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T he Samajwadi Party is like- ly to line up an interesting challenge for the BJP by field- ing “Bihari Babu” Shatrughan Sinha’s wife Poonam Sinha against Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, a prestigious Lok Sabha seat also held by party’s patriarch late AB Vajpayee in the past. This came on a day BJP brought in Nishad Party to the NDA fold in Uttar Pradesh where it faces a tough faceoff with the SP-BSP-RLD alliance. Praveen Nishad, the MP from Gorakhpur and the giant killer of the last bypoll in UP, who joined the BJP on Thursday, seemed to be an important catch for the party. BJP also announced an alliance in Rajasthan with the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party headed by MLA and former BJP leader Hanuman Beniwal, a jat leader. Poonam Sinha, one time actress and former ‘Miss India’ will be contesting against Union Home Minister Rajnath in what promises to be an interesting contest. Poonam, a Sindhi, may garner support of around 1.30 lakh Sindhi com- munity members in UP’s Capital city, besides the minor- ity vote. The Congress has, as of now, not announced any can- didate for Lucknow con- stituency. In case of the Congress opting out of the contest, Poonam could give a tough challenge to Rajnath. According to sources, Poonam’s candidature could be the reason for delaying her husband’s entry in the Congress. Shatrughan will now be joining the Congress on April 6. Rajnath had won the Lucknow seat in 2014 with 55.7 per cent of the total 10,06,483 votes polled. Rita Bahuguna Joshi, then a Congress MLA and former Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chair- person, was the runner-up in by securing 2,88,357 votes. Meanwhile, besides Praveen Nishad, former Congress MP from Telangana Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu joined the BJP on Thursday. Senior BJP leader and Union Minister JP Nadda said both the leaders wield consid- erable influence in their regions, and that they had joined the party due to their faith in the policies of the Modi Government. Rapolu was associated with the Telangana movement and had quit the Congress last month. Nishad, whose father Sanjay Nishad is the head of the Nishad Party, had emerged victorious in the Gorakhpur bypoll last year, after the SP and the BSP joined hands to take on the BJP. He had then contest- ed on a SP ticket. The BJP which has not yet announced its candidate for Gorakhpur, the political turf of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, may nominate Nishad from Gorakhpur. Hours after Nishad joined the BJP, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav termed it as a “ghaatey ka sauda” (loss-making deal) for the saffron party and also alleged that money changed hands. In an attempt to consoli- date its votes in Rajasthan, the BJP announced an alliance with the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party headed by MLA and for- mer BJP leader Hanuman Beniwal on one seat in the State. Beniwal will contest Lok Sabha polls on Nagaur seat as RLP candidate, BJP’s poll incharge and Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said. He said the RLP will be a part of the NDA. Jat leader Beniwal had floated his own party RLP ahead of the 2018 Rajasthan Assembly elections and the party won three seats, includ- ing one by Beniwal. B reaking his silence after five long years, BJP patri- arch LK Advani on Thursday penned a blog saying the essence of Indian democracy is respect for diversity and free- dom of expression and that the BJP never regarded those who disagree with the party politi- cally as its “enemies” and “anti- nationals.” While the blog remains focused on highlighting the BJP core commitment and Advani’s personal journey, the BJP vet- eran has tried to show mirror to many of the party leaders who have been quick to tag as “anti-national” anyone who opposed the BJP’s idea of nationalism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded Advani’s write-up and said, “Advani ji perfectly sums up the true essence of BJP, most notably the guiding mantra of ‘Nation first, party next, self last’. Proud to be a BJP karyakarta and proud that great leaders like LK Advani ji have strengthened (it).” The blog shows red-flag to loose cannons within the party who indulge in vitriolic criti- cism of rivals, making it sound as they were not political oppo- nents but sworn enemies. Sharing his views ahead of the BJP Foundation Day on April 6, Advani said, “As one of the founders of the BJP, I deem it to be my duty to share my reflections with the people of India, and more specifically with the millions of workers of my party, both of whom have indebted me with their affec- tion and respect.” “The essence of Indian democracy is respect for diver- sity and freedom of expression. Right from its inception, the BJP has never regarded those who disagree with us political- ly as our ‘enemies’, but only as our adversaries,” he said. “Similarly, in our concep- tion of Indian nationalism, we have never regarded those who disagree with us politically as ‘anti-national’. The party has been committed to freedom of choice of every citizen at per- sonal as well as political level,” Advani said. The BJP founder leader expressed his “sincere gratitude to the people of Gandhinagar”, who have elected him to the Lok Sabha six times since 1991. “Their love and support has always overwhelmed me,” Advani said. He recalled his old days saying serving the mother- land has been his passion and his mission ever since he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the age of 14. “My political life has been inseparably associated with my party for nearly seven decades, first with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and later with the Bharatiya Janata Party and I have been a founding member of both. It has been my rare privilege to work closely with stalwarts like Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and many other great, inspiring and self-less leaders,” he said. In the beginning of his blog, the BJP veteran said the guiding principle of his life has been “Nation first, party next, self last.” A fresh round of talks has started between the Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to discuss the seat sharing formula for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national Capital. A senior Congress leader said the possibility of an alliance is still alive and talks are going on. The speculation of tie-up started on Wednesday evening after AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh met All India Congress Committee (AICC) incharge of Delhi PC Chacko. According to sources in the Congress, the ruling party offered to give two seats to the Congress, which is demanding three seats — New Delhi, Chandni Chowk and North East Delhi. “Both leaders discussed the seat-sharing formula and AAP offered two seats to the Congress. The Congress was determined to contest on three seats if the AAP is ready for an alliance,” he said, adding that there are many leaders in the Delhi Congress who favour alliance with the AAP. However, a final call in this regard will be taken by party president Rahul Gandhi in next few days, the leader added. Meanwhile, Delhi Congress president Sheila Dikshit, at a party programme, gave a cryptic reply showing her reservation against alliance with the AAP. “Rest assured we will remain as we are,” Sheila said when asked about the possi- bility of the Congress’ alliance with the AAP. The rationale behind alliance between is that togeth- er they polled more votes than the BJP which swept the 2014 Lok Sabha elections winning all the seven seats in Delhi. New Delhi: The biopic on the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not hit the theatres this Friday (April 5) as sched- uled. The release of Omung Kumar’s PM Narendra Modi has been postponed to April 12, trade sources said on Thursday. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a fresh petition seeking to defer the release of the film on April 8. The Vivek Oberoi-starrer film ran into controversies after the Congress and other Opposition parties approached the Election Commission alleging that the release of the film during the election period amounted to violation of the model code of conduct, that kicked in on March 12. The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections kickstarts on April 11. The Opposition raised objections to the release of PM Narendra Modi on April 5, a week before the elections. F our Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed and two others injured on Thursday in an ambush by Maoists in Chhattisgarh’s insur- gency-hit Kanker district. The incident comes a week before the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in the State on April 11. A joint team of BSF’s 114th battalion and the district force of police were out on an “area domination” operation around noon in a dense forest near Mahla village when they were attacked, said Deputy Inspector General of Police (anti-Naxal op) Sundarraj P. The deceased were identi- fied as Assistant Sub-Inspector Bipul Borah from Assam, con- stables Silam Ramkrishna from Andhra Pradesh, Ishrar Khan from Jharkhand, and Tumeshwar from Dongargaon. BSF’s Assistant Commandant Gopu Kumar and Inspector Gopal Rang sus- tained injuries in the exchange of fire. A s many as 882 Muslim candidates had contested either as an Independent or on the ticket of political parties in 2014 and only 23 managed to win. As per data, they managed to get vote share of 10.69 per cent. In 2009, 819 Muslim can- didates contested and only 28 won their seats. In most cases, Muslim can- didates lost because of division of votes since the “so-called sec- ular” parties have a tendency to field Muslim candidates from these seats, much to advantage of the BJP. Despite the fact, there are 145 Lok Sabha seats in the country where Muslims account for 20 per cent of the overall vote share on each seat. There are 46 seats where Muslims have a vote share of 30 per cent and above. There are 35 seats in which out of every 3 votes is a Muslim vote. Uttar Pradesh has maxi- mum 28 such constituencies, West Bengal has 20, Jammu & Kashmir has five, Kerala has six, Assam and Bihar has four each and Andhra Pradesh has two. The Lakshadweep seat is yet another Muslim-majority constituency. According to Census 2001, Muslims in India comprise 13.4 per cent of the total pop- ulation. Based on this the ideal number of MPs in Lok Sabha should be 73. In the 2014 elec- tions, the BJP came to power without a single elected Muslim MP - in any case it had fielded only seven Muslims (5 in J&K and Bengal alone) out of a total of 482 candidates. The total Muslim representation in Parliament fell to 4 per cent, the lowest since 1957. U nion Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Sudarshan Bhagat, who has remained a two-time MP for Lohardaga, today filed his nomination with much pomp and show in Gumla. Bhagat, who is the first BJP candidate to file nomination in the State on the third day after notification was issued- for fourth phase of polls, was accom- panied by Chief Minister Raghubar Das, State BJP president Laxman Gilua and State election incharge Mangal Pandey on the occasion. A huge crowd of supporters and party workers followed the leader in Gumla, where more than 1000 BJP workers took part in the procession. Bhagat filed his nomination before District Election Officer cum Deputy Commissioner, Shashi Ranjan. Earlier in the morning the Union Minister went to his village located at Dumri Block in Gumla district and took blessings of his mother for victory in the polls. He also reached Tanginath Dham (A religious place) and worshiped Lord Shiva. Rajya Sabha MP Sameer Oraon, MLA Shivshankar Oraon, former MLA Kamlesh Oraon, BJYM president Misha Kuzur alongwith several leaders were present on the occasion. After filing his nomination Bhagat alongwith the CM addressed a huge gathering of party supporters in Gumla. Addressing the gathering CM Raghubar Das said that the BJP will secure inter- est of tribal people in the country. He said that the government at the Centre was in safe hands that are paving way for development in the country. The CM also attacked the Congress party on the occasion alleging that the party has been encouraging corrupt practices in the country. Das, on the occasion, said that if voted to power in the Centre and State the government will implement ‘Sarna Code’ by the year 2021 when census will begin. The CM said that the BJP only believes in politics of development and has changed the face of the State in last five years. Now, naxalism has almost vanished from the State and the people have been given all basic amenities like education, health, roads and electrici- ty, he added. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Bhagat won the polls with 2,26,666 votes but his winning margin of votes was the least in the State. Congress nominee Rameshwar Oroan has secured second positio. However this time Congress has fielded Lohardaga MLA Sukhdev Bhagat, who is said to have strong fol- lowing among the minority communi- ties. Lohardaga Lok Sabha constituency comprises five Assembly seats – Mandar, Sisai, Gumla, Bishanpur and Lohardaga. Right now, two assembly seats are manned by the leaders of grand alliance and three seats by BJP MLAs.

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The Samajwadi Party is like-ly to line up an interesting

challenge for the BJP by field-ing “Bihari Babu” ShatrughanSinha’s wife Poonam Sinhaagainst Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh from Lucknow,a prestigious Lok Sabha seatalso held by party’s patriarchlate AB Vajpayee in the past.

This came on a day BJPbrought in Nishad Party to theNDA fold in Uttar Pradeshwhere it faces a tough faceoffwith the SP-BSP-RLD alliance.

Praveen Nishad, the MPfrom Gorakhpur and the giantkiller of the last bypoll in UP,who joined the BJP onThursday, seemed to be animportant catch for the party.BJP also announced an alliancein Rajasthan with the RashtriyaLoktantrik Party headed byMLA and former BJP leaderHanuman Beniwal, a jat leader.

Poonam Sinha, one timeactress and former ‘Miss India’will be contesting againstUnion Home Minister Rajnathin what promises to be aninteresting contest. Poonam, aSindhi, may garner support ofaround 1.30 lakh Sindhi com-munity members in UP’sCapital city, besides the minor-ity vote.

The Congress has, as ofnow, not announced any can-didate for Lucknow con-stituency. In case of theCongress opting out of thecontest, Poonam could give atough challenge to Rajnath.According to sources,

Poonam’s candidature couldbe the reason for delaying herhusband’s entry in theCongress. Shatrughan will nowbe joining the Congress onApril 6.

Rajnath had won theLucknow seat in 2014 with 55.7per cent of the total 10,06,483votes polled. Rita Bahuguna

Joshi, then a Congress MLAand former Uttar PradeshCongress Committee chair-person, was the runner-up inby securing 2,88,357 votes.

Meanwhile, besidesPraveen Nishad, formerCongress MP from TelanganaAnanda Bhaskar Rapolu joinedthe BJP on Thursday.

Senior BJP leader andUnion Minister JP Nadda saidboth the leaders wield consid-erable influence in theirregions, and that they hadjoined the party due to theirfaith in the policies of theModi Government.

Rapolu was associated withthe Telangana movement andhad quit the Congress lastmonth.

Nishad, whose fatherSanjay Nishad is the head of theNishad Party, had emergedvictorious in the Gorakhpurbypoll last year, after the SP andthe BSP joined hands to take onthe BJP. He had then contest-ed on a SP ticket.

The BJP which has not yetannounced its candidate forGorakhpur, the political turf ofUttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath, may nominateNishad from Gorakhpur.

Hours after Nishad joined

the BJP, SP chief AkhileshYadav termed it as a “ghaateyka sauda” (loss-making deal)for the saffron party and alsoalleged that money changedhands.

In an attempt to consoli-date its votes in Rajasthan, theBJP announced an alliancewith the Rashtriya LoktantrikParty headed by MLA and for-mer BJP leader HanumanBeniwal on one seat in theState.

Beniwal will contest LokSabha polls on Nagaur seat asRLP candidate, BJP’s pollincharge and Union HRDMinister Prakash Javadekarsaid. He said the RLP will be apart of the NDA.

Jat leader Beniwal hadfloated his own party RLPahead of the 2018 RajasthanAssembly elections and theparty won three seats, includ-ing one by Beniwal.

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Breaking his silence afterfive long years, BJP patri-

arch LK Advani on Thursdaypenned a blog saying theessence of Indian democracy isrespect for diversity and free-dom of expression and that theBJP never regarded those whodisagree with the party politi-cally as its “enemies” and “anti-nationals.”

While the blog remainsfocused on highlighting the BJPcore commitment and Advani’spersonal journey, the BJP vet-eran has tried to show mirrorto many of the party leaderswho have been quick to tag as“anti-national” anyone whoopposed the BJP’s idea ofnationalism.

Prime Minister NarendraModi lauded Advani’s write-upand said, “Advani ji perfectlysums up the true essence of BJP,most notably the guidingmantra of ‘Nation first, partynext, self last’. Proud to be a BJPkaryakarta and proud thatgreat leaders like LK Advani jihave strengthened (it).”

The blog shows red-flag toloose cannons within the partywho indulge in vitriolic criti-cism of rivals, making it soundas they were not political oppo-nents but sworn enemies.

Sharing his views ahead ofthe BJP Foundation Day onApril 6, Advani said, “As one ofthe founders of the BJP, I deemit to be my duty to share myreflections with the people ofIndia, and more specificallywith the millions of workers ofmy party, both of whom have

indebted me with their affec-tion and respect.”

“The essence of Indiandemocracy is respect for diver-sity and freedom of expression.Right from its inception, theBJP has never regarded thosewho disagree with us political-ly as our ‘enemies’, but only asour adversaries,” he said.

“Similarly, in our concep-tion of Indian nationalism, wehave never regarded those whodisagree with us politically as‘anti-national’. The party hasbeen committed to freedom ofchoice of every citizen at per-sonal as well as political level,”Advani said.

The BJP founder leaderexpressed his “sincere gratitude

to the people of Gandhinagar”,who have elected him to theLok Sabha six times since 1991.

“Their love and supporthas always overwhelmed me,”Advani said.

He recalled his old dayssaying serving the mother-land has been his passion andhis mission ever since hejoined the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) atthe age of 14.

“My political life has beeninseparably associated withmy party for nearly sevendecades, f irst with theBharatiya Jana Sangh and laterwith the Bharatiya Janata Partyand I have been a foundingmember of both. It has beenmy rare privilege to workclosely with stalwarts likePandit Deendayal Upadhyaya,Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee andmany other great, inspiringand self-less leaders,” he said.

In the beginning of hisblog, the BJP veteran said theguiding principle of his life hasbeen “Nation first, party next,self last.”

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Afresh round of talks hasstarted between the

Congress and the ruling AamAadmi Party (AAP) to discussthe seat sharing formula for theseven Lok Sabha seats in thenational Capital.

A senior Congress leadersaid the possibility of analliance is still alive and talksare going on. The speculationof tie-up started on Wednesdayevening after AAP’s RajyaSabha member Sanjay Singhmet All India CongressCommittee (AICC) incharge ofDelhi PC Chacko. According tosources in the Congress, theruling party offered to give twoseats to the Congress, which isdemanding three seats — NewDelhi, Chandni Chowk andNorth East Delhi.

“Both leaders discussedthe seat-sharing formula andAAP offered two seats to the

Congress. The Congress wasdetermined to contest on threeseats if the AAP is ready for analliance,” he said, adding thatthere are many leaders in theDelhi Congress who favouralliance with the AAP.

However, a final call in thisregard will be taken by partypresident Rahul Gandhi innext few days, the leader added.

Meanwhile, DelhiCongress president SheilaDikshit, at a party programme,gave a cryptic reply showingher reservation against alliancewith the AAP.

“Rest assured we willremain as we are,” Sheila saidwhen asked about the possi-bility of the Congress’ alliancewith the AAP.

The rationale behindalliance between is that togeth-er they polled more votes thanthe BJP which swept the 2014Lok Sabha elections winning allthe seven seats in Delhi.

New Delhi: The biopic on thelife of Prime Minister NarendraModi will not hit the theatresthis Friday (April 5) as sched-uled. The release of OmungKumar’s PM Narendra Modihas been postponed to April 12,trade sources said on Thursday.

The Supreme Court hasagreed to hear a fresh petitionseeking to defer the release ofthe film on April 8.

The Vivek Oberoi-starrerfilm ran into controversiesafter the Congress and otherOpposition partiesapproached the ElectionCommission alleging that therelease of the film during theelection period amounted toviolation of the model code ofconduct, that kicked in onMarch 12.

The first phase of the LokSabha elections kickstarts onApril 11.

The Opposition raisedobjections to the release of PMNarendra Modi on April 5, aweek before the elections.

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Four Border Security Force(BSF) personnel were killed

and two others injured onThursday in an ambush byMaoists in Chhattisgarh’s insur-gency-hit Kanker district.

The incident comes a weekbefore the first phase of LokSabha elections in the State onApril 11.

A joint team of BSF’s 114thbattalion and the district forceof police were out on an “areadomination” operation aroundnoon in a dense forest nearMahla village when they wereattacked, said Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police (anti-Naxalop) Sundarraj P.

The deceased were identi-fied as Assistant Sub-InspectorBipul Borah from Assam, con-stables Silam Ramkrishna fromAndhra Pradesh, Ishrar Khanfrom Jharkhand, andTumeshwar from Dongargaon.

BSF’s AssistantCommandant Gopu Kumarand Inspector Gopal Rang sus-tained injuries in the exchangeof fire.

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As many as 882 Muslimcandidates had contested

either as an Independent or onthe ticket of political parties in2014 and only 23 managed towin. As per data, they managedto get vote share of 10.69 percent. In 2009, 819 Muslim can-didates contested and only 28won their seats.

In most cases, Muslim can-didates lost because of divisionof votes since the “so-called sec-ular” parties have a tendency tofield Muslim candidates fromthese seats, much to advantageof the BJP.

Despite the fact, there are145 Lok Sabha seats in thecountry where Muslimsaccount for 20 per cent of theoverall vote share on each seat.There are 46 seats whereMuslims have a vote share of 30per cent and above. There are35 seats in which out of every

3 votes is a Muslim vote.Uttar Pradesh has maxi-

mum 28 such constituencies,West Bengal has 20, Jammu &Kashmir has five, Kerala hassix, Assam and Bihar has foureach and Andhra Pradesh hastwo.

The Lakshadweep seat isyet another Muslim-majorityconstituency.

According to Census 2001,Muslims in India comprise

13.4 per cent of the total pop-ulation. Based on this the idealnumber of MPs in Lok Sabhashould be 73. In the 2014 elec-tions, the BJP came to powerwithout a single elected MuslimMP - in any case it had fieldedonly seven Muslims (5 in J&Kand Bengal alone) out of a totalof 482 candidates. The totalMuslim representation inParliament fell to 4 per cent, thelowest since 1957.

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Union Minister of State for TribalAffairs Sudarshan Bhagat, who

has remained a two-time MP forLohardaga, today filed his nominationwith much pomp and show in Gumla.Bhagat, who is the first BJP candidateto file nomination in the State on thethird day after notification was issued-for fourth phase of polls, was accom-panied by Chief Minister Raghubar Das,State BJP president Laxman Gilua andState election incharge Mangal Pandeyon the occasion.

A huge crowd of supporters andparty workers followed the leader inGumla, where more than 1000 BJPworkers took part in the procession.Bhagat filed his nomination beforeDistrict Election Officer cum DeputyCommissioner, Shashi Ranjan.

Earlier in the morning the UnionMinister went to his village located atDumri Block in Gumla district and tookblessings of his mother for victory in thepolls. He also reached Tanginath Dham(A religious place) and worshiped LordShiva. Rajya Sabha MP Sameer Oraon,MLA Shivshankar Oraon, former MLAKamlesh Oraon, BJYM president MishaKuzur alongwith several leaders werepresent on the occasion.

After filing his nomination Bhagatalongwith the CM addressed a hugegathering of party supporters in Gumla.Addressing the gathering CM RaghubarDas said that the BJP will secure inter-est of tribal people in the country. Hesaid that the government at the Centrewas in safe hands that are paving wayfor development in the country. TheCM also attacked the Congress party onthe occasion alleging that the party has

been encouraging corrupt practices inthe country.

Das, on the occasion, said that ifvoted to power in the Centre and Statethe government will implement ‘SarnaCode’ by the year 2021 when census willbegin. The CM said that the BJP onlybelieves in politics of development andhas changed the face of the State in lastfive years. Now, naxalism has almostvanished from the State and the peoplehave been given all basic amenities likeeducation, health, roads and electrici-ty, he added.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections,Bhagat won the polls with 2,26,666 votesbut his winning margin of votes was theleast in the State. Congress nomineeRameshwar Oroan has secured secondpositio. However this time Congress hasfielded Lohardaga MLA SukhdevBhagat, who is said to have strong fol-lowing among the minority communi-ties.

Lohardaga Lok Sabha constituencycomprises five Assembly seats –Mandar, Sisai, Gumla, Bishanpur andLohardaga.

Right now, two assembly seats aremanned by the leaders of grand allianceand three seats by BJP MLAs.

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In view of the Lok Sabha pollswhich is slated to take place

here on May 12, the EastSinghbhum district adminis-tration has decided to set upover two dozen helipads in var-ious places. According to infor-mation in all 32 helipads, sev-eral of them having night land-ing facility will be set up, most-ly in Ghatshila sub-division ofthe district.

East Singhbhum deputycommissioner, Amit Kumarsaid that the helipads will be setup as a part of election securi-ty exercise in the JamshedpurLok Sabha constituency. Thefocus will be on the remoteareas bordering Bengal on oneside and Odisha on the other.

"In order to ensure move-ment of forces during a periodof emergency and some ofthem will be having night land-ing facility, the helipads will beset up. At some of the pollingbooths the polling officers andpoll materials will be carried inthe choppers," said Kumar.

As the election campaignpicks up momentum, theDirectorate General of CivilAviation ( DGCA) has alsocome out with new air safetyrules governing the safety andairworthiness regulations fornon-scheduled flight opera-tions such as those pertainingto helicopters and small air-craft.

An official said that sincehelicopters are bound to landat temporary helipads, the dis-trict administration shouldensure the helipad surface doesnot have loose soil and thatminimal markings are given for

the helicopter. Details of theduty times of pilots flying thechoppers and aircraft have tobe submitted with the DGCAto avoid pilot fatigue. Everyoperator on election campaignwill need to appoint a personto manage flights and the per-son will be held accountable forensuring compliance.

The Returning Officer saidthat the administration is goingto set up 32 helipads for an has-sle free poll in the JamshedpurLok Sabha constituency."Wehave identified 16 spots for set-ting up helipads for enablingthe political parties for publicmeeting in the remote areas.The helipads will have to bemade by the political partieswho will need to organise ameeting at the remote areas,"the deputy commissionerpointed out.

Kumar, when queried, saidthat whenever any senior polit-ical leader to hold meeting atany remote area, the districtadministration has make secu-rity arrangement for leaderwell in advance.

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GIRIDIH: A school student ofDewari in Giridih,missingsince the small hours ofTuesday, was found dead in astone mine at Chikanadih nearher home on Wednesdaymorning, prompting familymembers to cry murderalthough police suspect drown-ing.

The body of ManishaKumari (14), a resident ofChikanadih village underDewari thana and student oflocal middle school, was spot-ted in the mine's lane around10 am and fished out by policetwo hours later. The teenagerhad injury marks on the leftside of his temple and bloodhad caked near his left ear andnostrils.

Police have sent the bodyto Giridih sadar hospital forpost-mortem.

According to family mem-bers, Manisha had received acall at an unearthly hour onTuesday and left home. He did

not return, triggering a searchthroughout the day and a ver-bal complaint at Dewari thanaon Wednesday morning ,saidher mother Shanti Devi.

Sources said her aunt res-ident of same village, was thefirst to see the floating bodyand inform police. A teamretrieved the body around11am and soon it was identifiedas that of Manisha's. She wasdressed casually.

Her left slipper was still onhis feet while the other wasfloating nearby.

"The teenager drowned inthe lake. There is no other anglewe believe. We are sending thebody for post-mortem for aproper report," Officer inCharge Mr Upadhaya said,conceding that it was not clearwhy the student might havehad a sudden death wish or theneed to go near the mines atsuch an hour. "We have toprobe the circumstances thatled to the drowning." PNS

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Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) is looking forward to

woo tribal voters by declaringChampai Soren as the candi-date for JamshedpurParliamentary con-stituency. The 63-year-old sittingSeraikela MLAChampai Soren issaid to close toJMM supremoShibu Soren andparty decided tryits luck on him.

Jam s h e dpu rcomprises 25.01per cent ST voters(over 4 lakh) whichare more thanMahtos (kurmi voters) nearly5.17 per cent (over 84,000).Jugsalai and Bahragora assem-bly constituencies have thelargest concentration of Kurmivotes. The party wants to cashon the tribal sentiments.

“Champai Da has been amass leader since the statehoodmovement and has a strongbase amongst tribal acrossKolhan. We are confident thathe will woo the voters in hisfavour,” said a member of thecentral executive committeeof JMM. He added that JMMhas in the last few years hasmanaged to polarize tribal vot-ers. The party has been raisingissues of domicile and landacquisition policies of the stategovernment. This will help tomobilize voters.

District president RamdasSoren said that the state gov-ernment has failed to take mea-sures for safeguarding the inter-est of the tribals settled on for-est land immediately. A large

number of landless tribals havebeen given ‘Ban Patta’ and dueto the anti-tribal attitude of theBJP-led Raghubar Das govern-ment. The party will raise theseissues.

Astik Mahto, a close asso-

ciate of slain JMM leaderNirmal Mahto was consideredideal for the Jamshedpur can-didate, based on the logic to splitKurmi (Mahto) voters and cre-ate a dent in the BJP candidateBidyut Baran Mahto vote bank.

“Babu Da (nick name ofAstik Mahto) was a forerunnerfor the seat as he has a goodhold amongst Kurmi voters inrural pockets.

However, later it wasbelieved that fielding a leaderwho had been with Ajsu (hejoined JMM again in September2018) would have sent a wrongmessage amongst tribal andwith Champai Da throwinghis hat in the ring, decisionschanged swiftly in a matter oftwo-days,” said the source.

Champai, popularly calledKolhan Tiger, is known for hisfirebrand politics and, the onewho is credited for ensuringmass employment in severalindustries in the belt ofSeraikela Kharswan district.

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Afsha Khan, an MBASecond Semester student

of ICFAI University, was select-ed by NABARD for StudentInternship Scheme for 2019-20,after going through a rigorousprocess of selection.

Out of a number of appli-cations received from acrossJharkhand, two students were selected by the evaluationcommittee of NABRAD andAfsha Khan was one amongthem.

Afsha will work on a pro-ject on “Impact of implemen-tation of E-Shakti Project byNABARD in Ramgarh andHazaribagh districts ofJharkhand” , under the guid-ance of her faculty at theUniversity and mentor atNABARD.

The E-Shakti projectinvolves digitization of Self-Help Groups (SHG’s) so as to

enhance credit outreach ofbanks and enable online mon-itoring of SHGs.

The assignment involvesfield visits, data collection andanalysis , besides interaction

with Banks, Govt Agencies ,NGOs, FPOs, RuralCommunities etc.

The project assignment isa for a duration of 8 weeks anda stipend of Rs 14,000 ispayable per month, besidesallowances for travel and fieldvisits.

Congratulating AfshaKhan on her selection, ProfORS Rao, Vice-Chancellor ofthe University said, “Such pro-jects help in enhancing thehands-on skills of our stu-dents so that they are job-readyby the time, they completegraduation. Besides, they willhelp the Society andGovernment Agencies, inunderstanding and addressingissues in implementation ofSocial Projects”.

Elated at the selection,Afsha said, “I am highly oblig-ed to ICFAI University and theentire faculty team for provid-ing me this platform”.

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To liberate the environmentfrom e-waste, new rules

will be implemented soon inthe country.

The initiative has beenalready taken to make theenvironment free from e-waste,said Dr VK Saraswat, Member,NITI Aayog.

He was speaking at CentralInstitute of Mining and FuelResearch (CIMFR), Dhanbadon Wednesday.

