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H eavy monsoon rain con- tinued to lash Mumbai and its neighbouring areas for the third consecutive day on Sunday, while the northern parts of India, including Delhi, Punjab and Haryana, are in the grip of hot and humid weath- er conditions. Most of the north India witnessed tem- perature over 40 degrees Celsius on Sunday and this year June has become the India’s third driest month in the past 50 years. The situation is expected to remain the same in the next few days. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday predicted a low pressure area over northeast Bay of Bengal which may intensify into a depression by July 2, and may move westward into central and adjoining western India in due course. According to the MeT department, the all-India average rainfall in June so far has been 112.5 mm against the normal of 166.9 mm, a defi- ciency of 33 per cent till June 30. As many as 29 of the 36 sub-divisions across the coun- try have recorded deficient rainfall and this has impacted sowing by farmers in the cur- rent kharif season, which has been over 25 per cent below the normal levels till date. “Parts of north India like Delhi, Punjab and Haryana may not benefit due to this low pressure area and it is unlike- ly that these States will get rain- fall because of it,” IMD’s Additional Director-General Mrutyunjay Mahapatra said. Private weather forecaster Skymet’s Managing Director Jatin Singh said monsoon surge is expected from June 30 to July 15 with a short break in between. The MeT Department said that many places in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi and east Madhya Pradesh witnessed hot and humid con- ditions which are expected to persist for the next few days. Of the 686 districts, 315 have recorded deficient rainfall; 175 large deficient and 129 nor- mal rainfall. As per data, June had received only 85.7 mm rainfall in 2009 while the year 2014 wit- nessed only 95.4 mm rainfall in June. The east and north-east India division comprises the northeastern States and eastern States of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, and all have reg- istered deficient rainfall. Of the 10 subdivisions of central India, which covers States like Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, eight received deficient rainfall. Of 10 divisions in the south peninsula division, covering the five States of south India and Union territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, eight received deficient rainfall. Only five subdivisions — Konkan and Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, north interior Karnataka, east Rajasthan and Gujarat — have recorded nor- mal rainfall. The official mon- soon season in the country starts on June 1 and ends on September 30. According to the Agriculture Ministry’s data, the total area planted under all crops during kharif season has been 146.61 lakh hectares as against last year’s 162.07 lakh hectares and the normal five- year-average of 196.66 lakh hectares for the same period. Pulses have taken the maximum hit, with a mere 3.42 lakh hectares being planted. It was 8.86 and 18.18 lakh hectares during this time in 2018 and 2017, respectively. D onald Trump stepped onto North Korean soil in a his- toric first on Sunday as he met Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un in a moment of high diplo- matic drama on the world’s last Cold War frontier. Moments after becoming the only sitting US President to set foot inside North Korea, Trump brought Kim back over the dividing line for a meeting where they agreed to start working-level talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons. Trump said he had invited the young leader to the White House “anytime he wants to do it”. “It was an honour that you asked me to step over that line, and I was proud to step over the line,” he told Kim. As they sat down for dis- cussions, Kim said their “hand- shake of peace” in a location that was “the symbol of the division of north and south” showed that “we are willing to put the past behind us.” The impromptu meeting in the DMZ — after Trump issued an invitation on Twitter on Saturday — came with negoti- ations between Pyongyang and Washington at a deadlock. Their first summit took place in a blaze of publicity in Singapore last year but pro- duced only a vaguely worded pledge about denuclearisation. A second meeting in Vietnam in February intended to put flesh on those bones broke up without agreement. Contact between the two sides has since been minimal — with Pyongyang issuing fre- quent criticisms of the US position — but the two leaders exchanged a series of letters before Trump issued his offer to meet at the DMZ. Trump’s entry onto North Korean soil — which he said was uncertain until the last moment — is an extraordinary sequel to the scene at Kim’s first summit with Moon Jae-in last year, when the young leader invited the South Korean President to walk over the Military Demarcation Line, as the border is officially known. A Kim trip to the US would be more spectacular, But Trump said the visit would happen “at the right time.” I n the wake of hot weather conditions in the national Capital, the Delhi Government on Sunday extended by a week the summer vacation in city schools for students till Class 8. Now they will open on July 8. However, the higher classes will reopen on July 1 as per the schedule. “In view of the hot weath- er in Delhi, the summer vaca- tion for students up to Class 8 is being extended to July 7,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said. Sisodia clarified that the order will be applicable for both Government and private schools. Meanwhile, all three municipal corporations have announced to extend the sum- mer vacation for students of all primary and aided schools of the corporations till July 8. I ndia has moved down one place to 74th rank in terms of money parked by its citizens and enterprises with Swiss banks, while the UK has retained its top position, as per data released by the central banking authority of the Alpine nation. India was ranked 73rd last year, after jumping 15 places from its 88th position in 2017. An analysis of the latest annual banking statistics released by the Swiss National Bank shows that India remains ranked very low when it comes to money parked by Indian individuals and enterprises in Swiss banks, including through their India-based branches, while accounting for just about 0.07 per cent of the aggregate funds parked by all foreign clients of Swiss banks. Detailed report on P8 T he Regional Office of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) here on Sunday issued heavy to very heavy rainfall alert for several districts of the State for the next 48 hours. A low pressure area, which has formed over northeast Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood, is likely to become more marked and concentrate into a depression during the next 48 hours. Under its impact, enhanced rainfall activity would be experienced over several districts, the IMD said. The IMD while issuing a red alert said heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely on Monday at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall (more than 20 cm) at one or two places is likely to occur over Sambalpur, Angul, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Dhenkanal districts. An orange warning was issued for districts of Baleswar, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Cuttack, Keonjhar, Kendrapada, Boudh, Balangir, Nuapada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur which are likely to witness heavy rainfall. On Tuesday, light to mod- erate thundershowers are like- ly to occur at most places with heavy rainfall at one or two places in the districts of Malkangiri, Koraput, Bargarh, Nuapada, Balangir and Sambalpur. for which yellow warning has been issued. Wind speed reaching 40 to 50 km/hr is likely to prevail over north Bay of Bengal and its neighbourhood during this period. In view of the inclement weather, fishermen have been cautioned not to venture into the sea during the period. A t a time when the water level in India’s major reser- voirs and river basins has depleted, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for conservation of rain- water, saying there is a pressing need to make water conserva- tion a mass movement on the lines of the cleanliness drive. Resuming his weekly radio talk “Mann Ki Baat” Modi urged people to come out with ideas on water conservation and rejuvenation of rivers. “If you know about any individu- als or NGOs working on water (conservation), do share the details,” he said. He asked people to use #JanShakti4JalShakti to upload their content relating to water conservation. “Appeal to all Indians, including eminent people from all walks of life to create awareness on water con- servation. Share knowledge of traditional methods of water conservation. If you know about any individuals or NGOs working on water, do share about them,” later in a series of Tweets PM urged. “Over the last few months, so many people have written about water related issues. I am happy to see greater awareness on water conservation. I wrote a letter to gram pradhans on the importance of water con- servation and how to take steps to create awareness on the subject across rural India,” he said. Several cities across India are facing water shortage as water levels in various dams and water bodies have gone down significantly. He said, water scarcity affects many parts of the country every year. “You will be surprised that only 8 per cent of the water received from rains in the entire year is harvested in our country. Just and just 8 per cent,” he lamented. “Now the time has come to find a solu- tion to this problem,” he said, adding that like the other prob- lems on hand, India can also solve this predicament by the participation of the people. “Therefore, keeping the importance of water in mind, a new Jalashakti Ministry has been created... This will allow faster decision-making on all subjects related to water,” he pointed out. Modi, who had said a few months ago that he would return with his monthly radio address after the elections, credited the people for bring- ing him back. On February 24, days before the Lok Sabha elections were announced, he had suspended his monthly “Mann ki Baat” broadcast for March and April. “When it (the February 24 episode) was about to end, I had stated that we would meet once again after 3 or 4 months ... The confidence was not Modi’s. This trust was the trust of your foundation. You were the ones who transformed yourself into a pillar of trust,” he said in his first address of edition 2 of his programme. “Actually speaking, I have not returned. You have brought me back. You positioned me here and gave me the oppor- tunity to speak once again,” he said. Modi also reminded peo- ple of the Emergency and urged them not to take democ- racy “for granted”, saying in day-to-day life, it is difficult to savour the joy of democratic rights, unless they are snatched away. In his first Mann ki Baat monthly radio address after returning to power, he said everyday when one gets to eat food on time, one doesn’t real- ize what hunger pangs are. “Similarly, in day-to-day life, it is difficult to savour the joy of democratic rights, unless they are snatched away. During Emergency, every citizen of the country had started getting the feeling that something that belonged to him had been snatched away. If what was snatched had never been enjoyed by that person, ever, it had to eventually precipitate into a painful inner agony,” he said. The Prime Minister reminded people that in order to ensure smooth conduct of the social order, a constitution is required. “Laws and rules are necessary, rights and duties should be part of due dis- course,” he said. On June 25, India marked the 44th anniver- sary of Emergency. Referring to the recently- concluded Lok Sabha election, he said a record 61 crore out of nearly 91 crore voters exercised their fran- chise. F ood grain production declined from 117.82 lakh metric tonnes (MT) in 2016-17 to 84.82 lakh MT in 2017-18 due to deficient rainfall and severe pest attack of 2017-18. Production of rice, which had almost half the share of gross cropped area (GCA) and is a highly water-incen- tive crop, witnessed a decline of over 33 per cent, pulling down food grains and total crop pro- duction in the State, pointed out the latest Economic Survey presented in the State Assembly recently. It, however, revealed that pulses were the only crop group, which witnessed a significant growth in production. The production of puls- es during 2017-18 stood at 10.76 lakh MT, sug- arcane at 19.9 lakh MT and cotton at 4.1 lakh bales. The rice yield rate has been low in Odisha compared to other States due to high depen- dence on rainwater for irrigation, stated the report. Yields of oilseeds and sugarcane wit- nessed marginal decrease. The report remarked that the State can diversify its agriculture base as cotton and puls- es displayed an increase in yield in 201-18. Despite the drought situation in the past year, which caused a decline in production and productivity of productivity of food grains, hor- ticulture sector was relatively less affected. This underscores the augment to incentivize famers to increase horticulture production, said the report. Top three vegetables with the highest pro- duction recorded in 2017-18 where brijnal (20.1 lakh MT), tomato (13.1 lakh MT) and cabbage (10.6 lakh MT). On the other hand, mango (8.2 lakh MT) and banana (4.7 lakh MT)had the highest production among fruits. The highest yield was seen in cabbage (280.5 quintal/ha) and bringal (170.5 quintal/ha), while among fruits, banana and papaya were the high yielding fruits. Apart from fruits and vegetables in horti- culture, Odisha is diversifying its crop produc- tion and area into spices. The GCA under spices has increased from 1.54 lakh hectares in 2011- 12 to 1.61 lakh hectares in 2017-18 (an increase of 4.5 per cent). Production has increased more than proportionately in the same period, by 16.8 per cent (from 4.77 lakh MT to 5.57 lakh MT). This can be attributes to more spice being produced in the State (tamarind) and an increase in yield, mentioned the report. Tamarind and ginger occupy the majority share in production of spices (73.1 per cent). Over the past year (since 2016-17), the yield rates for most spices has been maintained with the highest growth observed in the major spice like turmeric. This shows that Odisha has good potential to further increase its crop base to include spices. N ational Award-winning actor Zaira Wasim on Sunday announced her “disas- sociation” from the field of acting, saying she was not happy with the line of work as it interfered with her religion. In a detailed post on her Facebook page, which she later shared across all social media platforms, the Kashmiri-born “Dangal” fame star said she realised “though I may fit here perfectly, I do not belong here”. “Five years ago I made a decision that changed my life forever. As I stepped my foot in Bollywood, it opened doors of massive popularity for me. I started to become the prime candidate of public attention, I was projected as the gospel of the idea of success and was often identified as a role model for the youth. “However, that’s never something that I set out to do or become, especially with regards to my ideas of success and failure, which I had just started to explore and understand,” Wasim said in the lengthy post. The 18-year- old actor said as she completed five years in the pro- fession, she wanted to “confess that I am not truly happy with this identity”. “For a very long time now it has felt like I have struggled to become someone else. As I had just started to explore and make sense of the things to which I dedicated my time, efforts and emotions and tried to grab hold of a new lifestyle, it was only for me to realise that though I may fit here perfectly, I do not belong here. T he price of non-subsidised LPG on Sunday was cut by over 100 per cylinder on the back of softening internation- al rates, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) said. The cooking gas in Delhi will be priced at 637 per cylinder from past Sunday midnight as against 737.50 currently, IOC said in a state- ment. Subsidised cooking gas price will be 494.35 per cylinder.

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Heavy monsoon rain con-tinued to lash Mumbai

and its neighbouring areas forthe third consecutive day onSunday, while the northernparts of India, including Delhi,Punjab and Haryana, are in thegrip of hot and humid weath-er conditions. Most of thenorth India witnessed tem-perature over 40 degreesCelsius on Sunday and this yearJune has become the India’sthird driest month in the past50 years. The situation isexpected to remain the same inthe next few days.

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on Sundaypredicted a low pressure areaover northeast Bay of Bengalwhich may intensify into adepression by July 2, and maymove westward into centraland adjoining western India indue course. According to theMeT department, the all-Indiaaverage rainfall in June so farhas been 112.5 mm against thenormal of 166.9 mm, a defi-ciency of 33 per cent till June30. As many as 29 of the 36sub-divisions across the coun-try have recorded deficientrainfall and this has impactedsowing by farmers in the cur-rent kharif season, which hasbeen over 25 per cent below thenormal levels till date.

“Parts of north India likeDelhi, Punjab and Haryanamay not benefit due to this lowpressure area and it is unlike-ly that these States will get rain-fall because of it,” IMD’s

Additional Director-GeneralMrutyunjay Mahapatra said.Private weather forecasterSkymet’s Managing DirectorJatin Singh said monsoon surgeis expected from June 30 to July15 with a short break inbetween.

The MeT Department saidthat many places in UttarPradesh, Himachal Pradesh,Haryana, Chandigarh andDelhi and east Madhya Pradeshwitnessed hot and humid con-ditions which are expected topersist for the next few days.

Of the 686 districts, 315have recorded deficient rainfall;175 large deficient and 129 nor-mal rainfall.

As per data, June hadreceived only 85.7 mm rainfallin 2009 while the year 2014 wit-nessed only 95.4 mm rainfall inJune.

The east and north-eastIndia division comprises thenortheastern States and easternStates of Bihar, Jharkhand andWest Bengal, and all have reg-istered deficient rainfall.

Of the 10 subdivisions ofcentral India, which coversStates like Maharashtra, Goa,Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarhand Odisha, eight receiveddeficient rainfall.

Of 10 divisions in the southpeninsula division, coveringthe five States of south Indiaand Union territories ofPuducherry, Lakshadweep andAndaman & Nicobar Islands,eight received deficient rainfall.

Only five subdivisions —Konkan and Goa, Jammu &Kashmir, north interior

Karnataka, east Rajasthan andGujarat — have recorded nor-mal rainfall. The official mon-soon season in the countrystarts on June 1 and ends onSeptember 30.

According to theAgriculture Ministry’s data,the total area planted under allcrops during kharif season hasbeen 146.61 lakh hectares asagainst last year’s 162.07 lakhhectares and the normal five-year-average of 196.66 lakhhectares for the same period. Pulses have taken themaximum hit, with a mere 3.42lakh hectares being planted. Itwas 8.86 and 18.18 lakhhectares during this time in2018 and 2017, respectively.

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Donald Trump stepped ontoNorth Korean soil in a his-

toric first on Sunday as he metPyongyang’s leader Kim JongUn in a moment of high diplo-matic drama on the world’s lastCold War frontier.

Moments after becomingthe only sitting US President toset foot inside North Korea,Trump brought Kim back overthe dividing line for a meetingwhere they agreed to startworking-level talks onPyongyang’s nuclear weapons.

Trump said he had invitedthe young leader to the WhiteHouse “anytime he wants to doit”. “It was an honour that youasked me to step over that line,and I was proud to step overthe line,” he told Kim.

As they sat down for dis-cussions, Kim said their “hand-shake of peace” in a locationthat was “the symbol of thedivision of north and south”showed that “we are willing toput the past behind us.” Theimpromptu meeting in theDMZ — after Trump issued aninvitation on Twitter onSaturday — came with negoti-ations between Pyongyang andWashington at a deadlock.

Their first summit took

place in a blaze of publicity inSingapore last year but pro-duced only a vaguely wordedpledge about denuclearisation.A second meeting in Vietnamin February intended to putflesh on those bones broke upwithout agreement.

Contact between the twosides has since been minimal— with Pyongyang issuing fre-quent criticisms of the USposition — but the two leadersexchanged a series of lettersbefore Trump issued his offerto meet at the DMZ.

Trump’s entry onto NorthKorean soil — which he saidwas uncertain until the lastmoment — is an extraordinarysequel to the scene at Kim’s firstsummit with Moon Jae-in lastyear, when the young leaderinvited the South KoreanPresident to walk over theMilitary Demarcation Line, as the border is officiallyknown.

A Kim trip to the USwould be more spectacular,But Trump said the visit wouldhappen “at the right time.”

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In the wake of hot weatherconditions in the national

Capital, the Delhi Governmenton Sunday extended by a weekthe summer vacation in cityschools for students till Class 8.Now they will open on July 8.However, the higher classes willreopen on July 1 as per theschedule.

“In view of the hot weath-er in Delhi, the summer vaca-

tion for students up to Class 8is being extended to July 7,”Deputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia said.

Sisodia clarified that theorder will be applicable for bothGovernment and privateschools.

Meanwhile, all threemunicipal corporations haveannounced to extend the sum-mer vacation for students of allprimary and aided schools ofthe corporations till July 8.

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India has moved down oneplace to 74th rank in terms

of money parked by its citizensand enterprises with Swissbanks, while the UK hasretained its top position, as perdata released by the centralbanking authority of the Alpinenation.

India was ranked 73rd lastyear, after jumping 15 placesfrom its 88th position in 2017.

An analysis of the latestannual banking statisticsreleased by the Swiss NationalBank shows that India remainsranked very low when it comesto money parked by Indianindividuals and enterprises inSwiss banks, including throughtheir India-based branches,while accounting for just about0.07 per cent of the aggregatefunds parked by all foreignclients of Swiss banks.

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The Regional Office of theIndian Meteorological

Department (IMD) here onSunday issued heavy to veryheavy rainfall alert for severaldistricts of the State for the next48 hours.

A low pressure area, whichhas formed over northeast Bayof Bengal and neighbourhood,is likely to become moremarked and concentrate into adepression during the next 48hours. Under its impact,enhanced rainfall activitywould be experienced overseveral districts, the IMD said.

The IMD while issuing ared alert said heavy to veryheavy rainfall is likely onMonday at a few places andextremely heavy rainfall (morethan 20 cm) at one or twoplaces is likely to occur overSambalpur, Angul, Bargarh,Jharsuguda, Sundargarh andDhenkanal districts.

An orange warning wasissued for districts of Baleswar,Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj,

Cuttack, Keonjhar,Kendrapada, Boudh, Balangir,Nuapada, Kalahandi,Kandhamal and Nabarangpurwhich are likely to witnessheavy rainfall.

On Tuesday, light to mod-erate thundershowers are like-ly to occur at most places withheavy rainfall at one or twoplaces in the districts ofMalkangiri, Koraput, Bargarh,Nuapada, Balangir andSambalpur. for which yellowwarning has been issued.

Wind speed reaching 40 to50 km/hr is likely to prevailover north Bay of Bengal andits neighbourhood during thisperiod. In view of theinclement weather, fishermenhave been cautioned not toventure into the sea during theperiod.

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At a time when the waterlevel in India’s major reser-

voirs and river basins hasdepleted, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Sundaycalled for conservation of rain-water, saying there is a pressingneed to make water conserva-tion a mass movement on thelines of the cleanliness drive.

Resuming his weekly radiotalk “Mann Ki Baat” Modiurged people to come out withideas on water conservationand rejuvenation of rivers. “Ifyou know about any individu-als or NGOs working on water(conservation), do share thedetails,” he said.

He asked people to use#JanShakti4JalShakti to uploadtheir content relating to water

conservation. “Appeal to allIndians, including eminentpeople from all walks of life tocreate awareness on water con-servation. Share knowledge oftraditional methods of waterconservation. If you knowabout any individuals or NGOsworking on water, do shareabout them,” later in a series ofTweets PM urged.

“Over the last few months,so many people have writtenabout water related issues. I amhappy to see greater awarenesson water conservation. I wrotea letter to gram pradhans onthe importance of water con-servation and how to takesteps to create awareness on thesubject across rural India,” hesaid.

Several cities across Indiaare facing water shortage aswater levels in various damsand water bodies have gonedown significantly. He said,water scarcity affects manyparts of the country every year.

“You will be surprised thatonly 8 per cent of the waterreceived from rains in the

entire year is harvested in ourcountry. Just and just 8 percent,” he lamented. “Now thetime has come to find a solu-tion to this problem,” he said,adding that like the other prob-lems on hand, India can alsosolve this predicament by theparticipation of the people.

“Therefore, keeping theimportance of water in mind,a new Jalashakti Ministry has

been created... This will allowfaster decision-making on allsubjects related to water,” hepointed out.

Modi, who had said a fewmonths ago that he wouldreturn with his monthly radioaddress after the elections,credited the people for bring-ing him back. On February 24,days before the Lok Sabhaelections were announced, he

had suspended his monthly“Mann ki Baat” broadcast forMarch and April.

“When it (the February 24episode) was about to end, Ihad stated that we would meetonce again after 3 or 4 months... The confidence was notModi’s. This trust was the trustof your foundation. You werethe ones who transformedyourself into a pillar of trust,”he said in his first address ofedition 2 of his programme.

“Actually speaking, I havenot returned. You have broughtme back. You positioned mehere and gave me the oppor-tunity to speak once again,” hesaid.

Modi also reminded peo-ple of the Emergency andurged them not to take democ-racy “for granted”, saying inday-to-day life, it is difficult tosavour the joy of democraticrights, unless they are snatchedaway.

In his first Mann ki Baatmonthly radio address afterreturning to power, he saideveryday when one gets to eat

food on time, one doesn’t real-ize what hunger pangs are.

“Similarly, in day-to-daylife, it is difficult to savour thejoy of democratic rights, unlessthey are snatched away. DuringEmergency, every citizen of thecountry had started gettingthe feeling that something thatbelonged to him had beensnatched away. If what wassnatched had never beenenjoyed by that person, ever, ithad to eventually precipitateinto a painful inner agony,” hesaid.

The Prime Ministerreminded people that in orderto ensure smooth conduct ofthe social order, a constitutionis required. “Laws and rules arenecessary, rights and dutiesshould be part of due dis-course,” he said. On June 25,India marked the 44th anniver-sary of Emergency.

Referring to the recently-concluded Lok Sabha election,he said a record 61 crore out of nearly 91 crorevoters exercised their fran-chise.

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Food grain production declined from 117.82lakh metric tonnes (MT) in 2016-17 to 84.82

lakh MT in 2017-18 due to deficient rainfall andsevere pest attack of 2017-18. Production of rice,which had almost half the share of grosscropped area (GCA) and is a highly water-incen-tive crop, witnessed a decline of over 33 per cent,pulling down food grains and total crop pro-duction in the State, pointed out the latestEconomic Survey presented in the StateAssembly recently.

It, however, revealed that pulses were theonly crop group, which witnessed a significantgrowth in production. The production of puls-es during 2017-18 stood at 10.76 lakh MT, sug-arcane at 19.9 lakh MT and cotton at 4.1 lakhbales.

The rice yield rate has been low in Odishacompared to other States due to high depen-dence on rainwater for irrigation, stated thereport. Yields of oilseeds and sugarcane wit-nessed marginal decrease.

The report remarked that the State candiversify its agriculture base as cotton and puls-es displayed an increase in yield in 201-18.

Despite the drought situation in the pastyear, which caused a decline in production andproductivity of productivity of food grains, hor-ticulture sector was relatively less affected.

This underscores the augment to incentivize

famers to increase horticulture production, saidthe report.

Top three vegetables with the highest pro-duction recorded in 2017-18 where brijnal (20.1lakh MT), tomato (13.1 lakh MT) and cabbage(10.6 lakh MT). On the other hand, mango (8.2lakh MT) and banana (4.7 lakh MT)had thehighest production among fruits.

The highest yield was seen in cabbage (280.5quintal/ha) and bringal (170.5 quintal/ha),while among fruits, banana and papaya were thehigh yielding fruits.

Apart from fruits and vegetables in horti-culture, Odisha is diversifying its crop produc-tion and area into spices. The GCA under spiceshas increased from 1.54 lakh hectares in 2011-12 to 1.61 lakh hectares in 2017-18 (an increaseof 4.5 per cent). Production has increased morethan proportionately in the same period, by 16.8per cent (from 4.77 lakhMT to 5.57 lakh MT). This can be attributes tomore spice being produced in the State(tamarind) and an increase in yield, mentionedthe report.

Tamarind and ginger occupy the majorityshare in production of spices (73.1 per cent).Over the past year (since 2016-17), the yield ratesfor most spices has been maintained with thehighest growth observed in the major spice liketurmeric.

This shows that Odisha has good potentialto further increase its crop base to include spices.

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National Award-winningactor Zaira Wasim on

Sunday announced her “disas-sociation” from thefield of acting, sayingshe was not happywith the line of workas it interfered withher religion.

In a detailed poston her Facebookpage, which she latershared across allsocial media platforms, theKashmiri-born “Dangal” famestar said she realised “though Imay fit here perfectly, I do notbelong here”.

“Five years ago I made adecision that changed my lifeforever. As I stepped my foot inBollywood, it opened doors ofmassive popularity for me.I started to become the primecandidate of public attention,I was projected as the gospel

of the idea of success and wasoften identified as a role model

for the youth. “However, that’s never

something that I set out to door become, especially withregards to my ideas of success

and failure, whichI had just startedto explore andu n d e r s t a n d ,”Wasim said in thelengthy post.

The 18-year-old actor said asshe completed fiveyears in the pro-

fession, she wanted to “confessthat I am not truly happy withthis identity”.

“For a very long time nowit has felt like I have struggled to become someoneelse. As I had just started toexplore and make sense of thethings to which I dedicated mytime, efforts and emotions andtried to grab hold of a newlifestyle, it was only for me torealise that though I may fithere perfectly, I do not belonghere.

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The price of non-subsidisedLPG on Sunday was cut by

over �100 per cylinder on theback of softening internation-al rates, Indian Oil Corp (IOC)said.

The cooking gas in Delhiwill be priced at �637 percylinder from past Sundaymidnight as against �737.50currently, IOC said in a state-ment. Subsidised cooking gasprice will be �494.35 per cylinder.

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The State Government onSaturday carried out a

minor bureaucratic reshufflewith transfer of four IAS offi-cers and an OAS officer.

Odisha Skill DevelopmentAuthority CEO andEmployment Director PatilRajesh Prabhakar was trans-ferred and appointed asPanchayati Raj and DrinkingWater Department SpecialProject Director.

Sundargarh CollectorRashmita Panda was trans-ferred and appointed as OdishaSkill Development AuthorityCEO and EmploymentDirector

Dhenkanal CollectorNikhil Pavan Kalyan wasappointed as SundargarhCollector.Sundargarh DRDAPD Bhumesh Chandra Beherawas appointed as DhenkanalCollector.

Home Department Deputy

Secretary Monisha Banerjeewas appointed as SubarnapurCollector.

For the first time now, theState will have OAS officers asDistrict Magistrates in as manyas 10 districts.

With Behera’s appointmentas Dhenkanal Collector, thenumber of OAS officers serv-ing as Collectors reached an all-time high of 10.

