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T he Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module has been located on the lunar surface and it must have been a hard- landing, ISRO chairman K Sivan said on Sunday, in an admission that the planned soft-landing wasn’t successful. “Yes, we have located the lander on the lunar surface. It must have been a hard-landing, Sivan” told PTI. The image of the lander rover ‘Pragyan’ is housed inside it was captured by on-board camera of Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which is healthy, safe and functioning normally in the intended orbit around the Moon. The orbiter managed to shoot a thermal image of the Vikram lander. But the condi- tion of the lander is yet to be ascertained. The orbiter camera is the highest resolution camera (0.3m) in any lunar mission so far and shall provide high res- olution images which will be immensely useful to the glob- al scientific community, the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency had said earlier. India’s bold mission to soft- land on the moon suffered a setback with the ‘Vikram’ module losing communication with ground stations, just 2.1 km from the lunar surface during its final descent in the early hours of Saturday. Considered as the “most complex” stage of the country’s second expedition to the moon, the lander was on a powered decent for a soft landing when it lost contact. The data is being analysed, the ISRO had said soon after. Asked if the lander was ‘dam- aged” during the ‘hard landing”, Sivan said, “That we do not know”. But some space experts said Vikram suffering damage in the hard-landing cannot be ruled out. “It may not have landed at a desired level of velocity. It may not have landed on its four legs. Impact shock may have caused damage to the lander”, according to a space official. “When the system does not work well, it (the lander) will go and hit the Moon. There is no ambiguity in that”, another vet- eran space expert said. “Unless all the things are compensat- ed...Compensating gravity, it (the lander) will not come down smoothly and touch the surface. That’s the critical part of the whole maneuver”, he said. Sivan had said on Saturday that the space agency would try to establish link with the lan- der for 14 days and reiterated on Sunday after it was located on the lunar surface by Chandrayaan-2’s on-board cameras that those efforts would continue. He had said that Vikram lander’s descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km, but subsequently, com- munication from the lander to ground stations was lost. A senior ISRO official said time was running out and pos- sibility of re-establishing com- munication looks “less and less probable”. “Progressively...As time goes by...It’s difficult (establish link)”, the official said, but added that with the “right orientation” it can still generate power and recharge batteries with solar panels. “But it looks less and less probable, progressively”, the official said on condition of anonymity. According to ISRO, 90 to 95 per cent of the Chandrayaan-2 mission objec- tives have been accomplished and it will continue contribute to lunar science, notwith- standing the loss of communi- cation with the lander. S ounding a poll bugle in the election-bound Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday presented his Government’s report card in the first 100 days in office and also praised Chief Minister Manohar Lal led Government for fighting corruption and nepotism. “The past 100 days were the days of change, determination, improvement, and good inten- tion,” the Prime Minister said while addressing a Vijay Sankalp Rally here. He said be it the matter of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh or of water crisis, 130 crore citizens of India have started looking for new solutions to the problems. India now gives challenging response to every challenge, the Prime Minister said. He also thanked the people of the State for making the BJP win all 10 parliamentary seats in the general elections. “In the last five years, the game of corruption on the land of farmers in Haryana has also stopped. On the basis of such an excellent track record of five years, the whole of Haryana has stood in favour of the BJP,” he said while urging the people to support Haryana CM Manohar Lal in the upcoming Assembly elections as they supported him in Lok Sabha elections 2019. PTI n Guwahati The Centre will “not touch” Article 371 of the Indian Constitution that is applicable to the Northeast and not a sin- gle illegal immigrant would be allowed in the region, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday. After Article 370 was abro- gated in Jammu & Kashmir, there were attempts to “misin- form and misguide” the people of the Northeast that Article 371 would be scrapped by the Centre, the Home Minister said in his inaugural address at the 68th plenary session of the North East Council (NEC) here.“I have clarified in Parliament that this is not going to happen and I am say- ing it again today in the pres- ence of eight Chief Ministers of the Northeast that both the Articles are different and the Centre will not touch Article 371,” Shah said. The Constituent Assembly had framed Article 370 as a temporary provision but Article 371 is about special pro- visions in the Northeast and there is a vast difference between the two, Shah said. “I think it is important to clarify the difference between the two. Let me make it clear that the Prime Minister and the BJP Government respects Article 371 and 371 (A),” he said. Most of the States that have been accorded special provisions under Article 371 are in the Northeast and the special status aims to preserve their tribal culture. There was an attempt to give a wrong message that the BJP-led Government would scrap Article 371 and this was done by people who did not want peace in the Northeast or the region to become an engine of development, Shah said. On the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Home Minister said, “Questions are being raised about the NRC by different sections but today I just want to say this that the BJP-led Government is com- mitted to ensure that not a sin- gle illegal immigrant enters the region.” The NRC has also been completed within the stipulat- ed time-frame, he added. Shah’s visit comes just days after the publication of the final NRC in the state on August 31. Pointing out that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi there has been a “drastic decline” in terrorism and mil- itant activities, Shah said, “I do not want to quote statistics but the entire country and the world knows that we have been able to control it.” There are still misguided people who indulge in armed activities but “our minds are open and hands stretched for those who want to lay down arms. For those who want to continue, the governments at the Centre and the state will follow a zero-tolerance policy,” he said. The miguided people who take up arms are “our own but are tools in the hands of vest- ed foreign forces”, he said. He further pointed out that border dispute between the different states of the Northeast is a major issue which must end. “If Indo-Bangla border dispute can be resolved, why not disputes among our states in the region? Rise above bor- der disputes and support each other, so that the region can develop together,” Shah added. A week before he would have turned 96, India’s best known legal mind Ram Jethmalani passed away on Sunday. Aptly described by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta as a “giant of a man who was a rare combination of constitu- tional expertise, razor-sharp understanding of criminal law, and a roaring tiger when it comes to defending his clients”, Ram Jethmalani breathed his last at 7.45 am at his official res- idence in New Delhi. An eminent jurist and a former Union Minister who fought some of the most diffi- cult criminal cases and defend- ed the accused in the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi assassination cases, Jethmalani died a few days before his 96th birthday on September 14. Jethmalani’s last rites will be performed around 4:30 pm on Sunday at the Lodhi road cre- matorium here, his son said. Jethmalani served as Union Law Minister and also as Urban Development Minister during the prime ministership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee against whom he later contested the 2004 Lok Sabha polls from Lucknow seat. He also served as the Supreme Court Bar Association president in 2010. Soon after the news of Jethmalani’s death came, trib- utes started pouring in with President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah condoling his demise. “Saddened by the passing of Shri Ram Jethmalani, former Union Minister and a veteran lawyer. He was known to express his views on public issues with his characteristic eloquence. The nation has lost a distinguished jurist, a person of great erudi- tion and intellect,” the President’s Secretariat tweeted. Naidu said Jethmalani was “one of the brilliant minds of Bharat” and the nation has lost “a distinguished jurist, a great intellectual and a patriot, who was active till his last breath”. Modi said Jethmalani was “witty, courageous and never shied away from boldly expressing himself on any sub- ject”. “In the passing away of Shri Ram Jethmalani Ji, India has lost an exceptional lawyer and iconic public figure who made rich contributions both in the court and Parliament,” the Prime Minister tweeted. I n a sensational incident of gang war that took place on Sunday morning in Narela area of outer Delhi, a notorious gangster Virendra Mann aka Kale was killed. Kale was ear- lier part of infamous Neeraj Bawnia gang and was involved in over a dozen cases of extor- tion and murder. According to sources, the criminals who were reportedly following Kale, opened indiscriminate firing upon him. He was hit by 26 bullets and his car was riddled with bullets. Kale, 45, was driving his white Hundai car and was passing through Lampur Road around 10.45 am on Sunday, when he was waylaid by mem- bers of his rival gang. Before he could react, 10 heavily armed criminals surrounded his car and opened fire from a very close range. His body was rid- dled with bullets and he suc- cumbed to injuries on the spot. Police sources confirmed that criminals pumped 26 bullets into him. A police official tasked with the investigation said assailants were in a Swift car and managed to flee from the spot by the time police were informed about the incident. Preliminary investigation has led police to believe that the murder was carried out over a plot of land. The involvement of rival gangs of Tillu and Gogi is also being investigated. “Four-five miscreants came in a vehicle and started firing at Mann’s car, who was on his way to meet a relative, near the Narela Industrial Area. It seems he was killed due to some old enmity,” said Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP) Outer North district Gaurav Sharma. A case has been registered and the police have decided to scan CCTV footage to identi- fy the killers. Meanwhile, the body has been sent to mortu- ary for the post-mortem exam- ination. “We may get fresh leads about the nature of weapons used by the gangsters to murder Kale. The caliber of bullets will be analysed with that of the modus operandi of the various gangs that use such weapons,” said a police official. Kale had contested Delhi Assembly elections from Narela Assembly seat in 2013 on the ticket of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He had contested municipal elections too and had links with various political party. T he who’s who of Jharkhand’s politics, cutting across party lines, paid tribute to former Union Minister of Law and vet- eran lawyer Ram Jethmalani after his demise on Sunday. Ninety-six-year-old Jethmalani, known for his political acumen and illustrious career as an advocate, passed away at 7.45am at his residence in New Delhi. Chief Minister Raghubar Das, in an official statement, condoled Jethmalani’s demise and said that he was one of the veterans of Indian politics and law. “I extend solidarity to the bereaved family. May his soul rest in peace,” said Das. Leader of Opposition, Hemant Soren, took to Twitter to express grief over Jethmalani’s demise. “Be it court or the Parliament, Jethmalani ji never failed to express his views and make a difference. The country has lost a fearless and vocal per- sonality,” he tweeted. Six-time Rajya Sabha mem- ber, Jethmalani served as a Union Minister in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA Governments. In 2016, he was elected to the upper house of the Parliament. The seasoned lawyer was elected to both the houses of Parliament with a BJP ticket several times. He was a Minister in former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Cabinet in 1998 and then again in October 1999. However, he quit the Vajpayee Government in July 2000. In 2004, he contested against former Vajpayee from Lucknow. Former Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) President Ajoy Kumar also shared his condolences on social networking website Twitter. “Saddened to hear that veteran lawyer and former Union Law Minister Sri Ram Jethmalani passed away. May his soul rest in peace,” he tweeted. Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Arjun Munda said that Jethmalani was one of a kind personality. “Jethmalani ji was a genius in the truest sense of the term. I am lucky to have met him. Rest in eternal peace, sir,” he said. T he Congress on Sunday claimed that the Modi Government’s 100 days in office have been characterised by “arrogance, uncertainty and vendetta politics”, as it attacked the dispensation over issues such as the state of economy, situation in Kashmir, the NRC in Assam and action by probe agencies against Opposition leaders. While former party chief Rahul Gandhi took a dig at by congratulating it on 100 days of “no development”, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi said the Modi Government is mum after “ruining the economy” and alleged that it is trying to hide the grim situation in the country. Rahul alleged that there was a glaring lack of leader- ship, direction and plans to turnaround the “ravaged economy”. “Congratulations to the Modi govt on #100DaysNoVikas, the con- tinued subversion of democ- racy, a firmer stranglehold on a submissive media to drown out criticism and a glaring lack of leadership, direction & plans where it’s needed the most — to turn- around our ravaged economy,” Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet message.“Three words that describe the first 100 days of BJP 2.0 - tyranny, chaos and anarchy,” the Congress said in a series of tweets. Priyanka on her part said the companies are in danger, while trade is in doldrums. “Through drama, deceit, lies, and propaganda, they are trying to hide the country’s grim situation,” she said. “Eight sectors have recorded a growth rate below 2 per cent and our Finance Minister still refuses to accept that our economy is in free fall. P roducts made by artisans of Jharkhand will soon be avail- able on the online marketing portal Flipkart. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between State industries department and Flipkart on Sunday to provide online mar- keting platform for local artisans of Jharkhand. On the occasion Chief Minister Raghubar Das said, "There is no shortage of tal- ent among the artisans of the State. It is a day of happiness for them. I am confident that this tie up with Flipkart will help the tra- ditional art of State get the ben- efit of national market. This e- commerce platform will bring together the variety of art and tal- ent of the State under one plat- form." Das said that the preparation to bring thousands of artisans on the platform of e-commerce has been made. Keeping up with the changing time and shopping trends, the State government signed a MoU with Flipkart called project Samarth to take the products of Jharkhand to the online shopping platform. Das said, "Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bamboo production has been separated from Forest Department. This decision of Centre will be very fruitful for the farmers of Jharkhand. Now they can grow bamboo in their fields and thus will have no cri- sis in procuring bamboo for making various products." He said that the PM has focused on e-governance. "Efforts have been put to ensure that that people sitting in villages do marketing and get other facilities online. The entire world is a marketplace and the prod- ucts are being sold successfully through e-market," CM said. Das said that the Government is working towards registration of all those who are associated with handcraft and other arts. Separate identity cards will be given to these artisans. Industries secretary K Ravikumar said that the gov- ernment strives to provide a plat- form for all those artisans who do not have proper marketing platforms. "Consumers can type Samarth on the mobile applica- tion of Flipkart and see and buy products made by Jharkhand artisans," he said. Vice president of Flipkart, Dheeraj Kapoor said on the occasion, "Flipkart does not just provide a big market for various products but also plays a role in the development of the country and financial upgrada- tion of the producers."

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The Chandrayaan-2’sVikram module has been

located on the lunar surfaceand it must have been a hard-landing, ISRO chairman KSivan said on Sunday, in anadmission that the plannedsoft-landing wasn’t successful.

“Yes, we have located thelander on the lunar surface. Itmust have been a hard-landing,Sivan” told PTI.

The image of the landerrover ‘Pragyan’ is housed insideit was captured by on-boardcamera of Chandrayaan-2orbiter, which is healthy, safeand functioning normally inthe intended orbit around theMoon. The orbiter managed toshoot a thermal image of theVikram lander. But the condi-tion of the lander is yet to beascertained.

The orbiter camera is thehighest resolution camera(0.3m) in any lunar mission sofar and shall provide high res-olution images which will beimmensely useful to the glob-al scientific community, theBengaluru-headquarteredspace agency had said earlier.

India’s bold mission to soft-land on the moon suffered asetback with the ‘Vikram’module losing communicationwith ground stations, just 2.1km from the lunar surfaceduring its final descent in theearly hours of Saturday.

Considered as the “mostcomplex” stage of the country’ssecond expedition to the moon,the lander was on a powereddecent for a soft landing whenit lost contact.

The data is being analysed,the ISRO had said soon after.Asked if the lander was ‘dam-aged” during the ‘hard landing”,Sivan said, “That we do notknow”. But some space expertssaid Vikram suffering damagein the hard-landing cannot be

ruled out.“It may not have landed at

a desired level of velocity. Itmay not have landed on its fourlegs. Impact shock may havecaused damage to the lander”,according to a space official.

“When the system does notwork well, it (the lander) will goand hit the Moon. There is noambiguity in that”, another vet-eran space expert said. “Unlessall the things are compensat-ed...Compensating gravity, it(the lander) will not comedown smoothly and touch thesurface. That’s the critical partof the whole maneuver”, hesaid.

Sivan had said on Saturdaythat the space agency would tryto establish link with the lan-

der for 14 days and reiteratedon Sunday after it was locatedon the lunar surface byChandrayaan-2’s on-boardcameras that those effortswould continue.

He had said that Vikramlander’s descent was as plannedand normal performance wasobserved up to an altitude of2.1 km, but subsequently, com-munication from the lander toground stations was lost.

A senior ISRO official saidtime was running out and pos-sibility of re-establishing com-munication looks “less andless probable”.

“Progressively...As time goesby...It’s difficult (establish link)”,the official said, but addedthat with the “right orientation”it can still generate power andrecharge batteries with solarpanels.

“But it looks less and lessprobable, progressively”, theofficial said on condition ofanonymity. According to ISRO,90 to 95 per cent of theChandrayaan-2 mission objec-tives have been accomplishedand it will continue contributeto lunar science, notwith-standing the loss of communi-cation with the lander.

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Sounding a poll bugle in theelection-bound Haryana,

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Sunday presented hisGovernment’s report card in thefirst 100 days in office and alsopraised Chief Minister ManoharLal led Government for fightingcorruption and nepotism.

“The past 100 days were thedays of change, determination,improvement, and good inten-tion,” the Prime Minister saidwhile addressing a Vijay SankalpRally here.

He said be it the matter ofJammu & Kashmir, Ladakh orof water crisis, 130 crore citizensof India have started looking fornew solutions to the problems.India now gives challengingresponse to every challenge,the Prime Minister said.

He also thanked the people

of the State for making the BJPwin all 10 parliamentary seats inthe general elections.

“In the last five years, thegame of corruption on the landof farmers in Haryana has alsostopped. On the basis of such anexcellent track record of fiveyears, the whole of Haryana hasstood in favour of the BJP,” hesaid while urging the people tosupport Haryana CM Manohar

Lal in the upcoming Assemblyelections as they supported himin Lok Sabha elections 2019.

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PTI n Guwahati

The Centre will “not touch”Article 371 of the IndianConstitution that is applicableto the Northeast and not a sin-gle illegal immigrant would beallowed in the region, UnionHome Minister Amit Shah saidon Sunday.

After Article 370 was abro-gated in Jammu & Kashmir,there were attempts to “misin-form and misguide” the peopleof the Northeast that Article371 would be scrapped by theCentre, the Home Ministersaid in his inaugural address atthe 68th plenary session of theNorth East Council (NEC)here.“I have clarified inParliament that this is notgoing to happen and I am say-ing it again today in the pres-ence of eight Chief Ministers ofthe Northeast that both theArticles are different and theCentre will not touch Article371,” Shah said.

The Constituent Assemblyhad framed Article 370 as atemporary provision butArticle 371 is about special pro-visions in the Northeast andthere is a vast differencebetween the two, Shah said.

“I think it is important toclarify the difference betweenthe two. Let me make it clearthat the Prime Minister and theBJP Government respectsArticle 371 and 371 (A),” hesaid. Most of the States thathave been accorded specialprovisions under Article 371are in the Northeast and thespecial status aims to preservetheir tribal culture.

There was an attempt togive a wrong message that theBJP-led Government would

scrap Article 371 and this wasdone by people who did notwant peace in the Northeast orthe region to become an engineof development, Shah said.

On the National Register ofCitizens (NRC), the HomeMinister said, “Questions arebeing raised about the NRC bydifferent sections but today Ijust want to say this that theBJP-led Government is com-mitted to ensure that not a sin-gle illegal immigrant entersthe region.”

The NRC has also beencompleted within the stipulat-ed time-frame, he added. Shah’svisit comes just days after thepublication of the final NRC inthe state on August 31.

Pointing out that underPrime Minister Narendra Modithere has been a “drasticdecline” in terrorism and mil-itant activities, Shah said, “I donot want to quote statistics butthe entire country and the

world knows that we havebeen able to control it.”

There are still misguidedpeople who indulge in armedactivities but “our minds areopen and hands stretched forthose who want to lay downarms. For those who want tocontinue, the governments atthe Centre and the state willfollow a zero-tolerance policy,”he said.

The miguided people whotake up arms are “our own butare tools in the hands of vest-ed foreign forces”, he said.

He further pointed outthat border dispute between thedifferent states of the Northeastis a major issue which mustend.

“If Indo-Bangla borderdispute can be resolved, whynot disputes among our statesin the region? Rise above bor-der disputes and support eachother, so that the region candevelop together,” Shah added.

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Aweek before he would haveturned 96, India’s best

known legal mind RamJethmalani passed away onSunday. Aptly described bySolicitor General Tushar Mehtaas a “giant of a man who was arare combination of constitu-tional expertise, razor-sharpunderstanding of criminal law,and a roaring tiger when itcomes to defending his clients”,Ram Jethmalani breathed hislast at 7.45 am at his official res-idence in New Delhi.

An eminent jurist and aformer Union Minister whofought some of the most diffi-cult criminal cases and defend-ed the accused in the IndiraGandhi and Rajiv Gandhiassassination cases, Jethmalanidied a few days before his 96thbirthday on September 14.Jethmalani’s last rites will beperformed around 4:30 pm onSunday at the Lodhi road cre-matorium here, his son said.

Jethmalani served asUnion Law Minister and also asUrban Development Ministerduring the prime ministershipof Atal Bihari Vajpayee againstwhom he later contested the2004 Lok Sabha polls fromLucknow seat. He also servedas the Supreme Court BarAssociation president in 2010.

Soon after the news ofJethmalani’s death came, trib-utes started pouring in withPresident Ram Nath Kovind,Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Union Home

Minister Amit Shah condolinghis demise. “Saddened by thepassing of Shri RamJethmalani, former UnionMinister and a veteran lawyer.He was known to express hisviews on public issues with hischaracteristic eloquence. Thenation has lost a distinguishedjurist, a person of great erudi-tion and intellect,” thePresident’s Secretariat tweeted.

Naidu said Jethmalani was“one of the brilliant minds ofBharat” and the nation has lost“a distinguished jurist, a greatintellectual and a patriot, whowas active till his last breath”.

Modi said Jethmalani was“witty, courageous and nevershied away from boldlyexpressing himself on any sub-ject”. “In the passing away ofShri Ram Jethmalani Ji, Indiahas lost an exceptional lawyerand iconic public figure whomade rich contributions bothin the court and Parliament,”the Prime Minister tweeted.

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In a sensational incident ofgang war that took place on

Sunday morning in Narela areaof outer Delhi, a notoriousgangster Virendra Mann akaKale was killed. Kale was ear-lier part of infamous NeerajBawnia gang and was involvedin over a dozen cases of extor-tion and murder. According tosources, the criminals whowere reportedly following Kale,opened indiscriminate firingupon him. He was hit by 26bullets and his car was riddledwith bullets.

Kale, 45, was driving hiswhite Hundai car and waspassing through Lampur Roadaround 10.45 am on Sunday,when he was waylaid by mem-bers of his rival gang. Before hecould react, 10 heavily armedcriminals surrounded his carand opened fire from a veryclose range. His body was rid-dled with bullets and he suc-cumbed to injuries on the spot.Police sources confirmed thatcriminals pumped 26 bulletsinto him.

A police official taskedwith the investigation saidassailants were in a Swift carand managed to flee from thespot by the time police wereinformed about the incident.Preliminary investigation hasled police to believe that themurder was carried out over aplot of land. The involvementof rival gangs of Tillu andGogi is also being investigated.“Four-five miscreants came in

a vehicle and started firing atMann’s car, who was on his wayto meet a relative, near theNarela Industrial Area. It seemshe was killed due to some oldenmity,” said Deputy PoliceCommissioner (DCP) OuterNorth district Gaurav Sharma.

A case has been registeredand the police have decided toscan CCTV footage to identi-fy the killers. Meanwhile, thebody has been sent to mortu-ary for the post-mortem exam-ination. “We may get freshleads about the nature ofweapons used by the gangstersto murder Kale. The caliber ofbullets will be analysed withthat of the modus operandi ofthe various gangs that use suchweapons,” said a police official.

Kale had contested DelhiAssembly elections from NarelaAssembly seat in 2013 on theticket of Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP). He had contestedmunicipal elections too andhad links with various politicalparty.

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The who’s who of Jharkhand’spolitics, cutting across party

lines, paid tribute to formerUnion Minister of Law and vet-eran lawyer Ram Jethmalaniafter his demise on Sunday.Ninety-six-year-old Jethmalani,known for his political acumenand illustrious career as anadvocate, passed away at 7.45amat his residence in New Delhi.

Chief Minister RaghubarDas, in an official statement,condoled Jethmalani’s demiseand said that he was one of theveterans of Indian politics andlaw. “I extend solidarity to thebereaved family. May his soulrest in peace,” said Das.

Leader of Opposition,

Hemant Soren, took to Twitterto express grief over Jethmalani’sdemise. “Be it court or theParliament, Jethmalani ji neverfailed to express his views andmake a difference. The countryhas lost a fearless and vocal per-sonality,” he tweeted.

Six-time Rajya Sabha mem-ber, Jethmalani served as aUnion Minister in BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP)-led NDAGovernments. In 2016, he waselected to the upper house of theParliament. The seasoned lawyerwas elected to both the housesof Parliament with a BJP ticketseveral times. He was a Ministerin former Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee's Cabinet in1998 and then again in October1999. However, he quit the

Vajpayee Government in July2000. In 2004, he contestedagainst former Vajpayee fromLucknow.

Former Jharkhand PradeshCongress Committee (JPCC)President Ajoy Kumar alsoshared his condolences on socialnetworking website Twitter.“Saddened to hear that veteranlawyer and former Union LawMinister Sri Ram Jethmalanipassed away. May his soul rest inpeace,” he tweeted.

Union Minister for TribalAffairs, Arjun Munda said thatJethmalani was one of a kindpersonality. “Jethmalani ji was agenius in the truest sense of theterm. I am lucky to have methim. Rest in eternal peace, sir,”he said.

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The Congress on Sundayclaimed that the Modi

Government’s 100 days inoffice have been characterisedby “arrogance, uncertaintyand vendetta politics”, as itattacked the dispensation overissues such as the state ofeconomy, situation inKashmir, the NRC in Assamand action by probe agencies against Oppositionleaders.

While former party chiefRahul Gandhi took a dig atby congratulating it on 100days of “no development”,Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi said theModi Government is mumafter “ruining the economy”and alleged that it is trying tohide the grim situation in thecountry.

Rahul alleged that therewas a glaring lack of leader-ship, direction and plans toturnaround the “ravagedeconomy”. “Congratulationsto the Modi govt on#100DaysNoVikas, the con-tinued subversion of democ-racy, a firmer strangleholdon a submissive media todrown out criticism and aglaring lack of leadership,direction & plans where it’sneeded the most — to turn-around our ravaged economy,”Rahul Gandhi said in a tweetmessage.“Three words thatdescribe the first 100 days ofBJP 2.0 - tyranny, chaos andanarchy,” the Congress said ina series of tweets. Priyanka onher part said the companiesare in danger, while trade is indoldrums. “Through drama,deceit, lies, and propaganda,they are trying to hide thecountry’s grim situation,” shesaid.

“Eight sectors haverecorded a growth rate below2 per cent and our FinanceMinister still refuses to acceptthat our economy is in freefall.

