajasthan continued to be high. Thiswould have affected the representation of Statesin the Lok Sabha.

Both the 42nd and 84th amendments froze

the number of Lok Sabha seats from1981 to 2031 for 50 years. The popu-lation of India according to the 2011Census is around 121 crore, out ofwhich 83.41 crore are registered vot-ers. Keeping the 1971 Census with a54.81 crore population and a 27.4 croreregistered electorate as a yardstick todemarcate constituencies to repre-sent today’s 1.3 billion people iscounter-productive to democracy.Given the 2026 timeline, fresh delim-itation would be done after 2031 withnew census figures. This is expected torevamp the existing territorial bound-aries of seat allocation to the States inParliament.

By making the provisions of Article370 of the Constitution of India otiose,the Modi Government has given hintsof addressing the delimitation issues ofthe Legislative Assembly seats in theUnion Territory of Jammu andKashmir (J&K). Non-applicability ofPeople’s Representation Act of India inJ&K has been a common hindrance tothe delimitation of parliamentary seatsas recommended by the Justice KuldipSingh Commission. The KashmirValley, comprising the total area of15,953 sq km, had 46 Assembly seatsas compared to 37 seats for Jammuwith a geographical area of 26,293 sqkm. There are wide disparities withconstituencies based on demography.For instance, Gurez Assembly hasmerely 18,000 voters as against aroundtwo lakh voters in Jammu West andGandhi Nagar constituencies. Kishtwarregion has only two Assembly seatswith an area of 7,824 sq km, which ishalf of the area of Kashmir.

Delimitation is not just a politicalprocess, its an administrative actionbacked with political intent. If imple-mented in 2031, the process wouldlead to some substantial problems.Politically it might expand the North-South divide. There would be a sub-stantial increase in the number of MPsfrom the States in the Hindi belt butnot from those of the South as theseStates have managed population con-trol better.

2018 already saw the southernStates coming together to express theiranger against the 15th FinanceCommission which determines theshare of each State in the nation’sresources. They claimed that the rich-er and less populous States in SouthIndia end up contributing more thanthey receive. The success of urbandevelopment programmes and start-uphubs in Telangana and Andhra Pradeshhas led to large foreign investments inthe region, which are all set to econom-ically advance their contribution to thenational economy.

According to an IndiaSpendanalysis of a Kotak Securities reporton the demographic dividend ofIndia’s Gangetic belt, which includesUttarakhand, UP, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, ifIndia’s parliamentary seats were to bere-allocated on the basis of population,the Gangetic belt would send 275 of548 MPs to the Lok Sabha. It was alsoreported that around 33 per cent ofmembers of the Lok Sabha will comefrom three states — UP, Bihar andWest Bengal. Then there’s the admin-

istrative problem of gerrymandering,which is redrawing boundaries in amanner that it tilts the outcome of anelection in favour of a particularparty or candidate. Democracy can beeasily hijacked as a legitimising toolby undemocratic forces. The 2002Delimitation Commission had politi-cians as its members and this led tocharges of malpractices and manipu-lation being raised.

With an upper limit on the maxi-mum number of representatives man-dated by the Constitution, it is upon thepolicymakers to look for alternatives.It can be adopting the presidential sys-tem of governance or decentralisingpower. The number of MPs in metro-politan cities can be reduced substan-tially by empowering mayors orstrengthening municipal corporations.

The process of defining the areasand nature of such constituencies isimportant to ensure good governanceand accountability.Underrepresentation of voices of thepeople in the Parliament is a greatthreat to our constitutional mandate.While constitutions of countries likeNew Zealand and South Africa provideexplicitly for delimitation, in others likeIndia and Ireland, it is left to theParliament to make legislations. 2031is not far away and it is crucial for theGovernment to start consultationswith States and bring more legal clar-ity in the matter.

(Abhishek Negi is an AssistantProfessor of Law at DharmashastraNational Law University and AdithyaAnil Variath is a student of Master ofLaws at the institute.)

��)��'�� %��'��$��'�� )��

�� #0 , 2 � / � � � � & 1

"��"��%�')��"��1�"��"-�$��

��+��3�� 7�/8�

5�� $�� ! ��*(�� *��

��

2)�2%�+&%&�3&42��B?.-$�36&

4&+2%23�32:��:�&''�5:9+4

+&�4�3:�':%&'9;'3��32�+��:;+&%'(

�:+232��++<�23%2,63�&M��4

36&�,�&�3��:�36/':93642E24&(�36&�&5:9+4�;&��'9;'3��32�+

2��&�'&�2��36&�9%;&��:)�%�'

)�:%�36&'3�3&'�2��36&

62�42�;&+3�;93�:3�)�:%�36:'&:)�36&�':936��'

36&'&�'3�3&'6�E&�%��,&4

�:�9+�32:��:�3�:+�;&33&�

#��%�� *��!��

��*��4�� F��;*4F<��G8��G768�� "��F�� HD*�� )�� "��F��7B=A�

+�� #��%�� $��)��#��;$)#<��16��I��8�2��3�C�� *��2�C�� *��!��#�� "�#��!�� /��36�� !�21��*�� "�� F�� F�� !��

#��*��!�� >�� 267=9��9��/�� #��'��4�� 16��#�� '��#��!��J��)�/�� !��0�� !��4�� !��"��

)��#��#��4��*��?��!�� /��'��#��#��#�� ;###<��'��9�� !��?��'��-��.��*�� #�� -�� . �� ?�� ;�� *�� 0��/��%��-*��"�� /�� .<

*�� #�� !�� ;�� -�� /�� %�� K��"��<�"�#�� #��"�$�� ;��L��0��%�� <�� *�� *��-�� .� ��;��<�(��#��,9�� ;-��.��4��<�� (��/��?� ��#��$��!(�� !��#�� 7ACB��#��!�� ;�4��/��*��9�� <��

�� ! "��#� ��$

In an article t it led‘Disempowering the Soldier’,published in The Pioneer on

November 30, 2018, this authorattempted to highlight the precar-ious state of functioning of theArmed Forces Tribunal (AFT),thanks to deliberate inaction on thepart of the Central Government.Since then, the situation has onlytaken a turn for the worse and hasnow reached a stage where theAFT, for all practical purposes, islikely to be dead before the yearend.

To recapitulate, each of the 17benches of the AFT across thecountry require at least one judi-cial and one administrative mem-

ber, if it is to function and hearcases. However, as per the AFTwebsite itself, there are a total ofonly three judicial members,including the chairperson, andfive administrative membersappointed as on date. This impliesthat only three Benches can actu-ally function at present and withsome members about to retiresoon, it will be down to two func-tional Benches by October-end andnone by December. Rest in Peace.

Well not quite, because whatthis horrific and wholly unjustifiedstate of affairs has done is toimpinge on the constitutionalrights of the members of the mil-itary community, serving andretired, leaving them completelydisempowered. This is becauseunder our laws, the AFT is the onlychannel available to military per-sonnel to seek justice in matterspertaining to “disputes and com-plaints with respect to commission,appointments, enrollments andconditions of service”, as well as“appeals arising out of orders,findings or sentences of courts-

martial.”If that were not enough, under

Article 33 of the Constitution a twoJudge Bench of the Supreme Court(SC) in its order of March 2018 hastaken away the right of HighCourts (HC) to hear writ petitionsfiled against the orders of theAFT. It has instead directly takenupon itself the burden of such lit-igation, which in plain speak,given that it only entertains appealsthat concern “point of law of gen-eral public importance” involvingthe case, casts doubts on whichappeals it will hear. Ironically, thiswas done to ensure that membersof the armed forces receive speedyjustice, something that most citi-zens can only crave.

So, in plain language, one isdamned to perdition if one is a mil-itary man or woman, unhappy atthe manner in which they havebeen treated by the Service, as allavenues to getting justice have beenshut. While one can still approachthe AFT and file a petition, but ifthe situation remains as it is, thengiven the pendency of cases,

reportedly 16,000 at last count, thechances of the case being heardand resolved within a reasonableperiod of time are negligible, if atall.

Also, if one did get an adverseresolution, there is no other courtin the land that one can approach,except for the highest, and that toowith permission of the Tribunal.Whether the SC will be willing tohear the appeal remains a matterof conjecture given its policy on theissue. If all of this does not countas a serious miscarriage of justiceand a violation of human rights,then what does?

Thus what our Governmenthas been able to achieve is toensure that people from the armedforces do not have the right to beheard, something which everymurderer, rapist or for that mattereven Pakistani terrorist, AjmalKasab, took for granted. Utterlyshameful for a Government thatsupposedly lives and breathesnationalism.

What is most frustrating andreprehensible is that matters have

come to this pass despite the SCthwarting all attempts by bureau-crats to subvert the independenceand working of the AFT throughthe Finance Act, 2017. In fact, theAFT Bar Association filed a com-plaint with the SC in September2016 for immediate filling ofappointments of judicial mem-bers that was taken cognisance ofand converted into a PublicInterest Litigation (PIL).

In addition, there is anotherappeal pending in the SC on a peti-tion that was allowed by the Punjaband Haryana HC in 2012, accept-ing contentions that the AFT oughtnot to operate under the defenceministry but under the law min-istry. The rationale behind the peti-tion was that this constituted aclear conflict of interest since theDefence Ministry was invariablythe first party in cases before thetribunal, and in addition, theDefence Secretary was part of thecommittee to appoint members.When William Congreve wrotethat “hell hath no fury like awoman scorned”, he hadn’t met the

Indian Babu!That the Government’s motives

are clearly suspect as can be seenfrom the fact that, recently asAugust 13, 2019, the advertisementissued for appointment of admin-istrative members is blatantly incontravention of SC directions. Ina facile attempt at deception, it haspublished this advertisement onlyin Hindi, unlike its other advertise-ments which are in English.

Moreover, there are uncon-firmed reports doing the roundsthat names forwarded for judicialand administrative members by theselection committee, early thisyear, have been held in abeyance bythe Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)because they refused to considernames of candidates who did notmeet the criteria set by the SC.While the blame for the delay inappointing members clearly restswith the Government, the SC, too,held the last hearing on the PILmore than a year ago.

The military leadership is alsonot beyond reproach for not ensur-ing that an essential element of the

military criminal justice system isnot harmed. Its long-term reper-cussions on the morale of theforces are not difficult to envision.Finally, there is little doubt thategos are at play here and that isunacceptable.

Criminal negligence of thiskind cannot and must not be con-doned, and those responsible mustbe held to account. What could bemore disgraceful than denyingjustice to members of the armedforces who willingly sacrificeeverything for the nation?

This should not be a game ofone-upmanship or a battle of willsand while the Government fiddles,lives, careers and futures are beingdestroyed on a daily basis. It alsospeaks ill of the state of our democ-racy and surely our military mendeser ve better? Will PrimeMinister Modi or the SC please actbefore it is too late.

(The writer, a military veteranis consultant with the ObserverResearch Foundation and a SeniorVisiting Fellow with The PeninsulaFoundation, Chennai)

5��&��'��+��'�� !�"�#� $�%�� &'()*+��,� �*++�- *$.&$*+�-( -�%�%��&%�+&/�+0�.��'��"�*"�'�,� ��.��0�* ��)"��&%�!�*)%�.�*.�!&+&.* 0�

-� %�))�+�()�*--0�*.�.��!*))� �&)�1�&$��.��0��*2��'��)�. �*.�"�'0�.��%� 2&$��*2��)��1*0��,�3�..&)3�4(%.&$�

3�� ,13�

�� !�"�#$�#%&'

///0��%*1�'"��0$'�

Scheme NAV 1Yr%DSP World Gold Fund-Reg(G) 15.00 48.67Kotak World Gold Fund(G) 10.96 42.91Reliance US Equity Opp 16.17 8.75Fund(G)PGIM India Global Equity Opp 19.16 8.62Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Global Real 20.43 6.29Estate Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-18(G) 11.27 5.13ICICI Pru US Bluechip 28.21 5.10Equity Fund(G)Franklin India Feeder - Franklin 32.93 4.18U.S. Opportunities Fund(G)SBI Technology Opp 66.96 3.99Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram World Brand 15.75 3.74Fund-Sr II-Reg(G)Sundaram World Brand Fund-Sr 15.94 3.68III-Reg(G)DSP World Mining Fund-Reg(G) 8.19 1.89DSP Global Allocation 12.73 1.36Fund-Reg(G)Tata Banking & Financial 18.62 1.34Services Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Global Stable Equity 15.68 1.10Fund(G)Axis Bluechip Fund(G) 29.09 0.87ICICI Pru Value Fund-17(G) 10.24 0.79Sundaram Fin Serv Opp 41.27 0.71Fund(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-2(DP) 11.66 0.69ICICI Pru Technology Fund(G) 60.14 0.64BNP Paribas Large Cap Fund(G)89.20 0.58Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 21.77 0.55Fund-A(G)Edelweiss Emerging Markets 12.39 0.42Opp Eq. Offshore Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-1(DP) 10.64 0.38SBI Tax Advantage 24.11 0.13Fund-III-Reg(G)Axis Multicap Fund-Reg(G) 11.60 -0.09ICICI Pru Value Fund-14(G) 10.29 -0.19Tata Large & Mid Cap Fund(G) 198.77 -0.54Tata Digital India Fund-Reg(G) 15.32 -0.71ICICI Pru Value Fund-15(G) 10.16 -0.78Aditya Birla SL Digital India 53.64 -1.11Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Global 13.03 -1.33Emerging Opp Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-16(G) 10.72 -1.38Kotak US Equity Fund(G) 16.88 -1.39Reliance Japan Equity Fund(G) 12.80 -1.47Baroda Banking & Fin Serv 22.31 -1.59Fund(G)DSP World Agriculture 16.68 -1.59Fund-Reg(G)BNP Paribas Long Term Equity 37.51 -1.67Fund(G)IDBI Banking & Financial 9.93 -1.68Services Fund-Reg(G)Edelweiss ETF - Nifty Bank 2794.79-1.97IDBI Long Term Value 9.82 -2.00Fund-Reg(G)Mirae Asset Emerging 51.50 -2.01Bluechip-Reg(G)Invesco India Financial 54.75 -2.04Services Fund(G)JM Large Cap Fund(G) 65.39 -2.11SBI Banking & Financial 17.22 -2.14Services Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Sensex ETF 385.42 -2.23HDFC Sensex ETF 3926.05-2.24Tata Index Fund-Sensex Plan(G) 92.34 -2.46SBI Magnum Equity ESG 102.11 -2.50Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Index Fund-Sensex(G) 332.17 -2.71Franklin India Technology 158.90 -2.79Fund(G)Mirae Asset Tax Saver 17.11 -2.88Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Sensex Index Fund(G) 11.63 -2.91Franklin Asian Equity Fund(G) 21.80 -3.10Mirae Asset Large Cap 49.23 -3.31Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru NV20 ETF 54.52 -3.38Reliance Index Fund - Sensex 18.41 -3.41Plan(G)Sundaram Select Focus(G) 176.05 -3.47DSP US Flexible Equity 25.38 -3.52Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-13(D) 10.00 -3.57ICICI Pru Growth Fund-3(DP) 9.81 -3.63DSP Tax Saver Fund-Reg(G) 46.68 -3.74DSP A.C.E. Fund-Sr 2-Reg(G) 9.67 -3.85SBI Focused Equity 135.09 -3.89Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Global Advt(G) 16.45 -3.93Aditya Birla SL India GenNext 81.34 -3.97Fund(G)Canara Rob Bluechip 24.18 -3.97Equity Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL CEF-Global 23.50 -4.00Agri-Reg(G)L&T India Large Cap 26.41 -4.07Fund-Reg(G)Axis Nifty ETF 1134.46-4.18IDFC Nifty ETF 113.97 -4.27Sundaram Multi Cap 9.70 -4.29Fund-Sr II-Reg(G)DSP Equity Fund-Reg(G) 38.40 -4.32HDFC Nifty 50 ETF 1155.11-4.34DSP 3Y Close Ended Equity 14.56 -4.40Fund-Reg(G)SBI Tax advantage Fund-II(G) 35.04 -4.43DSP A.C.E. Fund-Sr 1-Reg(G) 9.69 -4.44IDFC Equity 9.65 -4.46Opportunity-6-Reg(G)JM Multicap Fund(G) 31.37 -4.47UTI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 72.27 -4.51IDFC Nifty Fund-Reg(G) 22.88 -4.53Kotak Equity Opp Fund(G) 114.40 -4.55Kotak Tax Saver Scheme(G) 41.99 -4.60Axis Long Term Equity Fund(G) 44.24 -4.61SBI Magnum Multicap 47.20 -4.64Fund-Reg(G)PGIM India Large Cap Fund(G) 163.17 -4.65

