c m y k any link between terror-try, the prime minister stressed there were terror groups that prime...

16
P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday used the platform of the first World Sufi Forum in the national Capital to assert that terrorism is not a confrontation against any religion, but it is a battle that must be won through the strength of values and “real” message of religions. “The fight against terror- ism is not a confrontation against any religion. It cannot be. It is a struggle between the values of humanism and the forces of inhumanity,” he said. Without naming any coun- try, the Prime Minister stressed there were terror groups that were instruments of State poli- cy and design and said terrorism uses diverse motivations and causes that cannot be justified. Inaugurating the three-day forum, Modi made an oblique reference to Pakistan and point- ed out that some terrorists are trained in organised camps. “There are forces and groups that are instruments of State policy and design. There are others who are recruited to the cause in misguided belief. There are some who are trained in organised camps. There are those who find their inspiration in the borderless world of cyber space. Terrorism uses diverse motivations and caus- es, none of which can be justi- fied,” he said at the forum convened by the All India Ulema and Mashaikh Board to discuss the role of Sufism in countering rising global terror. Claiming that terrorists “dis- tort” a religion, Modi said they kill and destroy more in their own land than they do else- where, while making the entire world “insecure and violent”. “Terrorists distort a reli- gion whose cause they profess to support. They kill and destroy more in their own land and among their own people than they do elsewhere. And, they are putting entire regions in peril and making the world more insecure and violent,” he said. “It is not a conflict to be fought only through military, Intelligence or diplomatic means. It is also a battle that must be won through the strength of our val- ues and the real message of reli- gions,” he said. Modi said the world must reject any link between terror- ism and religion, as well as those who spread terror in the name of religion as anti-reli- gion. “And, we must advance the message of Sufism that stands for the principles of Islam and the highest human values. This is a task that states, societies, sages, scholars and families must pursue,” he said. Modi also said that since the beginning of this century, tens of thousands of families have lost their loved ones in thousands of terrorist inci- dents globally and just last year alone, over 90 countries experienced terrorist attacks. Continued on Page 4 E xpanding the ambit of the IDBI loan case against beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya, the CBI has decided to probe all the transactions and loans taken by his firms total- ing 7,000 crore since 2004. The agency will soon question the top officials of the PSU banks who are yet to come for- ward with complaints against Mallya. Even as the CBI is trying to get to the bottom of widespread irregularities in the grant of loan to Mallya, Finance Minsiter Arun Jaitley on Thursday said that the banks will recover every penny of loan given to him and inves- tigative agencies will take strong action against the liquor baron wherever he is found to have violated the law. “... His (Mallya’s) facts are very clear. Every Government agency, whether its taxation department or investigative agency, wherever he has violat- ed law, is going to take strong action. As far as banks are con- cerned, they are going to recov- er every penny of the rupee that they can from him,” Jaitley said. The Minister was answer- ing questions at India Today Conclave on what the Government was doing to recover money from Mallya, who is currently in the UK. He also said the Government has been trying to address the problem of NPAs in sectors like steel, textile, high- ways and infrastructure, which are on account of economic slowdown. Continued on Page 4 P akistani premier Nawaz Sharif has invited Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the SAARC Summit scheduled for November 9-10 in Islamabad. The invitation was on Thursday handed over by Sharif ’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaz Aziz to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Pokhara where the Foreign Ministers of SAARC countries held a meeting. Swaraj said she has accepted the invitation on behalf of Modi and thanked Sharif, Aziz for the invitation. Pathankot terror attack fig- ured very high in the over 20- minute meeting between Swaraj and Aziz, the first political- level engagement between the two sides after the January 2 Pathankot terror strike. India has been pressing Pakistan for action over the brazen assault on the key Indian Air Force base. In another major develop- ment, the dates for Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) arrival was announced by Swaraj. The JIT, probing the Pathankot airbase terror attack, will arrive in India on March 27, to take forward its investi- gations on the role of Jaish-e- Mohammad (JeM) and Pakitan nationals in the attack. The JIT will start its part of probe in Pathankot from March 28. Making an announcement in this regard from Pokhara, Swaraj said that a lot of other pending issues too were dis- cussed with Aziz in a “positive atmosphere”. Continued on Page 4 E ven as the Haryana Government made a last- ditch attempt to avert trouble by inviting Jat leaders for talks on Friday with a promise of getting a Bill on reservation passed during the ongoing Budget Session, the Centre is mon- itoring the situation closely. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday ordered Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to be alert and ensure that the law and order situation does not go out of control in the State the way it did during last month’s stir. The Jat community has been demanding quota in jobs. The Haryana Government has already accepted the demand to include the community in the Special Backward Class (SBC). As many as 30 people were killed and over 200 injured in the State last month and prop- erty worth more than 20,000 crore damaged during nine- days of violent agitation. Haryana is again on the edge with the 72-hour deadline set by Jats for resuming their quota agitation coming to an end on Thursday night. The Centre on Thursday dispatched 3,000 paramilitary personnel to Haryana to ensure peace and also deployed another 300 per- sonnel to guard the Munak canal as last, month, Jat pro- testers damaged the Munak canal, located about 100-km from Delhi, disrupting water supply to Delhi for sev- eral days. “All arrangements have been made for Haryana and forces have been sent. Additional paramilitary forces have been deployed in all sen- sitive places, some spots on highways and for Munak canal,” a senior Home Ministry official said. The authorities also imposed prohibitory orders banning the assembly of five or more people in Gurgaon. Continued on Page 4 U ttarakhand Police horse Shaktiman, which was subjected to a brutal attack dur- ing a BJP protest in Dehradun on Monday, had his injured hind leg amputated in an emer- gency life-saving surgery on Thursday even as a party work- er was arrested for the assault. The surgery was conduct- ed at a veterinary hospital by a team of doctors led by surgeon Feroze Khambatta, hours after Army doctors from Pune opined that one of the hind legs of the horse that was fractured will have to be amputated as the animal might lose its life by Friday due to spread of gan- grene from the wound. “The surgery has gone as planned,” Uttarakhand DGP BS Sidhu said on Thursday night. “The surgery was basically necessitated by the fact that the blood supply ceased to the portion of multiple fractures and it was essential for saving the life of the animal. We got the best possible surgeon in the country to perform the surgery and we hope he will be able to survive,” Sidhu said. Stating that Shaktiman will take a month to recover from the surgery, Sidhu said that in the meantime he will be given temporary prosthetic aid in the form of artificial legs which will be tailor made to his specifi- cations. “Army doctors are attend- ing on the horse. We are doing everything we can to help it recover fully from the injuries,” Dehradun SSP Sadanand Daate had said earlier in the day. The BJP worker identified as Pramod Bora was arrested from Haldwani in Nainital dis- trict for forcefully pulling the bridle of the horse and causing its fall at the protest venue on Continued on Page 4 Mumbai: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya on Thursday sought time till April for mak- ing personal appearance before the ED, saying he will not be able to keep Friday’s date pursuant to the summons issued against him by the agency in the IDBI bank loan default case. ED sources said the agency may accept his plea and give him time to pre- sent himself, probably in the first half of April. Officials said the beleaguered busi- nessman informed the ED’s probe team through email that he will not be able to keep Friday’s date and sought time till April. Detailed report on P8 Mumbai: In a blow to lenders’ recovery efforts, the auction for Kingfisher House — once headquarters of Vijay Mallya’s long-grounded airline — turned out to be a damp squib with no bidders com- ing forward due to litigation fears and a high reserve price of 150 crore. The 17-member consortium, led by SBI, will now meet on March 19 to dis- cuss the future course of action to review the reasons including the reserve price for the failure of Thursday’s auction, sources said. The reserve price has widely been termed as too high for this property. Detailed report on P8 New Delhi: IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore has written to the BCCI, intimating them about Vijay Mallya’s resignation from the post of Director of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited. The new chairman of Royal Challenger Bangalore is Amrit Thomas, president and Chief Marketing Officer of United Spirits. According to sources, top BCCI offi- cials received an e-mail on March 7 from franchise official Russell Adams, inform- ing the board about the current owner- ship status in the franchise. It was five days after Mallya left India for the UK. Detailed report on P16 C utting across party lines, all women legislators of Madhya Pradesh Assembly on Thursday participated in a debate on the budgetary demands of the Women & Child Development Department after the House unanimously passed a resolu- tion to this effect. The proposal to make it an all-woman affair was mooted by State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday when the discussion on the department's budgetary demands began and the House unanimously agreed to it. When the discussion began on Thursday, former Minister and BJP MLA Archana Chitnis, who was in the chair, ensured that all women members pre- sent in the House got an oppor- tunity to put forth their views on the issues directly associated with them. During the debate, the members came up with a num- ber of suggestions for the wel- fare of women and children in the State. In her reply, Women & Child Development Minister Maya Singh said a total of 4,905 new Anganwadi centres will be opened in the State in new financial year. The Minister also announced setting up of hostels for working women in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur. Singh said a total of 22 lakh girls benefited from the Government's flagship 'Ladli Laxmi Scheme' and various measures being taken to prevent child marriages. After the Minister's reply, the House unanimously passed with a voice vote the bud- getary demands of over 2,706.93 crore concerning her department. RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 C M Y K C M Y K

Upload: vuongnhi

Post on 12-May-2018

215 views

Category:

Documents


2 download

TRANSCRIPT

����������������������������

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday used

the platform of the first WorldSufi Forum in the nationalCapital to assert that terrorismis not a confrontation againstany religion, but it is a battlethat must be won through thestrength of values and “real”message of religions.

“The fight against terror-ism is not a confrontationagainst any religion. It cannotbe. It is a struggle between thevalues of humanism and theforces of inhumanity,” he said.

Without naming any coun-

try, the Prime Minister stressedthere were terror groups thatwere instruments of State poli-cy and design and said terrorismuses diverse motivations andcauses that cannot be justified.

Inaugurating the three-dayforum, Modi made an obliquereference to Pakistan and point-ed out that some terrorists aretrained in organised camps.

“There are forces andgroups that are instruments ofState policy and design. Thereare others who are recruited tothe cause in misguided belief.There are some who are trainedin organised camps. There arethose who find their inspirationin the borderless world of

cyber space. Terrorism usesdiverse motivations and caus-es, none of which can be justi-fied,” he said at the forumconvened by the All IndiaUlema and Mashaikh Board todiscuss the role of Sufism incountering rising global terror.

Claiming that terrorists “dis-tort” a religion, Modi said theykill and destroy more in theirown land than they do else-where, while making the entireworld “insecure and violent”.

“Terrorists distort a reli-gion whose cause they profess tosupport. They kill and destroymore in their own land andamong their own people thanthey do elsewhere. And, they are

putting entire regions in periland making the world moreinsecure and violent,” he said.

“It is not a conflict to befought only through military,Intelligence or diplomatic means.It is also a battle that must be wonthrough the strength of our val-ues and the real message of reli-gions,” he said.

Modi said the world mustreject any link between terror-ism and religion, as well asthose who spread terror in thename of religion as anti-reli-gion. “And, we must advancethe message of Sufism thatstands for the principles ofIslam and the highest humanvalues. This is a task that states,societies, sages, scholars andfamilies must pursue,” he said.

Modi also said that sincethe beginning of this century,tens of thousands of familieshave lost their loved ones inthousands of terrorist inci-dents globally and just lastyear alone, over 90 countriesexperienced terrorist attacks.

Continued on Page 4

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

�������������� ���� ����������������������������������������������� ������ ��� � �������������� ���� � � !�

� ������������ ��������

Expanding the ambit of theIDBI loan case against

beleaguered businessman VijayMallya, the CBI has decided toprobe all the transactions andloans taken by his firms total-ing �7,000 crore since 2004.The agency will soon questionthe top officials of the PSUbanks who are yet to come for-ward with complaints againstMallya.

Even as the CBI is trying toget to the bottom of widespreadirregularities in the grant ofloan to Mallya, FinanceMinsiter Arun Jaitley onThursday said that the banks

will recover every penny ofloan given to him and inves-tigative agencies will takestrong action against the liquorbaron wherever he is found tohave violated the law.

“... His (Mallya’s) facts arevery clear. Every Governmentagency, whether its taxationdepartment or investigative

agency, wherever he has violat-ed law, is going to take strongaction. As far as banks are con-cerned, they are going to recov-er every penny of the rupee thatthey can from him,” Jaitley said.

The Minister was answer-ing questions at India TodayConclave on what theGovernment was doing to

recover money from Mallya,who is currently in the UK.

He also said theGovernment has been trying toaddress the problem of NPAs insectors like steel, textile, high-ways and infrastructure, whichare on account of economicslowdown.

Continued on Page 4

������������� ������������������������������ ������� ��������"���# ��$� ������%�&�!������#�� ����� ����$�� �#���������

��� �������� ��������� ������������

Pakistani premier NawazSharif has invited Indian

Prime Minister Narendra Modito attend the SAARC Summitscheduled for November 9-10in Islamabad. The invitationwas on Thursday handed overby Sharif ’s Adviser on Foreign

Affairs Sartaz Aziz to ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swarajin Pokhara where the ForeignMinisters of SAARC countriesheld a meeting. Swaraj said shehas accepted the invitation onbehalf of Modi and thankedSharif, Aziz for the invitation.

Pathankot terror attack fig-ured very high in the over 20-minute meeting between Swarajand Aziz, the first political-level engagement between thetwo sides after the January 2Pathankot terror strike. India hasbeen pressing Pakistan for actionover the brazen assault on thekey Indian Air Force base.

In another major develop-

ment, the dates for Pakistan’sJoint Investigation Team’s (JIT)arrival was announced bySwaraj. The JIT, probing thePathankot airbase terror attack,will arrive in India on March27, to take forward its investi-gations on the role of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Pakitannationals in the attack. The JITwill start its part of probe inPathankot from March 28.Making an announcement inthis regard from Pokhara,Swaraj said that a lot of otherpending issues too were dis-cussed with Aziz in a “positiveatmosphere”.

Continued on Page 4

���� ��������

Even as the HaryanaGovernment made a last-

ditch attempt to avert troubleby inviting Jat leaders for talks on Friday with a promise of getting a Bill onreservation passed during theongoing Budget

Session, the Centre is mon-itoring the situation closely.Prime Minister Narendra Modion Thursday ordered UnionHome Minister Rajnath Singhand Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar to be alertand ensure that the law andorder situation does not go outof control in the State the wayit did during last month’s stir.

The Jat community hasbeen demanding quota in jobs.The Haryana Government hasalready accepted the demand toinclude the community in theSpecial Backward Class (SBC).

As many as 30 people werekilled and over 200 injured inthe State last month and prop-erty worth more than �20,000crore damaged during nine-days of violent agitation.

Haryana is again on theedge with the 72-hour deadlineset by Jats for resuming theirquota agitation coming to anend on Thursday night. TheCentre on Thursday dispatched3,000 paramilitary personnel toHaryana to ensure peace andalso deployed another 300 per-sonnel to guard the Munakcanal as last, month, Jat pro-testers damaged the Munak

canal, located about 100-kmfrom Delhi, disrupting water supply to Delhi for sev-eral days.

“All arrangements havebeen made for Haryana andforces have been sent.Additional paramilitary forceshave been deployed in all sen-sitive places, some spots onhighways and for Munakcanal,” a senior Home Ministryofficial said.

The authorities alsoimposed prohibitory ordersbanning the assembly of five ormore people in Gurgaon.

Continued on Page 4

�������� ��������

Uttarakhand Police horseShaktiman, which was

subjected to a brutal attack dur-ing a BJP protest in Dehradunon Monday, had his injuredhind leg amputated in an emer-gency life-saving surgery onThursday even as a party work-er was arrested for the assault.

The surgery was conduct-ed at a veterinary hospital by ateam of doctors led by surgeonFeroze Khambatta, hours afterArmy doctors from Puneopined that one of the hind legsof the horse that was fracturedwill have to be amputated as theanimal might lose its life byFriday due to spread of gan-grene from the wound.

“The surgery has gone as

planned,” Uttarakhand DGP BSSidhu said on Thursday night.“The surgery was basicallynecessitated by the fact that theblood supply ceased to the

portion of multiple fracturesand it was essential for savingthe life of the animal. We gotthe best possible surgeon in thecountry to perform the surgery

and we hope he will be able tosurvive,” Sidhu said.

Stating that Shaktiman willtake a month to recover fromthe surgery, Sidhu said that inthe meantime he will be giventemporary prosthetic aid in theform of artificial legs which willbe tailor made to his specifi-cations.

“Army doctors are attend-ing on the horse. We are doingeverything we can to help itrecover fully from the injuries,”Dehradun SSP Sadanand Daatehad said earlier in the day.

The BJP worker identifiedas Pramod Bora was arrestedfrom Haldwani in Nainital dis-trict for forcefully pulling thebridle of the horse and causingits fall at the protest venue on

Continued on Page 4

Mumbai: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya onThursday sought time till April for mak-ing personal appearance before the ED,saying he will not be able to keepFriday’s date pursuant to the summonsissued against him by the agency in theIDBI bank loan default case.

ED sources said the agency mayaccept his plea and give him time to pre-sent himself, probably in the first half ofApril. Officials said the beleaguered busi-nessman informed the ED’s probe teamthrough email that he will not be able tokeep Friday’s date and sought time till April.

Detailed report on P8

Mumbai: In a blow to lenders’ recoveryefforts, the auction for Kingfisher House— once headquarters of Vijay Mallya’slong-grounded airline — turned out tobe a damp squib with no bidders com-ing forward due to litigation fears and ahigh reserve price of �150 crore.

The 17-member consortium, led bySBI, will now meet on March 19 to dis-cuss the future course of action to reviewthe reasons including the reserve price forthe failure of Thursday’s auction, sourcessaid. The reserve price has widely beentermed as too high for this property.

Detailed report on P8

New Delhi: IPL franchise RoyalChallengers Bangalore has written to theBCCI, intimating them about VijayMallya’s resignation from the post ofDirector of Royal Challengers SportsPrivate Limited. The new chairman ofRoyal Challenger Bangalore is AmritThomas, president and Chief MarketingOfficer of United Spirits.

According to sources, top BCCI offi-cials received an e-mail on March 7 fromfranchise official Russell Adams, inform-ing the board about the current owner-ship status in the franchise. It was five daysafter Mallya left India for the UK.

Detailed report on P16

'�"����# �����(����������)���������*������

������������� ����������

����������������������������� �����

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

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

#����(#���)�%���� &�����&����&�* ���(%�&��'�

�+�+������"���� '��,������"����%�&�����������,�� �* ����� ����-.

������� �������������������������

�+),!��!!��! ) !-�� -���-�!.������������������� ��� � /�� (��� ������� (�� ��������)�� ���)������� �� /�)0�0� ����� ��������� � 0��� ���1���� �������� ���� ����������(� � ��� ���� � )�

4��4��� 5� ����� 6����72������ ���22�8�!(�8!�)�6 ���������������������������� �������������!� ������������� ������� �����"� #����������� ���$���� �������� �����$��� ��������������%�&�!��'���� �#��!���!!��#��!�(����&�� ���'���������)�%��&#�����������������(�!�������"�&�������������*+�����"� #���(�!�����'��(� �������������(�!����������)

���� ��4 ���3�42 �64 ����8� �������0��8�/%.��6��������� �,����������������, ���� ��'���-� #� ��./0/�&���$������-�1��'����!�+����-����'�� #��2�&������%�&�!��'3&�!��������������!��������(���������� ���&��������1��"�, �����������������!��&� ��4!"� �&���������,�� �!���!����'������!���������&��) �9

�������

#��������"���������"������/�����

������ ���(�����������1!����(��"�, ������� !����� �#����#��+�'�&��5&" "����(��!���������������������� #����"�����)))�5&" !����!!����� ���� �4!������!!�������&��� !�� ���8� ���8�� ���28�07��7��0�

��� � ����%���2-�( ���!����3&�!� �����������"" � ��!��"������5�����1!�(�������'����������"��(����( ��������� ��!�#� �!��6���'�%���������!��"����#� �!��6���'����!��,������������&���"�����" ,����1�����!��� ��!�������'�� !������� �!+7/�����������"������ �,��,���"&���&�"��(��������� ���������������6���'�4!�" ��!�"��������!��� &���"�08����1!�(�!��8+///�����+��������&�����!!���&������������!����������� �!���9�'����,�����"��������� ��� � ����������!������!��������!����� �����&� �#����������+����!�&���!�!� ��"" � ��!���!����������������6���'�� !�'��������������������"��&���'����1!

� 77����������� -�����

Cutting across party lines, allwomen legislators of

Madhya Pradesh Assembly onThursday participated in adebate on the budgetarydemands of the Women &Child DevelopmentDepartment after the Houseunanimously passed a resolu-tion to this effect.

The proposal to make it anall-woman affair was mooted byState Parliamentary AffairsMinister Narottam Mishra onWednesday when the discussionon the department's budgetarydemands began and the Houseunanimously agreed to it.

When the discussion beganon Thursday, former Ministerand BJP MLA Archana Chitnis,who was in the chair, ensuredthat all women members pre-sent in the House got an oppor-tunity to put forth their views onthe issues directly associatedwith them.

During the debate, themembers came up with a num-ber of suggestions for the wel-fare of women and children inthe State. In her reply, Women& Child Development MinisterMaya Singh said a total of 4,905new Anganwadi centres will beopened in the State in newfinancial year.

The Minister alsoannounced setting up of hostelsfor working women in Bhopal,Indore, Gwalior and Jabalpur.Singh said a total of 22 lakh girlsbenefited from theGovernment's flagship 'LadliLaxmi Scheme' and variousmeasures being taken to preventchild marriages.

After the Minister's reply,the House unanimously passed with a voice vote the bud-getary demands of over�2,706.93 crore concerning herdepartment.

������� !���"#$������%��������(������# !�����!���� � ����� �������

%���6�5%�����5�������2���5�%%�$����:���5%��5�:����� �$���6����

-�����+������+$���������

;�-�����

���������� ��� ������������������� ���0��������� /

�&&&�����%� ������ �

�4��� 2'�7��8 3�� ����:9' ;<:=>�� ���:;?@��0)</

1%*�*1��2�6����5��%�������

-�%������%��-��5��%

31�45�66����=�-�2 5�2��>���

����-��%��5%���%��6�2 �' �#��:A ���/! 87

?� ��5&�����#���*���� "����� �����

����.���)!+�:9=@��������'� ���

$()*+��),#�-." �*.�/)�*,�/-(0"/1�1/-#*+�1/+�,1

#*/-$+2/1*��$(*1/$,-

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

7*7��*�8�6 $��:���5�������::2�2��%����:���5�22�55@

RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

C M Y K

C M Y K

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� ����������

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

����������� ������ ����� ���������� ��������������������������������������������������� ���!���"����#�$%"���!&��#�$%"'����()*+,,%-�$�$.���� ��������!�!��������/"����0����"����#�$+"�����������������"�$�$#��"'����()*+,11"2��������3,455(+55,644"�� $3,676%1%,%*)$8�����3���������"&#�&���$#�$��8#9:+,,):1%4,%"&���$#�$�(+:'��;#:)1:+,,*(+,,7"��&<=&�>�&98��&�$1$,,8��3������"&����"'�� ���?�"#�������@���3��� �A����� �<����3'������A������$������3�� ����"B���� 2���������38��'C3),45)1,,"0/3+%455+45"��� �;�����3B����������!���� ���#�$3,67*45456%%",676+7+6+56" ���!��?;�����3)��0����"<��<�������������"0�D �&��"���!��?++*,1*$2���������3,5++(+%)*))%"+%)*)))"+%)*))5$

� 77����������� -�����

Valuables worth �2.5 lakh ofwere burgled from a police

constable’s house in BalajiNagar under Ratibad police sta-tion area on Wednesday.

The victim Sanjeev Mishraalong with his family had goneto Shirdi in Maharashtra onMarch 14 and when hereturned on Wednesday thehouse was found ransacked.

A complaint was lodgedwith the Ratibad police andafter preliminary investigationthe police have registered a caseunder section 457 and 380 ofthe IPC and have started fur-ther investigation.

In his complaint the vic-tim claimed that when alongwith his family had gone toShirdi on March 14 andreturned on Wednesday andtried to open the central lockof the door it was found openand when he entered thehouse it was found ransacked.The almirah was found bro-ken and the gold and silverjewelry along with cash werefound missing.

Victim in his complaintclaimed that a LED TV, onegold chain, three gold fingerrings, four gold bangles, two pairs of silver anklets andRs 40000 cash were foundmissing. The total loss in theburglar y is Rs 2.5 lakhclaimed by the victim. Victimis posted as constable at TTNagar police station.

Neighbours would bequestioned which could helpin the investigation said thepolice. The burglary tookplace between March 14 andMarch 16.

� 77����������� -�����

With an aim to improve thepublic transport system

in the city, meeting of seniorofficials of traffic police, seniorofficials of Ola Cab and 100 OlaCab drivers was held at policecontrol room on Thursday.

Senior officials of trafficpolice suggested the driversthat mistake made by theemployee of the company deal-ing in public transport resultsin facing of issues in the fieldfor all the employees of thecompany.

Suggestions of providingbetter services to the passengerswere shared with the cab dri-vers. Woman passengersshould be dealt with greaterrespect and humility. Thebehavior should be decent andpolite while dealing with thewoman passengers.

Every passenger shouldexperience good behaviorwhile availing their services andin the coming few daysSimhasta would be held inUjjain and devotees across thecountry and foreign countrieswould visit the state capitalbefore visiting Ujjain and in thecity they would visit religious

places and tourist spots andspecial attention should bepaid to provide a better rideand comfortable journey forthese devotees.

For spreading awarenessand making the drivers awareof the traffic rules, video clipswere screened during the meet-ing. At the meeting the seniorofficials encouraged and invit-ed the drivers to work as traf-fic warden voluntarily.

Additional Superintendentof Police (Traffic) Sameer Yadav,Deputy Superintendent ofPolice (Traffic) VilasWaghmare, Chief TrafficWarden Sanjay Somani, ChiefManager Bhopal Ola Cab SushilJoshi, Operation Manager ofBhopal Ola Cab Anuj Mishra,Co- Operation Manager OlaCab Ankit Singh Parmar and100 Ola Cab drivers were pre-sent at the meeting.

� 77����������� -�����

The foundation day of theparty would be organised

in all the 761 Mandals underall 56 organisational districtsof the State, said BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) state pres-ident and MP NandkumarSingh Chouhan.

Chouhan expressed theseviews on Thursday whileinaugurating the joint meet-ing of state office bearers,umbrella organizations statepresidents and general secre-taries, district presidents andgeneral secretaries and elect-ed representatives of civic

bodies at party’s state head-quarters Pundit DeendayalUpadhyaya campus.

Chouhan said, “ Thecountry is having govern-ment of farmers, village andpoor and that has for the firsttime taken reminiscence ofthese sections of society andits fruitful results have alsocome up as dearness has beencontrolled. Productivity cam-paign has been speeded in thecountry and after indepen-dence the biggest foreignexchange reserves have beencollected.”

Chouhan further said thatdespite slowdown in the

world India has become thedestination of foreigninvestors as the buddingdeveloping country. Theopposition is not digesting theprogress of the country and itis engaged in making negativeimage of the country by doingmisleading campaigns. The party workers byindulging in reach village’scampaign would expose thisfoul campaign of the opposi-tion, he added.

State organizational gen-eral secretary Arvind Menonin his address said thatMandal level divisional work-shop of workers would be

organized. 300 office bearerswould participate in everyworkshop. The districts work-shop would be organized atstate level, he added.

State vice presidentRaghunandan Sharma saidthat competition for becom-ing number one is going on indistricts for the collection oflifelong contribution fund.Lauding the efforts of theparty workers and office bear-ers the former Rajya Sabhaparliament rain said thatMadhya Pradesh is the statethat has completed its targetof collection of lifelong con-tribution fund.

� 77����������� -�����

Budgetary demands of theTransport, Science and

Information Technology,Public Service Management,Public Grievances Redressaldepartments were cleared bythe state assembly here onThursday after reply of department’s MinisterBhupendra Singh over discus-sions on them.

Singh told the house thatpublic transport would bemade more convenient,secured and pollution free andinternet facility up to Panchayatlevel would be provided by2018. “Tax has been reducedin the passenger buses, earlier

there was tax of Rs 240 per seatthat has been reduced to Rs 180per seat. Due to this goodbuses have started running forthe convenience of the peopleof state. 24 Volvo buses are rundaily only on Indore – Bhopalroute. In the state a total of 46Volvo and 650 Ac and deluxebuses are run on differentroutes of the state,” Singhinformed the house.

Singh further said thatunder the MP Public ServiceGuarantee Act 2010 a total of160 services of 23 departmentshave been listed. MP is the firststate where Public ServiceGuarantee Act has beenimplemented. The act has beenfolwoed by other states of the

country. Now the extension ofthe Public Service GuaranteeAct would be done up to Tehsillevel. Till now of the total 3.49crore applications receivedunder the act in the state over3.65 crore have been redressed,he added.

He said that in the field ofIT MP is one of the select statesof the country. Besides estab-lishment of IT Park in the stateinitiatives have been taken forestablishing electronic manu-facturing cluster in the state.International web policy hasbeen made in the state and ini-tiative shave been taken toprovide internet facilities up toPanchayat level by the year2018, he added.

� 77����������� -�����

The Bhopal bandh callgiven by Sarafa traders

against the hike in exciseduty, was a success onThursday, the 16th day of theagitation by the traders.

As many as 12 associationshad the responsibility of theirrespective areas for urging peo-ple to close their businesses forthe half day. Starting fromKolar road to 10 number mar-ket, Sarafa traders took out arally in auto-rickshaws andfour-wheelers and requestedeveryone to cooperate in sup-port of the bandh andexplained their condition andgained public support.

The Sarafa traders gainedfull support from all maintraders’ associations andretailers that helped Bhopalbandh a success. Usually thepolitical bandhs succeed byusing force, but here all othertraders voluntarily supportedthe cause of the Sarafa tradersand made the day.

The bandh was backed byBhopal Chamber ofCommerce, Confederation ofAll India Traders and morethan 50 retailers. The traderstook out a rally and visited shopto shop and made them awareof their condition. During therally, at 2 pm a meeting was

organised which was addressedby Congress’ Govind Goyal,who said that the governmentmust revert such a law thataffects so many people.

Sunil Jain, dealer of soapsand detergent (known as 501)also supported the cause of

Sarafa traders and said onlysimple laws can contribute inthe development of the nationwhereas a complicated onewill attract more corruption.

