0 -0 -1 ,-$. /& ˝˛ ˚˙ (’˚31ˆ()ˆ’$= ’=3;(’˚)’0/)>3˚ ˆ)/ ’1 · congress...

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F orty-eight-year after Indira Gandhi came to power in 1971 on the ear-catching slogan of “Garibi hatao”, her grandson Rahul Gandhi has reinvented the same theme by announcing his own version of “surgical” strike on poverty to revive the Congress fortune in the Lok Sabha elections. As part of the Congress manifesto for general elections, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said 20 per cent families in poorest of the poor category will be given 72,000 each annually as a minimum income. Making the announcement at a Press conference post the Congress Working Committee meeting, the Congress chief said, “The time for change has come. This will be a ‘final assault’ to eradicate poverty in the country.” The party manifesto is being framed by a committee headed by former Finance and Home Minister P Chidambaram. Citing the examples of farmers’ loan waiver schemes in three States — Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh — the Gandhi scion said if the party is voted to power the Congress will iden- tify such families who live below the poverty mark and help them to live decent life. He said the scheme is part of the party’s plan to ensure mini- mum income guarantee to every person in the country. Terming it to be a “final assault” to eradicate poverty in the country, Rahul described the manifesto as a “historic” and “groundbreaking” mea- sure to end poverty. “Five crore families and 25 crore people will directly benefit from the scheme. The final assault on poverty has begun. We will wipe out poverty from the country. I promise that there will be justice for the poor. The Congress guarantees that 20 per cent families belonging to poorest of the poor category in India will be given 72,000 each annually,” Rahul said soon after starting social media cam- paign #NyayForIndia. The CWC had met at the AICC headquarters to discuss and give final shape to the party’s manifesto. The Congress chief said the party has studied the fiscal implications of the scheme and has consulted renowned economists and experts before finalising it. “This is a historic scheme which has not happened any- where in the world. It is an extremely powerful, ground- breaking and well-thought through idea. We have con- sulted many economists on the scheme. It will be a fiscal- ly prudent scheme,” Rahul said Accusing the Prime Minister of giving money to the rich and not the poor, Rahul alleged the poor have suffered in the last five years and “We are going to provide justice to them”. “If Narendra Modi can give money to the rich people in the country, then Congress can give the poor this money,” he said. “Narendra Modi is creating two Indias in the country and we will not allow it, there will be only one India,” he said. Asked where the money will come from and whether it will affect the economy, Rahul claimed there is enough money in India and the Congress guarantees that 20 per cent poorest families will be given 72,000 per year. “Remember that in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, I had promised that in 10 days farmers will be given a loan waiver. I am promising you today that jus- tice will be done. Scheme will be on a phase basis. First a pilot project will be run then scheme will run,” he said. He claimed that everyday your money is being taken away and “we will show you what is happening. We have been studying this for the last 4-5 months”. The working committee, which is the party’s highest decision-making body, will give a final go-ahead to the manifesto. The meeting was chaired by Rahul and attended by for- mer PM Manmohan Singh, Priyanka Gandhi, Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, and AK Antony. S enior leaders of the Delhi Congress, including its Delhi unit president Sheila Dikshit, discussed the possi- bility of an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi with party president Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders on Monday. The meet- ing has gained importance in the light of the Congress and the AAP finally agreeing to form an alliance to prevent the BJP from retaining all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. Though the much awaited meeting ended without an unanimous decision, the party insiders said alliance between the Congress and the AAP will take place irrespective of the inherent difference between their ideologies. Finally the leaders left it on on the Congress president to take the final call on pre-poll alliance with the AAP in Delhi. Meanwhile, the sources said six leaders in the party — Sheila, three working presi- dents Devender Yadav, Rajesh Lilothia, Haroon Yusuf, and former Delhi Congress presi- dents JP Agarwal and Tajdar Babar — are opposed to the alliance, while former Delhi presidents Ajay Maken, Subhash Chopra and Arvinder Singh Lovely are in the favour of a pre-poll alliance with the AAP. Congress general secre- tary and Delhi incharge PC Chacko has backed Lovely, Maken and Chopra contention. According to a senior party leader, Maken strongly sup- ported an alliance with AAP saying the Congress would not be able to win any seat in Delhi on its own. Reacting to Maken’s rea- soning, Rahul asked him what the party under his stewardship has done in the last four-and- a-half-year if it cannot contest on its own. According to a senior party leader present in the meeting, Chacko handed over signed let- ters of 12 district Congress presidents, leaders of the party and party councillors in all three municipal corporations, to buttress the demand for alliance with the AAP. The AAP has been dan- gling olive branch to the Congress for an alliance in the Lok Sabha polls Delhi to stop the BJP from certain victory on all seven seats. G iving up chairmanship after more than 26 years, embattled Jet Airways’ founder Naresh Goyal on Monday quit as a board member, with the lenders taking control of the cockpit and deciding to infuse 1,500 crore immediately into the ailing airline. Struggling to stay afloat amid a debt burden of over 8,000 crore, the board of the country’s first private full ser- vice carrier also approved con- version of banks’ debt into equity and induction of nom- inee directors of the lenders, who would become majority stakeholders. Expressing hap- piness over the lenders’ deci- sion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said India needs more airlines, “otherwise airfares would rise”. “Banks have kept self interest in mind by trying to keep it as a going entity so that they can recover their dues,” he said in Delhi hours after the airline’s board cleared the debt resolution plan. Bringing an end to weeks of uncertainty over the future of the cash-strapped carrier, the board has approved immediate fund infusion of up to 1,500 crore by lenders as well as con- version of debt into equity. Naresh Goyal, his wife Anita Goyal and Etihad Airways’ nominee director Kevin Knight have quit the board. Gulf carrier Etihad, a strategic partner, holds 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways while Naresh Goyal has a sharehold- ing of 51 per cent. Goyal’s stake would come down to 25 per cent while that of Etihad would reduce to 12 per cent. The consortium of Indian lenders, led by State Bank of India (SBI), would become the majority share- holders of Jet Airways, the air- line said in a statement. The airline said two nom- inees of the promoter and one nominee of Etihad Airways would continue on the board, which would also see induction of two people nominated by the lenders. A day after famous Haryanavi singer and dancer Sapna Chaudhary claimed that she has not joined the Congress, Delhi BJP pres- ident Manoj Tiwari met her and said he will be happy if she campaigns for the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. Sapna’s much hyped news of joining the Congress was circulated with her pictures with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Tiwari accused the Congress of using the Haryana performer’s picture without her consent. “The Congress has used her old pic- tures to spread the rumour that she has joined the party and will contest from Mathura. E ven as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday filed his nomination papers as the BJD candidate for Bijepur in Bargarh district, his second seat, for the coming Assembly elections, the BJP announced its State vice-president and spokesperson Pitambar Acharya as the party nominee to contest against Patnaik in the latter’s old Hinijili seat in Ganjam district, for which the BJD supremo has already filed his nominations last week. Acharya, who is an out- sider in Hinjili, was earlier expected to be the BJP’s candi- date for the Cuttack Lok Sabha con- stituency. But the situation changed after Director General of Police (DGP) Prakash Mishra, who joined the party on Sunday, was declared as the party nominee for t h i s Parliamentary seat. Acharya’s nomination as the BJP rival against Patnaik and not as a candidate in any other constituency sprang surprise in view of Hinjili known as a BJD stronghold, from where the Chief Minister has been elected in the last four elections since 2000 by vast margins of votes with his rivals losing their deposits. Acharya’s claim that “the BJD fortress in Hinjili has crumbed by now” has no buy- ers except diehard BJP mem- bers. Naveen Patnaik, accom- panied by several western Odisha BJD leaders, filed his nomination papers at the Padampur Sub-Collector’s office. Notably, the Congress has declared Ripunath Seth as its candidate for Bijepur while the BJP is yet to announce its nominee for the constituency. U nion Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday described as “fraud “ and hum- bug Rahul Gandhi’s announce- ment to provide 72, 000 year- ly to the 20 per cent of the poorest of the poor in the country saying the poor are receiving one and half times more in the Modi-regime. People won’t be taken in by “chhal kapat” of the Congress, said Jaitley. Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar and the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) too criti- cised the pre-poll announce- ment by Rahul. Addressing a Press confer- ence here, Jaitley said the Congress regimes have defrauded poor in the name of “Garibi Hatao” but only “redis- tributed poverty” in the coun- try. He said UPA’s ten-year rule was replete with “chhal, kapat and dhokha”. He said Congress promised only one time waiver of 70,000 crore to farmers but actually gave only 52,000 crore. Similarly, in MNREGA, Jaitley said, the Congress announced it will spend 40,000 crore but spent only 28,000 crore. Jaitley said the Congress which opposed the Modi Government’s Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is now saying it would use the same in pro- viding money to poor and without any financial burden. This is jugglery, he said. The Finance Minister said the Modi Government was already pro- viding 5.34 lakh crore to poor. “We are giving much more to poor and the total amount would exceed 7 lakh crore,” he said. “The Congress is mislead- ing poor in the name of remov- ing poverty in 50 years… but poor would not be trapped in the fraudulent trap of the Opposition party,” the Finance Minster said, adding, the Modi Government has built “assets” (sadhan) for the poor in forms of road, money in banks, house, electricity”. Narebaji se garibi nahin jayegi, sadhano se jayegi,” said the BJP leader. Meanwhile, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Monday said Rahul Gandhi’s promise of providing 72,000 annually to five crore families will create strong incentives against work and bust fiscal dis- cipline. “True to its past record of promising the moon to win elections, the Congress presi- dent announced a scheme that will bust fiscal discipline, cre- ate strong incentives against work and which will never be implemented,” Kumar said in a tweet. In another tweet, he said the cost of the minimum income guarantee scheme at 2 per cent of the gross domestic product and 13 per cent of the budget will “ensure” that real needs of people remain unsatisfied. T he Supreme Court on Monday directed CBI to apprise it within two weeks of the status of probe in alleged disproportionate assets case against SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh. The SC rejected the sub- mission of Yadavs’ counsel that the notice to the CBI be kept at abeyance in the wake of upcoming general elections. The SC said, “There was a status report (of 2007 by CBI) saying that prima facie case is made out. We are entitled to know what happened to the investigation”. A total of 245 candidates have filed nominations to contest elections from 28 Assembly constituencies and 30 candidates to fight polls from four Parliamentary constitutes in the State in the bfirst-phase polls scheduled to be held on April 11, according to an offi- cial release on Monday. Of the above candidates, as many as 207 filed for Assembly seats and 22 for Lok Sabha seat on Monday, the last day of fil- ing of nominations for the first-phase polls. For the second-phase polls to be held for five Lok Sabha and 35 Assembly seats on April 18, as many as 96 candidates have filed papers for Assembly seats and 21 for LS seats. Bhakta Charan Das, Puspendra Singh Deo, Basant Panda for Kalahandi Parliamentary constituency, Chandra Sekhar Sahu, Bhrugu Baxipatra and CS Naidu for Berhampur, Pradeep Majhi, Ramesh Majhi, and Balabhadra Majhi for Nabarangpur and Saptagiri Ulaka, Kaushalya Hikaka, Jayaram Pangi for Koraput seat will face voting in the first phase.

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Page 1: 0 -0 -1 ,-$. /& ˝˛ ˚˙ (’˚31ˆ()ˆ’$= ’=3;(’˚)’0/)>3˚ ˆ)/ ’1 · Congress fortune in the Lok Sabha elections. As part of the Congress manifesto for general elections,

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Forty-eight-year after IndiraGandhi came to power in

1971 on the ear-catching sloganof “Garibi hatao”, her grandsonRahul Gandhi has reinventedthe same theme by announcinghis own version of “surgical”strike on poverty to revive theCongress fortune in the LokSabha elections.

As part of the Congressmanifesto for general elections,Congress chief Rahul Gandhisaid 20 per cent families inpoorest of the poor categorywill be given �72,000 eachannually as a minimumincome.

Making the announcementat a Press conference post theCongress Working Committeemeeting, the Congress chiefsaid, “The time for change hascome. This will be a ‘finalassault’ to eradicate poverty inthe country.”

The party manifesto isbeing framed by a committeeheaded by former Finance andHome Minister PChidambaram.

Citing the examples offarmers’ loan waiver schemes inthree States — Rajasthan,Chhattisgarh and MadhyaPradesh — the Gandhi scionsaid if the party is voted topower the Congress will iden-tify such families who livebelow the poverty mark andhelp them to live decent life. Hesaid the scheme is part of theparty’s plan to ensure mini-mum income guarantee toevery person in the country.

Terming it to be a “finalassault” to eradicate poverty inthe country, Rahul describedthe manifesto as a “historic”and “groundbreaking” mea-sure to end poverty. “Five crorefamilies and 25 crore peoplewill directly benefit from thescheme. The final assault onpoverty has begun. We willwipe out poverty from thecountry. I promise that therewill be justice for the poor. TheCongress guarantees that 20per cent families belonging topoorest of the poor category inIndia will be given �72,000

each annually,” Rahul said soonafter starting social media cam-paign #NyayForIndia.

The CWC had met at theAICC headquarters to discussand give final shape to theparty’s manifesto. The Congresschief said the party has studiedthe fiscal implications of thescheme and has consultedrenowned economists andexperts before finalising it.

“This is a historic schemewhich has not happened any-where in the world. It is anextremely powerful, ground-breaking and well-thought

through idea. We have con-sulted many economists onthe scheme. It will be a fiscal-ly prudent scheme,” Rahul said

Accusing the PrimeMinister of giving money to therich and not the poor, Rahulalleged the poor have sufferedin the last five years and “Weare going to provide justice tothem”. “If Narendra Modi cangive money to the rich peoplein the country, then Congresscan give the poor this money,”he said.

“Narendra Modi is creatingtwo Indias in the country andwe will not allow it, there willbe only one India,” he said.

Asked where the moneywill come from and whether itwill affect the economy, Rahul

claimed there is enough moneyin India and the Congressguarantees that 20 per centpoorest families will be given�72,000 per year.

“Remember that inMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarhand Rajasthan, I had promisedthat in 10 days farmers will begiven a loan waiver. I ampromising you today that jus-tice will be done. Scheme willbe on a phase basis. First a pilotproject will be run then schemewill run,” he said. He claimedthat everyday your money isbeing taken away and “we willshow you what is happening.We have been studying this forthe last 4-5 months”.

The working committee,which is the party’s highestdecision-making body, willgive a final go-ahead to themanifesto.

The meeting was chairedby Rahul and attended by for-mer PM Manmohan Singh,Priyanka Gandhi, Ahmed Patel,Ghulam Nabi Azad,Mallikarjun Kharge, and AKAntony.

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Senior leaders of the DelhiCongress, including its

Delhi unit president SheilaDikshit, discussed the possi-bility of an alliance with theAam Aadmi Party (AAP) inDelhi with party presidentRahul Gandhi and other seniorleaders on Monday. The meet-ing has gained importance inthe light of the Congress andthe AAP finally agreeing toform an alliance to prevent theBJP from retaining all theseven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.

Though the much awaitedmeeting ended without an

unanimous decision, the partyinsiders said alliance betweenthe Congress and the AAP willtake place irrespective of theinherent difference betweentheir ideologies.

Finally the leaders left it onon the Congress president totake the final call on pre-pollalliance with the AAP in Delhi.

Meanwhile, the sourcessaid six leaders in the party —Sheila, three working presi-dents Devender Yadav, RajeshLilothia, Haroon Yusuf, andformer Delhi Congress presi-dents JP Agarwal and TajdarBabar — are opposed to thealliance, while former Delhipresidents Ajay Maken,Subhash Chopra and ArvinderSingh Lovely are in the favourof a pre-poll alliance with theAAP. Congress general secre-tary and Delhi incharge PCChacko has backed Lovely,Maken and Chopra contention.

According to a senior partyleader, Maken strongly sup-ported an alliance with AAPsaying the Congress would notbe able to win any seat in Delhion its own.

Reacting to Maken’s rea-soning, Rahul asked him whatthe party under his stewardshiphas done in the last four-and-a-half-year if it cannot conteston its own.

According to a senior partyleader present in the meeting,Chacko handed over signed let-ters of 12 district Congresspresidents, leaders of the partyand party councillors in allthree municipal corporations,to buttress the demand foralliance with the AAP.

The AAP has been dan-gling olive branch to theCongress for an alliance in theLok Sabha polls Delhi to stopthe BJP from certain victory onall seven seats.

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Giving up chairmanshipafter more than 26 years,

embattled Jet Airways’ founderNaresh Goyal on Monday quitas a board member, with thelenders taking control of thecockpit and deciding to infuse�1,500 crore immediately intothe ailing airline.

Struggling to stay afloatamid a debt burden of over�8,000 crore, the board of thecountry’s first private full ser-vice carrier also approved con-version of banks’ debt intoequity and induction of nom-inee directors of the lenders,who would become majoritystakeholders. Expressing hap-piness over the lenders’ deci-sion, Finance Minister ArunJaitley said India needs moreairlines, “otherwise airfareswould rise”. “Banks have keptself interest in mind by tryingto keep it as a going entity sothat they can recover theirdues,” he said in Delhi hoursafter the airline’s board clearedthe debt resolution plan.

Bringing an end to weeksof uncertainty over the futureof the cash-strapped carrier, theboard has approved immediatefund infusion of up to �1,500

crore by lenders as well as con-version of debt into equity.

Naresh Goyal, his wifeAnita Goyal and EtihadAirways’ nominee directorKevin Knight have quit theboard. Gulf carrier Etihad, astrategic partner, holds 24 percent stake in Jet Airways whileNaresh Goyal has a sharehold-ing of 51 per cent.

Goyal’s stake would comedown to 25 per cent while thatof Etihad would reduce to 12per cent. The consortium ofIndian lenders, led by StateBank of India (SBI), wouldbecome the majority share-holders of Jet Airways, the air-line said in a statement.

The airline said two nom-inees of the promoter and onenominee of Etihad Airwayswould continue on the board,which would also see inductionof two people nominated by thelenders.

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Aday after famousHaryanavi singer and

dancer Sapna Chaudharyclaimed that she has not joinedthe Congress, Delhi BJP pres-ident Manoj Tiwari met herand said he will be happy if shecampaigns for the BJP in theLok Sabha elections. Sapna’s

much hyped news of joiningthe Congress was circulatedwith her pictures with PriyankaGandhi Vadra. Tiwari accusedthe Congress of using theHaryana performer’s picturewithout her consent. “TheCongress has used her old pic-tures to spread the rumour thatshe has joined the party andwill contest from Mathura.

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Even as Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik on Monday

filed his nomination papers asthe BJD candidate for Bijepurin Bargarh district, his secondseat, for the coming Assemblyelections, the BJP announcedits State vice-president andspokesperson PitambarAcharya as the party nomineeto contest against Patnaik in thelatter’s old Hinijili seat inGanjam district, for which the BJD supremo hasalready filed his nominationslast week.

Acharya, who is an out-sider in Hinjili, was earlier

expected to bethe BJP’s candi-date for theCuttack LokSabha con-stituency. Butthe situationchanged afterDirector Generalof Police (DGP)Prakash Mishra,

who joinedthe party onSunday, wasdeclared asthe partynominee fort h i sParliamentaryseat.

Acharya’snomination asthe BJP rivala g a i n s tPatnaik and

not as a candidate in any other constituency sprang surprise inview of Hinjili known as a BJD stronghold, from wherethe Chief Minister has been elected in thelast four elections since 2000 byvast margins of votes with hisrivals losing their deposits.

Acharya’s claim that “theBJD fortress in Hinjili has

crumbed by now” has no buy-ers except diehard BJP mem-bers.

Naveen Patnaik, accom-panied by several westernOdisha BJD leaders, filed hisnomination papers at the

Padampur Sub-Collector’soffice.

Notably, the Congress hasdeclared Ripunath Seth as itscandidate for Bijepur whilethe BJP is yet to announce itsnominee for the constituency.

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Union Finance MinisterArun Jaitley on Monday

described as “fraud “ and hum-bug Rahul Gandhi’s announce-ment to provide �72, 000 year-ly to the 20 per cent of thepoorest of the poor in thecountry saying the poor arereceiving one and half timesmore in the Modi-regime.People won’t be taken in by“chhal kapat” of the Congress,said Jaitley.

Niti Aayog Vice-ChairmanRajiv Kumar and the EconomicAdvisory Council to the PrimeMinister (EAC-PM) too criti-cised the pre-poll announce-ment by Rahul.

Addressing a Press confer-ence here, Jaitley said theCongress regimes havedefrauded poor in the name of“Garibi Hatao” but only “redis-tributed poverty” in the coun-try. He said UPA’s ten-yearrule was replete with “chhal,kapat and dhokha”. He saidCongress promised only onetime waiver of �70,000 crore tofarmers but actually gave only�52,000 crore. Similarly, inMNREGA, Jaitley said, theCongress announced it willspend �40,000 crore but spentonly �28,000 crore.

Jaitley said the Congress

which opposed the ModiGovernment’s Direct BenefitTransfer (DBT) is now sayingit would use the same in pro-viding money to poor andwithout any financial burden.This is jugglery, he said. TheFinance Minister said the ModiGovernment was already pro-viding �5.34 lakh crore to poor.“We are giving much more topoor and the total amountwould exceed �7 lakh crore,” hesaid.

“The Congress is mislead-ing poor in the name of remov-ing poverty in 50 years… butpoor would not be trapped inthe fraudulent trap of theOpposition party,” the FinanceMinster said, adding, the ModiGovernment has built “assets”(sadhan) for the poor in formsof road, money in banks, house,electricity”.

“Narebaji se garibi nahinjayegi, sadhano se jayegi,” said

the BJP leader. Meanwhile, Niti Aayog

Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumaron Monday said RahulGandhi’s promise of providing �72,000 annually tofive crore families will create strong incentivesagainst work and bust fiscal dis-cipline.

“True to its past record ofpromising the moon to winelections, the Congress presi-dent announced a scheme thatwill bust fiscal discipline, cre-ate strong incentives againstwork and which will never beimplemented,” Kumar said in atweet.

In another tweet, he saidthe cost of the minimumincome guarantee scheme at 2per cent of the gross domesticproduct and 13 per cent of thebudget will “ensure” that realneeds of people remain unsatisfied.

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The Supreme Court onMonday directed CBI to

apprise it within two weeks ofthe status of probe in allegeddisproportionate assets caseagainst SP leadersMulayam Singh Yadav andAkhilesh.

The SC rejected the sub-mission of Yadavs’ counsel thatthe notice to the CBI be kept atabeyance in the wake ofupcoming general elections.

The SC said, “There was astatus report (of 2007 by CBI)saying that prima facie case ismade out. We are entitled toknow what happened to theinvestigation”.

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Atotal of 245 candidateshave filed nominations to

contest elections from 28Assembly constituencies and 30candidates to fight polls fromfour Parliamentary constitutesin the State in the bfirst-phasepolls scheduled to be held onApril 11, according to an offi-cial release on Monday.

Of the above candidates, asmany as 207 filed for Assemblyseats and 22 for Lok Sabha seaton Monday, the last day of fil-ing of nominations for thefirst-phase polls.

For the second-phase polls

to be held for five Lok Sabhaand 35 Assembly seats on April18, as many as 96 candidates have filed papersfor Assembly seats and 21 forLS seats.

Bhakta Charan Das,Puspendra Singh Deo, BasantPanda for KalahandiParliamentary constituency,Chandra Sekhar Sahu, BhruguBaxipatra and CS Naidu forBerhampur, Pradeep Majhi,Ramesh Majhi, and BalabhadraMajhi for Nabarangpur andSaptagiri Ulaka, KaushalyaHikaka, Jayaram Pangi forKoraput seat will face voting inthe first phase.

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Arelentless crusader against exploitation ofwomen, Rutuparna Mohanty is now a

household name in Odisha. This human rightslawyer is the founder of Maa Ghar that has ush-ered in an era of revolution turning the apple-cart of our patriarchal societal bias upside down.Her area of operation chiefly comprises womenempowerment, conflict resolution and peacebuilding. She has rescued and rehabilitated near-ly 25,000 exploited or estranged women of all agesand has educated more than 1,00,000 grassrootswomen on their rights. She has created 5,000Mahila Shanti Senas to maintain peace in theState. Her motto remains in the assertion of thetruth that men and women in harmony togeth-er can bring peace in the world. The foundationof Maa Ghar has become a people’s movementin protecting human rights and preventinghuman trafficking. The Maa Ghar has rehabil-itated 15,000 sexually-exploited women and girlsunder its umbrage. Rutupurna has also beenestablishing women helpline and counselling legalsupport for the victims. As aprecursor of new changes inour society, she has broughtabout a new trend andreforms by organising mar-riages of unwed mothers, giv-ing social dignity and main-streaming many rape vic-tims. She has earned a repu-tation for fearlessly defendingwomen’s rights. She has takenon high-profile human rightsviolators and defended the victims. She hasproved her mettle in defending the rights of slumdwellers from government eviction, sexualharassment cases against powerful politicians andprosecuting perpetrators of gangrape. She pub-lishes weekly newspaper “Janani” which is “of thewomen, by the women, and for the women”. Sheworks with police and politicians alike on poli-cy reforms and conducts training that would bet-ter protect women. Recipient of many nationaland international awards, her name was spon-sored for international visitors’ leadership pro-gramme by the USA Government in 2009.she wasawarded as “Women Peace Maker” by theUniversity of Santiago in 2013. In an interviewto The Pioneer, Mohanty spoke to SugyanChoudhury from her Maa Ghar office.

Why has the desired reservation for womennot been implemented in the country yet?

Though we call our motherland ‘BharatMata” and women consist of half of the popu-lation and we worship goddesses as our culture,we have a typical male-dominating society alongwith a partial mindset which is not allowingwomen as leaders. There are many reasons givenby our previous parliamentarians, who most-ly are male. But I don’t think women cannot takeleadership upfront to rule the country ifchance is given. Of course, many male leaders

supported the women reservation Bill, but stillit didn’t get the majority support finally.

The recent announcement of Naveen Patnaikand Mamata Banerjee for 33% and 41% ofreservation for women has been welcomed bymany. What’s your response to this?

My hearty thanks to our esteemed ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik and West Bengal CMMamata Banerjee for their exemplary moves.Even when the Bill of reservation is still pend-ing at the Centre, regional parties are takingexemplary decisions which are challenging butpraiseworthy. In our State, former CM BijuPatnaik had made history by giving reservationto women in panchayat level before the womenreservation Bill was mooted and his sonNaveen Patnaik is following in his footsteps, giv-ing ample opportunity and support to womenleadership by giving 33% reservation in his BJDfor Lok Sabha and also by urging the Centre topass the women reservation Bill.

Why is the Opposition at the national levelnot following the examples set by NaveenPatnaik and Mamata Banerjee? How do youlook at the 33% reservation of Patnaik?

One needs a lot of guts and a certain fem-inist approach to take these decisions. In mostof the parties across the country, the topmostleaders are always male; and for centuries now,they have been enjoying the power and statusand are unwilling to give up even a portion ofthat for women to exercise. The decisions takenby Naveen Patnaik has brought up confidence

amongst women in the Stateto come forward in activepolitics and his visionarythoughts to lead Odisha intoa new era has certainly pro-voked young minds to joinpolitics.

What, according to you,should be the qualificationof the women candidateswho want to join the polls

for Lok Sabha and Assembly?According to me, there must be 6 C’s fol-

lowed by the leaders to contest the polls. Thoseare: C-Strong Character, C-Non Communal, C-Non Casteist, C-Non-Corrupt, C-Creativemind and C-Connected with community alongwith minimum understanding about theConstitution of India.

Would you either join Parliament or Assemblypolls if given ticket by BJD or any other party?

When I was a student in 1990, I workedwith Biju Patnaik and Rabi Ray as Students’Union president of my college in Kendrapadadistrict. I could have continued in politics, butunfortunately of these two stalwart leadersBijubabu died before I took a decision and RabiRay quit active politics during that time. I could-n’t find a good mentor under whom I wouldhave continued my political aspirations. Duringthe time of my Government job days, I tookleadership of the trade union of all OdishaMunicipal Unions. After quitting my job whenI began social work, I enjoyed the leadershipof mass as a social leader. If I get a chance tobe a political leader, I would like to serve mymotherland sincerely and dedicatedly. Ofcourse, I would like to work with an esteemedleadership who promotes women leadershipwith respect.

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Preparations for the upcom-ing Lok Sabha elections are

in full flow in Bargarh LokSabha seat where two heavy-weights, BJP national secretarySuresh Pujari and Rajya Sabhamember Prasanna Acharya willbe in the fray. Though theCongress has also fielded a newcandidate Pradeep Devata, buta stiff contest is expectedbetween the BJP and the BJD.

In 2014 elections, a toughcontest took place between theBJP and the BJD as both werenew to the constituency andparty symbol played a decisive

role. In 2019, both the BJD andthe BJP have changed their can-didates. Congress is furtherweakened in the region afterthe exit of Jharsuguda MLANaba Kishore Das who recent-ly switched over to the BJD.