Parag Parikh Long Term 24.59 -4.66Equity Fund-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 9.69 -4.67Fund-V-Reg(G)Tata Index Fund-Nifty Plan(G) 66.87 -4.68SBI Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 14.40 -4.68HDFC Index Fund-NIFTY 100.68 -4.6950 Plan(G)ICICI Pru Nifty Low Vol 30 ETF 87.64 -4.74BNP Paribas Multi Cap Fund(G) 45.13 -4.75Motilal Oswal Focused 21.28 -4.7825 Fund-Reg(G)JM Tax Gain Fund(G) 16.62 -4.79Kotak Standard 33.95 -4.79Multicap Fund(G)Tata India Tax Savings 17.46 -4.81Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Top 100 Fund(G) 463.53 -4.86ICICI Pru Bharat 9.79 -4.95Consumption Fund-1-(G)SBI LT Advantage 10.01 -4.98Fund-VI-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 9.86 -5.01Fund-3-(G)ICICI Pru Nifty Index Fund(G) 106.80 -5.05SBI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 94.93 -5.07Franklin India Focused 38.22 -5.09Equity Fund(G)ICICI Pru Banking & 60.54 -5.15Fin Serv Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Sensex ETF 348.96 -5.22IDBI Nifty Index Fund(G) 20.38 -5.26Aditya Birla SL Index 108.35 -5.29Fund-Reg(G)Tata Large Cap Fund(G) 211.57 -5.32Reliance Index Fund - 18.48 -5.33Nifty Plan(G)Franklin India Index 87.50 -5.36Fund-NSE Nifty(G)SBI BlueChip Fund-Reg(G) 37.84 -5.38ICICI Pru Value Fund-11(G) 11.61 -5.38Canara Rob Equity 127.61 -5.52Diver Fund-Reg(G)IDBI India Top 100 23.38 -5.57Equity Fund(G)Mirae Asset Healthcare 10.23 -5.72Fund-Reg(G)Canara Rob Consumer 37.98 -5.94

Trends Fund-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.66 -5.95Fund-III-Reg(G)BNP Paribas Focused 25 9.30 -6.04Equity Fund-Reg(G)Axis Capital Builder 9.94 -6.05Fund-1-Reg(G)Sundaram Multi Cap 9.71 -6.10Fund-Sr I-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 9.46 -6.24Fund-2-(G)Aditya Birla SL Focused 56.72 -6.30Equity Fund(G)HDFC Equity Fund(G) 622.15 -6.31Kotak Bluechip Fund(G) 224.86 -6.31Invesco India PSU 16.49 -6.36Equity Fund(G)Invesco India Largecap Fund(G) 27.63 -6.37Kotak India EQ Contra Fund(G) 50.46 -6.39ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 9.40 -6.47Fund-4-(G)Principal Focused Multicap 60.95 -6.53Fund(G)Kotak Global Emerging 15.47 -6.55Mkt Fund(G)ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund(G) 40.37 -6.59UTI Mastershare-Reg(G) 117.51 -6.64PGIM India LT Equity 13.69 -6.74Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-9(G) 11.56 -6.77Baroda Large Cap Fund(G) 13.88 -6.85ICICI Pru FMCG Fund(G) 237.19 -6.99Invesco India Feeder - Invesco 12.42 -7.02Global Equity Income Fund(G)SBI LT Advantage 13.05 -7.12Fund-II-Reg(G)PGIM India Large Cap 11.94 -7.12Fund-2-Reg(G)Axis Midcap Fund(G) 35.55 -7.18Edelweiss Large Cap Fund(G) 34.62 -7.21Canara Rob Equity Tax 62.02 -7.21Saver Fund-Reg(G)Motilal Oswal Multicap 25.13 -7.2735 Fund-Reg(G)Mirae Asset Great Consumer 33.10 -7.36Fund-Reg(G)DSP Equity Opportunities 210.27 -7.36Fund-Reg(G)SBI Large & Midcap 206.76 -7.50Fund-Reg(G)Tata Mid Cap Growth Fund(G) 129.98 -7.54Franklin Build India Fund(G) 38.43 -7.56Axis Focused 25 Fund(G) 27.49 -7.63Edelweiss ETF - Nifty 100 271.58 -7.69Quality 30Motilal Oswal Long Term Equity 16.63 -7.74Fund-Reg(G)Tata India Pharma & Healthcare 8.79 -7.79Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Frontline Equity 212.71 -7.83Fund(G)UTI Dividend Yield Fund-Reg(G) 62.44 -7.86Invesco India Growth Opp 32.99 -7.90

Fund(G)Edelweiss Multi-Cap 13.83 -7.94Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Large & Mid Cap 303.52 -7.98Fund(G)ICICI Pru LT Equity Fund 353.20 -8.03(Tax Saving)(G)ICICI Pru LT Wealth 10.07 -8.04Enhancement Fund(G)DSP Focus Fund-Reg(G) 22.18 -8.07Edelweiss Long Term Equity 44.29 -8.23Fund (Tax Savings)-Reg(G)Edelweiss Large & Mid Cap 29.80 -8.24Fund-Reg(G)DSP India T.I.G.E.R 84.63 -8.25Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Consumption Fund(G) 62.38 -8.37Tata Ethical Fund-Reg(G) 150.74 -8.46SBI Equity Opp Fund-Sr 15.27 -8.56I-Reg(G)Invesco India Infrastructure 15.76 -8.64Fund(G)SBI LT Advantage 12.27 -8.76Fund-IV-Reg(G)PGIM India Diversified Equity 12.55 -8.79Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru S&P BSE 500 ETF 145.00 -8.81IDFC Large Cap Fund-Reg(G) 30.84 -8.81DSP Top 100 Equity 194.99 -8.81Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Growth Fund(G) 1039.83-8.87L&T Equity Fund-Reg(G) 77.87 -8.89HDFC Growth Opp Fund-Reg(G) 105.66 -8.91UTI Focussed Equity Fund-IV(G) 9.12 -8.98Tata Value Fund-Sr-2-Reg(G) 9.12 -9.01HDFC Equity Opp Fund-Sr 9.72 -9.012-1126D-May 2017(1)-Reg(G)Sundaram Large and Mid Cap 32.82 -9.04Fund(G)Sundaram Select Small Cap 13.45 -9.10Series-IV-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Small Cap 13.43 -9.14Series-III-Reg(G)UTI LT Equity Fund (Tax 81.92 -9.18Saving)-Reg(G)Tata Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 51.21 -9.20Invesco India Tax Plan(G) 48.72 -9.22ICICI Pru Infrastructure Fund(G) 46.71 -9.27

Templeton India Equity 44.18 -9.33Income Fund(G)JM Core 11 Fund(G) 8.55 -9.36Kotak Infra & Eco Reform 18.68 -9.39Fund(G)Franklin India Taxshield(G) 530.01 -9.40Reliance Quant Fund(G) 24.18 -9.42Reliance Multi Cap Fund(G) 87.86 -9.47SBI Magnum Global 161.85 -9.52Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Equity Fund(G) 678.71 -9.53UTI Focussed Equity Fund-I(G) 12.63 -9.56SBI LT Advantage Fund-I-Reg(G)12.59 -9.56Baroda Multi Cap Fund(G) 93.18 -9.62DSP Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 51.08 -9.62IDBI Diversified Equity Fund(G) 19.79 -9.63Reliance Large Cap Fund(G) 31.66 -9.64UTI Value Opp Fund-Reg(G) 57.85 -9.67ICICI Pru Exports & Services 54.13 -9.69Fund(G)Tata Value Fund-Sr-1-Reg(G) 9.38 -9.73Sundaram Select Small Cap 9.36 -9.80Series-V-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Smallcap Fund(G) 23.64 -9.81PGIM India Euro Equity Fund(G) 13.19 -9.84ICICI Pru Multicap Fund(G) 273.67 -9.85Reliance Value Fund(G) 68.21 -9.93SBI Equity Opp Fund-Sr 14.68 -9.94IV-Reg(G)UTI MEPUS 102.17-10.21Principal Global Opportunities 28.43 -10.27Fund(G)Sundaram Select Small Cap 9.17 -10.31Series-VI-Reg(G)Edelweiss Eur Dynamic Equity 10.75 -10.34Off-shr Fund-Reg(G)UTI Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 48.77 -10.35SBI Magnum TaxGain'93-Reg(G) 131.86-10.39Sundaram Value Fund-III-Reg(G)15.55 -10.51Sundaram Value Fund-II-Reg(G) 14.94 -10.53Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 13.69 -10.55II-Reg(G)Kotak India Growth Fund-Sr 4(G)8.82 -10.55Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 17.52 -10.56Fund-B(G)UTI Equity Fund-Reg(G) 135.10-10.63ICICI Pru Value Fund-10(G) 10.74 -10.65Reliance Pharma Fund(G) 141.10-10.76Kotak Emerging Equity 35.88 -10.78Scheme(G)Invesco India Contra Fund(G) 44.82 -10.79JM Value Fund(G) 29.80 -10.82ICICI Pru Focused Equity 28.35 -10.91Fund(G)HDFC Focused 30 Fund(G) 70.88 -10.91Edelweiss Tax Advantage 37.89 -10.96Fund-Reg(G)L&T Business Cycle 14.15 -11.00Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-8(D) 9.68 -11.03IDBI Equity Advantage 25.17 -11.09Fund-Reg(G)Principal Dividend Yield Fund(G) 49.41 -11.24

UTI LT Adv Fund-IV(G) 9.26 -15.90SBI Contra Fund-Reg(G) 96.69 -16.04HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities 49.53 -16.07Fund(G)L&T Emerging Opp 8.64 -16.21Fund-I-Reg(D)UTI LT Adv Fund-V(G) 8.50 -16.22DSP World Energy Fund-Reg(G) 12.43 -16.34UTI Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G) 90.70 -16.42Sundaram Value 8.16 -16.51Fund-IX-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Mfg. Equity 12.12 -16.53Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 10.59 -16.61Fund-3-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Dividend Yield 148.06-16.77Fund(G)Tata India Consumer 16.24 -16.79Fund-Reg(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-III(G) 12.01 -16.85Sundaram Mid Cap Fund(G) 420.32-16.99L&T Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 119.79-17.09Sundaram Emerging Small 8.19 -17.42Cap-Sr-III-Reg(G)Sundaram Value Fund-X-Reg(G) 8.12 -17.42IDFC Equity 9.05 -17.58Opportunity-5-Reg(G)Templeton India Value Fund(G) 223.33-18.01Aditya Birla SL Resurgent 11.09 -18.09India Fund-2-Reg(G)L&T Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 14.21 -18.33HDFC Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 37.50 -18.39IDFC Focused Equity 33.23 -18.45Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Midcap Fund(G) 254.13-18.72DSP Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 48.84 -18.93Aditya Birla SL Infrastructure 27.70 -19.01Fund(G)DSP Natural Res & New 28.18 -19.06Energy Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Smaller Cos 46.87 -19.18Fund(G)IDBI Midcap Fund(G) 9.59 -19.34IDBI Small Cap Fund(G) 8.40 -19.39Sundaram Emerging Small 7.57 -19.51Cap-Sr-II-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 11.80 -19.53Cap-Series VIII-Reg(G)Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) 47.33 -19.65Fund(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 7.40 -19.70Cap-Sr-I-Reg(G)Sundaram Value 7.72 -19.72Fund-VII-Reg(G)PGIM India Midcap Opp 16.05 -19.75Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 11.73 -19.82Cap-Series IX-Reg(G)HDFC Infrastructure Fund(G) 14.31 -20.08IDFC Sterling Value 44.22 -20.17Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G)13.25 -20.52Sundaram Select Micro 11.54 -20.88Cap-Series X-Reg(G)L&T Emerging Businesses 21.50 -20.88Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Tax Adv 7.30 -21.28Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)Reliance Capital Builder 6.64 -21.42Fund-IV-B(G)Reliance Small Cap Fund(G) 35.03 -21.60IDFC Equity 7.01 -21.94Opportunity-4-Reg(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-VII(G) 7.73 -21.94Sundaram Small Cap Fund(G) 70.11 -22.06Aditya Birla SL Pure Value 44.50 -23.92Fund(G)Sundaram Select Micro 8.28 -23.93Cap-Series XII-Reg(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-VI(G) 7.46 -24.06Sundaram Select Micro 8.57 -24.15Cap-Series XI-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Resurgent 7.33 -24.20India Fund-7-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap 8.75 -24.99Tax Adv Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax 7.44 -25.72Adv Fund-Sr IV-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 7.54 -25.76Cap-Series XIV-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Small Cap 28.98 -25.86Fund(G)Reliance Capital Builder 6.78 -26.03Fund-IV-D(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap 7.24 -26.68Tax Adv Fund-Sr V-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 6.90 -26.93Cap-Series XVI-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap 6.82 -27.03Tax Adv Fund-Sr VI-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 7.36 -27.39Cap-Series XV-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 6.51 -27.78Cap-Series XVII-Reg(G)Reliance Capital Builder 6.54 -27.82Fund-IV-C(G)UTI Transportation & 82.18 -31.16Logistics Fund-Reg(G)

ICICI Pru Value Discovery 136.42-11.27Fund(G)IDFC Multi Cap Fund-Reg(G) 87.87 -11.32Tata Equity P/E Fund(G) 127.89-11.33Sundaram LT Tax Adv 12.64 -11.41Fund-Sr I-Reg(G)Franklin India Prima Fund(G) 886.14-11.45HDFC TaxSaver(G) 475.78-11.47Franklin India Opportunities 67.69 -11.52Fund(G)IDBI Focused 30 Equity 9.33 -11.56Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram TOP 100-Sr 11.80 -11.58VI-Reg(G)UTI Focussed Equity Fund-VI(G) 9.29 -11.78Tata Resources & Energy 13.23 -11.79Fund-Reg(G)Reliance Banking Fund(G) 255.13-11.81Sundaram TOP 100-Sr 11.58 -11.87VII-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Banking & 27.06 -11.89Financial Services Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Bluechip Fund(G) 424.99-11.93UTI Focussed Equity Fund-V(G) 8.88 -11.94L&T Emerging Opp 9.07 -11.96Fund-II-Reg(D)Canara Rob Infrastructure 41.25 -12.03Fund-Reg(G)SBI Magnum Comma 33.17 -12.08Fund-Reg(G)UTI Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 57.49 -12.09Franklin India Equity 73.89 -12.13Advantage Fund(G)Reliance Focused Equity 42.39 -12.14Fund(G)BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund(G) 29.67 -12.22L&T India Value Fund-Reg(G) 33.33 -12.29Reliance Vision Fund(G) 480.42-12.31Sundaram Diversified Equity(G) 93.70 -12.35Reliance Capital Builder 9.20 -12.35Fund-IV-A(G)L&T Tax Advt Fund-Reg(G) 50.42 -12.38ICICI Pru Midcap Fund(G) 87.01 -12.39Franklin India Equity Fund(G) 540.45-12.52Principal Multi Cap Growth 131.10-12.59Fund(G)Sundaram Rural and 38.86 -12.60Consumption Fund(G)IDFC Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 41.23 -12.67UTI Banking and Financial 90.52 -12.75Services Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Infra Advantage 29.05 -13.11Fund(G)SBI Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 48.66 -13.11Axis Emerging Opp 11.62 -13.22Fund-1-Reg(G)Reliance Power & Infra Fund(G) 88.65 -13.23DSP Equal Nifty 50 Fund-Reg(G)9.10 -13.25Principal Tax Savings Fund 191.26-13.33Aditya Birla SL Resurgent 8.85 -13.41India Fund-5-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL MNC Fund(G) 697.55-13.47ICICI Pru R.I.G.H.T Fund(G) 39.31 -13.49Canara Rob Emerg Equities 86.21 -13.53Fund-Reg(G)Invesco India Midcap Fund(G) 44.88 -13.63Sundaram Emerging Small 8.64 -13.72Cap-Sr-V-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief 28.89 -13.79'96(ELSS U/S 80C of IT ACT)(G)Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief '96(G) 28.89 -13.79SBI PSU Fund-Reg(G) 9.33 -13.87Principal Personal Tax saver 178.87-13.93FundAxis Emerging Opp 11.16 -13.96Fund-2-Reg(G)HDFC Capital Builder Value 265.15-13.97Fund(G)UTI-Nifty Next 50 ETF 270.73-13.99UTI MNC Fund-Reg(G) 182.99-14.05IDFC Tax Advt(ELSS) 50.62 -14.07Fund-Reg(G)L&T Large and Midcap 43.63 -14.18Fund-Reg(G)SBI Healthcare Opp 110.40-14.23Fund-Reg(G)SBI Consumption Opp 106.66-14.26Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 ETF 26.63 -14.33Sundaram Smart NIFTY 10.86 -14.34100 Eq Weight Fund-Reg(G)Baroda ELSS 96(G) 41.55 -14.37Principal Emerging Bluechip 95.83 -14.56Fund(G)Edelweiss Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G)24.48 -14.59IDBI Nifty Junior Index Fund(G) 19.95 -14.66Motilal Oswal Midcap 30 23.78 -14.73Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Dividend Yield Equity 15.28 -14.73Fund(G)ICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 Index 23.41 -14.83Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 9.05 -14.86Fund-4-Reg(G)UTI Nifty Next 50 Index 9.41 -14.89Fund-Reg(G)SBI Magnum Midcap 65.95 -15.08Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Small Cap Fund(G) 65.03 -15.09Principal Nifty 100 Equal 65.75 -15.20Weight Fund(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 8.48 -15.38Cap-Sr-IV-Reg(G)UTI India Consumer 24.06 -15.45Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Tax Adv 8.52 -15.62Fund-Sr IV-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Equity 373.14-15.62Advantage Fund(G)UTI Healthcare Fund-Reg(G) 78.81 -15.63Sundaram Value 9.79 -15.63Fund-VIII-Reg(G)Invesco India Multicap Fund(G) 44.15 -15.68Invesco India Feeder - Invesco 9.86 -15.78Pan European Equity Fund-Reg(G)Baroda Mid-cap Fund(G) 8.35 -15.83Kotak India Growth Fund-Sr 5(G)8.84 -15.90

�%�� '�� !�"�#$�#%&'

!�� ''�� !�"�#$�#%&'

6%��

��B�� -��#�� -�� )��3��+��-�6��! �C)+6D�� 98BE��$�E�)��%� ��'��#� �� E�.�� #�� - ��)+6�� E�� - ��! �#��

%�� &��"�� *��&� ��#��%�� 2 ��#�� -��98F=8BE�� #��#� �� 0"��&� ��2�� ?��(��-��E�

�� 5�'62�,3:�

The Trump administration’slatest round of tariffs on

Chinese imports took effectearly Sunday, potentially rais-ing prices Americans pay forsome clothes, shoes, sportinggoods and other consumergoods in advance of the holidayshopping season.