Meanwhile, at a dharnaconvened at New Delhi, morethan 3000 Sarafa traders from

Bhopal participated.The working committee

member of Sarafa AssociationNavneet Agrawal said, “All the12 associations in Bhopal par-ticipated in the bandh by orga-nizing rallies in their respectiveareas and then a huge dharna

was staged at Sarafa Chowk.The next move is not yet deter-mined, but whatever the deci-sion that comes from Nationallevel Organization will beaccepted and tomorrow wehave a meeting at 12 noon atSarafa Chowk.”

� 77����������� -�����

Women and ChildDevelopment Minister

Maya Singh said that the Statewould have 4,905 newAnganwadis and miniAnganwadi centres and everymember of State Assemblycould establish f iveAnganwadis and two MiniAnganwadis in their con-stituency area. Usha Kiranand Udita projects would beimplemented in all the 51 dis-tricts of the State.

She was replying to thediscussion on budgetarydemands of her departmentin the State Assembly on Thursday.

She said that women’shostel would be established infour cities. Women membersof Tejaswani and ShouryaDal would be trained in dri-ving and no fee would becharged for driving license.Besides, they would be pro-vided with special training forrecruitment in police andspecial armed forces.

The recruitment processof Anganwadi workers would

be made online. Arrangementof direct online transfer ofrent of the Anagwadi premis-es in the owner’s bankaccount from treasury wouldbe made.

For strengthening infor-mal education before schooladditional workers would bearranged among the selectedAnganwadi workers.

Under pilot project ofCommon Applicat ionSoftware Anganwadi workersof 15 districts would be pro-vided with mobile phones.Under the Ladli Laxmi Yojana22 lakh girls have been ben-efitted.

The per cent of severelymalnourished children haddecreased from 12.6 to 9.2which has been achieved fromcommunity support for goodnutrition. Mother’s milk is thebest feed for a child and hadachieved 22 per cent declinein the deaths of children tillfive years of age and tostrengthen it 406 breast feed-ing centers at bus stand, rail-way stations and governmentoffices would be established,she added.

� 77����������� -�����

A22-year-old student wasfound dead near railway

tracks under Sukhi Sewaniapolice station area in the weehours on Thursday.

According to the police, ayouth was found in an uncon-scious state and was rushed toa nearby hospital where he wasdeclared dead. Police wereinformed and on the receipt ofthe information a police teamwas rushed to the spot andstarted investigation.

The deceased was identi-fied as Sankalp Singh, whohailed from Katni and waspursuing engineering from aprivate college. He was firstyear student and used to live inhostel in MP Nagar.

In the initial investigation,the deceased was identifiedfrom the identity card recoveredat the spot. After the preliminaryinvestigation, the body was sentfor the post-mortem and a caseunder section 174 of CrPC wasregistered by the police.

Police said that the reasonbehind the death has to beinvestigated. It was an accidentor the deceased commit suicidecould not be ascertained at themoment and would be investi-gated in the further investigation.

Meanwhile a 28-year-oldyouth committed suicide byhanging with the ceiling atVajpayee Nagar underShahjehanabad police stationarea on Wednesday. Thedeceased Raju Chilam wasfound hanging and was rushedto a nearby hospital where hewas declared dead.

On Wednesday afternoonafter the deceased returned fromdistrict court and committed sui-cide. Police found that thedeceased tried to commit suicideearlier too, but failed in hisattempt. He was not in a men-tally sound, police said.

� 77����������� -�����

Budgetary demands of thePublic Health Engineer

(PHE) department werecleared by the State assemblyhere on Thursday after replyof department’s MinisterKusum Mehdele over discus-sion on them.

Mehdele informed thehouse that the DPR of over 60surface water schemes worthover Rs 20, 000 crore are ready.The state is ranked at numberfour in the country in milk pro-duction, next year 109 emer-gency veterinary units wouldbe started and in the currentyear crop insurance of 2.5 lakhfarmers was done.

Mehdele said that DPR ofover surface water schemesworth over Rs 20, 000 crore is

ready to redress the drinkingwater problem in the State.Efforts are on for getting loanfrom World Bank, BRICKSNew development bank andAsian InfrastructureInvestment Bank for the

implementation of theseschemes, she added.

Mehdele further said thatduring the year 2014-15 the settarget of rise in milk produc-tion was 9.4 per cent that wasexceeded and was registered ata high of 12.30 per cent. Themilk production in the staterose from 9.50 million tonne to10.78 million tonne beatingAndhra Pradesh and Punjaband became number four in thecountry. The state is movingahead in per person per dayavailability of milk in nationaland world average, she added.

She said that this yearhandloom textiles and craftsworth Rs 42.26 crore weresold. New showrooms wereopened at Sanchi and Orchawhilke export of 21950 dollarswas also done to Netherlands.

#���������9����"����� ������''��

����(�������������� ���� ��� ���#�����2���� ��# ��3�������������/������������ ����� �������������(�� � �������������������4������������������������� �� �� ���������������/��������$������� ���� ���� � ������������

)������������ ��2+������ ������� �3�� ���� ���� ������� � ��� ���� � ������������

�*�*��*����+��,-.&/ �0�� 1� 0����� *��23�4� �2*��

..A'���A���!�&�����"�&������������� �(�'�����1!

%�����2��5�����5���%:����5�5�� ���

5�$�+����������:��6� �%��������5

���5��$���$�����$:��6�����B�%�

2����$�)������5�:�5%=����5%����%�����

�5���%���B������5%����6����$��

5�$$�5%��5�:�����B��$�-�%%��5��B2�5�%��%��

��55��$��5�������6��

%��B�����5�����5�������%��%��

2�-���B��5

� �����������$�-� �� #������� �$������������������������� ����

�5� �������#� ������� ����� ���� ���� � �B��&����!(������.)<��&�#����"������4!���&!��

��� 2���*����*52��6�1�*������ �2�������

%���5%�%��5���� ���%���6-���:�����

%���2���%�=���6� �����2%��+���C%

=����0/D��6��$��2=B�%�����=���%5������-��5%��%��

������%���2�����%=����2�����5����2��:��.)<��� ��:��6��5

��5�����

�+*1�#����� ������ �� ��������

&����������������� /������&���� � �������� ���������6#� ���� ������� �������6#� ���� �������� ���� ������������� ���� � ������������

C M Y K

C M Y K

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� ����������

���� $�����

If you want to take benefit ofgovernment scheme of mar-

riage of your son or daughters,then you have to build toilet inyour home otherwise you willnot be able to take the benefit ofthis Government. This schemehas its own value as the applicanthas to present toilet related cer-tificate with marriage application.

In the districts where massmarriages are organised underthe Chief Minister Kanyadanand Nikah yojana, the adminis-tration arranges everythingrequired for marriage of a bride.

Under this scheme, both thefamilies of bride and bridegroom has to present ID, Bankpassbook photocopy, Incomecertificate of girl, registration ofweak community photo copyand the girl’s passport size fourphotos was compulsory thattime to attach but now it is moreimportant to attach the toiletavailability certificate. If there is

no certificate of toilet, then therewill be no marriage.

For the mass marriage,Gwalior Collector Sanjay Goyalhas said that the registrations forthe mass marriages should bedone and the needy people getthe maximum benefit. This mar-riage will be conducted by cityMunicipal Corporation and forvillages Janpad Panchayat isresponsible to conduct the SocialGroup Marriages.

Under the Chief MinisterKanyadan Yojana scheme, gov-ernment will organise marriageof young women and widows atmass marriage functions. Underthis scheme, FDR of Rs 10,000is provided to the bride and asum of Rs 7,000 is deposited inher saving account. Besides,household goods of Rs 5,000 areprovided to the couple. To availthis yojana interested familieshave to contact MunicipalCorporation and Janpad office toregistered their daughters orson marriages.

� 77����������� -�����

Crime branch police nabbedtwo miscreants from Bagh

Sewania and recovered 500gm of Cannabis and Rs 1.5 lakhcash from their possession onWednesday.

According to the police,acting on a tip-off regardingthe selling of cannabis by twomiscreants were nabbed inBagh Sewania area and recov-ered drugs and cash fromtheir possession.

Addl SP (Crime) ShailendraSingh Chouhan said that for thefirst time such big amount ofcash has been recovered andwith the arrest of the twoaccused the figure of drug ped-dlers nabbed has reached 11.

From the month of January

crime police have recoveredaround 100 kg of Cannabis andthe source of drugs were theregions of Odisha and AndhraPradesh, he added. The nabbeddrug peddlers were identifiedas Sandeep Kuchbandiya andKanha Kuchbandiya of BaghSewania area.

The Cannabis recoveredin the last three months isworth Rs 70 lakh which sug-

gests that the drug traffickinghas increased. The two used tosell small packets of Cannabisat Rs 40 to Rs 50. The moneyrecovered from their posses-sion was earned by selling thedrugs claimed the police. Policehave registered a case underNDPS Act and have started fur-ther investigation.

The crime record of thetwo would be searched andother accomplices whichhelped the two in selling andthose who were their cus-tomers would be searched.

It was found during theinvestigation that the two wereinvolved in the selling of thedrugs in small quantities andsearch for the source of theobtaining the drugs would beinvestigated.

� 77����������� -�����

Afree medical camp wasorganised by Women

Empowerment DepartmentBhopal with the help of MPAnusuchit Jati Vikas EvamKalyan Samiti.

In this medical camp theteam of Dr Brjesh Shreevastavfrom Civil Hospital Bhopaland Dr Meera Choudharifrom JP Hospital Bhopalchecked the problems related tohealth, eyes, heart problem, andskin disorder of all the Womenand Girls. Around 755 peoplewere benefitted from the camp.Medicines were also distributedto the women.

In this health camp,women got awareness abouthealth and medicine. Thehealth camp aimed at promot-ing health seeking behavior inthe long term and thus, unlikea general curative health camp,this camp also majorly work onbuilding awareness regardingcommon ailments, family plan-ning methods, nutrition andhygiene and sanitation. Thecamps provided comprehensivehealth services free of cost.

Samiti secretary SamarKhan said a woman plays animportant role in the society: asa daughter, a wife, a sister, a

mother and in many other roles,she is continually making con-tributions toward the society.

Khan said that in thishealth camp women and girlsgot awareness about healthand medicine. Doctors exam-ined the women and girls andprovided medicines. Doctorsalso talked on the importanceof hygiene while expert doctorsgave medical advice to patients.She has lots to do and she doesit as time goes on, but she doesnot get time to take care of her-self, he added.

The Samiti has appealed toWomen to make use of thecamp and stay healthy and fit.

���� �;;��

Over 80 automatic boombarriers for parking will

be placed at 12 places duringSimhastha. Similarly, parkingarrangements will be moni-tored round-the-clockthrough CC TV cameras.Before parking, number platesof vehicles will be clicked togather their data. Real timedata will be available to main-tain data of vehicles.

Tickets for parking will begenerated through machines.Mobile app of the company towhom parking contract isgiven will also be developedfor the convenience of devo-

tees in parking. The mobileapp will contain status of park-ing place. Online booking forparking can also be madethrough mobile app. Lockerfacility will also be available atall parking places.

On all approach roads toUjjain during Simhastha, 10X10LED screens will be installed. Onthese LED screens, parking sta-tus can be seen from 20 kms awayfrom Ujjain. Besides, 52-inch TVsets will also be available. Kioskcentres will also be established at20 places in Mela areas whereeven common people can bookparking place online.

Meanwhile, the number ofcalls at the call centre for

Simhastha from April 22 to May21 at Ujjain is increasing day byday. The call centre will operate24X7 from April. AnySimhastha-related informationcan be obtained by dialing callcentre's number 1100. Presently,the call centre is working from10.30 am to 5.30 pm

Ujjain Collector KavindraKiyawat has suspended RevenueInspector Ganesh More forunfair conduct with saints andseers coming to take part inSimhastha Mela-2016. Duringsuspension, Ganesh More'sheadquarters will be LandRecords Office.

As many as 6000 HomeGuards will render service dur-

ing Simhastha. Of these, 1100Home Guards will be deployedat Ghats and 427 in firefightingarrangements. Besides, HomeGuards will also be deployed forcrowd & traffic management,Zone and Sector offices.

Bharat Sanchar NigamLimited (BSNL) will set up amini telephone exchange inDutt Akhada Zone. Through it,BSNL will manage network inMela area. Simhastha MelaOffice has kept ready Plan 'B' incase of network failure. UnderPlan 'B', there would be landlineconnections in all Zonal andSector Offices. STD-PCObooths are also being set up nearbanks and ATMs in Mela area.

����B� ��������8� ����0�������CC �����������2 0����8�4)#,��6�%����������������,��"���� EE�!����� ����( ���������,��"��������� ������� �!�"�����&��&��+�����;������&�����������������&������ �!�0/A��'�F6�1�� ���� �4�$�&������ EE�������� ���"���%�&�!��')�%���"�!��(�&������� �&�������� &�� �������2�"G��� ��"����00�������00����� ���6�����.8)�%������� �#!����!����"��� ����!����!������"������� ��� ��!+���������#���������&� "&��')���������"�� EE������ �#!� ���&����&�#������ ����� EE�������� �����!������� �������� �1���( ����&��'����"����������� �� �+�1�����1���9 ��&������ ,�������� ����������+����9����!������������� ��( ����&����'��E�+�������� �9� �#��� EE���������� �#� ��������(�!����1���������� ,�!�)�����9&!��"�������������!+�����,�#���� ��!���!����,������1���� ��� ����������!������( ���������� ����� �������� +���������&�9���� EE�+�!&�E��&1���(����� EE�+�����1�������&!�������������)��� ������1 �#����������� �����!��!��������"��"�����������1�!��2���������'�'�!� ���� !�#�&����� !� �!� �����'������� ��6 � !���4!�F6�1�� ���� �4���������(������������ �����!�� !��������( ��������� ����& ! ���������������F��! ���������4�� !�)

@A���8�� 2��� ���������� �������84)#,��6�%��������!!��"�" �� �#��"�,��������!�!��"������������� �������� � ����!���!������!������)��!����'��!�HI���� ��������� � ����!��,�������# ,������� ��������������'���� ������������6 !! ����������%�&�!��')�%������ ������������6 !! ������6��� �������;� !���� '�(�����������������!�������������������� ��������� � ����!���!� ���&���$'������# !�!)��������!�������,���ID�6--5����� ����!�(����# ,����� ������!����������!���"������������� ��������� � ������'�������6):�������,��������!���"�6�� �����"" ���+�(��1A �� ����, �(�(�!���#�� !�� ��������!��"�(���'!��������!�������,��)�%���!������������ ����!���,������ �!��&�������������������&�'�( �� ��0<���'!)�%���� !�� ��!�(��������6--5����� ����!���,�����������& �������������+�����+�5����+� ��� +-��&�+�5�#��+��!��1��#��+���� �+�B � !��+�5������+�% 1��#���+��99� �+6�����+�6���!�&�+��� ��9�&�+�5�����+��-� ��+����� �+��� !��+�$(�� ��+�����+�6�����+�;���&�+���(�!����� ����(�)�5 � ����'+��$6��$'������# !�!����,����!�����������& �����������"�&��,��������!�!��"#'������# !�!���� ����(�+�6�����+�����&� �'���������������;�����&�������������6�� ����2����#�)��������������������� �������� � ����!���,�����������& ���������� �#����������64!���, !��2���������&������!�&����6��&���./0H)

����2��2 0�����������7� �0������� ����4)#,��6�� �������22�������%(���'./���(� ��"&���!( �#+�$��#�����!��&�������(����(��*��� �������"���&��!� ��5�����������1��1��� �#&��( ������������� �1�����(!���! ��+�"��!����������� �����'�"����"�,�� ���� �1������'��!+����!���� � �!����������������!+���������(�� ,�!����!����������'������)��������������2���� ��2����65����� 4!����!����������"���� ��!J����!���(����B ���� ��� 4!������&������������""������ ���J��&� �#�����22�������%./+��������( �����(����������������"����'�&��"�,�� ����� �1����!��������! �')���(� "�'�&�!������"����, �����;���9�+� ����� � ������������(!���� ���!+��(���!������ �1!'�&4���&!������!�� �#� ��$��#���5�����+�'�&4�����!��!�����!�!+�����������!+����, ���!�� �����'�"����� �)��!�(�����!��� �# �#����!���������"�,�� ����� �1���!���!+�$��#��� !���!����1 �#� ����! ���"�������&!��!���" ������������'�"������( ������#���"����'��!+������������!�����*����!�� #���"����5�����)

��������2������ ������8�7��������80������0����4)#,��6���&!�� �!�6 � !����=�!����������9��5� �� ��(� ��� �, � �# ��&!�� �� !�!����6���'�������!��!� �����������!�����#�,��������( ���*�����������!! �����!! !������"����!���� !� �#���"���������&�� �����&"���&� �#�&� �!� ��6���'�������!�)�5� �� ��(�!������!! �#�<���� ���, �� ��A./07�����'�����������%�&�!��')�%���6 � !���� �"����������6���'�������!�� !�����" �!��!������"�������&���'����"���������� �'"��� �,�!������ ����"���������&�� ������&"���&� �#�!�����)���������� ����"�������� �'���!����!������!! � � � �!��"� �,�!������ ��� !�!�����)�5� �� ���!!&���� �,�!���!��"���* �&��"�� � � �!�������3&���������"����!���� !� �#���"���������&�� ������&"���&� �#�&� �! ������!����)�5���!� �������&���,�������������"�����������K!���������1( �������������������� �� �'������"���������&�� ������&"���&� �#�&� �!)

��� �� 6�D�������8�������� 3������011 ���4)#,��6����&��<���������,����!������!� ���������, ! ���99� ���&� �#5 ���!���� ����� �A6�')�:�������" �!��� �������99� �+�(��������!!����1 �#�����#�����!���,�����������)���!���! � � �'��"����1 �#�"���5 ���!�����!����������&!�������6���!��5&��'�������� !�!��� ,����� � ���+���(���� )�%���������'�( �������&���8�!����� �����(�!�����<���9�����1 �#!)������#�����!�"������1 �#�( �����# ��"������� ��0)

���������7����8 ����8�������84)#,��6�����#��������"���������� ���"�LI<�� �� ���"����������-��1"���F6���'�������!��2 � E�������!!������!���! ,��5��, ��!����9���K(�!�! #���� ����(����� ����%�&�!��')�%� !�( ����*�������� ���"��� ,��'��"��&�� ��!��, ��!����� �!������!!�( ������������! ��)�2���� �'�"� �������� �#���� �'�( �����!���������)��� ���;� ���5�������'������ ���""� �!���9� &����! #���������#����������������"��"$�,���������"��� ������������&��+�2�&���'�� ������+�������-��1��� �����������"��"�����������-��1)�%����������� �#���� �'�#��������(�!�! #�����'��*��&� ,��� ��������"�5������#���'�"���&�� ��5��, ��!+�������������"��&�� ��5��, ��!�6���#�����+�6���������"��"�6���'�������!��$�,������������������&��+�2�&���'� ������+�������-��1���� �����������"��"�����������-��1)�%������9���! E�� !��5��</�� �� ��+��"�(� ����5��I<�� �� ���( ������" ��������'����-��1)����� � �#����&���( ������"&������&���"�5�����-&�#��)�%�����9�����&��� ��� !��"�<�'���!)

��8����8���8 �� ��0��� 8�����27�$+# !6��� ��#��( �#������� � ,���!!�"������ ,����������!+�������������!������!���������# ����'�&�#������ �!��"�����&#�� �!������ ����"���&����A�����������!� ������!�������B�-%A.���������#')�� ������ �!������ ����"��� !����!� ���+������&� ����� ���������#���"�./�1�!�"�������������(���������" ,���������!�����������!�� 1�������� ����+�����(!+����-����� +����5����!��������6��( �����,��'�� #������ �'3&�� �'+�!� ��B ����������� �+�������"��������!���� ������������(� �����1 �#������� �����!��!)����!� ��( ������� �!������ ����"�� #�A��(������!� ���+��������������!��, �(���������" ,������������!������� ������ ��!����������!��'�&����� �#�%B����$�����)������ � �������� !+���� ��!� ������, �(��!� ��������� ����'��"�00/�1�!�"���������������!��(���������" ,������������!������� ������, ! ����'� �!���� �#�!��&���*���������������)�5 � ����'+������������ ���������������!�(�����������,���%$�"�� � �'� ����� ��������������!��(���������������!�����&#�( A" ��������)����� ��!� ��, �(��!�����(��������!���������!�"�����"���!������,������'���������������,����� ��������������� ���"����� !�!���)%��'�9&!������������(�������$����!�������+����� ��!� ����� �#�������!� �#!� ������� ���� ��!���,��������'����������������"������������ ����"����������!�����&#���� !�&����A���������������#')

3�0��� �����8�7�����22����:DE3� �E�28�4)�$+6 ��'�&��+�(���!�����������0<A'���A����!������!�&����+�(�!����!����"����� !���� ,��, ���#�� ��� '��%����1)�2 �'�5&��� ����������"��� �����1�!��2���� �����'�!� ���!�&��!��-����&� �'�+���!�&������"!��������C+�(�����������2����&�5�����K!���&!�����:���&��'�.0����!����&������������ �')�-&��2����&�!��������!�&��!��"����( �#���,�������&��)%���!�&�����!&!�� ����!�,���� �9&� �!�����(�!��&!����������� �(�������!&��&��������� !� �9&� �!��&� �#����������)������������&!��� &�����(�!�������'�����!��������2����&�(�!�����!����'�!�����'+�2���� �!� �+(� ������ �#�����������&�����(�!��������������,���""� �!)

�0���7������ �������������8�2 �8�� ��84)#,��6�%��� !!&���"���������������������!��"�����!� ��6���'������!�K!�������� ������ ����(�!����%�&�!��'��� !��� ������!!����')�����' �#������3&�!� ����'���9�!��5��1����"��&� �#-����� '��;����������'��-;����&� �#�����M&�!� �����&�+���,��&�6 � !�����������5 �#����� �������������� ������������������!�������������5 ��&������ ��9���������!�(��������������,���& �����&!�!)���!� ������,����"�������������� !������� �&�&!������!!)���(�,��+���������������#����������������(�!��& ����'��������� �#�������9���������- ��(�� �����)�%���6 � !����!� �����(�&�����A�*�� ��������������'������������� ! �#�����������)�����!!&��������������������+� "�"�&��+�(�&����������,��)�; �&����(�� ��"��� �����! � ���2��#��!!���!���� !������� !!&���"�������� ����"������"��� !�� �����&��������� ��� ����������)����!� ��������������������,��� !�����9��� ��!��������������� ����������������������������!�������������)�5 �#���� ������&������������������ ���(�!�������&� �#�������, �&!�2��#��!!���# ��)����!� �����������$�,�������� !����1 �# �����������������������!!��'���� ���(�&��������1��)

Bhopal: The MadhyaPradesh Government onThursday admitted in theAssembly that Adani WilmarLimited has encroached upongovernment land at Dahendiand Kisoni villages inShajapur district. Raising thematter during the QuestionHour, Arif Aqueel of mainopposition Congress said theregime has admitted in itswritten reply that the compa-ny concerned has encroachedupon government land.

He sought to know the rea-son for the dispensation notbeing able to remove encroach-

ment. In his reply, RevenueMinister Rampal Singh assuredthat encroachment would beremoved within three months.He stressed that certain proce-dures need to be followed orelse people move to court insuch cases. However, Aqueelurged to reduce the time limitfollowing which Singh agreedto remove the encroachmentwithin two months. In its writ-ten reply, the Government hadadmitted that the companyconcerned had encroachedupon government land and afine of Rs 1,500 was imposedon it. SR

:����������������,����������'������� ����9

7�����&����� ��������� ���������������� ���� ������ ��&����������������� /������&���� 3�� (�������� (��������������� ���� � �������������� ���������������(�������� ���� ���� � ������������

���� �� .�89� ���� ����#����# ���������#���� ���

' ���' 4� ������:�����������)� �������������&���� ��(� �&���� �;'�������� ���������&���������5 # ����<�#��+�����*��� �����������=� � ( ��:��� � ���')� ��!������ ����� ����: �� ������������

7��$�� ��������8�+�� �� *�� �5

%���2����-5��2�B�������%�����5%

%�����6��%�5�5����%��8/��� ����2�

5�$$�5%5�%��%����$%��::2 �$���5

�2���5��

>������ ������������?99���& #�$��@A?�� (��� ��

������ ����������������

%�������%��2�6���6���%����6�%�$�����%�

5�� �$�-���B�����%�����$�%��6�����%��5+

��� ����$������2���%B������%��2�6�+

%�5�2�6����5�6�;���=���� �����-����$��������55��$����$�2�66��

��6��%5+�:�6�=������$�6�%���5+

��%�%��������=$�������5��%�%��

da

vp

19

10

8/1

3/0

02

2/1

51

6

YOUR CHILD’S FIRST RIGHT, OPENS DOORS FOR A LIFETIME

For more details, contact:

ORGI’s website:www.crsorgi.gov.in

Registrar of Births & Deaths

& Gram Panchayat

Vikas Adhikari

The Chief Registrar of Births & Deaths and

Madhya Pradesh,

Vindhyachal Bhawan, Ground Floor,

Bhopal - 462004.

Phone/ Fax: 0755-2551395

email: [email protected]

Director of Economics & Statistics,

����������*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5�

� 77����������� -�����

With Prime Minister callfor ‘Make in India’ and

world leadership by India inSolar Energy generation,BHEL Bhopal has risen to theoccasion and designed andType Tested 33000 VoltageSwitchgear for prestigious 50MW Solar Plant of NTPCAnantpur district in AndhraPradesh. This project will befirst of its kind in PrimeMinister Modi s 100 GW SolarPower Generation by 2022.

The design of Switchgear ismeeting all InternationalStandards as per IEC and com-plying with stringent NTPCspecifications of Arc fault of25000 Ampere for 1000 mil-liseconds at 33000 volts.

The outstanding feature of

this 33000 Voltage switchgearis that even if a person isstanding one feet away– theimpact of full fault that is25000 Ampere, 36000V not asingle arc shall come out of thepanel from any direction andpersonnel safety is ensured.This is one of the safestswitchgear designed in India inthis range.

It also incorporates theBHEL patented single-latchoperated door design forSwitchgears.

BHEL has bagged anotherorder for 200MW for Solarpower from Anantpur subse-quently. These Switchgears andthe Type Tests for it wereinspected under the leadershipof Shri AK Sharma GM NTPCRIO Bhopal.

Meanwhile, BHEL,

Bhopal’s Transformer Divisionhas successfully completed themanufacturing and testing ofthe 18th no; ConvertorTransformer for NortheastAgra Project. This machine hasto be utilized for HVDCTransmission Line fromNortheast to Agra, UttarPradesh.

BHEL, Bhopal had receivedorders for 22 nos convertortransformer rated at 281.6 MVAfor 400KV transmission. Theremaining 04 no’s shall be madeready shortly.

It is noteworthy that BHELis executing these supplies injoint venture with M/S ABB,Sweden. It shall be utilized forIndia’s 1st ± 800KV/4000MWHVDC Transmission line fromNortheast to Agra, UttarPradesh.

� 77����������� -�����

Every month around 1.5 crorepeople are getting free med-

icine and more than 16 lakh aregetting free check up facility ingovernment hospitals. Every dayaround 5 lakh patients are get-ting benefits of free medicineunder Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patelscheme, said Health and FamilyWelfare, Medical Education,AYUSH and Bhopal GasTragedy Minister NarottamMishra. He was replying to thediscussion on budgetarydemands of his departments inthe State assembly on Thursday.

To address the issue of short-age of doctors, direct recruitmentof 1700 doctors would be doneand with the help of other insti-tutions the shortage would bereduced. New doctors in

AYUSH department have beensanctioned and 710 new doctorshave been sanctioned. The 108service is a boon for rural pop-ulation and till date it has provedas life saver of 28 lakh people.The expansion of the serviceswould be done. Mortuaries wo-uld be established in all 51 dis-tricts; at present only 33 districtshave mortuary and for estab-lishing mortuaries a provisionsof Rs 6.64 crore has been made.

He praised the initiation ofstarting of super specialty hos-pitals at Gwalior and other citiesby Prime Minister NarendraModi. First Cancer Institutewould be established at Jabalpurand all clearances have beengiven by the state government.Budgetary demands of Rs 5679crore were later passed withvoice vote.

Rajgarh: A Sub-DivisionalOfficer posted with RuralEngineering Services depart-ment at Khilchipur in Rajgarhdistrict was caught whileallegedly taking a bribe of Rs10,000 from a contractor byLokayukta Police on Thursday.

“Lokeshwar Jharbade hasdemanded the bribe from thecontractor for clearing his pay-ment of Rs 27 lakh for the con-struction of a local market(Haat Bazar) at Jhadmau villageunder Zeerapur JanpadPanchayat area,” said LokayuktaDeputy Superintendent ofPolice (DSP) NS Rathore.Acting on a tip-off, a trap waslaid and Jharbade was caughtred-handed taking Rs 10,000bribe in the morning inZeerapur town, he said. A caseunder Prevention ofCorruption Act was registeredagainst him and further inves-tigations are on. PNS

9:�$�9�������2�1 2-�*�2*2;;-&&&�+�*�1��20�*��1���

!"#�������������������� �����

5�����&#���(� ����1 �#��� ��

:������������ �.+ �� ��������� �B�/��� ��������������������� 2����$���

Attacking Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal

for opposing the constructionof Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL)canal in Punjab, HaryanaAgriculture Minister OPDhankar on Thursday askedhim to “get his own canal con-structed for carrying Delhi’sshare of water”.

“Seeing your stand (oppos-ing the construction of SYLcanal in Punjab) Haryana willnot be able to deliver yourshare of water in Delhi sinceyou have stood against theinterests of the farmers andpeople of Haryana,” he said ina letter to Kejriwal.

Dhankar termedKejriwal’s stand as “wrong”and alleged he has opposedthe proposed canal for gaining

“political benefits” in Punjab.“For Delhi’s needs of water

you may take the trouble ofgetting your own canal con-

structed from Nangal Damand Tajewala Headwork’s(Yamunanagar) so that Delhi’sshare of water reaches thenational Capital with yourefforts,” Dhankar told Kejriwal.

“You would be aware thatfrom Ravi-Beas, Haryana wasallocated 3.5 MAF and Delhi0.2 MAF of water. Haryanagets Delhi’s 0.2 MAF sharethrough the Bhakra Main Linefrom Punjab which then,through Narwana Branch andWestern Yamuna Canal sys-tems, reaches Delhi,” he wrotein the letter.