“Under this rule, one canbe returned the old, used andwaste electronic goods to theirrespective showrooms and hewill get some refund againstthat. A trail (of return suchgoods) has been started atBengaluru,” added Saraswat.All electronic goods manufac-turers must have to erect an e-waste disposal plant and theyhave to destroy that afterremoving the valuable parts, hesaid.

He urged the manufactur-ers and users, not to spared e-waste and makes others aware

of this. Though manufacturers

have been mandated to createawareness in the country, hesaid.

The Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology, MeitY, has initi-ated an E-waste Awarenessprogramme under Digital India initiatives, along with industry associa-tions, to create awarenessamong the public about thehazards of e-waste recycling bythe unorganised sector, and toeducate them about alternatemethods of disposing of theire-waste.

The programme stressesthe need for adopting envi-ronmentally friendly e-wasterecycling practices.

The general public is alsoencouraged to participate in‘Swachh Digital Bharat’, bygiving their e-waste to autho-rised recyclers only.

E-waste is one among themost dangerous kinds ofwaste — for it contains heavymetals and other toxic chem-

icals — remains insidious,said an expert.

It (e-waste) is growing ata compound annual growth rate (CAGR)of about 30 percent in thecountry.

According to theAssocham estimated report,e-waste generation was 1.8million metric tonnes (MT)per annum in 2016 andwould reach 5.2 million met-ric tonnes per annum by2020.

Unless we have effectiveimplementation of the rule,the country would end upcreating many such informalprocessing hubs such as thosein Moradabad andSeelampur, where soil, waterand air are polluted to abeyond-repairable level, saidthe expert.

Strict implementation ofthe rule, creating adequateawareness, training for req-uisite skill sets and providingaffordable technology to theinformal sector could be agame-changer, he said.

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Bokaro: Another case of cyber-crime reported in Bokaro andthis time the victim is a youngman.

N Pandit a resident ofSector 12 A, B S City wasallegedly cheated, Rs 1,19,500was fraudulently withdrawnfrom his bank account after hiswife made the mistake ofreceiving the new bank’s ATMcard in a tempered envelop bypost.

Pandit lodged a caseagainst two fraudsters, AbhijitKumar a bank account holderof SBI Hinoo Branch Ranchiand DilMukherjeejee anotherbank account holder of SBINamkum Branch.

According to the FIR, twowithdrawal of Rs 20 thousandand 19,500 were made from anATM machine near Ranchirailway station from Pandit’saccount and later the fraudstershad made online transfer of Rs80 thousand to another bankaccounts.

A case has been registeredand we are investigating intothe matter, he said. PNS

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The Urban Developmentand Housing department of

State and has decided duringreview meeting on Thursdaythat the width of roads nearRanchi airport will be widenedand it is possible that it willchange from two lanes to threelane road at entry point andexit point. Width of remainingroads will be used as footpathand other utility duct. SecretaryUD and HD Ajoy Kumar Singhchaired the meeting.

Singh said that during con-struction of smart roads in theState capital minimum num-bers of tress should be cut andif there is alternative for notcutting of trees then it shouldbe use. It was also decided thatwhere there is chance of treeplantation then it should be

done to make the city green, headded. While giving instruc-tion on construction of busstands, Singh said that the busstand should construct on var-ious spots of the smart city andthat bus stop should constructon the brink of the road on thedistance of one to two kilo

meters will be made on thecentre of the road.

Other than this construc-tion companies were instruct-ed to bring 3D model of roadsin next meeting because ifthere is need to amend themodel then the department canwork upon it.

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On the third day of filingnominations for Lok Sabha

elections under the fourthphase in Lohardaga, Chatraand Palamu 18 nominationforms were bought by candi-dates, while only one nomina-tion has been filed by BJP can-didate Sudarshan Bhagat inLohardaga. Till date 45 nomi-nation forms have been sold inthe three constituencies.

According to the ChiefElectoral Officer’s office,Jharkhand, apart from onenomination filing, Congresscandidate from LohardagaSukhdeo Bhagat, JharkhandParty’s Devkumar Dhan and an

independent candidate boughtnomination papers today. Atotal of eight candidates havebought nominations for

Lohardaga in last three days.However, for Chatra and

Palamu constituencies no nom-ination has been filed till date.

Eight aspirants have boughtnomination forms for Chatraseat, while 20 persons havebought papers for Palamu seat.

Nominations can be filed tillApril 9 for the three seats.

Meanwhile, a communiquéfrom the State’s Chief ElectoralOffice today stated that politi-cal parties will have to bear theexpenses on inviting star cam-paigners but in case a candidateshares dais with the star orexhibits his photo or posterwith his name, the money spenton his accommodation, foodand vehicles will be included inhis account of the candidates, asper the Election Commission ofIndia (ECI) directive.

Registered political partiescan have 40 star campaigners,while other political partiescan have maximum 20 starcampaigners. Additional ChiefElectoral Officer, Vinay KumarChoubey said, “The politicalparties will have to inform listof star campaigners to return-ing officer, district electoralofficer and expense observeralong with they have update the

list in their website too.”Choubey also said if a can-

didate shares the dais with starcampaigner than expenses ofstar campaigner will added inthe account of candidates.

Also, if there are morethan one candidate sharingthe dais with the star cam-paigners than the expenses ofwill be equally divided amongthe candidates.

Moreover, as per ECI direc-tive if any star campaigner isaccompanied by his associ-ates, security guards, medicalexpert, party member whodoes not belong to the con-stituency, media person accom-panying the star campaignerthan the expenses will beincluded in the account ofpolitical parties.

Also, if star campaignertravels with candidate, then 50per cent of the travel expenseswill be apportioned to theexpenditure of candidate.

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The State BJP is planning totake stern action against

rebel leaders giving anti-partyremarks. Many State BJP lead-ers including sitting BJP MPfrom Ranchi, Ram TahalChaudhary and formerDhanbad MP, Reeta Vermahave been making remarksagainst party leadership.

Recently, Chaudhary a fivetime BJP MP from Ranchi, hadsaid that he had lost the faithof BJP and is planning to con-test the election independent-ly from Ranchi. Chaudhary,addressing a public meeting atIchagarh had said, “The BJPwill never get an alternative forme in Ranchi. Even if the BJPsearches my alternative acrossthe globe they will remainunsuccessful.”

The BJP sitting MPclaimed that the Centre andState leadership had decided todeny him ticket as he has beenraising public issues.

Chaudhary for past fewmonths has been protestingagainst state governmentschool merger plan, raisingthe issue of para teachers andmore importantly raisingdemand for defining the statedomicile policy.

The para teachers of Statefor past few months have beendemanding the governmentfor regularization of their ser-vice on the lines at other States.Last year December, these parateachers sat on hunger strike inState capital in support of theirdemand.

Chaudhary become morevocal against his governmentafter there were reports thatBJP would deny ticket to 77–year old Chaudhary.

The BJP had earlier statedthat they would not give tick-ets to party MP who havecrossed 75 years of age.

The BJP following the pol-icy had even denied tickets toBJP patriarch and three timeBJP national president LKAdvani from Gandhinagar.

In State the party had

denied ticket to eight timeMP from Khunti ,KariyaMunda.

The BJP has also decidedto take action against formerDhanbad MP Reeta Vermawho had represented theDhanbad as BJP for four timescontinuously from 1991 to1999.

However, in 2004 she lostto Congress ChandrashekharDubey a.k.a Dadai Dubey.Later in 2009 and 2014 theparty denied ticket to her.

The party this time toodenied ticket to her and decid-ing to retain its sitting MP PNSingh. Verma after beingdenied ticket had givenremarks against State BJP lead-ership and even against PNSingh.

A senior BJP leaderrequesting anonymity said,“The party will take actionagainst these leaders after partycomes out with final list of can-didates from State.”

The BJP leader said disci-plinary action amounting tosuspension from party for sixyears will be taken againstsuch leaders.

Meanwhile, another sulk-ing BJP leader and Giridih sit-ting MP, Ravindra Pandey whotoo has been denied ticketthis time on Wednesday visit-ed BJP office in the eveningand met State BJP in-chargeMangal Pandey.

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With the ElectionCommission of India

assuring more facilities forpersons with disability (PWD)at the polling booths during theupcoming Lok Sabha elections,it is expected that more differ-ently-abled persons would stepout to cast their vote this time.

Arun Kumar Singh, presi-dent of Lakshya for DifferentlyAbled, a social organizationsaid, “We are thankful for theElection Commission to give ussuch facilities for the first time.I have spoken to many suchpersons with disability whonever went to vote due to theproblems they used to face andthis time they are all willing togo to the booth.”

Among the various facili-ties being provided to the dif-ferently abled persons are pro-viding vehicles to take them upfrom their homes to pollingcentres, proper temporary

ramps at every booth, votersslip in Braille and others.

A PWD mobile applicationhas also been launched by theelection commission where thedifferently abled persons canget themselves registered.Anand Kumar, mobilityimpaired person said, “Theapp seems to be useful as wecan register on it beforehand tolet the administration knowour requirements like a vehicleor attendant if needed. This willhelp us reach the booth andcast our vote easily.”

The Election Commissionhas also announced that thedifferently abled persons wouldnot have to wait in queue forcasting the vote as the boothlevel officers will allow them tocast their vote on a prioritybasis.

Singh said that many of thedifferently abled voters neverused to vote, including himself,due to the various hassles theyhad to face at the booth.

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In an attempt to expand itsbase West Bengal (WB) Chief

Minister Mamta Bannerjee ledAll India Trinamul Congress onThursday said that it will con-test from 10 seats in The Stateout of total 14 seats. The partyhas announced candidates fromJamshedpur seat and Lohardagaseat as Anjana Mahto andDinesh Oraon respectively.

Addressing a press meet atthe party headquarter in Ranchithe party’s State In-charge andWest Bengal Labour Minister,Moloy Ghatak said that this isnot first time, the party hadcontested in general election of2014 on various seats of theState also and the party hadreceived a large numbers ofvotes. “This time the party hasdecided that it will contest on10 parliamentary seats includ-ing, Ranchi, Khunti, Lohardaga,Jamshedpur, Koderma, Giridih,Dhanbad, Chaibasa, Rajmahaland Dumka,” he added.

“The party hasreceived manyapplications fromthe rest of fourseats but the partywill decide that itwill contest or noton these seats. Theparty will show itsstrength throughthe general elec-tions in the State,”said Ghatak.

Speaking onwhat will be theparty’s main issuesin the electionsGhatak said thatthe party will raiseits voice both onlocal and national issues in theState.

“As Forest, Land and Wateris main issue of the State alongwith various issues like cultur-al issues, farmer’s issues andmining issues. After 18 to 19year of formation of the State ithas not developed as it shouldhave. Jharkhand is one of the

major mineral rich State of thecountry. Till now not a StateGovernment has been workedfor the development of theState,” he added.

Criticising the StateGovernment Ghatak said, “It isclear that the people of the Stateare not getting their rightsproperly.

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Cleanliness of Sarna Sthalsstarted at war footing on

Thursday to ensure that thetribal worship places arecleaned up before the grandSarhul festival, which is to becelebrated on April 8.

Deputy Mayor SanjivVijayavarigya had directed theofficers of Ranchi MunicipalCorporation (RMC) to ensurethat every Sarna Sthal iscleaned up within the next twodays.

“Over 200 labourers havealready been deployed to cleanthe worship places and thework has also commenced.We are targeting that theseplaces are cleaned not once butat least twice in the next fourdays so that there is not scopeof complain,” Vijayavargiyasaid.

The labourers involved in

the cleanliness work are not justthe regular labourers of RMCbut also daily wage labourersand the labourers workingunderthe private companyEssel Infra, which has been

looking after the cleanlinesswork at 33 of the total 53 wardsof RMC.

The special direction wasgiven by the deputy mayor afterhe received several complaints

regarding neglect of these SarnaSthal by RMC workers.

“We will ensure that we donot get such a complaint againand the festival is celebratedsmoothly,” he said.

To ensure that the work isbeing done, Vijayavargiya hasalso directed the zonal officersof RMC to keep sharing livework updates with him alongwith GPS tagging.

“This way we can makesure that not a single place isleft out. Also, we have request-ed people to let us know if theyfeel that the work is not beingdone properly so that imme-diate action can be takenagainst the responsible person,”he said.

The tribal population haspraised the steps taken by theRMC to ensure timely cleaningof the Sarna Sthals. “Had theynot done it we would havecleaned it ourselves. However,

now that the work is beingdone I do not think extra workwill be required on our end.Though, it would have beenbetter if the cleanliness startedearlier,” said Bablu Munda, aresident of Hatma.

Meanwhile, the work ofcleanliness in the city hasbecome challenging for RMCas the private agency, EsselInfra, which was outsourcedthe work has not been per-forming as per expectations.There was a plan to terminatethe contract with the agencyand rope in new people for thework but it has been put onhold due to election announce-ment.

“Now nothing can be donetill the model code of conductis lifted. The company is doingthe work but it is still not sat-isfactory and proper actionwill be taken after elections,”deputy mayor said.

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Ranchi: The State BJP in itseffort to make electoral victoryin Ranchi is banking on itsmunicipal councillors. TheRanchi Municipal Corporation(RMC), deputy mayor, SanjeevVijayvargiya in this connectionon Thursday convened a meet-ing of municipal councilors,who are directly or indirectlyassociated with the party. TheRanchi Municipal Corporation(RMC) election is held withoutparty line basis, but the BJP hasestimates that out of 53 munic-ipal councillors in RMC, 24 aredirectly or indirectly associatedwith BJP.

Vijayvargiya said, “In themeeting directives were issued tomunicipal councillors to cam-paign in support of BJP candi-date for parliamentary seats. Wehave prepared the strategy underwhich municipal councilors sup-porting BJP to work in theirmunicipal limits.” Instructionshave been issued to municipalcouncillors to carry out door todoor campaign highlighting thevarious developmental workscarried out by the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

The Deputy Mayor alsosaid, “Apart from carrying outcampaigning in their municipallimits, the municipal councilorshave been given the task toensure that every householdfalling under their municipallimits are enrolled in voter list sothat during the poll day they donot face any type of inconve-nience.”

The councillors will alsolook the campaigning whichincludes distribution of partyflags, stickers and pamphlets toBJP supporters. Vijayvargiyawho is also member of BJP orga-nization committee will super-vise the task assigned to coun-cilors.

Sources said that BJP hasdecided to take the services ofcouncilors as Ranchi parlia-mentary seats is largely urbanconstituency. Out of six assem-bly segments falling underRanchi, four assembly con-stituency—Ranchi, Hatia, Kankeand Khijri fall under RMC. PNS

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Duracell, the leading con-sumer battery company,

has launched an alkaline bat-tery guaranteed to last oneyear in remote controls.

Duracell Chhota Power isinspired by a deep dive analy-sis of how and where Indiansmostly use batteries every day.

Duracell Chhota Power’sunique formula has been opti-mised for common devices inIndian households, includingremotes, such as the one for theSet-Top Box. Duracell ChhotaPower batteries are available formillions of Indian families – forjust 17 Rupees a battery.

Batteries will see thoseremotes lasting longer thanthose fitted with zinc carbonbatteries, making it a better andmore valuable choice for Indianconsumers.

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AICC spokespersonPriyanka Chaturvedi

slammed Prime MinisterNarendra Modi here onThursday, highlighting vari-ous ‘failures’ of the BJPGovernment at the Centre dur-ing the last five years.

“Demonetisation was adisastrous policy brought bythe Finance Minister on theadvice of the Prime Minister. Itaffected small businessesseverely. By their clumsy GST,the country’s economy has suf-fered severely,” Chaturvedi saidin reaction to the PrimeMinister’s “hypocrisy docu-ment’ remark on her party’smanifesto.

“If a person (Modi), whofailed in implementing hispromises of creating 33 reser-vation for women and twocrore jobs for youth per annum,

calls the Congress manifesto asDhakosla Patra (sham mani-festo), I can’t help but laugh athim as a visionless PrimeMinister,” said Chaturvedi.

Releasing Congress mani-festo in the State, Chaturveditermed it as the best manifestothat the country has ever got.

“Rs 72,000 guaranteed cashwill be provided to five crorepoorest families in the countryand 22 lakh Government jobswill be created by March 2020,if Congress is voted to power.A separate budget will be madefor farmers to ensure that nofarmer commits suicide even ifhe/she fails to repay loan,”Chaturvedi said.

She said six per cent of theGDP would be spent for devel-opment in education sectorand 33 per cent reservationwould be made for women inParliament and StateAssemblies.

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Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supre-mo and Chief Minister

Naveen Patnaik finallyannounced the name ofMeenakshi Mahanta onThursday as the party’s candi-date for the ChampuaAssembly constituency inKeonjhar district.

Champua was the seat forthe third-phase elections inthe State for which the BJDdeclared its nominee on the lastdate for filing of nominationpapers for this phase.

Meenakshi Mahanta is aprotégé of sitting ChampuaIndependent MLA SantatanMahakud, who has refrained

from contesting polls this time.Meenakshi is wife of

Bhakta Mahanta, a close con-fidant of Sanatan Mahakud.She was the State president ofthe Jana Samruddhi Party float-ed and later disbanded byMahakud.

Mahakud told the mediathat it was on his suggestionthat the BJD has fielded itsKeonjhar Lok Sabha candidateChandrami Murmu andChampua Assembly nomineeMeenakshi Mahanta. He stayedaway from contesting polls dueto health reasons, he added.

BHUBANESWAR: A day aftera team of BJP leaders heldprotest near the Naveen Niwashere demanding acceptance ofthe resignation of Dr BudhanMurmu, the party’s candidatefor the Saraskana AssemblyConstituency in Mayurbhanjdistrict, the State Governmentaccepted the resignation letteron Thursday.

A notification in thisregard was issued by the HealthDepartment.

“Murmu, who is currentlyworking as medical officer atPrimary Health Centre (PHC),Bhaluki under Rangamatia

Community Health Centre(CHC) in Mayurbhanj district,has submitted his resignationfrom Government services tocontest in the ensuing generalelections. After careful consid-eration, the Government hasaccepted his resignation witheffective from April 4, 2019,”the notification read.

Earlier on the day, a BJPdelegation had also met theChief Secretary and the HealthSecretary pressing the demandto accept Murmu’s resigna-tion. Murmu had applied forvoluntary retirement onOctober 4, 2018. PNS

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Historian Anil Dhir hasurged the Director General

of the Archaeological Survey ofIndia to intervene and notallow a book reading andrelease session by authorWilliam Dalrymple at theMukteswar Temple on theevening of Friday (April 5).

He stated that uncontrolledcrowds at such event, which isorganised by the OdishaTourism, will imperil and put torisk a valued heritage structure.

“The Mukteswar temple,being a protected monument ofthe ASI, cannot be used for sucha jamboree. The event is to pro-mote and publicise his latestbook ‘Nine Lives’ which is pub-lished by Bloomsbury. It is apurely private affair with com-mercial interests, allowing thisto be held at the premises of aprotected monument is irra-tional. Has the ASI given per-mission for use of the premis-es for such an event and if so,is it not against all norms?” saidDhir in a letter.

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The Bharatiya Janata Partyon Thursday hit back at

four-time former ChandigarhMP and Congress candidatePawan Kumar Bansal foralleging that nothing has beenachieved during the five-yearterm of sitting BJP MP KirronKher.

Chandigarh BJP chiefSanjay Tandon termedBansal's statement irrationaland and said Bansal is notable to digest developmentworks executed in the city.

The BJP addressed sev-eral issues Bansal never both-ered to take notice of when herepresented the constituency

as an MP, Tondon said.A day before, Bansal, who

is Congress’ candidate forChandigarh Lok Sabha seatgave a negative review of MKirron Kher’s work as a par-liamentarian, saying her termhas been a totally disap-pointing experience for peo-ple of the city.

Listing out BJP's achieve-ments, Tandon said a flyoverproject was sanctioned toease the flow of traffic in thecity, the upper age limit ingovernment jobs in group Cand D categories was raisedfrom 25 to 37 years and thenumber of MBBS seats ingovernment medical collegeand hospital in sector 32 was

raised from 50 to 100. A salary hike for home

guards was effected, Centre'snod for changes in housingscheme for UT employees was granted and12.5 acres land was allotted tothe PGIMR (Post Graduate Inst itute of Medical Education &Research) for setting up atrauma centre, Tandon fur-ther said.

Chandigarh was selectedunder the smart city project,he added.

“The fact of the matter ishe (Bansal) is raising fabri-cated issues. He is makingsuch statements to save hisimage,” claimed Tandon.

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Having received the nodfrom the Government for

manufacturing six submarinesin India earlier this year, theDefence Ministry has startedthe process of issuing expres-sion of interest or global tenderexpected to be floated in thenext four to five weeks. Thetotal cost of the project isabout �50,000 crore and thesubmarines will be built asper the Strategic Partnershipmodel.

The model entails anIndian shipyard in private orpublic sector forging a jointventure with the foreign orig-inal equipment manufacturer(OEM) and then constructingthe six conventional diesel-electric submarines known andProject-75 I(P-75I) in India.The Government had clearedthe project in January this year.

Giving this informationabout the process of firming upthe tender, sources said here onWednesday the submarineswill be fitted with anti-shipcruise missiles and other lethalweapons. The tender or expres-sion of interest will be issued toleading manufacturers ofadvanced submarines in fourweeks, adding the defence min-istry has started the process forselecting both the Indian andforeign defence entities.

They also said an empow-

ered committee appointed inJanuary to implement the megaproject has already held con-sultations with short-listedIndian defence majors includ-ing Adani Defence, Larsen andToubro and state-run MazagonDock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL)as part of the process to iden-tify the domestic partner. Thedefence ministry has alreadydrafted an Expression ofInterest for the procurement,and it has been shared withprospective contenders, theysaid.

The project will be imple-mented under the strategicpartnership model which pro-vides for joint ventures betweenIndian private and public firmswith foreign manufacturers.The tender for six submarines

is a follow on order of theScorpene submarines project.Six such submarines are nowunder construction withFrench collaboration at thepublic sector Mazagon DockLimited, Mumbai.

The follow-on orderknown as P-75I is the secondproject to be implementedunder the strategic partnershipmodel. The first project to getgovernment’s nod for imple-mentation under the newmodel was acquisition of 111utility helicopters for the Navyat a cost of over �21,000 crore.

Sources said constructionof six submarines under Project75 (I) will provide a majorboost to the existing submarinedesign and manufacturing eco-system in India.

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The BJP has topped the chartof political advertisers on

Google with an advertisementspent share of around 32 percent, while its rival Congress isranked sixth with a meagre 0.14per cent share. Political partiesand their affiliates have spent�3.76 crore on 831 advertise-ments since February 19 ongoogle platform.

Narendra Modi-led BJPhas spent around �1.2 crore inadvertising since February 2019across 554 advertisements, fol-lowed by Yuvajana SramikaRythu (YSR) Congress Partythat spent around �1.04 croreacross 107 advertisements.Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi-ledCongress occupied the sixthspot with an ad spend of�54,100 on 14 advertisements.Pammi Sai Charan Reddy,

another advertiser which spent�26,400 on 43 ads to promoteYSR Congress Party candi-dates, emerged seventh on thelist.

According to the searchengine giant’s IndianTransparency Report releasedon Thursday, the BJP emergedas the top advertiser with a totaladvertisement expense of �1.21crore for 554 ads, whichaccounted for 32 per cent of thetotal ad expenditure on Google.BJP has been running a com-bination of video, print anddigital ads around its ongoingcampaigns such as “Main BhiChowkidar”. Meanwhile,Congress has been highlightingthe promises made by its PMcandidate Rahul Gandhithrough multiple digital adver-tisements. The Congressranked a distant sixth with anexpenditure of �54,100 on 14

ads, accounting for a meagre0.14 per cent share.

Pramanya StrategyConsulting Private Limitedand Digital Consulting PvtLtd, which promotes the TeluguDesham Party (TDP) and itschief Chandrababu Naidu,ranked third and fourth on the

list respectively. PramanyaStrategy advertisement expen-diture stood at �85.25 lakh for53 ads, while that of DigitalConsulting was �63.43 lakh for36 ads.

The highest amount onelection advertisements of�1.73 crore was reported from

Andhra Pradesh, followed byTelangana where parties spentover �72 lakh, Uttar Pradeshover �18 lakh and Maharashtraover �17 lakh.

According to Google, ithas also blocked the advertise-ment of four of 11 politicaladvertiser due to the violation

of its ad policy. In the run-up to the elec-

tions, Google has been active-ly working to bring trans-parency in political advertisingon its platforms. It enforced itselection ads policy for India on20 February 2019.

The policy requires adver-tisers running election adver-tisements in India to provide apre-certificate issued by theElection Commission (EC), oranyone authorised by the ECI,for each ad they wish to run.

Further, Google said it ver-

ifies the identity of advertisersbefore their election ads run onits platforms.

It is making ‘paid for’ dis-closures across its ads plat-forms. For most ad formats, thecompany said it automaticallygenerates a “Paid for by” dis-closure, using the informationprovided during this verifica-tion process. The disclosuredisplays the organisation nameor individual name to userswho see the ad.

“Our goal is to providegreater transparency in politi-

cal advertising on Google,YouTube, and partner proper-ties.

This report includes infor-mation about Lok Sabha elec-tion ads that feature or are runby a political party, a politicalcandidate, or a current mem-ber of the Lok Sabha,” it said.Google made the politicaladvertising data public as partof its India-specific PoliticalAdvertising TransparencyReport along with a searchablepolitical ads library announcedin January this year.

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In its bid to be better preparedagainst the Chinese troops

along the Indo-China fron-tier, the Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice (ITBP) that guards theIndo-China border will nowsubject officers ofCommandant rank and aboveto physical fitness tests alongwith theoretical sessions toboost their mental toughness.

The move is expected tobolster the morale of the troopswho frequently have to dealwith face-offs and skirmisheswith the Chinese troops.

According to an orderissued by the Force on April 1,“It has been felt necessary thatofficers posted at various for-

mations of ITBP are to be putthrough a physical fitnessrefresher course with the dura-tion of 3-4 weeks.”

The syllabus must havecomponent of physical exer-cises which makes an officerphysically fit enough as well astheory classes to boost their

mental toughness, the orderfurther said.

In order to design thecourse syllabus with the twinobjective of instilling physicaland mental toughness, theparamilitary also constituted aBoard headed by InspectorGeneral of ITBP Academy PS

Papta besides two DIGs, oneCommandant and a DeputyCommandant.

The Board of Officers sub-mit the Board Proceedings andrecommendations within 15days from the date of theissuance of the order. Besidesthe syllabus, the Board will alsodetail the capacity of the courseand frequency in a year.

The move comes close onthe heels of shifting of theChandigarh-based commandto Leh in Jammu & Kashmir inorder to place the personnelcloser to the frontier. TheChandigarh based headquarterwas shifted to Leh on April 1.

While the Indo-China bor-der has not witnessed firing ofa single bullet after the 1962

war between the two countries,troops of the People’sLiberation Army often trans-gress into sections of the near-ly 3,500 km Line of ActualControl between the two coun-tries.

Officials said the move tosubject the senior officers tophysical training is aimed atrejuvenating the health of thesupervisory officials of theforce that operates at high alti-tudes along the LAC where sur-vival from the harsh weather isa daily battle.

With 5,619 under LowMedical Category, the ITBP isway below the CRPF which hasas many as 22,120 personnelunder LMC which is nine percent of the total strength.

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A12-member Indian Armypatrol along with a police

representative recovered wreck-age of a World War II vintageUS Air Force aircraft in Roingdistrict of Arunachal Pradeshon March 30. The wreckagewas buried under snow andthick foliage and the discoveryof the debris will lead to reve-lation of some historical inputs.

During World War two, theUS air force as part of the Alliedforces used to supply weapons

and ferry troops by air fromIndia to Myanmar then knownas Burma in the fight againstthe Japanese troops there.Several aircraft had crashed inArunachal Pradesh and theNorth-east and the US in lastmany years have sent severalrepresentatives to locate thewreckage of the aircraft.

Giving details of the latestdiscovery, army officials saidhere on Wednesday the patrollocated the aircraft debris cov-ered by thick undergrowth andburied under five feet of snow.

Based on the informationreceived from local trekkers ofLower Dibang district throughthe police, a special patrol ofArmy was sent to locate thewreckage in a remote location,30 kms from Roing.

The patrol moved crosscountry for 30 kilometers inthick jungles and snow coveredareas for eight days to trace outthe wreckage. The region hadseldom been ventured by any-one in the past and is evenobscured from air due to thickfoliage.

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The release of biopic of “PMNarendra Modi” on Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, hasbeen postponed. The ElectionCommission (EC) onThursday said it will take afinal call on the release of aHindi biopic on NarendraModi on Friday after the fullcommission meeting.

According to sources, theCentral Board of FilmCertification (CBFC) has yet togive clearance. “This is to con-firm, our film ‘PM NarendraModi’ is not releasing on 5thApril. Will update soon,”Sandip Ssingh posted on

Twitter on Thursday. Thoughhe did not clarify further, cen-sor board sources said theprocess of getting CBFC certi-fication is still underway.

Responding to a querypertaining to the release ofbiopic on Modi, DeputyElection CommissionerSandeep Saxena said that theCommission will take a finalcall on Friday. We have soughtcomments from the produc-er of the movie and also fromBJP’s general secretar y.“...That also has been received.The file is under examinationand it has been listed fortomorrow (before the EC),Saxena said.

The Deputy ElectionCommissioner said that theCommission has already toldthe Central Board of FilmCertification (CBFC) to take acall on the issue as it had “norole” in the issue.

The official said the EC’sdecision, based on the direc-tives of Chief ElectionCommissioner Sunil Arora andElection Commissioners AshokLavasa and Sushil Chandra,will be a response to the com-plaint raised by Congress inthis regard. The EC officialssaid as Lavasa and Chandrawere travelling to south India,the decision could not be takenearlier.

The film has Vivek Oberoiin lead role and is directed by“Mary Kom” maker OmungKumar. The movie has been innews with various politicalparties saying that releasing itless than a week before the gen-eral elections begin is a viola-tion of the model code of con-duct. The Congress made aformal complaint to theElection Commission over therelease of the film.

