cryf] vjvd d`fey gzr hrjr_ru - daily pioneer

16
T he Congress on Sunday ended weeks of speculation about party president Rahul Gandhi contesting from two seats in the Lok Sabha polls. It is now official: Rahul will be in the fray from Wayanad in Kerala besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Wayanad district is in the north eastern part of Kerala touching border with Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, and houses various tribal groups of the latter. The area was badly affected in the last year’s floods. While the Congress said it was part of strategy to improve the party’s prospects in south India, the BJP was quick to claim that Rahul’s decision reflected his fear of losing from Amethi seat. Veteran Congress leader from Kerala and former Defence Minister AK Antony made this announcement at a Press conference here on Sunday, saying Rahul had con- sented to fighting from Wayanad following requests from the party’s State unit. The decision is seen as an attempt by the Congress to consolidate its electoral base in south India, especially Kerala which has 20 Lok Sabha seats. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats and Karnataka has 28. Congress leaders also feel that since Wayanad is strategically located on the border of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Rahul’s presence on this seat will gal- vanise Congress workers in all the three States. “This is a message to the southern States that they are deeply valued and respected. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has said he will repre- sent Amethi but will also rep- resent southern States as they are an important part of India’s way of life,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, adding Amethi is Rahul’s “karmabhoomi” and he will never leave it. Reacting to the develop- ment, CPI(M) Politburo mem- ber Prakash Karat said the decision of the Congress to field Rahul from Wayanad shows that the party wants to take on the Left in Kerala. “Their priority now is to fight against the Left in Kerala. It goes against Congress’ national commitment to fight BJP, as in Kerala it’s LDF which is the main force fighting BJP there,” he told reporters. The CPI(M) ex-general secretary said his party will work to ensure the defeat of Rahul in Wayanad. BJP chief Amit Shah too took a dig at Rahul. “Congress’ votebank politics has worked on playing with the security of the country. It is the result of this that Rahul Gandhi has left Amethi and run away to Kerala because he knows that voters will seek account from him in Amethi this time,” Shah said. Earlier, Surjewala said the State units of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had requested him to contest from south India at a time when there is attack on the language and culture from the Modi Government, he said. “This is a fight to espouse the aspirations of south India. This is a fight to give a befit- ting reply to those forces that attack cultures, languages, way of life and also the deep con- nect between north and south India, where the BJP has cre- ated a division,” he said. I n a free-wheeling interaction at a “Main bhi Chowkidar’ event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked Congress dynasty, credibility of its “garibi hatao” slogans, and discomfort of dynasty with his popularity. Replying to a question, Modi also said Balakot area in Pakistan is being reconstruct- ed so as to hoodwink the world that no terror camps exited there and asserted that Indian Airforce at Balakot estab- lished that epicenter of terror was in Pakistan. The event organised by the BJP was beamed across the country at 500 places where gatherings of party workers, professionals, chowkidars (watchmen), traders, farmers among others listened to Modi and interacted with him through video-conferencing. Attacking the Congress and “dynasty”, he said he had taken some of them close to the doors of jail in last five years and would need more time to land them behind bars. In a swipe at the Congress poll symbol, Modi said he would not allow anyone to loot country’s wealth by saying main kisiko panja rakhne nahin doonga..” (I will not allow anyone put his hands on India’s wealth.) Asking why Congress dis- liked word “Chokidar”, the Prime Minister sought to explain that people feel good when a strong and stern policeman moves in a locality, but the same is not the feeling of thieves who wish for the cop’s early transfer. “It is natural,” he said, adding that those who were rulers for generations have the feeling that this country and Government is their paternal property. “They are now grudging this chaiwala,” he quipped. On Congress announce- ment of 72,000 yearly direct to bank transfer scheme to 20 per cent of population, Modi asked people to scrutinise the track record and credibility of suc- cessive Congress Prime Ministers in implementing anti-poverty schemes. He said while Jawaharlal Nehru sought to remove pover- ty, his daughter increased “garibi” while also raising the decibel level of “Garibi hatao slogan”. Her sons and remote control Congress Governments (Sonia and Manmohan Singh) and “Shahzada” too are doing the same, he added. “Voters should understand the repeated lies of four gen- erations,” he said. Modi said his last five years were spent in filling holes dug up by the Cong Government and he requires next five years to construct a splendid build- ing on the foundations he laid down in his first term. T he Pioneer on Sunday visited West Delhi parliamentary constituency and met with resi- dents who expressed their dis- pleasure over delay in infra- structure projects in Dwarka. Residents said delay in construc- tion of two-way RTR flyover, widening of Dwarka flyover, and non-availability of civic workers in their locality have left them tor- mented. Daily commuters, who use Dwarka flyover to reach Gurugram and Central Delhi, said due to non-widening of Dwarka flyover they are forced to spend hours in gridlock. “Dwarka has three routes to reach Central Delhi: An exit route to Janakpuri and a second one to Palam and a third one near Kapashera. The Kapashera one is also used for heavy traf- fic movement to Gurugram. “The population of Dwarka largely comprise Government servants who travel to Central Delhi every morning and returns in the evening through Dwarka flyover. Due to this there is heavy congestion on Dwarka fly- over and Palam Road resulting in long jam that consume over hours in traffic for the 10-min- utes journey,” said a resident. Dwarka flyover has a bus stop which is crowded and the traffic congestion here gets worse at peak times due to halt of buses, said another commuter, adding that keeping in mind that the entire sub city is still not com- pletely occupied, diplomatic enclave and convention centre also coming up, the traffic situ- ation is going to aggravate in coming days. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a veiled attack on Congress Chief Rahul Gandhi saying that some people with narrow mind had stereotyped the image of ‘chowkidar’. Addressing, ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ programme through videoconferencing in over 500 locations across the country, Modi once again stat- ed that it is his responsibility as the chowkidar to make sure that the nation’s wealth is in safe hands. Party workers and com- moners in Jharkhand attend- ed the videoconferencing in all the 14 Lok Sabha constituen- cies. The Jamshedpur con- stituency, due to its higher population and area, had two venues for the event. In State Capital, the function was held at Karam Chowk in Vidya Nagar area of Harmu. Senior State leaders including urban development and housing minister, CP Singh, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Samir Oroan, Hatia MLA Naveen Jaiswal, Khijri MLA Ram Kumar Pahan, State BJP general secretary Deepak Prakash and others. The ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign is BJP election cam- paign through which the PM has already addressed over 25 lakh Chowkidars. Over 30 lakh people in the country have added prefix Chowkidar to their names in social media and #MainBhiChowkidar is one of the most trending hash tags on Twitter lately. The BJP leaders who attended the function appre- ciated the programme. BJP Hatia MLA Naveen Jaiswal said, “This is for the first time the country has received such a prime minister who direct- ly interacts with farmers, stu- dents, businessmen, doctors among others talking about the corruption free govern- ment. The PM, as a Chowkidar, has ensured that the nation wealth is in safe hands.” Jaiswal said, “PM Modi also said that country does not need rajas or maharajas while asserting that a chowkidar was a representative of Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of trusteeship.” Another BJP leader, Deepak Prakash who too attended the function said that the PM address was a clear message for corrupt forces that country will not tol- erate corruption. Prakash said, “The Prime Minister through his campaign expressed his commitment to make India a developed and strong nation.” The Main Bhi Chowkidar events in Jharkhand were attended by all the BJP big- wigs. Right from Union Minister Jayant Sinha to State BJP President Laxman Gilua and local MLAs to State min- isters, every venue in Jharkhand had at least one senior BJP leader during the PM’s address. In Ranchi, urban devel- opment minister CP Singh was the chief guest, in Dumka Louis Marandi was the chief guest, in Khunti sitting MP Kariya Munda, BJP candidate from Khunti Arjun Munda and state rural development minister Neelkant Singh Munda were the chief guests. The Main Bhi Chowkidar war cry of the BJP started trending on social media after Modi added prefix Chowkidar to his Twitter handle. The developments hap- pened in reaction to Rahul Gandhi’s repeated jibes at Modi, in which he referred to Modi as Chowkidar a n d popularized the slogan, ‘Chowkidar Hi Chor Hai’ (security guard is a thief) among the Congress cadre. A para-teachers delegation led by the senior members of Ekikrit Para Sikshak Sangharsh Morcha (EPSSM) of all five commissionaires met Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Sunday to discuss over their long pending issues. The members of EPSSM primarily discussed about their pending salaries, for- mulation of new regulations, granting compensation to the para-teachers kith and kin who died during the agitation including quashing of FIR filed on a few para-teachers during the protest. “With list of demands, we met the CM. The CM assured us to clear the due amount at the earliest. He also said that the State government is serious regarding the issues of para- teachers and will soon formu- late a new regulation after the Lok Sabha polls – 2019. The CM in the meantime also spoke to the Finance Secretary,” said a member of EPSSM, Bajrang Prasad. According to the para- teachers, after facing the State government’s apathy for sev- eral years, they are again left in quandary. The para-teach- ers have been still waiting for their unpaid sum. Prasad pointed out on the facts that despite completing the pre- liminary formalities, the State government is yet to clear the roadblocks. “The Minister during the meeting had declared that no case will be filed against the para-teachers. Also, the para- teachers were expected to get their dues of the five months (from November 20, 2018 to March 2019) before the enforcement of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the upcoming general elections but nothing happened,” Prasad added. Being a cognizable force and with the upcoming 17th General Election in line, the unpaid para-teachers will be engaged in the election duty at various places, scheduled here in the month of May 2019. Moreover, the para-teachers factor and their issues are likely to get ample space in the election manifestos of each political party. According to Prasad, the para-teachers’ monthly remu- neration has been pending since October 2018. At pre- sent, after the pay revision, minimum Rs. 10,500 is given to a para-teacher while maxi- mum Rs. 15,000 has been decided for the senior para- teachers. “The para-teachers may again start the agitation, if the due amount is not cleared soon and their long pending demands of job-regularisa- tion is not full filled,” Bajrang added. After rounds of meeting with the minister and senior officials, a while ago, the State government had increased the honorarium of para teachers where over 56,000 para teach- ers are expected to get the ben- efit. Creation of welfare funds including extension of valida- tion of TET pass certificate from five years to seven years was also approved. Principal Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy – AP Singh had recently stated that the attempts are being made to release the payment of the para-teachers soon. “Only for two months, the department has to clear the pending amount,” Singh said. Further, following the orders of the State govern- ment, Singh clarified that the para-teachers are not entitled to get the monthly remunera- tion from November 15, 2018 to January 15, 2019, consider- ing their unruly protest. In addition, the Principal Secretary had stated that extra monetary aid is given to the personnel engaged in the election duty; hence, the regular monthly payment has nothing to do with the upcom- ing polls. Notably, around 67,000 para-teachers across the State had called indefinite strike from October 2018 to January 2019 forcing over more than 14,000 government schools to shut then.

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The Congress on Sundayended weeks of speculation

about party president RahulGandhi contesting from twoseats in the Lok Sabha polls. Itis now official: Rahul will be inthe fray from Wayanad inKerala besides his traditionalstronghold of Amethi in UttarPradesh.

Wayanad district is in thenorth eastern part of Keralatouching border withKarnataka and Tamil Nadu,and houses various tribalgroups of the latter. The areawas badly affected in the lastyear’s floods.

While the Congress said itwas part of strategy to improvethe party’s prospects in southIndia, the BJP was quick toclaim that Rahul’s decisionreflected his fear of losing fromAmethi seat.

Veteran Congress leaderfrom Kerala and formerDefence Minister AK Antonymade this announcement at aPress conference here onSunday, saying Rahul had con-sented to fighting fromWayanad following requestsfrom the party’s State unit.

The decision is seen as anattempt by the Congress toconsolidate its electoral base insouth India, especially Keralawhich has 20 Lok Sabha seats.Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabhaseats and Karnataka has 28.Congress leaders also feel thatsince Wayanad is strategicallylocated on the border of TamilNadu and Karnataka, Rahul’s

presence on this seat will gal-vanise Congress workers in allthe three States.

“This is a message to thesouthern States that they are

deeply valued and respected.Congress president RahulGandhi has said he will repre-sent Amethi but will also rep-resent southern States as they

are an important part of India’sway of life,” Congress chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala said, adding Amethiis Rahul’s “karmabhoomi” and

he will never leave it.Reacting to the develop-

ment, CPI(M) Politburo mem-ber Prakash Karat said thedecision of the Congress tofield Rahul from Wayanadshows that the party wants totake on the Left in Kerala.

“Their priority now is tofight against the Left in Kerala.It goes against Congress’national commitment to fightBJP, as in Kerala it’s LDF whichis the main force fighting BJPthere,” he told reporters. TheCPI(M) ex-general secretarysaid his party will work toensure the defeat of Rahul inWayanad.

BJP chief Amit Shah tootook a dig at Rahul. “Congress’votebank politics has workedon playing with the security ofthe country. It is the result ofthis that Rahul Gandhi has leftAmethi and run away to Keralabecause he knows that voterswill seek account from him inAmethi this time,” Shah said.

Earlier, Surjewala said theState units of Kerala,Karnataka and Tamil Naduhad requested him to contestfrom south India at a timewhen there is attack on thelanguage and culture fromthe Modi Government, hesaid.

“This is a fight to espousethe aspirations of south India.This is a fight to give a befit-ting reply to those forces thatattack cultures, languages, wayof life and also the deep con-nect between north and southIndia, where the BJP has cre-ated a division,” he said.

����� "6:�-6.;�

In a free-wheeling interactionat a “Main bhi Chowkidar’

event, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Sundayattacked Congress dynasty,credibility of its “garibi hatao”slogans, and discomfort ofdynasty with his popularity.

Replying to a question,Modi also said Balakot area inPakistan is being reconstruct-ed so as to hoodwink the worldthat no terror camps exitedthere and asserted that IndianAirforce at Balakot estab-lished that epicenter of terrorwas in Pakistan.

The event organised bythe BJP was beamed across thecountry at 500 places wheregatherings of party workers,professionals, chowkidars(watchmen), traders, farmersamong others listened to Modiand interacted with himthrough video-conferencing.

Attacking the Congressand “dynasty”, he said he hadtaken some of them close to thedoors of jail in last five yearsand would need more time toland them behind bars.

In a swipe at the Congresspoll symbol, Modi said he

would not allow anyone toloot country’s wealth by saying“main kisiko panja rakhnenahin doonga..” (I will notallow anyone put his hands onIndia’s wealth.)

Asking why Congress dis-liked word “Chokidar”, thePrime Minister sought toexplain that people feel goodwhen a strong and sternpoliceman moves in a locality,but the same is not the feelingof thieves who wish for thecop’s early transfer.

“It is natural,” he said,adding that those who wererulers for generations have thefeeling that this country andGovernment is their paternalproperty.

“They are now grudgingthis chaiwala,” he quipped.

On Congress announce-ment of �72,000 yearly direct tobank transfer scheme to 20 per

cent of population, Modi askedpeople to scrutinise the trackrecord and credibility of suc-cessive Congress PrimeMinisters in implementinganti-poverty schemes.

He said while JawaharlalNehru sought to remove pover-ty, his daughter increased“garibi” while also raising thedecibel level of “Garibi hataoslogan”. Her sons and remotecontrol Congress Governments(Sonia and Manmohan Singh)and “Shahzada” too are doingthe same, he added.

“Voters should understandthe repeated lies of four gen-erations,” he said.

Modi said his last five yearswere spent in filling holes dugup by the Cong Governmentand he requires next five yearsto construct a splendid build-ing on the foundations he laiddown in his first term.

����������� "6:�-6.;�

The Pioneer on Sunday visitedWest Delhi parliamentary

constituency and met with resi-dents who expressed their dis-pleasure over delay in infra-structure projects in Dwarka.Residents said delay in construc-tion of two-way RTR flyover,widening of Dwarka flyover, andnon-availability of civic workersin their locality have left them tor-mented.

Daily commuters, who useDwarka flyover to reachGurugram and Central Delhi,said due to non-widening ofDwarka flyover they are forcedto spend hours in gridlock.“Dwarka has three routes toreach Central Delhi: An exitroute to Janakpuri and a secondone to Palam and a third onenear Kapashera. The Kapashera

one is also used for heavy traf-fic movement to Gurugram.

“The population of Dwarkalargely comprise Governmentservants who travel to CentralDelhi every morning and returnsin the evening through Dwarkaflyover. Due to this there isheavy congestion on Dwarka fly-over and Palam Road resultingin long jam that consume overhours in traffic for the 10-min-utes journey,” said a resident.

Dwarka flyover has a busstop which is crowded and thetraffic congestion here gets worseat peak times due to halt of buses,said another commuter, addingthat keeping in mind that theentire sub city is still not com-pletely occupied, diplomaticenclave and convention centrealso coming up, the traffic situ-ation is going to aggravate incoming days.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday made a

veiled attack on CongressChief Rahul Gandhi sayingthat some people with narrowmind had stereotyped theimage of ‘chowkidar’.Addressing, ‘Main BhiChowkidar’ programmethrough videoconferencing inover 500 locations across thecountry, Modi once again stat-ed that it is his responsibilityas the chowkidar to makesure that the nation’s wealth isin safe hands.

Party workers and com-moners in Jharkhand attend-ed the videoconferencing in allthe 14 Lok Sabha constituen-cies.

The Jamshedpur con-stituency, due to its higherpopulation and area, had twovenues for the event. In StateCapital, the function was heldat Karam Chowk in VidyaNagar area of Harmu.

Senior State leadersincluding urban developmentand housing minister, CPSingh, BJP Rajya Sabha MPSamir Oroan, Hatia MLANaveen Jaiswal, Khijri MLARam Kumar Pahan, State BJPgeneral secretary DeepakPrakash and others.

The ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’campaign is BJP election cam-

paign through which the PMhas already addressed over 25lakh Chowkidars. Over 30lakh people in the countryhave added prefix Chowkidarto their names in social mediaand #MainBhiChowkidar isone of the most trending hashtags on Twitter lately.

The BJP leaders whoattended the function appre-ciated the programme. BJPHatia MLA Naveen Jaiswalsaid, “This is for the first timethe country has received sucha prime minister who direct-ly interacts with farmers, stu-dents, businessmen, doctorsamong others talking about

the corruption free govern-ment. The PM, as aChowkidar, has ensured thatthe nation wealth is in safehands.”

Jaiswal said, “PM Modialso said that country does notneed rajas or maharajas whileasserting that a chowkidarwas a representative ofMahatma Gandhi’s concept oftrusteeship.”

Another BJP leader,Deepak Prakash who tooattended the function saidthat the PM address was aclear message for corruptforces that country will not tol-erate corruption. Prakash said,

“The Prime Minister throughhis campaign expressed hiscommitment to make India adeveloped and strong nation.”The Main Bhi Chowkidarevents in Jharkhand wereattended by all the BJP big-wigs.

Right from UnionMinister Jayant Sinha to StateBJP President Laxman Giluaand local MLAs to State min-isters, every venue inJharkhand had at least onesenior BJP leader during thePM’s address.

In Ranchi, urban devel-opment minister CP Singhwas the chief guest, in DumkaLouis Marandi was the chiefguest, in Khunti sitting MPKariya Munda, BJP candidatefrom Khunti Arjun Mundaand state rural developmentminister Neelkant SinghMunda were the chief guests.

The Main Bhi Chowkidarwar cry of the BJP startedtrending on social media afterModi added prefix Chowkidarto his Twitter handle.

The developments hap-pened in reaction to Rahul Gandhi’s repeated jibes at Modi, in which hereferred to Modi as Chowkidara n dpopularized the slogan, ‘Chowkidar Hi ChorHai’ (security guard is a thief)among the Congress cadre.

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Apara-teachers delegationled by the senior members

of Ekikrit Para SikshakSangharsh Morcha (EPSSM)of all five commissionairesmet Chief Minister RaghubarDas on Sunday to discuss overtheir long pending issues.

The members of EPSSMprimarily discussed abouttheir pending salaries, for-mulation of new regulations,granting compensation to thepara-teachers kith and kinwho died during the agitationincluding quashing of FIRfiled on a few para-teachersduring the protest.

“With list of demands, wemet the CM. The CM assuredus to clear the due amount atthe earliest. He also said thatthe State government is seriousregarding the issues of para-teachers and will soon formu-late a new regulation after theLok Sabha polls – 2019. TheCM in the meantime alsospoke to the FinanceSecretary,” said a member ofEPSSM, Bajrang Prasad.

According to the para-teachers, after facing the Stategovernment’s apathy for sev-eral years, they are again leftin quandary. The para-teach-

ers have been still waiting fortheir unpaid sum. Prasadpointed out on the facts thatdespite completing the pre-liminary formalities, the Stategovernment is yet to clear theroadblocks.

“The Minister during themeeting had declared that nocase will be filed against thepara-teachers. Also, the para-teachers were expected to gettheir dues of the five months(from November 20, 2018 toMarch 2019) before theenforcement of Model Code ofConduct (MCC) for theupcoming general electionsbut nothing happened,” Prasadadded.

Being a cognizable forceand with the upcoming 17thGeneral Election in line, theunpaid para-teachers will beengaged in the election duty atvarious places, scheduled herein the month of May 2019.Moreover, the para-teachersfactor and their issues arelikely to get ample space in theelection manifestos of eachpolitical party.

According to Prasad, thepara-teachers’ monthly remu-neration has been pendingsince October 2018. At pre-sent, after the pay revision,minimum Rs. 10,500 is givento a para-teacher while maxi-mum Rs. 15,000 has beendecided for the senior para-teachers.

“The para-teachers mayagain start the agitation, if thedue amount is not clearedsoon and their long pendingdemands of job-regularisa-

tion is not full filled,” Bajrangadded.

After rounds of meetingwith the minister and seniorofficials, a while ago, the Stategovernment had increased thehonorarium of para teacherswhere over 56,000 para teach-ers are expected to get the ben-efit. Creation of welfare fundsincluding extension of valida-tion of TET pass certificatefrom five years to seven yearswas also approved.

Principal Secretary,Department of SchoolEducation and Literacy – APSingh had recently stated thatthe attempts are being made torelease the payment of thepara-teachers soon. “Only fortwo months, the departmenthas to clear the pendingamount,” Singh said.

Further, following theorders of the State govern-ment, Singh clarified that thepara-teachers are not entitledto get the monthly remunera-tion from November 15, 2018to January 15, 2019, consider-ing their unruly protest. Inaddition, the Principal Secretary had statedthat extra monetary aid isgiven to the personnel engagedin the election duty; hence, theregular monthly payment hasnothing to do with the upcom-ing polls.

Notably, around 67,000para-teachers across the Statehad called indefinite strikefrom October 2018 to January2019 forcing over more than14,000 government schools toshut then.

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Kurmi leader Astik Mahato whorecently joined Jharkhand Mukti

Morcha (JMM) in the presence ofparty supremo Sibu Soren and formerCM cum party executive presidentHemant Soren at a function in Uliyan,Kadma has been selected as party can-didate to represent Jamshedpur LokSabha. A formal announcement is yetto be made by the party.

Sources said that since Jamshedpurseat is dominated by Kurmi voters theparty has decided to field Astik, who isa popular face of the community.Though former Ichargarh MLA of JVMwas also in race but the party’s seniorleaders decided to field Astik. “I havemade my stand clear and it is the partyto take a final call on it,” said Mahto.

Kurmis hold the key to the fate ofthe candidates who will be contesting inthe coming Jamshedpur Lok Sabhaelection to be held on May 12. In all thefour rural segments - Jugsalai, Potka,Bahragora and Ghatshila - of the cov-eted constituency, Kurmis are domi-nated. Kurmis constitute over 2.5 lakhof the 16 lakh voters in the JamshedpurLok Sabha seat. Jugsalai and Bahragoraassembly constituencies have the largestconcentration of Kurmi votes. A JMM

leader said the party has finally decid-ed to field Astik. The announcement isexpected to take place in a day or two.

It may be mentioned here thatafter the 1984 elections from the

Jamshedpur seat in which labour leaderGopeshwar won, Congress has neveragain tasted victory. Perhaps that was thereason why Congress leaders did notshow any interest for this constituency.

JMM has won four times from thecoveted seat. The Mahto votes haveswayed in JMM’s favour ShailendraMahto won from the Jamshedpur seatin 1989 and 1991.

Then again, in 2004, Sunil Mahtowon the election while the next timearound that is in 2007 Suman Mahtodefeated her nearest candidate by a bigmargin. But that was the last occasion

till now, that JMM had tasted the lastparliamentary success.

The party’s victory spree was ulti-mately stopped by BJP candidate ArjunMunda in the 2009 encounter at theJamshedpur LS turf. That led to the endof JMM reign.

“We had fielded Bidyut BaranMahto in last election and he won theelection with a huge margin. We wereexpecting a Kurmi candidate by theopposition alliance this time. But thepeople of Jamshedpur have alreadymade their mind clear that they will votethe BJP,” said district BJP leader.

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Damodar Bachao, a com-mittee monitoring the pol-

lution level in Konar andDamodar river has written aletter to the local authorities ofDamodar Valley Corporation(DVC) requesting them to pre-pare a plan to prevent pollutionin the two rivers.

The committee pointedout that the absence of sewernetworks in over dozen autho-rised and unauthorisedcolonies and slums in BokaroThermal is one of the majorreasons of pollution in theKonar and Damodar rivers.

In its letter to the DVC, themonitoring committee hasrequested the corporation tocome up with a plan for pre-venting pollution in the riversfrom these sources and forproper disposal of faecal sludgeand other wastes.

The monitoring committeeexpressed concern over theabsence of sewer networks inthe colonies and slums of sixunits, calling it one of thebiggest reasons of pollution in

the Konar and Damodar rivers. “According to an estimate

Bokaro Thermal has fifty unau-thorised colonies that have apopulation of about one lakh,which is growing,” GulabPrajapati an activist ofDamodar bachao, said.

“There is no regulated sys-tem of emptying their septictanks and faecal sludge thatcontain very high levels of col-iform bacteria which getsdeposited in drains and waterbodies which ultimately pollutethe rivers,” he added.

The monitoring committeesaid that about one-third of thepopulation of Bokaro Thermal

is still dependent upon the sep-tic tanks. It has appealed theDVC to notify regulations forseptage management underwhich responsibility of eachand every person involvedshould be fixed so that thesewage could get properly treat-ed in an aligned manner.

“Growing pollution hasmade a drastic change in nitro-gen and phosphorus ratioessential for the growth ofthese algae colonies in theriver, Imbalanced ration ofnitrogen and phosphorus rad-ically changed the environ-ment in the Konar River thataffected population of theircolonies, revealed a scientificstudy carried out by Damodarbachao group.

The local residents say thatas far as it is possible, direct dis-posal of sewage in theDamodar and Konar riversneeds to be minimised andmassive awareness drive shouldbe undertaken. People shouldcome forward to make effortsfor reducing the pollution levelof both the rivers Konar andDamodar, experts claimed.

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The Ranchi MunicipalCorporation (RMC) will

conduct a special sanitationdrive ahead of the two majorfestivities – Ramnavami andSarhul. After receiving com-plaints from various wards, theMunicipal Corporation hasplanned to initiate the specialdrive from April 5 onwards.The festivals are scheduled inthe first and second week ofApril 2019.