The 15 per cent taxes applyto about $112 billion ofChinese imports. All told, morethan two-thirds of the con-sumer goods the United Statesimports from China now facehigher taxes. The administra-tion had largely avoided hittingconsumer items in its earlierrounds of tariff hikes.

But with prices of manyretail goods now likely to rise,the administration’s movethreatens the US economy’smain driver: Consumer spend-ing. As businesses pull back oninvestment spending andexports slow in the face of weakglobal growth, American shop-pers have been a key bright spotfor the economy.

As a result of Trump’s high-er tariffs, many US companieshave warned that they will beforced to pass on to their cus-tomers the higher prices theywill pay on Chinese imports.Some businesses, though, maydecide in the end to absorb thehigher costs rather than raisefor their customers.

After Sunday’s tariff hike,87 per cent of textiles andclothing from China and 52 percent of shoes will be subject toimport taxes.

On December 15, theadministration is scheduled toimpose a second round of 15per cent tariffs — this time onroughly $160 billion of imports.If those duties take effect, vir-tually all goods imported fromChina will be covered.

The Trump administrationhas been locked in a trade warwith China for more than a year,spurred by its assertion thatChina steals US trade secretsand unfairly subsidises its owncompanies in its drive to over-take the United States in suchhigh-tech industries as artificialintelligence and electric cars.

To try to force Beijing toreform its trade practices, theTrump administration hasimposed import taxes on billionsof dollars’ worth of Chineseimports, and China has retali-ated with tariffs on US exports.

The president has insistedthat China itself pays the tariffs.But in fact, economic researchhas concluded that the costs ofthe duties fall on US business-es and consumers. Trump hadindirectly acknowledged thetariffs’ impact by delaying someof the duties until December 15,after holiday goods are alreadyon store shelves.

A study by JP Morganfound that Trump’s tariffs willcost the average US household$1,000 a year. That study wasdone before Trump raised theSeptember 1 and December 15tariffs to 15 per cent from 10per cent.

The president has alsoannounced that existing 25per cent tariffs on a separate

group of $250 billion ofChinese imports will increaseto 30 per cent on October 1.

That cost could weaken analready slowing US economy.Though consumer spendinggrew last quarter at its fastestpace in five years, the overalleconomy expanded at just amodest 2 per cent annual rate,down from a 3.1 per cent ratein the first three months of theyear. The economy is widelyexpected to slow further in themonths ahead as incomegrowth slows, businesses delayexpansions and higher pricesfrom tariffs depress consumerspending.

Companies have alreadyreduced investment spending,and exports have droppedagainst a backdrop of slowerglobal growth.

Americans have alreadyturned more pessimistic inlight of the trade war. TheUniversity of Michigan’s con-sumer sentiment index,released Friday, fell by themost since December 2012.

“The data indicate that theerosion of consumer confi-dence due to tariff policies isnow well underway,” saidRichard Curtin, who overseesthe index.

Some retailers may eat thecost of the tariffs. Target con-firmed to The Associated Pressthat it warned suppliers that itwon’t accept cost increases aris-ing from the China tariffs. Butmany smaller retailers won’thave the bargaining power tomake such demands and willpass the costs to customers.

�� &5�4&+62

Foreign investors pulled outa net amount of �5,920

crore from the Indian capitalmarkets in August even as thegovernment rolled backenhanced surcharge on FPIslast week.

The withdrawal from thecapital markets (both equityand debt) in August is “con-trary to the expectation” sincethe Centre last weekannounced revocation ofenhanced super-rich tax on for-eign and domestic equityinvestors imposed in theBudget, said HimanshuSrivastava, senior analyst man-ager research at Morningstar.

According to the latestdepositories data, foreign port-folio investors (FPIs) withdrewa net amount of �17,592.28crore from equities andpumped in a net sum of�11,672.26 crore in the debt

segment, translating into atotal net outflow of �5,920.02crore during August 1 - 30.

In July, overseas investorshad pulled out a net amount of�2,985.88 crore from the cap-ital markets.

Prior to the announce-ment of enhanced super-richtax in the Union Budget for2019-20 in July, FPIs were netbuyers for five consecutivemonths. FPIs had infused a net�10,384.54 crore in June,�9,031.15 crore in May, �16,093crore in April, �45,981 crore inMarch and �11,182 crore inFebruary into the Indian cap-ital markets.

“Concerns over slowingdomestic economy, volatility inthe global markets andincreased fears of global reces-sion due to escalating trade wartension between US and Chinaovershadowed the positivemove of withdrawal of sur-charge,” Srivastava added.

�� &5�4&+62

The Government’s decisionto consolidate 10 public

sector banks (PSB) into fourmega state-owned lenders willact as a building block forachieving $5 trillion economytarget, Finance Secretary RajivKumar has said.

“To support next level ofgrowth, the country neededbig banks. The mega mergerannounced on Friday aims toachieve that objective. Wewill now have six mega bankswith enhanced capital base,size, scale and efficiency tosupport high growth that thecountry requires to break intoclub of middle incomenations,” he told PTI in aninterview.

The consolidation willhelp create strong and globallycompetit ive banks witheconomies of scale and enablerealisation of wide-rangingsynergies, he said adding thatnow they would have widerreach, stronger lending capac-ity and better products andtechnology to serve customersof new India.

Asked about the road mapfor future, he said the bankingsector would be “technologydriven, clean, responsive” andthere will be no gaming of sys-tem by any of the stakehold-

er in the financial sector spacebe it auditors, rating agencies,creditors, or bankers. “All wellcapitalised well provisionedbanks to support $5 trillioneconomy.”

The state-owned bankscan now look forward to effi-ciency gain, higher profit,better services to customersand also more benefits totheir employees, he said.

For bigger banks, he said,the government has provided0.25 per cent higher capitalthan required keeping in themind their domestic system-ically important status.

Moreover, he added, theIndian banks are having oneper cent higher core capitalrequirement than the Basel IIInorms.

On the effective date ofmerger, he said it would befixed after consultation withrespective bank boards as hadhappened in case of Bank ofBaroda.

“There is a process whichneeds to be followed. Thereare some regulatory approvalswhich are required. Bankshave sufficient time for chart-ing out smooth and seamlessamalgamation date. It couldhappen from January 1 orApril 1 depending on theirreadiness. It would not be laterthan April 1,” he said.

�� &5�4&+62

Macroeconomic datapoints and global trends

mainly from the US-Chinatrade conflict would drive theequity markets in a holiday-shortened week ahead, ana-lysts said.

Stock markets will beclosed on Monday for ‘GaneshChaturthi’.

Official data released aftermarket hours on Fridayshowed that India’s GDPgrowth slipped to an over six-year low of 5 per cent in theJune quarter of 2019-20, hit bya sharp deceleration in man-ufacturing output and sub-dued farm sector activity.

“The continuation of theslowdown in GDP growth wasexpected but the 5 percentgrowth in Q1 is worse thanexpected...GDP growth fig-ures will pick up in Q3 and Q4benefitting from the low baseof previous financial year.

“Also the rate cuts by theRBI will act strongly in Q3 andQ4 since monetary policy

impacts with a lag of 2 to 3quarters. We need structuralreforms like labour and landmarket reforms to stimulateand sustain growth,” said V KVijayakumar Chief InvestmentStrategist at Geojit FinancialServices.

“The week ahead would belackluster and there will be adearth of triggers from thecorporate side, therefore inter-national triggers could be thedriving factor,” said JimeetModi, Founder & CEO,SAMCO Securities &StockNote.

Meanwhile, the govern-ment on Friday unveiled amega plan to merge 10 publicsector banks into four as partof plans to create fewer andstronger global-sized lendersas it looks to boost economicgrowth.

Deepak Jasani, Head ofRetail Research, HDFC secu-rities said, “The announce-ment of PSU bank consolida-tion is welcome and a goodfirst step in sustainably turn-ing around the PSU banks.”

�� &5�4&+62

Continuing its efforts to bol-ster supervision and iden-

tify non-compliance, regulatorSebi plans to deploy data ana-lytics and new generation tech-nologies to deal with variouschallenges in the market.

The watchdog has beentaking strict action againsterring entities, apart from stepsto protect investors and ensureintegrity of the market.

Sebi Chairman Ajay Tyagihas said that apart fromenhancing investor awarenessand improving access to thesecurities market, the regulatorwould continue to strengthenmarket supervision throughvarious steps such as technol-ogy solutions being built toachieve the objective of iden-tifying non-compliance andassisting in investigations.

Deterring, effective andtimely enforcement actionsagainst errant entities wouldalso be taken to maintain dis-cipline and the overall marketintegrity.

“Going ahead, SEBIendeavors to deploy data ana-lytics and new generation tech-nologies to understand andhandle various challenges inthe market.

“Sebi would encourageadoption and usage of financialtechnology to further developand maintain an efficient, fairand transparent securities mar-ket ecosystem which also pro-motes innovation in the secu-rities market,” Tyagi said in hisstatement in the regulator’sannual report for 2018-19.

Besides, steps are beingtaken to deepen the corporatebonds market, widen the pen-etration of mutual funds acrossthe country and strengthenthe commodity derivativesmarket.

With various Sebi regula-tions, Tyagi said access toinformation has increased,leading to more transparencyfor informed decision makingby investors. Overall gover-nance has become conducivefor the protection of investors’interests and overall marketdevelopment, he added.

In 2018-19, the main thrustof various policy measureswere aimed at improving cor-porate governance, revisitingthe procedures followed in theprimary market, reviewing therisk management frameworkfor equity derivatives, devel-oping the mutual funds indus-try and promoting ease ofdoing business, among others.

�� &5�4&+62

The National Company LawAppellate Tribunal

(NCLAT) has rejected the oilministry’s plea seeking $314million (around �2,245 crore)from insolvency-boundVideocon Industries in unpaidprofit petroleum from theRavva oil and gas fields in theeastern offshore.

The ministry had onOctober 22 last year sentVideocon a demand notice forpayment of Government’sshare of profit petroleum,which is calculated after allcapital and operating cost isdeducted from the sale of oiland gas.

Videocon, which holds 25per cent stake in Ravva oil andgas fields, had been admittedto insolvency and the resolu-tion professional (RP) over-seeing the process approachedthe Mumbai-bench of theNational Company LawTribunal (NCLT) against thedemand saying the companycannot be asked to part withany money, including share ofprofit, during the moratoriumperiod.

NCLT upheld the RP’splea, which was challengedbefore the NCLAT.

A three-member NCLATbench headed by chairpersonJustice S J Mukhopadhayaalso upheld the same and saidthat the petroleum ministrycould not recover these pro-ceeds during the moratoriumperiod from VideoconIndustries, against whominsolvency was initiated inJune 2018.

�� &5�4&+62

Indian companies are nowusing industrial zones such

as KIZAD in Abu Dhabi as abase to expand across theGulf Cooperation Council aswell as increase exports tocountries in the Middle Eastand further afield to Africa, atop UAE official said Sunday.

According to FalahMohammad Al Ahbabi, mem-ber of the Abu DhabiExecutive Council, there hasbeen significant investmentfrom India in Abu DhabiPorts’ subsidiary KhalifaIndustrial Zone (KIZAD).

“Some $90 million hasbeen attracted in Indianinvestment at the zone since itopened in 2012. We believethis is a reflection of the pow-erful combination of AbuDhabi’s strategic location,KIZAD’s logistics efficienciesand the connectivity offeredby Khalifa Port,” Al Ahbabitold PTI.

He said Indian companiesacross the metals, food pro-cessing and packaging, phar-maceutical, construction and

automotive industries havebeen household names in theUAE for decades.

He said that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’srecent visit to the UAE, wherehe was decorated with theOrder of Zayed, would furtherstrengthen relationship andincrease trade between thetwo nations, which alreadystood at nearly $60 billionannually.

Al Ahbabi, who is alsochairman of Abu Dhabi Ports,is of the view that both Indiaand the UAE have extensivemaritime pedigrees and avision for the future that seesthe industry at the forefront ofglobal trade through harness-ing the latest trends and tech-nologies, from automation toartificial intelligence.

“Indeed, Maqta Gateway,a subsidiary of Abu DhabiPorts, has been testing inter-national blockchain solutionSilsal with MSCMediterranean ShippingCompany to provide a seam-less and secure link betweenstakeholders across the tradecommunity,” he said.

�� &5�4&+62

National Health Forum,an NGO working in the

field of tobacco control, hasrequested the Centre to sup-port Union Health Ministry’sdecision to end manufacture,distribution, import and saleof e-cigarettes and ensurethat such products arebanned.

The NGO said that theHealth Ministry’s decisionagainst e-cigarettes and sim-ilar such products is “correctand laudable”.

“...All other Ministriesmust support this moveMinistr y of Health andensure that such productsare banned and are notincluded as legal productsunder the COTPA (Cigarettesand Other Tobacco ProductsAct) or the Drugs andCosmetics Act,” MandakiniSinh (Managing Trustee) ofNational Health Forum saidin a letter dated August 27 tothe Health Minister HarshVardhan.

�� &5�4&+62

Athree-day All India MediaConference (AIMC) -

2019 on “DigitalCommunication &Empowerment: EmergingOpportunities and KeyChallenges” will be organisedin City of Lakes — Udaipur.Premier media advocacyorganisation Lok SamvadSansthan that has the legacy oforganising three All IndiaMedia Educators’ conferencealong with NACC accredited‘A’ grade university — MLSukhadia University, Udaipurthrough its Department ofJournalism and MassCommunication will host thisconference from September27 to 29 at Udaipur.

Naresh Kumar, GeneralManager (CorporateCommunications), Power GridCorporation of India and alsothe member of the organisingcommittee said that duringthis conference, ‘Walkathon’will be organised on September28, 2019 for promoting‘Violence Free Society forChildren’.

�� &5�4&+62

Life Insurance Corporationof India enters 64th year of

its incorporation on 1stSeptember, 2019. LIC hasplayed a significant role inspreading the message of lifeinsurance among the massesand mobilization of people’smoney for people’s welfare.

