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T he Congress on Monday staked claim to provide an alternative Government in Goa, which is facing political crisis following prolonged ill- ness of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The Congress, which has 16 members in the 40-member State Assembly, submitted a memorandum to Governor Mridula Sinha, urging her not to dissolve the Assembly and instead invite the party to form the Government. The State is being ruled by the BJP-led alliance with the saffron party having 14 MLAs. While the Congress is in a wait and watch mode, BJP Central unit has sent three senior leaders — Ram Lal, BL Santhosh and Vinay Puranik — to meet the State party leaders and allies to take stock of the political situation. Kavalekar said the Congress has support of legis- lators from other parties and can form a Government if given a chance by the Governor. “We will prove our majority on the floor of the House,” he said. However, BJP leader Ram Lal said the Goa Government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership. He stated this after a meeting with party MLAs, former legislators and core committee members. He said the BJP’s alliance partners — the Goa Forward Party (GFP), the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and Independents — conveyed that they will agree to any political decision taken by the BJP. AICC Goa incharge A Chella Kumar said the party High Command is keeping an eye on the development in Panjim, and the State Congress unit is in touch with some local parties even as some of the dis- gruntled BJP MLAs have reached out to the Congress. “The Congress is ready to provide a stable alternative Government provided other parties are ready to join hands with us by not compromising the interests of the people of Goa,” said Kumar, who suc- ceeded Digvijay Singh after the Congress High Command removed him for failing to stake claim to form the Government even though the Congress emerged the single largest party after the 2017 Assembly polls. Leader of Opposition Chandrakant Kavlekar said the Congress party has submitted a memorandum to the Governor staking claim to form an alternate Government. All the 16 Congress MLAs, led by Kavlekar, went to the Raj Bhavan but could not meet the Governor as she is out of the State. “The party urged the Governor not to consider dis- solution of the Assembly, which is a possibility considering internal fighting in the ruling alliance and illness of Parrikar,” Kavlekar said. The BJP has 14 seats in the Assembly, its allies Goa Forward Party and MGP have three each. Three Independents and an MLA from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also support the BJP. The MGP, which is one of the constituents of the NDA Government in Goa with three MLAs, said a “common solu- tion” on the political situation rising out of the indisposition of the CM has to come from the BJP. “This is a coalition Government but the decision (on governance in the absence of Parrikar) has to be taken by the BJP since it is the largest party in the State Government. We are waiting for a common solution, which the BJP will give us,” MGP chief Deepak Dhavalikar said. The solution should be in sync with what the allies have been requesting, he said, adding that his party had not given any specific proposal to the BJP on a change of leader- ship. “Yes, we have told them (the BJP) if they are consider- ing it (change in leadership), then charge should be given to the senior-most Minister. We continue to stick to our demand,” Dhavalikar said. Parrikar, 62, who is suffer- ing from a pancreatic ailment, is admitted in AIIMS for treat- ment. T he Government on Monday unveiled another important step to address the problems being faced by the public sector banks in view of shrinking credit growth and ballooning NPAs. As part of the measures, the Centre announced that State-owned Bank of Baroda (BoB), Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank will be merged to create the country’s third largest lender. Announcing the decision, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the merger will make the banks stronger and sustainable as well as increase their lending ability. He said bank lending was becoming weak, hurting cor- porate sector investments, and many banks were in a fragile condition due to excessive lending and soaring NPAs. More such merger pro- posals are understood to be in the offing. The Modi Government had constituted a ministerial committee headed by Jaitley in October to oversee merger prospects of State-owned PSU banks. The other committee also included Union Railways and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. State Bank of India last year merged with itself five of its subsidiary banks and taking over Bharatiya Mahila Bank, a niche State-run lender for women. As was in case of the SBI, no employee of the three banks would have service con- ditions that are adverse to their present one. The Government owns majority stakes in 21 lenders, which account for more than two-thirds of banking assets in the Asia’s third biggest econo- my. But these PSU banks also account for the lion’s share of NPAs and need crores of rupees in new capital in the next two years to meet global Basel III capital norms. I n a horrifying incident that has put a big question mark on the safety and security of railway gatemen, three men on a bike severed the hands of a gateman after he refused to open a level-crossing gate in north Delhi’s Narela area because a train was approach- ing, railway officials said on Monday. Gatemen Kundan Pathak’s hands were reattached after a major surgery that went on for more than four hours in a hos- pital in Rohini, said Northern Railway spokesperson Nitin Chowdhury. The 28-year-old, who also received serious injuries to his legs and neck, was attacked around 1 am on Monday while posted at a level- crossing at Delhi- Haryana border. In the inci- dent, the gateman’s friend who had come to meet him was also attacked by the assailants. “The victim hails from Bishanpur in Banka district of Bihar and was manning gate number 19 at Safiabad crossing which is adjacent to Narela in the national Capital. Pathak’s friend Chandan Kumar Singh, who comes from the same vil- lage in Bihar, was with him when three men on a bike came and demanded that the level- crossing gate be opened. “Due to security reasons, Pathak refused as the 18101 Muri Express train was approaching, following which the accused beat him and chopped off his hands with a sharp weapon. Chandan was also injured in the attack,” said Tara Chand, Station House Officer (SHO), Government Railway Police (GRP), Sonepat (Haryana). The SHO said the Muri Express stopped after getting a distress signal and rushed Pathak to a hospital in Sonepat where he received emergency first aid. He was then taken to the Northern Railway Central Hospital in Delhi and finally shifted to Saroj Hospital in Rohini, whereas Chandan has been admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, said the SHO. Pathak’s one hand was almost severed and the other was detached from the forearm and severely mutilated, the official said. “All expenses are being taken care of by the Railways,” said the spokesperson, adding that an FIR has been lodged against unknown persons and investigation is going on. P rime Minister Narendra Modi spent his 68th birth- day on Monday in his Lok Sabha constituency in Varanasi during which he gave a pep talk to schoolchildren telling them never to feel afraid to ask ques- tions, saying it is a key aspect of learning. Modi, who is on a 2-day visit to Varanasi, first interact- ed with students of a primary school at Narur on the outskirts of the temple town and later met students of the Kashi Vidyapeeth and the children assisted by them at the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW) campus. “As students, it is vital to ask questions. Never feel afraid to ask questions. It is a key aspect of learning,” Modi said in his interaction at the Narur school on a variety of subjects, calling the children “future of India”. A smile lit up the face of the schoolchildren when the PM said they must give impor- tance to sports and must go out and play since it is essential. “Students must give impor- tance to sports. It is important to learn various skills, this will help you forever,” he said. After Modi left the school, one of the students said, “Modi kaka told us ‘khelogey to khilo- gey’ (you will bloom only if you play). “I came to your school on the special day of Vishwakarma jayanti. My greetings to everyone on this special day,” he told the students. Earlier, the students wel- comed him enthusiastically saying “Swagatam PM.” The school is aided by a non-prof- it organisation, Room to Read. R ashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday asserted that the Sangh is one of ‘the most democratic’ organisa- tions where decisions are taken with the consensus of ‘swayam- sevaks’. Explaining that the RSS is singularly engaged in the con- struction of “vyakti nirman” in each street, ‘mohalla’ and vil- lage to awaken a society that is devoted to “Rashtra nirman”, Bhagwat said the decline of Hindus was on account of decline in “our values” for that “we should not be blaming Muslim invaders”. Calling for shaping up individuals who are laden with good values and self-less char- acter, he said the RSS aim is to unite Hindus. “RSS ka kaam vyakti nir- man hai aur RSS iski method- ology hain”, Bhawat said sum- ming up the role of his organ- isation which has been subject of multiple scrutiny in its over 90 years existence. He said the RSS is not con- cerned with as who would run the Government as this is to be decided by the people of the country who should be endowed with good character and ‘achcha acharan’ and re- ehphasised that his organisa- tion is working to raise a soci- ety where people work for every one’s progress and well- being. Har mohalla, Gao main aisi toli khari karna, achche swayamsevak khare karna, Sangh yahin hain, isse jyada kuch nahin hain”, RSS leader said. Delivering his address in the first day of the three-day lecture series here at ‘Vigyan Bhawan’, the RSS head said there was a great misconcep- tion that the Sangh was a “dic- tatorial organisation” and asserted that the outfit works with the consensus of all swayamsevak’ and has not place for a remote control. He said even the founder of the RSS Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar decided on running ‘shakhas’ three months after it came into existence in 1925 when other ‘swayamsevaks’ so decided. Bhagwat said even his par- ticipation in ‘Shakha’ is moni- tored by the ‘Shakha’ head of which he happens to be a member in Nagpur. The RSS chief said the RSS is self-reliant and does not take a ‘single paise’ from out- side as it its run with voluntary contribution of RSS works described as “gurudakshina”. Clearing air about women not being visible in the RSS, he said RSS was not an organisa- tion of ‘sanyasin’ and pointed out to the existence of ‘Rashtriya Sevika Samiti’, the women wing of the Sangh. He said the RSS does not run after the publicity. “We remained faceless for so long so that it does not lead to arro- gance” among those becoming known and famous. He said the publicity department was set up only in 1980. “Meri prasid- hi nahin, Karya ki Prasidhi’ ( not my fame but that of my work), is the aim of a ‘swayam- sevak’ in Sangh, Bhagwat said. The RSS chief prefaced the RSS exposition by first giving a detail account of Hedgewar’s work in the freedom struggle and his thought saying “to understand RSS start with Hedgear.” Bhagwat quoted RSS founder telling first swayamse- vaks that they should be devot- ing themselves like a seed does by surrendering itself to the soil. Bhagwat would be present on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday he would give his understanding of Hindu and Hindutva and on the last day reply to the written questions. B ihar's seasoned politician and Lok Sabha member Pappu Yadav says that jailed vet- eran politician Lalu Yadav has become irrelevant in politics and his main backer, the powerful Yadav youth, are desperately looking for a new face outside the Lalu family to lead them. "The era of Lalu's monopoly in Bihar, mainly on Yadavs and Muslims, is virtually over. Yadav youth have no sympathy and affiliation with him now. The entire Lalu family exploited the Yadavs and Muslims in Bihar for decades," claimed the 50-year- old Pappu Yadav, the founder of Jan Adhikar Party, in an inter- view. Pappu Yadav is in active politics for about three decades and he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991. He defeat- ed senior leader Sharad Yadav in the 2014 parliamentary polls in Madhepura to become a Lok Sabha member for the fifth time. Pappu Yadav's wife Ranjeet Ranjan is a Lok Sabha member from the Congress from Bihar's Supaul seat. As per 2011 census, Yadavs make up 14 per cent of Bihar's population while Muslims con- stitute 16.9 percent. Yadavs and Muslims have always been the core vote bank for Lalu Yadav, the former chief minister of Bihar. "The older generation among Yadav and Muslim have some sympathy for Lalu because he is in ailing after being con- victed in the fodder scam but I can tell you the Yadav youth dis- like him and are looking for a fresh face who can economically empower them," said Pappu Yadav. Continued on Page 4 D S Misra has been appoint- ed as Chairman of Chhattisgarh State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Advocate Vinod Deshmukh has been appoint- ed as Member ( Legal ) of the Commission. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

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����� ��������

The Congress on Mondaystaked claim to provide an

alternative Government inGoa, which is facing politicalcrisis following prolonged ill-ness of Chief MinisterManohar Parrikar.

The Congress, which has16 members in the 40-memberState Assembly, submitted amemorandum to GovernorMridula Sinha, urging her notto dissolve the Assembly andinstead invite the party to formthe Government. The State isbeing ruled by the BJP-ledalliance with the saffron partyhaving 14 MLAs.

While the Congress is in await and watch mode, BJPCentral unit has sent threesenior leaders — Ram Lal, BLSanthosh and Vinay Puranik —to meet the State party leadersand allies to take stock of thepolitical situation.

Kavalekar said theCongress has support of legis-lators from other parties andcan form a Government ifgiven a chance by theGovernor. “We will prove ourmajority on the floor of theHouse,” he said.

However, BJP leader RamLal said the Goa Governmentis stable and no demand hasbeen made for a change in theleadership. He stated this aftera meeting with party MLAs,former legislators and corecommittee members. He saidthe BJP’s alliance partners —the Goa Forward Party (GFP),the Maharashtrawadi

Gomantak Party (MGP) andIndependents — conveyed thatthey will agree to any politicaldecision taken by the BJP.

AICC Goa incharge AChella Kumar said the partyHigh Command is keeping aneye on the development inPanjim, and the State Congressunit is in touch with some localparties even as some of the dis-gruntled BJP MLAs havereached out to the Congress.

“The Congress is ready toprovide a stable alternativeGovernment provided otherparties are ready to join handswith us by not compromisingthe interests of the people ofGoa,” said Kumar, who suc-ceeded Digvijay Singh afterthe Congress High Command

removed him for failing tostake claim to form theGovernment even though theCongress emerged the singlelargest party after the 2017Assembly polls.

Leader of OppositionChandrakant Kavlekar said theCongress party has submitteda memorandum to theGovernor staking claim toform an alternate Government.All the 16 Congress MLAs, ledby Kavlekar, went to the RajBhavan but could not meet theGovernor as she is out of theState.

“The party urged theGovernor not to consider dis-solution of the Assembly, whichis a possibility consideringinternal fighting in the ruling

alliance and illness of Parrikar,”Kavlekar said.

The BJP has 14 seats in theAssembly, its allies GoaForward Party and MGP havethree each. Three Independentsand an MLA from NationalistCongress Party (NCP) alsosupport the BJP.

The MGP, which is one ofthe constituents of the NDAGovernment in Goa with threeMLAs, said a “common solu-tion” on the political situationrising out of the indispositionof the CM has to come fromthe BJP. “This is a coalitionGovernment but the decision(on governance in the absenceof Parrikar) has to be taken bythe BJP since it is the largestparty in the State Government.

We are waiting for a commonsolution, which the BJP willgive us,” MGP chief DeepakDhavalikar said.

The solution should be insync with what the allies havebeen requesting, he said,adding that his party had notgiven any specific proposal tothe BJP on a change of leader-ship.

“Yes, we have told them(the BJP) if they are consider-ing it (change in leadership),then charge should be given tothe senior-most Minister. Wecontinue to stick to ourdemand,” Dhavalikar said.

Parrikar, 62, who is suffer-ing from a pancreatic ailment,is admitted in AIIMS for treat-ment.

����� ��������

The Government onMonday unveiled another

important step to address theproblems being faced by thepublic sector banks in view ofshrinking credit growth andballooning NPAs. As part of themeasures, the Centreannounced that State-ownedBank of Baroda (BoB), VijayaBank and Dena Bank will bemerged to create the country’sthird largest lender.

Announcing the decision,Union Finance Minister ArunJaitley said the merger willmake the banks stronger andsustainable as well as increasetheir lending ability.

He said bank lending wasbecoming weak, hurting cor-porate sector investments, andmany banks were in a fragilecondition due to excessivelending and soaring NPAs.

More such merger pro-posals are understood to be inthe offing.

The Modi Governmenthad constituted a ministerialcommittee headed by Jaitley inOctober to oversee merger

prospects of State-owned PSUbanks. The other committeealso included Union Railwaysand Coal Minister PiyushGoyal and Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman.

State Bank of India last yearmerged with itself five of itssubsidiary banks and takingover Bharatiya Mahila Bank, aniche State-run lender forwomen. As was in case of theSBI, no employee of the threebanks would have service con-

ditions that are adverse to theirpresent one.

The Government ownsmajority stakes in 21 lenders,which account for more thantwo-thirds of banking assets inthe Asia’s third biggest econo-my.

But these PSU banks alsoaccount for the lion’s share ofNPAs and need crores ofrupees in new capital in thenext two years to meet globalBasel III capital norms.

����������������������� ��

In a horrifying incident thathas put a big question mark

on the safety and security ofrailway gatemen, three men ona bike severed the hands of agateman after he refused toopen a level-crossing gate innorth Delhi’s Narela areabecause a train was approach-ing, railway officials said onMonday.

Gatemen Kundan Pathak’shands were reattached after amajor surgery that went on formore than four hours in a hos-pital in Rohini, said NorthernRailway spokesperson NitinChowdhury. The 28-year-old,who also received seriousinjuries to his legs and neck,was attacked around 1 am onMonday while posted at alevel- crossing at Delhi-Haryana border. In the inci-dent, the gateman’s friend whohad come to meet him was alsoattacked by the assailants.

“The victim hails fromBishanpur in Banka district ofBihar and was manning gatenumber 19 at Safiabad crossingwhich is adjacent to Narela inthe national Capital. Pathak’sfriend Chandan Kumar Singh,who comes from the same vil-lage in Bihar, was with himwhen three men on a bike cameand demanded that the level-crossing gate be opened.

“Due to security reasons,Pathak refused as the 18101Muri Express train wasapproaching, following whichthe accused beat him and

chopped off his hands with asharp weapon. Chandan wasalso injured in the attack,” saidTara Chand, Station HouseOfficer (SHO), GovernmentRailway Police (GRP), Sonepat(Haryana).

The SHO said the MuriExpress stopped after getting adistress signal and rushedPathak to a hospital in Sonepatwhere he received emergencyfirst aid.

He was then taken to theNorthern Railway CentralHospital in Delhi and finally

shifted to Saroj Hospital inRohini, whereas Chandan hasbeen admitted to RamManohar Lohia hospital, saidthe SHO.

Pathak’s one hand wasalmost severed and the otherwas detached from the forearmand severely mutilated, theofficial said.

“All expenses are beingtaken care of by the Railways,”said the spokesperson, addingthat an FIR has been lodgedagainst unknown persons andinvestigation is going on.

����� �������

Prime Minister NarendraModi spent his 68th birth-

day on Monday in his LokSabha constituency in Varanasiduring which he gave a pep talkto schoolchildren telling themnever to feel afraid to ask ques-tions, saying it is a key aspectof learning.

Modi, who is on a 2-dayvisit to Varanasi, first interact-ed with students of a primaryschool at Narur on the outskirtsof the temple town and latermet students of the KashiVidyapeeth and the childrenassisted by them at the DieselLocomotive Works (DLW)campus.

“As students, it is vital toask questions. Never feel afraidto ask questions. It is a keyaspect of learning,” Modi saidin his interaction at the Narurschool on a variety of subjects,calling the children “future of

India”.A smile lit up the face of

the schoolchildren when thePM said they must give impor-tance to sports and must go outand play since it is essential.

“Students must give impor-tance to sports. It is importantto learn various skills, this willhelp you forever,” he said.

After Modi left the school,one of the students said, “Modikaka told us ‘khelogey to khilo-

gey’ (you will bloom only if youplay).

“I came to your school onthe special day of Vishwakarmajayanti.

My greetings to everyoneon this special day,” he told thestudents.

Earlier, the students wel-comed him enthusiasticallysaying “Swagatam PM.” Theschool is aided by a non-prof-it organisation, Room to Read.

������������ ��������

Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) chief Mohan

Bhagwat on Monday assertedthat the Sangh is one of ‘themost democratic’ organisa-tions where decisions are takenwith the consensus of ‘swayam-sevaks’.

Explaining that the RSS issingularly engaged in the con-struction of “vyakti nirman” ineach street, ‘mohalla’ and vil-lage to awaken a society that isdevoted to “Rashtra nirman”,Bhagwat said the decline ofHindus was on account ofdecline in “our values” for that“we should not be blamingMuslim invaders”.

Calling for shaping upindividuals who are laden withgood values and self-less char-acter, he said the RSS aim is tounite Hindus.

“RSS ka kaam vyakti nir-man hai aur RSS iski method-ology hain”, Bhawat said sum-

ming up the role of his organ-isation which has been subjectof multiple scrutiny in its over90 years existence.

He said the RSS is not con-cerned with as who would runthe Government as this is to bedecided by the people of thecountry who should beendowed with good characterand ‘achcha acharan’ and re-ehphasised that his organisa-tion is working to raise a soci-ety where people work forevery one’s progress and well-being.

“Har mohalla, Gao mainaisi toli khari karna, achcheswayamsevak khare karna,Sangh yahin hain, isse jyadakuch nahin hain”, RSS leadersaid.

Delivering his address inthe first day of the three-daylecture series here at ‘VigyanBhawan’, the RSS head saidthere was a great misconcep-tion that the Sangh was a “dic-tatorial organisation” and

asserted that the outfit workswith the consensus of all‘swayamsevak’ and has notplace for a remote control. Hesaid even the founder of theRSS Dr Keshav BaliramHedgewar decided on running‘shakhas’ three months after itcame into existence in 1925when other ‘swayamsevaks’ sodecided.

Bhagwat said even his par-ticipation in ‘Shakha’ is moni-tored by the ‘Shakha’ head ofwhich he happens to be amember in Nagpur.

The RSS chief said the RSSis self-reliant and does nottake a ‘single paise’ from out-side as it its run with voluntarycontribution of RSS worksdescribed as “gurudakshina”.

Clearing air about womennot being visible in the RSS, hesaid RSS was not an organisa-tion of ‘sanyasin’ and pointedout to the existence of‘Rashtriya Sevika Samiti’, thewomen wing of the Sangh.

He said the RSS does notrun after the publicity. “Weremained faceless for so long sothat it does not lead to arro-gance” among those becomingknown and famous. He said thepublicity department was setup only in 1980. “Meri prasid-hi nahin, Karya ki Prasidhi’ (not my fame but that of mywork), is the aim of a ‘swayam-sevak’ in Sangh, Bhagwat said.

The RSS chief prefaced theRSS exposition by first giving adetail account of Hedgewar’swork in the freedom struggleand his thought saying “tounderstand RSS start withHedgear.” Bhagwat quoted RSSfounder telling first swayamse-vaks that they should be devot-ing themselves like a seed doesby surrendering itself to the soil.

Bhagwat would be presenton Tuesday and Thursday. OnTuesday he would give hisunderstanding of Hindu andHindutva and on the last dayreply to the written questions.

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Bihar's seasoned politicianand Lok Sabha member

Pappu Yadav says that jailed vet-eran politician Lalu Yadav hasbecome irrelevant in politics andhis main backer, the powerfulYadav youth, are desperatelylooking for a new face outsidethe Lalu family to lead them.

"The era of Lalu's monopolyin Bihar, mainly on Yadavs andMuslims, is virtually over. Yadavyouth have no sympathy andaffiliation with him now. Theentire Lalu family exploited theYadavs and Muslims in Bihar fordecades," claimed the 50-year-old Pappu Yadav, the founder ofJan Adhikar Party, in an inter-view.