Covering all the 53 wards,the civic body is preparing theblueprint, taking into theaccount – size, population,requirement of labourers, cov-erage area and number of drainsin each ward. Notably, after thetermination of RMSW EsselInfra – the firm which was man-aging the work of solid wastehere, the civic body has taken

the charge of all the wards.Earlier, only 20 wards wereunder the supervision of RMC.

Also, streamlining the san-itation work, especially thedoor to door garbage collec-tion, is a major challenge at themoment for RMC. As per theplan, besides just cleaning themain avenues and ensuringsegregation, collection ofgarbage, the MunicipalCorporation will deploy addi-

tional labourers for cleaningthe drainages and streets.Preventive measures like fog-ging will be also done in themeantime at each ward toavert the outbreak of vector-borne diseases.

Issuing instructions to theward supervisors, a meetingwas conducted by the seniorofficials of the RMC recently.Deputation of extra resourcesas per the requirements will be

given to the ward councilors.Roster plan is being preparedin consultation with the wardcouncilors. Meanwhile, theofficials have instructed theward supervisors to adopt‘Beat system’ and chalk out theplan accordingly.

“Considering the upcom-ing festivals, the health sectionof RMC will ensure cleanlinessat Sarna, Masna sthals besidescarrying out the regular clean-ing work at residential andcommercial pockets. Labourersincluding machines will bedeployed at each ward in accor-dance to the need. If required,cleanliness work will be carriedout in two shifts. During thelate night hour as well, theMunicipal Corporation is con-ducting cleanliness drive atmajor routes now,” said RMCCity Manager (Sanitation Cell),Sandeep Kumar.

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With the ongoing IPL fer-vour and one of the most

popular franchise-based sport-ing leagues in the world, lead-ing paint & décor major -Asian Paints has announcedtheir association as officialsponsors for ‘Kolkata KnightRiders’ in addition to the con-tinued association with IPL.

In its 12th edition thisyear, IPL has successfully estab-lished itself as a premier andmost watched T20 leagueacross the world.

Known for its high-quali-ty cricket with best set of play-ers and talent, Asian Paintsfocuses on enhancing the vis-ibility and impact by associat-ing with one of the world’sbiggest sporting jamboree andthe reputed KKR team.

Commenting on the asso-ciation, Amit Syngle, COO,Asian Paints Limited, said,“We are proud to be associat-ed with IPL & Kolkata KnightRiders for the 12th IPL editionand are confident that thisassociation will be a successfulone. IPL continues to be a pres-tigious platform that hasthrived over years, witnessingmassive brand collaborationsand visibility.”

“KKR is considered to beone of the most coveted teamsin the lucrative T20 tourna-ment and this association is anadded benefit for us tostrengthen our connect withour consumers spread acrossthe breadth of the country.”

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The rising level of mercuryhas not only made life

tough but has also added towater woes in Jamshedpur somuch so that the districtadministration has geared up totackle the drinking water cri-sis with an action plan.

In order to redress thewater woes of the citizens dur-ing the summer season, theEast Singhbhum administra-tion is gearing up to prepare anaction plan that includes repairof hand pumps, distribution ofwater through tankers and sev-eral other initiatives drinkingwater programme.

According to the informa-tion, the water problem ismore severe in the areas locat-ed at the tail-end of water sup-ply system and on the city out-skirts. In order to end thewater woes of the resident thedistrict administration hasdecided to distribute water

through tankers in the areas ofBaghbera, Jugsalai, Pursudih

and Karandih, which are theworst affected areas.

The district administra-tion expects that due to the

scanty rainfall last year, moretube wells could dry up as thegroundwater recedes further.To ensure water supply in theaffected area, the public healthand engineering departmentwill increase the water tankertrips.

People residing inAdityapur MunicipalCorporation (AMC) area havealso started grappling withwater crisis. AMC has startedsupplying drinking waterthrough three tankers, more

than 130 applications havebeen submitted with the civicbody seeking bore-wells in thetown of Adityapur. AMC's citymanager, Jitendra Kumar wholooks after the section dealingwith resources for drinkingwater said they have receivedapplications from domesticconsumers for setting up bore-wells.

He pointed out a bore-wellis allowed to be installed max-imum 300 ft deep, where as adeep bore-well is permitted for650 ft only. Kumar said that inthe AMC area where the pop-ulation is over 2.5 lakh and hasabout 50,000 households, thecivic body supplies tap water to7,991 households only.

According to the districtadministration, water tankertrips daily will ensure the sup-ply of water in the slum areasof the city, where the water cri-sis is looming large because thetube wells and hand pumpshave dried up.

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Moye Heko Simdega, aMundari phase which

translates to I am Simdega, isthe latest campaign launchedby the Simdega district admin-istration to ensure high votersturnout in the upcoming LokSabha elections.

In a bid to ensure maxi-mum voting from tribal pock-ets of the district, Simdegaadministration has come upwith unique awareness initia-tives.

Deputy DevelopmentCommissioner of the district,Ananya Mittal said, “Under thiscampaign we have roped inover 700 people including 75multipurpose workers in med-ical department, a dedicatedteacher in each of the 65 clus-ters and booth level officersamong others to spread aware-ness at the grassroot level."

The district administra-tion has created a song inChhotangpuri language whichencourages the voters to votefor the democracy and not tolet the greed of free money oralcohol blur their decision ofvoting.

"All schools, including theKasturba Gandhi Balika

Vidyalayas have been asked tomake a dance video on thissong which will be shared onour social media pages. We arealready getting a number ofvideos. The best performancewill also be awarded," Mittalsaid.

Apart from this, students ofclass six and seven have beentrained to dance on the songwhich they perform as flashmobs in market places.Teachers are also organizingcompetitions like RangoliMaking, Rallies and others tospread voting awareness.

In the coming days, stu-dents in all government schoolswill be given a paper slip whichwill have the message, "I aminterested in Voting on May 6'will be written.

"The students have to get itsigned by their parents andsubmit it back at the school.This will lead to awareness inthe family of every schoolgoing child," DDC said.

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In an attempt to reach out to tribalcommunity which constitute nearly

27 per cent of State population, the StateBJP today launched a scathing attack onOpposition parties—Congress andJMM of being the biggest betrayer oftribal and violator of ChottanagpurTenancy and Santhal Pargana Tenancy(CNT/SPT) Act in State.

The BJP leadership also highlight-ed the various beneficiaries’ schemeslaunched by BJP governments both atcentre and in state. BJP Rajya Sabha MPand party ST Morcha convener, SamirOraon said, “The Saffron party is onlyparty in country which is real well wish-er of tribal. It was former Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee’s effort and lead-ership that after more than 50 years ofIndependence a separate tribal welfareministry was set up in country.” Duringthe tenure of former Prime MinisterVajpayee, a separate Tribal AffairsMinistry was set up on October 1999,through which the work of tribal wel-fare attained pace and momentum.

He also said that Vajpyee was avisionary leader who took several keyinitiatives for the welfare and develop-ment of people and through such ini-

tiatives, the tribal populace of thecountry also benefitted immensely.Oraon along with other BJP leadersincluding Khijri MLA Ram KumarPahan and several other leaders of STMorcha said, “The BJP is committed tohelp tribal and down trodden and fol-lowing the step of Vajpayee, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi is carrying for-ward the step being taken by Vajpyaeejee.”

He said, “The biggest beneficiary ofthe various scheme launched by Modigovernment such as Ujjwala, housing,toilets, Ayushman Yojana are the trib-al, scheduled caste and other econom-

ically weaker section of society.”The Prime Minister launched the

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman NidhiYojana under which farmers are eligi-ble to get Rs 6000 per year. The tribalfarmers of State are immensely bene-fitted with the scheme.

The BJP leader stated that someleaders of Opposition camp are ques-tioning the surgical strike carried out byIndian government after Pulwamaattack. In the Pulwama terrorist attackmore than 40 CPRF personnel werekilled, the martyrs also included VijaySoreng of Gumla district. Oraon said,“The people of State will give the replyof Opposition parties’ proof of bullet insurgical strike though ballot in comingelections.”

BJP Khijri MLA, Ram KumarPahan said, “It is the initiative ofRaghubar Das government that separateJharkhand State Commission for sched-uled tribes (ST) was formed, a decisiontaken 18 years after the creation of thestate.” Pahan said that the RaghubarDas government for the first time gaveits nod for inclusion of nine tribal andregional languages in JPSC and JSSCthrough which tribal population will bebenefitted in these competitive exam-inations.

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Besides having one generalfamiliarity among

Madhumita Kumari, ShahbazNadeem, Dashrath Mahto,Prerna Bhagat, Rekha Oraon,Purnima Mahato, GunaramPurty, Om Prakash Gupta,Govardhan Rajak, SaketKeshav, Pawan Kumar Singh,Monalisa Kumari, B Marandi,Tarit Kumar Gorai, AnwarSheikh and Priyanka Kerketta,all these ‘Sports Stars’ have anadditional prime quotient incommon.

All these sportspersonshave been ruling the ‘DistrictIcons lists’ released by therespective district administra-tions ahead of Lok Sabha poll– 2019, a few days back. Afterbringing many laurels to theState, Jharkhand’s sportsper-sons along with other publicfigures are all set to drive intoan innovative venture.

With the aim to createawareness and motivate themasses to participate in theelectoral process, famous per-sonalities’ have been designat-ed as State and District Iconsfor the upcoming general elec-tions. Several sportspersons,artists, musicians and socialactivists have become the faceof Systematic Voters' Educationand Electoral Participation pro-gram (SVEEP) initiatives in theState.

Each district has identifiedtwo ‘Icons’ for ensuring high-

est voter turnout percentage.Beginning with Palamau dis-trict that registers maximumnumber of eligible voters, thedistrict administration hasselected Dramatist -- SaketChatterjee as the district icon.Similarly, Ranchi district hasapproved the names of IndianEnvironmentalist – SimonOraon aka Waterman ofJharkhand including ace play-er Priyanka Kerketta to be thefaces of district for motivatingthe public to vote in the elec-tion.

“To select the governmentof choice that will listen to the

pleas of the public, it is impor-tant for each individual tocome out and vote. The admin-istration is putting its efforts tocreate awareness among themasses. Through establishingdirect communication, we willalso convince the voters to bethe part of an electoral processin the strengthening democra-cy,” said, Padma Shri SimonOraon. Similarly, PriyankaKerketta appealed to the pub-lic to vote and ensure estab-lishment of a stable govern-ment. “Only through voting,we can form a stable govern-ment. One must come forward

to vote on May 6 on a prioritybasis,” she added.

Ensuring equal participa-tion of renowned personalities,the Election Commission hasnamed Lal Mohan Singh –Educationalist and SocialWorker from Khunti districtalong with Dashrath Mahto –Hockey Mentor to encouragethe residents of the respectivedistrict to come out and vote.

Nagpuri Singer and Poet –Mahavir Sahu will endorse theinitiatives of ElectionCommission in collaborationwith Footballer – Rekha Oraonin Gumla. In Lohardaga dis-trict, Archer – Prerna Bhagathas been associated with thedistrict administrative to sen-sitise the voters to cast their bal-lot. East Singhbhum district hassigned two ace archers—

Purnima Mahato includingGunaram Purty to ensure pub-lic participation in huge num-bers in ‘Desh Ka Mahatyohar’.

In a bid to connect peoplefrom all walks of life, the dis-trict administration ofSeraikela-Kharsawan will usethe charisma of Manita Devi –ASHA Worker andRaghunandan Mahto – SkillDeveloper. In the midst ofsportspersons, creative per-sonalities and others, a RaniMistri (Female Mason) toothis year has been figured in thedistrict icon list. Sunita Devi, afemale mason will educate,encourage and endorse theprogrammes of Laterhar dis-trict administration ahead of LSPolls – 2019.

Ramesh Chanchal –Academician and Om Prakash

Gupta – Wrestler are the dis-trict icons of Garhwa. ArcherMadhumita Kumari whorecently rose to fame has beenselected as Ramgarh districticon. Implying the charm ofcreative art forms, Film Actress– Sheetal Sinha and Singer –Shalini Dubey have become theface of Chatra. Further, in amajor effort to promote thecompetency of females,Hazaribagh district has namedShika Surabhi of DefenceServices to be the district icon.Classical Musician – ManojKedia and Social Worker –Prabhakar Banwar have beenfigured in Giridih and Bokarodistrict icons lists respectively.

Cricketer -- Shahbaz

Nadeem in company with ParaAthlete – Govardhan Rajak isall set to motivate the voters’ atDhanbad district. Kodermadistrict has assignedSportsperson – Saket Keshavand Kalicharan Das (worksfor differently-abled people)as the district icons.

Pallavi Rai – a classicaldancer will help Jamtara districtadministration to persuade thepublic in good number to vote.Godda district has involvedAthlete -- Pawan Kumar Singhand Netball Player – MonalisaKumari.

Another athlete B Marandiand cricketer – Tarit KumarGorai has become the face ofDumka to promote different

election related activities.Anwar Sheikh – a wheel chaircricketer from Sahibganj andBamjoli Prasad Yadav – a socialactivist who works for the spe-cially- abled persons fromDeoghar have given their con-sent to aid the respective dis-trict administration in influ-encing the eligible voters’ tovote. The EC has named over32 public figures as districticons of which 17 among themare sportspersons. TheJharkhand Government hasselected recipients of PadmaShri, Sangeet Natak AkademiAwards – Mukund Nayak asthe ‘State Icon’. Nayak plans touse tribal art forms for voteawareness.

Ranchi: The second edition ofWomen car rally organisedunder the aegis of JuniorChamber International (JCI)– Udaan encouraged the pub-lic to cast their ballot in sig-nif icant number in theupcoming general election.

Celebrating the true spir-it of ‘womanhood’, approxi-mately 250 participants,breaking the glass ceilingdrove their cars passionately

along the busiest routes giv-ing social messages to thepublic.

The car rally which isconsidered to be a male dom-inating sport was conqueredby the female drivers onSunday here in State Capital.

The car rally started fromRanchi Club covering a dis-tance of 20 Km to MorhabadiGround.

The cars were painted

with some prominent topicslike Desh Ka Mahatyohar --come out and vote, strength-en democracy, road safety, gogreen go clean, Sabka sathsabka vikash.

The programme designedfollowing all international standards by the sponsorswas f lagged of f by SDO Garima Singh in thepresence of several other dig-nitaries. PNS

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DK Tiwari on Sunday tookcharge as the 23rd Chief

Secretary of Jharkhand at theState Secretariat. Outgoing CSSudhir Tripathy handed overthe charge to him on Sundayevening in presence of seniorbureaucrats.

Tiwari, a 1986 batch IASofficer, was serving asDevelopment Commissionerbefore taking the top positionin the State bureaucracy.

After taking charge, Tiwarisaid, “My priority is to work onthe set goals of State’s develop-ment and make it one of thebest States in the country.”

Born in Mahoba, a town inBundelkhand region of UttarPradesh in 1969, Tiwari has adegree in MBBS and LLB alongwith a master’s degree in eco-nomics.

After completing hisschooling from Mahoba,Tiwari pursuedMBBS from KingGeorge's MedicalCollege, Lucknowin 1977-82 batch.He later got an LLBdegree fromChhotanagpur LawCollege in Ranchiand then a Mastersof Arts inEconomics fromUniversity ofManchester, UnitedKingdom in thebatch 1998-99.

After crackingthe Union PublicS e r v i c eC o m m i s s i o n

(UPSC) in 1986, he was select-ed for Indian AdministrativeService and joined as an offi-cer in the undivided Bihar. Hecontinued serving inJharkhand after the division ofBihar in 2000.

Tiwari served as principalsecretary to the Chief Ministerfrom 2010 to 2013 and thenprincipal secretary, humanresource department and plan-ning department in 2013-14.

He became the PrincipalResident Commissioner ofJharkhand Bhavan in NewDelhi in 2014 and continuedtill 2017 before being posted asadditional chief secretary,labour and water resourcesdepartment, where he servedtill May 2018.

Meanwhile, additionalchief secretary, planning cumfinance department, SukhdeoSingh was posted as theDevelopment Commissionerof the State.

Ranchi: In a bid to make jour-neys more comfortable, theIndian Railways has upgradedits coaches under ‘UtkrishtScheme’. Under the project,coaches of train number 22892/22891 Ranchi-Howrah-RanchiIntercity Express has under-gone a makeover.

The first rake of the mod-ernized coaches started run-ning on February 2 and the sec-ond rake on February 30.

The South Eastern Railway(SER) has painted storiesdepicting Jharkhand’s tourismon the inner walls of the coach-es. The walls also adorn clocksand flower posters of alu-

minum composite material.Wall mounted flower vase

near windows, drapery rodand auto-deodorizers have alsobeen fitted in the passenger sit-ting area. Suggestion box hasbeen installed in each ACcoach for getting passengers’feedback. In an attempt to pro-vide better information facili-ty for the passengers, the SER

installed hundred per centretro reflective destination andbelly boards on PU FoamBoards. Exterior painting ofcoaches have also beenchanged as per new colourscheme of project Utkrisht.

The train’s vinyl pasting indoorways, corridor areas andinside lavatories has alsochanged for beautification.

The toilets of the coachesdon a new look with Epoxyflooring on toilet floor for pre-venting water logging and anti-skidding foot mat.

LED lights have been pro-vided in the coaches for betterillumination.

The train’s schedule isavailable on acrylic sheet in allcoaches except general andsleeper.

Other facilities includeStandard Foam flow tap andhand wash dispenser, healthfaucet, steel mug, Dustbins, tis-sue paper stands and rolls inwestern style toilets have beenmade available for passengers.Auto genitor is provided in thelavatories to discharge scenteddisinfectant with flush water.

The modernization workcost around Rs.1 crore for eachcoach. All the work was com-pleted at the Hatia CoachingDepot. PNS

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Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) has given green

signal to opening of over 1350new private run retail liquorshops across the state fromMonday.

State Excise commissionerBhor Singh Yadav said, “Theexisting government run shopswill seize to operate after theclosing time on Sunday andfrom Monday, over 1350 shops,which were handed over to pri-vate parties after a lottery onMarch 5, will start functioning.”

The sale timing for privateretail shops would be from 11AM to 11 PM as opposed to 1PM to 10 PM, which was thetiming for government shops.

The annual revenue targetfrom the shops for Year 2019-20 has been set for Rs. 1,558crore, which is Rs 558 croremore than the target of Rs.1000 crore for Financial Year2018-19.

Worried over the loss ofrevenue State governmentwould have to face if the privateliquor shops did not start from

April 1, the State Excise andProhibition Department soughtpermission from the ECI forstarting the shops on the saidtime, instead of waiting twomonths for the Lok Sabha elec-tions to get over.

The department claimedthat since the JharkhandExcise (sett lement andOperation of Retail LiquorShop) Rule, 2018 notified inDecember 2018 do not pro-vide for extension or issuanceof new licenses to JharkhandState Beverage CorporationLtd, the existing licensee of

liquor shops running in thestate, the State would losearound Rs. 300 crore worth ofrevenue in the first threemonths of financial year.

Also, if the liquor shopsremain closed it will create adisruption in the supply chain,leading to illegal manufactureand sale which might be haz-ardous.

Backing up the depart-ment's request, the ChiefElection Officer of Jharkhandwrote in the letter to ECI thatdenial of opening of newshops will bring a loss of Rs.

200 crore in April and Mayand will also lead to illicitliquor business, leading toadverse law and order situa-tion in the State which mayaffect smooth conduct of elec-tion.

Following the permissionfrom ECI, the Excise depart-ment issued a notification onSunday regarding the closureof existing shops and startingof new retail liquor shops. Thenotification said that the afterthe shops close on Sundaynight, the keys of the shopshave to be handed over to theexcise officers. Also, the day'sincome by selling liquor has tobe submitted to the localpolice station which will bedeposited in the bank accountof JSBCL on the opening ofbanks.

A total of 1664 shops in799 groups had to be given inprivate hands through e-lot-tery system. The lottery wasconducted on March 5 inwhich settlement of over 1350in 686 groups was done. Noapplications were received for113 groups.

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)has sought the intervention

of the Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) in a recent case ofalleged attempts of religiousconversion made by twowomen in Ranchi. The partyhas accused foreign fundedNGOs of working hand inglove with a particular nation-al party and running politicalcampaigns in garb of religion.

“We know very well that afew foreign funded organiza-tions, involved in religiousconversions, are working asagents of a particular nationalparty,” said BJP SpokespersonPratul Shahdeo.

“Even before this incidentcame to light, we had submit-ted a memorandum to the ECIrequesting it to keep an eye onsome foreign funded organi-zations,” Shahdeo added.

Locals on Saturday caughthold of two women after theyallegedly tried to convince a

family to convert to a particu-lar religion and took them tothe Lalpur Police Station.

The matter is currentlybeing investigated by a magis-trate and further actions will betaken only after the investiga-tion, police said.

“We have not lodged anFIR yet. Necessary actions willbe taken depending on thereport of the investigating mag-istrate,” said Arvind Kumar,Officer In-Charge of LalpurPolice Station.

Kumar said that localsfound the two women, both intheir 40s, in the Nagratoli slum

while they were allegedly try-ing to lure a family towardsembracing a particular religion.

“The ECI and the admin-istration should conduct a highlevel probe in this matter. Thisis an extremely serious issuewhich needs to be addressed,”said Shahdeo.

Meanwhile, Rajya SabhaMP Samir Oraon accused theJharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) and Congress party ofprotecting such groupsinvolved in religious conver-sions.

The State passedJharkhand Freedom of ReligionAct 2017 to put a check on con-versions. The Act stipulatesthat persons found guilty ofconverting women, minors,Dalits or tribals through black-mail or inducement can beincarcerated for up to fouryears in addition to or a fine ofRs 1 lakh. “In garb of social ser-vice, many so called activistsare working for political par-ties,” he said.

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Ranchi: The BJP on Sundayclaimed that the next generalelection will decide the future ofcountry as the electoral battle isbetween Chowkidar and thosewho are on bail. State BJPspokesperson, Pratul Shahdeosaid, “The BJP campaign ofMain Bi Chowkidar is immense-ly popular and successful and ithas irked only those who are outof ‘jail’ on bail.”

He said that those politicalfamilies whose properties areunder investigation are oppos-ing the movement as they havea lot to hide.

“On one hand there is aleadership of Narendra Modiacting as Chowkidar workinghard to make India a superpower, while on the other sidethere is group of leaders suchas Sonia Gandhi, RahulGandhi, Robert Vadra, PChidambaram and Lalu Prasadwho are facing corruption casesand are on bail,” said Shahdeo.

The BJP leader claimedthat under the leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modinot only the country is in safehands, but it is for the first timethe country has got such aPrime Minister under whoseleadership the defence forceshave received a free hand tocross borders and attack ter-

rorist camps.Shahdeo who was address-

ing media persons in Garhwaalso snubbed the Oppositionparties for demanding proof ofair strike carried out by IndianAir Force in Balakote.

State BJP media in-charge,Shiv Pujan Pathak also speak-ing on the occasion said thatPrime Minister Narendra Modihas taken various initiatives forwelfare of poor and down-trodden. Pathak said,“Narendra Modi, in his firstaddress after becoming PrimeMinister had stated that hisgovernment is for poor andduring last five he has provedit by launching various welfareschemes for poor.” The BJPmedia in-charge listed out var-ious schemes such as Ujjwala,Houses to all, toilets,Ayushman Yojana and othersocial security schemes forpoor launched by Modi gov-ernment.

Meanwhile, Shahdeo flayedRashtriya Janata Dal’s legislatorfrom Kishanganj for addressingterrorist Masood Azhar as“Masood Azhar Sahab”.

“The Congress, JMM andRJD have a habit of addressingterrorists with respect andquestioning the operations ofthe Indian army,” he said. PNS

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With the onset of summers, the bruntof depleting ground water level

continues to haunt the city residents. Oneof the prime reasons being that the beau-tification task of a few major water reser-voirs initiated some three years back is yetto get completed.

Despite starting the restoration task ontime, ponds like Karamtoli Talab, the life-line of Ranchi – Bada Talab, Jora Talabincluding a few others are yet to see thelight of the day. Following the recom-mendations of Chief Minister RaghubarDas to modify the Detailed Project Report(DPR) of Karamtoli Pond in July 2018, thecivil work there is yet to take up pace.

The CM’s directions to demolish allconcrete structures coming up in the nameof parking, watch towers and others atKaramtoli pond, a new DPR was expect-ed to be finalised within two weeks.However, due to the lackluster approachof the concerned department, the projecttill date is hanging in the air.

An agency named Niranjan RoyConstruction had bagged the tender torenovate the pond at an estimated cost ofRs 10.5 crore. The pond spread over 2.25acres was initially owned by RanchiMunicipal Corporation (RMC) but thestate urban development department laterhanded it over to Jharkhand UrbanInfrastructure Development Company

(JUIDCO) to carry out its renovation. Theconstruction company has been directedto complete the work within 18 months.

The Civic Body has spent a hefty sumin giving a complete makeover to the waterreservoirs. As many as 15 major and minorwater bodies located within the municipalperiphery were selected for restoration inthe first phase with all basic civic facilities.

From Ranchi Lake aka Bada Talab --located at the base of the landmark RanchiHill, the 53-acre man-made lake -- 2,100feet above sea level which is being restoredat a whopping cost of Rs. 14 crore to Banas

Pond beautification work, in the name ofrestoration work, the catchment area ofseveral water bodies here have been rup-tured.

In the first phase, the civic guardians’initiated the task of giving a facelift to thewater reservoirs that includes -- ponds inMadhukam, Morhabadi (Divyayan Pond),Hatma Basti, Teter Toli, Tunki Toli, Bariatu(Joda Talaab), Devi Mandap Road in Hesal,Kadru (behind Hajj House), Hindpiri(Chota Talaab), Dhumsatoli in Chutia andBanas Talaab at a total sum of Rs.14,59,63,800. A separate project wasplanned and conceived for cleaning andrevamping Ranchi Lake.

The beautification project rolled outat a cost of Rs. 3.35 crore from Chutia Pondthree years back covering both major andminor ponds for revamping and de-siltingthe water bodies also includes makingboundary walls around the ponds, con-structing pathways, planting saplings andmounting up lights alongside the dewponds.

“Attempts are being made to completethe restoration task of ponds soon. TheMunicipal Corporation had sent thenotice to the contractor of Ranchi Lake tocomplete the project as soon as possible.After rounds of warnings to the serviceprovider of Jora Talab, the contractor hasbeen blacklisted for the laidback approachin managing the work there,” said DeputyMayor Sanjiv Vijayawargia on Saturday.

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City-based TechnomecSolutions Pvt Ltd (TSPL),

a UKB group company, wasrecognised by The Indian Ironand Steel Company (ISWP) inits Vendors’ Meet held onMarch 29. TSPL is involved inbearings business for over 50years and associated with SKFfor over 30 years.

