KARTI TO DEPOSIT `10 CRSECURITY TO FLY ABROAD New Delhi: The SC on Tuesdaypermitted Karti Chidambaram,son of senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, to travel abroadin May and June after depositing`10 crore as security with it.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: FIRJUNKED AGAINST AAP MLA New Delhi: In a relief to AAPMLA Somnath Bharti, the DelhiHigh Court on Tuesday quashedan FIR which accused him ofdomestic violence, after his wifeexpressed no objection to it.

FLOATING RESTAURANTSINKS IN TEHRI RESERVOIRDehradun: Marina, a floatingrestaurant of the UttarkahandTourism Department, sankpartially in the Tehri reservoir onTuesday, officials said.

GIRIRAJ SURRENDERSIN COURT, GETS BAILBegusarai: Union Minister GirirajSingh on Tuesday surrenderedbefore a local court in a modelcode of conduct violation casefor making controversial remarksagainst Muslims at an electionrally in Bihar.

CAPSULE

DEEPAK KUMAR JHA nNEW DELHI

With just two phases of LokSabha polls remaining,

there is an attempt to revive theidea of a non-BJP and non-Congress “federal front” thatcould occupy centre stage inthe Government formation incase of a fractured verdict bythe voters.

After holding talks withKerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan, Telangana ChiefMinister K Chandrashekar Rao(KCR) is trying to hold similarparleys with DMK chief Stalinin Chennai. There is no officialconfirmation about the meet-ing so far, but sources said itmay take place on May 13 ifStalin agrees to hold talks withthe TRS chief, who is seen closeto the BJP camp.

Meanwhile, KarnatakaChief Minister HDKumaraswamy has also con-tacted KCR and expressed hiswillingness to hold talks withhim on formulatingOpposition’s future course ofaction in case of a split verdictat the Centre.

Congress sources said theparty will be ready to extend

support to any formulationlike a “federal front” if it couldbecome platform to keep BJPout of power. A seniorCongress leader said none ofthe major political parties —the BJP and the Congress —are likely to get the numbers toform a Government. “Thatwould make the so-called fed-eral front a viable alternative,”he said.

“In that case the grand oldparty will not hesitate to repeatKarnataka and we may extendsupport to the federal front,”said the leader.

In Karnataka Assemblypolls last year when the BJP,despite being the single largestparty, could not form aGovernment, the Congressextended its support to thethird largest party giving anopportunity to Kumaraswamyto be the CM.

In March, KCR had moot-ed the idea of a “federal front”and initiated efforts to providean alternative to both the BJPand the Congress and subse-quently met leaders ofTrinamool Congress, Biju JantaDal, Samajwadi Party, JanataDal (S) and DMK. Sources saidhe also invited the YSR

Congress Party to join the pro-posed front.

“With the Lok Sabha elec-tion results to be declared onMay 23, KCR is planning meet-ings with leaders of variousparties to prepare the groundfor formation of a non-BJP,

non-Congress Government.While a National Front

(NF) coalition led by Janata Dalformed a Government between1989 and 1990 with VP Singhand Chandra Shekhar as PrimeMinisters, a United FrontGovernment was formed

between 1996-98 with HDDeve Gowda and IK Gujral asPMs. The parties in the Frontwere Janata Dal, Telugu DesamParty, DMK, Asom GanaParishad and Indian Congress(Socialist). They were sup-ported from outside by the LeftFront and the BJP.

PNS n CHANDIGARH

Launching a blistering attackat the Narendra Modi

Government, Congress gen-eral secretary Priyanka GandhiVadra on Tuesday invoked thefate of Mahabharata’s main vil-lain Duryodhana to warn thatthe country has never forgivensuch arrogance.

Addressing a rally inAmbala (Haryana), Priyanka,used the Mahabharata analogyto hit back at Modi over his“bhrashtachari (corrupt) No. 1”jibe at her father Rajiv Gandhiand said the Mahabharata char-acter Duryodhana too had“such arrogance”.

The Congress leader alsodared Modi to fight the LokSabha elections on issues likedevelopment rather than

diverting the people’s attention.Priyanka said the country

has never forgiven ego andarrogance. “History is witnessto this, Mahabharata is witnessto this…Duryodhana too hadsuch arrogance. When LordKrishna went to make himunderstand, he tried to takehim captive,” she said.

The Congress general sec-retary for UP also read out acouplet by Hindi poetRamdhari Singh Dinkar, sayingwisdom is the first casualtybefore someone’s downfall, “Jabnaash manush par chhata hai,pehle vivek mar jata hai...”

BJP president Amit Shahslammed Priyanka for com-paring the PM withDuryodhana and said the elec-tion outcome on May 23 willdetermine whether Modi isDuryodhan or Arjun.

“Priyanka has comparedModi ji with Duryodhana.People of the country willdecide who is Duryadhanaand who is Arjun on May 23?Priyanka ji, do not worry, peo-ple will tell you whether Modiji is Duryodan or Arjun,” Shahsaid at an election rally inBengal’s Midnapore.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n NEW DELHI

The former woman employ-ee of the Supreme Court

who levelled sexual harass-ment allegations against ChiefJustice of India Ranjan Gogoi,on Tuesday sought a copy ofthe report of the In-HouseEnquiry Committee, whichgave clean chit to the CJI.

Meanwhile, 55 protesters,mostly women lawyers andactivists, were detained outsidethe SC for protesting againstthe procedure adopted to dealwith a sexual harassment caseagainst the CJI. “If the SupremeCourt itself is violating the

norms, then there will be novalue in the system left,” said aprotester.

The woman complainantsaid, “The in-house proceedingrules are now being used todeny me and the public a rightto the report... It appears fromthe press release that even I, thecomplainant, will not to be pro-vided with a copy of the report.

I have a right to the report, thereasons for the same as well ascopies of the depositions of anywitnesses, any other persons orany other evidence consideredby the Committee.”

She added if the CJI isgiven a copy of the report,directly or indirectly, the com-plainant too is entitled to it.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onTuesday refused to modify

its April 8 order which direct-ed the Election Commission(EC) to increase randommatching of Voter-VerifiedPaper Audit Trail (VVPAT)slips with Electronic VotingMachines (EVMs) to fivepolling booths per Assemblysegment in the Lok Sabha elec-tions, and dismissed the reviewplea of 21 Opposition leadersseeking that it be raised to 50per cent.

As soon as hearing started,Chief Justice of India RanjanGogoi asked senior advocateAM Singhvi, who is represent-ing the Opposition, during thehearing, “How much countingdo you want now?”.

“We have asked for 50 percent, but we can settle for 33per cent or 25 per cent verifi-cation.

Continued on Page 7

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Hundreds of sadhus onTuesday landed in Bhopal

to seek votes for the CongressLok Sabha candidate DigvijayaSingh and campaign againstBJP nominee Pragya SinghThakur. Digvijaya’s excessiveinclination to religious eventsis seen as a move to negate BJP’scandidate Pragya’s image asreligious poster girl.

Digvijaya also took part inreligious rituals with his wifeAmrita Singh and sought bless-ings of the sadhus who were ledby Computer Baba, aka Nam-dev Das Tyagi, former closeaide of Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Led by Computer Baba,they will camp in Bhopal forthree days. They undertookHath Yoga on Tuesday, fol-lowed by a road show. HathYoga involves asanas (posi-tions) that help in relaxingand breathing control.

Computer Baba was

bestowed Minister of State sta-tus by the then BJP-ledGovernment in MadhyaPradesh and appointed on apanel to clean the Narmada.

However, Computer Babalater switched his loyalties and

backed the Congress inAssembly polls.

Computer Baba told themedia it was a fight of dharmaand adharma. “Dharma waswith Digvijaya Singh,” he said.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n NEW DELHI

Vinayak Sreedhar, whoidolised Stephen Hawking,

scored nearly 100 in all thethree subjects he appeared forduring the CBSE 10 examina-tion, and passed away in Marchbefore he could write theremaining two.

Sreedhar suffered fromduchenne muscular dystrophywhich is a genetic disordercharacterised by progressivemuscle degeneration and weak-ness.

He scored 100 in English,96 in Science and 97 in Sanskritand could not appear forComputer Science and SocialStudies.

Topping the class 10 boardexams, becoming an astronautand a trip to Rameswaram areamong some of the unfulfilledwishes of Sreedhar, who wasdiagnosed with muscular dys-trophy when he was two-years-old.

Duchenne muscular dys-trophy is caused due to theabsence of dystrophin, a pro-tein that helps keep muscle cellsintact.

The results for the class 10Central Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) examina-tion were announced onMonday.

The Amity International

School, Noida, studentappeared for the exams underthe general category and notthe Children With SpecialNeed (CWSN) category.

“His muscular movementwas very limited. He couldwrite slowly but since there isa time duration for exams heused a scribe to write Englishand Science exam. For Sanskrit,he insisted to write himself. Hisbody movement was restrictedand he was wheelchair-bound,but his mind was very sharpand aspirations very high,”Mamta Sreedhar, his mother,told PTI.

“He would always say Iwant to become an astronautdespite all the challenges andwould say if Stephen Hawkingscould go to Oxford and makea name in Cosmology I can go

to space too. He was confidentthat he will be among toprankers. We were alwaysamazed with his confidenceand would encourage him fur-ther,” she added.

Legendary British theoret-ical physicist Stephen Hawkingalso suffered from a motor neu-rone disease.

Sreedhar had plans to visitRameswaram temple nearKanyakumari after his examswere over. “We are today inRameshwaram and are goingfor darshan in the evening. Itwas his unfulfilled wish so wedecided to not postpone theplans and do it for him,” hismother said.

However, VinayakSreedhar is not the only one inhis family to make his parentsproud.

His sister is an IndianInstitute of Science (IISc) alum-nus and is currently pursuingher Phd at the University ofBritish Columbia on a fellow-ship.

While Vinayak’s father isvice president in GMR, hismother is a home maker bychoice. “I made this choice. Myentire day revolved aroundhim. From brushing his teethto feeding him, I did it allmyself but it was his willpow-er which always gave us thestrength,” his mother said.

Federal front gathers mass

o After holding talks withKerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan,Telangana Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao istrying to hold similarparleys with DMK chiefStalin in Chennai

o Karnataka Chief MinisterHD Kumaraswamy too hascontacted KCR, expressinghis willingness to hold talkswith him on formulatingOpposition’s future courseof action in case of a splitverdict

o Congress sources said theparty will be ready to extendsupport to any formulationlike a “federal front” if itcould become platform tokeep BJP out of power

Bid on to revive non-BJP, non-Cong

entity in case of fractured verdict

Priyanka likens Modito rude Duryodhana

SC junks Opp review plea on 50% VVPAT verification

Digvijaya seeks refuge in sadhus to take on Sadhvi

Election results will

determine whether

Modi is Duryodhana

or Arjun, says Shah

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao meets his Kerala counterpartPinarayi Vijayan at latter’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram PTI

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addresses an election rally inHisar on Tuesday PTI

Women being detained for protest against Supreme Court In-house Committee’sclean chit to the CJI in the sexual harassment case in New Delhi on Tuesday PTI

Bhopal Spiritual leader Namdev Das Tyagi, popularly known as Computer Baba,performs puja at the election campaign venue of Congress candidate for BhopalLok Sabha seat Digvijaya Singh, in Bhopal on Tuesday PTI

Noida’s budding Hawking cut off in primeThe precocious

boy who dreamt

like Stephen

Hawking died

during Class X

exam, but

scored nearly

100 in 3

subjects

Aggrieved woman seekscopy of clean chit to CJIProtest outside SCagainst procedureadopted to rejectsexual harassmentcharge by ex-staffer

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on:

www.dailypioneer.com

}

AVENUES 10

CREATE A HEALTHY FUTURE

OPINION 8

NOBODY JOINEDTHE DOTS

WORLD 13

LANKA STILL FACES THREAT OFISIS TERROR ATTACKS: PM

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Late City Vol. 155 Issue 125*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI RAIPUR CHANDIGARH DEHRADUN HYDERABAD VIJAYWADA

Established 1864

RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2019-21

LUCKNOW, WEDNESDAY MAY 8, 2019; PAGES 16 `3

DELHI FACE

SUNRISERS IN

ELIMINATOR

16 SPORT

}

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

For the first time, two studentsof Class 12 (ISC) examina-

tion, conducted under theCouncil for the Indian SchoolCertificate Examinations(CISCE), have scored 100 percent marks in the resultsdeclared on Tuesday. This yeartoo, the girls have outshone theboys once again with the passpercentage of 99.05 per cent inICSE class 10 examination asagainst 98.12 per cent of boys.The pass percentage, achievedby girls in class 12 examinations,is 97.84 per cent as against 95.40per cent of boys.

According to a statementreleased by the ICSE, " DewangKumar Agarwal from Kolkataand Vibha Swaminathan fromBengaluru have topped with100 per cent marks. The secondrank has been shared by 16 stu-dents with 99.75 per cent andthe third rank has been sharedby 36 students with 99.50 percent marks".

Juhi Rupesh Kajaria andMuktsar's Manhar Bansal fromMumbai has topped the class X

examination with 99.60 percent. The second rank hasbeen shared by ten studentswith 99.40 per cent marks andthe third rank has been sharedby 24 students with 99.20 percent marks.

Among all the regions i.e,Western, Southern, Eastern,Norther and Abroad, the south-ern region have performed wellin ISC class 12th exam with apass percentage of 98.91 per-cent. Region wise, the secondposition has been secured bythe western with 98.13 percentpass percentage. The easternregion scored 96.66 percentpass percentage, while the pass

percentage of Northern regionis 96.66. Students from foreignschools have secured 99.69 percent pass percentage this year.

In 10th pass percentage, theWestern region has securedthe first position with 99.76 percent. The southern regionrecorded a pass percentage of99.73 per cent while the northand eastern region have secured98.06 and 97.87 pass percent-age. About 86,713 registered forthe 12th examination 96.52per cent have passed the ISCexams. Also, there is a slight risein the pass percentage with0.31% from last year.

■ Also see Page 3

2 students score 100%,

girls outshine boys

ICSE CLASS XII RESULTS

Representational image

city 02LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

PNS n LUCKNOW

Senior Congress leadersflayed Prime Minister

Narendra Modi for his“Bhrashtachari No. 1” remarkagainst late Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi, saying that noprime minister had ever usedabusive words against anyopposition leader.

At a rally in Uttar Pradeshthis weekend, the PrimeMinister had attackedCongress chief Rahul Gandhisaying, “Your father wastermed Mr Clean by his lack-eys but his life ended as‘Bhrashtachari No. 1’.”

“It is not only highly objec-tionable but also shameful,especially as the speaker wasthe Prime Minister. In theprocess, Modi degraded hisoffice for cheap political gains,”said veteran Congress leaderPramod Tewari on Tuesday.

In a release issued onTuesday, Tewari claimed thatevery party fought elections onthe works and stature of tallleaders and Congress fought inthe name of Mahatma Gandhi,Jawaharlal Nehru, SardarVallabhbhai Patel, Lal BahadurShastri, Indira Gandhi, RajivGandhi etc. just like the BJPwas contesting election in thename of Deen DayalUpadhyay, Shyama PrasadMookerjee, Atal BihariVajpayee and others.

“However, none of the topleaders used any foul remarksagainst each other. But Modiseems to have forgotten allethics and used foul wordsagainst a leader who is nomore and had sacrificed his lifefor the nation. The nationwould not forgive Modi forthis and will give a befittingreply in the ongoing elec-tions,” he added.

Congress leader in theLegislative Council, DeepakSingh, also launched a scathingattack on the Prime Ministersaying, “The BJP never fulfilledpromises made during polltime. They are now seekingvotes either in the name ofmartyrs or by insulting mar-tyred leaders of Congress.Modi seems to have lost hismental balance after assessingthat his days as prime minis-ter are now numbered.”

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister YogiAdityanath set the

expiry date of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, saying that bua-babua and partners would partways, blaming each other forfailing to transfer votes to theirrespective candidates, on May23.

“The so-called alliancewill end on May 23 after LokSabha election results areannounced. Bua (Mayawati)will call Babua (AkhileshYadav) a criminal and criticisehim for failing to transfer hisparty’s votes while Babua willterm her a corrupt leader.These parties joined handsdue to Narendra Modi and willpart ways due to Modi,” Yogisaid while addressing poll ral-lies in Ambedkar Nagar andBasti on Tuesday.

Taking a jibe at Mayawatiand Akhilesh, Yogi said thatShivpal Singh Yadav was veryupset with this alliance.

“Shivpal said that he hasno sister. If that is the case howdid bua emerge? This relation-ship was formed to loot, toprovoke riots, to encouragecorruption and is a threat tothe security of the nation,”

Yogi said.The Chief Minister also

attacked opposition partieson instant triple talak issue,saying that Congress,Samajwadi Party and BahujanSamaj Party were determinedto oppose the law againsttriple talaq while the BJPwanted to enact it in order torestore the dignity of Muslimwomen.

“Our country gotIndependence many years ago.But Muslim women will gettheir real freedom when thisevil practice ends. We willcome up with strict rules sothat no one can exploit andharass Muslim women,” hesaid.

Appreciating the PrimeMinister’s development worksacross the country, Yogi saidthat if one compared thetenures of BJP and Congress,one would see that the BJP’sfive-year regime was betterthan the 55-year rule ofCongress.

Slamming oppositions par-ties, Yogi said that the previousgovernments of UP imple-mented their welfare schemeson the basis of caste, creed andreligion but the present regimebelieved in ‘sabka saath sabkavikas’.

“We are not supplyingpower on any specific occasionor festival to a specific sectionof people. All are getting powersupply round the clock andaround the year,” he said.

Attacking the SamajwadiParty, Yogi said that SP leadersclaimed that they followed Dr Ram Manohar Lohia’s ideology. “But the first familyof Samajwadi Party accumulat-ed assets in the name of Lohia.Throughout his life, Lohiaopposed ‘pariwarvaad’(dynasty) in politics but the Samajwadi Party has become aparty of a family.”

Basti and AmbedkarNagar will go to polls in thesixth phase on May 12.

PNS n LUCKNOW

As the election juggernautchugs into the sixth phase,

the number of candidates inUttar Pradesh with criminalrecord in this round hasdecreased by six per cent com-pared to the fifth phase with 21percent of them having crimi-nal cases.

However, the number ofcrorepati candidates has peakedto 33 per cent against 31 percent in the fifth phase polls.

In the 14 Lok Sabha con-stituencies going to poll in thesixth phase, there are 177 can-didates in the fray. The affi-davits of 172 candidates werescrutinised by ADR and UPElection Watch.

UP Election Watch headSanjay Singh said in Lucknowon Tuesday that out of these172 candidates, 36 or 21 percent have criminal cases regis-tered against them. Amongthese, 29 candidates or 17 percent have heinous crimes reg-istered against them.

Independent candidatefrom Shravasti, DhirendraPratap Singh, has the highestnumber of eight criminal casesand he has been charged under11 sections of the Indian PenalCode.

Kamla Devi of PragatisheelSamajwadi Party (Lohia), con-testing from Sultanpur, sharesthe second spot with five casesregistered against her whileAkshay Pratap Singh, theJansatta Dal Loktantrik candi-date and cousin of RaghurajPratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya,trying his luck fromPratapgarh, is at the third placewith four cases.

Among crorepatis, 56 or 33per cent of the candidates in thesixth phase polls have assetsworth more than one crorerupees. Twelve of them are ofBharatiya Janata Party, 10 ofBahujan Samaj Party, nine ofCongress and two ofSamajwadi Party.

Union minister ManekaGandhi, who is contesting asBJP candidate from Sultanpur,is the richest candidate in thisphase of polls with assets worth`55.69 crore.

Congress candidate fromJaunpur, Debavrat Mishra,closely tails Maneka Gandhiwith assets worth ̀ 51.09 crore.Congress candidate fromSultanpur, Sanjay Singh, is atthe third place with assetsworth `41.11 crore. Besides, 16candidates have not declaredtheir PAN details while onecandidate is illiterate.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Once considered to be thebastion of Chief Minister

Yogi Adityanath and the safestLok Sabha seat for theBharatiya Janata Party in east-ern Uttar Pradesh, Gorakhpurhas taken a queer turn, forcingthe ruling party to deploy allresources at its command toensure the victory of its candi-date, Bhojpuri star Ravi Kishan,from this prestigious con-stituency which goes to poll inthe seventh and last phase ofLok Sabha elections on May 19.

The BJP won theGorakhpur seat from 1991 till2018, when the party lost it inthe by-election to a joint oppo-sition candidate. The bypollwas necessitated due to resig-nation of Yogi Adityanath fromLok Sabha after he was electedthe UP Legislative Councilafter becoming the ChiefMinister of UP.

“In this election, two con-stituencies, Gorakhpur andAmethi, have evoked maxi-

mum interest. The interest inAmethi was due to the contestbetween Union Minister andBJP candidate Smriti Irani andCongress president RahulGandhi, who is seeking re-elec-tion from his traditional seat.In Gorakhpur, the focus is onYogi Adityanath.

“The question is whetherthe BJP will be able to wrest theGorakhpur seat fromSamajwadi Party this time,”said Nomita P Kumar from theGiri Institute of DevelopmentStudies.

Gorakhpur was considereda BJP bastion because politicsin this impoverished regionrevolved around GorakhnathMutt. Earlier, MahantAvaidyanath represented theGorakhpur seat in Lok Sabhabut after his death, YogiAdityanath kept on winningthe seat since 1998.

But in 2018, PraveenKumar Nishad of NishadParty contested the bypoll toGorakhpur on SP ticket anddefeated BJP’s Upendra Dutt

Shukla by over 21,000 votes.This was the first experimentof opposition unity whichwas replicated in Kairanabypoll later.

Since then, Praveen Nishadhas joined the BJP and has beenfielded from Sant Kabir Nagarconstituency.

“The opposition was ableto win the Gorakhpur seatbecause of the combination ofcastes. Nishads, Dalits andMuslims united and votedagainst the BJP. Secondly, thevoting percentage in bypollwas just 43 per cent, indicatinglack of interest among the vot-ers,” Kumar said, adding thatthe BJP leaders had becomecomplacent about the outcomein their ‘impregnable’ strong-hold, an attitude whichboomeranged.

The caste equation inGorakhpur is complex. Thereare around 4.5 lakh Nishadvotes followed by 3.5 lakhMuslims and around 1.5 lakhDalits. The upper castesaccount for around 2 lakh

votes.To take advantage of this

equation, the SP-BSP-RLDalliance has fielded formerminister in Akhilesh govern-ment, Ram Bhuwal Nishadfrom Gorakhpur. He is pittedagainst BJP’s Ravi Kishan, aBrahmin. The Congress hasfielded Madhusudan Tiwarifrom the seat.

The trouble for the BJPdoes not end here as one timeclose confidant of YogiAdityanath, Sunil Singh, toohas jumped into the fray underthe banner of Hindu YuvaVahini Bharat.

At one time, Singh wasconsidered the right hand manof Yogi Adityanath. Singh’s for-mer stature could prove detri-mental for the BJP, as he woulddefinitely eat into a chunk ofBJP votes.

In this scenario, BJP’s RaviKishan relies totally on YogiAdityanath. Being a Bhojpuriactor, he may draw crowd butwill his charisma translate intovotes, only time will tell.

PNS n LUCKNOW

After extending support toCongress president Rahul

Gandhi in Amethi and UnitedProgressive Alliance chairper-son Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli,Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati resumed Congress-bashing at a joint rally of SP-BSP-RLD alliance in Jaunpuron Tuesday.

Mayawati also flayed theBharatiya Janata Party, sayingthat the people of the countrywould not fall to the saffronparty’s ‘fake’ promises and ‘the-atrics’ and it was bound to losethe election owing to its capi-talistic, communal andRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-influenced policies.

Accusing the Congress ofnot doing anything substantialfor Dalits, OBCs and minori-ties, the BSP chief said,“Congress apathy towards theunderprivileged class forcedKanshiram to float the BSP in1984.

She said the Congress wasvoted out of power as it failedto work for the uplift of poor,Dalits and working class andits anti-people policies.

“Despite being in power inmost of the states and at theCentre for decades, they(Congress) could not solveissues of poverty, unemploy-ment and farmers. Parties like

Bahujan Samaj Party andSamajwadi Party were estab-lished due to this,” the BSPchief stated.

Later, training her guns atthe BJP, Mayawati said, “TheBJP will be voted out of powerin the ensuing Lok Sabha pollsdue to its communal, casteist,capitalistic and RSS-influencedpolicies. No ‘ jumlebazi’(rhetoric) or gimmick will doany good to them,” she said inher address at the joint rally.

The BSP chief accusedPrime Minister NarendraModi of making false promis-es to the people, especially topoor and Dalits, and not ful-filling them during his five-year tenure.

“Modi did not deliver even

one-fourth of the promises hemade to the poor and workingclasses in 2014 Lok Sabhapolls. The BJP will lose powerdue to its drawbacks and fail-ures in delivering on promis-es. Besides, the ruling partyignored the deprived classesand worked for the rich peo-ple,” she alleged.

“No significant develop-ment took place for the poor,Dalits, Muslims and minoritiesin BJP rule. The ScheduledCastes and Other BackwardClasses (OBCs) are beingdenied constitutional right ofreservation and governmentworks are being privatisedwithout provision of reserva-tion being made in private sec-tor,” Mayawati charged.

The BSP chief also accusedthe BJP of politicising thearmed forces for its narrowpolitical ends.

“Our borders are still notsecure and terror attacks takeplace regularly. But it is unfor-tunate that the BJP leaders aretrying to encash it anyhow,”she commented.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadavand RLD chief Ajit Singh alsoaddressed the rally at Jaunpur.

While five phases of LokSabha elections are over,polling for the remaining con-stituencies will take place inthe next two phases on May 12and May 19.

Lucknow (PNS): A man was arrested with105 gram heroin, worth `1.5 crore in grey mar-ket, on the Indo-Nepal border in Maharajganj dis-trict, an official said Tuesday. The SashstraSeema Bal (SSB) personnel arrested the accusedBihari Lodhi at Sonauli check post in Maharajganjon Monday, SSB Company Commander AmitKumar said. Lodhi is a resident of the district’sPharenda area, he said. A case has been registeredagainst the accused under the Narcotic Drugs and

Psychotropic Substances Act.

TWO DROWN IN RIVERMeanwhile, two teenagers drowned in the

Rapti river in Nawabganj area of Bahraich. Theincident took place on Monday when LalitJaiswal, Vijay Rawat, Suraj Baranwal and AkashSoni entered the river to take a bath. While Surajand Akash were saved by locals but Lalit (18)and Vijay (19) could drowned in the river.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Two brothers were injuredafter they were shot at by a

kin for voting in favour ofBharatiya Janata Party candi-date in Moradabad on Tuesday.

The police, however, dis-missed the charge and main-tained that the two were shot atover a property dispute.

As per reports, Zafar and hisbrother Junaid of Gulsahid local-ity of Moradabad, were standingoutside their house on Tuesdaymorning when some kin cameand had a fight with them. Thesituation took an ugly turnwhen the kin opened fire, seri-ously injuring the two brothers.Locals later rushed to their res-cue and shifted them to districthospital. The victims’ uncleRaees Qureshi aka Bholu,claimed that Danish aka Lala,Kalua and Raju were local goonsand were annoyed with the vic-tims as they were BJP support-ers. He said the assailants wereirked after they learnt that Raees,Danish and their family had

voted in favour of BJP in theongoing election.

Bholu alleged that theassailants came to their GulsahidColony home and picked up afight over polling and openedfire to kill them.

Circle officer of Kathgharipolice circle in Moradabad,Sudesh Gupta, investigated theincident and later said the vic-tims’ family was unnecessarilytrying to give a political twist tothe incident as the motivebehind the attack was a proper-ty-related dispute. He said thepolice had received no writtencomplaint so far.

Meanwhile, a minor girl wasraped by a youth at Bihari villagein Muzaffarnagar. As per reports,the 16-year-old girl was alone athome when her neighbour,Ankit, came with his sisters andshe opened the door. Some timelater, the sisters gave her prasadlaced with sedatives and Ankitraped her and fled. The victimwas sent for medical examina-tion. Efforts were being made tonab Ankit and his sisters.

Printed and Published by Vijay Prakash Singh for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow-226016 and Printed at Tin Tin Printech Pvt Ltd., C-33 Amausi Industrial Area, Nadarganj, Lucknow. Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident

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Oppn against ban on

triple talaq: Yogi

Congress did nothing substantial for Dalits, OBCs and minorities: Maya

A lot at stake for BJP in Gorakhpur

Cong leaders flayModi for remarkagainst Rajiv

36 candidates with

criminal records in

sixth phase poll

56 crorepatis in fray

Two brothers shot at by kinfor voting in favour of BJP

3 killed, 22 injured in

separate accidents

Lucknow (PNS): Three persons were killed and 22 injuredin separate road accidents during the past 24 hours. A man andhis eight-year-old son died, when the motorcycle they were rid-ing collided with a car on the Aonla-Ramanagar road in Bareilly.A senior official said on Tuesday that Gyan Chandra, 25, andhis son Vivek were killed in the accident while his wife Mamtaand another son Abhishek sustained serious injuries and wereadmitted to a private hospital here. The family, a native of Badaundistrict, had come to Aonla to attend a wedding on Monday night,when a speeding car hit the motorcycle. The bodies were sentfor post-mortem. In a separate incident, a man was killed and20 others, including women, were injured in a collision betweena car and mini-truck near Kamheda village on the Ganga canalroad in Muzaffarnagar on Monday evening. The deceased wasidentified as Madan (50). The injured were shifted to a hospi-tal. They were returning from a religious ceremony.

Man held with heroin worth `1.5 crore

city 03LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Hard work and regularstudy is the key to success.

This is what the toppers whohave secured high percentagein the ISC and the ICSE exam-inations said.

Shripriya Tewari, a stu-dent of the City MontessoriSchool who secured 97.6 percent marks in ICSE examina-tions, is the daughter of a rail-way official. She said one needsto study regularly to get goodmarks. “I am aiming for civilservices because it is the bestway to serve the country. I wantto work in the area of education

and also try to bring down cor-ruption,” she said.

Kumar R Ayush, a studentof the City Montessori Schoolwho secured 95.8 per centmarks, said he was not veryhappy with his marks. “I stud-ied regularly and also attendedcoaching classes. I kept awayfrom social media because it isa big distraction. I also clearedmy doubts from my teachers,”he said. He pointed out that hewanted to crack JEE.

Shreyanshi, who secured93 per cent marks in ICSEexaminations, said she washappy with the result. “One hasto put in a lot of hard but smart

work while preparing for theexaminations. One can dosmart work in terms of revi-sion,” she said. The young girlsaid she would be appearing forCLAT.

Prabhakar Nagpal fromCity Montessori School whosecured 91.25 per cent marks inISC examinations, said hemade regular school notes. “Iwould call up my teachers toclear my doubts even at oddhours,” he said. Prabhakar saidhe wanted to crack JEE. “I wantto come up with a softwarewhich can serve the purpose ofsocial media but is not as dis-tracting,” he added.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Ten students in ISC (ClassXII) and four in ICSE

(Class X) from the city baggedthe second and third all-Indiaranks respectively. In the ISCexaminations, VedanshiTiwari from City MontessoriSchool, Mahanagar, andNehal Sharma from LaMartiniere Girls’ Collegebagged second all-India rankwith 99.75 per cent markseach. Subrat Shukla, AyushiSaxena, Astha Garg, AhmadRushan (CMS, Mahanagar),Ritwik Ghosh (CMS, StationRoad), and Ananya Kalra(CMS, Gomti Nagar) baggedAIR 3 with 99.50 per centmarks each.

In the ICSE (Class X)examinations, Radhika Gupta(CMS, Mahanagar) andAnanya Aggarwal (LaMartiniere Girls’ College)bagged the second rank whileShashwat Verma from CMS(Gomti Nagar) and ShambhaviKrishna from La MartiniereGirls’ College shared the thirdrank. A total of 2,786 CMSstudents took the ISC Boardexamination this year and52.1% secured 90%-99.75%marks. Other students alsosecured high percentage ofmarks.

In Gurukul Academy, outof 51 student of ICSE, 13scored more than 90% whilethe rest remained in 80% and70% category. SrishtiSrivastava secured 96.60 percent, Unnati Srivastava 95.80per cent, Devansh Tewari95.60 per cent, G Prashant95.02 per cent, Krishna Sahani94.60 per cent, and MahiVerma 94.40 per cent.

At Lucknow PublicCollegiate (ICSE), Adeetyawas the topper with 95.4 percent marks, followed byHarshit Dev Mathur 93.2 per

cent, Aakash 93 per cent,Aman Pratap 92.8 per cent,Aakarsh 92.4 per cent,Shashwat Thapa 91.8 per cent,Jayesh Bhatnagar 91.4 percent, Chhavi Gupta 91.4 percent, and Pranjal 91 per cent.

The topper in ISC wasGobindpreet Singh with 97 percent, followed by AimanParvez 91 per cent, SaurabhJaiswal 90.8 per cent, AnirbanMal 89.5 per cent, andSumukh Khanna 87.3 per cent.

At SKD Academy,Shivansh Singh was the topperin ISC with 98.25 per cent, fol-

lowed by Smriti Srivastava 98per cent, Asmit Shukla 97.75per cent, Kiriti Rai 97.5 percent, and Manasvi Shukla97.25 per cent. In ICSE, DishaVaish was the topper with98.2 per cent marks, followedby Shreshtha Gupta 98 percent, Anushka secured 97 percent , Nandinee Srivastava &Iqra Khan 95.8 per cent each,and Charchit Agrawal 95.6percent.

At Seth MR Jaipuria, ISCtoppers Madhav Agarwal &Shivika Singh achieved 99.25per cent each while Tanya

Yadav scored 98.5 per cent, fol-lowed by Esha Gupta, TejasviRajesh and Devina Singh with98.25 per cent each. ICSE top-per Shreshth Bindal scored 99per cent marks.

At Career Convent Girls’College, the students who per-formed well in the ICSEexaminations were TamjeedHira with 91 per cent, InshaKhan 91 per cent, MariyamAshfaq 90 per cent, Tuba Khan90 per cent, and AnshikaNirmal 90 per cent. In ISCexaminations, Tanisha Upretiwas the topper with 94 per

cent marks, followed byDiwanshi Singh 90 per cent,Muskan Singh 89 per cent,Hera Khan 87 per cent,Shrushti Gupta 86 per cent,and Sakshi Singh 86 per cent.

At Lucknow PublicSchool, 28 students got 95 percent, 127 students achieved 90per cent or above, and 245 stu-dents scored 85 per cent orabove in ISC. As for ICSE, 39students scored 95 per cent orabove marks, 173 students got90 per cent or above, and 311students got 85 per cent orabove.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Vedanshi Tewari from CMS,Mahanagar, achieved the

all-India second rank with99.75 per cent marks in the ISCClass XII examinations, resultsof which were declared onTuesday. Ecstatic with herresult, she said she felt likedancing and crying at the sametime.

“I am feeling so elated thatI can’t describe it in words.However, I would say that Iexpected high percentage,” shesaid. Daughter of a technicianat Veerangana Avanti BaiHospital in Hazratganj, shesaid it was a lot of hard workand guidance which helpedher get this result.

“Hard work is the key tosuccess, as is determination. Iwas always among the topthree in my class,” she said.

About her aim in life, shesaid she wanted to become acivil servant. “I think a lot isrequired to be done in thiscountry such as eradication ofcorruption, and it is here thatI can make a change,” she said.

She admitted that therewere no financial problems inthe family, but that she did notbelong to a very affluent fam-ily. She scored 99 in English,100 in Physical Education, 100in Mathematics, 100 inComputer Science, 98 inPhysics and 97 in Chemistry.

She said she appeared forIIT-JEE and got 90,000th rank.“I have taken the route ofengineering because if I amunable to crack the civil ser-vices exam, it will be kind of aback-up” she said.

Meanwhile, Radhika

Gupta, who secured all-Indiasecond rank in ICSE Class Xexaminations with 99.4 percent marks, said she was thehappiest person as she madeher late father proud. Shescored a perfect 100 in all thesubjects except for English inwhich she secured 97 marks.

“My father died of cancerin June last year and that waswhen I started working hard.Today, I am so happy that Ihave made my father proud,”she said.

She said the secret to suc-cess was regular studies andhard work. “I have also learntBharatnatyam, which is a kindof stress-buster for me. I haveperformed on several occa-sions and I believe it is impor-tant to learn one form of clas-sical dance,” she said.

About her career ambi-tions, she said she wanted tobecome a doctor. “I want tobecome a doctor and joinKGMU because it is the mostprestigious medical universityin the city,” she said.

Shashwat Verma, whosecured an all-India third rankwith 99.2% marks, is the son ofa government servant andHindi scholar. He said he stud-ied with the spirit of BhagavadGita that one should keepworking and not think aboutthe result. He said he wanted topromote digitisation in thecountry.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Good sales were registeredon the occasion of

Akshaya Tritiya on Tuesday as29.5 kg gold worth Rs 9.65crore was sold while silverweighing 110 kg was also sold.