Never in the history of theState administration had OASofficers got hold of so manydistricts. Way back in 1991,when the then Chief MinisterBiju Patnaik carved out 30 dis-tricts, OAS officers had beenposted in four districts as DMs.

Now, their number hascome to 10; and days are not farwhen at least 20 districts wouldbe manned by OAS officers,pointed out a young IAS offi-cer, who feels that the StateGovernment is banking uponState service officers more thanon the IAS.

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Communist Party of India(CPI) secretary D Raja on

Sunday alleged that the BJP andthe BJD have a tacit under-standing between them and thelatter needs to make the reasonbehind such a pact publicwhen the saffron party is mak-ing all efforts to redefine the‘Indian Nation’ in the line of theRSS’ notion of Hindutva.

“There was tacit under-standing between the BJP andthe BJD before elections. It wasproved after polls when theBJD announced to support aRS candidate of the BJP. TheBJD needs to make public the

reason behind such under-standing,” Raja said at a Pressmeet here.

On Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik’s assertion of providingconstructive cooperation tothe Central Government, Rajasaid, “The Centre doesn’t pro-vide support to a State out ofpity. In a federal structure,Odisha has all rights to getassistances and all other sup-ports from the UnionGovernment. Is there anynotion of destructive supportthat drives the BJD to provideconstructive support,” ridiculedRaja.

He alleged that the BJP hasbeen in efforts to redefine theIndian Nation in the line of the

RSS notion of Hindutva ormaking India a Hindu Country.“The situation is going to bevery worse during the secondterm of the Narendra Modi

Government,” he said.Raja, an MP, alleged that

the BJP is pressuring regionalparties to come its line byusing Cetnral agencies like

Enforcement Directorate andCBI. When asked whether theBJD is also being pressurized bythe BJP, he said, “You people(media) should find out.”

He termed the ‘one nation,one election’ notion as “unre-alistic”, “unconstitutional” and“anti-federal”. “Our party does-n’t support the notion,” he said.

The CPI leader wanted toknow why election was notheld in the Jammu andKashmir when the BJP ispreaching for ‘one nation, oneelection’ notion.

Commenting on Modi’s“Sabka Sath Sabka Biswas’ nar-rative, Raja said, “What is themeaning of such a notion whenattacks on minorities are on the

rise and farmer suicides areincreasing across the country.”

Raja too alleged that theeconomy of the county hasbeen very slow. There has beennegative growth in sectors likeindustries, MSME andAgriculture, he said.

CPI State Secretary AshisKanugo, who shared the dais,however said fear of action onchit fund scam has driven theBJD to have tacit understand-ing with the BJP.

He slammed the StateGovernment for closure of 966schools and demanded that all2,700 acres of land acquired forPosco project in Dhinkia nearParadip be returned to localfarmers soon.

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While a debate over theproposal of ‘one nation,

one election’ has gainedmomentum across the country,former MLA and social activistBibhudhendra Pratap Das hasurged the Election Commissionof India (ECI) to adopt a sys-tem to elect the country’s PrimeMinister and States’ ChiefMinisters through direct votingso that development processwould remain unhampered.

In a letter to the ECI, Dashas placed this demand witharguments recently.

“More than a decade, it ismarked that most of the Stateshave been run by Governmentsnot formed by a single major-ity party. As a result, develop-ment works have hamperedand law and order is being dete-riorating day by day. This pre-sent system of election, if con-tinues, will definitely put a badimpact on democracy andextremists would have an upperhand,” argued Das.

To keep developmentprocess initiated by a PM in

case of country and CM in caseof a State undisturbed, peopleshould elect them by directvote. But the candidates tocontest for the PM and CMposts should be from registeredpolitical parties so that entry ofIndependent candidates canbe avoided.

Das argued further thePrime Minister and the ChiefMinisters should not be ter-minated for any reason beforecompletion of three years intenure. Both can only be ter-minated though ‘no confi-dence voting’ wich would besupported by two-third ofmembers and the candidatewho was in second position inthe election should assume asthe next Prime Minister andthe Chief Minister for the resttime of the tenure. “If thissystem of elections comesinto force through legisla-tion, communalism, casteismand regionalism can be van-ished in the countr y.Moreover, honest and efficientcandidates can be chosen bycitizens under this system,”contended Das.

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The All Odisha Lawyers’Association executive body

meeting was held here onSunday under chairmanship ofits president Gyana RanjanMohanty and general secretaryBibhu Prasad Tripathy.

Panchayati Raj andDrinking Water, Housing andUrban Development and LawMinister Pratap Jena attendedas chief guest and assured theassociation to fulfil its demandspresented before the StateGovernment.

Earlier in the meeting, theassociation demanded astipend of Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 for young lawyers for thefirst five years to encouragethem to have a good start in theprofession, providing Rs fivelakh as health insurance to eachlawyer, establishing an E-library in each bar association.

The association alsodemanded allocation of a housein the State capital for smoothrunning of the association,establishing a guesthouse in thecapital to provide accommo-dation to the lawyers coiningfrom far distances.

The association also placedits demands like looking into

the financial condition of thelawyers who are going througha struggling period to havesmall libraries in their cham-

bers and hoped that theGovernment would look intothe matter.

Going through thedemands, the Law Ministersaid that implementation of a25-per cent reservation forOdisha students in NationalLaw University Odisha is inprogress. He also said that hehad discussions with the ChiefMinister and again assuredthat all the demands of theassociation would be fulfilledwhich would help the lawyers,including the new practition-ers, at large.

The association felicitatedYashashwini Santuka, whoscored Odisha rank-1 in theCommon Law Admission Test(CLAT) 2019.

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Police on Saturday nightdetained the owner of a

private hostel at ChandiChowk here on the charge ofmisbehaving with a girls’ hos-tel inmate.

The student, a native ofJagatsinghpur district, wasidentified as a Plus Threefirst-year student of theSailabala Women’s Collegehere.

The incident took placewhile the girl staying at theprivate hostel was alone in herroom when the accusedentered into the room sud-denly.

Finding the victim alonehe misbehaved with her. Whenthe victim opposed andscreamed, he thrashed her.The frightened girl lockedherself in the hostel washroomto escape from him.

The girl came out of theroom after her roommatesreturned and narrated theincident to them.

On being informed, thevictim’s parents picked herfrom the hostel and lodged acomplaint with Lalbagh police.

Acting on the complaint,cops registered a case anddetained the accused for ques-tioning.

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The 76th birth anniversary ofSankaracharya Jagdguru

Swami NischalanandaSaraswati of Puri Gobardhanmutt was observed here atPatia Sworna Bhawan byRamrajya Parishad establishedby Swami Karapatriji, whereParishad coordinatorArjyakumar Jnanendrapresided. A yajna was held onthe occasion for a long life ofthe Sankaracharya.

Giving his welcomeaddress, Hindu RashtraMahasangha president DrBadrinath Patnaik said thatthe Jagadguru is gifted withdivine power owing to which

he can work for 20 hours a dayon his religious and intellectu-

al pursuits. Chief guest DrNiranjan Brahma said the

Guruji has dedicated about140 invaluable books over his50 years of Sanyas life andlamented that steps are nottaken for the propagation of thebooks.

Parishad national coordi-nator Manoj Rath said Swamijiembarks on an all India tour for250 days every year for the pro-tection of Hindu religion, cul-ture, Sanskrit language andcows.

Pandit Kanhu CharanDebsharma coordinated theprogramme while Parishadpermanent member SusantaKumar Panda gave vote ofthanks. The Aditya Bahini andAnada Bahini members coop-erated

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After a few days of lull, theMaoists again went on the

rampage in the district onFriday and abducted three res-idents from Kakurkanda villageunder the Mathili police sta-tion, suspecting them of beingpolice informers.

On Sunday, they killed onevillager and released the twoothers.

Sources said one GujaKobasi was killed by the rebelswhile Soma Sori and OngaKalamali were released by theRed rebels.

A group of around 20armed Maoists barged into thevillage called the victims out oftheir house and abducted themon suspicion of being policeinformers.

The rebels killed Guja byslitting his throat and releasedtwo others after thrashing themseverely.

Malkangiri SP JagmohanMeena said already a probe hasbeen initiated into the incidentand combing operation wasintensified in the area.

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The first national workshopon the National Mental

Health Care Act 2017 andrelated rules was organised bythe Indian Psychiatry Society,Odisha State Branch here onSunday.

The Act was passed by theLok Sabha on March 27, 2017and got President’s approval inApril 2017.

More than 100 psychia-trists from all over the countryattended the workshop.

Hi-Tech Medical CollegePsychiatry Department headDr Amrit Pattojoshi organ-

ised the scientific workshop.IPS-OSB president Dr SamratKar and general secretary Dr

Suvendu Narayan Mishra coor-dinated the programme.

The basic ethos of MHCA2017, which were discussed,included various benefits,rights of a person with mentalillness, the shortcomings andchallenges that would be aris-ing as this Act would come intoeffect. Challenges to be faced bymental health professionalsalso figured in talks.

“This Act will be instru-mented in preserving the basicrights of persons with mentalillness and it will surely help toreduce the taboo regardingmental illness,” said DrPattojoshi.

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The Special Task Force (STF)of the State Crime Branch

managed to nab a member ofa mines and drugs mafia gangafter an encounter at a play-ground near TLC Road in theKhordha town on Saturdaynight.

Acting on a tipoff aboutthe presence of notorious min-ing mafia Sanjay Pradhan inthe area, the STF team reachedthe spot. Spotting the policeteam, the gang members tried to mowdown the cops with a car. Then theystarted firing in a bid to escape from thespot.

The STF sleuths retaliated in selfdefence. While one criminal was nabbed

following the gunfight, three to four gangmembers managed to give the slip topolice. The officials seized a car from thespot.

Three STF personnel also sustainedinjuries during the exchange of fire. The

injured gangster and theSTF personnel were rushedto a hospital inBhubaneswar for treat-ment, sources said.

STF SP Rahul PR said,“We had credible informa-tion about a mining anddrugs mafia SanjayPradhan and his associatescongregating at a place. So,we conducted a raid. Seeingus the criminals fired somerounds at us and we retal-iated. Three members

dodged us and sped away from the spot.We nabbed one of the associates ofPradhan, he is being interrogated.Another gangster is believed to beinjured in the encounter. We are in thelookout for the fugitives.”

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The Federation of SeniorCitizens’ Association of

Odisha observed the WorldElders Abuse Awareness Dayhere on Sunday under thechairmanship of its presidentKrupasinghu Sahoo.

Social Security andEmpowerment of Persons withDisabilities (SSEPD) MinisterAshok Chandra Panda andMLAs Ananta Narayan Jenaand Sushant Kumar Routattended as guests and said that

abusing elders is most heinouscrime in the society. The speak-ers unanimously supportedstringent action for the perpe-trators of abuse against seniorcitizens, including jail termand fine.

Sahoo said, “We are tryingto bring together senior citi-zens, their caregivers, civil soci-ety organisations and theGovernment to combat theproblems of elder abuse andtheir support would help tobuild a happy society.”

The programme attendedby more than 500 senior citi-zens was coordinated by asso-ciation working president DrKrupasindhu Panda, ShivCharan Behera, Basant KumarMishra, Trinath Patnaik andArun Kumar Mohanty.

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Abody of a college teacherwas found on the

Biruligada road under theRambha police station inGanjam district on Sunday.

The deceased was identi-fied as Ashwini Mishra, whowas working as a teacher at theSri Jagannath Mahavidyalayain Rambha. Locals spottedthe body lying near a motor-

cycle in the morning andinformed police about it.Police reached the spot alongwith a scientific team and ini-tiated investigation into thematter.

Police were yet to establishwhether the death was due toa road accident or a case ofmurder. Police said the reasonbehind the death could beascertained after postmortemof the body

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Awoman committed suicideafter poisoning her son

and daughter at Godaguda vil-lage in Malkangiri district onSaturday night.

According to reports, SitaMadkami mixed poison withfood and gave it to her eight-year-old son and five-year-olddaughter before consuming ittoo.Sita and her children vom-ited after having the poisonedfood, following which neigh-bours took them to the DistrictHeadquarters Hospital, whereshe was declared dead. The twochildren are now undergoingtreatment at the hospital.

Though the reason behindSita taking the extreme step wasyet to be ascertained, it was sus-pected that she did it due toacute poverty of the family forthe last one year after thedemise of her husband.

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Aman allegedly murderedhis wife and immediately

later climbed a tree to eludearrest in the Jaipatna area ofKalahandi district onSunday.Accused AgeswarMajhi’s wife Bela was staying ather father’s house in Kurigumavillage for the last two yearsafter a domestic dispute withAgeswar. On Sunday, Ageswarwent to his in-laws’ house andhacked Bela to death with anaxe. He then ran away from the

spot and climbed a tree.Getting information from vil-lagers, police and Fire Servicespersonnel reached the spot; andafter an hour-long effort, theymanaged to get hold of the manfrom the tree. Police also seizedthe woman’s body and sent itfor postmortem.

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Tension ran high in theKamarda area following a

fatal road accident on Saturdayevening.

The family members of thedeceased along with enragedvillagers torched as many aseight vehicles, including fourdumpers, one JCB, two tractorsand a car, owned by the driverof the vehicle that knockeddown the deceased accusingthat he had past rivalry withthe deceased and the accidentwas a planned murder.

The deceased identified asSashikanta Das (62) ofDahunda village underBhograi block, a retired schoolpeon, is uncle of accusedGhanashyam Das (40).

On Saturday evening whileSashikanta was returninghome in a bicycle from markethe was hit by a dumper driven

by Ghanashyam from rearresulting in his death.

Although fire tendersrushed to douse the flame yetthe properties were gutted.Jaleswar SDPO SudharshanDash along with IIC KamardaPasacal Ekka, IIC BhograiNarendra Das and two pla-toons of force rushed to the vil-lage. They had a very toughtime to pacify the violent mobas the latter was demandingimmediate arrest of theaccused.

“There has been seriousacrimony between thedeceased and the accused overcivil disputes relating to fam-ily property which is alsoknown to the fellow villagers.Since there is allegation ofmurder with conspiracy, acase of murder has been reg-istered. The accused alongwith his family members isabsconding. The postmortemof the body is underway.Further efforts are on to nabthe accused soon,” said theSDPO.

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Hundreds of spot-billed pel-icans, an endangered

species, are found roosting inmobile towers in and aroundthe Chilika lake in absence ofa natural rooting site.

A study conducted by theWild Orissa headed by its vicechairman Nanda KishoreBhujabal detected this roostingbehaviour of pelicans. Thestudy, based on field observa-tions in and around the Chilkalake, observed that last year, arecord of 140 pelicans werefound to roost on various tow-ers, at a given time. This yearalso pelicans have started roost-ing on towers.

“Direct human interfer-ence is by no means the onlyproblem. Pollutants in watertake their toll, especially in thefeeding grounds of pelicans.Fish ingest the pollutants thatare released from the factoriesand the pesticide residueswashed into the wetlands dur-ing rains. The pelicans eat the

fish, with their accumulatedload of contaminants,” saidBhujabal of Wild Orissa.

About a decade ago, thespot-billed pelicans were foundin small number in a fewGanjam wetlands, thoughChilka lake has been regularlyhosting every year till date. Thisspecies also spends time inRajnagar mangroves.Approximately 300 of pelicansare found in Chilka, in whichNalaban is main, while small-er populations are being seenin Mangalajodi, Bhusandpur,Tinimuhani, etc.

In neighbouring AndhraPradesh, Atapaka, a water bodyin Kolleru, has become India'sfavourite pelicanry, wherearound 6,000 pelica ns are pre-sent. This population roostsand breeds on iron stands putup by the AP Forest depart-ment, a decade ago, due to lackof natural roosting sites.

Whether the roosting of

this bird in Odisha on mobiletowers will continue in thecoming years and whetherspot-billed pelicans will preferto breed on similar iron standsif they are put up at appropri-ate places, will remain to beseen. Earlier the Chilka popu-lation was believed to be fromthe breeding population ofSrikakulam district in AndhraPradesh, who come to Chilkalake for foraging, but now pel-icans from Kolleru may alsoforage in Chilka in future.

“With distribution of thisspecies in Odisha comingdown, except for Chilka, due toadverse factors includingscarcity of fish food, it will beimportant to consider provid-ing them with artificial roost-ing sites on which they couldbreed and rear chicks. Thepossibility of increasing com-petition with fishing activitiesneeds to be kept in mind,” saidBhujabal.

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Afour-member delegationof the Odisha Dalit

Adhikar Manch (ODAM)comprising Prasanta Mallick,Surendra Bhoi, Rajiv Naik andDalli Mallick met GovernorProf Ganeshi Lal and handedover a memorandum to him onSaturday.

They cited that the after thecyclone Fani hit the State, cre-ating large scale devastations,the most vulnerable section ofthe population, the Dalits, isbearing the brunt. They allegedthat the marginalised sectionfaced social discriminationduring the cyclone whileaccessing shelter in schools,community centers andcyclone shelters by dominantcaste people and forced to takeshelter near trees.

They also highlighted theplight of the Dalit householdswhose thatched and asbestoshouses were badly affected incyclone and who have nohomesteaded land to constructhouses. “Dalit families aredependent on agriculture asagricultural workers and share-croppers. Though they bearcrop loss and unemploymentdue to loss of agriculture butthey are not being compensat-ed. In some places Dalit fami-lies faced discrimination andharassment claiming for reliefand rehabilitation support,”

they said.The Manch demanded

that Orissa Government LandSettlement (OGLS) Act, 1962be properly implemented inthe State to facilitate hundredsof eligible families to gethomestead land for housing.Among others, they demand-ed basic amenities such as safedrinking water, toilet, linkingroad, electricity and mostimportant community cen-ters in the Dalit Bastis, iden-tification of agriculture work-ers and sharecroppers andspecial package for rehabilita-

tion of the families prone todistress migration, imple-mentation of the PCR Act1955 and SCs and STs (PoA)Act 1989 and advisories toofficials and elected represen-tatives to follow non –dis-criminatory practices duringdisaster management, reliefand rehabilitation work toprotect the Dalits.

The Manch also attractedthe attention of Revenue andDisaster Management MinisterSudam Marandi on the issue.

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The Khariar Rath YatraCoordination and

Preparatory Committee metat the Khariar police station onFriday and discussed variousissues for smooth observationof the car festival on July 4.

While Khariar TehsildarSindhusudha Patra presidedover the meeting, PS IICKailash Chandra Sethi coordi-nated it. There are threeJagannath temples in Khariarhaving three separate manag-ing committees. Members of allthe committees attended themeeting. SDPO BiranchiPrashad Dehuri, electrical SDOBapuji Pradhan, NAC nodalofficer Sidhhartha Mahapatraand Forest Ranger S Sunani

attended, amongGovernment officers.Committee mem-bers informed thatthe chariot con-struction works havealready begun.

Issues relating tosanitation, health andhygiene, power sup-ply, drinking watersupply and repairing of pot-holes on the main road, publicaddress system, traffic man-agement, security provisionsand timely completion of ritu-als of the deities were dis-cussed.

The time for starting of thechariot pulling was fixed at 4pm. NAC representativesassured that cleanliness of thetown and drains would be

given priority.Among others, Khariar

Yuvraj Deb Deb Singhdeo,Trustee representative ofDadhibaman temple SanjayTiwari and managing com-mittee members SudarahanThakur, Trilok Khamari,Adikanda Mahauty, AshutoshJoshi, Santanu Panda, JogdhyanBaitharu, Ramachandra Mishraand Sunil Sahu were present.

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The Indian Red CrossSociety, Odisha State

Branch under the guidance ofits Secretar y Major DrKalpana Dash got a man,Prakash Nayak, of Chakrodavillage in Jajpur district unit-ed with his family.

Prakash, who was work-ing as security guard inChennai, had been missingsince f ive years fromVishakhapatnam. On June 14,Dr Dash got a call from DrRamanand and DrMohammed Sofia who areworking at the GovernmentHospital for mental care inVishakhapatnam and gaveinformation about Prakash.

Later, the society man-aged to trace his family atChakroda village on June 26with the help of Odisha Red

Cross’ Family and NewsService (FNS) wing and gotPrakash reunited with hisfamily.

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District Collector SangramKeshari Mohapatra held a

departmental review meetingon Friday and discussed withofficials about several devel-opmental works undergoingin district . CollectorMohapatra emphasized oncourt case, e-governance, pub-lic complaint and timely util-isation of funds.

The authorities of theDistrict Civil SupplyDepartment were asked tocheck retailers stock regis-ters and distribution sys-tem every month. Thr offi-cials of Works Department

were directed to renovatethe roads connecting theNabakrushna ChoudhuryStadium and beautifica-tion of the stadium premis-es.

District’s E Office andWi-Fi programme wouldbe shortly launched aftergetting approval from StateGovernment, the Collectorassured.

The meeting wasattended by ADMSatchidananda Sahoo, subcollector MP Mohanty,Deputy Director StatisticsKailash Chandra Pani,Deputy Collectors andother senior officials.

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Under the Mukhya MantriKalakar Sahayata Yojana,

the Jagatsinghpur districtadministration on Thursdayreleased two months’ pensionfor 488 artists followinginstruction from new CollectorSangram Keshari Mohapatra.

According to sources, 1,246artists from eight blocks andtwo municipal areas ofJagatsinghpur district had beenselected for getting pensionunder the State Government’sKalakar Sahayat Yojana inPEETHA camps held across thedistrict on December 15, 2018.

The beneficiary artists hadbeen given one month’s pen-sion of Rs 1,200. However, tillend of May 2019, no furtherpension had been given tothem.

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Four persons were arrestedand forwarded to court on

Sunday allegedly for trans-porting huge quantities ofexplosives while four othersinvolved in the case wereabsconding.

On a tipoff, the BrahmaniTarang police intercepted aBolero pick up van bearingregistration No. OD 14 K2898 at Kalunga on Saturdayafternoon and on searching,found explosive substancesbeing ferried in the vehicle.The police seized 4,800 elec-tronic detonators, 2,700 super

gels, 90 explosives and17 pockets of ammonium

nitrate.The arrested persons were

identified as Suraj Sahoo ofPanposh, Madhav Patra, AnilThakur of Kalunga andPrabin Toppo of Chikatmatiof Sundargarh district. OneAlok Samal of Kalunga, whodeals in explosive business,was transporting the seizedmaterials for disposal to

stone mafias for blastingin different stone quarries.Samal along with his threeother associates were at large.Sources said the explosiveswere being procured fromDhenkanal. “We are searchingthe absconding persons,” saidBrahmani Tarang police sta-tion IIC Santosh Jena.

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The expansion work of theBrahmapur Stadium would

be completed by next year(2020) and steps have been ini-tiated for construction of a sec-ond sportscomplex in the city.

Sports and Youth ServicesMinister Tusharkanti Beherastated this in the StateAssembly while replying to aquestion of MLA BikramKeshari Panda on Friday.

The Minister furtherinformed that the Governmenthas no proposal to set up anindoor stadium at the KC HighSchool playground and bas-ketball, tennis and volleyballcourts in open spaces in thecity.

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Aseminar on high tech dig-ital learning in physiology

was held at the BhimbhoiMedical College here recently.

Organised by theDepartment of Physiology, theseminar was joined by expertsfrom the US like Dr KausikDutta and Amy Bucher, whoexplained how physiology cur-riculum can be used in com-puter driven classes, both the-ory and practical.

After the lectures, a hand-son training was held in thelaboratory.

Principal and Dean ofBhima Bhoi Medical CollegeDr Lalit Meher urged all dele-

gates to be techno savvy so asto match with new generationguidelines.

Prof and Head of

Department (HOD) ,Department of Physiology, DrArpita Priyadarshini deliveredthe welcome address.

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The Veera Surendra Sai(VSS) Nagar Unnayan

Parishad has once againdemanded installation of lightson the railway over-bridge(RoB) connecting VSS Nagar toMancheswar Postal Colony atthe soonest.

Parishad general secretaryDillip Dashsharma on Sundayalleged that even after threeyears of inauguration of theRoB by Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik, lights have not beeninstalled on it yet.

He said that due to nolights on the bridge, the pedes-trians fear to go from its oneend to other; and in evening, ithas turned into a hub of anti-

socials.As the bridge is not prop-

erly constructed, accidents are

also on the rise due to less vis-ibility during nights hours,Dashsharma added.

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The BR Life Kalinga Hospitalon Sunday refuted the alle-

gation of misbehaviour withBJP MLA Mohan Majhi recent-ly, into which the StateGovernment has ordered aprobe by a four-member com-mittee.

The hospital in a releasestated, "We always ensure thatevery patient of ours is handledwith utmost compassion andcare.”

“We were reported of 25-year-old patient Sachin KumarBarik’s death due to MetabolicEncephalopathy and SepticShock. In this time of grief, wewaited for his family membersto claim the body, who hadassured us that they would clearthe outstanding amount of Rs12,000 under OSTF (disal-lowed items) and take the bodywith them,” the hospital author-

ities stated. But sometime later around

11 am, the billing departmentwas confronted by MLA Majhi,who came to the premises anddemanded a complete discountof the due amount while claim-ing the body. In this scenario,the hospital management isfully aware that as per SupremeCourt order and OSTF norms,of the fact that the body will notbe held, as such, the hospitalmanagement spoke to him andrequested for a written state-ment on clearing the dues laterand take the body with them,they said.

Unfortunately, this led to aheated discussion which waslater on settled by refunding Rs6,000 from their total dueamount of Rs 12,000. The mat-ter was soon amicably resolvedand the body was released asper hospital records,” the hos-pital authorities stated.

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The Xavier Institute ofM a n a g e m e n t ,

Bhubaneswar’s (XIMB) orato-ry committee, SpeakUp, organ-ised Colloquium’19 here onSunday wherein seasoned ora-tors and speech trainers addressed the incoming batchof management aspirants onthe nuances of oration, diction,confident speech and assertive-ness.

DTM Kaushik, AssistantClub Growth Director forDistrict 41, said all you need todo when you are a leader is tobe a part of the team.Toastmaster's CommunityClub president DibyajitBardhan said, “My life hasbeen fortunate enough to beenriched by contributions fromstrong women.”

Toastmasters Community

Club, Bhubaneswar founderAbhishek Das, stated that “It’salways good to make yourstage presence felt.”

A stand-up comedianSumit Kakkar enthralled the

audience with his energeticstage presence and empha-sised that “Humor is a power-ful tool that binds peopletogether.”

The enlightening and sim-

ulating session provided valu-able learning to the students onhow to develop and leveragetheir oratory skills in each andevery aspect of their careersand lives.

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National media forum, theCouncil for Media and

Satellite Broadcasting (CMSB),has welcomed and praised thejudgement of the KhallikoteAdditional Judge Court onJune 27 in the murder case ofa Ganjam journalist.

The five accused in theMay 27, 2014 murder of tele-vision reporter Tarun Acharyawere convicted and sentencedto life imprisonment . Theconvicted were SantoshMaharana, Sibaram Nayak,Shyam Sundar Prusty, suparikiller Sureh Chandra Sahu,and Ramesh Reddy. Anothersupari killer Nursing Panda isabsconding.

Notably, when the localpolice delayed the investigation,the CMSB had organised a

Press conference in presence ofdeceased Achaya's brother andmother. CMSB founder char-man Bickey Bangari, Odisha chairperson senior

journalist Gagan Bihari Sahoo,R Rungnta there had demand-ed Crime Branch investigation

and given a memorudum to thethe then Governorof Odisha.

After hearing the judge-ment CMSB national chair-man Bangari and Odisha chiefSahoo praised the judgement.

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They say ‘Old habit dieshard’. This adage fits a 23

years old ‘Bachelor ofCommerce’ (B.Com) graduateafter he was arrested for thesecond time by Delhi Police forallegedly creating a fake‘Amazon’ website.