Besides, Haryana alsotransfers 330 cusec of Yamunawater through the WesternYamuna Canal to Delhi, hesaid. He also said Haryana isnot able to lift its share of 498cusec of water.

“We have share of water inRavi-Beas at Nangal Dammeant for Haryana and Delhi,but there is no channel to getthis. And you have opposedthe proposed SYL canal,through which water forHaryana and Delhi wouldhave come,” he said.

On Wednesday, theHaryana Assembly had passeda resolution condemning thereported statement of AAPConvener and Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal thathe was against the construc-tion of the SYL canal asPunjab has no spare water.

From Page 1“NPAs due to sectoral

slowdown would cease to beNPAs once there is an upturn,”he added. However, Jaitley said,the real source of worry was thecases involving “misconduct”on the part of individuals.

“There is a second catego-ry where large amounts ofloans have been given in indi-vidual cases and some of thepeople misconducted them-selves, there may not be ade-quate sureties and that’s asource of worry... This is theone, which is real cause ofworry because there are moraland ethical issues without legalliability

Meanwhile, the probe sofar against Mallya has revealedthat out of the five lakh trans-actions made by his companies,60 per cent of them involvedfund outflow abroad. Officialsalso lamented that Mallya is yetto be declared a fraud by thebanks, agency sources said,adding the agency is investi-gating the issue from the angleof cheating. The FIR registeredhad applied only sections relat-ing to criminal conspiracy andcriminal breach of trust besidesrelevant provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Act.

The probe has revealedthat Mallya allegedly created aweb of transactions trail in

multiple countries. The agencyhas already written to Indianmissions in four countries toseek information throughdiplomatic channels on theleads gathered so far, thesources said.

Official sources said theprobe has been scaled up to dojustice to the ongoing probe inthe IDBI loan fraud case as allthe transactions by Mallya’sfirms are interconnected. Whilethe loan to Mallya’s firms froma consortium of 17 banks wasRs 7,000 crore, the actual losscould be more as the compa-nies enjoyed overdraft andcredit limit and the same has tobe ascertained during the

probe, the sources said. The sources said the IDBI

bank loan fraud case was thetrigger for investigating thegoings on in other banks thatextended loans to Mallya. IDBIbank case was closer to fraud-ulent activity as it was the lastto extend loan to his firms andthat too at a time when thecompanies visibly unhealthy interms of financial status.

The CBI had written twiceto IDBI, once in 2012 and lateron in 2014 but the bank did notcome up with a complaintafter which the agency decid-ed to register a case suo motoas an informatory complaintrevealed prima facie irregular-

ities. In early 2016, the agencyalso wrote to United Bank ofIndia but the bank is yet tocome forward with a com-plaint.

Compliant from a bank isnecessary to register an FIR asa Union Finance Ministry cir-cular suggests drafting of suchcomplaints in a certain format.It is the banks’ prerogative totake decision and declarewhether they were cheated ornot.

The sources said while thebanks are cooperating withthe ongoing probe but are yetto commit on the alleged fraudcommitted by Mallya’s firmsand not coming up with formal

complaints. Meanwhile, the agency has

detained chartered accountantBharat Bomb and his associateShankar Khandelwal in the Rs1,000 crore Syndicate Bankfraud case. While Bomb isbeing questioned at the agencyheadquarters here, Khandelwalis being questioned Jaipur. Twobranches of the Bank in Jaipurand another one in Udaipur inconnivance with the accusedpersons defrauded the bank tothe tune of Rs 1,000 croreissuing credit limits in a fraud-ulent manner. Almost all theofficials and employees of thesebranches were involved in thefraud, the sources said.

From Page 1The ban under Section 144 of the

Code of Criminal Procedure also prohibitspeople from carrying weapons. The orderwill be effective till May 15.

A senior police official said that sinceGurgaon was home to foreigners as wellas corporate workers, “the city needsextra care and better security coordina-tion among the civil administrationand police”.

Deputy Commissioner TLSatyaprakash on Wednesday issued ordersto appoint 23 duty Magistrates for variousareas around the city.

Over 1,000 people were booked inGurgaon under various sections of theIndian Penal Code during last month’s Jatagitation. However, no one was arrested.

Meanwhile, in a bid to nip trouble inthe bud, the Khattar Government invitedJat leaders for talks on Friday. The Jats saidthey will take a decision on the futurecourse of action after holding the meeting

with Haryana Chief Secretary andDirector-General of Police in the after-noon.

“We have been invited by theGovernment for talks tomorrow atChandigarh. Till then we will not resumeour agitation,” All India Jat AarakshanSanghursh Samiti president Yashpal Maliksaid. “After meeting the top officials ofHaryana the next course of action will betaken,” he added.

Malik said that the Samiti will orga-nize meetings on March 19 and 20throughout the State and after that, meet-ing of units of Punjab, Haryana andDelhi will be held at Nangloi in Delhi onMarch 21 to discuss their demands.

Bracing for the stir, the StateGovernment deployed paramilitary forcesand police in sensitive districts and theycarried out Flag Marches in various placesto instill confidence among people of the

State. Paramilitary forces are beingdeployed in sensitive areas like Rohtak and

Jhajjar districts, which were the worst-affected during the first phase of the agi-tation last month.

In the evening, Khattar said the Jatreservation Bill may be brought during thecurrent Assembly session “on any day.”

In a brief statement, he said, “JatReservation Bill is being drafted after con-sideration of every aspect and discussionwith all stakeholders. This Bill may beintroduced in the Haryana Vidhan Sabhaon any day during the ongoing BudgetSession.”

Finance Minister Abhimanya earliersaid, “We are sure that during this session,this Bill will be passed.”

He told reporters that it is taking timeto draft the Bill as the Government wantsto make it sure that the new law does notget entangled in a legal quagmire.”

He asked Jat organisations to give theirsuggestions to draft this for their benefitinstead of giving ultimatum on resumingagitation.

From Page 1“Parents in 100 countries

live with the daily pain oftheir children lost in the bat-tlefields of Syria. And, in aglobally-mobile world, oneincident can claim citizens ofmany nations.

“Every year, we spend over$100 billion on securing theworld from terrorism, moneythat should have been spent onbuilding lives of the poor. Theimpact cannot be fully capturedin statistics alone. It is chang-ing the way we live,” he said

Claiming that Sufism rep-resented the rich diversity ofthe Islamic civilization thatstands on the solid bedrock ofa great religion, Modi said, “Itis a civilization that reachedgreat heights by the 15th cen-

tury in science, medicine, lit-erature, art, architecture andcommerce.

“It drew on the immensetalents of its people and alsoIslam’s engagement withdiverse civilizations, ancientEgypt, Mesopotamia andAfrica; the Persian, CentralAsian and Caucasian lands;the region of East Asia; and,with Buddhism and Indianphilosophy and science,” hesaid.

He said from its origins inEgypt and West Asia, Sufismtravelled to distant lands, hold-ing aloft the banner of faith andthe flag of human values, learn-ing from spiritual thoughts ofother civilisations, and attract-ing people with the life andmessage of its saints.

“In the different settings ofSaharan Africa or in South-East Asia, in Turkey or inCentral Asia, in Iran or India,Sufism reflected the universalhuman desire to go beyond thepractice and precepts of reli-gion for a deeper unity with theAlmighty,” he said.

Talking about the signifi-cance of the forum, Modi saidthis was an extraordinary eventof great importance to theworld, at a critical time forhumanity.

“At a time when the darkshadow of violence is becom-ing longer, you are the noor, orthe light of hope,” he said,adding, “When young laughteris silenced by guns on thestreets, you are the voice thatheals.”

From Page 1“It is not possible that

Pathankot be not discussed inmy meeting with Sartaj Aziz.The date for JIT visit has beendecided. It will arrive on(March) 27th night and willbegin their work on March 28,”Swaraj said addressing themedia with Aziz after the twoleaders held talks on the side-lines of the SAARC ministeri-al meeting. The date for JITvisit was proposed by Pakistanwhich India accepted. Asked ifthe JIT would visit thePathankot air base, govern-ment sources said the modal-ities of the visit will be workedout in the coming days.

On his part, Aziz compli-mented the way the Pathankotissue was handled and thecooperation extended on bothsides. He hoped that this coop-eration will pave the way for“good results”.

Swaraj and Aziz met forabout 20 minutes to give a freshmomentum to the pausedIndia-Pak talks ever sincePathankot episode took placein January. The proposed talksbetween Foreign Secretariesin January too got deferred inthe process even though thetwo FS and National SecurityAdvisors (NSAs) have beenregularly in touch.

Swaraj said that the under-standing between the twoGovernments is slowly gettingbetter. “I must say this SAARCatmosphere was different fromthe previous ones. Some issueswhich were unresolvedbetween our two countries,

we have taken a decision onthem in a very positive man-ner,” Swaraj said while referringto her talks with Aziz.

Aziz too sounded positivewith the outcome of talks andsaid the meeting was held in avery good atmosphere as allissues where there were hiccupswere discussed and resolved.“We also discussed variousissues where we had differencesand on how to make SAARCmore effective. It is hopeful thatfrom now till then (SAARCSummit in November), someissues in which work has to bedone, will be done,” Aziz said.

During his meeting withSwaraj, Aziz recalled theNovember 30 meeting betweenModi and Sharif and said thatthis was followed up by a meet-ing between the NationalSecurity Advisors of the twocountries in Bangkok after sixdays. “Three days later, Sushmajiarrived in Islamabad and it wasdecided that comprehensivebilateral dialogue will restart.Prime Minister Modi had alsoarrived in Lahore after that towish Prime Minister Sharif.But the Pathankot attackbecame a hurdle,” he said, com-plimenting the cooperation onboth sides after that.

Aziz added there was apossibility of the two PMsmeeting in Washington duringthe Nuclear Security Summitend of this month. “Not surewhether there will be a struc-tured dialogue but hopefulthat they will meet in the US onthe sidelines of the nuclearsummit,” he said.

From Page 1March 14 and leaving it

injured, Daate told PTI. Bora wasarrested from Mukhani area ofHaldwani on a requisition byDehradun police, Nainital SSPSweety Agarwal said, adding hehas been handed over to a policeteam from Dehradun and isbeing taken to the state capital.

On reports that summonswere issued to BJP MLA GaneshJoshi by him in connection withthe attack, Uttarakhand DGP BS Sidhu said only theInvestigating Officer is compe-tent to issue summons. Whenqueried, Investigating OfficerArun Pandey neither deniednor confirmed issuing sum-mons to the legislator, sayinginvestigations are still on.

The horse in fact fell with itsentire weight on its hind quar-ters under the combined impactof Joshi's frontal attack with alathi and Bora pulling up its reinsfrom one side, Daate said.“Shaktiman”, a well trained horsewhich was part of UttarakhandMounted Police for years, wasallegedly attacked by Joshi, anMLA from Mussoorie, duringthe march. The animal sufferedfractures in one of his hind legsduring the protest.

An FIR had been lodged atNehru Colony police stationagainst Joshi and his associates.Chief Minister Harish Rawat alsoexpressed concern over thehorse's condition.

The BJP has been demand-ing withdrawal of the caseslodged against its workersincluding Joshi with the Leaderof Opposition in the StateAssembly Ajay Bhatt assertingthat they were being framed atthe behest of the StateGovernment to cow down theOpposition.

������������� ���������� #����(#���)%���� &������&���&�* ���(%�&��'�

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

#��������"���������"������/�����

������� ������"""

�� � -��-���5���

The number of infantsaffected by severe malnu-

trition in the State has crossed45,000-mark. Especial lyalarming is the health situa-tion in the tribals-dominateddistricts.

As per an official report,a total of 45,535 infants suf-

fering from acute malnutri-tion have been identified bythe end of December 2015.The identification has beenmade by Anganwadi Workerson the basis of the WHO (World HealthOrganisation) criteria.

According to the report ofthe State Women and ChildDevelopment Department,the highest number of mal-nutrition-hit infants has beenfound in Koraput with 4,848followed by Kalahandi where4,145 infants are sufferingfrom severe malnutrition.

The number are 3,773 inNabarangpur, 3,551 inSundargarh, 3,341 inMayurbhanj, 3,287 inKeonjhar, 3,116 in Rayagada,2,553 in Nuapada, 2,330 inBalangir, 2,104 in Malkangiri,1,528 in Kandhamal and 1,386in Bargarh district.

In the remaining districts,the number is found less than1,000. Jagatsinghpur registersthe lowest number with 153severe acute malnutrition-affected infants.

As the malnutrition is oneof the prime reasons behind

the infant deaths in the State,the Government claims to beproviding nutritious food topregnant women and infantstill six years.

However, the programmeappears to be defunct in real-ity. While the nutritious fooditems such as sattu, seasameladdu, egg and cooked foodhave been provided to infants of six months to sixyears of age for 25 days everyyear through the AnganwadiCentres, the quantity of sup-plying the items is allegedly limited in many cen-

tres, sources said.To prevent infants from

suffering from malnutrition-related diseases, theGovernment has a scheme toprovide nutritional food topregnant women in phases. Besides, free irontablets are also providedthrough health centres towomen during their preg-nancy.

Yet, the increasing num-ber of infants with severeacute malnutrit ion hasbecome a matter of majorconcern in the State.

��6*���� 6*��*�� ���*2�,/-&&&����2�� ��*�*��� ! ���! ���"��## $% &'�������� ����(

���� -�������

It is a deplorable state of affairs: Tenancient figurines belonging to the sev-

enth or eighth century are literally lying ina garbage pit filled with wastewater atPendagadi village under Kaptipada blockin Mayurbhanj district which has aBuddhist past with various statues of theera found scattered around the area.

While the Goddess Bhimeshwar statue is established in the village temple, ten other figurines are lying in anabandoned place near the PendagadiAshram School.

Wastewater from the school kitchenand toilet is being let into place of the stat-ues while some people are also defecatingnearby, according to a report.

Kaptipada Sub-Collector PrabhatKumar Mahapatra has reportedly said theconservation work of the historical fig-

urines is the work of the Integrated Tribaldevelopment Agency (ITDA).

On the other hand, ITDA ProjectAdministrator Brahmananda Behera has

said that it is the responsibility of the dis-trict administration. He further said thathe would ask the District Welfare Officerto look into the issue.

������ ���$���' $��� ���"��)�" ����*+),��-

���� -��-���5���

Early morning at 5 am onWednesday, thousands of

red crabs were witnessed crawl-ing on the beach of the Chilikalake. Two days ago, a similarphenomenon had taken place inthe Chandrabhaga beach inPuri district where thousands ofred crabs were seen crawlingaround. Thousands of red crabswere spotted in the natural estu-arine of Nada and Biluamari vil-lages for more than an hour.

The red crabs were seenfeasting on dead turtles foralmost an hour before returninginto the sea.

#�������220���<����������

���� -���6����

The seventh BrahmapurMahotsav, a mega cultural

festival and fair of southernOdisha, would be held at theKhalikote University playgroundfor seven days from April 25. Apreparatory meeting for theevent was held here onWednesday. More than 150 stallswould be installed by both Gove-rnment and non-Governmentorganisations. Besides, variousdance forms, including Samb-alpuri, Gotipua, Odishi, Pash-unrutya, Paika Akhada would bepresented by several artistes.

�� �� ���� ��� �����#��������)�����>?

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� ��������.

������ 0��� �0���7�� �23�������0����� �����!(�8!�)�6�%���5&������2�&�����%�&�!��'��!!&��������!!�� �� ����"�B �� �!��"�������%��#��'���B�%������� ��( ����������������'��������&������ �#��"� �!������!��1 �#��, �(��"� �!�./0<�,��� ����'(� ���������!����������!�5&!� �����$�������!���(������3& ������!��,���(�A'����9� ������� "���'�"� ���������'��I/����������)�������������� ! �#�2� �";&!� ���%5�%��1&������;&!� ��������� ��!� ������� ��( �����1��&���������'����� �#������( ��;&!� ��������,�+�(��� !����� �#�������������� �#���! � ���������'�����2-� ��������!�)

� �2 3�������0���������!(�8!�)�6 �� �(�'!���%�&�!��'�9� ��������!�( ��5���"����""��� ,��&!���"�!������������#'�����!� �� �����&�� ���"�(��A���������� ��&!��A����� �!��, ��!+��������!��! �#����$5���!������� ��� ��!)�%��� �#���� �1 �#��"�����6����!�N����������� �#���"����,�� ������&��������� �#���"�����!! �'O+�����&�!� ������ � � �� ,��(�&�������������� �(�'!�����5��)

���� ��������

The petition to ban Sardarjokes online got the backing

of the Shiromani GurdwaraPrabandhak Committee(SGPC) on Thursday whichjoined the chorus in SupremeCourt to put an end to suchjokes that demean and insultthe community.

The apex bench of ChiefJustice TS Thakur and JusticeUU Lalit directed the petitionto be listed along with twoother petitions filed by lawyerHarvinder Chaudhary and theDelhi Sikh GurdwaraManagement Committee(DSGMC), expected to betaken up on April 5.

During the hearing, thebench asked advocate SatinderSingh Gulati, appearing forSGPC, to suggest areas inwhich the Court can passorders. The Court assured thatif such jokes are being com-mercially exploited, it will cer-tainly pass orders to stop cir-

culation of the jokes on inter-net.

Gulati told the Court thatSGPC has been pursuing withthis subject and had even com-plained against the publicationand circulation of jokes onSardars in the past giving animpression that Sikhs are stu-pid. He said, “A stereotype hasbeen created and Sikhs arebeing discriminated in societybecause of a particular lan-guage and religion.” In thisregard, SGPC even wrote toKhushwant Singh, whose jokeson Sardars were widely readand circulated, pointing out thecommunity’s displeasure overhis work.

Earlier, the plea byDSGMC had sought directionto Telecom Ministry to filterwebsites which targeted theSikh community on the groundof being violative of Sections153A and 153B of the IPCrelating to promoting enmitybetween different religiousgroups.

���� ��������

The Congress on Thursdaymade a veiled attack on Lok

Sabha Speaker SumitraMahajan saying “blindly” refer-ring the case of citizenship ofCongress vice president RahulGandhi to the EthicsCommittee of the Lok Sabhashowed “hatred” against theparty leadership and theOpposition.

A day after the first leg ofBudget Session, the party alsotook credit for the passage ofseveral bills but struck a cau-tious note on Government’sclaim that the much delayedGST Bill would be passed in thesecond phase of the Parliamentsession.

Former Union Minister MVeerapa Moily said a “darkspot” of the just concluded firstpart of the Budget session ofParliament was the discussionin the Lok Sabha on the IshratJahan issue. “It was a black dayfor the Lok Sabha,”Moily said.

Addressing a joint Pressconference with Leader of theOpposition in the Rajya SabhaGhulam Nabi Azad, Moily

lamented that the case ofCongress vice president hasbeen referred to the EthicsCommittee “without any senseof judgement”.

“Blindly referring the caseof citizenship of Rahul Gandhito the Ethics Committee,without any sense of judge-ment, without making anycase, shows hatred againstthe Congress leadership,against the Opposition,” heremarked.

In January, Mahajan hadforwarded to the EthicsCommittee of Parliament acomplaint by a BJP MP alleg-ing that Congress vice-presi-dent Rahul Gandhi had pre-sented himself as a British cit-

izen to float a firm there. TheEthics Committee is chaired byBJP veteran LK Advani.

BJP MP from East DelhiMaheish Girri, had some timeback written to the Speakerrequesting for “appropriateinquiry” into the allegations ofhis party colleagueSubramanian Swamy thatRahul had declared himself asa British citizen to float a firmin that country. Requestingthe Speaker to initiate anappropriate inquiry, Girri hadsaid it was necessary that peo-ple should know the reality.

On Isharat Jahan issue,Moily wondered how a dis-cussion on the matter tookplace in Lok Sabha and alleged

that there has been a “design”to “subvert” cases against someofficers in the CBI court. Hesaid three authorities includingthose from judiciary ones havefound Ishrat was killed in a fakeencounter.

Congress also took creditfor the passage of several Billsin the Budget session. Butwhen asked aboutParliamentary Affairs MinisterM Venkaiah Naidu expressingconfidence that the key GSTBill would be passed in the sec-ond phase, Azad said theGovernment has so far nottalked to the Opposition ontaking up the bill.

“We will cross the bridge,when we come to it,” Azad said.Insisting that such bills are firsttaken up by the Governmentwith Opposition and otherpolitical parties in the BusinessAdvisory Committees of theLok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,Azad said the GST was notbrought up there.

Azad replied in a similarvein when asked about FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley’s state-ment that it was difficult toaccept Congress’ demand to

cap GST rate in the pendingConstitution Amendment bill.

Seeking to take credit forpassage of several bills, Moilysaid, “Rajya Sabha functionedat 129 per cent of the scheduledtime and Lok Sabha at 120 percent. This is in contrast to theperformance of the Oppositionled by BJP during UPA-II,when the House wasn’t allowedto function.”

Azad said it was on theinsistence of Congress, andnot the Government, therewere extra sittings inParliament. “Without the coop-eration of Congress, no legis-lation would have been passedin the Rajya Sabha,” he saidunderlining that theGovernment lacked majority inthe Upper House.

He claimed the PrimeMinister had refused to answer“any of the issues” that wereraised by the Opposition,including the Pathankot terrorattack, farmers suffering due tounseasonal rains, black money,and the Vijay Mallya issue.“Sadly, the Prime Minister didnot respond to any of thesequestions,’ he said.

���� ��������

The Punjab Government’sattempts to restore the land

acquired for construction of theSatluj-Yamuna Link Canal(SYL) to its original owners suf-fered a major setback onThursday in Supreme Court,which ordered status quo onthe said land and appointed ajoint committee of UnionHome Secretary, Punjab ChiefSecretary, and Director Generalof Punjab Police to overseeimplementation of its order.

The order came on anapplication filed by theHaryana Government citingnews reports that showed erst-while land owners taking force-ful possession of the SYL land,its property and filling thedug-out canal with soil usingearth movers and JCBs. Theland owners had acted in antic-ipation of a law passed byPunjab Legislative Assemblycalled the Punjab SYL Canal

(Rehabilitation and Re-vest-ing of Proprietary Rights) Bill2016, which is yet to receiveGovernor’s assent.

Although Punjab opposedthe order for status quo, thebench of Justices AR Dave, PCGhose, Shiva Kirti Singh,Adarsh Goel and Amitava Royasked senior advocates RamJethmalani and Rajeev Dhavanappearing for Punjab, “Doyou deny what is stated in thenewspaper reports and in theapplication by HaryanaGovernment. You could havedone something if you want-ed to on the earlier date(March 14).”

Restricting the PunjabGovernment to proceed any

further on the law, the benchsaid, “Prima facie, it appearsthat an effort has been made tosee that execution of a decreeof this Court is being madeinexecutable and this Courtcannot be a silent spectator ofthe said fact and therefore, wedirect status quo…”

Senior advocate ShyamDivan who argued for Haryanahad submitted that the actionof Punjab was to defeat thejurisdiction of the SupremeCourt which is yet to decide theright of both States under awater-sharing agreement ofDecember 1981. Despite orderspassed by apex court in the pastdirecting Punjab to share waterwith Haryana and other Statesby constructing SYL Canal,Divan pointed out that thenew law sought to be intro-duced by the Punjab Assemblyamounted to challenging theauthority of Supreme Courtand verdicts given from time to time.

������������� �� ��������������������

���� ��������

Rejecting the claim ofMinistry of External Affairs

(MEA) that 19 of its Delhi-based officials have been issuedtravel permits to attend theWorld T-20 matches, thePakistan High Commissionofficials said on Thursday thatIndian Government’s state-ment was “misleading.”

Pak High Commissionsources said only ten peoplehave been cleared so far andamong those who have notbeen given permission includeDefence Advisor, PressCounsellor, three PoliticalCounsellors, Naval Advisorand Air Force Advisor.

“The High Commissionapplied for 34 officials to watch

four matches two in Kolkataand two in Mohali. They haveso far given permission foronly ten which also includesHigh Commissioner and fam-ily members of the officials.While permission for DefenceAdvisor, Press Counsellor,three Political Counsellors,Naval Advisor, Air ForceAdvisor, and ProtocolAssistants have not been givenpermission. The figure of 19given by India is misleading,”High Commission sourcessaid.

However, sources in IndianGovernment had already ruledout giving travel permits toPakistan diplomats who havelinks to military and PakIntelligence agency InterServices Intelligence (ISI).

������%A./����,������� �P��1���� �!�6��4!���� � ���� ��������

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Thursday

arrested a man from Keralawanted for his role in con-ducting a terror camp inKannur district of the State in2013. Officials said a teamfrom NIA’s Kochi unit arrestedKV Abdul Jaleel (41) in the weehours from a house in Naratharea where his wife was staying.He is expected to be producedbefore a special NIA court inKochi.

The case pertains to theconduct of a secret trainingcamp in Narath area by PopularFront of India (PFI) operatives.The men were trained inside abuilding owned by ThanalFoundation Trust in use ofswords and explosives for exe-cuting terror attacks.

“He is accused in the caserelating to a criminal conspir-acy to impart training to cadresof PFI/SDPI (Popular Front ofIndia/Social Democratic Partyof India) in use of explosivesand weapons. He was an officebearer of Thanal FoundationTrust that had provided itsbuilding for conducting thetraning camp at Narath, inKannur district of Kerala on

April 24, 2013,” said NIA ‘sPress release.

Jaleel was the officiatingchairman of the foundation. Anon-bailable warrant issuedby the court and a Look OutCircular were pending againsthim in the case, the officialssaid. The agency has alsopicked up another person,identified as Shihab, along withJaleel for questioning. A specialNIA court in Kerala had earlythis year convicted 21 men ofPFI in the case.

The court had found themguilty under several charges,including criminal conspiracy,membership of unlawfulassembly, possession of armsand explosive substances, incit-ing communal disharmony,assertions prejudicial to nation-al integration besides organis-ing a terrorist camp.

������ ����������������� ��������/� �����������*������

&���� (����'����� (�������, ���1�����0��������0��1�$�����&��, �-'$�������'% %&��$��������&��, ��'%" ��$ $$���

�&�������# ���2�$��, %�$�'$$��������, ���1���),�����, �$,����3�,����$$' 4���2�$��)���1�%�(�&����, ���1���),�

F ������ � ����23

F� ������� "�5 1��9�1�!����������� ���'��*��� ���4

���� ��������

The Forest Research Institute(FRI) submitted to Water

Resource & GangaRejuvenation Ministry, aDetailed Project Report (DPR)on forestry intervention for aClean Ganga, emphasising onextensive plantations in natur-al, agricultural, and urban land-scapes as also mass awarenessdrives to boost efforts for pro-tecting the river. The DPRaims at achieving an increase inthe flow of river water.

According to the Ministry,the experts used remote sens-ing and GIS technologies forspatial analysis and modeling ofpre-delineated Ganga river-scape covering 83,946sq.Kmout of a much larger Ganga

River basin area in the country. FRI has designed four sets

of field data formats to obtainsite specific information onproposed forestry plantationsin natural, agricultural, andurban landscapes along theriver course and in other con-servation interventions.

More than 8,000 data sheetswere obtained from five Statesalong the river course. Theinstitute also developed softwareto collate, analyse and reportgeneration on potential planta-tion and treatment models.

Extensive plantations innatural, agricultural, and urbanlandscapes besides conserva-tion interventions such as soiland water conservation, ripar-ian wildlife management, wet-land management and sup-

porting activities such as pol-icy and law interventions, con-current research, monitoringandevaluation, and massawareness campaigns havebeen envisioned in the DPR.

Altogether, 40 differentplantation and treatment mod-els have been selected forimplementation by five States— Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Jharkhand and WestBengal.

The project will be imple-mented over a period of fiveyears by the State ForestDepartments of these five statesin Phase-I (2016-2021), thestatement said.

As part of the project,active involvement of two bat-talions of Eco Task Force hasbeen envisaged in Uttarakhand

and Uttar Pradesh for raisingplantations in difficult terrains.

The specific State forestdepartments are also expectedto involve ITBP, Nehru YuvaKendra Sangathan and civilsociety organisations for vari-ous proposed activities, includ-ing monitoring and awareness

campaigns. The DPR will be released

by the Minister for WaterResources, River Developmentand Ganga Rejuvenation, UmaBharti, on March 22, 2016. Themeeting will also be attendedby the Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar.

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

NEW DELHI: The NationalGreen Tribunal on Thursdayreprimanded the EnvironmentMinistry for delay in acquiringa site for dumping of munici-pal solid waste in Almora dis-trict of Uttarakhand, pending

for nine months. The greenpanel also slammed theMinistry for causing adjourn-ments in the case for “small reasons” and directed it to dealwith the proposal, expedi-tiously.

��� � �13����� ��������

Waking up to the increas-ing leprosy threat in the

country, the Government ismulling a preventive treatmentfor contact persons of newlydiagnosed patients to decreasetheir risk of developing thecrippling disease.

The Union HealthMinistry’s decision comes inthe wake of a successful out-come from its similar initiativein high-endemic Dadar andNagar Haveli Union Territorywherein the household, neigh-bours and social contacts of theleprosy patients were adminis-tered Single Dose of Rifampicin(SDR) drug as a preventivemeasure.

“Considering the success ofchemoprophylaxis, in reducingnumber of new cases, usingsingle dose of Rifampicin incontacts of leprosy cases, inBangladesh and Indonesia, weattempted similar approach inDadar & Nagar Haveli, a high-endemic zone,” a senior official

from the National LeprosyElimination Programme(NLEP) said.

The Leprosy Post ExposureProphylaxis (LPEP) Projectwas launched in collaborationwith the NLEP of Dadra &Nagar Haveli and Gujarat,German Leprosy and TB ReliefAssociation (GLRA) andNetherlands Leprosy Relief(NLR) with support fromNovartis FoundationSwitzerland.

The aim was to test theoperational feasibility andadministration of a single doseof rifampicin, as chemopro-phylaxis to household, neigh-bours and social contacts, andto observe the impact.

About 11,632 contacts wereexamined and after exclusion,single dose of rifampicin (SDR)was given to 10,518 contacts.Children less than two years,pregnant women and thosefound suspected of tuberculo-sis were excluded. There was noadverse reaction reported fromthe contacts receiving SDR.

Encouraged by the positiveresponse, the technical resourcegroup of the NLEP has rec-ommended administering theSDR to all the contacts of theleprosy patients across thecountry. The Ministry willsoon formulate a strategy inthis regard.

“Overall, though there are137 districts in the countrywhich are on the priority listand where we are witnessing arise in leprosy cases, 50 districtsneed immediate attention.These districts have a preva-lence rate of more than one caseper 10,000. Also, cases of chil-dren suffering from the diseaseare coming up from variousareas,” the official added.