Organising secretary,Lucknow Sarrafa Association,Adheesh Jain said the sale ofgold had been good, matchingthat registered last year. “Thecrowds were thin in the morn-ing but swelled in the evening,”he pointed out.

As per figures vis-a-visAkshaya Tritiya, provided bysarrafa market, 100 kg goldworth Rs 9.5 crore was sold inin 2007 while 75 kg gold worthRs 9.38 crore in 2008, 70 kggold worth Rs 10.43 crore in2009, 50 kg gold worth Rs 9.20crore in 2010, 65 kg goldworth Rs 13.65 crore in 2011,75 kg gold worth Rs 25 crorein 2012, 45 kg gold worth Rs13 crore in 2013, 42 kg gold in2014, 36 kg in 2015, 41 kg inin 2016, 40 kg in 2017 and 40kg in 2018 were sold.

10 ISC students share second rank Toppers overjoyed

(Above) Vedanshi Tewari with herfamily. (Left) Radhika Gupta Pioneer

‘Regular study key to success’

First batch of Sky Public School (Sarojininagar) secured 100% result. AasthaTiwari secured 96% marks, followed by Satyam Singh 88%, Kushi 83% andAnshika 80%. The meritorious students were felicitated at a function at theschool by principal Shanti Raj and manager Aditya Singh

CMS students jubilate after ISC and ICSE results were declared on Tuesday Pioneer

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The body of a missingemployee of Lucknow

Municipal Corporation wasrecovered from the forest coverin sector 19 of Ghazipur onTuesday. With injuries on thebody, his family alleged that hewas killed and the bodydumped in the forest. Police saidthey were yet to reach any con-clusion. Autopsy report wouldascertain the cause of death,they added.

As per reports, Shyam PalSingh (59) of Indira Nagar(sector 19) worked as a Jal Kalpump operator in Bazaarkhala.On May 3, he left for his work-place on his scooty. However,Singh did not return till latenight after which his son VikasPratap Singh started searchingfor him. He also contacted hisfather’s colleagues the next day.

“I was told that he left theoffice on May 3 evening. Wesearched for him everywhereand later lodged a case atBazaarkhala police station,”Vikas said. He was informedabout the recovery of a body byGhazipur police. He went therealong with his family membersand identified his body as thatof his father. “The body hadwounds and it seemed that hewas done to death,” he claimed.

The Ghazipur police saidthey got a call from some resi-dents of sector 19 and told aboutthe body lying in the forest area.“A team was sent to the placeand later and the message wasspread on wireless. TheBazaarkhala police contacted usand provided the details ofShyam Pal Singh, who wasreported missing. We then con-tacted the deceased’s familymembers and they identified thebody,” the police said. SHO,Ghazipur, said the deceased’sscooty was also recovered. “Thescooty was found parked in thesame locality and the family alsoidentified the vehicle,” he said.

He said the body was sentfor autopsy and further investi-gations were on. “The bodyappeared to be two days old andmaggots were seen crawlingout when the police reached the

scene,” he said. However, rulingout the possibility of murder, theSHO said the family told thepolice that Shyam Pal was adrug addict and was undertreatment. “The team recoveredsyringes which will be sent forforensic tests,” he added.

ROAD MISHAPA loader driver, identified

as Raju Tiwari of Barabanki,died in a road mishap inGosainganj on Monday night.Reports said that Raju, alongwith a trader, Bhrahma Kumar,had visited the city to carrysome goods and was returninghome. Police said a speedingtractor-trolley hit the loaderfrom an opposite direction inGangaganj locality and Rajudied in the mishap.

Meanwhile, a man, identi-fied as Soorajpal (30) ofGosainganj, ended his life afterhe had a tiff with his wife oversome issue on Tuesday after-noon. Reports said Soorajpallocked himself in a room andthen hanged himself from theceiling. His wife kept knockingthe doors but Soorajpal wasunmoved. She later sought thehelp of her neighbours whobroke open the doors.Soorajpal was rushed to a hos-pital where doctors declaredhim dead.

Body of missing LMC

employee recovered PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Two days after a senior judgeof Allahabad High Court,

Justice Rajendra Kumar IVsuffered injuries and wasadmitted to hospital, the GomtiNagar police are yet to find outhow he met the mishap.

On May 5, Justice RajendraKumar’s protocol officerAshutosh Singh had lodged acase, stating: “His lordship wasstanding at gate number 7 ofJaneshwar Mishra Park early onSunday morning when someunidentified speeding car hithim. He suffered severe injuriesin the incident”. As the incidentinvolved a senior judge ofAllahabad High Court, the

police had registered a caseimmediately after the com-plaint was given. “We have reg-istered a case and investigationsare underway. We are scanningthe CCTV footages to reach aconclusion. It seemed that thejudge fell down from his vehi-cle and suffered injuries,” the

police said. The judge stayswith his family at BetwaApartment in Gomti NagarExtension and was going forsome work when he met themishap. “On Sunday morning,he left his house for somework and suffered injurieswhen he was nearing JaneshwarMishra Park. But no car wasseen when we scanned theCCTV footages,” the policesaid. Residents flayed the policefor delay in probe into the inci-dent in which a judge sufferedinjuries. “If the police are show-ing slackness in a case involv-ing a High Court judge, it iseasy to guess the fate of casesinvolving the common man,” aresident said.

Lucknow (PNS): Twogroups of youths clashed atMadiaon flyover on Tuesdayevening, causing the traffic tocome to a standstill for hours.A heavy police team wasdespatched to the scene to bringthe situation under control.Police registered a cross-FIR inthis connection even as onegroup also accused the other of loot.

As per reports, three youths,identified as Rahim, Pintu andBhola (all of Faizullahganj) weregoing towards EngineeringCollege crossing on a bike.Their motorcycle rammed intoa tempo from behind after thetempo driver applied brakes allof a sudden. As their bike suf-fered dents, the three youths

caught hold of the tempo driverand asked him for compensa-tion. As a verbal spat ensued,Rahim, Bhola and Pintu alleged-ly thrashed the driver and brokethe tempo’s windscreen. Thetempo driver called his friendsand soon, half-a-dozen menreached the scene and the groupthrashed Rahim, Bhola andPintu. The traffic came to astandstill as the groupsexchanged blows. On beinginformed, a police team reachedthe scene. The police said boththe parties had given com-plaints against one another.“We are examining the veraci-ty of the allegations. The tempodriver also accused Rahim,Bhola and Pintu of looting hismobile phone,” the police said.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Ayouth allegedly sodomiseda six-year-old boy in

Bazaarkhala police station areaon Monday. Initially, policetried a cover-up trick but laterregistered a case and alsoarrested the accused onTuesday. He was identified asTabrez. On Monday, when theresidents were busy castingtheir votes, Tabrez found theboy standing near the house of

a neighbour. He lured the boyand took him to his housewhere he sodomised him.

As the boy cried in pain,some children of the localityassembled there. They calledtheir parents who also reachedthere after which the accusedfled the scene.

Victim’s mother took theboy to a hospital and laterinformed the police. “The copswere not sympathetic and theytried to hush up the case, say-

ing the incident did not war-rant police action. However, asthe news reached senior offi-cers, a case was registered inthis connection,” the residentssaid while flaying the police.

The police spokesman saida case for sodomy (section377 of IPC) was registeredagainst Tabrez, who was alsobooked under POCSO Act.He was arrested from Aishbaghrailway station today,” thepolice spokesman said.

6-year-old boy sodomised by youth

Akshaya Tritiya: All that glitters is gold

Police yet to find out how HC judge suffered injuries

Two groups clash after

bike rams into tempo

On May 5, JusticeRajendra Kumar’sprotocol officerclaimed that thejudge was hit by aspeeding car.However, police saidno was spotted inthe CCTV footages

Customers throng a jewellery shop in Lucknow on Tuesday Pioneer

city 04LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The Lucknow Metro RailCorporation Limited

LMRC) along with a city hos-pital organised a fitness aware-ness session at the Metro,Transport Nagar Depot. Theone-hour-long session titled‘Ergonomics at Work & Home:Fitness Perspective’ was con-ducted by Dr YogeshMandhyan for LMRC offi-cials with the aim of generat-ing awareness about overall

well being of an individual.Various issues like text

neck, the term used todescribe the neck pain anddamage sustained from look-ing down at one’s cell phone,spondylitis, strength, agility etcwere discussed during the ses-sion. Dr Mandhyan briefed theaudience as to how they couldbring about major lifestylechanges simply by changinglittle habits like consciousefforts towards correct sittingand walking posture, holding

the smart phone at correctangles, adjusting the worktable to a suitable height andmost importantly the signifi-cance of physical exercise inorder to lead a healthy and fitlife. He said that to achieve fit-ness one should adopt a num-ber of exercises which work onthe overall fitness of an indi-vidual including strength, stamina, endurance and flexibility.

Kumar Keshav, MD,LMRC, who was also present

at the even,t said “Such ses-sions help us realise howimportant it was to take careof our own well-being. Attimes we get so engrossed inour work that we neglect ourhealth and forgo any kind ofphysical exercise, what we failto understand is that self-careis equally important as profes-sional responsibilities. I amglad we organised this sessiontoday and I am sure all ourofficials would benefit from itimmensely.”

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Asecond follow-up meetingregarding the preparations

for NAAC assessment andaccreditation was held here onTuesday under the chairman-ship of the Vice-Chancellor, SPSingh. Those present at themeeting were the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, all the deans,HoDs, Director, URDC,Director, IPPR, and Registrar,AO. All the heads of depart-ments or their representativeswere present at the meeting.The first preparational meetingwas held on April 9 this year.

The media spokesperson,Lucknow University, NKPandey, said that the meetingdiscussed the preparationsregarding the NAAC accredi-tation process. At the last meet-ing the HoDs were given 15days’ time to fill up the profor-ma of NAAC.

“Thereafter, 12 addition-al days were given to submit thefilled up proforma of theNAAC. Despite this 17 depart-ments did not submit the filledup proforma. During the meet-ing they have been asked tosubmit the filled up proformawithin the next three days,” hesaid. He said that once all thedata by the departments wassubmitted to the IQAC direc-

tor, Prof Rajiv Manohar, itwould be analysed and on itsbasis the self-study reportwould be prepared. “This willbe uploaded on the NAACaccreditation website. It isworth mentioning here that 70per cent marking of theUniversity for NAAC will bebased on this quantitative data.The visiting peer team willassess the University later forthe remaining 30 per centmarking only. Hence theimportance of the data beingsubmitted by the departmentswas highly emphasised at themeeting. It may be pointed outhere that the NAAC would ver-ify all this data being present-ed by the departments through

its institutional data website orvarious other e-sourcesthrough its own hired agency.Hence the data should be fac-tual and supported by docu-mentary evidence,” he said.

After the Vice-Chancellor’saddress an initial presentationwas given by the IQAC direc-tor. The Vice-Chancellor toldthe meeting that three facultymembers of the University,Prof NK Pandey, Prof AnilMishra and Prof DhruvsenSingh, had recently attendedthe training programme forNAAC assessors. These facul-ty members were requested togive their experience and feedon the NAAC assessment andaccreditation process. The

preparation of NAAC has beena continuous process for theUniversity.

“Development of infra-structure, course design andlibrary upgradation are a partof the NAAC preparationsgoing on. The first NAACaccreditation for the Universitywas held in the year 2002 andthe second NAAC accredita-tion in 2014,” he said.

The list of 11 departmentsand six institutes which didn’tsubmit their reports were theDepartment of Education,Department of Philosophy,Department of PhysicalEducation, Department ofUrdu, Department of WesternHistory, Department ofSociology, Department ofPersian, Department ofAnthropology, Department ofEconomics, Department ofGeography and Departmentof Linguistics.

The institutes included theInstitute of ManagementSciences, Institute of TourismStudies, Institute ofDevelopment Studies, Instituteof Mass Communication inScience and Technology, DrGorilla Gupta Institute ofPublic Health and PublicAffairs and the Dr ShankarDayal Sharma Institute ofDemocracy.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Bollywood star Tiger Shroffsaid here on Tuesday that

he had seen his family’s strug-gle and the goodwill which hisfather, Jackie Shroff, enjoyedand he could not tarnish theimage of his parents whilebeing in the film industry. Hesaid that as a person he hadalways been transparent and alot of what he actually was dueto his parents.The star who wasin the city for the promotion ofhis film, ‘Student of the Year 2’despite having an injury in hisleg said that he was nothing ascompared to his father who wasa very grounded person.

The star is not ready toadmit that he has finally arrivedwith a Karan Johar film. “No Ithink I arrived with my firstfilm itself. I remember comingback to my building after thefilm was released and watchinga lot of kids standing andscreaming my name and ithad happened overnight. Iwent down and cut a cake andtook pictures with them. I feltthat I had made a markbecause it is very difficult toconnect with children especial-ly of the age of 6 years,” he said.

The actor said that with theKaran Johar film what hadessentially changed was theenvironment. “I have beendoing action- oriented filmsmostly and this is a very nicebreak for me and a worldwhich is altogether differentand the character which I playseems like I have been strippedof my superpowers,” he said. Headmitted that he was uncom-fortable doing this kind of filmbecause it was something thathe had never done before.

“I was into doing veryheavy macho films and not thekind of the boy next door

image. However, this was whatI felt initially but I surrenderedmyself to the world and thedirector,” he said. On beingasked that he had this typicalvulnerable kind of face and thiskind of film should have comeearlier, he said that he wasoffered this earlier but it sort ofgot delayed until his sixth film.Regarding whether such filmssuited him better or those withaction scenes, he said that hewas exploring and would seewhat the reaction of the audi-ence was.

When asked how he was asa student himself, he said thathe was an average one. “I wasgifted in sports and good phys-ically and hence I played on mystrengths,” he said. Kabaddi wasa game which he had played forthe first time in the movie, hesaid and added that initially hethought that it was an easygame since he had done muchmore difficult things in com-parison but then he realisedlater that there was more to itthan which met the eye. “Thereis a lot of mental thing to thegame of kabaddi and technicalalso. And a lot of effort is

required for getting that perfectbody language and a lot ofdetailing went into the film,” hesaid.

The actor admitted thatthis was the first time he was inLucknow and he was lookingforward to try its wonderfulcuisine. Actress Tara Sutariasaid that she played a feistycharacter in the film. “One can-not say no to a Karan Joharfilm,” she said. When askedwhether there was some kindof competition with twoactresses- she and Ananyabeing on the same sets, she saidthat times are different. “Ithink we are in an age when catfights don’t take place betweenactresses and they could getalong very well together. BothI and Ananya are good friends,”she said.

Ananya Pandey on herpart said that Karan Johar hadtold her that he chose herbecause she was very real in herinteractions. “My father,Chunky Pandey, is making noefforts in furthering my career.He wants me to learn myselfand he did not visit the setseven once,” she said.

Varsity officials review preps for

NAAC assessment, accreditation

Congress candidate Acharya Pramod Krishnam and grand alliance candidate Poonam Sinha met their party workers and thanked them for their support, in Lucknow onTuesday Pioneer

LMRC holds fitness awareness session

Can’t sully the image of

my parents: Tiger Shroff

Ananya Pandey, Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria in Lucknow on Tuesday Pioneer

PNS n ALLAHABAD

Two persons sustained bul-let injuries when some-

one opened fire during amarriage reception in NibiBhatkar village under theJhusi police station in thetrans-Ganga area late onMonday night. The injuredwere admitted to the SwaroopRani Nehru (SRN) Hospitaland an FIR was lodgedagainst some unidentifiedpersons in this connection,the police said. As perreports, a marriage receptionwas organised in the house ofSubedar Yadav in NibiBhatkar village.

Late at night some per-sons opened fire to celebratethe occasion. However, thebullets hit Deepu Dubey (28)and Popat Yadav (30) whowere standing at a distance.Panic prevailed at the func-tion after the incident while

the persons involved in thefiring managed to flee fromthere. The Jhusi policerushed to the spot on receiv-ing the news and got the twoyouths admitted to a hospitalwhere their condition wasreported to be stable.Superintendent of Police,trans-Ganga, NK Singh, saidthat a case had been regis-tered and the matter wasbeing probed to trace the per-sons involved in the celebra-tory firing.

Two hurt as revellersfire shots at reception

Priyanka...From Page 1

Priyanka’s veiled attack atModi came a day after Congresschief Rahul Gandhi used theboxer analogy at a rally inHaryana, referring to the allegedmistreatment meted out to vet-eran LK Advani in BJP.

Rahul had said in Bhiwanithat the Prime Minister is a“boxer”, who with his 56-inchchest entered the ring to fightunemployment and corruptionbut instead punched his owncoach and veteran BJP leader LKAdvani. Continuing the tiradeagainst BJP, Priyanka said, “Thiselection is about achievementsof the BJP-led CentralGovernment. But to hide theirfailures, they try to divert theattention of people of country.”

“You are the PM, you are abig leader of the BJP, Youshould understand this…Otherwise the people will teachyou a lesson. You cannot mis-lead the people. The people ofthis country make every leaderanswerable and they will makeyou answerable as well,” shesaid while hitting out at Modi.

Attacking the PM forrecently saying former PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi’s lifeended as ‘bhrashtachari num-ber 1’, she said, “These polls arenot about one family, this elec-tion is about crores of families

whose hopes and aspirationshave been completely brokenby this Government and thePrime Minister.”

Priyanka addressed twoelection rallies each at Ambalaand Hisar on Monday.

In Ambala, Congress can-didate Rajya Sabha MP KumariSelja is pitted against BJP’sRattan Lal Kataria while atHisar, Congress’ BhavyaBishnoi is locked in a triangu-lar fight against BJP’s BrijendraSingh and JJP-AAP joint can-didate Dushyant Chautala.

She also held a roadshow inthe evening at Rohtak in favourof party candidate, three-timeMP Deepender Singh Hooda,who is facing a tough electoralfight against BJP’s ArvindSharma. At Hisar rally,Priyanka said the democracy ofthe country is in danger today.The PM is seeking votes in thename of our martyr of Armyand on the other hand dishon-ouring them, she said.

She said the country doesnot need a “Shahnshah” ratherit requires a democracy. Modihad shattered the economy ofthis country, she said while ask-ing where are the two crorejobs promised by the BJP.

SC junks Opp review plea on 50% VVPAT verification

From Page 1My Lords had agreed with

our plea in principle, butincreased the counting fromone VVPAT to only five. MyLords, 50 per cent was not‘viable’ at this point of time dur-ing the Lok Sabha elections,”Singhvi submitted.

The hearing that lastedbarely a minute, Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi responded, “Wedecline to review our order.”

After the Supreme Courtjunked their plea, a delegationof Opposition leaders led byTDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu met Chief ElectionCommissioner Sunil Arora andother election commissionersand urged to protect democra-cy and bring transparency inelectoral process. “The EC’s jobis to conduct elections in trans-parent manner, what we areasking for is. They have agreedto some points and they areworking. Let them work, againwe’ll decide what to do,” he said.“We respect the SupremeCourt’s order...But the partywill not give up and continueits fight for transparency in theelection process in the country.It’s absolutely critical for the EC

to work transparently to ensurefree and fair elections,” Naidusaid in a statement.

Earlier, during the hearing,Singhvi said the apex court hadincreased the random matchingof VVPAT slips with EVMs tofive polling booths per Assemblysegment and they are now seek-ing that it should be increased to25 per cent at least. “It will be forthe satisfaction of confidencebuilding measures,” Singhvi toldthe Bench also comprisingJustices Deepak Gupta andSanjiv Khanna. TDP chief Naidu,NC leader Farooq Abdullah,CPI parliamentarian D Raja andAAP MP Sanjay Singh, were pre-sent in the courtroom when theSC rejected the plea.

Citing issues with electron-ic voting machines (EVM) inthe first few phases of pollingfor the Lok Sabha election, 21Opposition parties includingTDP chief N ChandrababuNaidu, National Conferencechief Farooq Abdullah, CPIleader D Raja and Congressleader Abhishek Manu Singhvihad filed a review petition in theSupreme Court demanding ver-ification of 50 per cent EVMsusing Voter-Verified PaperAudit Trail (VVPAT) slips.

The petition claimed thatafter the first phase of polling,in many cases, EVMs werefound to be defective and faulty.“It has been reported that insome cases where voters wouldvote for one party, EVMswould record their vote having

been cast for another party,” thereview petition said.

The EC has consistentlymaintained that the glitchesexperienced in the first threephases of the seven-phase elec-tion are within acceptable lim-its in terms of number of defects.The poll body at present match-es VVPAT slips of 4,125 EVMsunder the “one EVM perAssembly segment” guideline.Following the court order, theElection Commission will haveto count the VVPAT slips of fivetimes as many machines ineach constituency, or that of20,625 EVMs.

Reacting after the SC ruling,Deputy Election CommissionerSudeep Jain spoke to the media,saying the Opposition alsodemanded stricter guidelines tobe implemented by the ECregarding verification of votes.“There is no doubt about theintegrity of EVMs. Not a singleEVM have recorded wrongly.Review petition had no newfacts. We are happy with theSupreme Court order. It hadexamined all aspects and said fiveVVPATs will have to be count-ed instead of one. EVMs andVVPATs are perfect and wehave no doubt they are tamper-proof,” Jain said. “Counting offive VVPATs will delay overallcounting by five hours. It takesan hour to count one VVPAT,with four more it will takeanother four hours... The electionresults may be out on May 23night or 24 morning,” he said.

From Page 1Such events would contin-

ue in favour of Singh who is a‘dharma premi’ and ‘Narmadapremi’, said the seer who accusedChouhan of illegal mining inNarmada riverbed and corrup-tion in plantation along withNarmada banks.

Notably, BJP candidatePragya also has called this elec-tion against Digvijay a battle ofdharma and adharma. “They(BJP) have fooled people. Theyhave not even spared the saintcommunity. They talked of Ramtemple, they have not construct-ed it in five years and have comeback with the same issue. Thepublic won’t be fooled now. Notemple, no Modi,” ComputerBaba told reporters here.

Asked if the ritual was topray for Digvijay’s victory, hesaid, “The saints prayed to Godthat the person who is treadingon the path of religion, the onewho served the river Narmadaand saints is Digvijaya Singh,and should win by lakhs ofvotes.” Asked about Pragya, anaccused in the Malegaon blastcase, he said one cannot becomea sadhvi (saint) merely by wear-ing a robe. At the ritual,Digvijaya was seen dressed in awhite kurta pyjama and seatedon the ground, while the sadhusformed a semi-circle near him.Recently MahamandleshwarViaragyanand from Gujarat hadalso announced to perform redchilli yagna to make Digvijayvictorious. A leading JainPushpdant Sagar saint has alsoextended support to candidatureof Digvijay who has been seenin the company of seers dailyafter he was nominated fromBhopal.

From Page 1The CJI on Monday got a

clean chit from a three-mem-ber committee headed byJustice SA Bobde which found“no substance” in the allega-tions of the former womanemployee and further ruledthat the report was not “liableto be made public”.

The Committee, whichcompleted its task in 14 days,proceeded ex-parte as thewoman had opted out of theenquiry on April 30 after par-ticipating for three days overfeeling intimated by the panel.In a letter to Justice Bobde, thewoman has alleged lack oftransparency in the function-ing of the enquiry panel andsaid that now, not providingher a copy of the order “wouldbe a violation of the principlesof natural justice and a com-plete travesty of justice”.

She alleged that in thefirst hearing, she was not givenany clarity on whether thepresent proceedings were thein-house.

“I find it rather strangethat the complainant in a caseof sexual harassment is not to beprovided with a copy of thereport which finds her com-plaint to be without substanceand that my complaint hasbeen held by the committee tobe this without giving me anyreasons for the same,” she said,adding that both the parties hada right to receive a copy of thereport.

“I am shocked that despitemy detailed affidavit, amplecorroborative evidence andclear, consistent statementbefore the Committee reiterat-

ing my experience of sexualharassment and consequentvictimisation the Committeehas found ‘no substance’ in mycomplaint and affidavit.

“I am shocked thatCommittee has come to anadverse finding against medespite the fact that I was com-pelled to withdraw from theCommittee since the commit-tee did not observe even themost basic principles of natur-al justice,” she said in a state-ment. She alleged that from thebeginning she was treated as anoutsider and was not informedof the procedure and her basicrights and obligations withregard to the inquiry proceed-ings. The complainant furtheralleged lack of transparency inthe functioning of theCommittee and said a greatprejudice was being caused toher repeatedly. Regarding thejudgement cited by the apexcourt committee while refus-ing to provide her a copy of theorder, she said it was given ata time prior to the Right toInformation Act.

“Even according to thefull bench judgment of theDelhi High court in the Assetsdisclosure case, such a reportshould be accessible to any cit-izen under the RTI. The fullbench had held that even assetsof judges would be accessibleunder RTI to any citizen.

“In these circumstances Irequest you to kindly provideme with a copy of the reportsince I have a right to knowhow, why and on what basishave your Lordships foundmy complaint to have ‘no sub-stance’,” the statement said.

Aggrieved woman...

Congress general secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra takes selfie with party’sAmbala seat candidate Kumari Seljaafter an election campaign for LokSabha polls, in Ambala, on Tuesday PTI

Digvijaya...

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

A31-year-old gangster, carry-ing a reward of ̀ 1 lakh, was

arrested by the sleuths of DelhiPolice Special Cell after anencounter in outer Delhi'sRohini area in the early hoursTuesday. The man has beenidentified as Paramjeet Dalal(31), a resident of Bahadurgarhin Haryana. The encounter tookplace on the main heliport roadopposite Rohini's Sector-37 at5.15 am. Police said the accusedhas been on crime spree since2009. "He was earlier involved in10 cases of murder, extortion,robbery, Arms Act etc..Paramjeet is notorious for mak-ing extortion calls in Rohini andOuter Delhi area. He used toextort money from propertydealers, illegal satta operatorsand other businessmen," said asenior police official.

According to SanjeevKumar Yadav, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP),Special Cell, specific inputs werereceived regarding Paramjeetthat he would come to PoothKalan village to meet his asso-

ciate and to collect money forshifting his hideout to a newplace, somewhere in HimachalPradesh. "Acting on the tip-off,a trap was laid and at around5:15 am Dalal was spotted. Onseeing the police the accusedtried to flee away but was sur-rounded by the police team. Thepolice team warned him to sur-render but despite clear, unam-biguous and warning, hewhipped out a weapon andstarted firing indiscriminatelytowards police personnel," saidthe DCP. "During the con-frontation, Dalal received a bul-let injury in his left leg. He wasrushed to Baba SahebAmbedkar Hospital where he isundergoing treatment," said theDCP adding that further inves-tigation is going on.

Gangster with `1 Lbounty arrestedafter encounter

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019 nation 05

INSHORTAPEX COURT QUASHESFIR AGAINST SASIKALANew Delhi: In a relief to expelledAIADMK Rajya Sabha memberSasikala Pushpa, the Supreme Courton Tuesday quashed an FIR andchargesheet against her for allegedlyforging documents in heranticipatory bail petition. The topcourt also granted protection fromany coercive action in two othercriminal cases related to allegedsexual harassment of her family helpand damage to property.

EX-CIC DEMANDS SCPROBE REPORT PUBLICNew Delhi: Former InformationCommissioner Sridhar Acharyulu hasadvocated making public the reportof the Supreme Court’s in-houseinquiry committee which looked intothe allegations of sexual harassmentlevelled against the Chief Justice ofIndia by a former woman employeeof the apex court, saying the decisionto withhold the finding “appears tohave no reason or legal base”.

GOVT APPROVES LOWERINGOF NEET-PG CUT-OFFSNew Delhi: The Health Ministry, inconsultation with the Board ofGovernors in the Medical Council ofIndia (MCI), has decided to reducethe qualifying marks for NEET-PGfor 2019-20 by six percentile. “Allstates/UTs were requested to makenecessary arrangements for allowingstudents as per revised qualifyingmarks in any further rounds ofcounselling this year,” the statementstated.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP on Tuesday lashedout at the Opposition for its

“silence” over the content of avideo clip in which Tej BahadurYadav, whose candidature onan SP ticket from VaranasiLok Saba seat was rejected, isreportedly talking about assas-sinating Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

“It’s a very serious matter.It is about the Prime Minister’ssafety. It is about conspiracy toassassinate an elected primeminister. Why is the oppositionsilent?” BJP spokespersonSambit Patra said here at a pressconference.

He questioned if SP presi-dent Akhilesh Yadav and BSPsupremo Mayawati will apolo-gise for projecting him as theiralliance’s candidate againstModi in Varanasi.

The “sponsored attack” onDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal echoes for days but theOpposition is silent at thisthreat to Modi, he said.

The Prime Minister isbeing attacked even thoughwhat he said about formerprime minister Rajiv Gandhiwas a “statement of fact”, Patra

claimed. On Supreme Court reject-

ing the opposition’s review pleaon VVPAT, he said their attackon electronic voting machinesis an attempt to get an “antici-patory bail” for their impend-ing loss in the general election.

The BJP is going to winmore than 300 seats in the 543-member House, Patra claimed.

On other hand, BJP Vice-President Baijant Panda saidWest Bengal Chief Ministerwas disturbed as the groundhas shifted in the state infavour of the BJP.

Accusing the oppositionparties of targeting PrimeMinister with a torrent of“abuses” in frustration overtheir “poor” show in the ongo-

ing Lok Sabha polls, the BJPleader said people will givethem a befitting reply on May23 when votes are counted.

Panda and BJP media headAnil Baluni claimed that the“Modi wave” will help the saf-fron party gain many seatsfrom states like Odisha andWest Bengal, leading it to bet-ter its tally of 282 seats in 2014.

Panda said the opposition,which is in “panic mode”, hasbeen “abusing” Modi, referringto Congress leader PriyankaGandhi Vadra’s comparison ofthe prime minister withDuryodhan, the antagonist torighteous Pandavas in epicMahabharat.

He also referred to West

Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee’s remarks that Modishould get a “tight slap ofdemocracy” to attack the oppo-sition.

Baluni said Congress lead-ers have “abused” Modi as hehad spoken about their pastmisdeeds, a reference to hisattack on former prime minis-ter Rajiv Gandhi.

“Why are Congress leadersapprehensive of their past?Their language is reflective oftheir frustration at theirimpending defeat. We repeatour challenge to the Congressto debate with us on the per-formance of its governments,”he told reporters.

To a question about BJP

general secretary RamMadhav’s reported remarksthat the saffron party may notget a majority on its own,Panda said Madhav has alsoclarified that he was misquot-ed, and asserted that no one inthe party has any doubt overcrossing the half way mark inLok Sabha.

INSETNew Delhi, May 7 (PTI)

Congress MP Sushmita Dev onTuesday claimed before theSupreme Court that theElection Commission has failedto appreciate that the alleged“hate speeches” by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andBJP Chief Amit Shah are “cor-rupt practices” and promote thefeeling of enmity on religiousgrounds. In an affidavit, Dev,who placed before the apexcourt various orders of thepoll panel on complaints ofmodel code violation againstModi and Shah, said that theElection Commission haspassed orders in a “crypticmanner without mentioningany reason whatsoever, in starkviolation of the law laid downby this court” while disposingof some complaints.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n

NEW DELHI

More than one million ofthe estimated eight mil-

lion plant and animal specieson earth are at a risk of van-ishing- many of them withindecades -because of lopsidedhuman activities, a UN reporthas warned.

Painting a grim picture, theUN global assessment reportprepared by over 100 scientistsfrom the IntergovernmentalScience-Policy Platform onBiodiversity and EcosystemServices (IPBES) said that thebiomass of wild mammals hasfallen by 82 per cent, naturalecosystems have lost abouthalf their area and a millionspecies are at risk of extinction- all largely as a result ofhuman actions.

Compiled over three yearsby more than 450 scientists anddiplomats, the report ), thesummary of which wasapproved at the 7th session ofthe IPBES Plenary, meeting last

week (29 April - 4 May) in Parissaid that the average abun-dance of native species in mostmajor land-based habitats hasfallen by at least 20 per cent,mostly since 1900.

“More than 40 per cent of

amphibian species, almost 33per cent of reef-forming coralsand more than a third of allmarine mammals are threat-ened. At least 680 vertebratespecies had been driven toextinction since the 16th cen-

tury and more than 9 per centof all domesticated breeds ofmammals used for food andagriculture had become extinctby 2016, with at least 1,000 morebreeds still threatened,” it said.

The overwhelming evi-dence of the IPBES GlobalAssessment, from a wide rangeof different fields of knowledge,presents an ominous picture,noted IPBES Chair, Sir RobertWatson. “The health of ecosys-tems on which we and allother species depend is deteri-orating more rapidly than ever.We are eroding the very foun-dations of our economies,livelihoods, food security,health and quality of lifeworldwide,” he added.

Based on the systematicreview of about 15,000 scien-tific and government sources,the Report also draws (for thefirst time ever at this scale) onindigenous and local knowl-edge, particularly addressingissues relevant to IndigenousPeoples and LocalCommunities.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onTuesday transferred a case

related to alleged custodialdeath of an accused in gang-rape and murder of a minorschool girl in HimachalPradesh’s Kotkhai in 2017,from Shimla to Chandigarh.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi trans-ferred the case to Chandigarhafter the CBI and the accusedsaid they have no objection ifthe case was transferred fromShimla.

“We order transfer of thecase to a competent CBI courtin Chandigarh,” the bench,which also comprised JusticesDeepak Gupta and SanjivKhanna, said.

The counsel appearing forthe CBI informed the benchthat charge sheet has beenfiled in the case against sever-al police officials ranging fromconstable to former Inspector

General of Police (IGP).The apex court had last

month granted bail to formerHimachal Pradesh IGP ZahurHaider Zaidi, an accused in thecase, and said that it would laterdeal with the aspect of trans-ferring the trial from a court inHimachal Pradesh.

The top court had inNovember last year soughtresponses from Zaidi, DeputySuperintendent of Police(Theog) Manoj Joshi and sixother Himachal Pradeshpolicemen as to why the trialagainst them be not trans-ferred from Shimla.

The CBI had earlier toldthe court that though thecharge sheet has been filed, thetrial in the case “has not seenthe light of the day” and hencethe matter be transferred toother court for expeditiousdisposal.

Zaidi and seven otherswere arrested in the custodialdeath case of Suraj, who wasfound dead at the Kotkhaipolice station on July 18, 2017.

A 16-year-old girl had gonemissing in Kotkhai on July 4,2017 and her body was foundfrom the Halaila forests twodays later on July 6.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Enforcement Directoratehas attached cash worth

`89.68 lakh in a money laun-dering case involving VijaySingla, nephew of Congressleader and former railway min-ister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

ED initiated investigationunder the provisions of PMLAon the basis of FIR andchargesheet filed by CBI underIPC section relating to criminalconspiracy and for provisions ofthe Prevention of CorruptionAct. The CBI had chargesheet-ed Mahesh Kumar Member(Staff), Railway Board, VijaySingla, Sandeep Goyal andseven other accused persons.

CBI investigation revealedthat Mahesh Kumar, a 1975batch officer of Indian Railway

Service of Signal Engineers(IRSSE), was posted as GeneralManager, Western Railways.He wanted to get himselfappointed as Member(Electrical), Railway Boardinstead of Member (Staff). Forthis he was in touch with NManjunath, who was further intouch with Sandeep Goyal, afriend of Vijay Singla.

Vijay Singla demanded ̀ 10crore through Sandeep Goyalfrom N Manjunath to getMahesh Kumar posted asMember (Electrical). Whiledelivering a token amount toVijay Singla and SandeepGoyal, the CBI team raided thepremises of office of VijaySingla at Sector 28, Chandigarhand recovered `89,68,000.During the relevant period,Pawan Kumar Bansal was the

Railway Minister and hisnephew Vijay Singla wascaught red handed whileaccepting a bribe of `89,68,000,the ED said in a statement.

ED probe revealed that N.Manjunath on behalf of MaheshKumar was persuading variousRailway vendors/S&T manu-factures/contractors for makingarrangement of bribe amount forpromotion of Mahesh Kumar asMember (Electrical) by alluringthem that all the contributorswould be taken care of/benefit-ed from the desired posting ofMahesh Kumar, the agency said.

Investigation furtherrevealed that first installment ofbribe amount of ̀ 89,68,000 wascontributed by N Manjunath,MV Murli Krishna, Sushil Dagaand private firm VenketeshwaraRail Nirman Pvt. Ltd.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has seized

a flat in posh Vasant Kunj areaof Delhi and a land in Haryanaworth `1.48 crore in connec-tion with a FEMA and hawalacase against Harish Gahlot,brother of Delhi ministerKailash Gahlot.

The agency said it issued aseizure order under section37A of Foreign ExchangeManagement Act (FEMA)freezing the flat and a land inChauba village in Haryana inlieu of alleged illegal assets heldabroad.

“Investigation was initiat-ed under FEMA based on theinformation received from theIncome Tax Department

informing about transfer ofmoney to the tune of `1 crorefrom India to Dubai throughhawala channel by HarishGahlot through a Delhi-basedhawala dealer for makingadvance payments toward pur-chase of two flats in Dubai inSeptember, 2018,” the ED said.