Pappu Yadav is in activepolitics for about three decadesand he was first elected to theLok Sabha in 1991. He defeat-ed senior leader Sharad Yadavin the 2014 parliamentary pollsin Madhepura to become a LokSabha member for the fifth

time. Pappu Yadav's wifeRanjeet Ranjan is a Lok Sabhamember from the Congressfrom Bihar's Supaul seat.

As per 2011 census, Yadavsmake up 14 per cent of Bihar'spopulation while Muslims con-stitute 16.9 percent. Yadavs andMuslims have always been thecore vote bank for Lalu Yadav,the former chief minister ofBihar. "The older generationamong Yadav and Muslim havesome sympathy for Lalu becausehe is in ailing after being con-victed in the fodder scam but Ican tell you the Yadav youth dis-like him and are looking for afresh face who can economicallyempower them," said PappuYadav. Continued on Page 4

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DS Misra has been appoint-ed as Chairman of

Chhattisgarh State ElectricityRegulatory Commission.

Advocate VinodDeshmukh has been appoint-ed as Member ( Legal ) of theCommission.

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New Delhi: As Punjab CabinetMinister Navjot Singh Sidhu onMonday met External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj, UnionMinister Harsimrat Kaur Badalclaimed that he was reprimanded bySwaraj for "messing up" the dialogueon the issue of Kartarpur Sahib gur-dwara. Badal said Sidhu was also rep-rimanded by Swaraj misusing polit-ical clearance granted for the "privatevisit" by hugging Pakistan armychief who is responsible for killingIndian soldiers.

"External Affairs Minister rep-rimands Navjot Sidhu for messingup Kartarpur Sahib corridor dia-logue and misusing political clear-ance granted for private visit by hug-ging military Chief responsible forkilling our soldiers," Badal tweeted.

Sidhu, the local Government,tourism and cultural affairs minis-ter in Punjab's Congress govern-ment, had visited Pakistan lastmonth to attend the swearing cer-emony of Prime Minister ImranKhan. A picture of him hugging Pak

army chief General Qamar JavedBajwa had gone viral which invit-ed severe criticism from severalquarters including from his bossPunjab Chief Minister AmarinderSingh.

Earlier, Sidhu had written toExternal Affairs minister SushmaSwaraj, urging her to "make everypossible effort" on the issue ofKartarpur Sahib gurdwara and saidPakistan had shown "positive intent"in providing access to the historicshrine.

On September 7 Sidhu hadclaimed that Pakistan had decided toallow Sikh pilgrims direct access tothe historic Kartarpur SahibGurdwara just across the border.

In a letter written to Swaraj onSeptember 8, cricketer-turned-politi-cian said: "Now an opportunity hasknocked on our doors. Pakistan hasshown a positive intent towards thelong pending demand of KartarpurSahib corridor. Pilgrims and we allhave been demanding for this cor-ridor since years". PTI

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In the first case of fratricide inthe Army this year, a soldier

allegedly shot dead two of hiscolleagues and then killed him-self in DharamshalaCantonment, HimachalPradesh on Monday morning.A court of inquiry has beeninstituted to find the causeleading to this action. This isthe seventh case of fratricide inthe last five years.

The incident took place at2.30 am when a soldier of 18Sikh fired at two of his col-leagues and then shot himselfwith his rifle. He had joined theArmy six months back. Whilea probe is on to ascertain thereason for this extreme action,unconfirmed reports saidSepoy Jasbir Singh was postedon guard duty. He had alter-cation with the other two afterreturning to the unit and shotthem with his INSAS rifle.The soldier then committedsuicide. The two soldiers were

identified as Havaldar HardeepSingh and Naik Harpal Singh.They had finished 23 years and18 years of service respective-ly, it was learnt.

The local police besidesArmy officials reached the spotand the bodies of soldiers weretaken by the police for post-mortem, sources said.

This is the first such inci-dent in the Army this yearwhere a soldier has killed hiscolleagues. Three such caseswere reported in 2014, one in2015, two in 2016 and one in

2017 besides the lat-est case. Incidentally,more than 100 ser-vice personnel com-mitted suicide in2016 due to issueslike stress due tooperating in high-pressure areas likei n s u r g e n c y - h i tJammu & Kashmirand north-east.However, the latestincident of fratricide

took place in Dharamshala, apeacetime military station,sources said.

In an effort to address theseserious issues, the defence min-istry some years back initiatedseveral steps including liberalleave facility for jawans to takecare of their families mostly liv-ing in rural areas of the coun-try. The State Governmentswere also urged to mitigate theproblems faced by families ofthe jawans mostly relating todisputes regarding land andother such matters.

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The CBI has written to UK-based Cambridge Analytica

and Global Science Research(GSR) besides US-basedFacebook, seeking informa-tion into alleged data theft ofFacebook users of India. Abouta month ago, on a referencefrom the IT Ministry, theagency had instituted a pre-liminary enquiry to determinewhether GSR and CambridgeAnalytica had illegally har-vested and misused the data ofFacebook usersof India.

In the letters sent to thecompanies, the CBI has soughtthe details of data collectionexercise adapted by them. Afterreference from the Centre, theinvestigative agency had initi-ated a preliminary enquiryagainst Cambridge Analyticaand Global Science Researchlast month over the alleged datatheft.

It is alleged that CambridgeAnalytica received data fromGlobal Science Research whichemployed "illegal means" ofpersonal data harvesting ofIndians using Facebook, CBIsaid. Facebook has over 20crore users in India.

A preliminary enquiry isthe first step to decide whetherthe allegations deserve a full-blown investigation through anFIR or not, CBI added.

Data mining and analysisfirm Cambridge Analytica ear-lier faced allegations that it usedpersonal information harvest-ed from 87 million Facebookaccounts to help DonaldTrump win the 2016 US pres-idential election.

Union Law and ITMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadhad told Rajya Sabha in Julythat the probe will be handedover to the CBI.

He had said there were alsoreports that user data was "ille-

gally accessed by hardwaremanufacturers who had tie-upswith Facebook. In regard to thisissue, Facebook has reportedthat they are not aware of anymisuse of information, includ-ing Indian users' information".The Mark Zuckerberg-ownedcompany had said that thedata of about 87 million peo-ple — mostly in the US —might have been improperlyshared with CambridgeAnalytica.

New Delhi: The Centre hasasked all departments under itto undertake cleanliness driveon their premises, according toan official communique. AllCentral Government employ-ees have been asked to con-tribute six hours of 'shramdaan'(labour) during the ongoingfortnight-long cleanliness drive.

"Shramdaan activities mayinclude cleaning of office com-plexes, residential colonies andpublic places including clean-ing of drains, public toilets,waste collection drives, andawareness campaigns," theMinistry of Personnel said inthe directive issued to secre-taries of all central governmentdepartments. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi launched the'Swachhta hi Seva' movementon September 15. It will con-tinue till October 2. PTI

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India has become the firstcountry in the world to

develop a draft blueprint out-lining action plan to bringdown cooling requirementand refrigerant demandsacross sectors by 20 per centto 25 per cent by 2037-38while slashing cooling energyrequirements by 25 per cent to40 per cent within the sameperiod, said UnionEnvironment Minister DrHarsh Vardhan on WorldOzone Day on Monday.

On the occasion at an

event, he released the draftIndia Cooling Action Plan(ICAP) and a booklet on'Montreal Protocol — India'sSuccess Story'

Stressing upon the needto strengthen active collabo-ration between theGovernment, industries,industry associations and allstakeholders, he said that theWorld Ozone Day offers anopportunity to focus globalattention and action on thevital environmental issue ofprotection of the OzoneLayer.

He said that the Ministryhas already undertaken an ini-tiative for upskilling of 1,00,000refrigeration and Air-Conditioning servicing tech-nicians in collaboration withthe Ministry of SkillDevelopment andEntrepreneurship (MSDE)

under Pradhan Mantri KaushalVikas Yojana (PMKVY) —Skill India Mission.

Environment SecretaryCK Mishra said that along withenergy efficiency, it is criticalto identify the usage of gasesand not merely replacement ofgases. "There are alternativeways to cooling that should belooked at. Another issue is anarmy of trained manpower tohandle manufacturing andmaintenance", he said. He alsopointed out to the criticality ofthe need for finances andexpanding research & devel-opment (R&D).

India is the first countryin the world to develop sucha document (ICAP), whichaddresses cooling require-ment across sectors and listsout actions which can helpreduce the cooling demand.

PTI

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Coinciding with prime Minister NarendraModi's birthday on Monday, the Khadi and

Village Industries Commission (KVIC) launchedan exclusive designer range of 'Modi Jackets' and'Modi Kurtas' at its flagship store in ConnaughtPlace here.

KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena saidit was the inspiration and vision of the PrimeMinister that Khadi had achieved several mile-stones in the last four years.

"For Khadi, Prime Minister himself hasbecome the biggest brand Ambassador. It washis call of 'Khadi for Fashion' that millions ofyouths adopted Khadi. The launch of thesedesigner jackets and kurtas is the expression oflove and gratitude from our artisans - for whomthe Prime Minister has always shown his con-cern," he said.

These designer jackets and kurtas are avail-able in all KVIC outlets across the nation fromMonday in a price range of Rs 999 to Rs 3500.After proper washing and shrinking, expert tai-lors were assigned to stitch these items.

New Delhi: Two-wheelers and four wheelers dri-ven by women plying in the national Capitalwould be exempted from the odd-even vehiclerotation scheme with the Supreme Court onMonday staying the National Green Tribunal's2017 direction which had made it applicable forall vehicles.

Under the scheme, which is currently not inforce in Delhi, odd and even numbered vehiclesare to ply on alternate days.

As per the Graded Response Action Plan(GRAP) for Delhi and the National CapitalRegion (NCR), the odd-even scheme comes intoeffect automatically whenever the particulate mat-ter PM10 and PM 2.5 rises to 500 microgram percubic metre and 300 microgram per cubic metrerespectively for 48 hours.

The apex court's order came after the Delhigovernment said there were around 68 lakh two-wheelers here and it would be "impossible toaccommodate" the people in public transport ifthe odd-even scheme was made applicable fortwo-wheelers also. PTI

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday directed theUttar Pradesh Government toensure medical treatment andcompensation to a Muslimwoman petitioner in a caseconcerning polygamy and‘nikah halala’, who suffered anacid attack and has soughtprotection.

The apex court directed theChief District Medical Officerof Bulandshahr town, whereshe was attacked, to ensureproper treatment to ShabnamRani and asked the adminis-tration to consider granting heradditional security.

Rani was last week attackedwith acid in Bulandshahr andit has been alleged that a closerelative and his friend wereinvolved in the attack.

While polygamy allows aMuslim man to have fourwives, 'nikah halala' deals withthe process in which a Muslimwoman can re-marry her hus-band after divorce, only whenshe marries another person,consummates the second mar-riage and then gets a divorce.

In her plea against 'nikahhalala' and polygamy, Rani hadalleged that her husband haddivorced her through 'tripletalaq' and forced her to perform'nikah halala' with her brother-in-law.

A bench of Chief JusticeDipak Misra and Justices A MKhanwikar and D YChandrachud noted the sub-mission of Additional AdvocateGeneral Aishwarya Bhati,appearing for the State, that anFIR has been lodged and secu-rity has been provided to thevictim.

The court said if there wasa scheme for compensationand any application has beensubmitted, then it may be dealtwith in a span of two weeks.

It also said if any furthersecurity was required, thenshe could submit a representa-tion to the Superintendent ofPolice who shall scrutinise itand do the needful.

"That apart, the applicantshall be given adequate treat-ment keeping in view theinjuries. The concerned ChiefDistrict Medical Officer of thedistrict shall do the needful in

the matter when it is broughtto his notice," the court said.

Officers who have beenmentioned hereinabove shouldbe sensitive enough to carry outtheir duties as far as suchtreatment is concerned, that is,in consonance with the orderof this Court and the policy ofthe State Government and,therefore, there cannot be delayin such matter," the benchsaid.

With regard to otherMuslim women who have chal-lenged 'nikah halala' andapprehend similar attacks, thetop court asked them to submitrepresentations to the con-cerned Superintendents ofPolice of the area who shalllook into their grievanceregarding providing them secu-rity.

The bench also directedthat the pleadings in variouspetitions, challenging the constitutional validity of thepractice of 'nikah halala' andpolygamy among Muslims, be completed within onemonth. PTI

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Monday said it willexamine two days later whetherthere is material supporting thearrest of five rights activists inconnection with the Koregaon-Bhima violence case.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Dipak Misra extendedtill September 19 the housearrest of the five rights activists— Varavara Rao, ArunFerreira, Vernon Gonsalves,Sudha Bharadwaj and GautamNavlakha — at their respectivehomes. "Every criminal inves-tigation is based on allegationsand we have to see whetherthere is some material," thebench, also comprisingJustices A M Khanwilkar andD Y Chandrachud said.

The bench said if there are

some grave lapses, it may con-sider prayers like investigationby a Special InvestigatingTeam (SIT) into the case. Theplea by Thapar and others hassought an independent probeinto the arrests and the imme-diate release of the fiveactivists.

The bench fixed the pleaby Thapar, economists PrabhatPatnaik and Devaki Jain, soci-ology professor SatishDeshpande and human rightslawyer Maja Daruwala forfinal hearing on Wednesday.The court had on September12 extended the house arrestof the activists till today.

Additional SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta,appearing for MaharashtraGovernment, said the courtshould make it clear that afteradjudication by it , the arrested accused cannot availremedies simultaneously onsimilar issues at other judicialfora. PTI

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New Delhi: Union MinisterV K Singh said Monday thearmy still rules Pakistandespite the election of ImranKhan as the new PrimeMinister, adding that itremains to be seen whether"the person" will be able tobring about a change.

India is adopting a"wait and watch" approachafter the installation of anew Government inPakistan, the Minister ofState for External Affairstold reporters.

Responding to a ques-tion on incidents of infil-tration at the border afterthe change of governmentin Pakistan, he said, "Didyou all expect a change? Idon't know. After all, theperson has been proppedup by the (Pakistan) army.The army still rules. So, let'swait and watch how thingsgo — whether the person

remains under army controlor doesn't remain under itscontrol." He did not refer toKhan by name.

Dialogue with Pakistancan happen only if the envi-ronment is "conducive" fortalks, the minister added onthe sidelines of the openingof a two-day conference —Smart Border Management— organised by FICCI.

"India's policy is veryclear. Dialogue can happenonly when the environ-ment is conducive," Singhsaid when asked whetherthere have been anyattempts from Pakistan toinitiate further dialoguewith India.

Referring to reports ofproposals to open theKartarpur border crossingfor Sikh pilgrims, Singhsaid India has "not receivedany proposal" fromPakistan to open the route.

"Nothing has comefrom the government's(Pakistan) side. This issuehas been going on for a verylong time. If anythingcomes about we will let youknow," he said.

Earlier, addressing thegathering, Singh said India'sborder is unique and there-fore "one solution" cannotbe devised to make it moresecure. "From plains todeserts and mountains andother terrains, one kind ofsolution cannot be appliedto our border and the vari-ety of the terrain has to befactored in while designingany solutions for makingthe border security morerobust and smart," he said.

The gathering includeddefence officials andexperts, business leadersand a group of 'sarpanches'from villages near the border. PTI

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New Delhi: The CBI has takenover investigation into allegedswindling of $171 million(about �1,200 crore) from theUnion Bank of India by hack-ers in 2016, officials saidMonday. The case, which wasbeing probed by the MumbaiPolice, pertains to transfer ofabout �1,200 crore from theNostro account of the bank tovarious countries on July 20,2016, they said.

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The Centre on Mondayeffected a major bureau-

cratic reshuffle. SanjayAgarawal will be the newAgriculture Secretary whileSanjeev Ranjan will be the newchairman of the NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI) and Tarun Kapoor thenew Vice Chairman, DelhiDevelopment Authority(DDA).

According to an orderissued by Department ofPersonnel and Training(DoPT), Agarawal, a 1984batch officer, who is at presentserving in his cadre State UttarPradesh, will be Secretary,Department of Agriculture,Cooperation and Farmers

Welfare on superannuation ofS K Pattanayak, on September30.

Ranjan, a 1985 batch IASofficer, will be the Chairman ofthe NHAI in the rank and payof Secretary. He is at presentserving in his cadre stateTripura.

Kapoor, a 1987 batch IASofficer of Himachal Pradeshcadre, has been appointed asthe Vice Chairman, DDA onsuperannuation of Udai PratapSingh this month end.

Director General ofNational Archives of India,Pritam Singh, has been named

Secretary, NationalCommission for ScheduledCastes. He is a 1984 batch IASofficer of Rajasthan cadre.

Anita Bhatnagar Jain willbe Secretary, CentralInformation Commission(CIC). She is at present serv-ing in her cadre state UttarPradesh.

Rajeev Ranjan, a 1985batch IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre, will be SpecialSecretary, GST CouncilSecretariat under theDepartment of Revenue.

Sudha Krishnan, whobelongs to Indian Audit andAccount Service, has beennamed Member Finance,Space Commission. She wouldalso hold additional charge ofMember Finance, EarthCommission and AtomicEnergy Commission (withheadquarters at New Delhi),the Personnel Ministry ordersaid.

Besides, over 20 officershave been promoted to the

rank of additional secretariesfrom joint secretaries. GyaneshKumar and Govind Mohanhave been made AdditionalSecretaries in the HomeMinistry. They are joint secre-taries in the same ministry.

Gujarat-cadre IAS officerK Srinivas and Lok Ranjanhave also been appointedAdditional Secretaries in theDepartment of Personnel andTraining (DoPT). They areJoint Secretaries in the DoPT.

IAS officer SujataChaturvedi, who is at presentserving in her cadre stateBihar, has also been appoint-ed Additional Secretary in theDoPT.

Uttar Pradesh cadre IASofficer Devesh Chaturvedi willbe Additional Secretary in theDepartment of Agriculture,Cooperation & FarmersWelfare. He is Joint Secretaryin the same department. Thereare some other officers whohave also been promoted to theAdditional Secretary ranks.

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The ChhattisgarhGovernment in yet another

key reshuffle made, on Monday,shifted 4 IAS and 5 IFS officersas part of a pre-poll exercise.

Accordingly, VivekAcharya, IFS was appointed asDirector, Employment andTraining, S Prakash, IAS,Director, Public Instruction andholding additional charge asMission Director, Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan has been posted asManaging Director, NationalSecondary Education Mission,Vineet Nandanvar, IAS, CEO,Zila Panchayat, Gariaband hadbeen posted as MissionDirector, Samagra Shiksha, MsNupur Rashi Panna, IAS,Section Officer (Revenue),Saraipali, Mahasamund districthas been posted as CEO, ZilaPanchayat, Kondagaon,

Similarly, R K Khunte,Deputy Commissioner,Thakur Pyarelal Singh

Panchayat and RuralDevelopment TrainingInstitute, Nimora has beenposted as CEO, ZilaPanchayat, Gariaband, AlokAwasthi, IAS, MD,Chhattisgarh State Khadi &Village Industries Board hadbeen given additional chargeas Director, ChhattisgarhAdministration Academy, P CMishra, IFS, Commissioner,MGNREGS, Raipur had beenalso been made PrincipalSecretary, Panchayat and RuralDevelopment Department, theservices of Anup KumarSrivastava, IFS, Secretary,Agriculture Department andCommissioner( Sugarcane)had been returned to ForestDeparment, Jaisingh Mashkey,IFS had been made Secretary,Forest Department, AmarnathPrasad, IFS had been madeSpecial Secretary, ForestDepartment, V K Chablani,Indian telecom Service , hadbeen made Special Secretary,

Woman and ChildDevelopment Department,Alarmelmangai D. SpecialSecretary, Skill Developmentand Director, Mines andMinerals had been onlyrelieved from the charge ofSpecial Secretar y,(Independent Charge),Science and TechnologyDepartment,

Sanjay Shukla, IFS,Secretar y, Housing andEnvironment Departmenthad been given additionalcharge as OSD, Housing andEnvironment Department,Special OSD, Electronics andInformation TechnologyDepartment andCommissioner and Director,City and Village InvestmentDepartment, the services ofSunil Mishra, IFS, MD,CSIDC had been offered asMember Secretary, CECB andArun Prasad P. AdditionalSecretary, CECB had beenmade MD, CSIDC

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Chief Minister RamanSingh will be leaving for

three-day tour of Bilaspurand Surguja division onMonday (September 18)under the ongoing State-wide‘Atal Vikas Yatra’, officialsinformed.

The Chief Minister will bevisiting Bilaspur, Raigarh andKoriya districts on September18, Kobra, Balrampur-Ramanujganj and Surajpurdistricts on September 19,and Surguja, Jashpur andMungeli distr icts onSeptember 20.

As per the final tourschedule, Singh will leavefrom Raipur on September 18via helicopter at 10.50 am andreach tehsil headquartersKota of Bilaspur district at11.30 am, and at 1.15 pm , theChief Minister wil l beaddressing public meetings atDharamjaigarh tehsil head-quarters of Raigarh district.

At 3.15 pm, Singh willleave from Dharamjaigarh inhelicopter and reach village

Ranai of Koriya(Baikunthpur) district at 4pm.

After welcome pro-gramme in Ranai, he willattend the programme in vil-lage Patna at 4.40 pm, thenattend the programme in vil-lage Mahora at 5.05 pm andanother programme to beheld in Baikunthpur at5.35pm.

In the evening at 6.15pm,Singh will come to Charcha ofKoriya district and afteraddressing general assemblythere, he will have night staythere.

On September 19, theChief Minister will addresspress conference in Charchaat 10 am, and leave via heli-copter at 10.50 and reach vil-lage Madanpur (Rampur) ofKorba district at 11.30 am,and after attending the pub-lic meeting there, he willreach Ramanujganj ofBalrampur district at 1.15pmvia helicopter.

After attending publicmeeting there, Singh willreach Pratappur of Surajpurdistrict at 3.30 pm and

address public meeting there.He will visit Silphili at

4.40 pm, Telaichar at 5.10 pm,Vishrampur at 5.40pm, villageParri at 6.10 pm.

Singh will meet studentsof Livelihood College at Parri.