For the Assembly election,the BJD has given tickets tomostly senior members in allseats under Bargarh

Parliamentary constituency.The Bargarh Parliamentary

constituency comprises ofseven Assembly seats likePadampur, Bijepur, Bargarh,Attabira, Bhatli, Jharsugudaand Brajarajnagar. Even ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik iscontesting from Bijepur toinfluence western Odisha vot-ers. This is touted as a politicalmasterstroke of Chief Ministergiven the tough challenge theparty will get from the BJP.From all these equations, it isclear that the BJD is not readyto cede ground on the Bargarhseat.

From the BJP side, nobodyappears so influential exceptfirebrand leader Suresh Pujari.The party will hope to exploitthe cracks in the BJD to the hilt.

As compared to 2014, thesuccess of all Governmentschemes both of the State andthe Centre would be the pri-mary agenda of focus in theelection.

Created in 1952, Bargarhparliamentary constituencyhad lost its significance from1956 to 2008. Later, BargarhLok Sabha constituency was

carved out of old Sambalpurdistrict in 2008. After separa-tion, Sanjay Bhoi, son of formerMinister Dr Krupasindhu Bhoiwas elected in 2008. Later, hewas defeated in 2014 for hischequered personal life andlack of direct contact with vot-ers.

Despite a strong Modiwave in 2014, Pravas Singh waselected as BJD candidate with3, 83, 230 (34.11per cent) votescompared to 3, 72, 052 (33.12per cent) votes garnered by hisBJP rival Subas Chouhan.

Congress candidate was atthird place with only 24.44 percent votes. The vote differencebetween Pravas and Subas wasa mere 11,000 only; therefore2019 is expected to be an evenstiffer contest.

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announcedcandidates for two Lok Sabha and nine

Assembly seats in the State on Monday.As per the list, Kharabela Swain, who

rejoined the party on the day, will contest fromthe Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat while formerState and CRPF DGP Prakash Mishra will fightfrom the Cuttack Parliamentary constituency.

Swain, who was elected to the Lok Sabhathrice on a BJP ticket from Baleswar, formallyrejoined the saffron party here. “Inspired by theleadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

I rejoined the BJP to dethrone the corrupt andinefficient BJD Government in Odisha,” saidSwain.

Similarly, former DGP Mishra, had joinedthe BJP on Sunday. Among the nine Assemblyseats declared on Monday is Rishabh Nanda, sonof BJD’s Rajya Sabha Member Prashant Nanda,who will fight from the Begunia Assembly seg-ment on a BJP ticket. Rishabh too has recentlyjoined the party. Others include Dinesh Jainfrom Jharsuguda, Debendra Mahapatro fromRairakhol, Badrinarayan Dhal fromBhandaripokhari, Pradeip Nayak from Bhadrak,Debanarayan Pradhan from Phulbani, SamapadSwain from Paradip, Narendra Nayak fromJayadev and Biswaranjan Jena from Jatni.

BJP has, so far, declared candidates for 17Lok Sabha seats and 130 Assembly segments.

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The Biju Janata Dal (BJD)on Monday alleged that

the State Chief Electoral Officer(CEO), pressurised by the BJP,is not allowing the StateGovernment to disburse theKALIA scheme funds to farmers.

Addressing a Press meethere, BJD spokesperson SasmitPatra alleged that the CEO iscreating hurdles in making theKALA assistance money reachout to the genuine beneficiaries.

“The CEO has stopped

distribution of KALIA moneyafter implementation of elec-tion model code of conductputting the livelihood andfuture of lakhs of farmers in theState at stake,” said Dr Patra.

He questioned as to whythe State’s scheme has beenstopped while the Centre’s PM-Kisan Yojana is still continuingeven after enforcement of themode code of conduct by theElection Commission of India(ECI).

He said the matter wouldbe brought to the notice of theECI on behalf of the BJD soon.

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Rivers cannot exist withouthealthy forests and healthy

natural forests cannot existwithout local indigenous com-munities, said Water InitiativesOdisha convenor Ranjan Pandawhile addressing the 3rdOdisha River Conference thatkick-started on Sunday atBaripada.

The Water Initiatives,Gram Swaraj and Vasundharaalong with 35 partner organi-sations organised the confer-ence with the theme‘Promoting the Forest-River-Communities nexus forConservation of Rivers and Combating ClimateChange.’

Panda further added, “It ishigh time we explored theinter-relationship between for-est, river and communities.There is an urgent need to dis-cuss more on this subject andto bring the communities to themainstream discourse of riverand forest conservation.”

He suggested that twoimportant factors need to bebrought into the purview –rights of the local and indige-nous communities over forestsand water; and role of forests inbuilding climate resilience.

Prof Ashok Panigrahi, anoted conservationist, whojoined as chief guest, said for-

est-water-communities inter-relationship is an importantdiscourse in view of the recentSupreme Court order on evic-tion of forest dwellers whoseclaims over forest land theyhave been cultivating andinhabiting on were rejected.

If the forest dwellers aregoing to be evicted from theland, neither the forests nor thewildlife are going to be pro-tected and it would sound thedeath knell of the streams andrivers that originated fromforests, he cautioned.

BV Subba Rao from Centrefor Resource Education andManagement, Hyderabad saidthe land-water-forest-humanrelationship is age-old.However, the emotional bondbetween the three is no morethere.

Bishakha Bhanja of Water

Aid lamented, “It is unfortunatethat efforts of women gounrecognised even though theyhave a great contribution forconservation of water andforests.

Among others, DeepakPani, secretary, Gram Swaraj,Sneha Mishra, Aaina, AshokBiswal, The NatureConservancy, Bhopal and DrHemant Kumar Sahoo,Vasundhara spoke.

More than 200 peopleincluding those from basincommunities, forest dwellers,farmers and fisher folks alongwith civil society representa-tives, academicians, seniorjournalists, river and waterexperts from across the coun-try participated.

The Odisha WaterHonours were given away dur-ing the inaugural session.

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In a major blow to the BJP, theparty’s former State vice-

president Raj Kishore Dasjoined the BJD on Mondayalong with his supporters. At aninduction programme in theNaveen Niwas, BJD supremoNaveen Patnaik welcomed Dasand his supporters into theparty fold.

Das, considered a heavy-weight in Mayurbhanj district,had submitted his resignationfrom the primary member-ship of the BJP on March 23.

Later, without taking name,Das obviously challenged

Union Minister DharmendraPradhan to contest against himfrom the Morada Assemblyconstituency. He said Pradhan,who is “dreaming to be ChiefMinister”, cannot even win aWard Member election.

He further said BJP func-tionaries are being torturedand God would never forgivethe leaders for this and punishthem. The BJP’s pride would bedestroyed in Mayurbhanj,where the party would get zeroresults, he claimed.

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Film producer and Siffcy fes-tival director Jitendra

Mishra has been selected asjury for the 36th BUFFInternational Film Festivalbeing held in Malmo in Swedenfrom March 23 to 29.

He would vote for the mostimportant award of the festival:The city of Malmo’s award forbest children film.

The association BUFF wasfounded in 1984 with the aimof conveying qualitative filmexperiences to children andyoung people.

“Sweden has always beenan important country in

terms of world class contentfor young audience, especial-ly in animation, I am veryhopeful that I would be ableto gather more knowledgeand have some mutual col-

laboration to strengthen ourcultural relationships. I amdefinitely thankful to BUFF,Julia Jarl & Daniel Lundquistfor this opportunity,” saidJitendra.

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Banki BJD MLA PravatKumar Tripathy during a

workers' meet on Sundayrefused to contest the comingelections.

He said that he has writtenin this connection to the partyhigh command, but he wantshis son Devi Ranjan Tripathy tobe the BJD candidate fromBanki. Tripathy told that sincehis name has been wrongfullyentangled in a chit fund case,he decided to quit elections but

was dedicating his son to theservice of the Banki people andhas sought the cooperation ofthe workers.

But people of Banki seemto be critical the family politicsof Tripathy.

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Former DG of Odisha PolicePrakash Mishra, who joined

the BJP on Sunday and wasgiven the party ticket to contestfrom the prestigious CuttackLok Sabha seat, on Mondaysaid he was highly impressed byPrime Minister NarendraModi’s commitment to build astrong and prosperousIndia.

“Having watched the primeminister very closely during my

New Delhi tenure, I thought ofgetting associated with himand assisting him in accom-plishing his vision,” Mishra,said here.

Mishra was very uncere-moniously removed as DGP inJuly 2014 by the NaveenPatnaik Government.

The State Government alsoregistered a fake graft caseagainst him, which, however,was quashed by the OrissaHigh Court.

But by then, he lost the race

as a top contender for the postof CBI Director.

Cuttack will vote in thetwin elections in the third phase on April 24 alongwith five other Parliamentary

constituencies in the Stateand 42 Assembly segments.

The BJD and the Congresshave not yet announced theircandidates for the Cuttack LSseat, which has returned theBJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtabcontinuously in last five elec-

tions.

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With the understandingthat political engagement

comes from participation in theprocess of creating change insociety and with exposure toproblems faced by people, theBakul Foundation mobilisedhundreds of youths from col-leges, schools and IT firms tocelebrate the Bakul Day ofService on Sunday by visiting12 slums here and having funand learning activities withchildren.

“We wanted to initiateyouth into volunteerism andfoster political engagement bycreating a platform for them tovolunteer. Our other aim wasto sensitise the youths to issuesfaced by people in the slums,children and the elderly whenthey go to conduct activities,”Pooja Mishra, coordinator ofthe event, said.

Storytelling and craft werethe key activities in the Day ofService. Saubhagya Beura, a

storyteller associated with theBakul Foundation said,“BhuFeSto or the BhubaneswarFestival of Storytelling organ-ised by Bakul with BDA duringthe Hockey World Cup was a

landmark event in the city thatexposed children to the best ofstorytelling.

Through the Day ofService, we took storytelling tothe slums. Similarly, Bakul has

been conducting craft work-shops at the State-level chil-dren’s festivals organised by theState Government such asSargiful and Suravi.”

The Bakul Foundation has

been celebrating Days ofService twice a year, on GandhiJayanti and on the 4th Sundayof March since 2011.

Apart from Bhubaneswar,it was conducted in 10 citiesacross India including Cuttack,Angul, Mumbai, Pune,Hyderabad, Bangalore andDelhi.

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Although the Congress hasdeclared the name of

Jadumani Barik as its candidatefor the Champua Assemblyseat but the BJD and the BJPare yet to do it resulting inuncertainty among the aspi-rants.

After the visit of ChampuaIndependent MLA SantatanMahakud to Naveen Niwassome days back, it was specu-lated in the political circle thateither Sana himself orMeenakshi Mahanta as his

protégé may be made BJDnominee for the minerals richChampua seat but situationchanged the next day whenNaltu Mahanta , one of theclose aids of Sana and hun-dreds of Sana followers led byKusha Apat joined the BJD inprotest against the decision ofthe Sana to lobby forMeenakshi.

Sources close to support-ers of Sana said the candidatureof Sana in BJD is opposed bylocal Minister Badri Narayan Patra who is rather projectingKusha Apat while former

Champua MLA Jitu Patnaik islobbying for Reena Barik, whois working president of BJD,Keonjhar unit.

Out of total sevenAssembly constituencies in theKeonjhar Parliamentary con-stituency, the BJP has declaredthe names of six constituenciesexcept Champua. AlthoughShreeManta Kumar Tripathyand Murali Kumar Sharmaare two strong contenders ofBJP for the seat, but the pos-sibility that Kusha might joinBJP if he is denied ticket in theBJD is not ruled out.

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Former Chief MinisterHemananda Biswal’s two

daughters, Sunita Biswal andAnita Biswal, are set to lockhorns as they are going tofight elections from theSundargarh Lok Sabha andSundargarh Sadar Assemblyseats on BJD and Congresstickets, respectively.

The two siblings will beseen in campaigning againsteach other even as Anita’s seatcomes under elder sisterSunita’s Lok Sabha constituen-cy.

Though Hemananda

Biswal, who was elected asMP of Sundargarh on aCongress ticket in 2009 elec-tion, is a native of Laikera areaunder neighbouringJharsuguda district, both Sunitaand Anita have married inSundargarh district.

Following the announce-

ment of names of both the sis-ters by the rival parties, the bat-tle lines have been drawn nowfor a fight between two siblings.

Both the sisters however donot feel uncomfortable in con-testing from opposite parties. “Iam thankful that BJD chiefNaveen Pattnaik gave me the

opportunity to contest fromSundargarh LS seat as apart of his initiative to givemore opportunity to womencandidates,” Sunita said,adding, “I know that my sis-ter and my father are repre-senting Congress party, butI would be fighting a battleof principle and I am con-fident of a victory.”

Same was the reactionof the younger sister AnitaBiswal.

"I am happy that I havebeen given the opportunityto contest from Sundargarh

Sadar Assembly seat on aCongress ticket,” Amita said,adding, “I will give my best inthis election to fetch wins forme and Congress MP candi-date George Tirkey as well.”

She said she feels verycomfortable as her father is aCongress’s cadre leader.

���� �;1)�4/

While the parties have beenusing local youths for

election campaigning, the BJDhas gone a step ahead in woo-ing the section by spending Rs1.5 lakh on each unit of the BijuYuva Bahini in Subarnapurdistrict.

The youth wing organisesconventions for the young vot-ers across the district to widentheir vote base. Similarly, theCentre’s Ministry of SkillDevelopment has been chan-neling funds to skill the youthsand enhance their jobprospects.

With elections drawingnear, young voters get enthu-siastic to exercise their fran-

chise. However, corruption atgrassroots level, rising unem-ployment, stunted growth inthe industrial sector and lack ofinitiatives to provide qualityeducation have put them in aquandary with regard to choos-ing their potential leaders.

The implementation of theSkill Development schemes bythe State or CentralGovernments, however, hasfailed to inspire the youths.What has created doubtsamong them is the party hop-ping tendency of the leaderswho have been guided by theirown vested interests and notthat of the voters.

A young businessmanGyana Naik, hailing fromTarbha block, said all pro-

grammes implemented byeither the State or CentralGovernments are guided byelectoral calculations. “I hadrequested local leaders, espe-cially from the ruling party, forloan assistance to open my ownshop but to no avail,” he added.

Youngsters say that ratherthan draining the State exche-quer by forming youth wings,parties should divert funds foreducation and employmentopportunities. Steps should betaken to equip the youths forinnovation and entrepreneur-ship for assured gateways tojobs. ‘Earn while you learn’ pol-icy should be introduced toeradicate unemployment.These are the deciding factors,they opined.

��� � ��4(0'13

KIIT and KISS founderand Rajya Sabha mem-

ber Dr Achyuta Samantafiled his nomination papersas the BJD candidate for theKandhamal Lok Sabhaconstituency here onMonday.

Samanta, accompaniedby thousands of BJD work-ers and supporters fromseven Assembly constituen-cies, came in a rally to filepapers at the Collector’soffice.

Among others, formerMP Sugrib Singh, SDCChairman Rodan Mallick,Baliguda MLA Rajib Patra,BJD district president SarojKarna and Daspalla panchay-at samiti Chairman were pre-

sent.Notably, Kharabela Swain,

who rejoined the BJP onMonday, will be Samanta’s rivalcandidate.

���� �'/'('E�)�41�3

Parala Princess Kalyani Devifiled her nomination papers

as the BJD candidate for theParalakhemundi Assemblyconstituency at the districtSub-Collector’s office here onMonday.

Accompanied by thou-sands of supporters, she camein a procession fromParalakhemundi Palace to theCollectorarte to file papers.

This is for the first time that afemale candidate is contestingfrom the constituency.

Responding to Mediaqueries, Kalyani Devi said sheis confident of a big win andshe would give focus of devel-opment of the constituency.

Among others, BJD districtpresident Pradeep Nayak, for-mer district president BasantaDas, Marut Pal and SudharaniPallab Limma were present.

Similarly, Congress’ K

Surya Rao and DasarathiGamango filed papers forParalakhemundi and Mohana,respectively. BJP’s

K Narayan Rao andPrasant Kumar Mallick also putnominations for the two seats,respectively.

According to information,a total of 18 candidates filednomination papers, whichinclude eight forParalakhemundi and 10 forMohana constituency.

���������������E);1��'/

Valuable land worth croresof rupees belonging to

various deities of Keonjhardistrict have gone into thehands of encroachers and landmafia.

The EndowmentDepartment under the StateLaw Department is the custo-dian of the land. The authori-ties seem not to be concernedabout protection of the land forwhich eviction of suchencroachments is very slow.

More than 20,000 acres ofsuch land belonging to differ-ent temples and religious muttsare under encroachment bypeople across Keonjhar butinstances of eviction or strin-gent action are rare.

In the meantime, to weak-en the Debottar Offices work-ing as caretakers of these tem-ples, the State Governmenthas tried to amend the OdishaHindu Religious EndowmentAct (OHRE) and centralizemore power with theGovernment.

By this, the local trustboard or advisory committeeshave to take approval of theGovernment through theDebottar Commissioner inmatter of temple property andthe decision of the Governmentwill be final and binding on thetemple trusts.

The Government authori-ties will be theappointing/nominating author-ities of trustee members andExecutive Officers.

By this, the local trustees ormanaging boards have littlepower to exercise for the wel-fare, management and protec-tion of the temple deity andproperty.

There is possibility of mis-use of power by theGovernment authorities asDebottar deals with invalu-able wealth and landed prop-erty. One Rajkishore Nanda hasfiled a case in the Orissa HighCourt to stay the recent Gazettenotification on amendment ofOHRE.

There are around 22,000temples and mutts in the Stateand lakhs of acres land belong-ing to such temple deities.

The Marphatdars (custo-dians) have managed to loottemple wealth, valuable deityland in favour of their families

and well wishers finding flawsin the Endowment law in manyplaces.

The enforcement and evic-tion of land by Debottar orTrusts has become impossibledue to lack of adequate staffwhich in turn has favoured theencroachers. It is even difficultto evict or restore deity landencroached by influential per-sons in spite of court orders infavour of the deity.

For instance, Sri BaladevJew temple has about 22,000acres of land during takeoverby Debottar but most of theland is encroached or not inpresent procession of the tem-ple. Recently, more than 200encroachment cases have beenbooked in Keonjhar town alonebut not a decimal has beenevicted so far.

The advisory board of thetemple has not been constitut-ed since last few years awaitingthe decision of theGovernment.

Hence, instead of strength-ening the Debottor and templetrusts monopolizing powerwith the Government will notonly weaken the temple man-agement but also widen the gapof local devotees with the tem-ple, lawyer Debashis Dashalleged.

���� 0/'��'�4/

Candidates of three majorpolitical parties, BJD,

Congress and BJP, and someIndependent nominees filednominations for differentAssembly seats at the Sub-Collectors’ office here onMonday, the last day of filing ofnominations for the sched-uled first-phase polling.

The silk city, particularlythe Sub-Collector’s office area,witnessed unprecedentedcrowd as the candidates camein processions with thousands

of supporters to file papers fortheir respective constituencies.The traffic in the city remainedcrowded till afternoon.

According to information,BJD’s Nandini Devi, SurjyaNarayan Patro and BikramPanda filed nominations forSanakhemundi, Digapahandiand Berhampur, respectively,BJP’s Bibhuti Jena, KahnuCharan Pati, Pinki Pradhanfiled papers for Gopalpur,Berhampur and Digapahandi,respectively, Congress’ RameshJena and Lingaraj Choudhuryfor Sanakhemundi and

Berhampur, respectively andAmbedkar Congress’ GobindaSahu filed papers forBerhampur constituency.

Besides, after visiting LordJagannath Temple atKhallikote, one SuryamaniBaidya filed her nomination inthe office of AdditionalCollector at Chhatrapur forKhallkote constituency.

Senior scribe and socialworker Samarjit Mohantyreportedly filed papers for thePolasara constituency as a can-didate of the All India ForwardBloc.

���� �'�'��31���4/

Aperson was killed andanother suffered critical

injuries after the bike theywere riding on collided with aHyva truck on National Highway-55 nearJogadhari in the district onMonday.

The deceased was identi-fied as Suryakanta Satpathy ofTeratanga village under theBalikuda police station in thedistrict. The incident tookplace when Suryakanta along

with his friend MunaDas of Alabhara village wasgoing to Cuttack at around 5.30am. Due to foggy conditions,the bike collided with the truckcoming from opposite direc-tion.

The truck driver fled fromthe spot after the mishap

Later, the injured personwas shifted to the SCB MedicalCollege Hospital in Cuttack from the DistrictHeadquarters Hospital (DHH)after his condition deteriorated.

���� '��'�'/�

Abody of an unidentifiedyouth was found floating

in a pond at Kalibiri villageunder the Tigiria police stationon Monday morning.

When villagers went to thepond for bath, they located thebody and informed police andfire brigade about it.

The Fire Services person-nel fished out the body andrushed it to the Athagarh Sub-Divisional Hospital for post-mortem.

The body had cut marks inthe throat. The Tigiria policeregistered a case and beganinquiring into the incident.The police suspected thatsomeone killed the youth andthen threw the body into thepond

���� $4��'$E

The Vigilance police onMonday caught Malkangiri

district’s Kudmulguma outpostunder the Orkel police stationASI Balaji Kumar Nayak red-handed for demanding andaccepting illegal gratification ofRs 6,000.

Nayak was caught takingthe bribe from complainantJitendra Khila of Kudmulgumavillage in the district to not toregister a case against him andforward him to courtin a dispute reported at the

outpost. His residential houseat Jeypore was searched. Hewas arrested and forwarded tocourt.

Similarly, Sambalpur ChiefDistrict Veterinary office JuniorClerk S Sankar Reddy wascaught taking bribe of �4,000from complainantMadhusudan Majhi, formerStatistical Enumerator, for

drawal of his salary for the sickperiod of 83 days sanctioned by the authority ascommuted leave on April 19,2018.

His residentialGovernment quarter atSambalpur and house atChhatrapur in Ganjam dis-trict were searched.

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Page 4: 0 -0 -1 ,-$. /& ˝˛ ˚˙ (’˚31ˆ()ˆ’$= ’=3;(’˚)’0/)>3˚ ˆ)/ ’1 · Congress fortune in the Lok Sabha elections. As part of the Congress manifesto for general elections,

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The State Bank of India (SBI)inaugurated its 872nd

branch in its Bhubaneswar Circle at theXavier University Campus hereon Monday.

Xavier University Vice-Chancellor Prof Fr PaulFernandes inaugurated thebranch in the presence of SBIBhubaneswar circle

CGM Praveena Kala, GM(Network-1) Devi ShankarMishra, DGM (BO) RajayKumar Sinha and RegionalBusiness Office-3 RegionalManager SatanarayanaPanigrahi.

This is the 50th branch inthe Khordha, Nayagarh regionand would be of immensehelpful for meeting the bank-

ing needs of the universityand nearby institutions like Skill Development, ICT, Institute of Mathematics,OEC College, Aryan Instituteof Technology along withinhabitants of villages in andaround Sunderapada and Jatniarea.

���� 0�40'1)�2'/

The CYSD, on the occasionof its 37th Foundation Day

organised a panel discussion“Health inequality and inequityin contemporary Odisha” here.

Eminent persons includingchief guest CEO Oxfam, IndiaAmitav Behar, mentor and co-founder, CYSD Jagadananda,Directorate of State Institute ofHealth and Family Welfare DrLalit Mohan Rath, PublicHealth Specialist and AdjunctAdditional Professor, IIPHBDr Bhuputra Panda andAdditional Professor, PHFI DrShridhar Kadam participatedin the panel. The programmewas moderated by AkshayKumar Biswal.

Speaking on the health

inequality, Behar said,“Inequalities differ from coun-try to country, State to State andin Odisha it differs from districtto district.

Again if we are looking forinequalities among the com-munities then again adivasisand weaker sections are com-paratively more vulnerable thanupper caste and other castepeople.”

Dr Panda said, "We need toplan and implement policieskeeping in mind those whoneed the services the most. Wealso need to monitor pro-grammes closely, and critiquepolicies using objectively ver-ifiable indicators.

Encouraging decentralisedshared governance, better inter-sectoral coordination and

strengthening health systemsbuilding blocks would improve

equity in health and the factorscontributing to it."

Jagadananda said, “TheGovernment should focus on

proper implementation ofschemes and programmes

which may eradicate theinequality level from the back-ward communities.”

The findings of healthinequality and inequality inOdisha as per CYSD are thetotal no of PHCs in the State is1,305 and the total bed strengthin the PHCs is 1,026.

But as per the present data,13.36 per cent PHCs are hav-ing indoor beds. Being themajor cornerstone of ruralhealth services most of thePHCs don’t have adequate facil-ities.

As per IPHS guidelines,every PHCs should have at least4-6 beds. As per the data ofDirectorate of Health Services,2018, 13 districts didn’t have asingle bed in their respectivePHC.

Anaemia is more promi-nent in women and childrenthan male. Out of 30 districtwomen and children areanaemic in 11 districts. More

than 70 per cent women areanaemic in four districts likeSundargarh,

Sambalpur, Malkangiri andNabarangapur. At the sametime, more than 70 per cent children of Sundargarh, Subarnapur, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Sambalpur and Koraput dis-tricts are anaemic.

As per the sample regis-tration system (SRS), 2016, thedeath rate in Odisha is highestin the country which stands at(Male: 8.5, Female: 7.1) asagainst 6.4 (Male: 6.8, Female:5.9) of the country as a whole,a sharp 1.4 points below thenational death rate

s. It is observed that, mal-nourishment is very prominentin most of the tribal dominat-ed districts of Odisha. Besides,34.1 per cent children arestunted followed by 20.4 percent wasted and 35.1 per centchildren underweight.

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BJD star campaigner NabaKisore Das on Monday

filed his nomination papers asBJD nominee for JharsugudaAssembly seat.

He was accompanied bymany supporters besides son,Visual and daughter, Niki dur-ing filing of papers.

Bearing party flags andshouting slogans in support ofCM Naveen Patnaik, BJD partyworkers and supporters fol-lowed Das in a rally.

BJD senior leaders TapasRay Choudhury, SandeepAwasthi, Pintu Padhi, SidharthSarkar,Manoranjan Mohapatra

among others were present.Das reached the sub-col-

lector office around 1.30 pmand submitted 4 sets of nomi-nation papers to the sub-col-lector cum returning officer(RO) Shiva Toppo.

He stated the local media-persons that his priority isdevelopment of town and vil-lages, irrigation, promotion ofindustry and job to the unem-ployed youths. Das has repre-sented Jharsuguda seat twice in2009 and 2014 and enjoys amassive support base in theconstituency.

Similarly, BJP MLARadharani Panda filed two setsof nomination for Brajrajnagarseat .CPI candidate Ramesh

Tripathy filed nomination forBrajrajnagar on the day as well.

Besides, independent can-

didate Ajeya Kumar Mandaland Har Prasad Meher fromSamata Kranti Dal filed nom-ination for the Brajrajnagarconstituency.

Radharani Panda camewith a rally from Beheramalalong with party workers.Husband advocate SudhansuPurohit and district BJP officebearer were there during hernomination. SimilarlyCongress Bargarh MP candi-date Pradeep Debta, CPI tradeunionist Anit Chakraborty andsenior CPI leaders were presentwith CPI alliance candidateRamesh

Tripathy. The last date forfiling of nomination papers isMarch 26.

���� 0�40'1)�2'/

The East Coast Railway(ECoR) General Manager

has announced an award of�50,000 for the Fire Services ofPuri for its prompt action indousing fire in three coaches ofthe Tapaswini Express recent-ly.

The fire teams would befelicitated and awarded withthe announced money at aspecial Railway function to beheld soon, informed an official

release.The GM also appreciated

the prompt and active action ofthe Government Railway Policeand the Railway ProtectionForce (RPF) personnel. Theywould also be awarded by theGM, said the release.

���� 0/'��'�4/

The Rotary Club BrahmapurCentral, the Indian Chest

Society, the National College ofChest Physicians, the IMA andthe Jai Jagannath Morning Walk Clubjointly observed the WorldTuberculosis Day with this year’s theme “It’s timeto end Tuberculosis” here onSunday.

The day was observedunder the chairmanship ofProf Dr Narayan Mishra. Onthe occasion, a mobile workshop and a rally wereorganised and an awarenessprogramme was conducted inthe slum areas near therailway station and bus-stand

here.Among others, Rotary

Club Brahmapur central pres-ident G Srinivas Rao, AjitKumar Prusty, Dr Smbit

Begrey, Asha Mishra, LaduKishore Patro, KailashMahapatra, Deepak Padhi,

Jaganath Padhi Subash Patroand Dr Prabeen Kumar Rathwere present.

���� �4/3

No irregularities were com-mitted in giving the

Prakruti Mitra Award to theBeach Protection Council ofOrissa (BPCO), a State-levelNGO working for the protection of 480-km seabeach, in 20111-12.

Beach Council presidentJagannath Bastia stated this,reacting to the allegations madeby the Hotel Association ofPuri (HAP) in this regard.

“The Prakruti Mitra awardis meant for organisations notfor individuals.

There is no provision forself nomination for the award.The Forest and EnvironmentDepartment has given theaward to the council on thebasis of the recommendation ofdistrict Collector, Puri afterfield visit of the district-levelselection committee,” Bastiasaid, adding that he has notcommitted any fraud or cheat-ing to get the award.