EC had sent a letter to theCentral Board of FilmCertification (CBFC) in whichit clarified that the CensorBoard has the last word on suchmatters.

In this letter, the EC cleared

the query of the Censor Boardon how it should certify polit-ical films when the ModelCode is in effect. It clarified thatwhen the Model Code ofConduct (MCC) is in force,CBFC should certify politicalfilms (or films that are politi-cal in nature) as per extant pro-visions of the CinematographAct. Opposition parties, includ-ing the Congress, said the filmwould give undue advantage tothe BJP in electioneering andits release should be deferredtill the elections are over.

The project is also facinglegal hurdles with a Congressleader filing a PIL in theSupreme Court, seeking a stay

on its release. The court willhear the plea on Monday. Thebiopic ran into trouble overcredits as well. Lyricists JavedAkhtar and Sameer said theywere credited without con-tributing to the project. Theproducer, however, counteredtheir claims, saying their oldsongs were reworked so theygave credit where due.

The seven-phase LokSabha polls begin on April 11and end on May 19. The modelcode of conduct, which amongother things, calls for an even-playing field for all parties andcandidates, came into force onMarch 10 when the electionswere announced.

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In a move that can spell trou-ble for Rajasthan Governor

Kalyan Singh, PresidentRamnath Kovind has forward-ed Election Commission’sreport to the Union HomeMinistry. The EC had writtento the President against Singhfor violation of model code ofconduct. President Kovind for-warded the letter to the HomeMinistry after returning froman international visit.

Election Commission (EC)had written to President afterit found that RajasthanGovernor Kalyan Singh’sremark on re-election ofNarendra Modi as the PrimeMinister for violation of modelcode of conduct.

President Kovind, who hasreturned from Chile, has sentthe Election Commissionreport to the Home Ministry asper the laid down procedures..“It is a normal procedure.

The home ministry, afterreceiving the letter, is expectedto take legal opinion on itbefore formulating its opinion,”a source said. At the briefing onThursday, the EC said thatthey have recommended tothe President through theMHA.

The EC wrote to PresidentRam Nath Kovind on Monday(April 1) to bring the issue tohis notice. In its letter to thePresident, the EC highlightedhow remarks of the Governorwere in violation of the neutralpost he holds. The EC hadsought a factual report from theUttar Pradesh Chief ElectoralOfficer (CEO) on Rajasthan

Governor Kalyan Singh’sremark that Narendra Modishould be re-elected as thePrime Minister.

Rajasthan chief ministerAshok Gehlot had also object-ed to the “unfortunate”remarks. He stated that Singh,as the Governor, should benon-partisan and that it doesnot suit the dignity of his post.

Last month, Kalyan Singh,87, had called for PM Modi’sre-election “for the sake of thecountry”. He was on camerasaying at his hometown Aligarhthat PM Modi’s re-election is anecessity for the country andthe society and every partymember should work for it. Hemade the remarks as he wasfaced with BJP workers protest-ing against the party’s choicefor Aligarh.

“We are workers of BJP.Going by that, we definitelywant the BJP to win. Everyonewants that once more, Modijishould become PM. It is nec-essary for the country and thesociety that Modi-ji becomesPM,” Kalyan Singh had said.

Singh has been a Governorsince 2014. In the 1990s, thenHimachal Pradesh GovernorGulsher Ahmed was forced toresign for violating the pollcode by campaigning for hisson.

Singh is a former chiefminister of Uttar Pradesh andwas in power in the state whenthe 16th century Babri mosquewas demolished in December1992. He quit the BJP in 1999and returned in 2004. In 2014,soon after the BJP came topower, Singh was appointedGovernor

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Former BJP MP Kirti Azadwho recently joined

Congress will have to shift hispolitical base either toJharkhand or face cricketerturned politician GautamGambhir from the New DelhiLok Sabha seat if the alliancebetween Congress-AAP isforged.

Congress sources said thatKirti has expressed his dis-pleasure over the treatmentmeted out to him in joining thegrand old party in lieu ofpromise of retaining theDarbhanga Lok Sabha seatcandidature. He has insistedthat he be fielded from any ofthe remaining seats underCongress quota of Bihar maha-gathbandhan but Congress

leadership has assured Azadthat he wont be disappointed.Sources said he is being con-sidered for Dhanbad seat inJharkhand or New DelhiParliamentary seat.

While former UnionMinister Pawan Bansal got aticket from Chandigarh LokSabha seat, former UnionMinister Subodh Kant Sahayhas been fielded from Ranchiand former Jharkhand PradeshCongress chief Sukhdeo Bhagatwill contest from Lohardagaseat.

Bansal’s nomination how-ever did not go well with theSidhus. Navjot Kaur Sidhu,the wife of Punjab ministerNavjot Singh Sidhu, and formerUnion minister Manish Tewari,had also staked claims to theticket from Chandigarh, con-

sidered a party stronghold.Punjab Chief Minister

Amarinder Singh’s wife andformer Union minister PreneetKaur will contest from Patialafor the upcoming parliamen-tary polls. The party also re-nominated sitting MPs SunilJakhar from Gurdaspur,Gurjeet Singh Aujla fromAmritsar, Ravneet Singh Bittufrom Ludhiana and SantoshSingh Chaudhary fromJalandhar. In Hoshiarpur, theparty fielded Raj KumarChhabbewal. In HimachalPradesh, the party cleared thename of Pawan Kajal from theKangra Lok Sabha seat.

Similarly, for Jharkhandthe decision to announce all theseats as part of the JMM Conggrand alliance hit a road blockdue to several claimants on the

Dhanbad and Hazaribagh LokSabha seats. Hazaribagh cur-rently represented by UnionMinister Jayant Sinha has twostrong claimants from Congresswhile one is liquor mafia GopalSahu and another is socialworker Shivlal Mahto.

While 80 years old Sahu isbrother of Congress formerRajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu,party chief Rahul Gandhi isunderstood to have soughtmore details on Shivlal whowas instrumental in organisingthe rally of Hardik Patel inJharkhand early this year.Shivlal Mahto is a prominentKurmi leader and given thecaste equation in Hazaribaghand the differences betweenJayant Sinha and his fatherYashwant Sinha makes him aformidable winner of the seat.

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Former Finance Minister PChidambaram on Thursday

tried to corner FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley on theAFSPA issue, asking why hewas mum on the withdrawal ofthe controversial Act fromTripura, Meghalaya and partsof Arunachal Pradesh.

He also alleged that thereis a “flip flop gang” in the rul-ing BJP.

Jaitley had criticised theCongress on Tuesday after theOpposition party announced inits manifesto that if voted topower, it will review the ArmedForces (Special Powers) Actthat gives a degree of immuni-

ty from prosecution to securi-ty forces deployed in “dis-turbed areas”. He had allegedthat the “tukde tukde gang”drafted the parts of theCongress manifesto dealingwith issues of Kashmir andnational security.

Chidambaram also askedJaitley whether he supports“enforced disappearance, sex-ual violence and torture”, theallegations which are commonin areas where AFSPA is inforce. “We say that in thesethree cases thereshould be no immunity underAFSPA. What does Mr Jaitleysay?” the former home and Finance Ministerasked.

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Wayanad (Ker): Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi has anemotional link with Kerala'sWayanad Lok Sabha con-stituency from where he iscontesting polls besides hisfamily bastion Amethi, partyleaders said here on Thursday.

An urn containing theashes of his father and formerPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhiwas brought here in 1991 andthey were immersed inPapanasini, a stream connect-ed to a famous temple dedi-cated to Lord Mahavishnu inpicturesque Thirunelli village,Leader of Opposition in theKerala Assembly RameshChennithala recalled.

"The then Chief Minister KKarunakaran, myself,Mullappally Ramachandranand K C Venugopal had attend-ed the ritual of immersing theashes of Rajiv-ji in Papanasini,"Chennithala told PTI here.

Rajiv Gandhi was killed ina suicide bomb blast atSriperumbudur in Tamil Naduon May 21, 1991 during anelection campaign.

The Congress leaders indi-cated that Rahul Gandhi is like-ly to offer prayers at the holyplace when he visits the con-stituency for campaigning nexttime.

Papanasini means destroy-er of sins. According toThirunelli temple officials, ifthe ashes of the dead areimmersed in Papanasini, it isequivalent to doing the ritualsin Gaya.

Surrounded by theKambamala, Karimala and theVaradiga peaks, the Thirunellitemple near Mananthavadyembodies traditional Keralaarchitecture, the KeralaTourism department said in its

website.The shrine, situated among

scenic mountains and forests,is shielded with 30 granitecolumns and the ground is

paved with huge square piecesof granite.

Gandhi on Thursday filedhis nomination from WayanadLok Sabha constituency. PTI

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Wayanad (Ker): Wayanad maybe the centre of heated politicaldebate with Congress chiefRahul Gandhi choosing to con-test elections from the con-stituency but people in the hilldistrict have many other thingson mind — food, shelter andmarauding elephants.

Tribals constitute around 18per cent population of Wayanaddistrict, famed for its forests andhills, which has been propelledinto the national electoral mapwith the Congress president'sdecision to reach out to votersin the South by contesting fromthe Wayanad parliamentaryconstituency.

The Lok Sabha seat has twoAssembly segments — SultanBathery and Mananthavadi —

which are reserved for tribals.Issues of everyday survival

such as food and drinking wateras well as lack of roads, owner-ship of land and the man-ani-mal conflict that has led toincreasing instances of ele-phants trampling their homesand even killing is what troublesthem.

The main issue is fightingelephant attacks, said one trib-al woman, highlighting thepressing problems of shrinkinghabitat and the many instancesof man-animal in the State.

"We face problems due toattacks by elephants at ourhomes inside the forest. Wewon't cast our votes this time.There is no use participating inelections," she said. PTI

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Mumbai: Maharashtra BJPspokesperson Shaina NC onThursday said she was “upsetand appalled” as most of theleading political parties,including her own, have notgiven enough representationto women in the Lok Sabhaelections.

Praising West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee andOdisha Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik for giving 41 and 33 percent to women candidatesrespectively, she said all otherparties need to "wake up" as theyonly pay "lip service" to women'scauses.

Of the 48 Lok Sabha seatsin Maharashtra, only 13 womenfielded by prominent parties arein the fray.

In a statement issued here,Shaina said, "Ability requiresopportunity. Talent needs to beshowcased."

"Leadership across the

board need to give more womenpoliticians a chance for us toprove our electoral competence.All parties need to wake up," shesaid.

The BJP has fielded sevenwomen candidates this time,Congress three, NCP and ShivSena one each. IndependentMLA Ravi Rana's wife, Navneet,is contesting from Amravati asan ally of NCP.

BJP candidate forNandurbar seat, Heena Gavit, isthe daughter of former NCP

minister Vijaykumar Gavit,while the party's Raver nomineeRaksha Khadse is the daughter-in-law of BJP leader EknathKhadse.

Similarly, Bharati Pawar(Dindori) is the daughter-in-lawof NCP leader late A T Pawar,Poonam Mahajan (MumbaiNorth Central) is daughter ofBJP leader late PramodMahajan, Pritam Munde (Beed)is daughter of late BJP leaderGopinath Munde and KanchanKul (Baramati) is the wife ofRSP MLA Rahul Kul. MLCSmita Wagh is BJP's candidatefrom Jalgaon.

Gavit, Khadse, Munde,Mahajan are seeking a secondterm. They had been elected forthe first time in 2014.

Congress has fieldedCharulata Tokas (Wardha), whois the daughter of party leaderlate Prabha Rau. Priya Dutt,who is contesting from Mumbai

North Central, is the daughterof late actor and politician SunilDutt.

Actor Urmila Matondkar,who joined the Congress recent-ly, is contesting from MumbaiNorth constituency.

Sharad Pawar's daughterSupriya Sule is seeking a re-elec-tion from Baramati for thethird time, while Navneet Ranais contesting from Amravati asan ally of NCP.

Shiv Sena MP BhavanaGawli is seeking a re-electionfrom Yavatmal-Washim for thefourth time.

"Women are 50 per cent ofthe electorate. Upset andappalled to know that otherthan Mamata Banerjee, who hasgiven 41 per cent and NavinPatnaik, who has given 33 percent to women candidates, allother parties only pay lip serviceto our cause.

"What is worrisome is that

we are still having dialogues anddiscussions on the most basicrights that any human beingshould be entitled to. That's whya 33 per cent reservation mustbe a collective, concerted, con-scious effort of all women inpublic life," she said.

She vowed to championthe cause of reservation and saidshe will do it even if she has tofight the male chauvinisticmindset in her own party andall other parties.

"Here on, I will championthe cause of reservation even ifI have to fight the male chau-vinistic mindset in my parties inall other parties too," she said.

"Requesting all women tospeak up and demand all par-ties to give 33 per cent tickets towomen as part of their mani-festo of their individual partyirrespective of legislation inParliament for reservation,"Shaina said. PTI

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Nagpur: Congress presidentRahul Gandhi on Thursdaysaid that unlike Prime MinisterNarendra Modi who is "oldand in a hurry", he was notinterested in telling lies.

Addressing a poll rallyhere, the Congress leaderasserted that he was in politicsfor the long haul and "here foranother 10 to 15 years."

"I want to build a long-standing relationship with you.I will not speak lies. Modi hasgrown old and is in a hurry. Sohe is telling lies," Gandhi said.

He did not lie since liesgets exposed sooner or later,the Congress president said,adding that his party workswhile the BJP "only makeshollow promises".

Polling will be held inNagpur Lok Sabha con-stituency in the first phase onApril 11. Union minister NitinGadkari of the BJP is pittedagainst Congress' Nana Patolehere.

Making a strong pitch forthe 'Nyay' minimum incomeguarantee scheme of his party,

Gandhi said all economistshave told him that the schemeto deposit �72,000 everymonth in the bank accounts ofthe poor was feasible and canbe implemented without hurt-ing India's economy.

"The 'Nyay' scheme is asurgical strike by Congress onpoverty. Every Indian shouldget a minimum of �12,000every month," he said, addingthe Congress government willprovide enough funds for thescheme.

Corruption, unemploy-ment and farmers' problemswere the priority issues forelections this time, and Modishould explain what he haddone to tackle them in the lastfive years, Gandhi said. He reit-erated his challenge to Modi totake part in a 15-minute opendebate on corruption, econo-my and national security withhim.

"He (Modi) will not be ableto show his face to you since heknows he can't answer ques-tions. This is the reality,"Gandhi said. PTI

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For Mamata Banerjee,Chowkidar (watchman) is

not a Chor (thief) but a Jhootha(liar). Addressing another mas-sive rally at Mathabhanga townof North Bengal, the BengalChief Minister on Thursdayattacked Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for bamboo-zling the electorate withpromises but doing nothing tokeep them.

“People say that ChowkidarChor hai(the watchman is athief) but I don’t say that.Because I know thatChowkidar is jhootha. I will sayChowkidar jhootha hai (thewatchman is a liar) because hemakes promises to befool thepeople, to win elections andnot to keep them,” Banerjeesaid.

Resuming from where sheleft on Wednesday, callingNarendra Modi an “expiryPrime Minister,” whose dateand right to rule had expired,she said “this expiry PrimeMinister had during 2014approached you for votes iden-tifying himself as the Chai

Wala. But in five years muchof the tea and sugar have dis-solved and so he is coming ina garb of Chowkidar.

“Real chowkidar is not aliar. He is a genuine strugglerwho slogs it out in poverty.This chowkidar is one whochanges his colour by the day

delivering new promises withno intention to keep them.”

Attacking Modi for failingto create his promised 2 crorejobs she asked “where is the jobyou promised Modi Babu? Inplace of giving the people jobsyou have robbed them ofemployment as India has lostmore than a crore job due todemonetisation. In the past 45years the rate of unemploy-ment is the highest.”

Asking Modi to cite even asingle bank account that hadreceived �15 lakh promised byhim in 2014 Banerjee said ask-ing “has anyone of you havereceived the promised amountin one’s account?”

Coining a new slogan shesaid “Modi Babur teenti goon:loot, danga aar khoon (Modi ismarked by three qualities: loot-ing, rioting and murder).”

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Itanagar: A day after cash worth�1.8 crore was seized fromArunachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Pema Khandu's convoy,the Congress on Thursdaymocked the BJP saying “achch-he din” (good days) have comefor him and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

The Congress had allegedon Wednesday that a "cash forvotes" scam had been busted inthe state with the recovery of thecash "from Khandu's convoy" inPasighat. It had asked theElection Commission to regis-ter a case against Modi as wellas Khandu and his deputy.

"This is the sign of 'achchedin' for Modi and PemaKhandu," state Congress presi-dent Takam Sanjoy said at apress conference here.

The money belonging to theson of a BJP candidate and a for-mer MLA was seized from twovehicles parked in aGovernment guest house atPasighat, State Additional ChiefElectoral Officer (ACEO) KankiDarang had said on Wednesdaynight. While �1 crore that wasseized from the Governmentvehicle was claimed byChristopher Perme, son of MeboBJP candidate Dr Dangi Perme,�80 lakh was found inside a pri-vate vehicle of former MLARalomg Borang, the ACEO said.

The Government vehiclewas registered in the name oftransport deputy secretary,Darang said, denying reportsthat the vehicles were part of

Khandu's motorcade."This is unheard of in the

history of the State that officialvehicles are used to transportcash for voters," Sanjoy said.

He alleged that BJP candi-date for Arunachal East LokSabha seat Tapir Gao is distrib-uting cash to voters.

The BJP also purchasedsome assembly candidates of theCongress, who withdrew theircandidature, to pave way for vic-tory of its contestants, heclaimed.

"If this is the situation,where is democracy? TheElection Commission shouldimmediately act and disqualifysuch candidates," Sanjoy said.

No senior BJP leaders wereavailable for comment.

Polling for two Lok Sabhaconstituencies and 57 Assemblyseats in the state will be heldsimultaneously on April 11.

Darang had said bothChristopher and Ralomg werepresent at the guest house atPasighat when the cash wasseized on Tuesday night.

Christopher claimed thathe got part of the seized cashafter selling traditional beadsand ornaments and the rest hehad borrowed from his relatives.

He had said he needed themoney for building houses atNgopok and Bapkota. Ralomg,a former legislator, claimed hehad borrowed the money fromrelatives to buy a piece of land.Both demanded that the moneybe returned to them. PTI

Kolkata: Gorkha JanamuktiMorcha leader Bimal Gurung,who is currently in hiding, hasasserted that the demand for aseparate Gorkhaland State is“still alive” in the Darjeeling Hillsand that he continues to be thepresident of the party.

His assertion comes in theface of claims by main politicalparties in the region — the BJPand the TMC — that the state-hood demand is not a politicalissue in the upcoming LokSabha election.

The issue this time is devel-opment, the spokesmen of theparties had said.

Speaking to PTI from anundisclosed place in Darjeeling,Gurung said Wednesday, "We

see every election as a steptowards reaching our goal (ofstatehood). This election is veryimportant as it will send aresounding message to the restof the country that the people ofDarjeeling, Terai and Dooarsareas have not given up theirdemand for a Gorkhaland state."

Gurung, one time close aide

of late GNLF chief SubashGhising, said the coming elec-tion is a fight between the WestBengal government's "dictator-ship" and the will of the peopleto stand up against it.

"This election is aboutstanding up and saying we arenot scared. Winning this elec-tion will take us one step closertowards realising our dreams,"the GJM leader, who went intohiding after the June 2017 clash-es in Darjeeling, said.

He rubbished projectionsthat the upcoming election inthe Darjeeling Lok Sabha seatwould be a fight between twofactions of the GJM, one led byhim which is supporting BJPcandidate Raju Bista and the

Binay Tamang faction which issupporting TMC candidateAmar Rai. Polling for DarjeelingLok Sabha seat will be held onApril 18. Unlike the Tamang fac-tion, Gurung said though hisfaction is supporting Bista it hasno complaints against the cur-rent BJP MP S S Ahluwalia.

Darjeeling had witnessed a104-day-long strike in 2017 forthe statehood demand and sev-eral people including policepersonnel were killed, whichforced Gurung to flee the Hills.He has been on the run sincethen. Ahluwalia, he said, hadworked honestly and sincerelytowards raising the GJM's con-cerns and issues at the nationallevel. But the people were irked

with his "absence" fromDarjeeling during the 2017Gorkhaland agitation and com-plained about it. "Most people,we spoke to, were not willing tovote for him. So we talked toAhluwalia and he volunteered towithdraw himself from consid-eration for the Darjeeling LokSabha seat," Gurung said.

He said, the claims by theWest Bengal Government ofdeveloping the Darjeeling Hillarea is "laughable".

"We have a saying in Nepali— 'bahira rumaley, bhitraundruk umale'y — those whocannot feed themselves are talk-ing about organising picnic forothers," Gurung said to explainhis point. PTI

9������������������� ��� ��< ��%�9�����Kolkata/Siliguri: Police threw atight security ring around theBagdogra airport near Siligurion Thursday after GJM leaderBimal Gurung, who is in hidingfor the past one and a half years,announced he would return toDarjeeling Hills during the day.

Police also whisked awayGurung's two aides — RoshanRai and Yogen Pradhan — fromthe airport but said no arrest hasbeen made.

Later, a leader of the GJM(Gurung faction) told PTI thatGurung would not return to theHills on Thursday. "He could notcome to the Hills as the policehad cordoned off the entire

Bagdogra airport followingwhich he has postponed hisplans to return."

The airport has no nightlanding facility.

Gurung had announced hewould return to the Hills onThursday, a day after theSupreme Court asked him andhis aide Roshan Giri to move theCalcutta High Court for antic-ipatory bail in connection withthe cases filed against them.

Loksang Lama, the workingpresident of GJM's Gurung fac-tion, too had said the Morchaleader would arrive in the HillsThursday. When contacted,Gurung told PTI that people in

the Hills are eager for his return.He maintained he is still the

GJM supremo and commandsthe respect and love of the peo-ple of the Hills. The GJMGurung faction and the GNLF,another major player in thepolitics in the Hills, are sup-porting BJP candidate Raju Bistaon the Darjeeling Lok Sabhaseat, while the faction led byBinay Tamang is supportingTMC candidate Amar Rai.

Gurung had gone into hid-ing after the June 2017 clashesin Darjeeling. The GJM splitafter it and Tamang, his deputy,took over the reins of theMorcha. PTI

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Leaders of all political partiesin Tamil Nadu, including the

ruling AIADMK, opened uptheir woes in front of theElection Commissioners whomet them on Wednesday inChennai. There were no dearthof complaints as all of them hadtheir own grievances to air toAshok Lavasa and SushilChandra, ElectionCommissioners who gave thema patient hearing in the three-

hour long interactive session.“All political parties wanted

a check on the distribution ofcash and gifts to the electorateby certain outfits. They alsowanted us to instruct the FlyingSquads deployed by the ElectionCommission not to harass thecommon man under the garb ofinspection,” said Lavasa whileaddressing reporters at Chennaion Thursday.

When his attention wasdrawn to the seizure of unac-counted money from the resi-dences and business premises of

the candidate for Vellore LokSabha constituency KathirAnand of the DMK, the electioncommissioner said that he waswaiting for a report from theIncome Tax department whenceheld the raid. “We will take a callon the course of action afterhearing from the IT Departmentbecause the raid was carried outby them,” said Lavasa, He alsodenied the allegation that abook on Rafale aircraft dealauthored by a CPI(M) activistwas seized by the flying squad asper the directive of the EC.

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Pathanamthitta (Ker): Thetraditionally bipolar electionto the Pathanamthitta LokSabha constituency, groundzero of the Sabarimala agitation,has gone triangular this timewith the BJP hoping to win overvoters who are opposed toimplementation of the apexcourt order on entry of womenin the hill shrine.

The BJP has fielded itsState General Secretary KSurendran, who led theSabarimala protests againstchanging temple traditions,while the ruling LeftDemocratic Front has nomi-nated Veena George, itsAranmula MLA, to take ontwo-time Congress-led UDFMP Anto Antony.

The Opposition to the LeftGovernment's decision toimplement the September 28Supreme Court order on allow-ing entry of women of all agesin the shrine of Lord Ayyappahere snowballed into a hugeagitation that grabbed nation-al headlines.

The protests, one of themost violent religious agitationsin the State, was led by a sectionof devotees, right wing outfitsand the BJP-RSS.

During the protests,Surendran was arrested and

jailed on various charges,including attempt to murderand the use of criminal force tooutrage the modesty of awoman.

The constituency consistsof Assembly seats fromPathanamthitta and Kottayamdistrict.

UDF's Antony, who wonfrom the constituency in 2014and 2009, is leaving no stoneunturned to continue his win-ning streak. He won 41 per centof votes in the 2014 election andhad a winning margin of 56,191votes.

"He is banking on his devel-opmental credentials. He haddone so much for the con-

stituency," said a local leaderwho is assisting Antony in thecampaign

However, both VeenaGeorge and Surendran are alsoconfident of putting up a goodfight to wrest the seat from theUDF.

Surendran has been busyvisiting families and meetingprominent personalities in theconstituency.

"We need to bring backModi government. It's only theBJP that can promoteSabarimala as a world famouspilgrim centre. WhenSabarimala develops, thePathanamthitta district andconstituency develops," he said.

He alleged that no otherpolitical party was interested indeveloping the shrine.

LDF candidate and formerjournalist Veena Georgeexpressed satisfaction over theresponse of the people duringthe campaign.

"LDF would register his-toric victory in the comingLok Sabha polls.

The number of partici-pants in our poll campaign itselfis a proof for the immenseacceptance of the party," shesaid.

George said she will take upwith the Centre the issues ofErumely airport and rejuvena-tion of Pamba river.

Pathanamthitta is consid-ered one of the best districts inthe country with high humandevelopment indices matchingmost of the developed coun-tries. The district boasts of thecleanest air in India as per aWorld Health Organisation(WHO) report. It is also one ofthe least poverty affected dis-tricts in the country with a lit-eracy rate of 96.55 per cent.

Out of the total population,56.93 per cent belongs to Hinducommunity where as 38.12 percent are from Christian com-munity. The church is an influ-ential body and has been a key

player in every field of devel-opment including infrastruc-ture for schools, colleges andhospitals.

The Nair Service Society(NSS), which is a body repre-senting the powerful Nair com-munity and has been in theforefront of the Sabarimalaprotests, in a circular Tuesdaymade it clear that it will con-tinue to maintain equi-distancetowards all the three fronts.

This would be music to theears of the ruling Left as theNSS had been upset with theGovernment over the handlingof the Sabarimala issue, and theUDF and the BJP were hopingto woo Nair voters.

Prime Minister NarendraModi had attacked the LeftGovernment over theSabarimala issue, saying it wastrying to disrespect Kerala'sculture.

The LDF Government,which had incurred the wrathof a section of Hindu commu-nity by deciding to implementthe apex court verdict onSabarimala, had set apart �739crore for overall developmentof the temple town in its bud-get and another �100 crore tothe Travancore DevaswomBoard (TDB), which adminis-ters the Ayyappa shrine. PTI

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Lucknow: Hours after theSamajwadi Party MP fromGorakhpur Praveen KumarNishad joined the BJP onThursday, SP supremoAkhilesh Yadav termed it as a'ghaatey ka sauda' (loss-makingdeal) for the saffron party andalso alleged that moneychanged hands.

Akhilesh Yadav said that inthe by-poll held last year, thepeople of Gorakhpur parlia-mentary constituency hadvoted for the SP-BSP allianceand not for Praveen Nishad.

"This is BJP's loss makingdeal as people had voted for thegrand alliance (SP-BSP) andnot the parliamentarian(Praveen Nishad)," AkhileshYadav tweeted in Hindi.

The SP chief insinuatedthat Nishad switched over tothe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)in return for a bag of 'prasad'(cash) from the 'mathadheesh'(head priest) of Gorakhnathtemple, referring to UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath.

He, however, did not sub-stantiate the charge.

"Will the Gorakhpur MPwho got a bag full of 'prasad'from the mathadheesh distrib-ute it among others or devour

it alone?," asked AkhileshYadav using his hashtag#VikasPoochhRahaHai in histweets to attack Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on his devel-opment claims.

"It is certain that the boatof the brothers will sink in theelections," he said in an appar-ent reference to Praveen Nishadand Adityanath.

Nishad joined the BJP inthe presence of senior leaderand Union minister J P Naddawho introduced him beforemedia persons as a politicalfigure who wields considerableinfluence in his region.

Nadda said that theGorakhnath parliamentarianhad joined the saffron partydue to his faith in the policiesof the Modi government.

Praveen Nishad, whosefather Sanjay Nishad is thehead of the Nishad Party, had

emerged victorious in theGorakhpur Lok Sabha by-polllast year, after the SP and theBSP joined hands to take on theBJP.

Though he had contestedon an SP ticket, differencesgrew between Sanjay Nishadand the SP as it wanted him tocontest again on its symbolwhile he wanted to fight as aNishad Party candidate.

The BJP has not yetannounced its candidate forGorakhpur, the political turf ofAdityanath. The saffron partymay bank on Nishad to reclaimits bastion.

Meanwhile, SamajwadiParty on Saturday namedanother Nishad communitymember as its candidate fromthe coveted seat.

Ram Bhuwal Nishad, theSP candidate, has been a two-time MLA from KaudiramAssembly seat, now Gorakhpurrural, and was the fisheriesminister during BSP chiefMayawati's Government in2007.

Last week, the NishadParty — headed by PraveenNishad's father Sanjay — hadpulled out of the the SP-BSP-RLD 'mahagathbandhan' inUttar Pradesh. PTI

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Indian Army late Thursdaynight completely destroyed

another post of Pakistan Armyopposite Degwar sector alongthe Line of Control in Poonch.

Indian Army resorted tostrong retaliatory firing afterPakistan Army initiated'unprovoked' ceasefire violationin Degwar and Gulpur sectorsof Poonch around 6.00 p.m.