The Chief Minister willreach district headquartersSurajpur at 6.50pm, and inau-gurate newly-bui ltCollectorate building.Thereafter, Singh will havenight stay there.

On September 20, theChief Minister will address

press conference in Surajpurat 10.30 am, and after that hewill reach tehsil headquartersSitapur of Surguja district viahelicopter at 11.30 am,Patthalgaon tehsil headquar-ters of Jashpur district at1pm, and tehsil headquartersLormi of Mungeli district at3.40pm.

After addressing generalassemblies at aforementionedplaces, Dr Singh will returnfrom Lormi to Raipur at5.15pm.

The Chief Minister will beaddressing public meeting tobe held in Kota block head-quarters of Bilaspur districtduring state-wide Atal VikasYatra on September 18,tomorrow.

On the occasion, Singhwill be inaugurating, layingfoundation and doing bhumipujan of 44 developmentworks worth nearly Rs 130.89crore for development of theregion.

In the public meeting,the Chief Minister will alsodistribute goods and financialaid to 587 beneficiaries under

various beneficiary-orientedschemes of the government.

Singh will be inaugurating25 construction works worthnearly � 111.34 crore , whichincludes Sakri-Ganiyari-KotaRoad (nearly 22km) worth �76 .57 crore, BansajhalDiversion Scheme worth �11.72 crore, Kota-BelgahnaRoad (5km) worth � 11.58crore , power substation ofcapacity 33/11 KV worth Rs1.70 crore in Ratanpur, andCV Raman Kota power sub-station of capacity 33/11 KVworth nearly Rs 1.55 crore.

In the public meeting,Singh will lay foundation andbhumi pujan of 10 worksworth � 19.55 crore , whichincludes construction worksrelated to Lufa DiversionYojana worth nearly � 9.17crore , construction worksrelated to Navagaon DiversionScheme worth nearly 7 crore77 Lakh, Billiband Nal-JalPaday Yojana worth nearly �46 lakh, Kurdur Nal-JalPraday worth � 44 lakh, andTendua Nal-Jal Praday Yojanaworth nearly � 44 lakh.

����������� �� 4�

Former Chief Minister andJanata Congress

Chhattisgarh (JCC (J) SupremoAjit Jogi had ruled out possi-bility of striking an alliance withany of the political partiesincluding the Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) for the upcomingAssembly polls in the State.

Addressing media personshere on Monday, Jogi said thathis outfit JCC (J) is going to con-test the upcoming polls in all the90 assembly seats in the State.

Replying to a query as towho from his family are goingto contest polls, Jogi said it was

not yet decided. It is only decid-ed that I am going to contest thepolls from Rajnandgaon assem-bly seat against the ChiefMinister, he said.

With Jogi ruling out the pos-sibility of having an alliancewith BSP the rumours are float-ing over the same came to an endthat Jogi was in touch with theBSP leaders of the state and soon

a declaration regarding analliance could be made.

Meanwhile, the BSP too hasreportedly lost its base in the statewhich was once in certain pock-ets of Janjgir Champa andBilaspur districts. That may bethe very reason the JCC (J) wasnot desperate to talk with theleaders of the party.

Congress too was eyeingon BSP support for the possi-ble alliance but the matter ofseat share reportedly becameimpediment in it. The BSP wasdemanding more seats andCongress expressed its inabil-ity to provide that much of seatshare.

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Two persons, including awoman, were killed when

an Improvised ExplosiveDevice (IED), suspected tohave been laid by Maoists,went off in Chhattisgarh'srestive Sukma district, policesaid on Monday.

The incident took place lastFriday in Metagudem village,when some locals informed thepolice about it, according toSuperintendent of Police (SP)Abhishek Meena .As per pre-liminary information, the IEDexploded on the village's out-skirts, killing two persons onthe spot, he said.

The identity of thedeceased was yet to be ascer-tained, he said, adding that apolice team has been sent to thevillage to gather details.

Maoists have many timesplanted IEDs to target securi-ty forces deployed in the Bastarregion. Such incidents led todeath of police personnel, vil-lagers and cattle in the past.

����������� �� 4�

NMDC Ltd has commencedthe process for laying of

Slurry Pipeline System andwater pipeline system betweenBacheli and Nagarnar, offi-cials informed.

Notably, NMDC is alsoseeking Right of Use (ROU) /Right of Way (ROW) permis-sion for developing a landcorridor for its Slurry Pipelineproject from Bailadila toNagarnar in Bastar region ofChhattisgarh, officialsinformed.

The company which isalso in the process of laying a15 Million Tonnes Per Annum(MTPA) slurry pipeline is exe-cuting the project in two phas-es.

The first phase is beingexecuted from Bacheli toNagarnar in Bastar region ofChhattisgarh at an estimatedoutlay of Rs 4,000 crore; andthe second phase will be exe-cuted from Nagarnar to Vizagin Andhra Pradesh at an out-lay of Rs 6,000 crore, officialsinformed.

Notably, to transport pel-let feed concentrate fromBailadila to Vizag viaJagdalpur, the company willhave the pipeline laid along thehighways with a provision ofpartial off-take to feed its pro-posed 3 MTPA Steel plantcoming up at Nagarnar.

NMDC is operating ironore mines at Bailadila Complexin South Bastar DantewadaDistrict Chhattisgarh and is

having long term commitmentfor supply of iron ore to majorsteel plants across the country.

Hence, J.V. Companybetween NMDC andChhattisgarh MineralDevelopment Corporation(CMDC) i.e NMDC-CMDC(NCL) was formed for devel-opment of a new deposit in thealready prospected areas i.eBailadila Deposit-4 with a pro-duction capacity of 7 MTPAfor meeting the iron orerequirement of Steel plant ofNMDC at Nagarnar, nearJagdalpur.

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Chhattisgarh now has 86‘Test Practice Centres’

(TPCs) for competitive exam-inations in 21 districts witha total of 8067 computersinstalled at these centres, theCentral Governmentinformed on Monday.

The Union Minister forHRD Prakash Javadekar hadinaugurated a network ofmore than 3,400 Test PracticeCentres (TPCs) spread acrossthe 622 districts in the coun-try .

A total of 25 Test PracticeCentres (TPCs) joinedMinister of HRD throughGoogle Hangouts in this inau-guration in New Delhi onMonday.

These test centres havebeen set up to facilitate stu-dents appearing in entrance

examinations for HigherEducation to hold practicesessions to enable them to getused to the changed modeand pattern of examination.

While interacting withTest Practice Centres (TPCs),the Union Minister said thatthe government is committedto provide quality educationwith equity, therefore we arelaunching Test PracticeCentres across the country forthose students who do nothave computers and smartphones. Now no student willsuffer due to lack of resources,the Minister added.

He further said that thegovernment has changed thepattern of JEE (Mains) andUGC NET Examination fromthis year. Now it has becomecomputer based instead ofPen and Paper mode.

The new exam pattern is

more Transparent, leak proof,scientific, student friendlyand fast. In order to providefacility for practice for thechanged pattern, NationalTesting Agency (NTA) hasestablished Test PracticeCentres across the country.

NTA has also launched apractice App through whichstudents can practice on theirown on their computers or onsmartphones.This is the realrevolution in the field of com-petitive examinations, theMinister explained.

While interacting with stu-dents, HRD Minister informedstudents that now studentscan access IIT PAL(ProfessorAssisted Learning) video lec-ture on SWAYAM Platform forthe preparation of JEE. TheHRD Minister received over-whelmed response from all25 Test Practice Centres.

Students from various centresappreciated and thanked thegovernment for this particularinitiative. Secretary, HigherEducation R. Subrahmanyamand DG, NTA Vineet Joshiwere also present during thevideo conference.

In order to bring efficien-cy, transparency and qualita-tive difference in competitiveexamination process forHigher Education, MHRD hasset up ‘National TestingAgency’ (NTA),(www.nta.ac.in) a premier test-ing organization, to conductentrance Tests for higher edu-cational Institutions. The NTAhas been mandated to conductJEE (Main), NEET(UG),UGC-NET, CMAT andGPAT examinations.

NTA has established, anetwork of ‘Test PracticeCentres’ (TPCs) across the

country in about 622 districtsin 33 States/UTs, so that stu-dents of rural areas and others,get an opportunity to practicethe Computer Based Test(CBT) before the exam. TheTPCs will provide Mock Teststo the candidates of JEE(Main) and UGC-NET exam-inations.

For setting up TPCs, theNTA has engaged a large num-ber of schools and colleges,that have 30 or more Internetconnected PCs/laptops at onelocation. Depending on thedemand, the TPCs functionfor one shift (02:30 PM –05:30 PM) on all Saturdaysand two shifts (11:00 AM –02:00 PM, 02:30 PM – 05:30PM) on Sundays. As on date,more than 3400 TPCs havebeen setup including 689Kendriya Vidyalayas and 403Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.

����������� �� 4�

Ajawan of District Policeallegedly committed sui-

cide on intervening night ofSunday and Monday by hanginghimself to a ceiling fan at hispolice lines colony based resi-dential quarter falling underKotwali Police Station jurisdic-tion, police said.

Station House Officer(SHO), Kotwali, ShivanandTiwari informed that neigh-bours informed the police onMonday morning and policeimmediately rushed the spot.

The name of the deceased isLok Pratap Singh, a native ofPithora region of theMahasamund District.

Singh was alone in the res-idential quarter as his wife anda lone child had gone to his in-laws house a few days ago on theoccasion of local festival ‘Teej’, hesaid.

The reason behind Singhcommitting suicide is yet to beknown and we can commentonly after post mortem reportcomes, Tiwari said.

The deceased was posted asa driver with the District Police, police said.

He was alone since past cou-ple of days and when someneighbour peeped inside hishouse on suspicion found himhanging to the ceiling, policesaid.

����������� �� 4�

The State Government willget a Detailed Project

Report (DPR) prepared forconstruction of bridges underPrime Minister Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY) in Bastarand Dantewada districts, offi-cials informed.

The State Governmenthas provisioned � 93.61 crorein the budget of current fiscal2018-19 for construction ofnearly 417 km long roads

and 34 bridges, informedPWD Minister Rajesh Munatin May this year.

Out of the total provi-sioned amount, � 5.03 crorehas been provisioned for con-struction of 27.2 km roadsand two bridges in Bastar dis-trict.

Likewise, � 1.80 crorehave been provisioned forconstruction of three bridgesin Sukma district, � 4.60 crorefor construction 15-km roadand one bridge in Bijapur dis-

trict, � 6.92 crore for con-struction of 36.6 km road inSouth Bastar (Dantewada)district, � 5.96 crore for con-struction of 40-km long road

and two bridges in NorthBastar (Kanker), � 4.24 crorefor construction of 15-kmroad and a bridge inNarayanpur district of BastarDivision, � 4.24 crore forconstruction of 15-km roadand a bridge in Kondagaondistrict.

Munat informed thatunder Surguja division, Rs8.16 crore have been provi-sioned for construction of42-km road and three bridgesin Surguja district, � 14.56

crore for construction of 49-km road and five bridges inKoriya district, � 10.77 crorefor construction of 58.5 kmslong road in Surajpur district,� 3.11 crore for constructionof four bridges and 7.6 kms inBalrampur-Ramanujganj dis-trict, � 15 .50 crore for con-struction 75 kms of roads andfour bridges in Jashpur dis-trict and � 8.72 crore forconstruction 35.5 kms of roadand four bridges in Gariabanddistrict.

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ACongress party delegationcomprising Party’s State

General Secretary RameshVarlyani, formed MayorKiranmayi Nayak and AmitShrivastava on Monday metChief Electoral Officer SubratSahoo and complained to himabout the officials conductingvoter’s awareness in Surgujaregion while reportedly takingpolls surveys in ElectronicVoting Machines (EVMs).

The delegation memberscomplained that some of theofficials carried out poll surveyin the villages of Jajga,Khondhala and Kharsura inUdaipur block of Ambikapurassembly constituency.

The officials during thevoter awareness drive are asking

the villages to press their pre-ferred electoral party symboland are thus conducting a kindof survey, they said. This processis disrupting the transparentelectoral process , they said.

It is also learnt that some ofthe officials in Ambikapur andKoria districts are also takingwith them the voting machinesat their residences. They had

kept the machines for a week intheir residences thus violatingthe instructions of the ElectionCommission, the leaders said.

All these incidents smell ofa conspiracy against our leaderT.S. Singhdeo and it is demand-ed that such machines should bekept aside and should not beused in the election process, theleaders further demanded

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From Page 1"Every sensible brain in

Bihar, particularly amongYadavs and Muslims, know thatLalu kept them economicallypoor deliberately in a bid to usethem as vote bank for years.They had no option but to backup Lalu family but now youthsare determined to get rid of Lalufamily to overcome backward-ness" claimed Pappu Yadav.

He said that Yadavs inBihar never trusted ChiefMinister Nitish Kumar andthere was still a big disconnectand trust deficit exist betweenNitish Kumar and the Yadavcommunity.

"For roughly three decades,Lalu tactically didn't allowleaders from Yadav communi-ty to grow to a level where his

leadership can be challenged.Thus the entire Yadav caste wasfurther pushed to backward-ness and so the case was withminorities in Bihar. Muslimswere left with no option but tovote only for Lalu. But nowyouths are looking for a betteroption outside Lalu family,"Pappu Yadav contended.

Pappu Yadav slammed theNitish Kumar-led NDA gov-ernment and said develop-ment of Bihar had been stalled,youth migration to other statesin search of jobs had risen, thelaw order situation has wors-ened and sexual assault onwomen and girl child hasincreased to all time high now.

He added that Bihar hadalso become a safe haven formob lynchers.

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With the political partiesgetting ready for elec-

tions due early next year, thedistrict administration in thecoastal town of Kendrapada hasbegun a process to strike outillegal Bangladeshi immigrants

from the voters’ list.As per official sources, as

many as 137 Bangladeshinationals have been detected inthe electoral list in the districtso far during the revisionprocess. These Bangladeshis’names have found mention inthe list in Mahakalpada tehsil.The district administration hasremoved these individuals fromthe list after a thorough verifi-cation of their antecedents.

The Election Commissionhas begun the voters’ list veri-

f i c a t i o nprocess, whichis set to con-clude onSeptember 27.

“While theverification ofthe voters’ list ison, 137B ang ladeshii m m i g r a n t shave beendetected so far.Their nameshave been

struck off from the list forth-with,” Kendrapada CollectorDasarathi Satpathy informed.

As per official data,Kendrapada district accountsfor 1,649 Bangladeshi settlers ofwhich 1,551 alone are inMahakalpada tehsil. These sus-pected immigrants from 362families living in Mahakalpadahad been served deportationnotice in 2005. However, theprocess was halted owing tointervention by the CentralGovernment.

The official figures fur-ther reflect that as many as3,987 Bangladeshis have settledin Odisha illegally. Kendrapadadistrict accounts for the high-est number of illegalBangladeshi settlers followedby Jagatsinghpur.

It may be mentioned thataround 40 lakh people were leftout in the final draft of NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC)drive carried out in Assam, thedocument of which was pub-lished in July this year.

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Atea seller in Puri observedthe 68th birthday of

Prime Minister NarendraModi by cutting a cake anddistributing 3,000 cups of teato people for free.

It is his fourth year in rowthe tea-seller celebrated Modi’sbirthday with much gaiety.The stall-owner is a fan ofModi, who runs his shop nearroadside in front of Puri UrbanCooperative Bank in the city.

“Like Modi, I am also a smalltea-seller. Since 2015 on this veryday, I have been distributing teato passersby for free. It is myfourth year,” said AkhayaJayasingh, the tea seller.

He told, since Modi hascome from small tea shop andbecome the PM, so he was

inspired to celebrate the birth-day in distributing tea to people.

“I like Modi for his goodworks for the poor of the coun-

try,” said Akhaya, adding thathe has seen many PMs in hislife but for him, Modi is com-pletely exceptional.

At 10 am, his 6- year- olddaughter Arya Jayasingh inau-gurated the ‘Tea for Free’ bycutting 2.5 pound of cake sur-

rounded by the invitees andfans of Modi.

Then tea distributionbegan for which he engagedhalf a dozen of staff members.This year he raised the cupnumbers to 3,000 which was2,000 in 2017. In 2015, he hadstarted with 1,800 cups.

He used earthen cupswhich he brought from Kolkotasince Modi is spreading mes-sages of Swachh Bharat andstressing on eco-friendliness.

Asked about the expendi-ture in stall decoration, cakeand tea, he said to have peggeda budget of �15,000 this yearwhich was less last year.

Enthused with works, in2016, the State Bank of India(SBI) had sanctioned �40,000Mudra loan by specially felic-itating Jayasingh.

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At least a woman was killedand another critically

injured when some explosivematerials went off in a house atMadhusudanpalli area ofRourkela city on Monday.About 50 houses were damageddue to the blast in the vicinity.

The impact of the blast wasso heavy that the roof of thefirst floor of the house wascompletely blown away andabout 15 more houses of theadjacent area were destroyed.

Sources said the blast tookplace at the house of oneJawaharlal Srivastab, a businessman of the city at Telegupadaarea of Madhusudanpalli underPlantsite police station of the city.On Monday, Jawahar and his twosons had gone to their shop atPlantsite area whereas his wifeand two daughters- in-law werepresent in the house. At about12.15 pm, suddenly the explo-sion accompanied with a heavysound took place. Majority of thehouses in the locality haveasbestos roofs, except the doublestoried house of Jawaharlal.

The youngest daughter in-law of Jawaharlal, identified as

Rekha Srivastab (25), died afterbeing buried under the debrisof the roof of the house, where-as the elder daughter in-law,identified as Doly (30), wasrecovered in critical conditionand was rushed to IGH,Rourkela. Gayatri, wife ofJawaharlal, however, escapedwith just minor injuries.

Injured Doly was latershifted to VIMSAR, Burla,since her condition hadbecome critical.

A team of police and fireofficials and senior police offi-cials like DIG (WR) KavitaJalan and Rourkela SP UmaShankar Dash rushed to the spotand supervised the inspection.The police after preliminaryinquiry suspect some explosivematerials to be present in thehouse as the reason for the blast.

"We suspect that someexplosive materials present inthe house went off in thiscase," said SP Rourkela, Dash.

"However, we are investi-gating into the matter and theexact reason of the blast can beconfirmed only after the inves-tigation is over," Dash added.

Meanwhile, arrangementswere made by the RourkelaMunicipal Corporation (RMC)for providing food to the vic-tim family members for a cou-ple of days.

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As the ruling Congress partyand the Shiromani Akali Dal

engaged in a ‘game of rallies’ withboth announcing to hold ‘a showof strength’ in each other’s ‘home-ground’, Punjab’s former ChiefMinister Parkash Singh Badal onMonday reminded his successorCapt Amarinder Singh that Lambiis “ your own constituency”.

“You had contested fromLambi, and even though it ban-ished you, it is still in some wayyour constituency because youhad made promises to the peo-ple here,” said Badal, a day afterChief Minister Capt Amarinderhad announced to hold a rallyion Badal’s bastion, Lambi.

“Please come with armfulsof gifts for the people here in theform of promises fulfilled, and Iwill personally welcome you,”said Badal.

Akali patriarch said: “I amglad that our rally has forced youto think of the people and tocome out of your pleasure dome,though this is an expensive forus to help the people of Punjabto see the face of their ChiefMinister.

It seems we will have to hold

a rally every time we want theChief Minister to come out toserve the people.”

Badal said that he was gladthat Captain Singh will come andmeet the people of Lambi whomCaptain Singh had declared “ashis own”, though he nevershowed his face here after thecampaign was over.

“He had completely forgot-ten Lambi after making tallpromises during the campaign.However, that is a small issue and

I do not intend to let it come inthe way of my welcoming you.Please come here after duly ful-filling all the promises you hadmade to the people — or at leastthe major ones among those liketotal farm waiver, jobs for eachhouse, Rs 51,000 as Shagunscheme amount, and Rs 2,500 asold age pension, among others,”said Badal.

He added, “If you are gra-cious enough to do that, I willpersonally roll out a red carpet

for you when you visit us becauseeven I am a voter in the con-stituency which you had forgot-ten all this time.”

Badal said that if the ChiefMinister came to Lambi after ful-filling most of the major promis-es he had made to the people, hewould not only welcome himpersonally but would also lay outa langar for all the guests and allthe Congress workers whoaccompany him for the rally. “Ihope the Chief Minister acceptsmy hospitality,” said Badal.

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Lambasting at PunjabGovernment for raising objec-tions over organising SAD’s rallyat Faridkot, the Akali Dal onMonday said that Sunday’s“peaceful rally” clearly demon-strated that the apprehensions ofbreach of law and order situationwas not hinged on the intelli-gence reports but “a figment ofimagination and concoction ofCongress leaders’ mind” as theywere dead scared of the successof the rally.

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Chandigarh: A high-leveljoint delegation, led by SADpresident Sukhbir Badal andPunjab BJP president ShwaitMalik, will meet PunjabGovernor VP Singh Badnoreon Tuesday to apprise him ofthe deteriorating law andorder situation in the stateand would urge him to takeimmediate corrective steps.

“The situation is get-

ting worse each day and theCongress government isbusy in petty politicking,enjoying spoils of office andits Ministers are busy inone upmanship with eachother which has left themwith no time to concentrateof problems of the state,”said SAD’s senior vice-pres-ident Daljeet Singh Cheemaon Monday.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Monday

expressed discontentment withsuch departments as are not tak-ing proper action on the com-plaints received on CMWindow.

The Chief Minister hasdirected the HSIDC, Industriesand Commerce, RuralDevelopment and Panchayats,Agriculture and Farmers’Welfare and Urban Local BodiesDepartments to hold a separatemeeting on this issue.

He also directed to suspendfour officers and officials, andget registered FIRs against fourothers.

This was informed byRakesh Gupta, Additional

Principal Secretary to the ChiefMinister, at a meeting withnodal officers of CM Window,here. The meeting was presidedover by Gupta and BhupeshwarDayal, OSD to Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister hasdirected that strict action wouldbe initiated against nodal offi-cers for not showing seriousnessin addressing the complaintsreceived on CM Window,Gupta said.

Cautioning officers of theRajya Sainik Board, Town andCountry Planning and SchoolEducation Departments, he saidif there is no improvement intheir functioning, a separatereview meeting would be heldwith these departments, andaction would be initiated againstthe erring officials.