He said the HotelAssociation of Puri has filed acomplaint against him in theCourt of SDJM, Puri with falseand baseless allegations with aintention to harass him as he

had filed a writ appeal in theOrissa High Court against theHotel Association pertaining todemolition of 316 illegal build-ings.

The Beach ProtectionCouncil has also filed a PIL inthe High Court seeking evic-tion of illegal encroachments ofpowerful hoteliers from alongthe Puri sea beach.

Besides, the BPCO hasrequested the State VigilanceDirector to conduct an inquiryinto the alleged financial irreg-ularities committed in organ-ising Puri Beach Festival.

Bastia refuted the hotelassociation’s allegation of crim-inal conspiracy to get thePrakruti Mitra Award.

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The Orissa High Court onMonday refused to grant

bail to Balangir parcel bombblast accused Punjilal Meherand dismissed his bail applica-tion saying the petitioner’s pleawas devoid of merit. A collegeteacher by profession, Meherwas arrested in April 2017 forhis alleged involvement in thegruesome incident of sendinga bomb in a parcel as weddinggift, which exploded killing thegroom and his grandmotherand injuring the bride.

“The nature and gravity ofaccusation, the shockingimpact of the crime on the fam-

ily of the victims and collectiveconscience of the society, theseverity of punishment in caseof conviction, the conduct ofthe petitioner in trying toescape from jail custody andchances of tampering with thewitnesses, I am of the humbleview that the petitioner doesnot deserve to be released onbail,” Justice SK Sahoo said and,accordingly, dismissed the bailapplication.

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Saffron brigade may not layits bet on the tried and

trusted soldiers to hold the fortin the crucial 2019 Lok Sabhaelections.

As the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) is expected toannounce the names of itscandidates by this week forPunjab, it has been learnt thatthe saffron party would notrepeat the faces which hadearlier represented the party.

So much so that the partymay even replace its sitting MPfrom Hoshiarpur and theUnion Minister of State forSocial Justice andEmpowerment Vijay Sampla.In fact, the party is trying to

romp home to victory by rely-ing on the star power.

BJP contests on three seats— Amritsar, Gurdaspur, andHoshiarpur — in coalitionwith the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), which fields its candi-dates from remaining 10 seats,in Punjab.

Even as Sampla is hopefulof being re-nominated fromHoshiarpur, his not-so-friend-ly relations with the party’s statepresident Shwait Malik andthe presence of his anti-groupin his segment may cost himthe seat.

The state BJP leaders hadheld a series of meeting in thenational capital and had hand-ed over the panel of names tothe central leadership for tak-

ing the final call. ForHoshiarpur, Sampla’s bête noiresitting MLA from PhagwaraSom Parkash is throwing anopen challenge to his candida-ture. Besides, the former chair-man of Punjab Scheduled CasteCommission Rajesh Bagha isalso eyeing the party ticketfrom the seat. For Amritsar,from where the party had field-ed its stalwart Arun Jaitley butlost to Congress veteran CaptAmarinder Singh in 2014 elec-tions, the party is consideringthe names of Bollywood actressPoonam Dhillon, and Indiancricketer Harbhajan Singh.

Dhillon is presently thevice-president of BJP’s Mumbaiunit and is a Jat Sikh, likeHarbhajan Singh. Dhillon had

campaigned for the party dur-ing the 2014 Lok Sabha and2017 assembly elections.

Besides, the name of UnionMinister Hardip Puri is alsobeing considered. Apart fromthat, names of Punjab BJPpresident Shwait Malik,Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhinawho unsuccessfully contested2017 byelection, BJP nationalsecretary Tarun Chugh, andformer Minister Anil Joshiwere also in the reckoning.

After suffering a defeat bymore than two lakh votes in2014 elections, the saffronparty is preparing to field astrong candidate for Amritsarseat, which witnessed a top-notch electoral fight betweenCapt Amarinder and Jaitley

during the previous generalelections.

BJP’s Chhina had alsolost to Congress’ Gurjit SinghAujla in 2017 by-election bya whopping margin of1,99,189 votes. Aujla hadreceived 5,08,153 votesagainst 3,08,964 votes castedfor the runner up Chhina.AAP’s Upkar Singh Sandhubagged 1,49,984 votes.

In the past, former crick-eter and Punjab CabinetMinister Navjot Singh Sidhuwas the BJP MP from Amritsarbetween 2004 and 2014. He,however, left the party ahead ofthe 2017 assembly electionsand joined the Congress.

The saffron brigade hadwon Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat

in 2014. But after its sitting MPand former Union MinisterVinod Khanna’s death, theparty’s candidate Mumbai-based businessman SwaranSalaria lost the seat to Congress’Sunil Jakhar in 2017 by-elec-tion. The party is now bank-ing on Khanna’s widow KavitaKhanna. Earlier, the party isplanning to field Khanna’sactor son Akshey Khannafrom Gurdaspur, who hadcampaigned for his fatherduring 2009 and 2004 elec-tions. Other than one from theKhanna family, BJP’s formerstate president AshwaniSharma, former MinisterMaster Mohan Lal, and MLADinesh Babbu are also in therace.

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As all political parties are bracing up for a fierce multi-corneredelectoral battle in Haryana, two political players—Aam Aadmi

Party and Jannayak Janta Party—are struggling to forge an alliancefor ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP and Hisar MPDushyant Chautala’s JJP have been holding parleys for more thana month now to form an alliance to contest on 10 Lok Sabha seatsin the state but have so far failed to resolve the deadlock on seat –sharing formula.

While the AAP has now announced to take a final call on form-ing an alliance by March 30, the JJP is keeping its doors open foran alliance with the AAP and also, exploring a possibility to tie upwith Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

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More political leadersjoined the BJP on

Monday as the partyannounced the names of can-didates for two Lok Sabhaseats, including that of formerparty MP Kharvela Swain, and 19 Assembly constituenciesin Odisha.

Former RJD Jharkhandpresident Annapurna Devi andparalympian Deepa Malik alsojoined the party. Malik is thefirst Indian woman to win amedal in Paralympic Games.

Devi, a one-time close aideof RJD leader Lalu Prasad for-mally joined the BJP at theparty headquarters in presenceof party president Amit Shah.She was denied the Lok Sabhaticket by the RJD in Jharkhand.

Former Odisha DGPPrakash Mishra — who joinedthe BJP on Sunday — has beenfielded from Cuttack Lok Sabhaseat, while ex-MP Kharavela

Swain — who was re-inductedinto the party on Monday inBhubaneswar — has been givena ticket from Kandhamal par-liamentary constituency, cur-rently a part of the country’sMaoist belt. A three-time MPfrom Balasore, Swain had quitthe BJP in 2009.

Swain was keen on con-

testing the general electionfrom Balasore seat, but theparty has already fielded Pratap Sarangi from the coastalconstituency.

Malik, a famous para ath-lete, joined the BJP with theparty asserting that her pres-ence will strengthen the organ-isation. With the BJP yet to

announce all its candidates inHaryana for the Lok Sabhaelections, Malik may be in thereckoning for one of the seats,sources said.

She joined the BJP in thepresence of the party’s Haryanaunit chief Subhash Barala andgeneral secretary Anil Jain,who is in charge of its affairs in

the State. “We welcome her intothe party. She is an inspirationfor all of us. She has made thecountry proud,” Jain said.

Several political leadershave switched sides in lastcouple of weeks as political par-ties announced the lists of can-didates for the Lok Sabha polls,beginning April 11.

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Waking up from slumberpost-Pulwama, the CRPF

is going to procure a new fleetof mine protected vehicles(MPVs) and the small 30-seater bullet-resistant buses toensure safety of its convoys inJammu & Kashmir.

The Motor Transportbranch of the paramilitary hadbeen pressing for procurementof these vehicles for the lastmany years but confusion pre-vailed owing to lack of clarityfrom the top leadership thatkeeps changing stance afterthe change of the Force’s chief,sources said.

The paramilitary has alsodecided to increase the numberof its bomb detection and dis-

posal squads (BDDS) for the 65battalions of the CRPFdeployed in Jammu & Kashmirfor anti-terror and law andorder duties. The move comesagainst the backdrop ofPulwama suicide bombing byJaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) thatripped a bus killing 44 per-sonnel on February 14.

The MPVs are expected toramp up the counter-IED capa-bilities of the paramilitary asthere have been Intelligenceinputs that the terror groupscould resort to more and moreIED attacks.

Earlier, about a dozenMPVs were diverted from theNaxal-hit States to Jammu & Kashmir.

Bullet-resistant armourplating of smaller buses is

more feasible that the standardsized buses with a capacity tocarry 52 passengers. Armour-plating significantly enhancesthe weight of the buses andspeed is significantly hit due toadditional weight of thearmour plates.

The additional BDDSsquads with more equipmentwill help detect IEDs on theground. As the armours willonly give protection from fir-ing, new standard operatingprocedures for convoy move-ment have been put in place toavoid any Pulwama-type attack.

The new SOP entails con-voy movement by restrictingthe movement of civilian vehi-cles and regularly changinghalting points.

In the wake of Pulwama

attack, the CRPF had faced crit-icism for plying large convoysto ferry paramilitary personnelin operationally sensitiveJammu and Kashmir.Following this, the UnionHome Ministry hadannounced last month that alljawans and officers of the para-military will get air courier

facility for one year while goingin to join duty or for tour andwhile proceeding on leave.

The CRPF cavalcade thatcame under attack on February14 had 78 vehicles and the bushit by the suicide bomber wasfifth in line. The convoy wascarrying over 2,500 CRPF per-sonnel.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday favouredincreasing the random physi-cal verification of VVPAT slipsin the upcoming Lok Sabhaand assembly polls and told theEC that “no institution shouldinsulate itself from improve-ment, including the judiciary”.

It was not the question of“casting aspersions”, rather amatter of “satisfaction” of theelectorate, the top court said.

It asked the EC to fileresponse as to whether it canincrease the number of samplesurveys of VVPAT slips fromone in each Assembly segmentfor the upcoming General andAssembly elections.

The court was hearing aplea filed by 21 Opposition

leaders, led by Andhra PradeshChief Minister N ChandrababuNaidu, seeking the VVPATslips of at least 50 per cent ofvoting machines in eachAssembly constituency bechecked randomly in the LokSabha elections next month.

A Bench of Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi and JusticeDeepak Gupta asked theEC to file its reply on affi-davit indicating the reasons of its satisfactionthat purity of elections canbe maintained and is beingmaintained.

“The Election

Commission of India (EC) isfully satisfied that the purity ofthe elections can be main-tained and is being maintained.The Election Commission ofIndia shall indicate the above inan affidavit the basis of satis-faction,” the Bench said.

It added, “The ElectionCommission of India shall alsoindicate that if the sample sur-vey can be extended to a high-er level...The affidavit shall befiled by 4 pm on March 28. Thematter is listed for furtherhearing on April 1.”

At the outset, the Benchtold the Deputy ElectionCommissioner Sudeep Jain,appearing in person, whether

the poll panel canincrease the number ofrandom physical verifi-cation of VVPAT slipswith EVMs from theexisting stipulation ofonly one polling stationper Assembly segment.Jain replied that the ECIhas adequate reasons to

believe that there was norequirement for changing thepresent arrangement of ran-dom matching of VVPAT slipswith Electronic VotingMachine for one polling perAssembly segment. PTI

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The Election Commission(EC) is set to increase the

number of ‘special expenditureobservers’ to monitor illegalcash and inducements beinggiven to voters during the LokSabha polls as it has identifiedabout 120 expenditure sensitiveconstituencies till now in thecountry. The EC’s specialexpenditure observers alsoreviewed the poll preparednesswith the two special observersfor the subject, ShailendraHanda (Maharashtra) andMadhu Mahajan (Tamil Nadu).

Earlier, the EC hasappointed two retired IndianRevenue Service (Income Tax)officers as special expenditureobservers for Maharashtra andTamil Nadu. This is the firsttime that such observers havebeen appointed for any polls inthe country.

They said few more suchobservers could be appointed bythe next week to oversee thework of about 800 Centralexpenditure monitoring teamsand observers who track blackmoney, liquor, drugs and otherfreebies given to voters illegally.

The maximum number ofelection expenditure observersare drawn from the IndianRevenue Service (Income Tax),while others belong to the IRS

(Indirect Taxes and Customs).Officials said the ElectionCommission, till now, has iden-tified about 120 expendituresensitive constituencies in thecountry for general electionsand it is awaiting the report ofsome state Chief ElectoralOfficers (CEOs) to identifymore such segments.

The identified expendituresensitive constituencies are inthe States of Telangana, AndhraPradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana,Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand andUttarakhand, among others,while a similar report fromstates like Maharashtra andfew others are awaited.

An expenditure sensitiveconstituency is identified as aseat which is prone to highexpenditure and corrupt prac-tices. For such a constituency,the EC rules mandate, thereshall be two assistant expendi-ture observers, a similar num-ber of flying squads, static sur-veillance teams and video sur-veillance teams.

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Aday after MaharashtraNavnirman Sena (MNS)

threatened to stall the biopic onPrime Minister Narendra Modiin Maharashtra, the Congresson Monday moved the ElectionCommission (EC) to get therelease of the biopic deferred tillthe final phase voting in theLok Sabha polls (May 19),contending that it violates thecode of conduct.

The Congress delegationthat met the EC comprised ofRandeep Singh Surjewala,Kapil Sibal, and AbhishekManu Singhvi. “We represent-ed to the EC that there is a filmbeing made on Narendra Modi,to be launched just a few daysbefore election, it’s purpose ispolitical. Three producers andactor belong to the BJP, thedirector is involved in VibrantGujarat. This is violative of allnorms,” Kapil Sibal said.

As per the complaint filed,the Congress said the biopicwill be released on April 5, justdays ahead of the Lok Sabhaelections commencing on April11.”Modi’s party is seeking asecond term and the timing ofthe release has raised ques-tions,” the Congress said in the

complaint.While MNS chief Raj

Thackeray has accused the BJPof propagating their welfareschemes through moves likeToilet Ek Prem Katha andPadman and now PMNarendra Modi , the Congress has demanded thatthe release be deferred till thelast phase of voting.

Opposition parties are con-tending that it would violate themodel code of conduct andinfluence voters.

The model code of conductis in place across India sinceMarch 10, when the ECannounced dates for generalelections and Assembly polls infour States. Earlier, the DMKand the CPI has already movedthe EC seeking banning ofbiopic on PM Modi till electionis over.

Ever since the movie wasannounced, the Opposition has

accused it of being politicalpropaganda of the saffron party.In the movie, Vivek Oberoi willbe seen in the lead essayingPrime Minister Modi. Whileactors like Boman Irani, BarkhaBisht Sengupta, RajendraGupta, Zarina Wahab, DarshanKumar, Prashant Narayanan,and Yatin Karyekar, will be insupporting role.

The movie was recentlymarred in a controversy regard-ing credits to for its lyricsbeing attributed to JavedAkhtar and Sameer Anjaan,who refused to have anythingto do with the movie.

Later, it was producerSandip Singh, who cleared theair and said it was due to theuse of songs Ishwar Allah fromthe film 1947: Earth and thesong Suno Gaur Se DuniyaWalon from the film Dus, in themovie whose lyrics have beengiven by the two personalities.

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The three special observersappointed by the Election

Commission (EC) to help itdecide on holding Assemblyelections in Jammu & Kashmiron Monday met top officials ofthe CRPF and the State police.Sources said since the CRPF isthe principal security agency inthe State, the observers want-ed a feedback on how early theAssembly polls can be held in

the State.The CRPF, the sources said,

is of the view that electionsshould first be held in the“most difficult” parts of theState so that the force gets ade-quate time to dominate the area.

But, the State administra-tion is learnt to be of the viewthat areas which have previ-ously witnessed high voterturn-out should go to polls firstto avoid a “drag down” effect onother constituencies.

The sources said the ECwill now take a comprehensiveview before taking the next callon the subject. Since theJammu & Kashmir Assemblyhas been dissolved, the EC isbound to hold fresh polls thereas well within a six-monthperiod, which will end in May.

The Government is of the

view that the security situationis complex in the State giventhe heightened tension alongthe India-Pakistan border.

The three special observersare Vinod Zutshi and NoorMuhammad and retired IPSofficer A S Gill. The observershave been tasked with makinga real-time assessment of the sit-uation by meeting political par-ties, district and State authori-ties and other stakeholders toenable the poll watchdog take acall on the issue.

The J&K Assembly’s six-year term was to end on March16, 2021, but it got dissolvedafter a ruling coalition betweenthe Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) fell apart. Theother State Assemblies and theLok Sabha have five-year terms.

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The Congress on Mondayfielded Sanjay Nirupam

from the North West Mumbaias it released its tenth list,clearing 26 names for the LokSabha elections. The announce-ment of Nirupam’s candidaturecame on a day he was removedas the Mumbai RegionalCongress Committee chief(MRCC). Former UnionMinister Milind Deora replacedNirupam as MRCC chief.

Out of the 26 candidatesannounced by the party onMonday, 25 were for WestBengal. Mohammad Alamfrom Barrackpore, MitaChakraborty from KolkataDakshin, Suvra Ghosh fromHowrah, and Pratul Saha fromHooghly were among thosenamed in the list. With this,the party has announced atotal of 253 candidates so far.The Congress also namedfour candidates for Assemblypolls in Odisha.

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New Delhi: Former Union Minister Sukh Ram on Mondayrejoined the Congress along with his grandson Aashray Sharmaahead of the Lok Sabha polls, with the party’s saying his entrywould boost its poll prospects in Himachal Pradesh.

“For me, it is like home-coming,” said 93-year-old Sukh Ramwho returned for the second time to the Congress which he hadlast left ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections to join the BJP. TheCongress had sacked him in 1997 following his conviction in thetelecom scam which occurred when he was a Union minister inthe PV Narasimha Rao Government, but he returned in 2004.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Courton Monday refused to entertaina petition filed by a former DGPof Uttar Pradesh and an envi-ronmentalist seeking a directionto the Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) to ban roadshowsand bike rallies during polls.

“We are not inclined to

entertain this,” a bench ofChief Justice Ranjan Gogoiand Justice Deepak Gupta toldadvocate Virag Gupta, whowas appearing for petitionersVikram Singh and environ-mentalist Shaivika Agrawal.

Singh, a former DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) of

Uttar Pradesh, and Agrawalhad said in their plea that road-shows and bike rallies violatethe ECI’s instructions and causedamage to the environment.

The petitioners had saidthat roadshows and bike ralliesduring the election period causeair, noise pollution and traffic

jams, which result in inconve-nience to the general public.

The plea had said thatinstructions issued by the ECIwith regard to roadshows andpolitical processions mandatethat vehicles must be registeredand a convoy cannot havemore than 10 vehicles. PTI

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New Delhi: Bangladesh HomeMinister Asaduzzaman Khan islikely to visit India next weekduring which he is expected todiscuss various issues, includinganti-terror cooperation andmovement of illegal immigrants,officials said.

According to the plan,Khan will have bilateral talkswith Home Minister RajnathSingh on May 1, where issuesconcerning both the countrieswill be discussed threadbare.

Anti-terror cooperation,movement of illegal immigrants,and smuggling of cattle, armsand ammunition and a fewother issues are expected to bediscussed during the talks whichwill also be attended by topinternal security officials ofIndia and Bangladesh, a HomeMinistry official said.

However, no pact or mem-orandum of understanding willbe signed during the

Bangladesh Home Minister'svisit as the model code of con-duct is in force due to the LokSabha election.

Radicalisation of youthsand Rohingya refugees issuesmay figure in the dialogue,another official said.

During the delegation-leveltalks, steps to be taken tostrengthen the existing mecha-nism to check movement of ille-gal immigrants and smugglingof cattle, narcotics and otheritems through the porous India-Bangladesh border will figureprominently, the official said.India shares a 4,096-km-longborder with Bangladesh. PTI

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Accusing West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee

of triggering a constitutionalcrisis and creating classes ofVIPs and non-VIPS, the BJP onMonday charged the localKolkata Police with threateningcustoms officials who checkedluggage of Mamata's nephewand TMC MP AbhishekBanerjee's wife at Kolkata air-port.

BJP spokespersonShahnawaz Hussain toldreporters the State Governmentseems to be working to protecta family.

The Chief Minister shouldtell the people what was beingbrought in those suitcases thatthe Kolkata Police had to "ter-rorise" customs officials to pre-vent them from checking them,he said. He also alleged police

threatened the customs offi-cials.

Abhishek, who is a LokSabha member, has claimedthat his wife was chosen by cus-toms officials because of herprofile and rejected claims ofBJP leaders that she was car-rying anything in violation oflaws. He charged a politicalvendetta behind the airportchecking.

Rajya Sabha memberSwapan Dasgupta, who is affil-iated to the BJP, asked why theKolkata Police entered an areawhich falls under the jurisdic-tion of the customs depart-ment.

He said the TMC chief wascreating classes of VIPs andnon-VIPs with different sets ofrules and laws. MamataBanerjee is deliberately tryingto provoke a constitutional cri-sis, he added.

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The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Monday alleged

that Delhi-based lawyer andaccused in the VVIP chopperscam Gautam Khaitan, has alsobeen a beneficiary of �850 croreslush funds generated out ofDefence deals.

The ED statement cameafter the agency filed a prose-cution complaint (charge sheetin police parlance) againstKhaitan before a Special Courthere under the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA).

"On the analysis of his for-eign bank accounts, it wasrevealed that �850 crore approx-imately in foreign currencies arereceived from suspected

accounts. Gautam Khaitan hascreated structures viz companieswhich are under his control tolaunder the Proceeds of Crimerelated to criminal activitiessuch as kickbacks of defencedeals, the ED said in a statement.

"Khaitan has held beneficialinterest/ownership in foreignassets/ company/ account, anddid not disclose the same in hisreturn of income filed before theIncome Tax Authorities forassessment year 2009-11 to2019-20," the ED alleged.

Khaitan holds bankaccounts either singly or injoint names of his family mem-bers as well as corporate struc-tures with beneficial interest inthree banks in foreign jurisdic-tion namely, Barclays Bank,Singapore Bank and UBS Bank.

New Delhi: The AAPGovernment on Mondaymoved the Supreme Courtseeking constitution of a larg-er Bench to expeditiouslydecide the issue of control overadministrative services inDelhi.

A Bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi told theDelhi Government counsel thatit will look into the matter.

The apex court had onFebruary 14 referred the issueof control of services to a larg-er Bench after delivering asplit verdict.

The two-judge Bench hadsaid the Centre should have thefinal word on posting andtransfer of bureaucrats in thenational Capital administra-tion, but their disagreement on

finer details resulted in a splitverdict and the matter gotreferred to a larger Bench.

The Bench, which wascalled upon to decide on six vex-atious issues pertaining to along-running feud between theCentral and the national CapitalGovernments, had given aunanimous verdict on theremaining five counts and hadruled that the DelhiGovernment's Anti-CorruptionBranch (ACB) cannot probe theCentre's employees in corrup-tion cases. Out of six con-tentions issues, the DelhiGovernment had won in threeand lost to the Centre on twocritical aspects of investigatingpower to probe central govern-ment employees and for settingup of enquiry commissions.

While it left for a largerbench to conclusively decidewho will have control overadministrative services in thenational Capital, the apex courthad unanimously ruled that thepower to appoint enquiry com-missions would rest with theCentre as "there is no 'StateGovernment' in the UnionTerritory and the StateGovernment (for this purpose)shall mean the CentralGovernment".

In its 202-page verdict,the court had, however, heldthat the elected DelhiGovernment will have the rightto appoint public prosecutors,to decide land revenue mattersand also to appoint or dealwith electricity commissionor board. PTI

Lucknow: Aday after hisbrother-in-lawjoined the BJP,S a m a j w a d iParty's BadaunM PDharmendraYadav on Monday said hisname should not be linked withhim as he cannot have any rela-tion with any BJP leader.

Dharmendra Yadav's both-er-in-law Anujesh Pratap SinghYadav Joined the BJP Sunday inAgra.

Reacting to the develop-ment, Dharmendra Yadav, said,"I have come to know thatAnujesh joined the BJP. Themedia has presented him as mybrother-in-law in their reports."

"I want to clarify that Icannot have any relation withany BJP leader, so I do not haveany relation with Anujesh. Irequest the media not to reporthim as my relative," the third-term MP said in a statement.

PTI

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In an apparent bid to consol-idate the Bengali and Tamil

votes of the Andaman andNicobar Islands and withMamata Banerjee deciding tofield her party’s candidate in theisland constituency, TrinamoolCongress on Monday struck analliance with film star KamalHaasan’s MNM for the islandconstituency.

Haasan who came callingto Bengal’s State secretariat atNabanna in Howrah said afteran hour-long meeting, theChief Minister, that his partywould back the TMC inAndaman.

Banerjee said, “we haveformed an alliance with KamalHaasan’s party for theAndaman. He is giving us fullsupport,” adding the reasonbehind this alliance was theTamil superstar’s “good cre-dentials among the masses.” Weare grateful to him that he camehere,” Banerjee said addingthere will be a joint rally at

Andaman on April 6.Haasan whose party was

likely to contest all the seats inTamil Nadu said the “meetingwas excellent.” He said, “We areproud to say that MakkalNeedhi Maiam is an ally withthe Trinamool Congress forAndaman. We hope the rela-tionship evolves in future.”

In a parallel development

the Chief Minister mounted ascathing attack on the “forcesthat try to divide the society inthe name of religion.”

Addressing the devoteesof a Hindu religious order atBaranagar in northern fringesof Kolkata, Banerjee said “reli-gion brings humanity, culture,education, love and respectfor others.”

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Unperturbed by the criti-cism over delay in pro-

duction and supplying of air-crafts and helicopters, the State-run Hindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL) on Mondayrolled out 16th indigenouslybuilt Light Combat Fighter JetTejas to Indian Air Force inInitial operational clearance(IOC). The Fighter jet will beinducted into 'Flying Daggers'an air force squadron of theIAF."We have produced 16thLCA as per the target till March31. The customer flights areexpected to be completed bythe end of March," HAL said ina statement.

The defence behemoth hasan order from IAF for 40 LCAs(16 each in IOC and finaloperational clearance (FOC)"The first aircraft in FOC con-

figuration may roll out by theend of this calendar year(2019)," HAL said.Productionof the fighter began in 2014with a capacity of eight aircraftper annum. A second produc-tion line has been set up atAircraft Division in this aero-space hub, which carries outstructural assembly, finalassembly and equipping of theaircraft.

The production of LCAcommenced in 2014 with acurrent production capacity of

eight aircraft per annum. A sec-ond production line has beenestablished at Aircraft Division(Bangalore Complex), which iscarrying out structural assem-bly, final assembly and equip-ping of the aircraft.

Recently HAL had receiveddrawings and documents relat-ed to FOC with limited clear-ance for LCA (Tejas) fromCEMILAC and ADA. Withthis HAL can start workingtowards productionisation ofFOC standard fighter aircraft.

The first aircraft in FOC con-figuration may roll-out by theend of this calendar year.

“LCA demonstrated itscombat capability in the IAF’s‘Gagan Shakti’ exercise by fir-ing the Air-to-Air BVR Derbymissile. Two LCAs will be fly-ing at the LangkawiInternational MaritimeAerospace Expo (Lima- 2019)in Malaysia beginning tomor-row. HAL team will be provid-ing the technical support at theshow” the statement said.

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Mumbai: In a major relief to a Pakistaninational living in India for over 50years, the Union Ministry of HomeAffairs told the Bombay High Court onMonday that he will be granted Indiancitizenship within 10 days.

Asif Karadia, whose parents are ofIndian origin, had approached the HC inDecember 2016 when his previous long-term visa (LTV) expired and the author-ities refused to extend the visa unless heproduced a Pakistani passport.

Following much litigation and severalorders of the court, the ministry finallyconfirmed before a bench of justices AS Oka and M S Sanklecha on Mondaythat Karadia will be granted Indian cit-izenship.

The bench accepted the statement asan undertaking given by the ministryunder oath, and disposed of Karadia's peti-tion.

Karadia (53) had approached the HCthrough his counsels Ashish Mehta andSujay Kantawala after his LTV expiredand a deportation notice was issuedagainst him.

Karadia told the HC that he did nothave a Pakistani passport or any othervalid identity documents issued by thegovernment of the neighbouring country.

The petitioner said though he wasborn in Karachi, he was brought to Indiaby his mother when he was a just a fewdays old and has stayed in Mumbai eversince.

His father and mother were born inGujarat before the Partition, and his wifeand three children are all Indian citizens,according to the petition.

Karadia said he had been living inIndia, earning a living by working at alocal restaurant, paying taxes and hadIndian ID proofs such as an Aadhaar

card, a ration card, a PAN card and evena voter ID card, but no passport.

His citizenship application too hasbeen pending before the government forover seven years.

He, thus, urged the court to ensurethe deportation notice against him wasstayed, and his LTV extended till the gov-ernment decides on his citizenship appli-cation.

In 2016, another HC bench haddenied him any interim relief, observingthat even if a person was entitled to anIndian citizenship, he or she could not "atany given time, be authorised to residein the country without valid papers".