ISWP recognised TSPL fortheir contribution in reducingdowntime at their Jamshedpurplant, by using ConditionBased Monitoring (CBM) prac-tices. Sunil Bagrodia, director,TSPL, said that downtime hasa huge cost for all Industries.“SKF and Technomec, usingCBM, can predict expectedfault in equipment and can sup-port customers to avoid any

sudden break down.”He added that CBM helps

customer to plan well inadvance and thus reducedowntime.

Bagrodia went on to addthat decrease in downtime,means more production in fac-tory. This not only gives directbenefit to customer but alsoadd some value in NationalGDP.

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Aday after stepping down asthe Chairman of Odisha

Lift Irrigation Corporation,senior BJD leader RaghunathMohanty resigned from theparty on Sunday.

He tendered his resignationto party supremo NaveenPatnaik citing “personal rea-son”.

“I am tendering my resig-nation from primary mem-bership as well as vice-presi-dent post of Biju Janata Dal for personal reason,” Mohanty mentioned it in his resignation

letter.Mohanty, who was elected

to the Assembly five timesfrom the Basta constituency inBaleswsar district, said hewould decide on his next polit-ical move (including possibil-ity of contesting elections) in afew days.

It was apparent that thoughthe BJD is yet to declare itsBasta seat candidate, Mohantygot clear hints of not beingnominated and that’s why heresigned from the party. Hemay join the BJP.

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The BJD launched a State-of-the-art technology-driven

campaign on Saturday fromBhubaneswar which will coverall the districts.

It is a first of its kind inIndia and world, simultane-ously being held at 20 locationsacross the State.

Every day, 60 holographicshows will be there in the Stateand will be undertaken across30 districts of Odisha. It willtake BJD president and CMNaveen Patnaik close to almostevery person in the State.

This is a unique initiativewhich is creatively designedand the technology platformcannot be named since it has aconfidentiality clause with the

company which has the patentfor the technology.

Time, space and distancewill no longer be factors as it

would project holographicimage of the Chief Minister.And he would through thismedium speak in a real-life sit-

uation with the people.During these shows, peo-

ple’s opinion would also beundertaken in terms of feed-back for more focused devel-opment in the coming days forthe State by the BJD.

With this technology dri-ven initiative, the BJD has leftall its competitors behind interms of campaigning strategyand techniques.

As the BJP and theCongress continue to think ofsocial media as the latest plat-form of technology enabledcampaigning, the BJD withthese holographic shows hasnot only taken the party president to crores of people inthe State but has launched afirst of its kind campaignmethod which will change theface of campaigning in Indiaforever.

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The Twin CityCommissionerate police on

Sunday arrested a person inconnection with the murder ofsecurity guard Gadadhar Swainin Pahala on the city outskirtson March 28.

The accused, identified asDibakar Bhuiyan alias Bubuna,had gone absconding after thesecurity guard was found dead.His name was mentioned in anote which was recovered bypolice near the body, reportssaid.

Bubuna and several other persons arebeing interrogated over their

alleged involvementin the case, police sources

said.Notably, Swain, who was

working as a security guard ata marble dealer’s office, wasfound dead with his throat slitat Pahala area under theBalianta police station.

Police had recovered aknife and a note fromthe spot.

Basing on the allegations offamily members of thedeceased, a murder case wasregistered into the incident.

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Noida (UP): The Uttar Pradeshpolice's Special Task Force(STF) on Sunday said it hasnabbed the kingpin of a gangthat procured data of 14 lakhcustomers illegally and alleged-ly duped people to the tune of�200 crore through onlinefraud over a period of time.

Nandan Rao Patel, arrest-ed here on Saturday by theNoida field unit of the STF,used to procure the data ofclients of major online shop-ping companies and sell themto fake call centres, police offi-cials said.

The first related case wasregistered in Varanasi in 2008,they said.Explaining the modus operan-di, STF Deputy Superintendentof Police Rajkumar Mishrasaid that Patel was the "direc-tor" of a digital promotion andbulk SMS firm by the name ofAnic World Company.

"He would get the (con-sumer) data hacked throughpeople he knew and buy it forRs 2-3 per customer. He wouldsell this data to fake call centres,duping online buyers in Delhi-NCR, Bihar, Maharashtra,Rajasthan, Punjab, etc for Rs 5-6 per customer," Mishra said.

He said Patel and his gangwould target customers ofonline shopping sites likeFlipkart, Amazon, Myntra,Paytm, Snapdeal, Shopclues,HomeShop18 etc, besides gen-eral and life insurance compa-

nies.The officer further said

that scam callers would callinnocent persons, giving animpression that they are fromonline shopping and insur-ance companies and wanted totransfer them money.

"The gang used to lurepeople by offering them fakelucky draws and expensivegifts against the online shop-ping they would have recentlymade. They further ask them todeposit a certain amount asregistration fees in order toclaim their gift.

"They tricked the targetinto believing in them and

upon getting the card andaccount details of the targetcustomer, the gang used totransfer money to paymentmerchants such as PayU,Paytm, Olacabs, Mobikwik,and a few bank accounts," saidthe DSP.

The gang also used UPIpayment modes like Paytm,PhonePe, Tez, BHIM for com-mitting fraud and theseaccounts were made on fakeprofiles, the STF officer said.

This gang has deep net-work in Delhi-NCR'sGhaziabad, Noida and moredetails about Patel's works arebeing gathered, he said.

Assistant Superintendentof Police (STF, Lucknow)Vishal Vikram Singh said fourmembers of the gang werearrested earlier in November2018, while search is on Patel'saides, three to four of them.

"Patel, the mastermind ofthe entire fraud gang, has beennabbed and others linked tohim would be held soon," hetold PTI.

Mishra said the accusedwas arrested from his office inSector 142 on Saturday after-noon. During the arrest, histwo cell phones and laptopamong other items were seized,he added. "Data of 14 lakh cus-tomers of major online shop-ping websites have been foundso far," he said, adding that thedata was being sent for foren-sic audit. PTI

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Bhopal: Employment would bethe biggest issue with the 5.14crore voters in the Lok Sabhapolls in Madhya Pradesh, a sur-vey by the Association forDemocratic Reforms (ADR)has revealed.

The survey shows that for61.91 per cent voters in MP,including rural areas, betteremployment opportunities mat-ter more than issues related toagriculture, corruption or ter-rorism.

"A total of 61.91 per centvoters in rural and urban MPconsider better employmentopportunities as the biggestelection issue," ADR state coor-dinator Rolly Shivhare said,adding that the correspondingfigure nationwide was 46.80 percent.

Giving a break-up, she saidbetter employment avenues wasthe primary concern for 70 percent of MP's urban populationand 59 per cent of rural voters.

The second priority for39.19 per cent MP voters wasremunerative prices for farmproduce, while the third concernfor 32.69 per cent electors wasbetter health care by way of morehospitals and primary healthcentres, the ADR functionarysaid.

In the rural areas, 56 percent voters wanted higher pricesfor farm produce while 40 percent spoke of the need for elec-tricity for agricultural purposes,

the survey showed.However, in MP's urban

areas, 45 per cent of the elec-torate's second priority was bet-ter hospitals and primary healthcare centres, while 41 per centput their third priority as betterlaw and order, Shivhare added.

The survey was conductedbetween October 2018 andDecember 2018, covering 534Lok Sabha constituencies with2,73,487 voters from several agegroups participating, she said.

"The three main objectivesof this survey were to identifyvoters' priorities on specific gov-ernance issues, their rating of thegovernment's performance onthose issues and factors affect-ing voting behaviour," sheadded.

The Association forDemocratic Reforms (ADR)was established in 1999 by agroup of professors from theIndian Institute of Management(IIM) Ahmedabad. PTI

�'�(�)����������*��������������+,-"��� ��!����� Hyderabad: Prime Minister

Narendra Modi and Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi willaddress rallies in TelanganaMonday as the campaigning forthe April 11 Lok Sabha elec-tions in the state enters a fever-ish pitch.

Modi, who launched hiscampaign in the state on Friday,would address a public meet-ing at the LB Stadium hereMonday evening in support ofthe candidates of the BJP, whichis contesting the 17 Lok Sabhaseats on its own.

Gandhi will be on a whirl-wind visit to the state Monday,addressing three election ralliesat Zaheerabad, Wanaparthiand Huzurnagar.

With just ten days left forpolling, BJP president AmitShah and party's other topleaders, including UnionMinisters Rajnath Singh,Sushma Swaraj and NitinGadkari, are also expected tocampaign for the party nomi-nees in coming days, state BJPspokeserson Krishna SaagarRao told PTI Sunday.

Having suffered a humili-ating defeat in the assemblypolls in December last (win-ning only one among the 119seats), BJP is hoping thatModi's popularity would helpit put up a better showing.

After its shock defeat in theassembly polls, Congress isseeking to salvage the situationwith a decent performance inthe parliamentary elections.

Congress in Telangana is

facing a crisis with 10 amongits 19MLAs announcing theirdecision this month to leave the

party and join the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS).

The has made a head startin campaign with its workingpresident K T Rama Rao par-ticipating in hectic campaignfor about a month now.

TRS president and ChiefMinister K ChandrasekharRao, the party's star cam-paigner and crowd pullerknown for his fiery speeches, isset toaddress campaign ralliesin the run up to the polls.

Claiming that neither NDAnor UPA was in a position toform government on its ownpost-Lok Sabha elections, TRShas been appealing to the elec-torate to make the party win 16of the 17 Lok Sabha seats (leav-ing Hyderabad represented byits ally AIMIM) to play a cru-cial role at the Centre andensure funds and developmentprojects to Telangana. PTI

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The CRPF has drafted a newStandard Operating

Procedure for convoy move-ment in Jammu and Kashmirwherein the paramilitarymotorcade will now be com-mandeered by an SP-rank offi-cer. The new SOP has also laiddown that a convoy will nothave more than 40 vehiclesduring such movement. Themove comes in the wake of thePulwama terror attack thatkilled 40 paramilitary person-nel in a suicide bombing by thePakistan-based terror groupJaish-e-Mohammad.

The SOP, officials said, alsoprovides for strict ‘passengermanifest discipline’ and anInspector or Sub-Inspector rankofficial will be responsible tomaintain during such transit.

An officer of second-in-command rank (equivalent toSP rank) of the force will leadthe convoy instead of the cur-rent practice of a juniorAssistant Commandant-rank(Assistant SP) officer headingthe convoys.

A senior official will behaving more experience tomanoeuvre the convoys which

face continuous threat from theterror groups.

The SP rank convoy com-mander will directly reportand co-ordinate with one of thethree CRPF Deputy InspectorGeneral (operations) based inKashmir.

Earlier, the convoy com-mander under the charge of anAssistant Commandant used toreport through theCommandant to their higher-ups.

The convoy commander

leads the entourage in a vehi-cle fitted with communicationequipment and has armedcommandos for quick reactionin case of any untoward even-tuality.

While the upper limit ofthe convoy strength has beenfixed at 40 vehicles, the Forceis also looking at ways to min-imize the number of vehicles to10-20 for a more secured trav-el as well as effective manage-ment and control, officials said.

In the Pulwama incident

which was the worst in the lastthree decades of insurgency inthe Valley, over 2,500 CRPFmen were travelling at one goin the terror-sensitive KashmirValley, a pointer to the lack-adaisical approach of the topparamilitary leadership basedin the national capital as well asin Jammu and Kashmir.

CRPF insiders said hadthe paramilitary leadershipshown dynamism in formulat-ing effective strategies for con-voy movement before the

Pulwama incident, the terrorhit could have been avoided.

With a strength of 65 bat-talions (65,000 personnel), theCRPF is lead force for internalsecurity duties and anti-ter-rorist operations in Jammuand Kashmir.

Stung by the Pulwama inci-dent, the CRPF is also in theprocess to procure a new fleetof mine protected vehicles(MPVs) and bullet-resistant30-seater buses for securemovement of personnel.

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Congress president RahulGandhi’s decision to con-

test from Wayanad Lok Sabhaconstituency in Kerala besideshis traditional stronghold ofAmethi in Uttar Pradeshevoked sharp reactions fromthe BJP on Sunday which sawit as his attempt to “escape”defeat at Amethi and seek “safesanctuary” in a southern State.

BJP chief Amit Shahridiculed Rahul for deciding tocontest from Wayanad LokSabha seat besides Amethi,saying the Congress presidenthas “fled” to Kerala fearing thatthe voters in his traditionalstronghold would seek anaccount of work done by himand his party over the years.

Shah was addressing hisfirst election meeting in west-ern Uttar Pradesh, where vot-ing will be held in the firstphase on April 11. The saffronparty had won all the eightseats in the region in the 2014Lok Sabha polls.

“Rahul has fled to Kerala ashe fears that Amethi voters willseek an account (of work) fromhim,” the BJP chief said.

“In Kerala, there is politicsof appeasement, hence he isgoing there. You (Gandhi) haveplayed with the security of thecountry for your vote-bankpolitics. Wherever you go, the

people of the country will askyou to give an account (ofwork),” he said.

The Congress had earlieron Sunday said Rahul Gandhiwill contest from WayanadLok Sabha constituency inKerala besides his traditionalstronghold of Amethi in UttarPradesh. The decision is seenas an attempt by the Congressto consolidate its electoral basein south India, especially Keralawhich has 20 Lok Sabha seats.

Senior BJP leader and partycandidate from PatnasahibRavi Sankar Prasad sought todissect Rahul’s move to contestfrom Wayanad by saying thatthe constituency consisted ofabout 49 per cent minorities,

implying that that the Congressleader was feeling secure withthe kind of constituency profile.He also ridiculed and sought toknow whither‘Mahagadbandan’ with Rahuolcontesting against one of theso-called Congress ally (leftparties) in Kerala. He said withMayawati, Mamta , Akhileshand even “one leader in Bihar”too staking claim at primeminstership , what is the stand-ing of Rahul in ‘Mahagadhbandan’.

Prasad said Rahul’s run toWayanad is a clear attempt tofind a safe sacture in Kerla asthe former fears losing h is tra-ditional seat in UP.

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Actor-politician ShatrughanSinha, who has announced

that he is quitting the BJP, onSunday said he decided to gowith the Congress as it was anational party in the “truesense” and family friend LaluPrasad also advised him to doso.

He said leaders such asTrinamool Congress chiefMamata Banerjee, SamajwadiParty supremo Akhilesh Yadavand Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)national convener ArvindKejriwal, among others, want-ed him to join their respectiveparties, but he had made it clearthat whatever be the situation,the constituency he would becontesting in the Lok Sabhapolls would be Patna Sahib.

The actor-turned-politi-cian, who has been criticisingthe Modi government for long,said it was “painful” for him toleave the BJP with which he hashad such a long association, butwas disturbed at the treatmentmeted out by the party to itsstalwarts such as LK Advani,Murli Manohar Joshi, ArunShourie and Yashwant Sinha.

The BJP has not fieldedparty veterans Advani andJoshi in the Lok Sabha polls.

In an exclusive interview toPTI, Sinha said he had wonfrom Patna Sahib in 2014 on

his own merit, without supportfrom the BJP and feels that thistime he could break his “pre-vious records in terms of vic-tory”.

He slammed the BJP’s lead-ership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and party chiefAmit Shah saying earlier therewas “lokshahi” (democracy)and now there is “tanashahi”(dictatorship) in the party.

“There used to be collectivedecision during Atal (BihariVajpayee) ji’s time. There wasdemocracy in the true sense.But now, there is the case ofone-man show and two-manarmy,” said the 73-year-oldleader, who is in Muscat wherehe is being honoured as a cin-ematic legend.

Asked why he decided togo with the Congress, Sinhasaid there were several reasonssuch as it is the grand old partywhich has had great leaders likeMahatma Gandhi, VallabhbhaiPatel, Jawaharlal Nehru, andthose of the Nehru-Gandhifamily.

The party also has a greatcontribution in the country’sfreedom movement, the sittingMP from Patna Sahib said,adding another reason wasthat it is a national party in“true sense”.

“Our family friend (RJDchief) Lalu Prasad also sug-gested ‘you go there (to the

Congress). We are there withyou and will be together polit-ically also’. It was done with his(Lalu Prasad’s) permission andin agreement with him,” saidSinha, who won the PatnaSahib seat back to back in 2009and 2014 parliamentary polls.

He said an important fac-tor is that the Patna Sahib seathas gone to the Congress quotain the mahagathbandhan(grand alliance) seat sharingand he had said that whateverbe the situation, the con-stituency for him to fight thepolls would be the same.

“Many people like (TMCchief) Mamata Banerjee, (SP

president) Akhilesh Yadav, and(Delhi Chief Minister) ArvindKejriwal among others, want-ed me to be in their party. ButI had to come to this placebecause I had said that what-ever be the situation, the loca-tion will be the same,” Sinhasaid, adding that the Congresswas a great party.

On claims by BJP leadersthat he got votes in Patna dueto the party, the former Unionminister said, “I would like tosay that in the last election itwas not just Modi ‘leher’ (wave)but Modi ‘qahar’ (destruction)on certain seats like we sawShahnawaz Hussain losing

from Bhagalpur. Arun Jaitleyhad a humiliating defeat.”

Sinha said he purposely didnot call top BJP leaders such as“friend, philosopher, guide”Advani, Joshi, Yashwant Sinha,Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singhin the 2014 polls for cam-paigning.

“I did not even call my owndaughter Sonakshi Sinha sothat people don’t get to saythings. I won on merit, on prin-ciples, without anybody’s sup-port or help. They (the BJP) didnot give me the help they weregiving to other candidates,they did not give me any help,”he alleged.

“Despite the Modi leher orqahar in the entire country, bythe grace of the people ofPatna, in my victory, I had thehighest vote share percentage inthe country,” Sinha said.

Asked how he sees theimpending clash with seniorBJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasadon the Patna Sahib seat, Sinhasaid the Union minister is likea family friend and he hasrespect for him.

Asserting that he doesn’twant to comment on person-alities as he has only spokenabout issues, Sinha said, “ForRavi Shankar Prasad I canonly convey my best wishes.After all, the people of Patnawill decide. We will accept theverdict. I have a feeling that by

the grace of God and with greatsupport from the people, Icould break my previousrecords also in terms of victo-ry.”

His remarks came afterdaughter Sonakshi Sinha onFriday said he should have“moved on” from BJP longback as he did not get therespect he deserved. Sonakshisaid joining Congress is hischoice and she believes the vet-eran actor will be able to dogood work with the party.

Shatrughan Sinha alsohailed Rahul Gandhi’s leader-ship qualities, saying theCongress president is a man tobe watched for his vision anddynamism.

“The way he has taken upissues boldly, he has provedhimself and in one year as asCongress president he has wonthree states despite EVMs andmany hurdles. He is the origi-nator of the most popular slo-gan -- ‘chowkidar chor hai’,”Sinha said.

On whether Gandhi couldbe the next prime minister, hesaid it all depends on the bless-ings of the people the numberof seats Congress gets.

“Rahul Gandhi has all thecapabilities,” Sinha added.

Sinha met Rahul Gandhihere last week and is set to for-mally join the Congress onApril 6.

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Upset over Rahul Gandhi’sdecision to contest in

Kerala’s Wayanad, the Left par-ties on Sunday said they willwork to ensure the defeat theCongress president, who tooka decision to fight with theminstead of fighting with mainenemy BJP.

“Their priority now is tofight against the Left in Kerala.It goes against the Congress’national commitment to fightthe BJP, as in Kerala, it is theLDF which is the main forcefighting the BJP there,” CPI(M)politburo member PrakashKarat told reporters.

“To pick a candidate likeRahul Gandhi against the Leftmeans that the Congress isgoing to target the Left inKerala. This is somethingwhich we will strongly opposeand in this election, we willwork to ensure the defeat ofRahul Gandhi in Wayanad,”Karat said.

CPI(M) general secretarySitaram Yechury, who is inThiruvananthapuram to cam-paign for the elections, saiddeciding on candidates wasthe internal matter of a politi-cal party and no other party

needed to intervene in that.“The priority of the CPM is tooust Narendra Modi frompower,” he said, adding that theLDF would register a thump-ing win in Kerala.

Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan said Gandhicontesting from Wayanad couldonly be seen as a move to fightthe Left parties and not the BJP,and asserted that the LDFwould defeat him in the April

23 Lok Sabha elections. InWayanad constituency, the CPIis contesting representing theLeft front.

CPI leader D Raja alsoquestioned the decision of theCongress, saying it made nosense. “This makes no sense. Idon’t understand what politicsthe Congress is playing here.There is no BJP to fight inKerala, it is the Left versus theCongress-led UDF. By choos-ing a constituency in Kerala forRahul Gandhi, what message isthe Congress conveying to thecountry,” Raja asked.

“The primary objective isto defeat the BJP, how does thismove help in that? We are notgoing to withdraw our candi-date from the seat. RahulGandhi has to answer to thepeople of this country,” he said.

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The wage rates for NREGAworkers for 2019-20, noti-

fied on Saturday has revealedthat the hike for NREGA work-ers ranges from a meagre Re 1to �17 for various States andUnion Territories (UTs).

Workers of 6 states andUTs will have to be contentwith no hike at all. Workers ofpoor states like Jharkhand andBihar, who did not get a hikelast year, are lucky that will getan increase of �3 and �2 respec-tively. The average increase inNREGA wage rate across thecountry is a measly 2.6%,according to a statement issuedhere by NREGA SangharshMorcha.

It pointed out that for 33states and Union Territories theNREGA wage rate is less thanthe corresponding minimumwage for agriculture, con-demning its employment guar-antee act workers to anotheryear of bonded labour.

The difference is greatest inGoa, where the NREGA wagerate is only 62 per cent of thestate minimum wage for agri-culture. This ratio is in therange of 60-70 per cent for anumber of poor states such asTelangana and Odisha (seetable).

At a time when the coun-

try is going through one of theworst employment crisis indecades, this meagre hike in

NREGA wages is nothing lessthan a much-touted “surgicalstrike” on the poor, said thestatement.

The Supreme Court hasrepeatedly upheld minimumwages as a fundamental rightand equated payment of any-thing less as “forced labour”.Unremunerative NREGAwages, coupled with long delaysin wage payments - even non-payment of wages in manycases - has turned many ruralworkers away from the employ-ment guarantee programme.

The NREGA SangharshMorcha has demanded anincrease in the NREGA wagerate to �600 a day.

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New Delhi: Candidature offormer JNUSU PresidentKanhaiya Kumar fromBegusarai constituency in Biharwas the “deal-breaker” betweenCPI and RJD as the LaluPrasad-led party doubtedKumar’s winnability quotient inview of several controversiessurrounding him.

According to Rajya SabhaMP and RJD spokespersonManoj Jha, the CPI-RJDalliance could not be forgedalso because his party was notwilling to compromise on itscandidate Tanveer Hassan, con-sidering his popularity and thework done by him in Begusarai.

“RJD has been a verystrong force. Even in the so-called Modi wave in 2014 elec-tions, our candidate got almostfour lakh votes and since thenhe has never left Begusarai. Itwas impossible for us to setaside Tanveer Hassan’s candi-dature. We have a strong cadreand that wanted TanveerHassan and there is nothing wecould have done. It is all aboutour cadre, our people, there-fore, another candidature thanhis became a deal-breaker,” hetold PTI.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elec-tions, Hasan had finished sec-ond by losing to BJP’s BholaSingh by a small margin of over55,000 votes. CPI’s RajendraSingh was at a distant thirdwith nearly 1.92 lakh votes.PTI

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New Delhi: Railway BoardChairman VK Yadav Sundaywrote to all zones, asking themto remove all kinds of politicaladvertising from railwaypremises after a series ofinstances of violation of themodel code of conduct.

The message sent to allzonal general managers anddivisional railway comes days

after railways had to explainwhy tickets issued to passengershad photographs of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi afterthe MCC had come into force.

Just two days ago, a tea cupbearing the BJP’ election cam-paign slogan “main bhichowkidaar” created a furore.

“Dear GMs/DRMs, anyadvertisement having photo-

graph of any political leader onrailway ticket, any other railwaystationery, railway coaches, rail-way stations, any other railwaypremises should be immediatelyremoved and advertising agencyshould be suitable informed,”the message from Yadav says.

EC sources on Saturdaysaid that Railways have beenasked to explain the prima facie

violation of the model code ofconduct. It has also been askedto explain the person responsi-ble for the tea cups carrying thechowkidar slogan.

The EC is learnt to haveinvoked the ‘party in power’clause of the poll code in the caseas it could be averred that partyin power’ is using governmenttransporter for publicity. PTI

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Bijnor/Baghpat (UP): BJPchief Amit Shah on Sundayridiculed Rahul Gandhi fordeciding to contest fromWayanad Lok Sabha seatbesides Amethi, saying theCongress president has "fled" toKerala fearing that the voters inhis traditional strongholdwould seek an account of workdone by him and his party overthe years.

Shah was addressing hisfirst election meeting in west-ern Uttar Pradesh, where vot-ing will be held in the firstphase on April 11. The saffronparty had won all the eightseats in the region in the 2014Lok Sabha polls.

"Rahul Gandhi has fled toKerala as he fears that Amethivoters will seek an account (ofwork) from him," the BJP chiefsaid.

"In Kerala, there is politicsof appeasement, hence he isgoing there. You (Gandhi) haveplayed with the security of thecountry for your vote-bankpolitics. Wherever you go, thepeople of the country will askyou to give an account (ofwork)," he said.

The Congress had earlieron Sunday said Rahul Gandhiwill contest from WayanadLok Sabha constituency inKerala besides his traditionalstronghold of Amethi in UttarPradesh. The decision is seenas an attempt by the Congressto consolidate its electoral base

in south India, especially Keralawhich has 20 Lok Sabha seats.

Shah also hit out at theCongress, claiming it "gave aclean chit" to Pakistan-basedterror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba inthe Samjhauta Express trainblast case, sent SwamiAseemanand and other "inno-cent people" to jail and "put atag of terrorism on Hindus".

He claimed that in "theSamjhauta blast case, the thenUnion Home Minister PChidambaram, Sushil KumarShinde and Rahul Gandhi hadsaid in front of US officials thatLashkar-e-Taiba is not a threat,but people spreading Hinduterrorism are."

"However, court has givena clean chit to SwamiAseemanand and otheraccused," Shah said.

He alleged that theCongress had committed thesin of linking terrorism with

religion and demanded RahulGandhi's apology to the coun-try.

"They have committed thesin of insulting the gloriousHindu community for theirvote-bank politics. Can aHindu ever be a terrorist? Is itpossible that Rahul Gandhidoes not know that we(Hindus) even feed wheat flourto ants? How can we kill peo-ple? Rahul Gandhi should apol-ogise to the people of thecountry for this," the BJP chiefsaid.

Alleging the Congress haddenied Dalit icon BhimraoAmbedkar his due honour,Shah said, "I want to ask Rahulbaba why your great-grandfa-ther (Jawaharlal Nehru)stopped Bhimrao Ambedkarfrom going to Parliament? Hispicture was not installed inParliament. Today you arequoting Ambedkar, but it is the

Modi Government which hashonoured him."

In a jibe at Oppositionparties, the BJP chief said theyhave united due to the fear ofModi.