In this journey, LIC hascrossed many milestones andhas set unprecedented perfor-mance records in variousaspects of life insurance busi-ness. In its 63 years of existence,LIC has grown from strength tostrength be its customer base,agency network, branch officenetwork, new business premi-um and has a significant role inspreading life insurance wide-ly across the country.

At the end of the FY 2018-2019, LIC had 32 plans for saleunder Individual Business. Theproducts satisfy different needsof various segments of thesociety.

�� 6&��2

The merger of Indian Bank(Anchor Bank) and

Allahabad Bank will create arobust amalgamated entitywith a Pan-India presence,said the MD and CEO ofIndian Bank, PadmajaChunduru.

“Currently, we are instrong position in South Indiawhereas Allahabad Bank ispresent in northern and east-ern India. Further, the mergerwill lead to the emergence ofa of strong globally focussedbank with a cumulative expe-rience of over 266 years(Indian Bank is in existence for112 years whereas AllahabadBank is a 154-year-old Bank)”she added.

Post-merger, Indian Bankplus Allahabad Bank willemerge as the 7th largest PSBwith a business of �8.08 lakhscrore (approx. 1.9 times of pre-merged Indian Bank); anation-wide presence spreadover 6,100 branches andaround 43,000 employees.

�� &5�4&+62

Over 5.65 crore income taxreturns were filed by tax-

payers for the Assessment Year2019-20 as the deadline endedon August 31, showing a 4 percent rise in ITR filing over theprevious year, according to thetax department data.

Total number of incometax returns (ITRs) filed for AY2018-19 was 5.42 crore.

The government had lastyear extended the deadline forITR filing for AY 2018-19 tillAugust 31, 2018, while a spe-cial extension till September 15,2018 was given in this contextto the taxpayers of flood-hitKerala.

Nearly 50 lakh people filedtheir tax returns online onAugust 31, the last date for ITRfiling, the Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT) datashowed.

“The Income TaxDepartment has made historywith a quantum jump in the e-filing of ITRs with an all-timehigh record of 49,29,121 ITRsfiled in a single day on August31,” it said in a statement.

From August 27 to 31,1,47,82,095 people filed onlineincome tax returns, an increaseof 42 per cent as compared tothe same period of AY 2018-19.

It said that the I-T depart-ment is actively interacting withtaxpayers on social media tohelp them resolve their griev-ances and e-filing related queriesand getting accolades in return.

The last date for submis-sion of e-filing of ITRs for AY2019-20 was August 31. Itadded that the peak filing rateper second was at 196 ITRs.

It also said that the infor-mation security team of I-Tdepartment thwarted over2,205 malicious attacks on thewebsite aimed at disruptingservices in the peak period.

Out of the 5.65 crore ITRsfiled so far, 3.61 crore have beenverified.

“A large number of tax-payers about 2.86 crore (79 percent) have opted for e-verifi-cation, mostly using AadhaarOTP. The I-T Departmentintends to carry out campaignsto increase awareness about e-verification of ITRs where ver-ification is still pending,” it said.

�� &5�4&+62

State-run steel maker SteelAuthority of India Ltd

(SAIL) is shutting down two ofits subsidiaries located in UttarPradesh and Jharkhand.

“SAIL has initiated actionsfor closure/exit from certain JVcompanies as well as sub-sidiaries which are either non-performing or non-opera-tional. The closure action fortwo subsidiary companies vizSAIL Jagdishpur Power PlantLimited and SAIL SindriProjects Limited under FastTrack Exit Mode is inprogress,” the company said areport.

The two subsidiary com-panies have filed applicationfor closure under Fast TrackExit Mode as per provisions ofSection 248(2) of theCompanies Act, 2013 and Rule4 (1) of the Companies(Removal of Names of theCompanies from the Registerof Companies) Rules, 2016.

,��<''(��//��3��//��

6%#�� '��2�73!��8��

")+�� -�� G@8H��?��&�� .�--��

'�!��!�� $�� *��

��&��(��!��(��!�� :��$�<),'�&��(��!

% �� $��! �� *� �� *�� *� �� N�&"��

��-�� #��!�� -&�'�&I�� !��98B=�9�@E� �%

%�*�� 92��'�/�6��

�8#:��+��'��

+&)�� J@� ��

23��)��B?-ON�:#��A(>A�� "�� .-

6��!��&�)=�98B��-�� 2

;��<�� #�� '��0��=�� /�48-��

��'"�%�2��%��4'�#��5#��"��'�&�"�6$�-��

�� %9%;�2

State-run Central Bank ofIndia on Sunday said it will

be offering repo-linked inter-est rate (RLIR) on home andvehicle loan products withimmediate effect.

The lender said the exist-ing borrowers will also begiven an option to switch overto the new repo-linked inter-est rate at a fee, a statementsaid.

Separately, the bank hasalso signed an agreement withECL Finance, a subsidiary ofEdelweiss Financial Services,for co-origination of loans tomicro, small and mediumenterprise (MSME) customers.

This is the first co-origi-nation partnership of thebanks with an NBFC.

“This partnership shallenable us to collaborate andharness technology, bring inthe best practices in creditunderwriting finer pricing andrender a far superior experi-ence in terms of turnaroundtime to customers,” the bank’smanaging director and CEOPallav Mohapatra said.

.(&��=��!��

�� !�" #$�#%&' 9�� '�

/2�//,14/2�//,144��6�

2��$�� *�� / �!� �� '�� $�� *�� !� �� $ �� (�4� � ��#�� #�� !�� ! �� #�� (

�� B��"�� 6�� 4�� A��'�� $� �*��->?��B>L�*�� !�� ! ��2�� ; � � �$�9'�� (

0��@��:�� ; �� %�� !�� !� �� ! ��2�� ' �� $��4� * $� �� '�� (3��!��!�� !�� '��+ !��' �� +�� ,�#��$�� 4�#�� /�� #��3 ��2�� (

�� '��

Airstrikes by the Saudi-ledcoalition fighting Yemen’s

rebels hit a detention center inthe southwestern province ofDhamar on Sunday, killing atleast 60 people, officials and therebels’ health ministry said.

The officials said theairstrikes targeted a universityin the city of Dhamar, whichthe rebels, known as Houthis,use as a detention center.Dhamar is located around 100kilometers, 62 miles, south ofthe capital Sanaa.

The center is one of dozensof detention centers run by theHouthis in areas under theircontrol in the conflict-wearycountry.

Yemen’s bloody civil warerupted in September 2014,

when the Houthis swept intothe capital city of Sanaa. TheSaudi-led coalition intervenedhalf a year later to back theinternationally recognisedGovernment of President AbedRabbo Mansour Hadi.

The strike occurred asSweden’s Foreign Minister washolding talks in Jordan onSunday, part of her attempt torelaunch talks between Hadi’sGovernment and the Iran-backed Houthis and break thewar’s long stalemate.

The rebels’ Health Ministrysaid in a statement at least 60people were killed in theairstrikes. Another 60 werewounded. It said they havebeen pulling bodies from thesite.

The Saudi-led coalitionsaid it had hit a Houthi military

facility used as storages fordrones and missiles in Dhamar,“in accordance with interna-tional humanitarian law.” Itsaid “all precautionary mea-sures were taken to protectcivilians.”

Mohammed Abdul-Salam,spokesman for the Houthis,posted on his telegram accountgraphic photos that showedbodies under the rubble.

Abdul-Qader el-Murtaza, arebel official, said there were170 captured Governmentfighters in the detention center.

“The targeted prisonhoused over 170 prisoners ofwar, most of whom were sup-posed to be part of a localexchange deal,” he was quotedas saying by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV.

Local residents, however,said family members arrestedfor being critical of the Houthiswere imprisoned in the deten-tion center. They said at leastseven airstrikes hit the area.

The officials spoke on con-dition of anonymity becausethey weren’t authorised to briefthe media. Local residentsdemanded anonymity for fearof reprisals.

The coalition faces wide-spread international criticismfor airstrikes that have killedcivilians and Sunday’s attackwas bound to trigger reactionsby human rights groups.

Yemen’s civil war hasclaimed tens of thousands oflives, thrust millions to thebrink of famine and spawnedthe world’s worst humanitari-an crisis.

�� 2�� 1��=��>;�� +��'� ��)��

�� #��!��-� ��7�� =�� ! ��!�� J9��#�� -��5�� 2�� # ��$��-��*�� %

�� 6:�,�0:�,

More than a dozen flightswere cancelled Sunday as

thousands of pro-democracyactivists blocked routes toHong Kong’s airport, a day afterprotesters and police foughtpitched battles in some of theworst violence seen in the citysince unrest began threemonths ago.

At least 16 flights werecancelled, the airport’s websitesaid, with the departure hallpacked with a backlog of pas-sengers who had struggled tomake it to the terminals.

Earlier, operators of theAirport Express train sus-pended services after the sta-tion was besieged, while black-clad protesters — hiding fromCCTV cameras under umbrel-las — built barricades at the busterminus and attempted tostop traffic on the main roadleading to the facility.

Stranded travellers wereforced to abandon their liftsand drag their luggage alongthe airport road.

Sunday’s action is the lat-est in three months of increas-ingly violent protests sparkedinitially by opposition to aproposed law that would haveallowed extraditions to main-land China, but which mor-

phed into a broader anti-gov-ernment movement.

Outside one airport termi-nal, protesters set off fire extin-guishers, piled luggage trolleysinto makeshift road barricadesand smashed surveillance cam-eras before being driven awayby police.

“It’s out of our control,” saidAndy Tang, 26, returning toAustralia from a week’s holidayin Hong Kong. “So there’s nopoint getting annoyed about it.”

The airport is covered byan injunction banning pro-testers from entering —imposed after a shutdown inAugust which ended in uglyclashes — but protesters haveroutinely ignored legal movesto ban their actions.

On Sunday city sanitationworkers were seen clearingdebris and removing graffitiafter a night of pitched battlesbetween protesters and police.

Hours earlier, a huge fireburned in the city’s commercialdistrict as chaos ripped throughthe centre of a city usuallyrenowned for its stability andprosperity.

Hardcore demonstratorsSaturday hurled petrol bombsat government buildings andpolice, who responded withtear gas and water cannonlaced with chemical dye before

making mass arrests inside thecity’s underground metro sta-tions.

Video footage captured bylocal media showed policecharge a crowd cowering insidea train carriage — with oneman, drenched in pepper spray,crying in anguish as he tried toprotect his female friend.

Officers made 40 arrests atone station.

Anger at police tacticsswirled across social media.

“The police are a licenced

mob,” Kwok Ka-ki, a pro-democracy lawmaker, told AFP.

Decrying the “horrifying”police raid on the train car-riage, Amnesty Internationalcalled for a probe into policeconduct.

“Violence directed atpolice... Is no excuse for officersto go on the rampage else-where,” Man-kei Tam, directorof Amnesty International,Hong Kong said in a statement.

Police said officers alsofired two warning shots into

the air after being attacked bya group of “violent protesterswho attempted to once snatchpolice pistols”.

“Escalating violence and(the) progressively lethalweapons of protestors, the safe-ty of police officers and... Thepublic is seriously threatened,”police said in a statement.

Some 31 people wereadmitted to hospital withinjuries following the clashes,including five who remain in aserious condition.

�� 7 �� +:�4:�

Britain’s Prime MinisterBoris Johnson on Sunday

issued a stark warning to rebelswithin his own ConservativeParty to fall in line with hisBrexit plans or risk a govern-ment led by Opposition Labourleader Jeremy Corbyn.

The warning came amidreports of secret Governmentplans to de-select Tory MPswho vote against Johnson inorder to block a no-deal Brexit,as Opposition MPs plan urgentlegislation to be tabled whenthe UK Parliament resumesafter its summer recess nextTuesday.

The urgency followsJohnson’s announcement tosuspend Parliament from theweek of September 9 untilOctober 14, depriving MPs ofcrucial sitting days in which toscrutinise Brexit plans andtriggering street protests bythousands across the UK onSaturday against what has been branded a“coup” by the British PrimeMinister.

“Jeremy Corbyn has madea historic decision to turn hisparty into the anti-democratic,referendum-cancelling party.That’s his decision. I think it’stotally wrong,” Johnson told‘The Sunday Times’.

��.��/��/��2��/��&�� 1&�9'�+&%

Israel said it was returning fireon Sunday after anti-tank

missiles were launched at itsterritory from Lebanon, raisingfears of a serious escalationwith Hezbollah after a week ofrising tensions.

“A number of anti-tankmissiles were fired fromLebanon towards an (Israelimilitary) base and militaryvehicles,” an Israeli army state-ment said.

“A number of hits havebeen confirmed. (Israel’s mili-tary) is responding with firetowards the sources of fire andtargets in southern Lebanon.”

After the initial reports offire from Lebanon, a military

spokesman called on Israelisliving within four kilometres(2.5 miles) of the Lebanese bor-der to remain at home and pre-pare shelters.

Tensions have risen in thelast week between Israel and itsenemy Hezbollah, the LebaneseShia movement backed by Iran.

Hezbollah chief HassanNasrallah said Saturday thegroup’s response to an allegedIsraeli drone attack on thegroup’s Beirut stronghold hadbeen “decided”.

The pre-dawn August 25attack involved two drones --one exploded and caused dam-age to a Hezbollah-run mediacentre and another crashedwithout detonating due to tech-nical failure.

Israel has not claimedresponsibility for the incident.

The attack in Lebanoncame just hours after Israellaunched strikes in neigh-bouring Syria to prevent whatit said was an impendingIranian drone attack on theJewish state.

�� :+:%;:

ASri Lankan court onSunday banned two ultra-

nationalist Buddhist organisa-tions from demonstratingagainst a major Shia holy day,the first on the island since thedeadly Easter Sunday suicidebombings.

Police spokesman RuwanGunasekera said ColomboMagistrate’s court issuedrestraining orders against thetwo groups led by Buddhistmonks who planned to disrupta gathering in Colombo ofDawoodi Bohra, a Shiite sect.

An estimated 25,000adherents from around theworld have been meeting inColombo since Saturday for a10-day religious event culmi-nating with Ashura.

It is one of the holiest daysin Shia Islam and commemo-rates the 7th century martyr-dom of Prophet Mohammed’sgrandson.

Gunasekera said police hadinformation that two national-ist groups were planning to dis-rupt the event in the capital,where police and troops havestepped up security.

It was not immediatelyclear what the groups wereplanning, but nationalistgroups have usually taken ahardline stand against reli-gious minorities in theBuddhist majority nation of 21million people.

Sections of a key road nearthe main Shia Huseini mosquehave been shut to accommo-date the large number of pilgrims.

�� 46�0�

Afourth Rohingya refugeewas shot dead, Bangladesh

police said on Sunday, amidgrowing fallout over the mur-der of a ruling party official thatsparked a violent backlashfrom locals.

There has been an out-break of violence in recentweeks at refugee camps insoutheast Bangladesh, wherenearly one million Rohingyalive after fleeing crackdowns inMyanmar. At least fiveRohingya men have died inclashes in the settlements —allegedly over gang violence —while an Awami League officialwas shot in the head in lateAugust at Jadimura camp in the border town ofTeknaf.

Police blamed OmarFaruk’s death on Rohingya hit-men, and have shot dead three

refugees over the past week inconnection with the incident.The latest to die was 36-year-old Nur Mohammad, who offi-cers allege was a Rohingyagang leader who arrived inBangladesh in 1992 and wasoperating in the hills aroundthe refugee camps.

Local officials sayMohammad was a drug traf-ficking kingpin involved inusing refugees to smuggle yaba,a popular methamphetaminepill, from across the Myanmarborder.

“He was arrested overFaruk’s murder on Saturday.We took him to find out hisweapons in a hill when hisaccomplices fired on police(on Sunday),” policespokesman Ikbal Hossain told AFP. Rights groups havepreviously accused Bangladeshpolice of extrajudicial killings.

�� 0�;9+

The US and the Taliban areon the brink of striking a

deal after 18 years of war,Washington’s top negotiatorsaid Sunday, ahead of a visit toKabul where he was to meetwith Afghan officials.

The apparent progress atthe latest round of talks to con-clude in Doha came even as theTaliban launched a broadoffensive on the city of Kunduzin northern Afghanistan, andviolence flared.

“We are at the threshold ofan agreement that will reduceviolence and open the door forAfghans to sit together to nego-tiate an honourable and sus-tainable peace,” tweetedWashington’s special envoy toAfghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad.

His comment came just

hours after Afghan securityforces said they had clearedKunduz of Taliban fighters,who on Saturday launched abroad assault on the provincialcapital in a bid to score arepeat of a 2015 takeover.