Premises linked to the fam-ily and associates of KailashGahlot, Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) MLA and DelhiTransport minister, were raid-ed by the I-T Department inOctober last year. The proper-ties of his brother HarishGahlot were also searched dur-ing the action by ITDepartment.

The tax departmentsearches were conducted aspart of a tax evasion probe

against two firms — BriskInfrastructure and DevelopersPvt Ltd and CorporateInternational Financial ServicesLtd — that are reportedly oper-ated and owned by the familymembers of Kailash Gahlot.

Kailash Gahlot had deniedany wrongdoing and the AAPhad termed the action “politi-cal vendetta.”

The ED probe revealedthat in September, 2018 HarishGahlot had given `1 crorecash to his younger son NiteshGahlot, who is an NRI andstudying in Dubai, for sendingthis money to Dubai alleged-ly through unauthorisedhawala channel, that denotesskirting legal banking route totransfer money, the agencysaid.

“Nitesh Gahlot, throughhis contact, approachedInderpal Wadhawan, a Delhi-based hawala dealer for trans-ferring the amount.Wadhawan kept `4 lakh withhim as commission and ille-gally delivered Dirhams equiv-alent to `96 lakh in Dubaiwhich was collected by thefriend of Nitesh Gahlot anddeposited the said amount inthe Dubai bank account ofNitesh Gahlot,” the agencycharged.

Out of these funds, NiteshGahlot made payment toDubai-based developers forbooking of two flats in thename of himself, his fatherHarish Gahlot, his mother andhis elder brother, the agencysaid.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onTuesday directed the

Centre to review within a weekthe threat perception and con-sider granting adequate secu-rity to a person, whoseunequivocal testimony in thesensational Nitish Katara mur-der case had led to the convic-tion of three accused.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi took noteof the submission of one AjayKatara that either he be grant-ed “round the clock” security orbe relocated to a “safer place”by the security agencies con-sidering the threat to his life.

He was the key witness inthe murder case of NitishKatara who was kidnappedand killed by Vikas Yadav, sonof controversial Uttar Pradeshpolitician D P Yadav, VishalYadav and Sukhdev Pehalwanin 2002.

It was Ajay who had testi-fied that he had last seen thevictim along with the accusedbefore his murder and this hadnailed the case leading to theconviction of the three accused.The convicts are serving vary-ing jail terms in the case.

The witness, who hasalready been provided fourPersonal Security Officers(PSOs), has now moved the apexcourt for enhanced security.

PURPORTED VIDEO CLIP OF TEJ BAHADUR YADAV

BJP lashes out at Opp

Custodial death in Kotkhairape case: SC transfers casefrom Shimla to Chandigarh

SC asks Centreto reviewsecurity threatof key witness

NITISH KATARAMURDER CASE

New Delhi: A delegation of 22opposition parties, led byAndhra Pradesh Chief MinisterN Chandrababu Naidu, onTuesday approached theElection Commission request-ing for verification of all Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail(VVPATs) in an assembly seg-ment if discrepancy is found incounting of VVPAT slips of fiverandom machines.

The delegation met the ECimmediately after the SupremeCourt dismissed a plea by oppo-sition parties to review its judg-ment rejecting 50 per cent ran-dom physical verification ofEVMs using VVPATs.

The delegation alsodemanded that the EC “suomotu” increase the physicalcounting of VVPAT slips withElectronic Voting Machines(EVM) vote count in order torestore voters’ confidence, cred-ibility, transparency and robust-ness of institutional mecha-nism of counting process.

The Supreme Court hasdirected the EC to count VVPAT

slips of five random EVMs ineach assembly segment.

Senior Congress leadersAhmed Patel and Abhishek MSinghvi as well as NationalConference leader FarooqAbdullah, CPI parliamentarianD Raja and AAP MP SanjaySingh were among other lead-ers present in the meeting.

“After the SC dismissed our

petition, we came to the EC andrequested it clearly that if anydiscrepancy is found in fiveVVPATs then what action itshould take. Some of the boothsare manipulated. Our demandis clear that all VVPATs in theentire assembly segment shouldbe verified,” Naidu told reportersafter the meeting.

Naidu said the delegation

told the EC that it is possible tocount 50 per cent of VVPATslips easily.

“There are 14 tables inevery counting hall for anassembly constituency.Therefore the amount of timeand energy in which slips fromone VVPAT machine can besupervised by returning officerand observer is same for 14VVPAT machines.

“Therefore slips from atleast 70 VVPAT machines canbe counted in the same time. Ifthey are counting 5 VVPATs,then they can count 70 VVPATsat a time,” he said.

The Telugu Desam Party(TDP) chief said that the EChas been requested to honourthe demand of a candidate forrecounting.

The delegation not onlyurged the EC to come outwith revised guidelines in thisregard at the earliest, but alsoasked it to investigate and pub-lish on its website all cases ofdiscrepancies found during thecounting process. PTI

Opposition leaders (L-R) Farooq Abdullah, D Raja, N Chandrababu Naidu, AhmedPatel, Ashok Gehlot, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and others after meeting with ChiefElection Commissioner (CEC) at Nirvachan Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday PTI

PTI n NEW DELHI

Suppression of the In-HouseInquiry Committee report

giving clean chit to ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi on alle-gations of sexual harassmenthas dented the “prestige, cred-ibility and integrity” of thejudicial system, noted juristRakesh Dwivedi said onTuesday.

The senior lawyer, whohad earlier advocated “impar-tial enquiry” into the allega-tions, made scathing observa-tions on the inquiry proceed-ings and non-disclosure of thereport saying “scrutiny by peo-ple is the hall mark of Justice”.

The CJI Monday got aclean chit from a three-mem-ber Inquiry Committee head-ed by Justice S A Bobde whichfound “no substance” in the

allegations of a former womanemployee of the apex court andfurther ruled that the reportwas not “liable to be made pub-lic”.

“It has been the trait ofMonarchy, Imperialism,Dictatorships andAuthoritarian Empires to shutout information and knowl-edge about what may suppos-edly impact them adversely soas to avoid scrutiny,” Dwiveditold PTI.

“Why has our HighestJudiciary relapsed into thisMonarchical and DictatorialScheme of dispensing justice byseeking refuge behind thesmokescreen of informal inhouse enquiry at a time whenthe credibility of the Institutionis at stake,” he said.

The apex court shouldundergo ‘Agni-Pariksha’ and

share the report with the pub-lic for larger interest of the judi-ciary, the noted jurist said.

The CJI, the person com-plained against, would get tosee the report but not thecomplainant, nor the nation, hequipped.

“Please do not shirk col-lective responsibility. Judicialpower vests there (full court).We look up for a responsibleand democratic Judiciary.Please for God sake remove theblindfold from our eyes. Trustthe people. People needJudiciary. They want its inde-pendence. They trust theirjudges. Do not betray theirtrust. You stand at the brink.

Don’t run away from theAgni-Pariksha. Disclose thereport to the people,” he said.

He was critical of the argu-ment that as the inquiry was

“informal and in-house”, thecommon public was “personanon grata” (unwelcome person).

An attempt has been madesince beginning to “shut out theinquiry,” Dwivedi said.

“Lets recall the Saturdayemergent sitting of three judgeswith the CJI presiding to clearhimself. Protests led to a panelof enquiry ratified by fullcourt... The lady was deniedlawyers assistance despite heavyatmosphere of deposing beforethree judges against their ownsenior most. This was difficultto understand...,” he said.

Citing example, he saidJudge Kavanaugh was exam-ined by the US Senate in theprocess of appointment and theprocess “instilled confidence inthe judicial System” and insti-tutional integrity and credibil-ity was preserved.

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Government is learnt tohave returned to the col-

legium names of two highcourt chief justices recom-mended for elevation as judgesof the Supreme Court, sourcesaware of the development saidTuesday.

On April 12, the SupremeCourt collegium had recom-mended the names ofJharkhand High Court ChiefJustice Aniruddha Bose, andGauhati HC Chief Justice A SBopanna for elevation to thetop court.

Seniority and representa-tion of regions have been citedas reasons behind the govern-ment’s decision, the sourcessaid.

While Justice Bose whoseparent high court is Calcutta,is at number 12 in all-India

seniority of judges, JusticeBopanna, whose parent highcourt is Karnataka, stands atnumber 36.

Last year, the governmenthad returned Justice Bose’sname to the collegium when hewas recommended to head theDelhi high court.

“While recommending thenames of Mr JusticesAniruddha Bose and A S

Bopanna, the collegium hastaken into consideration, apartfrom their merit and integrity,combined seniority on all-India basis of chief justices andsenior puisne judges of highcourts.

“The collegium has alsokept in mind the desirability ofgiving due representation onthe bench of the SupremeCourt, as far as possible, to allthe high courts,” the collegiumresolution had read.

The Calcutta High Court isrepresented in the SupremeCourt by Justice IndiraBanerjee. Justices S MMallikarjnagouda and S AbdulNazeer represent the KarnatakaHC.

At present, the SupremeCourt has a working strengthof 27. Its sanctioned strength is31 judges, including the chiefjustice.

Sources: Govt returns to collegium 2

names recommended for apex court

Jurist: Suppression of enquiry report onCJI dented credibility of judicial system

EC should verify all VVPATs: Naidu

ED seizes assets worth `1.48cr

FROM DELHI MINISTER KIN ED attaches cash worth `89Lfrom Pawan Bansal’s nephew

Over 1 million plant species at risk: Report

*75% of land environment and some 66% of

marine environment significantly altered by

human actions.

*Over a third of world’s land surface and nearly

75% of freshwater resources are used for crops

or livestock.

*Up to $577 billion in annual global crops are at

risk from pollinator loss.

*Between 100 million and 300 million people now

face increased risk of floods and hurricanes due

to loss of coastal habitats and protection.

*Since 1992, world’s urban areas have more than

doubled.

*Plastic pollution has increased tenfold since 1980

*300-400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents,

toxic sludge dumped into the world’s water

systems.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

“It’s a very seriousmatter. It is about

the PrimeMinister’s safety. It

is aboutconspiracy to

assassinate anelected Prime

Minister. Why is theopposition silent?”

Ajay Katara was the key

witness in the murder case

CJI Gogoi transferredcase after the CBIand the accused saidthey have noobjection

LUCKNOW | WEDNESAY | MAY 8, 2019 06

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

State BJP leaders in Jammu &Kashmir have been caught

‘red handed’ distributingenvelopes, allegedly filled with currency notes, toreporters in Leh.

On May 3, Press Club Lehhad accused the BJP of tryingto bribe its members by offering “envelopes filled with money”.

On the same day, StateBJP leaders had denied theseallegations claiming they were“politically motivated”.

On Tuesday, a CCTVfootage, surfaced in publicdomain which clearly exposesBJP MLC, Vikram Randhawa,handing over envelopes to journalists after the Pressconference.

State BJP Chief RavinderRaina is also seen standing inthe hall.

In the same CCTV footage,two other BJP leaders VikramRandhawa and Narinder Singh,party general secretary, can beseen pacifying local reporters inLeh after they refused to acceptthe currency notes.

Some of the journalistscan be clearly seen returningthe packets and placing it on atable in the hall in the presenceof every one present there.

When this correspondenttried to contact State BJP ChiefRavinder Raina for his com-ments he refused to take thecalls. His alternate mobile tele-phone number was alsoswitched off.

Earlier, State BJP ChiefRavinder Raina had also threat-ened to file a defamation suitif the Press Club Leh did notissue a public apology.

“The BJP will not toleratesuch allegations. It will file adefamation suit in the highcourt against the press club ifit fails to make a public apolo-gy,” Raina had stated whileresponding to different queries.

Several members of PressClub Leh had also approachedDeputy Commissioner, Leh with their complaint seek-ing registration of FIR againstRavinder Raina and MLC

Vikram Randhawa for alleged-ly trying to bribe journalists byoffering money in envelops to influence the out-come of elections.

Press Club, Leh, presidentMorup Stanzin said the letterwas written but said they hadnot lodged the complaint withthe police.

“We have lodged our com-plaint with deputy commis-sioner, Leh, who is also thereturning officer on Friday...After a press conference,Randhawa handed over theenvelops filled with money tosome journalists who returnedthese to him immediately,”Stanzin added.

KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU

The shadow boxing within thecollation partners, the JD(S)

and Congress is an early indi-cation of the instability of ChiefMinister HD Kumaraswamy ledJD(S)-Congress Government inKarnataka. Many CongressMinisters and legislators are alsoopenly pitching for former ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah as theChief Minister again to lead theparty and the Government.

Many observe in the polit-ical circles that the mandate inthe Hassan, Mandya andTumakuru (it’s now popular-ly called HMT) where JDS iscontesting with the help ofCongress might hold the key tothe survival of collationGovernment led by HDKumaraswamy of the JDS.

In Hassan Prajwal Revannagrandson of HD Deve Gowdaand son of HD Revanna a PWDMinister, in Mandya con-stituency Nikhil Kumaraswamyson of HD Kumaraswamy andanother grandson of DeveGowda and at Tumakuru HDDeve Gowda are contesting.

The well-known rivalry betweenSiddaramaiah and Deve Gowdahas trickled down to the grassroots and party workers in boththe Congress and the JDS areworked against each other inthese constituencies.

The results in the theseconstituencies are expected toprovide some hints about howpowerful dominant Vokkaliga(Gowdas) and Kuruba (shep-herd) communities have voted.

Deve Gowda, the JD(S)supremo leads a family partyJDS and has the support ofvokkaligas one of the dominantcommunities and Siddaramaiahwho belongs to Kuruba com-munity made them a dominantcommunity and made thempolitically strong.

In another significantdevelopment Karnataka HomeMinister MB Patil on Tuesdaymade a pitch for Siddaramaiah“as Chief Minister again,” butclarified the present coalitionGovernment under HDKumaraswamy would com-plete its full term.

“What’s wrong in that?Siddaramaiah is our leader in

the Congress. People want tosee him as Chief Minister again.

“Even we too want to seehim as Chief Minister again. Hegave good governance for fiveyears. He should have comeback again,” Patil told reportersin Bengaluru.

He was responding to aquery on “growing demand”among the Congress MLAs tosee Siddaramaiah occupy thetop post again. His statementresonates with ChikkaballapuraCongress MLA K Sudhakar’sremarks on Monday that itwould be good if Siddaramaiahbecomes CM again.

“Siddaramaiah had done alot of good work. He deservesone more term... But we haveto accept people’s mandate...When we come to power onour own... but presently thatquestion does not arise.. Thisgovernment has to completefive years,” he said.

“Siddaramaiah has got theeligibility (for the second termas Chief Minister),” Patil added.

After the Congress andJDS formed the coalitionGovernment following the May

2018 Assembly elections,Kumaraswamy took over as theCM of the State. The coalitionpartners also fought the LokSabha elections together

though there have been strainsbetween the two ever since.

Many Congress MLAswere not content with the pre-sent arrangement and had stat-

ed that Siddaramaiah was theirleader and they would like tosee him as the chief ministeragain, an issue that has irkedJDS leadership.

Meanwhile, BJP strong-man Yeddyurappa predicts‘political ups and downs’ afterMay 23. He strongly ruled outany truck with JDS to form thegovernment in case the presentcoalition Government falls withthe disgruntled Congress leg-islators. He said in Kalaburagithat BJP was not in a hurry toform the Government.

“I want to say one thingclearly: Kumaraswamy hadbetrayed me after deciding toshare power 20 months each(in 2006). There is no questionof coming to an understandingwith JDS. There is no questionof coalition Government (withthat party),” Yeddyurappa said.

“It’s too early to say any-thing... I have never said theGovernment will collapse andI shouldn’t say it also. What I’msaying is there will be politicalups and downs after May 23results, anything may happen.I’m not saying we will form the

government or we will cometo power,” he added.

In 2006, the BJPand a section of JDSMLAs forged analliance to form aGovernment on thebasis of a power-sharing deal, accord-ing to whichKumaraswamy andYeddyurappa will be theCM for 20 months each.

As JDS refused to transferpower to Yeddyurappa after 20months, the BJP in October2007 decided to withdraw sup-port to the KumaraswamyGovernment, ending an uneasyand often bitter relationship,accusing the regional party of“betrayal.”

Pointing out that there is a“lot of confusion” in the statepolitics, Yeddyurappa said it iscertain that Narendra Modiwill become the PM of thecountry once again, and theresults of Lok Sabha polls willhave an implication on the pol-itics here.

“I’m not day dreaming tosay that their (Congress and

JDS) Governmentshould collapse. Let

them concentrate onthem being together. AmI responsible for

Congress and JDS fightingeach other; am I respon-

sible for differencesbetween them?” hequestioned.

Predicting thedefeat of former Union

Ministers Veerappa Moilyin Chikkaballapur and KHMuniyappa in Kolar,Yeddyurappa said, in Tumkurthe chances of our candidatewinning is more against formerPrime Minister HD DeveGowda, in Mandya indepen-dent candidate SumalathaAmbareesh supported by theparty will win “100 per cent”against Kumaraswamy’s sonNikil, while there is a fight inHassan, where Gowda’s othergrandson Prajwal Revanna isthe JDS nominee.

Yeddyurappa also said theparty high-command will decideon the next state unit president,and he would continue as theLeader of the Opposition.

IANS n LUCKNOW

Till the turn of the millen-nium, film stars guaranteed

crowds and votes in politics.Political parties wooed themardently. As a result, top starslike Rajesh Khanna, VinodKhanna, Shatrughan Sinha,Raj Babbar, Dharmendra,Hema Malini, Jaya Prada,Govinda and Jaya Bachchanbraved the heat and dust ofcampaigning for their politicalparties.

Some like Dharmendraand Govinda could not under-stand the manipulations ofpolitics and called it a day afterone term. Others like RajBabbar, Shatrughan Sinha,Hema Malini and JayaBachchan continue to standtheir ground.

However, if various politi-cal parties are to be believed,the stardust is losing its glitterand film stars can no longerguarantee a win on the seatsthey campaign for.

A clear indication of this isthe fact that the demand forfilm stars as campaigners israpidly going down in theseelections.

A BJP candidate said:“There is no use getting filmstars to campaign because theycannot give speeches and donot leave any impact on voters.”

Explained senior journal-ist RK Singh: “The stars are los-ing their credibility becausethey lack conviction in whatthey say. People know that inmost cases stars take money tocampaign and this erodes theirsincerity. Some stars like Ravi

Krishna and Manoj Tiwarihave changed more partiesthan they have delivered hits.”

Besides, he explained, theglamour factor has alsoreduced because film starswere now seen 24x7 on thesocial media and television.

“Earlier, people would waitfor hours to catch a glimpse oftheir favourite actor but not any

more. You just need to get onto the Internet and you canhave your fill,” he added.

Bhojpuri stars Ravi Kishanand Dinesh Yadav Nirahua,who are contesting theGorakhpur and Azamgarhseats respectively, are alreadyfinding the going tough.

Raj Babbar, who is present-ly seeking election for his sixth

term to Parliament and holdsthe position of Uttar CongressPresident, explains that it needsmore than just stardom to sur-vive in politics.

“Much before I startedworking in theatre and thenfilms, I was associated with thesocialist youth politics. I joinedthe Janata Dal in 1989 andactively participated in party

activities. I later joined theSamajwadi Party and then theCongress.

“I never confined myself tocampaigning and that is onereason why the parties and thepeople started taking me seri-ously,” he says.

When Raj Babbar wasappointed president of theUttar Pradesh Congress in July

2016, few took him seriously inhis own party. But two yearslater, they understood that hemeans business.

Hema Malini, Jaya Prada,Jaya Bachchan and most othershave, on the other hand, con-fined themselves to campaigning in their own con-stituencies or in select con-stituencies. They have not

actively involved themselvesin party matters.

One actress who spoke tothis correspondent on the con-dition of anonymity said: “I didtry to get my word in a fewtimes but was politely told torestrict myself to campaigning.I have understood that apartfrom my star value, I meannothing to the party.”

IANS n JHALDA (WEST BENGAL)

Describing the ambitiousNyuntam Aay Yojana

(NYAY) promised by his partyas a “surgical strike on pover-ty”, Congress President RahulGandhi on Tuesday said anamount of Rs 3.60 lakh wouldbe given to each of the fivecrore poor families if his partywas voted to power in the LokSabha elections.

“I give a guarantee thatHindustan’s next Governmentwill give the amount to each ofthe 5 crore families — that is 25crore people in the next five

years,” Rahul told an electionrally here in support ofCongress candidate fromPurulia Nepal Mahato.

“Wah wah, this a surgicalstrike on poverty,” Rahulexclaimed.

Turning to farmers’ issues,Gandhi said the law will bechanged to ensure that farmerswere not jailed for failing torepay bank loans.

“If India’s farmer takes aloan of Rs 20,000 and fails toreturn, then are they sent to jailor not?” he asked.

Rahul said he doesn’t findit right when rich people arenot jailed after taking bigamounts while the farmers arecaught if they take loans.

“Do you think there is

Nyay (justice)? No farmerbelonging to Bengal or anystate will be sent to jail if theyfail to pay the bank loans.

He promised that the newgovernment to be formed afterthe Lok Sabha elections willhave a separate budget for thefarmers. “After 2019, there willbe two budgets, first, thefarmer’s budget will be made.

“In the beginning of theyear, the farmers will know thatthe amount of money allottedby the government, the num-ber of food processing units,how many storage facilitieswill be there and what kind oftechnology will be given for thefarmers.

“In the very first year, theywill be told about their earnings

and profits,” he said.He slammed Prime

Minister Narendra Modi andWest Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee for failing toprovide employment andensuring fair price for farmers.

Rahul said the BJP’s onlyaim was to ensure Modibecomes Prime Minister again.

“But I tell you no powercan make him the PM, as thecitizens are going to hit a sixerthis time,” he added.

Mocking Modi, he saidModi earlier talked about his56-inch chest, but now “twoglasses are fixed that are knownas teleprompters. He is warnedthat he should not speak aboutunemployment and farmers asthe public can become angry”.

PTI n GHATAL/BISHNUPUR/KESHIARI

BJP president Amit Shah onTuesday alleged that West

Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee is not allowing peopleto chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in thestate, and wondered if the Lord’sname cannot be taken in India,will it be uttered in Pakistan.

Shah also dared Banerjee toarrest him for chanting ‘Jai ShriRam’ at the multiple electionrallies he addressed in the stateon Tuesday.

“Lord Ram is a part of theculture of India... Can anybodystop people from taking hisname? I want to ask Mamatadidi, if Shri Ram’s name is nottaken in India, will it be chant-ed in Pakistan?” he said.

“I want to tell Mamata didithat this is West Bengal and notPakistan... I am going toKolkata from here (Bishnupur),put me in jail if you have theguts,” the BJP chief said.

He addressed rallies inGhatal, Keshiari and Bishnupurin West Bengal. Shah claimedthat Banerjee had stopped hercar a few days ago to tell peo-ple that they will be put in jail if they chant the name ofLord Ram.

A video had appeared inthe social media that showedBanerjee stopping her car at a

place in West Midnapore dis-trict on Saturday, and chasingsome persons who chanted ‘JaiShri Ram’ as her carcade wascrossing the area.

Shah said he has come toknow that the CM has cancelledpermission for two rallies ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiin the State — one at Puruliaand the other at Bankura,scheduled for Thursday.

“Can you (Banerjee) pre-vent your defeat in this man-ner?” he asked. On Modi invok-ing the Bofors scandal, the BJPpresident wondered if remind-

ing people what had happenedwas tantamount to insultingformer PM Rajiv Gandhi.

“What wrong has PMNarendra Modi done by sayingthat the Bofors scam happenedduring Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure...Rahul baba says his father hasbeen insulted. Is it an insult tobe reminded of what had hap-pened?” Shah said.

The BJP chief was referringto Modi’s recent remarks at arally in Uttar Pradesh, where hesaid that Rajiv Gandhi’s lifeended as “bhrashtachari no. 1”(corrupt no. 1 ).

PTI n RANIBANDH/RAGHUNATHPUR

Narendra Modi should get atight slap of democracy,” a

furious TMC supremo MamataBanerjee said on Tuesday, hit-ting back at the prime minis-ter for alleging repeatedly thather Government is run byextortionist syndicates.

She also questioned theBJP’s nationalistic and patriot-ic claims, saying it was an“RSS man” who killedMahatma Gandhi. “I do notbow my head in politics. WhenModi alleges that TrinamoolCongress is a party of syndi-cates...Its government is run bysyndicates, I feel he should geta tight slap of democracy (bedefeated in election),” she saidat a public meeting atRaghunathpur in Purulia.

Calling Modi a prime min-ister who is “known for tellinglies”, Banerjee said during hisvisits to West Bengal for elec-tion he says her Governmentdoes not allow Durga Pujaand other Hindu rituals to beperformed. “Do you believethose allegations?” she asked.

Joining issue with the PMover his claim that she does notallow people to chant “Jai SriRam” and throw those who dobehind bars, she said, “I will not

join them (the BJP) in shout-ing their slogan. I will rathersay Jai Hind.”

At another meeting atRanibandh in Bankura dis-trict, she questioned BJP’s claimof patriotism. “I do not knowwho Gandhiji’s killers were. Butwe know the name ofNathuram Godse, an RSS man.When you speak of patriotismand serving the nation can youtells us who was he?

“Did you fight for thecountry’s independence? You(the BJP) had supported theBritish. Don’t you feelashamed?” Banerjee said.Speaking in the same vein at

Barjora, also in Bankura dis-trict, Banerjee said, “They (theBJP) don’t revere Gandhiji andNetaji as leaders of the nation.... Modi should not sermoniseus on patriotism”.

A combative Banerjeealleged that BJP starts doingpolitics over Lord Ram duringelections. She said the saffronparty could not build even asmall Ram temple in the lastfive years.

The TMC supremo assert-ed Modi will not get a secondterm in office as he failed tobring in ‘acche din’ that he hadpromised in 2014.

Instead, more than 12,000farmers committed suicide,factories got closed and threecrore jobs were lost.

However, she claimed,while there was distress every-where, income of those livingin West Bengal went up three-fold. She accused the BJP oforchestrating riots between“Hindus and Muslims,Muslims and Christians andMuslims and adivasis” duringthe last five years.

“I don’t tolerate rioters —both Hindu and Muslim. Wewant peace not unrest. We(TMC) do not want Modi tostay in power. We will help inGovernment formation inDelhi,” she added.

Film stars lose their sheen in elections

NYAY surgical strike on poverty: Rahul Gandhi CCTV shows J&K BJP leaders givingmoney to reporters

✉ On May 3, Press Club Lehhad accused the BJP oftrying to bribe its membersby offering “envelopes filledwith money”

✉ However, State BJP leadershad denied these allegationsclaiming they were“politically motivated”

✉ On Tuesday, a CCTV footage,surfaced in public domainwhich clearly exposes BJPMLC, Vikram Randhawa,handing over envelopes tojournalists after the Pressconference

✉ Some of the journalists canbe clearly seen returning thepackets and placing it on atable in the hall in thepresence of every onepresent there

✉ Earlier, State BJP ChiefRavinder Raina had alsothreatened to file adefamation suit if the PressClub Leh did not issue apublic apology

Modi should get ‘tight slap’

of democracy: Mamata

Will Lord Ram’s name be takenin Pak, if not in India: Shah

Will coalition Govt in K’taka survive after May 23?

Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses apublic meeting for the Lok Sabha polls, inPurulia district of West Bengal, on Tuesday PTI

BJP president Amit Shah with Mukul Roy and other leaders being garlanded duringan election campaign rally for the Lok Sabha polls, in Bankura district of WestBengal, on Tuesday PTI

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

snippets

poll

MODI IS WORKAHOLIC, RAHUL LOVES HOLIDAYS: SHAHNarendra Modi has been working 18 hours a day for around twodecades without taking a leave, while Congress president RahulGandhi dashes off to undisclosed foreign destinations at the slightestdiscomfort, BJP president Amit Shah claimed here on Tuesday.Alleging that Gandhi is in love with the terrorists, he asserted thatunder Prime Minister Modi, their every ‘goli’ (bullet) will be retaliatedwith a ‘gola’ (mortar shell). “I have known Modi for a long time. Forthe past 20 years he has not taken a leave. He works 18 hours a dayfor the people,” Shah said.

BOFORS PETITIONER CAMPAIGNS AGAINST MODIFormer BJP leader Ajay Agarwal, who contested against Sonia Gandhifrom Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in 2014 polls on BJP ticket onTuesday condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks againstRajiv Gandhi. Agarwal, a senior lawyer, said that no charge was everproven in any court of the country against former Prime Minister RajivGandhi in the Bofors case and he was given a “clean chit”.

07

IANS n KOLKATA

Attacking the Congress forraising questions on the

Rafale deal, Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman onTuesday said the Oppositionparty must first give answers onthe Rs 3,600-croreAgustaWestland VVIP chopperdeal and Backops before talk-ing about the BJP and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on thefighter jet deal.

“The Supreme Court hasgiven its verdict on the Rafaledeal. Not just the Congress,somebody else had also gonefor a review, the Supreme Courtis seized of it. Also the CAG(Comptroller and AuditorGeneral of India) has given itsreport on Rafale (deal).

“But again talking aboutit... I think it is on the Congress,

first of all, to have an enquiryand give answer onAgustaWestland (deal) andalso give answer on Backopsabout which the party has spo-ken. Before they talk about theBJP and Modi ji or the DefenceMinistry, they themselves havemore to answer,” she said inresponse to a query.

Attacking Congress chiefRahul Gandhi, Union MinisterArun Jaitley had recently saidGandhi’s former business part-ner, Ulrik Mcknight, atBackops Ltd in the UK had gotoffset defence contracts fromFrench defence supplier NavalGroup for Scorpene sub-marines in 2011 during theUPA rule.

He also alleged Gandhihad a 65 per cent stake inBackops between 2003 and2009, when it was wound up.

IANS n AGARTALA

The Union Home Ministryhas deployed 15 companies

of paramilitary forces duringre-polling to the Tripura WestLok Sabha seat where votingtook place on April 11, a toppolice official said on Tuesday.

“On the advice of theElection Commission (EC),the Ministry has deployed 11companies of the BorderSecurity Force and four of theCentral Reserve Police Force,”the official told IANS on thecondition of anonymity.

However, the state ChiefElectoral Officer (CEO) SriramTaranikanti said that he was yetreceive an official confirmationfrom the EC on the re-polls.

“I do not know when or inhow many polling stations re-polling will be held. We havesent our reports and recom-mendations to the EC,” theCEO told IANS.

Besides the Tripura Westseat, the State has a second con-stituency — Tripura East —which went to the polls onApril 23.

The Opposition Congressand CPM has been demandingthe re-polls after they allegedlarge-scale rigging, booth cap-turing, intimidation and attacksby the ruling BJP.

Tripura Pradesh CongressVice-President Pijush KantiBiswas on Tuesday reiteratedthat if the EC did not hold there-polls, the party would movethe SC.

“We have learnt that BJPleaders in Delhi are influencingthe EC to hold re-polls only ina few polling stations to ensuretheir victory,” Biswas told themedia.

The CPI-M leaders heldseveral demonstrations inAgartala and also in New Delhito highlight their demand.

Patna/Muzaffarpur: Fourpolice personnel were sus-pended and a poll official wasissued show cause notice inBihars Muzaffarpur district onTuesday for keeping six EVMsinside a hotel room while vot-ing was on for the fifth phase,a top official said.

The district authorities were,however, quick to assert thatnone of the EVMs were used ortheir seals broken. The mattercame to light when several localleaders of the Opposition‘Mahagathbandhan’ noticed thatpoll-related paraphernalia werebeing taken inside a hotel bySector Magistrate AwadheshKumar and raised an alarm.

Sector MagistrateAwadhesh Kumar has beenserved with a show cause noticeand based on his reply, whichhas to come within 24 hours,further action will be taken,”Bihar Joint Chief ElectoralOfficer Pravin Kumar Guptatold a press conference in Patna.

“The four police personnela sub-inspector and three con-stables who accompanied himhave been suspended, he added.Muzaffarpur district magistrateand district election officer,Alok Ranjan Ghosh dismissedallegations of suspected misuseof the EVMs. “None of theEVMs were used for voting andall were sealed. These were keptin reserve meant for replacementin case of a snag being reportedfrom anywhere, he said. PTI

Talk about Agustabefore Rafale:Sitharaman to Cong

EVMs found in

Bihar hotel, 4

cops suspended

Poll official issued

showcause notice

Central forces

to be deployed

for Tripura

West re-polls

BJP MP Rupa Ganguly during an election campaign roadshow in favour ofthe party candidate from Jadavpur parliamentary constituency Anupam Hazra(unseen) for the Lok Sabha polls, at Sonarpur in South 24 Parganas districtof West Bengal, on Tuesday PTI

Union Minister and BJP leader Piyush Goyal with party candidate fromAllahabad Parliamentary constituency Rita Bahuguna Joshi and other leadersduring an election campaign rally, in Prayagraj, on Tuesday PTI

PTI n CHANDIGARH

One of them flips burgers,the other rustles up noo-

dles at a roadside joint. The twoare among the 278 candidateswho are trying their luck in theMay 19 Lok Sabha elections inPunjab.

While 30-year-oldRavinder Pal Singh who ownsthe popular ‘Baba Ji BurgerWale’ is contesting from theLudhiana Lok Sabha seat, JasbirSingh (55), owner of thefamous ‘Chacha Maggi Wala’ isa contender from the Patialaparliamentary constituency.

Both are fighting as inde-pendent candidates.

“I decided to contest in

order to raise awareness aboutthe serious issue of growingcancer cases because of dis-charge of industrial effluentsand chemicals into the ‘Buddhanullah’,” Ravinder Pal Singh,who has a burger joint atModel Town extension marketin Ludhiana, told PTI.

Churning out crispy burg-ers to his customers for the last12 years, Ravinder Pal Singhsaid he was also concernedabout the dilapidated conditionof government schools andhospitals in the state.

“I also want the conditionof government hospitals andschools to be improved so thatthe common man has access tobetter education and healthcare

facilities at lesser cost,” he said.“I have saved some money

from my business which isbeing used for campaigningand I am getting good responsefrom people,” he added.

However, he claimed that“some people” do not want himto contest and were creatinghurdles for him.

“My business has taken ahit as some people havecoerced some of my workers todesert me so I cannot cam-paign. They do not want me tocontest polls,” he claimed with-out taking any names.

From Ludhiana Lok Sabhaseat, the Congress has fieldedRavneet Singh Bittu while theShiromani Akali Dal’s nominee

is Maheshinder Singh Grewal. The Lok Insaaf Party has

fielded Simarjeet Singh Bainsand the Aam Aadmi Party’scandidate is Tejpal Singh.

Meanwhile, Jasbir Singhof ‘Chacha Maggi Wala’ said hewanted to raise his voice againstthe “corruption” in the state andthe “injustice” meted out to thedowntrodden.

“I want to fight against cor-ruption which you will find inevery department,” said Jasbir,who has build a loyal clientelecourtesy his spicy version of thepopular Maggi noodles that hesells near the Patiala bus stand.

“They (officials) just wantto extract money from you byhook or by crook,” he added.

Jasbir Singh had earliercontested the 2017 Punjabassembly polls from Patialarural seat but had lost.

From the Patiala parlia-mentary seat, the Congresshas fielded former Union min-ister Preneet Kaur while theAkalis have fielded Surjit SinghRakhra.

The candidates of the AAPand the Nawan Punjab Partyare Neena Mittal andDharamvira Gandhi respec-tively.

As many as 278 candi-dates are in the fray for the 13Lok Sabha seats in Punjabwhere polling will be held onMay 19, the last of the seven-phase general elections.

Burger wala, Maggi wala in fray in Punjab

‘Govt terrorism’ prevails, claims Muslim body chiefPTI n AZAMGARH

Rashtriya Ulema Councilpresident Maulana AamirRashadi, who is fighting

against the ‘atankgarh’ tag to thecity, Tuesday claimed that thereis no saffron or Islamic terror-ism, but “government terrorism”in the country.

Rashadi also claimed thatthere is a conspiracy to makeMuslims “untouchable” in pol-itics.

“I have been fighting for thecause of innocent Muslimyouths killed in encounters orlodged in jails. I feel there is nosaffron or Islamic terror. Thereis ‘sarkari atankwad’ (govern-ment terrorism) in the country,”he told PTI.

“There is a conspiracygoing on to make Muslimsuntouchable in politics andisolate them,” Rashadi, who isnot active in this elections dueto illness, told PTI. He claimedthat there is no differencebetween the Congress and theBJP, who are competing witheach other to tag Muslims as“traitors”. “Both the parties aretargeting the community inthe name of terrorism. Theyappear to be sympathisers ofthe community but have madetheir policy to tag Muslims astraitors and anti-nationals,”Rashadi said.

“This is done to makeMuslims politically untouch-able so that the leadership

among them does not stand,and with the tag of terroristthey cannot not join any gov-ernment,” he said.