However, in January 2017, the courtobserved that Karadia's case was "unique"and in an interim order, directed the Maharashtra Government and theCentre to not take any coercive actionagainst him. PTI

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Mumbai: The husband of anNCP corporator was onMonday hacked to death inMaharashtra's Beed districtallegedly by a mob which sus-pected he was helping membersof the Shikalgar community ina kidnapping case, police said.

Pandurang Gaikwad (50)was attacked with swords, sick-les and sticks in Phule Nagararea of Parli-Vaijnath town inthe district, over 470 kilometresfrom here, an official said.

"Gaikwad sustained seri-ous injuries in the attack in theearly hours of Monday. He wasrushed to a nearby hospital butwas declared dead on arrival,"the official said.

Police said the attack mightbe a fallout of the kidnapping ofa 16-year-old boy four monthsago allegedly by members of theShikalgar community as theminor was in love with a girl

from that community.A kidnapping case was reg-

istered at the time with Purnapolice station, and the boy'sbody was found a few days later,enraging local residents andkin, an official said.

"The mob, which includedthe mother of the kidnappedminor boy, attacked Gaikwadsuspecting he was helping theShikalgar community mem-bers in the kidnapping case,"said Inspector Balasaheb Pawarof Sambhajinagar police station.

He said 11 people, includ-ing two women, attacked andkilled Gaikwad, five of whomhave been arrested and chargedwith murder.

Efforts are on to nab the restof the accused, he added.

The Shikalgar communityis spread across the state and aretraditionally engaged in makingand sharpening weapons madefrom iron.

The community's name isderived from an Arabic word forsharpening. PTI

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In its manifesto for the 2019Lok Sabha polls, the

Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) has promised open talkswith Pakistan to discuss theissue of terrorism, undertakemodernisation of HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL)and other Ordnance Factories,proper implementation ofOROP and 33 per cent reser-vation to women in parliament.

In the manifesto releasedby its senior State leader andformer Speaker in the StateAssembly, Dilip Walse-Patil,the NCP also promised votersstructural reforms to drive sus-tainable agriculture, a completeloan waiver to all farmers andinitiative to compliment theMinimum Support Price(MSP) through a system ofincentives and commissionpayments. The NCP said it wascommitted to provide ade-quate attention to promoteagriculture growth, productiv-

ity, income and access to mar-ket.

To create jobs, the NCP inits manifesto — that stressed on“Aao Milke Desh Banaye,Humara Aapka hum sabkaBharat — has promised toboost skill developmentthrough active engagement ofprivate and public sector, acad-emia, domestic and interna-tional organisations of repute.“We will introduce adequateskilling programme to suit andbenefit from the changing envi-ronment. Considering hugepotential of job creation, finan-cial assistance to Micro, Smalland Medium Enterprises(MSME) will be increased andrestructuring of their loanswill be done,” the manifestosaid.

Apart from opening talkswith Pakistan during which wewill insist on discussing ter-rorism, the NCP said it “willcontinue to be responsive tothe newly elected SheikhHasina Government in

Bangladesh”. “We will work tomove Russia away from gettingtoo close to China andPakistan by frequent high levelexchanges.We will keep allchannels open to China butdemand that it opens its mar-ket to exports of Indian phar-maceuticals, agriculture prod-ucts and IT services. We willcontinue to expand relationswith the United States ofAmerica, including for importof defence equipment” theNCP manifesto said.

Slamming the NDAGovernment for its “miserablefailure”, the NCP stated in itsmanifesto: “The NDAGovernment, in five years, hasfailed miserably to contain ter-rorism. In these five years ofNDA rule, there have beenthree terror attacks on militaryand para military forces underits nose. There has been a crim-inal failure of intelligence in pre-venting such attacks. No respon-sibility has been fixed. No oneis held accountable”.

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In a sudden mid-poll develop-ment, the Congress high com-

mand on Monday eveningsacked its Mumbai unit presi-dent Sanjay Nirupam andreplaced him with former MPNehru-Gandhi family loyalistMilind Deora.

More than seven weeks afterDeora went to town saying that“infighting” was threatening“our base in Mumbai”, AICCgeneral secretary KC Venugopalissued a brief statement thatread: "Congress president RahulGandhi has appointed MilindDeora as president of MRCC.The party appreciates the con-tribution of outgoing presidentSanjay Nirupam”. Nirupam, ajournalist-turned-politician who

had been appointed as theMumbai Congress in March2015, has been namedCongress candidate fromMumbai North West which wasrepresented in the past by lateGurudas Kamat.

Milind Deora, who hasreplaced Nirupam, is the son oflate Congress stalwart MurliDeora who had been theMumbai Regional CongressCommittee (MRCC) presidentfor for a record 22 years from1981 to 2003.

Milind, who was a juniorminister in the Dr ManmohanSingh-led UPA government, isalso the Congress candidatefrom Mumbai South.

An erstwhile Shiv Senafunctionary, Nirupam is a two-term Rajya Sabha member andone-time Lok Sabha memberfrom Mumbai North. Nirupamhad over the past several monthscome in for severe criticism forhis “ad hoc” style of f*unction-ing and his “failure” to take

senior leaders along. In a way,Milind Deora has also con-tributed Nirupam’s ouster. Itmay be recalled that on February5, Deora had said that “infight-ing” was threatening “our basein Mumbai” and that the cityparty unit “cannot become acricket pitch for sectarian poli-tics, with leaders pitted againstone other”.

A day after he said he mighteven re-consider “if it is worthfighting elections or not”, Deorasaid he was “disappointed” with“infighting” within the MumbaiCong and indirectly blamed cityparty unit president SanjayNirupam for contributing to“sectarian politics” within theparty set up. In a series oftweets put on the sorry state ofaffairs within the Mumbai,Deora had said: “In a city likeMumbai, we need to bring peo-ple together. The Mumbai Congcannot become a cricket pitchfor sectarian politics, with lead-ers pitted against one other”.

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If you don’t vote for PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,

you will commit a sin andwaste your vote. It is time toisolate anti-nationals, Pakistanisupporters, terrorist sympa-thisers and all those who con-sider 'abusing' Indian Army istheir religion. They haveganged up together. They wantto defeat Prime Minister Modi,defeat BJP and defeat JitendraSingh.

This is the message DrJitendra Singh, BJP's candi-date from Udhampur-DodaLok Sabha seat, is taking to thedoor steps of electorate in hisparliamentary constituencywhile building up his campaignin the run up to the voting day,April 18.

He is contesting from thesame seat for the second time.

In 2014, Dr Singh haddefeated Congress heavyweight Ghulam Nabi Azad bya margin of over 60,000 votesin his maiden outing in the LokSabha polls.

In the absence of GhulamNabi Azad in the fray Dr Singhis in the commanding positionbut facing numerous chal-lenges as the electioneering ispeaking.

Both Congress and theNational Conference havefielded Vikramaditya Singh,son of Congress stalwart DrKaran Singh, against him.Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) is also lending its sup-port to him to consolidate'secular' votes and ensure defeatof BJP candidate.

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Page 7: 0 -0 -1 ,-$. /& ˝˛ ˚˙ (’˚31ˆ()ˆ’$= ’=3;(’˚)’0/)>3˚ ˆ)/ ’1 · Congress fortune in the Lok Sabha elections. As part of the Congress manifesto for general elections,

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The Congress in Tamil Nadu,which is facing the wrath of

the Christians for non-inclusionin the list of candidates selectedfor the Lok Sabha election, suf-fered another setback onMonday as a senior leader of theparty went public and aired hisdispleasure for denying him theSivaganga seat.

Sudarshana Nachiappan, apopular Congress leader, whohad represented the Sivagangaconstituency during 1999 to2004 alleged on Monday that hewas not considered for the con-stituency this time because ofthe pressure exerted by seniorCongress leader PChidambaram.

The Congress HighCommand had on Sunday nom-inated Karti Chidambaram asthe party candidate fromSivaganga. The juniorChidambaram who had con-tested the seat in the 2014 Lok

Sabha election had forfeited hissecurity deposit and had fin-ished fourth in the race.

Karti, the one and only sonof Chidambaram and NaliniChidambaram, is facing inves-tigations by the CBI and the EDin a series of cases includingmoney laundering in the INXMedia scam. He had toldreporters that there were nocriminal cases against him andhe faced no case in any court.“There are only unfounded alle-gation against me and no courtshas framed charges against me,”said Karti while speaking toreporters.

C D Meyyappan, seniorAICC member from the Statewho was the only leader avail-

able TNCC head quarters atChennai said there were nomajor issues in the party as onMonday. “These are all initialhiccups which would beresolved in days to come . Whilethe campaign picks up, the partyleaders would put up all theseissues behind them and focus onwinning the election,” saidMeyyappan, former president ofTamil Nadu Youth Congress.

He the Congres HighCommand has done a tightrope walking while selecting theten candidates. “Since our partyis too democratic, leadersexpress their disappointmentin public. There is no need toworry as we are all united inensuring the victory of theDMK-led front in the State,” saidMeyyappan.

The Bishop Council ofTamil Nadu had expressed theirdispleasure over the CongressHigh Command ignoring theplea of the Church that com-munity members be included inthe list of candidates.

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Two Union Ministers, NitinGadkari and Hansraj Aher

of BJP, Congress leader and bit-ter Narendra Modi critic NanaPatole were among those whofiled their papers, as the nomi-nations for the Phase-1 of theLok Sabha polls in Maharashtraended on Monday.

Seven constituencies in east-ern Maharashtra — Wardha,Gadchiroli-Chimur, Ramtek,Nagpur, Bhandara-Gondiya,Chandrapur, Yavatmal-Washim– will go to polls on April 11 inthe first of the four-phased elec-tions in the State. Accompaniedby Maharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis and othersenior leaders from the BJP-ShivSena alliance, Gadkari filed hisnomination papers in his hometown of Nagpur.

Talking to media personsafter filing the nominations, “Iam overwhelmed by theresponse from the ordinaryNagpur citizens and the partyworkers… I am confident that

I shall win with a record marginand strengthen the hands ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi”.

Gadkari takes on Patole inNagpur. It may be recalled thatin December, 2017, Patole hadresigned from BJP and hisBhandra-Gondiya Lok sabhaseat, citing 14 reasons whichinclude 14 reasons including theincreasing number of farmersuicides, demonetisation andGST. Before and after his res-ignation, Patole had criticisedModi. Former Shiv Sena MLASuresh Dhanorkar, who wasgiven the Congress ticket afterresigned and joined the RahulGandhi-led party, filed his nom-ination for the Chandrapur seat.He was a last-minute nomineeafter the party on Sunday hackedthe name of Vinayak Bangadefollowing huge Opposition.

Former Union Minister andex-Chief Minister SushilkumarShinde filed his papers fromSolapur, while former stateCongress President ManikraoThakre filed his papers fromYavatmal-Washim.

!�*������������������������: �������������������������� Lucknow: An ultimatum has

been given to the BJP by its dis-gruntled ally and chief ofSuheldev Bharatiya SamajParty, Om Prakash Rajbhar, tofinalise the seat-sharing processin 24 hours for the Lok Sabhaelections in Uttar Pradesh.Rajbhar has demanded fiveseats out of 80 LS seats.

Rajbhar, who is a CabinetMinister in the Yogi AdityanathGovernment, slammed the BJPfor failing to decide on the NDAseat-sharing with all of its alliesin UP. “We are fighting for ourrights. We were called for ameeting with Amit Shah alongwith Apna Dal and ourdemands were asked. Seat-sharing was decided for theApna Dal, but we are still beingkept in the dark. I have given 24hours to the BJP to take a deci-sion on our seats else we will goour way,” Rajbhar said.

The SBSP has demanded alist of five seats includingChandauli, Ghosi,Ambedkarnagar, Jaunpur andeither Machlishehar or Lalganj.

“If Apna Dal was assignedseats then why a decision couldnot be taken on our demands?They (BJP) finalised alliancesin Maharashtra, Goa, Bihar,

Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.Then why are we kept waiting,”Rajbhar added.

Further, when asked aboutchances of joining theCongress, Rajbhar said hisparty can go “anywhere” as “alloptions are open”. The party’sdecision to stay with the BJPwill be revealed on Tuesday, theMinister added.

Earlier in February,Rajbhar had handed over thecharge of the backward class-es welfare department to ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath. Inhis letter to CM Yogi, he hadcited non-payment of duesand discrepancies in scholar-ship to students hailing frombackward castes as the reasonbehind his decision. He had

also dared CM Yogi to throwhim out of the Cabinet.

The SBSP has beendemanding the implementa-tion of a sub-quota for OtherBackward Classes (OBC) aheadof the Lok Sabha elections. “Iwill continue my fight for thepoor. I am the only 72-year-oldMinister who is fighting againsta Chief Minister,” the disgrun-tled Minister had said.

Moreover, Rajbhar had alsoannounced that his party maygo solo on all the 80 seats in UPin the general elections if theBJP decided to keep SBSP outof the coalition. The SBSP hasfour MLAs in the UP Assembly.

The Minister has been a fre-quent critic of Yogi Adityanathand has time and again claimedthat his party was not getting the ‘due respect’. He had alsoattacked the UP Governmentfor renaming the cities ofMughalsarai and Faizabad.“They say they (the cities) werenamed after the Mughals. Theyhave national spokespersonShahnawaz Hussain, Unionminister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, UP Minister MohsinRaza, three Muslim faces of theBJP, change their names first,” hehad said. AGENCIES

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Ahmedabad: A GujaratMinister on Monday tappedinto controversy by askingCongress chief Rahul Gandhi toconsume poison to check if hewas indeed an 'avatar' of LordShiva as claimed by his partyworkers.

Addressing a gathering atBardoli in Surat, Gujarat TribalDevelopment Minister GanpatVasava said Gandhi's "Shivareincarnation" can be consid-ered true only if he survives afterhaving "500 grams of poison".

"People from the Congressclaim Rahul Gandhi is an avatarof Lord Shiva. Now, since LordShiva used to consume poisonto save people, I want Congressworkers to make their leaderdrink 500 grams of poison,"

Vasava said."If he survives like Lord

Shiva after consuming poison,we will all believe he is the truereincarnation of Lord Shiva"Vasava claimed.

The BJP minister's Shiva jibeincensed the Congress whichcalled it "extremely unfortu-nate" and reflective of that party's"true character" and stemmingfrom the fear of poll defeat.

"Such comments about ourleader are extremely unfortu-nate. This shows the true char-acter of BJP and its leaders. Theyare making such statementsout of frustration as they are see-ing defeat in the Lok Sabhapolls," Gujarat Congressspokesperson Manish Doshisaid. PTI

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Ahmedabad: If the Congress'sperformance in the 2017Gujarat Assembly polls wasany indication, the BJP mayhave to sweat it out in at leastseven Lok Sabha seats, most ofthem in its bastion Saurashtra.

In the Assembly elections,the Congress won 77 seats,improving its tally by 16 seatsin the 182-member House.The BJP was restricted at 99— the party's worst perfor-mance in the last two decades.

The Congress bagged 30of the 54 seats in theSaurashtra-Kutch region.

The Assembly poll resultscame as a shot in the arm for

the Opposition party after itdrew a blank in the 2014 LokSabha elections and the BJPwon all 26 seats in the State.

Congress leaders are con-fident that the party mightwrest at least four Lok Sabhaseats in the Saurashtra region— Amreli, Junagadh, Botadand Surendranagar — fromthe BJP.

The Congress is also bet-ting big on Anand in centralGujarat and Banaskantha andPatan in north Gujarat.

It is also eyeing Dahod,Chhota Udepur, Sabarkanthaand Patan.

"People in Saurashtra sup-

ported us overwhelmingly inthe 2017 elections, as a resultof which we won a significantnumber of seats in the region.This is clearly going to be afactor in the Lok Sabha elec-tion," Congress spokespersonManish Doshi said.

"We expect to gain four-five seats from that region," hesaid.

In Saurashtra, the BJP isstruggling with the perceptionthat it failed to reach out topeople affected by 2016floods.

Doshi said the Congresshopes to win at least 12-13Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat —

the home state of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

The renewed enthusiasmof the Opposition party comesfrom the fact that it hadbagged eight out of the nineassembly seats in Junagadhand Gir-Somnath districts inSaurashtra.

By highlighting issues likefarm distress and Patidar agi-tation, the Congress won allthe five assembly segments inAmreli parliamentary con-stituency in 2017.

Surendranagar is anotherLok Sabha constituency whereagriculture issues remain adominant factor. PTI

: ������?��������������������������@����������

Gangtok: Sikkim ChiefMinister and SikkimDemocratic Front (SDF) pres-ident Pawan Kumar Chamling,the longest serving ChiefMinister of the country, onMonday filed his nominationpapers from two Assemblyconstituencies.

Chamling, who has been inpower since December 12,1994 will fight to retain officefor the eighth successive term.

The 68-year-old chief min-ister is seeking re-election tothe state legislative assemblyfrom Namchi-Singithang andPoklok-Kamrang seats in hisnative south Sikkim. PTI

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Page 8: 0 -0 -1 ,-$. /& ˝˛ ˚˙ (’˚31ˆ()ˆ’$= ’=3;(’˚)’0/)>3˚ ˆ)/ ’1 · Congress fortune in the Lok Sabha elections. As part of the Congress manifesto for general elections,

The shrill and abusive attackslaunched by Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andhis oft-repeated diatribe

“Chowkidar Chor Hai” has brought thepolitical discourse to a new low. By doingso, he carries on the family’s tradition ofdisrespecting democratically-electedpolitical leaders who do not belong to it.It also brings to the fore the debate oncorruption, an issue which no memberof the Nehru-Gandhi family has themoral authority to talk about. So, here isa quick look at how the Nehru-Gandhishave funded their politics.

During the Nehru era, the Congresscollected funds from Indian industrial-ists and businessmen and sometimes thislanded the party and the Government introuble. For example, Mundra, an indus-trialist owning many companies andbusinesses, who had funded the Congressin the 1950s, ran into financial problemsand signalled to the Government that itwas payback t ime. The NehruGovernment obliged him by directing theLife Insurance Corporation to buy hiscompanies’ shares at inflated prices. Thethen Finance Minister, TTKrishnamachari, who was obviously act-ing on orders from above, lost his jobwhen the truth came out in what cameto be known as the LIC-Mundra scandal.

However, things changed after IndiraGandhi engineered a split in the party in1969. Soon after the break-up, she beganrelying heavily on the communists andso, naturally, the Soviets came to her res-cue. Vasili Mitrokhin, who was in-chargeof the KGB archives, made explosive rev-elations of the KGB’s activities around theworld. He talked about how the KGBfunded the Congress in the 1971 electionsand of how they even had moles in herCabinet.

Many honourable citizens of thecountry, who have held key positions inpolitics, Government, bureaucracy andindustry in the post-1970 era, have pro-vided us invaluable evidence of how theCongress went about the business offunding its activities and election cam-paigns. These witnesses to that era saythat the Congress decided on a new modeof raising funds — via commissions col-lected on mega international defence andother contracts. A very respected witnessto this era was BG Deshmukh, who wasCabinet Secretary between 1986-89 andhis autobiography — A Cabinet SecretaryLooks Back — is very enlightening.

Deshmukh says, “The genesis of theBofors affair lies in the practice initiat-ed by Indira Gandhi and further refinedby her son Sanjay Gandhi for collectingfunds for the Congress. Till the middleof the 1960s, during the regime of PanditJawaharlal Nehru, the collection of funds

for the party was a more transparent dealand business houses were also permittedto make open donations.”

Indira Gandhi, he says, was in direneed of funds to fight elections and estab-lish herself as the undisputed leader of theCongress. For this, she depended on loyalsupporters like Rajni Patel and VasantraoNaik. “Later, when she had establishedher supremacy in Indian politics, shedecided that a far better way to collectfunds for the party was through claim-ing cuts from foreign deals. SanjayGandhi perfected and refined this stillfurther from 1972 onwards.”

Deshmukh said when Indira Gandhicame back to power in 1980, he wasAdditional Secretary in the Ministry ofHome Affairs. “My colleagues told methat in January 1980 itself, Sanjay Gandhicalled senior officers from certain con-cerned ministries for giving orders, mak-ing deals and clearly and firmly told themhow they should be finalised. Trustedsenior officers were posted to Ministriessuch as the Defence and also to theDepartment of Defence Production.Even the death of Sanjay Gandhi in the mid-1980s did not change thispractice.”

The second unimpeachable witnessis BK Nehru, a distinguished civil servant,Ambassador and Governor and uncle ofSanjay and Rajiv Gandhi. In his autobi-ography, Nice Guys Finish Second, herecalled that at Sanjay Gandhi’s crema-tion, he asked Rajiv Gandhi “whether themoney Sanjay had collected allegedly for

the Congress was safe?” Rajiv said, “Allthey found in the almirahs of theCongress office was �20 lakh.” Nehruthen asked Rajiv Gandhi how muchSanjay had. To which he said, “He (Rajiv)held his head in his hands and said croresand unaccounted crores.”

Two more equally unimpeachablewitnesses to this era are former PresidentR Venkataraman and industrialist JRDTata. In his autobiography, MyPresidential Years, Venkataramanrecounts a conversation he had with JRDTata when the latter called on him inAugust 1987. Venkataraman said theirconversation veered round to the state-ment Rajiv Gandhi had made inParliament a few days earlier on theBofors bribery scandal.

“Tata said that though it was quitepossible that neither Rajiv nor membersof his family had received any consider-ation in the gun and other defencedeals, it would be difficult to deny thereceipt of commissions by the Congress.That was because he (Tata) felt that since1980, industrialists had not beenapproached for political contributionsand that the general feeling amongstthem was that the party was financed bycommission on deals.”

Since this was the established modeof fund collection, Bofors was certain tohappen. In this scandal, Rajiv Gandhi andothers were accused of taking kickbackswhen India purchased field guns for itsarmy from the Swedish arms manufac-turer, Bofors. Rajiv Gandhi vehemently

denied this charge in Parliament.However, the Nehru-Gandhis have neverbeen able to explain why Bofors remit-ted $ 7.30 million into the account ofMaria and Ottavio Quattrocchi soon afterIndia sent the first tranche of paymentsto the company. The Quattrocchis movedthis money around several banks in sev-eral locations and it was finally traced tothe Channel Islands in the UK.

The Vajpayee Government got theUK Government to freeze the accountbut the Manmohan Singh Governmentasked the UK Government to withdrawthe order, result ing in the Quattrocchis eventually getting awaywith the loot.

Why did this Italian knock off a com-mission when we bought field guns forour army? Why did Sonia Gandhi get the Manmohan Singh Government tode-freeze the account? These questionswill continue to haunt the Nehru-Gandhis.

And as if this was not enough, thereare the Volcker Committee’s conclu-sions on the “non-contractual beneficia-ries” of Iraqi oil sales under the UnitedNations Oil-for-Food Programme, whichsaid that the Iraqi dictator SaddamHussein had funded the Congress. Also,it seems Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was justone of the two nations that had support-ed Indira Gandhi’s dictatorship duringthe Emergency!

Do we need to say more?(The writer is Chairman,

Prasar Bharati)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “India firm on terror” (March25). India’s refusal to attendPakistan’s National Day celebra-tions to protest the PakistanHigh Commission’s invite toJammu & Kashmir separatistleaders for the event is not onlya step in the right direction buthas sent a clear message toIslamabad that terror and peacecannot co-exist. Further, theCentre’s ban on the Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir LiberationFront (JKLF) — a dreaded terror-ist outfit responsible for mercilesskillings and mass exodus ofKashmiri Pandits from the Valleybefore and after 1989 insurgency— though late is welcome.

Even as Pakistan has explic-itly assured the internationalcommunity that it will ‘firmly’deal with terrorists housed in itssoil, the rogue nation has beenbluffing its way by not onlyallowing Jaish-e-Mohammedchief Masood Azhar to roamfree but is also continuouslyengaging India in a proxy warand has resorted to indiscrimi-nate firing and shelling acrossthe Line of Control. This has

resulted in heavy casualties ofour civilians and security forces.

Unless Pakistan proves itssincerity and shows concrete evi-dence that terror has been root-ed out of its soil once and for all,India telling in clear terms toPakistan that there would be noIndia-Pakistan dialogue is aptand appropriate.

KR SrinivasanSecunderabad

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Sir — As modern technologycontinuously strives to makeour living more comfortableand enjoyable, advanced tech-nology, too, has found waysand means to entertain people.This often at the cost of theirhealth. More than 1,000 doctorsfrom 24 States and three Union

Territories of India have writtento Prime Minister NarendraModi to enforce a ban onElectronic Nicotine DeliverySystems (ENDS).

A steep rise in the use ofelectronic cigarettes has madeIndia the second largest popula-tion of smokers in the world.Doctors have warned of seriousconsequences if the Governmentfails to ban its use immediately.

The menace has started assum-ing enormous proportion toengulf the youth of this country.Youth are the asset of the nation.

A ban is unlikely to be aneffective solution. Its imple-mentation will not only requirea consistent effort but will alsopush the sale underground. Abetter option, therefore, for theGovernment is to focus on rais-ing awareness.

TK NandananChennai

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Sir — The 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tion will decide the future coursefor our country. Post the Pulwamaincident, circumstances havechanged. The Opposition is moredivided than ever. Only a unitedforce can change the present sit-uation. One only hopes that vot-ers exercise their franchise in a waythat ensures the protection of therights of citizens, the Constitutionand, most importantly, India’sidentity as a democracy.

SunitaVia email

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Page 9: 0 -0 -1 ,-$. /& ˝˛ ˚˙ (’˚31ˆ()ˆ’$= ’=3;(’˚)’0/)>3˚ ˆ)/ ’1 · Congress fortune in the Lok Sabha elections. As part of the Congress manifesto for general elections,

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Many years ago when Air Deccan hadjust started its services, this columnistmet GR Gopinath, founder of India’s

first low-cost carrier, in a south Delhi guest-house. Gopinath is a man who is never shy tospeak his mind. He made it very clear duringmy meet that his plans were being held up byNaresh Goyal, the founder chairman of JetAirways. He called Goyal the best connectedperson in the Indian aviation sector and sworethat Air Deccan would still manage to soar.

In fact, Gopinath reiterated these allega-tions in a column for The Economic Times lastweek as the Jet Airways crisis reached its end-game. This is not for the first time that JetAirways is faced with an existential crisis. Thiscould, however, be the first time that Goyal andhis airline will not survive unscathed with theairlines’ very existence in doubt.

This was certainly not how Goyal or JetAirways employees had thought their silverJubilee year would come to an end. After all,the airline faced it all — change in ownership,regulations, Governments and even rivals —and survived everything. Jet is the only airlinefrom the mid-1990s aviation boom — whenthe Government opened domestic services toprivate carriers — to have survived. Thisdespite an almost public humiliation by VijayMallya when the bombastic businessmanspoke of a potential Jet-Kingfisher merger afterJet laid off thousands of cabin crew amidst apayments crisis. Goyal and Mallya had afamous late night press conference where thelatter almost lorded over the former.

Yet, the reticent and media-shy Goyal hadthe last laugh when Mallya came crashingdown to earth harder than Icarus. But his bat-tle with Mallya is what doomed both men asthey went for ill-advised decisions to buy AirSahara (Goyal) and Air Deccan (Mallya).These financially profligate decisions destroyedthe finances of both the companies.

A decade after buying Air Sahara, JetAirways was unable to fully integrate the air-line into its operations, not for any fault of itsown but the way the airline industry is regu-lated in our country. But as Mallya and Goyalfought, new entrants to the Indian aviationmarket, particularly Indigo, that flooded themarket with capacity and lower fares, was whatsounded the death knell for Kingfisher at firstand also likely doomed Jet Airways into a long,slow decline.

One white knight that Jet Airways foundwas the Abu Dhabi-based airline, Etihad. Earlyin 2014, Etihad pumped in money into JetAirways and made the Indian airline part ofan ambitious global alliance of airlines thatincluded the German carrier, Air Berlin;Italian national carrier, Alitalia; Serbiannational airline JAT; and some other small airlines across the world. This was all partof a scheme to build traffic through its hub in Abu Dhabi to compete with theDubai-based Emirates airline in a seemingclash of egos.

Since then though, Etihad has bled moneyand has shuttered many of its routes. Itrefused to sink more money in Air Berlin,

which went bust last year and surrendered itsstake in Alitalia that is currently on life-sup-port in not a very different situation to JetAirways. With Etihad’s losses totalling over $4billion, there has even been murmurs that theairline will merge with Emirates.

That said, Etihad did initially express adesire to take control of Jet Airways, or asmuch as the Government’s Foreign DirectInvestment rules would allow. But Etihaddemanded that Naresh Goyal step down fromthe board of the airline and cut his stake downto under a quarter in perpetuity. On that front,they were little different from the Indian banks,which have a major exposure to the airline, andwho demanded the same: For Jet to survive,Goyal must go. Finally, he did.

Jet has been unable to pay its staff or eventhe leasing companies from whom it borrowsplanes. Over the past few years, Jet has beengradually selling its planes to these leasingcompanies before renting them back. Thisallowed them to generate a certain amount ofcash upfront. But now, with little money in theback and no rescue plan, the airline has failedto make payments and barely 35 aircraft outof a fleet of over 140 are at one-time fly. Thismeans that over a million seats have sudden-ly disappeared from the Indian market in lessthan a month with cancellations rife.