He also directed the RuralDevelopment and Panchayats,Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfareand Urban Local BodiesDepartments to promptly redressthe complaints received on CMWindow. As these departmentsare directly linked with people,officers should address the com-plaints pertaining to these depart-ments at the earliest, he added.

Gupta also said that theChief Minister had sent a writ-ten communication to theAdditional Chief Secretary,Cooperative Department, on acomplaint received on CMWindow of embezzlement incooperative societies in Panipat.He directed registration of anFIR against Senior Accountant ofKarnal in a case of Social Justiceand Empowerment Department.

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Around 50,000 Punjabpolice personnel will be on

duty during Zila Parishad andPanchayat Samiti elections hereslated to be held on September19, officials said Monday.

"Adequate securityarrangements are being madefor the polls. There will be adeployment of 50,000 Punjabpolice personnel during theelections," said V K Bhawra,director general of Punjabpolice (provisioning and mod-ernisation).

The Akali Dal had earliersought deployment of para-military forces for ensuringfree and fair polls. Oppositionparties — AAP, Akali Daland BJP — had accused thestate government of "mur-dering democracy" forallegedly stopping their can-didates from participating in

the upcoming polls by resort-ing to hooliganism.

Meanwhile, the state gov-ernment has declared a holidayon September 19 in the wake ofthe polls. All governmentoffices, corporations andschools will be closed on theday, an official spokesman said.

The counting of votes willtake place on September 22. Atotal of 17,268 polling boothswill be set up and 86,340 per-sonnel will be put on electionduty. A total of 35 observerswill be appointed to ensurepeaceful conduct of the polls,officials said.

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The Taliban launched multi-ple attacks on Afghan

checkpoints as well as police andmilitary bases in different partsof the country, killing at least 27members of the security forces,Afghan officials said Monday.

The attacks and the highcasualty toll underscore the dif-ficulties Afghan forces face intrying to secure the country ontheir own. The Afghan forceshave struggled to combat boththe Taliban and an Islamic Stateaffiliate since the U.S. and NATOformally ended their combatmission in the country in 2014.

In western Farah province,attacks began on Sunday nightand killed at least 17 membersof the security forces. FaredBakhtawer, head of the provin-cial council, said the Talibanattacked police checkpointsacross the province and aroundthe provincial capital.

A group of Taliban fightersfirst targeted checkpoints in thedistrict of Push Rod, where 10policemen died. Another attackstruck in Bala Buluk district,where seven were killed and atleast three others were abduct-ed by the insurgents. Separately,also in Bala Buluk, six police-men surrendered to the Talibanafter an intense battle.

There were also attackselsewhere in Farah butBakhtawer couldn't provideany casualty figures, pendingmore detailed reports.

In northwestern Badghisprovince, five officers were killed,including Abdul Hakim, thepolice commander of a reserveunit, in an attack that took placeon Monday morning near theprovincial capital of Qala-i-Now.

Jamshid Shahabi,spokesman for the BadghisGovernor, said around 22Taliban fighters were killedand 16 others were woundedduring the gunbattle there.

In northern Baghlanprovince, the Taliban on Mondayattacked a joint army and policebase, killing three army andtwo police officers, said Gen.Ekramuddin Serih, the provin-cial police chief. Four othermembers of the security forceswere wounded in the attack,which took place in the BaghlaniMarkazi district, he said.

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Denuclearisation will behigh on South Korean

President Moon Jae-in's agen-da when he meets with NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un inPyongyang this week, Moon'soffice said on Monday.

Moon will fly to the NorthKorean capital on Tuesday forhis third summit with Kim inthe latest stage of a diplomaticthaw on the peninsula,although progress has stalled indenuclearisation talks betweenPyongyang and Washington.

"We will push for NorthKorea's advanced denucleari-sation and a reciprocal measurefrom the US by swiftly revivingsincere dialogue aimed at estab-lishing new, peaceful relations,"Moon's chief of staff Im Jong-seok told reporters.

Moon, who met Kim twicethis year, was instrumental inbrokering the historicSingapore summit between USPresident Donald Trump andKim in June, when Kim backeddenuclearisation of the "Koreanpeninsula".

But no details were agreed

and Washington andPyongyang have sparred sinceover what that means and howit will be achieved.

The US is pressing for theNorth's "final, fully verifieddenuclearisation", whilePyongyang has condemneddemands for it to give up itsweapons unilaterally as "gang-ster-like".

Im said the South Koreanleader will try to close the gapbetween the US and theNorth by playing the role ofa mediator.

"Through various meet-ings and phone calls, President

Moon has a better under-standing of what the US isthinking than Chairman Kim,"he said.

Moon will become thethird South Korean leader tovisit Pyongyang and will holdat least two meetings withKim, who may make a rareappearance at the airport towelcome his guests, the chief ofstaff said.

He is also scheduled toattend a concert and visit keysites in the North's capital withhis delegation, which includestycoons Lee Jae-yong — theheir to the Samsung group —

and the vice chairman ofHyundai Motor.

Moon has been pushingeconomic co-operation butseveral South Korean newspa-pers urged caution Monday,with the Korea Herald callingthe businessmen's presence onthe trip "untimely".

"It is better to postponeeconomic projects involvingthe North until after negoti-ations to remove its nuclearprogram make substantialprogress," it said in an editorial.

And investment in theNorth was "fraught with risksand uncertainty", it added.

Other issues on Moon'sagenda will be improving inter-Korean ties and easing militarytensions on the peninsula,which the South said could laythe ground for declaring a for-mal end to the 1950-53 KoreanWar, which ended with anarmistice rather than a peacetreaty.

That suggested a declara-tion — which Pyongyang has been pressing for strong-ly — was unlikely duringMoon's trip.

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Defense Secretary Jim Mattisarrived in Macedonia

Monday, condemning Russianefforts to use its money andinfluence to build opposition toan upcoming vote that couldpave the way for the country tojoin NATO - a move Moscowopposes.

Mattis told reporters trav-elling with him to Skopje thatthere is "no doubt" thatMoscow has been funding pro-Russian groups in order todefeat the referendum on aname change later this month.

"They have transferredmoney and they're also con-ducting broader influence cam-paigns," Mattis said.

"We ought to leave theMacedonian people to make uptheir own minds."

Macedonians will vote Sept30 on whether to approve thenew name of North Macedoniais an effort to placate Greece,which has for years blockedMacedonia's path to NATO

and the European Union. But any progress toward

NATO membership by theBalkan nation is stronglyopposed by Russia, whichdoesn't want the alliance toexpand to areas formerly underMoscow's influence.

Mattis is the latest in astring of international leadersvisiting Macedonia to voicesupport for the referendum,and he's the most senior USofficial to go there.

NATO Secretary-GeneralJens Stoltenberg, German chan-cellor Angela Merkel, andAustrian chancellor SebastianKurz have all visited and madepublic endorsements of thename change, saying it's criticalin order for the country to joinNATO, after years of waiting.

Mattis said that he and otherNATO allies "say right up frontin open press what we think.

We're not passing money topeople behind the scenes, we'renot putting together parties thatwe control or try to control."

Russia has already been

called out for trying to influ-ence the vote.

In July, Greece expelledtwo Russian diplomats accusedof supplying funds to protestgroups who were opposing thename change deal. Russiadenounced the expulsions asunjustified.

Greece, a member ofNATO, has for years vetoedattempts by Macedonia to joinNATO, complaining about thecountry's name ever sinceYugoslavia broke up in theearly 1990s. Greece argues thatthe name implies a territorialclaim against the northernGreek region of Macedoniaand its ancient heritage.

NATO leaders in July for-mally invited Macedonia tobegin membership talks on thecondition that it wouldn'tbecome effective until the namechange was implemented.

But there is widespreadconcern about Russian impacton the vote.

"There is this influencecampaign to try to buy off peo-

ple and try to support pro-Russian organizations," saidLaura Cooper, the deputy assis-tant defense secretary forRussia and the region.

She said she couldn't givespecifics about the pay-offs,but said the US is aware off inancial support thatMoscow has given to pro-Russian individuals andgroups that are working toundermine the referendum.

Russia, she said, is"swooping in now with dis-information and other formsof malign influence to try tochange the minds of theMacedonian people."

As examples, she citedefforts to convince people thatthe vote isn't relevant and isn'tthe last step for NATO admis-sion.

Evelyn Farkas, an expert onthe region who is a fellow withthe Atlantic Council and a for-mer Defense Departmentadviser, said Mattis' visit to thetiny nation could help sowsupport for the name change.

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Former US secretary of stateJohn Kerry has torn into

Donald Trump for accusinghim of holding "illegal" meet-ings with Iran, saying theAmerican President has thematurity of an "eight-year-oldboy with the insecurity of ateenage girl".

Kerry's attack came inresponse to Trump's tweetaccusing the former secretaryof State of holding "illegalmeetings" with the IranianGovernment that were "to the detr iment of theAmerican people".

"He told them to wait outthe Trump Administration!Was he registered under theForeign Agents RegistrationAct? BAD!" Trump tweeted.

Reacting to the accusationon a late-night talk show onFriday to promote his newmemoir 'Every Day is Extra',Kerry said, "He's the firstPresident who spends moretime reading his Twitter likesthan his briefing books or theConstitution of the United States".

"Unfortunately, we have apresident, literally, for whom'the truth, the whole truth andnothing but the truth' is threedifferent things. And you don'teven know what they are,"Kerry was quoted as saying by'The Washington Post'.

"He really is the rare com-bination of an 8-year-old boy— he's got the maturity of an8-year-old boy with the inse-curity of a teenage girl. It's justwho he is," he said.

Kerry's remarks received amixed response online. Whilesome lauded the comparisonas "absolutely priceless" and a"mic drop" moment, manyexpressed disappointment for

his "condescending" and"inaccurate" generalisation ofyoung women.

Matt Summers, aspokesman for Kerry, laterdefended Kerr y 's Iran meetings.

"Secretary Kerry stays intouch with his former coun-terparts around the world justlike every previous secretary ofstate," he said.

Kerry along with other topUS officials played a key role innegotiating the 2015 agree-ment between Iran and sever-al world powers that liftedsanctions against Tehran inexchange for restrictions on itsnuclear programme.

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WASHINGTON: The womanaccusing Judge Brett Kavanaughof sexually assaulting her iswilling to tell her story in pub-lic to a Senate panel consideringhis nomination to the SupremeCourt, her lawyer said Monday.

Kavanaugh had been on asmooth confirmation track, butthe new allegations have roiledthat process. Republican sena-tors have expressed concernover a woman's private-turned-public allegation that a drunk-en Kavanaugh groped her andtried to take off her clothes at aparty when they were teenagers.

Debra S. Katz, the attorneyfor the woman, Christine BlaseyFord, said her client consideredthe incident to be an attempt-ed rape. "She believes that ifwere not for the severe intoxi-cation of Brett Kavanaugh, shewould have been raped," Katztold NBC's "Today."

Kavanaugh has "categori-cally and unequivocally" deniedthe allegations, a statement theWhite House repeated Monday.

"This has not changed,"said White House spokesmanKerri Kupec. "Judge Kavanaughand the White House bothstand by that statement."

White House counselorKellyanne Conway said of FordMonday: "She should not beinsulted. She should not beignored. She should testify underoath and she should do it onCapitol Hill." Conway, who saidshe had discussed the situationwith President Donald Trump,said that both Ford andKavanaugh should testify, butmade clear it was up to theSenate Judiciary Committee.She said Sen. Lindsey Grahamhad told her it could happen assoon as tomorrow and the WhiteHouse will "respect the process."

Stressing that Kavanaughhad already testified and under-gone FBI background checks,Conway said: "I think you haveto weigh this testimonial evi-dence from Dr. Ford and JudgeKavanaugh along with the con-siderable body of evidence thatis already there about thejudge's temperament and qual-ifications and character."

In morning television inter-views, Katz said her client waswilling to tell her story in pub-lic to the Senate JudiciaryCommittee, although no law-makers or their aides had yetcontacted her. Katz also deniedthat Ford, a Democrat, is polit-ically motivated. "No one in theirright mind regardless of theirmotives would want to injectthemselves into this processand face the kind of violationthat she will be subjected to bythose who want this nominee togo though. ... She was quitereluctant to come forward."

Initially the sexual mis-conduct allegation was con-veyed in a private letter, with-out revealing Ford's name. Witha name and disturbing details,the accusation raised theprospect of congressionalRepublicans defending Trump'snominee ahead of midtermelections featuring an unprece-dented number of female can-didates and informed in part bythe #MeToo movement. AP

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Pakistan has refuted mediareports that it has

expressed readiness to talk onthe restoration of the India-Afghanistan trade route usingits land.

Foreign Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi rejectedthe reports after USAmbassador to AfghanistanJohn Bass was quoted as say-ing by an Indian newspaper

that Pakistan had approachedAfghanistan earlier this yearand indicated its willingnessto resume trade betweenAfghanistan and Indiathrough its land.

"Pakistan has not agreed toconsider Afghanistan-Indiatrade through our land,"Qureshi was quoted as sayingby the Express Tribune.

Pakistan does not allowIndia to use the land route fortrading with Afghanistan, argu-

ing that "technical and strate-gic" issues connected to tran-sit trade should be resolvedfirst.

Bass was quoted as sayingby the Indian daily that "A cou-ple of months ago, for the firsttime the PakistaniGovernment expressed a will-ingness to start talks with itsAfghan counterparts for para-meters to enabling tradebetween India and Afghanistanthrough Pakistan."

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The grieving parents of a 13-year-old girl in Nepal who

was raped and murdered inJuly in the country's remotewest, met Prime Minister K PSharma Oli on Monday andsought justice for their daugh-ter whose brutal killing trig-gered nationwide outrage.

Prime Minister Oli told theparents that he had directed theMinistry of Home Affairs toreinvestigate the case andbriefed them about theGovernment's actions, includ-ing suspensions of police per-sonnel, My Republica reported.

The girl's parents came tothe capital last week to draw theattention of the Governmenttowards the case.

Oli said the Governmentwould leave no stonesunturned to nab thoseinvolved. "No matter howwealthy, strong or politicallyconnected the culprit is, we willbook the criminals," Oli said.

The girl was raped andmurdered on July 26. Her bodywas found in a sugarcane fieldthe next day.

Angry crowds took to thestreets accusing police of pro-tecting the person responsiblefor the brutal crime.

The victim's father allegedthat top police and civil officialhad coerced him to sign apaper and quickly perform the

last rites of his daughter withabout 300 police personneldeployed, Nepalese mediareported.

Home Minister RamBahadur Thapa Badal had ear-lier defended the investigationas well as the way the incidentwas handled.

The parents had last weekmet President Bidhya DeviBhandari and asked theGovernment not to deny justiceto their daughter.

Bhandari had said that"justice should not be delayedand denied to the victim andher family".

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Typhoon Mangkhut, theyear's most powerful trop-

ical storm to hit the Chinesemainland, barrelled into thecoast of Guangdong provincekilling at least four persons andforcing evacuation of over 3.11million people in the southernregion after leaving a trail ofdeath and destruction from thePhilippines to Hong Kong.

Mangkhut landed at 5p.M. On Sunday on the coastof Jiangmen City inGuangdong province, packingwinds up to 162 km per hour,according to the provincialmeteorological station.

Three people were killed byfalling trees in Guangzhou,the provincial capital, whileanother person died from col-lapsing construction materialsin the city of Dongguan,Guangdong's disaster reliefauthorities said.

More than 3.11 million peo-ple had been relocated and over49,000 fishing boats were calledback to port in the province,state-run Xinhua news agencyreported on Monday.

Work has been suspendedat more than 29,000 construc-tion sites and 640 tourist spotswere closed.

The airports of Guangzhou

and Shenzhen. All high-speedtrain services and some nor-mal-speed rail services havebeen suspended in and Hainanprovinces.

The storm was still ragingacross southern China's coastand the provinces ofGuangdong, Guangxi andHainan and rain and strongwinds were expected to con-tinue through Tuesday, thereport said.

Mangkhut made landfall inwestern Guangdong on Sundayafternoon before moving intoneighbouring Guangxi Zhuangautonomous region, bringingwith it torrential rains and gales.

Though the worst appearsto have passed for Guangdongprovince, local meteorologicalauthorities warned residents toremain alert for floods andlandslides in Guangxi.

Mangkhut earlier lashedthe Philippines, sparking land-slides and building collapsesthat killed at least 65 people,with another 43 missing.

Hong Kong was also buf-feted by fierce winds that toreoff roofs, downed trees andcaused cranes perched atophalf-built skyscrapers to swingominously. However, therewere no reported deaths inHong Kong, a city well pre-pared for tropical cyclones.

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There are a few leaders in contemporaryglobal polity who have successfullychanged a war-torn country to avibrant progressive democracy intheir lifetime. Former Sri Lankan

President Mahinda Rajapaksa, a charismaticleader, accelerated the pace of development innationalistic spirit by pushing various infrastruc-ture projects that transformed the growth rate andthe GDP of the country from 2009. He servedas the sixth President of the island nation fromNovember 19, 2005, to January 9, 2015. A lawyerby profession, he was first elected to theParliament in 1970 and served as the PrimeMinister from April 6, 2004, until his victory inthe 2005 presidential election. He was re-elect-ed for a second term on January 27, 2010.

However, due to international and domes-tic imperatives, he was defeated in his bid for athird term in the 2015 presidential election byMaithripala Sirisena. An ex-aide, Sirisena hadbeen the Minister of Health in Rajapaksa’sGovernment and the General Secretary of the SriLanka Freedom Party (SLFP) before defecting tothe Opposition coalition. Later, Rajapaksa unsuc-cessfully sought to become the Prime Ministerin the 2015 parliamentary election, where theUnited People’s Freedom Alliance was defeated.Many had attributed the shocking loss to hisauthoritarianism, nepotism, poor governance andcorruption but the fact of the matter was that the

anti-incumbency factor and his strident desireto break new ground was the reason for his defeat.He was, however, elected as the Member ofParliament from Kurunegala district.

In 2005, Rajapaksa reshuffled the Cabinet andtook charge of the Defence and Finance portfo-lios. He extended the term of the Commanderof the Sri Lanka Army, Sarath Fonseka, less thana month before he was scheduled to retire. Overthe next three and a half years, Fonseka andRajapaksa’s brother and the Defence Secretary,Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, led the country’s ArmedForces in their battle against the Liberation Tigersof Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ultimately defeating themand killing their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.It was one of the most gruelling battles that theworld has witnessed in recent times. It madeRajapaksa a national hero and an internationalleader of repute.

The most challenging phase of Rajapaksa’spolitical career came after he took over the pres-idency. A series of mine blasts blamed on theLTTE claimed the lives of many off-duty service-men and civilians, pushing the country back tothe brink of war. However, on May 19, 2009,Rajapaksa delivered a victory address to theParliament and declared that the country hadbeen liberated from terrorism. It was a near mir-acle achieved by the Rajapaksa-led team.

After ending the civil war in 2009, Rajapaksa’sGovernment is known for undertaking largescale

infrastructure projects. Sri Lanka also made it intothe ‘high’ category of the Human DevelopmentIndex during this time. Initiation, completion, anddevelopment of many highways and roads, theColombo beautification project, the rural infra-structure development projects and so on aresome of the several highlights. However, the road-ways are known for high costs and are suspect-ed to have been the hotbeds of corruption. A largesum of Chinese loans tripled the country’s for-eign debt, creating an economic crisis. ButRajapaksa insisted that under him Sri Lanka expe-rienced rapid economic growth; the GDP growthrate reached over seven per cent.

In a move that was widely seen as solidify-ing his control over the Supreme Court, Rajapaksaremoved the Chief Justice, ShiraniBandaranayake, from office in January 2013,allowing him to appoint an ally and legal advis-er, former Attorney-General Mohan Peiris, asChief Justice.

Domestic imperatives with regard to TamilNadu compelled New Delhi to keep an arm’s dis-tance from Rajapaksa, forcing him to tilt towardsChina during his second term of presidency. Infact, the Sri Lanka Government offered prefer-ential infra-projects to India but received a luke-warm response from the Indian side. It wasalleged that Rajapaksa, during the 2015 presiden-tial campaign and elections, received large pay-ments from the Chinese port construction fund

that flowed directly into the campaign and relat-ed activities. The perception was created thatRajapaksa had agreed to Chinese terms and wasseen as an important ally in China’s efforts to tiltinfluence away from India in South Asia. It is afterhis unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2015that Rajapaksa adopted a more sceptical Chinapolicy, opposing major development projects suchas the Southern Economic Development Zonein which China had planned to invest over fivebillion dollars. He spoke to The Pioneer in anexclusive interview. Excerpts:

Q: The presidential election in 2010 saw theSri Lankan electorate freely participating aftermore than two decades of turbulence, unrest,and war; you are responsible for liberating thecountry from terrorism and set it on the pathto peace. What went wrong in 2015?

It was an international conspiracy against myGovernment that was successfully implementedby certain political opponents to capture power.I will not reveal the names of the countriesinvolved but I will be cautious in the future.Opponents have successfully alienated minori-ty communities from SLFP to facilitate consol-idation against us. However, everyone hasrealised the current bad governance. I am surethe trends of the local elections clearly indicatethat SLFP is on its way back to power in the nextgeneral elections.

Q: The criticism that can be made out of

your political career is that you promoted nepo-tism, appointing three brothers to run impor-tant ministries and assigning other politicalpositions for relatives, regardless of theirmerit. How would you react to it?

I think the built narrative is completely false.All the position-holders were elected by popu-lar votes in their respective constituencies and allcandidates had won the elections by large mar-gins in various elections. If the people like them,how can they be ignored? However, I hadappointed Gotabhaya Rajapaksa by executiveorder because I thought he was the right personto deliver what we wanted at that time. And mystand is vindicated when he displayed tremen-dous skills to eliminate terrorism during our armstruggle against LTTE.

Q: You won the presidency on a wide-rang-ing, people-oriented policy as laid out in the“Mahinda Chinthana”. How satisfying was yourexperience of governance?

Mahinda Chinthana means good governancefor all. We drafted it to incorporate the desiresof every section of the society in the politicalmainstream. Our concept is rooted in the soil;the governance that springs from the bottom ofthe pyramid. Yes, we have achieved most of ourpromises but we have to travel miles ahead to ful-fill the aspirations of our native people.