Official sources claimed,after a long gap of almost 20years, Pakistan Army onThursday fired 'airburst' shellsto inflict maximum damage onthe Indian soldiers deployed inthe forward posts. Local reportssuggested Pakistan army hadpreviously used Air Burst shellsin 1998 at the peak of hostili-ties along the Line of Control.

Anticipating further esca-lation, Indian army too decid-ed to hit back strongly anddestroyed Pakistan's 'Manuwalipost opposite Degwar sector. Inthe heavy exchange of fire,one civilian was injured inPoonch.

Retired Army officers,familiar with the use ofAirburst shell, revealed it is

often used to hit enemy targetsbehind a wall, in a defensivefighting position. Till the timeof filing the report intensemortar shelling was going on inthe area. Tension prevailed inthe forward areas as Pakistanarmy was deliberately hittingcivilian pockets to disturb localpopulation in the area.Ministry of DefenceSpokesman in Jammu, Lt Col-Devender Anand said, Pakistanarmy initiated ceasefire viola-tion in Gulpur and Degwar sec-tors in Poonch. He said , Indianarmy retaliated strongly andeffectively.

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The latest decision, taken bythe J&K Government to

provide 'safe corridor' to theconvoy movement, on the 300km long Jammu-SrinagarNational Highway, till the cul-mination of Parliamentarypolls, has attracted sharp reac-tions from Kashmir basedmainstream politicians andseparatists.

Both Omar Abdullah andMehbooba Mufti came on thesame page shortly after theorder was made public.

The State Government onWednesday had announcedthat no civilian traffic will beallowed on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on Sundaysand Wednesdays from 4 a.m.to 5 p.m. to ensure the safetyof the security convoys.

The restrictions wil lremain in force till May 31.

National Conference VicePresident, Omar Abdullahlabelled it as a glaring exam-ple of failure to manage theinternal security in J&k. Inseries of tweets he slammedthe Government's decision.

"Another 1st for the ModiGovernment after the 1st ever

delayed Assembly electionnow this shocker — neverbefore in 30 years has thenational highway ever beenclosed for civilian traffic likethis,” the National Conferencevice-president tweeted.

PDP Chief MehboobaMufti too reacted on twitter. She wrote, "GoI's current approach towardsKashmir has been consistentonly when it comes to repression. SuffocateKashmiris, throw them injails, deprive them of basicrights and make them suffer."They only want Kashmir.Don't give two hoots aboutwhat happens to its people(sic)," Mufti tweeted.

Omar Abdullah had alsosuggested to utilise the railroute to transport securityforces between Baramulla andBanihal.

"I've made this suggestionbefore and in light of today'shighway closure order I feelthe need to repeat it — whycan't the forces travel betweenBanihal and Baramulla byspecial trains? Quicker, saferand more comfortable for thesecurity forces."

Separatist Mirwaiz Umar

Farooq also called the decision"dictatorial".

Senior Congress leaderGhulam Nabi Azad said thegovernment "should work outa more people-friendly strat-egy than disallowing all civil-ian traffic for two days in aweek".

Former IAS off icer-turned-politician, Shah Faesaltweeted: "Policies importedfrom Israel will turn Kashmirinto Palestine.

"The decision to closenational highway to civiliantraffic on every Wednesdayand Sunday is extremelyshocking. @RajnathSingh_inhow will the employees attendoffice? How will patients trav-el? School children?"

People’s Conference chair-man Sajad Gani Lone tooreacted strongly against thediktat.

“In the civilised world,military needs will and alwaysbe subservient to civil needs.This certainly will be a first ofits kind and will have disas-trous social, political and eco-nomic consequences. TheGovt should not carve a mil-itary identity for itself,” Lonewrote on his Twitter handle.

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Waking up from their deepslumber, Bharatiya Janata

Party (BJP) Thursday showedexit gate to the former CabinetMinister, Lal Singh, from theparty. With this action againsthim, Lal Singh formally ceasesto be a member of the BJP.

According to a statementissued by the party spokesman,"Lal Singh was found involvedin gross indiscipline against theparty".

The statement said, "theday Lal Singh field nominationforms to contest from twoParliamentary seats as candidateof the Dogra SwabhimaanSangathan party he committedan act of indiscipline as herefused to withdraw his nomi-nations on the schedule date ofwithdrawal".

Clarifying why it took solong for the party to take note ofhis acts of gross indiscipline, BJPspokesman said, in the begin-ning Dogra SwabhimanSanghthan was declared by LalSingh to be non-political organ-isation so no action was taken inthe past.

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In yet another poll-time con-troversy, the BJP on

Thursday pointed fingers at theTrinamool Congress after a42-year-old party worker fromJalpaiguri was found hanging ina booth party office.

The deceased had beenidentified as Nitya Mondal, alabourer, party sources saidadding the “murder” was com-mitted in the Ward number 36.

“He had no fight or enmi-ty with anyone, had beenunwell. Don't know if it’s amurder or suicide,” thedeceased's wife Rina said evenas the BJP leadership lodged acomplaint at the ElectionCommission of India office inNew Delhi.

“We had repeatedly beentelling that the TMC will letloose its goons like it did dur-ing the previous electionskilling our men. They havealready started that. We hadasked the ECI to deploy morecentral forces in North Bengal

but they are yet to do so,” seniorState party leader Raju Banerjeesaid even as local TMC MLAand Minister Gautam Deb said“my party is not in the death.In fact we don’t need to do suchthings because we are winninghere comfortably.”

The incident comes a dayafter Prime Minister NarendraModi addressed a mammothrally in north Bengal`s Siliguri.Calling state Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee a “speedbreaker”, Modi accused her ofhindering a number of centralwelfare schemes in the state,like Ayushman Bharat, PM-KISAN, and Real Estate(Regulation and Development)Act, 2016.

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Srinagar: Two IAF personnelincluding a squadron leaderwere killed and as many otherssuffered injuries in a road"accident" early Thursday nearthe Awantipora Air Force sta-tion in Jammu and Kashmir'sPulwama district, a defenceofficial here said.

"Four IAF personnel metan accident this morning atMalngpora in Awantipora. Twoof the injured personnel suc-cumbed to injuries," the officialsaid, without giving any furtherdetails.

The deceased personnelare Squadron Leader RakeshPandey and Corporal Ajay

Kumar, according to the offi-cial.

The injured personnel —an officer and an airman —have been shifted to a hospitalfor treatment, the officialadded. The Indian Air Forcewill conduct an inquiry into theincident, he said. PTI

Mathura: A woman policeconstable was attacked withacid allegedly by four menhere on Thursday after sherefused to marry one of theaccused persons, police said.

The incident took place ataround 4.30 am inDamodarpura village whichcomes under the jurisdiction ofSadar police station, they said.

The officer was leaving forher duty when four car-borneassailants attacked her, SSPAnirudh Pankaj said, addingthat two of the four men were

identified as Sanjay and SonuSingh.

After hearing her cries forhelp, some locals reached thespot and took her to the SwarnJayanti Hospital.

The officer received 45 percent burn injuries and waslater shifted to Agra's M NMedical College, police said.

According to the SSP,Sanjay Singh wanted to marrythe woman police constable.

Efforts were underway tonab the four accused persons,police added. PTI

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The Congress released its mani-festo this week. After months ofhard work by the research team,it pleases me a great deal to saythat the party has a document

that it can be proud of. A glance at the com-ments and feedback received on socialmedia and my interaction with people onthe ground prove that many in the coun-try are of a similar view. The manifesto gen-erated such a buzz that the party’s website,where it was uploaded, actually crashed dueto heavy traffic.

The manifesto embodies the ethos ofthe Congress, which is to “create wealth andguarantee welfare.” It not only providesdetails of the Congress’ Nyuntam AayYojana (NYAY) scheme, but also detailsother promises that are relatively path-breaking. Of course, the pessimist (BJP),would say that these are mere promises butby putting such ideas down on paper andmaking it part of the manifesto, theCongress has shown that it is not going toshy away from taking responsibility andholding itself accountable. This, on its own,would be a marked shift from the attitudeof the present BJP Government that hasblamed everything and everyone for itsgovernance failures.

While I would encourage everyone toread the manifesto themselves, I under-stand that this may not be possible foreveryone of you. So in this week’s article,I will highlight certain features of the man-ifesto and also briefly deal with the rattledreaction of the BJP.

A separate ‘kisan’ budget: It will notbe an exaggeration to say that perhaps nogroup of people has suffered from the BJP’spolicies as much as the farmers have. Anindicator of the distress caused to this com-munity due to the BJP Government’sinsensitive policies are the many proteststhat have been held by farmers all over thecountry. It has become increasingly clearover the past few years that the issues thatplague the farmers are unique and, there-fore, require a more focussed examination.The Congress in its manifesto has, there-fore, proposed a separate budget for thekisan, where such issues can be dealt within a specialised manner.

In the same vein as the presentation ofa separate railway budget, the kisan bud-get, coupled with a national commissionfor farmers, will enable the CongressGovernment to devote time and resourcesto an area that may not be fashionableenough for the BJP but is, in fact, the enginewhich can drive the country’s growth.

Walk the talk on reforms: The BJPGovernment has indubitably failed toprovide jobs and growth during its tenure.The Congress is clear that its goal of “guar-anteeing welfare” will not be possiblewithout growth. Often unfairly criticisedfor not being business-friendly, theCongress has actually detailed reforms that

will help promote growth in thecountry and encourage entre-preneurship. These reformsinclude introducing a singlerate Goods and Services Tax(GST) and fix some of themonumental errors of the BJP.While GST has the potential topromote growth by introduc-ing efficiency, the faluda GSTintroduced by the BJP hasactually hit growth negativelyby creating different rates andensuring that even those busi-nesses, which never needed aprofessional chartered accoun-tant, now find their servicesmandatory.

The Congress has insteadproposed to simplify this entireprocess by introducing a singlerate GST. In a rush to be thefirst one to criticise the mani-festo, Union Finance MinisterArun Jaitley spoke about howthis single slab would treatitems of necessity the same wayas luxury items, ignoring thefact that such necessities areproposed to be exempted. It’snot for the first time thatJaitley has succumbed to thesocial media practice of com-menting before examining.

Other than GST, theCongress has also proposed taxreforms that will encourageentrepreneurship. Theseinclude abolishing angel tax

and coming down hard on anyharassment of new businessesby tax authorities. Anotherpositive step is to do away withthe requirement for approvalsfor a new business in its firstthree years so that they get achance to flourish before beingstomped out by the weight ofregulation.

Electoral reforms: I havepreviously written on manyoccasions that the “electoralbonds scheme” introduced bythis BJP is one of the mostbrazen instances of organisedlobbying and corruption.Through the electoral bondsscheme, which is currentlyunder jurisdiction before theSupreme Court, the BJP hasmade the process of electoralfinance more opaque than ithas ever been. It has used itsmajority in Government toamend all Acts that providedsome scope for transparency,including the Income Tax Act,the Representation of PeopleAct and the Companies Act.What is worst is that it pretendsto have brought in the schemein the name of “transparency.”

In an affidavit to the apexcourt, the ElectionCommission has stated thatelectoral bonds and theremoval of cap on corporatefunding would have “serious

impact” on transparency offunding of political parties.

The Congress will roll backthis scheme and has proposedto introduce a NationalElection Fund that anybodycan contribute to so that thedamage already done by theBJP can be minimised.

The reaction: While theresponse to the Congress’ man-ifesto has been extremely pos-itive and encouraging, it was-n’t surprising that the BJPraised ridiculous objections toit. One such objection is howthe manifesto will weakenIndia. In fact, the FinanceMinister in his latest blogtalked about how the manifestowill aid terrorists and destroyinstitutions. His suggestionwould be laughable if it was notso disconnected from reality.While this BJP Governmentdoes have the expertise to talkabout “destroying institutions”(Reserve Bank of India, CentralBureau of Investigation etc),such an allegation against theCongress is just opposing forthe sake of it.

The second allegationabout the document containingelements that would makeIndia unsafe, too, is whollywithout any reason or merit.The fact is that India has seenmore attacks and casualties

during the BJP’s tenure thanduring the UPA’s.

Confucius, the Chineseteacher, had said, “The strengthof a nation derives from theintegrity of the home.”However, when you hold ahammer, everything looks likea nail, even when you’re deal-ing with fellow citizens. Thefact is that the oppressive poli-cies of the BJP have increasedanger and uncertainty at home.If the BJP was actually seriousabout tackling terrorism andensuring that India is safe, itwould have paid a little moreattention to its home. That maybe difficult, though, since everythird word out of a BJPspokesperson’s mouth isPakistan.

In summary, the Congress’manifesto represents every-thing that the BJP is not. It wasprepared using suggestionsfrom people with expertise intheir respective areas and draft-ed with the underlying beliefthat diversity is better thanrigid uniformity. It counters theBJP’s language of hate with apatois of progress. The para-noid reaction of the BJP, then, is understandable andtelling.

(The writer is JharkhandPCC president, former MP andIPS officer. Views are personal)

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Hum Nibhayenge, pledgesCongress” (April 3). In its pollmanifesto, the Congress haspromised to repeal colonial-eralaws on criminal defamation andsedition. Rightly or wrongly, mis-use of these laws is often alleged.The fact is that every law is sus-ceptible to misuse but that does-n’t mean that we should not havea law. Amending a rule that notonly provides safeguards againstits misuse but also penal provi-sions against those found guiltyis quite different than not havinga law at all.

Further, the Congress’ pro-posed Nyuntam Aay Yojanascheme that aims to put �72,000per year minimum income for thepoor is the worst kind of freebieever promised to the voters. Thisis sheer open bribing of the vot-ers for vote banks. The promisedsum will dissuade the poor fromseeking jobs and will, hence,ruin the country’s economy. Onewonders why during the 10 yearsof UPA rule, the Congress didn’tdo all that it is promising now.

MC JoshiLucknow

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Sir — A united sovereign statein Europe, Czechoslovakia wasdissolved to form two republicsin 1993 — an event, popularlyknown as “velvet divorce.” It wasa peaceful separation, whichhappened without even a sem-blance of rancour generated.Both Slovakia and the Czech

Republic have remained stead-fast partners since then. Andnow, Zuzana Caputova, the 45-year-old leader of a progressiveSlovakia, who is a lawyer by pro-fession, an anti-corruption cru-sader and an environmentalcampaigner, is all set to becomethe first female President ofSlovakia. She comes from aworking class family.

The charming Zuzana

Caputova had led a thoroughlypositive campaign to win peo-ple’s hearts and capture power.In her own words, the electioncampaign had exhibited that“values such as humanity, soli-darity and truth were importantfor lots of people in Slovakia.”She had also said that the elec-tions could be won without vil-ification of the opponents. Herwords and the majesty in actions

resonated across the countryand the people voted for herresoundingly. Zuzana Caputova’ssmart, eclectic and dignifiedcampaign contrasts with theshrill election propaganda letloose in this country now.

Haridasan RajanKozhikode

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Dying by breathing” (April4). With elections round the cor-ner, it’s high time that we ques-tion our leaders as to why issuesrelated to climate change and airpollution are not adequatelydiscussed during this time.

According to the WorldHealth Organistaion, 6.2 lakhpeople die of air pollution andlung-related issues every year inIndia. In other countries like theUK and China, when the airquality becomes poor, theydeclare a health emergency. It’san emergency situation in India,too, one that needs correctives.

SangeetVia email

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Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar’s latestfilm Kesari is about the Battle ofSaragarhi, which was fought between

10,000 Afghani tribesmen and 21 soldiers fromthe 36th Sikh regiment of the British IndianArmy (the colonial army which was differentfrom the ‘Indian Army’ formed post indepen-dence). While the film highlighted Sikh val-our, it showed how it never got its due as itserved British imperial interests. In theprocess, it also played up the hostility betweenSikhs and Pashtuns when fact is much of it wascreated and fomented by the British with bothcommunities becoming pawns in the greatAfghan game. In that sense, Kesari just endedup stereotyping a complex chapter of history.

Let us go back in time, to 1897. Followingthe decline and fall of the Sikh kingdom, whichhad extended till Afghan lands, the British tookcontrol of the three forts of Lockhart, Gulistanand Saragarhi. Between August and Septemberthat year, a general uprising of Pashtuns tookplace, wherein they attacked fort Gulistanwhich was repulsed. On September 12, an esti-mated 10,000 strong force of Pashtun tribes-men attacked Saragarhi. Despite repeatedcommunications sent to fort Lockhart for rein-forcements, none arrived. There were attemptsto break open the gate but they were unsuc-cessful. Later, one of the walls was breached.What followed thereafter is considered bymany as one of the fiercest hand-to-hand com-bats in history.

The battle was a result of some propagan-da and a cry for autonomy. From time to time,mullahs (Islamic clerics) would incite Afghantribesmen to wage jihad against the foreignoccupiers. Saragarhi is situated in KhyberPakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, which wasknown as the North-West Frontier Provinceduring the British Raj. The area was consid-ered as an occupied territory and till date,Afghanistan does not accept the borders theBritish drew through Afghan and Pashtun ter-ritories. Once the seat of the Gandhara civil-isation, it had been predominantly inhabitedby Pashtuns for thousands of years and not justthe few centuries after the creation of the mod-ern Afghan state by Ahmad Shah Durrani.

The Durand Line border drawn throughthe Afghan heartland is a colonial British cre-ation. The film has a scene in which HavildarIshar Singh (Akshay Kumar) laments that heand his men are a “slave Army” of the British.He doesn’t outrightly vilify the “other enemy”(Afghans). This reflects the dilemma of theSikh soldiers, who are shown helping rebuilda mosque of the local Afghans and the Afriditribal sardar (head) declaring that the pag (tur-ban) of the Sikhs wouldn’t be desecrated. Later,that word of honour is depicted as broken. Inan earlier scene, there is a depiction of a trib-al jirga (panchayat) where a mullah sentencesa woman to death by beheading for runningaway from the house of her husband towhom she was forcibly married. Ishar Singhintervenes and saves her. Here the “us” versus“them” narrative was built up, possibly draw-ing from a contemporary scenario of a soci-ety held together in fear by Taliban diktats.

Truth is there was also the modern way oflife among the Pashtuns, a large number ofwhom were Left-leaning. The major party in thePashtun belt of Pakistan, the Awami NationalParty (ANP), is a Left-leaning progressive party.The Afghan politicians, too, espouse the causeof women’s rights. Former Ambassador RajivDogra, who has written a book, Durand’s Curse:A Line Across the Pathan Heart, which talksabout the Durand Line and British occupationof Afghan lands, says that we must not confusea battle with the war. A movie on a specific bat-tle will give the impression that the battle isgreater than the war. The valour of the Sikh sol-diers of the colonial British Army is unquestion-able but it has to be seen in the larger context.The Afghan tribesmen were reacting to theBritish occupying their lands by forcing Afghanking Abdur Rahman Khan to sign the DurandLine agreement.

Moreover, Sikhs and Pashtuns do have acultural history of antagonism. But this wasaggravated by the colonial masters for theirown selfish ends. The Sikh empire’s writ did-n’t go beyond Peshawar even when parts ofAfghan territory were under its rule. There wasa line that both sides didn’t cross till the impe-rialists played on the latent insecurities of eachside, based on “otherness.” Human rightsactivist and advocate Tariq Afghan fromUpper Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,argued that such stereotyping happens becauseof a colonial rendition of history. Otherwise,there could be a film on Khushal KhanKhattak, who fought against Mughal emper-or Aurangzeb, he says. Khattak was a warrior,poet, writer, politician, tribal chief and a great

military leader of that time. Why not glorifyhim as he was a strong liberal voice duringAurangzeb’s reign? Aurangzeb imprisonedhim in the fort of Ranthambore.

He even feels that Indo-Afghan ties rundeep because of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan(Frontier Gandhi), who was a close aide ofMahatma Gandhi and fought for the indepen-dence of the sub-continent. “In Pakistan, peo-ple call us Indian agents because we are the fol-lowers of Frontier Gandhi. Many books havebeen written by Indian authors on GhaffarKhan but Bollywood has ignored him and hisstruggle. This is injustice against the Pashtunswho supported the Congress beforeIndependence. It has a wider dimension thanthe battle of Saragarhi and could have had anepic reach in soft diplomacy,” he argues.

Indian soft power is projected across theworld by Bollywood, which is immensely pop-ular both in Afghanistan and the Pashtun beltof Pakistan. Most people — whether in India,Pakistan or Afghanistan — have a better senseof history through popular culture rather thanthrough books. As such, Kesari only serves topin the blame for British occupation ofAfghan lands on hostilities between the twocommunities which were microscopic innature but magnified by the imperialists. Suchniceties of interpretation play a big role in cul-tural diplomacy and the easy stereotyping inKesari certainly doesn’t attempt an objectiveassessment of realities.

(The writer is an independent journalistworking on cyber security and the geopolitics ofIndia’s neighbourhood, focussing on Pakistan,Afghanistan, Iran and Bangladesh)

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People waiting for life-savingorgan transplants are a commonsight in India, their numbers far

outweighing donors. Imagine if therewere enough organ saviours, thatmany more lives could have beensaved and they would have con-tributed positively to the country’seconomy. And yet with a bit of aware-ness, we could spare a bit of our bod-ies to revive the suffering. World reli-gions have seen organ donation as ourattempt at good karma. What elsecould have prompted the oldest altru-istic living organ donor, an 85-year-oldwoman in Britain, who donated herkidney to a stranger in 2014 after hear-ing how many people needed toreceive a transplant?

Expecting the Government orvarious organisations to take the bur-den of improving life expectancy andwell-being of the people while notdoing our bit is unfair to humanity.Thanks to science and technology,transplantation of human organshas become a mature and safeprocess today. Living donors canresume their ordinary lives.

As per statistics, nearly five lakhpeople in India lose out on their livesdue to organ failure. Also, the waitingtime period for transplant at AIIMS,Delhi, is eight months. Though wehave a population of almost 1.3 billionpeople, only 0.08 persons per millionoffer to be organ donors. Despite thewillingness shown, deceased donordonation rate in our country isabysmally low when compared toother developed countries like the US.Countries which have registered greatsuccess in organ donation mostly fol-low the “opt-out” or tacit consentmethod. This means that people mustexpressly indicate that they do not wishto donate. And if they do not, it istaken that they are willing. Countriessuch as the UK, Germany and

Netherlands are examples where thenumber of donors has grown explic-itly due to the “opt-out” policy.

India follows the “opt-in” frame-work under which organs can betransplanted only after receiving theperson’s consent. The other reality isthat organs do not go to those whoneed them the most but ones whocan pay for it.

Certainly, there are quite a feworganisations who have been work-ing towards the cause of organ dona-tion. Their mission is to ensure thatevery Indian, who is suffering froman end-stage organ failure, be provid-

ed with the “gift of life” through a life-saving organ. Realise the beauty andpower of this act. Anyone, regardlessof age, caste, religion or colour canpledge to be a donor. If a person belowthe age of 18 wishes to donate, all heneeds is a consent from either a par-ent or a guardian. The only decidingfactor is the health of the organ onewishes to pledge.

There are fundamentally two typesof organ donation — the living and thedeceased. Living donors can potential-ly donate one of the two kidneys, oneof the two lobes of their liver and alung or a part of it, part of the pancreas

or part of the intestines. It is truly altru-istic and magnanimous of someone tobecome a living donor but one shouldtake into account one’s health and anyunforeseen health complication.

The most prevalent one isdeceased person organ donation butmost relatives fear this practicewould disfigure their loved one. Nosuch thing happens and, in fact, thedeparted leaves behind a legacy ofgood deeds. Apprehensions rangingfrom socio-cultural factors, supersti-tious beliefs, cost-laden procedureand mutilation of body among oth-ers are all unfounded to say the least.Except the superstitious factors, allothers have been negated by organ-isations and doctors working for thecause of organ donation.

Even in the case of individualswho have given consent for donationafter death, the influences of thefamilial members might change theactual decision. It is here that theinvolvement of other stakeholders,non-governmental organisations andreligious leaders would help inimparting awareness and knowl-edge and in changing the attitude of

the general public towards deceasedorgan donation. Ultimately, theNational Organ and Tissue TransplantOrganisation (NOTTO) needs to bestrengthened so that it may play acentral role in coordinating theactivities of deceased organ donation

As many as 1.47 lakh people diedon Indian roads in 4.64 lakh accidentsreported during 2017, as per a reportby the Ministry of Road Transport andHighways. Had even five to 10 per centof these served as organ donors, wewouldn’t have had a shortage.

Several initiatives to encouragedeceased organ donation include theIndian Network for Organ Sharing, asub-division of NOTTO, theTransplantation of Human OrganAct (THOA), as well as theTransplantation of Human Organsand Tissue Rules. There are stringentcriteria instituted for the retrieval,preservation and transportation ofdonor organs. Organ donation haschanged lives and will change manymore if there’s the will to do somethingfor our compatriots. It’s a blessing forboth the donor and the recipient.

(The writer is a freelancer)

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In a bid to boost sluggish economybefore elections, the RBI on

Thursday cut interest rate by 25 basispoints for the second time in as manymonths, a move that may translate intolower EMIs for home and other loans.

The six-member Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC), headed by RBIGovenor Shaktikanta Das, cut therepo rate to one-year low of 6 per centand reverse repo rate to 5.75 per centon prospects of benign inflation.

While four of the six membersvoted in favour of the rate cut, two ofthem were in favour of status quo.

RBI Deputy Governor ViralAcharya and MPC member ChetanGhate voted for a status quo in rates.Five of six members voted to keep thestance unchanged at Neutral, whilecommittee member RavindraDholakia voted to change the stanceto accommodative.

The apex bank cut benchmarkinterest rate by 0.25 per cent to 6 percent. This is also the first back-to-backrate cut since the MPC was formed inlate 2016.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)in the monetary policy statement saidthe domestic economy is facing head-winds, especially on the global front,as it lowered its economic growth fore-cast for 2019-20 to 7.2 per cent from7.4 per cent estimated in February.

“The need is to strengthen domes-tic growth impulses by spurring pri-vate investment which has remainedsluggish,” it said. “The MPC notes thatthe output gap remains negative andthe domestic economy is facing head-winds, especially on the global front.”

After announcing the rate cut, theRBI governor in a media briefing saidthat export growth remained weak inJanuary and February this year andimports especially non-oil goldimports declined.

The RBI had last cut repo rate to6.25 per cent from 6.5 per cent onFebruary 7 and together with the lat-

est reduction it has reversed lastyear’s 50 basis points increase.

Repo rate is the rate at which thecentral bank lends short-term money tothe commercial banks. And, the reverserepo rate is at which the RBI borrowsmoney from the commercial banks.

Banks take a cue from RBI’s mon-etary policy stance in hiking or cuttinglending rates. With back-to-back cuts,home, auto, and personal loan EMIs(equated monthly installments) arelikely to go down although banks areyet to fully pass on the previous cut.

The move came a week before thegeneral elections kick off on April 11.

The reduction in rates was basedon RBI cutting its inflation forecast to2.9-3 per cent rage for the April-September period compared to 3.2-3.4per cent range it had projected inFebruary.

Inflation, which stood at 2.57 percent in February, is projected at 3.5-3.8 per cent in January-March 2020 -within the RBI’s target of 4 per cent.But, the central bank warned ofupside risks to price pressures if foodand fuel prices rise abruptly, or if fis-cal deficits overshoot targets.

While high-interest rates haveoften been cited as an obstacle to fasterinvestment growth, rate cutannounced Thursday will help the realinterest rates in India to drop belowMalaysia and Indonesia.

The RBI had in its Statement onDevelopment and Regulatory Policieson December 6, 2018, asked banks tostart using external benchmarks whiledisbursing new floating rate person-al or retail (housing, auto, etc) witheffect from April 1, 2019. However, inits policy announcement Thursday,the central bank said it has deferredthis move for the time being. Thecountry’s largest lender State Bank ofIndia (SBI), which controls nearly aquarter of the banking system, hasalready announced that it will be link-ing its savings deposits rates and short-term loans to the RBI’s repo rate fromMay 1.

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RBI’s decision to lower benchmark interest ratewill boost investment and buttress consumer

spending amid “growth concerns”, provided bankstransmit the reduction, industry bodies saidThursday.

The central bank also revised downwards itsGDP growth forecast for 2019-20 to 7.2 per centfrom 7.4 per cent predicted in the February poli-cy.

Ficci President Sandip Somany said Ficci had“expected a larger rate cut given benign inflationand slowing industrial as well as exports growth andliquidity concerns”, while PHDCCI PresidentRajeev Talwar said there is a scope of further reduc-tion.

The Reserve Bank Thursday lowered the keyinterest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 6 per cent,the second cut in a row, in an attempt to propeleconomy ahead of general elections.

“It demonstrates the renewed focus of RBI onstrengthening the growth metrics at a time ofbenign inflation footprint and growth concerns,”CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said onthe RBI’s move.

He hoped that banks will transmit the reduc-tion in repo rate so that actual lending rates decline.

Somany too expressed hope that the two con-secutive cuts in repo rate would translate into lowerlending rates for both retail and corporate credit.

He stressed that it was crucial for banks to trans-mit the rate cut as Ficci does not foresee much impe-tus coming from external sources of growth whileglobal economy continues to show signs of mod-eration.

“The real repo rate has remained high for a longtime and there is a scope of further reduction. Wedo hope that RBI shall continue the accommoda-tive stance in subsequent months as well,” Somanysaid.

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India is one of the world’s“highest taxing nations”, US

President Donald Trump hasalleged as he again criticisedthe country for imposing 100per cent tariffs on Americanproducts, including the icon-ic Harley-Davidson motor-cycles.

Such a high tariff is notfair, Trump said Tuesday whileaddressing the NationalRepublican CongressionalCommittee Annual SpringDinner here.

Early this year, at a WhiteHouse event to announce hissupport for reciprocal tax,Trump had said he was satis-fied with the Indian decisionto reduce the import tariff onhigh-end Harley-Davidsonmotorcycles from 100 percent to 50 per cent. “Even thisis not enough, this is okay,” hesaid at that time.