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Products made by artisans ofJharkhand will soon be avail-

able on the online marketingportal Flipkart. A Memorandumof Understanding (MoU) wassigned between State industriesdepartment and Flipkart onSunday to provide online mar-keting platform for local artisansof Jharkhand. On the occasionChief Minister Raghubar Dassaid, "There is no shortage of tal-ent among the artisans of theState. It is a day of happiness forthem. I am confident that this tie

up with Flipkart will help the tra-ditional art of State get the ben-efit of national market. This e-commerce platform will bringtogether the variety of art and tal-ent of the State under one plat-

form." Das said that the preparation

to bring thousands of artisans onthe platform of e-commerce hasbeen made. Keeping up with thechanging time and shopping

trends, the State governmentsigned a MoU with Flipkartcalled project Samarth to take theproducts of Jharkhand to theonline shopping platform. Dassaid, "Under the leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi,bamboo production has beenseparated from ForestDepartment. This decision ofCentre will be very fruitful forthe farmers of Jharkhand. Nowthey can grow bamboo in theirfields and thus will have no cri-sis in procuring bamboo formaking various products."

He said that the PM hasfocused on e-governance."Efforts have been put to ensurethat that people sitting in villagesdo marketing and get otherfacilities online. The entire worldis a marketplace and the prod-ucts are being sold successfully

through e-market," CM said. Dassaid that the Government isworking towards registration ofall those who are associatedwith handcraft and other arts.

Separate identity cards willbe given to these artisans.Industries secretary KRavikumar said that the gov-ernment strives to provide a plat-form for all those artisans whodo not have proper marketingplatforms. "Consumers can typeSamarth on the mobile applica-tion of Flipkart and see and buyproducts made by Jharkhandartisans," he said. Vice presidentof Flipkart, Dheeraj Kapoor saidon the occasion, "Flipkart doesnot just provide a big market forvarious products but also playsa role in the development of thecountry and financial upgrada-tion of the producers."

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In view of increase in denguecases following monsoon

rains in the past few days, thehealth department has formedthree quick response teams(QRTs) to curb vector menace.

Sources in the districthealth department revealedthat in the last one week,more than 11 dengue caseshave been reported from cityareas, taking the total numberof dengue positive casesreported so far in 2019 to 44forcing the department tointensify its efforts. “We arekeeping an eye on the rain

spell. This year we had seenvery few rainy spells duringJuly and also in August. It isonly in the last week of August

that there have few spells ofrains and this has led to wateraccumulation which has led tospurt in dengue cases off late,”

said an official from the healthdepartment.

The three civic bodies incity Jamshedpur Notified Area

Committee-JNAC, MangoNotified Area Committee(MNAC) and Jugsalai munic-ipality are working on door-to-door inspection to identifydengue larvaes. “We haveformed the QRTS and wouldalso be writing to civic bodiesto again help us in curbingdengue menace,” said the offi-cial.

The department whichearlier used to only spray lar-vicidal apart from undertakingcleanliness exercise will beopting for destroying unusedcontainers (identified vectorbreeding centers) in the affect-ed areas and educating peopleon not allowing water to stag-nate in residential areas. “Asper latest directive of thehealth department we haveasked our men to carry outfogging exercise in the affect-ed areas of Jugsalai and Mangowith focus on identifying anddestroying unused containersstoring waters in houses and

localities and educating localsabout steps to prevent breed-ing of dengue vectors,” said theofficial.

This exercise would beheld simultaneously with rou-tine methods of spraying lar-vicidal in the area. "We needto understand that mosquitoesthat carry the virus of denguedo not come from outside,rather they generate from thehousehold things like flower-pots, coolers water, rejectedtyre kept on the roof top or inthe corner of the garden. Sowe must ensure that there is nosuch place where water isstagnant for some time," saidan official.

JNAC will be pressing intoservice its handheld foggingmachines and four vehiclemounted fogging units tocover non-company areas inBirsangar, Jemco, Sonari,Kadma, Baridih, Manifit,Namda Basti, regularly in theevening.

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Amenstrual hygiene aware-ness campaign was

launched by Karam Jyoti, asocial organization in Dhanbadaiming to empower womenand adolescent girls. “Our cam-paign will continue tillSeptember 15 in coal capitalDhanbad,” informed Shalini amember of the NGO. “As a partof the campaign, we have start-ed fund collection for sanitarypads from the students and theemployees of IIT (ISM)Dhanbad. We are also accept-ing pads as donations whichwill be distributed among theneedy young girls and the vil-lage women nearby IIT (ISM)Dhanbad,” she said.

The funds that will be col-lected would be used to pur-chase sanitary pads andMenstrupedia magazines whichwill later be distributed during

the awareness lecture pro-gramme of the organizationacross the city. “Menstrupediamagazine is a very interestingand age-friendly guidebook foryoung girls to understand themenstrual cycle and relatedhealth information,” saidShalini.

Privilege boxes have alsobeen kept at several publicplaces, where one can droppackets of sanitary pads. Thosewho wish to give monetarycontribution can do so in cash(and take the receipt) orthrough online transfer by scan-ning the QR code provided inthe poster at the site."If anybodywishes to join us for this noblemove and for collection anddistribution events he can con-tact us anytime," she added.

Shalini along with othermembers of NGO appealed tothe mass to come forward andjoin hands to create a change.

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For yoga teacherKumari Shweta,

who has beeninvolved with theancient practice frommuch before thetrend started, yoga isnot just a form ofexercise but is a wayof attaining innerpeace and overallwell being. The 31-year-old yoga teacherfrom the Capital Citysecured the secondposition at the AllIndia YogaCompetition 2019held in April.

“For me fitness isnot about going tothe gym but some-thing that can bedone in the comfortof your home. Yogais not something fora specific age group,but instead it issomething that canbe done across allage brackets andgenders. In today’sfast paced life, yoganot only helps in being fit butis also one of the best ways todistress,” said Shweta.

A trained yoga teacherfrom Paramahansa YogendraYoga Aashram, Shweta ispresently pursuing her MA inyogic studies. She is also a cer-tified level 1 zumba instruc-tor. “When conducting class-es, I try to give my students a

very personalized experiencekeeping their problems inmind. I also try to focus onthe overall flexibility withadded fat loss activities. Myclasses also have a twist ofdoing yoga and zumbatogether making it a fun activ-ity,” she added. She conductsgroup classes Ashtanga,power yoga and zumba at var-

ious centres in thecapital city. Shwetastarted doing yoga ata very young ageand has also wonvarious competi-tions at the districtand state level. “Iwas a lways con-scious about beingfit. I had to stop thepractice while pur-suing my MBA inFinance and it wasthen that I realisedwhat I actual lywanted to do in lifewas make a career inyoga,” she recalls.

The yoga enthu-siast aspires to do aPhD in the subjectand add more formsof fitness to her baglike Pilates and Arielyoga in the comingyears.

She stronglybelieves that sup-port from her par-ents in her off beatprofession hashelped her reachwhere sheis.“Initially my par-ents were a little

apprehensive with my careerchoice but they have alwaystaught me to ever give up andalways believe that my futurecould be whatever I want tomake of it.

Seeing me so consistentwith my work and winning atthe national level, I feel myparents are very proud of metoday,” she adds.

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Every fourth day a child is traf-ficked from Jharkhand – a State

that is striving relentlessly to keepits children in school and preventchild labour. The latest NationalCrime Records Bureau (NCRB)report, released in 2016, says that atotal of 90 children were traffickedfrom Jharkhand in 2015. TheNCRB’s figure, however, may just beshowing the tip of an iceberg andthe actual count of trafficked chil-dren could be much higher, fearactivists working at the grass rootlevel.

While the Government hasbeen taking several initiatives tocurb trafficking of children, theunderlying causes that may lead tochildren falling prey to traffickersstill require much attention. “Wehave to understand that schooldropouts and children who areforced to earn for their family aremore likely to fall prey to traffick-ers. There are also children who areunhappy with the environment athome and want to leave. They areequally susceptible,” said MahadevHansda, State Programme Managerof Save the Children, an interna-tional organization working in theinteriors of Jharkhand since theState’s formation.

Hansda recalled the time whenhe was working on rescue andrehabilitation of children traffickedfrom Jharkhand to New Delhi andsaid that around 700 Jharkhandchildren were rescued from NewDelhi alone every year. “The onlyway to curb this practice is by edu-cating children and ensuring thatthey get a safe and healthy envi-ronment at home and at school,” hesaid. Poor nutrition and low survivalrate has pushed Jharkhand to thesecond last position among all the29 states in India in terms of ChildWell-Being Index, a report that hasput into consideration healthy per-sonal development, positive rela-tionships and protective environ-ment. Jharkhand secured a rating of0.50 out of 1 in the report released

on August 27. The latest NationalFamily Health Survey (NFHS) alsocomplements the results of theChild Well-Being Index. Accordingto the latest NFHS-4 conducted in2015-2016, at least 48 per centchildren under the age of five yearsliving in rural Jharkhand are stunt-ed. At least 29.5 per cent of childrenin the same age bracket are wastedand 49.8 per cent are underweight,the survey conducted by the min-istry of health and family welfarehighlights. The NFHS is yet to con-duct its survey for 2018-2019.“Poverty leads to malnutrition andpoverty also leads to trafficking andchild labour,” Hansda said.

Member of Child WelfareCommittee (CWC) in Khunti,Baijnath Kumar said that thousandsof children were trafficked fromJharkhand every year and manycases go unreported. “Thousands ofchildren are trafficked every yearfrom the interiors of the State. A lotstill needs to be done in order toprotect the vulnerable children,” saidKumar.

The Raghubar Das-ledGovernment here, however, hastaken initiatives like SukanyaYojana, which encourages girl chil-dren to pursue education and notfall in the trap of child marriage.Child marriage, too, happens to beone of the reasons for trafficking ofminor girls from the State. Severalincidents of Jharkhand minorsbeing trafficked for marrying menin Haryana were reported in theyesteryears, say activists.

The law enforcement agenciesare planning to strengthen theirmechanism for fighting trafficking.The Criminal InvestigationDepartment (CID) has written toState Home Department for settingup our new Anti Human TraffickingUnits (AHTU) in Jharkhand. “Weare continuously striving tostrengthen our teams for curbinghuman trafficking. We have eightAHTUs and four new AHTUs willfurther facilitate our work,” saidRanjeet Prasad, Inspector General,Organised Crime.

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Ayoung man was caught byvillagers and handed over

to the local police in Garhwa onthe suspicions of being a childthief. The locals mistook theyoung man, Ajay for being achild lifter after he and fourother youth were found wan-dering in Kalyanpur village,around three km from districtheadquarters. On seeingunknown faces the villagersstarted questioning them.

Scared of the questioningthe five started running awaybut after a chase, the villagersmanaged to nab Ajay while thefour others managed to flee.The villagers then handed himover to the police. GarhwaSDPO Om Prakash Tiwari said,"The youth Ajay is acting like heis deranged.

He was unable to give anyanswers during the interroga-tion. We have admitted him atthe hospital for medical check-up." SP Shivani Tiwari said thatrumor of child theft is being

reported at some places. “Beingsuspicious of child lifting,unknown people are being beat-en up by the villagers andcrowd." She informed that therehas been no incident of childtheft in Garhwa. Tiwari said thatspreading rumors is a punish-able offense. She appealed to thepeople to give such informationto the concerned police station,DSP and SP. “Also, give infor-mation by dialing 100 numbers.

Immediate action will betaken on receipt of informa-tion,” she said. The SP askedpeople not to publicize and dis-seminate the incident and infor-mation related to child theft onsocial media.

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Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) Executive president

and former Chief Minister,Hemant Soren on Sunday vis-ited Hazaribag under his‘Badlao Yatra’ and attacked theGovernments in State andCentre for their recent poli-cies. Soren said that theGovernment was terrorizingpeople through variousmeans, and the new MotorVehicles Act was only one ofthem.

Soren launched his‘Badlao Yatra’ on August 26from Sahebganj in a bid toconvey his message beforeState Assembly Elections. Hehas been addressing publicmeetings in all districts acrossthe State through the ‘Yatra’.On Sunday, he reached hisfifth destination.

Coming down heavily onthe Government, Soren saidthat the Government has“terorrised” people throughvarious ways like demoneti-zation and Goods andServices Tax. And now it isterorrising people throughtraffic chalans, he added.“People of the State are livingin fear of the recently amend-ed traffic rules. How do they

(Government) expect thepoor people of the country topay such hefty penalties? Theyonly need money by hook orcrook,” said Soren. Addressinga public gathering inHazaribag, Soren said thatKonar Irrigation Project of thearea, which took 42 long yearsto be commissioned, couldnot last for even 24 hours afterits inauguration. “The projectis very important for the peo-ple of this area and the gov-ernment was patting its backfor launching the project.

But the reality camebefore people within hours.Raghubar Das inauguratedthe project in haste beforecompletion of the work.Similarly, several inaugura-tion programmes are going onto attract attention of people

just before the State AssemblyElections,” said Soren. “ThePrime Minister had promisedthat he will provide jobs totwo crore people but insteadof providing job the compa-nies are retrenching employ-ees,” he added. The formerChief Minister said that ifvoted to power in the State, hewill form a ‘Kisan Bank’ sothat the farmers can get facil-ity of easy credit.

Speaking on the localissue of Hazaribag, Soren saidthat BJP Government force-fully acquired land of farmersfor its capitalist friends with-out framing a proper dis-placement policy. “A largenumber of people got dis-placed by various coal minesand electricity factories.Instead of rehabilitating them,the Government made theirlives even more miserable.

The victims of displace-ment are living life likenomadic people. If JMM isvoted to power, then it willgive priority to rehabilitationpolicy in the State and thefamilies displaced in the pastwill also be rehabilitated,” headded. Veteran party leaderand Dumri MLA JagarnathMahto was also present on theoccasion.

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The EastSinghbhum dis-

trict administrationhas made specialplans in view ofMuharram proces-sion in the city.

Apart from barri-cading of roads pass-ing through commu-nally sensitive areas atSakchi, Bhalubasa,Dhatkidih, Mangoand Jugsalai the entryof heavy vehicleswould be barred forwhole day duringMuharram proces-sion.

“We are takingevery step to ensurethat the festive seasonis peaceful. We havechalked out a specialtraffic plan keeping inview the dates ofimmersion andMuharram festivityin consultation withsenior superintendentof police EastSinghbhum AnoopBirtharay and othersenior police officialsso that people areleast inconvenienced,”said Ravi ShankerShukla EastSinghbhum deputycommissioner.

“The magistratesand police officialsof 25 zones (in termsof police stations)and six super zones(cluster of police stations) have beenasked to pass on thedirective of adminis-tration regardingtraffic plans to Durgapuja committees andMuharram akharacommittees beforehand to avoid confu-sion,” said an official.

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Chief Minister RaghubarDas on Sunday claimed

that his Government is focusedon development and empow-erment of women. AddressingKamal Sakhi members of partyat a function held at Harmuground, Chief Minister said,“The Government is commit-ted to encourage the womenfolk of Jharkhand to lead thedevelopment initiative.”

At the function held atHarmu ground, the MahailaMorcha of BJP presented 5 lakhrakhis collected from across theState to Chief Minister. BJPNational Women’s Wing(Mahila Morcha) president,Vijaya Rahatkar, as token tiedfive rakhis to Das collectedfrom five different adminis-trative sub-divisions.

Chief Minister on the occa-sion also highlighted the vari-ous schemes of centre andstate for women which aim toempowering the women folk.Das said, “As a part of womenempowerment the stateGovernment had introducedproperty registry at a token rateof Re 1 for women. The aim ofthe scheme is to make womenempowered at the same timemake them owners in the prop-

erty.” The Chief Minister alsohighlighted the Ujjwala Yojanaof centre, opening up of bankaccounts through Jan DhanYojana, and various other socialschemes as Beti Padhao BetiBachao launched by Modi

Government.The Chief Minister urging

the Aadhi Aabadi (half thepopulation) said that in nextthree months, the State is goingto have Assembly election;women who had earlier

reposed faith of BJP shouldonce again give an opportuni-ty to BJP in larger interest ofState.

Das said, “Due to doubleengine governments at Centreand State, Jharkhand has wit-

nessed development inall fronts. To maintainthis development pacepeople should onceagain give an opportu-nity to BJP.” The ChiefMinister said that thegovernment aim is tobring smiles in the faceof everyone and withthis in mind the gov-ernment is working.

The Mahila Morchaevent was attended byState BJP unit presidentLaxman Gilua, nationalpresident of BJP MahilaMorcha Vijaya Rahatkar,State BJP unit presidentArti Singh among oth-ers. State social welfareminister Louis Marandiwas also present on theoccasion. On the occa-sion, Vijaya Rahatkarlauded the work of ChiefMinister for empower-ment of women as theGovernment hadlaunched variousschemes for women folk.

The State BJP MahilaMorcha had collected 5 lakhrakhis from around 29000booths across the state. Fromeach booth, the Mahila Morchawere given the task to collect 25lakhs from each booths.

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The State BJP unit on Sundayreceived a shot in the arm

as Bhoomi Vikas BankChairman Praful Kumar Singhjoined BJP in presence of partypresident Laxman Gilua andgeneral secretary DipakPrakash. Singh comes fromHussainabad region of Garhwadistrict, the seat which BJP hadnever won after the creation ofseparate state in 2000. However,Singh’s father Awadesh KumarSingh had represented the seattwice during the united Biharperiod.

40-year-old Singh, afterworking as journalist in variouspremier newspapers and agen-cies for few years, left his job topurse career in politics. Singhafter completing his studiesfrom Delhi University laterjoined Pioneer School ofJournalism, from where hewas absorbed with The Pioneernewspaper. Singh, thereafterworked at various newspaperssuch as Midday, Reuters,Dainik Bhaskar and latermsn.com (the digital platformof Microsoft).

As a journalist he got theopportunity to cover importantassignments of President,Prime Minister, and VicePresident and travelled more

than 30 countries coveringimportant assignments. Singhhad received various awards forexcellence in journalism.

However, two years backSingh returned to his hometown (Hussainabad) for purs-ing career in politics. In his firstpolitical break, he contested theelection of chairman of BhoomiVikas Bank (Garhwa/Palamu)and even won the election.Sources said that the BhoomiVikas Bank is cooperative andhas strong influence inPalamu/Garhwa region.

After joining the BJP, SinghTalking to the Pioneer said, “Asjournalist I had worked withseveral newspapers and newsagencies. But from my child-hood I had the dream of serv-ing people of my region andwith this aim I decided toleave the job and return to myhome town.” Singh further

said, “As Hussainabad is onethe most backward region ofState, I will strive for makingHussianabad as a separate dis-trict so that the fruits of devel-opment reaches to people.”

Singh comes from politicalfamily as his father lateAwadesh Kumar Singh hadrepresented Hussainabad asMLA twice (1972-77 and 1995-2000). As socialist leader,Awadesh Kumar Singh wasmade MLC twice in unitedBihar. During united Bihar hehad served as cooperative andlabour minister.

Singh’s joining BJP assumesimportance as, since the cre-ation of separate StateJharkhand, BJP had never wonHussainabad seat. The seatwhich borders Bihar had beenrepresented by Sharad Pawar’sNCP, RJD and presently by BSPKushwaha Shivpujan Mehta.

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Massive preparations areon in the Capital city for

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s visit to Capital city onSeptember 12. The PM will layfoundation stone, inaugurateand launch five schemes with-in two hours of his stay here.During the function at ShriJagannath Maidan the PM willaddress around one lakh peo-ple.

Chief Secretary Dr. D KTiwari recently chaired a meet-ing where discussions wereheld at each point from thePrime Minister's arrival to hisdeparture and the officials con-cerned were entrusted withthe responsibilities. The CS

emphasized on giving everyfacility of the people partici-pating in the programme andfor the visitors. All necessarysignage and public amenitiesshould be arranged, he said.

The PM will reach BirsaMunda Airport at 11 AM,from where, he will go direct-ly to the newly constructedAssembly building complexand will inspect the Assemblybuilding. He will meet all thelegislators at the central hall.On this occasion, he will alsoissue a stamp on the newAssembly. On the big screen,the structure and arrangementof the entire Assembly buildingwill be shown. From there hewill arrive at the main eventheld at Shri jagannath Maidan.It is known that the construc-tion of the Assembly buildingstarted in 2016 at a cost of 465crores. It is spread over a totalarea of 39 acres. It is equipped

with facilities to suit all require-ments. It has a seating capac-ity of 162 MLAs.

From Shri JagannathMaidan, the PM will start theCentral Government's ambi-tious scheme Prime MinisterKisan Maandhan Yojanaonline. With this, a messagerelated to the beneficial farm-ers across the country will besent to their mobile numberthrough SMS. Beneficial farm-ers of all the districts ofJharkhand will also be a part ofthis programme. It is worthmentioning that small andmarginal farmers will get amonthly pension of three thou-sand rupees after the age of 60years from the KisanMaandhan Yojana. After hisdeath his wife will be benefit-ed and will get half the pensionamount. Farmers between 18and 40 years of age will be ableto become part of this scheme

by paying a premium amount.Modi will also launch the

Eklavya Model residentialschools related to quality edu-

cation to the students ofScheduled Tribes by pressing

the online button from the landof Jharkhand. This scheme willbe implemented in blocks witha tribal population of at least20,000. A total of 480 studentsfrom class 6 to 12 will betaught in the school and Rs 1.09lakh will be spent per student.There are plans to openEklavya schools in 69 blocks inJharkhand, out of which 23schools will open before thisMarch 2020. Land has beenmade available for its con-struction, for which approval ofRs. 524 crore has been received.

The PM will inaugurate themulti-model vessel terminalbuilt on the banks of riverGanga in Sahebganj on behalfof the Union Government'sMinistry of Transport andWaterways, online fromRanchi. He will also lookonline for cargo loading andother arrangements on the ves-sel. It is known that the cost of

this project is Rs 299.10 crore.This waterway is also con-nected by road and rail. Fromhere, 1.07 million tonnes ofstone chips and 1 milliontonnes of coal will be trans-ported every year. Also 2500people will get direct employ-ment. This will change thesocio-economic system of theentire region.

Jharkhand will soon get anew secretariat after getting anew assembly. The PrimeMinister will also lay the foun-dation for this. The new secre-tariat building to be con-structed as East and West Blockwill also be the center of attrac-tion with the state-of-the-artstructure with all necessaryfacilities like the new VisBhawan. Rs 1566.69 crore hasbeen approved for its con-struction. This building will bebuilt in a total of 23 lakh 60thousand 250 sqft.

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The much awaited ExecutiveCommittee elections of

Federation of JharkhandChamber of Commerce andIndustries (FJCCI) whichstarted with zeal and excite-ment on Sunday, was can-celled later in the day follow-ing technical glitches in thepolling system. This is for thefirst time that computerizedvoting system was introducedin the FJCCI elections.

The voting started as perthe plan at 9 am and around 50per cent voters had polledtheir votes till 2 pm. However,soon afterwards, the comput-er systems stopped working.Following this, former FJCCIpresident and Supervisor of thepolling, Bishnu Budhia haltedthe polling for the glitch to besorted. Unfortunately, when

the problem could not bedetected by 4:30 pm, Budhiaheld a meeting with both thecontesting teams and decidedto cancel the elections.

Later in the evening it wasdecided that the re-electionwould be conducted onSeptember 15.

The two teams contestingelections were led by incum-bent Secretary General FJCCIKunal Azmani and noted busi-nessmen Kishore Mantri,respectively. Following thecancellation of the elections, amember of Mantri’s group,RD Singh, said that votershave cast their votes for changebut due to glitches in systempolling was stopped.

This is the 57th ExecutiveCommittee election of FJCCIsince its inception in 1960.Budhia said that a total of 3414members of the trader com-munity will elect the 21 mem-ber committee including apresident, two vice presidents,a secretary general, honorarysecretary, two joint secretariesand one treasurer. “Other thanthis, 6 vice presidents will be

e l e c t e dfrom theirrespectiver e g i o n sfrom theState. Restof thee l e c t e dmemberswill beexecutivecommitteemembers,”he added.

“Fi rs ttime in thiselection acomputerised voting systemwas used to conduct fair andhassle free elections. Earlier theelections were conducted onballot papers. The voting wasdone at Marwari Bhawan sit-uated at Harmu Road in theState Capital. Unlike earlier,this time the counting was sup-posed to take place on thesame day after a gap of half anhour of voting and the super-visor committee was toannounce the results on thesame day too,” said Budhia.

Informing about the voting

process the election Supervisorsaid that in attempt to conductfair election, the Chambermade a new rule this time thatthe voter will have to verifytheir identity at first then hecan get voting slip to cast theirvote. “For this two onlinecounters were installed. A totalof 30 computerised pollingsystem were also installed atthe polling center to conductfast polling as one voter haveto vote for 21 posts and thereis no option like NOTA (nonof the above),” he added.

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Sacred Heart ConventSchool, one of the oldest and

prominent English-mediumschools in the Steel City, is cel-ebrating its platinum jubileethis year. Several programmeshave been lined up to celebratethe school’s 75 years. Hecticpreparations are on to make thefunction memorable, saidschool authorities. ThePlatinum Jubilee celebrationwill kick start on 14 September.

From cultural events tophilanthropic activities, theschool will celebrate the occa-sion throughout the year. Theclosing ceremony will be heldon 15 January 2020.

“It is a historic moment foreach one of us and we feelproud to have completed 75years of dedicated service to thesociety,” said an official ofSacred Heart Convent School.

She added that the school hasset an example imparting qual-ity education and will celebratethe occasion throughout theyear.

According to schoolauthorities, the institution hascome a long way and hascarved a niche in the field ofeducation.

The school was establishedon January 15, 1945. It startedwith humble beginnings at 5,Beldih Triangle, after which itshifted its premises to CNRHall, Dhatkidih High Schooland Dalma Villa. Later, a plotof land at Park Road, NorthernTown, was secured from TataSteel and the present schoolwas constructed and occupiedin January 1951.

In March 1952, the schoolsent its first batch of matricu-lates, while in 1963 it receivedaffiliation from the Council forthe Indian School Certificate(CISC), New Delhi. The first

batch of students took theSenior CambridgeExamination in 1965.

The shift to the presentIndian Certificate of Secondary

Education (ICSE) was made in1974. The first batch of ISC stu-dents (Class XII with arts,commerce and science stream)was sent up in March 1995.

The Association of SacredHeart Alumni, Jamshedpur(ASHA) has also planned tocelebrate the year with series ofactivities. “It is really a proud

moment for us and on behalfof Alumni Association haveplanned events from December13 to December 15 2019,” saidSumita Singh, secretary ofASHA.

She said that the associa-tion is shooting a documentarybased school’s growth anddevelopment in 75 years. AMusical Nite for students andalumni of the school is sched-uled on the 13 December 2019on 14 December, evening 10minutes slot will be given tothose who are interested inputting up any show. A paneldiscussion on an importantsocial issue is also scheduled on15 December, 2019.