Afghan forces, backed withlocal and US air power, wereable to stop the city falling andrepel the Taliban, but 20 troopsand five civilians were killed.

The brazenness of theassault was highlighted by asuicide bomber blowing him-self up and killing policespokesman Sayed SarwarHussaini as he briefed reporterson the fighting. At least 10 oth-ers were also killed, officialssaid. In 2015 the Taliban over-whelmed local forces andbriefly seized Kunduz, and itwas only retaken by Afghanforces with US air support.

�� 5�'62�,3:�

President Donald Trump hasnominated prominent

Indian-American attorneyShireen Mathews as a judge ofthe US District Court for theSouthern District of California.

If confirmed, Matthewswill be the first Asian PacificAmerican woman and firstIndian-American to serve as anArticle III federal judge in theSouthern District, National Asian PacificAmerican Bar Association(NAPABA) said.

Article III judges “holdtheir office during good behav-ior”, which means they have alifetime appointment, exceptunder very limited circum-stances. Article III judges can

be removed from office onlythrough impeachment by theHouse of Representatives andconviction by the Senate.

Currently, Matthews is apartner at Jones Day, the fifth-largest law firm in the country,in San Diego.

Prior to joining the firm,Matthews served as anAssistant United StatesAttorney in the CriminalDivision of the United StatesAttorney’s Office for theSouthern District of California.Before entering governmentservice, Matthews was an asso-ciate with Latham and WatkinsLLP in San Diego, the WhiteHouse said in a statement.

NAPABA has applaudedTrump’s intent to nominateMatthews.

�� +<:�

An Afghan asylum seekerwho killed a man and

stabbed several others in theFrench city of Lyon sparked arow about immigration onSunday as new details emergedabout his rampage.

Investigators said the killerappeared to have psychologicalproblems and had smokedlarge quantities of cannabisbefore stabbing a 19-year-old todeath and injuring eight otherson Saturday afternoon at a busstation in the Villeurbannesuburb.

He was found in publicrecords with two identities andthree different dates of birth,making him either 33, 31 or 27years’ old, prosecutor NicolasJacquet told a press conferencein Lyon on Sunday.

During “confused” inter-views with police, he said hewas Muslim “who had heardvoices saying God had beeninsulted and instructing him tokill,” Jacquet said, adding thatthe case was being treated as acriminal, rather than terrorist,incident.

Jacquet paid tribute tothree bus drivers and othermembers of the public who hadsucceeded in cornering theman and persuading him todrop his knife and a meatskewer before the police arrivedon the scene.

“I want to pay tribute to theactions of witnesses. Theircourageous and controlledintervention was decisive inending these criminal acts,” headded. Sofiane, a 17-year-oldfrom the area, told AFP onSunday that the dead man wasone of the first to try to reasonwith the knifeman.

The killer “stabbed himand then when he fell on theground, he continued,” Sofianeexplained.

�� E�32��23<

Pope Francis said on Sundayhe was late to his weekly

Angelus prayer because he hadbeen stuck in a Vatican eleva-tor and had to be freed by fire-men.

“I have to apologise forbeing late,” the smiling 82-year old pontiff told crowds offaithful patiently waiting forhim to appear at his study win-dow overlooking Saint Peter’sSquare.

“I was trapped in a lift for25 minutes, there was a poweroutage but then the firemencame,” he said.

“Let’s give a round ofapplause to the fire service,” hesaid, prompting cheers andapplause from the crowd.

Italian television networksthat live-stream the Angelushad been concerned that theunprecedented seven-minutedelay might have been due tohealth reasons.

��/�� 06

��=(�;�� 0��)��2��-�� $�#��+�� %

,�� 2��.��/� ��7� ��

8 �� '��6��

��&��

6�� )��*��'��

�� %�&�"�'"7��'%�.�')��% ��*��)��"�'*

)��"��?��/��/�� .�/��

36&�:))2�2�+'�'�24�36&��2�'3�20&'3��,&3&4��9�2E&�'23<�2��36&��23<:)�46�%��$�562�6�36&��&;&+'$0�:5��'�6:9362'$�9'&��'��4&3&�32:��&�3&�(�46�%��2'

+:��3&4��:9�4�-??�02+:%&3&�'$�>B%2+&'$�':936�:)�36&��23�+�'��

�� /�� /��

%� �� #��!�� =�� !�� 7�� %

��%�(�%��=��8�%��*��%*��:&�*��%8��'

�*%��"C��D&(��/�*��&��%��"(=�"��*�&�9:�'

&C��8��

��%*�"�*�'�0B/111�'��8��*%�E8("��8(#�'*��(8�'��=��&��"��*��<��(�("&(%��9��*#8'�C�E(8��+1$'�C�8��<�(#%��=��*9#�"��*��<��*��%�#8�

2��3>��0��'�� 6:9'3:�

At least five persons werekilled and 21 others injured

when a gunman opened fire atrandom on Saturday in the sec-ond mass shooting in the USstate of Texas in a month,police said. The shooting - the38th mass killing by firearms inthe US this year - occurred inthe West Texas cities ofMidland and Odessa.

The gunman, who waswhite and in his mid-30s, wasshot dead by police at theCinergy movie theatre after achase. However, police didnot identify the shooter by hisname.

The gunman opened fire

around 3 pm (local time) afterhe was pulled over by trafficofficials. He shot at the troop-er who stopped him and beganshooting people at random,local media quoted ChiefMichael Gerke of the OdessaPolice Department as saying.

The driver then beganshooting at other people in sev-eral other locations. At onepoint, he abandoned his carand stole a postal truck beforecontinuing his spree. He wasshot dead by police at a cine-ma complex.

“We have at least 21 shoot-ing victims and at least fivedeceased,” Gerke told reporters.Three police officers wereinjured, he added.

�� !�"�#$�#%&' $$�� (��)��*�'�

��%,8�3$*,%$&�0�9�&�*69��,$��9)%9��$* �,%9��#9�69*��$,89%238�&��3$��0*�3�,�$*

:�� #��#�� *�� "�� #�� !�� !�� $�� #��(

�:�� G�� #��G�!�� "�� $ �� #��!��"��#�� (:!#�� "��!�� #��/!�� $!��#�� /�� *��$�� +��;��9��#�� ;�� (

3�� $��!��)�� $�� /!�� !�� (�3�� "�� =� �� G�� #�� !�� !��#��#�� !�� !�� P �� !��"��(

�&,9%*�,92��1� ��,�*�� 9�,$�30,�3�&$%�9�%��#�� !� �� #� ��$�� #�� $�� #��(

&"��#�� !��*�� #� $�� #�� /�� (

�:�� #�� *��/�� (�3�� !�� G��#�� P �� $�� ,� �� &��$�� 3�� 9��#�� $�'�� (

3�� G�� G��!� �� #� �� !� ��/�/!� �� #�� $��/�� "�� $�� !�� (

3�� B�� !��$�',+3B��!��$� �� *�� ! �.Q��$�� (�3��!��$�� (

2�� !�� 3��;%1$�� #�� # �� ',+3B��!�� !�� (

�3�� # �� !��',+3B��!�� !�� (�3�� !��#�� !�� $�� #�� ;�� *$�� 0 ��* 2��'��(

3��',+3B��!�� *�� B?��*�� (�3�� !�� $�� ',+3B��!��'� �� #� �� (

�� !��"3�� #�� *�� !�� $� �� (

��!��1�� $�� !��-(L��*�� !�� (�

�:�� #�� #�� G��*��$��#�� $�� G�� 9��#�� ;��!� (

�%�� #��(�5�� $� �� /� *�� !�� !�� $�� G�� )� ��(

#�$��%��&�'��((�!��(�#(�"�(��

&�� %�� %�� :�� %��;<��8 ��%� 7��!

3�� !��(�:��!�� #�� $��#��!�� $� ��1<:,2 ;��6%�09%�� 209�1 12

�� #�� /� �� 4)�� !�� (

3�� !�� %� !��*�� /� �� #�� !��(��2�� $�� "�� !�� $�� (�2��4)� �� #�� $��"�� $�� )� �*% ��$�� 9��#�� ,� �� (

2�� $�>?�� *�� 4)�� !��$�� (

�3�� !��4)�� G��P�� N�� G�� $�� 3�� !��9��#�� ,� �(

(��

We all know that a fullstop ends a sentencegiving it a definite

meaning. In that sense, theend of anything gives it fullclosure and creates a way fora new beginning. It’s a cycle oflife. There are so many end-ings and beginnings in ourlife. Often, most of us preparefor the various endings inour life, like — end of a par-ticular season, project, educa-tion, career, relationship, dealand so on.

We may also sometimesreflect about the biggest end-ing — Death. Some endingsare known and expected whileothers are quite sudden. Mostof the time, when an end isnear, we usually get somekind of signals or maybe cluesto make us aware and help usmeet it with grace and equa-nimity.

The current world sce-nario presents an interestingview of multidimensionalforces influencing human des-tiny in the present time. Onone hand, we see amazingwonders of science, technol-ogy, information explosionand development on severalother fronts of material life.On the other hand, we witnessthe fast degeneration of val-ues, ethics, extreme levels ofviolence, hatred, corruptionand suffering on a daily basis.Today, the world is riddledwith numerous problems ofevery kind — political con-flicts, economic recession,environmental hazards,poverty, terrorism, naturaldisasters, inflation, social andfamilial divides — the list oftroubles seems never endingand even gets multiplying.Apart from the looming dan-gers of global warming, ourworld is precariously balancedon a stockpile of nuclear arse-nals that can trigger a holo-caust of unimaginable magni-tude.

While we watch, hear andread about major scams, andcrime, there are numeroussuch incidents of violenceand moral turpitude thatoccur on a daily basis in indi-vidual lives. Similarly, hatred,jealousy, greed, ego, lust, intol-erance and mistrust haveseeped deep into the humanpsyche influencing everythought and action.

Beneath the turbulentwaves of change and disinte-gration, the human conscious-ness is awakening to the real-ity of a new world that isshaped by more aware,enlightened, spiritual lyempowered and responsible

human beings, who arealigned to the great values.

We all know that everyproblem generate a search forsolutions, which leads to newknowledge, invention andchange. If look at today’sworld scenario, we wonderwhat could be the solution toend al l our sufferings?Moreover, one must remem-ber that no situation can con-tinue forever and hence evenproblems escalate and come toan end.

So when will the end to allour problems begin? Well,practically, it has alreadybegun. Time, nature and theincidents in the world are allgiving us a loud and clear sig-nal about the impendingchange. The end is here but itis a benevolent and beneficialone. It is the catalyst that willopen the door to liberationfrom all the sufferings. It willestablish a new world of puri-ty, peace and happiness thatevery human soul has beenyearning for.

Now is the time for every-one to realise that supremealmighty himself is changingthis old world into a new one.He is honouring his supremewisdom and blessings direct-ly to help us regain our orig-inal purity and virtues. He isawakening us to realise ourtrue nature to manifest ourinborn divinity. We shouldthus not wait for the end,instead we should wait to flyand reach our magnificence.Just remember, the old worldis finally coming to an endand a new one is being estab-lished. Now it is up to uswhether to become a part ofthis change towards the newworld by connecting with thesupreme or remain in an illu-sionary world, where every-thing is artificial and un-real-istic.

Aspecial attention was givento various ambitious plansof the Modi government inthis year’s budget, whichalso included the

Saubhagya scheme. The scheme incor-porates electricity connection to allhouseholds in rural as well as urbanareas by the year 2022. The scheme waslaunched back in 2017 and the initialdeadline was December 2018. InFebruary, Jammu & Kashmir baggedthe Saubhagya Excellence Award forbeing the first state to achieve success-ful implementation of the scheme.

On October 17, 2018, GreaterKashmir, a Kashmir based English daily,published a report quotingCommissioner Secretary PowerDevelopment Department (PDD),Hardesh Kumar that 100 per cent elec-trification had been completed in sixdistricts of Srinagar, Badgam, Pulwama,Jammu, Samba, and Kathua whereas in16 other districts, the work is in the finalphase. At the same time, he alsoinformed that infrastructure had beenbuilt to connect 102 border villages ofthe state to provide electricity connec-tion. By May 31, 6,337 villages ofJammu and Kashmir had received theconnection under the Sahaj Bijli HarGhar Yojana (Saubhagya), which is con-sidered as Prime Minister NarendraModi’s dream project. Around �133.42crores have been approved out ofwhich �53.24 crores have already beenreleased. Also, �435.13 crores have beenincurred from the additional amountof �875.03 crores. According toDeendayal Upadhyaya Gram JyotiYojana, DDUGJY and Saubhagya,15,10,271 out of a total of 18,72,195households have been electrified.Electrical connections have been pro-vided to 8,861 additional householdssince February 1.

The figures from Jammu &Kashmir’s electricity department revealthat the power system is up to the markand the process of electrifying is beingimplemented at a rapid pace. But on theother hand, if we look at the groundreality, the difference between what is

being claimed and the reality is polesapart.

Even after the deadline had passedlast year, the aim has not been achieved.However, since the launch of theSubhagya scheme, there has been greatimprovement in the situation but thereare many such areas where electricitywires and pillars are yet to reach. Froma geographical perspective, most areasof the valley are located on mountain-ous regions, which are covered withsnow for more than half of the year. Insuch areas, uninterrupted supply ofelectricity is the biggest challenge.Several times, the snow storms badlyaffects the power system. Besides that,the electric system is disrupted inmany areas because wooden poleshave been used to support the electriccables, which often crumble underheavy thunderstorm and rain. Many atime, there have been incidents whenthe electricity current that runs through

the broken poles has proved fatal for thelocal residents.

The problems do not end here. Tomeet high electricity demands, thepower supply system is modified,which would then lead to low voltageand in turn creates trouble for the vil-lagers. Ladoran, a village located on theNorth West Hills, which is 10 km awayfrom Kupwara, the district headquar-ter, is also a victim of power misman-agement. The village has a populationof 3,200 people. But even today, theelectricity in the village is negligible.Villagers have to make alternativearrangements even when the bulb is litdue to low voltage. It was a challeng-ing task to transport electric wires andpoles to the mountainous village, butthey were installed successfully.However, the continued issue with lowvoltage of electricity in the village hasraised questions about the success ofthe state electricity department. Poor

electricity is affecting the health of thevillagers as well the students whosestudies are constantly being inter-rupted.

A local student studying in tenthclass, Dilshada Bano, says, “Eventhough there is electricity, we are notable to make a good use of it due tosuch low voltage. The students of theclass are unable to complete theirhomework on time because of whichthe teachers scold them. Also, thefuture of the students preparing forcompetitive exam looks grim.” This isthe major reason why so many studentsare giving up on their studies gradu-ally. Although the state electricitydepartment has spent millions indelivering electrical equipment to thevillage, but due to high demand, thelow-megawatt transformers installedcould not solve the problem. In a sit-uation like this, the availability of elec-tricity is considered as equivalent tonone. Due to high costs involved withsolar power, the option is not availableto the villagers.

In this regard, village Sarpanch,Ghulam Mohiuddin Vani, also consid-ers the electricity complaints of peoplecompletely valid. He says that in rela-tion to low voltage, he has raised theirconcerns to the high officials of thedepartment many times but nothinghas happened except for their assur-ance. Sarpanch says, “The villageneeds at least 10 MW whereas only 6MW transformers has been installedby the department due to which exces-sive load on the transformer increas-es and results in low voltage problems.The issue can easily be addressed byinstalling high MW transformers.”

Apart from this, the difficultythat the villagers face can be fixed bytimely repairs of electrical wires and byreplacing the wooden poles with theproper ones. Though the departmenthas nominated this village under theDDUGJY last year, the villagers are yetto receive its benefits. Let’s hope thatthe flame of education does not burnone day.

K)��!��

For many kids, headingback to school meansmore than resuming class-

es and homework. It means get-ting back to clubs and studentorganisations focussed on sus-tainability — everything fromcomposting and recycling toreducing food waste and pro-moting cleaner oceans andwaterways.

“Young people tend to beincredibly active in sustain-ability issues, much more thanso many adults,” says AprilPeebler, executive director ofHeirs to our Oceans (H2OO),a Berkeley, California-basedorganisation that tries to help12 to 17-year-olds from aroundthe world learn and advocatefor the environment. “There’s alot of passion there and astrong desire to deal with theproblems facing the environ-ment that they are going to beinheriting.”