"By chanting 'Modi, Modi'people have made it clear thatModiji should become PrimeMinister (again). But whomwill the 'gathbandhan'(Opposition alliance) project asPrime Minister? They do nothave any 'neeti' (policy) or'reeti' (manner). The fear ofModiji have united them," hesaid.

Citing various welfareschemes of the Centre, Shahsaid the Modi Governmenthas given gas cylinders, powerconnections and houses to thepoor.

"In the last five years, gascylinders were given to sevencrore poor women, 2.5 crorepeople got houses and nearly2.35 crore families got elec-tricity connections. Apart fromthis, 50 crore poor got the ben-efit of free treatment up to �5lakh," he said.

Referring to PM Modiwashing the feet of sanitationworkers during Kumbh Mela inAllahabad, the BJP chief said,"This has not happened earli-er. The Prime Minister hon-oured them and also sent amessage of social harmony."

Lauding Modi for the deci-sion to carry out anti-terror airstrikes in Pakistan's Balakot fol-

lowing the Pulwama terroristattack, he said, "Pakistan killed40 of our CRPF jawans. Modijidemolished the hideouts ofthe terrorists by conducting airstrikes in Pakistan on the 13thday of their death."

Later, at a rally in Baghpat,Shah said, "If they (Pakistan)fire bullets at us, we will replywith shells. If they hurl stonesat us, we will reply with bricks."

"The people of the countrysaid Modiji has done a good byhitting terrorists. But SamPitroda, the guru of RahulGandhi, said the attack was notgood and there should havebeen talks," he said.

There was an atmosphereof festivity across the nation fol-lowing the air strikes, but RahulGandhi, Mayawati andAkhilesh Yadav had a longface, the BJP chief claimed.

Blaming the successive BSPand SP Governments in UP foralleged non-payment of sugar-cane dues to farmers, he said,"Our Government has paid�58,000 crore to sugarcanefarmers. By April 5, almost 75per cent of cane dues this yearwill be paid by the Centre andthe UP Government."

Prior to beginning hisspeech in Baghpat, Shah paidtributes to former PrimeMinister Chaudhary CharanSingh and said, "How weshould work for farmers hasbeen told to the country byChaudhary Sahab." PTI

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee once

again lashed out at the BJP fordestroying India’s democraticsetup and called upon the peo-ple to throw out the NarendraModi Government from power.

Moments before leavingfor Hyderabad, at the invitationof her Andhra Pradesh coun-terpart Chandrubabu Naidufor delivering a grand alliance(Mahagathbandhan) rally,sponsored by Telugu DemasParty, Banerjee told reportersthat under the BJP “our democ-racy is in danger,” as “dictatorsare trying to take control of theentire country.”

Naidu had attended theJanuary 19 grand rally of 21opposition parties organised byBanerjee at the Brigade paradegrounds in Kolkata.

Banerjee whose visit toHyderabad was seen as the cul-mination of her attempt tostitch together the grandalliance bid she started inKolkata said, under the ModiGovernment the interest ofthe common man was hurt asnever before. The Governmenthad “subverted all the democ-ratic institutions and constitu-tion of India,” she added.

Banerjee whose party wasfacing a stiff challenge from the

saffron outfit that had of latewitnessed a meteoric rise inBengal replacing the Left Frontas the principal oppositionparty, said “in the present sit-uation when the commonman’s interest is hurt and thecountry’s democracy is in dan-ger by the this dictatorialregime which has subverted theConstitution the people mustunite and vote to throw out theBJP Government from power.”

She said “people have losttheir freedom of speech underthis Government. Those whospeak out in protest are eitherthreatened with governmentagencies or silenced.”

At this juncture there wasa dire necessity not only for thepeople to unite but also theentire opposition to cometogether beneath the umbrel-la of a grand alliance to defeatthe despotic power in the

Centre.“It is possible to defeat

this autocratic rule. This canonly be done if all the opposi-tion parties unite to dislodgethem from power,” she said.

On the same day howeverthe CPI(M) which still enjoyedabout 20 per cent vote share inthe State conceding about agood 15 per cent to the BJP,said the Bengal Chief Ministerwas the biggest hurdle in theformation of a people’s allianceand that she was in fact anagent of the BJP who was try-ing to divide the anti-BJP votesto serve her own prime minis-terial dreams.

In North Bengal city ofSiliguri CPI(M) State secretaryDr Suryakanto Mishra ques-tioned Banerjee’s “shrill cryfor Opposition unity,” when shewas “herself breaking it to helpthe BJP Government.”

Bengaluru: Congress PresidentRahul Gandhi on Sunday askedleaders and workers of theCongress-JD(S) alliance inKarnataka to strive unitedly todefeat the Modi Government inthe Lok Sabha polls.

Gandhi's comments comeamid reports of deep resent-ment in several constituenciesamong local leaders and work-ers of the Congress and JD(S),which are fighting the pollsunitedly.

He asked the Congressworkers and leaders to work forJD(S) candidates and made asimilar appeal to JD(S) coun-terparts, emphasising that theirmain target was to "defeatModi." Gandhi accused theModi government of benefit-ting only the rich and his"industrialist friends" and not

doing anything to help thefarmers who were in distress.

He also raked up the"Yeddyurappa diary" issue,referring to the allegation thatthe former Chief Minister hadpaid �1,800 crore as bribe tothe party top brass.

"Whose money is �1,800crore?" Gandhi asked, as hementioned about the allegedentries in the diary about pay-ments having been made tosenior BJP leaders.

"Where did this moneycome from?" he asked, addingit came from farmers.

Yeddyurappa has rub-bished the allegations as "atro-cious and malicious" while theIncome Tax department hasdismissed it as a "forgery doc-ument" and a "set of loosepapers". PTI

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Ariyalur (TN): An electionobserver from the IPS cadre ofHaryana caused a flutter herewhen he fired nine rounds inthe air from a constable's gunearly on Sunday and waspromptly relieved from duty,officials said.

DIG Hemant Kalson, sus-pected to be under the influ-ence of alcohol, asked thePolice constable posted there togive the semi-automatic gunandstarted firing in the air ona road near the Circuit House,where he has been staying.

Others staying in the cir-cuit house rushed out on hear-ing gun shots when they foundthe officer firing in the air.

Kalson then handed backthe gun to the shocked con-stable before going back to his

room and resuming his sleep asif nothing happened, they said.

Police said the constablecould not refuse when theobserver asked for the gun ashe was a higher ranked policeofficial.

According to officials,Kalson, who was among theobserver for the April 18 LokSabha elections in Tamil Nadu,had been relieved from dutywith immediate effect based onthe recommendation ofDistrict Collector MVijayalakshmi, who is theElection Officer.

State Chief ElectoralOfficer Satyabrata Sahoo inChennai said the officer hadbeen relieved as observer andan FIR registered against him.Police were investigating. PTI

Kohima: In a major boost tothe Congress, the NagaPeople's Front (NPF), which isthe main Opposition party inthe 60-member Assembly, hasdecided to support KL Chishi,the grand old party's candidatefor the lone Lok Sabha seat inthe State.

The NPF, which is notfielding any candidate for thegeneral election, announced itsdecision to back the Congresscandidate during a consulta-tive meeting of central officebearers and MLAs here onSaturday.

"The NPF has decided tolend issue-based support toCongress candidate KL Chishiin the upcoming Lok Sabhaelection," its presidentShrhozelie Liezietsu said.

"That, however, does notchange the party's stand on

regionalism. Also, the NPF isnot an ally of the Congress,"Liezietsu clarified.

The NPF, which has 26MLAs in the Assembly, wantsto bring all secular forcestogether for the upcomingLok Sabha election, he said,adding that the NDA, if itcomes to power, will push forthe Citizenship (Amendment)Bill, putting the interests ofindigenous people underthreat.

T R Zeliang, NPF legisla-ture party leader, said theobjective was to defeatTokheho Yepthomi, the con-sensus candidate of the rulingPDA, of which the BJP is apart.

"The people here are con-fronted with issues of secular-ism, citizenship bill and Nagapolitical issue. The NPF has

decided to support theCongress candidate in theinterest of the Nagas," he said.

Asked about the sevenNPF MLAs, who openlypledged their support to thePDA government and its con-sensus candidates for the LokSabha polls and theAonglendeng Assemblybypoll, Zeliang said, "It is evi-dent that they have bargainedthe trust of people and that ofthe party for their personalbenefits."

"A showcause notice hasbeen issued to the MLAs onMarch 26. The party will becompelled to take actionagainst them if they fail torespond within seven days," headded.

Elections to the lone LokSabha seat in Nagaland will beheld on April 11. PTI

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Pune: Students of nearly 200 pri-mary schools in the far-flungtribal areas of Sahyadri hillranges in Maharashtra are get-ting into the habit of readingbooks, thanks to an initiative bya group of trekkers from Pune.

Libraries consisting of bookson history, environment, ani-mals, forts and stories of well-known scientists, authors,sportsmen and freedom fightersare being set up in these schoolsby the Marathidesha Foundationthroughits movement'Shivsahyadri Granthdindi'.

Damodar Magdum, one ofthe members of the foundation,said during their treks and fortconservation-related activitiesin the Sahyadri ranges, theyrealised that the schools and stu-dents there were facing resourcecrunch.

"So, we decided to do some-thing for such schools and

planned to donate books thatcan be used for extra-curricularreading," he said.

Several trekkers and fortlovers were now coming forwardand contributing to the cause, hesaid.

"As of now, we have set upover 200 libraries at schools invarious small tribal villages,"Magdum claimed, adding their

aim was to take this number to2,000 in future.

The group members makesure that students read thesebooks in their spare time.

"We ask schools to designateone day as 'reading day' and alsoask students to write letters to usexplaining about the book theyread," he said.

Magdum said they have

received several letters fromstudents sharing their thoughtsafter reading these books.

"So besides the habit ofreading, the habit of writing isalso being inculcated among stu-dents," he said.

Savlaram Pote, a teacher ata primary school in a tribal areanear Shivneri Fort, said theyreceived over 150 Marathi booksfrom the MarathideshFoundation and students wereenjoying reading them in theirrecess or other free time.

"The students are readingbooks, explaining what theyunderstood from it and alsowriting letters to the foundationmembers," he said.

Bhagwan Chile, a fortresearcher associated with theinitiative, said it was a "greatthing" to get students of theseschools, located in remote areas,into the habit of reading. PTI

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Itanagar: Union Minister KirenRijiju on Sunday said the Centredid not introduce the CitizenshipAmendment Bill in Rajya Sabharespecting the interests of thepeople of Northeastern States.

The people of the region, hesaid, had staged protests withoutunderstanding the pros andcons of the citizenship amend-ment bill.

The government, respectingtheir sentiments, had decidednot to introduce the bill in theRajya Sabha though many stateswere supporting it, the Unionminister of state for home toldreporters here.

The controversial bill,passed in the Lok Sabha onJanuary 8, sought to provideIndian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh,

Pakistan and Afghanistan afterseven years of residence in Indiainstead of 12 years, which is thenorm currently, even if they donot possess any documents. It isnow set to lapse on June 3.

Rijiju claimed that the billwould in no way affectArunachal Pradesh, from wherehe hails, as it is governed by a dif-ferent set of laws and under theBengal Eastern FrontierRegulation Act.

People from other statesneed to take Inner Line Permitto enter Arunachal Pradesh,while foreigners need to obtainProtected Area Permit (PAP)and Restricted Area Permit(RAP), he pointed.

"I am committed to protectthe interests and rights of thepeople of state," he added.

Rijiju will contest from theArunachal West constituency inthe general elections. Formerchief minister Nabam Tuki hasbeen pitched against him by theCongress. Arunachal will wit-ness simultaneous polls to theassembly and the Lok Sabha.

Rijiju said the oppositionhad raised the issue of granti-ng refugee status to Tibetans,Chakmas and Hajongs, whoare residing in the state, with-out the knowledge of theground reality. The Tibetanrefugees who came to India in1959 and are settled in fiverefugee camps in the state, arenot willing to take citizenshipof India even if the SupremeCourt grants it to them as theyare fighting for their country'sfreedom, he said. PTI

Imphal: The BJP on Sundayasserted that the upcomingLok Sabha elections is just a"formality" to re-elect NarendraModi as the Prime Minister.

The parliamentary elec-tion, beginning April 11, willbe all about Modi's perfor-mance, leadership and how hewants to take India to thenext level, BJP nationalspokesperson Nalin Kohli toldreporters here.

"This election is a formal-ity to re-elect Prime MinisterModi, who works and cares forthe poorest of the poor in thecountry, especially the northeast region," he said at a func-tion to welcome 71 Congressworkers into the BJP fold.

Kohli added that theBharatiya Janata Party has

"always had a special affection"for the north east.

Manipur has two LokSabha seats — Outer Manipurand Inner Manipur — andboth the constituencies areheld by the Congress.

Kohli exuded confidencethat the BJP would wrest thetwo seats on the back of theCentral Government's initia-tives to develop the state andthe region.

The Outer Manipur con-stituency will go to polls onApril 11, while elections to theInner Manipur seat will takeplace on April 18.

Meanwhile, state BJP pres-ident K Bhabananda claimedthat the 71 Congress workersjoined the BJP, "as it is comingto power again in Delhi".

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booked on Sunday for notdepositing their licensedweapons in Kishtwar district ofJammu & Kashmir, police said.

In run up to the Lok Sabhaelections, the district magistrateof Kishtwar had issued anorder on February 28, directingall licensed weapon owners todeposit their weapons at con-cerned police stations.

"Since the last date fordepositing such weapons hasexpired, police lodged FIRs indifferent police stations againstthe persons who failed todeposit their weapons thusviolating the order," a policespokesman said.

He said police is also iden-tifying more persons who havenot yet deposited their licensedweapons so that action can betaken. PTI

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Ahmedabad: The BJP onSunday announced four moreLok Sabha candidates forGujarat, dropping three sittingMPs.

Bharatsinh Dabhi, sittingMLA from Kheralu Assemblyconstituency, will contest fromPatan while Geeta Rathwa, adistrict panchayat member forthe last five terms, will be theBJP candidate from ChhotaUdepur (ST).

Mitesh Patel, a district-level treasurer in the BJP, willfight from Anand. The threewill replace sitting MPsLiladhar Vaghela from Patan,Ramsinh Rathwa from ChhotaUdepur (ST) and Dilip Patel

from Anand. JunagadhMember of Parliament RajeshChudasama has been renomi-nated from the same seat.Vaghela had declined to contestthe April-May Lok Sabha pollsciting poor health.

The ruling party has so farannounced candidates for 23out of the state's 26 seats.

It is yet to announce can-didates for Mehsana, Surat andAhmedabad (East) Lok Sabhaseats, the last held by actor-politician Paresh Rawal whorefused to contest this time.

The BJP, while announc-ing candidates for the 23 LokSabha seats, has dropped eightsitting MPs. PTI

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Bengal appointed by theElection Commission of India,reached Kolkata on Sunday.He would take charge fromMonday beginning talks withthe Chief Electoral Officerand the top administrativeofficers of the State.

Dubey was appointed inplace of KK Sharma, the for-mer DGP of the BSF, who wasallegedly seen last year attend-ing a programme sponsoredby the IAS in uniform.Apparently following a hueand cry by Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee,he was replaced Dubey sourcessaid. PTI

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Lucknow: Accusing the BJP ofindulging in "despicable poli-tics", Bahujan Samaj Partysupremo Mayawati, on Sundayalleged that the ruling partyhad conspired to field BhimArmy chief ChandrashekharAzad from Varanasi Lok Sabhaseat to divide the Dalit votes.

Azad had announced ear-lier this month that he willcontest the general electionsfrom Varanasi, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's constituency.

"With the ill-intention ofdividing Dalit votes & takingadvantage, the BJP has con-spired to field Bhim Armychief Chandrashekhar fromVaranasi LS seat. This organ-isation was formed under BJPconspiracy & with its anti-

Dalit mindset, it is nowindulging in despicable poli-tics," Mayawati said in a tweet.

"The BJP tried hard tohelp Bhim Army chiefChandrashekhar join the BSPas its mole but failed in its con-spiracy. It is very imperative inthe national interest to dislodgeautocratic, despotic anti-Dalit,OBC & minorities BJP from

power. Pls ensure no vote goeswaste. My Appeal," she added.

Later, in a statement, theBSP chief said, "Each andevery vote of the Dalits isimportant to remove the arro-gant, autocratic, casteist andcommunal BJP from power.This should not be allowed togo waste, so that one regrets infuture and life does notbecome hell."

Azad launched his LokSabha campaign with a road-show in Varanasi on Saturday.He accused Modi of onlyfavouring the rich and "harass-ing" small borrowers and poor.

The Dalit leader declaredat the roadshow that thecountdown to Modi's defeathad begun. PTI

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Jodhpur: A MiG 27 aircraft ofthe Indian Air Force crashed onSunday near Jodhpur inRajasthan but the pilot ejectedsafely, official sources said.

The MiG 27 UPG jet tookoff from Utarlai airforce baseand the jet experienced engineproblems leading to the crashat around 11:45 AM in Sirohidistrict about 120 km south ofJodhpur, they said, adding thatthe pilot ejected safely.

The sources said a court ofinquiry has been ordered toinvestigate the cause of the acci-dent. Preliminary reports indi-cate no loss of life and proper-ty on ground.

The jet was on a routine

mission, they said.The fighter aircraft crashed

in Shivganj police station areanear Godana dam in Sirohi dis-trict. Police and administrativeofficials have reached the spotto cordon off the area, Sirohidistrict SP, Kalyan Mal Meena,told PTI. PTI

4�25��"��,/������������������)������ Ahmednagar: A 17-year-old

girl in Ahmednagar district ofMaharashtra was allegedly killedby her father who was againsther friendship with a boy study-ing with her in a college here,police said on Sunday.

Jamkhed police stationinspector Pandurang Pawar saidthey suspected it to be a case of'honour killing'.

The incident took place inChondi village, the native placeof state minister Ram Shinde,who demanded stringent pun-ishment for the accused.

The deceased's father andtwo maternal uncles were arrest-ed in connection with the inci-dent, Pawar said.

The girl used to frequentlychat with the boy over phoneand go to college with him on histwo-wheeler, he said. Her fatherPandurang Shreerang Saygunde,

51, asked her several times todiscontinue her friendship withthe boy but the girl failed to heedhis advice, he said.

On March 23, Saygunde, ina fit of anger, allegedly throttledhis daughter to death at theirhome in Chondi village, locat-ed around 60 km from here,Pawar said. He also allegedlytried to burn the body with thehelp of the girl's two uncles andon March 24 lodged a missingcomplaint about her at Jamkhedpolice station, he said.

The half-burnt body wasspotted by the deceased's sisteron March 25 near a water bodyclose to their house, he said.

The police later sent thebody for postmortem.

They questioned around 35people and based on informa-tion and evidences gathered inconnection with the incident,

Saygunde and the girl's uncles -Rajendra Jagannath Shinde (30)and Dnyandev Jagannath Shinde(35) - were arrested on Saturdayevening, Pawar said.

The accused were bookedunder Indian Penal CodeSections 302 (murder), 201(causing disappearance of evi-dence of offence) and 34 (actsdone by several persons in fur-therance of common intention),he said, adding that a probe wasunderway in the case.

When contacted, Shinde,who is also the guardian minis-ter of Ahmednagar, said, "Theincident is shocking and thosefound guilty should be awardedmaximum punishment."

Chondi village was also thebirthplace of late AhilyabaiHolkar, the former ruler andqueen of the Maratha- Malwakingdom. PTI

Kolar (Ktk): In an apparent digat Congress leader PriyankaGandhi Vadra, Union MinisterSmriti Irani on Sunday saidthat from the time NarendraModi became the "chowki-daar" of the country, thosetouring foreign countries havestarted remembering the moth-er Ganga.

Also hitting out at PriyankaGandhi for not visiting themakeshift Ram Lalla shrineduring her recent visit toAyodhya, she said there is fearamong the Congress leadershipthat if they do "pranam" to godin the temple, their votes willgo away from them.

"Those people who gaveaffidavit in court....Congressgovernment in an affidavit toldthe court that there is no exis-tence of Lord Ram; today theyare roaming around the streetsas Ram Bhakts," Irani said.

Addressing a BJP rally dur-ing her Lok Sabha polls cam-paign here, she said "Thosewho tour foreign countries,from the time Modi becamethe chowkidaar of the countryhave started rememberingmother Ganga."

"Recently the Congressleadership, as per their election

strategy, had announced to goto Ayodhya.

They go to Ayodhya, butthey don't do pranam in thetemple, they say if they dopranam to god their vote bankwill go away from them," sheadded.

Priyanka Gandhi hadprayed at the popularHanuman Garhi temple inAyodhya, but kept away fromthe Ram Lalla shrine.

Her visit to Ayodhya,where the disputed RamJanmabhoomi- Babri Masjidsite is located, came on the lastday of her three-day trip toUttar Pradesh.

The Hanuman shrine 'dar-shan' was the latest in a seriesof temple visits by PriyankaGandhi, who is in charge ofeastern Uttar Pradesh for herparty.

Pointing out that farmersof Kolar who produce tomatoin large numbers had stoppedsending their produce toPakistan, Irani took a dig atCongress President RahulGandhi, without naming him,who, she said, sought evidencefor the Indian armed forcesattack on terror hideouts inPakistan. PTI

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Patna: Six passengers wereinjured on Sunday after 13coaches of Chapra-Surat TaptiGanga Express derailed inBihar's Saran district.

The accident occurred nearGautam Asthan railway stationin Varanasi division at 9.45 am,minutes after the Surat-boundtrain left Chapra Junction,Sanjay Yadav, chief public rela-tions officer (CPRO) of NorthEastern Railway said.

No casualty has beenreported so far, the CPRO toldPTI over phone, adding that

the injured had been admittedto local hospital.

All the six passengers, whoreceived minor injuries, weredischarged after being admin-istered first aid, the CPROsaid, adding no coach over-turned in the incident.

The accident spot is 10 kmfrom Chapra town, he said.

"The cause of the accidentis yet to be ascertained and weare waiting for more details,"Yadav said, adding it will beclear only after an investigationis conducted.

The main line (up line) hasbeen blocked because of theaccident, the CPRO said.

According to some offi-cials, rescue operations areunderway.

"About 180 passengers, whowanted to continue their onwardjourney, have been sent for theirdestinations by a special train,the CPRO said, adding otherswere served refreshments andsent to Chapra (Saran districtheadquarters) by bus fromwhere they left for their nativeplaces. PTI

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Pune: The city Congress onSunday launched its electioncampaign sans the candidate.

While the BJP hasannounced the candidature ofMaharashtra minister and localMLA Girish Bapat for the PuneLok Sabha seat, the Congress isyet to announce its nominee.

City Congress leaders werehopeful that the announcementwill be made by Sunday morn-ing, but there was no word fromthe high command, a partysource said.

The party workers launchedthe campaign by taking out aprocession from Kasba Peth,Bapat's Assembly constituency.

City Congress chief RameshBagwe and four ticket aspirants-- former state legislator MohanJoshi, Arvind Shinde, AbhayChhajed and Pravin Gaikwad(who joined the party Saturdayin Mumbai) — took part in theevent. While speculation is rifethat Gaikwad will get the tick-et, some Congress leaders saideither Shinde or Joshi could bethe high command's pick. "Partyworkers are eagerly waiting forannouncement of candidate andwith every passing day they arebecoming impatient," admittedRamesh Iyer, city Congressspokesperson. PTI

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Guwahati: The AssamCongress on Sunday accusedthe Narendra ModiGovernment of doing nothingto solve the State's perennialflood problem, and destroyingits economy.

Addressing a press confer-ence here, Assam PradeshCongress Committee presidentRipun Bora alleged that theBJP-led central government didnot announce a single newproject for the state in the lastfive years.

"What has Modi done tosolve the flood problem ofAssam? You (BJP government)only organised 'NamamiBrahmaputra' and 'NamamiBarak' by bringing the priestsfrom Haridwar. Is that all for theflood problem?" the RajyaSabha member asked.

On the industrial front,the senior Congress leader saidthe prime minister "stripped"Assam of the 'special status' tag.

"It is a big blow to the eco-nomic development of Assam.There was a distinct industrialpolicy of Assam, but that waswithdrawn," he .

Bora also said that theCentre abolished the NorthEast Industrial and Investment

Promotion Policy (NEIIPP)2007, which has affected theeconomy of the state to a largeextent.

"Not a single new projectwas announced by Modi in thelast five years. Assam has total-ly been neglected by the BJP-ledcentral government. Modi'sschemes are only to help thecapitalists, but not the poor,"Bora alleged.

He pointed out that thefoundation stone of the Jorhat-Majuli bridge over theBrahmaputra was laid threeyears ago, but not even the DPRhas yet been prepared.

Bora slammed the BJPleaders for criticising the min-imum income guaranteescheme, 'NYAY', announcedby Congress president RahulGandhi and said the UPA hadintroduced "revolutionary pro-people projects" like the MGN-REGA and the National FoodSecurity Act. The StateCongress chief said Modi hadsaid that all illegal Bangladeshiswould have to leave the state byMay 16, 2014. "What happened?On the other hand, he tried tobring in more Bangladeshisthrough the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill." PTI

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Patna: Former Bihar MinisterVrishan Patel, who recentlyquit the Hindustani AwamMorcha (HAM) in February,on Sunday joined the RashtriyaLok Samata Party (RLSP)another constituent of theO p p o s i t i o n"Mahagathbandhan".

Patel, who used to head theHAM state unit, was inductedinto the RLSP by the party'snational president and formerUnion minister UpendraKushwaha.

The development will haveno adverse effect on the party'sties with the HAM, headed byex-chief minister Jitan RamManjhi.

"Patel had quit the HAMmore than a month back. Hadhe been still with that party, it

could have created problems.But since he has already spentsome time outside it, thereshould be no issues," Kushwahatold reporters.

Replying to queries fromjournalists, Patel said, "I hadquit the HAM but had made itclear then that I was upset overcertain matters which werenot in the interests ofMahagathbandhan. My com-mitment to the anti-NDA for-mation was always intact andthere is nothing odd in myjoining another constituent ofthe Grand Alliance."

Patel had resigned fromHAM in February on a daywhen its national spokespersonDanish Rizwan also quit theparty with both leaders tradingcharges. PTI

Mumbai: Independent candi-dates contesting the April-May Lok Sabha polls inMaharashtra will have 198symbols to choose from, upfrom 87 in the 2014 generalelections.

These symbols, compris-ing items of daily use, are dis-tributed to Lok Sabha andAssembly candidates as per theElection Symbols (Reservationand Distribution) Order 1968in a prescribed format, anofficial release informed.

Symbols of national andstate-level parties are reserved.

As per the release, the198 symbols include various

fruits, vegetables, kitchen arti-cles and utensils, electronicitems like computer, laptopand pen drive, farm imple-ments, sand timer, gramo-phone, typewriter, toothpasteand toothbrush, footwear,socks, helmets etc.