Managed by the ApostolicCarmelite nuns, Sacred Heartis an all-girls English mediumschool affiliated to the Councilof Indian School CertificateExaminations (CISCE), NewDelhi and offers educationfrom kindergarten to class XII.

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Chief Minister RaghubarDas on Sunday congrat-

ulated Pr ime MinisterNarendra Modi for comple-tion of 100 days of secondterm of Modi's Government.

Congratulation the PMand his Cabinet MinistersDas said, "The journey ofthese 100 days is the journey

of development and empow-ered expression of unifiedIndia."

He said that during thisperiod, Jammu and Kashmirwas freed from the shacklesof Article 370 and stepped onthe path of development.

“Giving relief to Muslimwomen from triple talaaq isa well-meaning effort for aprogressive society," Das said.

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Security has been beefed upin Bokaro ahead of

Muharram to avoid any unto-ward incident.“Display of armshas been banned during theprocession,” said Bijay Kumar,Sub Divisional Magistrate(SDM) Chas adding that sale ofliquors also has been bannedon the day of the festival.

SP Bokaro P Murugun saidthat a high alert has beendeclared in the district and atleast 32 magistrates, seniorpolice officers and securitycops are deputed to ensureproper security arrangementsin district along with other offi-cers.“Policemen are instructedto tackle the adverse situa-

tions and maintain strong secu-rity arrangements. Patrollinghas been intensified to avertany untoward incidents,” hesaid. The SP added that police-men have also been asked tokeep a strict vigil on anti-social elements includingmotor bike riders inside the cityas well as on the entry pointsof the city. Miscreants would bedealt strictly and no compro-mise will be made in providingsecurity to the people.

“We are regularly organis-ing security checks in marketplaces and shopping malls. Onthe directives of the policeheadquarters we have beenincreasing our rapport with thepeople living in the respectivepolice station jurisdiction

because if local people are vig-ilant, it makes our job moreresult-oriented,” an official said.

Peace committee meets arebeing organised under severalpolice stations to maintain har-mony during the festivity.Religious leaders from all com-munities, volunteers, Seniorcitizens, the local business-man, eminent citizens, profes-sionals, youngsters have alsoparticipated in peace meet-ings.“Stress was given on fos-tering peace and harmony bybringing people together tofight anti-social elements dur-ing the meet,” said SP.

Appealing to the massMurugan said, “Please do notpay attention to rumors, cele-brate the festival in harmony.”

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Caught red-handed chewingtobacco, two minor siblings

from Bokaro faked their ownkidnapping in order to savethemselves from the wrath oftheir parents–an incident thatkept the police busy in inves-tigation for several hours.

On Saturday morning,their grandmother caught themchewing tobacco and alleged-ly threatened to complain abouttheir addiction to their parents.

The boys, one 11-year-oldand the other 16-year-old,scripted an impromptu plan tosave their skin. They went fora walk near Banaso Temple inJarandih and made a phone callto their parents informingthem that they were kidnappedby masked men in a MarutiVan–a scene straight out of a

Bollywood flick. Later, theyconfessed to the police thatthey scripted the story as theywere scared of being taken totask and wanted to divert theattention of their parents.

Officer In-Charge ofBokaro Thermal Police Station,Umesh Kumar Thakur saidthat the case kept the investi-gating team busy for at least 16hours as the story soundedconvincing and the police didnot wish to take any chanceswith the safety of the boys.“They called up their parentsand said that they were kid-napped but they managed toflee. They were hoping that theincident will divert their par-ent’s attention from their dan-gerous addiction to their safe-ty,” said Thakur.

The two boys were rescuedand brought to the police sta-

tion. They confessed their lieduring interrogation, policesaid. No First InformationReport was lodged in connec-tion with the case. “While talk-ing to the boys we realized thatthe story was scripted. Itseemed childish and half-baked. The boys are now withtheir family. We, however, havelodged a General Diary inconnection with the case,” saidthe officer.

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In order to fulfil the dream ofa student coming from eco-

nomically weaker sections(EWS), a Delhi family hasdecided to sponsor the edu-cation of a Dalit student VijayKumar who qualified the JointEntrance Examination (JEE)and entered the IndianInstitute of Technology (IIT-Delhi) with the help of DelhiGovernment's Jai Bheem freecoahing scheme.

The Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal on Sundaysaid a family from DefenceColony has come forward tohelp the 16-year-old VijayKumar in completing his studyby bearing the total cost of his

education. Kumar's father is atailor and mother a home-maker. After hearing aboutVijay's case and story, VarunGandhi and his family decid-ed to fund his education atIIT-Delhi. ""Instead of donat-ing money to a temple, mak-ing a talented kid realise hisdream of IIT is a much biggerservice to God," said Gandhi,and his mother adding theirfamily has always valued edu-cation and celebrated excel-lence.

Introducing the SouthDelhi-based family, VijayKumar and his parents to themedia, Kejriwal said,"Everyone has read the storyand achievement of VijayKumar on newspaper and onthe Television.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Sunday

said that his ‘Jan AshirwadYatra’ has been successfullycompleted covering 3,000 km inall the 90 constituencies of theState.

The Chief Minister, whileaddressing a mega VijaySankalp Rally in Rohtak, saidthat during this yatra fromAugust 18 to September 8,

about 20 lakh people whole-heartedly welcomed andblessed him. Manohar Lal saidthat Haryana state was formedin 1966 and in 48 years, noschemes were launched todirectly benefit the people of thestate. The state was dominatedwith fear, corruption and dis-crimination besides variousirregularities. But, the presentState Government, which wasformed five years ago, has donethe work of changing the old

system and changed the politicsby eliminating nepotism andregionalism, he said.

The Government startedonline transfers and ended cor-ruption in the name of trans-fers. Provided government jobsto the youth of the state on thebasis of merit and arranged forskill training to those who didnot get jobs, he said. The ChiefMinister said that the govern-ment has set up a SkillUniversity where more than800 courses are currently avail-able. More than 50,000 MSMEshave been established in thestate, in which about 5.5 youthhave got employment, headded. Under the Pradhan

Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, the pre-sent government has worked toalleviate the hardship of womenby providing gas connections toabout 9 lakh families of the stateand in the coming five years,the government has set target toprovide clean water to the peo-ple under the ‘Jal Se Nal’scheme, he added.

Manohar Lal further saidthat the people of the state sup-ported them as a result ofwhich they won all 10 seats inthe Lok Sabha elections andnow they will achieve the tar-get of winning more than 75seats in the upcoming assemblyelections. He assured the peo-ple that a lot of development

work has been done in the statein the last five years, but manyworks are still remaining. In thecoming five years, the StateGovernment will work toremove the sufferings and forthe welfare of every section ofsociety including the poor,labourers and farmers, headded. Among those present onthe occasion included HaryanaBJP chief Subhash Barala,Haryana Education MinisterRam Bilas Sharma, FinanceMinister, Capt.

Abhimanyu, Agricultureand Farmers’ Welfare Minister,OP Dhankar, Rajya Sabha MPChaudhary Birender Singh andothers.

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As many 400 innovativeand progressive farmers

from Punjab would participatein national conference on cropresidue management, andshare their inputs for in-situresidue management at NewDelhi on Sunday.

Nearly 1000 farmers fromPunjab, Haryana and UttarPradesh would be part of thisconference and also share theirinnovative ideas adopted forin-situ crop residue manage-ment, said a spokesperson ofPunjab AgricultureDepartment.

The spokesperson saidthat the conference, beingorganized by the CentralGovernment at NASCComplex, New Delhi, wouldgo a long way in mitigating theproblem of stubble burningbesides creating awarenessamong farming community.Union Agriculture andFarmers’ Welfare MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar willgive inaugural address in the

conference.The innovativefarmers from Punjab wouldalso be felicitated by theCentre, who made outstandingcontribution in promoting in-situ residue management. Theexperts from PunjabAgriculture University andState Agriculture Departmentwill also give presentation oninitiatives taken by them forthe adoption in-situ cropresidues technologies inPunjab.

Meanwhile, the stateAgriculture Secretary KahanSingh Pannu, appreciating theefforts of progressive farmersto curb the menace of stubbleburning, said that PunjabGovernment has alreadylaunched a massive campaignto check stubble burning.

“With the concertedefforts of the StateGovernment and variousdepartments, the stubble burn-ing has been reduced remark-ably than the previous years. Itis the high time to educate ourfarmers about the ill-effects ofstubble burning to ensure

clean, green and pollution freeenvironment,” he said.

With a view to makingPunjab a ‘zero stubble burningstate’, the State AgricultureDepartment has already initi-ated a massive drive to providemore than 28,000 agro-machines or farm equipmentto farmers with subsidy com-ponent of Rs 274 crore duringthe current fiscal for in-situmanagement of paddy residue.

Subsidy ranging from 50to 80 percent is being also pro-vided to the farmers under thescheme.

The AgricultureDepartment had also launchedInformation EducationCommunication (IEC) activ-ities to educate farmers aboutthe ill-effects of paddy strawburning.

The awareness campaignis primarily aimed at impart-ing training to farmers andpractical demonstration ofequipments for In-Situ CropResidue Management toencourage them for refrainingfrom stubble burning.

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The Delhi Sikh GurdwaraManagement Committee

is all set to organise a bike rally— Sarbat Da Bhalla Bike Rally— from October 2 to spreadthe message of affection, peaceand humanity to commemo-rate 550th birth anniversarySikhism’s founder Guru NanakDev.

The rally will be flagged offon October 2 morning fromDelhi’s Gurudwara Rakab GanjSahib and will culminate atPunjab’s Gurdwara FatehgarhSahib after passing throughvarious cities and towns on thesame day to give message ofuniversal humanism, saidDSGMC president ManjinderSingh Sirsa on Sunday.

He said that the rally willcover a total distance of around250 kms in approximately 12hours and will make brief haltsat five places at Kundli Border,Panipat, Karnal, Ambala andFatehgarh Sahib where briefprogrammes highlighting GuruNanak Dev’s philosophy andteachings will be organised inorder to motivate younger gen-erations to follow the Sikhethos of serving people withoutany discrimination of region,religion, race or caste.

So far, around 1000 tur-baned Sikh bikers and personsof different faiths have regis-tered for the event and totalparticipation is expectedaround 1500 bikers, said Sirsa.

The online free registrationfor biker rally is available onDSGMC website till September30, besides registering by fill-ing up the forms available at allhistoric gurdwaras, 29 Sikheducation institutions in thenational capital. “So far, 20 bik-ers group active in Delhi orNCR has actively associatedwith the bike rally throughWhatsApp and other socialmedia groups created to pro-mote the event in a big way,” hesaid.

The participant bikers willbe provided literature on teach-ing, philosophy and life histo-ry of Guru Nanak Dev, andbikes will be decorated withlogos and posters highlightingvarious aspects of Guru NanakDev’s life, his teachings andmessages.

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Prof Raj Kumar, who tookover as the Vice Chancellor

of Panjab University in July lastyear, says that shortage of man-power and financial crunchare the two main challenges hehas faced during his first yearin the office. “Despite thesechallenges, my focus is pro-moting research and innovationin PU,” says the VC who isengaged in the teaching andresearch profession for morethan three decades.

His first year in the officehas been an eventful one withallegations against him of favor-ing right wing ideology, sever-al protests being held by stu-dents and his differences withsenate and syndicate membershogging the limelight. The ViceChancellor, however, shruggedoff the Rashtriya SwayamsewakSangh (RSS) tag and says thathis only focus is to make theUniversity number one in thecountry.

Prof Raj Kumar has previ-ously served as Director, Deanand Head of Institute ofManagement Studies, BanarasHindu University (BHU)Varanasi. He spoke to ThePioneer about his vision forresearch, employment genera-tion, funding, shortage of teach-ing faculty among other issuesin PU. Excerpts from the inter-view

Q. You have so many years ofexperience in the field of edu-cation and academics. How doyou see the changes whichhave taken place in the high-er education sector and Indianeducation system over theyears?

I have been engaged inthis profession for more than 35years now and I feel that tech-nology has brought a revolution

in higher education. Now, thereis hub of knowledge just aclick away. Today, we are mov-ing ahead in terms of both lit-erature and research work inColleges and University. Thereare great opportunities for bothacademicians and students toexcel in their domain due totechnology now.

Q. What are your suggestions,to integrate quality at all lev-els of education in the coun-try? And, what are your viewson national education policy2019?National education policy aimsto reform the education systemin the country and has beenvery- well drafted. As far as sug-gestion to improve the qualityof education is concerned, I feelwe need to work on resourcesupgradation, encouraging inno-vations and funds generation inthe institutions of higher edu-cation. There is a need toexplore resources for fund gen-eration, may be through public-private partnership or corporatefunding. We should also explorethe collaboration of private andgovernment Colleges orUniversities in the country.Innovation and research hasremained my focus since Ijoined here and in PU, we arecollaborating with private sec-tor for research works. Butstill, a lot needs to be done inthis area. Apart from this, I alsofeel decentralisation and auton-omy is important for institu-tions of higher education.

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The Himalaya Day will be celebrated at ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water

Conservation (ICAR-IISWC) on Monday. Theday-long programme will be inaugurated by theinstitute director PR Ojasvi while local pro-gressive farmer Bhuvan Vikram Dabral willdeliver a speech on the significance ofHimalayas.

Ojasvi will brief the connotations associat-ed with the day and the programme on Himalayasbeing organised, giving an overview and role ofthe institute in evolving technologies and demon-strations towards sustaining the Himalayanecosystems and farming. As the chief guest,Dabral will speak on the ground realities of farm-ing situations and the expectations from theresearch and public organisations to improve thefarming, environment and the living conditionsin the Himalayan region.

The theme of Himalaya Day-2019 beingScience of Himalayas, the ICAR-IISWC hasincluded series of seven seminars by experiencedscientists of the institute and other organisations

to create awareness on the uniqueness ofHimalayas and the science of Himalayan hydrol-ogy, climate, natural resources, land degradationand management, ecosystems, biodiversity, agri-culture and related subjects among college fac-ulty members, scientists, scholars, students, pro-gressive farmers and the public at large.

The significance of Himalayas will be con-templated and discussed through the keywordsconserve soil-protect nature, save biodiversity, savesoil, and save the water-tower, the Himalayas. Anawareness exhibition, field exposure and technicalinteraction on the theme of the day will sensi-tise the students and other participants of event.

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The Centre on Sundayasserted fundamentals of

the Indian economy are strongand there is no “panic situa-tion” in the country. The BJP-led NDA Government whichcompleted 100 days in officealso said the Narendra Modiregime is “synonymous” withthe national security, develop-ment and welfare of the poorbesides being a “symbol ofhope” for every section of thesociety.

While Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar defendedthe economic slowdown andsaid it is a cyclical processsometimes and such a patch“will not hurt the country’sprogress rate, Home MinisterAmit Shah talked about secu-rity and administrative interestssaying within a period of 100days of Modi’s second tenurethe Centre has taken several“historical decisions”.

Responding to questionson the economy, slowdownand unemployment at a Pressconference to mark 100 daysof the Modi Government,Javadekar said “world over,there is a slowdown whichalso impacts markets hereand people’s behaviourchanges”.

"Therefore, we should notbe worried too much. Thegovernment is responding withwhatever actions are immedi-ately necessary. This is a tem-porary phase and not a direc-tion of a real slowdown," saidthe Information andBroadcasting Minister.

The NDA government ledby Prime Minister NarendraModi has completed 100 daysafter coming to power for asecond consecutive term witha massive mandate.

The home minister saidwhether it was the decision to"remove Article 370, Article35A from Jammu and Kashmiror to free Muslim women fromthe curse of Triple Talaq orstrengthening nation's securi-ty apparatus by amending theUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act, all these his-toric decisions are a result ofPM Modi's decisive leader-ship".

"I also assure all our coun-trymen that Modi governmentwill leave no stone unturned forthe development, welfare andsecurity of our nation," Shahsaid.

Shah said the Modi gover-ment is a symbol of hope forevery section of the society."Within 100 days of Modi 2.0,PM Narendra Modi has takenseveral historic decisions, forwhich every Indian had beenwaiting since 70 years," hesaid.

Javadekar downplayedcriticisms by Congress leaderRahul Gandhi, who said therewas a glaring lack of leader-ship, direction and plans toturnaround the "ravagedeconomy".

"Those who are not to beseen in 90 out of 100 days, howcan I react on their comment.

Whether the governmentworked, the world has wit-nessed.

The prime minister'sIndependence Day speech, hisspeech to the Motion of Thanksto the President's Address inParliament, laws which havebeen passed, the way thingshave changed and decisionsimplemented. This speed, theCongress had never witnessed.Therefore, I don't have to sayanything on their comment,"Javadekar said.

Javadekar who also holdthe Environment portfoliosaid-India last year received arecord Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) more thanChina. "Our domestic econo-my is on a strong footing andmany new industries (are com-ing up), because of the goodgovernance model and therules, which have beenchanged for foreign invest-ment. We are expecting therewill be more and more foreigninvestment, and more andmore domestic demand," hesaid.

He also said the income ofthe farmers will get doubled asper plan. "Employment is afunction of the economy... You used to file reports thatthere is no recruitment in uni-versities. It was the decision ofthe court. Recruitment of 5,000 teachers and professorswill be completed this month,"the minister said, adding that a dynamic economy facesa problem and comes out withnew answers.

To a question on therecent decision to mergebanks, Javadekar said if merg-ers are carried out in a sys-tematic way, it helps becausethere is synergy of expertise. "This a right step inright direction".

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Congress president SoniaGandhi has referred the

issue of public spat involvingveteran leader Digvijaya Singhand Umang Singhar, a MadhyaPradesh Minister to the party’sCentral disciplinary committeeafter Chief Minister KamalNath met the party chief in thenational Capital. Nath said thatentire State related party issuewas discussed with the partychief and that she said she wasdisturbed and the matter willbe resolved soon.

While the Congress’ disci-plinary committee chairmanAK Antony is expected tocome up with his report on thematter in few days, Congressgeneral secretary in-charge of

the State Deepak Babariya onFriday already submitted hisreport to Sonia Gandhi over theinfighting in the party’s Stateunit and the unsavouryremarks made by partymen inpublic.

Madhya Pradesh Forest

Minister Umang Singhar, saidto be close to senior partyleader Jyotiraditya Scindia,recently made some criticalstatements against DigvijayaSingh and accused him of run-ning the Nath Governmentfrom behind the curtains.

He also called Singh ablackmailer and a mafia ofliquor industry and miningand has written with docu-mented evidence to SoniaGandhi and apprised her about"unnecessary" intervention inthe working of Kamal Nathgovernment.

On his part Digvijay Singhnow in Rajya Sabha too metSonia Gandhi few days earlierand complained to her aboutthe infighting and disregard tohim by the leaders of State.

Asked whether actionwould be taken against Singhar,the party leader said it dependson how Antony views the feudand draws a conclusion. Singhearlier linked Singhar's remarksto his allegations associatingBJP and Bajrang Dal leaders

with Pakistan's spy agency ISIand that the issue has beenraised with Sonia Gandhi whowill take a call.

Top leaders of the MadhyaPradesh Congress have of latebeen going public against eachother. There is also a tussle overthe post of party president inthe state.

Kamal Nath holds the postof the state unit president,which senior party leaderJyotiraditya Scindia is keen towrest.

Scindia earlier lost the chiefministerial race to Nath nar-rowly when the Congress cameto power in the state inDecember last year after 15years and in recent times hasindicated his desire to becomethe MP Congress chief.

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As India prepares to analysetroves of Swiss banking

details of its citizens, a largeportion of the first tranche ofdata being shared bySwitzerland under an auto-matic information exchangeframework this month relatesto accounts that have beenalready closed due to fear ofaction, bankers and regulatoryofficials said.

However, the data that wasprepared by all Switzerland-based banks under a directionfrom the Swiss Government fordespatching further to theIndian authorities provides fulldetails of the entire flow offunds to and from all theaccounts that were active evenfor a single day in the year2018, bankers said.

The data can be quite use-ful for establishing a strongprosecution case against thosewho had any unaccountedwealth in those accounts, as itprovides entire details ofdeposits and transfers as well asof all earnings including throughinvestments in securities andother asset classes, they said.

On condition of anonymi-ty, several bankers and regula-tory officials said the detailsbeing shared relate mostly tobusinessmen, including non-resident Indians now settled inseveral South-East Asian coun-tries as well as in the US, theUK and even some African andSouth American countries.

Bankers admitted therewas a huge outflow from theseaccounts in the last few yearsafter a global crackdown beganagainst the so-called high-secrecy walls associated withthe Swiss banks and several ofthese accounts got closed.

However, the AutomaticExchange of Information(AEOI) mechanism providesthat details are being shared withIndia even for those accountsthat were closed in 2018.

Besides, there are at least100 cases of older accounts heldby Indians, which might havebeen closed before 2018, for

which Switzerland is in theprocess of sharing details withIndia under an earlier frame-work of mutual administrativeassistance as Indian authoritieshad provided prima facie evi-dence of tax-related wrongdo-ings by those account holders.

These relate to peopleengaged in businesses like autocomponents, chemicals, tex-tiles, real estate, diamond andjewellery, steel products etc.

Regulatory and govern-ment officials said the specialfocus of the analysis of theSwiss bank data could be onidentifying people with politi-cal links.

A Swiss delegation was inIndia late last month before thefirst set of details could getshared under the new auto-matic information exchange,while the two sides also dis-cussed possible steps to expe-dite execution of tax informa-tion sharing requests made byIndia in specific cases andenhancing of collaboration inoffshore tax compliance mat-ters.

The AEOI is being seen asa major boost in India's fightagainst suspected black moneystashed abroad.The details thatSwitzerland will be sharingwith Indian tax authoritiesunder this framework wouldinclude account numbers, cred-it balance and all kinds offinancial income for eachIndian client of every Swissfinancial institution.

The first despatch thismonth would be followed byfurther despatches on a yearlybasis, according toSwitzerland's FederalDepartment of Finance

(FDF).However, the detailsreceived by India would be gov-erned by confidentiality provi-sions.

Explaining the AEOI withIndia, the FDF saidSwitzerland, as a global wealthmanagement hub, is commit-ted to contributing to theintegrity of the internationalfinancial system and to a levelplaying field.

"Switzerland applies theinternational transparencystandards and therefore active-ly supports India in its fightagainst tax fraud and evasion,"it said.

It is feared many Indiansmight have closed theiraccounts after a global crack-down on black money led toSwitzerland buckling underpressure to open its bankingsector for scrutiny to clear thelong-held perception of Swissbanks being safe haven forundisclosed funds.

However, the AEOI wouldonly relate to accounts that areofficially in the name of Indianresidents and they mightinclude those used for businessand other genuine purposes.

If an Indian has a bankaccount in Switzerland, thebank would now disclose his orher data to the Swiss authori-ties, which would automaticallyforward the information tothe Indian tax authorities andany necessary action can betaken thereafter.

The information would begrouped into three broad cat-egories of identification,account and financialdetails.The identity detailswould be name, address, dateof birth and tax identification

number, while account infor-mation would include theaccount number as also nameand address of the financialinstitution.

The financial informationwould include interest income,dividends and other financialrevenue, receipts from certaininsurance policies, credit bal-ances and proceeds from thesale of financial assets.

Switzerland agreed toAEOI with India after months-long process, including reviewof necessary legal framework inIndia on data protection andconfidentiality.

Switzerland's StateSecretariat for InternationalFinance (SIF) has said Indiashared information with 58partner countries during 2018and it has "reasonable" confi-dentiality and data securitylaws. It found no "well-found-ed negative feedback" fromother countries, individuals orcompanies to indicate thatIndia has any relevant short-comings in these laws.

The SIF also found India tohave a network of over 100partner countries with mutualassistance treaties.

It also did not come acrossany documented findings ofserious human rights violationsdue to taxation or dataexchange.

Also, the Swiss Embassy inDelhi submitted that matterslike the AEOI and the cooper-ation from Switzerland werebeing talked about positively inIndia in connection with thecountry's fight against tax eva-sion and it was being seen as asignificant tool to handle theblack money problem.

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The 4,000-year-old burialsites in Uttar Pradesh’s

Sanauli in Baghpat district,about 80 km from here whichmade waves in archeologicalcircle following excavation ofunderground “sacred cham-bers”, chariots, decorated“legged coffins” as well as fas-cinating artifact is all set to getthe Government protection.

The country's premier con-servation body, ArcheologicalSurvey of India (ASI) under theUnion Culture Ministry hasissued a preliminary notifica-tion in this regard showing itsintention to tag the site as'national importance'. The aimis to give legal cover to the site-prevent it from encroachment,tempering and destruction.Around 28.67 hectares of landmostly belonging to the farm-ers in the region has been ear-marked for notification.

The draft notification saysthat the Central Government isof the opinion that, the ancientsite, namely, archaeological siteand remains in the locality ofSadikpur Sinauli, districtBaghpat, Uttar Pradesh is ofnational importance.

"Now, therefore, in exerciseof the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 4 of theAncient Monuments andArchaeological Sites andRemains Act, 1958 (24 of1958), the Central Governmenthereby gives notice of its inten-

tion to declare the saidArchaeological Site andremains to be of nationalimportance."

The ASI has sought objec-tions in this regard from thepeople (or those whose landwill be acquired for furtherexcavation) related to the mat-ter.

"Sanauli is a very importantsite from archeological point ofview. It is around 75-80 kilo-meters from Delhi, and theitems found from Sanauli siteis not only of national impor-tance but of internationalimportance. Much remain yetto be explored," said archeolo-

gist SK Manjul who is credit-ed for the excavation andunearthing coffins and sacredchambers important artifactsfrom the site in 2018.

Sanauli is located on theleft bank of the River Yamuna,68 km north-east of Delhiwhich brought to light thelargest necropolis of the lateHarappan period datable toaround early part of secondmillennium BCE.

Manjul said that theunearthed chariots, somecoffins, shields, swords andghelmets points towards theexistence of a "warrior class inthe area around 2,000 BCE".

"These findings are impor-tant to understand the culturepattern of the Upper Ganga-Yamuna doab. We found cop-per swords, helmets, shieldsand chariots," Dr. Manjul hadsaid about the exacavation.

In one of the burial pits, theexcavators had found a wood-en legged coffin that was dec-orated with steatite inlays witha female skeleton, the ASI said.The pit also contained an arm-let of semiprecious stones, pot-tery and an antenna swordplaced near the head.

Another area of the siteincluded remains of four fur-naces with three working lev-els and the "overall ceramicassemblage has late Harappancharacters."

The excavators have alsofound rice and urad dal in pots,cattle bones, wild pig and mon-goose buried along with bod-ies. "These may have beenoffered to the departed souls.We also found sacred chambersbelow the ground. After theprocession, they put the bodyin the chamber for some treat-ment or rituals," he said.