Q: Please narrate the experience of dealingwith international communities in emergency

situations so that other countries battling withterrorism can be inspired by your story.

We knew that wiping out terror would costtremendous pain and stress but we were deter-mined to live in peace permanently. The mainissue was India because Tamil Nadu is an impor-tant State for the country and the sentiments werestoked by certain interests against the probableaction. We created the TRIOKA plan whereinthree high officials of each side were deputed forregular exchange of information to facilitate prop-er coordination. It worked as it removed thechances of dissemination of wrong informationon either side. Finally, we offered a choice betweenpeace and war to the LTTE and they opted forthe later. We faced tremendous pressure from allUN organisations, certain pockets of Tamil-influ-ence countries and other local pressure but wewere resolute to solve the terror issue. ManyEuropean countries and their leaders visited usto mediate in the war but I stuck to my originaldecision. Today, we are one of the most peace-ful democratic countries in the world and I takeimmense pride to say that I was always right inthe conflict that was forced on us by the LTTE.

Q: The remarkable transition from a war-torn country to a peaceful nation was achievedby you in no time. We have seen many MiddleEastern countries going through similar trau-ma but have ended up as a failed state after thewar. How did you achieve this?

We have taken huge risks in the process lreleasing 12,000 prisoners in 2009 immediatafter the war. It could have gone wrong but fought the war with a humanitarian approaWe realised that though the people fighting wmisguided by vested interests, they remained oown. The defence forces must be commended the remarkable job in the recent war histoworldwide. They cleaned up the landmines in north within one year after the war to facilitimmediate popular election process. This instilconfidence in the native population remindithem of our humanitarian sentiment and bein the rule of law. We invested over a billion dlars in the northern part of the country to devop infrastructure and better living conditions our countrymen so their affection could be riprocated in the next presidential election of 20which I won by huge margins.

Q: How do you assess the present statethe India-Sri Lanka relationship?

All is good but we have to strengthen it fther. We have to continue the dialogue with tIndian Government on a regular basis on teconomy, fisheries, free trade agreements andon to build a more focussed mutual relationshI appreciate the efforts made in the individcapacity by few to improve the bilateral relatioship between the two friendly countries. Effmust be made from both G2G and P2P levelconsolidating the relationship.

�������������Sir — The world celebratedSeptember 16 as the International Dayfor the Preservation of the OzoneLayer to commemorate the date of thesigning of the Montreal Protocol onSubstances that Deplete the Ozone in1987. This year’s message from theUN Environment Programme was“keep cool and carry on”.

The need of the hour is to usemore of environmental-friendly prod-ucts and less of products emittingchlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

To be honest, the Earth without

the ozone is like a house without roof. TS Karthik

Chennai� � ��������Sir — This refers to the article,“Exposing a repressive campaign inXinjiang” (September 13) by ClaudeArpi. The article is right in its intentto point out that the Chinese barbar-ities towards the Uighur Muslimminorities are not new but what is sur-prising is that nobody dares to ques-tion Beijing’s Muslim policy.

The writer gives an account ofwhat is happening in the Chinese

Province of Xinjiang (formerlySinkiang). Having successfullyenslaved the Tibetan Buddhists, nowthey are bent upon doing the same tothe Uighur Muslims.

This brings us to question thedouble standards of the Governmentsof the Muslim majority or Islamicnations, who were mute while con-demning Myanmar on RohingyaMuslims. In my opinion, those whoespouse the cause of Uighur orRohingya Muslims will be asked bythe international community to shoul-der the responsibility which theywish to avoid. One wonders why the

US is meddling in these affairs espe-cially suffering from the September11, 2001 incident and thereafter?

SC PandaBhubaneswar

�������������������Sir — This refers to the article, “New-age business model” (September 17)by Mohandas Pai and Shobha MishraGhosh. Business is basically aboutknowing something that nobodyknows. The Indian business housesare on a growth trajectory and areharnessing human resources to devel-op a cutting edge technology.

The businesses must make work-places more employee-oriented andmake their businesses global — OYOrooms has entered Chinese marketand OLA cab is now taking its fightwith Uber to hijack the emerging markets. Indian businessmen mustdevelop the brinkmanship and shouldstart taking risks to make best utili-sation of human and physicalresources.

Gourang NaryaniUjjain

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Pawan washed my feet and drank the water outof respect. One day I will wash-drink the feet

of a BJP worker like Pawan.—BJP leader

NISHIKANT DUBEY

Has the arrogance of BJP leaders reached sucha zenith that now they want their karyakartas to

wash their feet and drink that water?—Congress spokesperson

RANDEEP SUJREWALA

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Aurangzeb’s biography byProf Audrey Truschke,published in 2017 byPenguin Books, provokesone to think as to what

path Muslims of India should nowtread in order to live in amity. It iswell-known that the name Aurangzebis widely disapproved. In course of mytravels, I came across only one shopnamed after the Emperor — it is sit-uated in Kidderpore, Kolkata —and only recently, for the first time,I heard of a Kashmir police consta-ble by the name Aurangzeb, who waskilled by terrorists. The third exam-ple was the prominent road namedafter him, which has now beenchanged to Dr APJ Abdul KalamRoad without any protest which,though, has been resented by ProfTruschke in her book. Now only alane by the name survives. Does thisnot reflect a widespread disapprovalof Aurangzeb by Muslims as well asby Hindus and Sikhs?

For, the first 67 years afterIndependence, Muslims in Indiahave survived the trauma of Partitionquite comfortably, except for period-ic riots with Hindus, so necessary fora Congress-style secular party to sur-vive in power. Under communist sec-ularism in Kerala and West Bengal,its rule was almost entirely riot-free.So was the so-called Hindu ruleunder the BJP and earlier under theJana Sangh in a couple of States,except for 2002 in Gujarat, which wasprovoked by the burning of railwaybogeys that claimed 58 lives inGodhra. The lesson of this short his-tory is that a Muslim minority can co-exist with a Hindu majority. Thereverse ratio, however, is not true asdemonstrated by the rapid ethniccleansing in 1947-48 Pakistan and asimilar but chronic process inBangladesh.

The first lesson to be drawn fromthis paradox is that for Hindu-Muslim amity, the population of thelatter community should not exceed20 per cent. With 25 per cent in 1947,Muslims were able to force Partition.This, despite being given reservationsin jobs as well as separate electorates.Until 1940, they claimed to be a

minority, and then to justify Partition,they changed to being a nation. Inshort, they have a chronic tendencyof separatism. Second, the rulingparty should not come to power byplaying the two communities againsteach other. The Congress had toremind Muslims periodically what ariot is, and more of it would be theirfate if they did not vote for the party.Otherwise, let the Muslim clergy holdveto to power, for example, the ShahBano alimony, followed by theMuslim Women’s Act.

The pinnacle of this Congresssecret of success was reached in the10-year prime ministership ofManmohan Singh, who several timesvirtually declared ‘Muslims First’ ashis policy and also appointed fivecommissions and committees ofwhom the Sachar-led effort was themost talked about. No wonder, thefour Modi-led years were filled withcomplaints by Muslims and theirfriends repeatedly saying that ‘every-one’ feels insecure. The Muslim cler-gy no longer held the veto after 67years of being used to it. That therehas been virtually no rioting duringthe four years across the country, isnot appreciated.

Another feature of Muslim per-formance has been its failure to pro-duce an eminent leader. MohammadAli Jinnah was the last one thrown upby the sub-continental ummah. Evenhe became prominent as a Muslimleader, as it were, more to fulfill themass desire for delivering Partitionand less as a community eminence.A possible explanation could be thatIslam, as ethos, prefers autocracy,whether monarchical, military orcivilian, but not a Western-typedemocracy. By contrast, in the sub-continent, Hindu performance hasbeen much better. In the absence ofresponsible and respected leadership,the Muslim masses have been mes-merised by their clergy as well as theCongress. These two have worked intandem — the only time the link hadsnapped was in the 1977, post-Emergency elections — otherwise,their interests are similar. The formerwants to keep a grip on the follow-ers, while the latter needs the votes.

From the beginning, theCongress has been pro-Muslim. Asa glaring example, Gandhiji hadequated a hope for success in his 1921Non-Cooperation agitation with avictory of his Khilafat movement tosave the Caliph on the Turkishthrone. The failure of both led to whatBR Ambedkar called a 20-year Hindu

Muslim civil war until 1940, when thePakistan resolution was passed atLahore. A century later this year,Rahul Gandhi did not hesitate toadmit that the Congress is a Muslimparty. And why not? Because thegrand old party has placed the com-munity superiorly to the Hindus;especially Articles 29 and 30 renderArticles 14 and 15 a sham.Additionally, the wakfs, which ownup to six lakh acres of urban land inthe country, have been left untouchedby the Government, whereas zamin-daris and jagirdaris were abolished onthe morrow of Independence. Theseand other laws make Muslims appearto be the favourite offspring of Indiawhile the Hindus may feel like, as theywere, step-children.

It is for the post-CongressGovernments, whether in the Statesor at the Centre, to correct the mis-leading impression created of most ofMuslims. Citizens of all hues below45 years in age are mostly unawareof the facts of Partition. Discussionsin the media give the impression thatfree India’s life began with theConstitution. The earlier years wereall part of jahelia or darkness. Instead,an attempt should be made to informpeople who voted how in the 1945-46 elections and the run-up to the

Partition. As a backgrounder, how in1940, the League declared thatMuslims were a nation and not aminority? It, therefore, had to have aseparate homeland or Darul Islam.The League leaders wanted Muslimsto transfer to Pakistan and the rest togo to Hindustan. Those whoremained behind were to live as alienswith the help of visas issued by therespective Governments. Instead,today Hindustan has probably moreMuslims than any other country,except Indonesia. The communityitself claims to be poor and backward.It seems it appears to spread back-wardness to the States it lives in.

Today, the belt beginning withUttar Pradesh and ending withAssam via Bihar and West Bengal, isdistinctly poorer economically thanthe rest of India. Although the Gangaflows across the belt, the soil is most-ly fertile and there is a great deal ofmineral wealth to mine. These Stateshave to be pulled up and, more par-ticularly, the Muslims. If this writerwere a Sunni Musalman, he wouldtell his people that not many of us canemigrate and, therefore, to live hap-pily in India, we should join the main-stream.

Licenced madrasas all overshould be given a say — four or five

years to come up in their standardsto be affiliated to the mainstreamboards like CBSE or ICSE. AligarhMuslim University and Jamiashould cease to be Muslim orIslamia since they are entirely State-financed. If not a UniformCommon Code, the communityitself could take the initiative andmodernise the personal law anddraft a Muslim Code Bill. All tem-ples converted to mosques, whichare readily reconvertible to mandirs,should be vacated. Around 2,500 orso recycled (built anew with thedebris of demolished temples)mosques may be left as they are.

All these suggestions would helpMuslims integrate with the rest of thepeople of Hindustan and share thebenefits of national prosperity. TheShias are already on the path to inte-gration. Why not the Sunnis too? Allthat is being recommended is tofavour the ways of Dara Shikoh, awayfrom the misguided whims ofAurangzeb. Both were full bloodbrothers. But the latter caused andpresided over to the fall of theMughal Empire. Hindustan doesnot wish to fall similarly.

(The writer is a well-knowncolumnist and an author)

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Licence raj for industries came to an endin 1991 after the economic reformskicked in. Business enterprises heaved

a sigh of relief and results were evident soon.However, at present, various business com-munities and development planners havetermed the functioning of the Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest and Climate Changeakin to the old licence raj.Environmentalists, on the other hand,have dubbed the Ministry as ineffective andhave blamed it for bartering away forest-lands and promoting polluters. The truth,however, lies in between.

A review of the environmental policiesand programmes of the present NDAregime will make us believe that things havechanged for good. Laws governing the envi-ronment and forest conservation weregenerally treated as irritants. Initially, mostviolations were condoned, especially for therelease of forest lands and polluting indus-tries on grounds of ignorance of the ForestConservation Act, 1980 and EnvironmentProtection Act, 1986. After the SupremeCourt’s intervention in 1996, the scenariofor the enforcement of regulatory laws com-pletely changed. The Ministry was blamedby both the proponents of development andenvironmentalists for arbitrariness in deci-sion-making, inefficiency, delay, corruptionand absence of transparency. This writer hasworked for a long time in the Ministry andis a witness to its growth and follies. It will,hence, be interesting to examine the perfor-mance of the Modi Government in the lastfour years.

One of the best policy decisions towardsensuring transparency, professionalism andto ward off any criticism of delays and arbi-trariness in decision-making was taken bythe Ministry with the Prime MinisterModi’s launch of PARIVESH portal onAugust 10. The Pro-Active and Responsivefacilitation by Interactive, Virtuous andEnvironmental Single-window Hub(PARIVESH), for online submission, mon-itoring and management of proposals, willallow the project proponent as well as thecommon man to track the entire approval

process under the Central and StateGovernment for all four clearances viz, envi-ronment, forest, wildlife and coastal regu-lation zone. One of the highlights of the por-tal is the auto-generation of minutes of themeetings which will remove any scope forbackroom modifications by expert bodies.This has been a regular feature in the past10 years before 2014. In one stroke, real-time decision-making process will be in thepublic domain. This is the best thing thathas happened in the Ministry. This has far-reaching consequences and it would ben-efit the country’s developmental processwithout compromising on environment.This has also opened the first door for e-governance. If implemented sincerely, it canensure timely clearances and quick decision-making.

The Ministry has also for long beenblamed for prevaricating on delays infinalising the declaration of eco-sensitivezones near national parks and wildlife sanc-tuaries. The Supreme Court in 2002-2003had asked the Government to declarethese zones, and till then, in a radius of 10km, most of the developmental activitieswere forbidden by the Court. During theperiod of 2004 to 2014, only eight propos-als were finalised and 24 were in the draftstage. In the last four years, the Ministryfinalised 284 cases and 202 are still in theirdraft stage, which have been fast-tracked.The portal will also ensure development ofstalled projects and protection of wildlifeareas. A report titled, ‘India State of ForestReport 2017’ by the Forest Survey of Indiarevealed that India’s total forest and treecover area increased to over 8,021 sq km,which is one per cent increase from 2015.This is in line with meeting India’s Paris cli-mate commitment. The country now issequestering 49.50 million tonnes of carbonannually and India is also one of the front-line leaders in the world in mitigating strat-egy deployment.

However, everything is not hunky-doryin the Ministry’s working, considering theemerging challenges, especially the fundposition is critical. The country is facingserious threats from climate change, whichis now visible in the form of devastatingfloods/landslides, like the ones we witnessedin Kerala this year and Tamil Nadu last year.Floods and cloudburst in Himalayas, recur-rent droughts and intense heat waves andscarcity of water, are going to severely affectlivelihoods of a large section of people.

Dense forests of more than 40 per centcrown density are not in good shape as theylack adequate regeneration. Vegetation inmajor forest types has changed due to tem-perature and rainfall pattern changes sub-stantially, as revealed by the task force ofIndian Council of Forestry Research andEducation (ICFRE).

Agriculture and water supply is goingto be severely impacted if we do not putmoney into the management of catchmentsof major rivers. This loss of water depriveslocals of drinking water and is also lead-ing to the migration of people to urbanareas, where the problem gets further com-pounded. According to a recent study byKumaun University and AustralianNational University, due to the interferenceof man, water sources in the Himalayas aregetting dry. The region is losing 65 per centof the rain water, leading to disasters likedrying up of water sources, flash floods andlandslides in the region, and floods in theplain areas. There is a constant reductionin river flow in the tributaries of Yamunain Himachal, Ganga and Kosi inUttarakhand and Teesta in Sikkim. Thereduction in stream flow varies from 38 percent to 45 per cent in these rivers. The netresult of this has prevented irrigation inover 20 per cent of the land in plain areasand 15 per cent reduction in agricultureproductivity. The current available annu-al Budget of the Ministry is around �2,600crore. Compared to the needs of today, thisis very less.

The Prime Minister must take a reviewand sanction at least �1,000 crore annual-ly for watershed activities in the recordedforest areas for the next five years. This mustbe complemented with cultural and regen-eration of forests and sufficient fund flowfor research and lands vested with tribals.This will improve the forest and non-forest-land hydrology, and the landscape will adaptto the climatic changes. The forestry sectorneeds institutional reforms. The ICFRE’sautonomy is half-done if it is brought backto the Government as an attached office asforestry institutions cannot be expected toearn revenue to sustain them. The joint for-est management programme needs secondgeneration reforms. Well-planned activitiescan solve much of the threats posed by pol-lution as the technologies are available.What is needed is a far sight and a will todo things in a coordinated manner.

(The writer is a retired civil servant)

Striking a fine balance

In search of a path to integrationIt is for the post-Congress Governments, whether in the States or the Centre, to correct the misleading impression created of Muslims.

This provokes one to think as to what path the Muslim community of India could now tread in order to be stakeholders in amity

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Vile trolling is not new to celebs. But fanatics toucheda new low by attacking Shah Rukh Khan for postingson AbRam’s photo in front of a Ganesha idol as partof Chathurthi celebrations. Bigots called the very secu-lar SRK a non-Muslim. Targetting a child in the nameof religion and schooling him about ritualistic moresbased on his father’s surname are simply disgusting.

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On the 70th Liberation Dayof Hyderabad on Monday

marking the merger of theerstwhile princely State ofHyderabad into the IndianUnion following a militaryaction in 1948, the BJPlaunched a fresh onslaught onthe ruling Telangana RashtraSamiti.

As the day has come in thethick of the election campaignin the State, the saffron partyhas put the occasion to full useto target the TRS, questioningwhy it did not celebrate the dayofficially during its four-yearlong rule.

“When it couldn’t cele-brate the most important dayin the history of Telangana howit can claim itself to be thechampion of the State”, askedBJP state floor leader G KishanReddy.

While all other partiesincluding the TRS, Congressand the Left marked the day byhoisting national flags at theirrespective party offices, theBJP adopted an aggressive pos-ture linking its programmes tothe party’s election campaign.

The national flag was hoist-ed at the State BJP headquar-ters in the presence of the top

State BJP leaders, includingthe State president K Lakshmanand former Union MinisterBandaru Dattatreya.

They promised that aftercoming to power in the Statethe BJP will officially celebrat-ed “Telangana Vimohana Day”or celebration day. A similarpromise was made by the BJPnational president Amit Shahduring his visit on Saturday.

Kishan Reddy who paidtributes to the Telangana mar-tyrs at the memorial allegedthat the TRS was playing intothe hands of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM).“TRS has done a great injusticeto Telangana by not celebratingthe day. It will be possible onlyif BJP comes to power. We willorganize official celebration inevery government office whenwe come to power”, Reddysaid.

He urged the people tostand up against the vote bankpolitics of K ChandrasekharRao. He said that KCR did nothave any moral right to ask forvotes when he had failed tokeep any promise made to thepeople.

Reacting angrily to thesenior TRS leader K TarakaRama Rao describing BJP as“Bharatiay Jhoota Party”,

Kishan Reddy said, “If he callsour party like that then the TRSis Telangana Razakars Party”.

He was referring to theRazakars, a private militia forcein Nizam reign which foughtagainst the Indian army duringthe operation polo. Nizam rulehad come to an end onSeptember 17, 1948 after athree day long “OperationPolo” by the Indian army at thebehest of then home ministerSardar Patel.

BJP has been demandingthat the day should be cele-brated officially in Telanganalike it was done in the parts ofNizam dominion which weremerged into Karnataka andMaharashtra.

BJP leaders also recalledstatements of the ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raoon various occasion in whichhe had expressed his admira-tion for the last Nizam MirOsman Ali Khan for his benev-olent rule and the Hindu-Muslim harmony and com-posite culture which prevailedduring his reign. In the pastKCR rejected the demand forcelebration of Liberation Daysaying it was a “merger day”and some people want to use itto create a discord among thepeople on communal lines.

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The Madras High Court onMonday asked H Raja, the

national secretary of the BJP, topresent himself before the court in four weeks andexplain why no action shouldnot be taken against him for hisderogatory comments againstthe judiciary.

Justices CT selvam andNirmal Kumar on Mondaytook suo motu cognisance ofhis remarks made inPuthukottai district onSaturday when the police triedto prevent him from taking aVinayaka Chathurthi proces-sion through a locality whichhas been declared out of boundbecause of the communallysensitive region.

Raja reportedly shouted atthe police and used derogato-ry comments against the judi-ciary, the video of which wentviral in the social media.

The BJP leader has heard shouting that the wholepolice forces in Tamil Naduwere corrupt and the StatePolice Chief ’s residence hadbeen raided recently by theCBI.

When the video of his out-

bursts went viral, Raja changedtracks and claimed that he had not made any commentslike that.

He also claimed that thevoice in the video does notbelong to him and it has beendubbed by some forces whowere against him and the BJP.

The Pudukottai Police haveregistered a first informationreport against Raja and fiveothers under various sectionsof the Indian Penal Code rang-ing from unlawful assembly tocriminal intimidation.

The BJP leader remainedincommunicado despite manyattempts to contact him overthe phone.

Uma Anandan, his closeassociate, was the only personwho came out to support Rajawhile other BJP leaders main-tained silence over the issue.“Raja Sir has not told anythinglike what the DMK and VCKagainst Hindus in the State,”said Anandan.

It may be remembered thatRaja had courted controversylast year for his exhortation tothe BJP cadre to destroy anddemolish the statues of EVRamasamy Naicker, founder ofthe Dravida movement inTamil Nadu.

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The festival season in TamilNadu commenced on a

stormy note with unpleasantincidents being reported fromvarious parts of the State inconnection with VinayakarChathurthi and the 139th birthanniversary of EV RamasamyNaicker, social reformer andfounder of the Dravidianmovement.

Miscreants reportedlyplaced footwears on the statueof Naicker at Tiruppur in southwestern Tamil Nadu onMonday morning. Though thepolice got the footwearsremoved immediately, the citywitnessed demonstrations con-demning the desecration ofthe statue.

Another miscreant threwhis chappals at the statue ofNaicker in Chennai’s arterialMount Road. A crowd whichhad gathered around the stat-ue to offer floral tributes to thelate leader was taken aback bythis act of vandalism andcaught hold of the miscreantand was handed over to thepolice.

In Tiruppur, a team ofpolice officers are scanningthe entire district to nab thepeople who vandalised thestatue of Naicker. All politicalparties barring the BJP came

out in the open and con-demned the attack on the stat-ues.