The 50 districts are inOdisha, Maharashtra, WestBengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,Jharkhand and MadhyaPradesh. The Ministry hasalso kicked off a vigorouscampaign with the help ofASHA workers to detect thecases and ensure treatmentaccordingly.

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

����� ��������

Aproposal for a three-foldhike in annual fees of IITs

from the present �90,000 wasapproved on Thursday by anIIT panel though a final deci-sion would require the nod ofHRD Minister Smriti Irani.

Another key recommen-dation the Standing Committeeof IIT Council (SCIC) madewas that the proposed newentrance examination designedto test the aptitude conductedby a National Authority ofTest (NAT) would be heldfrom 2017 onwards.

Final decision in thisregard too rests with Irani, it islearnt.

Sources told PTI that theSCIC, a body comprising IITdirectors and senior officials, ina meeting adopted the reportpresented earlier by a sub-committee headed by IITBombay Director DevangKhakhar which had suggestedhiking fees to �3 lakh and alsorecommended multiple sourcesof financing for the IITs.

“However, the sub-com-mittee has been again asked toconsider if this fee hike shouldalso be applied to studentsstudying at Post-Graduate levelas they are studying on a fel-lowship basis,” a source said.

If the recommendations

of the SCIC are accepted, eventhe fees of foreign studentswould be raised from the cur-rent annual $4000 to $10,000,they added.

However, the committeehas also emphasised that everystudent should be providededucational loans at an interest-free basis and without collateralunder the Vidyalakshmischeme, sources said.

Another nod that the com-mittee is learnt to have given isregarding a proposal to holdIIT admission tests in eightcountries abroad to attract thebest of foreign students.

Sources said the panel alsoapproved the recommenda-tions of a report prepared by acommittee of eminent personsheaded by Ashok Mishra for

holding an aptitude test con-ducted by a National TestingService, on the basis of whichcandidates will be shortlistedfor taking JEE (Advanced) forentry to IITs.

However, the committeehas recommended that the testshould be conducted from nextyear onwards and not this year.The Ashok Mishra committeehad focused on reducing thedependence on coaching insti-tutions by IIT aspirants.

It is desired by the com-mittee that coaching by bestquality teachers for such examsshould be provided throughonline platforms by theGovernment, reducing theneed that candidates may feelfor private tuitions, a sourcesaid.

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

������'�����04E����������� �4���� � ��� ��8����

����8����7�����7����������028 2��4�� ��2��8�����08����083���� �����E�� 80 ���2���2� ����3� ����083����

��� �7�22�����4 �5 �������

���� ��������

Khadi is all set to make a grand entry into the global fashionscene, chaperoned by none other than international fashion

designer Ritu Beri. The Khadi and Village Industries Commission has appointed

the fashion queen as advisor to the Commission and its Chairmanfor promotion of khadi within and outside the country.

Announcing the development, Commission ChairmanVinay Kumar Saxena said Ritu Beri would advise on introduc-tion of state of the art multi-fashion designs and styles in khadireadymade garments and on promotion of Khadi in the coun-try and abroad. She will be associated with KVIC as an advisorfor a period of one year.

Saxena handed over the appointment letter to Beri onWednesday at New Delhi. Senior BJP MP, MeenakshiLekhi waspresent on the occasion.

Noting that Beri has had 25 years of experience in the glob-al fashion arena designing clothes for international and nation-al celebrities including Bill Clinton, Prince Charles, NicoleKidman and Ivana Trump, to name just a few, Saxena said, “wehope her association will help take Khadi to newer heights bothlocally and globally”.

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

���(�!�����"" �����������"�%������:�&���� ���

%�&!��������������, ���� �!�& �� �#�"�������&�� �#

�������� �#��������������+� �� ���&��� !�� ��

�"� ������������ ��.H+�./0IF �� �B�������2� �

���������� #���(���/���������������&���������������+ �� ���������������+��� ������ ��������')$� �, ��� � ����� � ��� ���� �� � !�

�$%������!���, ��������6 � !��'"�������'� ��! �����3& ! � ��

�������������� ���� ������ ���5����������)������ �� �� ��������������������������������� ���$��������������� ���� �� � !

When one refers tothe Constitutionof India, it isimpossible not torecall and salute

with adulation the outstandingcontributions of BR Ambedkar. Hisconcluding speech just before theformal acceptance of the newly-pre-pared draft Constitution onNovember 26, 1949, in itself is a his-toric document for its comprehen-sion and futuristic vision. In thecontemporary context, it is relevantto recall how he had expressed hisapprehensions, particularly aboutthose who would try their best tosabotage what ‘We the people’ weregiving to ourselves on January 26,1950. The communists and ‘thosewho think alike’ and consistentlyshout hoarse as being the sole pro-tectors of the weaker sections,never hesitate to sabotage democ-ratic functioning and, to achievetheir sinister designs, are ready tosacrifice national interests:

“The condemnation of theConstitution largely comes fromtwo quarters, the CommunistParty and the Socialist Party.Why do they condemn theConstitution? Is it because it isreally a bad Constitution? I ven-ture to say ‘no’. The CommunistParty want a Constitution basedupon the principle of theDictatorship of the Proletariat.They condemn the Constitutionbecause it is based upon parlia-mentary democracy. The social-ists want two things. The firstthing they want is that if theycome in power, the Constitutionmust give them the freedom tonationalise or socialise all privateproperty without payment ofcompensation. The second thingthat the socialists want is that theFundamental Rights mentionedin the Constitution must beabsolute and without any limita-tions so that if their party fails tocome into power, they would havethe unfettered freedom not mere-ly to criticize, but also to over-throw the State.”

While the communist partieshave transitioned to innumerablefactions, the socialists have notlagged behind. Together, they havejust confirmed what Ambedkar hadanticipated based on his in-depthunderstanding and vision. He knewthat these two would not hesitate tocome together whenever they smella chance to damage the causeespoused in the Constitution. Whocan forgive the communists forwhat they did in 1942, during theChinese invasion of 1962, to recallonly two of the umpteen instances?Communists and other Leftists

fully exploited the weakness of theCongress when the minorityGovernment of Indira Gandhi hadto seek their support for survival.They had their plan ready: Preparepeople and towards that, bargain forcontrol over institutions and useeducation to propagate their ideol-ogy. Further, various institutionswere most suited strategically to sab-otage the ancient culture and his-tory of India and Indians. JawaharlalNehru University is one amongstmany that exemplify the success ofthe Left strategy. With their hege-mony at stake, the Leftists are rest-less and are targeting the young toplay their game.

JNU is, without any doubt, apampered institution in a coun-try that still runs substantialnumbers of its schools withoutteachers and blackboards, andwith schools where drinking waterand functional toilets are still aluxury. How could some youngpersons be allowed to stay in hos-tels for decades together andindulge in active party politicswhile other coming from far-offplaces are forced to rent roomsoutside? This is what was respon-sible for the orchestrated strike at

the Film and Television Instituteof India in Pune. Is it not an amaz-ing situation, if not amusing in amanner, that those who shout slo-gans against their own country,celebrate every year Afzal Guru asa martyr, or rejoice on the mas-sacre of 73 CRPF jawans inChhattisgarh, have the cheek tocomplain of ‘growing intolerance’.They complain that the constitu-tional guarantee of freedom ofexpression is being throttled!

Here is an institution staffedwith persons who are distressed thatIndia has ‘illegally’ kept Jammu &Kashmir under its occupation.Move outside JNU: A former judgeof the Supreme Court of Indiaspeaks in a public gathering inKolkata and finds fault with thejudgement of his brother judges inthe case of Afzal Guru. A formerHome Affairs Minister, too, express-es grave reservations on how justicewas ‘not delivered’ in Afzal Gurucase. Which other country wouldpermit the organisation of ‘cultur-al evenings’ that celebrate the mar-tyrdom of attackers on itsParliament, on Mumbai, and killersof hundreds of innocent people?

Whatever excuses may be

offered, mostly as afterthought,they cut no ice with the people whohad overthrown a lethargic, corruptand thoroughly incompetentGovernment at the centre andinstalled an alternative govern-ment with full majority in May2014. They are waiting for the newregime to deliver on the pollpromises. They expect theOpposition to respect their verdictand let the incumbent Governmentfunction without being heckled atevery step by frustrated out-of-power politicians, who find only ableak future ahead of them. Thosewho never allowed the minorities(read Muslims) to progress for sixdecades and unabashedly usedthem as vote-banks, are now mak-ing attempts to endear themselvesto the community on the plank of‘Narendra Modi’s intolerancetowards minorities’. Ambedkar hadwarned the nation on this count too:

“My mind is so full of the futureof our country that I feel I ought totake this occasion to give expressionto some of my reflections thereon.On January 26, 1950, India will bean independent country (cheers).What would happen to her inde-pendence? Will she maintain herindependence or will she lose itagain? This is the first thought thatcomes to my mind. It is not thatIndia was never an independentcountry. The point is that she oncelost the independence she had. Willshe lose it a second time? It is thisthought which makes me most anx-ious for the future. What perturbsme greatly is the fact that not onlyIndia has once before lost herindependence, but she lost it by theinfidelity and treachery of some ofher own people. In the invasion ofSind by Mohammed-bin-Qasim,the military commanders of KingDahar accepted bribes from theagents of Mohammed-bin-Qasimand refused to fight on the side oftheir king. It was Jaichand whoinvited Mohammed Gori to invadeIndia and fight against Prithvirajand promised him the help of him-self and the Solanki kings. WhenShivaji was fighting for the libera-tion of Hindus, the other Marathanoblemen and the Rajput Kingswere fighting the battle on the sideof Mughal emperors. When theBritish were trying to destroy theSikh rulers, Gulab Singh, the prin-cipal commander of the Sikhs, satsilent and did not help to save theSikh kingdom.”

These words, and warnings,could serve as the beacon light forthe young of India to serve theirMotherland and thus express theirgratitude to the great man wholoved India and Indians.

�� !�#������������������������!��$�,����������!���� �������"��&!������,��A����������9���!� �������&�A&����������!!����'������ ���!����&����"�������'��*��'���)�:���"����������#+�����5���9(�� �����'���# ����"�2� �"�6 � !�����1� ��!�

=���,���!��������������������� !��+������!��������� � �!� ���������������� �!,���A���1!�( ������ ,����&� �#���������� ��)�-&�+���!�A6&E�""����#���, ��������!��A� ���'+� ���&!����,������ !����������#����"��&�� �#����� �!��##!� ��������!1������ #��� �#�������! �!������������������"�����5���������,������,��(���� �#�"��+� �./0.)�%���2� �"�6 � !������!��!���!������,����1��������"��&���"�����-����� '�;����������'K!������� ��!(�����"�����5����K!�!���!� ������./0H���1�5���������A� ��+�(� ��������������������6�� K!����� !���"� ���&! ,����,��������P���������������������)��K!�����������1� ��!��=���,�$�,����������!�����������,��A�������(��1� ��������!��"�&��'���!+��&�������������!������!��(���������� ��������� ��!� ����� ��� �,��� (�!� �,��!����(��� �'� ������ �� ����!+� ��� �� ���6&E�""����#���� ��!+����� �!��! � , �'������!��������'����� �#�����5� "� ��,��� ���������1������"�����, ������+�!�� ���6 � !����6���������E��� ���K!� ����A

������������1!+������ ��(�������������)� �1� ��!�� =���,� (���!� ���!������ �!�� �&�����'���"��!�����&!����,�� �&!� ��,��������� !�����!� ����������� ,���!����������K!����� �����"������1����,����!�5���9(�� �����'A��!A � ,�� �!� ���'� (��1� ���� ���� ���� �#�����!)�%���2� �"�6 � !����������� ����������5����K!�#��(����������!�����!���� �'�� #���,���(����������&���'( ���!!��� �� !��(��(�� �&� �#� ������4!��&��+��&��" #&��!������������������ ������� ���!���')�5�,�����, ���#�! ������5�����!� ������������,�������� �A �'������!���'���,��������&��&�����( ��!� !��&�#+� �&�� ��(��� !&���'� !� ����������������������� �������"�����3&�� �'�Q��� ���'��������� ��'�������A����� !�"���"����#���Q�������!�� !� �� $�,�������� ���� ������!+� "���

������� ��������&��� ����� �!� �&� ��!+���!������, ��&���'� �!� �&� ���� !������� �� ��"�,�&���"������� �&������!��)�%����������� !� !������������ ���������1� ��!��=���, !����� �����������"�� !�$�,�������Q�����'�!&������6&��'���5 �#��=���,+�� !��������5� ,����=���,��������A� ���!�!&����!��E��� �������������!���!)��� ���������!������"�����" �!�� !�&����!���������# ,���������������!���������'+� �K!����������"����������!��������!�&����� ��������2� �"�6 � !���K!��&���� �')�

���!&�"���+�����5���9(�� �����'���!�#����""���������1�" �!�+� !!& �#���#&�����,��� !�����!� ��,�� �&!��&�� ��� ��!���������A���� �!�$�,�������K!���� �,�A����!)�%���2� �"�6 � !���K!�"��!���� ,��������������&�" � !������,������������A9���!� !�������"��� !������ #�)�-&������-��&9���5���9�����'� !���� ,������������#��!!����!���,��+�( ���&����1 �#���!��#����������+����� #�� #�������$�,�������K!"� �&��!)�����9&,�������-����� '��;����������'�!����!����������&� �'�����&����A"���������(����# ��������� �!��� !�� ������&��)�%���5���9(�� �����'���!�"��� A������������ � �������� ��� ������"���� ��./0.)

�,��'���(���������+�(����!�������������������� !����1���&�����5��� ��0.H���"������� ���������2�������������!�( ���!�� � ��+�������!��� !�� �"�,�&���"�������(K!����� � ��)�%����� ���'��*������ ��� !����������5��� ��� !

�� �#�� !&!��+������������!���(�'��� !� !�!�� !�����&!���������, ! ��!��"������(�����,�#&�����&#��������� ! ���������������&!����������!!�� !!��� �#�� � AE��!)�6 � !�����"�5�����"���������""� �!� ����� 9 9&���� ����� ��������9'��5���������������(� ������(�!�N,��'�( ��O��������������, �(��)������!������������������(�2��� !! ����"��� ��(�!�!�&�' �#����������������(�&���!&�� �� �!�" ��A �#��������$�,��������!���)�%����� !� �������������"�����, �(������ � �������#�����"&! ��+��&�������������"���!����� �#�������� A!�� � �����(��&!������ !� !!���&�� #��)�%����� ���$�,���������&!������!&��&���������!!&���"����,�� �&!���� �!�R��&����� #��!���� , !�!������!!�������������!�( �� �������&�! ��������� � ����!'!����R�(���(�&���� 1������ �#�����������������!������"���!����#��(������&�������� A��� �������� , � �!��������!!��&!���� ������������"�"�������"��*���!! �������2��!� �&� ����"��� ��#&�������!)��!��������������!����,����A����!���,��!��(�+���� A�� ���������!�����!���&� �#�����"��&� !� �#� ��,�� �&!����!��"�������&���'+�������� ���""����������������""��� ,��'���������( ���&��!��A

� �� !�����(!� �������)�%�� �� ��&�#���� !������"�����1 ����������������������!��� ��&� ������ ���'� ��(���������� !!&�)����&!�����1���� ��� ���������� !��&���'���!�!��� ������ A���������(!+ ���&� �#� ���� ����("&�� ��� , � �!����,��� �������)����� ��+�������(�!����%����� !�� ���� � !�&�� ,�� ��� , � �!����,��� ���� ���+� ���� ��!�� ������,��� ����"�%����� !�����)����,�� A�&!�!��#�!+����'�(�����*������'�&!�A"&�� �����1� �#�������������"������� !������#��(���������!��"�����&�! ��������&���'�)���(�&������"��� !��������(�'�( ���������� A!�� � ������, ! ��!�����'�����&!������-� � !���������A�� ,������������������� �������2����&� !��������&���'K!�"������A" #����!)��,�!��������"������� ���������2��� !��"�-� � !���� # �+��&������� !�������A

!������!����� �)�����,�����!�����&#�����������!+�1��� �#� ��, �(���������#��! �&�� ��+���������� ��'�����!!��'������&!��������������������� �!�)�5 � ����'+�� !A&!���"�������(��������������������*�&!��"�������( �#��������'�( �����������A(����)���(!���,�������!&�9���������� !&!�+��&�����'��������������� �����)�%����! � ����'������ ��!��� ��!��"�!�� ��'+� ���&� �#���� � � ��!+��$�!��������� ����A� #���! �+��������� A!�� � �����(!���,����������� ������������'+� !���S,�)�������&!���������'�( ������������F����1���� ������� ���!K�!��#��!Q��,��'�!&�����&���'��&!���,����� ��������(!���������( �������� !&!���"��������� ��� #��!)�

�� !�"���������#���"������ �'�!&����!��������*���&��+�������(�2��� !! ����"�� �������� �����9&� !�!������� �������&����������!��(�'����!������ ���5��� ��0.H����������,������������ �!)������!� �#�'+����'���#���� ��!����������!��1A �#�����, �(��"���������� �#�����������������(+����� ��������!���� ������������5��� ���(�!����������(�������!� �&��!�F!�� � ��K)�%� !����'�������������� ""��A��� �������(�����""��! ,��!������������!�� � �� !�����)�%���2��#��!!+�(� ����!��������&�� �� �!���9��� ��+���������&!����������, ! ��!��"�5��� ���0.H��(��� ��$�,�������+������ ��4�������'�� �#������,����������()�

0��������� �������� $��� �������%�����&�' � �����'�������

���������6�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5�

(������ ���� �� ��������� � ������ ��������� �������� � ������ ���� ��6 ��� ����� $�������� ���)�#��( �3�� ������ ��������� ���������������1�����������������������A������������� ������� ��6!�� ��������������

�&������8���,9��������)�������� �%���������� %���*'����������

������������

Sir — This refers to the article,“Taking the fight into Oppositioncamp” (March 17) by GautamMukherjee. The Modi engine isfinally beginning to purr. ThePrime Minister must govern thenext three years the wayAustralians play their cricket:Aggression backed by some solidground work.

Narayanan Mahalingam Via web

����������

Sir — This refers to the article,“New political order inNaypidaw” (March 17) by MayuriMukherjee. Democracy has wonin Myanmar and there is nodoubt that NLD chief Aung SanSuu Kyi will be the power behindPresident Htin Kyaw’s throne. SuuKyi’s balancing act in theGovernment will be a big test forher — she mustn’t be dictatorial.

The Army-backed party mayhave lost the election but the mil-itary still holds 25 per cent of theparliamentary seats. This will bea big problem for the new civilian regime.

Ganapathi BhatAkola

����������

Sir — This refers to the article,“Navy requires a long arm forIndo-Pacific” (March 16) byAshok K Mehta. India need notcommit itself to the US’s re-bal-ance to Asia policy to the extentthat it loses its sovereign auton-omy, but it is important to checkChinese belligerence throughcooperation with other nations.

India should participate inmultilateral defence exerciseswhile asserting an independentfreedom of navigation policy,based on the UN Convention onthe Law of Sea. It must alsoenhance its economic clout andmodernise the Navy so that,when needed, India is powerfulenough to flex its muscles.

Dhruv BhardwajNoida

���������������

Sir — This refers to the article,“Mallya isn’t the main problem”(March 16) by Shivaji Sarkar. Theauthorities need to investigate thebank officials who sanctioned thebad loans to Vijay Mallya and thepoliticians who backed their deci-sions. If the Prime Minister isserious about fighting corruption,

he needs to address this issuehead-on, even if it means punish-ing BJP leaders who may havebeen involved in Mallya’s case.

SGVia web

�����������������

Sir — The decision to declareMother Teresa a saint has beenwelcomed by many Indians whohave long admired her work. Itcan be argued Mother Teresa wasalready a saint in the hearts ofthousands of her admirers, andthat the Church’s announcementis a mere formality.

Padmini RaghavendraSecunderabad

����������������

Sir — Through its vibrant publicservice announcements, theMinistry of Information andBroadcasting has injected enthu-siasm into departments engagedin social welfare activities. Theseannouncements reach millions ofpeople, with a positive message.

CK SardanaBhopal

000������� �������

" � " � � � � � � � " � � �

1�� 1�0�

������%��%�����%��

����*�����2���0 �*��� �����6���� �=�������*������ >*�6 ��?�:���<� *� -���0�6�����>*�� �26����*�� �����6���

$�6�2�� ���8�+�� ��@9����A� ��

��*��2�2��6� B*������*���2�������2�� ���2���2��� �������������1���2*����2��6���-�*�����*>*����6��������

��*��@������*��4���*��

C������<����4� �2*����D�*�A�1����*���<� 1��22�0�2��*�� �2� 1�4���2*2� ��<���2*�� ���2>2�� ����2��6�� 1���2��6���

9A��������@<�� ��� � �

;���5�����6������5%%�%������2���%�=�%��%

5%������55�-5%��%��

��6-��5��:�%552����5��%���%

%��2���5+����52����5��������� �$���%������:��2%����

%���%5�����5%������C��=

��� 0��

��'�� ���� ���� ����������'��������%

���1 �� �#��"������ ��'�&��+����� ��������� #�A��!���# ��+� ��%�� �����& !�� !�&�� �#)������!!�� !�&�� �#� !�����( ��!������ �� ""����������!&������&��1 �� �#!� ��!�� ��'�������#�)�%�� #��������!����&�����&����!� !

��������'��&��� �')����1 �#���'�&�#�������������+� ���������!������"�� ! �9&����( "�+� ��"&����&�� ��, �(�������&!'�����+��!�(�!���������B�5���1��+ !�&�"���������)�

6��'���#���� ����A��!������� �#�!� �,��, �#���� �������!�&�"��# ,A������� ��!)�2������!��"�"�� �'�����&����������!�A��������&� �'��"�����#������������&!��������� ���� !�����!�����������&����!)�������!���,���� �!���,������������"�'�&�#���� �����+��&�������"����� �#������ ��������F(���#K��!��+������� ������!)�

:����( �#����!�������"&��1 �� �#!+�!�� ��'��&!������#� !������ ��&A��� �'� �"� ���� ��!��� !'!���)� %��!�� ��!��A��!��� �&����!� , �� ����� ���!����#�����-�������1��K!���!��"���������� � ��� ����"���!��)

��8�"�+�����#$ �����������

���������������# �(����.��!��! ��#,�#$!! G&%�����#%�

The National Herald caseis showing every indi-cation of turning into anightmare for theCongress, especially its

senior leadership including partypresident Sonia Gandhi and vicepresident Rahul Gandhi. Earlierefforts by the Congress to dismissthe issue as a canard and anunsubstantiated taint by the irre-pressible Subramanian Swamy,have not worked. Despite their bestattempts at nipping the problem inthe bud, the matter has reached theTrial Court and hearing has begun.All that Sonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi have gained so far isexemption from personal appear-ance in the court (and for that too,they had to go to the SupremeCourt). They failed in their attemptto get the case quashed. The nexthearing is on Monday.

The latest headache for theNehru-Gandhis and the Congressin general is that the Trial Courthas summoned, on Swamy’s plea,accounts of the party as well asthat of Associated JournalsLimited (National Herald’s pub-lishing company) for the year2010-11. The accounts are criti-cal to the case because it was dur-ing this period that Congressleaders had floated Young Indian,which eventually acquiredAssociate Journals Limited in acontroversial deal that is underthe scanner. But before that,other mysterious things hap-pened. In an attempt to keep theailing AJL alive, the Congress gaveit unsecured interest-free loansfor a few years, right up to 2010.By that year-end, the firm’s unse-cured debt stood at close to �90crore. Then came along YoungIndian in 2010, and Sonia andRahul Gandhi joined the board ofdirectors with 76 per cent sharecontrol. The All India CongressCommittee, which had rightsover National Herald, decided toassign the AJL debt to the new

company, thereby making YoungIndian the new owner of AJL and,thereby of the defunct NationalHerald. Various points are beingcontested in the courts, includingthe nature of the buy-out and thelegality of using party funds forprivate business.

But this is not the petitioner’sfirst success in getting crucialrecorded material before thecourt. Months ago, Swamy hadpiled up woes on the Congress byobtaining an order from the TrialCourt to summon documentspertaining to the case from asmany as six Government agen-cies: Income Tax Department,Enforcement Directorate,Ministry of Finance, Registrar ofCompanies and the UrbanDevelopment Ministry and itsLand & Development Office.

The last named is especially sig-nificant because allegations havebeen floating that Congress lead-ers connived to own AssociatedJournals Limited to get hold of theenormous and expensive realestate the company was sitting on,across the country. Indeed,Swamy has been arguing that thereal reason for the buy-out dealhad nothing to do with theCongress’s affinity with NationalHerald; the party and its top lead-ership wanted to lay their handson the properties (worth, somesay, more than �2,000 crore) thefirm owned. That, of, course, is asyet, an allegation.

But from all accounts, thefinancial transaction and thespeculated motive behind it arecausing great discomfort to Soniaand Rahul Gandhi and keeping

the party on tenterhooks. Thebattery of high-profile lawyersrepresenting them — many, likeKapil Sibal and Abhishek ManuSinghvi, been drafted for dutyfrom within Congress ranks —have had a difficult time trying tomitigate the embarrassment tothe party and its senior-mostleadership. There have been manysuch instances, with the follow-ing two serving as examples:When the Delhi High Courtupheld the summons issued tothe mother-son duo for person-al appearance, and even passedstrong observations (which theapex court later expunged); andwhen the Supreme Court refusedto dismiss the case, saying, “Letthere be a fair trial”.

Now the fresh round of worryfor the Congress and its top brass

is Swamy’s strategy to officiallyinvolve Government agencies intothe case on legal grounds. Untilnow, while the Bharatiya JanataParty has been questioning theNational Herald deal, theGovernment it leads has taken theposition that the matter is betweenthe Congress and Swamy. While it’strue that some Government agen-cies have been looking into the mat-ter, there had not been any cali-brated inquiry involving relevantGovernment departments. Now,the Income Tax Department, theEnforcement Directorate, theUnion Ministry of Finance, theRegistrar of Companies and theUrban Development Ministry, willall be part of the ongoing hearingin the court. There is a possibilitythat a coordinated approach canbring more skeletons tumblingout of the Congress’s NationalHerald cupboard.

Much as the lawyers and thewell-wishers of the Congresswant, the case is unlikely to die outanytime soon in the court. Swamyis a man possessed when hetastes blood. He will not let theissue slip out of his hands, regard-less of whether he gets supportfrom the Government or not. Hiscampaigns against the 2GSpectrum scam, in favour of RamSethu and against theSethusamudram project thatsought to destroy Ram Sethu,indicate his doggedness. Therecould be another fall-out in casethe petitioner continues to be ona roll: Government agencies suchas the Serious Frauds InvestigationOffice and even the CentralBureau of Investigation may haveto step in to unravel what appears,prima facie, to be at the very leastan improper business deal, andworst an illegal take-over in com-plete violation of existing laws andwith an intent to corner expensivereal estate to be eventually man-aged by a handful of individualsin a political party.

Among the States that are goingto polls this summer, themost fascinating one is Tamil

Nadu, as the fate of its leaders —Chief Minister and All India AnnaDravida Munnetra Kazhagam bossJ Jayalalithaa, Dravida MunnetraKazhagam chief M Karunanidhi,Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam headVijayakanth Desiya and PattaliMakkal Katchi boss S Ramadoss —will be decided on May 19. Stakes arehigh for all of them.

Jayalalithaa is desperate to comeback to power and has been work-ing for it more so after the KarnatakaHigh Court acquitted her ina disproportionate assetscase last year. She is opti-mistic because a split in theOpposition votes will bebeneficial for the AIADMK,which has a vote share ofabout 44.3 per cent.

The party won 37 of the39 Lok Sabha seats in 2014.Even in 2011, it won 151seats with a vote share of 38.4per cent. The AIADMK wasnot in alliance with anymajor political party duringthe 2014 general election. Inthe 2011 Assembly poll, theparty had smaller allies.However, it has none in theupcoming election.

Jayalalithaa also has not devel-oped any second-rung leadership.She believes that there is no need forany other leader. The problem is thatshe is not keeping well and even vig-orous campaigning may be affected.She faces the danger of a politicalwitch-hunt if she loses.

Stakes are also high forKarunanidhi, who has led the DMKfor almost five decades and hasserved as the Chief Minister ofTamil Nadu five times. He will fadeaway quietly if the party loses thistime. He is seeking votes as a lastchance. He is the chief ministerial facefor the party, which has aligned with

the Congress this time. If he wins, hewill be 98 years old by the time hecompletes his term and, therefore,may anoint his son MK Stalin as theChief Minister.

Karunanidhi also has to balancea family feud wherein his daughterKanimozhi Karunanidhi and elderson MK Alagiri are jockeying for hislegacy. His party was also hit by the2G Spectrum scam and is yet torecover from the shock. That is whyhe is wooing smaller parties, includ-ing the DMDK. In the 2011Assembly poll, the DMK aligned withthe Congress, PMK, Viduthalai

Chiruthaigal Katchi, KongunaduMunnetra Kazhagam. For the 2014general election, the DMK was inalliance with VCK, MMK, the IndianUnion Muslim League and thePuthiya Tamizhagam.

Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhimay not depart from the scene at thesame time. With age not on her side,Jayalalithaa may hang around at leasttill the next election if her health per-mits. If the DMK loses, it will prob-ably split and join smaller parties likethe PMK and the DMDK.

For DMDK chief Vijayakanth,the poll is crucial. Has he been over-rated? This will be proved by the

DMDK’s performance this time.The party was formed in 2005 by theTamil actor. It had an alliance withthe AIADMK for the 2011 Assemblypoll and was a part of the BJP alliancefor the 2014 general election. Thoughthe party is not a threat to the twoDravidian majors, it is an importantally due to its strongholds in certainareas of Tamil Nadu. It had a voteshare of 7.8 per cent in 2011 and won30 seats in the Assembly, but has noseat in Parliament. Vijayakanth isgoing it alone after rejecting overturesfrom other parties.

The PMK, a caste-based party,has a single seat in the LokSabha and three in theAssembly. Former UnionMinister AnbumaniRamadoss, son of PMK chiefS Ramadoss, is its chief min-isterial candidate. The partywas a part of the DMKalliance in 2011 and was withthe BJP in 2014. It has a 4.4per cent vote share.