He claimed that the dis-covery of chariots put India ona par with ancient civilisationsin Mesopotamia and Greece,where chariots were usedextensively. "We are now surethat around 2000 BCE, whenthe Mesopotamians were usingchariots, swords and helmets inwar, a warrior tribe here wasusing them as well."

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Former DRDO scientist ASivathanu Pillai has claimed

India will be able to set up abase on the surface of Moon inten years for extraction of theHelium-3.

Speaking to the "War andPeace" programme on DDNews, Pillai said, "In spaceprogramme, we are one of thefour countries that has com-plete mastery over technology."

Pillai, who had spearhead-ed the Brahmos Missiles pro-gramme, said, "India will beable to set up a factory onMoon to process huge reserves

of precious raw material andbring the extracted Helium-3 toEarth," a statement by War andPeace said.

Helium-3 will be the newenergy material for future, hesaid.Helium-3 is a non radioac-tive material that can produce100 times more energy thanUranium.

Pillai said India's base onMoon will also "become a hubfor future launches" for mis-sions to other planets in thesolar system.He said, "Now,there are interests from the US,Russia and China to create baseon Moon, (so) India will nat-urally follow".

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Political observers in TamilNadu are upset over some

of the regional parties andTamil extremist outfits whichare making a hue and cry overthe recent recruitment policyannounced by the RailwayBoard of India.

A group of MPs belongingto the DMK called on SouthernRailway General Manager onSaturday and handed over amemorandum expressing their“concern “ over the move by theRailways to conduct the jobrecruitment examination onlyin English and Hindi.

The Railway Ministry hadissued an instruction to holdthe general departmental com-petitive examination for railwayemployees un only Englishand Hindi. The DMK MPSdemanded that all competitiveexaminations of the Railwaysbe conducted in Tamil andother regional languages inaddition to Hindi and English.

Interestingly, theDepartment of Posts too hadissues a similar circular some-time earlier which was dis-avowed by the Government fol-lowing resistance from theDravidian parties. A seniorDravidian party leader wentone step further and demand-ed that only people who speakYamil should be employed inthe Central Government estab-lishments in the State.

The DMK MPs in theirmemorandum stated that thiswas yet another attempt by theCentre to impose Hindi overnon-speaking States. Theyasked the Railway Board toreconsider the decision and notto punish the people of theState for no faults of theirs.

Tamil Nadu is the one andonly State in India where Hindiis not taught in GovernmentSchools because of the two-lan-guage policy. But D Jayakumar,Minister for fisheries who is also

the spokesman for theAIADMK Government said thecontroversy was all much adoabout nothing. “If the RailwayBoard is recruiting, it will askthe candidates in which lan-guage they would like to writethe test and the candidates arefree to write it in the languageof their own choice,” Jayakumarsaid while briefing the media.

But political commentatorsare not amused by the actionsof the Centre in issuing circu-lars and instructions aboutrecruitment examinations onlyto recant them after public out-cry. “This is the major factorcausing concern in our hearts.There are some officials inNew Delhi who cause fearamong the ordinary people byissuing such circulars,” saidEdappadi Velumani, leader ofthe AIADMK based in Salem.

Govindarajan Satyamurthy, political commentator andveteran scribe said that therewere Hindi chauvinists in NewDelhi similar to the Tami chau-vinists in Tamil Nadu. “This isnothing but an attempt toimpose Hindi over Tamil Naduby the Delhi based bureau-crats,” said Satyamurthy.

But people in neighbouringKerala remained calm over theissue. “Let’s see what promptedthe authorities to issue an orderlike this. Though there weremany such circulars in the past,nothing had happened. We areat home whether it is in Hindi,English or in Malayalam,” saidVijayakumar, state president ofBharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.

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Jammu & Kashmir andLadakh will become two sep-

arate Union territories fromOctober 31 but will have acommon high court, StateJudicial Academy’s DirectorRajeev Gupta said on Sunday.

He also said 108 CentralLaws would be applicable forthe two UTs while 164 statelaws would be repealed and 166state laws will continue to beapplicable. The Centre had onAugust 5 nullified Article 370of the Constitution, revokingthe special status of the State.

Parliament approved theresolution in this regard andalso passed the bill on thebifurcation of the state into twoUTs. Later on August 9,President Ram Nath Kovindgave assent to the Jammu &Kashmir Reorganisation Act,2019, bifurcating the two UnionTerritories, which will comeinto existence on October 31.

Speaking at a refresher pro-gramme, organised by the SJA

on topic “Appreciation of evi-dence with specific reference toDying Declaration, AccompliceStatement and ConfessionalStatement” for Session Judges ofJammu province here, Guptadiscussed the effects of J&KReorganization Act, 2019 onState Laws in Jammu & Kashmirand the pending cases.

He said the legislativeAssembly will be formed inJ&K as UT but there will be nolegislative Assembly in theUnion Territory of Ladakh asit will be directly controlled bythe Union Government.

“There will be commonHigh Court for UTs of Jammu& Kashmir and Ladakh. Existinglaw and procedure for practicein the high court will remain thesame,” he said. He also discussedthe impact and interplay ofrepealed acts and repealing acts.Former High Court Judge,Justice Janak Raj Kotwal, gavehis scholarly discourse on therequirements of Evidence Act inthe matter of appreciation of evi-dence by the courts.

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In a significant developmentthat many a political critic

interpreted as an attempt at col-lecting more and more Marxistvotes in their electoral kittiessenior BJP and TrinamoolCongress leaders continued tomake a beeline at the WoodlandsHospital in South Kolkata whereformer Chief MinisterBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee wasundergoing treatment for hisacute pulmonary conditions.

Senior BJP leader and theparty’s Bengal observer KailashVijaybargiya on Sunday visitedthe hospital to see the ailingformer Chief Minister he was

accompanied by senior partycolleague and former RailwayMinister Mukul Roy.

“We have spoken to thedoctors and they have saidthat his condition is improving and he has beenresponding to treatment,” saidRoy while Vijaybargiya praisedBhattacharjee for his classicalpolitical culture adding “we arekeeping a close watch on hishealth.”

BJP MP Locket Chatterjeewho paid a visit on Saturdayevening said, “I respect himpersonally as he is a culturedperson with refined politicaltaste.” Chief Minister MamataBanerjee and State Governor

Jagdeep Dhankar also visitedthe hospital.

Known for his grace integri-ty and intellect Bhattacharjee avastly respected politician hasbeen suffering from coronaryobstructive pulmonary disorderand had resigned from his polit-buro membership of theCPI(M) a few years ago. He hadeven stopped venturing out ofhis two-bed roomed flat for thepast one year or so and had con-stantly been on oxygen support.

A senior TMC leader andMinister wondered whetherthe increasing presence of the BJP leaders at the hos-pital was an attempt to play tothe Leftist gallery.

“It is unethical to make astatement like this but givingthe political condition of theState and given the fact that theRSS-BJP does not move a twigwithout a previous planning

their leaders’ concern forBuddhababu smacks of some-thing,” the leader said.

“Considering that over 22percent Left voters have votedfor the BJP in the general elec-

tions it is not surprising thatthey will attempt to impress theremaining 8 per cent to switchsides...and what is more oppor-tune a moment than to visitBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee inhospital,” said another RMCleader and MLA said remind-ing “it is unusual for right wingleaders to come seeing staunchMarxists.”

Meanwhile, Bhattacharjee’shealth continued to improvewith the veteran leaderresponding to treatment. “Hehas taken light food and hisinfection (pneumonia) is reced-ing,” Doctor Fuad Halim ofthose comprising the medicalboard said.

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Situation along the Line ofControl (LoC) in frontier

Rajouri and Poonch districtscontinue to remain grim as sev-eral civilian areas were target-ed by the Pakistan Army in thelast 24 hours triggering panicamong the border residents.

In response, the IndianArmy gave them a ‘befitting’reply and inflicted heavy dam-ages on the other side of theLoC.

The district authorities inboth the sensitive districts arekeeping a close watch on theground situation to prevent anyloss of human lives in intenseexchange of firing.

So far, border residents arestaying back in their houses inforward areas amid palpabletension in air.

According to groundreports, the Pakistan Armytargeted several residentialareas in Nowshera andSunderbani sectors of Rajouriwhile firing across ShahpurKerni sector of Poonch con-tinued till wee hours of Sunday.Some of the houses in Kalaland Deeng bore maximumbrunt of Pakistani firing. Localpolice officers were rushed to

the spot to instil sense of secu-rity among the local residentsin the area.

Defence PRO in Jammu,Lt Col Devender Anand said,“The Pakistan Army initiatedceasefire violation inSunderbani and Nowshera sec-tors of Rajouri around 10.00a.m on Sunday”. He said, “ThePakistan Army fired mortarshells targeting civilian areas”.“The Indian Army retaliatedstrongly and effectively”, headded.

In Srinagar, the securityagencies imposed strict restric-tions to contain congregation ofShia muslims duringMuharram processions indown town areas.

Following these restric-tions, normal life too remainedparalysed in most parts ofSrinagar and other districts ofKashmir.

Barring one NationalConference MP, Retired JusticeHasnain Masoodi no one from

the National Conference couldoffer prayers on the occasion ofdeath anniversary of SheikhMohd Abdullah.

Since both Dr FarooqAbdullah and his son OmarAbdullah have been detainedno other leader or party work-er could reach the memorial tooffer prayers on the occasion.

For the 35th day in suc-cession, mobile internet ser-vices remained suspended andpublic transport facilitiesremained off the road. Marketstoo wore a deserted look inmost parts of Srinagar. Onlyprivate vehicles were seen mov-ing in uptown Srinagar.Following minor clashes inHasnabad area of Srinagar onSaturday, the district authori-ties Sunday prevented freemovement of local residents indown town areas of Srinagar.

Concertina wires werespread at entry and exit pointsto check movement ofmotorists and prevent assem-

bly of mourners duringMuharram procession. DeputyCommissioner, Srinagar DrShahid Iqbal Choudhary toldThe Pioneer over telephone, “toensure safety of local residentscertain restrictions wereimposed in down town areas inview of Muharram.

He said, no major unto-ward incident was reported inSrinagar on Sunday. He main-tained these restrictions will

remain in place for two moredays on Monday and Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Mukesh SinghIGP Jammu Zone, visited twinborder districts of Rajouri andPoonch and conducted on thespot assessment and reviewedthe present security scenario inview of the present situation inthe State.

IGP Jammu held introduc-tory meeting with all the terri-torial officers of both districts toreview the security arrange-ments. The officers were direct-ed to keep close surveillance overthe activities of OGWs, mischiefmongers, miscreants and troublecreators so that law & order ismaintained at any cost.

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The US $25,000 DSC Prizefor South Asian Literature

has turned out to be a big draw,receiving as many as 90 entriesfrom Asia, Europe and NorthAmerica from 42 publishersacross 55 imprints.

Focused on South Asianfiction writing, the recordnumber of entries for the prize,now in its night edition, high-lights the increasing diversityand global interest in SouthAsian writing.

Over the years, the DSCprize has emerged as the mark-er to spot new trend anddevelopments in the literarylandscape of the region. Ananalysis of this year’s entriesshows continued emergenceof women authors and debutnovelists. The emphasis ondiversity of themes and issues

reflect the changing culture andlifestyle people in the SouthAsian region.

As part of its vision towiden the ambit of South Asianwriting, the DSC Prize hasencouraged new writers andwriting — be it first time writ-ers, women authors or trans-lated works from regional lan-guages. The highlight of thisyear’s entries is that of the 90novels received, 37 of them (or41 per cent of the total entries)are penned by debut authors.Women authors continue tomake their presence felt inthis year’s submission list withas many as 42 novels (or 47 percent of the total entries) writ-ten by women, and an addi-tional 6 women writersinvolved as translators. Fortypercent of these women writ-ers are first time writers.

Commenting on the diver-

sity of the entries received,Surina Narula, co-founder ofthe DSC Prize said, “The ninthyear of the DSC Prize entriesreflect the growing importanceof South Asian literature in theglobal literary scene. It is evi-dent from the fact that morethan a quarter of the partici-pating publishers this year arebased outside the region com-pared to the first year wherevery few entries were from out-side India. There is also animmense diversity of themesrelevant to South Asian lifereflecting the changing dynam-ics and aspirations of its peo-ple. It is also very encouragingto see entries from manywomen and debut writers andtranslations.”

This year the DSC Prizeachieved its maximum pub-lisher participation since itsinception in 2010. A total of 42

publishers from across theworld sent in entries of which30% are based outside theSouth Asian region in countrieslike the UK, the USA, Canada,and Singapore. An increasingnumber of readers worldwideare showing interest in explor-ing the nuances of South Asianlife, which in turn has encour-aged more global publishers topublish stories about thisregion. In line with its objectiveto encourage regional narra-tives, the DSC Prize 2019 hasreceived several entries trans-lated from languages likeBengali, Tamil, Malayalam,Assamese, Kannada and Hindiwhich offer a glimpse into theSouth Asian life lesser known.

The DSC Prize, which isadministered by the SouthAsian Literature Prize & EventsTrust, follows a comprehensiveprocess.

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In significant technologicalenhancement, a Delhi-based

optical fibre cable company hassuccessfully repaired theundersea internet cable facili-ty to Sri Lanka which routedfrom India via Tuticorin inTamil Nadu. The same cable toIndia has reached underseacarrying all the internet dataand facility from Singapore.

The ParamountCommunication Limited(PCL) became the first Indiancompany to work on the repairsof 330 kilometre Bharat LankaUndersea Cable System (BLCS)connecting India- Sri Lankasince year 2006. The cable wasdamaged and met with faultnear Tuticorin shores inFebruary 2018.

Ideally for repair-ing submarine cables,dependencies andexpertise lies only inEurope, UK and US asthe repair of the under-sea cable is a spe-cialised operations thatrequires qualified join-ters and testers.

“The cable fault was locat-ed at 5.8 km from Tuticorinbeach manhole (BMH). Thelink is owned by a cable con-sortium comprising of Sri LankaTelecom (SLT) and BharatSanchar Nigam limited (BSNL).The link is very strategic innature to carry Indian traffic toSri Lanka and is an importantlink for India. We got the oppor-tunity to repair the damages andwe are glad to do it successful-ly within the territorial waters ofBay of Bengal,” said President

(Strategy) of PCLDhruv Aggarwal.

Aggarwal saidthe companyrepaired on the basisof their excellentMarine andTechnical team.Apart from cable

repair, the company alsostrengthened the BLCS cable sys-tem with protection mechanismby making a rock trench for fivekm and then cementing it.

It is seen for the first timein the submarine industrywhere such protection mecha-nism in 0 to 20 metre waterdepth on submarine cable hasbeen deployed. Normally thearea of 0 to 20 mtr water depthin shore is always been con-sidered as a risky area as far asthe cable damages due to exter-nal aggressions are concerned.

“With this we are proud togo across the globe as Make in India initiative of thegovernment,” Aggarwal toldThe Pioneer.

Besides taking on the cablejob, the company is alsoinvolved in imparting scubaskills to the local fishermen whowhen required for underseapatrolling earns in dollars. PCLhas partnered with Mumbaibased Dive Safe for undermarine works led by a team ofinternational divers AnilChaudhary who along with hisNorwegian scuba expert mon-itors the BLCS project and inbetween train the youngsters formarine related jobs. Chaudharysaid he was in London for adecade and now returned toIndia to share his skills here.

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Kolkata escaped a massivedisaster by a whisker when

a loud explosion on Sundayevening rocked the centralbusiness district of BBD Bag(Dalhousie Square) in Kolkata,police said adding no one wasinjured in the blast.

“Had it been a weekdaydozens of people might haveeither been killed or injured,” asenior official said “consider themagnitude of the explosionthat happened just besides theStephen’s House, barely a hun-dred metre away from thecolonial Writers’ Buildings.

The blast which happenedat 5.30 pm left a 20 feet x 20 feetcrater with bricks and othermaterials flying tens of metresaway under the impact of theexplosion eye-witnesses saidadding, “things would havebeen different had it not beena Sunday.”

Police had cordoned off thearea and investigations werebeing conducted by the bombsquad and forensic experts,sources said, adding theCalcutta Electricity SupplyCorporation experts had alsocome to the area because therewas an electric box withinmetres of the blast site.

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Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that there

was no age limit to learn some-thing new and one should notmiss any opportunity one getsto learn because new informa-tion only increases knowledgeand expands horizon.

“God has given us a life toserve humanity. We can servepeople better if we have knowl-edge about the surroundingand the work we are doing. Weshould gather any bit of infor-mation as new informationexpands our horizon,” YogiAdityanath said duringLeadership Development Meetheld on the campus of IndianInstitute of Management inLucknow (IIM-L) on Sunday.

The meet, which wasnamed ‘Manthan’, was attend-ed by all the ministers in theUP council of ministers andthey were taught the nitty-gritty of governance by profes-sors of the IIM-L.

Experts in various fieldswere also present.

The Chief Minister saidthat the Bharatiya Janata PartyGovernment in UP was work-ing hard to provide succour to

the deprived sections of society.“The governance in Uttar

Pradesh is based on under-standing the problems of thepeople. The ministers havecome to IIM to learn how toincrease the skills of manage-ment, good leadership andmotivating participation of peo-ple in various projects,” he said.

“Our Government is work-ing on the principle of SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas. We takeideas from all quarters and givea try to those which we find tobe feasible and suitable,” he said.

The Chief Ministerdescribed how the governmentimplemented a suggestion of anIAS officer for bringing changesin primary schools. “We gotpositive results because webelieve that educational insti-tutions can play an instru-mental role in bringing a

change in society,” he added.“The knowledge we will get

from IIM will help us in under-standing the plight of the peo-ple and in implementing poli-cies in a better way,” he said.

IIM-L Director ProfArchana Shukla said that UttarPradesh was the backbone ofthe country and a developedUP could help in making Indiastrong.

“India is a big democracywhere leaders play a crucialrole. People have high hopesfrom leaders. Programmes likeManthan will help the leadersand ministers to understandpeople’s problems so that theycan solve it better,” she said.

The leadership develop-ment programme will be heldin three stages. The first stagewas held on Sunday while theother stages will be held onSeptember 15 and 22.

The professors of IIM-Lheld orientation programmesin which the ministers weretaught about good governanceand virtue of fiscal manage-ment. Question- answer ses-sions were held in which min-isters were asked to raise ques-tions so that they could cleartheir doubts.

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The Special InvestigationTeam on Sunday recorded

statements of the family mem-bers of a law student, who hasaccused former Union MinisterSwami Chinmayanand of har-rassing her. The SIT had calledthe family members at the dis-trict Police Lines in the after-noon for recording of theirstatement. When contacted, thewoman’s father said on phonethat investigation is going on.

“Investigation is going on. Icould speak to you as I had comeoutside,” he said. The SIT, prob-ing allegations of harassmentlevelled by the law studentagainst former Union MinisterSwami Chinmayanand, onSaturday visited his residence,

ashram and the college run byhim where she studied, accord-ing to the college principal.

The SIT, headed byInspector General of PoliceNaveen Arora, has been set upby the UP Government on theSupreme Court’s order.

While police remaintightlipped on the probe, theprincipal of SwamiShukdevanand Post GraduateCollege, where the womanstudied, said the SIT whicharrived here Thursday nightalso visited Divya Dham, theresidence of SwamiChinmayanand but could notmeet him as he was out of town.

The team also visited theMukukshu Ashram of the BJPleader and toured the five col-leges run by the ashram,

Principal Avnish Misra hadtold PTI on Saturday.

The team visited the col-lege hostel where the room ofthe law student has alreadybeen sealed, he said. A womanIPS officer spoke to the teach-ers and girl students of the col-lege and took inputs fromthem, Misra said.

“The team later visitedDivya Dham of SwamiChinmyanad but could notmeet him as he is out of sta-tion,” Misra said. The membersof the team including IPS offi-cers Bharti Singh, PS Anandand others asked questionsabout the woman to the stu-dents pursuing LLM. Theyalso spoke to her friend whowas found with her inRajasthan, he said.

Rameswaram (TN): More than2,000 Tamil Nadu fishermenwere allegedly chased away bythe Sri Lankan Navy while theywere fishing off Katchatheevuislet, a fishermen associationleader said on Sunday.

The naval personnel alsosnapped fishing nets of severalboats. The fishermen from thisisland town had ventured intothe sea on Saturday and werefishing near Katchatheevu whenthe Lankan Navy came to thespot and cut the fishing netsbefore driving them away,Rameswaram FishermenAssocation president, P Sesurajaalleged. The fishermen returnedto the shore this morning with-out a catch, he said. Four fish-ermen from here were rescuedand detained by the islandnation authorities while theywere struggling in the sea. PTI

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RLSP chief and formerUnion Minister Upendra

Kushwaha on Sunday advo-cated the expansion of thefive-party Grand Alliance inBihar, asserting that effortswill be made to bring Left par-ties into the fold.

The coalition comprisingthe RJD, the Congress, theRLSP, former CM Jitan RamManjhi’s HAM(S) and formerBollywood set designer MukeshSahni’s VIP had bagged just oneout of state’s 40 Lok Sabha seatsearlier this year.

“We have to expand theGrand Alliance. We will makeefforts to bring the Left partiessuch as the CPI, the CPI(M)and the CPI(ML) into the fold,”Kushwaha told reporters hereat party office.

Asked about the upcomingby-elections to five Assemblyand one Lok Sabha seats,Kushwaha said the grandalliance will fight the pollstogether. While the Assemblyseats of Kishanganj, Nathnagar,Belhar, Simri Bakhtiyarpur andDaraundha were vacated bylegislators, who had contestedand won the general election, the

Samastipur Lok Sabha seat fellvacant following the death of sit-ting MP Ram Chandra Paswan.

Talking about his party’snext move, the Rashtriya LokSamata Party (RLSP) chief saida function will be organised tocommemorate the death

anniversary of freedom fight-er and socialist political leaderRam Manohar Lohia in Patna,where the leaders of Left par-ties would also be invited.

“The programme, to beheld at Bapu Sabhagar in Patna,will be attended by all promi-

nent leaders of the GrandAlliance. As its convenor, I willalso invite the leaders of Leftparties on the occasion,” heinsisted. Kushwaha also said hehas recently met RJD chief LaluPrasad, who is serving sen-tences in fodder scam cases, and

discussed with him ways tostrengthen the Grand Alliance.

“Prasad is unwell, he needsbetter treatment. I met himrecently and held discussionsabout the future of the Grand Alliance and what allcould be done to strengthen it,”he added.

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Jammu: A prominent Gujjarleader on Sunday sought fromPrime Minister Narendra Modia special package for membersof his and Bakarwal commu-nities living in 20 of Jammu &Kashmir’s 22 districts.

He said package was need ofthe hour for upliftment of thesesocially, educationally, econom-ically and politically backwardcommunities. “We appeal tothe PM to announce specialdevelopmental and politicalpackage for Gujjars andBakarwals so they can get facil-ities like roads, electricity, watersupply, healthcare and educa-tion,” Poonchi said in a state-ment here. He also urged thegovernment to establish board-ing schools for children from thetwo communities on the lines ofNavodaya Vidyalayas. PTI

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Ram Jethmalani, who spentover seven decades in Bar,

argued scores of high-profilecases varying from criminal toconstitutional matters besideseconomic and commercial dis-putes, emerging as a “roaringtiger” in black robes when itcame to defending his clients.

As a lawyer, Jethmalanirose to fame in 1959 when hewas in a team of prosecutors inthe KM Nanavati vs State ofMaharashtra case in which aNaval commander was tried forthe murder of his wife’s lover.This was among the last casesto be heard as a jury trial inIndia, as the Government abol-

ished jury trials soon thereafter.Jethmalani, who had not

been keeping well for the lastfew months, had stoppedattending court hearings butduring the last 10 years, heappeared in some of the mostsensitive criminal cases.

He himself had filed apublic interest litigation on theissue of black money duringthe previous UPA regime fol-lowing which the SupremeCourt had passed a slew ofdirections for the government.

The legendary lawyer isknown for representing peo-ple from various walks of lifeincluding politicians fromacross the political spectrum,big businessmen, corporate

houses, Bollywood actors andunderworld dons.

He has the distinction ofappearing before the court inPakistan’s Karachi in the pre-independence era after hegraduated in law at the age of17 years and moved to Indiain 1948 after the partition.

The most important casehe dealt immediately afterPartition was the one in whichhe won a legal battle opposingthe Bombay Refugees Act thatallowed the State to relocate,sequester and questionrefugees anytime.

Jethmalani, who used tobe described by legal lumi-naries as the “best mind incriminal law”, was one of themost sought after advocatesand during his career heappeared in several high-pro-file criminal cases in varioustrial courts and high courts ofthe country, besides the

Supreme Court. Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta said Jethmalani was a“giant of a man” with a rarecombination of constitutionalexpertise and razor-sharpunderstanding of criminal law,and was a “roaring tiger” whenit came to defending his clients.

Before he got success in

politics, Jethmalani wasamong the legal luminaries tooppose the Emergencyimposed by Indira GandhiGovernment and the clampingof the Maintenance of InternalSecurity Act, a controversiallaw mandating authorities tomake arbitrary arrests and jailthose opposing her decisions.

Jethmalani defendedaccused Kehar Singh andBalbir Singh in the IndiraGandhi assassination case. Hewon acquittal for Balbir Singhand when Singh’s son, RajinderSingh, was sacked from aGovernment job, he employedhim in his office.

The lawyers who workedwith Jethmalani describe himas a “real champion of humanrights”. In his long career, hetook up several cases of allegedillegal detention, includingthat of Sant Longowal duringthe Punjab militancy in 1980s.

Besides the Indira Gandhiassassination case, he alsodefended Rajiv Gandhi’s killersin the Madras high court in2011. Jethmalani also defend-ed Delhi University’s ProfessorSAR Geelani, who was acquit-ted by the Supreme Court in theParliament attack case in 2001.

He was also a lawyer for

Amit Shah when he was fac-ing a charge in theSohrabuddin Sheikhencounter case of Gujarat inwhich he was later discharged.

He appeared for HarshadMehta and Ketan Parekh in thestock market scams, in theJMM bribery case againstNarasimha Rao and appearedfor Anil Ambani’s RelianceNatural Resources Ltd in thedispute between the Ambanibrothers over gas supply. Healso represented Manu Sharma,son of an influential Congressleader, in the Jessica Lall mur-der case.