So, while the Jet Airways crisis did notimpact the passengers in the past other thanthe occasional withdrawal of lounge access andthe end of free meals on board, the spate ofcancellations has meant that commuters aredirectly impacted with refunds being held up.Worse still, several travellers, who booked theirtravel on low, cheap fares several months inadvance, find that even with refunds they will

be stuck with expensive last-minute fares today. With many travellers also having paid for

hotels and other trip features in advance — andother airlines refusing to accept Jet Airwaystickets, and in some cases being unable to can-cel their tickets due to egregious fees — theyare in a lose-lose situation.

So, should the Government and lendersstep in? After having lost billions of dollarsduring the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines andlearning that a grounded airline is worthless,the banks want to protect some amount of theirmoney to find a suitable buyer for Jet Airways,which is what the provisional resolution plansuggested by the banks want.

But can the banks find a proper profession-al to run the airline? With Jet’s pilots refusingto fly until their dues are cleared, with salariesnot having been paid for months, even withGoyal’s departure, the sun, which featuresprominently on Jet Airways’ tail logo, is notshining brightly.

However, it remains a great asset. With airtravel booming in India and airlines such asIndiGo suffering severe growth pangs, JetAirways still has potential. The banks must bewary of what to do next but they should bewilling to take a haircut on their loans becauseif they do not, the airline might never recov-er and the Indian taxpayer will end up hold-ing the can for the airline industry once again,just like they did for Kingfisher Airlines andcontinue to do with Air India.

The bottom-line is that Jet Airways must survive for the healthy growth of the avi-ation sector in our country and as a corollary,the Indian economy.

(The writer is Managing Director, The Pioneer)

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An advocacy group, IndiaTech,representing some of themost high-profile entrepre-

neurs, has made a submission to theMinistry of Corporate Affairs(MCA) and the markets regulator,Securities Exchange Board of India(SEBI), seeking a dual-class sharestructure along with differential vot-ing rights for founder-promoters ofstart-ups that can encourage thecountry’s most valuable compa-nies to get listed on the domesticstock exchanges instead of overseasexchanges such as Nasdaq andNew York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

At present, the Companies Act2013, permits firms having consis-tent track record of distributable

profits for three years to issueshares with differential voting rights(DVR) subject to a cap of 26 percent of the total share capital. Thelobby group wants the MCA to dis-pense with this caveat. Alternatively,the Ministry may consider allowingcompanies, who meet certain rev-enue threshold, to issue shares withDVR without having to meet theprofitability criteria.

IndiaTech has also asked forincreasing the current cap on shareswith differential rights from exist-ing 26 per cent to at least 51 per centof a company’s post-issue, paid-upequity share capital. It has alsosought conversion of ordinaryshares into equity shares carryingDVR and equity shares with DVRinto ordinary shares.

Typically, startups work on aninnovative idea that holds thepotential for huge business oppor-tunities. Seeing this, ‘strategic’investors pump in equity capital,which in turn leads to an increasein their shareholding and corre-sponding reduction in the stake ofa promoter. Depending on the scale

of investment, the former may evenacquire majority stake, reducing thelatter to minority. The intent behindissuing DVR is to nullify this out-come.

A share having differential rightbestows its holder voting power thatis greater than what is available toan ordinary shareholder. As a result,even with lower share in the totalequity capital, the promoter will beable to hold on to the driver’s seat(major beneficiaries are expected tobe the so-called ‘unicorns’ — anacronym for start-ups which havea market capitalisation of over $1billion). The idea is flawed.

First, a fundamental tenet ofcorporate functioning is that thevoting power of an investor has tobe proportional to his investment orthe shares held by him in the com-pany. This applies to all investors,including the promoter. Yet, anyattempt to give disproportionatevoting rights to the promoter, whichcan only be at the cost of otherinvestors, will be ‘unfair’ and ‘dis-criminatory’.

Second, when strategic and

financial investors bring in funds,the promoter gains due to increasein business prospects and phe-nomenal growth in his personalwealth. Then, for him to alsoremain in the driver’s seat — in sofar as the management and controlgoes — sounds like having the cakeand eating it too.

Third, in some cases, the pro-moter either exits or sells a portionof his/her shares at huge premiumraking in the moolah (for instance,in Flipkart, one of the co-promot-ers sold his stake making billions ofdollars). In such a scenario, he hasto necessarily get reconciled toreduced or no control over the com-pany.

Fourth, what makes one pre-sume that the promoter alone is bestpositioned to run the affairs of thecompany in a manner so as toachieve the stated objectives? Infact, for strategic investors havingmade substantial investment, thesheer need to protect and grow itwill make them eligible to takecharge.

To expect that only the promot-

er is best suited to run (merelybecause he set up the company) isan untenable argument.

Even so, nothing prevents thestrategic investors (albeit withmajority stake) to vest the promot-er with powers by passing necessaryresolution in this regard. Thatindeed is the way forward insteadof the founder-promoter wanting toride piggyback on law-makers andregulators to indulge in muscle-flexing.

In their obsession to remain atthe helm, come what may, the pro-moters of startups want theGovernment to even dispense withthe profitability track record crite-ria. This is bizarre. It means thateven when a promoter pushes thecompany into losses continuouslyand despite being reduced to aminority shareholder, he/she shouldhave the eternal right to remain incommand and control.

In the same vein, they want tohave the flexibility of conversion ofordinary shares into equity sharescarrying DVR and equity shareswith DVR into ordinary shares.

This is done with an aim to enableall existing promoters to get into thedrivers’ seat wherever the majorityshares have slipped into the handsof strategic investors.

Letting the promoters haveshares up to 26 per cent with DVRs— already allowed under theCompanies Act, 2013 — was badenough. To raise the cap to 51 percent as demanded by the advocacygroup, would substantially aggra-vate the imbalance.

This could be counter-produc-tive for none other than the start-ups themselves. This because facedwith the denial of voting rights insync with their share holding,strategic investors will be disin-clined to pump in capital, therebynipping the chances of their growthin the bud.

To sum up, the idea floated byhigh-profile entrepreneurs isflawed. The Government shoulddismiss it with the contempt itdeserves. There are better ways ofgiving support to startups.

(The writer is a freelance jour-nalist)

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Page 10: 0 -0 -1 ,-$. /& ˝˛ ˚˙ (’˚31ˆ()ˆ’$= ’=3;(’˚)’0/)>3˚ ˆ)/ ’1 · Congress fortune in the Lok Sabha elections. As part of the Congress manifesto for general elections,

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Niti Aayog Vice-ChairmanRajiv Kumar on Monday

said Congress party PresidentRahul Gandhi’s promise ofproviding �72,000 annually tofive crore families if voted topower will create strongincentives against work andbust fiscal discipline.

At a press conferencehere, Gandhi announced that20 per cent families belongingto the poorest category will begiven �72,000 each annuallyas minimum income if hisparty comes to power.

“True to its past record ofpromising the moon to winelections, Congress Presidentannounces a scheme that willbust fiscal discipline, createstrong incentives againstwork and which will never beimplemented,” Kumar saidin a tweet.

In another tweet, he saidthe cost of the minimumincome guarantee scheme at2 per cent of the gross domes-tic product and 13 per cent ofthe budget will “ensure” thatreal needs of people remainunsatisfied.

Kumar also said theCongress party had promised‘Garibi Hatao’ in 1971, ‘OneRank One Pension’ in 2008,food security in 2013 to winelections, but could not fulfilany of those.

The “same unfortunatefate” awaits the populist andopportunistic promise ofminimum income guarantee,he added.

The Economic Advisory

Council to the Prime Minister(EAC-PM) also criticised thepre-poll announcement byGandhi in a series of tweets,but later deleted them after itwas pointed by a Twitter userthat they were in violation ofthe model code of conduct.

EAC-PM had tweetedthat in the last five years, a lotof hard work has gone intostriking the right balancebetween economic growth,inflation and fiscal discipline.

“INC’s income guaranteescheme (as of 25/03/2019)would either upset this bal-ance or severely cut criticalgovernment spending. Bothoptions dangerous,” it said.

The proposed incomeguarantee scheme fails theeconomics test, fiscal disci-pline test and execution test,it added.

When Twitter user

@sumedhbhagwat pointedout to EAC-PM membersthat the tweets were in viola-tion of the model code of con-duct, Council’s ChairmanBibek Debroy deleted themessages on the micro-blog-ging site.

“Tweets being deleted.Thanks for pointing out,”Debroy said in a tweet.

EAC-PM memberShamika Ravi also tweet-ed,”The ONLY detail thatmatters: will this be BUDGETNEUTRAL? In plain English:Are we to replaceFOOD+FERTILISER+FUELsubsidies?.”

Ratan P Watal, RathinRoy and Ashima Goyal arealso members of the council.

About 900 million are eli-gible to vote to elect the nextLok Sabha in seven-phasedpolling beginning April 11.

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SpiceJet chief Ajay Singhon Monday said it was a

“sad day” for Indian aviationas Naresh Goyal and hiswife Anita Goyal steppingdown from the board of JetAirways.

Naresh Goyal is theFounder and Chairman ofJet Airways, a full-serviceairline that has been flyingfor more than 25 years.

Referring to the latestdevelopments, Singh, who isthe Chairman and ManagingDirector of budget carrierSpiceJet, also said it was awake-up call for the coun-try’s policymakers to addressstructural challenges that ismaking domestic airlinesuncompetitive.

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The rupee ended almost flatat 68.96 per US dollar on

Monday as participants pre-ferred to wait on the sidelinesto see the outcome of RBI’sfirst-ever rupee-dollar swapauction.

The forex market senti-ment revived towards the fag-end, offsetting early losses amidincreased selling of the green-back by exporters, traders said.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange market, the rupeeopened on a weak note at69.09 then fell further to 69.17against the US dollar. The localunit, however, erased the initialgains and finished at �68.96,down by just 1 paisa over itsprevious close.

On Friday, the rupee hadended lower by 12 paise at 68.95against the American currencyon rise in demand for thegreenback from importers andsell-off in domestic equities.

The rupee-dollar swap auc-tion announced by the RBI ear-lier in March will infuse�35,000 crore into the system.The auction of $5 billion for atenure of three years will beconducted on Tuesday.

“The currency, sovereign-debt and credit markets are inthe waiting mode to see theresult of this new swap auction.The move is largely being seenas one of RBI buying dollars tocreate domestic liquidity,” saidV K Sharma, Head PCG andCapital Markets Strategy,HDFC Securities.

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Food infla-tion in

the countryis likely to goup to 2 per-cent in fiscalyear 2019-20from the 0.7percent esti-mated forFY19, areport saidon Monday.

It can be noted that the lowfood prices have been one ofthe prime factors which hasaided the RBI to be moreaccommodatory in its rate set-ting recently.

In the report, foreign bro-kerage Goldman Sachs attrib-uted the low food prices in thelast few months to the pricesof cereals and vegetableswhich have been low for sometime.

Deregulation of markets,which saw delisting of vegeta-bles from the AgricultureProduce and MarketingCommittee Act (APMC) in 14states, has helped the vegetableprices, it said.

In the case of cereals,“active food management” poli-cies have helped, it said, addingthe Government releasedbuffer stocks in large quantitiesand went in for higher importson this front.

Going forward, the foodinflation is unlikely to shoot up

sharply unless there is someshock related to weather events,it said.

“Food inflation is likely toremain subdued going for-ward,” it said, adding averagefood inflation will go up in the1.5-2 percent range in FY20from the 0.7 percent in FY19.

The brokerage said thefocus has now shifted to farm-ers who are protesting againstlow food prices and demand-ing higher returns on theircrops.

It can be noted that in thelast year of the current regime,there have been multiplemarches by farmers, especial-ly the one in national capital aswell as one at the financial cap-ital to voice their concerns.

The Government respond-ed first by assuring to doublefarmer income in five years,then promised a return of over150 percent to farmers and alsoannounced income support of�6,000 per year for the smalland marginalised farmers.

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The general insurers willhave to provide details

about crop insuranceclaims to farmers in ver-nacular languages, apartfrom Hindi and English,regulator Irdai has said.

The InsuranceRegulatory and DevelopmentAuthority of India (Irdai) saidit has been receiving variouscomplaints and suggestions inrespect of crop insuranceclaims.

Irdai, in a circular, saidthere is a need for effectiveimplementation of crop insur-ance schemes.

Insurance companiesshould put in place a robustsystem to register all therequests of individuals lossassessment, and if an individ-ual loss assessment is rejected,a written rejection letter men-tioning the reason should be

sent to insured, Irdai said.“Insurers should ensure

that all call centres/toll-freenumbers responses should beavailable in state’s official lan-guage other than Hindi andEnglish. Wesbites of insurersshould disclose crop insurancerelated details in the vernacu-lar language for the benefit offarmers,” it said.

Among others, widespreadawareness programmes shouldbe conducted for educatingfarmers on scheme guidelines,claim settlement process andgrievance redressal process, itfurther said.

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The Government onMonday filed an applica-

tion with the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT) here, seeking immu-nity for the newly-appointeddirectors of the subsidiaries ofthe crippled IL&FS group fromany future adverse outcomes.

It can be noted that soonafter taking over the companyafter its defaults and appoint-ing a new board last October,the Government had soughtimmunity to the newly-appointed six directors of thegroup from any legal actionagainst them for the past deedsof old directors.

“We are issuing a directionthat for the past actions of thesuspended directors or any ofthe officers of the company andthe past wrongs of the sus-pended directors and its offi-cials, no action should be ini-tiated against the newly-

appointed director, withoutprior approval of the tribunal,”NCLT Mumbai had said in aninterim order on October 5.

The Government movecame in after it felt that theUday Kotak led board shouldbe protected from any legal hur-dles in executing its task of find-ing a “fair value and resolution”for the debt-laden company.

Following this, theCorporate Affairs MinistryMonday moved the MumbaiNCLT seeking protection forthese directors of group entitiesas well from any future adverseproceedings as a precautionarymeasure.

Meanwhile, IL&FS has alsofiled an application seekingdispensation from appointingindependent director on thegroup companies.

A two-member NCLTbench of VP Singh andRavikumar Duraisamy sched-uled both the matters fordetailed hearing on April 12.

The Government hasappointed an eight-memberboard headed by banker UdayKotak to steer the IL&FS groupout of the crisis after it beganto default payments due tosevere cash crunch since lateAugust.

The Government super-seded the previous board onOctober 1, 2018.

The Government expects aresolution to the crisis over thenext four-five months.

The Government plea wasinitially rejected by theMumbai bench but subse-quently, which the Governmentchallenged in the appellate tri-bunal (NCLAT) which had onOctober 15 passed an interimorder admitting the govern-ment plea.

The IL&FS group has 348subsidiaries and together theyowe over �94,000 crore to aclutch of commercial banksmostly state-run lenders andother financial institutions.

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In the wake of various pub-lic allegations of miscon-

duct a recent survey hasrevealed that 87 percent ofwomen would be likely toleave their job if a gender-based scandal like sexualharassment, bias in hiringamong others occurred atthe company they work for.

Job site Indeed in a sur-vey found that 82 percent ofmen were in agreement andsaid they would likely toleave their job in a similarscenario.

It also revealed that closeto 80 percent of respondentssaid they would be likely toleave their job if a technolo-gy-based issue such as databreach, product fai lure,among others occurred atthe company they work.

About 75 percent ofrespondents would leave theirjob if issues such as the CEOor senior leaders expressingpolitical views or contribut-ing to policies against theirown political beliefs occurredat the company for they workfor, it added.

Indeed conducted a sur-vey of employees across var-ious companies in the tech-nology sector in the country.It was conducted byCensuswide with 506 work-ers in the technology indus-try between December 27,2018 and January 11, 2019.

Further it revealed thatclose to 70 percent consid-ered changing their jobsdepending on the nature ofthe scandal, their loyalty to

the firm and how well, orpoorly, the employers han-dled these situations.

About 80 percent ofrespondents said they weremore likely to report misbe-haviour in the wake of lastyear’s public offences, withwomen (85 percent) morelikely to do so than men (76percent), it added.

Around 92 percent ofrespondents said they wouldbe more likely to stay at theirjob if their company wasquick to respond to a publicscandal by fixing errors andcommunicating internallyand externally, it said.

It also revealed 95 percentof respondents saying if theircompany was transparentabout the issue in questionand made attempts to correctit, they would be more likelyto stay at their job.

Over 80 percent respon-dents believed that technol-ogy companies are ethical,however, close to 90 percentthink that technology com-panies need to be more reg-ulated, it added.

“While it is the responsi-bility of organisations toensure the integrity and pre-vent breaches or untowardactivities under their purview,no sector is immune to theoccasional offence. In suchcases the company shouldstep up and take ownership oftheir actions and address theissue in a transparent andtimely manner, to restorestakeholder trust,” IndeedIndia head of EngineeringIndia and s ite directorVenkata Machavarapu said.

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Page 11: 0 -0 -1 ,-$. /& ˝˛ ˚˙ (’˚31ˆ()ˆ’$= ’=3;(’˚)’0/)>3˚ ˆ)/ ’1 · Congress fortune in the Lok Sabha elections. As part of the Congress manifesto for general elections,

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New Delhi: India’s industrial production is expected to stay muted in thenear term, owing to weak exports, rural distress, credit constraints and uncer-tainty over the election outcome, a report said on Monday. According to Dunand Bradstreet's (D&B) latest Economy Forecast, the Index of Industrial Production(IIP) is likely to have grown by 3-3.2 per cent during February 2019. As per theIIP data in January released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the growthin industrial production declined to 1.7 per cent as against 7.5 per cent a yearago, owing to subdued performance of the manufacturing sector, especially cap-ital and consumer goods. “Given the headwinds in the global economy and domes-tic structural bottlenecks, the concerns to growth remain heightened,” said ArunSingh, lead economist, Dun & Bradstreet India. Singh further noted that in theshort term, the risks remain accentuated as the concerns on the global front aregrowing while, domestically, the uncertainty on the outcome of the election willtend to keep the investment activity subdued. On the prices front, the report said,reversal in food prices that have remained unusually low are likely to push upinflation. Moreover, the election-related spending and expected lower kharif cropoutput would exert additional inflationary pressures. D&B expects the CPI infla-tion to be in the range of 2.6-2.8 per cent and the Wholesale Price Index-basedinflation to be in the range of 3-3.2 per cent during March, respectively. Accordingto Singh, some of the key risk factors for the Indian economy are stressed assetsin the banking sector, decline in tax mobilisation through GST, ailing rural econ-omy and concerns in key sectors such as telecom, power and real estate. He alsosaid, "We hope that the recent efforts to strengthen the balance sheets of the bank-ing sector and corporates turn the wheels of the domestic investment activity.Further, the business and consumer confidence could get an impetus once theuncertainty over the election outcome gets over.”

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New Delhi: Hyundai Motor India Monday said it has signed a wage set-tlement agreement with the workers of its Chennai plant, under which the tech-nicians will get an average salary increase of Rs 25,200 per month spread overthree years. The three-year wage settlement will be implemented with retrospectiveeffect from April 2018 and will remain effective until March 2021, Hyundai MotorIndia Ltd (HMIL) said in a statement. The wage settlement agreement was signedbetween the company's management and the recognised union, the UUHE (UnitedUnion of Hyundai Employees), it added. “As per the agreement, technicians willreceive an average salary increase of �25,200 per month spread over three years,"the company said. Technicians will receive 55 per cent of the increased salaryin the first year, 25 per cent in the second year and 20 per cent in the third year.This would mean a monthly salary raise of �13,860 will be given in the first year,�6,300 in the second year and �5,040 a month in the third year,” HMIL said.

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Benchmark Sensex spiralledlower for the second straight

session Monday and crackedbelow the key 38,000-mark,with banking and realty coun-ters taking the biggest hit amida global sell-off triggered byrenewed fears of a recession.

The BSE Sensex tumbled355.70 points to end at 37,808.91while the wider NSE Niftyplunged 102.65 points to11,354.25. The Sensex has nowlost over 575 points in two ses-sions. Investor sentiment damp-ened after weaker-than-expect-ed economic data from the USand Europe last week stokedfears of a global slowdown. Thetrade worries between the USand China too added to the wor-ries, brokers said.

Most other Asian marketsended sharply down, whileEuropean shares were tradinglower in their opening sessions.

Besides, investors preferredto keep their portfolios at a lowebb ahead of fiscal 2018-19coming to an end, they added.

The 30-share Sensex, afteropening lower at 38,016.76,stayed in the negative territorythrough the session and slippedbelow the 38,000-mark to toucha low of 37,667.40 on mountingselling pressure in sync with theglobal sell-off.

However, fag-end buying atlower levels trimmed losses to

some extent. The benchmarkfinally ended at 37,808.91 --down by 355.70 points or 0.93per cent.

The 50-issue NSE Nifty toocracked below the 11,400-markand hit a low of 11,311.60,before finishing 102.65 points, or0.90 per cent down at 11,354.25.

Meanwhile, domestic insti-tutional investors (DIIs) soldshares worth Rs 657.37 crore,while foreign funds remainednet buyers, pumping in Rs1,374.57 crore in Friday's trade,provisional data showed.

“Lingering concern on glob-al economic slowdown draggeddown the domestic indices, theconsolidation was broad basedwhere mid and small-cap under-performed. US bond yield hasfallen as risk appetite of investorsto equities reduced due to fearof US recession.

“Consolidation may extendin the near term. However,domestic macro-economic sen-timent remains strong. Stabilityin oil prices and increase in FIIinflow in expectation of earn-ings revival and formation ofstable government reflects thestrength of the market,” saidVinod Nair, Head of Research,Geojit Financial Services.

Vedanta Ltd was the toploser in the Sensex pack, falling3.28 per cent, followed by TataMotors at 2.31 per cent.

Other laggards includedYes Bank 2.18 per cent, M&M

2.11 per cent, ICICI Bank 2.07per cent, HDFC 1.95 per cent,Kotak Bank 1.92 per cent, SunPharma 1.91 per cent, AxisBank 1.78 per cent, SBI 1.44 percent, RIL 1.26 per cent, L&T1.21 per cent and Bharti Airtel1.09 per cent.

HCL Tech, Asian Paints,Hero Motocorp, IndusInd Bak,TCS, Infosys, ITC Ltd, MarutiSuzuki, Tata Steel, HUL andBajaj Auto too ended lower withfall of up to 1.04 per cent.

In contrast, ONGC spurted3.90 per cent, Coal India 2.09per cent, PowerGrid 1.56 percent, NTPC 1.19 per cent, BajajFinance 0.56 per cent andHDFC Bank 0.15 per cent.

Sector-wise, the BSE realtyindex emerged as the worst per-former by sliding 1.83 per cent,followed by metal 1.30 per cent,bankex 1.29 per cent, teck 1.12per cent, auto 1.10 per cent, cap-ital goods 0.96 per cent, IT 0.86per cent, FMCG 0.83 per cent,healthcare 0.48 per cent andconsumer durables 0.46 percent.

On the other hand, oil andgas gained 1.40 per cent, PSU0.91 per cent, infrastructure0.70 per cent, PSU 0.47 per centand power 0.46 per cent.

The broader markets sawinvestors cutting down theirexposure, which pulled downthe BSE small-cap index by 1.16per cent and the mid-cap gaugeby 1.06 per cent.

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Infrastructure company Larsen &Toubro (L&T) Monday said it has

won various contracts across India,including for construction of hospitalsin Jharkhand, a commercial complex inHyderabad and a manufacturing facil-ity in Gujarat.

The company said the orders fallunder "large" category which rangesbetween Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 5,000crore as per its classification of contracts.

“The construction arm of L&T hassecured orders from prestigious clientsacross different states in India,” L&T saidin a statement.

The buildings and factories businesshas secured an order from theJharkhand State Building ConstructionCorporation Ltd to construct two 500-bed hospitals at Jamshedpur andDumka, respectively, it said.

It has also secured an order from aleading developer to construct a 108-metre tall commercial complex atRaidurgam in Hyderabad.

“Spread across a built-up area of 3.6lakh sq mt, the project will compriseleasable area, high street retail frontage,grand retail plaza, recreational activities,landscape areas, and amenities likemulti-level car parking spaces. Thescope of work includes civil, structur-al works, architectural finishes andMEP works,” the statement said, addingthe project is to be completed in 32months.

The company said it has alsosecured an order from a renowned con-struction machinery manufacturer toconstruct a manufacturing facility inGujarat. The water and effluent treat-ment business has received four orders

from the Public Health EngineeringDirectorate, Government of WestBengal, for the design and constructionof intake well, water treatment plant,intermediate pumping station, ground-water reservoirs, overhead reservoirs,transmission mains, water distributionnetwork and metering works in variousblocks of Bankura district in WestBengal.

The business has also securedanother repeat EPC (engineering, pro-curement and construction) order fromthe Andhra Pradesh Capital RegionDevelopment Authority for the inves-tigation, design and construction ofwater supply, sewerage, roads, drains,culverts, utility ducts for power, reusewaterline for Krishnayapalem(P) andVenkatapalem (P) in Amaravati City.

Another EPC order has beensecured from Faridabad Smart City Ltdfor laying of civic infrastructure, con-struction/upgradation of roads net-works (Phase 1&2), undergroundcabling of HT/LT transformers, streetlighting and landscaping works, amongothers.

The company said it has alsosecured an order from Patna Smart CityLtd for retrofitting and re-developmentof storm water drains, development ofsmart road network as per urban streetdesign principles, development of foot-paths, utility corridor, streetscaping,vendor and parking zone creation,installation of street furniture withsmart street lighting, smart bus stopsand allied works in Patna.

L&T is an Indian multinationalcompany engaged in technology, engi-neering, construction, manufacturingand financial services with over USD 18billion in revenue.