Agriculture-related sym-bols include sugarcane farmer,coconut garden, diesel pump,farmer driving tractor, tiller,wells and the like. Vehicles likethe rickshaw, truck, helicopter,ship etc are also part of the listof 198 symbols forIndependent candidates andso are items like bat, ball,football, chess board. PTI

Imphal: A constable of theManipur police, who was sus-pended and arrested in con-nection with the escape of anundertrial prisoner, died incustody here, a senior policeofficer said on Sunday.

A magisterial enquiry wasordered into the custodialdeath Manjur Ahmed and apolice inspector was suspend-ed, Director General of PoliceL M Khaute said.

Ahmed was found dead inan interrogation cell onSaturday.

He was arrested in con-nection with the escape ofThokchom Nando, a leader ofproscribed militant outfitKangleipak Communist Party(KCP), from the JawaharlalNehru Institute of MedicalSciences here on Tuesday,Khaute told PTI. PTI

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Kolkata: The Ministry of HomeAffairs has turned down a pleaof Mamata BanerjeeGovernment to retain 35 com-panies of central forces posted inonce Maoist-dominatedJangalmahal region in southBengal, a senior StateGovernment official said onSunday. The State Govt has thenwritten to the ministry to recon-sider the decision stating that themove might re-ignite Maoistproblems in the region, he said.The forested areas of WestMidnapore, Jhargram, Bankuraand Purulia districts in thesouthern part of the state formsJangalmahal. The areas whichshare border with Jharkhandwere once affected by Maoistinsurgency. PTI

T h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a m :Wayanad Lok Sabha constiu-tency in north Kerala hasbeen catapulted to the nation-al limelight with CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi decid-ing to contest from the hillydistrict.

After a week-long sus-pense, Congress formallyannounced that Gandhi wouldtry his luck from Wayanad,besides Amethi in UttarPradesh, giving the muchneeded boost to the Congressled United Democratic Front(UDF) workers.

The late M I Shanavas(Cong-UDF) had sucessfullyrepresented the constituencyin 2014 and 2009 defeatingLDF candidates.

He passed away inNovember last year.

The LDF candidate inWayanad this time is P PSuneer of the CPI.

The BJP has given theseat to its partner BDJS(Bharat Dharma Jana Sena(BDJS) and has not formally

announced its candidate hereso far.

The predominantly agrar-ian constituency, Wayanad,where coffee, tea, cocoa, pep-per, tea and Cardamom are thechief agricultural crops, is alsoa much sought after touristdestination with its stone agecarvings of Edakkal caves,scenic locales, breathtakingwaterfalls.

It is also a trekkers delight,with some of its peaks towering2,100 metres above sea level.

Wayanad constituencyconsists of Mananthavady,Sulthan Bathery, Kalpetta,Thiruvambady, Ernad,Nilambur and Wandoor seg-ments and has a total voterpopulation of 13,25,788, ofwhom 6,70,0002 are females.

Wayanad also has a largemix of Scheduled Caste andScheduled Tribe community.

Perched on the westernghats, Wayanad shares its bor-ders with Mysore andChamarajanagar in Karnatakaand Nilgiris in TN. PTI

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Patna: It was a "roadshow"with a difference for the resi-dents of the Bihar Capital.

Joggers and morning walk-ers at the historic GandhiMaidan here were bemused onSunday morning when theyfound a Union minister, who isthe BJP candidate from a neigh-bouring constituency, driving ane-rickshaw.

Ram Kripal Yadav, remem-bered by many as a hands-ondeputy mayor of the city whorose to become an MP and oneof the closest aides of LaluPrasad, when he held swayover Bihar, was seen clad in a T-shirt and track pants, deftly nav-igating the three-wheelerthrough the traffic.

Many youngsters were seencapturing the moment on their

mobile phones as Yadav madea round of the sprawling park,which has a perimeter of morethan two kilometers.

"It was nothing. I come toGandhi Maidan ever morning.This has been my routine for 30years. Besides getting someexercise, the daily jaunt helps meto learn about the people'sproblems first-hand and I try tohelp them in whatever way it ispossible," Yadav told PTI.

"This morning, this e-rick-shaw driver asked me fondly -sir, would you not honour mewith a ride. I said why not. Iknow how to drive the vehicleand asked him to move asideand took the steering handle,"he added.

Seeking re-election fromPataliputra Lok Sabha seat,

Yadav is pitted against thedaughter of his former mentor,Misa Bharti, whom he haddefeated five years ago.

Yadav had joined the BJPjust ahead of the previous LokSabha polls, in one of the biggestjolts to Prasad's RJD, and baggedthe seat, which came into beingin the 2008 delimitation.

Prasad, too, had foughtunsuccessfully from the seat inthe 2009 Lok Sabha polls. Helost to another confidant-turned-adversary Ranjan Yadavof the JD(U).

Although fairly popular inhis constituency, the BJP can-didate faces an uphill task thistime in view of the fact that Misahad lost by a margin of justabout 40,000 votes, despite theModi wave. PTI

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Cent per cent electrification ofbroad gauge, which compris-es over 90 per cent of the net-work, is on the IndianRailways’ agenda. The goal,

however, is not as closer as it is project-ed. “Electrification of the remaininglength of the network” is the refrain usedto describe the project. But the “remain-ing” portion is not even in the range of10, 20 or 30 per cent. The aggregatelength of railroads being 67,368 km, theelectrified length is only 30,212 km;whereas unelectrified portion is 37,156km (Lok Sabha unstarred question no:1351, dated July 25, 2018). In otherwords, the electrified section of the net-work is not more than 45 per cent, where-as the unelectrified part is 55 per cent.

Why has the pace of electrificationbeen excruciatingly slow in our country?The first electric train in India ranbetween Victoria Terminus (nowChhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) and Kurlaon Harbour Line in Mumbai (thenBombay) on February 3, 1925. By March1928, the suburban railway of Bombay(then Mumbai) had been completely elec-trified. But this early success of the megacity was not extended to whole of India.Until the time of independence in 1947,not more than 388 km of railroad hadbeen electrified, which constituted evenless than half a per cent of the network.Until 1980s, the pace of electrificationwas slow and uneven.

Reason for this is not too far to seek.India was deficient in electricity withcompeting claims on this scarce resource.On the other hand, proven reserves ofcoal were in abundance. Electrificationinvolved raising heavy engineering works,which implied high capital expenditure.It also involved using electric locomotives,which was not manufactured in ourcountry. India had developed the technol-ogy for manufacturing steam locomotivesince 1862 (when Jamalpur LocomotiveWorkshop was commissioned by theBritish). The establishment ofChittaranjan Locomotive Works in 1950in West Bengal resulted in the manufac-turing of modern steam engines. Therewas, thus, little incentive to electrify.

The dominance of steam locomotivescontinued unabated until the mid-1980s.In 1981, the Indian Railways had 10,908locomotives. Of these, the number ofsteam locomotives (7,469) exceeded thecombined number of diesel locomotives(2,403) and electric locomotives (1,036)by twice over. In 2014, our fuel use pro-file had completely changed; although thetotal number of locomotives was almostthe same as or actually less than (10,499)in 1981. In 2014, the field was almostdivided between diesel and electricity,with steam engines almost but finishedon the broad gauge.

When steam locomotives startedlosing dominance in the mid-1980s, thevacated ground was occupied by dieselengines, not electricity. Choosing dieselobviated the need for raising heavyengineering work, necessary for electri-fication of the route. Electricity hascome a long way since then indeed butthe balance is still titled, even if slightly,in favour of diesel locomotives.

By the end of 2017, there were 5,868diesel locomotives on broad gauge asagainst 5,590 electric locomotives. Thenumbers correspond, fairly, though notexactly, to the length of route electrifiedand still unelectrified. There are, howev-er, certain railway zones which had beenelectrified the least. They are the NorthEast Frontier, North Western and SouthWestern railways, where electric locomo-tives are altogether absent. These areeither due to their terrain types or envi-ronmental factors.

The drive towards complete electri-fication is a mid-course correction of theModi Government. Even by the end of2017, the Government had plans to pro-cure 1,107 diesel locomotives for broadgauge and 25 for narrow gauge lines (videLok Sabha unstarred question no: 831,dated December 20, 2017). The contractagreement between the Indian Railwaysand GE Diesel Locomotive PrivateLimited, for the establishment of a diesellocomotive factory at Marhowra, Sarandistrict, Bihar was signed by the ModiGovernment on November 30, 2015. Onthe same day, another contract agreementwas signed between the Indian Railwaysand Alstom Manufacturing India Private

Limited for the establishment of anelectric locomotive factory at Madhepurain Bihar.

But subsequently, an action plan toelectrify the whole of broad gauge net-work came into being. Yearly targets wereambitious to the extent of seeminglyimpossible — 6,000 km for 2018-19,7,000 km for 2019-20, 10,500 km for2020-21 and 10,500 km 2021-22. Thisshift in plan naturally put into quandarythe future of the Marhowra DieselLocomotive factory.

Would their locomotives be absorbedif, in principle, diesel was to be phasedout as a dirty and expensive fuel? TheGovernment decided to convert theentire fleet of diesel engines into electricones. Technologically, this is eminentlypossible because there are not vast dif-ferences in internal workings. As againstcommon misconception, a diesel loco-motive does not burn fuel in internalcombustion engine. Instead converts itfirst into electric energy. This makes adiesel locomotive far more energy-effi-cient than a diesel automobile.

The projected benefits of railwayelectrification are numerous. It will leadto an approximate saving of �13,000 crorein fuel bill, rid the railways of using 2.8billion litre of imported diesel, speed uppassenger and goods traffic, lend freedomto tap energy from renewable energysources and curtail the carbon footprint.But are we overlooking a huge cost to theenvironment by complete electrifica-tion?

Around 54 per cent of electricity inIndia is still derived from coal, which is

the major competent of thermal energyin our country. Other components aregas, lignite and oil. The railways may bereplacing diesel with, figuratively speak-ing, coal. Instead of burning the coal inthe furnace of an engine, as previously,we would be burning it in thermalpower plants.

Does this really provide any relief forthe environment? It is true that one-fifthof India’s energy is nowadays producedfrom new and renewable sources likesolar and wind among others. But thereis a long way to go before renewable ener-gy can be harnessed for high-voltage rail-way traction. At present, its use in therailways is limited to power bulbs andfans.

As per the Indian Railway Year Book(2016-17), coal constitutes 48 per cent ofits bulk cargo. Of the cargo traffic, 22 percent is that coal, which is transportedfrom collieries to power plants. If demandfor coal increases to meet electricity sup-ply for the Indian Railways, there is a fearthat the tracks can get choked. Whilediesel is supplied through undergroundpipe nowadays, transporting coal willrequire mobilisation of more railwaywagons. This may become self-defeatistfor the Indian Railways.

Further, using only one kind ofenergy has certain security implications.Hacking of the grid, in a highly digitisedworld, can bring trains across a region toa standstill. The use of an energy basketwill be a better choice.

(The writer is an independentresearcher based in New Delhi; viewsexpressed herein are his personal)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “The need for reform” (March29). The Election Commissionhas risen to the occasion to ques-tion the Union Government’sdecision to introduce electoralbonds. Rightly so, ever since theywere introduced, they havebecome a major source of fund-ing for political parties. The rul-ing party itself was the beneficia-ry of 95 per cent of the electoralbonds purchased in 2017-18.

Contributions made to polit-ical parties should be perfectlytransparent and cashless. Further,electoral bonds must carry thenames of contributors to preventindirect and legalised bribing tothe ruling party. With the UnionGovernment motivating evensmall payments through digitalbanking like Bhim app andPayTM, it will be ideal to totallyban cash contributions to anypolitical party. With electionsjust round the corner, it is imper-ative that the top court takes cog-nisance of the matter soon. Theremust be an immediate ban onelectoral bonds.

Madhu AgrawalDelhi

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Sir — The first day of the monthof April is called ‘All Fools’ Day’or ‘April Fool’s Day’. On this day,every year, people take delight inplaying practical jokes on eachother. The custom started inRome when King Leopold ofBelgium, who was married inRome, was made a fool of by his

sister-in-law when he went to hisfather-in-law’s palace on thefirst of April by mistake as hehad been invited there on thefirst of May.

Today, centuries later, Aprilfool is played on people on alarge scale. It is played by stu-dents in schools and colleges andalso by employees with their col-leagues in offices. It is alsoplayed at home with neighbours

and family members. However, instead of playing

jokes on people on this day, wemust plant at least one sapling inour surroundings to celebrateApril ‘cool’ day. This small cam-paign of ours may help in mak-ing the earth cooler and a bet-ter place to live. So don’t getApril fooled this year. Be alert.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “US move on Azhar” (March29). Judging the dastardly acts ofviolence unleashed by terroristsin different parts of the world,they deserve no mercy. They areequivalent to barbarians, whodisregard the value of a civilisa-tion, harmony of society andavowedly resort to destructiveforces to create devastation.

Pakistan not only harboursterrorists but also acknowledgesit as strategic policy, especiallyagainst India to achieve itsheinous objective. India has fre-quently absorbed several shocksof terrorist attacks. It is an undis-puted fact that China brooks nodissent with respect to UighurMuslims and inflicts brute forceand cruelty to silence them. It isalso strange that terrorist outfitsand groups in Pakistan remainapathetic to the cruel atrocitiesmeted out by the Chinese com-munist regime. Is it not a prac-tice of quid pro quo?

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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It was well-known that in 1947, Pakistanwas a geo-political idiosyncrasy in sev-eral ways. First, its architect, engineer andfounder, Quaid-e-Azam MA Jinnah, wasnot a purist Muslim, who led the creation

of a ‘New Medina’. The Caliph at Istanbul wasexiled and the institution of the Caliphate,established in 661 AD, was abolished byMustafa Kemal Atatürk, the moderniser ofTurkey. But how was Jinnah not a dyed-in-the-wool Muslim? His grandfather, Jeenabhai, wasconverted from being a Hindu Lohana to anIsmaili Khoja. The family belonged to Dhoraji,not far from Rajkot. The area, and in fact, theentire peninsula of Saurashtra, then calledKathiawar, had hardly an Islamic atmosphere.Junagadh, in the south-west of the peninsula,was the largest of the area’s princely state head-ed by a nawab, with a Muslim population ofsome 12 per cent.

Jinnah’s family shifted to Karachi to do big-ger business but grandson, Mohammed Ali,long before at the age of 16, moved to Londonto become a Barrister-at-law. There he took tothe English way of life and soon became abrown Englishman, which during the highnoon of the British Empire, was not uncom-mon. He took four years to return to Bombay(now Mumbai). His three older sisters weremarried and moved with their in-laws. Theyoungest sibling, Fatima, Jinnah took under hiswings and began educating her at Bandra (asuburb of Bombay) in a Christian missionaryschool. He was not very close to his youngerbrother, Ahmed Ali, yet gave him a regularallowance, sufficient for him to marry a Swisslady, who bore him a lovely daughter beforedeparting for good for her European home.

Professionally, life was somewhat difficult;briefs were difficult to come by for a newBarrister. The acting Advocate-General ofBombay, John Molesworth Macpherson, how-ever, took to Jinnah and got him an appoint-ment as Bombay Presidency magistrate at ahandsome salary of �1,500 a month. As aBarrister, Jinnah came in contact withWesternised Parsis, upper-class Gujarati busi-nessmen, solicitors and only a few rich Muslimclients, mainly Khojas, some Memons andBohras, all converts from Hindus. The firstnamed were like Jinnah himself, the second alsorecently converted from Kutchi Lohanas and thelast were Brahmins before becoming ShiaMuslims a few centuries earlier. All the threespoke Gujarati as their mother-tongue likeJinnah, except that the Memons were also athome in Kutchi dialect.

Otherwise, the Qaid-to-be was at home inEnglish, written and spoken. Urdu remained farfor him until he began to address mass meet-ings, especially while campaigning for the cru-cial 1945-46 general elections. It was too lateand the Qaid addressed his mass audiences inEnglish, which most did not follow. In thosedays, there was no system of simultaneoustranslation as in the days of Indira Gandhi.

Pran Chopra once reported on a 1945-46meeting he was covering at Jalandhar. It wasevening and the crowd comprised a mass ofthousands. In the middle of it, the muezzin

called for namaz. Willy-nilly, thecrowd dispersed in order to pray.Meanwhile, Jinnah sat down on achair on the platform, brought out acigar, lit it and had several puffs beforethe crowd returned. He resumedspeaking quite nonchalantly and theaudience shrieked and shouted when-ever there was a reference to “Islam isin danger.” He had become a foreign-er in many of his ways and habits, andhis followers of the mid and late 1940sdid not mind one bit so long as hewould get them Pakistan. They right-ly believed that he was the onlyleader, who could get them theirPakistan, the land of the pure. Thosewho lived in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar or Bombay had nothing obvi-ous to get from Partition.

Hijrat or migration, like ProphetMuhammad’s flight from Mecca toMedina in 622 AD, sounded religio-romantic. Nevertheless, it was gener-ally a tough call to be a muhajir inPakistan as it turned out certainly. Yet,students from the Aligarh Universityalso went to Punjab to campaign in1945 for Partition. Such was the virusof hysteria that swept through what isIndia post-Partition, but not half asmuch in provinces that were likely togo to Pakistan.

The people of say, West Punjab,Sind, NWFP and East Bengal, did notfeel half as excited; although certain-ly they were not unhappy. It is doubt-ful if Jinnah had before the electioncampaign, been to most areas outsidethe provincial capitals. This was oneof the reasons for his lack of a correctassessment of his newly-won country.

We must also remember that beforehis final disillusionment with Gandhiand Congress at the Calcutta (nowKolkata) session of the party, he wastruly neutral about various commu-nities. Poet Sarojini Naidu, popular-ly cal led the nightingale, haddescribed Jinnah as a true ambassadorof Hindu-Muslim unity. After hisleaving Karachi at the age of 16, hehad, until his parting of ways inCalcutta, never weighed people interms of Hindu and Muslim.

When the Gandhi finally returnedin 1915 from South Africa, his firstpublic reception was held at GokuldasTejpal Hall. Jinnah presided over themeeting; when Gandhi had to standup to reply, he started by saying howhappy he was that a Mohamedanleader of eminence should welcomehim and say such nice things. Jinnahfor his part was mightily annoyed thatGandhi should talk about a leader byhis referring to his religion. What hadthat to do with the function or its pro-gramme? His brother Ahmed, a friendof this writer’s grandfather,Dharamdas Vora of 401 GirgaumRoad, Bombay-2 (of 1946), had said,“We are not authentic Muslims; we areculturally Parsi. We do not know howto pray by doing namaaz. My broth-er did not have appropriate garmentsfor prayers until he returned to Indiain 1935 as life president of the MuslimLeague. We normally wear loungesuits, my brother prefers those tailoredin Savile Row, London. We eat anddrink what we like.”

Indeed, Jinnah’s love for theEnglish way of life can be gauged by

the fact that he owned some 200 SavileRow formal suits and was alwaysimpeccably dressed in public. His shiftto the pyjama-achkan attire in his lateravatar as the Muslim League presidentand Prophet of Pakistan notwithstand-ing, Jinnah insisted on reverting to hisSavile Row self when he was sick anddying. “I will not travel in my pyja-mas,” he reportedly asserted, insistingthat he buried in them. The late JusticeMC Chagla, in his autobiographyRoses in December, made a referenceto Mohammad Ali eating sandwich-es lovingly made and brought by hiswife Ruttee for her husband.Incidentally, she was not a Muslim buta Parsi. His only child was Dina, whomarried Sir Neville Wadia, a distin-guished Parsi industrialist.

Thus, Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah didnot qualify to be, by any means, anideal Muslim. When he felt jilted bythe Congress in Calcutta, he left themetropolis with tears in his eyes as hebid goodbye to his friend DewanChand at Howrah station. Beforelong, he went away to London to setup his practice there. He boughthimself a commodious bungalowwith a spacious garden. DaughterDina joined him to go to an upper-class school. Soon, he became thehighest paid barrister in the BritishEmpire. He had no plans to return toBombay until Nawabzada Liaquat AliKhan, on behalf of the Muslim League,was able to persuade him to return aslife president of the party.

(This is the first in a two-part serieson MA Jinnah by this columnist. Thesecond will appear here this week. )

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All day, every day, even whilethey sleep, tens of millions ofchildren in South Asia are

being seriously harmed as they areexposed to toxic air. The region leadsthe world in air pollution — and notin a good way. An estimated 1,30,000children under five are killed everysingle year. It is a staggering fact that12 million babies in South Asia areexposed to air that is six times thesafe limit set by the World HealthOrganisation (WHO). This meansthat South Asia accounts for three-quarters of the global total.

The full impact of breathingharmful air may not be visible to thenaked eye but the Air Quality Indexmeasures how toxic the air is.

A measurement of 0-50 is ‘good,’

50-100 is ‘moderate’, 100-150 is‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’(including children), 151-200 is‘unhealthy’, 201-300 is ‘veryunhealthy’ and 301-500 is ‘haz-ardous’. In the four-day periodbetween January 8 and 11, the num-ber reached 417 in New Delhi (haz-ardous), 310 in Kathmandu (haz-ardous), 328 in Dhaka (hazardous),510 in Kabul (hazardous) and 234 inKarachi (very unhealthy). Theselarge numbers mean deaths andserious, lasting harm.

In India, nearly 1.3 million prema-ture deaths occurred just in 2017 dueto indoor and outdoor air pollution.Ten of the world’s top 20 most pollut-ed cities are in India. Around 77 percent of the country’s population isexposed to outdoor air pollution lev-els above the US National Ambient AirQuality Standards’ safe limit. Averagelife expectancy in India would havebeen 1.7 years higher if air pollutionlevels were less than the minimal level.

Cough, sore throat or swolleneyes are common symptoms that arenoticed but the real damage is farmore serious. The most dangerous

air pollutants of all are the smallestparticles. They reach deep down intoour lungs. From there, they pass intothe bloodstream and then circulateall around the body. Air pollution isa severe and growing threat to peo-ple of all ages but particularly, it isbad for the children’s health anddevelopment. A 2018 study by WHOrevealed that over one lakh childrenunder the age of five died in 2016because of air pollution in India.There are three main reasons whychildren are particularly at risk:

First, they breathe faster thanadults. A typical adult takes around12 to 18 breaths a minute. A three-

year-old child takes around 20 to 30breaths a minute and a new-borntakes 30 to 40. So, young childrenbreathe polluted air two to threetimes as much as adults do.

Second, children’s lungs andother organs are still in the develop-ing stage. This makes them particu-larly vulnerable to damage. Thiscan have both immediate effects suchas causing asthma and long-termeffects such as reducing their lungvolume for life.

Third, the youngest children arealso in danger because the barrierbetween the bloodstream and brainis not yet fully formed. Air pollutants

can cross from the lungs to the blood-stream and from the bloodstream tothe brain. There, they actually causebrain cells to inflame. This damagesthe brain cells and affects the child’scognitive and intellectual develop-ment. Today’s generation kids will beaffected for life and as adults, we havea pressing and serious duty to reversethis horrendous trend.

Early and high exposure ofchildren and their vulnerability toair pollution complicate the situa-tion and call for the need to addressthis issue with urgency. We needadapt cleaner and renewablesources of energy. We also need bet-ter waste management options toprevent open burning of harmfulchemicals. Of course, precise solu-tions vary across the region. Wecannot let our children breathetoxic air. Speaking up for one’s chil-dren should be the first step.

The Government of India’s effortstowards launching a National CleanAir Programme, that aims to cover104 cities, are commendable.However, the target to reduce air pol-lution by only about 30 per cent by

2024, needs further urgent and pro-active actions to protect the younggeneration. Stringent law enforce-ment regarding polluting industriesand burning of solid waste/residuesamong others should be non-nego-tiable. Policy shifts such as the switchfrom pollution fuel options like dieselor petrol to CNG or electrical carsand increased investment in publictransport among others are notewor-thy efforts taken by the Government.However, further investment andincentives to adopt clean energy, espe-cially in smaller towns, are crucial.Incentivising the use of LPG in ruralareas as against the highly pollutingfossil fuel is another critical need.

Reducing indoor and outdoor airpollution must be integrated in allmajor Government programmes suchas Smart Cities, rather than institut-ing stand-alone interventions. Thiscan go a long way in promoting pos-itive behaviour, big and small, amongcitizens and initiating a drive towardsa pollution-free India for us and forthe generations to come.

(The writer is Regional Directorof UNICEF in South Asia)

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Amajor crisis at the strug-gling carrier Jet Airways

was averted on Sunday after itspilots’ body, National Aviator'sGuild (NAG), deferred till April15 its call for halting operations.

The decision was taken atan open house meeting ofNAG members which tookplace in both Mumbai andDelhi on Sunday afternoon,NAG president Karan Chopratold reporters after the meetingwhich lasted for about fourhours.

The NAG, which claims torepresent around 1,100 of the1,600 Jet Airways pilots, hadannounced earlier that itsmembers will not fly fromApril 1, unless their salarydues were cleared and clarityprovided on future paymentsby March 31.

"The management hasshown us a positive intent bytransferring our(December)salary and we thought weshould give them at least a cou-ple of weeks to settle down andform the interim board andsolve our issues which theyhave already spoken about ear-lier.

"Therefore, the collectivecall taken by the pilots in bothMumbai and Delhi of no flying,which was supposed to startfrom April 1, has now beendeferred to April 15 in a hopethat something positive pansout in two weeks," Chopra

said.On March 21 the NAG had

requested the Government tointervene for the survival of JetAirways, after which State Bankof India (SBI) stated that thelenders will infuse interimfunding of �1,500 crore to sus-tain its operations for the nexttwo months.

Last Monday, Jet Airways'board approved a resolutionplan formulated by SBI-leddomestic lenders. Under theplan, lenders decided to takecontrol of the airline andmake a fund infusion of�1,500 crore.

It has been only six dayssince the lenders, who arenow the new owners,announced additional fundingto Jet Airways, and that is whythey should be given moretime to resolve the issues,Chopra said.

He, however, urged SBIchairman Rajnish Kumar tohold a meeting with pilots'representatives for a clearassessment of the affairs at theairline.

SBI had said the salarieswill be paid out of the interimfunding, Chopra noted, addingthat last night pilots were inti-mated about disbursal ofremaining 87.50 per cent of theDecember salary.

Jet Airways has beendefaulting on salary paymentsto pilots, engineers and seniormanagement since August2018.

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The consortium of lenders toJet Airways is considering

roping in former SBI chief A KPurwar as chairman of theinterim management commit-tee as the cash-strapped airlinelooks for a new investor, asenior official said.

The official of the StateBank of India (SBI) also saidthe lenders are in the processof appointing SBI Capital asadvisor in efforts for finding athe new investor.

As the full service carrierstruggling to stay afloat, itsboard on March 25 approveda debt resolution plan thatwould see immediate fundinfusion of �1,500 crore andlenders taking control of theairline.

According to the official,Purwar is expected to be soonappointed as chairman of theinterim management commit-tee.

Purwar was the chairmanof the State Bank of Indiabetween 2002 and 2006. Thebank is also the lead lender toJet Airways.