Jethmalani was the leadpetitioner in the black moneycase during the previous UPAregime in the Supreme Courtand he also represented DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalin the civil and criminaldefamation cases filed by BJPleader Arun Jaitley against

him. He was defence lawyer inmany cases — for BJP veteranLK Advani in the Jain Hawalacase, late AIADMK supremoJayalalithaa in a dispropor-tionate asset case, DMK leaderKanimozhi in the 2G scam,RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav inthe fodder scam and KarnatakaChief Minister B S Yediyurappain a mining scam.

He had also argued foractor Sanjay Dutt’s bail beforethe Supreme Court in the 1993Mumbai serial blasts. When theBofors pay off case hademerged, he had posed 10 ques-tions per day to Rajiv Gandhi.He also later defended Hindujabrothers in this case. He had alsoappeared for Mumbai under-world don Haji Mastan in sev-eral cases of smuggling.

He represented self-styledgodman Asaram Bapu in arape case involving a minorgirl in Jodhpur in 2013.

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All of 48 years and maybemore, the ‘Jarpal Queen’, a

symbol of India’s triumphagainst Pakistan, travelsthrough the length and breadthof India as a ‘war trophy’ of theIndian Army.

The ‘Queen’, named afterJarpal in Pakistan, is actuallyroyalty on four wheels, a Willysjeep, sleek, shiny and in ship-shape condition, the object oflavish attention at the 3Grenadier Regiment’s camp,about 40 km from Leh.

The vehicle, with Urduscript on its sides, is a “war tro-phy” captured from Pakistanduring the 1971 conflict.

Once fitted with a recoillessgun, this US-origin jeep nowtravels across India as a prizedpossession of the Regiment,which has ensured the almost50-year-old vehicle moves likea well-oiled machine.

“We captured it during theJarpal war and it was used bythe Pakistani army as a part oftheir attack plan at Shakargarhborder, in Jarpal area ofPakistan. So, it was named

Jarpal Queen. From that war,India has two Param VirChakra medals,” said Colonel(retd) J S Dhillon.

The two Param Vir Chakraawardees were Colonel Hoshiar

Singh from the GrenadierRegiment and SecondLieutenant Arun Khetrapalfrom the Armoured Regiment.

“It is a ‘war trophy’ and wasshown to VIP guests and was

also used during guard of hon-our for senior officers. It is ingreat condition and runs verysmoothly,” said Dhillon, a SenaMedal recipient who was com-missioned in the 3 Grenadier

Regiment in 1982 and nowheads the Indian Institute ofSkiing and Mountaineering,Gulmarg, under the Ministry ofTourism.

He said the ‘Jarpal Queen’had gone wherever theRegiment has been stationed.Jaipur, Kupwara, Simla,Poonch, Meerut, Ferozepur...The list is long. In 1988, whenthe Regiment was in Ferozpurin Punjab, the jeep was regis-tered with the Punjab transportdepartment for it to be drivenon the road.

“We took a number,insured and registered it. As faras I can recall, except the reg-iment’s UN mission toEithopia, the jeep has goneeverywhere with them,” saidDhillon. The jeep has alsobeen witness to numerous bor-der skirmishes with the neigh-bouring country, particularlyduring the regiment’s stints inJammu and Kashmir.

A full-scale war broke outbetween India and Pakistanover East Pakistan in 1971. Itended with surrender of 90,000Pakistani troops and led to thecreation of Bangladesh.

Amaravati (AP): Road andcommunication networkremained cut off to several vil-lages along the Godavari rivercourse in East and WestGodavari districts of AndhraPradesh on Sunday due toincreased flood flow.

More than 11 lakh cusecs offlood water was being dis-charged into the Bay of Bengalfrom the Sir Arthur CottonBarrage at Dowaleswaram evenas the first warning signalremained in place.

The State DisasterManagement Authority(SDMA) said the flood trendwas ‘rising’ because of copiousinflows from the upstreamregions.

Over 19 submergence vil-lages under the multipurposePolavaram remained maroonedand the road network cut off asthe flood level touched 27.65meters at the project site onSunday evening.

State Disaster ResponseForce and Fire Services person-nel have been deployed in theflood-hit areas to oversee rescueand relief operations.

A team of 30 NDRF per-sonnel has also been mobilizedat Rampachodavaram for theflood relief operations, theSDMA said.

According to SDMAsources, villages underDevipatnam mandal in EastGodavari and several others inthe Konaseema region also facedthe threat of inundation as waterlevel in Godavari kept rising.

This was the second time inover a month that these villagerswere facing the fury of Godavari.

On the other hand, the firstwarning signal was raised atGotta Barrage in Srikakulam dis-trict as river Vamsadhararemained in spate.

Here, 55,148 cusecs of floodwas being discharged even as thetrend remained steady. PTI

Mumbai: With various riversin western Maharashtra inspate due to heavy rains, theKarnataka Government has onSunday increased the waterdischarge from the AlmattiDam on request of itsMaharashtra counterpart.

Rise in levels of rivers cou-pled with inflow of water fromthe dam is believed to be thecause of the last month’s dev-astating floods in Kolhapurand Sangli districts.

On the request of the stategovernment, the Karnatakagovernment has increased thedischarge from the dam from1,70,000 cusec (cubic foot persecond) to 2,20,000 cusecs,according to an official fromthe office of Maharashtra ChiefMinister.

Almatti dam is a hydro-electric project on the Krishnariver located on the border ofBijapur and Bagalkot districtsin north Karnataka, around200 kms from Sangli andKolhapur. PTI

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Perhaps, they didn’t make head-lines because they are children ofa lesser God. On the trail ofhumanitarian woes lying by theroadside as people trudge and toil

to prove they are worthy of being citizensfirst, the National Register of Citizens(NRC) in Assam has orphaned a genera-tion. Stories emerge every day of childrenwho have not made it to the list, sometimesbecause of a lack of documentation, some-times arbitrarily, at other times inexplica-bly as their parents and blood relatives havemade the cut. And in the blunderland ofa human misadventure of recognising whois alien and who is our own, countless havebeen torn apart through generations, leftfloating in a sea of vulnerability. Suddenly,these children are not Indians, they arestateless. And life as they knew it is goingto be nothing like it anymore. Worst, theyhave become unwelcome intruders intheir own homes, neighbourhood andschools. Illegitimate children of destiny,condemned for daring to exist and hatedlike wild grass for making humanityuncomfortable. This is the burden they willinherit in their minds.

When we talk of identity politics, sel-dom do we rationalise its practical impactand damaging potential. Have we spareda thought for the infant born on our soil,whose parents may not have been privi-leged enough to document his/her birth?What of the girl born in a detention camp?What of the boy who is a football champbut doesn’t have privileged parents to pur-sue the battle for identity till the end? Whatof the single child abandoned by parentsin a camp or traded away to peddlers, sim-ply because they are lucky to keep the sib-lings and can do without the attendant lia-bility of fighting for one? What about stu-dents who risk being derostered from a for-mal schooling system and benefits thatcome with it? Without identity, they can-not claim scholarships, without papers,they cannot sign up for health check-upsand usual entitlements and without citi-zenship, their talent would never beowned as a building block of this country.Nobody would want them because they arestateless.

If the United Nations data, which hasconducted the most exhaustive surveys onchildren in conflict, is anything to go bythen an estimated 50 per cent of statelesspeople in the world today are under the ageof 18. Although the United Nations’Convention on the Rights of the Child(which every nation except the US has rat-ified) asserts that all children should beguaranteed a nationality, roughly 70,000children are born into statelessness eachyear. The consequences are for all to see.One may have heaved with emotion, see-ing pictures of the El Salvadorean and theSyrian refugee boys who washed up dead,but perhaps what is not known is how the

survivors become soft and easy targets ofhuman rights abuses and are trafficked forsex, drug, fidayeen and the gun-runningtrades. Some are easy fodder for conflictzones. For some, statelessness equals a birththat better not happen.

A report by the Child RightsInternational Network has found thatstateless mothers “may not receive prop-er prenatal medical care and statelessinfants may not receive necessary immu-nisations. Unless stateless children obtaina nationality, accessing appropriate med-ical treatment can become a life-long strug-gle. As a result, stateless populations suf-fer high mortality rates and their overallhealth outcomes are generally worse thanthose of non-stateless groups. Poor over-all health among the stateless is furtherexacerbated by a lack of educationalaccess. Many stateless children are deniedthe right to education because they do nothave the documentation required forschool enrollment. In turn, without a basicprimary education, it becomes muchharder for stateless populations to advocatefor themselves. Hence, depriving statelesschildren of education can further perpet-uate statelessness and the human rights vio-lations that accompany it.”

Of course, the lengthened reviewprocess (120 days for appeal and thenreview), to be followed up by judicialredress (going through the rigmarole oflower to the higher court) cannot guaran-tee inclusion. And since the Governmenthas promised that even if it does identify

illegal migrants, they would not be deport-ed to Bangladesh or be exactly stateless,they would end up being a confused sub-category of demography.

Assuming that they would be confinedto a ghettoised quarter, with perhapswork permits, some access to welfaristdoles and no voting rights, imagine chil-dren growing up sequestered and with amuch abhorred tag. Robbed of childhood,plucked out of normal processes of grow-ing up, denied the right to express them-selves, their natural abilities stunted andmade to feel “alien” and “outcasts,” theycould grow up depressed and lost, con-signed to a sense of imposed worthlessness,or escape it with twisted ideas of bravadoand rebellion.

Everybody knows that the reconcilia-tion process is quite the chimera in theAssam NRC. For starters, most of those leftout are marginalised anyway, withouteconomic, legal or political resources.The poor have trouble gathering scraps ofpaper beyond their Aadhaar or voting cardand can never afford the fees required fora review, let alone stake their desperationon “legacy cartels” that promise key doc-uments. Going by earlier judgements of for-eigners’ tribunals, about 80 per cent appli-cants have lost their cases. Most of themare Muslims, raising questions about eth-nic bias in proceedings.

A decorated Indian Army veteran,Mohammed Sanaullah, spent 11 days in adetention camp in June after being declareda “foreigner.” National award winners and

even crusaders against the influx ofBangladeshi migrants have been left outfrom a process that is hardly transparentor accountable. When innocence is lookedupon as an enemy, and it is toughened bythe experience of maladies and neglect, thatalienation would breed dissent and thendemolishers of the very system that theycould have embraced. Assam is already atrafficking hub of the country, accountingfor 22 per cent of the total reported casesacross India, according to the last NationalCrime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. TheState also has the highest number of childtrafficking (1,317) cases, which account for38 per cent of the national count. These fig-ures have clearly gone up given recentcrackdowns as young girls continue to gomissing. Induced migration, either becauseof natural disasters like flooding or polit-ical violence, have anyway displaced chil-dren. The NRC has just sent more to theabyss of desolation.

What then is the way forward? Somecountries like Thailand have evolvedstrategies based on experience. As a recip-ient of children refugees, some of whomcannot even be grouped into age categoriesin the absence of papers, it has seen theirlives bartered away as bonded labour, run-ners, couriers and sex workers and mostworryingly, as psychologically damagedand deviant pre-adults. It, therefore, decid-ed to confer a sense of belonging to the nextgeneration and has conferred Thai nation-ality to over 27,000 formerly stateless kidssince 2012. Up to 80,000 more couldacquire Thai nationality by 2024.

The UN’s 2030 SustainableDevelopment Agenda seeks to eliminatechildhood statelessness through “achiev-ing legal identity for all through birth reg-istration” in the country where the baby isborn. In 2014, the UNHCR launched the#IBelongCampaign to raise public aware-ness of childhood statelessness and pres-sure states into taking workable correctives.The global awareness is trickling in feeblyin hypernationalist times, majoritarianassertion and nativist politics, with ninenations relooking and revising statelessnessprotocols and about six States streamlin-ing the processes for naturalising kids. Itis to culminate in a more focussed policytemplate this October.

Other ideas being toyed about includegranting citizenship of a mother’s hostcountry to children in case of singlewomen on an equal basis as fathers,allowing the tender age group of childrenaccess to preventive medical protocols,eliminating laws and practices that denychildren nationality because of their eth-nicity, race or religion and ensuring uni-versal birth registration. But with migra-tion levels expected to remain high inEurope, too, we cannot end childhoodstatelessness by 2024 without the greaterand combined political will of all nationsconcerned. As UN High Commissioner forRefugees António Guterres said, “In theshort time that children get to be children,statelessness can set in stone grave prob-lems that will haunt them throughout theirchildhood and sentence them to a life ofdiscrimination, frustration and despair.None of our children should be stateless.All children should belong.”

(The writer is Associate Editor, The Pioneer)

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Sir — Space exploration requiresnot only extraordinary technolo-gies but also great human quali-ties. Not just India but the entireworld was waiting with batedbreath to watch Vikram, the lan-der and Pragyaan, the rover’stouchdown on the moon. Themission was special in the sensethat no other country has everattempted to go to the lunarsouth polar region.

Nevertheless, success andfailures are a part of life. What isimportant is to learn from fail-ures. World over, there are manycases of failed space missions. Forexample, during the US’ firstApollo programme, a flash fireerupted during a routine launch-pad test due to which the pro-gramme could not run. However,what followed next were somesafety and engineering lessonsand project Apollo became one ofmankind’s greatest achievements.

Chandrayaan-2 is not a failedmission — it is still sendingbeautiful images of the moon.This is no small feat. The missionmust continue.

ShashiVia email

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“The endgame” (September 7).The Supreme Court’s rejection ofanticipatory bail to former UnionMinister P Chidambaram case hascome as a huge setback to him andthe Congress as well. The court’s

wordings that “this is not a fit caseto grant anticipatory bail” depict thegravity of the case. One just hopesthe Congress will at least nowrealise the folly of playing thepolitical victim card aimed at gain-ing false public sympathy for him.

SudeepVia email

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Sir — India’s failure of making asoft landing on the unexploredlunar south polar region must notbe considered as a setback. For,there has been no mission with-out any failure in the history ofscience. In fact, it is always a part

of the mission. NASA’s firstmanned Apollo space flight wasa disaster. Similarly, their spaceshuttles Challenger, as well asColumbia, were destroyed duringtheir re-entry into the earth’satmosphere. But the US tookthese failures as a challenge.ISRO must learn from the presentsetback. Data must be decoded,analysed and corrective actionmust be taken for the success offuture space programmes.

The abrupt snapping of thecommunication system at the lastleg of the mission, when the lan-der was 2.1 km above the Moon’ssurface, is quite frustrating. Thefailure of the communication sys-tem of the lander with the groundcontrol station means the failure ofnot only telemetry tracking of thelander Vikram but also the controlcommand system which, in turn,might have resulted in its crashlanding on the moon. But the per-formance of Lunar Orbit Insertion— the separation of the landerfrom the orbiter and bringing theformer to such a low altitude — isby no means a less achievement.

J AkshobhyaMysuru

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In view of the crippling crisis gripping the farmsector, the Centre and all State Governmentsare giving priority to the welfare of farmers and

have, over the years, introduced schemes target-ed at increasing farmers’ incomes by 2022. Stateagriculture departments are responsible forimplementing these schemes and though agen-cies at district and block levels are trying to exe-cute them, some gaps exist.

If these gaps are plugged, the efficacy of thesemeasures will increase and contribute to thenational objective of doubling farmers’ incomes.

The Centre depends heavily on States toimplement centrally-sponsored benefit pro-grammes like the Soil Health Card (SHC)scheme, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)and Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

In addition to the Centre’s welfare pro-grammes for cultivators, State Governmentsalso have a number of schemes for their welfarelike Rythu Bima and Rythu Bandhu of Telanganaand Rythu Bharosa of Andhra Pradesh.

There are more than 20 Government schemesfor growers’ benefit but Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR) field surveys andeven National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO)assessments show that implementation of andawareness regarding schemes can be vastlyimproved to achieve Government targets.

Improved dissemination of information willplay a key role in this, as getting detailed infor-mation about scheme modalities, eligibility cri-teria, procedure for application and other infor-mation at the right time through appropriatechannels is crucial for farmers to reap the bene-fits of ongoing programmes.

Historically, it is the responsibility of stateagriculture departments to provide all scheme-related information to farmers. However, over theyears, they have been burdened with distributionof subsidies and inputs, with little time left todevote for core extension activities like advisingfarmers on utility of the schemes, scheme modal-ities, technicalities, implementation strategies andprocedures.

As a result, awareness of schemes like SoilHealth Card is low in most cases. Even farmerswho are aware of it are not adopting the recom-mendations based on these advisories. As agri-culture department officers are simultaneouslyengaged in implementing many schemes, they feelthat their task is over with the distribution of thecards. However, it requires concentrated effortsby the officers to motivate farmers to apply theright dose of fertilisers, depending on the healthof their soil.

The national objective of doubling farmers’income by 2022 cannot be achieved without thesuccessful implementation of these schemes andincreased awareness coupled with proper trans-fer of knowledge by block agricultural officers arethe first steps towards achieving this.

Thus it is vital that all blocks have sufficientofficers but the fact remains that there are a largenumber of block agricultural officers’ positionsvacant across India. Currently one agriculturalofficer serves 1,162 farmers as against the recom-mended ratio of 1:750.

After liberalisation in the 1990s, agricultur-al extension has been constrained by limited bud-get allocation. Further, in recent years more

money is allocated to direct moneytransfers schemes like PM-KISAN orRythu Bandhu. The expenditure onagricultural extension is only 0.16 percent of the farm sector’s contribution tothe Gross Domestic Product (GDP),which is quite low when compared tointernational standards. There is animmediate need to increase budget allo-cation for agricultural extension.

Given that farmers are movingfrom subsistence to market-orientedfarming, more information is needed onseasonal changes in prices, latest farmimplements, precision farming, quali-ty standards of produce, export to dif-ferent countries, export demand andfood safety standards. SeveralGovernment schemes like crop insur-ance, subsidy on farm implements,precision farming and electronic agri-cultural markets are knowledge-inten-sive. Hence, more budgetary allocationsare needed to devise innovative ways ofinformation dissemination and promotenew eco-systems even in remote andrural areas.

As agricultural departments alonecannot meet the complex informationneeds of farmers, there is a need for pro-moting alternative channels of informa-tion dissemination.

Some channels like input dealers,private companies (ITC e-choupals,TATA Kisan Kendras), farmer produc-er companies (like MAHAGRAPES),cooperative societies (Mulkanoor),some NGOs (Bharatiya Agro-IndustriesFederation and Action for FoodProduction) are already active in knowl-edge dissemination to farmers on inputand output markets. Use of multipleinformation channels (including pri-vate) needs to be incorporated into themodel agricultural extension policy ofthe Centre. Still, safeguarding farmersfrom any misinformation should be toppriority.

In spite of efforts by both public andprivate agencies, it has been found thatthe reach of agricultural officers and pri-

vate agencies is limited, especially inremote districts. To enhance last-mileengagement, the Government isemploying progressive farmers as kisanmitras (friend of the farmer) with amonthly honorarium, which is showinggood results in some areas.

These kisan mitras have goodknowledge of local conditions and areable to influence fellow farmers toadopt new technologies. Employing onekisan mitra for two villages and engag-ing one for each remote village will notonly help in technical information dis-semination but also help in creatingawareness about different Governmentschemes. Also, now almost every ruralhousehold has a 4G or 3G-enabledmobile phone which makes streamingof multi-media videos and short filmseasy for providing information. Theseare better tools compared to age-oldinformation tools like posters.

Many start-ups are also developingapps with satellite images and ArtificialIntelligence to provide information atthe right time in a more accessiblemedia form. Of late, WhatsApp groupscomprising farmers, local agriculturalofficers and NGO partners are becom-ing popular and effective in identifyinglocal farm sector problems, evolvingmutually agreed solutions and speedyadoption. However, local agriculturalofficers need to take care of farmers whodon’t have smartphones, otherwisethere is a danger of excluding them fromGovernment schemes.

Also, the market-orientedapproaches of private companies needto be used by Government officials ina synergist manner to populariseimproved seed varieties, farm machin-ery, small implements, bio-fertilisers, etcso that it helps in increased adoption ofnew technologies.

Public-private partnerships need tobe encouraged through promotion ofrural advisory services and custom hir-ing centres, especially in hi-tech agri-culture and precision farming, where the

private sector is strong, for the benefitof farmers.

In the scenario of expanding privatesector extension and declining funds forthe public sector, there is a danger ofconcentrating on large farmers mostlyin irrigated areas, and neglecting small,women and rain-fed farmers. Hence, theGovernment should incentivise theprivate sector to cater to these neglect-ed areas and people, by including themin District Agricultural Plans developedby the Agricultural TechnologyManagement Agency.

Although agricultural officers areknown for their technical skills, they arenot that skilled in communication andmarket-oriented approaches. The train-ing institutions should focus on market-oriented information needs like trendsin price changes, export demand andfood safety standards.

The private and public sector shouldcomplement each other in usage ofInformation and CommunicationsTechnology (ICT) tools and the sameneeds to be synchronised in BlockAgriculture Plans. They need to betrained in monitoring agriculturalschemes through apps or computerisedinformation systems, so that they caneffectively implement these schemeswithin a limited period and spend moretime on information dissemination.

An agriculture officer’s workinvolves a lot of field work, identifyinglocal problems and co-evolving solu-tions in partnership with local stake-holders. Hence, they need operationalautonomy to take local decisions likeinvolvement of suitable private sectorpartners in extension, training anddemonstrations.

All these measures need innova-tions backed by sufficient budget, at least1 per cent of the agricultural GDP needsto be allocated for agricultural extension,so that the objective of doublingincomes of farmers will be achieved.

(The writer is Principal Scientist,ICAR)

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There is something very gratify-ing about watching a politicalthug get hoist with his own

petard. Matteo Salvini, the hard-Right populist who thought he couldforce an early election and becomeItaly’s strongman by breaking up thecoalition Government he served in,has publicly cut his own throat. Andalmost everybody is enjoying thespectacle.

It’s not even a year-and-a-halfsince the last Italian election, whenthe anti-establishment Five-StarMovement (M5S) and Salvini’s ultra-nationalist League party got enoughseats to form a Government togeth-er. They had very little in common,but political power is a great lubri-

cant and they managed to rub alongtogether with no major disasters for18 months.

What caused the break-up wasnot policy differences but the pollingfigures. Back in March 2018, the M5Sgot 32 per cent of the vote and theLeague only got 17 per cent, so M5Swas definitely the senior partner.Salvini only became deputy primeminister, but he used the job toappeal to Italians’ worst instincts

He demonised migrants,Romanies, Muslims and Left-wing“do-gooders” as enemies of the peo-ple and presented himself as thesuper-patriotic hard man who couldsee them all off and Make Italy GreatAgain. He prevented ships that hadrescued drowning migrants fromlanding them in Italian ports, he car-ried a rosary and kissed it frequent-ly, he thanked the Virgin Mary for allhis “successes.”

It kind of worked. Many Italiansare sick to death of the country’spolitical and economic stagnation,and Salvini was brash and new.Nasty and bullying too, especiallytowards non-Whites and migrants,

but many people didn’t mind that.The League’s polling results began toimprove and those of the M5S start-ed to slide.

By the European elections lastMay, the two coalition parties hadentirely reversed their positions: theLeague got 34 per cent of the votes,and the M5S got only 17 per cent.The European poll had no directeffect in Italy but inevitably Salvinibegan to dream of ditching his awk-ward M5S partners (who are neitherracist nor neo-fascist) and going italone. The political arithmetic

seemed to make sense. If the League’snumbers kept on going up, it wouldwin enough seats in the next electionto form a different coalition with amore congenial small party like theBrothers of Italy (which is openly fas-cist). By this month, the League washitting 38 per cent in the polls andSalvini decided it was time to pull theplug on his current partners.

He clearly knows how to count,which is a valuable skill in politics.But a good politician needs to under-stand strategy, too, and in thatdepartment Matteo Salvini is as

thick as a brick. He forgot thatpolling numbers are not the same asseats in Parliament.

The League would clearly win anelection if one were held today butan election could only happen if noalternative Government can beformed in the current Parliament.However, last year’s national electiongave the M5S almost twice as manyseats in Parliament as the League –enough seats that it might be able toform a coalition with some otherparty.

It would be tricky, of course,because M5S is deeply unpopularwith most other parties and especial-ly with the official Opposition, thecentre-left Democratic Party (PD).Politicians hate being mocked, andthe M5S specialises in mockery.Maybe that was what Salvini wascounting on to save him. If so, he gotit wrong.

The moderate parties inParliament are utterly horrified at theprospect of a far-Right Governmentin Italy run by the League in coali-tion with the Brothers of Italy. So lastweek the Democratic Party began

talks on a coalition with the M5S.They would both be decimated

if there were an election now and nei-ther of them wants to see an extreme-Right Government take power inItaly, so agreement on principle wasrelatively easy.

Agreeing on a programme anda Cabinet in the next week will beharder and it could all still unravel.But it could also be a coalition thatlasts until the next scheduled electionin mid-2023.

Salvini is outraged, of course.He’s even talking about a “march onRome” next month, in a sly allusionto the March on Rome that broughtthe dictator Benito Mussolini topower in Italy in 1922. But his blun-der has been huge, and for themoment at least his credibility is shot.

It almost makes you feel sorry forhim. How could he have foreseenthis? After all, this is only the firsttime he has ever lived in Italy all hislife.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book isGrowing Pains: The Future of

Democracy and Work)

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Intelligent traffic system doesnot discriminate between

violators of law whether it is acentral minister, chief minister,bureaucrat or a journalist,Union Minister Nitin Gadkarisaid on Sunday while assertinghefty fines for traffic rule vio-lations are aimed at curbingroad accidents.

He also stressed that thereshould be no fear of hefty“challans” if someone is abid-ing by the law.

Post imposition of theMotor Vehicles (Amendment)Act, 2019, from September 1,hefty challans for traffic rulesviolations by the police have hitthe headlines.

“Why is this fear of chal-lans if one is following trafficrules. People should rather behappy that India’s roads willbecome safer like abroad wherepeople strictly abide by trafficnorms. Is human life not pre-cious,” Road Transport andHighways Minister NitinGadkari told PTI in an inter-view.

Gadkari said stringentrules were “much needed” aspeople had taken traffic lawsvery lightly and there was nei-ther fear nor respect for law.

“I am sensitive to this issue.Ask the family members whohave lost someone near anddear in road accidents. 65 percent of the road accidents vic-tims are in the age bracket of 18to 35 years, ask their familieshow they feel. I too am an acci-dent victim and it is a well-thought-of step with consentfrom almost all political partieswhether Congress, Trinamoolor TRS,” he said.

He said there are people

who have not even beenonce fined as they followtraffic norms asking whyothers cannot emulate them.