Hannah Ono, 15, ofBoston, has already been advo-cating for the environment foryears. In fourth grade, she andsome friends started a petitionasking Dunkin Donuts to stopusing Styrofoam cups. “TheChange.org petition drew3,00,000 supporters and helpedpersuade the company to ditchStyrofoam cups by 2020,” shesays. “My next petition is for thecity of Boston to ban Styrofoamcontainers. I just put it up a cou-ple months ago on Change.org,and it has about 300 signaturesso far,” says Ono, a risingsophomore at Phillips AcademyAndover.

She’s also one of a group ofstudents who got a $1,000 grantfrom her school to raise aware-

ness this year about sustainablefashion. “We want people toknow more about where theirclothes are coming from. Fastfashion can be really harmfulfor the environment,” adds she.

“We’re going to be the onesliving with the consequences ofclimate change, so it’s importantfor us to take these steps,” Onosays.

Perhaps the most famousteen dedicated to the environ-ment is Greta Thunberg, theSwedish climate activist, whoinspired coordinated climate-change strikes around the worldlast year. She arrived in NewYork on Wednesday and willspeak at the United NationsClimate Action Summit, thenjoin world leaders who will pre-sent plans to reduce greenhousegas emissions.

Thunberg is taking a yearoff school to pursue heractivism. Joelle Alley heads aCalifornia non-profit,EarthTeam, that offers a paidinternship programme for kidsinterested in sustainability. Shesays the group starts eachschool year by presenting theirprogramme to around 10under-resourced high schoolsin the Richmond, California,area.

“We recruit teams of 14interns from each school andthe interns work with coachesto identify environmental prob-lems on their campus and intheir community. Then thekids come up with action cam-paigns to help solve the prob-lems,” Alley says.

The kids “have a uniqueperspective on their familiesand communities, and oftenspot issues that outsiders wouldmiss. They walk everywhere,

they hang out in parks, and theysee a lot of things. We providethe structure, tools andresources, but they are the onesidentifying the issues and com-ing up with campaigns,” saysshe.

Through the FoodRecovery Network, one of thelargest student-led movementsfighting food waste and hunger,students at college campuses in44 states and the District ofColumbia connect with college

dining halls, local shelters andfood pantries to make sureexcess food is delivered tothose in need, instead of goinginto the trash.

“We coach and mentor stu-dents to help them build localfood recovery programmes,”says the organisation’s executivedirector, Regina Anderson.“There’s an incredible amountof food waste on universitycampuses and this is a verypractical way to help our envi-

ronment.”Through the network, stu-

dents have recovered 3.9 mil-lion pounds of food so far,Anderson says. “At any giventime, we work with 5,000 col-lege students,” as well as somehigh school-age volunteers,she says.

Educators say studentswho care about sustainabilitycan have a huge impact, partic-ularly as they enter the work-force.

“We’re seeing this manifestin two ways,” says JonathanDeutsch, professor of Foodand Hospitality Managementin the College of Nursing andHealth Professions at DrexelUniversity, in Philadelphia,where the Food RecoveryNetwork has been active foryears.

“Students are very mindfulof their own impact, opting forreusable water bottles and cof-fee mugs. But it’s taken to amuch wider-reaching level inthe case of students in profes-sional programmes. Someonestudying to be a food servicemanager in a hospital, forexample, who is launchingtheir career with a sustainabil-ity-oriented mindset, reallymoves the needle,” he says.“They are making decisionsabout thousands of meals a day,and that adds up to a hugeenvironmental impact.”

Thunberg told politicaland business leaders in Davosrecently, “I don’t want you to behopeful. I want you to panic. Iwant you to feel the fear I feelevery day. And then I want youto act.”

K�%

:��+��,�&3��369�;&�,$� �� #��# ��$�� !�� *��!�� (�� $�� $� ��

3��1 ��H�0 ��G�� #� �� *(6��#��$�� $�� $�� ;�'6��3 �063��

�!2��2��

=&E&��36:9,6�36&�&2'�&+&�3�2�23<$�5&��&��:3��;+&�3:

%�0&��,::4�9'&�:)23�49&�3:�'9�6�+:5

E:+3�,&(�36&'394&�3'��&�9��;+&3:��:%�+&3&�36&2�6:%&5:�0�:��32%&(�+':$�36&�)939�&�:)

36&�'394&�3'��&��2�,�):�

�:%�&3232E&�&M�%+::0'�,�2%G

3��/�� *��!�� !�� $� �� !��!�� @��*��*(4�� !��0 �� R�2��@��*��(�5�� $� ��/�@� *�� !��/ $��@��R�2�� #� �� !��!�� @��*��*!�� !�� *��*('�$�� $�2��@�� !�� $�0 �� (

�� !�� 3�� $� �� #�� !��$��#��/��'� ��3��*��*��(�

3��$��! ��!��*'� �� $�� F� �'�� *�$� �� #��/��"��#�$��!��*�� 2�� @��*/�� 5��(

; ��!��*�! �� $�� '��!��B?(

'��/ �� 6 �� "�� !��! � �� ! � �� (

3�� :��!��5��6�� (�� $��

� �� +� � ��

�� /��#��*��/!��(�� /

�� @�� !�� #��(�2�� $��

!��! ��

�� !�� (

6��*�� /�� "�� (

=1�$�� 9�� >� ��??@

�� !�"�#$�#%&' $$�� '�

��*�� %�� AB 2��*%�A

=/� ��$�� $�� !�� B�� 9��?

�� %� ��!�� >� ��*��%�� !��; 0��! �� !�� !�� !� �� %� �$��B �� !� !�� %� �%� �� $�� ; &�� !� ��B ��* �� B��%�� * ��! ��?�� !��;@<�� 7�%�

��+��8��Lured back to her hometown, a famous horror writer

discovers that the evil spirit who plagues her dreams is nowwreaking havoc in the real world. Starring Victoire Du Bois,Lucie Boujenah and Tiphaine Daviot, the series is slated torelease on September 13.

��,��,��8��3��+��After a young woman is accused of lying about a rape, two

female detectives investigate a spate of eerily similar attacks. Theseries is inspired by true events. Starring Toni Collette, MerrittWever and Kaitlyn Dever, it releases on September 13.

��!!+�After years of

slouching throughlife, 6-foot-1 teenJodi resolves to con-quer her insecuritiesand gets caught upin a high school lovetriangle. StarringAva Michelle,Griffin Gluck andSabrina Carpenter,the film is slated torelease onSeptember 13.

C � 6 6 � -

Food, music and dance — there are sever-al things that connect Pacific Rim coun-

tries. And it was to celebrate all this and morethat High Commissions of New Zealand,Australia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji cametogether. At Namaste Pacific, the hosts donnedtiaras on their heads, sported multi-colouredtraditional clothes with floral prints — in short— created an ambience that transported theguests across the oceans to these countries.

But the culture trip did not end here.Traditional masks and artefacts which dottedthe walls gave an insight into the traditionalwooden art as the smoothly-carved antiqueshinted at the heritage of these places. Certainlya treat for the eyes.

The guests were enamoured and soakedthemselves into each aspect of the culture withlove. Fiji’s traditional dance form which alsotells a story was accompanied by rhythmicclapping and drumbeats and created a festiveatmosphere as the audience joined in to grooveto the music.

To add more charm to the evening, a cul-tural performance by Aaradhna, a music bandfrom New Zealand, followed. Interestingly, thesinger was part Indian and part Samoan. A rip-ple went around as she was the perfectembodiment of Namaste Pacific. The power-ful lyrics of her song created a vibe that wasunmistakable as people sung along with theband and waved their hands.

Any country’s culture is steeped into itsfood and gives an insight into its history andtradition. Naturally an array took the guestson a delicious journey. The meat and vegeta-bles dishes which were slow-cooked in anearthen oven were the star of the evening,which was clearly evident from the excitementof the people queuing up for food. It markedthe exchange of culture, food, friendship andfun among the countries.

An exclusive station served Fiji’s nation-al drink, Kava, a muddy, earthy beverage thatcalms you and numbs your mouth andthroat.

The New Zealand High CommissionerJoanna Kempkers who feels India is a strate-

gic region to collaborate with, said, “It is aboutbringing forth the issues that concern us.” Shefurther highlighted the theme of the festival— climate change and solar energy as theyimpact the entire world. She stressed upon

forming an international solar alliance for thesame.

To show their commitment to solar ener-gy and to highlight the theme of the event,there were displays from the InternationalSolar Alliance, Pollinate Energy both ofwhich are based in Australia, Nepal and India.There were solar lanterns from BarefootCollege in Rajasthan which trains people inrural areas about the use and consumption ofsolar energy. People seemed impressed by thedisplays as they left their feedback.

The event broadened the concept of cul-tural display of all the countries. HarinderSidhu, the Australian High Commissionersaid, “Along with food and culture we alsohave games like Rugby for people to try theirhands at. It is something unique and unusu-al.”

Paulias Korni, The High Commissionerof Papua New Guinea was glad about thisimproved relations with India and wanted tostrengthen it. “We have 800 languages and adiverse culture like India. We can strength-en the bilateral and developmental issues andprovide assistance in education, medicine,water management and many others,” headded. The Pacific spirit, where like a fami-ly, they collectively pooled in their resourcesto stage the event was on display in its fullglory.

Do you know what trekkers and hik-ers find when they finish their sum-mits at major mountain ranges? A

sense of tranquility, peace and victory, onemay answer. However, in reality, it’s all kindsof plastic waste — that neither degrades norgets disposed. When a few years ago, ParasSaluja, founder and director of ShaynaECOunified, reached the Everest basecamp, successfully completing his summitand saw plastic waste being dumped on the“world’s most beautiful place,” a realisationhit him. He wanted to bar not the use ofplastic, but the disposal of it, completely.But how? He wondered. Meanwhile,Vietnam was his next travel destination.During one of his walks through a foodstreet, which was completely based on theuse of plastic products, he “surprisingly”found out the next morning that there was-n’t a trace of filth of that plastic and all thewaste was very carefully disposed. It wasdone through a van that took the roundsand collected waste. It was then recycledand used for miscellaneous purposes. Anepiphany then struck him — “if a smallnation like Vietnam could so well and col-lectively manage their plastic waste dispos-al, why cannot we despite being a countrywith such a humongous population?”

Today, his company uses plastic wastematerials and turns them into high perfor-mance materials in the form of HighDensity Composite Polymer (HDCP) tilesand blocks. These tiles are weather-resis-tant, chip-resistant, acid-proof, durable andhave better structural stability at a lowercost as compared to conventional materi-als in addition to reduced plastic dumping.He says that generally, even the waste plas-tic products, which are made from recy-cling the polymers, are dumped in the land-fills eventually. They could be used forsometime but they do have an expiry date.“I wanted to create something that lives for50 years. And the kind of plastic that weuse can be recycled thrice. So if the tiles aredamaged after 50 years, they could be recy-cled thrice post that too to manufacturenew ones,” he says. And the bonus withthese interlocking tiles is that they are “anti-microbial, antistatic and anti-bacterial.”

The Greater Hyderabad’s MunicipalCorporation’s (GHMC) dog park was thefirst reflection of what they have been pro-ducing. And it’s not just the concept thatthe park is only meant for dogs, but alsoits bright green-pink-blue tiles on the pave-ments, which enhances the park’s vibe.Paras tells us that out of the seven types ofpolymers available for such use, they areutilising three types, which are alsocoloured. The plastic waste is segregatedinto three categories — Polypropylene (PP),High-Density Polythylene (HDP), andLow-Density Polythylene. They consist ofdisposable cutlery, chairs and tables andtoys; PET bottles and their caps; and milkpouches, simultaneously. He says, “Whenyou recycle this kind of plastic, it natural-ly gives out some or the other colour. Andif we use particularly green or blue plas-tic, it gives out green and blue colour.However, we don’t go for pastel colours oreven white or yellow, since they fade outeasily. Though we also produce redcoloured-tiles if the demand be.”

Another such organisation is theDehradun-based Sustainable GreenInitiative Foundation, which aims at pro-ducing bricks with the use of low-valueplastic waste. Durgesh Raturi, founder anddirector, tell us that multi-layered plasticpackaging is highly problematic and com-

panies have not realised it in years. Andhence, it came to him that they could uselow-value plastic like Kurkure wrappers,regular-use polythene bags, Parle-G biscuitpackets, etc. “These packets are usuallydouble or multi-layered which make themeven harder to recycle. The waste is collect-ed through various sources and thenheated and compressed with sand to befashioned into a brick,” he says.

Listing the differences betweencement-based bricks and these, he tells thatthese plastic waste-based bricks have the“compressive strength, which is almosttwice as that of the cement-based ones.And, of course, emit less polluting chem-icals and elements. “One great elementabout these bricks is that whatever wrap-pers or packets or plastic waste we receiveis not even washed with water before its use.It’s directly put to use. Even if a wrapperis dirty with mud, we wouldn’t use waterto clean it up. So we also have no-water-wastage policy.”

So where does he source the plasticwaste from? The non-profit organisationaims to be more inclusive in terms of cre-ating a space for a healthy environment. Hesays, “We source a lot of our waste fromragpickers. And one of the major contrib-

utors to our waste is the Jaivik Vasudha, astartup by two young boys who went doorto door collecting plastic waste from peo-ple’s houses and giving it to recycling busi-nesses. We have been closely working withthem.”

Well, there would be multiple resourcesthat we might be using in our daily livesand routines. We do not even care whetherthese will be available to us for the lifetime,as they are exhaustible. However, waste issomething that would always be availablein abundance. It will never exhaust. Naturalresources will. Atiya Rakyan, chiefRawcycle officer at Raw Pressery, who,under their initiative #RawCycle, has col-lected 1.2 million plastic PET (polyethyl-ene terephthalate) bottles to recycle and hasrecently launched the first edition of t-shirts, which are made of 95 per cent recy-cled plastic polyester and five per cent driftspandex.

Seven waste PET bottles are used tomake one t-shirt. Talking about theprocess, she tells us that the bottles arewashed, crushed and then chopped intoflakes. She says, “They are later melted at270 degrees and formed into chips and thenextruded into yarn. The yarn is then woveninto the fabric and then, coloured using

eco-friendly processes. The entire processis very clean. We don’t use any kind ofchemical-based dyes to colour the t-shirt,which is currently priced at �1,000. Thereis no emission of pollutants which, unlikeother cloth processing companies, are letinto rivers and other water bodies.”

The idea to bring this up hit Atiyawhen at a cultural event, she saw numer-ous plastic bottles being dumped in, out-side and around the dustbin. “Whichwould have ultimately ended up in land-fills.” She believes that it’s been long thatwe have been using resources and throw-ing them after use. And now is the timeto preserve that waste and use it to cre-ate non-perishable products. “Those bot-tles at weddings, which you think are ofno use after the water/juice is being con-sumed, are a raw material for me. It’s atreasure. I can make a living out of it. Wedon’t need to look at it as trash anymore.It’s like gold in the dust,” says she, empha-sising on the approach of designers, who“should be looking at other measures ofcreating their fabric. We can’t just keepgrowing and exhausting cotton for fabricanymore.”

While some may choose to sweep theenvironmental warnings under the carpet,

The Rug Republic is fighting against envi-ronmental degradation by recycling plas-tics into... carpets. Aditya Gupta, founder,tells us how they are making outdoor andindoor art pieces while using minimumnatural resources and now they have takenanother giant leap by using recycledbicycle tubes, PET yarns extracted fromrecycled water bottles, recycled silk yarns,and other multi-fiber textiles to createunique rugs and carpets. “They are alsocost-effective — though expensive thancotton, they’re cheaper than wool.”

While Paras tells us that depending onthe size of the tiles, it may take about onekg of plastic waste to make four tiles oreven two kg of plastic to make one,Durgesh points out that his product is likeusing �1 for 50 years unlike other, usualones ,which consume �1 for one year.Well, plastic recycling costs are indeedexpensive but given their durability, theylast more. The problem is its initial cost,which is high. And this leads to the ques-tion that when there are other good qual-ity products available at cheaper prices(though not eco-friendly), how can thesesustainable products get a proportionateshare in the Indian markets and takeoverpeople’s utility choices?

+,�2��.,��.,��.��7'� �� !�� ! ��! �� !��G�� (��! �� !�� $��*�� $�� (��6�6�0 %233�+ �*��

*��

��$��$�� :��

�� (�; �3&�% E2E�

�� '�� !�"�#$�#%&'

�� &5�<:�0

Defending champion NaomiOsaka consoled a tearfulCoco Gauff after a crushing

US Open victory in a showdownbilled as "the future of women's ten-nis" while Rafael Nadal cruised intothe last 16.