On BJP leader SadhviPragya’s claim that she wasframed in false cases by agen-cies, Rashadi said, “I am say-ing the same thing...if she wasnot involved (in the 2008Malegaon blast) it means ouragencies did it and framed her.Similar is the case withMuslim youths who areframed by our agencies.”

When asked about UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath’s allegation thatthe Samajwadi Party hadturned Azamgarh into‘atankgarh’ (hub of terrorism),

he said following the BatlaHouse encounter, “we ran acampaign and made it a sym-bol, forcing politicians toaccept it as fake.”

“The CM has now realisedthat the encounter was fakeand Azamgarh was named‘atankgarh’,” Rashadi said.

He claimed that Congressleader Salman Khurshid hadsaid UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi had tears in her eyeswhen she knew about theencounter and Digvijaya Singhhad accepted that theencounter was fake.

Adityanath during an elec-tion meeting here last monthhad alleged that the SamajwadiParty had turned Azamgarh,

which was once known in thefield of education and litera-ture, into a ‘atankgarh’. Themaulana said, “He will con-tinue to fight for the cause ofMuslim youths framed byagencies and continue with hisdemand for a probe in theBalta encounter.”

When asked about theongoing Lok Sabha polls,Rashadi said the Muslim com-munity has the “experienceand will vote wisely”.

He said he has given thecommand of his organisationto the second line due to his illhealth. Five phases of pollingare over in Uttar Pradesh andtwo more phases are left toelect 80 MPs from the state.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Alleging that south Indiareceived “step-motherly”

treatment under the NarendraModi government, seniorCongress leader ShashiTharoor said the south wouldplay a key role in voting out theruling dispensation and “over-whelmingly” side with theCongress. Emphasising that allsections of the country areequally important to theCongress and have been equal-ly sought after, he said partypresident Rahul Gandhi’s deci-sion to contest from Kerala’sWayanad sent a message thatunder Congress rule, the con-cerns and aspirations of south-ern states would not be ignoredat the Centre.

“I think the south will def-initely play an instrumental rolein deciding the political fate ofthe country, particularly in thecontext of voting out the pre-sent ruling dispensation, underwhose tenure, the south has anunderstandable case of step-motherly treatment under theCentre,” Tharoor told PTI in aninterview.

He alleged that in the lastfive years of BJP rule, there has

been a “widespread assault” onthe spirit of cooperative feder-alism which has held the coun-try together sinceIndependence.

“This is partly on accountof cultural factors such as thebeef ban and the drive toimpose Hindi as a national lan-guage, but also because of larg-er issues such as the uproarregarding the terms of refer-ence of the 15th FinanceCommission which has impli-cations on the financial andpolitical security of the south-ern states,” he said.

The Congress, particular-ly with Rahul Gandhi’s decisionto contest from the south, hasmade a very effective outreachtowards the southern states, theformer Union minister said.

The Congress chief con-testing from Wayanad has senta clear message that underCongress rule, the concernsand aspirations of these stateswill not be ignored at theCentre, least of all under apotential prime ministerialcandidate who will be electedfrom the south, Tharoor said.

“As my own experiences inKerala tell me, this message hasbeen widely and popularly

received and it is clear that thesouth will overwhelmingly sidewith the Congress as the most1credible alternative to thepresent ruling dispensation,”the 63-year-old leader said.

Tharoor, who is seeking athird straight Lok Sabha termfrom Thiruvanathapuram,which went to polls on April23, also asserted that therewill be a coalition governmentat the Centre after the electionsand that the coalition is morelikely to be UPA-3 rather thanan NDA-3.

“The fundamental fact thatthe performance of the BJP in2014, where they secured 282seats, is based on simple math-

ematics, a performance that isimpossible for them to repeat,even if they had been highlysuccessful in government,which they were lamentablynot,” he said.

“Given how poorly theyperformed in government, thescale of the frustration and dis-appointment with their per-formance is immense and islikely to result in a significantreduction in their seats,” heclaimed.

Tharoor contended thatthe BJP will be forced to turnto regional parties for supportto form a government, butmost of those potential part-ners would be unwilling tooffer their support, given howtheir concerns and voices were“diminished and marginalised”under the Modi-Shah regime ofthe last 5 years.

“Many of those who hadjoined the NDA got their fin-gers burned — many subse-quently left their erstwhilealliance with the BJP or open-ly bickered with them. Thissends a clear signal that allyingwith the BJP comes at a heavyprice,” he claimed.

In contrast, the Congresshas presented a compelling

and credible narrative acrossthe country and has imple-mented an effective and ener-getic campaign during the cur-rent elections, he said.

This, along with the risinganti-BJP wave and theCongress’s historic record andcapability of working withregional partners makes it clearthat when the coalition gov-ernment is formed, it will mostdefinitely be the return of theUPA, Tharoor asserted.

On whether Rahul Gandhicould be the front-runner forbeing the opposition’s primeministerial choice, he saidGandhi is the party chief andif the Congress gets a majori-ty, he will be PM.

“If the government is acoalition, obviously this is adecision that will jointly betaken by leadership of the par-ties that constitute the coalitionand will take place throughestablished processes and con-ventions,” he said.

This is only likely be dis-cussed once the results of theelection become clear, headded. However, Tharoor saidGandhi has all the right qual-ities to make an excellent primeninister for the country.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Claiming that her BJP rivalGautam Gambhir is proving to

be a “novice” whose celebrity statuswill go against him, AAP’s EastDelhi candidate Atishi says peoplemight want to see stars but want theirrepresentatives to be available tothem in their everyday lives.

The Oxford graduate, whobelieves the BJP is her main oppo-nent and the Congress is numberthree in the electoral race, said peo-ple won’t vote for the former crick-eter because they know he will any-way get disqualified after the elec-tions.

“Gautam Gambhir is also prov-ing to be a novice candidate. Hisnomination form was not filed cor-rectly. He has two voter ID cards.People have this mindset - now thatGambhir has two voter ID cards hewill anyway get disqualified so whywaste our vote on him,” Atishi toldPTI in an interview.

The 37-year-old, who doesn’t useher second name Marlena but hasnot dropped it officially, said celebri-ties have a disadvantage. People willcome to see them but an MP is some-one they want in their everyday lives,she explained.

“Everyone knows GautamGambhir is a star who is going to bein Bombay, London andJohannesburg. He is not going to beavailable to attend to people of hisconstituency,” she said.

The AAP candidate is locked ina three-way fight with Gambhir andCongress’ Arvinder Singh Lovely in

the elections on May 12, the penul-timate round of the seven-phasepolls.

According to Atishi, the thirdplace in this election is reserved forthe Congress and its role is no morethan that of a “vote-cutting” party.

Calling the BJP her main com-petition, she said an analysis of pre-vious elections will show theCongress has been third every time.

“In this election too, we will seea repeat of that... in 2015, theCongress lost its deposits on 90 percent of the seats. It is going to getrepeated. No one wants to vote for alosing candidate. I met some tradi-tional Congress supporters but theysaid this time they will vote for theAam Aadmi Party as the Congress isnot even in the fight,” Atishi assert-ed. On the opposition targeting herfor her surname, Atishi said it isbecause they have nothing elseagainst her.

“The Opposition has nothingagainst me so they are trying to pulla rabbit out of a hat. A CongressMLA is saying I am a Jew. This issomething that can be verified with-in minutes. These things are indica-tors the Congress is now getting des-perate. In 2015, the same thing hap-pened when the BJP and theCongress launched ugly attacksagainst Kejriwal. It is a sign of theirdesperation,” she said.

“There is something that is anintelligent attack but this one is base-less and it will not stick,” she added.

In Atishi’s view, her biggeststrength is the work she has done inthe education sector.

“About 2.5 lakh students stay inEast Delhi. These people have expe-rienced in their own substantive waywhat their vote to the AAP hasdone... and when they voted fouryears ago for the Aam Aadmi Partyhow it changed the lives of their chil-dren. I think that is something verypowerful,” she said.

Discussing her vision for the EastDelhi constituency, Atishi said themain focus this time is the fight forfull statehood because many prob-lems faced by the citizens of EastDelhi are related to the structure ofgovernance.

“For example, safety and securi-ty in East Delhi is a very big concernand this is an across class concern.It isn’t an issue that one segment facesand another does not... But becauseDelhi Police comes under the Centralgovernment there are virtually nosteps being taken,” she said.

Education, she added, is anoth-er major concern as it is one of themost neglected areas.

“We have tried to rectify that asfar as schools go. But higher educa-tion still does not come under Delhigovernment so improving highereducation is also related to the issueof full statehood,” she said.

She listed affordable housing asan important concern for the area.

“Why does 80 per cent of EastDelhi live in unauthorised colonies.No one wants to live in unauthorisedcolonies due to issues of sanitary andhygiene... people stay in unauthorisedcolonies because they have no otherchoice and that really needs to bechanged,” she noted.

PTI n GURDASPUR (PUNJAB)

Bollywood actor and BJP’sLok Sabha candidate,

Sunny Deol says he is focusedon the task ahead and is notaffected by his opponents dub-bing him an “outsider”.

The BJP has pitted the 62-year-old actor against sittingMP and Punjab Congress pres-ident Sunil Jakhar fromGurdaspur.

“People keep asking methis question (on rivals dubbinghim an outsider) and I say, I amnot here to reply to what all isbeing said.

“I have come here to workand serve the people, I havecome here to do my job.My jobis to understand my people, myconstituency,” Deol said duringhis campaign trail here.

The son of veteran actorand former MP Dharmendra,Deol has been accused by theopposition of having no under-standing about Punjab, andhas been termed an “outsider”and a “parachute” candidate.

Waving at crowds from thesunroof of a Range Rover orfrom atop a mini-truck, Deolhas been attracting a large num-ber of people at his roadshows.He is being accompanied by

leaders of the BJP and its allyShiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

He said, if elected, he willnever let the people down,and “never betray their trust”.

“The love they have showntowards me is just overwhelm-ing. I am that kind of personwho likes to take peoples’ sor-rows and make them happy,this is my nature,” said Deol,who is famous for his hit filmslike Border, Gadar: Ek PremKatha, Ghayal and Damini.

“I am a newcomer, but I amziddi (stubborn) and I will goon to achieve what I set out for,”said the actor. Ziddi was one ofhis popular movies.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Tuesday took a jibe at his

Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, askingwhether the AAP supremo was the head of cityadministration or leader of dharnas anddemonstrations.

Addressing a rally here in support of BJP’sEast Delhi candidate Gautam Gambhir, YogiAdityanath said, “We are confident that he willbe opening our victory tally in Delhi just as heopened for team India in cricket.”

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister said helanded at the Hindon Air Base first and afterentering Delhi he was appalled after seeing thecondition of roads here. “The AAP governmenthas turned Delhi into a city of potholes and hashurt the sentiments of people of the city,”Adityanath alleged.

“Kejriwal has nothing to do with vikas(development) and he does not have anyinterest in working in collaboration with theCentral government for the betterment ofnational capital,” he claimed.

Taking a jibe at Kejriwal, he asked whetherthe AAP supremo was a “mukhiya of Delhi orof dharna” (head of Delhi or leader of dharnasand demonstrations). He said the AAP supre-mo attacked the Congress before gaining powerin Delhi and then sought to “make an alliance”with the same party. “Democracy or politicsdone without values and ideals is dangerous forthe country,” he said. During his speech, YogiAdityanath also hit out at the Congress sayingit has “failed” as a party and staring at defeateven in its bastion Amethi.

“Congress has failed as a party and it doesnegative politics. They are staring at a defeat inAmethi too,” the BJP leader claimed.

On Masood Azhar being declared a glob-al terrorist, the UP chief minister said, “Now,he cannot run away.”

Tharoor: South India got step-motherly treatment

Not affected by criticism of opponents,focused on task ahead: Sunny Deol

Kejriwal CM of Delhi or leaderof dharnas: Yogi

Gambhir’s celebrity status

will go against him: Atishi

Neither Sherlock Holmes norAlfred Hitchcock would havebeen mystified by intelli-gence oversights that led toone of the world’s most das-

tardly terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka lastmonth. Simply because it was a case ofjust connecting the dots — so detailedand specific were the tip-offs. Accordingto a top secret intelligence memo of April9 (there were two others before the fate-ful day dawned on Easter Sunday), thecountry’s intelligence chief had warnedthe Inspector General of Police that“Zahran Hashim of the National TawheedJamaat and his associates were planningto carry out suicide terrorist attacks in SriLanka shortly.” How this classified warn-ing was not shared with PresidentMaithripala Sirisena and Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe is a riddle. Rarelyhas there been an intelligence goof-up ofthis magnitude in recent memory.

That such a catastrophic intelligencefoul-up took place in Sri Lanka, whichonly a decade ago had destroyed theinvincible Velupillai Prabhakaran-ledLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE),ending root and branch a 30-year-longdeadly insurgency and becoming the firstcountry to achieve such a feat in the 21stcentury, is intriguing. The Army, Navyand Air Force have held annual interna-tional seminars in Colombo to showcasetheir military successes, including theArmy’s prowess in deep penetrationintelligence acquisition skills. Accordingto the then Defence Secretary and broth-er of former President MahindaRajapaksa, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, now apresidential hopeful for the elections thisyear, the present Government dismantledthe elaborate intelligence and surveillancenetwork of 5,000 personnel he had set upin 2011 across the country, including theMuslim majority areas of the east.

Nine suicide bombers, including onewoman, struck in coordinated attacks fol-lowed by two or three hara-kiri acts byfamily members and associates of themastermind Hashim. It is now knownthat the suicide squad consisted of 15members and the support group was 150of whom 100 cadres have been arrested.Thirty-six Sri Lankans are reported tohave gone to fight with the Islamic Statein Syria and many had returned. Thepreparation for serial human bombing ofthis scale and sophistication would havetaken months if not years. Sirisena hasrevealed that planning for the attacksstarted in Syria in 2017. How this mas-sive diabolical plot escaped detection isa mystery. The Sri Lankan ArmyCommander, Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake,in an interview to BBC, has said that thesuicide bombers “got some sort of train-ing” in Kashmir and Kerala. This shouldworry India. Given the severe communal

polarisation exacerbated bythe elections, major terroristattacks are not unlikely inIndia in the near future.

In 2017, I retraced mytimes with the Indian PeaceKeeping Force (IPKF) 30 yearsago in the east, travellingthrough Muslim majorityAmpara and Kalmunai areasnear Batticaloa and saw anincreased density of popula-tion, mosques and madrassasas also prosperity and devel-opment. The Muslims weretargeted by the LTTE notablyin their massacre in SriLanka’s biggest mosque inKattankudy near Batticaloain the 1990s. (Kattankudy isthe hometown of Hashim,the mastermind of the attacksand its training ground).Later, the Sinhala Buddhistextremists Bodu Bala Sena(BBS), ostensibly supportedby the Government, targettedMuslims periodically from2013, culminating in the biganti-Muslin riots in Kandy lastyear, which led to theGovernment declaring anEmergency. The trigger forMuslim alienation and radi-calisation is the BBS attacksand objections to hijab andhalal. How the Governmentdid not pick up these straws inthe wind is an enigma.

Initially, the Government

ascribed the horrific attacks tothe Islamic State (IS)-inspiredSri Lankan Muslim NationalThowheed Jamath (NTJ) asretaliation for Christchurchtill IS supremo Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi claimed responsibil-ity as revenge for loss ofBaghouz, the caliphate’s lastbastion in Syria. Sri Lanka’sown counter-terrorism czar,the Singapore-based RohanGunaratna, confirmed that IShas created support groupsaround the world and NTJ hasjoined the IS.

The rift and infightingbetween Sirisena andWickremesinghe is a folklore.The politics of the carnage isbeguiling. Sirisena has square-ly blamed the Prime Minister,the Defence Secretary and theInspector General Police andsaid he was kept in the darkand that he would reconstitutesecurity structures. On hispart, Wickremesinghe said, “Idid not know…still we have totake responsibility for thatpart of Government machin-ery that did not work.” Sirisenais not only the DefenceMinister but has also kept theLaw and Order Ministry withhim, some say, unconstitution-ally. This has keptWickremesinghe quarantinedfrom defence and security,including national security

council meetings. That theleft hand did not know whatthe right hand was doing is theblack hole in the security sys-tem.

Former ArmyCommander General SarathFonseka was the key architectof victory of the LTTE but hefell out with the old regime’stop leaders, the Rajapaksas.The Sirisena Governmentappointed Fonseka a FieldMarshal and a Minister.Speaking in the Emergencydebate in Parliament after thebombings, Fonseka lambastedhis own Government, includ-ing Srisena, Wickremesingheand other defence and intel-ligence officials. Demands formaking Fonseka Minister forlaw and order are increasing.

Sri Lanka is underEmergency rule with thePrevention of Terrorism Actin place but is likely to bereplaced with the newcounter-terrorism Bill. It is thefirst country to ban the faceveil in South Asia. Both thecurfew and ban on socialmedia were lifted after a week.The preliminary report onthe bombings has been com-pleted, which Sirisena is keep-ing close to his chest. A newmilitary command territorial-ly, including parts of westand northwest provinces,

including Colombo andPuttalam and strangely calledOverall OperationalCommand, has been estab-lished and coastal securitybeefed up. India’s offer ofsending its elite NationalSecurity Guards has beenpolitely rejected. The joke inColombo is about how NSGmessed up in Mumbai in 2008taking four days to completethe operation. Tongue-in-cheek Sri Lankan militaryveterans say what the IPKFstarted and did not complete,we finished.

Over-indulgent in its con-quest of LTTE, Sri Lanka let itsguard down. A dysfunctionalcohabitation Government hasbeen rent apart by catastroph-ic terrorist attacks, which arelikely to take Sri Lanka adecade back. The EasterSunday self-inflicted tragedywas in military parlance atotal command failure. Thatneither the Prime Minister norPresident has resigned is toborrow a famous war timeChurchillian one liner: A rid-dle wrapped in a mystery sur-rounded by an enigma.

(The writer is a retiredMajor General of the IndianArmy and founder member ofthe Defence Planning Staff,currently the revampedIntegrated Defence Staff)

Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party

(BJP) came to power in 2014, many

political parties have been crying wolf

about the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM)

malfunctioning across the country and have

been protesting to all and sundry, even though

it appears that the public at large has not real-

ly been interested in the debate. Their latest

approach to the Supreme Court demanding

that the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail

(VVPAT) system be used more intensively dur-

ing the current general elections was a lost

cause any which way, with the poll process largely complete. The court dis-

missed the petition with just two phases remaining and it being impossible for

the Election Commission (EC) to change machines now. Criticism has been a

constant since these machines made their debut, the loudest cries before 2014

being ironically made by the BJP in the aftermath of the 2009 elections.

But can VVPAT machines be brought into more widespread use going for-

ward so as to allay fears that the machines can be tampered with to benefit one

party or another? Yes, it must be done. However, one has to remember that in

India with 900 million potential voters and 600 million plus votes cast, the scale

of VVPAT issues can be mind-numbing and the extent of recounts has to be man-

aged. Otherwise the political turmoil that will invariably follow contested elec-

tions could go on for weeks if not months, and India cannot afford that. So while

more machines should have VVPAT printers and storage, if any political party

or candidate demands a recount or an audit, they should be made to pay, just

like those students who want their examination papers re-evaluated. The sum

of money should be significant enough to pay for the hundreds of staff required

to conduct such an exercise. Meanwhile, the EC must use more authentication

units before the polls to weed out counterfeit/tampered EVMs, progress on which

has been slow. It can fix a uniform sample size for hand-counting VVPAT slips

for all constituencies. And it should fix a margin of error before ordering an auto-

matic recount. The process may be time-taking but would ensure credibil-

ity of devices among voters. India must not return to the days of paper bal-

lots, and as we have been noticing in these elections, the problem is more to

do with booth security rather than the EVMs.

Why is it that the terse dismissal of sex-

ual harassment charges against the

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan

Gogoi by an in-house panel hasn’t quite given

us a sense of closure? Why is it making us

all too uncomfortable? Wasn’t it led by

extremely learned justices, two among them

women, who were expected to be armed with

the best legal knowledge and stand as pro-

tector of human rights? Or was it the case of

institutional integrity having a far higher cost

than the dignity of an individual, a woman in

this case? She has a right to know as do we. Perhaps so many questions are

the reason why women lawyers turned up outside the Supreme Court and shout-

ed slogans of “supreme injustice.” This reinforces what we have been saying

from the the beginning of this delicate case, that procedural propriety be adhered

to even if the nature of the proceedings was “informal, in-house” and not liable

to public consumption. This became even more imperative in a scenario as the

accused, in this case the CJI, can only be impeached by Parliament and can-

not be subjected to any prevalent legal mechanism. Which is why his image

needed to come clean in absolute terms with full transparency than the hush-

rush probe that has done more damage than repair. The opacity, the non-inclu-

sion of neutral observers and the summary disposal have only lent credence

to people’s worst doubts, that the judges of the Supreme Court are untouch-

able, answerable to no one and can interpret the law to rise above it themselves.

Considering the extreme polarities — the CJI claiming that the charges were

trumped up to force his hand on key verdicts and the woman claiming there

were reprisals against her and her family for bringing the issue up in the first

place — it was important for the probe panel to not appear one-sided. For at

one end was the suggestion of a mischievous conspiracy against the highest

court by using something as coarse as a honey trap. On the other was the accuser,

standing up for the rights of all working women, who become soft targets of

vilification campaigns and are always assumed to have motives. For the sake

of both, the court needed to walk the thin red line without wavering a hair’s breadth.

But the court-appointed panel swung appallingly to put it mildly. Not only did it

appear to have pre-judged the case, it did not even go through the motions.

Neither did it take umbrage at the CJI’s special hearing without the complainant,

nor did it check the backstory of the judges on the panel till the complainant

pointed out one of them was a friend of the CJI. He recused himself thereafter.

Considering the case was based on highly unequal circumstances — a junior

employee versus the CJI — the investigation turned out to be more intimidat-

ing than trustworthy. All the complainant wanted was the presence of her lawyer

or any support person for the sake of neutrality, an audio-video recording of the

committee proceedings and a copy of her statements as recorded on two ses-

sions for the sake of fair play and cross-questioning. By keeping an apolitical

third party at the proceedings, the court could have prioritised fairplay and made

the complainant feel secure enough and not walk away. The fact that the court

disregarded public pressure to comply with democratic rules and principles and

even ignored the counsel of senior judges Chandrachud and Nariman on the

matter shows the impunity with which it pushed a closure rather than a satis-

fying resolution. The court’s claims that informal proceedings need not be made

public run counter to the transparency and right to information it espouses in

its other rulings. And here the public needs to know the details about the actions

taken or not taken against a Constitutional authority. If indeed Gogoi is innocent

or the woman guilty, wouldn’t it have been better to publicise the findings, both

for himself, the institution that he represents and women’s rights? Wouldn’t it

have been better to avoid a stigma and set a precedent for all time to come? A

conspiracy of this scale against the judiciary, if it was indeed so, should have

been exposed widely and made an example of. Clearly, after this shoddiness,

the court and the CJI will forever be under doubt. As are the other judges against

whom no sexual harassment charges were ever proven. As for the woman, the

intimidating force of the country’s topmost institution is too big to wage a cru-

sade on her own. The legal route is out. As for us, there’s always our conscience.

And unending assumptions in the absence of waterproof evidence.

Justice or injustice?

By hurriedly clearing the CJI of sexual harassment charges,the SC probe panel raises more questions than answers

The apex court has closed the debate around VVPATsbut they have to be factored in next time

Face the harsh truth

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “A speech too far” (May 7).Dead leaders, who are widelyknown, like Hitler, Stalin,Mahatma Gandhi, JawaharlalNehru and Indira Gandhiamong others, have been derid-ed for some of their actions nodoubt. Agreed late PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi also hadhis failings. History won’t ignorethe blunders made by leadersbut there is a civil way ofaddressing them than brutename-calling.

M RatanVia email

Take consistent stand

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Poll panel under fire” (May6). Undoubtedly, the 2019 LokSabha election is one of the dirt-iest in a long time where below-the-belt and insensitive remarkshave become the norm for ourpoliticians.

Political leaders, both in theruling and opposition parties,are to be blamed as much theElection Commission (EC) of

India. It was former chiefElection Commissioner TNSeshan, who had given themuch-needed tooth to the ECand redef ined the way elections were conducted in ourcountry.

Keeping aside the malfunc-tioning of EVMs, which couldbe attributed to faults in themachine, the Model Code ofConduct is brazenly torn by our

leaders. The flow of money andliquor during election time hasbecome way too common. Thisis especially true among ruralvoters, who become easy targetsand can be manipulated by theleaders. But it is dishearteningthat the EC has been foundwanting in all parameters.

It is not that the EC has notpunished erring leaders, it hasbarred many from campaigning

for 24 to 72 hours but has notbeen consistent. In fact, it hasdisplayed selective amnesia.

Consistency is what is theneed of the hour. Even now, twomore rounds of polling are yetto take place — one on May 12and the other on May 19. TheEC can still pull up its socks andcorrect past wrong doings.

Bal GovindNoida

Mayawati’s dream

Sir — In an anti-climax of thefeverish pitch of the poll cam-paign, Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) supremo Mayawati hashinted that she is a contender forthe post of the Prime Minister.One must not be offended by hertall claims, for our polity is sofree that anyone can aspire to beanyone and, hence, politicalleaders have enough room formanoeuvre.

There’s no harm inMayawati wanting to becomethe Prime Minister but she hasto think whether she is accept-able to all across the country orhas she ever grown to become apan-India leader?

Our country is much morediverse and vibrant than UttarPradesh and Mayawati has togrow to such a national level tobe received by millions of peo-ple. So, she is free to dream butits relevance and reality are asimpractical as crying for themoon.

TK NandananChennai

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

www.dailypioneer.com

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op nionLUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

08

Nobody joined the dots

ASHOK K MEHTA

The Easter Sunday self-inflicted tragedy was in military parlance a total

command failure, which is likely to take Sri Lanka a decade back

Political parties are notevincing serious interestin taking up electoralreforms. They are happywith the status quo.

Former CEC —TS Krishnamurthy

Alia has always been myidol. When she came inwith ‘Student…' she wasraw and fresh and peoplesaw her grow.

Actor—Ananya Panday

Authorities have arrested/killedall the militants responsible forthe deadly Easter blasts butthe country still faces thethreat of IS terror attacks.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister —Ranil Wickremesinghe

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

Political discourse has reached a new low

India has seen many erudite orators as PrimeMinisters before. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was anorator par excellence and was a standout statesman,

too. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the first ever Prime Ministerof a far-right party, used to mesmerise the masses withhis poetic oratory. His words always had an impec-cable decency. A stunned nation recently heardPrime Minister Modi describe the life and death of apredecessor, who was killed in a ghastly terrorist attack,in derogatory language and with denigrating gestures.Rajiv Gandhi assumed the mantle when his mother fellto the assassin’s bullets and his politician-brother, theheir apparent, had died in a plane crash. True, theBofors gun deal had brought much infamy, but thecharges against him enthused none of the trial andappeal courts.

A saying goes: “Great minds discuss ideas; aver-age minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.”Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, “Your karma awaits

you” — with an emphasis on the Bhagavad Gita — alsoremind one of a verse from the Bible (Mathew): “But Itell you that everyone will have to give account on theday of judgement for every empty word they have spo-ken.” Be that as it may, one can only lament about thefalling standards in Indian politics this time around.

Haridasan RajanKozhikode

Send your feedback to:letterstopioneer@gmail.com

Silencing the doubters

People keep asking me thisquestion (on rivals dubbinghim an outsider) and I say, Iam not here to reply to whatall is being said.

BJP candidate—Sunny Deol

A common school system

THIS COUNTRY HAS NEVER FORGIVEN EGO AND

ARROGANCE. HISTORY IS WITNESS TO THIS, THE

MAHABHARATA IS WITNESS TO THIS.

—CONGRESS LEADER

PRIYANKA GANDHI

PRIYANKAJI THIS IS DEMOCRACY, NOBODY BECOMES

‘DURYODHANA' JUST BECAUSE YOU CALLED THEM

SO. WE WILL FIND OUT ON MAY 23.

—BJP CHIEF

AMIT SHAH

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Education systems across democracies promiseequality of opportunity, access and success toevery child. This raises high hopes and kin-

dles bundles of aspirations, particularly among theweaker sections of society, who have waited for gen-erations for better and dignified human existence.Towards this, to begin with, the first requirementis to create a Common School System (CSS). Itmeans no child can be denied admission by anyschool in the neighbourhood, irrespective ofhis/her social or economic background. The nextstep is to ensure individual attention to every child,ascertain his/her interests and ensure that his/hercreativity and curiosity are not hindered. In sim-ple terms, it requires an inviting learning environ-ment, competent, committed and performingteachers, and a right teacher-taught ratio.

India’s public education system could not pre-vent the decline of credibility and acceptability of‘sarkari schools’ as the essential spirit of CSS wasjust ignored. Prominently included in the NationalPolicy on Education (NPE) 1968, CSS did find aplace in the subsequent policies of 1986 and 1992,but the system continuously drifted away from hon-estly implementing it. Post-independence, the expe-rience in Indian educational initiatives and expan-sion has clearly established that the elite-dominat-ed system of governance — even in the presenceof political masters — invariably succeeds in pre-serving their interests. This unstated endeavour andattitude resulted in severe decline of public-fund-ed schools, unprecedented mushrooming of pri-vate schools and rise in demand for “good quali-ty schools”, which became synonymous withhigh-fee charging schools. Government schools arenow patronised only by those, who have no otheralternative. This either because of their meagre eco-nomic resources or non-availability of a privateschool nearby. A feeble attempt was made with theenactment of the Right to Education Act, 2009, toreserve 25 per cent seats in initial classes for chil-dren of weaker sections. But a majority of schoolsfound “strategies” to hoodwink it. After the firstbatch of children admitted under this category in2010 completed Class VIII, schools asked them topay regular school fees or get lost. Such an obvi-ous concern was ignored by our policy-makers. Thepsychological and emotional damage inflicted onthe learner and his family would be anything butdevastating in such cases. This clearly indicates thecallous attitude and also prevalent ignorancewithin the education system on finer and subtleaspects of learning. Is it not amazing, if not ago-nising, that children of most functionaries respon-sible for school education policies and its imple-mentation prefer to enroll in private schools only?

Around 60-65 per cent of the school-going chil-dren still study in sarkari schools, which are invari-ably deficient on infrastructure, teachers, learningmaterials and even in basic professional require-ments. Expectedly, most of the surveys and stud-ies on learning outcomes indicate not only lowlearner attainments but also consistent annualdecline. This is indeed worrisome. In spite of sucha large chunk of school-going children complet-ing their schooling under deficient conditions andsever impediments — and only a small proportionof them getting a place in higher education insti-tutions — the educated youth of India are amongthe most sought-after in the developed countries.

They are offered really challenging assignmentsand invariably come out with flying colours, bring-ing prestige and praise to the motherland. However,there is a dimmer picture within the country.Graduates of highly coveted higher education cours-es of technical and management education arefound deficient in their readiness to accept jobresponsibility in the job market and the propor-tion may indeed be alarming — up to 80. What awastage of young manpower in an era where Indiais supposed to be in the “golden period of demo-graphic dividend”, solely because of its young man-power. Around 50 per cent of India’s populationis below 25 years of age and 65 per cent below 35years. What a great chance to make India’s pres-ence felt globally through its young ones. The basicresponsibility is to offer good quality school edu-cation and ensure dynamism and comparability inhigher education. Once access and participation ineducation is ensured with basic professional andinfrastructural inputs, the issue of nurturing indi-vidual talented deserves attention. One can recallseveral Indian initiatives on this count, two of whichdeserve special mention: The introduction theScience Talent Search — NTS — scheme in the1960s and the opening of Navodaya Vidyalayas inpursuance of the 1986 Education policy. The NTSwas later transformed to include social sciences aswell and Navodaya Vidyalayas have indeed provid-ed great opportunity to the talented children fromrural India. I have personally found lasting moti-vation among NTS scholars and the alumni ofNavodaya Vidyalayas. This in itself is a greatachievement. Numbers catered to by these initia-tives need to increase and it is encouraging that thesame is under consideration by the authorities.

It will be relevant to recall a model of talent nur-turing that was being successfully implemented onlarge-scale in the erstwhile USSR. The essence ofit can still be suitably digested and gainfully utilised.A three-member delegation of the Government vis-ited several schools over there in 1982. The objec-tive was to study the school education system that

flourished under conditions vastly different fromIndia. It was particularly indicated to the delega-tion that it would be interesting to find out howthey are nurturing talent, dealing with gifted chil-dren and the issue of a common language. Thosewere the days of a bipolar world and terms like ‘Iron’curtain were in considerable usage. In every meet-ing, the hosts spoke only Russian; translations werethe only means of interacting during official meet-ings. However, during dinners and receptions, theyspoke chaste English without any hesitation.When — and it happened on several occasions —the delegation tried to understand how Russian lan-guage was being accepted in federation units thathad their own languages, the answer was short, crispand precise: Everyone learns Russian voluntarily.The discussion on language never proceededbeyond this. However, there was much more tolearn that could be examined gainfully in Indianconditions.

One morning, the schedule included visit toa music school and a physics school. The delega-tion was told that the most important task of theteachers in every school is to observe the students,find out their inclinations and interests, keep arecord and once they find consistency, encouragethe child to go ahead and see the progress. Theremay be a change of interest area, something elsemay fascinate the child and that should be permis-sible. The idea behind the approach was that USSRneeded not only scientists, engineers and tech-nocrats but also painters, poets, scholars, musicians,folklore specialists and the like. Teachers must betrusted to ascertain the right path of passage toexcellence in each individual case. Once this wasdone, the school would send a report to the region-al level; the child in all probability would be pickedup by the State and shifted to a residential school.Here, he would study all the curricula as in otherschools but there would be big plus in his area ofhis identified interest — be it music, physics, his-tory, literature or sports. These special schools werelocated after thoughtful consideration of locally

available expertise. A physics school would be locat-ed in a town that has university department,research laboratory and other establishment con-nected with research and innovations in physics andrelated area. Same would apply to other disciplines.In the music school, eminent masters were volun-tarily helping children move ahead of the regularcurricular prescriptions.

The most significant challenge before theIndian education policy-makers and imple-menters can be summarized crisply as providing“equality of opportunity of access and success andnurturing the talented”, as said by John WGardner in his book, Excellence: Can We be Equaland Excellent Too? Though Gardner wrote theselines in the context of the US around 1984, therelevance of some of his observations remains uni-versally relevant even in current times: “Diagnosisof an individual’s future capacity to performremains a hazardous undertaking. There are mys-teries in individual development that are far fromunderstanding. No stone should be left unturnedto ensure that decisions are based on a wide rangeof evidence, carefully gathered and sifted.”

For sure, in India, marks obtained in the boardexamination are certainly no guarantee of total per-sonality development and specialised talent.However, talent identification and fulsome person-ality development have to be a continuous processthat must begin from the early stages. It shouldinclude traits of personality development, valueinternalisation and character formation as an inte-gral part of the process. The topmost national pri-ority for the investment of public funds must beteacher training and school education. This willensure highest level of returns. Let the countryrealise it. Simultaneously, no let up in locating andnurturing talent is a must. In Indian psyche, com-mercialisation of education is unacceptable andmust be discouraged effectively. Education is stillthe only ray of hope for the weaker sections.

(The writer is the Indian Representative on theExecutive Board of UNESCO)

The national priority for the investment of public funds must be teacher training and schooleducation. This will ensure highest level of returns. Let the country realise this goal

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

Key to success of

small businesses

HIMA BINDU KOTA

Cash-flow management is an important elementto run a business. One must learn this skill to

improve the prospects of the firm

JS RAJPUT

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are passionate about

their products/services. However, at times, cash flow man-

agement can be quite tricky and not everyone is able to man-

age their finances properly. Lost between chasing invoices and mak-

ing payments, cash management becomes a tightrope to walk. This

article will provide a guide to cash flow management.

Don’t get slack on invoicing: This is the first step for cash inflows

to come in. Send invoices as soon as possible after providing

goods/services. Set terms to make sure that payments are not for-

gotten or lost in the process. Always follow up on sent invoices.

You can make this easy by creating set templates for email or SMS

and by following up on them. Always refer to invoice numbers and

cross-refer them with payments.

Keep a tight grip on expenses: In the early stages of a busi-

ness, it is smart to keep fixed expenses as low as possible. Expenses

are everything that maintain gross revenue from going straight into

the piggy bank. Although this is very obvious, when things get busy,

it becomes easy to lose track. So make sure to keep track of all

small expenses as they can add up quickly. A review allows one

to keep track where the money goes. Planning a year in advance

for large expenses such as rent, payrolls, taxes, interest, materials

for goods and products, debts, utilities and other operating expens-

es can help reduce the financial burden. They will also aid in ensur-

ing that the cash flow stays stronger even in the tightest months.

Make financial projections: Having a clear financial estimate

is important. If one does not know where he/she wants to get to,

how will one know how to get there? And more importantly, how

much one needs to spend along the way? The main business plan

can help anticipate and address possible future obstacles.