The Congress, whichhas lost its prominencesince 1967, is yet to berevived. It has been ridingpiggyback on the Dravidianparties. It has no local leaderto match Jayalalithaa orKarunanidhi. It won noseats from Tamil Nadu in

2014 and has only five seats in theState Assembly. Its vote share hascome down from 9.3 per cent in2011 to 4.3 per cent in 2014.

The BJP has one Lok Sabha seatfrom Tamil Nadu and its vote sharehas gone up from 2.2 per cent in 2011to 5.5 per cent in 2014. It too has noimportant State leader. But the BJPmight gain strength with the supportof the Kongu Nadu Makkal Katchi.

The Marumalarchi DravidaMunnetra Kazhagam has a 3.5 percent vote share but no seat in eitherthe Assembly or the Parliament. Partychief V Gopalsamy will perhapsdisappear if he loses again.

�� ��9� ��� �������

��% ( ��7�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5�

+������,���������������� ������������� ���1� ��������� ��������������������!�� ������ ����������������$���#���

�����-�� ���.�� �-�� ���� ��������� ��� �������������� ������������ &��������������� &�����%��������/���������� ������������������������� ����(����"+������ � '�������&���������������������

� 1�������

*'�,��$��, � � )��� %

��2( �$���%��, 2 ��82�$, �$��&�, ����"� $$

2���9��, ������������� ��$ ��$

'���1 �(����%� ��'���(��# �$������

�, ���'��4�')��#�����

�2�#(��$���#����$$ $$ %�2, �, ���$� $�)���%4� �2��������� ���, �$$' �$�����'���&

,�$�,��%$

:�1�����*����2*���2� ������!��6

;�'���� ��������� ��&��� �� �( ���" #����&��'������������ �������&���"���� � �!)�%��������������!�(��!��"�������#!� ��������� � 23 ���� �� �

(��������0&��� '���,��� ���������������

One of the key pillars ofdevelopmental plan-ning should be an

insight from the history ofideas. The power of ideas toshape reality and the power ofreality to generate ideas needsto be appreciated. A clarifica-tion may help.

We live in an era whereinvestments are a key domainof effort. Everyone is trying todraw or generate investment.In the real world, what is actu-ally short is land and water.The philosopher will drawattention to virtual organisa-tions. However ‘virtuosity’goes only so far (the pun isentirely unintended!).

Human race and life alsoneeds material assets and aidsin abundant measure and,therefore, one needs land formanufacturing and services.Water is a universal pre-requite anywhere!

The investors pay a lot ofattention and perhaps rightlyso to how the price of petrolis going up or down and howit will affect the financialinstitutions. This approachcannot be grudged.

However, beyond invest-ments is the institutionalframework of financial oper-ations. Indeed, the commer-cial/intermediary financialinstitutions such as the bankshave their own role.

Perhaps even more defi-nitely came the global organ-isations which seek to main-tain global monetary stabili-ty or improved living stan-dards. For obvious reasons, wecannot overlook the need tobuild welfare institutions totake care of human needs.

The World Bank wasfounded in 1944 with its head-quarters in Washington, DC,

with a membership of 188countries and commitments of$60 billion as of June 2016.

The InternationalMonetary Fund was alsofounded in 1944 inWashington and it also has188 countries as members.The Asian Development Bankwas founded in 1966 inManila with a membership of67 countries. Being closer tothe World DevelopmentBank, the ADB focused onschools, health clinics, energyentities and the like. In 2014,it had a financing of $23 bil-lion. In this stream of agencies,the US influence was clear.

However, as would beexpected, sooner than lateralternate streams of thoughtswere bound to emerge. One ofthem which got into promi-nence was Islamic banking.From Malaysia west-wards inmany Muslim-dominatedcountries, this acquired promi-nence. Interestingly more non-Muslims in Malaysia are todaybuying Islamic financial prod-ucts and services then Muslims.

In many parts of SouthEast Asia Islamic banking andfinance have fast become aviable alternative to tradition-al banking. This is also true inWest Asia. Preliminary figuresshow that Islamic financeassets in 2014 could have sur-passed two trillion dollars.The story does not end here.

Many would have heardof the developments of 2013where in Bali (Indonesia) thephilosophy of the Chineselead Asian InfrastructureInvestment Bank was firstspelt out by Chinese PresidentXi Jinping. Today with amembership of 57 nationsand a committed capital of$100 billion, Britain,

Germany, Australia and SouthKorea have signed up for thisbank. Whether this was arebuff to the US or not is amoot point.

Quite understandablypeople leading their nationsfelt that their national interestsshould be fine-tuned also tothe emerging global order. Itmay be worth mentioningthat in November 2015 itself,the Renminbi had joined theDollar, the Euro, the Poundand the Yen as a global reservecurrency. Of course, theDollar remained at the centrebut the periphery was alsoacquiring status. This hasdone a huge deal of good toChina’s extending sphere ofeconomic and political influ-ence, while the rules of thegame change.

Zheng Xin Li, a dominantfigure in the AsianInfrastructure Investmentbank, is credited with anAsian view to many concernsof development. Illustratively,he saw parallels between thedevelopments and spatialspread of remote villagesalong the Mekong river inLaos. He felt that economi-cally this region was comple-mentary to China.

This fitted in well Xi’snationalist strategy. It is herethat people like Jin acquiredsignificance. A former chair-man of China SovereignWealth Fund (with a passionfor Shakespeare) Jin symbol-ised a gross truth of institu-tions, irrespective of ideolog-ical divide and political color,institutions grow around peo-ple. That is another story.

Meanwhile, the typologyof developmental banks acrossthe world is no longer monot-onously of the same breed.

�� ���������-��1�����6:�(����!���&�� �������5+�������-�����&�� ��6�� ���(� ��������-� !��������� ��-� 9 �#

, ���%,��������%� $��������!�% �&����% :'�� $�& �(���%����!��(��&�%�������� �� %4�, �%���

��'�%�� ��,��, �2���"�,��%$4530;�<�� �% �

/��=��

, �� 2���%,��������������!��(��$�$����" ��,����, ����"�����;���<�����4�, �� 2������,�$! �(���)'$�����!��(����� �����45���# ����%,����,� & � 0� � ��/� �

�"�!���� ���"�!��

��� 3��2�� 0� �

�� �K!���� �����6��&"���&� �#���� �'+������ �����!�����!&�������!&���!!��"�����6�1�� ���� �����#�����+��!���!��# ,������&!���������%�������#'���3& ! � ��

������,���������:&��+�(� ���( ��������������������!!�����������#'�����&#������������� �#���������&�!�A�'�� ���! �#��"�������!)�%������"����������&����������'

� #��!���� �'������ !��� �#�� !A�&!!��� ����� ��!�� !&�����!����&�!��'� � ���! �#)� �� ���!� ����� ��' �#� ��� ��,������� � �������!��!&!�������A�&�!��'� � ���! �#� "��� ���A��� �#�����!!������������#'���� �&����'� "��� #����� ����A����# �!�����������:����(��12��,��� ��� ��� 2� ����2���#������������"���)�

��,���������&��� �!���,������!����#�'�����! �#�!&����� ��������� ���� �&�� �� �!

���"�)�2���&�!��'�� ���! �#� !�����#������"����� !! �����&!�������������������#'�( ���&���������!�����"�������������������&�+��"���&�!�+�( �����������!�� �������� ��� ���� � ����� �&�&���'� ��� �'� ���� $�,�������)�����!� �#�'+�����&�!��'�� ���! �#� !�4����� �������A������'��� �������'���������,���� �#���&���')��� !����,�A����� ��!�,�������,�������(�����9&� !� �� ��!� ���&� �#�����5�����������)��!����������# ,�!��������'�� #��!��� �!��(���+�����&�!��'�� ���! �#� !���������������������������#������!������������(�������!�4����&!�� �!��3& �����������'���! � ��)�

% �������+������5���!� !!&����������#�!���&������"����&�!��'�� ���!�!� ������(����)��������� !��+��� ���!�!&���!!"&��'� !!&���������&�!��'�� ���!�����'����� ������������0//�'���!��"� �!��*��� �����( �����������(�! ����0D00)�%���$�,��������#�������������&�A!��'�� ���!��"�����*�,����5���"�� ���!'�����+������������������������'�-�'��+��������������������6����D+�./0.)���*�,��� !�����&� ������ � ���"���1 ���'����� ,���������)��"������&��!��"�� � #�� ��!+���������&�!��'� ���!��(�!�" ����'����������'�����5&������2�&��������������0.+�./0H)�%( �����"���+� ������0D7/!+��� �������1������� � � �� ,���"�#���� �#�����&�!��'�� ���!��"�������!��(�����'�"��� #�������� �!��&������"� ���)�

%���3&�!� �������� !P���'������,���������&��� �!+����� � ������'�&!����������&�!��'� � ���! �#�����+�#������'��� (���� �� �� #����!� 9&!�� ���� ����&�!��'� �����J�%������!��� !������ "" �&������&����!����)������"��������"���������!������� � ��!� �������5���!��I//� ��!����������� ���� �+� ����!���"������"� ������(��������������������������������!&���+� ������,��������&���'+�����$�,����������������� ���'�! ���( ������� A,����������')���(�,��+� "��������"� ��� !����(�������� A,����������'����������!&���� ������������&���'+����$�,��������&!&���'�!&�����!��������������)�%�������,���!�������! �&�� ��!�(����������������'�������!�(���������'�� ,��������� �!+������!�����!&������� �,��� ��!(��������(��1 �#)�%����5�"����������������� �#+��"���( �������&�!��'�� ���!�!+������!&��������������(�1��(�A��#������" �����!�� ��')��

�,���������!��"�(�'���!+���,���������&��� �!���,��� ���������, ������,���� �#���&��� �!������#���� �#����&�!��'�� ���! �#� !��#� �!����� ������ �����!�������������%�������#�� !�� ���������!���&����� � �������!A!&��� ��� ��!��� �� ����� "���� !!& �#� ����&�!��'� ���!�!)�-&��!&����""���!���,��4��!&�������+��!���,��A�� �#���&��� �!���,��#����������( ���#���� �#����A�&�!��'�� ���!�!)������+���,���������&��� �!�������(&! �#�������#�'��"����&������"��� #�� �,�!������R�����'��#&���������,���� �#���&��� �!�( ���F(��14����������(!(��4���������������&����������:�)

������ �#������ �����������(+�������9���#��&��"��� !!& �#�������&�!��'�� ���!�� !����������������� �3&�!� ��� !�����(��1 �#� ��������&���')�%� !�����!� "������������������!����������������������&���!���A�� �#� ���� ��&! �#��������������������#'������!����� ���!���������������#'������'�������������'� ���� ��������&�����������,��������&��+������ ��( �����,������ !1��"� �!������������������#'��� �#�#�������� ��������!����������������')��� !������������!&�����������( �������&��#��������������������������������� �,�!���������&��� ���� ������,� ����! �&�� ���(���� �������A���������'���&���#�������� �������"� �!��������������A����#'�( ���&�� �!����!���)�������������#&�������������&�!��'� � ���! �#�� !��&��#�!�"��� #�� �,�!���!��" �!���# �)�

�"� ��&�!�+� "��� #�� ������ �!� (���� !����#���������# ��!)�%����!!��� ������� � ���"���#��� �#��������� !������� !���!&����"�������(���������#')��������'���������� ��������#'� !��&�� ��1��(���#�)�%����������#'� !�� !���!��( ��������!!&����������������'��!��( ��������������&!�� �)������+� "�����������#'� !������'��&�� ��1��(���#�+��������(�( �����"��� #�����A���'��������� ����������'�������� �#������ �J�"����1��(���#�� ��3&�!� ��� !���������!�����+�������������������� ����� #� �#� ��� �� "��� #�� ��&���'� ( ��� (��1��"����������"�������!�����!����� �,��,��!����� !1)��(�,��+� ����!���"����������1��(���#�+�����#� �#�����"��� #����&���'�(� �����'���,����(��1���������# ��� �&�� �����( !�� �""��!� �&#�� ������&� � �!+���&��!�����!�� ��A� 1������, �&�)��

:� ��2� ���� �1���&��( ���������# �� �#��"�0DT/!�,������&#�� �!����������# ���(�!������"�����(��1A�!�� ������(����)�6��'������������!��������#&�������"��� #�������� �!� "���� �������, �#��� ���������!����������� ��������,���������� ��� �"� �#�������"� ��� ������������������# �!����#��� �#������ �!� ����!���"���&��� �"� �#�����)�

��,���������&��� �!���,���������' �#������1������# ��!� ����,���� �#���&��� �!�!����#���������,������!&���!!"&�� ���� !���#���+���, �#�! #����!�,�����������#�������!�( ���� #�������!�������!)����������" �!���!���#�������!���,�����&#������������,���� �#���&�A�� �!� !�3&�!� ��������&�����'���,�����������!!������������ � ��!�������������# �!������� "" �&��)��� ��( ��"�����,�����������!!&��� ��������� �#���'!+�����#A( ���!�&� �&!� ���!�����!��� �&!���#&����!)����&!������ �!��(�)�

������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����!���"��������#��������$��%����&

���3 �� �8

��������>�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5�

���� ��0� �� �� 6�6-�

In a major setback to theMaharashtra police, the

Bombay High Court onThursday quashed capitalpunishment awarded to loneconvict Mirza Himayat Baigby the trial court in the 2010Pune German Bakery blast forlack of evidence, even whileconfirming the life sentenceimposed on him for posses-sion of explosives.

Reading out the operativepart of the judgment in theGerman Bakery blasts case inthe open court, a HC divisionbench of Justices N H Patiland S B Shukre ruled that ithad acquitted Baig of allcharges under the UnlawfulActivities Prevention Act(UAPA), under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302(murder) and 307 (attempt tomurder) of the IPC, and undersome Sections of the ExplosiveSubstances Act.

The HC bench, however,confirmed Baig’s convictionand life imprisonment award-ed to him by the trial courtunder Section 5(B) of theExplosive Substances Act, forpossession of RDX.

The court also confirmedBaig’s conviction under sec-tion 474 of IPC, for submittingforged documents whileprocuring mobile phone SIMcards.

The HC bench noted thatthe prison term alreadyundergone by Baig in prisonfrom his arrest till date wouldbe considered as part of thesentence.

Thirty-five-year-old Baig,dressed in a black shirt andblue jeans, was present in thecourt when the HC benchpronounced the verdict in thecase.

Buttonholed for a com-ment by media persons whilehe was being escorted fromthe court to the police van,Baig pleaded innocence andsaid: “I was framed in thecase...I have told the truth tothe court”.

Talking to media personsoutside the court, Baig’slawyer Mehmood Parachasaid: “ My client (Baig) hasbeen acquitted of the charge of

his involvement in theGerman Bakery blast. He has,however, been convicted forpossession of explosives andforging documents...We willgo through the entire orderand decide the next course ofaction”.

The HC bench also notedthat it need not pass anyorder on the applications filedby two witnesses in the case,as it had acquitted Baig of thecharges.

It may be recalled thatwhen filed moved the HighCourt challenging the deathpenalty, two witnesses in thecase had also filed an appli-cation seeking their evidenceto be recorded again as theirstatement was taken underduress.

The high court had onDecember 22, 2015 reservedits verdict on petitions, seek-ing and opposing the confir-mation of death sentence ofIndian Mujahideen operativeMirza Himayat Baig, the loneconvict in the 2010 PuneGerman Bakery blast.

On April 18, 2013, a Punecourt had sentenced Baig todeath on four major counts,including murder and con-spiracy, in the February 13,2010 German Bakery blasts, inwhich 17 persons were killedand 60 others injured.

Baig had been sentencedto death under Sections 302(murder), 120 (b) (criminalconspiracy), of IPC, besidessection 16 (a) of UnlawfulActivities Prevention Act(UAPA) and Section 3 ofExplosive Substances Act – allof which attracted deathpenalty.

Making a strong case forthe confirmation of deathsentence awarded to Baig by atrial court, Special prosecutorRaja Thakre had arguedbefore the high court thatthere was enough circum-stantial evidence to form com-plete chain of events leadingto the blast. He said the testi-mony of witnesses was cor-roborated by the documentaryevidence which was not dis-puted by the convict.

The defence lawyer didn’tdispute the chemical analyser’sreport confirming that tracesof the explosive substanceRDX found at Baig’s houseand that found at the Bakerychemically matched.

Thakre told the court thata Delhi forensic laboratorywhere CBI had sent samplesand the one in Pune where theATS had earlier sent the sam-ples come to the same con-clusion.

On his part, Baig’s lawyerMahmood Pracha had saidthat as already argued by thelawyer who defended Baig inthe trial court, the ATS had“thrust” upon on Baig by theATS which had concoctedthe whole case.

Pracha had demanded aretrial, or a recall of two wit-nesses who had alleged thatthey were forced to deposeagainst Baig. “Baig was not inPune on the day of the blastbut in Aurangabad... `RDX’showed as recovered at Baig’sbehest was not proved to be anexplosive substance. The dis-crepancies were in documentsincluding the station diarythat recorded the finding ofRDX,” Pracha had said.

�����7 ���H�� �=����-���

With India emerging oneof the most promising

market for the civil aviationindustry, the two top air craftmanufacturers of the worldappeared gung-ho on theirplans for the country.

While Boeing, the biggestsupplier of aircraft in the coun-try said that India will needanother 1740 new aircraft overthe next two decades, theEuropean manufacturer AirBus said that the country willneed 1,600 new passenger andfreight aircraft over the sameperiod of time. Air Bus has infact upgraded its forecast keep-ing in view the impressivegrowth of civil aviation sector inthe country.

The officials of the twoglobal players came out with thispromising projection at the IndiaAviation 2016, the internation-al exhibition and conference ofcivil aviation currently on in

Hyderabad.Dinesh Keskar, senior vice

president (Sales), Asia Pacific andIndia, Boeing CommercialPlanes told a press conference onthe sidelines of the event at theBegumpet airport on Thursdaythat the value of the 1,740 newaircrafts required by India will beat $240 billion. 1,460 of these willbe single isle while remaining15% will be wide bodied. Theseprojections conform to theaggressive plans drawn in Indiaby the Government to provideair connectivity to the Tier II andTier III cities beyond the big met-ropolitan cities.

Pointing out that the fuel aspercentage of operating cost ofairlines in India came down to23 percent in February 2016from 49% in January 2013,Keskar said that it was still high-er compared to the fuel cost ofthe US Airlines. “Indian carrierswere still paying over 50% morefuel than the US carriers”, he said.

Keeping in view the needs ofcustomers such as India, Boeingwas developing new fuel-efficientairplanes, Keskar said.

He said that the fuel pricesand the exchange rate continueto driver the airline and operat-ing cost and profitability of air-

lines of airlines. The domesticpassenger traffic in India was atthe level over the last five yearsand the airlines in India werereturning to profitability as lowerfuel prices and increased loadfactors were driving the recovery.

However, the exchange ratewas an area of worry as the rupeewas declining steadily since mid2014.

Giving the comparative fig-ures Keskar said that the num-ber of domestic air passengershot up to 80 million in 2015 to66.4 million in 2014.

Boeing’s plans for India werealso in tune with the policy ofIndian government to promoteIndia as a hub of MRO or main-tenance, recovery and overhauloperations. “We have met ourcommitment and the MRO facil-ity built in Nagpur has beenhanded over to India”, he said.The state of the art facility has thecapacity to serve two wide bodyBoeing 777 and six narrow body737 Aircrafts.

Union Civil AviationMinister Ashol Gajapthi Rajuhad said yesterday at the inau-gural ceremony that the gov-ernment was aiming to bringback $700 million worth MRObusiness to India.

��0����8� ����5���$��

The authorities on Thursdayclosed down Srinagar-

Jammu National Highway forvehicular traffic followingincessant rainfall in the region.The entire Kashmir Valley isreeling under a renewed win-ter-like situation after heavyrainfall in plains and snowfallin the upper reaches triggereda cold wave.

The Meteorologicaldepartment has predictedmoderate to heavy rainfall inthe region for the next twodays. The rainfall restartedafter a daylong lull onWednesday when a bright sun-shine warmed up the sur-roundings. The weather took aturn on Monday afternoon

after a prolonged dry spell dur-ing the actual winter monthsbetween mid-December andFebruary-end.

A moderate snowfall wasobserved in famed hill stationsof Gulmarg and Sonamargwhile some vital roads in northKashmir got blocked due tolandslides and shooting stones.

The authorities said thatvital 300-kilometer Srinagar-Jammu National Highway wasclosed for vehicular move-ment following massive land-slides in some areas betweenJawahar Tunnel and Ramsoo.

They said the incessantrainfall triggered landslidesand hampered clearance work

compelling the traffic man-agers to halt the vehicularmovement. Two persons diedand three others went missingwhen a vehicle on way toJammu from south Kashmir’sShopian district when theirvehicle skidded off the roadand plunged into Bishlari nul-lah.

The vehicles from Srinagarto Jammu were allowed to plydespite the advisory until allvehicles were cleared off thelandslide-prone areas. The vehi-cles had left Srinagar in themorning. The authorities ensurethat least number of passengervehicles is stranded on thehighway. No vehicle was allowedto proceed towards Srinagar.

Sources said that morethan 600 trucks were strandedon the highway.

The officials have alsoclosed Batote-Doda-Kishtwarhighway, which was reopenedearlier this week following aprolonged blockade due tolandslides. The treacherousroad is one of the most dan-gerous routes in the region,prone to worst road accidents.

The fresh snowfall inSonamarg Zoji La region islikely to postpone re-openingof Srinagar-Leh NationalHighway. The highway nor-

mally opens in mid-April butthis year the authorities wereconfident to re-open it by theend of March due to less accu-mulation of snow in the area.

The continuous rainfallforced the local residents toresume the use of woolens andelectric gadgets.

The Met department haspredicted continued rainfall forthe two days due to westerndisturbances. For several years,March has recorded maxi-mum rainfall among allmonths of the year.

However, the drop in tem-perature is not a good sign forthe almond and mustard crops.The bloom in mustard fieldsand almond alcoves hadoccurred a few days ahead ofthe normal schedule, primar-ily due to warmer winter in theregion. The authorities eventhrew open famed TulipGarden on Monday after sometulip varieties bloomed.

�� � �=����-���

Kuwaiti company AviationLease and Finance

Company or ALAFCO and AirIndia have entered into an agree-ment; the airline will take 14Airbus A320neo aircraft startingfrom next year.

The new fleet of aircraftswas expected to help improvethe profitability of Air Indiaoperations and it more fuel effi-cient variant of A320 family ofAirbus aircraft. This aircraftburns 15% less fuel and alsoreduces noise and emissions.

The agreement was signedduring the India Aviation’16 inHyderabad by Ashwani Lohani,Chairman and managing direc-tor of Air India and Ahmad AlZabin, the vice president andChief Executive Officer ofALAFCO. Senior executives ofAirbus Industry were also pre-sent on the occasion.

Terming the partnershipwith ALAFCO as “very impor-tant for Air India”, Mr Lohanisaid, “The A320 Aircraft will addstrength to our existing fleet”.This will increase the capacity ofAir India in domestic market.

./0/������$��6���-� ��=�-��5%�2�5�

������ ���)���,� ���������������������

)������$��' �� ��*���%����%���%�����������

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

����� ��0� �� �� 6�6-�

Debt-trapped businessmanVijay Mallya on Thursday

sought time till April for per-sonal appearance before theEnforcement Directorate (ED)in the IDBI bank loan defaultcase, even as the KingfisherHouse, the erstwhile head-quarters of his defunct airline,failed to throw up even a sin-gle bid at an auction conduct-ed by SBI Caps for a consor-tium of banks led by State Bankof India (SBI).

On a day when no bidswere made at the auction of17,000 sq ft Kingfisher Houseat Vile Parle near the domesticairport her conducted by theSBI Caps, official sources saidthat Mallya had written to the

ED about his inability beforethe agency on Friday for ques-tioning in the alleged moneylaundering case involving thedefault in payment of �900crore dues to IDBI bank fromthe now-defunct Kingfisherairlines.

The sources said that thebeleaguered businessman, whois believed to be in the UnitedKingdom, had sought time tillApril to appear before the ED.

On March 11, the ED hadissued summons to Mallya toappear before it on March 18for questioning under the pro-visions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act in theIDBI case.

The sources said that theED officials were examiningthe reasons cited by Mallaya forhis inability to appear beforethe agency for questioning inthe IDBI bank loan defaultcase. They said that the EDwould soon take a final deci-sion on whether to give Mallyatime till April to join the inves-

tigations in the case.Based on a case registered

by the CBI last year, the ED hadrecently registered a moneylaundering case against Mallyaand others. The agency is alsoinvestigating the overall finan-cial structure of the nowdefunct Kingfisher Airlinesand will look into any paymentof kickbacks to secure loan.

The ED is looking fordetails of overseas and domes-tic assets of Mallya and hiscompany officials, in coordi-nation with central security

agencies and the CBIOn its part, the CBI had

booked Mallya, the Chairman

of Kingfisher Airlines, itsDirectors, former ChiefFinancial Officer of the airlines

A Raghunathan and unknownofficials of IDBI Bank in its FIRalleging that the loan was sanc-

tioned in violation of normsregarding credit limits.

The ED, which hasalready questionedRaghunathan, former UnitedBreweries Chief FinancialOfficer Ravi Nedungadi alongwith a few other accused inconnection with the moneylaundering case registered byit against Mallya, is lookinginto the “proceeds of crime”that would have been gener-ated using the slush funds ofthe alleged loan fraud. Theagency is also investigating ifsome of this amount was sentabroad illegally.

The ED has also written tothe 17-bank consortium, led bySBI, which lent money to thegrounded airlines, and laterwent to the Debt RecoveryTribunal (DRT) for recovery ofthese dues. It has also sent offi-cial requests seeking details ofthe investigations being con-ducted by the Income Tax andService Tax departments andthe Serious Frauds

Investigation Office (SFIO)against the airline in the past.

Meanwhile, the auction ofMallya’s Kingfisher House,organised by the SBI Caps,proved to be a non-starter,with no bidders coming for-ward to purchase the propertyowing to litigation fears and ahigh reserve price of �150crore fixed by the auctioneers.

The auction of KingfisherHouse, which has a built—uparea of over 17,000 sq ft at VileParle near the domestic airportin north-west Mumbai, beganat 11.30 am and ended ataround 12.30 pm, with no bid-der coming in with an offer topurchase the property.

“There were no bidders. Ithink the higher reserve pricewas the reason for it,” a SBICaps official said.

The auction was conduct-ed under the Securitisationand Reconstruction ofFinancial Assets andEnforcement of SecurityInterest Act (Sarfaesi), 2002.

%�� �����������&��������'���������������������������

���� ����!"��� �#" !����������'

#��!����������������$�%��������!� ��� ����&� �����&&�����������'�

�� �����()����*+� ����"��

)������������������������� ��=� ������#� ���� �� ����������5 ������� ���� � � !�

)�������������B��������+����������� �������������6 ������#����!&)��� �������������������#��������� ���� ��������/ �� ��� $������# ���� ���� � � !

F2�&���'�( �������0+8H/���(� ����"�� ��./�'�!4

For the A320neo aircraft ofthe Airbus it is the debut

appearance at the HyderabadAirshow. The Aircraft fittedwith a more fuel efficient andenvironment friendlyPW1100G engine of Pratt andWhitney, was earlier scheduledto appear the Paris Airshow butcould not make it there. It alsocould not keep the date with theDubai and Singapore Airshowsand made the first appearanceat the static display in

Hyderabad.This is one of the many

wide and narrow bodied air-crafts which have made theirdebut appearance at theHyderabad show India Aviation2016.

While Emirates hasbrought A 380, A350-900, atwin isle aircraft was broughtfor the first time to India bythe Qatar Airways, the firstcustomer of this variant ofaircraft.

8�40�� ������7� ��40� ���38�� 4 8

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� ��������?

���1 3 � 1�� �2�

Open protests coming upfrom the grassroots in sev-

eral Assembly constituenciesagainst the selection of candi-dates by the party's highercommittees have shockedKerala's CPI(M) leadershipeven as it is struggling to meetthe deadline set for concludingthe process of seat-sharingamong the constituents of theLDF it leads for the May 16Assembly polls.

Though the protests,appearing in the form ofdemonstrations and postercampaigns objecting to theselection of candidates by theparty committees or demand-ing fielding of particular lead-ers as candidates, have takenplace in several constituen-cies, the leadership seems to be

confused over how to handlethe situation.

While moderate leaders inthe CPI(M) prefer to explainthese protests away as "normaland harmless reaction", a sec-tion in the leadership is tryingto put the blame on the party's"enemies" for the develop-ment. "There is no doubt thatthese (protests) are beingsponsored by the party's ene-mies," said CPI(M) centralcommittee member EPJayarajan.

"Our party is not used tosuch protests which may becommon in 'bourgeois parties'like the Congress. We have seengroup rivalry in such partiesspilling into the streets. I thinkthat tendency is slowly creep-ing up into the CPI(M) also,"said a former State committeemember of the party.

Protests had raged duringthe Assembly elections of 2006and 2011 against the leader-ship's decision not to give tick-et to senior leader VSAchuthanandan. "But that wasan exceptional situation. Onecan understand the sentimentsin the case of VS. It has nocomparison with what is hap-pening now. How far can youallow sentiment decentralisa-tion?" asked the leader.

Grassroots protests againstselection of candidates by dis-trict and State leaderships cameup first from theWadakanchery constituency inThrissur district in centralKerala in the form of postersthat appeared on Wednesdaymorning. The State leadershiphad the other day decided tofield 69-year-old film actressKPAC Lalitha as LDF's

Independent candidate inWadakanchery.

"The service of star glam-our parachuted from elsewhereare unwanted here. We need aperson who knowsWadakanchery's heart," readthe posters. Though Lalitha ispresently settled inWadakanchery, the native placeof her late husband Bharathan,a film director, she belongs tosouthern Kerala originally.

Poster campaigns againstdropping of the names of local-ly popular leaders from the listof candidates and selection of"unpopular" persons as candi-dates were seen in Kottarakkaraand Kundara in Kollam district,Thripunithura in Ernakulam,Kayamkulam in Alappuzha,etc. In some cases, the leader-ship has already succumbed tograssroots pressures.

���0��� 0���� -��$�����

After many controversiessurrounding Karnataka

Chief Minister Siddaramaiahwhich include infamous Hublotwatch controversy which hastaken a beating of the image ofthe ruling Congress party andpersonally of the ChiefMinister, theCongress partyhas decided torecruit profes-sional agenciesto help rebuildthe image.