Asked there have beenmultiple instances of heftypenalties where challansissued surpassed the cost ofthe vehicle, the ministersaid they were slapped mul-tiple fines on account ofmultiple offences andinstances had come to hisnotice where offenderslacked licence, pollution clear-ance, insurance etc.

“Intelligent traffic systemdoes not discriminate. If youviolate the law, you will have topay penalty whether you arecentral minister, Chief Minister,bureaucrat or a journalist.There have been instances inmy knowledge where CMs andothers have been slapped withchallans.”

He appealed to the peopleto use the digital platforms likeDigiLocker or mParivahan tocarry Driving Licence,Registration Certificate orother documents in ‘electron-ic form’ which are valid underthe Motor Vehicles Act, 1988,and present them to trafficpolice if asked.

These electronic recordsavailable on DigiLocker ormParivahan are deemed to belegally recognised at par withthe original documents as perthe provisions of theInformation Technology Actand the Motor Vehicles Act. Asper the Motor Act, theowner/driver has to producethe documents — licence orcertificate of registration etc tothe authority on demand.

About states, he said thatall the states are on board andhave started implementing the

new provisions and TamilNadu could play a role modelas implementation has result-ed in 28 per cent drop in acci-dents in the state.

India accounts for 5 lakhroad accidents annually, one ofthe highest in the globe inwhich 1.5 lakh people die andanother 3 lakh are crippled.

The minister said the lossto the GDP was 2 per cent dueto loss of lives in road accidents

Asked about poor infra-structure in some parts,Gadkari said the new Act hasprovisions of fine on contrac-tors in case of potholes andpenalty was higher in case ofoffences committed by imple-menting authorities.

The minister said thatNHAI has completed 70 percent of the work pertaining tofixing of 786 accidental spots ata cost of about �12,000 crore.In addition, states have beenasked to identify black spotswhich will be corrected at a costof about �14,000 crore.

The legislation providesfor stricter punishment forvarious traffic-related offencesas well as higher penalties,including compensation of �5lakh for death and �2.5 lakh forgrievous injury in a motorvehicle accident case.

The Act provides for apenalty of �10,000 for notgiving way to emergencyvehicles and �10,000 fordriving despite disqualifica-tion.

Penalty for dangerousdriving has been increasedto �5,000 from �1,000, whiledrunken driving under thenew law attracts a fine of�10,000.

Penalties for over-speeding range from �1,000-

2,000.Driving without insurance

is punishable with �2,000 finewhile driving without a helmetwill attract �1,000 penalty and3-month suspension of licence.

Also, the guardian/ownerwill be deemed guilty in case ofroad offence by juveniles, whileregistration of the vehicle willbe cancelled.

Traffic violations nowattract a penalty of �500 inplace of �100 earlier, whiledisobedience of orders ofauthorities will attract a mini-mum penalty of �2,000 inplace of �500 earlier.

Cab-aggregators violatinglicensing conditions will becharged a sum of up to �1 lakh,while overloading of vehicleswould attract a penalty of�20,000.

Penalty for unauthoriseduse of vehicles without a licencehas been fixed at �5,000 whilethose driving without a licencewill have to shell out the sameamount and those found dri-ving despite disqualificationwould be fined �10,000.

The penalties are basedon the recommendations oftransport ministers from 18states, which were vetted by astanding committee ofParliament.

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Atotal of2 , 4 8 0

cases of fraudinvolving ahuge sum of� 3 1 , 8 9 8 . 6 3crore rattled 18public sectorbanks in thefirst quarter ofthis fiscal, anRTI query hasrevealed.

The country’s largest lenderState Bank of India (SBI)remained the biggest prey tofrauds with 38 per cent share,Neemuch-based activistChandrashekhar Gaur told PTIon Sunday quoting an officialof the RBI who furnished himreplies to his RTI application.

As many as 1,197 cases ofcheating involving �12,012.77crore were detected in SBI inthe first quarter, according tothe RTI reply.

After SBI, Allahabad Bankfaced the heat with 381 cheat-ing cases involving �2,855.46crore. Punjab National Bankstood third in the list with 99sham cases worth �2,526.55crore.

However, the informationprovided by the RBI does notgive specific details of thenature of banking fraud and thelosses suffered by banks or theircustomers.

On losses suffered by PSUbanks due to frauds, the RBIsaid it did not have figuresavailable as to how much

amount was lost by thesesbanks during the period underreview.

A total of 75 cases of fraudinvolving �2,297.05 crore werereported in Bank of Baroda inthe first quarter, while 45 casesof fraud amounting to�2,133.08 crore in OrientalBank of Commerce, 69 casesworth �2,035.81 crore inCanara Bank, 194 cases worth�1,982.27 crore in Central Bankof India, 31 cases of fraud of�1,196.19 crore in United Bankof India were witnessed.

Likewise, CorporationBank detected �960.80 croreworth fraud in 16 cases, IndianOverseas Bank �934.67 crore in46 cases, Syndicate Bank�795.75 crore in 54 cases,Union Bank of India �753.37crore in 51 cases, Bank ofIndia, �517 crore in 42 casesand UCO Bank detected�470.74 crore fraud in 34 cases.

Other banks, which fellvictim to fraud included Bankof Maharashtra, Andhra Bank,Indian Bank and Punjab andSind Bank.

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The ED has filed a criminalcase to probe money laun-

dering charges in an allegedcorruption case involvingLondon-based Rolls Roycethat is said to have made apayment of over �77 crore ascommission to an agent to wincontracts from PSUs HAL,ONCG and GAIL during2007-11, officials said onSunday.

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has bookedthe case under provisions ofthe Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) aftergoing through a CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)FIR, which was registered inthe case in July this year, theysaid.

Rolls Royce and its Indiansubsidiary, Singapore-basedAshok Patni and his companyAashmore Pvt Ltd, andMumbai-based TurbotechEnergy Services InternationalPvt Ltd, besides unidentifiedofficials of public sector units(PSUs) Hindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL), Oil andNatural Gas Corporation(ONGC) and GAIL werebooked by the CBI for crimi-nal conspiracy and bribery.

The CBI complaint alleged

that the total business of HALwith Rolls Royce was around�4,700 crore between 2000 to2013.

It is alleged that RollsRoyce paid �18 crore to Patnias “commercial advisor” inthe 100 supply orders ofAvon and Allison engines’spare parts to HAL between2007-11, the bureau’s FIRstated.

The CBI action came aftera five-year-long inquiry con-ducted by it. The inquiry wasinitiated on the basis of acomplaint from the defenceministry that had received aletter about the engagement ofPatni and his company byRolls Royce.

The ED will probe if thesealleged corrupt practices led tothe generation of slush fundswhich were laundered to cre-ate personal assets, the officialssaid. It will also investigate ifthe integrity pact was violatedand kick backs were generat-ed, they said.

Rollys Royce, after regis-tration of the CBI case, hadsaid it will not tolerate businessmisconduct of any sort and itis committed to maintain highethical standards.

“No one currently workingfor Rolls-Royce in India playedany part in these energy deals.

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National AgriculturalCooperative Marketing

Federation of India Limited(NAFED), the premier agencyfor procurement pulses andoilseeds has been going fromstrength to strength. Nowherewas it more apparent than atthe 62nd Annual General BodyMeeting (AGM) where thestrides that the organisationhad made during the past oneyear came to the fore.

Speaking about the same,the Managing DirectorSanjeev Kumar Chadha, IFStabled a detailed account ofbusiness activities undertak-en by NAFED during theyear 2018-19 before theGeneral Body. Top on the listwas the record procurementof oilseed and pulses underPrice Support Scheme andother initiatives in bufferstocking of the pulses andonion under PriceStabi l isat ion Fund ofGovernment of India.

Chadha also appraisedabout the purchase and open-ing of new NAFED officespaces in different States. Hethanked the Government ofIndia for showing confidence

in the organisation by recog-nising and selecting NAFEDfor procurement of apple cropfrom Kashmir after the abro-gation of Article 370 from thestate of Jammu & Kashmir.

Chadha also appreciatedthe contribution ofGovernment of India and itsdifferent Ministries in recog-nising the efforts of NAFEDand entrusting it with largerresponsibility. He also thankedall the Board Members, dele-gates, Officers and Staff fortheir sincere efforts and coop-eration in achieving the presentstatus of NAFED.

Earlier in the day Dr

Bijender Singh, Chairman,NAFED welcomed the dele-gates and expressed his grati-tude and thanked NarendraSingh Tomar, MOS forAgriculture, ParsottambhaiRupala, Secretary (A&C),Additional Secretary (A&C)and other senior officers in theMinistry of Agriculture andFarmers Welfare for their guid-ance and support.

The Chairman alsoexpressed his deep sense ofgratitude and thanked thePrime Minister for his inter-vention as a result of whichNAFED could arrive at OneTime Settlement with the

banks and emerge from the cri-sis that it had been in for thepast few years.

He also recalled the keyrole played by Late ArunJaitley, the then FinanceMinister for the same. DrSingh also appreciated theMember Federations/Societies,hard work put in by theManaging Director and histeam of officers and staff ofNAFED for the massive pro-curement undertaken byNAFED and announced theproposal of a dividend of 12per cent to the memberFederations/Societies for theyear ending 2018-19.

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Sugar Cosmetics, a colour cos-metics brands has opened first

exclusive brand outlet in NorthIndia. Primarily located at MGFMetropolitan Mall, the store isdesigned to house the completerange of Sugar Cosmetics, givingcustomers access to a plethora ofbeauty & makeup products thatcover Lips, Eyes, Face & Nailscategories.

With a phenomenally swiftretail store count growth of 777%in the past year, and diversifyingtheir overall product range tonearly 350+, Sugar Cosmeticsaims to bring about an extraor-dinary experience to its dominantaudience of millennials. Thenew Sugar store is spread across197 sq. ft. area allowing the cus-tomers to indulge in the cultfavourites of infinitely blend-able and long lasting foundations,crush worthy lipsticks, intenselypigmented kohls and liners andvibrant nail lacquers.

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Baba Ramdev-led PatanjaliAyurved, which got the

NCLT approval last week toacquire Ruchi Soya in an insol-vency process, will infuse over�3,438 crore as equity anddebt to settle dues of creditorsof the debt-laden firm.

Ruchi Soya informed theexchanges that the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT), Mumbai in its orderdated September 6 approvedPatanjali’s �4,350 crore resolu-tion plan with certain modifi-cations that were accepted bythe bidder.

Ruchi Soya informed thatresolution applicant Patanjaligroup will infuse �204.75 croreas equity and �3,233.36 crore asdebt. The amount will beinfused in a special purposevehicle ‘Patanjali ConsortiumAdhigrahan Pvt Ltd’, whichwill be later amalgamated withRuchi Soya.

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The 15th FinanceCommission on Sunday

held meetings with represen-tatives of Rajasthan’s PanchayatiRaj institutions, urban devel-opment bodies, trade andindustry, and economists aspart of its consultation processfor making recommendationsfor the 2020-25 period.

According to an officialrelease, the Commission head-ed by Chairman N K Singhalong with its Members andsenior officials met with therepresentatives of RajasthanPanchayati Raj institutions(PRIs).

The Commissionexpressed concern over issuespertaining to accounting ofPRIs, including accountabilitymechanism and financialreporting of the PanchayatiRaj Institutions in the Statecontinues to be weak.

Of the total 10,219 PRIs,only 6,802 (66.5 per cent) of PRIAccounts were certified byDepartment of Local FundAudit, of which only 20(0.2 percent) PRI accounts were certified

without qualification, it added.As per the statement, out of

23 functions transferred, fundsand functionaries were trans-ferred in 15 out of 23 subjects.

The commission noted allthe concerns highlighted by therepresentatives of the PRIs andpromised to address them in itsrecommendations to the cen-tral government.

Rajasthan has a total of10,220 PRIs, of which 9,892 areGram Panchayats, 295Panchayat Samities and 33 ZilaParishads.

Meanwhile, the 15thFinance Commission also helda meeting with economists inJaipur on September 8, 2019, incoordination with theGovernment of Rajasthan andCUTS International.

Many issues pertinent tofiscal devolution and issuesspecific to improving the eco-nomic growth of Rajasthanhave been discussed in themeeting.

The major points raised bythe economists during themeeting include deficit man-agement of governments is amatter that needs to be care-

fully handled with full recog-nition of contingent liabilities.At the same time, consideringthe investment requirements ofthe Indian economy, it is alsoimportant to ensure that futurefiscal policy crowds in privateinvestment.

Another concern raisedby the economists was cor-rections attempted in thepower distribution sector interms of UDAY scheme affect-ed the deficit position of theGovernment of Rajasthan con-siderably. Going forward, theassessment of the expendi-ture and revenue deficit of theState should take this intoaccount.

The 15th FinanceCommission also met with therepresentatives of the UrbanLocal Bodies (ULBs) ofRajasthan.

The Commission wasinformed 16 out of 18 functionsenvisaged in the TwelfthSchedule of the Constitutionhave been devolved to ULB’s.Water Supply function is par-tially devolved and urban plan-ning is yet to be devolved toPRIs.

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Oil marketing companieshave cited issues like sales

tax as a barrier to the CivilAviation Ministry’s plan torationalise additional chargesthat airlines have to pay whileuplifting aviation turbine fuel(ATF) at airports across India,officials said.

Currently, airlines have topay taxes for certain services,such as ‘throughput charges’,‘into-plane charges’ and ‘fuel-infrastructure charges’ whenthey take the ATF at any airportfor their planes.

“These charges are taxedmultiple times as they are billedin a circuitous manner,” asenior government official said.

A second official said theMinistry of Civil Aviation hadformed a committee to devel-op a direct-billing mechanismbetween airline companies andairport operators so that thesemultiple taxes can be removed.

The committee comprisesrepresentatives from airlines,airport operators, oil marketingcompanies (OMCs), other ser-vice providers among others.

According to government

estimates, if a direct-billingmechanism is implemented,airlines would be able to savearound �400 crore per year. InIndia, ATF accounts for almost40 per cent of any airline’s totalexpenditure. Therefore, anytaxation on ATF always has ahuge impact on airline com-panies.

“The OMCs have told usthat there are certain provisionsin the sales tax regime at thestate-level, as well as in theexcise tax regime, which mayprevent direct billing,” the offi-cial said.

During one of the meetingsof the committee, the officialsaid, the OMCs — Indian Oil,Hindustan Petroleum andBharat Petroleum — statedthat the State Governmentswould be reluctant to let go ofthe tax revenues that comefrom the circuitous billing.

The official said the com-mittee was expected to submitits report soon.

Explaining the matter, thefirst official quoted above said:“Take the example of billing forthroughput charges, which isdone by the airport operator tothe oil company.

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The Government is in theprocess of rolling out a new

tariff policy and UDAY 2.0 toaddress the issue of losses of dis-coms, which is the “only diffi-culty” in ensuring round theclock electricity supply for all,Power Minister R K Singh said.

According to the PRAAP-TI portal, the total outstandingof the discoms to gencos as ofJuly this year stood at �73,425crore, including the overdueamount of �55,276 crore.

The dues to discomsbecome overdue after 60 daysof non-payment of the bill,allowing gencos charge penalinterest on that.

“There is a capacity totransfer (supply) any quan-tum (of power). There is noreason why 24X7 power cannotbe given. The only difficulty inthis (24X7 power for All) islosses to some distributionutilities. They don’t have moneyto pay for power,” Singh toldPTI.

About the steps beingtaken by the government, theminister said that the central

government has already madeit mandatory for discoms toopen letters of credit for gettingsupply from gencos, excludingstate government power plantsfrom August 1, 2019.

He was of the view that themandatory opening of letter ofcredit, would take some time toreduce stress on power gener-ation companies.

He said that new tariffpolicy has already gone to theCabinet for vetting andapproval while the power min-istry is working on the UDAY2.0 scheme which would belaunched this fiscal only.

He said that under thenew tariff policy, the discomswould have to pay a surchargefor delayed payment, whichwould be equal to the com-mercial rate of interest.

Elaborating further he said,“After the rollout of tariff pol-icy and UDAY 2.0 scheme, if adiscom would not take steps toreduce losses, thenGovernment of India wouldnot give any grant or loan.”

About empowering theconsumer in the new tariff pol-icy he said, “We have recog-

nised consumer rights in thepolicy. Earlier those were notrecognized. We are saying thatit is a service. One thing we aresaying that discoms would bepenalised if they do load shed-ding.”

On the under-recovery ofcost of supply of power, he said,“Discoms cannot put the bur-den of their inefficiencies onconsumers. Earlier they used tocharge under-recovered powersupply cost to other consumers.Around 70 per cent consumersused to pay for 100 per centconsumers. This is injustice.”

He further said, “Now wehave given an option of 15 percent. Now we would allowrecovery of up to 15 per centunder-recovered power supplycost from the tariff of otherconsumers. If your loss isbeyond 15 per cent then dis-com or state government wouldpay for that. This is the con-sumers’ right.”

Under the new tariff poli-cy, a provision for standards ofservice which would providetimeline for various serviceslike time period for replacinga burnt transformer etc.

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Kabul: Afghanistan praisedthe "sincere efforts of its allies"Sunday after US PresidentDonald Trump said he hadcalled off negotiations with theTaliban, apparently ending ayear-long diplomatic push toexit America's longest war.

"The Afghan government,in relation to the peace, appre-ciates the sincere efforts of itsallies and is committed toworking together with theUnited States and other alliesto bring a lasting peace," saida statement from PresidentAshraf Ghani's office.

The statement came afterTrump tweeted late Saturdaythat he had planned unprece-dented, albeit separate, talkswith the Taliban and withGhani Sunday at Camp David,the presidential retreat inMaryland.

The secret talks wouldhave come after months ofdiplomatic wrangling betweenthe US and the Taliban over adeal that would allowWashington to begin with-drawing its troops fromAfghanistan.

But after the Taliban killed12 people in a single attack inKabul this week, including aUS soldier, Trump said he"immediately cancelled the

meeting and called off peacenegotiations".

His announcement left thewithdrawal deal shrouded inuncertainty.

The US-backed govern-ment in Kabul had eyed thedeal with deep unease and longcomplained of being sidelined

from the talks."We have always insisted

that a real peace can only beachieved if the Taliban stopkilling Afghans and accept aceasefire, and face-to-face talkswith the Afghan government,"the statement from Ghani'soffice said. AFP

Hong Kong: Demonstratorsin Hong Kong marched to theUS Embassy on Sunday, urgingPresident Donald Trump to"liberate" their city as theypress for more democraticfreedom in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Thousands of people con-verged at a park in centralHong Kong, chanting "ResistBeijing, Liberate Hong Kong."Many of them, clad in blackshirts and wearing masks,waved American flags and car-ried posters that read"President Trump, please lib-erate Hong Kong."

Riot police stood watch asthey began their march to thenearby US Embassy.

"Hong Kong is at the fore-front of the battle against thetotalitarian regime of China,"said Panzer Chan, one of theorganisers of Sunday's march."Please support us in our fight."

Hong Kong has beenrocked by a summer of unrestkicked off by a proposed lawthat would have allowed crim-inal suspects to be sent tomainland China for trial.

Many saw the extraditionbill as a glaring example of theChinese territory's erodingautonomy since the formerBritish colony was returned to

China in 1997.Hong Kong's government

promised last week to withdrawthe bill — an early demand ofprotesters — but that has failedto appease the demonstrators,who have widened theirdemands to include otherissues, such as greater democ-racy.

The unrest has becomethe biggest challenge to

Beijing's rule since HongKong's return from Britain.Beijing and the entirely state-controlled media have por-trayed the protests as an effortby criminals to split the terri-tory from China, backed byhostile foreigners.

Protesters on Sunday urgedWashington to pass a bill,known as the Hong KongDemocratic and Human Rights

Act, to support their cause.The bill proposes sanc-

tions against Hong Kong andChinese officials found to sup-press democracy and humanrights in the city, and could alsoaffect Hong Kong's preferentialtrade status with the US.

The US State Departmentin a travel advisory Friday saidBeijing has undertaken a pro-paganda campaign "falsely

accusing the United States offomenting unrest in HongKong."

It said US citizens andembassy staff have been the tar-get of the propaganda andurged them to exerciseincreased caution.

Some US lawmakers havespoken out strongly in supportof the Hong Kong protestersand voiced concern about thepotential for a brutal crack-down by China.

Trump, however, has indi-cated the US would stay out ofa matter he considers betweenHong Kong and China. He hassaid he believes the US tradewar with China is makingBeijing tread carefully.

Sunday's rally followedovernight violent clashesbetween protesters and policeat several metro stations.

Protesters set fire to debrisnear a metro station that hadbeen shuttered in the crowdedMongkok area but retreatedafter riot police chased themusing pepper spray.

Violent clashes separatelytook place at a station in Sha Tinnew town, where protesterschased police officers into thecontrol room before riot policearrived. Several people wereinjured and detained. AP

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Kabul: The Taliban said theUS "will be harmed more thananyone" but left the door openfor future negotiations onSunday after President DonaldTrump abruptly announcedthat he had called off year-longtalks to end America's longestwar.

"We still... Believe that theAmerican side will come backto this position... Our fight forthe past 18 years should haveproven to the Americans thatwe will not be satisfied until wewitness the complete end ofthe occupation," the groupsaid in a statement released onTwitter by spokesmanZabihullah Mujahid.

The statement said the

insurgents had "finalised" adeal with the US that had beenexpected to allow Washingtonto begin withdrawing troops inexchange for security promis-es from the Taliban.

It added that both sideshad been preparing for thedeal to be announced andsigned when Trump tweetedlate Saturday that he had"called off peace negotiations".

Trump had cited a Talibanattack in Kabul on Thursdaywhich killed 12 people includ-ing a US soldier as his reasonfor calling off the talks, includ-ing a secret meeting with theinsurgents at Camp David inMaryland planned for thisweekend. AFP

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London: A senior ministerwho quit British PrimeMinister Boris Johnson'sCabinet said Sunday that thegovernment is making little orno effort to secure a Brexitagreement with the EuropeanUnion, despite Johnson's insis-tence that he wants a deal.

Amber Rudd said "there isno evidence of a deal. There areno formal negotiations takingplace."

"What we know is thatAngela Merkel and the EUhave said, 'give us your pro-posal,' and we have not giventhem a proposal," she told theBBC.

Treasury chief Sajid Javidinsisted that the governmentwas "straining every sinew toget a deal" and had sent Britishnegotiator David Frost toBrussels for talks.

The EU, however, saysBritain has not produced any

concrete new ideas.Rudd's resignation as work

and pensions secretary lateSaturday is the latest blow tothe embattled British primeminister.

Johnson says Britain must

leave the EU as scheduledOctober 31 even if there is nodivorce agreement with thebloc. But his plan is meetingfierce resistance, includingfrom some members of hisown party. AP

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Paris: French ForeignMinister Jean-Yves Le Drianon Sunday rejected any fur-ther delay to Britain's exitfrom the EU, now scheduledfor October 31 but clouded bypolitical turmoil in London.

"In the current circum-stances, it's no! ... We are notgoing to go through this everythree months," Le Drian saidon Le Grand Rendez-vousEurope1/CNEWS/Les Echosprogramme.

"The (British) say thatthey want to put forward

other solutions, alternativearrangements so that theycan leave," he said, referring toPrime Minister BorisJohnson's efforts to find away out of the backstop mech-anism for Northern Ireland,the main sticking point.

"But we have not seenthem and so it is 'no'... Let theBritish authorities tell us theway forward," he said.

"Let them take responsi-bility for their situation... Theyhave to tell us what theywant." AFP

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Cox's Bazar: A Bangladesh uni-versity has suspended a studentfor being Rohingya, officialssaid on Sunday, as impatiencewith the refugees grows follow-ing a second failed attempt torepatriate them to Myanmar.

Some 740,000 of theMuslim minority fled to south-east Bangladesh after a militarycrackdown in Myanmar'sRakhine state in August 2017,joining 200,000 Rohingyaalready there.

Formal education inBangladesh is forbidden forrefugees. Cox's BazarInternational University said ithad suspended Rahima AkterKhushi, 20, and would investi-gate her case after local mediasaid she hid her Rohingya iden-tity to enrol.

"Rohingya can't be admittedto our university, because theyare refugees," the institution'shead Abul Kashem said.

"Foreigners can study here,

but they must follow a proce-dure." He said the young womanhad supplied documents show-ing she completed high-schoolstudies in Bangladesh's port cityof Chittagong.

Khushi, who was studyinglaw, told AFP the private uni-versity's decision had "mentallyshattered" her.

"Any other girl may havekilled themselves by now. But...I am trying my best to face thesituation," she said.

The decision follows the lat-est repatriation attempt byBangladesh and Myanmar,which failed with not a singlerefugee volunteering to cross theborder back home.

Dhaka also recalled or re-assigned senior governmentofficials who allowed some200,000 Rohingya to take part ina rally to mark the secondanniversary of the mass exoduson August 25, several days afterthe repatriation attempt. AFP

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Seoul: North Korean Statemedia said on Sunday five peo-ple had been killed in a power-ful typhoon that destroyedfarmland and damaged hun-dreds of buildings.

Typhoon Lingling, calledTyphoon-13 in North Korea, hitthe reclusive nuclear-armedstate on Saturday afternoon,reported the official KCNAnews service.

The impoverished and iso-lated country is vulnerable tonatural disasters, especiallyfloods, due in part to defor-estation and poor infrastructure.

"According to data availablefrom the State EmergencyDisaster Committee, five per-sons were dead and three per-sons injured. The injured per-sons are now under treatmentat hospitals," KCNA said.

More than 460 houses andat least a dozen public buildingswere "completely or partly

destroyed or inundated" by thetyphoon, it said.

Crops were wiped out ordamaged in 46,000 hectares(110,000 acres) of farmland —roughly the area of the smallEuropean country of Andorra— the report said, adding thatrecovery efforts were underway.

It came after South Korea'sdisaster agency reported threedeaths caused by the sametyphoon, according to Yonhapnews agency.

On Saturday, KCNA report-ed that North Korean leaderKim Jong Un had berated offi-cials for their "easygoing" atti-tude to the approaching storm.

According to that dispatch,Kim had convened an emer-gency meeting on Friday andsaid "dangerous circumstances"caused by the typhoon were"imminent", but that many inpositions of authority were ill-prepared. AFP

Tunis: Days before the firstround of Tunisia's presidentialelection, the fledgling democ-racy on Saturday began threenights of televised debatesbetween the candidates, a rareevent in the Arab world.

The showdown betweenthe 26 hopefuls is seen as thehighlight of the campaign anda turning point in Tunisian pol-itics ahead of the September 15vote.