Maintain a borderline between personal and business finance:

Once done with the selection of business name and registration,

the need is to open a commercial bank account. Personal and busi-

ness bank accounts should be kept separate. Holding a borderline

between these two finances will provide a more straightforward

accounting at the end of the financial year for tax ascertainment

purposes. It will also eliminate situations of cash crunch in busi-

ness caused due to withdrawals for personal expenditure. Keeping

the business’ money separate will make gauging of profitability eas-

ier and help keep proper track of expenses.

Considering insurance: For an entrepreneur, insurance is one

of those things that one hates paying for the business. But in the

end, one may actually need it. In order to build a profitable portfo-

lio and managing small business finances, one must spend some

time researching about what’s right for the business and person-

al needs as well.

Set up a retirement account: As a small business owner in

the competitive business world, one is probably used to taking up

a lot of responsibility such as drawing up a detailed business plan

to creating a budget for the success of the company. So, it should

come as no surprise that funding for retirement, too, shall fall on

the shoulders.

Invest in technology: The next thing to manage small busi-

ness finance is to invest in technology and understand all terms

related to the business. Sometimes, it is better to use online soft-

ware to keep records for finances and accounts and establish an

online presence in order to attract more customers.

Keep track on money movements: No matter how small the

company is, one is required to have outlined payment terms con-

cisely and efficiently to manage small business finances. Even though

this is challenging in today’s business world, one needs to take into

account both the financial and legal side of monetary transactions

and trace all movements of the capital regularly.

Negotiate with vendors before confirming a contract: It is

better to negotiate with the vendors before signing a contract and

indulge in a good bargain. Successful negotiators know before they

begin negotiating what they want to achieve during the negotiation.

Examine purchase terms like late payment penalties and grace peri-

ods for negotiating for a great deal. Sometimes being given an extra

30 days to pay can save more than a five per cent discount.

Design an emergency fund: Once one understands the impor-

tance of negotiating the prices from vendors in order to manage

small business finances, the next thing that needs to be done is to

design an emergency fund for the success of the business entity.

Companies don’t give consistent sales month on month.

While running a start-up can be exciting, it can also create chal-

lenges, especially when it comes to managing finances. So, if one

is facing the same issues of how to manage the finances and wants

to stand outside the crowd, one must keep the above tips in mind

and give one’s venture a bright future.

(The writer is Assistant Professor, Amity University)

Perhaps the ElectionCommission of India (EC) hasnever ever been under such

scrutiny as it is today. The polarisedcampaign during the ongoingGeneral Elections has put the spot-light firmly on the referee — the EC.As an impartial watchdog, it is theresponsibility of the electoral body toprovide for a level-playing filed to allpolitical parties. The perception thatthe EC has not been addressingOpposition complaints, in this caseagainst the ruling party, has beendoing the rounds.

An exasperated Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi called the pollpanel “completely biased” against theOpposition last week. He said that

when it comes to the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, the com-mission toes the straight line andwhen it comes to the Opposition, itbecomes biased. During a mediainteraction, Rahul Gandhi eventhreatened EC officials with “consequences” in the future forbeing biased.

But Rahul Gandhi is not the onlyleader who has grouse against the EC.There are other Opposition leaderslike Andhra Pradesh Chief MinisterN Chandrababu Naidu, West BengalChief Minister Mamata Banerjee,Samajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremoMayawati, Aam Aadmi Party chiefArvind Kejriwal and many otherleaders in the Opposition, who havecomplained against the EC’s biastowards the leaders of the rulingparty. The BJP, too, has been lodgingcomplaints against other parties tothe EC.

Recently, in an unprecedentedmanner, a group of 66 formerbureaucrats wrote to President RamNath Kovind, expressing concern

over what they called the question-able functioning of the Commission,requesting him to intervene to ensurefree and fair polls. The leadersincluded former National SecurityAdvisor Shivshankar Menon, super-cop Julio Ribeiro and former LtGovernor Najeeb Jung.

Why is the EC facing suchcharges? Is the Commission so help-less that the Chief ElectionCommissioner recently pleaded help-lessness in the Supreme Court,lamenting that he lacked the powersto crack the whip? The court not onlyblasted the Commission but alsoreminded it that it had adequateauthority to enforce the Model Codeof Conduct under Article 324 of theConstitution.

Even its decision to ban UnionMinister Maneka Gandhi, Mayawati,Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and Samajwadi Partyleader Azam Khan from campaignfor specific hours for violating ModelCode of Conduct came only after theSupreme Court’s nudging.

Alas, even after the apex courtpulling it up, the EC has maintained

silence on the complaints launchedby parties against alleged hatespeeches, which have piled up all themore. The Congress claims that it hasgiven more than 37 representations— ten against the Prime Minister —to the EC on violations of ModelCode of Conduct but theCommission did not act. It wasonly after Congress MP SushmitaDev approached the apex court,which directed the Commission todispose of all complaints registeredby the party immediately, that the ECgave a clean chit to the Prime min-ister in six cases last week.

Interestingly, Ashok Lavasa, oneof the Commissioners, dissented onthe decision. The Congress has notgiven up and has gone to the topcourt on the orders once again,alleging that the EC has been partialto the ruling party.

Many political parties have raiseddoubts about the functioning of theElectronic Voting Machines, too.The petition filed by 21 Oppositionparties in the Supreme Court, forcounting of at least 25 per cent EVMpaper trail machines — instead of

only five — in every Assembly seg-ment has been rejected by the topcourt. On the other hand, the ECmaintains that the EVMs are fool-proof and cannot be manipulated.

The EC has not always been sotimid. In 1989, the then ChiefElection Commissioner RVS PeriSastri had introduced wide-rangingelectoral reforms, including reducingthe voting age to 18 from 21. He alsostood his ground on his principles,which prompted the then PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi to make amulti-member panel to clip thepowers of the Chief ElectionCommissioner (CEC).

Similarly, in the early 1990s,former CEC TN Seshan had intro-duced a number of reforms, includ-ing the issuance of voter IDs. Hedeployed the security forces to keepa check on booth capturing and voterintimidation. He earned the nick-name of “Al-Seshan” and punishedthose who flouted the Model Codeand even recommended the sackingtwo Ministers to the then PrimeMinister Narasimha Rao for violat-ing the code. There have been other

successful CECs like Sukumar Senand SY Quraishi.

The question, however is: Has theEC played an impartial role in the cur-rent Lok Sabha polls? The Oppositionhas complained that the electoral bodyis not ensuring the rules of the gamein order to ensure parity. For instance,eyebrows were raised when it sus-pended an IAS officer for checking thechopper of the Prime Minister in thecourse of his duty.

Also, income tax raids were beingconducted only on Opposition lead-ers. It is nobody’s case that whateverthe Opposition wants, the EC mustcomply, but it should appear to havedone justice. There is still time to senda signal that the EC is impartial andit must earn the trust of theOpposition. The EC’s performancehas not always been uniform but it isa huge exercise to hold the electionspeacefully and in a free and fair man-ner. No doubt poll reforms arerequired and the EC should be givenmore teeth but within the constraints,the body can certainly perform.

(The writer is a senior political com-mentator and syndicated columnist)

Scrub allegations and come cleanThe Election Commission has been at the receiving end of scathing attacks from the Opposition for being

unjust in its decisions. The panel must quell all doubts over its ethics and uphold its reputation

KALYANI SHANKAR

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

www.dailypioneer.com

F O R E I G N E Y E

Unfortunately for China,

Iran and the international

community, we are dealing

with a childish yob in the

White House, but one in

charge of a superpower, not

a train set in the nursery.

The only possible approach,

at least in the short term, is

to attempt to deal with him,

and to accommodate at

least some of America’s

more reasonable wishes.

(The Independenteditorial)

DONALD TRUMPREQUIRES ANADULT RESPONSE

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019 avenues 10

QUOTE OF THE DAY

It is as impossible to withhold

education from the receptive

mind as it is impossible to force

it upon the unreasoning

— Agnes Repplierg

Healthcare sector is one of thelargest sectors when it comesto terms and job opportunities.

If you are wishing to reach heights,then this is the perfect sector to work.The industry deals with various ser-vices like hospitals, diagnostics, med-ical tourism, and medical equipment.In recent years, the healthcare sectoris showing an exponential growth butthere is a scope of development whichis yet to be achieved.

The aspirants should know howbig and diverse this field would be bythe end of 2020. With the introduc-tion of more and more private players,this sector expected to see massivegrowth of 25 per cent in the next five-year tenure.

Most of the students often get con-fused after graduation, whether theyshould go for low salary jobs or pur-sue higher studies. To gain workexperience, a majority of the studentsopt for the job. Diagnostics is one suchpart of the sector which has brilliantprospects in the job environment anda better career option for the future.Apart from the attractive remunera-tion, this sector will help you toachieve your individual goals.

Healthcare deals in various seg-ments, currently, diagnostics is at aboom period. Pathology services, thetype of diagnostic services which pro-vides an option of being a teacher,diagnostician or an investigator.Pathologists in clinical laboratoriesanalyse the reports for the diagnosisand better treatment of the disease.

Another field of diagnosing a

disease is radiology. In this, diseasesare treated with the help of imagingmedical techniques. With the increasein demand for radiologists, the seg-ment ensures a better career path andexpected to grow faster than anyother. The radiology technician hasmany options like working as anultrasound technician, X-Ray techni-cian, MRI technician, CT technician,and medical professional. As thedemand of the radiologist is growing,there is an immediate requirement ofthe radiologist in hospitals, clinics, andphysician offices. The radiology sec-tor has shown a higher number of jobs

than any other sector in the nearfuture.

For those planning to start theircareers, job opportunities in radiolo-gy sector are likely to remain high, par-ticularly those who want to work ingeneral medical and surgical hospitals.Radiology technicians can also workin private offices, clinics, urgent carefacilities, and equipment sales.

Radiology is one of the heart-warming jobs of the world beingpositioned at world's 15th rank. It isconsidered as the smartest careeroption to opt for. Radiologic technol-ogy is a fascinating subject to study forthe students, in addition to certificateswill be provided to work in the stateof residence and prepares to work inthe healthcare sector.

According to the Indian brandequity foundation (IBEF), the overallhealth market is valued at $100 billionand is expected to reach 280 billion bythe end of 2020. Indian medicaltourism with a two-fold increase inhealth care will reach $10 billion ITmarket is expected by 2020. In the fieldof health care management, there is ahuge boom in generating employmentin the coming years.

In addition to the urgent need oftrained doctors and nursing staff,skillful management is required in dif-ferent areas of the field. With majorinvestments in the healthcare indus-try, the industry functioning hasbecome more professional, organisedand efficient.

As far as employment opportuni-ties are concerned, clinical manage-

ment professionals are required toinclude software and imaging equip-ment in clinics, hospitals, NGO’s, ITfirms such as Dell, Accenture, andmany others. In the case of a fresherwho has no experience in the fieldwould be hired as technicians andsooner with their performance andwork experience they will reachheights.

Lack of talent is still a drawbackfor the industry. The healthcare indus-try is growing at a fast pace, althoughthe talent is still lagging behind. Witha focus on quality, to sustain today'stalent for long-term, there is scope formany young minds. Being able toopen a young industry in the market,the learning curve will definitely be fastand the future experts can be preparedwith the passage of time. The indus-try is trying to find individuals who areeager to learn. This will create an effectby providing promising opportunitiesto move forward in a healthier world.With the advancement in science andtechnology, the use of medical appli-cations is increasing and IT sector. Inthe last decade or so the role of tech-nicians has been changed. Most of themodern hospitals and healthcare ven-tures require experienced techniciansand radio-interventions equipped withmulti-disciplinary skills.

Healthcare industry requires askilled staff for research and profes-sionals involved in the most importantcustomer-focused roles. India has thepotential to attract healthcare indus-try with skilled force.

The writer is CEO and Founder, 3hcare.in

NATA result declaredPNS n NEW DELHI

The Council of Architecture isconducting National Aptitude

Test in Architecture (NATA) foradmission to first year of five-yearBArch degree course. The test isconducted online twice a year.The first test was held on April 14,2019 and second test will beconducted on July 7, 2019.

The first test was conductedon Sunday, April 14, 2019, at 191centres all over India and one cen-tre in Dubai. 35748 candidateshave applied for the first test and32856 candidates have appearedfor the test.

The council is pleased toannounce the results of the firsttest of NATA 2019 examination.Out of 32856 candidates 27232candidates have passed in theexamination. The candidates maydownload their core cards fromNATA 2019 website www.nata.in.

In case any student(s) couldnot appear in the first test orcould not do well due to any rea-son, he/she may apply for the sec-ond test scheduled to be held onJuly 7, 2019. Last date for regis-tration for the second test is June12, 2019. For further detailsplease visit the websitewww.nata.in.

PUBLIC HEALTH

The IIHMR University,Jaipur is inviting appli-cations for Master of

Public Health Programme(MPH).

This programme is focusedon public health capacity build-ing in India and surroundinglow-and-middle-income coun-tries, cultivate students’ andhealthcare professionals’ publichealth management skills, sothat they will be prepared toenhance the effectiveness andefficiency of public health pro-grams and services.

The programme will beable to prepare professionals forchallenging careers in the pub-lic health in the public and pri-vate sectors, nongovernmentalorganisations (NGOs), andother national and multina-tional organisations.

Duration: Two yearsHow to apply: Log on to

www.mph.iihmr.edu.in.Last date to apply: May 15,

2019.

BEAUTY PROGRAMMEBeauness Beauty Academy

invites applications for a 360-degree smart salon groomingcourse named Boot camp tobeauty. This intense beautycourse will include all technicaland grooming session that willtrain the students in every aspectof salon management.

The main objective of theBoot camp to beauty course istoprovide extensive knowledge-base of salon management andhelp the freshers as well as pro-fessional candidates in deliverya 100 per cent satisfactory ser-vice to the end client.

Duration: One and a half totwo months

Eligibility: Both freshersand professionals can apply.

BTECH PROGRAMMEThe Manav Rachna

International Institute ofResearch and Studies invitesdapplications to admission to itsB.Tech — Electrical & ElectronicEngineering programme.

Duration: Four yearsEligibility: Pass in Class XII

with at least 50 per centmarks inaggregate in five subjects and eli-gibility shall be determined on

t h ebasis of percentage of aggregatemarks in: English, Physics,Mathematics; one subject out ofChemistry, Computer Science,Biology or Biotechnology; onesubject with the highest scoreout of the remaining subjects.

How to apply: Log on towww.manavrachna.edu.in.

PG DIPLOMA COURSEThe Entrepreneurship

Development Institute of India(EDII) invites applications forthe admission to its PostGraduate Diploma inManagement — BusinessEntrepreneurship (PGDM-BE)programme.

Duration: Two yearsEligibility: Graduates with

50 per cent marksHow to apply: Log on to

https://www.ediindia.org/acad-emics/application-form.php anddownload the application form.

Last date to apply: May 15,2019.

BA DESIGNThe JK Lakshmipat

University invites applicationsfor admissions to its Bachelorsof Design programme with spe-cialisations in product design,interaction design and inter-disciplinary design.

In addition to core andspecialisation courses, studentswill get to choose from a vari-ety of electives.

Duration: Four yearsEligibility: Minimum 50

per cent aggregate marks (45per cent for SC/ST candidates),with minimum 50 per centmarks from a recognised cen-tral/state Board/universityexamination in India or in anyforeign country recognised asequivalent to Class XII by theAssociation of IndianUniversities (AIU).

How to apply: Log on tohttps://www.jklu.edu.in/.

India, world’s third-largesteconomy in terms of pur-

chasing power parity is wit-nessing a huge scarcity oftravel professionals due to abig gap between the demandfor qualified personnel andsupply of qualified personnelto cater to the needs of theever-growing tours and trav-el industry.

The industry is registeringan annual growth rate of 7 to9 per cent, and according tothe World Travel and TourismCouncil (WTTC), India ismore likely to contribute `8,50,000 crore to the world’sGDP by 2020 through traveland tourism. The sector is notonly doing well in India, butits global performance is even,more better. In the year 2017,the worldwide industry turnedout to be 10.4 per cent of glob-al GDP with 313 millionemployees, as per the report ofWTTC. These growth trendsclearly depict that tourismindustry is opening new vis-tas for job seekers, equippedwith professional degrees. nCareer opportunities: Inthe wake of globalisation, itappears as if people have

understood the fact that lim-ited study and knowledgegained from only a particularuniversity or institution is notgoing to take them to newerheights of success. If theyhave to make success happenand improve their employa-bility in the competitive mar-ket, they must enhancetheir knowledgeand learn newskills, tran-scending thegeographicalboundaries ifr e q u i r e d .Popularisingthe trend ofeducationaltourism, variousschools and universities inIndia have started joininghands with foreign institu-tions. On the other hand, theoutflow of Indian studentstaking courses abroad is alsoincreasing significantly. Asper the recent data, the year2018 saw 81 per cent of thestudents visiting Australia forhigher education enrolled invarious post-graduate cours-es. The reason is hands-onexperiences, cultural enrich-

ment, and attractive jobprospects that contribute tothe personal development ofan individual. The students getrelevant insights into thediverse cultures and gainmeaningful experiences fromvaried industries, eventuallyhelping them to increase thecredibility of their CVs.

Also, travel brands areturning up to tech-nology for producing

authentic and bet-ter booking

experiences. Anurgent need fordigital marketingexperts is realisedby such travelbrands who can

effectively marketthe brands online and winmore customers online. SEOexecutives, content writers,and social media managers aremassively hired to keep pacewith the growing trend of trav-el and technology. nQualifications and skillsrequired : A programme intourism management helpsgroom one’s overall personal-ity and offers adequate knowl-edge and skills to make one

competent at the workplace.Usually, courses in tourismmanagement offer students aflexible study format whereworking executives can alsoattend lectures on weekends oras per their convenience.Apart from having interactionwith the industry-experiencedfaculty, students are exposedto practical learning througheducational tours, seminarsand workshops.

The Ministry of Tourism,approved the post-gradua-tion degree in tourism whichfurther makes the candidateseligible for a suitable job in theindustry. With a Master ofTourism Administrationdegree (MTA) from IndianInstitution of Tourism andTravel or any other recognisedinstitute, candidates can applyfor the best job positions in theindustry. Also, ticketing skills,communication skills, man-agement of foreign currencies,customer service, geographyknowledge, and expertise indigital marketing directly cor-respond to well-paid jobs intravel and tourism.

The writer is Founder, Rising StarTours and Travels

Drive your wayAseminar organised was

jointly by the NationalWaterways DevelopmentTechnology and All PeopleWelfare Trust to create aware-ness about Ganga-Kanyakumari waterways pro-ject, here on May 4, 2019. DrG Viswanathan, VITChancellor said that Statescan take as much water asthey want and provide theremaining water to theirnieghbouring states by inter-linking their rivers.Everybody will accept inter-linking of rivers as it will helpall people and nobody willoppose it. “The MLAs andMPs need to accord highestpriority to interlink rivers andsave water and the newGovernment which willassume charge at the centresoon should accord highestpriority to interlink rivers inthe country so that the coun-try’s people and farmers willbenefit by this,” he said.

Water is important to allcountries, especially to India.India has about 18 per cent ofworld’s population but wehave only 4 per cent of freshwater and 2.4 per cent of landarea, so we need to preserveour water and land else wewill face issues.

Recalling his interactionas Parliamentarian with thenMinister for water resources

KL Rao during 1967, DrViswanathan said that Raofelt that even though all riversin the country could be inter-linked with Ganges, it wouldbe easy to link Godavari toCauvery and South will notface any problem for water.The project can be done at aninexpensive cost and no Statewould oppose it.

“India’s Budget is about`28 lakh crore and if we allo-cate ̀ 1 lakh crore to interlinkrivers the scheme can beimplemented in one year.The Centre has spent ̀ 5 lakhcrore for Mahatma GandhiNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme, if thecentre had spent this amount

for interlinking of rivers, a lotof farmers would benefit,” hesaid.

He said that water shouldbe stored in reservoirs, damsand water bodies when itrains, as people have beenfacing water shortage issue inthe country. “We need to usedrip irrigation for farming aswe can save about 30 to 40per cent of water and it isbeing followed in severalplaces in the world,”Viswanathan said.

Justice T Raja released abook Towards The SecondFreedom written by ProfessorA C Kamaraj and DrViswanathan received thefirst copy of the book.

‘Let’s link our rivers’

FUTURE

HEALTHY

CREATE A

With the introduction of more and more privatehospitals, the healthcare industry is opening doorsto many career opportunities. DR RUCHI GUPTAtells you how students can benefit from this

THE DEMAND FORRADIOLOGISTS IS

GROWING. THECAREER CARRIES AWORLD RANK OF 15

AND HENCE A SMARTOPTION TO PURSUE

The tourism sector is booming the world over. AMIT JAIN sharestips on how students can make a career in the field

The School of Electronics & CommunicationEngineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University

(SMVDU), Katra, organised an industrial visit to Semi-Conductor Laboratory, Chandigarh, Department ofSpace, Government of India for its MTech students tofocus on design, development, fabrication, assembly andpackaging, testing and quality assurance of CMOS andMEMS devices for satellite and other various applications.

This industrial visit was coordinated by Dr SachinKumar Gupta, faculty, SoECE and Shaivya Manhas,fac-ulty, SoEM, along with BK Bhatia, T&P officer, SMVDU.The visit started with the brief profile of SCL by SanjayBhatnagar, Engineer SF’— PPMD at Semi-ConductorLaboratory.

He presented a short video clip pertaining to major

contributions, achievements, and campus life of SCL. Later,he discussed the design process for fabrication of ICs, mixedsignal and analog ASIC design, and wide spectrum indus-try standard EDA tools.

The students were taken to various labs which includes8’’ wafer fabrication facility (clean rooms of class 1, 10, 100and 1000 with controlled environmental conditions), assem-bly and packaging (fine pitch bonding capability for padsize of 57μmx57μm and 65μm pitch, low temperatureprocess for packaging large dies, multi-chip packagingprocess for ASICs and sensor devices, MIC packaging), reli-ability & quality assurance (facility for environmental test,facility for failure analysis) and others. The industrial tourwas very informative, enriching, and imparted a great learn-ing experience to the students.

Industrial visit for students of SMVDU

Students of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University during the industrial visit toSemi-Conductor Laboratory, Chandigarh

Honours for KIITThe Kalinga Institute of Industrial

Technology (KIIT) deemed to beUniversity, Bhubaneswar, has been ranked301-350 in The 2019 Times HigherEducation (THE) Asia University Rankings.KIIT is among a handful of Indian uni-versities to enter Asia University Rankings2019 of THE. The ranking results were pub-lished on May 1.

KIIT is the only Deemed to beUniversity from Odisha to make it to thelist, which also has two Government uni-versities from the State. The universities arejudged across all their core missions-teaching, research, knowledge transferand others.

KIIT deemed to be university is theonly self-financing university from easternIndia and Odisha to enter prestigious Asiauniversity rankings. Earlier, it had achievedan impressive position in The TimesHigher Education World UniversityRankings 2019 and World UniversityImpact Rankings 2019.

According to the ranking report, KIIThas been rated high on number of FTE stu-dents (19,633); Number of students per staff(14.0); international students (2 per cent)and female-male ratio (37:63). KIIT is justtwenty-two years old as an institution forprofessional education (1997) and 15 yearsold as a University (2004). But, despitebeing a very young institution, it has got aplace in the coveted Asia UniversityRankings 2019, securing a position of 301-350.

Staff, students and well wishers of bothKIIT & KISS profoundly thanked andexpressed gratitude to Dr Achyuta Samanta,Founder of KIIT & KISS for his vision toget such prestigious rankings among toplevel Universities in the world.

The UPSC has a predefined pattern toselect the candidates for the civil serviceposts, in which candidate has to be

through with pre-exam, afterward to mainsand then interview. Prelims is qualifying innature which means that you need to scorejust more than the cut-off marks to clear it.Here we got multiple choice questions withnegative marking to avoid nonseriouscandidate and to make this cumbersomeprocess easier.

Even under the most fierce competition,the cut off marks for Paper 1 will not be sohigh and for Paper 2 you need to score just66 marks.

A lot of revision needs to be done beforethe examination because there will be the

least probability of factual

questions and more probability to havereasonable questions which require a lot ofunderstanding to differentiate from closedchoices.

Reasonable questions are crackedthrough understanding behavior which comesfrom practicing or revising the same thingagain and again.

Few important tips for last monthpreparation

Short sticky notes: Need to make a shortlist of things to remember so that it can beretained for long.

State affect practices: Practice state-affect of examination at home beforeappearing to the final day. What's your examstrategy for CSE 2019? With two hours oftwo slots to complete the test, students

should be able to chart an exam strategy thatcan help them to solve the paper withoutwasting a minute. Follow an order dependingon your strengths and weaknesses. Attemptthe paper in a way that makes you feelconfident and comfortable.

Increase your speed and accuracy:While answering the question, students needto keep a check on their accuracy levels. Forthis purpose, aspirants may attempt sampletest papers or previous year questions papersby keeping a stopwatch with you. Assess howmuch time you take for each section andimprove your speed accordingly. Make a tally

of your answers how many questions you areattempting, among them how many arecorrect, and which one you guessed (level ofguessing). Afterward, try to think about yourchoices which went wrong. Rectify thosemistakes and solve it again.

Full-length comprehensive test: Now isthe time to take the full length and mixedcomprehensive test apart for going toselective areas of polity, geography, history,etc separately.

Stay motivated and try to reinforceyourself with a positive environment andthoughts.

Stay focused on material: Trust thematerial you have got and try to read thesame material an ample number of times.During your last leg of preparations, do notstart reading new things. Ensure that you gothrough all the important points orsummaries you have made for your examrevision.

Maximise your scoring potential: By now,every aspirant would have identified theirweak and strong areas. Chalk out a strategicplan to strengthen the weak areas and reviseall the strong areas to maximize the scoringpotential.

Practice CSAT: Don't take csat too easy,scoring a qualifying total can also be difficultif you have not practiced. Do not panic if youare not able to perform as per your desires

especially on those few questions whichsounds impossible. Don't go for any advice toany particular score. Always push yourself toyour best limit.

Avoid learning a new topic: This is thetime for revision, not learning new things.This is not the right time to get engaged withnew topics and if you do so, that would resultin confusion, increase your stress levels andhave an adverse effect on your exam andpreparation. Therefore, make use of theremaining time to revise what you havelearned.

Real exam is Mains which decides yourrank, everyone is uncertain in thisexamination. So trust yourself.

The writer is Dr AR Khan, Founding Director,Khan Study Group

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019 avenues 11

M I N D I T

The Faculty ofHumanities and SocialSciences at the University ofStrathclyde, Glasgow is offer-ing Indian students theopportunity of a scholarshipaward up to £4,000 towardsthe cost of their tuition feesfor each year of the under-graduate and postgraduatePsychological Sciences andHealth courses. This is applic-able to the full-time pro-grammes beginning inSeptember 2019.

Eligibility: To be eligible,applicants must: Be a residentin India. Be available to com-mence their academic studiesby the start of the academicyear in September 2019. Beapplying for a full-timeundergraduate or postgradu-ate programme.

For further enquiries:hass-pg-enquiries@strath.ac.uk

Application deadline:August30, 2019

The University ofWarwick is offering up tofive School of Life Sciences(SLS) ExcellenceScholarships for Home, EU,and international students.Financial aid positions will beawarded as a 50% reductionof course fees.

Eligibility: Before apply-ing, applicants should have anoffer to study on a School ofLife Sciences full-time MSc

course startingOctober 2019.

Applicants should havean excellent academic trackrecord, typically the equiva-lent of a British first classhonours degree. The pro-gramme Review Panel willassess both academic achieve-ment and the supportingstatement when awarding.

For conditional offerholders, Awards will also beconditional on achieving anylanguage requirements andthe awardee’s final predictedgrade.

The studentships are forself-funded students only.Students with other partialfunding may be considered.Recipients should inform DrCharlotte Moonan(Charlotte.Moonan@war-wick.ac.uk) if they are inreceipt of another scholarshipor are later awarded otherfunding.

SLS Excellence financialaid positions will be awardedacross all Life Sciences full-time MSc Programmes tomaximise nationality andgender diversity. Scholarshiprecipients will be asked tocarry out some ambassadorialduties for the School

English LanguageRequirements: Applicantsfrom outside the home coun-try will often need to meetspecific English languagerequirements in order to beable to study there.

How to apply: The modeof application is online.

Application deadline:May 30, 2019.

We have all heard the adgage— prevention is betterthan cure. Public health

deals with prevention and controlof diseases. It involves research-ing and educating people how toprevent or manage health issues.People interested in Science andwant to serve the society, a careerin public health is the way for-ward. The field of public health isvaried and has many academicdisciplines ranging from pureresearch to direct public educa-tion. To work in public health sec-tor a master's in Public Health isappropriate. One can also exploredegree programmes in healthcareadministration or communityhealth. A few more colleges tostudy are:nEmergency Management andResearch Institute,Secunderabad. Course: AdvancedPGD in Emergency Caren Indian Institutes of PublicHealth, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad.Course: Associate Fellow inIndustrial HealthnSRM Institute of Science andTechnology: School of PublicHealth, Kancheepuram. Course:Associate Fellow in IndustrialHealthnMedvarsity Online Limited,Hyderabad. Course: Diploma in

FamilyMedicare

STUDY CENTRES BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (SALES) ATRENTROOMI Location: Delhi, Jaipur, BengaluruStipend: `3,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/511111Application deadline: May 17, 2019

CONTENT WRITING (FASHION) AT BALAJIENTERPRISES Location: Delhi, BangaloreStipend: `8,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/511112Application deadline: May 16,2019

PRODUCT MARKETING ATPIXORU Location: Delhi, Hyderabad,Mumbai, BengaluruStipend: `10,000-`15,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/511113Application deadline: May 14, 2019

RETAIL SALES AT HAMLEYS Location: Delhi, Gurugram, Pune,Mumbai, Chandigarh, BengaluruStipend; `5,000-`10,000 /MonthLink: internshala.com/i/511114Application deadline: May 14, 2019

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (SALES) AT WALDAT Location: Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, BengaluruStipend: `5,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/511115Application deadline: May 15, 2019

HR AT QUESS CORPORATION Location: Chennai, Delhi, Pune, Mumbai,BengaluruStipend: `5,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/511116Application deadline: May 14, 2019

DIGITAL MARKETING AT NAPPINNAI Location: Work From HomeStipend: `5,000-`10,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/511117Application deadline: May 17, 2019

Submission period for GreenTalents award has started. Themotto of the 2019 competition

is — Smart Green Planet -Solutions for a Sustainable Future.

Deadline for submission: May22, 2019, 2 pm.

For more information pleaserefer to our websitewww.greentalents.de where boththe competition flyer as well as theaward trailer are accessible.

This year's special focus on thequestion of how digitalisation canpromote more sustainability in sci-ence and our societies. The mottoof the 2019 competition is — SmartGreen Planet-Solutions for aSustainable Future. Applicationsfrom all disciplines are welcomeand the research does not need tohave a direct link to digitalisation.

Honeywell announced that 17Indian students were among 292students from 41 countries toattend a once-in-a-lifetime learningexperience at the HoneywellLeadership Challenge Academy(HLCA).

This two-week long uniqueleadershipprogramme at theUS Space andRocket Center(USSRC) inHuntsville,

Alabama, encourages students topursue Science, Technology,Engineering and Math careersthrough real-world, hands-onchallenges.

Dr Deborah Barnhart, CEO andexecutive director, USSRC said:“Engaging students in science andengineering is now asfundamentally important as learningto read and write. By investing inthese young students, Honeywell ishelping to prepare them to becomethe global STEM-literate citizens.”

The IMS Law College Noida,organised a rural developmentawareness campaign, under

this campaign faculty and studentsof IMS law college aware villagersof Sultanpur about the RTI Act. Theaim of campaign was to give detailinformation about the Right toInformation Act with the villagers.

While addressing the villagers,Govind Prasad Goyal said that Rightto Information make people of thecountry aware citizens. It is apowerful weapon for commonpeople. He emphasised on the need

to educate the Public InformationOfficers so as to ensure theeffectiveness of the Act.

Deepak Singh, faculty of theinstitute said: “Under this program,the problem of villages along withthe city will be highlighted throughRTI. Proper information of RTI wasprovided by the Institute to train thepeople of the village. ”

During the programme, onlineRTI files were filed to solve theproblem of creek and dirty water inthe village.

The NTPCSchool of Business(NSB) announced thatit has achieved 100%summer placementfor its first PGDM(Energy Management)batch. Dr. Gireesh CTripathi, DeputyDirector General (NSB)and Dr SunilMaheshwari

(Professor IIM-A),Chairman ofGovernanceCommittee of NSBcongratulated thestudents.

Speaking on theoccasion, Dr Tripathisaid: “NSB iscommitted todeveloping thecapability of the

students andenhancing theirmarketability. We aredelighted with theresponse we havereceived fromrecruiters for our SIPprogram and areconfident that we willachieve 100%placement for all ourbatches in future.” T

ata Motors announced apartnership with NirmaUniversity to provide B Tech

degree to its employees working atthe Sanand Plant in Gujarat. Alignedwith the company’s strategicobjective, the programme aims atenhancing employees’ technical skillat multiple levels in the organisation,thus bridging skill gaps that prevail inthe automotive industry and creatinga future-ready organisation.

The programme will impartknowledge and skill requisite for theautomotive manufacturing industry.Employees, enrolled will undergocomprehensive training that isdesigned in two parts. The coursecomprises of 7 semesters, spreadover 3.5 years, which will culminatein a 6-month comprehensiveindustrial project.

SMART GREEN PLANET17 INDIANS CHOSEN FOR US SPACE CAMP

RURAL DEVELOPMENT AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

100% SUMMER PLACEMENT

COURSE FOR EMPLOYEES

IN BRIEF

The US has been a preferred destina-tion for education, work, business andranks high on the personal choice for

migration amongst Indian families. Thoughthere are many visa options available, theEB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program hastaken the centrestage more recently.

The regional centres (RC) are a USCISapproved private or public entity that facil-itates the process for the investor andensures that the capital invested creates jobsand promotes economic growth. The bestway to choose the right centre depends on:

Define Your Goal: The EB5 Investorsmainly focus on three goals: Will I get myGreen Card; Will my investment be safe andhow will I get my money back. Occassionalythere will be an investment that will providea safe and secure way of generating mar-ginally higher returns on that investmentalong with delivering the 3 key goals.

The outcome of all of them depends oyour choice of the regional centre and theproject they are offering. It is highly rec-ommended that an investor must carefullyevaluate the project, closely monitor the EB-5 investments and cautiously select theappropriate regional centre to minimizerisks and losses. One can browse throughthe USCIS website for designated regionalcentres.

Track Record of the Regional Centre:Before investing in a project and joininghands with a regional centre, an investormust conduct proper due diligence. Theinvestor must evaluate all aspects of the RC’shistory. Consider their pedigree, investmentphilosophy, their history of approvals, feed-back of existing clients among other keyaspects of their functioning including keydeliverables for the investor through out theprocess.

Project Due Diligence: The EB5 invest-ments could be across sectors like real estate,hospitality, education, manufacturing, etc.It is essential to know where your money willbe invested by the RC. If a project is not ableto create enough jobs or complete con-struction or remain commercially sustain-able, then one or more of your key goals(Green Card, Safety of Principal, Return ofCapital) may be at risk.

Inspecting a business’ history, under-standing it’s commercial viability, investmenttimeline and cycle, dependency on externalfunds, pedigree of the project developer,stage of construction, collaterals and guar-antees negotiated by the regional center are

some of the key aspects that should be takeninto account.

Meet the Team: Humans do businessbased on trust. When you're making a sig-nificantly large investment decision it'simportant that you build trust, faith and layout the rules of engagement with your part-ner — regional centre.

The team assisting management processof your investment plays a vital role andshould comprise of individuals who spe-cialise in employment-based and EB-5investment immigration work. They shouldbe well-versed with the rules and regulationsof both the US and your home country.

Understand the Exit Strategy: As perUSCIS data, between three-five applicationsare disapproved because of missing docu-ments, issues with the source of funds, infor-mation on the petition, improper fee pay-ments or something that has gone wrongwith the project where you’ve invested.

If USCIS rejects your application, yourmoney will be transferred from the escrowaccount back into your own, however onemust understand the terms and condition-al revolving such a return of capital. If anEB-5 application is approved, your trans-ferred funds will be invested for the devel-opment of your chosen project. However,not all Regional Centres provide a clear pathof return of the capital investment.

Ultimately, choosing the right region-al centre is a step towards the efficaciousimmigration process.

How to choose aregional centreChoosing the right regional centre is the firststep to an effective US immigration process,says ROGELIO CACERES

Rogelio CaceresCCO of LCR Capital Partners

The NEET 2019 analysis and cut-offafter the National Eligibility cumEntrance Test (NEET) concluded

on May 5, 2019. This year, the overallNEET question paper was of moderatedifficulty level. While Physics section wasmoderate, Chemistry was easy andBiology was difficult.