The accused, Rohit, wasalso arrested earlier in June forcreating a fake Governmentwebsite in the name of “freelaptop” and “free solar panel”.The accused, Rohit, who hailsfrom Rajasthan, was preparingto be aspiring ChartedAccountant (CA).

According to Anyesh Roy,the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), CyPAD, a complaint from Amazon SellerServices Private Limited that someone had created and hosted a website by thedomain name http://amazon-big.billions-day-sales.in to misguide people and dupe general public by usingAmazon’s brand name and bydeveloping a website whichappeared similar to Amazon’sWebsite.

“Subsequently, CyPAD reg-istered a criminal case under

applicable sections of IT Actand investigation was taken up.During investigation it wasrevealed that Rohit has creat-ed this website and he is thesame person who was earlierarrested by CyPAD in June,2019 itself for creating and run-ning a fake Government web-site in the name of “free laptop”and “free solar panels”,” said theDCP.

“Rohit was arrested andduring interrogation, theaccused disclosed that he hasgood knowledge of computers,website designing, mobilephones and applications. Hestarted running a blog on thetopic of mobile phones andapplications in 2016 whichsoon became very popular.

He decided to try and earn

some money using this blogand signed up with GoogleAdsense,” said the DCP.

Adsense is a program thatallows bloggers and websiteowners to make money by dis-playing advertisements chan-neled through Google. Thereare two ways to make moneyfrom Adsense, Impressions(based on the number of pageviews) and Clicks (on the Ads).Adsense publishers receive 68percent of the click cost andGoogle takes 32 percent ascommission.

“Within a couple of yearsthe accused managed to makearound Rs. 6-7 lakhs just byblogging on mobile phonesand applications.

However, he figured outthat he could draw a lot ofinternet traffic using the brandname of Amazon and “BigBillion Day Sales” followingwhich he created a websitewhich looked very similar tothe original Amazon website,”said the DCP.

“Police have also recoveredrelevant devices used in thecommission of the crime.Efforts are being made to iden-tify the involvement of others inthe scam,” the DCP added.

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The Ghaziabad Municipal Councilorand Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)

leader in municipal house has urged tomake ‘water wastage’ a penal offence. Ina letter to the secretary, Ministry of JalShakti( previously, Ministry of WaterResources, River Development andGanga Rejuvenation), Rajendra Tyagiasked the central government to frameregulation, constitute multi tier imple-mentation and enforcement mechanismto curb the wastage of precious, freshwater. While petitioning Narendra Modigovernment to issue directions under theEnvironment (Protection)Act, 1986, to allstates and Union Territories to make suchwater wastage an offence punishable withfine or even imprisonment, Tyagi hasurged it to set up Task Forces, MonitoringCommittees and other effective measuresfor curbing the incessantly overflowingwater from rooftop overhead tanks.

“The states and UTs ought to be

directed to issue appropriate directions and orders, in sync with thoseissued by the centre, to all concernedlocal bodies, development authorities andother agencies to check wastage of freshground water from overflowing overheadtanks or even otherwise,” Tyagi hassought in the letter.

Tyagi alleged that, overflowing offresh water from the overhead tanks inresidential apartments and buildingsacross the country, results in giganticground water wastage and loss of ener-gy. “Having travelled widely in my pub-lic life, I am pained to see that almost 50per cent of tanks installed on roof topshave their check systems out of place,resulting in massive water wastage,which otherwise could be saved and uti-lized. “We are already late in acting. Thesituation has assumed alarming propor-tions and is worsening day by day.Already, massive ground water extractionis taking place illegally in various noti-fied, critical and semi-critical blocks of

the Central Ground Water Authority(CGWA). The Composite WaterManagement Report prepared by the NitiAyog has clearly cautioned that 21 citiesin India will run out of ground water by2021,” said Akash Vashishtha, a lawyerand environmentalist, working on vari-ous legal issues related to water conser-vation.

“In the absence of any central regu-lation or policy, the overflowing of over-head tanks has become a norm across thecountry and the local bodies and devel-opment authorities can’t act against theerring individuals and households. It ishigh time, the government must framestringent laws on water wastage, if futuregenerations are to be saved,” saidVashishtha.

With ground water extraction pos-sible at just a button’s push in variouscities and towns, the overhead tanks getoverflowing for several hours a day withthe dwellers and residents simplyunaware of flowing water.

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New Delhi: Drinking with arelative on the terrace of anunder-construction houseproved fatal for a man as hetumbled to his death afterfalling asleep there, policesaid on Sunday.

Manoj, 40, a resident ofBihar's Aurangabad, hadcome to his brother-in-law'shouse in Holambi Kalan vil-lage on the city's outskirts onSaturday and he and his rel-ative Lal Mohan Yadav begandrinking on the open terrace.Later, they both dropped offto sleep there. "In an inebri-ated state, Manoj fell off theterrace. He was later taken toa nearby hospital where hewas declared brought dead.During investigation, no foulplay has been found. IANS

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Delhi Police have arrestedSonu Jat, a member of

notorious Neeraj Bawana gang.Sonu Jaat (28), a resident ofRohtak district in Haryanacarried a reward of �1 lakh overhis head.

“Sonu was arrested on Saturday at around 2 amfrom near Mukundpur-Bhalswa dairy Road. Police recovered one semi-automatic pistol and fourlive cartridges from his possession on the spot,” said Pramod Singh Kushwaha, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), Special Cell.

“Investigation revealed thatthrough his cousin Sunil, Sonucame in contact with MonuBajitpur in 2009 who was a

close associate of NeerajBawana.

Later, Sonu became theclose confident of Monu. Monuused to even give money toSonu for his expenses,” theDCP said.

“In 2010, Sonu, Sandeepand Sunil were arrested inShalimar Bagh area when theytried to rob a petrol pump. Inthe jail, he came in contact withShamshuddin. Sonu, alongwith Shamshuddin and hisother associates, started landgrabbing in the area ofHaiderpur,” said the DCP.

In 2016, their rival Mohit had killed Shamshuddinover some land dispute. Inorder to take revenge of the killing of Shamshuddin,Sonu fired at Ravinder, thebrother of Mohit, on April 1,2018.

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A40-year-old man died afterfalling off the terrace of an

under-construction house inOuter-North Delhi area onSaturday night. Police said thathe was under the influence ofalcohol and fell down acci-dently. The deceased has beenidentified as Manoj, a residentof Aurangabad in Bihar.According to Gaurav Sharma,the Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (DCP), Outer North dis-trict, Manoj come to his broth-er-in-law’s house on Saturday.

“They consumed alcoholon the terrace of the under-construction house. The victimslept on the terrace with his rel-ative Lal Mohan Yadav. In astate of intoxication, he fell offthe terrace,” said the DCP.

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Kalinga Sena supre-mo Hemant Rath onSunday claimed that hisparty would emerge as astrong regional party andcome to power in the Statein 2024.

“There is no differencebetween national partiesand regional parties in theState now. A national party(BJP) and a regional party(BJD) were pretending tobe rivals before elections.But bonhomie betweenthem has proved after elec-tions. They all work onvote agenda. People haveknown this and will discard them. TheKalinga Sena will emerge as a strongregional party and grab power in theState in 2024,” Rath told reporters afterbeing elected as party chief again.

Rath said the party’s organisationelections were held under the guidanceof senior journalist Sritam Dash.

While he was unanimously electedas president of the party, SabyasachiMahaptra, Gourang Pradhan, Jadumani Mahant, Narendra Panda, DrNagendra Nath Mishar and BishnuCharan Das were elected as vice-presi-dents.

While Jagabandhu Mohant, BijayRaj, Dr Swatish Ranjan Sahoo, DeepakChoudhuri and Manoj Kumar Nayakwere appoisnted as genera secretaries,Bhakta Sekhar Ray was chosen as organ-isation Minister.

Those who were elected as secre-taries are Abdul Kayim Khan, SibashishDash, Pradeep Sahoo, BishwajitGoswami and Santosh Nayak. RanjanPanda, Srikant Dash, Renubala Mohanty,Subash Chandra Patnaik, GangaMahakud, Rabindra Kumar Dheer andGanapati Mahant were named as mem-bers of the State committee.

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In a case of brutal doublemurder, two bodies were

recovered from near the NehruBungalow underthe Marine police station hereon Sunday.

Locals found the mutilatedbodies of the two youths, whowere mentally unsound, a fewmeters from the police stationand the market complex earlyin the morning.

On being informed, theMarine police reached the spot and sent thebodies for postmortem.

While the exact reasonbehind the murder was yet tobe ascertained, the prima facieinvestigation suggested thatthe deceased were bludgeonedto death with heavy objects. Aprobe into the incident was in progress,police sources said.

New Delhi: Delhi Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia on Sunday "challenged" BJPWorking President J.P. Nadda to comparethe top 10 government schools under theBJP's education model with that of theArvind Kejriwal government.

"I challenge Nadda to compare top 10government schools of the BJP educationmodel with Kejriwal education model,"Sisodia said.

His reaction came a day after Naddasaid that Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Partyhas become "a laughing stock".

"Nadda said the AAP has become alaughing stock.

This working president of the BJP ismaking fun of the people of Delhi in a way.He is saying people of Delhi are a laughingstock," Sisodia said.

Sisodia also pointed out that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in his Lok Sabhaspeech had said making fun of elected gov-ernments is like making fun of the nationand its mandate.

"Perhaps Nadda's views differ from thePrime Minister's," said Sisodia. He also saidthat at least Kejriwal's education model isinciting laughter but "BJP's governmentschools will make you cry."

Attacking Nadda for making fun of anelected government, Sisodia said, "You areactually ridiculing the Kejriwal model ofgovernance, the Kejriwal model of educa-tion. Your party has state governments inmost states in the country, some for the lastseveral decades. SR

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The first BJP parliamentaryparty meet after it won 303

lok Sabha seats would be heldon July 2nd with PrimeMinister Narendra Modiaddressing it and drawing theframe-work of the task aheadand also revealing his mind onhis expectations from the lawmakers, a large number ofthem being the new one.

Prime Minister has notbeen able to interact with theelected BJP MPs, a large num-ber of them being the first-timers, on June 25 on accountof the death of Rajasthan’s BJPunit president and Rajya Sabhamember Madan Lal Saini.

The meeting which is heldin the parliament providesMPs to come face to face withtheir top leaders includingPrime Minister and PartyPresident.

With an stupendous man-date at hand, the party isexpected to play a pro-activerole in implementing newGovernment welfare schemesas there is rising expectationsthat the Government wouldexpedite the slew of promisesmade during the poll cam-paigning.

The important bills includ-

ing that of triple talaq billwhich is introduced in LokSabha afresh may come up forpassing next week. The BJPMPs would be receiving guide-lines and a sense of the direc-tion it is to take in next five-years.

Apart from the signifi-cance of the ongoing session, inwhich his Government willpresent it’s first budget and alsohopes for the passage of manybills, Modi may also speakabout key decisions his dis-pensation has taken since itassumed power in May.

Close to the first GeneralBudget in Modi-2, the PrimeMinister may outline his eco-

nomic vision before the partylegislatures.

According to sources,Modi would be felicitated at themaiden meeting. PrimeMinister would be attendingthe event after his returnhome Saturday from G-20meet at Osaka in Japan.

It will also be the first timein many decades that BJP vet-erans L K Advani and MurliManohar Joshi will not be pre-sent in the BJP meeting as theparty did not field them in LokSabha polls on the ground of75-year age bar it introducedfor its candidates. FormerFinance Minister, Arun Jaitleywho is convalescencing would

also not be attending the meet. The meet would be held in

the backdrop of Modi’s asser-tion made at the central halladdress to the NDA MPs thatthat party has won mandate notfor doing “ kuch” (some incon-sequential) but for “ Bahutkuch” (great many tasks).

Modi has already askedcentral Ministers to work fromtheir offices and reach there by9.30 am and thus lay down arigorous work ethics for them-selves.

New Delhi: The HRD Ministryhas sent a list of premiere engi-neering institutes in the coun-try to Kuwait authorities wherethousands of Indian engineers,including IITians, are staring atpossible job losses after the Gulfcountry decided to recognisedegrees only if India’s NBAapproved of the courses theystudied. The Public Authority forManpower, a government bodyin Kuwait, had last year issueda circular asking the labourdepartment to not give workpermits to expatriate engineersunless they got no-objectioncertificates from the KuwaitEngineers Society.

For India, engineers were tobe issued no-objection certifi-

cates only if the course had beenaccredited by the NationalBoard of Accreditation (NBA).

The Ministry of HumanResource Development hassince then been receiving rep-resentations from Indian engi-neers working in Kuwaitregarding this. “A high-levelIndian delegation had visitedKuwait to understand andresolve the issue and after dis-cussion with the Kuwait author-ities, it was decided to sendthem lists of ‘Non-NBA pre-mier institute’ and ‘Institutes ofNational Importance’ whichhas been sent to the IndianEmbassy in Kuwait for onwardsubmission to Kuwait authori-ties,” a senior HRD Ministryofficial said. PTI

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Afirst global report onepilepsy from the World

Health Organization (WHO)has painted a grim picture onthe status of the people suffer-ing with the condition withmost of them not getting thelow-cost care-as low as USD 5per year per patients-they need.

This could lead to a “sig-nificantly higher” risk of deathamong sufferers than in indus-trialized nations, it furthersaid.

The WHO estimates thatmore than 50 million peopleworldwide have epilepsy.According to rough estimatesthere may be about 12 millionpeople with epilepsy in India,making it to almost one sixthof the global burden. Around14 people per 1,000 popula-tions are prone to suffer from

epilepsy in India with higherestimates in children andyoung adults, and in ruralareas.

Epilepsy is caused by child-birth trauma, brain infection orinjury and stroke. Mired withstigma and unawareness, anddespite the fact that it is one ofthe most common neurologi-cal diseases, affecting one in200 people, epilepsy has, nowonder, remained out of boundof proper care.

In fact, not only medi-cines, there are not enough spe-cialist medical professionals inthe sector. In some countries,there is only one specialistneurosurgeon per millioninhabitants, hence the push fortreatment to be deliveredthrough community healthcentres, said Dr Tarun Dua,from WHO’s Department ofMental Health and Substance

Abuse.“The

t r e a t -ment gapf o repilepsyis unac-ceptablyhigh,” shes a i d ,amid evi-d e n c et h a talmost aq u a r t e rof epilepsy cases are pre-ventable. “We know that 70 percent of people with the condi-tion can be seizure-free whenthey have access to medicinesthat … can be deliveredthrough primary health sys-tems.”

Because of abnormal elec-trical activity in the brain, suf-ferers can experience seizures

or unusualb eh av i ou r,s e n s at i o n sand some-times loss ofcons c ious-ness. Amongthe manymisconcep-tions sur-rounding thedisease is them i s t a k e nbelief that it iscontagious,

which partly explains whymany sufferers are shunnedand why they have a “feeling ofdisgrace”, Dr Dua said. Thisstigma is present in all coun-tries, including the UnitedKingdom, France andSwitzerland, she noted.

“I call epilepsy a neglecteddisease because no-one wantsto talk about it,” Dr Dua added.

In the workplace, it meansthat when someone has anepileptic attack, “suddenly thereis a crisis and you don’t knowwhat to do about it”, the WHOofficial cautioned, while alsodismissing the erroneous beliefthat “if you play with a childwith epilepsy, your child willget epilepsy”, or that sufferersare insane.

In low and middle-incomecountries, the WHO report —produced with non-govern-mental organizations includingthe International LeagueAgainst Epilepsy and theInternational Bureau forEpilepsy — states that in addi-tion to shortages of medicine,sufferers die prematurelybecause of lack of access to pro-fessional care followingseizures, as well as other pre-ventable causes, such as drown-ing, head injuries and burns.

Meanwhile, in a good newsto the patients, scientists ofFutureNeuro and Royal Collegeof Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI)have discovered a pattern ofmolecules that appear in theblood before seizures, whichmay lead to the development ofan early warning system forepilepsy patients.

These molecules are frag-ments of transfer RNAs(tRNAs), a chemical closelyrelated to DNA that performsan important role in buildingproteins within the cell. As perresearchers involved in thisstudy, which was published inthe ‘Journal of ClinicalInvestigation’, tRNAs are cutinto fragments when cells arestressed. Higher levels of thefragments in the blood couldreflect that brain cells are understress in the build-up to aseizure event.

� ��� 456��5*-��

RSS has sought tosee BJP’s win in

the Lok Sabha pollsas victory of nation-al expression ratherthan that of Nationalism whichit said was a western conceptwith expansionist overtones.

Speaking at an eventorganised by the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh’s commu-nication wing IndraprasthaVishwa Samvad Kendra (IVSK)on Saturday, RSS leaderManmohan Vaidya said thatvarious news publications havedescribed the result of LokSabha election as the victory ofnationalism instead of nation-al expression.

“If I would have been theeditor of these publications Iwould have described theresults of the Lok Sabha pollsas victory of national expres-sion,” Vaidya, who is the JointGeneral Secretary of RSS, said.

Stating that nationalism isa western concept, he said theword refers to the expansion-ist approach of states in thewest. During the event, Vaidyaalso said that Hindus can never

be fundamentalists.“Hindus can

never be funda-mentalists, they canbe assertive andaggressive. So is thecase with Sangh

workers as they also cannot befundamentalists. They wouldbe dedicated and committed,”he said. EmphasisingSpirituality as the speciality ofIndia, Vaidya said it meantaccepting all the religions. “Thespeciality of India is spiritual-ity. To accept all religion assame is spirituality of India.And if we teach this in schoolsit will bring change in thecharacter of an individual andthe way he sees the country andwomen,” the RSS leader said.He stressed that journaliststhrough their work can bringchange in the society and saidjust publishing what sells is notan example of ideal journalism.

“What is sellable will run isnot a good example of idealjournalism. Journalists are alsopart of the society. If theythink that the society is theirs,then upliftment of society willautomatically get attached totheir work,” he said.

� ��� 456��5*-�

The ‘5, Ashoka Road’ bun-galow in Lutyens’ Delhi

— a popular wedding venue -will soon undergo a sound-proofing exercise after neigh-bours complained of noise pol-lution.

As per the Central PublicWorks Department (CPWD)’splan, sheds will be installed inthe open area of the bungalowand a designated place ear-marked for DJ sets and dieselgenerators so as to containnoise pollution.

An official said the CPWD,the prime construction agencyof the Central Government, hasalso decided to install verticalgardens along the boundarywalls of the bungalow to con-trol heavy sounds emanatingfrom events.

According to the official,CPWD has sought a report

from a consultant to suggestmore steps so that there is nodisturbance for neighboursduring party events and mar-riage ceremonies.

The ‘5 Ashoka Road’ bun-galow is located in the vicini-ty of residences of MPs, judges,Army officers and others.

“We received some com-plaints about noise pollutionemanating from the 5, AshokaRoad, which is used for mar-riage ceremonies, parties andother events.

“A consultant has beenasked to submit his report tocontain noise pollution. We willinstall sheds, vertical gardens tocontrol the same,” the officialsaid. The bungalow, located inLutyens’ Delhi, is maintainedby the Housing and UrbanAffairs Ministry (HUA). Theministry recently launched amobile application book its 5Ashoka Road bungalow.

����� 456��5*-�

The Congress on Sundaycited media reports to

accuse the Modi Governmentof indulging in “sheer vindic-tiveness” by freezing adver-tisements to some newspaperscritical of the dispensation.

Congress’ attack came aftermedia reports claimed that theGovernment has stopped pro-viding advertisements to somenewspapers critical of its cer-tain policies and actions.

Congress’ chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala taggedsome of the reports to claimthat the Government hadstopped advertisements tonewspapers for “exposing

Rafale scam”, for being criticalof the Citizenship(Amendment) Bill and forreporting on alleged modelcode of conduct violations byPrime Minister NarendraModi.

“BJP Government crushesfreedom of media and indulgesin sheer vindictiveness byfreezing ads to 4 newspapers(sic),” he tweeted.

“This is Modi 2.0 for you!”Surjewala added. A reportwhich claimed that the gov-ernment had stopped givingadvertisements to some news-papers also quoted an officialas saying that “under Congressgovernments too”, such banslasted for a shorter period.

� ��� 456��5*-�

Groundwater level in 16 per cent ofthe taluka, mandal, block level

units in the country fall under the“over-exploited” category, while 4 percent fall under the “critical” category.According to the data shared by theGovernment in Lok Sabha last week,the ground water level of the 6,584block, mandal, tehsil level unitsassessed by the Central GroundwaterBoard reveal that 4,520 units fallunder the “safe category”,

As many as 1,034 units have beencategorised as “over-exploited”, thedata states. Nearly 681 block, mandal,taluka level units in the country, con-stituting 10 per cent of the total figure,fall under the “semi-critical” category, while 253 fall under the“critical” category. Nearly 1 per cent ofthe blocks, mandals and talukas hadsaline water.

The figure is based on theGovernment’s 2013 assessment. “As perthe 2013 assessment, out of total 6,584assessment units (blocks, talukas, man-dals, watersheds, firkas) in the coun-try, 1,034 units in 17 states and Union

territories have been categorised asover-exploited where groundwaterextraction is more than the net ground-water availability and there is signifi-cant long-term decline in water levels.

“Two hundred and fifty-three unitshave been categorised as critical, 681units as semi-critical and 4,520 unitsas safe,” the Ministry of Jal Shakti saidin its reply.

The over exploitation of thegroundwater was highest in the statesof Punjab (76 per cent) and Rajasthan(66 per cent), followed by Delhi (56 percent) and Haryana (54 per cent).

There was no over-exploitation ofgroundwater reported in the states ofWest Bengal, Uttarakhand, Tripura,Odisha, Nagaland, Meghalaya,Mizoram, Manipur, Jammu andKashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradeshand Goa. Groundwater levels in all theblock, taluka, mandal level units from12 states and Union territories—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa,Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,Nagaland, Andaman and NicobarIslands, Chandigarh, Dadra and NagarHaveli were reported to be in the safecategory.

��� � ���)�%��456��5*-�

Even as Bihar continues tostruggle with the Acute

Encephalitis Syndrome (AES)since the beginning of June thisyear, yet another vector-bornedisease threat looms overAssam in the form of JapaneseEncephalitis (JE).

To ensure that the situationdoes not turn into crisis as hashappened in Bihar where over120 children have died so fardue to AES, an alarmed UnionHealth Ministry on Sundayrushed a Central team toreview the situation and ensureall preventive measure in theNortheastern State.

Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan directed theMinistry to extend all supportand assistance to the StateGovernment. “I am closelymonitoring the situation. TheHealth Ministry is coordinat-ing with the AssamGovernment for preventionand management of JE toensure that the cases don’t risein the State,” Vardhan said.

He said the HealthMinistry is providing all logis-tical and technical support tothe State Government in termsof surveillance and diagnostickits to strengthen their effortsin addressing JE.

Noting that communityparticipation and empower-ment are the most crucial in JEprevention, Vardhan urged allthe stakeholders to start rigor-ous awareness campaignsregarding the preventive stepsto be taken by the communities.

The central team is head-ed by Additional SecretarySanjeeva Kumar and he isaccompanied by the seniorofficers from the NationalVector Borne Diseases ControlProgramme, New Delhi, anofficial statement said.

As per the directions of theHealth Minister, the team willreach the State by Sundayevening to review the situation.All 27 districts of Assam werecovered under the JE vaccina-tion campaign for those agedbetween one to 15 years fol-lowed by routine immunisa-tion, it said. Ten high endem-ic districts of Assam (ShivsagarBarpeta, Nagaon, Sonitpur,Darrang, Udalguri,Bongaigaon, Cachar,Morigaon, Nalbari) have beenincluded under the multi-pronged strategy for preventionand control of JE.

These districts have alsobeen covered under adult JE

vaccination campaign. Out of10 high burdened districts,funds have been provided forthe establishment of sevenPediatric ICUs (PICU). Ofthese, four PICUs have beenmade functional, the state-ment added.

For the diagnosis of JE, tilldate 28 sentinel surveillancehospitals have been identifiedand the Health Ministry isproviding diagnostic kits to theState free of cost, it said.

For rehabilitation of JEdisabled patients, the CentralGovernment has providedfunds for the strengthening oftwo Physical Medicine andRehabilitation (PMR) depart-ments at Dibrugarh MedicalCollege and Guwahati MedicalCollege. Japanese Encephalitisis vector-borne encephalitistransmitted by Culex groups ofmosquitoes. These mosquitoesbreed mainly in rice fields andlarge water bodies rich inaquatic vegetation.

Migratory birds along withpigs in the community play animportant role in the trans-mission of JE from one area toanother.

In AES struck Muzaffarpurin Bihar, Harsh Vardhan hasissued instructions for settingup of a 100-bed paediatricintensive care unit at the SriKrishna Medical CollegeHospital.

However, in 214, theMinister had announced sim-ilar decision to establish a 100-bed paediatric ICU and of set-ting up of five virological diag-nostic laboratories in the statebut it was never implemented.

��� � ���)�%��456��5*-�

Krishnaswamy Natarajan onSunday took over as 23rd

chief of Indian Coast Guardhere after incumbent RajendraSingh retired.

A fifth batch Officer of theIndian Coast Guard, the newchief joined service in January1984. During the initial years,he specialised in select corecompetencies viz. Search andRescue as well as MaritimeSafety and Port Operations, atthe US Coast Guard ReserveTraining Centre, Yorktown,Virginia.

The incoming DirectorGeneral holds a Master’sDegree in Defence & StrategicStudies from MadrasUniversity and is an alumnus ofthe Defence Services StaffCollege, Wellington. In hisillustrious career spanning over35 years, Natarajan has had thedistinction of holding impor-tant Command and Staff

appointments, both afloat andashore.

He has commanded allclasses of Indian Coast Guardships, viz. Advanced OffshorePatrol Vessel (AOPV), OffshorePatrol Vessel (OPV), Fast PatrolVessel (FPV) and InshorePatrol Vessel (IPV).

He has also served as theCommander Coast GuardDistrict No. 5 (Tamil Nadu),the Commanding Officer ICGSMandapam and as the firstOfficer-in-Charge of

Coast Guard Training Centre (Kochi), officials saidhere.

Post 26/11, the countrywas recovering from one of theworst terrorist attack. Hismoment of reckoning cameduring that period, when as theDeputy Director General(Policy & Plans), on being ele-vated to the Flag Rank ,Natarajan spearheaded the StaffDivision of Policy & Plans atthe Coast Guard Headquartersand was instrumental in giving

a major fillip to the overallgrowth of the Coast Guard interms of setting up of addi-tional 20 Stations, 10 AirEstablishment, two RegionalHeadquarters, two SeaboardHeadquarters, contract for 120ships & boats.

He was elevated to therank of Additional DirectorGeneral in August 2016 andtook over the reins as CoastGuard Commander (WesternSeaboard).

Under his apex watch onthe sensitive Western seafront,whilst there were no majormarine incidents, the periodsaw surge in major operationsthat included apprehension of1.5 Ton of narcotic substance,mass rescue operations duringcyclones, humanitarian assis-tance during natural calamitiesin coastal states and focussedCoastal Security Operations.He is a recipient of President’sTatrakshak Medal for his dis-tinguished service to thenation.

� ��� 456��5*-�

The State disaster response forces(SDRFs) are required to be made

more “professional” and their fire ser-vices need to be modernised to bet-ter manage and combat disasters. PK Mishra, the additional principalsecretary in the PMO, said this in hisvaledictory address at the end of atwo-day annual conference organisedhere by the NDRF on capacity build-ing of state disaster response forcesin consultation with home guards,civil defence and fire services. UnionHome Minister Amit Shah had inau-gurated the conference on Saturday.