Script Open High Low LTPSUZLON 6.62 6.64 6.37 6.44JETAIRWAYS 222.85 266.00 220.25 254.50SPICEJET 98.40 100.80 93.20 95.95RECLTD 140.00 157.00 139.55 154.80JPASSOCIAT 5.71 5.76 5.44 5.55YESBANK 250.00 250.35 246.10 247.00INFY* 741.00 742.00 731.50 735.80RELCAPITAL 179.00 188.40 176.85 185.35JUSTDIAL 616.00 620.80 595.90 602.85ONGC 152.00 160.00 150.70 158.50IOC 156.70 165.25 156.00 164.10MARUTI 6533.90 6621.45 6491.35 6523.45PFC 112.40 121.40 111.85 119.10RELIANCE 1330.10 1336.75 1317.15 1325.25IDEA 31.80 32.00 30.05 30.20DHFL 129.00 131.20 127.50 130.30RPOWER 10.49 10.78 10.35 10.50ZEEL 434.00 439.95 414.90 417.25SBIN 294.90 295.00 292.40 293.80RELINFRA 127.80 132.75 125.90 128.45PNB 89.95 91.25 89.10 90.35INDIGO 1436.00 1452.05 1377.10 1385.40TCS 2007.00 2010.00 1979.30 1986.90TATAMOTORS 174.40 174.40 171.00 171.35OBEROIRLTY 512.00 525.10 504.25 511.80AXISBANK 753.85 754.20 741.00 743.85IBULHSGFIN 722.95 722.95 701.00 714.05BOMDYEING 141.80 141.80 134.40 136.10LT 1388.00 1391.30 1370.00 1377.20BHEL 67.25 70.00 66.60 69.20HINDUNILVR 1675.00 1684.80 1661.25 1673.00NTPC 134.00 137.40 133.70 135.65ICICIBANK 388.90 388.90 382.60 383.50TATASTEEL 513.55 518.00 507.00 515.65KOTAKBANK 1329.45 1329.45 1303.35 1308.80HDFCBANK 2269.75 2287.70 2257.30 2282.00SAIL 51.70 51.70 49.75 49.90HINDPETRO 267.90 275.45 266.70 274.40ASHOKLEY 89.00 89.05 87.20 87.45JUBLFOOD 1435.00 1459.25 1428.95 1454.70WOCKPHARMA 427.90 438.70 413.00 419.80EDELWEISS 193.80 193.80 184.30 185.70MOTHERSUMI 146.05 146.30 142.90 144.35HDFCLIFE 362.05 362.05 355.45 358.70BANKBARODA 119.65 119.65 116.60 118.20LUPIN 743.00 745.25 726.00 729.10BEML 964.00 974.30 940.00 968.45RCOM 5.18 5.18 5.06 5.06LTI 1659.25 1669.75 1626.00 1663.10HDFC 1978.80 1978.80 1937.80 1945.75VEDL 170.80 171.15 168.00 168.25HEROMOTOCO 2599.90 2609.00 2544.50 2580.20TECHM 791.00 795.70 786.80 789.60M&M 679.10 679.10 662.00 664.30BAJFINANCE 2823.70 2865.00 2800.00 2852.85IDFCFIRSTB 52.45 52.45 51.35 51.65COALINDIA 232.15 238.50 231.50 236.80IBREALEST 88.75 88.75 85.95 86.70SUNPHARMA 468.90 469.10 461.30 464.20JUBILANT 749.00 749.00 721.00 724.95ICICIGI 994.95 999.10 980.00 994.10GRAPHITE 432.70 432.70 420.00 421.55PCJEWELLER 80.05 80.05 77.30 78.70BANKINDIA 97.40 99.20 96.40 98.55NCC 108.90 110.95 107.90 108.90JINDALSTEL 165.00 165.00 160.50 161.50INFIBEAM 42.50 42.50 40.55 41.30ABCAPITAL 102.00 102.00 98.60 99.90SUNTV 587.80 590.90 573.35 581.30UNIONBANK 86.00 88.40 84.55 87.65BEL 90.05 93.05 89.85 91.75DLF 195.00 195.00 188.15 189.40NBCC 63.85 65.60 63.05 63.75DELTACORP 241.00 242.60 237.10 240.65POWERGRID 198.10 203.05 196.90 201.90TATAGLOBAL 196.00 199.10 193.80 196.05ITC 297.00 297.00 293.45 295.20DIVISLAB 1670.00 1712.00 1650.90 1707.15STRTECH 221.00 221.00 217.00 217.55TATAPOWER 72.95 73.10 71.25 71.90WIPRO 261.30 261.50 256.05 256.65LTTS 1488.00 1488.00 1433.00 1446.20UBL 1360.00 1360.00 1309.65 1321.20JSWSTEEL 285.00 285.00 276.00 278.75ENGINERSIN 112.00 114.75 111.00 112.75GNFC 301.90 301.90 290.00 290.75INDIACEM 99.00 99.00 95.55 96.15DRREDDY 2755.00 2794.75 2731.10 2779.25BHARTIARTL 332.05 334.80 323.50 327.20ASIANPAINT 1466.50 1474.80 1452.30 1456.60LICHSGFIN 528.00 528.00 516.35 521.55IBVENTURES 281.85 281.85 272.15 273.85M&MFIN 408.10 414.85 406.15 412.40JISLJALEQS 60.65 60.65 57.15 57.40DISHTV 36.80 36.80 34.40 34.80BHARATFORG 493.00 493.00 482.30 487.90CADILAHC 334.90 334.90 327.55 332.60DABUR 421.80 423.70 416.60 420.10HEG 2045.10 2050.00 2005.00 2010.75BPCL 377.80 385.70 375.10 383.95L&TFH 145.40 145.40 142.65 144.00NATIONALUM 54.00 54.05 52.45 53.85DBL 621.55 625.95 603.30 607.95IFCI 13.33 13.59 13.20 13.24VIPIND 439.00 456.00 427.00 452.25VBL 805.50 819.75 790.10 804.10PHILIPCARB 171.00 173.40 168.40 171.90MANAPPURAM 122.05 122.05 117.90 118.65

DMART 1499.00 1502.50 1464.00 1470.10CIPLA 526.00 528.40 516.65 526.85SIEMENS 1049.00 1056.20 1034.75 1047.55ADANIPOWER 47.50 48.30 47.25 47.55PRESTIGE 256.65 269.15 256.65 263.85FEDERALBNK 90.00 90.00 88.45 88.85MINDACORP 133.80 135.55 128.65 132.05MINDTREE 944.85 945.50 935.00 940.25WESTLIFE 421.00 424.90 412.55 419.10INDUSINDBK 1695.00 1698.80 1676.00 1684.45ORIENTBANK 105.00 107.70 103.30 106.45HINDALCO 206.15 206.15 201.90 204.95BAJAJELEC 510.00 540.00 510.00 528.10CANBK 269.00 272.20 266.40 270.65CGPOWER 43.50 44.95 43.15 44.15MGL 965.05 983.80 942.20 971.75JAICORPLTD 108.50 108.60 106.00 106.65ESCORTS 802.80 802.80 783.00 788.75FORCEMOT 1670.00 1670.00 1632.30 1652.20TITAN 1104.00 1114.00 1092.05 1100.90MPHASIS 974.95 975.00 946.15 949.65TATAELXSI 962.50 976.30 952.00 956.65SUNTECK 457.00 470.95 447.80 470.35SUVEN 252.45 263.45 251.95 259.95RAIN 100.20 100.20 96.30 97.00HCLTECH 1029.00 1034.95 1011.95 1016.20GRASIM 815.00 817.90 807.95 816.05AUROPHARMA 770.00 779.00 758.80 775.40GLENMARK 633.00 641.25 629.75 636.25TATAMTRDVR 86.30 86.30 84.95 85.10TVSMOTOR 475.00 475.00 458.25 463.10IDBI 42.15 42.35 41.80 41.95SPARC 190.05 190.05 186.10 188.05KEI 401.85 418.35 398.80 407.75FSL 47.50 47.50 45.50 45.80

ICICIPRULI 329.90 329.90 320.60 322.35SRF 2450.00 2476.40 2420.10 2430.30TATACHEM 580.50 581.00 570.50 572.85UPL 932.80 932.80 906.60 913.80GAIL 350.00 353.25 343.25 351.30JSL 40.00 40.85 39.00 39.95RAJESHEXPO 653.50 678.90 649.50 654.00ALBK 54.10 54.10 52.25 52.60CANFINHOME 320.00 330.05 316.05 327.80PETRONET 244.00 244.00 236.15 238.65APOLLOTYRE 214.00 217.95 212.10 213.60AJANTPHARM 1003.90 1007.65 987.55 1000.70BALKRISIND 911.90 932.00 904.40 926.05NATCOPHARM* 585.00 592.65 560.00 572.30AVANTI 407.55 407.55 397.00 399.10CEATLTD 1115.25 1115.25 1080.00 1087.65COLPAL 1250.00 1256.30 1227.05 1235.05THERMAX 989.10 1016.00 985.95 1007.55KANSAINER 443.95 447.00 438.60 439.80TIINDIA 357.65 370.00 347.60 366.15BATAINDIA 1368.40 1368.40 1324.15 1333.60HAVELLS 751.00 753.20 736.95 738.50IRB 143.65 144.40 137.60 139.35PNBHOUSING 848.00 866.00 820.00 831.45MEGH 64.00 64.00 62.05 62.70TTKPRESTIG 7987.60 8288.00 7981.20 8210.70NMDC 106.75 106.75 103.20 104.75GODREJPROP 843.00 843.00 814.40 829.25HEIDELBERG 176.90 180.00 176.00 177.35BIOCON 620.00 620.00 608.65 611.05RADICO 400.05 400.05 393.00 394.65KTKBANK 124.90 126.05 123.75 125.20VENKYS 2259.90 2308.70 2234.85 2246.25PEL 2600.00 2600.00 2555.00 2574.05CUMMINSIND 752.80 752.80 715.05 720.10BAJAJ-AUTO 2932.00 2968.95 2918.65 2958.10INDIANB 263.70 263.70 252.20 254.65OIL 173.00 177.50 172.00 176.05NAUKRI 1910.95 1926.55 1881.20 1901.25ACC 1575.00 1589.75 1563.40 1572.00SRTRANSFIN 1159.65 1208.55 1159.65 1201.20RAYMOND 804.05 805.35 785.50 789.75DCMSHRIRAM 412.00 417.40 405.05 408.90JMFINANCIL 85.30 89.25 85.30 86.05EXIDEIND 220.00 220.00 215.75 217.40ADANIPORTS 360.00 363.00 353.60 360.75GREAVESCOT 133.30 139.35 130.80 136.35PIDILITIND 1190.00 1190.00 1168.70 1178.25APOLLOHOSP 1140.15 1160.25 1137.95 1146.75LAKSHVILAS 64.10 64.95 63.35 63.75KSCL 456.70 461.70 446.75 451.15UJJIVAN 326.85 327.25 318.20 320.00

VOLTAS 606.70 612.90 599.20 602.85AMBUJACEM 229.45 232.00 226.50 229.35ADVENZYMES 171.30 172.60 168.10 170.35RCF 58.10 58.10 56.55 56.65JINDALSAW 88.25 89.00 84.50 85.15MARICO 340.00 340.05 330.80 334.55STAR 438.00 441.10 434.70 436.55JKTYRE 92.00 92.00 89.10 89.80IGL 301.00 305.95 300.00 304.25GHCL 236.00 236.00 228.00 231.55CUB 200.20 203.20 198.45 200.00GMRINFRA 17.20 17.55 16.95 17.10NESTLEIND 10599.95 10599.95 10303.15 10521.05CASTROLIND 160.20 161.00 158.75 160.40SOUTHBANK 15.82 15.87 15.60 15.69BASF 1397.80 1467.40 1397.80 1443.45GRUH 263.90 264.05 258.00 259.25RBLBANK 633.95 639.00 627.25 636.75GUJFLUORO 1066.05 1084.00 1055.00 1064.05ECLERX 1173.95 1173.95 1150.00 1154.95NHPC 24.55 24.85 24.30 24.40HEXAWARE 336.90 336.90 327.65 329.60ADANITRANS 220.60 223.95 212.40 215.10MANPASAND 118.50 118.50 113.05 114.35BAJAJFINSV 6880.00 6961.80 6880.00 6909.35OMAXE 208.70 208.70 206.35 206.90MAXINDIA 68.65 69.95 68.15 69.40TORNTPOWER 250.00 256.00 250.00 253.55EICHERMOT 21400.00 21400.00 21085.00 21182.00INFRATEL 318.00 318.00 305.00 307.15KEC 297.00 297.00 288.00 290.30SYNDIBANK 38.30 38.80 37.45 38.55AARTIIND 1489.00 1489.00 1435.80 1450.20INTELLECT 199.95 201.95 197.95 200.05JSLHISAR 87.90 87.90 84.70 86.20APLAPOLLO 1393.00 1445.00 1392.95 1425.90MAGMA 108.95 109.35 102.65 107.70HINDCOPPER 48.10 48.50 47.20 47.60MUTHOOTFIN 596.95 596.95 585.00 589.65BBTC 1264.05 1267.00 1234.80 1246.65JSWENERGY 63.00 66.40 63.00 64.25WELCORP 116.40 120.60 115.50 119.90GSFC 100.55 102.30 98.90 99.20BANDHANBNK 498.00 499.75 488.00 489.15ISEC 246.95 251.55 244.40 247.25AMARAJABAT 716.10 716.10 703.95 706.70DCBBANK 196.45 197.00 193.10 196.40NAVINFLUOR 698.00 719.60 690.45 705.45EQUITAS 131.20 132.70 128.45 129.05AUBANK 562.95 562.95 552.00 554.05GODREJAGRO 489.00 489.85 480.00 482.45MRPL 73.30 75.05 72.20 73.70NOCIL 141.70 141.70 138.10 139.15ABFRL 223.00 223.70 218.75 219.20TRIDENT 66.50 66.50 65.10 65.35TAKE 129.00 129.00 123.50 124.90MFSL 449.50 451.75 441.75 444.45IDFC 43.50 43.80 42.80 42.90EVEREADY 198.90 198.90 193.80 194.70ULTRACEMCO 3891.15 3897.65 3852.25 3872.30NLCINDIA 78.85 78.85 77.70 78.00SADBHAV 251.80 257.00 243.45 249.15SYMPHONY 1324.75 1350.65 1319.55 1345.95BLISSGVS 166.70 168.25 165.00 166.90SHANKARA 416.35 418.00 401.10 404.35TV18BRDCST 34.70 35.20 34.20 34.55WELSPUNIND 60.50 60.70 58.40 58.95GICRE 245.00 251.00 240.40 242.15BRITANNIA 3100.00 3100.00 3065.00 3093.30CENTURYTEX 888.00 894.60 879.90 886.50FCONSUMER 44.95 44.95 44.00 44.15SYNGENE 570.00 570.00 560.00 565.35SIS 828.90 879.50 828.90 857.75INOXWIND 68.10 68.55 67.35 67.75EIDPARRY 212.20 212.20 203.05 204.25GODREJCP 697.00 697.00 686.20 689.30ALLCARGO 114.65 115.30 111.15 111.50NIACL 183.45 183.45 177.70 180.00CYIENT* 665.00 673.00 659.05 665.95NIITTECH 1320.00 1334.40 1313.00 1316.80ABB 1331.50 1342.10 1323.45 1338.35ASHOKA 128.70 128.70 123.00 123.70HIMATSEIDE 200.00 206.75 197.50 203.70NAVKARCORP 39.90 39.90 38.70 39.45PVR 1605.00 1611.55 1580.05 1583.80TATACOFFEE 94.80 94.80 90.20 90.50TATACOMM 595.00 597.45 590.00 592.65PERSISTENT* 630.00 648.80 628.40 633.10MCX 785.35 794.10 780.75 793.00HINDZINC 274.95 274.95 268.60 270.70SUNDRMFAST 535.00 557.10 535.00 550.25INOXLEISUR 294.60 304.40 292.35 294.30GODFRYPHLP 1113.75 1125.00 1110.05 1120.25PIIND 1013.00 1023.00 1003.10 1010.70ITI 91.55 93.30 91.35 91.75HFCL 22.15 22.15 21.60 21.80GICHSGFIN 255.00 255.00 245.60 248.00CONCOR 512.85 512.85 502.50 506.70RAMCOCEM 706.60 710.30 698.70 707.05HAL 709.00 716.00 707.05 712.35SBILIFE 609.50 616.90 607.20 610.95PAGEIND 23702.55 23949.95 23450.00 23873.20WHIRLPOOL 1500.55 1514.55 1495.00 1502.05CHENNPETRO 255.00 265.00 253.00 256.65BERGEPAINT 317.50 317.50 310.70 313.50GRANULES 110.00 111.50 109.00 109.95GSPL 176.10 179.00 175.20 177.10VINATIORGA 1634.10 1634.10 1587.00 1595.40JAMNAAUTO 55.95 58.50 55.95 57.75

HUDCO 44.50 44.50 43.85 44.10CENTURYPLY 198.05 199.30 194.75 196.45FINCABLES 485.50 499.00 474.10 479.30ASTRAL 1145.00 1145.00 1098.05 1102.10GPPL 99.05 101.10 98.20 100.05J&KBANK 50.00 50.15 48.40 48.70KAJARIACER 570.20 570.20 554.60 557.35CROMPTON 219.05 219.65 213.90 215.45GODREJIND 525.85 535.25 525.00 531.65CHOLAFIN 1340.00 1343.45 1314.60 1330.85IPCALAB 929.05 929.05 909.00 918.40PARAGMILK 264.90 264.90 252.55 253.40SCI 35.90 35.90 35.00 35.15MMTC 27.60 27.80 27.10 27.20SOBHA 460.50 463.00 448.00 452.35VGUARD 218.00 218.30 213.10 213.70ISGEC 5525.00 5625.00 5475.25 5574.85KRBL 358.00 358.50 344.00 346.30INDHOTEL 147.00 149.40 146.20 148.40RNAM 187.50 192.45 185.65 189.05DEEPAKFERT 136.90 137.50 133.00 134.00MINDAIND 351.95 355.55 338.00 346.35CARBORUNIV 367.00 379.80 367.00 374.45REPCOHOME 444.50 446.15 435.20 438.75WABAG 331.65 331.85 320.30 324.10TIMETECHNO 99.20 102.60 98.50 99.55BAJAJHLDNG 3333.30 3345.00 3250.50 3258.50PRSMJOHNSN 87.70 89.00 86.80 87.30INDOSTAR 350.10 353.20 346.65 349.00CHAMBLFERT 158.50 160.25 156.85 159.25EMAMILTD 391.75 397.00 389.60 391.60PHOENIXLTD 655.00 695.00 648.80 662.85ADANIGREEN 35.55 35.90 34.70 35.05VMART 2568.00 2618.35 2523.00 2564.50ANDHRABANK 25.75 25.80 25.35 25.45LEMONTREE 79.70 81.05 78.10 79.05LINDEINDIA 497.95 497.95 481.00 482.40OFSS 3365.70 3385.50 3333.20 3349.20MOTILALOFS 595.50 614.15 595.50 607.95FRETAIL 448.00 448.00 436.20 439.00LAURUSLABS 375.05 385.45 372.00 374.50GESHIP 286.10 289.30 276.00 280.85TATAMETALI 619.55 638.70 614.95 628.45FORTIS 135.50 137.75 134.80 136.65GUJGAS 147.35 149.20 145.10 147.45RALLIS 160.00 161.70 160.00 160.95PTC 75.50 76.50 74.60 75.00COCHINSHIP 381.00 385.40 374.15 380.40TRENT 360.05 362.40 355.80 360.25ALKEM 1712.00 1749.00 1693.00 1714.10GUJALKALI 498.00 498.00 480.80 482.80COFFEEDAY 283.00 285.60 278.00 280.20LUXIND 1290.00 1323.00 1280.00 1313.70JBCHEPHARM 340.00 340.00 325.65 338.35MAHLOG 489.50 496.15 480.85 494.55SWANENERGY 103.00 106.05 102.20 104.45DEEPAKNI 263.00 268.25 258.00 259.15SHK 155.00 156.40 152.40 153.10KNRCON 263.20 264.70 253.15 258.20CENTRALBK 33.50 33.50 31.20 32.10MOIL 155.40 155.40 153.55 154.15GREENPLY 154.90 154.90 149.50 153.15ASTRAZEN 1932.85 1981.50 1932.85 1968.40BHARATFIN 1069.95 1082.05 1063.85 1074.65CORPBANK 28.50 28.50 27.75 28.20ITDCEM 132.00 132.00 127.60 128.40BLUESTARCO 675.00 685.50 666.20 669.50FINOLEXIND 508.00 508.00 485.00 491.45REDINGTON 95.30 98.30 95.30 97.45TEJASNET 165.30 185.00 159.40 160.45SCHNEIDER 104.00 105.00 101.10 102.00EIHOTEL 188.90 188.90 185.90 187.05SREINFRA 29.85 29.85 28.05 28.20PFIZER 3164.50 3198.40 3138.15 3187.65LALPATHLAB 1073.00 1095.00 1055.05 1072.75BAJAJCON 320.00 322.65 316.20 322.05FLFL 473.10 483.40 470.00 475.75HSIL 261.10 261.10 253.00 255.95BDL 284.30 286.75 282.00 284.15MAHINDCIE 240.10 240.10 227.85 229.00TORNTPHARM 1860.00 1876.60 1850.95 1863.50RELAXO 769.90 769.90 746.75 757.30SONATSOFTW 328.55 329.85 324.05 326.70SHREECEM 18000.00 18118.25 17747.05 17896.85SUPREMEIND 1073.00 1079.70 1050.00 1066.05SJVN 24.20 24.30 23.90 24.10MERCK 3372.95 3372.95 3330.00 3348.80BOSCHLTD 18235.00 18267.00 18100.00 18181.05JYOTHYLAB 183.00 187.85 182.15 184.60HERITGFOOD 533.00 533.00 519.55 527.20BALMLAWRIE 187.45 188.85 185.50 185.95AKZOINDIA 1737.50 1789.95 1724.65 1763.80UFLEX 212.20 217.90 209.25 211.10ZENSARTECH 227.70 229.65 226.00 227.40NETWORK18 33.45 34.05 32.95 34.00JAGRAN 110.00 113.15 110.00 112.10UCOBANK 18.30 18.45 18.20 18.25IEX 160.00 161.85 159.35 160.30CARERATING 1000.00 1000.00 980.70 988.953MINDIA 23530.00 24195.00 23156.20 24074.80ABBOTINDIA 7340.00 7442.50 7340.00 7419.50QUESS 795.40 799.90 781.95 795.75PNCINFRA 162.95 162.95 152.20 153.50THOMASCOOK 232.00 234.95 227.25 232.35GDL 125.00 128.35 123.65 126.30SUDARSCHEM 330.75 334.00 327.55 328.85GLAXO 1320.00 1320.00 1296.55 1298.45TVTODAY 323.00 323.00 317.75 319.70HATSUN 774.65 774.65 687.00 705.55

BIRLACORPN 511.10 511.10 501.80 507.30ASTERDM 158.00 161.30 155.00 159.30SHOPERSTOP 466.00 466.00 453.55 460.00APLLTD 539.00 541.00 533.20 536.20KPRMILL 551.60 553.15 543.30 548.65MRF 56019.30 56287.95 55837.20 56031.55COROMANDEL 471.15 483.80 467.95 478.10ZYDUSWELL 1332.15 1357.00 1305.20 1328.20GRINDWELL 576.60 588.95 560.00 565.25GSKCONS 6945.00 6945.00 6868.00 6925.20DBCORP 186.00 193.20 183.60 191.15GMDCLTD 82.95 82.95 81.00 81.70IBULISL 286.00 290.00 278.90 279.65TNPL 211.00 211.00 206.30 206.80HSCL 117.90 117.90 114.30 115.15IFBIND 939.55 964.85 919.95 926.20LAOPALA 202.00 206.00 197.60 204.75CENTRUM 32.10 32.70 31.50 31.80CCL 281.50 291.15 278.40 288.15SOLARINDS 1042.50 1059.00 1002.00 1046.90NESCO 452.00 456.55 450.15 455.00LAXMIMACH 6164.75 6185.00 6095.00 6110.00DCAL 208.00 208.50 204.00 204.75SHILPAMED 356.85 359.10 351.00 352.75AEGISLOG 201.60 204.70 200.95 201.60NBVENTURES 102.95 104.60 102.35 103.10ENDURANCE 1139.65 1151.75 1138.00 1146.85JKLAKSHMI 345.00 350.85 341.70 347.10FDC 176.20 177.35 171.05 173.10SHARDACROP 360.60 366.00 359.00 363.85BLUEDART 3461.50 3488.00 3358.65 3380.15GEPIL 829.50 832.80 799.15 815.45BAYERCROP 4290.00 4320.00 4265.85 4307.85NILKAMAL 1393.05 1417.00 1375.85 1383.60MHRIL 238.00 238.00 232.55 233.75FORBESCO 2305.00 2309.00 2270.00 2283.90GILLETTE 6431.55 6685.00 6373.60 6528.20JKCEMENT 829.75 836.05 812.05 824.10IOB 13.70 13.70 13.51 13.54CAPPL 406.00 409.60 398.55 404.60GET&D 267.00 278.80 267.00 274.60SUPRAJIT 231.20 239.00 225.20 235.70MONSANTO 2573.90 2619.00 2573.90 2606.10MAHLIFE 360.05 362.30 354.80 355.65SUPPETRO 223.80 224.25 222.00 222.10ITDC 276.50 282.00 275.10 276.15ATUL 3322.20 3354.75 3322.00 3340.20TATAINVEST 833.05 833.95 830.00 830.50TIMKEN 565.50 570.35 557.00 557.70UNITEDBNK 10.60 10.83 10.60 10.68CRISIL 1500.00 1500.00 1473.00 1483.35PGHH 10950.00 10950.00 10283.40 10395.70STARCEMENT 100.00 100.00 96.45 96.45KALPATPOWR 434.15 438.70 433.30 433.75SCHAEFFLER 5369.50 5428.85 5350.00 5405.40MAHABANK 13.16 13.29 13.12 13.15SANOFI 5530.00 5605.30 5518.35 5560.70GULFOILLUB 823.00 830.00 809.30 812.60CERA 2680.00 2680.00 2622.35 2655.10TVSSRICHAK 2190.00 2200.00 2180.80 2193.10HONAUT 21699.60 22070.00 21560.00 21927.25ESSELPRO 116.00 116.90 114.00 114.95ASAHIINDIA 266.75 266.75 261.55 263.80TEAMLEASE 2948.00 2984.80 2941.00 2967.30SUNCLAYLTD 2898.95 2898.95 2781.00 2821.00NAVNETEDUL 109.00 109.00 107.20 108.00WABCOINDIA 6210.00 6251.00 6200.00 6205.95NH 215.95 223.00 215.00 217.40GALAXYSURF 1111.05 1111.05 1100.00 1100.45RATNAMANI 880.05 881.05 860.20 865.55SKFINDIA 1946.00 1946.00 1926.05 1933.35GAYAPROJ 159.35 159.35 150.50 151.80THYROCARE 541.00 542.00 536.00 538.75SOMANYCERA 389.65 392.20 388.15 391.75AIAENG 1702.00 1722.00 1702.00 1708.60APARINDS 656.20 663.00 655.15 659.80TRITURBINE 106.80 108.10 105.20 106.00ERIS 620.45 642.90 616.00 633.50MAHSCOOTER 3355.00 3388.00 3331.10 3343.00DHANUKA 417.00 421.30 415.00 416.20JCHAC 1860.00 1892.00 1845.00 1879.75SFL 1310.00 1333.00 1263.00 1273.60ORIENTCEM 87.35 87.65 85.05 86.10SHRIRAMCIT 1787.10 1792.15 1771.00 1785.45KIOCL 139.90 142.00 136.45 140.50ELGIEQUIP 239.35 239.35 238.50 238.90VTL 1082.50 1085.40 1082.00 1084.00TIFHL 477.05 478.00 471.10 471.35

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11395.65 11395.65 11311.60 11354.25 -102.65IOC 157.00 165.90 155.00 164.15 7.10ONGC 152.00 160.55 150.70 159.00 6.65HINDPETRO 267.00 275.60 266.25 275.00 6.65COALINDIA 233.00 239.45 231.35 237.20 5.25POWERGRID 197.20 203.50 195.10 201.65 3.15BPCL 378.75 385.25 375.05 383.95 5.00NTPC 133.85 137.50 133.75 135.75 1.10GAIL 348.70 353.00 343.00 351.40 2.45DRREDDY 2744.90 2798.00 2726.75 2766.00 14.70BAJFINANCE 2804.00 2862.00 2801.00 2851.00 14.35BAJAJ-AUTO 2934.80 2965.60 2915.25 2960.35 10.60ADANIPORTS 358.90 363.00 353.15 361.20 0.45HDFCBANK 2260.00 2287.85 2253.00 2278.00 1.85TECHM 792.00 795.45 786.40 788.20 -0.55HINDUNILVR 1674.00 1687.50 1660.00 1676.00 -2.05CIPLA 525.60 528.70 516.20 526.00 -0.80TITAN 1102.00 1106.50 1090.40 1100.15 -2.40BAJAJFINSV 6942.70 6969.20 6881.00 6938.70 -21.35TATASTEEL 512.80 517.70 507.05 515.90 -2.50MARUTI 6515.00 6621.00 6491.20 6520.00 -32.70GRASIM 815.00 817.00 808.00 815.00 -5.10HCLTECH 1029.00 1029.00 1011.85 1017.70 -7.15ASIANPAINT 1465.10 1475.60 1451.50 1460.00 -11.25INDUSINDBK 1682.10 1699.95 1675.00 1682.90 -15.70RELIANCE 1330.60 1336.85 1316.70 1328.00 -13.75EICHERMOT 21390.00 21390.00 21050.95 21191.40 -255.45HEROMOTOCO 2594.00 2608.80 2537.05 2572.00 -31.30INFY 742.40 742.40 730.55 733.95 -9.15TCS 2007.80 2007.80 1977.20 1980.80 -24.85ITC 297.00 297.00 293.20 294.25 -3.95BHARTIARTL 332.90 334.90 323.20 327.15 -4.40WIPRO 262.00 262.00 256.00 257.00 -3.55SBIN 294.00 295.45 292.20 293.95 -4.10LT 1387.00 1389.00 1370.10 1375.10 -19.60AXISBANK 752.70 755.00 741.15 745.35 -11.70ULTRACEMCO 3911.00 3911.00 3850.00 3869.00 -60.75SUNPHARMA 468.50 469.45 461.20 465.00 -8.25IBULHSGFIN 718.95 721.80 707.00 714.20 -12.80HDFC 1976.90 1976.90 1938.20 1944.65 -36.90KOTAKBANK 1325.95 1330.85 1303.20 1309.00 -27.25YESBANK 250.00 250.40 246.10 247.40 -5.20HINDALCO 206.50 206.50 201.90 204.75 -4.35ICICIBANK 387.95 387.95 382.50 383.40 -8.40M&M 672.00 675.00 663.40 663.80 -15.00UPL 930.00 931.70 905.80 913.85 -21.10TATAMOTORS 173.70 173.80 170.55 171.00 -4.40JSWSTEEL 282.00 282.00 276.00 276.95 -8.80VEDL 170.70 171.00 167.75 168.20 -5.70INFRATEL 314.55 314.55 304.75 304.95 -11.15ZEEL 431.00 439.80 414.05 416.25 -18.60

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Accused of presiding over anunprecedented national

humiliation in her chaotic han-dling of Brexit, British PrimeMinister Theresa May has allbut lost control of her party andher Government.

The Conservative leaderhas in the past won praise forher determination and abilityto survive what has often feltlike one long political crisissince the 2016 referendum voteto leave the European Union.

But her approach to theendgame, refusing to acceptMPs’ opposition to her divorcedeal and agreeing to delayBrexit to try for a third time toget it through, has promptedfrustration and anger on allsides.

Ministers from both thepro- and anti-Brexit camps inher cabinet have in recentweeks joined scores ofConservative MPs in defyingthe government in parliamen-tary votes.

And this weekend, after yetanother bruising Brussels sum-mit for the prime minister,British newspapers were full ofmoves by her colleagues to ousther.

In an editorial,Conser vative-supportingSpectator magazine suggestedMay was the “worst primeminister in our history”.