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State-run Bank of Baroda iscatapulting itself for a larg-

er play in the system with themerger of Dena Bank andVijaya Bank with itself fromMonday.

The Government-forcedmerger, announced last inSeptember, creates the thirdlargest bank in the countryafter State Bank of India andHDFC Bank.

This is second merger ofState-run banks in the recentyears in the banking sector afterState Bank had merged five ofits associate banks- State Bankof Patiala, State Bank of Bikanerand Jaipur, State Bank ofMysore, State Bank ofTravancore and State Bank ofHyderabad and also BhartiyaMahila effective April 2017.

"We are extremely pleasedthat Bank of Baroda, VijayaBank and Dena Bank are com-ing together creating the sec-ond largestbankin termsofnetwork and customer base.

We would work for thesuccess of the amalgamation byeffective execution of all theactivities to build a strongerorganisationand collectivelydeliver more to the stake hold-ers than that of sum of indi-vidual entities," BoB chief PSJayakumar said in a release.

The Reserve Bank hadSaturday said branches of DenaBank and Vijaya Bank wouldfunction as BoB outlets fromApril following the amalgama-tion.

BoB said the consolidatedbank will have over 9,500branches, 13,400 ATMs, 85,000employees to serve 12 crorecustomers.

The bank will have a busi-ness mix of �15 lakh crore ofbalance sheet, with depositsand advances of �8.75 lakhcrore and �6.25 lakh crore,respectively.

"The diverse bouquet ofproducts from the three banks,substantial investments madein technologywillhelp in ben-efiting a wider customer base,"he said.

The lender said the com-plementary branch presencewill add to its network inWestern and Southern States.

Post-amalgamation, thebank will have a 22 per centmarket share in Gujarat and 8-10 per cent market share inMaharashtra, Karnataka,Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, itsaid.

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The pilot project envisagedfor rolling out simplified

monthly GST return formsfrom April 1 has been deferredand the new forms would bemade available once they thenotified and the software isready.

The GST Council had inJuly last year decided that thesimplified GST return forms —Sahaj and Sugam — would berolled out on a pilot basis fromApril 1, 2019, while mandato-ry filing across the countrywould kick in from July.

In July last year, the CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes andCustoms (CBIC) had comeout with the draft GST returnsforms and sought commentsfrom stakeholders.

Under the new return fil-ing format, taxpayers who haveno purchases, no output tax lia-bility and no input tax credit inany quarter of the financial yearwould have to file one 'Nil'return for the entire quarter.Facility for filing quarterlyreturn shall also be available byan SMS.

The new return filing for-mat would replace the currentrequirement of filing final salesreturn GSTR-1; but as per theplan, summary sales returnGSTR-3B would continue forsome time.

"The pilot project of newreturn filing has been deferred.New date would be decided.The forms would be notified

first; following which, the pilotwould be launched. Systems arebeing developed for the newforms," an official said.

Small taxpayers, withturnover of up to �5 crore inthe last financial year, can filequarterly return with monthlypayment of taxes on self-dec-laration basis.

The return form 'Sahaj' is forbusinesses which make suppliesto only consumers (B2C). Itincludes details of outward sup-plies and inward supplies attract-ing reverse charge as well assummary of inward supplies forclaiming input tax credit (ITC).

Also, such B2C businesseswill have to show harmonisedsystem nomenclature (HSN)-wise summary of supplies andinterest and late fee liabilitydetails along with payment oftax and verification. HSN is acode number to specify a par-ticular product.

Besides, businesses makingsupplies to both businesses(B2B) and consumers (B2C)have to file returns form'Sugam'. It includes summaryof supplies made and tax lia-bility, summary of inward sup-plies for claiming ITC, alongwith details of interest dueand tax payment.

When goods and servicestax (GST) was rolled out fromJuly 1, 2017, a three-stagemonthly return filing systemwas set up — GSTR-1 (salesreturn), GSTR-2 (purchasereturn) and GSTR-3 (finalreturns based on GSTR-1 and2 matching).

However, with businessesfacing trouble, the GST Councildecided in November 2017 tokeep filing of GSTR-2 and 3 inabeyance. It also introduced asimpler GSTR-3B to facilitateeasier return filing and taxpayment.

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The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) may cut key lending

rates by another 25 basis pointson Thursday to boost eco-nomic activities amid fears ofglobal slowdown impactingdomestic growth prospects,experts said.

The RBI had reduced therepo rate by 25 basis points inFebruary after a gap of 18months. A back-to-back cut ininterest rate would providerelief to borrowers in the elec-tion season.

The six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC)headed by RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das will meet forthree days in Mumbai andannounce the decision oninterest rate on April 4.

It would be the first bi-monthly monetary policy of2019-20.

Das has already held meet-ings with stakeholders includ-ing industry bodies, depositorsassociation, MSME represen-tatives and bankers.

The industry is pitching foranother rate cut as the inflationis well below the RBI's mandate

of 4 per cent and need the forboosting economic growth ispressing.

V K Sharma, Head PCGand Capital Markets Strategy atHDFC Securities, said the mar-ket has factored in a 25 basis-point cut and a change instance to accommodative fromneutral, adding that the expect-ed increase in liquidity and cutin interest rates auger well forthe market.

PFB Shanti Ekambaram,President (Consumer Banking)at Kotak Mahindra Bank, saidglobal and local factors willguide future policy action.Consumption has slowed downa bit and the investment cycleis still slow.

"It is likely that there couldbe another 25 basis-point ratecut later in the year, but thatwould be dependent on infla-tion and growth data. In addi-tion, the central bank will keepan eye on the post-electionsbudget, monsoons and oilprices," Ekambaram added.

Director General of CIIChandrajit Banerjee said theinflation trajectory hasremained benign which furtherwarrants a reduction in inter-

est rate."In view of the visible signs

of a growth slowdown in thesecond half of 2018-19, it isrequested that the RBI shouldreduce the repo rate by at least25 basis points in the upcom-ing policy and maintain a soft-ening trend in monetary poli-cy," he said.

Banerjee was also said inorder that the rate cut be effec-tively transmitted to banks, areduction in the cash reserveratio (CRR) is also recom-mended so that it frees up bankscash for lending purposes.

The MPC, which includestwo representatives from thecentral bank and three externalmembers, will take intoaccount the data on retail infla-tion, industrial production andglobal economic outlook whilearriving at its monetary policy.

Subdued performance ofmanufacturing sector, espe-cially capital and consumergoods, had pulled down thegrowth in industrial produc-tion to 1.7 per cent in Januaryfrom 7.5 per cent a year ago.The data on Index of IndustrialProduction (IIP) for Februaryis yet to be released.

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The Government has notifieda new accounting standard

Ind AS 116 that will bring inmore transparency in recogni-tion and disclosures about leas-es in companies' balance sheets,a senior official said Sunday.

The Indian AccountingStandard (Ind AS) 116 is expect-ed to have a significant impacton various industries, includingaviation where airlines mostlyoperate planes on lease.

Ind AS 116 — to be effectivefrom April 1 — sets out the prin-ciples for recognition, presenta-tion and disclosure of leases.

It has been notified by thecorporate affairs ministry.

The official said the stan-dard will help in ensuringmore transparency when itcomes to recognition of leasesby companies and also prevent"window dressing" of accounts.

"Lessors will need to re-look at their accounting poli-cy of recognising lease incomeon transition to Ind AS 116 andit may have significant impacton ongoing recognition andmeasurement of rental incomein the financial statements,"Sandip Khetan said.

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The Government Sundayextended the deadline for

linking PAN with biometric IDAadhaar by 6 months tillSeptember 30, as per an officialstatement.

However, quoting ofAadhaar will remain manda-tory for filing income taxreturns (ITRs), following theSupreme Court order.

This is the sixth time thegovernment has extended thedeadline for individuals to linktheir Permanent AccountNumber (PAN) with Aadhaar.

In June last year, theGovernment had said that PANhas to be linked with the bio-metric ID by March 31.

"....Now the cut-off date forintimating the Aadhaar num-ber and linking PAN withAadhaar is September 30, 2019,unless specifically exempted,"the Central Board of DirectTaxes (CBDT) said in a state-ment.

The CBDT said there werereports that those PANs whichare not linked with Aadhaarnumber by March 31 may beinvalidated, following which

the matter was considered bythe government and the dateextended till September 30.

"Notwithstanding the lastdate of intimating/linking ofAadhaar Number with PANbeing September 30, 2019, it isalso made clear that w.E.F.April 1, 2019, it is mandatoryto quote and link Aadhaarnumber while filing the returnof income," it added.

The apex court , inSeptember last year, haddeclared the Centre's flag-ship Aadhaar scheme as con-stitutionally valid and heldthat the biometric ID wouldremain mandatory for filingof I-T returns and allotmentof PAN.

A five-judge constitutionbench had, however, said thatit would not be mandatory tolink Aadhaar to bank accountsand telecom service providerscannot seek its linking formobile connections.

Till September last year, ofthe 41 crore PANs issued, over21 crore were linked toAadhaar.

The Supreme Court in itsorder upheld section 139AA ofthe Income Tax Act.

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India is expected to be amongthe top-10 entertainment

and media markets globally by2021 in terms of absolute num-bers, according to a joint studyby ASSOCHAM-PwC.

The country's per capitamedia and entertainmentspending is likely to be cappedat $32 or �2,080 by 2021, thestudy noted.

By some estimates, India isamong the fastest growingOTT markets in the worldand will be one of the top-10 by2022, it said. The market size isexpected to reach $52.68 billionin 2022 from $30.36 billion in2017, it claimed.

"It (India) is set to be in thetop 10 entertainment andmedia markets globally by 2021in terms of absolute numbers,"the study said.

It attributed growth ofOTT content to increasingpenetration of smartphones inthe country and continuousrise in data consumption.

The OTT market (trans-actional video on demand andsubscription video on demand)is set to grow at a compound-ed annual growth rate (CAGR)of 10.1 per cent during the peri-

od 2017-2022."During the same period in

India, the segment is expectedto grow from $297 million to$823 million in 2022 at aCAGR of 22.6 per cent. Withincreasing smartphone pene-tration and lower data tariffs,VoD is showing promisinggrowth," the report said.

Globally, the industry hasrecently witnessed a shift infocus from content and distri-bution to user experience.

"India's per capita mediaand entertainment spend willbe capped at $32 (about �2,080) by 2021. The spend is muchlower than that of China, whichwill stand at $222 (�14,430 ) forthe same period, and that of theUSA, which will have the high-est spend at $2,260 (�1.46lakh)," the study said.

The large number of choic-es in the video-on-demandsegment has spoilt consumersin India, the study noted.

"Hotstar has had a first-mover advantage in the OTTspace in India. Other top play-ers in the OTT ecosysteminclude Voot, SonyLIV, Netflix,Amazon Prime, Eros Now andALTBalaji. Start-ups such asArre and YuppTV are an addi-tional presence," it added.

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Ace Olympian boxer MaryKom on Sunday said

Indian real estate sector shouldhave in-built sports infra-structure in housing projects tocreate a perfect platform foryoung athletes.

She was speaking at theunveiling of Boxing Ring forkids at Happy Trails project byATS HomeKraft in GreaterNoida (West).

"We need to focus on gener-ating interest for sports along withthe right infrastructure within thehousing premises. Having sportsinfrastructure within one's soci-ety will help parents to introducetheir kids to a variety of sports ata young age. This will greatly helpin identifying raw talent at youngage and with the right advice andcoaching can grow to a profes-sional level," Mary Kom said atthe event.

"Sports is a critical aspectfor holistic development ofany child and we wanted toensure that residents in ourproject get top class boxingfacility for their children. It willhelp many children to learnand train within the safety andwithin and security of theirhomes," Prasoon Chauhan,CEO, HomeKraft said.

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Efficient operations andfinancial performance are

individual responsibilities ofcarriers, and the Governmentcannot interfere in their day-to-day operations, Civil AviationMinister Suresh Prabhu saidamid Jet Airways crisis and tur-bulent times of the domesticairlines industry.

In view of intense compe-tition, rising costs, shortage ofpilots and grounding of planeshurting many domestic carri-ers, the minister also said thegovernment has been con-stantly responding to industryconditions and cited measurestaken, including reduction incentral excise duty on jet fuelto 11 per cent from 14 per cent.

Cash-strapped Jet Airwayshas been forced to groundplanes, cancel flights and delaypayments, including salaries topilots, while Air India contin-ues to grapple with financialwoes. On March 25, the boardof ailing Jet Airways cleared adebt resolution plan wherebylenders would take control ofthe carrier.

Against this backdrop,Prabhu said that each airlineprepares its own business planon the basis of its own marketassessment and financial

resources."Based on its business plan,

the efficient operations andfinancial performance are theresponsibilities of each indi-vidual airline and its share-holders.

"However, the governmenthas constantly been respondingto industry conditions andundertaking specific measuresto facilitate and enable growthof the sector," he told PTI.

In written replies to PTIqueries, Prabhu said the airlineindustry is a dynamic industrywhich requires continuousadjustment according to glob-

al and domesticneeds.

"It is ourendeavour tosupport theindustry, how-ever, as statedwe cannotinterfere in dayto-day opera-tions of the air-lines," he noted.

About AirIndia, theMinister said arevival plan hasbeen preparedfor the nation-al carrier thatfocuses on var-ious aspects,

including a comprehensivefinancial package and trans-ferring non-core debt andassets to a special purposevehicle.

The revival plan also focus-es on higher level of operationalefficiency by strengtheningmanagement and implement-ing best practice businessprocesses and robust organi-sational and Governancereforms, he added.

Debt-laden Air India isstaying afloat on taxpayers'money and an effort for itsstrategic disinvestment did nottake off in May 2018.

����� "6:�-6.;�

Westway Electronics Ltd.,an Indian manufacturing

and trading company in theconsumer durables category,launches its newest range ofDirect Cool series refrigeratorsspecially in the North of India.

Westway Electronics, withan extensive range of LEDTelevisions, Air Coolers, Semi-Automatic Washing Machines,Air Purifiers and BluetoothSmart Watches, will look atpenetrating the NorthernMarket with the launch of theDirect Cool refrigerator serieswithin the price range of�12000 to �15000.

The 190 litre refrigeratorwith a tropical compressor, ananti-rust body and icing tech-nology facility will allowcon-sumers to do a lot more andconserve energy as it has a 1star energy rating.

Available in a premiumwine red colour, the refrigera-tor has a high glossing finish.

Sumit Maini Director ofWestway expresses, “We ensurethat we make the best use ofavailable facilities and offerproducts in varied sizes, mod-els and technicalities so as tomeet demands of a large num-ber of clients within their bud-get.”

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Despite heavy fund infusionby FPIs over the past two

month, the domestic financialmarket suffered a foreign fundoutflow of over �44,500 croreon net basis in the fiscal 2018-19 as macroeconomic head-winds weighed on investorsentiment through the year.

Hike in rates by the USFederal Reserve, depreciatingrupee, rise in crude oil prices,worsening current accountdeficit, concerns over fiscaldeficit and current accountdeficit target, coupled withtrade tiff between the US andChina dampened the mood inemerging markets, experts said.

In financial year 2018-19,foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) pulled out a net sum of�1,629 crore from equities and�42,951 crore from the bondsmarket, taking the total net out-flow to �44,580 crore, thedepositories data showed.

In comparison, FPIs hadinfused a net amount of�25,634 crore in the equitiesand over �1,19,035 crore in thedebt market, a total net invest-ment of �1,44,669 crore in theprevious fiscal.

"After two years of goodforeign fund inflows, Indian

market witnessedreversal in the trend.We received �48,411crore and �1,44,682crore in the year2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively.Global and domesticcauses alike haveprompted the flowsof funds in 2018-19from the markets andboth the equity and debt seg-ments have witnessed out-flows", Alok Agarwala, SeniorVP and Head InvestmentAnalytics, of Bajaj Capital said.

FPIs remained net sellersalmost throughout the recent-ly concluded fiscal except forthe past couple of months.October emerged as the monthof steepest outflow with FPIspulling out a massive �38,900crore from the market.

However, fresh fund infu-sion was witnessed in the lasttwo consecutive months of thefiscal, with March aloneaccounting for a net infusion of�45,981 crore including a net�33,980 crore in equities and�12,001 crore in debt.

In February, the overseasplayers pumped in a netamount of �11,182 crore incapital markets.

This inflow "could be

attributed to the shift in stanceon monetary policy outlook byvarious central banks globally,which led to the improvementin global liquidity condition. InJanuary 2019, the US Fedannounced a pause in ratehike, followed by China andEuropean Central Bank pro-viding stimulus to their respec-tive economies," saidHimanshu Srivastava, SeniorAnalyst Manager Research, atMorningstar.

This, along with expecta-tion of a positive outcomefrom the US-China tradeagreement bolstered the risk-on sentiments among foreigninvestors who diverted hugeinvestments towards emerg-ing markets, Srivastava point-ed out adding "it is difficult tosay anything conclusive aboutcontinuity of foreign funds atthis stage".

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Bangladesh security forceshave shot dead a Rohingya

woman in a border townknown as a gateway for smug-gling meth pills from neigh-bouring Myanmar, officialssaid Sunday.

Rights activists saidRumana Akter, 20, was the firstRohingya woman to be killedin a clampdown by Bangladeshauthorities against the nar-cotics trade.

She was one of threealleged smugglers killed in twoseparate incidents in Teknaf,which is close to refugee campshousing about one millionMuslim Rohingya who havefled from Myanmar.

Teknaf is a hub for dealingin “yaba” -- a methampheta-mine-based stimulant thattranslates in Thai as “crazy

medicine” -- which has becomepopular in Bangladesh.

More than 300 people —including nearly 20 Rohingya— have been killed in theclampdown launched in Maylast year. ImpoverishedRohingya refugees are used bydealers to transport the drugfrom Myanmar, officials say.

A military crackdownagainst the Rohingya in August2017 sparked an exodus of7,40,000 refugees to flee thecountry and join some 300,000refugees already in camps inBangladesh.

Border Guard Bangladesh(BGB) said the Rohingyawoman was killed during agunfight between securityforces and armed smugglers onthe Naf river, which acts as aborder between Bangladeshand Myanmar.

BGB spokesman Shariful

Islam told reporters thewoman’s body was found aftera 15-minute gunbattle “alongwith 10,000 pieces of yaba andthree sharp knives in her bag”.

Akter came from a refugeecamp in Teknaf.

Rights activists questionedthe death, saying the woman’sname was not on a list ofknown drug traders kept byBangladeshi law agencies.

Two alleged drug traderswere killed by police in a sep-arate incident in Teknaf lateSaturday. Police said 10,000pieces of yaba, six guns and 18rounds of ammunition werefound.

As part of clampdownBangladesh authorities inOctober made yaba a class-Abanned substance and parlia-ment passed a law allowing thedeath penalty for dealing in thedrug.

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Pope Francis on Sundaywarned Catholics in

Morocco against trying to con-vert others to boost their smallnumbers, during a rare visit bya pontiff to the North Africancountry.

Speaking in Rabat’s cathe-dral on his second day in theMoroccan capital, Francisinsisted trying to convert peo-ple to one’s own belief “alwaysleads to an impasse”.

“Please, no proselytism!”he told an audience of around400, who greeted the pope’sarrival by ululating andapplauding, while hundredsmore gathered outside thecathedral.

Christians are a tinyminority in Morocco where 99percent of the population isMuslim, with sub-SaharanAfricans making up a large partof the country’s 30,000-strongCatholic community.

Islam is the state religionand authorities are keen tostress the country’s “religioustolerance” which allowsChristians and Jews to worshipfreely.

But Moroccans are auto-matically considered Muslim ifthey are not born into theJewish community, apostasyis socially frowned upon, andproselytising is criminalised.

“I protect Moroccan Jewsas well as Christians fromother countries, who are living

in Morocco,” King MohammedVI told crowds on Saturday, fol-lowing the pontiff ’s arrival.

There are a few thousandChristian converts in Morocco,who since 2017 have calledopenly for the right to live“without persecution” and“without discrimination”.

Francis is the first pontiffto visit the North Africancountry since John Paul II in1985 and the cathedral hadbeen repainted for the occa-sion.

Waiting for the pope out-side, a Nigerian man said thevisit “shows that living togeth-er is possible in Morocco.” But“there are things to improve,notably the question ofmigrants and that of MoroccanChristians,” said 36-year-oldAntoine, who works for anassociation to defend migrantrights.

The need to supportmigrants was mentioned againSunday by Francis, who has

made the issue a focal point ofhis papacy.

On Saturday he visitedmigrants at a Caritas charitycentre, where the pope criti-cised “collective expulsions”and said ways for migrants toregularise their status should beencouraged.

Morocco says it has a“humanistic” approach tomigration and rejects allega-tions by rights groups of “bru-tal arrest campaigns” and“forced displacement” to thecountry’s southern border.

Earlier on Sunday, Francisvisited a social centre run bynuns and volunteers nearRabat, including a health cen-tre where he met with unwellchildren.

The previous day he visit-ed an institute which hostsaround 1,300 trainee imamsand preachers.

There they heard from aFrench and a Nigerian studentof the institute, which teaches

“moderate Islam” and is backedby the king.

The Moroccan monarchalso welcomed Francis to theroyal palace, where the twoaddressed the “sacred charac-ter of Jerusalem” in a joint dec-laration.

The city should be a “sym-bol of peaceful coexistence” forChristians, Jews and Muslims,they said in a statementreleased by the Vatican.

“The specific multi-reli-gious character, the spiritualdimension and the particularcultural identity of Jerusalem...Must be protected and pro-moted,” said the text, which wasjointly signed at Rabat’s royalpalace. The Moroccan kingchairs a committee created bythe Organisation of IslamicCooperation to safeguard andrestore Jerusalem’s religious,cultural and architectural her-itage. Jerusalem’s status is per-haps the most sensitive issue inthe Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Israel reopened its crossingswith the blockaded Gaza

Strip on Sunday after havingkept them closed for nearly aweek following a rare long-dis-tance rocket strike from thePalestinian enclave, an officialsaid.

The Erez crossing for peo-ple and the Kerem Shalomcrossing for goods reopenedSunday morning, a spokes-woman for COGAT, thedefence ministry unit that over-sees the crossings, told AFP.

They were closed onMonday after the rocket firethat wounded seven Israelisand led to Israeli retaliatorystrikes across the Gaza Strip,another serious f lare-upbetween the two sides.

Hamas announced anEgyptian-brokered truce thatended the exchange of fire.

The reopening also comes

after tens of thousands ofPalestinians protested alongthe Gaza border with Israel onSaturday, marking the one-year anniversary since demon-strations and clashes eruptedthere.

Four Palestinians werekilled on Saturday duringprotests and clashes, but unrestwas limited and fears of massbloodshed were averted afterEgyptian-led negotiations.

Five rockets were launchedfrom the Gaza Strip at Israelovernight, leading Israeli tanksto fire on Hamas military posts.

No casualties were report-ed from either the rockets ortank fire.

Hamas officials say anunderstanding was reachedthat would see Israel ease itscrippling blockade of Gaza inexchange for the protestsremaining calm.

Israel, which has foughtthree wars with Hamas since

2008, has not commented onthe claims of an agreement.

Israel goes to the polls in akeenly contested general elec-tion on April 9 in which PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahufaces a stiff challenge fromcentrist former military chiefBenny Gantz.

He is widely seen as want-ing to avoid a major escalationbefore the polls, but has facedaccusations from politicalopponents of being soft onHamas.

On Sunday, while wel-coming Brazilian President JairBolsonaro for a three-day visit,Netanyahu again said Israel wasprepared for a major operationin the Gaza Strip if necessary.

“You arrive in Israel in atense period, and so I gave theorder to leave military forces infull deployment around theGaza Strip,” Netanyahu saidduring a ceremony at the air-port.

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Border officials are aiming tomore than quadruple the

number of asylum seekers sentback over the southern bordereach day, a major expansion ofa top government effort toaddress the swelling number ofCentral Americans arriving inthe country, a Trump admin-istration official said onSaturday. It was the latestattempt to ease a strainingimmigration system that offi-cials say is at the breakingpoint.

Hundreds of officers whousually screen cargo and vehi-cles at ports of entry werereassigned to help managemigrants.

Homeland SecuritySecretary Kirstjen Nielsenasked for volunteers from non-immigration agencies withinher department, sent a letter toCongress late this past weekrequesting resources andbroader authority to deportfamilies faster, and she met

with Central American andMexican officials.

The efforts are being madewhile President Donald Trumpis doubling down on threats toshutter the U.S.-Mexico borderentirely, a move that wouldhave serious economic reper-cussions for both the U.S. andMexico but wouldn’t stopmigrants from crossingbetween ports.

His administration alsoannounced it was cutting aid tothe Central American countrieshome to most of the migrants.

Right now, about 60 asy-lum seekers a day are returnedto Mexico at the San Ysidro,Calexico and El Paso ports towait out their cases, the officialsaid.

They are allowed to returnto the U.S. for court dates.

The plan was announcedJanuary 29, partially to deterfalse claimants from comingacross the border. With a back-log of more than 700,000immigration cases, asylumseekers can wait years for their

cases to progress, and officialssay some people game the sys-tem in order to live in the U.S.

Officials hope to have asmany as 300 people returnedper day by the end of theweek, focusing particularly onthose who come in betweenports of entry, said the official,who had knowledge of theplans but was unauthorized tospeak publicly and spoke toThe Associated Press on con-dition of anonymity.

But the process so far hasbeen slow-going, and such asizeable increase may be diffi-cult to achieve.

The plan has already beenmarred by confusion, schedul-ing glitches and an inability bysome attorneys to reach theirclients.

In San Ysidro alone,Mexico had been prepared toaccept up to 120 asylum seek-ers per week, but for the first sixweeks only 40 people per weekwere returned.

Plus, U.S. officials mustcheck if asylum seekers have

any felony convictions andnotify Mexico at least 12 hoursbefore they are returned.

Those who cross illegallymust have come as singleadults, though the administra-tion is in talks with theMexican government toinclude families. Children arenot returned.

Homeland Security offi-cials have been grappling withan ever-growing number ofCentral American children andfamilies coming over the bor-der. Arrests soared in Februaryto a 12-year-high and morethan half of those stoppedarrived as families, many ofthem asylum seekers who gen-erally turn themselves ininstead of trying to elude cap-ture.

Guatemala and Hondurashave replaced Mexico as the topcountries, a remarkable shiftfrom only a few years ago.Migrants from CentralAmerica cannot be easilydeported, unlike people cross-ing from Mexico.

Mexico has been treadinglightly on the subject. AfterTrump lashed out, sayingMexico and the CentralAmerican nations were “doingnothing” about illegal immi-gration, President AndresManuel Lopez Obrador said hiscountry would do everything itcould to help to maintain a“very respectful relationship”with the U.S. government andTrump.

Meanwhile, Nielsen sent aletter to the heads of otheragencies within her sprawl-ing, 240,000-person depart-ment, asking for volunteers tohelp with border duties.

And she wrote to Congressasking for more temporaryfacilities to process people,more detention space, and theability to detain families indef-initely and to deport unac-companied minors fromCentral America.