World number one Osakaoverpowered 15-year-old Gauff 6-3, 6-0 in 65 minutes to keep her titledefense on track before sharing awarm embrace with an opponentoverwhelmed by the occasion inthe New York spotlight.

The emotional clash was fol-lowed by tearful on-court inter-views, Osaka asking Gauff to joinher with the microphone as theymet at the net.

"It was kind of instinctivebecause when I shook her hand, Isaw that she was kind of tearing upa little. Then it reminded me howyoung she was," Osaka said.

"I wanted her to have herhead high, not walk off the courtsad. I want her to, like, be aware thatshe's accomplished so much andshe's still so young."

Osaka said the match was oneof her best since winning theAustralian Open title.

"This is the most focused I'vebeen since Australia," Osaka said,telling Gauff: "Sorry for playing youin this mentality."

The primetime third-round

clash at Arthur Ashe Stadium pit-ted 21-year-old Japanese star Osakaagainst the American, who madea fourth-round Wimbledon run onher Grand Slam debut.

Serena Williams, the 23-timeGrand Slam champion, called it"the future of women's tennis",while Novak Djokovic labelledGauff "a new superstar".

But Gauff, the youngest play-er through to the third round heresince Anna Kournikova in 1996,struggled in her first match underthe lights on Ashe.

"She (Osaka) did amazing andI am going to learn a lot from thismatch," Gauff said.

"She's the number one playerin the world right now, so I knowwhat I need to do to get to that

level."Osaka next faces Swiss 13th

seed Belinda Bencic, who washanded a walkover when AnettKontaveit withdrew due to illness.

Three-time champion Nadalreturned from an extended rest todispose of 170th-ranked SouthKorean qualifier Chung Hyeon 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, having benefited fromthree days off after a walkover.

The Spanish second seed willmeet 2014 champion Marin Cilicfor a place in the quarter-finals.

"I'm happy to be in the fourthround for one more time. It was agood match," said Nadal, whoquit with injury against JuanMartin del Potro during last year'ssemi-final.

"I'm trying to play a little bit

more aggressive and a little bit lessthan before."

"It's true last year I had sometough matches. You never knowwhat's better or worse," he said ofhis serene progress this week.

Cilic, the 22nd seed and 2017Wimbledon finalist, took out topUS hope John Isner in four tightsets.

"I've played quite a few timeswith Rafa. When you play these topguys you have to come up withyour great tennis," said Cilic.

Sixth seed Alexander Zverevmade it to the second week in NewYork for the first time after fight-ing past Aljaz Bedene 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).

Andrey Rublev, a 2017 quarter-finalist, beat Nick Kyrgios in three

entertaining sets while 13th seedGael Monfils is the highest-rankedplayer left in that quarter of thedraw after he outlasted DenisShapovalov in five sets.

Canadian teenager BiancaAndreescu, seeded 15th, brushedpast two-time US Open runner-upCaroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-4 toextend her best Grand Slam run.

The 19-year-old, a winner atToronto and Indian Wells thisseason, improved to 30-4 for theyear despite missing much of theclay and grass portion with ashoulder injury.

"I think everything is justclicking with me," said Andreescu,who had never gone beyond roundtwo at a major prior to this tour-nament.

"I've been through a lot withinjuries and have just taken every-thing I've learned from the pastcouple of years and brought it intothis year."

American qualifier TaylorTownsend continued her surpriserun after reaching the last 16 forthe first time at a Slam.

Townsend, ranked 116th, fol-lowed up her shock win overreigning Wimbledon championSimona Halep by beating anoth-er Romanian, Sorana Cirstea, 7-5,6-2.

�� 2:�4&�1��&�2:

An authoritative Yashaswini Singh Deswalsecured India's ninth Olympic quota in style,

upstaging the women's 10m air pistol's numerouno shooter Olena Kostevych of Ukraine for aGold in the ISSF World Cup.

The 22-year-old former junior world cham-pion on Saturday recorded 236.7 in the eight-woman final of the season's fourth ISSF WorldCup for pistol and rifle shooters.

Ukraine's world number one Kostevych, alsoa former Olympic and world champion, claimedthe Silver with 234.8, while Serbia's JasminaMilavonovic bagged the Bronze with 215.7.

Such was the dominance of Yashaswini thatshe ended the final a massive 1.9 points aheadof the event's next best performer, Kostevych.

She had also topped the qualifications by amile, aggregating a score of 582.

Starting the finals with 10.1, 10.5 and 10.1,the Indian was third after the first five-shot seriesof stage 1.

A 10.6 pushed her to number two and a 10.1to the top, eventually ending the stage as num-ber one.

She started the elimination rounds with abumper 10.4, which was followed by 10.0.

The standing was not disturbed despite a 9as her lead was pretty big by that time.

She briefly slipped to second with a 9.1, buta humongous 10.8, soon after, firmly establishedYashaswini's place at the top.

After confirming the quota, Yashaswini shota perfect 10.9, extending her dominance andsecuring the top prize with an effortless perfor-mance.

Her two final shots were in the 9s, but impor-tantly, both were higher than those of theUkranian champion.

The brilliant performance saw Yashaswinijoin Sanjeev Rajput, Anjum Moudgil, ApurviChandela, Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma,Divyansh Singh Panwar, Rahi Sarnobat andManu Bhaker as India's other quota holders forthe 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

�� 39�2�

Kalidou Koulibaly handedJuventus a dramatic win

with a last-gasp own goal thatconsigned Napoli to a painful 4-3 Serie A defeat after his sidehad battled back from threegoals down to level the scores.

The Senegal internationalshanked in Paulo Dybala's free-kick under no pressure in thesecond minute of stoppage timeto hand Juve the three points inTurin on Saturday and putMaurizio Sarri's side top with amaximum six points, leavingNapoli with nothing to show fortheir Herculean efforts.

"It was a rollercoaster. Welost control of the game and gotdistracted, so they managed toequalise, but fortunately in theend we still won," said GonzaloHiguain, who spun Koulibalybefore slamming home Juve'ssuperb second.

"It is a very important vic-tory. We have a lot to improve,but we gave our all on the pitchand were eventually rewarded."

Koulibaly's blunder undidall of Napoli's good work infighting back from the deadwith less than half-an-hour left,with goals from Danilo just 20seconds after he came on as asubstitute, Higuain back atJuventus after loan spells at ACMilan and Chelsea andCristiano Ronaldo giving thereigning champions whatlooked like an unassailable lead.

However two goals in asmany minutes from KostasManolas and Hirving Lozanoshortly after Ronaldo had madeit three brought Napoli backinto the game, and Giovanni DiLorenzo sent the away fanswild with a close-range finish toset up a tense final nine min-utes.

But with at least pointseemingly in the bag, Koulibalymade it a nightmare end forCarlo Ancelotti's men, whofinished on the wrong end of a4-3 scoreline after winning bythe same margin at Fiorentinalast weekend.

The champions made lightof the absence of captainGiorgio Chiellini, out with ante-rior cruciate ligament kneeinjury, and Sarri, who is battlingpneumonia and was not on thebench.

Ironically it was Koulibalywhose injury-time winner hadgiven Napoli there only victo-ry in the Allianz Stadium underformer coach Sarri in April2018.

Earlier Turkey midfielderHakan Calhanoglu claimed ACMilan's first three points of theseason after scoring the onlygoal in a 1-0 win over newly-promoted Brescia.

The 25-year-old connectedwith a cross from Spanishwinger Suso to head in after 12minutes after Milan had losttheir opener to Udinese lastweekend.

�� ;&�+2�

Union Berlin pulled off perhaps thebiggest victory in their turbulent

history, defeating Borussia Dortmund3-1 at the Stadion An der AltenFoersterei on Saturday night.

Dortmund came into the matchheavily favoured to win and reclaimtheir place on top of the table butstruggled to match Berlin's enthusiasmin sweltering conditions in theGerman capital.

Union were 1-0 in the 22ndminute, with Marius Buelter scoringthe side's first ever top-flight goal athome.

Buelter latched onto a Berlin cor-ner which had been struck low andfast, hammering the ball into the bot-tom right of the net.

The goal stung Dortmund intoaction, who equalised just two min-utes later through Paco Alcacer.

Dortmund coasted through theremainder of the first half, dominat-ing possession and territory as theywent in search of what seemed like aninevitable second.

It was Union who would scorenext, however, with Buelter grabbinga second by pouncing on a desperateclearance from Dortmund keeperRoman Buerki.

Sebastian Andersson addedanother in the 75th minute to put thehome side 3-1 up and seal their firstever win in the top division.

Union manager Urs Fischer said

he was proud of his side's performanceand planned on letting them savourthe victory.

"We knew that it would be a real-ly difficult 90 minutes, when you wantto take points off (Dortmund) youhave to work hard and try everything.And we did it," Fischer said.

"I think there might be a beer ortwo tonight, we'll see if we get around

to completing the video analysistonight or not."

Dortmund captain Marco Reussaid the entire team was to blame forthe loss.

"We had plenty of opportunitiesbut the last pass seemed to fail us everytime," he said.

"We simply didn't put in enoughtonight."

�� 2'

Nice won for the first timeunder new ownership to

draw level on points withleaders Paris Saint-Germainon Sunday when they inflict-ed a first defeat of the seasonon Rennes.

The 2-1 win moved Niceonto nine point after fourgames, the same as Rennes aswell as champions PSG andAngers, who both won earli-er in the weekend. TheParisians already have a signif-icant advantage in goal differ-ence.

In the other early game onSunday, last season's runnersup Lille lost 2-0 at Reims.

On Wednesday, in theirfirst match after English petro-chemical billionaire JimRatcliffe's Ineos completed hispurchase of the club, Nice lostat home to Marseille.

That game was dominat-ed by the over 10-minute sus-pension ordered by matchofficials as part of a crackdownon offensive chanting fromFrench football authorities.

Nice started badly onSunday at Roazhon Park.

Defender Gautier Lloris,the younger brother ofTottenham goalkeeper Hugo,

scored an own goal at a cor-ner after 25 minutes.

The visitors dominatedthe second half and won apenalty when BenjaminBourigeaud and HamariTraore sandwiched YoucefAtal. Wylan Cyprien convert-ed from the spot.

Nice won the game twominutes into added time.Racine Coly, at the far postfrom a corner, scored the win-ner with his knee.

In Champagne country,Lille finished with 10 men.

The game was still goallesswhen Lille midfielder YusufYazici received a second yellowcard after 52 minutes.

The visitors conceded apenalty for a foul on MoussaDoumbia, and after a delay forvideo review, the winger con-verted in the 73rd minute.

In the 90th minute, RemiOudin's cross flew into theLille net.

The visitors won a penal-ty deep into added time, butgoalkeeper Pedrag Rajkovicpushed Jonathan Bamba's spot

kick onto the post. New sign-ing Renato Sanches was first tothe rebound but missed thegoal.

Later on Sunday strug-gling Monaco travel toStrasbourg and Marseille hostSaint-Etienne.

Union Berlin pulled offperhaps the biggest victory intheir turbulent history, defeat-ing Borussia Dortmund 3-1 atthe Stadion An der AltenFoersterei on Saturday night.

Dortmund came into thematch heavily favoured to winand reclaim their place on topof the table but struggled tomatch Berlin's enthusiasm insweltering conditions in theGerman capital.

Union were 1-0 in the22nd minute, with MariusBuelter scoring the side's firstever top-flight goal at home.

Buelter latched onto aBerlin corner which had beenstruck low and fast, hammer-ing the ball into the bottomright of the net.

The goal stung Dortmundinto action, who equalisedjust two minutes later throughPaco Alcacer.

Dortmund coastedthrough the remainder of thefirst half, dominating posses-sion and territory as they

went in search of what seemedlike an inevitable second.

It was Union who wouldscore next, however, withBuelter grabbing a second bypouncing on a desperate clear-ance from Dortmund keeperRoman Buerki.

Sebastian Anderssonadded another in the 75thminute to put the home side3-1 up and seal their first everwin in the top division.

Union manager UrsFischer said he was proud ofhis side's performance andplanned on letting themsavour the victory.

"We knew that it would bea really difficult 90 minutes,when you want to take pointsoff (Dortmund) you have towork hard and try everything.And we did it," Fischer said.

"I think there might be abeer or two tonight, we'll seeif we get around to complet-ing the video analysis tonightor not."

Dortmund captain MarcoReus said the entire team wasto blame for the loss.

"We had plenty of oppor-tunities but the last passseemed to fail us every time,"he said.

"We simply didn't put inenough tonight."

�� 2'

Neymar is set to stay at ParisSaint-Germain after seeing

his desire to transfer back toBarcelona fail, according to pressreports on Sunday.

"Se queda," Spanish for he'sstaying, read the L'Equipe headlineon its front page with a photo ofthe Brazilian.

"Faces with the impossiblity ofcompleting his transfer toBarcelona, Neymar had informedhis entourage he has decided toend the season at PSG," the dailysaid.

Spanish sports newspaperMundo Deportivo carried similarnews, which comes just ahead ofthe transfer market deadlines inFrance and Spain on Monday.

"Neymar's entourage admit it:it's finished," it said.

Neymar, 27, became theworld's most expensive playerwhen PSG paid 222 million euros($ 264 million at the time) for histransfer from Barcelona two yearsago.

A scorer of 51 goals in 58appearances in his two seasons inthe French capital, Neymar has notfeatured at all for his current clubthis season amid the uncertaintysurrounding his future.

He trained with PSG onThursday, but coach ThomasTuchel omitted him from the teamthat beat Metz 2-0 in Ligue 1 actionon Friday.

Efforts to negotiate a suitablylucrative transfer back to Barcelonahave seemingly floundered, withPSG sporting director Leonardosaying on Friday there was "noagreement. It depends onBarcelona"

$��/��//�3�)�"��"-�$��1�'"�&��"�-��"��-��'��"$��"��1�"

�� ;�:3:9

2�� /!�� $��2��

' ��0� ��%*��/��!�� !�� ; �� $��'�� (3��-B��%*�� Q/>$�./>�� 1 ��4�*��SAQ$->?�� /��#��(�� :�� %*��@��!�� !��#��(%*�� SQBQ?�� QC�� *�� /!��B.A�� *��!�� 9':��(3�� !�� #�� B-/ � �/��%*��$��!� �� (2��!��$�%*�� 3� �� , ! ��#��>/L��.�$�B/>��0�� 1��'�� %��/0 '��(%*��S-C??��, ! ��#��(

4�!��/��%*�� *� �� #��

��#��'��O��:� ��P� ��2��

��*��'��*�� !

�� !�$��#��

�4?-�1#@� �=;8:�A�#::-�

*�� %��

�� 02�,'3:�

India decided against enforc-ing the follow-on after bowl-

ing out West Indies for 117,despite gaining a massive 299-run lead on day three of thesecond and final Test here onSunday.

West Indies, resuming theday at a dismal 87 for seven,batted for 14.1 overs before get-ting all out in 47.1 overs.

India, who made 416 intheir first innings, were 16 forone at lunch with Kemar Roachremoving Mayank Agarwal (4)in the fifth over. KL Rahul (6not out off 29 balls) andCheteshwar Pujara (5 not outoff 10 balls), both eyeing a bigscore, were batting at the break.

Lead pacer Roach (17 off31), like in the series opener,impressed with the bat whenthe specialist batsmen surren-dered to a rampaging Bumrah(6/26) who could not add to hisovernight wicket tally afterbecoming the third Indian totake a Test hat-trick.

Jahmar Hamilton (5 off59) tested the patience of theIndian bowlers before IshantSharma got rid of him for hissole wicket of the innings.

The first to be dismissed onday three was RahkeemCornwall (14 off 31) who couldnot deal with a well directedbouncer from MohammadShami, spooning a simple catchto Ajinkya Rahane. WestIndies did well to last a littlemore than an hour in themorning session after showingno application with the bat onday two when Bumrahwreaked havoc. With a hugelead in the bag, India wereexpected to enforce the follow-on but Virat Kohli decidedagainst it, allowing some rest tohis bowlers. Roach provided anearly breakthrough to the WestIndies by trapping Agarwal infront with a sharp incomingdelivery.

Earlier on Saturday, theincomparable Jasprit Bumrahbecame only the third Indian topick a Test hat-trick afterHanuma Vihari’s maiden ton.