Mishra said the country needs tocontinuously improve the responsesystem to counter disasters andSDRFs, like the National DisasterResponse Force, are vital tools for thepurpose.

The NDRF has 12 battalionsbased across various states for quickresponse to any emergency, man-made or natural. “The task of pro-fessionalisation of SDRFs is yet to beaccomplished in most of the states.Although each state should developthe SDRF according to its require-ments and available resources, therehas to be some degree of standarisa-

tion in terms of minimum capacities,skills, tools and equipment in all theSDRFs,” Mishra said.

He also expressed concern overthe state of fire service establish-ments, who, he said, save the maxi-mum number of lives as they are withthe community day in and day out.

“They are an interface betweenthe communities and the govern-ment. I applaud their courage andcommitment,” he said.

“Yet they remain woefully under-staffed and under-equipped in mostof our states. We have to upgrade and

modernise our fire services, increasetheir coverage to also include ruralareas and improve their responsetime to serve communities every-where.”

The officer added that fire ser-vices need to be modernised andtheir personnel should be bettertrained. He remembered his days inthe Gujarat Government where fire-men and officers were sent abroad fortraining.

“Our resources will always belimited but investment in fire serviceshas to be an important priority,” hesaid. In the same breath, he added thecivil defence and home guards per-sonnel are “under-utilised” for dis-aster prevention and response andthey should also be professionalised.

Talking about the issue of coor-dination between various agenciesand stakeholders deployed during adisaster, Mishra said drills and stan-dard operating procedures should bepractised “over and over again.”

“When we practice coordinationin peace time, we stay coordinated intimes of disasters,” he said. He urgeddisaster response practitioners toanalyse the use of artificial intelli-gence, sensor technologies and robot-ics in their work area.

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For the past few years, yoga has beengiven a big push by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and it is due to his

sustained efforts that the Yoga Day on June21 has become an international celebra-tion and commemoration of India’sancient wisdom of well-being. He has evensaid he wants to make it a part of the pre-ventive healthcare routine in the country.Before him, the former Prime Minister,the late Morarji Desai, too, had set a tem-plate for a government push on the dis-cipline by establishing the Yoga Institutein Delhi. Now the entire country isreverberating with the idea of yoga giventhe government patronage, participationby Ministers, ambassadors and celebrities.This year the Prime Minister and his col-leagues, state Chief Ministers and their col-leagues, Central and State Governmentofficials participated in mass yoga sessionson June 21. As the Prime Minister said,Yoga is for all humans, irrespective of caste,creed and religion. It is an ancient scienceand to some extent the modern physio-therapy is a minor part of its syllabus. Itis a way of life to ensure a fit body with ahealthy mind and cope with the dailystresses of life. The West, especially the US,had always been drawn to the calmingbenefits of yoga and teaching centres,some of which have innovated or adapt-ed it to suit local contexts and formats,have become good business ventures.

Yoga is an ancient science that datesback at least 5,000 years. It was formulat-ed by ancient sages living in the highreaches of the Himalayas. They observedthe workings of nature and their ownphysical, mental and internal processes inco-relation. Through their experimenta-tion on themselves and inner vision, wehave today, this gift, this legacy, this amaz-ing science. Let us make no mistake here,Yoga is a science — of awareness, of heal-ing, a step-by-step process that canchange a human being.

In India, however, it is never seen asa culture marker so much but part of indi-vidual routine and preferences. In fact,swamped by material comforts, we hard-ly see the role of Yoga as a means of holis-tic development of the body, mind andsoul that helps align our thoughts, wordsand actions. Many of our social conflictsand poor value systems in society are theresult of a lack of proper education onIndian ethos and culture. Right from theprimary to the university level, there iscomplete ignorance of our ancient wis-dom, influence, values and heritage, oftenconsidered revisionist, not liberal, and outof sync with the modern world. TheIndian renaissance has seldom beenacknowledged the way the Western onehas been. The revival of yoga must be usedby the Central and State EducationDepartments as an opportunity to incul-cate civilisational values and knowledge

systems among our childrenthat have everything to do withthe philosophy of life and noth-ing to do with ritualism or reli-gion. Besides this, we need to re-assess history and develop amore responsible and objectivenarration of our past, so as todevelop pride in our achieve-ments, lifestyle, social cohesive-ness and influence over theworld. We must tell our childrenhow our ethos developed. Weneed to tell them at home aboutthe virtues and great feats ofIndia that existed more than3,000 years ago and not to time-line history selectively. MostIndian cultural beliefs today aredominated by economics and wedo not value aesthetics, beau-ty, intelligence, wisdom andspiritual attainment as we usedto in the past.

How many of our children,except a few exceptions study-ing in primary and secondaryschools, know that the AngkorThom and Angkor Wat werebuilt by Tamil kings? The world-famous Angkor Wat templecomplex was built in the 12thcentury by King Suryavarman IIwhile Angkor Thom was builtabout 1200 by King JayavarmanVII. Today, however, politiciansare dividing the people of TamilNadu by raising the limiting tagof protecting Dravidian cul-ture. The fact is, even today, thesame core values of Indian cul-

ture are reflected in the religiousceremonies and temples of TamilNadu.

The Lebanese children aretaught in their schools abouthow Indian elephants and sculp-tors toiled to completePhoenician temples between150 to 250 AD. The testimonyof Indian craftsmen lies in thewell-preserved carvings of lions,bulls, eagles and the tell-tale lotusdropping down from the ceilingsof massive structures. Indonesia,though a predominantly Muslimcountry, is proud of its civilisa-tional culture and respects theRamayana as part of its eclecticheritage.

Civilisational culture is anidea and unless the people bornof it identify with it, they cannotexperience either pride or con-fidence. However, in today’sworld, there is convergence ofcivilisations and globalisation.Hence what is practised by themajority becomes the all-perva-sive culture and Indians are notimmune to it either. So much sothat we look within only whenthe endorsement comes fromwithout. Many of our present eragreat philosophers and saintswere recognised first by theWest. Swami Vivekanandabecame famous only after hisepoch-making speech inChicago on September 11, 1893.Similarly, Swami Yoganandbecame a known face in India

after his book, An Autobiographyof an Yogi, created a stir world-wide. In fact, Yoga was firstintroduced to the West bySwami Vivekanand and thenParmahansa Yoganand in thelate 19th and 20th centuries.The global audience is rapt withattention, listening to Art ofLiving guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankaror Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudeva.

If we want to make societycohesive and restore pride in ourculture, we should be conscious-ly exposing our children to ourhistory and culture. It is there-fore, incumbent upon socialworkers, educationists and pol-icy makers to plan and convertthe Yoga euphoria to rediscov-er pride in our own culture andvalues that bind all Indians to acommon thread. Different lan-guages and traditions enrich itprofusely while retaining thecore essence. However, in themodern world, there is no placefor conceited self-belief and re-introducing our future genera-tion to our past does not meanrunning down and forgettingwhat we assimilated from othercultures. People without theknowledge of their history andculture are like a tree withoutroots. The Human ResourceMinistry must factor this con-sciousness in while announcingits new education policy.

(The write is a former civilservant)

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Sir — India should not cave in toall demands of US PresidentDonald Trump as we are not a vas-sal State. The tone and tenor ofTrump’s censorious tweet ahead ofhis bilateral meeting with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in Osakathat India’s tariffs was unacceptableand not worthy of a head of statein a multi-polar world. It was “pres-sure tactics” to bend India to its willand protect American interests.Trump did not show half the wis-dom of Secretary of State MikePompeo who favoured ‘workingthrough trade differences’. Tradeand commerce must be anautonomous domain in which noexternal power can interfere.Trump must be told that Indiaraised tariff on US imports inresponse to the US decision to raiseimport duty on Indian aluminumand steel and withdrawal of India’spreferential trade status. Theimport duties levied by India donot exceed rates fixed by WHO forTrump to come down hard on “oneof its major strategic allies.” Trumpmust be made aware that India’saverage import duty is more or lessin the same range as that of otherdeveloping economies. Trump

should also know that US exportsto India have risen faster thanIndia’s exports to the US. The USmakes billions from our defencepurchases. India must also stand itsground on “data localisation.”

G.David MiltonMaruthancode

���������������Sir —Amid the tension betweenIndia and Pakistan, the unveilingof the nine feet tall statue of RanjitSingh outside the Sikh Gallery ofthe Lahore Fort, Mai Jinda’s Haveli(from where Ranjit Singh ruled

over Punjab from 1801-1839),was a breather. The bronze statueshows the regal Sikh emperor sit-ting with sword in hand, completein Sikh attire, on his favouriteArabic horse Kahar Bahar, whichwas gifted to him by DostMuhammad Khan, the founder of

the Barazkai dynasty. The sculpturewas commissioned by the SKFoundation, UK, along with RajKapany of the US. Foundationpresident Bobby Singh Bansal saidthe project was initiated in 2016 tocommemorate the 180th deathanniversary and to promote theSikh heritage and tourism inPakistan. Earlier, the foundationhad installed a bust of MaharajaRanjit Singh in France (at StTropez in France in 2016 to com-memorate the Sikh ruler’s appoint-ment of a French soldier, JeanFranquis Allard, to train and mod-ernise his army) and unveiled a basrelief of the emperor’s Italian offi-cer General Jean Baptiste Venturaat his birthplace, Finale Emilia, inItaly last month. Not only didPakistan issue visas to 463 IndianSikh pilgrims, who are going tothat country to observe the deathanniversary of Maharaja RanjitSingh, but also kept within theframework of the Pakistan-IndiaProtocol on Visits to ReligiousShrines of 1974. One hopes thatPakistan does not use this facilityto Sikhs to play its Khalistan card.

Bidyut Kumar ChatterjeeFaridabad

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The reliability of official statistics systemsand availability of macro-economic datahave been widely debated in recent times.

On many occasions, the absence of most recentand credible statistics has put the NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA) government in asticky situation. In particular, macro-econom-ic indicators such as economic growth, job num-bers and number of poor people were at the cen-tre of discussions during the recently-conclud-ed parliamentary elections. The re-elected NDAgovernment has recognised the concern as itsall-out efforts to address the issue of investmentand employment have ended with disappoint-ing results. As India’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) estimate for the first quarter of the finan-cial year 2018-19 has been recorded at 5.8 percent, it happens to be the lowest growth rate inthe past five financial years. On the other hand,the annual report of the Period Labour ForceSurvey (PLFS) showed that the unemploymentrate was highest in the country at 6.1 per centin 2017-18.

Just after resuming his second term in theoffice, Prime Minister Modi has constituted twohigh-level Cabinet committees to address eco-nomic challenges and the low growth spurt. Healso held a meeting on June 22 with leadingeconomists to review the macro-economic sit-uation of the country and to deliberate upon theeconomic policy roadmap for boosting growthand generating employment.

The provision of monetary benefits to thepoor is another important issue as committedin the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) manifesto.The Congress party had promised a minimumincome guarantee to the poorest 20 per cent,while the BJP had outlined plans for pulling peo-ple out of poverty by promising proper housingfor those living in mud huts or lacking shelter,and piped water connections to every villagehousehold by the next four to five years. The rul-ing party has also pledged to upgrade rural roadsand improve connectivity between India’s villagesand cities. The former Finance Minister of theNDA government, Arun Jaitley, stressed that thenumber of Indians who live in poverty woulddrop to below 15 per cent over the next threeyears and to a negligible level in the 10 years afterthat. However, all these promises have beenmade without any base value of the number ofpoor people or plan to identify poor families asbeneficiaries.

In India, policy-makers and the governmentuse various methods to estimate the number ofpoor in the country. Since Independence, thepoverty line is based on the minimum level ofconsumption requirement to decide the eligibil-ity criteria for those who can avail governmentwelfare schemes. The identification of eligiblefamilies is crucial as the welfare schemes shouldonly benefit the deserving while also ensuringthat people in need should not be excluded. Thelatest poverty line is based on the TendulkarCommittee methodology that includes thepoverty line basket of both food and non-fooditems, which was estimated at �4,050 a monthfor a five-member household in rural areas and�4,950 in urban areas for the year 2011-12. Thecommittee estimated 21.9 per cent poor people(270 million) in the country from the consumerexpenditure survey data collected by the National

Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in2011-12. These estimates had facedmany criticisms with the main com-plaint being that the line was too low.In response, a new committee chairedby C. Rangarajan was constituted in2012 to recalculate the poverty line.The committee submitted its report inJuly 2014. According to it, the newpoverty line was estimated at �4,800 amonth for a five-member household inrural areas and �7,050 in urban areasfor the year 2011-12. The revised esti-mate increased the poverty level in thecountry to 29.5 per cent and the num-ber of poor people to 363 million.However, the revised estimate of thecommittee was not discussed much bythe government and the Tendulkarpoverty line is still in use to estimatethe poverty in the country.

The NDA government had start-ed using a new approach based onhousehold level socio-economic andcaste census (SECC) survey data col-lected in 2011 to identify beneficiariesfor many welfare schemes such as thePM Ujjwala Yojna. The households areranked in three stages in this approachas (i) households meeting exclusion cri-teria (like motorised vehicle, kisancredit card etc) are automaticallyexcluded; (ii) households satisfyinginclusion criteria are included (man-ual scavengers, households withoutshelter etc.) and (iii) the remaininghouseholds are identified through aseven-item binary scoring criteriausing deprivation indicators like house-holds with only one room, female-headed households with no adult malemember between 16 to 69 years of age.

Though there is no specific indicator(like income or consumption) availablein SECC data that suggests a family isBPL, there is no single number thatcaptures all of India’s poor. Rather,households are categorised accordingto multi-dimensional deprivation indicators like not having a proper roof.

This allows welfare schemes to betargetted for each of the inclusion cri-teria of deprivation indicators. But theSECC data had many serious draw-backs, like not factoring in updates yearon year with people complaining thatthey were either left out in the surveyor entrants falling under the margin inthe years that passed by. Due to theseproblems, the government has changedits identification mechanism now.

This indicates that there is a seri-ous gap in poverty estimates in thecountry, which is grossly neglected byboth policy makers and government.Apart from some anecdotal evidence,only latest poverty estimates are pro-vided by the 2018 global multi-dimen-sional poverty index (MPI) publishedby the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP).

The Oxford Poverty and HumanDevelopment Initiative (OPHI) notedthat India had made remarkableprogress in tackling poverty as its ratehas reduced drastically from 55 percent in 2005-06 to 28 per cent in 2015-16. However, India still had 364 mil-lion poor in 2015-16, the largest for anycountry, although it is down from 635million in 2005-06. The MPI looks athow people are being left behindacross three key dimensions — name-

ly health, education and living stan-dards — lacking such things as cleanwater, sanitation, adequate nutrition orprimary education. However, themulti-dimensional approach alwayshas many drawbacks as discussed ear-lier in the case of SECC data.

The outdated Tendulkar povertyestimates based on NSSO consumptionsurvey for 2011-12 still remain the lastmeasure of poverty, which is used as abenchmark for most welfare schemesand other fiscal transfers in the coun-try.

Therefore, the consumer expendi-ture survey is not only a crucial data-base on which poverty is estimated butalso the only database for estimatinginequality. Unfortunately, unlike theemployment-unemployment survey,there is not much discussion on avail-ability of data as per the latest con-sumption expenditure survey of NSSO,which was completed last year, aroundJuly 2018. Without the availability ofreliable database after 2011-12, the lat-est poverty estimates could not bedone.

The re-elected Modi governmentis planning to launch many new wel-fare programmes for the poor, whichwould be identified only from at leastnine-year-old data. There is an urgentrequirement to release the consumerexpenditure survey data as soon as pos-sible with new poverty estimates. Thiswill not only help in policy-making butalso provide a true picture of impor-tant poverty numbers and status ofinequality in India.

(The writer is Fellow at the Institutefor Human Development, Delhi)

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One of the most conspicuousimages of the media coverageof the Muzaffarpur

encephalitis tragedy involved aprominent TV anchor thrusting hermike on the face of an on-duty doc-tor and almost heckling him. Theanchor’s demanding of answers froma serving doctor about the poor stateof the public hospital is as ignorantas it is unfortunate. Doctors inIndia are often blamed for the rot inour public healthcare system andfind themselves at the receiving endof public anger. Negative often cal-lous media coverage (as highlightedby the above example) does nogood either.

Across the country, doctors have

been striking work in recent weeks,drawing our attention towards theirplight in an inadequately resourceshealthcare system. The recentepisode of attack on doctors in aKolkata hospital was not a one-offcase. Attacks on doctors by kin ofpatients are highly common. Astudy conducted by the IndianMedical Association a few yearsago found that a whopping 75 percent of surveyed doctors had sufferedsome form of physical violencewhile on official duty. Pertinently, amajority of these assaults are report-ed from ICUs or Emergency Roomswhere critically ill patients are admit-ted.

The poor doctor-patient ratio,shortage of resources and supportmedical staff and inadequate infra-structure are well-known problemsbedeviling the Indian healthcaresystem. It is the inadequacy of thehealthcare system to address the dis-ease burden of an entire country thatmust be blamed for the problems inhealthcare delivery. Doctors arethemselves a victim of this rot, notits cause.

Dismal doctor-patient ratio atpublic hospitals

The World Health Organisation(WHO) advocates a minimum doc-tor patient ratio of 1:1,000. However,in India there is just one doctor tocater to the needs of roughly 1,613people, giving us a dismal doctorpatient ratio of 0.62:1000, accordingto government estimates of 2017. Asfor the public sector, a study foundthat there is just one governmentdoctor for every 10,189 people whilethe nurse-patient ratio was a meagre1:483. Inadequate numbers of pub-lic hospitals imply that high patientinflows and overburdened emer-gency and trauma centres are anorm rather than an exception.Long queues of patients waiting onthe roads under the open sky areoften found outside public hospitals.A visit to the All-India Institute ofMedical Science (AIIMS) will tellyou how poor people from distantparts of the country travel to thenational capital and wait for days tobe able to avail medical treatment forcritical illnesses.

Long gruelling shifts, no time to

eat or catch sleep, back-to-backsurgeries are a norm for doctors inIndia. A study conducted over 533doctors in India found that over 50per cent had uncontrolled hyperten-sion, implying that they had sus-tained high blood pressure even aftertaking BP medication. This clearlypoints to the high levels of stress inthe lives of doctors who are highlyoverburdened and constantly underpressure to deliver, given the fact thatthey are responsible for saving lives.Lack of safety at workplace furthermakes the medical profession haz-ardous.

Poor healthcare spending is theroot of the problem

Low public spending on health-care has been a major concern inIndia for years. This is also at the rootof most problems bedeviling ourhealth indices. India spends merely1.5% of its GDP on healthcare whichis among the lowest in the world. Incontrast the BRICS nations, whichare economies of comparable scale,put significantly higher priority onhealthcare. Brazil spends around8.3 per cent of GDP on health, Russia

7.1 per cent and South Africa 8.8 percent. China is expected to scale upits healthcare spending to 6.5 to 7 percent of its GDP by 2020. Even muchsmaller neighbouring nations spendmuch more on healthcare thanIndia. Maldives spends 13.7 percent, Afghanistan 8.2 per cent andNepal 5.8 per cent.

According to official estimates,public per capita expenditure onhealth stood at around �1,112 in2015-16. In contrast, the US spendsover $10,000 per capita on health-care. This comparison clearly tells usthe reason for the kind of epidemicswe have in India. Unless, spendingstake a major leap, not much is like-ly to change in the near future.Unfortunately, being the face ofhealthcare, doctors often end upbecoming an easy target or scapegoatfor the larger policy level problemsin Indian healthcare.

Measures to prevent violenceneeded urgently

Even as comprehensive effortsare needed to scale up healthcaredelivery and accessibility, some mea-sures are urgently needed to restore

confidence among doctors and pre-vent violence in hospitals. The pro-vision of security personnel at everyhospital, including at the entrypoints of sensitive sections such asemergency wards and ICUs, is veryimportant to prevent the possibilityof mob violence. Strict rules to limitentry of attendants and the develop-ment of a standard operating proce-dure for each staff member to dealwith such situations can help keepthe hospitals better prepared formanaging any signs of aggressionand violence.

At the same time, we must notforget the importance of propercommunication with patients andtheir attendants as well as a compas-sionate approach while dealing withdeath. Not only must all due consentbe taken only after fully explainingthe state of the patient to the kin,they must also be kept regularlyupdated about the status.Counselling of patients and compas-sionate treatment can also help inpre-empting unrest.

(The writer is MD of a leadinghealthcare company)

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Kicking off celebration tomark two years of the GST

implementation, the financeministry will on Monday comeup with further reforms in theindirect tax system with intro-duction of new return system,rationalisation of cash ledgersystem and a single refund-dis-bursing mechanism, amongothers.

Minister of State for Financeand Corporate Affairs AnuragThakur will preside over theevent alongside key secretariesand officials of various depart-ments, the finance ministrysaid in a release on Sunday.

The introduction of GST wasa game changer for the Indianeconomy as it has replaced multi-layered, complex indirect taxstructure with a simple, trans-parent and technology-driven taxregime, it said.

The Ministry said it willintroduce the new return sys-tem on a trial basis from July1 and on mandatory basis fromOctober 1.

“Sahaj & Sugam returns forsmall taxpayers are proposed,”it said.

With regards to single cashledger, the Government willrationalise the ledger in such amanner that earlier 20 headsare merged into 5 major heads,it added. There is only one cashledger for tax, interest, penal-ty, fee and others.

A single refund-disbursingmechanism will come into playwherein the Government whichsanctions refund disburses allfour major heads of refundsnamely CGST, SGST, IGST andcess, the ministry said.

“Threshold limit of �40lakh is offered of suppliers ofgoods as per the choice ofstates. Introduction of compo-sition scheme for small serviceproviders up to an annualturnover of �50 lakh with a taxrate of 6 per cent, electronicinvoicing system in a phase-wise manner for B2B transac-tions is proposed to be intro-duced and GST AppellateTribunals are being establishedat various state headquartersand area benches also,” it said.

The goods and servicestax (GST) was implementedthrough a gala ceremony heldin the central hall of Parliamentat the midnight of June 30,2017 and came into effect fromJuly 1, 2017.

The Government said GSThas integrated India into a sin-gle common market by break-ing barriers to inter-state tradeand commerce.

By eliminating cascading oftaxes and reducing transactioncosts, it will enhance ease ofdoing business and provide animpetus to ‘Make in India’campaign.

During the course of thepast two years, the Governmentbrought in various changes inthe GST system both withregard to quantum of taxes andinclusion and exclusion ofitems (goods and services).

At the event, a book on‘GST for MSME’ will also bereleased.

The Central Board ofIndirect Taxes and Customs’officers who have put in hardwork in the implementation ofGST will be awarded ‘GSTCommendation Certificates’by Thakur, release said.

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As the GST completes twoyears in operation, India

Inc on Sunday said it is time forthe tax reform to leapfrog to itssecond phase by bringing elec-tricity, oil & gas, real estate andalcohol under its ambit andconverging the rate structureinto 2-3 slabs.

“GST 2.0 will take the Indianeconomy to the next growthlevel,” CII President VikramKirloskar said. Batting for a sin-gle registration process pan-India, CII said building on themilestones of the past two years,it is time to implement GST 2.0.

“While we acknowledgethat the teething troubles relat-ed to GST implementationmay have been resolved, wenow need to move forward toachieve the underlying objec-tive of GST framework of cre-ating a simplified indirect tax-ation system,” Ficci PresidentSandip Somany said.

The industry body claimedit is generally observed thatwhen members of the AdvanceRuling Authority are officers ofstate tax and central taxdepartments, they tend to be arevenue-bias while interpretingthe provisions of the GST lawand pronouncing a ruling.

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Issues suchas draft e-

c o m m e r c epolicy, dataprotec t ionand pricecontrol onsome med-ical devicesare expectedto figure in the upcomingmeeting between India andthe European Union (EU) onJuly 4 in Brussels, sources said.

The officials of both thesides may discuss these issuesas part of their Trade Sub-Commission meeting.

The other matters whichcould come up for deliberationsinclude phase II of India’sFaster Adoption andManufacturing of (Hybrid) andElectric Vehicles (FAME)scheme, steel quality issues,market access for alcoholicbeverages, and rules pertainingto cosmetic sector.

The main objective of theFAME scheme is to encouragefaster adoption of electric andhybrid vehicles by way ofoffering upfront incentive onpurchase of electric vehiclesand also by way of establish-ing necessary charging infrastructure.

“The main aim of themeeting is to find more ways toenhance trade and investmentsbetween the two sides,” thesources said.

India and the EU arealready negotiating a compre-hensive free trade pact, offi-cially dubbed as the BilateralTrade and Investment

Agreement (BTIA), but thetalks are stalled since May2013 due to differences onseveral matters.

Deliberations of issues suchas the country’s draft e-com-merce policy, data protectionnorms and price control onsome medical devices like coro-nary stents in the meetingwould assume significance asseveral multi-national firmshave allegedly raised concernson these matters.

The draft e-commerce pol-icy has proposed setting up alegal and technological frame-work for restrictions on cross-border data flow and has alsolaid out conditions for busi-nesses regarding collection orprocessing of sensitive datalocally and storing it abroad.

The European Union isseeking greater market accessfor its alcoholic beverages andhave raised concerns over highduties in Indian states.

The two-way tradebetween the two regions haveincreased to $115.6 billion in2018-19 from $101.5 billion in2017-18.

European countries,including Germany andFrance, are among the top teninvestors in India.

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Debt-ridden IL&FS hasdecided to constitute a

sub-committee to oversee theprocess of divestment of itsassets in light of the ReserveBank of India’s June 7 circularwhich has laid guidelines forresolution of bad loans.

The decision to form asub-panel was taken in itsboard meeting held on June 28,Infrastructure Leasing &Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS)said in a statement.

During the meeting,IL&FS board reviewed theprogress on divestment of alldomestic and foreign assetsoutlined in its resolutionframework.

The board has decided toconstitute a six-memberempowered committee,including four directors VineetNayyar, C S Rajan and BijayKumar to discuss and finalisethe asset-wise framework ofresolution with lenders.

The board decided toempower the panel to take nec-essary steps to enhance enter-prise value of assets underdivestment.

“This committee is formedin view of positive responsereceived from financial insti-tutions to the framework out-lined, by Prudent Norms forresolution of stressed assetsissued by RBI on June 7 earli-er this year,” it said.

After the Supreme Courtquashed RBI’s guidelines onstressed assets, released inFebruary 2018, the centralbank on June 7 came out withrevised norms which gavemore room to lenders for res-olution of bad loans.

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India has moved down oneplace to 74th rank in terms

of money parked by its citizensand enterprises with Swissbanks, while the UK hasretained its top position, as perdata released by the centralbanking authority of theAlpine nation.

India was ranked 73rd lastyear, after jumping 15 placesfrom its 88th position a year ago.

An analysis of the latestannual banking statisticsreleased by the Swiss NationalBank (SNB) shows that Indiaremains ranked very low whenit comes to money parked byIndian individuals and enter-prises in Swiss banks, includ-ing through their India-basedbranches, while accountingfor just about 0.07 per cent ofthe aggregate funds parked byall foreign clients ofSwitzerland-based banks.

In comparison, the top-ranked UK accounted formore than 26 per cent of thetotal foreign funds parkedwith Swiss banks at the end of2018.

Among the top-rankedjurisdictions, the UK is fol-lowed by the US, West Indies,France and Hong Kong in thetop five.

The top-five countries

alone account for more than50 per cent of the aggregateforeign funds parked with theSwiss banks, while the top-10account for nearly two-thirds.

The top-15 countriesaccount for nearly 75 per centof all foreign money in Swissbanks, while the contributionof the top-30 is almost 90 per cent.

The top-10 countries alsoinclude Bahamas, Germany,Luxembourg, Cayman Islandsand Singapore.