The overall Physics section of thepaper was of moderate difficulty level.Up to 60 per cent questions were easy,30 per cent were of medium difficultylevel and only 10 per cent questions wererelatively tough. This year 60 per cent ofquestions were based on NCERT. While70 per cent of questions were based onnumerical, 30 per cent comprised of the-oretical questions. Also, 45 per cent ofquestions were asked from Class XI syl-labus and 55 per cent questions wereasked from Class XII. As compared tolast year, this year's paper was easy andrequired less calculations. In terms ofsubject-wise distribution, approximate-ly 40 per cent questions were asked fromElectricity and Magnetism, 40 per centfrom Mechanics and the balance 20 percent from Modern Physics.

The Chemistry section of the paperwas easy. Large majority of questionswere asked from NCERT. Almost all thechapters were covered. Mostly theorybased questions were asked and only 20

per cent questions were based onnumerical. While 55 per cent of ques-tions were based on class XI syllabus, 45per cent questions were based on classXII syllabus. Around 20 per cent ques-tions were asked from OrganicChemistry. The questions were quitefundamental and basic and were basedon NCERT. From Physical Chemistry,approximately 42 per cent questionswere asked. These comprise bothnumerical and theoretical questions.The numerical questions were easy innature and involved mostly a two-stepsolution and were direct and formulaebased. It was surprising that no ques-tions were asked from Aldehydes,Ketones and Carboxylic Acid which areconsidered to be important topics. Ascompared to last year, the Chemistrysection was easy and almost all the chap-ters were touched upon.

Biology is the most important sectionof the paper as it carries maximum weigh-tage. The Zoology part of the section wasdifficult. Around 40 questions wereasked. Some of the questions were quitetricky and difficult.

Approximately 60-70 per cent ques-tions were based on NCERT. Many ques-tions were asked outside the realm ofCBSE. Some of the questions also devi-ated from the syllabus. While 60% ques-

tions were asked from class XI, 40 per centwere asked from class XII syllabus. Morequestions were from Human Physiologyand Biotechnology.

From Botany, 50 questions wereasked. Here more than 90 per cent ques-tions were based on NCERT. More ques-tions were asked from Microbes andEcology. Though questions were askeddirectly from NCERT, they were trickyand difficult. More statement basedquestions were asked. As a result, theBotany part was lengthy.

Overall the Biology section coveredalmost all the chapters. However, ascompared to last year, the Biology sectionwas difficult.

EXPECTED CUTOFFTo qualify in NEET 2019, candidates

have to score equal to or more than theprescribed minimum percentile of marksin NEET 2019. This year, we expect astudent from general category to scoreanywhere between 120-130 marks toqualify in NEET 2019. It is to be notedthat NEET 2019 qualifying cut-off isdetermined category-wise, so whenchecking cut-off, candidates should torefer the cut-off percentile in theirrespective categories only. The writer is National Academic Director (Medical)

Aakash Educational Services Limited

A NEET analysis

The medical entrance exam concluded on May 5, 2019. ANURAG TIWARI breaks downthis year’s paper and tells you that a score of 130 will be a qualifier

The overall level of the NEET examination wasbetween easy to moderate level. Most of thequestions were based on NCERT textbooks. Therewere no surprises in the exam. The pattern wassimilar to that of last years. No section wasparticularly difficult. There were almost 7-8questions directly taken from previous year’s paperand NCERT textbook. The questions were direct. Anaspirant who has studied from NCERT, will be ableto score well in the exam. The expected general cutoff for NEET qualified would vary between 125-135.But for admissions in colleges the cut off may vary510-520.

— Navin C Joshi, Academic head and VP(NEET and JEE) at Gradeup

Overall NEET 2019 was of moderate difficulty levelwith Physics being the most difficult of the threesubjects while Biology was the easiest but lengthy.The expected cut off for today's exam is 130- 140.Out of the total 45 questions in Physics, 9 weretricky, 25 of medium difficulty level and 7 were easy.In Chemistry, the questions related to chemicalreactions were tricky. Out of 45 questions inChemistry, 7 were tricky, 20 of medium difficultylevel and 18 easy. The Biology section was theeasiest but the lengthiest with 45 questions eachfrom Botany and Zoology. Out 90 questions, 35were easy, 45 of medium difficulty and 10 difficult.

— Rajshekhar Ratrey, VP, Educational Content,Toppr.com

Q U O T E U N Q U O T E

money 12LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

PTI n MUMBAI

Benchmark indices Sensexand Nifty fell for the fifthsession in a row on

Tuesday, marking their longestlosing streak in nearly threemonths, as US-China tradetiff and lukewarm corporateearnings stoked fears of uncer-tainty in markets.

Both equity gauges tradedhigher for better part of the ses-sion, only to give up gainstowards the fag-end of trade,with the BSE Sensex closing324 points lower and the NSENifty diving over 100 points.

Among other factors,depreciating rupee and weakglobal sentiment dampened themood on domestic bourses.

The Sensex was mainlydragged by Tata Motors, ICICIBank, Bharti Airtel andReliance Industries — sheddingas much as 4.60%.

The quarterly results ofICICI Bank and Bharti Airtelfailed to attract investors andboth the companies saw con-stant sell-offs during the session.

On the other hand, HUL,L&T, PowerGrid, Infosys,ONGC and Bajaj Auto endedhigher.

Indian bourses, after start-ing the session on a high, cameunder heavy selling pressure asdomestic investors’ sentimenttook a beating after IMF chiefChristine Lagarde said US-China tensions were a ‘threat’to the world economy.

Global markets have been

rattled by the concerns over thehealth of the world economyever since US President DonaldTrump on Sunday threatenedto hike tariffs on USD 200 bil-lion worth of Chinese goods.

In line with global markets,the 30-share index ended323.71 points, or 0.84%, lowerat 38,276.63. The BSE index hitan intra-day low of 38,236.18and a high of 38,835.54. Intra-day, the index swung nearly 600points.

Similarly, the NSE Niftydropped 100.35 points to set-tle below the 11,500 level at11,497.90. During the day, thebourse hit a low of 11,484.45and a high of 11,657.05.

Both Sensex and Nifty alsomarked its longest losing streaksince February 19 this year.

“Indian market has beenon a shaky ground for the pastcouple of days driven by ambi-guity associated with the US-China trade negotiations andless-than-inspiring ongoingcorporate earnings season,”said JagannadhamThunuguntla, senior vice-pres-ident and head of research(wealth), Centrum Broking.

Sectorally, BSE telecom,energy, oil and gas, bankex,metal and realty indices took abeating, ending up to 2.44%lower. In the broader market,BSE midcap and smallcapindices too ended in the red,dropping up to 0.98%.

Shares of ICICI Bank fellby nearly 4% on Tuesday afterthe company’s fourth quarter

earnings failed to impressinvestors.

Private sector lender ICICIBank on Monday posted a2.45% rise in its consolidatednet profit to ̀ 1,170 crore in thefourth quarter of 2018-19.

Bharti Airtel stock alsodeclined over 3% post theannouncement of March quar-ter results.

The company, whose prof-itability has been battered byintense price competitionposed by richest IndianMukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio,earned a net profit of `107.2crore in the January-Marchperiod as against `82.9 crore itearned in the correspondingperiod of the previous fiscal.

The Indian rupee onTuesday slipped further by 3paise to close at 69.43 againstthe US dollar amid foreignfund outflows.

In Asia, Chinese bourses,however, recovered withShanghai Composite Indexending in the green. Equities inJapan and Korea closed in thered. European stocks were alsotrading lower in early trade.

Global benchmark Brentcrude was trading 0.74% lowerat USD 70.71 per barrel.

Meanwhile, foreign insti-tutional investors (FIIs) soldequity worth `948.98 crore onMonday, while domestic insti-tutional investors (DIIs) pur-chased shares to the tune of`89.89 crore, provisional dataavailable with stock exchangesshowed.

BUSINESS CORNER

MERCK LTD RENAMED AS PROCTER &GAMBLE HEALTH LTD

New Delhi: Drug firm Merck Ltd on Tuesdaysaid it has been renamed as Procter & GambleHealth Ltd following P&G’s global acquisition ofthe consumer health business of Merck KGaA,Germany. “The company has received approvalfrom the Registrar of Companies, Mumbai,Maharashtra, for change of name from Merck Ltdto Procter & Gamble Health Ltd effective May 6,2019,” Merck said in a filing to the BSE. The com-pany is taking necessary steps to comply with theformalities and documentation, as may berequired by the stock exchanges to record the saidchange in its records, it added. Procter & GambleHealth Ltd managing director Milind Thatte said,“Our new name reflects our new identity as partof the P&G Group and signifies the comingtogether of strong consumer health capabilitiesand cultures”. Procter & Gamble Health Ltd willbe a part of P&G’s Personal Health CareInternational Business Unit led by UtaKemmerich-Keil (vice-president, Personal HealthCare International), the company said.

ESCORTS Q4 NET PROFIT UP 8%New Delhi: Engineering and farm equip-

ment maker Escorts on Tuesday said its netprofit rose 7.8% to `121.35 crore for Marchquarter 2019, aided by robust tractor sales. Thecompany had reported a net profit of `112.54crore for the same period of previous fiscal.Revenue from operations rose to `1,631.66crore for the period under review as comparedwith `1,436.10 crore in the fourth quarter of2017-18, Escorts said in a regulatory filing. Thecompany’s tractor sales for fourth quarter stoodat 25,136 units, up 6.7% from the same peri-od of 2017-18. For 2018-19, the companyreported a net profit of `484.91 crore, up 40.7%as compared with `344.72 crore in 2017-18.Revenue from operations stood at `6,196.36crore in 2018-19. It stood at `5,015.97 crore in2017-18. “Escorts is committed to providingstate of the art technology and unique engi-

neering solutions for mechanised and innov-ative agriculture solutions, well supportedinfrastructure and safe rail transport,” Escortschairman and managing director Nikhil Nandasaid. The company will continue to bring in newtechnologies with a blend of frugal engineer-ing and global technology collaborations fordomestic and global markets, enabled bystrong product mix and expanded distributionnetwork, he added. The company’s board onTuesday recommended a dividend of `2.50(25%) per share or `10 each for 2018-19. Theboard also appointed Sunil Kant Munjal as inde-pendent director for a period of five years.

JLR DRIVES IN RANGE ROVER VELAR TRIM IN INDIA

New Delhi: Jaguar Land Rover India onTuesday said it had initiated sales of locally man-ufactured Range Rover Velar in the country withprices starting from ̀ 72.47 lakh (ex-showroom).The locally manufactured model is offered in a sin-gle trim, R Dynamic-S variant, and is available withboth petrol and diesel powertrains. The cost of thetrim has come down in the range of about 15-20per cent as compared with the completely builtunits (CBU) variants of the model. The start ofVelar’s local manufacturing would enable the com-pany gain a competitive edge within the Indianluxury SUV segment, JLR India said in a statement.The Land Rover range in India includes theDiscovery Sport, Range Rover Evoque, all-newDiscovery, Range Rover Sport and Range Rover.

ROYAL ENFIELD RECALLS AROUND 7KUNITS OF BULLET, BULLET ELECTRA

New Delhi: Niche bike maker RoyalEnfield on Tuesday announced the recall ofnearly 7,000 units of its Bullet and BulletElectra models to rectify faulty brake caliperbolt. The company said it was undertaking aproactive field service action, concerningbrake caliper bolt on motorcycles of the twomodels manufactured between March 20, 2019and April 30, 2019. PTI

Hughes, Airtelto combineIndia VSAT bizPTI n NEW DELHI

Telecom operator BhartiAirtel and Hughes

Communications India Ltd(HCIL) on Tuesday announcedthey would combine theirVSAT (Very Small ApertureTerminal) satellite operations inthe country.

The HCIL is a subsidiaryof broadband satellite net-works and services providerHughes Network Systems.

Hughes will have majori-ty ownership in the combinedentity while Airtel will have asignificant shareholding,according to a statement.

The statement did notspell out the financial detailsof the transaction, which issubject to requisite approvals.

“The combined entity willbenefit from enhanced scale,improved operational effi-ciencies and wider marketreach. The combined entitywill be well positioned toleverage the demand forsecure connectivity in a rapid-ly growing digital economy,” itsaid.

The VSAT is used to pro-vide satellite based telecomand internet access to indi-viduals and enterprise users.

The HCIL is a broadband

satellite service operator inIndia, and offers a range ofbroadband networking tech-nologies, solutions, and ser-vices for businesses and gov-ernments.

“The combined entity willcontinue to serve existingHughes and Airtel customers,”the statement added.

Commenting on thedevelopment, ParthoBanerjee, president and man-aging director of HughesCommunications India Ltd,said these are exciting timesfor satellite broadband serviceproviders as Very SmallAperture Terminal becomesmainstream, driven by grow-ing demand from enterpriseand government segments.

“We are very excited aboutthe synergies that this part-nership will bring to theIndian ecosystem,” Banerjeesaid.

Ajay Chitkara, directorand CEO, Airtel Business,said the partnership wouldbring synergies to the fore-front and combine the capa-bilities of both the companies.

“Customers can look for-ward to highly secure and reli-able connectivity solutionsacross the length and breadthof India,” he said.

Sensex plunges 324 pts

Script Open High Low LTPPCJEWELLER 126.90 131.95 120.80 123.60DHFL 134.10 135.55 114.55 116.65YESBANK 168.50 169.95 163.55 164.55ICICIBANK 400.90 407.40 384.00 386.25JPASSOCIAT 5.26 5.40 5.00 5.14ZEEL 391.00 393.40 347.05 369.20RELIANCE 1391.50 1394.00 1341.30 1344.55RPOWER 6.68 6.79 6.01 6.05INFY* 720.05 727.40 719.00 723.55TATAMOTORS 201.70 202.80 189.35 190.90ITC 308.10 309.55 301.45 302.35RELCAPITAL 128.60 130.75 120.15 121.15JETAIRWAYS 130.15 132.85 121.30 127.35MARICO 354.00 367.80 351.00 359.00SPICEJET 132.90 133.65 127.50 128.25SUZLON 6.60 6.73 6.30 6.34SBIN 310.30 312.30 304.05 305.85IBULHSGFIN 684.80 691.20 672.90 678.45VEDL 167.40 170.15 162.00 163.40STRTECH 198.55 204.25 192.00 193.15CGPOWER 36.00 38.35 34.10 36.50BHARTIARTL 340.00 340.40 321.00 323.05HINDUNILVR 1680.00 1710.00 1672.45 1695.25IBREALEST 112.00 113.25 104.10 105.45RELINFRA 107.00 109.05 100.00 101.00FEDERALBNK 101.00 101.85 98.10 98.80MARUTI 6749.00 6780.15 6661.05 6698.50VIPIND 444.90 453.50 420.45 430.30STAR 459.45 492.15 454.00 488.65MANPASAND 105.90 121.25 105.90 114.10INDIACEM 104.50 108.60 102.30 102.70ASHOKLEY 88.20 88.70 85.50 85.80TCS 2155.00 2185.00 2140.10 2150.35LT 1360.00 1374.30 1350.00 1366.65BANKBARODA 117.50 117.65 112.10 112.55HDFCBANK 2363.00 2363.00 2322.05 2327.45JSWSTEEL 300.00 302.15 287.15 288.70BPCL 389.00 389.00 372.15 378.15WOCKPHARMA 419.30 420.00 396.40 400.80HDFC 1979.00 2008.90 1961.00 1965.00BRITANNIA 2710.00 2720.00 2642.00 2652.60DISHTV 35.00 35.20 30.90 31.80BOMDYEING 130.50 132.00 120.70 121.60TATASTEEL 540.00 543.95 529.30 530.65HINDPETRO 290.50 290.50 277.80 284.50BHEL 66.70 66.70 63.35 63.90BIOCON 546.30 558.95 545.55 551.40TITAN 1096.00 1104.70 1082.50 1085.85HEG 1804.00 1833.60 1740.00 1751.20PEL 2258.00 2318.00 2223.85 2272.95ESCORTS 668.35 668.35 641.85 645.00INDUSINDBK 1543.50 1543.50 1494.60 1514.95DMART 1247.15 1284.00 1233.00 1254.80HDFCLIFE 411.50 413.20 406.25 408.95PETRONET 235.00 238.70 235.00 237.95ONGC 169.80 172.30 168.70 171.45GUJGAS 160.90 166.95 157.25 161.55DLF 175.75 176.40 168.50 169.70KOTAKBANK 1413.00 1424.90 1398.25 1404.90ASIANPAINT 1431.50 1431.50 1377.15 1387.65MOTHERSUMI 133.90 135.70 131.25 131.70PNB 86.50 87.15 83.35 83.95IDFCFIRSTB 50.50 50.65 48.55 48.75TATACHEM 602.00 611.40 592.75 595.65SUNPHARMA 455.05 455.40 445.50 446.90PERSISTENT* 632.00 632.75 613.30 621.60JINDALSTEL 175.70 176.80 168.20 169.35IDEA 16.40 16.65 15.00 15.45TATAMTRDVR 96.75 97.15 90.20 91.20AXISBANK 753.50 755.35 740.50 742.55BLUESTARCO 714.00 751.85 711.95 737.35L&TFH 125.00 125.45 122.00 122.45BAJFINANCE 3055.20 3068.70 3011.55 3019.25RAIN 112.00 113.80 108.50 109.60KTKBANK 129.50 130.85 123.70 124.25INDIGO 1576.00 1584.80 1548.00 1564.00WIPRO 293.00 294.90 290.40 293.70DABUR 377.95 384.25 374.40 375.40JYOTHYLAB 177.00 179.95 168.50 169.40RAYMOND 809.00 821.50 799.40 807.65SBILIFE 660.00 664.15 655.55 658.60IBVENTURES 276.85 282.80 261.00 263.00SAIL 55.40 55.90 52.75 53.00NMDC 95.30 99.25 95.30 96.65IOC 156.60 156.60 152.25 153.50RCOM 2.04 2.05 1.96 2.05GRAPHITE 395.15 404.00 387.95 390.00FSL 50.50 51.45 49.85 50.80KAJARIACER 550.00 577.00 545.15 561.65AUROPHARMA 779.00 789.50 764.95 769.60M&M 641.60 643.15 634.50 636.00INFIBEAM 44.35 44.90 42.05 42.45SRTRANSFIN 1068.00 1073.80 1016.60 1026.00HCLTECH 1136.05 1149.00 1115.50 1126.75SPARC 169.20 169.90 160.10 163.95HINDALCO 199.00 204.20 199.00 200.50TATAPOWER 66.30 66.40 64.10 64.40BATAINDIA 1369.65 1374.05 1351.85 1354.10UJJIVAN 311.00 319.90 307.00 310.00AMBUJACEM 220.80 222.45 217.30 217.30BIRLACORPN 530.00 558.40 528.75 556.45GUJALKALI 527.25 564.00 526.85 545.25ADANIPOWER 42.80 43.50 41.20 41.45JUBLFOOD 1300.00 1320.65 1280.00 1284.15UPL 949.00 954.95 934.00 953.50GAIL 348.45 348.70 340.10 341.50JAICORPLTD 109.85 112.90 105.30 106.45HEROMOTOCO 2555.10 2565.00 2520.55 2525.00

BANDHANBNK 606.50 612.50 588.00 590.10NOCIL 134.00 134.80 129.15 131.15BANKINDIA 87.60 88.65 84.00 84.70GRUH 318.20 325.00 310.00 310.00INTELLECT 223.50 226.75 223.30 225.00HAVELLS 752.75 752.75 733.35 740.90CHENNPETRO 251.00 255.00 240.30 248.95LAKSHVILAS 80.95 83.50 77.15 78.15PHILIPCARB 152.00 152.85 144.60 145.70TATAELXSI 864.00 879.00 857.00 859.35PFC 113.00 115.00 110.35 110.70GNFC 314.00 315.45 298.60 300.50ABCAPITAL 101.50 102.55 99.00 99.65M&MFIN 399.75 399.75 382.10 384.95ACC 1626.70 1636.95 1595.50 1602.35NBCC 58.00 58.25 56.05 56.25ORIENTCEM 105.75 114.90 105.75 110.15LUPIN 875.00 875.00 840.00 855.95NATIONALUM 51.35 51.70 50.25 50.40BEL 88.60 89.35 86.25 87.20NCC 93.75 95.20 91.85 92.40INDIANB 247.00 250.00 240.65 241.70DEEPAKNI 287.55 294.20 282.30 284.70BEML 859.90 859.90 832.20 835.80TVSMOTOR 482.00 492.00 478.15 483.40DBL 472.00 484.75 472.00 479.40SUPREMEIND 1080.00 1090.15 1015.35 1016.05SYNDIBANK 36.60 37.75 35.80 36.10CANBK 265.55 268.55 255.50 257.20UNIONBANK 84.20 84.75 80.75 81.45PNBHOUSING 700.00 717.00 695.50 702.95POWERGRID 192.40 193.85 190.45 191.60DELTACORP 240.00 242.90 233.20 233.50SUVEN 262.80 263.45 249.75 256.65LICHSGFIN 485.80 485.80 470.00 473.95LTI 1700.85 1720.95 1695.00 1708.00RECLTD 142.50 142.55 139.15 139.70EQUITAS 126.30 132.50 125.90 127.90GRASIM 904.05 906.75 866.30 871.95BHARATFORG 474.50 476.00 462.50 464.80IGL 306.90 316.95 306.15 307.15GODREJPROP 807.95 814.00 771.00 776.00WESTLIFE 386.10 392.50 366.00 371.65CEATLTD 1046.25 1052.80 1028.00 1035.45RBLBANK 666.00 676.55 662.90 665.20HEXAWARE 339.00 346.20 336.65 344.95CADILAHC 308.00 310.00 297.40 299.30MUTHOOTFIN 595.95 599.20 553.85 571.00TECHM 816.00 824.00 809.70 812.00FORCEMOT 1569.95 1595.00 1550.00 1554.55GODREJCP 647.95 647.95 630.00 636.55EDELWEISS 141.05 141.50 139.20 139.70ULTRACEMCO 4518.00 4558.60 4514.55 4525.10MANAPPURAM 119.00 119.00 115.60 116.20

BAJAJCON 334.50 353.50 333.25 349.00MINDTREE 989.00 989.00 975.50 979.30IDBI 38.70 38.95 37.05 37.25BAJAJ-AUTO 3031.00 3051.25 3025.00 3035.95SIEMENS 1139.25 1142.00 1116.00 1127.00COALINDIA 250.00 255.25 248.05 249.20DCBBANK 218.40 219.60 212.50 213.80CENTURYTEX 915.50 930.00 898.90 906.20ICICIGI 1058.00 1065.00 1031.40 1045.75NTPC 135.50 136.20 133.55 133.95AUBANK 626.00 646.00 625.95 639.50EVEREADY 108.50 110.00 99.50 100.70JUSTDIAL 579.60 582.70 560.00 568.60TV18BRDCST 31.15 31.90 29.90 30.35ECLERX 1147.75 1147.80 1131.00 1138.00JISLJALEQS 51.85 52.10 50.10 50.30RAJESHEXPO 696.50 696.50 676.25 686.05MFSL 426.45 428.00 404.95 407.80ADANIPORTS 380.35 383.75 370.40 372.20IRB 121.00 121.40 116.65 118.20LTTS 1710.00 1738.30 1669.05 1669.05GESHIP 285.00 286.95 272.00 275.15OMAXE 207.75 207.75 205.40 207.00APOLLOHOSP 1194.55 1198.15 1152.95 1164.85SUNTECK 476.95 479.85 463.00 470.10COLPAL 1166.00 1174.95 1152.00 1159.00SOUTHBANK 16.10 16.25 15.40 15.50DRREDDY 2927.00 2951.40 2925.70 2942.70APOLLOTYRE 197.45 198.95 194.75 195.35ICICIPRULI 369.80 373.15 362.10 365.05RCF 56.45 57.55 55.55 55.90ITI 88.05 91.40 88.00 89.00MGL 947.00 966.00 941.70 946.80PIDILITIND 1194.40 1200.00 1172.70 1177.85EXIDEIND 216.90 216.90 211.60 212.50

SONATSOFTW 331.00 345.00 329.55 340.35IFCI 10.00 10.00 9.30 9.39GRANULES 112.35 116.95 110.50 110.90CHOLAFIN 1304.95 1330.75 1300.55 1304.90GSPL 184.50 187.00 178.30 182.90FRETAIL 406.00 417.30 399.70 410.25AVANTI 366.75 369.00 352.00 357.95ADANIGREEN 41.20 41.60 39.45 39.90APLAPOLLO 1530.00 1530.00 1476.15 1507.80JUBILANT 638.95 644.55 635.00 635.05GODREJIND 507.50 511.55 480.00 482.75JKLAKSHMI 357.00 374.60 354.50 365.00BLISSGVS 162.95 163.40 160.00 161.30GODREJAGRO 521.00 523.80 513.45 518.10KANSAINER 435.00 438.00 420.00 430.05CANFINHOME 327.65 328.20 314.55 315.00SUNTV 556.85 556.85 545.00 545.00DIVISLAB 1691.55 1705.45 1681.55 1688.85MERCK 3651.70 3727.50 3612.00 3713.40BAJAJFINSV 7685.00 7699.80 7526.05 7553.80VENKYS 2055.00 2056.00 1990.50 2009.00TATACOMM 579.00 579.00 559.00 565.20DCMSHRIRAM 466.00 474.50 464.80 466.00PVR 1798.70 1802.95 1772.45 1776.05HSCL 110.15 110.15 103.80 104.55MCX 860.00 865.00 838.70 841.45TATAGLOBAL 202.85 205.90 198.80 200.65VOLTAS 607.95 611.05 598.45 602.65RADICO 355.90 358.80 341.35 344.25DEEPAKFERT 141.15 147.00 136.10 138.00GMRINFRA 16.35 16.80 15.85 16.00GHCL 244.45 248.70 239.00 243.60HINDCOPPER 45.25 45.30 43.70 43.85SHANKARA 523.95 527.70 496.35 505.25J&KBANK 59.90 60.55 58.35 58.40NAVKARCORP 31.35 32.10 30.55 30.80ADVENZYMES 190.00 190.05 182.50 184.20BALKRISIND 871.10 880.00 853.20 854.05AJANTPHARM 1078.40 1080.00 1046.40 1053.30CASTROLIND 149.20 151.05 147.95 149.55MEGH 64.15 65.20 63.30 63.45CROMPTON 232.20 232.20 219.25 222.85HFCL 22.50 22.70 22.15 22.25IPCALAB 956.00 976.10 943.65 964.00ABFRL 209.00 210.00 204.40 207.95GLENMARK 624.00 637.00 624.00 633.85GREAVESCOT 148.50 149.10 142.70 144.90GSFC 98.00 98.65 94.00 94.35TRIDENT 67.60 67.80 66.05 66.55IBULISL 279.10 280.00 263.90 263.90INFRATEL 268.00 270.20 265.95 266.65ALBK 46.50 46.90 44.60 44.90CYIENT 567.65 571.75 563.80 568.25NAVINFLUOR 667.20 696.00 664.00 683.85HIMATSEIDE 207.00 213.70 203.00 205.05ORIENTBANK 96.10 96.50 91.75 92.10HINDZINC 273.00 274.50 267.30 269.45CIPLA 563.50 565.10 556.00 558.90OIL 182.20 183.30 180.20 180.75INOXLEISUR 308.05 310.95 296.00 299.75JINDALSAW 80.25 80.60 77.95 78.25IDFC 37.70 38.55 37.00 37.15LAURUSLABS 392.60 392.60 381.25 384.50MAHABANK 15.55 15.75 15.10 15.20ENGINERSIN 109.30 111.00 108.00 108.30GMDCLTD 74.40 74.40 73.40 73.60JKTYRE 86.15 86.65 85.00 85.55WELCORP 134.30 136.50 132.15 132.75RAMCOCEM 771.00 776.00 749.00 752.00SRF 2554.10 2570.00 2496.20 2510.40BERGEPAINT 311.45 314.35 302.65 303.55MAXINDIA 70.40 71.50 70.35 71.45INDOSTAR 385.00 387.10 375.00 377.00REDINGTON 94.40 96.45 93.20 93.35RALLIS 146.20 149.50 145.50 145.95GODFRYPHLP 1065.00 1072.40 1022.00 1027.75FCONSUMER 42.00 42.10 40.80 41.50PAGEIND 22107.55 22156.00 21791.25 21850.10INDHOTEL 152.55 152.80 150.10 150.75AMARAJABAT 644.00 650.80 641.50 643.00JSL 35.45 35.50 32.75 33.35EMAMILTD 384.00 384.00 376.00 376.30SWANENERGY 107.45 107.90 106.40 107.55CUMMINSIND 714.95 715.00 698.25 703.90OFSS 3441.20 3466.40 3385.00 3459.85KEC 297.00 297.30 293.25 294.40PRSMJOHNSN 91.95 94.75 89.50 89.60REPCOHOME 423.85 425.00 407.35 408.00IOB 14.00 14.06 13.10 13.24LEMONTREE 73.70 74.60 72.00 73.35SIS 920.10 928.65 882.05 914.00HEIDELBERG 176.25 180.60 173.35 174.35ESSELPRO 132.20 134.95 132.20 133.10TORNTPHARM 1716.50 1731.35 1694.35 1703.65PARAGMILK 241.00 241.15 236.10 236.10GRINDWELL 597.90 603.15 585.05 600.00STARCEMENT 110.05 117.60 104.00 107.55ASHOKA 118.55 122.80 117.70 118.00NIITTECH 1269.80 1269.80 1253.70 1255.20BBTC 1210.45 1220.65 1190.00 1194.50RNAM 194.90 194.90 187.35 190.95ABB 1481.30 1488.50 1465.20 1472.55NESTLEIND 10498.00 10596.75 10400.00 10446.60TORNTPOWER 253.90 256.90 252.20 256.75EICHERMOT 20380.00 20500.05 20270.70 20305.00NHPC 23.35 23.40 23.00 23.15JAMNAAUTO 53.00 53.60 52.20 52.30SANOFI 5556.00 5666.00 5501.15 5611.00VGUARD 212.80 216.35 208.00 213.35

CARBORUNIV 358.95 361.40 350.95 361.40TRENT 389.80 389.80 370.00 370.95MRF 54299.00 54299.00 52709.00 53074.95OBEROIRLTY 524.50 526.40 516.05 524.00THOMASCOOK 246.15 246.15 241.55 242.00NATCOPHARM* 530.25 539.70 527.70 539.00SREINFRA 24.40 24.50 23.40 23.65BHARATFIN 983.00 983.00 936.90 941.00CONCOR 499.00 515.85 489.20 492.45GUJFLUORO 1032.50 1035.00 987.50 1025.00ADANITRANS 214.60 220.00 206.15 210.75BAJAJELEC 560.55 564.85 552.00 556.25ISEC 220.00 225.00 216.00 219.50PIIND 1055.00 1063.35 1021.10 1036.95MPHASIS 972.95 975.30 960.55 961.10GLAXO 1283.70 1290.00 1269.90 1279.45PNCINFRA 157.00 159.60 153.00 157.20FINCABLES 417.00 417.00 408.10 408.10ATUL 3525.00 3560.00 3511.00 3530.00MINDAIND 349.25 352.50 345.50 346.00HSIL 262.00 267.95 258.65 262.80MOIL 150.80 151.70 149.40 149.65MMTC 25.50 25.70 25.10 25.40KSCL 453.00 458.20 443.55 446.85MRPL 70.15 70.60 68.25 68.65JKCEMENT 877.00 877.00 835.50 850.00TIMETECHNO 88.15 91.10 84.10 84.85SCI 33.75 33.95 33.10 33.40COFFEEDAY 260.50 260.50 251.00 252.20AARTIIND 1599.00 1609.25 1583.95 1591.05TATACOFFEE 87.00 88.45 85.15 85.55UBL 1389.80 1389.80 1371.50 1371.50BLUEDART 3107.05 3107.05 2950.10 3045.00ZENSARTECH 241.00 245.00 236.60 242.00SFL 1295.00 1317.00 1252.00 1272.50WELSPUNIND 53.10 54.55 52.65 52.85CENTURYPLY 170.35 170.35 161.00 165.00JMFINANCIL 86.00 86.60 85.15 85.25GPPL 82.00 84.50 81.50 82.00NAUKRI 1982.70 1984.00 1945.30 1953.95PRESTIGE 262.50 266.25 258.00 264.45LINDEINDIA 494.00 494.75 489.75 492.35TAKE 142.60 142.90 137.00 137.25TEJASNET 193.00 193.75 184.70 185.65AEGISLOG 194.95 202.05 193.65 193.70ASTRAL 1193.00 1218.15 1160.50 1170.80SYNGENE 609.00 612.00 595.25 606.75VBL 895.00 906.80 890.05 905.00ANDHRABANK 24.70 24.95 24.10 24.20VINATIORGA 1848.00 1865.00 1818.00 1827.00WABCOINDIA 6280.00 6280.00 6214.00 6226.00WHIRLPOOL 1375.00 1387.20 1358.25 1363.90SYMPHONY 1368.60 1398.95 1351.50 1380.00CAPPL 348.45 350.00 330.05 336.00SOBHA 484.00 484.50 470.20 474.90CENTRALBK 29.70 29.95 29.05 29.20SCHAEFFLER 5175.00 5190.00 4971.10 5145.00JSWENERGY 71.10 71.35 68.75 68.80CHAMBLFERT 158.00 159.40 148.20 148.20MAGMA 127.25 128.05 125.80 127.05ITDCEM 123.60 124.00 114.55 115.95MOTILALOFS 716.80 717.50 690.55 690.55FORTIS 136.15 136.50 134.40 135.00HUDCO 41.30 41.30 40.30 40.40KEI 398.00 399.50 393.05 393.50SHOPERSTOP 448.55 449.20 444.35 445.05TIINDIA 375.95 377.10 366.00 366.00TATAMETALI 617.00 622.95 605.10 615.65BOSCHLTD 17900.05 18027.70 17594.10 17812.50GICHSGFIN 260.00 263.50 257.00 258.00SCHNEIDER 94.25 95.40 93.20 93.50TNPL 190.00 191.50 186.00 187.35QUESS 703.00 703.00 658.20 663.00LALPATHLAB 1029.25 1029.60 1000.00 1008.00MAHINDCIE 225.90 225.90 219.50 224.45PHOENIXLTD 598.30 624.70 593.45 620.50DCAL 217.15 219.00 213.90 214.00FLFL 492.10 492.10 480.30 485.00COCHINSHIP 378.45 381.00 372.00 372.25GREENPLY 149.40 149.40 145.00 145.00SHK 150.10 154.00 146.00 146.50FDC 168.35 169.85 164.40 166.50LUXIND 1334.45 1350.00 1299.70 1305.00BDL 286.80 289.95 280.25 281.00HAL 649.00 670.00 645.05 648.35UCOBANK 18.00 18.00 17.50 17.55DHANUKA 399.90 399.90 380.15 382.50ALLCARGO 105.35 105.55 103.00 103.00PFIZER 3132.30 3149.90 3120.00 3149.90MONSANTO 2488.55 2489.15 2450.00 2465.05GICRE 241.50 241.50 238.00 239.75NILKAMAL 1275.00 1286.00 1251.40 1270.05COROMANDEL 426.70 426.70 418.60 419.45EIHOTEL 181.65 183.00 179.00 179.00PGHH 10337.00 10433.50 10250.40 10303.60JBCHEPHARM 335.00 339.95 326.00 326.75SJVN 24.15 24.25 23.85 23.95APLLTD 557.00 564.00 546.50 552.40MAHLOG 515.00 518.15 496.00 500.20JSLHISAR 84.50 85.60 82.70 82.70WABAG 274.85 278.10 272.55 276.95PTC 69.10 69.30 68.00 68.00BALMLAWRIE 169.30 170.00 167.20 168.60ASTRAZEN 2320.00 2358.00 2300.00 2300.95KALPATPOWR 470.40 472.00 459.15 464.70NH 202.95 202.95 190.50 195.40ISGEC 531.25 550.05 525.20 526.00GSKCONS 6926.00 7090.00 6926.00 7011.25FORBESCO 2262.10 2268.05 2181.00 2199.00