A senioraide ofSiddaramaiah on the conditionof anonymity told The Pioneerthat they were in discussionwith two professional agencies tohelp rebuild the image of theChief Minister which has suf-fered very badly in recent times.According to him the party highcommand was in agreement tobuild the image of the partykeeping in view of the ensuinggeneral elections to the Assemblyin two years' time.

He said “we are of the opin-ion that the image of the partyand the Chief Minister havetaken beating and we are look-ing at two professional agenciesto work out plans to disseminatethe good work done by theGovernment to the general pub-lic.” “The high command is alsoaware and in agreement withthis”, he added.

Chief MinisterSiddaramaiah who was involvedin a major controversy over his�70 lakh Hublot wrist watch gift-ed by a doctor friend fromDubai and after it created aruckus in the both the houses ofthe legislature and later who hasgifted it to the State Governmenthas really dented his image with-

in the party and outside. Thefailure of impressive mandate forthe Congress in the local bodyelections and three by pollswhich are considered as pream-ble to ensuing Assembly pollshas made the party to seek thehelp of professional agencies tocounter the Opposition influencein the State.

The party wants to hirethese agencies to help rebuild theimage of Siddaramaiah, look atways to disseminateGovernment's programmes andalso to assess the performance of

the rulingM L A s .Siddaramaiahwho has playedb a c k w a r dc l a s s e sappeasementpolitics to thehilt has com-

pleted 1000 days in office and hastwo more years to go for gener-al elections for the Assembly. ForCongress, as expressed severaltimes by its vice president RahulGandhi, Karnataka is very cru-cial and important to keep itsvote share intact across thecountry. Siddaramaiah is alsofacing a major revolt within theparty as an outsider who did notheed to the aspirations of thedominant communities.

According to party sourcesone of the agencies they are intalk is the agency which helpedNarendra Modi to build hisbrand when he was the chiefminister of Gujarat. As both theagencies are from Mumbai theparty is keen to hire one of themimmediately to tackle the grow-ing unpopularity chart of thechief minister. According to aparty senior leader they were intalks with Brand Monachis andAPCO Worldwide for this job.APCO had managed the brand-ing for Narendra Modi when hewas chief minister of Gujarat,and Brand Monachis hadworked for the Shiv Sena duringthe recent Assembly elections inMaharashtra.

�0��� �� � � $�����%

Assam Chief MinisterTarun Gogoi has termed

the raid at the residence ofAssam's agriculture MinisterRockybul Hussain last night aspolitically motivated and saidthat the raid was carried outahead of the elections todefame Hussain and theCongress party.

The Chief Minister saidthis while addressing thenewsmen on Thursday andadded that the move has alsoexposed the CentralGovernment's attitude towardsthe Opposition parties.

"It is politically motivated.It exposes the Centre's attitudetowards the Opposition. Theraid was conducted before the

polls with the intention todefame the Congress partyand Hussain, who is a seniorCabinet Minister and animportant leader," said Gogoi.

A group of officials fromthe Election Commission ofIndia, who identified them-selves to be election expendi-ture observers, raided the res-

idence of Hussain at Panjabarilast evening. The team was ledby one Raguvendra Singh, aGujarat cadre IAS officer.

It may be mentioned herethat Hussain has already lodgedan FIR with the Dispur policestation here seeking a probeinto the raid and alleging thatthe raid was carried out todefame him in public ahead ofthe Assembly elections.

Gogoi also attacked theBJP's Chief Ministerial candi-date, Sarbananda Sonowal anddared him to make public as tohow much money Sonowalhad given for the developmentof Majuli from his MP localarea development fund.

"He (Sonowal) said that hehas got the blessings ofVaishnavite Satras in Majuli

and the Satradhikars.However, neither he nor theBJP, when it was in power atthe Centre in the past, hasgiven a single rupee to theSatras. There have been floodsand erosions in Majuli, whichare the major problems. Whatthe BJP-led Government at theCentre has done for savingMajuli from flood and erosionsince the BJP Governmentassumed power at the Centre?"Gogoi asked.

"My Government hasbeen trying to get the covet-ed World heritage status forthe Majuli. But the Centre hadnot done anything so far.They (Centre) do not evengiven money to mitigate thedamage caused by the floodsin Assam," he said.

:� ������������������ ��� ������(�B�� � �&��

���� 5���$��

Abank security guardwas killed when rifle

of his colleague went off inold Srinagar on Thursdayafternoon.

Police said the twoguards were manning aJammu and Kashmir BankATM near Islamia Collegein Old City’s Hawal area.The 12-bore-gun of one ofthe guard went off and hit

the other guard standingnearby.

Police is probingwhether the bullet was hitaccidentally or a deliberatemotive resulted into thecasualty.

Police said the bankguard identified asMohammad Altaf Lalasustained serious bulletinjuries and was shifted toSher-e-Kashmir Instituteof Medical Sciences fortreatment where he suc-cumbed to his injuries.

The security guardwho was holding the rifleidentified as Javaid AhmadDar has been held forquestioning.

�����������#� ���' ��� ���������������($������� �������� ��, ����, � ��������� � $�� ���� ��� ���� � � !

����'� �����1!�( ������"�!! �����#��� �!

B3� ( �&����� ����� ���� (������������� � � � �

�����7 ���H���=����-���

Suspension of WarisPathan from

Maharashtra StateAssembly over hisrefusal to raise the slo-gan of “Bharat Mata kiJai” has evoked a strong criticism from the pres-ident of his party Majlis-e-Ittehadul MuslimeenAsaduddin Owaisi.

Owaisi, who had earlier rejected thedemand of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat thatevery Indian should raise the slogan saying “hewill not do it even if a knife was put on mythroat”, criticised the action of MaharashtraAssembly saying it had set a bad precedent."Where is it mentioned in the constitution thatif a member does not raise the slogan he shouldbe suspended", Owaisi asked.

“This is the first time in the history of Indiathat a member was suspended from the Housefor not shouting a slogan. Are the Assembliesand Parliament for shouting slogans or theymeant for debates and discussions”, he wondered.

Owaisi said that his party's MLA was forcedto say something which the constitution allowshim not to say. Stressing that it was an issue offreedom of expression if a member does notwant to raise a slogan. “We have entered intoa dark phase”, he said.

Apart from the ruling BJP and Shiv Senahe also targeted the Congress and NCP and saidthat the parties who call themselves as secularhave also exposed themselves.

Meanwhile joining the raging controversyover “Bharat Mata”, a noted scholar said thatwhether Muslims can raise this slogan shouldbe discussed and decided by the scholars andnot the politicians.

1����������� �"� �� ����*���4��� �����

� (����������� ���(����� ������ ���3�����������

0� �����0�� �� �� �%�

In a clear testimony ofElection Commission’s

impression of Bengal’s lawand order situation the nation-al poll panel is dispatching fivegroups of special observers,each headed by a chief elec-toral officer of a State.

The decision comes closeon the heels of the full benchof the Commission touringBengal last week.

Responsible for supervis-ing the State administrativemachinery's handling of theelectoral process the elitegroups will soon go around theState, ECI sources said addingthe group of special observerswould work in addition to thepolice observers whose num-ber has been doubled fromwhat it was in 2011.

Earlier the Commissionwhile taking stock of the situ-ation had severely repri-manded four IPS and a coupleof IAS officers for their biasedhandling of affairs and hadasked them to “pull up yoursocks before the Commissionwas forced to take appropriatemeasures.”

Sending five groups ofspecial observers under a CEOeach was an “unprecedenteddecision even by UP and Biharstandards let alone Bengal,”said a retired AdditionalDirector General of Policeadding “the decision itselfshows that the ECI has no faithin the State administrativemachinery.”

The poll panel has alsodirected the administration toput the Central forces to fulluse so that they do not sit idlelike it happened in the 2014General elections. “ TheCommission has asked totake the CRPF to interiorareas and not confine theroute march to the main roadsonly” said an official addingall the route marches had tobe video graphed.

"A police officer willaccompany the Central forcesand after reaching a localitythey will announce in loud-speakers of their arrival andask the voters to come out andvote fearlessly" the ECI official

said adding each posse of thecentral force will have at least2-3 Bengali-speaking jawans.Mobile phone numbers willalso be provided by the march-ing contingent for the voters tomake contact in case of

urgency.The strong measures of

the ECI tended to show resultswith the police making somearrests over the past couple ofdays and recovering crudebombs from places like Malda

and Raghunathganj inMurshidabad district.On Thursday a drumfull with 24 live bombswere recovered froman orchard inRaghunathganj.

;��'�'&��������"$�,������"�����������'������%�0�� �3����%���� �����12*��� � ���2'���%������)�����

���� �� �%�

The BJP national leadership onThursday declared its candi-

dates' list for the BengalAssembly elections. Among the194 candidates whose nameswere announced in the Capitalare film actress Rupa Ganguly ofthe Draupadi fame --- in BTChopra's Mahabharata of the1990s --- and former Bengal BJPpresident Rahul Sinha.

While Sinha would contestfrom Jorasanko in North-westKolkata Ganguly will fight fromNorth Howrah seat where shewill be pitched against TrinamoolCongress candidate and formerIndia player Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

She is among the 26 womancandidates of the BJP in the fray.Another Bengali film actresswho is contesting in the electionis Locket Chatterjee. She is fight-ing from Mayureshwar inBirbhum district.

With the Friday's list the totalnumber of saffron candidates inthe fray moved up to 246. BengalAssembly has 294 seats. TheFriday's

announcement was madeafter a meeting of the party's cen-tral election committee. Themeeting was attended amongothers by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and party allIndia president Amit Shah.

The BJP's CEC secretary JPNadda said that the party hadgiven representation to all sectionof society adding young candi-dates had been preferred to theolder ones.

While senior party leaderAmitava Roy will contest fromBarrackpore, a known face in theState leadership Ritesh Tewariwill try his luck fromChowrunghee seat in north-central Kolkata. Suman Banerjeewill contest from EnglishBazar.

-;��� !���&�P��&���$��#&�'+���&��5 ���� ������"��' 0� �����0�� ��

�� �%�

On the defensive after theNarada expose the

Trinamool Congress ruledout any probe into the videographed scam even as BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee continued to attackthe Opposition for hatchingconspiracy to malign herparty before the electionsthrough such “concoctedtapes.”

Banerjee who wasaddressing an election rallyin Alipurduar district thun-dered “having failed to defeatus politically and electoral-ly the opposition parties likethe CPI(M), Congress and

the BJP have teamed up tomalign our image by releas-ing such concocted tapesbut they should rememberthat more they take resort tosuch types of character assas-sination programmes morethe people will vote againstthem."

The Trinamool will walk

in a protest march againstthe expose in Kolkata onFriday.

Videographed scenesreleased by a news portalshowed Trinamool MPs andState Ministers taking bribefrom a fictitious company inlieu of promising futurefavours. Among those who

were shown in the tapeaccepting bribe were seniorMPs and former UnionMinisters Saugato Roy,Sultan Ahmed, KakoliGhoshdastidar, KolkataMayor Sobhan Chatterjeeand his deputy Iqbal Ahmed,Ministers SubrotoMukherjee and Firhad aliasBobby Hakim.

On whether the StateGovernment was planningto order a probe into theNarada expose in order toabsolve itself from theinfamy party general secre-tary and State MinisterPartho Chatterjee said "thereis no question of any probe.We are not going to orderany inquiry."

�����������������#������� � � ��4���

#�������<�*��������*������������*3�8�1��

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� #�� (�@�

�2�'�%�$�����2�����, ����"� $$����(������# ����)���%4������ �$��($ ���%��,�$��$�"���"����,��� �����,�$�$��" ��&�)� ������ � �����4�, �'#) �$��� �$�"��&������(��,��"��"��%������(���$ 9���#�� �$���)�(���&�% ����,����, ��'#) �$�����, ��� ����'$ ���2���$���� ����&�!�'��&���� � ���* ������� �3���=

A �2�'�%���1 ���� && ���! �(� !� 2��, � ���� �$ �'���&����*����$��$�&����$���$�$��'��'� ��$

���� �� %9��$�&����$��, ���� $$ $��� ����� �� %���%

2, �������# $����#��'&���'���"9�$�&����$��, � :'��# �����%�����$

�� ����� �� %%�����*������������� ���

������/<"#�"#����C#"49 EE

���� ��������

In a bid to compete RelianceJio’s 4G services and increase

network coverage throughoutthe country, telecom majorBharti Airtel on Thursdaystruck a deal of �4,428-crore tobuy Videocon Telecom’s 1,800megahertz band spectrum insix regions. The six licenceareas where Dhoot’s family-owned Videocon had spec-trum are Bihar, Haryana,Madhya Pradesh, eastern UttarPradesh, western UttarPradesh and Gujarat.

The deal comes at a timeahead of Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio is launch-ing commercial 4G servicesacross the country as it hasalready got pan-India 4G spec-trum and has already launchedservices on a pilot basis for itsemployees.

The mega deal also cameclose on the heels of Idea onWednesday night announc-ing calling off its Novemberpact to buy Videocon’s air-waves in Gujarat and UP(West) for �3,310 crore. It isexpected that the agreementwith Videocon will help Airtel

strengthen its footprint in 4Gspace ahead of the launch ofReliance Jio’s fourth-genera-tion wireless services later thisyear.

“Bharti Airtel has enteredinto a definitive agreementwith VideoconTelecommunications Ltd(VTL) to acquire, at an aggre-gate consideration of �4,428crore, rights to use 2x5 MHzspectrum in 1800 MHz bandfor six circles,” the companysaid in a BSE filing, adding

that the closing of the trans-action is subject to satisfactionof standard conditions.

Airtel is likely to payabout �642.06 crore as servicetax for the deal to theGovernment. Announcing theBudget, Finance MinisterArun Jaitley has clarified thatright to use spectrum and itssubsequent transfer is a ser-vice which will attract theService Tax. Airtel will bebuying spectrum for Bihar,Haryana, Madhya Pradesh,

UP (East), UP (West) andGujarat. Videocon had wonspectrum in these six circles inthe 2012 auctions for�2,221.44 crore. The spec-trum is valid up to December18, 2032. Post the deal, Airtel4G footprint will increase to19 circles from the current 15.

Airtel has alreadylaunched 4G services in over350 towns across the country.The market for 4G is heatingup with telecom operatorsincluding Vodafone and Idea

expanding their coverage forthe high-speed service.

The telecom major tookthe opportunity when Ideaand Videocon had mutuallyagreed to call off their �3,310-crore spectrum deal forGujarat and UP (West) tele-com circles. Idea in Novemberhad announced to buy air-waves held by Videocon inthese two circles for �3,310crore, which was billed as thefirst spectrum trading deal ofthe country.

Speaking on the deal,Gartner Research DirectorAmresh Nandan said the dealwould help Airtel increasetheir spectrum capacity andanother benefit is that withmore 1,800 Mhz spectrumcoming into their fold acrossthese circles, they will have abetter flexibility of spectrumplanning across all the threetechnologies. “There is spec-trum auction coming up butit is difficult for anybody topredict what would be thepricing at that point of time.By acquiring the spectrumfrom Videocon, Airtel has abetter control on businessplan,” he added.

�������������7����'� 9"�'��������<�<-=�'��%�������������9���!�� 1�!�������#��������"�0+T//���#�����E������!�����&���"�B �������%������ ��7�� ����!�(� ��� ���&�����������!�!&����!�- ���+����'���+�6�+���!�������+�(�!������������$&9����)

�0�4 �6� Tata Motors’ newlyappointed chief GuenterButschek on Thursday said thecompany will undertake atransformation exercise, whichwould include a relook at brandpositioning, revamping prod-ucts and increasing its globalfootprint, in order to be “futureready”.

“Tata Motors will undergoa major transformation processin order to get future ready...Wewould like to effectively reviewthe entire setup of Tata Motorsas far as its structure is con-cerned, as far as the processesare concerned and when itcomes to manufacturing, asfar as the equipment and toolsare concerned,” he toldreporters in his maiden mediainteraction.

Butschek, the ex-chiefoperating officer of Europeanaviation major Airbus, whotook over as the managingdirector and chief executive ofTata Motors last month, hintedthat the process will start withrelaunch of a refined brand

positioning in a fortnight.“Instead of having a scat-

tered brand identity where peo-ple have different interpreta-tions internally as well as in themarket, we would like to havea very strong brand statementwhich will serve as the back-bone for internal transforma-tion process, but also serve asa reference point for productlaunches and expanding deal-er network,” he said.

Butschek added that thereis room for improvement in thequality of the manufacturingand the company is also look-ing at reducing the number ofsuppliers.

“We will certainly reducethe number of suppliers...Iwould rather focus my energyand resources on developmentof my strategic supply partnersinstead of wasting awful lot ofefforts into ones who wouldalways remain sub-standard,” hesaid.

He said focussing on pro-ducing more models from asingle platform and quicker

turnarounds in launching newmodels to address the oppor-tunities will also be a focus area.

On the products side, hesaid the company has the rightmix, from the lowest end to thehigh-end, on the commercialvehicles (CVs) front whichmakes it possible for it to enterany market, but added that thisrequires investments on thedistribution and sales front.

One of the markets whichthe company is planning to tapfor CVs is Latin America, hesaid.There will be more pas-senger car launches, startingwith the hatchback Tiago soon,which will be followed up withthe crossover Hexa showcasedat the Auto Expo, he said,adding that there is at least one

more car its engineers are work-ing on at present.

“In the last couple of years,TM has taken a creative breakin order to rethink its strategyin order to put the right prod-uct on the PV side in thepipeline and now...We willdeliver on the expectations,” hesaid.

He called the launch of theNano a “visionary decision”which created a unique marketsegment but also conceded thatthe company has not achievedsales as per its expectations.

Butschek said the transportindustry is at a crossroads atpresent, given the traffic prob-lem in cities which warrants arethink at the solutions.

When asked about the

recent strike at its Gujarat plant,Butschek said he would like tobe more proactive when itcomes to industrial relationsrather than do firefighting oncea crisis erupts.

He said the company willalso work with its subsidiary -- the marquee Jaguar LandRover -- on the processes front,and would also explore lever-aging on the product side syn-ergies in the future.

Butschek said in the lastfour weeks, he has visited plantsat Jamshedpur, Lucknow andPantnagar, and also held meet-ings with the dealers to under-stand the company.

Senior executives had alsogone out on a two-day offsitewhere the strategies aroundnew branding exercise andorganisational restructuringwere discussed, he said.

The transformation will becarried out with the mantras ofmaking the company faster,taking out complexity and mak-ing it an agile organisation, hesaid. ���

3� ����&��� �+����������� � �������������������/������

�� � ��������

In a top-deck reshuffle thatends months of speculation,

AirAsia India on Thursday saidAmar Abrol will take over thereins of CEO from MittuChandilya, who has been at thehelm of the no-frills airline sinceinception nearly three years ago.

The exit of Chandilya,whose contract ends this month,also comes at a time when thereare concerns in certain quartersabout control and ownership atthe airline, a three-way joint ven-ture.

Putting to rest speculationover the continuance ofChandilya at the helm, AirAsia,in a release, announced theappointment of Abrol as hissuccessor.

Abrol, who has over 20years of experience, was mostrecently the CEO of Tune

Money, a start-up that aims todeliver low-cost financial prod-ucts in South-East Asia.

To ensure a smooth transi-tion (rpt) transition, Chandilya-- who has been with the CEOsince June 2013 -- will continuewith the carriertill end of April.

AirAsia India has a fleet ofsix aircraft, covering 12 routesand carrying over 1.8 millionpassengers.

The carrier, which beganoperations in June 2014, is a jointventure between Malaysia’sAirAsia Berhad, the Tatas andArun Bhatia’s TelestraTradeplace.

AirAsia India Chairman SRamadorai said Chandilya ledthe airline team from the frontthrough its launch and estab-lishment in an intensely com-petitive market.

“The board deeply appre-ciates his contribution. In

Abrol, we have a strong suc-cessor, with years of experiencein customer delivery, whichwill be critical to the airline’sfuture. Together with his seniormanagement team, we are con-fident that Abrol will leadAirAsia India into its nextstage of growth,” Ramadoraisaid.

On Wednesday, AirAsiaBerhad Group CEO TonyFernandes had only said that“his (Chandilya) “contract willbe up soon” in response toqueries about reports thatChandilya was quitting.

In August 2015, Chandilyawas appointed managingdirector, in addition to theCEO position.

Besides, AirAsia India hasannounced the appointment ofAnkur Khanna as the chieffinancial officer and KiranJain as the head of commercial.

On his appointment, Abrolsaid, “AirAsia India is poisedfor strong growth. I look for-ward to leading the team andtogether, giving many moreIndians the opportunity toaccess the exciting promise ofIndian civil aviation.”

Before joining TuneMoney in 2013, Abrol spent 19years with American Express,leading diverse teams acrossmultiple markets, includingHong Kong, Singapore, theUK, India and Malaysia.

Born and raised in India,Abrol graduated from DelhiUniversity and is a CharteredAccountant from the Instituteof Chartered Accountants ofIndia. Khanna will be joiningAirAsia India from AirFrance/KLM,where he recent-ly headed regional finance forthe Middle East/Gulf regionbased in Dubai.

$���$'������ ���� ���� ���� �������12��$��$���

������������

Examining all glitches on Goodsand Services Tax (GST),

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley onThursday said it would be difficultto accept Congress’ demand to capGST rate in a Constitutionamendment bill pending in RajyaSabha even as he remains hope-ful of passage of the key bill. Withcurrent reforms are at place, theFinance Minister is also hopefulthat there is scope to improvegrowth rate, if not double-digitgrowth.

Explaining the rationale,Jaitley said, it is extremely difficultto accept because every time youneed to increase tariff in a givenemergency, you have to amend theConstitution and the tariff needsto be decided by the GST Counciland not by a Constitutional cap.“I think that’s the only glitch thatremains. I would still want theCongress party to come on board.I can easily see and this is goingto happen at this stage of bienni-al election. The numbers are sig-nificantly changing and in anycase, I am reasonably confidentthat the numbers in the UpperHouse now also are in favour ofGST,” he said at the India TodayConclave here.

The landmark legislation, thebiggest indirect tax reform sinceIndependence, seeks to replace aslew of central and state levies witha uniform GST rate to convert thecountry into a customs union. “In

the Lok Sabha, the Congresswalked out, every other partyvoted in favour. The Congressparty has now made a statementthat it has only one issue about theConstitutional cap which is a lit-tle difficult because our tariff is notdecided through Constitutionamendment,” he said.

The Congress, the originalauthor of the tax reform, has calledthe Bill pending in Rajya Sabha as‘flawed’ and wants theGovernment to cap the GST rateat 18 per cent. The legislation hasalready been approved by the LokSabha but is pending in UpperHouse, where the ruling NDAdoes not have a majority. After itis approved by the Rajya Sabha,the legislation needs to beapproved by half of the 29 statesso as to roll out GST possibly byOctober 1.

Asserting that it is extremelydifficult to achieve double-digitgrowth in the current global envi-ronment, Jaitley said there isscope for improvement from thecurrent rate if reforms are carriedon. “I don’t claim that it is possi-ble in this global environment tocome anywhere close to double-digit growth. It’s extremely diffi-cult, it’s practically impossible todo that,” he said.

Jaitley also said given the var-ious variables India can at leastaim high and improve. “Forexample, if you carry on some ofthe pending reforms and if youconcentrate on some of these

areas like manufacturing, invest-ment in agriculture etc. If you canimprove health of the bankingsystem so as it supports growth,your private sector becomesmore oriented to investment. Ifyou are not able to go anywhereclose to double-digit growth, theprospect of greater economicactivity and improving uponyour present rate is always there.The idea is to improve upon ourgrowth rate even in the adverseglobal environment,” he said.

Terming the current 7-7.5per cent growth ‘impressive’compared to the global growth,Jaitley said, compared to our owninherent ability, one always feelthat India can do much better. IfIndia has to increase growth by2 per cent from the presentcapacity, he said, a combinationof several factors would berequired including a supportiveglobal environment and increas-ing share of manufacturing ineconomy.

On the CompensatoryAfforestation Fund Bill, theFinance Minister said the reportof the Parliamentary committeehas come. “Over the last 8-10years, the Supreme Court com-pelled us to have compensatoryfinancing for forestry. We have Rs45,000 crore lying in theCompensatory AfforestationFund Management and PlanningAuthority (CAMPA) fund andnobody knows how to use it,” headded.

(����� ��������������,� ���� ��-�+���4����� �, �#���&���A� # ��#��(��� �������&������#��������, �������� !��*������'�� "" �&��+��&�������� !�!�����"��� ����,������ "��&��������"���!��������� �����+�!�'!�;� ���'

��� 8�2��6� Working “veryclosely” with India on co-oper-ation on tax matters,Switzerland expects an auto-matic exchange of informationregime between the two coun-tries to be in place soon.

Amid the crackdown onillicit fund flows in the globalfinancial system, both countrieshave stepped up their cooper-ation on tax matters related toblack money allegedly stashedby Indians there.

Swiss Ambassador to IndiaLinus von Castelmur onThursday said automaticexchange of tax informationbetween India and Switzerlandis expected to happen “rathersoon”.

“Switzerland and India areworking very closely (on infor-mation exchange on tax mat-ters)... We have receivedrequests for exchange for infor-mation from Indian authori-ties,” he told reporters here.

Describing automaticinformation exchange as“future music”, Castelmur saidboth sides are workingtowards it.

There should be a bilater-al arrangement where both

sides can commit to proceed-ing with automatic informationexchange, he added.

As part of global efforts tocurb flow of illegal funds in thefinancial system, Switzerlandhas agreed to be part of theautomatic tax informationexchange framework.

In recent months,Switzerland has disclosednames of more than a dozenIndians about whom informa-tion has been sought by theIndian Government amid sus-picion that their accounts inSwiss banks were used forstashing illicit money.

Swiss banks, known fortheir banking secrecy prac-tices, have come under globalpressure as countries, includingIndia, are ramping up efforts tocrack down on the blackmoney menace.

According to Castelmur,the Swiss government hadgiven information to Indiawith regard to the HSBC case.

A leaked list of hundredsof Indian clients of HSBC’sGeneva branch had foundits way to the Indian taxauthorities, which are prob-ing the matter. ���

05� �*�&���� ��������������/���������������������,

���8�2��: As the ‘call drop’menace refuses to subside,Telecom Minister RaviShankar Prasad on Thursdaysaid he will personally goaround the National Capitalalong with the top officials tomonitor the quality of mobilecalls.

The Minister also exhort-ed state-run telecom operatorBSNL to work harder toexpand its customer base andasked its top officials to “comeout of their office and work onthe ground level”, saying hehimself was ready to “sit andsell SIMs for BSNL”.

“I, (JS) Deepak andAnupam (Shrivastava) will goaround in Delhi to monitor calldrops,” Prasad said at a BSNLevent where he launched mod-ern telephone service of thetelecom PSU.

Prasad had earlier con-ducted drive tests in Indorewith Shrivastava, theChairman and ManagingDirector of BSNL. As part ofits steps to rein in call dropmenace, the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(Trai) too conducted drive testsin December-January . ���

�������"/�����'���� �������"�� �������� �:��,�����9

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� 2���%�@@

�������� ��� �

0����������������0�������#���������0���)�$&�#$6���4!� ����,��� ����!������!�&#�����������!!����#� �,����!��"�������������"$ �# �A-��� !���� ����1 !���A���&� ��� �!�� ����� �+�!��� ���'��������1��"���!� �&� ������ #��!������&��� �����"�� � � �!+����� �&����'"���(����������� �����)�%�� !!&��(�!��� !����'�5��#�5�� �#+����! ������"������!� �&��"���$ �# �A-��� !����5�&� �!�&� �#�� !������!!��������I0!���#&����5�!! ����"������� ������ ��!��&����� #��!�2�&�� �+$���,�+�5( �E������)

D��28������22�8���������� �� ��������3����� #6�������!��" ,��!��� ��!�(���1 ���������� #��������!�(��� �9&����(����� � ����!���%�&�!��'������1���������'����1�� ���( ����������!����� ��#'��4!���!� ,��������5 �� )���������!�����" �����'�� � ����!�*������������������1�� ��� ������ �'��"���"���1 �� �#�������!��" ,�!��� ��!����� �9&� �#�� #�������!+�!��&� �'��"" � ��!�!� �)

��� 3�����5��0��8=�7����3��������� H4�&)+�+6�%���55�#��&����%�&�!��'������!���� ��&��!��"�! *������ �#��*��&�����������#�!�"�N!�' �#O�"���������3 $�,�������� ������� �'��":���&9��)�����!�����������!������!�� ������ �+�����5�9 ��� !�!&!��������� ""������������!����*��&������ ��, �� �!+�����(��� �#����#��9&��!& �!)

7������ ��� ����4������ �2��� �8�����$6���� �������!����������"�����# ����: ������� �����!!� �� �����������������#�� �!����������������+��"������������������ !!�������� !�������������B �� +��!�������"����9�����!��&��&� �#)�

��2�7�2�8���������0�7����2� ������ ��� �2�)# !6������ � ���(�!�" ������%�&�!��'� ������� #��2�&�����!�������,�E�6&!�����"�"������, �#���1 !���+�����'��"���������&���'4!�������&�������(������"������� � ���'��&����������,���������"������ �������������)6&!�����"+�(��� !�"�� �#��� ��� ����&������"���!�!+� ���&� �#� #������!��+� !�����!���������,�"����&�� ��"��������5&�����2�&�������������������,����"� !������"���������* ��2������� !�+�����( �#�� ��������,��������)

Islamabad : Pakistan onThursday rejected as “baselessrumour-mongering” thereports about presence ofChinese troops in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and assert-ed Kashmir was a long-stand-ing item UN agenda.

“I will not comment onmedia reports. However, wetotally reject baseless rumour-mongering about the presenceof PLA (People's LiberationArmy) troops,”in PoK, ForeignOffice spokesperson NafeesZakaria said here. PTI

��������'&���+�� ������������"����"��� ��'�����2'���,������������+� ��,�����

�� 1 ��� 2 ��� ��5��$%��

Donald Trump may havebecome unstoppable, but

the Republican Party’s twomost prominent Indian-American faces — NikkiRandhawa Haley and BobbyJindal — are not reconciled tothe controversial billionaire’scontinuing surge. Haley is nowrallying behind Senator TedCruz with a “hope” and“prayer” of stopping Trumpsomehow.

Both South CarolinaGovernor Haley and formerLouisiana Governor Jindal hadendorsed Senator Marco Rubiofor the Republican nominationand campaigned for him. ButRubio quit the race on Tuesdayafter Trump knocked him outin his home turf of Florida. Inpreceding weeks, Trump hadalso walked away with Haley’sSouth Carolina and Jindal’sLouisiana.