The North African nationhas been praised as a rare suc-cess story for democratic tran-sition after the Arab Springregional uprisings sparked byits 2011 revolution.

Called "The road toCarthage: Tunisia makes itschoice", the programme wasbroadcast on 11 TV channels,two of them public, and about20 radio stations.

"We won't be able to escapeit," said a smiling Belabbes

Benkredda, founder of theMunathara Initiative whichpromotes open debate in theArab world and helped organ-ise the event.

The first hour-and-a-halfdebate on Saturday nightinvolved eight of the candidates, includingAbdelfattah Mourou of theIslamist-inspired Ennahdaparty, and passionate secular-ist Abir Moussi, head of agroup with roots in the party offormer dictator Zine El AbidineBen Ali.

There was also an emptyspace for the controversialmedia mogul Nabil Karoui,currently detained on moneylaundering charges.

"Tonight I am deprived ofmy constitutional right toexpress myself in front of theTunisian people," Karoui wroteon Twitter.

"They dare to speak of

democratic and transparentelections despite the absence ofthe basic principle of equalopportunities."

The stage, at the studios ofpublic TV channel Wataniya,placed candidates in a semi-cir-cle with two journalist moder-ators at the centre.

The questions were set bythe journalists and randomlyselected and allocated to can-didates on Friday.

Each candidate had 90 sec-onds to respond to a questionand could be asked a follow-upquestion or interrupted.

At the end of the show, candidates were given 99seconds to outline their manifestos and campaignpromises.

Tunisians gathered in cafesto watch the debates, theireyes riveted to TV screens as ifthey were following an impor-tant football match. AFP

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Islamabad: Pakistan andChina on Sunday discussedthe Kashmir issue and under-lined the need to settle dis-putes in the region throughdialogue on the basis of mutu-al respect and equality, asBeijing reaffirmed its supportfor its all-weather ally in safe-guarding its sovereignty andterritorial integrity.

In a joint press releaseissued at the conclusion ofChinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi's two-day visit toPakistan, the two countriesemphasised that their all-weather strategic ties wouldremain unaffected by anyregional or international situ-ation.

Wang, who was here toattend China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral ForeignMinisters' Dialogue, called on

President Arif Alvi and PrimeMinister Imran Khan. He alsoheld talks with ForeignMinister Shah MahmoodQureshi and Army chiefGeneral Qamar Javed Bajwa.

During the meetings, bothsides had an in-depthexchange of views on bilater-al, regional and internationalissues of mutual interest.

Wang's visit to Pakistantook place amidst fresh Indo-Pak tensions after New Delhirevoked Jammu and Kashmir'sspecial status on August 5.

The two sides underlinedthat a peaceful, stable, coop-erative and prosperous SouthAsia is in the common inter-est of all parties. "Parties needto settle disputes and issues inthe region through dialogue onthe basis of mutual respect andequality," the statement said.

Pakistan and Chinaexchanged views on the situ-ation in Jammu and Kashmir.The Pakistani side briefed theChinese side on the situation,including its concerns, posi-tion, and "urgent humanitar-ian issues".

“The Chinese sideresponded that it was payingclose attention to the currentsituation in Jammu andKashmir and reiterated thatthe Kashmir issue is a disputeleft from history, and shouldbe properly and peacefullyresolved based on the UNCharter, relevant UN SecurityCouncil resolutions and bilat-eral agreements. China oppos-es any unilateral actions thatcomplicate the situation,”according to the statement.

India has categorically toldthe international community

that the scrapping of Article370 was an internal matter ofthe country and also advisedPakistan to accept the reality.

During his visit to Beijinglast month, External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar told hisChinese counterpart Wangthat the legislation passed bythe Indian Parliament onJammu and Kashmir was aninternal matter for India.

According to the jointpress statement, Beijing reaf-firmed its support for Pakistanin safeguarding its sovereign-ty, territorial integrity, inde-pendence and national digni-ty, in choosing its developmentpath in light of its national con-ditions, in working for a bet-ter external security environ-ment, and in playing a moreconstructive role in regionaland international issues.

The two sides also agreedto strengthen cooperation onthe Afghanistan issue and sup-port the ‘Afghan-led, Afghan-owned' peace and reconcilia-tion process.

They reiterated that the"time-tested all-weather strate-gic cooperative partnershipbetween China and Pakistan isan anchor of peace and stabil-ity in the region and beyond."

"This partnership remainsunaffected by any adverseregional and internationaldevelopment and continuesto move from strength tostrength. Both sides reaffirmedthat China-Pakistan relation-ship is a priority in their for-eign policies, and committedto build a closer China-Pakistan community with ashared future in the new era,”according to the joint state-

ment.The Prime Minister's

office in a statement said Khanduring his talks with Wang“underscored that friendshipwith China is the corner stoneof Pakistan's foreign policy"

He also “highlighted that‘all-weather strategic cooper-ative partnership' between thetwo countries is deeply root-ed in mutual trust and respectand is an anchor of peace andstability in the region andbeyond.”

Wang said China-Pakistanrelationship is "rock-solid andunbreakable".

He reaffirmed China'ssupport and reiterated oppo-sition to any "unilateral actionas well as the measures, byIndia, that could further com-plicate the situation," the state-ment said. PTI

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Manila: A militant wearing atraditional black Muslimwoman's gown was killed in asuicide bombing attack onSunday on a military detach-ment in the southernPhilippines that failed to inflictany other deaths or injuries,officials said.

The suicide attacker, whowore a traditional blackMuslim woman's gown, triedbut failed to enter a detachmentin Sulu province's Indanantown and died when a bombthe militant was carryingexploded.

It was the third known sui-cide attack in Sulu this year.

Regional military chief LtGen Cirilito Sobejana said thebomber failed to enter thedetachment due to tight secu-rity. AP

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Ten people wake up on a treacherous island with nomemory of who they are and how they got there. They set offon a trek to get back home and fight to survive the harshrealities that trap them. The series, starring Natalie Martinez,Kate Bosworth, releases on September 12 on Netflix.

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When a horror writer lures back to her hometown, shediscovers that an evil spirit who plagues her dreams is nowwreaking havoc in the real world. Starring Victoire Du Bois,Lucie Boujenah, Tiphaine Daviot, the series releases onSeptember 13 on Netflix.

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Prime Original usesanimation to explore ayoung woman’s abilityto travel through timeand space after an acci-dent gives her visionsof her late father. Theseries does not revealwhether the woman’sability is real or she’sexperiencing a mentalbreakdown. The seriesis slated to release onSeptember 13.

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The new business practices,along with $170 million in fines

, settle allegations by the FederalTrade Commission and New Yorkstate that YouTube owner Googleviolated children’s online privacy bycollecting personal data withoutparents’ permission.

Some of the new responsibil-ities will be on video creatorsthemselves, as they will have tolabel videos that are geared towardkids under 13.

Here’s a look at what’s behindthe dispute and what’s changing.

.#����#��/�.���&�The FTC’s complaint is based

on a 1998 federal law called theChildren’s Online PrivacyProtection Act, or COPPA. It banswebsites from collecting personalinformation from children under13 without their parents’ consent.

Tech companies, however,have long skirted this by sayingthey officially exclude kids fromtheir services, even though theydon’t really check. A group of pri-vacy advocates asked the FTC inApril 2018 to investigate YouTube’scompliance.

��D�%������,��YouTube has long said its ser-

vice is intended for people ages 13and older, a message that theoret-ically kept it in line with that law.

Ask any kid or parent, howev-er, and the reality was far different.Younger kids commonly watchvideos on YouTube, and many pop-ular YouTube channels featurecartoons or sing-a-longs made forchildren. YouTube acknowledgedthat “the likelihood of childrenwatching without supervision hasincreased” since its foundingbecause there are more shareddevices and a “boom in family con-tent.”

The FTC’s complaint detailshow Google boasted about itsyouthful audience when talking tomajor advertisers. The FTCincludes as evidence Google’s visu-al presentations made to toy com-panies Mattel and Hasbro whereYouTube is described as the “newSaturday Morning Cartoons” and

number one website visited by kids.

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Starting early next year, anyonewho uploads a video to YouTubewill have to designate whether ornot that video is directed at chil-dren.

If a video is identified as child-focussed, such as a cartoon or the“unboxing” of a new toy, Googlehas agreed not to put up “behav-ioral” ads — those that cater to spe-cific viewers based on their age andother social characteristics. Googlealso won’t track the viewers onlineidentities. Google says these restric-tions will be in place even if theviewer is an adult.

But Google will still showgeneric ads, as well as “contextual”ads — those that cater to the typeof content rather than the specificviewer. These typically don’t bringin as much money as viewer-spe-cific ads.

And Google is stopping shortof seeking parental consent on itsmain service, even for kids-focussed video. The law doesn’t

require it to, as long as there’s nodata collection.

"#��,�����&���'����%�Google already gets parental

consent for its kids-focussed ser-vice, YouTube Kids. But the ser-vice has traditionally been usedfar less frequently — after all, themain service had all the samevideos and more.

YouTube said it will startpromoting the kids service moreaggressively. Recently, kids-focused pages on YouTube’s mainservice had pop-ups suggestingYouTube Kids.

YouTube Kids similarly doesnot offer behavioural ads target-ed at individuals, but it does col-lect some basic viewer informa-tion to recommend videos. It alsocollects the device’s numeric IPaddress.

YouTube said it will dole out$100 million over three years toencourage more videos for chil-dren.

��.�������" ��� �Google says the changes to

the main service will happen infour months to give video creatorsa chance to adjust. In taking thisapproach, Google is putting muchof the responsibility on video cre-ators themselves, though thecompany says it will also use arti-ficial intelligence to flag contentthat targets children but wasn’tproperly identified as such.

Those who consider the set-tlement too weak are alreadyconcerned about what happenswhen video creators try to cheatthe new system.

Democratic FTCCommissioner Rebecca KellySlaughter, in a dissenting opinion,said high-profile companies likeHasbro and Mattel will comply, asthey won’t want to run afoul offederal rules even it means fewerkids seeing their toy promotions.

But she said it’s less clear howit will curb abuses by the millionsof others who post videos onYouTube — especially those out-side the United States who arebeyond the FTC’s “practicalreach.”

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What are perfect weddings madeof? A perfect venue, impeccabledecor, designer lehengas and

eye-popping jewellery as the bride-to-be(and her family) goes to extremes to makeher ‘big day’ the most beautiful ever.Unfortunately, looking their best meansthey also want designer vaginas. Yes, youread that right. In sex-shy India, the trendof brides going for rejuvenation surgeriesbefore their marriage is on the rise. Andnot just that, there are breast implants,tightening, removal of pigmentation andmore. Many surgeons and gynaecologiststerm it as the ‘Barbie look’, which is likehaving the vagina of a newborn.

And the reasons could be varied. Inthe ‘liberal’ times we live in, women desireto have better sexual relations with theirpartner after marriage, which some-times boils down to having a hymen thatis intact and a vagina that is tight. But thenthat is not all. The virginity of a woman,as per the Indian social framework, isimportant or the girl is considered to be“impure” if she loses it. Of course, theinfluence of patriarchy ensures that thisnorm is not applicable to men. This is oneof the reasons why many brides these daysare going for hymenoplasty (re-virgina-tion procedure) too, surgeons reveal.

.#&�������� ��%��,FDr Priya Bansal, cosmetic plastic sur-

geon at Fortis LaFemme, says, “Sexual sat-isfaction is of prime importance in a mar-ital relationship. And many women thinkthat genital rejuvenation and breast aug-mentation procedures are a means toachieve that.”

She adds that in an increasingly lib-eral society, more women are comfortablein getting physical before marriage.However, as per the stringent societalnorms, a sexually-active bride-to-be isalso scared about being questioned forlosing her virginity by her future husbandand in-laws. In order to seek solutions forit, most girls research about the availabil-ity, accessibility and affordability of suchprocedures that can help them regaintheir ‘Virgin’ status.

Among other reasons, there is also agrowing consciousness and awarenessbehind cosmetics. With the advent oftechnology and treatment that couldreshape your private parts, Dr Rita

Bakshi, chairperson of InternationalFertility Centre, says, that vaginal rejuve-nation is becoming more prevalent. “Itwas not so frequent earlier since peopledid not pay much attention to how theirprivate parts look but now they don’t wantany pigmentation or dark skin. They wanta cleaner look and a particular shape ofthe labya (lips of the vagina). They arebecoming more conscious of their privateparts,” she adds.

Of course, with the growing obsessionto maintain perfect social media profilesand clicking Instagram-worthy pictures,women are also increasingly concernedabout the size of their breasts as they feelinferior and underconfident if it is not aperfect dimension. “Women are openlyconsulting us for breasts implantation,even when they have perfect sizes so thatthey can get a natural and firm look,” addsRita.

Dr Amit Gupta, founder of DivineCosmetic Surgery, lists some of the othercosmetic surgeries (on other parts of bod-ies) that brides are opting for before theirweddings — botox, fillers, vampirefacelifts, lips jobs (could be lip augmen-tation or reduction), nose jobs, and more.He points out that the digital wave has alsocreated a pressure on brides to look per-

fect so that the virtual world can see andcompliment them. Says he, “The biggestreason why brides are increasingly goingfor cosmetic surgery procedures is due tosocial media and the need to look perfectthat day for getting the right photographs.They want people to see how they are alldolled-up.” This urge to look flawless andnot feel inferior in any way is a huge fac-tor.

However, there are other natural rea-sons too. Ranjana Sharma, senior consul-tant at Apollo Cradle Royale, says thatthere are women who have a loose vagi-na opening, called introitus, which makesthem uncomfortable. It causes discomfortand could interfere with the level of plea-sure during sex. However, she stresses ona notion which women need to under-stand too. “Lack of pleasure during sex isnot only because of a loose vagina but italso depends on their emotional status andrelationship with the partners. Somewomen have thick or unequal labya. Insuch cases, women are not comfortablewearing bikinis and having sex. Ranjanaadds, “Women go for labiaplasty when thetwo lips (labya) are unequal. In such cases,the surgery becomes important otherwiseit could also result in numerous healthissues in the long run.”

������#� ���/F�&��Doctors claim that such surgeries

have no major side-effects. And theyenhance the self-image of the women asthere is an improved outward and innerappearance. She gains self-esteem andconfidence. Dr Priya says, “There are noside-effects of these surgeries or any neg-ative impact on women’s reproductivehealth. There is a lot to gain on mental,sexual and psychological health. A reju-venated vagina adds to the genital self-image, which positively affects a woman’ssexual and mental behaviour and mari-tal relationship.”

However, Dr Ranjana tells us that nosurgeries come without certain side-effects, especially when it is done on themost sensitive part of the body. She saysthat such surgeries leave multiple scars,which could be very painful. “Thechances of the body getting damaged isvery higher in such cases. We need tounderstand the generation we are livingin. Just because you don’t want your part-ner to know about your lost virginity, youcannot play with your body and natur-al functions.”

Dr Rita too opposes such surgeriesand says that one should not go for itunless one has a natural body defect. “If

you are not happy with your natural selfthen you cannot be happy with how youlook. Women need to know that it canharm them immensely. Breast correctionis still fine but the surgeries in lower bodycan impact your back. They can causeruptures inside and the silicon gel canleak which increases the risk of a destruc-tured backbone,” she points out and addsthat when surgeons come across cases ofwomen dissatisfied with their existingprivate parts rather than operating onthem unnecessarily, they try to counselthem so that they gain confidence andfeel happy with the way they are. “We tryto motivate them to validate their exis-tence.”

This signals that there is a dire needfor a makeover in the mindset of the peo-ple rather than their body parts. One can-not help but recall an episode of AmazonPrime Series Made in Heaven here,where the bride decided to stand up forherself and ensured that the man who shewas marrying did so as well. It is after all2019 and women need to define the con-tours of feminism further than what theprevious generations did. In a timewhen we are reaching out to the moon,we cannot stick to century-old traditionsand orthodox set-ups.

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Almost everyone in thisworld has been puttingefforts to make a better

world that is free from allkinds of fear and insecurities.However, amid all this, wemust not forget that a majorbreakthrough in a man’sefforts to bring about a changecomes only when he knowshis real identity. The presentworld-crisis, also known asthe crisis of values is, in fact,a deep crisis of self-identity.While we might have discov-ered many lost continents orland-masses on the globe, this‘continent of the self ’ is yet tobe discovered or rediscov-ered by each one of us. Thus,we first need to be aware ofthe truth that we have, in us,a certain potential of divinequalities or a core of humanvalues which are now lost inthe sea of the sub-consciousand the unconscious mind.These now have to be broughtback to the surface, in thelight, and have to be used asthe keyboard for our actions.

We also need to realisethat with the cremation of abody, all of our deeds, good orbad, or our abilities and qual-ities, are not lost. Neither doour good actions go unre-warded forever nor do we gounpunished for our badactions. We need to realisethat we are an eternal being,a soul or a being-of-light.However, when we realise ourreal identity, we take a new‘mental and a spiritual birth’and, in a way, it automatical-ly and naturally improves usand our relationships withothers. So we may adopt what-ever strategy we think is suit-able for a particular countryor a group of people, but let uskeep in mind that sooner orlater, we have to be aware ofour real identity and self.Ignoring this knowledgewould never make us reachour goal of a better world.

Today, we all identify our-selves with the body that wehave acquired because we areunaware about the immortalentity called ‘soul’ whichresides within us and func-tions through our body. Theignorance about the existenceof soul results in ‘body-con-sciousness’, due to which westruggle to improve our con-dition throughout our lifewithout understanding thefact as to why the physical and

mental conditions and envi-ronments of two individualsdiffer widely right from thetime of their birth. We get baf-fled by human sufferings anduntimely deaths on a mass-scale caused by naturalcalamities, terrorism, violenceand wars due to which weconstantly fear our death. Inthis whole merry-go-round,we fail to realise that unlessthese basic aspects of life arerightly understood, the body-conscious approach is boundto be there. Considering one’sphysical existence as the ‘be alland end all’ of everythingresults in our adoption ofwrong values in life, which, inturn, makes us commit wrongacts and consequently causessuffering. No wonder, despitestriving hard, we’re unable toavoid sorrow and sufferings inlife. Hence, in order to live apeaceful, contented, happyand a liberated life, properknowledge of one’s real selfthat is, the soul, its function-ing and its role in the world,is important.

When Prime MinisterNarendra Modiaddressed the nation

on our 73rd IndependenceDay, his speech focussed oneconomy and how the govern-ment is planning to invest ininfrastructure to drive theeconomy. The same day, stu-dents of Ngachonmi FundPrimary School, the only gov-ernment school in Awungtanglocality of Ukhrul town in thedistrict which goes by thesame name in Manipur, gath-ered in the rain-soakedground of Bakshi High Schoolfor the celebrations. They hadto defy incessant rains, thathad rendered the roads andpublic grounds almost inac-cessible to its nearly 27, 000residents, to be a part of thecelebrations.

Most of the school andpublic grounds in Ukhrul donot have blacktop. To partic-ipate in the I-Day parade, theteachers of the primary schooldecided to arrange gumbootsfor the students which werefunded partially by the schooland the teachers themselves.New socks and ribbons werealso arranged. Twelve teachersincluding the principal con-tributed �300 each for pur-chasing the material. “Withoutgumboots, our students wouldnot have been able to marchon this muddy and slipperyground,” said TheresaChiphang, a primary teacherat the school. Theresa wasglad that they were able toovercome these challengesand make the celebrationspossible for the children.

Located 81 km away fromManipur’s capital, Imphal,Ukhrul is a quiet picturesquetown inhabited by theTangkhul Naga tribe. Like therest of the north-eastern state,it is blessed with naturalwealth. However, the state ofeducation in this primaryschool needs immediate atten-tion. Ngachonmi FundPrimary School has about 80students. The children study-ing here belong to the mostmarginalised section of soci-ety. Most of the parents arefarmers who are unable toafford school uniforms, shoes,books and stationary for their

children. According toTheresa, “There are childrenas young as three who cometo school without shoes asthey are expensive and unaf-fordable for their parents.”

The Department ofEducation, ManipurGovernment, allocates �400per student every year forNgachonmi Fund PrimarySchool, which is insufficient tomeet the cost of uniforms.“With �400, we are able to buy

only a shirt and a pant or askirt. It gets extremely cold inwinters and children find itdifficult to attend school with-out sweaters,” saidWungchuiwon HA, one ofthe teachers in the school. Forstudents whose pants, skirtsand shirts are in good, wear-able condition, the schoolprovides them sweater, theteacher informed.

In March 2019,Wungchuiwon and Theresa

along with the other teachersdecided to do something forthe students to brave the longheavy monsoon rains. About300 metres away from theirschool, is a prestigious privateinstitution called Savio School,which is run by the Catholicchurch. It is attended by chil-dren from privileged and well-to-do families. This year, theschool’s principal announcedthe introduction of new uni-forms for its students. Sensing

an opportunity here, the gov-ernment school teachersspread the word that theywere collecting the old schooluniforms of Savio School.Many parents and studentscame forward and donatedtheir old uniforms. At the endof the month, over 60 woollenred sweaters, pants and skirtswere collected as part of thisdrive.

“I received a sweater, askirt, ribbons, two notebooks,pencils, a pair of gumboots,and even socks from myteachers,” said LeishichonHongray, 10, a student ofClass IV, who participated inthe I-Day parade. She feelsmuch more comfortable in thenew uniform than in her oldone. “I feel warm now,” shetold us.

“The red sweater I amwearing now, the pant, tie,shirt, and socks, all were givento me by the teachers. Just twodays ago, my class teachergave me six textbooks andpencils,” said KachuikhanSareo, a nine-year-old study-ing in Class IV. Kachuikhanbelongs to a family of farmers.“My parents would not havebeen able to afford books anduniform for me. I am happythat I have got new uniformand books.” Theresa said thatall the students now comedressed in their new uni-forms.

Funds allocated for buy-ing books and mid-day mealsby the Manipur state govern-ment have never been regular.S Tammila, the principal ofthe primary school, elaborat-ed, “It’s September now. The

year has almost ended yet wehaven’t received funds fromthe government for 2018 and2019. We have to contributefrom our own pockets to buybooks so that the students donot miss out on their studies.Sometimes, we ask the seniorstudents to give their text-books to the juniors after theannual exam results. I haveeven bought vegetables andmeat from my own pocketbecause there are times whenwe only receive rice for themid-day meal.” The money isreimbursed to the teacherswhen the school receives theallocated funds.

Another important issueflagged by the teachers wasthat of the prescribed booksby the government. From theprescribed syllabus for prima-ry schools in Manipur, onlyMathematics, English, andTangkhul --the language spo-ken by the natives of Ukhrul— textbooks are provided bythe government. Subjects suchas English Grammar, GeneralKnowledge and Moral Scienceare not issued. “To ensureholistic teaching, we teachthese subjects to them,because it is the right of thestudents to have access tothese basic subjects whichwill prepare them to becomeresponsible citizens in thefuture and stay at par with theprivileged students. There areparents who can afford thesetextbooks which aren’t provid-ed by the government but forthose who can’t afford, we buythe books for them from ourpockets,” said Theresa.

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The lack of four-season foodsources is one of the leading

causes of the world’s declining beepopulations. At certain times of year,there simply isn’t enough nutrition inthe natural environment to fill the col-lective demand.

Rapidly increasing urbanisation,fencepost-to-fencepost farming andpesticide use are among the major fac-tors reducing the diversity and abun-dance of flowering plant species. Sowhat’s a pollinator-dependent garden-er to do?

“We should plant floweringplants,” said Rebecca Finneran, ahorticulture educator with MichiganState University Extension. “Peopleoften only think of annual flowers aspollinator plants but trees, shrubs,perennials, vines and herbs can pro-vide a tasty diet for all types of polli-nators.”

The overall pollinator collapse isworrisome because bees, wasps, fliesand butterflies are instrumental ingrowing more than a third of the foodthat makes its way to our tables.

Some ways gardeners can help:Determine when the hunger gaps

occur in your area, which pollinatorspecies are affected and then factor theappropriate plants into your land-scape.

Emphasise biodiversity. Includewild bees along with honeybees in yourplanning, since different bees do dif-ferent things. With over 4,000 speciesof wild bees in North America, thecolour, shape and size of blooms playa role in which type of pollinator willbe attracted to your garden, Finneransaid. “The key is to have a wide vari-ety to ensure blooms will be availableto pollinators throughout the season,”she added. “There is no ‘one size fitsall,’ so I would like to tell people to bethinking about mixing things up.”

Be a little passive when dealingwith natural surroundings. Let weedsbloom, and minimise the use of chem-icals that can weaken or kill bees.Deadhead pollinator-friendly plantslike daisies, tall phlox and catnip for re-bloom. Wait to deadhead things likehosta until they have fully finishedblooming.

Provide open ground and undis-turbed areas for pollinator nesting cav-

ities. Don’t plough them up, pave themover or rake them clean in the fall.“People may run into city ordinancesif they let their yards grow wild, so

make them functional,” said AndonyMelathopoulos, a bee specialist withOregon State University Extension.“Make them into an attractive feature

of your landscape while also makingthem into better pollinator habitat,”added he.

Pollen is the only protein that beeseat. They can’t survive without it norcan they raise their broods. Bees alsocollect nectar from flowers, using it tobuild their energy reserves while stor-ing it briefly in their stomachs, whereenzymes turn its sugars into a dillut-ed honey.

Early spring can be one of the lean-est times for pollinators, especially bees,Finneran said. “Cold, windy weatherhinders long flights of some of our tra-ditionally strong flyers. You often seebees working in early blooming minorbulbs such as squill, or in an assortmentof groundcovers,” she added.

“Later in fall, we see a decline inresources, especially for bumblebees,”Finneran said. “Fall-blooming sedum,hyssop and snake root will offer thesespecies food that will help them sur-vive the winter,” she suggested.

She said that eye-catching land-scape design might be personally sat-isfying, but pollinators don’t care howyour garden looks. Just offer themnutritious plants that bloom successive-ly through the seasons. “Design is apersonal thing,” she said. “I have seenpollinators chasing a maintenancetruck filled with spent sedum blooms.”

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Steve Smith was glad to have againmade runs when needed them as

Australia closed in on retaining the Ashesat Old Trafford on Saturday.

Despite being the dominant side formost of the fourth Test, Australia were fal-tering at 44-4 in their second innings onSaturday.

But Smith's counter-attacking 82 wasthe centrepiece of their second-inningstotal of 186-6 declared, whch left Englandwith an imposing target of 383 to win theTest and keep their hopes of winning theseries alive.

“When it is tough you want yourexperienced players to step up,” Smith toldreporters after stumps.