MINDACORP 119.45 119.75 113.70 115.00IFBIND 860.00 860.00 788.10 788.10HERITGFOOD 475.00 475.00 460.00 466.00UFLEX 223.40 225.25 220.05 220.15SHREECEM 19757.30 19950.00 19636.75 19860.05VMART 2799.00 2840.00 2650.00 2700.00ASTERDM 143.65 145.00 141.20 143.00CUB 197.00 198.00 196.15 197.50SUPPETRO 201.45 203.60 200.00 200.00DBCORP 181.70 187.25 181.70 186.95ALKEM 1703.55 1710.10 1680.00 1680.00ABBOTINDIA 7421.40 7425.80 7235.10 7265.00SUNDRMFAST 545.00 545.00 537.35 539.00SOMANYCERA 414.00 414.00 400.10 400.25IEX 159.85 160.00 155.55 155.75CORPBANK 26.45 26.65 26.10 26.10LAXMIMACH 5844.00 5844.00 5573.05 5597.30ITDC 267.00 267.00 253.25 253.60THERMAX 973.55 974.35 945.00 954.70AIAENG 1785.00 1785.00 1710.00 1715.65FINOLEXIND 458.50 469.70 456.00 469.45KRBL 319.50 322.65 315.10 315.20GET&D 241.00 246.40 241.00 241.50NLCINDIA 64.90 65.40 64.50 64.50SHILPAMED 375.45 384.95 375.45 384.95GEPIL 898.00 925.40 898.00 907.90TEAMLEASE 2951.85 2965.40 2929.90 2929.90TTKPRESTIG 8145.00 8210.85 8051.50 8051.50SUDARSCHEM 328.00 329.15 323.50 325.60NBVENTURES 97.70 98.85 96.50 96.65EIDPARRY 190.45 193.00 186.40 187.45GALAXYSURF 996.00 1005.00 990.10 990.10SHARDACROP 398.00 401.00 385.90 400.00AKZOINDIA 1684.15 1705.40 1659.15 1668.60ASAHIINDIA 234.30 234.30 230.00 230.00BASF 1316.00 1322.65 1285.00 1289.00ERIS 607.00 608.55 600.00 600.00GILLETTE 7418.45 7444.80 7385.00 7418.00UNITEDBNK 10.99 10.99 10.76 10.89CCL 256.00 258.05 255.15 257.15NETWORK18 31.95 32.50 31.70 31.853MINDIA 22569.00 23284.95 22569.00 23125.00RELAXO 884.80 884.80 871.20 878.45MAHLIFE 380.80 383.70 379.60 379.60TATAINVEST 875.00 875.00 851.30 854.00KPRMILL 586.00 604.50 586.00 600.20NIACL 180.35 180.35 175.30 178.30INOXWIND 63.10 63.25 60.35 60.50GAYAPROJ 164.35 165.10 156.65 158.00JCHAC 1805.00 1890.00 1784.05 1816.10CRISIL 1430.00 1448.15 1430.00 1436.35MAHSCOOTER 3871.85 3871.90 3771.25 3775.00ENDURANCE 1161.00 1161.00 1145.90 1145.90NESCO 497.90 497.90 491.35 492.15GDL 128.45 132.85 128.45 128.55LAOPALA 202.55 209.40 201.15 203.40ZYDUSWELL 1339.00 1339.00 1301.00 1301.00BAJAJHLDNG 3172.60 3209.95 3164.40 3209.00MHRIL 236.15 236.45 235.30 236.45TIMKEN 562.00 563.00 544.45 544.45THYROCARE 488.05 491.00 482.05 482.05SUNCLAYLTD 2720.00 2720.00 2689.20 2708.75SHRIRAMCIT 1556.40 1600.05 1526.65 1530.00KNRCON 236.45 236.50 230.50 235.50TVTODAY 296.00 296.00 288.70 289.00TVSSRICHAK 2144.95 2160.00 2100.00 2103.00CENTRUM 29.35 29.95 28.80 29.75VTL 1073.40 1111.00 1073.25 1110.95SUPRAJIT 221.00 221.00 213.40 217.20SKFINDIA 1908.45 1930.90 1907.45 1930.90HONAUT 23931.95 24040.00 23850.05 24039.00APARINDS 662.50 662.50 640.00 650.00BAYERCROP 4089.95 4120.20 4089.95 4109.00ELGIEQUIP 260.00 260.10 256.20 258.10RATNAMANI 884.00 884.30 869.00 869.00CERA 2800.00 2800.00 2753.20 2758.10KIOCL 127.65 128.10 126.30 126.65NAVNETEDUL 112.90 112.90 109.20 109.95SOLARINDS 1072.85 1076.55 1059.90 1065.00SADBHAV 236.50 237.30 235.00 235.00JAGRAN 111.20 111.20 110.05 110.25TRITURBINE 105.00 105.00 103.90 103.90CARERATING 981.25 982.00 977.30 977.55CHOLAHLDNG 510.00 516.75 505.00 505.00GULFOILLUB 830.00 830.00 826.00 826.00

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11651.50 11657.05 11484.45 11497.90 -100.35HINDUNILVR 1678.80 1710.90 1672.50 1697.50 28.60INFRATEL 266.90 270.80 265.75 268.00 3.65LT 1357.40 1374.35 1350.00 1368.50 15.80HINDALCO 199.20 204.25 199.20 201.00 2.10WIPRO 292.65 294.95 290.30 293.50 2.65INFY 720.40 727.90 718.70 724.40 6.00POWERGRID 190.50 193.80 190.50 191.95 1.50ONGC 170.40 172.50 168.60 171.50 1.35DRREDDY 2936.00 2952.00 2925.25 2942.50 21.90TITAN 1097.80 1105.00 1083.00 1090.00 7.15ULTRACEMCO 4536.10 4558.85 4515.05 4538.00 19.45UPL 950.10 955.05 934.05 953.70 3.90BAJAJ-AUTO 3026.00 3053.00 3021.30 3038.00 11.80EICHERMOT 20470.00 20579.90 20270.05 20345.00 -4.90HDFC 1974.80 2009.15 1959.20 1964.50 -0.95HEROMOTOCO 2567.90 2568.00 2521.50 2529.00 -2.30TCS 2160.05 2184.35 2138.80 2154.00 -3.85HCLTECH 1137.35 1150.00 1116.00 1133.90 -2.15IBULHSGFIN 685.00 691.80 672.05 675.00 -1.55MARUTI 6744.90 6785.25 6680.00 6693.00 -16.65AXISBANK 751.85 755.50 740.00 744.85 -2.60HDFCBANK 2351.90 2358.00 2318.00 2320.10 -8.35BAJFINANCE 3052.90 3069.80 3007.60 3023.00 -11.30BRITANNIA 2683.00 2720.50 2644.70 2655.00 -11.00M&M 641.75 642.90 634.20 635.55 -2.95COALINDIA 252.00 255.25 247.70 250.00 -1.35KOTAKBANK 1410.00 1425.00 1399.25 1402.15 -8.25INDUSINDBK 1539.80 1542.00 1495.50 1518.00 -10.25YESBANK 169.00 169.95 163.65 165.05 -1.20NTPC 135.45 136.20 133.60 133.85 -1.15TECHM 822.00 824.30 809.70 812.00 -8.15TATASTEEL 544.95 544.95 529.00 530.65 -5.30CIPLA 564.00 566.30 555.15 557.25 -6.10SBIN 310.70 313.40 303.75 305.20 -3.55SUNPHARMA 456.00 456.00 446.45 447.25 -5.90GAIL 348.00 356.95 339.65 341.40 -4.85ITC 308.25 309.50 300.85 302.45 -4.55BAJAJFINSV 7684.00 7698.75 7525.00 7553.00 -114.95ASIANPAINT 1426.80 1426.80 1376.35 1391.00 -21.80IOC 156.70 156.70 152.20 153.75 -2.95GRASIM 900.00 906.90 865.50 875.50 -21.05ADANIPORTS 381.00 383.95 370.10 370.40 -9.40VEDL 167.30 170.25 162.50 162.55 -4.20BPCL 388.45 388.45 372.10 380.00 -10.35BHARTIARTL 340.00 340.85 321.45 323.85 -9.60JSWSTEEL 301.00 302.20 287.00 287.85 -8.85RELIANCE 1394.80 1395.00 1340.20 1341.00 -43.90ICICIBANK 398.00 407.35 384.30 386.20 -15.10ZEEL 391.00 393.05 342.00 370.95 -16.80TATAMOTORS 201.70 202.85 189.35 190.00 -9.80

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27294.65 27361.55 26999.30 27020.40 -182.50MARICO 351.70 367.35 351.05 359.15 19.55PETRONET 234.60 239.00 234.55 238.00 3.40BIOCON 548.50 558.95 545.25 550.75 7.40SHREECEM 19820.00 19995.00 19555.00 19950.00 183.60OFSS 3425.00 3458.25 3415.50 3450.00 27.20UBL 1380.00 1388.00 1372.55 1382.00 7.80INDIGO 1586.95 1586.95 1547.30 1570.05 8.85DMART 1255.15 1285.00 1240.00 1255.05 5.40SBILIFE 658.00 665.25 658.00 661.75 1.75NMDC 96.40 99.15 96.30 96.65 0.20HDFCAMC 1645.00 1672.00 1635.00 1642.00 3.40PGHH 10427.95 10484.75 10280.00 10359.00 5.70ICICIGI 1060.50 1067.35 1051.30 1059.00 0.15NHPC 23.25 23.45 23.00 23.25 0.00PAGEIND 21988.80 22200.00 21701.50 21850.00 -2.25MCDOWELL-N 523.00 529.95 521.00 522.05 -0.15GODREJCP 638.00 644.10 628.70 635.80 -0.20BAJAJHLDNG 3185.20 3193.70 3168.00 3175.00 -6.00ABB 1475.00 1496.90 1465.55 1476.00 -3.05HDFCLIFE 412.00 412.80 406.05 410.00 -1.10PEL 2285.00 2319.00 2225.10 2259.50 -6.85PIDILITIND 1189.35 1199.90 1174.00 1183.95 -3.90AMBUJACEM 221.25 222.45 217.50 218.85 -0.85DIVISLAB 1670.00 1706.30 1670.00 1688.00 -6.65COLPAL 1166.00 1174.80 1152.60 1158.70 -5.65DABUR 378.55 384.35 374.45 375.00 -2.75NIACL 179.00 179.50 176.05 176.10 -1.50L&TFH 124.75 125.25 122.25 122.50 -1.15HINDZINC 273.70 274.95 267.35 269.85 -2.70GICRE 240.40 242.50 237.50 238.75 -2.40ACC 1624.15 1637.90 1590.15 1603.90 -16.50AUROPHARMA 782.70 789.65 764.45 770.70 -8.20CONCOR 496.00 500.95 488.75 490.00 -5.50HAVELLS 752.50 754.70 735.10 742.00 -9.00LUPIN 869.00 870.80 851.55 856.40 -11.05MOTHERSUMI 133.60 135.65 131.30 131.70 -1.90ICICIPRULI 368.10 373.30 363.00 363.50 -5.25SIEMENS 1142.85 1147.85 1115.15 1124.00 -18.85MRF 54000.00 54650.00 52666.30 52900.00 -917.85BOSCHLTD 18022.00 18073.90 17572.80 17700.00 -320.80BANDHANBNK 606.20 611.60 588.15 590.70 -13.10ASHOKLEY 88.70 88.80 85.60 86.10 -1.95DLF 175.70 176.20 167.40 169.75 -4.15CADILAHC 307.00 310.00 297.25 299.50 -7.95HINDPETRO 290.05 291.00 277.50 284.25 -8.00SRTRANSFIN 1065.00 1073.75 1015.35 1028.00 -30.85BANKBARODA 117.00 117.45 112.00 112.45 -3.55SAIL 55.75 55.90 52.65 53.35 -1.70BHEL 66.10 66.70 63.35 63.80 -2.10IDEA 16.40 16.60 15.50 15.65 -0.70

world 13LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

GLOBE TROTTINGPriyanka Chopra , Deepika Padukone realise

their fairytale fantasy at Met Gala 2019New York: Actors Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Deepika

Padukone took inspiration from fairytale characters for their2019 Met Gala red carpet appearance, reminding fans thata little adventure goes a long way in fashion. The two Indianactors interpreted this year’s theme for the event, “Camp:Notes on Fashion” in their own way.According to the Metexhibition, the theme is sensibility which encompasses every-thing from “decorativism” to “the trash aesthetic”. Priyanka,who first met husband Nick Jonas at the same event, seemedto have plucked a leaf out of Lewis Carroll’s fantasy classic,“Alice In Wonderland” and channelled self expressionthrough a multishaded Dior gown in grey, yellow and pinkwith Chopard danglers. Some called the look inspired byThe Mad Hatter, while others compared it with that of theRed Queen thanks to the bushy curls on which sat a longspiky silver crown. The actor completed the look with greytinted eyebrows, eyes lined with a white eyeliner, dark maroonlip and shimmering sheer stockings. Styled by Mimi Cuttler,Priyanka also gave a nod to her Indian roots by using ‘bindis’,not one but three on her face. Nick, who was also wearingDior, gave a hat-tip to his sister-in-law Sophie Turner as heturned up dressed as Peter ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish from “Gameof Thrones”. Turner’s Sansa Stark played an important rolein the death of Littlefinger (played by Aidan Gillen). “Sansa...We must protect the Vale. #metgala #littlefinger,” the “Sucker”hitmaker captioned his picture on Instagram, dressed in anall-white suit with a stole wrapped over his left hand and athin, fake moustache. He also joked about his look on Twitterin a reference to the 2010 teen comedy “Camp Rock 2: TheFinal Jam”, in which he starred with fellow Jonas Brothers- Kevin and Joe and Demi Lovato.

Lanka still faces threat of ISIS

terror attacks: Wickremesinghe

PTI n COLOMBO

Sri Lankan Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe on

Tuesday said that authoritieshave arrested or killed all themilitants responsible for thedeadly Easter blasts, butwarned that the country stillfaces the threat of ISIS terrorattacks. Speaking in Parliamentduring a debate on the currentsecurity situation in the coun-try, Wickremesinghe said allthose directly linked to theEaster Sunday attacks wereeither killed or are in cus-tody.Nine suicide bombers car-ried out a series of devastatingblasts that tore through threechurches and three luxuryhotels on the Easter Sunday.The Islamic State claimed theattacks, but the governmentblamed local Islamist extrem-ist group National ThawheedJammath (NTJ) for the bomb-ings that killed more than 250people.

Wickremesinghe saidinvestigations had revealed thebombers had direct or indirectlinks with Islamic State and theisland nation needed sophisti-cated technology to deal withthe threat posed by such terrornetworks.“The danger is notover, we are now a victim ofglobal terrorism,” he said.

He said that Sri Lankamust work with the interna-tional community to face theglobal threat from terrorism.“Some assume working withthe international communitymeans bringing down foreigntroops. That will not happen,”he said.

His comments came as SriLankan police and militarychiefs assured that the countryis now safe and can get back tonormalcy. Addressing a pressconference on Monday night,the tri-forces commanders and

the police chief said the secu-rity of the country following theApril 21 bombings has beenensured with adequate mea-sures and steps have been takento implement a special securi-ty plan. Acting InspectorGeneral of Police (IGP)Chandana Wickremaratne saidthat all those directly linked tothe attacks on three churchesand three luxury hotels havebeen arrested or were killed. Healso said that all the explosivesbelieved to be linked to localIslamist outfit NationalThowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ),blamed for the attacks, havebeen found.

“All explosives possessed bythe terrorist group has beenseized. Almost everyone iden-tified with the group have beenarrested. Two of their bombexperts have died in the clash-es. The police can happilyannounce that everyone withdirect links have been eitherarrested or killed by now,” hesaid. Wickramaratne did notsay how many people havebeen arrested over the bomb-ings, but police spokesmanRuwan Gunasekera has saidthat 73 people, including ninewomen, were arrested andbeing questioned by the CIDand the Terrorist Investigation

Department (TID).The spokesman also said

the Criminal InvestigationDepartment identified morethan Rs 140 million cash andother assets worth over Rs 7 bil-lion belonging to the NTJ.Wickramaratne, who wasnamed acting police chief lastweek after PresidentMaithripala Sirisena suspend-ed his predecessor over his fail-ure to act on intelligence warn-ings about the attacks, said thecountry can now get back tonormalcy with the lifting ofcurfews imposed after theattacks. He urged the public notto be misled by unverifiedreports.

The government reopenedschools on Monday, but atten-dance dropped to below 10 percent in many places with par-ents still fearing attacks.Wickremeratne said a jointsecurity operation with schoolsauthorities are underway. Hepointed to unverified securityfears spread through socialmedia as the cause forunfounded security concerns.Army chief Lt Gen MaheshSenanayake said the militaryhas taken steps to ensurenational security under theemergency regulations. He saidthat over the past two weeks

normalcy was returning to thecountry and the public mustnot be misled by false claims.“All security measures to ensuresafety in the country has beentaken. The security forces wereempowered by the emergencyregulations since the attacks,”Senanayake said.

The tourism industry lead-ers have urged the govern-ment to make strong mea-sures to enable the industry torevive following the EasterSunday attacks on three lead-ing hotels.The suicide bombersattacked breakfast rooms of theShangri La, The CinnamonGrand and the KingsburyHotels. The attacks in which 44foreigners including 11 Indianswere killed prompted adversetravel advisories. “At themoment most bookings arecancelled, with less than 10 percent of occupancy we are introuble,” Hoteliers Associationpresident Sanath Ukawattasaid. The government hasalready decided on a package ofconcessions to the tourismindustry which contributes 5per cent of the island’s GDP.The Tourism Authority said thetotal number of tourist arrivalsduring April was 166,975. Thisis an year on year decline of 7.5per cent as the arrivals were180,429 in April 2018.

Meanwhile, the St.Anthony’s church partiallyopened for worship Tuesday.Devotees will be able to visit theSt. Anthony’s Shrine inKotahena from 7 am to 7pm.Services will not be held atthe Shrine.

At present, the Navy iscurrently carrying out restora-tion activities at theChurch.Security measures havebeen tightened aroundChurches in order to ensure thesafety of devotees who visit theshrine.

Pompeo: China using BRI to achieveits national security objectives PTI n WASHINGTON

China is using its govern-ment power through the

Belt and Road Initiative toachieve its national securityobjective, US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo alleged Monday,asserting that the Trumpadministration is leading glob-al efforts to inform countriesabout the “predatory” Chineseeconomics.

The Trump administra-tion has been extremely criti-cal of President Xi Jinping’strillion-dollar Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) and is of theview that China’s “predatoryfinancing” is leaving smallercounties under huge debtendangering their sovereignt.

“The Chinese effort to theBelt and Road activities areabout using government powerto achieve national securityobjectives,” Pompeo toldreporters travelling with him inFinland.

Noting that the US hassaid all along that it has a hugeeconomic interest in China’ssuccess and vice versa, Pompeosaid the BRI needs to be trans-parent.

“It’s got to be on a free andopen basis. It can’t be with theidea that you’re going to loana country money and thenforeclose on that facility so thatyou can then build yourself aport or take that land and realestate. That’s not appropriate.We have discouraged that. Wehave educated other countriesaround the world on that set ofissues,” he said.

Where there are elementsof the BRI that are truly build-ing a bridge and it is a com-mercial transaction, the USwelcomes China participatingin those, he said.

“But where we see Chinabehaving in ways that are trulynot commercial but ratherdesigned to further gain themeither access entree for nation-

al security purposes, we don’tthink that’s what those coun-tries are really buying,”Pompeo said.

The BRI was launched byPresident Xi when he came topower in 2013. It aims to linkSoutheast Asia, Central Asia,the Gulf region, Africa andEurope with a network of landand sea routes

China is doling out hugesums of money for infrastruc-ture projects in countries fromAsia to Africa and Europe,enhancing its global influence.Concerns over BRI financingbecame vocal after Chinaacquired Sri Lanka’s strategicHambantota port on a 99-year lease as a debt swap in2017

Earlier addressing theopening session of the ArcticCouncil in Finland, Pompeoslammed China for its BRI,which he said, tends to eat intothe sovereignty of nations.

“China has observer statusin the Arctic Council, but thatstatus is contingent upon itsrespect for the sovereign rightsof Arctic states. The US wantsChina to meet that conditionand contribute responsibly inthe region. But China’s wordsand actions raise doubts aboutits intentions,” he said.

Citing Sri Lanka and

Malaysia, he warned Arcticnations to be aware of the realChinese intentions.

“Let’s just ask ourselves:Do we want Arctic nationsbroadly or indigenous com-munities specifically, to go theway of former government inSri Lanka or Malaysia,ensnared by debt and corrup-tion? Do we want crucialArctic infrastructure to end uplike Chinese-constructed roadsin Ethiopia, crumbling anddangerous after only a fewyears?“ he asked.

“Do we want the ArcticOcean to transform into anew South China Sea, fraughtwith militarisation and com-peting territorial claims? Dowe want the fragile Arcticenvironment exposed to thesame ecological devastationcaused by China’s fishing fleetin the seas off its coast, orunregulated industrial activityin its own country? I think theanswers are pretty clear,” thetop American diplomat said.

Noting that Beijing claimsto be a “Near-Arctic State”, hesaid yet the shortest distancebetween China and the Arcticis 900 miles.

“There are only ArcticStates and Non-Arctic States.No third category exists, andclaiming otherwise entitles

China to exactly nothing,” heasserted.

“That’s not to say Chineseinvestment is unwelcome –indeed, quite the opposite,”he said. The US and Arcticnations welcome transparentChinese investments thatreflect economic interest andnational security ambitions.Between 2012 and 2017, Chinainvested in the Arctic nearlyUSD 90 billion. It’s planningto build infrastructure fromCanada, to the NorthwestTerritories, to Siberia.

Just last month, Russiaannounced plans to connectthe Northern Sea Route withChina’s Maritime Silk Road,which would develop a newshipping channel from Asia tonorthern Europe. Meanwhile,China is already developingshipping lanes in the ArcticOcean, he added.

“This is part of a veryfamiliar pattern. Beijingattempts to develop criticalinfrastructure using Chinesemoney, Chinese companies,and Chinese workers – insome cases, to establish a per-manent Chinese security pres-ence,” Pompeo alleged.

A Pentagon report lastweek, he said, warned thatChina could use its civilianresearch presence in the Arcticto strengthen its military pres-ence, including deploymentof submarines – includingdeployment of submarines tothe region as a deterrentagainst nuclear attack.

“We need to examine theseactivities closely, and we need– and we keep the experiencewe have learned of othernations in mind.

China’s pattern of aggres-sive behavior elsewhere in the– excuse me – aggressivebehaviour elsewhere shouldinform what we do and how itmight treat the Arctic,”Pompeo said.

IMF chief: US-China tensions‘threat’ to world economyAFP n PARIS

The head of the InternationalMonetary Fund said

Tuesday that fresh trade ten-sions between the United Statesand China were the main threatto the world economy. “Clearlythe tensions between theUnited States and China are thethreat for the world economy,”Christine Lagarde told jour-nalists at a conference in Paris,adding that recent “rumoursand tweets” made an agreementbetween the countries less like-ly.

President Donald Trumpjolted global markets onMonday by threatening onTwitter that tariffs alreadyimposed on USD 200 billion inChinese exports to US wouldmore than double to 25 percent on Friday from their cur-rent level of 10 per cent. Alsospeaking at the Paris Forumevent, French EconomyMinister Bruno Le Mairewarned about the impact of atrade war between the world’stwo biggest economies.

“We are following the cur-rent negotiations very closelybetween China and the UnitedStaters and we want them to

respect the principals of trans-parency and multilateralism,”he said.

He called on the two sidesto “avoid taking decisions thatwould threaten and wouldundermine global growth inthe months ahead.” “Increasingtariffs is always a dead-end anda negative decision for thewhole world, for the UnitedStates, for China, for the euro-zone, for Europe and worldgrowth,” he said. China saidTuesday its top trade negotia-tor will visit the United States

for talks with his Americancounterparts this week.

The countries have beenlocked in talks to resolve ten-sions that have seen both ofthem impose tariffs on goodsworth USD 360 billion.Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin has described thenegotiations as 90 per centcomplete but told reportersthat in recent days the talkswent “substantially backward”,which he blamed on Chinareneging on previous commit-ments.

Despite threats, Chinese official to visit US for trade talksPTI n BEIJING

China on Tuesday said its toptrade negotiator will take

part in talks in Washington thisweek, removing the uncertaintyover the fate of crucial negotia-tions on tariffs after US PresidentDonald Trump’s threat to imposestiff duties on imported Chineseproducts worth over USD 200billion. China’s Ministry ofCommerce announced here thatVice-Premier Liu He will visit theUS on May 9-10 for the 11thround of trade talks at the invi-tation of US TradeRepresentative Robert Lighthizerand Treasury Secretary StevenMnuchin.

Liu is also a member of thePolitburo of the rulingCommunist Party of ChinaCentral Committee and chief ofthe Chinese side of the China-UScomprehensive economic dia-logue.

Media reports earlier spec-ulated that China may not sendLiu for the talks that were initiallyscheduled to be held onWednesday after Trump in aseries of tweets on Sunday saidthe US has been losing USD 500billion per year on trade withChina and he will no longerallow that to happen. “The 10 percent will go up to 25 per cent on

Friday. 325 billions dollars ofadditional goods sent to us byChina remain untaxed, but willbe shortly, at a rate of 25 percent,” he said, adding the tariffspaid to the US have had littleimpact on product cost, mostlyborne by China.

Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Geng Shuang onTuesday refuted US criticism thatChina has gone back on com-mitments made in the previousrounds of talks. “Mutual respectand mutual benefit is the pre-

condition for us to reach a treaty.Raising tariffs cannot resolve anyproblem. I have to clarify thatnegotiation itself is a process ofdiscussion,” he said.

“It is natural for the two sidesto have differences. We will notsidestep contradictions but weare sincere about continuingthe consultations,” Geng said.Reacting to criticism that Chinais changing its position on thenegotiations in view of Trumps’threats to impose tariffs, he said,“we have seen that many times

before.”“China’s position is clear cut

and the US also knows that well.Hope the US will join efforts withChina to meet each other halfway on the basis of mutual trustto resolve each other’s concernsto reach a mutually beneficialtreaty,” he said. Asked whetherthis meant that China is not tak-ing Trump’s threat seriously, hesaid, “I believe you are very clearabout China’s position and theUS government also know thatvery well.”

He declined to commentwhether China would retaliate ifTrump goes ahead with histhreat to raise tariffs. “We haveso many precedents before, ourposition is very clear. I believe theUS side knows very well,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chinesemedia reacted sharply to US’threat of imposing stiff tariffs onimports of Chinese productswhich is seen as a step taken afterBeijing vetoed America’sdemand of additional conces-sions. A commentary pub-lished by the Communist Party’sofficial newspaper the People’sDaily on Tuesday warned the USto “not even think about” con-cessions.

“Things that areunfavourable to us, no matterhow you ask, we will not take any

step back. Do not even thinkabout it,” it said. On Monday, theHong Kong-based South ChinaMorning Post reported thatChinese President Xi Jinping hadvetoed a proposal to grant addi-tional concessions to US whichprompted Trump to issue thethreat.

Trump’s threat of addition-al sanctions on Chinese importsrevealed his impatience due to alack of sufficient concessionsfrom China as Xi vetoed addi-tional concessions proposed byhis negotiators, the Post quotedsources as saying.

“Xi told them (officials) ‘I’llbe responsible for all possibleconsequences,” The Post quotedsources as saying. Lu Xiang, anexpert on China-US relationsfrom the Chinese Academy ofSocial Sciences, said Trump waspursuing a strategy of puttingmaximum pressure on China.

“If China cancels the trip,Trump would blame China forthe failure of the trade negotia-tions,” he told the Post. Trumpis demanding China to reducethe USD 375 billion trade deficit.He also called for verifiablemeasures for protection of intel-lectual property rights (IPR),technology transfer and moreaccess to American goods toChinese markets.

Pokemon characters activate

specific brain region: Study

PTI n LONDON

People who spent countlesshours playing Pokemon

videogames in their childhoodhave a specific brain region thatactivate when they see images oftheir favourites characters suchas Pikachu or Charizard,Stanford scientists have found.The findings, published in thejournal Nature HumanBehaviour, help shed light ontwo related mysteries about ourvisual system.

“It’s been an open questionin the field why we have brainregions that respond to wordsand faces but not to, say, cars,”said Jesse Gomez, a graduate stu-dent at Stanford University inthe US. “It’s also been a mys-tery why they appear in the sameplace in everyone’s brain,” saidGomez.

A partial answer comesfrom recent studies in monkeysat Harvard Medical School.Researchers there found that inorder for regions dedicated to anew category of objects to devel-op in the visual cortex — thepart of the brain that processes

what we see — then exposure tothose objects must start youngwhen the brain is particularlymalleable and sensitive to visu-al experience.

While wondering ifthere was a way to test whetherthis was also true in humans,Gomez recalled his own child-hood and the countless hours hespent playing videogames, andone game in particular —Pokémon Red and Blue.

Gomez reasoned that ifearly childhood exposure is crit-ical for developing dedicatedbrain regions, then his brain —and those of other adults whoplayed Pokemon as kids —

should respond more toPokemon characters than otherkinds of stimuli.

The first Pokémon gamewas released in 1996 and playedby children as young as 5 yearsold, many of whom continuedto play later versions of the gamewell into their teens and evenearly adulthood.

Researchers recruited adultswho had played Pokemonextensively as children. Whenthe test subjects were placedinside a functional MRI scannerand shown hundreds of randomPokemon characters, their brainsresponded more to the imagescompared to a control groupwho had not played thevideogame as children. The siteof the brain activations forPokémon was also consistentacross individuals. It was locat-ed in the same anatomical struc-ture ­- a brain fold located justbehind our ears called the occip-itotemporal sulcus.

As best the researchers cantell, this region typicallyresponds to images of animals,which Pokemon charactersresemble.

AFP n LONDON

Former “Baywatch” star andnow animal rights cam-

paigner Pamela Andersonspoke emotionally after meet-ing WikiLeaks founder JulianAssange in a London prison onTuesday, warning that his lifewas in danger. “It’s been verydifficult to see Julian here andto make our way through theprison to get to him was quiteshocking,” said Anderson, whovisited Assange several timeswhen he lived as a fugitiveinside Ecuador’s embassy. “He’sa good man, he’s an incredibleperson. I love him. I can’t imag-ine what he has been goingthrough,” the US actress andformer Playboy model saidoutside Belmarsh prison, wear-ing a large cape with sloganscalling for the defence of freespeech.

“We need to save his life.That’s how serious it is,” shesaid, adding: “We just have tokeep fighting because it’s unfair.He’s sacrificed so much to bringthe truth out”. Anderson, wholives in France, starred in the hitUS series “Baywatch” and is

now a prominent animal rightsactivist. British police arrestedAssange at the embassy lastmonth after Ecuador withdrewhis asylum after seven years.Hehad sought refuge there toescape extradition to Swedenwhere he had been accused ofrape and sexual assault.

Assange is now serving outa 50-week sentence for jumpingbail and is contesting an extra-dition request from the UnitedStates where he is wanted forhacking. WikiLeaks publishedhundreds of thousands of clas-sified documents exposing USmilitary wrongdoing in theIraq war and diplomatic secretsabout scores of countries.

Pamela Anderson visitsJulian Assange in prison

Priyanka Chopra, left, and Nick Jonas attend TheMetropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institutebenefit gala celebrating the opening of the "Camp:Notes on Fashion" exhibition on Monday in New York.

A mannequin showcases a clothing by Forever 21, an American fast fashion retailerwhich is offering clearance discounts after it pulled out from China's market, at ashopping mall in Beijing, Tuesday. AP

world 14LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

‘US to propose hike in

H-1B application fee’

PTI n WASHINGTON

The US plans to hike the H-1B visa application fee to

increase funding for the expan-sion of an apprentice pro-gramme, Labour SecretaryAlexander Acosta has toldAmerican lawmakers, a movethat would impose additionalfinancial burden on Indian ITcompanies. Testifying before aCongressional committee onthe annual budget of theDepartment of Labor for thefiscal year 2020 beginningOctober 1, 2019, he said thatthe Labour Department hasalso made changes to the H-1Bapplication forms to ensuregreater transparency and bet-ter protect American workersfrom employers seeking tomisuse the programme.

Acosta, however, did notgive details of the proposedincrease in the H-1B filing feeand the categories of applicantsit would be enforced on. Butgiven past experience, theIndian IT companies, whichaccount for a large number ofH-1B applications, are likely toface the additional financialburden because of this pro-posed increase in H-1B filingfees.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows UScompanies to employ foreignworkers in speciality occupa-tions that require theoretical ortechnical expertise. The tech-nology companies depend onit to hire tens of thousands ofemployees each year fromcountries like India and China.

Arguing that foreignershurt American workers bycompeting for jobs and drivingdown wages, the Trumpadministration has tightenedthe noose around the H-1B visaprogramme. In his testimonyon May 2, Acosta said, “In FY2020, the Department’s budgetincludes USD 160 million tocontinue our expansion ofapprenticeship programmes,

along with a proposal toincrease H-1B fee revenues tofund additional apprenticeshipactivities.”

The apprentice programmetrains American youths in tech-nology related activities.Acosta told lawmakers thatlast year the Department ofLabour had launched the first-ever sector-based apprentice-ship grant funding opportuni-ty to invest USD 150 million toexpand apprenticeships inthose in-demand industry sec-tors most often filled by indi-viduals on H-1B visas, such asinformation technology, healthcare and advanced manufac-turing.

This grant funding oppor-tunity introduced an innovativeapproach: a 35 per cent private-sector match requirement. Thisbrings the total investment toUSD 202.5 million, USD 57.7million coming from the pri-vate sector, he said.

“As a result of this privatesector match requirement, edu-cators have a greater incentiveto join with industry to ensurecurricula address the needs ofour ever-changing workplace,investing in the latest tech-nologies and techniques, andproviding more in-demandopportunities for Americans,”Acosta said.

On July 18 last year, theDepartment of Labourannounced USD 150 million in

H-1B funds to support sector-based approaches to expandingapprenticeships on a nationalscale in key industry sectors.The focus is on industriesreliant on H-1B visas. It aims atexpanding apprenticeships andincrease the level of appren-ticeship activity among a rangeof new employers within theseindustries, particularly small-and medium-sized businesses.

The Seattle Times onMonday reported that last yearimmigration officials deniednearly one out of every fourrequests for new visas forskilled foreign workers.

In fiscal 2018, theDepartment of Labour con-cluded 649 non-immigrant visaprogramme cases and foundviolations in 553 of those cases.In a news story, Breitbart News,a far-right website, said thatevery year, more than 100,000foreign workers are brought tothe US on the H-1B visa andare allowed to stay for up to sixyears.

There are about 650,000H-1B visa foreign workers inthe US at any given moment, itadded.

“Let’s put our citizens firstand protect US workers andwages. Hard-working and high-ly-skilled American men andwomen share their stories aboutH-1B visa fraud and abuse,”Republican Congressman fromArizona Paul Gosar said.

Prez Trump awards highest UScivilian honour to Tiger WoodsPTI n WASHINGTON

Tiger Woods has beenbestowed America’s high-

est civi l ian honour byPresident Donald Trump anddescribed the ace golfer as a“true legend” in the history ofworld sports who staged an“amazing comeback” to winhis fifth Masters title lastmonth. The 43-year-old,who won the Masters atAugusta in April, receivedthe Presidential Medal ofFreedom at a White HouseRose Garden ceremony wherehe was given a standing ova-tion. He is only the fourthand the youngest golfer everto have received the the high-est American civilian award.

Calling Woods, “a globalsymbol of American excel-lence, devotion and drive,” thepresident said, “Tiger’s deter-mination and work ethicdrove golf to new heights ofathletic competition and pop-ularity.” Trump praisedWoods as “one of the greatestathletes in the history ofsports.” Trump said, “we werein the presence of a true leg-end” who is “also a great per-son, a great guy”. “We can’twait to see what’s next, Tiger,”said Trump, an avid golferand owner of several golfcourses around the world.Trump recalled Woods’ his-toric career from 1997 to his2019 Masters win, includinghis injuries and miraculouscomeback. When thePresident discussed the 2019Masters win, he also notedthat Woods’ run broke televi-sion records that day as well.

“Congratulations againon your amazing comebackand your amazing life and forgiving sports fans everywherea lifetime of memories,”Trump said. Woods chokedup as he thanked his mother,his two children, his girl-friend and his caddy duringthe ceremony on Monday inthe White House RoseGarden. “You’ve seen the

good and the bad, the highsand the lows, and I would notbe in this position without allof your help,” Woods said,who dominated the sport formore than a decade.

He won his first major innearly 11 years at last month’sMasters Tournament, a come-back that captivated the sport-ing world. Woods’s Mastersvictory in April was his 15thmajor championship, duringwhich he weathered a maritalinfidelity scandal that endedin divorce, a debilitating spineinjury, an addiction to pre-scription painkillers and gravedoubts about his athleticlongevity.

Trump has long been afan and recently, a businesspartner of Woods. Heannounced his decision togive the award to Woods in atweet, after Woods won theMasters tournament lastmonth, his first major titlesince the 2008 US Open, cap-ping a remarkable comebackfrom personal turmoil andphysical injuries.

Trump praised Woods’“relentless will to win, win,win”. “These qualities embodythe American spirit of push-ing boundaries and defyinglimits,” Trump said.

He also praised him as a“devoted philanthropist,” not-ing, “That’s how I first metTiger.” He added, “We areinspired by everything you’vebecome.” According to ESPN,Woods is the 33rd sports fig-ure and the fourth golfer to behonoured with thePresidential Medal ofFreedom. At the age of 43, heis by far the youngest livingsports figure to be honoured.

The other golfers wereArnold Palmer, 74, in 2004;Jack Nicklaus, 65, in 2005;and Charlie Sifford, 92, in2014. Sifford was the firstAfrican American to play onthe PGA tour.