MK Stalin, DMK presi-dent, wanted the Tamil NaduGovernment to slap NationalSecurity Act on anti-social ele-ments who desecratedNaicker’s statues. The attackson the statues of Naicker comea day after the communal riotsthat rocked the southern townof Senkottai.

The town bordering Keralasaw Hindus and Muslim riot-ing on Thursday. Though therewere no untoward incidentsduring the processions, theday prior to the immersion sawpitched battles between thetwo communities over theroute through which the pro-cession was to take place.

Many shops and vehicleswere set ablaze by miscreants asthere were stiff opposition tothe procession scheduledthrough streets having Muslimpopulation.

The district administra-tion’s orders not to use highdecibel music and slogans likeBharat Mata Ki Jay were challenged by activists ofHindu Front and devotees ofthe Lord.

Since they did not get thedesired help from the admin-istration, Hindus in the districtconvened a meeting onSaturday and decided to social-

ly and economically boycott theMuslim community. “Thougha peace meeting was held onSunday at the instance of thedistrict administration, theimpasse caused by VinayakaChathurthi remained unre-solved,” said Sriram, writer andsocial activist.

Meanwhile, the outburst byH Raja, the national secretaryof BJP, at Thirumayam inPudukottai district against thejudiciary and police has result-ed in the deterioration of thecommunal harmony in theState. Raja accused the courtand police of corruption andtermed them as anti-Hindu.The outburst went viral and thepolice registered a first infor-mation report against him andother Hindu leaders undervarious sections of the IPC.

Though Raja denied thathe had raised allegationsagainst the judiciary and police,Shyamala and C Rajasekar,advocates of Madras HighCourt said that the BJP leaderhad bitten more than he couldchew.

Last year also Raja was inthe news for making allegedlyderogatory comments againstNaicker. BJP leaders in TamilNadu refused to come out tohelp their colleague . “We arehelpless as this is a situationcreated by Raja himself,” said asenior leader.

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In a major decision, theCongress-JD(S) coalition

Government in Karnataka cap-tained by Chief Minister HDKumaraswamy has reducedthe petrol and diesel prices byRs 2 in the State. Karnataka hasone of the highest rates ofpetroleum products and thishas reduced the burden of thecommon people to an extent.

This makes Karnataka thefourth state to bring down thesoaring fuel rates after AndhraPradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Fuel prices havebeen on an upward swing forweeks now with unionGovernment so far refused tocut in central taxes, whilemaintaining that rates wouldstabilise depending on theinternational market.

Petrol was selling at �84.59per litre in Bengaluru onMonday, while diesel was retail-ing at �76.10 a litre. Addressinga rally at Kalburgi to com-memorate the HyderabadKarnataka liberation day on

Monday announced the cut inrate.

He said “Today, this coali-tion Government has decidedto reduce both petrol and dieselprices by �2 per litre.”

Former PM and Janataparty Supremo HD DeveGowda said in a tweet “ It is acommendable decision by theGovernment of Karnataka toreduce fuel prices by around �2per litre”.

Announcing the priceslash, Karnataka Chief MinisterHD Kumaraswamy said, “OurGovernment has decided toreduce the cess on petrol anddiesel. The fuel price will bedecreased by two rupees perlitre.”

Deputy CM GParameshwara also took toTwitter to hail the decision.“?In a landmark move toreduce the burden of rising fuelprices on the people of#Karnataka, our coalitionGovernment has slashed thecess on petrol & diesel by �2.Hope the union Governmenttoo follows suit,” he wrote.

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The Congress in Telanganaon Monday alleged that

between 20 to 30 lakh nameshave been deleted from theelectoral rolls and that theparty would work to includeevery eligible citizen in the vot-ers’ lists.

“The deletion of 20-30lakh names from the electoralrolls was not incidental, butpart of a conspiracy by the rul-ing TRS and BJP,” TelanganaPradesh Congress Committeepresident N Uttam KumarReddy alleged.

The Congress would notallow the conspiracy to succeedand would fight until each andevery eligible citizen getsenrolled in the voters’ lists, hesaid, speaking at GandhiBhavan, the State Congressheadquarters here.

Reddy also alleged that theTRS government in Telanganahas “crushed people’s freedom”.

The Congress, if elected topower in the coming assembly

Assembly elections, wouldrestore ‘Dharna Chowk’ (aplace near Indira Park here toorganise protests) as protestsare not being allowed therenow, Reddy said.

The Assembly electionswere originally scheduled to beheld simultaneously with theLok Sabha polls next year, butthe assembly was dissolvedearlier this month as per a rec-ommendation of the TRSGovernment.

The Congress, which calledupon all political and non-political forces to join forces

with it to end the “misrule” ofTRS, has held preliminary talkswith TDP and CPI on forminga broad-based alliance to defeatthe TRS.

AICC incharge of partyaffairs in Telangana R CKhuntia had earlier indicatedthat a Common MinimumProgramme (CMP) could beevolved for the alliance.

Uttam Kumar Reddy, alongwith other party leaders, latervisited party leader and ex-MLA T Jayaprakash Reddy,who was arrested in connectionwith a human trafficking caselast week, at Chanchalgudajail here.

“Reddy has been implicat-ed in a false case by the TRSgovernment,” the TPCC pres-ident said.

Meanwhile, Congressleader A Revanth Reddy claimed that there was a conspiracy against him ashe is expected to play a key rolein the party’s election campaign.

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The Jammu and KashmirGovernment on Monday

approved the J&K SingleWindow (Industrial Investmentand Business Facilitation) Act,2018, which aims to ease flow ofinvestments into the State. “TheGovernor’s administrationapproved the J&K SingleWindow Act, 2018. The Act hasbeen approved by the stateadministrative council (SAC),headed by Governor Satya PalMalik,” an official spokesmansaid.

Giving details of the Act,Principal Secretary, industries,Shailendra Kumar said enact-ment of the act is part of the

government’s flagship initiativeto improve ease of doing busi-ness indicators. “The act aimsat comprehensive and unprece-dented overhaul of the outdat-ed processes and proceduresinvolved in setting up busi-nesses in the state,” he said.

Kumar said services ofmore than 12 departmentshave been brought together inan online service. “All servicesfrom the pre-operation, pre-establishment stage to therenewal stage are present in thesingle window portal,” Kumarsaid. He said the act involvessetting up of three-tier com-mittees at the state, division anddistrict levels to ensure speedyclearance of business proposals.

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The election office of Jammuand Kashmir on Monday

said Kashmiri migrants canvote in the upcoming munici-pal polls as their names con-tinue to be enrolled in electorallists of the Assembly con-stituencies of the Valley.

“With the amendments inJ&K Representation of thePeople Act-1957 and J&KConduct of Election Rules-1965, the names of Kashmirimigrants continue to beenrolled in the electoral rolls ofthe Assembly constituenciesof Kashmir Valley.

“As the Municipal electoralrolls are relatable to the leg-islative assembly electoral rolls,their names exist in the elec-toral Rolls of the municipalbodies in the Kashmir valley,”a spokesman for the electionoffice said.

He said in order to provideKashmiri migrants facility toexercise their franchise in themunicipal elections-2018, theyhave been notified as a class ofpersons who shall cast theirvotes through postal ballots.

The notification to thiseffect has been issued on 16September, 2018, he said.

“Consequent upon this

notification, a detailed schemefor voting by Kashmirimigrants by means of postalballots in the municipal elec-tions, 2018 stands notified,” headded. The spokesman said thescheme makes available elec-toral rolls to the Kashmirmigrants at 16 places includingsix transit camps in Kashmir sothat they can file an applicationto opt for voting by way ofpostal ballot.

He said the chief electoralofficer has prescribed the lastdate for making such applica-tion as the last date for makingnominations for a particularmunicipal body.

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Uttar Pradesh Deputy ChiefMinister Keshav Prasad

Maurya does not view theunited opposition as a threat tothe BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections.

Speaking to reporters hereMonday evening, Maurya said,“Our target is 73+ seats (in thestate) and we are not concernedabout the opposition’s strategy.”

Recently, BSP chiefMayawati said her party wouldjoin the mahagathbandhan ifher party was offeredrespectable number of seats.

“We are not botheredabout Mayawati, Akhilesh

Yadav or Rahul Gandhi. We areworking for 73+ seats and howwe can support the prime min-ister,” he said.

He said the opposition’smain aim was to stop Modi in2019 Lok Sabha elections. Hesaid the opposition leaderswere frustrated, dejected andsad as their efforts were notyielding desired results.

Speaking on the SC/STordinance, the deputy CM saidhe can assure the people thatthe provisions of the ordi-nance and the act in the futurewould never be misused.

“In spite of winning 73seats, we could not win in therest seven seats in the state in

2014 general polls. However,now our aim is to ensure vic-tory in 100 per cent seats,”Maurya is said to have told BJPactivists during an interaction,according to media in-chargeof BJP Pradeep Goswami.

Maurya told the partyworkers that they have to playa greater role in the 2019 LokSabha elections compared tothe state elections held last year,Goswami said, adding thatMaurya advised the people toapprise the public about vari-ous schemes launched by theModi Government. Mauryalater paid obeisance to the pre-siding deity at Banke Beharitemple in Vrindaban.

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A19-year-old girl allegedlycommitted suicide by set-

ting herself ablaze after learningthat her 22-year-old lover hadhanged himself, near here,police said on Monday. Thecouple were neighbours, and thereason for taking the extremestep was not known, the policesaid. On Sunday, the loverswere arguing with each otherover the phone while the boywas having drinks with hisfriend, they said. Later, the boywent home, told his family hewould return on Monday, butphoned up his brother and hisfriend and said he was going tocommit suicide, police said.

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Chief Election CommissionerOm Prakash Rawat met the

representatives of seven politi-cal parties in Jaipur on Mondayto discuss the issues related tothe upcoming Assembly elec-tion in Rajasthan.

Leaders of the BharatiyaJanata Party submitted a mem-orandum to the commissioner,demanding elections in thestate in two phases. The repre-sentatives sought adequatesecurity and administrativeforce for a free-and-fair elec-tion, a BJP spokesperson said.

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Atraining programme forall district Collectors in

Telangana on how to deal withthe process of election work,especially those involvinginformation technology, wasconducted here Monday.

According to the guidelinesof the Election Commission ofIndia, all the Collectors/DistrictElection Officers (DEOs) of thestate have been imparted train-ing on how to deal with theprocess of election work.

Also, deputy DEOs with ITwing have been trained to havea clear idea to perform theirduties with transparency dur-ing the process of the elections,

Telangana Chief ElectoralOfficer Rajat Kumar toldreporters.

The ECI has deputed teamsfrom Delhi to impart the train-ing at the Greater HyderabadMunicipal Corporation(GHMC) head officewhereKumar and the civicbody Commissioner M DanaKishore monitored the pro-gramme, he said.

The ECI has made avail-able10 IT applications whichwould help the DEOs performtheir duties in an appropriateway, Kumar said.Also, the ECIhas introduced an application‘C Vigil’ wherein any citizencan upload photos and videosduring the election time, for

which time-bound responsewould be provided, he said.

Every citizen can utilise theapplication to upload and giveinformation about the modelcode of conduct, malpracticesetc, and the EC officials wouldact on the grievances in a time-boundschedule to sort the issuesout immediately, Kumar said.These are some sophisticatedand powerful IT tools whichwould be used this time in theelection, he said.

Special awareness cam-paigns towards voter enrolmentwere also conducted over thelast three days across the statewhere every booth-level officerperformed the assigned dutiesat the polling stations, he said.

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Normal life was affected inKashmir Valley on

Monday by a shutdown calledby separatists to protest againstthe recent killings of militantsand a civilian in southKashmir’s Kulgam district.Even as the shutdown passedoff peacefully, suspected mili-tants shot dead a soldier of theTerritorial Army (TA), whohad been active in counter-insurgency operations.

The separatists’ JoinTResistance Leadership (JRL), agrouping of prominent sepa-ratist leaders Syed Ali Geelani,Mirwaiz Umar Farooq andYasin Malik, had called for day-long shutdown against therecent kilings. Five local mili-tants of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba(LeT) and Hizbul Mujahideenoutfits including top-rankingcommander Gulzar Padder, all

residents of Kulgam andAnantnag districts, were killedin a counter-militant operationin Chowgam village ofQazigund on Friday. In theaftermath of the gunfight, acivilian youngster Rouf Ganaiefrom Anchidora Anantnag was also killed and two dozen protesters wereinjured.

Shops, fuel stations, busi-ness establishments and edu-cational institutions remainedclosed in Srinagar and otherareas of the city while publictransport was generally off theroads. Very scanty private andpublic transport vehicles wereseen plying on some Srinagarroads.

The shutdown also impact-ed attendance in governmentoffices including the CivilSecretariat.

The authorities deployedpolice and paramilitaries in

sensitive areas of capitalSrinagar to prevent any law andorder situation.

The train services weresuspended between Banihaland Baramulla for the thirdconsecutive day since Saturdayfollowing killings in Kulgam.The speed of mobile internethas been reduced in southKashmir areas and elsewhere inthe Valley as a precautionarysecurity measure.

Meanwhile, unidentifiedmilitants shot dead a TerritorialArmy (TA) man MukhtarAhmad Malik alias MukhtarGola at his home in Shurat areaof south Kashmir's Kulgamdistrict on Saturday afternoon.

Mukhtar Gola was a for-mer cadre of pro-governmentmilitia known as Ikhwan, acounter-insurgent group thatkilled hundreds of militants inKashmir Valley between late1990s and early 2000.

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The Assam police arrestedthree more suspected link

men of Hizbul Mujahiddeenfrom Nagaon andJamunamukh areas of centralAssam on Monday.

A senior official of theAssam police said that theHizbul Mujahiddeen had man-aged to set up a module inAssam.

The arrests came after therecent arrest of Qamar UzZaman, a Hizbul terrorist fromKanpur in Uttar Pradesh, andthe subsequent arrest of hisclose aide Shahnawaj Alamfrom Hojai last week.

“We have arrested arrestedSaifudin, who is the brother ofQamar-uz-Zaman. He was pro-duced in the court and was sent

to 10 days police remand. Webelieve that Saifudin has a bigrole in spreading the Hizbulnetwork in Assam,” he saidadding that the police are inter-rogating him to get vital details.

“Three linkmen arrestedincluded Riazudin Bhuyan,Jainal Ahmad and BharulIslam,” he added.

It may be mentioned herethat a team from Kanpur policevisited Lanka police stationafter the arrest of Qamar UzZaman and Assam police hadalso sent a team to Kanpur.Police is trying to place variousinputs together for HizbulMujahideen interest in Assamwas for recruiting the youths orprocuring arms.

“We are analysing variousinputs as to for what this out-fit was here,” he said.

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The “honour killing” case ofNalgonda has taken many

sensational twists and turns,adding a political angle to thebrutal murder.

While Nalgonda districtpolice has claimed that it wasvery close to achieving breakthrough in the case by identi-fying the main killers, the vic-tim’s wife Amruthavarshini hasalleged that her father T MarutiRao had paid a whopping �10million to get her husbandPranay Kumar killed.

According to policesources, 9 or ten people wereinvolved in the killing of Pranaylast week. Maruti Rao was themain conspirator, as he want-ed the Dalit youth killed formarrying his upper-castedaughter.

The police have alreadyarrested five people, includingMaruti Rao, his brotherShravan, friend Kareem.

There were speculationsthat the police have also takenAbdul Bari and Shafi into cus-tody and Abdul Bari confessedthat he had given the respon-sibility of eliminating Pranay toShafi.

Abdul Bari is a notoriousrowdy in Nalgonda and hewas also accused in the case ofmurder of former Gujrat HomeMinister Haren Pandya.

According to the policesources, Maruthi Rao, a promi-nent businessman from Baniacommunity, had come intocontact with Abdul Bari a fewyears ago when Bari had kid-napped in a land grabbingcase.

Maruti Rao gave him thecontract to kill Pravany whohad married his daughter inJanuary in Hyderabad.

Rao approached Abdul Bari two months agoand hired his services to elim-inate Pranay Kumar.

Police sources said that

during the questioning MarutiRao admitted his hand in thekilling and also justified it.“For me nothing is moreimportant than my social sta-tus and name, not even mydaughter or her happiness”, hereportedly told the police.

Police officials said thatMaruti Rao was one of the rich-est business and politicallyvery influential personality ofMiryalaguda town of Nalgondadistrict.

He was reportedly worth�100 crores as he had his fin-ger in many pies including thereal estate and kerosene busi-ness. He and his brother hadalso recently joined the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samiti andhad his photographs with aminister G Jagdeesh Reddyand TRS MLA VemulaVeeresham.

There was a big hoardingin the town with the photo ofMaruti Ra with the minister.

Amrtuha, whose husband

was hacked to death in front ofher eyes has alleged that herfather spent a huge mount ofmoney to get her husbandkilled. She also alleged that herfather had tried to pressurizeher through the TRS MLAVeeresham to desert her hus-band and return to her parentswhich she refused.

Amrutha alleged that theMLA took money from herfather and threatened her aswell as parents of Pranay.

Nalgonda district superin-tendent of police AVRanganath confirmed thatMaruti Rao had approachedpolitical leaders of differentparties including Veereshamfor their help to get his daugh-ter back.

“But there is no evidence tolink the MLA to the killing”, hesaid.

According to the investi-gation Maruti Rao had quite ashoddy background. Belongingto a lower middle class family

Maruti Rao originally belongedKakinada but settled inMiryalaguda about twodecades ago.

Starting as a kerosene deal-er he gradually developed hisbusiness as a dealer of jiggeryand expanded it to real estate.

There were also allegations that through themanipulation and forgery ofdocuments and revenuerecords he grabbed prime landsincluding those allotted to free-dom fighters.

He also developed manyventures and earned a lot ofmoney to emerge as one of therichest persons in the town.

At one stage he wasinvolved in a confrontationwith the dreaded naxalite turnmafia don Nayeemuddin overa piece of land. But the two latercompromised and cooperatedwith each other.

Nayeem was killed in anencounter with the police acouple of years ago.

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The Unit 2 of the KakrapurAtomic Power Station

(KAPS) in Surat district inGujarat attained criticality —which in other words meansthe initiation of self-sustainingnuclear fission chain reactionin the reactor - in the earlyhours of Monday.

Announcing this, NuclearPower Corporation of IndiaLtd. (NPCIL)'s AssociateDirector (CP&CC) AK Nemasaid: “The 220 MW KAPS-2went critical at 2.22 am today,after undergoing a renovationand modernisation pro-gramme, encompassing En-Masse Collant ChannelReplacement, En Masse FeederReplacement and other safetyupgrades. The task was com-

pleted three and a half monthsahead of the schedule”.

According to Nema, theNPCIL, Nuclear Fuel Complex(manufacturer of coolest chan-nels), Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre (BARC) and variousvendors and contractors con-tributed to the KAPS-2 attain-ing criticality.

“The approach to criticality was undertaken afteradhering to all the stipulatedregulatory requirements, and shall be followed by con-ducting various tests, connection to the grid, increasein power level to full power asper laid down procedures andregulatory clearances,” Nemasaid.

The KAPS comprises twounits of indigenous 220MW(KAPS-1&2) Pressurised

Heavy Water Reactors(PHWR), which commencedcommercial operations in 1993and 1995 respectively. Twomore units of 700 MWPHWRs (KAPP-3 & 4) areunder construction.

The NCPIL currently oper-ates 22 nuclear power reactors,including the 100MW RAPS-1, owned by the Department ofAtomic Energy (DAE), with acapacity of 6780MW.

Additionally, eight reac-tors with a capacity of6200MW are currently underconstruction in different partsof India, while work is under-way for 12 more nuclear reac-tors with a capacity of9000MW for which all admin-istrative and financial sanctionshave been received from thegovernment.

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As the incident of sexualabuse of a minor girl in a

private school rockedHyderabad, the local MP onMonday urged the StateGovernment to close downthe school and take stringentaction against the school management for negligenceand attempt to cover up theheinous crime.

Accompanied by the fam-ily members of the four-yearold victim, Majlis-e-IttehadulMuslimeen president andMember of Parliament from

Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisimet the Police CommissionerAnjani Kumar and district col-lector Yogita Rana anddemanded that school shouldnot be allowed to open till theprobe was completed.

He urged the commis-sioner to transfer the case tothe Central Crime Station fromthe local police station and alsobook a case against the schooland seize it.

After the case of sexualabuse in Azan Internationalschool came to light the policearrested a school supervisorMohammed Jeelani.

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The Narendra ModiGovernment’s days are

numbered as the people ofIndia have made up their mindto throw it out in the 2019 polls,Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee said on Monday.

The Chief Minister, who iscurrently in Frankfurt for abusiness trip, told reportershow a “comeback for the BJPGovernment will be cata-strophic for the country.” Callingthe Modi Government “anti-people” to the core, Banerjeesaid the BJP came to power bypeddling loads of promises butkept none.

Instead of the promised“acchhe din” they only gave dis-tress, inflation and

persecution of those who daredto raise their voice against them.

“This Government is insen-sitive towards people’s dailywoes which can be proved bythe hike in petroleum prices ona daily basis. Though the priceof crude has gone down in theinternational market they areincreasing prices of petrol,diesel, LPG.

They have slapped petrole-um cess on nine occasion whichis inhuman and cruel. This isnot a people’s Government buta Government of the rich,”Banerjee said.

“Under this regime everyprotest is met by repression: thatmay come either through lev-eling of false charges, lynchingor CBI and ED. Just because Ihad always been vocal against

their anti-people policies theysent our leaders to jail on falsecharges,” she maintained addingthe people had been watchingtheir activities and “they are sureto be thrown out of power in2019.”

On whether she saw theOpposition parties comingtogether to defeat the BJP, shesaid “everyone is fighting againstthe BJP in his or her own way.But I have told the Opposition

leaders to first think of defeat-ing the BJP.

“Different parties whichare strong in different placesshould be allowed take on theBJP. The Opposition partiesmust stop the division of votesand unite to pull down thisGovernment.”

The Modi Government hadno original thoughts and onlysurvived on aping the States. Forinstance she said, “they havestolen the Kanya Shree and ot-her similar projects from us andhave started their Beti Bachao,Beti Padhao programme. Lookat what they spend on theirscheme what we do.”