It condemned her “lack ofimagination, inability to lead ateam or solve complex prob-lems” -- although it alsoaccused the ruling party itselffor failing to find a betterleader.

May’s former director ofcommunications, Katie Perrior,wrote in The Times newspaperthat the prime minister was “apassenger at the time when thecountry needed a rally driver”.

She backed a suggestionmade by some MPs that Mayoffer to quit if parliament backsher divorce deal, allowingsomeone else to lead the nextstage of the EU negotiations.

The top selling The Sun

tabloid also embraced this plan,praising May’s “remarkableresilience in the face of repeat-ed humiliations, but saying itwas ‘time to move on’.”

“She has lost the backing ofmuch of the country and nowher party,” the paper said.

May took office after the2016 referendum, and despitehaving campaigned to stay in

the EU, embraced the causewith the mantra “Brexit meansBrexit”.

Her promise to leave theEU’s institutions and end freemovement of workers delight-ed eurosceptic MPs, but causeddismay among many pro-Europeans.

The splits in herConservative party became a

serious problem after a disas-trous snap election in June2017, when May lost her par-liamentary majority.

She was forced to strike adeal with Northern Ireland’spro-Brexit DemocraticUnionist Party (DUP), andsince then has struggled to keepher party and its allies togeth-er.

Naturally reserved andreliant on her husband Philipand a few close aides, Mayoften says she is just quietly“getting on with the job”.

But in the last election, shestruggled to engage with votersand was dubbed the “Maybot”after churning out the sameanswers and speeches over andover again.

May’s legacy from her pre-vious role as interior ministerhas also been called into ques-tion in recent months, withgrowing criticism of her crack-down on irregular migration.

However, May has beenwritten off before.

She has survived the resig-

nations of a string of high-pro-file Brexit supporters, notablyformer foreign secretary BorisJohnson, and has endured con-stant sniping from MPs on thesidelines.

She won a leadership chal-lenge within her own party inDecember, a victory that madeher immune from a similarchallenge for a year, even if shehad to promise to quit beforethe next scheduled election in2022.

As a result, it is not clearhow MPs might depose hernow if she refuses to quit.

May’s critics are deeplydivided, and their inability tounite behind a rival candidatehas foiled previous attemptedcoups. Her finance minister,Philip Hammond, condemnedany talk of replacing May as“self-indulgent”, warning thatthe problem remained what todo about Brexit.

“This is not about theprime minister or any otherindividual, this is about thefuture of our country,” he said.

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The EU announced onMonday it has completed

its preparations for Britaincrashing out of the bloc with-out a divorce accord, as fearsof a chaotic “no-deal” Brexitgrow.

“As it is increasingly like-ly that the United Kingdomwill leave the European Unionwithout a deal on 12 April, theEuropean Commission hastoday completed its ‘no-deal’preparations,” the commis-sion, the bloc’s executive arm,said.

The gloomily wordedstatement, just days afterBrussels agreed to postponeBrexit from its previous March29 deadline, piled fresh pres-sure on Prime MinisterTheresa May as she gatheredher cabinet to discuss the wayforward.

Unless British lawmakersapprove a withdrawal agree-ment to ease the country outof the bloc, EU rules andagreements built up over 46years of membership will cease

to apply overnight, threateninghavoc in almost every domainof life. May has been seekingto rally support for her twice-rejected deal, but there is spec-ulation that if she fails, shecould allow MPs to vote onwhat happens next.

The commission outlinedmeasures in 13 key areas, fromrules on flying and road trans-port to travel regulations, fish-ing rights and banking --while stressing that they wouldonly reduce the disruption, notprevent it altogether.

“The EU’s contingencymeasures will not — and can-not — mitigate the overallimpact of a ‘no-deal’ scenario,nor do they in any way com-pensate for the lack of pre-paredness or replicate the fullbenefits of EU membership,”the commission statementssaid.

“These proposals are tem-porary in nature, limited inscope and will be adoptedunilaterally by the EU. Theyare not ‘mini-deals’ and havenot been negotiated with theUK.”

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US-backed forces in Syria onMonday called for the

establishment of an interna-tional court in the country totry suspected Islamic Stategroup jehadis.

The announcement cametwo days after the jehadisgroup’s “caliphate” was declareddefeated.

“We call on the interna-tional community to establisha special international tribunalin northeast Syria to prosecuteterrorists,” the SyrianDemocratic Forces said in astatement.

In this way, “trials can beconducted fairly and in accor-dance with international lawand human rights covenantsand charters”, it said.

Syria’s Kurds have previ-ously warned that despite thedemise of the IS proto-state, thethousands of foreign jehadisthey have detained are a time-bomb the world urgently needsto defuse.

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Islamabad: The PakistanGovernment on Mondayapproved a proposal to estab-lish a corridor that will allowHindu pilgrims from India tovisit Sharda Peeth, an ancientHindu temple and cultural sitein Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,according to a media report.

The Sharda Peeth corridor,when opened, will be the sec-ond religious tract afterKartarpur corridor in Pakistan-controlled territory that willconnect the two neighbouringnations. PTI

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Pakistan’s military has reject-ed India’s claim that it used

US-made F-16 fighters jetsagainst India in retaliation to itspre-emptive strikes on a JeMterror camp in Balakot, sayingthat JF-17 Thunder combataircraft developed jointly withChina were used in the opera-tion.

Pakistan Army spokesmanMajor General Asif Ghafoorsaid the Indian jets violated thePakistani airspace on February26, dropping payloads withoutinflicting any casualties ordamage to infrastructure.

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At least seven people, includ-ing a man who assisted in

solemnising the wedding oftwo teenage Hindu girls aftertheir alleged abduction andforced conversions, have beendetained in Pakistan, amidreports that the victimsapproached a court seekingprotection.

The two girls, Raveena(13) and Reena (15), wereallegedly kidnapped by a groupof "influential" men from theirhome in Ghotki district inSindh on the eve of Holi. Soonafter the kidnapping, a videowent viral in which a cleric waspurportedly shown soleminis-ing the Nikah (marriage) of thetwo girls, triggering a nation-wide outrage.

On March 20, the girls’family lodged a FirstInformation Report againsttheir alleged forced conversionto Islam.

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France’s Emmanuel Macronwas accused Monday of

lacking empathy after criticis-ing an elderly “yellow vest” pro-tester who was badly injuredduring a demonstration inNice at the weekend.

Macron has repeatedlybeen accused of harbouring anarrogant, dismissive attitudetowards ordinary people whocomplain about having diffi-culties making ends meet.

Last year he famously toldan unemployed gardener, whocomplained about not findingwork after sending out hun-dreds of job applications, thathe only had to “cross the road”to find work. He also toldelderly citizens protesting overpension cuts that the Frenchshould moan less, anddescribed people who took tothe streets over his reforms tothe labour code as “slackers”.

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Aformer senior Philippinepolice official says

President Rodrigo Duterte hasbeen photographed with twoChinese men involved in ille-gal drugs and sent a report towarn him about the two.

Dismissed SeniorSuperintendent EduardoAcierto told a news conference

late Sunday that he’s unawarewhat government action hasbeen taken after he submitted his report about theChinese men to top policeofficials starting in December2017.

Instead, Acierto said he’snow facing illegal drugs com-plaints and has been the targetof drug threats that forced himto go into hiding recently.

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US President Donald Trumpwould have no problem

with the release of the Muellerreport into Russia’s meddling inthe 2016 US election, WhiteHouse press secretary SarahSanders said on Monday.

“I don’t think the presidenthas any problem with it,”Sanders said on NBC’s Todayshow.

“He’s more than happy forany of this stuff to come outbecause he knows exactly whatdid and what didn’t happen andnow frankly the rest of Americaknows.”

Special Counsel RobertMueller found no evidencethat Trump or his campaignconspired with a Russian effortto influence the election in hisfavour, but stopped short ofexonerating the president ofobstruction of justice.

Attorney General Bill Barr,

however, concluded that therewas insufficient evidence tobring obstruction of justicecharges against Trump.

Trump, who had saidbefore Mueller’s conclusionswere relayed to Congress thatthe report should be released,called the outcome a “completeand total exoneration” despiteMueller’s caveat on obstruction.

Echoing Trump, Sanderssaid the American publicknows “there was no collusion,they know there was noobstruction and it’s a completeand total exoneration of thePresident.”

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If there was a whodunnit inIndian politics that wouldrequire the combined skills ofAgatha Christie, AlfredHitchcock and Sherlock

Holmes, Prime Minister LalBahadur Shastri’s suspicious deathin Tashkent on January 11, 1966,would certainly qualify as one.Maybe given the internationalangle that the conspiracy has, sincehe died in what was the formerSoviet Russia during the Cold War,a Robert Ludlum might even besummoned to shore up the forces.

The Tashkent Files, a film bydirector Vivek Agnihotri, is the firstone to be dedicated to the attemptsof “honest journalists” to answersome questions related to his death.To be released on April 12, in thethick of the election season, thetrailer launch saw the late PrimeMinister’s family turn out in fullforce. Sunil Shastri, his son, was just15 when Lal Bahadur was sworn inas Prime Minister on June 9, 1964and can recollect his death clearly.“There was always a doubt in mymind about the manner in whichhe died. As a teenager, it really hadan effect on me. Of course, muchof it has to do with my mother,Lalita Shastri, who spoke about itat length in an interview in a week-ly Hindi newspaper and also in herbook, Mere Pati Mere Devata,”says Sunil.

There are many things thathave given rise to the belief that thedeath, which was attributed to aheart attack, was not normal.“Initially, my mother and the restof the family were not allowed nearhis body. When we were, his facewas smeared with sandalwoodpaste but it was apparent that hisbody had turned blue. There werewhite marks and he had bled fromhis nose and back. Yet no postmortem was conducted,” he says.

The concerns of the familyrevolve around not just the lack ofan autopsy but the fact that all thedocuments related to his death havenot been made public. There is thecorrespondence between theMinistry of External Affairs and theIndian Embassy after the death ofthe Prime Minister that is classified.The entire lot of papers related tothe Raj Narain Committee, consti-tuted by the Janata Party in 1977 tolook into the mysterious death,remain untraceable from theParliament’s library. Despite repeat-ed attempts by the family as well asothers, documents related to hisaccidental death remain classifiedas under Section 18 (1) of the RTIAct they can cause “national unrestand upheaval and internationalembarrassment” as per the Prime

Minister’s Office. But Sunil wantsto know, “How will the revelationof the truth affect these?”

There were other issues thatindicate a cover-up. Two people, hispersonal physician, Dr R N Chugh,and his assistant, Ram Nath, whohad accompanied him to Tashkent,were killed in road accidents.“Before his death, whenever wequestioned Ram Nath, who myfather treated like a son, he alwayscried and seemed to be under a lotof pressure. The mystery deepenedwhen he met with one accidentwhere he lost his legs and thenanother where he completely losthis memory. Dr Chugh too died inan accident while going back to hishouse along with his family,” hesays.

Veteran journalist KuldipNayyar, who was the PrimeMinister’s press advisor from 1960to 1964 and travelled with himextensively, including on the fate-ful Tashkent tour was one of thefirst people to see his body and cov-ered it with the Indian flag. LalitaShastri did tell him about themarks and cuts on Shastri’s body,which he documented in his book

Beyond the Lines that was publishedin 2012. But what is even moretelling is that Nayyar, towards theend of his life, did tell the family thathe believed that the Prime Ministerdied mysteriously.

Rumours swirled at the time ofhis death about the involvement ofhis powerful rivals in the Congresswho, supposedly along with Russia’shelp, eliminated him as within the18 months that he was the PrimeMinister, his popularity wasunprecedented and growing. Ofcourse, another theory attributedthe deed to the CIA which wantedto arrest India’s march towardsbecoming a nuclear power.However, Sunil refuses to agree ordismiss any of the theories. “Let thefilm be released and we will talkabout it,” he says with a laugh in agrandfatherly tone.

The family does feel that thereis a lot in store for it with the releaseof the film. “We approached everygovernment, Congress and non-Congress, including the one led byChandrashekhar, but no actionwas taken. The film has given us theonly ray of hope as we are yet to geta closure,” he says.

According to the TashkentAgreement signed with thePakistan President GeneralMohammed Ayub Khan and medi-ated by Soviet premier AlekseyKosygin on January 10, for theceasefire of hostilities between the

two countries, India agreed toreturn the strategic Haji Pir pass toPakistan which it had captured inAugust 1965 against heavy oddsand at a huge human cost. Thismove was unpalatable to mostIndians.

However, Sanjay Nath Singh,the son of Suman, Lal Bahadur’sdaughter and Vijay Nath Singh, saysthat unlike the popular theorythat the last person that he spoketo was his mother, it was his fatherthat the late Prime Minister talkedto as he wanted to discuss the reac-tion to the agreement among thecountrymen. “He told my fatherthat ‘when I come back, I will putbefore my countrymen somethingthat would make them forget theAgreement.’ The decision was takenin consultation with other peopleand was not done under any pres-sure.” The trailer hints that the sur-prise here was none other than theIndian National Army leaderSubhash Chandra Bose. He orsomeone who bears a strikingresemblance to him is standingbehind the Russian premier in aphotograph that was clicked afterthe signing of the agreement

between the two countries. Coincidentally or we can say

ironically, the death of Bose isanother incident of modern Indianhistory that is still shrouded in mys-tery despite several commissionsand enquiry. Singh asks, “Isn’t itreally surprising that the death ofthe second Prime Minister outsidethe country is not questioned byanyone, including journalists, andhis own party members?”

But irrespective of his shorttenure and untimely as well as mys-terious death, even 53 years after hisdeath, Lal Bahadur’s name is spo-ken with nothing short of awe.While other Indian PrimeMinisters might have been divisivefigures with their loyal band of sup-porters and dissenters, Lal Bahadurcontinues to evoke nothing butpraise. “He is very difficult toemulate for the simple reason thatanything he preached, he practisedon himself and his family first.During Shastri Vrat, the entirefamily, including my then two-year-old sister, did not eat,” he says refer-ring to the famous austerity drillwhere, in order to battle the chron-ic food shortage that the countryfaced, he gave up eating one mealin a week before asking the coun-try to follow suit. He even motivat-ed the country to maximise the cul-tivation of food grains by plough-ing the lawn himself at his officialresidence.

Pooja, Singh’s wife, recalls hermother-in-law cooking the peels ofevery vegetable. “Karela (bittergourd), tori (snake gourd) peelswere cooked. The skin of singhada(water chestnut) was used tomake pickle. I came from a fairlyaffluent family and I was sur-prised. My mother-in-law told methat the family had seen povertyand nothing was wasted.”

Interestingly, for the strongspine he possessed, he was not dourand did have a sense of humour.“When leaving for Tashkent, myfather, a diminutive man whostood at 5’2”, was asked how hewould stand up to the toweringphysical presence of General Ayubwho was one feet taller than him?He replied, ‘The Indian PrimeMinister would look up while thePakistani President would have tolook down while talking to eachother,’ ” says Sunil.

But even his opponent hadnothing but praise for him. GeneralAyub believed that he was the per-son “who could have brought Indiaand Pakistan closer.”

Clearly, they do not make menor statesmen like him any more. Oreven when he was alive.

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It took just a single tweet fordirector and filmmakerVivek Agnihotri to get the

idea of creating a film onIndia’s second Prime Minister,Lal Bahadur Shastri, and hisfateful demise. “It was October2, 2017, and I had tweeted, ‘It’sShastri’s birthday too.’ Thatwas the time when somebodycommented that why don’tyou make a film on him?” sayshe.

The film, The TashkentFiles, comes with a hashtagquestion — Who killedShastri? More than half a cen-tury after that fateful morningin Tashkent and the questionstill remains unanswered —Did Shastri really die a natur-al death or was it an assassina-tion birthed from political dis-agreements?

Well, Vivek could havechosen the easy way after thetweet and just made a biopic onhis life and suspicious death.However, he felt that there havebeen numerous chapters in his-tory textbooks talking aboutwhat life did the man live.However, “not a single oneanswering or making the youthrealise the importance of ques-tioning that how did he die soabruptly?”

The director feels thatIndia’s youth and audience arematuring with a great pace asquestioning almost everything.Hence, he says that the film isdedicated to all the “honestjournalists and truth seekers”in the country. “Sometimesthey even question certainthings which are better to beleft as they are. However, thisis a sign that they are maturingand realising what their dutiesand rights are. They are able toquestion what they think is

unjustified. The youth is takinginterest in the country. Why doyou think all these big star-based films are not working?People are preferring morerealistic elements and con-tent that can relate to thereal life stories of the com-mon man,” says Vivek.

As a filmmaker, hefelt that he couldbring it back topeople’s consciencenow that reachingthem is easier,especially due tosocial media. Hesays, “Now is theright time whenthey could ques-tion the manner ofhis death again. It issomething that hadto be questioned irre-spective of its timing.

At that time, no one, includingthe journalists, officers or evenother people in authority ques-tioned the manner of his sud-den death. Imagine, a PM

goes on an internationaltrip for a political treaty, andjust dies... Even an autopsyon the body was not con-ducted. Isn’t it question-

able? The silencearound it made mecurious.”

For Vivek,once he picked upthe project, it tran-scended to morethan just a film. “Itbecame my right

as a citizen of Indiato know what hap-pened to the secondPM of India. It was notjust a murder mystery

anymore. It became a

web of questions about howIndia and its democracybecame a victim to the ColdWar between USA and USSR?What were the policies of ourleaders and the governmentand how were they correct forthe country? How would haveIndia shaped up if Shastri wasalive? A lot of things opened upand helped me understandIndia better,” he says.

With the film, the directorsays, he also aims to questionthe democracy and people’sright to information. Whilegoing through the researchfor the film, there was a stageof frustration when he wasn’table to find any way out. It wasindeed tough to get the rightdata. “I filed a number of RTIsand received no response. Ichecked the records,approached national archivesand read books from publiclibraries, and didn’t find anyanswer. It was the most shatter-ing and frustrating moment inthe whole journey,” he tells us,adding, “All the evidence wasdestroyed. Hence, we didn’thave much information that wecould have referred to. Thingswere beyond forensic controlnow. Documents and manyfiles from the Parliament itselfwere missing. It would havetaken more than a decade had

I depended on them.”It was then the idea of

crowd-sourcing came to hismind and called out the pub-lic to reach to him in case theyhave any related information.Well, surprisingly, “withinhours so many people wrote tous that the server got jammed.That’s where I found a newdirection.”

However, in this social-media, fake news-led world,how to differentiate betweenfacts and fiction? “I am intel-ligent,” laughs Vivek and goeson to add that they tried to“cross-reference” the overlap-ping facts and figures. Heexplains, “If a hundred peopleare on side A, and the otherhundred people on side B,then we struck out the com-monalities between both thesides and dug out the real mat-ter. We kept finding the com-mon lines and counter ques-tioning each thing.”

The film, he says, proceedsexactly in the way that theresearch happened — onething gets added to the otherthe moment it’s discovered.

Well, the film’s release date(April 12) too raises certainquestions given that GeneralElections are round the corner.However, the director counterquestions that why are datesassigned to directors andactors? “Nobody questionswhy Salman Khan only releas-es his film on Eid or AkshayKumar on August 15 orJanuary 26. If they have a rea-son, here, it’s a political season,so why not? Such a film wouldanyway have grabbed equaleyeballs irrespective of when itreleases,” he laughs as he signsoff.

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Going down memory lane and reminisc-ing his journey in the film industry,Karan said, “I don’t like taking it slow.

I’m the happiest on a film set because where elsecan I sing, dance, laugh, cry and still be at work?You are god when you’re a filmmaker, you cancreate a world, destroy or re-create it, you cando whatever you want.”

When Karan was notified about his statuebeing made at Madame Tussauds, he said hefirst informed his mother about it. He was over-whelmed by the news and spoke of the connecthe shares with hismother. He said,“I share a closebond with her. Ifeel moreengaged with theparental aspect ofthings. Now Ihave a new gazeon everything mymother wentthrough.”

Turning thec o n v e r s a t i o naround his persona, he was asked that how doeshe manage to keep cool with all the ups anddowns in life. He said, “We’re in the kind of pro-fession where everything is in front of themedia. Paparazzi follows you every where. Theycapture your airport look, gym look, even outof the bed look. If you’re in the show business,you have got to show yourself and therefore lookgood.”

In one of the segments in the show, Karanreceived a special video message from actressAlia Bhatt as she talked about Karan’s “flawless”character. Alia asked Karan, “Now that you haveYash and Roohi in the Johar family, who are mysiblings too, the only question I want to ask ishave you forgotten that I am your daughter? AmI still your daughter?” As a reply, he said, “Ofcourse. How can I forget that Alia is my firstchild?”

(The show stars on Zee Café at 10 pm, everySunday.)

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Turner Prize winner, AnishKapoor creates elegant minimal-ist sculptures that combine sim-

ple materials, geometric shape andorganic form to generate maximumimpact.

ELEGANT MINIMALIST SCULP-TURES

After first establishing his reputa-tion in the 1980s with biomorphicsculptures in limestone and othernatural materials, Kapoor began toexplore the theme of “the void” inlarge-scale stone works, some withdefined insides and outsides and oth-ers that clearly delineate empty spaces.In 2006, he installed Sky Mirror atRockefeller Center, a 23-ton, three-story stainless steel sculpture thatreflected the New York skyline. Hedescribed the massive work as a “non-object” because its reflective surfaceallowed it to disappear.

DRAWING THE HUMAN IMAGE IN

An understanding of the shinysteel as well as the physicality of theconcave sculptural circular, oval orelliptical creations becomes an expres-sionist and experiential vertiginousdepth which draws viewers who walkstoward his works to understand thesensorial impact of nothingness.Kapoor has said that he “wishes tomake sculpture about experience thatis outside material concern,” and healways manages to succeed in stirringmultiple human responses to his workas he cuts through class, barriers andtime.

MODERNISTSplit as a sculpture is striking, it

carries within a Zen auratic moodwithin its stainless steel sculptural fer-ment, and it must be seen apart fromthe “transcendentalisation” of theviewer. What entices and enchants isthe vivid materiality, the modernist cel-ebration of geometry, even as it sub-

tly transcends changing appearances ashumans who walk in front of the steelcoalesce into slim gradients of animat-ed legions. Kapoor revels in his crafts-manship, and you know that he has adeep understanding of physicality togive the sculpture’s concave centre thelustre required to turn it into a mirror.Kapoor invites the silent spectator tomorph into a mirrored spectator whoremains strongly three-dimensional,belonging at once to a hologram-likeecstatic effect.

The effect is a new remoteness thatis born of the shiny luminosity and thehumans that become part of thereflection become the insignia of thesculpture and therein lies the delight.It was at the Hong Kong Art Fair 2010that I experienced the purity as well asthe juvenile delight Kapoor couldgive his spectators with his lush high-ly polished steel sculptures.

STEEL AND COLOURHe also engages and revels in his

sculpture — the steel and the colourgive us an amalgam of the raw andrefined, and like one critic in Londonsaid “he has fine-tuned the tensionbetween the opposites, creating anopportunity for reparative unity thatthe ready-made unity of his globes —the foreordained unity of the circle.”

Split’s success is its highly polishedmirrored surface that replicates thehuman figure in all its intricate lesseror greater than magnitude.

Indeed we all know that mirrorsare seductive and Kapoor revels in giv-ing his viewer’s a narcissist’s treat. Butthe sculpture is also about light andspace, time and tide that waits for none.

Kapoor’s exploration of infinitespace, over the years creates islands ofreflections within and without. He con-tinues to explore the notion of endlessspace, the void, as he pointed to, in hisBoston show years ago “The idea ofplace has always been very importantto my work. A place has to be origi-nal. The word original means that it hasto do with ‘first’ and I think that is todo with centering oneself, allowing athing to occur specifically rather thanin general. A lot of my works are aboutpassage, about a passing through, andthat necessitates a place. The place ofaction. It is the moment of contactbetween the thing and the world. Thespatial questions it seems to ask werenot about deep space but about presentspace… and they seem to be veryactive, to be in various states ofbecoming,” says Kapoor. Art Dubai willcelebrate the deeper understanding ofa universal language in simple elementsof time and its creator.

Four galleries full ofstoneware and ceramicniceties that stemmed from

humble pots to platters and a fewitems of sculpture. The AIFACSand Delhi Blue Pottery Trustpresented the All India StudioPottery Exhibition 2019, whichwas a treat for tired eyes. Thereseemed to be more work instoneware, you could not help butstand and gaze quietly at the buffshades that is soothing to thesight.

STONEWARE SHEEPIt is called stoneware due to

its dense and stone-like character.After being fired, this type isimpermeable (waterproof) andusually opaque. In its naturalstate, stoneware clay is grey butthe process of firing turns it intolight-brown or buff coloured,and different hues may then beapplied in the form of glazes.Generally speaking, stonewaresare fired at temperature between1,100-1,300 degree celsius.

And so back to the mostloved pieces for this critic. On topof my list is Chitra Sharma andher small quaint sheep, hand-moulded and curious in terms ofthe many details and the impec-cable nature of her composition.Small and immaculately thrown,

the viewer is mesmerised by thesoft transparent glaze that hasstrips of various lengths ringingthe sheep’s bodies. They have aBiblical perfection and are bornof a different spirit, and onereadily reckons that she must bediscovered in depth of details andcompositions; pieces like this areincredibly hard to fire, as allkinds of accidents can occur inthe kiln like cracking, warpingand running of glazes, but herewere four sheep that alluded allkinds of parts and places includ-ing the snow-filled mountaintops.

TWO PLATTERSThere were a number of plat-

ters on view too, but it was thatof of Archana Singh and BipashaSengupta that stood out for theirsimplicity and patterns of bothminimalist moorings as well asthe eternal lotus leaves. Archana’sdeft architectural drawing doneby ceramic pencil on stoneware,high fired at 1,280 degree celsius,and was finished with a transpar-ent glaze. It was softly stirring tothe senses while BipashaSengupta’s stoneware platter withresplendent lotus leaves and flow-ers done as an outline in black slipwith transparent glaze spoke atonce of the spiritual fervour and

the pensive beauty of the lotusleaves that have always been asubject of great interest andintrigue to artists of differentmediums.

MAN AND NATUREIf there was a well-crafted, cal-

culated work, it was that of AartiPaliwal. Likewise, as a represent-ed ceramicist she is highly skilled,and reflects a certain sophisticationin her cup that speaks of man andnature. Each detail that she evokesin her pieces is sheer perfection.This being so, there are a few signsof the ecological aesthetic thatregards such ‘flaws’ as stone bursts,cracked lips and unevenness aspart of the beauty of imperfectionin her magnificent cup and saucer.

“My ceramic work is inspiredby humans, natural forms and tex-tures — trees, rocks, mushrooms,the human figure, modern sur-faces and the fusion of traces ofhuman activity in relation tonature,” Paliwal explains. “I see mywork as a personal journey explor-ing identity, connecting to rootsand expressing the process of evo-lution and the layering of humandestruction that makes up a whole.My forms are a reflection of man’srelationship with natural forms.What attracts me to the universalworld is the changes that happen;

it is as if we are looking at differ-ing life forms and how we impactnature in a destructive way.”

BIRD HEADS AS A SUBJECTAnjali Jaggi’s rooster heads,

done in transparent glaze with redslip, were a candid stoneware setthat also spoke of the spirit as wellas the technique. It is an inspira-tion that hold’s one attention. Notall the works were worthy ofscrutiny or intensity. Whatever thecause of the exclamations, whethera neatly turned bowl or a sculptur-al entity, what entices is theendearing quality of ceramics andstoneware.

LIVELY VISUALSThere were lively visuals of

decorative ceramic artworks, anda myriad of colours and designsthat would tingle your senses.Among the simpler creations, onework was Manoj Kumar’s smallfish, made of stoneware and highfired in transparent glaze with redand black slip. The small plate heldits own because it ascertained tothe truth that this is a highlyexpressive way of working and atits most basic relies solely on thehands as tools. On display one sawa varied working range, fromintricate and intimate processes toa whole body experience.

Stoneware varies greatly inscale and style: from figurines del-icately modelled with thumb andforefinger in the palm of theartist’s hand, to vigorous worksproduced by hurling wet clay ata structure to build up form, andeverything in between. Creatingwith clay can be fast and imme-diate, also small and expressive,conjuring up images of the firstfigures of ancient times, whosefeatures were squeezed out of wetclay to resemble animals andhuman forms.

In subtle and varied huesthis was an exhibition thatshowed deft handling and unend-ing passion and one must remem-ber yeoman’s service done byRavi and Leena Batra for theinspiration and infrastructurethat Delhi Blue pottery providespotters of all ages.

Francis Newton Souza’s Last Howlfrom the Cross, two works byAkbar Padamsee, a landscape byRam Kumar, a fervent figurativefrom Jogen Chowdhury, and

Nandalal Bose’s Arjuna are a few worksthat hold their own. Among sculptures,it is the venerated Himmat Shah’s sculp-ture that extols the modernist mood inmyriad ways. All these stellar works,which are iconic in symbolism and thetranscending trajectory of artistic evolu-tions, are being auctioned at the AstaGuru’s Modern Indian Art auction.