Among the five-nationBRICS block of emergingeconomies, India is ranked thelowest while Russia is rankedthe highest at 20th place, fol-lowed by China at 22nd, SouthAfrica at 60th and Brazil at65th place in terms of amountof money parked by their res-idents and enterprises at theend of 2018.

The countries rankedhigher than India also includeMauritius (71st), New Zealand(59th), the Philippines (54th),Venezuela (53rd), Seychelles(52nd), Thailand (39th),Canada (36th), Turkey (30th),Israel (28th), Saudi Arabia(21st), Panama (18th), Japan(16th), Italy (15th), Australia(13th), UAE (12th) andGuernsey (11th).

However, several of India’sneighbouring nations are

ranked lower, with Pakistanranking 82nd, Bangladesh89th, Nepal 109th, Sri Lanka141st, Myanmar 187th andBhutan 193rd.

This is the first time in thelast four years that the fundslinked to Pakistan in Swissbanks have slipped below thatof Indians.

A number of other majorcountries also saw their fundsfalling in Swiss banks amid aglobal clampdown against theerstwhile banking secrecywalls in the Alpine nation.

The funds, described bySNB as ‘liabilities’ of Swissbanks or ‘amounts due to’their clients, are official figuresdisclosed by Swiss authoritiesand do not indicate the exactquantum of the much-debat-ed alleged black money held infamed safe havens ofSwitzerland.

The official figures, dis-closed annually bySwitzerland’s central bank,also do not include the moneythat Indians, NRIs or othersmight have in Swiss banks inthe names of entities from dif-ferent countries.

It has been often allegedthat Indians and other nation-als seeking to stash their illic-it wealth abroad use multiplelayers of various jurisdictions,including tax havens, to shiftthe money to Swiss banks.

Also, with Switzerlandputting in place an automaticinformation exchange frame-work with India and variousother countries, the famedsecrecy walls of Swiss banksare said to have crumbled.India will start getting thisautomatic data from this year,while it has already been get-ting information on accountswhere proof of illicit funds canbe furnished.

The funds officially heldby Indians with banks inSwitzerland now accounts foronly 0.07 per cent of thetotal funds kept by all foreignclients in the Swiss bankingsystem, almost same as thelevel seen at 2017-end after amodest increase from 0.04per cent a year before that, asper an analysis of the latestfigures compiled by the SNB(Swiss National Bank) as on2018-end.

India was placed at 75thposition in 2015 and 61st inthe year before, though it usedto be among the top-50 coun-tries in terms of holdings inSwiss banks till 2007. Thecountry was ranked highest at37th place in the year 2004.

The total money held inSwiss banks by foreign clientsfrom across the world fell byabout 4 per cent to CHF 1.4trillion (about �99 lakh crore)in 2018.

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Th eGovernment

is working on aproposal toextend tax bene-fits to retailinvestors in itstwo exchangetraded funds -CPSE and Bharat-22 ETF.

The Department ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement (DIPAM) haswritten to the Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT), seekingtheir opinion on whether equi-ty linked saving scheme (ELSS)benefit under section 80C ofIncome Tax Act can be extend-ed to retail investors of theseETFs, an official has said.

As per the plan chalked outby the DIPAM, retail investorsin CPSE and Bharat-22 ETFwould be given option to enjoytax breaks just like investors inELSS mutual funds. However,their investments would belocked-in for three years.

These investors can alsochoose to not opt for ELSS cat-egory and can continue totrade in their units freely.

“We have written to the taxdepartment seeking their opin-ion on whether ELSS benefitscan be extended to CPSE andBharat-22 ETF,” the officialtold PTI.

If the CBDT, which is theapex decision making bodyfor direct tax matter, givesconcurrence, then DIPAMwould work out a final plan andan announcement may bemade in the 2019-20 Budget tobe unveiled on July 5.

Though extending ELSSbenefits to the existing ETFswould not add to theGovernment’s disinvestmentcoffers, but it would stimulate

retail investments in ETFs andalso encourage household savings.

Currently, investmentsmade in ELSS MFs are eligi-ble for tax deduction of up to�1.50 lakh under section 80Cof the I-T Act, with a manda-tor y three-year lock-in period.

The Government, current-ly, has two exchange-tradedfunds — CPSE ETF andBharat-22 ETF — listed ondomestic exchanges. ETFsfunction like a mutual fundscheme and have underlyingassets of government-ownedcompanies.

Separately, it has also kick-started work on launching anETF consisting of stocks ofstate-owned banks, insurersand financial institutions thisfiscal and has invited bids fromadvisors to explore its feasibility.

The plan to launch a finan-cial sector ETF comes on theback of the government seeinghuge investor demand for twoexisting ETFs. It has raised�32,900 crore through twotranches and an additionalfund offer of Bharat-22 ETF,and �38,000 crore in fivetranches of CPSE ETF in thedomestic market.

The government had raisedabout �85,000 crore from CPSEdisinvestment last fiscal. For thecurrent fiscal, the target is�90,000 crore.

����� 456��5*-�

Private equity (PE) invest-ments saw a marginal fall of

4 per cent in the country to$1.14 billion in May in terms ofdeal value, according to areport by Grant Thornton.

There were 48 PE dealsworth $1.138 billion in May,while in the correspondingmonth of last year, therewere 53 such transactionsworth $1.18 billion, said thereport.

“Despite witnessing a fall of87 per cent in M&A (mergerand acquisition) deal valuesand 27 per cent drop in M&Adeal volumes, PE dealsremained on par with the activ-ity recorded in May 2018,” itadded.

During the month, start-ups accounted for more thanhalf of the total PE investmentvolumes and topped the invest-ment value chart capturing 52per cent and 29 per cent,respectively.

The month witnessed a

$200-million investment inGrofers, making it one of thelargest investments in theonline grocery retailing seg-ment, the report added. It alsosaid that the investment result-ed in the e-commerce sectorcapturing 20 per cent of PE val-ues, while this deal aloneaccounted for 18 per cent oftotal PE deal values.

Apart from start-up and e-commerce, energy and bankingsectors also witnessed big-tick-et investments of over $50 mil-lion.

Grant Thornton IndiaDirector Pankaj Chopda said,“May being the month of elec-tion results, the uncertainty indeal landscape is expected tosoon fade away in the comingmonths.”

Another term for the gov-ernment will only increase theexpectations to streamline theexisting reforms and intro-duce new reforms making itconducive for renewed dealactivity in the coming months,he added.

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The GST Network has devel-oped a system whereby

SMSes are being sent to pro-moters, directors and propri-etors automatically in case ofdefault in payment of tax, fil-ing of returns or mismatch inITC claims by the businessentities, its Chief ExecutivePrakash Kumar said.

He further said that oncethe GST system generates “redflag” alerts, the information isalso shared with the revenuedepartment to alert taxmen totake appropriate steps.

“Wherever there is a dif-ference between GSTR-3B andGSTR-1, GSTR-3B and e-waybill, reminder SMSes now gonot only to the authorised sig-natories, but also to the pro-moters of businesses anddirectors on board. GST sys-tem automatically sends theseSMSes three days after lastdate of filing of returns,”Kumar told PTI in an interview.

The five system generated“red flags” include default inpayment of tax and non-filingof GSTR-3B, and mismatch inthe input tax credit (ITC)

claimed by businesses vis-a-vis the returns f i led by the supplier.

Discrepancy in GSTR-3B(summary returns) and GSTR-1 (supplies return), and gener-ating e-way bill but not filingreturns, are also the parametersbased on which alerts are generated.

“This information we arealso showing to the taxpayer ontheir dashboard. We startedsending (SMSes) to promotersbecause maybe the promotersdo not know. It may be theaccounts guy or CFO whochecks the dashboard. So wesend it to promoters,” Kumar said.

Once the alerts are gener-ated by the system, the SMSesare sent to the promoter anddirectors three days after thedue date of filing of monthlyGoods and Services Tax (GST)returns.

The system sends SMSalerts to promoters and direc-tors of business and helps themto rectify the mistakes as manytimes the promoters are notaware whether the returns arebeing filed timely and cor-rectly by the officer concerned,he said.

����� 456��5*-�

Foreign investors infused anet amount of �10,384

crore into the Indian capitalmarkets in June and remainednet buyers for the fifth monthin a row on expectations ofcontinued economic reforms.

Foreign portfolio investors(FPI) invested a net of�2,272.74 crore in equities and�8,111.80 crore in the debt seg-ment, taking the total netinvestment to �10,384.54 crorein June, according to thedepositories’ data.

“The net inflows in Juneemphasises that investorsexpect the continuation ofeconomic reforms under the(Bharatiya Janata Party) BJP-led Government which wouldpropel economic growth.However, the low quantum ofnet inflows suggests thatinvestors are not yet investingwith full conviction and areadopting a wait-and-watchstance before the Budgetscheduled on July 5,” saidHimanshu Srivastava, seniorresearch analyst and manager

(research), Morningstar.So far in 2019, the FPIs

have invested a net cumulativeamount of �87,313.22 croresince January, the data showed.

Except January, FPIs havebeen net buyers in 2019 till nowand have invested a net�9,031.15 crore in May, �16,093crore in April, �45,981 crore inMarch and �11,182 crore inFebruary into the Indian cap-ital markets (both equity and debt).

“FPI investment, thoughtrending down post March,continues to be positive. Solong as the leading central

banks continue to be dovish,FPI inflows will continue. Asof now, there are no signs of astance reversal,” V KVijayakumar, chief investmentstrategist at Geojit FinancialServices, said.

Commenting on the out-look, he said, “The FPI intoIndian equity will depend onthe outcome of Budget to bepresented on July 5th.Presently, there is no valuationcomfort in the market and themonsoon has been well belowthe long-term average, whichare likely to moderate FPIflows.”

��� � 456��5*-�

Supply of coal tothe power sector

by state-owned CILdeclined by 2.6 percent to 80.9 milliontonnes in the firsttwo months of theongoing fiscal,Government data showed.

This comes amid coalimports rising 12.9 per cent to235.2 million tonnes (MT) inFY’19 over 208.2 MT import-ed in FY’18.

The country’s top dry-fuelminer Coal India Ltd (CIL) hadsupplied 83.1 MT of coal inApril-May period of FY’18,according to Government data.

In May, coal dispatch byCIL dropped 4.9 per cent to40.6 million tonnes from 42.7MT in May 2017-18.

Coal supply by SCCL alsodropped by 2 per cent to 9.4MT in April-May 2018-19,from 9.6 MT supplied in thecorresponding period of the

previous fiscal.SCCL is a Government

coal mining company jointlyowned by the Centre andTelangana.

The Centre had earlier saidthat no power plant was facingfuel shortages, adding thatnone of the thermal powerplants have reported any loss ofgeneration due to supply con-straints.

Coal India, which accountsfor more than 80 per cent ofdomestic coal output, is tar-geting more than 8 per centgrowth in production at 660million tonnes in 2019-20 com-pared to 607 million tonnes inthe last fiscal.

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The Union Budget 2019-20, tobe presented later this week,

will be the decisive factor forequity markets going ahead andinvestors are likely to be in a‘wait and watch’ mode ahead ofthe mega event, analysts said.

However, markets may seesome upmove following thetrade truce announced by theUS and China at the G-20 sum-mit over the weekend, theyadded.

Besides, progress of mon-soon, rupee and crude oilmovement will also be trackedby participants.

According to Vinod Nair,Head — Research, GeojitFinancial Services Ltd, “autoand metal sectors are likely to besubdued due to low demandand benign raw material prices.Government seems to havehectic task ahead- to supportgrowth and maintain fiscal pru-dence which will be closelywatched by the market.”

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The first batch of Amarnathbound pilgrims embarked

on the yatra under ‘unprece-dented’ security cover fromJammu yatri niwas in the weehours of Sunday. All the pas-senger vehicles,which were partof the convoy, were fixed withRadio Frequency Identification(RFID) tags to track down themovement of vehicles duringthe yatra period.

Since early morning, thepilgrims, camping in the yatriniwas, were upbeat. Singingpraises of lord shiva and chant-ing religious slogans large num-ber of women and young pil-grims embarked on the pil-grimage.

The yatra was flagged offby Advisor to the Governor KKSharma, in the presence ofsenior State Government/police officers soon after per-forming traditional prayershere at the base camp. Localpoliticians, cutting across partylines, also attended the cere-mony and prayed for incidentfree and safe pilgrimage in thecoming days.

Chairman of the ShriAmarnath Shrine BoardGovernor Satya Pal Malik is

expected to perform ‘prathampooja’ inside the holy caveshrine on Monday.

Large number of pilgrimshave already reached basecamps in Pahalgam and Baltal to undertake theyatra early Mondaymorning.

The first batch of pilgrimsalso reached Srinagar lateSunday evening under tightsecurity arrangements.

The pilgrims were accord-ed warm welcome at differentlocations by the local districtpolice and state administrationauthorities.

After flagging off the yatra,Advisor KK Sharma said thatcoordinated efforts have beenput in place by the concernedagencies to ensuresmooth and safe conduct of theyatra.

‘’Amarnath Yatra is a verysignificant annual event. Iappeal to pilgrims to undertakethe yatra without any worrieson their mind. “we have madeelaborate security arrange-ments to ensure safety of pil-grims during the yatra peri-od”,he added.

A senior CRPF officer sta-tioned at the yatri base campsaid, “we have beefed up secu-

rity and where ever it is possi-ble we are relying on electron-ic surveillance including Dronecameras’ to keep a hawk’s eyeon the suspected movement ofmiscreants.

“We have also introducedRadio frequency tags to trackdown the movement of vehiclesduring the yatra period”. Hesaid, “we have also stationed amotorbike squad of CRPFjawans equipped with first aidfacilities to handle any emer-

gency during the yatra period”. The State Government is

expecting the pilgrim traffic topick up in the coming days. Sofar over 2 lakh pilgrims haveregistered themselves for theyatra this year.

The Shrine Board author-ities have also made elaboratearrangements for ‘spot’ regis-tration to facilitate rush of pil-grims.

Inspector General ofPolice, Jammu range, MK

Sinha said, “Quick Reactionteams were stationed acrossvantage locations along theyatra route to protect the pil-grims on the national highwayand outside the base camp”.

Sniffer dogs were also sta-tioned at the base camp todetect presence of any explosivematerial and to prevent anypossible militant strike.

The Amarnath shrineboard authorities have throwopen both the traditionalPahalgam-Chandanwari routeand Baltal route for pilgrims.

Before the first batch of pil-grims was flagged off the entireroute of the yatra was sanitisedby the road opening parties ofthe CRPF and Indian armypatrolling along the 300 kmlong Jammu-Srinagar Nationalhighway.

The State police has also setup special security check pointsin the city of temples to pre-vent any untoward incidentduring the yatra period.

The security forces wouldbe facing enormous challengeof securing 400 km long yatraroute along the JammuSrinagar National Highwayand especially areas of SouthKashmir to prevent any terrorstrike on the yatra.

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Every police station mustprepare a list of 10 most

notorious criminals in its areaand police officials shouldwork pro-actively to prosecutethem, Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidon Sunday.

“It is only when a criminalis prosecuted, public will starttrusting the police. So policeshould not only prosecutecriminals but also publicisetheir punishment,” he told offi-cials during a review meetingon law and order here.

Adityanath, during themeeting that also discusseddevelopment in Moradabad,Rampur, Bijnor, Sambhal andAmroha districts, directed offi-cials to upgrade technology toimprove monitoring andscreening of probable crimi-nals.

“Use better technology toprevent criminals from com-mitting crime. There is noneed to wait for the criminal tocommit any crime. Identifyhim, foil the criminal activity,”he said.

The Chief Minister wason a two-day visit toSaharanpur and Moradabad.

“We need to bring thecrime rate in the State to itslowest level. For this, we mustincrease foot patrolling.Though we have improved oncrime rate in western UttarPradesh, there is a need to dobetter.

“Senior officers must holdJanta Darbar for at least onehour everyday and address theproblems of the common man,”he said.

“Only by resolving theproblems of public, we canreduce crime against women,be it eve-teasing, dowry deaths,domestic violence and others,”he said.

Adityanath asked the offi-

cials to activate the “anti-Romeo squads” as colleges andschools in the state will re-openon July 1 after summer holi-days.

“We must be prepared topre-empt any crime againstgirls and should not allow anysuch activities to discouragethem from pursuing theirstudies. Identify hotspots andincrease police patrolling inthose areas,” he said.

The chief minister alsoasked officials to ensure safetyof stray cattle.

“Our society is very sensi-tive about cow and any damageto cow will have long-termimpact on social harmony.Ensure that cow shelters arefully functional and no cow istaken to any slaughter house,”he said.

He directed officials toincrease vigil on activities relat-ing to illegal mining, illegalslaughter-houses and othercrimes.

“We should not only bookpeople involved in illegal min-ing, but also initiate action toconfiscate their assets createdby illegal means,” he said.

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Amassive blast occurredinside a club house at

Mallarpur in Birbhum districtbringing down almost theentire concrete structureprompting the rulingTrinamool Congresspoint fingers of accusation atthe BJP.

The midnight blastoccurred amid reports of ongo-ing post-election violence com-ing from various districts.

The blast comes a day aftera TMC leader was shot dead byalleged BJP men at Bandel inHowrah district some 35 kmoff Kolkata.

Though no casualty wasreported from the blast spot theintensity of the blast was suchthat its sound could be heardfrom 2-3 km away, locals saidadding the major portion of the

concrete building completelycaved in due to the impact ofthe blast.

The Trinamnool Congressaccused the BJP of importingbombs from Jharkhand. “TheBJP talks of political violencebut the blast is an example ofhow they are accumulatingbombs imported fromJharkhand to dominate theBirbhum district,” TMCstrongman and district presi-dent Anubrata Mondal saiddemanding a thorough probeinto the incident.

“Meghdoot Club where theblast took place is controlled bythe BJP and it is the proof ofhow they have been bringingexplosives from Jharkhand tocreate trouble in Bengal,”Mondal said.

Sources said the intensityof the blast matched that of theKhagragarh explosion that tookplace on October 2, 2014.

Subsequent investigations bythe National InvestigationAgency blew the lid off a con-spiracy hatched by Bangladeshterror group Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

The Crime InvestigationDepartment which was inves-tigating the case howeverwould not come to any imme-diate conclusion. “We are prob-ing the case and the materialshave been sent for forensictest,” a senior official saidadding all angles would beprobed.

BJP refuted TMC’s claimsaying the blast was the upshotof the infighting within theTrinamool Congress. “The clubdoes not belong to the BJP. Itis a general club where the peo-ple from all walks of life comeand mingle,” a local BJP leadersaid adding they were ready tobe probed.

Elsewhere in continuing

political violence alleged BJPworkers attacked the vehicle of TMC MLA UdayanGuha at Dinhata in NorthBengal. Guha narrowly escapedthe attacked while his vehiclewas smashed. BJP district pres-

ident Malati Rava however refuted the chargessaying the attack was the result of infighting inthe TMC.

Post-poll political violencecontinued at Ghatal and

Khargapur too where TMC party offices were report-edly attacked by the BJP work-ers. In the skirmish that ensuedat least 14 persons from twosides were injured, sourcessaid.

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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh onSunday visited the Indian Navy’s

indigenously designed stealth frigate,INS ‘Shivalik’ and Submarine ‘Sindhukirti’here.

On the second day of his two-day visitof Eastern Naval Command (ENC) herehe was apprised on the operational readi-ness of the Command and other relevantaspects of maritime and coastal security inthe Eastern Seaboard at the Commandheadquarters, a defence release said.

Addressing the naval personnel, helauded the patriotic fervour of the sailorsin the Indian Navy in maintaining constantvigil against maritime threats and safe-

guarding the nation’s interests. He alsohighlighted Navy’s significant role inimplementing India’s ‘Act East Policy.’Singh was briefed about Long RangeMaritime reconaissance aircraft P8i. Later,the Defence Minister left for New Delhiaccompanied by Chief of naval staffAdmiralKarambir Singh by a special flight.

On Saturday, Singh and AndhraPradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan MohanReddy reviewed the ongoing infrastruc-ture projects and proposals of the IndianNavy at the ENC, an Andhra Pradesh gov-ernment release said.

The Union Minister, who arrived hereby a special aircraft, held a meeting withthe chief minister and officials of the stateand district administration.

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Tripura Chief Minister BiplabKumar Deb on Sunday sent

a stern warning to non-per-forming Government employees at alllevels, saying anyone not foundto be working properly wouldbe sent on “voluntary retire-ment”.

“I worship my work andtake my job seriously. I wanteveryone to perform properly.If you want to do Governmentjob, do it properly. Thousandsof youth are unemployed. So, ifyou dont want to perform,leave the service. “Anyone fromthe chief secretary to a Group-

D employee, who doesnt per-form properly, would be sent onvoluntary retirement,” he saidwhile addressing a rally ofTripura Karmachari Samiti here.

Noting that there wereproblems with work culture invarious Government offices,the chief minister advisedemployees to perform proper-ly, if they wanted to save theirjobs. The BJP-IPFTGovernment in ths state, afterassuming office in March, 2018had introduced a new employ-ment policy.

The Government had alsotaken action against someemployees for absence fromwork and negligence of duty.

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BJP MLA AkashVijayvargiya, who Was

released on bail in an assaultcase on Sunday, said he did notregret the incident but wouldtry to follow MahatmaGandhi’s path of non-violencewhile raising public issues infuture.

The first-time MLA wascaught on camera assaultingmunicipal officer DhirendraSingh Bais with a cricket bat onJune 26 while opposing thedemolition of a dilapidatedhouse in Ganji Compoundarea of the city.

He was arrested four daysago and a Bhopal-based courton Saturday granted him bail.He walked out of the jailSunday morning.

Akash, son of BJP generalsecretary Kailash Vijayvargiya,said the step (of assaulting acivic official with cricket bat)was taken “thoughtfully andwith full responsibility”.

He, however, said that heprays to God that he does nothave to repeat the act in future.

Talking to reporters aftercoming out of the jail here, the34-year-old MLA said, “Let metell you that the action we tookon that day was taken thought-fully and with full responsibil-ity.”

“A woman was beingpulled by her legs in the pres-ence of police. The poor andhelpless family was being evac-uated in the rainy season.Earth moving machines werepressed into service to demol-ish the house.

“I did what I felt right atthat point of time. I did itthoughtfully. I do not have anyregrets for that,” he said.

“We will try to followGandhiji’s path in future. Ipray to God that I should notbe given another opportunityto pick up the bat. I also appealto all the youths that theyshould put forward their pointof view by walking on

Gandhiji’s path of non-vio-lence,” Akash said.

Replying to a query on theincident, the legislator said,“Several thoughts were goingon in my mind since the pastfew months... I had to take thisstep after much contemplation.This was unusual. We shouldalways work with love andnon-violence.”

“We do not have anyremorse about it (incident)because India is a democraticnation and public is supreme ina democracy,” he stressed.

The BJP MLA also accusedmunicipal officials of ignoringpublic representatives on legit-imate issues related to commonpeople.

“The officials forget thatthey get their salaries by taxespaid by the public from theirhard-earned money. In a bid toplease their seniors, the officersbecome so arrogant that theytreat the public like insects,which cannot be tolerated byus,” he added.

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The Congress in Gujarat is plan-ning to put the State Government

on mat in the forthcoming Budgetsession of the Legislative Assembly byraising issues pertaining to farmersand the “corruption” in procure-ment of farm products, and unem-ployment.

In a bid to put pressure on theBJP government, the party Sundayorganised a “tractor yatra” to highlight“farmer woes and corruption in thefarm sector”, which set out fromGandhidham in Kutch Sunday and isexpected to reach GandhinagarTuesday, when the session com-mences, said Congress spokespersonManish Doshi.

He said the party would take onthe government on the issues like cor-ruption in procurement of certain

farm products, unemployment etc.“We will also demand a fix pay for

youths and raise the issue of deteri-orating law and order,” Doshi said.

MLAs of Congress would meetTuesday morning to chalk out afinal strategy to take on the BJP gov-ernment, he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP has alsogeared up to blunt the Congress attackin the House, BJP chief whip PankajDesai said.

Deputy Chief Minister NitinPatel, who handles finance portfolio,will present the Budget on July 2, anofficial release said.

The Budget session, having 20 sit-tings, will conclude on July 25.

Owing to the Lok Sabha electionsheld in April-May, the state govern-ment, in February, had presented a‘vote-on- account’ instead of a fullbudget.

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Alarge number of peopletook part in a protest

here on Sunday to highlight thewater crisis in the city withsome resorting to various artand music forms to draw theattention of the Tamil NaduGovernment to the issue.

Popular Tamil numberssuch as ‘Why this Kolaveri di?’came in handy for the agitatorswho modified the lyrics andcrooned it to convey theirdemands including steps torestore water bodies in thestate. Civic activists, studentsand senior citizens participat-ed in the protest organised byArapoor Iyakkam, an NGO.

“Every drop of sewagewater must be treated, waterbodies must be restored,enchroachments must beremoved, and bring a compre-hensive GroundwaterRegulation Act,” ArapporIyakkam said in a statement.

A demand for a systemto precisely record rain water

stored, the quantity rechargedunderground and the amountof water let into the sea was alsoput forth.

The protesters also urgedthe State Government to takemeasures to ensure no garbagewas dumped in water bodies.

“Government must ensurecomplete transparency andaccountability in all schemesrelated to waterbories, watersupply,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, a report fromErode district said AIADMKMLA N ThoppuVenkatachalam took out a pro-cession to the DistrictCollectorate along with around1,000 people and submitted apetition to Collector CKathiravan demanding imple-mentation of the comprehen-sive water supply scheme by theState Government forPerundurai constituency.

Talking to reporters, theformer minister said he wouldmeet Chief Minister KPalaniswami on Monday andsubmit a petition in this regard.

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Apparently aware that thesocial media was being

used by a group of unscrupu-lous politicians to misleadvoters by spreading untruereports Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Sundaycautioned the people againstusing social media for spread-ing false information.

Twitting on the world

Social Media Day Banerjeesaid the social media shouldbe used for the good of themankind instead of spreadingfake news. “Today is WorldSocial Media Day. Socialmedia should be used for thegood of mankind. It must notbe misused by anyone tospread dangerous fake newsand misinformation,” shetweeted.

Banerjee had for quitesome been blaming the social

media for spreading fake newsagainst her party much to thebenefit of opposition BJP.

Reacting to her tweet hersenior party member FirhadHakim said “the BJP has ateam of IT workers.

They have spent crores ondeveloping this team whichoften spreads unsubstantiatednews. The people shouldremain alert against such newsthat created dissension in thesociety.”

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National Conference (NC)president Farooq Abdullah

on Sunday said talks were theonly way forward to heraldpeace in Jammu and Kashmirand hoped that the Centrewould soon take an initiativeto start a dialogue in thisregard with Pakistan and allthe other stakeholders.

Abdullah also wished ablissful pilgrimage to thosevisiting the holy cave shrine ofAmarnath at a height of 3,880metres in the south KashmirHimalayas.

“The process of dialogueshould be initiated with allshades of opinion in Jammuand Kashmir, as also withPakistan to achieve the largerobjective of peace in the state,”he said on the sidelines of afunction at Lakhanpur inKathua district.

The former Jammu andKashmir chief minister saidhistory stood testimony to thefact that all contentious issueswere sorted out by sitting

around the table and hopedthat the process of dialoguewould be initiated by India andPakistan, “sooner the better”.

He recalled that formerprime minister Atal BihariVajpayee had initiated talkswith Pakistan even after hos-tilities between the two neigh-bouring countries in a bid toimprove the relations.

“The beneficiaries of thedialogue will be the people ofJammu and Kashmir, whohave been bearing the brunt ofthe hostilities,” Abdullah saidwhile exuding confidence thatthe Indo-Pak talks would leadto the culmination of violencein the state.