In a lethal opening spell onSaturday, Bumrah (6/16) rattledthe West Indies by picking upthe first five wickets, three ofwhich came in successive ballsin the ninth over. As a result,the hosts, trailing 0-1 in thetwo-match series, were totter-ing at 87 for seven at stumps onthe second day. Bumrah madeinroads into West Indies line-up in the seventh over byinducing an edge from JohnCampbell, which Rishabh Pantaccepted gleefully. Bumrah wasat his best as he picked up thewickets of Darren Bravo,Shamarh Brooks and RostonChase to register his name in

the record books.He first had Bravo caught

by KL Rahul in the second slipand then had both Brooks andChase LBW in the next twoballs. Part of the credit forBumrah’s hat-trick must also goto skipper Virat Kohli, whoinsisted on a review after Chasewas given not out by on-fieldumpire Paul Reiffel. Bumrah,thus, joined Harbhajan Singhand Irfan Pathan to register ahat-trick in Test cricket forIndia. Shimron Hetmyer (34)was cleaned up by MohammadShami before Bumrah cameback to dismiss West Indiesskipper Jason Holder.

Vihari scored a career-best111 off 225 balls with the helpof 16 boundaries. Togetherwith Ishant (57 off 80 balls),who scored his maiden fifty,Vihari shared 112 runs off28.3 overs for the eighth wick-et. While Vihari looked rocksolid, Ishant gave him the per-fect support from the otherend, as the duo frustrated theWest Indian bowlers for a longtime. The hosts needed 140.1overs to bowl out the visitors.BRIEF SCORES: India 1st Innings: 416WI 1st Innings: 117 all out in47.1 overs (Shimron Hetmyer34; Jasprit Bumrah 6/27)India 2nd Innings: 16 for 1 in9 overs.

�� '.�� !�"�#$�#%&'

)��F��! �� *�5�!!��3� ��2�� G�� &5�4&+62

Nick Webb, who has worked with NewZealand women’s cricket team and

Auckland-based rugby league outfitWarriors, has topped the three-man short-list for the Indian cricket team’s strength andconditioning coach’s job.

The second and third names in theshortlist are Luke Woodhouse and India’s SRajnikanth, the last one being the supposedchoice of some of the top Indian players.However, sources in the know of things toldPTI that unless there is a “miracle”,Rajnikanth will not get the job as he camethird in the practical assessment at theNational Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

“Since the formalities of the appoint-ment will be completed by CEO, we can’t sayWebb has got the job. But obviously he isthe top choice and once the terms ofappointment is finalised, he will be onboard,” a senior BCCI official, privy to devel-opments, told PTI. The 32-year-old has alsoworked with New Zealand’s first-class sideCentral Districts, also known as Stags.

His last assignment was with the NewZealand women’s national team ‘WhiteFerns’. It is learnt that the selectors and for-mer Bengal and East Bengal football teamtrainer Ranadeep Moitra assessed the can-didates during practical examination.

“One of the things that weighed infavour of Nick was the fact that he has beenassociated with a National Rugby League(NRL) team Warriors in New Zealand. Hewas found to be most suitable to take thebenchmark that Shankar Basu had set to adifferent level,” said the official.

The tests at the NCA were conductedwith U-19 campers being divided intobatches of six players each under every aspi-rant. “Webb’s communication and troubleshooting skills was considered as the bestamong the top three. As far as practicalknowledge went, all three were on par,” theofficial informed. That Webb is only 32-year-old was also factored in as he will beable to match the players during training ses-sions.

�� ;&�,�+9�9

Avesh Khan hogged the limelightwith his maiden first class half-

century in an incredible rearguardaction as India Red and India Greenset up the Duleep Trophy title clashagainst each other after playing out adraw, here on Sunday.

The day belonged to Khan, whoproduced a 56-ball 64 in a last-wick-et 73-run stand with Sandeep Warrier(5 off 40 balls) to lead the Red teamto 441 all out for a slender one-runlead.

Replying to Green’s total of 440,the Red team had resumed the day’sproceedings at a precarious 404 fornine.

It was a remarkable batting showas the Reds were reduced to 368 fornine at one stage.

Green (0.057) advanced to thefinal on the basis of a better Net-Run-rate as it was tied on two points with

India Blue (0.028) but took secondplace.

India Red took the top spot withsix points.

Khan, who had hit five sixes onSaturday, added two more to hiskitty, dashing Indian Green’s hopes oftaking lead and three points.

He was finally caught by wicket-keeper Akshay Wadkar to give AnkitRajpoot his third wicket.

In the second innings, India Redcrawled to 98 for 3 in 54 overs beforeplay was called off.

The final will be played fromSeptember 4 at the Chinnaswamy sta-dium here.BRIEF SCORES: India Green: 440 all out in 131.3 oversand 98 for 3 in 54 overs (Dhruv Shorey44 not out) India Red: 441 all out in 145.3 overs(M Lomror 126, K Nair 90, A Khan64; D Jadeja 4/135, Ankit Rajpoot3/71.

KINGSTON: India’s HanumaVihari dedicated his maidenTest ton to his late father, keep-ing a promise he made to him-self right after he lost one of hisfavourites 13 years ago.

Apart from rememberinghis father, Vihari thankedbowler Ishant Sharma for bat-ting, at times, better than therecognised batsman at theother end during their part-nership in the second Testagainst West Indies.

The unassuming Viharifelt Ishant helped him keep hisword.

“Actually, my dad passedaway when I was 12 so eversince, I have decided thatwhen I play internationalcricket I want to dedicate myfirst hundred to him,” Viharisaid after his career-best 111.

The 25-year-old added,“Today is an emotional dayand I hope he is proud wher-ever he is and I’m really happythat I achieved that.”

Together with Ishant (57off 80 balls), who scored hismaiden fifty, Vihari shared 112runs off 28.3 overs for theeighth wicket to frustrate theWest Indies for a long time.

“Happy that I got a centu-ry and credit should go toIshant. He looked more like abatsman today than me. Theway he was going, we kept dis-cussing what the bowler wasdoing and his experience real-ly helped.”

Vihari is gradually emerg-ing as a reliable man for crisissituations in Test cricket.

“When I was batting

overnight on 42, I did notsleep really well as mythoughts were obviously run-ning on how to get a big scoretoday. I’m really happy that Icould get my first hundred,especially on those condi-tions. It gives me a lot of sat-isfaction,” Vihari said.

After Ishant’s dismissal,India’s innings folded for 416,with Holder dismissing Viharifor his fifth wicket of theinnings. “I was batting at 84during lunchtime, then it tookme hard to get to the nineties.We have to give credit to thebowlers as well. Even thoughwe scored 416 runs that do notshow the way they bowled,”Vihari said.

“I knew they would comehard in the first sessionbecause that’s their best chanceto get us out early. They did geta wicket early as Rishabh get-ting out on the first ball.

“I just wanted to batpatiently and wait for the ballswhich are in my area.”

He praised pacer JaspritBumrah after he became onlythe third Indian to claim a Testhat-trick, and effort that leftthe West Indies tottering at 87for seven in their first innings.

“We bowled brilliantly, tobe honest. The way Bumrahand all the other bowlersbowled, we stuck to our guns.

“Tomorrow we don’tknow what the game plan is.So, the first thing will be to getthem out as soon as possible.Then the management willdecide whether we bat orbowl,” Vihari said.

KINGSTON: West Indies coach Floyd Reifer was left crest-fallen after another batting collapse saw the hosts strug-gle to 87 for seven on the second day of the second Testagainst India here.

In a lethal opening spell on Saturday, Indian pacerJasprit Bumrah (6/16) rattled the West Indies by pickingup the first five wickets, three of which came in succes-sive balls in the ninth over.

“Our batting was disappointing again as we did notleave a lot of balls early in the innings. When the ball ismoving, you have to play the ball as late as possible. Wehave to work on our batting,” Reifer said.

West Indies bowlers were also made to toil hard byovernight batsman Hanuma Vihari (111), who scored hismaiden century and added 112 runs with Ishant Sharma(57) after India were reduced to 302 for seven at one stage.

The duo’s effort helped India post 416 in their firstinnings.

“Tough day today, the way we started we aimed to bowlout India early. Our bowlers bowled a pretty good line andlengths, we maintained a good scoring rate in terms ofkeeping India under three per over,” Reifer said.

For the West Indies, skipper Jason Holder was the mostsuccessful bowler as he returned a five-wicket haul, whiledebutant Rahkeem Cornwall picked up three. KemarRoach scalped one wicket.

“Roach, Holder, and Cornwall had good spells. It’s a

matter of us, not seizing the key moments of the game.We gonna take our chances especially on the flat wicketslike these. When the chances come opportunities comeand you have to capitalize on it,” Reifer said.

KINGSTON: “I owe my hat-trick to the captain,”Jasprit Bumrah told an enamoured Virat Kohli afterblowing away the West Indies with his heady cock-tail of line and length, pace and bounce.

Known as much for his infectious energy as forhis incredible batting, Kohli was caught on the stumpmic saying, “What a bowler, man! What a bowler”,after Bumrah removed one the West Indies batsmen.

Part of the credit for Bumrah’s hat-trick go toskipper Kohli, who insisted on a review after RostonChase, his third victim, was initially given not outby the on-field umpire Paul Reiffel.

The review was correct as Bumrah became onlythe third Indian to claim a hat-trick in Test cricket.

“Actually I didn’t know, I was not very sure of theappeal, I thought it was bat so I didn’t appeal somuch, but it was a good review in the end. So, I think,I owe that hat-trick to the captain,” Bumrah said asKohli held the mic for ‘BCCI TV’ during an inter-action.

It is not easy to sweep Kohli off his feet, butBumrah has done that a few times in recent times,and the second day of the second Test against theWest Indies was one of those moments.

In a lethal opening spell, Bumrah (6/16) rattledthe West Indies by picking up the first five wickets,three of which came in successive balls in the ninthover.

“Sometimes when there is so much of help in thewicket, we saw in the previous inning as well therewas a lot of bounce they were getting a lot of bounce,they were getting late movement as well.

“So, sometimes, when there is so much of helpyou can get greedy, you can go for wickets, you cantry to be over aggressive, that time you have to keepthings simple, just try and bowl good balls and cre-

ate pressure. That was the thing that was going onin my head,” Bumrah said.

The leader of the team asked the leader of thepace pack about understanding among the fastbowlers.

“Understanding is very good with other pacers.There is a lot of communication that goes on and offthe field as well. When I am getting wickets, some-body else’ job at that time is to create pressure, whensomebody else is getting wickets my job is to createpressure.

“So a lot of communication goes — when thereis no help what we can do — Ishant has played morethan 90 Test matches, Shami has played a lot of Tests.

“So lot of ideas come in and then we try to helpeach other if things are not going well, push eachother. So that’s a good relation going on and hope-fully we will continue,” Bumrah said.

�� !��

Harbhajan Singh believes Jasprit Bumrah will for-ever remain indebted to Virat Kohli’s “gut feeling”,which got him the hat-trick, just like he is gratefulto Sadagopan Ramesh for an incredible catch at for-ward short-leg 18 summers ago.

Harbhajan, India’s first-ever hat-trick man in Testcricket, lauded Bumrah, who became only the third(Irfan Pathan was second) from the country toachieve the milestone in the longest format.

In 2001, Harbhajan’s hat-trick against the mightyAustralians (Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist andShane Warne) set the tone for the series. OnSaturday, Bumrah got Darren Bravo, SamarahBrooks and Roston Chase.

“This hat-trick belongs to Virat as much as it

belongs to Bumrah. The bowler wasn’t convinced butthe skipper had a gut feeling. What if Virat would-n’t have gone for that DRS? It was a brilliant call bythe skipper which complemented his magnificenteffort,” Harbhajan told PTI on Sunday.

The Turbanator still feels that without Ramesh’sflash of brilliance, he wouldn’t have been able to cre-ate history.

“I remember that I discussed with Dada (SouravGanguly) and we decided to keep it on stumps andtry for a third leg before but Warne flicked it.

“Now to be honest, Ramesh wasn’t the most ath-letic of the guys in that team. Yet at forward short-leg, he pulled off that stunner with a less than splitsecond reaction time. Whenever I have later metRamesh, I told him, ‘buddy my hat-trick belongs toyou’,” Harbhajan fondly recollected.

“That’s why I believe that some things happenthat come together and such a beautiful thing hap-pens. It was Ramesh’s brilliance then and it’s Virat’sconviction now,” said the owner of 711 internation-al wickets.

The most endearing thing, according toHarbhajan, was Rahul Dravid’s celebration.

“I have never seen Rahul so excited, jumpingwith joy. Perhaps, he also didn’t believe Ramesh canpull off such a catch,” he said.

For Harbhajan, Bumrah is the biggest blessingthat Indian cricket could have had.

“Indian cricket is blessed to have a match win-ner like Bumrah. This hat-trick will only help hislegend grow but even without that he is an incred-ible performer. I mean 5 wickets in 7 overs inlast game and 6 wickets in 9 overs in this game. Youcan’t ask for more. He is a rare diamond,” saidHarbhajan.

�� !��.��/��/��/��!2��?��

#��+��'��/�*�'��

1��+��

�� /�/�.�� &5;9�,6

India’s Shubhankar Sharmaground it out for an even par

72 that kept him in contentionfor a PGA Tour card despitedropping from tied third to tied10th in the second round of theKorn Ferry TourChampionship.

Sharma shot 72 to get tosix-under 138 here on Saturday.

The Indian needs to finishsole sixth or better to lock hisPGA Tour card for 2019-20. Heis six off the lead, as ChrisBaker with 69 moved to 12-under, but Scottie Scheffler, atsixth, is just two ahead ofSharma.

India’s Anirban Lahiri hasalready locked his PGA Tourcard but skipped the TourChampionship to be with hisfamily in Palm Beach whereHurricane Dorian is expectedto hit in the coming days.

Baker shot 69 at theVictoria National Golf Club totake the 36-hole lead while

Lanto Griffin and Tom Lewissit two shots off the pace at 10-under 134. The 33-year-oldBaker, who turned profession-al in 2008, is in search of hisfirst PGA TOUR card.

Sharma, starting from thetenth, had a bogey on 14th, butbirdied the 15th to get back ontrack and turned in an evenpar.

On his second nine he wasgoing fine with back-to-backbirdies on second and third,

before bogeys on fifth andeighth, his 14th and 17th holespegged him back.

Sharma was not toopleased with his hitting in thesecond round.

“Today (it) actually wasn’tthat good. I wasn’t hitting it asclose as I was yesterday. Istruggled towards the end ofthe round where I was 2-underafter the fifth hole which wasmy 14th.

“And then just made a fewbogeys coming in. I’m prettyhappy otherwise, I’ve beenplaying alright. I just need twolow ones on the weekend, andwe’ll see what happens.”

About his missed cut, headded, “I just tried to putthings into perspective. I wasjust being too hard on myselfin the first two events and justwanted to enjoy playing golf.

“I did that yesterday andhad a good day. I think over thenext two days I’ll try not tothink of the outcome and tryand enjoy the process.”

�� %=8��

&��> ��?�� 4� ��(�� =��!�� 6 �&�� >�.� ��)�� #��#�� !��%��!��!��

BERLIN: Asian Games goldmedallist Jinson Johnson bet-tered his own 1500m nationalrecord while clinching a silverin the ISTAF Berlin event hereon Sunday.

Johnson clocked 3 minute35.24 seconds to finish secondbehind Joshua Thompson ofUnited States at the OlympicStadium here.

The earlier national recordin the name of the 28-year-oldKerala runner was 3:37.86which he had set at the Gold

Coast Commonwealth Gameslast year. He also holds the800m national record (1:45.65).

With his own nationalrecord shattering effort, Jinsonalso qualified for the WorldChampionships to be held inDoha from September 28 toOctober 6. The WorldChampionships qualifying timeis 3:36.00.

“I was expecting to setnew national record but did notexpect to win the silver. I willnow go to Colorado in USA for

further training and then toDoha for WorldChampionships,” Jinson saidafter the event. “I am veryhappy. But my ultimate aim isto do well in Tokyo 2020.”

Jinson had won the 2018Asian Games gold in 1500mwith a time of 3:44.72. ISTAFBerlin is a part of the IAAFWorld Challenge meetings, thesecond tier of global one dayathletics events. It is the penul-timate leg of the IAAF WorldChallenge meetings this year.

9�"�'"�/�"��%��"�,��%�" 5#�%�)��)'��'�%��.��1�

˚ ˇ˚ ˇ · kalraj mishra (78), who will ... was the cm of up at time the babri masjid was...

Documents