While children fromMexico can be returned overthe border, laws prohibit depor-tation to other countries.

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With Britain’s politicalworld in chaos over

Brexit, Christians across thecountry this weekend tookpart in special prayer sessionshoping for some divine help inhealing bitter Brexit divisions.

“It doesn’t matter whetheryou voted leave or remain,we’re still one humanity, onenation,” Stephen Cottrell,Bishop of Chelmsford, toldAFP after imploring his con-gregation to heal the rift.

The Church of England haspromoted the initiative as “teaand prayer drop-ins” -- com-bining two of its most well-known sources of comfort.

Despite a sharp decline inchurch attendance, Cottrellbelieves faith still has the powerto unite the country afterBrexit.

“It’s no good the churchstanding on the sidelines, wav-ing our hands saying ‘whydoesn’t everybody just loveeach other’, what we’ve got to dois show what that love lookslike in action,” he said.

Worshipper Angela Sadler,65, said the church needed toplay a larger role in helpingresolve the broader issues sur-rounding the crisis.

“It’s quite difficult for thechurch because the churchneeds to be seen as a non-polit-ical body, which is correct, but

I also think... We need to seemore of God’s love,” she said.

As sunlight f loodedthrough the ornate stainedglass windows of ChelmsfordCathedral, Cottrell told thegroup of around 20 worship-pers that the values of thechurch could be expressedthrough a return to “British val-ues” that were “rooted in theChristian tradition”.

“Those British values ofcare for the underdog, care forthe stranger, tolerance.”

As the floor was opened toparishioners, one woman calledfor help in being “patient”,something she was strugglingwith in the inescapable andever-growing crisis.

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Millions of Turks voted inmunicipal elections

Sunday that President RecepTayyip Erdogan depicted as afight for Turkey’s survival, andwhich are a crucial test of thestrongman’s own support amida sharp economic downturn.

The voting, which ended inthe evening, was marred byscattered election violence thatkilled at least two people andinjured dozens of others acrossTurkey. Results were expectedlate Sunday.

Economic prosperity pro-vided Erdogan and his partywith previous election victories.

But the party could losekey posts in the mayoral elec-tions taking place in 30 large

cities, 51 provincial capitals andhundreds of districts as Turkeycopes with a weakened cur-rency, a double-digit inflationrate and soaring food prices.

The high stakes of the localcontests were brought intostark display with the deaths oftwo members of the Islamic-oriented Felicity Party, a smallrival of the president’s Justiceand Development Party.

Felicity’s leader, TemelKaramollaoglu, alleged apolling station volunteer and aparty observer were shot by arelative of a ruling party can-didate.

The killings weren’t causedby “simple animosity,” but hap-pened when the volunteerstried to enforce the law requir-ing ballots to be marked in pri-

vate voting booths instead ofout in the open, Karamollaoglutweeted.

Speaking to reporters afterhe voted, Erdogan said he wassad about the deaths and did-n’t want them to become acause for “a questioning or ajudgment between politicalparties.”

Fights related to local elec-tions in several provinces alsoproduced dozens of injuries,Turkey’s official Anadolu newsagency reported.

At least 21 people wereinjured in southeasternDiyarbakir province frombrawls over the election ofneighbourhood administra-tors, Anadolu said.

The exact causes of thefights remained unclear.

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Voters in Ukraine cast bal-lots in a presidential elec-

tion on Sunday after a cam-paign that saw a comedianwith no political experiencebecome the front-runner andtwo other top candidates,including the current president,face allegations of voter bribery.

Opinion polls have indi-cated that VolodymyrZelenskiy, who stars in a TVsitcom about a teacher whobecomes president after a videoof him denouncing corruptiongoes viral, is leading a field of39 candidates. The polls alsohad Zelenskiy outpacingincumbent President PetroPoroshenko and former PrimeMinister Yulia Tymoshenko,the other top candidates, by abroad margin.

“Zelenskiy has shown uson the screen what a real pres-ident should be like,” said voterTatiana Zinchenko, 30, whocast her ballot for the comedi-an. “He showed what the stateleader should aspire for —fight corruption by deeds, notwords, help the poor, controlthe oligarchs.”

If no candidate secures anabsolute majority in Sunday’svote, a runoff between the twotop finishers will be held April

21. Campaign issues in thecountry of 42 million includedUkraine’s endemic corruption,its struggling economy and aseemingly intractable conflictwith Russia-backed separatistsin eastern Ukraine that haskilled 13,000 people since 2014.

Concern about the elec-tion’s legitimacy have spiked inrecent days after Ukraine’s inte-rior minister said his depart-ment was “showered” withhundreds of claims that sup-

porters of Poroshenko andTymoshenko had offeredmoney in exchange for votes.

By Sunday afternoon, theInterior Ministry said it hadreceived about 950 complaintsof voting violations, includingunauthorized campaigning atpolling places, attempts at vote-buying and the removal ofballots.

Like the popular characterhe plays, Zelenskiy, 41, madecorruption a focus of his can-

didacy. He proposed a lifetimeban on holding public office foranyone convicted of graft. Healso called for direct negotia-tions with Russia on ending theconflict in eastern Ukraine.

“A new life, a normal life isstarting,” Zelenskiy said aftercasting his ballot in Kiev. “A lifewithout corruption, withoutbribes.”

His lack of political expe-rience helped his popularitywith voters amid broad disil-

lusionment with the country’spolitical elite.

“(We have) no trust in oldpoliticians. They were at thehelm and the situation in thecountry has only gotten worse— corruption runs amok andthe war is continuing,” saidbusinessman ValeryOstrozhsky, 66, anotherZelenskiy voter.

Poroshenko, 53, a confec-tionary tycoon when he waselected five years ago, pushedsuccessfully for the UkrainianOrthodox Church to be recog-nized as self-standing ratherthan a branch of the Russianchurch.

However, he saw approvalof his governing sink amidUkraine’s economic woes anda sharp plunge in living stan-dards. Poroshenko campaignedon promises to defeat the rebelsin the east and to wrest backcontrol of Crimea, whichRussia annexed in 2014 in amove that has drawn sanctionsagainst Russia from the U.S.and the European Union.

Speaking at a polling sta-tion Sunday, the presidentechoed his campaign promis-es of taking Ukraine into theEU and NATO. He said hold-ing a fair, free election was “anecessary condition for ourmovement forward, to

Ukraine’s return to theEuropean family of nations,”and was confident about theballot despite the bribery alle-gations.

“I’m sure that the electionwas well organized,”Poroshenko said. “The expres-sion of the will of the citizenswill be protected.”

The president’s prioritiespersuaded schoolteacherAndriy Hristenko, 46, to votefor him

“Poroshenko has done alot. He created our own church,bravely fought with Moscowand is trying to open the wayto the EU and NATO,”Hristenko said. Ukraine’s for-mer prime minister,Tymoshenko, shaped her mes-sage around the economic dis-tress of millions in the country.

“Ukraine has sunk intopoverty and corruption duringthe last five years, but everyUkrainian can put an end to itnow,” she said after votingSunday.

During the campaign,Tymoshenko denounced pricehikes introduced byPoroshenko as “economicgenocide” and promised toreduce prices for household gasby 50 percent within a monthof taking office.

“I don’t need a bright future

in 50 years,” said Olha Suhiy, a58-year-old cook. “I want hotwater and heating to cost lesstomorrow.”

A military embezzlementscheme that allegedly involvedtop Poroshenko associates aswell as a factory controlled bythe president doggedPoroshenko ahead of the elec-tion. Ultra-right activists shad-owed him throughout thecampaign, demanding the jail-ing of the president’s associatesaccused in the scheme.

Zelenskiy andTymoshenko both used thealleged embezzlement to takehits at Poroshenko, who shotback at his rivals. He describedthem as puppets of a self-exiled billionaire businessmanIgor Kolomoyskyi, charges thatZelenskiy and Tymoshenkodenied. However, many polit-ical observers have describedthe presidential election as abattle between Poroshenko andKolomoyskyi.

Both the president andKolomoyskyi relied on an arse-nal of media outlets undertheir control to exchange blows.Just days before the election,the TV channel Kolomoyskyiowns aired a new season of the“Servant of the People” TVseries in which Zelenskiy starsas Ukraine’s leader.

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Leaders meeting in Tunisiafor the annual Arab League

summit on Sunday were unit-ed in their condemnation ofTrump administration policiesseen as unfairly biased towardIsrael but divided on a host ofother issues, including whetherto readmit founding memberSyria.

This year’s summit comesagainst a backdrop of ongoingwars in Syria and Yemen, rivalauthorities in Libya and a lin-gering boycott of Qatar by four fellow Leaguemembers.

Algeria’s PresidentAbdelaziz Bouteflika andSudan’s President Omar al-Bashir skipped the meeting asthey contend with massprotests against their long

reigns.Representatives from the

22-member league — minusSyria — aim to jointly con-demn President DonaldTrump’s recognition of Israelicontrol over the Golan Heights,which Israel seized from Syriain the 1967 war, and Trump’sdecision last year to recognizeJerusalem as Israel’s capital.

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It is high time we talk openly. Be it avirginity test. A beauty contest tochoose a perfect bahu (daughter-in-

law). An impotent man’s ego to marry apotent woman. Choosing superstitionsover personal relationships. The children’sinability to accept their 60-year-oldmother’s second marriage. Then there arepolitical, religious and patriarchal restric-tions imposed on women, or the aspira-tions of the poor crushed under the afflu-ent’s power. Even a landlord’s intrusioninto the privacy of his homosexual guest— the women and men in Made inHeaven are victims of hypocrisy, patri-archy and misogyny. And not surprising-ly, the show is making huge waves by aclose and critical look at all of these.

Created and penned by Zoya Akhtar,Reema Kagti, Nitya Mehra and AlankritaSrivastava, the new digital series is a freshtake on how modern aspirations and tra-ditions jostle as the supposedly progres-sive Indian upper class creates a space forevils in the society to grow. It was afterNitya’s wedding a few years ago, that theidea of a show on Indian weddingsbirthed, said Zoya at a panel discussionin Gurugram. However, there were anumber of elements that had to belooked at closely. And for that, the direc-tor started a search for other filmmakersand story-writers. Post that, in 2016,“there were only Reema, Nitya and me inthe room. Alankrita joined later after Iread the script of her film, LipstickUnder My Burkha.”

Reema laughed to say that those whohaven’t watched the show even now willhave to watch it to discover the amountof research that they had to do before set-ting up the project in a full-fledged man-ner. She said, “It was a vast project. Wehad to shoot 10 episodes (the originalseries has only nine), which means 10weddings and each of which was of 50minutes. There was a different cast for adifferent episode. It was huge!”

They reached a point where none ofthe directors wanted to attend or even talkabout a wedding anymore. “Also, everywedding/episode had a different budget.After we completed the 10 episodes, ourproducer told us that the budget wasexceeding. That’s when we cut short thespan and combined two episodes intoone. This is why nine instead of 10episodes were released,” said Zoya.

Since the characters are life-like,while creating and writing them, it wasnot enough to just pen down their goodqualities or achievements. Their flawswere equally important and the directorsexplained that there were times when theyquestioned their own personality in theprocess. Said Zoya, “The idea of a flawedprotagonist in today’s time is receivedreally well. However, they forget that thewriter might face a lot of personal ques-tions too while writing them down. Atsome level, they would also judge thecharacters. I do judge the impotent guywho wants to marry a potent girl, the guywho asks for dowry, or even the gay whowants marriage as a front to hide his sex-ual orientation. In a way, I am judgingthem because they could be annoying asreal people.”

Talking about the characters, Nityasaid that even though Tara (played bySobhita Dhulipala) is the ultimate womanwho could handle all the mess single-handedly, defying all the society’s stereo-

types, Jaspreet’s or Jazz’s (played byShivani Raghuvanshi) character is theone that holds the scene and makes theshow relatable to many Indian middleclass women. Shivani’sportrayal of a youngwoman from a humblebackground in the cityand having big dreamshas found a huge reso-nance. She wasn’t theone who tried to fit in,rather someone whowanted to make a spacefor herself in that world.“Jazz’s character is sobeautifully etched, it’smy personal favourite,”said Nitya.

Many found thatTara and Jazz probablydid have a lot in common

in terms of their backgrounds but theirideas about aiming for something bigwere completely different, believedSobhita. “They saw the world different-

ly. On one hand, Taralost her individualityand roots to the uppercrust, on the other Jazzmaintained her rootsand tried to make aspace for herself whilekeeping who she wasintact. Tara marriedmoney only to be laterbetrayed by it and lostherself amidst all theriches,” she said.

The show initiateda dialogue on how thesociety imposes restric-tions, blatantly ques-tions and judges people

who try to defy it. Arjun Mathur akaKaran Mehra said that the show is likea voice for all those who might not con-form to societal norms. “I had to play agay character, which I discovered later.However, after playing the part sointensely, I realised how difficult it is forhomosexuals to live a normal life inIndia. They have fought for establishingtheir identity. The show will help youunderstand those things which they

probably might never be able to explainto the society and their families,” saidArjun.

The show sets out to do more thanjust raise societal biases. It doesn’t cat-egorise women filmmakers under atypical set of films. The two directorspointed out that when women consist ofhalf of the population, why shouldn’t 50per cent of the stories belong to, be aboutand be created by them?

The mobile industry is cranking up its hypemachine for sleek new “5G” networks that

it says will make your phone and everything elsefaster and wonderful. If you believe the market-ing.

But no one can really say how 5G willchange your life; many of the apps and servicesthat will exploit its speed haven’t been createdyet. Look back at the last big wireless upgrade,though, and you can get a sense of how profoundthat change might be.

Apple launched the iPhone in 2007, and itquickly became obvious that the era’s 3G wire-less networks couldn’t handle millions of peo-ple uploading photos of their kid’s playdate toFacebook or obsessing over “Words withFriends.” Not to mention managing theirfinances, health care and shopping for every-thing from shoes to homes.

“When the smartphone came out, it broughtthe 3G network to its knees,” Stanford engineer-ing professor Andrea Goldsmith said. “The suc-cess of smartphones was because of 4G.”

4G speeds, the ones we’re used to today,made possible many of the things we now takefor granted on our phones — Instagram, cloudstorage, Netflix streaming. Or, for instance, thatride you got home from the bar.

Without 4G, there would be no Uber or Lyft,which need connections fast and strong enoughto call a driver on a moment’s notice, show cus-tomers where their driver is and give the com-panies the ability to track drivers in real-time.That’s not something 3G could handle.

Today, about 80 per cent of US adults havea smartphone, according to Pew ResearchCenter, while industry group GSMA says 60 per cent of the world’s five billion cellphonesusers do, too. Mobile video, including ones cre-ated by ordinary people, makes up 60 per centof all data traffic globally, according to telecom-equipment maker Ericsson.

“Video was near-impossible to use effective-ly on 3G,” said Dan Hays, a mobile networksexpert at consultancy PwC. “4G made mobilevideo a reality.”

Its influence has marked our world. Citizensfilmed protests, police violence and revolutionson their phones. TV and movies disconnectedfrom the living-room set and movie theater. Our

attention spans were whipsawed by constantpings and constant hot fresh “content.”

To watch Netflix in high-definition video,you need speed of at least five megabits per sec-ond; that’s where Verizon’s 4G network down-load speed range started in its early days.(Upload was and remains slower, a frustrationfor anyone who has ever tried to send a videofrom a crowd.)

Trying to stream a live video over Facebook,had this feature even existed in the 3G era,“wouldn’t have worked, or it would haveworked inconsistently, or only under the bestconditions,” said Nikki Palmer, head of productdevelopment for Verizon, the largest US mobilecarrier. “You would have got failures, youwould have got retries, you would have got theequivalent of stalling on the network.”

While 4G brought on a communications

revolution and spawned startups now worth bil-lions, even it wasn’t all it was hyped up to be.

See AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson inMarch 2011, talking about 4G and cloud com-puting in an attempt to win support for a pro-posed acquisition of rival T-Mobile: “Very soonwe expect every business process, we expectevery system in your home and in your car, everyappliance, all your entertainment content, yourwork, all of your personal data, everything isgoing to be wirelessly connected.”

Not quite yet. Smart homes are not main-stream, and wireless business processes are a lotof what’s exciting the wireless industry about 5G.

Hays remembers talking about the possibil-ities 4G would create for virtual and augment-ed reality. Those, of course, have yet to materi-alise. Just wait until the next G.

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After failingout of art

school and tak-ing a humdrumoffice job, aw h i m s i c a lpainter gets achance to fulfillher lifelongdream of adopt-ing a unicornwhen she receives a mysterious invitation to fulfill a childhooddream.

Starring Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Joan Cusack,Unicorn Store is set to release on Netflix on April 5.

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To earn money for college, a high schooler launches an appoffering his services as a fake date. But when real feelings

emerge, things get complicated.Directed by Chris Nelson, from a screenplay by Steve Bloom

and Randall Green, the comedy film stars Noah Centineo, LauraMarano, Camila Mendes, Odiseas Gerorgiadis and Matt Walsh.The film releases on Netflix on April 12.

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In the dark, early daysof a zombie apoca-

lypse, completestrangers band togeth-er to find the strengththey need to surviveand get back to theirloved ones. Set in the‘Z Nation’ universe,the series follows acrack team of specialforces as it fights forhope in the darkest hours of the apocalypse.

Created by Karl Schaefer, John Hyams, the series star JaimeKing, Justin Chu Cary, Christine Lee. Season one of the showreleases on Netflix on April 11.

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Recently, a newspaper clipping grabbed many eyeballs when anelderly woman started the ‘Sleep Service Centre’ for those whowere not able to get peaceful sleep. Through the initative, the

woman would talk to the person and sing a lullaby to him/her tomake them fall sleep like amother makes her childsleep. Result? The clientcomes out rejuvenated in justhalf an hour of sleep session.Isn’t it surprising and evensaddening that now we needa sleep therapist to make ussleep naturally and peaceful-ly? What kind of a society arewe living in? If animals andbirds can sleep well, whycan’t humans?

Sleep is the best form ofrelaxation and is close tomeditation. Those who sleepwell will always do well. If weget sound sleep during thenight, we get up fresh, feel-ing more active and ener-getic. However, in today’s world getting a sound sleep has becomea rare phenomenon. It’s because today millions of people suffer fromsleep disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome, nar-colepsy, etc. In fact, the count of those who get a broken, fitful sleepwould be surplus. Sadly, many of these individuals resort to sleep-ing pills and drugs which ultimately worsens the proble.

Recent extensive medical surveys reveal that nearly 75 per centof Americans were found with some kind of symptoms of sleep dis-order and they needed tranquilisers for a few nights per week. Sleepdisorders mostly result from anxiety and mental depression. Thisraises the question: ‘Where are we heading?’ The biggest causes ofsleeplessness is bad mental health. We must understand that to notbe able to have a sound sleep is not only in itself an unhealthy con-dition but it also causes or aggravates many other diseases.

For instance, sleep disturbance is one of the factors that leadsto coronary heart diseases. However, most of us would subcon-sciously agree that tranquilisers are not the solution. The med-ical profession also now recognises that these tranquilisers, onwhich people highly depend, have various side-effects. These drugsrepresent a purely symptomatic approach, ignoring the underly-ing problems which actually cause these conditions. A British med-ical journal had recently published a report about experiments thathave shown that sympathy can work well in cases of sleep disor-ders. It further said that in one trial, the doctors, instead of giv-ing tranquilisers, spent some time with the patients and talkedto them in an open space. They just had a brief chat with them,sympathising with them, and also gave them a few words of advice,explaining them why they had those conditions. There was noattempt at psychotherapy, but simply an attempt at being sympa-thetic. The results of these informal chats were astounding andthe assessment showed that, with this replacement of allopathyby sympathy, depression in those patients dropped from a levelof 80 per cent to 40 per cent and the additional benefits were thatthe patients suffered no side-effects. It indicated that mental depres-sion, anxiety, etc., are mainly due to certain lifestyles, behaviour-al patterns and personality traits. It was also felt that the patternof behaviour, designated as type ‘A’ which is characterised by com-petitiveness, impatience, etc., predisposes a person to coronarydiseases and hypertension. As a result, the doctors all over the worldare now increasingly advising such patients to practise medita-tion and to have proper diet pattern. It’s a medically-proven factthat ill mental health adversely affects one's eating habits, whichin turn, drastically influences our sleep and overall health.

A high intake of tea, coffee and colas also contributes to aninability to sleep. Under such a medical condition, proper med-itation technique can be of great help if practiced regularly. In thehustle bustle of living a modern life, we tend to forget that it isthe quality of life which matters the most and not the quantity.Hence, if we jeopardise our sleep for silly reasons, and knowing-ly undermine our health. It’s better to be wise for our own healthbenefits and make a habit to meditate everyday before going tobed to disengage the mind from unnecessary thoughts and havea sound and peaceful sleep.

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The widespread digitalisa-tion demands that every

business, irrespective of its sizeor type has a social mediastrategy in place. This new agemedia which includes socialmedia is centered aroundinteractions among people. Itfacilitates broadcast messagingthat is accessible to everyoneand can trigger a chain ofmore communication. Themessaging can be person-alised and updated keeping inmind the rapidly changingdynamics. Research conduct-ed confirms that today con-sumers spend at least an houron digital media out of whichsocial media sites such asFacebook, Instagram, Youtube

capture their maximum timeand attention. The informa-tion posted on these sitesaffect the users without themrealising, it shapes theirthoughts, attitudes, and behav-ior.

TAPPING THE POWER Why does social media

have such a profound andpowerful impact? Informationregarding a brand is posted bysocial media influencers. Wecan easily relate to these influ-encers, they are credible,attractive and yet normal anddown-to-earth people like usso relating to them comes nat-urally. Encouraging customers

to post their experiencesregarding services or productsof a brand on their Facebookpages can inspire more peopleto checkout the products.According to a recent survey,71 per cent of consumers whohave enjoyed the services of abrand are likely to recom-mend it to others on social

media. This survey confirmsthe vital role that social mediacan play in increasing brandengagement and winning newcustomers. This medium canbe used to generate leads; theinterested readers can beengaged to pass on the mes-sage to their connections; thiscan be done at many levels;thus adding more prospectivecustomers and multiplyingthe probability of convertingthem into lucrative deals bymanifold. Thus social mediaincreases the reach and pen-etration with minimuminvestment, what is required isan involved and creativeapproach. This is an extreme-ly effective marketing strate-gy with a frugal budget.

However, on similar lines,if something discouragingabout a service is publishedthen the chances that thereaders will think twice beforepurchasing the service orproduct increases.

Another survey by aNielsen and McKinsey sug-gests that around 60 per centof consumers who researchproducts online check forinformation about a brand ororganization on social net-working platforms. Mostsocial networking platformshave information on productreviews, customer feedbacks,product ratings and userinformation that play a role inshaping their decisions.Prospective customers preferthis approach as there is trans-parency and the informationis easily available.

WHAT CAN NEW ENTRE-PRENEURS DO?

They need to leverage thepotential of social media chan-nels. They can organise paidcampaigns on Facebook etc.Instagram is one of the biggestplatforms for influential mar-keting. Even the paid cam-paigns are cost-effective. Usingsocial media in your advertis-ing and branding strategy is amust and no more a choice.One of the common chal-lenges identified is regardingthe choice of the social mediaplatform that can yield thebest results. This can bedecided with research andthe kind of audience youwant to target. Posting theright messages at the rightsites can reach more net-works. Choosing relevantrole models whose valuesare aligned with the brandvalues will enhance theauthentic factor and havingtransparency regarding thebrand its product or serviceis what attracts millennials.Finally crafting a dynamic,engaging campaign, sparkingoff conversations, using inno-vative methods to make themessage viral can go a longway in establishing yourbrand.

A well thought throughstrategy to tap the power ofthe social media can prove tobe immensely beneficial, itcan decide the fate of thebrand i.e. make or break it.

(The author is a brandstrategist and a motivationalspeaker.)

One of the biggest ques-tions raised in the con-struction industry ishow rapid urbanisa-tion is changing the

face of mass housing in India. Thisalso raises the issue of the impor-tance and validity of sustainablesolutions and makes evident theneed for architects and planners tointegrate them within the policiesthat promote development. Wecannot lose out on an opportunityto create a better future for the com-ing generations — an issue ofprime concern today. It is crucialthat developers as well as architectsconsider sustainability right fromthe conceptual stage and maybeeven redesign their policies toaccommodate sustainability con-cerns within them.

If we consider some facts, 590million people live in Indian cities,which is twice the population ofUSA in the near future. Around 91million urban households will bemiddle class, which is 22 millionhigher than today. Sixty-eight citieswill have the population of one mil-lion plus which is 42 more thantoday, while Europe has 35.

This implies that 700-900 mil-lion square meters of commercialand residential space will need to bebuilt to accommodate these figures.This is another way of saying thisis that a new city the size ofChicago will have to be built everyyear. Studies from around the worldshow that denser cities actually pro-duce a lower demand for energy,indicating that India’s urbanisationhas the potential to help, rather thanhinder the efforts to cut carbonemissions. One of the reports fromMcKinsey & Company states thatIndia’s urban awakening is becauseof building inclusive cities, sustain-ing economic growth — 2030.

In India, in 2005, the totalland use in million square feet wasbelow 20,000; while at the currentrate of growth, the expected total

land use by 2030 is believed to be1,00,000 million square feet. Out ofthis, a major chunk, about 69,830million sq ft are going to be con-sumed for residential spaces asopposed to the 16,300 in 2005,demonstrating an increase of aboutfive per cent. The commercial sec-tor, which used about 2,900 millionsquare feet in 2005, is expected tosee an increase by almost eight percent, increasing their usage to20,000. The hospitality industry isexpected to see an increase ofalmost 10 per cent, thus changing730, the figure in 2005, to 7,909 in2030 and the retail industry toincrease from 930 million squarefeet to 6,428 million square feet, an

increase of about eight per cent.The key stakeholders in the

development process arebuilder/developer, architect/ con-sultant, local government authori-ties, buyer/end-user, and construc-tion labour and project manage-ment team. All of them have to con-sider the environment being affect-ed as beneficial to all.

In this aspect, the Noidaauthorities are encouraging sustain-able practice policies by providingfive per cent additional floor arearatio (FAR) for free, to achieve atleast Gold certified LEED rating orequivalent IGBC rating. In the lastsix months, layout plans of around20 buildings that have been

designed completely on the greenconcept have been approved by theAuthority.

The key features of green devel-opment are ● Energy Efficiency● Solar Passive Architecture● Sustainable Site Development● Efficient Water use● Waste management● Indoor Air quality● Effective use of material

resourcesBalancing these key elements

will help in social and physical well-being of all.

(The author is the director ofan architectural design and engi-

neering firm.)

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Kidambi Srikanth's hopesof ending a long titledrought came crashing

after going down in straightgames to former world cham-pion Viktor Axelsen in themen's singles final of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open, here onSunday.

Srikanth, a 2015 winner,blew away two game points inthe second game to lose 7-2120-22 to Axelsen in the summitclash.