He reiterated that a dia-logue with all the stakeholderswith an avowed objective ofaddressing the internal andexternal dimensions of theJammu and Kashmirimbroglio, which he describedas “political” in character,would be a major initiativetowards lasting peace in theregion.

“The NC has constantlybeen maintaining that Indo-Pak bonhomie will usher in anew era of peace and prosper-ity in our state. Animosity canachieve nothing but destruc-tion,” the former Union min-ister said.

On the commencement ofthe 46-day-long AmarnathYatra from here, he said the pil-grimage was a symbol of com-munal harmony and hopedthat it would further foster thebonds of amity and brother-hood.

Abdullah said he would bevisiting the Amarnath Yatrabase camp in a few days tooversee the arrangements forthe pilgrimage.

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While he sits on hischair, sipping coffee,one might confuse

him for Ranbir Kapoor or evenSanjay Dutt at a glance. As

I remark how peoplefeel that he resemblesthe two actors andeven Ranveer Singhdue to his similarfashion choices,actor MeezaanJaaferi, who is set tomake hisBollywood debutwith Malaal,laughs andinstantly startsadding morenames to the list.He says, “Trustme, it’s not justthese threenames. Peoplehave been call-ing me KunalK a p o o r ,Harshvardhan

Kapoor and some-one called me MS

Dhoni too. Can youimagine? I just said bringit on. Itna khichdi banadiya hai logo ne (peoplehave made it a mess).”

So does he really getaffected by any of this?

Meezaan merrily apprisesus that being compared to such

big names is like a compliment forhim. He says, “I don’t care. It’s justmy first film. I still have a lot toprove to get to reach even five percent of what they have achieved.People are judging a book by itscover right now. I don’t blame themor expect anything from them. Buttheir perception might change oncethey watch the film. So it’s fine.”

The actor chuckles and sharesan instance, “Sometimes I am

just standing and people wouldsay why are you standing like

Sanju baba (Sanjay Dutt)? And

I say what do you mean? It’s the wayI stand. Baba just naturally comesto my body.”

The comparisons are bound tohappen. Dutt’s character in Vaastavis one of his very prominent char-acters and very similar to Shiva(Meezaan’s character) of Malaal. Hesays, “It’s inevitable that one willmake comparisons. But I play Shivahere. I act and dance like him. I don’tdance like Sanjay Dutt. I love himbut I dance better than Sanju baba.”He winks and chuckles again.

The actor shares that he alreadyknew that he was being launched bySanjay Leela Bhansali. He had ear-lier assisted him during the shoot ofPadmaavat (2018). He tells us thatit was just another day in his rou-tine when he got a call fromBhansali that he wanted to meet himin his office. Mangesh Hadawale(director) was waiting for himthere. He says, “I had never evenheard his name before so I was a bitmore curious. I had never seen hiswork. Sharmin (Segal) was with me.He asked us what are our viewstowards acting, goals and our per-sonal accomplishments were. Wegot to know more about him. Heasked us to watch the films that hehad done. I watched one of his films,Indian Circus. I then realised whathe was capable of. We got so influ-enced by him because more than hiswork, we admired him for hisnature and for the person he is. Itreally touched me. He is very downto earth and humble.”

It was after Mangesh realisedthat he had broken the director-actor barrier with the two, he intro-

duced us with their characters in thefilm. He says, “We weren’t given thescript even until one month beforethe release of the film. He didn’t evenbrief us about the film’s story. He justtold us that the film was inspired bya South Indian blockbuster, 7GRainbow Colony and asked us towatch the film. It’s not a remake ora copy of it. We started attendingworkshops for the film in a veryunconventional way, which is hisway of doing things. We never sawthe original script.”

Since it is his first stint at act-ing, what were his preparations forthe role? Years of watching cinemahelped him get into the skin of hischaracter. “I used to watch a lotfilms, whether it was Hollywood orBollywood. I watched more ofHollywood to understand the emo-tions better. Marathi and Hindi filmswere to understand the culture andthe background. I saw so manyspeeches of politicians. With suchexposure of cinema and under-standing of different cultures, you

slowly start understanding andadopting the way they speak, theirbody language or how loud or softthey are,” says he.

Meezaan says that the role wasquite challenging for him but withMangesh at every step, it became acakewalk. He says, “Mangesh sirstarted talking to me in Marathi. Iwas not allowed to speak in Englishor Hindi at all at the workshops. Ican recall, once I was desperatelytrying to tell sir ‘mujhe yeh nahi patahai (I don’t know this). I didn’t knowhow to say this in Marathi. He toldme, ‘no you have to know it.’”

Since the film and his charac-ter is set in the chawls of Mumbai,the actor says that he started visit-ing chawls and railway stations. “Itwas very important for the peopleof the chawl to accept me. Becauseif they couldn’t look at me as one ofthem, how could the rest of thecountry? Of course, I can’t godressed like a normal Meezaan ona daily basis. I had to get into thecharacter. So I had to first change

my physical appearance and dress-ing style for people to accept me.The first thing that people observeis how you look. So I had to adaptto their routine.”

Sharing some of his tricks to bemore involved with the people, helaughs and says, “Though I was notfluent in the language, I didn’t wantto tell this to them. I just used to startthe conversation and voh bolte rehtetheey, mai beech beech mein ek dowords bol deta tha (they kept talk-ing and I just put some words inbetween), so that they know I amone of them and I know the lan-guage. Eventually, I made thembelieve that I was a Marathi and thatwas very important for me. I thoughtI was confident to do this onscreenas well.”

Love stories are always specialbecause everyone can relate to them,says the actor, who is Jaaved Jaaferi’sson. “It’s an emotion that everybodyfeels. It’s not necessary that every-body can relate to an action film. Butyou always relate to a love story. It’shuman. It can never go away.”

Meezaan believes that it’s nevereasy to share screen space with any-body. But yes, it becomes a bit eas-ier when you know someone. Theactor and Sharmin have known eachother for eight to nine years. He says,“There’s no awkwardness when youare with your friend. Those barriersare already broken. It was not just thework support but also an emotion-al support from her. Because she hasfaith in me, she critiqued my worktruthfully.”

(The film releases on July 5.)�����2������'�#����

Anubhav Sinha’s attitude to films wasdefined by a non-filmy friend’s reac-tion to the first cut of the trailer of

Article 15. “He saw it, kept looking at theTV, turned around and said, ‘Kitna gussahai tere andar (you’ve so much pent upanger).’ I’ve been angry about certain thingsand maybe films are a good method to ventit out,” says the director, whose last out-ing Mulk brought us face to face with aMuslim family tarred by the tag of terror-ism because one of them indulged in anact that could be defined so.

It seems that Anubhav is getting intothe habit of showing us a mirror, whichreflects a picture that is far from pretty bybringing us face to face with prejudices thathave become so intrinsic to our being thatthey appear to be normal. But by no stretchof imagination can they be described assuch. In Article 15, he dives into the under-belly of the caste system and leaves uscringing at our own selves and attitudesin the the way we treat our fellow humanbeings.

Cut to the second half of the film anda man shorn of any protective devices andpractically bare-chested dives into a man-hole and emerges covered in muck, fae-ces and waste. “This was shot in extremeslow motion, 150 frames in a second, tomake one feel as if one is diving into thegutter. I want you to see every thinnest slideof that process,” emphasises Sinha.

But when you question if his moveaway from romantic (Tum Bin, 2001) oreven action films (Dus, 2005 or Ra.One,2011) to more realistic fare is a consciouseffort, he avers, “It isn’t. Rather it is a stateof mind. I’m not happy with my fellowcountrymen, so I’m chatting with them.”

He isn’t consciously thinking of anyparticular direction to take. “I’m having aball. I think of good stories. I put them onpaper and by god’s grace, the rhythm issuch that when I really like them, I end upwriting a hundred pages in three days likeI did for this film.”

Of course, the film did have severaldrafts and he collaborated with GauravSolanki, its co-writer. Anubhav agrees thata lot of thought went behind it. “I’m awarethat these aren’t flirtatious films where youthink up a story and weave somethingaround it. These things have been brew-ing inside me for long,” he says.

Naturally, a film that puts out a strongpoint that might appear contentious intoday’s troubled times and can be interpret-ed in a warped way is bound to invite trou-ble. Article 15 is no different. From the timethe trailer aired, Anubhav has been trolled,received threats including one of sexualviolence against his sister. “I have noth-ing to say to them.There is no pointtalking to cluelesspeople. We must

find better employment forthem,” he emphasises on theword ‘better’ hinting thatthis was one form ofemployment.

Prodded further, hepoints out that the pro-testers have been at it fora month. “I wonder ifthey have some kind ofpatronage because 200to 400 boys cannot go to atheatre and say that youcannot screen this film with-out some support or protec-tion from the administra-tion,” he says and gives theexample of Padmaavati whichwas later released as Padmaavat.“They said we suspect that Rajputshave been derided. Till that timeSanjay Leela Bhansali had no certifica-tion. He approached the Central Boardof Film Certification which was head-ed by Prasoon Joshi. He watched thefilm, found nothing objectionableand gave it a U/A certificate. But thesepeople don’t respect CBFC, which isa Constitutional body. That in turnmeans that they have scant respect forthe Constitution or the government.They are just seeking attention,”says the 49-year-old director.

Something similar happened tohim recently at a panel discussion ina news studio. “A gentleman wasfighting with me against what hebelieved was a wrongful portrayal ofBrahmins in the film. When I ques-tioned as to which scene was dis-respectful to Brahmins, he said thathe had seen only the trailer.Clearly, he had come to thedebate so that he could be seen onTV,” he says.

Anubhav tried to tackle thisby writing an open letter to theprotesters which said, “We live ina civilised society and we shouldrespect each other,” and whenI ask him that with the kind ofthreats going around, can weclaim to be so? He says, “Atleast we are supposed to be.I’m disappointed in us ashumans and what we’re doingworldwide — in India, USA orUK. Suddenly people in UKare insecure of immigrants.What is going on? We weremeant to live together inharmony.”

Sometimes he takes tothe social media to ventout and recently he gave itback to the trolls strongly.“I’m playing with them. I’mfrom Benaras, hence very abusive. I’ve a

15 minute spurt.The only abusiveword that I used inthe tweets is f**kwhich featured inmy film that hasbeen certified asU/A. But they gotupset. They don’tread what their fra-ternity writes to

me,” he says.The film, as is

known, has many ref-erences from contem-porary times. The filmfeatures the Badaun

rape case of 2014 wheretwo teenage girls were

allegedly raped and then mur-dered by hanging from a tree. Asdoes the Una case, where Dalitswere flogged on the pretext of cowprotection and they retaliated bynot reporting to work.

Ayushmann Khurana, whohas previously picked up sociallyrelevant films, plays IPS officerAyan Ranjan. “He met me forsomething else and I ended uptelling him the story. He wanted todo it and told me not to sign up any-

one else,” says he.However, the film has been crit-

icised for making a Brahmin the pro-tagonist, who is the means of redemp-tion for the lower caste, something akinto carrying the White man’s burden. “Ihave a few answers to that. They canmake that film where the protagonist isa lower caste. They can’t tell me what Ishould do. Two, ideally the privilegedhave to challenge their own kind. To me,that is the most exciting. The underpriv-ileged have been challenging the privi-leged for a few thousand years and it has-n’t got anywhere. So somebody from aprivileged class has to stand up and saythat what a fellow caste person is doingis unacceptable. I don’t think it is a sav-iour complex. I remember my DOP, whois a White man, fought over it too,” hesays and takes a deep breath to add hisfinal argument. “Even if what you are say-ing is right, I want to make a mainstreamfilm, which people will watch rather thanjust film critics. When we make big com-mercial films, there are several compro-mises that we make to attract the audi-ence. So even if this is a compromise, Ican use it to talk about different things.We talk about utopia when we don’t havebasics in place. So if a person wants meto portray a utopia, I will retort that I amnot the only man responsible for it. I amdoing what I can and you do what youcan,” says the director.

We get talking about how commer-cial films have now become more real-istic and taken up subjects that were hith-erto confined to what was called the par-allel or art cinema. “A very dear friendwas reviewing the film and used the term,parallel commercial cinema for it. I’vewanted to draw a new line where a filmis real but mainstream. It is a very diffi-cult balance to achieve where you haveto be qualitatively and cinematicallygood. When I make films, my top pri-ority is to get an audience. I love the starsthat the critics give a but I cannot makefilms just for them,” he says.

The film’s opening credits thank BobDylan and one understands why, as thesinger’s iconic number, Blowin in theWind is strummed up in the back-ground of the very first frames. As theend draws near, we hear the familiarstrains of Vaishnav Jana Toh, MahatmaGandhi’s famous bhajan. In between thetwo lies the crux of the film. “I hope so,”says Anubhav and adds, “I begged, bor-rowed and stole to get that song from MrDylan and he was kind enough to allowme to use it. When I tried to get it ini-tially, I was told that I must be out of mymind and shouldn’t waste my time. ButI persisted. Shahrukh ka dialogue hai na,‘kisi bhi cheez ko dil se chaho to purikainat usse tumse milane ki koshish meinlag jaati hai’.”

But a lot of work did go in acquir-ing the rights. He wrote to GinggerShankar, his LA-based singer friend, whoin turn approached a person who copiedAnubhav’s mail to Dylan’s manager.“One fine morning, I woke up to a mailfrom him allowing me to use it,” he says.

Incidentally, Martin Scorcese’s RollingThunder Revue, a documentary on a con-cert tour by Dylan with numerous musi-cians and previous collaborators hit thetheatres in India on the same day asArticle 15.

Up next, he is working on a film thatis contemporary though the inspirationthis time around is not from news. “I amshooting with Taapsee next month. I amworking on two more as I endeavour tomake two films in an year,” he says.

Since his content is path-breaking,has he caught up on any of the new webseries? He intends to though he hasn’thad the time to watch any recently as he“has been busy with my films. I havemissed seriously good stuff.”

An avid reader, he says, “I am read-ing Humans: A Brief History of How WeFucked It All Up by Tom Phillips. It is out-rageous and outstanding. We have metic-ulously fucked it up.” Clearly, the friendwas right. Bohot gussa hai Anubhav keandar.

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Among leaders of all thepolitical parties, it has

become conventional thesedays to discuss in detail aboutthe annual budget or econom-ic plan as to whether it pro-motes public or private sectorand whether its proposals arelabour-intensive or capital-intensive. However, hardlyhave our planners and econ-omists ever bothered aboutthe moral climate plan andwhether that climate would becongenial to its implementa-tion. Nor, for that matter,have they ever given a seriousthought to the need ofreforming the institutionalmechanism. In fact, ourstatesmen and economistshave not fully realised howseriously the moral state of asociety affects even secularmatters like economic plan-ning and how it affects pub-lic morals. They forget thatthe feverish growth of unac-counted money, the collu-sion of bureaucrats with con-tractors to cheat the law andthe exchequer, lack of devo-tion to work and the loss ofintegrity in public life canmake even the most meticu-lous economic plan seem tobe inefficient. If the work ofimplementation proceeds at aslovenly pace, if politicalparties collect funds in allsorts of devious ways and ifthe moral authority of ourleaders gets increasingly erod-ed, not the best of plans orbudgets can improve the eco-nomic situation. In such anatmosphere, it is only thevocal, combative and theclever, who gets the benefitfrom the planning.

It is, therefore, necessaryto see what collaborativeefforts can cultivate and inter-nalise the values and toreform the institutionalmechanism so that the plan isproperly executed and thebenefits of the plan can reachthe poor people. It does notgenerate system, which impelsevery individual, family orgroup to maximise its owngains, unmindful of whathappens to the rest. As oursystem stands at present, itreproduces inflation, pollu-tion, consumerism and socialviolence in an environment ofwide-spread poverty, dishon-esty, income-concealment,tax-evasion etc. It generates

loss of moral values.Therefore, it is time that oureconomists pay attention tothe moral aspect of planningbefore the moral crisis over-whelms the whole economicsystem and the society.

Today we are witnessingfall of many governments,empires, kingships anddemocracies across the world.The reason behind their col-lapse is because the values andaims of both the leaders andpeople are not clean. Theseed of difficulties in oursystem is the lack of aware-ness and practice of valuessuch as cooperation, honesty,serving, self-examination andself-discipline. This is main-ly because since childhood wehave been taught to competefiercely in order to succeedrather than to develop indi-vidual talents to complementeach other; to possess andaccumulate more as a meansof security rather than shar-ing our resources and realis-ing that security comes whenthere is unity, a sense ofbelonging among everyone inthe society.

This ignorance towardsvalues brings sufferings tohumanity due to which vicesare created bringing furthermisery to our lives. It wouldthus be wrong for politics touse religion, culture and eco-nomics for selfish ends or tosatisfy one’s own hunger forpower. Instead,it should learnits lessons from ethics andeconomics of people’s welfareand use the power it hasgained towards the commongoal of purity, peace andprosperity.

The highest and idealgoal of the human life isthe realisation of god,

the one who is ever-existent,ever-conscious and ever-bliss-ful. The primary requirementsfor this could be purificationof the mind and its orientationinwards. Worshipping god,in any form, as cherished byan individual, is a standardand common process, whichserves this purpose and final-ly enables the aspirant torealise the ultimate reality oflife.

Worshipping processes inthe Hindu mythology consistof a series of steps and eachstep is spiritually significant inadvancing the purpose ofpurifying the mind and mak-ing it turn inwards, whichfinally result in the attainmentof supreme spiritual enlight-enment of the aspirant.

From the Puranas, wefind that when the gods andthe demons churned the‘Kshirode’ sea nectar, whichimmortalises one who drinksit, had evolved from the deepsea. The gods were in searchof a fitting vessel which couldhold this immortalisingAmrit. Lord Biswakarma, thechief engineer of the gods, wascalled and urged for an imme-diate solution of the problem.He thought seriously over thematter and then built anextremely powerful pot bytaking a part of energy fromeach god. This sacred power-ful container was given thename Kalasa, as it was built bytaking Kala or part, energyfrom the gods. This is, possi-bly, some feasible backgroundfor the pitcher (ghat) to beconsidered as a sacred vessel.Generally, a pitcher is made ofearth. In many cases, howev-er, it is also made of metalssuch as brass, copper, etc.

The gods and goddesses

are first welcomed to taketheir places inside the sacredpowerful pitcher. When anidol is made to worship thedesignated god, the question

arises — why should a pitch-er be installed to welcome thedeity? It is required becauseonly the designated god canbe welcomed as the idol.

From the spiritual point ofview, the pitcher representsthe cavity of our heart whichis believed to be the abode ofgods and goddesses. It is also

believed that consciousnessoriginates from deep insideour hearts. When the sacredmantras or hymns are beingchanted with great devotion towelcome the gods, theyrespond to the mantras bywelcoming them.

For the installation of thesacred pitcher inside the heart,many items such as water,fruits, generally a greencoconut, stems and leaves ofsacred trees, mainly mangotree, etc., and some other itemsare required.

When the worshiperchants the hymns, embracingthe depth of his heart andcompletely realises the mean-ing of their lyrics, a kind ofheavenly emotion is devel-oped in him/her. And thewater in the pitcher repre-sents this heavenly emotion. Inthis celestial zone, the worship-per might feel that the godshave taken cherished forms.

Usually, a fruit is placed atthe top of the pitcher, whichsymbolises knowledge andwisdom. When a truth seekerunravels the mystery in hismatter of search and gets to thebottom of the truth, s/he expe-riences ethereal emotions ofjoy. Spiritually, when, throughknowledge, wisdom and truedevotion, the worshipperreveals herself/himself to thegod, celestial emotions devel-op in the worshipper. Onlythen is the worshipper regard-ed ideal or fit to worship.Head is the centre of all knowl-edge. Generally, a greencoconut, with a part of thestem attached to it, is the fruitwhich is placed on the top ofthe pitcher. It has the shape ofthe head and the stem attachedas if representing the flame ofknowledge (Shiksha).

Fresh leaves with stems offive different sacred trees areplaced on the mouth of the

pitcher. These are symbolic ofthe five organs of action — theorgan of speech, hands, feet,evacuation and procreation. Inthe water, five different gemsare placed, which symbolisethe five organs of perception —ears, skin, eyes, tongue andnose. Also, below the pitcher,five different grains are placedwhich are symbolic of the fivesubtle elements(Panchatanmatra) — akash(the vast space), vaayu (air),tejas (fire), op (water) andprithvi (earth) in their rudi-mentary, uncompounded state.The subtle body (Sookshmsharir) of a man is composedof these five subtle elements.The subtle body covers thesource of consciousness orsoul (Atma), which, as per theHindu Vedanta philosophy,lies deep inside the heart.According to the Vedanta phi-losophy, when a man dies, hissoul exits the body.

When the hymns associat-ed with Ghatasthapan arechanted with complete concen-tration, where one fully realis-es the meaning of her/his exis-tence, the worshipper experi-ences the appearance of thegods.

Thus, for true worship,the worshipper must be in astate of complete awareness ofhis subtle body. With thisserenity in the backgroundand a sense of peace with theinner self, when the worship-per offers flowers and otherofferings to the gods in thepitcher, he feels, as if, he is plac-ing those in the void of his ownheart, which is believed to bethe abode of all gods and god-desses. This is what we callworshipping the god in theideal sense.

(This article is based on thebook Poojatattava byBrahmarshi Shree ShreeSatyadev.)

Internet and mobilephone networks are anintegral part of our livestoday. One cannot imag-ine a life without being

connected with our loved oneseven while living seven seasaway from home.

The number of telephonesubscribers in India slightlyincreased from 1,183.51 mil-lion at the end of March 2019to 1,183.77 million at the endof April 2019, thereby showinga monthly growth rate of 0.02per cent. The urban subscrip-tion increased from 669.16million at the end of March2019 to 670.86 million at theend of April 2019. However,the rural subscription declinedfrom 514.35 million to 512.91million during the same peri-od. The monthly growth ratesof urban and rural subscrip-tion were 0.25 per cent and -0.28 per cent respectively, dur-ing the month of April 2019.

As per the official data,over 43,000 inhabited villagesin India do not have mobilephone services. The number ofinhabited villages withoutmobile services stood at43,088 as on July 27, 2018(based on 2018 survey) out of5,97,618 inhabited villages inthe country as per Census2011.

As new lifestyle practicesenter the Ladakhi communi-ty against a backdrop of cen-turies’ old indigenous tradi-tions and culture, uncertain-ty and confusion reignsupreme in the minds of localpeople. The remedy of this sit-uation is ‘The Ladakh 2025

Vision Document.’It states the following — a

mobile van, fitted with theVSAT auto tracing satellitefacility, should be procured bythe IT department, which willhelp establish internet / voice/ video conferencing connec-tivity with the remotest cor-ners of Ladakh. The lack ofproper telecommunicationfacilities is especially a glaringgap in the system since manytourists go for treks to remoteareas and there are hardlyany facilities for quick trans-fer of information and evacu-ation in the unfortunate eventof a mishap. Rural areas in

Ladakh should be given thesame facilities and civicamenities that urban areasenjoy. Better telephonic con-nectivity of Ladakhi villagesshould be a priority.

There has been a con-stant problem of network con-nectivity in rural areas. Thesevillages are remote, utterlybackward because of lack offacilities. This has made itextremely difficult for usbecause we can’t continuous-ly be connected with our par-ents and other family mem-bers. In Phobrang village,where I belong, we use mobilephones but when these don’t

work then we have to go STDbooths for urgent calls orwork. This is a complete wasteof our time.

“This can be a huge prob-lem for people,” says DolmaLanzes from Phobrang, who isa concerned parent. She goeson to add, “People who arestarting a business or workingfrom home can face hugeproblem because of this issueof network connectivity.People are falling behind inour village due to this prob-lem.”

“Many have chosen tomove to Leh in search of bet-ter opportunities. The younger

generation has decided to shiftto Leh for further studies.Lack of employment in the vil-lage has forced the youth tomove to Leh,” says JigmetChuskit from Tharuk village.

Rigzen Dorjey, a studentfrom Phobrang village, says,“The irony is that we live in adigital age today and people ofPhobrang live without internetconnection. Students are real-ly missing what the world hasto offer. They miss out on fill-ing online forms and get infor-mation late because of nointernet connection. The stu-dents here lose out on manyopportunities. If there is anawareness camp in our area itwill help a lot and make ourlife smoother.”

Phobrang is located nearthe China border. It is 15 kmaway from Pangong Lake andapproximately 160 km awayfrom Leh town. It takesaround five hours by road toreach Phobrang from Leh.

BSNL by far is the bestmobile network in Ladakhwith widest coverage and itworks at Pangong as well butonly during morning hours.Beyond Pangong there isabsolutely no connectivity.

While ‘The Ladakh 2025Vision Document’ does raisea hope of better network con-nections by 2025, one canonly wish that the governmentfast-tracks the process so thatthe people of not justPhobrang but other villagesacross Ladakh get connectedto the rest of the world soon-er rather than later.

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US President Donald Trumparrived Sunday in the

Demilitarized Zone dividingthe Korean peninsula ahead ofa meeting with the North’sleader, Kim Jong Un.

The encounter, only sug-gested a day earlier by Trumpon Twitter, comes with negoti-ations over the North’s nuclearprogramme in stalemate sincetheir last summit in Vietnam inFebruary.

Accompanied by SouthKorean President Moon Jae-in,an earnest-looking Trumptoured an observation postoverlooking North Korean ter-ritory, with a US military offi-cer pointing out the sights.

Trump is expected to holda brief encounter with Kim inthe DMZ, which would betheir third face-to-face meetingafter a historic initial summit

in Singapore and a second inHanoi that collapsed withoutan agreement.

“There was great conflicthere prior to our meeting inSingapore,” Trump said at theobservation post.

“After our first summit, allof the danger went away... It’s

all working out, it always worksout,” he concluded before leav-ing the site to meet with UStroops.

He and Kim would “justshake hands quickly and sayhello because we haven’t seeneach other since Vietnam”,Trump said earlier.

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At least nineteen electioncommission employees

were killed in a Taliban attack insouthern Afghanistan, officialssaid Sunday.

The Taliban used explo-sive-filled vehicles to attackMaruf district centre in south-ern Kandahar province onSaturday night, Zabiullah Sadaat,an Independent ElectionCommission (IEC) spokesman,told AFP. “Unfortunately, eightemployees of the commissionwho were stationed in the gov-ernment offices inside the dis-trict to register voters werekilled,” he said. Qasim Afghan,a Kandahar police spokesman,said some security forces werealso killed in the attack, and thatcommunications with the cen-tre of the district were cut off.The Taliban claimed responsi-bility for the attack.

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The seventh and latest roundof peace talks between the

U.S. And Taliban is “critical,”said Taliban spokesman SuhailShaheen on Sunday, the secondday of talks with Washington’speace envoy Zalmay Khalilzadin the Mideastern state of Qatar,where the militant group main-tains a political office.

Shaheen told TheAssociated Press both sides arelooking for “tangible results” asthey try to hammer out the fineprint of agreements that will seethe eventual withdrawal of over20,000 U.S. And NATO troopsfrom Afghanistan, and endAmerica’s longest-running war.

The agreements are alsoexpected to provide guaranteesthat Afghanistan will not againharbor terrorists to carry outattacks worldwide.

The talks began on Saturdayand are expected to continueinto the next week.

The two sides sat down tonegotiate just days after U.S.Secretary of State Mike Pompeosaid Washington was hopeful of

a deal to end Afghanistan’s pro-tracted war by Sept. 1.

“Getting a comprehensivepeace agreement with theTaliban before Sept. 1 would benothing short of a miracle,” saidMichael Kugelman, deputy director of the AsiaProgramme at the U.S.-basedWilson’s Center.

“That said, I could certain-ly envision a more limited dealbeing in place by Sept. 1 on aU.S. Troop withdrawal, giventhat there’s already been ampleprogress on this issue.”