“My hope and my prayer isthat Senator Cruz can comethrough so that he can pushthrough and really get to wherehe needs to go,” Haley toldreporters at the South CarolinaState House on Wednesday.“Because we do want a strongleader, we do want somebodythat’s conservative, we do wantsomebody that’s action mind-ed. So we’ll see what happens.”

Stating that the third can-didate in the fray, John Kasich,may just not have a path to winthe nomination, Haley said, “Ivery much want to see SenatorCruz now be able to movethrough the ranks and get thattop position.”

She, however, did not comeout with a formal endorsement,remarking, “I don’t know thatI need to formally endorse. Ifanybody asks me, that’s what Iwant to see happen.”

Asked if she would supportif Trump did go on to win theRepublican nomination, Haleyreplied, “Ask me when thetime comes again, but as ofnow, I strongly believe I willsupport the Republican nom-inee. The only thing I can saynow is my hope and my prayeris that Senator Cruz can comethrough this.”

Jindal did not come outwith any new announcement ofsupport after Rubio’s departure,but criticised President Obamaand his policies for the rise ofboth Trump and Democraticcandidate Bernie Sanders. In anop-ed piece for Fox News,Jindal wrote that Trump andSanders have tapped into vot-ers’ anger, charging thatObama’s “incompetence andideological extremism” havenot helped things.

Speaking to MSNBC, Jindal

commented that Trump’s emer-gency may well sound thedeath-knell for the Republicanestablishment. “The GOPestablishment is done for. Thisrace shows that,” he said.

Jindal, however, did notfavour a “brokered convention”to prevent Trump from becom-ing nominee, saying such amove would only further dis-credit the Republican leader-ship. “When huge chunks ofyour base are telling you some-thing, you have to listen to them.Let the voters speak,” he said.

����� ������

The Conservative party can-didate for the high-profile

London mayoral polls is usingleaflets with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s image to wooIndian-origin voters againsthis veteran Labour party rivalwho is the son of Pakistaniimmigrants.

Zac Goldsmith, an Oxford-educated millionaire, is theConservative party candidatefor the race for the polls onMay 5 to replace Boris Johnsonwhen his term comes to end.

He is up against Labour’sSadiq Khan, a politician whoproudly proclaims his working

class roots as the son of aPakistani bus driver.

In an effort to grab an edgeover Khan, Goldsmith’s teamhas been using a leaflet with animage of him shaking handswith the Indian Prime Ministeralongside British counterpartDavid Cameron during Modi’s

visit to the UK last November.The message reads,

“Standing up for the BritishIndian community.”

However, the 41-year-old’stactic seems to have backfiredas he was accused of a Hindubias by only mentioning festi-vals of “Diwali, Navratri andJanamashtami” in reference tohis “strong engagement withthe Indian community.”

The Goldsmith team alsoissued tailored letters forLondon’s Tamil-origin popula-tion which tend to have expensive jewellery in theirhomes, warning that Khan isplanning a “wealth tax on fam-ily jewellery.”

)����� ������������ �� � ��������� �(��������������4��#������ ������������'���0���!��� ��� �����(�� ����'���0��$�:��� �$��� ���� � )�

*#*#�'������#���(������ ��� �'���/�># �������� ��5��$%��

The US says the Islamic State(ISIS) group has committed

genocide against Yazidis,Christians and Shia Muslims.

US Secretary of State JohnKerry on Thursday said theUnited States has declared thatISIS committed genocide inIraq and Syria againstChristians, Yazidis and otherethnic minorities.

Kerry spoke from the StateDepartment and said ISIS isguilty of “crimes againsthumanity.”

“In my judgment, Daesh is

responsible for genocideagainst groups in areas underits control, including Yazidis,Christians and Shia Muslims,”the secretary of State said,using the Arabic name for Isis.

He said he had based hisdecision on the many accountsgathered by the state depart-ment, intelligence service andother sources in recent months.

But he said a lack of access

to ISIS areas meant it was dif-ficult to get a complete pictureof the atrocities.

He said the “full facts”must be sought, and said theUS would “strongly support”efforts to collect evidence ofISIS atrocities and brings thoseresponsible to account.

This declaration comesafter the US House ofRepresentatives voted 393-0on a nonbinding resolutioncalling the atrocities commit-ted by ISIS genocide. It is thefirst time the US has declaredgenocide since Darfur in 2004,according to CNN.

����� ���2�

Atop commander of thedreaded ISIS group who

was involved in grenade attacksand target killings was killed onThursday during an encounterwith security forces here.

The slain commanderidentified as Kamran AslamGujjar was killed in Karachi’sManghopir area after policeacted on a tip off and launcheda search operation, police said.

“He was badly woundedduring an encounter inManghopir area last night andtaken to hospital. Before he diedhe confessed to his crimes andhis association with Daesh,” asenior police official said.

Ankara: A radical Kurdishgroup with ties to the outlawedKurdistan Workers’ Party(PKK) on Thursday claimedthe deadly suicide car bombattack that killed 35 people inAnkara last weekend.

“On the evening of March13, a suicide attack was carriedout... In the streets of the cap-ital of the fascist Turkish repub-lic. We claim this attack,” theKurdistan Freedom Falcons(TAK) said in a statement.

The group said it was aresponse to security opera-tions carried out by Turkishforces in the Kurdish-domi-nated southeast of the country.

Sunday’s attack came threeweeks after a similar attack inAnkara killed 29 people, alsoclaimed by TAK. In the imme-diate aftermath of latest bomb-ing, Turkish authorities pointeda finger at the PKK, againstwhich Ankara has waged relent-less assault since last year. AFP

Jerusalem: Two Palestiniansstabbed an Israeli soldier neara group of Jewish settlements inthe occupied West Bank onThursday before being shotdead, the Army said, the latestin a months-long wave of vio-lence. The incident occurred atthe Ariel junction in the WestBank. The female soldier wasbeing taken to hospital, whilethe two assailants were shot byforces at the scene, the IsraeliArmy said.

Medics described the vic-tim’s condition as “moderate tosevere” and said she was around20 years old. Since October 1, awave of violence has killed 196Palestinians, 28 Israelis, twoAmericans, an Eritrean and aSudanese, according to an AFPcount. AFP

2#$+#$6�-� �� �� !�!������� "����0<A'���A����������������A ��� !���� � �����#��&���"������������� �������&!���"�2�����!������&��������N!&"" � �����, �����O����!�����&������'��* !������ �1� ����������� !�)

%���������� �����5 1��=�&��:������ ����5=:�+��!���� !���� �����0DT/!� ��� � ����'A(���1���&�9��+�(�!� �,��,��� �N�!!�!! ��� ��!+����� �#!����1 ����� �#!+��� ��'�� �������#� �!���� ����"" � ��!���� �����!�!O+�����-� � !������ ������������� !�(��1)���(�,��+�������������� �����F���,��� ������5&����!! ����"�%����� !�4���%&�!��'�� #��������&��������N������ !�����!&"" � �����, ��������!&�����������!���������� �"O���������5=:� !��&������'����������( ��������� !�) ���

����� ��5��$%��

The percentage of Americanswho reported using mari-

juana more than doubledbetween 2002 and 2013, withnearly as large an increase inmarijuana use disorders during that time period, a new studyhas found.

The research also showedthat 2.5 per cent of adults —nearly 6 million people —experienced marijuana use dis-order in 2012-13, while 6.3 percent had met the diagnostic cri-teria for the disorder at somepoint in their lives.

The study, conducted

by researchers from ColumbiaUniversity and US NationalInstitute on Alcohol Abuseand Alcoholism (NIAAA)found that marijuana use dis-order is often associated with other substance use dis-orders, behavioural problems,and disability, and goes large-ly untreated.

Washington: Cash-strapped Islamic State (ISIS) has lost almosta quarter of its territory in the last 15 months and the dreadedterror group is increasingly isolated and on the decline, accord-ing to a new study.

Data published by IHS Jane’s 360 has shown that since January2015 the militant group has lost 22 per cent of its territory in Iraqand Syria and 8 per cent of the losses were in the past three months.“The tide of the war is turning against the Islamic State. BetweenJanuary 1 and December 15, 2015, the Islamic State lost control of14% of its territory. New analysis indicates that in the last 3 months,the Islamic State has lost a further 8 per cent of its territory,” thereport said.

“In 2016, we have seen major losses in the north-east extendsouth towards Raqqa and Deir al-Zour as the mixed- sectarianKurdish and Sunni Syrian Democratic Forces advance under thecover of US and Russian airstrikes,” it said. PTI

����6 ��� ����3���� � '�� ��� ��� �4�� �

������� ������������������,�������������

*�(�������$B����%�%�� �'$ $�*�%��#�" $����2��������$,��%���$

���!�!������ ���(��������� (��

#������F6���2��1��6����2��*��FF�����2������� ������**���

1�������,������"���� ��>#�� '��� �� ����������

=B������������# ������6B� ��� ������

����%����� �� ����*����������� �3����� &������

���&��0 �� ��� ����

��)�$&�#$6�%���1����'A�����!�������&�� ��������������� ���� ��� �!� �������5!������"�6 !!�&� � !��,����&�"����A�&����!��������%�&������� ����'�2� �������'���,�����(� �"��������!����1��(�����" ����&�������"���������������!�(����������&���&�+���� ��������!!� �)������,������&�� �#�"���������&�� ���������������� ��� ��� �!�"�������./07��5���! ���� �������� ��6 !!�&� �(�!�������������%&�!��'�� #��+2� ���������%�&����������� ���!���� ,������'��� ��� �!��'���!!��������"�����������#���� ��) ���

����$�&�������� ����������(����������������

��)�$&�#$6��5����! �����-����1���������%�&�!��'�! #������������ �������� �#���A���1���!���� ��!��������� ������"�������&��������!������ !! �����&������ !�'���+��!�'��#'��#����� !������� !��!)%����� �����&!��!� �����������! #��������*��&� ,�����������#�� �#����,���� ������� ��!����4!�����#'+" ���� �������!� �� �#��!!��!)�%������!&��!�(�����#���������������� ������� ��!� ����!���!��������;��&��'�7��&��������!������:���&��'8����� !� ��� !! �����&���)�N%�������� !��������#�������������������"������� ����+��&��������� !�� ����������#�,�������+O�!� ��������&�����! #�����'������) ���

C���,�$���$����#�$��@D���&��$�� ������(����@.�#���,$+

C M Y K

C M Y K

��! ���6�� �#����'���,��� !!�������������#� �!���"#��� !����%./�������+��&�������( ������

�������� !���! � ���������������"�����,������( �1��!�����'�( ���IT

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� @�

� � � � 7 + � (

��������

%���$���%�5%�%./�-�%56����$�%����5�B��%� ���)������5�����B���$���:�B���</���������6�>�$�5%� ����%�)�5�����-%��:�%����� ������6�B��=%6�������� 5���%��-�%R5%�B�����$�+�:��6�����5�2��%�����B ���� ��� C

C����■ �5%����� �>� �5%���

Star grappler Yogeshwar Dutt wouldseek to grab an Olympic quota place

in his first opportunity when he spear-heads a 17-member Indian campaignat the Asian Olympic Qualificationwrestling championship, starting hereon Friday.

It will be a tough three-day com-petition from March 18-20, consider-ing that only the top two finishers ineach weight category here will securean Olympic berth for a country.

This is the second qualifying eventfor the Rio Games. The first was heldlast year at the World Championshipin Las Vegas, where just one Indian inNarsingh Yadav bagged a quota placefor the country in Men's 74kg freestyle.

With India's entry at Rio de Janeiroensured in 74kg category, no one willbe competing in this category. SushilKumar also fights in the same weightdivision as Narsingh.

Yogeshwar, who pulled out of the2015 World Championship due to aninjury, has the best chance of grabbing

an Olympic berth for India.Yogeshwar had won bronze at the

last Olympics in Men's 60kg Freestyle butsince then moved up to 65kg after theinternational governing body FILA re-jigged the weight classes at end of 2013.

While Yogeshwar remains India'sbest bet here, men's freestyle team alsocomprises the likes of Rahul Aware(57kg) and Satyawart Kadiyan (97kg),both of whom according to chiefnational Freestyle coach JagminderSingh have good chance of earningOlympic berths too.

����■ -�5��

Indian shuttlers H S Prannoyand Sameer Verma continued

their winning run in the men'ssingles competition to advanceto the pre-quarterfinals of the$120,000 Swiss Open GrandPrix Gold here.

In late night matches, 13thseed Prannoy beat Germany'sLars Schaenzler 21-16, 21-13 toset up a meeting with RajivOuseph of England.

Young Sameer also contin-ued to punch above his weight,notching up a stunning 21-1922-20 win over fourth seed

Chinese Wang Zhengming. Hewill next take on TanongsakSaensomboonsuk, seeded 16th.

However, it was the end of11th seed Ajay Jayaram's cam-paign as his fight ended with anarrow 21-23, 18-21 loss toKenichi Tago of Japan.

B Sai Praneeth also made itto the pre-quarterfinals afterprevailing over Uzbekistan'sArtyom Savatyugin 21-7, 21-10.He will next take on secondseed Chou Tien Chen ofChinese Taipei. Two-timechampion and top seed SainaNehwal and PV Sindhu alsoreached pre-quarterfinals.

%� ����#������ ���"�62�

Riding on half-century from skip-per Charlotte Edwards, England

women outclassed Bangladesh by 36runs in a group league encounter ofthe ICC World T20, here on Thursday.

Opting to bat, England scored 153for seven with Edwards scoring60 off 51 balls.

Apart from Edwards,Natalie Sciver smashed 27off 22 balls with twoboundaries before theslog overs, and KatherineBrunt and DanielleWyatt hammered 17and 15 in eight andseven balls, respective-ly, helping England reachthe 150-mark.

In reply, Bangladesh werenever in the hunt as they fin-ished on 117 for six despite 64run-stand for the fifth wicketbetween Nigar Sultana (35) andSalma Khatun (32 not out).

Bangladesh could only take onepositive from the match as they bet-

tered their previous total of 91 forseven against India in this game.

Bangladesh started the run chaserather poorly, losing wickets at regu-lar intervals. They were 46 for four in10.3 overs.

Sharmin Akter(0), AyashaRahman(2), Fargana Hoque (19),were removed by Katherine Brunt,Anya Shrushbole and Danielle Hazellrespectively. Rumana Ahmed wasunfortunately run out for 19.

Earlier, when England battedSciver put up a crucial 47-run partner-

ship with Edwards for fifth wicket.Before that, Sarah Taylor and

Edwards scripted a 36 runspartnership for the second

wicket, before Bangladeshbowlers succeeded in pick-

ing up two wickets inthree balls, thus reducingEngland to 71 for threein 10.1 overs.

Brief Scores Eng: 153/7 (Charlotte 60,Sciver 27, Jahanara Alam

3/32) beat Bangladesh:117/6 (Nigar Sultana35, Salma Khatun 32,

Anya 2/27) by 36runs.

Asghar Stanikzai led from the frontwith a half century as Afghanistan

overcame a slow start to post a chal-lenging 153/7 against defendingchampions Sri Lanka in their ICCWorld T20 Super 10 opener at theEden Gardens on Thursday.

The Lankans stifled Afghanistantop-order by reducing them to 51/4after 11 overs before Stanikzai (62 off47 balls) and Samiullah Shenwari (31off 23) built the innings.

The duo stitched 61 off 33 ballsfor the fifth wicket and Stanikazai gota life twice, on 34 and 44 runsrespectively.

Stanikzai was at his explosive besttowards the later stages and hitThisara Perera's widish full lengthdelivery over long on with one foot,reminding one of the trademarkhelicopter shot of Indian skipper MSDhoni. Shamiullah Shenwari wasthe other major contributor forAfghanistan with a 14-ball 31. For SriLanka, all rounder Thisara Pererareturned figures of 3/33 from his fourovers.

After Stanikzai's departure, left-hander Najibullah Zardan also hadsome meaty blows with a four and sixagainst Nuwan Kulasekara in the lastover. Afghanistan added 59 runsfrom the last five overs to set up com-petitive total.

The Afghans however had a ter-rible start with inform openerMohammad Shahzad, who wasinstrumental in their qualification tothe Super 10, looking out of sorts.

Shahzad had a miss-and-hit stayas Afghanistan crawled to six runs inthe first two overs.

Noor Ali Zardan stepped up therunrate with a 20 off 23 balls butHerath once again triggered a col-lapse before the Stanikzai led byexample.

Brief Scores Afghanistan: 153/7 (Asghar Stanikzai62, Noor Ali Zadran 20, SamiullahShenwari 31, Najibullah Zadran 12;Thisara Perera 3/33, Rangana Herath2/24, Angelo Mathews 1/17, NuwanKulasekara 1/43) vs Sri Lanka.

��� �(����&'��������

They could be breathing down each others’ necks intheir marquee World T20 clash on Saturday, but afew of Indian and Pakistani cricketers on Thursday

showed great camaraderie and friendship as they trainedsimultaneously at the same venue here.

Indian left-handed batsman Suresh Raina andsenior Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik were seen hug-ging and patting each other, shaking hands during option-al practice sessions, making it a perfect photo opportu-nity ahead of their much hyped Super 10 Group 2 matchat the Eden Gardens.

Seeing the left-hander, Malik came to greet him asthe duo were seen engaged in talks for a few minutesbefore going back to each other's camp as both the rivalscamps had simultaneous session.

A day after their morale-boosting 55-run victory overBangladesh, the Pakistan team had a training sessionwithout some of their batsmen and bowlers, while Indiahad Raina, Ajinkya Rahane and Pawan Negi in their ses-sion conducted by batting coach Sanjay Bangar.

Malik, who too had come under fire along withskipper Shahid Afridi for their "more love in India thanin Pakistan" comments, also gave away his pair of glovesto the local seamer Rajiv Keshri and obliged them withselfies.

Pakistani trio of Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez andAhmed Shehzad who contributed in their big win onWednesday, however, skipped the optional nets.

The left-arm pace trio of Mohammad Amir,Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz also opted out of theoptional net session to take rest.

As for the Indian camp, the duo of Raina and Rahaneconcentrated on batting as they faced left-arm spinner Negi.

� � � 0 * . 7

� � � / 7 # * � � � �

+=:�! �-= .�������, � �;����<� ����� �#�� ��(���B��( � � � !

,)!�!�:� !�*. � (�� ��� ������������ �������� � !

�:%���%�����55�%�����>������+��������-��������:��

6�������55����$��5%��� 5%��)�

:������ 5%���5%��%�5�:�B���%�5�:��

%���$�6����5�%����=)

%�5�5%������%%=�6�2������-�%%�$�B��5�5��� 5%���-����$)

����B��+��%��%�����=�����-�����5���B�����:��6�����2��%�=+

%��=���5�����K%�-����5=%��%�2 ����%���)

R5����$�B�5 ��

���

����$�!� 0����*����

���

����$�!� �� ������

���

����$�!� /��/��

)��� � ��� ������������ ����� ���������� ����������������������� �� � �������' ( � ������!&&������� ����>9�>9@D�����(������� �����B��( � $�!�� ��� ���� � )�

* � � � + # 7 , 1 (

���������������� ����

����2�� �'�1�2�0����*��2�� "�����0��2*� 1�G6������*��

+���� ���������������

�0?���7;��1��4��1�5;0;�5�!#����5��� 1E� 4!�H8A�����7.���1�!���������!������"�0<I+����������1�!�III

C M Y K

C M Y K

9�����H�4�����(I-�%&()

� �����������!���"��"#F��!��� !A�9��C�$4

@�(,

C M Y K

C M Y K

Culture is the environment that sur-rounds you at work all of the time.Culture is a powerful element that

shapes your work enjoyment, your workrelationships, and your work processes.But, culture is something that you cannotactually see, except through its physicalmanifestations in your work place.

It is commonplace for leaders tochoose management structures and stylesthat align with their own value systems.Many leaders possess a value systemwhere the person at the top makes all thedecisions and everyone else has to sim-ply conform or risk losing their job. Thisis especially common in small business-es and start-ups where the leader's liveli-hood is directly connected to the organi-zation's performance. In these cultures,leaders are fearful of losing their livelihoodand use the same fear to lead theiremployees. So, it is not surprising that somany of us have experienced unjust andinequitable working conditions in com-mand and control cultures where leadersuse fear and aggression as the means todrive employee productivity.

It all begins with the attitude of youremployees. If you have a healthy compa-ny culture it will have a positive effect onhow efficiently your employees get theirwork done.

Employees at these organizations areable to take as many days off as needed.The work of their employees is not mea-sured by hours spent in the office or work-ing overtime. It is measured solely by pro-ductivity. This policy helps create a cul-ture where the results matter more thanthe time it took to get there. Other waysyou may be able to help drive efficiency

within your organization are by provid-ing employees with consistent and con-cise information, as well as making surethere is seamless collaboration betweenemployees, partners, suppliers, and cus-tomers. If your employees have all theinformation they need and everyone is onthe same page, this will increase overalleffectiveness and productivity.

Retaining great employees is one ofthe keys to success for any company. Makesure to listen. Listen to all employees,clients, and customers. Key into what theyreally want from your company. In par-ticular, knowing who your employees areand what drives them will help you to bet-ter develop your culture and hire thosewho will thrive at your company.

It is important to accurately commu-nicate the overall vision and mission of anorganization. Make sure you to keep

employees informed of changes the orga-nization implements and ask for theirinput on how to improve and grow thebusiness. Keeping employees aware ofwhat is going on with other areas of thebusiness and seeking their advice will helpthem gain a clearer understanding of thecompany overall. It will be impossible toachieve the goals you have set for yourcompany if your employees don't see orunderstand the bigger picture.

In the end, there is no set standard forwhat makes a healthy company culture.It depends on your line of business, youremployees, and numerous other factors.You have the opportunity to mold yourcompany's culture however you see fit.What do you believe is important? Whattype of people do you believe will excel inyour environment and what will drivethem?

If you happen to be unhappy withyour current corporate culture and findthat it is hurting the bottom line, then itmay be time for a change.

The trick, of course, is having a deepand clear understanding of what drivestheir success. So they built their culturearound that, particularly in the way theymake decisions. Although they have a fair-ly traditional, hierarchical structure theactual practice of decision-making isreally very fluid, morphing and flexingdepending on who has access to that crit-ical information about the patients' hopes,dreams, and aspirations.

You will even see people with higherlevels of authority taking a lower profilein the conversation when they realize thatthe other staff-though lower in the hier-archy-are closer to knowing and under-

standing the patient in a deeper way.Once you get clear on what drives

your success, you'll actually have to startchanging how you do things internally soyou can align your culture with the suc-cess factors. Get clear on who has theauthority to make decisions (and why),and then make sure the processes youdesign end up rewarding people whobehave in the ways that generate the mostsuccess. How you run meetings internal-ly, how you share information acrossdepartments, and how you do the basicsof project management-these can all below hanging fruit that you can address inorder start clarifying and reinforcing a cul-ture that drives your success. Peopleneed to see the changes happening in realways for the new culture to take root.

And once you make it real, you'll needto transition into making it permanent.This will require even deeper changes, fre-quently in areas related to humanresources-hiring, firing, and performancereviews.

When you start to work on your cul-ture, don't settle for a positive-soundinglist of core values that will look good asposters on the wall. Make a clear case thatthose posters you have about collabora-tion or respect actually connect deeply towhat drives your success. Actually startbuilding those ideas into your processes,both at the surface level and within yourHR processes. When the connection isclear, the employees will see it and behaveaccordingly, because deep down everyonewants to be successful. You'll get thatemployee engagement you've been look-ing for while shoring up the bottom linein the process.

� �� ��������'� �'�����������%��'�����7'����������&��"85�9��'� �'��������� ������ �"��&������������������������������ ��������������� ��������'��������������� ����'���*���������������'������������ �� ���� �������������������������������������������%������ ��������� �� ���*����� ����������� � ����������������*��� �������� ����������������"+��� �������������������� �� ����&��� ��%�������� �����"����������/������"

8������2��� ���������6*6�������26���22J

� ������"�"� �� #���( $��$��� ��&��, 1 ($����$'�� $$�&�����(��#���(4�*�1 �$'� �����$� �4���$� �������� #���( $9���� ��$9���%�'$��# �$4�/ (�����2,����, (�� ���(�2���&��#�(�'����#���(4��������'���9�1��2��"�2,�(�'�� #���( $��� ���%2,���%��! $��, #�2���, ���(�'����) �� �% ! ����(�'���'��'� ���%,�� ��,�$ �2,��2�����,��! ���(�'����#���(

�������8�22 ��+�����<T�'�������������1��(��"������' �#5���� !�-��������� ���������&���"����!'�������!�� �!�������������� ���" ����������� !����������5���� !�-��������+�(���������������������!� �1'���������������!��"�-� ������"�%����� �����!�� �!�" ,��" ����+�(�!�������!"����!����1��()�%���������!� ���"����(����( ���� �����#�����+(� ��� !�" ��������#��'� ����������������P�N�K!������'���&���+���&���K��(������&����"�������'(�')��K!���������)�%�����&#�"�����)��K!�9&!�������� �"&�)�U�K!�����'� ����!�+�3& ���,��(���� �#)�%���(�����(�����"� �� !������'��,��(���� �#)O�!1���(�������#����&���"�!���� �# ��������!! ,��'����&����!��(+������� �����&���'P�N6���')O���!� ��!�' �#����� ������N�����O�������(���!�������(���� �#��"����� !������������������� !���&#�����������&������ ,�+�������1����1������!� ������!��(�(�!�N"����!� �)O�

A,���2�$���0����� +$�#��%E

�'��)�2����)���"&�#��(�����%��

�����!!�� ���� ��0 !�����'���!����&�9�� �" ��!��!� �#�!&���!!��� ������� �����!����!+��������!������������������"����� ��&!��'

!���)�N-� �#�"�������&�9�� "�� �'+��'�������!���,����(�'!��������"����(��1 �#� �����&�9�� ��, �)�������(+�(�������#��� �#���"�(�#����!�� ��!+��(�&��� 1��������������������"��������� ��&!��'+O�!� ������&)�������*����9����( ������( ���- #�-)�

�0� 4����2�+�(����������'��������&#�����( ���� !����'���,���&�' !�����!������(���������������� ��"���#���)�2&������'�" �� �#"���"���'�(()+��&������������9&##� �#�� !�"�� �'�� "�����(��1�� "�� ���� �! �&������&!�'�( ���� !��,������!� ��������)N%�����!����&�����"�����!���,�����������'����� �)�-&�����1"&��'�(����("������'����&#������ !�����'�����1������" �!�"� #�������K�#� �#������ �#��������1�( ���������� !��� �+O��&���!� �� ����!��������)5��� �#������� !��&#����� !��&�1'�"��� �+�����I8A'���A����!�'!+�N6'��&#�������!������'�#��������� �#��������&��!����������&�1 !��� �#����!��������'�#����(��1����)����1 �#"��(�����������'������(�( �������� !� �����!� �#�!���� �#������������!����,���'�"�� �'����!���'�����+O����!� �)

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� !�!����(�@�

%�����1��!��"�� ���" �������*�+�� ��,�����&���������$�&������ �( ����&����������, �K!�&! �� ��������� ��������� ��H+��"����N����,���&��"� �����������O�������!� ��6&��� ����� ����� !�'���)� �������5&�� ���'�! ���!���������N���3&���O�!��&� �'�"��������1 !��� �#��E������!���)

Models sashayed down tothe onomatopoeic tick-tockof stilettos in sheer shades

of nude to grey and then black. Thearduously knitted off-shoulder dress-es started making way soon, whichseemed to be a sure pick for the win-ter wardrobe. The runway was fullof nostalgia with bygone techniquesof knitting.

The bottom plaids with printedbreezy tops, to sleek cut-outs settledon shoulders, with a dash of sparklegoing on, Dhaka had a rather noveltake on autumnal bits. The bodyhugging knitted dress with rufflesand fringes made a statement withenough doses of boho drama withchoker necklace. The boat necks andthe off shoulders accentuated withscarf highlighted that peculiar prac-tical yet stylish look.

The intricate stitch structuresadded surface dimension and texturelike ikat, chinar, knitted with Lurexin various blends to create dresses.“I used circles with minimal colours.What’s special is that I knittedeverything. I went back to the 90s tocreate this collection along withsome inspiration from the lanes ofVaranasi. The pain was more aboutthe development of textile and tex-ture. I brought in the fringes and ruf-fles to create a boho look but essen-tially it was a knitwear line withpieces of woven garments,” saidDhaka.

The colour palette consisted ofbeige, black, black and green,maroon, gold with a splattering ofnudes which is prevalent this sea-son. On the incorporation of ‘Makein India’ theme, she shared, “Someof the things like a few jackets hada hint of Banaras. Few of the motifswere very modern but essentially it’sa very simple line.” Dhaka set outsome trends for the fall season witha refreshed take on the existing oneslike, sweater dresses, off shoulderoutfits and boat necks with stolesand scarves in tartan. It was comple-mented with sheer printed tops.

The collection had some inter-esting pieces, which included nudegold shell sweater with pleated laceskirt, off shoulder knitted popcornjacquard dress, black wool sheathdress, tribal sheath with green bee-tel leaf embroidery, off shoulderbabydoll with green lurex knitteddress, black and gold bagru booti onskirt with a chiffon top.

�����.��� ( /�BB�� �

It’s always a good idea for a designer to rootfor a social cause through his collection.

That’s something which Gaurav Gupta didwhile showcasing his autumn-winter col-lection titled Melt. The show was sort of anappeal to people to pause and reflect onthe dire global issue of climate change.With tunes of Earth Song by MJ beingplayed in the background, he aimed atmaking the atmosphere quite contempla-tive. The models emerged out of the bil-lows of smoke adding to the sombre mood.His signature aesthetics of edgy asymmet-rical silhouettes in bold monochromesmingled well with the darkness of theevening.

The environment-conscious col-lection was conceptualised becauseof the capital’s raising pollution lev-els. “The world and our city in gen-eral is getting worse with alarmingpollution levels. Some parts of theworld, as we know it, are either goingto freeze or melt. So it has been in mythought process for a long time tocome up with a collection that willforce people to think about what ishappening and will happen to theworld we live in, if we don’t start achange now. It made me pensive abouthow things melt and that’s whatinspired this collection. There is a feel-ing of melancholic apocalypse in thecollection,” said Gaurav Gupta.

“The embroidery has beeninspired by global warming whichreminds me of meltdown. The entirecollection consists of colours takenfrom fire, from a flaming orange toa dark blazing blue, then absoluteblack in coal deep fire and shades ofashes in grey to absolute white ash.All in all it’s a very contemporary take onclimate change,” the designer added.