Alleging that absolutepower had made the BJP arro-gant she said, “they are not onlyarrogant but also vindictive.

They will not allow democracyto operate in India. If theycome for the second time Indiawill be finished. So it is better tofinish the BJP before they fin-ish India.”

On the BJP’s target of 22seats from Bengal she said “thisis only their pipedream. Letthem dream and when it willcome to the reality they will getnothing. At present they havetwo seats. But let me tell you thatwhen they come to power theywill not be able to win even thattwo seats.”

Bengal was a culturallyadvanced, peaceful state whichhad witnessed the renaissance inreal sense of the term, shemaintained adding it wouldnot be easy for the BJP to pen-etrate that ring of renaissance.

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The fire at Kolkata’sBurrabazar continued to

rage on even after 38 hours onMonday while a helpless posseof firemen said it could takeanother 72 hours for the infer-no to die down. Meanwhile,parts of the imposing 150-year-old structure developedcracks threatening the adjoin-ing buildings, sources said,adding there were about 700shops inside the 7-storeywhole-sale market. “About�200 crore is lost to the fire ahead of DurgaPuja,” a shop owner said addingit could take years for thebusinessmen to rebuild theirbusiness.

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Adding teeth to the borderguarding capacity of Indian

border guards, Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh onMonday inaugurated the ‘smartfence’ pilot project developedunder the ComprehensiveIntegrated Border ManagementSystem (CIBMS) in Jammu.

After attending an e-inau-guration function here at thefrontier headquarters of theBSF, the Union Home Ministerbriefly chatted with the jawansdeployed along the five-kmlong stretch where 'SMART'fencing has been made opera-tional.

Addressing a separate pressconference, Rajnath announcedthat since it is a 'pilot project'

“we will monitor its perfor-mance and depending uponthe feedback we will furtherimprove it and make it moreeffective.”

Singh said that the tech-nology would be introducedalong a 2026-km long borderstretch that has been identifiedas 'vulnerable'.

"As I said, this is a pilotproject. When I went to Israel,I came across this technology.It was discussed, and finally, itis being implemented," Singhsaid, adding that making theborders 'foolproof ' was theprimary motive of hisGovernment behind startingtwo pilot CIBMS projects.

Rajnath also dedicated theSMART fence pilot project tothe jawans who made supreme

sacrifices in the line of dutywhile guarding the frontiers.

“Today is birthday of ourPrime Minister Narendra Modiand on this occasion, I dedicatethis ‘smart fence’ pilot projectto the jawans who attainedmartyrdom for the nationwhile guarding the borders,”Singh told reporters duringthe press briefing here at thefrontier headquarters.

Speaking during the launchceremony, Singh said theCentre has been making max-imum use of technology tomake the security system at theborders stronger and effective.

The Minister said thatsmart fencing at the borders isa technological solutiondevised to address the securi-ty issues in the border statesand the two projects in fivekilometers areas each havebeen installed along the Indo-Pak International Border inJammu on a pilot basis.

He said the number ofcasualties of the jawans on theborders would get minimisedand the stress level among thejawans would also reduce to alarge extent.

The Union Home Ministerfurther added that with the dig-ital smart fencing, our borderswould become absolutely safesince it would virtually make itimpossible for the terrorists tobreach it and infiltrate acrossthe borders.

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Earnest e-procurement tender throughMoney solution e- procurement

solution

1. Improvement of water supply by P.I. 200mm dia Rs.33,59,382/- 2018_DJB_158441_1 01.10.2018 D.I. Water line from E-2 G.K. II to DDA Park in 15.09.2018 Up toChitranjan Park under South _III (AC-50) 3.00 PM

2. Improvement of underground tank located at Rs.4697,078/- 2018_DJB_158441_2 01.10.2018Gali No. -30 & Gali No.-13, Tughlakabad Extn. 15.09.2018 Up tounderEE(South) -III (AC-49) 3.00 PM

Futher details in this regard can be seen at https:govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in

Sd/-ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (WEST) IAdvt. No. J.S.V. 377/2018-19 (SOUTH )III

DELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHIOFFICE OF THE EX. ENGINEER (SOUTH) III

A BLOCK GREATER KAILAH I NEW DELHI-110048.

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Cashew kernel exports,which have been on a

decline since last five years fol-lowing intense competitionfrom Vietnam is likely to bearound 5 per cent this calenderyear (CY), Icra said in a report.

In CY12, India’s exportsstood at 1.02 lakh tonne, enjoy-ing 27 per cent market sharecompared to 58 per cent ofVietnam, Icra assistant vice pres-ident and head, mid-corporateratings, R Srinivasan said.

“However, since then India’smarketshare began decliningand while the Indian cashewexports recorded a marginaldecline at a annually 3 per centbetween CY2012 and CY2017,the exports from Vietnam grewat 10 annually during the sameperiod,” he said.

In CY17, India’s share was 19per cent of global exports with88,000 tonne while Vietnamenjoys 74 per cent, he added.Lower cost of production aided bya higher degree of mechanisationand cheaper labour costs haveaided the Vietnamese processorsto become more competitive.

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Markets regulator Sebi hasbarred ‘fugitive econom-

ic offender’ from making anopen offer or a competingoffer for acquiring shares in acompany.

The move is expected tohelp in preventing such offend-er from taking control of a list-ed company.

“No person who is a fugi-tive economic offender shallmake a public announcementof an open offer or make acompeting offer for acquiringshares or enter into any trans-action, either directly or indi-rectly, for acquiring any sharesor voting rights or control of atarget company,” Sebi said in anotification dated September11.

In the event of failure ofthe delisting offer, Sebi hasissued a framework for acquir-

ers to fulfil the open offerobligations.

The acquirer, through themanager to the open offer,will have to within five work-ing days from the date of theannouncement need to filewith the board a draft offer inthis regard.

This will be applicableprovided that the “offer priceshall stand enhanced by anamount equal to a sum deter-mined at the rate of 10 percent per annum for the peri-od between the scheduleddate of payment of consider-ation to the shareholders andthe actual date of payment ofconsideration to the share-holders”.

The regulator has amend-ed Sebi (Subtant ia lAcqusition of Shares andTakeovers) norms in thisregard.

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IT companyInfosys on

Monday said ithas doubled itsinvestment inUS-based soft-ware firmTidalScale byputting in anadditional USD1.5 million (around �11 crore)through the Infosys InnovationFund.

“Infosys...Has made anadditional investment of USD1.5 million through the InfosysInnovation Fund in TidalScaleInc, the company at the heartof the software-defined serverrevolution,” the Indian softwaremajor said in a statement.

The Bengaluru-headquar-terd company had previouslyinvested $1.5 million inTidalScale Inc in 2016.

TidalScale has developedsoftware-defined servers thatdeliver in-memory perfor-mance at any scale, are self-optimising, use standard hard-ware and are compatible withall applications and operatingsystems.

“We are excited to furtherstrengthen our relationship

with TidalScale. Their ground-breaking

software defined server tech-nology addresses a key chal-lenge that many enterprisesface — to rapidly increase thereturn on their existing invest-ments in technology infra-structure assets,” DeepakPadaki, executive vice presi-dent, Infosys, said.

The investment is expect-ed to be completed bySeptember 28, 2018 subject tonecessary approvals, the state-ment said.

“At TidalScale, our focus isto solve problems that untilnow were difficult or impossi-ble to tackle using the usualapproaches to scaling. We areexcited that Infosys so enthu-siastically shares our vision,”Gary Smerdon, President andCEO, TidalScale, said.

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Expanding its footprints inthe transportation sector,

state-run engineering majorBHEL Monday flagged off itsfirst 6,000HP electric locomo-tive from its Jhansi plant.

“As part of its diversifica-tion initiatives, Bharat HeavyElectricals Ltd (BHEL) hasflagged off of its first 6,000HPelectric locomotive (TypeWAG-9H),” a company state-ment said.

The 6,000 HP locomotivehas been manufactured againstan order from the RailwayBoard for 30 locomotives.

BHEL has created a dedi-cated centre for research anddevelopment in transportationtechnology and manufacturingfacilities at Bhopal, Jhansi andBengaluru plants.

The PSU has a share of over50 per cent of railways require-ment for electric propulsionequipment for rolling stock.

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The Government will furtherextend the deadline for the

imposition of higher customsduties on 29 products, includ-ing almond, walnut and puls-es, imported from the US, asenior official said on Monday.

In June, India decided toimpose retaliatory tariffs fromAugust 4. But it was extendedby another 45 days tillSeptember 18.

“We are still in discussionwith the US authorities. Thedeadline will be extendedtonight,” the government offi-cial said, adding that the dead-line will be extended for anoth-er 45 days until November 2.

The duty hike move byIndia was in retaliation to theMarch 9 decision of USPresident Donald Trump toimpose heavy tariffs on import-ed steel and aluminium items,a move that has sparked fearsof a global trade war.

Senior officials of Indiaand the US are in discussionsto finalise a kind of trade deal.Both the sides holding twotrack discussions — to increasetrade in short and mediumterm, and identify long term

trade potentials.India is pressing for

exemption from high dutyimposed by the US on certainsteel and aluminium products,resumption of export benefitsto certain domestic productsunder their Generalised Systemof Preferences (GSP), greatermarket access for its productsfrom sectors, including agri-culture, automobile, auto com-ponents and engineering.

As many as 3,500 Indianproducts from sectors such aschemicals and engineering getduty free access to the USmarket under the GSP, intro-duced in 1976.

On the other hand, the USis demanding greater marketaccess for its farm and manu-facturing products, includingmedical devices.

As part of imposition ofhigher import duties, NewDelhi has notified higher tar-iffs on several products. Whileimport duty on walnut is to behiked to 120 per cent from 30per cent, duty on chickpeas,Bengal gram (chana) andmasur dal will be hiked to 70per cent from 30 per cent. Levyon lentils will be hiked to 40 percent from 30 per cent.

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State-run hospitality compa-ny ITDC signed an MoU

with the Moroccan Agency forTourism Development (SMIT)on Monday, for strengtheningcooperation in the tourismsector, a statement from theMinistry said.

India Tourism DevelopmentCorporation (ITDC) a PSUunder the aegis of the Ministryof Tourism signed the MoU withthe SMIT, an autonomous organ-isation under the Ministry ofTourism, Government ofKingdom of Morocco.

Chairperson and

Managing Director (C&MD),ITDC, Ravneet Kaur said,“Signing of the MoU is anacknowledgement of the capa-bilities and core competency ofITDC and the important roleit has played in development oftourism and related infra-structure in the country.”

With the signing of theMoU, both the organisationswill be able to share engineer-ing and tourism productsdevelopment expertise, newtrends and technology intourism products and innova-tive tourism product develop-ment, the statement from theTourism Ministry said.

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The National Company LawAppellate Tribunal

(NCLAT) today amended itsorder on the Essar Steel,passed by it on september 7, toadd the name of senior coun-sel Darius Khambata, whichwas left out.

Khambata had represent-ed Resolution Professional ofthe debt ridden firm Essar Steelin this matter before the appel-late tribunal and his namewas missing in the final order.

Tribunal’s direction cameafter an application was movedto include his name.

In its judgement, passedearlier this month, NCLAThad ruled that Numetal’s�37,000 crore second-roundbid for Essar Steel is valid, butasked rival bidderArcelorMittal to clear �7,000crore dues of its previouslyassociated firms within threedays to qualify for the acqui-sition.

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State-run banks’ market sharein loans to the micro, small

and medium enterprises(MSMEs), a major thrust areafor the Government, has dippedon aggressive play by privatesector banks and NBFCs, areport said on Monday.

The share of the 21 publicsector banks (PSBs) has fallen to50.7 per cent as of June 2018,from 55.8 per cent in June 2017and 59.4 per cent in June 2016,a quarterly report by TransunionCibil and Sidbi has said.

The overall credit to theMSME segment grew 16.1 percent for the year to June 2018,it said, adding PSBs reported a5.5 per cent growth, compared

with 23.4 per cent for the pri-vate sector competitors.

It can be noted that 11 PSBsare under the Reserve Bank ofIndia’s prompt corrective action(PCA) framework because ofearning pressures and networthconcerns, which puts restric-tions on lending.

The share of private sectorbanks has grown to 29.9 percent in June 2018, against the28.1 per cent in the samemonth last year, while the samefor non bank finance compa-nies (NBFCs) has grown up to11.3 per cent from 9.6 per cent,according to the report.

Despite the aggressivegrowth, private sector banksand NBFCs fare better on assetquality as well, it said.

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Banks are witnessing a spurtin asset quality stress in the

non-corporate segment andthe overall loan loss provi-sions for lenders are expectedto stay elevated till fiscal year2019-20, a report said.

The outlook on privatesector banks, along with SBIand Bank of Baroda among thestate-run ones is stable, whileall the other state-run bankscarry a negative outlook, IndiaRatings said in its mid-yearoutlook on banks on Monday.

Banks will continue withcredit costs or provisions of upto 3 per cent for both the ongo-ing fiscal as well as the one after,according to the rating agency.

It attributed the higher cred-it costs to ageing of NPAs (non-performing assets) recognisedearlier since the asset qualityreview of FY16, accelerated pro-visioning and slippages especiallyfrom non-corporate accounts.

In what can be a worryingsign, the agency said it hasobserved a spurt in asset qual-ity stress building up in the

non-corporate loans, even asthe same in the corporate seg-ment has plateaued.

It said there has been anincrease in the share of small-er corporates, and small andmedium-sized enterprises andpersonal/retail loans in thespecial mention accounts(SMAs) pool in FY18 overFY17.

The share of loans under�5 crore in SMA1 accounts, orthose cases where there hasbeen no loan repayment for 31-60 days, has increased to 40 percent at the end of FY18 from 29per cent the year-ago, thereport said, while the same forSMA2 where loans have notbeen serviced for 61-90 dayshas been to 68 per cent asagainst 12 per cent earlier.

Even as the asset qualitytroubles continue, there are ris-ing headwinds for credit avail-ability, according to India Ratings.

“The prevailing stressedfinancial conditions couldintensify credit tightening,unless liquidity of financingchannels is at least partiallyreinvigorated,” it said.

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Oil regulator PNGRBMonday declared the final

list of winners of city gas retail-ing licences that had billionaireGautam Adani’s group, state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC),Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd(BPCL) and Torrent Gas as thebig winner.

Adani Gas won rights toretail CNG to automobiles andpiped cooking gas to house-holds and industries in 13cities on its own and anothernine, including Allahabad, in ajoint venture with IOC, accord-ing to results of 84 cities thatwere bid out in the country’sbiggest city gas distribution(CGD) bid round.

According to the list ofwinners put out by Petroleumand Natural Gas RegulatoryBoard (PNGRB), IOC on itsown won rights to seven cities,including Coimbatore andSalem in Tamil Nadu and Gunain Madhya Pradesh.

Bharat Gas Resources Ltd,a unit of state-owned BPCL,won a licence for 11 cities likeAmethi and Rai Bareli in UttarPradesh and Ahmednagar in

Maharashtra, while TorrentGas Pvt Ltd made 10 winningbids that included ones forChennai, Alwar in Rajasthan,Moradabad in Uttar Pradeshand Karaikal in Puducherry.

State gas utility GAIL’sretailing arm, GAIL Gas, man-aged rights for five cities,including Dehradun.

Indraprastha Gas Ltd, thefirm that retails CNG in thenational capital, won city gasrights for Meerut andMuzaffarnagar in UttarPradesh.

Hindustan Petroleum CorpLtd (HPCL) and Gujarat Gaswon rights for one city eachwhile Green Gas got licencesfor two and MaharashtraNatural Gas Ltd that for three.

Other winners includedsmaller players like IRMEnergy, Haryana City Gas,Essel Gas, Megha Engineering& Infrastructure Ltd, TripuraNatural Gas, and Assam Gas.

PNGRB said a total of4,346 CNG stations have beencommitted to be set up in the84 Geographical Areas (GAs)in eight years. Also, the entitieshave committed to provide 2.1crore piped natural gas con-

nections to householdskitchens by September 30,2026.

When the ninth CGD bid-ding round closed in July, IOC,BPCL and Adani Gas were thetop bidders. As many as 86cities were offered in the bidround but results of two havebeen withheld pending legalchallenge mounted by certainbidders.

Of the 86 cities offered forretailing of CNG to automo-biles and piped cooking gas tohouseholds in the ninth CGDbid round, IOC bid for 34 citieson its own and another 20 inpartnership with Adani Gas.

Adani Gas on its own bidfor 32 cities.

Bharat Gas Resources Ltdbid for as many as 53 cities,while GAIL Gas Ltd put inoffers for 34 cities.

Gujarat-based Torrent GasPvt Ltd bid for 31 cities, whileGujarat Gas Ltd put in offersfor 21 areas.

Petronet LNG Ltd, India’slargest liquefied natural gas(LNG) importer, sought toforay into CGD business bybidding for a licence in sevencities but drew a blank.

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The benchmark BSE Sensexsank over 350 points in

early trade on Monday aftertwo sessions of gains asinvestors cashed profits in con-sumer durables, banking, oil &gas and PSU stocks, amid freshweakness in the rupee andweak global cues.

The BSE 30-share barometerdropped 366.52 points, or 0.96per cent, to 37,724.12 driven bylosses in index majors Axis Bank,SBI, Asian Paint, Tata Motors,HDFC and HDFC Bank.

The gauge had rallied 677.51points in the previous two ses-sions on sustained buying bydomestic institutional investors.

The NSE Nifty index toodipped below the 11,500-markby falling 111.80 points, or 0.97per cent, at 11,403.40.

Brokers said investorsturned cautious and loggedgains after recent rally, pullingdown key indices.

The rupee again crashedbelow the 72-mark by plunging81 paise to 72.65 against thedollar, despite theGovernment’s steps to stem asteep fall in the currency.

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L&T Infrastructure FinanceLimited, a wholly owned

subsidiary of L&T FinanceHoldings Ltd, has announceda revision in its Prime LendingRate (PLR). The company hasincreased the PLR by 25 bps to16.00% from 15.75% for all eli-gible loans linked to PLR effec-tive September 14, 2018.

As on June 30, 2018, thewholesale finance loan bookstands at �45,945 cr. with dis-bursements amounting to�8,665 cr. in Q1FY19. L&TInfrastructure Finance is themarket leader in its focusedareas of Infrastructure Finance- renewables, roads and trans-mission. The company’s strengthlies in its strong underwritingability, structuring and syndi-cation capabilities and providingall infrastructure finance relat-ed services under one roof.

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Mohamed Salah outshone Neymarand Kylian Mbappe on theChampions League stage last sea-

son, but as Paris Saint-Germain's star duohead to Anfield on Tuesday seeking tomake amends, the Egyptian is strugglingto match the heights of his debut campaignat Liverpool.

Salah's failure to hit top form datesback to his last Champions League appear-ance four months ago.

Back in May, Salah was on the crest ofa wave as his 44-goal campaign had car-ried Liverpool to the Champions Leaguefinal and ensured qualification for this sea-son's competition.

However, he lasted just 30 minutes inKiev after injuring his shoulder when wres-tled to the ground by Real Madrid captainSergio Ramos and the Spanish giants wenton to lift the trophy in a 3-1 win.

That started a difficult few months forSalah as he was also robbed of being 100-percent fit for Egypt's first World Cup in28 years.

Without their talisman, the Pharaohswere beaten by Uruguay in their openinggame and his goals against Russia andSaudi Arabia couldn't prevent Egyptreturning home without a single point.

Salah has also gone to war with theEgyptian federation over the use of hisimage and the decision to host their basecamp in Chechnya.

Egypt's star player was put in the awk-ward position of having to pose for pho-tos with Chechen president RamzanKadyrov, who has been accused of humanrights abuses.

That hangover has been felt on thefield with Salah scoring just twice inLiverpool's opening five games of the cam-paign and missing chances he ruthlesslyput away last season.

- No one-man team -So far Salah's slackness hasn't cost

Jurgen Klopp's men. A summer of shrewdinvestment to build on the already sub-stantial progress made under the Germanis already bearing fruit with five straightwins.

"Of course, it's important that we don't

have only one goalscorer," Klopp said afteran impressive 2-1 win over Tottenham onSaturday, that should have been a far morecomprehensive victory if the visitors hadtaken their chances.

"It's still early. Five games, fantasticwe've won all of them, we have improved."

The 39 million euros ($45 million)Liverpool paid for Salah from Roma wasbrilliant business not just based on Salah'sproduction, but the hyper inflation thattook place in the market just weeks laterwhen PSG smashed the world transferrecord by splurging 222 million euros onNeymar.

A further 180 million was thensplashed on beating Europe's big guns tothe signature of Mbappe, who confirmedhis status as the rising star of world foot-ball in winning the World Cup for France.

Both Neymar and Mbappe will seethemselves as heirs to the throne of Lionel

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as theworld's best player.

But it is Salah who is on the shortlistfor FIFA's Best Player award alongsideRonaldo and Croatian midfielder LukaModric of Real Madrid, after PSG failedto get beyond the last 16 of the ChampionsLeague last season.

The limited spotlight offered by Ligue1 means Europe's premier club competi-

tion is where Neymar and Mbappe needto shine to be in the running for individ-ual awards.

However, a blockbuster clash on aChampions League night at fortressAnfield is also the perfect stage forSalah to demonstrate to theworld he is no one-season won-der.

!�0���,������B!�0+���.�Almost exactly anhour after the final whistle,Barcelona posted a tweet:"Congratulations to @realmadrid for win-ning the 2017/18 Champions Leaguetitle."

Underneath some fans demanded themessage be deleted immediately while oth-ers claimed it as a classy touch. "We arerivals, not enemies", one wrote.

Meanwhile, Barcelona's key players -Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique, Luis Suarez,Andres Iniesta - stayed quiet. Some hadrecently posted pictures of themselves sur-rounded by their families, with the WorldCup just around the corner.

But from the words that havebeen spoken since, and despite the

club's stately message, it is clearMadrid's triumph hit home.Barcelona had failed and thismade it even harder to bear.

"Obviously it's infuriating (forus)," Suarez said in an interview with

RAC1 earlier this month."Madrid have won the Champions

League in each of the last three years. Theyhave made history and it's a thorn in ourside." Chiefly, perhaps, because Barcawill feel they were better than Madrid lastseason.