Trump has repeatedlyclaimed that India is a “tariffking” and imposes “tremen-dously high” tarif fs onAmerican products.

“I got a call from PrimeMinister (Narendra) Modi ofIndia. They’re one of the high-est taxing nations in the world.They taxed us 100 per cent,”Trump said reiterating hisoften-heard remarks on theIndian tariff structure.

“They charge us 100 percent tariffs on goods. So theysend a motorcycle--and theymake a lot of them--Indiancycles. They send them to ourcountry, we charge themnothing. We send a HarleyDavidson to India and they

charge us 100per cent. Notfair, okay. Notreciprocal. It’snot fair,”Trump said.

During hisaddress to theN a t i o n a lR e p u b l i c a nCongressionalC o m m i t t e eAnnual SpringDinner, Trumpexplained howhis trade poli-cies are suc-c e s s f u l l yaddressing thebalance oftrade issuewith othercountries.

Trade talks with China aregoing on very well, he said.

The world’s two largesteconomies are locked in atrade war since Trumpimposed heavy tariffs onimported steel and aluminiumitems from China in Marchlast year, a move that sparkedfears of a global trade war.

Trump imposed tariffhikes of up to 25 per cent on$250 billion of Chinese goods.In response, China, the world’ssecond largest economy afterthe US, imposed tit-for-tat tar-if fs on $110 bi l l ion ofAmerican goods.

Top trade officials fromAmerica and China are hold-ing talks to negotiate a com-prehensive trade deal.

“I think we’re doing verywell. They need the deal morethan we do. They need thedeal. And they getting hurt

badly with they’re paying 25per cent on $50 billion worthof technology stuff and theywere going to pay 25 per centon another $200 billion,” hesaid.

Trump said his adminis-tration is fixing broken tradedeals to protect the Americanworkers.

“We are standing up toChina’s chronic trading abus-es and theft of intellectualproperties and so many otherthings that they’ve done tous,” he said.

“I don’t know how youpeople allowed this to happenfor so many years. You’vebeen here longer than me. Butthey really have, they’ve takenadvantage of our country.And you know what? I respectthem for it. I say it. We shouldhave been doing that to them,”he said.

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Japanese prosecutorsThursday re-arrested Carlos

Ghosn on fresh allegations offinancial misconduct, as theformer auto tycoon slammedan “outrageous and arbitrary”detention and vowed he would“not be broken.”

In the early hours, officialsraided the central Tokyo apart-ment the 65-year-old Ghosnhas called home since winningbail last month after more than100 days of detention on dif-ferent charges.

It was the latest twist in arollercoaster drama that hasgripped Japan and the rest ofthe world since his shock arrestat a Tokyo Airport onNovember 19.

Prosecutors said Ghosnhad been detained over trans-fers of Nissan funds totallingUSD 15 million between late2015 and the middle of 2018.They suspect Ghosn used USD5 million of that for personalexpenditure.

“The suspect... Wasresponsible for overseeing thewhole of Nissan’s operationsand performing his duty loyallyso as not to cause losses to

Nissan, but he betrayed thatduty in order to benefit him-self,” they said in a statement.

Ghosn released a state-ment through his representa-tives attacking what he calledthe “outrageous and arbitrary”detention.

“Why arrest me except totry to break me? I will not bebroken,” said the former high-flying executive.

He has denied any wrong-doing and took to Twitter for thefirst time Wednesday toannounce plans to “tell the truth”at an April 11 news conferencethat now looks unlikely.

Prosecutors can holdGhosn for up to 22 days whilethey investigate the new claimsand may re-arrest him again orseek to hold him in pre-trialdetention.

Deputy chief prosecutorShin Kukimoto justified thearrest by saying they judgedthere was a “risk of destructionof evidence.” But Ghosn’slawyer Junichiro Hironaka,known as the “Razor” for hismental sharpness, toldreporters the fresh arrest was“against the spirit of the law”and “should not be tolerated ina civilised nation.”

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The Reserve Bank on Thursdayasserted that the Supreme

Court quashing its stressed assetresolution circular does not cur-tail its powers to get debt resolu-tions carried out, and announcedthat it will come out with arevised set of rules shortly.

The apex court quashingthe February 12, 2018 RBI cir-cular Tuesday has created wide-spread concerns on the future ofstressed assets resolutions andthe likely delays towards thesame, apart from also reversingon the gains made on credit dis-cipline in the last one year or so.

“The Supreme Court orderhas not taken away any powersfrom the RBI. The powers arestill vested with the RBI but hasto be exercised in a particularmanner,” Governor ShaktikantaDas told reporters after the cus-tomary post-policy presser atthe Mint Road headquarters.

“We will exercise the powerswhich Parliament has given to usand see that the resolution is donefast.” As expected, Das said that theRBI will come out with a revised cir-cular without “undue delay”.

“The RBI stands commit-ted to maintain and enhancethe momentum of resolution ofstressed assets and adherenceto credit discipline.”

Das explained that Section35AA of the amended BankingResolution Act has been upheldby the SC but added that as perthe statute, the RBI will have toexercise its powers “in respectof specific defaults by specificdebtors”.

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Commerce and IndustryMinister Suresh Prabhu on

Thursday said the proposednew industrial policy has beenfinalised and the newGovernment would announcethat.

“We have finalised theindustry policy. I am sure thatthe new government willannounce that soon,” Prabhusaid here at CII’s Annual ses-sion 2019.

Though the ministry hassent the final proposal of thepolicy to the Cabinet, but it wasnot taken up for consideration.

It aims at promotingemerging sectors and mod-ernising existing industries. Itwill also look to reduce regu-latory hurdles, cut paper workand support emerging and newsectors.

The ministry has plannedto set up an elaborate machin-ery including a steering com-mittee for effective implemen-tation of the policy.

This will be the thirdindustrial policy after the onesreleased in 1956 and 1991. Itwill replace the industrial pol-icy of 1991 which was preparedin the backdrop of the balanceof payment crisis.

Talking about increasing

foreign direct investment (FDI)into India, he emphasised onthe need to have a properstrategy to attract overseasinflows in greenfield as well asbrownfield projects.

“We are trying to bring inmore FDI. FDI will come eitherin greenfield area or it could bethrough acquisition. So, wemust prepare a strategy onboth... We should target thosecompanies that can investbecause they have investablesurplus and same time, wemust have a matching sectoralstrategy wherein inboundinvestments can be absorbed,”he said.

FDI in India during April-December 2018 declined by 7per cent to $33.5 billion.

He also listed out steps

which the ministry hastaken to boost exportsand further improve easeof doing business partic-ularly as district level.

He said that in 2018-19, India’s exports ofgoods and serviceswould touch about $540billion.

The country’sexports grew 8.85 percent to $298.47 billionduring the April-February period of 2018-19.

Further, he added thatthousands of start-ups havebeen recognised by the ministryand it is also working on remov-ing hurdles in their path to pro-mote budding entrepreneurs.

Talking about free tradeagreements (FTAs), Prabhusaid the ministry is in theprocess of preparing a templateto negotiate future agreementsby involving all concernedstakeholders.

Industry has raised con-cern that FTAs which wassigned by India is not benefit-ting domestic players.

On a question that ease ofdoing business is not visible onthe ground, the minister saidthey are working at district lev-els to improve business envi-ronment.

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National AluminiumCompany Limited

(NALCO), the Navratna CPSE,under Ministry of Mines,Government of India and coun-try’s leading manufacturer andexporter of alumina and alu-minium has recorded an all-round success and globalbenchmarks in the Fiscal 2018-19. Along with significantachievements on productionfront, NALCO achieved thedistinction of lowest cost pro-ducer of alumina in the World(as per the Wood Mackenziereport. Going a step further, thecompany has also been ranked

as the Lowest-cost Producer ofBauxite in the World.

It may be mentioned thatwith more than 100% capacityutilization, NALCO’sPanchpatmali Mines hasachieved Bauxite excavation of74.14 lakh MT, which is high-est ever since inception. Bauxitetransportation has gone up to72.31 lakh MT, which is alsohighest ever since inception.

Company’s AluminaRefinery has produced highest-ever 21.53 lakh MT of AluminaHydrate and set a new record.Steam & Power Plant (SPP) ofAlumina Refinery achievedhighest ever net powergeneration.

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The leading industrial andautomotive battery man-

ufacturer — Amara RajaBatteries — on Thursdayannounced that the Gallafamily is going to buy 2%shares of Johnson Controls(JC) in the country to executethe termination of their twodecade old agreements withJC. With this, the sharehold-ing of Galla family will go upto 28% from the existing 26%which makes the trigger pointfor the termination of theagreements.

The company onWednesday informed theexchanges that Galla familyhas terminated the share-holders agreement withJohnson Controls (Mauritius)Private Limited and JohnsonControls Battery group.

Both the entities have onDecember 22, 1997 entered ashareholders agreement,investment and Technicalassistance.

The market analystsexpect this developmentwould save 4-5% in terms ofroyal that Amara Raja paysevery year and the TeluguCompany may also increasethe stake in a gradual mannerover a period of time.

Ramachandra N Gallaand his family (26%) andJohnson Controls (Mauritius)Private Limited (26%) areequal partners in the pro-moter group of Amara RajaBatteries. While the promot-er group owns 52% stake inthe company, the rest 48%stake is in the public handsincluding the mutual fundsand retail investors.

Jayadev Galla, son ofRamachandra N Gallla, is theManaging Director of thecompany and a sitting MPfrom Guntur ParliamentaryConstituency in AndhraPradesh.

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Finance Secretary SubhashChandra Garg on Thursday

said the Government is close tomeeting fiscal deficit target of3.4 per cent for 2018-19.

The Government in theinterim Budget in Februaryrevised upward the fiscal deficittarget to 3.4 per cent from 3.3per cent of GDP estimatedearlier for the financial yearended March 31.

“We are very close to meet-ing (fiscal deficit),” he saidwhen asked whether theGovernment has met fiscaldeficit target for 2018-19.

“Some numbers are still tocome. So, we will wait for acouple of days. There willalways be some shortfall butsum and substance of that iswhat is the net impact on thedeficit,” he said on the sidelinesof the CII event here.

The Government at manyoccasions had indicated thatthere might be some shortfallon indirect taxes collectionside during 2018-19 but not ondirect tax front.

Direct tax collection wasrevised upward to �12 lakhcrore.

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Sterlite Power, a powertransmission company

launched — ACCC Silvassa(HPC), Cable withCoExtruded Duct (CCD) and96F OPGW Central Al cladTube Design. These productswill help address the distrib-ution losses and improve effi-ciencies.

The R&D team of thecompany has designed prod-ucts that will help increase itsmarket reach across 40 coun-tries and are compliant tostringent global norms andusher greener options in theelectricity value chain.

Talking about the prod-ucts, Manish Agarwal, CEOSolutions Business, SterlitePower said, “Indian cities arewitnessing rapid urban evo-lution and there is unprece-dented need for reliable andquality power. Sterlite Powerhas been at the forefront ofdelivering next generationsolutions.”

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Amid uncertainty over futureof Jet Airways, the consor-

tium of SBI-led lenders onThursday said bids for sellingstake would be invited on April6 and other options would beexplored in case the stake saleefforts does not result in an“acceptable outcome”.

After taking stock of thecurrent situation at cash-strapped Jet Airways, which iscurrently operating less than 30planes, the lenders said theywould pursue resolution planfor the carrier in a time-boundmanner under the present legaland regulatory framework.

The expressions of interestfor selling stake in the ailingairline would be invited onApril 6 and the last date forsubmission of bids would beApril 9, a statement issued bythe SBI on behalf of 26 lenderssaid.

SBI is the lead lender to JetAirways, which has a debt bur-

den of more than �8,000 crore.“The lenders are cognisant

thpti n t the outcome of theefforts of the lenders willdepend on the interest shown bythe parties on sale of stake in thecompany,” the statement issuedlate in the evening said.

“Whilst all efforts will bemade for the stake sale by thelenders, other options may beconsidered by the lendersshould these efforts not result inan acceptable outcome,” it said.

The statement was issuedafter a nearly three-hour meet-ing of the lenders in the nation-al capital. The meeting waschaired by SBI ChairmaRajnish Kumar, who earlier inthe day met severalGovernment officials in thefinance and Civil AviationMinistries.

Under the debt resolutionplan approved by the JetAirways’ board on March 25,lenders have taken majoritystake in the airline and are setto infuse �1,500 crore funds.

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The BSNL EmployeesUnion on Thursday

opposed the Government’sproposal to implement a vol-untary retirement scheme,alleging that it is a strategy toreduce the PSU’s workforcebefore handing it over to a pri-vate player.

The union in a statementalleged step-motherly attitudeof the Government towardsBSNL as the company has notbeen allocated 4G spectrumrequired for the its businessgrowth.

It said that telecom min-ister Manoj Sinha had givenassurance in January 2018that BSNL would be allottedspectrum for 4G services butit is pending till date.

According to sources, theDepartment of Telecom hadfloated a cabinet note for allo-cation of spectrum for 4G ser-vices to BSNL but FinanceMinistry raised questions onthe business viability of suchproposal.

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New Delhi (PTI): The country’s services sec-tor activity eased in March with slowest pace ofoutput growth in six months due to a slowerexpansion in new work, leading to weakest rateof hiring since last September, a monthly surveyshowed on Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India ServicesBusiness Activity Index fell to 52 in March from52.5 in February, indicating the slowest expan-sion since last September. Despite the modera-tion, the services PMI was in the expansion ter-ritory for the 10th straight month. In PMI par-lance, a print above 50 means expansion, whilea score below denotes contraction.

“Indian service sector growth weakened atthe end of the fourth quarter of FY18, with activ-ity expanding at the slowest rate since lastSeptember,” said IHS Markit principal economistPollyanna De Lima, author of the report.

Meanwhile, optimism regarding the year-ahead outlook for business activity strengthenedfor the second month in a row. “Business expec-tations strengthened in March, indicating thatservices companies are hopeful that conditionswill advance in the months to come. However,an anaemic pace of job creation hints that ser-vice providers are not fully convinced about ashift into a higher growth gear,” Lima said.

Meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted NikkeiIndia Composite PMI Output Index, that mapsboth the manufacturing and services industry,dipped from 53.8 in February to a six-month lowof 52.7 in March. “Digging deeper into the anec-dotal evidence provided by surveyed firms, thereare concerns about delayed payment fromclients and a challenging economic situation,”Lima said. Firms commented that successful mar-keting efforts and greater demand underpinnedthe rise in sales, but some noted that an increas-ingly competitive environment acted as a brakeon growth. On the prices front, input cost infla-tion eased, while an acceleration was seen for ser-vices charges.

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Markets nursed lossesfor the second straightsession on Thursday

after the RBI slashed the inter-est rate but lowered the GDPgrowth forecast for 2019-20and kept its monetary policystance ‘neutral’ amid uncer-tainty over monsoon.

Lacklustre services data,depreciating rupee and weakoverseas cues also weighed ontrading sentiment, brokers said.

After a volatile session, theBSE Sensex settled 192.40points, or 0.49 per cent, lowerat 38,684.72. The broader NSENifty dropped 45.95 points, or0.39 per cent, to end at 11,598.

In a bid to boost the slug-gish economy before elections,the RBI on Thursday cut thepolicy rate by 25 basis pointsfor the second time in as manymonths, a move that may trans-late into lower EMIs for homeand other loans. The repo ratenow stands at a one-year low of6 per cent.

However, the central bankadded that the domestic econ-omy is facing headwinds, espe-cially on the global front, as itlowered its economic growthforecast for 2019-20 to 7.2 percent from 7.4 per cent esti-mated in February. It also keptits monetary policy stance‘neutral’ amid uncertainty overmonsoon.

Rate-sensitive stocks endedon a mixed note, with the BSE

auto and realty indices risingup to 0.61 per cent, while theBSE bankex lost 0.67 per cent.

TCS was the biggest loserin the Sensex pack, sliding3.17 per cent, followed by HCLTech, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank,RIL, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank,Tata Steel, L&T and Infosys,down up to 2.34 per cent.

On the other hand, TataMotors, Hero MotoCorp, BhartiAirtel, HDFC, Asian Paints,Vedanta and Sun Pharma wereamong the top gainers, rising upto 2.49 per cent.

“Investors turned cautiousabout the downward revisionin GDP growth to 7.2 per centfor FY20 while premium valu-ation and concerns over mon-soon further impacted the sen-timent,” said Vinod Nair, headof research at Geojit FinancialServices.

Meanwhile, the country’sservices sector activity eased inMarch, with the slowest pace ofoutput growth in six monthsdue to a slower expansion in

new work.The seasonally adjusted

Nikkei India Services BusinessActivity Index fell to 52 inMarch from 52.5 in February.

Sectorally, BSE IT, energyand oil and gas indices sufferedmost losses, shedding up to1.53 per cent.

Broader indices too endedin the red, with the BSE Midcapand Smallcap indices slippingup to 0.32 per cent.

The rupee depreciated 63paise to 69.04 against the USdollar intra-day.

Foreign institutionalinvestors (FIIs) pulled out�1,040.48 crore Wednesday,and domestic institutionalinvestors (DIIs) sold equities tothe tune of �80.83 crore, pro-visional data available withstock exchanges showed.

Global markets slippedfrom eight-month highs asinvestors fretted over theprogress of US-China tradenegotiations.

In Asia, Korea’s Kospi rose0.15 per cent, Japan’s Nikkeiinched up 0.05 per cent andShanghai Composite Indexgained 0.94 per cent. HongKong’s Hang Seng declined0.17 per cent.

In Europe, Frankfurt’sDAX was down 0.03 per cent,Paris CAC 40 fell 0.31 per cent,while London’s FTSE slipped0.57 per cent in early deals.

The benchmark Brentcrude futures fell 0.39 per centto USD 69.04 per barrel.

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Ahead of the general elections,Fitch on Thursday retained

India’s sovereign rating at ‘BBB-’, thelowest investment grade, with stableoutlook, saying a weak fiscal posi-tion continues to constrain its rat-ing. This is the 13th year in a rowthat global rating agency Fitch hasrated India at ‘BBB-’. It had lastupgraded India’s sovereign ratingfrom ‘BB+’ to ‘BBB-’ with a stableoutlook on August 1, 2006.

“India’s ratings balance a strongmedium-term growth outlook andrelative external resilience stem-ming from strong foreign reservebuffers, against high public debt, aweak financial sector and some lag-ging structural factors,” Fitch Ratingssaid in a statement.

Stating that a weak fiscal positioncontinues to constrain India’s sover-eign ratings, Fitch said the next gov-ernment’s medium-term fiscal poli-cy would be of particular importancefrom a rating perspective. “Significantand politically difficult fiscal deficitreduction would be key to meet thegeneral government debt ceiling of 60per cent of GDP by March 2025, asintroduced in the FiscalResponsibility and BudgetManagement (FRBM) Act inFebruary 2018,” Fitch said whileaffirming the country’s long-term for-eign-currency Issuer Default Rating(IDR) at ‘BBB-’ with a stable outlook.

Fitch said that though the gen-eral elections result in some tem-porary uncertainty about the poli-

cy agenda, but over the past 30 yearsgovernments of different politicalpersuasions have been generallyreform-minded.

“Polls indicate that the nextgovernment will likely have a small-er majority in the lower house ofParliament, the Lok Sabha, than thecurrent government and it mightfind it more difficult to garner sup-port for major reforms such as theGST. However, there seems plenty ofpotential for a continued focus onreforms, for instance throughenhancement of the efficiency andeffectiveness of the administrationand the legal and judiciary system,”the agency added.

Fitch said a robust growth out-look continues to support India’scredit profile and expects the coun-try to grow at 6.8 per cent to 7.1 percent in the current fiscal and thenext, respectively, supported byaccommodative monetary policy,easing of bank regulations, andgovernment spending. It said as perthe official data, India’s growth hadaveraged 7.5 per cent in the five yearsup to 2018-19, which was more thantwice as fast as the historical ‘BBB’peer median of 3.6 per cent.

The current government hasimplemented some ambitious andtransformative reforms, notably theGoods and Services Tax (GST) andthe Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code,while some other reforms so far seemto have had less traction, it added.

“Easing of foreign direct invest-ment regulations and a reduction inred tape appear to have reducedtransaction costs, but difficulties in

doing business in India continue tolinger, coinciding with lacklustre FDIinflows. Modest fiscal slippage rel-ative to the Central government’sown targets in recent years hasresulted in a stalling of fiscal con-solidation. Campaign promises tosupport farmers’ incomes, includingdirect cash transfers and farm loanwaivers will, moreover, add tospending pressures in current fiscal,”the agency said.

The general government deficithas remained broadly stable ataround 7 per cent of GDP in the pastfive years, while off-budget financ-ing has gained importance and thegeneral government debt increasedto a Fitch-estimated 68.8 per cent ofGDP in FY19 from 67.1 per cent inFY14, it added.

The government had revisedupwards the fiscal deficit target for2018-19 fiscal to 3.4 per cent from3.3 per cent projected in the budget.For current fiscal, which begun onApril 1, the fiscal deficit target hasbeen set at 3.4 per cent.

“India continues to exhibit somestructural weaknesses relative topeers and is less developed on anumber of metrics. Governancestandards remain weak, as illustrat-ed by a low score for the WorldBank’s governance indicator (47thpercentile versus the ‘BBB’ medianof 59th percentile). India’s rankingon the United Nations HumanDevelopment Index (32nd per-centile versus the ‘BBB’ median of67th percentile) also indicates rela-tively low basic human develop-ment,” Fitch said.

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Script Open High Low LTPSUZLON 6.50 6.83 6.24 6.70JPASSOCIAT 6.33 6.47 6.01 6.09RCOM 3.50 3.65 3.42 3.42IBULHSGFIN 880.00 904.00 872.65 898.35YESBANK 274.95 274.95 265.40 268.15TATAMOTORS 202.35 206.70 201.30 206.10JETAIRWAYS 246.00 264.70 241.20 259.95ZEEL 403.70 419.95 391.50 417.30RELIANCE 1379.00 1383.75 1347.05 1353.10BOMDYEING 138.20 146.80 138.05 142.85SPICEJET 96.90 98.00 93.55 94.15SBIN 320.75 325.55 318.55 321.70AMARAJABAT 690.00 700.00 658.05 675.70RELCAPITAL 194.40 197.90 185.20 187.70DHFL 149.30 150.75 146.45 148.65PNB 94.40 95.80 92.95 93.60KOTAKBANK 1333.95 1346.45 1318.65 1324.05MARUTI 7101.00 7161.60 7058.65 7114.25TCS 2080.00 2080.75 2006.00 2014.30RPOWER 10.49 10.53 10.20 10.32BANKBARODA 133.60 134.00 130.15 131.15DISHTV 38.35 41.35 38.35 39.05IDEA 15.95 15.95 14.95 15.15RELINFRA 137.75 138.70 132.15 133.00INFY* 751.95 753.80 745.50 748.25FORCEMOT 1692.00 1869.00 1661.00 1789.30DLF 203.85 204.70 198.25 200.90ANDHRABANK 31.20 31.35 29.50 30.60ICICIBANK 393.30 395.50 387.35 388.50INDIGO 1380.50 1440.00 1374.00 1432.85PETRONET 243.90 244.00 236.80 238.65

IBVENTURES 336.70 342.75 323.00 328.65AXISBANK 765.00 771.95 760.00 762.15UNIONBANK 94.50 96.45 91.90 92.30SAIL 57.40 58.60 56.10 58.20HDFC 2013.00 2059.00 2010.65 2041.25ONGC 155.40 156.80 153.35 155.15TATASTEEL 537.00 537.00 527.10 530.55IOC 154.50 156.05 153.10 154.90HEROMOTOCO 2590.00 2647.85 2590.00 2637.70PERSISTENT* 630.90 633.00 609.40 616.55LUPIN 771.00 792.00 771.00 788.55RECLTD 151.05 152.65 149.45 151.20WIPRO 261.80 262.00 254.90 258.95SUNPHARMA 463.95 469.90 460.00 465.80LT 1391.00 1393.30 1366.00 1368.95BHEL 74.50 74.95 71.90 73.00GODREJPROP 899.00 921.00 895.55 914.30SOUTHBANK 16.65 16.90 16.30 16.60ASHOKLEY 87.90 88.80 87.00 87.50PNBHOUSING 920.00 967.00 915.00 958.80VEDL 183.15 188.90 183.15 187.15NATIONALUM 55.90 56.50 55.20 55.45JINDALSTEL 184.70 184.70 178.95 181.55CANBK 292.00 292.00 281.10 282.00BHARTIARTL 353.00 359.20 352.60 356.60BANKINDIA 101.90 104.65 100.55 101.00DMART 1475.00 1480.00 1431.10 1444.45BEL 97.50 99.00 96.20 97.35JUBILANT 704.85 721.00 699.70 718.45TATACHEM 590.95 606.70 588.40 603.30UJJIVAN 325.00 330.85 316.95 319.95AUROPHARMA 772.20 788.10 772.20 782.35BPCL 364.80 364.80 353.60 354.75TECHM 780.90 781.65 767.05 774.15M&M 664.00 664.00 652.10 654.55IDBI 44.90 44.90 43.70 44.10HEXAWARE 364.80 365.00 354.70 362.45HCLTECH 1117.10 1118.00 1082.00 1097.65NCC 110.85 110.95 104.10 104.65JUSTDIAL 590.95 593.50 574.00 576.10HDFCBANK 2295.00 2311.05 2280.05 2284.30HINDALCO 214.20 214.95 210.00 210.50IDFCFIRSTB 54.10 54.75 53.55 54.00INDUSINDBK 1770.55 1781.45 1726.65 1739.80UPL 929.95 936.70 901.45 931.75NTPC 135.35 136.65 134.50 135.40ACC 1629.45 1652.00 1618.00 1627.00INDIACEM 107.65 110.25 106.90 108.25IFCI 13.38 13.42 12.95 13.10LAKSHVILAS 85.90 88.35 84.15 88.35SRF 2425.00 2500.00 2411.85 2487.10HINDUNILVR 1673.00 1687.00 1658.05 1668.00MANAPPURAM 119.45 120.70 116.00 118.45RBLBANK 666.90 666.90 646.60 649.75HINDPETRO 261.05 263.80 256.70 259.15BHARATFORG 503.50 509.85 498.60 507.75

ORIENTBANK 112.00 116.35 111.15 112.30ASIANPAINT 1510.00 1525.00 1504.00 1518.70ADANIPORTS 384.90 384.90 375.00 380.60STAR 481.95 503.00 471.20 496.30BEML 1002.05 1012.00 980.00 983.40BAJFINANCE 3050.00 3065.10 3018.50 3041.70L&TFH 152.90 152.90 148.20 149.50FEDERALBNK 95.00 96.90 94.75 95.10TITAN 1100.15 1122.85 1095.00 1106.90IBREALEST 91.10 94.80 88.70 89.50ADANIPOWER 49.80 49.80 47.70 48.05JSWSTEEL 290.95 290.95 285.40 287.90ITC 295.95 296.90 293.95 294.50NBCC 62.85 62.85 60.50 60.80PEL 2596.75 2627.35 2581.90 2616.90PIDILITIND 1285.00 1293.50 1263.30 1287.40SIEMENS 1160.00 1164.35 1138.00 1142.85GRAPHITE 453.00 456.30 446.50 451.00GRUH 285.80 288.45 280.00 283.20UBL 1412.00 1433.25 1398.70 1427.40SUVEN 261.00 266.80 252.00 255.40HEG 2094.60 2104.95 2053.40 2062.70EDELWEISS 188.25 189.70 184.50 187.00M&MFIN 422.30 423.10 412.10 413.80NAVKARCORP 38.40 38.55 36.50 37.70GLENMARK 641.95 655.00 641.95 652.95MEGH 61.10 61.50 59.60 60.20WOCKPHARMA 433.55 448.45 433.55 444.50ALBK 53.00 54.90 52.70 53.45TATAMTRDVR 97.00 98.25 96.75 97.55EICHERMOT 20198.90 20590.00 19960.00 20503.00GNFC 315.85 325.00 315.25 323.40PIIND 1045.00 1061.65 1020.10 1024.30ULTRACEMCO 4015.00 4111.30 4015.00 4079.90AUBANK 599.00 607.45 586.45 596.85SUNTV 630.05 635.25 621.20 627.10EXIDEIND 210.10 216.00 210.10 215.20DELTACORP 264.55 264.95 259.00 263.05ICICIPRULI 365.00 365.40 359.10 360.40ABCAPITAL 101.80 101.80 97.90 98.20ISEC 225.00 243.60 225.00 239.10CHOLAFIN 1463.05 1487.00 1437.90 1453.10JUBLFOOD 1430.70 1441.35 1421.00 1432.55CANFINHOME 352.00 356.55 343.20 346.70DRREDDY 2757.00 2792.90 2753.75 2772.35ADVENZYMES 179.30 187.80 179.30 185.70SBILIFE 603.00 604.90 590.00 595.00BANDHANBNK 553.20 557.95 541.65 545.00EQUITAS 137.60 138.90 134.80 135.65LTI 1714.80 1714.80 1660.00 1671.40HDFCLIFE 384.20 385.85 377.60 378.45PCJEWELLER 81.65 82.70 80.50 81.00INDIANB 282.95 282.95 271.60 274.50CIPLA 519.00 523.25 517.70 522.10OIL 183.05 183.10 177.80 178.70VIPIND 488.10 489.75 472.20 475.35REPCOHOME 462.90 462.90 425.65 429.95STRTECH 220.00 221.00 215.10 216.75MOTHERSUMI 150.35 151.80 149.10 150.55ESCORTS 774.90 774.90 761.80 770.40AMBUJACEM 228.00 229.40 222.05 222.75RNAM 196.00 200.05 192.90 197.85HSIL 274.50 285.55 273.70 282.35MPHASIS 978.90 980.35 961.10 974.75CUMMINSIND 734.00 743.75 715.15 718.60EIHOTEL 202.00 202.90 197.50 198.75ITI 102.00 104.00 100.55 102.75GAIL 353.25 354.90 344.40 347.35PFC 119.25 120.90 118.00 119.50CGPOWER 40.25 40.90 39.40 39.70DABUR 405.75 406.80 403.00 405.75POWERGRID 202.00 203.10 198.30 199.20GUJGAS 148.90 155.00 148.30 149.40CEATLTD 1109.60 1118.70 1103.10 1111.65TVSMOTOR 491.00 494.30 483.50 487.85ASHOKA 131.10 132.70 126.15 130.80VOLTAS 628.50 628.50 602.00 607.05RAYMOND 810.00 813.70 795.35 801.00TATAPOWER 70.65 72.25 70.50 70.90INFIBEAM 41.70 41.80 40.70 41.05SYNDIBANK 42.90 44.15 42.40 43.30PHILIPCARB 173.00 173.00 168.50 169.90BATAINDIA 1397.35 1407.00 1386.05 1400.90JMFINANCIL 92.95 92.95 89.00 90.95NIITTECH 1360.00 1360.00 1319.00 1329.90SPARC 187.90 189.80 184.15 185.55OMAXE 212.55 212.55 210.60 210.65SRTRANSFIN 1215.00 1218.80 1197.20 1208.25KEC 300.05 300.05 285.70 288.10GRASIM 830.15 840.00 825.75 834.65TATAGLOBAL 206.10 211.95 205.65 210.85COALINDIA 233.70 235.45 233.10 234.75LICHSGFIN 541.45 543.00 530.45 534.15BAJAJFINSV 7393.25 7411.60 7280.00 7323.35TATAELXSI 977.10 977.10 957.60 962.95GODREJCP 668.00 681.00 668.00 675.25ISGEC 568.00 584.40 567.05 576.20GMRINFRA 18.60 19.30 18.50 19.05TORNTPOWER 261.95 263.25 256.80 261.70ICICIGI 1013.95 1015.00 995.00 1010.10WELCORP 145.70 149.50 144.00 148.50MARICO 355.50 358.30 352.30 354.80CASTROLIND 167.40 170.00 165.15 166.20APOLLOTYRE 220.75 222.95 217.05 222.30CROMPTON 229.50 235.95 228.10 231.05CONCOR 535.00 537.55 527.55 532.75BAJAJ-AUTO 2860.25 2882.40 2854.50 2866.65NAVINFLUOR 767.00 774.00 732.00 735.80IDFC 45.45 47.30 45.20 46.35