The collection was full of shades of ashesand coal to fabrics that were structured withfluid suitings, neoprene, sparkling jerseysand silk, forming long molten gowns. Someof the garments in the collection arezero-waste garments which reinforceGupta’s concerns about his cause. Hehas made sure to use the draping tech-niques in a way that there is nowastage of fabric at all.

The structured collection includ-ed long molten gowns, asymmetricjackets with trousers, structuredembroidered jackets and capes, flaredempire silhouette and flock-coatgowns, which might work wellkeeping the nip in the air in mind.But it was more of an evening, evena red carpet collection.

The one-shoulder gownswith silver accents highlightedwith twisted hem and rufflesmade for an interesting diva look.There were flared dresses high-lighted with bling motifs. Gupta’sanother all-time favourite, thehigh neck, was mixed well withthe sleek body-hugging dress.What created the ultimatedrama was the train with a pairof bodice and pants. Thenthere were gowns with intri-cate necklines and sheer backsand gloves which took theglamour quotient to anoth-er level. There were also afew wide-legged wrap-uppants for that high drama.

photos: Pankaj Kumar

Desiners are known to playaround with fabrics, weaves

and traditional crafts and Ashish &Vikrant are no different. For theirAutumn/Winter collection at theongoing India Fashion Week theychose not one, but two indegenouscratfs from Gujarat — the PatanPatola and the Mashru. Patols is alsoknown as double ikkat and this tech-nique, also called partial dying,originated for theIndonesian countries.Owing to the fact thattheir techniqueinvolved a lot of dye-ing, the garments dis-played were, needlessto say, bright andvibrant. The designersthough made it a pointto accessorise theirmodels with apt piecesof jewellery whichwere not blingy butthat look antique and rustic —seamlessly complementing thedesigns.

The reason why they took upthis craft was because it needs themotivation for maintaining theheritage of the country. At presentonly two families are workingwith the pure silk and naturaldyes for weaving Patola.Duplication in the markethas also affected this craft.

��*��;5�%���;��#� ������1��#��!� �!� �����'�����D/!�"�������1� �(����������� ���������

��#� �#����E����� ��:�!� ������1��&�&��A� �����./07�

A��/����A�=

:�������� �&�;

Samant Chauhan’sRajputana collec-

tion The Silk Routewas nothing lessthan a royal tale.This is the seventhtime that thedesigner hasworked with this theme. This sea-son the Rajputanas are travellingin search of the Silk Route. So,in the collection, they will

cross China, Tibet and Nepal,and will reach Mongoliaamidst heavy winter.

The ramp was as grandas the collection that hepresented. It took us back tothe Middle Ages wheretravellers along the SilkRoute were not onlyattracted by the trade butalso by the art and cultur-al exchange. “The chal-lenge for me was that Iuse Bhagalpuri silk,colours and embroi-dery. To do somethingdifferent while beingrestricted within theseboundaries is a diffi-cult task because if Irepeat, no one will

buy my clothes,” hesaid.

photos: SanjeevKumar

)�+!�+�E��!B,)�

,!�F!���)�=

�)�)� &+)=+)�

$�&��,�$&������ !����������!����&��� ���������#��( ���� !�������� ��� �������������E����� ��:�!� ������1�

�����#������������������

��� �� �������(�� � ��������� ���� ����� ����

#������������ ���$� ����� ������� ��������A���������������� �$�,��0����� �� ������������������� ����������� ���#�� ��� ������������������� �(���

����� �� �����������"������������

��������� �����

� ��������������� ���, � �1����������A� ������������ ;����#�������������� ���������4��������� �� �<���������� �� ��������������������� ��������#������������������A ������� �������������(����������A������.�

� /����BB�� �

�)'!�!,)�)�!

%���$�������� ���5����� ���%��2�����5������2����2%��+%�����������%5��:�����5������5%��5��-�%����

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� !�!����(�8� 9�@.

�4��G��+������������! ����"���!���+��!���&��������!����� ����"�(� ��+

���1������ �1����������!� �����'"&�!����!������������!��������� ���'Q!�"�+�,��,��'�������������,���� �#��V�����&�G����&!!���������1���������)��4��G��4!���� ��� �!���������( �������" ��!��3&�� �'�-��# ����������������( �������! �#�!����!)

Hummus has definitely become morepopular in India today than it has ever

been in the past. Hummus is a delight-fully tastier and healthier alternative tomost dips or spreads that you find in mostgrocery stores. There are many differentways in which hummus can be incorpo-rated in regular meals and snacks. Checkout eight different ideas to enjoy yourhummus. You’ll surely be eating morehummus!

Hummus ice cream: Yes, there ishummus ice-cream! Hummus flavoredice-cream is a real thing! A delicacy inIsrael, this one is sure to get your mouthwatering. Add milk, beat and freeze thehummus this summer, to beat the hot, sul-try Delhi heat. Garnish with dates.

Grilled pizza with spicy hummus,vegetables and cheese: Sounds unusualdoesn’t it? Trust us, this a must try for allpizza lovers! Trade in the tomato saucefor some hummus, and you’ll be in heav-en. We like this best on a crunchy creamcracker (the best part of pizza crust) andsprinkled with a little fresh-gratedparmesan/goat cheese. Or add yourfavorite pizza veggies — the onlylimit is your imagination.

Hummus mashed potatoes:Who doesn’t love mashed pota-toes? Instead of adding in loads ofsour cream, why not throw someflavorsome hummus into it? Stirin a little butter, salt, and a bigbatch of your favourite hum-mus. And believe it or not, itworks! Hummus mashed potatoesare easy and oh-so delicious! Theyare healthier than regular mashedpotatoes. Hummus flavored mashedpotatoes pair nicely with kebabs, lambstew, or chicken with Greek seasoning

Hummus avocado sandwich:

Hummus is a perfect substitute for anykind of sandwich spread. Using hummuson your sandwich as an alternative tomayo or nut butters is a great way to lowerthe fat content of your meal while addinga distinct flavor. Slather bread with hum-mus and throw in some sliced tomatoes,avocados, and lettuce, your lunch worriesare sorted!

Traditional hummus with pita andfalafel: Don’t break tradition. Stick witha falafel. Wrap it in a crisp pita, plate upwith some olives, feta cheese and pickledvegetables and you have a comfort foodfor yourself. Shake things up with yourfavourite roasted red pepper hummus orgarlic hummus and pair with wholewheat pita to go the healthy route. Enjoythis ultimate combination at BarbequeNation’s ongoing Wahrabia Festival inDelhi.

Hummus with raw veggies makes fora quick, healthy snack. It’s simple and easyto assemble. Fill a serving bowl with thehummus of your choosing and surroundthe bowl with assorted raw vegetables suchas sugar snap peas, sliced cucumber orzucchini, carrot or cherry tomatoes andyou are good to go!

Hummus wrap: Hummus is creamy,packed with flavours and guilt free.Add hummus to any wrap you’remaking — paneer, chicken, mutton— it’s delicious in taste, and veryhealthy for you.

Egg on toast, tomato and hum-mus: Breakfast it up! That’s right,hummus in the morning. This heartyand healthy combination is sure to

become a main request in your house.This is also a very versatile dish, easy to

make even if you are lacking an ingredi-ent.

:� ���������� ���� ���$�� �#�"���� ���

�����8����-�����&���! �1' 0������#��!! 0.���!�-�! ������ <�#�!� #���!�'��!�&�� <���$���� � 0H�!���� �"" �����,�! <�#�!

�����8� 5��1�#���� �� ��(�������������� �)�-���������������&��)�-��������������#��!!)�

��&��1�"" �����,�!� ������,��'��� �������)�6 *������������,�� �#��� ���!����� #���!�'�)� %�1������&�������� ��� ��( ��������(����������&���������,�� *�&��)��2� ��� ��"���I���&�!�����!��,�� �����������"���! �)

����������� �)��� $�������������� �� ���������,����$�

���!����� �

As we entered the restaurant, 3 PegsDown, our attention was down to a gaint

bull made up from scrap parts. The bull,which would make for an arthouse installa-tion project, was clearly aimedat conveyingthe theme of the wild west from the word go.The bartenders were dressed like cowboy,compelete with the boots and jackets.

Rajneesh, our guide for the evening,served us a watermelon star anise lemonadewhich was quite refreshing and zesty. He alsoserved texas basilica, which was made fromvodka, honey, basil and BlackBerry. It wasserved in a unique way — a big trumbler con-taing dry ice with a smaller shot glassinside. Visual appeal is something that newrestaurants are working on these days.

After our drinks, we were presented aplatter which had sweet chilli lotus stems,cheese sambousek, tandoori soya chaap andpaneer tikka with mayo and mint chutney.

Lotus stems were crispy and quite delec-table. The cheese sambousek was in the shapeof samosa but was not stuffed with thetypical potatoes and peas,it was filled with fetacheese. “Do not have thiswhen it is cold because itwill loose its crispness,”advised chef Dharam.

The tandori soyachaap, something which soyalovers should definitely try out ifthey plan to visit the restaurant.It was soft to chew and went best with mintchutney. “It is marinated with cottage cheese,mozzarella, blackpepper and salt,” said thechef.

Humus and pita were beautifully present-ed. The paneer tikka, however, was servedwith spring onions. The paneer cubes werewell marinated with the spices was soft andtasted best with the mint chutney.

Char grilled mushroom, on the otherhand, was served with humus and pita. As wetook a bite of the mushroom,it melted in our mouth.“It is marinated andthen grilled till itturns reddish.That is whenyou knowthat it hasb e c o m esoft,” saidDharam.

T h ec h i c k e nmini tacobites (barbe-qued chickentopped with melt-

ed cheese) andmasala tandoorijheenga (large

prawns marinated inmild Indian spices and

was cooked in tandoor)came with the usual expectation.

In the main course, we had vegetablemoussaka. The base layer consisted of egg-plants and spicy vegetables and was toppedwith potatoes.

In fact, it was baked so well that onewould not know that eggplant goes into thepreparation. It is the perfect replacement forlasagna.

Burrito is available in both the vegetar-ian and non-vegetarian version.

The Indian dishes are usual like they havedal makhani, kadahi paneer, butter chicken,mutton rogan josh et al. this is something thatyou can have in any of the restaurants inDelhi. But, if you want to have a good and

refreshing drinks then you must defi-nately visit to the restau-

rants. This concept-

based restau-rant is the

brainchild ofU m a n gTewari andaccordingto him, “Itis my mag-

num andmasterpiece.

This place hasan energy that will

keep you in high spir-its throughout.”

The Spice Route, a restaurant at TheImperial hotel, is one of its kind. Itis designed in the form of poetry

and has been heralded as one of the top10 restaurants in the world by CondéNastTraveller.

It has been designed to reflect thejourney of spices from the MalabarCoast in Kerala through Sri Lanka,Malaysia, and Indonesia to Thailand andVietnam.

Designed by Rajeev Sethi, the restau-rant has an architectural marvel thatoffers a unique dining experience in a dis-tinctively beautiful setting. The restaurant,that took seven years to finish, is com-pletely hand painted with vegetable andflower dyes by mural painters brought inespecially from a temple in Guruvayur inKerala with a tradition dating back to3,000 years. Designed on the principlesof Feng Shui, The Spice Route — a trea-sure trove of antiques — is divided intonine different sections, each a part of thejourney of life.

Keeping in tune with the impressivearchitecture of the place, the restaurant,too, is pretty much as impressive whenit comes to the dishes they offer.

For those who are non-vegeteriansand wants to quit it and are looking for-ward towards vegeterian food shoulddefinately try the vegan food at The SpiceRoute, The Imperial hotel, curated by chefde cusine, Veena Arora. The special menuoffers a perfect tease to your senses withmock meat as a star ingredient which willkeep you light and healthy.

Her inspiration for this special menuof vegan food is from Malaysia, as herhome town is near to it.

After we found a place for ourselves,we were served the por pia. It is Thai stylespring rolls stuffed with mock crabmeat. According to the chef, “The mockmeat is made of konjac (a vegetable fromKorea) and Tapioca.” As we took a bite

of it, we found it crunchy butwas soft to chew. Anotherappetizer that we had waswas luk shin thord. It wasvegan fish fried dumplingserved with sweet andtangy sauces and pickels.“It goes very well with thesauces as it adds flavourto it,” said the chef.Although its vegan,when you take a bite,you will get the taste offish.

“These days, peopleare asking for vegan food

and after seeng its demand,we decided to introduce it in

our restaurant. That was thesole inspiration for this menu,”

she said.Tauhu thoren, that we had next,

was made from the slices of tofu and wasfried with armatic spices from Kerala. Themoment we took a bite, it melted into ourmouth. Since it is prepared in southIndian spices one might find it a bit toopeppery but the dish would undoubted-ly be a favourite for those who like theirfood hot, especially tofu.

We also loved the way dish was pre-sented — with a generous topping ofcurry leaves, giving it the look of typicalSouth Indian dish. “We have used gin-ger finger, green pepper and Kerala spicesin each of our dish,” said Arora.

As soon as we finished tauhu thoren,chef Arora presented Kung Chae Thord.It was in the shape of prawns. “It goes bet-ter with sweet chilli sauce,” she pointedout, insisting that we try the combination.And we were not disappointed.

In the main course, we had the kaichae phad phirk. It was mock chickenmeat stir fried with bamboo shoot andbell pepers. The dish is such that whenyou carve out a piece, it will actually feellike as if you are carving meat.

What we liked most was the Malabarcurry which was served with steamedrice. The curry was sweet, tangy and chilli— at the same time. The best part of itwas that when we tasted it, it tasted likebeing made from yoghurt. “It tastes so butsince it is vegan food we cannot use dairyproducts so we make it with soya,” chefVeena surprised us.

To end the gastronomic journey ona sweet note, we had ice cream krathi.Normally when you hear of ice cream, thefirst essential ingredient that comes toyour mind would me milk. But chefVeena’s version of this popular dessert wasmade from tofu. She explained, “To pairthe ice- cream with the vegan food, wemade it with tofu and is flavoured withcoconut cream and garnished with cornkernels.”

What we liked about the veganfood prepared by the was that it washealthy and was made in the minimal oil.“Tofu is rich in protien, vitamin and cal-cium. So it is good for health,” chef Veenapointed out.

%���5� �����&�����%������� ����������!������&��( ������(�,�#������&�&�������'����"����& ! ��+�B���������)�5���!����!( �����;%� 65���

���������"�������!����� �!� �����'����6���'! ����& ! ������!�����!�# ,�����( !����� ��( ��� �����!� ��!

+��%����&��

2��:�B���������2���6� �������=�����2%5��%�%�:������5�=�������5��$�B�%�����$����B�$���:�����%�5%�-=��5�$���6�%2 ������5�2�5��%����������%�����2�55

����������� '�<�&��*����� ����� ����=���� �&��������%����&'��������� �����' ������� ��> �����������&������&�&����'�����(�����"$�5��.$ �������

� � � � ������ �� ��;�����0���/=

��� ����0�A������< �������#�8:�������"����� ��������'�&������� ���&��&!( �������,�����!���( ���������!��( ����(�,�#������!)�2��"���B��� $��>��B�5 � !�!� #���(�'!��&��&!�������!�,�&���

��&�#��'�&�!��"� ���������'��"���� � �&!����� E��!�����!&!� !�� 1��1�1 �#��,�#�����&��+

'�1 ��� ��� �1������,�#�1��!&+�2�� "��� �������(� ��'�&������� ��( ���:������ �( ��!�� 1��:������ 2��������5�&, #��������� ��+�:������ �5��# ,��!������ ��+�:������ �2��� ��-������� ���� ������:������ �5��# ,��!��- ������� ���� ��������A%��;�����!����!��&����) 8��!�6�6�����.<A.7)

����������! ��

�"���� +�%���� ������E������������ �'� !��""�� �#��( ������#���"��&""��(� �����!�!��� ����� ��� �!�"������ �#&�!�!)�2�������������������� ( ������� � ����"���!������ �1!����"����'��������"( ���!���!���"�����!�������,�( ���'�&����������!)�5�����"������� ��� �!�!��,��� ������&""�����������������#&9 '�+�� ���(������������,

2���������� ,����� ���( ���'�&��"� ���!���'����-����# ���!�������!��&����

#����&�������!��'�&�"�������� ##�!��%./�� �1����*���,�#��E�)������"���'�&�"�,�&� �������!�(� ���!�,�&� �#������ �1������������� ��� �!�� 1��5���� �#5��'�+�6�* 4!���,��!��5��#+�6'!��� �&!����'��+�5����4!�:� ����+�5� �#�6�� �#�+�������9��4!����!��+�B ���4!2���������������"�()����� ��������"��������������#�������� ������'�����"����(���&� �#����������) %����� !��'�&����!����&�!�( ������

�����'��!!����������������"�#� ��)��&�#�� ��9& �'+�!��1'�������� #��"&��'"��,��!������ ���� !��!����2�&���'+�-��W�%������+�%���6������� ����������X�5��)%������&� ���&��!��������1� �1��1����+6&���� ��������� 11�+��&�#��#��� ��� 11�+5&���� ������ +��&������&!�� �!��1��������'������!��,���( ������ � �&!�������� ����!�����������(��� �#�!����I/������"�2� ,�!)��� !����� ���6�����I0)

%���$�&��:�!�� !�����!��������������1��� �!���!����������;���5��� &�� �

���� �"����0T��A./���6�����0T����./)%�����!��&����!����� � ��� �#����5�� ��+��%6A�2�+��� #����� +� '� �+������.D+����'�5��1�+�������� ��+- #�:���5���( ��+�-��(��5&#��+�- #���#+�5&!� ���&!��6�" �+��##9����'+ �'��� ����+�:�&""��!+� �,�����!+-&�#���5 �#�+�������$� ��+� ���!+5�����+���(�6���!+����&���!���2����+����"#��#+�2��'��,������5����!������������"�()�

"��" ����'$

��� ����%����5%����5��5�$�����������%����B��2�����%./��������%��:�2�5�������������$=���%�����C%�$�6�)���KB��$�%�%�:�2�5����%��%�����������:��6���%���������R���$����45�;�5�-�%%����

C5�&����"� �����,��(��������������!��9&!������ ��"�&�������!����'����#� �!�

��#����� ���%./)��������+����'��,��(���!�,��+���!������������������������� ��00����� �#!

�*.�/) 3�'1+$/4 3��/1#*�56����5� @6

C� 1� ��+2���6*���������H�*�*�� $�+���*�������*2 K3;&����

� 0 � = + - � � �

5�&����"� ���,!��&!���� � �����

�B��5����5����!�8PI/���*��

���

� � � � : � # �

Bruised and battered by the ChrisGayle mauling, England arefaced with a must-win situation

as they look ways to contain SouthAfrica in their ICC World Twenty20match here on Friday.

Shell-shocked by Gayle's record47-ball century, England are requiredto win against the Proteas, to whomthey lost 0-2 in the tune-up to the tour-nament, if they are to progress to thesemi finals from Group 1.

The 2010 champions' under-firebowlers and fielders will be up againsta strong rival batting line-up compris-ing the innovative A B de Villiers -holder of the world's fastest 50, 100 and150 in ODIs, big-hitting David Millerand the solidity of captain Faf duPlessis, Hashim Amla, Quinton deKock and J P Duminy.

The key, perhaps, would be howeffectively England's spinners — AdilRashid and Moeen Ali — can performafter being sent to the cleaners by thebig-swinging bat of Gayle who strucksuccessive sixes into the top tiers of theWankhede stadium off both these slowbowlers.

With Steyn back into the squadafter his injury woes, South Africa'sbowling attack looks truly formidable.

Apart from their spinners,England's pace battery was also rippedapart by Gayle and Marlon Samuelswho belted sixes off Ben Stokes andDavid Willey.

If England want to alter their pacecombination they have Liam Plunkett,a late replacement for the injured SteveFinn, to call upon to fill in for one ofthe pacers.

The toss, won by Darren Sammy,proved an important one for WestIndies and on Friday the team winningit could insert the other side in so asto avoid bowling and fielding when thedew fall is heavy.

The one major plus in England'sheavy six-wicket defeat to the Windieswas the forthright batting, sans theT20-style slogs, by their premier Testbatsman Joe Root, who is ranked sec-ond by the ICC presently. His elegant48 was the platform on which Englandposted a competitive score of 182.

It's not going to be an easy task forMorgan's side though they do have thepersonnel to deliver the goods underpressure.

�F��0South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt),

Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, FarhaanBehardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), ABde Villiers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir,David Miller, Chris Morris, AaronPhangiso, Kagiso Rabada, RileeRossouw, Dale Steyn, David Wiese.

England: England: Jason Roy,James Vince, Alex Hales, Joe Root,Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan (capt), JosButtler (wk), Ben Stokes, Sam Billings,David Willey, Liam Plunkett, ReeceTopley, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid,Liam Dawson.

High-flying New Zealand willhave their tails up and eye

another upset when they resumethe trans-Tasman rivalry with astrong Australian side in the ICCWorld Twenty20 here on Friday.

Both sides are seeking a maid-en triumph in this global event.

New Zealand are on a highhaving shocked tournamentfavourites and hosts India in theircampaign opener.

Their batsmen may havefound the going difficult in thefirst match but the bowlersbrought them right into the game.The spin-trio of Ish Sodhi,Mitchell Santner and NathanMcCullum shared nine wicketsamong them to comfortablydefend a low total of 126.

If the pitch at HPCA offersturn, Kiwi captain KaneWilliamson, who made a bolddecision by dropping pace duo ofTim Southee and Trent Boultagainst India, will continue withsame spin trio.

However, Australia havealways been an indomitable side,especially in big events like theWorld Cup, and they too willfancy their chances on Friday.

Australia and New Zealandhave only met four times since theinaugural international T20 matchbetween them in 2005 and havenever played each other outsideAustralasia. New Zealand wontheir last encounter — back in2010 — in a Super Over butAustralia have been winners onevery other occasion.

Australia have played justseven T20 internationals since thestart of 2015 and they come intothe game having done a lot tinker-ing with their line-up.

Australia are still looking tofind their best final XI after chop-ping and changing during therecent T20I series versus India andSouth Africa.

Given their IPL experience, itwould not be surprising to see theAustralian batsmen dominatingthe show. The top four could com-prise Shane Watson, Aaron Finch,Steven Smith and David Warner.The big-hitting Glenn Maxwelland Marsh are game changers intheir own right. So New Zealandwill have their task cut out.

As far as New Zealand battingis concerned, Corey Anderson,

Ross Taylor and Kane Williamsonwill be the key players and theyalso have the experience of play-ing in the sub-continent.

Having failed to impress aftergetting out to rash shots in theopener, Guptill and Munro wouldalso be looking to make amends.

�F��0New Zealand: Kane Williamson(C), Martin Guptill, HenryNicholls, Luke Ronchi, RossTaylor, Colin Munro, MitchellSanter, Nathan McCullum, GrantElliott, Mitchell McClenaghan,Tim Southee, Trent Boult, AdamMilne, Ish Sodhi, CoreyAnderson.Australia: Steven Smith (C),David Warner, Ashton Agar,Nathan Coulter-Nile, JamesFaulkner, Aaron Finch, JohnHastings, Josh Hazlewood, UsmanKhawaja, Mitchell Marsh, GlennMaxwell, Peter Nevill, AndrewTye, Shane Watson, Adam Zampa.

����■ ��������

IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore haswritten to the Indian cricket board (BCCI), inti-

mating them about Vijay Mallya's resignationfrom the post of Director of Royal ChallengersSports Private Limited (RCSPL).

The new chairman of Royal ChallengerBangalore is Amrit Thomas, President and ChiefMarketing Officer of United Spirits.

According to reliable sources, the top BCCIofficials in the IPL governing council received ane-mail on March 7 from franchise official RussellAdams, informing the board about the currentownership status in the franchise.

"Yes, we received an e-mail communicationfrom Russell Adams, who will now be the manin-charge of the RCB team. The e-mail stated thatDr Vijay Mallya has resigned from his post asDirector of RCSPL and will only be an HonoraryChief Mentor till his son Siddhartha is in theBoard of Directors," a senior BCCI official, in theknow of things told on Thursday.

The letter stated that Siddhartha Mallya willbe present in the Board of Directors "in a limit-ed role should the members wish to consult him".

Adams, who is a Vice-President (CommercialOperations and Cricket Academy at RCB), alsomade it clear that there will be "no change in own-ership pattern" due to Mallya's resignation.

Adams will be the point of contact for theBCCI reharding franchise related matters.

The BCCI official said that clarity on own-ership was required after Mallya's resignation.

"BCCI has some strict rules and regulationsin place regarding franchise ownership changinghands. The owners need to intimate BCCIbeforehand whether there is partial or completetransfer of stake. As of now they have made it clearthere is no change in ownership pattern in RCSPLwhich is a subsidiary of United Spirits, which iscontrolled by Diageo," the official said.

Mallya, who has defaulted in loans in excessof �9000 crore, is facing probe by various inves-tigative agencies. The 60-year-old bought RCB in2008 but the popular franchise has not been ableto win a single IPL title.

!�����"��#���������"������"��� �#��� �+��&�����&�� ( !���������A!���&!! �!�&���������� �#����&�A��,��

���2�� �26�+�+����2������*��2�����*����2��� �� �8�����6� 1����� 1� �

After a terrific perfor-mance in their opener

against Sri Lanka, high onconfidence New Zealandeves will take on Ireland atPCA stadium here on Friday.

���8��� 0�/A�B Theteam showed how dangerousit can be with its convincingwin over the island nation. Ifthe bowling was an all-roundshow, then their batting wasa level above with skipperSuzie Bates leading from thefront. In today's match the Kiwisare likely to go for five spin-

ners.

��G�����/B We startedoff well, but nothing can betaken for granted. We areinspired and motivated bythe performance of Men'steam and it feels great to playhere where cricket is like areligion and people watchwith so much passion.

� 0��0�������� 0BIreland has been given thetag of underdogs coming intothis tournament. Despite the tag placed overtheir head, the Irish team, ledby Isobel Joyce, will be look-ing for an optimistic startagainst the more establishedopponents.

� � � 8 � ' $ �

$� �� �����������%��&������+������ ���������� ��������A�+��� ����� ��������������� ��� �����������# �� ������������ �����# ��A���������� ���#���#������#������� ������4�����������(����!���(A������������������������3��������� ���� ��� ����(�������#�����A�+���� ����)����;, ���<�� ������ ������������A� ����� ��� ���#�������� ��������: ���A����#��������������������� ������$��������������� �A�+���� ���������������# �� ����#������A�+���� �� ���������������# ���#��� ���� ���� #���������� (�� ���������#���������$�/������������A ���������(����������� �"�������A�-����� ��������������� ���4���������������� � ��������A���������� ��������� �� ���$������ ������ ���������������A

G�*�� ��� �� ��*�������

$� ����#������'�(�������!������������������������ ����#�� ��������������������������� � �# ����$������������ �������&������������# ����� ��/�����(��� ���$���������������������������������� ���� �3����� ��������)�A�+���� ��#���������� ���������������� ������� �3�����#������ ��� #���� �����������������$�������������������#������

G�������)���� �(����� � ����������

)�� ��������#������� ���� �(� #����&������� �$�#���� ����;� ����<����������� ��$�����������A� ���� ������� ���$�������(� ������������������&���� ���� �3������ ������ ���#������������������������ ��#�� ������������ ����(���� ������� ��� � ��A�+��������������H9I89� ��� �������������� ��������� ������ ���#�������������������� ��������(������������: ����� ���

G��!������ �� ����������

��������**��+��

� ���*�� �$: ����� ���� ����������4� ,-./

�� ����>9!��� ��� ������� ��$���� ��B���������

��&�����2����������-* �4��

� / � � � � < : ��

���1 �#�"��(�������!��(�����-�����B �� ��!�

���!�"���&!� ��������&���A����+��&���!������ ����(����,����"�(�#&'!�(��

�������1 �#�#�������(��������� �#�� ���&�

���1!� ��#����"�������� � !������#���&!�! #��"��

��������! � ��R 5�&����"� ���!1 ����

:�"��&����!! !

������1��������#���!��!��&!�A( �+������ ��'�������*�����+# ,��������(�����'������ #��� �! � �������� � ��!)���� �������!�"�����(���!���� #��������(�!�#� �!�� ( !��(���A&��+������(�!��������"��&��������������#���(��)����������!!��!� ��(�&������!�+� �����������#��������� ������5�&����"� ���#����R ��#���������� ��� ��6��#��

%���./0/�2��6���5K������A:���-�����5�����:�����5����-������$��5%���5%���$�B���-�%%�$����A��2�6��5�$�%������B�%B���-����B����5�R���������:%��������K5�:�5%�5%�</+�0//����0</�����5+�-$A�%%�$��B��6����+�2��%���:�:������555+���5�6��6��+M��%������ �2 �����;����6�=

� � � � � �C � # �

����$�!� *�*��

���

���

�')7!�:� !�*.�������)���� ��� ����� �������������� ��� ������������ ���� � )�

�+*��!��!��!).�)��� �� ��� ���� ������ �� ��������� ���� � �������F� � ������ � � � )�

!�0�E��� ��+2��62*�����H�0����*���� H�$�+���*�������*2 ;3&&���� � = � � � 4 � � �

� � � H@ �&!���� ��������(�>�������( �����

"�� �#������������"�������" �!��� ��� �������%./)

. ��#����!����� ( !���,��"���������������" ,��� ��!� ��������!�+( ����&!���� ��( �� �#�"�&������������������������ �#��!���� �)

�@� 2� �� �������'+��������������!�� #�A�!��������������#� �!���������������� �!����.0H)��&!���� ��!�����.0H<� ��.//<�����.0HH� ��./0/+(� ��+� ( !�����#���.0H7� �./0/)

@@6 -�������6�2&��&�� !��������'����'A������!�����������&�'� ���� !����!�+(�����������&������� ����!! ,�007������&�� ��./0/����2�� !���&���)

-�����-�������

$B���%��������C�����2�+�%���������%�-�5����5�$�%��5���%�����5%������-�%56����6��%�$�%���5���)�%���%���:����2����

2�6��5��5�������%5��+�������:�2�+�5%�B��56%��������B��������+�:��������-=�-$A�%%�$

$�����6�C���������6%2�����6��5�

����$�!� 0����*����

�!�

����$�!� *����

��������������������'��

*�����������@��,�

��(�>�������,!�������*����

�B��5����5����!�IPI/���*��

��@

C M Y K

C M Y K