NANDALAL BOSE’s ARJUNANandalal Bose’s Arjuna, a magnifi-

cent tempera on silk, painted in 1944, isa national treasure and it is the first timeit is being showcased to the public. Itbelongs to a freedom fighter and one ofthe pioneers of modern art in India. Thepainting was inspired by Tagore’s dancedrama Chitrangada based on theMahabharata. The painting shows areclining Arjuna in the forest with anintriguing expression on his face.Historian R Siva Kumar says, “We neverthought that the later version would everbe seen. We thought that the 1938 one atNGMA was the only one that we wouldsee. Every piece of Nandalal Bose is a raregem and bears the tag of a ‘national trea-sure.’

F N SOUZA’s LAST HOWL FROMTHE CROSS 1963

Souza used to attend Mass with hisgrandmother every day and as a little boyhe would watch the priests closely and befascinated by the rituals of Catholicismincluding the crucifixion and the stainedglass windows. But over the years hisadmiration also turned into deep criti-cism of the orthodoxy and the practicesof the church and its many clergy. Thiswork, Last Howl from the Cross 1963 wasexhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery,London, in 1964 in a show titled The

Human and the Divine Predicament,this canvas resembles Souza’s contentious1959 painting, Crucifixion, which is cur-rently part of the Tate’s permanent col-lection.

In this revolutionary piece, the icon-ic image of Christ’s crucifixion is ren-dered with malevolence rather thanempathy. The gaunt martyr appearsgrotesque with his bared, fang-like teeth,vacant eyes and tangled, spiked hair. Likethe figure they supposedly mourn, Souzahas disfigured and distorted the men andwomen at the base of the cross, whoappear to be heckling rather than griev-ing for the crucified figure. Thus, themood set by the artist is one of revulsion

rather than piety, recalling medievalscenes of heretics burning at the stake.

AKBAR PADAMSEE’s CITYSCAPEAND METASCAPE

Akbar Padamsee’s Cityscape 1957and his Metascape are two rivetingworks. Cityscape is a meditation on thebeauty of nocturnes in myriad colours online, form and movement. Painted fromtop to bottom, it has cubist geometry, itis also a meditation on the very act ofpainting. This early cityscape has only afew buildings at close range but in thevertical clusters of geometric shapes

under a night sky, it is the shades of dif-ferent dark colours and the work anincandescent aura. Padamsee’s Metascapetoo is a rare delight that conveys a rest-fulness, a depth and richness that isimmediately striking. As the wordMetascape suggests, in these paintingsPadamsee is concerned with the mythicor archetypal landscape, which isexpressed visually by a stringent order-ing of timeless elements, such as theearth, the sun and the moon, in tempo-ral space.

JOGEN CHOWDHURY’s DANCER1999

One artist who has always stood apartin f igurative splendour is JogenChowdhury. His Dancer 1999 is a splen-did creation in contours curves and cohe-sive beauty. Jogen has often included ref-erences to popular visual culture in hiswork and this is one of them. Over theperiod of 1970s onwards, he developedhis own unique approach for the treat-ment of his subject. He drew inspirationfrom folk art sources, including Kalighatsand Battala woodcuts. Jogen referenceslocal traditions and popular visual cul-ture to comment on the complexities andcontradictions of Bengali middle-classsociety. He combines fantasy with real-ity to produce subjects that are oftengrotesque, distorted and caricatures butthey revel in the fluidity of finesse.

Jogen Chowdhury’s subjects are usu-ally rendered against a black back-ground, their fluid contours tightenedwith cross-hatching and heightened withtouches of colour. The absence of a back-ground allows the viewer to focus pure-ly on the central character, evoking asense of human alienation. His figures arewoven into a shape with a spidery web

of dense cross hatched lines, fleshed outwith a hint of colour added with a softdry pastel. “We did not have electricityin our houses and I had to read by thehurricane lantern. I had to fall back onblack and white because we did not haveenough light. We had a miserable stateof living when we came to Kolkata asrefugees. The criss-crossing lines, too,may be carrying traces of the environ-mental and mental complications ofthat time.”

HIMMAT SHAHHimmat Shah’s sculpture is a joy to

behold. Spartan primal and deeply philo-sophical Himmat’s sculpture is a blend ofthe smoothened aesthetics of Brancusiand the cubist flavour of the yesteryear.Himmat has always admired bothBrancusi and Henry Moore and createdworks that are born of modernist idioms.This work too belongs to the solitude thatis Himmat’s own leitmotif. It has aboutit an aristocracy and a signature thatharks back to early ages even as itspeaks to us as a canticle of contempo-rary wisdom.

(The auction will begin from March27 to March 28 in Mumbai.)

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Aaron Finch struck back-to-back centuries to lead Australia

to another thumping eight wicketvictory over a hapless Pakistan inthe second one-day international inSharjah on Sunday.

The Australian skippersmashed 143-ball 153 not out forhis 13th ODI hundred — also hishighest score in ODIs — to anchorAustralia's comfortable chase of a285-run target in 47.5 overs whichgave them a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Finch, who scored 116 inAustralia's eight wicket win in thefirst game at the same venue onFriday, put on a solid 209-runopening wicket stand with UsmanKhawaja who made 109-ball 88.

Finch struck six sixes and 11boundaries in a dominatinginnings, improving on his previoushighest one-day score of 148against Scotland at Edinburgh in2013.

The victory becomes morememorable as it was 100th one-dayinternational match between thetwo countries.

Finch and Khawaja thrivedagainst the novice attack, withFinch striking two sixs in the finalovers while Khawaja's knock hadeight boundaries.

Finch completed his hundredwith a couple off debutant Hasnainon his 97th ball, making successivehundreds for a second time in hiscareer. He scored consecutive hun-dreds against England in Australialast year.

Khawaja fell to leg-spinnerYasir Shah with 76 needed whileGlenn Maxwell cracked two sixesin his 19 before he was run out.

Pakistan owd their total of280-7 — after winning the toss —to Mohammad Rizwan's maidencentury.

Rizwan, only playing becauseregular keeper and skipper SarfrazAhmed has been rested for theseries — added 52 for the thirdwicket with Haris Sohail (34) andan invaluable 127 for the fifth wick-et with stand-in captain ShoaibMalik.

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Novak Djokovic remains oncourse for a record seventh

Miami Open title, but the worldnumber one admitted to a loss offocus in a 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 victory overspirited Federico Delbonis whichbooked his place in the last 16.

Djokovic is hoping to eclipseAndre Agassi's six ATP crowns inSouth Florida over the next weekand although the 31-year-oldendured some shaky moments atHard Rock Stadium, he still pos-sessed enough quality during thekey moments to see off the battlingDelbonis.

He will need to tighten up hisgame if he is to reach next Sunday'sfinal with Roberto Bautista Agutwaiting in the fourth round afterthe Spaniard defeated Italian FabioFognini 6-4, 6-4.

The world number one wasgetting incredibly frustrated , hereceived a warning for racquet

abuse and was furious for allowinga 3-1 lead to slip in the second set.

But his opponent couldn't keepthe pressure on and when Djokovicmanaged to get 3-1 ahead in the

final set, this timethere was no wayback for the 28 year-

old from Azul who rightly receivedan ovation from the center courtcrowd for his monumental efforts.

Defending champion JohnIsner blew Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas off court with serves touch-ing 139 mph as the Americansealed an ultimately comprehensive7-5, 7-6 (8-6) win to set up anintriguing match with KyleEdmund in the last 16 after theBritish number one impressivelysaw off Canadian Milos Raonic 6-

4 6-4.In the women's draw, Simona

Halep kept alive hopes of regainingthe world number one ranking onSunday, beating Polona Hercog 5-7, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2 to reach the last 16where she will play Venus Williams.

Halep, 27, lost her place at thetop of the rankings followingNaomi Osaka's triumph at theAustralian Open earlier this year.

But with the Japanese falteringon Saturday, Halep can return tothe position she last held at the endof 2018 if she lands the MiamiOpen for the first time.

Seven-time Grand Slam cham-pion Williams, meanwhile, sweptpast Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-3,6-1.

Elsewhere in women's action,American Sloane Stephens's titledefense ended in a 6-3, 6-2 loss toGermany's Tatjana Maria.

It was another disappointingending for Stephens, who fell in thethird round at Indian Wells.

���%��������� 1)2��)(�3�

Former champions P V Sindhu andKidambi Srikanth will look to shrug offtheir erratic form and ensure an Indian

sweep at the $ 350,000 India Open, whichis shorn of star power this time.

With Saina Nehwal pulling out of thecountry's blue-riband tournament after fail-ing to recover from acute gastroenteritis, theonus will be on Sindhu and Srikanth to keepthe tricolour flying at the business end of thetournament starting on Tuesday.

Olympic Silver-medallist Sindhu, whoclaimed the World Tour Finals in Decemberlast year, will be the firm favourite tosecure the women's title after receiving thetop billing following the pullout of Chinesetop seed and reigning All England champi-on Chen Yufei due to medical reasons.

The absence of Japanese players will alsohelp Sindhu's case.

Sindhu had a decent start to the new sea-son with a quarterfinal finish at theIndonesia Masters but a first-round exit atthe prestigious All England Championshipcame as a major jolt.

The Indian ace however will draw inspi-ration from her performance in the last twoeditions where she had reached the finals andclaimed the title in 2017.

Sindhu will open against compatriotMugdha Agrey and is expected to face fast-rising Danish Mia Blichfeldt, seeded eighth,in the quarterfinals. A win is likely to pit heragainst Chinese third seed He Bingjiao.

Youngsters Vrushali Gummadi and SaiUttejitha Rao Chukka will also be in the frayin women's singles at the World Tour Super500 event.

The tournament will hold a lot ofprominence for third seed Srikanth, who hasendured a title draught for the last 17months.

With defending champion and top seedShi Yuqi pulling out, Srikanth will be at theforefront along with former world champi-on Viktor Axelsen, who had claimed the titlein 2017 after three back-to-back finals.

The 26-year-old Srikanth, who clinchedthe title in 2015, will begin his campaignagainst familiar foe, Hong Kong's WongWing Ki Vincent, and might come across fel-low Indians Sameer Verma or B Sai Praneethlater as both are in the same half of the draw.

Fifth seed Sameer, after reaching thesemifinals at the World Tour Finals, willopen against Denmark's Rasmus Gemke,

while Praneeth faces a qualifier.RMV Gurusaidutt too is in the same

half and will start against Thailand'sSitthikom Thammasin.

Praneeth, who had clinched the 2017Singapore Open for his first maiden SuperSeries title, is coming into the tournamentafter securing a final spot at the SwissOpen and he will look to extend his goodrun.

The other half of the men's singlesdraw will have HS Prannoy, SubhankarDey, Ajay Jayaram and Parupalli Kashyap.

Prannoy is coming to the event aftercompeting at the Asia Mixed Team cham-pionship and will take on Thailand'seighth seed Kantaphon Wangcharoen.

Subhankar, who had stunned AsianGames champion Jonatan Christie ofIndonesia on way to a quarterfinalfinish at the Swiss Open, will openagainst fourth seed IndonesianTommy Sugiarto.

Ajay and Kashyap, twocareers marred by injuries, willlook to continue their comebackwith first-round matches againstChinese Taipei's Wang Tzu Wei and HongKong's Lee Cheuk Yiu respectively.

In doubles, sixth seeds Manu Attri andB Sumeeth Reddy will lead the challengein men's doubles, after SatwiksairajRankireddy and Chirag Shetty withdrewwith the former still recovering from ashoulder injury.

Arun George and Sanyam Shukla willalso be a pair to look out for after theystunned World No 14 pair of Liao MinChun and Ching Heng last week at HongKong.

In women's doubles, AshwiniPonnappa and N Sikki Reddy andMeghana Jakkampudi and Poorvisha SRam will be in fray, while Pranaav JerryChopra and Sikki will be the best hope inmixed event.

���� 1)2��)(�3�

Indian ace Kidambi Srikanthsaid it was irritating to lose

close quarterfinals in a title-less season and stressed onthe need to get physicallyand mentally tougher to winmedals at the WorldChampionship and OlympicGames.

Srikanth, who hadclinched four titles in 2017,

lost nine quarterfinalsand two semifinalswhile reaching thefinals only once at theC o m m o n w e a l t h

Games in the last 15months."I think the series of

quarterfinals are more irritat-ing for me than losing in thefirst round," Srikanth said onthe eve of the India Open.

"I think I have been con-sistent against a few playersand then not able to get thatwin against a few others atquarterfinals and semifinals,that is what I'm working on— to last the whole week.

"Probably, if I can do wellin next 3-4 months before theWorld Championship. If Ican get better physically andtougher mentally, I think Ican do well at WorldChampionship," he added.

Srikanth had suffered a

leg injury at the 2017 SeniorNationals and ever since hehas been troubled by smallinjury woes, especially relat-ed to his ankle, which affect-ed his performance.

"I'm working on my fit-ness, I had too many injuriesin late 2017 and 2018 and soif I can keep working on myfitness then I will have agreat chance to win titles," hesaid.

"That is what worked forme in 2017, because I couldsustain an hour and half hour.But 2018 and early 2019, I hadsome injuries and withdrewfrom tournaments.

Srikanth said he justwants to focus on improvingthe little things and maintainhis momentum to do well atthe Olympics.

"I couldn't produce theresults that I wanted to butstill I 'm happy with myimprovement. So I am in thatprocess now," he said.

"I'm not desperate, I justwant to improve on differentthings, to be able to pull outcrucial points in toughmatches and be more consis-tent. All I am working on nowis to do well at the Olympics.If I can hold on to themomentum and keep improv-ing till the Olympics, I can dowell there," Srikanth added.

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Australian fast bowler JhyeRichardson has dislocated his

shoulder and will head home fromthe Pakistan tour, officials said, as hefaces a battle to be fit for the WorldCup.

Richardson took 2-16 in the

second one-dayer in Sharjah onSunday but fell awkwardly on hisbowling arm and left the field in the11th over.

"Unfortunately it's a dislocatedshoulder for Jhye Richardson,"Cricket Australia tweeted.

The governing body added on itswebsite that the 22-year-old — who

has gone from strength to strengthin recent months — would fly backto Perth on Monday and undergoscans to assess the damage.

Losing another quick bowler isa big blow for Australia barely twomonths out from the World Cup withMitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewoodalso battling injuries.

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Germany's Nico Schulz sealeda thrilling 3-2 win over the

Netherlands in a see-saw Euro2020 qualifier as Joachim Loew'snew-look line-up survived asevere test.

Elsewhere, World Cup final-ists Croatia stumbled to a 2-1 defeat in Hungary, andEden Hazard celebrated acentury of caps with theopening goal in Belgium's2-0 win over Cyprus.

A revamped Germanyraced into a 2-0 lead inAmsterdam with thrilling strikesfrom Leroy Sane and SergeGnabry but the hosts struckback with a second half headerfrom Matthijs De Ligt beforeMemphis Depay pounced for anequaliser on 63 minutes.

The four-time world cham-pions were put under immensepressure from a Netherlands sideseeking a winner but the visitors,who were booed by their ownfans in a 1-1 friendly drawagainst Serbia last Wednesday,snatched victory in the 90thminute through 25-year-oldSchulz.

The Hoffenheim midfield-er, who made his internationalin August, tapped home a looseball after a tireless Sane hadtaken the defence with him ona run into the box.

The win comes after Loewtook an axe to Germany's squadahead of the qualifying cam-paign in the aftermath of lastyear's calamitous World Cupelimination, when he toldBayern Munich trio ThomasMueller, Jerome Boateng andMats Hummels they had nofuture in the national side.

Bayern stopper ManuelNeuer may also come underpressure for his place after DeLigt beat him with a flyingheader just after the restart.Neuer, 32, was also slow to reactas Depay pounced for theequaliser.

Dutch 'keeper JasperCillesen was left with little

chance after Gnabry endedhis mazy run by outwittingVirgil Van Dijk beforesending a rasping long-range effort into the bot-

tom corner in the earlyaction.

���������������Chelsea star Hazard cele-

brated his 100th cap by scoringthe opener in their 2-0 win overCyprus in Group I with MichyBatshuayi grabbing the secondas Real Madrid's ThibautCourtois went largely untestedin the Belgian goal.

Ballon d'Or winner LukaModric was powerless to stopbeaten World Cup finalistsCroatia from slipping to a 2-1defeat to Hungary in Group Eon Sunday as Mate Patkainotched a 76th minute winnerin Budapest.

Croatia had struggledagainst Azerbaijan in theiropening qualifier last Thursdaybefore escaping with a 2-1 win,but they made the perfect startin the Hungarian capital whenAnte Rebic put them ahead on13 minutes.

But Hungary pulled levelthrough Adam Szalai's fifthgoal in as many games and witha quarter of an hour left, 31-year-old Patkai scored his firstinternational goal to pull off afamous victory.

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Allaying fears about India's pacespearhead Jasprit Bumrah's shoulder

injury, a BCCI official on Monday saidthere are no major concerns since thescans have come clear.

A vital cog in India's World Cupplans, Mumbai Indians' Bumrah landedawkwardly on his left shoulder whilefielding during Sunday's IPL contestagainst Delhi Capitals, causing concernin the Indian camp.

The national team relies heavily onBumrah, who has earned the reputationof being the world's best bowler in deathovers.

The Gujarat pacer did not come outto bat in Sunday's match, which addedto the concerns about his injury.

"Bumrah had some shoulder scans

done in the morning and BCCI was keptin the loop. His scan reports were okay.The tests that were done were all thoserecommended by the BCCI," the officialsaid.

When asked why Bumrah was stillin Mumbai while the team has alreadyleft for Bengaluru, the official said," Sincethe reports came late and the team hasalready left, he is travelling separately."

�#��������� ��������� #���������$�����KOLKATA: Iconic all-rounder andKolkata Knight Riders (KKR) headcoach Jacques Kallis on Monday saidthat Andre Russell is one of the mostpowerful hitters he has seen. Russellwalked in to bat when KKR needed 68off 27 balls against SRH on Sunday andthe big-hitting Caribbean all-rounderfirst hit Siddharth Kaul for 19 runs inthe 18th over and smashed 21 more offBhuvneshwar in the 19th to steer KKRhome with two balls to spare. "In termsof finishing, he is one of the most pow-erful hitters that I have seen," Kallis said."It was a good knock. He timed it well.And there were issues, the light wasn'tincredible. But it was some of the bestball striking I have seen in a long time,"said the former South Africa all-rounder.

���������������������#�����KOLKATA: England all-rounder JoeDenly is looking at the ongoing IndianPremier League to impress upon thenational selectors and guarantee hisplace in this year's World Cup squad.Denly's form in white ball cricket forKent in 2018 hasbrought him on theselectors' radar for aspot in England'sWorld Cup squad.Denly hopes to getselectors' attention bydoing well forK o l k a t aKnight Ridersin the IPL. "Iwant to playas manygames as Ican. It'si m p o r t a n t

leading up to the World Cup. HopefullyI get some game time here and can con-tribute to some good performances.And then hopefully the England selec-tors will be watching them," said Denly,who recently made his Test debut forEngland in the lost series against theWest Indies.

���������$�����������F�����������NEW DELHI: Lasith Malinga is like-ly to be available for the next two IPLmatches for Mumbai Indians after SriLanka Cricket (SLC) softened its stanceon the participation of the veteran pacerin a domestic ODI tournament. SLChad earlier announced that only those

players would be eligible for selectionin the World Cup squad, who wouldcompete in Super Provincial One-Daydomestic tournament, slated from April4 to 11. The diktat had forced Malingato make himself unavailable forMumbai Indians' first six matches.However, according to a report, the SLChas changed its stance after a few callsby BCCI. SLC Chief selector Ashanthade Mel said that Malinga's place in the

World Cup bound squad is guaran-teed, so he is free to participate inthe IPL. "We have no issues if hegoes to IPL — the board had givenhim a no-objection certificatealready, so he's free to go. Anyway

he has been one of our best bowlersin one dayers, so there's no questionabout his place in the team," Mel said.

���� �4�0'3�

Dashing India wicket-keeper batsman RishabhPant said he is "glad" to bat at any position his

team wants him to after blasting a stunning 27-ball78 during Delhi Capitals' opening match whichbrightened his World Cup selection prospects.

"Well, I am glad to bat anywhere the team wantsme to," the 21-year-old Pant said after powering DelhiCapitals to a 37-run win over Mumbai Indians.

Asked about his rapid rise to the top, he said, "It'sbeen a great journey, I'm trying to learn every dayof my cricketing career. It feels good when your teamwins. I always play according to the situation mostof the time.”

"This time Ineeded to increasethe run rate for theteam, and I took mychances, and it cameoff today. Especiallyin T20, you have todo something differ-ent. When thebowler cramps youfor room, you needto make your ownroom."

The Delhi daz-zler's seven toweringsixes and as manyfours at theWankhede Stadiumleft the MumbaiIndians bowlerstraumatised and gave rechristened Delhi Capitals thefresh beginning they longed for.

Lauding Pant's knock, Mumbai Indians captainRohit Sharma said he would change the team com-bination in the next game.

"First game is always a bit of a challenge for mostof the teams. Lot of new players in the squad as well.We made a lot of mistakes today, as simple as that.We were pretty much in the game in the first 10 overswhen we were bowling, but the way Rishabh batted,you've got to give him credit.

Leading the perennial slow starters, he added,"The combination might change for the next game.We want to see what combination the oppositionplays and then decide. The ball was still coming onwell when we batted. We ended up getting 180, still.Nobody went on to get a big score.

"Yuvi batted brilliantly, and there were a fewcameos. If one of the top three or four had scored70-80, things would have been different."

Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer said, "To be honest,I was really well prepared to take on the captaincy.I've been leading India A as well as my domestic side.It's been a great experience so far, we've been bond-ing and training really well.

"(Pant) is a really destructive batsman. Over theyears I've seen him maturing a lot. He faced a fewdot balls early on and then suddenly his strike ratewas 250. Amazing batsman, great to have him on ourteam."

���� �4�0'3�

Yuvraj Singh's cricketing futurehas been a topic of discussion

for some years now but the playersaid that he would be the first oneto bid adieu when he feels that histime is up.

Out of national team's schemeof things for good, Yuvraj has hadpoor track record in IPL but start-ed on a bright note with a half-cen-tury for his latest franchise MumbaiIndians.

"When the time comes, I will bethe first one to hang my boots,"Yuvraj told mediapersons after MI's37-run defeat.

However India's 2007 WorldT20 and 2011 World Cup hero didadmit that at times he felt indeci-sive about carrying on.

"The last two years, have beenup and down (for me). And I couldnot decide on what to do," said the37-year-old.

Yuvraj said that when he did aself introspection, he found that heis still enjoying the game just as hedid as an U-16 cricketer not think-ing about national team selection.

"The main thing for me waswhy I played the game when I start-ed off. I played the game because Ienjoyed playing cricket. When Ienjoyed playing cricket, I was not

playing for India. I was playing forU-14s and U-16s. So till the time,I enjoy playing cricket, I am goingto play."

�����4�0'3�

Rishabh Pant is an outstanding talent andshould be groomed properly so that he

becomes the next big thing in Indian cricket,feels India's 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh.

Yuvraj's comments came after Pant showedhis heroics with the bat once again and playeda match-winning unbeaten 78 off just 27 ballsfor Delhi Capitals against Mumbai Indians inthe lung opener between the two sides.

"I can't really say about (World Cup) selec-tion but Rishabh was outstanding today," 37-year-old Yuvraj said at the post match mediaconference.

"He (Pant) had an outstanding season lastyear as well. He is playing well in Test matchesas well. To score two hundreds overseas at suchan age (21 years) shows his character. It is impor-tant that we groom him well and hopefully heis the next big thing for us," said Yuvraj.

Yuvraj said that skipper Rohit Sharma's earlydismissal had an effect as they were chasing abig total.

"Losing Rohit early (was one of the reasons).de Kock was going well but (we) lost his wick-et. (Kieron) Pollard came and quickly lost hiswicket. We really couldn't get partnerships going.The wicket was more of 180-190 wicket, 215(213) was quite a match-winning score," saidYuvraj, who also lauded Delhi's bowling attack.

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The shrewd tactician inMahendra Singh Dhoni will

be plotting a rampaging RishabhPant's downfall when ChennaiSuper Kings face Delhi Capitalsin an Indian Premier Leagueencounter on Tuesday.

It will be a battle whereexperience will be pitted againstyouth and astuteness will squareoff against flamboyance whenthe King faces his heir apparenton what is expected to be anoth-er sluggish Feroz Shah Kotlatrack.

Pant has once again set thetone with a magnificent 78 off27 balls in Delhi Capitals' 37-runaway win against MumbaiIndians.

CSK, with their experienceof winning important moments,will certainly make Capitalswary.

However, Chennai SuperKings will be a different chal-lenge for the Capitals, who don'thave an enviable record againstDhoni's men at their homeground.

The nature of the Kotlatrack makes CSK favouriteswith their spin troika ofHarbhajan Singh, RavindraJadeja and Imran Tahir havingalready hit the straps in the low-scoring opener against the RoyalChallengers Bangalore.

A look at Pant's track recordindicates that he has had prob-lems against slow bowlers andDhoni, who has seen enough ofthe youngster, will love to exploitthe chinks in his armoury.

The Kotla pitch, which getsslower with passage of play,might force Dhoni to start withhis pacers and keep Harbhajanand Tahir for the overs when

Pant is expected to be in action.Harbhajan, after his man of

the match performance againstRCB, will be relishing the chal-lenge of bowling to a left-hand-ed batsman, who loves to playhis shots.

Having disposed off ViratKohli and AB de Villiers in thefirst match, 'The Turbanator'won't mind showing Pant thedug-out way.

While CSK will expect theirbatsmen to score more freely atthe Kotla, Capitals would wanttheir opening bowlers TrentBoult and Ishant Sharma to bea bit more economical.

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Chris Gayle struck a belligerent half-century to guide Kings XI Punjabto a challenging 184 for four against

Rajasthan Royals in their opening IndianPremier League match on Monday.

Opening the innings, Gayle started inan uncharacteristic fashion but grew inconfidence as the innings progressed. Hescored 79 off 47 balls and hit eightboundaries and four sixes in the process.

Besides Gayle, young Sarfaraz Khan(46 not out off 29 balls) also played a goodhand.

But Rajasthan's decision to bowl firston a two-paced wicket was bang on tar-get as K L Rahul lasted just four ballsbefore edging an outgoing DhawalKulkarni delivery to wicketkeeper JosButtler, who took a brilliant one-handedcatch.

Gayle and Mayank Agarwal (22) thenstruggled to hit big shots against Kings XI'sdisciplined bowling as they gar-nered just 32 runs in the pow-erplay overs.

The dou finally broketheir shackles, hittingJaydev Unadkat for afour and six to yield 13runs of the bowler'sopening over.

Gayle then openedup his arms again and hitKrishnappa Gowtham for amaximum in the first ball ofthe ninth over.

But Gowtham broke the 54-run stand

between Gayle and Agarwal after thelatter was holed out a long-off by

Kulkarni.Brought back into the

attack in the 12th over,Unadkat was taken to thecleaners by Gayle as he hit theleft-arm pacer for three con-

secutive fours and then astraight six over the bowler's

head to bring up his fifty in 33balls.

Unadkat's second over, that produced17 runs, opened the floodgates for Kings XI

as Sarfaraz too joined the party and togeth-er with Gayle punished the bad deliveries.

After playing cautiously initially, Gaylewent on a rampage, stood on his crease andclobbered Ben Stokes (2/48) for two bound-aries and six before being holed out at mid-wicket fence by Rahul Tripathi in the fifthball of the same over.

Gayle and Sarfaraz added 84 runs forthe third wicket and in the process gaveKings XI the much-needed momentum.

After Gayle's dismissal, Sarfaraz tookthe onus on himself and took Kings XI pastthe 180-run mark.

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Delhi Capitals star RishabhPant might have played a

stellar role on Sunday to winthem the opening gameagainst Mumbai Indians, butChennai Super Kings coachStephen Fleming made itclear that overplanning keep-ing one player in mind would-nt help the team.

"You have to respect somany players in the tourna-ment and he is one of them.But there are others as well.Have to be sure you don'toverplan. He is one of thegreat young prospects inIndian cricket. But there isShikhar Dhawan, ColinIngram, captain Shreyas Iyer.One thing is to find a weak-ness, but have to use it well.You must focus on ownstrength," he explained.

Asked if the conditions inFerozeshah Kotla will help theChennai side as CSK too

banks on spin on their homeground in Chepauk, Flemingsaid: "The last game was dif-ficult for the batters. Thebowlers excelled. The factthat we use spinners is one orour tactics, we have seamingbowlers as well to exploit sit-uations. We will spend time tolook at the conditions. Gettingthe combination right isimportant."

Fleming was all praise forsenior spinner HarbhajanSingh and said that the off-spinner will definitely be con-sidered for Delhi game.

"He was fantastic in thefirst game. Experience isimportant. There are a lot ofleft-handers in the Delhi side.That was discussed in theRCB game as well. We willlook to consider that. It isabout the skill sets we have. Itwas a compliment to nothaving to stick to the overseasquota. We will consider itagain tomorrow," he said.

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