AVANTI 402.25 409.30 397.95 399.35NMDC 104.60 106.20 104.25 105.00NOCIL 145.00 145.00 139.40 140.15IEX 161.70 165.90 161.10 162.20FRETAIL 462.65 462.65 446.30 450.70ORIENTCEM 85.30 95.00 85.30 93.35JAICORPLTD 110.25 110.95 108.00 108.80IRB 149.70 150.55 143.40 144.45COROMANDEL 466.90 470.50 454.85 456.00INDHOTEL 154.00 156.05 152.20 153.35ENGINERSIN 117.20 118.80 116.25 118.30MFSL 435.85 446.60 432.45 439.25BRITANNIA 3008.90 3055.00 2985.00 3044.35INFRATEL 317.50 319.10 315.00 316.30HFCL 22.55 22.55 21.90 22.25GUJFLUORO 1073.00 1073.00 1006.90 1058.00MGL 1005.00 1016.70 985.00 990.55INOXLEISUR 311.00 316.40 299.35 302.85SUNTECK 470.25 475.00 460.00 471.90RAIN 100.00 100.35 98.40 99.35DIVISLAB 1676.00 1713.15 1676.00 1703.60BALKRISIND 991.60 1000.75 981.85 984.30IGL 303.70 309.20 301.50 303.30PVR 1654.25 1661.45 1622.30 1657.40JISLJALEQS 57.50 58.00 56.85 57.50KTKBANK 130.75 132.90 130.35 131.20HAVELLS 767.40 768.75 757.40 767.30CENTURYTEX 906.80 917.85 903.90 912.75BIOCON 608.00 614.00 605.80 612.85IPCALAB 969.25 969.90 948.00 959.75CADILAHC 338.80 347.00 337.95 344.15GREAVESCOT 147.00 147.00 141.75 145.90INTELLECT 216.00 217.40 211.25 214.55MMTC 29.50 29.65 28.10 28.25SHANKARA 428.00 454.35 428.00 450.60CENTRUM 32.35 32.50 31.90 32.05VENKYS 2210.00 2228.20 2165.00 2171.65WESTLIFE 432.55 434.35 419.00 420.40WELSPUNIND 58.05 58.95 57.20 57.85SWANENERGY 112.00 119.60 110.95 117.20REDINGTON 96.90 101.65 96.45 97.95RADICO 399.85 399.85 390.25 391.45BAJAJHLDNG 3391.50 3412.05 3290.00 3336.50VGUARD 223.85 223.85 220.00 220.90HINDZINC 281.00 284.90 281.00 283.20GSPL 176.35 177.00 172.50 176.20JKTYRE 92.40 94.50 92.10 92.85GODREJAGRO 524.95 528.60 515.00 519.75AJANTPHARM 1024.90 1028.95 1008.45 1016.75FSL 48.85 48.85 47.00 47.25CYIENT* 591.50 594.00 580.00 583.20VBL 915.90 923.00 884.95 895.65BLISSGVS 178.60 180.00 175.95 178.30MANPASAND 119.95 122.00 109.05 115.05GICRE 267.50 267.85 260.00 262.40OFSS 3493.00 3568.00 3464.75 3548.35GSFC 102.70 103.85 101.15 102.60TATAMETALI 649.00 663.00 646.00 650.80RCF 59.05 59.50 58.40 58.70FCONSUMER 44.50 44.85 43.70 44.10HEIDELBERG 176.45 183.70 176.45 180.30CHENNPETRO 261.60 264.00 258.45 261.65TRIDENT 69.00 69.00 66.95 67.40TRITURBINE 117.75 117.75 111.45 113.05MUTHOOTFIN 613.00 617.30 604.50 606.40J&KBANK 59.00 59.00 56.50 56.90MCX 784.50 791.10 776.15 783.35AARTIIND 1565.10 1592.45 1564.60 1585.45JSWENERGY 72.95 73.90 71.80 73.20TV18BRDCST 34.05 35.70 34.05 34.90FINCABLES 464.00 475.00 447.00 467.90LTTS 1585.00 1614.90 1573.00 1582.90RAJESHEXPO 688.00 688.00 668.50 674.20SCI 37.80 37.80 35.90 36.00DBL 630.00 639.90 610.10 625.85BAJAJELEC 551.10 554.80 536.80 540.75IBULISL 336.95 347.20 329.00 332.50DEEPAKFERT 134.20 134.55 130.85 132.05BBTC 1278.00 1303.00 1275.10 1293.95JINDALSAW 85.40 86.05 83.60 83.90MRPL 73.40 73.40 69.25 70.80PRESTIGE 251.90 258.10 251.65 255.55COFFEEDAY 276.90 280.00 273.00 275.20BLUESTARCO 687.45 703.00 676.60 697.85INDOSTAR 403.00 403.00 385.50 391.70KEI 415.00 418.45 410.00 413.10HINDCOPPER 49.75 50.25 48.60 48.75GRANULES 109.00 109.35 105.50 108.65PRSMJOHNSN 96.00 98.20 93.10 94.95KSCL 471.30 471.30 459.50 461.90TRENT 353.70 357.20 345.00 349.45CHAMBLFERT 165.95 166.60 163.50 164.55NATCOPHARM* 561.00 565.00 551.95 555.65KAJARIACER 605.80 615.00 601.00 610.50COLPAL 1249.55 1255.50 1243.00 1250.70SYMPHONY 1355.55 1392.45 1340.00 1382.95KANSAINER 464.90 470.15 461.30 467.05MERCK 3737.45 3776.40 3651.50 3712.90GICHSGFIN 275.00 275.00 262.00 263.90DEEPAKNI 268.15 274.35 263.30 271.75DCMSHRIRAM 409.45 410.40 405.00 406.45HUDCO 45.70 45.70 44.60 44.95TAKE 146.20 148.80 146.15 147.30RAMCOCEM 743.75 761.40 741.85 757.15KRBL 334.50 339.00 329.80 336.00MOIL 160.50 163.65 160.50 162.25MINDAIND 332.35 342.00 331.65 339.15HSCL 116.50 117.20 115.35 116.00APOLLOHOSP 1260.00 1267.45 1248.80 1257.55

MAGMA 121.30 122.05 119.50 120.60GPPL 97.55 97.90 94.75 95.60TATACOFFEE 93.05 93.10 90.15 90.90ESSELPRO 117.00 121.70 111.60 114.95DCAL 217.05 228.95 215.55 225.90JAMNAAUTO 59.05 60.35 58.95 59.20JKLAKSHMI 351.80 356.50 341.45 351.60EMAMILTD 408.25 413.50 407.30 410.35AEGISLOG 204.50 204.50 199.00 203.35WABAG 315.55 317.00 307.50 308.90SOBHA 494.00 494.00 480.00 482.80GRINDWELL 594.00 602.00 580.00 580.70JSLHISAR 95.00 95.55 92.00 93.05CENTURYPLY 207.90 208.65 202.00 205.70NHPC 24.65 24.65 24.35 24.45BERGEPAINT 330.00 332.70 328.00 331.60QUESS 718.00 720.15 701.40 710.45PARAGMILK 250.50 250.50 244.30 246.45GHCL 243.00 244.15 239.40 242.10ABFRL 222.00 222.00 218.50 219.60LEMONTREE 81.10 81.20 79.60 80.00PAGEIND 25199.85 25199.85 24270.05 24544.40TORNTPHARM 1910.50 1922.15 1895.45 1902.20NESTLEIND 11005.05 11035.60 10870.20 10972.80NETWORK18 35.40 35.40 34.75 34.90ENDURANCE 1166.30 1177.80 1152.90 1172.75RELAXO 831.35 850.00 826.00 844.60CARBORUNIV 393.00 394.00 386.00 387.90DCBBANK 198.00 200.60 197.00 198.20SREINFRA 28.25 28.65 27.90 28.35NAUKRI 1848.00 1862.10 1836.05 1846.10NLCINDIA 68.15 68.45 67.00 67.95ABB 1334.40 1336.10 1317.30 1326.00ADANIGREEN 37.25 37.80 36.50 37.10HERITGFOOD 546.80 548.00 538.00 541.15SHREECEM 18530.00 19225.75 18530.00 18815.80GET&D 284.80 284.80 278.90 282.10BOSCHLTD 18169.95 18169.95 17801.15 17853.50SHK 153.00 154.60 151.50 152.55CENTRALBK 35.20 35.65 34.75 35.20COCHINSHIP 392.35 394.55 386.45 389.05NIACL 190.20 192.00 182.65 186.05MINDTREE 941.80 946.80 941.00 942.25APLAPOLLO 1474.00 1485.25 1411.20 1451.45GODREJIND 532.55 533.75 526.00 529.60PHOENIXLTD 672.30 679.50 645.00 658.20IOB 15.19 15.40 14.78 14.85SONATSOFTW 349.00 349.00 341.55 345.40GUJALKALI 492.80 499.25 488.55 495.25GODFRYPHLP 1135.40 1136.35 1113.95 1126.20TTKPRESTIG 8500.00 8513.75 8312.00 8372.80PTC 75.45 75.50 74.70 75.20MAHLOG 514.05 522.70 507.55 511.05MINDACORP 136.10 136.65 132.75 133.70HIMATSEIDE 212.00 216.55 211.00 214.35TATACOMM 598.00 599.10 591.00 596.15SUPREMEIND 1127.00 1135.00 1121.00 1128.70LALPATHLAB 1042.45 1042.95 1019.10 1021.60CUB 199.00 203.80 196.85 202.75EIDPARRY 213.65 215.00 206.00 207.00AKZOINDIA 1783.55 1861.80 1775.35 1835.85GSKCONS 7024.00 7050.00 6951.00 6977.80OBEROIRLTY 539.85 539.85 528.55 536.30SCHNEIDER 110.00 110.00 104.70 105.15CORPBANK 28.90 29.10 28.00 28.35TIINDIA 388.00 391.85 382.00 390.15MAHLIFE 379.00 380.00 371.20 374.40BASF 1420.00 1420.00 1381.65 1413.15FINOLEXIND 499.00 499.00 475.00 477.60TIMETECHNO 103.95 103.95 98.65 99.30JSL 42.40 42.40 41.15 41.25GDL 133.85 133.85 129.05 130.15SUNDRMFAST 578.00 591.50 570.00 573.30RALLIS 161.00 161.60 160.40 160.60HONAUT 22967.30 23290.90 22800.00 23139.70THERMAX 968.00 971.00 952.90 962.05THOMASCOOK 248.00 249.90 243.00 248.40ADANITRANS 218.40 222.60 218.40 221.50JBCHEPHARM 348.05 356.80 345.00 349.50EVEREADY 190.35 191.65 188.50 189.20BAJAJCON 315.60 318.50 313.20 317.50BIRLACORPN 513.25 522.80 513.00 518.80BALMLAWRIE 185.70 186.85 184.30 184.95SHOPERSTOP 469.90 477.85 460.20 461.75LINDEINDIA 478.70 483.00 467.25 469.25ALLCARGO 111.55 111.55 108.60 109.05MRF 60021.15 60500.00 59599.95 59815.70

ECLERX 1143.00 1143.00 1133.15 1134.85ERIS 615.50 626.95 610.70 622.25FORTIS 136.20 137.50 136.00 136.65WABCOINDIA 6350.00 6370.00 6300.00 6329.40KALPATPOWR 469.70 469.70 453.25 463.70SJVN 24.00 24.25 23.95 24.05UCOBANK 19.00 19.15 18.85 18.95BHARATFIN 1123.75 1124.45 1096.25 1102.00LAXMIMACH 6195.05 6246.75 6000.00 6097.80GLAXO 1291.50 1298.55 1284.55 1289.35PFIZER 3245.00 3260.00 3204.40 3250.80ZENSARTECH 230.40 234.95 223.00 230.95NILKAMAL 1412.00 1419.40 1386.65 1413.00SYNGENE 588.00 588.00 578.65 581.05CERA 2862.00 2862.00 2777.00 2788.40UFLEX 232.85 233.50 230.50 232.55FLFL 478.50 484.00 475.80 479.40MAHABANK 13.95 14.06 13.80 13.83ITDCEM 132.50 132.50 125.45 127.55GAYAPROJ 164.65 166.70 158.55 161.35TVTODAY 313.95 318.50 302.80 312.85HAL 720.00 720.00 709.80 711.35SADBHAV 244.45 245.30 243.30 245.00ATUL 3594.40 3594.40 3500.00 3517.05UNITEDBNK 11.39 11.45 10.96 11.09FORBESCO 2299.10 2315.00 2268.00 2274.45PNCINFRA 150.10 152.10 147.10 149.85VINATIORGA 1719.80 1720.00 1696.50 1705.65SCHAEFFLER 5336.15 5527.05 5336.15 5381.35TATAINVEST 860.00 868.00 853.00 864.20JKCEMENT 839.00 860.00 836.30 848.75SHARDACROP 390.00 395.20 383.00 385.40GMDCLTD 81.35 81.45 79.25 79.75SUPPETRO 224.20 225.45 219.60 221.75SANOFI 5970.00 6016.10 5855.00 5869.45ZYDUSWELL 1321.45 1321.45 1295.00 1298.30FDC 168.55 169.25 166.10 167.50LAURUSLABS 390.05 393.00 385.40 387.50WHIRLPOOL 1488.00 1493.50 1469.80 1490.55ALKEM 1761.90 1762.45 1720.00 1743.50JCHAC 2040.00 2070.00 1990.00 2036.50NESCO 480.70 480.70 467.40 472.45CRISIL 1425.25 1444.20 1417.65 1435.10TIMKEN 597.00 603.80 588.90 590.20GREENPLY 161.60 163.50 161.10 162.60TEJASNET 168.50 172.00 166.65 167.90TEAMLEASE 2948.00 3063.25 2948.00 3030.60JYOTHYLAB 183.00 183.95 181.25 183.10BDL 287.00 287.00 280.20 281.00ITDC 278.85 281.95 272.20 274.40MOTILALOFS 615.00 615.00 606.35 610.50SUDARSCHEM 344.55 347.30 338.40 342.40CARERATING 986.00 989.40 983.70 988.05NBVENTURES 104.40 106.05 103.55 103.85MHRIL 244.80 244.80 239.00 242.00THYROCARE 535.00 535.00 522.05 522.35JAGRAN 121.55 121.55 117.90 119.15VMART 2710.00 2710.00 2630.25 2657.85APLLTD 534.95 544.00 532.00 537.65MAXINDIA 70.25 71.05 69.90 70.60GILLETTE 6655.00 6655.00 6585.20 6633.10ASTERDM 153.50 153.50 151.35 152.25LUXIND 1383.20 1392.30 1370.00 1375.65CAPPL 404.00 404.00 391.20 395.95KNRCON 254.35 255.00 250.00 254.15CCL 285.75 287.50 281.05 285.203MINDIA 23900.00 23900.00 23526.00 23677.95MAHINDCIE 229.00 229.55 226.10 226.30DHANUKA 393.70 399.55 383.50 386.50SUPRAJIT 240.30 245.00 239.00 242.95GESHIP 285.00 288.00 285.00 287.55HATSUN 731.20 747.00 731.20 746.00VTL 1079.00 1095.00 1067.85 1074.90KPRMILL 565.10 569.00 557.50 561.70IFBIND 942.40 942.40 925.00 927.90ASTRAZEN 2016.00 2016.00 1973.85 1985.40GALAXYSURF 1035.00 1042.50 1028.95 1033.00TNPL 211.15 213.05 210.20 210.50ASTRAL 1165.55 1175.90 1162.20 1164.25INOXWIND 69.00 69.50 68.70 68.90SOLARINDS 1065.00 1080.00 1050.00 1070.55GULFOILLUB 884.70 886.00 871.95 881.25ABBOTINDIA 7320.10 7349.00 7250.00 7276.45BAYERCROP 4328.60 4328.60 4275.05 4305.55AIAENG 1713.00 1717.40 1702.95 1712.45DBCORP 186.40 189.00 186.40 187.30MAHSCOOTER 3651.65 3693.20 3646.85 3657.85PGHH 10673.00 10700.00 10580.15 10684.90SKFINDIA 2050.00 2069.00 2050.00 2061.00BLUEDART 3465.80 3467.45 3308.40 3330.75ASAHIINDIA 252.85 252.85 248.65 249.25SOMANYCERA 415.40 418.25 411.00 413.15TIFHL 484.55 502.00 484.50 497.80LAOPALA 210.00 210.40 206.50 207.60NH 216.50 219.90 214.20 218.05NAVNETEDUL 110.65 110.65 108.80 109.25KIOCL 143.50 143.50 138.55 139.15STARCEMENT 101.75 101.75 98.90 99.15MONSANTO 2570.30 2579.00 2565.00 2579.00ELGIEQUIP 249.10 250.60 246.15 247.15SHILPAMED 334.00 335.00 332.00 333.75SFL 1325.00 1328.50 1315.00 1315.05TVSSRICHAK 2195.00 2206.95 2191.05 2204.00APARINDS 676.40 683.95 675.00 680.05SIS 842.85 875.00 842.85 865.80GEPIL 813.25 825.00 813.25 822.40SHRIRAMCIT 1793.20 1850.00 1789.15 1850.00RATNAMANI 900.00 905.00 883.15 902.70SUNCLAYLTD 2945.00 2950.00 2901.00 2901.00

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11660.20 11662.55 11559.20 11598.00 -45.95IBULHSGFIN 882.00 904.90 872.15 898.50 28.65ZEEL 401.00 420.00 391.00 417.80 13.25ULTRACEMCO 4026.40 4112.00 4001.60 4100.00 98.40TATAMOTORS 201.85 206.90 201.05 206.30 4.95BHARTIARTL 352.00 359.50 352.00 357.00 7.00BRITANNIA 3001.95 3055.00 2984.15 3050.00 59.90HEROMOTOCO 2599.95 2648.70 2595.00 2630.00 49.55EICHERMOT 20240.00 20600.00 19921.00 20500.00 297.30HDFC 2008.00 2058.80 2006.30 2041.90 28.80ASIANPAINT 1504.80 1525.00 1503.00 1517.50 19.90IOC 154.50 156.10 153.35 155.30 1.85UPL 920.60 935.30 901.00 933.00 8.75VEDL 185.25 189.15 183.40 187.55 1.75SUNPHARMA 463.00 469.90 459.50 465.50 3.50SBIN 321.50 325.75 318.30 322.30 1.80MARUTI 7120.00 7170.00 7061.65 7108.90 36.00TITAN 1112.70 1122.60 1094.30 1106.00 5.50GRASIM 834.20 840.70 825.40 834.95 3.25COALINDIA 235.00 235.55 232.55 234.80 0.70NTPC 134.80 136.80 134.45 135.20 0.40BAJAJ-AUTO 2862.00 2884.05 2850.00 2855.00 7.70DRREDDY 2772.75 2792.55 2753.50 2770.00 4.80AXISBANK 763.00 771.90 760.00 762.10 0.60CIPLA 519.00 522.00 517.50 520.10 -0.35BAJFINANCE 3060.00 3065.00 3017.45 3044.00 -2.00ITC 296.00 297.30 293.75 295.50 -0.65HDFCBANK 2292.75 2313.00 2280.00 2287.80 -4.95HINDUNILVR 1668.00 1686.60 1658.00 1666.50 -4.30INFRATEL 318.50 319.75 314.70 316.20 -1.05TECHM 777.90 781.75 767.25 775.00 -2.70ONGC 155.25 156.35 153.30 154.80 -0.65JSWSTEEL 289.85 290.30 285.20 288.65 -1.25INFY 751.40 753.80 745.10 748.95 -4.35KOTAKBANK 1337.40 1344.75 1317.05 1325.00 -9.20LT 1384.90 1393.90 1365.70 1368.00 -10.05ADANIPORTS 382.00 382.05 374.70 378.90 -3.10M&M 661.00 662.70 651.20 653.05 -5.40ICICIBANK 394.40 395.70 387.30 388.90 -3.20WIPRO 261.00 262.25 254.95 259.20 -2.45TATASTEEL 532.75 537.40 526.50 530.20 -5.25POWERGRID 201.45 203.25 198.50 198.70 -2.25BAJAJFINSV 7411.55 7422.00 7282.00 7313.40 -88.15RELIANCE 1379.00 1383.70 1347.25 1354.50 -20.70INDUSINDBK 1773.60 1782.75 1723.25 1742.00 -31.60GAIL 354.70 355.00 343.60 345.85 -6.60YESBANK 274.00 275.00 265.00 268.30 -5.40HINDALCO 215.45 215.45 210.00 210.50 -5.45BPCL 363.00 363.00 353.50 353.90 -9.30HCLTECH 1118.00 1118.05 1081.50 1090.35 -30.25TCS 2078.15 2079.70 2007.40 2017.00 -62.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28119.50 28128.35 27864.05 28020.55 -12.60INDIGO 1380.00 1441.60 1370.20 1430.00 64.75LUPIN 775.90 792.50 771.00 790.00 16.40AUROPHARMA 775.00 789.50 772.80 788.50 15.85CADILAHC 339.70 346.00 337.45 345.70 6.95SAIL 57.65 58.65 56.05 58.40 0.85UBL 1404.95 1426.00 1398.50 1421.60 20.60GODREJCP 667.10 681.40 667.10 675.05 9.05DIVISLAB 1679.95 1714.00 1675.80 1698.00 22.20SHREECEM 18800.00 19092.95 18600.00 18840.00 233.70MCDOWELL-N 536.95 543.00 527.00 542.50 6.70BIOCON 607.00 614.45 605.45 614.00 6.10OFSS 3524.00 3573.75 3462.25 3543.00 34.65ICICIGI 1015.00 1019.85 994.45 1018.00 8.55PIDILITIND 1284.95 1294.50 1263.50 1287.00 10.00NMDC 104.85 106.20 104.25 105.30 0.75DABUR 405.60 406.80 403.25 406.00 2.55HINDZINC 281.55 285.20 281.00 284.00 1.65SRTRANSFIN 1210.00 1219.90 1195.65 1205.10 6.65ACC 1629.90 1652.15 1616.75 1631.00 6.40COLPAL 1245.00 1255.55 1242.00 1254.95 4.85PEL 2601.00 2627.50 2582.10 2610.00 5.30MOTHERSUMI 150.50 151.80 149.10 150.20 0.20MARICO 356.35 358.40 353.75 355.00 0.10MRF 60262.00 60498.90 59750.05 60000.00 -40.20HDFCAMC 1560.00 1567.90 1550.00 1559.55 -2.05GICRE 265.80 268.00 258.55 262.95 -0.35CONCOR 535.90 537.50 526.35 530.25 -2.15ABB 1335.00 1337.95 1310.00 1326.00 -6.15BHEL 74.30 74.95 72.00 73.50 -0.35ASHOKLEY 87.50 88.80 87.00 87.35 -0.45NHPC 24.60 24.70 24.30 24.45 -0.15BOSCHLTD 18030.00 18052.05 17775.95 17890.00 -115.95HAVELLS 767.65 769.50 756.40 765.35 -5.20BANKBARODA 133.20 134.00 130.20 131.15 -0.90HINDPETRO 261.85 263.65 256.50 258.40 -2.10PAGEIND 24799.00 24820.00 24225.00 24457.00 -205.80BANDHANBNK 551.00 557.70 541.10 544.90 -5.30DLF 203.35 204.80 198.10 199.90 -2.20SBILIFE 603.90 603.90 590.00 595.05 -6.90ICICIPRULI 365.80 365.80 359.05 360.65 -4.85PGHH 10834.00 10834.00 10570.00 10690.00 -146.35HDFCLIFE 385.15 385.95 377.50 379.40 -5.25NIACL 190.20 192.00 185.65 186.55 -2.90AMBUJACEM 226.75 229.35 222.05 222.50 -4.25L&TFH 152.75 152.80 148.80 149.15 -2.95SIEMENS 1165.90 1165.90 1136.15 1136.45 -24.35PETRONET 243.90 243.90 237.00 238.45 -5.45BAJAJHLDNG 3433.00 3433.00 3270.55 3330.00 -76.15DMART 1478.00 1481.50 1427.25 1441.55 -37.00IDEA 15.90 15.95 14.90 15.15 -0.75

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Across much of Britain’s for-mer Asian colonies, many

are greeting the UK’s impend-ing departure from theEuropean Union with a mix-ture of bafflement, apathy,amusement — and a touch ofschadenfreude.

Britain long justified impe-rial subjugation by arguingRule Britannia brought order,stability and shared prosperity— even after its retreat fromcolonialism birthed a host oftroubled new nations still sad-dled with historical grievancesand legacies to this day.

Now Brits face a chaosand internal division of theirown making, alongside poten-tial isolation and years of eco-nomic hardship — particular-ly if the UK crashes out with nodeal on April 12.

“I was born and brought upin this British colony called

Hong Kong and used to thinkthat the Brits were a very sen-sible people,” remarked ClaudiaMo, a pro-democracy law-maker in the financial hub.

“I’ve been watching Brexitprocess as a former colonialperson and it’s almost like afarce, it’s sadly funny, sadlyamusing. I’m baffled as to whyand how things got to wherethey are now. To outsiders it’salmost unthinkable,” she toldAFP.

Mo, 62, came of age polit-ically during a turbulent peri-od for her birthplace sparkedby Britain’s colonial legacy --the 1997 handover of HongKong to China.

Unlike Brexit, HongKongers had no say in theirfuture and many were desper-ate to obtain British passportsin case the handover unleashedchaos.

Many youngsters, Mo said,are still looking for opportuni-

ties overseas given Beijing’sincreasingly authoritarian grip,but they may be less inclined toopt for Britain.

“I think their first choiceshere are more likely Australiaand Canada,” she remarked.

In India, Sreeram Chaulia,dean of the Jindal School ofInternational Affairs, said manyregard Brexit as the latest chap-ter in what has been a “sharpdecline in the place Britaincommands as a great power”.

“They are not a gold stan-dard to look up to,” he said.

“We get a feeling of a sink-ing ship and everybody wantsto leave a sinking ship.” India’s economy is set to over-take the UK’s later this year.

“The UK will then becomea middle power. It is like areversal of scale,” he noted.

Students at Bangladesh’sDhaka University offeredmixed views on what Brexitmight mean.

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Under the cover of dark-ness, the Taliban launched

a brazen attack early Thursdayon an Afghan government com-pound in western Badghisprovince, killing at least 20 sol-diers and policemen, officialssaid. It was the latest attack bythe Taliban who target Afghanforces on a daily basis even asthey hold talks with a US peaceenvoy.

Fighting continued into theday and early afternoon inBadghis, and officials expressedfears the casualty tolls would bemuch higher.

According to MohammadNasir Nazari, a provincial coun-cilmember, the “massive attack”in Badghis took place beforedawn, targeting the local gov-ernment’s headquarters in thedistrict of Bala.

The Taliban first stormed allthe security posts around thecompound.

The attack put the lives ofsome 600 members of the secu-rity forces deployed there at risk,he added. Jamshid Shahabhi,spokesman for the Badgis gov-ernor, said intense fighting wasstill underway on Thursdayafternoon.

Taliban spokesman QariYousf Ahmadi claimed respon-sibility for the attack in a state-ment to the media.

The attack came as USpeace envoy Zalmay Khalilzadwas heading to Islamabad fortalks with Pakistani officialsafter visiting Kabul where helobbied for “intra-Afghan dia-logue” — talks that wouldencompass prominent Afghanfigures, Government represen-tatives and the opposition, aswell as the Taliban.