It was the Indian's firstfinal in a BWF world tourevent in 17 months. He last wona title at the 2017 French Open.

"I haven't played anythingdifferently and so I lost. I should

have tried something different,"Srikanth said after the loss.

"I think I gave him toomany chances to attack in thefirst game and tried to avoid itin the second and it was okay tillthe 20th point. If I could havetaken it to the decider, I couldhave had my chances."

"I was slow to start with. Iwas able to control my lifts anddefend well but in the end hewas a little brave."

The final was a close affairin the beginning with Srikanthand Axelsen splitting the initial10 points but a series ofunforced errors from the Indianallowed the Danish player tomove ahead as he unleashed asmash to seal an 11-7 advantageat the break.

Srikanth failed to engage hisrival in rallies with Axelsen pun-ishing any weak return. TheIndian's backhand was particu-larly weak and he lost a lot ofpoints there. Axelsen eventual-ly took the opening game whenSrikanth went long.

After the change of sides,Srikanth conceded a 1-5 lead tohis opponent early on.The Indian took thenext three points butAxelsen was always astep ahead. WithSrikanth's lifts goinglong coupled withsome wrong line calls,Axelsen grabbed a 11-9 lead atthe break.

A fighting Srikanth, howev-er, clawed his way back to make

it 12-12 and led 14-13 afterAxelsen smashed wide.

Another smash helpedSrikanth grab two gamepoints. He lost bothwith a wide return andafter failing to connecta shot. A net dribble

gave Axelsen his firstmatch point and he sealed

it with a precise return.Thailand's Ratchanok

Intanon improved her head-to-head record against China's He

Bingjiao with a 21-15, 21-14win, completing a hattrick ofIndia Open crowns. Sheequalled Malaysian legend LeeChong Wei, who has also wonthree titles here.

Chinese top seed WangYilyu and Huang Dongpingnotched up a 21-13, 21-11 winover Indonesian fifth seedsPraveen Jordan and MelatiDaeva Oktavianti to claim themixed doubles crown.

Top seeded Indonesian pair

of Greysia Polii and ApriyaniRahayu secured their secondsuccessive title at the IndiaOpen with a 21-11, 25-23 winover Malaysian third seedsChow Mei Kuan and Lee MengYean in the women's doubles.

Chinese Taipei's Lee Yangand Wang Chi-Lin also claimedtheir maiden BWF World TourSuper 500 title with a 21-14, 21-14 win over Indonesian RickyKarandasuwardi and AnggaPratama in men's doubles.

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Chief Indian national coachPullela Gopichand believes

that the Olympic qualificationsystem in badminton is "unfair"and putting a "lot of strain" onthe players.

The Olympic qualificationperiod for the Tokyo Gamesstarts April 29 this year with theBadminton World Federation(BWF) considering the rankinglist, to be published on April 30,2020 to allocate spots andGopichand feels BWF needs tohave a relook at the qualificationsystem.

"I understand it is veryimportant that players earngood amount of money and theprize money goes up but it is alsounfair that the Olympic qualifi-cation should last a year long. Itis something which needs to belooked at," Gopichand said.

"I think if you win an AllEngland or a WorldChampionship or Asian orEuropean Championship, thereis a moment where you couldthink of direct qualification forthese five six slots atleast, some-

thing like an Olympic quota,rather than spreading it over ayear's time.

"It just makes a mad rush,travelling across the world. It ismaking things difficult for play-ers," he said.

The BWF revamped itsstructure in 2018, making itcompulsory for the world's top-15 players in the singles eventsand top-10 pairs in the doublesdisciplines to play a minimumof 12 out of 15 World Tour tour-naments or face a penalty.

The first three months of thenew BWF season has alreadyseen injuries to top players suchas three-time world championCarolina Marin, former worldNo 1 Korean Son Wan Ho andChina's fast-rising Gao Fangjie.

����� "6:�-6.;��

Indian shooters made a cleansweep of Gold medals in 10m

Air Rifle event to continue theirdominance at the 12th AsianAirgun Championships inTaoyuan, Taipei.

India have won 12 out of 14Gold medals so far and their over-all tally stand at 12 Gold, fourSilver and two Bronze medals.

On the fifth day of the com-petition, Divyansh Singh Panwarand Elavenil Valarivan bagged the10m Air Rifle men and women'sindividual Golds. They combinedwith respective teammates to wintwo Team Gold medals as well andensured a clean sweep.

Divyansh shot 249.7 to Kim's247.4 for Silver and Shin's 225.5for Bronze.

He shot 628.2 to top thequalification and lead two otherIndians -- Ravi Kumar (626.3) andDeepak Kumar (626.2) -- into theeight-man final.

In the final, Divyansh, the

least experienced internationalamong the three, led from the startto shut out the challenge from theKoreans.

The Indian trio clinched theteam Gold with a total of 1880.7to leave behind Korea with 1862.3.

In the women's final, Elavenilalso led from the front to shoot ascore of 250.5 and emerge tri-umphant.

Hosts Taipei's Lin Ying-Shinwon Silver with 250.2 while ParkSunmin of Korea bagged Bronzewith a score of 229.1.

The Indian women's team ofElavenil, Apurvi and Meghanaclaimed the top spot with a com-bined total of 1878.6. Taipei weresecond with 1872.5.

In the men's event, all threeIndians including ApurviChandela and Meghana Sajjanarhad also made it to the finals butfinished fourth with 207.8 andseventh with 143.3 respectively.

The competition concludeson Monday with the junior eventsin the 10m Air Rifle.

��� �����

Ashleigh Barty's transfor-mation is complete after

the Australian defeated Czechfifth seed Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7/1) 6-3 to win the biggestsingles title of her career at theWTA Miami Open.

The 22-year-old Aussiequit tennis five years agoafter finding the mental grindof the tour too much to bear,turning to professional crick-et in a bid to find sportinghappiness.

Barty, however, knew shehad the tennis skills to com-pete at the very top and afterreturning in February 2016,has taken her career to an elitelevel, culminating in her first-ever WTA PremierMandatory title to follow onfrom the US Open doublescrown she won lastSeptember.

Barty, a juniorWimbledon winner at age 15,will rise from 11th to numbernine in the world rankings

and become the firstAustralian woman sinceSam Stosur in June 2013 tocrack the top 10.

"It feels like it's a longtime ago now since I tookthe break and since I cameback," said Barty, who alsoreached the doubles semi-finals at the Hard RockStadium with VictoriaAzarenka.

"It's been a few years

now, but I certainly feel likeI'm a very different person.I feel like I'm a more com-plete player, I'm a betterplayer.

"I was an average crick-eter and I'm becoming abetter tennis player.

"I feel like when I playmy best, I'm good enoughto match it with the verybest in the world."

Barty hit 15 aces and 41winners compared to 22from an out-of-sortsPliskova.

Barty's victory meansthat for the first time everthere have been 14 differ-ent winners in 14 WTAevents so far this season.

Pliskova, who will riseto fourth in the rankingsdespite a disappointingfinal, badly struggled withher serve and movement,off the pace mentally andphysically after reachingthe quarter-finals or betterin her five prior tourna-ments this year.

�����.�"�

Rising teenage star MoiseKean stepped up in the

absence of Cristiano Ronaldo torescue a 1-0 win for Juventusagainst lowly Empoli as thechampions opened up an 15-point lead at the top of Serie A.

The 19-year-old — whoburst into the limelight duringItaly's opening Euro 2020 qual-ifiers — came on as a substitutein Turin and three minuteslater scored his third leaguegoal of the season after hisdouble against Udinese ear-lier this month.

"I am neither (Lionel)Messi nor Cristiano butone day I hope to become likethem," said Kean.

Juventus got back to win-ning ways after falling to theirfirst league defeat of the seasonto Genoa before the internation-al break.

While second-placedNapoli beat Roma 4-1 onSunday to close the gap to 15points with nine games remain-ing.

Ronaldo had been rested by

Juventus against Genoaand the Portuguese star isnow recovering from aright thigh injury picked

up on international duty.Argentina striker Paulo

Dybala also pulled up with athigh problem during the warm-up before Saturday's game.

But coach MassimilianoAllegri insisted he had wantedto ease the pressure on Kean byopting for Rodrigo Bentancur toreplace the Argentine.

Kean's form, with goals forItaly against Finland andLiechtenstein, gives Allegri more

options ahead of his side'sChampions League quarter-final against Ajax.

The youngster became thesecond youngest player afterMario Balotelli, aged 18 yearsand 242 days in 2009, to scoreeight Serie A goals.

"I'm ready to pursue newrecords," he warned.

"What the Mister (Allegri)says is right: I hope to becomelike the greatest players in theworld, through commitmentand hard work."

Juventus are withoutwingers Douglas Costa andJuan Cuadrado, with centre-back Andrea Barzagli also outinjured.

Kean replaced BlaiseMatuidi in the 68th minuteand had an immediate impact,latching onto Mandzukic'sknock-down.

Ten minutes later, theteenager was denied a second,with a desperate one-handedsave by Dragowski givingEmpoli hope.

The Tuscany side remainone point above the relegationzone.

��� ��-��-

Lionel Messi continued hisremarkable run of form as

his second-half double,including an impudent free-kick, helped Barcelona contin-ue their march towards the LaLiga title with a 2-0 winover Espanyol.

The visitors gavetheir city rivals a toughgame at the CampNou, but Messi'schipped free-kick overthe wall from 19 yardsand a late second kept thereigning champions 10 pointsclear of second-placed AtleticoMadrid, who thrashed Alaves4-0.

Messi has now nettedeight times in his last fourgames for Barca, and leads theway in the La Liga scoringcharts with 31 goals, 13 aheadof teammate Luis Suarez.

It was a fitting way for theArgentinian to mark his 675thBarcelona appearance, whichmoved him ahead of AndresIniesta into second on the

club's all-time list — 102 adriftof Xavi Hernandez.

Meanwhile Atletico atleast did not give up furtherground to Barcelona as DiegoCosta scored for the first timesince November in an impres-sive win at fifth-placed Alaves.

The Spanish interna-tional has struggled forform and fitness this sea-son, but grabbed his sec-ond league goal of thecampaign with a magnif-icent 11th-minute strikefrom the edge of the area,

six minutes after Saul Niguezhad put Atletico in front.

Costa was replaced byThomas Lemar at half-time,but the Frenchman sentAlvaro Morata through ongoal to put the game to bedjust before the hour mark.

The on-loan Chelseastriker has now scored fourgoals since joining DiegoSimeone's men in January.

Thomas Partey addedextra gloss to the scoreline lateon with a fine 20-yard strikeinto the top corner.

����� "6:�-6.;��

India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal says the badminton compe-tition at next year's Olympics will be tougher than the last three

Games and she is working on fitness and improving her gamein the run-up to the showpiece event in Tokyo.

Saina has been troubled by injuries of late. After her kneesurgery in 2016, she has been striving hard to return to her peakform.

"Yes, it (competition in 2020 Olympics) will be much tougher(than earlier three editions). The Chinese shuttlers are playingreally well. More than them, a lot of other girls are playing real-ly well. It is going to be very tough," Saina said.

"But as of now, I'm not thinking about Olympics or abouthow I will qualify for it. I am thinking more about doing wellin tournaments, improving my game and keeping myself injuryfree and fit," Saina added.

For India to send two shuttlers in Tokyo Olympicswomen's singles, both of them will have to be inside top 16 inthe world rankings which will be released after the end of qual-ification period, on April 30, 2020.

Tokyo Games will be her fourth Olympics, having repre-sented the country in 2008, 2012 and 2016. She reached the quar-terfinals in 2008, won a Bronze in 2012 and crashed out in groupstages in 2016 when she played with a knee inflammation.

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����� "6:�-6.;��

Former world championViktor Axelsen of

Denmark Sunday said he hasfinally put his ankle injurybehind him following thetitle win at the India Open.

After winning five titles,including the WorldChampionship and BWFSuper Series Finals in 2017,Axelsen had to undergo anankle surgery early last year,which forced him to miss theAll England Championships.

He recovered to win theIndonesia Open Super 1000but has struggled in the sec-ond half of the year.

The former world No 1,however, made a promisingstart this year with a title winat the Barcelona SpainMasters and a final appear-ance at the All England beforeclaiming the India Opencrown.

"Now I can say that I haveput the injury behind me,"Axelsen told reporters afterdefeating Kidambi Srikanthin straight games in the finalSunday.

"It has taken a lot of timeand Srikanth here knows how

an injury can take a toll andhow long it takes to comebackto normal fitness and level ofplay. So I am just happy theway I came back.

"It is great to win thetournament. I don't knowwhat to say. It is always aconfident booster, especial-ly after the All England final,it is nice to win here."

Srikanth too have bat-tled with ankle issues for thelast couple of years.

Axelsen and Srikanthhad a 4-3 head-to-headrecord before the finalmatch with the Indian get-ting the better of the Danishshutt ler at the 2017Denmark Open.

Asked about their on-court rivalry, Axelsen said:"Srikanth beat me inDenmark last time, so Ithought it was nice of him toallow me to win here inIndia. May be next time, it

should be like I win inDenmak and he wins inIndia and I will be coolwith that."

Talking about the sum-mit clash, Axelsen said: "Itwas easier to control in thefirst game and in the secondgame Srikanth stepped up.We were so close, and it issmall things which makesthe difference. So you neverknow what would have hap-pened if Srikanth had wonthe second game.

"You need a little bit ofluck. I had a lucky net chord.That's how sports is, it isfragile."

It was after 17 monthsthat Srikanth had reachedthe finals of a BWF WorldTour event and the Indiansaid he was satisfied with theway the week has pannedout for him.

"I'm just happy with myperformance in the lastweek. I just want to take itthe way it comes. I know Iwas trailing in most of thematches but somehow Iwanted this kind of momen-tum. I wanted these kind ofwins. I want to continue thisform now," he said.

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Jonny Bairstow and DavidWarner smashed sensationalcenturies to guide Sunrisers

Hyderabad to a comprehensive118-run win over strugglingRoyal Challengers Bangalore inan Indian Premier League matchat Rajiv Gandhi Stadium onSunday.

Englishman Bairstow struck114 from just 56 balls whileWarner carried his bat for a 55-ball 100 in a record 185-runfirst-wicket partnership to post amammoth 231 for two after beingput into bat.

Bairstow punished RCB with12 fours and seven sixes whileWarner hit five fours and asmany sixes in his 55-ball knock.

With a gigantic target toeclipse, RCB needed a rollickingstart but the visitors' chase nevergot going as they kept on losingwickets to be bundled out for 113in 19.5 overs.

It was RCB's third consecutiveloss in the tournament, whileSunrisers registered their secondwin out of three games this sea-son.

Playing his first IPL matchthis season, Afghan all-rounderMohammad Nabi did the earlydamage as he picked up threequick wickets — two in his sec-ond over — as RCB's slumped to22 for three by the end of thefourth over.

Nabi first accounted forParthiv Patel and then came backto remove Shimron Hetmyer anddangerous A B de Villiers in thefourth over.

To make matters worse forRCB, Sandeep Sharma then dis-missed skipper Virat Kohli in thefirst delivery of the seventh over.

As if that was not enough,Moeen Ali was run out in the verynext ball as RCB' chase fell by thewayside. At that stage the visitorsslumped to 30 for five in 6.2 overswhich soon became 35 for sixafter Shivam Dube’s departure.

From there on, it was almostan impossible task for RCB to getback into the game and Colin deGrandhomme (37) and 16-year-old Prayas Ray Barman (19), theyoungest player to make his IPLdebut, just did their bit to delaythe inevitable.

Nabi starred with the ball forSunrisers with figures of four for11, while Sandeep (3/19) too wasnot far behind, scalping threewickets.

Earlier, RCB captain Kohli'sdecision to put Sunrisers in back-fired as all his bowlers were takento cleaners by Bairstow andWarner who became the firstpair in IPL history to post threeconsecutive hundred-run stands.

Bairstow and Warner blud-geoned the bowlers, betteringthe earlier highest of 184 betweenKKR's Gautam Gambhir andChris Lynn in the 2017 edition

against Gujarat Lions.Sunday's innings was also

only the second time in IPL his-tory in which two batsmen scored

a hundred each.Bairstow was finally out in the

17th over off Yuzvendra Chahalas he went for yet another big shotbut only got the leading edge forUmesh Yadav to take a runningcatch. He reached to his hundredin 52 balls.

He was particularly harsh on16-year-old Ray Barman fromwhom he took 17 runs in the

ninth over and later smashed DeGrandhomme for 14 runs in the10th over. He also did not spareIndia pacer Umesh who he hit for16 runs in the 12th over.

Warner played second fiddleall this while and al lowedBairstow to take the initiative buthit fours and sixes in between.The Australian later swung hisarms to complete his hundred.

����� ;6""��

Negotiating largely disciplinedbowlers on a tricky pitch, skipper

MS Dhoni produced a well-calculat-ed half-century as Chennai SuperKings posted 175 for five againstRajasthan Royals in an IPL game, hereon Sunday.

The pitch used in the previousmatch was a rank turner but onSunday it turned to be a different chal-lenge for the batsmen since it was notconducive for stroke-play and helpedpacers initially.

Dhoni paced his innings beautiful-ly scoring unbeaten 75 off 46 balls toseize momentum from Royals bowlerswho were off to an inspiring start.

Dhoni and Suresh Raina (36)added 61 runs for the fourth wicket,pushing the ball around and later theformer India skipper raised a 56-runstand with West Indies' Dwayne Barvo,who added quick 27 runs.

The dew is already troubling thebowlers and it will be a challenge forthe home bowlers to control the ball.

Dhoni used his vast experience toread the conditions and mostly workedthe ball around to keep the scoreboardticking. Whenever he got chance heopened his arms and hit four fours andas many sixes.

Royals were disciplined through-

out but pacerer Jaydev Unadkat con-ceded 28 runs in the final over withDhoni finding three of his four sixesin that over after Ravindra Jadeja (8)lofted the paceman for a maximum.

The Royals pace trio of JofraArcher, Dhawal Kulkarni and BenStokes kept the CSK batsmen on atight leash in the powerplay overs.They conceded just 29 runs and alsogot rid of three top-order batsmen.

Each of them accounted for oneCSK batsman, bringing experiencedDhoni and Raina together at thecrease.

The runs came in singles withspinners Shreyas Gopal andKrishnappa Gowtham maintainingthe pressure with tight line andlength.

The ball stopped a bit, speciallywhen Gopal operated, making stroke-making even more difficult. At half-way mark, CSK out on board just 55runs and only seven boundaries werestruck.

Raina meanwhile hit a massive sixoff Gopal but the two spinners didwell to concede 37 runs while bowl-ing in tandem for five overs.

In came Unadkat and went for afew runs but broke the stand bycastling Raina with a quick delivery.Raina missed the line and Unadkat hitthe stumps.

����� "6:�-6.;��

India's young wicketkeeper-batsmanRishabh Pant was on Sunday caught

in the eye of a storm owing to an edit-ed stump microphone clip from an IPLgame which went viral on social mediabut was dismissed by the BCCI as "mis-construed".

The less-than-a-minute long clipwas from Saturday night's matchbetween Pant's Delhi Capitals andKolkata Knight Riders.

It shows Pant, from behind thestumps, saying that "yeh to chauka hai"(this is a boundary) as KKR's RobinUthappa took guard against SandeepLamichhane.

"No one heard what Rishabh saidbefore that particular sentence. He wasapparently telling (Delhi Capitals cap-tain) Shreyas Iyer to increase fielders onoff-side to stop an imminent four," a topBCCI official said.

The next delivery was pushedthrough the covers for a boundary andthe edited clip of Pant's purported pre-diction started doing the rounds fromunverified Twitter accounts, claiming tobe cricket fans.

What wasn't clear from the videoclip was the context of Pant's comment.

It has been learnt that Hotstar, whohold the digital (streaming rights)rights of the IPL, have complained tovarious social media platforms for ille-gal use of their footage and are gettingthe clippings removed.

The BCCI official said that it was"very unfortunate" that social media ranan incomplete clipping.

"Maligning a young cricketer with-out even knowing the details is so unfor-tunate. A section of media allowed thesocial media to insinuate and vilify ayoung talent without getting into details.This is so disgusting," said the official.

����� �>;�.�

With Kagiso Rabada's yorkerbeing the talk of the town,

it will be interesting to see how theDelhi Capitals pacer counters thehard-hitting Kings XI Punjabbatsmen when the two teamsclash in an IPL match at PCA sta-dium on Monday.

Rabada helped the Capitalsdefend the lowest total (10) in aSuper Over in IPL history afterthe scores were tied at 185 in theallotted 20 overs each.

Focus will now be on how theSouth African paceman wouldfare against the likes of ChrisGayle, Lokesh Rahul, MayankAgarwal and David Miller.

Both sides are riding high onconfidence having won theirrespective matches on Saturday. Infact, both the teams' openingbatsmen were the architect oftheir victory.

While Delhi's Prithvi Shaw(55-ball 99) almost took the teamhome against Kolkata KnightRiders, Rahul (57-ball 71) finishedthe job for Punjab againstMumbai Indians.

Playing on home turf, Rahul,who had failed in his first twomatches, played a controlledinnings while Gayle (40) andMayank Agarwal (43) alsochipped in with crucial runs tohelp Punjab comfortably chasedown the 177-run target, set byMumbai.

Gayle was his usual self andbatted in the manner only he canas 36 of his 40-run knock came inboundaries and sixes.

Rahul has the ability to steadythe innings and play sheetanchor's role and Gayle can punc-ture opposition camp's plans tocontrol the run flow, somethingthat Delhi would be worriedabout.

Punjab's bowling is spear-

headed by Mohammed Shamiand with other key players suchas Andrew Tye and HardusViljoen in their ranks, it may notbe easy for the visiting batsmen.

Moreover, RavichandranAshwin-led KXIP would alsohave the advantage of playing athome and they will look to exploitfamiliar conditions once again.

Delhi though will be desper-ate to get the momentum goingafter winning a close game.

Chasing 186 to win againstKKR, Delhi were set up nicely by

Shaw but they failed score six runsfrom the last over, taking thematch to Super Over.

However, Rabada's sensation-al yorkers in all six balls restrict-ed KKR to just seven runs whilechasing 11.

Delhi will be hoping not to letthat advantage slip.

Besides Shaw, Delhi also havethe likes of Rishabh Pant, whoplayed a superb knock of 78 to pileup a mammoth 213 againstMumbai Indians in the first match,Shikhar Dhawan, captain ShreyasIyer and Colin Ingram. Theywould expect their batsmen comeout all guns blazing against Punjabon Sunday.

The bowling departmentcomprising Kiwi speedster TrentBolt, Ishant Sharma and Axar Patelbesides Rabada, is also capable ofcausing damage to the opposition.

Delhi would be hoping to putup an all-round performanceagainst Punjab, who have shownthey are not an easy side to beat.

����� "6:�-6.;�

Slow balls and bouncerswere "gamble balls"

while a length ball wouldhave been dispatched eas-ily by big-hitting AndreRussell, so it was best tofall back on 'yorkers',explained Kagiso Rabadaafter leading DelhiCapitals to Super Overwin over KKR.

With just 18 runsrequired from 18 ballsand later six from thefinal over, Rabada thoughtthe game was done anddusted and he was sittingin his shorts, chatting withteammate ShikharDhawan.

However, the Capitalscould not score those sixruns with a batsman likeHanuma Vihari playingaerial shots and getting

caught when just two wereneeded off two.

Entrusted with the jobto defend just 10 runs in

the Super Over, Rabadawas pretty confident thatbowling yorkers was thebest option.

"I thought, what dowe bowl here? We couldbowl bouncers. We couldbowl slower balls. But it'srisky. It's gamble balls. Iwasn't really feeling (like)them on the day. Onanother day, I could havefelt (like bowling) them.But today I felt (like bowl-ing) the yorker," said theSouth African paceman atthe post match press con-ference.

And it worked as hehit the base of the middlestump to dismiss danger-ous Russell.

"At the start of my runup I was thinking, 'do I golength', because AndreRussell is going to hit any-thing that's full. So I still

second guessed myself,which is not a very goodthing. You don't want torun in having two thingsin your mind. But again, Ibacked the yorker."

Rabada cited exampleof bowling greats whorelied on yorkers to sub-due batsmen.

"If you see, some ofthe bowlers like (Curtly)Ambrose, (Wasim)Akram, Waqar Younis(they) used the yorker asa wicket-taking deliveryand surprised batsmenwith it. The batsmen knewit was coming, but could-n't do much about it.Those players as also thelikes of Lasith Malingaand Jasprit Bumrah arenatural with the yorkers.But you can also developit with practice," heexplained.

����� "6:�-6.;��

Former India captain and DelhiCapitals advisor Sourav

Ganguly termed Kagiso Rabada'smatch-winning yorker to KKR'sAndre Russell as the "Ball of theIPL".

With just 11 to get for a SuperOver win, but Rabada, thoughunder pressure, produced a fastinswinging yorker that castled theJamaican.

"Kagiso Rabada's Super Overand the ball that he bowled toAndre Russell is probably going tobe the ball of the IPL. To bowl thatkind of a delivery to Andre Russell,who is probably in the form of hislife, is unbelievable," Ganguly told

IPLT20.Com.Rabada defended 10 runs in

the Super Over to steer DelhiCapitals to a thrilling win and theformer KKR captain termed thevictory against his erstwhile fran-chise is as "special" as Delhi team

has gone through prolonged roughpatch over the years.

"This team needed this win.They did not have a great seasonlast year. It's a young team. Thesesorts of wins change the confi-dence. It is still a long season, butthis win is more than just a win,"Ganguly said.

He felt sorry for Prithvi Shaw,who fell just one short of his hun-dred in Saturday's IPL encounter,but insisted that the youngsterwould get many centuries acrossformats in days to come.

"Unfortunately, he got out on99 and you feel sorry for him. Ithink he will get a lot more 100s inIPL and in all formats of thegame," Ganguly said.

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Royal Challengers Bangalorecaptain Virat Kohli termed

Sunday's 118-run defeat againstSunrisers Hyderabad as one oftheir "worst losses ever" in theIndian Premier League.

"One of our worst lossesever. Literally nothing I canexplain. Nothing went right for usfrom ball one until our last wick-et fell in the second innings. Wewere outplayed in all departmentsby a quality side. They showedthat they are a champion side -they were finalists last time andbeat us in the final (in 2016)," adejected Kohli said after thematch.

Kohli credited Bairstow andWarner for taking the game awayfrom his side with their explosive

opening partnership."Credit to them (Warner and

Bairstow). We could have tried afew different things, like takingpace off the ball. But once thoseguys got in, they just kept going.You need a few things to go yourway, and a few catches fell inbetween fielders. They wereworld class today and theydeserve to be on the winningside," he said.

Sunrisers' stand-in captainBhuvneshwar Kumar lauded hisbowling unit, especially the per-formance of Afghan MohammadNabi, who picked up 4/11 in hisfirst outing this season.

"It shows how good a spinnerhe is (Nabi). He was spot on fromthe first ball. It was a good battingtrack in the second innings butour bowling was brilliant," he said.

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