“I have played quite a lot of cricketnow. I like to get in those situations andtry to be the one to take the teamthrough.” England's second-innings pur-suit suffered an early double setback whenAustralia’s Pat Cummins took two wick-ets in two balls to remove Rory Burns andcaptain Joe Root without a run on theboard.

England were 18-2 at the close, withAustralia requiring just eight more wick-ets on Sunday's final day to be assured ofa win that would see them keep hold ofthe Ashes at 2-1 up with one to play in afive-Test series.

Smith, who shot a superb 211 inAustralia's first innings of 497-8 declared,has now scored 671 runs in five inningsthis Ashes, at an average of 134.2 andincluding three hundreds.

It's an incredible return to Test crick-et for the 30-year-old former Australia cap-

tain, following a 12-month ban for his rolein a ball-tampering scandal in SouthAfrica. Smith added fast bowler Cumminshad shown Australia the way on a pitchbecoming increasingly tough for batsmen.

“My first 20 or 30 balls, I felt prettyvulnerable when they (England) werebowling that good length,” he recalled.

“Patty hit it beautifully tonight, I thinkthat ball to Root is a blueprint of what weneed to do tomorrow, first thing in themorning, and the quicks to keep hittingthat top of the stump length and let thepitch do its thing.”

�/�&��,���%���� ����/���/Former Australian captain and cur-

rent team mentor Steve Waugh said thatSteve Smith's record breaking run in theongoing Ashes is incomprehensible. Smithhas gone on overdrive in England scor-ing a mind-numbing 671 runs in fiveinnings thus far at an average of 134.2

“I obviously didn't see Don Bradmanplay, but I guess it's in a similar sort ofvein,” Waugh told cricket.com.au. “He justkeeps scoring runs and it almost looks tooeasy. He's playing on a different level toeveryone else.

“I guess you've just got to cash inwhile it lasts because we know cricket canturn around pretty quickly. But right nowhe's making the most of some great form.”

“It's a phenomenal performance. It'smonumental when you look back on it.To be out of the game for so long, to haveso much pressure and to do so well, it'salmost incomprehensible what he’s done.It’ll go down in the history of the gameas one of the great performances by anindividual in a series,” said Waugh.

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The in-form Shubman Gill will renewhis quest for selection into the senior

team when India ‘A’ take on South Africa'A' in the first unofficial Test beginninghere today.

The highly-rated Gill will lead the teamin the first of the two four-day matches,with veteran ‘keeper Wriddhiman Sahacaptaining in the second.

The teams for both the matches are amix of experience and youth.

The first game will see Karnataka all-rounder K Gowtham and Andhra wicket-keeper K S Bharat get a go. The former wasin his element during the ‘A’ team's tour ofthe Caribbean and shone in the KarnatakaPremier League too.

Bharat has showcased his skills withthe gloves and bat in the several games hehas played for India 'A' in the past year orso and has been close to selection in thesenior team.

With Rishab Pant becoming the first-choice ‘keeper across formats in theabsence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni andwith the selectors likely to manage hisworkload, the focus will be on the likes ofBharat to replace him whenever he is givena break.

Bharat and Saha are among those inthe fray for the second ‘keeper’s slot andtheir performances will be watched withinterest.

The focus will also be on openersPriyank Panchal and AbhimanyuEaswaran though the duo will feature only

in the second match’ to be played inMysuru from September 17.

The two batsmen have scored heavi-ly for Gujarat and Bengal respectively inthe past few seasons with Easwaran slam-ming a big century in the Duleep Trophyfinal that concluded on Saturday.

With K L Rahul not in the best of form,the duo will be keen to put in a strong per-formance against a quality SA ‘A’ attackthat includes, among others, the sharpLungi Ngidi, who is coming back from aninjury.

All-rounders Vijay Shankar andShivam Dube will figure in both match-es. The Tamil Nadu player who returnedmid-way from the World Cup due to aninjury and made a comeback during theTNPL only to get injured again and missthe limited-overs leg of ‘A’ series, gets anopportunity to underline his credentials.

Mumbai player Dube, on the otherhand, has impressed in the recent five-match unofficial ODIs against SA ‘A’,showing an ability to get quick runs. Hewill be eager to perform in the longer for-mat, too, and catch the selectors’ eye.

Jharkhand left-arm spinner ShahbazNadeem has been a consistent performerover the years and starred in the ‘A’ team'srecent win against West Indies ‘A’ in theCaribbean.

The Proteas ‘A’ team, led by AidenMarkram, seen as a future senior team cap-tain, includes several players with interna-tional experience. Markram and the restwill look to gain experience of playing insub-continent with the Test series to fol-low the T20 Internationals.

The series will also serve as goodpreparation for Ngidi, who is part of theTest squad. He had struggled with a ham-string injury during the World Cup andplayed only four of the side's nine match-es in the tournament in England.

����� ���������

Spinners Rashid Khan andZahir Khan shared five

wickets between them asAfghanistan came within fourwickets of a historic win overBangladesh in the one-off Testin Chittagong on Sunday.

The visitors- playing onlytheir third Test ever- reducedBangladesh to 136-6 beforerain forced early stumps on thefourth day, with the hosts,who were set a record target of398 runs, still needing 262.

“Yes, we are bit excitedbecause we are in a good posi-tion,” Afghanistan's wicket-keeper-batsman Afsar Zazaisaid.

“It means a lot to be hon-est,” he added.

“The people know aboutus good enough in white-ballcricket. We've discussed in ourdressing room that this Testmatch is very important for usto win because we want toshow we can play Test cricket.”

Skipper Shakib Al Hasanremained unbeaten on 39 runs,giving a little hope toBangladesh

Shakib will resume thefifth day's play along withSoumya Sarkar, the last recog-nised batsman for Bangladesh,who was yet to open hisaccount.

“The realistic result is weare very close to defeat. Unlessthere is some rain... Probably

we are losing,” he said.Rashid, who made his

debut as youngest-ever Testcaptain, led Afghanistan fromthe front, finishing the day with3-46 while left-arm chinamanZahir claimed 2-36 runs.

Retiring all-rounderMohammad Nabi claimed theother wicket.

Zahir started the victorypush when he dismissed open-er Liton Das, One-down

Mosaddek Hossain chased aball from him wide outside theoff-stump to give a catch toAsghar Afghan at long offafter making 12 runs.

Earlier, resuming at 237-8after more than two hours'delay due to drizzle, Afghanistan added 23 runs totheir overnight score beforethey were all out for 260, whichtook their lead close to the 400-run mark.

����� �����

The continued refusal of senior SriLankan players including captain

Dimuth Karunaratne, Lasith Malinga andAngelo Matthews to tour Pakistan for alimited over series later this month has leftthe PCB authorities worried.

Though the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) has made no official comment onthe senior Sri Lanka players’ availability,sources in the board said they are in touchwith the Sri Lankan board officials andSports Minister Harin Fernando.

“Technically it is an internal matter ofthe Sri Lankan board so we can't commenton it. But the bottom line is that the touris on from 25th September and we aremaking all preparations to host them inKarachi and Lahore,” an official sourcesaid.

He said Pakistan would accept what-ever team the Sri Lankan board sends forthe three One-day Internationals and threeT20s.

Media reports have claimed that Testand ODI captain Karunaratne, T20 cap-tain Malinga and senior pro Matthewshave informed the Sri Lankan boardthey will not tour Pakistan because ofsecurity concerns.

The families of the three players aresaid to be uncomfortable with the prospectof them playing in Pakistan which isunderstandable since it was in March, 2009that terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan teambus in Lahore, leading to Pakistan's iso-lation as as an international cricket des-tination.

A source in the PCB said that the SriLankan Sports Minister had called thethree players for a meeting on Monday inwhich they would be assured of the fullsecurity arrangements to be made for thetour.

Fernando himself has offered to tourwith the team from September 25 toOctober 9.

But it is obvious that neither theMinister nor the Sri Lankan board can

force any player to make the tour.For the first time since 2009, the PCB

is preparing to host a top tier team for aproper bilateral series that involves ODIand T20 series.

The Sri Lankan team had come downto Lahore for a day to play a lone T20match in October, 2017 while the ICCWorld Eleven and West Indies have alsoplayed short T20 series in Pakistan in thelast two years.

But this is the first time in 10 years, atop team will be in Pakistan for more thantwo weeks.

The Sri Lankan and Pakistan boardsagreed to the limited over series after theformer initially rejected a request to playtwo games of the ICC World TestChampionship in Pakistan.

The Sri Lankans are set to review thesecurity arrangements for the coming lim-ited over series based on which they wouldthen take a decision on whether to playthe Tests in December in Pakistan or inthe UAE.

������ � ����

South Africa pace spearheadKagiso Rabada is not losing

sleep over the meteorical rise ofIndia’s Jasprit Bumrah andEngland’s Jofra Archer.

“It’s never easy maintaininga career; I’ve learned that thereare a lot of ups and downs. Iwant to be the best in the world,everybody does,” Rabada toldiol.co.za as quoted byESPNCricinfo.

“You are naturally going tocompete in that fashion, I’m nottoo worried, I’m feeling nice andeasy.

“I’m disappointed, not angry(about the World Cup). What doI do with anger? When a setbackcomes you want to be deter-mined, you don’t want to changea lot of things. It’s about seeingwhere you went wrong and

then putting in extra work.”Rabada will be one of South

Africa’s key weapons in theirtour to India. The first of thethree T20s in on September 3and that will be followed bythree Tests.

“I admire those bowlers,they are good bowlers,” Rabada,who will have an opportunity tobetter his figures in the upcom-ing T20I and Test series inIndia, said when asked aboutBumrah and Archer.

“However, the media hypescertain players, and that’s OK; Iknow I have been playing verywell. Archer is such a natural tal-

ent; Bumrah is doing wondersand that can force you to lift yourgame. You are not always at thetop, that’s one thing I can tellyou.”

South Africa had a disap-pointing World Cup campaignwhere they crashed out of theWorld Cup with Rabada also fail-ing to spark his magic. Bumrahand Archer though have donequite well in this period.

While Bumrah returnedwith 13 wickets from the Testseries in the West Indies includ-ing a hat-trick, Archer has shownhis class since making his Testdebut in the Ashes.

����� ���������

Jos Buttler led a defiant rear-guard action as England foughtdesperately to draw the fourth

Test against Australia at OldTrafford on Sunday and keep theAshes alive.

England were 166-6 at tea onthe final day in a match in whicha win for Australia would see theholders retain the Ashes at 2-1 upwith one to play in a five-Testseries.

Buttler, England’s last recog-nised batsman, was 30 not out,with the usually free-flowing run-scorer having faced 96 balls, whileCraig Overton was unbeaten on 12off 47 deliveries.

Any thoughts of England chas-ing down an imposing victory tar-get of 383 had long since evapo-rated.

Instead, with a new ball avail-able to Australia 11 overs after tea,the question was whether theycould hold out for a draw, whichwould leave the series all squareahead of next week’s finale at theOval in London.

England, resuming on theirovernight 18-2, got through thefirst hour without losing a wicket.

But when Ben Stokes, whosesuperb 135 not out had sealed astunning win at Headingley, fell forjust one shortly before lunch, thehome side were floundering at 74-4.

England started the day withmakeshift opener Joe Denly 10 notout and Jason Roy eight not outafter Pat Cummins had taken twowickets in two balls on Saturday,including Joe Root for a goldenduck, the England captain's thirdnought in five innings.

The most England had madein the fourth innings to win a Testwas the 362-9 they posted atHeadingley

But their immediate goal wasto bat out the fifth day for a draw— something they had not donesince Matt Prior helped themdefy New Zealand at Auckland in2013.

Denly was fortunate to see aloose drive off left-arm quickMitchell Starc fly over the slips forfour and he almost gave his wick-et away when, despite England'sdesperate position, he lofted asweep off Nathan Lyon's off-spinwhich just dropped short of deepmidwicket.

World Cup-winner Roy, whohas struggled to transfer his one-day international form into theTest arena, defended solidly before

he cover-drive Starc for four.Fast bowler Cummins, how-

ever, struck again when a fine-offcutter found a gap between batand pad to bowl Roy for 31.

��������//��"#���/&�Stokes walked out to a hugeovation from a capacity 23,500crowd.

But he had made just one

when Cummins, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, cut one backto the left-handed batsman, withAustralia captain and wicketkeep-er Tim Paine holding a good div-ing catch off the inside edge.

Stokes did not even wait forumpire Marais Erasmus to raisehis finger before leaving the crease.

Denly, who rode his luck to be48 not out at lunch, completed a

112-ball fifty when he drove Starcdown the ground for four.

But he was out soon after-wards for 53 when he gloved aLyon delivery that turned andbounced out of the rough toMarnus Labuschagne at short leg.

Jonny Bairstow and Buttlerwere together for 14 overs until theformer's 61-ball 25 ended when hewas lbw to Starc.

Bairstow reviewed but, withKumar Dharmasena’s decisionupheld on umpire's call, Englandwere 138-6.

Cummins thought he had hisfifth wicket of the innings whenOverton, on five, was given outlbw only for Erasmus’s decision tobe overturned after a reviewrevealed the ball had pitched out-side off stump.

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Steve Smith was glad to have againmade runs when needed them as

Australia closed in on retaining theAshes at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Despite being the dominant side formost of the fourth Test, Australia were fal-tering at 44-4 in their second innings onSaturday.

But Smith's counter-attacking 82was the centrepiece of their second-innings total of 186-6 declared, whch leftEngland with an imposing target of 383to win the Test and keep their hopes ofwinning the series alive.

“When it is tough you want yourexperienced players to step up,” Smith toldreporters after stumps.

“I have played quite a lot of cricketnow. I like to get in those situations andtry to be the one to take the teamthrough.” England's second-innings pur-suit suffered an early double setback whenAustralia’s Pat Cummins took two wick-ets in two balls to remove Rory Burns andcaptain Joe Root without a run on theboard.

England were 18-2 at the close, withAustralia requiring just eight more wick-ets on Sunday's final day to be assured ofa win that would see them keep hold ofthe Ashes at 2-1 up with one to play in afive-Test series.

Smith, who shot a superb 211 inAustralia's first innings of 497-8 declared,has now scored 671 runs in five inningsthis Ashes, at an average of 134.2 andincluding three hundreds.

It's an incredible return to Test crick-et for the 30-year-old former Australiacaptain, following a 12-month ban for hisrole in a ball-tampering scandal in SouthAfrica. Smith added fast bowler Cumminshad shown Australia the way on a pitchbecoming increasingly tough for batsmen.

“My first 20 or 30 balls, I felt prettyvulnerable when they (England) werebowling that good length,” he recalled.

“Patty hit it beautifully tonight, I think

that ball to Root is a blueprint of what weneed to do tomorrow, first thing in themorning, and the quicks to keep hittingthat top of the stump length and let thepitch do its thing.”

�/�&��,���%���� ����/���/Former Australian captain and cur-

rent team mentor Steve Waugh said thatSteve Smith's record breaking run in theongoing Ashes is incomprehensible.Smith has gone on overdrive in Englandscoring a mind-numbing 671 runs in fiveinnings thus far at an average of 134.2

“I obviously didn't see Don Bradmanplay, but I guess it's in a similar sort ofvein,” Waugh told cricket.com.au. “He justkeeps scoring runs and it almost looks tooeasy. He's playing on a different level toeveryone else.

“I guess you've just got to cash inwhile it lasts because we know cricket canturn around pretty quickly. But right nowhe's making the most of some great form.”

“It's a phenomenal performance. It'smonumental when you look back on it.To be out of the game for so long, to haveso much pressure and to do so well, it'salmost incomprehensible what he’s done.It’ll go down in the history of the gameas one of the great performances by anindividual in a series,” said Waugh.

����� ����9�������(���<

The in-form Shubman Gill will renewhis quest for selection into the senior

team when India ‘A’ take on South Africa'A' in the first unofficial Test beginninghere today.

The highly-rated Gill will lead the teamin the first of the two four-day matches,with veteran ‘keeper Wriddhiman Sahacaptaining in the second.

The teams for both the matches are amix of experience and youth.

The first game will see Karnataka all-rounder K Gowtham and Andhra wicket-keeper K S Bharat get a go. The former wasin his element during the ‘A’ team's tour ofthe Caribbean and shone in the KarnatakaPremier League too.

Bharat has showcased his skills withthe gloves and bat in the several games hehas played for India 'A' in the past year orso and has been close to selection in thesenior team.

With Rishab Pant becoming the first-choice ‘keeper across formats in theabsence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni andwith the selectors likely to manage hisworkload, the focus will be on the likes ofBharat to replace him whenever he is givena break.

Bharat and Saha are among those inthe fray for the second ‘keeper’s slot andtheir performances will be watched withinterest.

The focus will also be on openersPriyank Panchal and AbhimanyuEaswaran though the duo will feature only

in the second match’ to be played inMysuru from September 17.

The two batsmen have scored heavi-ly for Gujarat and Bengal respectively inthe past few seasons with Easwaran slam-ming a big century in the Duleep Trophyfinal that concluded on Saturday.

With K L Rahul not in the best of form,the duo will be keen to put in a strong per-formance against a quality SA ‘A’ attackthat includes, among others, the sharpLungi Ngidi, who is coming back from aninjury.

All-rounders Vijay Shankar andShivam Dube will figure in both match-es. The Tamil Nadu player who returnedmid-way from the World Cup due to aninjury and made a comeback during theTNPL only to get injured again and missthe limited-overs leg of ‘A’ series, gets anopportunity to underline his credentials.

Mumbai player Dube, on the otherhand, has impressed in the recent five-match unofficial ODIs against SA ‘A’,showing an ability to get quick runs. Hewill be eager to perform in the longer for-mat, too, and catch the selectors’ eye.

Jharkhand left-arm spinner ShahbazNadeem has been a consistent performerover the years and starred in the ‘A’ team'srecent win against West Indies ‘A’ in theCaribbean.

The Proteas ‘A’ team, led by AidenMarkram, seen as a future senior team cap-tain, includes several players with interna-tional experience. Markram and the restwill look to gain experience of playing insub-continent with the Test series to fol-low the T20 Internationals.

The series will also serve as goodpreparation for Ngidi, who is part of theTest squad. He had struggled with a ham-string injury during the World Cup andplayed only four of the side's nine match-es in the tournament in England.

����� ���������

Spinners Rashid Khan andZahir Khan shared five

wickets between them asAfghanistan came within fourwickets of a historic win overBangladesh in the one-off Testin Chittagong on Sunday.

The visitors- playing onlytheir third Test ever- reducedBangladesh to 136-6 beforerain forced early stumps on thefourth day, with the hosts,who were set a record target of398 runs, still needing 262.

“Yes, we are bit excitedbecause we are in a good posi-tion,” Afghanistan's wicket-keeper-batsman Afsar Zazaisaid.

“It means a lot to be hon-est,” he added.

“The people know aboutus good enough in white-ballcricket. We've discussed in ourdressing room that this Testmatch is very important for usto win because we want toshow we can play Test cricket.”

Skipper Shakib Al Hasanremained unbeaten on 39 runs,giving a little hope toBangladesh

Shakib will resume thefifth day's play along withSoumya Sarkar, the last recog-nised batsman for Bangladesh,who was yet to open hisaccount.

“The realistic result is weare very close to defeat. Unlessthere is some rain... Probably

we are losing,” he said.Rashid, who made his

debut as youngest-ever Testcaptain, led Afghanistan fromthe front, finishing the day with3-46 while left-arm chinamanZahir claimed 2-36 runs.

Retiring all-rounderMohammad Nabi claimed theother wicket.

Zahir started the victorypush when he dismissed open-er Liton Das, One-down

Mosaddek Hossain chased aball from him wide outside theoff-stump to give a catch toAsghar Afghan at long offafter making 12 runs.

Earlier, resuming at 237-8after more than two hours'delay due to drizzle, Afghanistan added 23 runs totheir overnight score beforethey were all out for 260, whichtook their lead close to the 400-run mark.

����� �����

The continued refusal of senior SriLankan players including captain

Dimuth Karunaratne, Lasith Malinga andAngelo Matthews to tour Pakistan for alimited over series later this month has leftthe PCB authorities worried.

Though the Pakistan Cricket Board(PCB) has made no official comment onthe senior Sri Lanka players’ availability,sources in the board said they are in touchwith the Sri Lankan board officials andSports Minister Harin Fernando.

“Technically it is an internal matter ofthe Sri Lankan board so we can't commenton it. But the bottom line is that the touris on from 25th September and we aremaking all preparations to host them inKarachi and Lahore,” an official sourcesaid.

He said Pakistan would accept what-ever team the Sri Lankan board sends forthe three One-day Internationals and threeT20s.

Media reports have claimed that Testand ODI captain Karunaratne, T20 cap-tain Malinga and senior pro Matthewshave informed the Sri Lankan boardthey will not tour Pakistan because ofsecurity concerns.

The families of the three players aresaid to be uncomfortable with the prospectof them playing in Pakistan which isunderstandable since it was in March, 2009that terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan teambus in Lahore, leading to Pakistan's iso-lation as as an international cricket des-tination.

A source in the PCB said that the SriLankan Sports Minister had called thethree players for a meeting on Monday inwhich they would be assured of the fullsecurity arrangements to be made for thetour.

Fernando himself has offered to tourwith the team from September 25 toOctober 9.

But it is obvious that neither theMinister nor the Sri Lankan board can

force any player to make the tour.For the first time since 2009, the PCB

is preparing to host a top tier team for aproper bilateral series that involves ODIand T20 series.

The Sri Lankan team had come downto Lahore for a day to play a lone T20match in October, 2017 while the ICCWorld Eleven and West Indies have alsoplayed short T20 series in Pakistan in thelast two years.

But this is the first time in 10 years, atop team will be in Pakistan for more thantwo weeks.

The Sri Lankan and Pakistan boardsagreed to the limited over series after theformer initially rejected a request to playtwo games of the ICC World TestChampionship in Pakistan.

The Sri Lankans are set to review thesecurity arrangements for the coming lim-ited over series based on which they wouldthen take a decision on whether to playthe Tests in December in Pakistan or inthe UAE.

������ � ����

South Africa pace spearheadKagiso Rabada is not losing

sleep over the meteorical rise ofIndia’s Jasprit Bumrah andEngland’s Jofra Archer.

“It’s never easy maintaininga career; I’ve learned that thereare a lot of ups and downs. Iwant to be the best in the world,everybody does,” Rabada toldiol.co.za as quoted byESPNCricinfo.

“You are naturally going tocompete in that fashion, I’m nottoo worried, I’m feeling nice andeasy.

“I’m disappointed, not angry(about the World Cup). What doI do with anger? When a setbackcomes you want to be deter-mined, you don’t want to changea lot of things. It’s about seeingwhere you went wrong and

then putting in extra work.”Rabada will be one of South

Africa’s key weapons in theirtour to India. The first of thethree T20s in on September 3and that will be followed bythree Tests.

“I admire those bowlers,they are good bowlers,” Rabada,who will have an opportunity tobetter his figures in the upcom-ing T20I and Test series inIndia, said when asked aboutBumrah and Archer.

“However, the media hypescertain players, and that’s OK; Iknow I have been playing verywell. Archer is such a natural tal-

ent; Bumrah is doing wondersand that can force you to lift yourgame. You are not always at thetop, that’s one thing I can tellyou.”

South Africa had a disap-pointing World Cup campaignwhere they crashed out of theWorld Cup with Rabada also fail-ing to spark his magic. Bumrahand Archer though have donequite well in this period.

While Bumrah returnedwith 13 wickets from the Testseries in the West Indies includ-ing a hat-trick, Archer has shownhis class since making his Testdebut in the Ashes.

����� ���������

Jos Buttler led a defiant rearguardaction as England fought desperately todraw the fourth Test against Australia

at Old Trafford on Sunday and keep theAshes alive.

England were 166-6 at tea on the finalday in a match in which a win forAustralia would see the holders retain theAshes at 2-1 up with one to play in a five-Test series.

Buttler, England’s last recognised bats-man, was 30 not out, with the usually free-flowing runscorer having faced 96 balls,while Craig Overton was unbeaten on 12off 47 deliveries.

Any thoughts of England chasingdown an imposing victory target of 383had long since evaporated.

Instead, with a new ball available toAustralia 11 overs after tea, the questionwas whether they could hold out for adraw, which would leave the series allsquare ahead of next week’s finale at theOval in London.

England, resuming on their overnight18-2, got through the first hour withoutlosing a wicket.

But when Ben Stokes, whose superb135 not out had sealed a stunning win atHeadingley, fell for just one shortly beforelunch, the home side were floundering at74-4.

England started the day with makeshiftopener Joe Denly 10 not out and Jason Royeight not out after Pat Cummins had takentwo wickets in two balls on Saturday,including Joe Root for a golden duck, theEngland captain's third nought in fiveinnings.

The most England had made in thefourth innings to win a Test was the 362-9 they posted at Headingley

But their immediate goal was to batout the fifth day for a draw — somethingthey had not done since Matt Prior helpedthem defy New Zealand at Auckland in

2013.Denly was fortunate to see a loose

drive off left-arm quick Mitchell Starc flyover the slips for four and he almost gavehis wicket away when, despite England'sdesperate position, he lofted a sweep offNathan Lyon's off-spin which just droppedshort of deep midwicket.

World Cup-winner Roy, who hasstruggled to transfer his one-day interna-tional form into the Test arena, defendedsolidly before he cover-drive Starc for four.

Fast bowler Cummins, however, struckagain when a fine-off cutter found a gapbetween bat and pad to bowl Roy for 31.

��������//��"#���/&�Stokes walked out to a huge ovationfrom a capacity 23,500 crowd.

But he had made just one whenCummins, the world’s top-ranked Testbowler, cut one back to the left-handedbatsman, with Australia captain and wick-etkeeper Tim Paine holding a good div-ing catch off the inside edge.

Stokes did not even wait for umpireMarais Erasmus to raise his finger beforeleaving the crease.

Denly, who rode his luck to be 48 notout at lunch, completed a 112-ball fiftywhen he drove Starc down the ground forfour.

But he was out soon afterwards for 53when he gloved a Lyon delivery that turnedand bounced out of the rough to MarnusLabuschagne at short leg.

Jonny Bairstow and Buttler weretogether for 14 overs until the former's 61-ball 25 ended when he was lbw to Starc.

Bairstow reviewed but, with KumarDharmasena’s decision upheld on umpire'scall, England were 138-6.

Cummins thought he had his fifthwicket of the innings when Overton, onfive, was given out lbw only for Erasmus’sdecision to be overturned after a reviewrevealed the ball had pitched outside offstump.

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