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South Korea launched theworld’s first nationwide 5G

mobile networks two days early,its top mobile carriers said onThursday, in a late-night scram-ble to be the first providers of thesuper-fast wireless technology.

Three top telecomproviders—SK Telecom, KT, andLG Uplus—began their 5G ser-vices at 11 pm local time onWednesday, despite previouslyannouncing the launch datewould be April 5.

Hyper-wired South Koreahas long had a reputation fortechnical prowess, and Seoulhad made the 5G rollout a pri-ority as it seeks to stimulate stut-tering economic growth.

But speculation that U.S.mobile carrier Verizon mightstart its 5G services early forcedSouth Korean providers to hasti-ly organise a late-night launch,Yonhap news agency reported.

In the event, Verizon beganrolling out its 5G services in Chi-cago and Minneapolis on Wed-nesday US time, a week ahead ofschedule. But according to Yon-hap, the South Korean launchescame two hours earlier.

“SK Telecom todayannounced that it has activated5G services for six celebrities rep-resenting Korea as of 11 pm April3, 2019,” the country’s biggestmobile operator said in a news

release Thursday.The celebrities—including

two members of K-pop bandEXO and Olympic ice-skatinghero Kim Yu-na —were “theworld’s first 5G smartphone sub-scribers”, it said.

Both KT and LG Uplus saidthey also went live at the sametime. For general customers,the services will be available fromFriday—the previous launchdate—when SamsungElectronics rolls out the GalaxyS10 5G, the world’s first availablesmartphone using the technol-ogy.

Verizon’s system will workwith Lenovo’s Moto Z3 smart-phone, while rival US carrierAT&T deployed what it called its5G E network in 12 cities lastyear—although it is slower thanother 5G systems and questionshave been raised over whether itis fully fifth-generation.

Experts say 5G will bringsmartphones near-instantaneousconnectivity—20 times fasterthan 4G—allowing users todownload entire movies in lessthan a second. The technologyis crucial for the future devel-opment of devices such as self-driving vehicles and is expectedto bring about $565 billion inglobal economic benefits by2034, according to the London-based Global System for MobileCommunications, an industryalliance.

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US President Donald Trumphas said that he is “not

concerned at all” about thealleged espionage at Mar-a-Lago, days after the SecretService arrested a Chinesewoman with a flash drive con-taining malware from his high-security resort in Florida.

Yujing Zhang, 32, has beencharged with making falsestatements to a federal officerand entering a restricted prop-erty after she visited Mar-a-Lago on March 30, accordingto the Department of Justice.

According to CNN, thesecurity breach is being seen asa possible espionage effort.

Asked about the reports ofthe Chinese espionage, Trumptold reporters at the WhiteHouse: “Well, I saw the story.Haven’t spoken to anybodyabout it, other than I had a briefmeeting. Gave me a little bit ofinformation”.

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An Indian expat in UAE haswon a whopping $2.7 mil-

lion in the Big Ticket AbuDhabi raffle draw, becomingthe fourth Indian to have wonit in a row.

Ravindra Boloor wasdeclared the winner in thedraw that was held at the AbuDhabi International Airporton Wednesday, Khaleej Timesreported.

However, Boloor could notbe informed about the newsimmediately as he was inMumbai and could not be con-tacted over phone, the reportsaid.

His daughter answer the phone, telling the organis-ers of the draw to call after aweek.

‘Please call after a week. He is out of the country. He is in Mumbai,’ his daughterwas quoted as saying by thereport.

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Britain’s police forces onThursday warned politi-

cians and campaigners not toinflame tensions amid ongoinguncertainties around the UK’simpending exit from theEuropean Union (EU).

The UK’s National PoliceChief ’s Council (NPCC) saidthat its officers were fully pre-pared for a “range of scenarios”in the event of the UK leavingthe EU without a deal in place,including planning for poten-tial protest, crime and emer-gencies.

“Our planning considerswhat might happen and theworst case scenarios. We are notpredicting these outcomes butwe are preparing for them,” saidNPCC chair Martin Hewitt.

“There are strong viewson EU exit and often loud andpassionate debate. There’s aresponsibility on us all to thinkcarefully and be temperate inhow we communicate so wedon’t inflame tensions,” he said.

As a precautionary mea-

sure, around 10,000 officersare on stand-by to be deployedwithin short notice in the eventof a chaotic no-deal Brexit,which remains the defaultoption for the April 12 deadlineunless an alternative is agreedbefore then.

The NPCC, which is lead-ing the police planning forBrexit at a UK-wide level work-ing, said a national unit hasbeen established to gather andshare intelligence from acrosspolicing with the government.The planning involves triedand tested methods andapproaches as part of a multi-agency response to potentialissues or unrest that may arise.

“At the moment, we haveno intelligence to suggest therewill be rises in crime or disor-der but we are well prepared torespond to any issues that mayarise,” said Chief ConstableCharlie Hall, NPCC Lead forOperations.

“Police are trained andequipped to maintain publicorder and have establishedplans to surge officers within

force or mobilise officers acrossthe country if necessary,” hesaid.

The police interventioncame just as British MPs voteda bill through the House ofCommons by just one vote toforce British Prime MinisterTheresa May’s hand on seekinga lengthy delay to the Brexitdeadline in order to avert a cliff-edge no-deal Brexit crash-out.

The bill, which will have tobe passed by the House ofLords to become law and ulti-mately requires the EU to agreeto a lengthy extension, is the lat-est attempt by Britain’s MPs totry and wrest control of theBrexit process away from theUK government.

Meanwhile, talks betweenthe ruling Conservative andOpposition Labour partiesentered their second day onThursday as a joint action teamtried to end the Brexit deadlock.It follows discussions betweenTheresa May and JeremyCorbyn on Wednesday, whichwere described as “constructive”by both party leaders.

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China has deployed its latestguided missile destroyer

and frigate in the fleet of navalships participating in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf ofAden and Somalian coast in theArabian Sea and the IndianOcean, a media report saidThursday.

China’s 32nd convoy fleetto the Gulf of Aden and Somaliwaters set sail from a militaryport in Zhoushan, East China’sZhejiang Province onThursday, the People’sLiberation Army (PLA) Navyofficial announced.

The naval fleet includes theguided missile destroyer Xi’an,the missile frigate Anyang andthe Gaoyanghu, a comprehen-sive supply ship, state-runGlobal Times reported.

It is the first time Xi’an andAnyang are participating in anescort mission, it said.

One of the country’s newgeneration of self-developedType-052C guided missiledestroyers, Xi’an, which enteredinto service in February 2015,possesses over-the-horizonstrike capability at sea, thereport said. Anyang, a domes-tically developed frigate,entered into service in April2018 and is capable of attack-ing surface ships and sub-marines alone or in conjunc-tion with other naval forces.

It also has strong long-range alert and air defencecapabilities. It is part of China’snew generation of main com-bat ships, the report said.

China, which is rampingup its naval and air power byreducing the size of army toexpand its global influence, isactively taking part in the anti-piracy operations in the Somalicoast where it had also built itsfirst overseas logistics base inDjibouti.

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Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu on

Thursday thanked Russia for itsassistance in finding theremains of an Israeli soldiermissing in battle since 1982.

Netanyahu is meeting withRussian President VladimirPutin in Moscow visit just fivedays before parliamentary elec-tions at home.

The vote is largely seen asa referendum on Netanyahu,who has campaigned on hisforeign policy prowess andrelations with world leaders.

On Wednesday, Israelannounced the recovery of theremains of a soldier who wentmissing in a 1982 battle withSyrian forces in southernLebanon. Putin acknowledgedthat Russia had worked toretrieve Zachary Baumel’sremains from Syria.

“Our military together withSyrian partners established the

place of his burial,” Putin saidat the start of the meeting. “Weare very pleased that at homethey can give him the necessarymilitary honours.”

Cases of missing soldiershave a powerful emotional andpolitical resonance in Israel,where military service is com-pulsory for most Jewish men.Netanyahu lauded the repatri-ation of Baumel’s remains as an“expression of mutual respon-sibility and feeling of unity”that epitomises Israel.

The trip to Moscow, madeat Netanyahu’s request, came aweek after he travelled toWashington and met with USPresident Donald Trump at theWhite House. Netanyahu alsohosted Brazilian President JairBolsonaro in Jerusalem earlierthis week. Before departingfrom Israel, Netanyahu said heand Putin would “discussevents in Syria,” including the“special coordination betweenour militaries.”

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Pope Francis on Thursdaynamed Atlanta Archbishop

Wilton Gregory as the newarchbishop of Washington DC,choosing a moderate, and thefirst African-American, to leadthe archdiocese that hasbecome the epicenter of theclergy sex abuse crisis in theUS.

Gregory, 71, replacesCardinal Donald Wuerl, whoresigned last year after beingimplicated in covering up abuseby a Pennsylvania grand juryreport.

Gregory headed the USbishops conference when itadopted a “zero-tolerance”

abuse policy in 2002 to respondto the first wave of the scandal.

He has run the Atlantaarchdiocese since 2005 and isseen as a pastor very much inline with Francis’ progressivevision of the church.

The appointment was firstreported by Catholic NewsAgency.

It is the third major moveby Francis to reshape the UShierarchy, which over the pre-vious two papacies took on aculture war-influenced con-servative tilt. Francis beganelevating more moderate pas-tors in 2014, when he namedCardinal Blase Cupich asChicago archbishop and fol-lowed up two years later by

moving Joseph Tobin toNewark, New Jersey, and mak-ing him a cardinal.

While relatively small, theWashington archdiocese hasalways punched above itsweight in influence given itslocation in the nation’s capital.Its archbishops traditionallyare made cardinals, meaningGregory could become the firstAfrican-American cardinal.

The archdiocese, though,has become embroiled in theabuse crisis since its previoustwo leaders — Wuerl and hispredecessor TheodoreMcCarrick — have been impli-cated in the scandal.

Francis in Februarydefrocked McCarrick after a

Vatican-backed investigationconcluded he sexually abusedminors and adults over hislong career.

It was the first time a car-dinal had been dismissed fromthe priesthood for abuse.

Francis reluctantly accept-ed Wuerl’s resignation inOctober after he lost the trustof his priests and parishionersin the months following therelease of the Pennsylvaniagrand jury report.

The report accused Wuerlof helping to protect somechild-molesting priests whilehe was bishop of Pittsburghfrom 1988 to 2006.Simultaneously, Wuerl facedwidespread skepticism over his

insistence that he knew noth-ing about McCarrick’s mis-conduct, which was an opensecret in US and Vatican circles.

Gregory, by contrast, isstill credited for his leadershipof the US church during amoment of crisis, when aspresident of the US bishopsconference he persuadedchurch leaders to adopt tough-ened penalties for abusers in2002.

“Gregory has impeccablecredentials for dealing withthe sex abuse crisis, which isessential for healing thechurch,” the Rev. ThomasReese, an expert on theAmerican church, said in a col-umn Thursday at Religion

News Service.Gregory also won praise

from another American Jesuit,the Rev James Martin, who wasinvited last year by Gregory togive a talk in Atlanta on howthe church should better min-ister to the LGBT community.The initiative drew criticismfrom some conservatives whoaccused Gregory of notupholding church teaching onhomosexuality.

In a statement, Martin said Gregory was a “superbchoice” for Washington given his leadership on theabuse crisis and because he is“someone who knows how toreach out to marginalised pop-ulations.”

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The man accused of carryingout the Christchurch

mosque attacks will face 50murder charges and 39 attempt-ed murder charges when hemakes his second court appear-ance, New Zealand police saidThursday.

Police had earlier filed asingle, representative murdercharge against 28-year-oldAustralian Brenton HarrisonTarrant. He is due to appear viavideo link during a brief hear-ing on Friday, and won’t berequired to enter a plea.

Fifty people died in theMarch 15 attacks on twomosques and another 50 wereinjured. Police said in a briefstatement that they were con-sidering filing more chargesagainst Tarrant but couldn’tcomment further as the casewas before the court.

Tarrant’s first appearancewas on the day after the attacksin the Christchurch DistrictCourt. His case has now beenmoved to the High Court dueto the seriousness of the charges.

Tarrant has reportedly beenmoved to a high-security prisonin Auckland, which is why he’llappear via video link.

During the scheduled courthearing, media photographswon’t be allowed and reportingon the proceedings will beseverely restricted under NewZealand law. The intent of thelaw is to avoid the possibility thereporting and images wouldtaint the views of potentialjurors before they hear evi-dence in court.

Judge Cameron Mandersaid in a note that the brief hear-ing will mainly be about theaccused gunman’s legal repre-sentation.

Tarrant earlier dismissedlawyer Richard Peters, who wasassigned to represent him dur-ing his district court appearance.Peters said Tarrant told him thathe wants to represent himself.Many worry that Tarrant will tryto use his trial as a soapbox topush his white supremacistviews.

The judge said he hadreceived applications from 25media organisations to take

film, photographs or audiorecordings of Friday’s hearingbut had denied all of them. Hesaid reporters could remainthroughout and take notes,although would be restricted inwhat they could report.

He said media could stilluse pixelated images of Tarrantwhich the district court judgehad allowed. The pixilationobscured his face.

Retired law professor BillHodge said the idea behindobscuring his image was that theprosecution might need a wit-ness to be sure he saw the gun-man at the mosque rather thanrecognizing him from mediastories.

Hodge said New Zealandand Australia were trying to pre-serve the ancient common-lawapproach to a fair trial, but thatit seemed quaint in an erawhere people could easily findmore information or images onthe internet. New Zealand’sDepartment of Corrections saidin an email they wouldn’tanswer questions such as whereTarrant was being held due tooperational security reasons.

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The head of Ethiopian Airlines said on

Thursday he was proud of theefforts of the pilots in trying tostop their jet from crashing, ashe repeated condolences tothe families of the 157 peoplewho died.

“We are very proud of our pilots’ compliances to follow the emergency procedures, and high level ofprofessional performances insuch extremely difficult situa-tions,” CEO TewoldeGebreMariam said in a state-ment.

“All of us at EthiopianAirlines are still going through deep mourning for theloss of our loved ones, and wewould like to express our deepsympathy and condolences forthe families, relatives andfriends of the victims,” headded.

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Police in Brazil say 10 peoplewere killed in a shooting

between alleged robbers andpolice in the outskirts of thecountry’s biggest city.

Police commander MarioAlves da Silva told journaliststhat the incident took place inthe city of Guararema, outsideSao Paulo, Thursday after-noon.

The police commandersaid at least 25 suspected crim-inals were involved in the rob-beries.

He did not confirm if thosekilled were all suspected crim-inals, but said no policemenwere killed in the shootings.

Footage obtained by TV Globo shows two bankbranches with their windowssmashed.

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Last week we found ourselvesin the Algarve, a region onPortugal’s southern coast.

It is one of the most beautifulplaces in the world, with hillsflush with an abundance of citrustrees bearing lemons and orangesand every ridgeline topped witha wind-turbine. One can under-stand why BMW loves Portugalso much for their media drives.But we were driving the BMW 7-series, not the sort of car whichyou would imagine that isdesigned to handle either thesharp corners of the mountainroads or the long sweeping high-speed turns of the Portuguesehighways. The 7-series is after alla limousine, it’s a car meant forVIP’s extremely comfortable drivefrom his or her home to office andback with an occasional trip to theairport.

But as I drove the 750Lithrough the occasionally worry-ingly narrow mountain roads ofAlgarve, I began to realise why thecompany was making us drivethis car through these roads. It isbecause, while the 7-seriesremains an extremely comfortablecruiser, the subtle changes to thecar’s chassis are quite obvious. The750Li had BMW’s active all-wheel drive and steering XDrivetechnology, but when you take acorner hard, the adaptive roll sta-bilisation on this iteration of thecar seems to defy the axioms ofphysics. Seriously, you wouldthink something as large as acruiseliner on the roads wouldroll grotesquely if you threw itinto a corner at anything above 50kilometres an hour, but as Igained confidence while driving,there were corners I took at ascarcely believable 80-90 kilome-tres an hour, which by the way,was the speed limit on Portugal’s

smaller roads. I had to keep onreminding myself that I was notdriving a 3-series or a 5-series, thehandling almost did not computein my head.

Of course, no matter whatBMW’s engineers do to the rollcharacteristics of the car by defy-ing the laws of physics, the humanbody can’t be re-engineered by theboffins in Munich. So if I was dri-ving the 7-series for a living andI drove like that, I would proba-bly lose my job. After all, you donot want the big man at the backspilling his lunch over all thatexpensive leather and touch-screens. But it is good to knowthat you can escape from a kid-napping attempt or a terroristattack at a considerable rate ofknots and this car will not let youdown. And if you are the rare sortof person who does drive a 7-series occasionally, the adaptivesuspension is fabulous. This feelslike a smaller BMW to drive, andI mean that as the greatest com-pliment.

But chances are that whenyou buy this series, it will not befor its exhilarating driving expe-rience. You would want to buysomething like this because youwant to be seen, and the refreshof the 7-series is all about beingseen. Now, I learnt during the

drive from BMW executives that44 per cent of all 7-series sold inthe world are in China. BMWsells more 7-series in China annu-ally than they do in India for theirentire product line. That is howimportant China is for theBavarian manufacturer. And ifthere is one thing that marketersand manufacturers should knowabout rich Chinese, it is that theylove showing off their brands, notthat we’re different but the big ‘LV’logo of Louis Vuitton was creat-ed for China. Ditto for the inter-

locked Gs of Gucci. The Chinese love major

brands, so the big visible changeon the refreshed 7-series is thenew kidney grille, which is 40 per cent larger and milled from asingle piece of aluminum. Andthat is coupled with a new BMWlogo on the nose that is 12 mmlarger in diameter, which is quiteclearly obvious to the naked eye.The strange thing is that as BMWhas gradually moved away fromthe iconic ‘corona’ headlights inthe recent cars. They have become

three-dimensional elements, thebig grille and logo will definitelyannounce your arrival. And it isnot just Chinese who will likethese elements, because I feelIndian buyers will appreciatethem as well. There are someminor changes to the air breathersdown the side, but major changesare to the rear, particularly thetaillight unit which also gets athree-dimensional design andthe exhausts, making the carlook very attractive from its backportion.

But most importantly forVIPs on the seat diagonallybehind the driver, it is morecomfortable and quieter thanbefore, thanks to new acousticshielding and and window-panes.The seat options and massagefunctions remain and with quilt-ing on the Napa Leather on thedoor handles, it feels a lot moreluxurious than before. So all in all,this is a limousine that is actual-ly good to drive, comfortable atthe back and something youshould consider buying if you arelooking for a car in this class.

Now, BMW India has aloaded year coming up. The newX4 has just come onto the mar-ket as has the new (and brilliant)M2, and the X5 and X7 are ontheir way shortly, the new 3-seriesis also on its way and therefreshed 7-series is still a fewmonths away. It will be worth thewait though. While I drove the750Li, which has a 4.4-litre V8that produces 530 horsepower,India will likely get fewer options.There will be the veritablefavourite, the 730Ld with itsthree-litre diesel motor produc-ing 265 horsepower. There willalso be the 745Le, which isBMW’s plug-in hybrid variant,more of which in a later columnand the top-of-the-range, 6.5litre V12 engined, 585 horsepow-er 760Li, which is used by billion-aires and politicians alike (thePrime Minister’s fleet has thiscar). There is a minute possibil-ity that BMW India might bringmore powerful variants of thediesels as well the M750Li that Idrove, the 7-series is sold in740Ld and 750Ld specificationsin Europe, but that depends onthe market although prices willnot change dramatically from thecurrent model.

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What if one had to make afilm on MahatmaGandhi today? Or writea book on some greatpersonality to pay them

a posthumous tribute? The film’s/ book’scontent would be based completely onresearch, oral histories, first personaccounts and people’s perspectives. Thecontent creator could never meet the per-son to know him better. But he would tryto extrapolate a convincing vision nev-ertheless.

Director Omung Kumar says he didjust that in his forthcoming biopic onPrime Minister Narendra Modi (playedby actor Vivek Oberoi) and it should bejust seen as an independent effort ofrecreating the life of a person he wasinspired by and no other motive shouldbe attributed to it. However, it has raisedquestions not because it recreates the lifeof the BJP’s prime ministerial hopeful butlionises him at a time of the Lok Sabhaelections. Though the film was supposedto be released today, it has been stayedby the apex court till a hearing next week.Omung explains an early release inApril had nothing at all to do with thepolls. He just wanted to avoid a clash withthe multi-starrer Kalank, which made histeam apprehensive. “Initially, when it wasscheduled to release on April 12, we hadonly five days to pick up business asKalank’s release date was April 17. Wewanted a bigger audience to watch thefilm. Polls were never the target.”

Of course, he quickly clarifies that

there was nothing special about elections.“I am sure that questions would havebeen raised even if it was Eid, Diwali orHoli. The Opposition would have raisedquestions irrespective of the release date.After all, kuch toh log kahenge, logo kakaam hai kehna.” But doesn’t he know ofthe model code of conduct? Omung clar-ifies that the film is his take on a person-ality and not an authorised biopic. Whilecrafting his film, he did not try to meetthe Prime Minister for a reason. “Inever met him in person to get to knowhim for the film. I did not want my per-spectives to be influenced. When a per-son talks about himself/herself, they

wouldn’t give out everything. They wouldtalk about what they’ve done. I wouldhave been influenced by it and hence, Idid not meet him. The film is complete-ly based on my independent research,”says Omung.

He tells us that his 2016 film, Sarabjitwas also created in the same way. “Howcould have I met Sarabjit?” he questions.

When one is working on projects thatinclude politics, one’s personal and polit-ical perspectives are bound to change orget slightly influenced. The Mary Komdirector clarifies that since he isn’t into“politics at all,” there are “zero politicalperspectives.” He says, “I am just makinga film which is larger than life. It’s a filmabout a person’s journey and his inspir-ing life story. Even though the person has

a political background, I am not lookingat him through that prism. For me, it’s thestory of a kid who served tea 60 years ago.And if at that time someone told me thatthis kid is going to rule the country oneday, I simply wouldn’t have believed it.”

This is why, he says, he wanted to fol-low this story and know the answers tomany questions like, “what did he do?How did he grow up? How did he get intopolitics and later into a political party?What was the process? I am disinterest-ed in politics or even Elections. I am justmaking a film on someone’s journey thatI found inspiring. This is the biggest storythat we have today — a person’s journeyfrom being the biggest zero to a super-hero.”

It’s the personality of a person,“keeping aside that he is the PrimeMinister,” that is being showcased here,he says. “I observed that people really like,love and worship him. A few people hatehim as well. However, like or hate, beingthe citizen of this country, one cannotavoid him. I have included minute details— his looks, the way he talks, dresses,walks, the works — including the way hewas when he was young.”

It was during the shooting of a real-ity show — India’s Best Draamebaaz —when Omung and Vivek bonded. “Mymother suggested that I work with him.”Even though today he feels confidentabout his creation, Omung had apprehen-sions initially. He tells us, “In the middleof the show, Sandip (Ssingh, producer),my partner, told me about the film, which

he was trying to make since three years.He had completed his research andasked me to take it up. I felt that it wasa huge story, so I might not be able to dojustice to it.”

However, Sandip’s faith made himtake up the project. He says that, “He toldme that you can mould any actor the wayyou want. But Vivek, undoubtedly a fan-tastic actor, immediately agreed to do thefilm as well. Somewhere down the line,it was destined to happen.”

He believes that this is not some “nor-mal kahani” that he is showing, “ratherthe story of the biggest superhero that wehave. This is indeed the first time in thehistory of cinema and our country thata biopic is being made on a living, work-ing Prime Minister.”

The director tells us that he laterrealised that this was actually a “bonus”for him, which would make peopleremember him for long. He says, “Thiswill always be talked about. Agar merimovie log bhul gaye (If people forget myfilm), it would mean that isn’t a good one.Standing out from the crowd is reallyimportant for me. If today I am remem-bered for making a biopic on India’s firstfemale boxer (Mary Kom), I will beremembered for this as well.”

The time period between theannouncement and the release date of thefilm was also very short. He explains,“The film was finished in 38 days, whilemost take 50 days. No content was com-promised or cut short. Everything just fellin place.”

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After the Supreme Courtset the date for hearing on

the biopic PM Narendra Modi,directed by Omung Kumar, forApril 8, its makers said theywon’t release the film as sched-uled for today.

“This is to confirm, ourfilm PM Narendra Modi is notreleasing on April 5. Willupdate soon,” Sandip Ssinghwrote on social media. He isthe creative director, singerand also the one who came upwith the story, for the movie.

Earlier, Ssingh and othermakers of the film receivedflak for planning to release themovie on April 12, a day afterthe first phase of voting for theLok Sabha elections. Its releasedate was brought forward toApril 5. The Supreme Courthas said it will hear on April 8a plea seeking to block itsrelease.

A bench of Justice SABobde, Justice S Abdul Nazeerand Justice Indira Banerjeeagreed to hear the plea byAman Panwar, a Congressspokesperson, contending thatthe release of Modi biopicahead of the election woulddisturb the level playing field.

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Amid the rush of urban living, weforget to just sit back once in awhile and savour the city that

we live and breathe everyday. LeMeridien’s new 12th floor restaurantin Gurugram offers a magnificent viewof the Aravali skyline dotted with citylights and skyscrapers. Its décor isdominantly wooden, old world ele-gance combined with comfort.Together@12 makes for a tranquilperch, one where we may steal sometime with our loved ones. But do thego-alongs, in this case food anddrinks, work?

The place grows some of the pro-duce in-house such as, herbs, leafy veg-etables and houses loads of succulentwhich adds to the serenity of the envi-ronment. Nitin Tewari, a bar and bev-erage consultant and chef VanshikaBhatia along with the staff is united byone mantra — to bring the freshestproduce cooked deliciously and pairedwith drinks that are suitable to theIndian palate. “For us, our priority isto offer the best of produce andingredients, through freestyle cookingwhich is accustomed to the Indianpalate. Our menu isn't set as we pre-fer to use freshingredients andso with every sea-son it changesaccording to the pro-duce of that season,”says chef Vanshika. Somedishes, of course, wouldremain constant. Adding towhich Tewari said, “Thedrinks have been made in away that the customerswould be hit by nos-talgia and at thesame time thesewould suit everypalate.”

The drinks —the Candy Crushand the Marigold —did live up to thepromise. With pineapple, threeways — candied, fresh and syrup, thisdrink was refreshing and sweet, where-as the marigold was more for the oneswith a mature palate because of itssourness with a touch of sweetness atthe end. It was finished with driedmarigold powder. What the bar-tenders have cleverly done, is to playwith known flavours or emotions toprepare some of these cocktails thatwere innovative, different and take youdown memory lanes.

With the drinks, we were serveda bowl the Vegetarian chip bowl withmustard salsa as an accompaniment.The bowl, as the name suggests, hadchips of several kinds — kale, sweetpotato and banana. These tasted deli-cious, were a healthier option as com-pared to regular chips or bar nibblesthat are usually served and dipped inthe mustard salsa, packed a punch.

Next up were the appetisers. The

first one was the Star fruit, sweet pota-to. The chef played around theDelhiites' love of shakarkandi chaat,but with a dash of sophistication, thatwas appropriate given that this dishhad all the flavours of the original yet,there was one element that elevated thedish out of the streets. The star fruitalong with the roasted sweet potatoadded to the flavour and balanced thesweet and sour flavours of the dish.

The second plate served was theCelery toot, sweet potato gnocchi, blackgarlic. I bit into these small and softballs of deliciousness only to realisethat they just melt into the mouth andflooded the palate with their creami-ness and richness. The sauce had a agarlicy flavour, though it was not over-powering. To offset the softness, therewere roasted celery roots which added

a bit of crunch and freshness, on theside.

The Duck, pasta made a grandentrance, as the first main. Seared andpulled, the duck breast was tucked intoa ravioli, stuffed agnolotti and drizzledwith a cheese sauce. For anyone wholoves pasta, this is to die for. The richsauce drizzled over the beautifullymade pasta and carefully made duck,was nothing short of food heaven.

Second in line was the Red snap-per, broccoli, kohlrabi and sweet pota-to. Lying on a bed of broccoli basilpuree was the gorgeous piece of redsnapper with a side of sweet potatochips. The fish was fresh, had a bit ofa salty flavour which worked perfect-ly with the broccoli basil puree that wasearthy. Adding sweetness and crunchto the dish were the chips and to myamusement, actually worked with thedish.

Buffalo cheeks, carrots, whiskey,smoke made its way to the table next.The slow cooked buffalo cheeks justfell apart at the mere tug of the fork.It was glazed with the thick smokedwhiskey sauce which added an ele-ment of richness and the smokiness.The flavours on the plate really camethrough and this dish would certain-ly make it to the unforgettable ones,when I get down to making that list.It leaves you craving for more.

The last of the mains was thePrawn, rice crepes. An innovative takeon South Indian food, the prawns wereserved wrapped in rice crepes, thatsubstituted the appam. Though it

was a western version, theoverall effect wassuch that one stillfelt that one waseating a dish fromdown south.

Since every fabu-lous meal needs a dessertto bring it to a fantasticend, two were served

here — Rum, pineapple andPistachio, rose. The first consist-

ed of ragi discs which sandwiched amascarpone rum cream, giving it as'mores look. It was served with a sideof a sorbet and a pineapple and fen-nel compote. The plate had all the ele-ments that would satisfy each of thesenses. This truly was a soul-indulgingdessert. As for the pistachio, rosedessert, this one consisted of a cute lit-tle pistachio cupcake, topped with roseChantilly and garnished with a can-died rose petal. Sitting on a bed of apri-cot jam, it was a phenomenal offeringfor someone who doesn't have asweet tooth and loves their dessert tobe well balanced. The pistachio gavea nutty and an earthy taste to the cup-cake and the rose Chantilly added theflavour and the fragrance of rose. Allthe sweetness was only derived fromthe apricot jam.

Certainly a perfect end to anunforgettable meal.