Woods burst onto theprofessional golf scene in1996 at age 20 and has won 15Majors titles, second only toNicklaus’ 18 wins. The Medalof Freedom i America’s high-

est honour for civilian accom-plishment. President Trumanfirst established the medal tohonour extraordinary civilianaccomplishments related toWorld War II. PresidentKennedy re-established themedal by executive order in1963.Presidents can awardthe medal of freedom to anyperson, living or dead, whohas made “an especially mer-itorious contribution” to thesecurity or national interest ofthe United States, worldpeace, or to a significant pub-lic or private endeavour.

Presidents typically awardthe medal of freedom ingroups during public cere-monies. It cannot be revoked.Notable past recipientsinclude Walter Cronkite,Chuck Yeager, Colin Powell,Bill Gates, Muhammad Ali,Hank Aaron, and WarrenBuffett.In November 2018,President Trump awarded theMedal of Freedom to RogerStaubach, Miriam Adelson,Babe Ruth, and Elvis Presley,among others.

Sharif set toreturn to jailas 6-week bail expiresPTI n LAHORE

Pakistan’s ousted prime min-ister Nawaz Sharif will return

to Kot Lakhpat Jail here onTuesday following the expiry ofhis six-week bail in a corruptioncase in which he has been sen-tenced to seven years impris-onment.

The three-time former pre-mier is expected to surrenderhimself to jail authorities inevening after Iftar and willarrive at the prison in a PML(N)workers’ rally, which will be ledby his daughter Maryam Nawaz.Sharif, 69, was granted six-weekinterim bail by the top court onMarch 26 in the Al-AziziaMills corruption case to under-go medical treatment and hefiled the petition on April 27 forpermanent bail stating that hewas suffering from acute anxi-ety and depression.

The bail expired Tuesday asthe Supreme court rejected hisreview petition seeking exten-sion in the bail granted to himon medical grounds. The courtalso rejected the former pre-mier’s plea to allow him to trav-el abroad for treatment.

“Nawaz Sharif will return toKot Lakhpat Jial Lahore onTuesday in a procession of thePakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) workers. A call hasbeen given to the workers togather at the Jati Umra residenceof Sharif to march towards thejail along with him,” PML-Nspokesperson MarriyumAurangzeb told PTI on Monday.

She said the PML-N work-ers are eager to come to roadsagainst Prime Minister ImranKhan’s anti-people policies andthey are waiting a call from theleadership. Aurangzeb said thatMaryam will accompany herfather, and will be present in hiscar. The party has decided thatshe will remain with her fatheruntil he is taken into custody bythe jail authorities.

AFP n YANGONG

Two Reuters journalists whohad been jailed for their

reporting on the Rohingya cri-sis in Myanmar walked out ofprison Tuesday, freed in a pres-idential amnesty after a globalcampaign for their release. WaLone and Kyaw Soe Oo weremobbed by media as theystepped out of Yangon’s noto-rious Insein prison after theirlengthy detention.

Their December 2017arrests made them an interna-tional cause celebre and a signof Myanmar’s deterioratingpress freedoms under Nobellaureate and civilian leaderAung San Suu Kyi. Wa Lone,33, thanked people from“around the world” for advo-cating for their release andvowed he would return towork. “I can’t wait to go to mynewsroom,” he said. “I am ajournalist and I am going tocontinue.” Reuters editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said: “Weare enormously pleased thatMyanmar has released ourcourageous reporters”.

“Since their arrests 511days ago, they have becomesymbols of the importance ofpress freedom around theworld. We welcome theirreturn.” The two men wavedand smiled broadly as theywalked out of the jail.

The pair were convicted oncharges of violating the officialsecrets act and sentenced toseven years each. At the time oftheir arrest they had beenreporting on a September 2017massacre of 10 RohingyaMuslims in conflict-hitRakhine state, where the

Myanmar army forced some740,000 of the stateless minor-ity to flee over the border toBangladesh.

The case prompted an out-cry around the world andcrushed what was left of SuuKyi’s legacy as a rights defend-er. Reuters has said the twowere imprisoned in retaliationfor their expose. The armyconvicted soldiers for the mas-sacre in a rare response to alle-gations of atrocities.

While inside, the duomissed numerous family mile-stones, including the birth ofWa Lone’s daughter. But theywere also showered withnumerous awards and honoursin response to their work. Lastmonth, Wa Lone and Kyaw SoeOo won the prestigious Pulitzerprize. They were also featuredearlier on the cover of TIMEmagazine as part of its personof the year coverage featuringjournalists targeted for theirreporting. The case againstthem become a byword for thewar against press freedom andprompted an internationalcampaign that attracted thesupport of prominent rightslawyer Amal Clooney. Rightsgroups and legal experts say thecase against the reporters wasriddled with irregularities.

A whistleblowing policeofficer testified during theirtrial that his superior hadordered his team to trap thereporters in a sting — testi-mony the judge chose toignore.

Suu Kyi led her NationalLeague for Democracy party tovictory in historic 2015 polls,ending decades of military-backed rule.

‘India, Japan ‘absolutely needed’ at UNSC as permanent members’PTI n UNITED NATIONS

India and nations likeGermany, Brazil and Japan

are “absolutely needed” as per-manent members of areformed and enlarged UNSecurity Council to betterreflect contemporary realitiesand the addition of these keymembers to the UN high-table is among France’s “strate-gic” priorities, the Frenchenvoy to the UN has said.

India is at the forefront ofefforts at the UN to push forthe long-pending reform of theSecurity Council, emphasisingthat it rightly deserves a placeat the UN high table as a per-manent member. “In terms ofpolicy, France and Germany

have strong policy which is towork together to enlarge theSecurity Council and to suc-ceed in terms of the negotia-tions that should lead to theenlargement of the SecurityCouncil that we considerabsolutely needed to betterreflect the world as it is. Thereis no question about it,”France’s PermanentRepresentative to the UNFrançois Delattre told reportershere last week.

Speaking along sideGerman envoy to the UNChristoph Heusgen at the endof Germany’s Presidency of theCouncil for April, Delattreemphasised that France con-siders that “Germany, Japan,India, Brazil and a fair repre-

sentation of Africa in particu-lar are absolutely needed at thetable to get towards a fairerrepresentation of the SecurityCouncil. This is for us a mat-ter of priority.”

He underlined that Parisbelieves the enlargement of theSecurity Council with the addi-tion of a few key members is“one of our strategic priorities.”

Noting that when Franceand Germany launched theiralliance for multi-materialism,he said it signifies that the twonations strongly believe in theUN as the core of today’s glob-al governance and that theystrongly believe in “multi-lat-eralism and means that we areactively working to reformand in some respects to

refound, reinvent multi-later-alism so that it is really efficientfor the decades to come.”

India’s PermanentRepresentative to the UNAmbassador SyedAkbaruddin, speaking at theinformal meeting of thePlenary on theIntergovernmental negotia-tions on the question of equi-table representation on andincrease in the membership ofthe Security Council earlierthis year, had said that on theissue of ‘Categories ofMembership’, a total of 113Member States, out of 122who submitted their positionsin the Framework Document,support expansion in both ofthe existing categories specified

in the Charter. “In short,more than 90 per cent of thewritten submissions in thedocument are in favour ofexpansion in both categories ofmembership specified in theCharter,” he had said.

Akbaruddin had said thatwhile reform at the UN is aprocess rather than an event,“there is no process known tous here that has traversedwinding pathways in the man-ner as this process of theReform of the SecurityCouncil.”

“In terms of inertia too, ithas no peer. While the worldis not what it was when webegan the process, the objec-tions to moving forwardremain the same. While the

global challenges of the 21stcentury have multiplied, weremain divided even aboutthe process to adopt in orderto move forward,” he had said.

France has maintainedthat if the crises of recenttimes have confirmed the cen-trality of the UN, they havealso reinforced the need tomake the organisation moreeffective and more represen-tative of the current balancesin the world. “That is whyFrance pushes for the expan-sion of the Security Council bysupporting the accession to apermanent seat of Germany,Brazil, India, Japan, as well asa greater presence of Africancountries,” according to thePermanent Mission of France.

Natalie Henry-Howell, fourth from left, Thomas Howell, parents of Riley Howell, and Lauren Westmoreland, sixth from left, join with others to raise their hands to sign thewords, I love you as Riley's casket is placed in a hearse after a memorial service for Riley Howell in Lake Junaluska, N.C., Sunday. Family and hundreds of friends andneighbors are remembering Howell, a North Carolina college student credited with saving classmates' lives by rushing a gunman firing inside their lecture hall.

NORTH CAROLINA COLLEGE CAMPUS SHOOTING

Washington (PTI): The UnitedStates is planning another spacemission to the moon, VicePresident Mike Pence saidMonday asserting that the firstwoman to land on Earth’s nat-ural satellite will be anAmerican. “At President(Donald) Trump’s direction,the United States will return tothe moon within the next fiveyears, and the first womanand the next man on the moonwill be Americans,” Pence said,in his address to the Satellite2019 Conference here.

The Trump administrationis incredibly proud that beforethe year ends, we will onceagain launch American astro-nauts on American rocketsfrom American soil into thevast expanse of space, he said.

To fully unlock the mys-teries of space, PresidentDonald Trump recognises theUS has to look beyond the hallsof the government, beyondNASA, for input and guidance.“That’s why we assembled thisUsers’ Advisories Group in theNational Space Council, which,I’m proud to say has broughttogether some of the brightestminds and biggest talents in thecountry to help accelerate inno-vation across the space enter-prise,” he said.

More than 15,000 scien-tists and industry representa-tives from 105 countries,including India, are attendingthe four-day mega event begin-ning May 6 in Washington DC.

It is touted to be the largestcommercial satellite industryevent. It has featured headlinekeynote appearances fromAmazon and Blue Originfounder and CEO Jeff Bezos,SpaceX founder and CEO ElonMusk, One Web founder GregWyler, among many other.

Noting that other nationsare joining the space race,Pence said while their capabil-ities increase, the truth of thematter is that there’s no guar-antee nations around the worldshare same values, ideals, or theUS commitment to freedomand the rule of law and peace.“And that’s what makes ourleadership in space so impor-tant,” he said.

“The truth is, nationsfrom Russia and China toNorth Korea and Iran havepursued weapons to jam, blind,and disable our navigation andcommunications satellites viaelectronic attacks from theground,” Pence said.

‘First woman to land on moon will be American’

Myanmar frees twoReuters journalists

sport 15LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

AFP n MADRID

Atletico Madrid captainDiego Godin announced

on Tuesday that he will leavethe club at the end of the sea-son.

Godin has been one of thebest central defenders in theworld under Atletico coachDiego Simeone, who attendedan emotional press conferenceat the Wanda Metropolitano,along with several players andpresident Enrique Cerezo.

The 33-year-old would notconfirm his next club but indi-cated regret at not being able toagree a new contract.

"I'm nervous, even more

than for a match," said a tear-ful Godin. "These will be myfinal days at Atletico Madrid. Iwant to communicate all thelove I have for this club, thisshirt.

"I am Atletico, because thisis not a club, it's a family and away of life. It has been myhome and it's very hard to saygoodbye. I never imagined thismoment would come and I amnot prepared."

Godin has made 381appearances for Atletico andremains a key figure in theteam, but the Uruguayan hasrejected offers to extend hiscontract, which expires onJune 30.

He is unlikely to be the lasthigh-profile player to leaveAtletico this summer.

After a disappointing sea-son, Lucas Hernandezhas already agreed tojoin Bayern Munich,while uncertaintyhangs over the futuresof Filipe Luis,Juanfran, ThomasPartey, Saul Niguezand even AntoineGriezmann.

"In short, I am captain ofthe team and have been heremany years," said Godin. "Wehave not reached an agreementto continue so my time here isover. It has been the best of my

career and my life."Godin added: "I would like

to play here until I'm 40 but it'simpossible. For me the priori-

ty has always been theclub, the team, myteammates.

"But we could notreach an agreement soI have decided to leave.There's nothing more

to it than that."Since joining Atletico

from Villarreal in 2010,Godin has won La Liga, theCopa del Rey and the EuropaLeague twice. He also reachedthe Champions League final in2014 and 2016. Atletico lostboth to Real Madrid.

AFP n MANCHESTER

Manchester City managerPep Guardiola led thetributes to Vincent

Kompany after the Belgian's thun-derous strike earned a nervy 1-0win over Leicester City onMonday to move the Englishchampions to within one win ofretaining the Premier League.

City moved back onepoint clear of Liverpooldespite not being at theirfluent best as centre-backKompany unleashed a long-range shot into the top cor-ner 20 minutes from time.

Guardiola's men willbecome the first side in adecade to retain the title atBrighton on Sunday aslong as they match or bet-ter the Reds' result at home toWolves.

Kompany, who has enduredterrible luck with injuries overrecent years, was in tears as he led

a lap of honour with his childrento mark City's final home game ofthe season and may have playedfor the last time at the Etihad withhis contract expiring at the end ofthe campaign.

"There are players that help usto be where we are right now," saidGuardiola. "Vincent is one ofthem.

"When is fit he is anincredible central defender.

He is beloved, he is a leader.I'm happy for him, for theclub, for everybody."

After edging pastNewcastle 3-2 onSaturday night,Liverpool, who have notwon the league since1990, were left prayingthat former managerBrendan Rodgers could

do them a favour at the Etihad.Leicester's marked improve-

ment since Rodgers took chargein February was on show in animpressive display from the visi-

tors as City were made to sweatbut just got over the line for a vitalthree points.

And Guardiola admitted hehad urged Kompany not to shootas he lined up his first goal fromoutside the box since he wasplaying for Hamburg in 2007.

"It's not about the amount ofgoals you score it's about whenyou score them. Today it was nec-essary," said Kompany.

‘WE HAVE THE PRESSURE'"Every step in the last four

months was significant. Liverpoolkeep making the steps and nowwe have a f inal to play inBrighton, Nothing is won yet."

City have now won 13 consec-utive league games to overhaul aseven-point deficit at the top ofthe table in January and Guardiolaclaimed it is his side that have hadto play under pressure despiteLiverpool's 29-year wait to win thetitle.

"It was outstanding the way

we played in the second-half.The character, the personality,knowing how difficult it is," addedGuardiola.

"Right now Liverpool playwithout pressure. We have thepressure, we know we can lose itbecause it is in our hands."

Sergio Aguero came closest toopening the scoring before thebreak with a header that clippedthe inside of the post and waspalmed clear by KasperSchmeichel.

Yet, it was not until after thebreak that City upped the tempoto lay siege on the Leicester goal.

City thought their momenthad come when the ball fell kind-ly for Aguero inside the area, onlyfor Schmeichel to make a mirac-ulous stop.

Guardiola's men have nowscored 157 goals this season butthere will not be a more spectac-ular or unexpected one than thatwhich may deliver the title.

Kompany looked short of

options as he strode forwardbefore unleashing a rocket of ashot that arrowed into the top cor-ner.

"At the end of the season weare going to talk to him," saidGuardiola on whether Kompanywill be handed a new deal.

"He is an incredible humanbeing. He helped me a lot sinceI've been here. Always we cancount on him for his personality."

Leicester still had a hugechance to answer Liverpool'sprayers three minutes from time.

But against his former clubKelechi Iheanacho shot wide withjust Ederson to beat and a titan-ic tussle for the title remains inCity's hands heading into thefinal day.

"He should score, I've saidthat to him afterwards," saidRodgers.

"We didn't have manychances, but the one that camehe's got to score that."

AFP n WASHINGTON DC

Tiger Woods, fresh off his epiccomeback victory in the Masters,

was awarded the Presidential Medal ofFreedom by President Donald Trumpat the White House on Monday.

Presenting the golfing great withthe nation's highest honor, Trumppraised Woods' "relentless will to win,win, win."

"These qualities embody theAmerican spirit of pushing boundaries,defying limits and always striving forgreatness," the president said.

Trump congratulated Woods on"your amazing comeback and youramazing life and for giving sports fansa lifetime of memories.

"We can't wait to see what's next,Tiger," said Trump, an avid golfer andowner of several golf courses aroundthe world.

Woods, 43, choked up as hethanked his mother, his two children,his girlfriend and his caddy during theceremony in the White House RoseGarden.

"You have seen the good and thebad, the highs and the lows," saidWoods, who battled back from injuryto win the Masters last month, his first

major title since the 2008 US Open."I have tried to hang in there and

I have tried to come back and play thegreat game of golf again," Woodssaid. "I have been lucky enough to havehad the opportunity to do it again."

He said his Masters victory was"probably the highlight of what I have

accomplished so far in my life on thegolf course.

"To have had that type of experi-ence and to be able to come out on topand win," he said.

Woods' Masters was his 15thmajor title, leaving him just three shortof the record held by Nicklaus.

AFP n MADRID

Novak Djokovic needed just65 minutes to make a

winning start at the MadridOpen on Tuesday, hammeringTaylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 to reachthe third round.

The top seed and worldnumber one broke three timesas he schooled the American.

Djokovic won the Madridtitle in 2011 and 2016. He willbe chasing a fourth straightGrand Slam trophy at RolandGarros next month.

Third seed Roger Federerwas making his clay returnafter two full seasons off thesurface when he facedFrenchman Richard Gasquetlater in the second round aftera bye. Unseeded treble GrandSlam champion StanWawrinka started his Madridcampaign with a 6-2, 6-3 winover Pierre-Hugues Herbert tomove into the second round.

"It was a great first match.I've been good on the practicecourt, feeling really good, so itwas important to start welltoday," Wawrinka said.

Wawrinka will next playArgentine Guido Pella, whoput out Barcelona finalistDaniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. In the women's WTA draw,third seed and two-time cham-

pion Simona Halep ofRomania ended the hopes ofJohanna Konta 7-5, 6-1 in thesecond round.

The Briton had made adash to Madrid on Sundayevening after playing the Rabatclay final. Konta won heropening match against AlisonRiske but could not matchHalep, the defending FrenchOpen champion.

"I feel good every timewhen I come to Madrid andI'm happy to be back andwinning matches," Halep said.

"It was a good match. Bothof us played very well and, inthe end, I was a bit strongermentally and I found arhythm." Fourth seedAngelique Kerber withdrewbefore her second-roundmatch. The defendingWimbledon champion is suf-fering from a right ankleinjury. Kerber was to haveplayed in the evening sessionagainst Croatian Petra Martic.

PNS n NEW DELHI

India's growing strength in juniorgolf has been amplified with the

qualification of as many as 32players in various age-group com-petitions under the global bannerof the US Kids Golf. The 32 kids arefrom as many as 13 age groups —eight among boys and five amonggirls. The 32 comprise 20 boys and12 girls, who are now eligible withPriority Status for US Kids globalevents in Europe and some ofthem will also be eligible for WorldChampionships, depending ontheir status.

Of the five categories ofPriority Status, Burgundy statusholders will be eligible for US KidsWorld Championships and 13 ofthe 32 Indian players have earnedthe Burgundy status on the basis oftheir scoring. Of the remaining, 14have Orange Status and five haveBlue Status.

The opportunity to play oninternational courses also readiesthe youngsters to play on

Championship courses where theworld's best compete annually.This year the European segment ofUS Kids will see the players prac-tice and play at courses like theRenaissance, Gullane, Craigelaw,Archerfield Links and others.

Each age-group's competitionis held at a different venue and allthe events are scheduled for the lastweek of May.

Gullane is where the presti-gious Scottish Open was held lastyear with India's ShubhankarSharma playing it for the firsttime, while this year's ScottishOpen is scheduled to be held at theRenaissance, so the UK Kids Golfevents will give the teen and pre-teens a chance to see and playcourse they will hope to play on asadults later on.

A lot of the youngsters whohave achieved Priority Status thisseason will be playing in Europe forthe first time, adding to their expe-rience of playing in quality cours-es in India and Asia and nowEurope.

Djokovic destroysFritz in solid start

GODIN CONFIRMS ATLETICO EXIT

US President Donald Trump presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods during aceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House on Monday AP

32 Indian youth eligible for

US Kids Golf Europe events

Trump awards Presidential Medal to Woods

AFP n AMSTERDAM

Mauricio Pochettino has chal-lenged Tottenham to seize

their unexpected chance to makehistory as they try to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Ajax in theChampions League semi-final sec-ond leg on Wednesday.

Pochettino is convincedTottenham can still reach the club'smaiden Champions League finaldespite losing the first leg in northLondon last week.

Many pundits and fans claimTottenham have blown theiropportunity after Donny van deBeek's strike gave Ajax a pricelesslead to defend in Amsterdam.

Tottenham go into their biggestgame for decades on a low noteafter losing 1-0 at Bournemouth onSaturday, a defeat that stoppedthem wrapping up a place innext season's ChampionsLeague via a top-four finishin the Premier League.

It was a third successiveloss in all competitions forTottenham, who fin-ished with nine menafter red cards for SonHeung-min and Juan Foyth.

Fortunately for Tottenham,they are still all but certain to fin-ish at least fourth after Arsenal andManchester United were both heldto draws on Sunday.

Tottenham are three pointsclear of fifth-placed Arsenal head-ing into their last league game ofthe season against Everton onSunday and a draw will be enoughto ensure their return to Europe'selite club competition.

But before that Tottenham,trying to reach their first Europeanfinal since the 1984 UEFA Cup,have to focus on the challenge pre-sented by Ajax's vibrant young side.

Having already eliminated RealMadrid and Juventus this season,Ajax showed their vast potentialagainst Tottenham in the first leg

and should have been furtherahead after Van de Beek's opener.

Tottenham improved slightlyin the second half, but largelylooked toothless without the sus-pended Son and injured top scor-er Harry Kane.

Crucially, Pochettino will haveSon back from his ban for the sec-ond leg and the South Korea for-ward should give his team a farmore dynamic look.

‘MASSIVE WEEK'Pochettino remained upbeat

despite the frustration of losing toNathan Ake's last-minute goal atBournemouth, and the Tottenham

manager hopes his confidentattitude transfers to his play-ers against Ajax.

"We have ahead two'finals' against Ajax andEverton and it's in our hands

to be in a good posi-tion at the end of theseason," Pochettino

said.Although Tottenham will

know they have missed a goldenopportunity to reach the final ifthey don't succeed in the secondleg, Pochettino is adamant hisplayers have done more thanenough already to make him proudof their efforts this term.

"No-one believed we'd be inthis position in the last week of thecompetition," Pochettino said.

"We are in a position where itdepends on us to be in the(Champions League) final or notand then it depends on us to fin-ish in the top four.

"It's a massive week and that'swhy we need to move on, try torecover as soon as possible and beready again but whatever happensI am going to feel proud."

Ajax vs Tottenham

Live from 12:30am IST

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Pochettino urgesSpurs to make history

City in Good KOMPANY

Manchester City captain nets stunner to help Pep’s men beat Leicester 1-0

Danny Rose battles for ball possession with Ajax players during first leg clash UEFA/Twitter

TABLE TENNIS Lucknow District Table Tennis Association is organising the

district table tennis trials at KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium on May18 and 19. The trials will be held in all the categories and inter-ested may contact on 8317035602 or 9415062702 before May 15.

ALFALAH UNIVERSITY WINAlfalah University, Delhi beat Sports College, Lucknow and

Subodh College Jaipur to enter the national finals of Red BullCampus Cricket on Tuesday. Alfalah University beat SubodhCollege Jaipur by 5 wickets in the first match while pipped SportsCollege, Lucknow by 65 runs.

LOCAL EVENTS

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | MAY 8, 2019

16

}RUNS 692 David Warner (SRH)

WICKETS 25 Kagiso Rabada (DC)

6S 743

4S 1563{

LEADERBOARD

SRH has a very good past in suchsituations but we are also lookingforward to creating history— SHREYAS IYER

PTI ■ JOHANNESBURG

South Africa suffered a blow ahead of the WorldCup with fast bowler Anrich Nortje being ruled

out of the tournament due to a fractured thumb.Chris Morris has been called up as his replace-

ment for the mega-event, commencing on May 30.Nortje overcame ankle and shoulder injuries

over the course of the summer before he could makehis international debut in March this year. On thebasis of his performances, the 25-year-old was select-ed in South Africa's World Cup squad.

Unfortunately, Nortje fractured his right thumbwhile practising in the nets, and it has now been con-firmed that he would need six to eight weeks restto recover fully.

The 32-year-old all-rounder Morris, who has notplayed an ODI in more than a year, has replacedNortje in the 15-member squad.

PTI ■ MELBOURNE

Considering that David Warner canbe much more destructive than any

other batsman during the field restric-tions, he must open for Australia along-side Aaron Finch at the World Cup, sug-gests former selector Mark Waugh.

Usman Khawaja has scored moreODI runs (769) for Australia this yearthan anyone else and formed a formi-dable opening combination with alongFinch during Australia's two mostrecent ODI series against India andPakistan but Waugh thinks Warner isstill the best option.

"I would definitely have him(Warner) opening. He is the number

one opener in my opinion, so he has gotto open with Finch," Waugh told the BigSports Breakfast radio program.

"He is the most dangerous when thefield is up and the field restrictions arein place and he can get the team off to

a flyer."The left-handed Warner has been

in excellent touch as he scored lot of runsat the top of the order in the IPL. In fact,all his 104 ODI innings for Australia hascome as an opener.

Waugh feels Khawaja and ShaunMarsh are the best options to bat atnumber three, while the remainder ofAustralia's batting order looks prettyclear cut.

"I think either Khawaja or ShaunMarsh bat at three and they should befighting for that spot," he said.

"The rest probably picks itself...With(Steve) Smith at four, (Glenn) Maxwell(at) five, (Marcus) Stoinis (at) six and(Alex) Carey (at) seven."

PTI ■ JAMAICA

Explosive opener ChrisGayle has been named

vice-captain of the West Indiesteam for the World Cup.

Gayle, who is set to retirefrom ODIs after his fifthWorld Cup appearance, is intop form going into the tour-nament, having scored close to500 runs in the IPL. He wasalso in devastating form in thehome series against England,hitting two hundreds and asmany half-centuries in thefive-match series.

"It is always an honour torepresent the West Indies inany format and this WorldCup for me is special," Gaylesaid after being named JasonHolder's deputy on Monday.

Gayle is a former WestIndies captain who last led theregional side in June 2010.

"As a senior player, it is myresponsibility to support thecaptain and everyone else inthe team. This will probably be

the biggest World Cup, sothere will be great expectationsand I know we will do verywell for the people of theWest Indies," said the 39-year-old, who has amassed 10151runs in 289 ODIs at 38.16.

It was also announcedthat Shai Hope will be the vice-captain in the on-going tri-series in Ireland involving thehosts and Bangladesh.

AFP ■ LONDON

England head coach Trevor Baylisssays Alex Hales still has an interna-

tional future despite being axed fromthe World Cup squad after he report-edly failed a second positive test forrecreational drug use.

The Nottinghamshire player wasnamed in England's preliminary 15-man squad for the tournament only tobe withdrawn last week.

Bayliss said the door is open for thehard-hitting 30-year-old batsman, whohas played 70 one-day internationalsand 60 Twenty20 internationals.

"Alex still has an internationalfuture," Bayliss told Sky Sports. "I havespoken to him and given him that mes-sage.

"It's certainly not the end of him.He's a very important player and thereis no reason why he can't come back."

He added: "I think we've come tothe right decision. Being respected offthe field as well as on it is very impor-tant."

The English head coach also saidthat the selectors would have to makea "very difficult decision" following theimpressive form of newcomer JofraArcher, who made his debut againstIreland last week.

Speaking about the Barbados-bornall-rounder, Bayliss said: "He's fitted intothe group extremely well. I thought hebowled some good spells in Irelandwithout too much luck and I thought hebowled pretty well in the T20 match acouple of days ago.

"It's all looking good. It's going tobe a very difficult decision for the selec-tors, whichever way we go."

PTI ■ VISAKHAPATNAM

The road to the final hasbecome difficult but Delhi

Capitals have the means to drivetheir way through the obstacles,starting with the eliminatoragainst Sunrisers Hyderabad hereon Wednesday.

Re-branded before the start ofthe 12th season, Delhi Capitalshave been one of the top sides inthis edition, playing cricket neverseen before from them.

It is a bit harsh on DelhiCapitals that they are playing thedo-or-die game despite securing18 points after nine wins and fivelosses from 14 matches.

Despite winning three match-es more than Hyderabad, severe-ly weakened by the departure ofDavid Warner and Jonny Bairstowfor their World Cup nationalcamps, DC find themselves in thesame boat as SRH and a defeat willknock them out of the league.

Delhi Capitals have neverreached the IPL final, never madethe top-two, and ventured into thetop-four for the first time since2012.

Considering the results andconsistency, it seemed DC's searchfor that elusive winning combina-tion has finally ended, whichbrought the smiles back on thefaces of fans after years of disap-pointment.

Picked in the trading window,India opener Shikhar Dhawanlived up to the expectations of theteam management and franchise,scoring over 450 runs.

Along with the young PrithviShaw, the experienced Dhawanformed a fine opening combina-tion, and scored briskly in the

powerplay overs.Skipper Shreyas Iyer (over

400 runs) showed immense matu-rity while leading the side and alsoplayed some substantial knocks.

Ignored from the World Cupsquad, Rishabh Pant has provedhis worth in the side with hishandy cameos at crucial junc-tures.

They will miss the services ofpace spearhead Kagiso Rabadabut DC have enough firepower inbowling to surprise SRH, whobecame the first team in IPL his-tory to qualify for the playoffswith 12 points.

While the duo of Warner andBairstow played a pivotal role inSRH's performances and domi-nated the powerplay better thanother teams, the likes of ManishPandey stepped in after they leftto be with their respective nation-al teams.

In bowling, Rashid Khan,Bhuvneswar Kumar and KhaleelAhmed have done just enough tohelp Sunrisers Hyderabad keepthings.

In Kane Williamson, SRHhave a dependable captain and hewill expect a little more from hisNew Zealand team-mate MartinGuptill.

It will be another opportuni-ty for Vijay Shankar to make amark before flying to the UnitedKingdom for the World Cup.

PNS ■ NEW DELHI

Injury and poor form made ita forgettable IPL season for

Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb urRahman but the time awayfrom the field was well spent ashe picked on Kings XI Punjabskipper Ravichandran Ashwin'sbrain ahead of the World Cupin England.

A shoulder injury meantthat the 18-year-old wasn't athis best during the cash-richleague, getting only three wick-ets in five games with anexpensive economy rate of10.05 runs per over.

"I have learnt a lot havingspend quality time withRavichandran Ashwin in theKXIP set-up. He has given mea lot of useful tips and I am surethat I will execute those plansin the World Cup. During thisedition of IPL, my shoulderinjury was an issue. But now Iam fully fit for the WorldCup," Mujeeb told reporters ata promotional event toannounce Amul's association

with Afghanistan nationalteam.

While he hasn't playedmany matches this year, thebest part about IPL accordingto Mujeeb is the opportunity tobowl at some of the prospectiveWorld Cup opponents.

"The IPL schedule is sohectic and you are travelling alot. It's not that you get a lot ofchance to talk about the game.But since you get a chance tobowl in matches where thereare batsmen who will be therein the World Cup, it helps a lot,"said the Afghan teenager.

Asked if he faced the sec-ond season blues, somethingwhich was evident when hewent for 66 runs in his fourovers against SunrisersHyderabad, Mujeeb said it waspart and parcel of cricket.

"You will have a few baddays and it's just that you haveto be consistent with your lineand length," Mujeeb said.

The youngster is hopefulthat along with senior spinnersRashid Khan and Mohammed

Nabi, it will be a better WorldCup for Afghanistan comparedto the 2015 edition when theywere making debut.

"Our aim is to at leastqualify for the semi-finals. Allthree of us have differentstrengths and the main thingthat we discuss on-field is tostick to our respective plans.The basic plan is to consistent-ly bowl good areas and hope-fully we will be able to do that,"he said.

Meanwhile, Afghanistanchief selector Dawlat KhanAhmadzai justified the unex-pected sacking of ODI skipperAsghar Afghan ahead of theWorld Cup, saying the decisionwas taken looking at the long-term future of the team.

"We realised that we can'twin the World Cup at thismoment under Asghar's cap-taincy or anyone else whowould have been in charge. Wemade the decision not justthinking about this World Cup,we are thinking about the 2023edition.

PTI ■ CHENNAI

The enormously talentedSuryakumar Yadav played one

of his finest knocks on a challeng-ing track as Mumbai Indians beatChennai Super Kings by six wick-ets in the first Qualifier, entering IPLfinal for the fifth time on Tuesday.

On a sluggish pitch, whichoffered considerable turn and oddbounce, Suryakumar batted in acopybook fashion scoring anunbeaten 71 off 54 balls with MIreaching the target in 18.3 overs.

However CSK will get anotherchance to make it to their eighthsummit clash as they will now playthe second Qualifier against thewinner of the ‘Eliminator’ betweenDelhi Capitals and SunrisersHyderabad.

The target of 132 wasn’t a bigone but once the below-parChepauk pitch was factored in, thechasing team had its own set of chal-lenges.

With senior players RohitSharma (4) and Quinton de Kock(8) returning quickly, Surya andIshan Kishan (28, 31 balls) tradedtheir natural flair for caution adding80 runs that set the platform. WhileSurya hit 10 fours, the normallyaggressive Kishan had three foursand a six in his innings.

While Imran Tahir (2/33 in 4overs) dismissed Kishan and KrunalPandya (0) off successive deliveriesin the 14th over, it was more a ofminor scare as Surya anchored thechase with ease in Hardik Pandya’scompany.

The best part about Surya’sbatting was how late he played bothTahir and Ravindra Jadeja (0/18 in4 overs) whenever they got the ballto turn away from the right-hander,playing it past the short third-manfielder. The best part was not tak-ing undue risks against Jadeja, wholooked menacing on this track.

When Tahir flighted, he wouldwhip him through mid-wicket.Deepak Chahar after getting Rohit’swicket erred in line and proved tobe costly. Harbhajan Singh (1/25 in4 overs) finished his quota primar-ily when at least one left-hander wasat the crease.

In the end, the difference wascreated by the three MumbaiIndians spinners Rahul Chahar(2/14 in 4 overs), Krunal Pandya(1/21 in 4 overs) and Jayant Yadav(1/25 in 3 overs), who gave awayonly 60 runs in the 11 overs betweenthem taking four wickets.

CSK were 10 runs short of thepar-score even on a challengingtrack where Surya made battinglook easy.

Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhonifailed to launch a brutal assault ona sluggish pitch but did enough incompany of Ambati Rayudu topropel Chennai Super Kings to 131for 4. The CSK total was built large-ly on a fifth wicket stand of 66 off

48 balls between Dhoni (37 no off29 balls) and Rayudu (42 no off 37balls) when other batsmen foundgoing tough.

Dhoni smashed Lasith Malingafor two huge sixes in the penultimateover to provide impetus to the CSKinnings, which was stymied by the MIbowlers, especially the spinners.

MI leg-spinner Rahul Chaharcontinued his impressive season,with a superb spell of 2 for 14 in hisquota of 4 overs. He kept the batsmenon a leash with turn and bounce.

CSK didn't get off to a good start,losing three wickets in the Powerplay,as MI skipper Rohit Sharma used fivedifferent bowlers in the first five overs.

The visiting team kept things

under control in the Powerplay,restricting CSK to 32 runs while pick-ing up three wickets.

At the halfway stage, CSK bare-ly managed to reach 50, which wasa sign of their struggles.

Faf du Plessis (6) got one fromRahul that bounced a bit more as hiscut went straight to substitute field-er Anmolpreet Singh at backwardpoint. Suresh Raina's (5) attempt toslog Jayant Yadav resulted in a skierwhich the bowler took with ease.

Shane Watson, who struggled forform, played a trademark pull offJasprit Bumrah, but fell going for a bighit off Krunal Pandya, taken brilliant-ly by Jayant Yadav running backwardsfrom his mid-on position.

Murali Vijay attempted to con-solidate in Watson's company andsucceeded to an extent, before beingstumped by Quinton de Kock offRahul Chahar for 26 (26 balls, 3X4).

Dhoni hit the first six of thematch in the 14th over, lofting Jayant(1/25 in 3 overs) over long-on.Rayudu on the other hand hit threefours and a six and concentrating tak-ing the singles and doubles withboundaries hard to come by. BRIEF SCORES: CSK: 131/4 (MS Dhoni 37 no off 29balls, Ambati Rayudu 42 no off 37balls, Rahul Chahar 2/14)MI: 131 for 18.3 overs (SuryakumarYadav 71 no off 54 balls, ImrahTahir 2/33).

Will use Ashwin's tips in

the World Cup: Mujeeb

Warner should open withFinch: Mark Waugh

Morris replacesNortje in SA squad

WI name Gayle as

Holder’s deputy

Hales still has future

with England: Bayliss

DC face SRH

in eliminator

Live on Star Sports 1& 2

VISAKHAPATNAM

DC vs SRH

WEDNESDAY | 7:30 PM

HEADTO

HEADM 14

DC 5

SRH 9

Mumbai enter final

MI cash in on dropped chances to beat CSK by six wickets