Pompeo and Khalilzad haveboth said the final accord willinclude not only agreementswith the Taliban on troop with-drawal and guarantees of anon-threatening Afghanistan,but also agreement on intra-Afghan dialogue and a perma-nent cease fire.

Until now the Taliban haverefused direct talks with theAfghan government while hold-ing two separate meetings witha wide array of prominentAfghans from Kabul, includingformer president Hamid Karzai,members of the former north-

ern alliance that fought theTaliban during its five-year ruleas well as members of the gov-ernment.

The Taliban have said theywill meet government officialsbut as ordinary Afghans, label-ing President Ashraf Ghani’sgovernment a U.S. Puppet andnoting that the U.S. Is the finalarbiter on their central issue,which is troop withdrawal.

The Taliban have refused aceasefire until the withdrawal iscomplete, saying that to restarttheir insurgency if the U.S.Reneges on its promises couldbe difficult.

But the accelerated pace ofnegotiations and the suddenannouncement of a Sept. 1 tar-get date for an agreement couldbe linked to Afghan PresidentGhani’s insistence on presi-dential polls scheduled forSept. 28 in Afghanistan, sayanalysts.

The upcoming electionshave been criticized by many ofhis political opponents whooften point to last October’sparliamentary polls. The votingwas so badly mismanaged that

Ghani fired the entireIndependent ElectionCommission, and several of theparliamentary seats are stillbeing contested.

A biometric identificationsystem aimed at reducing elec-tion fraud was prematurelyrolled out for the polls, with thefew people trained on themachines not showing up onelection day.

While there were inci-dences of violence during thepolling, analysts widely agreedthe greatest flaw was the wide-spread mismanagement andfraud.

Khalilzad has also sug-gested that presidential elec-tions could hamper reaching apeace agreement.

“I do think the U.S.Government recognizes thatthe election could pose a majorobstacle to peace talks, giventhat it will be a distraction andgiven that it will accentuate andintensify the fractures andrivalries in the Afghan politi-cal environment that undercutreconciliation prospects,” saidKugelman.

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Britain’s Prince William andwife Kate Middleton will

make their first official visit toPakistan later this year, morethan 13 years after the last royalvisit to the country, KensingtonPalace announced.

The visit is expectedbetween September andNovember and according tosome UK media reports, theDuke and Duchess ofCambridge is expected toundergo hostile environmenttraining before the week-longtrip in view of the terror threatin the region.

The details of the tour areyet to be unveiled but thepalace confirmed that the visitis being undertaken on therequest of the Foreign andCommonwealth Office (FCO).

“The Duke and Duchess ofCambridge will undertake anofficial visit to Pakistan thisautumn, at the request of theForeign and CommonwealthOffice. Further details will be

advised in due course,”Kensington Palace said in aTwitter statement on Saturday.

William and Kate, both37, are expected to travel toPakistani capital of Islamabadand also to Lahore, Quetta,Karachi and Peshawar as wellas some rural communitiesacross the country. Their youngchildren, Prince George, 5,Princess Charlotte, 4, andPrince Louis, 1, are expected toremain in the UK.

“The upcoming royal visitis a reflection of the importancethe UK attaches to its relationswith Pakistan. The two coun-tries enjoy historical linkswhich both sides wish tostrengthen further,” saidMohammad Nafees Zakaria,the High Commissioner forPakistan to the UK.

“The people of Pakistanstill cherish and fondly recallthe visits of Her Majesty TheQueen to Pakistan during 1961and 1997,” he said.

William and Kate’s tour ofPakistan, which is a member of

the Commonwealth, comesmore than 13 years after the lastroyal visit to Pakistan, whenWilliam’s father Prince Charlesand his wife Camilla, Duchessof Cornwall, travelled to thecountry in 2006.

William’s late mother,Diana, Princess of Wales, madethe journey several timesthrough her charity work.

The couple will meetPakistan’s president, Arif Alvi,and Prime Minister ImranKhan, a close friend of PrincessDiana, who had visited theformer cricketer turned politi-cian and his then wife, JemimaKhan, in Lahore in April 1996and again in May 1997, short-ly before her death, to help raisefunds for a cancer centre Khanbuilt in Lahore. William andKate may also visit the centre.

The FCO travel advisoryon its website warns that “ter-rorists are very likely to try andcarry out attacks in Pakistan”.

“Foreigners, in particularwesterners, may be directlytargeted,” it notes.

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Kamala Harris, the firstIndian-origin Senator and

one of the top Democrats eye-ing the White House in the2020 presidential run, has beenracially targeted online of heridentity as “not an AmericanBlack”, according to mediareports.

Harris, 54, who was bornin the US to an Indian motherand a Jamaican father whowere both immigrants, hasdirectly confronted criticsbefore who have questionedher black heritage.

Harris, Senator fromCalifornia, was the target ofbirtherism-like attack, the lat-est jabs to racism faced by for-mer President Barack Obama,CNN reported.

“Birtherism,” promoted bysome Republicans, includingPresident Donald Trumpbefore he assumed the presi-dency, was a movement thatdenied former PresidentObama was a natural-born US

citizen, implying he was ineli-gible to be president.

“Kamala Harris is *not* anAmerican Black. She is halfIndian and half Jamaican,” thecritic, who identified as AfricanAmerican, tweeted onThursday.

“I’m so sick of people rob-bing American Blacks (likemyself) of our history. It’s dis-gusting. Now using it for debatetime at #DemDebate2? Theseare my people not her people.Freaking disgusting,” the crit-ic tweeted.

The viral tweet by right-wing personality Ali Alexander,has also gone by the name AliAkbar, The New York Timesreported.

The tweet was however, re-tweeted by President Trump’sson Donald Trump Jr.

Trump, a valuableRepublican surrogate as hisfather faces a bruising 2020race, posted the tweet of unver-ified information, then askedhis more than three million fol-lowers: “Is this true? Wow,” the

report added.“Don’s tweet was simply

him asking if it was true thatKamala Harris was half-Indianbecause it’s not something hehad ever heard before,” said thespokesman, Andy Surabian,“and once he saw that folkswere misconstruing the intentof his tweet, he quickly delet-ed it.”

Harris officially launchedher campaign in January for theUS presidential election nextyear.

If elected, Harris wouldcreate history by becoming thefirst woman in the WhiteHouse.

Lily Adams, the campaigncommunications director forHarris, dismissed the attack,explaining that people, includ-ing President Trump, usedsimilar rhetoric to questionObama’s birthplace. Obamawas born in Hawaii.

“This is the same type ofracist attack his father used toattack Barack Obama,” Adamstold CNN.

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ABahraini appeals courtoverturned a decision to

strip the citizenship of 92 Shias jailed for plotting to forman Iran-linked “terror” group,a judicial source said onSunday.

The 92 were among 138sentenced to prison terms andthe revocation of their citizen-ship after being convicted oftrying to build a Bahraini ver-sion of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite militia active inLebanon.

“The appeals court over-turned the decision to strip the92 people of their citizenship,”a judicial source told AFP.

“But their prison termsremain the same,” the sourceadded.

The Court of Cassation,Bahrain’s highest court, willissue a final verdict, but thetiming of that decision is notknown.

In April’s court ruling, theprosecutor said 69 defendantswere sentenced to life in jail, 39to 10 years, 23 to seven yearsand the rest to between threeand five years imprisonment.

Ninety-six of the defen-dants were also fined 100,000Bahraini dinars (USD 265,000)each.

The verdict was swiftlycondemned by the Bahrainiopposition, while human rightsgroup Amnesty Internationaldecried a “mockery of justice”and “mass arbitrary denatural-isation”.

The opposition BahrainInstitute for Rights andDemocracy (BIRD) said themass sentencing was “thelargest single incident” sincethe Bahraini government beganrevoking nationalities of oppo-nents in 2012.

Since 2012, Manama hasstripped the nationalities of 990people, including 180 this year,the institute said.

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The law enforcement agenciesin Pakistan have arrested 21

terrorists belonging to theIslamic State (ISIS), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in thelast one month as part of a crack-down on terror outfits in Punjabprovince.

In a statement issued hereon Sunday, the CounterTerrorism Department (CTD)of Punjab Police said during thecrackdown, “twenty-one terror-ists belonging to Daesh (ISIS),LeJ and TTP have been arrest-ed during the last one monthfrom Multan, Bahawalnagar,Bahawalpur, Toba Tek Singh,Gujranwala and Sialkot.

It said a huge quantity ofweapons, explosives, maps ofdifferent places and a large sumof money have been recoveredfrom them. It said the arrestedterrorists wanted to target lawenforcement agencies personnelin these areas.

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Voting began Sunday inTogo’s first local elections

in 32 years -- during which asingle family has ruled theWest African nation -- withmost opposition parties takingpart after boycotting 2018 par-liamentary polls.

The first polling boothsopened shortly after 7:00 am(0700 GMT), with queuesforming outside by 6:30 am ata high school in the capitalLome.

“I came to fulfil my civicduty,” said voter Kayi Sassou, inher seventies. “I want just twothings for this country: peaceand change.”

Atutu Lawson also lookedforward to “lots of changes inthe neighbourhood,” noting ithad no market and that many

homes did not have indoor toi-lets.

Turnout was slow in themorning, with many votersfirst going to church, accordingto an electoral official at aCatholic school where votingwas taking place in Lome.

The previous councillorselected in local elections inTogo governed for 14 yearsfrom 1987 -- despite beingelected on five-year terms.

Councillors were laterreplaced with “special delega-tions”, tasked with organisingnew elections, whose positionswere often filled with figureshand-picked by the govern-ment.

The country’ 3.4 millioneligible voters are called toelect 1,527 municipal council-lors to six-year terms, renew-able twice, in 117 towns.

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Two persons were killed andnine others injured in an

explosion at a chemical facto-ry in east China’s AnhuiProvince, local officials said onSunday.

The explosion took placeon Friday in Anhui MaiqiChemical Co, Ltd in Bengbu,they said.

A company worker gottrapped while cleaning anunder construction storagetank and fire-fighters were car-rying out a rescue operation,they added.

The storage tank exploded during the operation, killing the workerand one fire-fighter on the spot, and injuring nineother first responders, the state-run Xinhua news agencyreported.

All injured have been sentto hospital, it said.

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Sri Lankan Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe said

on Sunday he and his UnitedNational Party (UNP) areopposed to the capital punish-ment, as President MaithripalaSirisena attempts to end a 43-year moratorium on deathpenalty to start executing drugconvicts.

Sirisena said Wednesday hewas committed to bringingback capital punishment fordrug offenders, months aftervowing a tougher line on spi-ralling narcotics-related crime.

This was despite Sri Lankahaving become a party to theUN moratorium on deathpenalty and voting in favour ofthe moratorium just six months

back.The international con-

demnation of decision toresume capital punishment hasbeen coming since thePresident made his announce-ment.

“I have discussed it with atleast four parties in parlia-ment and all of them areopposed to the capital punish-ment. I and my party are alsoopposed to it,”Wickremesinghe.

This is not the first timethat the two leaders have dif-ference of opinions. Sirisenasacked Wickremesinghe lastOctober, triggering a constitu-tional crisis in the country.

President Sirisena onWednesday signed the deathwarrants to hang four drug

convicts.All of Sirisena’s predeces-

sors as Presidents had refusedto sign the death warrants tocarry out capital punishment.The death sentences have beencommuted to life terms whichusually lasts 20 years.

The last hanging came inJune 1976 when Siripala aliasMaru Sira, a noted criminalwas hanged for murder and SriLanka’s last hangman quit in2014 without ever having toexecute anyone, citing stressafter seeing the gallows for thefirst time. Another hangmanhired last year never turned upfor work.

Justice Ministry in Marchsaid there were over 450 pris-oners in Sri Lankan jails,including five women.

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Ablaze ripped through amigrant camp in the

Moroccan city of Casablancaon Sunday leaving “manyinjured”, authorities and campresidents said.

Illegal but tolerated byauthorities, the Oulad Zianecamp near the coastal city’smain bus station has for yearsbeen home to hundreds ofmigrants from sub-SaharanAfrica.

It is the largest and one ofthe last informal camps left inthe kingdom, following a pushby authorities to dismantleothers.

“The camp burned down,and many injured were hospi-talised,” said Camara Lassine, a

community leader in the camp.“There was a fight between

a hundred migrants over astolen phone, and one of themstarted the fire and called thepolice,” he said.

“We don’t know if we’ll beallowed to return.” Authoritiessaid the fire broke out amid“plastic tents and debris” butwas later brought under controlwithout causing any deaths.

Blighted by a poor hygieneand violence, Oulad Zianecamp was hit by four fires lastyear. A steady flow of sub-Saharan migrants enterMorocco each year aiming toreach Europe by sea or via theSpanish enclaves of Ceuta andMelilla at the kingdom’s north-ern tip.

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The UK’s Indian-origin chiefof counter-terror policing,

Neil Basu, praised his ScotlandYard team for having foiled 19“murderous plots” since March2017 in the wake on an inquestinto the deaths of eight peoplekilled in the London Bridge ter-ror attack in June 2017.

The Metropolitan PoliceAssistant Commissioner, in astatement following the inquestthat concluded on Friday, wel-comed a ruling by the ChiefCoroner that found that the UK’spolice and investigative author-ities had not missed clues thatcould have helped thwart theattacks led by Pakistani-originringleader Khurram Butt.

“With regards to the inves-tigation itself, and with the ben-efit of hindsight, we know cer-tain things could have beendone differently. But after care-ful consideration, the ChiefCoroner found that the pre-attack investigation wasnonetheless thorough and rig-

orous, he was not persuaded thatinvestigative opportunities werelost which could realisticallyhave saved the lives of those whodied,” said Basu.

“Together they (Met Policeofficer) have foiled 19 murder-ous plots since March 2017 – butdespite their heroic efforts, it willnever be possible to stop everyplot. Nevertheless, that mustalways be our ambition and thereason I believe the UK has thebest counter terrorism machinein the world is our absolute com-mitment to getting better at whatwe do. And we will,” he said.

Basu announced that histeam will be examining the fullruling of Mark Lucraft, theChief Coroner, to determinewhat lessons we could learn.

“We have already identifiedand made many improvementsand this work continues,” Basusaid.

His statement came as rel-atives of the victims of the ter-rorist attack two years ago crit-icised the security authorities fornot doing enough to keep

Khurram Butt under surveil-lance.

The inquest had heard howButt, the 27-year-old master-mind of the attack in which heand two others went on a kniferampage after ramming a high-speed car into pedestrians onLondon Bridge, had been inves-tigated by MI5 since 2015 overconcerns he wanted to carry outa terror attack in Britain.

The three terrorists, includ-ing Rachid Redouane andYoussef Zaghba, drove a van intopedestrians on the bridge beforestabbing people with 12-inchknives in a 10-minute rampage.

But in delivering his con-clusions, Chief Coroner Lucraftsaid: “My finding is that the pre-attack investigations of MI5 andSO15 (the Metropolitan Police’scounter-terrorism command)were generally thorough and rig-orous. On all the evidence andin the final analysis, I am notpersuaded that investigativeopportunities were lost whichcould realistically have saved thelives of those who died.”

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Thousands of people rallied insupport of the Hong Kong

police on Sunday as the semi-autonomous territory readiedfor another day of protests on theanniversary of the former Britishcolony’s return to China.

A large crowd filled a parkin front of the legislature andchanted “Thank you” to thepolice, who have been criticizedfor using tear gas and rubberbullets during clashes withdemonstrators that left dozensinjured on June 12.

A protest march has beencalled for Monday, the third inthree weeks, this one on the22nd anniversary of the han-dover of Hong Kong to Chinaon July 1, 1997. Activists havealso said they will try to disruptan annual flag-raising ceremo-ny attended by senior HongKong and mainland Chineseofficials in the morning.

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Ton-up Jonny Bairstow’s scathingattack on spin twins YuzvendraChahal and Kuldeep Singh head-

lined a dominant English batting perfor-mance, leaving India with a tough 338-run chase in a World Cup encounterhere on Sunday.

Bairstow (111 off 109 balls), alongwith fit-again Jason Roy (66 off 57 balls),added 160 for the first wicket on a trackwhere Kuldeep (1/72 in 10 overs) andChahal (0/88 in 10 overs) had a forget-table day.

Ben Stokes (79 off 54 balls) thenused the platform to give the total animposing look in a do-or-ie game for thehosts.

Mohammed Shami (5 for 69) got hismaiden five-wicket haul but even he losthis bearings in the last two overs.

Jasprit Bumrah (1/44 in 10 overs)was amazing as ever, being the onlyIndian bowler to finish with a sub-5economy rate and the only maiden of theinnings.

Bairstow, who stoked a controver-sy by taking an indirect dig at formerEngland skippers Michael Vaughan andKevin Pietersen for their criticism,channelized his anger in a positivemanner scoring his eighth ODI hundred.

Chahal and Kuldeep were hit for 12fours and as many as nine sixes as theyhardly got any purchase from theEdgbaston track. Incidentally, Sunday'spitch was not the one which was usedduring Pakistan's game against NewZealand where Kane Williamson's part-time off-breaks turned right angles.

The two spinners, who have beenIndia's trump card were read well byBairstow and Roy, who did not play likesome of the other batsmen in the tour-nament have played them.

From the start, they used big stridesto reach to the pitch of the deliveries andsmothered the spin for the big hits. IfBairstow targeted the arc between long-on to deep mid-wicket, Roy hit thestraighter sixes.

In the second Powerplay with thefield spread, one shot that England bats-

men used to good effect was the reversesweep as they exploited the short bound-ary on one side.

It took an impressive diving effortfrom substitute fielder Ravindra Jadejain the deep to dismiss Roy off Kuldeepin the 23rd over but the platform was setby then.

Bairstow lost a bit of sting after Roy'sdismissal and finally was out for 111 thathad 10 fours and half a dozen sixes.

Joe Root (44 off 56 balls) droppedanchor during a 70-run stand before get-ting out as Stoke hit six fours and threesixes to boost the total.

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DESI BHAIS & BAINS

The Gujju party is game on here witha huge contingent from all over

England, specifically London, marchingin with their traditional garba dress andall the theplas and the phaphras. In fact,the draw at Birmingham has been themost colourful thus far with floweryhats, short skirts in Indian colours,feathers and screaming paint to maketheir presence felt. There is batman too,if you please, but he might in somelegal action from the Marvel guys forhis somewhat unkempt black suit.Though that has not dimmed hisenthusiasm for the game. “I am here formy favourite team with my favouritecharacter,” he says before, well, almostflying away with the wind. Then thereare the placard holders who have beenholding the Indian theme through thetournaments. “I have travelled 5000miles for Dhoni,” screams one as theother one mocks the Pakistani fanswanting India to win. But all is goodhumour here, so not to worry!

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OUTNUMBERED ENGLISHMEN

Will from Nottingham and Guilia from Italyare here all the way from Amsterdam to

catch the India England match, their first in theWorld Cup. Guilia, here after a crash course oncricket from her partner, now knows there aresix balls in an over, so ICC should be happy it isdrawing first timers to the game. “A lot of noisethe Indian way,” he says with a smile but on amore serious note he blames the hosts to nothandling pressure well and flying too high withpre-tournament hype of them being thefavourites. “England had no business losing toSri Lanka. It is ok against Australia because theyare playing well but not Lanka,” he said. As the stadium filled up with all the Indiannoise, colour and fan antics, Will got busy click-ing pictures and generally soaking in the atmos-phere, hoping the cloud cover gives some homeadvantage to his team. “Being outnumbered inthe stands is usual when it is an India match,”Will said, talking about how bilateral series has10 times less buzz than a World Cup.H��������5������&����"����������&����������������������������!��������������������� ��

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After a gentle start, Australia nowlook the real deal and the winagainst New Zealand has

brought back that old familiar feelingthat often leads to a World Cup tro-phy.

This was a very impressive winbecause they did it the hard way. Inthis tournament, they have relied onAaron Finch, David Warner andSteve Smith at the top of the order toget runs but all of a sudden, they hadto dig deep — and to come throughthat is a very good sign.

I did not think Usman Khawajawas very fluent but he did well to hangin there for his 88 and New Zealandwill feel frustrated that they had a cou-ple of missed opportunities. Theirfielding was not perfect, even thoughMartin Guptill took a stormer to getrid of Smith.

We have seen some amazingcatches in this tournament but that isout of the top drawer. At that stage itlooked grim but step forward AlexCarey. He looked like he was battingon a different surface to everyone elseout there.

He struck the ball beautifully onboth sides of the wicket and hit somenice cover drives, which we did notsee much of from anyone else. He iswithout doubt my man of the matchbecause, without him, Australia would

not have got 150.He has turned a few heads in this

tournament with his reliable perfor-mances. There were a lot of doubtsbefore, critics asking if he was trulyour best option. Should we have gonefor Matty Wade or Tim Paine? But he

has grown in confidence and it hasbeen nice to watch. Today, it lookedlike he was batting on a belter where-as the likes of Finch, Warner andSmith all struggled.

New Zealand must be amazed. Itcannot be often that you get a hat-

trick, see Smith, Finch and Warner inthe shed cheaply and take a catch likeGuptill did and still be on the wrongend of the result. That says a lot aboutAustralia right now.

Australia’s score was below par butwith the pitch drying out, I thought

we were in for a thriller. But MitchellStarc then did his usual thing and fin-ished with a five-fer.

He had a break from the gamewith back injuries and different ail-ments before the tournament but hehas got a fantastic rhythm going hereand is clocking some serious pace,comfortably over 90mph, which iswhy he is miles ahead of the rest inthe leading wicket taker column.

You would have to pick him inyour all-time Australia ODI sidebecause of what he does in the biggames. There are lots of other optionsout there but in the big games, hestands up. He has come to the boil atthe perfect time and Australia nowlook a strong contender to win it,which is unbelievable when you lookat how they were struggling sixmonths ago.

And that is before the likes ofGlenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinishave really caught fire in the middleorder. They are the sort who could gobananas and win a final on their own.

I am really confident with wherethis team is at. India and Englanddemand massive respect too and youcan never count your chickens - butthat old familiar feeling is definitelyback.

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Australia are enjoying a five-matchwinning streak at the World Cup

and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc feelsthe loss to India in their third tie was theturning point in the reigning champi-ons’ impressive run in to the semifinals.

Australia, who are the only team tohave qualified for the semifinals, havewon seven of their eight games. Theycrushed trans-Tasman rivals NewZealand by 86 runs on Saturday to con-solidate their position at the top of thepoints table.

“Since the India game, we’ve takenwickets through the middle fairly reg-ularly, and whether it’s attacking moreor I think the biggest part was the exe-cution,” Starc said after the victoryagainst New Zealand.

Australia’s only loss in the WorldCup has come at the hands of India, whodefeated the five-time champions by 36runs and Starc believes that loss markedthe improvement in their game.

“We were all probably a little bit offin that Indian game. I think the turn-ing point was probably that Indian gamewhere we had a good chat as a bowlinggroup and a batting group and we've justcontinued to improve as a whole groupof players from that game.”

Talking about the win against NewZealand, the 29-year-old left-armpacer said the best is yet to comefor Australia.

“We’ve always spoken aboutpeaking towards the back end ofthe tournament, and we’re stillsearching for that perfect perfor-mance,” Starc said.

“We’re not quite there yet.We’re showing glimpses of whatwe are capable of with the ball andwith the bat and in the field, but wehave still got room to improve,and that’s exciting for thisgroup.

“We’ve got to playour best game in thesemi now andhopefully bet-ter that in thef inal, andthat’s whattournamentplay is allabout,” headded.

Starc’s5 for 26aga ins tN e wZealandwas ar e c o r d -b r e a k i n gthird careerWorld Cupf i v e - w i c k e thaul. Just fiveplayers are nowahead of hishaul of 46 WorldCup wickets, withnone comingclose to the mes-meric 12.97 aver-age he boastswith the ball.

But the2015 Player oft h eTournamentsaid it’s wins,more thanp e r s o n a l

records, that motivates him having lift-ed the trophy four years ago.

“Records don’t mean much if wedon’t win the World Cup. I’m juststoked to be playing a part in this groupand continue to contribute,” he said.

Starc credited captain Aaron Finchfor providing the team with the calm-ness even when things aren’t going intheir favour.

“A big part of our victories is ourcalmness and I think that's probably ledby Finchie (Aaron Finch). He’s been fan-tastic as a captain. I think there’s a realsense of calmness around the wholegroup, not just from the bowlers butfrom Finchie to all the fielders.

“Even when things are not quitehappening for us, it’sstill very calm. Westill know whatwe want to do. Itgoes back to theexecution. It’sthat clearness asa whole groupout on the fieldis what’s probablyinstilling that con-f idence in thebowler to executewhat they want todo,” Starc said.

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Hostility. Fear factor.Control. Wicket-tak-

ing ability.Everything a potential ICC

Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019champion team could wish topossess from a pace attack,Pakistan’s resurgent side have inabundance.

It is little wonder SarfarazAhmed’s outfit are given endlessraucous support from their army

of fans when they have fast-bowling trio Mohammad Amir,Shaheen Afridi and Wahab Riaz toswoon over.

On a day of glorious sunshineat Headingley, a sea of greenbanged their drums, blew theirhorns and generally made acacophony of noise as improvingPakistan chalked up their thirdstraight victory in the competitionwith a nail-biting three-wicketwin in a cliffhanger of an encounterwith Afghanistan.

“It was a great win for us,”Sarfaraz said at the presentationceremony. “Thank you all thefans, they cheered every ball.”

The Afghans elected to batafter winning the toss and thefever-pitch atmosphere in thestands proceeded to reach acrescendo at the fall of every wick-et.

Even close calls were greetedby ear-splitting “ooohhhs” and“ahhhhs” from the Pakistan throngwho heavily outnumbered theopposition fans.

The apple of the crowd’s eye onthis occasion turned out to be 19-year-old quickie Shaheen, whograbbed the spotlight by picking up4/47 from his 10 overs.

Wahab provided good back-up with 2/29 from his eight overswhile the Afghan batsmen took onAmir at their peril as the thirdmember of the gifted trio of left-armers registered tidy figures of

0/41 from his full compliment of10 overs.

It is hard to imagine a betterthree-pronged pace attack in thisWorld Cup and the statistics lendweight to the theory.

Amir has bagged 16 wickets inseven matches at an impressiveeconomy rate of 4.95. The 6-foot-6 Afridi is not far behind in the fru-gality stakes, having claimed 10 vic-tims at 5.23 while Wahab’s 10 wick-ets have come at a rate of 6.15.

Afghanistan’s batsmen lastedthe full 50 overs for the first timein this competition but their even-tual total of 227/9 appeared wellbelow par.

However, it is never wise topredict the predictable when itcomes to the Pakistan cricketteam, and the rank outsiders wereleaping and dancing in delightwhen Sarfaraz was run out for 18to leave his side staring defeat in theface at 156/6 and with 10 oversremaining.

The Pakistanis rarely seem towear the tag of favourites well andit was then a case of cometh thehour, cometh the man as ImadWasim rode to the rescue with amatch-winning 49 not out, thegame’s top score.

The turning point came whenAsghar Afghan failed to get under

a skier at extra cover off Imad andthe middle-order batsman madehim pay by smashing 18 runs in thesame 46th over bowled by skipperGulbadin Naib.

By the time six runs wereneeded off the final six balls, vic-tory for Pakistan was pretty muchassured.

“We knew it was not an easytarget,” said Sarfaraz. “Theirbowlers used the conditions verywell. Everyone chipped in for us,it was good team work.”

For Afghanistan, it was anoth-er close run thing against Pakistancomparable to their heartbreakinglast-over, three-wicket defeat

against the same team at last year'sAsia Cup.