The ambience is laid-back yet chic with redchandeliers encasingcandle-like lights hungover the tables, grey-

coloured, cemented walls, linedwith antique paintings, hugeFrench windows dipped in black.From the jet-setters in need of afew moments of solitude, writersand artists looking to gather theirthoughts to intimate dinner dateswith the beloved, the quintessen-tially French Cafe We in Sultanpursuits everyone. The only sorepoint was the furniture with itsblack and white tables pairedwith orange and brown chairs,which were far from impressive.

But then coming down towhat I was here for, food, I decid-ed to begin with Bruschetta andordered two different toppings.The first had smoked jalapenos,mushrooms, fresh corns, bell pep-per and cheese and the other wastopped with olives, marinatedtomato chunks and creamy moz-zarella and basil pesto. Served ina rectangular black-coloured tray,the presentation seemed appeal-ing however, the one with the

mushroom topping missed themark and that is despite the factthat I love fungi. It was merelybread that tasted like mushroomswithout any other flavour and thatwas where the dish faltered.

Next up was the LouisianaWay, a sandwich filled with cajun-styled cottage cheese, bits ofgrilled veggies like capsicum, redand yellow bell peppers, lettuceand some garlic mayo. The sand-wich, soft inside-out, served withFrench fries, was like a blast offlavours in my mouth which wereperfectly balanced. The grilledvegetables added the crunch whilethe mayo gave it a creamy garlicflavour. Imagine a square-shapedheavy, scrumptious burger. The

sandwich was no different.Moving to the main

course, I ordered the AlfredoPenne pasta, choosing it fromamong three others. Slathered

with silky, creamy bechamel,this one turned out to be differ-

ent from the regular pastas. Thedish, loaded with finely-choppedvegetables like broccoli, goldencorn, bell pepper, and mush-room, had a new flavour and tex-ture in each bite.

Baked Pita bread, along withhummus, the classic Middle-Eastern snack was up next. Thehummus was delicious andcreamy while the triangular pitawas fresh and soft. Apart from itslip-smacking flavours, it was thefreshness of the ingredients as wellas the artful plating which madethe dish memorable.

Having dug into Italian andMiddle Eastern fare, I travelled allthe way to China in a matter ofminutes — by way of a dish, ofcourse. I ordered the Vegetarianplatter which was served withManchurian balls, Stir fried riceand Peri peri potatoes. The ballswere soft and spicy but whenpaired with the fried rice whichwas a little bland, tasted justright.

I had a Lemon and mint moji-to where the freshness of themint and the citrus tang of thefruit made for a great accompani-ment.

As they say desserts are thefairytales of the kitchen and the‘happily ever after’ to supper, Iordered their speciality, ChocoNile. The soft-centred, warmchocolate dessert was enough tosweep me off my feet.

Except for a few niggles hereand there, the place is worth avisit.

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Robert Lewandowski savedhis team from a humiliat-

ing German Cup exit asBayern Munich came frombehind to beat second-tierHeidenheim in a 5-4 thrilleron Wednesday.

Bayern were 2-1 down athalf-time having gone down toten men early in the game, andthrew away a two-goal lead inthe second half.

Yet Lewandowski's latewinner ended a rollercoasterresistance from Heidenheimand sent Bayern into the semi-finals.

"I don't really know whatto think of this game," saidBayern striker ThomasMueller on Sky Sports.

"After such a great start, itshould have gone differentlyfor us. We didn't play well,particularly after the red card,and it doesn't feel all thatgood."

Everything seemed to begoing according to script whenLeon Goretzka headed Bayernin front from a corner on 12minutes.

Yet the script went up inflames when Bayern wentdown to ten men just minuteslater.

Niklas Suele was initiallybooked for a challenge on

Robert Andrich, but a videoreview convinced the refereethat Suele had denied Andricha goalscoring opportunity.

The red card galvanisedHeidenheim and they forcedseveral chances before RobertGlatzel headed in the equalis-

er just before the half-hourmark.

Ten minutes later, theAllianz Arena was silenced asMarc Schnatterer f iredHeidenheim in front.

Mueller brought Bayernlevel after half-time, turning inLewandowski's header with amarvellous, swivelling finish.

He then returned thefavour three minutes later,setting up Lewandowski torestore the lead for Bayern.

Serge Gnabry added afourth for Bayern on 65 min-utes, slotting the ball in at thefar post at a corner.

Yet Glatzel stunnedBayern again when he scoredtwice in three minutes tomake it 4-4.

Having pulled a goal backon 74 minutes, theHeidenheim striker complet-ed his hat-trick from thepenalty spot.

It ended in disappoint-ment for Heidenheim.

However, as a handball atthe other end al lowedLewandowski to score thewinner with an 84th minutepenalty.

Werder Bremen alsoreached the semi-finals afterthey eased to a 2-0 win overSchalke thanks to goals fromMilot Rashica and DavyKlaassen.

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Holders Paris Saint-Germain will playRennes in the French Cup final

later this month after beating 10-manNantes 3-0 in their semi-final tie onWednesday as Kylian Mbappe scored onepenalty after missing another.

Mbappe's two spot-kicks came afterhe set up Marco Verratti for the openerin the first half at the Parc des Princes,with substitute Daniel Alves wrapping upthe victory late on.

The result keeps Thomas Tuchel'steam on course to win a domestic leagueand cup double, which would go somesmall way to easing the pain of their exitfrom the Champions League in the last16 at the hands of Manchester United.

"After the first goal it was a little eas-ier," said PSG captain Thiago Silva.

"We had to try and score the secondbecause if it had stayed at 1-0 it wouldhave been more difficult.

"I think we deserved this result evenif it was difficult and we still deserved tobe in the final, which is important for theclub."

PSG are 20 points clear at the top ofLigue 1 with nine matches left and couldbe crowned champions for the sixth timein seven seasons as early as Sunday, if theybeat Strasbourg and second-placed Lillelose their game.

The Qatar-owned club can also winthe French Cup for the fifth year running,

and a record 13th time overall, when theyplay Rennes in the final at the Stade deFrance in Paris on April 27.

Rennes reached the final by winning3-2 at Lyon on Tuesday, but the Brittanyclub have been knocked out of the Cupin each of the last two seasons after heavydefeats against PSG.

Paris might also have Neymar backfor the final after the Brazilian returnedto training on Wednesday followingmore than two months out with a footinjury.

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Napoli fell to a 2-1 defeat byre legat ion- t hre atened

Empoli on Wednesday, openingthe way for Juventus to claim aneighth consecutive Scudetto fromas early as this weekend, whileMauro Icardi returned to helpInter Milan get back to winningways.

The Turin giants play ACMilan at home this weekend andwould claim another title if theyopen up a 21-point gap onNapoli, who have lost both theirmatches this season to Juventus.

Juventus, who are currentlymissing Cristiano Ronaldothrough a thigh injury, wouldneed to beat AC Milan and forCarlo Ancelotti's Napoli to loseto Genoa on Sunday in order toseal the championship.

"We deserved to lose," saidAncelotti after his side's fifthdefeat this season, as they preparefor next week's Europa Leaguequarter-final first leg againstArsenal.

"We have to roll up oursleeves and think about the nextgame. We were messy, inatten-

tive, we didn't follow plans."It was a subdued perfor-

mance in general. We lackedideas and legs."

Diego Farias opened thescoring on 28 minutes for thehosts in Tuscany with a shotwhich took a deflection offNapoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski.

Former Empoli loaneeZielinski made up for his errorjust before the break with asuperb shot from distance toequalise.

But Giovanni Di Lorenzosealed a precious three points forEmpoli on 53 minutes, with thestrugglers holding on to moveout of the bottom three.

���������;Icardi marked his return

after nearly two months outamid a contract dispute whichsaw him stripped of the captain-cy by scoring Inter's second goalfrom the spot in a 4-0 thrashingof Genoa.

The Argentine was whistledand insulted by the travellingInter fans in the western port city,but shrugged off the cobwebs ofhis weeks of absence, although hewas denied the opener by thepost in the 20th minute.

Icardi scored Inter's secondgoal from the spot after CristianRomero was sent off for a foul onthe striker five minutes beforehalf-time as he raced through ongoal.

Icardi converted the penaltyfor his tenth league goal this sea-son and first since December 15.

The Argentine then set up

Ivan Perisic for the third.Roberto Gagliardini bagged

his second brace this seasonagainst Genoa, after also scoringtwo in the reverse fixture.

Inter, in third, lost 1-0 toLazio last weekend but haveagain reduced the gap on Napolito seven points, and are fourahead of AC Milan who wereheld 1-1 by Udinese on Tuesday.

The battle for the finalChampions League berthremains tight with Atalanta,Lazio and Roma all within touch-ing distance.

Lazio, with a game in hand,fell 1-0 to lowly SPAL, withAndrea Petagna scoring from thespot to move the side fromEmilia-Romagna four pointsclear of the relegation zone.

Claudio Ranieri's Romaavoided a third straight defeat bysnatching a 2-2 draw at homeagainst Fiorentina, after twicebeing led by the team who hadhammered the Romans 7-1 inthe Italian Cup.

Atalanta, in fifth, can edgecloser to the Champions Leagueplaces when they host Bolognaon Thursday.

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Manchester City brushed asidestruggling Cardiff to leapfrogLiverpool at the top of the

Premier League on Wednesday asTottenham opened their glittering stadi-um in style.

City's 2-0 victory over Cardiff tookPep Guardiola's quadruple-chasers to 80points — one clear of Jurgen Klopp'sLiverpool, with both sides having sixmatches to go.

Tottenham marked their long-delayed move into their state-of-the-artnew home with a 2-0 win against CrystalPalace, while Chelsea thumped Brighton3-0.

Kevin De Bruyne put City ahead inthe sixth minute at the Etihad Stadium,firing in from a tight angle and LeroySane doubled the lead for the defendingchampions with a sharp finish justbefore half-time.

Guardiola, whose team take onBrighton at Wembley in the FA Cupsemi-final on Saturday, made sevenchanges to his starting line-up, handingteenager Phil Foden his first Premier

League start.Despite the win, Guardiola said his

side, who had 11 shots on target, need-ed to be more clinical.

"We played really well," he said. "Westarted really well. A magnificent goalfrom Kevin De Bruyne. Unfortunately wemissed a lot of chances, weneed to score more goals.

The defeat leaves NeilWarnock's Cardiff thirdfrom bottom, five pointsfrom safety, with only rel-egated Huddersfield andFulham below them.

Spurs, who were onthe edge of the title racefor a large chunk of the season, startedtheir match at home to Palace in fourthspot, behind north London rivalsArsenal.

������ � ���������� �But Son Heung-min and Christian

Eriksen made sure the celebrations didnot fall flat, scoring second-half goals thatenabled Spurs to end a wretched run offour defeats in five league games.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino said

it was a "special night" as they re-ener-gised their bid to finish in the top four.

"The emotion was amazing from thebeginning," he told Sky Sports.

"To win was so important to us.

Today we touched the glory. Now weneed to touch the glory of lifting trophies.Now is the start of a chapter. We close onechapter and open another chapter andbring victory to our fans."

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri mademultiple changes from the team that start-ed Sunday's tense 2-1 win at Cardiff, withEden Hazard and N'Golo Kante back inthe starting XI.

But the main talking point was a firstPremier League start for 18-year-oldCallum Hudson-Odoi, who has alreadyimpressed for Gareth Southgate's youngEngland side.

Sarri has angered Chelsea fans withhis refusal to start the winger and theyvented their feelings at Cardiff on Sunday.

Hudson-Odoi was in the thick of theaction at Stamford Bridge, setting upOlivier Giroud for just his secondPremier League goal of the season in thefirst half.

Hazard doubled Chelsea's lead in the60th minute and midfielder RubenLoftus-Cheek put the game beyonddoubt just three minutes later.

Sarri said his team had returned tothe good form they showed at the start

of the season and praised Hudson-Odoi.

"Callum played very well anddefended very well," he said. "He hasimproved during the season a lot. He’sready to play 90 minutes in very impor-tant matches."

City's victory against Cardiff wastheir eighth consecutive Premier Leaguewin and puts them back in pole positionin the Premier League.

With the League Cup already in thebag, City are struggling to quell grow-ing talk of a historic quadruple even asGuardiola attempts to keep his players'feet on the ground.

After this weekend's match againstBrighton at Wembley, they will take onTottenham in the first leg of theChampions League quarter-final, with amaximum of 13 games to make history.

The race for the top four is tight, withjust three points separating third-placedSpurs from Manchester United, in sixthposition.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team sufferedtheir second Premier League defeat inthree games on Tuesday, losing 2-1 toWolves.

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Zinedine Zidane dropped Gareth Bale andendured his first defeat since returning to Real

Madrid as his side were deservedly beaten 2-1 bya resurgent Valencia on Wednesday.

The last time Zidane left Bale on the bench, theWelshman proved a spectacular substitute againstLiverpool in the Champions League final 10months ago but there was to be no rescue act atMestalla.

Instead, Valencia surged to a convincing victo-ry, Goncalo Guedes and Ezequiel Garay scoring ineach half to leave Marcelino's team within a pointof La Liga's top four. Karim Benzema headed in alate consolation in injury-time.

"We lacked a bit of spark up front," Zidane said."I am not going to criticise my players. They havetried and we played a good team. But losing alwayshurts."

After a miserable start to the season, Valenciacould yet enjoy a barnstorming finish.

Champions League qualification is now with-in touching distance while a Copa del Rey

final against Barcelona and EuropaLeague last 16 tie against Villarrealstill await.

"The game played out how wehoped," said Marcelino. "It was acomplete performance."

For Zidane, after two openingvictories, this was perhaps some-thing of a reality check, even if

Madrid's reappointed coach has insisted he is underno illusions regarding the task ahead.

They now trail leaders Barcelona by 13 points,the exact same margin they were behind theCatalans under Zidane at this stage last season.

Valencia were far superior in the first half andthe only surprise was that it took 35 minutes forthem to score.

Navas punched a corner to the edge of the boxwhere Guedes bounced the ball off Carlos Soler,stopped it and curled between the goalkeeper's righthand and the near post.

Valencia unleashed a series of efforts in searchof a second. Kevin Gameiro headed wide, GeoffreyKondogbia half-volleyed over and Rodrigo's bend-ing shot whistled inches past the post.

Madrid had barely featured as Bale came on forMarco Asensio in the 64th minute, along with Isco,who replaced the quiet Toni Kroos.

Bale might have had an equaliser shortly afterhad it not been for Dani Parejo's sliding block andthen the he sent a sumptous pass to the far post,but it was cleared away from the waiting Benzema.

Valencia should have wrapped it up with 15minutes left as five sprawled forward on the breakbut Rodrigo miscontrolled while his cutback wasflicked by Soler, harmlessly into the hands of Navas.

If Madrid were more threatening they mighthave capitalised but there was no counter andinstead victory was secured when Garay headed inParejo's cross with seven minutes left.

Sergio Ramos had a late penalty taken off him,ruled out by VAR, before Benzema nodded in a con-solation in added time. It was too little too late.

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The Indian football team movedup two places to 101 in the lat-

est FIFA rankings released onThursday.

India, who have not been inaction since the AFC (Asian FootballConfederation) Asian Cup inJanuary, had dropped six spots to 103in the February edition after endinglast year at 97.

The team is at present without ahead coach after Stephen Constantinestepped down from his positionpost their Asian Cup sojourn.

In the continental competition,India bowed out in the group stagesafter back-to-back defeats againsthosts UAE (2-0) and Bahrain (1-0).

But Sunil Chhetri and Co. start-ed the tournament with a bang byrecording their biggest win in thecompetition's history after theythrashed Thailand 4-1 in a Group Aclash.

Meanwhile, Asian Cup champi-ons Qatar continued to be ranked55th with UAE on 67 and Bahrain on111. Thailand rose by a spot to 114.

At the top of the rankings,Belgium continued to rule the roostfollowed by France and Brazil whileEngland displaced World Cup run-ners-up Croatia to the fourth spotand Uruguay climbed over Portugalto sixth place.

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In-form Mohammad Nabileads the bowling chargewhich was ably supported by

other Sunrisers bowlers as wellbecause of which Orange Armydidn’t let young Delhi side to batfreely and restrict hosts to 129for 8 in the Indian PremierLeague clash here at Feroz ShahKotla on Thursday.

Afghan all-rounder Nabi(2/21) who picked four wicketsagainst Royal ChallengersBangalore in the last game dis-missed Delhi’s local lads ShikharDhawan (12) and Rishabh Pant(5) to dismantle hosts middleorder while skipperBhuvneshwar Kumar (2/27)accounted for Prithvi Shaw (11)and Chris Morris (17) wicket.

Also, Siddarth Kaul (2/35)picked price wickets of ColinIngram (5) and Kagiso Rabada(3) but was smashed by twosixes in the final over of theinnings that allowed Delhi tocross 120 runs mark.

Apart these three, RashidKhan got skipper Shreyas Iyerbowled out for 43 and SandeepSharma picked Rahul Tewatia(5).

Playing its third game athome, Delhi include IshantSharma, Axar Patel and RahulTewatia in playing eleven inplace of Hanuma vihari, HarshalPatel and Avesh Khan. WhileSunrisers didn’t bother to alterwinning combination andplayed with the same line up,leaving out regular skipper KaneWilliamson.

Coming to bat first after los-ing toss, Delhi’s opener PrithviShaw smashed BhuvneshwarKumar for four in the very firstball of the innings fetching 8runs of the first over but expe-rienced pacer Bhuvi got therevenge in the next over of hisspell when on the second ball ofthird over of innings he sendShaw back to the pavilion.

This is the second time ontrot when Shaw failed to man-age a big score. He was out forfirst ball duck in the last gameagainst Kings XI Punjab.

After Shaw’s dismissal, skip-per Shreyas came to the creaseand started to build partnershipwith former SRH skipperShikhar Dhawan. Dhawan waslooking in good touch but hecouldn’t stretch his innings tobig score and was caught bySandeep in the last ball of thepowerplay over.

And then in at numberfour Rishabh Pant threw hiswicket by going for an unnec-essary big short. He was caughtnear boundary line by DeepakHooda in the very next ball afterfirst strategic timeout.

Pant’s wicket saw a mini col-lapse as from 52 for 2 in 9 overs,Delhi was soon found strug-gling at 75 for 5 in 13.3 overswith Rahul Tewatia and ColinIngram both out in quick suc-cession.

However after that skipperShreyas Iyer played some nicestrokes to take Delhi to near arespectable total.

But as he was approachingnear his first fifty of the seasonhe was bowled by Rashid Khan.He made 43 in 41 balls withthree fours and a six.

After his wicket, it was upto Chris Morris to play some bigshots in the end but he alsofailed to provide that spark inthe end.

But Delhi should thanksAxar as the Indian all-rounderhits two maximum in the lastthree balls of the innings to takeDelhi par 120.

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On a losing streak in the lastfour matches, Royal

Challengers Bengalore areexpected to ring in changes andexperiment in search of theirfirst win when they take onKolkata Knight Riders in anIPL match here on Friday.

RCB's performance thisIPL has been disappointing,both with the bat and ball, anda dejected captain Virat Kohlihas conceded that his strug-gling team is yet to get the rightbalance but will continueexperimenting with its combi-nations.

They lost their last game byseven wickets against RajasthanRoyals in Jaipur and now theywill be up against a balancedKKR side, who have won twomatches out of three they haveplayed so far.

Last time, the RCB beatKKR was in May 2016 at EdenGardens and they have suffereddefeats in their last threeencounters against the Kolkata-based side at ChinnaswamyStadium here.

Batting collapse is thebiggest worrying factor forRCB and to made mattersworse captain Kohli's form hasnot been up to the mark by hishigh standards. He has man-aged a below 20 average in fourgames. Parthiv Patel and AB deVilliers are the only batsmenwho have above 20 average.

In their first match againstChennai Super Kings, RCBwere bowled out for a paltry 70in 17.1 overs after their top-order crumbled before thebowling of Harbhajan Singhand Imran Tahir.

Against SunrisersHyderabad, the RCB bowlersallowed SRH to post a mam-moth 232 with centuries fromJonny Bairstow and DavidWarner. RCB then collapsed toan embarrassing 35 for 6 in theeighth over, with Kohli and deVilliers contributing just fourruns between them. In the end,they were skittled out for 113to lose the match by a massive118 runs.

Against Rajasthan Royalstoo, RCB top order failed,except Parthiv who scored ahalf century. The RCB think-tank would be hoping thattheir top order batsmen comeout with flying colours onFriday against KKR.

Despite their strugglingform, Kohli and de Villiers arenearing personal milestones.Kohli is 17 runs away frombecoming the second Indiancricketer after Suresh Raina to

complete 8,000 T20 runs andde Villiers 15 runs short ofbecoming the second highestT20 run-scorer for RCB. Hehas 3,406 runs under his belt.

The bowling departmenthas also been disappointing.Apart from Yuzvendra Chahal,all the other RCB bowlershave not been among wicketsand have conceded far toomany runs in death overs.

Though KKR lost theirlast game by 3 runs in SuperOver against Delhi Capitals,their confidence level is stillhigh with their batsmen,including Nitish Rana, AndreRussell, Robin Uthappa andShubhman Gill, being in topform.

Russell has been in sensa-tional form with his incrediblepower-hitting ability thathelped KKR win two matches.Restricting him will be a chal-lenge for Chahal and compa-ny.

Rana has been impressiveas an opener and in the mid-dle order too in the first twogames. The performance ofGill will be watched keenlysince he is tipped to be afuture India star.

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Jos Buttler has broken hissilence after falling victim to

a controversial 'Mankad' dis-missal in the Indian PremierLeague, calling for clarity in thelaws of the game.

The England batsman,playing for Rajasthan Royals inthe IPL, was run out for 69 onMarch 25 by Kings XI Punjabskipper Ravichandran Ashwinas he backed up.

The method of dismissal,named after former India play-er Vinoo Mankad, is legal butis seen by many as goingagainst the game's values,unless the batsman has beenwarned first.

The incident was particu-larly contentious as Buttlerwas still in his crease whenAshwin arrived, only for thebowler to pull out of his actionand wait for him to step for-ward before whipping off thebails

"At the time, I was reallydisappointed with it. I didn't

like the style of it," Buttler toldBritain's Daily Mirror newspa-per.

The hard-hitting batsmanwas also a victim of the unusu-al dismissal at the hands of SriLanka's Sachithra Senanayakewhile playing for England atEdgbaston in 2014.

The 28-year-old was dis-

missed for scores of just fiveand six in his subsequent twomatches but returned to formon Tuesday against RoyalChallengers Banglaore, smash-ing 59 runs off 43 balls.

"What was more disap-pointing is that suddenly overthe next two games I foundmyself being really conscious of

it and it is quite distracting,"Buttler said.

"That is why it was nice toget some runs in the win andget back to thinking aboutbatting and not worrying abouthow I back up at the non-strik-er's end."

"I think if you look at thefootage, probably the wrongdecision was made because atthe time he was expected torelease the ball I was in mycrease," he added.

Buttler told ESPNcricinfo:"Of course, a 'Mankading' hasto be in the laws of the game,because a batsman can't justrun halfway down the pitchtrying to get a headstart."

"But I do think, the way thelaw is written, there is a bit ofa grey area in that saying 'whena bowler is expected to releasethe ball'.

That is a bit of a wishy-washy statement."

Cricket's lawmakers, theMCC, have previously said theincident was "not within thespirit of the game"

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Off field controversies and issue withthe core saw Hardik Pandya miss

quite a few games for the country. But the12th edition of the Indian Premier Leaguehas seen Pandya return with a bang andwith the World Cup round the corner thatmakes the national selectors feel relieved.The selectors are keeping a close eye onthe performance of the players in the ongo-ing T20 league and the all-rounder'smatch-winning show on Wednesdaybrought them immense joy.

Speaking about it, one of the nation-al selectors said that whatever happenedin the last few months were unfortunateand Pandya's performance in the ongoingIPL is a clear indication that he has left thepast behind and is looking to make up forlost time.

"The World Cup is round the cornerand as selectors it is pleasing to the eyewhen you see someone like Hardik doingso well for Mumbai. It clearly shows thathe has moved ahead and is focusing on hisgame. Whatever happened cannot beundone. But how you learn from thosemistakes and rise is what is a true test ofyour character," he said.

Sources in the Indian team manage-ment echoed the sentiments and said that

Pandya has the X-factor that is needed tobe a match-winner and that is why theteam backs him to the hilt.

"He has that X-factor. He is fearless in

his approach. Say, you are faced with a sit-uation in the World Cup when you havean improbable chase on hand, he couldwin you the game. Or if you need quickwickets, the captain can always hand himthe ball. He is one of those guys who lovesto rise to the challenge. An in-formHardik is always an advantage for theIndian team.

"Also, if you look at how he is playingfor MI in this IPL, it definitely augurs wellfor the national team. The World Cup isround the corner and momentum is animportant thing. A good show here willsee him carry confidence into the show-piece event," the source said.

Pandya has been doing a great job withboth bat and ball for MI. While he hasscores of 32* off 14 balls against RCB, 31off 19 balls against KXIP and 25* off 8 ballsagainst CSK to show for his battingprowess late into the innings, the all-rounder has also picked four wickets in theseason so far. He has himself also made itclear that his focus is the upcomingWorld Cup.

"These seven months weren't easy andI wasn't sure of what to do. My goal is tokeep performing and hopefully, helpIndia win the World Cup," Pandya saidafter his efforts against Chennai onWednesday.

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India have more or less a settledsquad for the World Cup barring

one slot and vice captain Rohit Sharmafeels skipper Virat Kohli's preferencewould matter a lot while sorting outthat position.

Rohit, who is a certainty in theWorld Cup squad as an opener, alsosaid that the specific spot that needsto be filled would be dictated by con-ditions that are likely to prevail inEngland during the World Cup, com-mencing May 30.

"I know how it works with thecaptain. The preference of the captainis very important in terms of that extraplayer he wants in the squad. I thinkVirat and (Indian team's head coach)Ravi shastri have to decide whatexactly the combination that they wantor what extra player or where is thatextra cushion they are looking for.That is something that will matter themost," Rohit said at the launch of web-site cricket.Com.

"I think we are pretty much set-

tled. A few spots are there whicheveryone knows about. It all dependson what captain, coach and selectorsthink about the combination, whetherwe need to go with an extra middleorder batsman, extra opener, extraseamer or spinner. Conditions inEngland will matter a lot."

Rohit also said that the team man-agement will have to play a gamble inpicking up that extra player.

"Last summer when we werethere the conditions were really dry.But we don't know whether it will be

the same (during the World Cup). Ifit is (the same) we need an extra spin-ner there - it's as simple as that," hesaid.

"If it's not, probably we will needan extra seamer there. I also under-stand we would not know what theweather conditions will be (but) wehave to select the team in the next fewdays or weeks, actually."

Rohit also believes that for WorldCup selection, the players should bejudged on the basis of 'performanceand form' in the last four years and noton how they perform during the IPL.

World Cup will begin days afterconclusion of IPL on May 12.

The national selectors are keepinga close eye on the IPL for picking the15-member Indian squad for themega-event.

"With their inputs, the selectorswill keep an eye on what is happen-ing with those guys in IPL althoughI feel IPL should not be the criteria forteam selection," he said at the launchof a new website Cricket.com here onThursday.

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India's Kidambi Srikanthmade it to the men's singles

quarterfinal but an erratic P VSindhu went down in straightgames in women's singles com-petition at the $750,000Malaysia Open here onThursday.

Eighth seeded Srikanth,who had reached the finals of aBWF World Tour event after 17months at the India Open lastweek, defeated Thailand'sKhosit Phetpradab 21-11, 21-15in little over half an hour to setup a meeting with Olympicchampion and fourth seedChen Long of China.

The 26-year-old is now thelone Indian survivor in theBWF World Tour Super 750tournament.

Fifth seed Sindhu blew a13-10 advantage in the openinggame to go down rather meek-ly 18-21, 7-21 to World No 10

Sung Ji Hyun for her thirdstraight defeat to the Korean.The Indian had to the Koreanin the first round of All EnglandChampionship and 2018 HongKong open.

Mixed doubles pair ofPranaav Jerry Chopra and NSikki Reddy lost 21-15 17-21

13-21 to local combination ofTan Kian Meng and Lai Pei Jingof Malaysia India to bow out.

Srikanth opened up a 6-2lead early on and then jumpedto a 14-6 advantage. The Indiancontinued to dominate the pro-ceedings to pocket the openinggame.

Nothing changed in thesecond with Srikanth againmarching ahead early and hold-ing his fort to comfortably shutout the match.

In the women's singlesmatch, after some good rallies,Sindhu enjoyed a three-pointlead at 8-5 but Sung Ji Hyundrew level with a cross courtsmash. The Indian again man-aged to held a 11-9 lead after theKorean went wide.

Sung Ji grabbed a 11-6advantage at the break.

Eventually two unforcederrors from the Indian helpedSung Ji seal the quarterfinalsspot.

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Striker Vandana Katariya scored a brace to helpIndian women's hockey team beat hosts

Malaysia 3-0 in the opening game of the five-match series here on Thursday.

Vandana struck in the 17th and 60th min-utes before Lalremsiami (38th) scored in thethird quarter to hand India the easy win.

It was Malaysia who got a head start witha penalty corner in the third minute of the match,but it was well-saved by an experienced Savitaguarding the Indian goalpost. India shook offthe initial nerves and young Lalremsiami tooka brave shot on goal in the fifth minute but hereffort was saved.

Two minutes later, Navneet Kaur attempt-ed a shot on goal but was denied by an alertMalaysian goalkeeper. Soon India got a penal-ty corner but the resultant try went wide.

After a goalless first quarter, India broke thedeadlock in the 17th minute when Vandanascored a fine field goal.

With a one goal cushion, India maintaineda good structure and controlled the proceedingsin the third quarter too. India doubled their leadin the 38th minute through another field strikeby young striker Lalremsiami.

The 2-0 lead put India in a comfortable posi-tion in the fourth quarter and the visitorsincreased their lead just seconds from the finalhooter through Vandana.

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