They blew them away in a 3-0 flurryat the Santiago Bernabeu and then playedwith 10 men for the second half at theCamp Nou and still drew 2-2. They evenled with a man fewer until Gareth Bale'slate equaliser.

Valverde was accused last season of

over-exerting his players in the league, par-ticularly when it was clear it was won.

Three days before the capitulation toRoma, the likes of Messi and Suarez wereplaying 90 minutes to beat 14th-placedLeganes.

Valverde has indicated he will adapt.Ahead of their Group B opener at hometo PSV on Tuesday, Sergio Busquets andPhilippe Coutinho started as substitutes inSaturday's win over Real Sociedad, even ifboth were needed before the end.

Messi, who turned 31 in June, may alsoneed to be preserved if he is to add a fifthChampions League success to his collec-tion. Now captain, he appears hungrierthan ever.

"It's time to win the ChampionsLeague," Messi told Catalunya Radio ear-lier this month.

"We've been knocked out in the quar-ter-finals three seasons in a row and maybethe last one was the worst of all becauseof the result and how the match was played.

"I think we have to aim for that, as aclub, as a team and as a collective. We havea spectacular squad and we can do it."

���� �1�����%����Eight years have elapsed since Jose

Mourinho's reign as Inter Milan coachended on a historic high of ChampionsLeague glory, and the fallen Italian giantsare still struggling to recapture that magicfrom Madrid.

The Portuguese oversaw the most suc-cessful season in the club's history — a 2-0 win over Bayern Munich at the SantiagoBernabeu completed the first treble of SerieA, domestic Cup and Champions Leaguein Italian history.

Since those days it has been lean timesfor the 18-time Italian and three-timeEuropean champions, with the only titleof any sort a 2011 Italian Cup crown.

Luciano Spalletti's side return to theChampions League for the first time sincethe 2011-2012 season on Tuesday whenthey host Tottenham at the San Siro.

Expectations are high, but their returncomes against a backdrop of continuingcrisis as the Nerazzurri lie a lowly 15th withjust one win and four points from fourgames.

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Top Indian shuttler PV Sindhu will haveto find a way to battle fatigue if she has

to continue her consistent run in inter-national circuit and regain the ChinaOpen, beginning here on Tuesday.

Sindhu showed signs of fatigue duringher second-round exit at last week's JapanOpen, her first early loss since the first-round ouster from the Denmark Open lastOctober.

The 23-year-old Indian has been themost consistent this season with Silvermedals in all the major events this year -- the Commonwealth Games, the WorldChampionship and the Asian Games.

She also reached the finals at the IndiaOpen and Thailand Open.

However, a hectic schedule left herwith very little time to recover or savourthe moment.

The Olympic and world champi-onship Silver medallist had won the $700,000 China Open in 2016 and will beone of the favourites to secure the women'ssingles title at the BWF World Tour Super1000 tournament.

The third seeded Indian will start hercampaign against Hong Kong's CheungNgan Yi at the Olympic Sports CenterXincheng Gymnasium.

Two-time Commonwealth GamesGold medallist Saina Nehwal, who hadclinched a Bronze at Asian Games atJakarta, will be rejuvenated after skippingthe Japan Open. The Indian faces a toughfirst round against Korea's Sung Ji Hyun.

Saina, who also had won the ChinaOpen title in 2014, has a 8-2 head-to-headrecord against Sung Ji and if she can sur-pass the Korean, fifth seed Chinese ChenYufei will stand in her way.

In fact, Saina and Sindhu are on a col-lison course and might clash in the quar-terfinals if they can clear the earlierrounds.

Among others, Kidambi Srikanth haslooked a shadow of the man who clinchedfour titles last season. Though the seventhseeded Indian won the men's singlesSilver at the Commonwealth Games, hehas been inconsistent in the season so far.

Srikanth, who held the world No 1ranking for a brief period this year, willlook to build on his quarterfinal finish atJapan Open when he begins his campaignagainst Denmark's Rasmus Gemke.

However, world champion KentoMomota, who had ended his campaign atMalaysia and Indonesia, will once again

stand in his way in the quarterfinal.HS Prannoy too will look to go deep

in the tournament after starting againstHong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus, seededeighth.

Among others in fray, women's dou-bles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N SikkiReddy will face Korean pair of Kim SoYeong and Kong Hee Yong.

In men's doubles, CommonwealthGames Silver medallist pair of SatwiksairajRankireddy and Chirag Shetty will squareoff against Malaysia's Goh V Shem and TanWee Kiong, while Manu Attri and BSumeeth Reddy will fight it out againstTaiwanese combination of Liao Min Chunand Su Ching Heng.

In mixed doubles, Satwik and Ashwiniwill meet English combination of MarcusEllis and Lauren Smith, while PranaavJerry Chopra and Sikki will take onGermany's Marvin Emil Seidel and LindaEfler in another match.

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Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said it was specialto conquer "bogey track" Singapore but

cautioned the F1 title race wasn't over yet afterLewis Hamilton's "stardust" propelled him to apotentially decisive 40-point lead over Ferrari'sSebastian Vettel.

Team principal Wolff said there was no mys-tery to Mercedes' form, it was all down to sheerhard work back at the factory and the track.

"Singapore has been our bogey track for sev-eral years, so it is a special feeling to come hereand win this race on pace," Wolf told reportersafter Hamilton's pole-to-flag win and team-mateValtteri Bottas's fourth place gave them a 25-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors' cham-pionship.

"The entire team has worked so hard tounderstand the car and take steps forward, andthis result is an indication that our work is pay-ing off. It was a weekend of many parts: a star-dust lap from Lewis in qualifying, a chess gameof tyre management this evening, and some ner-vous moments with traffic and backmarkers dur-ing the race," Wolff added.

"It's just the strongest the team has ever

been." Wolff warned they had to keep up theintensity to win both drivers' and constructors'championships this season, starting with theRussian Grand Prix in two weeks.

"From our side, we can be pleased with avery solid weekend," he added. "We have leadsin both championships, but they change noth-ing in the mindset of this team.

"We have six weekends to go and we knowhow quickly the situation can swing backagainst us. We will take it weekend by weekend,feet on the ground and determined to maximiseour potential every time."

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Struggling wrestler Sakshi Malikhas made it to India's World

Championship squad without facingthe trials as her opponent Sarita Morhas withdrawn from the 62kg clash,due to an injury.

The Olympic Bronze medallisthas been battling poor form since thestart of the 2018 season. She couldwin only a Bronze at the Gold CoastCommonwealth Games and failed towin any medal at the Asian Games.

The Wrestling Federation ofIndia (WFI) wanted both SushilKumar and Sakshi to undergo trialsbut the former pulled out due to poorform.

"The trials in four categories wereleft. Out of those, we chose not to dis-turb Bajrang (men's 65kg) and VineshPhogat (women's 50kg). Sakshi wasto fight Sarita but she has reported aknee injury so we are sending Sakshito the Worlds," WFI AssistantSecretary Vinod Tomar said.

Sakshi had ended a runner-up ata UWW ranking event in Belarus,where she lost the Gold medal match2-6 to Ajerbiajan's Marianna Satsinon Sunday.

The performance is encouragingfor Sakshi ahead of the WorldChampionship, to be held inBudapest from October 20-28.

"The fourth category is women's53kg. Ritu Phogat and Pinky will fightfor that place. Ritu had competed in

the 50kg category at the Yasar DoguInternational in Turkey but we feelshe can do well in the 53kg as well.She has a good medal chance in thiscategory, so, we decided to conducta trial match between Ritu andPinky," Tomar added.

The 53kg clash will be held onTuesday in Lucknow under thesupervision of National women'scoach Kuldeep Malik.

The WFI official also informedthat the inaugural U-23 NationalChampionship, to he held inChittaurgarh, Rajasthan fromSeptember 27-30, is an effort to iden-tify next line of wrestlers.

"In the senior nationals, manyjuniors also compete but they get toclash against only with the agedwrestlers. They do not get great com-petition. They need to fight it out withstrong wrestlers to be ready forinternational events. In the Under-23Nationals, we will see better bouts andnext stars will be identified," Tomaradded.

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Atletico Madrid star AntoineGriezmann says he still can't

fathom why he was not voted one ofthe world's top three players by FIFA— but hopes winning the "moreprestigious" Ballon d'Or will makeamends.

"It's a prize from FIFA and itseems a pity that no World Cup win-ners were nominated," Griezmann,who helped France to World Cupglory in Russia this summer, toldSpanish sports daily AS.

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo,World Cup finalist Luka Modric ofCroatia and Egyptian Mohamed Salah,who enjoyed a stunning campaignwith Liverpool last season, were thethree players nominated by FIFA forthe world ruling body's top prize.

Now grouped within the FIFABest awards, it will be presented onSeptember 24.

For Griezmann, who helpedAtletico to Europa League glory as wellas playing a pivotal role in France'sWorld Cup win, FIFA's choice wasunwarranted.

"We had a really good World Cupcampaign, the whole team deserve tobe awarded: (Kylian) Mbappe,(Raphael) Varane, (N'Golo) Kante,who had an amazing World Cup eventhough no-one talks about it, or evenmyself.

"But that's the way it is."The snub has galvanised

Griezmann's ambition to land theBallon d'Or, the prize awarded by

France Football magazine to theworld's top player as voted on by jour-nalists around the globe.

"I think the Ballon d'Or has moreprestige, a richer history," saidGriezmann.

Conceived in 1956, it has beenwon by Ronaldo and Lionel Messi arecord five times apiece. By contrast,the FIFA Best award has been astand-alone award only since 2016,having spent the 2010-2015 periodmerged with the Ballon d'Or.

He added: "It's on my mind andI've got three months to give it every-thing (to win it). We'll see what hap-pens."

Asked if he felt comfortable "sit-ting at the same football table" as five-time Ballon d'Or winners Messi andRonaldo, Griezmann said: "Yes, Ithink so, although other players wouldbe there as well.

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Aformidable India will be aiming tomake short work of minnowsHong Kong in their Asia Cup

opener Tuesday before getting battle-ready for their much-anticipated clashagainst arch-rivals Pakistan onWednesday.

The match against Hong Kong willbe an 'appetiser' before cricket junkies aretreated to a lavish spread of main coursewhich will be the Indo-Pak rivalry.

Even without regular skipper ViratKohli, the Indian side, led by RohitSharma, is an intimidating one in the lim-ited-overs format.

Although Rohit and his colleagueswon't want to take Hong Kong lightly, inreality the match will only be a pre-cur-sor or a glorified dress rehearsal beforethey take on an in-form Pakistan the verynext day.

In the searing Dubai heat, where themercury has risen up to 43 degreeCelsius, the primary aim for the Men inBlue would be to get their combinationright before the big game.

Hong Kong lost their opener againstPakistan by eight wickets in a thoroughlyone sided showdown where they couldmanage only 116 runs.

Unless a miracle happens, therewon't be a remarkable improvement intheir performance against an Indian teamthat boasts of the likes of Rohit, ShikharDhawan, KL Rahul, Kedar Jadhav in bat-ting along with Jasprit Bumrah,Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav andYuzvendra Chahal in bowling.

For the past few years, MahendraSingh Dhoni's waning batting skills haverepeatedly come under scanner and thistournament will give everyone a fair ideaof his ideal position.

Whether it would end up being No5, 6 or 7 will be the big contention goinginto the Pakistan game.

If Dhoni comes in at No 7, he willhave to face a skilful Mohammed Aamirat the death along with a skiddy UsmanKhan and talented Hasan Ali.

Possibly, Kedar Jadhav or ManishPandey at No 5 and Hardik Pandya withhis big hitting abilities at No 7 could proveto be ideal foil for the former India cap-

tain, if he decides to come at No 6.The middle-order that has been an

issue for India for quite some time nowand need to be sorted going into theWorld Cup next year.

It is expected that KL Rahul will batat No 3 but the incoming deliveries fromAamir or Hasan could be a problem likeit has been in England.

The BCCI has already hired a left-arm throwdown specialist from SriLanka to ensure that India have no trou-ble tackling Pakistan's battery of left-arm-ers. Also, they have Khaleel Ahmed in theteam to give the batsmen much-neededpractice.

However, on flat decks with littlemovement from white kookaburra, theIndian batsmen can play their custom-ary 'hitting on the rise' game with min-imal footwork.

The Hong Kong encounter will be amatch simulator for the likes of Dhawan,

Rahul and Pandya, who will have toadjust to the different length and pace ofthe track.

The Bumrah-Bhuvneshwarcombination will be back inaction along with theKuldeep-Chahal combina-tion, which has been a steadyset-up for past one year.

The Hong Kong game willalso be ideal warm-up forBhuvneshwar, who has been out due toback injury.

He recently came back to competi-tive cricket for India A against SouthAfrica A.

The stadium is expected to bepacked to capacity on Wednesday but one

can expect a sizeable Indian populationon Tuesday itself during the Hong Konggame.

�>�� �India: Rohit Sharma (captain), ShikharDhawan, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu,

Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav,MS Dhoni (wk), HardikPandya, BhuvneshwarKumar, Jasprit Bumrah,Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra

Chahal, Shardul Thakur,Dinesh Karthik, Khaleel Ahmed.

Hong Kong: Anshuman Rath(captain), Aizaz Khan, Babar Hayat,Cameron McAulson, ChristopherCarter, Ehsan Khan, Ehsan Nawaz,Arshad Mohammed, Kinchit Shah,Nadeem Ahmed, Raag Kapur, ScottMcKehnie, Tanvir Ahmed, TanvirAfzal, Waqas Khan, Aftab Hussain.

����� �)4����)

Rahmat Shah top-scored with a com-posed 72 before pacer Thisara Perera's

five-wicket haul helped Sri Lanka bowl outAfghanistan for 249 in their openingmatch of the Asia Cup here on Monday.

Perera returned figures of 5/55 as SriLanka picked up seven wickets in the lasteight overs of Afghanistan innings on apitch that looked to be on the slower side.

Opting to bat after winning the toss,Afghanistan were off to a cautious start withthe openers Mohammad Shahzad (34) andIhsanullah Janat (45) putting on 57 runs injust under 12 overs.

Spinner Akila Dhananjaya made thefirst breakthrough when he had Shahzadtrapped in front of the wicket. It was a looseshot and attempting to reverse sweep alength ball proved to be his undoing.

There was another half-century stand,between Ihsanullah and Shah, as theAfghanistan dressing room looked relaxedat the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

However, Sri Lanka found anotherwicket after the two batsmen added exact-ly 50 runs for the second wicket. UmpireGregory Brathwaite was not impressed withAkila's shout for an lbw, prompting the SriLankans to go for a review, and got the deci-sion in their favour.

Returning to the side after missing thetournament opener against Bangladesh,off-spinner Akila returned with tidy figuresof 2/37 in his 10-overs spell on a wicket thatplayed slow, making stroke-making diffi-

cult.Skipper Asghar Afghan came to the

middle, but his stay was short-lived asShehan Jayasuriya foxed him, the two wick-ets in as many overs reducing Afghanistanto 110 for three at he end of the 26th over.

An 80-run partnership ensued betweenShah and Hashmatullah Shahidi (37),helping Afghanistan to 190 whenDushmantha Chameera sent the Afghantop-scorer back to the pavilion. Shah'sknock included five hits to the fence.

Shahidi was the next man to get out,falling to Perera. Mohammad Nabi scored12-ball 15 before the seasoned LasithMalinga cut short his stay in the middle.

The Lankan pulled back things in thedeath, picking up seven wickets, with

Thisara doing the bulk of damage.

������������������0��Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has

been ruled out of the rest of the Asia Cupwith a broken hand after batting despite hisinjury in the opening match, an official saidon Monday.

"He got two fractures in his hand. Hewould not be able to continue here and alsofor the next three to four weeks," team man-ager Khaled Mahmud said from Dubai.

Tamim was hailed as national heroafter he returned to bat with his injuredhand for the final wicket duringBangladesh's 137-run win in Saturday'sopening match against Sri Lanka.

The left-hander received a blow to hiswrist in the second over of Bangladesh'sinnings when he was hit by a short ballfrom Suranga Lakmal.

He left the field for hospital for a scan,and when he returned to the ground witha sling on his injured hand his Asia Cupwas thought to be over.

But the opener stunned all by stridingout to bat after Bangladesh lost their ninthwicket for 229 runs.

He fashioned a hole in his glove inorder to fit his taped wrist, and used onehand in facing a single delivery to give thestrike back to Mushfiqur Rahim, who wasbatting on 112.

Mushfiqur then scored 32 off 16 ballsalone in their 10th-wicket partnership,guiding Bangladesh to 261 runs before hewas dismissed in the final over for 144.

����� ��������

Indian cricket captain ViratKohli and world champion

weightlifter Mirabai Chanu wereMonday jointly recommendedfor the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratnaaward, while star javelin throw-er Neeraj Chopra was among 20sportspersons picked for theArjuna Awards.

Besides Chopra, otherprominent names recommend-ed for the Arjuna Awards werejunior world champion sprint-er Hima Das and Asian GamesGold-medallist middle distancerunner Jinson Johnson, cricketerSmriti Mandhana, hockey play-ers Manpreet Singh and SavitaPunia, multiple CommonwealthGames Gold-medallist table ten-nis star Manika Batra and Asiaddoubles Gold-medallist tennisplayer Rohan Bopanna.

These recommendations bya selection committee headed byJustice (retd) Indermeet KaulKochhar are subject to approvalby Sports Minister RajyavardhanSingh Rathore. Once ratified byhim, President Ram Nath

Kovind will present the awardson September 25 at theRashtrapati Bhawan.

Kohli will become the thirdIndian cricketer to win thecountry's highest sporting hon-our after the legendary SachinTendulkar (1997) and the talis-manic former captain MahendraSingh Dhoni (2007) once thesports ministry officially acceptsthe committee's recommenda-tion. "Yes, Virat Kohli andMirabai Chanu's names havebeen recommended by theawards committee," a top sourcesaid.

It is learnt that India's topmale shuttler Kidambi Srikanthwas also in Khel Ratna con-tention for his good show in theSuper Series circuit last year butlost out to the 24-year-oldChanu, who is the reigningworld champion in the 48kg cat-egory.

Asian Games Gold-medal-list boxer Amit Panghal was dis-cussed for the Arjuna Awardsbut the committee decidedagainst against recommendinghim due to a failed dope test

back in 2012, a source said.Similarly, the selection com-

mittee also decided against rec-ommending veteran discusthrower Seema Punia for theawards due to his doping past.The 35-year-old Seema, whowon a medal each in theCommonwealth and the AsianGames, had failed a dope testduring the 2000 World JuniorChampionships. Former AsianGames Bronze-medallist andCommonwealth Games Silver-medallist Satish Kumar was thelone boxer to get the Arjunahonour this year.

Three shooters - RahiSarnobat, Ankur Mittal andShreyasi Singh — also figured inlist of 20 recommendedsportspersons while there weretwo from para-sports - AnkurDhama and Manoj Sarkar.

The 18-year-old Hima, whowon a Gold and two Silver in theAsian Games, and golferShubhankar Sharma were not inthe original shortlist but werelater added for their impressiveperformances.

This year's award ceremony

was postponed to September 25from the usual August 29National Sports Day event dueto clash of dates with the AsianGames in Indonesia.

The Khel Ratna awardeesare entitled to a cash prize of �7.5 lakh, while the Arjuna win-ners are given � 5 lakh.

Kohli, the world's No 1 Testbatsman as per the ICC rank-ings, has been in stupendousform for the past three years andmissed out despite nominationsin the years 2016 and 2017.

The BCCI has been nomi-nating Kohli for the Khel Ratnafor the past three years but in2016, it was given to SakshiMalik, PV Sindhu and DeepaKarmakar for their good showat Rio Olympics.

For Chanu, the awardcomes as a massive morale-booster as she is currently recov-ering from a lower back injury,which forced her to skip theAsian Games. She is the currentCommonwealth Games Gold-medallist and India's only medalhope in weightlifting going into2020 Olympics.

����� �4)�

India captain Rohit Sharma on Monday admit-ted that the team's middle-order is still fluid

and their objective will be to identify players forthe number four and six slot during the AsiaCup.

The problem for India during the past oneyear is the lack of a settled middle-order, whichwas evident during the recent ODI series defeatin England.

Rohit made it clear that the likes of ManishPandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu are fight-ing for the key middle-order slots.

"Lot of spots are up for grabs like Nos 3, 4and 6. All these guys (Kedar, Manish, Rayudu)are eyeing for those slots. We want to givechances to as many guys for this particular series.In this tournament, we need to seal the battingslot Nos 4 and 6," Rohit said on the eve of thelung opener against Hong Kong.

Rohit's answer was an indication thatMahendra Singh Dhoni will bat at number five.

Ambati Rayudu is back in the Indian teamhaving cleared the YoYo test and he also per-formed well in the Quadrangular series for IndiaA. Kedar Jadhav is back having recovered froma hamstring surgery.

"They are both important members of thisteam. Rayudu was originally part of Englandseries and similarly Kedar before his injury. Itwas unfortunate that they couldn't play for sometime and I am very happy that both are back inthe team. I expect them to win matches forIndia," said Rohit.

Rohit didn't reveal whether he was open torotating bowlers in this searing Dubai heat butdid say that performers should be given a longerrun.

"I haven't thought about it right now. Wewant to see how each individual react to differentsituations. At the same time, we want to givechance to as many guys as possible but also givemore opportunities to those who are consistent.We would see how individuals respond to con-ditions and take decisions accordingly," saidRohit.

Having had a look at the match strip, Rohit's

assessment is that it will get slower as the gameprogresses.

"The wicket isn't that bad. It's going to getslower and slower as the match progresses. Thefirst match we need to figure out the dimensionof the ground and things like that," he added.

More than Hong Kong, it is the change inclimate that might bother the players, comingfrom the cooler confines of English weather.

"It will be a challenge as a lot of our guysare coming from England. Some of us have beenhere for four days now and we are getting usedto it."

About Hong Kong, the answer was on pre-dictable lines.

"We are treating every opposition equally.We are looking at what we want to do as a teamand if we do that a lot of worries and issues willtake care of itself. Yes, the conditions are notgoing to be that easy. But it's game time now andwe have to focus on the match."

On a personal note, Rohit is excited as wellas nervous as this is the biggest tournament forhim as India captain.

"I am excited as well as nervous. It is a bigtournament for me. I know all the boys well. Iunderstand them well which is necessary," hesigned off.

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