“We fought really well, theboys gave 100 per cent but in theend we missed an opportunity towin the match,” said a disappoint-ed Gulbadin.

“Credit to Pakistan, they con-trolled their nerves. We missed outagain. You can face a lot of thesesituations but we are workingharder and harder. The matches wehave lost, we have improved.

“We didn’t score enough. Towin these sort of matches we needsomeone to get 80, 90, 100.”

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Alex Carey has yet to play a Testmatch. Indeed, he has played

many fewer matches with a red ballthan he has with white and made hisname in the T20 Big Bash League.

But the 27-year-old left-handeris proving to be mature, adaptableand dependable for side.

The Australia wicket-keeper'sinnings of 71 against New Zealandwas the highest by an Australian No7 in an ICC Men’s World Cup andhis stand with Usman Khawaja of107 was Australia’s highest in theWorld Cup for the sixth wicket.

That Australia also broke theirseventh-wicket World Cup recordearlier in this tournament againstWest Indies, shows how deep theyhave had to dig to maintain theirimpressive progress to the semi-finals.

Carey, who was named Playerof the Match, only made his ODIdebut 18 months ago and also con-tributed handily in that 15-run winat Trent Bridge — and he needed to.

Coming in at 79/5, he made 45from 55 balls. At Lord’s against theBlack Caps, it was 92/5 when he

came in to replace Glenn Maxwell.When the opportunity has to

come play a more natural, aggres-sive game, Carey has done that toowith punchy late-innings effortsagainst England, India,

Bangladesh and Pakistan.Usman Khawaja had 32 when

Carey came to join him and as ifto show that this noted big-hitterfrom South Australia was nottotally becalmed, Carey overtook

his partner in the 40th over whena glorious cover drive off TrentBoult took him to 64.

Two overs earlier, Carey hadpulled Lockie Ferguson for four toovertake his previous ODI careerbest of 55 not out, set against Indiaat The Oval three weeks ago.

One of the hallmarks of theall-conquering Australia sides ofthe past was their resilience anda belief they could recover fromany position. Steve Waugh, apivotal figure that era of success,was even moved to claim thatCarey is a hybrid of two fine left-handers from his generation: thetwo Michaels, Bevan and Hussey.High praise indeed. Bevan andHussey both had the game-sense,steely temperament and 360-degree vision to shape or finishcountless games.

With the keeping gloves,Carey had a mixed evening. Twochances to dismiss Kane

Williamson went down — oneedge off Nathan Lyon clippedCarey’s gloves and deceived SteveSmith at slip before the keeper justgot his right hand to an edge offJason Behrendorff.

But Carey made no mistakewhen the next Williamson edgecame, off Mitchell Starc in the firstover of his second spell. And hedid excellently not to spill the top-edge that Ross Taylor launchedhigh into the azure north Londonsky off Pat Cummins. Careybarely had to move but he didhave to wait … and wait.Jockeying for position beneath thewhite ball as it hurtled down toearth, he fell forward with ballsafely in gloves and a wry smileof relief across his face as it lift-ed from the Lord's turf.

He was not the onlyAustralian smiling by the end.

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Pacer Wahab Riaz says histeam is not reading too

much into the parallels beingdrawn with Pakistan’s victorious1992 World Cup campaigndespite experiencing a similarresurgence.

Imran Khan led Pakistan totheir first and only World Cupvictory 27 years ago and theexact pattern of wins, losses andwashouts is being followed inthis summer's showpiece.

But Wahab, who took 2/29and was unbeaten on 15, says therelentless mentality of his teamis behind its remarkable resur-gence.

“We don’t really talk about1992 that much. The first thingis in this team, everybody has thesame purpose. That’s where westarted off and where we remain.

“The turnaround is due tothe motivation and the ambitionof the team to win this WorldCup. Everybody wants that.Obviously, this will be the lastWorld Cup for Shoaib Malik andthis is the time we are needed the

most.”Pakistan looked down and

out after defeat to old rivals Indiabut can now reflect on three suc-cessive victories over NewZealand, South Africa andplucky Afghanistan in a thrillerat Headingley.

Wahab, 34, was left out ofPakistan’s preliminary squad forthe tournament but, like histeam, he has bounced back andis relishing forming part of apace unit firing on all cylinders.

“It’s very pleasing the way weare bowling as a team, particu-larly the way Shaheen hasimproved,” he said.

“Shaheen was under pres-sure after his first game againstAustralia but he has come backand taken some important wick-ets for us.

“Amir we already know isone of the best bowlers in theworld who swings the ball bothways. That puts pressure on thebatsmen to play him. It’s a goodcombination right now, we aretrying to take wickets and thatis putting the team in a greatposition.”

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Peaking nicely” and histo-ry firmly behind them,

five-time championsAustralia are the team to beatin the World Cup, says NewZealand pacer Trent Boult.

In a repeat of 2015 finalbetween the trans-Tasmanrivals, pace spearhead Boult’shistoric hat-trick went invain as Mitchell Starc’s (5/26)brilliant five-for guided thedefending champions to aconvincing 86-run win at the

Lord’s on Saturday.With his swinging full-

pitched deliveries, Boult sentback the well-settled UsmanKhawaja (88 off 129 balls),Starc and Jason Behrendorff,while giving away just tworuns in the last over tobecome the first Kiwi to graba hat-trick in the WorldCup.

But his efforts provedfutile as New Zealand wereshot out for 157. By virtue ofthe win, Australia, who arealready through to the semi-

finals, have consolidatedtheir position at the topwith 14 points from eightgames.

“Australia turn up forWorld Cups. They have agood record in them andthey’re peaking nicely. Theyproduced the complete per-formance and they were toogood for us,” said Boult,who returned with figures of4 for 51.

“There are some quali-ty sides here but it’s all abouttiming in my opinion and

Australia are performingwell, there’s only a couple ofweeks left and they’re theones to beat.” Boult waseffusive in his praise forpace counterpart Starc, thetournament’s best bowler sofar.

Boult was joint leadingwicket-taker in the 2015tournament with 22 wickets,alongside Starc. But thistime Starc overshadowedhim and is leading the wick-et-takers list with 24 scalpsahead of second-placedLockie Ferguson of NewZealand, with 17.

“He’s (Starc) six footseven, bowls 157kph andswings it both ways! He’s aclassy bowler. He was usedvery nicely with short spellsto be aggressive. He’s had astellar campaign so far,” theKiwi left-arm pacer said.

Boult, however, said itwas special to grab a hat-trick at the ‘Home of Cricket’,his second in ODI cricket.

“It would have been niceif it was in the first over butany bowler dreams of gettingthree wickets in a row. To doit at the ‘Home of Cricket’ infront of a good crowd againstAustralia was pretty cool,” hesaid.

“It's a pretty simple gameplan. I wanted to disturb thewoodwork and it was nice tosee the stumps light up. Itwas a bit of entertainment forthe crowd."

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Mathematically still alive in the racefor the semifinals, Sri Lanka willaim to give their best shot against

West Indies, who have just pride to playfor in their World Cup encounter, heretoday.

Sri Lanka’s 20-run win over Englandhad breathed life into their inconsistentcampaign but a painful defeat againstSouth Africa, in the very next game, hurttheir semifinals chances.

The 1996 champions, who are placedseventh on the points table with sixpoints from seven matches, need to wintheir final two games, and hope forfavourable outcomes in the England andPakistan’s next fixtures.

In their nine-wicket loss to SouthAfrica, their inconsistent batting came tothe fore yet again and skipper DimuthKarunaratne would look to improve onthat aspect against a challenging WestIndian bowling attack.

With their batting unit misfiringmore often than not, the onus to securefavourable results has always been put onthe experienced bowling attack, led by vet-eran speedster Lasith Malinga. And withNuwan Pradeep’s exit (due to chickenpox),Sri Lanka will rely heavily on their bowl-ing spearhead once again.

The Jason Holder-led side, on theother hand, will look to finish on a highafter being knocked out of the tournament.

West Indies came into the tournament,tipped as a potential surprise package,especially after scoring 421 in a warm-upvictory over New Zealand. They also start-ed their World Cup campaign with a bang,demolishing Pakistan by seven wickets.

But since then, things have gonefrom bad to worse for the Caribbeans.They have suffered five defeats. Thoughthey have been impressive in parts, the sidehas failed to hold on to their nerves in tightgames and ended up enduring heartbreak-ing losses.

They currently occupy the penulti-mate spot just above Afghanistan on thepoints table, having crashed out of thesemi-final race. But with nothing to lose,

the West Indies will be playing for prideand could be unstoppable if their destruc-tive batting line up, comprising power hit-ters like Chris Gayle, Carlos Brathwaiteand Shai Hope, clicks.

“We had some frank discussionsabout the World Cup that we've had andwe’ll try to finish the tournament as astrong unit now,” West Indies head coachFloyd Reifer had said after the loss to

India.“We are still playing for pride, we

know that. People back home in theCaribbean are backing us and we are rep-resenting them here.”

The Riverside Ground produced asluggish surface in Sri Lanka’s nine-wicket loss to South Africa. Durham isexpected to have clear skies on Monday,with extremely low chances of rain.

�C����West Indies: Jason Holder (captain),Chris Gayle, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer,Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell,Oshane Thomas, Kemar Roach, AshleyNurse, Nicholas Pooran, Sunil Ambris,Evin Lewis, Shannon Gabriel, DarrenBravo, Fabian Allen.Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (capt),Dhananjaya de Silva, Kasun Rajitha ,Avishka Fernando, Suranga Lakmal, LasithMalinga, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Mendis,Jeevan Mendis, Kusal Perera, ThisaraPerera, Milinda Siriwardana, LahiruThirimanne, Isuru Udana, JeffreyVandersay.

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�How do you motivate yourteam to play a match for a game like today?

Yes, we are out of the World Cup, butthere is still a lot of cricket to play after theWorld Cup. It's important for us to, find thewinning ways and find the winning formu-la going forward, so it is important for us toplay this game as hard as possible.

We want to create that winning culture.It has to start from somewhere. So we'regoing to approach every game in a profes-sional manner. The guys are still up for it.We're good to go.�The battle between Lasith Malinga andChris Gayle, how big is it going to be?

Well, these guys have played against eachother for the last 10 years, 12 years, so theyhave had some good battles. We expect agood battle between Malinga and Chris.�Where has it gone wrong for you guys inthis tournament so far?

I think we didn't seize the key momentsin games. Look back at our tournament, weplayed well against Pakistan. We hadAustralia on the ropes. New Zealand as well.I thought we need to seize the key momentsin the game. At crucial times we dropped afew crucial chances as well.

And then collectively, we didn't bat prop-erly. So it's just small things that we didn'tdo, the 1 percenters that didn't we do well.So these are the sort of things we discussedas a team. The players are not comfortablewith their performances, responsibility,those sort of conversations that we had inthat team meeting. So going forward, I'mlooking forward to seeing how the guys playin the next two games.�Sri Lanka could be out of contention forthe semifinals as well. Does that have anyinfluence on your mindset?

No, our mindset is to win. Obviouslythere is a process to winning by playing. Youhave to bat, bowl and field well. You have tomake sure you are on top of your game inall three departments. So like I said, if thepersons are playing a professional game, agame with intent, it is important for us towin.

Like I said at the start, winning ways. Wehave got to create that winning culture andit can start from here now. We had somegood games in the World Cup, but we justneed to get the 1 percenters right. Once weget the 1 percenters right, then you will seewe will get the results.�Despite the semifinal hopes fading away,you tend to think that the future of WestIndies cricket in safe hands?

The future of our cricket is good. Wehave a lot of young guys here. Hope,Pooran, Hetmyer, Oshane Thomas. Wehave young John Campbell, he was injuredfrom early. So our future is good. I'm con-fident in these youngsters that going forwardwe can bring West Indies cricket back towhere it belongs at the top.

Yes, it is unfortunate we didn't get to thefinal four in this competition, but going for-ward I'm happy from what I have seen.Sheldon Cottrell had a very good World Cup.So we have a lot of young guys that we canmould and build a strong unit going forward.�Has anyone in this World Cup steppedup and shown signs of being that leader?

Yes, young Hope, he's done well in thebatting. Hetmyer, he was U19 captain. In thebowling department, I like the effort thatSheldon Cottrell put in. He is a soldier anda true soldier as well. But he put in a reallygood effort in the field, batting — not bat-ting, but bowling, he bowled with energy,you know. He really put 120 percent in everytime he bowled and also in the fielding aswell, so we have some players that we iden-tify as future leaders.

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Istill definitely feel that this NewZealand side can make history and

win it all.Two losses at this stage will be

tough to take but they have been sogood for so long and have so manyexperienced players that I am surethey will pull through.

It is a bit tighter now, but I stillthink they will feel pretty confident.Even if every result goes againstthem, their net run rate should stillput them into the semi-finals.

The nature of this New Zealandteam for an extended period oftime now has been to stay pretty con-stant, to not panic.

They will understand that theyhave played some really good crick-et in this tournament.

They have only lost two games,and those were against two teamsthat have played some very goodcricket.

The only question mark forthem will be the surfaces they wereplaying on. It looks like across theboard the surfaces are getting lowerand slower.

That makes it more difficult forbatting and those partnerships aregoing to become more important, Iam sure that will be a big focusagainst England.

They will need to call on all theirnous to get through against the hosts.

But even if they don’t win againstEngland and go through via net runrate, or other results going their way,

I still think they will walk into thesemi-finals thinking they can beatanyone on their day.

Kane Williamson has obviouslybeen the class act with the bat, butit is too easy to say we have becomereliant on him.

Guys like Ross Taylor andMartin Guptill have been too goodfor too long to be overlooked likethat.

Taylor in particular cannot beignored, he is a fantastic player andhis record has been amazing for anextended period of time now.

These are too high-quality bats-men, two consistent and proven per-formers who they can rely on.

Along with Kane, those three arethe key for the game against NewZealand and the rest of the batsmenneed to be complementary pieces.

It is about partnership batting,building an innings and under-standing what a par score is.

That is what Usman Khawajaand Alex Carey did so well forAustralia at Lord’s and New Zealandwould do well to learn from them .

The bowling unit have lookedpretty good though. Bringing in IshSodhi was a big call but I think it wasthe right one and even Kane bowledquite a lot. The bowlers have done agreat job, and the wickets haveassisted that.

However, Trent (Boult) is thesort of bowler for whom the surfaceis irrelevant really. He sometimes

bowls well and doesn’t take wickets,and I think that’s what was happen-ing in the early stage of the tourna-ment, but in the last few games youhave seen him at his wicket-takingbest.

You saw how successful and howskilled he is at the death and he willbe a proper threat at the back end ofthis World Cup.

Fair play to Australia, you can seethey are a confident side.

Those series wins against Indiaand Pakistan before the World Cupboosted morale and when you arebringing guys like David Warner andSteve Smith, with all the experienceand success that they have had, intoa winning team it is always going tobe a potent combination.

At the start of the tournamentthey maybe hadn’t quite found theirbalance — but with Marcus Stoinisback fit, and with Nathan Lyon andJason Behrendorff completing thebowling attack, I think they havefound an XI they are happy with.

But for all Australia’s brilliance,India remain my favourites to win itall.They are a team that can not onlysurvive but thrive in these conditions.They understand how to bat on theseslower wickets.

And, more than any other team,they have four strike bowlers they cancall on — they look the most com-plete team and will be tough to stop.

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Goalkeeper Pedro Gallesesaved Luis Suarez’s spot-

kick as Peru beat Uruguay onpenalties on Saturday to reach theCopa America semi-finals, wherethey will face Chile. Edison

Flores scored the decisivepenalty as Peru, who werethrashed 5-0 by Brazil intheir previous match, qual-ified for the semi-finals for

the third time in the lastfour editions of theCopa.

It was a remarkableturnaround for Gallese,

who was the villain of thatthumping by the hosts, giftingBrazil their second goal by clear-ing the ball straight to RobertoFirmino, while he was also par-

tially at fault for the first and thirdscores. But in Salvador he guessedthe right way for the first shoot-out penalty to deny Barcelonaforward Suarez, after which Peru’sown penalty-takers were faultless.

“I’m very proud of our team,I can’t really put it into words,”said Peru captain Paolo Guerrero.

“A lot of people said wedon’t have the fortitude and guts.But we showed today on the pitchthat we could take them onhead-on.

“Peru has hunger, Peru is awarrior, Peru has guts.”

It was the third Copa quar-ter-final to finish goalless andhead to penalties after Uruguayhad three goals ruled out for off-side during normal time.

Giorgian de Arrascaeta,Edinson Cavani and Suarez had

all put the ball in the net, only tobe denied by a linesman’s flag.

“It’s a bitter and sad feeling.We had high hopes to qualify, butsimply couldn’t,” said Uruguay’scaptain Diego Godin.

“We lacked a goal. We tried,we looked for it... (But) three weredisallowed.”

Brazil beat Paraguay on spot-kicks on Thursday and champi-ons Chile did likewise to knock-out Colombia on Friday.

In the only match to featureany goals, Argentina defeatedVenezuela 2-0 on Friday.

Peru will face Chile in thesecond semi-final in Porto Alegreon Wednesday, a day after hostsBrazil take on Argentina in BeloHorizonte. Copa winners in 1939and 1975, Peru lost to Chile in thesemi-finals four years ago.

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For the last dozen years, Argentina has beenwaiting for global superstar Lionel

Messi to lead their football team to amajor international trophy.

But when the the country neededthe five-time Ballon d’Or winner most,Messi failed to emulate the feats ofDiego Maradona in 1986 — whenfor some he almost single-handedly won the World Cup.

Four times Messi haslined up with Argentina in amajor final — the 2014World Cup and CopaAmerica in 2007, 2015 and2016 — but every time theyhave lost.

He has often come undercriticism for failing to repro-duce his Barcelona formwhen wearing the sky blueand white jersey of the nation-al team. Now, ahead of a mouth-watering Copa semi-final againsthosts Brazil in Belo Horizonte,Argentines are simply waiting forMessi to turn up.

“This is the match for Messi toappear,” screamed Ole newspaper’sonline edition after Argentina beatVenezuela 2-0 to secure the Brazilsemi-final.

Ironically, at this tournament,while Argentina’s performances havebeen improving steadily, Messi has, ifanything, become less influential.

Argentina were all at sea in their opening 2-0defeat to Colombia and needed a Messi penal-ty to salvage a 1-1 draw with Paraguay.

But in the 2-0 win over Qatar that quali-fied Argentina for the knock-out rounds, andthe quarter-final victory over Venezuela by thesame score, Messi became an increasinglyperipheral figure.

He admitted as much after the Venezuelamatch, saying: “I’m not at my best level,

I’m not playing how I hoped I would.I’m not having my best Copa America.”

Messi turned 32 during the tour-nament and while he doesn’t appearclose to retirement, it cannot be toomany years away. He plays deeperthan he used to, passes more and ismore selective with his runs. He alsorests more than he used to and tookan eight-month break from thenational team following the WorldCup in Russia, only returning inMarch in a 3-1 friendly defeat toVenezuela.

Tuesday’s semi-final inBelo Horizonte looks tailor madefor the Messi of old. Brazil haveyet to concede a goal in the com-petition but despite victories

of 5-0 over Peru and 3-0against Bolivia, they lookedponderous and lacking imag-ination in the 0-0 draws against

Venezuela and Paraguay.The semi-final promises to be a tight

affair, in which a moment of Messi magiccould be enough to settle it. Argentina is wait-

ing and praying for just such a moment.

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Novak Djokovic, RogerFederer and Rafael

Nadal are set to tighten their pri-vate stranglehold on Wimbledon asrivals struggle to keep afloat as they bidto dethrone the sport’s A-list stars.

World number one Djokovic is thedefending champion and chasing a fifthtitle at the All England Club.

Federer, promoted to second seed,can win a ninth crown while two-timechampion Nadal is seeking to completea rare back-to-back Roland Garros-Wimbledon double.

Twelve months ago, Djokovicarrived at Wimbledon with his careerthreatening to spiral into decline.

Unable to shake off the effects ofright elbow surgery, the Serb wasranked at 21, his lowest position for overa decade. But two weeks later, Djokovichad captured the 2018 title to add to his

2011, 2014 and 2015 wins, becomingthe lowest-seeded player to take theWimbledon trophy since Andre Agassiin 1992.

Since then, he has been rejuvenat-ed, going on to claim a third US Openand seventh Australian Open title.

The only blip was a rain-hit semi-final exit to Dominic Thiem at RolandGarros, a loss which ended his attemptto become just the second man to holdall four Slams at the same time twice.

Federer, chasing a 21st major, firstplayed Wimbledon in 1999. Pushing 38,he would be the oldest ever Grand Slamchampion if he were to lift a ninth title.

The Swiss star is also just five winsfrom becoming the first man to regis-ter 100 victories at the same Slam.

But Federer is quick to praise theinfluence of Djokovic and Nadal —between them, the trio have won 53 ofthe last 64 Slams. “I think we definite-ly became better because of one anoth-

er,” he said. Federer starts on Tuesday against

South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, who ismaking his Wimbledon debut.

Nadal, meanwhile, arrives inLondon on the back of a 12th RolandGarros title. His 18th career major alsomeant he moved within two Slams ofFederer’s all-time mark for the first time.

The Spaniard, ranked two but —much to his irritation — seeded threewas champion in 2008 and 2010.

He is now trying to join Bjorn Borgby achieving the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double for the third time.

Nadal was desperately close to athird title in 2018. Having failed to getpast the last-eight since 2011, theSpaniard was only defeated in an epicsemi-final by Djokovic, 10-8 in the finalset.

Nadal starts his campaign againstJapan’s world number 258 Yuichi Sugita.

After that looms a possible titan-ic clash with Nick Kyrgios, whoshocked him in 2014, in the secondround.

It’s been 17 years since anybody notnamed Djokovic, Federer, Nadal orAndy Murray captured the Wimbledontitle.

That long-distant honour went toLleyton Hewitt in 2002.

The problem for the chasing packin 2019 is their record at the tourna-ment as well as various frailties in bodyand spirit.

Thiem, Alexander Zverev andStefanos Tsitsipas, who occupy the nextthree spots in the world rankings, haveyet to get past the last 16 onWimbledon's grass.

Kei Nishikori, the world numberseven, was a quarter-finalist in 2018while eighth-ranked Kevin Anderson,seeded fourth this year, was runner-up12 months ago.

����� *94�94

Ashleigh Barty goes intoWimbledon buoyed, unlike

her predecessor Naomi Osaka,by being world number one andwith several of her major rivalsstruggling.

The engaging 23-year-oldAustralian — who emulatedcompatriot Evonne GoolagongCawley by becoming numberone last weekend — has yet toget beyond the third round atWimbledon.

However, by winning theBirmingham tournament lastweekend Barty showed she hasthe strengths to add the grasscourt Grand Slam to the FrenchOpen she won on clay andbecome the first Australianwomen’s champion sinceGoolagong Cawley’s second suc-cess in 1980.

With 37-year-old seven-time champion Serena Williamsfinally showing signs of age,Osaka looking exposed throughpoor form and two-timeWimbledon singles championPetra Kvitova still easing back totop form after an arm injury,defending champion AngeliqueKerber may be the biggest threatto Barty.

Barty, who took an uncon-ventional route to becomingworld number one by taking atime off to play cricket, insistsshe feels no pressure.

“The only pressure is thatthat I put on myself,” she said.“To make sure that I do every-thing correctly and prepare asbest that I can to try and play agood tennis match, try and playwell, to enjoy myself.”

Whilst Barty says she didnot know what else the drawheld for her, Williams claimednot to even know the Australianwas number one.

The American legend couldperhaps be forgiven her igno-rance given how often the topspot has changed since her eraof dominance ended.Nevertheless Williams — whoclaims she is over the knee woesthat saw her pull out of hermatch with sister Venus at theItalian Open and then make anearly French Open exit —believes Barty could be in for along run as number one.

“I think so,” said Williams.“I think she has a great

game. I think she’s really even-tempered. She’s just really chill.She’s had a really good year.”

Williams is still chasing theelusive 24th Grand Slam titlethat would put her alongsideAustralian Margaret Court, butshe was not talking up herchances.

“I just haven’t had enoughmatch play, quite frankly,” shesaid.

“I finally feel like I foundsome good results in Paris.

“I’m just going to do the bestthat I can now that I’m here,” shesaid, adding with a smile: “Iknow how to play tennis.”

Osaka, for her part, says sheis much more in the frame ofmind she was when she won theAustralian Open earlier thisyear than the stressed-out play-er who exited the French Openin the third round.

The 21-year-old says thenumber one spot she held ear-lier this year had been a mill-stone round her neck.

Kerber may have lost in theEastbourne final to KarolinaPliskova but the German will bedelighted if like last year that isthe launching pad to winning atthe All England club. Last yearshe lost in the Eastbourne semi-final only to go on and winWimbledon.

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South Africa’s AndilePhehlukwayo admits thebiggest challenge of the

ICC Men’s Cricket World Cupis the speed at which strategiesneed to change to take on dif-ferent opposition.

Each of the 10 teams atthis edition of the tournamentplays the other nine once inthe league phase over thecourse of five weeks, with thetop four progressing to thesemi-final stage.

And the quick turnaroundbetween games has schooledall-rounder Phehlukwayo,who has featured in everygame for the Proteas in thisWorld Cup, in how to plan atthe highest level.

“You’ve got to change yourgame plans and you’ve got totrain differently because the

opposition is not the same,”said Phehlukwayo after SouthAfrica’s win over Sri Lanka.

“It’s been my first WorldCup and it was really toughbut we’ve got to adjust.Because it’s internationalcricket, you’ve got to be ableto adjust and execute.”

Though this isPhehlukwayo’s first seniorWorld Cup, he was part of theSouth African U19 squad thatwon the age-group WorldCup in 2014 and has experi-enced the pressure of compet-ing for a title before.

The step up to the biggeststage has shown Phehlukwayothat the margin for error iseven smaller and he acknowl-edged that South Africaslipped into that zone toooften.

“We’ve just been short attimes. We’re are not far off. It’s

just in patches that we’ve lostthe game and that’s somethingin international cricket youcan’t do or you don’t wingames,” he said.

“You need to win thosepatches in important gamesand if you don’t it becomesreally tough and you are chas-ing the game all the time. Andyou don’t want to be chasingthe game.

“You want to be either onpar or ahead of the game.That’s something we haven’tbeen very consistent in at thistournament. Hopefully, that’ssomething we will take withus and learn from.”

Because South Africa havefallen short in five out of theeight matches they’ve played,they were out of contentionfor the semi-finals before theSri Lanka match. Instead, theywent into it determined to

prove their worth andachieved that with a nine-wicket victory.

“We needed to win after afew sad performances. Weowed it to the country and weowed it to ourselves. We’vebeen working really hard andit just hasn’t been going ourway,” Phehlukwayo said.

“A performance like thatwas long overdue to showthat we are not just giving lipservice to the things we aresaying and we can do it.”

Before the match, SouthAfrica spoke about needingthree players to make bigplays in their penultimate fix-ture and that’s exactly whathappened.

Dwaine Pretorius’ 3/25,Hashim Amla’s unbeaten 80and Faf du Plessis’ 96 not outearned them a big win.Phehlukwayo was most

pleased to see Pretorius, oneof his direct competitors in theall-rounder role, make a state-ment.

“I’m really happy forDwaine. The work he hasbeen putting in off the field isunbelievable. He hits the mostballs and he leaves traininglast. To see such a perfor-mance from him shows thehard work that he's beenputting in,” Phehlukwayo said.

“There’s a reason why wepush each other so hard. It’swonderful for him to comeout here and show the coun-try and the world what we cando.”

Phehlukwayo, Pretoriusand the rest of the SouthAfrican squad will have onemore opportunity to showtheir skills on this stage whenthey play Australia in theirfinal match in Manchester.

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